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."
Japan has long been the heartland for Nintendo support. Release a 360 in Japan and plaster 'Nintendo' all over the box and it'll sell like a new Elvis Presley album. Yet, Microsoft have been adamantly chasing that market despite the polite nudge-offs that the Japanese have been giving them over the past few years. In a bid, perhaps, to do what Manchester City are currently doing the football industry, and become the ultimate games console for all walks of life in all 'theatres of war'.
The latest attempt by Microsoft to buy their success in Japan has resulted in them slashing the prices of all their Xbox models. From September 11th, the Elite will be dropped from $441 to $368 dollars, the Pro will be available for $275. The Arcade, shockingly, will go from $257 to $183 (that's just over £90!!! Cheaper than a DS lite in the UK [£99.99]). To put these numbers in some kind of context for British readers: in the UK, the Elite retails (according to prices on GameStation) at £259 (just over $510), the Pro sells at £200 (just under $400), and the Arcade goes for 159 (~$310). So for the arcade, that's a price difference of £60 between the UK and Japan. In other words, if you're thinking of buying an Xbox IMPORT! The games are cheaper too!
This, essentially, means that the Arcade model is $50 cheaper than a Wii, which retails out there for $231. A desperate gambit by Microsoft to steal the home advantage from Nintendo, which has often claimed to be the 'economical' choice for families. And, importantly, Nintendo, despite all their problems, have been able to afford it, by lowering the debt that producing the console itself has put them in. In other words, the smaller HDD and the, at times, 'last gen' software has in fact not mattered due to the market it's aimed at. Microsoft haven't really learned this lesson. It's market is, broadly speaking, people. Nintendo have aimed their products at a cross section of people that don't care for (and might not appreciate) the swarve graphics and astronomically complex game systems that Microsoft and Sony have put in their boxes. But Sony, as a side, know what they're doing, and have aimed their products for a market that appreciate the blu-ray and the processing speed.
Strictly speaking, Microsoft's hardcore has always been online gamers. With, arguably, the best online service around, the Xbox has always been able to rely on a community of gamers, rather than a chopping and changing casual gamer lot. This has made them take the middle ground, between Nintendo (who appeal to people who wouldn't usually game, and in a way, view the console as a toy), and Sony (who are geared towards making their equipment the best technologically [the PS2, you will remember was immensely ahead of its time in the field of graphics and game processes]).
However, I don't believe Microsoft are used to this position, and it's difficult for them. In the OS market, they have more or less total ownership over a great percentage of the market. Appealing to both big business and individual users. Mac and Linux are both highly specialised, though they are growing more popular. In an ideal world, I think Microsoft are aiming for a market strategy like that, achieved by making the 'catchment area' for the Wii and PS3 smaller; allowing a great percentage of the market to be appealed to by the Microsoft doctrine.
But this issue in Japan show exactly why they will fail in this. The situation is too far gone, and Microsoft came along too late in the game. The Xbox wasn't a Windows 3.1, it was just a successful third party candidate. Nintendo and Playstation are the original players in this game, and have their own loyalists. For Nintendo, this is Japan. Nintendo know exactly what Japan wants, and how to give it to them: and how to make a return on this. Microsoft can't do that, because it's stretched too far, every game has to be available for release in all the 'theatres of war' for it to make sufficient return on the games. Nintendo, on the other hand, can design games (and, more frequently than any other developer, does) that appeal just to Japan, and then release the bigger title games overseas too. And it can then export at greater profit, because of the Yen-Dollar exchange.
Then, finally, within this, and at the core of this, Nintendo have developed with the needs of the Japanese close to its heart. The Wii, with all its little niches and tidbits (like motion sensing), appeals to them, because it's been designed for them. Add a little bit of marketing alteration and this then appeals to families abroad, as the cheap, viable option. So Microsoft can undercut as much as they like, but the Japanese know what they want, and it's Nintendo that's offering it to them, like no other company can, and the price of it can go hang. Put it this way: if you lowered the price of Hell's Kitchen on the DS to £10, I'd still go for Battlefield for £40.
Fable 2- the game (almost) everybody wants to shove in their disk drive at some point before the end of the year. A game with supposedly limitless (hi there, Molyneux) possibility. According to big Pete himself, it will take almost 100 million gold to purchase the entire land of Albion. That would be very fine and dandy, provided you actually earned money conventionally.
The problem here stems with the fairly bad design philosophy of separating quests and the story from gold. You don't get gold for going out, questing, helping people, and saving the world. Oh no. That doesn't count as a real job! Instead, you have to "work", while earning nothing for quests. Working (I'm guessing) will consist of either menial, tedious mini-quests for small amounts of gold, or tiny minigames to annoy the living crap out of us. The problem here is two-fold. Most people will skip over most of the sidequests that they deem stupid or worthless in the first place. Now that there is no money incentive, there is nothing drawing the player in to explore, expand and complete the game in its entirety. Of course, there are always people like me who will try to do every quest just to do them; but even die-hard adventurers are bound to get annoyed eventually.
The second problem is time and age. One of the most annoying things to me about Fable was the aging factor. You play for two hours, and you go from being a 20 year old to some random 30 year old. Just exploring/questing/crafting and doing all of the off-the-beaten-path work in the game for around 6 hours will make you some pathetic geezer by the time the story ends, and it just feels pretty awkward at that time. I would imagine (read: hope and pray) that the game is longer than the original, since it was fairly short for a good ARPG, to be honest. Who wants to work and work to be able to afford real estate only to be some old coot with magic powers? That isn't very rewarding at all.
Much better then, to play the horribly designed Pub Games or the other recently announced web apps that will allow you to unlock more cash and items. When you have such a sophisticated system, the probability of overlap and redundancy becomes much higher. That's a future that has become realized for Lionhead, as people continually farm millions of gold from their glitchy arcade offering. An offering they have yet to fix, and have threatened penalties for abusing (that's the subject for another post). So will the player spend some time playing these little things, racking up gold and transfering it over, instead of actually immersing themselves in the universe, getting jobs, etc. ? Undoubtedly. The benefits greatly outweigh the risks (even if the glitches are fixed). Even if the player risks alienating themselves from the game.
