Obsidian teases gamers with "Project X"

Obsidian Entertainment has brought us great games in the past such as Fallout: New Vegas and Neverwinter Nights 2. Today they released a teaser revealing that a new project is in development, but no actual info of the game itself.

The project is simply titled "Project X," which hopefully has no connection to the terrible movie with the same title. The teaser is has a black background with the number 4 inside of an ouroboros symbol. Underneath this symbol is a quote that says, "What do the words mean?" "Nothing, the Dirge of Eir Glanfath is sound without form, a lone voice crying out in the morning because it must."

It hasn't even been 24 hours, but there has been much speculation as to what game this could be a teaser for. From the looks of it, it's probably not going to be a Fallout 4, but most likely a new Dungeon Siege game. Gameinformer.com stated that it could possibly be a teaser for a game based on the "Wheel of Time" series, which was announced a few years ago but has yet to be seen by the public.


Below is a picture of the teaser, courtesy of Obsidian's website.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown, a reboot worth getting excited for

In a period of gaming where old games are being rebooted just to be played in high definition, It's refreshing to see a game do more than just make itself prettier, but offer an entirely different experience as well. RTS mastermind Sid Meier is back again with his team at Firaxis Games, to bring us a remake of the 1994 title, UFO: Enemy Unknown.

It's not a traditional remake though, even the name has changed to XCOM: Enemy Unknown. The game is set in the present day, an alien invasion has just hit causing a reaction from multiple nations to fend off the attack and save the world from decimation. You are given control of the XCOM project, the most elite military and scientific organization of all time. Your job is to eliminate the extraterrestrial army before they eliminate all of human kind.

Ladies and gentlemen... I present the "Geoscape"

Game-play will be similar to the other titles in the X:COM series. The real-times strategy elements will be confined to a global view called "Geoscape." In this view of the map, players will perform multiple task that include managing resources and personnel, conducting research of alien technologies, interacting with the governments of X:COM's funding nations, ordering aircraft to intercept UFOs, and dispatching troops to engage enemies in combat on the ground. There will also be a new view called "ant farm" which allows players to customize the X:COM headquarters as well as order research and engineering, equip troops, and observe various activities of X:COM personnel.

Basic RTS camera view

The actual action sequences of the game are all turn based, using a third person view. When commanding your units or planning your next actions, the camera is zoomed out giving the player a vast view of the landscape. When the player's turn is over, the camera will zoom in to show brutal kills performed by your squad and the enemy. The game provides some of the best AI I've seen to date. Each soldier in your squad is aware of what is going on on the battlefield and are emotionally expressive. If you are clearly winning a battle, your squad will be more confident and deliver some heroic sounding banter. If your squad is on a clear path to defeat, they will whimper, panic, and cry as the enemy presses on. Environments are also destructible, making this already beautiful looking game look better and feel more real.

Though the game is a reboot, it has gutted some core game-play elements and replaced them with modern-day conventions. The inventory system, grid map, and time units system have all been removed. The equipping of special weapons and items will now be controlled through a toolbar of various actions that stretches across the bottom of the screen. You will no longer have to disembark from carriers at the start of battles either, troops will already be deployed at the beginning of each mission. A new cover system has also been integrated into the game. In cover, your squad will react to enemy gunfire and lay down suppressive fire if needed. Stealth will be an element added into the game-play as well as special abilities for both humans and aliens.

Dynamic camera view during action sequence

Mission structure is deeper than just neutralizing enemy forces and rescuing civilians. Now each mission will come with sub-objectives that will need to be completed in order to progress through the story. The game runs on the Unreal 3 engine, so there will be some beautiful cut-scenes to look forward to during the campaign. Multiplayer will be featured in the game, but the only game mode will be a one-on-one tactical battle. Players can choose between humans, aliens, or have a mixture of both on their team. Each player will also be given a budget at the beginning of the match in which they will spend towards assembling the best squad possible.




This game will feature a unique experience for both hardcore and casual RTS players. To make this game a little more awesome, Fireaxis games will be releasing it on consoles as well. That's not the awesome part though. Unlike Civilization: Revolution, the console version of X:COM will not be stripped down and will be the same as the PC version, minus a mouse driven user interface and the ability to mod. The game is scheduled to be released on PC, Ps3, and Xbox 360 on Oct. 9, 2012, and will be available digitally, and in stores.

Check out a game-play video provided by Giant Bomb here.

Possibility for Valve-developed hardware in the near future

An article released today from the great staff at IGN unveiled that powerhouse game developer, Valve, is looking for industrial designers. The job listing states.

“Valve is traditionally a software company. Open platforms like the PC and Mac are important to us, as they enable us and our partners to have a robust and direct relationship with customers. We’re frustrated by the lack of innovation in the computer hardware space though, so we’re jumping in.”

That isn't all that Valve posted. They continue to talk about how there hasn't been any real innovation in the PC gaming marketplace in the past few years and that they aim to change that. The post also specifies that they want people who have experience in product design and manufacturing, surfacing, ergonomics, usability, and aesthetics. They also want someone with over 6 years of shipping "world-class, high-tech hardware products, and a "thorough understanding of product design principles."

There have been rumors circulating over the past several months that Valve would be throwing their hat into the console war by making their own console called the SteamBox. Valve has since denied any such ideas that they are working on a console. Now it seems that all of the evidence is pointing to the SteamBox being real and not just some industry myth. There have also been listings posted by Valve, looking for an electronics engineer to work on "platform hardware." From all of the clues Valve has left us, I wouldn't be surprised if some kind of Valve-developed hardware is released sometime within the next few years.

Check out the listing below, courtesy of IGN.

