Merging and Change

For those who don't know i started up a gaming blog "Brotherhood of Gaming", where it was meant to be about gaming news and a clan site. It did not go to full plan but kept running anyway last week I decided I'm going to merge into this blog. To be honest their wont be much difference from what I normally post anyway since on here I do now and again talk about new releases coming up, this is why I decided to merge them since I already do pretty much more here then on the other blog.

Here's the link to the post anyway that was posted over there

For this blog as I said won't change much, probably just a tidy up on the why its organised and hopefully get a banner sorted finally.

Sunday Progress Update

Thought I post an update on how the gaming is going, here is the current stats.

Games Completed In 2011

1. Fable 3 (Xbox 360)
2. Command & Conquer 4 Tiberium Twilight (PC)
3. God of War: Ghost of Sparta (PSP)
4. Ghost Trick (DS)
5. Batman Arkham Asylum (PC)
   

Gamerscore Earned This Year
1,075

Trophies Earned This Year
14 Bronze

Games Working On
Enslaved (Xbox 360)
Mass Effect 2 (Playstation 3)
DC Universe Online (Playstation 3)

Started Enslaved back up and finished another chapter, I am enjoying it but other games keep tempting me and taking over all my time. I also tried DC Universe today finally and to be honest I'm not that impressed, will try a few more hours in the week on it but I got a feeling I will be trading it in.

Thats it for the progress information, catch you all later

How GOTY will work

I'm in the middle of finishing off my review for Ghost Trick so I thought I would post about how the game of the year 2011 will work before I finish. As I said in a earlier post several weeks back there will be a new label called Hall of Fame where the winners will be found, the game of the year label is for the posts keeping track on my thoughts of who should be game of the year etc.

Also I did say I was thinking of doing categories (rpg of the year etc) which I think I will go ahead with. So the following will be tracked through the year and at the end of the year the winners will be announced and added to the Hall of Fame.

• Game of the Year 2011
• RPG of the Year 2011
• Strategy of the Year 2011
• Action/Adventure of the Year 2011
• Shooter of the Year 2011
• Other Genres of the Year 2011

So there you have it, of course this can change depending on my mood through out the year.

Review: Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

E3 2010 I remember watching the trailer for this game and thinking the concept would be awesome. After that I completely forgot about the game until last week when the game arrived on delivery. Was quite shocked how this had slipped under my radar but I decided to give it a try anyway.

WOW and WOW!

The game was amazing and by far one of the best DS games I've ever played, its right up there with Time Hollow and Phoenix Wright. I would buy a DS just to play this game without having to think about, well done Capcom and please make more!

The story kept me hooked all the way through, you start the game finding yourself dead without a clue who did and why. Add in the fact you forgot who you are as well, to help solve this big mystery you find yourself with special powers (aka Ghost Trick).

You can possess inanimate objects, you can then jump from one object to the next as long as they are in range and some objects can be manipulated (e.g. open umbrella, move a wheel etc). Its a puzzle game basically, you use these skills to stop certain events from happening or to move around the scene. Through the game you find yourself at murder scenes where you can talk to the ghost of the dead victim and go back in time to see the event of death and attempt to avert it. Why do this you say? your a good guy and most of the time the victim as a clue to the mystery.

Trust me you need to play this game, I cannot describe how good this game is. Story is good, game play mechanics are amazing and unique. Graphics are anime styled (thats a plus in my book) and work well for this type of game.


Just go and buy it!

Game of the Year 2011 Nominee

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (Nintendo DS)
Score: 10 out of 10
Gameplay: Good
Graphics Good
Story: Good
Length: Decent
Controls: Good

Plus one more

I realised the other night that last summer was in the middle of trying to finish off some of my old games and increasing my gamer score while I was at it. On the schedule was Batman AA for the PC with the GOTY edition to be played next after it (the achievements lists stack), anyway it suddenly come to me that I was about to finish off Poison Ivy when Halo Reach came out and got side tracked with Christmas.

So popped the disc back in the other night and finished the game yesterday, finished off the collectibles this afternoon and did one of the challenges too. Nice increase of 345 gamer points for that game without much trouble and making it the fifth game I've completed this year (yes i know its kinda cheating since I did most of the work last year :-p).

