Release Date – September 1, 2010 (iPhone), April 1, 2010 (iPad)
Platform – iOS (iPhone and iPad separate downloads)
Review Platform – iPhone
How good is it? Possibly the best “traditional” game available on the mobile platform (that I’ve played). Good graphics, execellent controls that have been specifically designed to work with the platform and make the game a really enjoyable experience. Levels are short, fun and allow for a bit of exploration to search for the hidden bags, perfect game for when you’re negotiating the releases of some chocolate hostages!
Bet­ter than …? A good addition to the “full” Mirror’s Edge game.
Any new features? Controls that are actually designed for touchscreen. Achievements available, but not linked to any social gaming (no EA Origin, Apple Game Center or Open Feint)
Price (at time of writing)? £0.69p

Rat­ing – Five Mirrors

Video:

Ones that come to my mind are:

- Half-Life
When I first got Half-Life I was awestruck, truly amazed at the atmosphere and the feeling I was experiencing. I remember enjoying the intro, taking the monorail car through a big facility environment, looking around and listening to the woman giving out the rules and instructions of Black Mesa. But, having to do this for a second or maybe third time onwards, I would find it boring and a waste of time wanting to skip the intro!

Here it is (If you have a spare 5mins..)

- DC Universe Online
Now, I haven’t played this, but the intro was also used as a trailer, and I love it, will always enjoy watching it. I hope it sets up the game well, it certainly does the job of making me want to play it..

- League of Legends
Now, not TECHNICALLY an intro, because it’s not in the game, just a cinematic trailer online. I just love it, especially watching it again now, now I’ve played it for a long time and know the characters and the game. It gives a glimpse of the summoners controlling the champions, and even getting hurt when a champion does. Hopefully they do another one for Season 2! (and/ or Dominion)

So, while I look for intros, what are your suggestions of excellent/ good/ bad/ boring intros I should look at?

P.S. No planking on stairs

A game I am quite looking forward to playing, eventually, Crysis 2. Still haven’t gotten around to finishing the first game, so won’t be buying this until I complete that and it’s a bit cheaper!

Portal 2 was a pre-order on Steam to get 10% discount and ‘day one purchase’. Completed it the weekend it was released, completely fantastic game, stunning level design, fantastic narrative and Stephen Merchant was very funny. The co-op is still waiting to be explored!

Brink was a game I was really excited about, and couldn’t wait for… but it came out, fizzled a little bit, and then disappeared. It came out about 2 months ago, and at time of writing it STILL isn’t available on Steam in the UK. Going to wait for this to become very cheap on the PC before buying, but then, will there be any players left to play with when it is that cheap?

Duke Nukem: Forever is a fantastic game, mindless fun. The limited edition box, however, is disappointing. Really enjoying the game, with it’s pop culture references and it’s light hearted taking the piss out of everything nature … but the limited edition extras! Pah! The statue was made out to look a lot bigger than it actually is, still nice though, and er, the playing cards that come with it are smaller than the standard size, wtf?
Good game, get it when it’s cheap!

(every opportunity I get)

Killzone 3 will have to wait, still haven’t completed Killzone 2 yet.

Donkey Kong Returns, haven’t gotten around to purchasing this game yet. Something about Wii games keeps their prices higher for longer, I want to play this, but not enough to spend more than £15 on it (let alone the ~£38 it’s currently selling for).

Dead Space 2 bought in the Steam sale! Haven’t started it yet …
Dead Space Extraction, still need to buy
Dead Space iPad, bought, looks good, bit fiddly with the controls, still need to complete.

Assassin’s Creed, I get the feeling I’ll be buying this soon, on the Xbox360, in the hope that the version is the same as the one I have a saved game for (and some achievements).

