Recently Played

Fighting the fourth (or maybe it was the fifth) colossus in the cistern
was probably the single most amazing gaming experience I've ever had.

Yeah. Seriously.

Awww s**t. I just managed to snag myself an Xbox 360 (well, I won one on Ebay, so hopefully it's not some would be scammer!), so I don't think I'll be able to afford a copy for a while now :sad: I'll try and convince my flatmate to pick up a copy and play that in the mean time :wink:

On the other hand, it means I can play PGR3, which is something I've been wanting to do since...well...PGR2!

---

[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

Hmm, so that Xbox 360 I won seemed to be a scam, though thankfully I hadn't paid anything. It might not have been, but due to the fact that the guy was "no longer a registered memeber of Ebay" when I went to pay him the next day, I decided to pull out of the deal! I've never had any trouble in any of my dealings on Ebay before, but I guess Xbox 360's are the current "hot thing", and so the most obvious things for scammers to try and target. I'm keeping my eyes open for other deals, but I doubt I'll come across one as good as the one I pulled out of.

Anyhow, I picked up Shadow of the Colossus since it was released today, and I'm super glad I did. It's pretty much just a collection of the most awesome boss battles that computer games have ever seen. A few niggles aside - horrible framerate at times (and I hear the PAL version has IMPROVED them; how bad was the NTSC one?!), the PS2's exceptionally poor texture filtering making most textures completely unrecognisable at any sort of skewed angle, the misbehaving camera - it is one hell of a game and an obvious contender for game of the year. Bit easy and short though; after today's sessions I've killed the first 10 colossi, and most, once you figure out the trick to mounting it, fall with ease. I also wish the journeying between colossi featured more Ico esque platforming/puzzling - it hints that it is going to at times but seems reluctant to really follow it through, probably afraid it will detract from the core ideal of killing really huge monsters I guess!

---

[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

I had lent out Resident Evil 4 to a friend. He played through the
game twice before I managed to get it back, and I decided to give it
another shot.

I enjoyed it a lot more this time around, only because I let go of all
my expectations for the game in the context of the Resident Evil
series. I forgot about Racoon City and all the previous games
I've played and loved (RE1, RE2, RE3, RE:Code Veronica) and treated
this as a standalone game.

All the new changes that the developers have added have caused this
game to be more about killing the enemies than simply evading or
surviving, so once I tried to enjoy that aspect my overall enjoyment
increased.

The storyline is still ridiculous and the dialogue terrible -- but I could ignore it and the visuals made up for it all.

Overall -- I liked the game much more once I treated it as an action shoot-em up rather than a survival horror game.

Yeah, it's kinda moved away from those roots. The best part of the game remains the early part in my opinion, with the village and mine probably being the the best moments. Reason being that you aren't so ludicrously overpowered at that point - fending off the hoardes with a pistol and limited ammo is far more exciting.

Project Zero 3 (Fatal Frame 3 in some places) hit the shops today, so as a fan of the series I picked it up. AtM, if you are looking for survival horror you should look into it. I played it for a few hours tonight, and so far my thoughts...

• It's (at least initially) harder than both of the others, but my experience with the series means that doesn't really mean much this early on.
• Not as scary, but again, most likely due to my experience. They still get me every now and then with some sneaky scare tactics. VERY sneaky when you think about how they scared you afterwards too - those guys know the tricks!
• Best story so far, and it ties together the first two games and more quite nicely. In the second game there was the slightest of links, but this one is teeming with them.
• Very inspired by Silent Hill 4: The Room.
• They've made the ghosts appear far more "solid" when really close to you, but still plenty ethereal when distant. This makes for some awesome up close shots.
• Entire game system is still in its archaic form - fixed point camera angles are really beginning to grate now and controls aren't wonderful.

All in all, it's probably the best in the series judging by the first few hours. My only concern is that the series isn't developing in terms of gameplay; it's just becoming more refined in terms of storytelling and presentation. The camera based combat system is still pretty exciting though :smile:

GAME also had a deal on preowned titles - selected titles at 2 for ?5 - so I picked up Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter for the Xbox, and Extreme-G Racing Association for PS2. Not that I hugely cared about either, but at 2 for ?5 you might as well! Unfortunately when I got home I found that XGRA actually had the XG3 disk and manual inside...which sucked considering I already own XG3 for the Gamecube :sad: Back to the shop it goes to be replaced by...who knows.

