While in the Call of duty swing I thought I'd share with you all my thoughts of Modern Warfare 2. Also it was the first review I ever wrote so it has sentimental value. That and this is the only article left that OzBoxLive has decided to credit me for.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (or just modern warfare 2) was the most
hotly anticipated game of 2009. Its creators Infinity Ward and
Activision said it was to deliver us the best first-person action game
since Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. But it wasn’t.
I don’t
hate the game, but it could have been better. The story was a
disappointment. The plot itself is good but it’s a major anti-climax.
Very little actually happened. The story asks tons of questions and
answers very little. It’s that I’m annoyed about. I was ticked off when I
finished the campaign. Without going into detail, Modern Warfare 2
takes place five years after Call Of Duty 4 and it’s up to Soap and Task
force 141 to fight a new bad guy called Makarov. If you can’t remember
what happened in Call Of Duty 4 the first cut scene gives you a quick
recap.
Game play is awesome! It’s classic Call of Duty 4 game
play with a few additions. Modern Warfare 2 has new weapons like the ACR
and the AUG HBAR. Attachments make a comeback and show up on all the
weapons in a variety of combinations. Some of the new ones include a
thermal sight and a heartbeat sensor.
The Vehicles
are not just cover in Modern Warfare 2, in some missions you get to
drive or be driven about the map. The rest of the missions are fun and
are set in locations throughout the world including a shantytown in
Brazil, the deserts of Afghanistan and Washington D.C.
The
attention to detail in Modern Warfare 2 is insane. Modern Warfare 2
spares nothing, right down to the paintings in the White house. It’s
that kind of detail that just makes the game so beautiful to play. The
guns look good and the small shockwave that is made after firing a round
is a nice touch.
The
sound is now more realistic than any game made before it. The AK’s
sound like AK’s and the voice acting is fantastic. The Russians sound
like Russians and the British are British. Normally in American games
the accents let them down because Americans can’t tell them apart but in
Modern Warfare 2 they’ve nailed it. The whole game is given a musical
score that rivals any Hollywood production. It’s amazing; I wish I could
get it on my iPod.
The game is given a longer playtime by adding
a total game completion bar. This means to get 100% completion you must
finish the game on all difficulties, find all pieces of enemy
intelligence that look like laptops, finish the Special ops challenges
and achieve the highest rank in multiplayer which is a new feature for
Modern Warfare 2.
It
should be noted that there is a level where it asks if you want to skip
the level due to the “disturbing content.” You are not penalized in
achievements or game completion for skipping the mission but you do miss
out on a part of the story. What you do in this level is shoot innocent
civilians in a Russian airport.
Modern Warfare 2 has
fantastic graphics and sound along with the classic Call of Duty game
play we all love. It’s the story that lets the whole game down but if
you take it with a pinch of salt you’ll have fun. Modern Warfare 2 is a
game best played with friends over Xbox Live or in split screen.
6 out of 10
Showing posts with label review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label review. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Retro Review: Wolfenstien 3D
I've been having so much fun playing all my old games that I thought I'd review another one. This time I've gone way back in gaming history to where it all began for the FPS genre. Before Battlefield, before Call of Duty, before Unreal and even before Doom, there was Wolfenstien 3D.
I've been playing Wolfenstien 3D since the early 90's. Back then I used to play it on my Dads thumping gaming PC that boasted 64 megabytes of RAM and had a huge 128 megabyte hard drive. It was the game that got me and many others into gaming. It's graphics were cutting edge with a fully 3D map to explore in first person. Unlike other 3D games at the time which had you merely rotate on the spot and just shifted images, Wolfenstien gave the player full fluid movement. Many things in FPS games today we take for granted, like cross hairs and reloading weapons, are non existent in this game. Adding further challenge even today. The game engine was all coded in hexadecimal format. If you're a programmer you will know that coding anything as sophisticated as this in hex would be a bitch. The engine is so solid the developers, I.D software and Apogee, held onto it and would be used to make great games like Doom and Doom 2.
Back in the day developers couldn't rely on a game selling well because it had shiny graphics or an awesome multiplayer experience. Games needed characters and rich plot lines that engaged you and kept you wanting more.Wolfenstien is the original world war two FPS. You play as B.J Blazkowicz, an american G.I who is captured by the Nazis and held in castle Wolfenstien. The first episode (which consisted of ten missions) is about B.J escaping from the castle and killing every Nazi in sight in a blaze of gunfire. Subsequent episodes had you fighting Nazi Zombies and even fighting Hitler himself. There are no cut scenes and the pieces of the story are revealed at the end of each episode and it is really well written. Although I'd like to have seen some more back story for B.J I can't say I.D software didn't accomplish what they set out to do.
There are two ways players can move about and shoot in Wolfenstien 3D. One was to move and shoot with just the keyboard. Which works well but I feel is restrictive. The other being to use the mouse to move and shoot and only use the keyboard for opening doors or switching weapons. I prefer to use the mouse because not only does it make taking out multiple enemies easier and quicker it also allows you to move as fast as you can move the mouse. While the keyboard movement was at a set speed, slow. Because there are no cross hairs aiming came down to just pointing the gun at the enemy. No head shots or blind fire here. Also while there is no cover system per-se enemies will tend to either charge straight at you or move in a pre-set pattern which usually had them moving from cover to cover. the easiest way to dodge bullets is to open a door blast away and then close it before the enemy fires back. Every gun used the same ammo type so conserving it was important. The instruction manual in the game states that you should fire in bursts. Seeing as it only takes three shots from any gun to kill the basic grunts (Brown shirts) who would then drop ammo this stops being an issue after level 1. While the game is focused on just charging about blasting everything it is possible in some levels to sneak up on someone or a group and launching a surprise attack. It doesn't make a difference as far as the game goes but if you feel like it or you're on low health this is a good thing to keep in mind. The only real problem with it is navigating the huge levels can be quite tricky because there is no in game map or navigation system and many rooms appear the same.
The graphics at the time set the standard for all FPS games to come after it. At the time many shooters were side scrolling platform games and Wolfenstien 3D showed that it was possible to make games with 3D universes to explore. However the game isn't truely 3D. The way it works is it generates a series of 2D images and either expands them or contracts them depending on how close you move to an object in game. If you open up the game in a sprite editor you'll see that all the sprites are smaller then they appear in the game. Even though this left the graphics blurry, they are so well drawn (All the sprites including the animation frames were drawn by hand on a computer by the way) that it made little difference to how the game played. Worth noting that the game is set in a Nazi castle so there are a million Swastikas and pictures of Hitler on the walls all throughout the game. So if you're offended by these images you might want to by the SNES or Atari Jaguar port of the game which has all of this removed.
Wolfenstien 3D was one of the first games to have voice actors. Each enemy you come across will utter some word in German before coming to attack and will say something else when they die. The in game music while all just a series of beeps and bops (Come to think of it, isn't that what techno music is?) it really set the mood for each episode. Also an 8-bit version of the Nazi party anthem 'Horst-Wessel-Lied' can be heard while in the games main menu. Considering having sound at all was a technological mervel it is amazing to see it not just there to show off but to add to the atmosphere of the game.
If you want to get a copy in its original, form I.D software is still selling it along with the prequel Spear of Destiny on its website for fifteen bucks. I think it's also available on Steam for around the same price. The free shareware version which is the first episode is also available here. It is a tiny download at only 30 megabytes and uses less than a megabyte of RAM it will not push the limits of even the weakest systems.
Every First person Shooter out there can trace its roots back to Wolfenstien 3D and without it would not even exist. Even 19 years after the games release it is still played and the mod community for it is still going strong. There are not many games that can claim this level of popularity. This game is a piece of gaming history and even if you hate first person shooters or you are a COD player through and through, if you are a gamer you must play this game.
9 and a half out of 10
I've been playing Wolfenstien 3D since the early 90's. Back then I used to play it on my Dads thumping gaming PC that boasted 64 megabytes of RAM and had a huge 128 megabyte hard drive. It was the game that got me and many others into gaming. It's graphics were cutting edge with a fully 3D map to explore in first person. Unlike other 3D games at the time which had you merely rotate on the spot and just shifted images, Wolfenstien gave the player full fluid movement. Many things in FPS games today we take for granted, like cross hairs and reloading weapons, are non existent in this game. Adding further challenge even today. The game engine was all coded in hexadecimal format. If you're a programmer you will know that coding anything as sophisticated as this in hex would be a bitch. The engine is so solid the developers, I.D software and Apogee, held onto it and would be used to make great games like Doom and Doom 2.
Back in the day developers couldn't rely on a game selling well because it had shiny graphics or an awesome multiplayer experience. Games needed characters and rich plot lines that engaged you and kept you wanting more.Wolfenstien is the original world war two FPS. You play as B.J Blazkowicz, an american G.I who is captured by the Nazis and held in castle Wolfenstien. The first episode (which consisted of ten missions) is about B.J escaping from the castle and killing every Nazi in sight in a blaze of gunfire. Subsequent episodes had you fighting Nazi Zombies and even fighting Hitler himself. There are no cut scenes and the pieces of the story are revealed at the end of each episode and it is really well written. Although I'd like to have seen some more back story for B.J I can't say I.D software didn't accomplish what they set out to do.
There are two ways players can move about and shoot in Wolfenstien 3D. One was to move and shoot with just the keyboard. Which works well but I feel is restrictive. The other being to use the mouse to move and shoot and only use the keyboard for opening doors or switching weapons. I prefer to use the mouse because not only does it make taking out multiple enemies easier and quicker it also allows you to move as fast as you can move the mouse. While the keyboard movement was at a set speed, slow. Because there are no cross hairs aiming came down to just pointing the gun at the enemy. No head shots or blind fire here. Also while there is no cover system per-se enemies will tend to either charge straight at you or move in a pre-set pattern which usually had them moving from cover to cover. the easiest way to dodge bullets is to open a door blast away and then close it before the enemy fires back. Every gun used the same ammo type so conserving it was important. The instruction manual in the game states that you should fire in bursts. Seeing as it only takes three shots from any gun to kill the basic grunts (Brown shirts) who would then drop ammo this stops being an issue after level 1. While the game is focused on just charging about blasting everything it is possible in some levels to sneak up on someone or a group and launching a surprise attack. It doesn't make a difference as far as the game goes but if you feel like it or you're on low health this is a good thing to keep in mind. The only real problem with it is navigating the huge levels can be quite tricky because there is no in game map or navigation system and many rooms appear the same.
The graphics at the time set the standard for all FPS games to come after it. At the time many shooters were side scrolling platform games and Wolfenstien 3D showed that it was possible to make games with 3D universes to explore. However the game isn't truely 3D. The way it works is it generates a series of 2D images and either expands them or contracts them depending on how close you move to an object in game. If you open up the game in a sprite editor you'll see that all the sprites are smaller then they appear in the game. Even though this left the graphics blurry, they are so well drawn (All the sprites including the animation frames were drawn by hand on a computer by the way) that it made little difference to how the game played. Worth noting that the game is set in a Nazi castle so there are a million Swastikas and pictures of Hitler on the walls all throughout the game. So if you're offended by these images you might want to by the SNES or Atari Jaguar port of the game which has all of this removed.
