The Great Slump

The great slump, the long break; a period of time a gamer experiences when they have little interest in gaming. It can happen to any gamer and probably will more than once in their gaming life. For some it can occur every couple of weeks or months, maybe just once a year. The variance in how long it lasts is great too although I believe all gamers eventually go back into gaming sooner or later.

The reasons for the slump are also quite varied and personal. For some the lack of anything new on the market can drive them into the slump. For others it can be a case of too much repetition in the games they’re playing or perhaps the trophy hunter who needs a break from the tedious hunting.

I’m experiencing a sort of slump at the moment. It all started when I decided to try and finish Mercenaries 2… again. Everything was going well and I was enjoying the game; who doesn’t love blowing up buildings or running through sheds with tanks? Unfortunately I always get to the middle of that game and my interest dries up. I don’t get why but it’s happened twice and it remains unfinished. It’s a shame but there you go.

It didn’t matter too much, however, because we’d just picked up Gran Turismo 5. So I threw myself into that and I was loving it. I was doing great in A-Spec and I even better in B-Spec. I was building up a great fleet of black cars and finally managing my money a little better. It was all going so well and then my interest peaked and went; again I don’t know why. I guess the game just couldn’t hold me.

This left me in a crap position. Ideally I would’ve liked to play Red Dead Redemption, collect all the trophies possible, then follow it up with Undead Nightmare. Unfortunately with it being so close the Christmas investing in a new game just isn’t viable. In about a week and a bit I’ll be heading away to spend Christmas with my girlfriends family and when I get back I’ll have Final Fantasy XIII which I’ve been looking forward too; RDR and Undead nightmare will have to wait.

So here I am in the slump but unlike many slumps this one has some gaming in it. While I can’t start anything new I can fall back on old reliables to get me through. I love a game with a great storyline so I’ve fallen back on GTA IV: Episodes from Liberty City. Why? Because both episodes and, indeed, GTA IV have well written storylines that are just fun to play without the worry of trophies or any such thing. I’m hoping these will carry me through the slump to Christmas and after that… a new year of gaming. 

Dead Rising 2 ..viva Fortune City

Zombies are everywhere these days from movies to games they have infested our cities our pubs and even.. Vegas, that's right its the sequel of the 2006 zombie smashing hacking and slashing hit Dead Rising.

The first game had you running around a shopping mall taking out zombies but giving you the option to save survivor's which in return netted you bonus points. this time around its pretty much the same deal except the story plays a more important part in your gaming experience and its much more open ended with almost double the lifespan.

You take on the role of chuck greene a former motocross star who is forced to enter a game show with a difference in order to buy the medication he desperately needs for his daughter. that game show is TIR - terror is reality, and the main aim of the game is to kill more zombies than the other contestants, simple enough really until the zombies escape and overrun the city tearing apart everything and everyone they come into contact with. so now with 3 days until the military arrive chuck has no choice but to fight it out until help arrives – there is of course the small matter of his daughters medication too.

So surviving the 3 days really is all up to the player, you have pretty much an open world to explore and game through which is similar to the original game but being set in Vegas its bigger and much more vibrant. crazy is a word i have used to describe this game many times and within the first 5mins of gameplay you will see why. chuck has at his disposal an almost limitless amount of weapons and props to use against the undead, these range from simple golf clubs and antique blades to pretty much anything you want or can find laying around. going to a hunting store will net you sniper rifles/shotguns and the like while going to a sports store will result in bats/clubs/rackets and even balls, that's right balls. this is where DR2 really shines, there is an almost limitless amount of novelty items to twist and turn into your very own killing tools. crafting your own items can be challenging at first but once you start to progress you will receive combo cards which work as a blue print in weapon design. i found that a simple bat with some nails worked wonders but you can get as creative as you choose.

Being set in Vegas means there is gambling aplenty to be done but its not always so easy to win, you can increase your luck at gambling by picking up gambling magazines in bookshops and scattered around zombie infested casino’s. the books also serve to raise the skill level of other things like your combat and even driving. the driving in the game actually works quite well but you have to buy whatever vehicle you want and no matter how many times you do playthrough you won’t be able to afford them unless you start gambling.

The enemies range from your average stumbling zombies to shoplifters trying to score big to my personal favourite, the psychopaths. these are individuals who have been affected by the zombie outbreak and they put up one hell of a fight but beating them gets you big reward points and most lead to more survivors who will tag along with you. the psychopaths all have their own unique traits but they all have one thing in common, they are hard as nails to beat and don’t expect to beat even half of them the first time round, but this is where one of my favourite features comes into play. the game gives the player the ability to quit at any time so they can start a new game but with all the skills and points they had from the last game. this really works in building up a stronger character with superior combat skills and a much higher chance of surviving.

