UNO: This was actually the most pleasant game to watch him play. He didn’t fully know the rules of UNO, but picked them up within a minute and came close to winning a few times.

BioShock: Watching him play BioShock was downright infuriating. The random movement of looking up and down almost made me dizzy and every enemy took about ten to twenty bullets to be killed on easy difficulty. Not to mention great quotes like the one in the title of this post referring to a security bot or the following referring to a female splicer:

Friend: Why isn’t it dying?
Me: ‘Cause you’re not hitting it.

Kingdom of Keflings: By all means KoK is a very easy game to pick up for non-gamers. The tutorial covers most of the things needed to progress and the overall gameplay is mostly stress free. There were a couple of issues there to do with finding a tool necessary to harvest crystals. The main annoyance for me in watching him, however, was that he made so many errors, or rather, that he missed things, like extra Keflings or didn’t manage them meaningful.

I’ve never really enjoyed watching other people play games though, with the exception of watching my housemate at the time play Condemned on the PC and we both got scared the entire time through.

Watching my friend play some games made me think about gaming in general and how it is and will be a niche for quite some time longer. It’s been seven years that I got into gaming and since then have played games a lot and I seem to have forgotten how difficult gaming can be for those that don’t regularly do it. By no means am I perfect at games or the best game player, but I could pretty much pick up every game and play it. My aim is more or less steady and I can figure out objectives based on previous experiences with games of which I undoubtedly have a lot.

I’ve mentioned before that gamers have should an obligation to educate non-gamers on the content of games, but now I think that needs to be extended to the actual gameplaying, too.

My mission for the next few months is to convert one of my friends into a gamer! Wish me luck!

Game music is an integral part of the game playing experience so it’s hardly surprising that most of the game music I own is from my favourite games and it’s also probably not very susprising that I listen to the game music of some games a lot.

These are all gaming related soundtracks that I currently own and I do most definitely recommend all of them:

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer by Christophe Beck.
• Beyond Good & Evil by Christophe Heral
• BioShock by various. [Previous post on it here]
• Burnout 3 by various.
• Burnout Takedown by various.
• The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay by unknown.
• Crysis by Inon Zur.
• Deus Ex by Alexander Brandon, Dan Gardopée, Michiel van den Bos and Reeves Gabrels.
• Deus Ex Invisible War by Alexander Brandon.
• Fable by Russell Shaw and Danny Elfman.
• Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter by Tom Salta
• GTA III by various.
• GTA Vice City by various.
• GTA San Andreas by various.
• GTA IV by various.
• Gun by Christopher Lennertz.
• Halo 1 by Martin O’Donnell and  Michael Salvatori.
• Halo 2 by Martin O’Donnell and  Michael Salvatori.
• Halo 3 by Martin O’Donnell and  Michael Salvatori.
• Halo Wars by Stephen Rippy.
• Hitman 2 by Jesper Kyd.
• Hitman Blood Money by Jesper Kyd.
• Jade Empire by Jack Wall.
• Mass Effect by Jack Wall and Sam Hulick.
• Splinter Cell Chaos Theory by Amon Tobin.
• Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic by unknown.
• Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords by unknown.
• Star Wars Republic Commando by unknown.
• Stubbs the Zombie by various.
• The Elder Scrolls III – Morrowind by Jeremy Soule.
• The Elder Scrolls IV – Oblivion by Jeremy Soule.
• And anything done by the Video Game Pianist [and it's even better his music can be downloaded for free on his site].

My Last.fm stats aren’t very surprising to me. Within my top 100 artists the following game soundtracks are among them:

• Mass Effect – 349 listens.
• GTA [all] – 277 listens [this should be more, but unfortunately most of them are untagged and I'm too lazy to tag them correctly!].
• Halo [all] – 271 listens.
  
• Deus Ex [all] – 198 listens.
• Video Game Pianist – 178 listens.
  
• Buffy – 164 listens.
  
• Beyond Good & Evil – 143 listens.
  
• Jade Empire – 121 listens.
  
• Fable – 114 listens.
  
• KotOR [all] – 112 listens.
  
