One thing I really must point out is the incredible package that is the Collectors Edition. I really feel I got value for my money. Not only the most cool looking Collectors box, but it included:

• Art Book
• Soundtrack CD
• Comic book
• USB with Starcraft 1 + BroodWar
• And Starcraft 2 of cause!

So far I have only had time to play about 4-5 missions, and I thing they won’t be getting any shorter going forward. But what I have played so far is really impressive. Of cause its like Starcraft 1 with some new units, graphic and story. But some new features is here as well. Will probably spend many hours playing Starcraft 2. But only Single player, don’t have the time or patience to play multiplayer for a title like this. Althoug I must say that one neat feature for the social part was how the game can create a Friends list for you by simply scaning your Facebook account. Maybe a bit scary, but I believe it works great and we will probably see more similar features in not only games but other softwares and sites.

My Starcraft 2 Collectors Edition unpacked

God of War 3

Its finally here! The biggest release of 2010 for me, so far… Kratos came, he fought, he conquered!

Since the second instalment in 2007 I have been pumped for the third and final one in this trilogy.

Starting playing the third game it picks up right were the second ends. The beginning was the most intenced moment in the whole serie. Fighting poseidon was not only a great intro, but also felt like a tech demo on what the PS3 can perfrom. Well, can probably say that for the whole game! Some times during my play through my PS3 literary screamed from working so hard. But as with God of War, graphic isn’t everything.

The combat is definitely God of War. As stated before, the guys behind Dantes Inferno copied the control scheme from God of War, but it wasn’t even near as good. Dantes Inferno was hard but only frustrating. God of War 3 is as always hard, but it feels more like a challenge. The controls are tight and responsive.

One of the biggest improvements on the third instalment was the weapons. In the previous games I tended to just stick with the first blades. The new weapons was similar to the Chaos blades and more fun to play with. For the first time I frequently switches weapons. Specially the The Nemean Cestus was fun to play with.

This was the biggest release for me this year, and the wait was well worth! I am happy but feel a bit sad that the series have ended. Definitely the game of the year so far!

As for the story it was okey, part from the end. God of War is mainly about slaughtering hordes of enemy’s and big monsters. Towards the end the story start to pick up. It felt like a worthy end for one of the biggest game series in my library. Will miss Kratos but hope they will continue to make God of War games, even if this trilogy has ended.

Just want to try out the Beta. Although I will probably not play the multiplayer part very much when the game is released. But what a heck =)

StarCraft 2 Collectors Edition

Battlefield Bad Company 2

From the Swedish developer DICE comes the game that is suppose to give Modern Warfare 2 a fight. Of cause I am talking about Battlefield Bad Company 2!

A couple of month ago I recieved a Beta code for the PS3 as they were the first to have a Beta. Later as part of our pre-order those who reserved a copy got a Beta access code for PC. I joined that one and was very disappointed. The biggest thing was the mouse controlling, it almost felt like steering a tank. The other thing was (probably as the Battlefield formula is) that playing online was very different from MW2. Its as slower, bigger and harder to aim and get kills. With this to start with I had my doubts.

Now when the game finally is out it seems that DICE have improved many things and made a hell of a game. The aiming is what I wanted, smooth and fast. The opposition when playing online is still hard if not harder, but thats just part of the experience.

The singleplayer campaign was in line with the first game. Corky, just a bit interesting and just enough. Some interesting elements and some nice hints at the Modern Warfare 2 game. Burned through it in about 10 hours and had a blast playing it.

Then comes the big part of this game, multiplayer.The problem for me to talk about this is how little I have played online. To begin with was the release a disaster. I just couldn’t play online some days after release. For me it was okey because I had singleplayer. But I can just imagine how pisted the fans who bought it just for the online part.

Dispite the problem with multiplayer I will give it some time an try it out more. But it seems like DICE really pulled it of and game Modern Warfare 2 some competition. I recommend it definitely.

Darksiders

After hearing some strong recommendation from a friend about Darksiders and some good words online, I borrowed it and started playing. And I immediately fell in love with the style of the game. Even if the beginning seemed a bit chaotic and confusing control before getting the hang of it. It quickly became the second big surprise this year after Bayonetta.

I should be stated, this is basically God of War meets Zelda, in so many ways. The combat is a hack n slash type combining not only button mashing but also strategic thinking depending on your enemy type. All bosses have some puzzle element to beat them.

The post apocalyptic world is big and free to explore and once I finished it I went to hunt some more items and stuff I forgot to pick up.

The story, even if somewhat mundane do show some potential. I like the art style and just feel of the game. And the deep demonic voices of some of the characters you meet got me really hooked. Looking forward to play the sequel that have been rumoured about.

Even if I borrowed it, I will probably buy it later and play it again!

BioShock 2

After the first game its pretty hard to achieve something quite like BioShock. It was different with a great story and kickass atmosphere. Like a first person shooter it wasn’t as tight as one could hope. But it was okey, kind of a slow shooter. It took me quite a while after the release to actually play the game, but once I got into, it hooked me totally. After completing the game my expectations and anticipation for the sequel started to heat up.

But as the release started to close in I didn’t know how high my expectations should be, to not be disappointed. And now the result is in. I am NOT disappointed! Not at ALL!.