MGS: Ground Zeros will blow your freaking mind

A few days ago, there was confirmation on a new Metal Gear Solid game for the current generation of consoles. The game was revealed by Konami at their celebration of the series 25th anniversary. At the event, a 14 minute demo was shown that featured a few minutes of actual game-play at the end of it.

From the information that I have gathered, it is almost certain that the protagonist in this game will be Big Boss. He is wearing a badge that says Militaires Sans Frontieres which was Big Boss's PMC in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. The protagonist also has an eye patch covering his right eye which is the defining characteristic of Big Boss, thus proving that Big Boss will be the protagonist in this game.

As for the time period that the game will take place in, it must be post Peace Walker because the gun Big Boss is equipped with in the demo is a FN FNC, a Belgian assault rifle created in 1979. If you haven't played Peace Walker, it takes place in 1974 so this new game would have to take place afterward in order to be historically correct. The setting is unknown as of now, there is a common speculation that it will take place in Africa.

I wonder who this will be...

As stated earlier, the demo consists of around 9 minutes of cut-scene and around 6 minutes of game-play. Just from the cuts-scene itself, you really get a look at what this new engine is capable of. Individual rain drops can be seen splashing the ground and the soldiers uniforms and bodies glisten in the rain. Facial animations are extremely life-like, so much so that it feels like you are watching a movie. Never in my life have a seen a game that has looked this incredible, I was especially wowed when the helicopter was taking off and you could see the waves of rainwater being pushed from the force of the propeller blades.

The trailer starts off with a man in uniform talking to a young boy in a cage. They are obviously on some sort of military base. The soldier gives the boy some sort of music playing device and then walks away. The man then gets in a car with another soldier and they drive to the helipad for extraction. Later you see the face of the man and find out that he is horribly disfigured, most likely from burns. The man talks throughout the demo until he says the line "from FOX two phantoms were born." This line could be a reference to the clones Solid Snake and Liquid Snake. It could also be referring to members of FOX unit like Big Boss, Gray Fox, and Major Zero. The camera then pans down to the side of a cliff where a figure, who we soon find out to be Big Boss, is climbing.

Notice the eye patch and MSF badge

After that, Big Boss crawls around on the ground for a bit until he says "kept you waiting, huh?" after peeling off his goggles. He then stands up and crouch-walks closer to the military base while two helicopters soar over him. The game switches into game-play mode shortly after and Big Boss slowly makes his way closer to the base, dodging spotlights that are being manned by guards. The most amazing part about this engine is that there is hardly a difference between the visuals in the cut-scene from the visuals in the actual game-play. While Big Boss is creeping up to the base, you can hear a Konami representative explain the the game will be open world so you can approach your objective any way you would like.




He then mentions that you will be able to steal and pilot vehicles in the game, a game-play element that has not been incorporated in MGS games in the past. Once he successfully reaches the perimeter of the base, Big Boss pops a round off with a silenced gun, leaving a cloud of blood spraying from a guards head. He then shows off the driving mechanics of the game by having Big Boss hop in a vehicle and drive it around for a moment. After that, Big Boss uses a flare to call in a helicopter. Apparently this helicopter can be used for covering fire or extraction, similar to the game Mercenaries. The demo ends with Big Boss being extracted from the base, looking over it while the helicopter carries him away.

From what has been shown so far, there is no doubt that this game will be one of the best upcoming games for the current generation. The game looks so good that I originally thought it wasn't going to be released until the next generation. Konami will be using the new FOX engine for the next generation and if it looks this good on the current gen, I can only imagine how good it will look on the next gen. There is no information on a release date yet, but I'll be sure to keep you posted once more information is released.

Dishonored preview

With the success of games that combine multiple game-play styles such as the Deus Ex and Bioshock, it's surprising that more developers haven't taken notes and applied them to their own titles. The crew at Arkane Studios has been taking notes and are releasing a game that encourages gamers to be more creative in the way they assassinate targets.

Dishonored is being labeled as a first person action game, but it is a hard game to categorize seeing that it contains a mixture of different gameplay elements. It is essentially up to the player to decide how they want to play the game. The player can choose if they want to be silent and kill their enemies with stealth, be loud and kill their enemies with a bang, or show off their sorcery skills by blasting their foes with different magical abilities.

Gamers will be put in control of Corvo. Corvo is a magically gifted assassin that has been framed for murdering the Empress that he was once in charge of protecting. Corvo is visited in prison by an individual called the Outsider. The Outsider imprints Corvo with its mark, allowing Corvo to obtain and use magical abilities. Corvo then escapes prison and proceeds to take on assassination missions.

Guards on mechanical stilts show elements of fantasy in a somewhat realistic environment

From there on out you proceed to execute these missions in a city called Dunwall. Dunwall is a fictional city that is based on research done by teams placed in England and Scotland. The goal of art directer Sebastian Mitton and Zenimax visual design director Viktor Antonov (worked with Valve to create City 17 in Half Life 2) is to merge a stylized city similar to London. They have even imported real faces of club bouncers and construction workers to serve as the faces of some NPCs.

The city of Dunwall has both elements of realism and fantasy. On the realistic side, there is much political tension in the city of Dunwall as well as a plague that is infecting many its inhabitants. It is a fishing town that is powered on oil and players will be able to see boats drifting across the water as they capture large sea creatures.

The supernatural elements of the game create a juxtaposition between realism and fantasy. You see this when Corvo uses his magical abilities to teleport from the streets to rooftops, take possession of wild animals, or sick a gang of plague ridden rats on one of his foes. An interesting ability called blink will aid you in stealth as its purpose is to make Corvo quickly teleport from one shadow to another, unseen by any enemies.