There really is so much i could say about this game and i did indeed play it to death, mostly for the achievements but also because each playthrough was so different. the world is so open you can do whatever you want and save or not save the others hiding around Fortune City, its really up to you. the level design is top notch with wide spacious malls packed with stores/costumes/weapons – casino’s filled with slot machines and zany games which can be played, and so much more.

Dead Rising 2 is a game i really can’t say anything bad about, its was hugely enjoyable playing though your first playthrough will be the hardest. i’m giving it a 9 out of 10, i’m removing 1 point because of katey’s zombrex needs – though the medication could be obtained with a little work it sometimes felt repetitive getting back to her with it in time.

Rainbow Six Vegas 2

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is a squad based tactical first person shooter… most of the time.

It’s brought to us by Ubisoft, specifically the Montreal division. I don’t know where Red Storm Entertainment has gone but I guess it matters little.

As I said before RSV 2 is squad based, you’ll usually have another two guys with you at all times. Many people are probably groaning at the moment as they imagine how horrible the A.I is going to be but I was pleasantly surprised at how fluidly it comes together.

Team mates are handy for a number of things. The first is using them to leap frog down a corridor or through a large room; they move forward, you move forward, etc. It’s an effective way to maintain covering fire or draw out enemy fire, both which are needed in various levels. Secondly, team mates can be ordered to move up to a doorway and then enter it in a variety of ways; breach charge, flashbang or sweep and clear. All very fun and all working pretty well together. Trust me, it’s the levels  without team mates you’ll be frustrated at.

Graphically RSV 2 isn’t really up to scratch with the current line-up of FPS’s; Killzone 2, Bad Company 2 and Modern Warfare 2. It was a little reminiscent of the older Rainbow Six games but it really didn’t matter to me in the end. The graphics are good enough to enjoy the game; I find with a good FPS you should be drawn into the intensity of the action so the graphics to not become overly apparent in any deficiencies.   

Gameplay is also pretty good. I’ve already mentioned the squad based stuff which is a nice and integral element to any Rainbow Six game. You can follow this up with a little customization. At the beginning of each level you can usually change your weapon loadout and there’s plenty to choose from too; sub machine guns, assault rifles, light machine guns and sniper rifles are available. Each weapon can be customized with different attachments as well. Furthermore you can choose your armor loadout. You’ll get to choose between light, medium and heavy; each one modifies your mobility offset to the protection it offers. I have to admit though despite wearing the heaviest armor I didn’t see any noticeable drop in mobility and it’s not like you’ll be running around anyway.

All in all it is sounding pretty good so far, right? I’d have to agree but what really makes a Rainbow Six game is the storyline. So how does this one pan out? I was disappointed to be honest. There’s a major story element at the start of the game that in my opinion happened far to fast, this coupled with the often low sound of characters taking through mics meant that I wasn’t entirely aware of what was going on.

This could very well come back to bite you in ass later on in the game in terms of understanding the storyline. Fact of the matter is I was never entirely sure how one of the main characters, Alvarez, came into the game in the first place. It just wasn’t made that clear. However, I played along with the storyline and I was having a good time. There were a few frustrations here and there; unexpectedly being shot in the head and going down as I turned a corner for example. Nothing major though… until I came to the end of the game that is.

I don’t want to go into too much detail and ruin the ending for anyone but it has to be said this is one of the worst endings I’ve seen in a game. It completely ripped apart the flow of the game for me. I’ve played many Rainbow Six games from the very first ones on the PC and even on a Gameboy. I have certain realistic expectations from a Rainbow Six game and the ending to this one clearly didn’t meet expectations. I wonder if Red Storm Entertainment had been involved would the ending have been any different?

Well time to wrap this up I guess. In conclusion Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is a decent FPS, perhaps not as good as more recent ones but still entertaining. If you can get past the ridiculous end game scenario then you’ll probably enjoy the game but loyal fans to the Rainbow Six series might be a little disappointed. 

Fallout: New Vegas–Ain’t That a Kick in the Head?

I had such high hopes for this game, really high hopes, dizzyingly high even. I’ve been waiting for this game for sometime wanting a great experience.

After the Fallout 3: GOTY bug fiasco I was hoping, beyond hope, that New Vegas would be released bug free or thereabouts. You see I love nothing more than a good RPG with a rich environment and an immersive storyline; something you could sink into. New Vegas was supposed to be that or so I hoped.

Hope is such a fickle thing and so is New Vegas. This game has more bugs than an ants nest, freezes more than water in the Arctic Circle and glitches more than… well it’s just really glitchy. At first these were minor disturbances and something I could live with. As a software developer myself I know that no software can be produced bug free and I was content to let a few issues aside. Things have changed however.

