Our opinions on video games, gadgets, science and technology. Not necessarily always correct, but definitely from the heart. Our cold, cold, silicon hearts.
With the arrival of several high-profile releases such as LA Noire and Brink (at least, you'd think Brink were high profile given the amount of advertising being pumped into it at the last minute, competition from the former much?) you'd think I'd have had my hands full reviewing these to be able to get my opinion out to you all asap. But no! I've been revisiting old games that have lain by the wayside for a while, the first and foremost of these being Borderlands.
Alright, so this was probably triggered by my last post, thinking about dear old Claptrap made me hungry for a bit of a senseless post-apocalyptic Mad Max-inspired shootfest. Yet for a game which (quite shamelessly) picks and chooses its influences and waves them in your face, Borderlands stands alone very well. For the uninitiated, it's a first person shooter with RPG elements - shooting stuff gets you experience, and as you gain experience you level up your personal skills and also your skills with each weapon, leading to bonuses to fire rate and accuracy, and also copious amounts of swearing when you're in the middle of a massive firefight with no SMG ammo and a level 1 shotgun.
My shoddy techniques aside, this is a beautifully action-packed game that is an absolute pleasure to go back to after a year or more of it sitting in its box. The graphical style is reminiscent of cel shading and gives the game a fairly unique cartoony look that caused some criticism amongst the Call of Duty crowd, and the story revolves around four mercenaries trying to gain access to the mysterious Vault which initially caused me to think it might be trying to rip off some elements from Fallout, but that could not be further from the truth. So since it's so cheap in the shops now, why not treat yourself! I'll see you in the arena!
Throughout the world of video games we often encounter our good old friend, the robot. Whether they are the protagonist, the enemy, or the hired help, the little blighters pop up everywhere, so in tribute to our metallic pals, here is a run down of my top five favourite robots.
5. Big Daddy (Bioshock): These docile behemoths aren't technically robots, but the genetically spliced cyborg chaps inside the huge diving suits are pretty cool. Mild mannered and gentle, they go about their business of protecting the Little Sisters while they go about their messy business of havesting the valuable goop known as ADAM from corpses. Nice. And your job? To either kill or set free the Little Sisters? Be prepared for some angry Big Daddies!
4. The Sackbots (Little Big Planet 2): If Big Daddies are the epitome of quietly lurking doom, then the Sackbots from LBP2 are their polar opposite. Cute, quirky and under Sackboy's vague command, they can be herded around like sheep or attracted with a lady known as Luscious Lucy. (Googling this turns up a selection of, ahem, businesswomen in the centre of London. Add additional search terms!) These robots are a LOT more friendly, but to be honest? A bit useless!
3. Wadsworth (Fallout 3): I often think to myself, how cool would it be to have a robot butler of my very own? That's just what Wadsworth is, a water-dispensing, wisecracking mobile hairdressing unit, and anyone who knows me well knows that I could really do with one. The Mr Handy units, however, were not well renowned for their precision with that circular saw blade, so I'll keep cutting my fringe myself, thank you!
2. Atlas and P-Body (Portal 2): These two robots are a perfect metaphor for my relationship with my darling other half. The one of us is tall and athletic, the other shorter, rounder and blue. My personal insecurities aside, Atlas and P-body's purpose in life is to live together, work together and test together for the rest of their lives. The harmony of their existance is further bolstered by the fact that they don't eat (no arguing about who's cooking tea), they don't sleep (no arguing about who's hogging the quilt) and Atlas has no bum to speak of, therefore by definition it cannot "look big in this". Perfect.
1. Claptrap (Borderlands): While Atlas and P-body both have the option to dance as part of the gestures menu, this fella likes to get down and funky entirely of his own accord. Generally in need of a bit of love and attention when you come across them, once they're up and repaired they'll strut their funky stuff for you quite happily! Go on, check him out in this video! Okay so maybe he's not the most USEFUL robot, maybe he doesn't have the best skills, besides giving you a few extra backpack slots but check out that rhythm! That personality! What a star!
