» Eurogamer 2009 Plus XP

Posts Tagged ‘Eurogamer 2009

Nov

Eurogamer summary

Categories: Article
Tags: Aliens Vs Predator, Assassins Creed 2, Dante's Inferno, Eurogamer 2009, God Of war III, Heavy Rain, Left 4 Dead 2, super mario bros wii

Dear Santa…

Dear Santa,
I know I have been a bad girl this year. I know that the incident with the kitten and the toaster was wrong, and that I could have been a little more sensitive of my flat-mates. I mean how was I to know their nan was visiting, and anyway I can’t help it if my room is next to the front door can I? I also really didn’t mean to trip the electricity with my amplifier, and when was I ever told that metal and microwaves don’t mix? With hindsight I even admit that it was wrong of me to challenge complete beginners to guitar hero matches whilst pretending I had never played before. I still to this day don’t know why this makes people so unhappy…. but I’m sorry anyway. I could go on, but the truth is Santa, you see all from that big Coca cola lorry of yours, so there is not point lying about it now. Still, Christmas comes but once a year, and just in case you feel like making this bad girl very very happy here are a few things you could pull out of your sack on christmas day. If you do I promise to try my very best to be extra good next year…Or at least I’ll clean out the toaster…

So here it is. The pick of the bunch, the cream of the crop. My ultimate list of all the Eurogamer titles I’m wishing for this christmas.

Brutal Legend
Well who doesn’t want to slay enemies with their electric guitar this christmas? With a great Heavy metal throughout, addictive gameplay, guitar power and Jack Black this has to be at the top of my christmas list this season. I mean sure, the whole guitar thing makes me just a tad biased, but this game is honestly a lot of fun. Definitely one to rock out to on those cold winter nights. Allllriiight!

AVP
How could I create a wish list and not mention Alien Vs Predator. The boys were addicted to this game and its easy to see why. I found it a bit like Halo, but with more diversity in the playable characters and the ability to run up walls at will. Nice. This game promises hours of solo and multiplayer fun. Easy enough to play but with enough possibilities for strategy and fighting dirty to keep even the most hard core gamers entertained. Definitely one to watch this christmas, but if you want to live past christmas morning here is a hint from me…don’t be a Marine!

Heavy rain
After seeing this played for the first time at Eurogamer I really can’t wait to get my hands on a copy. Though the story line looks very dark and quite depressing in places (No festive cheer here, no sir!) this title really does give you the feeling that you are not so much playing a game, but more the lead character in a playable movie. The great characters and setting aside, the most exciting bit about this game to me is that each choice you make affects the story line. This means that the consequences of your decisions change the path your character takes, to the point where game can have endless outcomes. The developers aim was that no two people will play this game through and have the same experience. Instead they will each have their own unique way of reaching their end goal. An Impressive concept, and one I really hope will live up to our now very high expectations.

Left 4 Dead 2
Just as compelling and Zombieful as the first edition. With new characters, modes, weapons and creatures this title is sure to please all of those get their christmas cheer from whacking zombies over the head with a frying pan. I know I do…

Assassins Creed 2
This season sees the return of our favorite hooded hit-men. If you want to practice stealing sneaky mince pies right from under your mum’s nose this christmas, I suggest you use this game as practice. With the same winning combination of stealth and running for your life (as well as diving into the occasional hay bale) Assassin’s creed 2 is a welcome addition to shelf of all those who enjoyed the first title. Oh, and that new guy. Ezio, man he has style. Plus he also knows how to swim, a useful ability to have especially when in Venice. Perhaps he should give Altair some lessons. It would be nice to give them both a break from all that throat slitting…just because its Christmas.

God of War 3
Just so pretty and yet so angry…A bit like holly or faulty christmas lights. Though I didn’t get much time with this (a great pity) I found myself actually stopping and gawping at the beauty of this game, almost causing a mass gamer pile up…Ooops. If nothing else I would like a copy of this just to stare at, though I also have it on good authority that this game is very compelling, lovely and violent and plays beautifully. A worthy addition to the God of War series and a must for any fan.

Dante’s Inferno
Baby its cold outside….So how about a nice warming trip to hell? Though this game is not as pretty as God of War 3 (Then again what is?) it is still full of gory, surreal and slightly disturbing hack and slash goodness. Taking you through the nine circles of hell, this game does not hold back on the gore factor, especially seeing as in places the walls are made out of screaming corpses and the floor is a giant bleeding spine. This aside, the deadly sin theme is quite compelling and if you like a good dose of gore (and are not squeamish) this is one for you. With weaponry and gameplay I found similar to the Devil may cry series, and so many enemies I don’t know how they are all going to fit in Santa’s sleigh, this is one I throughly enjoyed getting my hands on at the Expo.

Super Mario Bro’s Wii
Mario is back! and just in time for Christmas! This was by far my favorite party play release of the year, making it to me the most appropriate stocking filler. A fail safe theme and beloved characters plus simple but addictive gameplay well executed throughout. In short the perfect recipe for family fun this Christmas. With four player co-op being my mode of choice, everyone from your brother to your nan is sure to enjoy this one. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if even the dog had a go…and enjoyed it….

Now santa. You know I will always be grateful for any gifts you give me, however if these titles were to accidently fall out of your sleigh it would be no terrible loss.

