MORE - Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Fallout: New Vegas, and Killzone 2 - PS3

I really have picked up a few good games this month, these 3 being the most recent. This post follows on from yesterday's.

MORE - Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

I really am enjoying this whole experience. The freerunning sections just blow my mind, i had to play the first level twice, just to get the full effect of the graphics in this masterpiece. Some of the gameplay and camera is so good it takes me a few seconds to realise I'm not watching a cutscene and i should be moving the main character, Drake.

I've gained 9% of the trophies already. A good lot of them are to do with the amount of kills you amount with certain weapons and another 7 or 8 are to do with how many treasures you collect. There are 100 of these hidden treasures to collect throughout the game. So far I'm missing about 8 or so, and I've collected a good 15. There are lots of hidden spots where you've got to rotate the camera to see where the treasures actually lie. You can view them from the Bonus menu by pressing Start. As far as i know you get money for finding them and it can be spent in the shop. Most of the items can only be purchased after certain points in the game though.

I'm playing through this game on Normal difficulty and seeing how tricky this game can be really does make me determined to finish it and collect the Gold trophy waiting for me at the end of it all. I've experienced using pistols, revolvers, assault rifles, grenades, tranquilizer guns and even riot shields whilst killing countless foes that get in my way.

I have few complaints, the only problems being a few occasional glitches and having key instruction pop-up for a second before disappearing, but other than that, this game is proving to be a very, very good one so far!

MORE - Fallout: New Vegas

I have now progressed a little way into this game now and i can see the improvements and countless additions from Fallout 3. The music, i've noticed is much more atmospheric and suits the current in-game situation well, it seems more, Violin-y, than the last game! I've also found that it is much easier to shoot without using the targeting system and just aming down your sights which is a massive improvement on the fairly irritating issues that ensued in the last Fallout game.

Early on, you have the option to play the game in Hardcore Mode. Basically, hardcore makes the game more realistic by adding a dehydration factor which means you will slowly lose energy and die if you don't drink a fluid. Hunger, which means you must eat to survive or you'll most definitely die of starvation and sleep deprivation which means you will die from not getting enough shut-eye! Also, ammo actually has a weight value whilst playing in Harcore mode so you will have to limit the amount of ammunition you do carry with you. The game seems harder overall as well.

To repair items you must find resources like Scrap Metal, Electronics and other miscellanous tools to help you and repair them at special workbenches you may come across in the wasteland. You can also cook your own food and make new edible items over camp fires with the right ingredients. The level system is still there with perks and skill points so you can increase skills like Lockpicking and Speech etc.

The game is fairly similar, but, much harder, cooler and twice the fun!

MORE - Killzone 2

I've played 2 whole levels on this game so far. It's a fairly standard First-Person-Shooter with a wide selection of guns and other wepons. It looks brilliant i have to say... again! I haven't been paying too much attention to the story, i've just been shooting the crap out of the enemies! The controls took a little while to get used to as i played Red Dead Redemption just before playing this and switching between R1 and R2 for the fire button is rather annoying (long story short, i kept lobbing grenades at the enemy instead of shooting at them).

In the last mission there was a lot of the enemy soldiers grouped up with RPGs and assault rifles so it was a tough level. I had to take out an Arc Lightning Tower which was taking out allied air support or whatever.

The battle scenery is pretty epic and when i was ordered to shoot the enemies out of a large flat building in the previous mission it exploded and when the rubble fell it really did look perfect, soldiers on fire toppling from the railing and bits of debris flying everywhere.

I haven't got too much to say about this game to be honest, as i haven't played too much of it. It certainly isn't as addictive as the other 2, but it was definitely still woth buying just to see the amazing special effects and graphics.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Killzone 2, and Fallout: New Vegas - PS3

I bought all of the above 3 PS3 games for £42 in Gamestation. I've been wanting all 3 for quite a while and they all stand out as being brilliant PS3 games.


- Uncharted 2: Among Thieves -

After playing the demo and being persuaded by a friend, i bought Uncharted 2: Among Thieves for £14.99 and it certainly does not fail to impress! It's absolutely stunning, the graphics are impeccable, easily some of the best for the PS3 by a long shot. The gameplay is fairly unique and very addictive, doubled in fun-factor by the amazing, dynamic camera angles that make the game more and more impressive as you go along.

