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Games news 22/08/09

22 August 2008- PS3 Eyepet

The New PS3 Eyepet was unveiled at the leipzig game conference recently to an impressed audience. The Eyepet is a virtual pet which interacts by stroking it, flicking it, and anything you can think that you can think of to do with your fingers. I imagine this will be a hit with the kids and Japanese, or as my colleuege said "something to get the girlfriend to shut up".

Hold tight man dem, Fifa 10 trailor has been released. The full game is set to be realsed the 2nd of October with a new dynamic control system and greater control of players skills. I personally didn't master the last controll set, in fact I've only won about 4 out of 60 games I've played online. OH well, maybe this time I'll have a chance against my Chinese counter-parts.

Ghostbusters

Upon receiving Chronicles of Riddick in the post last week, I felt it necessary to contact Boomerang rentals and vent my anger at never receiving any of my top 3 games on my rental list.

Ghostbusters being one of those, I was really looking forward to playing the 80's remake but Boomerang gave me a whole load of corporate back talk tosh. No problem, I'll cancel my subscription.

After a few angry days waiting and a back with fourth with "Steve" I finally got my copy. Banged it in and boy was I excited. The second that foghorn like sound kicks in, the goosebumps sprung like asparagus. Usually I skip through the opening credits but I was happy to let the full song and video demo play through, enjoying being transported back to a simpler time. A time when Mono was the new Stereo and it was OK to call the only black member of the Ghostbusting unit Winston.

Initially the visuals aren't great, not bad just not quite what I was expecting. Especially after the opening credits boasting a company called "HD-gaming". I've heard a few things about comparable graphics between the x-box and triple on this game, apparently the triple trailing in realistic visuals. Have a look below and make up your mind yourself:

360

PS3

Not much difference? Take a look at the website for bigger pictures and a closer inspection.

I think there is a difference based on the pictures shown to me, but I've only actually played the game on the triple so I cant give your first hand info on that particular aspect of the game.

The game centres around all four main characters from the films and has voices from the original cast. This makes for a much more rounded experience, and takes away any reservations you might of had about this being a slap dash movie game. If anyone remembers the oh so bad bad boys game, that was the pinnacle of piss poor movie games utilising the power of actors not affiliated with the film. Actors who sounded nothing like Will smith or Martin Lawrence. So as you can imagine, how refreshing it is to see a high budget game with real film actors.

The game is set after the second movie, and you are a new recruit of the team primarily used for testing the highly volatile new equipment Egon has cobbled together. The game has a real movie feel, it never really gets scary just like the movie. Even the most intense dark airy halls of an old haunted library are made light with Bill Murrays slightly sexist quips. This game has ticked all the boxes of a gamer Q&A, the experimental weaponry gives you the ability to blast and capture ghosts in a variety of ways with upgrades available for purchase in the pause menu. This keeps the game interesting and there's nothing more fun that firing out a proton beam, locking onto a slimer and slamming it into a trap I AINT 'FRAID NO GHOST.

The controls take some getting used to, it feels quite clunky at first. The buster doesn't move so gracefully and when hes required to dodge out the way of an attack there seems to be a delay which can cause fits of anger. If you KNOW you pressed the dodge button in time, but you still get hit, die, and have to start the level from the beginning....well lets just say blu-rays make good Frisbees. Despite this, you will learn to incorporate the delay an generally get used to the controls.

Online, the game has is quit ingenious, pitting your survival, capture or ghost slamming skills against your fellow Ghostbuster. The more you win, the more points you earn and higher your rank is, standard online competition rules really. Unfortunately every time i tried, there never seemed to be more than 3 or four people online and I would spent 10-15 minute waiting for someone to join a game, not fun. But I assume this is because it's a relatively new game or people have put it down after completing the single player.

Overall, this is a fun well rounded game, probably more likely to tickle the fancy of a fan of the genre. Someone who's never seen the films as a child may not be able to relish in the nostalgia. I thoroughly enjoyed it, completed it in two days and would suggest you get it for a fun filled ghost busting roller coaster ride.