Rabbids go home Wii, I just didn’t get on with the controls. Avatar *cough* Lost planet *cough*. Fairytale fights, nice concept, badly executed. Saw the game, mini games….Really? Dragon age, It’s just s**t. Sorry.

And thats about it. Sorry its such a long list. Eurogamer showed us that we really have an awful lot to get excited about this year, I’m not sure you will even be able to fit it all in your sleigh. Still, if you take pity on me I’ll be a really good girl. Or at least I’ll try to be good. After all, being bad really is so much more fun…

I will leave the brandy and mince pie by the fireplace as usual.
Until Christmas Eve,
Lots of love,

GuitarGirl24
x

Nov

Eurogamer 2009: Rabbids Go Home.

By GuitarGirl24 Leave a Comment

Categories: Preview
Tags: Eurogamer 2009, Rabbids Go Home, Raving Rabbids, Rayman, Ubisoft, wii

and I really hope they make it….

I suppose my title really says it all. It is customary to save the best until last, but as I have never been one for tradition I now bring you my Expo experience of Rabbids go home on the Wii. I must say at this point that I only had a very limited amount of time to play this game, so these are just initial thoughts. Rabbids, if your out there, please don’t hurt me…you scare me….

Firstly, and in the interests of fairness, I will say that this game has a very cute (and surprisingly logical) story line. In a nutshell the Rabbids come from the moon and want to go home. In order to do this they are running wild in the city, collecting all sorts of useless objects in their shopping trolly. They are then transporting these objects via the sewers to a secret location and using their spoils to build a massive pile of stuff which they hope will stretch all the way to the moon. ET eat your heart out. Though I generally did not get on with this game I have to admit that I found the story line and objectives refreshing. The game is as crazy and disturbing as its predecessors, with the Rabbids using pretty much any means to, run things down with their trolly, collect stuff and cause as much mayhem as possible along the way. Most of the demo was spent pushing a trolly madly around the city before using an old mattress in the sewers as a secret highway to new parts of the game. The bottomless shopping trolly allows you to pick up anything from furnishings to food and pets, all of which can be saved up and added to your ever growing mountain of random stuff. As the mountain gets bigger you are able to survey more of your surroundings, opening up more possibilities for exploring, scavenging or just running around knocking things over if you like. The game does have some specific objectives should you feel inclined. One challenge the game gave us during the demo was to stun and then pick-up a collection of Chiwawas to add to our trolly. Yes. This confirms it. This game is officially just as mad as ever. With the Rabbid characters the same odd mix between strangely frightening and somehow cute this game has the same feel as the rest of the series without simply being an add on. I feel that Ubisoft have been very brave in taking a step away from the popular Rabbid mini games, which can only be commended.

You may wonder at this point what my problem is with this game. So far I have spoken only positively about the story line and characters, so what could my problem possibly be? Well to be honest what really put me off this game was to poor positioning and tricky nature of the controls. Playing this game simply did not feel natural, and when compared to the slick, easy to use gameplay of other titles we sampled this year (such as Super mario Bro’s) Rabbids just does not cut it for me. Though this game makes full use of the motion aspects of the wii remote, the shopping trolly you push around the level feels as though It has a wonky wheel forcing it to constantly turn towards you. I’m serious, If you picked up this trolly in Tesco you would throw it back. Though players would probably adjust to the trollys wicked way in time, who needs the hassle? Especially seeing as the story line involves a lot of trolly dashes. Another thing which bothered me was the method of firing at enemies. In the demo we played we were able to fire other Rabbids from the safety of our trolly into enemies (Or the general public) to stun them. This seemed like a good feature, until we came to use it. In order to fire a Rabbid you have to aim the little dot on screen at the enimy with your left hand and then fire with your right hand trigger. Though this seems simple enough, It really doesn’t feel natural. I found myself wanting to hold my hands as if I had a rifle, and though this made shooting easier it made steering more difficult. I really don’t know whey the decision was made to separate the firing motion between two hands, perhaps there is a secret reason I am not aware of. Don’t get me wrong, this game isn’t the most complicated out there, its perfectly possible to play. Still, I feel that it would have made the game feel a lot smoother if they had kept it simple. This kind of game really relies on the fun factor, and with frustrating cointrols it is hard to have a lot of fun.

So in summery. This game is very cute, and a little disturbing but not one which I will be favoring this year. Its worth a play purely for seeing what destruction can be caused with a humble shopping trolly, but to me it is just not in the same league as some of its fellows. Perhaps after continual gameplay the controls would begin to feel natural, who knows. All I know is the entire team found it difficult to grasp, and this stopped any of us really being able to enjoy the game to the full. Which seeing as the concept of the Rabbids is so good is really a great shame. If you have a Wii here is my advice. Buy Super Mario Bro’s this christmas. Its easier to grasp and just as random as the Rabbids with added nostalgia value. A much better one to play with your friends and minus the Wonkey wheels. Rabbids…your cool…but go home…please…

Stay tuned for my christmas list!

