The Three Rs N3twork is a primarily British viral entertainment network, with standings in many niche interests involved in a variety of different groups. Ranging from gaming to adulthood to video creation.
1/10 - "Just, No." 2/10 - "Avoid." 3/10 - "Gamebreakingly flawed" 4/10 - "Not so great" 5/10 - "Pretty Average." 6/10 - "A few nice touches, nothing amazing" 7/10 - "Not brilliant, fun anyway" 8/10 - "A decent enough game, Well worth a look." 9/10 - "A really good game. Highly Recommended." 10/10 - "An absolute must buy, a defining game for the genre."
Right, this has been rather a long time coming, for which I apologise, BUT here's a little post all to do with the spectacle known as Devil May Cry 4! But I've decided to change what I was going to do, as I'm such a big fan of this series, any review I give would be pretty biased, so instead of a review I'm gunna have a general rant on what I loved and liked and felt like obliterating in this game.
First off, the new boy, Nero. If I'm being honest, I actually didnt mind him in the slightest. It was brave to put Nero into the game, with Metal Gear Solid doing the same and Raiden getting a lot of hate directed at him for it, yet it works very well here, with two different perspectives of the same story being shown, making it more interesting. I enjoyed knocking about deranged scarecrows, big fire demons and old men with his meaty demonic fist, the Devil Bringer, as it brought a new element of fighting to an already excellant series. It took a bit more for me to like his gun, which i didnt feel had enough ass-kicking power to it, and it took even more to get used to him shouting out 'KYRIE!!' every time she bloody appeared, but thats being a little picky. At the very least, I didn't resent playing as him for a lot of the game, and I really enjoyed using his sword too, so that was a definite up-side!
Something I really loved in the game was the dramatic boss fights. Each one actually involved some sort of strategy instead of just a hack an' slash-fest, and they also looked visually impressive too, especially Berial, who was a mix between the Balrog from LOTR and a centaur, with a nasty-ass attitude. Some of them also were just a pure joy to fight against, like Credo. the amount of dodging you had to do, coupled with some quick attacks and counters left me wanting to re-do the whole level just to fight him again! And of course, fighting Dante was a massive highlight of the game, reminding me of the fights against Vergil in the previous installment which I felt were some of the best bits. Not to say it didn't get frustrating when Dante would land his billionth stinger move on me though!
It wasn't just the boss fights either, but some of the fights against normal demons and nasty things were pretty darn fun too! The knights were a particular favourite of mine, reminding me fondly of Nelo Angelo from the original DMC. In fact they were pretty much watered down versions of that bastard, but numerous enough to pose a challenge, especially on modes such as Son of Sparda. An enemy I'm not too fond of however is the electric demon that crops up now an then. I mean I love a good challenge on games, and I'm not complaining about that, but he was such an annoying fucker, again especially on the harder modes. You had to shoot him to weaken him enuff so you could hit him with your sword as he electrocuted you otherwise, and it didn't help that he was using his own version of the Trickster style against you. And then once you finally felt you had killed him, he can grab you and explode with you as a parting gift. I couldn't help but feel he was laughing at me when this happened, but I would perservere an carry on.
Another character in the game that stuck in my mind was Agnus, the science guy from the Order. The moment he stuttered onto the screen you instantly knew he was trouble, so it was very satisfying getting to beat him up later on. Agnus is a character I loved to hate, and everytime he appeared something big always went down, so i looked forward to him popping up, even if I did wanna ram my over-sized sword down his throat.
Of course I cant go on about a DMC game without mentioning the old hero, Dante, a little bit more. He may be a little more grizzled than previous games, but he's still got the same style and grace from before, and if anything he's even more cocky and more of a show off! At first it was strange not playing as him, but this just made his appearances even more exciting, especially the opening FMV with the big fight between Dante and Nero, which is the best opening for any DMC game so far. Once i got to play as Dante though, I instantly fell in love with him again. He brought back loving memories of DMC 3, and handles almost exactly the same as he did on DMC 3 too. He has all four styles again, Trickster, Gun Slinger, Sword Master and Royal Guard *spit* except they are even better then before, as this time you can change style mid-fight with the d-pad! This cheered me up immensly as being stuck to just one style for a level on DMC 3 was a little depressing. Weapons can also be changed mid-fight too, so you're no longer stuck with just two guns and two melee weapons for the level either.
Speaking of weapons, I also fell in love with Rebellion and Ebony and Ivory again. In my opinion they were real weapons, and fighting with them felt like pure stylish scrapping, getting in quick hits and quicker counters and always being on the move. Fighting with Dante to me was a lot more fun then fighting with Nero, mostly because you didn't have a demonic arm that could bring the enemies to you, you had to do the moving; I loved it! Felt much more satisfying. Can't say I was a big fan of many of his other weapons though. I felt that the gaunlets while powerful were too slow, the Lucifer was a little impractical, and Pandora's Box while a brilliant idea in theory wasn't a great weapon to use unless I was bored of the conventional types. I did love the shotgun though, being a fan of it in other DMC games, so i felt by law it needed to be used, and it still impressed.
I felt that Trish and Lady making returns in this game was a good thing too, and enjoyed seeing them again, especially Trish who hasn't been seen since DMC 1 way back in 2001! Wasn't too sure on Lady's new look though, but she still had the Kalina-Ann so that made up for it. I was also giddy with excitement when the swords Yamato (Vergil's sword) and Sparda cropped up, and even more happy when I got to use Yamato! Having played DMC 3 Special Edition with Vergil I grew to really like his sword and fighting style, so it was a really nice touch to be able to play with it again. Unfortunately Sparda wasn't on the menu though, and depressingly it was used against you too, but it was a very good feeling beating the guy who was using it i must say.
Visually the game is rather impressive, as it should be, and the difference between this game and other DMC games can be seen best with Dante. The detail on his face an clothes, and in his movements are astounding, and this is true of the other characters too. The best example of the visual step-up is with Berial, in all his fiery glory! Yet the backgrounds and levels you can play in, even though they were rather large and very good looking (especially the outside of Fortuna Castle and the jungle) I felt were rather sparse and in some cases a little samey. Then again there isn't always time to look at your surroundings in a game like this, and let's be honest, not many would.
Unlike certain critics (and some fans I might add) I actually enjoyed the soundtrack to the game as well, feeling that the hardcore metal and rock vibes are what gave the game a much more edgy and energetic feel when pounding the crap out of some demons who deserve it, and if that was changed or taken away then it just wouldn't feel like DMC anymore. I personally prefer Nero's background fighting music to Dante's myself, and enjoyed the music during the credits too, coincidentally them being the same.
Overall I feel this game is a very strong jewel in Devil May Cry's impressive crown, and I really enjoyed playing this game, and still do. Instead of carrying on talking about it, I instead suggest that you play it for youself, if you havent done already, and I recommend this to anyone who enjoys stylish action games even just a little, because I assure you that everyone will find at least one thing they like in this game. In fact, going against what I said at the beginning of this post, I feel that if I did pass a review on this game, it'd be 9/10, being as un-biased as I can be, just because the enjoyment from this game was so much, even being new to the series I'd think it was this good.
As a parting gift, here's a link leading to a video containing the main DMC 4 song, with a lot of game art, promotional pictures and screen shots playing in the background. Enjoy!
Do you live in "North America, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan"? Do you own Army Of Two for your 360? Then congratulations, you can download the free Veterans map pack[Sponsored by pontiac]. Do you live in europe? Tough shit. No free DLC for you.
