Skyrim is a tough game to review, mostly due to the sheer amount of much deserved praise heaped on it by critics and fans alike. What else can I say to gamers out there to recommend or pick apart from a game this seemingly perfect? Then I thought sod it, I’ll review it anyway, because when Bethesda is bad its very bad (See brink)  but when they are good, they’re really damn good! Skyrim is the fifth game in the Elder Scrolls series, not counting all the DLC and expansion packs. What elevates it far, far above other games in the genre and especially Oblivion is the culmination of experience and work that Bethesda has done over the past twenty odd years drawing especially from their Fallout games.

You start the game as, unsurprisingly enough, a prisoner going to the chop for crimes unspecified. You are quickly acquainted with the current situation, there’s a rebellion going on and dragons have returned to Tamreial and so the shit has definitely hit the fan. However here comes the common hitch that always follows most RPGs and Bethesda ones especially, there is no urgency. While you may want to do the first five or six main quests of Skyrim to unlock your awesome dragon shouty powers and then toddle off dragon hunting, ore mining, dungeon crawling, sidequestin’ business the rest of the plots just sit and wait happily for you to decide to finish them. Now in fairness I’m being very nitpickky, the joy of the game is centred on exploring the gorgeous locals and smashing the brains in of anything that doesn’t greet you cheerfully or with mild disinterest. But where does that leave the main plot? You play an adventurer who has the ability to shout dragons out of the sky and smash their scaly hides in. That is so stupid it’s awesome. I loved knocking people out-of-the-way, making them flee and clearing the rainy skies so I could have a picnic with my wife (yes that is a real power). But as awesome as that draw was, and it was awesome, I always felt that it would be more fun to do…anything else but follow the plot. There is a difference between ignoring the plot and running from it. In Fallout and Oblivion I could ignore the plot, in Skyrim I was running from it. I only got pulled back into the main plot after accidentally raiding a cave for shiny objects and was surprised to find a plot related object which brought me back to the main quest.

Great now I sound like some old player moaning about what a RPG is supposed to be like, plot heavy. But that’s not Skyrim, that’s not what it sets out to be or should be. Heck the main quest and civil war are pretty interesting and well implemented even if you feel some of the characters are giving you the run around for no good reason. One of the best improvements in the game is the skills and levelling system. Like in Oblivion you level up by using your skills and when you get enough points you level up and choose a perk in line with the skills you have been using. So depending on how you want to play the game adapts to you. Pro tip, do NOT neglect your combat and armour skills if you’re playing a fighter/ anything else. Especially on the harder difficulties, everything will kick the snot out of you. Also, you only need three sorts of potion, two minimum, stamina health and maybe magic. You can generally do without anything else and before you get your own item storage area (read your house) you won’t need many of the others and they weigh a ton. Also do not underestimate the importance of smithing and enchanting. While you no longer need to carry around 20 hammers to repair all your equipment (thank the nine!) you need any and all edges you can get over every foe you can.

About 20 hours in I had a thought, maybe we could reduce inflation around the world by having people be buried with all their worldly goods to bring costs down, because in Skyrim that appears to be the plan and it’s worked out pretty well! However, it also means you’re carrying several years’ worth of pay and next to nothing to spend it on, except for the odd potion equipment and enchanted items. It’s just slightly irksome ya know?

There have been times when Skyrim really irritated me, unclear puzzles, going on hunts for healing potions, NPC’s who said the same line over and over until I seriously considered the negative ramifications of ending their stupid and pathetic lives. Having another fucking dragon spawn immediately after I killed one making it loose the awesomeness factor, seeing all the yarls sitting in the same campy nonchalant manner that made me want to slap their ass silly and scream SIT UP BLOODY STRAIGHT!
Awww heck Skyrim I can’t stay mad at you, you look gorgeous, you can do so many things, there’s always something interesting going on. So what if you’re a little unfocussed, unbalanced and buggy? That’s practically negligible next to what you can do.

Pros:
+Massivly open world
+Fantastic game play
+An RPG at its best
+Shouting at dragons is awesome  

Cons:
- Not a stunning main plot.

Score: 9/10

- That Bloke In The Beanie

The game is set in an almost entirely destructible modern city with road signs, traffic, shopping malls, monuments and lots of other things for you to crash into and destroy. The controls are relatively simple and through my lack of experience with driving games meant that it took me a while to get used to the game, once I had completed a couple of laps I found the cars to be quite responsive. As well as steering, accelerating and reversing (I’m betting that you won’t use reverse) you can charge your car by drifting with B and then boost to smash through objects with A. Though the cars are extremely hardy and charge quite easily if you don’t have enough boost you will crash and destroy your car, so time your boosts carefully. Though this game is simple quite in its setup, the detail that has gone into making the destruction as varied and intricate as possible is really quite impressive. Gone are the days when winning a race meant staying on the track, in this game if you want to win the only way is to destroy.

