Thursday, June 30, 2005

World Championship Poker DS

Or "Annoying Animations and Random Decisions Poker". Luckily, the animations can be turned off. The poor AI can't. The computer seems to realise that it's playing for pretend money, and as a result doesn't really try too hard. It certainly doesn't learn from my decisions. It often makes no attempt to increase the betting amount when it's got an unbeatable hand, even by a small amount.

It's also really poor graphically - the cards look like they've been imported from a Game Boy Colour version, and the 3D models of the players are as ropey as a tall ship.

Yet it's still fun. There's a wealth of different types of poker game to play, and it can get very tense when you're betting loads on a relatively small hand. It's quite revealing, however, that the best bits about this game are actually the bits to do with real-life poker.

Saturday, June 25, 2005

Buying games I'll never play

There have been some good sales on recently - HMV, Virgin, even Game, and as a result I've bought quite a few new games.

And I know I'll not play half of them. Ever. Some were just £2, so it was a "couldn't say no" decision, but what's the point if I'm not going to even open the box? Rogue Ops, Armed and Dangerous, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines ... why did I buy them?

One day soon, I will try every game that I've bought but never played. Better make that a weekend. Maybe there will be some undiscovered gems. I doubt it.

Sunday, June 12, 2005

Rainbow Six 3

In most games, I enjoy being stealthy, hiding from enemies, attacking them when they least expect it. So I should enjoy RS3. And I do, sort of.

But this game is massively hard. Some of the missions rely on you not being spotted, which would be all very well if it weren't for the perfect eyesight the enemy appears to have. You can ease a door open very slowly, to see if there's anyone on the other side - but by the time you've opened it enough to see through, the enemy's seen you. So instead it becomes a case of trial and error, trying every door and then restarting if you're unlucky. Not masses of fun.

It's much better on Xbox Live, but not because the game changes significantly; instead, you can talk to your teammates as you go through the level for the fifteenth time.

I'm sure it'll grow on me, if I play it enough. I'm not sure if I will though.

Friday, June 03, 2005

Halo 2: killtacular

I've won a few games of Halo 2 online. This is quite amazing for me.