Gaming Update

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I finished May Payne on the hardest Dad On Arrival setting, where you have 7 saves per stage. I’m not even attempting New York Minute, where you have a minute to complete every stage. It’s just too damn difficult. I hate games with time limits.

Anyway, my time filler game of the moment is the deluxe version of Zuma. I just had to beat my sister’s highest score at the addictive puzzle game, but I can’t seem to get past Level 9-4, which I presume is 3 or 4 stages from the end of the game.

Other than that I’m torn between carrying on with Knights of the Old Republic (which, once I’ve completed, I can delete off my PC and open up some space), or, move onto Max Payne 2, or even a Hitman game. But then Prince of Persia 3 is coming, which might scupper all of these plans.

So, of the brand new games coming out, definitely on my ‘To Play’ list are:
- Prince of Persia 3: The Two Thrones (I adore the acrobatics/puzzle solving/combat combo of the series)
- Total Overdose (Mexican GTA meets Max Payne meets Prince of Persia)
- And, despite my low tolerance of simulation games, I’d like to give The Movies a short test run.

And in 2006, there’ll be Bad Day LA (from American McGee) and Titan Quest (an Ancient Mythology themed Diablo II) to look forward to.

Oh, and I couldn’t wait for my free copy to supposedly arrive in the post, so I used some vouchers I had to buy the Dec/Jan issue of PC Format, which, ladies and gents, comes with a new magazine called GEAR (Gaming Equipment and Reviews). Yours truly has a column on the back page, and it’s pretty exciting. Even my grandmother read the column, although she admits she had no idea what I was going on about.

Actually, despite being small and quite short (for now), GEAR is pretty cool. It cuts out all the unnecessary guff that gaming mags are usually bloated with. Apart from a few articles on gaming history, age restrictions etc, its chief focus is reviews, reviews, reviews, which is perfect by me. If I see another mouse-comparison article, I think I’ll go into seizures.

Anyway, here’s hoping GEAR takes off in popularity, so I can actually be paid, and, as Gareth so delicately put it, replace Miktar as SA’s authoritive gaming girl. That would be damn funny.

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