GuitarGirl24

Nov

Eurogamer 2009: Fairytale Fights

By GuitarGirl24 Leave a Comment

Categories: Preview
Tags: Eurogamer 2009, FairyTale Fights, Hack and Slash, Platform

Is everyone sitting comfortably? Then I shall begin…

Once upon a time there as a little girl called Little Red Riding Hood. Miss Hood lived in a happy fairy-tale land, and though she stood only knee-high was happy in every way. One sunny day she decided to take a walk with her good friend, the naked emperor. It was so sunny outside that the King even decided not to wear any clothes, but Hood did not mind and so they set off into the forest. They ran happily through the lush green landscape for many many minutes but soon they became surrounded by a variable onslaught of bloodthirsty lumberjacks. It looked as if poor Hood was outnumbered, but then, in the distance, she saw a golden chest gleaming in the forest light. Hood ran to the chest and was able to use her powerful fists to smash it open before the lumberjacks drew too near. With one final almighty blow the chest burst open, reviling a host of shiny and sharp weapons inside. What joy Hood felt! Without hesitation she picked up the largest hammer and ran happily towards the lumberjacks, swinging it about her with wonderful speed and agility. Following suit, the emperor picked up a shiny silver saw and began to slice and grate his way through the crowd. Bright red blood as vivid as the cheeks of the happiest of children gushed forth as the lumberjacks flew about them in a sea of dismembered limbs. Hood turned to the emperor, blood rolling down her cheek and laughed merrily. Smiling back, he took her hand and they happily skipped on through the forest.

The End

Well its not really the end, it wouldn’t be a proper review if it finished there now would it! As you have all seen by now, fairytale fights was another of the games on show at this years Eurogamer expo. Advertised under the tag line “Welcome to the Tragic Kingdom” the idea of this game initially confused me slightly. Was it going to be a play on fairytales as I had expected? Or more of a dig at Disney? Well people, you need wonder no more because I am going to try and make sense of this bloody yet cute new release.

Just moments into the game it becomes obvious that the story centers more around traditional fairy-tales than anything else. The tagline may have been eye-catching, but I can now report that I did not see a single Disney reference in the entire time I played. Sorry to disappoint you if you wanted a chance to kill Mickey, I could be wrong so it may yet happen. Instead, the level we played involved journeying through the forest to find the stolen magic storybooks. This was a simple enough quest, though I must say that I was disappointed with a lack of wider context to the story. With random characters including Snow White, The Emperor, Little Red Riding Hood and Jack (and the beanstalk), the story would have been confusing enough if well explained, let alone how it was presented at the Expo. The game charged into the first level with only a brief explanation of characters and scenario, and I would have liked a little more. I am guessing this was merely due to the fact it was a demo, however if the start of the game is the same as it was in the expo, prepare to spend the first few levels a bit confused. Besides that, the game had simple objectives, mainly find the stolen storybooks whilst killing as many evil fairytale characters on the way as possible. Easy really.

As expected the graphics in this game are extremely colorful and over the top. The trees, houses and even characters themselves are robust and chunky, giving the game an extremely childish feel which was obviously meant to make it more shocking when blood begins to flow. Set in a magical fairytale land, the levels are taken straight out of a storybook, and though we only played in the forest setting I am sure that similar inspiration will be taken throughout the game. I liked the way this game had a great sense of depth, making you feel as though you could run far into the distance instead of being restricted as you are in so many 2d platform games. Though I generally liked the look of the game I did feel as though a little more thought could have been put into making the level design more inventive. Everything was as expected, and It would have been nice to include some adult jokes in with all of that childishness.

As for the gameplay… well there is no way of defining this apart from simple hack and slash, with A LOT of added comedy blood. The controls are very easy, with simple actions such as running, jumping and slashing allowing you to progress quite far into the game. One thing about the controls I did like though is that combat is controlled by the right hand stick. This allows you to spin your weapon up down or in full circles really quickly, and adds a much more manic, out of control feel to the gameplay. The game also has an abundance of different weapons, including hammers, saws, clubs, guns, sticks and rolled up newspapers. These weapons can be picked up either from the corpses of enemies or gained by breaking open chests placed frequently throughout the levels. As well as the obvious killing, other challenges along the way include moving saws and swinging axes which block your progression through the level. Though they are well animated and fun to play with, the difficulty level is nothing like that of their ‘Tomb Raider’ pre-decessors, now that really does take us back to our childhoods….

Anyway, where violence is concerned, there were things I liked and things I hated about this game, so time for a sum up. I liked the over bloody violence mixed with the fairytale theme. For example; when there is enough blood on the floor your character actually slides about in it, which is very funny to watch. I also like the variety of weapons, as sometimes you reach for a hammer and end up with a rolled up newspaper. I did however find the game too easy, and if I find it easy I’m pretty every hardcore gamer in the country will think likewise. Another thing which I found distracting was the close up views it insisted upon showing me of my enemies dismembered bodies. I’ll explain. When an enemy was killed in a spectacular way the game would show a massive (and I mean half the screen) shot of the body being flung about with blood flying everywhere. I found this not so much disgusting, but distracting and after a while I ignored the left hand side of the screen completely. I mean everyone loves comedy violence, but there is a limit, and I can’t help but thinking that anyone over ten would find this not so much amusing as confusing. I can’t help feeling that this space could have been put to better use, and therefore I think this is a major failure in the games design.

