What We’re Playing – June 2011

It’s been a busy few weeks for some of us here at Xboxer towers, which is why this feature is later than usual and the gaming sessions aren’t as heavy as those cold winter months. I blame it on the good weather, even if it has been up and down like a yo-yo in the past week. It’s also a well-known fact that a British citizen can’t go a full day without mentioning the weather, although the majority of our weather chat is to fill those inevitable awkward silences.

RICH

Twitter: @theberrytastic

This month I have mostly been playing: Battle vs Chess, Duke Nukem Forever and Alice Madness Returns

Favourite game of the month: Alice Madness Returns

Why?: Alice Madness Returns is a wonderful and charming game. The madness is its reception amongst reviewers. The combat is slick and feels very tight. The platforming is solid and the adventure itself offers lots of quirks, great storytelling and superb shrinking elements. You can shrink Alice at anytime to reveal hidden paths and platforms. As if this wasn’t enough content, new copies of the game also come with a code to download a HD version of the original. At around 8 hours of play this too is a slice of gaming charm and the whole package made me realise that not only is the FPS genre stale, but it’s no longer my favourite type of gaming pastime – the Action Adventure genre is where my loyalties lie these days.

Most looking forward to: Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine

TOM M

Twitter: @nosignalinput

This month I have mostly been playing: L.A. Noire, Red Faction Armageddon, Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions

Favourite game of the month: L.A. Noire

Why: I haven’t had a lot of time for gaming this month, outside of review work, so I’ve been trying to finish L.A. Noire in what little time I have available. It’s initial wonder has somewhat worn off before I still think it’s an excellent game and the story has me gripped. As I’m very nearly at the end I’ll be checking out the DLC in the next few weeks, before L.A. Noire can finally be placed in the ‘done and dusted’ pile and leave me ready to tackle the piles of other games that I need to complete. Being a gamer is hard work these days!

Most looking forward to: Deus Ex: Human Revolution

JAMIE

Twitter: @jamietarren

This month I have mostly been playing: Saints Row 2, FIFA 11, Farcry 2

Favourite game of the month: Saints Row 2

Why?: One of my friend’s recently purchased the Volition Inc’s Saints Row 2 for a bargain of £5, so I jumped at the occasion to join him on the game via co-op. This for me is exactly what GTA isn’t – funny. The wealth of customisation on cars and outfits is beyond belief and I can spend hours changing my female character just to look like Katalina from My Name is Earl. There’s also some great missions and activities to do in Stillwater, which never seem to displease me. My favourite one if probably fight club or demolition derby because they’re easy and fun at the same time. The only downside was the multiplayer, which Saints Row: The Third will avoid to create a complete singleplayer/co-op experience only.

Most looking forward to: Saints Row: The Third

KRIS

Twitter: @early_grave

This month I have mostly been playing: Alice Madness Returns , Duke Nukem Forever, Hitman Blood Money

Favourite game of the month: Alice Madness Returns

Why?: After the crushing 12 year disappointment of Duke, it fell upon Alice to save my month and save it she did. I really haven’t understood the dislike towards this game, I played it earlier this month at an EA event and really enjoyed what I saw and am currently really enjoying reviewing the full game. While it’s not graphically going to blow minds, it’s a wonderfully creative vision of a much-loved tale and is a lot of fun to play. With creativity in gaming at a bit of a low these days, games like Alice should be championed for their ideas, however flawed they may seem or rough the edges may feel. As it stands, it’s currently a runner for one of my GOTY.

Most looking forward to: Deus Ex: Human Revolution

ALEKS

Twitter: @Aleks_LUFC

This month I have mostly been playing: FIFA 11 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2

Favourite game of the month: Battlefield: Bad Company 2

Why?: During E3 I got to see some amazing footage for Battlefield 3, the game I’m most looking forward to this year. Seeing this footage made me want to play a Battlefield game so I bought Bad Company 2 again and I really started to fall back in love with it. For me the Battlefield series is the best FPS available now on consoles and what I like most about it is how you do have to work as a team to win. When playing online it can be quite easy to tell which team has a decent squad of 4 players working together to complete the objective as that team will most likely win over a team of lone wolves.

Most looking forward to: Battlefield 3 and Saints Row: The Third

TOM S

Twitter: @tommysmithy

This month I have mostly been playing: L.A. Noire

Favourite game of the month: L.A. Noire

Why?: I really wanted to see how it ended and bought the Rockstar Pass for the additional DLC. It is a groundbreaking game in that you have to use your noggin and assess each situation and mannerisms of people, and of course the well-documented facial graphics are stunning. But for some reason I felt that L.A. Noire could’ve offered so much more. Great game though.

Most looking forward to: Battlefield 3 by a country mile

JENN

Twitter: @jenjeahaly

This month I have mostly been playing: L.A Noire, Duke Nukem Forever and Lego Pirates of the Caribbean

Favourite game of the month: L.A Noire

Why?: I’ve wanted to play a detective game for years. L.A Noire isn’t perfect by any means. I’d have liked it if interrogations were more open rather than being quite so structured and linear. The driving is still a bit iffy as is seemingly the way with Rockstar games. A few other negatives too but that didn’t really matter. L.A Noire still hooked me long enough to aspire to gaining all the achievements (I’m getting there). The story kept me interested even if Phelps was a miserable sod and I loved the setting so much. Best part of all? The phenomenal soundtrack. Love that kind of music so much.

Most looking forward to: Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

MARCO

Twitter: @M_Fiori

This month I have mostly been playing: DiRT 3

Favourite game of the month: Shadows of the Damned

Why?: Shadows of the Damned completely blew me away. It’s deranged, funny and has extremely satisfying gameplay. It successfully mixes the gore, surreal quirkiness and clever narrative devices to create something unique. It certainly won’t win any points for being artistic or high brow, but if you’re after something that’s fun and doesn’t take itself too seriously, Shadows is a good shout.

Most looking forward to: Does it really change? Gears of War 3

ROBBIE

Twitter: @robbietwoshoes

This month I have mostly been playing: BRAID, F.E.A.R. 3, Portal 2

Favourite game of the month: BRAID

Why?: Ok, it’s taken me far too long to get around to playing it, I know, but I don’t think I could have ever predicted quite how wonderful BRAID is. Considering it’s ‘only’ an Xbox LIVE title, it’s full of more bright ideas than I can remember any other game having in years. Mixing nostalgic platform elements with interesting and quirky puzzles, BRAID really pushes the envelope with an addictive ambiguous quality and frankly mind-blowing experiments with time manipulation. It’s simply essential.

Most looking forward to: Aside from the usual suspects (Batman, Gears, Battlefield, etc.), I’m getting totally psyched for Ace Combat and Sonic Generations. I’m also keeping a close eye on the new Kinect stuff coming up in the Christmas window, which is a sentence I never thought I’d say. I think developers are finally getting to grips with the tech, and it’ll be interesting to see how the core lineup turns out.