I've purposely been dodging the Marvel vs Capcom 3 news...not that i'm not interested, i've simply been waiting until the full character roster was finalised. Capcom's drip drip of information is the videogame equivalent of Chinese water torture....a constant irritating niggle that you just want to end. Now that the list has indeed been finalised, i'll do a little promo piece about it in the next few days.
For now though, have a quick sneak peek at this. Of course, if you're not one for spoilers click the back button straight away, but if you don't really care, and you want to see one of the best video game intro sequences i've seen for a while, feat you peepers on this. Quickly now.......it'll probably be taken down by Capcom as soon as you see this post!
Mmmmmmm......tasty!
So what do you think? Looking forward to a slice of this?? In my book it can't come quick enough!!
Marvel vs Capcom 3 is due for release on Xbox 360 and PS3 on Febuary 18th, 2011.
*EDIT* Well...as you can see the video is down. Told you to be quick. Seeing as how my post has been viewed umpteen thousand times i'd guess those who wanted to have watched it. It's out in four weeks Capcom, stop being so bloody tetchy!!
See that there? That's the new PSP. Or "NGP" as Sony have dubbed it.....apparently it's twatty corporate speak for "next gen portable"......bah.
Shown off at a big swanky event in Tokyo, Sony unleashed their beast to the world after months and months of speculation from the gaming community and developers.
According to Sony, the handheld as as powerful as a Playstation 3, it has a touch sensitive screen, Wi-Fi and 3G wireless connectivity, dual analogue sticks, a rear touch pad (what that's going to be used for I haven't got as clue), Sixaxis tilt controls and front and back facing cameras......phew. It also comes with a new storage device....no more UMD discs. It's some kind of flash memory card that I expect you'll download your games onto. What does this mean for the PSP" at retail? Fuck knows.....
Expect all the usual suspects games-wise on the console, details coming out of the show are saying that Killzone, Uncharted, Wipeout, Metal gear solid and Hot shots golf will all be released on the system.
For all you tech heads out there, here's a run down of the official stats, straight from Sony's flabby mouth:
CPU: ARM® Cortex™-A9 core (4 core)
GPU: SGX543MP4+
External Dimensions: Approx. 182.0 x 18.6 x 83.5mm (width x height x depth) (tentative, excludes largest projection)
More details will follow as the event draws to a close. But I have got the first leaked video of the console for you. The quality is shit on stilts, but it shows a game demo and someone that loves the PSP2/NGP a little too much.
Ooooh....you like that baby? Yeah, you know you do....you love it.....I......erm.......well....it all looks a bit dodgy doesn't it. No doubt some Japanese games developer is literally creaming themselves at the moment, making plans for the next touch-sensitive installment of "Maid rape tit gropper 2XX9".
And here is the first official video from Sony.
Absolute garbage. It looks like the opening for a shit drug induced kids version of "Hells kitchen".
Anyhoo. That's your PSP2. Ahem......ok Sony.....NG-bloody-P!
At the moment i'm on the fence...maybe even unconvinced. Sure, gamers cried out for a touch screen, gamers cried out for dual analogue sticks, but us gamers are a fickle bunch that can turn on a sixpence. The way I see it, Sony have answered the 3DS announcement by chucking pure processing grunt at the NGP, using just pure power rather than any kind of innovation. Yes, it'll be as powerful as a PS3, but do we really need that on a handheld??
So what are your thoughts? Have Sony listened and given you what you want? Has the NGP convinced you to get a 3DS instead?
I'll go out on a limb and say it's going to be a case of history repeating....the PSP vs DS all over again. But at the moment, out of the two i'll be getting the 3DS.
ln case you haven't noticed, the Bulletstorm and Crysis 2 demos have hit Xbox live today, as well as Bulletstorm on PSN. Both are highly anticipated, so let's jump in and have a look see at what's on offer.
Bulletstorm.
Bulletstorm in the latest shooter from Epic games and People can fly, creators of the epic "Painkiller". Following the adventures of space pirate Grayson Hunt, a man that looks like Hugh Jackman at a Gears of War cosplay party, we see him and his team as they plough through a ruined cityscape bringing hot bullet death to anything that comes in their way. The demo introduces the echoes mode of the game, which i'm assuming from the huge holographic clock at the start is some kind of speed mode, running through the levels and getting the biggest score you can. You start by selecting weapons, from a machine gun, a pistol and what looks like a lawnmower that shoots out spiky bolas made out of metal. Running into the levels, you come across mutants and other such punks that you greet with the business end of your gun.
