Pro-G Plays

Welcome to Pro-G Plays, our new feature where we give you the inside track on what’s been whirring in our disc drives this week. We’ll be honest (so if we’ve been playing Superman on the N64 we’ll tell you). But if we’ve been hammering the latest billion-selling blockbuster we’ll let you know about that too. Enough small-talk. Read on, and let us know what you’ve been playing in the comments section below.

Tom Orry, Editor – Bomberman Live, Xbox 360

Bomberman is fantastic fun. That much has been obvious since I played it for the first time back on the Mega Drive. The recent Xbox LIVE Arcade release has been fired up over our lunch hour in the office and the series has lost none of its charm. The fact that I can hide in a corner and watch everyone obliterate each other and then step in for the win at the end makes it all the more enjoyable. And despite some rather vocal complaints from the losers (sneaky, coward, cheat, etc) I like to think of it as good tactical play. I’ll admit that targeting another player straight away during a game mode where you’re meant to all break into the centre is a little underhand, but winning is winning. I’ll take it where I can get it.

Wesley Yin-Poole, Deputy Editor – Halo 3, Xbox 360

Like most of you, I’ve been playing Halo 3. With the campaign finished on Heroic, I’ve been hammering Legendary with three mates online, and occasionally dipping into the odd ranked match as well. So good is Halo 3’s multiplayer that I’ve inadvertently found myself buzzing at 2am on a school night. I expect to have Legendary finished by the end of this weekend, and then onto the skulls. I want that Ninja Gaiden costume. Oh yes I do.

James Orry, News Editor – Project Gotham Racing 4, Xbox 360

PGR4’s Cat and Mouse multiplayer mode has been keeping me and other Pro-G staffers busy over the last week. It’s a simple premise: up to four teams compete, with one player in each team taking on the role of a mouse (a slow car) and the remaining players are cats (a fast car). The goal is to get your team’s mouse over the finish line first, through whatever means necessary. What follows is a fantastic blend of racing skill, dirty tactics and plenty of voice com banter. It’s strangely satisfying to crash your Austin Martin into a Mini Metro and proceed to squash its puny frame against each and every trackside barrier – especially when that Mini is being driven by my Editor and his whining voice can be heard over everyone’s headset.

Nick Peres, Producer, Pro-G TV – Microsoft Flight Simulator X, PC

For me, nothing takes your mind off the stresses of the day better than trying to land a 200 Ton 747 with 400 passenger’s lives in your hands. I have found myself returning to this title over and over again, trading in the usual combat environments of games for a taste of a real man’s job, and damn does it feel good – everything from flight check plans to engaging in long conversations with Air Traffic Control about how the weather is, to pushing the seat belt sign at every minor bump for that authentic ‘bling’ noise. It becomes all too easy to start talking to yourself pretending you’re addressing the cabin on the reason for the delays. Being a simulation the level of plane detail is obviously at the heart of the game, but even still, looking around the virtual cockpit at 33,000 feet, with a rich sunset over the ocean, somehow clicks major enjoyment in my mind.

Simon Hunter, Associate Producer, Pro-G TV – Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Beta, Xbox 360

If you failed to scale all 16 ranks during the Call of Duty 4 Beta, you need only wait until the beginning of November to experience Modern Warfare. Countless hours went MIA in the office when I got my hands on this one – incentives such as unlockable perks and camo patterns had me playing right up until the final day of the Beta test. I really should have listened when Military Advisor, Hank Keirsey, said: “It reaches a level of intensity that’ll make a weak man soil himself” – I’m living proof!