Play
|
Written by Russ Crandall
|
|
Thursday, 04 February 2010 13:59 |
One of my best friends in the whole world, Major Nelson, let me in on a little secret: the Aliens vs. Predator multiplayer demo is now available for download on XBLA. Since I'm both in Europe and lacking an Xbox 360 at the moment, howzabout you download it and tell me how it is? Hell, you can even submit your own Demotopia! about it if you want. |
|
Written by Steven McKay
|
|
Thursday, 04 February 2010 12:00 |
After a recent trailer for Metro 2033: The Last Refuge was unveiled, many games journalists were quick to announce just how much they didn't care about it. I however, would like to state that this game has my interest piqued. Whilst I'm under no illusion that Metro 2033 won't be a must-have title, I do think that it has potential, and I'm definitely intrigued.
Based on the novel of the same title, written by Dmitry Glukhovsky, I first heard about this game through UK Xbox magazine, XboxWorld360, about a year ago, and I thought that blending elements of Fallout 3 and S.T.A.L.K.E.R., and setting it against the backdrop of the cavernous, maze-like subway system of post-apocalyptic Russia, was a great idea.
As well as this, developers 4A Games have also just announced that the game will ship with the option to play the game entirely in Russian (with English subtitles), and I can't help but feel that they are putting more thought and effort into this game than most people are giving them credit for.
Metro 2033 is set to release in March, and, provided it doesn't get terrible review scores, I'm looking forward to putting this on my rental queue, and checking it out after the Q1 deluge of games eases up. Check out the trailer below and feel free to let me know if you agree, or whether you think I'm just crazy.
|
|
Written by Mark Hill
|
|
Wednesday, 03 February 2010 23:40 |
Guys, did you hear the awesome news?! Finally, FINALLY the Postal series is coming to consoles!
Postal III is being made by Running With Scissors studios, and is scheduled to come out "sometime in 2010." Not only will it be the first one to appear on the Xbox 360 and PS3, it will be a 3rd person shooter (the first two were isometric and 1st person, respectively), and will run on the Source Engine! So basically forget about Episode 3, Postal III is the next Half-Life. |
|
Written by Giang Cao
|
|
Wednesday, 03 February 2010 05:55 |
A picture speaks a thousand words in the point-and-click adventure Machinarium - which is perfectly fitting as the game has no spoken dialogue. Not only does the game communicate through its meticulous scenescapes, but also through characters' mechanical gestures and funny diagrams within thought bubbles of robots. All of this is portrayed in a wonderful hand-drawn, illustrative aesthetic. It's gritty and hazy while still having the warmth and charm of being something lovingly hand-crafted and laboured. A clickity-clack soundtrack plays in the background, reverberating its steampunk visual motif.
Since this is my first foray in the puzzle point-and-click adventure genre, I can't really compare how the puzzles fare against other games. As a beginner, Mechanarium's puzzles feel intuitive, requiring careful logic, patience and common-sense. I rarely felt the need to click on every pixel in frustration. That's not to say that Machinarium is always so straight forward. There will be some puzzles that will test the limits of your brain.
If you do get stuck, the age offers help through its two-tiered hint system. The first one offers an illustrated hint of your general objective; the other offers a full guide of the level, but it's only unlocked after you complete a side-scrolling shooter mini-game. You'll need to complete a level of the shooter each time you ever want to look at the answers, so it's a smart move by the indie developer to discourage players heading straight to the run-through.
Machinarium is quaint, beautiful, difficult and lovingly created - pretty much what a good indie game should be. While there have been plenty of point-and-click adventures in recent times, I don't think any stand quite up to Machinarium's charm and presentation. Difficulty aside, I can easily see this as becoming a sentimental favourite for point-and-click enthusiasts while newcomers will be won over by its unmistakable style. |
|
Written by Steven McKay
|
|
Tuesday, 02 February 2010 14:00 |
Whilst playing Mass Effect 2 today, I had an epiphany; of all of the new biotic powers available in the game, I think the shockwave power is my favourite. What is it, you ask? Well, it's essentially a big ball of energy, that, once thrown, bounces in a straight line, and takes out all enemies in its path.
