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Post by Chris Lionheart on Oct 27, 2011 0:39:27 GMT
RAGEAdmittedly I didn't go very far into this game (turned it off during the first mission in the Ghost's Hideout). This is a game that I can tell has had a lot of love poured into it. The graphics, style, and story of RAGE all look to be completely badass. It sits in the exact same boat that BioShock does. In that it's only issue, which is unfortunately a deal-breaker for me, is that it is a First Person Shooter. With my poor eyesight/slow reflexes it really makes it hard to play FPS's. I would deffinatly spend the time to watch a "Let's Play" of RAGE though. To date there are only a handfull that I enjoy playing/can play competantly: - BRINK, mostly after certain upgrades to see the direction the bullets are being shot from. Even then So far with my time in BRINK I tend to play Medic class and let the A.I./Online Players play the shooter Solider class instead.
- BulletStorm, where I have more at my disposal than a gun, like the whip to lasso people in closer, a kick to send them flying backwards, and many enviromental dangers to throw them into.
- Left 4 Dead 1/2, where the enemies don't shoot back because they're zombies lmao!
- ShawdowRun, where there is variety in the style of play (don't 'have' to use a gun at all, can focus on magic and future technology weapons instead) Spider-Man: Edge Of TimeI agree with Brandon's friend that the web slinging/swinging becoming a chore. It seems a lot less responsive and fiddely than Shattered Dimensions' was. And that beating up a load of guards to get a key to open a door is tedious. It's repetative gameplay mechanics was in stark contrast to Shattered Dimensions which I thought mixed things up quite nicely. However outside of those two minor issues, the story, presentation and graphics are all top-notch and make me want to play through the game more. This was a fun rental (not that I completed it). I would certainly pick up this game when it is cheap.
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Post by Classy Ken Styles on Nov 22, 2011 21:11:20 GMT
WWE 12 Review: THQ and Yuke’s have set a new standard for a fun professional wrestling game with WWE ’12, which gives the SmackDown vs. Raw series a much needed update. FINALLY…a wrestling game that’s fun and addictive to play without too much repetition. WWE ’12 is the 13th game in the series and looking back, they’ve come a long way. Who would have known way back when, with the release of the inaugural WWF SmackDown! that we would one day be able to fully customize our wrestling game experience? With the aid of the ever-popular Create-a-Superstar, Create-an-Entrance, custom soundtracks, Create-a-Finisher, Create-a-Brand and the brand new Create-an-Arena options, users can now completely immerse themselves in the WWE Universe and put their own unique spin on things. The first obvious difference between WWE ’12 and its predecessors is the extreme fluidity in the core gameplay. Going from one move to another is easy, fast and looks fantastic. They’ve done away with the choppy and awkward animations from years past and replaced them with the most fluid, authentic-looking gameplay in a wrestling game to date. And to go along with this, the folks at THQ have also gone to great lengths to make sure that every in-game shot is nearly identical to one you might see through a WWE camera lens. Combine that with new gameplay features, such as wake-up taunts, move interruption, and comeback moments, and you become entirely immersed. These little things really add to the overall ambience that WWE ’12 is able to provide. The reason many of the people buy these games every year is to put their own creative touch to the series. Whether it’s creating a character, a logo or even an entire wrestling brand, WWE ’12’s creative features really help keep the game fresh for a long time to come. Create-a-Wrestler, a staple in the series, is virtually unchanged from previous years, apart from a new hair choice here and new boots there. You can still create custom logos in the paint tool and place them on your custom superstar as a tattoo, tights logo, face paint, mask design or anything in between. One new feature this year is an all-new Create-a-Titantron. This is a completely unique feature that uses various templates with B-roll footage, combined with in-game footage of your custom