McGregortron

Game news

Welcome to the first of the weekly game news updates. Up-to-date, reliable news to keep you abreast of whats happening and provide you with plenty of gaming pub ammo. Relish the praise from peers as they coin you as the GTA Galileo, the Need For Speed Nostradamus, the Devil May Cry Derron Brown.

27/07/09

Pre-paid cards Europe

Several sites are reporting a rumor today that PSN Cards will finally be coming to Europe on October 1, 2009.

To quote: October 1st will be an important day for Sony. With the launch of the PSP Go and the much-awaited Gran Turismo PSP already confirmed for that day, now it's been reported that the same day what European PSN users have been clamoring for years will be finally released: PSN pre-paid cards.

While we're labeling this as rumor since it hasn't been officially confirmed yet, the timing of release makes it seem very likely, given that the download-only PSP Go launches on the same day, it makes sense for pre-paid cards to accompany it.

We'll keep you informed when Sony finally confirms the rumor.

27/07/09

Uncharted 2 update

News of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Multiplayer DLC was recently revealed at Comic-Con 2009 along with some active cinematic gameplay (video below) courtesy of IGN.

Creative director Amy Hennig stated that Naughty Dog’s latest will get post-release support in the form of multiplayer DLC.

To quote: “One of the great things about the multiplayer and the co-op is that it gives us great opportunities to expand the experience for players with downloadable content, unlockables, things like that.

Which of course you don’t really do with the single-player game that much. We tried to pack a lot of value into the first game in terms of unlockables, but with that online component the game can kind of keep growing, especially based on players’ feedback too.”

25-07-09

MySpace takes gaming direction

News Corp, the owners who bought MySpace in 2005 when it was at its most popular have announced that they will be launching a new

gaming platform for myspace to combat fleeting users of the site to facebo

ok. MySpace has been loosing users to facebook at an alarming rate and in an attempt to reposition and re-brand they are targeting a lucrative gaming market.

Speaking at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in Pasadena California. Johnathon Miller said that he saw opportunities for game developers to put their games on the site and use the sites user data to take comments and improve the game. Like online testing and feedback, ultimately better developing games. I'm not quite sure how it is exactly they will put large HD files online for gamers to play, but I'm intrigued to see.

"MySpace is and will be more in the future a gaming platform, a space for people to meet and play games," Miller said.

But Miller described video games as an opportunity for expansion not only for MySpace, but for owner News Corp, which has the Fox network and movie studio and other media companies.

"None of the traditional media conglomerates are also significant video game players, so to speak, and I think that that's the missing piece of the equation, particularly when you see how much time is spent playing games online," Miller said.

Analysis

With this new direction, news corp could be onto a winner. It's no secret that the gaming market is massive and overtaking the film industry. With many blockbusters making (albeit lacklustre) games, the market is a good place for news corp to focus their efforts. It's unlikely they will be able to beat the galactic facebook, but if they manage to convince gamers they are the real deal...they will find that gamers are very loyal.

As far as I know, there is know other source for gamers to try out HD games before release, obviously there are demos but these are promotional tools rather than feedback forums. Demos for games are usually for the big releases, development companies with a lot of money, a lot of the PS3's problems is the lack of small developers that make games. This equates to the £10,000 price tag for a Dev kit, which I understand has now been dropped to £1000. A small step forward, but if news corp pull this off I foresee wiping off that old "no games on PS3" mantra.

22/07/09

Modern warefare 2

Infinity Ward is hinting at the production of an exclusive Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 controller. It looks like Infinity Ward might be planning an extra peripheral for the release of Modern Warfare 2. Most likely a pre-order incentive, it doesn't look like the company is simply producing a few stickers, with a decision on "concave or convex analogue sticks" to be made. "In a design meeting for a #MW2 controller. Need your advice - Concave or Convex grips for the Analog sticks? Whats your preference and why?" Infinity Ward tweets. Would it be a good idea to release a specific controller for a particular game? If it's not available to all players, couldn't this be seen as an unfair advantage for some gamers in online play? Tell us what you think in the comments section.

