Let me lay down some facts here, as you are all aware by now I grew up with the FPS genre - so when I say Classic FPS I mean games like Wolfenstein 3D, Doom and Duke Nukem 3D. The principle of the single player - and indeed co-op - campaign in these games is simple. You run through the level gunning down everything that moves, until you get to the end of level goal - usually a big button that says end of level, and finally you get your level statistics. It was very simple gameplay back then, but hell was it damn effective; nothing compares to unloading a clip of ammo into any unsuspecting demon, nazi or indeed alien.

First Person Shooters nowadays have evolved. When you pick up and play the campaign mode in Halo, or Modern Warfare you are thrown into a different kind of gameplay that is more objective based. Instead of just gunning you way through hordes of enemies to get to your one and only goal, you have to fulfill objectives that go towards obtaining that end level goal. Now this is definitely a more in depth style of gameplay that most gamers have come to expect these days, but I find that this new style of first-person shooter is less of a stress reliever that Doom and Wolfenstein were.

The original Doom had the option of punching demons to death, now that's what I call an FPS.

Ever since the first Halo, I have come to accept this objective base style of First Person Shooter. The Unreal Tornament franchise tried to keep to the classic style with its tournament based killing spree, but for me it just wasn’t the same. Then Serious Sam came along, which was damn good for just non stop killing, but in my mind it lacked something, (AKA Story) and wasn’t the serious survival FPS I wanted. I was about to say goodbye to the old style FPS, but then I played Left 4 Dead 2.

Now I have got my hands on this demo I have been kicking myself quite hard. Mainly because I should have been bitten by the Left 4 Dead bug a while ago with the first game. Granted I had a little go on the first game over my mates house but I really didn’t take it in and I regret doing so. To my mind Left 4 Dead is the next generation FPS game I have been hunting for. It returns to the classic FPS game genre with its simple, run, gun and get to your goal in one piece, but not only that, it brings lovers of this type of FPS game play together. Being mainly a co-op driven game, it somehow gets the balance of single player action and team based survival just right, meaning you can either play this on your own or with friends, no problem. Kind of reminds me of the Doom Co-op campaign days, ahhh memories.

The one thing I love about the ‘kill everything that moves’ game design is that pretty much anyone of any skill level can pick up and play it, not only that, they can also get good at it. To be honest I did struggle a bit with my first encounters with a Tank and a Witch, as I hadn’t played the first L4D much, if at all. I really didn’t know what to expect when a Witch was around. Basically I heard the crying, saw a sobbing zombie, thought it would be great to put her out of her misery with a shotgun shell to the back of her head. Next thing I know I am on the floor screaming AHH MY FACE!!! Can anyone say N00b!1!

The beauty of this game and indeed style of First Person Shooter is that you can attack it in any way you see fit. Some people like to stay behind and pick enemies off. I personally love to grab the nearest melee weapon, smother myself in Boomer Bile and shout something along the lines of “Here Zombies!! Lunch Time!!” and see how many of the undead buggers I can decapitate, it was the same with Doom, find a horde of pinky deamons and hack them down with the chain saw.

I gave the Left 4 Dead 2 demo to GuitarGirl to try, seeing as we did the expo coverage together I thought why not. She had a go, and her approach to the gameplay was somewhat different to mine. I love to lead the group and kill as many zombies as possible, where as she likes to hang back and pick them off. Both methods are effective. It’s just I remember GuitarGirl playing the demo and accidently setting a car alarm off. It happenes to all of us in L4D at some point. So the zombie horde came in their thousands and she survives it. Thing is, her team mates were on the brink of dying and she remarkably still has pretty much full life and was standing on a table. Then she says “I think I pissed my friends off because they’re nearly dead - But I’m OK because I am standing on the table!”….Facepalm.

As you can see. Left 4 Dead to my mind is a welcome return to the classic style of First Person Shooting. With simple controls, non-stop killing and one goal in sight; to survive the zombie apocalypse. I will no doubt be putting both Left 4 Dead games on my christmas list, and now I breathe a sigh of relief that the classic, kill-everything-that-moves style of gaming is back. I welcome it with open arms, lets just hope a charger isn’t going to mow me down in the process.