---

[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

Ah
ReNo, I just saw your post a few up and I'm sorry about that 360, but I'm really glad you got to pick up
SotC. There's plenty of replayability in that game too, with hard
mode and time attack once you get all the way through.

Also -- I hope I didn't build up your expectation of the first flying colossus too much, but what did you think?

One more thing: You didn't mention what you thought of the music.
I personally loved the way it transitioned to fit with what you were
doing... it completed the cinematic feel of the game. For some
reason I felt like the battle with the collosus at the geyser flats was
something straight out of a movie like Lord of the Rings.

First flying colossus was awesome, I loved it :smile: A few of the others were a bit poor, but nothing horrendous. The wall climbing one for instance, was just far too straightforward, and the first of the tiny colossi (the fire cave one) was a let down in terms of size considerations alone. The sand one in the cave that chases you on your horse was also pretty weak. Any of them would be fair boss fights in any other game, but they just didn't live up to the more epic battles in SoTC. The ending removes any negative thoughts you might have about the game though - awesome.

Soundtrack was excellent from start to finish, though at times the transition between the normal music while fighting a colossus and the music when you mount the thing could have been a LOT less jarring. Not enough to ruin the experience or anything, it just wasn't anywhere near as seamless in some fights as it was in others.

---

[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

Yeah --- the smaller colossi weren't as awe-inspiring... but I enjoyed figuring out how to kill them regardless.

That's one of the things I loved about the game... its the best disguised puzzle game I've ever played :smile:

Also -- this game was made to be watched by friends. The "oh
s**t!" moments are just that much better when you're in a room with 3
or 4 other friends.

Thanks for the heads up about the Fatal Frame games. Next time I'm in the video store I'll see if I can rent it.

Yeah, give them a shot. I don't know which one to recommend, as while the third one might contain some spoilers for the earlier games, it's probably the best one of the bunch and as such having it as your first one might make the experience better still. You'll be able to pick up the first game ridicu-cheap by now as it's been out for ages, and the second game is bargain price over here too, so if you do find you enjoy the games then it won't cost you an arm and a leg to pick up the first two installments.

If you have an Xbox or access to an Xbox you might consider playing the first two games on that, as it got the directors cut versions with extra endings, new difficulties, new unlockable modes/minigames (mission mode, survival mode, FPS mode, etc...), extra ghosts, and more. The third one is the only one I've played on the PS2 and thats only because it's just out and no port has been announced AFAIK, but it doesn't seem to be any worse in terms of frame rate or graphics really, so it's probably just the extras that set the Xbox versions apart.

EDIT: The Xbox games seemed far quicker to save than the PS2 version, which takes fair while. Also, this third game only lets you save 16 photos compared to the 100 photos of the first two games - not too sure if it's a change in the game, or if the PS2 could only save 16 in the first two games as well. Not that it really matters :smile:

---

[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

I've weanted to pick up the Fatal Frame games, but they just dissapear. Three is already hard to find, and if you do find it, it's used.

Recently Tried to Play:

Act of War = Good
Turok Evolution (for PC) = Worse than the console versions
Rainbow Six Lockdown (for PC) = TERRIBLE. I'd rather play three in a heartbeat.

---

Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

<span style="color: gray;">Half-Life: Deathmatch - Tons of fun. More fun than HL2DM or HL2DMPro anyway

Half-Life: DeathMatch Classic - Tons of fun. Fast, furious, fun.

Armagetron - a Tron-esque game that is wicked fun.
</span>

Why are you typing in gray?

The "Mercenaries" mini-game in RE4 is a TON of fun. Seriously --
it's my dream come true... an undead arena with sweet pickups, great
unlockables (Krauser and HUNK = Awesome), and frantic frantic run 'n
gun.

<span style="color: gray;">Grey is easier on the eyes.</span>

Yeah I love playing as Hunk - he looks just plain badass, and the SMG/grenade combo, though a bit limited perhaps, kicks the s**t. Are you playing the GC or PS2 version? If the PS2, does it have any other unlockables of note?

