Posts Tagged ‘Dead Space 2’

Gaming is becoming an increasingly wonderful (and expensive) hobby. Last year I must have played and completed more games than in any previous year. That isn’t me bragging, it’s a sad statement of my year of part-time employment that has left me with a depressing amount of free time to indulge my hobby. Luckily gaming was accommodating, with a flood of polished and interesting releases throughout the year.

In a year so filled with titles any list I can offer is far from exhaustive, but I can say with certainty that if you see a game the coming few posts that you haven’t tried, then you should probably consider it.

This is a list of the biggies. Games with the advertising muscle to make an impact, with or without the medias’ approval. Don’t hold that against them though, seek them out if they passed you by.

Dead Space 2 – A real treat to start the year for a horror game fan. Managing to blend horrific monsters, creepy plot and tight shooting action, its success was well deserved. While I still maintain the original Dead Space offers a scarier and more terrifying experience, Dead Space 2 to builds on the unnerving interplay between church, state and unknown alien force that was only hinted at in the original.

Dead Space 2's setting, the silent and isolated Sprawl.

Portal 2 – My expectations were mixed for Portal 2. With the original an unexpected bonus in the Orange Box, much of its appeal was a snappy sense of humour and the fact it was basically perceived as free. But keeping the same sense of discovery and comedy was going to be a challenge. Valve should never be doubted however and the results were impressive, maybe lacking some of the wonder of the original, but managing to defy (my) doubt filled expectations.

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – No real surprise here, this vast game can accurately be described as epic with little hyperbole. Advances on Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion’s combat system and graphics were to be expected but it was the Radiant AI that dynamically introduces quests that really elevated Skyrim.

Skyrim finally made hairy overly large men the stars, so I felt right at home.

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception – Another globe trotting adventure for Nathan Drake, Uncharted 3 was incredible, with ship, airplane and desert sequences that were as good if not better than any single set piece of Uncharted 2. It may have ultimately been a less cohesive and rounded story than the second game, but it remains a fantastic and moving adventure.

Super Mario 3D Land – It is hard not to love Nintendo when they are on their game. The effort and craft they but into each of their flag ship titles is undeniable, and Super Mario 3D Land is a prime example. An instantly familiar feel despite entirely new angles of play, in conjunction with the best use of 3D on the handheld, made this not only one of the best games on the system but also of the year.

Okay, so I lost everything. That is, in short, that I crammed my life into a bag and then proceeded to leave it on a train. There are excuses I could make but in the end I am just an idiot.

£700 later (that is seven hundred pound Stirling, no more yen here) I had altered all my travel plans and replaced my passport. My Mac (the final key part on my life in bag bundle pack) remained lost… that is until yesterday. Receiving a letter from Southwest Trains I was informed they had my bag, and against all odds, everything remained present and correct, restoring my faith in humanity and the British public.

My Mac, safely at home.

So why is this post testing? Well now I am off to London for Darren’s birthday (for those who don’t know Darren is my co-host on the DoFuss show). Wanting to post about recent events I was going to put something together on the train, but gun-shy from the last week I wanted my Mac to stay safely at home.

Now with my bag on the rack above me (just where it was when I lost it) I am tapping this out on my newly installed WordPress Android app, passport firmly in my pocket. It may not work, and I am sure the grammar/spelling will be at best squiffy, but if I get this up at least I will have managed to make my excuses for my next February post (which is going to out line my plans for DoFuss through the rest of this month and March) being so horribly late.

Feeling luckier than I have for sometime, and tremendously grateful to an anonymous stranger, I will restart February today. Forgetting the last ten days and focusing on the parties and holidays a head. I’ll post more ‘game’ posts once I return to my Mac, but in the meantime I offer these two nuggets of my recently acquired gaming wisdom: 1, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is actually very good, but I had to play up to chapter IV (four hours or so) before it really began to kick off. And 2, Dead Space 2 is incredible and while I preferred the first title I know the sequel will be more popular with players at large.

That’s it. Buy and enjoy both those games, and make up your own mind as to how lucky, unlucky or straight up jammy I am. Check back later this month for more ‘real’ posts.

Life may be busy but that hasn’t stopped us here at DoFuss, so here for your entertainment is the latest show. If you have been counting (and I don’t know why you would have been) you may have noticed this is the thirtieth show since we rebooted last year, which makes it as old as us, kind of.

With E3 coverage drawing to a close Darren and I dedicated this show to looking back on the announcements that caught our shared eye. Of course Move, Kinect and 3DS dominated discussion but we also indulge in some of the games that stood out to us, such as the beautiful Journey and Lost in Shadow. And we like Pierce Brosnan.

Enjoy and check back later this month for the second anniversary of the DoFuss Show.

The DoFuss Show – Some thoughts on E3 and Pierce Brosnan. [ 59:00 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Whenever I have been asked about my most anticipated game of 2010 is I have answered Dead Space 2. It is an instinctive response; the original was far and away my favourite game of 2008. While I feel the game didn’t need a sequel science-fiction survival horror titles prove a rare breed, so I take them where I can get them.

I felt a pang of disappointment and annoyance as I started watching E3 footage Dead Space 2. Isaac Clarke, the games protagonist, has changed. Gone is the clunky practical engineer suit, replaced instead by a more ‘edgy’ outfit. I was sad at the loss of the old distinctive look, worried the game was to be bleached it of personality to attract a wider audience.

New meaner looking suit just feels more generic.

Happily I was wrong.

Whatever the reason for Isaac’s new suit its existence soon faded as I watched the footage. New environments from the games terrestrial setting were on show, most interest of which was a church. A blend of gothic architecture and the games own derelict industrial style were obvious in the building, making it feel familiar but hinting at a diversity that was absent in the original.

New enemies (Necromorphs) of varying sizes were also on show. Attacking Isaac, some of these other otherworldly forms were reminiscent of spiders while others looked like small children with gaping tooth filled mouths. Foes approached in larger numbers than the original game, making pace appear more frantic, another shift in direction for the game I will reserve judgement on for now.

I am eager to jump back into Dead Space’s fiction to find out more about its mysterious parasitic Necromorphs and the delusional Church of Unitology. My only major disappointment from the news out of the show was that the release date has slipped to 2011, but at least it January.