Lord Roke's Blog
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Howdy!
This is Lord Roke in my first, and maybe last blog ever.
Some of my friends that I work with that also share my passion for games, which is great as we always have something to talk about by the tea machine (when other conversations dry up), but also great in that we used to play a lot of online games together. I'm not going back years and years - just to 2005/6, around the time of the when the XBOX 360 was launched / before the arrival of PS3.
There were probably five / six guys at work that are good friends that all used to own 360s and all used to regularly get together online for a session of Rainbow Six Vegas or GRAW with side order of occasional PGR 3. These were my golden days of online gaming. We were all on the same console, playing the same games, and more importantly: having fun. It didn't matter who won or lost it was just such a good laugh, and the fact that there were enough of us for a good game of terrorist hunt or a decent race in PGR meant that I didn't have to play with loads of the usual n0bs / weirdos / people that are good games - that tend to ruin the average online multiplayer gaming session for me. Plus, we were all of similar ability so the games tended to be close - but mainly it was just great fun especially with the voice comms on the 360 and the excellent system of game invites.
Then the PS3 came out (which was released in March 2007 in UK). The first thing that happened was that the half of the group that were hardcore PS3 fans switched to PSN overnight, despite having active XBL subscriptions and despite the fact that there were very few decent games (never mind online games) on the PS3 at this time. They still popped up on live occasionally but it became a lot more difficult to get everyone together at the same time for a game of RSV.
The non-PS3 hardcore (like me) stuck with the XBL as it was so much easier to get a game set up and the comms actually worked. I did try War Hawk a couple of times but not being able to speak to people and the extra hassle of setting up a game soon put me off (plus the game looked like something from the PS2 era). The next thing that happened was views on both sides [of the argument] became more entrenched - the PS3 fans wouldnt admit that PSN was not as good as XBL and to prove it decided to sell their 360s or switch them off permanently. This meant the salad days of online gaming were over. And to be honest I've hardly played online since - I had some good games on COD4 and another good mate has since got a 360 so hooked up with him as well, but it's never been the same since.
What a shame that misguided brand loyalty should ruin such a good thing. I could understand it if they moved on to something bigger and better I would have been there with them but to play something inferior makes no sense to me.
Mini Review 1
Oblivion - this is one of those games that I really wanted to get into but failed miserably. I guess it goes to show that just because you love games - doesn't mean you love all games and all game types.
Oblivion is set in the olden days and is Western RPG. I say western RPG rather than Japanese RPG as I actually enjoy the occasional JRPG, mainly because they are quirky and remind me of some the RPGs I played on the master system / mega drive which I really enjoyed as a kid.. Anyway back to Oblivion.
Like I was saying it's a western RPG which means it takes its self seriously - there are no cutesy characters and there are no whacky gameplay mechanics . I'm not saying that this is a bad thing but it does make the game feel a bit staid and starchy like a having a conversation with young conservative in the late 70s.
Anyway, in this game you start of locked up in jail which is pretty cool - you managed to escape or you are let out - can't remember but the Emperor gets whacked pretty early on, from then on you are on a quest to find the new heir to the empire (a bloke called Martin - not the best name for a olden days bloke) and must travel the lands to complete this quest and close some gates. Before all this you get to create you character which is pretty cool - but in some ways I prefer to be given a character (like Link) and told - "this is who you are" and "this what you look like" but I can see how some people like this feature.
This gate - needs closing
Anyway, there are loads of quests in the game - which you find out about by talking to the NPCs - you can talk to anyone in the game but the conversations tend to be very dull and everyone seems to talk like they have taken tampazipan i.e. very subdued and not that interesting. I prefer the punchy one liners from the JRPG like "we have lost our chickens" rather than going through 4 branches of a conversation tree to establish the same thing.
The problem with Oblivion is it gives you too much freedom, too early - it's great to have a choice but I ended up spending ages in the first city in case I was missing some (I wasn't) when I should have been given a few more exciting missions early on.
I also found the inventory system overly clunky - trying to manage the items in the inventory was difficult you also end up collecting so much tat (rats meat and old rusty swords etc) that it becomes difficult to see what's what after a short amount of time.
I think the main problem I have with this game is that it doesn't pull you in like it should do. There was one mission where you help some farmers protect a field from some raiders (goblins) which was cool - if there were more missions like this I might have stuck with it longer.. Alas it was not to be.
I even went back to this game and started again but still couldn't get into it.
Oh well - I hate having games on the shelf that I haven't completed - or given a good go - especially ones as highly rated as this but that's the way it is. I won't sell it - as it's worth nothing and I don't want to sell any more games. I also hope, like Shenmue 2, that I might go back one day and finish it - but somehow I doubt it!
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