In the world of Ridge Racer your car can smash up nearly anything, however there are certain points which when destroyed reveal handy short cuts through the city. These points are marked with flashing targets, and usually appear on walls and monuments slightly off road of the main course. If you use these points wisely you will not only be rewarded with a good dose of cinematic destruction but also often with a slight advantage in the race. You can also use your boost to send other cars off course and even damage and destroy your competitors. A full boost will smash not only through oncoming traffic and annoying roadworks, but also through your fellow racers. Watch out though, your car may be hardy but it is not indestructible. In this game destruction can be used to create tactical advantage, usually favoring those who save their boost for the optimum moment.

One final thing which caught my eye about this game was the way that the scores are displayed. Instead of simply showing the scores in the top or bottom corner of the screen, in Ridge Racer Unbounded the scores are displayed around the edge of the track as you race. Having the scores embedded in the scenery gives the game a futuristic arcade style look, which in my opinion is pretty cool. This neon text coupled by the textured grimy look of the city gives the game its own unique aesthetic which is quite a move on from the days of Ridge Racer on the PSone.

So there it is, my first look at Ridge Racer Unbounded. Over the course of the Expo the team and I nicknamed the game “Me and my shiny red car smash stuff up!” In other words overall the game is a tad unrealistic but good fun nonetheless. If you are looking for a hardcore, realistic driving game then this one is probably not for you, however if want to drive madly around a destructible city causing mayhem with your mates then this may just be the title you are looking for.  Ridge Racer Unbounded features in my Eurogamer Expo Round up video 2011, so if you want to see the game in action check it out!

Until next time,

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Ridge Rager Unbounded is Due for Release in early 2012 on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 Namco Bandai Bugbear Entertainment Ltd.

So as you know at Eurogamer they show off all the yet to be released titles, but they also put in titles that have just been released. One of these titles was Resistance 3, which is a FPS game from Insomniac games. I was a fan of the previous two games and I really enjoyed playing them, so when I heard that Resistance 3 was to be playable at Eurogamer I jumped at the chance to give it a go.

As with its predecessors this game has an 18 cirtificate and man does it deserve that rating. It has alot of blood and has gratuitous violence, which is the perfect combination for an eighteen rated game. This game was stuck just behind the Battlefront section so it wasn’t busy at all, I was able to get a seat and start playing straight away. Insomniac was kind enough to send the complete game to Eurogamer, so this gave me the opportunity to see all the game had to offer.

It starts off where the last game finished, so if you haven’t played the pervious games I’m not going to spoil it for you. You start the game in an underground city and as usual there is a little tutorial, after that you get attacked and the fun begins. As you go outside you are being attacked by the alien invasion, the game mechanics are the same as the previous games, so this makes it so much easier to play for veterans of the Resistance series.

The graphics have been updated to give the game a different look and feel and this was done with expert skill. Some of the creatures have had a makeover to make them look much more sinister; they even added new creatures to  add something new to the game. They have not just added new creatures, but they have also added new weapons and grenades. They have also made some great modifications to the weapons that were in the previous games, so this means that they have done everything possible to make Resistance 3 better than the previous titles.

I won’t bore you and tell you about what the new weapons Insomniac added or the modifications they made to the previous weapons, but what I will tell you is that unlike the previous games, you hold all of the weapons at once. This is the first time any FPS game has done this since the Quake gameswhich is a nice departure from the FPS games nowa days that only let you carry two guns, so this as you can see it puts Resistance 3 on another level compared to the Battlefront and Call of Duty series.

When it comes to the game itself, it is yet another triumph. The controls are very responsive and the game seems to flow seamlessly between the gameplay and cut the sequences. This wasn’t just the only thing that made this game good, the Sound Effect (SFX) and the Background Music (BGM) work really well in this game. You can really hear the sound of the weapons being fired, the creatures snarls and of their machinery as it tries to kill you.

All of these additions added with the smooth controls and updated graphics makes this the best of the Resistance series.

- Random Man

Greedy Bankers

Greedy Bankers is a highly addictive game available for the iPhone and iPad.The aim of the game is to match together gems of the same color to form larger gems and then tap them to add them to your total. Each level has a set amount of cash which you must claim, and once you achieve the set goal the timer resets and a harder goal is set. As the levels progress you will face new challenges such as fixed blocks and even a robber in the vault who is determined to steal your gems and leave you bankrupt. In the single player mode you are playing against the clock for a high score, but if you are playing on an iPad you can compete with another player in a seriously addictive multiplayer battle. I had the opportunity to try this multiplayer mode at Eurogamer and I have to say that though this game is simple in concept, for me it was the most addictive multiplayer Indie game offered this year. Oh and the development team, just so you know, really nice guys.

