Being Distracted

It feels like an eternity but I've had no internet since Wednesday last. Your net-addicted writer spent a couple of hours wondering how the hell to fill his time before settling down to actually playing games.

Without the constant desire to check email and engage in IM chat my mind was free to concentrate on a game for once. The game in question was 2005 FPS Black on the old Xbox, a game notorious for its stingy save points. You have to go a fair while before you reach a checkpoint and even then it doesn't save your position, it merely allows you to go back there if you die.

So I knuckled down and tackled the second mission. The (unskippable) cutscene before it made absolutely no sense and was ultimately pointless. You just move forward, shoot and try not to die. There are also lots of tankers, fuel dumps and the like that you can blow up, gives you a buzz.

Without the constant pull of the internet I managed to get through the lengthy second mission which, on the third try, I managed to complete on Normal. If the net had been there I'd have not stuck at it, if I'm being honest. That isn't something I'm proud to say, and it actually does worry me - how much else could I achieve if I wasn't sat on the internet all evening?

I'm not saying I want to lose my net connection, it's great to have, but it just goes to show how much it has affected how I play games.

Headshot!

Another Saturday evening in. The combination of wine and games stop me me getting totally bored. Typically I play more arcade-style games at this time as I just want to relax.

So whilst I enjoyed a packet of Sainsbury's Salt & Vinegar Twists I decided to fire up Urban Chaos: Riot Response, an arcade-style first-person shooter that came out towards the end of the original Xbox' life.

Basically you go around and bring the pain to a city full of masked rioters. It's simple fun, not a classic, but it's very replayable as you try and get medals for completing various goals in each section. And never has the headshot been more satisfying in a game than it is here.

As I said, it's no Halo or Half-Life 2, but for me it was very playable, even if it is pretty cheesy.

Bear in mind I am playing on Rookie difficulty. Not sure how the settings differ but even a dullard like me is finding Rookie a tad easy. It says something about my resolve that I haven't got to the point where everything has to be really easy for me to enjoy it - I still like a challenge.

Consolevania's review sums it up well.

Give the 360 a Rest

Just finished a marathon session (by my standards) of Rock Band 2, mainly drumming. Still trying to get the kit in the right place, get comfortable, but generally it was much fun indeed.

One problem I'm having is the cymbal on the Guitar Hero kit isn't registering every hit. It acts as the yellow pad in RB2. As I'm just playing on Easy difficulty at the moment it's not big deal, but unless I can sort this out it'll be a right pain on Hard and Expert.

All that aside it was very enjoyable. Giving the 360 a rest for a bit and will probably play some guitar later (the drums do make a noise).

And there's a new version of the online web-based shooter Quake Live out so I'll download and give that a go. I'm useless at it but the simplicity and immediacy of it make it good for just dipping into. And if I turn the chat off I can easily ignore the calls of "n00b" etc, and can pretend everyone who plays online games are thoroughly decent

An Evening Of Mixed Fortunes

Firstly I had my now-weekly session of Team Fortress 2 on the 360. Technical issues marred this week's games but generally it was enjoyable, no messing about, scored points, wasn't at the bottom of the list (unless I picked a class I wasn't comfortable with), and came away feeling good.

I then agreed to join a game of Left 4 Dead, also on the 360. Haven't played this since before Christmas and was a tad rusty, but the game doesn't demand too much of you, not on Normal difficulty anyway, and whilst I was the only one not to make it onto the chopper at the end (got caught on the edge of the ramp by a Tank) it was all good clean fun and we worked well together.

At this point I should point out I was playing with people from the RLLMUK forums, and a decent bunch they are, generally.

Bouyed up by my enjoyment thus far I thought I'd round off the evening with another go on Battlefield 2 - third time unlucky. I found a server that only let low-ranking players on, and I thought this would make things easier, it didn't. Once again I was lost, couldn't locate my team-mates, would get killed by people I couldn't see - generally frustrating.

I'll stick with this server though and hopefully this will enable me to at least have a go without getting too annoyed. The main problem was whilst everything else has a massive glowing marker above it, enemy stuff doesn't, so although I managed to 'spot' an enemy tank (you use a key to warn other players of it), I'd never see enemy troops coming at me.

Right, I'm tired, it's very very late, I'm off to bed.

Punked and Busted

Thought I'd take the plunge and try Battlefield 2 online.

Firstly it kept kicking me off servers because my Punkbuster wasn't up-to-date or something, PB being some anti-cheat doo-dah. After messing about trying to get that sorted I eventually found a game with more than 1 person on it.

I chose to be a Medic as that would probably be the easiest to start with, and perhaps people would be more grateful for my healing skills. As I gathered I died rather alot, at times I'd be shot as soon as I spawned. Once again finding my troops was a hassle and I'd frequently get taken out as I tried to cross a street. More frustrating was when I'd get within a couple of feet of a fallen team-mate, ready to revive them, only to get shot. This happened several times and was extremely frustrating.

After a while I'd managed to get my score into double figures, then I was kicked from the server for no good reason - 'Admin decision', whatever that means.

Not the best start to a game, to be honest. Right now I can't really see me itching to play this every night.

Back to Team Fortess 2 then, i guess.

Battlefield 2

Battlefield 2, a game I've always fancied playing but never thought I was good enough - and by my initial experiences I was right.

Bought the Complete Collection off Amazon Marketplace for about £13 delivered, not too shabby. Spent an absolute age installing everything, well over 90 minutes of entering CD keys and applying patches, all the while thinking is this all to be in vain?

At about 12.30am I finally had the game running. My just-over-a-year-old PC handles it a max settings easily, so it looks fantastic.

To get used to controls and how it plays I started with the single-player mode, which I'm sure seasoned BF2 players would say wasn't a sufficient grounding in the game. I was woeful!

Okay let's see

• Kept getting lost - I'd frequently lose my AI squadmates and end up getting picked off by the enemy. Plus not knowing the map well I didn't know where to attack and in what order, something that I'm sure frequent play would remedy.
  
• Dying before realising it - despite trying to use cover, keeping low and avoiding open spaces whenever possible, frequently I'd hear a shot then die. You never get to see who killed you and from where, which I'm sure is how war works, but it was disconcerting to say the least.
• Confused - apart from losing my squadmates I'd also find all he icons all over the place confusing. Do I run towards that blue flashing one, or the purple shield one? Is the point I'm defending likely to be attacked or is it safe?
  

Bear in mind I was playng this on the hardest setting to prepare myself to be fully beaten stupid online.

Hmm, I'm yet to take this online and looking at my current ability level I feel I'm not ready. But for the hell of it I should at least attempt it.