Game : The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Game : The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Developer: Bethesda Game Studios
Distributors: Bethesda Softworks (retail), Steam (online)
Series: The Elder Scrolls
Platforms: Microsoft Windows PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Release dates: November 11, 2011 worldwide
Genres: Action Role-playing, Open World
Modes: Single-player (first-person and third-person view)
Ratings: ACB: MA15+, BBFC: 15, ESRB: M, OFLC: R13, PEGI: 18, USK: 16



Review :
by Andy Alderson

As part of a twelve step exercise in self-improvement, I have decided to begin this review with pure, uncensored (and no doubt unpopular) honesty. When I sat down to put in the first of many, many hours to Skyrim, my initial reaction was mild disappointment. In the time since Oblivion and Fallout 3, I’d hoped that Bethesda might have addressed some of the weaker parts of their RPG formula.

However, as I arrive in Skyrim’s Helgen en route to what appears to be my own execution, I move around for the first time and discover that, yes, the first-person engine still feels floaty and weightless, and yes, the third-person view is still a bit comical, with its unconvincing animations and tenuous bond between man and scenery. And, upon being thrown into combat for the first time, I discover that circling your target repeatedly while mashing the right trigger is still a bizarrely effective combat tactic. So far, so Oblivion.

However, the disappointment fades as quickly as it arrived. Before I know it, my brain is swimming in the beautifully-crafted lore of the Elder Scrolls series and I’m swept away into an epically complex tale of conflict, intrigue and morality, all the while marvelling at the wonderfully-realised world it all occurs in. This, I remember, is why I love Elder Scrolls games. And Skyrim, without a doubt, is the best yet – a triumphant benchmark in fantasy RPG gaming; a game dripping with narrative ambition and, above all else, freedom.

Skyrim’s story is set a good two hundred years after the events of Oblivion and finds the Empire divided. Following a war with the rather snooty High Elves (I mean seriously, unless you’re a perpetual stoner, describing yourself as ‘High’ is a bit much, isn’t it?), Skyrim’s native Nord race begin to question their inclusion in the Empire and a separatist movement emerges, led by Ulfric Stormcloak. In a moment of true heroism, or dastardly betrayal, depending on which side you favour, Ulfric does away with the high king of Skyrim and a civil war begins. Oh, and a long-extinct race of dragons seems to be returning with the intention of destroying everything, as if there wasn’t enough to get a bit stressy about.

You, however, are the Dragonborn, a mysterious type with the ability to destroy dragons and absorb their souls. There’s an ancient prophecy about you and everything (there’s always an ancient prophecy). The Dragonborn also has the ability to learn and perform shouts, the game’s major new supernatural power. While it may seem that shouting strangers into submission is exclusively the reserve of British stag parties abroad, it seems the shout is equally popular in Skyrim. Using ancient Nordic words of power, The Dragonborn can learn a variety of shouts, with a variety of results, all of which you’ll need to advance through the main quest.

And it’s a fantastic main quest. Steeped in ambiguity and intrigue, the excellent quest design in Skyrim means that you’re constantly thinking. There’s no black and white in Skyrim and nothing is simple. In a world so divided, you’re constantly being pushed towards one side or the other and Bethesda has crafted the narrative and lore so cunningly, so meticulously that you’re never quite sure to whom you owe your allegiance, if anyone at all. Because of this, decisions feel important. While it may be pushing things a little far to say that the NPCs in Skyrim are all three dimensional, there’s a refreshing moral ambiguity at play and so when you find someone that you like, you’re also aware that they may have some serious skeletons in their closet.

It’s rarely obvious who you can trust and so, when you do find yourself a loyal travelling companion, you form a bizarre bond with them. You’ll hear a lot about Lydia, for instance, who is just one of the characters you can choose to accompany you through the game. While I spent a considerable amount of time inventing new swearwords due to her ridiculous behaviour (AI is still an issue, which we’ll get to in a bit), I could not let her die. It was inconceivable. We were the Jack and Vera Duckworth of fantasy RPG gaming. However, your experience could be entirely different - you can choose to ignore companionship and go it completely alone in Skyrim as (and I’ll be hammering this point home today) freedom is the gift Bethesda offers you.

There is a seemingly endless variety of ways to play the game. You could choose to avoid the main quest entirely and concentrate on joining a faction, for instance (like the guilds in Oblivion). Or you could roll pimp style and focus on making some Benjamins. Or, and this proved to be my favourite (at least to begin with), you could explore the world realistically with no fast travel. This allows you to experience the sheer vastness and beauty of the game world as well as the tension and paranoia of being alone in the wilderness. The sense of relief as you reach the gates of a new city is palpable. Sanctuary. Find an inn, sleep, ask around, help some people. Like a medieval A-Team. Or, you could become Skyrim’s most evil motherhugger, razing each town you encounter and rinsing the world for everything you can get. It’s all about choice, just be aware that choice rarely comes without consequence in Skyrim.

While previous Bethesda RPGs have followed the same formula, it has never been to this extent. The developer has tweaked the core mechanics to place as few limits on the player as possible. Gone are the classes of Oblivion, replaced with a much more freeform skill system. You aren’t limited to choosing a class in the early stages of the game, thus restricting your play style. Instead, while each race has some unique attributes - my Wood Elf is more resistant to disease and can summon animals to help in combat, for example – all skill trees are open to you so you can shift direction at any point. Obviously, while the sheer amount of skills and perks on offer means that a jack of all trades-type won’t get you very far, it’s an impressive tweak to the game mechanic.

Other brilliant new additions to the formula are crafting, enchanting and alchemy. While Oblivion’s dungeon crawling rewarded you with new weapons throughout, and Skyrim does the same, you can also create your own weapons, armour and potions. Simply gather the appropriate materials, make sure you have the requisite skills and create away. It’s an utterly absorbing process which can come to dominate entire Skyrim play sessions. I have literally spent hours at a time creating/improving weapons, armour and potions before taking them out into Skyrim to experiment. It may sound like a waste of time, but you’ll inevitably end up doing the same.

