Sunday, May 17, 2009

Game Diary


I'm stealing this concept from one Stephen Totilo and will be using it to briefly speak about any games I have been playing, as well as any completion progress that I may have made. Ideally I would have had another post up this evening but commitments have meant that I've had to push it back a few days. Sorry about that.

I've got an insane amount of games waiting to be played at the moment such as Dead Space and Bully. Unfortunately however they've been put on hold while I still play games like Fallout 3 and Fable II, due to downloadable content or the fact that I haven't finished them yet. Adding on top of all this gaming goodness is about 5-7 games that I've borrowed from friends. One of these games is Just Cause and throughout the week I finally gave it a whirl.

First impressions are good, better than expected in fact, with the game being quite fun to play and looking pretty damn nice considering its age. Driving around the cities and countryside in itself is rather nice on the eye, with lush forests opening up to reveal a sunset over the ocean. It's when you are parachuting out of a plane or helicopter and slowly but surely gliding down towards the Earth below, however, that Just Cause is truly spectacular. Seeing the islands (the game's world is made out of about 6 decently sized islands and multiple smaller ones) spread out into the distance, birds flying next to you in the sky and deciding on one of the many enticing destinations below is quite awe-dropping and arguably Just Cause's best asset. On the negative side of things, Just Cause is perhaps too big and even by plane it can take a good 20 minutes to get from one side of the map to the other. The game's story doesn't engage either, seeming quite generic though admittedly I am still in the early stages. Why? Because I've spent too much time taking in the sights, as well as exploring and finding the game's collectibles.

I've mentioned a few times here before that I consider myself a completionist, always aiming to complete a game to the best of my ability. Things were no different this week when I finally finished Race Pro's career and championship modes. I still have a few championships left to do but they shouldn't take long and once completed, it will just be some easy online Achievements left to obtain. I also finished the story of GTA: Chinatown Wars which had a predictable ending. Progress sits on 59% complete and I will now find the hidden cameras and etc. so I can hit 100% completion.

That's the week in review. As I type this it is early Sunday morning here in Australia so unfortunately I didn't get to do everything I intended to game wise this time around. Still, one day is enough to play some more of Just Cause and also check out Playstation Home again now that it seems to be worth spending time in. More on that in the next few days.

3 comments:

pete said...

Oh come on Steven - I've been doing a sporadic "gaming diary" for ages! Totilo nicked the idea from me! ;) (Though it must be said that a daily gaming blog is certainly a brave move)

Your initial comments on Just Cause are markedly similar to my own (from a couple of years ago). You'll manage the 100% just fine - it's about thirty hours all up, with only a few teensy tricky bits.

A question about your targets for GTA: CW completion, though; are you taking medals into account? Are you aiming to get all Golds? That's my initial target, just some of those TTs are insanely difficult... I may have to drop my targets somewhat. Interested to hear your goals, anyway :)

Unknown said...

Hey Pete, long time no see. Hope you're doing well.

I'm not planning on doing the Game Diary thing daily or even weekly, but I will use it to mention any completion news or for game thoughts that aren't worth their own post.

My targets for GTA: CW are everything found, every mission finished (including the two that you get from the Social Club) and yeah, all Golds as well. Whether that is possible or not remains to be seen but if the Go-Kart TTs are anything to go by, Gold in the other challenges shouldn't be too hard.

Thanks for stopping by again mate, it's appreciated.

pete said...

Wow. I've had massive problems with the later Go-Kart TTs, so massive respect to you ;)