Overall I enjoyed playing this game at the expo, but I am not sure that I would enjoy playing it all the way through alone. With friends around the novelty of fairy-tale characters beating each other to a pulp makes the game enjoyable, but playing on your own I have a sneaking suspicion that this one could get a tad repetitive. It is as if all of the ingredients for a great game are there, but that it is aimed at an audience much younger than the violence allows it to go on sale to. I hate to say it, but for a dark fairy-tale it could really do with growing up a little.

Not every story has a happy ending, but if your lucky even the worst ones end up with you being tucked in and kissed goodnight.

GuitarGirl24

Nov

Eurogamer 2009: Red Steel 2

By Leon Leave a Comment

Categories: Preview
Tags: Eurogamer 2009, red steel 2, Ubisoft, wii, wii motionplus

protagonist

The original Red Steel was released alongside the launch of the Wii, and although it got mixed reception, I thoroughly enjoyed it – it wasn’t perfect, but its use of Wii-mote controlled FPS gameplay, mixed with some semi-decent katana fights was enjoyable – and the game had some really memorable moments, such as the scary fairground level. Seeing as the title felt like one that had a lot of potential with some tweaking, I was eager to give Red Steel 2 a shot when I heard it was appearing at Eurogamer.

Red Steel 2 focuses on a completely new storyline, where you play as a silent protagonist known as ‘The Swordsman’. Looking somewhat like a modern cowboy crossed with a samurai, I thought he looked fairly cool, if not a bit cliched.

The demo started with an interesting section – where the Swordsman had been tied by his hands to a chain attached to the back of a motorbike, and I had to control my movement to avoid taking damage whilst he dragged me around some barren landscape. Although different, the section was fairly easy and a little long, so I assume it’s there more for storyline purposes. After a little while there was a crash, and I found myself in a flaming wreckage, where the regular gameplay began.

I soon got hold of a fairly old-looking gun, and a similarly aged katana, which were both lying around nearby. The demo felt like a large tutorial of sorts, having me shooting locks and such to progress. The game’s gun controls are simple aim and shoot controls, which work well enough – although I felt as though the larger gun didn’t obviously react to my hand movements as well as the guns did in the first title, which had me holding my guns ‘gangsta style’ simply because I could. Switching to the sword (which can be done at any time, as opposed to the first title) allows you to perform various melee attacks with sword movements.

gameplay

The game utilizes Wii Motionplus, although to be honest I didn’t find it any more responsive than the first – anyone expecting 1:1 motion control will be sorely disappointed, and I really didn’t find it worth the addition of the controller add-on. For instance, in combat swinging the Wii-mote vertically or horizontally will do a matching attack, but to do a heavier strike it required you to do a wider motion with the Wii-mote. However, this didn’t really feel natural, as it felt instinctive to just swing the Wii-mote harder and faster, whereas to do a heavy attack actually required a wider swipe at the same speed. This attack was necessary in order to break the armour of certain enemies, and felt more of an awkward gesture than a fluid gameplay mechanic.

As you may be able to tell, it wasn’t going particularly well in my eyes. The game did offer a few little special actions such as flicking the remote to push doors open, and interacting with certain walls in order to scale them in an inhuman fashion, but aside from that it all felt quite generic. The game has opted for a completely different visual style from the original, going with a more cel-shaded design, but I didn’t really find it to look particularly breathtaking – the enemies being equally boring with simple designs which didn’t really help my enjoyment.

I can tell that Red Steel 2 has attempted to incorporate the sword fighting into the general gameplay a lot more, which was perhaps the one thing that was missing from the original title, but in the visual conversion it seems to have lost a lot of its beauty. Whereas the original was a dark and gritty modern title, RS2 seems to be a completely different style and loses much of its old-meets-new feel in place of a rather western feeling title with a few armoured baddies thrown in.

Red Steel (left) opted for a realistic style, whereas Red Steel 2 (right) has attempted a cel-shaded design

Perhaps the game would be better further in – with a few more abilities and perhaps some more interesting places and opponents, but I really felt as though RS2 has scrapped many of the nice aspects of Red Steel’s atmosphere, and replaced it with a cartoony bland design. The main protagonist looks cool, but has no real personality – and seeing as it’s a first person title, appearances are very much irrelevant when it comes to the gameplay.

I was really disappointed by my impressions of the demo, it felt very much a matter of adding one or two new features and scrapping far too much of the original style – it didn’t really feel like a sequel, more a complete rehash of the original concept done far worse than the first attempt. With the Wii-Motionplus equally disappointing, I’ll be steering clear of this game until I see something worth playing it for. For now, I’d point people in the direction of the original, or Metroid Prime Trilogy for some of the best Wii gunplay if you don’t mind the sci-fi style.

-Leon

Nov

Eurogamer 2009: Eurogamer 2009 Videos.

By plusxp 1 Comment

Categories: Article and Game News
Tags: Aliens Vs Predator, Assassins Creed, carrers, Eurogamer 2009, Left 4 Dead 2, Media Molecule, sega, Ubisoft, valve

Here are all the videos from last Weekends Eurogamer Expo. We have interviews with Valve, Ubisoft and Media Molecule. We also have gamers impressions of The New Super Mario Bros Wii and Aliens Vs Predator.

So sit back and relax as you watch these highlights from Eurogamer 2009.

Plus XP’s Garvaos speaks weapons and swimming on Assassins Creed 2.