It was good to keep me occupied until today anyway since picked up DC Universe Online and Mass Effect 2 (PS3). So now currently busy wrapped up playing those two, well actually I've not played DC yet since still doing the downloads (11gb patch did in 10 minutes, currently on 30 mins for the 2gb patch lmao).

Games Completed In 2011

1. Fable 3 (Xbox 360)
2. Command & Conquer 4 Tiberium Twilight (PC)
3. God of War: Ghost of Sparta (PSP)
4. Ghost Trick (DS)
5. Batman Arkham Asylum (PC)
   

Gamerscore Earned This Year
1,025

Trophies Earned This Year
4 Bronze

Games Working On
Enslaved (Xbox 360)
Mass Effect 2 (Playstation 3)
DC Universe Online (Playstation 3)

Gaming Weekend

What a weekend, on Saturday I finally finished God of War Ghost of Sparta and I got to say I loved the ending, hope to see more of Kratos in the future. Then I started Ghost Trick which I just finished about an hour ago.

OMG! its just that good, I will be reviewing it later but its on my list of top great games. This is the type of games I love having my DS for, Time Hollow blew me away in 2009 and Phoenix Wright series is another one. Love the anime style graphics and the different game styles but its the stories that get me, they suck me in and feel part of the world. I want to know what happens next!

Just hope to see more games like this

Games Completed In 2011

1. Fable 3 (Xbox 360)
2. Command & Conquer 4 Tiberium Twilight (PC)
3. God of War: Ghost of Sparta (PSP)
4. Ghost Trick (DS)
   

Gamerscore Earned This Year
680

Trophies Earned This Year
0

Games Working On
Enslaved (Xbox 360)

Four games completed this year so far and I'm very happy with that achievement, not even three weeks in the new year. Top it off as well that each game is on a different platform made me chuckle, wonder if I got a Wii and PS3 game I could do. In fact actually Mass Effect 2 for the PS3 is coming out this week, maybe that will be added to the complete list soon (you know what I'm like for Mass Effect games).

Another good thing as well is the fact that Ghost Trick was the first 2011 new release I've bought so I'm currently on 100% completed for the 2011 games lol. Anyway that's it really, pretty much spent the entire time playing those two games and now trying to pick some games to take over for them. Really could do with jumping back on Enslaved again while I'm at it.

2011 Releases Completed
- 1/1 - 100% -

1. Ghost Trick (DS)

Update for the week

The 2011 new releases have started! picked up Ghost Trick for the DS today which I had no idea was out. Really need to get on the ball, still shocked Mass Effect 2 for the PS3 is out next week. Anyway so its begun alot earlier then I thought and I've still got tons to complete, good news is that I finished C&C4 Tiberium Twilight last night (both GDI and Nod story campaigns). Will review it soon but it was ok, expected alot better for a C&C game though. I'm also about half way through God of War Ghost of Sparta so I'm doing pretty good, let's just hope it stays like this lol.

Games Completed In 2011

1. Fable 3 (Xbox 360)
2. Command & Conquer 4 Tiberium Twilight (PC)
   

Gamerscore Earned This Year
680

Trophies Earned This Year
0

Games Working On
God of War Ghost of Sparta (PSP)
Enslaved (Xbox 360)
Ghost Trick (DS)

I've added Ghost Trick to the games working on (taking over for C & C) because I want to stay on top of the 2011 releases this year, last year had to be the worst for the back log of games I built up compared to others and I do not want to repeat that again. Also when I tested out Ghost Trick I loved it straight away, reminds me alot of Time Hollow and Phoenix Wright. It's games like this that make the DS great for me!

~Iznic

2011 Gaming Progress

I've decided to start keep track of some stats of my gaming, lets see how long I can keep this up before I get bored.

Games Completed In 2011

1. Fable 3 (Xbox 360)

Gamerscore Earned This Year
680

Trophies Earned This Year
0

Games Working On
Command & Conquer 4 Tiberium Twilight (PC)
God of War Ghost of Sparta (PSP)
Enslaved (Xbox 360)

Updated list of pile of shame

Well here is the updated list, differences is the rental list increasing in size and bought Pokemon Ranger Guardian Signs today (so i could get the event pokemon). Also Fable 3 as moved up to completed, woot! one down and only two million to go, think the thing that makes me depressed is not how big this list is. It's the fact there is a bigger list for past games I bought from years ago still to do! and the fact end of January beings a huge launch of brand new games.

So many and yet so little time, someone make a time stopping device please!

