Currently Playing

A few hours in, I'm realising there are places to go and creatures to meet that you really don't want to until you've powered up with more than a hunting rifle. Police station filled with super mutants was challenging, so I ran away, quest or no quest.

I'm still playing GameCube R:Racing. It's a RPG racer and the story is BS, but the gfx and car handling are solid. Especially on my RP4 Pro.

The story elements are a nonsense that can be skipped by pressing start at any time. They're not that bad to suffer through, though and they do give you an idea of what's actually happening in the game. You kind of want to see the young female protagonist do well. I think the visuals are a wee bit rough on original hardware, but the car handling is what makes it a good game, IMO.

Replaying Cyberpunk 2077, after getting the Phantom Liberty expansion. Game overall is definitely less buggy than when I'd last played it, but there is still bugs to be found. Could use a few more patches. Great game that is a lot of fun either way.

Also playing:
* Command and Conquer 3
* Diablo 2 Resurrected
* Dungeon Maker 2 (PSP) still.

Currently streaming all of those on my Youtube channel - www.youtube.com/channel/UC0zgxYTWr2uWztMtQE_DeWA

So many games I want to replay, as well as play for the first time. But with work and life, it's hard enough fitting those in. Mountain of retro games I'd love to have the time to play again.

Currently playing through some of the early Silent Hill games. So far, played through the 1st game on the PS1. Despite the dated graphics, it adds to it, much like watching an old black and white horror film. Excellent game, with top notch music that sets a sense of tension and constant dread.



Once I had that done, I jumped straight to the 3rd game (as I had played the 2nd game only a few years ago) on the PS2. Playing this via emulation meant being able to massively bump up the quality of the game as a whole (due to much sharper anti-aliasing) + wide screen patch support. Very nice looking game once that was enabled. Looks like a PS3 game if anything. Played up to the Amusement Park so far. Music wise it's outstanding. The intro music in particular (which was the credit music for the first Silent Hill film IIRC) is great. Gameplay holds up, but the camera is just plain bad. Leads often to being attacked off camera which = many unfair deaths. Story is great, and it's still a damn fine game. Difficulty level got a major jump up, with much harder battles. Doing some training fighting the monsters to work out the best tactics to use, with the least ammo + health items being used is a must. Plus Heather (the main character) has much more combat moves at her disposal vs Harry's in the 1st game.



This is one I'd definitely recommend playing via emulation and not on an actual PS2, due to the graphical bump up you get with it. Even if the shadow effects are quite buggy. Having the characters look over at useful items + interactive objects helps out a lot as well.

Well the third game, I finished off a few days ago. Not a bad game, but it's very combat heavy with some super difficult enemies in the later bits. Lacks the awesome music of the 1st two games (besides it's excellent intro). Has some very odd characters as well. Though that's part of the charm with the SH games.

Moved onto Silent Hill 4 - The Room:



This one is a real mixed bag. The bits in your apartment, with being stuck inside with no clear way out, but able to see outside is excellent. I can see parallels to some mental illnesses (eg anxiety, agoraphobia). The downside is pretty much everything outside of the apartment, with very clunky combat, very average music and a bland player character. For some reason I still really like the game. Certainly the point where things started to go downhill for the series.

Silent Hill 4 finished off. A lot better than I remembered, or maybe second time round I knew more (thus was better prepared for) of what I was getting myself into in the later bits. First half of the game is excellent, with some damn fine psychological horror stuff going on. Second half is where things drop, with lots of invincible enemies, and the hauntings of the apartment that start happening are total anxiety inducing stuff. Once you have the items you need to take them on however, and it's all fine. Had A LOT of fun playing the game. It's a completely different style of game compared to previous 3 games. Far less direct body horror (aka Hell Raiser style) and far more super natural and psychological stuff (aka The Grudge) of a supernatural presence slowly enveloping an area.

Moved onto Silent Hill: Origins, and holy hot damn, what a massive downgrade. Reminds me of when an American studio tries to do a remake of a Japanese horror film. Something gets lost in translation, and is often inferior (though not always) along the way. Origins is totally in that category, as this was the first SH game to not be developed in Japan. Very different feel and far more B-grade. The combat is terrible with Zelda BOTW style quickly degrading weapons, that are gone after a few swings, and they managed to mess up the stomp ability. Only works every now and then, where as it worked 100% of the time in all games prior. Main character is quite bland too. I just hated the game, and stopped playing after a few hours. Games 1-4 is where the series is at it's peak. Beyond the Hideo Kojima PT demo, the series never really reached that same peak again.

Switched over to Alien Syndrome on the Sony PSP. I'd never played it before, and really enjoyed it. Kinda feels like if Baldurs Gate Dark Alliance, was a run and gun shooter in a sci-fi future setting. Great fun.

Then went over to Starcraft: Broodwar for something completely different. Absolute perfection there. Great music, gameplay and length. Love it.