“Battlefield: Bad Company 2 First Impression”

I FOUND ANOTHER REVIEW BUT NOW BAD COMPANY 2

Just in time to take some of the wind out ofModern Warfare 2’s sails, EA has launched a closed beta for its upcoming shooter,Battlefield: Bad Company 2. The follow up game to one of 2008’s most successful titles,Bad Company 2 will look to build on what made the first title a critical success: namely the much-lauded, completely destructible environments and the absolutely superb online multiplayer.

For those unfamiliar with the term, when a game is in the beta phase of development, certain parts of the game are distributed to some players for testing. In return for an advanced look at the game, the players in the beta give feedback to the developer so that the developer can make any modifications before the final copy is released. The beta for Bad Company 2 is a PS3 exclusive console-wise, though a PC release has been announced for early 2010.

Our beta for Bad Company 2 is online only, featuring a single map and game mode. Rush is a slightly modified version of the original’s Gold Rush mode, and without the gold. In Rush there are two teams: the attackers and the defenders. The attackers are trying to destroy a number of crates before their tickets (a team’s number of respawns) expire. The defenders are trying to protect the crates while wearing down the attackers by eliminating their tickets.

The Africa Harbour map is huge and is gradually unlocked as the match progresses. Africa Harbour features a  number of varied terrains, causing players to adjust their class as the battle enters different regions. Some parts had wide, open terrain with a number of sniping nests, while the final stand takes place in an urban maze, the last place you want to be equipped with a sniper load-out.

What I really enjoyed about the first game was the sheer variety of gameplay, and the same is found in Bad Company 2. With such diversity throughout the map, the style, tactics and pace of the game is constantly changing. And the varying speed of the progression means no two games online are ever the same.

It’s going to be interesting seeing how this game continues through development but, if the beta is anything to go by, look for this to be a serious game of the year contender come 2010.

http://www.techday.co.nz/gameconsole/news/first-impressions-battlefield-bad-company-2/14934/2/

God of War III preview!!! ( NiCe!! )

I FOUND THIS REVIEW I HOPE YOU ENJOY IT

God of War III truly does continue the tried-and-true hack, slash and quick-time event formula of the previous iterations of the series, only this time with the full grunt of the PlayStation 3 behind it. This is not to belittle the experience, as the added graphical and processing capabilities take a proven formula to another level. For instance, during the demo, the gargantuan Perses can be seen climbing Mount Olympus while fending off attacks from the god Helios in the background while Kratos battles legions of the undead in the foreground; it’s a truly jaw-dropping moment that pushes the technological bounds of what we’ve seen this generation. Another thing fans of the previous God of War games will notice is that the number of onscreen enemies has increased considerably, from a maximum of 15 to up to 50. Obviously, this lends itself to some ridiculously high combo opportunities.

As Kratos, I had to negotiate an enemy-filled environment by dispatching them with an arsenal of moves and combos. It wasn’t long before I was confronted by a menacingly large centaur with some devastating attacks of its own. After administering a fair amount of damage (and receiving a fair bit in the process), I was prompted to begin a “quick-time event” with a mash of the circle button. These events see the gameplay deviate from the usual hack-and-slash element to a timed button-press sequence. Successfully pressing each button at the appropriate time will progress each stage of a rather brutal animation in which Kratos dispatches his opponent in gruesome fashion. In this instance, Kratos ends up disemboweling the centaur, its innards oozing onto the floor, and another sees you forcibly removing a cyclops’ eye. Failure to press the appropriate button during the small window that you’re allowed will give the enemy a chance to “break” the sequence, and you’ll be forced to wear down your opponent once again.

Speaking of these grisly animations, I’d be extremely surprised if God of War III doesn’t encounter some trouble from the Australian censors. Our poor friends across the ditch don’t have an R18 rating for games, and titles with much less graphic brutality have been refused Australian classification in the past. While it’s clearly animated and over-the-top, this game will surely receive an R18 rating in New Zealand upon its release. Sorry, kids – this one’s not for you.