COMPLETED

Halo Reach X360 - Completed (Legendary Difficulty Solo)
Medal of Honor X360 - Completed (Hardmode Difficulty Solo)
Star Wars the Force Unleashed 2 X360- Completed
Lego Harry Potter PS3 - Completed (Platnium Trophy)
Call of Duty Black Ops X360 - Completed (Veteran Difficulty Solo)
Kane and Lynch 2 Dog Days X360 - Completed
Fable 3 X360 - Completed

THE LIST

God of War Ghost of Sparta PSP - Started
Star Wars the Force Unleashed 2 PS3 - Tradded in
The Sims 3 X360 - Started
Spiderman Shattered Dimension X360 - Still wrapped
Assassin's Creed Brotherhood X360 - Started
Trinity Universe PS3 - Still wrapped
Kinectnimals X360 - Started
Kinect Joy Ride X360 - Started
Kinect Adventures X360 - Played
Vanquish X360 - Still wrapped
Fallout New Vegas X360 - Still wrapped
Borderlands Game of the Year X360 - Started
Atelier Rorona PS3 - Still wrapped
Wolfenstein X360 - Still wrapped
Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 X360 - Still wrapped
World of Warcraft Catalsym PC - Playing
Monster Hunter Tri Wii - Still wrapped
Resonance of Fate X360 - Still wrapped
White Knight Chronicles PS3 - Still wrapped
Killzone 2 PS3 - Still wrapped
Gameaid Pack (Tomb Raider Underworld/Sega Superstars Tennies/Fuel) PS3 -Still wrapped
Tropico 3 X360 - Still wrapped
Command & Conquer 4 Tiberium Twilight PC - Started
Hawx 2 X360 -Still wrapped
Monopoly Streets X360 - Still wrapped
Lost Planet 2 Xbox 360 - Unopened
Last Rebellion Playstation 3 - Unopened
Brutal Legend Xbox 360 - Unopened
Red Faction Guerrilla Xbox 360 - Unopened
Dark Sector Xbox 360 - Unopened
Luminous Arc 2 Limited Edition Nintendo DS - Unopened
Sakura Wars: So long my love Wii - Unopened
Overture Gulity Gears 2 Xbox 360 - Unopened
Final Fantasy The 4 Heroes of Light Nintendo DS - Unopened
Avalon Code Nintendo DS - Unopened
EA Active 2 Xbox 360 - Unopened
Enslaved Odyssey to the West Xbox 360 - Started
Pokemon Ranger Guardian Signs Nintendo DS - Unopened

RENTAL

Shrek Forever After PS3 - Completed (Platnium Trophy)
Shrek Forever After X360 - Completed (1,000 Gamerscore)
Army of Two 40th Day X360 - Completed

MorphX X360 - Sent back, not got time to play
How to Train Your Dragon X360 - Sent back, not got time to play
Alpha Protocol X360 - Sent back, good game want to buy it
Farcry 2 X360 - Sent back, not got time to play
Dark Void X360 - Sent back, not got time to play
Operation Flashpoint X360 - Sent back not got time to play
Darksiders X360 - Current rental

Announcements

This morning I had to pop to the local shopping centre where I worked to come back to a huge list of announcements, it's amazing what could happen in two hours. I've posted everything on the Brotherhood of Gaming site I run but had to post here about what I thought, and all I can say is "ouch" my bank account is going to hurt for the next several months.

So many collector editions in such a small amount of time with other great releases as well, could mean I might have to ditch some orders. Today they announced the Dead Space CE, Dawn of War 2 Retribution CE, Two Worlds 2 Royal Edition and the date for release of Pokemon Black & White.

Think I need to do what I did with E3 last year and list everything with dates and prices so I can see where I stand, espically with the fact I want to go to the Midlands MCM Expo in Feburary.

~Iznic

Brotherhood of Gaming

Mass Effect 2 DLC

Very excited to hear that Mass Effect 2 is not over yet, got my hopes that it is the dlc that will bridge the gap between 2 and 3 but in another way I'm hoping it's something else so can get two lots of dlc.

Just hoping it's just as amazing as Shadow Broker, Stolen Memories was ok but nothing came close to the amazing mission that was the Shadow Broker DLC.

End of this year is going to be amazing, Mass Effect 3 woot!




