Tuesday 28 June 2011

MediaKick News - LA Noire Dev responds to controversy

LA Noire Dev responds to controversy

Editor notes:

The story itself is fascinating--working under an apparent tyrant all the while knowing that leaving a potentially revolutionary project could be a massive career lapse. Is it worth going through the hell? You'd probably think so, unless you were one of those people who were completely left out of the end credits, ridiculous.

Saturday 25 June 2011

Review - Child of Eden


Prepare to enter a magical hippy world.

Everyone wants a place to escape, a place to let your mind wonder and be free. This place, however each individual pictures it--will have similarities to Eden. Set in the distant future, Eden is a databank of human thoughts--chronicling all our emotions and transforming them into vivid eruptions of colours and patterns. Your goal is to save Lumi: the memories of the first child born in space, from a virus threatening to destroy Eden. This on-rails shooter is as sharp as it is vivid, as exhilarating as it is relaxing and as fixating as it is mesmerizing--Child of Eden is a revelation in the music-rhythm game genre.

The beautiful Lumi.
Child of Eden does not stray far from Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s previous creation Rez--in fact it builds upon the experience in intriguing ways. The mechanics for playing are very simple--an onscreen indicator is used to attack enemies, blue for lock-on and pink for rapid-fire. You can lock onto and destroy multiple blue enemies and use rapid-fire to shoot pink enemy projectiles to avoid taking damage. You are also given a euphoria mechanic that acts as an on-screen bomb, annihilating everything in a flurry of colours. The rhythm-based gameplay kicks in by forcing you to destroy blue enemies in time with the beat of the music and this is where Child of Eden’s Kinect compatibility really shines.

Although you can enjoy Child of Eden using a controller, the real experience comes using Microsoft’s clever camera peripheral. Kinect allows you to use your arms and orchestrate a musical-visual simulation around you. Using your right arm you control the blue weapon and your left controls rapid-fire. Raising both hands in the air like you just don’t care unleashes euphoria. This simple control scheme works very well and apart from a few slight camera issues leaving you stranded on occasion, is definitely the best way to enjoy Child of Eden. That’s not to say that the game is less fun on the pad--in fact some people prefer having the button layout and vibration function to keep time with the music (even though you can stick a controller in your pocket while using the Kinect for the same effect). Whichever way you choose to play Child of Eden, the game certainly entertains.

Euphoric visuals and sound make this an incredible experience.
Child of Eden continues to entertain throughout each unique level--each themed after a specific part of life on earth. Examples include the gorgeous Beauty level full of plants and water--feeling like a tribute to Gaia, a structured industrial city known as Passion and Evolution, concluding with an enchanting boss battle between you and a whale transforming into a phoenix. Speaking of boss battles, each level ends with a mesmerizing final encounter, which are certainly the highlights of Child of Eden.

You can’t really talk about Child of Eden and not mention the phenomenal soundtrack present. The euphoric techno-trance is emotional and powerful--bringing you back to each level as you want to hear the beautiful music over and over. The in-game sounds of enemies falling like water drops or shattering into shards of colour deserve just as much praise as the songs themselves, but you simply cannot explain how the visuals, sound and gameplay merge together to create such an ambiance and such a thrilling experience.

Beautiful graphics help make this game feel alive.
Child of Eden’s competitive appeal certainly derives from your need to reach the highest scores and completely purify Eden. The trick to this is to rack up multipliers by consistently purifying eight blue enemies at a time. At first I found the flicking motion required to eliminate enemies off screen with the right hand quite difficult--but after a bit of practice I was stringing combos together with relative ease. When you get comfortable Child of Eden picks up the pace and unleashes a barrage of colours and vibrant enemies your way--some of which were quite difficult to keep track on screen at times and I found myself taking damage but not knowing exactly what caused it. Repeating levels and becoming familiar with them is perhaps the best way to memorize some of the harder portions of the game, even though levels do change based on your scores and previous run-throughs.

The Matrix level is dark and mysterious.
Unfortunately your time with Child of Eden feels like an all-to-brief love affair because before you know it, you reach the end. Comprised of only five levels, you can complete it in one sitting. Child of Eden does leave you wanting more and offers some excellent extra content, percentage completion challenges and harder difficulty settings. Child of Eden is certainly not an easy game, especially if you’re looking to hit the high scores and fully purify Eden. This will keep perfectionists coming back for more while the more casual gamers can enjoy the Explore Eden game-mode that allows you to play without worrying about dying (note levels played on Explore Eden mode have to be completed and unlocked in the normal game first).

