You may recall that I purchased Rainbow Six: Vegas a while back when it was released as a platinum hit (i.e. budget title). I thought R6:V was a great game and since then, I've been keeping an eye out and hoping that R6:V2 would be released as a platinum hit as well. Unfortunately, it never was so I never bought the sequel until recently when I saw it for sale second hand.
Although the game is called Rainbow Six: Vegas 2, at times, it feels more like Rainbow Six: Vegas 1.5. Having just completed the singleplayer campaign, the only difference that I could tell was that you could now sprint over short distances. Other than this, pretty much everything else feels the same.
Having said that, the gameplay has stood the test of time and its still an awesome experience to setup your elite anti-terrorist squad and then breach and clear a room of tangos. Which isn't to say that I don't have any gripes although in the games defence, my gripes aren't really the fault of the game per se.
All of my gripes arise basically from the fact that the game still isn't a platinum hit. You see, believe it or not, this actually makes a big difference. How? Let me explain.
The advantage of the first R6:V being on budget was that there were loads of new players as lots of people took advantage of the budget price point to buy the game. This led to 2 big differences.
Firstly, in coop gameplay. With the first R6:V, when I jumped online to play coop, there were tons of games for me to choose from and it was pretty easy to find a coop game to play. For R6:V2, although I've tried several times, I haven't really had a chance to play coop yet which is a real shame because, as with R6:V, this game could really shine in a coop environment.
The second big difference is in multiplayer. With the first R6:V, when I jumped online, there were loads of games which had several noobs in the lobby (admittedly, of which I was one). This meant that there was a chance of a competitive game. At the moment, I can imagine myself getting slaughtered by all the hardcore experienced fans who are still playing this game a year after release and whom are all intimately familiar with the game and the maps.
Which brings me onto my third gripe. I deliberately used the word "imagine" in the para above because I haven't actually played online yet. When I jumped online to play a game of multiplayer, there were quite a few lobbies to choose from - the problem was that the ping times were all red. In other words, not only would I have to play against people who are experienced with the game, I would also have to do it while suffering major lag.
At this point, I just thought "fuggedaboutit" and logged out.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Gears of War 2 - Horde mode
Recently, I bumped into an old friend in the street. Turns out he recently bought an Xbox 360 and is playing GoW2 on it. Naturally, I immediately asked his gamertag and sent him a friend request.
As you can guess from the title, we met up recently online to play Horde mode in GoW2. Horde mode is kinda like old school arcade fun in that you and your buddies are dumped in a map and then tasked with surviving 50 rounds of increasingly hostile Locust. Horde mode takes the great gameplay of GoW2 and strips away any pretense of story - leaving you with 50 levels of awesome shoot em up action fun.
But not just shoot em up action fun. The sheer number of enemies in Horde mode means that the only way you have any hope of surviving is by working together as a team. If you can get a team that communicates and looks out for each other, playing Horde mode is an incredibly fun and addicting game.
We were playing on the River map - which is great for Horde mode as it has an old two level house with only one entrance to it. Basically, you would have 2-3 guys defending the entrance to the base while 1-2 guys go up to the second floor. The second floor generally has either the sniper rifle or a torque bow so you want to go to the house for the weapons anyway. Unfortunately, the second level isn't particularly safe as a large corner of the house has been blown away meaning people on the second floor are susceptible to gunfire from 2 directions.
We had four guys so I took the second floor while the other 3 held the front door. I was up there sniping enemies and reporting on enemy movement. Every once in a while, when the enemies rushed the front door (which is quite often), I would run down and help out on the main entrance. And then, when people needed to leave the house to get ammo (having an ammo box inside the house would admittedly have made it too easy), it was a mad rush to the ammo box while everyone else tried to lay down covering fire.
Awesome fun!
As you can guess from the title, we met up recently online to play Horde mode in GoW2. Horde mode is kinda like old school arcade fun in that you and your buddies are dumped in a map and then tasked with surviving 50 rounds of increasingly hostile Locust. Horde mode takes the great gameplay of GoW2 and strips away any pretense of story - leaving you with 50 levels of awesome shoot em up action fun.