Wolfenstien 3D was one of the first games to have voice actors. Each enemy you come across will utter some word in German before coming to attack and will say something else when they die. The in game music while all just a series of beeps and bops (Come to think of it, isn't that what techno music is?) it really set the mood for each episode. Also an 8-bit version of the Nazi party anthem 'Horst-Wessel-Lied' can be heard while in the games main menu. Considering having sound at all was a technological mervel it is amazing to see it not just there to show off but to add to the atmosphere of the game.
If you want to get a copy in its original, form I.D software is still selling it along with the prequel Spear of Destiny on its website for fifteen bucks. I think it's also available on Steam for around the same price. The free shareware version which is the first episode is also available here. It is a tiny download at only 30 megabytes and uses less than a megabyte of RAM it will not push the limits of even the weakest systems.
Every First person Shooter out there can trace its roots back to Wolfenstien 3D and without it would not even exist. Even 19 years after the games release it is still played and the mod community for it is still going strong. There are not many games that can claim this level of popularity. This game is a piece of gaming history and even if you hate first person shooters or you are a COD player through and through, if you are a gamer you must play this game.
9 and a half out of 10
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Retro review: Bushido Blade
For those of you who follow me on twitter you will have noticed this week lots of my tweets have had the hashtag #BushidoBlade in them. In that case you will know that I LOVE THIS GAME! Bushido Blade is a PS1 title brought out by Squaresoft. Yes, you read correctly, Bushido blade is one of the few titles Squaresoft made that didn't include the words Final Fantasy anywhere.
That being said I was quite surprised that I was able to finish the story modes of all 6 characters, on hard difficulty, in less than an hour. Then again Bushido Blade is a fighting game and not an RPG. Each characters story follows the same path with minor variations here and there. They all belong to a secret group of assassins that want to escape their life of doing assassin stuff for something that never really gets explained. Probably a quiet and peaceful existence or something like that. Only after reading the Wikipedia entry on the game did I realize that Bushido Blade is set in contemporary Japan. Then again that does explain the fight on a helipad up on a skyscraper.
Bushido Blade is very unforgiving, one slip up and you're gone. This would usually put me off a fighting game but for some reason as of the last few months I've been getting into them. Bushido Blade just struck a chord with me. Unlike most fighters there is no health bar and it's one hit kills, provided you hit the chest or neck. If you hit the legs or arms you can wound your opponent. Limiting how they move and the speed at which they attack. The controls are very simple to learn and you can start playing rather quickly. I had the controls worked out in 45 minutes and was fighting against my mates within an hour. From the basic controls which are very powerful and various in their own right one can expand ones fighting capabilities by performing combos. These combos not only differ from character to character but also change depending on what weapon you use as well. There are a variety of weapons from the traditional katana to a sledge hammer. The same weapon will be handled differently by two characters because some weapons are heaver than others and certain characters are better equipped to use heavier weapons. The trade off being that heaver weapons do more damage and their chance to hit ratio is high but at the cost of speed and agility. I don't know if it's because by PS2 controllers are old but the reaction time between imputing a combo and it happening on the screen is visible. Meaning that you really need to think one or two moves ahead to do well in this game.
Aside from a story mode there is one called slash mode where you basically have to carve your way through a hundred sword wielding maniacs. Unless you can do so without dying there is no reward for doing so. I spent many an afternoon trying and at about 30 kills or so I'd just miss or my timing would be slightly off and I'd get killed. Another mode is called POV mode. Instead of playing the game at the traditional side on view the game is played from a first person perspective. At first this is really confusing because the movement controls are mostly the same as normal. After a few minutes you get used to it and it makes the game more challenging. While on the subject of challenging this game is super easy. Even on hard difficulty the games A.I will not have you working a sweat to win. So anything that makes the game more challenging is a plus.
There is really no user interface to speak of. Then again you don't really need it. Without it the whole game looks very cinematic and makes the graphics seem better than they are. It's a PS1 title meaning the graphics are not great to begin with. Squaresoft working their 'we make games look pretty' magic on them has made it slightly better but it was never going to win any awards for them. Still reckon for that generation the Nintendo 64 had better graphics by a mile.
Although I have been playing the English version of the game all the voices are in Japanese with subtitles. Except for each characters opening cutscene which is in English. As well as the voice acting being Japanese the opening video for the game has all the credits (at least I think they're credits) in Japanese. Thankfully the menus are in English making menu navigation possible. The whole point of the game is to fight in the way of the Bushido but the music just makes you want to hack and slash like its God of War. But this issue with the music is only the western release of the game. My mate has the Japanese version and the music in that is much more fitting. It's all traditional Japanese music that is reminiscent of feudal Japan with samurai running about.
Multiplayer mode is why you play the rest of the game. So that you are good enough to fight your mates. This is a good game to have at a party with all your retro gaming mates. Fights here can last as little as 2 seconds or as much as 30 minutes. If you have a mate with a PS1, a copy of the game and a way to link two PS1 consoles together you can actually LAN Bushido Blade. This is so that people can fight each other in POV mode. Haven't tried the LAN feature out so I don't know how good it is but I'm really looking forward to finding out. That is when I can find another western copy of the game.
This game is hard to find in shops so you're better off looking for it on eBay. The copy i have was only $5 AUD. Or if you have a PS3 you can get it on PSN really cheap. I had a lot of fun playing Bushido Blade and it is going to do so well into the future. This is a game that has so far stood the test of time and I think will last far into the future.
9 out of 10
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Retro review: Duke Nukem - Manhattan Project
These past few weeks I've been laid up in bed with the flu. Because of this I haven't been able to get any new (or old games) games to play and review. So I've been going through my collection and I stumbled across this. One of the last games made before the decade long development of Duke Nukem Forever.
The story is quite basic but that's expected when playing a Duke Nukem game. New York City is under threat by some cyborg nut-bag professor that has pig cops and kung-fu rats running amok and its up to Duke to save the world...again. To achieve this Duke has to travel across the big apple kicking arse and chewing bubble gum. Sersiously simple.
Duke Nukem - Manhattan Project brings back the classic side-scrolling platform gameplay were used to and brought it into the 21st century. With 3D (as in not 8-bit, none of this jumping out of the screen crap) graphics that really bring the arse kicking to life. However this does make navagating a bit tricky at times. DN-MP isn't as straight forward as press right arrow key, hold down fire key, win game. While much of the game will involve holding down either the left or right arrow keys, occasionally jumping to get to higher areas, at least once throughout a level you will have to move along the Z-axis to access the next part of the level. An in game prompt will inform you when you've reached a place that requires this, when exploring the map these are not always obvious. I remember passing several of these from time to time and getting stuck in a level for ages while I retraced my steps. To reach the end of a level you'll need to find a keycard hidden somewhere in that level. Its worth going to the exit without a one to hear the Duke talk about his hatred for motherfu*#%ng keycards. The game gets a little repetitive as much of it is just looking around for the keycard then exiting the level. While to try and distract you from this apparent truth DN-MP has you searching for scantly clad women strapped to nuclear devices
There are a variety of weapons to be picked up throughout the game. But because most of them use the same type of ammo (how shotguns can fire the same type of ammunition as a light machine gun I'll never know) you'll end up sticking with the shotgun as it wastes the least ammo. Only once in the game did I need to change weapons to the RPG and that was to blast down a door I couldn't reach with pipe bombs.
As far as platform games go, even by today's standards, the graphics still hold up. It's really smooth up close but as soon as you catch a glimpse of the background you can really see how old the game is. Its the classic stretched out image tiled with an obvious cut line. Remembering this game came out in 2002, draw distances were still a really fancy piece of technology that nobody could afford and just made games look like they were set in places that were really foggy.
Music was very standard for a Duke Nukem title. Heavy metal music interspersed with Heavy metal. Not that this is a complaint. It gets you in the mood for arse kicking. The music does what it needs to do. Not a distraction but just blends in and when it needs to will make itself apparent. But most of the time there will be too much gun fire to hear it anyway.
At the end of the day I finished the game in an afternoon and if Duke Nukem forever pissed you off too much and you can't find your copy of Duke Nukem 3D this one is good for a few hours of entertainment. But as fun as DN-MP is it is quite apparant this was the beginning of the end for the Duke. For us console fans (A.K.A real gamers) it is available on Xbox Live arcade.
6 out of 10
The story is quite basic but that's expected when playing a Duke Nukem game. New York City is under threat by some cyborg nut-bag professor that has pig cops and kung-fu rats running amok and its up to Duke to save the world...again. To achieve this Duke has to travel across the big apple kicking arse and chewing bubble gum. Sersiously simple.
Duke Nukem - Manhattan Project brings back the classic side-scrolling platform gameplay were used to and brought it into the 21st century. With 3D (as in not 8-bit, none of this jumping out of the screen crap) graphics that really bring the arse kicking to life. However this does make navagating a bit tricky at times. DN-MP isn't as straight forward as press right arrow key, hold down fire key, win game. While much of the game will involve holding down either the left or right arrow keys, occasionally jumping to get to higher areas, at least once throughout a level you will have to move along the Z-axis to access the next part of the level. An in game prompt will inform you when you've reached a place that requires this, when exploring the map these are not always obvious. I remember passing several of these from time to time and getting stuck in a level for ages while I retraced my steps. To reach the end of a level you'll need to find a keycard hidden somewhere in that level. Its worth going to the exit without a one to hear the Duke talk about his hatred for motherfu*#%ng keycards. The game gets a little repetitive as much of it is just looking around for the keycard then exiting the level. While to try and distract you from this apparent truth DN-MP has you searching for scantly clad women strapped to nuclear devices
There are a variety of weapons to be picked up throughout the game. But because most of them use the same type of ammo (how shotguns can fire the same type of ammunition as a light machine gun I'll never know) you'll end up sticking with the shotgun as it wastes the least ammo. Only once in the game did I need to change weapons to the RPG and that was to blast down a door I couldn't reach with pipe bombs.
As far as platform games go, even by today's standards, the graphics still hold up. It's really smooth up close but as soon as you catch a glimpse of the background you can really see how old the game is. Its the classic stretched out image tiled with an obvious cut line. Remembering this game came out in 2002, draw distances were still a really fancy piece of technology that nobody could afford and just made games look like they were set in places that were really foggy.
Music was very standard for a Duke Nukem title. Heavy metal music interspersed with Heavy metal. Not that this is a complaint. It gets you in the mood for arse kicking. The music does what it needs to do. Not a distraction but just blends in and when it needs to will make itself apparent. But most of the time there will be too much gun fire to hear it anyway.
At the end of the day I finished the game in an afternoon and if Duke Nukem forever pissed you off too much and you can't find your copy of Duke Nukem 3D this one is good for a few hours of entertainment. But as fun as DN-MP is it is quite apparant this was the beginning of the end for the Duke. For us console fans (A.K.A real gamers) it is available on Xbox Live arcade.