Ultimately Child of Eden is a bold attempt at something beautiful, engaging and entertaining. While seemingly brief, this artistic masterpiece has enough content to keep you coming back to the world of Eden and exploring every beautifully designed level. Simple and enjoyable mechanics and clever use of the Kinect ensure you will have a fantastic time with Child of Eden, however brief that may be.

7.0 | Gameplay |
Simple mechanics and clever use of the Kinect finally make hands-on motion gaming enjoyable and entertaining.
10.0 | Presentation |
Beautiful presentation alongside a mesmerizing soundtrack helps Child of Eden to create an atmosphere like no other.
5.0 | Replay Value |
With only 5 levels, the extra content, challenges and high-scores are worth coming back for, but downloadable levels would be a fantastic addition.
7.5 | Final Thoughts |
Child of Eden is a bold experiment, one that succeeds in giving gamers an experience they are unlikely to have had before. There’s no doubt that you will love every moment in Eden.

MediaKick News - Possible Playstation 3 price cut in August?

MediaKick news article.

Sunday 19 June 2011

Review - Duke Nukem Forever



Duke Nukem is an icon--an integral part of video game history and our childhoods. Some of us couldn’t wait to have Duke back on our screens, while others thought reminiscing over Duke Nukem 3D and Time to Kill was enough. Unfortunately here we are, in 2011 Duke Nukem Forever subjects us to what can only be described as a game that can’t decide what it wants to be. On the one hand it is clear that Forever is not to be taken seriously--the sexist and crude one-liners, virtual girls and over-dramatized action suggests we should pick up a gun, crack open a beer and let the ridiculous times roll. However somewhat embarrassingly, Forever also tries to enter the modern market by mixing in pointless car scenes and annoying puzzles--something that no one wanted from a Duke Nukem title. This unfortunate lack of dedication to the Duke Nukem franchise and what Duke does best, has left Duke in deep water with not many wanting to save him from drowning.


No one wants to drive in a Duke Nukem game!
Duke Nukem is above-else, a shooting game--which is frustrating considering you don’t do anywhere near as much shooting as you should in Forever. When Duke gets his trademark Desert Eagle in his hand and you start blasting away at aliens and pig cops, you have a good time, there’s no denying that. The game’s frustrating pacing issues are exemplified by slamming on the breaks in-between shooting sections and forcing you to deal with horrifically comprised puzzles and car-segments. This stuff is not needed in a Duke Nukem game and for some reason unknown to me, happens all too often. If Forever was simply a run-and-gun adventure, I think people would have enjoyed it a whole load more--but this filler content does not provide Duke any opportunity to say or do anything entertaining whatsoever. The shooting mechanics themselves, although dated, are simple and fun. The variety in weapons is fairly small, but blasting the heads off of enemies is sweet and Duke does it in style--throwing out his trademark lines while wading through hordes of enemies. 

Lock n' load that Eagle.
Speaking of being dated; Forever looks like a game that would have been given graphical praise a few years ago. Unfortunately, in this day and age it doesn’t quite cut it. Again, this wouldn’t be such a problem if just some small things were cleaned up. For example, in the opening thirty seconds you can walk in front of a mirror and jump--showing how horribly animated Duke’s (the main character!) body is--with his upper-body staying perfectly still while his legs contract ever so slightly, it’s honestly painful to watch. The ear shattering grunt that Duke bellows every time he jumps is also a testament to how bad the audio in this game is. Then fifteen minutes later we find two school girls talking to Duke--this segment shows the dialogue and script are not only terrible, but the timing of the voice actors is abysmal too--with Duke taking five seconds to respond to the girl’s invitation to a party. Don’t get me wrong, the graphics aren’t bad, but they just aren’t pretty to look at either. Duke Nukem could have been forgiven for being a technical flop if it at least looked great and consisted of simple fun--unfortunately what was exhumed and used for production created a final product that just doesn’t deliver in these areas.

Come get some you alien freak.
The story is nothing to write home about either--aliens invade, take Duke’s babes and he wants them back. At least it’s obvious that the story doesn’t take itself seriously but you will find that it really doesn’t matter as you stop caring about your final goal relatively early on. Perhaps this is because you start and stop so many times that you just forget--or you don’t think Duke’s reasoning for saving the world is just, whatever the case, shooting aliens in the face becomes your primary function sooner or later.