I'm currently on level 3 and I've already earned 2 bronze trophies and 1 silver trophy for my PSN collection. The stealth is a key part of the game and seeing the diverse ways in which Drake (the main character) falls his enemies is amazing and sometimes make you look away only to hear a neck break or someone choking as they are strangled to death. The freerunning scenes are extravagant and well-done and fit the game perfectly. Everything seems in place so far, i hope to play much more of this game!


- Fallout: The Vegas -

This game, although fairly similar to its previous installment Fallout 3, is still just as good as ever. I bought it for £18.98. The graphics seem sharper, there's new items in the form of chems, weapons and much more. interesting new characters and you even still get your very own Pip-Boy 3000! I don't have too much to say about this one as I've only played about 10 minutes - i haven't even killed anything yet! I will post more tomorrow...

- Killzone 2 -

This is my first FPS for the PS3 and... Whoa! This game looks absolutely amazing! It's even better looking than Uncharted 2, no joke! It's hard to describe - you just have to look at it! All of the futuristic machinery and everything - it's immense! I've played the first level and it's insanely fun. Watching the blood spurt out of the enemies' heads is highly satisfying! In the first 20 minutes alone you get to fire machine guns, rifles, RPGs and even ride in a tank! The guns look good and fire realistically, everything seems sound so far. Not much to say other than that for the moment, more on these games tomorrow!

Gamingheap Review - Metroid Fusion

 Metroid Fusion   -  Gamingheap Review

I haven't spoken much about this game since i bought it in America so i thought i'd share a post about it.

The storyline basically follows Samus Aran after she is infected by an unknown new alien species called the "X". After being saved from near death after her suit has become badly damaged, parts had to be removed and she lost nearly all of her weaponry systems and powers. One good advantage is that she can now absorb the X and restore her health whilst doing so!

The X manage to take over the space craft and infect all 6 environment system zones. Then, Samus (aided by the help of on-board navigation systems) must stop the SA-X (a superior, exact clone of her, with all of her powers) before it destroys the whole space craft.

You begin the game with only your arm cannon at minimum power and the ability to duck, jump and shoot in all different directions. You have to make it to the central elevator, shooting many different enemies in pure Metroid style! Lots of the enemies in this game require certain methods to killing them instead of justing blasting them away. For example some may only be able to be killed if you blast them from the underside or hit them with several missiles.

After reaching the central elevator you have access to the first environmental zone - Sector 1. The game is a really fun sidescroller and it's suprising how much thought you have to put into the strategical parts of the game. That is actually one of the reasons i prefer it to Super Mario Bros. Later on you gain the ability to run twice as fast after running in a straight line for several seconds. This ability is used a lot to smash through various blocks and even enemies! Gradually you'll gain your powers back and fight bosses along the way which also require strategic thinking to defeat. You'll find various save rooms and recharge points along the way to keep you up and some rooms are even hidden and are usually stumbled on my accident.

The only few complaints i have is that the game takes a while to get used to. It takes a while to figure out that your meant to break a certain block or shoot a specific enemy with an ice missile. Also, jumping from ladders can be infuriating because if you press A before pressing the D-PAD you will fall instead of jump meaning you can lose lots of energy for one tiny mistake.

Otherwise, this game is brilliant and very fun. It's nice to see Metroid at its roots and a nice change to the FPS feel of things i'm used to.

My Rating: 8.5/10

Weekly Summary: 1 (18th January)

Wow! What a good start to the year!

We're nearly 3 weeks in and, as you know, i've bought 2 new games for the PS3 (Fallout 3 and GTA IV) and even downloaded some demos from the PSN Store!

Currently Playing...                                          Fallout 3

                            

I've really been having fun on Fallout 3. I travelled to a small secluded area called "Evergreen Mills." It was there, that 30+ raiders were roaming about, they even had a gigantic Super Mutant Behemoth which they released onto me. My Scoped Magnum handled that VERY large threat easily - it's body now lies there, blood strewn over the ground. On further exploration through the Captial Wasteland i found various new enemies, including the Deathclaw (very large and scary monster with big claws), King Mirelurks (human like variation of the crab-like Mirelurks) and even Ghoul Reavers (a stronger variation of the Feral Ghouls that glows with radiation). It is SO fun, seriously, if you have never played Fallout, you should give it a go!

