Friday, December 30, 2011

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!!! :)

15 comments:

Unknown said...

Heya!!! :D Welcome back FK!!! you was missed...

RE the blogging, you forget to mention the free strippers...
plus something you and Gnome have in spades, originality...

Thank you for a most excellent end of year post dear Father, something I neither have the skill or commitment to put together.

Recently treated myself to Dead Space 2, now thanks to your post I feel I'm missing out. not having the hardware to play extraction or HOTD. They both sound superb!

:(

Just checking, Santa didn't leave a red Lamborghini with my name on it outside your house by any chance? and erm Gnome seems to have been kidnapped...

By chance I don't hear from you in the next few days, May I wish you and yours a very Happy New Year..

Give us a tweet when you get your hands on mr Payne or GTA V, I'm not convinced yet... like you I have a ton of first in series I have yet to complete.

(curls up on Fk's floor...)

gnome said...

And my best wishes for a brilliant 2012 dear Father!

Unknown said...

Happy New Year! may it be spectacular :)

fatherkrishna said...

Hi Elderly! A very happy new years to you and yours also! Didn't manage to see any red Lamborghinis (or strippers for that matter!)

And Gnome you say... Kidnapped! By gosh we must alert the Gnomic authorities...
*Nips round to Gnomes to check on liquor cabinet...*

fatherkrishna said...

Why it's dear Gnome! Unkidnapped!
Hurrah! Happy New Year to you my dear friend!

*Scoops Elderly off the floor and hugs both chaps heartily...*

We're all still here guys, together in 2012! Aint life grand?

My heartfelt love to the pair of you!

*Cracks bottle of champers nicked from Gnome's liquor cabinet... Hands out cigars*

It's just like the old days! :)

Unknown said...

:D Champers!!! you beaut!!!

(raises his glass in the air..and toasts his two buddies...)

Here's to 2012, us still being here and the sheer delight I feel everytime I see you guys!!!

sniff!..

...I'm not going to cry..
it's the bubbles!!!

..To friendship!!! :D

Davecaster said...

*Sonny Boy shambles in 4 days late and reaches for a cigar all the same. Puts on paper hat and pulls a party popper...*


Nice review round up there Father K! You've had a busy year. I enjoy your reviews massively because you make me laugh. Plus I like that you seem to imply that an easy game is a good game :)

Do you have any dreamcast plans for 2012, or has it the undead console more er, dead?

Also, I'm keen to hear your views on any DS games you have played lately because I know you are a bit of a fan of the little handheld. My nephew has a 3ds and I have become increasingly impressed with it (especially Mario Kart 7). Have you got one? Hidden under one of your many TVs perhaps?

Anyway, here's to a fabulous 2012. Don't worry about updating too often ( I can't point the finger -I shut my blog down!)

fatherkrishna said...

To friendship dear Elderly! Would you care for a nip of brandy in that champagne?

You know with all this festive love going on I might even be persuaded to write a review of the legendary Dead Island... Undoubtedly my game of 2011 and deliberately left out of the 2011 round up in case I should feel the urge to update this blog again before 2013 rolls around!

fatherkrishna said...

Mr. Sonny-Boy! SBW! The Sonny-Meister, Sonn-Shine etc. etc,

How the devil are you old thing!?
Cripes! It's been a goodly while since we conversed! I'm so glad to see you here my boy!

If I can finish a game then it immediately becomes an object of my affection. I've played so many great games and been stuck to the point of melt down that I've had to abandon them... either that or bribe my middle son to play through the tricky parts ha ha!

So in many ways you're spot on my friend! As for the ol' DS I've not played anything on mine for a while... And I was holding off on purchasing a 3DS until the additional thumb-stick issue (at the moment Nintendo are looking at trying to graft one onto the back...)is resolved. Look out for a major re-design soon! I bought the DSi XL when it came out and didn't really bond with it. The last software purchase I made for my DS was Sonic and Sega All-stars Racing, which I am reluctant to reccomend as I think it would only seem inferior to Mario Kart 7...

Games I have enjoyed include Resident Evil DS (in essence only a port of the original game) the Call Of Duty games...excellent FPS with clever use of the stylus for the hand held... Ridge Racer DS is a superb driving game IMHO... I loved that game! The first game I got for my DS back in 2006... Assassin's Creed is an excellent little side scrolling hack and slash game. Then I guess there is the Phoenix Wright games, Hotel Dusk, the FIFA football games are superb, for a bit of fun Rub Rabbits or Sonic Rush... Yep! I do love the old DS! Just thinking about it has made me want to play it!

In fact I'd love a 3DS for the Resident Evil games it's got on it... And there's all that lovely retro content available for download... fairly limited at the moment but the market space will expand rapidly...

BUT! let's not forget the lovely PSP Vita that's going to be SUCH a tempting prospect... drool...

As for the Dreamcast, I do have one of them in my room, but I'm rarely on it. I bought a copy of Rival Schools recently and was very tempted to raise Seaman again recently after buying a Seaman t-shirt but alas no! Other than my Dreamcast collection for the 360, there has been little Dreamcast activity over here at Krishna towers. My Saturn on the other hand is hooked up to the whopping 40 inch TV, so there might be a Saturn revival this month!

So pleased to see you here Sonny Boy!!!! May 2012 bring you evrything you hope for!

Unknown said...

Hey Father!

Hows 2012 treatin' ya..? Not bad here I must say. Going to try and blog a bit more this year.. .. Best of luck to me!

Looks like its going to be a Resident Evil kinda year. Not sure I will be getting a 3ds for Revelations, but will be playing the next 2. Looks like RE6 will be going back to it's zombie roots finally- looking forward to that!

Anyway will be awaiting reviews on all these games your playing too ;)

-Talk soon!

Davecaster said...

How are you Father K. I hope your absence does not mean anything untoward has happened.
Just to let you know, Planet Dreamcast has been shut down. :( All the Planets have been. Some of the old crowd have started a google group. Leave a message on my blog if you want to join. I am on ign games community board as well.

Take care,

Mr Sonny Boy

Unknown said...

:) wher'd he go...

Fatherkrishnaaaaaaa

I brought goodies....

(unwraps chocolate cake, prepares cold refreshing robinsons lemon, cuts strawberries in half, attempts to whip cream...)

:( I never could be rough with cream....

Tom Charnock said...

FK - get in touch if you read this! Been a long time mate

patsm00re18 said...

I love the way you show all the post. Two thumbs up!!!!
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