• Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advance Warfighter
• Tony Hawks Project 8
• Puzzle Quest
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2
• N+
• Dead Space
• Forza 3
• Tinker
• Dragon Age: Origins
• Splinter Cell Conviction
• Dead Rising 2
• Fallout: New Vegas
• Dance Central
• Dawn of War II
• Borderlands
• Ms. Splosion Man
• The Gunstringer
• Mass Effect 2
• Saints Row: The Third
• AC Revelations
• Beyond Good and Evil HD
• Halo CE Anniversary
• Castle Crashers
• Rock Band 3
• Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

So I have quite a lot to get on with. By listing them all here it will give me pause before buying more games this year and encourage me to complete the games I already have. With Lego Batman 2, Halo 4, Assassins Creed 3, Resident Evil 6, Borderlands 2 and another new Call of Duty game due out this year it’s quite an undertaking. Oh and I’m getting married this year too.

Background: I normally use the Nike+ or Nike+ GPS apps when running. I select a playlist, select a target time, distance or unspecified run select start the run and just start running. When I’m finished I have to pause then end workout. The run is recorded and synced online. Job done! I’ve worked quite hard so far this year to try and run as often as possible. Since I am making an effort to run almost every day my runs tend to be quite short, early morning runs lasting about 20 minutes.
My brother suggested I try out the Zombies, Run app and linked to a new scientist blog post about it. The idea appealed to me and I made my purchase. The following recounts my experiences over the course of a week using the app a final conclusion and score out of ten.

Day 1
To start with I read through the brief tutorial which set up the basic concepts, listen to the story and music, run from zombies and collect supplies. The last slide of the tutorial takes you directly to the start run screen, no chance to explore the app just get started. I set off running and listened to the introduction, it became apparent that my character was not running yet but I carried on regardless and as the story unfolded there was a point where I was told to start running. Music then played with occasional messages, after a track the story resumed describing the plight of the settlement I was running towards. Music resumed and more items were collected each accompanied by a robotic voice naming the item. Another track finished and a little more story unfolded but all too soon I had finished my normal route and went to end the workout. Pressing the end mission button helpfully indicated that I was mid mission but I could pause and resume at any time. Pausing the mission I wondered how long I was expected to run for and considered that I might have had a better first experience on a longer run when the morning commute wasn’t calling out to me. The run lasted just under 17 minutes and I covered 3.41km but didn’t get chased. Leaving the app paused did seem to sap the iPhone battery at a faster rate than usual but it isn’t something I would expect to do that often.

Day 2
Resuming the mission this morning soon brought on the first zombie mob, which I successfully evaded. Not long later a second mob apparently caught up with me accompanied by some frenzied beeps and the robotic voice saying something inaudible. A short time later the voice announced that the mission was completed and radio mode was starting. I ran until another track had completed and characters started talking again which made me think that the mission story was not complete but it was just a nice bonus for anyone running longer than the expected mission length. Radio announcers chip in between my music instead of story but supplies for the settlement can still be gathered during this time.

Having finished my first mission I was able to invest in Abel Township. Using the supplies collected  the base hospital was upgraded to level 2 and the image changed from a field hospital tent to more secure looking shipping container structure. Taking the opportunity to explore the other menu options on the main screen I found that the expected mission length is 25-30 minutes dependant on the length of the tracks you play, this would have been a helpful tutorial point but in a real apocalypse I guess there are no clues to how far you might have to run. The codex tab gives some more information on the various supplies that you have found and characters that have been encountered so far. The settings tab unfortunately has nowhere to tweak the sound settings so you can’t make the item pick up any more prominent. Checking the mission tab indicated there are 13 missions and some unlock based on how much you have upgraded the settlement. Mission 10 was already unlocked which may have been thanks to my level 2 hospital and mission 13 clearly indicates that a level 3 hospital is required. The instructions also described what had happened with my second zombie mob, I had automatically dropped some supplies to distract them. At least I wasn’t at any risk of turning.

Day 3
I was prepared to run a bit longer today and after the zombie mobs on Day 2 decided that maybe I had gotten carried away with the story and started running faster before I was expected to, making any more acceleration unlikely. This time I prepared myself to wait until the detector started beeping before accelerating and this seemed to pay off especially as I was running a bit further than usual. I was thankful the zombies didn’t choose to attack while I was running uphill though. At the end of the run I noticed the small twitter icon in the mission summary screen and was able to inform my friends how far I had run, how many supplies I collected and crucially how many zombie mobs I escaped. There is no way to view the run history that I have found so this seems to be the only way to record how often you are running for the time being although according to @ZombiesRunGame that feature is coming.