Infamous

Imagine a cross between Hero's, GTA & Prince of Persia minus the shittyness, and you have Infamous. This game is something special, a breath of fresh air in an otherwise predictable game slump, what's more it's a PS3 exclusive! With good reason too, I'm sure the white Vauxchall Corsa (xbox) couldn't handle the amount of processing power this games chomps away at.

If you haven't got the game yet, get the demo, be amazed, crack the piggy bank and buy it. I think this is truly one of the greats, one for the collection that you won't let get dusty.
The story is based in Empire City and centers around a young nobody simply called "Cole", a bald geezer with the standard gruff voice of an anti hero. The opening scene is like a graphic novel describing the moments leading up to a huge explosion in empire city, with you at the epicenter of it. Being the only survivor of the blast within a 10 block radius, Cole questions how he survived, but with no time to muse he must get to safety. This is where you firs experience the Prince of Persia aspect of jumping and locking onto objects, Cole moves like the prince himself grabbing onto everything within sight....this becomes detrimental in your development as a superhero later on.

Skip a few chapters and it's now clear you have electric powers, staring off fairly weak with basic shock powers you can buy and upgrade powers in the pause menu with experience points you get from tasing hooded enemies. Be aware that you will gain an electric lust for more power, if you have the special addition you get a free promotional code to download a power from the PSN called "gigawatt blades" I didn't discover this until I finished the game, shame really, would have been useful in the boss which took me an hour to do.
Suckerpunch have been really intuitive with the powers, they have everything covered that would you normally have in a shoot-em-up with some added extras. Along side the offensive powers, are the mobility powers, flying, gliding & jet set radio style rail grinding. This game had a lot of thought put into it, which is refreshing to play off the back of the slap dash Wolverine.

The games storyline is excellent, I don't want to spoil it for you but there's a lot of twists and turns with a cliff hanger at the end which leaves scope for a sequel. Much of the game is based around good or evil decisions, you have a "karma" meter which consistently tells you if your decisions have put you on the side of hero or outlaw. You can be hit with a "karma" decision at any point, whether your mincing around town or in the middle of chasing a UAV, often the latter. These decision will have an effect on what powers are available to you, evil powers and good powers. Both have their benefits, evil looks much cooler. Depending on which side you pick, people will act differently towards you, if your good people will cheer and paint heroic pictures of you. If you're evil people will fear you and run everytime you drop by for a lemonade. I have a massive ego and a crippling hunger to be popular, so I picked hero.
This also gives the game re-playability, bored of being a hero? go evil! and visa versa. Shame there's a lack of a online facility but I can't imagine what exactly you'd do online with this game, although if you want to download several different trailers the PSN is well stocked.

The GTA side of the game is the ability to roam freely, it's not at all linear. You can do the main story line missions , you can complete the side missions, or you can simply clear the streets of the heathen scum that roam it. The side missions can be a bit laborious, many of which are repeated, for example a citizen will require your help tyeing their shoes (didn't happen) or they want to take a few photos of you slapping the shit out of a mutant thingy.
The sheer size of the game really gives you a sense of freedom, going from district to district being a cunt or being a hero is an amazing feeling.
As much praise I give this game, it's lacking of a few features. The frame rate throughout plays up, at times lagging at critical moments. Sometimes, on occasion, every now and then, Cole just doesn't move.....he'll just stand there inanimate. Both irritating but pretty much the only problem I can think of which lets the game down.


Overall, i'd buy this game again if it wasn't a stupid thing to do. If possible get the special edition version for the cool mini graphic novel that comes with it.
Good game, lot of fun, you wont put it down, buy it now, then buy it again.

