You Know When You've Been Tango'd

As an update to my last post I put Rainbow Six Vegas 2 into the 360 for a quick spin of Terrorist Hunt mode.

Starting the game for the first time scored me some experience points (you earn xp and level up your character in 2) and gear as I'd played R6V 1 already - handy.

I fired up the Kill House level on Normal with the default weapons. The target was to defeat 25 terrorists or 'tangos' as they seem to be known here. The first few attempts saw me die almost instantly. So I switched tack, rather than going into the building I headed for the roof. This netted me a few tangos but I was soon picked off as I was too busy looking one way.

At this point I did what all good inept gamers do: headed for Youtube. I watched this video of some fella cleaning up on Realistic difficulty. Emulating this chap got me results, after a couple of goes I got down to 5 tangos left before getting wasted. I got some sort of award but I was too busy 'taking out the trash' to see what it was, it netted me big xp though.

However I failed to capitalise on this, the next couple of goes seeing me fail. My problem is when there are too many people coming from too many directions my fingers go all over the shop, I'm crouching and standing up, reloading, going into the scope mode, all the while those damn tangos are closing in.

I've only played about an hour of it so I must be making some progress. Anything with levelling involved is instantly addictive to me, so hopefully it will keep me playing.

Bagged n Tagged

I had some time off for the first time in six weeks this past couple of days, some of which would naturally be devoted to playing games.

I say 'games' but one in particular has caught my interest: Rainbow Six Vegas on the 360.

Originally I picked this up to play the Terrorist Hunt mode with a friend, but found it almost impossible, not really getting the way the game played. If you're not familiar with it the game is a first-person shooter involving counter-terrorist types and has something to do with Tom Clancy (never try and read the Rainbow Six novel of his, it really is awful). The focus is more on squad-based tactical combat rather than running about waving a gun about. In fact if you spend more than about 4 seconds in the open it is GAME OVER.

You have two computer-controlled team-mates who, thankfully for me, can take care of themselves when it matters. In fact there are times I can just tell them to go into a room and clear out the bad guys, although it is reaching a point in the game where doing this means having to go in after them and heal them up.

After failing the first part of the game, set in a Mexican border town, I gave it up. The enemy are hard to see, they pop out from cover and fire at you, so more often than not you're firing at a head 50 feet away. I didn't think I'd be able to get on with it but came back to it recently, for no good reason.

I'm glad I did as it's now clicked. Once you get out of the run-and-gun mindset and start thinking tactically it's actually really absorbing.

The game is very Tom Clandy, that is near-future military action with a big dose of full-fat America on top. Not exactly my bag but I will admit this game is much better than I expected.

An Expensive Autumn

Anyone who has even a slight interest in games knows that the last few months of the year are the busiest as far as big game releases goes. Publishers seem to save their big guns to coincide with 'the holidays' (it's all about pleasing Americans, or so it seems), that lucrative Christmas market.

Which leaves skinflints like me with a dilema: shell out big money now on thos big new games or wait six months when they'll be at most half the price.

There are a few games I want to get in on whilst they're still hot:

Modern Warfare 2 - or Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 or whatever they want to 'brand' it. Despite my moaning about online games I really want to give this a go. After watching the following interview I felt Infinity Ward, the bods responsible for this, were genuine in their intention to make the game accessible to all kinds of players, what with the inclusion of 'Deathstreaks' - ie if you get killed 5 times in a row without scoring you get some temporary boost. With me being the epitome of an inept gamer this appeals.

Here's the video

I'll doubtless play it without a headset so as to avoid the rabble. It ought to be fun, but the publisher, Activision, are taking the proverbial by charging more for the game than normal, thinking they can clean up - this game had better deliver!

Beatles Rock Band - I want to pick this up whilst my friends are still playing it, yet you can't find it for less than £35 at the moment, and it certainly won't come down in price before Christmas at the very least.

There are a few in the 'not quite, but maybe later' category like Halo ODST, Left 4 Dead 2 and Guitar Hero 5, but when money is tight you really have to think carefully.

I regularly pick up cheap games but sometimes you have to be in there whilst they're new, and to be honest I feel like an idiot sometimes. I've been burned before.

Anyway, I get paid next week, so which games will get my attention?

Just A Quickie

Just a quick update really.

It's been a hard week at work so I've been trying to relax with a few games, the main one being Saints Row 2 on the Xbox 360. It's essentially a homage to the GTA games and an alternative to GTA IV which I found a bit too realistic. SR2 puts the emphasis firmly on fun, everything you do is a bit silly and slapstick. I feel that I can actually do missions rather than getting flattened like in the GTA games.

The game may not look as funky as some recent games but it makes up for it with pure gameplay and pure enjoyment. It'll doubtless get frustrating later on but right now I'm loving it, albeit in small doses, although that's how I tend to play games these days, sadly.

Other than that there was a spot of Team Fortress 2 on the PC as well as the usual bout of Quake Live.

The Fab Four

Readers of this occasional blog may know I do like a bit of Rock Band 2 now and again, so today I experienced the latest and most-hyped incarnation of the game: Beatles Rock band or whatever they want to call it.

I hosted a bit of a party of sorts with Michelle, her friend Fi, and Dan. After a saunter around town where I picked up Conker: Live & Reloaded on the original Xbox for a stupidly-low £4, we headed back to mine and got the game going.

The presentation is amazing. It's clearly not just a Rock Band cash-in. Whilst the core RB gameplay is the same the menus, stage scenes and whatnot are all lovingly-recreated scenes from the Beatles' career.

Now I'm not the biggest Beatles fan, in fact I'd say they're a bit overrated in my book, but playing along with all the hits was really good fun, especially as a full band. We shifted about and played all the instruments, I managed to get 100% on Paperback Writer on Hard vocals - it helped I knew the song pretty well.

Something I have to mention is how ace the bass part in this is. On normal Rock band bass can be pretty dull, even on Expert, but here most songs are pretty tough which makes a pleasant change.

I'll probably pick this up when it comes down in price a bit. It exceeded my expectations, certainly.

Cheers to Dan, Fi and Mish for coming over, was a great way to experience the game.

It's Been A Long Time

Hello! Yes, I apologise for not being abot these past few months. If I did have an excuse it would be 'the summer' - it's really hard to sit in playing games when it is lovely and warm outside, plus I don't thing the 360 would have been able to cope.

September is here and with it the cooler weather and darker evenings. This will hopefully draw me back into playing more games.

I've not been totally absent from gaming though, what have I been playing?

Quake Live - really been getting into this, and despite my bitching and moaning earlier in the year I have to say I've improved a great deal. Not only can I die less than I frag but my accuracy has improved too. It is so convenient, I can jump into a game on an evening quickly and feel the rush.

Trials HD - I got hold of some cheapo MS moon-bucks and picked this up. It's basically Kikstart II for the Noughties with some excellent level design. I had the previous game in this series on the PC and couldn't even get past the tutorial, it was that rock-hard, but I'm glad to say this is much more approachable and very addictive.

Rainbow Six Vegas - the first one. I started playing this about a year ago but couldn't get on with it, but for some reason I thought I'd give it another go, and have found myself enjoying it much more. Yes, it is rock-hard and my crap eyesight isn't really ideal, seeing as you're mainly firing at bits of targets miles away. Picked up R6V2 recently and am hoping to do a bit of the Terrorist Hunt mode with that.

Team Fortress 2 - the Thursday games of this have moved from the 360 to the PC now. We all got fed up waiting for the much-needed update and jumped over to play on a hired server. It really is amazing stuff, simple as that really.

Anything else? Hmm, bits and bobs really, nothing worth going on about here.