superstar to give you a pretty decent looking entrance video. Whether you want to make one for a Canadian Patriot, a demonic hellbeast or even Mr. Perfect himself, you can do it. Another long-awaited feature added this year is Create-an-Arena mode, which is literally what it sounds like. You take control over nearly every aspect of a wrestling venue, from the aprons, the mat, the turnbuckles, the barricades and even the electronic billboard that scrolls around the arena inconspicuously. You can add your own logos or use one of the preset ones they were nice enough to include for you. Among these included logos are every single WrestleMania logo ever, multiple Royal Rumble logos, old World Championship Wrestling pay-per-view logos and many more. Having created a decent looking Ring of Honor arena myself, I can say that although this new feature is not perfect, it’s off to an impressive start, and the potential is unlimited. Last year we were introduced to WWE Universe mode. This was essentially a hybrid between story mode and exhibition mode. While you didn’t play out linear storylines like Road to WrestleMania, each match had significance. You could start feuds or feuds could be started for you. You could form new tag teams or be betrayed by your tag team partner. The WWE Universe literally crafted itself around your every move. So what have they done this year? Made it 100 times better, with the ability to completely make the WWE Universe your own. Don’t want to wrestle on Raw, SmackDown or Superstars? No problem! You can make your own brand, complete with it’s own roster, show name, brand logo and arena, and swap them out with the Monday, Thursday, and Friday shows. For many fans, this is a dream come true. Speaking of Road to WrestleMania, to say that it’s been overhauled is an understatement. Unlike previous years, where you could choose one of several WWE superstars and take them on a several month journey towards the spotlight of WrestleMania, WWE ’12 takes a different approach. This year’s Road to WrestleMania is a much more linear experience, with a much better storyline. You take control of multiple characters, including Sheamus, Triple H and even your own custom superstar (voiced, ironically enough, by current Total Nonstop Action X Division Champion Austin Aries). Each character’s story arc segues into the next playable character quite smoothly, and the overall story is quite impressive. And, not to spoil anything, but be ready for a lot of WCW. Another thing that should be noted is this year’s massive roster. Not only are there more than 50 playable current WWE Superstars, but there’s also a plethora of unlockable characters, including the Rock, Booker T, Kevin Nash, Arn Anderson, and more on the way in the form of downloadable content. Perhaps the highlight of this expanded roster is the introduction of a character who hasn’t graced a WWE video game ring in quite some time (apart from WWE All Stars): the “Macho Man” Randy Savage! Expect to see Savage available for download in the near future. WWE ’12 has set a new standard for fun wrestling games. With the fluid gameplay, the vast array of customization options, the incredibly impressive roster and the overall authentic feel that WWE ’12 brings, it’s no wonder it’s already won several awards. It’s a near-perfect embodiment of a wrestling game. WWF No Mercy, eat your heart out. WWE ’12 is available for PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360. Rated T. www.wwe.thq.com. Review by Dan Kemp
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Post by evil on Nov 23, 2011 2:43:26 GMT
WWE 12 Review: Alright. I've played this game for around... oh. I'll say the neighborhood of 3-4 hrs. tops. You guys can call this my unofficial review. Of my experience playing through the game. Here is what I think so far. *The Good* ========= 1. Animation - We've all seen the videos of the gameplay. Many of had some doubts. While others have remained optimistic. I have to say this is by FAR, the best wrestling game in terms of animation. Every move. Every motion. Every strike. All performed with such fluidity and smoothness. Hats off to THQ/Yukes in this department. 2. Road to WrestleMania mode - Now, I realize this may get a mixed reaction. And, that's okay. But imho here. I feel this year's RTWM is the best I've ever experienced. Now, I know some folks may not be into the frequent cutscenes and would prefer going from match-to-match as you progress. The purpose of this years mode was to tell a great story. So far? From my time playing through Sheamus' side of the story. I'm impressed. 