Weirdly enough, this is reversed for PS3 owners. The PSN has the Army of two content for free in europe, and unavailable elsewhere.
While i have unfortunately already played through and traded in my copy of Ao2, Major Nelson states that the pack contains: "two additional co-op campaign maps, plus a new multiplayer map, more exciting co-op experiences, including an alternate ending to the game!". The second Co-op level contains a "real" boss fight, missing from the original copies of Ao2, where you return to the SSC building.
Again, the Multiregion clusterfuck has been met with general confusion by the gaming community, and no reason has been presented for the delays.
OK now I realised that I have not actually reviewed anything that has just come out yet, I promise that I will, but I feel that I must MUST raise awareness of this game.
Did you ever see that film the Ring, now i know the story was about as good as Neville Chamberlain's attempts at stopping Hitler from rampaging through Europe, but if you take the scary little girl from that film, stick her into an FPS then sprinkle a whole lot of terrifying fucked up corridor scenes you basically have one of the only FPS games that i have genuinely enjoyed over 90% of in the last 5 years.
F.E.A.R, I don't care what any of you little Halo playing morons say, was an amazing game and the announcement of Project Origin has got me genuinely excited, sure F.E.A.R may have ripped off the Ring/ Grudge/ many other Japanese horror films, but it did have a good story, as for how it played, well I liked it, sure there were those points where the difficulty curve made you want to eat your control, but you did trip over medikits every 2 meters but as long as you weren't playing it in easy that wasn't ever enough for you. I can still remember my stomach turning every time I lost contact with people or my HUD started flickering, trust me when I say this, I never get scared by games: this has probably been the first time since I was playing Condemned 1 while really, really stoned and quite paranoid.
Anyway, I saw that this game is now also being made by (along with the original developers Monolith), Warner Bros. games, now forgive my ignorance but WHEN THE HELL DID THEY START MAKING GAMES, maybe they have always done it and I just never noticed but this is the first game i have ever seen stamped with "Warner Bros. games," on it so really i have no idea what to expect, are they going to try go with what I thought Bioshock were going for in the beginning and make it look like a film?? I suppose only time will tell.
Well I know that all of you won't have played F.E.A.R, so if you want to know the background go here.
Now aside from making obvious graphical improvements (though it still doesn't look amazing) and playing with the HUD a little bit, there is nothing I can really see that that they have changed about the Gameplay, though it seems like the repetitive soundtrack is once again going to piss me off I will evidently have to add my own sounds using my 360's media center and lets face it playing a game like F.E.A.R or condemned with Irish folk music really takes away the horror element, killing replica soldiers while listening to how people like to get drunk and party, all because the game designers couldn't be bothered to make the soundtrack more interesting and make me not want to tear off my own bollocks and feed them to Monolith.
Also they appear to have changed the health system, I love F.E.A.Rs health system. I know health bars aren't very realistic but they work much better than hiding until you stop dying. So as long as they keep the HVPenetrator (yes, a gun called the Penetrator) DW and i should still enjoy mowing down people online with that nail gun =).
Anyway, that's all i got for now folks, so I leave you with the best gameplay video I could find (a little boring after a while though, but the end is good)
This review is going to contain spoilers. Character names wont be included, but either way, I want to discuss the ending of the game. You have been warned. Game of the decade? Defining game of the generation? A masterpiece? With all the hype and reviews buzzing around GTA 4's release, it was hard to find a source to trust, luckily the game mostly lives up to its hype.
That's not to say it isn't without flaws, there are more then a few instances of "pop up" in the game, and there are a few minor issues with the lock on targeting, and the cover system, and its irritating to fail a mission and have to complete a long boring driving sequence again and again because of a lack of in-mission saves, but, by and large, these are all minor concerns, and were the other aspects of the game any less then stellar, then these flaws would still barely show up.
The game has stripped out an armful of the less popular aspects from San Andreas, and plays like the previous peak of the series Vice City. It's a far more intelligent beast however, and the whole experience feels a lot more realistic than its forerunners, and the better for it. I mean, sure, I sorta miss flying harriers from the desert, or doing crazy stuff like using a jetpack to land on a speeding train, but its a worthy sacrifice for set pieces where you jump across rooftops escaping swat teams. The same can be said of the game world, It's certainly not as big as San Andreas', but as a trade off, the area we have got is far more varied, and incredibly detailed. this is a trend in GTA4, in every area you get less than SanAndreas, but everything you do get is of a far higher quality. Cars dent like they should, bullets leave holes in cars, windscreens, even people, and you cant escape the fact it just feels so real. And that's its main selling point, to me, is that it is in a living breathing city, everything just has an air of authenticity about it, from the people walking down the streets, to the occasional traffic wreck as you pull up to a junction. Everyone in liberty city is living a life, and for better or worse, you have the power to intervene in that, that's a major draw to me, and without a doubt one of the games biggest strengths. You can visit comedy clubs [with some excellent bits of stand up from Ricky Gervais], watch TV, go out to a fast food restaurant, all of the things you would do in real life. Unlike real life for most of us however, you're always free to cut loose and annihilate an entire street with an assault rifle. It IS real.
Its not just the city that is more realistic, the cars handle better too, the steering is heavier, and driving in general is slightly more difficult, but this is good, its more rewarding when you get used to it, and are evading the police with ease.
Past the gameplay, there's a storyline that can only be described as epic, taking you from Niko's arrival in the country, as a nameless goon, to "Niko Bellic" an ex-soldier forced into a life of crime, surrounded by bodies. Niko is by far a more likable character then those that came before, and there'sa lot more to his personality. This makes the ending even more bleak when it rolls around at the end of the 30-40 hours gameplay. "We won man, we won!" That's the last line of real dialogue in the game, and it didn't ring true, sure, you've finished the game, the bad guys are dead. But the ending proves that there isn't an exit for people like Nico. As a result of his actions, people he cares about have to suffer. It's a tragic ending that finishes an amazing storyline, and you genuinely feel for Nico when he realises revenge won't right the wrongs. At this moment, the journey is complete, and you realise the story of GTA is far more than its usual "Rise to the top" crime story.
I played through both of the endings on offer, and both are equally as tragic.
All in all, I'd give this game a 10/10 and if it doesn't win Game of the Year, I'll eat my own underpants.
Now I'm an avid fan of RVB and am amazed this new series managed to completely slip me by until about 2 days ago. The series is called Reconstruction, which really doesn't seem to have anything to do with the plot line.
Now I watched the Trailer and the first episode, although it is early days, if it has started as it means to go on I think it will lose all of the charm the original series had, which would be sad to say the least, but as long as we still have Caboose, Griff and Sarge: everything is all good.
Now because I couldn't put the coding for the Videos up here I've done the next best thing and given you a link.
Look at the above image. If you immediately yelled "HOGS OF WAR 2" then you're incorrect, but have a gold star for effort anyway. No folks, it's official, at the Ubidays 2008 event in Paris, France, Ubisoft's CEO Yves Guillemot showed off a new trailer for the company's new project.
What new project is this?
Beyond good and evil 2
It turns out Ubi soft was listening to our prayers after all.
Interestingly the trailer has a number 1 on it, indicating more trailers highlighting on the other characters from Beyond Good and Evil. I really enjoyed this game back on the Xbox, and so I'll probably keep an eye on this as it develops, which is handy as the teaser trailer isnt giving so much away.