The hack-and-slash with quick-time events formula could get old fairly quickly if not for the stunning and well-thought set pieces. God of War III’s visuals are among – if not the best – of this generation to date, and the unique animations for each battle keeps the gameplay engaging. Presumably, they’ll also be broken up by the occasional shift in gameplay. This demo, for instance, concluded with a high-speed aerial ascent up a narrow vent. Kratos, using his Wings of Icarus, must rocket upwards at high speed while avoiding rafters and falling debris. Upon negotiating this adrenaline-soaked section, Kratos bursts out of the vent and thrusts himself towards the colossal Perses, seemingly poised to attack,… and the demo ends abruptly, leaving gamers waiting for the game’s March 2010 release.

Although it’s a visual feast, it’s still to be seen as to whether God of War III adds enough to the overall gameplay experience to suitably distance it from its overwhelmingly popular predecessors. After all, it takes more than a visual overhaul to revitalise a franchise for a new generation. And while this demo is but a taste, it bodes well that God of War III will most certainly be one enthralling action rollercoaster.

http://www.techday.co.nz/gameconsole/news/god-of-war-iii-preview/14866/

Dragon Ball Raging Blast PS3 Review

Graphics: 7.0 Great character models, but the rest is below-average.

Audio: 7.4 Having both English and Japanese audio tracks are nice.

Gameplay: 7.2 It gets the job done, but involves too much button-mashing.

Replay Value: 8.2 I love all the game modes, online is a lot of fun.

Final Score: 7.7

Dragon Ball Raging Blast

PS3 Review
Namco Bandai
Released: November 2009

Namco Bandai is back at it again with the release of Dragon Ball Raging Blast, the latest fighting game to release within the Dragon Ball franchise on the Xbox 360 and Sony PS3.

Dragon Ball Raging Blast is all about taking the Dragon Ball franchise, and putting it up there with other fighting games on the market such as the recently released Tekken 6.

Dragon Ball Raging Blast follows Goku and the rest of the well-known characters from the hit anime franchise as there is a quality story that revolves around the main part of the game.

The gameplay experience here for this fighting game is nothing to truly write home about, which is a shame considering the great game modes it entails, which you will read about below.

The game features different attacks for you to play around with, such as basic attacks, special attacks, and more. The problem though is the way in which you pull off some of these special attacks. The way the game uses the shoulder buttons kind of takes away from the experience, making it far less intuitive and smooth. The difficulty and poor execution in regards to how the special attacks work turns this more into a button-mashing affair than anything else.

Visually this is a good-looking game, as the character models are spot-on with some great colors and such. The issues arise though in regards to the areas surrounding the characters. The detailed characters compared to their surroundings just doesn’t fit unfortunately.

Audio is presented in both Japanese as well as English voice tracks for fans to enjoy. This is true to the anime franchise which is a bonus. The sound effects are lackluster though.

The main game mode here is known as Dragon Ball Collection, and is basically the story mode of the game. You end up going through the whole Dragon Ball universe as you take part in a variety of classic battles that have taken place.

As you go through the story, you are introduced to a variety of different story plots, as well as scenarios. These scenarios basically take you through the whole universe of the anime hit, a treat that fans will surely enjoy.

There are plenty of other cool game modes as well, including a World Tournament, the Super Battle Trial, KO Attack, and more.

These consist of your more standard arcade fighting modes, tim eattack modes, etc. Players are able to unlock more modes as you go through the game, adding incentive to playing through it all.

There is plenty more to be had here as well though beyond what I have already described…among them being the history of Dragon Ball feature. This allows fans to go back and learn about the history of the franchise. You can also enjoy a customization feature that lets you customize classic Dragon Ball characters.

To top it all off, you are also presented with one heck of an online gameplay experience, that was silky smooth during testing on both the Xbox 360 and PS3. Botom line, there is more than enough here to please fans of the franchise.