6 out of 10
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
From the vault: Halo reach review.
This is a review I wrote for OzBoxLive ages ago but seeing as though they have decided to no longer credit me for the work I'm going to post it here. Expect more of these to come.
The game we have been devoting our lives to has released the next installment to the Halo universe… Halo: Reach.
If you have been living under a rock and are wondering what Halo: Reach is all about here is a quick run down of the story - you are Noble 6, a Spartan III who has been brought in to replace one of Noble team’s fallen. Noble team are a group of Spartan III’s (created after the legendary Spartan II of the Halo series, Master Chief) who are the best of the best. No mission is too dangerous or too great for these artists of death. They are on the planet Reach (the crown jewel of the UNSC’s defensive fortifications) fighting the Covenant for every square centimeter of the planet when it was turned to glass by Covenant ships above. The fate of Reach has been known since the first Halo, and now we can relive those famous final days. The way the story is told is great, you really get to know the characters in the short amount of time you have and develop a bond with them, which is so uncommon in games these days.
General gameplay is really good, as expected from previous Halo games. New strategies will need to be formed with players able to fly down or sneak up on an opponent. The controls are different from Halo 3 and as a result the default settings can be very confusing at first. If you want a similar feel to Halo 3 the best you can get is the bumper jumper configuration. I wished there was a custom configuration setting that you can change the controls to suit like in PC games. Halo Reach is made for teams - if you go lone wolf you'll get blown to smithereens even on normal difficulty. Especially with four player co-op there's no need to run out and do it all yourself.
Multiplayer is great. In multiplayer all the individual areas of a map have been given names so if you get pinned down you can call out where you are and everyone knows. This is important because it makes the location names universal and allows for players who don't normally play together or have just met can stand a chance against teams that train and play together. When you first enter the lobby you and your fellow players are given a choice of three maps and game types to vote on playing next. Once you have voted the map begins to load, which is super fast if not sometimes instant. When you enter the game you are given the choice of what abilities you want to spawn with. Weapons wise you can spawn with the standard assault rifle and pistol or through the options menu you can change these options. If you're familiar with the Call of Duty “custom classes” set-up you’ll know the gist of these options. Reach is mate-friendly if you want to play with your friends online the active roster shows you which friends are playing reach and what they are doing. In Halo 3 you had to tell them to quit the game and enter a lobby with you before you start matchmaking, now you can enter the lobby your mates are in and if they are in a game you can just wait in the lobby until it finishes.
New gametypes have been introduced. Along with the ones we know and love there are now four more to play with. “Headhunter” is Slayer with the focus on surviving, but when you make a kill flaming skulls scatter about the body, and when collected these are redeemed for points which make up the overall score for the round. Obviously, the more skulls you have before you redeem the more of a target you are to other players. “Stockpile” is a fancy version of capture the flag. On any given map there are flags scattered throughout, each team must collect these flags and bring them back to their base and guard them until the collection timer hits zero and the flags respawn at their previous locations. Generator Defense is an attack and defend type game. The attackers are the Elites and their job is to destroy the generators scattered about the map and the Spartans are to defend the generators. Finally we have invasion, the ultimate team slayer game type. Its Spartans vs. Elites in an objective based match designed for the map Boneyard. The Elites are the attackers and their job is to get from one end of the map to a covenant ship on the other. The Spartans are the defenders and are to prevent the Elites from getting to the ship at all costs. As the Elites get closer and closer to the objective each team can respawn with more powerful weapons. Other maps worth mentioning are Swordbase which is designed with the jetpack in mind and Power house which is a small open map made for general slayer type games.
Firefight makes a comeback and it is now possible to get the achievements for it. Because you can still get the achievements with invincibility turned on it stops being a matter of skill to get the achievement it’s a matter of endurance. It will take around three and a half hours to get the million point achievement on your own, and with mates it’s around an hour and a half. Forge mode in Reach is a significant improvement on the Forge set-up in Halo 3. No more having to do tricky stuff to make objects float and new objects mean that creating maps is easier. A new object that deserves a mention is the golf objects – you get a golf ball, mound and hole to aim for and a golf club which is gravity hammer in disguise. All the maps from multiplayer can be edited and a new map called forge world can be opened complete empty of objects that is a good place for up and coming map makers to muck around. Who knows… we may see the next PGA pro-golf tour stop over on Reach!!
Weapons have been given both a visual touch-up as well as some improvements. For starters all the weapons from Halo 3, except the battle rifle, make a return with upgrades to their accuracy and rate of fire as well as a change of appearance. Some new guns include the Designated Marksmen Rifle (or DMR for short), which is a medium-long range semiautomatic rifle that is a cross between the battle rifle and the sniper rifle, and the Needle Rifle which is the Covenant equivalent of the DMR, as usual with the supercombine ability of Needler weapons. This time around deployable tools are out and abilities are in. In single player odds are you will start with sprint but in multiplayer you can choose abilities before you spawn and give you an advantage in the battlefield. These include a jetpack that allows you to fly about the map, “camouflage” allows you to hide and strike from the shadows (no more having to pick it up in game!!) and “armour lock” which, when activated, makes you invincible but at the cost of movement, though people tend to hang back and once your abilities energy runs out one well thrown grenade will have you pushing daises. Weapon recoil is okay with the exception of the DMR. The DMR is designed to be fired slowly at long range. So if you want that headshot you can't mash the trigger. To tell the amount of recoil on a weapon the crosshair expands as you fire and contracts when not.
When you first start Reach you will have to create your character Noble 6. Given you have just started the game there is not a lot you can customize and with a 5000 credit starting budget there is even less. However the amount of customization is fantastic from helmets to chest plates, shoulder pads wrist guards and holsters. You can even change the animation of how you die and your voice. Maybe its because I spent most of my credits on the ODST helmet but some of the stuff costs an awful lot. Spartan armour is obviously not cheap!! When you see the main menu you can tell Bungie has spared no expense to detail. The background is very beautiful, it shows the planet Reach and the heaps of scrap that the Covenant have made of Reaches ships and defensive platforms.
In-game graphics are reminiscent of Halo 2 - a bit dirty and grainy, but this adds to the apocalyptic feel of the game compared to Halo 3 which was really clean and shiny. I mentioned earlier that the weapons have been given a cosmetic upgrade. They all look good except the assault rifle, I liked the look of the original one and if it isn't broken don't fix it. The HUD is better, it is a lot clearer and easy to read – obviously that’s really important when you've got bullets whizzing about your head!!
All the gun sounds have been redone to sound more like the real world guns they resemble. If you think about it, it seems a little silly that the game is set 500 years from now, yet you would think that guns may sound a little different in the future. The music keeps up with the standard that the series has set itself over the last decade and is not a distraction when the action starts and is there when it's supposed to.
I must say that for me personally Reach does not live up to all the hype. Don't get me wrong as it's still a great game but don't believe all the hype, just take the game with a pinch of salt and you'll have fun. But at the end of the day it looks like Halo 3 with everything wrong with it fixed. Good time guaranteed.
The game we have been devoting our lives to has released the next installment to the Halo universe… Halo: Reach.
If you have been living under a rock and are wondering what Halo: Reach is all about here is a quick run down of the story - you are Noble 6, a Spartan III who has been brought in to replace one of Noble team’s fallen. Noble team are a group of Spartan III’s (created after the legendary Spartan II of the Halo series, Master Chief) who are the best of the best. No mission is too dangerous or too great for these artists of death. They are on the planet Reach (the crown jewel of the UNSC’s defensive fortifications) fighting the Covenant for every square centimeter of the planet when it was turned to glass by Covenant ships above. The fate of Reach has been known since the first Halo, and now we can relive those famous final days. The way the story is told is great, you really get to know the characters in the short amount of time you have and develop a bond with them, which is so uncommon in games these days.
General gameplay is really good, as expected from previous Halo games. New strategies will need to be formed with players able to fly down or sneak up on an opponent. The controls are different from Halo 3 and as a result the default settings can be very confusing at first. If you want a similar feel to Halo 3 the best you can get is the bumper jumper configuration. I wished there was a custom configuration setting that you can change the controls to suit like in PC games. Halo Reach is made for teams - if you go lone wolf you'll get blown to smithereens even on normal difficulty. Especially with four player co-op there's no need to run out and do it all yourself.
Multiplayer is great. In multiplayer all the individual areas of a map have been given names so if you get pinned down you can call out where you are and everyone knows. This is important because it makes the location names universal and allows for players who don't normally play together or have just met can stand a chance against teams that train and play together. When you first enter the lobby you and your fellow players are given a choice of three maps and game types to vote on playing next. Once you have voted the map begins to load, which is super fast if not sometimes instant. When you enter the game you are given the choice of what abilities you want to spawn with. Weapons wise you can spawn with the standard assault rifle and pistol or through the options menu you can change these options. If you're familiar with the Call of Duty “custom classes” set-up you’ll know the gist of these options. Reach is mate-friendly if you want to play with your friends online the active roster shows you which friends are playing reach and what they are doing. In Halo 3 you had to tell them to quit the game and enter a lobby with you before you start matchmaking, now you can enter the lobby your mates are in and if they are in a game you can just wait in the lobby until it finishes.
New gametypes have been introduced. Along with the ones we know and love there are now four more to play with. “Headhunter” is Slayer with the focus on surviving, but when you make a kill flaming skulls scatter about the body, and when collected these are redeemed for points which make up the overall score for the round. Obviously, the more skulls you have before you redeem the more of a target you are to other players. “Stockpile” is a fancy version of capture the flag. On any given map there are flags scattered throughout, each team must collect these flags and bring them back to their base and guard them until the collection timer hits zero and the flags respawn at their previous locations. Generator Defense is an attack and defend type game. The attackers are the Elites and their job is to destroy the generators scattered about the map and the Spartans are to defend the generators. Finally we have invasion, the ultimate team slayer game type. Its Spartans vs. Elites in an objective based match designed for the map Boneyard. The Elites are the attackers and their job is to get from one end of the map to a covenant ship on the other. The Spartans are the defenders and are to prevent the Elites from getting to the ship at all costs. As the Elites get closer and closer to the objective each team can respawn with more powerful weapons. Other maps worth mentioning are Swordbase which is designed with the jetpack in mind and Power house which is a small open map made for general slayer type games.
Firefight makes a comeback and it is now possible to get the achievements for it. Because you can still get the achievements with invincibility turned on it stops being a matter of skill to get the achievement it’s a matter of endurance. It will take around three and a half hours to get the million point achievement on your own, and with mates it’s around an hour and a half. Forge mode in Reach is a significant improvement on the Forge set-up in Halo 3. No more having to do tricky stuff to make objects float and new objects mean that creating maps is easier. A new object that deserves a mention is the golf objects – you get a golf ball, mound and hole to aim for and a golf club which is gravity hammer in disguise. All the maps from multiplayer can be edited and a new map called forge world can be opened complete empty of objects that is a good place for up and coming map makers to muck around. Who knows… we may see the next PGA pro-golf tour stop over on Reach!!