Over the past three days I’ve been watching my girlfriend go for the end-game scenario’s. There’s four big endings and she wanted the trophy for each. Considering the work she put into it I don’t think it’s too much to ask. Unfortunately the game didn’t think so and decided to fight her all of the way. During one mission the game froze four in less than an hour and then suffered a severe drop in frame rate. Following that the game have an issue were VATS couldn’t be accessed causing the mission to fail indirectly. Entirely ridiculous.

Now don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot I like about this game. It’s a beautiful post-apocalyptic world; my favorite kind. There’s some really interesting characters and backstories around. Modding weapons is a lot of fun and you could build a character around that alone. Plus for anyone who played Fallout 2 back in the day, well, you’ll get a lot of references and pick up on a few things that those newer to the series won’t.

Unfortunately, though, I don’t know what I’ll be doing with this game. My girlfriend ran into an uber glitch only yesterday. This glitch occurs through exploration of Vault 11, be it of your own accord or that of a faction mission. Now anyone who enters a Vault is going to explore it top to bottom because each one has its own unique, twisted story to tell. But the secrets in this Vault could in fact fail one of the four end-game scenarios for you. Why? Because of the oversight of some developer who didn’t realize what a major glitch had been produced.

My girlfriends game and my own have been affected by this. Her chances of getting all end-game scenario’s completed, of getting all trophies has been robbed. I wish I could recommend this game but I can’t. At least not until it’s been patched to fix the serious errors and issues this game is encountering.

A note to all games developers: don’t release a broken game…

IL 2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey

IL 2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey is an aerial combat simulator much like the recently reviewed HAWX. Unlike HAWX, however, Sturmovik takes place during the Second World War making it a slightly unique game.

I should mention this game was slated terribly, in my opinion, review-wise. I don’t share that feeling however. Sturmovik was a great game to pick up.

As mentioned the game takes place during WW2 and you’ll find yourself flying through 6 different theatre’s during the main campaign. These include: The Battle of Britain over the English Channel, The Battle of Stalingrad in Russia, Italy, The Korsun Pocket over Ukraine, The Battle of the Bulge in Central Europe and finally over the skies of Berlin. Seems pretty busy right? Well that’s just the main campaign. The game also comes with a long list of single player missions in the same theatres that are different from the campaign entirely, there is a lot in this game.

The realism in Sturmovik is pretty well developed. Since this is WW2 there’s no such thing as guided missiles, you’ll be shooting down enemy aircraft with guns alone. During ground attack missions you might get lucky and be gifted with free fall bombs or rockets. This might seem a little daunting at first but let me assure you it only adds to the fun. There’s nothing like lining up behind a bomber, dodging the fire from its tailgun and then releasing a relentless firestorm upon it.

Damage effects upon planes are the superb; the more fire you take the more holes punch through your wings. Accidentally fly to close to another aircraft and you’ll clip your own wing sending yourself spiraling to a fiery end. Fly into the smoke trail of a damaged aircraft and your cockpit window coats over with leaking oil. It’s all very well thought out and rendered very beautifully. Furthermore, the more damage done to your plane the harder it’ll be to fly it. Flight is already a little difficult to begin with… at least it is if you go straight to it from HAWX. It’s quite realistic in that it limits you from performing totally insane combat maneuvers. This, again, only adds to the fun and it makes sense too. After all many aircraft during WW2 had mostly wooden bodies.

It’s worth mentioning the different gameplay modes on offer with Sturmovik. The first is called Arcade and this is the most easy going too. Arcade mode gives you a targeting reticule to assist you in dogfighting opponents, it also makes flight and damage effects a little easier. Realistic mode is next and this will take away your reticule and make flight much more difficult. Simulator is insane though, not only are damage effects severe but flight is super sensitive and you can only fly from within the cockpit. I avoided trying that more than once. 

So, lets take about the gameplay a little. You’ll start off doing a little tutorial and then you’re thrust into the main campaign as a British pilot operating around Dover. As the game progresses you’ll also fly as an American and Russian pilot too. Throughout the campaign, and the single player missions, you’ll be facing the Nazi war machine but also the Italians to a lesser extent. I thought this was a nice tough because the Italian theatre during WW2 is often overlooked by gaming companies. Another nice feature of the campaign, and single player missions, is that you’ll be flying a different variety of aircraft including bombers. After each campaign mission the narrator will read an extract from an the actual diary of various pilots during the war, another nice touch. Want another nice touch? The Russian and German pilots in the game do speak authentic Russian and German. This game has a whole lotta nice touch’s if you ask me.

Moving onto graphics and wow… The landscape is rendered beautifully around you, the aircraft are rendered beautifully and the damage effects are great too. I seriously can’t find a fault here, even the music is great if not a little somber.

