Continuing my slog through games in my PS2 'Pile of Shame', (starting with RE4), I have now finished Shadow of the Colossus and I have to say I'm impressed.

The game is really hard to describe and doesn't real fit fully into any genres. When I was reading about the game no one really said what the game was about but I'm glad they didn't spoil the experience, and it is an experience.

Let's be friends

The game is very unique but just the sheer sense of scale you get as you climb any of the 16 colossi is just amazing. The game world may be empty but that just reinforces the isolation you have from the rest of the world. I can't say enough how good I thought the game was and I'm glad I picked it up.

The game obviously won't appeal to everyone and I did have some gripes. The camera can be very frustrating to control and it can go all over the place. Also your horse is probably the wost in the world and it takes at least a couple of tries before you can actually get on to it. None of that really takes away from the colossi which are probably some of the best designed bosses that I've ever fought.

Next I think I'm going to play MGS 2. I've already played 1 and 3 so it makes sense to play the second installment in Solid Snakes life (even if you don't play as him). If anyone has any other suggestions for PS2 games I'll be glad to here them.

I don't think free online games get enough attention here on Gamespot (no offence Free Games Union) so I decided to highlight a recent release by doing a kind of mini review. Hope you like it.

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Finally. The sequel to one of my favourite flash games has been released. Skywire 2 from British developers Nitrome is an arcade game where you control a cable cart across a intricate path full of twists, turns and bizarre animal obstacles (you have to play it to fully understand). To move the cart you just press the up and down keys to go forward and backward. The goal of the game is to reach the other side of the level before the time runs out or before you lose all three lives.

The game surpasses the original in almost all aspects: new enemies, inclusion of bosses and new areas are all but a few of the features game has to offer. Probably the biggest new addition is the ability to play two-player splitscreen. Here you just race against your opponent (who is contolled by W and S keys) to try and reach the end of the level first. A little ghost cart represents your opponents position. This is a nice new mode but the splitscreen does make it hard for you to see the rest of the track and obstacles in the way.

The real reason I love the game is not because of the gameplay (which is great) but because of the art direction and music. The game has brilliant pixel art graphics and a addictive retro soundtrack, both which are a staple of Nitrome's games. Combined together these things make the game very unique and original for modern day flash games and games as a whole.

The game does start off quite easy and can be a bit repetitive but the difficulty increases quite quickly making the last few levels very difficult and challenging (for me at least) but rewarding in the end. Knowing you've guided at least one of your little people to safety can give you a lot of satisfaction. Overall the game is a wonderful little distraction which will give you a great time and best of all it's free .

I don't really like giving scores to these kind of games because their not meant to be analysed or reviewed in the same way as normal retail games are but if I had to I'd give it 8.9 / 10

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As a side note I want to thank Jay is Games for introducing me to the game and being my number one source for online gaming. Make sure you check it out.

Well after 27hrs 46mins, 29 deaths and an accuracy rate of 70%, I finished Resident Evil 4.

just your friendly neighbourhood chainsaw wielding maniac

I know I'm a bit late to the party but I never had the chance to play it before and it received great reviews so I decided to pick up a copy. That was probably one of the best gaming decisions I've made.

If you haven't played the game yet (which you should) it follows Leon S Kennedy as he tries to rescue the president's daughter from a cult of zombie-like creatures. Don't think of them like your typical zombies, these guys can run, use weapons and dodge attacks which can make for some tough situations.

The only things that I did not like about the game were:

1. The ending was so cheesy and disappointing.

2. Ashley is useless. The parts where you have her are so annoying as she always gets in the way and for some reason she is incapable of using a gun.

3. There were no racoons included but I know that Resident Evil 1-3 were all set in Racoon City.

Apart from that the game is probably one of the best PS2 titles I've ever played. The atmosphere is scary, the pacing is perfect, the bosses are unique, the weapons are diverse and I could keep on going. I gave the rating a 9.5 but if it wasn't for Gamespot's stupid rating scale I would of given it a 9.7.

P.S. Here's an update on the racoon front. It seems they evolved far enough to use human apparatus. I bet badgers couldn't do that.

WATCH

I still can't believe he won.

I know I haven't blogged for a while (it's because I have loads of work) but now I'm going to be gone from GS for a while longer as I'm going on holiday . It should be a good break but I still have lots of work to do during that time as my exams start next month. I'm not too worried though as I think I'll do well. I might make a few more posts today but otherwise I'll see everyone at GSUK in two weeks.

Bye!

P.S. Check out this short free online game - You Have to Burn the Rope. It's the best ending I've seen in a game since Portal.

P.S.S. Check out this racoon video from youtube. This proves that racoons are smarter than cats and so now I can tick another animal off my list of which racoons are superior to.

I've finally done it. It took me over a month but I've reached one of my first Gamespot milestone - 100 forum posts. Seening as I've been very busy lately I'm suprised I did it in that amount of time. I hope to continue this streak and my next blogged milestone would have be 250 posts. It's not a very difficult task but it depends on how much spare time I have, which is not a lot.