This list isn't just about games that couldn't quite clinch originality: there are plenty examples of that, Haze,Call of Duty 3 and Dynasty Warriors V to name but a few. This is, if you like, a medal for 'trying your best'. These games have all attempted so hard to be original, and just, for some reason, failed. It's the award you got in primary school for taking part in the race even though you were 5 stone heavier than the next fattest person in your class, and subsequently suffering a stroke as a result of which. (Was that metaphor in bad taste?)
5th game that tried its best to be original Perfect Dark Zero
Oh it could have been so good. Everything was going well for it, it had the background of an amazing shooter to support it, it had the Rare support, it even had a hot woman protagonist. Where did it all go wrong for Rare's blunt sharp-shooter? For its sins, it introduced a cover system, a rolling about button and came up with a variety of different weapons in order to ensure that this game would be the perfect one to launch the 360. But, the gameplay, 360 buyers soon found out, only had the longetivity it did because there was nothing else to play. But as soon as the next decently popularised game came out, everyone raced at lightning speed to their disk drives and, gingerly, hit 'eject'.
So what was it that failed PDZ in its efforts? The storyline, for one, was when you strip it down, pretty basic, and not original at all, but that wasn't so much of a problem, except it presented itself as primarily a multiplayer game. However, the multiplayer was boring: the vehicles were too exciting and too exotic, despite how originalthey were meant to be. The maps were frigid at best, and lacked colour and flare. And maybe, there was one thing that was out of Rare's control. Because PDZ was the game to be released with the 360, it meant that everyone had imbued all of the spirit and anticipation of the 360 into Perfect Dark. And of course, when Perfect Dark was mediocre at best, it was just a let down for, possibly the highest anticipated game to date, with the exception of our number one spot.
4th game that tried its best to be original Rainbow Six 4
Rainbow Six 3 had possibly the most playability of any Xbox game on XBL. I played it for hours and hours, days on days on end. I finally put it down in exchange for Halo 2, but despite this, it still holds a special place in my heart. And so, I wrongly suspected, should Rainbow Six 4. RS4 had a playability span akin to that of a velociraptor. Despite introducing a truly innovative character modification system, and updating the graphics on RS3. It also had a moderately interesting and unused story, which you expect from a Tom Clancy game.
And yet, it was one of my least played games, bar one, which comes up next. Why was this? Well, firstly, the maps were unbelievably dull. I only played three or four, and most of those I was forced to, there was only one that I really liked... and even then, one spawn was superior to the other. But essentially, the game play was the same as Rainbow Six 3, no significant changes in interface or combat systems--and what wasn't in RS3 wasn't any good anyway. When the game's worse than its predecessor, you automatically ask: "Why the fuck am I playing this game?" And when you ask that question, you know its time to consign the disc to its case on a dusty shelf.
3rd game that tried its best to be original Star Wars Battlefront 2
I played this game for maybe 3 hours, before never playing it again. I didn't immediately jump out of my skin for dislike, I was just shocked at how so much new stuff could actually make the game seem more like its ancestor than were they to keep the game exactly the same. Battlefront the original was an amazingly decent 'Battlefield'-like game. Battlefront had absolutely no problem in maintaining its individuality from the Battlefield series that it borrowed so heavily from. Its success in this can be attributed partly to the fact that it's set 'a long time ago, in a galazy far, far away'. But Battlefront 2, as the developers clearly realised, was going to have to be majorly different in order to distinguish itself. A set of new maps and a couple of extra classes was not going to do it.
So they made a big fuss about updating the system, adding 'Heroes', changing the gameplay so some of it was in space, adding many new vehicles, and creating a respectable amount of new maps with structural and tactical design to enable 'crunch' zones and lax zones. I feel so sorry for this game, because it should have been an incredible success. And its a mystery to me, because I know that many reviews score this highly, as would any gamer reviewing this independently of the gaming world. But the fact remains that, even after trying so hard to be individual to Battlefront, Battlefront 2 was an extremely short lived game, that, in the main, died not long after I was done with it.
2nd game that tried its best to be original Project Gotham Racing 4
This was, for all intents and purposes, a very good game. But it lacked its own separated state of respect. PGR 4 was, unlike PGR 3, always referred to as PGR. It just didn't exist separately from the Project Gotham Universe. This was a shame, because PGR 4 brought in many new things that PGR 3 didn't have: the calendar system of races for one. And in this sense, it had a great amount of innovations, but... it was still just PGR. It never stood out as a great racing game, it lacked just that little bit more to push it over the edge. PGR 3 on the other hand has this edge, but, when we went to PGR 4, it had all the same cars as PGR 3, with only a few new additions. Of course, I understand, they're not going to be able to add 150 new cars in the space of a year: new models aren't released that quickly. But, between PGR 2 and PGR 3, sufficient new models were released to allow PGR 3 to assume the title: new.
Everyone wanted to like PGR 4 because it was such a large franchise, and one of the cornerstones of the name 'Xbox'. However, I think, despite the addition of motorcyles, it was difficult for many people to say "This is an outstanding game", like they could with PGR 3. So, here, the PGR series have taken a backstep, despite taking a step forward in originality.
1st game that tried its best to be original Halo 3
What a shame. Such a shame that this was not the game it should have been. It was a great game, for maybe a month, and then, even after that, had good replay value. But it should have been what CoD 4 later turned out to be. Halo 2 set it up for great multiplayer, and of course, the original Halo would have it have great single player. And it had both of these. But really, it felt like that was all they had done, taken Halo and Halo 2 and packaged them in the same cellophane. This wasn't through lack of trying, though, the rank system and various new items, such as the flare, should have set this game up to being completely original. But it always felt as if they could have been released as a separate add-on for Halo 2. There was no key, fundamental change in the game to make it seem like Halo 3. It always just felt like Halo 2.5.
Yesterday, according to IGN, Gamespot, and various other reliable gaming sources, Capcom finally announced the beginning of production for Street Fighter IV. The announcement has not come as a surprise, and has been widely anticipated, despite the fears that 2D beat-em-ups have left common favour in exchange for 3D arcade styles such as Tekken and Dead or Alive. The announcement by Capcom, despite coming yesterday, was clearly prompted by their public unveiling of the game as a Japanese arcade fighter, but have now confirmed it will also be coming to the platforms of 360, PS3 and PC, leaving the Wii uncomfortably out of the loop considering the franchise made millions on the SNES.
As for release dates, nothing has been specified, the arcade version is set for late July, but no such time frame has been given to console release, suggesting they are over a year away. The game, as those who hated Street Fighter EX will be pleased to hear, maintains the 2D stylings of the original Street Fighters, with up-to-date 3D visuals. As for characters, Ken, Ryu, Chun-Li and Guile are all set to return, whilst new additions will be made such as Crimson Viper. There is no doubt that this game should be watched by the whole gaming world with interest, because, if it fails, it will be a backstep, but if it succeeds, it could reshape beat-em-ups as we know them.
It's nearly June, we're nearly half way through the calendar, and the latest game release schedule has just been posted on IGN. Here's a quick look at the titles that I think are worth a look at. (where PS3/360/Wii/PC dates conflict, I've used the 360 date.) (PC only games from Play)
Ninja Gaiden II: June 6th Sid Meier's Civilisation: Revolution: June 6th Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots: June 12th Super Smash Bros.: Brawl: June 27th Soul Calibur IV: July 31st Saints Row 2: August 28th Empire: Total War: September 5th Midnight Club: Los Angeles: September 12th Star Wars: The Force Unleashed: September 19th Starcraft II: September 26th Fable 2: Q3 Mercenaries 2: Q3 Tom Clancy's EndWar: Q3 FarCry 2: October C&C: Tiberium: October Splinter Cell: Conviction: October 24th Call of Duty 5: Q4
All the above dates are subject to revision, and some great games aren't yet on the register even though they're due for release this year. So, in other words, if you don't think there are enough games here for you, don't worry, more are due before the end of the year.
