What We’ve Been Playing – May ’11

Nearly two years has passed since we last brought you the staff’s gaming antics over the last month, cunningly known as Monster Month. Now in 2011 we have decided to bring this old gem back, and let our readers see inside the gaming minds of the staff here at Console Monster. With the month of May closed behind us, it’s time for our crew to report on what they have been playing over the past month, as well as an insight in the games they are looking forward to playing this month. Enjoy!

Lee
(l MattyTM l)

What a month it’s been, apart from the usual skull crushing antics on Black Ops, I also had the chance to bask in the delights of the Gears of War 3 Beta and even spoke with Nan McNamara aka. Anya Stroud as part of CM’s Monster Gears Week. I am still not entirely sold on Gears 3, it will of course sell like hot cakes but I think Battlefield 3 and even MW3 will both be better to play.

I think it’s now safe to say my patience is wearing undeniably thin in relation too Black Ops. Despite finding myself bored in the past it’s never gotten to the point where I have actually thought about trading her in. Cue my wife who has sealed the deal after buying L.A Noire and Battlefield 2 for me, both of which will keep me more than occupied. Shame i’m on holiday as I speak and have yet to try L.A Noire but come Monday morning i’ll be cleaning up crime like there’s no tommorow.

I leave you with my quote of this Monster Month from L.A Noire, “The reason santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live.”

Tim
(Syio)

Well, May has been one hell of a gaming month for me and the Gamerscore is looking mighty fine!

At the beginning of the month I had all my time free for Brink, but with the initial server problems I haven’t played it as much as I would have liked, but that didn’t matter because a week after that the brilliance that is L.A. Noire arrived on my doormat. I am in love with this game and I’m not sure anything can beat it for GOTY, for me, at the moment. The clue finding and questioning is great and considering there isn’t much shooting, the mechanics are better than some dedicated 3rd person shooters.

Apart from days of playing L.A. Noire, I’ve been abusing my rentals at LoveFilm and played a few older games such as Enslaved, which I found to be pretty fun except a couple of bugs here and there that forced me to restart the game, and Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom, which is a fantastic fantasy adventure game which I would recommend to anyone who likes these kind of games!

With the Brink fix hopefully being applied soon I hope to let you all know what I think about that next month along with all the other great releases we have to look forward to. See ya next time!

Reece
(Wo33eR)

I’ve had a falling out with the consoles of my household. We’re not on talking terms any more. It’s not that I’m not tempted by her luring curves or his goose bump inducing bleep bloops, it’s just because the accessibility and comfort of PC gaming is continuing to spoil me.

I can’t quite put my finger on it. It could be the always online nature of a PC gamer, built around community and networking instead of the quite closed off console gamer, or it may just be that a new game is a couple of pounds and a click away on Steam instead of a trip to the shops and a £30 price tag. Either way it’s a comfort that I need to snap out of as fellow staffer David (known as Wriggy) is showing me up on the Gamerscore front, and we can’t be having that!

Games completed this month are The Tiny Bang Story, S.T.A.L.K.E.R and Metro 2033. The latter two being fantastic post apocalyptic shooters, with Metro 2033 blowing me away in DX11 glory. I’ve also spent a lot of time with Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher 2, quite possibly the prettiest and most polished RPG I’ve ever played. I honestly can’t sing its praises any more, it’s an RPG that fans have been crying for since Baldur’s Gate, and something which console gamers shouldn’t have to miss out on.

For June I plan to get back onto the console, and that means for more than just the odd Call of Duty sessions. I want to clear some of the backlog, like Fallout New Vegas, pick up some of the early year titles I skipped like Dead Space 2 and Bulletstorm and do some GamerScore chasing to catch up with David (there is always time for that, right?)

Fingers crossed that June is a successful gaming month. Being the month of my birthday, father’s day and my anniversary I’m going to be showered with presents. But more importantly than all of that, it’s E3. June; a gamers Christmas.

Barrie
(Raide UK)
There is always a summer downer when it comes to games, especially with E3 looming on the horizon. This month has been consumed by one word…LOOT.

Borderlands has been dusted off, since my addiction to collecting shiny things need filling somehow. Something about the game just keeps me playing, especially since the amount of DLC content full of more loot means it is well worth grabbing if you fancy some co-op craziness.

With Diablo 3 rising from the grave to destroy the spawn of Diablo, re-installing Diablo 2 has been on the cards. Old, ugly but full of wonderful loot. Most of Blizzard’s heritage points to Diablo 3 being utterly amazing but Diablo 2 still managed to retain the awesome.

As a break from collecting objects and stuffing them in backpacks, I closed up the curtains, locked the doors and started playing Dance Central. Seriously the most shattering game I have ever played but utterly engrossing and hilarious to watch other people attempt to use. Hoping E3 bring DC2 announcements, since the game could do with lots more content and a more robust multiplayer experience.


Anthony
(MantUK)

The month of May kicked off with some unfinished business. Twitter reminded me that I needed to finish Enslaved – and I am glad I did – what an ending! You don’t get end bosses like that anymore. If you have yet to pick up this game then I recommend that you should, even more so as it is probably going cheap these days.

Next up in line of things to complete was Portal 2, which I managed to breeze through fairly well. Portal 2 was fun to play, but I think I’ve had my fill of Portal now. Unless they really spin the game on its head and take us out of the test rooms for its next outing I am just see myself getting bored of playing the same stuff over again. The comedy from Stephen Merchant made up for the slightly ‘same-old’ gameplay, there were some good chuckling moments.

The rest of May has really been about L.A. Noire really. What a game. I am a big fan of Mafia, and that era, so L.A. Noire was right up my street. I sometimes have to remind myself that the characters on screen were just digital characters at times – the tech they used was certainly money well spent. I was a little disappointed how the game ended up and I am sure we will see this technology being used in future titles – GTA V perhaps?

To wrap up this month I’ve been playing the awesome DiRT 3. Codemasters really has done good with this one. It has everything I wanted and more – great graphics, awesome sounds, flawless gameplay and a great soundtrack too. I hope to get online with it very soon, so i’ll see you on the dirt tracks.

With June being the month of E3, I couldn’t be any more excited. After being there for the last two years it will be good to enjoy it on home soil for a change, less jet-lag to worry about – Bring it on!

So what have YOU been playing this past month, let us know your gaming antics in the comments below! Until next month, happy gaming to all our fellow Monsters!

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Anthony Barker

Anthony is the designer, developer and owner of Console Monster. In his spare time, Anthony is a keen gamer who enjoys playing mostly First-Person Shooters and Racing games. When he is not developing games or tweaking this site, Anthony likes to be on the slopes snowboarding or hurtling down off-road tracks on his mountain bike.

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