Previews - by Fuller - March 16, 2010 - 11:42 UTC - Be first to Comment!
So I was invited to have what was my first ever play of a Splinter Cell game. Now, before you silently judge me; I own them all, I’ve just never had a chance to play them. Did that help? Probably not. I don’t care either way, because that’s just the damned way it is.
Now, the following is my impressions of the demo which will be available for download in the upcoming weeks, no firm date has been set, but once it comes out, I definitely think it’s worth the gigs of your download limit (or your time if you’re not Australian), but you will be playing the exact same thing that I have played, so you can go make your own choices and conclusions about the game. The demo took me around ten or fifteen minutes to run through, and I did so on both the Normal and Realistic difficulties, so I could get a feel for how challenging the game may be.
First thing I noticed when I started the game was the visuals; they look amazing. The use of the environment to show the Ubisoft logo, the current mission and various other information is really interesting. Whilst it can sometimes be hard to read up close, from afar (like I assume it is meant to be seen) it’s very easy to spot, but does look a little out of place.
The first scene is an interesting one; it’s solely based around story telling. You assault a man in a run-down urinal in an effort to extract information. Using the B button, you throw him into various things. I experimented a little, smashing him into a urinal and breaking it on his face, smashing him into a mirror and cracking his head on the sink, and throwing him against a cubical door, making it open to a very frightened man inside. Once you’ve got the information, the actual game starts.
The next thing I noticed was the controls. Now, as my first time playing the game this makes me either able to make this judgment, or unable as the controls are the same as previous, I don’t know. My main problem with the control is how different they were to other games I had played. It took me the first few minutes of my play through to get used to them. Admittedly, once you do, you’ll feel fairly natural.
The very first thing the game teaches you is how to duck and move between cover. Left Trigger keeps you hidden behind cover, selecting another piece of cover via target and pressing the A button moves you to the next. As Right Trigger is shoot, you may expect to spend time holding down both triggers.
Once you’ve learnt about the cover system, you’ll have the chance to use a close quarter take-down on an enemy. These are pretty straight forward. Sneak up behind the baddie, press B, and he’ll go down. The addition to this system is ‘mark and execute’, which is gained each time you do a take-down stealthily; with this system you can ‘mark’ enemies with the Right Bumper and press Y to instant kill them with your weapon. This can be done for up to three enemies at a time, so if you do it all correctly, you can pre-mark three targets, stealth kill another, then quickly assassinate the others. This will be key in the ability to stay undetected.
On the subject of stealth and detection, should an enemy see you then lose sight of you, a rather ominous white outline of your last known position will be shown on screen. At first this confused me quite a bit, but you will quickly get used to how handy it can be in distracting enemies.
The only weapons I has to play around with was the MP5 and a silenced pistol, and in truth I only used the pistol to take down my enemies. In the heat of battle you won’t last long, so I never got around to using the actual Mp5 for a firefight. On top of the weapons though are various ‘toys’ you can play with; frag grenades, flashbangs, EMP grenades (I only used these once, for stopping an enemy for calling for backup via radio), and sticky cameras (for distracting enemies). Flashbangs will be your best friend, naturally, and you’re provided a few more over the course of the demo.
In keeping with the stealth mechanic, I used as many bullets taking out lights as I did taking out enemies. This allowed me on my Normal play-through to keep undetected, which is exactly what I was aiming for. You’ll also need to make good use of your sonar goggles, which highlight enemies in white whilst you’ve got the goggles on. Something I found out, which now makes a lot more sense than it did in my head then, you can’t use the sonar goggles whilst moving. Oh sure, it makes sense when it’s explained, but it sure confused me when I was playing!
I also very much enjoyed using the environment to assist me in killing my foes. Whether it was dropping explosives on enemies to take them out, dropping from pipes and ledges to do a silent take-down, or even just understanding the environment to best work out which paths to take to keep out of enemy sight, it all needs to be taken into account when you’re playing. This is especially true for the places you wouldn’t think of getting to; the catwalk above, the pipes hanging from the roof… they’re all there to assist you in some way as an optional help when taking out bad guys.
As I mentioned early on, the demo isn’t terribly long, around ten or fifteen minutes, but I did have a good deal of fun with it, and when it comes out on Xbox Live Marketplace in the coming weeks, I hope you’ll have just as much fun.
Features, News, Previews - by Jason - March 5, 2010 - 22:32 UTC - Be first to Comment!