• Gun – 105 listens.
  
• Oblivion – 73 listens.
  

There some soundtracks I’ve been unable to find, however, including:

• Assassin’s Creed
• Black
• Broken Sword
• Call of Duty 4
• Destroy all Humans
• Freedom Fighters
• Hitman Contracts
• Just Cause [especially the chilled out music playing when parachuting/gliding!]
• Oddworld games.
• Rainbow Six Vegas
• Splinter Cell Double Agent.
• Voodoo Vince
• Wallace and Gromit in Project Zoo

Those who know me know that I like to play video games. I like a variety of games, as the list of my favourite Xbox games shows, as well as many 360 games, such as Dead Rising, Oblivion, Mass Effect, Rainbow 6 Vegas and other games more commonly referred to as ‘kiddie games’.

I have been known to play through the entire night, on occasion even weekends when a new title I have been anticipating gets released and I don’t even want to think about how many hours I have spent on Halo 2 or Rainbow 6 Vegas combined over the years. In fact, I realised the other day that it had been two years since I had last played Halo 2 yet could still remember the locations and spawn times over every single weapon on all the Halo 2 maps [with the exception of Waterworks that is!], including specific strategies.

In addition to that I read about video games, listen to some video game music, talk about video games and have worked in the video games industry and will most likely do so again.

I have written about games politics on this blog before; once praising the state of Delaware launching a campaign to make parents aware that games carry ratings and another time on how Germany passed a new legislation disallowing games on the index to be advertised in shops back in May 2008.

It was speculated among people on Twitter early during the first news of the shooting In Winnenden that somehow games would be blamed for this and whilst it initially seemed like they were wrong and fellow students mentioned how he never had much to do with computers this soon changed and suddenly video games are everything people talk about.

Cue the arrival of the ‘usual suspects’ and right at the front of it all Christian Pfeiffer [do yourself a favour and read his Wikipedia article!] who I strongly believe to be someone on his path to becoming the German Jack Thompson. Coincidentally he has just completed a study into the behaviour of teens which has concluded that 15 year olds play around two hours a day on the computer, ergo addicted and are also xenophobic and prone to violence.

However, unsurprisingly all concentration since the weekend is on video games. Every now and then I hear in a debate the quiet whispers of ‘We’re still looking into gun laws’, but the majority of the media is about gaming. For example, the radio news in the late afternoon only briefly mentioned the letter Tim K’s parents had written yet spent a considerably longer amount on gaming addiction. Also curious where all the different outlets are suddenly finding all the supposed game addicts.

Phoenix, one of the political news channels in Germany, has dedicated much of yesterday’s programming on the issue of video games by calling up experts, broadcasting live from several press conferences and having discussion rounds. These are some of my tweets during the press conference and a documentation from 2007 [Gewalt spielen] that Phoenix broadcasted:

• Far Cry 2 a more brutal game than Counter Strike?
• Anyone in Germany interested in games should watch the pressconference on Phoenix and shake their head in disbelief..
• Yeah, right.. A documentary about gaming with a ten years old playing GTA SA. Cause it’s the game’s fault, not the retailer, obvs. /sarc
• Another: “I broke a kid’s jaw just ’cause.” He DIDN’T say he played games, so what’s that got to do in a documentary about violent games!?
• LOL: “He also plays real violent games” as they’re showing King Kong [that linear game to the film] and Jedi Academy in the background.
• “I want to feel like a man, so I play shooting games.” Just where did they find these people?!
• Kid’s theatre: ten kids all pretend to stab each other [Macbeth], somehow that’s meant to be better than playing a game? Really? How?!

And about a discussion group later on:

• Christian Pfeiffer is the German Jack Thompson..
• Apparently STALKER confuses history. I thought that game was set in the future in a different reality?!
• @capo42 It was yet anther joke. Pfeiffer, some random ex addict who wants to ban games, two defending games, but host didn’t give them much.