The sum total of this almost endless freedom is more than enough to paper over the cracks. And there are a few cracks to be found. As I mentioned before, friendly AI can be infuriating as the spurious pathfinding means that your companion will often take the long way round, leaving you alone in battle at crucial moments. They also have a tendency to charge unwisely into dangerous situations. The phrase “Lydia, NO!” has been heard a lot in my flat over the last few weeks. While the AI is frustrating, the quest bugs are worse. Most involve scripted events in quests not triggering, meaning you’ll find yourself having to frustratingly reload prior save games to advance. However, anyone familiar with Bethesda’s RPGs will know to save frequently to avoid incidences of controller-biting rage.

And, of course, an open world Bethesda RPG means you will encounter framerate issues. Oblivion ran like a demotivated fat man whenever you ventured outside a dungeon and you’ll be glad to know that, on the 360 version at least, performance is better (which is no mean feat given the improvement in the visuals). However, there are still moments when the game slows to slide-show pace for seemingly no reason. By all accounts, it seems as if PS3 gamers have struggled even more with framerate issues, all of which Bethesda has resolved to sort out via patching.

While some will point to this as bad design, it’s hard too gripe too much at the developer when you consider the sheer enormity and ambition of Skyrim. This is a game that will consume hundreds of hours of your life and has a huge amount of replay value thanks to the Radiant AI system which dynamically generates some (but not all) quests in the game. This means there are likely to be significant differences between your experience and your friends and this is the true heart of Skyrim. The joy of reading game forums and telling others how you approached certain situations, comparing your experience with friends’. It’s the reason why the Skyrim thread will stay on page one of your favourite gaming forum for a long time to come. This is as close to open world nirvana as you can find.

The Elder Scrolls V : Skyrim Official Trailer



Source : totalvideogames
Read more...

Games : Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time (Wii)

Published by: Square Enix

Developed by: Square Enix

Genre: Action RPG
Number of Players: 1-4
Release Date:
US: March 23, 2009
Japan: January 29, 2009
Europe: Q2 2009
Australia: March 2009

MSRP: $39.99

Also Available On: Nintendo DS

About the game :

A triumphant return from a monster-infested forest marks the completion of the 16-year-old hero's coming-of-age ceremony. However, the hero's joy is short-lived as a young village girl is found to be afflicted by a mysterious illness known as "crystal sickness." Determined to obtain the cure, the hero steps out of the secluded village for the first time, only to discover a world in which crystals are merely artifacts of the past and no longer exist...

Maintaining the intuitive control scheme of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates and enhancing the gameplay experience with an integrated system that allows players to switch between the single and multiplayer modes in-game, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time is set to take multiplayer gaming to new heights as it brings together Wii and DS users from around the world.

Features :

• Play anytime, anywhere with anyone! Multiplayer connectivity reaches new heights in Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time, where players can team up or compete with friends and players around the world.
• The intuitive control scheme introduced in Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates returns, now adapted to Wii for double the action.
• Players can switch between single and multiplayer modes within the gameworld itself, giving them two great gaming options in one integrated experience.
• A personalized hero can be generated from a choice of the four familiar races of the series; Clavats, Lilties, Selkies or Yukes. Players joining from the Wii can also introduce their Miis to the world of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles.
• Create and customize materials, armor and equipment for characters with tailored appearances and abilities - no two heroes will be the same.
• A vast selection of quests provides hours of fun, even after completion of the main adventure.

Screenshots :













VIDEO :




taken from : IGN

Read more...

Crash Commando™ - Playstation 3

Genre: Shooter

Publisher: SCEA

Release Date: 12/2008

Players: 1

Max. players online: 2-12

Description

Crash Commando is a fast-paced, side-scrolling humorous multiplayer action game with over-the-top, slap-stick action that features exaggerated gore and effects. Combining the thrill of frenzied multiplayer combat with the straightforward nature of a classic side-scrolling platform title, Crash Commando is the perfect combination of modern, sophisticated technology and traditional arcade gameplay.

The player controls a commando soldier and navigates through the maps on foot and with a high-powered jet pack. Each map consists of two gameplay layers the player can seamlessly move between via portals in the environment. Enemies will attack from the sides, as well as from above and below. With a host of both multiplayer and single player modes included, players can enjoy Crash Commando either on or offline.

Key Features:

• Weapons and Explosives Galore – Master an array of weapons, from machine guns, shotguns, rocket launchers, to grenades, C4, mines and more. Or you can jump into any of the controllable vehicles, such as jeeps and tanks, to deal even more damage
• Fun and Frenzied Multiplayer Action – The intense yet hilarious action never slows with 12 players battling online
• Single Player and Multiplayer Modes – Crash Commando features multiplayer modes like Death Match and team-based game modes as well as single player modes like Boot Camp and custom games versus AI-controlled bots
• Player Profiles – A Duty Records Award system, along with Player Rankings, Trophy Support and online Leaderboards, will track player stats and accomplishments

SCREENSHOT

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Crash Commando™ ©2008 Entertainment Products of Sweden AB. Developed by Entertainment Products of Sweden AB.

Video output in HD requires cables and an HD-compatible display, both sold separately. Copy-protected Blu-ray video discs can only output at 1080p using an HDMI cable connected to a device that is compatible with the HDCP standard. HDMI cable not included. If a device that is not compatible with the HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection) standard is connected to the system using an HDMI cable, video and/or audio cannot be output from the system.

"PlayStation", "PLAYSTATION" and "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
Read more...

Game : Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

Game Info :
Release Date: 9/16/2008
Publisher: LucasArts
Developer: LucasArts
Gamesite: Click here
Genres: Action
ESRB: RP
Also Available On: Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 2, iPod, iPhone

The first next-gen Star Wars game explores chapters between the movies, utilizing advanced technology to bring the Star Wars universe to life like never before.

