Mass Effect 2’s ‘Firewalker’ DLC is heading for a release late March.
The DLC brings players 5 new missions featuring the all new Hammerhead. Hammerhead is a BIG heavy assault vehicle which hovers, making it nice and easy to scale the battlefield as well as going at 120 kilometres per hour. It is also equipped with a guided missile system just in case you don’t like the design of your neigh-bours new shed in the back of their garden…
Sydney-siders have a chance to join Jason in an invite-only event, with prizes and hands-on for the game!
Aaron Greenberg, Microsofts’s Director of Product Management for Xbox 360 believes that the Xbox 360 has what it takes to outsell the PS3 for 2010, even though he admits Sony isn’t going to make this easy to achieve.
Our very own Jason Hawkins (“Pesmare”) gets the inside scoop on 2K’s latest masterpiece Bioshock 2.
Bioshock will always hold a special place in my heart, as my number 2 favourite game of all time. Well, until it gets knocked off by something better. So, knowing how epic the first one was, how excited do you think I was for the second? Well, admittedly I wasn’t very excited, at first. I feared it would tarnish that beautiful memory that the first game had. But did it? I suppose it’s a good question, so lets find out!
The story is arguably one of the most important parts of Bioshock, and the same is true for the sequel. Bioshock 2takes place ten years after the events of the first game, so Rapture is starting to have some problems; well, more problems. Over the ten years, no-one has been repairing Rapture, so the place is falling apart. Not only that, the inhabitants are adapting: they’ve been splicing for so long, they’re now a lot stronger than they were previously. Thankfully, you take the role of a Big Daddy; not just any Big Daddy either, but Subject Delta, the fourth prototype Big Daddy, but the first to be successfully ‘bound’ to a Little Sister. The Little Sister in this case is Eleanor, whom you will spend the game trying to hunt down, as without her, you’re weak and useless.
Being a Big Daddy, you’d think you are ultra-powerful, but this is not the case. I mentioned before that the splicers are stronger, they’re also smarter and a whole deal more dangerous. As you’re also the first successful prototype, you’re not as strong as the Big Daddies you knew in the first title. Apart from that, because you’re also away from Eleanor, you’re weaker still. What this means is…well, you’re about as strong as Jack from the first game.
Actually, speaking of Jack; you’ll see a decent amount of mentions to him throughout your play through, if you’re paying attention. You’ll also see and hear mentions to the plot of the first game, as well as many of the characters. In this way, the stories come together quite well, but if you haven’t played the first, you’ll spoil Bioshock for yourself, which would be a damned shame.
In terms of actual changes, the AI has been tweaked, there’s a few new plasmids and weapons (but they are just ‘different’ versions of the ones in the first title), most of the tonics are the same, and there’s two new enemy types; the Big Sister, a very fast equivalent of the Big Daddy, who will not hesitate to use plasmids on you or kick you in the face; and the Brute Splicer, whom reminds me greatly of the Tank in Left 4 Dead. The Big Sister was a little disappointing to me. Firstly, the sound she makes when she’s coming makes my head ache, secondly, her appearance is all too scripted; I would have preferred a little looseness in her arrival. Still, she is bad ass and does beat the heck out of you.
The weapons are fun; you can fiddle around with the three different ammo types for each weapon, or working out which Power to the People machines you want to use, as you can’t upgrade all of your weapons. But really, what is best about these weapons? Rocket spears. Let me say that slowly. Rocket. Spears. These babies get stuck in splicers, launch them around them room, lighting stuff on fire until finally they explode. Every game should have these, and I mean every single one. I want these bad boys in Viva Pinata. You want Trouble in Paradise? That’s what rocket spears will make for you, little pinata punks.
Another awesome thing that was added was the ‘Cyclone Trap’ plasmid. You’ll have some fun with this guy. What it does is set a trap on the floor which throws enemies into the air. Cool, I guess, right? The part that makes it awesome is a bit more than that; you can use other plasmids to power up Cyclone Trap (once you’ve obtained Cyclone Trap 2 or higher). Now, it can be used to throw enemies into the air the electrocute them, freeze them, cover them with bugs, whatever! If you can do it with a plasmid, you can do it with a Cyclone Trap infusion, and fun times will be had by all.
The little sister sections of the game were a little annoying for me, personally. When you find a corpse to take ADAM from, you’ll need to prepare the room in a fairly ‘tower defense’ style. As soon as you put her down, splicers will constantly invade the room until she’s finished gathering or you’re dead, either or. Just be prepared, ok?
Now, I’ve not mentioned the multiplayer yet, but I’ll mention it now. It’s alright, it’s not awesome. People (read; idiots) thought that Bioshockneeded multiplayer, that somehow, without it it wasn’t a beautifully crafted work of art. They’re wrong. Bioshock is one of the greatest games ever made, and it’s all single player. Anyway. There’s a bunch of modes, from standard deathmatch, team deathmatch to an adapted version of Capture the Flag, called “Capture the Sister” and more. My main problem with the multiplayer is that it’s really nothing new, nothing groundbreaking. It’s fun, but it’ll wear off. Actually, my gripe with the multiplayer is two things, and they’re sort of linked together. Firstly is the lag, I don’t know how the matchmaking works, but I constantly am in ridiculously laggy games which make it very hard to kill people. Secondly, the multiplayer continually freezes my 360. It’s happened around five times and I’m not the only person it’s happening to. Still, using plasmids against online players is fun, and running around in a Big Daddy suit is also very fun. But, the fun does wear off. Maybe the DLC will help if it adds new achievements? Who knows.
Overview:
Bioshock 2 is a great game, no doubt about it. My main problem with the game is the question “Why?” I don’t understand why it needed to be made, when Bioshock was such a solid, individual experience. Still, whilst this game doesn’t bring a whole lot new, it’s still a fantastic play. From fun weapons, dual wielding plasmids and weapons, and adapting traps to certain situations. The game is very fun, and they’ve fixed some problems from Bioshock that tarnished an otherwise perfect surface, which is awesome to see. Multiplayer has been added to appease the fans, but in the end, I think you’ll agree that the online experience is a little flat.
Score: 9.0 – Awesome
Microsoft have stated that if you purchase all of the upcoming “Block Party” games, which include Perfect Dark, Scrap Metal, Toy Soldiers and the Game Room client, you will be eligible to receive 400 free Microsoft Points. Not bad, but the deal is even sweeter for existing gold members; not only will they receive the points, but also an extra free month of Gold membership! Sweet! The full details can be seen after the jump, as well as pricing for the arcade games.
Take Two have announced the first DLC release for Bioshock 2, entitled the “Sinclair Solutions Test Pack”. The DLC will be multiplayer based, and will include the following features.
The content will be hitting Live “soon” for 400MSP. Full press release after the jump.
Im not a fan of the show myself, but I know a lot of people are (I guess that’s why they made the game!). The gameplay reminds me of the Bourne Conspiracy game that was released a while back, what do you think?
As we reported in an earlier post, Street Fighter 3 characters; Dudley, Ibuki and Makoto, will be joining the fight in Super Street Fighter 4. We now have 2 official trailers, which show the characters off! Dudley’s trailer is above, whilst the Ibuki and Makoto trailer lives after the jump!
I cant imagine the amount of time that goes into something like this. It’s truly awe inspiring.