Dragon Ball Raging Blast is not a perfect fighting game, but it has enough in regards to game modes and playability to be well-worth picking up for fans of the anime franchise.

thanks to http://www.dbtechno.com/gaming/2009/11/26/dragon-ball-raging-blast-ps3-review/

Diablo 3 ! (Blizzard Explains Diablo 3, III Delay)

Fans have been eagerly awaiting the release of Diablo III since Blizzard announced the title in the summer of 2008. Now, already a full year and a half after being announced, the release date for Diablo III is still completely up in the air, with a 2010 release seeming nigh impossible.

Speaking with Techland, Rob Pardo, executive vice president of game design at Blizzard, explained the wait.

“We always announce all of our games too early. We realize that and go, ‘You know what? Next time we’re not going to do that.’ And then we always fail at that. But I’d rather fail at that than fail at making the game great. I think it’s safe to say that, yeah, [Diablo III] is not going to be out next year.”

But before a war erupts between gaming groups, Pardo made sure to explain that it wasn’t due to a lack of focus, or varying priorities that Diablo III is taking so long to finish, as each of Blizzard’s current projects (including Starcraft II and World of Warcraft: Cataclysm) “has individual development teams.”

“We just have a different process and approach than a lot of other studios, and it makes it a very difficult process for us to predict street dates when we’re multiple years out,” Pardo added, “We’ve been wrong [about release dates] for as long as I can remember. So that’s why don’t do release dates anymore.”

thanks to:

http://www.endsights.com/news/10784/blizzard-explains-diablo-iii-delay/

This is a gameplay video !

Ubisoft reports $109 million loss

Ubisoft is the latest vidgamemaker to prove that publishers are just as dependent on high-profile franchises as Hollywood’s major studios.

The French company, whose “Prince of Persia” series is being readied as a tentpole for Disney next summer, reported a $109 million loss on $232 million in sales during the first half of its fiscal year due to a lack of major titles.

To reverse the hit on its bottom line, Ubisoft said it plans to release “Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands” as a new installment in the franchise in May for consoles and handheld devices.

While game’s release will be timed with the Memorial Day bow of the Mouse House’s “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time,” produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, new title will not include elements from the film. Instead it will be based on a new storyline that advances the plot of the original “Sands of Time” game.

Title will target hardcore and casual gamers in order to “reach both audiences,” said Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, in order to attract new gamers to the property.The second half of Ubisoft’s fiscal year, which wraps up at the end of March, is expected to prove more lucrative, considering its medieval actioner “Assassin’s Creed II” sold 1.6 million units worldwide during its first week of release last week. That’s 32% up on what the first game sold during its initial bow in 2007.

It’s the latest tentpole game to perform well, with “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2″ earning a record $550 million during its first week for Activision Blizzard.

Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker Dated In Japan

Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker, the only official continuation of the Metal Gear Solid franchise, has now been dated for release in Japan. The game is scheduled to come out for the PlayStation Portable on the 18th of March, 2010.

Set 10 years after the events of Metal Gear Solid 3, which appeared on the PlayStation 2, Peace Walker sees players take on the role of Big Boss once again. It has a gameplay style that’s very similar to Portable Ops, but it’s been severely refined.

Currently there’s no word on a release date for Europe or North America, but with the way things are going, it shouldn’t *fingers crossed* be too far away from the Japanese release date.

MAG (Massive Action Game)

MAG (Massive Action Game)

It’s been a real hoot watching Microsoft and Sony battle it out over the last few years. The mud-slinging, the technobabble, the pages and pages of console fans arguing on the internet about utterly insignificant differences.

In terms of technology however, the ongoing war for console dominance hasn’t really required extensive improvements to the underlying hardware. Sure, next year we’ll see Microsoft’s Natal motion-sensing addition, and Sony’s flagship PS3 managed to lose a few pounds in time for summer, but this doesn’t alter the fact that essentially whatever game you choose to purchase looks and plays pretty much the same on PS3 or Xbox 360.

MAG aims to change that. Boasting support for up to 256 players online, this PlayStation 3 exclusive will fire a salvo over Microsoft’s bow when it’s released in January to the North American market. MAG calls itself a MMOFPS – Massively Multiplayer Online First Person Shooter – and features extensive rankings and character development. along with squad-based tactical warfare.