Immediately when the game starts I got a good feeling, like coming back to a place I got good memories from. The setting and atmosphere is exactly as in the first game, and that is one of the points why I enjoyed it. Its like nothing else out there. Its not as “revolutionary” as the first one, but that’s okey. One thing thats both a bit sad and relatively okey is how stream lined and closed the game is. In contrary to the first one were you ran between places all the time this go from map to map, without the possibility of going back.

The combat have been changed a bit too, but still true to the first one. Now you have the ability to using plasmid and weapons at the same time, without have to swap to use them. This makes the combat less frustrating and more fast pace. Though I played the PC version, swamping between weapons and plasmids were a but frustrating. I will play the Xbox 360 version later and see if its feels better, as the game pauses when choosing weapon.

Of the new features in Bio2 is the Multiplayer. I was really sceptical before about it and how it would work. I just played it for the Achievements and when I tried it the lag problem was aweful. It could work, but need some improving.

One thing that I found to be a bit strange was the difficulty. I started on Hard (which is the hardest difficulty) and never really felt any big challenge. I don’t want to think how easy the game most be on Easy or Medium.

Not many things have change or been upgraded with this second instalment in the BioShock franchise, and the story isn’t as rememberable as the first game. But its okey, cause all in all the experience is really good and I found it very entertaining and had problems stop playing. I kinda feel it lived up to the expectations that can be created. Definitely one of the best games this year. Hope to visit Rapture again soon!

I knew Facebook and Twitter had come to Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 but didn’t find it to be that exciting. Just using the services on my console, with no extra or special features? But this PS3 Facebook connected thing was really neat!

Facebook PSN Trophies

Bayonetta

One of the first big games to be released this year is the crazy Bayonetta from SEGA and Platinum Games (creators of Okami, Devil May Cry and other great games). When they announced it and showed screentshot I wasn’t that interested in it. Seemed just like a Devil May Cry clone but with more focus on sexiness. And boy is it sexy!

Once reviews started coming in and a lot of buzz talk from people who had imported the Japanese version, my interested increased. And just days before the game released I booked a copy. I never regretted that.

Bayonetta is really hard to explain to others, its simply something you have to see and play to believe. Its complete madness, but good madness. The game doesn’t take it self to seriously and know where it stands. A story you simply have to laugh at, but hinters at something deeper.

The most important part of this game is the game-play and action. And that’s what it does best. The controls are tight and not to much a copy of God of War. One thing you have to rely on all the time is the “dodging” effect called Witch Bullet. If you time your dodge correct everything slows down except you. In contradiction to the blocking in God of War you only have the dodging in this game.

And dodging is required a lot! This games is actually quite hard. Not cause the enemy’s are that hard, but because the penalty you get from using items, taking damage, taking to long time and dying! After every encounter you get a score of your performance and at the end of every chapter, the scores are calculated together. And if you have played okey on many encounters, the end result can be very low. It will probably result in some frustration second round of playing it, since I want good scores.

A second play-through is definetly gonna happend. This game just came and blew me away. It was a long time since I had such a enjoyable experience. Short but action packed to the bone. It really kick started this year with all the great releases coming. And better, they are coming soon.

Its always nice when a great game come where the expectations are zero and turns out to be really good!

If I was to name one game I look forward to more than other (see my previous post about games 2010 I wait for), God of War 3 would be at the top. And now I have finally tried it. And I am really excited now! Recently I replayed the first and second instalment of the series on the PS3 remake. The graphic in GoW3 is really something special. The style and feel of the first games is there, same goes for controls. Exactly the same as before. The core seems to be even more crazy from the older titles, but that’s most due to the more realistic graphics. All in all it was God of War, but more and better! The only thing that bugged me was the annoying chain sound when he uses his blades, and knowing God of War, it will be played alot!

Tomorrow I will pick up my copy if Dantes Inferno. In my opinion EAs answer to God of War and also available for Xbox 360 users. After playing the demo and following the stories and new screenshots, I think it will have a very hard time against God of War. The control are exactly the same as GoW, but they were still not the same. Something I can’t touch wasn’t there. As a game journalist friend said after playing it “Its okey, but its not God of War”. That sums up my expectation on Dantes Inferno quite good. Hope I still will enjoy it. Its from the makers of Dead Space and I really enjoyed that one. But the God of War team have had 2 games before really perfecting everything. It kinda feels more like the biggest competitor with Dantes Inferno right now is Bioshock 2! And thats only cause they will be released at the same day in North America. For us Bioshock 2 comes out next week and have asked 2K Games for a 360 copy.

God of War 3 is due to come out in March so I have some time to play through many games I have in the pipe to play before that. Just a two weeks before GoW3 Final Fantasy XIII comes out. Don’t know what to expect from the thirteen instalment.

GGod of War 3 Ultimate Trilogy Edition

• God of War 3
• Bioshock 2
• Mafia 2
• Final Fantasy XIII
• The Last Guardian

Also what I really hope for in 2010 even if its only an announcement it would be Warhawk 2.

And this list is only of the titles that I know of.

As for music I don’t know what albums will be coming out this year, I can only wish for new albums and great music from:

• Equilibrium
• Heaven Shall Burn
• Neaera
• Anterior
• Children of Bodom

Movie is even harder to predict. Don’t know many movies that will come out soon. I would like to see a new Harry Potter movie this year, but don’t think this will happen. One I know I look forward to is Iron Man 2, after viewing the trailer I had to watch the first movie and really liked it. Other than this not many movies I am excited about.