Having only completed a few missions on the single player I wasn't planing on reviewing Battlefield 3 so early but I felt the need to comment on the multiplayer side of things. After playing plenty of Battlefield Bad Company 2 I was all set to make Battlefield 3 my next shooter to play to death. Unfortunately, by playing Bad Company 2 so much it's actually greatly lowered my opinion of Battlefield 3's multiplayer. The thing is, Battlefield 3 has some incredibly frustrating bugs and mechanics that Bad Company 2 didn't have. 

Since deciding to write a multiplayer review I've continued to play online. Initially I was going to review Battlefield 3's multiplayer properly but the more I play it the more it's annoying me. And so this 'review' is in reality going to be a list of bugs and annoyances, starting with the least annoying items first. 

• The first annoyance was actually present in Bad Company 2 but still annoys me and takes away my valuable sleep. You cannot quit the current game between rounds. After a match is the prime time to leave as you give time for the match making system to find a replacement but you must load the new map, then leave. This causes me to forget I wanted to quit and forces me to play round after round when I should be counting sheep. Of course you can quit the game completely or turn of the console but I generally like to look at the new equipment I've unlocked and alter my classes accordingly. 
• Menus are too deep. To change your gun's attachments you have to navigate through level after level of menus. On the console it doesn't work well. The menus take for ages to navigate and some of the weirdest controls. It may work for PC but not console.
• No private servers on console. On day one PC players get this. I have no plans to open up a server and leave my PS3 on all the time but I would like to set up a server so I can practise flying and learn the maps. Rumour has it that this will be patched in at some point which is good but PC get's it day one? Thanks for forgetting us DICE.
• On a side note and not officially part of my list is the maximum number of players per server. On PC it's 32 (but can be 64) and on console it's only 24. Resistance 3 did 64 players on PS3. What gives? 
• Squads don't always keep together. When you invite a friend to your squad you generally want to play with them, not against (however, I thought having the option to evenly split up your squad would be nice so you could have half on one side, half on the other). This issue should be higher but DICE have recognised this as an issue with match making and are working on it. Thanks! 
• The input is laggy and inconsistent. If you played Killzone 3 you'll know what I mean but with Killzone it was intentional. Close quarters firefights are a mess. The controls also seem to have two areas of sensitivity. Small movements close to the centre of the analogue stick move the cross-hair slower and the further away you move the analogue stick from the centre the faster it moves. Having the ability to do smaller movements when aiming do the sights and faster movements when aiming from the hip sounds great but it's doesn't work right.
• One of the big features of the new Frostbite 2 engine is sound. Rounds skimming by your head, explosions making your round shake... are there to make you feel more in involved in the game but quite often the ambient sound cuts out. What happens is you'll be in the middle of a fierce battle with tanks in front of you, soldiers all around and jets and helicopters in skies above. That's a lot of sound. Then silence. All sound goes, except for your footsteps and when you fire your weapon. 
• In many of the maps the game play area is really small and it limits you too much. Flanking becomes hard (near impossible) and some areas of the map that seem accessible, aren't. Probably the worst example of this in the map Grand Bazaar on Rush. Attacking on this map is limited to small corridors that are easy to defend, hard to attack. Not all bad. It provides a more challenging assault and in real urban warfare you'd most likely get stuck in choke points. The issue is the alleyways only let you go half way down when the enemy can go all the way, preventing you chasing the them down or any attempts to flank them. 
• VoIP is terrible. It's impossible to understand your squad mates when they break up so much you hear only a third of what they say. I'd like to say it doesn't happen all the time but it happens ALL the time. It's rare to make it through a round without the VoIP messing up.
• And the number one most annoying part of Battlefield 3 goes too... not being able to jumping over small objects and in windows. By small objects I really mean small. Walls that aren't even as high as your knees will get you stuck and get you dead. Also, jumping through windows sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. 

So why all these issues? If you discount the issues with menus, small map areas and lighting as they are by design, then you are left with bugs. DICE openly say that PC is their lead platform (I watched this long video presentation about Frostbite 2 but cannot find the link) which in it's self shouldn't be a problem. However it appears DICE completed the PC version and rushed the console versions, probably to beat Modern Warfare 3 to the stores. This seems like the most likely reason to me, since MW3 is only around the corner. 

This post has been very negative. Battlefield 3 is a great game but the items I've outlined almost ruin it for me. So far the story mode is going well and as soon as I complete it I'll post a proper review.

This morning I received my free iPhone 4 bumper case from Apple as part of their free case program. I'm not at all sure how they thought they could charge what they were charging before deciding to give them away. It's made up of pretty much nothing, just a little bit of shaped plastic. Anyway I put it on really just to see what it was like and if it would suit me. I don't have the antenna problem because I firstly don't hold my phone in the way you have to to cause the signal drop and also I have an invisible shield on which includes strips that go around the phone's edge.

