Title Fight appears to be Sony’s answer to the cross franchise fighter, pitting all your favourite Sony characters against each other in epic battles. As this is only a rumour not much is known about the game, however  there has  been one single screen shot leaked.  This screen shot shows what could be Title Fight’s first confirmed character, Sweet Tooth from the Twisted Metal franchise. Looking at the leaked image my initial thought is that this game may have quite a gritty atmosphere whilst supporting some shiny graphics to boot.

Though Sweet Tooth is seems to be the only confirmed character at the moment, there has been a string rumours that suggest another six characters are could soon be confirmed. These include Kratos from God of War, Parappa the Rapper from the game with the same name, Nathan Drake protagonist of the Uncharted franchise, Sly Cooper  from Sly Cooper, The Fat Princess from Fat Princess and Colonel Mael Radec of Killzone fame. The line up is not looking bad so far, but I would love to fan favourites such as Crash Bandicoot, Lara Croft or even Snake from Metal Gear Solid added to the roster. Sony also have the opportunity here to revive old retro characters like Croc from Croc: Legend of the Gobbos.

If I were to give this title a release date I would predict we will probably see it hit shelves sometime late this year or early next year. Hopefully an official announcement will be appearing around E3 time.

-Garv

With Resident Evil: Revelations out in a week, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City due for release in March, and rumours of Resident Evil 6 scattered over the web, I must say I wasn’t actually expecting an announcement AND trailer this suddenly. But it’s here – the official reveal of Resident Evil 6. And judging by the trailer, I’m excited.

Zombies, glorious zombies. While the Resident Evil series has moved away from them at late (in favour of the less dead-looking and agile Majinis), it seems that Capcom are finally bringing Resident Evil’s iconic zombies back to the core, numbered series – not totally unsurprising, what with prequels Raccoon City and Revelations also focusing on our skin challenged friends. Of course, people cry – how can zombies be threatening in today’s games considering how slow they are? Well, it seems the location of Tall Oaks has been majorly compromised – with 70,000 infected. It’s all about numbers with zombies, assuming you have the amount of ammo we saw in Resident Evil 5.

That’s not to say that zombies will be the only enemy in the game – with powerful BOWs (Bio-Organic Weapons) also popping up around the world, and it seems that the Majini threat is also still present, giving us the gun-toting parasitic threat as well as the zombie outbreak. While I wasn’t a huge fan of Majinis as a replacement for zombies, I can happily see the two co-existing nicely.

So who are the lucky ones to deal with this new threat? Well, it seems many of the fans will finally be getting their prayers answered – Chris Redfield and Leon S Kennedy are co-starring for the first time in the series, with co-op modes also confirmed to be making a return (although no real details have been given at this point). While it’s clear that the game will not be returning to Resident Evil’s survival horror roots, it seems that Capcom are trying to pull out all the stops in giving fans what they want while evolving the gameplay in a way that feels natural – the bioterrorism threat becoming ever closer to a zombie apocalypse. With a game-style executive producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi calls “dramatic horror,” it sounds as though we’ll be seeing a mixture of action and horror – so hopefully that means that although the game will still be action-based, we’ll be seeing a few more scares than in RE5, which was sorely lacking for a Resident Evil title.

The plot itself of course revolves around more attacks from bioterrorists, though who is pulling the strings is anyone’s guess. Ten years have passed since Raccoon City, and the President has decided to go public with the truth of the events. However, Leon is forced to make a tough decision when the President, who is also his personal friend, becomes infected. Elsewhere in China, another attack has taken place with Chris on the scene – and it seems that the world’s population has to unite under the common threat of bioterrorism, though filled with fear that nothing will now be able to stop what has been put into motion. That said, it’s a little strange as Resident Evil 6 seems to be set before Resident Evil 5 – set ten years after the Raccoon City Outbreak in 1998, while the events in Kijuju took place in 2009. Considering the scale of things happening in RE6, it seems very odd that everything’s been cleared up within a year. That, and I was fairly sure that Chris had never encountered a Majini before Resident Evil 5, though that might have just been my own assumption. Hopefully more light will be shed on this closer to the game’s release.

There are, of course, new characters joining the fray as well. An unnamed mercenary who fights bare-fisted is featured prominently in the trailer, his female companion stating “the world needs you”. He responds “no, no, not me. Just me blood. Well the world can have it, long as someone ponies up the dough.” Perhaps his blood contains an antidote for the zombie virus, at least that’s my guess. Sounds like he’s going to play a key role in the plot, but doesn’t appear to be taking a particular side – he’s featured fighting against BOWs, yet doesn’t seem in a hurry to relinquish his blood for whatever greater good it holds. There is also a woman who claims to be at fault for the outbreak, and Chris seems to have a vendetta against a certain woman – though it’s not clear if this is the same lady. Could she be a villain, or just a pawn?

Gameplay wise, Resident Evil seems to play similarly to Resident Evil 5, although with some changes. Firstly, it’s clear that Chris and Leon have a few special moves up their sleeves, such as shooting whilst leaping backward, and rolling manoeuvres. Also, melee attacks look as if they could be a little deepened, as Leon is shown planting an axe in the head of one enemy. Looks like enemies have been given a few new tricks, too – with one Majini extending it’s parasitic arm over the cover that Chris was hidden behind and grabbing him, yanking him up into the air.

Visually, the game is looking good and the animation looks clean – one gameplay scene shows Chris running through a street in China as civilians flee, pushing them out of the way and shoving a reporter’s video camera out of his face while making his way through the wreckage. One thing I also noticed was that the game seems to be set mostly at night – one thing that RE5 deviated from that did seem to take away some of that Resident Evil atmosphere.

While it’s unclear on exactly how the game will turn out at this point, the initial footage has definitely got me excited. It looks to me that Capcom have taken the Resident Evil 5 style and worked upon it, while simultaneously trying to put lots of fan-service into the mix. I do hope the game will have a good amount of scares in it, but I’m sure it can’t have less scares than RE5. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on this one.

We’ve also been given a release date – the 20th November. A while off, yet – but better than some of the waits we’ve had to endure between announcement and release *cough*FinalFantasyVersusThirteen*cough*. Plus, we’ve got Operation: Raccoon City and Revelations to keep us busy till then – two titles I’m even more excited for now.

-Leon

A week or two back, Xbox Live’s gallery leaked a screenshot that showed M. Bison and Ling Xiaoyu’s portraits as tag partners, which sparked some new hype for me and Garv – some of our favourite fights being between Ryu and Bison, and Xiaoyu being a childhood favourite of mine from playing Tekken 3.

Anyway, this week rolled around and Capcom suddenly announced that they would be unveiling 6 new characters, as well as 2 “secret” announcements – and now, here’s what they announced on Tuesday morning:

Street Fighter

Juri – Introduced in Super Street Fighter IV, this is her first time participating in another title – C. Viper having beaten her to a spot in Marvel vs Capcom 3. Bringing her Feng Shui Engine powered fighting style into SFxT, I’m looking forward to seeing what little changes or new moves they’ve implemented into her style. She’ll also make a fine partner to Bison – evil purple auras for the win!