I have yet to see gamers make much of an impact in any of the documentaries or reports I’ve seen, this whole situation is again just people talking about gamers and not with them and journalists are scrambling to get anything together leading to badly done documentaries that don’t help the situation. Tell any gamer that King Kong is a ‘real violent’ game and they’ll laugh as a vast majority of us has seen much worse from BioShock to GTA to games depicting any of the wars.

Yet it seems like there’s not much coming from the gamer community. I see silent protests everywhere from gaming accessory companies giving away free T-shirts ["I don't vote game killers"] to flickr groups in which people post pictures of themselves with captions [For example: "I have killed many people with shotguns in Halo. I have never killed anyone in real life. Not because there are no people. There are no guns. Not in my life"], but nothing that substantial enough.

Gamers just have this instinct to get defensive everytime the topic turns to gaming which perhaps is a result of ongoing bitter console wars or perhaps it’s just a sign that they feel misunderstood by society at large that has yet again pointed the finger at them. Some reactions I’ve read on blogposts and internet forums over the last days have also been discraceful and almost made me ashamed to be a gamer. Some gamers just use expletives, others talk about illegally importing all future games and the like. How can gamers expect to be taken seriously if there are so many bad apples in our midst?

On the other hand I, too, have been getting angry at some of the comments I’ve heard over the last days from the people wishing to ban/restrict games, however that is mainly just aimed at the ignorance and uneducated nature of them. Some examples:

• Several programs claimed that the driving force behind gaming is that gamers are able to be God-like, control life and death, feel powerful and reign destruction all of which are things I wouldn’t even place on the list of top ten reasons why I game.
• It’s been mentioned that gamers have less social contact which I’m sure has been true at some point, but with more and more people having access to the internet and online gaming I believe that’s something that isn’t true any more.
• According to a documentary people playing games waste their time which may be true for some games [I do not believe Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing has any redeeming features, sorry!] yet not for most others. Sure, some see Counter Strike as a simple game to practice headshots, others will see it as a game that teaches communication, tactics, judging of situations and most of all teamwork.
• The fact people make up games that don’t exist, such as the game that pays 35000USD extra for letting someone bleed to death or where cutting off every limb with a chainsaw gives extra points.
• Specifically citing blackmailing/beating up shopkeepers in The Godfather as bad which after all is taken from a [arguably] Hollywood classic from 1972?

The main problem at the moment is, however, that the whole situation is nothing but everyone running around like headless chickens. A boy or rather teenager has gone and killed 15 people and committed suicide. People are scared as nothing appeared to be wrong with him and I doubt we will ever find out the real reasons behind his motives which can be anything or nothing.

Gaming isn’t a mainstream past time, most people don’t have access to a high end PC or consoles and it is a foreign concept to them meaning gaming has to be explained to them and gamers have to act responsibly and not just blindly defend their stance. It is still a new industry and people have a right to ask why there have been an increased number of shootings or stabbings in recent years when gaming has only now become so popular and weapons have been around centuries.

That’s why I do think gamers have to do a better job at, well, being gamers. There have been over 35 studies in the last years about the effects of video games and whilst most have been inconclusive some others have proven games increase the level of tolerance with violence or increase aggressiveness. Sure, others at the same time have disproven any findings.

Gamers have to participate in future studies, it is our responsibility to educate others about our hobby, just like it is the repsonsibility of many game companies. Active approach, active positive explanation of games needs to happen from gamers who have to enter this discussion with the politicians and the groups that are against gaming.

And at the same time all those calling for measures need to listen. The whole situation currently is a big mess with politicians abusing the fact it’s a major election year for their own purpose by demanding and condemmning whatever comes to their minds. Germany already has the strictest gaming laws in Europe and many games available in other countries aren’t available here and whilst many gamers would like games to be seen as culture they know not every game deserves to be called that just like a dime novel isn’t a great work of literature. Rushing into action without fully investigating the entire background of the shootings and having discussions about this isn’t what you have been elected for by the people.

I have to admit I’ve been finding it difficult writing this post as there has simply been too much information in the last days and I have not been sure what my opinion on the matter is. I don’t think the attitude of some gamers in defending every game blindly is commendable as there are many games I wouldn’t consider enrich anything, yet of course the same can be said from films. And others are works of art and again, the same can be said about films.

