I was going to name this blog 'not quite the sum of it's parts' as that's pretty much how I am currently feeling about this game. The fusion of RPG elements and gunplay doesn't really seem to make much sense at the moment. Using the VATS system from any distance seems to result in a fair few misses even when you are going for the torso on a giant mutant and the free shooting just doesn't seem to pack a punch.

I think a lot of the issues I have with it are inherent to the RPG genre as a whole. Generally I am turned off any game where you need to level up. It's a pain to stumble across an area I am not ready to encounter yet and get minced in a few seconds by four guys with AKs and it encourages bad 'gamey' habits like standing in front of enemies, taking turns shooting because in the end you know you have a stockpile of healing items and then saving after every kill.

Mildy frustrating gameplay aside, the aimless wandering has gotten be down a bit as well. I understand that you are thrust into an unfamiliar world (and this along with the levelling concept makes sense in the context of this particular game) but once playtime is over it's hard to get on with the story. The world itself however looks absolutely amazing. The dilapidated buildings and scarred countryside look utterly authentic and this amazing attention to visual detail is making me think that my initial gameplay niggles are just teething troubles.

I had a similar start with Far Cry 2 which only revealed it's hand after proudly showcasing it's most frustrating and broken elements right at the beginning but in the end I absolutely got what that game was trying to do and the feeling of being alone in hostile territory was totally convincing. So with that in mind I am going to persevere with Fallout 3 if only because with the expansion packs included there's about 100 hours of gaming there and for that value I can learn to love it!

How can I describe being in Liberty City? It's a place where life is cheap and dangerous, the cops are bent or downright incompetent and gangs race sports cars through suburbia. It's because of all this that I keep coming back time and again.

After ordering Fallout 3 GOTY edition I figured I would go back to The Lost & Damned and just finish off the last few missions but I've found myself sucked right back into to those seething, grimey streets. Like Niko Bellic, Johnny Klebitz is a thoroughly unlikable character but has a sort of amoral code that I can't help but be fascinated by, and now I am one mission away from ending his story I can't help thinking that I would love to jump into Luis Lopezs shoes and hear The Ballad of Gay Tony. This with 50+ hours of time in the wasteland just sitting on the shelf and ready to go.

Sadly, the multiplayer aspect of Lost & Damned has not lived up to expectation. Not because of the game itself but because it's virtually impossible to get a decent game going. The modes are original, varied and full of potential but just don't seem to have generated enough excitement to drag people away from Call of Duty 4 and Gears of War which is a shame.

But tonight I am no lone wolf rider, one call from Johnny and I will be riding with Terry, Clay and the rest of my lawless bikie buddies. A last meeting with Ray Stubbs can only mean one thing - all hell is going to break loose - but like a violent boy scout I will be prepared. After a good sleep and a little shopping trip for guns and a bulletproof jacket, I will be ready to cause mayhem on the streets I love so much. Lost for life brothers!

The reason that every pub needs a DS and a copy of Scribblenauts is simple. After a few drinks, talk inevitably turns to that old chestnut "Who'd win in a fight between a bear and a lion?" but how would you settle this argument? Unless you have dangerous carnivores on hand you will never know. With Scribblenauts however, the answer is a few stylus prods away. Cat or dog? Scribblenauts. Bull or giraffe? Scribblenauts. 8 penguins vs a walrus? That's right, Scribblenauts. It's invaluable.

Aside from pub banter arbitration Scribblenauts has other charms. Fiddley controls aside (on one occasion my girlfriend accidentally beat a rabbi to death with a cross!) the game has a sandbox that makes Liberty City look like Vib Ribbon and that is just the front screen. Liberal use of landmines and jetpacks can get you through a lot of the basic puzzles but it's the restrictions that get you head-scratching. How do I get past that guard without resorting to high-explosives? (Dartgun) How do I get the druid's unicorn back alive? (Give him an apple) and how do I get the starite off that platform when I can't move? (Rope it to a murderer and get him to chase a woman onto lower ground!) It's all good fun.

So it's new game bonanza in the INK household at the moment with Dead Space:Extraction waiting to scare my trousers oily and Fallout 3: Game of the Year edition ready to swallow my life. If only I could get swine flu and start enjoying some sick leave. If life was Scribblenauts all I'd only be a P, an I and a G away from a weeks loafing. Bah!