---

[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

First things first... the "neckbreaker" melee attack is probably the
single sweetest thing in the entire game. There's no better
resident evil 4 moment than snapping the neck of a chainsaw wielding
hag just as it appears your fate is sealed. I don't know why, but
his SMG also feels more powerful than Ada's.

My second favorite character is definitely Krauser. His special
attack is badass. It's almost too satisfying to watch that dual
chainsaw wielding freak in the waterworld stage explode when I spear
him.

Jeez, my ardor for this game is boundless, ain't it? :smile:

Anyway ReNo, I'm playing the PS2 version.

In general after beating the game I unlocked 4 extras.

1. Seperate Ways -- This is a side story where you get to play as Ada
Wong from the opening village sequence (where you have to ring the
church bell) to the end (I'm assuming, I haven't beaten it yet).

2. Assignment Ada -- You work for wesker and have to
collect 5 plague samples. I haven't played this yet but I think
its shorter than Seperate Ways.

3. Mercenaries -- I've unlocked Ada, Krauser, HUNK, and Wesker. Is that the same as your GC version?

4. Cinematics -- Just get to watch all the cutscenes at your liesure.

Additionally, I unlocked alternate costumes for Leon and Ashley: a
STARS uniform him and a white cowgirl outfit for
her, as well as two new weapons for purchase: the
unlimited rocket launcher for 1 million pts. and the matilda (3 round
burst pistol a la Resident Evil: Code Veronica).

I've read that after I beat the extras I can also unlock the
Chicago Typwriter (unlimited tommygun) and some sort of uber powerful
unlimited magnum.

That's all I can remember. I think the Seperate Ways missions are a PS2 extra, but I don't know about any of the others.

Seperate Ways is PS2 only, but the rest sounds much the same. I had thought there were extra weapons, outfits, and maybe characters for Mercenaries, but perhaps not.

---

[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

Well I'm not sure yet since I haven't completed everything. There could be more...

The only way to check right now would be to google it though.

I've been playing Need for Speed Most Wanted a little bit. While the actors and dialog is completely cheesy and ridiculous, the actual game is very nice. I'm actually surprised (which seems to happen a lot now ... weird) the handling on ALL the cars is good. I haven't unlocked much of anything, so I can't say that for a fact, but, all the ones I've tried have actually handled like CARS. You don't wipe-out when going around turns or anything like that like in a lot of racing games. I thought the other NFS games were mediocre at best, they always rubbed me the wrong way, since there was usually something you couldn't do that was fairly vital to controlling a car. In this, the only vehicle draw backs are: they don't act with the same amount of force a normal car would, Some cars are just "better" when in all actuality they're terrible, you can't do tricks since the "driver" will automatically break when going from reverse to 1st ... douche, no j turns, which would be very incredibly useful since well, half the game is running from cops!

Drifting is pretty much a no go ... at least, I can't do it on a keyboard. I don't know if the actions are actually pressure sensitive, I'll hook a controller at some point to find out.

Anyway, it's a really fun game, if not just for the free roam ability. And this is on computer, by the way, I didn't bother touching it on console ... especially because it looks BEAUTIFUL on computer. The environments are HUGE too.

We still need realistic damage though. And it'd be pretty cool if you could get pulled over (instead of just arrested for not being able to move your car ... which is odd)
You should be able to go out in the gun blaze of glory if you wanted.
But, it'd be interesting if you could BS your way out of tickets. Just like a game that's an amalgam of NFS, GTA, HL2, RTW, and many other games. That game would be sweeeeeeet.

Anyway, if you hate driving games because of the God awful unrealistic handling, then you should give this a try, since they remedied that. Also, the car specs are (as far as I can tell) pretty spot on. They mostly handle like the actual cars. :smile:

---

Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

I find that it handles almost exactly like NFS:U2 All in all the driving physics are one of the things I like least about the NFS games, probably because the lack of drifting (it is basically impossible to use as a feasible cornering technique) removing most of the excitement. The cop chases make up for it though IMO, however since picking up the full game (Xbox version, after playing the PC demo) it seems to have lost some of the appeal. I think it has to do with my PC having a nice sound setup and the obviously far nicer graphics more than anything; the atmosphere just gets stripped down a few notches and it makes a world of difference.