Guitar Girl 24 talks to Chet from Valve about upcoming sequel L4D2. ARGGHHHHH ZOMBIES!

Garvaos takes a breather with media molucule for a candid chat on LittleBigPlanet.

Francis asks the questions we all want to know. HOW DO YOU GET INTO THE GAMING INDUSTRY?

The gang do the rounds with gamers impressions from the AvP demo available at Eurogamer.

The Plusxp and Gamersunite gang join forces to discuss our impressions on playing the game. Nintendo did not sponsor us for our positive reviews of the game, we all genuinely liked it that much.

Then again party games do usually make good expo games.

***

My Site www.gamers-unite.com will be coming soon.

- markBOSS

Nov

The Photos From Eurogamer 2009

By Garvaos Leave a Comment

Categories: General
Tags: Eurogamer 2009, Photos, Plus XP

This past couple of days we have been giving you game coverage left right and center from this years Eurogamer Expo. So I am betting you are all wandering what was the expo like as a whole? What was beyond the games?

Well here it is folks, Eurogamer in Photo form, these are all the photos that were taken by the Plus XP team as we made our way round the show floor.

: Uncharted 2 Gameplay

: Uncharted 2 Gameplay

: Eurogamer Expo Floor

: Eurogamer Expo Floor

: Eurogamer Expo Floor

: Eurogamer Expo Floor

: Leon Playing Dragon Age: Origins

: GuitarGirl24 Interviews Chet Faliszek, Writer On Left 4 Dead 2

: God Of War III

: God Of War III

: God Of War III

: Three Of The Plus XP Team (From Left To Right) Garvaos, Leon And Ray

: Three Of The Plus XP Team (From Left To Right) Garvaos, Leon And Ray

: Heavy Rain Developer Session

: Heavy Rain Developer Session

: Heavy Rain Developer Session

: Heavy Rain Developer Session

: Garv Intencely Plays Dante’s Inferno

: Garv Plays Dante’s Inferno

: Charles Martinet The Voice Of Mario

: Charles Martinet The Voice Of Mario

: Charles Martinet The Voice Of Mario

: Charles Martinet The Voice Of Mario

: The Beatles Rockband Stage

: 3d Glasses Don’t Work On Camera

Nov

Eurogamer 2009: 3D Gaming With James Cameron’s Avatar

By Garvaos Leave a Comment

Categories: Preview
Tags: 3D gaming, 3rd person, Eurogamer 2009, James Cameron's Avatar, Lost planet 2

Eurogamer was full of surprises for me, such as the Heavy Rain Developer session showing us how awesome that game will be, and the brilliant gameplay of Aliens Vs Predator.

What I really didn’t expect was a demonstration of 3D gaming. One single monitor on the showroom floor throughout the weekend had a mass of gormless gamers staring at it with glasses that were reminiscent of Joe 90. The game that was on show was James Cameron’s Avatar, so I quickly grabbed a pair of 3D specs and took a gander at the gaming action.

I think it's fair to say that 3D glasses don't work with a camera.

Now the last time I looked at a 3D moving image that was jumping out at the screen at me was probably when I was about 7 ish. It was an episode of Dr Who with John Pertwee and me, mum and dad were adorning cardboard specs with green and red lenses. Lord knows why to this day I still remember removing the specs for just a second that evening and seeing a green and red fuzzy outline. So when I put on my uber geeky looking glasses I could not help but feel a little relieved that I wouldn’t be getting a paper cut on the bridge of my nose. With that aside, the concept of 3D visuals hasn’t moved that much from the cardboard specs days. Removing the glasses still shows you a blurry image just this time you don’t constantly see with a red and green tint.

However, now HD technology is around the 3D image is a lot more crisp, it really does jump out at you. If you were to show a five year old these 3D visuals I am 99% sure that they will aimlessly try put their hand out to try and grab what is coming out of the screen. The HD graphics of games these days do make 3D gaming look pretty damn good. Sometimes it’s so good you may feel a little ill after playing a good solid day, like most gamers do these days. So as it is a nice novelty it’s probably not a great thing for day long gaming fests.

That aside, I have heard that the good old technology guru’s known as the Japanese are perfecting 3D gaming without the glasses. I don’t know much about this yet but I am mighty interested.

Now that’s 3D gaming, what of James Cameron’s Avatar the game? Well all you 3rd person shooter fans are in for a treat hear as it is your classic 3rd person shoot em up. If you are familiar with the likes of Gears Of War and Lost Planet you will be right at home here.

The demo I played started off in an air craft of sorts, I had to fly and shoot my way through an alien jungle demolishing all sorts of extra terrestrial foliage to get my big ship through. Now I don’t know about you, but I have no knowledge of Avatar the game or the movie, so I thought it was a bit rude that humans would go to an alien planet and start wrecking up the place. Anyway once I got my ship on the ground finally, I was running around in the classic 3rd person shooter style that we are all familiar with and we all love.

