Bourne Legacy. Bourne to be mild

I've been a huge fan of the Bourne series since the first film arrived. When news of a fourth film broke I wasn't too offended, even when they started thinking of using a different agent as Matt Damon wasn't keen on returning. Jeremy Renner's casting was a different story, but that was mostly because he'd also just agreed to do Mission Impossible with the potential of taking that over. Does he really need two spy franchises?

Anyway the first three makes a great trilogy, but I saw no reason why they couldn't keep going with the right story. Bourne Legacy has all the trademarks of being that story, but it doesn't have enough panache to pull it off.

BeefJack: A look back at Broken Sword

I'm a pretty big Broken Sword fan, so when news of the Kickstarter arrived I had an afternoon of going slightly crazy as I jumped about with glee. Then I spent the weekend playing the Director's Cut of the first game and watching the second game of YouTube.

Okay that may sound odd, my original plan was to play my old copy of The Smoking Mirror, but since I played it sometime in the 90s the CD has managed to wipe itself. That seriously bummed me out Saturday morning.

After that I wrote this: A look back at Broken Sword.

I kinda skim over the fourth game but SHHH I've not actually played it. I know I know, it's unforgivable. When it came out one of my flatmates bought it, so I planned on borrowing his, never got round to it. However, the pledge I gave to the kickstarter is for a free game at GOG.com so The Angel of Death is finally going to get tangled.

Top 20 Games of all time 2012 Edition

Or: My vote for BeefJack's Top 100 games.

Every year BeefJack put together a list of Top 100 games. This list is compiled by all contributors for the site listing their Top 20. It's sorted by some mystical mumbo jumbo by Jamie Donnelly and somehow we end up with 100 of them.

So what was my own list? I'm glad you asked:

20. Need for Speed: Most Wanted (Criterion)
19. Metroid Prime
18. Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
17 Left 4 Dead 2
16. Halo 3: ODST
15. GTA San Andreas
14. Red Dead Redemption
13. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
12. Metal Gear Solid
11. Batman: Arkham Asylum
10. Assassin's Creed 2
9. Resident Evil 2
8. Mass Effect 2
7. Halo: Combat Evolved
6. Half-Life 2
5. Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge
4. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
3. Planescape: Torment
2. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
1. Star Wars: Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight


Now I already can see one or two changes I'd make since writing that. I had a hard time deciding on which GTA to include, and I'm still not convinced I chose the right one. I'm thinking maybe it should have been Half-Life 1 instead of 2 and should Metroid Prime really be there? If so what would what replace it?

As for the final list itself, well I'm ashamed of my colleagues that Jedi Academy was the Jedi Knight game chosen. I could have understood it being Jedi Outcast, but Academy is the worst of the franchise. Why Academy?

What about the Top 10, well it's dominated by Valve but I don't see much problem with it. It please me that Deus Ex: Human Revolution charted so highly. I wasn't sure if that was just me that held it in such high regard. Plus its daddy is there too, a game I've yet to play (though do finally own thanks to a Steam sale).

BeefJack: Forget Hollywood

While last week's comic piece may have been the article I was meant to write, this one I'm far more proud of. It actually started life as a joke idea for the now forgotten List with Twist feature, but between the Sleeping Dogs quote and some wonderful editorial advice from Mr Jamie Donnelly it became so much more.

Without further ado I give you:

Forget Hollywood