Monster Month: October 2009

  Posted: 2 November, 2009 14:44

Written by Rob Rymond
Content Monster

Wow, October came and went and it was probably one of my busiest months of gaming in a long while.

It all began with Need for Speed Shift, which I reviewed for this very website. I was quite impressed by the change in the series and the graphics were certainly a step up from previous NFS games. The interior view for me is one of the best out of any videogame and the sense of speed you get when using it is fantastic.

Even with Forza 3 (which I'll come onto in a moment), being out, it has made me realise that even Forza has failed to re-create the driver viewpoint as staggeringly done by Shift. That said some iffy handling let the game down, but surely things can only get better!

Up next I downloaded a classic XBLA title which I had wanted since the launch of the console. Quite why it took me 4 years to download Smash TV, I'm not quite sure, but I was enticed to some co-op with a friend and at 400 MS Points, it wasn't much to give me a bit of retro goodness. Sadly the co-op is plauged now by drop-outs which is a shame, but a very addictive title.

On the XBLA front again, I have been playing Watchmen Part 2, again reviewed for the website. Although this appeared at the end of September, I failed to give it a brief mention last month. As you can see from the score, I thought the game was pretty dire and very expensive for what it is. Strangely enough though I found myself returning to it to complete it as the second character and still hated it the second time through.

Then came a much bigger leap in the gaming calander, in the form of Halo 3: ODST. I didn't get this straight from launch and even at the end of last month, it was still sitting sealed whilst I completed some other games. I've enjoyed the campaign and managed to wrap that up on Heroic, but I can't do Legendary on my own. I've enjoyed it with 2 other players, but solo it can be nigh on impossible. Not only that but the campaign is very broken in terms of when you begin a game and who with which meant having to re-play through the game to gain access to the next levels. A frustrating element of ODST, but a cracking game nontheless especially the epic Firefight battles I have endured.

Next up was Stoked, where you can read my review. This is quite a nice looking snowboarding title but I found it very hard to get to grips with, especially as the control system is taken from Skate which I'm useless at. If you are into the extreme sport and want beautiful looking mountains, then I suggest you take a look, especially as it can be picked up relatively cheap.

I managed to trade in Dirt 2 which I had near on completed from September and get £30 off Guitar Hero 5. With my staff discount at work, it meant I gained 1p, which meant I had two games for the price of one, considering I only paid £26 for Dirt 2 from an online retailer.

I've enjoyed what Guitar Hero 5 had to offer, it seem more polished and the soundtrack is far better than in World Tour. It took me back to the glory days of Guitar Hero III which was a postive element for me. The new improvements, whilst generally subtle, give it the edge. Sadly though the game is let down by poor DLC and connectivity with the old games.

With Halo 3: ODST as mentioned earlier, I decided to return to the multiplayer of Halo 3. It had been a long time since I played online particulary with the new maps which came on the second disc. I quite enjoyed my return to the game, a game which I've spent many fond hours playing online and it was nice to get back into the fray. Sadly with so many releases, online is something I don't bother with these days, but I should really settle down to some games more often.

The end of October heralded a packed month, I finally opened FIFA 10, after my girlfriends mate came round and wanted to play it. I guessed that it was time to take the shrink-wrap off and give it a blast. I've spent very little time with it, but it is an improvement on last year.

Around the time I opened FIFA, Forza Motorsport 3 arrived. I hadn't initally planned to buy the game and luckily I didn't have to. I won the staff of the month award for September at work and got a free copy which was nice. I didn't enjoy Forza 2, but this is a step up with some lovely menus and tracks alongside the vast variety of cars. Really enjoying the racing and handling as well and I can see me returning every now and again to complete events.

Up next was NBA Live 10, and a review will be up shortly for this. I've had a soft-spot for basket ball games down the years and NBA Live 10 is quite impressive. It is a very flexiable game in terms of rules and settings and the gameplay is great.

Finally (phew!), just making it into October is DJ Hero. I will write more about this next month and possibly put a review on the site. It is a cracking music game albiet over-priced but the mixes on it are superb and the instrument is well built.

And that is not all for October (I did say it was packed!), I was given entry into the Beta for the next Xbox update which is shaping up to be quite nice with Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm leading the way. I particulary like Last.fm, but it is ashame it can't be used in games (yet!). Sky Player also launched a week later which looks quite good but was plagued by problems. I will hopefully be getting access to the full service later in the month.

My target of achieving 30,000 gamerscore was smashed in October, and I'm now sitting on 32K, having beat two of my friends for the first time in three years past there scores. My next target is 50K, but that is a long way off.

October was certainly the busiest month possibly ever for gaming and November will be quieter but with a return to some classics and a few new guys, including possibly MW2, if I decide to splash out.