Recently my colleagues have been focusing on looking at upcoming games, so I thought I'd have a look at what was, for me, the most engrossing game of last year: Call Of Duty 4.
Now, if I had written this article a few months ago, I would have come off as a rabid fanboy, In fact, it took Rainbow Six Vegas 2 to break the spell of this game, where I would regularly play from 10pm when I got home from work, until the sun came up and my team and I grudgingly dragged ourselves to bed.
On the PC market, the game seems to share the success of its Console counterparts, with Xfire stating that 6,909,213 minutes of the multiplayer game have been played today, second only to the online behemoth that is WoW.
I'll start with the bad. The often forgotten Single Player campaign is, after a promising start, a pretty standard "Spec Ops" FPS fare, with the slightly familiar scenario's of "America waging a war on a Middle eastern country" as mirrored by the incredibly popular "Real Life" and the classic "Russians as the enemy", however cliched these may be, thats not to say they don't do them well, but more on that later. It also suffers from the classic CoD problem of having to literally slog through hundreds of generic terrorists who respawn endlessly until you reach the waypoint, there is no way to stay back and play it cautiously, you just end up wasting your ammo, and enraging yourself.
The multiplayer suffers from other flaws, Some of the perks are either ridiculously useless [Eavesdrop] or ridiculously overpowered/cheap [Grenade launcher/Matyrdom] and, while they are well thought out, popular use of them has cheapened the COD4 multiplayer experience heavily. It's a great testimonial to the game when I can only find a single big flaw with its multiplayer experience, and I stand by the fact that it is the best multiplayer game of 2007.
On the positive side, and its certainly a big ol' positive side, the campain is well thought out and is full of awesome set pieces, including a particularly tense firefight in a TV station, and a highly commended level that has you crawling through Cherynobl, you really do have to play the campaign to get the true feel for it.
The same is true of the multiplayer, The engine itself is very simple, there's no cover system, no character customisation, and is pretty standard multiplayer shooter fare. A visitor for example could play a few rounds and enjoy it, without knowing too much about the game. However, it shows a level of depth totally unheard of in an FPS game, with a healthy amount of weapon customisation, and a frankly stunning level design. I have never played maps as fine as Call of Duty 4's, which have been amazing people hunting for tricks and tips since the games release. I think it's the depth of the maps that have really ensured CoD4's continued dominance.
In retrospect, I dont play Call of Duty 4 anymore, because I took it far too seriously, going down the gamebattles route and playing in clan matches until I "burnt out" on the game, but I think it still holds up. It's a masterpiece of what can be achieved, and its technically impressive too. It stands among Team Fortress 2 and Halo3 as the greatest Xbox live has to offer.
Now like i said i play a spell caster on World of Warcraft, anyone that plays with me will tell you that i am allergic to melee DPS so as you can imagine the fact the the first of these "hero classes," the Death Knight is primarily a Tank or melee DPS makes me very upset (unless they make it very like the Necromancers from Diablo 2, in which case i shall be a very happy bunny).
Now they have announced how the death knight character slot is unlocked "Simply have a character of at least level 55 on the World of Warcraft account you play," also that "You will be able to create one death knight per realm, per account." which in credit to Blizzard is something that i think they have done well with because figuring out a way to have an "unlockable class," but not making it to easy is a task i wouldn't like to have, so well done Blizzard *thumbs up*.
They have also announced the two role that a Death Knight will play in a group, there is the obvious DPS role, this is the one i will be interested in mainly because i know this will be the one that will concentrate more on the Spell casting raising the dead abilities that make me wet in my trousers. The other group role it has is "a capable tank for small groups as well as raids. His or her damage output while tanking will be respectable."
But the thing that really got me interested is that the Death Knight will be a tank that doesn't use a shield, because it was at this point i thought Blizzard have totally lost the plot, that being said i am reserving my cynicism for when the actual game comes out, though there is a distinct possibility that we may all have died by then, thats pretty much all i can say about the Death Knight as that is all that has really been announced.
DW should be back sometime tonight or tomorrow, so expect him to be making some more posts soon. Before that though, the third of three articles from this contributor whilst he's alone on the blog. I've looked at some games of the present, I've also looked to a game of the future, but now its time to honour some of the games of the past. Now I could spend the whole article talking about the greatest action heroes of previous games, Mario, Sonic, E. Honda... But that would just be too easy. Instead, I'm going to talk about those characters behind the scenes, the little guys, that really made the difference to the hero's final outcome.
The first minor hero I'd like to talk about is actually a minor heroine. She was in a game franchise that lasted 3 moderately successful games, and was a nearly flawless aid for those three games. Her only mistake was to get captured by something that wanted to destroy the Universe or something (I'm not entirely sure, I never quite got the storyline). If you haven't guessed already, it was Cortana. Throughout the Halo games, she is a fantastic sidekick to the MC, and she's intelligent, knows a lot about technology, and, let's face it, you, as a self-respecting gamer, would.
I'm going to purposely ignore Luigi as we enter the realm of Nintendo, because in so many of the games Mario had to do a lot of the work himself, and he also gets captured by a giant turtle a hell of a lot. Instead I want you to turn your attention to a character that really was annoying, extortionate and in fact, you can't possiblly like him at all. He even made an annoying sound when you engaged him in conversation. So why is he even mentioned, you ask? Simply because of the continuity that he held throughout parts of the Zelda series. Every game, you subconsciously ask where and when he's going to appear, and, for such a minor character, this is quite an impression. I'm talking of course about that 35 year-old bloke who wants to be a fairy, Tingle. And yes, I think, if the universe of Zelda had shotguns, he would certainly receive many cartridges to the face. Ah well, we can only hope he appears in Devil May Cry one day.
Knuckles. I think as I've already mentioned Sonic, it wouldn't be justice without talking about Knuckles. Knuckles was, of course, against Sonic at times, he is often instrumental in the blue hedgehog's adventures. Look, I'll be blunt: he's got attitude, strength (apparently, he's the strongest in the series) and fucking dreads! What more does he need? Knuckles gets special mention here because, were he not in the Sonic games, he would easily be able to carry his own independent game franchise.
It wouldn't be fair not to talk about one of the Kong family members. But which one to choose? They all provide useful services for you when playing through the games. So I think the sensible choice would be to choose on personality, and Donkey Kong, unlike other game franchises, gives you enough depth to secondary characters to allow this. Swanky Kong was a tempting choice, as was Tiny Kong, but I think the greatest zero hero in Donkey Kong has to be Funky Kong. A pacifist, not through choice, but through laziness, he's just the kinda character you want to high five when he speaks.
But none of the above characters have what it takes to be the Greatest Hero That You Never Did See. They all have their own characteristic to donate to the embodiment of 'second best', but none of them has it all. Cortana has the intelligence, Tingle lends the memorability, Knuckles bears the attitude and Funky Kong has charisma. Well, the truth is, it's difficult to find any secondary character that has all the above characteristics, mainly because it's saved for the main character: look at Dante, or Solid Snake. So, my answer will probably come as a bit of a shock, because he's not the sort of person you'd see as a secondary character, or even as a hero, he's classically known as a villain... unless you're playing as Nod.
