I know it's a pretty basic idea - parallax 3D platforming, humourous level design, cutesy graphics - but this game is a perfect storm of all those things thrown in with just amazingly silly and enjoyable MP.

I have been playing the game on and off for about 2 years and I genuinely still enjoy it, especially with a group of mates.

From the random backhander slaps which allow you to knock your mate across the room, to the way the sackpeople grab on to one another as they hang from ropes, to the fiendish multiplayer puzzles thrown casually into an otherwise straightforward level - it all combines to bring that rarest of things in gaming these days - a smile to your face.

Bravo, Media Molecule. Just bravo

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Nadolig Llawen
Gesëende Kersfees
Een Plesierige Kerfees
Rehus-Beal-Ledeats
Gezur Krislinjden
Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah
Feliz Navidad
Shenoraavor Nor Dari yev Pari Gaghand
Tezze Iliniz Yahsi Olsun
Selamat Hari Natal
Zorionak eta Urte Berri On!
Shuvo Naba Barsha
Vesele Vanoce
Boas Festas e Feliz Ano Novo
Nedeleg laouen na bloavezh mat
Tchestita Koleda; Tchestito Rojdestvo Hristovo
Bon Nadal i un Bon Any Nou!
Feliz Navidad
Gun Tso Sun Tan'Gung Haw Sun
Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan
Yukpa, Nitak Hollo Chito
Feliz Navidad y Prëspero Aëo Nuevo
Nadelik looan na looan blethen noweth
Pace e salute
Rot Yikji Dol La Roo
Mitho Makosi Kesikansi
Sretan Bozic
Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok
Glëdelig Jul
Christmas-e- Shoma Mobarak
Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar!
Jutdlime pivdluarit ukiortame pivdluaritlo!
Gajan Kristnaskon
Ruumsaid juulup|hi
Gledhilig jol og eydnurikt nyggjar!
Cristmas-e-shoma mobarak bashad
Hyvaa joulua
Zalig Kerstfeest en Gelukkig nieuw jaar
Joyeux Noel
Noflike Krystdagen en in protte Lok en Seine yn it Nije Jier!
Bo Nada
Nollaig chridheil agus Bliadhna mhath ër!
Froehliche Weihnachten
Kala Christouyenna!
Barka da Kirsimatikuma Barka da Sabuwar Shekara!
Mele Kalikimaka
Mo'adim Lesimkha. Chena tova
Shub Naya Baras
Barka da Kirsimatikuma Barka da Sabuwar Shekara!
Mele Kalikimaka ame Hauoli Makahiki Hou!
Kellemes Karacsonyi unnepeket
Gledileg Jol
Selamat Hari Natal
Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah
Nollaig Shona Dhuit
Ojenyunyat Sungwiyadeson honungradon nagwutut. Ojenyunyat osrasay.
Buone Feste Natalizie
Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto
Mithag Crithagsigathmithags
Sung Tan Chuk Ha
Natale hilare et Annum Faustum!
Prieci'gus Ziemsve'tkus un Laimi'gu Jauno Gadu!
Wjesole hody a strowe nowe leto
Priecigus Ziemassvetkus
Linksmu Kaledu
Heughliche Winachten un 'n moi Nijaar
Sreken Bozhik
IL-Milied It-tajjeb
Nollick ghennal as blein vie noa
Meri Kirihimete
Shub Naya Varsh
Merry Keshmish
God Jul
Pulit nadal e bona annado
Bon Pasco
Bikpela hamamas blong dispela Krismas na Nupela yia i go long yu
En frehlicher Grischtdaag un en hallich Nei Yaahr!
Feliz Navidad y un Venturoso Aëo Nuevo
Maligayan Pasko!
Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia
Feliz Natal
Christmas Aao Ne-way Kaal Mo Mobarak Sha
Mata-Ki-Te-Rangi. Te-Pito-O-Te-Henua
Bellas festas da nadal e bun onn
Legreivlas fiastas da Nadal e bien niev onn!
Sarbatori vesele
Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom
Buorrit Juovllat
La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou
Bonu nadale e prosperu annu nou
Hristos se rodi
Sretan Bozic
Buorrit Juovllat
La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou
Nollaig chridheil huibh
Sretam Bozic. Vesela Nova Godina
Hristos se rodi.
Subha nath thalak Vewa. Subha Aluth Awrudhak Vewa
Vesele Vianoce. A stastlivy Novy Rok
Vesele Bozicne. Screcno Novo Leto
Feliz Navidad
God Jul and (Och) Ett Gott Nytt ër
Maligayamg Pasko. Masaganang Bagong Taon
Nathar Puthu Varuda Valthukkal
Neekiriisimas annim oo iyer seefe feyiyeech!
Sawadee Pee Mai
Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun
Srozhdestvom Kristovym
Naya Saal Mubarak Ho
Chung Mung Giang Sinh
Cestitamo Bozic
E ku odun, e ku iye'dun!