Weapons have been given both a visual touch-up as well as some improvements. For starters all the weapons from Halo 3, except the battle rifle, make a return with upgrades to their accuracy and rate of fire as well as a change of appearance. Some new guns include the Designated Marksmen Rifle (or DMR for short), which is a medium-long range semiautomatic rifle that is a cross between the battle rifle and the sniper rifle, and the Needle Rifle which is the Covenant equivalent of the DMR, as usual with the supercombine ability of Needler weapons. This time around deployable tools are out and abilities are in. In single player odds are you will start with sprint but in multiplayer you can choose abilities before you spawn and give you an advantage in the battlefield. These include a jetpack that allows you to fly about the map, “camouflage” allows you to hide and strike from the shadows (no more having to pick it up in game!!) and “armour lock” which, when activated, makes you invincible but at the cost of movement, though people tend to hang back and once your abilities energy runs out one well thrown grenade will have you pushing daises. Weapon recoil is okay with the exception of the DMR. The DMR is designed to be fired slowly at long range. So if you want that headshot you can't mash the trigger. To tell the amount of recoil on a weapon the crosshair expands as you fire and contracts when not.
When you first start Reach you will have to create your character Noble 6. Given you have just started the game there is not a lot you can customize and with a 5000 credit starting budget there is even less. However the amount of customization is fantastic from helmets to chest plates, shoulder pads wrist guards and holsters. You can even change the animation of how you die and your voice. Maybe its because I spent most of my credits on the ODST helmet but some of the stuff costs an awful lot. Spartan armour is obviously not cheap!! When you see the main menu you can tell Bungie has spared no expense to detail. The background is very beautiful, it shows the planet Reach and the heaps of scrap that the Covenant have made of Reaches ships and defensive platforms.
In-game graphics are reminiscent of Halo 2 - a bit dirty and grainy, but this adds to the apocalyptic feel of the game compared to Halo 3 which was really clean and shiny. I mentioned earlier that the weapons have been given a cosmetic upgrade. They all look good except the assault rifle, I liked the look of the original one and if it isn't broken don't fix it. The HUD is better, it is a lot clearer and easy to read – obviously that’s really important when you've got bullets whizzing about your head!!
All the gun sounds have been redone to sound more like the real world guns they resemble. If you think about it, it seems a little silly that the game is set 500 years from now, yet you would think that guns may sound a little different in the future. The music keeps up with the standard that the series has set itself over the last decade and is not a distraction when the action starts and is there when it's supposed to.
I must say that for me personally Reach does not live up to all the hype. Don't get me wrong as it's still a great game but don't believe all the hype, just take the game with a pinch of salt and you'll have fun. But at the end of the day it looks like Halo 3 with everything wrong with it fixed. Good time guaranteed.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
What I think of Brink (Hey that rhymes)
Brink is one of those games I had my doubts about. Because of its unique seamless blend of singleplayer and multiplayer. I wasn't sure if it would work. But it does and it works so very well. All the doubts I had before I played Brink are now gone.
Brink at first appears to have a rather straight forward storyline. A civil war on a floating city called the Ark built as a way to save humanity from extinction due to global warming and rising sea waters. There are two sides to this fight. Ark security who are fighting to maintain control of the Ark. And there's the Resistance who are trying to get off the Ark and contact what's left of the outside world. Each side has its own storyline that will crossover with the other. Each campaign comes to its own different end and afterwards there are some bonus 'what-if' spin off missions you can do. These missions are usually levels in the campaign that you play from the opposing side. Usually in games that allow you to choose sides by the end of it you have a good idea which side you should be on. Even after playing through both campaigns I still don't know which side to be on. This isn't a bad thing. Brink just gives you all the facts and allows you to make up your own mind on what you think is right.
While I have ranted on a bit about the story don't let that scare you. Every cutscene can be skipped and while it does set up the gameplay it doesn't get in the way of it. The major parts of the story are told in the campaigns but if you want the whole picture you're going to have to unlock all the audio tapes. Similar to the holotapes in Fallout 3 audio tapes give you an insight into what the major players on the Ark are thinking. So if you're like me and love a game with a good storyline this gives Brink a lot of replay value.
The whole focus of the game is how it plays. I've heard people say it's Mirrors edge with guns. This isn't entirely true. Mirrors edge focused on movement and discouraged you from using guns whereas Brink puts its focus on combat. It doesn't matter what kind of gun you have movement is still the same. Character customization however does have an effect on movement but there's a fair trade off. When you customize your character you have the choice of three body types: light, medium or heavy. The light body type can move the fastest and jump higher than the other two but it also has the least health making them easy to take down. In contrast the heavy body type is the slowest and least agile but has the most health and is the only body type that can carry heavy weapons. The medium body type has a good mix of health and finesse and is a perfect starting point for new players. Depending on your own playstyle you will discover what works for you. The rest of the customization options for your character are purely cosmetic so unleash your inner 5 year old and play dress up. Like Rainbow six Vegas you gain XP both offline and online. As you level up you'll unlock more outfits and earn ability points to upgrade your characters skills. Like Team fortress 2 skills are divided into classes: Soldier,Engineer, Medic and Operative. There are universal skills that can be purchased and used no matter what class you choose but to get the really cool stuff you need to decide which set of cool stuff you want.
Weapon customization is a bit disappointing but still better than almost any other game. What I do like is that weapon add-ons can all be unlocked before you start either campaign. They can only be unlocked through challenge missions. Challenge missions are separate missions from the campaigns and I recommend you try them first. Not only will you unlock cool doodads for your guns but they also teach you how to play Brink.
Objectives are very flexible. Each level has a list of objectives that your team has to complete. These range from defending a certain spot, blowing up something to repairing or building defenses. The interesting thing is that you can complete these objectives in any order. There’s one main objective and the rest are secondary to it. Depending on how you want to play will determine which objective you'll want to do. As long as you're doing something you will be helping out your team. This means that those people who prefer to be lone wolves won't make it any harder for team players or people new to the game. All objectives are class specific. This means in order to win a game you can't all go engineer and spam place turrets and mines everywhere.
Every level is unlocked right out of the box. This is because there is no separate multiplayer section of the game. Every level can be played either online or offline or you can open up your game and let people jump in whenever they like. I recommend for the first playthrough of the game you play it in order and leave the what-if missions till last. This is definitely a game that you'll want to play with friends or other people. Maybe it's just because I'm terrible at shooters but the A.I on your team is terrible and the opposing teams A.I seems to have been programmed by a super genius.
Brink at first appears to have a rather straight forward storyline. A civil war on a floating city called the Ark built as a way to save humanity from extinction due to global warming and rising sea waters. There are two sides to this fight. Ark security who are fighting to maintain control of the Ark. And there's the Resistance who are trying to get off the Ark and contact what's left of the outside world. Each side has its own storyline that will crossover with the other. Each campaign comes to its own different end and afterwards there are some bonus 'what-if' spin off missions you can do. These missions are usually levels in the campaign that you play from the opposing side. Usually in games that allow you to choose sides by the end of it you have a good idea which side you should be on. Even after playing through both campaigns I still don't know which side to be on. This isn't a bad thing. Brink just gives you all the facts and allows you to make up your own mind on what you think is right.
While I have ranted on a bit about the story don't let that scare you. Every cutscene can be skipped and while it does set up the gameplay it doesn't get in the way of it. The major parts of the story are told in the campaigns but if you want the whole picture you're going to have to unlock all the audio tapes. Similar to the holotapes in Fallout 3 audio tapes give you an insight into what the major players on the Ark are thinking. So if you're like me and love a game with a good storyline this gives Brink a lot of replay value.
The whole focus of the game is how it plays. I've heard people say it's Mirrors edge with guns. This isn't entirely true. Mirrors edge focused on movement and discouraged you from using guns whereas Brink puts its focus on combat. It doesn't matter what kind of gun you have movement is still the same. Character customization however does have an effect on movement but there's a fair trade off. When you customize your character you have the choice of three body types: light, medium or heavy. The light body type can move the fastest and jump higher than the other two but it also has the least health making them easy to take down. In contrast the heavy body type is the slowest and least agile but has the most health and is the only body type that can carry heavy weapons. The medium body type has a good mix of health and finesse and is a perfect starting point for new players. Depending on your own playstyle you will discover what works for you. The rest of the customization options for your character are purely cosmetic so unleash your inner 5 year old and play dress up. Like Rainbow six Vegas you gain XP both offline and online. As you level up you'll unlock more outfits and earn ability points to upgrade your characters skills. Like Team fortress 2 skills are divided into classes: Soldier,Engineer, Medic and Operative. There are universal skills that can be purchased and used no matter what class you choose but to get the really cool stuff you need to decide which set of cool stuff you want.
Weapon customization is a bit disappointing but still better than almost any other game. What I do like is that weapon add-ons can all be unlocked before you start either campaign. They can only be unlocked through challenge missions. Challenge missions are separate missions from the campaigns and I recommend you try them first. Not only will you unlock cool doodads for your guns but they also teach you how to play Brink.
Objectives are very flexible. Each level has a list of objectives that your team has to complete. These range from defending a certain spot, blowing up something to repairing or building defenses. The interesting thing is that you can complete these objectives in any order. There’s one main objective and the rest are secondary to it. Depending on how you want to play will determine which objective you'll want to do. As long as you're doing something you will be helping out your team. This means that those people who prefer to be lone wolves won't make it any harder for team players or people new to the game. All objectives are class specific. This means in order to win a game you can't all go engineer and spam place turrets and mines everywhere.
Every level is unlocked right out of the box. This is because there is no separate multiplayer section of the game. Every level can be played either online or offline or you can open up your game and let people jump in whenever they like. I recommend for the first playthrough of the game you play it in order and leave the what-if missions till last. This is definitely a game that you'll want to play with friends or other people. Maybe it's just because I'm terrible at shooters but the A.I on your team is terrible and the opposing teams A.I seems to have been programmed by a super genius.
The soundtrack is small but really good. The songs don't get in the way of the rest of the game and it really sets the tone for what brink is all about. Probably not going to make any one's soundtrack to buy list though.
The graphics really convey the point that you're in a distopyian futuristic society. You really get the sense of how small and fragile the Ark is. In terms of cutting edge though it's fairly average. It can be a bit rough in some areas and maybe its just me but the grenades just don't look quite right.
I had great fun playing this game. It was good to play a game that is so flexible and that just gets to the core of what an FPS is and gets out of the way and lets you do what you want.
8 out of 10
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
What I think of Duke Nukem forever (A.K.A Why it doesnt completely suck)
Recently lots of websites have been saying that Duke Nukem Forever is a completely terrible game. While I agree its not the best game ever made its not as bad as people have made it out to be. The game was made for a different time. A time when guns were far from realistic, when bad guys came from somewhere else other than the middle east and when boss fights resulted in more than who can pull the trigger faster. Its a 90's game.