Available now from the iTunes store: £1.49
www.greedy-bankers.com
Alistair Aitcheson

Molecat Twist

Now for a game which wins my award for most frustrating and yet compelling game of the expo, Molecat Twist. In this refreshingly different puzzle game you must guide a procession of marching Molecats through a maze of rotating tiles towards their goal. The Molecats behave similarly to Lemmings, marching blindly forwards leaving their collective fate entirely in your hands. In order to guide your Molecat procession towards their goal you must use a mixture of colored levers and rotating squares to quite literally turn their world upside down, connecting up tunnels and blocking off danger as you twist. This may seem like a simple concept, but factor in keys, switches, traps, monsters, non-rotating tiles and a whole army of Molecats which need saving and you have yourself a pretty decent game. Molecat Twist took some time to get used to, but once we had mastered the basics we were hooked. The demo is free to try online, so what are you waiting for?

Try the free demo now!
www.molecats.com
Stas Gailunas

Snuggle Truck

Also known as Smuggle Truck this brilliantly simple physics based mini game involves keeping a number of small fluffy animals in the back of a truck whilst driving as fast as possible. Negotiate Jumps obstacles and explosives all whilst keeping your urm…precious cargo intact. We played at the expo on a PC using a keyboard but it is also available on the iPhone and is in my opinion better with the addition of touch and tilt controls. The simplicity of this game coupled by the cartoon humor of the graphics makes this my new favorite game for those 5 minute game sessions between tube stations. Snuggle truck has a large range of levels from easy to extreme as well as a refreshingly intuitive level creator. This feature allows you to create and then share your own levels in the level portal where other users can play and rate your creations. Let the virtual fur fly!

Available now from the iTunes store: £1.49
www.snuggletruck.com
Owlchemy Labs

Blocks That matter

In Blocks That Matter you play as a Tetrobot, which is a small cube with a drill and legs which is on a quest to rescue its creators game developers Alexey and Markus. As a Tetrobot you have the ability to drill through other blocks which allows you to pick them up and re-use them later in the level. As you journey through this quaintly retro looking world, you will encounter a wide variety of blocks including blocks made of wood, stone, ice and even explosives all of which can be useful to you on your quest. Different blocks have different properties and the block supply is not unlimited so you must use the blocks you find wisely in order to progress through the levels. There are currently 40+ levels available to play and though our time with the game at the expo was limited, from what we did see was the building blocks of a really good game. If you like idea of a challenging puzzle platform game fusion in which you get to play as what is to all intensive purposes a washing machine on legs, then this one is for you.

Available now on Steam: £3.99
www.swingswingsubmarine.com
Swing Swing Submarine

Really Big Sky

Really Big Sky is a fast twin analogue shooter set in the vast colorful expanse that is space. A bit like a mix between retro classic Space Invaders and modern arcade hit Geometry Wars, in this side scrolling firework display of a game aliens are attacking your planet and you are not giving it up easily. The theme of the game is best explained by the tag line, They’ve given you a really splendid space ship, they’re not expecting it back. In this epic battle for the planet you not only blast objects out of the way but you are also able to drill through objects in your path for added destruction. There are many game modes to choose from including Classic, Boss Rush, Arcade, Pacifism, Countdown, Marathon and if you are feeling particularly brave Nightmare Mode. As well as this impressive selection of single player modes the game also supports up to 4 player co-op multiplayer modes. Play Really Big Sky and you can expect bright lights, shiny spaceships and very fast gameplay. Ready to blast some aliens in the face and get your planet back? I sure am.

Boss Baddie Studios: £4.95
www.bossbaddie.co.uk/bigsky

So thats it for the Eurogamer Indie Arcade round up this year. There were so many great titles on show it would have been impossible to have showcased everything, but I hope this summery of my favorites encourages you to go and take a look at more of the great games being developed by Indie developers this year.

Until Next time

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All Prices correct as of October 2011

Note: Apologies for the slightly loud presenting in this vid. No, its not me trying to hog the spotlight (would I do that….) its just that in order to get this vid onto the web as quickly as possible either I had to be very loud or Andre had to be very quiet and I wanted you all to be able to hear clearly. What can I say, I did my best but it was a big table to get a mic across…

Though most of the main features of the system were covered in the above video, looking at the interview again has made my journalistic mind whir with information, questions and possibilities. I thought I would summarize my post Expo musings about the system in the form of a short Pro and Con list. In the interests of keeping this short, I have chosen what I think are the 3 greatest pros to the OnLive system, as well as the 3 biggest problems users may face.

