and the second.. has fallen to my blade...

BAM!
Assassins creed finished!

Had a lot of fun with it but i have to admit that when people say "it is a bit of a grind", they are right. I have quite high tolerance for collecting and repeating gameplay so i got through it with only minor irritations but yes, avoid if you like variety and shorter games :)

now for a teeeny weeeeny bit of a rant.

WHEN GAME MECHANICS COLLIDE!

i am all for open world games and side quests and trying to accomplish them under pressure and time limits BUT... when one interferes with the other, you have broken some of your game.

Case and point -
I am running against the clock to assasinate 4 targets for my buddy assassin. One of my targets patrols and area so i follow him. I get up close and i am just about to sass him up good when.... One of the 60 Templars activates as i am in range. Templars just see you and instantly know who you are. The assassin mission then failed as i was "Discovered" and then i had to fight the Templar and about 15 guards... which left dead bodies everywhere so that when i restarted the assassin quest... there were 15 more guards looking at 15 dead bodies shouting "WHO IS THE ONE RESPONSIBLE?!" and then instantly attacking me, revealing me in the process if i am not holding my hands together... the only solution is to either run far far away and let the area respawn itself or quit the level and load again. If the Templars only activated when there was no active side quest.. this would have been a much better situation for me to deal with.

I get frustrated when i fail a mission and i do not think it is my fault. In GTA, I ALWAYS complete the tasks i am set, get out of the area no problem, and then just have to get back to base unhindered.. Guaranteed when i am in this situation, i get driven into by a cop car, which raises my wanted level and then all of a sudden i am on the run and then pretty soon, 4 starred and dead in a river.

I had a similar situation with AC. When heading back from a successful assassination, all of a sudden i am pushed over by either a Drunk man or a Crazy guy, into a guard. If there was some way you could react to this or keep your cover, i wouldnt mind. As it happens, there isnt and should one of these guys get in your way or wander up to you from off camera, you are discovered and bam goes your successful extraction method. i get that they are there to make it harder and more atmospheric, i just think they could have been implemented better. END RANT


I enjoyed the last boss very much though. Great fun figuring it out and even better was the post boss sequence. No spoilers but i liked the ending and enjoyed working things out after the credits.

now... for SOME reason.. the game gave me achievements for seeing 85% of the glitches and killing every target with a full bar... (which i am pretty sure i didnt do).. now that means i only need to collect "A few" flags a kill "a couple" of Templars to get 1000G... Damn the completionist in me!... there goes my evening

MGS4 next! might be able to start that on Wednesday

Sassin' up fools like its 1191

Hello there!
Well, what a couple of days. I have done lots of gaming, collected a few last achievements here and there and made a ton of progress with AC.

Really enjoying AC. I think the most satisfying thing is sneaking up behind guards and silent killing them with the short blade. I think the bass swoop and change of angle really make the moment. of course, i may be ruining the atmosphere a little... I watched a Louis Theroux documentary at lunch today where he visits a Miami "Super Jail" and all the inmates were using gangland terms like "Strap up" (fight), "in the paint" (place where they fight) and my personal favourite GABOS! (Game Aint Based On Sympathy=an excuse to beat up and maim weaker prisoners). I am blaming that for my sudden outcry of "SASSED YO!" when i killed a guard.... and every guard since.
I can see why people find AC repetitious though.. If i wasn't such a completionist then i probably would not have such an urge to push through all the cities to get the DNA bar filled. I realise i am doing the same thing again and again but i am noticing the subtle changes in difficulty and the combat. I appreciate it.

In my achievement hunting this morning i got the last few Portal 2 achievements. Enjoyed getting those as there were some nice hidden locations and story reveals that i will not spoil here.

I reckon i am about... half way through assassins creed now?.. i hope to complete it by the end of the week leaving the weekend and next week for MGS4!

off to sass some fools yo...

R and R...and AC... FTW

Well its finally here!
2 weeks of time off and videogames :)
I have got stuck into Assassins Creed and i am really enjoying it. A lot of people told me that it is repetitive and can get boring but i am a sucker for collection stuff and open world games. i am pretty sure i want to collect all 500 flags and all the lookouts.. just because i like completion stuff. looking at the achievements... i may even 1000G this one. I got close with Hitman, but the achievements didn't stack so would require 2 more playthroughs and i am not willing to commit that time.

So assassins creed here we go! about 2 hours in now, and having lots of fun.

stabby stab stab

1 down!

I did it!
game one is off my list! :)
I have just finished and cleaned up a few achievements on Hitman.
My rating?...

7 out of 10
but hear me out. If it was the same game made today with the same resources i think it would be a 9-10.
its a great game and i really enjoyed it, but it just doesn't hold up to todays games. it hasn't dated well from a gameplay point of view and many things like load times, the HORRIBLE wait for the slo motion death to finish before you can restart and the strange limiting save system make it feel really irritating. fix those things, update the graphics and the context sensitive... sensitivity... (I hate opening a cupboard door when i am meant to be snapping someones neck) and you got yourself a good quality game.
In short, Fun but dating a bit now.

On to Assassins Creed! or... maybe i should mop up the last few hitman achievements?... it wont take me long to get to 1K... hmmmm....

Forced into it...

At a meal out yesterday evening, my fiancée and one of my best friends started discussing portal 2. I was then told i had to play it and was forced into sitting and playing the first hour or so so i could get to the bits they wanted to talk about. So I didn't play hitman at all this weekend what with the CTF tournament and then seeing friends. BUT... i intend to this week. You will see! I also get my evenings back soon and some time off. I am going to cut through this list like nobody's business!... wait. what does that even mean?...
*searches*

hmm.. no real answers - http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/60/messages/872.html

oh well

hitman continued

presently i am working a lot, editing videos for the HALO CTF tournament i host every year on my birthday and celebrating my birthday. add to that my father, mother and fiance's birthday all within 2 weeks and any other odd jobs i have said yes to and that leaves me with very little time right now :)

BUT

i have been playing hitman!

thoughts...

I did a mission without killing any one.. fulfilled all the requirements of silent assasin... and it did not give me the rating... bug? am i missing a factor? did i do something wrong?
i am torn between doing this mission again the same way to see if i can get it perfect.. and continuing on.
Right now i have chosen the latter and am currently at a pornographers party with lots of ladies and i am after a guy called Chad Bingham...

the game is good fun, but i am a little miffed at the occasional "Context sensitive conflict" in that.. i am about to get someone dead... and because i am an inch to the left, i will instead open a cupboard or make a phone call :(
Splinter Cell Double agent also had this issue. luckily.. its not having that much of a detrimental effect on the game so i am continuing on. I think i will be finished soon.

Agent 47 out...