People still recognize Duke Nukem 3D as a great game but in reality it has worse graphics and the same sort of game play as Duke Nukem Forever. What you need to keep in mind when you play the game is that its not trying to compete with Call of Duty of Halo. In fact it laughs at them 'Power armour is for pussies' as the Duke says. It's in the catagory along with Doom 1 and Wolfenstien 3D. The game is completely designed to poke fun at games and the culture surrounding it. Through out the game references are made to the Alien films, Team America: World Police and even previous Duke Nukem games.
Enough ranting. Duke Nukem Forever (or DNF for short) is set 13 years after the end of the last game. Duke is a world hero and playboy billionaire who can still bench press 600 pounds. That's when he's not busy running his casino, appearing on national television or entertaining his lady friends in his Las Vegas penthouse. Yet again aliens invade the earth and its up to Duke to thwart their plans for world domination. The story is relatively simple mostly because otherwise it would get too much in the way of all the ass kicking you need to do. As basic as the plot is I don't mind that because it is so simple there is lots of room to play around and have fun with it. After all isn't that what games are all about? The whole game is very lewd and rude with its focus being on kicking ass and getting laid so this is not one to give the 5 year old for Christmas.
The graphics look rather good given its been through several engine changes and about as many developers. Yeah its not the tip top super HD 3D need a permit to buy the Tv needed to play it kind of graphics but I wasn't disappointed. The hud disappears around the edge of the screen when not in use giving the game a cinematic feel and shows you more of the ass kicking. It was all at a decent standard. Although I think the menu looks a little bit rushed. As if that was the last thing they did before the game was shipped. Also some of the help tips are a bit to technical. 'Any object with wheel physics can be pushed.' Besides game developers and some of the hardcore audience a lot of people are going to be left bewildered at that sentence. It can just as easily be said that objects with wheels can be pushed around.
Gameplay is your classic FPS blow stuff to crap style. No mucking about, just point and shoot. I love it. I've heard people complain that the guns are inaccurate. Especially the pistol. I'm playing the xbox 360 version of the game and I've had no problems with it. In fact in some points of the game I've been able to take down pigcops at a fair distance with a shotgun. It took a few shots but I've done it. So I think that just comes down to the fact some reviewers are too used to all the help more modern games give you with special sights and aim assist. DNF does have an aim assist but the only scope you're going to see is the railguns sniper scope and its just a stock standard cross hair. What makes this game stand apart is its reliance on you fully exploring an area. Many objects can be interacted with and doing so increases your health. While other objects like the whiteboard are just there to have a laugh, and show how shocking Duke is with a pen.
The opening theme song is awesome. I love the guitar riff. The rest of the soundtrack though is fairly average. Not much to talk about. It just blends into the background and there isn't one song your going to have going round your head. Although that may be a good thing. One real complaint I do have is with the music that plays in Duke's penthouse in the multiplayer section of the game. It drives me up the wall and sounds like something my mother would listen to. Thankfully it doesn't stick in your head but while its on you may want to turn down the volume.
While on the subject of multiplayer this is another component that feels rushed. While comparing DNF to more modern titles sounds unfair given what I've said before but I know that the multiplayer was in development after Call of Duty 4 made waves in gaming so in this instance there is no excuse. I do enjoy that as you level up your penthouse gets more items and babes to fill it with but the gameplay lacks real replay value. So the odds of getting far enough to unlock some of the real cool stuff is slim.
At the end of the day I had fun playing DNF and me and my mates had a good laugh the whole way through the singleplayer campaign. If you're looking for the next Call of Duty or Halo its not here. If you want to play a game and have fun doing so then I recommend this game.
6 out of 10
People still recognize Duke Nukem 3D as a great game but in reality it has worse graphics and the same sort of game play as Duke Nukem Forever. What you need to keep in mind when you play the game is that its not trying to compete with Call of Duty of Halo. In fact it laughs at them 'Power armour is for pussies' as the Duke says. It's in the catagory along with Doom 1 and Wolfenstien 3D. The game is completely designed to poke fun at games and the culture surrounding it. Through out the game references are made to the Alien films, Team America: World Police and even previous Duke Nukem games.
Enough ranting. Duke Nukem Forever (or DNF for short) is set 13 years after the end of the last game. Duke is a world hero and playboy billionaire who can still bench press 600 pounds. That's when he's not busy running his casino, appearing on national television or entertaining his lady friends in his Las Vegas penthouse. Yet again aliens invade the earth and its up to Duke to thwart their plans for world domination. The story is relatively simple mostly because otherwise it would get too much in the way of all the ass kicking you need to do. As basic as the plot is I don't mind that because it is so simple there is lots of room to play around and have fun with it. After all isn't that what games are all about? The whole game is very lewd and rude with its focus being on kicking ass and getting laid so this is not one to give the 5 year old for Christmas.
The graphics look rather good given its been through several engine changes and about as many developers. Yeah its not the tip top super HD 3D need a permit to buy the Tv needed to play it kind of graphics but I wasn't disappointed. The hud disappears around the edge of the screen when not in use giving the game a cinematic feel and shows you more of the ass kicking. It was all at a decent standard. Although I think the menu looks a little bit rushed. As if that was the last thing they did before the game was shipped. Also some of the help tips are a bit to technical. 'Any object with wheel physics can be pushed.' Besides game developers and some of the hardcore audience a lot of people are going to be left bewildered at that sentence. It can just as easily be said that objects with wheels can be pushed around.
Gameplay is your classic FPS blow stuff to crap style. No mucking about, just point and shoot. I love it. I've heard people complain that the guns are inaccurate. Especially the pistol. I'm playing the xbox 360 version of the game and I've had no problems with it. In fact in some points of the game I've been able to take down pigcops at a fair distance with a shotgun. It took a few shots but I've done it. So I think that just comes down to the fact some reviewers are too used to all the help more modern games give you with special sights and aim assist. DNF does have an aim assist but the only scope you're going to see is the railguns sniper scope and its just a stock standard cross hair. What makes this game stand apart is its reliance on you fully exploring an area. Many objects can be interacted with and doing so increases your health. While other objects like the whiteboard are just there to have a laugh, and show how shocking Duke is with a pen.
The opening theme song is awesome. I love the guitar riff. The rest of the soundtrack though is fairly average. Not much to talk about. It just blends into the background and there isn't one song your going to have going round your head. Although that may be a good thing. One real complaint I do have is with the music that plays in Duke's penthouse in the multiplayer section of the game. It drives me up the wall and sounds like something my mother would listen to. Thankfully it doesn't stick in your head but while its on you may want to turn down the volume.
While on the subject of multiplayer this is another component that feels rushed. While comparing DNF to more modern titles sounds unfair given what I've said before but I know that the multiplayer was in development after Call of Duty 4 made waves in gaming so in this instance there is no excuse. I do enjoy that as you level up your penthouse gets more items and babes to fill it with but the gameplay lacks real replay value. So the odds of getting far enough to unlock some of the real cool stuff is slim.
At the end of the day I had fun playing DNF and me and my mates had a good laugh the whole way through the singleplayer campaign. If you're looking for the next Call of Duty or Halo its not here. If you want to play a game and have fun doing so then I recommend this game.
6 out of 10
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
What I think of Red Dead Redemption
You see I started playing Red Dead at the same time as everyone else but because I'd borrowed it off of a mate I had to stop right before I could start the Mexico missions. I have now procured a copy and have picked up were I left off. Where everyone thinks it goes downhill.
Red Dead Redemption is made by Rockstar and is the spiritual prequel to Grand Theft Auto. The game follows a standard Rockstar plot with cowboys and Indians thrown in. You are ex gang member John Marston who is trying to start a new life, your past catches up with you when the government takes your family hostage and you are sent on a quest to kill all of your old gang pals. Sound familiar?
As much as people hate on the gameplay I don't mind it. Yeah it feeds you everything but that just means that you can focus on the plot a bit more. It is basically the time proven gameplay that has appeared in Rockstars most popular titles like Grand theft Auto 4 and Bully. Missions are broken up into strands and they mostly consist of go here and kill/steal that. Never gave the multiplayer a go but from what I've seen it's not all to different to the multiplayer in GTA4 but replace cars and cities with horses and open plains.
Like Fallout 3 (yeah yeah I mentioned it again but it's such a good reference) each string of missions are a story in themselves that sort of relate to the plot but in reality John Marston would have just beat it out of the people that give the mission and the whole game would be over in an hour. My good friend over at Level 3 sums up Red Dead quite simply when he said "I get it but I don't like it." What I thought was the main story (Doing the governments dirty work to save your family) turns out to be just part of it. The game splits itself into two parts and for the sake of spoilers I wont mention when this happens but it is pretty obvious when you play the game. Its worth sticking through till the end because the final mission is very fitting (Although I did think it a bit silly that it was a stranger mission) if you're going for 100% completion then it is a must anyway. The story is really good in the first part and as much as I'm hating on the second part I don't mind it to much. It tells you the story of what happens after what I'll call the 'main story' is completed. The final mission that I mentioned earlier while leaving the game open for a sequel still ties up all the loose ends of the current game. Something Modern Warfare 2 failed to do.
The side challenges are worth doing even if you don't care about getting 100% completion. The outfit challenges are worth putting in the play hours not just to play dress up with John Marston but also allow you do do certain things in game like cheat in poker or not get caught by the police. While there are some that are just there to play dress up like the duster outfit or the Mexican poncho.
The soundtrack is exactly what I expected. The soundtrack to any Clint Eastwood movie during his hey day. However at certain major events throughout the game a more modern song will play which sets the mood for what you're seeing and it does it well. Rockstar really nailed the soundtrack for the game.
If you like cowboy movies and have enjoyed previous games the Rockstar series like Grand Theft Auto then you'll enjoy Red Dead redemption.
9 out of 10
Red Dead Redemption is made by Rockstar and is the spiritual prequel to Grand Theft Auto. The game follows a standard Rockstar plot with cowboys and Indians thrown in. You are ex gang member John Marston who is trying to start a new life, your past catches up with you when the government takes your family hostage and you are sent on a quest to kill all of your old gang pals. Sound familiar?
As much as people hate on the gameplay I don't mind it. Yeah it feeds you everything but that just means that you can focus on the plot a bit more. It is basically the time proven gameplay that has appeared in Rockstars most popular titles like Grand theft Auto 4 and Bully. Missions are broken up into strands and they mostly consist of go here and kill/steal that. Never gave the multiplayer a go but from what I've seen it's not all to different to the multiplayer in GTA4 but replace cars and cities with horses and open plains.
Like Fallout 3 (yeah yeah I mentioned it again but it's such a good reference) each string of missions are a story in themselves that sort of relate to the plot but in reality John Marston would have just beat it out of the people that give the mission and the whole game would be over in an hour. My good friend over at Level 3 sums up Red Dead quite simply when he said "I get it but I don't like it." What I thought was the main story (Doing the governments dirty work to save your family) turns out to be just part of it. The game splits itself into two parts and for the sake of spoilers I wont mention when this happens but it is pretty obvious when you play the game. Its worth sticking through till the end because the final mission is very fitting (Although I did think it a bit silly that it was a stranger mission) if you're going for 100% completion then it is a must anyway. The story is really good in the first part and as much as I'm hating on the second part I don't mind it to much. It tells you the story of what happens after what I'll call the 'main story' is completed. The final mission that I mentioned earlier while leaving the game open for a sequel still ties up all the loose ends of the current game. Something Modern Warfare 2 failed to do.