This entry in the Star Wars saga casts players as Darth Vader's "Secret Apprentice", unveiling new revelations about the Star Wars galaxy. The expansive story, created under direction from George Lucas, is set during the largely unexplored era between Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. In it, players will assist the iconic villain in his quest to rid the universe of Jedi - and face decisions that could change the course of their destiny. As its name implies, The Force Unleashed completely re-imagines the scope and scale of the Force by taking full advantage of newly developed technologies only possible on next-gen consoles that will be seen and experienced for the first time anywhere in videogaming.

Game Preview :

E3 2008: Star Wars: Force Unleashed Hands-On
By Andrew Park, GameSpot

We leap through environments and tear them up with the Force in this upcoming action game at E3 2008.

The E3 2008 event is still going strong, and we're still on hand, bringing you coverage of exciting new games like Star Wars: Force Unleashed. Development on this impressive action game is practically complete (it ships in September), and it looks and plays extremely smoothly. The level we got our mitts on was a TIE fighter factory guarded by Imperial soldiers and Stormtroopers in the PlayStation 3 version of the game, though the game should be very similar across most console platforms, with the exception of the Wii, which will actually let you use the motion-sensing Wii Remote controller to swing your lightsaber manually. We're told this was the second level, so at this point, we had only a few of the game's different Force powers. In the game, you play as the secret Jedi apprentice to the mighty Darth Vader between the events of Episode III and Episode IV (better known in theaters as Star Wars), but because your mission is to seek out and destroy any possible threats to the Empire, your journey will pit you against both the Rebel Alliance and Imperial troopers (who have been branded as Vader traitors), as well as other Jedi who have gone into hiding.

In the TIE fighter factory, we fought our way through various rooms and connected corridors toward our objective, which had something to do with...TIE fighters. Honestly, we forget. We were too busy utilizing our "Force Grip" power (the right trigger button) to lift up screaming enemy soldiers and fling them through the air. You can use this power simply by turning to face the object (explosive barrel, enemy soldier, or whatever else isn't nailed down), which brings up a small translucent cursor over the item to target it; if the cursor is red, you won't be able to lift it because it's too heavy or bolted down, but if the cursor is blue, it's yours for the telekinetic taking.

Being bad has never felt so good.

The controls seem very straightforward--the left analog stick moves your character and the right stick controls the camera, which is what you'd expect from a conventional third-person action game. The square button is used to execute melee attacks with your lightsaber, a very effective weapon with a standard three-hit combination attack if you hammer the button repeatedly, but not nearly as fun as pressing the circle button to use the Force push ability, which emits a translucent wave of blue energy and forcefully pushes any enemies or items in your path away from you very quickly indeed. The Force grip ability is activated with the right shoulder button, and after you've picked up something (or someone), you'll keep hold of him/her/it as long as you keep the right trigger pressed (though your character can't move while lifting something), and when you let go of the item, you'll automatically Force push it away. Force powers deplete your blue Force meter, which appears at the top left of the screen just under your green health meter. The Force meter seems to replenish at a good, brisk pace, and your health seems to do so as well, though you can also gain health from fallen enemies (who leave behind glowing green orbs that restore a small amount of your health). Fortunately, with your amazing Jedi powers, it's easy to avoid most damage from regular grunt soldiers anyway because you'll automatically deflect incoming blaster fire from the front with your lightsaber, though getting shot in the back or whacked with a melee weapon will still hurt.

In the narrow corridors of the factory, we had plenty of opportunities to play Stormtrooper bowling by levitating and then hurling crates at rows of enemies, knocking them off their feet (and in the case of corridors near deep pits, off the edge). The X button lets your character jump--your standard jump is already very high, and you can double-jump with another button press, as well as use the left trigger to dash forward while airborne. This less-than-exciting sounding ability actually gives you excellent mobility and lets you close the distance with faraway enemies very quickly.

The Force Unleashed looks incredibly polished.

We continued to fight through the factory until we hit a trapped area, which was bare of any objects we could throw. Soldiers came pouring out into the room, which was promptly walled off with impenetrable laser shields. Fearing we might have to actually stop throwing stuff around for a second and actually fight like a Jedi, we pulled out our lightsaber and hacked a few foes to death until we realized that any enemies who touched the laser walls would be vaporized. This is about the time we remembered our Force push ability and went on a shoving spree, sending soldier after soldier to meet a disintegrated end.

The Force Unleashed looked like a very impressive technology demo when we first saw the game at E3 two years ago--it has now clearly matured into a polished and great-looking game with some very fun game mechanics. And the game apparently only gets better in this regard because you'll eventually learn a total of eight different Force powers and 20 different lightsaber combination attacks. You'll also be able to pull off spectacular killing moves, such as one we watched against a giant rancor beast, which involved a God of War-style button-matching minigame that let us leap on top of the creature and plunge our lightsaber through its skull a few times before blasting it with lightning bolts, then using the Force push power to smash the ground beneath the beast, sending it plunging to the cavern below. The Force Unleashed looks like it will offer lots of varied action while making you feel like you have godlike power. The game is scheduled to ship in the US on September 16, in Asia on September 17, and in Europe on September 19.

Taken From : http://www.gamespot.com

Star Wars Force Unleashed (PS3) DMM demo





Read more...

Game : Resistance 2

Game Info :
Format PlayStation 3
Developer Insomniac Games
Publisher Sony
Genre First Person Shooter
Release Date: November 04, 2008

Game Preview :

Resistance had its fair share of critics. Consider the following statement: "Few knew who this Sergeant Nathan Hale was, why the American soldier with an impossibly generic face had muscled into Britain's fight for survival against the Chimeran menace. Or why it was thought a workable idea for him to be described in the third-person throughout a first-person game."

No, that's not a quote from Captain Rachel Parker, the distancing voice of exposition from Resistance: Fall of Man. It's just our way to point out how lame her inclusion was and why, in Resistance 2, her absence is just one of many brilliant changes that are set to make the sequel stand head and shoulders above the original.