But not just shoot em up action fun. The sheer number of enemies in Horde mode means that the only way you have any hope of surviving is by working together as a team. If you can get a team that communicates and looks out for each other, playing Horde mode is an incredibly fun and addicting game.
We were playing on the River map - which is great for Horde mode as it has an old two level house with only one entrance to it. Basically, you would have 2-3 guys defending the entrance to the base while 1-2 guys go up to the second floor. The second floor generally has either the sniper rifle or a torque bow so you want to go to the house for the weapons anyway. Unfortunately, the second level isn't particularly safe as a large corner of the house has been blown away meaning people on the second floor are susceptible to gunfire from 2 directions.
We had four guys so I took the second floor while the other 3 held the front door. I was up there sniping enemies and reporting on enemy movement. Every once in a while, when the enemies rushed the front door (which is quite often), I would run down and help out on the main entrance. And then, when people needed to leave the house to get ammo (having an ammo box inside the house would admittedly have made it too easy), it was a mad rush to the ammo box while everyone else tried to lay down covering fire.
Awesome fun!
Sunday, May 17, 2009
FM 2006 - season 2028/29
Several seasons on from my last update and things have really changed. I've given up international management now and have decided to focus on club management.
The problem with international management in FM 2006 is that in every major tournament, my players were not match fit unless they were playing in the English league. This is really discouraging as I can't help but feel that I would be able to do a better job if the game wasn't artificially handicapping me. In the end, I decided that it just wasn't worth the grief.
Anyway, 2028/29 was another successful year for Liverpool. I managed to do another cup quadruple (Premier division, Champions Cup, FA Cup and Club World Champ) but just missed out on 5 trophies when I lost 1:0 to Chelsea in the final. Bummer!
After my massive spending spree in 2025/26, I've been able to save up a bit of money and I now have well over GBP100m in the bank again. I naturally went on another spending spree at the end of the year (details below)!
Status update on 2025/26 acquisitions
My GK, Stefan Van Dijk, who I signed to replace Dave Robertson has done a great job in the last couple of years. Other than a poor spell of form halfway through the first season, he has been a very consistent GK. Not as good as Robertson but still very good. The only thing which worries me is that I still don't have a quality GK as backup (not been able to buy one at a reasonable price - I don't want to shell out big bucks for someone to sit on the bench long term).
Carlos Sanchez, the other big money buy in 2025/26, has also settled in well and has averaged over 30 goals each season (although he only managed 29 this year due to an injury crisis at the start of the season). The great thing about Sanchez is that he plays really well in the big games. The downside is that he is sometimes anonymous in smaller games which is the only reason he doesn't score more goals. Despite this, his partnership with John Blake is really yielding results as I managed to score 99 goals again this year.
Both Marcio and Galli has settled in as well but not really in a superstar capacity. Which is fair enough considering I did sign them on the expectation that they were squad players. Having said that, Marcio is getting a lot of games now that Dembele is starting to show his age.
The real revelation for me this year has been a young 22 year old midfielder I signed the year before (when he was 21). He joined Liverpool at the start of the season and my initial plan was simply as backup for my MCs (although the scout report showed him as a useful addition, the initial scout report in 2023 said that he would never develop into a player good enough for Liverpool). The reality is that he has been an excellent player and quickly started to play in a lot of games. Over the course of the year, his value has jumped to GBP12m which is pretty good considering I paid GBP7.5m for him (which was obviously an inflated price to begin with).
New Acquisitions at end of year
As I said above, I spent a wad of money on new acquisitions for next year.
The first was Jamie Sadler, another MC to help bolster my aging midfield. Although he cost me GBP35m, he is really a hot prospect for the future (only 19 years old!). I really hope he turns out to be worth the money!
I also spent GBP20m on Dario Romano, an Italian international. He is a DL who can also play ML and is really a replacement for Alessandro Marini who is now 35 (but still playing well believe it or not!). I also have an Italian youngster at LB called Andrea De Luca who is really promising and could well play in rotation with Romano. De Luca has been with me for several years now and has a really mean crossing foot.
The last acquisition is Ross Mills. Mills is a 17 year old hot prospect for which I paid GBP16.75m. I'll try and play him in a couple of games this year but really, he is my star of the future.