The side challenges are worth doing even if you don't care about getting 100% completion. The outfit challenges are worth putting in the play hours not just to play dress up with John Marston but also allow you do do certain things in game like cheat in poker or not get caught by the police. While there are some that are just there to play dress up like the duster outfit or the Mexican poncho.
The soundtrack is exactly what I expected. The soundtrack to any Clint Eastwood movie during his hey day. However at certain major events throughout the game a more modern song will play which sets the mood for what you're seeing and it does it well. Rockstar really nailed the soundtrack for the game.
If you like cowboy movies and have enjoyed previous games the Rockstar series like Grand Theft Auto then you'll enjoy Red Dead redemption.
9 out of 10
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
From the vault: Tools of a professional killer
This is an article I wrote for OzBoxLive ages ago but seeing as though they have decided to no longer credit me for the work I'm going to post it here.
If you are finding that no matter what you do you just can’t rack up a decent amount of kills it might be your weapons letting you down. Custom classes allow you to go into a battle with any weapon you want (provided you have unlocked it) and save it for the next battle if you like it. Skill goes along way but if you have a shotgun in a sniper map you are not going to get far. Remember “you don’t bring a pistol to a machine gun fight!”
When creating a custom class ask yourself these questions:
Lets look at each question individually. Question one asks us what maps we want to play on. Think about the maps in MW2, are they all designed for the one type of fighting (sniper fights, CQB etc…) or are they all different? Some maps fall under more than one category. For example Highrise is a good sniper map but with the underground tunnels it is also good if you like to get up close and personal.
Question two ties in well here. If you are playing free for all sniping is no good because with out backup you can’t hunker down anywhere for a decent length of time. So in this instance using a Sub-machine gun would be better because it gives you mobility and a high rate of fire in short to medium range battles which are common for free for all matches. However in Team Deathmatch or domination sniping is a viable method of attack.
In MW2 weapons can be upgraded with attachments. However attachments need to be earned so if you are new to MW2 you will need to play a little more to unlock then but you can do it faster by playing one game type with the same weapon. Free for all is the best for all weapons except the sniper rifle where unless you can quick scope having some backup will be needed. Back to topic, if you’re playing on maps that combine close quarters with more long range fighting then you will want a red dot/holographic sight or if you like the iron sight then perhaps the grenade launcher would be better. Hang on a grenade launcher at close range? Yes, if you shoot the grenade at close range straight into your opponent it will kill then instantly. Think of it as a solid-shot shotgun. Otherwise firing it at a nearby wall will do the job too. For maps that focus on long range but require you to move about (e.g. wasteland on free for all) then the ACOG scope on any assault rifle will do. While increasing the accuracy of the weapon over a distance it will not increase the range of the gun so don’t bother putting it on a MP5 or something like that unless you are trying to unlock a challenge. Also the ACOG makes weapons difficult to fire accurately at close range. If you are trying for stealth the heartbeat sensor is great for seeing through walls and around corners and the silencer means that when you fire your weapon you don’t show up on the radar as a red dot making infiltration easy.
Perks are add-ons to a player’s performance. From running longer to adding more than one attachment to a weapon. Again many of these need to be unlocked but the best for new players are marathon, stopping power and steady aim. Bling allows you to have two attachments on your primary weapon. One attachment is all you need unless you are trying to unlock the bullet penetration challenge where having a heartbeat sensor with FMJ makes finding targets easier. For close quarters commando increases the range at which you can knife people. Good for if you have multiple enemies and little ammo in a small space. For Game types like domination, marathon gives you unlimited sprint so you can defend objectives with ease. For those who like to quick scope then invest your time in unlocking slight of hand pro, This makes aiming down the sight faster.
Finally name your classes appropriately. Don’t leave them custom class one, custom class two etc… It just takes longer to find the loadout you want. I name them the primary and secondary weapon in that slot (e.g. AK-47 / USP-45) or you can name them by game type or by fighting method (e.g. CQB).
And of course practice makes perfect. Find what weapons and attachments suit you and use those. The more comfortable you are with a weapon the better you’ll be. There is no perfect gun in MW2 just the right loadout for the right job.
If you are finding that no matter what you do you just can’t rack up a decent amount of kills it might be your weapons letting you down. Custom classes allow you to go into a battle with any weapon you want (provided you have unlocked it) and save it for the next battle if you like it. Skill goes along way but if you have a shotgun in a sniper map you are not going to get far. Remember “you don’t bring a pistol to a machine gun fight!”
When creating a custom class ask yourself these questions:
- Will it be appropriate for the maps I want to play on?
- Will it be appropriate for the game type I want to play?
- What attachments have I got and what do I need to unlock to make this loadout better?
- What perks have I got and will they be appropriate for the weapons I have chosen?
Lets look at each question individually. Question one asks us what maps we want to play on. Think about the maps in MW2, are they all designed for the one type of fighting (sniper fights, CQB etc…) or are they all different? Some maps fall under more than one category. For example Highrise is a good sniper map but with the underground tunnels it is also good if you like to get up close and personal.
Question two ties in well here. If you are playing free for all sniping is no good because with out backup you can’t hunker down anywhere for a decent length of time. So in this instance using a Sub-machine gun would be better because it gives you mobility and a high rate of fire in short to medium range battles which are common for free for all matches. However in Team Deathmatch or domination sniping is a viable method of attack.
In MW2 weapons can be upgraded with attachments. However attachments need to be earned so if you are new to MW2 you will need to play a little more to unlock then but you can do it faster by playing one game type with the same weapon. Free for all is the best for all weapons except the sniper rifle where unless you can quick scope having some backup will be needed. Back to topic, if you’re playing on maps that combine close quarters with more long range fighting then you will want a red dot/holographic sight or if you like the iron sight then perhaps the grenade launcher would be better. Hang on a grenade launcher at close range? Yes, if you shoot the grenade at close range straight into your opponent it will kill then instantly. Think of it as a solid-shot shotgun. Otherwise firing it at a nearby wall will do the job too. For maps that focus on long range but require you to move about (e.g. wasteland on free for all) then the ACOG scope on any assault rifle will do. While increasing the accuracy of the weapon over a distance it will not increase the range of the gun so don’t bother putting it on a MP5 or something like that unless you are trying to unlock a challenge. Also the ACOG makes weapons difficult to fire accurately at close range. If you are trying for stealth the heartbeat sensor is great for seeing through walls and around corners and the silencer means that when you fire your weapon you don’t show up on the radar as a red dot making infiltration easy.
Perks are add-ons to a player’s performance. From running longer to adding more than one attachment to a weapon. Again many of these need to be unlocked but the best for new players are marathon, stopping power and steady aim. Bling allows you to have two attachments on your primary weapon. One attachment is all you need unless you are trying to unlock the bullet penetration challenge where having a heartbeat sensor with FMJ makes finding targets easier. For close quarters commando increases the range at which you can knife people. Good for if you have multiple enemies and little ammo in a small space. For Game types like domination, marathon gives you unlimited sprint so you can defend objectives with ease. For those who like to quick scope then invest your time in unlocking slight of hand pro, This makes aiming down the sight faster.
Finally name your classes appropriately. Don’t leave them custom class one, custom class two etc… It just takes longer to find the loadout you want. I name them the primary and secondary weapon in that slot (e.g. AK-47 / USP-45) or you can name them by game type or by fighting method (e.g. CQB).
And of course practice makes perfect. Find what weapons and attachments suit you and use those. The more comfortable you are with a weapon the better you’ll be. There is no perfect gun in MW2 just the right loadout for the right job.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Beaterator review.
A few weeks back I said I was working on a Beaterator review. Well your wait is over, here it is.
I've seen many sites give Beaterator poor scores because of its lack of gameplay and storyline. They are completely right, Rockstar made a terrible game. Good thing Beaterator isn't a game. It's sound editing software designed for the PSP. This review isn't a game review its a software review. So no score at the end nor a trailer (I know how much you love them but its for games).
As far as sound editing programs go (To which all the experience I have is Beaterator, Audacity and FL studio) This one is pretty good. it has a few thousand loops preloaded, all of which can be edited to create different sounds. Add to this the ability to import MIDI files and with the use of a Microphone you have a portable recording studio.
There are two modes to use Beaterator, Live play and studio mode. Live play allows to record beats as you make them in a live setting. Good place to start mucking around and hearing what sounds work well with others. Theres a little animation of Timbaland dancing about and pressing buttons as the music plays. The second mode is studio mode. Studio mode is more serious and looks like any other sound editing software out there. Here you can create, import, edit, and place loops along a time line to create a song.
Once you have finished your creation and you want to show it off to the world you can upload it to the Rockstar social club for others to listen to, download and remix. The only problem is that you have to do all this through your PSP. So if you are no where near a wireless hot spot or worse are one of those hardcore Sony fanboys that bought a PSP the day it came out and haven't upgraded and its getting old and the WLAN switch is broken (like me) there is a solution. Beaterator has an export feature allowing you to export your song as either a WAV or a MIDI file to edit on another program, convert to an MP3 and upload it to the web either via Mediafire or Youtube. This is my favorite feature. It puts everything you need to create and publish your own music in your hands.
The only major limitation to Beaterator I've discovered is that the built in keyboard only has five octaves. I discovered this when I imported a MIDI of Fur Elise by Beethoven. Other than that I've had no problem other than my own knowledge of the program.
Well there you have it. What I think of Beaterator. Finally up here on the interwebs for you all to enjoy.
Till next Wednesday, Peace.
I've seen many sites give Beaterator poor scores because of its lack of gameplay and storyline. They are completely right, Rockstar made a terrible game. Good thing Beaterator isn't a game. It's sound editing software designed for the PSP. This review isn't a game review its a software review. So no score at the end nor a trailer (I know how much you love them but its for games).
As far as sound editing programs go (To which all the experience I have is Beaterator, Audacity and FL studio) This one is pretty good. it has a few thousand loops preloaded, all of which can be edited to create different sounds. Add to this the ability to import MIDI files and with the use of a Microphone you have a portable recording studio.
There are two modes to use Beaterator, Live play and studio mode. Live play allows to record beats as you make them in a live setting. Good place to start mucking around and hearing what sounds work well with others. Theres a little animation of Timbaland dancing about and pressing buttons as the music plays. The second mode is studio mode. Studio mode is more serious and looks like any other sound editing software out there. Here you can create, import, edit, and place loops along a time line to create a song.
Once you have finished your creation and you want to show it off to the world you can upload it to the Rockstar social club for others to listen to, download and remix. The only problem is that you have to do all this through your PSP. So if you are no where near a wireless hot spot or worse are one of those hardcore Sony fanboys that bought a PSP the day it came out and haven't upgraded and its getting old and the WLAN switch is broken (like me) there is a solution. Beaterator has an export feature allowing you to export your song as either a WAV or a MIDI file to edit on another program, convert to an MP3 and upload it to the web either via Mediafire or Youtube. This is my favorite feature. It puts everything you need to create and publish your own music in your hands.