It's going to be bigger to the point of qualifying as 'vast', deeper than a French poet drunk on laudanum and more social than an STD. And at last, the cookie-cutter hero, the infected American soldier Hale, will finally get to defend his own country after being overpaid, over-sexed (well, probed by aliens) and over here. Go on. Bugger off.

All guns blazing
Fall of Man was a PS3 launch title and with that came some benefits, namely if you were one of the first people to buy the new console, then you had bugger all choice of what to get with it should you have hankered for something to kill.

The decision was easy. While the online multiplayer modes offered ace 40-player action, the single-player campaign was mired by poorly realised restart points and a sucky health system that managed to combine the most infuriating elements of recharging health bars and collectible medical packs yet devised.

The Chimeran, as bog-standard mutant alien bad dudes, contrasted their sharp detail and design with settings that, although they were set in Fifties UK, might as well (aside from famous landmarks) have come from a PS2 Medal of Honor title set in Normandy.

It's still a decent shooter in many areas, but when viewed through the prism of more recent fare like Call of Duty 4 and even Blacksite: Area 51's depiction of aliens rampaging through urban dereliction, it's obviously not the game to continue to define the console. It's already looking to be greying at the temples and unable to keep up with the pace set by more modern titles, less than a year since its original release.

The next chapter
Resistance 2 starts just after the original ended. Nathan Hale, a man seemingly named by machines designed to grind out action movie hero monikers, had fought through the Chimerian invasion of Britain.

He'd rescued Parker, been abducted, tested on and had escaped from an alien processing facility as well as being tainted with an alien infection that enabled him to recharge his health and ended the single-player campaign surrounded by sinister masked agents who abducted him by helicopter and flew him to a secret base in Iceland.

While there's nothing wrong with Bjork's barren homeland, it doesn't really lend itself to a first-person shooter set on earth during the Fifties. You may as well set the game on the moon.

Thankfully a plot device has been used in which Hale's chopper is shot down, enabling him to make his way back to the United States where he joins up with the American resistance and settles into a special unit of hard nuts known as The Sentinels.

The game is set in a past where World War II never happened, since mankind had been too busy dealing with aliens to beat on each other. Without Hitler's rise to power there was no Union-free country for an America ravaged by the great depression to invest in either. Consequently, the Fifties' USA that Hale returns to isn't the opulent, future-looking postcard from history you'd expect, but rather one that has never recovered from financial ruin.

Two years after Britain falls, it's invaded from the East and West coasts by massive alien airships packed with unworldly firepower and a seemingly incessant horde of Chimera. Middle America is going to get a taste.

America's geography offers some notable differences to Britain's. It features expansive areas of woodland, mountain ranges and deserts as well as gargantuan cities - and Resistance 2 sees Hale battling through a gamut of them with his first bout of homeland action taking place in San Francisco.

Size matters
The most obvious difference is scale. America is massive and consequently so are the battlefields found here. The invasion is of an unprecedented scale and you, as Hale, will always be battling against seemingly insurmountable odds including Chimeran bosses that can stand 150 feet tall as they smash their way through urban decay and across sprawling planes.

The Sentinels have developed immunity to the alien virus, but they've still got a fight on their hands on a scale that the PS3 has never seen. There are more enemies on screen, a greater variety of enemies and even boss fights to break up the run-and-gun gameplay. It's going to be fantastic.

Resistance 2's single-player campaign follows directly on from the original game's narrative, but a parallel story can also be played with either two-players on the same screen or with eight online in co-operative combat.

This doesn't mean you'll have to meet the same seven other players online to continue the game after a session. The online co-op game will log your position and, more importantly, your skill level as defined by your previous performance.

You can log on and play with matched-up strangers who have fought to the same point as you and groups comprised of players who share your ability with the DualShock. You won't be forced to make sure the same crack troop of soldiers meet up, again and again, until the campaign's conclusion. Co-op mode will provide the same, if not more, play time than the main game.

You'll also get to fight online using your own customised combatant that's based on one of the three unit class templates. The heaviest unit comes armed with a chaingun that can rip its way through enemies at a ferocious rate, while each kill charges up a deployable shield that can be set up in front of you and more importantly, your team.

The special-ops soldier is a dab hand with a modified version of the original game's Bullseye rifle that now comes equipped with extra zoom modes making for even more accuracy backed by more power, but it's the medic that offers the most interesting inclusion.

Usually in class-based online shooters, the player who chooses to perform medical duties spends most of their game time being shouted at by other players who bitch and bawl that medics aren't there immediately on-site to patch up their wounds. Resistance 2's medics aren't to be stuck wiping the bloody brows of reckless gamers, but instead can take a more pro-active role thanks to the Medicator gun.

This weapon can fire deadly red shots at enemies with each kill charging up a meter. Aim the same weapon at a friendly unit and when you pull the trigger, you'll automatically shoot a healing balm of blue energy at them and so be able to fix their broken bodies without having to be danger.

Delivering the goods
Best of all, medics have a real excuse to get into combat since if they haven't killed they can't offer medical aid. What gives co-op, and Resistance 2 its unending replayability is the new graphics system used to draw the game. Level designers are skilled artisans, no doubt, and totally necessary to the requirements of a first-person shooter - without them there would be bullet-bound bedlam.

Resistance 2's levels will feature set geography, like the placements of buildings and topological detail, but will also include a randomising element that means that each time you play through, you'll find new areas of cover and therefore new strategies that need to be developed to garner success. You won't be able to read a 'go here and shoot him' walkthrough for the game because it just wouldn't work.

Insomniac Games have a history of delivering what they promise - and Fall of Man arrived, as expected, with only minor alterations to its original specifications. Resistance 2 will feature 60-player online battles. When fighting with so many other players, you'll need to take into account the effect of headset chatter.

You'd need a player to act as a switchboard for starters. This isn't a problem that Insomniac hasn't made moves to counter - and while online games will feature sixty players they will be corralled into smaller, more workable squads.