Some games are taking it a bit far; I was honestly shocked by Manhunt and have not played the second one and there have been moments during Condemned that have affected me a lot, although I have always been a ‘jumpy’ person and do not watch horrofilms. And there are gamers that actively wish their games to have more blood or graphical content which could be considered questionable.

And I feel rather angry at being chucked in this big pot of people that play games and having to be told I just play games to feel like God. Yes, I play a lot of games, but that’s not everything. I’m still an individual person with many interests including knitting [One day I'll blog about that, too. Maybe if they talk about banning wool soon..] or reading books.

And I hope that a tweet I made yesterday will not be true..

Mark my words: A large number of videogames [16+] will be banned in Germany by the end of 2009.

Some further reading touching up on things I’ve mentioned [some links are in German and you'll have to use a translator]:

• World of Bullshit [taz]
• Zu schnell geschossen [Die Zeit]
• Winnenden und der Mörder, der nicht in den Kram passt [Handelsblatt]
• Amok Koma [Spreeblick]
• Streit über Computerspiele neu entbrannt: “Killerspiele sind Pornos für die männliche Aggressivität” [Tagesschau.de]
• Comment: German shooting linked to Far Cry 2. Really? [Gamezine.co.uk]
• Violent Video Game ban requested in Germany [Gamezine.co.uk]
• Why Do Americans Own Guns Again? Teen Kills Mother Over Halo 3 [Gamezine.co.uk]
• Merkel für unangekündigte Kontrollen bei Waffenbesitzern [Spiegel Online]
• Programmhinweis [Stigma Videospiele]
• Killerspielverbot: Bayern entscheided Donnerstag [Stigma Videospiele]
• Sind Computerspiele „Kulturgüter“ oder handelt es sich hierbei um „Schund“? [Deutscher Kulturrat] [.pdf book download]
• Jeder siebte Jugendliche “sehr” ausländerfeindlich [Welt.de]
• Einen Amoklauf lernt man nicht durch Counterstrike [Welt.de]
• Neuntklässler spielen täglich 130 Minuten am PC [Welt.de]
• Niedersachsen drängt auf strengere Altersfreigabe [Haz.de]
• Schäuble: “Was läuft schief in unserer Gesellschaft?” [Deutschlandfunk]
• Schluss mit dem Gewalt-Tabu [Pfarrer Thomas Hartmann]
• Gehet hin und prügelt euch [Focus.de]
• Games do not kill. Guns do.
• “Ich wähle keine Spielekiller” [3Dsupply]
• Computerspiele unter Beschuss [piratenbrandenburg.de]
• Winnenden und die Schuld der Medien [Spiegelfechter.de]
• Researchers Suspect “Perfect Storm” of Political Opportunism in Game Violence Studies [Game Politics]
• Wird sich die Gesellschaft zu einem wirksamen Jugendschutz durchringen? [Zeit Fragen]
• Amoklauf durch Gewaltspiele? [Krawall Gaming Network]
• KFN profile for Christian Pfeiffer [KFN.de]
• Malte Behrmann, Vorsitzender GAME e.v. [Malte-Behrmann.de]
• Armin Laschet
• “Wir verkaufen nicht an Amokläufer!” [Bam-Stevinho.de]
• Wieder die ‘Killerspiele’ [Gamestar.de]
• Was Sie über Videospiele wissen müssen [Stern.tv]
• Über GTA und Aggression [dreisechig.net]

Image sources: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Phoenix program links: 1 | 2| 3|

I’m having an incredible amount of incoming searches for the BioShock music which is most likely due to the game finally being released on the PS3. I loved the game and I’m happy for everyone that now has a chance to play the game.

The Orchestral score was made available as a download on the ‘Cult of Rapture‘ site just after the 360 release last year. It is incredibly beautiful and I recommend everyone to download it. And whoever said no to free stuff?!