The following from my list last time, aren’t released yet:
- Mass Effect 3
- Gears 3
- Firefall
- Uncharted 3

Currently Playing
- League of Legends, almost level 30!
- Duke Nukem Forever
- Team Fortress 2

Occasionally Playing
- Mass Effect
- Resident Evil 5
- Torchlight
- Crysis
- Bartman: Arkham Asylum

Since January, I’ve played a few games and completed them too I believe (well maybe..).
- Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (PS3)
Way too easy, when you’re running and jumping from platform to platform, don’t worry about making mistakes, the game will just pop you into the right place (unless you’re a mile off the target). Average story, average graphics and poor acting, although I completed it in less than a weekend (thanks to having no internet at the time), and did quite enjoy it.

- Marvel vs Capcom 3 (PS3)
It hurts my thumb, and Jon is way better at it than I am.

- Portal 2 (PC)
See above, then go buy it … on the PC.

- Magicka (PC)
Bought it because it was on sale and I’ve heard good things about it, but there’s no save! There are check points along the way, but only for that play session, if you close the game and then reload it … you’re right back at the start, and I cannot be bothered to go through that tutorial more than once (already done three times.. and that’s twice too many!)

Please correct me if I’m wrong there, and I’ll give it another go… but atm, nope, I’m done.

- Dead Space (iPad)
Need to play and complete, as I said earlier, the controls are a bit fiddly and due to the format, there are never more than 4 monsters around (so far at least..) and they move quite slowly, giving you a chance to aim properly and get the kill.

Looking Forward to:
- Battlefield 3

- Mass Effect 3

In future… listen to the warnings!

- Firefall
- Uncharted 3
- Gears 3
- Batman: Arkham City
- CoD: MW3
- Dead Island
A fantastic trailer was released to reveal this game, if you haven’t seen it yet … go now.

- Deus Ex: Human Revolution

I just LOVE the feel and art style of this game, a very distinct feel of ‘Blade Runner’. Really looking forward to this.

Until next time people..

End of line.

What did I watch? #movie http://t.co/CnwOsRF—
Peter Law (@carwashh) March 05, 2011

Most people consider this to be a zombie film, when actually it’s not (well not traditionally anyway), as the outbreak is a virus, a virus which infects people with rage. They’re not dead, and a bite isn’t needed to transfer the virus, just having a cut/ would mean infection*. That aside, this is a fantastic “zombie” film, the highest (imdb) rated I’ve blogged about so far. With a fantastic script, good actors (Cillian Murphy and Brendan Gleeson to name just two) and being set in London, a familiar setting which I can relate to.

I love this film and it’s one I can watch over and over, and with it being fairly old … everyone should have seen it by now! So here’s a bit of trivia from IMDB I found interesting:
For the scenes in London, poilce would close the roads at 4am and filming would begin immediately. It would last for one hour, and at that time the police would reopen the roads. As well as having to deal with traffic, the producers also had to ask clubbers to find alternative routes home. In terms of the traffic, the producers correctly predicted that asking drivers to either wait for up to an hour or find another way might cause some considerable consternation. As such, they employed several extremely attractive young women (one of whom was Danny Boyle’s daughter) to make the necessary requests. This plan had the desired results, as the drivers responded quite amicably to the young girls.

If anyone knows what Danny Boyle’s daughter looks like, I’d be interesting in seeing a picture!

28 Days Later also has one of my most favourite pieces of music for a film John Murphy – In the House In a Heartbeat

Now watch the trailer, then go and get the film and watch it!

Trailer:

* From the IMDB trivia page
Another aspect of rendering the zombie movie more contemporary was the idea that the virus didn’t necessarily affect people physically (it doesn’t kill them as in traditional zombie movies), but psychologically. Both Alex Garland and Danny Boyle felt that the idea that the virus renders people zombie-like due to uncontrollable rage was a good metaphor for the contemporary phenomenon of social rage (such as road rage, air rage, hospital rage etc). They liked the idea that the virus simply amplifies something already in each and every man and woman, rather than turning them into something entirely Other, as is the traditional route in zombie movies.