OnLive Pros:

Adaptable: With OnLive you are not restricted to playing games built for only one console. Because the games are streamed from the cloud, the technology can be built around the games meaning you will no longer be limited by the type of console you have. This also means that forgotten games from the past can be brought back to life with new features such as touch technology. Nice.

No More Waiting: Gone are the days of the postal pre-order. With OnLive gamers can access the newest titles the very second they are released and without the traditional trip to the parcel office in the rain.

Online Community: OnLive puts a lot of focus on developing new features to enhance the experience of playing online. With in game messaging, Brag clip videos and the opportunity to view and then jump in to games with friends as they are being played OnLive offers an impressive set of online features.

On Live Cons:

No Cloud, No Game: OnLive is available on some mobile devices (such as some Android tablets) but with no ability to download it is still reliant on wireless signals. This means that if you are out of the range of a wireless network you wont be able to play. Want to play a game to liven up your commute on the London Underground…um sorry…not going to happen right now.

Limited Privacy: OnLive allows players to view others as they play, comment and even rate their fellow gamers performance. Though to some this will be part of the online fun I worry that it could lead to an increase in online bullying, especially amongst children. Some people play games as a form of escapism and for these gamers this may not be a welcome feature.

Gaming Apocalypse: Ok so I couldn’t think of a title for this one but basically as I have said before OnLive is reliant on the cloud and so we have no form of back up should the super computers powering the system have technical difficulties. Now I have been assured by several of the guys at OnLive that this will not happen and that they have fail safe systems in place etc… but not having a material copy of any of my games does make me a little nervous. Put it this way, if I scratch the disk of my new release at least I know I can stick in a PS2 retro classic to keep me going, but if the cloud goes down, well thats a different matter.

So there you have it, OnLive is now available in the UK. I have been greatly impressed by the versatility of the system and the quality of the gameplay offered and if you are not yet convinced I suggest signing up and having a look for yourself. Its free to sign up and right now your first game is only £1 so now is the time to try out this gaming revolution for yourself. But please, if you are brousing online and come across me playing remember: If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all…

Until Next Time,

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Check out OnLive now at: www.onlive.co.uk

One of my favorite game franchises on the PS2 was Max Payne. The mixture of film noir narrative and great 3rd person shooter action made for a highly addictive game, that I spent countless hours playing. Plus the fact you were able to shoot down half a room of bad guys in slow motion was just the icing on the cake.

I adored the first game, though second wasn’t as good I thought as it lost a lot of its grittyness in my opinion, but still kept the Max Payne core gameplay and appeal.

A while back Rockstar finally announced the 3rd installment in the Max Payne franchise, and at first I was dubious. A game franchise that was infamous for its dark gritty narrative and film noir overtone was going to be set in the bright sunny climate of Brazil. Not only that but Mr Payne himself had gone through a serious make over.

Max Payne is notorious for his leather jackets and dark persona, and Rockstar had changed him into a bald, slightly pop bellied thug. Which again made me pretty nervous, what had Rockstar done to Max and the franchise? Ever since they dropped Remedy as the games developer Max Payne 3 seemed to have lost the same appeal the other games had.  Was the series going to be rebooted into another generic 3rd person shooter?

I had a bad feeling that the Max Payne franchise I first fell in love with back on the PS2 had taken a nasty turn and would probably be never coming back, well at least that’s what I thought untill I saw the first Max Payne 3 trailer.

After watching that trailer I think it is fair to say that the Max Payne I did fall in love with is making a triumphant return. As soon as the trailer opens with Max’s narration I could instantly tell that Rockstar have not totally chucked out the Film Noir core that makes the Max Payne franchise unique.Which makes a lot of sense as one of Rockstars biggest releases this year has been LA Noir, which again follows a film noir narrative.

Even though the game is set in Brazil, the trailer also confirms that this title is most likely going to be as nitty and gritty as the first Max Payne. In short, this trailer has made me really excited. I just hope that Rockstar stick to their guns on this one, and I am hoping that their choice to bring the game in-house and drop Remedy as the games key developer is a wise decision, as Remedy’s game style is very distinctive and they seem to understand fully how a film noir narrative needs to be portrayed in video games (can you tell I haven’t played LA Noir yet).

For the first time since I have known about Max Payne 3 I am looking forward to it. So lets hope March 2012 brings me a worthy title to lose a lot more gaming hours over.

Garv.

The Nintendo Wii has gone from strength to strength ever since its release back in November 2006. It has captivated casual gamers and some of the hardcore elite in many different ways, it has even brought families together and has appealed to all ages, even the over 50′s.