That's right, my vote for the Greatest Hero That You Never Did See is Kane from the Command and Conquer series. You don't play as him, so he's not the primary character, and when you play the Nod campaign, he is a hero, in many respects. As for the four characteristics, he has them all. Intelligence? He instrumented the systematic brainwashing of millions of Nod followers, and survived an Ion cannon blast to the head. Memorability? Westwood/EA have done a great job by getting Joseph D. Kucan to play Kane in all the C&C series and design a character that will never be forgotten even by casual C&C players. Attitude? Cross him, I dare you. Charisma? When you're on his good side, you have to admit... you want to destroy GDI, you want to let the race that is set to destroy Earth know where Earth is. And that is what puts him above other secondry characters, because he should be a villain, and yet, he isn't, because you side with him, and not the 'good guys'. Because remember "You can't kill the Messiah!"
I thought, maybe, for my second article whilst the boss is away, I should actually make a critical analysis of an upcoming game, rather than ranting about ones already released. Further to this, I'm taking a look at EAs RTS monster, Red Alert 3. This has been announced for release in 'red October' of this year (I know that doesn't mean anything, but it might give you a slight idea of how long it'll be delayed). Now, I have to say I love the Command and Conquer series, and with it, the Red Alert series (not so much Generals). I've been a fan of the franchise since the original Red Alert, and I'm probably going to buy this one too. And given the game's track record, I'll have to buy another new computer to play it. However, looking at various previews of the game, I'm slightly dubious as to some of the little details in the game. Are EA losing their strategic nerve?
It's a pretty straightforward trailer really (from Gamespot). It's good to see they haven't decimated the traditional industrial metal soundtrack that fits in with Red Alert games so well. Then, there are a few things that aren't quite so obvious, but are still shown in the trailer. Firstly, there appears to be a lot more focus on sea-combat. This is good, it takes me back to the days of battleships and subs on the original Red Alert. But, more than just this, water bases as well, so, I believe, power plants and construction yards built on the water. I think, the more options you have in an RTS, the better quality the gameplay is. And water is just another of those options. The lack of water combat in C&C3 was always a big problem for me. It didn't make it a bad game, and maybe water units would have cluttered it too much, but it just bottlenecked your strategies just that little bit more.
Next point, is the new physics engine that EA have brought in. The only real example of this in the trailer is of how the bullfrog units jump down on those soldiers and devour them. It's a pretty cool little scene, but it shows that, at last, you can really take advantage of the terrain (incidentally, those soldiers, using this new engine, wouldn't be able to see the bullfrogs, even if they had been looking directly at the cliff; another interesting feature). However, in missions, cliffs have always been a really useful way for the designer to block parts off, or to force you to take a certain path through the map, it'll be interesting to see how EA compensate that, now that some units can jump off cliffs.
Now, the graphics on that trailer aren't particularly impressive, a bit grainy. But I think you can see from the screenshots, that that won't be true of the game itself. The graphics look typically computer and soul destroying. And that's what we hope for in a Red Alert game. I mean, atom bomb graphics that didn't set your computer on fire? Who would go for that?
Another important addition to the gameplay is a third faction. This third faction is an attempt at not changing the Allies and Soviets too much, but still mix the gaming up a little. I'm not sure how original this is with Tiberium Wars just introducing a third faction. But, change is good, right? The third faction is set to be Japan, so we can expect Ninjas, Samurai, crazy robots and Hentai. I've got reserved judgement on a third faction. The idea worked on Tiberium Wars, but didn't on Generals. But then, for me, nothing worked on Generals.
Also, there is an increased area of strategy. That is what RTS was meant to be, but sort of turned into a couple of dozen simultaneous Shoot-em-ups going on. For instance, there will be less of an emphasis on building up, building up, building up, SUPERWEAPON, as there has been in the last few games. Instead, the emphasis is set to be a lot more on scouting the enemy's base, checking them out, and seeing what their weaknesses are. If that's done well, it will be great, if it's not, it will be boring. That's something we'll just have to wait for more details on. But certainly, as far as combat strategy is concerned, we can certainly be expecting a lot more of the 'bite and hold' tactics that won the Allies WWI. We have artillery that can shoot so far that your enemy can't see you and the base you're destroying in the same camera. This will certainly give you a chance to use a more strategic approach to the game.
All good so far: a nice mix of new innovation and die hard classicism. However, I haven't got to what bothers me yet. Chris Corry (executive producer of the EA branch responsible for developing RA3) has said that Red Alert is very much their 'fun' project, whilst C&C remains their 'dark' serious series. At first, this didn't really make much sense to me: I know the C&C maps tend to be dark, but I just thought they were fighting at night. But then, I read about some of the new units they are bringing in, and this brought back memories from previous RAs of 'fun' innovations. To go back to the original Red Alert, the Chronosphere, Tanya and Burglars. Red Alert 2: Weather Machines, cloning facilities and Zephyrs with heads painted on them. Of course, these were just things that made you sigh in pity slightly at the inability to think up genuine hardcore units. I didn't realise they had done this on purpose, in the name of 'fun'. But these innovations are nothing compared to a select few of the new units in RA3. Intelligent dolphins will roam the seas, presumably strapping C4 to aircraft carriers and then swimming like hell. I mean, what can they possibly do next? I guess they could stick bears into cannons and parachute them into the enemy base... Yes, they've done that too.
This game looks set to be just another great one in the long list of C&C and RA RTSs. It also looks set to be the first RTS that fully integrates water combat and bases into the game. With RA games it's important to keep a certain amount of tradition, whilst still making the gameplay fresh and invigorating. It's a tricky task, but the developers are up to it. I just hope they don't make it fresh to the point of slapstick comedy: Kane getting hit with a custard pie, that kinda thing.
This weekend DW and Darkshadowfang have gone off to a festival, so this will be the first of three articles I'll be posting this weekend to keep a constant supply of articles on the blog. This one was prompted by the disease that appears to be spreading throughout my social group, mentioned in previous posts. This disease in question has been spreading for some months now, and is called World of Warcraft.
I don't play WoW, I've never had the urge, and, to be honest, I'm not a great fan of MMORPGs, which explains why I'm ripping WoW in this blog. But what I am a fan of (at the moment, if I was writing this blog 6 months ago, it would have been to do with CoD) is GTA. But out of my group of friends, only DW owns and actually plays GTA, so I ask what are they all busy doing? Killing trolls and orcs on WoW. While what am I doing? Blowing shit up. Which sounds cooler to you?
Now, I'm not going to disparrage the poor sad acts who sit there playing it for 26 hours a day, because that's a mental condition, and you need professional help with that; me taking the fucking piss won't end those people's suffering. No, I'm confused at the people who play it 'socially'. 'Social' gaming. Using WoW to traverse long distances--in the name of society. Face it. Gaming is not social. I mean, let's take the example of Xbox Live. Go into a lobby on CoD and, if it's predominantly American, I get pummeled with 10,012 bad impressions of an English accent, that makes them sound like they have a crumpet stuck in their fucking throat. Is that social gaming? Just because it involves other people doesn't mean that it's social. Getting punched in the face isn't a social activity (I don't count boxing, they wear oven mits), even though it involves more than one person. If you want to further society, you don't escape into another society, in the hopes of finding something better. If you turn your back on society, it will turn its back on you. And to game, you must accept that. If you want to be social, go out, pick up the phone, even use some variety of IM. That's social.
