PS3 Notes

It occurs to me that, just as I use the blog as a way of listing the films that I watch (watched the A-Team last night – much, much better than I expected, will probably end up being one of my favourites of the year) so too should I keep track of the games that I play on the PS3 – many fewer than the films as they take much longer to play! So I’ll probably do this once or twice a year. It also lets me watch films in blu-ray…

So since getting the PS3 last summer, I have played through:
BioShock 2 – possibly not quite as good as #1 but my favourite game so far (and what I bought the PS3 for)
Arkham Asylum – stopped before the end, got bored with it, far too linear
Heavy Rain – very very interesting, the shape of things to come
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves – quite fun
Red Dead Redemption – very interesting, but the last third was not quite up to the standard of the earlier elements. Great if you like Westerns (which I do)
And I am about to finish Dead Space, which I’m enjoying, but it’s not a patch on Bioshock.

I suspect that what novels were to the 19th century, and movies were to the 20th, games will be to the 21st.

Heavy Rain (PS3)

Now this was a step in the right direction for me – although a sluggish and annoying beginning (annoying because I didn’t find the control system intuitive, and it caused problems later on) – the basic conceit for this ‘game’ is fascinating, and I felt it worked well. Essentially, you play different characters in what is essentially a ‘track down a serial killer’ movie – and it works. I’ve only played it through fully once – and to be honest I’ll probably not bother playing through alternative timelines, I’ll just look them up on the web – but as a taster of the way the technology is moving, this was absorbing, characterful and exciting. Recommended for the more cerebral game player.
(For more info on what the game is about, go here.)

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3)

OK, 2nd PS3 game that I’ve played through (came with the box) and…. it’s alright, quite fun, would make a good, sub-Indiana Jones movie (with much higher body count). Thing is, lots of the little tricks that hook game players into keeping going (like accumulating treasures) just had no interest for me. So: clearly a very good game, just not intelligent enough for me.

Bioshock 2


Something else I spent my holiday hours on. Having loved the first one so much, I was very eager to get started on this. Summary review: better gameplay, less good story – but as the story in the first one was so brilliant, it would be hard to keep up, and it is still good. Instead of a nutter right-winger being the antagonist, this time it’s a nutter left-winger. Rapture is still a fascinating environment, and the ending sets up for a Bioshock 3. Good for those with anger management issues ;o)

TV/ Movie notes

I’m really getting out of the habit of these.
Duplicity 3.5/5 Entertaining and a good ending
Push 3/5 So-so
Seven Pounds 4/5 Very interesting and well done, not sure it’s at all orthodox though.
Now for the trashy ones:
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans 3/5
Friday 13th (remake) 4/5 Better than the original
Lesbian Vampire Killers: 2/5 utter drivel

Also watching at the moment:
Torchwood (season 2) – gets better and better, particularly liked the memory episode
Caprica – excellent, really engages with the themes of identity
Lost – is managing to raise my hopes that it will achieve a better resolution than BSG
24 – average
Fringe – Walter Bishop is a genius character, but the programme as a whole has lost its way

I’ve also been a very naughty boy. Let’s just say I now have the capacity to play Bioshock 2, but not on my PC….

Bioshock


I bought a copy of this from ebay a couple of months ago, and have now managed to finish it (twice). I’ve been really impressed with it, principally the way that the narrative functions within the game, the moral complexity that is possible, and the way in which it functions as a commentary on Ayn Rand and the implications of her philosophy. My imagination now has thoughts of Splicers and plasmids flitting through it unbidden….

I hadn’t played a proper PC game for many years, so this – even though it is now two years old – really raised my eyebrows. Highly recommended, if you like this sort of thing.