Earning gold in a game should never be a complete grind. There are always things to do that augment your gathering process, stealing, theiving, murder, *usually* questing; but the earning of gold in Fable II has been trivialized by needless overcomplications from Lionhead. The pub games were interesting, if worthless; but they should have stopped there. People aren't going to be playing the Fable 2 to get gold, they're going to have to get gold through other methods just to play the game itself. And that's the complete opposite of the mentality they should take.
There is also the problem of tying the morality system into the way the player interacts with the economy. Personally, I'll probably loot and kill every owner of every house in every town I see. That just tends to be what I do; but do I want my character to be evil? No. Do I *care* enough to actually make a "tough choice" regarding righteousness, as Peter Molyneux would have me do? Absolutely not. I don't care how compelling playing through as intended seems to be, I'm not going to let that get in the way of me enjoying the mechanics I'm buying the game for.
So as it stands from my perspective, the game is probably going to be a rather uncohesive mess, but an incredibly fun one. I will still pick it up and hopefully enjoy it; and hopefully this entire blog post is proven wrong. I just got bored and let speculation get the best of me. Thanks for bearing with me. A Too Human review should be coming soon.
The floodgates open, the oasis is filled. Drink gamers, drink!
Spore The newest game from Will Wright (Sim City, the Sims etc.) puts players in the position of God, and in control of the evolutionary process of creatures on a planet. The Spore Creature Creator was released a couple of months ago as a teaser for this game, and gained acclaim. This game should be good: detailed, challenging and original. This is the pick of the month for PC. Platforms: PC, (separate title for DS: Spore Creatures) Release Date: 05/09/08
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames Building on the success of Mercenaries, EA are releasing this multi-platform sequel, which, again, puts the player in the body of a hired gun, working for the highest bidder. This game looks to have built satisfactorily on its predecessor, and if it's managed this successfully it should be a great game. Platforms: PC, PS3, PS2, X360 Release Date: 05/09/08 Infinite Undiscovery A new franchise is always nice in the midst of so many sequels. This is an action RPG, but team-based (like Might and Magic), except with a potentially better combat system (it's not turn-based, but real-time, like Fable, which I prefer). Bit of a Japanese style RPG, so if you like that kind of thing check it out. Personally I'll wait a bit. Platforms: X360 Release Date: 05/09/08
S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Clear Sky A prologue to the original Stalker game, this game is set a year prior, and features 8 of the original levels, along with 5 of its own. The only real difference to the gameplay as far as I can see is the possibility of fixing weapons. To be honest, although the original Stalker was a solid game, this looks like a bit of a cop-out, with only 10 hours of original storyline. Only get this if you're an avid Stalker fan. Platforms: PC Release Date: 05/09/08
Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise I wasn't under the impression this game had sold well enough first time round to warrant a second one. Personally I love Rare, but I didn't enjoy the first Viva Pinata, and probably wouldn't enjoy this. If you got addicted the original... then don't buy this either because you don't want to have to admit to having an addiction to this kind of game. Platforms: X360 (DS: Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise) Release Date: 05/09/08
TNA Impact: Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Not a fan. But if you are, you'll probably love it. Platforms: PS2, PS3, X360 Release Date: 12/09/08 NHL 09 See above description. Platforms: PS3, X360 Release Date: 12/09/08
Supreme Commander These games can be great fun. You basically take a massive army to planets in order to defeat one of the other two factions, blowing up as much shit as possible. This game allows a player to both view the battleground from the standard RTS position, and also go right down to ground level and issue units with invididual orders. 360 edition comes with bonus units. Platforms: X360 Release Date: 12/09/08
Opoona Despite the unfortunate choice of name, this game looks like one of the few original games on the market. Described as both a battling and 'lifestyle' rpg, this Wii title is designed by the developers of the Dragon Quest series. Could be good? Wait for the reviews, because it could end up like so many Wii games before it: the Nintendo Hall of Shame. Platforms: Wii Release Date: 12/09/08
Subbuteo Grab a franchise, design a game, and voila you have a gold selling game. This Subbuteo title will probably be as boring as the 'watching paint dry' original. Mainly because it uses the 'official' Subbuteo rules, meaning no grabbing the player, running him into the ball and dragging them both down the pitch. Platforms: DS Release Date: 12/09/08 Crysis: Warhead PC gamer's 2007 game of the year was Crysis. This new installment looks like an expansion, sounds like an expansion, costs like an expansion. But is in fact a standalone. New weapons, new story, new vehicles, upgraded AI and graphics. No major changes to the gameplay which makes it look to me a bit like a marketing technique to take some money and keep interest in the Crysis series before they bring out their next big title. And if I were you, I'd save your money and wait for that. Platforms: X360 Release Date: 19/09/08 Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Despite DW's disparraging review of the Demo, this Star Wars franchised game is still the biggest game coming out this month. For those of you that have been living in a cave (like Ben Kenobi) (or just don't like Star Wars, but have nothing better to do than read this), TFU takes place between episodes III and IV, and you play as Darth Vader's Secret Apprentice, hunting down Jedi. The gameplay centres around the four force powers Force push, grip, repulse and lightning, which you combine in order to create devestating (and just damn cool) combos. Despite being firmly and Action title, this game does also have reminders of RPG ideas, such as levelling up. I have high hopes for this game (but not for the graphics is they stay the same as they were on the Demo). This is my pick of the month for the 360 (I know I'll be buying it). Platforms: X360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP, DS Release Date: 19/09/08
PlayTV A couple of months ago, something similar to this almost slipped under my radar for the Wii. These applications need to be watched because they can turn into something incredibly useful. This one turns your PS3 into a Sky+ box (without the Sky channels of course). It enables you to record, pause and rewind live television, and also provides you with freeview channels. A fantastic application if you don't have something similar already, and dead cheap at 70 quid. My pick for the PS3. Platforms: PS3 Release Date: 19/09/08 Brothers In Arms 3: Hell's Highway The latest in the highly successful Brothers In Arms series, which take the biggest battles in WWII and put them in your control. In Hell's Highway, you take control of a member of the 101st airborne in order to successfully carry out Operation Market Garden, a capture of two bridges after D-Day which failed for the Allies. This game should be a fantastic FPS, and great online play too. Pick for the PS3 Platforms: X360, PS3, PC (Wii: Brothers in Arms: Double Time) Release Date: 26/09/08
Wario Land: Shake It! An old formula revitalised and made new. This game takes the old 2D Wario ramblings and infuses them with the Wii remote. I've had a look at this and I've made the mistake of underestimating Wii games like this too much, and I think this has the potential to be a lot of fun. Fun, a concept that the game industry seems to be fast forgetting. Picked for the Wii! Platforms: Wii Release Date: 26/09/08
Rise of the Argonauts Only on release for the PS3 this month, this is an epic scale RPG set in the ancient Greek era. Basically, if you liked the film 300, you should give this game a go. It's nothing particularly new, but it's attempting something on a scale that few RPGs dare to attempt. Platforms: PS3 (X360 and PC next month) Release Date: 26/09/08
SimCity Creator I do enjoy the SimCity games, and this looks to be the most detailed yet, enabling you to 'draw' roads with your Wii remote. It appears to be fun, mixing old style retro gameplay with new stle technologies. A must for SimCity fans with Wiis, otherwise, steer clear. Platforms: Wii, DS Release Date: 26/09/08
Hell's Kitchen Haha. Platforms: DS, PC (Wii in November) Release Date: 26/09/08
That's it for this month, but it's enough to be going on with, and then some. Whichever console you own, there's something for you on this list (unless you only own a Commodore). What does October hold? A football game, a music game, and a fabled game.