Sound will be an important element in stealth gameplay. Noise can be made by walking too fast, shutting doors, dropping from high distances, and even rustling with doorknobs. Make too much sound and your enemies will come rushing to the position where they heard the sound come from. Of course this can be an advantage to some players that want to set a trap for guards by making noise and the poucing on them once they have them where they want them.

Execution animations are astonishingly realistic

There will be a wide variety of weapons to choose from in Dishonored. Corvo will have weapons such as a short-sword, a one-armed crossbow, various traps, and the magical abilities you posses as I mentioned earlier. There will be times where you will be able to mix some of these weapons and powers together, allowing you to be creative with the way you execute your enemies. While setting these creative traps, time is slowed down, giving you time to plot the twisted ways you want to end your victims. Once you are done, you can switch back to real time and watch the damage you inflict with your twisted mind.

Arkane isn't paying too much attention to story or cut-scenes. They say that it feels like they are taking control away from the gamer by adding too many cut-scenes, so they have decided to put environmental story clues that you can read as you progress through the game.

Dishonored has reached the top of my radar for upcoming games being released in the next few months and I am excited for the day when I get a chance to get my hands on it. It is scheduled to be released on October 9, 2012 for the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.

Time to get back to work

Hello readers,

After a busy summer full of work and fun, I have decided to come back from my unannounced hiatus from this blog. I will be making sure that I keep up to date with my posts and be as consistent as I was during last semester. A lot has happened this summer including a wonderful E3 that showed off a bunch of upcoming games that I will try to review. We have an exciting fall ahead of us and I will be here keeping you all updated with any important information that is released.

Thank you all for reading.

Sincerely

Adam Dawson

Max Payne 3 review

It has been almost 10 years since the last time we got to see Max Payne in action, running and gunning his way through the gritty streets of New York. This time around, Max has decided to take a change in scenery and relocate to the sunny city of Sao Paulo Brazil, where he is the bodyguard for a rich family named the Brancos. Max thinks it will be an easy gig, but little does he know things are about to go way south when his bosses wife gets kidnapped.

At first I was skeptical about the change in setting because I didn't think that Brazil was a good match for the grittiness that I have come to love from the Max Payne series. At first it may seem that way, but after a while you get use to the brightly colored environments. From the strobe lights and house music of the clubs you shoot up, to the brightly colored poverty stricken favelas, you can tell Rockstar Games really wanted to change the atmosphere of the first two. If you really like the dark, gritty atmosphere of the New York setting, there are still a few chapters that take place in New Jersey that give the game the same familiar Max Payne feel.

Cover system features blind-fire capability 

The attention to detail in the game is phenomenal as you see bits and chunks of debris flying as you shoot at enemies trying to hide behind cover as well as entry and exit wounds on your enemies after you send them to their graves. The game looks incredible, character models look extremely realistic and their movement is on point. Max's knees will bend when he walks up a flight of stairs and when he jumps to perform a stylish bullet-time dive. Doors will fling open when shot and enemies will flop to the ground after being killed, showcasing the capabilities of the RAGE physics engine. Lighting and shading effects are also executed very well and they should be, seeing that the game takes place in such a sunny environment.

The gameplay is probably more fun than that of any other title that has been released this year. There is only one way to play the game and it's guns blazing. You don't have the option to be stealthy, but that is Max Payne at the core and I wouldn't want it any other way. You are still able to enter bullet-time to slow down the action and dodge bullets while taking out multiple enemies in a matter of seconds. After a bullet-time dive, Max is left on the ground and can keep shooting from a prone position or on his back, depending on which way you dive. While on the ground, you can rotate Max's body 360 degrees so you can take out all enemies while lying on the ground.

BOOMstick 

There are also moments of brilliance during bullet-time sequences that developers put in for specific parts of the story. Usually there will be a cutscene in which Max does some kind of crazy stunt, then the player is given control, during an automatically triggered bullet-time sequence, to take out as many goons as they possibly can. These are some of the most exhilarating moments in the game and make you feel like Max is the ultimate action hero. The game also added a cover system which proves to be quite useful. Instead of running out and gunning down your enemies like a mad man, you can hide behind cover and strategically pick off each enemy. Pain killers are also still the only way to regain health and if you have one handy on you, bullet-time will automatically trigger when you lose all of your health and you will have to kill the enemy that last shot you, in order to stay alive.

The story is gripping and will keep you on the edge of your seat and make you never want to stop playing. The game gives you every detail of what is happening and why, and there are no plot-holes or unanswered questions. The story even provides flashbacks to explain to the gamers how Max wound up in Sao Paulo of all places. As with all of Rockstar's titles, the characters are memorable and lovable. Max is still Max, but in this game he really struggles with alcoholism and failure. He is extremely negative and hard on himself, but yet still extremely likable because he is always out to do what is right. The character of Max really progresses and so do his struggles as you get deeper into the story. Other characters fill out the story-line perfectly, especially Marcello, the youngest of the Branco brothers who is a typical rich party boy.

The multiplayer is surprisingly addicting. Unlike the past couple of attempts at online gaming made by Rockstar, this game actually provides a fun competitive multiplayer experience. The game plays just like it does in the story mode, allowing players to use bullet-time to slow down time and dispose of their opponents. Game modes such as Payne Killer and Gang Wars make the online experience different than your average online shooter. In Payne killer, two players control Max and his partner Raul Passos as the other players control normal henchmen. Max and Passos are pitted against all, but in order to preserve fairness they are given powerful loadouts and a plethora of pain killers.

Action shot of Gang Wars 

Gang Wars puts two teams against one and other in a narrative driven battle. The game will be set up by a narrative explaining why the crews are fighting each other and then the battle will begin. The objective is to take the duffel bags stuffed full of money back to the safe points. What I love is that the objective in the next round is based on what happens in the round before it, adding spontaneity to the match making it that much more exciting.