The gunplay is absolutely fantastic. It's instantly satisfying as in it essentially just blows people apart, but once you start getting into the hang of things it really starts to come into its own. You could go through just shooting people in your usual FPS style, or, as is the point of this game, take them out in the most stylish way possible. As well as the guns you have a lasso, a kind of floppy whip that you can shoot out and people and drag them towards you. Holding down the whip button see you whip an enemy and launch him and any other bystanders into the air, where they hand like string-less marionettes waiting for you to commit horrible things upon their fleshy person. Before you know it you'll be shooting and enemy, lassoing him towards you, sticking eight bullets up his arse and then kicking him onto something rusty covered in spikes!
It looks good, the controls are great, and most importantly it's a very very fun game. I'll be there on day 1 waiting for this!
Crysis 2.
I've never played the first game, simply because I don't have a PC powerful enough to render individual blackheads on a characters nose. But now the Crysis series is coming to console, and you, yes you, can get a taster of the game right now. Playing as.....someone who somehow gets a powerful suit that enhances his abilitys (I told you I haven't played the first game, and NO....don't write in "filling me in" on the backstory), the demo features just one level, a rooftop battle in the "team instant action" mode. The game features a class system, although they are locked at the start. You can choose from assault, scout, sniper, gunner and a custom slot. Included in the demo are unlock modes, so you'll unlock more things the more you play.
It's pretty tight. It plays more like EA's Medal of honour than Call of duty, just in case you were wondering. Usual left/right triggers for iron sights and shoot, jump, reload etc on the face buttons, hold in the left stick to run, hold in right to melee. Other nanosuit functions are armour, which is mapped onto the left bumper, and cloak mode which you'll find on the right.
Again, from the short time i've had with the game i'm quite surprised. It's very solid, it looks the business and i'm sure that with a few more hours, as soon as the suit functions become second nature, you'll be flying through the levels like some cracked up gangster wannabe, popping "caps" at anything that moves. Either that or just camping in the corner with the cloak mode on....and if you do that you DESERVE to catch something sexually. Even though you would probably like that....
So anyway....that's Gamefreaks thoughts on these games. Bulletstorm is a definate, and i'll make my mind up on Crysis 2 after i've put a few more hours into the demo. It does however, look very promising.
So let me know your thoughts. Downloaded them yet? Love them? Hate them?
Have a look at the vids if you haven't seen them already.
Yes, yes....i'm a little late to this party, but surprisingly not that many players know about this....i've told at least ten people this week about this little gem.
I'm not sure how this game came about....apparently you find it in a packet of Doritos or something....it's something to do with a packet of crisps anyway. And a competition....something to do with two games and doritos....ah...I give in.
Harms Way is a game available on Xbox live arcade. It's a game of two halves....you can race while trying to avoid being shot at, or you can mount a gun turret and shoot the cars that are racing. It looks good, it's free, and with no further ado, let's have a look!
The story:
There isn't one. Probably something to do with a Max Max-style post apocalypse and a fight over the last Greggs shop still standing!
What I liked:
Firstly, it's a fun little game. Take one half of the PS3 game Motorstorm and another half of....well, any turret section from any turret section of a game and you're about there. The game is set over 3 quite expansive levels, and with players fighting over three laps games go on for quite a while...without becoming boring. Controls are simple, with accelerate, brake and nitro buttons for the vehicles and shoot, zoom and change weapons for the turrets. The turrets have another feature, and that is the ability to "hijack" other turrets along the route of the course, so should you miss a shot you can quickly zoom to the next turret down the track. As the driver, it's your job to come as high a position as possible, picking up nitro boosts, shields and turret upgrades for your partner in the gunner position. And as the gunner, you have to help your driver by taking out the other motorists and destroying the power ups so the other cars don't upgrade their partners. It's very cat and mouse at times, with multiple gunners trying to take out your car, or indeed you trying to line up the perfect shot as the gunner. It has local co-op play, as well as online modes for up to eight players. And best of all....IT'S FREE!
What I loathed:
Well...not much to be honest. Controlling the different vehicles can be a pain, some handling better than others. I've been having more success with the tank-like trucks than the more zippy jeeps. You can get stuck on the odd bit of scenery, which grates as you see the rest of the pack come shooting past you, and sometimes the physics will flip your car after a jump and you end up landing in your roof and crashing for what seems to be no other reason than some dodgy programming. The levels are long, well thought out and look great, but there is only three of them, and once you have played the game enough you're crying out for some new levels and vehicles.