Its time I told you about a guilty pleasure of mine. I first picked up Trackmania nations [the free one], about 3 months ago, when the paid version released, and was impressed with the simplicity, and the fact that, unlike most racing games i didnt have to go round the tracks very often, and races were often finished in under a minute.
After a successful week or two playing it, it had on my PC. Now, while i'm downloading the Dungeons and dragons online client, I got bored, and had an idea. Plugging my Wired 360 controller into the laptop, I was able to play trackmania without even changing any settings. A was accelerate, and turning was identical to if i was playing a Console game. A legend was born. I was racing far better and the game was alot more fun to play, call it the future of PC games if you will, I'm considering reinstalling Swat 4 and testing that out.
So, I put the question to you guys, Any of you used a Wired 360 controller to play a PC game? How'd it go?
Sorry, this review has been a while after the game actually came out, but I've been busy. At any rate, here it is.
Firstly, I'd like to say this game, in a quick pleinary before we begin, is a lot of fun, and a good time to play. But that's all. It's not going to get nominated for game of the year (and if it does, it certainly shouldn't win it). It lacks imagination and innovation, though some of the techniques used aren't justified to change. The Soul Calibur formula is pretty untouchable.
Let's discuss that formula first off. The things that define the Soul Calibur series is beautiful graphics, topped with a good, simple fighting style and an imaginative inventory, varied, but easy to chop and change to suit your own style of play. To an extent SCIV has managed to maintain this: the fighting style is still simple, easy to understand and not chocked full of thousands of combos which you have to memorise. However, the simplicity of the fighting system can occasionally be marred by a slow catch up time. Often, whilst I was attempting an attack on the lower body of the opposition (performed with down and Y, B or X) it would, first time, do a mid attack, and not adjust until the next strike. Particularly frustrating when you're trying to get around the opponents block, and you just keep striking them with no damage.
The imaginative inventory I was discussing earlier has also been damaged. Back in SC2, I remember there was a great way of acquiring weapons which involved working your way through a map. There were hidden areas, and you defeating the inhabitants often meant you won some sort of weapon or item of clothing. This system was fantastic: in fact, it was one of the reasons I bought SCIV. However, SCIV has done away with this system. You acquire new sets of items when you get 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 achievments. And weapons are unlocked when you complete the story mode. However, you can also get items by unlocking them in the 'Tower of Lost Souls'. Though, there's little point to this, seeing as you can simply buy them, and they cost next to nothing. The items in the inventory have no explanation to them and seem just to have been created for the sake of them. One good part to this system, or so it seems, is the ability of a piece of armour to affect stat percentages and skill points. This way, both your overall attack and your special moves (which you can manually select with the amount of skill points you have) are decided by just the items you carry (levelling up has no bearing on it). This is a very clever system. A bit too clever: if you care enough, you will find yourself spending hours editing your character to get the right balance between different types of skill points, just so you can get the skills you want. The character graphics are just as beautiful as they should be: the physics are sometimes a bit off with the hair, but the character models are very good, as are the cutscenes. However, many of the backgrounds seem rushed, with water detail looking flakey at best (when the difference between the texture of water and the texture of lava is difficult to decipher, you know something's wrong).
Now there were two big marketing points for this game: things that it built on to SC3. Firstly, was the inclusion of Star Wars characters. For the 360: Yoda and for the PS3: Darth Vader. With Darth Vader's Apprentice appearing on both platforms. Now, it's true that this seems a bit stupid, and they may be right. Certainly these characters seem to have been stuck onto the game with airfix glue. But, personally, I don't see why it should be such a problem. You don't have to play as them, and they aren't fundamental to any plot aside from their own. Also, Yoda and the Apprentice (I haven't played as Darth Vader yet) have been very tastefully done. The voice acting for them is spot on, and they fit very well into the Soul Calibur role, despite DW's accusations that they are broken characters. His grounds for this are that Yoda is too short to be hit, and that the Apprentice's throw always performs a ring out. However, I contest that. The two characters have some bonus attributes because, due to their nature, they can't have their costume edited, and so they can't be given skill points. Their bonuses are just to account for this.
The other marketing pitch was the new Create-a-Character piece. To be honest, Creating a Character should be fun, and in this game, it just isn't. There aren't enough settings, and all the characters just end up looking like one of the pre-mades anyway. And even when you've done this, you've still got to go through all the palava of kitting him out with the skills you want him to have, and the armour he needs for that.