You'll log into a lobby system and build up your team of between four to eight comrades-in-arms, prep yourselves for battle by agreeing on roles and then get launched into a full-scale war. Each squad is given objectives to achieve beyond the simple annihilation of the enemy and so the chaos of conflict is formalised into a workable arena. Good job, since these battlefield are sprawling worlds that will encompass everything from tight inner-city fighting to massive open-ground slogs.

By using dedicated servers rather than peer-to-peer networking, Insomniac hope to build a greater sense of an online PS3 community than ever. Profile pages will continually update on www.myresistance.com and thanks to a totally open party and clan system, there will be no need to send out invites.

Dedicated servers not only make 60-player fluidly feasible, they'll also enable cleaner voice-chat - invaluable in a game where tactical player talk is vital if you don't all want to get slaughtered in a haze of ill communication.

Fight the power
Fall of Man was developed before the PlayStation 3 was released and therefore before developers, including Insomniac, had the time to build-up the expertise needed to get the most from the world's most powerful console. The levels in Resistance will not only be larger, but will offer more structural variety as well as featuring more vibrant digital light.

Texture detail is up, as are the numbers of polys and on-screen baddies. It's to be truly next-gen - and not feel, like the original often did, like a PS2 game running on an over-clocked machine. Enemies will display new behaviour patterns that alter depending on how near they are to the player. At range, they won't jostle about randomly but will dive for cover. When they get in close, this AI will shift to close-range mode, enabling them to work on you with new tricks that are dependant on how much they view you as a threat.

This is where the console war could turn. Resistance should amaze everyone who sees it in action.



Taken From : http://www.computerandvideogames.com

E3 2008: Resistance 2 Trailer (PS3)





Read more...

Game : Killzone 2

Game Info :
Published by: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developed by: Guerrilla Games
Release Date: February 2009
Genre: First-Person Shooter

Summary :

Two years after the Helghast assault on Vekta, the ISA is bringing the fight to the enemy’s home world of Helghan. Taking the role of Sev, the battle-hardened veteran of the special forces unit known as the Legion, players will embark upon a mission to the planet Helghan to capture the Helghast leader, Emperor Visari, and bring the enemy’s war machine to a halt. For Sev and his squad, the invasion of Helghan is just the beginning. Tasked with securing Pyrrhus, the Capital City, the team quickly discovers that the Helghast are a formidable enemy on their home planet. Not only have they adjusted to the planet’s hostile conditions, they have also harnessed a source of power from the environment that can be used against the ISA. Sev and his team soon discover the fight is greater than simply addressing the enemy forces; the Legion must also learn how to handle the effects of the fierce enemy planet.



Game Review :

Killzone 2: The Good, the Bad and the Pretty
There's nothing ugly about this game. IGN AU's take.
by Cam Shea, IGN AU

Australia, July 30, 2008 - Killzone 2 is surely one of the most anticipated titles on the horizon for PS3, but the question is – can the team deliver on the hype? We spent some time with the game a couple of days ago to see how it's shaping up. Rather than hit you with another straight-up preview, however, we've broken the experience down into a few points that we think are worth discussing, both good and bad. Take it away, points!

Shades of Grey

The visual tone of Killzone 2 is very muted. This isn't a game with lush tropical jungles or fairy kingdoms with rainbow highways (well, not that we know of) – it's a bad-ass war sim that takes place in gutted environments and through grim concrete bunkers. As a result, this is a game that can come across as a little on the grey side at first. While that may not be to everybody's taste, we love the realistic colour palette. Not only does it create an oppressive mood, it's allowed the development team to very effectively utilise the colour that is in the game.



When you see the red eyes of a Helghast soldier as he takes cover, or the red blaze from an incoming rocket, for instance, they really stand out. Colour in this world is very much symbolic, so if you see a tank with blue lights, you know that it's on your side. The muted approach to the visual design also allows for excellent use of contrast. That rocket we mentioned, for instance, may be blazing red at the tip, but it leaves a thick, jet black smoke trail that really stands out in the environment… all of which leads us nicely into our next point…

Art Direction

Killzone 2's visual design is definitely one of its strongest elements. The Helghast helmets, with their striking red goggles, are nothing short of iconic, as are the infantry transport vehicles. The environments have quite distinctive architecture; full of imposing concrete bunkers and industrial warehouses that reflect the military focus of the world, while the effects of war are also clearly visible in the destruction of the player's surroundings.

Of course, it doesn't hurt that the game's tech is pretty special, but even so, the way it's been implemented in most areas is excellent. The explosions and smoke trails in this game, for instance, have real character, so when there's a pitched battle being fought and rockets are flying around and explosions are going off, the jet black trails of smoke crisscrossing the area and spikes of smoke blasted out from explosions just look cool, plain and simple.



Special mention also needs to go to the cutscenes, as they're pretty special. Delivered using the in-game engine, the transition from gameplay to cutscene is really smooth, and they're used sparingly enough (from what we've seen) to retain punch. The demo's opening cutscene, in particular, recalls the original announcement 'target footage', with a number of infantry transport craft bringing troops into battle under heavy AA fire. Explosions rock the air all around as the player's craft swoops in, taking out a nearby shuttle, and almost taking out yours, which ends up skidding off the water as it comes in to land. The camera switches to a first person bumpy cam as the soldiers hold on for dear life while it bounces across the ground. Moments like those make the conflict feel huge and dynamic. We like.


Destructible Environments… Sometimes

Killzone 2 can do some pretty nifty destructible terrain when it wants to. One section we played (and which you can see in the LiveWire Demo from E3) was essentially a Helghast shooting gallery. You hop behind a gun emplacement facing a building that's had the front wall sheared away to reveal the floors inside. Helghast run out on multiple storeys to try and take you down, but they're no match for the awesome power of your heavy weaponry. Not only do you mow the Helghast down, you mow the barricades they try to hide behind, you chunk out cement from the walls, and eventually you bring huge sections of the structure to the ground. It's awesome, but sadly not reflective of the wider game, where most structures are impenetrable.