3. Graphics - "Gameplay over Graphics". Yeah, that might be true. But what's a great game when it has shittty graphics? Not a very fun, or realistic game I can assure you. WWE 12 is by far the best looking game from the arena's to the wrestlers themselves. 4. Controls - This is by far the biggest learning curve everyone is going to have to go through. Learning the controls. For me. I love to play the game as much as I do watching simulated matches. It took about a good 30-45 mins. But after that amount of time. I'd like to think I got a pretty good grasp of everything. With that in mind. I'm very much pleased with the control scheme this year. *The Bad* ======== 1. Sound - This isn't necessarily 'bad', as its more 'meh' then anything. On one hand. The sound effects. The crowd noise. The entrance themes. All of which are SUPERB! Yet, on the other hand? The commentary. While I think this has been improved? Its still nowhere near perfect or on the level as such wrestling games like WWE All-Stars. 2. CAW Mode/Story Designer - Again. Like the sound department. This is a mixed bag. CAW Mode & Story Designer options return just as we last saw them in SvR 2011. Everything that was featured in last year's game remains intact for WWE 12. However... the bad news is? Little to nothing has been added new. CAW mode has a few new designs/hairstyles, etc. But, nothing to write home about. Story Designer? Other then a new, prettier interface. Not a damn thing has been added. Disappointing! *The Ugly* ======== 1. Freezing/Glitches - From my experience playing. I've only had one instance where my game froze up. No more then 10-15 mins of having the game inside my X-Box 360. After taking a look over the Create-An-Arena option. The game froze on the 'Now Loading' screen. Other then that? I haven't had any more problems. Around the net. I've seen and heard of different issues. Particularly with the online server. That part I cannot comment on at this time. Since I don't have XBL Gold. I haven't checked out WWE Universe mode yet. So I'll save my comments on that when I have some time to invest in the mode. Overall... technical problems aside. I have to say I am impressed with this game. Its a huge, huge step in the right direction. For WWE 13? Its time to iron out the kinks from WWE 12 and build on what has already been a solid game. That's my thoughts on WWE 12. Agree? Agree to disagree? Either way it goes. Its my opinion, and I'm sticking to it.
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Post by Chris Lionheart on Nov 29, 2011 2:57:20 GMT
Jurassic Park: The Game (and a little note about Back To The Future)
This game is a total Quick-Time-Event experience ('X' flashes on the screen, you press x in time to advance the scene). Whilst I usually hate QTE gameplay, this game is somewhat passable as there is some warning. The button will have a few seconds fade-in before you actually press the button, which is plenty of time to hit the button if you're slow to react like me. It's not like the Royal Rumble mode in WWE 12 where a random button just pops up and you have to press the button super fast before it goes away again.
Whilst the QTEs are at least easy to work with unlike most games, they actually comprise the entirity of the game"play", which is more like an interactive movie - reminissant of old titles on the SEGA CD like TimeGal and Road Avenger.
As with Back To The Future, the game is quite fun to be honest. The strength of the lisences (BTTF & Jurassic Park) are enough to keep me interested and keep playing to find out the story that the game offers as well. But one thing I don't understand about these types of 'point and click' adventure titles is that once you have completed the game once, where is the replayability? Other than 'maybe' going back and choosing conversation branches that you missed out on or chose to skip the first time around (which may or may not even be meaningfull). You already know the plot of the game and more importantly the ending, right? It is for this reason alone that I could not reccomend purchasing either BTTF or JP. But if you can rent them on console or pirate them on PC, they'll keep you very interested for the amount of time you spend with them.