Forever does provide some entertainment in the online multiplayer. This takes the best bit of single player--the shooting and removes all the pointless filler content, allowing you go mental and dare I say it, have some fun. Lots of crazy weapons, upgrades and unlockables make Forever’s variants of death-match and king-of-the-hill quite a laugh and is the highlight of this package. Unfortunately, some technical issues at times can slow this experience down and like the abysmal loading times in the campaign, you can find yourself stuck for quite a long period before a game becomes available--at least from my testing on the Playstation 3.

Hail to the King baby!
Ultimately you can say as many bad things about Duke Nukem Forever as you want and it’s apparent that critics globally have been very disappointed by the final product. I however, have respect for Gearbox Software and Randy Pitchford who took the remains of a game that must have been left in pieces over the ten-years of development before picking it up and trying to get it back together. They took an icon that everyone in the video game world loves, and tried to bring him back to us. Sure it wasn’t a great success, but they did it--some people thought that Duke Nukem was cursed and would never come out. Well I for one am glad to see the Duke back and although it’s not quite what I was hoping for and expected--I am still willing to pick it up and live through Duke’s American dream, by kicking ass and chewing bubblegum. Don’t take Duke Nukem Forever seriously, enjoy the experience, enjoy the twelve years of history that have gone into this game and keep in mind the hard work that went in to transform a ravaged idea into some form of a final product. God bless you Duke Nukem--despite all your faults, I still love you. 

6.0 Gameplay – Run-of-the-mill shooting fun with Duke--shame that so much puzzle and car filler hampers the pace of the action.
6.0 Graphics – Dated graphics, but what did you expect? Could have been polished better to cover up the age.
7.0 Replay – Duke’s one-liners are priceless over and over--multiplayer is relatively fun too for a while.
5.0 Tech – Controller has no issues, audio is pretty bad apart from Duke’s trademark lines. Occasional lag online on PS3.

Overall – 6.0

Tuesday 14 June 2011

E3 2011 Part 3 –- Nintendo Press Conference, the future is U



Before this conference Nintendo were suffering--with Wii sales diminishing by the month and the very poor launch of the 3DS, something needed to change. Fortunately, if there ever was a good opportunity to get the masses back on the Nintendo bandwagon, it was during the E3 press conference. Nintendo started slowly with their tribute to The Legend of Zelda’s 25th Anniversary, but stepped up the pace with solid title announcements for the Nintendo 3DS and impressed the crowd with a brand new console--The Nintendo Wii U. Overall it was a well-organised presentation that gave the audience what they wanted, high-profile content.

A glorious trip down memory lane from the Orchestra.
A beautiful orchestra alongside Shigeru Miyamoto spent the first portion of the conference reminiscing over The Legend of Zelda and its 25th birthday. With the release of Ocarina of Time 3D round the corner and Skyward Sword for Wii due this holiday season, it was a welcome presentation--one that reminded the crowd of all the incredible adventures the series has offered and what is yet to come. The announcement of free downloads for The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening and The Four Swords Adventure gave fans plenty of Zelda based content to look forward to.

Nintendo were all about their hot property franchises this E3 and the majority of them will be coming to Nintendo 3DS. Lengthy Mario Kart 3D, Luigi’s Mansion 2 and Super Mario 3D trailers were highlights of the handheld portion of the presentation--showing off brand new ways to play Mario Kart, Luigi capturing ghouls and an all new Mario adventure designed specifically for the platform. Other games of note included Star Fox and Kid Icarus and a highlight reel showed glimpses of Resident Evil: Mercenaries, Resident Evil: Revelations, Tekken and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. More in-depth footage of the above titles would have been very nice at this point.
The Wii U controller--Nintendo's future.

The Wii U console--confusingly overlooked at the conference.
Of course the final section of Nintendo’s conference concentrated on announcing a new home console and subsequent games. The Nintendo Wii U was revealed to everyone’s confusion--with so much emphasis being placed on the intuitive controller that resembles a Dreamcast pad blended with an iPad, many people assumed it was a peripheral for the Wii. The clever piece of kit has a 6”2 inch touch screen and gyro technology--with the ability to transfer the game you’re playing on the TV onto the Wii U controller being the unique selling point. Wii U revealed full blown HD graphics--while specs were yet to be revealed, HD footage of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword was shown off alongside a montage reel of strong third-party title support like Batman: Arkham City, Ninja Gaiden III, Assassin’s Creed, Darksiders II, DiRT 3, Aliens: Colonial Marines, Metro: Last Night, Ghost Recon Online and a guest stage appearance from EA. Perhaps the biggest games announced at conference were Super Smash Brothers for both Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. 