Now for the gameplay... Do you remember what it felt like to first play Call of Duty, with bullets flying everywhere and feeling like safety or even pause was nowhere to be found? That's Killzone 2 in a nutshell. The bullets only stopped when a hallway was cleared and you haven't gotten to the next corner yet. And that didn't happen very often.

Taking place in the streets of the city, inside its alley-flanking buildings, on second- and third-story balconies and on a rooftop or two, there were always Helghast about and bullets were always in the air. One theme is clear - you'll never stay put. The demo-er rarely stopped moving, and when he did it was only to take out a single soldier. As soon as that one was dead, he was on the move again.



A cover system looks to be in place in some fashion, though it's a little unclear as to how "deep" it is. You're able to lean around the sides of cover or corners to take out enemies, and you can blind fire around and over it (with your soldier holding his weapon sideways as it kicks bullets into uncertain territory). It didn't kick you out to a third-person view ala Rainbow Six: Vegas however, so we're not sure how much you're intended to rely on it.

Speaking of not switching views, there were only two points in the demo where the view was not in first-person. One was at the very end of the level to show off a nice explosion, and another when the level's mini-boss appeared. When the player approached one of the alleyways, the camera pulled away and zoomed in on a massive, chaingun-wielding Helghast soldier, replete with nearly a tanks-worth of armor. He took down a number of AI soldiers before the Guerilla rep was able to stun him with some bullets to the face and then take him out by shooting some energy packs on his back. We expect the rest of the game to play out in a similar manner where most cutscenes leave you in a first-person view, while specific scenes or characters of importance are highlighted.



The big explosion at the end that we referred to has to do with the destruction of an electrical canon, the end-goal of the level. Throughout the mission, the sky lit up repeatedly with lightning that lit up the environment. We originally thought this was solely the work of mother nature and unrelated to the battle, but once we finally got a view of the city from a few stories up we saw that some of the electricity was coming from something man-made, or Helghast-made, to be precise.

The Helghast are capable of utilizing, and perhaps even controlling, the weather. This level has you seek out an electrical canon that first absorbs lightning, and then re-use the energy as an offensive weapon. We're not sure how much weather will play out in the rest of the game, but at the end of the demo Guerilla noted that weather will indeed play a part in actual gameplay, and that the Helghast will certainly make use of it.



Aside from the very nice use of lighting and polygons, Killzone 2 has a few more tricks up its proverbial sleeve. The animation system looks to be blend of pre-canned and ragdoll animation. Helghast would fly back up against a wall, roll down stairs and the like, but we also witnessed one dying soldier crawl on his hands and knees for a bit while breathing his last breath, and another seemingly attempt to catch himself with his arms as the rest of his body went limp. The animation system was mind-blowing in any way, but it also fit nicely into the world.

Physics on objects look to be what you'd expect these days. Chairs and boxes kicked, moved and would spin as you would expect, but they don't dent or deform or anything of that nature. There are destructible segments of the environment, though they look predefined and not dynamic. Planks of wood, a number of which were nicely placed for effects-value, would break and splinter when shot, but they look set up to do so. Pillars and other solid but breakable objects were similar. You can chip away at them, but don't expect to write your name in the rubble.



Though the demo was so action-packed that it was hard to pick up on a number of details, we did notice a few more subtleties. For one, the health system works like what you'll find in a number of shooters these days - that is, there is no finite health meter, but rather if you take enough fire over a short period of time you'll perish, while taking cover and waiting it out for a bit will bring you back up to speed. Also, at one point during the demo we noticed that you're able to sprint. It's unclear how far or often you can, though your weapon is lowered and moved to your side, so we're assuming that the inability to fire is your reason for not sprinting constantly.

The demo we lasted was the extent of an entire level and lasted over 15 minutes in length by our count, but remember that it was played by a Guerilla rep and that it'll take a newcomer a good bit longer to get through. Though there were a few pauses for loading at certain spots, Guerilla says that it'll have its streaming tech implemented by ship time and that you won't see any loads mid-level. When you see just how much stuff is here, you'll understand why this may not be an easy task.

If you would like a number to go with that, try 2GB. That's how big the single level was on disc, to which the Guerilla rep noted that the game's level of detail would not have been possible without Blu-ray.

As for multiplayer, the only details that we saw were part of a short PowerPoint presentation at the end, but Guerilla promises an "extensive multiplayer component", one that will make use of Home in some fashion. Sounds good to us.

Want to see the game for yourself? Head to the PlayStation Network at 3pm PST on Wednesday and you'll find a brand-spanking-new trailer waiting there for you. But for now, check out a Killzone Q&A right here.

Taken From : http://www.ign.com/

NEW Killzone 2 PS3 Gameplay







Read more...

Game : Spider-Man: Web of Shadows

Game Info :

Published by: Activision
Developed by: Shaba Games
Release Date: October 21, 2008
Genre: Action

Summary:

Spider-Man: Web of Shadows immerse players in an all-new action-adventure saga that gives them unprecedented control, never before seen in a Spider-Man game. Armed throughout the battle and confronted by an unrecognizable New York City, players choose to play as a heroic web-slinger or a volatile, destructive anti-hero, fighting with or against a vast number of fan-favorite Marvel heroes and villains, switching instantly between sides, and deciding which missions to undertake to save mankind. An all-new combat system combines web slinging and customizable superpowers to give gamers the freedom to fight and explore in a free-roaming, open-ended environment. Battles blend Spider-Man's speed and agility with the landscape, challenging players to master fast moving acrobatic combat, powerful new web-slinging moves and destructive combo attacks, as they take the fight from the streets, up the sides of buildings and onto rooftops.

Game Preview :

SDCC 08: Spider-Man: Web of Shadows Hands-on
Dress for the occasion.
by Nate Ahearn

July 24, 2008 - Being a superhero should be cool. It's something that little tykes fantasize about, and videogames are the perfect outlet to bring that fantasy into reality. That's the goal that Shaba Games (the developer) is bringing to Web of Shadows, the latest game to star everyone's favorite wall-crawler.



