Sniper: Ghost Warrior Rolling Review

As you may know I normally don't offer any form of review on a game I'm playing until I've finished it. That way I have plenty of time to form my opinions and review the game as a whole. Today I'm breaking that mold in response to Eurogamer's review of Sniper: Ghost Warrior on Xbox360. They gave it 2/10. Atrocious according to their scoring policy. Well I'm not sure they played the same game I am.
Now S:GW is by no means a AAA title City Interactive aren't a massive developer with massive budgets and any gamer who hasn't come to own the game through gifting or blind chance will know that the game they are buying will not be perfect. That said S:GW does deliver on it's most important feature. Yup you guessed it: sniping. More importantly sniping with all those real extras that most games leave out, such as wind and rain effecting the bullet's flight, bullet drop, heart rate and breathing. Run to cover and stand while trying to aim and your character will heave and pant and wave the barrel of his rifle around like a raver with a glow stick. But if you sneak and crawl on your belly to a good vantage point and hold your breath (by pressing LS) and you'll get a nice steady shot. If you are good enough to put that shot into your enemies head you'll be rewarded with a slow mo replay of the flight of your shot from barrel to brains for your trouble.
Graphically S:GW is clearly not up to the standards of the like of COD or GearsOW2 (GOW could be God of War or Gears) but I haven't felt they hindered gameplay. The environments are as believable and immersive as those of Far Cry Instincts: Predator and are somewhat reminiscent of them too. The weapons available all feel more believable than any Halo has to offer but do lack the punch of those in COD. The sound is fine, the voice acting is ok although limited to repeating the same few phrase for the most part and the controls are instantly familiar to anyone who's played Borderlands. So far there's nothing broken or atrocious anywhere to be found.
So long as you treat the game correctly, that's as a stealth sniping game where you're not meant to run and gun like John Rambo in a deathmatch, it will treat you to some glorious head bursting fun. If you want to play Halo or COD, play Halo or COD. I'll continue my analysis and give a full review as I go but my advice would be if you like sniping and can pick it up for £20 or less you'll have fun. I doubt S:GW will change your life but who cares? It's a game, it's enjoyable and it's ok.
Based on what I've seen 6/10.
cheers,
R.

For fairness Eurogamer's review is here.

Music Monday - Week 3

It's not often that I come across a band whose name alone is sufficient to make me check them out. In the past I've been swayed into parting with my cash thanks to fit bass players (Million Dead), accidentally seen live performances (Gene) and once even because their t-shirt was cool (4ft Fingers) but until I received a email promoting gigs by this weeks choice I had never been intrigued just by a name. And what a name it is! As soon as I saw it I heard a crazy cacophony of sounds in my head, I imagined a circus of noise and fun and down right quirkiness that I could resist. And boy they didn't let me down! Foxy Shazam are everything fun experimental music can be, combining rock, pop, classical, metal and anything else they feel like into energetic works of art that feel like they might fall apart at any second but never fail to raise a smile. If you haven't heard them their myspace is full to bursting with tracks and videos and I cannot recommend them enough. The video is for 'A Dangerous Man' taken from 2008's 'Introducing' find headphones, turn up the volume and discover your new favourite band!

http://www.myspace.com/foxyshazam

ain't technology grand?!

Or so I thought. I'd just written a post about the way I often find myself in awe of what is capable with everyday technologies. I'd written this post on my mobile. My point, which I explained beautifully and eloquently, was that within our life times technology has changed, and will continue to change, beyond any recognition. In my humble opinion that's amazing. That's actually something I can while away miserable hours thinking about. I'd love to go back 10 years and show my18 year old self HDTV or this generation of games consoles or go back 20 years and show my 8 year old self The Incredibles on DVD. Just because we have grown up with these technologies doesn't make them any less magical or awe inspiring. The same could be said for any major advance of the last 28 years but gadgets are my thing. The inspiration for this reflective post, the original of which included a lovely passage about how fortunate our place in the universe is, is my birthday which is today. I'm 28, too old to die young and be a member of the 27 club but still young enough to be reckless and irresponsible and to spend money on fancy toys and gadgets that I don't need but sometimes just look at a daydream off into an amazing world of technological advancement.
....Anyway, I had written this all on my mobile and I clicked post and *poof* it vanished into the mystical ether of...well I don't know...and I had to write this to explain the header with an empty post. Technology sucks!
cheers,
R.

Astrology:

because millions of planets and stars have spent billions of years lining themselves up just to let you know that you might "meet someone with nice eyes today."

An exercise in willpower

willpower [ˈwɪlˌpaʊə]
n
1. the ability to control oneself and determine one's actions
2. firmness of will

From today, from right now actually, I will be testing the extent of my own willpower. Willpower seems to be a rare commodity these days. It seems that as everyone has gotten used to getting whatever they want, whenever they want and without any repercussions, the need to exercise any level of self control has been eroded in all but the very best of us. Just like patience, willpower is a virtue and as such should be something we nurture and aspire towards improving. It all seems simple enough: Take a situation and balance the temptation or instant gains against the motivation to resist. For example, I want to eat a large chocolate cake (really I do, there's one downstairs calling to me right now) and it will taste good, but I know that if I don't eat the cake I'll not spoil my diet and might just start to lose some weight. The instant gains is a chocolaty sugar high but my motivation is losing my pot belly. As soon as my motivation seems less than the instant gains that's when my willpower kicks in and common sense says, "Leave the cake alone!"
As a Christian I was taught to not give in to temptation and every Lent I would give something up, usually sweets, for 40 days before Easter. While it's been nearly 17 years since I last followed religion that early indoctrination has left me with a will of iron. Or so I thought. I recent times I've noticed just how readily I give in to any urge to spend money, eat junk or otherwise do things I know I'd be better off not doing. So, this week I will not buy anything that is not essential, not eat anything that is not the minimum to not get ill and generally say no to the little version of myself who has red horns and a tail and perches on my shoulder demanding cake. If all goes well I'll brag about it next week.
cheers,
R.