Any enemies caught in its path are, unfortunately for them, popped up into the air, and this sometimes leads to some comical falling-off-platforms-to-their-flailing-rag-doll-physics-deaths. As well as all of that sweet hilarity, the shockwave power will also work on enemies who are on platforms above or below you.
The bouncing ball of death!
This got me thinking; what is everyone else's favourite new weapon/power? Leave a comment and let me know what you think. |
|
Written by Mark Hill
|
|
Tuesday, 02 February 2010 02:54 |
For those of you that have been waiting for the iPhone version Rock Band to drop in price before picking it, now may be your time to shine, as the price has dropped to an aaaaallllmost-buyable $6.99. There is also a free Lite version available for people like me that aren't ready to take the plunge featuring a single Smaahing Pumpkins song. I'm downloading it now. Enjoy, me! |
|
Written by The Easy Mode Staff
|
|
Monday, 01 February 2010 16:59 |
Steve
If you were a fan of the original Battlefield: Bad Company or Battlefield: 1943, you'll already have a good idea of what to expect from the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 multiplayer demo. Playing like a hybrid of both, the game is Bad Company as you know and love it, but with some added refinements that DICE picked up when developing 1943. The end result of this feels comfortingly familiar, yet strangely alien.
Probably the most striking difference between the first game and the sequel is the graphical update, and Bad Company 2 is noticeably sharper and better looking than its predecessor, and everything seems to run just that little bit smoother. Aside from that, most of the improvements are relatively minor, and serve more as refinements to the formula laid down in Bad Company and 1943
Probably one of the smallest (but also the most welcome) refinement is that DICE seem to have resolved the clipping issues that plagued Bad Company; too often you'd find yourself getting stuck on pieces of the destructible scenery – pieces which were often just pebble-sized pieces of debris that any normal person would be able to just step over. This problem now seems to have been completely eradicated, and you are free to sprint around as you see fit.
The most notable change, however, is that DICE have restructured and rebalanced the whole class system, and this greatly changes the way the game is played; while most of the weapons and tech that made up the classes in the first game are still present, they've been shuffled around, which essentially results in you having to re-learn how to play the game. This blank slate approach frees you up to experiment with the weapons and classes on offer, and it's this experimentation that has long been the root of the series' replayability. There's something extremely satisfying about working out how to play the game in a way that best suits your playing style - it's definitely no accident that both Bad Company and 1943 still have extremely dedicated communities, despite the relative lack of gameplay modes to choose from.
In typical fashion, the demo itself exhibits this same minimalist nature, and gives you access to just one of the multiplayer modes – the rush mode –, lets you unlock a handful of weapons, and lets you play on only one of the games maps – the Alaska map. Despite this, you'll still want to keep coming back for more, and this is testament to how replayable the multiplayer is in Bad Company 2.
Mark
As Modern Warfare 2 loses a little of its shine every time I boot it up and the bad begins to outweigh the good, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is showing up at just the right moment. Even the demo was a sneak attack, launching an offensive on my Xbox time with extreme prejudice.
Native to the Battlefield series as a whole, the gameplay is much more varied than the Modern Combats, offering more support roles for those that just don't want to run-gun-die-run. As a matter Of fact, Tyler and I spent some quality time as medics holding down a building behind enemy lines, and when one would die, the other would revive him and vice-versa. In the absence of perks and crates and sentry guns, just being able to do things like hand out health, revive teammates, and repair damaged vehicles not only gives players more to do, but adds another level of accomplishment.
The BF:BC2 demo showcases what is for the moment the game's only multiplayer mode, which is exactly like the previous game's Gold Rush mode. While it is a lot of fun, I do wish that there were more modes to play like a Domination or a good old fashioned Deathmatch.
