Well to be honest, in the last month since my last update, there hasn't been the largest amount of backlog tackling going on. Two games have fallen, and I’ll get to those, but my primary gaming focus has been bringing my gaming rig into the second decade of the new millennium with aplomb. New AMD FX-6100 six core processor which works well, with noticeable performance improvement alone, doubled ram now up to 8gb, a 3D monitor, which combined with my old monitor and my TV which are all 23 inches allows Eyefinity support, not to mention stereoscopic 3D on supported games (which thanks to the middleware which came with the monitor, is quite extensive a catalogue) as well as two HD 6970’s, which were not too long ago the flagship card for AMD. Together, it’s amazing. Only a replay on Crysis 2 suffers slightly after DX11 and Hi Res texture patching applied, but I suspect this has more to do with software than hardware, as Crysis 2 is not optimised for Crossfire. Still, Eyefinity is beautiful with any game that supports it, and surround vision really sucks you into the experience, as it takes up your entire peripheral vision.

Anyway, onto the backlog.

At long last, Rage has bitten the dust. With the right kit, it’s a beautiful game. With the wrong kit, as I found out, it’s a wasteful dog of a product, poorly optimised for most machines out there. Don’t even buy it if you don’t have Windows 7, as the patches that iD released only work with that. Dedicate yourself to the upgrade though, and you get a… err… morbid cross between Fallout 3 and Borderlands that doesn’t quite gel.
The plot is there. That is about all I can say about it, and the variety of environments is piss poor. You even have to revisit certain areas quite a lot, and driving between them gives you little joy. The shooting is unsatisfactory, the weapons don’t have that Battlefield 3/Modern Wafare 3 pazaaz which is hard to explain, but the only way I felt I was wielding a dangerous weapon was that the number of corpses around me tended to increase. The feel is in the action, and shouldn’t be in the result, but this is how Rage feels.
Graphically and artistically, its good, but the lack of optimization and the average at best single player make it one for the bargain bin (where it already dwells at £12.95 in most stores). I’d get something else instead. 5

Next came Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2. Anyone who might be following this series (IS THERE ANYONE ALIVE OUT THERE!) will know I wasn’t too displeased with the last game. And whilst this game got trashed by reviewers everywhere, I have to confess that this is the most fun I’ve has on a Star Wars game since Knights of the Old Republic.
It’s beautiful, it’s halfway decent to play, and you know what? It feels like Star Wars, and you feel like a rogue sith/Jedi as you carve your way through the Empire. Plus, I’m a massive fan of the parts where Starkiller hurls himself off stuff and falls. I loved it in 007:Everything or Nothing, I loved it in God of War III, and hell yeah I loved it in this. But Starkiller definitely has the edge of James Bond and Colin in this respect. He falls with style. In fact, I want a freefalling game which is just about freefalling combat. Those guys who made Arghghghghghgh A Reckless Disregard for Gravity could do this for me I’m sure. But I digress. Next Steam sale, get this in your collection. It’s not an amzing game by any means, but it is an entertaining way to spend three hours for £3.74. 7

Next time, Deus Ex: The Missing Link DLC (in 3D) and possibly my report on my time with MW3 once I reach Level 80 and Prestige my ass. Plus, looking to start Assassins Creed: Revelations, so might have a tidbit on that too.

Ta Ra.