---

[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

Maybe I didn't play the others enough.

But, "the pretty" is one of the largest selling factors. I just wish you could do more in the game. Maybe if it wasn't "need for speed" they would have gone a little further.

I played the Xbox version in a store demo a while ago and I was like "Yuck". I was really reluctant to try it on PC, tried the demo, thought some of the controls were ass. I'm glad they were only unique to that car though :smile:

I want to try this thing out on a lan against some buddies. Bust up some cops together, you know, have a real bonding experience.

---

Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Been playing Scorched Earth 3D since last night (not non-stop) at the urging of my brother, pretty fun. Graphics are sucky but you couldn't really expect better anyway. It's been a long time since I've played the original, so I can only say that I think this one is more customizable. And the bots are CRAZY, they'll fire a MIRV at one guy... slight overkill.

---

One day you'll know what you're talking about, I can hardly imagine

Maps! - Audio blog!

<span style="color: gray;">OMFG! Scorched Earth! I still play Scorched Earth 1.2 against the computer bots using DosBOX......I will have to check out Scorched Earth 3D. Rock on! THE MOTHER OF ALL GAMES....... also, I have been playing a VERY similar game to Scorched Earth, and it is new.....I bet you would LOVE IT.....its called Pocket Tanks.

It has 140 different weapons and is a side angle view just like Scorched Earth.

MIRVs....lol....nice......multi-explosive colorful wickedness

Pocket Tanks has got TONS of similar stuff......

PMing you about mo' details
</span>

I rented Super Mario Strikers last night since my friends and I love
Mario Kart and Fifa, so we thought it'd be a good combination.

It's pretty entertaining, and definitely fun... but nothing more than a
rental. I have a feeling the fun will wear off after another day
or two of playing.

FIFA? Heathen!

The only "soccer" game worth your time is Pro Evolution Soccer.. close
to real football as you're ever likely to get, and so much enjoyable
than sticky dribble/easy scoring FIFA.

Well I got the wrongly provided Extreme-G 3 replaced with what I had actually tried to buy - Extreme-G Racing Association (or XGRA) - and I'm fairly impressed.

• Very fast game, but then the XG games always have been.
• Looks better in some ways than the third game, and worse in others, but that might just be because this is a PS2 game and I have the GC version of 3.
• Quite a nice weapons system, which has a primary weapon with limited ammo that recharges over time, and a secondary weapon which changes as you pick up powerups on track. Each time you pick up a powerup it goes further up the list of weapons - so if you pick up just one powerup and use it you get an energy draining device, pick up two before using it and you get mines, three and you get a speed boost, and so on.
• Pretty cool track designs with a fair amount of route choices, though in places the meandering track can get a little too hard to navigate without using the sides.
• The camera often has trouble showing you what you need to see. With sudden and extreme dips, rises and corners it can be down to luck whether you are aiming for the right line.
• Hated the soundtrack in the third game, but this time around it seems a lot better. It gives you the choice of techno or rock soundtracks, or a mix of the two (which I went for), and the tracks in each genre seem to work very nicely with the theme.

---

[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

Bought 2 new games this week, yeah assholes, bought. :biggrin:

Well, they're new to me.

Dungeon Siege II
Serious Sam 2

and, I bought another gig of RAM.. whohoo, that makes 1.5 for me now :smile:

---

The best things in life, aren't things.

Just got NFS: Most Wanted from a gypsy [size=16]legitimate software store.[/size]

The graphics are droolashious, but the cars behave pretty strangely on
the road. Not being a driver myself, I can't tell whether the handling
is more realistic now or not, but, for the sake of having fun, I prefer
the semi-realistic way the cars behave in the previous titles.

Well I got my new video card Sunday so I can now play games again. I'm playing through HL2 again with max settings and no lag. On my old comp I would get an fps of 15, and that was the high point. I'm also playing through Far Cry for the first time. I also tried out AoE 3 . I plan to try the Doom 3 demo too.

Far Cry and HL2 run nice on my comp. I'm dl Lost Coast right now.

Spartan said:
Well I got my new video card Sunday so I can now play
games again. I'm playing through HL2 again with max settings and no
lag. On my old comp I would get an fps of 15, and that was the high
point. I'm also playing through Far Cry for the first time. I also
tried out AoE 3 . I plan to try the Doom 3 demo too.