Being Spider-Man should make players feel like they're a super-agile, super-strong wrecking ball that can bounce off walls, cars and enemies' heads in order to bring justice to the world. I recently got my hands on an early build of Web of Shadows and can say that Shaba is on its way to delivering the true world of Spider-Man to fans.

We've talked before about how Spider-Man: Web of Shadows is going to bring new styles of combat -- in-air, off-the-wall and ground-- to players, but San Diego Comic-Con was my first chance to see how well it's coming together.



First, let me start by saying that the character that I was playing with was massively powered up. I had a developer sitting there feeding me development codes every so often so I could experience everything that Spidey had to offer. My can of whoop-ass might have been a little different than the one you'll experience later this year. Still, the few missions that I got to run through were fun and reasonably accessible given the complexity of the moves.

The first level I got to play was a seek-and-destroy mission with several symbiote hives stationed around the city. I had to find them, stop the nomadic villains from capturing citizens and tossing them into the symbiote spawning mechanism, and then take out the mechanism itself. Luckily I had both the red and black suits at my disposal with a click of the left stick.



Switching between the traditional Spider-Man suit and the black, more-hated Spidey outfit is as simple as clicking the left thumbstick. Granted this did produce a few unintentional switches during heated portions, but it worked when it had to. The repertoire of moves, while similar between suits, was varied enough. Black Suit Spider-Man was much more vicious. Particle effects spew out after almost every hit, increasing in prominence as you launch more devastating moves. My most powerful assault was a tendril attack that saw Spidey swirl 360 degrees as his arms turned into rampaging tentacles, whipping those who stood in their path.

Making use of both the red and the black suit (black more than red) I was able to take down the symbiotes and their host.



My next goal was to take down a group of Kingpin's hooligans who decided to surround a group of civilians. They were a bit tougher than the symbiote-controlled minions, but Spidey was able to dispatch of them without much worry.

The combat in Web of Shadows relies heavily on the use of the Y button (Triangle on PS3) as a means of connecting combos to one another. Tapping Y (Triangle) launches Spider-Man away from his target then automatically tethers our hero to them with his trusty web. He then pulls them back in and it's up to the player to time pressing Y again to perform the attack. Successfully doing so devastates their health bar and Spidey kicks himself back into the air, thus giving him plenty of time to pick his next target and continue the combo move.



When I wasn't planting enemies into the ground with the Y button (Triangle) I was doing the usual hand-to-hand combat moves. I was able to stun them for a time by ensnaring them in my web and then stick them onto the wall with a swift kick to the mid-section. Moving from the ground to wall to the air gives you a significant XP multiplier which can then be used to upgrade a huge assortment of fighting moves, supposing you can pull it off.

The best portion of Web of Shadows that I saw from San Diego Comic-Con actually wasn't while I had the controller in my hand, but instead it was during a guided demo. I saw Wolverine team up with Spider-Man and try to bring the fight to the symbiote-possessed population of New York, only to be possessed by that same symbiote himself. That's right, Wolverine, of X-Men fame, was taken over by the symbiote and I got to see him try to take down Spider-Man. After a short battle, he made his way to one of the symbiote spawn points and actually leveled up into a massive heap of pulsing adamantium spikes; but, before they could finish the fight, my demonstration was over.



The coolest part of all of this was the fact that the Shaba developer on-hand said that the heroes Spidey fights against depends on his actions in-game. I'm guessing that means that if Spider-Man is evil to some characters and nice to others that will affect who he goes up against. There's no telling how dynamic this will be, but from a design standpoint there's no doubting that it's a cool idea.

Everything else performed as you'd expect from an early build of a new Spider-Man game. Swinging around the city was fun if not a bit clunky and made use of the same right trigger mechanic as we've seen. Transitioning from climbing to running on walls (done with a press of the left shoulder button) was a bit problematic, with odd collision detection, but that will hopefully be corrected in time.

Spider-Man: Web of Shadows is clearly taking steps to feel different from the previous three games in the lineage. Some of it feels familiar (like traveling around the city) but the combat and moving on different pieces of terrain felt just as fluid as you'd expect. Now if Shaba Games can bring the movement, combat and camera system together to create a truly cinematic and altogether "cool" experience, then Spider-Man fans will have something to truly look forward to later this year.

For more details on Spider-Man: Web of Shadows be sure to check out our in-depth interview with the head of Shaba Games.

Taken From : http://www.ign.com/



Spider-Man: Web of Shadows Wallpaper Pack
This wallpaper pack contains three wallpapers in widescreen and standard sizes for the game Spider-Man: Web of Shadows. Download »

Size: 1.0MB Downloads: 149

Spiderman: Web of Shadows - DS/Wii/X360/PS3/PS2




Read more...

Game : DC Universe Online

Game Info :
Publisher: Sony Online Entertainment
Genre: RPG / Massively Multiplayer
Release Date: 07/08/2009
ESRB Rating: Rating Pending
Developer: Sony Online Entertainment

Game Preview :

SDCC 08: DC Universe Online Hands-on
Lex Luthor just knocked me out -- awesome.
by Greg Miller



July 24, 2008 - For DC fanboys, it seems like forever ago that prolific comic book artist Jim Lee announced that he'd be stepping in to help guide a Sony Online Entertainment MMO based on the DC Universe. In the two and a half years since the announcement, Jason Todd returned from the dead, Marvel announced a similar MMO project, Batman discovered he had a son, Marvel cancelled its MMO project, and The Dark Knight made a batmobile-load of cash -- but no one ever played DC Universe Online.

At least, no one ever played it until today.



As far as first impressions on a crowed show floor go, DCUO seems to have a lot going for it. In the final version of the title, you'll choose whether you want to be a hero or a villain and build the character from scratch -- powers, capes, etc. -- and unleash the creation on an online world of similar good guys and bad guys created by other players. For the purposes of its San Diego Comic-Con debut, DCUO limited players to a few pre-created heroes and the abilities that each had but let them play eachother. My play session had me behind the controls of an energy-wielding lady and earth-flinging speedster.