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Post by Chris Lionheart on Jan 11, 2012 11:24:32 GMT
WWE 12 Review:
Cons: - Last year's CAW f-ups/poor design choices haven't been fixed. face skin is still spotted. skin color picker is still pre-defined colors. no transparency. no hair over masks, facepaint over mask designs or wrestling tights logos over leg tattoos. Most tattoos and 300+ moves being taken out. Granted this can't really be held against WWE'12 so much as it can SVR2011/The Series or THQ in General, but I now have to tolerate it none the less. - RTWM Mode's overuse of [mostly ridiculous 2on1/3on1 handicap] Backstage Brawls, also how they were not matches, but 'beat down until 'Y' flashes up. - New rope physics from SVR2011 are mostly gone. I loved kicking oppoents off a ladder and having them catch their neck on the top rope on the way down. It made computer sim, player vs computer and player vs player matches great fun to watch/play. So disapointed that this was toned down. - Lies told in pre-release interviews regarding being able to fully customize your brand and have an all CAW Universe. No, you can't fully customize it, as RAW/SD rebranded into Nitro will still have RAW/SD themesongs playing. No, you can't have a full CAW or full Diva Universe. If you 'are' supposed to be able to have those things, then THQ's bug testing is atrocious. Not to mention the amount of time it's taken to get C.C. working, the patch we're still waiting on. - C.C. not working correctly.
Pros: - RTWM Mode's stories. They were cool. - Larger WCW presence in the game. - Predator Technology (specifically the in-between move animations/holds) - New 'TV style' camera viwes on moves as they're preformed, really adds to the immersion. - C-A-Arena, C-A-Entrance-Video - two steps in the right direction. Maybe add a stage area to C-A-Arena, and give us back C-A-Belt next year, guys? - More robust C.C. servers (when they work), how we can now search by what's hot, most downloaded etc. There are some new options in there to filter what we find (when they work).
I've had a good morning with C.C. servers. I can now say without a shadow of a doubt that this game NEEDS C.C. servers to be up and running. Without them it feels neutered. Now I can test my CAWs out for bragging rights against other members', and see how you guys have pieced your original characters together as well for ideas I can use. Or I use it to collect together real wrestlers to keep my game fresh. The days of me farting around with CAW formulas or indeed PS1,PS2 era XPort/Action Replay MAX/GameShark game save devicess are long over. Just as this is an old game engine, it needs C.C. to keep us keeping things fresh.
I will also say that these games benefit GREATLY from hacks. Mostly for female CAWs, for what I'm interested in hacking, so that they can hold more title belts, be in more match types and fightagainst the men. However actually being able to use them to make-good on THQ's pre-release talk and have an All CAW Universe is great too. As long as there are hacks, I can squeeze out that little bit more freedom and fun from these games. That's all I'm going to say on the subject of hacking.
The absolute vanilla product feels a little bit lackluster overall. What we have are a few new features which need to be fleshed out (CAArena, CAEntrance), old CAW glitches that weren't addressed (transparency, spotty skin tone, skin color), poor design choices (dumbing-down rope physics, rtwm backstage brawls). It is only with a functioning C.C. (and to a lesser extent the hacks) that I feel it is worth the £60 price (+ DLC price on top). It is, however, one of the better entries into the series.
If it were my call... I look to the WCW RTWM end match as the perfect example of where this series next needs to evolve in it's gameplay.
That match was a bastardized version of War Games, because the engine cannot handle the correct amount of wrestlers on-screen at once. JBI proved that we could have 8 wrestlers on screen at once (and I think a 9th character, the referee as well?). I know JBI would be considered bad graphics now, but I would be perfectly fine sacrificing graphics if we could have 4on4 matches. That would mean we could have a real 4on4 WarGames match. A real classic Survivor Series match. A classic Tables, Ladders & Chairs match with x4 tag teams consisting of 2 wrestlers.
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Post by Chris Lionheart on Apr 20, 2012 2:06:39 GMT
TRIALS: Evolution [XBLA, Demo]
Is it just me or do the bikes feel a lot more ''floaty'' than in Trials HD? In Trials HD I felt I had precise control of the bike when shifting the rider's weight forward and backwards using the Left Stick. Now it feels as though any slight nudge forward or backwards equates to this long, slow arch in the bike's movement. I've been told by other people who've played the demo/full game longer than I have that this is just the first two bikes, and that later bikes feel more like good old Trials:HD; so I certainly hope that is the case.