The only major limitation to Beaterator I've discovered is that the built in keyboard only has five octaves. I discovered this when I imported a MIDI of Fur Elise by Beethoven. Other than that I've had no problem other than my own knowledge of the program.
Well there you have it. What I think of Beaterator. Finally up here on the interwebs for you all to enjoy.
Till next Wednesday, Peace.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
What I think of Mass Effect 2
I've just finished Mass Effect 2. HOLY FREAKING SHIT IT'S AWESOME! I'm not sure how else to put that. As I mentioned earlier the game won best RPG and best game on Xbox 360 at the VGA game of the year awards. So I suppose it is an apt statement.
Ok so for those who don't know anything about Mass Effect (to which you must be incredibly boring, poor or illiterate and so anti-social you can't have a friend read out the text to you and for that I feel sorry for you) it is the classic underdog story of man vs the world only change the world to the galaxy. Yes Mass Effect is a sci-fi game but don't let that put you off. Technically Fallout 3 is a sci-fi game and that's really good (see what I thought of Fallout 3 here) so give Mass Effect the same chance. It is a bit more on the Star Trek end and not the Mad Max end of sci-fi like Fallout 3 is.
The character you play can either be the default John Shepard who is an ex-street kid turned war hero (I went with this choice because that is the character the developers Bioware had in mind when writing the story so I figure I get a fuller experience) or a character of your choice. Character customization is really full on. It is as complex as the one in Fallout 3 but with an easier interface and is clearer to see what you're doing. None of this dark screen crap. Once you have selected what gender you are and what you look like the next thing to do is choose your personality and history. Depending on what personality and career history you have will affect how people interact with you throughout the game. There is a third option for those who did all this in Mass Effect 1. You can import your save file from the first game into the second, This not only brings over your custom character, any major choices you made in Mass Effect 1 are also carried over to Mass Effect 2. Without ruining the first game this determines who does and does not appear in Mass Effect 2 and how the story plays out based on those choices. Bioware is in the processes of making Mass Effect 3 and like with Mass Effect 1 any choices you make in Mass Effect 2 will effect the outcome of Mass Effect 3. Right here this is what sets Mass Effect 2 apart from any other RPG out there. Bioware have really taken their time with this game.
The graphics are a significant improvement on the first game. Its a lot cleaner and crisper and the characters are more real. The environments are lifelike but at the same time they are not. IT seems that everyone in the galaxy has the same architectural style. The only major difference being the doors. Which lets the game down a little bit. In Lord of the Rings you knew that a building was elven or goblin just by looking at it. In Mass Effect 2 the only way to know is to ask people in game or just take an educated guess based on who lives there. You really get the sense you are playing a film especially because there is so much dialogue as well. Usually in games the backdrops are really great and character movement is good but what lets them down is character expression. Usually this isn't a problem because about five seconds later you blow their head off in some spectacular fashion. But because Mass Effect 2 (ok you know what saying Mass Effect 2 all the time is hurting my fingers so from now on I'm going to call it ME2) is so dependent on dialogue you need to try and understand a characters motivations in why they are saying something and it is not always made clear just based on how they have said it. Facial expressions can give away a characters intentions in game the same as if you were talking with someone in real life.
I'm kind of on the fence about the gameplay. I think this is because there are two aspects to it. You spend a majority of the game talking to people and this part works really well. It's simple and lets you focus on what is being said. On occasion there are quicktime events that allow to either perform good or evil deeds. These more or less end up determining if you kill someone or not. The combat like the first game is ok but a bit repetitive. Then again I suppose this is the way with all shooters so I can't complain too much. If you are not familiar with squad based combat you will struggle with this game. The combat is relies on it heavily. However you can decide in the options menu if you want your squad members to use their Biotic and tech (equivalent to magic) powers automatically or only at your command. This allows the player to focus on saving their own skin and not have to worry about others. In ME1 ammo was not an issue and it was explained away very well. All you had to worry about gun wise was keeping your gun from overheating. In ME2 they haven't included ammo (at least that's what it says) but removable heat sinks. Total bollocks! Its ammo, the game says it is more efficient on the battlefield. Bollocks! Ok fine you don't want to call it ammo then don't call it ammo everywhere else in the game except the manual! Don't piss on me and tell me it's rain Bioware! While it does bring it in line with other shooters out there because you can't carry much ammo and what you do have you chew through so bloody fast it just results in you switching guns until you can find more. In these situations melee is supposed to be your saving grace but even with melee damage upgraded to the max everything in the game still packs a harder punch then you do so whats the point. In summary the social element is great but the combat annoys me.
The sound is sort of the same as ME1 which is fantastic. The music is exactly the same but it is so good you don't care. Voice acting is great and people like Seth Green, Carrie-Anne Moss and Martin Sheen lend their voices to the characters. What really interested me is because everyone in the game speaks English how do you tell one alien from another without looking at them? the only solution is to give them different accents and ways of talking. This is done really well and you can be sitting in some dingy bar somewhere having a quiet drink (which you can do) and overhear a conversation and know that it is a Human and an Asari talking.
I love ME2 and I'm really looking forward to Mass Effect 3 which is expected to be released either in the middle to end of this year. Seriously worth buying if you were a fan of ME1. As quoted to me by the guy at the shop where I bought it "Mass Effect 2 shits all over Mass Effect 1!" While it does come on two disks there is very little switching so there is little need to get off the couch and more time can be spent playing an awesome game.
9 out of 10
Ok so for those who don't know anything about Mass Effect (to which you must be incredibly boring, poor or illiterate and so anti-social you can't have a friend read out the text to you and for that I feel sorry for you) it is the classic underdog story of man vs the world only change the world to the galaxy. Yes Mass Effect is a sci-fi game but don't let that put you off. Technically Fallout 3 is a sci-fi game and that's really good (see what I thought of Fallout 3 here) so give Mass Effect the same chance. It is a bit more on the Star Trek end and not the Mad Max end of sci-fi like Fallout 3 is.
The character you play can either be the default John Shepard who is an ex-street kid turned war hero (I went with this choice because that is the character the developers Bioware had in mind when writing the story so I figure I get a fuller experience) or a character of your choice. Character customization is really full on. It is as complex as the one in Fallout 3 but with an easier interface and is clearer to see what you're doing. None of this dark screen crap. Once you have selected what gender you are and what you look like the next thing to do is choose your personality and history. Depending on what personality and career history you have will affect how people interact with you throughout the game. There is a third option for those who did all this in Mass Effect 1. You can import your save file from the first game into the second, This not only brings over your custom character, any major choices you made in Mass Effect 1 are also carried over to Mass Effect 2. Without ruining the first game this determines who does and does not appear in Mass Effect 2 and how the story plays out based on those choices. Bioware is in the processes of making Mass Effect 3 and like with Mass Effect 1 any choices you make in Mass Effect 2 will effect the outcome of Mass Effect 3. Right here this is what sets Mass Effect 2 apart from any other RPG out there. Bioware have really taken their time with this game.
The graphics are a significant improvement on the first game. Its a lot cleaner and crisper and the characters are more real. The environments are lifelike but at the same time they are not. IT seems that everyone in the galaxy has the same architectural style. The only major difference being the doors. Which lets the game down a little bit. In Lord of the Rings you knew that a building was elven or goblin just by looking at it. In Mass Effect 2 the only way to know is to ask people in game or just take an educated guess based on who lives there. You really get the sense you are playing a film especially because there is so much dialogue as well. Usually in games the backdrops are really great and character movement is good but what lets them down is character expression. Usually this isn't a problem because about five seconds later you blow their head off in some spectacular fashion. But because Mass Effect 2 (ok you know what saying Mass Effect 2 all the time is hurting my fingers so from now on I'm going to call it ME2) is so dependent on dialogue you need to try and understand a characters motivations in why they are saying something and it is not always made clear just based on how they have said it. Facial expressions can give away a characters intentions in game the same as if you were talking with someone in real life.
I'm kind of on the fence about the gameplay. I think this is because there are two aspects to it. You spend a majority of the game talking to people and this part works really well. It's simple and lets you focus on what is being said. On occasion there are quicktime events that allow to either perform good or evil deeds. These more or less end up determining if you kill someone or not. The combat like the first game is ok but a bit repetitive. Then again I suppose this is the way with all shooters so I can't complain too much. If you are not familiar with squad based combat you will struggle with this game. The combat is relies on it heavily. However you can decide in the options menu if you want your squad members to use their Biotic and tech (equivalent to magic) powers automatically or only at your command. This allows the player to focus on saving their own skin and not have to worry about others. In ME1 ammo was not an issue and it was explained away very well. All you had to worry about gun wise was keeping your gun from overheating. In ME2 they haven't included ammo (at least that's what it says) but removable heat sinks. Total bollocks! Its ammo, the game says it is more efficient on the battlefield. Bollocks! Ok fine you don't want to call it ammo then don't call it ammo everywhere else in the game except the manual! Don't piss on me and tell me it's rain Bioware! While it does bring it in line with other shooters out there because you can't carry much ammo and what you do have you chew through so bloody fast it just results in you switching guns until you can find more. In these situations melee is supposed to be your saving grace but even with melee damage upgraded to the max everything in the game still packs a harder punch then you do so whats the point. In summary the social element is great but the combat annoys me.
The sound is sort of the same as ME1 which is fantastic. The music is exactly the same but it is so good you don't care. Voice acting is great and people like Seth Green, Carrie-Anne Moss and Martin Sheen lend their voices to the characters. What really interested me is because everyone in the game speaks English how do you tell one alien from another without looking at them? the only solution is to give them different accents and ways of talking. This is done really well and you can be sitting in some dingy bar somewhere having a quiet drink (which you can do) and overhear a conversation and know that it is a Human and an Asari talking.
I love ME2 and I'm really looking forward to Mass Effect 3 which is expected to be released either in the middle to end of this year. Seriously worth buying if you were a fan of ME1. As quoted to me by the guy at the shop where I bought it "Mass Effect 2 shits all over Mass Effect 1!" While it does come on two disks there is very little switching so there is little need to get off the couch and more time can be spent playing an awesome game.
9 out of 10
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
What I think of Fallout 3
I was going to have a full Fallout 3 review ready for today but I've been to busy playing the game to write about it. So yes this one will be shorter than the other review I did.
Fallout 3 was released in 2008 by Bethesda Softworks. It was a real game changer to the series being the first game in the series to use real time combat and not turn based. The story overall is relatively simple, wander the wasteland and survive as best you can. However each individual quest is quite detailed and really immerse. I think its best to think of the game as a collection of short games put together rather than one big game. The game takes place in the Washington D.C area in 2277, 200 years after the great war (Which is a war that lasted for 2 hours in which time America, China and Russia fired their nuclear missiles at each other) and 36 years after the events of Fallout 2. You play as either a boy or a girl (the game lets you choose at the very start in a rather interesting manner) whom is born in vault 101, a nuclear fallout shelter.