Day 4
The weekend started today but I didn’t get round to running until the sun had already set this did make the threat of zombies seem much more real though. Running through an unlit park certainly had my heart rate going as shadowy figures appeared and that is not an experience I am keen to repeat soon. Each story mission revolves around your character (Runner 5) helping the settlement of Abel Township by running. Having never really considered it before it was reassuring to know that being able to run would be very useful in a zombie apocalypse, someone has to retrieve food, fuel or ammunition eventually of course and using valuable fuel to drive around is not going to help run a generator when winter comes around people.

Day 5
Usually I take a day off from running at the weekend but I was keen to get the kms logged and collect more supplies for my settlement. With time on my side I clocked up 7km and a decent stash of 23 supplies for the township. Putting these to good use got all areas up to Level 2 and the population has been boosted accordingly.

Day 6
I managed to get out of bed but decided that today was a good day to let my body recover. It was also Monday. I’m not making excuses.

Day 7
While running today I had a zombie mob creep up on me and despite sprinting faster than I had gone the whole run they quickly caught up to me and I lost an item to distract them. I suspect that using GPS tracking to determine speed can be a little hit and miss, especially as I was running in an area where trees could interfere with the signal it was a bit surprising too, there were zombies in the story but nothing suggesting they were an imminent threat. So not the best experience to wrap up the week but I did get another long run clocked and 17 supplies. Progressing my little town any further than level 2 is slow going, I’ve been trying to distribute supplies fairly but might just invest in one site for my next run,

Conclusion
Compared to other apps in the health and fitness category the functionality of “Zombies, Run!” is unfortunately lacking. There is no route tracking, no run history, no calories burned information that free or cheaper apps offer. There is no facility to shuffle the music that is played and some of the announcements during music playback can be hard to hear. The most valuable selling point of this app though is the fiction that accompanies it, each mission is a chapter in a compelling story and each radio transmission between tracks is your reward. The zombie chases introduce a light version of circuit training which can help you get fitter than normal endurance running. It’s fun to hear Stephen Hawking’s voice point out that you picked up a sports bra or pack of batteries but the story will keep you coming back to find out who has been firing rockets at supply helicopters and ultimately where did all the zombies come from? It’s a great app to add some variety to runs and will encourage you to run for a decent period of time but you don’t need any experience to get the best out of it. It will certainly be interesting to see the app itself develop to include the missing features and add new missions but for now it still deserves an 8/10

Links
ZombiesRunGame.com shows
Link to iTunes £5.49 at time of writing released 27th February 2012

Loving this game at the moment. It is a bit overwhelming as side missions seem to keep popping up while the main story is always pulling for your attention.

The Bat signal in the sky always points at whatever you set as your objective from the map view but by default will just keep pointing towards the next main story item.

I’ve played through a lot of the main story items and think I’m getting near the end, Batman is looking pretty banged up, but I took some time out from the main quest to explore a lot of the side missions I had been putting off. Some of these missions establish contact with the characters that aren’t involved in the main story and so far include Riddler, Zsasz, Deadshot, Mad Hatter and Bane although some side quests only unlock when you get so far into the story. Other side quests can get equipment unlocked or add new abilities.

Having played through a lot of the main quests intending to clear up side quests later my top tip for anyone planning the same approach is to get the side quest at the church done as early as possible.

So I spent a fair amount of January playing games, mainly on the Xbox in an effort to win the official Xbox forum gamer score challenge. It became evident quite soon that I wouldn’t win but I played on partly to try and make a dent in the number of games I hadn’t played enough before Christmas and ones I got as presents.

Assassins creed brotherhood was a lot of fun, Bioshock 2 had a strong end game. I even dipped into both games multiplayer modes. Bioshock 2 had a levelling system that meant new players are underpowered much like in the call of duty series but there are ways to rack up points even if kills are thin on the ground.

The brotherhood multiplayer was much more interesting. Points aren’t just awarded for the number of kills but increased stealth/surprise sprinting around gives you away to other players so they have a chance to counter. It’s an old school assassination game where you are given a target but they aren’t necessarily looking for you and the levels are populated with doppelgängers. Standing close to a look alike can still result in you getting points if your pursuer takes out the NPC instead.