With its more interactive approach to gaming as a whole it has sparked off all sorts of ideas in the games industry such as Playstation move and Microsoft’s Kinect. It has literally spawned a new way of gaming that has captured everyone’s imagination, but sadly all things must come to an end and I firmly believe that the Wii is definitely coming to the final hurdle of its life cycle.

The biggest clue that led me to this conclusion was the fact at E3 this year Nintendo announced the Wii’s successor. The Wii U. I could go on for a thousand words or so with my thoughts about the Wii U, but instead of boring you all half to death I have this one simple question. Nintendo… What the hell?

A games console that has a tablet controller sounds good in theory but in practise it looks as like a really big DS which is powered by separate console, which kind of defeats the point of both portable and home gaming. I could be wrong and it maybe the best thing since the NES but I’m not holding hope.

Urgh...facepalm!

Anyway back to the topic in hand, so the first big clue to the Wii’s life cycle coming to an end was that fact the Wii U has been announced, but surely with a new Nintendo console only being announced the Wii still has a year or so left in it? This brings me to my second clue. The latest announcement of a new model Wii console coming out and the discontinuation of the old model. Again something that a lot of consoles do, such as the PS3 slim and the new look 360, but something about this new Wii release doesn’t feel right. To me it feels a little desperate coming from Nintendo as they have announced the Wii U now and have also cut the price of the 3DS by a 3rd. To me it feels like they are milking the cash cow on the already successful Wii and are losing a chunk of cash from the 3DS.

The biggest and probably the most ridiculous thing to come out of this Wii console relaunch is the fact they are taking out the game cube backwards compatibility. True this maybe because all the gamers who wanted such a feature are happily content with a Wii console already but to have such a feature taken, still will annoy some of the hardcore gamers out there. This is because there have been some truly great Game Cube games, if gamers finally decided to get a Wii and wanted to play titles such as Zelda: Wind Waker or Tales of Symphonia (which were Game Cube titles), they would either have to buy a second-hand Wii or a game cube, not so bad I guess but if your anything like me and enjoy really shiny new things this could be a bit of an annoyance. Sure some of the Game Cube titles will be downloadable but things like Tales Of Symphonia will probably disappear into the video games vortex and will never be seen again.

Even though you were unappreciated you still had some awesome titles

The Wii is also the only console of this generation to not support full HD meaning that the PS3 and 360 have always have always had a slight upper hand, and now with Kinect and Move the lime light is slowly been sucked away from the Wii. There also hasn’t been that many huge titles that have come out for the console lately. Granted Zelda: Skyward Sword will probably give the Wii one final boost as that title has been highly anticipated for some time but after that craze has died down, I fear the Wii will just be pushed to one side once more.

The Wii is a good console, but now is the time to probably say so long and thanks for all the fish, but hey you we will still always have christmas time with the family.

Garv

As many of you will be aware the Eurogamer convention, which just so happens to be the highlight of the PlusXp calendar, is fast approaching. In order to prepare myself I have been downloading Xbox 360 demos of prequels for a small selection of the games which will feature at the event, as well as taking the liberty to write up little summaries of each.

Now please bear in mind that, because what I played were demos, and in many cases pre-releases, the actual games may well have proved to have significant differences. Another problem of judging games in this way is that certain genres lend themselves much better to the demo experience. Anything pick-up-and-play, such as fighting games and platformers, can, if good, sell their merits to gamers very quickly. But RPGs, simulation games, and many action games, can take tens of hours to even begin to appreciate, and here the limitations of using demos becomes very apparent.

In any case it is demos I have used here as they were the easiest method of me experiencing these games given the tools available to me. I have provided some information of the franchises they are a part of in general, which I hope will serve as adequate introductions to those who have not played them before. Enjoy!

Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation

Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation is a prequel to the Eurogamer title Ace Combat 7. It was released late 2007 exclusively on the Xbox 360. It is one of the recent releases in the Ace Combat series, a popular franchise of flight games that has its origins in the arcade and on the PS1. Ace Combat 6 is the second best-selling Ace Combat game to date, with Worldwide sales of 0.8 million units (it was pipped to no.1 by Ace Combat 4 on the PS2). It was also one of the most warmly received by critics, scoring 80/100 on Metacritic.com (based on the results of 54 critics).