There really isn't anything negative to say about this game. I've finished the story twice now and have only run into one bug which wasn't a big deal because the game saves at every checkpoint. The music is awesome and suits the game perfectly. Load screens aren't much of an issue because the game loads during the cut-scenes which you wont want to skip because the story is so engrossing. The action never gets stale as enemies get more difficult as the story progresses, leaving you feeling satisfied after every bloodbath.

This game isn't just great, it is phenomenal. It is the best game in the Max Payne series and should be played by any fan of action/adventure games. The first two games aren't referenced much so you don't need to play the first two to understand the game, although I highly recommend that you do because they are also brilliant. Though people criticize the game for it being linear, comparing it to GTA and Red Dead Redemption, I feel like the linearity makes the game more fun. Though I love open world games, too many developers feel like they have to make games extremely open, causing them to feel overwhelming. Max Payne is a game that proves to the world that a game doesn't need to be open and expansive in order to be great.

More characters confirmed for PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale

It has been announced that there will be a few more important characters added to the roster for the upcoming fighting game PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. The characters that have been added are characters that have been in games that have made PlayStation the elite gaming console that it is today.

The characters that were recently announced were Snake from the Metal Gear Solid series, Drake from the Uncharted series and Cole from the Infamous series. All three are characters from fantastic titles and were expected by most to appear in the game.

Level design looks beautiful... so does PaRappa.

One thing that I am interested to see is how these players will play in the game. We have already seen what Snake can do when he appeared in Super Smash Brothers Brawl, but it will be interesting to see how Sony Computer Entertainment take on Snakes fighting style differs from that of Nintendo.

I think that Drake will have strong hand to hand combat attacks as well as projectiles like guns. He will probably come equipped with a nice double jump as well.

Snake will probably play very similarly to the Snake from Smash Bros. He will probably have tactile explosives as well as guns for quicker projectile damage. He probably won't have a sentry drone for his whatever the PlayStation equivalent for an Up B is, so maybe he wont be so damn hard to knock out.

All levels will be a fusion of worlds from SCE made games.

Cole will probably be the Pikachu of this game. He will most likely shoot electricity at other players for his projectile attacks and then use his fancy electric melee weapon known as the Amp, to beat other characters senseless.



Characters that have already been announced include Radec from the Killzone series, Fat Princess, Kratos from the God of War series, Sly Cooper, Sweet Tooth from the Twisted Metal series and my favorite of them all, PaRappa the Rapper.

Being a big fan of Smash Bros, I am intrigued to see what SCE has to offer with a fighting game showcasing characters of their own. I am a bigger fan of Sony characters and feel like if this game is executed well, it could potentially be better than Smash Bros. We will have to see when it is released later this year.

Dead Space 3 to feature online multiplayer and more changes

According to an article by IGN, Dead Space 3 will feature online multiplayer. The game will allow players to drop in and out of others games to fight along sides and help the hosting player progress through the campaign. The character that joining players will control will be another man in an engineer suit with a scar on his face and glowing red eyes. The character is supposed to be Isaac's guide as he explores the snowy landscape that may or may not be Tau Volantis.

The cooperative story will mirror the single player campaign except for the fact that if players experience a cutscene together, both characters will appear in the scene instead of just Isaac. Players will also have to put their heads together and solve puzzles using their powers of telekinesis and other powers if required. Players will also be able to share ammo and heal one and other. Once someone is dead though, players will not be able to revive one and other and will be forced to start over from the checkpoint.

It has been rumored some weapons may have been tweaked for the new addition to the game. The plasma  cutter was only able to change between vertical and horizontal shooting in the first two games, but now it may have a new alternate fire that will knock enemies back. The pulse rifle might also  feature a new alt-fire, allowing players to shoot saw blades from it. These could possibly be the default loadouts for these weapons and they may be able to be expanded upon with the new workbench.

Other than featuring a sleek and shiny new rig, Isaac will also come equipped with new abilities. Isaac will now be abel to crouch, allowing him to take cover behind smaller objects. Isaac will also be able to roll evasively, allowing him to dodge enemy attacks more effectively.

Sexy

It is also rumored that there will be new, more horrifying enemy types. Necromorphs will not be the only enemy that Isaac has to dispose of on the snowy planet. Isaac will not have to fight actual human beings; soldiers that are heavily armored and equipped with guns and grenades. The evasive roll will prove useful when these guys are trying to take your head off with their rifles. The humans will also be susceptible to transforming into Necromorphs if they fall into their clutches.

The environment may prove to be an enemy as well. Walls will close in around Isaac and he will be forced to fight enemies from all angles in a cramped space. There is also a spinning drill like object that will slice players to pieces if they come in contact with it. A tough enemy shown was a spider like creature that will eat Isaac if he comes too close to it. Players must keep a distance and shoot the orangish sacks protruding in different spots on its body. There will also be gigantic enemies that are on the same scale as the colossi in Shadow of the Colossus. One enemy shown was a giant worm that explodes out of a cliff beneath Isaac.

 Hopefully some of these rumors will be featured in the game and hopefully they will be as exciting as they sound. We will have to wait until E3 to find out, when more information is released.

Max Payne 3 DLC revealed

Yesterday Rockstar Games announced their DLC plans for their much anticipated upcoming title, Max Payne 3. So far seven different DLC packs are planned to be released during the year, most of them being map packs. Apparently Rockstar is allowing players to buy all of the DLC in advance for 2400 Microsoft points, which comes out to be $29.99. They call it the "Rockstar Pass" and it will allow gamers that buy it to access all of the DLC when it is released and it comes out to a 35% discount if you buy the pass rather than buying the DLC individually.