I then chose fallout new Vegas from my pile of epic RPGs to explore. My character is a basically good roamer keeping to the New California Republic controlled territory in the middle of the world map. I’ve pushed out a bit and met the majority of tribes but still feel the surface is barely scratched. Most of my skill points have gone into guns and science but after getting frustrated at the number of speech options I missed out on I brought that skill up a lot more. Once I finish the main story I hope to pursue a different kind of character on the hardcore difficulty.

In real life I managed to secure a promotion at work so I am taking on the new shift lead role which I am looking forward to shaping. A bit more focus on taking ownership of projects to improve the team overall and team management skills will be a welcome addition to my CV.

Towards the end of the month and into the beginning of February I’ve been less occupied with games as I began trying to sort through unwanted belongings in preparation of a move out of Putney and in with my girlfriend. Time has been spent on the rightmove and findaproperty websites and after little success in the target area of south Harrow and Rayners lane we expanded the search. Having viewed a property in Ruislip we explored the local area a little and found that there was plenty to do and decided we would be very happy to try and settle in the area. With any luck by the end of the month we’ll be fully moved in and planning a housewarming.

I kept up the annual trips to Glastonbury and the NFL international series game. Already secured tickets for Glastonbury 2011. Attended two friends weddings and recently celebrated another friends engagement. A holiday to Rome early in the year was a great break and we enjoyed the tours of the Vatican and the Colosseum.

It was also a great year for games with lots of big releases for the xbox 360 and plenty of interesting games coming out for the iPhone I got early in the year. Red Dead Redemption and Halo Reach were probably the favourites but Angry Birds, Cut the Rope and Plants vs Zombies have also kept me entertained. Going into 2011 I’m currently enjoying Dance Central despite the laughter it inspires in anyone watching me play. I’m hoping Kinect can deliver more than the current crop of interactive fitness DVDs in future but for now Kinect Adventures and Dance Central are enough for me.

I should be moving again when my contract finishes in Putney, I’m excited about moving in with Lee and just hope we can find a place that we are both happy with. No resolutions this year but I’ll try and put a few more posts together than I managed last year.

Before last year I don’t think I had ever heard of Watchmen, I’m not really a follower of graphic novels but I know what I thought were the big names, Superman, Batman, Spiderman, The X-Men, The Fantastic Four and quite a few others. The trailer got me interested and learning that Watchmen was the only graphic novel to make Time magazine’s top 100 novels list peaked my interest so I ended up buying the book on Valentine’s day. I’m not really a big reader, I hardly get through a book a year and I finished Watchmen yesterday. I could have read it quicker but its twelve chapters are split up like twelve episodes of a television show, each has their own story but they all progress towards the final conclusion.

The book cleverly weaves a history for the watchmen, who they are, where they came from, why they do what they do. It is set in a gritty world where the arms race hasn’t finished so people are under threat of nuclear attack. For the most part people carry on as normal but as the war looks to be escalating tensions rise too. Each chapter ends with a section of text, diary entries, police files, newspaper clippings that sort of thing, this gives a deeper look into the history of some heroes past and present and emphasises some of the smaller details that are included in the book. The chapters themselves also make good use of flashbacks and memories to give a complete history to the main characters and their interactions.

At the time the book is set costumed heroes have been outlawed so the history shows most of the characters in their prime crime-fighting days to compare with the normal people most are in present day.

The majority of the heroes described are regular people who were just trying to make a difference to their community, some have different reasons to fight than others. There are only two real exceptions of note. One is described as the most intelligent man ever who had progressed from taking down individual criminals to bringing down organised crime. There is also the worlds first super hero, dubbed Dr. Manhattan by the government this character was originally human but after an accident has become a being of energy. He isn’t constrained by the normal flow of time and this made for one of my favourite chapters, where he recalls parts of his history where he spoke with people knowing what the outcome would be, frustrating for other characters to understand but very entertaining for the reader.

Some of the chapters also involve a comic book about a man shipwrecked by pirates and his struggle to save his family from those same pirates. I found this difficult to follow at first as while one person is reading the book other people are having conversations but after a chapter or so I was adjusted to the style and quite enjoyed the story within a story. I am interested to see if there is any attempt to bring that into the live action feature it may not translate well but should at least get a mention.

I don’t want to spoil the outcome of the story but it is quite fantastic and thought provoking and I can hardly wait for the film, although I do have concerns that it won’t now hold up to the story I have already experienced.

