Tiny Diggers – An iPad Construction Truck Game for Kids Age 2-5

Replaying an action game, for me, has to involve more fun than work. The first time I go through an action game is really for the story, and if I really enjoyed it I look for the developer to make it worth my while to play it again. I don’t want the same experience when I play it through a second time, I want it to be easier and more fun, a kind of victory lap through the game where I can wave to all the enemies and more easily paste them, using and earning more unlockable goodies to have fun with. God of War III makes a second play-through unnecessarily painful — something less than forgivable after God of War II did such a good job with this.

God of War II did this very nicely if you played through on the same difficulty level you beat it on. The God of War Collection reissue of this game took this up a notch thanks to the addition of Trophies. There were some very tough Trophies that, if you put in the time on a second play-through after searching high and low for special unlockables on your first play-through, were much more achievable. Not only that, but you could carry your weapon upgrades into your re-play of the game. This is a reward for the fans: scour the world on your first play through and you get to use the special items on the second, making life easier and giving you an easier time with some some tough Trophies to boot.

When I played through God of War III I did so without looking at any of the Trophies, or a Trophy guide at all. I didn’t want to spoil the story — I’m a very big fan of the series — but I also ended up missing out on a bunch of Trophies I could probably have gotten relatively easily along the way. This is why I decided on a second play-through of the game — to clean up most of not all of the Trophies I had missed and hey, have fun doing it.

God of War III nicks you with a Blade of Exile and then pours lemon juice on it if you decide to head on out into the world to fight all those gods all over again. Sure, go ahead, replay the game, have fun storming Olympus, but no, you can’t keep the levels your weapons were at when you last finished it. Oh, and you can’t turn on any of the special Godly Possessions you picked up the first time around or you won’t be able to earn any Trophies!

Excuse me? Am I not wanting to play your god-killing game for the second time? Am I not wanting to bathe my brain in the glorious high definition environments, blood, and gore you slaved over literally for years hoping we would enjoy? Should I instead leave the game on my shelf, or -gasp- sell it? Am I not giving you free advertising with more time spent by my PSN name on my friends list? Do I deserve something, anything for finishing your game – a feat most gamers rarely do with games they buy?

I guess not. Thanks, Sony Santa Monica, thanks a lot.