Having had the case on all day I can say I don't like it. There are a few reasons for this:

• Doesn't feel right. The plastic is too smooth. It would be much nicer with a more rubbery texture.
• It makes the solid build quality of the iPhone 4 disappear because the bumper moves and flexes to much. 
• The shiny finish does seem to be for style but the edge of the iphone 4 is a brushed metallic look and this takes away from the look of the iPhone 4. Let's be honest the iPhone (and all Apple products) are a lot about image. The bumper just doesn't cut it with Apple normally great design.
• Doesn't fit right. I expected it to be an incredibly tight fit around the iphone but it's not. You can quite easily peal it off the iPhone and I suspect it wouldn't take much to do this is your pocket.
• Won't protect from scratches and scoffs from keys and coins.

It's not all bad. The case should give some protect if you drop it (not I'm not going to test it). It also stops the iPhone 4 sliding on smooth surfaces and that suction effect if the surface is really smooth. Finally, all the buttons are easy to use expect for the switch that turns sound on/off.

When push comes to shove I don't see myself keeping. It doesn't feel right, look good or provide protection from scratches. I'll stick with just the Invisible Shield. If you do have and use a bumper then I'd highly recommend getting an Invisible Shield.

Last week saw the release of the latest game from Rockstar Games. I had really high hopes for Red Dead Redemption. Firstly, it's a Rockstar game. I don't think there has been a game they've made I've not liked. And, secondly because it looked to be the sequel to Gun I've been waiting for. What did I make of it? Well keep reading and you'll soon know.

Holy crap this game is awesome! I told you'd know soon. Red Dead Redemption is one of the finest games I've ever played. It has absolutely everything a game needs. Plenty to do in single player, decent story line, multiplayer with healthy life expectancy, detail and stunning visuals.

Single Player and Story

It's coming to the end of the Wild West. With the advances in technology America is changing. Telephones and railways are shortening the distance between two places. Once isolated area see trains passing through daily. Everyone is trying to make a quick buck and often not caring what's in the way. Railways want to expand and burn down farms to do so, rustlers are killing farmers for their livestock, and gangs are after anything they can get. Sheriffs are trying to bring order while being paid to turn a blind eye to the crimes of their paymasters. The Federal Government is growing and after the country too. An honest man is becoming harder to find. That's just America. Across the border in Mexico a revolution is starting. A grass roots movement to over throw the dictator who are fighting the Mexican army to win their freedom.

You play the character of John Marston, an ex-gang member trying to settle down and stay out of trouble. You've found a ranch for you, your wife and child where you want to live out the rest of your life in peace. Unfortunately, you cannot go back to your family just yet. You've some unfinished business forced upon you that you must complete first. You've got to capture or kill three of your ex-gang members on behalf of some federal officials in order to go back to your life. Killings these men isn't the problem, they left you for dead, it's finding them that'll be hard. This leads you on an epic journey through America, over to Mexico and back.

To be honest the story line isn't the most original. The "bad guy turning good but has to fight one last fight" story has been done before. And the way you go about it is almost identical to every Grand Theft Auto game. Simply put it's involved meeting people, telling them who your looking for, helping them, then they help or betray you, and repeat. It's not that bad. The only thing negative about the story is it's quite predictable. But it is well thought out and the dialog it nothing but quality. It might be predictable but it's entertaining all the way through and executed with the high production values that Rockstar are know for.

As with all free roaming games there is a lot of travelling to do. In some free roaming games (True Crime: Streets of LA comes of mind) it can be such a bore. Red Dead Redemption has solved this with attention to detail and having a real living environment. While riding you'll come across people being held up at gun point, hunters wanting to challenge you, men wanting to duel with you, people hunting and being attacked by animals, and more. You always have a choice. You can just ride on or you can get involved. Getting involved is a great way to break up that long journey and can earn you money, frame and honour. You can even lose some honour if that's the way you want to play it. If you do bad things you lose honour and will increase the bounty on your head. The higher the bounty the more often gangs and the law will come after you. This can happen at any time outside of a mission and is yet another thing to keep you entertained.

The Wild West

The world in Red Dead Redemption is pretty big. It includes great plains, snow covered mountains, forests, endless desserts and everything in between. Through out the would there are places that vary from the modern town to make shift camp sites and large ranches to abandoned villages. The best parts are outside of the populated areas. All of the areas look, sound and feel completely different. The forests are full of deer, bears, hogs, wolves, foxes and more, and all types of birds while the plains have very little vegetation and only herds of buffalo. Animals play a big part in the game. They are everywhere and there's over 30 different species. You can hunt them, skin them and sell what you get. Animals will even attack you so you have to be on your guard. It's yet another part of the Red Dead Redemption world that keeps you busy.