BioShock Orchestral score tracklist:

1. BioShock Main Theme (The Ocean on His Shoulders)
2. Welcome to Rapture
3. Dr. Steinman
4. The Docks
5. The Dash
6. Step Into My Gardens
7. Dancers on a String
8. Cohen’s Masterpiece
9. The Engine City
10. Empty Houses
11. This Is Where They Sleep
12. All Spliced Up

• Download the BioShock Orchestral score. [rightclick, save as]

The limited edition of the 360 version also contains three tracks by Moby:

1. Beyond the Sea
2. God Bless the Child
3. Wild Little Sisters

The game furthermore uses a variety of songs from the era. I am so used to hearing them on BioShock that I’m unable to listen to them without being reminded of BioShock! The full list of licensed tracks is:

1. Django Reinhardt – La Mer (Beyond the Sea)
2. The Ink Spots – If I Didn’t Care
3. Noël Coward – The Party’s Over Now
4. The Ink Spots – The Best Things in Life Are Free
5. Django Reinhardt – It Had to Be You
6. Bing Crosby – Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams
7. Johnnie Ray – Just Walking in the Rain
8. Bing Crosby – Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
9. The Andrews Sisters – Bei Mir Bist du Schön
10. Django Reinhardt – Jitterbug Waltz
11. Billie Holiday – Night and Day
12. Django Reinhardt – Liza (As the Clouds Roll Away)
13. Noël Coward – Twentieth Century Blues
14. Django Reinhardt – Please Be Kind
15. Bobby Darin – Beyond the Sea
16. Pytor Llyich Tchaikovsky – Nutcracker Suite: Waltz of the Flowers
17. Stanley Black – Academy Award
18. Rosemary Clooney – It’s Bad for Me
19. Perry Como – Papa Loves Mambo
20. Billie Holiday – God Bless the Child
21. Cole Porter – You’re the Top
22. Mario Lanza – Danny Boy
23. Patti Page – (How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?
24. Noël Coward – World Weary

Enjoy!

Over the last years I’ve never had much of an interest in another console than the Xbox or the 360. Sure, there are some games I feel like I’ve missed out on, such as Eternal Darkness on the GameCube and Bully on the PlayStation2, but in general all and more that I’ve wanted has been on the 360.

With the release of this generation’s consoles there was a lot of hype surrounding the hardware and the games and that certain games are exclusive to certain platforms, even though there are more multiplatform titles than ever before. And all the exclusive games I wanted are on the 360, such as BioShock [well, it's on the PC as well, but that doesn't count!], Mass Effect, Halo 3, PGR4, Dead Rising, Top Spin 2, Viva Pinata and of course all the games on the Xbox Live Marketplace, Carcasonne, UNO, Exit and many more.

But there are a few games that I just can’t get on the 360. One of those games is Afrika. Afrika is a game for the PlayStation 3 with no set release date or any other information and should probably be renamed to the game no one knows what to do in. And Afrika is not to be confused with Africa which apart from being a continent [see, I did pay attention in geography!] is also an announced, upcoming game for the PC. Apart from it being an MMO no one knows what to do or what it is either. I can definitely see a pattern there!

Back to Afrika with a k.. There have been two released trailers, both not showing much about it. They depict CGI scenes of African wildlife and a car and a person with a camera.

Second trailer for Afrika. The first one is here.

I think the main reason I’m so attracted to this is that I just don’t know what it’s about. Is it a shooter? Is it an game in which you take photographs? Or do you protect the animals? Or all of the above? Nevertheless it should be nice to have a game that’s not set in the future or the past.

Cat

• Assassin’s Creed: As I mentioned in my ‘first impressions’ post I wasn’t too impressed with Assassin’s Creed. My opinion didn’t much change throughout playing the game. There were many, many moments in which I hated it and was close to breaking the disc and very few good moments, such as the twist in one of the two storylines and a couple of funny moments when escaping/fighting. All in all it was very repetitive though and just a wasted opportunity all around.

• Lego Star Wars: The complete saga: I loved the previous two and the promise of extra levels/areas, more characters and two player Co op over Xbox Live was just too hard to resist. Matt and I played some of it the other day and whilst it has it’s issues, such as camera angles and the inability of advancing both player’s saves, it’s still a lot of fun.