Vega – One of Street Fighter’s more iconic villains, Vega’s claw weapon is infamous – as well as his unpredictable fighting style. Good to see him included as he’s a personal favourite of mine, and I’m glad to see his Bloody High Claw move makes a return from Street Fighter IV. I’m personally going to team him up with Poison for one hell of a crazy team.

Balrog – Not totally unexpected, what with him and Vega completing the set of classic Street Fighter villains – and a perfect rival for Tekken‘s boxer, Steve. Balrog is one of Street Fighter’s heavyweight characters, and with projectile-free move-set I’m sure he’ll fit nicely into the mix with all the Tekken melee fighters joining the fray.

Tekken

Xiaoyu – No surprises here, with the leak and all – but a welcome addition for me all the same. Xiaoyu is a quick-hitting character with the capability to create long attack chains. She’s looking good and seems to be having a bit of a rivalry with Juri going on, as well as her old friendship with Jin – more on that in a minute.

Law – With Street Fighter’s Fei Long and Tekken‘s Law both being very obvious homages to Bruce Lee, I was wondering how Capcom would handle them. Would they both be included for some epic Bruce Lee fight-offs? Would they pick only one? Or would they ignore both. Well, we’ve now got Tekken‘s Bruce Lee in the game, and I must say he is looking very similar to Fei Long in terms of fighting style (which isn’t a surprise, of course). I do hope this doesn’t mean that Fei Long is out of the game as I’m a big fan, but I doubt they’ll actually include both. Either way, Law is looking awesome, and I can just stick a “Fei Long” name sticker on my screen.

Paul – Competing for most hair gel with Guile comes the hard-hitting American from Tekken – who I can also see being confused with Ken Masters by a certain overweight warrior. He’s seen tagging with Law and reminds me a lot of Ryu now he’s rendered in Capcom’s style – albeit without the projectiles. His super punch move (I forget its official name, it’s been a while since I was into Tekken) has been shown in his super art, but otherwise I’ll be very interested to see what tricks he has up his sleeve to turn the tide on his projectile using rivals.

While there were only 6 characters “announced”, the latest in the series of full CG trailers has also been released, featuring M Bison and Jin squaring up to one another, while Juri and Xiaoyu also fight. Both Jin and M Bison have been hinted at already in the past, but this pretty much confirms the two of them (unless Capcom are insane), so that’s looking good. Check out the trailer below – looks like Devil Jin will be making an appearance in this game, too.

Last but not least, at the end of the gameplay trailer (featuring the 6 officially announced fighters, shown below), there’s a short section about the Vita version. At the end of that, there can clearly be seen the silhouettes of Pac-Man, and what appears to be the terrible old box-art version of Megaman. I seriously hope this is Vita exclusive, as I’m no fan of these characters that are neither part of Street Fighter or Tekken – with the Sony exclusive characters already pushing me into going for the Xbox 360 version to avoid Cole, Kuro and Toro. And if that really is Box-Art Megaman… I have no idea if Capcom are actually trying to troll Megaman fans (or perhaps they actually are insane).

All in all, it’s been a good announcement and it’s got me excited for Street Fighter X Tekken all over again. A nice batch of characters, and hopefully Capcom will keep the info coming over the next few weeks.

- Leon

EA’s prized sport franchise returns with a new iteration producing more endless recreational football fun. Whilst some niggles and technical hitches prevent it from being a world cup winner, it’s quite possibly the greatest recreation of football to have ever existed.

The winning-formula of FIFA 11 has returned with some pretty useful and inventive changes, also known as the “holy trinity” which have completely revolutionised the dynamics of how a game of FIFA is played.

The first of said changes is the new precision dribbling, with the simple touch of a button your player can now turn on the spot which allows you to manoeuvre out of seemingly dead-end situations. Meaning that, true to life, if Iniesta finds himself hounded down by 3 markers with no room to move, then precision dribbling will let Iniesta turn and swivel to find that tiny pocket of space he needs to get the pass away. Maybe he can find that perfect opening to jink his way past 2 defenders and create a goal-scoring opportunity. I found myself at times just turning on a sixpence just weighing up all the different possibilities, sometimes I did it purely because it’s just so much fun to be blessed with this newfound freedom.

The second new feature is the new tactical defending which has removed the effortless manhunt you could do with the mere pressing of a button of past FIFA games. Instead you can now only jostle and contain your man waiting to choose the perfect moment to commit yourself to a tackle. If you succeed then you’ll win the ball with a good tackle, you can maybe pressurise your opponent enough so that he falls over or makes a bad pass. Conversely, if you’re up against Theo Walcott and you happen to mis-time your tackle then you’ll get barely a sniff of him as he’s already halfway up the wing leaving you in the dust. It’s certainly tough to get used to if you’re used to the previous iterations of FIFA (like myself initially), however once you’ve persevered and adapted to the learning curve, you’ll reap the glorious rewards and benefits. The joy of sticking to your man like glue for a long distance just to mentally break him and win the ball with an inch perfect interception; is like the feeling of having a cold beer after a long day of work in a stuffy office on a hot summer’s day…..satisfying!  It can be tempting at times to keep pressing the square button (X on Xbox) to quickly win the ball, but if you do you’ll give away a LOT of free-kicks and penalties. Also you’re allowed to pull on your opponent’s shirt to again pressurise them into a mistake, although depending on the strictness of the ref, you’ll wind up receiving a yellow card if you tear their shirt off through excessive pulling.

The final overhaul to the gameplay is the brand-spanking new impact engine which EA has been fine-tuning for the last 2 years. In place now is the ability for any of your 11 players to be on the receiving end of an unforeseen injury, again true to life. We’ve all seen a player sprinting on the pitch only to suddenly pull up with a pulled hamstring, FIFA tries its best to imitate this. The impact engine is designed to detect every single calculation of physics that would occur with the human body during a match; meaning every collision that occurs is different and reflective of a genuine collision in a real match. Also working in conjunction with your players stamina bar and fatigue, players will pull up with a hamstring strain, go down with a femur contusion or even break a rib in a collision. It adds so much depth to the game and is crucial in Manager Mode even more so. In one instance, I signed Adel Taraabt to Stoke City for an astronomical sum (for Stoke anyway) and agonizingly he got caught in a collision in only his second game leaving him injured for 4 months; truly brutal but annoyingly realistic!

On the other hand, it’s blatantly obvious that the engine is far from the finished article. If you’ve even so much as heard of the famed impact engine then you’ll be aware of the amusing scenarios it can throw up. Despite getting the physics implemented into the game, a player will frequently collide with another player and they will form an attachment (literally) as they’re stuck together like a Joey in its mother’s pouch. They can remain stuck for seconds at times which not only destroys the realism but it affects the gameplay as you may need to pass to that player. I’ve seen players be touched very faintly and be turned into a human break-dancing cyclone. It can also be poor at registering collisions too as I’ve won the ball on countless times, especially in the penalty area, yet the inch perfect tackle has been deemed to be a foul. Whilst conversely, you can commit a blatant foul and get away with it; consistency is horrifically lacking. In addition, injuries occur sporadically and occasionally the extent of injuries is completely overlooked and very unrealistic. I’ve had players sprain their knee which would hinder you to the extent of having to come off in a real match, yet in FIFA world you can shake it off within a few minutes and play like nothing happened. I’ve even had a player pickup 2 injuries within the same match and still continue, the injury system needs some amendments. Needless to say the engine is a work in process, but there is no doubting the concept is there. With some tweaks I fully expect it to be an accurate and prominent feature in Fifa 13.

