God of War / Aliens: Colonial Marines ~ The Watcher

March started with an excitement able to dwarf even a mountain of Easter eggs, and yet its seems to be ending anti-climatically, with what I believe is a broken Controller. Not the console controller, though the charger cable might have seen better days, but the male figure himself. Perhaps it's the expectations of this month, or something as simple as a loose connection. It could be just the need to take a break or the software needing upgraded, not aided in any way with my moaning self suffering a cold of man-flu proportions. Let me continue in a bid to explain in a vaguely competent manner.  Needless to say; Damn selfish of an old fellow to led the squad down like this!

My Controller took the lead after Dishonoured with another look at Doom 3, and I discovered I still hate the baby creatures (perhaps down to the plethora of small people roaming around my house, especially at 3 in the morning!). The story line was like throwing on an old jumper and I watched it through a haze of memories. But the emotional ties to the character (yes, I am a girl!) were lacking and  I was left feeling the game would have been better left for the rose tinted glasses.

Doom led nicely on to Aliens: Colonial Marines, which looked to me like a poor mans Doom 3. The story line is sketchy and seems to consist of mass genocide of the Aliens, complete with the beeping of the tracker device. It should still work even under the simple premise of 'you're a big guy with shooting a big', however the game is riddled with issues and still getting patched to this day. The major problems vary, but dying instantly from a bullet and being able to take a beating from an alien makes for an irritating comparison. The AI is a major issue for the Controller, it's something The Controller has always struggled with, so you learn to ignore the irrational shouting. AI's either wander off too far or die too easily, this has resulted in many cancelled games (Think Clive Barkers Jericho), or more simply watching hours of The Controller finding new and unique ways to kill off his 'team'. 

I found the game to be boring ad almost menial in it's approach and disregard to game play, tougher to ignore was the accolades The Controller heaped upon it (none of them complimentary and most above above a normal decibel level!).

God of War: Ascension was up next, I must admit I do like this series though it is definitely The Controller's game. I think the obsession harks back to David Gemmel's Druss, but the utter adoration of a big guy with a massive axe could make for an interesting psychologists report (or innuendo at the least). With this release following fast (compared with the last epic wait), I was unsure quite what to expect. After all it would be reasonable to assume this story line had been considered when planning God Of War 3, and that it could be as great as its predecessors. Intended as a prequel to previous games and showing the human emotional cripple that was Kratos 6 months after slaughtering his family. After watching the previous games I found no affinity with him, and couldn't wait for him to morph from the muscly whinger into the brutal, kick ass character, that I actually wanted to see.

The graphics were no better than God of War 3 and the scenic shots were just as impressive, my disappointment perhaps stemming from the usual graphic upgrades between games. The cut scenes were well lit and beautiful, although I do feel the need to growl that so much time had been spent perfecting the bouncing bosom's of the  brothel girls, especially when in the same scene Kratos looked as if he'd been lifted from the previous game. To give due credit though, I can think of many a man who would have been happy to further explore that particular area for hidden treasure chests! 

Unfortunately it was shortly after this detailed scene that illness struck me and the rest of the week passed in a sleepy haze, though I have been vigorously assured that the progress hasn't gone much further, and viewing the continuing game I'm incline to believe it. The puzzle that lend an interactive element for me are much more convoluted in this game, which detracts from the actual game play, something which I would never usually claim.  Also the difficulty seems to be skewed, even on a normal setting the game is rough, and the constant moaning is testament to the arduous struggle. 

After finding out that a patch has been released today I can't say I was surprised to read that it dealt primarily with the difficulty level of the game. I can only hope that this suitably appeases The Controller, a least enough to allow relatively complaint free completion of the basic story line. If I have to watch the game on Youtube, my Controller might be at risk of replacement!