• CSI Hard Evidence: I’m a big CSI fan, especially CSI Las Vegas [the original one] and for that reason it was clear to me that I’ll get the CSI game. I previously played the one on the Xbox, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and it should have really told me a lesson that CSI games just won’t be any good. Ever. There are a few things that save the game though, such as the voice overs being done by the original cast [with the exception of Jorja Fox [Sara Sidle]], complicated and intriguing storylines and the Las Vegas helicopter flybys.

• SWOS – Sensible World of Soccer: I was looking forward to this game for a while as I have some good memories to playing the Xbox version. I played a few games of it, but it’s going to take some time to get back into the flow.

• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare: I’ve never liked any of the previous ones. Against popular belief that is not because they were set during WWII, but rather that they felt slow, sluggish and featured uninspiring levels. Number 4 in the series is set in the near future and has a much better feel to it. It’s faster, has a really intriguing story and some great levels. I’m not too interested in the multiplayer at the moment, but the single player has definitely grabbed my attention.

I really want to play some BioShock again, especially as a few extras have been released and the game was very good, albeit too short.

There is also some extra Oblivion content, which has been sitting on my 360 for weeks and not yet been played. I never did finish the ‘Shivering isles’ expansion pack.

Oh and Mass Effect. I think enough time’s gone past now and I can play it again without constantly being reminded of my first playthrough.

And then there’s my Nintendo DS with Hotel Dusk that’s waiting to be completed or at least played a little more so I can find out just what the game is meant to be all about!

I guess I won’t be bored!

Cat

Time for another podcast, yes, the ConsoleMonster podcast number 8 [or 7, part 2] is out now. I’m not too sure if I like it, James seemed to have been on a little Vendetta and left a lot of stuff in that I thought was going to be removed! But, of course I’m only joking and James would never do such a thing!

Anyways, this comes a just after my last post on the ConsoleMonster podcast number 7 [which I forgot about and only posted a week after it was released!] and is a little shorter than the previous one.

Episode 8 – Console News & Debate (Part 2)

In the second part of our debate, our host James along with John, Cat, Scott and Chris continue our ramblings about the following Console news and topical debates:

* Manhunt 2 Gets ‘M’ Rating
* Do Real Time Strategy (RTS) Games work on consoles?
* Tank Rush!
* Fireworks!
* Assassins Creed – John concerned, Cat excited and wot not
* Multi-platform gaming damaging overall quality?
* The Simpsons Game – Doh!
* Cats love for Simpsons Hit and Run – Medic!!!
* Cats Xbox 360 Elite – Crisp and Shiny
* What we are playing?
* Yoshi Ringtone!

Length: 26 Mins
File size: 9 MB

This podcast is slightly different to the previous one, it is a lot more random with fireworks in th background [It was the Reading festival and I just happen to live close to it...] to me wanting to buy Simspons Hit and Run again which I think is a quality game.

Any comments are welcome and thanks for listening [if you do that is!].

Cat

The release of the demo incurred so many downloads some were mentioning it took them more than a day to download it. Luckily for me I downloaded it over night and was able to play it the next day!

The full game was released in the UK on the 24th of August and since it’s released it’s been the second most played title on the 360. This statistic captures all people that are connected to Xbox Live and can be found over at Major Nelson who constantly blogs about Xbox360 and other gaming related news and features.

One of the more disturbing scenes

Today I finally finished the game and I have to say it was definitely one of the better games I have played in a very long time. This is one of the earlier trailers showing some of the gameplay features and the general mood and setting for it.

DO NOT READ ON IF YOU HAVEN’T PLAYED IT. THIS PART CONTAINS MULTIPLE SPOILERS!

Rapture

BioShock is set in the fictional town of Rapture, a town deep underwater in the Atlantic Ocean. It was created by Andrew Ryan, an idealist who aimed to create a perfect town for the intelligent, a place where the creative can be amongst themselves. Surprisingly enough it fails thus setting the premise of the game.