So are there any faults with this game, only a small few. At times gameplay can seem a little slow. It’s not as intense or dramatic as HAWX but that might be because of historical nature of the game. Also, because flight is a little difficult due to the nature of the planes you might find yourself mentally or physically ( your hands) exhausted after a mission or two. Then again my right hands last two fingers are a little damaged…

Either way I’d recommend picking up Sturmovik if you’re into flight simulators, WW2 or just aircraft in general. It’s a nice game with loads of well thought out detail and loads of gameplay.

Gaming Frustrations

How often have you been playing a game and become so frustrated that you wanted to toss the controller across the room or violently kick the nearest inanimate object?

Unfortunately it happens to us all for one reason or another. It might just be that the objective laid out before you is insanely difficult, you might be facing an unholy uber boss of stupidity or maybe, just maybe, the game controls are ridiculous?

Is the irony lost on us? Here we are playing a game and getting so irritated that it ceases to be fun; the entire point of a game. Is it a phenomenon among gamers that we all possess a deep hidden rage within us that can be brought to the surface by an annoying game sequence?

We all have our breaking points, our Radecs. Anyone who has played through Killzone 2 will know what I’m referring too. Remember Radec, remember your reaction to that terrible last battle? Remember how your murderous rage drowned out the men in white coats as they hauled you away? 

How about the ending to Red Faction: Guerilla? Do you remember ascending Mount Vogel like Moses up Mount Sinai? No..? Probably because Moses didn’t have to contend with the equivalent military of a small country. I mean come on they really, and I mean really, try and push you on the last part. While you’re clawing your way up that mountain you’re probably being dragged into a deep pit of despair.

Then we come to the little annoyances. Many games have quite interactive climbing abilities these days, games such as the Uncharted series or the Assassins Creed series. It’s fun climbing our way up through giant caverns or bell towers and seeing beautifully rendered scenery below us. But there’s always those really awkward jumps you have to make that really drive you nuts. It’s not the jump itself that makes it awkward though, it’s the controller. Although the joysticks on modern controllers are far better than using the older d-pads sometimes they have trouble differentiating Right from Down… sending your character flying off a guard tower like a sack of potatoes… and hitting the ground like one too. Ouch! Wait until it happens repeatedly and ouch turns into a string of nasty expletives.

Despite the numerous frustrations, great and small, that we find in various games we keep playing; why? Is it an addiction or are we simply masochists? I don’t think it’s either. With each game we’re taken to a new world, something different that escapes the boring reality of life. A little bit of mind numbing frustration isn’t going to cause us to give all that up is it?   

 

 

H.A.W.X

Tom Clancy’s HAWX can best be described as an aerial combat simulator, a pretty rare genre for modern console gaming although some might remember the Ace Combat series on the Playstation 2. Other titles that would encompass this genre is the recently released HAWX 2, IL 2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey and Ace Combat: Assault Horizon which is due for release in 2011.
So, what does HAWX offer us then?

HAWX puts us in the cockpit of over 50 different actual aircraft in existence today. I’m not kidding either, the game has 50 fully licensed aircraft to unlock and play. Each has its own strengths, weaknesses and weapon packages. Ever fancied flying a Tomcat, Stealth Bomber or A-10 Thunderbolt? Well you can, in fact you can choose whatever aircraft you like for each mission and choose the weapon package to fly with as well. The game, of course, will recommend an aircraft and weapon package for each mission but I used these more as guidelines then choose my own equipment, it’s more fun this way. Admittedly the game has more aircraft than it needs, I found that I didn’t use half of those available.
You’ll find yourself flying a variety of different missions where you’ll be engaged in escorting aircraft, dog fighting, bombarding ground and naval targets and contending with SAM sites. The missions are quite entertaining and bring a strong storyline that sync up and squeeze into the Tom Clancy universe where you’ll find Ghost Recon teams and the like. Although each mission will put you through your paces I did find myself wishing there were a few more missions in the game. Also having finished the game on Normal I moved onto Elite and found no significant increase in difficulty. Granted, when you do move onto Elite you’ll have all the available aircraft and weapon packages unlocked from the previous run through the game so maybe it all balances out?

 

Moving onto the game controls: everything handles pretty well. The aircraft, all jet planes, handle perfectly well. Each aircraft has its own handling limits, of course, but as far as the controls go everything is spot on. That is until you activate Assistance Off. Assistance Off (AO) gives you a zoomed out view of your aircraft in order to let you dogfight more effectively and also to dodge incoming missiles. AO allows you to throw your aircraft around in tighter corners to gain the edge on enemy aircraft and in my opinion is a well engineered idea with but one flaw. While flying in AO you’ll be turning many tight maneuvers quickly and just as quickly it is easy to lose track which side of the aircraft is up and which way you’re turning. It could just be me, mind you, I do have glasses and I am operating on a 22” HDMI TV but I have the feeling others might feel the same way.