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Lots of stats.

I ****ing love this game. Can you tell?

But the one stat that made me start firing continuously into the sky, screaming and shouting with enreserved joy? That made me beat the air, shouting "**** YEAH!", at 1:30am at the end of my latest 5-hour play session?

20 Destruction 2.0 Kills - Trophy Unlocked

Oh how many hours have I spent planting C4 booby-traps, only to miss the target by milliseconds? Blowing up everything that moves, while watching the enemy escape at the last second? Shelling targets left, right and centre without killing a single combatant? To call it frustrating doesn't even come close. Hellishly annoying.

Well, lets just say it was a very long road... but I have blown the living **** out of it now.

So that's Platinum trophy number 11 sorted.

I can go back to playing this epic game again just because it is fun.

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Why do you get MORE powerful as you get better, rather than LESS?

This may sound stupid, but one of the main sticking points on team FPS is that, as a noob, you are just a drain on the team's score. Every time you blunder into an obvious killzone, or stupidly give away a good position by shooting and missing, you can feel the whole team's collective sigh of pain.

The flipside of this, the veterans, already know how to avoid getting shot, can target fast and know about the tactically advantageous locations. Better weapons, body-armour and perks is just gilding the lily, surely? Because of their experience, they could win without it. It would be more skillful to attain a top-leaderboard score without that stuff, surely?

But this could all be solved at a stroke: by giving the noob the choice of ALL the powerful guns, body armour, and perks like revival kits and guided rockets. As the player moves up the ladder, they slowly lose the more powerful stuff in favour of lower power, more accurate weapons and strategic perks like spawn grenades or target designators. But there would be a reason to help out the noobs: they have the medkits and the accurate ranged weapons. Everybody wins!

As an incentive for progression, players could earn more kick-ass melee weapons, more brutal hand-to-hand finishing moves, things like camo, air-strikes. Stuff that makes it worth attaining, and allows you to swagger a little, but that doesn't make you into Rambo.

Ok, it wouldn't appeal to those who enjoy MW2-esque cumulative killstreaks, or one-man armies, but it would make team-oriented play 100 times more competitive.

Whaddya think?

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For those that don't know, this is a 2-game compilation: Escape From Butcher Bay, and Assault On Dark Athena. It tells the sci-fi tale of a sociopathic antihero called Richard B. Riddick, a murderous human with night-vision eyes and a killer instinct.

Charged by some inner voice to find his "higher purpose" and promped to release his true (i.e. more deadly) self, he has a universe-sized chip on his shoulder and lets off steam by brutally slaying anyone who steps within his reach.

Escape From Butcher Bay was first out on XBox/PC about 7 years ago so should be creaking a bit now, but I was pleasantly surprised to find the PS3 game is still really cool. Sneaky, sneaky creeping around in the darkness... slaughtering all and sundry without mercy or pause... it's not what you'd call a morality piece

But it has such a great atmosphere, great voice-acting from Vin Diesel, and is just a lot of fun. Shooting up mechs with miniguns, slicing the necks of brutal prison guards... you wonder what atrocity he will get up to next.

Riddick is so totally amoral and brutal, a refreshing change from all the mealy-mouthed justification shoved into stories these days. A real breath of fresh air.

I'm just starting Dark Athena, and it is more of the same with a bit more spit'n'polish, which is actually a good thing.

Nice to play something retro and not be disappointed.

Recommended. 8)

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It feels so good and yet so bad.

Is it an indication of a devoted love of gaming? Or a badge of shameful obsession to wear like some kind of outcast?

I have reached Platinum Trophy number 10 8)

Killzone 3 has the honour of being the milestone game, and if I am honest I am childishly pleased with my shiny medal...

"We shall be ignored NO MORE! Defenders of the Helghast dream, NOW IS OUR TIME!"

So now that's done, I suppose I should set my sights on 25...

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"Daddy, who looked after grandma when she was a baby?"

"Her mummy did."

"So who looked after people a very long time ago? When the dinosaurs were still here?"

"The dinosaurs were all gone before the people came. Scientists think they were all killed by a big rock that fell out of the sky from space."

(Big pause)

"Will the Prime Minister send someone to jail for dropping the big rock?"

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Woot! I am a GameSpot toddler.

Now who do I have to talk to about my cake...

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So after whipping up a frenzy of anticipation, playing with every Woody and Buzz figure she could find and re-watching Toy Story 2 in preparation, we set off.

Now the movie started at 11am, and we live 20 minutes away by car. Easy right? Leave a bit of breathing space, allow for the inevitable bathroom break before it starts, set off 45 minutes before the start - that's plenty of time, surely?

Those of you that enjoyed the film "Falling Down" probably know what's coming next...