Each character will have a base from which his or her abilities spring from -- hence why I pointed out the woman was using energy powers and the dude was earth-based. Each character will have the standard light/heavy attacks, jump, ability to weaponize the environment, block, and lock-on, but when you combine the face buttons of your PS3 controller with R2 (or the keyboard and mouse for the PC folks in the audience), you get character-specific attacks based on those abilities.



When my time in Metropolis began, a Justice League of America communicator popped up on the left side of the screen and a video message from Superman played. It seemed Brainiac was attacking the city -- giant, floating green fortresses could be seen along the skyline -- and some of the citizens had fallen under the evil AI's control. I had to get to street level and save the people. My first crack at the mission started me as Light Stream, the blonde femme fatale whose powers sprung from energy. Operating like most third-person action games, to get Light Stream from the starting park to the battle came down to moving her with the left stick and rotating the camera with the right. However -- unlike most third-person action games -- I could press L3 and toggle flight on. Once she was in the air, I could easily glide the heroine to the fights happening on the street and unleash her specific attacks.

See, the people Brainiac has overtaken need to be beaten into submission, and then you have to remove the infecting nanomachines. To do this, I made use of Light Stream's super-Square attack that created a buzzsaw out of energy to slash opponents with, her super-Triangle move encased baddies in a energy orb that could be thrown at other foes, and her standard light/heavy attacks hurled energy orbs at anyone in her path. The infected citizens -- who looked almost zombie-ish with vacant eyes and gray flesh -- fired rainbow rays from the Brainiac triangles on the center of their foreheads, but the moves were little trouble for the world's newest superheroine. When the citizens went down from the power moves, I had to tap circle to get Light Stream to remove the nanomachines and save the day.



Although this was a pre-alpha build of DCUO, the HUD operates like I bet you would expect it to. Your character's picture, life bar, and super-move juice is displayed in the upper-left corner, and the HUD of any enemy you engage pops up next to it. Moves whittle down the green health portion of whoever is getting hit and using super-moves drains the blue meter. On top of monitoring your blue meter, once you use a super-move (remember, these are the R2 and face button combos), you'll have to wait a second for that move's icon to refill with color before you try to use it again. We're assuming the rate at which you recover your moves will change depending on what level your character is at -- which is displayed next to your hero/villain's name.

At the bottom of the screen is a long bar that slowly fills as you complete objectives and pound on foes. It's an experience meter that is building towards one of your character's abilities -- defense, health, etc. The game cycles through the attributes in order so that you level up in a smart-growth type of way, but you can say to hell with that and choose what aspect of your friend-in-tights you're augmenting.



All this was cool, but the neatest thing DCUO has going for it was how awesome it is to be battle alongside Superman and company. After I dispatched a few of Brainiac's minions, Superman and Lex Luthor brawled into frame. I jumped in and gave chrome dome a few shots while Supes shot around the screen and his cape danced in the wind. Still, my lack of experience got the best of me and Lex knocked Light Stream out -- a "KO" icon pulled from a comic book pops up when you fall. When I got knocked on my kisser in the game, I had the choice of waiting a bit and respawning from where I fell or immediately jumping back into the game but starting at the park.

I chose to quit, take Jim Lee's advice, and try out the speedster.



Named Rock Solid and decked out in black and gold, the speedster was just about everything I could want in a low-level superhero. Clicking L3 put the dude into super-speed mode so that he could scoot around Metropolis with a wicked speed effect at his feet, run up the sides of buildings, and get away from foes, but being earth-based gave him some more nifty powers. One stun move -- similar to Light Stream's encasing energy ball and Superman's freeze breath -- had Rock Solid cause the spikes to shoot from the soil and pin an enemy in place so the good guys could get their shots in. Another had him create a brick on the end of his bow staff that could be slammed into opponents, and a third flung chunks of ground at bad guys from afar.



Although there was a lock-on button, I found the option a bit difficult to use -- same with the ability to pick up environmental objects such as cars and streetlights and use them as weapons. I could grab them just fine, but effectively making contact with them was another story. Still, this is pre-alpha and the game shines in other parts.

One of those parts just happens to be how it looks. I've already talked about Superman's cape movements, but as I watched Bizarro and Supergirl duke it out in front of a café, it was pretty cool to see the smashed cars, rubble in the streets, and random fires that cropped up around them. The city itself looked polished, there were a bunch of different cars and the storefronts with minimal repetition.

As I ran around the city, I'd run into other characters and events. When you see someone on the screen, an icon will appear next to them. A green shield means you need to defend them (like when Superman needs backup with Luthor), a red and yellow impact symbol means you need to knock them out (like an infected citizen), and a set of gears means you can interact with that person or object (like removing the nanomachines). When I turned a corner as Rock Solid, I came across all three of these symbols in a completely new scenario -- a cop was trying to ward off a thug who was coming after a bag of cash. I protected the cop from the initial attack, took out the thug, and collected the money bag. A SOE rep watching me said that with missions like this, it'll be up to you to decide which events you tackle first. If you choose one thing, you might not have time for another -- maybe you'll need to bring in teammates to help.

In the grand scheme of DC Universe Online's journey to retail and the amount of content normally packed into an MMO, today's play session was barely the tip of the iceberg. From what I've seen, I'm excited to get my hands on this down the road and see where it stands. I want to make my own hero, I want to choose my reactive defenses (moves you automatically pull off when you're attacked such as regeneration or dodge), and I want to help Superman save the day.



That looks like it's going to hurt.
No one's willing to talk about when this title will be released, so there's probably still a long wait in front of us. That said, fellow DC fanboys, there's reason to have hope.

Taken From : http://www.ign.com/

DC Universe Online PlayStation 3 Gameplay HD







Read more...