Sunday, October 14, 2007

I had a lot of fun this weekend playing through the new installment of Half-Life 2, one of the best games ever made. If you buy it in the orange box package, it also comes with Portal, a fascinating puzzle game involving a dimensional gateway gun.

Here’s a 2D Flash version of Portal you can play for free, The real version is 3D and has different puzzles.

Half-Life 2, part 2 is amazing. They upgraded the graphics and AI capabilities, which were already among the best in the gaming business. The battle sequences are some if the best yet. But you still have to wait a year or two for the final chapter. Bummer. They always leave you hanging. None the less, it’s a great game. I’ve played the new installment twice already. I’m still stuck on the second to last level of Portal.

So Al Gore is the joint winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. Admittedly, he has to share it with the United Nations’ climate change panel - but, even so, I think we need to declare an international smugness alert.

The former US Vice-President has already taken over from Michael Moore as the most sanctimonious lardbutt Yank on the planet. Can you imagine what he’ll be like now that the Norwegian Nobel committee has given him the prize?

More to the point, can you imagine how enormous his already massive carbon footprint will become once he starts jetting around the world bragging about his new title?

Damian Thompson, UK Telegraph