Far Cry and HL2 run nice on my comp. I'm dl Lost Coast right now.

Having a more powerful rig is a great feeling. With every upgrade
I go back and play all my old games, and it's like they're completely
different experiences.

Wow, Lost Coast is f**king brilliant. The visuals were amazing. I also played the Doom 3 demo. The game recommended I putting the graphics on High. It was amazing how Doom 3 looked. It ran nicely too. So did Lost Coast.

By the way these are my new specs. ( I've been waiting for a comp like this for a long time.

Celeron D 2.53ghz
1gb RAM
Geforece 6200 OC 256mb PCI

I'm definatly asking for Doom 3 for my birthday. I'd love to learn to map for it.

i've heard a lot of good reviews for doom 3

Nickel and i downloaded the Quake 4 demo and it has some good gameplay

it's really great how they continued from quake 2 with a mission based
game and included the quake 3 arena gameplay at the same time

Spartan, a lot of people ragged on Doom 3 but I bought it and really
enjoyed it. I'm just a big Doom fan in general so it was awesome
to see all my favorite enemies given a true facelift (pinky =
amazing). It's every bit as scary as the dark maze in the first
level in Doom 1.

The voiceacting ("This is the maintainance log of Adam Bernache...") is
just phenomenal, and I loved the way it contributed to the atmosphere.

Same here. I really enjoyed the demo. There was one part in the bathroom that involved a mirror that scared the s**t out of me. The game has a really creepy feeling because you always have that fear in the back of your mind. You never know what's going to be around the next corner or behind the next door.

I think once I get it I'm going to check out the editor. Looks like it would've been a great engine to use for NS 2.

Just played Quake 2 and damn that was good. ID certinly knows how to make first person shooter games.

I think the only reason Hl1 was loved better then it is because people loved the story so much. Quake's enemies look nicer and their design is much cooler. The only thing I don't like about them is that their face is flat and made out of a texture. Their AI is fun too. In Hl1 the shots hit directly at you, in Quake there is always a way to escape them. (except form the shotgun, but the gaurd has very little health) All I ever do in Hl1 is creep around corners and shoot while I stand, in Quake 2 I circle around enemies, jump...ect It's much more faster.

Quake 2 is also scarier. Hl1 now never scares me, all the enemies aren't scary at all. Quake 2 even after so many times scares me. The mutant that jumps at you and runs in such a weird way is the scarist.

Quake 2's maps, in my opinion, look much better and look much more realistic.(even though thats it's in another planet in the future) The lighting is much nicer and every level is packed with awsome sounds. Plus in Quake 2 they used particles, they can be sometimes better.(the particles looked a bit weird for they are made out of dots I prefer the way they did it in spirit of Hl1) Quake 2's weapon's produce light when used Hl1's don't.

---

Elon Yariv

Elon Yarif

I agree with you. I love the Quake and Unreal style games because in the more "realistic" games like Counterstrike and MOHAA, you can only jump like 3 inches off the ground, and once someone starts shooting at you, you can't move and they just keep shooting you. in Quake and Unreal, you can jump out of the way of rockets and dodge and you can jump very high, and the movement speeds are fast. I hate how the newer games make you move SO SLOOOOWWWWW! Give me a BFG and unrealistic physics over a Panzerschreck and inability to jump and move ANY DAY.

---

I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

Quake 2's weapon's produce light when used Hl1's don't.

That's not true. The 9mmar, for instance, produces a faint yellow
light when fired while explosions produce a fairly generous amount of
light. And let's not mention the way RPG rockets light the ground when flying at low altitude.

one thing that makes Unreal freaking awesome is the redeemer, seriously how awesome is a selfguided rocket launcher? it's freakin awesome, that's ho!

true that fatstrings! My brothers never did figure out how to guide the missiles, and I never told them. HAHAHAHA!

Also in Quake2 when you shoot a rocket into a dark area, you can see what is in that area, in HL2 and HL you can't. I have never seen any weapon light up anything...

