So that's Tomb Raider finished. It was a fun experience, with the highlight for me being the beautiful visuals that really showcase what our aging consoles are still capable of. I'm not sure how the team at Crystal Dynamics managed to achieve what they did, but hats off to everyone who works there.
I still stand by my belief that the game could have handled Lara's progression from young girl to killer better. The experience descends into a blood-thirsty rampage pretty soon after she picks up some guns - a fun rampage, definitely, but as a character I'd have liked a greater sense of struggle, not just in her actions but her mindset.
I've been off gallivanting across Europe this week, so I still haven't been able to sink a decent amount of time into BioShock Infinite. Nevertheless, my travels gave me a good reason to finally explore some of the games I've had clogging up my iOS memory. And herein lies a problem.
I discovered Score! Classic Goals. A game centred squarely around those moments when European football commentators would lose their rag over an finish, Score! has you flicking balls into the back of the net based on a variety of historic, real-world goals. It's like a modern update of that browser-based free kick game everyone growing up in the late 90s/early 00s played during their school lunch hour, and just as habit-forming. Like a lot of mobile titles, there isn't all that much to it, but it's simple, solid football fun, and though I'd advise checking out BioShock Infinite or Luigi's Mansion 2 as priority over the Easter break, this offers a decent diversion from the AAA.
My initial foray into the world of Columbia has been a wide-eyed stumble: I spent so long transfixed by an anachronistic barber shop quartet that I didn't actually get around to playing much of the game. My obsession this week, however, is SimCity.
After 30 hours or so with the game, I have to say I believe EA on this one - SimCity's online stuff does feel like a conscious design choice rather than a DRM measure. A lot of people are understandably miffed that it isn't the game that they expected, but I absolutely love the game that they've made. The region stuff isn't explained well at all in the game - and odd bugs are still preventing SimCity from being a genuine classic - but there's a huge amount of potential here. It's one of the freshest and most unusual games I've ever played, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how it adapts and expands over the coming months. After approaching the game with huge amounts of cynicism, I have to admit that it's a brilliant surprise.