It started on New Year’s Eve…

The game is set in 1960, months after the town descended into chaos following an uprising of the lower class, established only since the arrival in Rapture just ten eleven years prior, led by a man called Atlas. There was also another collaboration between the scientist Dr Tenenbaum and the smuggler Fontaine who further undermine Andrew Ryan via various campaigns. The final push was made on New Year’s Eve of 1959, leaving a lot of the city with celebration decoration and populating it with enemies such as splicers.

A scientist called Dr Tenenbaum discovers ADAM which are stem cells from a sea slug species and converts them into active and inactive plasmids which are anything from firing electro bolts and insect swarms to allowing faster hacking and emitting a static discharge every time an enemy approaches the player. ADAM can be used buying said plasmids and they have to be recharged using EVE. Every person in Rapture has ADAM and once they die it is harvested from the dead bodies by ‘Little Sisters’ who are little girls with sea slugs embedded in their bodies. They are protected by their bodygards called ‘Big Daddy’ who are mellow and slow unless provoked thus turning them into a real killingmachine.

A Big Daddy or called ‘Mr Bubbles’ by the little sisters

The protagonist is Jack whose plane crashes conveniently next to the lighthouse leading via bathysphere to Rapture. As it turns out over the course of the game [and don't say you weren't warned about spoilers!] Jack is one of the children of Rapture or rather a genetically modified child, with accelerated growth, of a stripper and Andrew Ryan. Jack was born only two years prior, sent to the surface and implanted with many memories of a family and a house that occasionally appear in rather confusing back flashes.

Hacking plays a big part in the game. Security cameras, vending machines, safes and other objects can be hacked to gain an advantage or aquire certain items.

He is guided through the game with radio messages from Atlas who not only sends him to save his family, which dies in an attack by Fontaine, but also bosses him around most of the game. Close to the end of the game a twist sees Atlas and Fontaine being the same person and controlling Jack via mind control which then kills Andrew Ryan.

“A man chooses, a slave obeys.”

With the help of Dr Tenenbaum and the little sisters Jack dons a Big Daddy suit and is able to defeat Fontaine and depending on whether he chose to save or harvest the little sisters for ADAM throughout the story has a different ending which either sees Jack returning to the surface with the children or a group of splicers.

A figurine as sold with the Limited Edition

The setting of the game is just beautiful, every area is imaginative and has it’s own feeling to it and by licencing some original songs from the era, such as Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney, it makes it that much more believable. Small detail such as the ingame advertisement are genius and help to make the gameplay even more immersive.

The only downside[s] to an otherwise excellent game are the slightly abrupt ending, the lack of strong main characters and the extreme hype which promised more morale choices than the ones present.

This is definitely a must buy game for anyone who is still debating purchasing it and judging by the reviews it’s not only scored a 10/10 in the OXM, but also from Eurogamer and other sites.

10/10

Cat

I haven’t blogged in a while and I’m not really too sure why. I guess it’s partially due to me realising just how much more I complained, realising that I don’t have much to talk about and that I didn’t have much time.

So what’s new? Well, the question is more, what’s not?!

I’m still living in Reading, I’m sort of employed at the moment, but not too bothered about it either. ;)

I’ve been pretending to have a social life lately and it’s actually working quite well. Been doing more than just going round my friends houses or have them coming round.

I’ve been to Germany twice this year, once to deal with some matters regarding council stuff and the other time as my dad was getting married to Hilde, his girlfriend of a few years.

I’m planning to go on holiday at some point this year, but I’ve been saying that for months. :)

I’ve still got all my five cats and they are very gorgeous, even though they have fleas at the moment which they got from the dog. I am completely covered in flea and mosquito bites.

I’ve been playing quite a bit on my Xbox360 as well, lately BioShock [like everyone else in the world!] and a bit of DiRT and some other games I’ve missed before.

These days the best place to find me is on Facebook, I’ve discovered social networking sites at the beginning of the year and just love it to stay in contact with people that I just don’t see on a regular basis any more.

As for my Internet ‘presence’ [for want of a better word], I am now a moderator on ConsoleMonster and will be in the next podcast which should be out any day now.

That’s about it from me. Nice to meet you. :)

Cat