Lets move onto the combat. With a small range of guided missiles, rockets and bombs to choose from you’re pretty well equipped to take on whatever comes your way. This being the modern age your aircraft will try to establish missile lock on your enemies and away your missiles go. That might sound easy but trust me in close range aerial combat establishing missile lock is no simple task but it is very enjoyable. Watching an enemy aircraft roar past your cockpit followed by two smoky streaks of guided death is a tasty treat. Lining yourself up for ground targets for a bomb drop or rocket strike is just as fun, especially when you hear that familiar whistling sound of a plummeting bomb.

 

Finally we move onto the graphics and we’ll start with the aircraft. Now I’m no expert on aircraft although I do enjoy modeling them but, to me, it seems all of the aircraft within HAWX are pretty well detailed. As I started each mission I found myself swinging around the camera and admiring my aircrafts style and curves… sexy.
It’s the world around you that’ll really captivate you though. From the dizzying heights you find yourself at you’re presented with stunning scenery. It all looks very realistic until you get closer to the ground… The fact is buildings and vehicles down there aren’t all that detailed unfortunately. It’s not a big loss but for a game with a fair bit of ground bombing they could’ve put a bit more work into it.

All in all I loved HAWX. I loved being able to choose an aircraft for each mission, choose the weapon load out and wreck havoc. The game isn’t perfect but then what game is? I’d recommend this to anyone who is interested in modern aircraft or aerial combat. There’s few of these games out there so why not give it a try?

SAW... do you want to play a game?

Taking over after the SAW movies comes SAW the game. the character you control is that of David Tapp, a detective obsessed with catching the infamous jigsaw killer. his obsession quickly leads him into jigsaws biggest game yet, being a pawn in an ultimate test. waking up in an abandoned insane asylum he quickly finds how real the situation is, driven by his determination to bring jigsaw to justice he has no choice but to stay and play jigsaws deadly game.

The first thing the game developers did was successfully recreate the feel of the films in such a uniquely way that dangerous as it is you just want to explore it inch by inch. doing so will not only put you in the path of jigsaws maniacal traps it will also put in direct contact with the other inmates… that’s right jigsaw has concealed a key to the exit inside of your chest and people will be hell bent on getting it out of you to gain their freedom. the environments themselves like the movies are dark/dank but beautifully rendered, yes the game oozes atmosphere at every level.

the lighting is fantastic with everything from flame effects to the little blips of CCTV cameras adding unparalleled realism. the building itself is abandoned so expect decaying floors “pitfalls”/pitch-black offices/cold operating rooms and much more… of course the levels would be nothing without jigsaws own personal touch. some of the traps such as the jaw-split and shot-gun collars will be instantly recognizable to SAW fans but there are a whole host of new traps designed specifically for the game each one mechanically different from the other but equally as horrific.

Adding in the element of other people roaming the asylum really sets the game into overdrive, i soon found out that they don’t just attack with whatever they can find scattered around the environment “bats/iron bars/furniture” but they will also set traps of their own so the player is constantly on watch for trip-wires that could lead to a very sticky situation.

Being in the SAW universe means that the player has to work their way around puzzles to not only free themselves but to also free others. Each major stage of the game has the player work to gain the freedom of jigsaws other victims, often they are there for their own personal reasons but some are directly linked to Tapp.

Ok so as a diehard SAW fan i can admit playing the game i really was in my element and so it would have been hard for me to find any faults in the game… but i did. my first gripe with the game was the fighting system it seems that if you get the first punch in then you win the fight, but if they get the first punch then they win. of course you can change the odds drastically by swinging an iron bar or nail-bat at their heads… this is SAW after all. my second gripe is with the puzzles themselves, although most of them are very well created and implemented i found myself looking for tips on YouTube and Google. of course the puzzles are supposed to be challenging and the brain teasers tricky but on many occasions i found it being a bit much when i couldn’t work a puzzle because the gas being pumped into the room kept throwing me off. the best example of this would be would be a puzzle that involved me connecting up three circuit boxes under an impossible time limit while the room filled with gas… i got it after about 10 tries.

So my final conclusion is this: SAW is actually a great game with stunning visuals and edge of your seat game-play which should be experienced by SAW fans and survival horror fans alike. if you are a fan of neither then there may not be enough to there to keep you playing, the ultimate question remains… do YOU want to play a game?

Red Dead Redemption

Red Dead Redemption is the latest release from Rockstar Games and is proving to be a big hit.  Based on 71 critic reviews Metacritic have given the game a score of 95 while 407 ratings among users came to 8.1 out of 10, pretty impressive. The game itself is a sandbox style, free roaming third person shooter.

So what is Red Dead all about? The year is 1911 and the railroads are slowly spreading across the United States. Behind them follow the influence of the federal government and inescapable modernization. The Old West may very well be on its last legs. Your character is John Marston; a former outlaw turned bounty hunter sent to hunt down his former gang members by federal agents. Your motive? The agents have ‘seized’ your family.