These are certainly early days but the scrapping of friend codes and confirmation of a strong online system could allow Nintendo to compete for online dominance. It seems that Nintendo are attempting to capture the more hardcore market while keeping their casual gamers appeased with the Wii U being backwards compatible and Wii-remote enabled.

The Legend of Zelda gameplay footage for Wii U.
Overall Nintendo did a good job at their press event--unveiling hot property titles and a fresh machine to challenge for the attention of hardcore gamers. One can’t help but wonder if this machine has come too late however. As next generation projects are underway at Microsoft and Sony, if Wii U is only just more powerful than the PS3 and 360 now--it could find itself already outdated even before launch. We assume that new machines Microsoft and Sony will announce specs that would blow Wii U out of the water. The competition from the PS3 and Vita is already a threat and that is still this generation’s machine from Sony. Nevertheless, it is still early days and I think everyone is fascinated to see how the Wii U will try and change the course of video gaming once again for Nintendo.

Saturday 11 June 2011

E3 2011 Part 2 -- Sony Press Event, PSVita is vital.


 There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that Sony needed a stellar presentation at E3 to make up for the horror show on their Playstation Network. Not surprisingly the conference began with a heart-felt apology from Jack Tretton, promising that the next two hours would re-affirm our trust and faith in a bright future for Sony and its customers. Over the course of two hours we were treated to a great range of highly anticipated titles, a clear push for further Playstation Move and 3D compatibility and the brand new handheld Playstation Vita.



Drake gets ready for another action packed adventure.
Uncharted 3 was the first game to be demoed and why not begin with arguably the best title Sony have to offer. I am excited for the third title from Naughty Dog and quite frankly, you should be too. It will be very interesting to see how Tomb Raider 2011 compares to Uncharted 3 and if Lara Croft will give Drake a run for his money. I love how the guys from Naughty Dog took inspiration from the original treasure hunter and now roles have reversed once again and the re-creation of Tomb Raider now looks like Uncharted--the irony is fantastic.



Infinite is sure to tackle some interesting moral dilemmas.
Bioshock Infinite was another AAA title shown off and it was obvious from the audience’s reaction that everyone wanted to get their hands on Irrational Games’ horror adventure. I couldn’t help but feel disappointment playing number 2--maybe this was because the original was just so awesome and Bioshock 2 changed literally nothing--here’s me hoping the new setting and environment will force progress and change in the Bioshock universe.



Resistance 3 was the final hot-property franchise demoed and the alien shooter did look fantastic. I want to see the ending of the trilogy anyway but a few tweaks to the online multiplayer could really help the series challenge amidst the top-tier online FPS games such as Call of Duty and the up-and-coming Battlefield 3. This is obviously me with high hopes but I always felt that the Resistance series had a lot of potential and perhaps it will end with a big bang?



Unfortunately Sony seemed to lose count of the amount of games they wanted to show off during the presentation and instead of progressing smoothly onto Move, 3D and Playstation Vita, they kept unveiling games throughout. These included Starhawk, Sly Cooper, Dust 514, Star Trek and SSX--games that while aren’t high-profile, do show off the depth of Sony’s catalogue of games. Nevertheless, it was apparent that this list could literally have been removed from the presentation and more concentration should have been spent on more important announcements.



Kobe Bryant tries his hand at NBA2K11 with the Move.
Focus was placed upon the Playstation Move, but nowhere near as much as Microsoft gave to their motion sensing Kinect. Sony also unveiled the desire to introduce Move to core games including NBA 2K12, newly announced Medieval Moves: Deadmund’s Quest, InFAMOUS 2, Saints Row and Star Trek but I liked that it wasn’t pushed as hard as Microsoft’s Kinect, giving gamers a vibe that implied a choice to use the peripheral as opposed to being forced by Microsoft.



The new 3D monitor from Sony is a bargain bundle.
3D is certainly not dead according to Sony, who actually had their audience put on 3D glasses during specific segments of their presentation. It was clear that another push for 3D incorporation was well under way with the announcement of a new Sony branded 24” TV package--allowing gamers to access 3D technology in one neat bundle. There weren’t really any exciting game announcements for 3D, but God of War: Origins and Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection are both being prepared with 3D technology. A 3D trailer of Uncharted 3 was also shown off but I can’t comment on that for obvious reasons.