Source: Brotherhood of Gaming

DLC Review: Star Wars the Force Unleashed 2 - Endor

Finally decided to download the DLC for the latest Star Wars, with the promise of force drop kicking a ewok I could not resist. I was shocked to find that it only cost 80 Microsoft points, which made me start to wonder how good it was going to turn out.

After about an hour I finally finished it and I got to say I don't think I even hit a hour, it was massively short and disappointing. Through out the game I was hit with terrible lag every time I did a lightsabre combo, at the end you see Tie Fighters in space and several of the skins didn't load so it was just grey blobs flying around. Hopefully patch would fix that but doubt it since the dlc cost barely nothing.

The entire mission felt rushed, you instantly start at the shuttle landing, fight a few rebels then next your in the village killing ewoks for barely a few minutes then you instantly at the bunker. Chewie and Han boss fight was a joke and the story, what can I say It was a last minute job

Only thing I did enjoy was the whole drop kicking ewoks but got bored after the 30th time. So overall it was a bad dlc mission but for a 80 Microsoft point, I have no regrets buying it. Shame other dlc that was terrible wasn't this price.



Star Wars the Force Unleashed II - Endor DLC (Xbox 360)
Score: 5 of out 10
Gameplay: Average
Graphics Good
Story: Poor
Length: Too Short
Controls: Good

Value for Money: Very good

It keeps on growing

*hangs his head in shame* Yes I bought more games! I know I know I should crack open the others first but with sales on I could not help myself, I'm too weak!

Lost Planet 2 Xbox 360 - Unopened
Last Rebellion Playstation 3 - Unopened
Brutal Legend Xbox 360 - Unopened
Red Faction Guerrilla Xbox 360 - Unopened
Dark Sector Xbox 360 - Unopened
Luminous Arc 2 Limited Edition Nintendo DS - Unopened
Sakura Wars: So long my love Wii - Unopened
Overture Gulity Gears 2 Xbox 360 - Unopened
Final Fantasy The 4 Heroes of Light Nintendo DS - Unopened
Avalon Code Nintendo DS - Unopened
EA Active 2 Xbox 360 - Unopened
Enslaved Odyssey to the West Xbox 360 - Unopened

Game of the Year 2011 Thoughts

You know it just came to me how tough the competition will be next year for game of the year 2011, if you look back at the post I did a few days ago there are quite a few good games but several of these are huge ones. In fact there is a lot of games that are sequels to past game of the years for me.

One game I did forget to mention in the other post was Batman Arkham City, a game I'm currently very excited to play. Its predecessor I actually own four copies of (two for the Xbox and two for the PC, all for achievements but I loved every play through) and soon to get it again on the Playstation 3 for the trophies. Of course Batman Arkham Aslyum was Game of the Year 2009 so my expectations for Arkham City are quite high.

Then there is Last Guardian the third game in the series and the Shadow of the Colossus/Ico HD Remake meant to be this year, Shadow of the Colossus was my game of the year 2006 and pretty much a game that as stuck with me for years. Even to this day I have fond memories of killing off the bosses and long chats with the guys at work on are progress through the game.

Gears of War 2 took my game of the year 2008 and its sequel is hitting Christmas this year with lots of new multi player modes, Gears 2 was what me into co-op multi player with the guys from work so I'm really looking forward to seeing what Gears 3 brings to the table.

Then finally but not least Mass Effect 3...both its predecessor's hold game of the years! Mass Effect being 2007 and Mass Effect 2 being 2010. I have no doubts that Mass Effect 3 will be stunning but its got a lot of competition this year!

Game Reviews

Thought I would update with the changes I'm going to do with my future reviews of the games I play. First off I want to be on the ball this year and update more, last year started off great but I seemed to die off after a few months. I have a notepad file somewhere listing the games I needed to review and I'm still going to do!

Anyway to the changes of my reviewing system, I will still keep the same scoring and maybe go into a little more detail but as I said in the past this site is run by me and meant to be for fun so don't expect a 2,000 word essay on the graphics of the game.

From now on I will be marking the games I played if they are good enough to be a candidate for game of the year. In fact I'm going to be like the other sites out there and do best shooter, best rpg etc. Once the year is over and I award out the game of the year I will go back and edit the review pages to list them, might even try to get my hands on a good graphics editing program to knock up some cheesy images. Oh and start up a new label "Hall of Fame" so they can be found easily enough.

So expect to see that in the future