Fallout 3,

I honestly do not know where to start with this letter. We have known each other for such a short time,  but it has felt like you have been a part of me for so much longer. You have shown me so many things in the last few months, things I had never thought possible and I am so very grateful to have you in my life. For once, I am finally able to be myself around someone and for that I can never thank you enough. Who else could I run around all day with killing Molerats with a plank of wood without being mocked? Even when I bludgeon helpless Wastelanders to death, you are there my love, watching their heads roll alongside me. We were meant to be Fallout 3!

In the 99 days that we have been together, we have been through so much. I cannot begin to describe the fear I felt when that Behemoth suddenly decided it wanted to tear us apart (literally), but you pulled out your Chinese Assault Rifle and you sure did own that son of a bitch! I jumped with joy when that beast fell to the ground as dead as my sex life will be once my partner realises how much of a nerd I am.

Do you remember that time we blew Megaton to smithereens? Oh how we laughed! And that young lady who kept flirting with you and asking you to help her with her silly little “research”? Well, I’m glad she isn’t much of a challenge for me now.

Oh Fallout 3, what ever would I do with out you? The many hours we have shared, stealing bottles of Nuka Cola, out running Deathclaws and trying to work out how to maim those little brats who insist in calling us “mungos”. I truly cannot remember what my days were spent doing before you burst onto the scene in a blaze of 1940s classics.

And how you have made everything so much more easier for me! Never in my 20yrs on this earth would I ever think of saying that all my problems could be solved with one simply system – V.A.T.S. What you have brought into my life is a button press away from pure bliss. I feel like the luckiest lady in the world Fallout 3, and my eyes twinkle with delight when I see your face getting covered in blood, eye balls and splinters of bone.

My life now holds new meaning with you in it and my heart leaps in my chest every time you whip your Pipboy out for me to play with. I know we had problems at first when I found it difficult to navigate properly, but you were very patient with me and slowly I grew to learn how to handle your Pipboy correctly and it only made our bond stronger!

I will hold you close to my heart Fallout 3, even when your DLC comes to me on the 27th of this month and we end our time together before your successor sweeps me from my feet. Your achievement points will be the sign of our perfect time together, I will never forget how you have changed my life.

All my love,
Elysium

The World of Gaming can be a difficult one to live in at times. We encounter many challenges that we find very hard to overcome. Sometimes we push ourselves to out limits and prevail, but there are times in our Gaming World where we must wave the white flag of defeat, hang our heads in shame and slowly slide the Unfinishable to the bottom of the pile.

This isn’t a list of the World-Wide Unfinishables, because we all have different skills and talents. I know people who can get a headshot while eating a sandwich, I know others who can create amazing characters who seriously kick-bum. This Top 5 is my personal Top 5 – They are games I have spent hours with, pulling my hair out, screaming at the TV and (eventually) throwing to the back of my cupboard.

# 5 – The Godfather

I’m a HUGE Godfather fan. I have seen the movies more times than I’ve eaten Yorkshire Puddings (that would be a lot for people who aren’t aware of us Brits ‘n our Yorkie obsession!). When a game was released for the 360 I pounced on it and set about conquering businesses, blowing up drug dens and generally working my way to Don status. However, there is this one section of the game where you need to storm a room full of men with shotguns. Now these weapons aren’t unbalanced, but take a few hits to the head and you’re done for. I cannot seem to get past that section no matter what I do! There are four men as I enter the room packing heat. I manage to take the first two out, but by that time my health has been drained from four multiple rounds from four shotguns being pumped into my body. I have tried different combinations of weapons, I’ve tried storming the room spraying, I’ve tried to lead each guy out of the  room one-by-one to pick off individually, but no matter what weapon or tactic I try to use, I fail. That level, for me, makes The Godfather Unfinishable and has caused me to put that game aside until I feel strong enough to take on the shotgun bandits once again!

# 4 – Final Fantasy VII

Hi, my name is Elysium and I think Final Fantasy VII is Unfinishable.

Don’t laugh.

Stop it.

…Please?

I just cannot finish this damn game! It’s the final boss battle, really, it is! I have struggled with it so damn much and I’ve just gotten so tired of levelling up that I’ve thrown in the towel. I know the ending of the story through reading it online, I just.. I can’t do it anymore guys! I have spent so many hours of my life on this game and I am genuinely disappointed with myself for being unable to complete one of the most completable games out there! It’s a Final Fantasy game, it’s not rocket science!

# 3 – Overlord

In 3rd place is Overlord. I don’t want to bad mouth this game because I love it’s little cute quirks! The minions are downright adorable when they scream “For the Overlord!” and they smash up pumpkins to wear on their heads! I also love the overall uniqueness of the game. The only downside is I get lost very very easily in this game and if I return to it after a few weeks of not playing it, I have absolutely NO clue of what I am meant to be doing or where I am meant to be going. It’s because of this that I’ve placed this game near the bottom of my pile – I’m not done with it just yet, but I’ve owned it for well over a year and a half now and I’ve not picked it up in at least a year.

Overlord, you’re Unfinishable to me. We will change this one day my love, but you must be patient with this poor little impatient, forgetful gamer.