Overall, although I'm too poor to afford the 1200 MS Points for the game, I look forward to purchasing the game. Simply put: It's Trials:HD - Bigger, Badder, Better.
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Post by Chris Lionheart on Apr 20, 2012 6:21:24 GMT
*Note, there is some controversy surrounding the game having a keylogger embedded in it which captures keystrokes whilst the game window is open. As such, and due to the lead programmer holding the game source code hostage, S2HD is no more. It seems all we will ever have is this alpha version.
It wouldn't play in Sandboxie (a program for running other programs in a 'sandbox', creating a wall between your PC and the contents of the Sandbox). Instead I got a green screen only. So... I just had to run it normally in Windows. I wasn't missing out on something I'd waited so long for.
Just finished playing it now. It was freaking beautiful. Seemed to have all the MegaDrive/Genesis physics down - although I thought that the jump height may have been capped slightly (or this could just have been because I was playing with a 360 controller, which kinda sucks, not sure). This is pretty much what I wanted Sonic 4 to be; such a shame about how it's ended up.
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Post by Chris Lionheart on May 14, 2012 19:38:46 GMT
SPEC OPS: The Line [Xbox360 Demo]
This demo was a bit of a mixed-bag with it's pros and cons. I will be comparing it to my limited time with the GEARS OF WAR franchise and my opinion of that series.
First of all, SO:TL seems to control much better for me than GEARS does. I think the distinction between having to press down and hold LS and pressing A to initiate a run (you can then release A and not have to hold it down to run) creates all the difference between this and GEARS. In GEARS, where it was only press/hold LS to run, I found myself running straight into cover on the side of a doorway instead of running through the doorway. I think this is because GEARS had 'get into cover' also mapped to LS like run, whereas SO:TL has it mapped to A, so the separation of actions to different buttons works a lot better. Granted I have a limited experience with the GEARS franchise, I'm just saying that I could easily play SO:TL, whereas GEARS was always a struggle/fight to control and stopped me fully enjoying the game.
I also want to touch slightly on the destructible elements of the scenery. I could pump bullets into this box that the enemy was hiding behind, and effectively shoot it to bits, revealing the guy behind it. I'm not sure if this will become a fully interactive environment with interesting ways to kill enemies, BulletStorm-style, but it was something nice. I've also heard that in previous versions of this game (which has had a long and troubled development) that the sand effects were dynamic and random, and you could suddenly find yourself dealing with a sandstorm. If things like that have survived into this finished product, then it could add an interesting wrinkle to this First Person Shooter.
After those positives for SO:TL, I'd like to point out some negative points. They aren't really against SO:TL itself, but in general. This game clearly uses the GEARS-style controls with some refinements, if someone who was better at controlling GEARS than myself wanted to play GEARS, why wouldn't they just play GEARS? It does none of the non-GEARS games any favors to borrow so heavily and look like GEARS's red-headed step children, essentially being unlicensed GEARS games. Secondly, we are yet again cast as the military (probably American, didn't pay attention) and pitted against Arabs (Nazis/Russians/Japanese/Zombies etc.) I'm tired of this propaganda in games, give me something fresh for fuck's sake. At least BulletStorm had you shooting mutants and interactive environments. At least Binary Domain had you shooting robots which had separately-destructible body parts (shoot a robots legs and it starts crawling towards you, relentlessly trying to kill you), and a team-management system that could be controlled by controller on-screen button presses or your voice over the headset. There's so many bloody shooters around nowerdays in the COD/GEARs/Halo style that a game has to do something different or gimmicky to get my attention now.
SO:TL seems like a perfectly fine game. I could certainly control it well enough, and could see myself playing it. But there's nothing really special about it, at least not in the demo. It's simply GEARS' little brother.
I beg for the next gen, if only to see some developers step out of the long shadows of the play-styles set by the 'big 3' shooters. Or even, dare to dream, a new genre of game become the 'in' genre.
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