Aside from the 3 major unique selling points of the game, FIFA has a few incremental changes to improve the game overall. Thrown-ins has been given a new animation which allows quick throw-ins to retain its fluid gameplay. Again though the physics sometimes prevent this from happening as a player attempts to pick the ball and up and ends up walking into it and kicking it away which makes the game look slightly unprofessional and rushed. A whole host of new shooting animations have thankfully been created which allows the greatest variety of goals seen yet in a game (my main gripe of previous FIFA games). Shooting is now more weighted and you no longer feel like you’re kicking a balloon that’s just burst. Volleying is as satisfying as ever with the new animations providing superb technique executed with volleys. I’ve always hated the fact you could only score from the same few positions and you couldn’t score with lesser players or defenders from range. Now I’m not saying that if you smash a 35 yarder with John Terry it’ll fly into the top corner but there is a general feeling of increased ability in terms of shooting which I think was sorely needed. Another minor niggle I have is with keepers is the fact that they will 10/10 times gather a shot that bounces just in front of them. Even Casillas, Julio Cesar, Buffon and Reina are incapable of holding these most difficult of shots and by spilling those every now and again it would provide an additional element of franticness to the gameplay.

In my eyes the primary area letting down this brilliant game is the two of the essential basics, sounds and graphics. Some people may call me a picky person who demands perfection and unparalleled realism, but in reality I don’t think I ask for much. The sound of keepers making a save is, and always has been, ugly and sounds too much like a thud; likewise with the woodwork being struck. But passes, the sounds of various crowd cultures are convincing and really add to the match atmosphere. If you’re winning (at home) and putting together 10 or more passes you can expect to hear the good ol “ole” from the home crowd. If you’re at home using Santos then you’ll be engulfed in a huge crowd of samba music. Some stadiums even have a spontaneous announcement of winner of an unspecified competition. It’s completely irrelevant but it’s so subtle that a true football supporter will be able to acknowledge this, making for a more familiar environment.

The soundtrack to the game is lively enough and features a prominent upbeat-selection ranging from English group Kasabian to the Spanish workings of El Guincho. You won’t be taking any more bows after EA made the big call of dropping the infamous Scottish commentator, Andy Gray, due to his recent controversial shenanigans. Instead, he’s replaced by former Arsenal striker Alan Smith who forms a decent partnership up front with the usual suspect, Martin Tyler. But you can switch formations and deploy the ITV commentary team of Clyde Tyldesley and Andy Townsend if you’re looking for something different. Veterans of the series will instantly recognised some recycled material from Martin Tyler and some lines are still used out of context or just don’t make sense. “Oh it’s a PENALTY”……………………….nope it’s actually a free-kick Clyde but it’s the programmers fault, not yours. The inclusion of the new “TV Broadcast” angle is one of the immediate things that will catch your eye as it’s more naturalistic of a live match and it gives EA a chance to show you their brilliantly captured character models. Too many times in the past I’ve had to look at the name indicator to know who I’m passing to/controlling; not now though as the camera angle is just about close enough to showcase players and display enough of the action happening.

On the graphical front, the major players on the pitch are virtually flawless, Messi (you’ve probably heard of him) looks like his real-life exceptional counter-part. If you take time to go to go to a replay you’ll be able to study the facial expressions of players as they evolve and progress with each move. Whether it’s an ecstatic player who’s just scored a beauty or the shocked expressions at Emile Heskey simply scoring any sort of goal! EA retain their ability to showcase an extensive range of official licenses from authentic kits, logo’s badges and full licensing of leagues from England, France, Spain, and Italy amongst others. They do so and they all look very accurate of their real-life counter-parts.

Despite having crisp and exquisite looking pitches, the general stadium look doesn’t convince me I’m afraid which does spoil some of the realism for me. For instance, my beloved Liverpool FC has the fortress known as Anfield (Liverpool’s stadium) licensed in the game like they do annually. But it doesn’t feel like Anfield because, any proper Liverpool fan would know, the stands at each end are almost touching the nets and the side stands can sniff the spray painted touchlines. Some other stadiums can be guilty of this but it’s not a major problem in the slightest. What is a major problem however the continued lack of detail to the dismal spectators is overlooked. AGAIN. You don’t even have to be a realism enthusiast to see that the fans are pixelated and move like they’re tied to a swinging metronome, destined to swing and move in a way that’s not believable and is also just plain stupid. You still get fans wearing the wrong colours in the wrong ends, fans don’t always cheer when you score and they also don’t react by putting their head in hands etc when the other team score. A big thing for me is that if you score a goal to go 1-0 in the cup final then the roar should be deafening. If you’ve just tapped in your 8^th goal in a meaningless pre-season friendly, then it should be greeted with very delicate cheers. In FIFA all the goals prompt the same generic goal-scoring cheer.

This year see’s an unhealthy wealth of things to do insinuating that you should never be bored with FIFA. Career Mode is divided into your main manager mode where you choose a team and build into your own bastion of invincibility. Whereas Be a Pro remains relatively unchanged in that you create a virtual pro who’s supposed to look like you but has 1,000 times the ability you do of course. I’m someone who feels that be a pro is an untapped gold mine and with some expansion it could be a gem of a mode with more in-depth development to your player e.g. training challenges. You improve your pro through completing challenges appropriate to your style of play and/or by lifetime accomplishments e.g “Score 100 career goals”

The actually career mode has also seen some refinement too with such changes as introducing a new drama based transfer deadline countdown. To recreate the tension of the final day of the transfer window, you can now see it unfold with hourly updates on the latest news; possibly including yourself as a rich team steps in with a last second bid to prise one of your assets away. I think they could also add a similar feature for the draws for each cup as well. The draw for the FA Cup 3^rd round is always massive and it’s not quite the same when you have to go and look at your fixtures to see if you’ve drawn one of the “Big 4”. Instead a screen randomly drawing out pairings could be much more fun. Unfortunately the mode is still not without its flaws though; fixture congestion can become normal as for some reason your fixtures will be re-scheduled closer together for no reason at all. Rarely have they ever been moved further apart which is irritating especially when in conjunction with injuries and fatigue. Fixtures such as League Cup matches will be scheduled for 8:00pm and yet be played in scorching sunshine.  The transfers, albeit are uncontrollable, are unrealistic and also pre-determined as well. As someone who can get bored after a while with a season, I find myself starting new career modes every now and again. In doing so I’ve had the opportunity to see the same few transfers happening at the beginning every time e.g Sneijder moving to Manchester City every time, Modric moving to Manchester United, Samuel moving to Liverpool EVERY time. Even still, the thrill of completing a season of football, trying to win that illusive silverware, luring the top players to your ever-increasing squad of top-notch talent; it’s still fulfilling. It’s got enough depth to satisfy anyone over-encumbered with information from the football manager games. New morale outbursts from players ensure that you have to make use of man-management skills to rotate players and keep them happy. If you’ve got a £20 million player sitting on the bench every week then he’ll eventually state his displeasure and demand to play. His situation will have to have either an amicable resolution or the player will earn his keep elsewhere.

