Grumpygamer

Hollywood quality doesn't really mean that much anymore - but I've seen that particular form of praise heaped on Mass Effect 2 many times this week. But 2009 was a year where the big summer offering was Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen - a movie so bad that Michael Bay could have done better by merely running two hours of celluloid between his buttocks.

Instead it would be nice to think that in 2010 good movies will be praised as videogame quality, on the strength of Mass Effect 2 you would think that possible. In truth though Mass Effect 2 is of a quality far beyond most games or movies. There's certainly less linearity, time wasting and poor design choices than most so-called blockbuster games of the last year. And the plotting, quality of dialogue and acting is far above the dross routinely shat out of the Hollywood product machine.

You can read the rest of this review over at Boomtown.net.

I've just posted my review of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 over at Boomtown.net.

Here's an extract:

Taken as a whole then Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a good scripted linear shooter. It doesn't really innovate and instead relies on tried and trusted gameplay - ramping up the action to the max and whisking the player though an adventure without stopping to look at the scenery. All three sections of the game offer good fun, albeit too small a slice of fun in the campaign. Those of you who may have recently completed Uncharted 2 who are now looking for another exciting adventure may be a little disappointed, the writing and voice work is not on a par with that PlayStation 3 epic, nor are the visuals, even though Modern Warfare 2 is often very pretty.

Reservations over the games politics and that level aside my main beef with Modern Warfare 2 is that it's too short and too one-note. But that note is a good one and if you can afford the expensive outlay - or pick up the game from a discounting supermarket - you're bound to have a good time with the game. Just don't expect the game of the year. Instead expect a good fun entertaining but simplistic shooter, you won't be disappointed.

If that tickles your fancy you can pick the game up from Amazon for £32 on PlayStation 3 and on Xbox 360, meanwhile the PC version is £29.70.

Forza Motorsport is certainly the best racing game currently available for consoles and makes a strong claim to be the best racing game ever - at least until we get to see a finished Gran Turismo 5.

What makes FM3 so strong is the way developer Turn 10 has clearly looked at the weak points of the previous game and the wishes of the community and gone out of its way to graft a content packed, thrilling and beautifully presented game.

The single player campaign - where players buy cars to tune, race them and buy more cars with the winnings is a simple concept. But the way it is structured, in both the new season play mode and the tradition grid of racing events gives the player much more choice and invites them to try new things.

Buying parts and tuning cars is now even easier, a quick upgrade option before a racing event allows the Xbox 360 to lend a helping hand. At the press of a button parts are bought and fitted for your car to make it competitive in the coming event. Even more useful, for those who prefer to handle the upgrades ourselves, is a quick downgrade option for taking our supercars back down the ranks to play in a lower event.

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Yes I know, really not up to speed here yet but the reviews will start to flow on the site soon.

In the meantime here are links to my recent Boomtown.net games reviews:

• FIFA 10
• Need for Speed: Shift
• Colin McRae: Dirt 2
• IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey
• Ashes Cricket 2009

Yes I know, I've been terrible at updating the last couple of weeks. So I'm actually going to put some effort in this week despite not being very well. This week expect to see a review of the Peavey Vypyr 75 guitar amplifier.

In the meantime here are some of my recent videogame reviews over at Boomtown.net.

• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10
• Fight Night Round 4
• Guitar Hero Metallica
• FUEL
• Red Faction Guerilla

I've also written some brief hands-on impressions of IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey.

Battlestations Pacific is a celebration classic gameplay over the current crop of me-too shooters. It recalls the glory days of sim-lite games from Microprose and Digital Image Design. This isn't like the same old crap we're peddled every week by publishers who target the same idiotic demographic again and again. This isn't a game designed for bigoted ten year old boys from Ohio.

What Battlestations Pacific delivers is something that is all too rare these days. This is a game that's fun and action-packed without treating the customer like a fool. The blend of realism and arcade fun is beautifully balanced - think of this as the warfare equivalent of Project Gotham Racing.

This game is packed with variety and more fun than anything I've played this year so far. There are tweaks I would make here or there but on the whole Pacific delivers big time. You owe it to your Xbox 360 to feed it this disk.

You can read my full review over at Boomtown.net.

Wheelman is a game that's been development for what seems like an age. Not as long as Duke Nukem for sure, but we've been hearing about it for quite a while. And now it's actually here.

The game that Midway has released feels an awful lot like it was rushed out of the door to help solve the publisher's current financial difficulties.

That's a real shame as there's plenty of promise on show in Wheelman, but the rushed released has left us with a game that feels half-baked, half-arsed or half-finished.

You can read the rest of my review over at Boomtown.net.