Friday, November 28, 2008

Professor Layton and The Rip-Off Village


Above is a picture of a Stickie on my work Mac. I add games to it; forgotten classics, up-to-date titles and suggestions from blogs and friends.
I’ve been eyeing up one of them, Professor Layton on DS, for ages but thought I would wait for the UK release. I’m happy to pay £25-£30 for a good DS game, like Phantom Hourglass. There’s no way I’m forking out nearly £60, Mr. Amazon. I’ll be looking elsewhere me thinks! It just reminds me of the days when Street Fighter II came out and Mean Machines advertised it for over £100.

Late to the party

I never jumped on the Gears of War bandwagon when it rolled into town two years ago. Back then I was convinced I was going to get a Wii, until my mates went all 360 on me and Wii at launch didn't exactly inspire a hardcore gamer did it? Wii Sports was good for a laugh with the missus, though Zelda: Twilight Princess still evades me to this day. I'll be getting a Wii then. *adds to Amazon wishlist*
So it was with the launch of Gears 2 the other day that I picked up the original for £8. I was planning to play co-op with a fellow n00b, but I've been dumped in favour of Mass Effect, so it's single-player Hammer of Dawn for me.
Using scenery for cover has been talked about for months, so I won't go into that here, except to say that it's great to see a game hang on this premise. Monsters are quality B-movie behemoths though I'm sure I saw something similar in Armorines.
I'm not loving it though. Maybe I need to get my head down and stop ducking out for a game of FIFA 09, which is the best version I've seen in a decade.
The jury is still out on the new avatars. Yes, it's too much like the Wii, but I've got a monobrow so it scores well so far. Check me out next time you're on - Tiny1976 is the name.