---

I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

I'm pretty certain that they do. Also, let's not forget that HL had awesome weapons too - tripmines, satchels, guided RPG, mad flying gauss cannon, crossbow, crowbar, SNARKS... A far more interesting repetoire than Quake 2's typical lineup. I don't know about you guys, but I used the environment and weapons in HL1 far more strategically than in Quake's "all you can do is aim and pull the trigger" style of combat. Not that I didn't enjoy Quake 2 or anything.

---

[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

I'm certain that the rockets light stuff up in TFC. I don't know about HL but I'd assume it'd be the same.

I remember when I switched from software to D3D/OpenGL I was wowed by the rocket glow.

I totally agree with you ATM. The voice acting is great and the PDA system adds a lot of depth to the gameplay. I really like the sound ambience of the game. It was awesome hearing all the screams and gunshots echo throughout the halls. Sometimes you could hear things on the other side of walls or noises coming from vents.

Ah the aural pleasure of Doom3...

Wasn't there an expansion for the game? Has anyone played it?

I guess I'll come out and say it.

Doom 3 sucks.

Haha, I agree. I liked some of the effects and whatnot but the gameplay was fairly crappy. "Oh noez zombie, oh noez imp flying out of vent, OH NOEZZZZZZZZ"

---

One day you'll know what you're talking about, I can hardly imagine

Maps! - Audio blog!

I've said this before and I'll repeat the step by step procedure of this horribly repetitive game;

1. walk into room

2. lights flicker off

3. panel pops off, zombie walks out

4. kill zombie

5. enough light comes back for you to find the next room

6. repeat

I can see how you wouldn't like it -- but I personally just love
zombies and I let myself get really into the whole experience. I
wasn't expecting a thinking man's game when I bought it either.
And as far as thoughtless action goes, I thought it beat the pants off
other games in the same vein, like Painkiller.

Doom 3 was awesome in its own way. The bleeding edge graphics made the whole game much more playable to me. I had everything cranked.(You know, back in my GEForce 6800 days). The play itself was linear, repetetive, and the puzzles were weak, and the end boss was too simple to defeat , but I had a good time playing it. Level design kicked ass visually.

Just finished F.E.A.R., and in a similiar vein, I was thouroughly entertained with the games engine. Particle effects, weaponry, and graphics made a rather simple, linear, repetetive single player experience much more pleasurable. As I got further into the game, I began to experiment with scissor, and sweeping kicks in close quarter combat, in tandem with weapon exchanges. 'Twas truly satisfying at times. The games end was somewhat dissapointing, with the developers opting for more of a cinematic event, rather than an end boss(sorry hope thats not a spoiler) but all in all a very well made game.

Right now I am about midway through the American campaign on COD2. I have killed somewhere between 1000 to 2000 nazis and am having a decent time with it. Very repetetive, but a monster of a time at the Veteran difficulty level. That is what I like best. It's freaking hard!.

My only problem is with the multiplayer in all of these games. Theres no magic there for me, save for the slow mo in team DM in F.E.A.R. Its a nice diversion, but still no HL2.

About ready to go and get the next game after this. Maybe Black when it comes out.

Frenchy I can see how you wouldn't like it -- but I personally just
love zombies and I let myself get really into the whole
experience. I wasn't expecting a thinking man's game when I
bought it either. And as far as thoughtless action goes, I
thought it beat the pants off other games in the same vein, like
Painkiller.

I also agree with Juim. I know Doom3 has its shortcomings, but what it does well it does really well, and that's enough for me.

My list of recently played games, and what I thought of them:

• Half-Life 2 - Everything that I was hoping for and more.
• Burnout: Revenge (PS2) ? Best arcade racer I have played in a long tome, the first Burnout game I have played.
• Tony Hawk: American Wasteland (PS2) ? This game I quite enjoy, I have heard many people say the game is getting tired ? same old thing ? but I missed a few of the games in the middle so it didn?t seem all that tired to me.
• The Matrix: The Path of Neo (PS2) ? Crap. Bought it one day, traded it in the next (and got more back than I paid for it :razz: , was on sale when I bought it, the main reason I thought id give it a go).
• Serious Sam II (PC) ? Fun in CO-OP mode, seems too linear compared to the original to the original and expansion ? loved how you could run for what seemed like forever off the sides of the level ? but the huge bosses are still fun.

---

SourDough2.0 - With Strawberry Jam