Three problems with WoW are money, finance and funding. These don't happen all at the same time. WoW goes through your money first, then your finance as you remortage your house, and finally you're forced to dip into your business' funds. If you still have a business, and it hasn't become 'Property of BlizzCorp.' GTA doesn't charge me monthly. I know there'll be a lot of sighs at me bringing up money (because true gaming transcends monetary interests), but really? 18 quid for two months. Well, let's see, that's 9 GBP per month, and that's £108 a year, plus about 11 for the original game. So for a year's play of WoW, you pay the same amount as GTA plus two years Xbox Live. But... here's the bit I really don't understand... in WoW, you don't even get an M14. I'm lost... why are people playing this game again? So, you see, this is where I'm no longer blaming the addicts, because they get the most out of their £9 a month (in fact more, as they're playing two hours more than physically possible a day). But these 'social' WoW gamers, who honestly honestly honestly aren't addicted, are paying monthly just to keep the game running. At worst, you could be paying £9 a month just to play for a couple of days.
Also, the plot in GTA is fantastic. Not so much for WoW. GTA has drugs, sex and rock and roll. WoW has thugs, apex, blackrock and trolls. GTA has fast cars, and the mafia. The mafia! Where is the incentive to play WoW over GTA? In GTA you get paid, regularly, to blow shit up. But, most importantly, GTA has an innovation that I will love them forever for. Taxis.
Now, I know that Taxis weren't actually invented by Rockstar, but their use in GTA is completely innovative. Back when I used to play Oblivion (a fantastic game), when I first bought it I said to myself, I will not use the transport system. And why should I? The graphics were beautiful, and it ruined the realism of the game. I was never in a hurry to get anywhere anyway. But then, it just became impractical, so you know I compromised with myself, I'll just transport to the nearest city, and then walk it from there. Still get to experience the beautiful graphics, and it was realistic enough, but it was also practical. But, by the time I had clocked up my 2000th hour on the game, I decided that fuck it, life's too short for this walking shit. So I just beamed from place to place, and began to get impatient that I couldn't beam even closer to where I wanted to go. And even worse when I had to get somewhere new, I actually had to fucking walk there! What kinda game were they playing?! (An RPG, they answered.)
This was the problem, I desperately wanted to walk, maintain the realism of the game, but I couldn't be bothered! But Taxis answered this question! They were realistic (even had the annoying cab drivers who 'decided to take the long way'), but they also took you exactly where you wanted. And then, you had the opportunity to watch the entire journey (if you had the luxury of time), or skip it, for an extra fee of course. This extra fee translated to me into some kind of punishment for not watching the graphics. And, most importantly, they weren't available at the push of a button. In some cases, taxis were exceedingly rare at some points in the day, and this just added to the realism. Having to run five blocks to find any taxis, and then 20 running you down in the middle of the road at once. You even swear at them when they don't stop! Taxis are the best innovation of any game in recent years. More efficient than trains (they go exactly where you want), and just as realistic. But quicker than finding a car that's the right colour, BHP etc for your tastes.
This is the real reason why I don't understand why people play WoW. It doesn't have taxis. What were Blizzard thinking? The other thing is it doesn't have Nico Bellic. And let's face it, Nico is like a sarcastic Jack Bauer, a smooth Jason Bourne, or a modest god. Nico and Taxis. The best WoW got is the undead (yeah, they were cool in House of the Dead, but without the shotgun, what's the point?) Lastly, what WoW is missing, that would make me play it is IF99: the funk station on GTA. Nico, taxis and IF99. Any of those things would make me play it. Get all three, and hell, I won't just pay for the game and a year's subscription, I'll buy all the extras, expansions and shit. Even if I do have to remortgage Darkshadowfang's barn for it.
Once upon a time, back in 1998 i was round a friends house. This friend of mine was playing Starcraft: Brood War, after the both of us spending about 6 hours doing LAN matches against each other i went out and purchased the game, at least once a year since i have busted out the game and kicked some Zerg in the head.
The announcement of Starcraft 2 you can imagine lit up my seemingly otherwise dreary life. That being said the wait is proving to be an arduous one and the infrequent updates by Blizzard are really starting to irritate me, i do not see why Blizzard feel the need to announce an eagerly awaited game such as: Starcraft: Ghost (which they then axed), Wrath of the Lich King and Starcraft 2 when they are not planning on releasing them in the next millennium, all it does is increase the hype and make the game a possible letdown, let us not forget Halo 3 (congratulations Bungie).
While I'm ranting about this i would like to pick up on a couple of things i have noticed about Starcraft in that it's 3 playable races the Terran, Zerg and Protoss draw unnatural similarities with the Aliens, Predators and Marines, in that the Protoss are a highly developed warrior race who are well up themselves (Predators), the Zerg are a parasitic alien life form that need a host in order to evolve (Aliens). Finally the Terran who are the human marines though i suppose i cant really rant about that, because a futuristic RTS just wouldn't be right if the humans and their clearly inferior technology didn't hand in which side gains victory.
Anyway enough of how massive games companys make me want to do nasty things to them with desert Forks. Starcraft 2 does as all sequels so often do by taking up the story where its predecessor left off, in this case the aftermath of the War with the Zerg, my guess is that they are all going to come back even worse with the harbinger of death Sarah Kerrigan (see left), and cause the Terran and Protoss a whole lot of trouble.
I have been looking at the Website and watching videos and i must say i am very impressed with what Blizzard have done with the game, the graphical improvements are. So far as i can tell they have made the races a lot more balanced and fair unlike the last game where anyone playing as the protoss could just spam Zealots in an anal raping tactic, or the Terran with their ghosts and the seemingly unstoppable nuclear bombs.
I am also happy to see the return of Jim Raynor after helping the Protoss at the end of the last game he seems to have butched up a bit taken up smoking cigars and now he looks completely different.
Well as a final couple of present i leave you the overly lengthy and not really that interesting opening trailer which blizzard released just before Blizzcon last year, also the Protoss in game introduction giving you a quick look at in game action
I played the Trial of the Penny arcade game today, on the PC, and then on the 360.
I really liked it. This isn't a real first impressions, because its late, and I'm tired. But after an hour or so of pottering about, I'd like to say:
I like the combat
The Art style is great
I really liked the character creator, although basic, it really made me feel like i was in the game.
What I didn't like, was the ridiculously high price. I reckon I'll probably pick it up anyway, as the 360 is a little starved for decent Action RPG's, and this one is pretty entertaining, I'm a Penny arcade fan anyway, so the humours right up my alley.
Have any of the readers here played the full version?? Is it any good?
Today is indeed a great day for gamers everywhere. The man you love to hate [No really] Jack Thompson has been found guilty of 27 professional misconduct charges by a Judge in Florida. Among other charges, he was found guilty of:
Making statements that the lawyer knows to be false or with reckless disregard as to the truth or falsity concerning the qualifications or integrity of a judge
Engaging in conduct in connection with the practice of law that is prejudicial to the administration of justice, including to knowingly or through callous indifference disparage or humiliate litigants or other lawyers
Communicating the merits of the case with a judge before whom the proceeding is pending
Using means that have no purpose other than to embarrass, delay or burden a third person
Knowingly making a false statement of material fact or law to a tribunal
Knowingly disobeying an obligation under the rules of a tribunal
Engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation
Now, I personally don't know alot about law, but I'm pretty damn sure the three bolded up there involve lying in court to a degree. That's not really a recommended course of action for a lawyer.