The storyline that unfolds as you start the game is pretty good with an array of interesting and humorous characters that you’d expect from Rockstar. Besides the main storyline there’s dozens of Stranger Missions as well. Stranger Missions are a bit like Friend Missions in GTA IV but easier to find. All are definitely worth playing out as they add good depth to the game and highlight the often strange and dark humor of Rockstar. As well as those there are also what I call Event Missions. An example of this would be you passing by a stagecoach under attack, you then have the option of assisting.

Red Dead handles itself beautifully in all aspects. The movements of the horses, which will be your main mode of transportation, look exceptionally fluid and realistic. Whether wild or tamed the horses are just stunning and in my opinion Rockstar outdid themselves with this. Another element I can compliment highly are the weapons. From revolvers to repeater carbines, rifles to shotguns you have a nice variety of weapons to choose from. But what I really love about the weapons is that each time you fire a shot a visible cloud of smoke is released, very suitable for the time period. Now don’t worry, this won’t obscure your view at all it just adds to the atmosphere of the game.

As you’d hope in a third person shooter the cover and aim system is spot on, you won’t find any problems with it. You can of course shoot from horseback and this works seamlessly as well. The real shooting feature is Dead Eye which is a bit like bullet time. Time slows down allowing you to accurately fire off a few shots into your targets before they hit you. As the game progresses your Dead Eye gets better allowing you to assign multiple shots to different targets, a bit like VATS in Fallout 3 but not as in depth.

If you don’t want to play any of the missions then you’re free to explore the wild west. Perhaps collect some flowers (seriously) or indulge in some hunting. Hunting is great fun with a wide variety of birds and animals to choose from. Elk, deer, bears, beavers, raccoons, bobcats, wolves, coyotes, foxes, owls, hawks and many more. All can be hunted and skinned to bring back to the stores. You can even skin your own horse if it has the poor misfortune of dying. (I tried to avoid killing any horses) Not interested in hunting? Chase down some wild horses, lasso them and break them in or even rob a bank, the game is limitless.

The map is quite large and divided in two by a large deep river. One side is the U.S state of New Austin and the other is Mexico. Graphically the world is quite stunning with a surprisingly wide variety of landscapes from snowy bear ridden mountains to dry dusty deserts, it’s a visual delight. If you’re like me you’ll enjoy riding between your destinations drinking in the scenery. I do have one caveat here though; several times while looking up at the starry night sky it appeared fragmented to me and not to well done. Besides the scenery the NPC’s in the game are well designed, especially the outfits.

Briefly I’ll mention the music for the game. Now you’d image a western such as this would be riddled with American country music or something far worse but in fact Red Dead has a great musical score that is more blues than anything. It really sets the scene for the game and Rockstar made a brilliant move including the music that they did.

I’ve more or less praised this game throughout so now it’s only fair I throw in some critiques. While character interaction is generally quite good the main character has a tendency to threaten people with a shot to the head a little too much. I found this tiring after a while, I mean he could’ve changed body parts at least.

Overall though, this is a game I’d highly recommend that you pick up. If you like sandbox games, if you like westerns or you’re just a fan of Rockstars work then you’ll enjoy Red Dead Redemption.

Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days or Doghouse

After browsing through Metacritic I became aware that recent release (Aug. 17th in the U.S, Aug. 27th in Ireland) Kane and Lynch 2 has been garnering itself pretty disappointing reviews. 

A collation of the critic reviews has come to a low score of 64. Now 64 doesn’t sound so low but for a recent, anticipated release it doesn’t quite cut it. That’s just the critic reviews, if you look to the user reviews it gets pretty bad; 5.3 out of 10… there must be something pretty bad going on there.

Issues reported with the game included headachy graphics with much flickering, blurring and flaring of the world you find yourself in while the camera will make you feel queasy with the amount of swaying and shaking going on.
Further problems revolve around the in-game plot which is apparently lacking and replaced with shooting, lots and lots of shooting. This alone puts images of Left 4 Dead 2 back into my mind. *shudders at the thought*

For a first person shooter the aiming and cover system are reportedly poor and the character development equally so. Remember Lynch, the hallucinating psychotic? Apparently IO Interactive doesn’t because the psychosis has all dried up.

Well what more can I say? I had a hope that Dog Days would be a good FPS now that it has trophy\achievement support but since reading the reviews on Metacritic all hopes have been dashed. This is one I won’t be picking up.

Killzone 2

Killzone 2 is a hardcore first person shooter developed by Guerilla Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for Playstation 3.

The game takes place during the ISA invasion of the planet Helghan and presumably follows on from Killzone and Killzone: Liberation. I say presumably because I’ve played neither so I can’t really comment.