Australian reviewer turned Diva, Jason gets his demands met and goes to play Metro 2033 again.
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Features, News, Previews - by Jason - February 4, 2010 - 18:05 UTC - 1 Comment
This game, oh man, this game. I wish I had more time with it. I wish I could love it every which-way, caress it and whisper it sweet nothings. That’s exactly how I feel about Metro 2033.
The game could be classed as post-apocalyptic, it’s true. But it’s more than that. Metro 2033 oozes atmosphere, based in the Metro Underground is Russian, I suppose it must also be in the year 2033? I don’t know, the title is hard to decode with all its secrets. It’s a huge game, and the opening screens will give you some scope of exactly how big it is. Be prepared to sink an epic amount of time into this game.
Imagine this setting for atmosphere; You’re based in the underground rail system of Russia, as I mentioned before. It’s not very well lit, parts are falling down, and there’s untold baddies lurking around many corners. Sounds scary? Good, ’cause this game is scarier than most horror titles this generation. I actually found myself glued to the screen, waiting, trying to anticipate what would come next, and that’s the exact mechanic you want in a game. To emphasise the scary mechanic of the game, keeping in low light is a must. Your watch even shows how luminous the area you’re in is, so you can keep to the shadows.
You play the role of a Russian man, whose name I did not catch; and your first mission is to get to a surface station, Polic, and meet up with a man simply known as The Hunter. The weaponry is fun to play around with, mostly makeshift, but it more than works a treat. This is very much a good thing, as you’ll be using it against Nazis, bandits and the Reds, not to mention various other beasties that may plague you. These clans will try and hunt you down too, using primative motion detection systems, such as a tripwire with cans attached. Sure it’s old school, but it works.
My time with the game was fairly short, but I am ready to gear up and play some more. Hell, I may even buy the book it’s based on, which comes out soon with an english translation. Metro 2033 is slated to come out next month, on March 18.
News, Previews - by Jason - February 4, 2010 - 18:01 UTC - 1 Comment
At the same event as Super Street Fighter 4, I had the opportunity to play Lost Planet 2, which I did. Actually, it was the first thing I did, as some of community members, and staff, love it without any form of justification. When I played the first one, I did it on PC, and I was not a big fan at all. It was fun, but nothing WOW.
The level I played was fairly industrial, and whilst 4 player co-op was offered, I always end up being the early bird, so I jumped in with 3 bots. My character was someone who looked suspiciously like Chun Li, but who oddly felt the need to cover her arms and face, but leave a decent portion of hers legs and ass flapping in the wind. Interesting. Throughout the level was a bunch of crates, conveyor belts and other fun little factory-esque goodies. Now, I’ve not played the demo, so I don’t know if this level is different. I can tell you, however, that it took me 45 minutes to complete the level, but some of that was me noobing around not knowing how to open a door (Hint, if in doubt, beat the hell out of it).
The conveyor belts in general were acting against you, so the action involved hiding behind crates, making a slow charge along the conveyor, hiding again. If you stayed out of cover for too long, you got riddled with bullets; stay in cover too long, you’d be fed into a grinder. Good times all round. Did I mention there was also turrets and enemies trying to mow me down?
There’s plenty of weapons to be had, much as there was in the first game. I also got to play around with the a smaller VS suit, only slightly bigger than the player. This allowed for nice fluid movement, with all the benefits of higher armour. When I finally did get a full sized VS, they were fairly clunky as you’d expect, I did spend a lot of time repairing them due to being useless at dodging. What I did find awesome though, in the large VS’s, two co-op players were happy to jump on the side of my VS and shoot from there, giving me some extra firepower, and them some defense.
Lost Planet 2 reminds me of the original in a lot of ways, but it looks like they’ve added a lot of extra features to make the fans happy. Dom, Yoda, you’ll love this game. I’m not sold yet, but it’s early days. I did have fun with it, but it didn’t blow my mind.
News, Previews - by Jason - February 4, 2010 - 18:00 UTC - Be first to Comment!
Street Fighter has always been an interesting series for me. I see the appeal, I do, but I’ve just never had the time or money to play it. When I was growing up, when Street Fighter 2 was king, I didn’t have a console, and I didn’t have cash to play the arcade machines, coming from a family that was borderline poverty. I have no doubt it’s very likely the best fighting series ever made, this is no surprise to me, but I don’t know, Soul Calibur always end up being the one I played when I finally got a console, forthat’s just the way the cards fell. Street Fighter 4 came around and passed, and though I wanted to pick it up, I was already swamped with other review work.