The story mode gives you a lot to unlock. A lot of characters that can be purchased, and a lot of items to buy too. But the story mode itself lacks any sort of imagination. The opening screen for each character tells you what the characters wants with the Soul Blade/Calibur, you do five stages (mostly in the same locations) and then there's a cut scene telling you that the character got what they were after in the opening screen. Far too short, far too expected, far too shit. It is tricky doing stories and cutscenes and bits and pieces for 32 different characters (33 including both Yoda and Darth Vader), but if that's the case then there should be fewer characters. The game would not harm from having only 10 characters, possibly less, as long as the stories were interesting, and their fighting styles were varied. Instead, I was forced to slog through these 32 different stories to get full completion of the story mode. Luckily, it only took me 10 hours. But is that a good thing? If 32 characters only leave a story trail that last 10 hours?
Far more promising is the Tower of Lost Souls. You get a choice to ascend or descend (descending is only an option once you've gotten to the 20th floor of ascension). The Ascending is basically a more challenging version of the story mode, involving 1 or more stages of 1-4 enemies. You have to get through all the given stages in a slot with just your starting amount of health (though you are allowed, usually two or three characters). This is a challenge sometimes, but fun. A much better time than trying to complete story mode. The Descending is just a survival mode: two characters versus the hordes of time.
There are other points: an arcade mode that leaves much to the imagination (each time through, with all characters is the same), and a well-composed, but largely irrelevant, soundtrack. But the last point that needs to be made is about the online. The online system is incredibly simple, and very easy to play. In ranked or player it's fun, especially if you just want a quick game. Most people use customised characters (and win with them I've found). However, the game falls prey to the only Live problem that such a game cannot fall prey too: lag. The lag on this game, all too frequent, just spoils and ruins play, making it more or less impossible to play. It's not always a problem, but when it is, you may as well leave the room and go find somewhere else (I don't mean on the Xbox, I mean, literally, get up and just leave the room, come back when the servers are less crowded).
It's fun, there's a lot to complete, but it can be monotonous at times. It's great if you're on school holidays or whatever, and you've got nothing to do on the long boring days when no one's out, because you can just keep playing it. But it's not anything special, not worth buying if you can wait till September when some better games are coming out. I give it a 7.
Here we are again, the beginning of the new gaming month. Well... the beginning of the new month, but the new gaming month too. Hopefully after last months disappointments we'll see a more formidable line up of summer games. In addition, this is to note that DW apologises for his continuing absence, but he's working on a new project currently. Hopefully once it's up and running we'll see some more of him. Thanks to Melasis for keeping some sort of material on the site.
Table Football Well... I know to people who don't have a Wii this must sound like a ridiculous idea for a game. But it looks like it might be fun. And I don't see why it shouldn't be. It's a typical Wii-style game: and they've been one style of game that hasn't seen disappointment after disappointment. Mainly because people didn't really expect much from them. Platforms: Wii Release Date: 08/08/08
Age of Empires III: Asian Dynasties This is a new expansion for AoE III. If you enjoy AoE III then go for it, it adds quite a bit of new content: maps, civilisations, campaigns etc.If you haven't played AoE III and you were thinking of buying this game and the original and giving it a go then I would suggest against it, even if you enjoyed the previous installments of AoE. It was a fair game but not really much worth spending good time and money. This expansion, unless it fixes the inherent 'business' of the first one probably isn't worth getting. Platforms: PC, Mac Release Date: 12/08/08
Madden NFL 09 If you don't know what this is, don't buy it. If you do, then you might like it, lots of new features etc. but still, essentially, Madden NFL 08, just updated slightly. Your choice this time. As a side note, the Wii has its own version Madden NFL 09 All-Play. Same game, but with support for your remote. Dunno whether that really makes a difference. *yawn* Platforms: Wii, PS3, X360, PSP, DS Release Date: 15/08/08
X-OOM Media Centre for Wii XE This looks interesting. I hadn't heard about it this before I started the research for this article, but it looks like a must have for Wii-only owners. It basically brings Wii owners up to speed with Xbox owners, working as an extension of their PC onto their Wii: effectively Media Centre Extender. However, as far as I can see, this program doesn't require XP Media Centre 05, or Vista. And it retails at £29.99! Not bad at all. So if you own a Wii and can't be bothered with the more complicated methods of getting your movies onto your big screen then this is the way to do it. So long as it works ok, this is my pick of the month for the Wii. Platforms: Wii Release Date: 15/08/08
Sony Playstation 3 with 80 gig HDD It's finally arriving here. The 60 gig's bigger brother. Retailing at 299, so snap one up if you have the odd £300lying around. Pick of the month for PS3, seeing as PS3 games seem so scarce this month. Platforms: n/a Release Date: 27/08/08
The Sims 2: Apartment Life Well... it's yet another expansion pack from EA Games for the Sims 2. God knows what extras this one contains, but I can tell you without looking at a detailed list that it will have new items, new places to go, and new clothes and stuff for your own personal avatar. If you Sims fans have any space left on your shelf for more expansions then I'm sure you don't need to tell you to buy this one. Platforms: PC Release Date: 29/08/08
Too Human Looks something interesting: an RPG set in the middle of the typical 'epic struggle' between some guys and the bad guys. You are a 'cybernetic god' in the middle of it all, preventing the good guys from getting wiped out. Dunno. Seems a little 'done' to me, but the developers are pretty reputable, Silicon Knights, it uses that Unreal Engine 3, which is pretty well reknowned. So, yeah, it might be worth giving a go. Platforms: X360 Release Date: 29/08/08
Soul Calibur: Legends For those people unlucky enough to not be able to own SCIV, you've been given this token game: Legends. Honestly... get a console that has SCIV on it if you want it. There is no way this could be good. Platforms: Wii Release Date: 29/08/08
Well, there seems to be plenty of choice, but no quality. Not a good month for gaming really. My two 'pick of the month' games weren't even games! If you own a 360 my suggestion is going to remain SCIV, same for the PS3, unless you want another PS3. I suppose my general suggestion to all gamers this month is for you to go out and get some much needed fresh air. Next month the gaming season starts again, you're going to need to store away as much oxygen as possible for the gaming-heavy winter months.
