One or two people expressed an interest in me carrying this on from last time as they wanted to see how Boomerang was shaping up for me as a rental service, so here it is - my second month of rentals.

Boomerang was certainly in my good books at the start of the month. I had read in their FAQ that sometimes they sell games if they have ex-rental copies available. I looked into this and not only did they sell me Shadow of the Colossus for £12, a full £3 lower than CEX's going rate, but that's with a pristine condition box/manual, and reconditioned disc ensuring that I'll get it scratch-free. That's fine by me but it didn't quite work since it seemed to get accidentally scratched in the descratchifying process, rendering it unplayable. Whoops. To their credit, though, they are being very helpful in sorting it all out. More on that next month.

Onto the games! It's a short one this week, because I've had too many other gaming distractions to rent as many games as last month. Between getting games through Goozex and receiving all that free swag I haven't had much time to rent.

1) Mirror's Edge



This game was wallowing in the middle of my priority list and is a bit of an interesting choice for me. I've taken it upon myself to pass comment on the game in the past based mainly on what I found in the demo and confirmed by a lot of other people I've spoken. I do feel, however, that I shouldn't really feel qualified to talk about a game that I haven't at least given a good, proper go of and so this was my chance.

My problem with this game is that I'm supposed to feel like this skilled runner, leaping across ledges and rooftops with ease, intuitively bounding from one place to the next but the game doesn't let me do that very often. Whether it's interrupting me with combat, providing a frustrating series of jumps that I fail repeatedly or simply not providing enough clues about where to go, often when there are enemies on my tail and I don't have time to take in the surroundings, it's always stopping me. I feel like the worst runner in the group who they only keep around out of sympathy. By the incredible anticlimax of the game's end, I felt that I had rarely managed to get that feeling of 'flow' that the game needs. If I got into the time trial mode then maybe, just maybe I could learn the levels well enough to get it but that makes me think it should have been a less story-based game. Instead, my first playthrough rarely rose above mediocrity.

Rental Experience-O-Meter:
Glad I Didn't Buy : 5/5
Service : 4/5
Enjoyment Factor : 3/5

Final Score : 4/5

2) Super Paper Mario



Ah, good, another game high up on my list. I think this game found its way creeping up in my priorities because at the time I was after something light-hearted and fun and I had heard this game delivers that, while not necessarily being one to treasure - in other words, a perfect candidate for rental. I was very pleased with the turnaround with these last two games. Having mailed the last two back late afternoon Monday, they were on my doormat by the time I got home from work on Wednesday.

As for the game itself, it started out really fun! I was enjoying it crazy amounts, then it went on... and on... and, well, what can I say? Its charm started to wane. I was still enjoying bits and pieces of it but it seemed like there was a lot of filler towards the end. Then in the last couple of levels, the difficulty suddenly jacked itself right up, along with the maze-like find-the-secret-hidden-thing-to-proceed mechanics. In a moment of frustration, I ejected the disc and sent the game back on stage 8-3 of 8-4. I thought: what else do I have to look forward to? A probably-annoying final boss, Mario will defeat the Count and something will happen with Tippi the Pixl and all will be saved, etc. I didn't feel like I needed to see it through. I don't want to put people off playing the game, though, because the first two-thirds or so of the game were non-stop fun.

Rental Experience-O-Meter:
Glad I Didn't Buy : 4/5
Service : 5/5
Enjoyment Factor : 4/5

Final Score : 5/5

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On Wednesday I received both MGS4 and God of War, both titles being very high on my priority list , so that was pleasing. Once I finish them I'll likely suspend my subscription to Boomerang for a month to give myself time to catch up with my backlog. I haven't played enough of them yet to say what I think in detail and I don't want to change the subject by talking about why I don't think the MGS games are the best things since Sliced Bread: The Game.

So instead I'll change the subject by embedding this NES Chiptune I made yesterday afternoon. Enjoy!