Recent content by merman

It's a solid game, and if you like FPS games it's worth a rental. But really in a world of Gears of War and Dead Space, it's not a highlight. The only thing that sledgehammer should be used for is bashing over the head whichever THQ executive took the decision to set it all in...

Actually, one of the earliest 20th Century sightings described the UFO as cigar-shaped, but the press picked up on the line that it moved "like a saucer skimming across the water". And there is an apparent correlation between the increase in UFO sightings and the release of major sci-fi...

My last girlfriend, everything was either "the best thing ever" or "the worst thing ever". There was no middle ground. That coupled with the mood swings and the long-distance aspect killed it. I'm also thinking back to the episode of Frasier where he tries to commit to Julia, and everything...

Summing up my feelings and responding to some comments: The screenplay was originally Douglas's. In the 1980s. Unfortunately it sat in development hell for twenty years, was severely altered by Jay Gould (director of the Austin Powers films) and finally made it to screen in a much mangled...

Would have been kinder to strangle it at birth, and concentrate on creating some PSP games that people actually wanted to play, rather than watered-down console ports...

Again, because it's a former French colony... It's definitely about making Sarkosy more popular at home. You look at the other recent laws - banning the burkha, clamping down on gypsies - and it's all in aid of making the Government look strong at a time when their economy is in peril (not...

The original Call of Duty got it right. Take a major hit or a direct headshot and you were dead. Take a minor wound, back off to cover and you recovered. In a sci-fi setting, I can understand a shield type system. But even that should not be never-ending.

Ubi Soft should NOT have given in to pressure. The principle is the thing here - as an adult, I should be able to go into a shop and purchase a game with an adult theme, regardless of format or control method. Yes, age ratings should mean that such a game is not sold to a minor. And what's more...

Playing this myself at the moment, and enjoying it. It does get a bit frustrating on the later levels, but it's such a great change of pace/colour from virtually every other game out there...

The BAFTA game awards are unfortunately like the Brits (the music awards announced this week) - they reward mainstream success, not necessarily the best or most innovative games. Let's go through those 8 from my perspective... Call of Duty: Black Ops - not played it, but from what I've read...

I voted good but not that good - I enjoyed reading them (the five I have read), and there was some very interesting ideas on how a fantasy world runs, particularly in regards to magic. However, for me the better series in fantasy terms were the David Eddings books. But if I was to pick my...

You have to look at Sega's consoles in the context of the arcade hardware that the company was developing. And in each era there were technical innovations (for example, the Saturn's dual processors) driven by what the arcade division was doing. Here in the UK, the 16-bit Megadrive (Genesis)...

The Burnout series, but particularly Burnout 3: Takedown. Also in a driving mood, the conversion of Outrun 2006 Coast to Coast deserves special praise for how well it plays on the PS2. Parappa the Rapper 2 - it's short but very, very sweet Katamari Damacy and We Love Katamari - everyone...

Read your UN charter. Member countries are committed to providing foreign aid, and even though very few countries meet their full obligation, in providing aid they are doing good for the world. The real shame has been when aid has been tied to business contracts or even military aid. And as a...

Healthcare should NOT be a business. Here in the UK we have the National Health Service, which is free at the point of delivery. And that's a good thing. Over the last couple of years I have had a lot of contact with the system (due to my diagnosis with Crohn's disease) and it was free; a...