In addition to all the tasty, tasty, E3 goodness [Which i'll probably post up some of tommorow, Theres just so much to wade through] the Too Human demo dropped today. Word is, its a sci fi dungeon crawler, think.. Diablo in space, with norse gods.
Impressive eh? Well, the demo weighed in at a hefty 1.1 gig, The demo was typically "fantasy" and there was 5 classes on display, but only one to choose from, the champion. The opening intro looked very nice, with the norse gods seeming like the colonial marines from aliens,weirdly enough.
The game play? well, the controls were very nice and it looks awesome to roll in a dodge, pull dual handguns, and start shooting, and I hadn't even left the initial area yet, Let alone seen any monsters. Controlling your sword is done via the right analogue stick which is a concept i've loved since playing Blade 2 back on the PS2. When I finally reached enemys, I realised something. This game is fucking awesome, Like Diablo on steroids. When you level up there are 3 skill tree's to choose from. The setting is certainly unique, but it plays like the popular "Action RPG's" of the last generation of consoles.
Basically, what i'm trying to say is, I was blown away by this game, and i'm buying it. Try the demo, its free.
Also I managed to download the Vegas 2 gift pack today, Containing Dark versions of CQB training and murdertown, and Calypso casino from the original game. Its free on the 360 marketplace. Its a worthy reason to try the game, as there appear to be new A.C.E.S as you play, Gifted you 5k exp per level.
Technically, I've played enough hours of battlefield Bad Company to write a full review, but I haven't played enough single player yet for me to consider it review worthy, so I'm going to give you my first impressions.
I'll start with the game engine. The ability to blow a hole in just about any object in the game world is more then just a fad like in the PS2's "Red Faction" titles, it honestly changes the way you think. In single player this is a useful mechanic letting you take out entrenched enemies by blowing their cover away, But in multi player this really shines. After a ten minute skirmish over a defence point, Houses are burning, tank wrecks are burning, smoke columns stretching up to the sky. Its a brilliant game engine, and I'm hoping it becomes a regular addition in First person shooting games.
The single player, which is an aspect I thought would be weak at best, is heaps of fun. You run around with 3 AI teammates, while they wisecrack and help you the best they can. This is a major difference to other squad shooters where you have to babysit your soldiers and order them around, In this they do they own thing while supporting you and thankfully, the AI is sharp enough for it not to be a problem. The fights are pretty entertaining, and it never feels too unfair even when half of Russia is attacking you.
The multi player is where I've been spending all my time, And in addition to it having the magic "battlefield" gameplay that everyone was interested in, Frostbite adds a whole new layer to it. Smoke from exploded tanks can obscure a snipers vision, and the squad system is a brilliant idea, letting small groups of people work together to complete their goals. This brings me to the first of Battlefields major flaws however. No team voice chat. Your put in a squad, and you can only talk to the 3-4 members of that squad. It makes you feel almost isolated from the team, and makes it impossible for the attackers to organise a real offensive. Secondly, The helicopters are ridiculously overpowered, Too fast for an RPG to hit, and to high up for a tank turret to aim at, and the third flaw is the hundreds of snipers populating every game. But that isn't really anything i can pin on DICE or EA.
Expect a review soon, In the meantime, go and buy the game, The multiplayer is a nice change from COD4.
If your a halo fan be sure to check out the marketplace this monday for bungie day!
As part of the celebrations [on 7/7] Bungie are giving the Xbox360 marketplace not 1, not 2, but 3 amazing gifts.
7 Exclusive new gamepics and a bungie day Skin [ONLY AVAILABLE ON 7/7 so act fast]
The legendary map pack will drop in price to a not so different 600 points
A new map: Cold Storage, based on Chill out from the original Halo will be available for free.
So, there you have it.
Major Nelson states that the halo community are trying to get 7 billion halo 3 kills by the "seventh day" so if your stuck for what to play this weekend, Fire it up and brush up on some skills. Personally, i'll be on Bad company.
Here's my monthly rundown of the top games coming out.
Unreal Tournament III This game has been out for a while on other platforms, but only now comes toX360. It's been critically acclaimedfor the other platforms, and so Xbox 360 owners should be pleased to have some extra input. I don't think I need to tell you much about this game, only that, if you don't already have this game, it'll be well worth a look. Platforms: X360 Release Date: 04/07/08
Devil May Cry 4 This game, again, has been out for a while on console, and this month is coming to the PC. There's already a review on here for the game, so this is just a recommendation for those PC gamers of you out there. This is a game worth your time. Platforms: PC Release Date: 11/07/08
Soul Calibur IV In a bit of a dry spell for games, Soul Calibur is positively an oasis. This month this game gets my pick for both X360 and PS3. People who are familiar with the Soul Calibur series don't need me to tell them that this is the finestfantasy beat-em-up available, and SCIV looks good to build on the great games that have already come out of the franchise. This ought to be must have gaming. Platforms: X360, PS3 Release Date: 01/08/08 (not strictly in this Month, but it'd get missed out otherwise).
That's really it this month. A bit poor as far as gaming standards go. Of course, if you're a Wii fanatic there are plenty of sports games flooding the market which you might like to give a shot. For the rest of us though, let's just look forward to Soul Calibur and hope August brings more fruitful gaming.
For our 99th post, I'm merely going to post the battlefield TV spots.
This is more of a normal trailer, it's notable for "Haven't they got guys trained for that?" "Well, yeah, but those guys are too expensive to waste."
They are frankly, amazing, I had a fair few sniggers as I realised what games they were spoofing in these following trailers.
Mocking Rainbow Six Vegas...
Mocking Metal Gear solid..
Mocking the Gears of War TV spot.
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Pretty moving pictures aside, since playing the Beta of this game back in April, I've been well up for taking the full game for a spin, and it launches this Friday.