The real question is – how will Sony manage to service over two hundred players at the same time? Obviously peer-to-peer matchmaking is out of the question, so there will need to be a pretty impressive dedicated solution if it’s to get off the ground. And even on top of this, does the PS3 have the widespread user base locally to fill the ranks, or will we need to join international servers and sacrifice latency for companionship?

Beta testing has been underway for some time now, no doubt Sony want to ensure the technology is up to scratch before unleashing it in February.

 

Final Fantasy XIII Gets U.S. Release Date, New Theme Song

The long-delayed Final Fantasy XIII will be released in the U.S. and Europe on March 9, 2010, Square Enix said Friday.

Square Enix also said that the Western releases of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game would feature a new theme song — “My Hands,” by RCA Music Group recording artist Leona Lewis. The Japanese version of the game, to be released on December 17, features two songs performed by Sayuri Sugawara, written by composer Masashi Hamauzu.

This is the first time that the overseas release of a Final Fantasy game has featured anything other than a translated version of the original theme song, so this use of a licensed track represents a bold new direction for Square Enix.

The publisher apparently considered today’s announcement way too important for something so positively mundane as a press release, so it put together an elaborate video to announce the date.

 

Highlight: Watching Square Enix overseas president John Yamamoto’s eyeballs as he visibly reads off of cue cards.

Not at all coincidentally, Lewis’ new album, which contains “My Hands,” will be released on November 17.

Some Final Fantasy fans are of course in high dudgeon over the swapping out of Hamauzu’s original music for a pre-existing, licensed track. What do you think — is marketing trumping artistry here, or is it not worth getting one’s limited edition Shinra-logo panties in a twist over?

 

http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2009/11/final-fantasy-xiii-release-date/

Dante’s Inferno Demo Arriving in December

A month before God of War III arrives, EA will offer their brutal, over-the-top action extravaganza that should tide you over for a few weeks.

It’s Dante’s Inferno, and if you want a closer look, you’ll get it before the year is out. EA and developer Visceral Games has announced that a playable demo for the game will be available next month; this “Gates of Hell” sample features the “entire opening level” and thereby introduce you to the game’s main hero. You’ll battle hordes of hell-spawn as you progress through the dark and intimidating section, eventually facing off against the ultimate boss: Death. Once you manage to defeat Death, you will take his scythe (the weapon you see Dante wielding in many screenshots and gameplay videos) and will also utilize a powerful holy cross. Said executive producer Jonathan Knight:

“Our main goal from the start of this project has been to create a journey that will make gamers truly feel like they are going through hell. The demo will give everyone some insight into how we are treating the story and a taste of the gameplay. And with nine more circles of hell to explore once the game comes out in February, we are literally just scratching the surface.”

In the full game, you will work your way through the nine infamous circles of hell: limbo, lust, gluttony, greed, anger, heresy, violence, fraud and treachery. Of course, it doesn’t really follow the actual story of Dante Alighieri’s “The Divine Comedy,” as there is no fighting or mauling going on in that novel; it’s a religious adventure through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. But hey, you gotta take creative license in order to make a scintillating interactive experience, right?

Dante’s Inferno is slated to launch in North America for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PSP on February 9, 2010. This demo will only be available for the PS3 and 360, though.

 

God of War III Ultimate Edition

PS3 owners will be able to get their hands on the God of War III Ultimate Edition that will boast a range of exclusive collectible and digital content, all coming in a high-end sculpted replica of Pandora’s Box for added effect. Tipped to be out alongside the vanilla God of War III edition in March next year, you can place a pre-order for your copy today. It would be interesting to see whether this title will help Sony move more consoles, or would most people who want to play this already own a PS3 in the first place. Expect to fork out $99.99 for God of War III Ultimate Edition when placing your order.

 

Have you played previous God of War games? If the answer to that is “yes,” then you know what to expect from GoW III. If you answered “no,” stop reading this and run out and buy the God of War Collection you fool!