McGregortron

Mirrors Edge (Which is now very cheap)

A little out of date, I know, but i'm still overwhelmed by the sheer quality of this game. The bastard child of the Prince of Persia and his beautiful new squeeze, Yoko Ono, it shows how a game based on concept and image can still have substance and rewarding game play. The physics are almost as jaw dropping as the simple but effective visuals and everything from the Colour Palette to the sound is pure art. The interaction with the environment is a joy to behold. If you think you can reach that ledge, despite its awkward angle, then if you are good enough, you probably can.

Many years ago, whilst playing games such as Deus Ex, Thief and Oblivion, I had a struggle within myself. Do I upgrade my character to become a super powerful cyborg mega wizard, harder than a T100 and with a bloodlust like Serious Sam, or do I do the intelligent thing, and produce a silent sneaky-squirrel master of the shadows, who is as stealthy as he is macabre. I would always go for the halfway house, a combination of the two, a jack of all fights and master of none.

Mirrors Edge however, settles this age old dilemma. The Masterful development of the gameplay means that only a stalwart blood-letter would ever attempt to slow himself down in order to dispacth the intelligent and challenging enemies. Much more reward can be gained from disarming or racing past the multitude of enemies using the free-running inspired dynamics. Only in limited scenarios do you ever feel like slowing your blistering pace to warrant these foes with your attention.

The pace of the game, however, means that you do feel a little lost when you have raced your way through the chapters and are only left with the time trials. Real-time races online would be a far more fun way of extending the playability of the title, but unfortunately, this was overlooked. This focus on dynamic physics and the mechanisms by which you race across the stunning cityscapes make older style, similar titles such as Tomb Raider and Prince of Persia seem awkward and frustrating. This title is to Prince of Persia, what Resident Evil 4 was to the other titles in terms of the controls and game interaction.

Highly recommended, this title will be kept and played again, being one of the few titles in recent years I have played through twice in the same short time. Very rewarding and one of the most original titles ever made.

(Inaccurate) X-men origins - Wolverine

Oh how I love Wolverine, how I adore everything about his very being from his "gut first disembowel later" manifesto to his aspiration to be an unlicensed, adamantium claw wielding proctologist.
He is by far the most entertaining of the x-men not least for his timeless sideburns and blatant poor hygiene, but mostly for his raw animal blood lust. So imagine my dismay at the casting of the much toned down Wolverine in the largely disappointing X-men films and most recently the overly bland X-men origins film. With the game shortly following, forgive me for not getting to excited about the prospect of another slap dash comic to film to game conversion.

Having downloaded the demo (and immediately bought the game after) I was ready to be disappointed, my eyelids were just itching to drop to "glaze" level and my nostrils were widening to let through a big sighing breath. But upon witness of the opening cut scene I was seriously impressed with the graphics, which I thought were on par with MGS. I was enthralled, I was completely taken in by some stunning cut scene graphics and what seem to be a set up to a decent story line. Is this it? Am I witnessing the funeral of half baked film game graphical turds? NOPE.It quickly became clear that the budget was spent on that opening scene because what followed induced the fastest "glaze and sigh" this year.
The in-game graphics are starkly different to the cut scene graphics - I thought these days ended with driver on the PS2?
Wolverine has been blown out of a helicopter and is hurtling towards the earth at an alarming rate, unfortunately this alarming rate is too much for the frame rate and in the first 10 seconds of the game there's a graphical fuck up.

Disappointing? Yes, it doesn't bode well for the rest of the game. That sort of instant disappointment is usually enough to condemn a game to the back of a dusty draw. However playing on was the only option, mostly becuase I had no physical copy to point and laugh at, plus it took a while to download so I wanted to get my bandwidth worth.
Post helicopter explosion, Wolverines' dismount onto land sees him plunging his claws into a random African dude, Which, I have to admit is pretty cool and instantly changes your expectations of what is to come. The scene is a flash back of Wolverine's past in the military, you are dropped in Africa and you have to find the other members of your team.
To do so you have to battle through swarms of AK47 carrying enemies, hacking and slashing at will.