Since the beta, there's been a lot of talk about the "micro transactions" to buy certain guns in the game, and while i disagree with it solely on the idea that someone willing to pay shouldn't have an advantage over someone who won't, or can't, its an academic difference seeing as EA quickly removed it. However, the fuss has remained. This is a similar shit storm to the one conjured up by Oblivion's various small additions, like horse armour. And it got me thinking.
The games buisness is just that, A buisness, and however much we love to get free stuff, you have to face the fact that somewhere, somehow, someone has to get money out of this. In my opinion, Map Packs are okay, Camo packs, or character customisation packs, they are okay. But Weapons and armour? No. Too far.
Single player content is all fine. After all, they have the right to offer said items, and we have the right to turn down the items, but when those items threaten to divide the community, like Ghost Recon's map packs did, they shouldnt be allowed. Xbox live is one big community, and for developers to change fundemental aspects of this, by seperating us by money, there's a big flaw.
So, I picked this game up today, and i've played through the first 2 of 8 chapters.
This took about an hour. So i'm unsure how long the game will last, but thats the sort of stuff I can cover in a review.
The opening sequence was pretty decent, and It was genuinely pulse pounding stuff trying to escape from the collasping building you start in, the driving wasn't terrible considering its a survival horror game, and it was nicely tense.
The highly promising combine/use combat system is all present and correct, but for some reason my coat is full of batterys and sticky tape and not much of use. This wouldnt be a problem, its just that my trusty pistol is about as damaging to these creatures as a large stuffed animal to the face, and so I felt just a little hopeless.
On the flipside, when I managed to kill one of the monsters in one hit because i had the forethought to set light to my fire-axe for one almighty blow, well. it was satisfying. but at this early stage of the game the most lethal attack I can do is wave my lighter at them and look stern.
I suppose this is good, I mean, it IS survival horror, and not "KILL EVERYTHING WITH FIRE" horror, but I dunno, maybe Resident evil 4 has spoilt me a little.
Due to my fellow contributors being otherwise occupied, I’ve taken time out from MGS4 to give a little news on a few games coming out in the near (and far) future.
Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe A couple of months back DW posted a few trailers on this game, and since then a little more info has come out on it. Apart from Batman (in the trailer) and Superman there haven’t been any other confirmed DC characters, but the co-creator of Mortal Kombat, Ed Boon, has said that if you think about the top five from the DC universe, you’d probably be right that they would appear in the game, as well as supervillains being included too. This is getting me thoroughly excited as well now, and I'm also gunna be keeping a close eye on this game too, as the idea of (possibly) playing as The Joker is a very intriguing one. The Mortal Kombat characters will be the most iconic stars, so this includes Scorpion as well as Sub Zero. The game is due out some time in autumn, so we’ve got a while to wait yet.
GT5 As far as im aware there hasn’t been any coverage on this game on the blog, so this is a first! After GT5 Prologue’s just above average scores since its release, it has been confirmed that there is a new GT5 Prologue being released at the end of the year with more content on it, such as Damage being added, allowing you to smash your car to shit, and the online content getting more variety, as well as more cars and tracks. Unfortunately for people looking forward to the finished version, that isn’t planned to come out until towards the end of next year! So unlucky there really. But there is going to be a massive range of cars and a whole new range of tracks to choose from in the finished game, and as I've mentioned a second Prologue is coming out, so hang in there GT fans!
Prince of Persia Now the new POP game looks very interesting. Graphics are cel-shaded, to give it a more comic feel, and lighten the tone from previous dark POP instalments (I’m looking at you Warrior Within), and there have been hints to a new combat system in this game, as well as massive increase in speed thanks to the Prince’s mysterious metal gauntlet. Also this isn’t the same Prince from previous games, but a different guy, although there is a good chance this is just another version of the Prince we know. The game also uses an updated version of Assassin’s Creed’s engine, so the areas you traverse are going to be MUCH bigger. Having played the first two games of the series and enjoying them a lot, this new one is looking rather swish, so expect some more news on this one at a later date.
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII For me it’s a shame that this game is coming out when it is (June 20th, so 3 days people!) because im obviously not going to spare it any attention for a while thanks to MGS4, but I really like the FF series, and FF7, so I felt it was worth a mention here. Also there is a lack of PSP related info on the blog too, but I'm not really that surprised.
Anyway this game is receiving generally positive reviews and looks pretty good, even on the small screen. The game is huge (main story plus over 100 side missions) and plays very much like FF12, with the combat being almost real time. Materia is also back again (yay!) but you can’t make changes during battles (boo!), and there is a new combat feature involved called the Digital Mind Wave, a fruit machine-like system that gives you special magic attacks or special moves etc as the reels spin. One thing I'm looking forward to is seeing old characters like Cloud, Zack, Sephiroth, Aerith (or Aeris) and the Turks coming back, as well as getting to know more about that red-haired git Genesis (those who played Dirge of Cerberus will know what I mean). I’ll be getting this later in the year for sure.
And a quick note for all you Brawl fans, in case you've somehow forgotten or been asleep for the past year, the game comes out on the 27th, so not long to wait now!
Two new Xbox originals have been announced: Guilty Gear XX #Reload and The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning.
These games will be available on June the 16th for 1200 MS points on the Xbox 360 marketplace. Guilty Gear XX #Reload is the refined version of Guilty Gear XX. Think of it in a similar vein to Ninja Gaiden Black's revision of Ninja Gaiden. It revises many moves, and is considered the defining version. Having not played it, I'm in no position to judge, but as 2d fighters go, it's suitably well respected. As for Spyro? well. It's the less then critically acclaimed reboot for Spyro, taking the emphasis away from the platforming I personally loved in the original Spyro the Dragon. Regardless of this, it received a fair few awards back in 2004, although it was heavily criticised for being too linear.
And that's it. If any of those are your bag. June 16th.
This review was a long time coming, and I'm breaking one of my own rules by reviewing the game before I've completed it.
Either way, here we go.
