Demos and New Releases

I feel like I haven't done this in a while. My last post was a review of The Darkness II, which can be found here, or if for some reason you don't want to read the entire thing, there is an edited version on the Warwick University newspaper site because it was too long for them.

In other news, I wrote an Arma 3 Preview for Hooked Gamers, and I've just finished up an article about the Double Fine Kickstarter and the Humble Bundle Mojam which should be surfacing in one form or another pretty soon.

The even more exciting news is that we're finally getting to a run of decent new releases... here's what has been whetting my proverbial appetite recently.

SSX Demo


I normally don't play game demos (the auto dictionary thing is underlining 'demos', but I'm pretty sure that's the correct pluralisation... anyway), because it is generally what the developer wants you to see, i.e. the most polished part of the game which will allow them to take money out of your pockets more easily. However with sports games (extreme or otherwise) I can't imagine they are able to do that so well. There's a tutorial and a single level in the SSX demo, so I guess they could just make that really good, but regardless, I played a bit of it.

It's pretty fun! I played one of the old games like ten years ago and haven't really touched the series since, but EA definitely seem to have rejuvenated SSX back into something worth playing. Oh yeah, it's a snowboarding game, maybe I should've mentioned that earlier.


Everything looks real nice, some great lighting effects and the animations are really smooth. As I say, there's only one level, or "drop" as EA are calling them so there's not a great deal to comment on, but it's definitely enjoyable. You do tricks, grind rails and everything else you'd expect from a snowboarding/ skateboarding game. Performing these tricks build up your meter, which allows you to give yourself a speed boost, and eventually you enter "Tricky" mode, where you get infinite boost and can perform better tricks. Do well enough in Tricky mode and you will enter "Super Tricky" mode, where you can hit the shoulder buttons at the same time to pull of your rider's special signature move.

I'm gonna wait til some reviews come out to decide whether or not I'm going to buy it, but it is certainly interesting me. I believe it's out in the US tomorrow and we have to wait til the 2nd over here in the EU, so we'll see.


FIFA Street Demo


Another reason I don't usually play demos is because it's probably going to be a level from the game, meaning I'm then going to have to play that bit again if I eventually buy it. I like games 'n'all but I don't really want to spend a bunch of time doing something again and again.

 Contrary to that statement, I have been playing FIFA 12 again and again and again recently, so never mind, play demos if you want to.

The lack of new releases keeps me going back to the super addictive online Ultimate Team mode, so I'm excited to see what EA is going to do with a new football release. FIFA Street is all about your ball skills (teehee) as you get points for doing tricks, and it's not about how many goals you score but how you score them.

The demo is out on Wednesday for PS3 so I'll give that ago and probably get back to you about that.

Mass Effect 3


Haven't played the demo for ME3, are you surprised?

This is the big one then, the first huge release of the year, and hopefully it will live up to the hype, and the precedent set by the much loved previous games in the series. It's out on the 9th in the EU, so less than two weeks away!

What was with all this hate for EA/Bioware even before the game demo came out, you hadn't even played it by then! I remember back in the good old days of, oh I don't know, a year ago, when Bioware was untouchable... the shining God amongst video game developers, and now everyone's complaining because it put multiplayer into an RPG game and tried to add in some Kinect functionality? Just don't play it that way if it incenses you so much!

I'm not even the biggest fan of the series, although I quite enjoyed the second game and I'll be buying this one when it comes out, it's just a little confusing.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning


After some screw ups with Paypal, I finally got my hands on this game around two weeks after release, and have been playing bits and pieces of it since then.

It's kinda good, I was hoping it was going to be super revolutionary but it isn't really. The combat is quite fun, and different to a normal RPG, so it's nice to have that variety, but it's not engaging enough. And there are far too many quests... the majority are fairly well written, but I have found myself playing it more and more like how I used to level through WoW on alt characters. Go to a quest hub, pick up every quest I see, skip through the text, follow the markers on my map, kill/loot/escort whatever is there and repeat until everything is finished.