Garv.

Back when I was about 4 years old a game was released for MS-DOS which popularised the FPS genre. This game was called Wolfenstein 3D. It wasn’t until about 2 or 3 years later I was in front of the PC killing pixelated Nazis in “Can I play daddy” mode.

Nine yeas later in 2001 I was then happily sitting in front of my original X box console, Again killing Nazis and zombies from the crypt in The game Return To Castle Wolfenstein. The Recent game still offered the nostalgia, still had some references to the original. I was was in a small FPS heaven at the time.

Now eight years later it is coming back again as of next month we will be returning to World War II Germany to kill some Nazis and of course to kill some zombies. The game that is just being dubbed Wolfenstein promises to mix of unmatched exploration, action and espionage.

You play as B.J. Blazkowicz who is a member of the office of secret actions (OSA). You are sent on a mission into the Reich to discover and find evidence of the Nazi’s possession of a mysterious new power.

Behind enemy lines you discover a power that the Nazi’s are harnessing is of of a parallel dimension known as The Veil.. This dark power will enable the Nazi’s to create a weapon to end the war and possibly the human race.

But that’s not all, during the game when you are behind enemy lines you will have a mixture of human and veil enhanced weapons at your disposal. Giving you the option of taking the Nazi’s down the traditional WWII way or turning their Veil enhanced weapons against them.

Confirmed weapons for the game are as follows:

• MP40 The Nazi Automatic SMG with a 32 clip and a 200 max pouch
• Kar 98 A bolt action rifle with a 5 clip and a 30 max pouch
• MP45 The automatic assault rifle of the game. Packs a 30 clip with a 200 max pouch
• Flammenwerfer aka the flame thrower! this weapon packs a 200 charge with 3 units of continuous fire power
• Panzerschreck the Nazi Rocket launcher! With a 500 charge!
• Particle Cannon This is one of the veil modified weapons not much is known about it except that it is a beam weapon. (In my opinion maybe some sort of rail gun)
• Telsa Cannon A veil electric charge weapon. (maybe something like the lightening gun from the quake series)

Those are the first confirmed weapons of the game. As for enemies you will get the bog standard Nazi infantry men. Also flame thrower troopers, elite guards etc. But you will also get a collection of veil enhanced enemies such as The Altered, which a grotesque creatures who were once human and have been infected badly by the veil, veil assassins who use the dark power to their full advantage, utilising stealth sill and quick reflexes. Veil Heavy troopers, which use the veil for protection and power, and the Desploited. Who are deceased Nazis who have been given veil power and have risen from the dead (yay Nazi zombies!)

As you can see Wolfenstein has stayed loyal to the series and is still very much with the idea of Nazi zombies. I cannot wait for this game.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ey8g56I7yM8]

Wolfenstien is due out august 2009. Better save your pennies.

Garv!

OUT NOW:

Ninja Blade: As i am a hack and slash nut this one will come to no surprise. After playing the demo. I was quite impressed with it. I was initially thinking it was gonna be a ninja Gaiden knock off but i was pleasantly surprised. The use of weapons, quick time events and platforming did impress me.

Gears Of War 1 and 2: I was a fool. I had gears of war 1 once it was amazing but i got rid of it so i could get y greasy mitts on another game, which i cant remember off the top of my head. Everyone is playing Horde made on GOW 2 and GOW 2 does look amazing. 3rd person shooter aren’t really my thing but GOW does them justice!

