My Little Gaming Week is a on-going series about the various games I've played in the last seven days of my life. There will be games of new and games of old, single player and multiplayer, and the casual and the hardcore. But, most importantly every post will be filled with love.



My gaming week started off with a bang this week as I finally started playing my Xbox 360 copy of Borderlands. I've had it for awhile but felt I should finish playing through Brutal Legend before I started something else. When I found out that Borderlands would have splitscreen co-op it was instantly put on my radar as I'm always looking for some good co-op action to play with my brother.

Needless to say I was not disappointed. We've played together for a good 8-10 hours this week and it's been some of the best gaming time I've spent in awhile. It's extremely addicting and almost impossible to not select another mission to complete whenever you finish one. It has that "Just one more mission and then we'll stop" thing going for it. I haven't played it online yet and I'm sure it's great but anyone who hasn't played with a friend sitting right next to them has to be missing out. I highly recommend it.

Time Well Spent?: Yes



For my somewhat solo gaming action this week I've been playing Phantasy Star Zero for the DS. It came out a couple weeks ago with almost no press whatsoever and it's an amazing little game. Anyone who was a fan of Phantasy Star Online or looting RPG's in general should check it out. I loved Phantasy Star Online for the Dreamcast and was disappointed by Phantasy Star Universe when it came out. Phantasy Star Zero goes back to the gameplay style of PSO and does it really well. It's all new stages, weapons, and enemies but the gameplay is exactly like PSO.

I've mainly played the story mode so far mainly to unlock all the stages for multiplayer but its been good fun. The game suits the DS well and even the 3D graphics are some of the best I've seen on the system. For the most part I usually play 2D games on my DS and leave the 3D gaming to my PSP but PSZ has left me impressed. The environments and models are never ugly or confusing and it's usually pretty clear what you're looking at. Most importantly you don't fail a mission if one of your AI teammates dies. In PSO that sucked.

I do plan on doing a review eventually but for an online game like this I really need to put in a lot more hours for a honest review. All I can say right now is please go buy this game if you have any interest in Phantasy Star or loot RPG's in general. It's a great game and deserves some attention.

Time Well Spent?: Yes



Wednesday I played some multiplayer gaming with a friend of mine. We started off with some ToeJam and Earl for Sega Genesis. A great co-op game that everyone should check out if they haven't played it. It is available for Virtual Console on Wii I believe. We played that until my friend got pissed that a tornado kept grabbing him and dropping him off the edge of the level causing him to have find his way all the way back to where I was repeatedly.



We then played some Geometry Wars on Pacifism mode which is extremely addictive. Games can be as short as a couple seconds but you just press the A button twice and you're back in the game. We didn't ever get too high of a score but it was fun.



We then played his copy of Left 4 Dead he had brought over. I have yet to jump on the Left 4 Dead bandwagon so this was my first time really experiencing the game. I had a good time and we played through the campaign that ends on the rooftop for the finale. Unfortunately, my game got cut short as a Tank knocked me off the building and I was forced to watch my friend finish the campaign. I'm definitely considering eventually purchasing the game myself. Especially now that L4D2 is out and L4D1 has become pretty cheap.

Time Well Spent?: Yes

The only other game I played this week was a little Geometry Wars 2. I've been trying to get all the achievements as the developers have given some fun little challenges to get them. I'm not really an achievement whore but for a game like Geometry Wars it gives you sometime else to do besides just trying to beat your high score all the time. Right now I'm trying to get the kill 75 enemies by bouncing shots off the gate things. I did really horrible and didn't even come close to the 75 needed.

Time Well Spent?: No, but it was my fault for sucking. Someday I'll get that damn achievement! Then I'll truly be a man!