These charges are related to his attempts to have a Rockstar game, Bully, Declared a public nuisance, and his conduct during a case in Alabama where he represented the families of Two police officers killed by Devin Moore. Ever the snake, Thompson has bit back with several accusations against the judge, Dava Tunis and has several lawsuits outstanding against the Florida supreme court. A disciplinary hearing to decide on possible action against Thompson is expected to be held on June the 4th.
A full description of these proceedings can be found at Gamepolitics.
Today, seeing a certain advert on the TV for the thousandath time prompted me to write this article on ironic game genres. Now, this is a game review site, but I think a lot of people get caught up in the gaminess of games and end up forgetting about this other realm of imagination--real life. As a result, developers have seen fit to enhance our lives by giving us an opportunity to just completely ignore real life, and do everything on the console.
5th most ironic video game genre: Music sims: eg. Guitar Hero, Singstar.
Now, don't get me wrong. I love Guitar Hero: not as much as some perhaps (looking at Darkshadowfang here), but still, it's a decent game. Singstar also, is a lot of fun, especially at parties where the aim of the game is to show everyone else just how bad your voice can be, whilst singing 'Our House'.
But, where's the realism? For instance, in an online game of Call of Duty 4, one takes on the role of a team, let's take Spetsnaz (the Commies), the aim is then to pick up your weapon and shoot bullets at members of the opposing team so that they die. This, BY AND LARGE, is the objective of war, which is what CoD is attempting to capture. If Neversoft had been involved in the production of CoD 4, the objective would be still to shoot the enemy team, but you would be shooting them with, say, a microlight, or a chest of drawers.
Guitar Hero is simply Tekken with rhythm, and Singstar is how to make yourself look like the worst singer ever. Ever. Nobody wants to be good at Singstar, because that would mean being good at singing. In the same way, Guitar Hero doesn't lead you to being good at Guitar. Sure it maliciously tricks you into thinking you are by giving you the shiny Gibson Les Paul controller, but really, all it is is button bashing like Dead or Alive, or Tetris.
The really ironic bit? Well, it applies to Singstar more than Guitar Hero. But the really ironic bit is you're paying upwards of 40 GBP for something you could otherwise do for free. Sing. People have been playing Singstar for thousands of years before Sony ever existed. Oh, and, nearly forgot to mention: the X Factor Game.
4th most ironic video game genre: Movie Franchises: eg. every single Star Wars game ever made, and Indiana Jones game, and King Kong, and Halo (you'll see), and Lord of the Rings (those are definitely not based on the books) and... well you get the idea. Any game that was originally a movie.
Movie Franchises are quintessentially poor. They form the bottom of the barrel expectancy that most experienced gamers will just avoid. There are notable exceptions to this: Star Wars have produced some excellent games, to measure up to some excellent movies. But, they've also created some games that made you want to scratch your eyes out (and Episode I). This is where the irony comes in, but not so much irony as tragedy. For instance, the Godfather. Arguably the best film ever made, was somehow the basis for a game which was shockingly horrible and something I wouldn't want to meet in an alley on a dark night.
What's the problem though? Why does it seem that the better the film, the worse the game? Well, one cold night in February I believe I stumbled across the answer. DW, Darkshadowfang and I, as well as some other mates were watching the movie Starship Troopers. A classic. A truly great movie for sci-fi. Standing aside other science fiction greats such as Star Wars, (Episodes 2 through 6), a select few of the Star Trek movies, and Alfie. However, DW brought something interesting up: everything in Halo is ripped from Starship Troopers. And I don't just meant a couple of the vehicles, and some of the plotline, I mean, you can even see the similarities in the abbreviations used. USMC (United States Marine Corps) and UNSC (United Nations Space Command). Now there's a lot of web debate about this, and I don't want to get into that, because I'm just using this to prove a point. That point is: had Halo been produced exactly the same, with just a different name, Starship Troopers, it would never have done so well. This renders movie franchises pointless, because what's the point in them being a franchise if they don't have the same name as the movie they're representing. The only notable exception is Goldeneye. Goldeneye achieved everlasting fame for redefining the shoot-em-up genre. However, I class this as anomalous because it was made by Rare. Back in the day, Rare could have made a game about monkeys going around shooting other monkeys with bananas and it still would have been a groundbreaking, multi-million copy selling game. Oh wait... they already did that.
3rd most ironic video game genre: Life sims: eg. the Sims, Simcity, to a lesser extent Rollercoaster Tycoon.
I owned a copy of the Sims once. But there was something about it that took the fun out. It was one of the few genres that actually struck me as being about as useful as a paper fire blanket. This is mainly because... what it was trying to let you do, unlike shoot-em-ups or RTSs, was to make you live. As in live life. As in what I was doing before I turned the computer on. This was a big problem for me when it came to buying the next expansion pack. And the next one. And the next one. And the two after that. I questioned myself. Why? I asked, should I spend good money on an another expansion pack when I can do more or less anything on there in Real Life? I can set fire to the hob, I can go out and buy a new outfit which makes me look like a jogger all the time. But most importantly, I can cook Mac and Cheese in under 5 minutes. It takes me the same amount of actual time to cook Mac and Cheese in Real Life, as it does to cook it on the game. And what the fuck do I get out of waiting for my mini-me to cook it on the game? Where is my daily nutrition? How can I enjoy the taste? When I wait for it, at least I get something out of it.
And this is the important point: the Sims has lost the point of gaming. Gaming is not to give the gamer a chance to live the life he is already living. But, instead, to blow shit up. To do something absolute fucking crazy, like drive around Silverstone at 20 mph under the speed of light. What the hell is the point of a game where your own life is more interesting?
2nd most ironic video game genre: Sports games: eg. FIFA ('24-'08), Madden etc.
Don't encourage us developers! Dear god! Before sports games existed, there was a chance that occasionally we might go outside and play some football, maybe a game of rugby, maybe, for the more adventurous gamer, even a trip down to the gym. But now? Why risk that small chance of getting worn out? Now we can do it all on the screen. I can (if I owned any of these games) play a selection of cricket, ice hockey, croquet and football without having to move from my bed (actually, I do have to take my cover off to reach the console though; that's a constant problem for me). And, as we all know, every single gamer in the world is pale and a few stone overweight, so this is a problem. I can already get Dominos delievered to my door, where's the incentive to leave bed now?
The point is. Sports games... they, so I hear, represent something that is actually physically possible for us to do. And not just this, but physically possible for us to do at a much cheaper price than the 40 GBP needed to buy NBA. But we do not. And this is not the developer's fault, they pander to our needs and tastes. But I'm gonna blame them anyway. IT'S YOUR FAULT THE WORLD IS FAT.
The most ironic video game genre of all time, ever: Wii Fit. Eg. Wii Fit. It's not just me is it? But the Wii Fit is a complete contradiction in terms. I mean, you don't own a Wii to get Fit. You own a treadmill to get fit. Or a yoga mat to get fit. Or you put down the fucking fork. So where exactly does the Wii Fit fit in the world of video games? Because somehow it does. The game's been out for ages, and yet it's still being sold out everywhere. So what am I missing? Please someone tell me, because this has me stumped. Why are people out there buying a Wii Fit? I'm not saying I'm completely right here because I clash with public gamer opinion, but I just can't see the reason for it.
