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.

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.