Yesterday saw the release of the second remake in the Monkey Island franchise with the release of Monkey Island 2 : leChuck’s Revenge Special Edition on the Xbox 360.

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Thankfully due to the awesomeness of it all it has been given a thorough and pretty damn decent overhaul and as with the first remake its a spectacle and oozes fan service.

It’s quite funny playing these games again, its interesting to see what you remember and why you remember them. Mike seems to be able to remember certain things for particular reasons and I remember some things for others.

For example I knew I had to pick up Largo’s spit on a piece of paper it was just finding the piece of paper (Which I found in the Cartographers ship).

you can’t fault the remake in any way, apart from maybe its insistence to get you to try direct control *blergh* but other than that it is perfect. A good couple of hours of entertainment and laughs ahoy in a wonderfully piratey adventure.

I just hope that one day they decide to bring the Telltale ones out on the 360, I could certainly go for playing through those I just don’t want to on either the Wii or my PC! Go figure ..

Watching Ponyo tonight, I haven’t seen it since I went to the cinema but I remember it being amazing. Can’t wait to see it on a friends new “cinema” setup.

I held off downloading the demo for Batman : Arkham Asylum purely on the fact I now have a shuddering shit Internet connection. Where previously I could have laughed in the face of a 1.5GB file I know stare down a few hours long wait in which I can’t do anything Internet related!

Luckily however this is the advantage of going to work and the 360′s wonderful “turn it off and it will still download” service which works a treat.

Leaving my 360 on while I was at work I honestly wasn’t expecting much from the game, a simple brawler with some generic rage thrown in was all it said on the cover, underneath however was a whole other kettle of fish … or should that be bats ?

From what I can gather from the post demo sequences the intro was a lot shorter than it should have been, but it is wonderfully atmospheric. As with the rest of the art and graphic style its very dark and moody. Excellent texture and lighting work despite the characters looking a little stiff in the cut scenes they come across perfectly.

Possibly the demo is a little short to give you an idea of how tiresome the combat would become but the taster is certainly enough to wet the appetite. It gives you a good quick look at the combat, stealth and stealthy combat sections of the game as  well as the investigation side of things that really give you an impression there is a lot more to this game than meets the eye.

And of course it’s always nice to see Mark Hamill getting some work doing a really good job voicing the Joker.

I wouldn’t say it’s a day one purchase for me, but definitely something I would look at purchase when it hits £17.99 on play.

Also Trials HD is out – go get it

I have honestly been debating my preorder of the full whack edition of The Beatles Rockband. £180 is to be honest a lot of cash to put down on something that, on occasion, I’m not sure about buying but when I see things like this video it chances my mind back again!

What a stunning tribute to The Beatles and their songs, the animation and artwork is beautiful and seeing Ringo’s quirky smile when he starts singing really made me smile. You can tell just by watching that video the attention to detail that has gone into the game.

I think while my interest in playing the instruments isn’t so high I am really looking forward to singing the songs. The Beatles music is generally just such a pleasure to listen to and to be able to sing them with these dreamscapes playing is exciting! Only one thing could make it better and that would be the inclusion of Blue Meanies!

Glove ?

I should probably watch Spinal Tap ….

Tracks available on Xbox 360 and Wii (Aug. 4) and PLAYSTATION 3 system (Aug. 6):

Spinal Tap “(Funky) Sex Farm”
Spinal Tap “(Listen to the) Flower People (Reggae Stylee)”
Spinal Tap “America”
Spinal Tap “Big Bottom”
Spinal Tap “Cups and Cakes”
Spinal Tap “Gimme Some Money”
Spinal Tap “Heavy Duty”
Spinal Tap “Hell Hole”
Spinal Tap “Rock ‘n’ Roll Creation”
Spinal Tap “Stonehenge”
Spinal Tap “Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight”

(All tracks are original master recordings from Back From The Dead recording sessions.)

This … is fucking epic!

I own the first two on the original Xbox and the shocking excuse for a game that was the Xbox 360 one.
But this …. this is the return to the original that I had hoped for, hundreds of units, stupid “rock” soundtrack and lots of death! Even if they just follow the formulae of the original they will make me happy.

The games are so grand beyond their reception that they should be much wider known about, a great mix of Dynasty Warriors meets Lord of the Rings this is certainly what the Lotr’s games should have been more like!

Can’t wait