Now I’d hate to say this and I will be damned by the creators of Avatar if I say it but this game plays a lot like Lost Planet 2. It’s similar in game play and game features. Throughout the demo I was running and gunning in the same style as Lost Planet which quite frankly I thought was just a coincidence, I mean my mentality when it comes to games is, If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Hence why a load of Hack and Slash games feel similar but play awesomely in their own right. But, and this is quite a big but, it wasn’t until I got into a mech that this game literally screamed Lost Planet and to be honest at this point I was a little disheartened, that this title, isn’t that original in all honesty. I know I am not one for negativity in games, but there is always something out there that is gonna rub any gamer up the wrong way and this time round Avatar for me was not a great gaming highlight

With all that said though the visuals in the game look great, you can definitely tell the developers have taken time in making this game look sharp and beautiful. That’s probably why it was up for the 3D gaming demo. It really does stand out visually.

So to sum up this nice little two part article, 3D gaming is definitely going up in the world, even though that it is probably not for the day long gaming slog fests that us gamers do day in and day out. It is definitely a novelty that will be getting five year old’s and drunk people grabbing at things coming out of the screen. It will be interesting to see how the Japanese develop the technology without the Joe 90 glasses.

As for avatar. stunning looking game, the visuals are great, hell the game play isn’t awful but then its not entirely original. Having no prior knowledge of Avatar the game or film I am still confused when humans are charging into a relatively nice looking alien planet all guns blazing without so much as a ‘Hello’ but then that’s just me.

Garv

Nov

Eurogamer 2009: Brutal Legend

By GuitarGirl24 Leave a Comment

Categories: Preview
Tags: Brutal Legend, EA, Eurogamer 2009, Heafty Fine

Allllllright! Bringing the metal to Eurogamer…

Being your rock correspondent I felt it my not so solemn duty to visit the Brutal Legend stand at this years Eurogamer expo. After getting hold of the taster demo online, I was keen to see if I could find out any more about this metal odyssey, as well as to see other gamers reactions as they got their first taste of Eddie’s world. So it is without further ado that I proudly bring you the official ‘Girl gamers’ mini summary of Brutal Legend.

For those of you who don’t know, and I am very sorry if I bore you if you do, here is my short breakdown of the story. In Brutal legend you play as the extremely talented but greatly unappreciated Ex-roadie Eddie Riggs. I say that he is an ex-Roadie because in the starting sequence of the game Eddie is tragically killed (or so I assume, who knows) saving a foolish (emo looking) band member. Eddie is a true metal head who despairs for the techno rock world we now live in, so needless to say when he is resurrected into an entirely heavy metal themed fantasy land where he is able to defeat enemies with either this legendary axe or with his electric guitar; he couldn’t be happier. Throughout the demo you get to fight as Eddie, defeating hordes of hooded enemies and meeting his new ally and possible future love interest metal maiden Ophellia.

As you have probably guessed this game is entirely metal themed, something which was met with great excitement at Eurogamer. We know already that the combination of gamers + metal is a winner, but it was not until I was able to observe gamers reactions at the expo that I realized how much this game stood out from all of the other titles on show. Whereas other titles were either for the hard-core gamers with serious themes (Aka AvP or Heavy Rain) or simply quite silly (Aka Rabbids Go Home or Fairytale Fights) this game managed to be playable and funny on many levels, bringing a smile to the face of everyone from kids to hard-core gamers. This is to me entirely down to its strong, tongue in cheek metal theme, which is what truly makes it a winner in this Metal maiden’s books. After-all, Eddie is voiced by the one and only Jack Black, who to me is the absolute best choice for this kind of over-the-top metal adventure. The game graphics and menu screens remind me of a guitar hero title (always good!) with cartoon style, rock imagery being used throughout, and MOST importantly the whole thing is also set to a strong heavy metal soundtrack, which makes the rock theme of this game pretty much airtight.

As well as having a great deal of comedy factor, Brutal Legend is actually a lot of fun to play. The game is fun overall and easy to pick up. On the Xbox 360 most of the initial commands centre around the XYBA buttons, making this game accessible to pretty much anyone. The start of the game consisted mainly hack and slash gameplay, however there was the option to use more complex guitar solo’s to resurrect artifacts, bring down the power of rock upon your enemies and open doors etc, which I think could be interesting. I would liken this ability to the Ocarina in Zelda: Ocarina of Time‘ (Which I seem to be doing a lot recently but never mind) with the right combination of buttons needing to be pressed in order to unlock the guitar’s secret power. These combinations were quite simple in the demos, but I think they will probably prove more challenging during the game’s progression. As well as being able to electrify enemies with his guitar and decapitate with his axe, Eddie is also able to create small earthquakes by jumping, which is extremely useful when surrounded by enemies or in real trouble. I also like the added novelty of being able to choose at varying points in the game whether or not to see the gore, and hear the swearing – or to play a censored game. I have never seen the option to censor a game being presented within actual gameplay before and though I doubt anyone actually chooses the clean option outside of the original Expo showings (I certainly didn’t) I think it is a nice novelty.

An important part of the story tells that Eddie can fix anything, and this aspect of his character comes out during the game as Eddie creates a metal themed car he lovingly names his “Druid Plough’ to mow down his enemies. The addition of vehicles in this game breaks up the action nicely, and my visit to the expo confirmed my suspicions that we have not yet seen the last of Eddies heavy metal DIY. During my time on the stand I was able to see more DIY vehicles and creatures which become playable throughout Eddies quest. The screens to my left and right were teeming with metal inspired creations, everything from intensely cool metal motorbikes to bizarre natural abominations such as Warthogs with bike wheels (Get the irony?). Though I have only has a short time with this game it is clear that you will not be disappointed with the creativity of the level designs, nor the diversity of Eddie’s heavy metal playground.

