Birthday stuff

 

Well it was my Birthday this weekend and it brought with it a whole host of Wargaming goodies:

1) A Stormraven Gunship from my Bro, well looking forward to building painting then weeping as it gets destroyed in the first round of every game it plays.

2) R.U.S.E. This I bought with some extra money I had. It’s a great idea for an RTS and I like the overall command table aesthetic the main game has.

3) Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team. Oh yeah! For when you absolutely need to kill every Ork on the Kroozer.

4) Battlefield 1943, Nice to get a classic.

5) Cities of Death Book.

6) Some Imperial Guard and some grey paints. I’m going to try me some urban camouflage on them maybe this could be the start of an Imperial Guard army who knows.

7)… and I will be placing orders this week for some Warhammer 40k Terrain a Librarian and a pre-order for Space Marine.

 

was a good year.

This Week i have Been Mostly Playing... (6)

Xbox 360
Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising.

It has taken me over a week to complete this FPS (on normal difficulty too!). This game is not without its flaws but it is a unique FPS and well worth checking out if you like to use a bit of grey matter in your games.

Forza Motorsport III.

The best racing series just keeps getting better. I've

been pining after this game for months and i was finally able to pick it up after Christmas. well worth the wait and it has lived up to all expectations. cars are beautiful tracks are amazing and the user interface is a nice improvement over Forza II

Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X.

Picked this up on a whim and it is great fun. Do you enjoy in depth simulations with manuals you could hollow out and live in? Well this isn't one of them, it's

a pure arcade flight sim. Oh and I seem to be quite good at it if my performance in multi-player is anything to go by.

PC

Gratuitous Space Battles.

If you like space and like blowing things up I suggest picking up this game. A sort of cross between a tower defence game and an RTS. You basicly build your ships, arrange your fleet, give it some basic tactics and then sit back as it takes on your opponents fleet with quality 2D graphics. There is even a demo to try it out so go on try it today, you will not be dissapointed.

Fritz Chess 12.

Okay a little secret about me, I love chess. I was given this software by a journalist friend of mine who had received it through work, he didn't know much about it so he gave it to me. For those who don't know, Fritz is one of the best pieces of chess software and earlier versions have drawn games against the likes of Garry Kasparov. Needless to say Fritz at full power is well beyond my chessic abilities, but it is a wonderful training tool and comes with millions of games to study and learn from.

Links:

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising

Forza Motorsport III

Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X

Gratuitous Space Battles

Fritz 12

This week I have been mostly playing... (4)

Its been a hectic week what with moving house and starting my final year at University so understandably my gaming time has been at a bit of a minimum. Never the less I have found time to play a couple of games.



Ring of Red
PS 2

I mentioned this title in the top 5 Mecha games post and have been playing it quite a bit since we moved back to London. It's a nice turn based strategy game with simple real time combat controls.
As a side note, this year I have a final year project I have to complete for University. For some reason I am drawn to this game as a possible source of material. watch this space...



Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu
Arcade

Recently installed in my local arcade. this shmup is slowly beginning to grow on me. Typically for a game by Cave the amounts of enemy firepower on screen are ridiculous but seems fairly well matched by the amount of firepower your tiny craft seems to have. The amount of satisfaction you feel after building up your power bar and letting rip with a hyper attack is fantastic. Anyone visiting London in the near future should try and get a visit to Casino Arcade if just play this game.

This week I have been mostly playing...(2)

Pokemon Pearl Version
Nintendo DS
Gotta catch em all gotta.... you get the idea. I picked this up earlier in the week after a trip to Gloucester and its perfect for filling in the occasional idle moment. Its light roleplaying elements and simple battle system keep you coming back for more. However I would say that the touch screen elements are a little half arsed. Maybe this was fixed in the diamond edition.








Forza Motorsport 2
Xbox 360
With all the buzz around at the moment about Forza 3s immanent arrival. I decided to polish up my driving skills ready for the new game. It reminded me that Forza 3 has hell of a reputation to live up to. Still my favourite Racing simulation of all time.






Truxton/Tatsujin
Arcade (Mame) and Sega Megadrive (Gens+)
A classic shooter form the now defunct Toaplan. Devilishly difficult but highly addictive. This game and its sequel are well worth checking out if you are into your 2D shooters. It has a cool electro soundtrack too! I have become so impressed with this game that I'm going to try and pick up the original game for my trusty old Megadrive.








SWIV
Commodore 64 (WinVICE)
After some discussion on a forum I frequent about the Amiga version of this game, I decided to revisit this old classic on the older C64. Back in the day myself and my friend Olly used to spend hours playing this game and to be honest I think it has aged rather well for a Commodore 64 shooter.

This week I have been mostly playing...

Sonic the Hedgehog
Sega Megadrive (gens+ emulator)

Decided to give this old classic a quick spin today. Needless to say within moments I had the joypad snatched out of my hands by a squealing girlfriend reliving her childhood (turned out she preferred Sonic 2 and I soon had the pad back!) All these years later the purity of the level design and overall charm of the game still shine through.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Xbox 360

Still loving CoD4 and I am finally getting to grips with the sniper rifles.




Gradius Galaxies
Gameboy Advance

Been without the DS for a few days so I have been back to playing this on my GBA. Still finding it very hard, although not as hard as Gradius III.



Colin McRae Dirt 2 (Demo)
Xbox 360

I downloaded the demo for this game from Xbox live and have been well impressed. I have an ever growing list of games I want to pick up when my student loan comes, this one may well be at the top.

Eve Online
PC

Still loosing countless hours to this MMO. Damn you Eve!!!