It's a shame because they did have some really nice ideas, and it's fairly fun to play for the most part, it just needed to be a bit more compelling.

That's it for now, Journey is coming out in a couple of weeks and I honestly can't wait for that, but I'll get more into that closer to the time.

Thanks for reading y'all, have a good one.

The Darkness II - Review

I actually wrote this about 5 days ago, and have been trying to get it published somewhere since then. It's going to be in The Boar (Warwick University Newspaper) next week, but some of it had to be cut as it was too long, so here's a sneaky peek at the unedited version:

The Darkness II - Review

Digital Extremes has taken over the reins of development for The Darkness II, the follow up to Starbreeze Studios' acclaimed 2007 original. After a delay of over six months, it was finally released at the beginning of February on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

The games follow the story of Jackie Estacado, who is inhabited by a malevolent being called The Darkness. This gives him unholy abilities, on top of two tentacle-like extra limbs, which can be used to melee and grab objects and enemies from afar. After surviving multiple mob hits in the first game, and being forced to watch his girlfriend, Jenny, die, Jackie went on a quest for revenge. The Darkness II takes place two years after the events of the first game, and in the meantime, Jackie himself has become the head of the Franchetti crime family, whilst trying to keep the evil Darkness under control. However, at the beginning of the game, Jackie is under attack once more, and must unleash the power of The Darkness again as only it has the power to prevent him from dying.

As the story unravels, you find that an ancient organisation called The Brotherhood are looking to gain the power of The Darkness. Giving up The Darkness seems an enticing prospect for Jackie, but the evil being reveals that Jenny's soul is trapped within it, and will be lost forever if Jackie does not fight back. And fight back you do, with great force. You have several categories of weapon to choose from, such as shotguns, rifles and pistols, with several types of gun within each, and you can dual wield one handed weapons. This is all standard fare, but what sets The Darkness II apart from other first person shooters are your Darkness abilities.

The right tentacle is used for swiping and slashing, and the left tentacle is used for grabbing. An enemy can't be grabbed unless they are dazed, either by being shot, or hit with the right tentacle. Once the left tentacle has someone in its grasp, a gruesome finishing move can be applied, and depending on your talent choices, you can gain health, ammo, or a shield which gives good protection from bullets. The left tentacle can also grasp objects such as lengths of pipe or fan blades, and can hurl them at enemies, causing yet more gory death. On top of the tentacles, you can also unlock some extra abilities, such as being able to channel The Darkness through your guns, which means you can fire without using any ammo and with increased damage. Early on, you get the ability to eat the hearts of deceased enemies to give you a health boost. Guts and gore are definitely high on the list of defining features of The Darkness II. Be wary though, as your Darkness powers can't be used in the light, so you are often shooting out bulbs, or avoiding enemies smart enough to carry large torches with them.

Also at your disposal is your little Darkling buddy, who is a figment of your imagination, but becomes a very real threat in the dark. He also provides a little comic relief, as he is a small, British-accented demon wearing a union jack shirt who delights in calling you 'Monkey' even though he looks like one himself. You control him at certain points during the game, but for the most part you're running around as Jackie killing everything that moves.

Right from the get go, the game has a rather frenetic pace, especially from an onlooker's point of view. The amount of action on screen at any one time can be a little overwhelming because of your four points of attack. Despite this, the controls are usually manageable, with one shoulder button being assigned to each limb on the consoles. The main complaint is that your tentacles rather obstruct your field of view, sometimes making it difficult to see exactly where the danger is coming from. Being in the light is also a massive hindrance, as it takes away your Darkness powers, while also partially blinding you. Once again, if you don't know exactly where the light source is, it's quite hard to escape and you are very vulnerable. When it's at its best though, The Darkness II is a delight to play, a fast paced shooter with great and exciting extra mechanics.