So, I come in blind to Super Street Fighter 4. Actually, being at an event where Super Street Fighter 4 was fairly heavily featured was extremely interesting for me. I was not willing to play, due to the fact I’d never played a Street Fighter game since 2, and my experience was very limited, it was more of a ‘look on’ affair, as full hands on would make me look very foolish, and my fumbling with the controls would take away from my actual intake of the entire experience. Oh, and I can only handle having my ass handed to me so many times before I get angry and “hulk out”.
Ok, to start out, Super Street Fighter 4 is running the same game engine as its predecessor, which still looks great. There’s also a confirmed ten new characters and three new levels. Actually, even with my limited knowledge of the game, I could recognise some of them immediately: T.Hawk and Dee Jay are back from their previous games, as well as Cody and Guy, from Final Fight fame. A new face is Juri, a Tae Kwon Do fighter who’s ready to kick ass and chew bubblegum. There’s also a bunch of gameplay tweaks including a slightly modified collision detection system and some new Ultra moves for each player.
One thing that cracked me up was watching people play with Cody. Hilariously, as one of his moves, Cody would reach and pick up a knife, using it as a weapon (until he got hit). It’s a massive shout out to Final Fight, and it’s hilarious to watch. He also has the ability to reach down and pick up rocks to throw, which whilst not overly powerful, still can make the opponent rethink their strategy.
When you choose your player, you now have the option to change costume (each player has two) and choose your Ultra. This really opens up a lot of choice, and it’ll be interesting to see how the online scene is. Just watching Super Street Fighter 4 being played actually has me pretty amped up for the game; it’s a great social game, and everyone had fun whilst playing. It actually makes me notice how much of the series I’d missed, and how much fun I could have had. Am I a convert? Not yet, but maybe once I give the game a sit-down, I will be.
A very special thank you to THQ Australia for the chance to preview these titles. Also, beer and pizza was enjoyed by all.
News, Previews - by Jason - January 28, 2010 - 18:00 UTC - Be first to Comment!
Jason goes hands-on with John Marston. Wait, what? Full Story
Features, Previews - by Jason - December 16, 2009 - 22:52 UTC - Be first to Comment!
Somewhere between Red Dead Redemption and Deadwood, my vocabulary changed. Cocksucker. Actually, I’ll try and keep the swears to a minimum, but it’s a very hard task, I assure you. Recently, I was lucky enough to visit one of the happiest places on Earth, Rockstar Games in Sydney to have a preview of Red Dead Redemption. Once I left however, they warned me carefully, “There’s a bounty on your head, you flea-ridden, cotton-pickin’ sunnuva bitch!” Damn it, I slipped again. Sorry about that.
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Previews - by Jason - December 5, 2009 - 07:30 UTC - 2 Comments
Darksiders is a strange beast. Firstly, I’ll just say that this will be more ‘impressions’, and that my ‘hands on’ perspective can be found here. If anything, Darksiders reminds me of a lot of products, and trust me when I say that each of these games is epic. Zelda, God of War, Legacy of Kain are just some of the connotations that come up when I think of this title, which is by far not a bad thing. In fact, I’m putting money down right now and saying this will be one of the bigger hits in 2010, or at least in my book. (It’s a big call, I know, but it’s mine to make, dammit!)
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Previews - by Jason - August 18, 2009 - 02:32 UTC - 3 Comments
Ok, so about two weeks ago now I attended a Microsoft event over at Cockatoo Island in the middle of Sydney Harbour. Now…there was a few problems with this: One, I had 3 hours notice. Two, I didn’t have a camera, Three, I was in my daily work clothes and smelled a little funny. After going down to the shops to buy a new shirt, belt and some deodorant, I popped myself on a train to Circular Quay, where I would wait patiently for the charter ferry to picturesque Cockatoo Island.
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Previews - by Jason - April 26, 2009 - 06:28 UTC - 3 Comments
I’ve never played a Red Faction game before. I’ve been told that they’re cult-classics, and I believe that is true…but there’s still just never been an opportunity for me to go pick one up and play it. So when I found out that Red Faction Guerilla on XBL, I eagerly grabbed it to give it a play.
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