The brand new Playstation Vita announced by Kaz Hirai.
The star of show was undoubtedly the Playstation Vita, Sony’s super awesome new handheld console. With a fantastic price point ($249.99 for the Wi-Fi model and $299.99 for Wi-Fi and 3G) and a very impressive roster of games including Uncharted: Golden Abyss, ModNation Racers, Little Big Planet, Street Fighter x Tekken and newly announced Ruin--the Vita is going to hit the ground running. It also seems that Nintendo’s new machine the Wii U and its touch-pad controller could very well be obsolete even before it hits store shelves next year. This is because with its own touch screen and almost PS3-like graphics, the Vita could be the perfect partner for the Playstation 3--doing the same type of things Nintendo hoped their new pad would achieve, but better. 

Let the war begin!

While Sony certainly had plenty of content, the presentation lacked direction at times and it seemed pushing more of the high profile content would have been more effective than trying to fit some of the lesser titles in and around the big announcements. Nevertheless, having too much content can never be a bad thing--that alongside the Playstation Vita and it’s obvious that the future is bright for Sony. I was never a fan of Sony’s handheld machines but I think they have finally found the perfect formula and will be more than prepared to tackle the launch of Nintendo’s Wii U--the Playstation Vita will be vital to Sony’s future success.

As always I hope you enjoyed reading--hit me up on Twitter @ss4Igor 

Friday 10 June 2011

E3 2011 Part 1 -- Microsoft Press Event, get Kinected


It's that magical time of the year once again when we are exposed to a plethora of video game content from the grand arenas of E3 in Los Angeles. As E3 draws to a close, people begin gathering their thoughts and start scrutinizing every single little aspect of what they saw and heard over the days events. I decided instead of live-blogging the content (which in my opinion was absolutely pointless since everyone interested was either watching live or catching up with archived footage), I would wait until the dust settled and express my opinions on content revealed. In Part 1 of my E3 blogs you will find my opinions of Microsoft and how they handled their content, the dramatic push for core Kinect compatibility and the assortment of high-profile games shown off.


The beautiful new Lara Croft.
So there was absolutely no surprise that Microsoft pitched their most successful franchises such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Gears of War 3 and Tomb Raider. All three featured lengthy gameplay footage and were arguably the highlights of the presentation. In particular, the beautiful Tomb Raider footage showed off an exciting re-creation of a classic series into a new era of gaming. I can't help but hope that the release of Battlefield 3 crushes Call of Duty--I'm fed up to my teeth with the series and hope it follows in the footsteps of Guitar Hero and just dies out. Gears of War 3 is a slightly different issue because I know the multiplayer won't change, I've made my peace with that--I just want to see the ending of the story.

Microsoft's baby franchise Halo was also a heavy presence throughout with the announcement of a HD remake of Halo: Combat Evolved and an exclusive reveal of Halo 4--you didn't think they were going to let the series go did you? Many people wanted the series to end once Bungie were done but the amount of money Halo makes dictates further installments. So it makes a lot of money, but will it be any good? That's a whole different question.


The future or just another gimmick?
The emphasis of the presentation was undeniably on Kinect--a peripheral that has tackled the casual market successfully for Microsoft, but is yet to capture the hearts of the console's hardcore market. Indeed this was exactly the point of the presentation--to offer Kinect compatibility to absolutely everything. EA announced that FIFA, Madden, Tiger Woods and a host of other titles will have Kinect compatibility. Bioware's hit title Mass Effect 3 will incorporate real-time voice commands and other options using Kinect, Ubisoft's Tom Clancy: Ghost Recon Future Soldier, Crytek's RYSE, Lionhead's Fable: The Journey, Kinect Sports Season 2, Dance Central 2, Kinect Star Wars and newly announced Minecraft, will all be linked to the Kinect one way or another. On top of this mass Kinect onslaught were the announcements of Kinect Live content and Kinect Fun Labs--both packages designed to enhance your offline and online Xbox experience through Kinect. This massive push I felt was subjecting a demographic of gamers to a piece of equipment that quite frankly, they are not interested in.

So this sudden burst of life from the Kinect seemed to me as an obvious answer to the lack of direct support it received upon launch. Gamers who have the Kinect will be happy to hear that mass content is coming their way and they won't be subjected to only casual games. More intense gamers who have been intrigued by the Kinect but opted to wait and see if support and content would arrive can also be happy--as it is apparent Microsoft are willing to back their state-of-the-art camera all the way.