It's a nice thing to look at too, with some good cel-shaded visuals to give it more of a comic book feel, since the games stem from the comic book series. Although cartoony, the game does a good job of maintaining the dark, brooding atmosphere throughout, to the point that when you do go outside in the daytime for a fleeting moment later in the game, the amount of light and colour seems strange. Also adding to the atmosphere is the top notch voice acting on show, with Mike Patton of Faith No More fame returning from the first game to voice the Darkness, and Brian Bloom becoming the new voice talent for Jackie. Even the side characters are voiced really well, and the quality of writing helps you feel really involved in what's going on on screen. To break up the action, Jackie occasionally has hallucinations created by The Darkness to distract him from his goal of being reunited with Jenny. Many of these take place in an insane asylum, where Jackie is the patient, Jenny is a nurse, and members of The Brotherhood and his crime family are either doctors or fellow inmates. In fact, the game does a good job of nearly convincing you that maybe Jackie is a mental patient and is just imagining his other life after all. The Darkness II has a pretty compelling story, which will keep you powering through just to see what happens next.

The only problem is that the main story mode is on the short side. On normal difficulty it only took me between four and five hours. There is a new game plus mode, where you can replay the story again whilst keeping all of your talents you have accumulated, and there are plenty of achievements to go for, but the lack of length in the first place is a little disappointing.

The Darkness II does have a multiplayer mode to keep things going though, and it takes the form of a co-operative story campaign called Vendettas. You can play as one of four characters, each with their own limited selection of Darkness powers, and you play through some missions that are alluded to in the single player mode. It too is fairly short though, so if you want to bring some friends on a long multiplayer campaign, you may have to look elsewhere.

If you're looking for a quick burst of fun with some extreme violence and brutal murder thrown in, then The Darkness II is the game for you. A bit more work on the campaign and a more robust multiplayer mode and it could have become one of the better games in a slow start to the year for new releases. But as it is, it's an enjoyable, if short, experience that I would recommend to fans of shooters who are looking for something a little bit different.

Overall:

8.3/10

Some games are coming out!

It's February, and there are two games getting released that I'm averagely interested in!

By the way, my Borderlands 2 Preview was the highest rated on Hooked Gamers for January, so thanks for that if you voted it up!

Since then, I've written a DiRT Showdown Preview, and a review of Puddle, so check those out if you haven't already.

Enough of the self-plugging though, because my band is playing at Warwick University Battle of the Bands in two weeks. Oh wait, sorry, games.

The Darkness II
I never played the first one, "oh wah wah, you need to play the original first to get a feel for the story". No. That's what Wikipedia is for.

To tell you the truth, if it wasn't the start of the year and there were other things to be playing, I probably wouldn't be as interested in The Darkness II. It's just that I've played like 300 games of FIFA online now and I need something else to do. And ripping people in half with the evil tentacles coming out of your back, accompanied by an incredibly British monkey sidekick seems the best option.

You're this mafia boss, Jackie Estacado, and your girlfriend died in the first game, (or something, I haven't actually read Wikipedia yet). Anyway, the most important part is that you have this evil force, "The Darkness" living inside you, which Jackie attempts to keep under control, but he has to unleash it when a hit goes out on him so he doesn't die. (Or something, seriously, I'm just in it for the senseless murdering).

If I find it fun enough to play a good chunk of, I'll review it (in a more eloquent manner), so that's something to look forward to.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
EA seems to just want to refer to this as 'Reckoning' now, which is fine by me, it's a pretty long title otherwise. I think I've said before what a stupidly generic word 'Reckoning' is though, but watchagonnado?

Here's a lazy description of Reckoning: It's an Elder Scrolls game but with a more action-oriented combat system. You can hammer on the attack button to do combos and such, and there's an added timing element to pull off different attacks. Seems a cool system, but doesn't seem deep enough to stay really interesting for the dozens of hours the game will last, but we'll see.