The gameplay is fantastic. It is easy to pick up and play, which is what I like in games if it has a pain in the arse learning curve just to figure out which button does what I won't play it. All though unlike previous games in the series which were turn based which gave you time to think and plan your next move, Fallout 3 is real time and you have to think on your feet. However if you want to pause and think V.A.T.S (Vault-tec Advanced Targeting System) will pause the game and focus on your target and you can plan your shots. This method will suit many different playstyles.
I'm playing it on the Xbox 360 (purely because that is the copy my friend lent me) I have seen the PC version and gameplay in that regard really depends on if you are a PC person or a console person. The one (and I reckon only) disadvantage to the console version is no mods. If you want to mod your game (to which there is no disadvantage because there is no multiplayer aspect to the game and in fact modding is encouraged by Bethesda with them releasing a free editor which can be found here) buy it on the PC. Otherwise if you don't really care get it on the 360.
The graphics great. You really see the contrast of post-apocalyptic wasteland and the sterile conditions of the Vault you first start the game in. While at the same time you can see the remnants of the superpower that America was. Real philosophical art-house stuff. All the NPC's in the wasteland are dirty and really give you the sense that it is hard living in a post-apocalyptic world.
Not much to say on sound. The sound track is fantastic and I highly recommend you get it if you can. But the other sounds are ok. Guns sound as they should but you can tell that there are like four voice actors for all the NPC's not related to the main story. Otherwise can't complain.
I'm disappointed that there is a lack of a multiplayer aspect to this game because there is a lot of fun to be had taking the game online but I hear there is a Fallout MMORPG in the works so stay tuned for that.
You know I really understand what people mean when they say they have that "Fallout feeling". Espically when your friends tell you to "shut up about Fallout already!" I can see why it got game of the year in 2008, I'm completely addicted to it.
9 out of 10
Fallout 3 was released in 2008 by Bethesda Softworks. It was a real game changer to the series being the first game in the series to use real time combat and not turn based. The story overall is relatively simple, wander the wasteland and survive as best you can. However each individual quest is quite detailed and really immerse. I think its best to think of the game as a collection of short games put together rather than one big game. The game takes place in the Washington D.C area in 2277, 200 years after the great war (Which is a war that lasted for 2 hours in which time America, China and Russia fired their nuclear missiles at each other) and 36 years after the events of Fallout 2. You play as either a boy or a girl (the game lets you choose at the very start in a rather interesting manner) whom is born in vault 101, a nuclear fallout shelter.
The gameplay is fantastic. It is easy to pick up and play, which is what I like in games if it has a pain in the arse learning curve just to figure out which button does what I won't play it. All though unlike previous games in the series which were turn based which gave you time to think and plan your next move, Fallout 3 is real time and you have to think on your feet. However if you want to pause and think V.A.T.S (Vault-tec Advanced Targeting System) will pause the game and focus on your target and you can plan your shots. This method will suit many different playstyles.
I'm playing it on the Xbox 360 (purely because that is the copy my friend lent me) I have seen the PC version and gameplay in that regard really depends on if you are a PC person or a console person. The one (and I reckon only) disadvantage to the console version is no mods. If you want to mod your game (to which there is no disadvantage because there is no multiplayer aspect to the game and in fact modding is encouraged by Bethesda with them releasing a free editor which can be found here) buy it on the PC. Otherwise if you don't really care get it on the 360.
The graphics great. You really see the contrast of post-apocalyptic wasteland and the sterile conditions of the Vault you first start the game in. While at the same time you can see the remnants of the superpower that America was. Real philosophical art-house stuff. All the NPC's in the wasteland are dirty and really give you the sense that it is hard living in a post-apocalyptic world.
Not much to say on sound. The sound track is fantastic and I highly recommend you get it if you can. But the other sounds are ok. Guns sound as they should but you can tell that there are like four voice actors for all the NPC's not related to the main story. Otherwise can't complain.
I'm disappointed that there is a lack of a multiplayer aspect to this game because there is a lot of fun to be had taking the game online but I hear there is a Fallout MMORPG in the works so stay tuned for that.
You know I really understand what people mean when they say they have that "Fallout feeling". Espically when your friends tell you to "shut up about Fallout already!" I can see why it got game of the year in 2008, I'm completely addicted to it.
9 out of 10
Thursday, December 2, 2010
What I think of Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure
Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure was one of those games that got banned in Australia. I wanted to see what the fuss was all about so I downloaded a copy and set it up on my PC.
Straight off the bat the game takes ages to load. This is especially bad at the beginning when there is a loading screen between each cutscene and the very short tutorial levels. I found what worked is while the game loaded I fired up my psp and played Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core and played that till it was finished loading. Once the game starts it is actually really good.
The short tutorials are very detailed and really help you pick up the game quick. But each level is actually quite big. The game is linear by design but each level is very open and allows you do do and go as you please for the most part. It still pushes you through the level but how you do that is up to you. You can run through them really quick if you want or you can take your time and do the side missions. Side missions will unlock things like concept art and a fight club feature which works more or less like street fighter but without the insane combos and super moves.
The story (which is written by Marc Ecko) revolves around a graffiti artist who calls himself Trane. Trane lives in the city of New Radius which is really Orwellian type city with cameras at every street corner along with a violent and oppressive Police force. It is up to Trane to bring down this oppressive regime and restore order to New Radius by means of graffiti on every available surface. I mean the story is really cheap but it is better than some FPS games out on the market *cough* Black Ops *cough* and does have a plot that you can follow. The language in it is all graffiti slang but is not that hard to pick up and a quick google search will fill you in on anything you don't understand.
The gameplay is unique but that's because it has a real graffiti focus. Yeah Jet Set Radio had it too but that was really more of a sports game like Tony Hawk on roller-blades. Marc Ecko's Getting up allows you to organize your blackbook (the sketchbook a graffiti artist uses to practice in) and decide which of a set of up to four 'Pieces' (The artwork a graffiti artist paints on the wall) you wish to use in that level. There is very little ability to customize, all you can do is change the color of them from a set of preset colors. An ability to make custom pieces would be nice but I can see why it is not in it. What I like is how you apply these pieces. It is a minigame and you have to move your characters hand over the surface and spray your paint and fill in the predetermined area. All the while looking out for security cameras, police, rival gang members and normal people who will call the cops if they catch you in the act. Although at first I thought it would be really repetitive the game challenges you in other ways.In order to even do the minigame you first have to reach the bit of wall you want to spray and this means you have to climb buildings, fight rival gang members and avoid being detected by police just to get there. Spraying your piece is a reward for getting there and I it keeps what is a repetitive task fresh and different.
If you are a fan of hip-hop then you're gonna love the soundtrack. Before each level you can fiddle with the music ad just listen to it if you want but I have not discovered a way to do this in game nor have I bothered the gameplay is that good. However not all the tracks are unlocked. In order to get all the tracks you have to find ipods in the game and each one you collect will unlock another song. This really annoys me because it has nothing to do with the game itself. Its just busywork to increase the games playtime. If you can't be bothered you will then miss out on two thirds of the games music. Then again if you a real full on hip-hop fan you will have most of it in your music collection so don't bother.
Given that the game was made in 2006 the graphics are quite good. I've found a few glitches but nothing major, mostly problems with the collision engine where stuff will go through other stuff. The levels feel lived in and the graffiti doesn't look like it was painted ten seconds ago. Some looks like it has been there for years while some of it looks new showing that the graffiti culture in New Radius is alive and kicking.
All in all the game is really good and worth getting you're hands on. I can see why it was banned in Australia what with the whole glorification of graffiti theme but honestly I've seen games which have made classification that are far worse.
I'd give it a 7 out of 10.
Straight off the bat the game takes ages to load. This is especially bad at the beginning when there is a loading screen between each cutscene and the very short tutorial levels. I found what worked is while the game loaded I fired up my psp and played Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core and played that till it was finished loading. Once the game starts it is actually really good.
The short tutorials are very detailed and really help you pick up the game quick. But each level is actually quite big. The game is linear by design but each level is very open and allows you do do and go as you please for the most part. It still pushes you through the level but how you do that is up to you. You can run through them really quick if you want or you can take your time and do the side missions. Side missions will unlock things like concept art and a fight club feature which works more or less like street fighter but without the insane combos and super moves.
The story (which is written by Marc Ecko) revolves around a graffiti artist who calls himself Trane. Trane lives in the city of New Radius which is really Orwellian type city with cameras at every street corner along with a violent and oppressive Police force. It is up to Trane to bring down this oppressive regime and restore order to New Radius by means of graffiti on every available surface. I mean the story is really cheap but it is better than some FPS games out on the market *cough* Black Ops *cough* and does have a plot that you can follow. The language in it is all graffiti slang but is not that hard to pick up and a quick google search will fill you in on anything you don't understand.
The gameplay is unique but that's because it has a real graffiti focus. Yeah Jet Set Radio had it too but that was really more of a sports game like Tony Hawk on roller-blades. Marc Ecko's Getting up allows you to organize your blackbook (the sketchbook a graffiti artist uses to practice in) and decide which of a set of up to four 'Pieces' (The artwork a graffiti artist paints on the wall) you wish to use in that level. There is very little ability to customize, all you can do is change the color of them from a set of preset colors. An ability to make custom pieces would be nice but I can see why it is not in it. What I like is how you apply these pieces. It is a minigame and you have to move your characters hand over the surface and spray your paint and fill in the predetermined area. All the while looking out for security cameras, police, rival gang members and normal people who will call the cops if they catch you in the act. Although at first I thought it would be really repetitive the game challenges you in other ways.In order to even do the minigame you first have to reach the bit of wall you want to spray and this means you have to climb buildings, fight rival gang members and avoid being detected by police just to get there. Spraying your piece is a reward for getting there and I it keeps what is a repetitive task fresh and different.
If you are a fan of hip-hop then you're gonna love the soundtrack. Before each level you can fiddle with the music ad just listen to it if you want but I have not discovered a way to do this in game nor have I bothered the gameplay is that good. However not all the tracks are unlocked. In order to get all the tracks you have to find ipods in the game and each one you collect will unlock another song. This really annoys me because it has nothing to do with the game itself. Its just busywork to increase the games playtime. If you can't be bothered you will then miss out on two thirds of the games music. Then again if you a real full on hip-hop fan you will have most of it in your music collection so don't bother.
Given that the game was made in 2006 the graphics are quite good. I've found a few glitches but nothing major, mostly problems with the collision engine where stuff will go through other stuff. The levels feel lived in and the graffiti doesn't look like it was painted ten seconds ago. Some looks like it has been there for years while some of it looks new showing that the graffiti culture in New Radius is alive and kicking.
All in all the game is really good and worth getting you're hands on. I can see why it was banned in Australia what with the whole glorification of graffiti theme but honestly I've seen games which have made classification that are far worse.
I'd give it a 7 out of 10.
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