On the other hand Ultimate Team is one of FIFA’s main offerings and simply put its engrossing, nostalgic and quite simply very addictive! If you’ve experienced the timeless classic of going down to your local shop to buy some football trading cards then you’ll understand the thrill of opening a pack in ultimate team. If not, then you’ll still find it grows on you and you’ll want to attain the best cards anyway. Through buying packs your objective is to basically assemble teams of high chemistry and high in ability to compete in tournaments with specific criteria. For example, one tournament inherently La Liga based or primarily players that have to be from the Premier League. It adds an extra dimension and more strategy in that you need a cohesive team that abides by strict tournament regulations allowing for variety and challenge. It’s highly unlikely you’ll open a gold pack and acquire  Messi or Ronaldo, but over time you’ll gain quality players and through the course of auctioning and careful purchasing, you can buy the players you desire. You earn coins through playing matches, you can buy packs with real money…..yes you may scoff at the idea of using your own hard-earned money, but you WILL use it.

There is no doubt in my mind that in all the years I’ve been playing games, FIFA 12 is the most accurate representation of the greatest sport in the world. It’s made small but significant strides since its predecessor and makes for more compelling and unpredictable contests on the green battlefield. True though the impact engine is a great starting block for human physics; it quite clearly needs a hefty upgrade job over the course of time till FIFA 12. Also amidst the extensive array of licenses, stadiums and teams are some awful presentational flaws. I may have singled out a few criticisms but I can assure you these are purely personal flaws of a minor level. The crowds are horribly pixelated and unchanged like they have been for years and some stadiums falsify the illusion of atmosphere. Should that detract from a game that’s continually generating momentum each year and spoiling football fans worldwide? Not a chance. This game is brilliant and provides multiple modes and platforms to act out your footballing fantasies. Want to sign Neymar and Hazard to create an untouchable dream team capable of lifting the top prizes? Then you’ll be able to do so with deft touches, precision dribbling and flowing football that would make the 1970 Brazil World Cup team proud.

Pros

+Unparalleled gameplay for a football game that leaves you wanting one more match
+The so-called Holy Trinity of changes is a masterful blessing
+Variety of modes with plenty of hours to keep you entertained until next season
+Plenty of new animations, accurate kits and designs along with superb facial capturing
+Varied and enjoyable soundtrack from all over the world

 Cons

-Impact engine is heavily advertised but is very much a flawed work in progress
-Virtual Pro mode left untouched when it could be so much more
-A few technical and realistic issues preventing FIFA from reaching perfection

9/10

- Andrew Highton

As some of you may be aware a few months ago I wrote a little news piece on the new Beenox title Spiderman: Edge of Time. I had some preconceptions that this had the potential to be even better than the studio’s pervious release Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions.  This was due to all the positive reports I had been reading off of the net. Was what I was reading on the net correct or your typical video game hype? Playing the game was the only way I was going to find out.

I was a fan of Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions, I felt the story was well thought out and had the graphics, BGM and SFX were good making Shattered Dimensions  a good game overall. Of course there were a few things I disliked in Shattered Dimensions but I don’t want to rant on about the predecessor, I want to rant on about the latest Spiderman release from Beenox.

Well to start things off the story is very similar to what I originally posted in my new piece, but just to recap. In the year 2099, Walker Sloan is the head of a department in Alchemax, a  company is going to be taken over by the crafty Stark-fujikawa . So Sloan decides that he will travel back into the past and create Alchemax well before its original conception. This way Alchemax is created in Sloan’s image and would never be in a position to be taken over. Sloan jumps into the temporal portal (time machine) and Miguel O’Hara, AKA Spider man, swings in to stop him by jumping into the portal, thus changing history as they know it. Miguel is able to see all of what happens and also see the death of the original webslinger Peter Parker. As he is in the middle temporal flux whilst the timelines are changing Miguel’s memories of the original timeline are unaffected, but he has the memories of the new timeline and that Peters death was a major factor of the timelines changing. So it’s your job to not only undo what Sloan has done but also save Peter Parker from being killed. You switch between Miguel and Peter throughout the game and this allows you to follow the game on both sides of the story.

Something very unique happens the first time you play this game, unlike any other game I have played, when you first start the game you get the usual beginning sequence, but when you press the start button, there is no start menu, nor any start features the game just starts. You dive right into a fight with Anti-Venom, with no way of knowing what the controls are; I just pressed any button to see what happened. I found out that I had no reason to worry though as the controls were the same as Shattered Dimensions, which made things so much easier when fighting Anti-Venom. I got my ass kicked and that was obviously going to happen and as it was part of the story.

Once the short cut scene was over I found myself crawling after Sloan, at this point I noticed another unique element to the game. The opening credits and cast list was displayed on the walls and panels whilst I was moving, the amazing thing was that this did not take anything away from the story, in fact whilst you were crawling through Miguel speaks about Sloan as the credits roll on by.

When you reach the end of the vent you finally reach Sloan, which at this point you find out is voiced by none other than Val Kilmer, yes that’s right Val Kilmer. He talks to his A.I unit Joana about his plans and does a scan of the room for security, this is where you control Miguel to avoid the scans, if you choose too as the scans don’t really affect you if you are caught. This happens a couple of times as you find out all about Sloan’s plans and what he intends to do, after you have crawled through the last bit of tunnelling, you find yourself in a room where you can now freely control Spiderman and play through the story.

As I mentioned earlier the controls are the same as Shattered Dimensions, which means you have the same feel in this game as you did before when it comes to controlling Spiderman’s movements. I was able to get the hang of controlling Spiderman easily because I had played the previous title. The good news is you still get the little tutorials that explain about the movement and controls making it very welcoming for new comers. To obtain unlock new moves and combos you collect orbs, much like Shattered Dimensions, however if you wish to increase your health for both Spidys or shield for 2099 Spidy, you must collect golden spiders. A new feature has been added to make it easier to obtain these, every time you are close to one a little golden spider emblem flashes. The closer you get the more it flashes. This is a novel idea to help you find these special golden spiders and a great element for all you completionists out there.

Both Miguel and Peter have their own unique fighting moves and special abilities, but there are also a few moves that you can unlock for both of your web slinging character. This is something I haven’t seen in any pervious Spiderman games, which is starting to become a trait for this the Beenox Spiderman franchise. This is something I am quite happy to say, as not many action games have a lot of unique features such as these.

In edge of time you have the ability to kick butt in two different timelines, which sounds like it’s going to be a lot better than butt kicking in just one timeline. If your familiar with the Shattered Dimensions fighting mechanic then  can beat everyone up with ease, but if you haven’t played it before, then  don’t worry the game is about button mashing your opponents into submission. Eventually you unlock a new move that allows you to create a temporal paradox, this allows you to freeze all enemies within a certain distance making battles a lot easier, plus you can strategize on when the best time to use it.