There's coloured loot, main quests, side quests, repeatable quests, strange quests, up quests, charm quests and more. I've heard rumours that perhaps 38 Studios have somehow put too much content into the game? Or rather that there is enough content, just that a lot of it isn't exactly exciting (I hesitate to use the word filler without having played it yet).

It'll fill the RPG gap in my life since I Skyrimmed myself out (eww) though, and should be enough to tide me over til we get to see what aberration EA has turned Mass Effect 3 into (I hope that's not true).

I may review Reckoning, could take up too much of my time though given that I have several essays/ courseworks/ revisionings to be doing over the next few weeks, so that's less likely than a Darkness review.

Thanks for reading people, be good.

That bit where... Dead Space 2

Haven't blogged in a while, partly because it's still January and as such there are no new games to talk about, but mostly because I haven't had time. I've still been writing though, and if you haven't seen them already you should go and check out my articles on Hooked Gamers, who I now work as a volunteer writer for!

Borderlands 2 Preview: http://www.hookedgamers.com/pc/borderlands_2/preview/article-988.html

How biased are gamers? (Feature): http://www.hookedgamers.com/features/2012/01/24/how_biased_are_gamers.html

Back to blogging business then, with the latest part in my 'That bit where' series.

I'm not usually much of a horror game player, but Dead Space 2 tickled my fancy last year so I decided to give it a try. After a play through with many spills and multiple thrills, it became one of my favourite games of last year. There are several stand out moments (most of them horrifically gory), but the one I'm going to write about here is one of the most exhilarating sequences in the game.

Dead Space 2 - The Train


For the most part, Dead Space 2 is a game which gleefully allows nothing to happen for five minutes while you wander around checking every corner, and then when you least expect it: BAM, a monster jumps out of a wall and impales you on razor sharp spikes. You do well to hold onto your controller when this happens, and if you do you are hammering on the fire button until whatever the thing is falls over, and sometimes even then it isn't dead. The game is very good at this, and so does it at nearly every opportunity, and it never gets any less terrifying. In a game where ammo can sometimes be fairly hard to come by, wasting multiple bullets in these situations isn't advisable.

I'm emphasising the amount of times you're slowly tip-toeing around, waiting for the next monster to appear, because the train sequence in Dead Space 2 is pretty much the exact opposite. It breaks any of the tension that has been created up to that point in the game in about a three minute long action packed roller-coaster(train) ride.

So you start up the train, which clearly the undead inhabitants of Dead Space 2 don't like, as they start swarming to your location. Even as the train hurtles along, they're jumping onto it and breaking through the windows left and right. After defending yourself for a bit, suddenly the carriage you are in breaks off from the rest of the train, so you have to make a death defying leap towards the next carriage, using your handy foot-mounted rocket boosters. After dodging the doors which are wrenched off and sent flying towards you, you roll into the next carriage, with yet more monsters waiting for you.

But it's not over there. Not long after this, the train starts to go into a nose-dive (by the way it's like a floating space train, should've mentioned that earlier). Unable to stand up properly, you slide on your back through the rest of the carriages, shooting and dodging flailing zombies as you go. The train crashes into what seems to be a large storage hangar, and you are caught in a wire, hanging upside down from the wrecked train just above the ground. And there are more monsters coming.

This moment probably stayed with me as it was so different from most of the rest of the game. The game is filled with edge-of-your-seat moments, and this one is exciting in a completely different way from the traditional horror moments of other levels. I would definitely recommend playing this game, you can probably pick it up fairly cheap these days too.

Thanks for reading.

That bit where... Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Back in 2007, we were bored of first person shooters. It seemed like every month, a new game came out that was set in bloody World War II. By that time it had been done to death, we all knew the scenarios, the weapons and the outcome of every battle (the Nazis lose, spoilers).

But then, rising out of the swamp of FPS mediocrity came Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Wait a second, this is set, like, today? That's so real! It gave us a new enemy, instead of fighting Nazis, we were now fighting anyone who wasn't American or British, and in doing so the developers were staying as close to current affairs as possible...