The whole in game world is stunning. The graphic effects are realistic in every way. Everything looks perfect. You can see for miles around. You can actually see places in Mexico from the northern most point in America. The weather in America is normally sunny with clouds and in Mexico the clouds are no where to be seen. Storms roll in every once in a while and provide my favourite effect in the game. Lightening. I've not seen lightening in a game that has been do so right. When lightening strikes the whole world changes. Everything lights ups, everything casts a shadow and puddles reflect the light. It's perfectly done. Before the lightening comes you get rain. Rain causes puddles to form. These form slowly and realistically. You even get rain filling up the tracks you leave behind. There is, of course, a day/night cycle. Morning and evenings are colourful with the sun's pinky, orangey rays shinning from behind the clouds and scenery. The nights are cold. Well they feel cold. Thousands of stars shine in the sky, each one different to the last. Just perfect when you're sitting by the camp fire of a fellow traveller, listening to their stories (yes, another thing you can do in Red Dead Redemption).

Everything is animated so smooth and realistically. From the rabbits hopping through the grass to the carts bouncing on the uneven roads. Sound is also really well done. In the towns you can hear the hustle and bustle of people going about with their lives. In the wild you can hear animals, the wind, water flowing and everything else you'd expect. All accompanied by a fitting sound track including a cool baseline when you start fighting and an original song  by Jose Gonzalez called Far Away as you make your way over the border to Mexico for the first time.

Multiplayer

This takes the single player world online. There are the standard free for all and team based games but also multiplayer free roam. The whole world is made available for you to run around in doing what you want. You can join posses and work together or go it alone. All my time online in Red Dead Redemption has been spent fighting the other players in free roam but you can work together and do some missions. By entering certain areas you can trigger gang hide outs or animal attacks. You'll need to attack gang hideouts, take them over and then defend them. With animal attacks you just have to defend yourself from waves of animals. After triggering these events you may work with others to win or do it alone. Another option is piss off people trying to complete it by killing them which is great fun (but not fun for the French guys I was annoying, hehe). Another part is the bounty hunters. Just like in single player if you shoot civilians you'll get a bounty on your head. Not only will you get the law coming for you but other players might what to take you down. And even members of your posse will take you down (I learnt this the hard way). Free roam in multiplayer is really a do-it-yourself game mode where you make your own fun. If you love roaming the single player game then just jump in an do it online.

It's the detail in Red Dead Redemption that makes this game more than just another free roamer. This is truly the most beautiful game I've ever played.

Modern Warfare 2. The game I've been waiting for for far too long and I've not written a post about it? Fancy that. Well the main reason is because it was messed around by Play.com big style. See my Play.com complain. In the end I went for the Prestige Edition (with the night vision goggles).

Well I've had it a few weeks now and I've racked up almost 2 days playing it (single player, spec ops and multi-player) mainly on multi-player. I have to say, and it won't be supprising, that it's fantastic! I love it! Online is much faster paced than the last Modern Warfare, singleplayer is more action packed and varied, and spec ops... well there wasn't spec ops in the first one.

Modern Warfare 2

Single Player Campaign

I've completed the single player campaign and enjoyed it a lot. The story is really a possible future cold war between American and Russia. Infinity Ward didn't really hold back on the way Russia started a full on war with the US on US soil. They way IF did it was good. They made it so the cause of the war was a rouge individual and not either the US or Russia and both sides actions were understandable. The end, well it was pretty much the same as MW but slightly more tense as you watch Price almost die at the hands of Shepherd.

The credits were actually really cool. A camera panned around a museum exhibit with all scenes from the game. Something I found later on is you can actually run around the museum by using chapter selection. At the two information desk are red buttons that say do not touch. Of course you have to and what it does is bring to life ALL the characters in the exhibits and they are ALL after you! Don't worry because you have your pick of every weapon from the game.

Multi-Player

This is the main selling point of Call of Duty. Modern Warfare was so popular because of the addictive multi-player.  Modern Warfare 2 has built on what the first did and has improve it. There's plenty of game modes - free for all, team death match, domination, HQ, capture the flag, search and destroy, and others. There's even 3rd person!

Pictures

Right - Accuracy Leaderboard: As you can see I'm rocking the accuracy. It's going up all the time! My target is 25%.