Plus both Miguel and Peter have their own special ability to help improve their chances of winning battles, also some parts of levels require you to use these abilities so you can progress further in the game. Miguel’s ability is called Accelerated Vision, this is allows you to send a deco and cloak so you can get your enemy to attack that whilst you run behind them and then attack. Peter’s ability on the other hand is called Hyper Force, this allows Peter to move at a much faster speed then he could previously. This allows you to dodge almost any attack that comes your way, but more importantly allows you to attack your enemy  faster meaning you are able to land more hits and combos than usual. These abilities aren’t just limited to combat. Miguel’s Accelerated Vision can also be used to divert rockets to blow open certain doors and Peter’s Hyper Force can be used to run through lasers, or to avoid sensors that would usually lock onto him.

Again these abilities are something that brings alot to the way you fight and play the game, however there are quite a few things wrong with this game in my opinion. For me the biggest issue is the fact you never really had a place in the game where you could swing freely. It was an issue I had with Shattered Dimensions as well. There is some light relief at least, as some levels you do need to swing through areas to progress further. This game has some big open spaces to swing around but they are few and far between, as most of the levels you have to run around or crawl around, which for me does not feel like a Spiderman game.

In addition to all these game elements there are quite a few free fall levels. These are areas where Miguel dives down a shaft and you have control him while he is falling to avoid barriers and obstacles. I found these levels  annoying, although I understand that this was something that stood out in Shatter Dimensions which you only did a few times, in this game however I felt it was over used. In one level you dived through a vent four times in a row, and that is just a fraction of the amount of times you do this.

The game itself is also far too short, I completed this game in the space of a week, which doesn’t sound too bad, but I only played it for maybe two hours a day or less. So if I was to try to think how many hours it took me to complete I would say less than twelve hours, which for an action game is pretty average. It took me almost a month to complete Shattered Dimensions and that’s me calculating this in the amount of hours it took me and not days.

There is an unbelievably weak villain list in this game, I was very unimpressed by Anti-Venom but what ruined things completely for me is the fact you have very few true villains that you go up against. I mean I can count them on one hand and still have plenty of room for more, which was not what I read would be happening.

Then we have the BGM and SFX to take into account, one of the most important things when it comes to games spawned from a comic is the voices. If you don’t have the right voices the game could be amazing but you would always be annoyed by the voice, well I must admit Beenox used the same character voiceovers as they did in Shattered Dimensions, however there is something they did that seriously annoyed me and that was the overuse of the word “Shocking” by Miguel O’Hara. Now I know he uses it quite a bit in the comic and they want to portray him as accurately as possible, but after hearing it being said constantly and for most of the time at a completely unnecessary and out of context points. Usually I am able to let things like this go but it was so annoying that I would actually stop playing and walk away it annoyed me that much.

Other than that the SFX were spot on during fights or even during level, there were particular sound that made me aware of impending danger or where I was being attacked from, which is useful. The BGM was also on point which is something I was happy to hear, during battles with bosses or even during tasks the dramatic music made its point and gave a great feel to the game. Also the game is graphically impressive, the detail they used was amazing and was again along the same lines and concept they used in Shattered Dimensions.

With all this said there is one thing that I have left for last and that is the challenges, bonuses and other extras the game has to offer. I will start off with the bonuses, well you get the obvious concept art and bio’s as you go through the game, but there is also during the game you unlock news paper showing you the headlines of real timeline and then of the adjusted one, so you can see just how different they are. You also have different costumes for Miguel and Peter, you can choose to wear if you like, what is really nice is if you have played Shattered Dimensions you unlock some costumes. If you want to get the other costumes you have to complete a particular amount of challenges and get silver or higher.

So the challenges are shown on a web (like Shattered Dimensions) and you can see what the challenges are and what you need to do to complete them, you unlock challenges as you progress through the game. Pretty simple but during the game when you unlock a challenge you do not get told what it is and that was annoying too. The other bonuses are the cheat codes, well the game has a website you go to which has V.I.P cheat codes for you to use which I feel is unfair and just spoils the games feel.

So all in all this game is ok but is nowhere near as good as I expected, I am disappointed that they went through all this trouble only to put out a mediocre game. There is a lot of unique content but with the game being so short I didn’t really feel happy when it all ended.

Pros
+Easy to pick up even if a first time player
+Unique aspects in the game and gameplay
+SFX and BGM work very well with the game

Cons
-Game was far too short
-No real place in the game to websling
-Too much freefall gameplay

6/10

-Random Man

Considering the premise of Asura’s Wrath, in which players take the reigns of the demigod Asura as he battles gods in angry revenge, it set itself a high bar to meet in terms of expectations. Dubbed by gamers as a potential “God of War-beater” in terms of epic battles, I was excited to see what Capcom and CyberConnect2′s game had to offer in its demo (out today on Xbox, tomorrow on PS3), seeing as over-the-top action games are among my favourites – especially those made alongside Capcom, who are responsible for Devil May Cry and God Hand which share a similar genre. So how did the demo measure up to the hype?

Presented as an episodic story similar to a Japanese anime, the demo gives players access to two “episodes”, numbers 5 and 11, both stages pitting you against one of the game’s bosses. Right off the bat I must say that the game does look fantastic, and while it doesn’t attempt to look visually like an animated cartoon, the actual camera work and storytelling are done in a way that the game does feel very much like an interactive anime in the vein of Dragonball Z or suchlike. The actual visuals look very attractive, very colourful and vibrant the whole way through.

First off, I played through Episode 5: Hollow Victory, which pits Asura against the gigantic god Wyzen. Having apparently taken Asura’s daughter, Asura commenced to tackle the mountain-sized deity in hand to hand combat. After a quick press of the left stick in time with an on-screen prompt to land from being thrown by Wyzen, Asura dashed toward the boss and the first stage of the boss began. At this point of gameplay, Asura was automatically running toward Wyzen, while I could move from side to side and jump to avoid energy blasts that were being thrown toward me. While doing so, a reticule on the screen allows you to target multiple points on the boss’s body and release a volley of energy blasts by pressing Y. While seemingly doing no direct damage, these blasts helped fill up the Burst Meter, which I’ll explain later.

Once close enough to Wyzen, Asura leapt up toward him and I had to tap A in time with prompts to leap between floating platforms or else be grabbed by him and thrown back. Once I got above Wyzen, Asura flew down toward him from the sky, in a similar fashion to the running section, where I could evade blasts and release lock-on volleys. This whole process serves to fill up the Burst meter, which seems to act as a way of pushing the boss to the next stage – usually by allowing Asura to pull off a big attack to change the tide of the fight.

In this way, the boss fight essentially acts as a mix of simple gameplay sections and QTE (Quicktime Events) that comprise a set series of events that take place in a set order. At all times, at least in the demo, Asura is able to jump with A, do a melee attack with B (although this is largely unused in the first episode) and fire rapid shots with X. The Y button functions as an action button that changes function depending on Asura’s current situation – a lock-on shot in the running sections, a counter-attack when certain attacks are coming toward you, or a heavy strike in melee combat. The Left Trigger can sometimes activate “Unlimited Mode” (which seemed to have a kind of meter that was hard to distinguish), which seemed to help fill the Burst gauge faster. The Right Trigger executes a Burst Attack, which as I stated before is a large attack (which is a scripted QTE style sequence) that pushes the battle forward. The general aim of the boss battles is to fill this meter by executing regular attacks, activate the Burst Attack and then progress to fill the Burst meter again in the next stage.