Ace Combat 6 plays like Microsoft Flight Simulator meets Space Invaders meets Call of Duty. You’ve got those lovely aviation controls you usually only ever experience in flight sims, which is then combined with exhilating missions that require you to chase down and obliterate enemies. Its portrayal of wartime air battles feels very authentic, and there are times when I lost myself and genuinely felt like a member of the USAAF, keenly listening to my commander when he told me what I needed to do next. The voice acting is brilliant and very responsive to your actions, and the music is also a particular high note. The tracks are very typical of the kind of composition you hear played during American war films (atleast when America are winning). Majestic tension builders, you know the type, with an abundance of drums and string instruments…

Lastly we have the graphics. The graphics are lovely, and highly realistic its got to be said. It almost looks real. The special effects, also, are incredible, with explosions being an absolute joy to be hold. That said there’s still room for improvement. The foilage when you sweep down to the land from the skies could be higher res, and it would be great if the water reacted to your plane getting close. I’ll be paying close attention and hoping these things are corrected when I try Ace Combat 7, because small details like these could elevate this series to among the best looking games on the Xbox 360.

Improvements I’d like to see made in Ace Combat 7

- attention to graphics at a micro level
- missions which conclude quicker

Battlefield : Bad Company

I managed to get hold of a demo of Battlefield : Bad Company. Battlefield 3 is to be showcased at Eurogamer, and its fair to say this is going to be a pretty big release. The franchise as a whole has shifted in excess of 17 million units to date, and its eagerly awaited latest incarnation shows every sign of joining those that have gone before it in the sales stakes.

As its name suggests the Battlefield series are wargames. They are first person shooters, and settings have so far included World War II, the Vietnam War and a fictional ice age of the future. Battlefield 3, its worth pointing out, will be set in 2014, and sees US soldiers deployed to the Middle East, where they are caught up in a massive earthquake and need to deal with the ensuing mayhem.

As for Bad Company, its fair to say I was really impressed. The cutscenes, characters and humour are all well thought-out and extremely entertaining, and the controls are like a dream, whether you’re running about on the ground as a soldier, or rolling like a badass down the tarmac in a tank. I also noticed a fair amount of influence from the mighty Grand Theft Auto 4, which is no bad thing in my opinion.

It would not be a push to describe the graphics as luscious. They’re so bright and peppy I thought I was playing Viva Pinata for a second! I really appreciated the vibrance of the game’s visuals, most war games look so gaudy and dull, with the contrast cranked right down. But war’s not necessarily like that. If you’re living in a war you get up in the morning and look around the sky is just as blue and the grass is just as green as in times of peace. So for that reason the game’s brightness made the tale seem all the more real to me.
It has to be said that the developers of Battlefield 3 are taking it in another direction to the ‘Bad Company’ games, with a bigger emphasis on multiplayer. Which seems like a shame to me, but I still won’t knock it til I’ve tried it. Consider me in high anticipation.

Improvements I’d like to see made in Battlefield 3

- Can’t think of any. Bad Company wasn’t broke, so why fix it? I just hope to see some of its best elements return.

FIFA 11

The long-running FIFA series has been going since 1993, and the upcoming Eurogamer showcase title FIFA 12 will just so happen to be its 19th title. The demo I played of its prequel, FIFA 11, gives you some customisation options, aswell as allowing you to play through a match.

What struck me about FIFA 11 was how pick-up-and-play it was, I appreciated that it didn’t force me to make a million and one decisions before getting down to a simple kick-off (although there are, ofcourse, an exhaustive list of choices for you if you happen to be that way inclined). In addition the controls are an absolute dream ; the players respond quickly and fluidly to your commands, and in quite a life-like manner, which makes the whole process very enjoyable indeed.

Mercifully the title has a traditional top-down view, which makes understanding and steering the action on pitch very easy. It has to be said though, the game looks less realistic than it perhaps could, and the textures are, all in all, less detailed than many of FIFA 11′s 8th Gen contemporaries. Another graphical bone of contention is that the crowds clearly have had hardly any effort invested in them.

As for the music? Well there’s not a Lightning Seeds track in sight, which may be good or bad news depending on your musical dispositions! What you’ve got isn’t a million miles away though, jolly Britpop anthems such as ‘Odessa’ by Caribou and ‘Don’t Turn The Lights On’ by Chromeo. All in all quite pleasant.

Improvements I’d like to see made in FIFA 12

- more realistic visuals

Mass Effect 2

The Mass Effect series are science fiction action/role-playing games. It is Mass Effect 3 which will be available to play at Eurogamer, and Mass Effect 2 I have looked at here. Mass Effect 2 was released on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. It was extremely critically acclaimed, with an average score of a massive 96 on Metacritic.com.

Now on to my impressions. First of all I want to say that this game deserves commendation for being very original. It has really triumphed at creating a fictional world in a space landscape that is believable and full of surprises. The scene-setting is very good, for example when you begin you are in a spaceship that is about to blow up, and the visuals, sound effects and screenshakes really portray well the space cadet’s experience getting from one section to the next.