The first package will be titled the Local Justice Map Pack and it will include a police precinct map. The map can be used to play game modes such as team deathmatch, gang wars, and Payne killer. The pack will also include two additional maps, avatar items and extra multiplayer challenges.

Fuck with me and get your caps peeled

The other packs have titles, but not much information has been released on them. The Local Justice Pack will be released in June, followed by Disorganized Crime Map Pack, Deathmatch Made in Heaven Mode Pack, Hostage Negotiation Map Pack and New York Minute Co-op Pack during the remainder of the summer. Then in the Fall, the Painful Memories and Trickle Down Economics map packs will be released.


There are no set prices for the DLC packs as of yet, but we will probably figure that out when Local Justice is released in June. It seems that Rockstar is really pushing players to play the multiplayer in Max Payne 3 because they really haven't promoted multiplayer this much in any of their past games. Although I enjoyed the multiplayer in GTA IV and Red Dead Redemption, they didn't really feel like a complete multiplayer experience. I feel like Rockstar aims to change that with Max Payne 3 and I think it will feel like a more complete multiplayer rather than just a side feature that adds a little more depth to the game. We will have to wait until May 15th to find out if Max Payne 3's multiplayer will play as awesome as it looks.

New Hitman: Absolution trailer

A new trailer for Hitman: Absolution was released today, showcasing some actual gameplay footage of the upcoming title. The trailer is narrated by a woman who describes how the player has two ways to use the killing power of the world's most deadly assassin, Agent 47. What that means is that the player can play the game as they always have, like a gun slinging maniac, or like a silent assassin.

Get syringed n00b

The game is being developed on the Glacier 2 engine and it looks phenomenal from what I saw in the trailer. The lighting in different environments displayed in the trailer looks fantastic, casting perfectly rendered shadows. Character models also look much better from what I saw, actually looking like people instead of looking like they're made of plastic.

The gameplay looks like traditional Hitman styled gameplay but on steroids. The stealth kills looks brutal, one involving a fireaxe to the throat of a poor henchman that never saw it coming. The gun play looks very improved upon too with the addition of what seems to be a quick targeting mode where 47 is able to slow down time and quickly pivot and blast enemies surrounding him. Environmental hazards seem to be a big part of this game as well seeing that Agent 47 kills enemies through shooting explosive objects a few times in the preview.

Agent 47's version of a spinal tap

One thing I really like in the preview is how Agent 47 will actually act the part of the people he dresses up as. In the trailer, he kills a police officer and steals his uniform so he can blend in with the officers at what looks to be a crime scene. As he walks through the hall of officers, he tilts his hat and changes his mannerisms to match that of a police officer. It really beats the old games in which 47 will just boringly walk into a new area without reacting to his environment. The preview also show 47 walking through a giant crowd of people and displaying good crowd movements similar to the ones in Assassins Creed. 47 will gently push people out of the way, or NPCs will try to avoid bumping into 47, adding a sense of realism to character movement.



I have been a huge fan of this series since I played Hitman 2 back when I was still in elementary school. I have never been more excited for a title in this series and I really think that this could end up being the best one of all. We will have to see when the game is released on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 sometime this year.

God of War Ascension multiplayer preview

It hasn't even been two weeks since Sony Computer Entertainment released the news of a new title in their acclaimed series God of War and now we already have a look at the multiplayer gameplay.

The game pits two teams of up to four players against one and other while they brutally attack one and other. Players will be allowed to brutally finish their enemies in classic God of War fashion by splitting them nearly in half with their sword, amongst other finishers not seen in the preview.

Split in half much?

The combat is just as faced paced as the single player in the previous titles in the series, allowing players to land quick combos on one and other by slashing, throwing, and even using magical abilities. Despite poor rendering (probably due to the fact that the game is in development still), the game looked fantastic. Character movements are fluid, the arena looked nicely detailed and fairly large, and the backdrop looked beautiful, showing off the mountains of ancient Greece.

Group finisher on the cyclops

The game mode in the preview showed two teams of 4 beating each other senseless while a giant cyclops squirms in the background, bound down by chains. Apparently once the team controls the point of the map that is being fought over, the giant becomes weakened allowing the team to come together and obliterate the cyclops in a magnificent display of gore. The finisher looks to be a traditional button sequenced finisher that has become a staple in the God of War series, so I'm interested to see how they incorporate that in a team effort.

Though I never cared whether or not the God of War series had multiplayer, this preview has me even more excited for this game which I didn't think could be possible. The game is set for a Spring release, but I wish it could come sooner.

Here's a link to the preview provided by Gamesradar.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUHtt9sUtw4

Opinion: Call of Duty needs to take a break

The competitive first person shooter is a favorite type of game amongst most people that play games. Almost 9 years ago, Activision teamed up with Infinity Ward to create a groundbreaking FPS hit that took the world of gaming by storm. With its smooth gameplay accompanied by great shooting mechanics and a captivating campaign, Call of Duty rose to the top as one of the most played FPS shooters.

What really made this game something special was the multiplayer. The multiplayer pitted to teams against each other, each fighting for different nations. The multiplayer was pretty basic until the release of  Call of Duty: United Offensive, an expansion pack that expanded mainly on the multiplayer feature of the game. The expansion offered a ranking system, along with new game modes such as domination, base assault and the most traditional game mode, capture the flag.

Call of Duty: Black Ops

Since then, multiple CoD games have been released, each improving upon the other until the release of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. The game was released in 2007 and it was a big competitor of Microsoft's FPS Halo 3. Modern Warfare went on to sell over 1.5 million copies in its first month of release and won numerous awards from game critics. The game became a huge success for Activision and Infinity Ward, but it also became the beginning of a formula that went on to become overused.