Along with that, there were new weapons to enjoy, the guns that every nine year old can talk about at length today were largely unknown before this game came out. They also highlighted how much guns from the 40s sucked...you mean I don't have to load a new bullet into the chamber after firing every shot? War is awesome!

Five years later, we're praying for something different from FPS developers, but oh well, it was good for a while.

Anyway, there were two highlights of the game for me, one of them being the Ghillie mission, simply because it was something different. Instead of shooting everything that moved, you had to stealth your way through, picking your shots and trying not to get detected. Then there was that bit after you assassinated the guy with the helicopter which oh so nearly crashes into you! But then it stops, phew! My favourite part of the game though, was a moment of extreme poignancy that seemed so out of place and yet fitted in so perfectly.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - Shock and Awe


"All U.S. forces, be advised, we have a confirmed nuclear threat in the city. NEST teams are on site and attempting to disarm. I repeat we're..."

In the mission entitled 'Shock and Awe', you are tasked with attacking Al-Asad's (the villain of the piece) rumoured position in his capital city. However, half way through the mission a retreat is called after a nuclear threat in the city is detected. During the retreat, you stop off to rescue a downed helicopter pilot who is under fire.

Everyone bundles into an evac helicopter and as you take off you see several other helicopters making their escape from the city, phew, everyone's going to make it.

And then the nuclear device detonates.

You watch as the mushroom cloud billows skywards and the shockwave makes it way towards you, destroying everything in it's path. We're far enough away, right? We're still going to make it. But the shockwave keeps coming, enveloping the other helicopters in a cloud of dust and rubble, and then it hits you. Your helicopter spirals out of control, crashes into the ground and then everything fades to black.

Did I fail the mission? That's not supposed to happen is it?

You wake up, manage to crawl your way out of the wreckage and drag yourself onto your feet. The sun has disappeared behind the smoke, and everything around you is just a shell of what it once was. At least you're alive though, someone will come soon to save you. You fall back to the ground and close your eyes.

Someone will be there soon.

It is later revealed that 30,000 people died in the blast, Marines, OpFor and civilians all wiped out. I had never played a game where such a catastrophic event occurred right before my eyes. Nor can I remember playing a game in which I had completed a mission, and several of the game's main characters died, all in one moment.

I congratulate you, CoD4:MW, not only for having an acronym longer than most game titles, but for putting this incredible sequence into a game, allowing a slight insight, just for a moment, into what it would actually be like to be in that situation. Maybe war isn't so awesome after all.

Thanks for reading.

That bit where... Warcraft 3 (plus announcement)

If you haven't heard, yesterday I got a job as a volunteer writer for http://www.hookedgamers.com/! It's pretty exciting for me, as I'll be getting a taste of what it's like to be a professional writer - sticking to deadlines and whatnot- while still maintaining a bit of freedom over what I write about.

If all goes to plan, my first article on the site will be a preview of Borderlands 2, which I am currently taking a break from researching while I write this, so that's something to look forward to.

I shan't be falling behind on my blogging duties though, so today I'll continue my 'That Bit Where...' series by talking about one of my favourite games from when I was twelve and into my early teens, Warcraft 3.

Warcraft 3 - The Cutscenes


My favourite cutscenes in video games have always come from Blizzard, simply because of how long and how much time it seems has been put into each one. (I'm talking about the pre-rendered cinematic cutscenes here, not the in-engine ones)

It may sound strange that my favourite parts of the game were parts that weren't actually playable, and I don't mean to detract from the quality of the game itself, because it still remains one of my favourite RTS games to actually play. After seeing the first cutscene or two however, I found myself playing through the game just to get to that next epic piece of eye candy, forever hoping that the next one wasn't the last one.

It's quite hard to talk about them as they are just videos, so I'll let you watch them yourselves, if you haven't seen them before, I'm sure you won't be disappointed. I'll link the two that I remember the most fondly here, but if you want to see them all (around 10 or so) you can find them on YouTube.

