Addictive Speed Run in DiRT 3

So far I think these challenge game modes, like speed runs, are the only improvement form Dirt 2. I spent some two hours last night to nail this speed run for a platinum medal. You can make uploads direct to youtube but they are fairly low quality, take ages to prepare and upload and the maximum clip length is 30 seconds. I had  to upload two clips to youtube for this one, download them from youtube and put the together in Windows Movie Maker before uploading it as one clip. I definitely need to get a capture device.

Portal 2

I've recently had a 5 days Portal 2 marathon. I rented the game from Blockbuster as spur of a moment and had to concentrate on it to try and finish it.

If you have played the original Portal game from Orange Box or Portal arcade game then Portal 2 will not be a novelty for you. If my memory serves me right it looks very similar and the gameplay is more or less the same. Even though I have not played Portal for couple of years, when I started Portal 2 I was a bit disappointed they have not changed it a bit more. But as I started solving the puzzles I realised that there are plenty new types of puzzles so the game started to bewitch me as the original game did.

In total there are two sets of maps, one for single player and the other for co-op game mode.

The single player maps can be played during the story mode or with developer commentary, which is a great touch. Story mode is great. You get brilliant puzzles to solve using all sorts of chamber features (won't give any details as it might spoil it for someone), the story is interesting and Glados is as funny as it was. You can also choose to play the game with developer commentary which is the same as the story mode except you can't save and you get comment bubbles here and there to open the developer's commentary.

Co-op section does not run as a story but you do have to play it sequentially the first time you play. You get one learning chapter and then another 5 chapters with different types of puzzles to solve. The puzzles are absolutely brilliant, simply work of a genius. You can play co-op on split screen or via xbox live. If you play over xbox live you can play with friends or any random dude. You do get a reminder from developers that the game is best played with friends and there is a reason for that. Communicating during puzzle solving is great part of the gameplay. Not just in working out how to get form a to b, but the banter around it is priceless. You can create traps for each other and laugh your head off with comments from Glados and the different ways you can die.

I had to take it back but will definitely buy the game to finish the remaining 2 co-op chapters.

9/10 from me

Gears of War 3 trailer

Probably seen it but in case you haven't here it is:



I was a bit disappointed, I thought they'd show us a bit more story details. We knew Adam Fenix


was going to have a part (from the teaser they showed before). So unless I'm missing something there isn't anything knew on this trailer.

BRINK - 1st impressions

Got Brink yesterday, at last. Played for couple of hours so thought I share my first impressions with you.

Game presentation looks good. Menus and few cut scenes look very nice. You set you character and then choose which side you want to join - rebels or the authority. Won't spoil it and tell you what the difference is but will tell you that the game looks like it is split in two halves. You play it start to finish as a rebel and then again start to finish as authority troop.

Had 3 options to choose from: campaign, challenges and free play I think. I tried campaign and challenges. You get unlocks for completing challenges. There are many things to unlock and they seem to be unlocking very quickly ie finish one mission and you get 6 unlocks.

Campaign can be played on easy, normal or hard. I decided to go for normal as didn't want to get stuck and didn't want to have totally dumb opponents. It turned up AI is mostly very dumb. Most of the time I was struggling to find my way around and working out what I need to do. I failed the second mission because I did not know what to do. I could activate objective (use up in the D pad) and got to it but was in the wrong class because pressing X was not doing it.

In the end I can only echo what many others said. If you have friends to play it with, it can be a good fun. If you end up playing with AI, it is only a weekend fling and back in the shop it should go.

Lag in games

Gears 3 Beat just finished and major discussing issues was the LAG. Are we on dedicated servers or P2P?, host advantage, blla blla...

It is true Gears 2 and most probably Gears 1 too, had some major issues with lag and host advantage. Often I could see these things in Gears 3 Beta too. But I'm more or less convinced that the lag we get in gears is no worse than what we get any other game. so why is it people complain lot more in gears than any other game about the lag (or so it seams to me)?

Looking forward to LA Noire

Another ten days or so and I'll be able to shift myself back one century using LA Noire. Hopefully Amazon will send it a bit sooner so I get it on the release day which will give me full weekend of LA magic. Need to book it with my kids and wife so I don't get the looks when I'm playing for hours. 

I've been playing Gears 3 Beta a lot for the last 3 weeks and I feel the time has come for something different. Can't wait for the full release though, campaign will most definitely be awesome.

I played some Fallout New Vegas last night and it felt painfully slow after Gears but I did need it. Needed to chill a bit, which you can't really do when you're playing Gears MP. :)

Gears of War 3 Beta

I had three nights and roughly 50 games on the new Gears Beta now. The first two nights I played it was absolutely brilliant.It is slightly faster than Gears 2 and more polished. Few new weapons and moves made it sufficiently different to look fresh and not just extension of Gears 2. However last night I tried for hours to get a good connection but every game was horrible. I think because of the way the game plays, if players are out of sync at all it makes it unbearably annoying. If you compare it with Halo Reach, Black Ops or Battlefield Bad Company 2, you can still play the game even though players are not in total sync because the game is close combat, or as fast, or using the cover system as heavily as Gears does.

Exclusive Beta Unlockables:

• Flaming Hammerburst GOT IT!
  Complete one match by Sunday, April 24 to permanently unlock.
• Flaming Lancer GOT IT!
  Complete one match during the week of April 25 to permanently unlock.
• Flaming Sawed-Off Shotgun
  Complete one match during the week of May 2 to permanently unlock.
• Flaming Gnasher Shotgun
  Complete one match during the week of May 9 to permanently unlock.
• Beta Tester Medal -- Wear it proudly, Gear. GOT IT!
  Complete one match in the Beta to permanently unlock.
• Thrashball Cole -- Unlock Thrashball Cole to play as Augustus Cole as he was before Emergence Day -- a legendary Thrashball athlete known for his ferocious, flamboyant style.
  Complete 50 matches in any game type to unlock for the Beta period.
  To permanently unlock, complete 10 matches as Thrashball Cole during the Beta period. GOT IT!
• Gold-Plated Retro Lancer -- Before the chainsaw bayonet was deployed at the beginning of the Locust-Human War, the original Lancer assault rifle had a large fixed blade.
  Complete 90 matches in any game type to unlock for the Beta period.
  To permanently unlock, score 100 kills with the Gold-Plated Retro Lancer during the Beta period.