After MW released, Activision teamed up with the other CoD developer Treyarch to release Call of Duty: World at War. The game ended up being the last WWII installment of the game, and it looked and played exactly like Modern Warfare.The only thing that made this title worth buying was the Nazi Zombies game mode that could be unlocked after completing the campaign. The next year Infinity Ward released Call of Duty: Modern Wafare 2, which was pretty much a $60 DLC package. The game offered new weapons, maps, game modes and a campaign, but it still looked and played exactly like its predecessor. Then the next year Treyarch released Call of Duty: Black Ops, and the next year Infinity Ward released Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 both of which had new features, but still looked and played just like the games that came before them.

Modern Warfare 3

One could make the argument that if it isn't broke, don't fix it, but I've become bored with the series. After MW 2, I refused to purchase any more of these games because they just end up technically being the same every year. Sure they offer cool new campaigns and new multiplayer maps amongst other features, but the overall feel of the game never changes. I used to be a huge fan of this series, but now I can't play more than a couple rounds of multiplayer before getting bored. This series has become similar to a sports games series. Sure they offer roster changes and some cool features in every installment, but for the most part, core gameplay and presentation doesn't change.

It really doesn't matter though because people keep buying the games and making these people millions when they are hardly doing any work. It's obvious that the people in charge at Activision, Treyarch and Infinity Ward are more businessmen than gamers because if they were gamers, they wouldn't release the same recycled bullshit every year. As long as they are still making their money, they don't care how groundbreaking they can make a game. If Valve, Rockstar or Bethesda were making CoD games, they wouldn't just recycle the same game over and over again because they are gamers that make games for gamers.

Modern Warfare

What I suggest is that Activision and Infinity Ward should take complete control of the series and take some time to make a new and refreshing installment to the series. I know Treyarch is planning on releasing Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 this year but after that, there should be a CoD hiatus where only Activision and Infinity Ward come together and make something more groundbreaking. A good example of this is the Halo series because Bungie would take 3 years in between releases to create a game that looks, plays and feels different that the one before it.




Hopefully in soon time, people will actually come to their senses and stop throwing their money into a game that is essentially the same as the one they bought the year before. Hopefully more people will take a stand and motivate these developers to push themselves to actually make a great game that I know they have the potential to make. Though the games are still great, they are just stale like a moldy old loaf of bread. I really hope that in the future, CoD games can break from this cycle they have succumb to and provide me with a new and refreshing experience that will make me feel like my money was well spent.

Why Dark Souls is so great

Anyone who has played From Software's 2011 Action/RPG Dark Souls will probably recommend it only to those who take failure lightly. Since the game came out during the Fall of 2011, I wasn't able to play it right away because I was playing other titles that came out around that time, the most notable being Skyrim. Now that I am about halfway through my first playthrough, I am upset with myself for not picking this game up sooner.

The game has a very minimalistic plot, something about how dragons controlled the earth until the Fire of Lords and the human race for an unidentifiable reason. Soon after, four powerful entities (Gravelord Nito, the Witch of Izalith, Gwyn Lord of Sunlight, and the Furtive Pygmy) emerged from a newly kindled flame, harnessed the Souls of Lords to fight and overthrow the dragons.

The game starts with your character sitting in a cell in an undead asylum. The character is undead and begins their quest by taking on objectives like ringing the bells in each bell tower, to eventually fighting the four powerful entities mentioned earlier. You aren't really pointed in any specific direction. There are some areas where enemies are much weaker than in others, but don't be surprised if you end up in an area fighting enemies that will 2-hit you if you aren't careful.

Piece of cake...

The visual styling of the game is breathtaking. The game really shoots for a gothic and romantic ambiance and delivers by creating a dark, gloomy atmosphere. Lighting is perfect, your character is always lit up no matter how dark the area is, and flames provide a small radius of light and cast shadows of objects on the ground or walls. Structures are incredibly detailed and awe inspiring. In many areas, there are winding, narrow staircases and tight, cramped corridors that really add to the gothic lore of the game. Your character is fully customizable and looks great. There are many different armor sets and some of them look really nice and shiny when worn by your character. One thing that really impressed me is how I will be in an area and look out in the distance to see an area that I had been to just minutes before. The area will look a little hazy in the distance, really giving you a sense of progress and encouraging you to keep pushing forward.

The real draw to this game is the gameplay. Never in my life have I played a game so difficult and I have played a lot of difficult games. The game has no set difficulty, but in the beginning you choose a class and some classes are tougher to play than others (I chose the thief because of the back-stab boost and the master key).

Combat is an unreal experience like I have never experienced before. The game requires you to be extremely careful, learn your opponents attack patterns, and strike when you feel the time is right. One screw up and you can find yourself poisoned, cursed, or missing half of your health bar. Spamming attacks is not an option because stamina plays a key role in the game. Attack to much and your stamina will be depleted, leaving you unable to block or dodge. The combat is pretty slow paced, but it is extremely rewarding, especially when you take down a boss that has murdered you over and over again.

You may not believe it, but this boss is extremely easy

RPG elements are on point making this game a fully loaded role playing game. Your character has a variety of different attributes that need to be leveled throughout the game. Weapons and armor can also be leveled and reinforced making them more protective and deadly. There are also a lot of special items that you can attain from defeating bosses or scavenging through the various environments this game has to offer. Of course there is also magic. Spells can be bought off of certain NPCs and upgraded just like weapons and armor. In order to level your character or their spells and gear, you need to have souls. Souls seem to be the main form of currency in the world of Dark Souls. Players are also able to join covenants and each covenant has its different perks and special items that can be purchased.