Aside from that the game allows you to edit the name and appearance of your character, and the number of choices at your disposal are vast. You can adjust everything from your character’s eye colour right down to their neck width, how cool is that? The puzzles you come across ingame also serve as fun little diversions.

I must admit that, on a personal level, I found the story a little too complicated. But then I don’t think the Mass Effect series is aimed at casual gamers such as myself, and I can fully appreciate why so many gamers relish the game’s depth.

An interesting feature that ties the Mass Effect games is your ability to use your save file from a previous game in the current one. For example, if you play Mass Effect 2 using your save file from the first game in the series, characters who have died will not return in the current game, and the same goes for Mass Effect 2 to Mass Effect 3 migration. Certain story elements also carry over, making this quite a dynamic series indeed!

Improvements I’d like to see in Mass Effect 3

- the games are already quite polished, so I’d just like to see Bioware maintain the current standard

Ninja Gaiden II

The Ninja Gaiden series has by far the longest history of any of the games featured on this page ; the first in the series appeared on the NES back in 1988! It revolves around the trials and tribulations of Ryu Hayabusa, a ninja with magical, spiritual and physical connections to ancient dragons.
The Ninja Gaiden II demo I played places you in Chapter 1 : Sky City Tokyo. Gameplay is similar to what you find in Devil May Cry. Except less diverse. Hacking and slashing is more or less all you’ll be doing here. Its fun for a while but does get monotomous.

The sound effects and music are pretty average.

While the graphics are pretty slick, and certainly up there with the likes of DMC4 and Bayonetta, they hardly push any boundaries. The visuals found in the Battlefield demo, for example, blow Ninja Gaiden’s out of the water, its fair to say.

There’s definetly a lot that can be improved on here, from what I saw, so lets hope Ninja Gaiden 3 takes the series back up to its roots, when it was a pioneer and a pack leader.

Improvements I’d like to see in Ninja Gaiden 3

- more originality overall
- mix gameplay up a bit
- better soundtrack
- better graphics

So thats all for now guys. All thats left to say is, see you at Eurogamer, and please feel free to leave any feedback

-HelenBaby

In this simple yet addictive little shooter you play as Jon Bambo, an angular looking chap who, you guessed it, looks like a little Rambo made out of Lego. Armed with an arsenal of different weapons and a red bandana, Bambo must gun-down the oncoming zombie horde as they attempt to surround him and rip him to shreds. If he is successful in his undead massacre Bambo is able to progress to a new, slightly harder level of zombie infestation containing multiple more challenging types of zombie. If he is unsuccessful, well the zombies eat him, game over. The game has 3 levels of difficulty ranging from Casual, to Hardcore and Nightmare mode for those who are more advanced at zombie eradication and takes place over 6 playable levels. Each of the six levels moves Bambo a little bit deeper into the depths of Hell and this is represented not only in the change in scenery but also by the difficulty level. Unlike other games in this genre however you do not have to play these levels in order, meaning that if you fancy taking a trip to Lucifer’s Den there is no need to take the scenic route via Death Alley, well unless you really want to.

As well as leaving behind a substantial puddle of blood defeated zombies also sometimes deposit small boxes containing various goodies for our boxy friend to collect. It is through these boxes that Bambo is able to regain some health and gain new weaponry to aid him in his quest for survival. Though the point and shoot mechanic of this game is relatively simple I was impressed by the amount of weapons that could be unlocked. Though you begin the game with only a pistol (unlimited rounds) you are quickly able to pick up everything from a Shotgun to an Uzi, Minigun, Rocket launcher, Grenades, C4 (iPhone and iPod touch exclusive) and even remote Mg Turrets. In addition to the artillery you are also able to pick up and place exploding barrels and spiked barricades to distract your zombie foes and build your defences adding an element of strategy to the game. Though the weaponry was quite good overall, the only thing which did disappoint me a little was the lack of a comedy melee weapon. Zombie games are usually survival based and one of the things I usually love about the zombie theme is the range of absurd unlikely weaponry picked up in a survival situation. Over the years we have seen zombies defeated with golf clubs, axes, frying pans and guitars as well as being effectively decapitated by the throwing of records and priceless ornaments. In contrast when out off all other weapons Bambo turns to a pistol. A creative choice? Disappointingly not but effective nonetheless.

Weapons aside the deliberately retro boxy styling of Boxhead does give the game a good dose of retro appeal. This retro styling gives the game a distinctly ‘old school’ arcade type feel which suits the simple point and shoot theme very well. The block colour characters also make it easy to introduce and identify how different types of zombie foe will behave, for example if a zombie is dressed in red you had better run as we all know those who wear red are speedier than their plain cousins. In addition to the fast and slow zombies, on his journey through Hell Boxhead will also encounter foes which have the power to become invisible and even the odd devil or two. Though these foes all have their own characteristics which can make them harder to defeat rest assured that none are immune to the Boxhead treatment, in short a shot to the face should do it.