Two things that the COD series does have on Battlefield is how tight the controls are and how accurate the hit detection is. Sometimes the BF controls just aren't as precise as I wish they were, and coupled with the squishy gun play make some the firefights seem less than accurate.
All in all though, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is a timely and welcome addition to the FPS space. For those of you burned out on Modern Warfare 2, play this demo. You'll love it. |
|
Written by Russ Crandall
|
|
Monday, 01 February 2010 16:45 |
I'm pretty sure I've jumped across these poles before. Seriously.
I spent this past weekend in Venice, and the entire time I lived out my Assassin's Creed 2 fantasies. In retrospect, I wish I had looked at a map of the AC2 version of the city before getting there, but all in all I think I did a good job of finding some similar places. Luckily, Venice has been preserved excellently, and that really helped my search. After pickpocketing a few merchants and more than a couple whores, I decided to take some pictures.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Written by Giang Cao
|
|
Monday, 01 February 2010 04:07 |
Battle of Forli is the first of two planned DLC for Assassin's Creed 2 - the other being Bonfire of the Vanities coming next month. Fitting into the 12th sequence of the main story, you follow Catherine Sforza (the hot gondola lady) and an underused Machiavelli to help protect the city of Forli under attack. The first half entails you fighting your way through groups of enemies whilst protecting Sforza and Machiavelli. It's a pretty simple task, but by the fifth encounter the momentum of the story had stalled and my interest was wavering. Things do pick up come stealth time, but again you're delayed by some clumsy encounters. The story does take some interesting turns, but it's all over before you know it. It took me about an hour to complete the sequence and there's no going back as you can't replay individual chapters in AC2.
Aside from the gap-filling story, nothing new comes from the DLC. There are no new weapons, armour, locations - even achievements/trophies are left out. For the bite-sized experience you're getting, it at least comes with a matching price of $4. Even so, considering the scope of the main game, Battle of Forli turns out to be an underwhelming experience. It does, however, leave you anticipating the next DLC which promises to be the fleshed out adventure we were clamouring for. |
|
Written by Steven McKay
|
|
Saturday, 30 January 2010 09:02 |
As you probably already know by now, the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 multiplayer demo is now available on Xbox Live – while there is a closed beta on PS3, and a beta due to start on PC, the demo itself is, as far as I'm aware, only available on Xbox 360 – and I have to say, it feels great to be back in the Bad Company fold again.
When the original Bad Companycame out, I couldn't put the game down because of its multiplayer. For me, it was a far superior game to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. After having spent a little bit of time with the demo for the sequel, I'm fairly positive that I'll feel the same way about the Bad Company 2.
What I loved most about the original game, was that it wasn't just another twitch FPS, and that it gave you plenty of options to carve a nice little niche for yourself, even if you were horrible at FPS's. For example, I became adept with the “specialist” class, and rather than running and gunning – which I wasn't great at – I had a good deal of success by tagging tanks with the magnetic dart gun (allowing my team-mates to destroy them with ease), and by laying C4 traps and waiting for players/vehicles/tanks to pass over them for some extremely easy, and satisfying (not to mention devious) kills.
After playing the demo, I cant wait for this game to come out. Roll-on March 5th, because this game is definitely a day-one purchase for me, and I hope to meet some of you guys on the battlefield. |
|
<< Start < Prev 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Next > End >>
|
|
Page 19 of 22 |
|
Disagree with us? Got an idea? Want to put up your own post with full credit? Click here to send it to us and we'll post it...as long as it doesn't suck.
|
Bloguin is the revolutionary blog network specifically focused on helping bloggers get the most out of their websites. We're currently working on building a large network of online communities and hope to expand our blogging coverage to include a wide range of topics. 
The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.
The Bloguin Network is always looking to expand. We're specifically looking for blogs in the sports, entertainment, and video games field, but are open to adding any type of quality site. If you're a blogger and interested in joining our network, please fill out our application form.
The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account!