Describing Killzone 2 in terms of graphics and atmosphere I’d have to say it’s pretty damn good. From storm wracked, ashen cities to windswept, desolate deserts you’re presented with an ominous environment populated with tough, ruthless soldiers. I was particularly impressed with the flame\fire effects and the electricity effects; both are fairly prevalent within the game. The dark atmosphere of the game is backed with an excellent musical composition which meshes perfectly with the game play delivering an air of intensity, urgency and desperation.

Game play is also very good although at times difficult. Right from the get go you’re thrown into the rough turmoil of war. This is, however, where my first gripe appeared;  a lack of objective markers. A lot of games use objective markers for the obvious reason of helping to guide the player towards the objective. Killzone 2 doesn’t and thusly sometimes it can be difficult to figure out what you’re supposed to be doing.

You won’t be confused for too long though, after all most first person shooters are fairly linear. While you’re finding your way to the objective you’ll be caught up in some pretty intense firefights. Helghast soldiers are no pushovers. They’re well armed and pretty tough. You’ll encounter different varieties of soldiers as you move through different levels and each variety is armed differently. Despite these varieties they all have common features so it never looks out of place.

The range of weapons is pretty nice. The majority are what I’d call solid shot weapons by which I mean they fire bullets instead of lasers. Exceptions are the flame thrower and a sort of electro cannon which are both fun. Do you like your enemies fired or char grilled?

There are two levels in the game that are incredibly difficult. I don’t want to go into too much detail and end up spoiling the game but I will say this; no matter how hard it looks and how impossible it feels just persevere and eventually you’ll get it. I didn’t call it a hardcore game for nothing.

The storyline throughout the game is interesting and engaging; you’ll want to keep playing more. For trophy hunters you’ll be pleased to known that each finished mission awards you a trophy and there is a bunch of other trophies available for various things.

This a great first person shooter that will challenge you and keep you entertained.

GTA IV – Episodes from Liberty City.

Having recently finished Episodes from Liberty City I’ve decided I’d do a little review on them both.

Now if you haven’t played GTA IV then it’s alright. You don’t need the main game to play Episodes from Liberty City or to understand what’s going on. However, I can’t recommend GTA IV enough. It’s a great game, one of the best I’ve played. 

Episodes from Liberty City consist of two games of which The Lost and Damned is first. This game puts you in the shoes of Johnny Klebitz, vice president of The Lost and Damned Motorcycle Club – Alderney City chapter. He’s also Jewish which has little relevance to the game play but it highlights the superb character development that Rockstar works on.

If you’ve played through GTA IV then you might remember Johnny from a few missions. This is because The Lost and Damned runs concurrently alongside the main GTA IV storyline. For those of you who have played it you’ll get to play several missions from a different perspective which I thought was an excellent move by Rockstar as it both games added depth.

The game as a darker, grittier, New Jersey feel than the main GTA IV which is a nice change of atmosphere. This atmosphere is added to by new music on the radio stations which can be both a good and bad thing. Liberty Rock Radio and Radio Broker have some great music on them now, better than the main GTA IV even but other stations like Radio Vladivostock have lost their unique Eastern European Music to some sort of techno trance garbage.

Another element that adds to the atmosphere is the fact that Rockstar are very good at referencing current events. Liberty City is being gripped by the same recession we’re all suffering from and this is quite noticeable from character interactions and news stories.

The game features new weapons including a sawn off shotgun and automatic pistol, both of which can be fired from your motorcycle by the way. Other weapons include pipe bombs and a nasty automatic shotgun as well. New vehicles are another feature including a range of different motorcycles. By motorcycles I’m talking about “all American” choppers and hogs such as the picture below.

Pretty yes? Anyway as you play the game you’ll find yourself on a motorcycle quite a bit which you may find awkward at first but you will get used to it. You can, of course, jack any vehicle you like but many of the missions seem geared towards a chopper.

There’s not much to say about the game play though. The storyline is engaging and well written, the missions are quite interesting. Side missions include drug wars which are limitless but can be quite fun.

If you liked GTA IV then you’ll definitely like this and if you haven’t played GTA IV then I’d encourage you to do so and play this as well in any order.

The Ballad of Gay Tony (BoTC) is the second game within Episodes of Liberty City. It puts you in the shoes of Luis Lopez, a Dominican working for, or with, socialite and night club owner Tony Prince also known as Gay Tony.

Much like The Lost and Damned this game runs concurrently to both the main GTA IV storyline and Lost and Damned storyline. You might remember meeting Lopez or Prince as you played through as Niko Bellic or Johnny Klebitz. If you don’t then you will as soon as you play through BoTC.

While The Lost and Damned gave off a dark atmosphere BoTC is more glitz and glamour set against the backdrop of the recession. Again the radio stations have been equipped with new music to suit the feel of the game.