Anyway, you can see the latest squad here:
The problem with international management in FM 2006 is that in every major tournament, my players were not match fit unless they were playing in the English league. This is really discouraging as I can't help but feel that I would be able to do a better job if the game wasn't artificially handicapping me. In the end, I decided that it just wasn't worth the grief.
Anyway, 2028/29 was another successful year for Liverpool. I managed to do another cup quadruple (Premier division, Champions Cup, FA Cup and Club World Champ) but just missed out on 5 trophies when I lost 1:0 to Chelsea in the final. Bummer!
After my massive spending spree in 2025/26, I've been able to save up a bit of money and I now have well over GBP100m in the bank again. I naturally went on another spending spree at the end of the year (details below)!
Status update on 2025/26 acquisitions
My GK, Stefan Van Dijk, who I signed to replace Dave Robertson has done a great job in the last couple of years. Other than a poor spell of form halfway through the first season, he has been a very consistent GK. Not as good as Robertson but still very good. The only thing which worries me is that I still don't have a quality GK as backup (not been able to buy one at a reasonable price - I don't want to shell out big bucks for someone to sit on the bench long term).
Carlos Sanchez, the other big money buy in 2025/26, has also settled in well and has averaged over 30 goals each season (although he only managed 29 this year due to an injury crisis at the start of the season). The great thing about Sanchez is that he plays really well in the big games. The downside is that he is sometimes anonymous in smaller games which is the only reason he doesn't score more goals. Despite this, his partnership with John Blake is really yielding results as I managed to score 99 goals again this year.
Both Marcio and Galli has settled in as well but not really in a superstar capacity. Which is fair enough considering I did sign them on the expectation that they were squad players. Having said that, Marcio is getting a lot of games now that Dembele is starting to show his age.
The real revelation for me this year has been a young 22 year old midfielder I signed the year before (when he was 21). He joined Liverpool at the start of the season and my initial plan was simply as backup for my MCs (although the scout report showed him as a useful addition, the initial scout report in 2023 said that he would never develop into a player good enough for Liverpool). The reality is that he has been an excellent player and quickly started to play in a lot of games. Over the course of the year, his value has jumped to GBP12m which is pretty good considering I paid GBP7.5m for him (which was obviously an inflated price to begin with).
New Acquisitions at end of year
As I said above, I spent a wad of money on new acquisitions for next year.
The first was Jamie Sadler, another MC to help bolster my aging midfield. Although he cost me GBP35m, he is really a hot prospect for the future (only 19 years old!). I really hope he turns out to be worth the money!
I also spent GBP20m on Dario Romano, an Italian international. He is a DL who can also play ML and is really a replacement for Alessandro Marini who is now 35 (but still playing well believe it or not!). I also have an Italian youngster at LB called Andrea De Luca who is really promising and could well play in rotation with Romano. De Luca has been with me for several years now and has a really mean crossing foot.
The last acquisition is Ross Mills. Mills is a 17 year old hot prospect for which I paid GBP16.75m. I'll try and play him in a couple of games this year but really, he is my star of the future.
Anyway, you can see the latest squad here:
Sunday, May 10, 2009
EA back on the menu
Huzzah!
Although I've been skipping all news relating to BioWare's games since I started my boycott on EA, this headline was big enough that I couldn't miss it. Dragon Age Origins (the upcoming RPG from BioWare) will not come with any form of Securom - it will just use a simple disk check for copy protection.
You have no idea how happy this makes me.
Together with The Sims 3, it really looks like EA is abandoning intrusive DRM measures. I'm now formally taking EA off my boycott list. More importantly, time to read up on all the news and rumors I missed regarding Dragon Age: Origins, Mass Effect 2 and Star Wars: The Old Republic!
Although I've been skipping all news relating to BioWare's games since I started my boycott on EA, this headline was big enough that I couldn't miss it. Dragon Age Origins (the upcoming RPG from BioWare) will not come with any form of Securom - it will just use a simple disk check for copy protection.
You have no idea how happy this makes me.
Together with The Sims 3, it really looks like EA is abandoning intrusive DRM measures. I'm now formally taking EA off my boycott list. More importantly, time to read up on all the news and rumors I missed regarding Dragon Age: Origins, Mass Effect 2 and Star Wars: The Old Republic!
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