There's so much to type about it! All i'll say for now is that i'm beginning to collect all of the attire in the game. I have my own house and am keeping most of it all in one locker. This is actually a pretty hard task i've set myself because I may have to kill important people to get to the clothing in the first place.

The lock on system is great! Incase you've never seen it, basically, it pauses the game and zooms in on the selected target (friend or foe). From there you can select which body part you want to damage and the percentage next to it shows your chance of hitting it. Harming different body parts does different things to different enemies. For instance - shooting the head of a human will most likely kill it instantly and shooting the antennae of certain insects will make them frenzy about attacking there own kind.

There's so much to do, if you're bored you can just run about shooting anyone, or you can complete quests and earn rewards and XP so you can level up and increase your skills like lockpicking and sneaking. There's plenty of trophies to get as well, some harder than others.

I hope to complete the main storyline quests soon and perhaps purchase Fallout: New Vegas which carries on as far as i know!

Currently Playing...                                  Grand Theft Auto: IV

This game seriously blows my mind! How could anyone create such a masterpiece - you'll NEVER be bored playing this game because there is a never ending list of things to do. Right out at the beginning you are open to loads of fun things to do and it seems like after every mission after that you just keep on unlocking more places to go! You get a girlfriend - Michelle - a few missions in and you are introduced to bowling straight away. Doing enought missions for friends and family increases your friendship with them which in turn allows you to take them out with you and play Pool, Bowling, Darts and even go Drinking together and attempt to drive home without arousing suspicion from the watchful eye of the LCPD.

You can do vigilante missions for the police, paramedic emergencies, fire emergencies, prank call 911, find out what song you're listening to on the radio, go on dates, knive people, deliver drugs and secret packages, drive helicopters, cars, vans, boats, motorbikes, play online multiplayer, hi-jack cars, ride trains, do taxi fares, swim, go in strip clubs, have you know what with you know who, eat out at resteraunts, go to cabaret shows, get a car wash, go to an internet cafe, check your ATM bank balance, and do LOADS of other things as well!

The graphics are amazing the cars are amazing, the guns are, the storyline is. This game IS perfection! How are Rockstar ever going to top this? I suppose we'll just have to wait and see!

Current Demo Download...          Uncharted 2: Among Thieves 

  

One of my best friends recommended this one. I wasn't sure, so i downloaded the demo and... whoa! The graphics are the best i've seen in the PS3. They are absolutely jaw-dropping! The game has a lot of blown up buildings and fire and borken water pipes etc. The water effects are amazing, it really does feel like you're are walking through the water - it reacts so realistically. The buildings are so detailed right down to the individual tone and colour shade of each brick. Vehicles are made to fit the stage in the demo and look perfect against the brown and beigey earthy hues in the one level you get to play.

It starts off with the main character - Drake, running down some steps whilst being chased by a massive 4x4 truck up his ass. You are told to shoot and shoot i did - i opened fire with the default AK-47 whilst Drake started shouting and screaming - occasionally it got pretty near so i jumped - it looked so realistic! Eventually it blew up and the level actually started.  You walk forward and hide behind some cover. There are a few guards which you gave to shoot. It's a little tricky to kill them. There is no lock-on that i know of, but i suppose that makes the game harder which is better in a way. Next you have to climb up a street post/lamp and do some awesome basejumping like leaping into smashed windows and dangling from sings on buildings.

My only complaint is it takes you a few seconds to find out where to jump next or what to grab onto, it's a little hard to get used to.

Soon enough you find your way into an all out battle where you have only a small amount of cover behind a low wall from lots of enemy soliders with machine guns. You have to learn to aim well here because it's really hard to get a good critical shot. They threw grenades occasionly which looked amazing when they blew up. The graphical effects are again, extraordinarily well done on this game.

For the  8-10 minutes you get to play, it is very fun, mainly because the game looks and feels amazing. I think i'd like to buy this one - but i'm not sure how the rest of the game is. I think i'll do some more research and maybe buy it cheap.