The verdict?
Harms Way is a great little game. It looks good, plays well, and more importantly with a bunch of friends it's a right laugh, which more games should take into consideration. And it's free. With some more Levels, weapons and vehicles it's a game that will last, so let's hope that we see some DLC in the future.
Jumping all over the internet today are the first concrete details about Nintendo's latest license to print money, the Nintendo 3DS.
Reported by gaming trade site MCV, the console will launch in March 25th in Europe, and then follow on two whole days later in the States. Launch price for the console has only been released for the U.S so far, and it's set at $249, with around 30 titles set for the launch window. Suspiciously, there has been no word on the price for the U.K. HMV have pre orders up on their online site already, setting the price at £229 of your finest promissory notes, although it remains to be seen what the overinflated price will be in their stores.....if they have any left by the time it launches!
Well...here it is folks. The eagerly awaited details for the first DLC pack for Black Ops, the Jackie Chan-film-sound-a-like "First Strike".
The DLC pack features five maps in total, four for the multiplayer proper side of the game, and one for the zombie mode.
The names of the maps are as follows: Kowloon, Berlin Wall, Discovery, Stadium and Ascension.
I won't go rattling on about the new features of whatever....you can watch the video for that. The one new thing that's been added though, and it's pretty cool, is the ability on the Kowloon map to use zipwires to fly about the level quickly. It looks like a great addition, and I for one will take a great deal of pleasure just sitting around waiting for fools to get on it so I can shoot them and watch them plummet to a horrid, splatty death!
The First Strike multiplayer map pack is exclusive to the Xbox 360 for around a month or so. It's released on Feb.1st for the extortionate price of 1200 msp. Or not so extortionate if you have no friends and you eat, breath and shit Call of Duty.
Here's the vid!
So what do you think? Do you like the look of the maps, or are you going to stick two fingers up at Activision and not bother??
I've always loved the Ace combat games. I've played them since they went under the original name Air combat. My biggest moan about the games is most of the time you're just firing missiles at pixels two miles away on screen. All that is about to change with the new "reboot" of the series, Ace Combat: Assault horizon.
The devs showed off a promo video of the game at the recent Gamescom event, and it's epic! Showing off several new features to the game, including "close range assault" and something called "steel carnage". Basically instead of missiles at dots on the horizon, the new system allows you to get up close and personal, so you'll see the enemy planes peppered with holes and fall apart when you unload on them. Missile fire is also shown with a floating camera, so upon launching a missile the camera will follow right through to your target.
Apparently the developers are big fans of the Call of Duty series, and from the trailer you can see a wee bit of the Modern Warfare influence. They have a military adviser on hand to make sure everything is authentic, and from the trailer you can see that the game will be set in multiple theatres of war all across the globe. There will be a shed load of new planes to unlock, and for the first time helicopters will feature in the series.
It all looks spankingly good!! It's going to be released on the xbox 360, and happily a return to the PS3 as well after the exclusivity of the last game in the series. The developer won't commit to a firm release date, but promises it'll be here in 2011.
Check out the promo video below and let me know what you think. The second video features a short interview with the producer and executive director of the game, Kazutoki Kono.
Some clever bastard, going by the name of "DCRU Colin", has made this video....which, if you're not really into Battlefield you won't get, and if you don't like the song, well, it'll pretty much fly over your head.
But if you aren't a sad toss bag and you like both of the above...check out this video....no other words need be spoken!
Enjoy!
You can find Colin's Youtube channel here! He has some other good stuff on there.
So here we go with the first Gamefreak review of 2011 (i'm still getting to grips typing out the two 1's at the end of the date). What better way to start off the gaming year than with some ultra-violent martial arts battering in a post apocalyptic wasteland. Based on the famous Manga by Buronson and Tetsuo Hara, developed by Omega Force and published by Koei of Samurai Warriors fame, it's a sprawling adventure and the first take on the North Star series on current consoles.
I'm a huge fan of the Manga....so....let's see if it's any good.
The plot:
Nuclear war has blown the living crap out of everything on the planet, money is useless, and the only thing of importance is food, water, and the X-factor (still). Survivors are holed up in villages, fearing attacks from bandits who look like a cross between your average Mad Max extra and Twisted sister. Among these survivors are groups of martial artists who use techniques that are so powerful they could probably kill you just by thinking of you. Our hero, Kenshiro, travells the land searching for his missing girlfriend, and to confront his numourous martial arts brothers in order to....well....see who is the greatest ever. Many other characters join Ken in his mission, each of them having their own story to tell, and countless thousands die on each side. Will Kenshiro save the day? Probably......