No doubt by now you've heard all about the Playstation Network, and how it was attacked by hackers almost a month ago. Xbox users have been gloating, PS3 users have been distraught, scare stories have been circulated in the news about how people's credit cards have been compromised. Who would do such a thing, one wonders? Unfortunately, the days of hackers hackin' for shits and giggles seem to be over, and it seems increasingly likely that criminal gangs, after your vital information to sell on to scammers, may be to blame.
It is a terrible shame that something so dramatic might happen to such a large and high profile organisation as Sony, but we have to look at the facts. This kind of thing is happening all the time to all kinds of different companies. At the start of the year, Lush Cosmetics found their database to be compromised [source] and was forced to suspend all online sales while the security was ramped up. Having bought products from them, I did the only sensible thing, and kept an eye on my bank account for any irregularities. Luckily, there were none. The moral of the story is "be vigilant", I suppose.
PSN is not the only games network to suffer from the fraudsters, however. I have heard a few vague stories about Xbox Live accounts being hacked, and cards being cloned. Whilst all this evidence is purely anecdotal, it raises the same points. Keep an eye on your finances and be smart with your passwords. One poor lady recently told me a story about how unexplained charges had been made to her credit card. After consulting her son, who "knew nothing about it" and Microsoft, who were dismissive and unhelpful, she got in touch with her bank, who in the end looked into the matter and refunded all the charges made by the fraudster. This lady was lucky, but from this I can only make one cynical assumption. Kids lie.
Have you been affected by credit card fraud? Has your Live account been hacked? Are you just miffed about PSN? I'd love to hear from you!
Just a brief chat about Portal 2 today, I'm supposed to be revising for one of my exams at the moment so this is all procrastination, but I may as well take a few moments to write a few words about the game which is keeping my head out of my books this week.
Portal is one of those genre-busting games that defy definition. The main focus is on it's puzzles, (somewhat fiendishly difficult at times) crossed with some kind of first person shooter. Originally bundled in with the Orange Box compilation with Half Life 2 and Team Fortress 2, Portal tells a story of science, testing and madness at the hands of a sadistic AI known as GLaDOS. To cut a long story short, there are buttons that need to be pressed, high ledges that need to be accessed and turrets that need to be removed, all using a device known as the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, which can fire two linked (you've guessed it) portals which allow the player to pass through and instantly arrive at where the exit portal was fired. Phew, that was harder to explain in laymans terms than expected.
Portal 2 expands on the foundations laid down by the first game by having you attempt to escape from the testing facility after being in suspended animation for some unspecified time. Of course, nothing is ever as simple as that, and before long, you find yourself back in the old testing chambers, having to solve puzzle after puzzle before you can continue. The puzzles are challenging, but not impossible - fifteen minutes of sheer frustration is often followed by a 30 second solution and shouting "oh I see!" at the TV once the necessary bit of flat space for your portal has been found. New aspects such as the bouncy Repulsion Gel add new interest to the game, which I am about half way through. My partner, who annoyingly seems to have a natural aptitude for testing has completed the single player campaign, and assures me that the ending is nothing short of spectacular.
Speaking of my other half, where this game really shines is in the co-operative mode. There are not many games out there which allow for split-screen two player, and even fewer that are actually any good. (If you have any recommendations, please give me a shout!) Two player Portal 2 is a great experience, not only is there the satisfaction of working together on the puzzle, the fact that there are two players, (represented by the absolute cutest robots I've seen since the Claptraps) means that there are now four portals at your disposal for even more variation in the puzzles. For those playing online there is also a signalling and gesture system, so you can tell your partner where to put his portals without having to physically shout and point.
In summary, I cannot recommend this game highly enough, and that's before I've mentioned such other treats as the vocal talents of Stephen Merchant and the dark, dark humour that is ingrained in every test chamber. Now, I've got an exam to cram for, so seriously, go buy this game now! 5/5