While I’m no adversary of the QTE system (I loved them in God of War, and some other games), Episode 5 felt so scripted that it really didn’t feel as though I had any control over the battle. The QTE’s felt easy to respond to (though I generally don’t struggle with them in other games anyway) with long windows to react, and even when purposely failing them I only found myself being thrown back slightly – or even in some cases, Asura seemed to act in the same way as if I had hit the button anyway, making me wonder what the purpose of pressing the button was at all. While the fight looked very impressive, the simplicity and ease of the scenario left me feeling uninterested and the fact that my actions seemed moot in many cases made my input feel almost redundant – I only needed to mash a button now and then to prevent myself from being crushed in a couple of QTE’s, but even then I only realised they could kill me because I purposely avoided acting to see what would happen. While the fight looked fantastic, the lack of effort it took really made me wonder when exactly I would be feeling any “Wrath”, because I was expecting a lot more frenzied button mashing than what was delivered. One section did involve a couple of regular enemies thrown at me while I proceeded to hold X to shoot down a flying battleship, but they died in a couple of hits and seemed to pose no real threat.

Hoping that Wyzen was just a QTE-heavy section of the game, I gave “Episode 11: The Final Lesson” a fair chance. Pitting me against Augus, Asura’s old fighting master, this episode was more what I had in mind. A more traditional fight with an enemy of equal size, this episode allowed me to run around the arena freely, whilst avoiding Augus’ attacks and attempting to beat him with my own. With a flurry of fists (Asura grows four extra arms when he fights), it wasn’t long before Augus tried to do a special punch on me – which I could then counter by tapping the Y button when prompted, allowing me to knock him down and leave him vulnerable to beatings or a grab attack (also performed with Y).

Much like the first boss, Augus had no health bar – rather, it was a matter of building up the Burst gauge to pull off a cinematic QTE attack to move the fight into its next stage. The first one was quite funny to watch, as Asura and Augus proceeded to hit each other with slugger punches, until I was then able to activate Burst Mode again. I was then greeted with a small cut-scene involving Augus un-sheathing his blade, and he began using blade beam attacks with his sword.

I don’t know whether this is the difficulty the game will be in the full game, but these attacks (and most others) made barely a dent in my health bar, so served more to keep me away from him than actually kill me. Still, I enjoyed this part as you had to alternate between jumping horizontal beams and dodging between multiple vertical ones, something that reminded me of a Devil May Cry boss mechanic I always liked. When I got close, he would attempt to attack me directly, and I could then avoid these attacks by jumping or dodging (performed with RB) and wail on him some more. After one more Burst Attack and an insane QTE scene involving a sword getting stabbed right through the planet, the demo ended.

While the second episode was more what I was looking for, the ease of the battle and the sheer abundance of QTE’s again left me feeling unchallenged. I really wanted to enjoy the battle – it looked fantastic and the music was equally epic (one of my favourite parts of the demo), but I just felt like I wanted to get stuck in a bit more and actually have some real control over Asura.

Seeing as the demo was purely boss fights, I feel like I’d need to see more of the game to make a real judgement of the game – some trailers have shown Asura battling more regular enemies which could be enjoyable if done right. Perhaps if the game were a bit harder I’d also have felt more of a challenge – which could also be remedied by difficulty settings. Overall however, the demo was something of a disappointment – while the combat was indeed over-the-top, so much of it was scripted and QTE-based that I didn’t really get into any kind of rhythm, nor did it give me any kind of blood-pumping excitement that I’ve experienced with other action titles in the past.

I look forward to seeing more of Asura’s Wrath in future as I sincerely hope that the demo was merely a poor choice of representation for the game, but I’m certainly more wary that the title may not quite be the God of War beater that many have deemed it to be thus far.

- Leon

The story is relatively simple, and awfully typical of a Pokémon game. Dark forces are engaging in thievery, and it is up to you to hunt them down and retrieve their ill-gotten gains. Unlike the main series antagonists, Team Rocket and its various clones, it is not Pokémon themselves that the villains are looting this time but Glowdrops, which represents the game’s health-restoring elixir. Its not a particularly compelling story in fairness, which is exacerbated by the fact these glowdrop thefts seem to have no ingame impact. Whenever I go to one of the towns’ various fountains to regain my health there are always enough glowdrops left, regardless on whether there’s just been a big loot or not. The game gives you some cock-and-ball story about how the grateful Pokémon have reserved some especially for me, which might actually be plausible if the glowdrops were finite, but seeing as they’re not just feels like a cop-out.

The gameplay, however, is pretty damn fun it must be said. You move a single Pokémon around using the analogue stick, and fight other critters in real-time using one of two moves. Some of the Pokémon you defeat will lie in a glowing circle, indicating that you can pick them up and add them to your roster, which is how Pokémon are collected in this title. The game’s real-time game play introduces some surprisingly satisfying elements. A good example would be earlier when I used my Darumaka (power : 898. In English : alot!) to poison a much lower level Blitzle, and just stood back and watched as it annihilated its HP.

If you so wish you may switch between Pokémon in your roster at almost any time (except when in the absolute heat of battle) and, as long as you don’t let your Pokémon die you can use as many as you wish. The pace is fast and frantic, and plays like a brilliant cross between Chrono Trigger and Bangai-O. Delightfully all of the current 649 Pokémon feature, so you’ll never tire of having to continually run into the same old monsters while playing this. Its particularly a pleasure when you run into an old favourite among all the frenzy (I must admit I did squee when I came across a Meowth!).

Other fun little inclusions are a 2-player battle and Co-op mode (both of which I have yet to try) and an additional, rather different use of the Streetpass feature. When you achieve a certain amount in game one of your stored Streetpass/Mii Plaza buddies (regardless of whether they’ve played this title of not) will make a visit to your ‘Toy Shop’ and spend a considerable amount of money! Which is a nice addition and comes in pretty useful. There are a few special Pokémon that can also be unlocked in this way…

Boss battles are fun, but do get repetitive. Regardless of which Pokémon is in use (and they vary by size/type/power, you name it) they always always have the same tactic, pivoting around in a circle before unleashing their attack. Its true that the balance between the boss’ power and your own will change each time, which will obviously make your strategy slightly different to each boss. But that doesn’t stop me thinking the developers were slightly lazy…

The graphics look to belong more to a high-end DS game than a 3DS title, but thats actually not a problem. Infact it suits the frantic gameplay to a T. When in play, the Pokécritters themselves all have a neat black border around them, which almost makes the game look like a cartoon. Its presentation is in the 2.5 style found in titles such as Pokémon Black/White. The colours are very vivid and bright, as with virtually every Pokémon title. While these things are all fine there are times when this title really lets itself down graphically, however. One big example is the text used to announce battles, another the cutscenes you come across as you traverse though the game. They both look like they were put together as part of a coursework project by a student learning to use 3D Studio Max. Not really what you’d expect from a full price retail title, especially one from Nintendo.
I really can’t complain too much however. The special effects look good, and great care has clearly been taken to make sure each and every move looks good when executed. Aside from that, and most importantly, the dear Pokémon themselves, all 649 of them, have been reproduced faithfully. As a fan of the franchise this is perhaps the main thing that encouraged me to purchase the game in the first place, and something I must give it praise for.