You use souls to buy items spells, and gear from merchants as well. Souls can be attained from killing enemies and eventually you can feed unwanted items to a monstrous creature in exchange for souls. Be careful with your souls though because if you die, you will lose all of them unless you have a special ring on. The game will allow you to go back to the spot of your last death and retrieve those souls, but if you die in the process, they are gone forever.

Most of the leveling actions can be done at bonfires. Bonfires are safe havens in the game in which your character will regain health and health items which are called estus flasks. You also level up at bonfires and once you have the necessary items, you can manage your inventory, upgrade weapons, manage spells, and restore your characters humanity. When you die, you will respawn back at the last bonfire you rested at, so be sure to rest at each one you see. The only downside to that is, enemies will respawn after you rest at a bonfire unless they are an area boss or mini boss.

A really cool feature is online capabilities of this game. Players will be able to either help or completely troll other players by leaving messages written with the Orange Guidance Soapstone item. Some people will write really helpful messages, while others will write messages that will promise weapons, merchants or bonfires ahead, but will really lead to a tough enemy or a fall that will kill them. Players can also summon other players to their game to help them out with a tough boss battle or an area they can't seem to get through.  

Looks like a nice place for a Summer home

The bottom line is, I fucking love this game. This game does survival horror better than survival horror games. There are moments when I will turn a corner with my shield up, anticipating a surprise attack from a powerful enemy. Areas and enemies are disturbing, sometimes I'll look over to find a pile of rotting dead bodies in a corner or get in a fight with some kind of horrible monstrosity. When I'm in a close call and am about to die, I have never experienced such tenseness as I dodge my enemies attacks and try to gain some space so I can down an estus flask and get back in the fight. After playing this game I am going to play its predecessor Demon Souls, and that's a guarantee. This game is without a doubt amongst my favorite releases of last year, it is just a shame that I got such a late start on it.

Prototype 2 review

As a follow up to the 2009 title, Prototype 2 does a great job improving upon itself. The first game in the series had a lot of cool features going on like the ability to transform into other people and scale the skyscrapers of New York City, but it fell on its face when it came to its low quality visuals, awful mission structure and frustrating combat system.

However, Prototype 2 fixes most of those problems and actually makes a decent game out of a really cool concept. In this title, the protagonist from the first game, Alex Mercer, is now the antagonist and causer of the Blacklight virus, a virus that has devastated the city of New York. The new protagonist is named James Heller, and he is hellbent on avenging his family who died after attaining the Blacklight virus. The dialogue is fair and the pre-rendered cutscenes are stylish displaying in black and white with highlights of red. These short cutscenes are short and concise, allowing the players to get back into the action.

The control scheme is much improved on in this game, allowing you to perform stylish maneuvers much more easily than in the last game. When you can effectively dash up buildings and zip from one skyscraper to the next, it makes the map feel much smaller and easier to navigate. This comes especially in handy when you are caught in a sticky situation and need an effective way to escape.

Geronimo!

The combat is much improved on as well. First and foremost, the ability to defend yourself has been much improved upon. In the first game, you were subjected to getting juggled by an array of missiles and punches, but in Prototype 2, the shield can be your best friend. It never breaks and if you time the deflection at the right moment, you can send projectile weapons back at your enemies. You can also shield bash with it and flip your enemies around, exposing their backs for an attack. The improved defensive mechanics make it so you can stay in battle for longer and not have to constantly remove yourself to regain health.

As for the offensive side of combat, there have been some new additions to your array of powers. One of the powers allows you to extend tendrils from your arm and hold your enemies in air while you slash at them with your blades. Another attack is a chargeable black hole attack where a black hole spawns and shoots out tentacles that pull debris towards it, taking out anybody that is in the way. Instead of having a cumbersome weapon wheel, powers are now mapped to face buttons, which makes changing up your weapons much more smooth.

Bring it...

The mission structure isn't as tedious as the last game, providing a more enjoyable playthrough.You can just blow by the game by doing only story missions, but it is wise to do side missions, especially the Blacknet ones. Side missions will offer more mutation points and unique mutation upgrades. There are also bonus objectives for every mission that will award extra points upon completion. The games final boss is also an enjoyable one, forcing the player to use all of the powers and abilities that they've learned.



This game is a vast improvement on the first, but I still wouldn't recommend spending the money to purchase it. Although it does improve much on the first, it is still just a good experience. The story is kind of dull and there really isn't much reason to play through it a second time. It helps that the graphics make the game look like it should be of this generation of gaming, unlike the first one, but the visuals still aren't very awe inspiring. If you're a fan of open world games where your character has nearly unlimited power, save yourself the money and just rent this game.

Batman: Arkham City DLC to feature more of Harley Quinn

Batman: Arkham City was easily one of the top five games to be released in 2011. Now, Rocksteady Studios is adding more depth to the game by releasing a DLC named Harley Quinn's Revenge.

Warner Bros confirmed the DLC after rumors began to emerge because PS3 trophies for the game began to pop up. The DLC will be about a two hour addition to the game and will feature Batman and Robin as playable characters. A quote from Warner Bros studios provided by IGN states,

"The Harley Quinn's Revenge mission sends players back into Arkham City to face their final challenge as they interchange between playing as both Batman and Robin. Gamers must utilize each of the characters' unique combat and investigative skills to uncover Harley's vengeful plan and shut the gates on the urban mega-prison forever. In addition to experiencing a new storyline, fans can explore new environments and face-off against Harley's all new gang of thugs."

New, more gothic looking Harley

The DLC will be included in the Batman: Arkham City game of the year edition that will be released on Xbox 360 and PS3, May 29th. This is about four months before the game will be available to those in Europe and Australia, so fans of the series in North America should feel lucky for the close release date. The package will also include a variety of batman skins, Nightwing and Robin packs, the Catwoman story pack, challenge maps, and even a download of the Batman: Year One movie from PSN or the XBL Marketplace.