Ninja gaiden is from the lovely fellas at Tecmo who produced the Dead or Alive series, you know, the one with the boobs bouncing everywhere. The first Ninja Gaiden was the hardest game on the Xbox, and also regarded as the best action game on the platform. So obviously, when it came to the sequel, there was quite a bit to live up to.
The game is heavily styled: think a blood soaked Ninja edition of Devil may cry 4, and you're halfway there, limbs fly off in all directions and walls get sprayed with arterial blood as you hack your way through the levels, and its all alot of fun. You feel really cool bouncing off walls, and cutting off arms and legs.
There's a wide selection of weapons for the job, and I am really enjoying the game, despite wanting to chuck my TV out of the window because of some of the bosses [YES I'M LOOKING AT YOU ELECTRO FISH], but by and large its a nice challenge, without being too frustrating. The characters looks very Japanese, with a CIA agent wearing barely anything but a smile and a pair of over sized handguns, and the level design is a little.. confusing. A few times I had to stop and retrace my steps because I'd gone the wrong way, but as Darkshadowfang tells me, "I have no sense of orientation". This is true.
Interestingly enough, this game practically vomits Gamerscore all over you if you play it, little 5g chunks for mastering the "Reverse wind" or "Swallow". Not a big deal for me, but still a nice incentive to keep playing, if one were needed.
Mainly, I was attracted to this game for the difficulty. The first one remains the only xbox game I couldnt beat [I really tried], and I fondly remembered the first level being ridiculously fun, before the first boss being ridiculously, insanely difficult. And of course, Ninjas. The second game lived up to this well. The game engine was fluid, and it is alot of fun. The difficulty seems to have been dialed back for the sequel - which I could argue was a good thing as I never surpassed the second level of the first gaiden. All in all, I really enjoyed the game. My main complaint, was that the difficulty curve as you fought the bosses was abit much. Well, when I say abit much, it was like having a lovely stroll in the park, followed by you single handedly trying to climb out of the inside of a volcano while doused in petrol. Aside from this its proving to be a rather enjoyable venture, and although I doubt what future it has on the gameshelf after i've finished it the once, it's proven a blast so far.
well, i applied for the beta maybe a week ago, i figured it was a long shot that i'd get in.
Hello, Jake Tucker
We're pleased to inform you that you have been selected to participate in the Tom Clancy's EndWar Private Beta. You now have access to the full EndWar Beta website at www.endwarbeta.com and can begin posting on the forums.
Unfortunatly, i just had to agree to a lengthy NDA before it would let me on the site, so all i'll be able to tell you is if its any good or not.
Well I am quite into Dragonball Z Seeing DWs first look at the game and his ignorance of the DBZ universe made me want to kill him, but since then he has had the courtesy to watch the series so i don't want to kill him and is now currently most of the way through the Saiyan saga, anyway enough of me ranting at DWs lack of expertise in the DBZ universe (for want of a better phrase), on to the game.
Now I have played Budokai 2 and Tenkaich 2 and 3, so i do have a lot of Dragonball Z gaming experience, though I am now so used to flailing around like a retarded Seal with the Wii remote, now I'm going to have to concentrate for this review as DW is currently sitting next to me getting ever more irritated with a giant silver electrified ninja snake with cannons attached to its head on Ninja Gaiden 2.
When i first started playing burst limit i must say that i was and still am very happy with the way it keeps to the storyline, the problem with this though is though they do very very well on keeping to the storyline they miss out huge chunks of the story line, maybe because they don't have the 160 characters that Tenkaichi 3 had, this does work as a blessing and a curse, you don't have to do all the mindless filler episodes where they are "waiting for the saiyans," which would probably have made me fire it out of a cannon into mount doom because i would have died from boredom. But this does have it's down side, i mean i personally wanted to exterminate every member of the Ginyu force myself, but the only ones that are in the bloody game are the Captain and pants on head retarded Racoome, evidently this would not be the case.
The in game Cut scenes are really very very good, they look good, they also view almost exactly the same as original episodes, some of the voice actors appear to have been changed, but that's no biggy i don't really care as long as the dam thing looks good.
Dw and i both also have a criticism, we both loved the combat, well as much as you can love mindless button bashing combat, which aside from the tutorials is 90% of what I'm doing with the occasional thing I meant to do making me very happy, because sending Nappa flying across the map with a kamehameha wave you meant to do is very satisfying, but once again i have digressed the thing DW and i hated about the combat is that they have added these things called "drama pieces," now the tutorial said you choose them before the beginning of the fight, in single player you are given no such option, making me pull a very angry face. Then i became even more enraged, as did DW when we saw how badly they break the flow of combat, your happy helping yourself to a Freiza sandwich and then suddenly out of nowhere the game will go into cut scene mode, he will deflect one of your attacks or send you flying, at this point i thought to myself "how the hell did you do that when i just sent you flying across the whole bloody map."
The other thing i will say about it, is it has a difficulty curve so steep i had to get Spiderman wall crawling abilities to overcome it, especially when the CPU blocks every bloody move you do and you can't get a word in edge ways.
Overall though i am pleased with the game and after this am going to go and play it some more, but here is my advice, if you loved Budokai, buy this game you will really enjoy it, but if you preferred Tenkaichi you will probably still enjoy it if you are a DBZ fan as it adheres to the storyline so very closely, but it will never compare trust me.
The opening screen to this demo is awesome, with its wailing guitars and speeding cars. I felt more manly just for seeing the screen.
I hadnt heard anything about this game before I saw the demo, and when I got to the main menu I selected "Cases" and a normal difficulty setting. Not really so used to having Cases on a racing game.
See that trailer? ITS LYING. its nowhere near that exciting. Plus every now and then as your driving, you go into a cutscene of you smashing into a car and it setting on fire. YOUR SUPPOSED TO BE THE POLICE! where in the police driving handbook does it tell you to aim for innocent fatalities? Jeez. anyway.
The graphics were pretty bad, and the car handling felt way too off for me. I know I complained about it being too twitchy on GRID, and here was the opposite extreme. it felt way too "light", Despite all the issues, I played it for a few goes, and had a bit of fun with it, in spite myself.