# 2 – Eternal Sonata

When I first started playing this game I was quite smitten with it – I loved the use of music within the game and thought the voice acting was really good. The gameplay wasn’t bad and although the battle system wasn’t anything to write home about, I found myself enjoying the game. However, and that’s a BIG “however” – The puzzles in this game are stupid. I’m not saying that because I spent a few hours trying to solve one, but because I have seen bunch of people also struggling with the puzzles. Now, it’s not the fact that the puzzles themselves are difficult, they’re not, they’re quite simple, but it’s because there are ZERO hints saying that a) you’re in the middle of a puzzle and b) what the hell you’re even meant to be doing. It’s is absolutely ridiculous!

My second bug about this game is the boss battles. I am currently stuck quite early on in the game on a Pirate ship. Yup, I can’t defeat the skinny little Pirate Wench. She just wipes my team out in one go. Unfortunately I don’t have enough healing potions, nor are my healers strong enough to do multiple heals. It’s such a pain in the arse and after 15 attempts at the battle, I’ve given up. Unbalanced Pirate Wenches make the beautifully crafted Eternal Sonata Unfinishable to me.

#1 – Ninety-Nine Nights

The Most Unfinishable of the Unfinishables is Ninety-Nine Nights – The most annoying hack-and-slash game of 2006! This game involves moving through maps tearing away are hundreds, if not thousands, of enemies (ala Dynasty Warriors). The only problem with Ninety-Nine Nights is the majority of maps require you to sit and work at it for at least 45 minutes plus….. with no mid-map saves. That’s right, so if you get right to the final huge battle of Map 1, you will be royally fucked (and royally pissed off) if you die because you then have to re-do the WHOLE BLOODY MAP FROM THE BEGINNING! There are no words in existence to describe just how much I want to hurt someone for creating a game like that without save points. I managed to finally pass the first map, only to be thrown into a BIGGER map that requires more hours of my life AND STILL NO SAVE POINTS!

I don’t think I need to continue describing why Ninety-Nine Nights is at the top of my list. It is just one of those games I truly despise and yet I find myself coming back to it every so often to see if I could muster enough skill to finally make it Finishable.

The Conclusion!

I would like to think that all of the above games are ones I will eventually be able to complete, but I really doubt that I’ll have the patience to really give any of them another go. So, because I don’t want to look like the only gamer here who is unable to complete games - What are your Unfinishables?

Matt Hazard brings it all back in Eat Lead. This game, that possibly can’t be taken serious at all, starts off by giving you a brief history lesson about the main man himself, Matt Hazard. He explains how he resulted in his own downfall. He attempts to make his huge comeback though he may be mislead by others to think this when all they are attempting to really do is get rid of him once and for all.

The game features hilarious phrase, voices and characters. One of my favourite would have to be Bill the Magician, which mimics the voice of William Shatner. You’ll also notice the mimicing voice of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

So while it is not quite end of the year, it’s close enough in my book.  And I’ve decided that with the holidays coming up, we could all use something light and enjoyable.  So here are my picks for the year.  Some have 2 winners, one for the 360 and one for the PS3.  You may respectifully disagree, but I stand by my decisions.

Now on to the mashed potatoes with soap and apples!

Most Addictive Game Ever:  Fallout 3

Best Campaign Co-op: Left 4 Dead (360), Resistance 2 (PS3)

Best New Concept: Mirror’s Edge (360), LittleBigPlanet (PS3)

Best Online Multi-player:  Unreal Tournament 3 (360), GTA4 (PS3)

Most Anticipated Game: Fable 2 (360), Bioshock (PS3)

Best First Person Shooter: Far Cry 2

Best XBL Game: Castle Crashers

Game That Required the Most Thought: Braid

Creepiest Game: Dead Space

Worst Game Money Spent On: Devil May Cry 4 (PS3), Golden Axe: Beast Rider (360)

Best Movie Spin-Off: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

Worst Movie Spin-Off:Wall-e

Most DLC: Rock Band (or Rock Band 2)

Game People Complain the Most About and Yet Still Play: Gears of War 2

Most Hyped Up Game: Call of Duty: World at War (360)

Game That Made Me So Mad I Almost Threw the Controller: Viking: Battle for Asgard

Game That I Want to See More Of: Penny Arcade Adventures

Game That Made Me Glad I Own Both a 360 and a PS3: Soul Calibur IV

Game You Will Never Catch Me Playing: Jumper

Game That I Really Really Hoped Would be Good but Wasn’t: Turok

Game That Made Me Wonder What the Developers Were Thinking: Lost: Via Dominus

Most Underrated Game: Kung Fu Panda

So between playing Gears of War 2, Fallout 3 and Fable 2 I am playing Mirror’s Edge. I am completely gamed out to the max at the moment, but I can’t complain because this is what I love to do! I really am such a game hopper and I can’t deny it any longer. Don’t get me wrong, I am able to stick to one game and see it the whole way through, but when a hundred and one great games all come out at once, I just can’t help myself!

