Not a lot added to my collection this month as we were in another lockdown, but I still crossed a couple off my top 10 list.
Call of Duty: Black Ops II – Sony Playstation 3
Call of Duty: Black Ops II, is a first-person shooter and is the ninth main installment for the Call of Duty franchise, and was released in November 2012.
Black Ops II continues the saga of certain main characters introduced in the original Black Ops, both arcs of the games story take place several decades after the conclusion of the first game.
Departing from the notorious linear campaign style of past Call of Duty games, Treyarch decided to take a non-linear and sandbox approach to Call of Duty: Black Ops II, instead the old linear style has been dropped in favour of “a more open ended campaign that relies heavily on player choice.”
Call of Duty: Black Ops II introduces a new game mode, Hardpoint. Players rush to the same place on the map and try to hold it for as long as possible until it moves.
Kill Confirmed returns from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Wager Matches from the original Black Ops return, now known as Party Games.
Combat Training from Call of Duty: Black Ops also returns in this game.
The Zombies mode from Call of Duty: World at War and Call of Duty: Black Ops returns in Call of Duty: Black Ops II with numerous additions and changes, such as the game now supporting twice as many zombies and twice as many players as before.
I have never been a big fan of the Call of Duty games, I have played most of them and I just don’t enjoy them. The only game in the series I have played to completion, was Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. It was a hard slog. I would much rather play the Tom Clancy series of games, they just have more about them in my eyes. This game is part of my top 10 list for the PS3
Rating – Complete (Ripped manual)
Price Paid – £5 (Cex Online)
Dead Rising 2 – Sony Playstation 3
Dead Rising 2 is an open world survival horror game. The game was released in September 2010.
The game takes place five years after Dead Rising, in a Las Vegas-like resort called Fortune City. Chuck Greene, a former motocross champion, was in Las Vegas with his wife and daughter, when a zombie outbreak occurred and the city was overrun. His wife became a zombie, and infected their daughter, Katey. Chuck and his daughter managed to escape the city, but in order to save Katey, he constantly had to procure the anti-zombification drug Zombrex for her.
Dead Rising 2 introduces many new weapons and items, and the potential onscreen zombie count has been dramatically increased to as high as 7000, at least ten times that of the original.
Dead Rising 2 includes online features, where two players can tackle the story, they each control a different Chuck Greene and can complete story missions, or just lay waste to the zombies
Terror is Reality is a multiplayer mode in which four players compete in a total of 9 different challenges. These challenges include players killing zombies with certain weapons and techniques in order to accumulate the most points in a certain time to be declared the winner.
I didn’t put much time into this game, but I prefer it to the original. The gameplay feels a lot better than the original. Having to constantly make sure that you give your daughter the Zombrex adds an element of tension in the game which I like.
Rating – Complete
Price Paid – £1.50 (Cex Online)
Hellboy : The Science of Evil – Playstation 3
Hellboy: The Science of Evil is adapted from the 2004 Hellboy film by Guillermo del Toro, based on the comic book character of the same name. It was released in 2008. The game was created under the creative direction of both the comic book’s creator, Mike Mignola, and the film’s director, Guillermo del Toro and many actors reprise their roles from the film.
Players control Hellboy in a third-person perspective as they progress through a series of levels broken up into six chapters. Levels consist of separate stages and routes occupied by multiple groups of enemies that differ between chapters. In most cases, all enemies in an area must be defeated in order to move to the next phase of the chapter, with ghostly barriers of smoke blocking paths while foes remain present. To combat opponents, Hellboy uses his stone “right hand of doom” for most hand-to-hand combat situations, with heavy and quick attacks that can be mixed together for varied combinations.
Haven’t played this game before, but I enjoyed both movies (not seen the 2019 one yet)
Rating – Complete
Price Paid – £4.00 (Cex Online)
Little Hope – Sony Playstation 4
Little Hope is the second instalment of The Dark Pictures Anthology series, a series of unrelated games which explores different themes and horror genres. It is an interactive horror game released in 2020.
Abandoned and all alone, four college students and their teacher become stranded in an isolated town miles from anywhere after their bus crashes in bad weather. Trapped by a mysterious fog in the town of Little Hope, they search desperately for a means of escape whilst visions from the past haunt them from the shadows.
Throughout the game, the player needs to choose different dialogue options, which will influence the course of the narrative and the relationships between the protagonists. The game can be played multiple times, as there are multiple endings and multiple scenarios based on the decisions that the players make. Depending on the choices of the players, all characters may or may not die by the end of the story. Action sequences mainly feature quick time events, most of which, if missed, can lead to dire consequences for each character.
I really enjoyed this game, it is a lot better than Man of Medan (The other game in the anthology) I was really invested in the story and the characters. It was fantastically acted and did give me a couple of frights over the 8 hours or so I played it. I only managed to save 2 of the 5 characters by the end and I will eventually play it again to get a better result.
Rating – Complete
Price Paid – £25.00 (Game)
Rastan – Sega Master System
Rastan is a fantasy-themed side-scrolling action game released in 1988. The player controls a barbarian warrior who has embarked on a quest to slay a dragon. While on his way to the dragon’s lair, Rastan must fight hordes of enemy monsters based on mythical creatures such as chimeras and harpies.