Left 4 Dead: Just for on-line really. One of those game i would rather ind in a bargin bin somewhere so i can play my mates on live with it. Played it once, thought it was a good game for what it was, but i can assure you i want be buying i for the single player experience

Fear 1 and 2: This may sound peculiar to some of you but my Girlfriend likes watching me play games. We both went though bioshock together. And now we have both seen odds and ends of FEAR we want to put the 2 games trough their paces. Dont you jut love relationships

COMING OUT THIS YEAR: (this is where the good bit is :p)

Guitar Hero Metallica 29/05/2009 : It still annoys me that a load of Americans are playing this game right now probably as i type seeing as they got it in march. But us EU fans are still twiddeling our thumbs for this gem of a game. We have already had a taste when we downloaded the GH metallica demo. But i want more. Me being an avid metallica and GH fan this is the music game of my dreams so far, a host of great metallica songs coupled with the option t play as the band makes me happy

Prototype 12/06/2009 : I love GTA, Zombies are great too. super powers are awesome and generally causing destruction around the city of new york is my cup of tea. When i first heard of prototype i was a bit sceptical. But as i have been looking at news and videos my expectations of the game have grown. the ability to mould Alex how you ant him looks great. I really cannot wait for this one.

Batman: Arkham Asylum 19/06/2009 : As far as comic book games go. None have really stood out to me. I was a tad excited about spider man web of shadows but that didn’t last long. So what is Arkham Asylum different? Well for me it how grimy, dark and deliciously evil it looks. It also has the joker. This game is definitely targeted at an older audience just highlighting the fact that batman isn’t just for kids. I have high hopes, reminds me a little of manhunt so should be fun.

Tales of Vesperia 03/07/2009 : One of the few games i enjoyed on the Game cube was tales of symphonia. Ok i didn’t play the game all th way through but when i did play it on coop round my mates house i was impressed. The 360 is still in need of a decent long RPG. Granted fable was good i wont knock that but we need a game with a party and 50 hours of game play. :p Blue dragon got boring after a while. So why is TOV on my wanted list? well if its anything like the cube game i will be plenty happy!

Wolfenstien 28/08/2009 : Yay! was my first reaction when the classic wolfenstien series was announced a come back to the 360. First FPS I played. Surprisingly enjoyed the return to castle wolfenstien on the original Xbox so i have high hopes for this game. It will be lik horde mode on call of duty WAW but better seeing as its got a whole game around it. Even thinking about the game makes me happy.

Halo 3 – ODST 25/09/2009 : Me being a huge Halo 3 nut! (Even my xbox ix covered in cammo Green with halo scrawled on it) This is one of my must haves of the year. Its pitting you against he covernant as an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper (ODST) so you wont have your spartan armour. This is going to be a great game because it will focus’s more on survival and tactics. Cannot wait! And with new multi player to the halo 3 universe i think i may explode with excitement!

Bayonetta 25/09/2009 : Still a little sceptical. A game by sega and one of the brains behind devil may cry. Another hack and slash where you play as a witch who has magic hair and looks like a secretary combined with a dominatrix. Add some stilettos with gun attachments and nakedness when you perform uber attacks and you have a game…Will it flop? Will it be a pervs paradise? or will it be a greatly challenging and compelling game. Well one way to find out. Gonna have to wait though.

Bisoshock 2 30/10/2009 : Well if you haven’t been reading this blog let me point you here, here and here. Bioshock, one of the best FPS games ever made In my opinion and i greet the sequel with open arms. Playing as a big daddy 10 years after the events of bioshock 1? yes please

Max Payne 3 30/10/2009 : When this was announced I jumped for joy, The first gaming series to use bullet time and its coming back for this generation. I am stoked another 3rd person shooter game that does the genre justice. Great story and great game play from the firs 2 games lets see hat the 3rd installment has to offer.

2010:

Final Fantasy XIII : A must have RPG for any RPG fan out there with new improvements to game play and it being a part of square enix’s greatest RPG franchise. I simply cannot wait. As i aid before the 360 needs a good RPG

Dante’s Inferno : Hack ad slash, 7 circles of hell and a great poem i think  make a good game. From one of the makers of God Of War i am remaining positive that this game will be good. Take a look!

Well hopefully that’s given you a glimpse of whats to come. The release dates are subject to change and are a rough estimation.

Now i need cash and a job.

Anyone?

No?

Garv!