One thing which surprised me about this game was the lack of a soundtrack. Though the game has multiple sound effects there is no in game music, and I must admit this caught me off guard. When the lack of music became apparent I quickly made the best of the situation by switching on my iPod and choosing a playlist which I felt was most appropriate for zombie slaying. To my surprise this worked quite well and I soon discovered that conducting a zombie massacre to your own music could be quite good fun. If you like the idea of playing to your own music or you mainly play in silence (perhaps on public transport or around others) then the lack of music should not be a problem, however if you think that the soundtrack adds atmosphere to the game then you may be disappointed.

One other thing that did slightly frustrate me about this game was that if you went back to the home screen of the iPhone to answer a message or change a song on your iPod the game quits out completely losing your current progress without saving. If you just want to play for fun and do not really care about your score or progress then this should not bother you too much but otherwise its “Goodbye high score, nice knowing you!”

Overall this is a relatively basic but quite addictive little shooter. The game is easy to play and the various difficulty levels make it accessible to many players. The deliberately retro styling is reminiscent of early arcade gaming and the simple point and shoot game mechanic makes it perfect for kicking back for five minutes which otherwise would have been wasted. The fact that the game quits when using other features of the phone could do with fixing but lets face it, score or no score who doesn’t like a little bit of boxy virtual bloodshed to brighten up their day.

Boxhead, The Zombie Wars 7/10

Pro’s
- There are multiple weapons to unlock and multiple difficulty levels
- The gameplay is simple and easy to master
- Your character looks like a mini Rambo made out of Lego

Cons

- There is no music
- The game quits without saving if you have to answer a call or send a message

Until next time,

24

x

Boxhead, The Zombie Wars
Available now for download now from the iTunes store for iPhone and iPod Touch.
MEDL Mobile inc.

My first console was the NES. It was a hand-me-down from my brother, and I played it to death. It didn’t take long before I started collecting consoles for my self and I have, as of now, owned a total of 12 consoles. 7 of these have been Nintendo-made (typical female!) and 4 have been portable. I’m big on portable gaming, as you may have guessed seeing as every article I’ve written to date has either covered an iPhone or DS release!

I’ve played many hundreds of titles during the past 20 odd years, everything from ‘Beavis & Butthead’ on the Megadrive to Bioshock on the 360. My favourite games have got to be Zelda : Twilight Princess, Sonic 2, Grand Theft Auto : Chinatown Wars, Animal Crossing : Wild World and the mighty Shenmué. As much as I love console gaming I’ve dabbled a little with PC games, with my biggest time-sinks here being the Sims 2 and World of Warcraft. That said I only ever managed to get to level 31 in WoW. Hey, what? My character was a priest, they happen to be a bitch to raise you know =P

The franchise that has really defined me as a gamer, and kept me coming back to the world of gaming over the years, is Sonic the Hedgehog. Too much love for that speedy blue critter… I’ve played over 40 Sonic titles, have attended every Summer of Sonic convention to date (highly recommended) and even run my own small meet-up group for fans called SonicLondon (you can find us on Facebook). Besides being a huge fan of Sonic in particular, I’m also a big fan of Sega in general, and also love the N!ghts, Fantasy Zone and Bayonetta series’, as well as, of course, the aforementioned Shenmué.

I always enjoyed writing in school, and this was enriched by my A-levels, which were all Humanties-based. My degree in particular, being in History (from the School of Oriental & African Studies) really developed me as a writer. It was totally essay-based, so it became necessary that I was able to communicate arguments clearly and concisely if I wanted to achieve a decent grade.

For about a year after finishing Uni I faffed about a lot, and didn’t do any writing at all. At first it was nice to have a rest, the workload at University could get quite stressful. But I came to miss it. So when the chance to contribute to PlusXP came up I jumped on it ; here was the opportunity to not only start writing again but to make the subject of my endeavours my lifelong and much-loved hobby : video games!

I’m still somewhat of a n00b to writing articles as a journalist as opposed to a historian, but I’m learning all the time, and am always happy to listen to any constructive criticism readers have about how I express myself. I want to be the best gaming journalist I can be, so please don’t hesitate with the comments.

Aside from that I’m just bloody glad to be here at PlusXP.com. It feels so exciting to be a part of a truly blossoming site, ever-increasingly as it is expanding its claws and growing in relevance on the online gaming scene. I want to be a part of that and contribute to its growth. And, trust me readers, as far as PlusXP goes the best is very much yet to come, so watch this space

-HelenBaby