Initial Conditions

Been busy for a while and meant to review some stuff. So now I am sort of on holiday for a bit, here goes…

1. Series review of Peep Show series 5.

Peep Show remains one of the funniest things on TV, but you can’t help but wonder if it’s lost direction since Mark and Sophie’s botched marriage. Whereas the previous series had some kind of event that it seemed to be leading up to (e.g. mark and sophie getting engaged, jeremy getting married, mark getting married etc), this one seemed to lack any kind of overall arc. This may not necessarily have been a bad thing, because it gives the writers a certain degree of freedom as to scenarios, but Mark’s obsession of finding “the one” (attempts include a girl who brings her own cheese to work and a woman who believes in the power of crystal skulls) didn’t seem to lead anywhere as you thought it might. Still, there are some brilliant scenarios like the scene in a stationery cupboard, and Jez trying to get aroused over a £20 note, and many other cringeworthy moments (“I haven’t been raped! She didn’t put anything up my bum!”) which make the show great. The lack of overall direction can be forgiven, however, when you hear Sophie’s bombshell at the end of the last episode. No surprises guessing what Series 6 is going to culminate in… So yes this is probably the weakest series to date, but it’s still miles better than a lot of other stuff out at the minute, especially anything that claims to be Mighty.

2. Lego Indiana Jones (PS3)

Or Lego Star Wars by any other name. This is more or less identical to its predecessor in every way, although obviously the stories, characters and their abilities are different. I shall start by saying it is entertaining, but it has many, many flaws.

The main one being it is extremely infuriating at times, and this coming largely from the fact that the rest of it is much too easy. I lost count of how many times we tried to do the mine cart section in “Temple of Doom” because there was a glitch that meant you couldn’t achieve one of the goals in co-op mode, or how many times Indy fell into the snakes or how many times I tried to kill that annoying woman in Temple of Doom and she came back to life.

That said, there are a lot of funny moments (although some imagery was toned down for kids) and it is a laugh when playing with a friend, but to be honest, it’s more suited for the bargain bin than as a full game in its own right. Basically, it’s a big advert for the new movie (which doesn’t appear in the game. How odd…)

3. Race Driver: Grid (PS3)

Gran Turismo 4 demanded too much. GT Racer sucked. Formula One Championship Edition was outdated when it arrived. Enter Race Driver:Grid.

There are many reasons why this can claim to be the new daddy of all the racers, a lot of which are to do with GT5 not being released until after my grandson graduates.

However, to compare it to an unreleased game is unfair, so let’s judge it on its own merits. To say it’s the best racer ever might be hyperbole, but it’s certainly up there, and for one very good reason. THE AI MAKES MISTAKES. Yes. I don’t know how long it’s been, but a game where the AI makes errors like you do has been long in the pipeline. GT4 occasionally showed flashes of it, but the AI generally only made mistakes because you nudged it out of the way and it ended up on the grass. Here, the cars go in too deep at corners, suffer from understeer and oversteer and cause pile-ups, the like of which I haven’t seen since Destruction Derby 2. Which reminds me that there is a brilliant Destruction Derby still “last man standing” event where you have to manoeuvre a car with hideous handling around a track with crossovers and mutliple pile-ups, which is a highlight for me.

As is the “Pro Tuned” category which has you haring around Japanese docks littered with loose boxes and tyres and “Touge” (a one-on-on race along a mountainside) which is probably a direct attempt to incorporate elements of “need for speed” into it.
It’s absolutely brilliant and I recommend it for whatever platform you might have, though I hear the DS version is a bit ropy.