10:30am. We are 15 minutes into a 20 minute drive. The cars ahead start to brake. Oh crud. About 50 yards in front of me, some joker has run his car up the central reservation and rolled it onto it's roof, carefully ending up across the two nearside lanes. A lorry has jackknifed across the offside. Car parts everywhere.

10:45am. A pair of police motorcycles, 2 ambulances, a fire engine, and an air ambulance. This does not look good.

11:00am. Air ambulance has departed without landing, so no serious injuries. Ambulance has gone as well. Fire-engine looks like it's on it's way. My daughter is now bored with my monologue describing all the reasons that the roads should be reserved for perfect drivers like me, and has started asking awkward questions about whether we are going to miss the film. Blood pressure rising...

11:10am. Police finally remove the lorry and we start to trickle past. If I could drive THROUGH the vehicle in front, I would. As it is, the 1-inch gap I am leaving seems strangely insufficient. My attempts to part the queue of cars like the Red Sea, a la Bruce Almighty, seem to be failing.

11:15am. My exit. Finally. Which way now? Which way? There's a sign for city centre... veer left, tyres screaming... Laugh maniacally at the FOOLS I have cut up, then feel the guffaws choke in my throat as I realise I have taken the wrong turn and am now heading out of town again. Oh ****

11:20am. Got to the fecking cinema. Finally! 1235 car-parking spaces, apparently. Excellent. Except for the fact that it's a complete bloody lie. Drive around and around with my little girl shouting "just park in a disabled bay, Dad!".

11:25am. Find a space, about a mile from the cinema. Start running.

11:27am. Still running, a little slower now. Puffing like a 40-a-day Malboro man.

11:30am. Stagger into the cinema. Automated vending doohickey. WHICH FRAKKING CARD DID I BUY THEM WITH!?!? Of course, it's the last one out of the 4 I try...

11:33am. Reach the auditorium, but small child now need to pee. Of course...

11:37am. Finally reach seats. SOME BLOODY CHAVS ARE SITTING IN OUR CHAIRS.

Must... contain... fist... of... death...

Not my best morning

* Good film, in case you were wondering. And my daughter thought it was the best day out ever, mostly BECAUSE of the stupid incidents en route

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Uncharted 2?

Done.

8)

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That's one crazy difficult game to master. Requires pixel-perfect timing, reactions like a leopard, and the persistance of a brick.

And time. Freaking weeks of time... the time trials are the most unforgiving challenge I've come across since Freeflow Perfection in Batman:AA.

Bloody amazing game, though. So original, and beautiful to look at.

I loved every second of that.

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I never really saw the point of them when they first arrived, and I'm well aware of the "pointless replay mechanic" argument and the fact that they are a measure only of ones lack of a social life.

Only when I achieved my first platinum on Uncharted (man, I still love that game) did I catch the bug. I usually use them as a sign that I can achieve nothing more from a game, and it is time to trade it in, but sometimes (like with Mirror's Edge, my current nemesis) it feels like a real test of skill to get those freaking things.

But whatever.

500 of the freaking things feels worthy of a self-congratuatory pat on the back.

Hooray to me

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Ok, it's not that far. And it sure won't be relaxing. But a change is supposed to be as good as a rest (or so some halfwit once told me) so I'll try to come back with no more grey hairs than I leave with

We're off to Brittany in the north of France for some R'n'R. It is a beautiful part of Europe, occasionally even managing scenes like this to remind you what life is all about:

The PSP is loaded up with Capcom C1assics and a few uncompleted games from the time of yore, so at least I wont miss my gaming fix. That and the 1664 should keep me ticking along quite nicely.

And I do get to experience the fun of being in France just as Les Bleus ignominiously exit the competition they invented...

Catch you later, peeps!

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But for one deeply crazy reason, I love this game: it's the free roam.

The huge, open, fictional representation of the Old West is stunningly rendered. The wide-open plains, the dirt tracks, the deep gulleys and rolling rivers - it's truly beautiful. And the wildlife is everywhere - birds, deer, coyote, even armadillos. It's amazing. The weather is dramatic. The dawn and dusk are breathtaking.

But more amazing still is that, because of this massive attention to detail, it's actually fun to just waste time doing absolutely NOTHING. Nuts, isn't it?

Just riding around with your posse, shooting the breeze is really relaxing. Every so often you encounter a gang hideout you can storm in coop fashion to add a bit of drama. And then you can go hunting for a bit of light relief. Sometimes you bump into another bunch of yahoos and have a honest-to-goodness gang gunfight.

I have to keep reminding myself that I am actually just hanging out in a virtual room, in reality doing nothing much of anything.

Weird. I have never before experienced a 'game' like this.

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And being a self-indulgent sort, I thought I'd share my quandries with you lot

Ok. Cinematic "leaps from tall buildings, impaling victims on twin concealed daggers" is fun the first time. Hell, even the first 10 times. But about the 25th time, I started to think "why doesn't this guy get a bow-and-arrow?" Simpler all round really.