Below - Kills Leaderboard: Kills don't really mean much to me as the more you play the more you should kill. Ratio is what I care about. Mine isn't as high as it should be because I was messing arond a lot with riot shield but it is increasing every game now

The biggest change is with the leveling up, perks and killstreaks. Everything is worth more points, generally about 10times what they were before. When you kill you can also earn extra points for saving a team mate, avenging a team mate, taking revenge on someone who has killed you, head shots, one shot kills and long range kills. I tend to get a lot of long range kills. Perks have been changed with some add and removed. Killsteaks have been completely change. They are now customisable. You still have 3 rewards but you can choose from about 10 different rewards ranging from UAV to a Tactical Nuke! To get a Tactical Nuke you need a 25 kill streak but by doing that you kill EVERYONE and make your team win. Other rewards include sentry guns, helicopters, air strikes, predator missiles and you can actually control some of them. 

As a little edition you earn titles and emblems. Titles are little banners that go behind your name and emblems are little badges. There are 100s titles and emblems to play with.

Spec Ops

The new addition to Modern Warfare 2 is Spec Ops. It's a series of missions that you can do alone or with a friend (much more fun with a friend). They range from sleathly sniper missions to all out gun battles again juggernauts. There are 5 levels Alpha to Echo and in each are 5 missions. Each mission has upto 3 stars you can be awarded for completing. It's cracking fun and so much better co-operative.

Call of Duty Classic

Call of Duty Classic came as a free download with the Prestiege and Hardened Editions. It is the original game rendered in HD, still the original textures, animated and sounds. It is exactly as I remembered it. It has multi-player as well but unfortunately only upto 8 players which is a shame as I remember playing some amazing 32+ player rifles only on Pavlov's House. Other than the 8 player limit to multi-player the only other bad thing is that shot is R2 not R1 and aim down the sights is L2 nor L1! It's Xbox style :(.

Just to show how much I rock, here's a screen of the 2nd game I played online.

I heard about this film when I was watching the BBC News Channel while I was waiting for Click to start. Because Mike Perham had just arrived in port, becoming the youngest person to sail around the world alone, the BBC's live coverage overran into Click's time slot. Whoever controls the BBC News Channel decided to skip Click and show their entertainment show instead. They talked about The Hurt Locker and the general consensus was that it was a good film based on what really happens and doesn't glorify war. What they said and the clips they showed made it sound interesting so I took a look.

The Hurt Locker is about a handful of American soldiers in Iraq that make up an Explosive Ordnance Disposal squad. Their job it is to deal with car bombs, roadside bombs, IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices)  and other curious devices. All this is to protect the other soldiers so they can do their jobs and to protect the civilians. The film starts with a quote from a war correspondent called Chris Hedges: "The rush of battle is a potent and often lethal addiction, for war is a drug". As you watch the film you can see that for one of the main characters, Staff Sgt. William James, this is true. For others it isn't. This is one of the messages I think the film is wanting to get across, and it's how every person deals with war in their  own differing ways.

The first scene gets straight into the job that the Bravo Company is tasked to do. An IED is in the road, alone which a railway runs. They move everyone away and use a remote controlled machine to check it out and then to attempt to plant explosives to safely detonate it. When the little trailer with the explosives in fails the tension begins. One of the squad has to suit up in protective gear that consists of a helmet with a visor, a huge collar to protect the neck on a heavily padded suit. After getting this on he slowly makes his way to the IED. Tension just continues to build up as he edges closer and closer and while the other members of the squad are constantly looking around keeping their eyes on every Iraqi in the area who might try to trigger it. The tension is kept up through out this scene and in all of the later ‘action' scenes.

Explosive Ordnance Disposal is a hot, sweaty, stressful and very dangerous job. The guys that do it have to cope with all this and inevitably each person copes in different ways. You get the guy that thrives on the rush, others who just keep thinking and talking about death and so many others. The Hurt Locker displays this really well. The story as a whole is very believable and looks like plenty of research was done. At two points in the film slow-motion shots are used. One as an IED explodes with the ground movement and the people's reactions. The other is simply of a shell from a .50 cal sniper rifle falling and bouncing on the lose ground. Both of these really add to the scenes and are clearly not just for show. The .50 cal shell concludes the end of a heart stopping battle with a small group of insurgent snipers.

The final scene is of a member of Bravo squad standing in the cereal aisle looking at 100s of different cereals and not knowing which the pick. To us who haven't been out in foreign lands fighting we are used to all this excess and choice. To a solider that has been out on tour for 6 months, a year or even more living what is really a simple life with little luxuries it's daunting. In the time he has been in Iraq I doubt he'd get an option for what he eats for breakfast and this choice is really too much.

The Hurt Locker is definitely a film worth watching; especially if you know someone out in Iraq, Afghanistan or anywhere fighting as it I feel it helps you understand that tiny bit more what soldiers are going through.