And there you have it. A fun, loud, metal filled adventure, true to everything that had been promised. Every gamer I saw leaving the stand this saturday did so with a big smile on their faces, and even though it didn’t have the attention of some of the bigger titles (such as AvP and Left 4 Dead 2, the wait for which was enormous!) all of those I found playing it seemed well and truly hooked. It is true that this game was not as complex as some of the others on show, but in my opinion it’s not really about high scores or team battles, it’s about living the metal dream. Personally, and probably not to your surprise I wish I could play as Ophellia (we have a surprisingly similar dress sense already, all I need is a choker….) however that being my only request, this game will definitely be one for my christmas list this year.

More expo posts later in the week, as well as a little video treat. Until then.

GuitarGirl24

Nov

Eurogamer 2009: Dante’s Inferno

By Garvaos Leave a Comment

Categories: Preview
Tags: Dante's Inferno, EA, Eurogamer 2009, Hack and Slash

Hack ‘n’ slash games for me are a bit yin and yang. There are some absolute gems out there, such as God Of War which execute the gameplay and story well leaving you just wanting more and more. Then there are some that just totally miss the mark of the hack and slash genre, a perfect example of this is the game Ninja Blade, it held the promise to be a great hack ’n’ slash title, but in the end it just flopped with its approach to gameplay and quite frankly, bad story.

At Eurogamer I was very excited to get my gaming mitts on Dante’s Inferno. Now in all honesty I was very skeptical that the game play may be too much like the great God Of War, having seen footage of the game and the use if quick time events I was slightly doubting this games potential. But now as I sit here reminiscing about the time I had with the game, I can tell you all that you will not be disappointed with this gem.

Just think for a second, if Ninja Gaiden and God Of War had some sort of love affair and produced the perfect offspring combining both Ninja Gaiden’s weapon play and level layout, with God Of War’s Quicktime Events (QTEs) and sheer brutality, you would have one hell of a game right? Well for me Dante’s Inferno takes those elements, twists them into its own style and then adds a sprinkle of classic Renaissance poetry. For me this game is a great combination of classic 1900’s source material with one hell of a new millennium twist.

So let’s get down to the nitty-gritty. You are Dante, you have just arrived in hell because you are after the love of your life, she has been kidnapped by Lucifer and all you have to guide you is a spirit by the name of Virgil. Hell in this game in comprised on nine circles, now I only got to play a small snippet of this game, and I got to experience about a circle and a half, maybe less. Now, when playing the demo I had really no indication of what circle I was in, but having thought about it a little bit (and please correct me if I am wrong) I think I was in the circle of Greed for the most part. The demo threw me straight into battle, I had Dante’s bone scythe to hack and slash the hell beasts, and I couldn’t help but smile at the way I was mowing these demons down with combinations of the square and triangle buttons. This game gets what Hack and slash is about, taking down hordes of foes with outlandish weapons and also giving you the opportunity to juggle their bodies about a bit with free-flowing combinations. So, after taking down those guys I was confronted with a huge hell demon which looked like a cross between a goat, horse and one very angry giant. After taking down it’s rider I could control this beast myself, I won’t tell you too much but lets just say that this was a great element, making you really feel that you were pretty much unstoppable for a short amount of time.

After that, there was some decent platforming to be had, you scaled walls God Of War style and followed QTE’s that quite frankly looked brilliant. I’ve gotta say the on-screen instructions for the QTE’s do not look out of place at all and complement the game play very well as a whole. I then had a great boss battle with King Minos, which was pretty well structured, I only have one slight problem with it mind, and that was the camera angle, having found myself at one part not being able to see what I was doing - but with that said it was an enjoyable boss battle, utilising both QTE’s and classic hack and slash boss battle game play. As a note I must say, the amount of gore and brutality in this game is insane, this is not for the faint hearted and quite frankly I think it is awesome. I mean, Hell is never a nice place to be and you can definitley tell EA have thought about that, a lot.

After demolishing King Minos I then was taken on a nice raft ride down the river Styx. Upon arrival I was confronted by a person who had been banished to hell, and I had the opportunity to either save him, so he could go to heaven, or damn his sorry ass. What I thought was odd was that the demo didn’t let me save him, I pressed the button, but nothing happened. Seeing as this is a pre release taster I didn’t hold a grudge, so I jammed my crucifix into his head and he was banished to hell forever.

The river Styx was your typical boat ride that gets invaded by flying hell beasts. At this point I noticed the circle button shot holy light from my crucifix, meaning that this was Dante’s answer to a projectile weapon. This was dead handy for attacking foes from a distance. The wonderful boat ride turned out not to be a boat at all, I was in fact riding on top of a humongous fire demon’s head, he jumped out of the water and decided crush me, this then led to a boss fight of sorts which involved a lot of dodging and some great platforming elements to boot.

For me, Dante’s Inferno is a great hack ‘n’ slash title, a worthy opponent for the genre’s top spot. It combines great game play with quite frankly stunning level design. If you have read the poem you will be quite satisfied with how well it sticks to the source material, that said it is also puts a great modern day style twist to it. This game is definitely one for my ‘I Want Now’ List.