  Overview:

+  Graphics are immense!

+  Shooting is fun and realistic!

+  Basejumping parts are awesome!

-   Sometimes you don't know what to do.

Fallout 3 Massacre Dog!

Recently i've been playing the hell out of Fallout 3. It is actually suprisingly good - i didn't expect it to be this addicting - although i suppose it was game of the year in 2008!

Long story short, i went to a few scary metro stations and found heaps of ammo. Then i went back to "Megaton" the nearest town and was suprised to see a stray dog there! It was called Dogmeat and it seemed happy enough to follow me around. Now he's my own massacre dog and whenever there's and enemy about - he takes no prisoners! He also acts as a sniffer dog and finds ammo, chems, weapons and all sorts for you!

And... best of all - he's practically invincible! Really! He can be set on fire, hit by a missile launcher, blown up by grenades and he can even take a mini-nuke and only loose 1 health-point!

So far i've killed... Radroaches, Giant Ants, Radscorpians, Fire Ants, Ghouls, Feral Ghouls, Glowing Ones, Yui Guans, Deathclaws, Humans, A Queen Fire Ant, Mole Rats, Centaurs, Protectrons, Robobrains, Members of the Brotherhood, Brahmins, Super Mutants and Mirelurks, Sentry Droids and Mark I, II, II and Mark IV turrets... phew!

It's really fun, but my karma is extremely low meaning that bounty hunters occasionally appear to try and kill me... they never live to tell the tale!

GTA IV and Fallout 3

I bought both Grand Theft Auto: IV and Fallout: 3 for the PlayStation 3 in gamestation for £9.99 each, a bargain in my eyes! I managed to pickup the game of the year edition for Fallout 3 too, with all of the expansions included!

I'm not going to go into too much detail - i'll post some reviews later though.



Fallout 3 - PS3                                                        

Fallout 3 is a unique FPS. Basically, it's set in a post-apocolyptic world in Washington D.C. where people are born in Vault 101 and are never supposed to exit. Eventually the main character does and you are left to survive in the radiation, wastelands with giant ants and other large and scary mutated creatures. There are small pockets of human civilization remaing where you can rest and purchase weapons and helpful items. You carry a "Pip Boy" attatched to your arm which achives your data and lets you use weapons etc.

The targeting sytem is unique in the fact that you can zoom in and select what parts of the foe's body to fire at. Different parts can be crippled and are weaker to others making it easier to defeat certain foes.

So far i've entered the first town (i think it was called "Metaron" or something) and got caught pickpocketing a load of people! It's quite fun so far, my only complaint being that the controls are a little awkward and are taking a little longer than usual to get use to.




Grand Theft Auto IV - PS3                                 

I've wanted this beast of a game for years and since i've just got a PS3 for christmas i went and bought it for a tenner!

This game is frickin' awesome! The graphics are awesome, the storyline is awesome, the controls are awesome, the weapons are awesome and there is SO much to do! No wonder Gamespot.com rate this 10/10 (Prime)!

You play as Niko, a Russian immigrant who moved to Liberty City to start a new life away from the horror of the war. He meets his cousin and starts to help him out at the taxi depot... dealing with a few arrogant thugs along the way!

What hit me first was the graphics! I'm used to San Andreas, which doesn't have the best of graphics. Of course, i'm still getting used to the superior graphics that the PS3 can cope with! Your main source of info is your phone. From it, you can ring anyone you've met and talk to them. You can also set-up games of bowling, darts or drinking sessions with your cousin or ask out your girlfriends on dates. You can also access online multiplayer from it as well.

Everything is good about this game - i really haven't found anything to moan about... yet! Believe me, i always find something to moan about!

A change of name?

Well... now that i have a PS3, there's no real point in calling my blog "Nintendoheap" as i'll be playing Sony PS3 games too. Do you guys think i should change the name? I think i should because it's going to look kind of stupid if i don't!

I've been playing the hell out of RDR on my new slim 160GB PS3, it's frickin' sweet! If i started typing about it now, i'd never stop, i'll probably post a review later. All i'm going to say for now is... "Molotov Cocktails and Oil Lanterns don't make a good combonation - bears are painfully irritating - and, never pull the trigger unless you really, really know who you're shooting!