Upbeat is what you’ll find when it comes to the music. This is what you might expect from the Pokémon series, and it is wholly pleasant, even if its fair to say its nothing special. It has a very electronic 1980s feel to it that goes well with the pace.
Interestingly there’s more variation in the actual battle music then there is when actually travelling through the levels unprovoked, which is in stark contrast to the main series games in the franchise. The variance in battle music is much welcomed, ofcourse, but its a shame that the same tunes are played over and over while in the normal areas of the game, because it really makes things feel quite samey at times. Certainly I would contribute this as a reason why this is a title best played in short bursts, given a rest, then returned to. There’s this one track, used on ‘Silent Forest’, ‘Windy Prarie’ and ‘Bright Beach’ among others… and honestly if I never have to hear it again I will be chuffed. Not that its a bad tune whatsoever, its just been used to death in this title.
The sound effects are great, they really made me smile. From the satisfying ‘smash’ sound made when a Pokémon you’ve just defeated submits to you, to the calming swishy noise made when you’re Audino performs ‘Secret Power’, the sound effects are well done here. I must make those Pokéfans among you aware that, as you may have guessed, the Pokémon still use their Gameboy cries. But it really takes nothing away from the experience at all, and, anyway, for many of us, these bleeps have become as synonymous with the Poképals they represent as any voice acting snippets could hope to.

So in conclusion, I think this review may have portrayed this title in a more negative light than it deserves. Its just that it has some glaring flaws that really needed to be addressed for this to be a fair review. But, overall, they don’t take away from this title’s solidity as much as I feel I may have portrayed them to have done, so allow me to redress that balance here.
I decided to buy Super Pokémon Rumble because I was so impressed by its gameplay at Eurogamer. I have honestly not regretted that decision for a second. Thus far I only have 3 games for my 3DS : Street Fighter 4, Mario Kart 7 and Super Pokémon Rumble. And I love them all equally. That sentence alone should make a fair few of you (especially 3DS owners) appreciate just what a special title this is.

Despite appearances this is no rehash (although it is clearly rushed in places). Its the most complete Pokémon Rumble title to date, and hopefully the second in what proves to be a long and prosperous series, because, let me tell those Pokéfans out there among you, playing Pokémon in realtime is AMAZING. Super Pokémon Rumble will send an army of Pokémon flying at you, and you -will- defeat them, either one by one or multiple at a time with the right moves. And it just feels amazing.
Yes there are a multitude of improvements that could be made. But that doesn’t distract from that fact that this is one of the finest Pokémon titles out there at the moment. I’d even go so far as to say its my joint favourite Pokémon spin-off game ever, the other being the legendary N64 romp Pokémon Snap. I really hope those 3DS-owning Pokéfans among you are not planning on letting this title pass you by. For any of you that have it : I’d be happy to exchange Friend Codes for a 2 player co-op game =]

PROS

+ Top-notch gameplay. Chrono Trigger meets Bangai-O
+ All 649 Pokémon that have currently appeared at some point pop up here
+ The graphics don’t push the envelope, but still generally work very well!
+ Music and sound effects are generally pleasant

CONS

-Crap Story
-Boss Battles are repetitive
-Few major graphical niggles

6/10 – Don’t regret purchasing this title for a second, an absolute joy for Pokémaniacs. But the amount of flaws and lack of originality sadly mean I cannot, of a sound mind, rate it any higher (despite wanting to!).

~HelenBaby

Though the game has lost its subtitle ‘Deadly descents’ the extreme theme still seems to be going strong. Though a lot of the stunts are little bit unrealistic I must admit that the thought of grinding a board over a power line does excite me, as does the prospect of performing tricks by off of the side of a moving helicopter. From what we have seen and played so far the theme of helicopter runs very strongly though this trailer so I expect we will be seeing a lot more chopper action on the slopes this time.

Something which also caught my eye in the trailer was the night levels. Glowing lights on the fingertips of the boarder illuminate the slopes around you giving these levels a unique rave look. I can imagine these levels would be great played with the lights turned down low. The trailer also shows players being able to rewind the last few seconds of gameplay and try again, allowing them to avoid crashing out. This time reversal is a clever feature, but one which I feel could be controversial amongst some fans.

One of the things I always loved about the SSX games were their soundtracks which always consisted of a unique mix of everything from indie, to rock and hip-hop. Its nice to have a good variety of tunes to throw yourself down a mountain too, and if this trailer is anything to go by we will not be disappointed.

So on to our own journey down the virtual mountain. The first thing we noticed upon sitting down to the new SSX was the impressive attention to detail that had been payed to the new slopes. It is easy when presented with vibrant and impressive trailer to doubt that the final game will live up to the promises, but I can assure you that with the graphics of new SSX you will not be disappointed. I was also pleased to find that though the slopes and tricks had been updated to provide new challenges the gameplay did not feel at all alien. The controls felt sharper and yet familiar making this game a good addition to the SSX family.

The level we played followed a simple time trial format, with tricks and boosts helping you to set the fastest time to the bottom of the run. In true SSX style the more awesome the trick the more boost you earn and with boosts creating impact ripples through the snow the better your tricks the faster your time and the more epic you feel. As our video coverage shows ghost players allow you to race your friends or yourself, charting your progress to help you beat your high score. This was only a taster of the full game, and we will be interested to see how the other mode will play on full release.

Though only one level appeared to be playable at the expo we also accidentally got a glimpse at the games menu system, Oops. Here we were presented with a 3d globe which we could rotate in order to browse and select from the most extreme slopes on planet. This was a nice touch as it added a sense of context to the game and gave a great visual representation of your progress.

Though overall my first impression of SSX was very good the first showing of the game was not without its glitches. At one point my character started spasming uncontrollably, which despite adding a considerable amount of points to my score did not really add much to the gameplay. Still, this was a very early version of the game so lets hope they work out the kinks before the release this March.

Until next time,

24

x

SSX
02/03/2012
EA Sports
www.ea.com/ssx

Rumours hit the internet todaythat at E3 this year not one but two new consoles are going to be announced. After a painfully long wait it finally looks as though both Microsoft and Sony will be announcing the next generations of the XBox and PlayStation family. The first site to make this announcement was mvcuk.com. They stated that  ”MCV’s third-party publishing sources claim the firm had signalled to partners this will happen.” Ben Parfitt MVC’s online editor also tweeted about the news saying “Obviously we can’t reveal our sources. But you have my personal word on this – the source is exemplary, 100% concrete, ultra high level.”

This is pretty huge news, but as it is only an announcement we probably won’t see any solid release dates until a year or so down the line. Personally I expect that at this years E3 the most we will see is  maybe some concepts and if we are lucky a screen shot or two. Interestingly, if they go ahead these announcements will coincide with Nintendo’s announcement of the official release date and price of the Wii U.

