i was recently moving my PC games onto a new shelf and took the time to categorise them by genre. the results;

Strategy - 30
RPG - 3
Sim - 1
Action/FPS -10

this doesnt count the old games i have in storage boxes because i got annoyed with keeping all the dvd cases, but you get the picture. I really want to get a few more adventure games to even it up a little, im looking at dracula: origin, thomas crown ghost hunting (or whatever), and jack keane.

i also really need a new flight sim or tank sim to come out that doesnt require hands like a concert pianist to play with any modicum of skill. SH4 is getting lonely in the Sim category and needs a buddy.

So in the last few days I have started playing medieval total war 2 again. I hadn't played it for some months but quickly remembered why I love the Total War series.

Im playing as England (again) because I haven't actually played through a long campaign until the very end so I wanted to do that.

Also, the last campaign I played I used cheats. Cheats are not something I use in gaming normally, because I prefer to rely on skill and tactics etc. The reason I did here was something that annoyed me about MTW2 was the character traits - it seems that your characters pick up negative traits a whole lot more frequently than in previous games. In particular it seems loyalty is an issue. But in this campaign I have pressed on without cheating, and am doing well so far. If I get a general with crap traits I simply send them off to die at sea (instead of giving them an army and then watching them get bribed and take the army with them!). I find the game is quite good for replacing family members if you start to get short!

I wish there was some active way to improve attributes like loyalty though. The only thing I have found is giving generals command of an army and fighting a lot with them seems to help loyalty (command too). But as soon as I garrison a general, even in my capital, they pick up negative traits and start to "feel unappreciated". Surely being the governor of the capital city of a massive empire is an honour?

One other thing that rankles about this game is this; it's very hard to pull off cavalry charges. I thought they would fix this in a patch but im on the latest version and its still tough. My knights have to be formed up perfectly, i.e. not one of them out of position, and they have to be the correct distance away (not too close or too far that will ruin it) and the enemy has to be stationary. All too often I think everything is ok but they still end up charging with swords at the last minute. Its very frustrating. If anyone knows something I don't as to why this happens please enlighten me!

I have yet to get the kingdoms expansion, but I cannot see them fixing the above gripes in that. My hopes lie with Empire TW - the next "major" game in an innovate then replicate cycle that seems to serve Creative Assembly well. This is probably my most anticiapted game at the present time.

whilst writing a bit of a rant the other day about pes 2008 on the forums it occurred to me - why doesnt anyone release a proper PC exclusive football game?

its not like football games are not popular - they are always at the top of the charts for consoles. and football itself it debateably the most popular sport in the world.

i know sports games dont tend to do that well on the pc but i think that is only because mostly they are ports of already flawed console versions. if a dev made a PC footy game from the ground up with good gameplay and graphics, even if it couldn't afford the liscenses (which thanks to EA are out of reach for anyone but a multi billion company) i think it would do well. it would after all have pretty much the entire market to itself.

a more technically proficient, realistic and mature (and less japanese) season mode (similar to the master league game type) would be a great selling point wouldn't it? don't get me wrong i love japanese games in general, and they have done a lot in the videogame industry over the years, but they suck at making a football game feel like proper football. the cruddy menu screens etc, the cheesy europop music, its hardly match of the day is it?

so that is my pitch. any developers who wish to make this awesome "proper english football game for PC only" feel free to get in touch

I've had this game about a week now, and I'm still on my first game! Bear in mind this is a 1 Vs 1 game, on the easiest setting, on the smallest map possible and you might get an idea of the scale.

This level has probably taken about 4 hours so far, and I've captured 7 planets out of the (roughly) twelve in the solar system. I like to fortify before moving on so I'm taking it reasonably slowly. Also researching as much as I can (can you guess I like to turtle?).

Every time I encounter the cowardly enemy they leg it and I only destroy one or two frigates - but they are running out of places to hide from my mighty fleets mwa ha ha ha!!

Seriously, this game rocks. No SP campaign? tschhh. Who cares when the skirmishes (complete misnomer in relation to Sins) are as deep and absorbing as this.

I have finallytaken the plunge by downloading a full price, brand new PC game. Granted I didn't have much choice because Sins Of A Solar Empire isn't being released at retail, yet, in Europe. I have a feeling when the sales in NA and by download ramp up someone WILL release it.

But anyway, the whole process was relatively painless. It may be confusing for someone not technologically aware, as StarDock Central has to be installed, then you have to validate your game, then download the game. It took me about 20 mins.

But I'm pleased overall - I have a backup of the game installation file so if I have to re-format I can just use that to reinstall. And if by some freakish chance StarDock go out of business I should still be able to reinstall if needed because StarDock Central doesn't need to connect to the Servers to install from back ups (I worry about these things!)

As for the game itself, I played about 3 hours worth (did the 5 tutorials and started a skirmish against CPU). I didn't even make contact with the other empire, but enjoyed building up mr own and eradicating the neutral forces scattered around each system.

I really enjoyed the game (so far) and would thoroughly recommend it to anyone. Its like a completely real-time Total War in space! (which is about as good a recommendation I can give - I love TW games)