Garv

Nov

Eurogamer 2009: New Super Mario Bros Wii

By GuitarGirl24 Leave a Comment

Categories: Game News and Preview
Tags: Eurogamer 2009, New Super Mario Bros Wii, Nintendo, wii

Will somebody please pop me!!

I figure you may well be wondering what my title is about this time, and I answer. Its just a normal phrase we have all come to associate with a good old fashioned, completely normal multiplayer session of Super Mario Bros Wii. Nothing strange about that of course.

So, Supermario Bros Wii. Voted the Eurogamer teams game of the show at E3 this year it unsurprisingly proved to be a hard one to miss at their own expo this week. With cries of ‘Which mushroom am I??????!!!’ ‘Stop bouncing on my head you *******” “You killed my Yoshi!” and “Will somebody please pop me!” echoing across the Eurogamer hall, this game is set to be a huge party favorite for 2009. If the excitement of the game itself wasn’t enough the appearance of Mario himself was enough to whip a usually quite sedate crowd of gamers into a state of frenzied delight, making me pause to wonder, what can all this excitement possibly be about? and is it really justified? With the help of my three very willing volunteers and a good dose of teamwork we at Plus-Xp went to find out. Not at all for fun of course….purely for the sake of journalism.

Firstly, when asked to review this game I was well aware that any comment made about our childhood friends must be made with extreme-care and consideration. No, not because Nintendo are the type to break in in the night and smash your X-box, but more to avoid a inevitable lynch-mobbing from all of you out there who grew up with Mario as a faithful childhood friend. I am therefore extremely relieved to report to all you Nintendo kids out there that this game is honestly and truly a Mario title through and through. With the same colorful nieve graphics and 2d plat-forming we all know and love, I am sure that if you have grown up with mario you wont be disappointed with this new addition. The demo we played took us on journeys through a wide variation of fantasy lands. Together we ran jumped, swam (and in cased fell) through everything from the classic spooky underground caves with swinging platforms, to a deep sea full of poisonous fish and snapping clams filled with coins. Though we only played multiplayer mode, the rest of the game seems to tie in with the traditional Mario theme very well. I could go on to analyze every aspect, but we are all so familiar with it I feel compelled to summarize. The aim of the game is- Run, Jump, stamp on enemies, avoid sharp things, collect coins, find the end of the level and then fight a boss. Classic really.

Though the theme of the game is solid I have had had shockingly little contact with the Wii since its release. I therefore found myself pausing to wonder how I would compete against my fellow gamers. After-all with many of them having grown up with Mario I had a secret feeling that I really wouldn’t stand a chance. I was however pleasantly surprised. Though I must admit my first few levels were quite shocking (In fact I died 5 times) Once I had realized which Character I was soon having just as much fun as the rest. I know what some of you were thinking, ‘Its Mario, its not rocket science’ but based on my previous, sometimes shaky encounters of the Wii console this game played very well. The secret to this seemed to be its simple controls, which were I am happy to report extremely reminiscent of the early mario we all know and love. You play with the Wii remote held sideways, with the 1 and 2 buttons being used for most of the action giving the game an extremely charming retro feel. The motion capabilities of the Wii remote were not however completely ignored. At times during the game you are asked to shake it, enabling you to perform higher jumps or even with the right hat on fly which even if you had nowhere to fly to would still be immense fun. New features to this game also included new toys which give the user extra advantages. These include not only the propeller suit which allows the wearer to fly, but the penguin suit which allows the wearer to hurl snowballs at unsuspecting enemies. The whole team seemed to really enjoy these new additions, and though we were supposed to be working as a team I must say I was shocked at how competitive some of the team became. No names mentioned of course!

That smoothly brings me on to the multiplayer mode itself. I will now confess, that though I was originally skeptical of the games hype I am personally recommending this game to anyone as one of the best party multiplayer titles for the coming year. Everyone from the site who played this game (no matter how quiet a personality) instantly became one of two things, Either intensely competitive or a real team player. The simple, yet compelling task of navigating the colorful 2d levels as a team brought about many minor arguments as well as much amusement and loud team tactics. Playing as a group of four had its own set of challenges, especially seeing as it was entirely your team mates responsibility to keep you in the game when you lost lives by freeing you from a floating bubble in order to resurrect you into the game. This became especially amusing when a teammate would be saved only to fall off of the bottom of the map almost instantly. This made some levels not so much team work as a scramble for the finish line, with an every man for himself mentality very much part of the game in places. Well, at least if i had anything to do with it. A final good point to the multiplayer mode is that if one team player dies the rest of the team can still progress through to the nest level. This could prove to be useful, especially when playing with family members, siblings, the cat etc…

Overall I am in agreement with my fellow site members in that this is going to be one of the big hits for Nintendo this christmas. With a classic format, beloved characters and a good use of the Wii remote this game will definitely be one to get your friends over, get the drinks in and play long into the night. I Think to sum it up Eurogamer were right. It is better with four. Though I think that they forgot to mention. If there is going to be four, the coins, mushrooms and indeed friendly green dinosaur to ride do help…

Be sure to check out the video footage from the expo later in the week. Until then I’m off to find a Wii and three more very willing volunteers.

Until next time
GuitarGirl24