The glitzy atmosphere is further boosted by new vehicles including several classy sports cars, several new helicopters and even an armored car. Once again new weapons make an appearance including a P90, a light machine gun, a shotgun firing explosive shells (so much fun) and satchel charges.

The Ballad of Gay Tony is, in my opinion, a lot more fun and engaging than The Lost and Damned. I’m not shooting down The Lost and Damned, it was fun but there is something about BoTC that’s very fun. Play it and you’ll see.

The storyline, once again, is very well written with interesting character interactions. As I mentioned before a few of the missions for BoTC overlap with the main storyline of GTA IV and the storyline of The Lost and Damned so give greater depth to both games. I don’t know if Rockstar had all this planned out during the development stage of GTA IV or thought it up later but they did an excellent job on it.

There’s quite a few side games within BoTC as well. These include fun dancing and drinking games, more intense drug war games and the absolutely brilliant base jumping game. Base jumping is a big feature of BoTC. Equipped with a parachute Luis Lopez can jump from the tallest skyscrapers and from helicopters to perform a freefall – parachute maneuver. Even better, you can do this in multiplayer.

Like The Lost and Damned I’d highly recommend The Ballad of Gay Tony. It’ a great play for fans of the GTA series and for those who haven’t played it yet as well.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2

Seeing as I’ve been playing a lot more PS3 games as of late I decided it might be a good idea to do a short review after I finish each one. After all, it makes my blog look busy instead of on the cusp of death.

This is in no way a copy of my girlfriends blog in any way… I swear it’s a completely original idea. >> Yeah…

Anyway the first game I’m going to review is Bad Company 2 which I recently finished, although not on my own PSN profile so I’ll be playing it again to get the trophies. 

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is, unsurprisingly, the sequel to Battlefield: Bad Company and brought to us from the Electronic Arts. Having never played the first game I can’t really contrast the two but I’m sure I’ll get to it eventually.

Graphically Bad Company 2 (BC2) is rendered quite beautifully in my opinion. Some of the landscapes are breathtaking while the gun fights happening around you can be graphically intense. There are some small gripes however; some of the weapons can appear rather flat. That is to say they’re lacking in raised detail. However if you get very immersed into the game you probably won’t notice. Another gripe is that there have been many reports of bad screen tear within the single player campaign but none in the multiplayer. I’ll admit I didn’t notice any when I played through the campaign but my girlfriend has noticed quite a bit so watch out for that.
Rumors that the game is clogged with dust are, in my opinion, greatly exaggerated. While a quantity of dust can be thrown up from the destructible terrain it’s not so bad as to obscure game play. In my opinion it adds a nice realistic feature to the game.

Game play is also good and can get quite intense at times. You operate as part of a squad so there’s usually three other guys with you at all times. They’re handy to have around, although you have little choice, but they can get in the way sometimes. Each level is large enough to allow you to choose your own way of dealing with the enemy and there’s a wide variety of weapons available to suit your own tastes as well. One well publicized feature is entirely destructible terrain which can be a nice feature but at the same time can also be a minor annoyance.  Taking cover can become quite difficult; several times I took cover inside a house only to have the wall stripped away by a heavy machine gun or rocket propelled grenade. The best option is to keep moving; don’t stay in one place for too long or the building could collapse around you… literally. The single player campaign is rather engaging and the storyline is pretty good. There’s nothing worse than a first or third person shooter with a poor storyline. *cough*Left 4 Dead*cough*

I did mention this was a first person shooter? Well it is, although you can switch to the third person whilst operating vehicles. That’s another thing I should mention; many of the vehicles you find in the game can be used to your advantage which has its ups and downs. When you hop into a vehicle your squad members will join you if they can, they’ll man any mounted weapons on the vehicle and fire their own if possible. So the upside of hopping into a vehicle is mobile firepower.
The downside? It’s all two easy for your vehicle to get heavily damaged quickly forcing you to abandon it before you’re killed in a fireball of contempt and wasted time.

 
The multiplayer in BC2 is very fun, much better than any CoD game in fact. Large maps, plenty of vehicles including the classic “how the f**k do I fly this helicopter”, but… there’s always a but. Like many FPS games you’ll run into the problem of camping snipers. It’s an FPS wide epidemic I’m afraid, one without a cure.

Trophy support for the game is in place also. I found that trophies weren’t to difficult to achieve in the single player campaign so if you’re a trophy hunter you’ll enjoy that. Be warned though that many of the trophies can only be acquired through playing the multiplayer but that is getting true of many games these days.

My verdict? If you’re into first person shooters then Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is definitely worth a look. The same can be said if you’re looking for good multiplayer games as well. Price wise I’d play no more than €40 for the game and even then I’d hope for less.