Over the hump

I must have been the only person in the world that was happy to hear that GTAV had been delayed until September. I wasn't sure I would have been able to stand knowing that a brand new Grand Theft Auto game was out there in the wild, being enjoyed by millions as I plugged away at my monstrous pile of shame.

Having a self-imposed embargo on purchasing new games until all of my existing ones have been completed has been pretty hard. There have been several releases that have tested me sorely. I’d love to get my hands on Hitman: Absolution, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, and X-COM. 

I know that as a massive Aliens fan, had Aliens: Colonial Marines been any good I may have faltered. But it turned out to be a gigantic turd, and while that may be good for me in my current situation, it breaks my heart to know that once again the Alien franchise has been mistreated by another bunch of useless bastards.

But, enough wallowing.

After hog-riding and shotgun-blasting my way through GTAIV’s biker themed The Lost and Damned last week, I carried on by shimmying, shaking, and skydiving my way through the fabulous club scene that is the setting for the second GTAIV episode, The Ballad of Gay Tony.

As with The Lost and Damned the tighter focus on the story, and a lot fewer fetch quests, made this a great installment  The missions were big, varied affairs that kept throwing up surprising and entertaining scenarios. Riding on top of trains as you shoot helicopters out of the sky, stealing an armoured car and destroying an entire police precinct, tons of fun was to be had here.

There was one thing it sorely needed though; either an instant replay feature, or the ability to post video of your antics would go down a treat. So many times something hilarious would happen and I’d think to myself, ‘I would love to see that again.’ Perhaps GTAV was delayed so that it could appear on the newly announced PlayStation 4, where it can take advantage of the new ‘Share’ feature that allows you to record and upload any portion of the last few minutes of gameplay? That would be nice.

And so it was with some sadness that I ended my short visit to Liberty City. I hadn't been there for a while, but it turned out that upon returning I was warmly welcomed by friends old and new. They had some interesting jobs for me to do, and far less calls pestering me to go bowling, which was a welcome change from the last time I saw them.

So that makes it 25 games completed. I’m officially halfway through my pile of shame! And pretty much halfway through the 12 months I set myself. It’s nice to be on target and making good progress, but I can’t allow myself to slack off. I must keep the pedal to the metal, blinkers on, head down, ignoring any distractions in the form of nice shiny new games that come out.

25 down, 25 to go.

Happy Halloween!!

Since I embarked upon this endeavour I’ve only completed games that I had previously started, and it was a good way to begin, as I needed to make a sizeable dent in that monstrous pile. That strategy has paid off as I’m now well into the pile without feeling too overwhelmed about what’s ahead.

When I came to tackle the sci-fi horror Dead Space 2 I was looking at starting a game completely fresh, right from the beginning. I wanted to play through it in a really short space of time, and so I attacked it with the intention of blasting through it within a week. It was the complete opposite to the way I’ve been playing my games over the last few years. If you can call leaving them to fester on the shelf ‘playing them’, that is.

It was fantastic to play a game that I hadn’t started months or even years ago. I hadn’t forgotten important characters or major plot points. I wasn’t struggling to remember the controls. I was able to fully digest the game in several big chunks in a short space of time, and it was a refreshing experience.

Of course, it helped that Dead Space 2 is a fun, exciting game with locations and set pieces inspired by Aliens, Event Horizon, and Return of the Jedi. I tore through it and had a blast.

When I’d finished it I looked at Alan Wake, the next game I’d set for my "Horror Month", but I just couldn’t bring myself to play it. I’ve developed some sort of mental block against it. It’s not a bad game, I just can’t be arsed to trudge through it all again after completing so much of it and then losing all the save data in the ‘Great 360 Hard Drive Disaster of 2011’. Not yet anyway.

I needed a change, something I could jump in and out of, so I opted for Driver: San Francisco. It was great to play a racing game that tried something so completely different. The premise that your character is in a coma and driving around a dream world San Francisco in his mind, while possessing the ability to float above the city, jumping into any vehicle he chooses, must have raised a few eyebrows when first pitched, but I’m glad someone had the balls to go with it as I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end. I finished the story elements yesterday, and I find myself struggling not to put the disc back in right now and complete all the race, stunt, and dare challenges that I’ve yet to do.

But I must soldier on, and I decided to start a game I’ve been aching to play, a franchise that I love that was also a victim of the ‘G3HDDof2011’, Mass Effect 3. It was heartbreaking to lose my Mass Effect saves that I’d carried over since starting the trilogy in 2007. All my choices, hard made decisions, sacrifices and victories, gone.

Oh well, whatever, nevermind, within half an hour of starting it up I could see that it never really mattered anyway, and I was so swept up in the thrill and majesty of the Mass Effect universe that I didn’t care. Good God, I love this game.

So with the completion of Dead Space 2 And Driver: San Francisco that brings the number of completed games to 10. I’m 20% of the way through. I’ll be very happy to keep up this pace, but I’m more than aware that there are a lot of games left that I haven’t even started, and there are also a lot of long, time consuming games in there too.

I’d better get my head down.