E3 sounds like it is shaping up to be quite a show this year. We will be keeping a lookout for more official information about the 360 and the PS3′s successors, so stay tuned to PlusXP for more updates soon.

Though as yet information about the next generation of consoles is limited, personally I am hoping that a whole load of new IP’s will come out of the next console generation. It would be great if the successors to the 360 and PS3 bring a whole load of new features and content instead of being just a basic continuation from their predecessors. I also hope that the new Microsoft console will have an integrated blu-ray player.

While we wait for more information to surface what do you guys think and what are your predictions for the next generation of video games consoles.

Garv

As well as the usual gifts of jazzy ties, plentiful piles of socks and sugary treats, this Christmas I got a copy of Mario Kart 7. Being a casual Mario Kart fan since Super Mario Kart on the SNES, I was pleased I could finally get some extended hands on time with the new game.  I have always preferred the arcade style of racing games over the more realistic car simulators, for example I never got on with the likes for Forza Motor sport or Gran Terismo as they seem to realistic for me. I have always favoured the ‘Race to the finish line using any means necessary,’ approach to racing games and Mario Kart 7 fits nicely into this genre.

Mario Kart 7 has a good selection of single player modes to choose from.  Classic Grand Prix mode pits you against several AI Karts in a four race ‘no holds barred’ battle to become King or Queen of the road. In Time Trial mode you have to beat a course of your choice in the fastest time possible. There is also Balloon Battle, where you are thrown into an arena littered with weapons to pop you opponents balloons before they pop yours. Finally there is Coin Battle where you have to pick up as many coins as possible in the allotted time. All of these modes are fun to play in both single player and in multiplayer, however for me Grand Prix and Time Trial mode have always outshone the rest.

The racing mechanics of Mario Kart 7 are what fans have come to expect. This game is fast and really easy to pick up, making it a great game for new comers as well as experienced pro’s. It also fits in well with the portable gaming style of the 3DS. The power sliding technique is back, however this time round they have made it a little easier. Taking a page from Mario Kart Wii, Mario Kart 7 doesn’t require you to wiggle the circle pad from side to side while power sliding to gain a mini turbo boost. While this is a good idea to stop people from snaking (Constantly power sliding to get a turbo boost) in my opinion it has toned down the skill of the game slightly.

This is the first Mario Kart game to come out for the Nintendo 3DS system and I must say graphically the game looks really good both in 2D and 3D modes. Just by looking at it you can tell that Nintendo have really invested a decent amount of time into making the game look good on the 3D hand held device.  The sounds that have become synonymous with Mario Kart and indeed the Mario Franchise make a welcome return to Mario Kart 7, making Nintendo fans such as myself  feel at home when playing this game.

There are thirty two tracks to choose from including sixteen brand new tracks and sixteen tracks from previous Mario Kart titles. In my opinion there is a great selection of classic tracks such as Mario Circuit 2 from the original Super Mario Kart on the SNES, Kooper Beach from the N64 and Waluigi Pinball from Mario Kart DS. All of the tracks have been slightly re-imagined for Mario Kart 7 to make them fit in perfectly with the newer elements of the game. Don’t forget about the new tracks though, as they are also brilliantly made and worth a race too. Most tracks have elements that are new to the Mario Kart Franchise.  These elements include underwater sections where a propeller sticks out the back of your kart as you motor under the water and massive ramps which turn you kart into a mini glider. Personally I feel the underwater sections aren’t that great as they slow your kart down a little too much, but the glider sections do add a great skill element as you try and balance height with speed to gain a lead on your adversaries.

Much like previous titles in the series, Mario Kart 7 brings a fantastic arsenal of weapons and power ups to aid you in your battle to the finish line. Fan favourites such as the heat seeking red shell, the speed boosting mushroom and the slippery banana make a welcome return. There have also been new additions that in my opinion add more skill to the game. The Tanooki tail can smack opponents off of the track as well as flick bananas and mushrooms away. The fire flower has also been added so that you can throw fireballs at anyone who tries to get in your way. There is also the lucky 7 which gives you the a collection of weapons and power-ups to use including a Banana, a Green Shell, a Red Shell, a Bob-omb, a Super Star, a Mushroom and a Blooper. Be careful though, as with the Lucky 7 opponents can steal power-ups from you and if you are hit by a passing Bob-omb  you can lose your entire Lucky 7 arsenal. Game balancing power-ups  such as the Spiny Blue Shell and Bullet Bill also make a comeback, but I feel these are a bit overpowered this time round. There have been countless times when I have been in first place and have been Blue Shelled just before the finish line, which then lands me finishing the race in 5^th. I also find that Bullet Bill pretty much always puts the player into first place which it never seemed to do in Mario Kart DS.

Coins also make a welcome return to the Mario Kart franchise increasing your top speed as soon as you have collected ten. They also go towards unlocking new elements to the game such as new parts to customize your Kart. This brings a great sub-objective to the game which some of the later titles were unfortunately  lacking.

Mario kart 7 brings a great collection of characters for players to choose from. You have Nintendo fan favourites such as Yoshi, Toad, Koopa Troopa and Princess Peach, but you also have some great new additions such as Rosalina from Mario Galaxy and Latiku the cloud surfing Mario Kart race officiator. In true Mario Kart fashion all these characters have their own stats and attributes which effect how you race. There is a total of eight characters to unlock in Grand Prix mode and you also have the opportunity to unlock you Mii as a driver.

Mario Kart 7 also brings vehicle customisation to the table. Here you can mix and match wheels, Kart bodies and gliders to make your perfect Kart. For me this is a great element to add to the Mario Kart franchise, but I feel it could have been taken a step further maybe with colour customisation and fine tuning you kart. Hopefully we will see more Kart customisation in future Mario Kart games.

The thing in Mario Kart 7 that has impressed me the most is the multiplayer. Mario Kart games have been infamous for their local multiplayer however Mario Kart 7 takes multiplayer to the next level with its online multiplayer option. You can now create communities online for you and your friends to join in and race. Not only that but you can also set community preferences such as what weapons will feature in your races. The multiplayer fun doesn’t stop there as you also have some great features over street and spot pass where you are able to race against your friends’ ghosts on their favourite track. The 3DS can also take the ghost data and convert it into an AI which features in your single player grand prix races. This is a huge step up for Nintendo and online multiplayer and I hope to see much more of the same kind of thing in the future.

Pros:

+ Great Visuals
+ Gliding Mechanics that bring a good element of skill to the game
+ Great Re-envisioned tracks which complement the new game play elements
+ Well thought out online multiplayer
+ Kart Customisation

Cons:

- Some power-ups and weapons seem overpowered
– Underwater elements slow down the races too much
– Revised Power sliding makes the game easier.

8/10 – Mario Kart 7 is a great new addition to the franchise and to the 3DS. The new game play elements such as gliding are welcome but it is a shame that some of the power-ups and weapons feel a bit too overpowered. With brilliantly thought out multiplayer options this is a must have title for any 3DS owner.

- Garv