FK's 2011 Round-up!

Despite having a 6-7 year history as a blogger, I still haven't managed to "get it". The blogs I like have contributors who a.) update their blogs regularly b.) write short, succinct, topical, 'punchy' articles about relevant stuff c.) respond promptly when visitors to their blogs leave helpful or appreciative comments. I do none of the above things and therefore do not deserve to have anyone reading my posts. However, I'll still do a round up of my year in gaming, if only to keep this old place from seizing up and being shut down...

So, where was I? Ah that's right, I'd taken a brief hiatus from my Wii to play Dead Space, which I thoroughly enjoyed... Well, faithful to myself at the time, as soon as I got through Dead Space, I reconnected my Wii to have a crack at Dead Space Extraction. Despite being a very linear and "on rails" shooter, I have to say I enjoyed EVERYTHING abut this game, and I'd even venture as far to say that this was a better game than that which spawned it...

First of all, graphically, this game looks great... You'd expect it t have been a big letdown after Dead Space on the 360, but really the game looks almost as good as it's bigger brother...
The next feature which held it's own for me was the story and characters which were both excellent (chief villain is the unlikeable and duplicitous South African "Eckhardt" - one of the best baddies in my recent memory....) Dead Space is a slow burner which took a while to grab my interest. It did however turn into a Jolly good story by the end. Having warmed me up me for the ensuing story line, the Dead Space Extraction plot was easy to jump into.



The other feature of the game I liked was that as each level was completed, a digital "comic book" is opened, chapter by chapter, padding out the back-story in an original way. At first I thought the artwork amateurish - but as the comic continued, I warmed to that as well!

Fully satisfied, I desired more Wii on-rails shooting excellence. I found it in the excellent House Of The Dead Overkill. At first I played with the awesome looking House Of The Dead Overkill Hand Cannon peripheral. But "good looking" does not make for "good shooting" and I completed the game with the Wiimote as my 'gun'. The game is hilarious, and a great reboot of the original... HOTD is one of my long time favourite franchises and I include a lot of arcade play in that love of the game. HOTD-OK is a riot in terms of B-Movie shlock-horror references, but also remains an excellent shooter in it's own right.


Like Homer Simpson, I'm extremely suggestible, and like Homer, I also make dumb links in my head... The mere fact that I'd moved onto zombies in HOTD meant that I thought about Resident Evil... That lead me into downloading Resident Evil 4 HD, 5 and Code Veronica HD from the 360 Market Place... This was a hugely lazy move on my part. Whilst I've loved downloading retro content on my Wii, 360 and PS3 from a variety of platforms in the past - part of my logic being it gives me the opportunity to play games fr the Megadrive, MasterSystem, Snes, N64 etc. without having to set the consoles themselves up. But now I find myself increasingly downloading things so I don't have to move my consoles from room to room... I have RE4 and RE:CV on PS2, which I can play on my PS3, but my PS3 is downstairs in the living room and most of my gaming tends to take place upstairs in my bedroom. I've just upgraded my TV in the bedroom to a 32 inch/81 cm screen. That's hooked up to my 360 and weeellll... you get the picture, it was just easier to download them straight onto my 360... Lazy twat that I am!



And then all of a sudden I'd played the RE4 and 5 games inside out AGAIN, wringing out every last drop of extra content out of each title. I started into RE:CV but then stopped myself... I had to play something NEW! (Or new to me at least...) This has resulted in me stop-starting and half-playing the following titles Gears Of War 3 (as of yet unplayed), Arkham City (loving it but stuck!!!) Devil May Cry 4 (far into but stuck!!!), Mass Effect (as of yet unplayed), Ninja Gaiden (as of yet unplayed)... Started and then stalled at the end of 2011 would include... Beyond Good and Evil (HD), Back To The Future, Dead Rising Case Zero, Resident Evil Code Veronica, Sonic 4 and Shadow Complex.



I've also just received Sonic Generations for 360 for Christmas off Mrs. K, plus Homefront and The Dreamcast Collection for 360 off my lovely boys Joe and Martin. So, I'm back where I always am... Too many games on the go at one time, that feeling of dis-satisfaction of not completing great games. No change there then! On the plus side, I have recently organised my games, sorting them out, alphabetising them and remembering what I've got. I've just sorted out my gaming environment, with the boys confined to the front living room for their gaming activities, with their PS3 and the newest Sony 40 inch TV. My room has therefore inherited the 32 inch I was talking about fr my 360. My PS3 is now the DVD player in the back living room under my 37 inch! This means at least that all gaming can now take place without annoying Mrs. K. And it means I've got a chance with catching up with myself.

So, as usual I've got a lot of gaming to tidy up... but I'm up t the job! I need to get these finished before 2012... r if that is an overwhelming task it will have to be before this:



or this!



Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you out there in the blogosphere! I'm off to lazily download Daytona USA and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3!!! :)