Music Monday - Week 2

Knowing how much I fail at regular updates I'm disproportionately proud that today marks week 2 of Music Monday! Wooo yay! I was a little unsure about this band. I found them in the basement of Rock City supporting Million Dead on their final tour. They were the second best support act I didn't previously know (The Cooper Temple Clause are number 1). They have enjoyed such critical acclaim as Men Only (yes the porn mag) saying, "Well, you could probably not like them if you don't like your bands to scream their heads off and play riotous rock music, and by King Dong's false dick do they scream!" I love them in a far more hetero way than they love Johnny Depp. Enjoy, or be repulsed by, Gay For Johnny Depp.
cheers,
R.
http://www.gayforjohnnydepp.com/

I'm no photographer but...

I used to have a job that provided me with both a lot of down time and free reign to play with my camera phone. There's not a lot to photograph in a shop so I was able to produce the only half decent abstract images I've ever managed. I used a Sony Ericsson phone of some sort, I forget which but it was 4 or more years ago so it was whatever was best at the time. So why am I posting them today? I hear you not asking. Well, I'll tell you, I was spring cleaning the hard drives on my old desktop in a bid to improve it's increasingly piss poor performance and I found these, among others, hiding in a forgotten phone management program for a long forgotten phone. I also found both sides of a text message conversation I had with a girl I was dating back in 2003, strange how sentimentality only lasts so long.
cheers,
R



Oh yeah! England lost 4 -1 to Germany today. Sooo, I have a suggestion for Fabio Capello and the F.A. - Tell those lazy, prima donna, over paid and under skilled shelf stackers but for being able to kick a ball (but not when it matters, they're playing for England on any other time they're not group f*****g slappers) to go and find another job. The fact is Wayne Rooney didn't play well or score a single goal in the dismal performances they put on in South Africa. That makes him distinctly average at best so pull your collective heads out his arse and play someone who might actually play with some pride and more importantly self respect.

Music Monday

In a probably failed attempt to provide at least some regular content to this blog I thought I'd use Monday nights to share some of my recommendations for bands and albums to light up your stereo and excite your ears. First up is cats:for:peru who hail from Sheffield. They recently release their debut album which I thoroughly recommend you pick up if you can. They have some great tracks on myspace my personal favourite being 'Love in a Lift' and they sound like "Perfect avant-pop that John Peel would undoubtedly be championing" according to Sandman Magazine. What more can I say except to suggest you also find out the story behind the name.
cheers,
R.

www.myspace.com/catsforperu

It's not just cinema....

...where it's the experience that counts. Today I had run out of squash. Considering how warm it is the lack of orange flavour beverage is an inconvenience sufficient to make me go and get more. So far so pointless. But in getting ready to go out I realised there's been something missing in my life for more than a year now, something that is most definitely one of the simple pleasures of life. In my usual ritual as I left the house I picked up my wallet and keys and pressed play on my phone's mp3 player. 'To Die For' by Hell is for Heroes started to play and swept me back to a memory of the day I'd bought the album, taken it home and slotted the cd into my stereo.
Now we all know how vinyl sounds better but I found my self missing something more than the crystal clear sounds that cheap headphones and low quality mp3 rips can't provide. I miss the very ritual of selecting a cd, lifting open the jewel case and placing the disc into the waiting mouth of my stereo. Playing music from a physical format, whether cd, vinyl or tape, provides an experience that only enhances the wondrous sounds that emanate from the speakers. Just like going to a cinema, paying ridiculous amounts for stale popcorn and choosing your favourite seat add to watching a movie no amount of clicking play on a mp3 player or on a media player will ever replicate that lovely mini ritual of using a physical cd, lowering the needle onto LP or the satisfying clunk click of pressing play on a tape deck.
cheers,
R.

You know your job? I could do it better!!

I've been telling people I'd do this for a while, ever since I multi-tasked watching Pirates of the Caribbean while playing Red Dead Redemption, and finally got around to it. The following is an electronic communication I sent to Rockstar games via the mouthoff link on their website:

I'm writing for 2 reasons. Firstly to say thank you for making, and congratulations on the success of, the GTA series and Red Dead Redemption. Everytime a new game is released it devours my freetime like Cookie Monster does cookies.
Secondly, I had an idea not so long ago that I hope other people suggest too and you consider making into a game. In a nutshell the game would be similar to GTA or RDR in mechanic but would be set both on land and at sea in the heyday of pirates (the swashbuckling kind not internet thieves). I see a game mixing ship battles, treasure hunting, fighting off the good guys and generally making mischief while also providing a mix of watery shenanigans and the hunting gathering stuff from RDR. So that's my idea, GTA Black Beard! (I wouldn't use that title!)
Thanks again for the awesome games and hours of fun, and for reading this.
cheers,
R.

If I get a reply I will post it here too but I'm pretty sure they pay talented people to come up with ideas rather than listen to self important, deluded crazies like me. And while I'm doing other people's jobs...Oi! Capello play 4-4-1-1 Gerrard behind Rooney, if that doesn't work play Crouch with Defoe and hope for the best!
cheers,
R.