This first one depicts Archimonde, (a Champion of the Burning Legion, you don't need me to tell you with that name that they're pretty bad dudes) destroying the city of Dalaran pretty much with his mind, so you know, he's pretty badass.

The second, and probably the most iconic of all the cutscenes from the game, shows Prince Arthas betraying his father by killing him and taking the throne for himself. This is a huge moment in the series, as Arthas begins his descent from loyal Paladin, filled with honour, to twisted and evil Death Knight. Arthas' story is followed throughout the series, culminating with him being the main boss of Wrath of the Lich King, one of World of Warcraft's expansions.

(Little known fact: The petals that fall around Arthas at the beginning of the video are in fact called Arthas' Tears, and can be picked using herbalism in WoW)

I absolutely adore the story and lore behind the Warcraft series, and to have that reinforced by such beautifully created videos is the icing on the cake.

Hope you've enjoyed the videos... I have, I'm going to watch the rest of them now.

Thanks for reading.

That Bit Where... Saints Row: The Third

Back to my favourite moments in video games series, and today I'm looking at Saints Row: The Third, my second favourite game of last year. I've written about it in my review, but without going into too many specifics, so here I'm going to talk to you about one of my favourite missions in the game.


Saints Row: The Third - http://deckers.die


In a game filled with ridiculous situations, this is probably the most ridiculous of all.

The Deckers are one of the many opposing gangs to your Third Street Saints, and the gang is mainly composed of computer genii led by Matt Miller. They cause many problems for the Saints, not limited to your character failing to withdraw $1,000,000 from an ATM and consequently punching it. Anyway, eventually the camel's back is broken and it's time for you to enter Cyberspace and face off against Miller, seriously.

You're transported to this Tron-esque environment, all neon and straight lines, with Kinzie, your own computer specialist, watching over you. Except that she got your character model wrong and you're a toilet... and then a sex doll... Eventually you settle for a wire-frame character, simply because "at least it has a gun".

Decker grunts start warping in, and you swiftly dispatch of them while making your way to "the firewall". Staying true to the rest of the game, there is some hilarious dialogue, with random technological buzzwords being thrown around as if anyone knows what they're really talking about.

Eventually Miller notices the ease with which you're defeating your enemies and starts altering the world. He slows you down, reverses your controls, and -my personal favourite- starts to create artificial lag. This is the first time lag has ever been fun in a game, and you marvel at how close it feels to the real thing. You have to imagine it was actually pretty hard to do, the meeting must've gone something like "Okay, we need the frame rate to go to hell, and for enemies to jump around the screen". I mean it's nothing less ridiculous than what the developers had been asked to do prior to this point, so I doubt there was any argument.

So then you complete the text adventure and move on...

Yup, they threw in a text adventure style mini game for you to complete. Why? Because they did, just accept it. It's hard to explain if you haven't played the game, but by this point you just take whatever it starts throwing at you. It contains swords, magic and unicorns, and comes with amusing lines from your character for each of the many ways you can "die".

After you complete that, you're back in cyberspace (as a toilet with a gun for a while), kill a few more Deckers and close in on the firewall. But not before playing a bit of 1974 Atari classic Tank!. Honestly, just go with it.

Back in Cyberspace, killing a few more guys, and then the game crashes. Not your game. Cyberspace. You have to "press any key to continue". I love this game.

Finally you reach Miller and the firewall. It turns out his avatar is a 20 foot tall winged warrior with a Final Fantasy style comically oversized sword. You exchange blows, fight off a few more Deckers, and eventually Kinzie manages to turn you into a replica of Miller's Avatar. A few attacks later and you defeat him, and are the new lord of cyberspace!

I think I'll have to write a bit more about Saints Row: The Third in the future, as there are several other awesome moments I haven't even touched on.

Thanks for reading.