1. Run 500km (284.94km in 2008) 
2. Eat Healthier (smaller portions) 
3. Catch up with friends more often 
4. Increase savings (to £10k from £1k) 
5. Get a new qualification for my CV

They are in roughly the order that they were completed. They only include purchased games not web based games like You have to burn the rope. I also specify if the game was a story completion or achievement completion. I thought I had made a post about achievements before but apparently not.

Zuma (Gauntlet mode)
Half Life 2 (story)
Half Life 2 : Episode 1 (story)
Half Life 2 : Episode 2 (story)
Bully Scholarship Edition (1000GS)
Grand Theft Auto IV (story)
Soul Calibur IV (story)
Mass Effect (story)
Oblivion : Shivering Isles (story)
Lego Star Wars the Complete Saga the Videogame (story)
Fallout 3 (story)
Lego Batman the Videogame (story)
Gears of War 2 (story)
Fable II (story)
Legend of Zelda the Phantom Hourglass
Legend of Zelda the Twilight Princess

So a total of 16 games which at least covers the target one game per month basic target I’m clearly lagging behind Bob (17) and Nish (26) and less than my list from last year (22) included below. Strangely I feel like I have played a lot of games this year, probably due to the end of the year surge in games. I have no particular interest in bettering my tally in 2009 but I do have a couple of games in progress and at least two games waiting for me to have some spare time.

Oblivion (Main Quest and 1000GS)
PGR3 (All Silvers)
Splinter Cell: Double Agent (Story)
Tomb Raider:Legend (Story and 1000GS)
Viva Pinata (1000GS)
Crackdown (Story)
King Kong (Story and 1000GS)
Perfect Dark Zero (Story Agent Difficulty)
TMNT 1989 Arcade (Story)
Guitar Hero II (Medium Difficulty)
Pokemon Diamond
Mario Kart DS
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Bioshock (Story both endings)
Quake 4 (Private Difficulty)
Halo 3 (Legendary Difficulty)
Portal (Story)
Sonic (Story)
Uno (Achievements)
Hitman : Blood Money (1000GS)
Guitar Hero III : Legends of Rock (Medium difficulty)
Assassins Creed (story)

Unlock special characters and work together to liberate the enamel fighters from the evil dr. drill and his cohorts. This game can accommodate up to 32 players and is coming to a system near you on December 27th.

Get Smart was a bit funnier than I was expecting and Anne Hathaway was also looking nice which seemed to be the point since she was more placed for Steve Carrell to bumble around. Steve Carrell suited the analyst with dreams of being a secret agent well. There was also a nice message about the person being most important and not always judging them on what they do.

Bangkok Dangerous was on when I made it to the cinema at 16:30. I didn’t really know anything about it except that Nicholas Cage was in it. It’s all about an assassin. He has his rules that he never breaks so he won’t get caught. He then quite randomly starts to break his rules and everything goes action movie. There was even a training montage. It had got an average review that I hadn’t read but I would probably peg it around the same average or slightly below average if I’m being harsh. As a film about an assassin it has been done better and as an action movie it tries to make you feel for the character too much without enough real reason behind it. I did enjoy the relationship he managed to strike up with a deaf pharmacist but it didn’t feel real enough.

To round out my days off I managed to get an early showing of Rock n Rolla the new film by Guy Ritchie. So I feel compelled to compare it to Lock Stock and Snatch at least a bit. To build up the story there were a lot more different groups introduced and perhaps to restrict length I didn’t feel they were as developed as groups in the other films. I enjoyed the title character the rocker who is rumoured to be dead but since there were so many other things going on he didn’t enough screen time really. The story was much darker on the whole than previous films. Lock Stock really built up the story with a group of friends having a good time, Snatch with the Pikeys and Rock N Rolla loses out on that charm a little. Having said all that I did enjoy the film a lot and getting to the end, the number of people being introduced made sense when it points out that another film with the same characters will be made. This was not an annoying cliffhanger ending though, just a note at the end that {characters} will be returning in {new film}.

Since I had managed to get into RockNRolla before 1pm I was out at 3pm and opted to catch a showing of Babylon A.D. Set in a near future setting Vin Diesel is a mercenary called Toorop (I had to check the credits to be sure). He is demonstrated to be good at what he does and that he seems to keep his word. He gets hired to escort some girl to New York and on the way stops treating her as just another delivery job and more like an actual person. Some weird stuff happens at the end but I just didn’t really ‘get it’. I was also a little distracted by the use of shaky cam during a chase and some unnecessarily frequent scene changes. I can’t really recommend the film unless you really like Vin Diesel, there is a brief shower scene that might interest you if you do although that was strictly from the waist up.