Chapter 24: A Total Lack Of Inspiration

- credit Shaymus022

I keep complaining that things have been slow on this blog in the past few weeks. Those days of daily updates have long since disappeared. Partly, I have had other stuff to do (writing scripts, watching How I Met Your Mother). Partly, i'm inherently lazy all the time.

But I think mainly it's because I have a total lack of inspiration to play my 360 right now. Well, that isn't exactly true, I have nothing to play on my 360 that inspires me.

I had a great February where me and Dan bought Saints Row 2 and played through that and all in all it was an awesome game. Then I had Prince of Persia to finish which I really got into towards the end (until that lame ending).

Now, I have nothing I really want to play. I started GTA4 last Thursday and whilst it is a good game, I found Saints Row 2 more fun. Maybe I need to get into it more. Right now i'm on those missions where you're still setting the scene. Niko is beating up Albanians and we get crappy cutscenes at the taxi rank with Borat accents.

I play FIFA09 regularly but there isn't much to report on a blog about that other than when it decided to punk me and pretend it was broken last week.

Looking forward, June will be a great gaming month with Ghostbusters and Arkham Asylum coming out a week apart. Plus it's my 21st and I think i'm going to get a Nintendo DS and be cool like the other 75 million DS owners in the world.

But for now there is a void. I could play Gears of War 1 & 2, since i've never played either game. But I don't want too. I could play one of the million zombie games Dan owns. But zombies are lame. I could play Halo Wars. But then i'd be like my friend Richard who has left behind his social life for playing Rome: Total War or Empire or whatever it is called, i'm not really sure. Plus i'm not a huge fan of those games.

I could buy the new maps for Call of Duty:WaW but right now I can't afford rent, let alone DLC.

I have been lent Beautiful Katamari, (I have placed a review below for you, if you like, click the link and buy it for only a tenner), but after only one play i'm not feeling it yet. I don't know whether it is my kind of game.

So i'm stuck playing Mario Kart (still awesome, will never tire of it) and Crayon Physics Deluxe (google it if you don't know).

I'm going to see what Dan has in his collection later. I'm going to find a new game, hopefully. For now, i'll rant and rave at you at my small little problem. Because it's my blog....and I can.

Chapter 22: Achievements of the Week 20-27 March

- credit gamerscoreblog

Without further ado, 2 days later than planned, (I was writing a 16-page radio comedy script treatment on Friday, I have my excuses), here is my achievements of the previous week.

I'm not going to lie, it's poor.

22/03/2009- Fling yourself at it (FIFA09): Score with a diving header in a match (20G)

22/03/09- Screamer! (FIFA09): Score from over 30 yards out in a match (10G)

23/03/2009- Challenger (Street Fighter IV): Clear a Challenge in Challenge Mode (10G)

26/03/2009- Off the Boat (Grand Theft Auto 4): You have completed the first mission (5G)

Total Gamerpoints: 45

So a rather poor week after my previous best. Oh well. No excuses...other than the aforementioned script writing.

Gamerpoints review so far:

• 13-20 Feb: 160
• 20-27 Feb: 60
• 27-6 March: 270
• 6-13 March: 35
• 13-20 March: 530
• 20-27 March: 45
  

Chapter I: Saints Row 2 Review

So here it is, my first game review on this very blog. I am going to review the latest game bought into my collection a couple of weeks ago. If you haven't guessed you're stupid. It's Saints Row 2, duh.

Now to be honest I didn't play the first game. It kind of passed me by as when it was released I never owned an XBox360. A couple of times in the games store, I saw it cheap and pre-owned but never took the gamble. I've always been a GTA fan and it appeared like it was some terrible clone.

However, I was convinced (or maybe peer-pressured) into buying the game by my housemate Dan (who you will no doubt hear more about). He is a gaming addict, buys every game ever released and hates Mario Kart. He is effectively the villian of the piece.

The biggest reason I purchased the game was because of the on-line co-op mode, where I can system link with Dan and we can go through the campaign together (There is also the benefits of extra achievements for completing all missions co-op).

So the game itself.

Well it is set 5 years after the end of the first game where your character is apparently exploded or something. You are in a coma in jail when you finally awake and the character customisation begins.

The customisation itself is brilliant. You customise every aspect of your character from taunts to the delightful language setting. You can be American or English, and the English accent one is hilarious. Think posh cockney.

The game in comparison to GTA4 is so much more fun. The serious tone of GTA which at times hampered the game, is non-existant. This game is balls to wall fun. It's ridiculous in the plot and cut scenes.

The plot itself is wafer-thin, you resurrect the Saints and have to take down 3 gangs to take back the city. I haven't completed it yet but 2 gangs are done. To open up certain missions you have to do activities scattered around the map. These include things like 'Fight Club', 'Escort' and 'Demolition Derby'. Of course all aspects of open-world sandbox gameplay are included.

For me the music in this game is much much better than GTA4. Culture Club, The Rakes, Duran Duran are all there, including lots of Hip-Hop from artists I don't know.

Overall i've thoroughly enjoyed this game so far. Don't get me wrong GTA4 was awesome too, but at times it was boring and too serious for its own good. Definately pick up Saints Row 2 though if you have the cash and time, it's fun, unforgettable and ridiculous.

Rating: 8/10

Gamerpoints achieved so far: 170/1000

Prologue: The Birth

Picture courtesy of johnnyyanok.com

Welcome to my blog, thank you for reading, have a biscuit and make yourself comfortable.

Let me give you the prologue to this magical adventure we are about to endure:

I am a 20-year-old University student currently residing in Stoke-on-Trent, England. I bought my first XBox360 in September 2007. Before that I have previously owned a Super Nintendo, PS1 and PS2.

I originally had a Wii but after a month of playing Spider-man 3 and slowly destroying my wrists as I web-slinged across virtual New York, I traded in for a big boys console.

I enjoyed my XBox360 although even after I bought it, I hardly played it (Pro Evolution 6 & 7 on the PS2 held a higher perogative). Eventually though my sexy white mini-computer came into use with the release of GTA4.

In September 08, I finally joined XBox Live with the Gamertag 'ChocRaisin' (The story behind it, I was eating chocolate raisins at the time I was asked). Since then I haven't looked back.

That was until December 2008 when it died. The disk drive decided it didn't want to work and I was left console-less. In January 2009 though, I got a new arcade version (sticking my old hard drive on...I know genius), thankfully paid for by my father.

So here I am. The point of this blog is to highlight my trials and tribulations using this console. To be frank, I'm a rubbish gamer. It takes me ages to complete games and online I get killed very often (especially Call of Duty: World on War, but more on that another time).

So here's to me trying to get better at games, trying to up my gamerscore which you can see to your right and to become more respected in the gaming world.

Ciao.

P.S. Feel free to click those google ads a million times and earn me some money, I need it. x