There is no price on the GOTY edition as of yet, but if it ends up being $60 and you haven't played this marvelous game yet, do yourself a favor and take advantage of this package.

Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 will come with 3D capabilities

Japanese promotion of the Pokemon Black and White 2

Although Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 are Nintendo DS games, they will now be able to be played on the Nintendo 3DS. Nintendo is releasing an upgrade that will include a few apps that will use the 3DS to it's full 3d potential.

The first app will be an augmented reality game that will allow the players to hunt down pokemon in whatever area that you are in, whether it be your living room or basement, capture them, and use them in your game. Nintendo also plans on releasing a fully upgraded version of the pokedex in the update.

Augmented reality app being played in a living room

According to Gameinformer.com, Nintendo revealed these apps during a press conference that covered Japanese software and releases. These have not been confirmed in North America yet, but they will most likely make their way over to the states, around the same time Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 are released.

God of War: Ascension revealed

Lately there have been rumors circulating that God of War IV was going to be announced. There were even pictures revealing a store in South Africa that was already taking pre-orders on the game. Originally I didn't think there was much sense in making another God of War game seeing that Kratos had killed all of the remaining gods in GoW III, but a prequel never occurred to me.

That is exactly what Sony announced this morning as the revealed the newest addition to their trademark series. The new game won't be called God of War IV because it isn't progressing the story of the series. Instead it will be named God of War: Ascension and will be a prequel, telling the story of Kratos before he devoted his life to murdering the gods.


Amazon.com released box art and a trailer today as well, shortly after Sony announced the game. The trailer features no gameplay, but is narrated by the Titan Gaia who talks about how "there was a time before Kratos became the monster known as the Ghost of Sparta" and how "there was a time before something other than rage consumed him." Most likely the game will have the player control Kratos when he was the leading the Spartan army, before he was tricked by Ares and had the Blades of Chaos burned into his flesh.

Sony says the game will be the most ambitious title in the series and they are hoping to push a release by Spring 2013.

Opinion: The failure of motion control gaming

It has been about 5 and a half years since Nintendo released their revolutionary console, the Nintendo Wii. As we all know, the Nintendo Wii was the first video game console that featured motion control as its main feature. Since the Wii, Microsoft  and Sony have tried to come out with their own motion control technologies that have been underwhelming to say the least.

As most of us have seen from the Wii, motion control gaming can be really fun when done right. At first there were issues with the receptiveness of the Nintendo Wii's motion detector, but that was mostly fixed with a great piece of hardware called the Wii Motion Plus. After the Wii Motion Plus was released, there weren't too many issues with receptiveness. It gave gamers greater control over the Wiimote so there aren't many issues with characters sporadically flailing around or characters not responding to certain Wiimote commands.

Though the Wii is a great amount of fun, there just isn't a strong library of games on it. Due to the low processing power of the console, developers have shied away from developing games on the console because they want to develop something that will look better and run smoother on a more powerful platform. There is also the problem that the Wii isn't really geared towards the greater demographic of video game players. Most owners of Nintendo Wiis are younger children, or adults that can be considered "over the hill." That also makes developers not want to make games on Wii because there is a strong chance that their games won't be bought because most hardcore gamers don't own a Wii or choose it as their favorite platform.

Kinect Adventure: fun for all of 2 hours

This opened the doors for Sony and Microsoft to create their own form of motion gaming and make a success out of it. It has been about a year and a half since Microsoft released the Kinect and Sony released the move, and there really hasn't been anything that has impressed me. The games developed specifically for the hardware feel gimmicky and underdeveloped, and when other games feature motion control or voice control capabilities, they are never cool enough for me to shell out $150 for a Kinect or $80 for a PS move bundle.

I first played the Kinect at a friends house right around the time it launched. At first I did have a lot of fun playing around with the voice control in the menu, barking commands at his Xbox 360 and having it comply to my demands. Then I started playing a Kinect launch title simply titled Kinect Adventures. I will admit that I did have fun for the first couple of hours that I played, but it came to a point when I realized that I was essentially doing the same thing over and over again. I was sure that this tedium wouldn't be consistent in other titles, but I was wrong. It came to the point where I was playing games that were either crapper ripoffs of Wii Sports, dance games, or games marketed towards children. The few games that I was remotely interested in were Kinect Star Wars and Rise of Nightmares, which to my disappointment were both terrible. Sure the Kinect is used in certain titles like Mass Effect 3 and Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, but even though the features are cool, they are hardly captivating enough for me to spend $100-$150 on a Kinect.

Kinect Star Wars... the games plays as terribly as it looks

I have spent less time with the PS move, but from what I've experienced, it is inferior to the Kinect and that is saying something. With the a smaller library of games supported by the Move and the same unimpressive types of games, the Move has struggled more than the Kinect. I must admit that I do like that they incorporated the move into games like MLB 2k12 and NBA 2k12, but they're going to have to do more than just sports games in order to appeal to a more hardcore gaming crowd.

I know I'm being harsh seeing that these pieces of hardware have only been around for such a little time, but it's time for developers to step up and make great titles that use these devices to their full potential. The PS move and the Kinect have the potential to be so much better than the Wii. The motion control is just as good, if not better, and the consoles they run on are a lot more powerful. Sure the Nintendo has amazing exclusive titles like Mario, Zelda, and Donkey Kong, but those have been the only titles worth playing on the console. If developers can step up and make some truly great games that take full advantage of the Kinect and PS move's capabilities, then motion control gaming won't be seen as such a failure and may become something more exciting.