And it's not just this. the board has a maximum weight of 165 kg. !!! What kind of self-respecting gamer weighs under 165 kg? And it was the Wii Fit advert that lead me to write this article
Up until about 2 years ago I was a dedicated Star Wars galaxies player, this of course was brought to a grinding halt when Sony Online Entertainment decided they wanted to lose all their subscribers with the combat "upgrade," bet they don't think it's so clever now, after scouting for a new MMO i wound up on City of Villains which as quickly as I picked up I put back down due to the fact there was no depth to it.
Eventually I gave into the mass online Franchise of World of Warcraft having only the background of Warcraft 3. After going in overly cynical I, about 2 weeks later, had no regrets in buying Blizzards soul sucking game.
Now a few things about my WoW life so far, i'm not a die hard raiding person. I am level 70 (Undead Mage) partially S1 PVP geared, I have cleared Kara so yeah like I said I'm not much of a die hard player, I'm going to be looking at this from the perspective of a casual-end game player's point of view.
I also play with DWs little Warrior on my Shaman named after my favorite scrubs character (see Below), so I'm hoping DW can put a slightly different view across to mine.
So yeah moving on to the news despite what is floating around nothing official has been released about the WOTLK release date, DW got me all excited the other day saying "it's going to be out by Christmas," so I'm going to slap him when I next see him for getting my hopes up.
I am trying my best to try and get on the WOTLK Beta but unfortunately due to my lack of artistic skills and the fact I can't find a half decent arena team anywhere, I have been thus far unsuccessful.
And on a final note i would like to say something about DW, we were questing along about to kill some trolls when . . .
I'm Darkshadowfang, i'll be doing reviews for DW concentrating more on the Wii games but also doing 360 and maybe some PC game. The other thing about me is being a shut in and social reject will also keep you up to date with World of Warcraft news patches and of course Wrath of the Lich King.
12 years ago, a small boy, with whispy blonde hair, and greyish blue eyes sat on his parents bed, and eagerly opened his birthday presents. A look of boyish wonder spread across his face as he peeled the neatly sealed wrapping paper off of a small 8x6 parcel to reveal the hallowed 'Nintendo' symbol that would steal hours of his life from then on. As he continued to tear the paper from the box, he realised he was now the proud owner of a 'Game Boy Pocket'. His very first games console. It was that Game Boy Pocket that began my (I was that small boy for the slower witted of you) love affection with computer games.
The next console I was destined to own was the great SNES. I say great because even though it was soon to be succeeded by the N64, it still held true all the greatness of what I, even now, associate with Nintendo gaming. Cartridges, power buttons that weren't buttons, reset buttons that were buttons, but, most importantly, that overwhelming sense that you had bought a console that had been built for love of the game, rather than for love of money. I'm sure people will agree with me when I say that this last factor made all the games that little sweeter... Even if it is completely naive and untrue.
The SNES paved the way for an exciting period: Nintendo at its peak. Nothing was more thrilling to see Nintendo soar so high over the opposition with simplicity. Four controllers. A joystick. The Z button. A console with design, rather than just a grey box case. Goldeneye. The N64 didn't just scream for unrequited love, it deserved it. For me, the N64 was, is, and will always be, the very embodiment of gaming.
However, my flirtation with Nintendo was soon to flutter away as I began to grow up... well, who am I kidding? That wasn't the reason at all. It's cos Nintendo released the Gamecube. I bought the console, and enjoyed the controller, but not the console, and not the games. When the controller's all you're interested in then the console probably isn't worth the 120 GBP you fork out to buy it. That is one hell of an expensive controller. Most importantly, what the fuck did they do with the cartridges? I know that cartridges were no longer a feasible idea, but still, what now was stopping me from buying the up and coming powerhouse?
Microsoft. Ah, the wonders of being able to throw money at a problem until it gets eroded into a perfectly formed Windows symbol. The Xbox just took gaming to a whole new level for me. The console was fair, really it had no advancements over the PS2, except perhaps the original Halo. But what it did have was Xbox Live. Above all other things, this made me fall in love with Microsoft, and even to forgive them for Windows 98. Xbox Live, even today, is the best online gaming system in existence. Midtown Madness was my first real Live game, and this taught me the wonders of being 'good' at a game. 'Good' to me no longer meant being able to complete single player, 'good' meant to be able to whiz around the map on Hunter in my Lotus Esprit V8 and win. Every time. 'Good' on Rainbow Six 3 meant the people that sat in one place (affectionately known as campers) and take out the entire opposition team in a game of Survival without so much as pulling a trigger. 'Good' on Halo 2 meant getting to Level 50. But not just getting there, being able to stay there. In a nutshell, Xbox Live taught me that 'good' is to be better than everyone else.
But three cores, and one 20 gig HDD later, I'm still not better than everyone else. The 360 brings with it new challenges. Those people that get 45 kills a game in Call of Duty 4, yet another Nurburgring on PGR 4, expert on Guitar Hero. Gaming for me is not the same as it was for that small boy opening his Game Boy all those years ago. It's no longer about fun, it's about pushing the limits of your intellectual capabilities. Gaming is now about the accuracy of fingers, and the snapness of your reactions. It's about speed and intelligence. Gaming is about thinking outside of the (x)box and out-thinking those on the other end of the copper wire. And gaming is better than ever.
Hi, I'm random dave, a new contributor at www.dw-gaming.net.
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First off, the new boy, Nero. If I'm being honest, I actually didnt mind him in the slightest. It was brave to put Nero into the game, with Metal Gear Solid doing the same and Raiden getting a lot of hate directed at him for it, yet it works very well here, with two different perspectives of the same story being shown, making it more interesting. I enjoyed knocking about deranged scarecrows, big fire demons and old men with his meaty demonic fist, the Devil Bringer, as it brought a new element of fighting to an already excellant series. It took a bit more for me to like his gun, which i didnt feel had enough ass-kicking power to it, and it took even more to get used to him shouting out 'KYRIE!!' every time she bloody appeared, but thats being a little picky. At the very least, I didn't resent playing as him for a lot of the game, and I really enjoyed using his sword too, so that was a definite up-side!
It wasn't just the boss fights either, but some of the fights against normal demons and nasty things were pretty darn fun too! The knights were a particular favourite of mine, reminding me fondly of Nelo Angelo from the original DMC. In fact they were pretty much watered down versions of that bastard, but numerous enough to pose a challenge, especially on modes such as Son of Sparda. An enemy I'm not too fond of however is the electric demon that crops up now an then. I mean I love a good challenge on games, and I'm not complaining about that, but he was such an annoying fucker, again especially on the harder modes. You had to shoot him to weaken him enuff so you could hit him with your sword as he electrocuted you otherwise, and it didn't help that he was using his own version of the Trickster style against you. And then once you finally felt you had killed him, he can grab you and explode with you as a parting gift. I couldn't help but feel he was laughing at me when this happened, but I would perservere an carry on.
nd if anything he's even more cocky and more of a show off! At first it was strange not playing as him, but this just made his appearances even more exciting, especially the opening FMV with the big fight between Dante and Nero, which is the best opening for any DMC game so far. Once i got to play as Dante though, I instantly fell in love with him again. He brought back loving memories of DMC 3, and handles almost exactly the same as he did on DMC 3 too. He has all four styles again, Trickster, Gun Slinger, Sword Master and Royal Guard *spit* except they are even better then before, as this time you can change style mid-fight with the d-pad! This cheered me up immensly as being stuck to just one style for a level on DMC 3 was a little depressing. Weapons can also be changed mid-fight too, so you're no longer stuck with just two guns and two melee weapons for the level either.