The player can pick up any item by touching it, all the weapons and power-ups picked by Rastan will be equipped only for a limited time, except for the Ring power up. The Ring will remain equipped on Rastan for the entirety of his current life. Rastan can only wield one weapon at a time (a mace, an axe, a fireball-shooting sword, or his standard sword), as well as only one type of protector (a shield, a mantle, or body armour), but other items (such as the necklace and ring) can be worn at the same time.
I’ve wanted this game for a while after seeing it on a Youtube video. I think it looks great and I’m really looking forward to playing it.
Rating – Boxed, No Manual
Price Paid – £15.00 (Cex Online)
Sonic 3 – Sega Mega Drive (Box and Manual)
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is 2D side-scrolling platformer by Sega and was released in 1994.
After Doctor Robotnik’s spaceship, the Death Egg, crash-lands on a mysterious floating island, Sonic and Tails attempt to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds to stop it from relaunching. Sonic 3 introduces Knuckles the Echidna, the island guardian, who lays traps for Sonic and Tails.
As with previous Sonic games, Sonic 3 uses rings, scattered throughout the levels, as a health system; when the player is attacked without rings, is crushed, falls off-screen, drowns, or exceeds the act’s ten-minute limit, they lose a life and return to the most recently passed checkpoint.
Sonic 3 includes a competitive mode: two players, controlling Sonic, Tails, or Knuckles the Echidna, race through one or all of five stages that do not appear in the main game. In these same stages, a single player can compete against the clock in time attacks.
I remember being blown away with this game when I played it as a kid. The visual effects here look fantastic and are an improvement on Sonic 2 in every way. I loved the new special stages and the new power-ups. I purchased the box and manual for this as I already had the cartridge. So now I have a complete copy for my top 10 Mega Drive games, albeit with a poor condition manual.
Rating – Box and Manual
Price Paid – £15.98 (eBay)
Mortal Kombat 3 – Sega Mega Drive
Mortal Kombat 3 is a fighting video game developed by Midway Games and was released in 1995 as the third game in the Mortal Kombat series. As in the previous games, it has a cast of characters that players choose from and guide through a series of battles against other opponents. The game avoids the tournament storyline of its predecessors, as various warriors instead fight against the returning Shao Kahn, who has resurrected his bride Sindel and started an invasion of Earthrealm.
Mortal Kombat 3 builds further on the gameplay of the previous games, “Chain combos” were introduced. Chain combos are button sequences that cannot be interrupted once one hit connects; some chain combos end with an uppercut or another move that knocks the opponent into the air so that more damage can be dealt via a traditional juggle combo. certain levels were interactive by allowing characters to uppercut each other through the ceiling where both characters would continue the battle in a different stage. This could alter the game’s level cycle. All of the different styles of finishing moves featured in Mortal Kombat II (Fatalities, including the non-lethal “Babality” and “Friendship” moves) return in MK3. Additionally, the “Animality”, where the character transforms into an animal in order to kill their opponent, is featured for the first time.
I loved this game as a kid, the new characters featured were amazing (Kabal being my go-to guy) This game is part of my top 10 list for the Mega Drive.
Rating – Boxed, No Manual
Price Paid – £0 (Early Christmas Present)
Street Fighter 2 : Special Champion Edition – Sega Mega Drive
Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition is a fighting game released for the Mega Drive by Capcom in 1993.
Gameplay was similar to other versions of the Street Fighter II sub-series. In addition to the eight main characters, the four Shadaloo Bosses Balrog, Vega, Sagat, and M. Bison, are now playable characters. The Shadaloo Bosses were toned down considerably from the previous iterations, but remain relatively strong compared to the standard eight fighters.
The returning eight main characters had many of their techniques and priorities modified in order to allow for more-balanced competition between different characters. Ryu’s and Ken’s fighting techniques in particular were changed in order to differentiate their common fighting styles.
A six-button control pad for the Mega Drive, the MK-1653, was made primarily for the game, adding three action buttons labelled XYZ in addition to the standard ABC buttons.
This game was my favourite fighting game on the Mega Drive, and quite possibly, my favourite fighting game I have ever played. As a kid I was always playing this and would alternate between Ken and Guile as my guys. This game is one of the top 10 Mega Drive games.
Rating – Complete
Price Paid – £0 (Early Christmas Present)
Super Monkey Ball: Touch & Roll – Nintendo DS
Super Monkey Ball: Touch & Roll was released for the Nintendo DS in 2006.
The game uses the DS’s touch screen as the primary controller for manoeuvring the monkey around the level, although D-pad control is also supported. As in previous Super Monkey Ball games, the object is to roll a monkey from the start of a level to the finish line within an allotted time limit. Along the way the monkey collects bananas and banana bunches, worth five bananas, for the chance to gain an extra life, which is after getting ten bananas.
I have never played a Super Monkey Ball game before, but I always liked the look of them. Looking forward to giving this a go.
Rating – Boxed, No Manual
Price Paid – £3 (Cex Online)
Not The Nintendo SNES scope
Now what you should be seeing here is the official Nintendo SNES scope. But you aren’t. I ordered the scope from Cex, including the Nintendo Scope 6 game. I hoped it would arrive boxed, as you don’t know whether it will be boxed when ordering because the Cex website doesn’t tell you, but only the receiver and the game arrived. I am currently Emailing Cex support about it as we speak so we will see how this pans out.