Things EmP is playing 15/7

Because that Chatter nonsense would have already run out of characters:

Happy Wars [360]

We all hate freemuim gaming – it’s going to be the death of consoles, you know! Well, two have already found their way to XBLA, and I’ve played them both. Because they were, um, free. The rub: Spartacus is kinda crappy and Happy Wars shouldn’t be as fun as it is.

It’s (mostly) a PvP deathmatch kind of in the vein of DoR/LoL, but dorkier, without spawning AI help, and open to larger pools of players. The idea is that you have one large map with two castles in; the winning team is the first to breach the enemy castle and destroy the totem inside. You can spend your own IRL cash for better upgrades, but I’ve done nothing of the sort, and my fireball-spewing mage kicks huge amounts of arse.

Halo wars [360]

Gave it a quick burn to see how it is. Pretty solid console RTS that uses the Halo universe very well. Played the first three levels, but got fed up on the forth, which has you trying to escort civilians who seem to love running right at Elite troops with plasma rifles and swords. Stupid civvies..

Broken Sword 1/2/3 [PC]

Upon getting a new PC, the first game I wanted to play was Broken Sword 4. But, wait! Surely not replaying the first three before that would be sacrileges. So, yeah, I did that. BS1: DC is still an awful version of the game, BS2: DC is a much more thoughtful undertaking and BS3 would be brilliant if it wasn’t for an over reliance of awful controls, a weird fetish for block puzzles and a painful ending. I’m not showing it, but, man, still love this series. Its voice acting and general writing has still yet to be eclipsed.

Silent Hill 3 [PS2]

Good characterisation for the most part. Heather is the series’ best protagonist by a long shot and I like the personal conflict that goes on with main antagonist, Claudia. But the game can just be so bloody dull at points. The subway stage is, by far, the worst in the game and maybe the worst in the series, offering little in the way of ambience, action or terror. It’s just a lot of plodding about aimlessly in the hopes of stumbling upon the way out. The Mall before it and the Sewers after it are both higher points of the game, but it’s not until you hit the fairground that things really starts to feel right.

Got right to the start of the ‘Birth of a God’ (final stage), and disk read error. Will have to sit through a huge cut scene again if and when I try again. With no guarantee that the disk won’t bone me again. Not ideal.

Thor [360]

Not completely awful. Go figure.

I have reviewed two of those games. And I'm with you on Happy Wars. I quite enjoyed it, actually! Though I imagine that by now it is both easier to access online--getting into lobbies was an absolute hassle when I played, after it first launched--and filled with people who are too skilled/powerful for their own good.

I'm with you on silent hill 3. it was the last good SH game before things started going downhill but it's true, that subway level was utter torture and not in the good "i don't want to open this door for fear of what's on the other side" way, there's just no atmosphere.

FANtastic choices.

There's a fifth in the Broken Sword series now, isn't there?

There is. It's being released in two halves -- the second half is running late, but the first can be picked up on Steam. It suffers from the fact that it's only half a game, but still keeps in step with the earlier (and better) parts of the series.