What I liked:
Firstly the game is extremely authentic to the Manga. The characters look just how they do in the cartoons and books, Kenshiro, Jagi and Raoh especially. The story is well paced, following through the various arcs of the story. New characters crop up in almost every new chapter, some of them, such as the long haired Rai, have some great scenes that they play out and interesting stories that intertwine with that of Ken. Combat is well done, with buttons for weak and strong attacks, blocking, countering, throw moves etc. A great upgrade system comes in the form of the "Meridian chart", a secret martial arts chart full of new moves, techniques and abilities. Filled by earning points from combat and collectables in the game, you can customise techniques to your heart's content! Once tooled up and out on the battlefield, you can smash, crack and cut your way through the vast numbers of enemies on screen (I haven't counted, but one battle pits you against at least 30-40 guys at once), launching combos and special techniques. Once you unlock these special techniques on the meridian chart, you can really go to town. And it's the special moves that really look the business. Everything from popping your thumbs into some poor sods temples until he explodes into a shower of red mist, Ken's infamous punching at 3,000 punches per second, to jumping 30ft into the air and blowing up the floor killing everyone....the special moves are something to behold. Add to this multiple campaigns, dream modes for several characters, unlockable characters and a survival mode, and you do get quite a bit of game for your money.
What I loathed:
Firstly, and surprisingly, the game can be quite boring at parts. Streched over around 13 chapters, the game goes on FOREVER! It took me around 13-14 hours to go through the campaign. I usually moan like a girl with a skimmed knee if a game only has a few hours playing time. Here though, just when I thought the game would end....BANG! Another chapter. The combat, whilst good, has a few issues. The grab/throw function is painfully slow...you usually take a battering if you try to grab a bad guy in a huge group. The combat, whilst fun, doesn't really start to take off until the final chapters, after you have earned enough points to unlock the interesting stuff. That's the problem with the game.....the first few chapters are well done and interesting, the middle of the game is drawn out and boring, and towards the end, when you unlock most of the better powers the game takes off again, with you riding around on motorbikes and giant horses, blowing peoples bodies apart with a finger. The game should have given more opportunity to get a steady progression of powers, rather than just have the better stuff two levels before it ends. It's hard to mark a game down for being too long, but I feel cutting out a few chapters and giving access to the better moves earlier would have resulted in a better game.
The verdict?
Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage is not an awful game. Fans of the series will get a whole lot out of it. It's fun, quite emotional in parts of the story line and fantastically violent. That being said, the main campaign drags on and on, and once you have played through it there is no real reason to go back.
Well. After an extra long New Year break i'm finally back. I hope you had a great new year, and that the slog back to work/school/college/selling yourself on streets wasn't too much of a shock.
The good thing about the holiday period is obviously getting time to play some games, and I played a few. Some good, some bloody awful, and some that were a trip down memory lane. I received a bloody gorgeous boxed Sega Master System with a stack of games, and after playing some i'll be sticking up some retro reviews.
There will be lots of changes to my little blog. I'll be increasing the review rate, and not just for newer titles. I'll be doing a whole bunch of SNES, Megadrive, Master system games, as well as more "current" titles. Reviews coming up include Deadly Premonition, NFS: Hot pursuit, Vanquish, Fist of the North Star: Ken's rage and many more.
There will be some slight changes to the look of the blog as well, but that's more for me to worry about than you.
I'm also going to be purchasing one of these gorgeous looking beasts, with the thought of doing the odd video review, and video guides and tips for games old and new.
And of course, i'll be happy to receive any requests from you all for games to review, things to look at, and if you're reading this from a games company, and promotional items and games you would like me to review *cough.....cough......Kinect......cough* i'll be more than happy to take them from your hands.
Anyway. Enough for now. I'll see you in a short while with our first review of the year....Fist of the North Star: Ken's rage!
I've purposely been dodging the Marvel vs Capcom 3 news...not that i'm not interested, i've simply been waiting until the full character roster was finalised. Capcom's drip drip of information is the videogame equivalent of Chinese water torture....a constant irritating niggle that you just want to end. Now that the list has indeed been finalised, i'll do a little promo piece about it in the next few days.