Currently I’m playing:
- World of Warcraft (PC)
- Dead Space (PC)
- Mass Effect 1 (PC)
- League of Legends (PC)

With the following bought recently/ to complete:
- Torchlight (PC)
- Knights of the Old Republic (PC)
- Mirror’s Edge (PC – already completed on the 360)
- Left 4 Dead 2 (PC)
- Crysis (PC)
- Bad Company 2 + Vietnam (PC)
- Mass Effect 2 (PC)
- Killzone 2 (PS3)
- Uncharted (PS3 (1 & 2 – want all the Trophies))
- GTA4 (360)
- Batman: Arkham Asylum GOY (360 (re-complete))
- Halo Reach (360)
- Gears 2 (360 (with Ben))

And now, moving on to the games coming out this year that I want to get. But recently, most of my purchases have been in sales or the games have just been out for a while, so (bar Halo), I haven’t paid over £20 for a game since 2009! Steam sales + waiting for games to come down in price = the best. I think there will be only 4 day 1 release purchases this year.

To buy list:
(PC)
Crysis 2:
I got the original Crysis + Warhead + Wars all for £20, and still haven’t completed them yet, so will wait for Crysis 2 to come down in price dramatically before purchasing. Got put off playing the first one though because I have trouble with the audio which I can’t find a fix for on the net.. very frustrating indeed. That and I find the gameplay quite mediocre compared to other PC FPS titles..

Portal 2 (Day 1 purchase)
The first Portal was (and still is fantastic), really looking forward to this sequel and I’m staying away from all that I can, in the media. Here’s the great song from the first one; Still Alive.

Mass Effect 3
The trailer for this made me want to play the first two, this story seems epic and amazing. Managed to pick up the first two on the PC in the EA Christmas sale for £20 (total). I’m about 1% through the first one, again having problems playing this as it starts to take up 100% CPU and begins to lag, making it an unpleasant experience.

Brink (Day 1 purchase)
Could have queued up for 2hours at the Eurogamer Expo to try this, but I hate queuing, so didn’t bother. But it looks like a fantastic class based FPS. Hoping for a demo/ beta before release to confirm I won’t be wasting my money on the day 1 purchase!

Duke Nukem Forever
~12 years in the making, wasn’t looking forward to it anymore… Until I saw the trailer below, it just looks … fun.

Firefall
A new class based free-to-play (I believe) first/ third person shooter MMO type thingy game. The gameplay footage looks pretty cool indeed!
Check out the website: http://www.firefallthegame.com/

(PS3)
Uncharted 3 (Day 1 purchase – maybe)
The first two games of Uncharted were amazing, loved them. Near on perfect imo

Killzone 3
When I started playing Killzone 2, I thought it was better than CoD! But the more I’ve played it, I’ve not been as interested and haven’t felt the need to go and complete the single player campaign like I did on CoD (MW/MW2). So when I eventually finish Killzone 2 (and maybe give the MP a run around), I’ll get Killzone 3!

Wii
Donkey Kong Returns
I hear it’s amazing, just waiting for the price to come down to ~£15.

PS3/PC
Dead Space 2 + Extraction
Dead Space for iPad
Once I’ve completed Dead Space (PC), I’ll need to be getting these 3 games. This franchise (along with Uncharted) have recently made their way into my favourite game series. I have some reservations on the sequel though, I don’t like seeing Isaacs face or voice. But overall, looking forward to it and trying out the multiplayer – when I eventually figure out which version I want to buy (PS3/ PC)
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-dead-space-2-face-off

Assassins Creed series
Probably get the first one on the Xbox360, complete it .. and then get the 2nd/ brotherhood… eventually.

Xbox360
Gears 3 (Day 1 purchase)
Yes! Can’t wait, looking forward to it.

Batman: Arkham City (Or PS3 (Day 1 purchase – maybe))
The first one was fucking awesome, another neigh on perfect game. Really looking forward to this one too.

What am I watching? #movie http://tweetphoto.com/40448823—
Peter Law (@carwashh) August 21, 2010

What am I watching? #movie http://tweetphoto.com/38996709—
Peter Law (@carwashh) August 14, 2010

What am I watching? #movie http://tweetphoto.com/28214263—
Peter Law (@carwashh) June 20, 2010