For those not in-the-know, Mirror’s Edge is a first person action-adventure game out on the 360 (obviously) and PS3. You play as Faith, a “runner”, living in under a totalitarian regime. Without blabbering on too much about the storyline, you’ve got a copper for a twin sister, and two dead parents. Your job is to deliver messages across the City and you do this by.. well, running.

My first impressions of this game were quite positive – The environment is visually stunning and the controls weren’t difficult to grasp. I will admit that it was a little weird at first using the LB and LR primarily for movement (jumping/crouching), but once I got the hang of it I was leaping over obstacles and sliding under then like a pro!

However, and there’s always a however, the game gets very repetitive very quickly! I am fully aware that every game breaks down to moving from Point A to Point B, but in Mirror’s Edge it is literally that and nothing more. There are no “side quests” there are no items to hunt down (unless you count finding 3 bags per level as “hunting”, but even then it’s not a requirement), people to squeeze information out of, there are no true objectives aside from moving from Point A to Point B – Which basically involves running a small gauntlet of walls, electric fences and a few enemies with insanely accurate weapons.

If that wasn’t bad enough, the creators done a very foolish thing to deal with the loading sections – Half of them are mid-level. You’ll be running around a corner and BAM! the screen has frozen and out comes the “loading” sign. This makes you lose your momentum and really pisses me off! If you’re not running into invisible loading walls, your standing in elevators for 2-3 minutes at a time, twiddling your runner thumbs.

Aside from the above annoyances, the game itself isn’t too shabby – The gameplay is quite inventive and I’d love to see the Assassin’s Creed team pick up on how this is done, the music is decent (although cuts in and out at random points) and the cut-scenes are quite unique as well, they’re not motion capture, but animated shorts.

To end this quickly (so I can get back to gaming) Mirror’s Edge has it’s faults, but is worth a rental. If you can deal with the annoyances listed above than you will enjoy the game. There isn’t much replayability on this though and time trials (where you try to beat your friend’s “ghosts”) only have so much that they can hold.

I do hope to see a Mirror’s Edge 2, I just only hope they can really throw the money at it and get some more substance in there!

Battlestations Pacific is the second installement to Battlestations Midway. The game is set between 1941-1945, surrounding the events of Pearl Habour and the Battle of Okinawa. Even though we all should have heard about Pearl Habour in school, the game provides accurate represenation of the events that occured in history.

The game will feature new weapons, planes and ships.

The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena is the sequence to The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, but fear not, a remake of Butcher Bay has been made and included within this latest installment.

This game is a First Person Shooter set in a futuristic world of Riddick. Just like in the movies, you’ll be pleasured to know that Vin Diseal is doing the voice over.

Personally iIve always been opposed to fighting games. There have been a few new releases that people have swamp to such as Ninja Gaiden II and Street Fighter II, which I didn’t understand why. However, this is one game I am excited about. I was a huge fan when the UFC reality show first aired. Now, having the opportunity to play as numerous athletes such as Forrest Griffin, Tito Ortiz and Michael Bisping, I don’t see why anyone a fan of the sport won’t be picking this game up.

Favre on the cover art.
Adaptive gameplay.
A decent Cleveland Browns roster.
A multi-platform release that includes portable systems.

Oh yes, I’m excited for Madden ‘09.

The demo rolls out in two days, and the real deal hits shelves in just about two weeks. If Madden ‘09 delivers even half of what EA is promising, it’s going to monopolize my life until Madden ‘10 comes out. Since we’re primarily XBOX fangirls here, let’s break down some of the important features of Madden ‘09 for the 360:

Online League Play
This season, the Cleveland Browns are going to do what the Patriots couldn’t do last year. Okay, maybe not, but I’m psyched for some fantasy football (of a completely different variety than your office pool) on XBOX Live. The PS3 version also features online play, for those who prefer that system. Plus, my boyfriend is just too good at football games, so it’ll be nice to maybe win a game or two against some strangers. Girls & Gaming League, anyone?

Adaptive Difficulty
It’s entirely irrelevant whether you’re an all-star who should be out there coaching the next Super Bowl winners, or a total novice who wonders what a shotgun has to do with football. If the Adaptive Difficulty Engine does what it’s supposed to, the game will help you be better at playing it, whether that means throwing you some serious challenges or helping you get a better grasp on formations.

Oh Yeah, It’s Pretty, Too
I’m a sucker for realism in sports games. I do care that not all of the stadiums look identical, that games in the rain don’t look the same as fair weather games, and that I can tell the difference between field turf and grass.

Did I Mention Favre on the Cover?
Okay, so this was really a selling point for me before all of that nonsense about reinstatement happened. Still, it’s nice to see one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history on the cover of the 20th anniversary edition.

Description: Altair is the ancestor of Desmond Miles from Assassin’s Creed. Desmonds is kidnapped by Abstergo Industries and forced to use the Animus to access the memories of his ancestor. This in return will decode his gentic structure and extract important information that belong to Altair.

Through out the game, Altair improves his rank of a novice assassin and through time, he manages to get different weapons and weapons to aid him. There are 9 men in the Holy land that Altair has to kill to uncover further information about further tidings.

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Assassins Creed Altair