Half-Life 2: Episode One

I'm a pauper, which means I can only play games, in most cases, a while after they come out. It's a pain trying to stay current on modern gaming trends but I do what I can. It does mean I avoid the hype-cycle of the gaming press. It means I'm waiting to play some absolute gems: Bioshock for example, and Portal.

I also get motion sickness from playing first-person shooters. An hour is the most I can stand, before I feel sick. It's worse with more modern games. It pushes the FPS way down the list, and I pick and choose the ones I play carefully because I don't get to play many. As a consequence, Portal will squeeze my head like a lemon.

Still, I'm excited to play it, and the rest of the Orange Box, as soon as I finish HL2: Episode One.

Alyx is the big addition: she follows you, generally pouring lead into everything you see. (An amazing section in darkness gives you responsibility for what she sees, using your flashlight.) With her unlimited ammo, apparently recharging health and zombie-stopping melee attacks, she can look after herself. (It is possible for her to die, but not easily.)

It's good to have an escort that doesn't blunder about like an escort, but she's so powerful that you're better off luring enemies to her. It's an interesting change, but too often you don't fire at enemies because she can deal with them without an ammo cost. Balancing your use of different weapons so you don't run out of anything critical was a good feature of the series, and this undercuts it. Also, later in the game she picks up a shotgun. Why doesn't she take any of the extra weapons you find before then?

Despite that, I like her a lot. Her AI is good. She doesn't get stuck in doorways, nor does she get left behind, and she gets involved where she can without doing anything stupid. You never have to hold her hand, nor let her hold yours. She doesn't steal ammo and health pick-ups (The "Chaos Engine" maneuvre). She doesn't grate, even when she makes a wisecrack or too.

Other than that, it's a largely competent extension of HL2, and doesn't do anything radical. It feels like an expansion pack, which it is I suppose. There are several good set-pieces, although nothing quite matching HL2, and it delivers peril and plot points at a fair old clip. It shows a need to break out of City 17 (which Episode Two does).

I'm perhaps three-quarters of the way through it, and I've enjoyed it almost as much as HL2, which was the best thing I'd played in years. Once Episode One finished I'll buy the Orange Box and crack on with Episode Two. Portal can wait a little longer, for my brain's sake.

Forza Motorsport 2

After getting stuck on Ninja Gaiden II, I switched to the other game I bought the same day, Forza Motorsport 2. I thought it would make a good weekend game with housemates, generally passing the pad and aruging about which car to buy next. It didn't turn out that way - I played it for three weeks straight.

In my eyes, FM is at least the equal of Gran Turismo now. The improvements in this version (and this is less a sequel and more a v2.0) can be split into three types: cosmetic upgrades; small sensible corrections, and attempts to find the killer bullet point that will nudge it ahead of GT in the minds of the public. I think we can score it for the first two, but not the third.

First, it looks beautiful. The game benefits from the spit and polish given to the graphics. Racing is an aesthetic experience, and attention lavished here is well spent. (I haven't yet played this on an HD TV, but it will be the first game tested when it arrives, no doubt.) The user interface and music is tweaked - the animation for a new car is a highlight - and the experience is generally more pleasing. Cars have been updated but the roster is not radically altered, and nor is the track selection. However, the point-to-point races have gone, which I miss, but the game is more focused on track racing.

Second, the difficulty is slightly higher. The game offers you much flexibility in terms of driving aids, but now the "normal" difficulty has stability management (STM) turned off, which affects the lighter cars severely, and a driving line is only given when braking is required, helping you through corners but not holding your hand too much. Full telemetry is now available at any time.

Finally, the game tries to offer a few killer touches, but they feel slightly gimmicky. A detailed photo and decal mode have seen some attractive results, but they sit outside the core of the game and don't stand up well to more specialist tools. However, I appreciate they may appeal to the dedicated racing fan. I've always been more excited by engines and drivetrains than by outer decoration and rims, but my tastes are also catered for.

The greatest failing of Forza is that it assumes you're using a wheel. You can't take certain turns with sufficient precision using an analogue stick, nor can you control your speed accurately with the triggers, both of which will always cost you time. The game does not handicap for this, which it could, either by improving your car, or assisting your steering, or best of all reducing the aggression of the AI - particularly at corners.

Forza probably shouldn't adjust for your control method: it is a racing simulation game. No other racing simulation game has solved the problem, and perhaps it isn't possible to do so. The car is as fast as it is, and turns as it does, and if you direct it with a tiny stick instead of a wheel, that's your loss and not the car's. Forza probably has the best solution, in that you can apply the aids you feel will give you help in the right area. If the AI keeps turning you on corners, turn it down. If you keep turning yourself at corners, turn the STM on. Use a full line, no damage, whatever suits.

I have hit my limit, either due to skill or using a pad, but I've enjoyed Forza greatly and like the first game, I expect it will be re-visited often. Especially when the big TV arrives.

Ninja Gaiden II

I played Ninja Gaiden II recently, and enjoyed it very much. Not a huge leap forward but decent steps, definitely.

The box claims it's suitable for "casual players to the most hardcore", which is half a lie. No game suitable for casual players throws you up against four ninjas in your first fight on the easiest setting (they have ranged attacks and guard-breakers too). That's at first control - the first game let you run about and practise the gymnastics to get a feel for Ryu, but not here. There's an assumption that you've played the first game.

It plays like the first game, but rationalised. Switching weapons and magic can be accessed quickly from the d-pad, a good choice. It looks like there won't be an obvious best weapon for each situation. The moveset has better balance too. You can save at statues with a button press, and they recharge health the first time you find them. There's a neat system in fights where some damage is temporary and some permanent: you don't have to nurse your health between fights, or milk weak enemies for health drops.

Everything good about the first game is still there - the combat is as supple as ever, enhanced by injured enemies making suicide attacks. This gives the game a new texture, as you're not just judging the position and action of enemies but also their status in order to predict what they could do next. You have new "Obliteration Attacks" that dispatch the wounded, so your moveset also changes.

The bosses are still rubbish. They look great and make a good spectacle but I don't think I can call them fun to fight. There's little to them except pattern recognition. In some cases the pattern is pretty obtuse, and sometimes only one attack leaves them vulnerable to a counter. One boss has stopped my play altogether, which is disappointing. I want to return but even FAQs aren't helping me with it.

If a film was otherwise good but had inaudible dialogue, you'd put it down to a technical problem. It would be a barrier between you and the good content of the film. Why not the same for a game-blocking boss? Just a thought. I'm sure it's turn will come soon, but until then it loses big marks for the bosses.