And of course, if you keep knifing everyone you meet, the local constabulary will take an interest in you. But I would have preferred it if they'd have got rid of the repetitive "run away from the quards because it's too tedious to keep killing them all the bloody time" mechanic from the first game. Hey-ho.

At least there are more ways to spend time in between main-story missions this time around. But what's the point? I mean, ok, I can see why you want cash to improve weaponry and armour - everyone loves being a tank. But if this guy is so badass, why doesn't he just turn over a jewellers or something? I mean, if I could escape a criminal record by removing a few wanted posters and bribing some town cryer, I'd be down the local bank tomorrow getting myself a couple of million quid. Why does he keep taking on petty assassinations and climbing tall buildings for a few K?

And being able to change the colour of your clothes? WTF? If ninjas taught us nothing else (and I like to think they have, shurikens and nunchucks and the like, for a start) it's this: if you want to kill someone and get away with it, you wear head-to-toe black. Not frikken red and white like some sort of bloody target dummy. Black. And you use poisoned blowdarts, not complicated spring-loaded concealed knives.

I'm rambling now, so I'll stop.

This game is quite pretty, but they really need to instill some more sensible mechanics

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Hmmmm.

Well, I like it. It surprised me, and provided some genuinely interesting moments that succeed in raising it to a level above other adventure/detective games I have played before. It is technically impressive, and visually amazing. But is it as OMG as the hype-wagon suggests? Not quite.

Before I played this game, and without reading many of the previews, I wondered if any game could really provide a non-linear storyline. Is it really possible to script something strongly enough to make it compelling, but leave enough scope for the plot to be affected by the "player"?

In many ways, no. The reality is that the "choices" you can make might lead the story down different "paths", but they still need to be tightly choreographed in order to sustain the drama for long enough to provide a fulfulling resolution, even if that is not the traditional "happy ending".

It is artfully done, such that on your first play-through you don't see where the joins are. But subsequent plays show you how difficult it is to get off the path the script-writers have specified without actually deliberately doing something stupid. And even then, the remaining characters provide ample opporunities to get to the same ending from a different direction.

In the end, you can't change the actual plot - just how you get from start to finish, and what that finish means for the characters involved.

But it is a good plot. You do feel some genuine empathy at times, and you don't often get that from a game composed entirely of quick-time events. And despite "failing" on my first play-through, I didn't feel like I had wasted my time or feel any frustration at the way it played out because it all "made sense" in the context of the choices I made.

And I am enjoying playing it through again to see if I can make it to the end along a different path...

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Well, it's done. Finally.

Hundreds of puzzles. The most malevolent evil-doers Gotham has seen. Nefarious plans. Cruel schemes. Dastardly plots.

And the Dark Night has kicked all their asses into orbit.

Last night, at 2am, I finally beat the last Freeflow Challenge - Shock and Awe (Extreme) with a 3-star 32k score. It has been an obsession of mine to beat that freaking challenge since I first played it and spent 2 whole days just getting the first star.

Man. That level is hard. I actually mentally renamed it 5hitting Hard (Extreme), because as well as a score target you have to beat the time-activated electrified floor - every time you think you've done it some scumbag punches you and you lose that vital few seconds leading to painful, electro-death.

But this is freaking BATMAN. I couldn't leave it alone and after weeks of patient (well ok, screaming, fuming, swearing) attempts I finally did it!

Freeflow Gold. Perfect Knight. Batman: Arkham Asylum - Platinum Trophy.

Oh yeah. Who is Batman?

I am Batman...

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May old aquaintance be... whatever, blah blah.

Hope you all had a good 2009 and here's wishing you all a happy and prosperous New Year.

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Thanks for a fun 2009, now let's all eat, drink and make merry, and put this year to bed.

I hope you all get some of what you expect, and not too much of what you deserve...

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I am on level 22 out of 26 on Uncharted 2. It's been an absolute delight - I have enjoyed this game so much, it really is incredible.

So I started thinking about playing it last night to finish those last few levels off. But I found myself reluctant to turn the PS3 on. This strange anxiety was bugging me. I felt kind of nervous.

So instead of gaming, I found a few things I needed to do - a few chores I should have finished, some stuff on my PC. And when I came back to the console I decided I was too tired to play so I went to bed.

As I lay there, drifting off to sleep I had a realisation: the reason I was avoiding playing Uncharted 2 was that I didn't want it to end. Like that nervous anxiety you get towards the end of a really good holiday, and have to go back to real life. Or that crawling in the pit of your stomach before an important exam.

And in the same way - I know it's inevitable that it must come to a close, but I still want to prolong that anticipation.

I don't think I've ever felt like that about a computer game before, and it is testament to the game's astounding quality.

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