DEMOLITION MAN

The game was GTA Vice City, and the mission's name is "Demolition man". If memory serves is one of the story ones, which means you HAVE to complete it if you want to progress in the plot. But the mission was... fucking difficult.

It goes like this: You get to control a helicopter toy with really sloppy handling. You're supposed to pick up a bomb nearby, fly the toy into a building and plant it on a specified location. Then you return, collect another bomb and repeat until you've dropped all of them, each on a different floor. Aside from driving through narrow spaces and the helicopter's low health, there are plenty of thugs protecting the location / shooting at you. Check here for more info.

I remember lots of days trying on my PS2, 10 years ago. Back in those days there weren't so much info on the internet, and definitively not video walkthroughs. You could get hints on forums but that was all. On top of that, the mission was super-hard even if you knew exactly what to do.

In the good old days, you played pretty alone and assumed the game was adapted to everyone's skill. As a consequence, if you couldn't finish a game/mission you immediately thought you sucked as a gamer. But today you can read what other people think regarding the same experience, and find out they have the same problems than you. That's how I've found most others were frustrated by this mission as well. That makes it less frustrating since it's not my fault, but instead the game's.

Funny thing is I got the iPad version and I completed it on my third attempt, I think. Times change.

COMMUNITY AND COMMUNICATION IN GAMES-AS-SERVICES

Interesting talk, worth if you're working on an online service:

DEADLIGHT

Here's another one of those nice games you may have missed but actually are quite enjoyable: Deadlight. The first game of a Spanish studio, in which they struggle to finish it for more time they initially expected. I know that of first hand since some friends worked on it.

The final result, in my opinion, is quite good. The visual approach, similar to Limbo, totally works and gives a unique flavor to the experience. The game systems work fine, nothing you haven't seen before but I know for a fact they had huge issues just to have this. It was critizised for being too short and it's indeed: Just can finish it in 4 hours without major issues. Still, for 15 dollars in XBLA I wouldn't feel cheated (admittedly, I paid even less due to my "only games with 75% discount on Steam" purchase policy)

The game is essentially platforming and puzzles. Both systems work reasonably well. You can see little details that require polish but nothing major. The puzzles themselves were not particularly difficult (I completed the game without external help) and I'm actually a fan of that. I see no reason for frustrating users with challenges that at the end of the day internet can solve for you.

I believe they intended to make it much longer, but their scheduling and overall direction was not as precise as it should have, and the experience falls short. The story doesn't hurt but it could have been much better, since it sins where other games do (i.e. Ryse or Castlevania LoS): The most interesting plot twists are left for the end, where most gamers will never reach.

A nightmare mode (no saving), collectibles (often more a nuisance than adding value), leaderboards and achievements complete the pack. As a whole, a good first game of a new studio, and that's not little thing. Good luck!