Controlling Wolverine is fairly straight forward, no overtly confusing controls and the tutorial is in game, which I prefer as I like to learn as I play. The mechanics behind using his claws are actually really good, utalising an informal locking system which means you can unleash your button bashing fury on one enemy or several without getting caught into an air slashing furor.
Enemies at a distance can be lunged at, which makes up for Wolverine's lack of a gun. This really is a great feature and a stroke of genius by the developers because it can be used to gain entry to parts of the game that are too far away to jump, or have no platform to help you along the way.

There are a variety of moves available in Wolverine's arsenal, all very easy to execute, all devilishly gory. If you're pressed for time you can perform a quick kill by grabbing an enemy and doing a heavy attack, which looks similar to a Mortal Kombat finisher and will be different depending on the type of enemy. It's not possible to kill off every enemy like this, some will need a good beating before you can split them in half, which is absolutely fine with me.
How you kill your opponent becomes the focal point of the game, throughout you will see tips on how to perform a certain type of kill and it will flash "success!!" once you heed the instruction, this keeps the game interesting and not repetitive. Keeping your killing different is recorded in the statistics menu, you can see how many enemies you've thrown over an edge or killed in rage mode. Once you have killed so many in a certain way you will be given a shit load of experience points.

The experience point system is based on your kills and how many dog tags you collect throughout the game, these points are then used to level up. The higher your level, the more powerful you are, the quicker you dissect. You will gain extra points for using mutagens, these are skills you collect over the course of the game which can be used as a way to improve aspects of your offensive/defensive repertoire. You can only use 3 mutagens at any one time, so you can swap them out in replacement for another depending on the situation. For example in the 5th Chapter of the game you will be battling a sky scraper sized robot who servers no purpose other than to kill mutants, naturally dieing is not on your agenda so you will need to make use of all the healing and regeneration mutagens you have.

For all the hacking and slashing fun, (which really is a lot of fun) this game is by far no way polished. There are a lot of glitches which need to be addressed, most notably the anti aliasing is particularly bad, lines aren't straight and flat ground looks like jagged rocks. Wolverine also has a tendency to walk through mid air getting caught between objects, unfortunately this occurs throughout the game and begins to grow tiresome.

Some of the fuck ups are just comedy. About half way through the game you'll do battle with robots, the only difference between them and human enemies is the way they look and their dodgy voice overs. For some strange reason these robots bleed like their human counterparts. Wolverine will rip their limbs off and blood will pour out or they will make a gargling sound as they fall to the ground, as if they are choking on their own blood....that's just lazy and it begs the question, how on earth did it make it past testing?

Before Wolverine gets his Adamantium bone transplant surgery, his claws are simple, back to basics, bone. This however is not reflected in the flash back scenes and Wolverine has his Adamantium claws even before his revolutionary surgery - how? Fast approaching deadline is how.
There are a few other things to get your back up about; dodgy frame rates, game crashes, inconsistent jumping and pointless flash backs to mention a few. But something that really takes the mutated biscuit is having to voluntarily restart at the last saved checkpoint because the game fucks up.
Oh how irritating this is. There's a particular level during the flash back where you have to walk into a cave fronted as a skull mouth, once you enter the cave you are faced with fighting two "shifters". After defeating them Wolverine must then make his way around the maze and out the other side, simple enough right? Well, after tearing up the shifters I was disorientated and came out the same way I went in, unfortunately the game had no contingency plan for this and would not let me back into the cave, I had to restart from my last saved checkpoint and leave the correct way.

Overall despite the obvious unfinished parts of the game, it's a hell of a lot of fun. I've thoroughly enjoyed culling hundreds of bad guys and I relish the opportunity to do more in a possible follow up game. This is by far the most entertaining game I've played in a while it's just a shame they failed on so, so many points. I hope (and doubt) they will release a patch to solve some of the fuck ups, but without it's still bloody good fun.

McGregortron