The engine was pretty bad, and the cases reminded me of Felony 11-79 a game which was dated when it showed up on the PSone. It's nice to see something different to the norm tried. But it seems to have fallen flat in the execution. Not a hope in hell i'm buying this one at launch.
oh yeah, and I have played the ninja gaiden demo, and it is good. I'll be picking up the game tommorow.
Ninja Gaiden II This is my pick of the month for the 360. Following from the previous game called, believe it or not Ninja Gaiden, you play as a Ninja, Ryu Hayabusa, who is on a mission to avenge his clan (original) and save the world from destruction (not quite so original). Ninja Gaiden is a critically acclaimed game that I personally enjoyed, with fast paced gaming that is a little more complicated than simple button bashing. Ninja Gaiden II looks set to build upon this sturdy base with an enhanced battle system and a completely innovative health system, being a hybrid of the traditional 'health bar' style and the more modern 'regen' system. This, all in all, looks like a very worthwhile game from a trusted group of developers (Team Ninja), and one that I will certainly be keeping an eye on. Platforms: X360 Release Date: 06/06/08 Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit I've played the original DBZ fighting game, and I was not too impressed, saying this, I was never a fan of the DBZ series. However, for an in depth look at the pros and cons of this game, I direct you to DW's First Impressionson this game. Platforms: X360, PS3 Release Date: 06/06/08
Sports Island Another example of how Nintendo is attempting to change the face of gaming. Sports Island is a third party, and more in depth version, of Wii Sports. It includes 10 different 'disciplines' of which a couple of examples are Badminton an Basketball. However, the question for its popularity will be whether it can live up to the simplicity of Wii Sports. Platforms: Wii Release Date: 06/06/08
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots This is, of course, my pick of the month for PS3. This is the last episode in the Solid Snake saga, and is set to be monumental as such. With visually stunning effects and a grand amount of innovative technology, MGS will be a game for even non-Playstation owners to watch. For those of you already interested, I don't need to remind you of the basic storyline, and we can see included Metal Gear Online for those of you who like your 'social gaming'. I can say that we should all be watching this space. Platforms: PS3 Release Date: 12/06/08
Sid Meier's Civilisation: Revolution Turn based stratey at its very best. With Sid Meier somewhere in the title, this is guaranteed to be a classic game, though a questionable choice to not go on the PC, where the traditional fan base lies. If you're not a purist, and don't believe that Strategy should be confined to the mouse and keyboard, then give this game a go, it has the potential to be another great game in a long list under this franchise. Platforms: PS3, X360, DS Release Date: 13/06/08
Sins of a Solar Empire This looks to be an interesting sci-fi strategy game. It involves building an empire, and destroying other empires in order to further your own gain. Of course, its been done before, but never really to the extent that AoE managed. Could this be the AoE of the stars (and I don't mean SW: Battlegrounds)? Only time will tell. Platforms: PC Release Date: 13/06/08
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith The first time this franchise has been brought to an individual band, and Aerosmith is decided on. Not sure what to say about this. I guess we can expect GH3 with all Aerosmith songs. Good if you really like Aerosmith, not so great if you don't. This really needs some big fundamental changes in it for me to consider it worth buying. It should be stressed that this game is not GH4, and so will probably just be the GH3 interface again. Platforms: PS3, X360, Wii, PS2 Release Date: 13/06/08
Ferrari Challenge This is the official Ferrari game. All real cars, and all real tracks. This looks to be the best racing game of this month, if you're an enthusiast, and if you're not, it might be worth a look in if nothing else here tickles your fancy. Unlike other genres, 'official' driving games don't tend to be that poor, so don't let the 'Ferrari' label necessarily put you off, this could be a good game. Platforms: PS3, Wii, DS Release Date: 20/06/08
Battlefield: Bad Company This looks impressive, as can be expected. The storyline looks a bit whimsical... set in the 'near future' during a 'eurasian conflict', not the most original of scenarios. But the gameplay looks solid, taking part half way between squad based and trad-Battlefield play. The online will be up to 24 players, and looks set to improve on previous Battlefield games. This may give MGS a run for its money in sales on the PS3 this month. Platforms: X360, PS3 Release Date: 27/06/08
Super Smash Bros.: Brawl This is my pick for the Wii this month. For those who haven't played this series, explaining it would be pointless because it would just come across as a simple beat-em-up game. But it's so much more than that. Super Smash Bros. is an opportunity to get inside the minds of Nintendo characters and really understand what makes them tick... and then get them to kick the arses of other Ninty characters. Great fun for fans of Nintendo, and more sceptical people. Even if this game only changed the stages of the previous game, Melee, it would still come out great. Platforms: Wii Release Date: 27/06/08
Robert Ludlum's: The Bourne Conspiracy Not based on any of the films, but instead one of the books, the demo of this was not looked favourably on by DW, in his First Impressions, which is a shame, because I thought it looked quite good till I read the preview. Platforms: X360, PS3 Release Date: 27/06/08
This looks to be a good month for gaming, with MGS, Super Smash Bros. and Ninja Gaiden II. You can expect reviews for the best games here. I know that the review for DBZ and Ninja Gaiden will be up hopefully this weekend. Keep reading.
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Japan has long been the heartland for Nintendo support. Release a 360 in Japan and plaster 'Nintendo' all over the box and it'll sell like a new Elvis Presley album. Yet, Microsoft have been adamantly chasing that market despite the polite nudge-offs that the Japanese have been giving them over the past few years. In a bid, perhaps, to do what Manchester City are currently doing the football industry, and become the ultimate games console for all walks of life in all 'theatres of war'.
intendo know exactly what Japan wants, and how to give it to them: and how to make a return on this. Microsoft can't do that, because it's stretched too far, every game has to be available for release in all the 'theatres of war' for it to make sufficient return on the games. Nintendo, on the other hand, can design games (and, more frequently than any other developer, does) that appeal just to Japan, and then release the bigger title games overseas too. And it can then export at greater profit, because of the Yen-Dollar exchange.
GT5