The problem I have with the narrow path the press event took is we are yet to see something truly intuitive from Kinect, something with a little spark, something that we haven't seen before. These additions, voice-commands, hand-movements are all examples of basic things that we all know the Kinect is capable of. They are also mechanics that aren't necessarily crucial to the gaming experience--Mass Effect 3 for example, will be enjoyed just as much without a Kinect at all. Until we see a truly unique mechanic from the Kinect that changes the way we play and becomes indispensable, I think that core gamers will have a hard time justifying picking up the piece of kit.

The hardcore gamers ...

So Microsoft braved the stage first and came through waving the flag for Kinect. The presentation itself wasn't the best we've seen in the past few years, but I do like that their aims and goals were very clear and to the point. It's simply a shame that I do not agree with their aims or goals. Will the support for Kinect give gamers a reason to pick up the gadget, or are the days of casual gaming stagnating? Only time will tell.

Thanks for reading, stay tuned for my other round-ups from E3 and check me out on Twitter @ss4Igor

Wednesday 8 June 2011

Red Faction: Armageddon Review.


Anyone familiar with the Red Faction universe will be aware of the vast changes the series has gone through over the years. While the franchise has shifted from first-person to third-person, from confined bases to vast environments--what has remained the same is Mars being the perfect stage for thrilling adventures and battles. Red Faction: Armageddon mixes things up once again, this time opting for an alien infestation to be the main cause for concern for our protagonist Darius Mason, grandson of Red Faction: Guerrilla’s hero, Alec Mason. An expansive and fun set of new destructive weapons helps make Armageddon a game full of carnage and excitement, but is still somewhat held back by linear gameplay, repetition and story-clichés.


Armageddon is set post-Guerilla and you will be happy to know that the predecessor has nothing to do with the sequel, so you can jump in without worrying about prior story. In fact, there’s not really much story here either--Armageddon depicts an alien infestation on Mars and beautifully designed cut-scenes chronicle your attempts to keep the enemy at bay while trying to escape. Plenty of clichés hinder the story, making it difficult to take the developments and dialogue seriously.

Fortunately, Darius Mason is a man of few words and chooses to express himself with very, very large weapons; seriously, I’m talking like, massive guns. Armageddon is all about destructibility and it is fantastic to see that this unique selling point is implemented so well. Every single human structure can be destroyed in Armageddon and you are given plenty of opportunity and weapons to do so. Large plasma cannons, rocket launchers, dark-hole forgers and a secret unicorn rainbow gun (yeah, you read that right) are just a few of the many different weapons at your disposal to cause utter chaos in the caverns around you. The star of the show in Armageddon is without a doubt the magnet gun. Shooting two separate magnets, this awesome piece of kit lets you to smash together whatever the two magnets are latched on to; allowing you to collide buildings, enemies, vehicles, whatever you hook the magnets to. This unique contraption offers unlimited ways to wreck havoc in a predominantly linear game, creating varied ways to complete goals, destroy locations and kill enemies. If these massive guns weren’t enough, Armageddon also lets you pilot mech units that are pretty much unstoppable and allow for even more destructive fun.

Indeed most of Armageddon is set in underground caves and whilst there is room for destruction, it is impossible not to feel like a few over-ground sections should have been put in to avoid the inevitable feeling of repetition. With the planet being uninhabitable on the surface, it would have been great to see some exploration like levels, allowing developers to really show off the natural destruction occurring on ground level. Nevertheless, the linear caverns hold some thrilling encounters but the bland colouring and dull lighting makes your travels through them seem all too familiar after a while.

It is great then that Armageddon tries to keep you occupied as much as possible and lets the intense action dictate the pace of the game. You certainly need more than just your weapons to beat the infestation and thankfully you are provided with Nano-Forge abilities. These perks, which can be activated and upgraded through a nifty gadget on Darius’ wrist, give you certain abilities and boosts to help you push through the alien hordes. These range from a protective force field, a damage boost and a few other nifty additions. The most exciting of which is reconstruction--allowing you to rebuild anything around you, a perfect way to solidify a defensive structure or avoid losing a particular vantage point. It is a shame that this fantastic mechanic isn’t implemented more often or in a more interesting manner--with its predominant use being your guarantee to get through a destroyed building to your next objective.

While the campaign itself isn’t particularly long, clocking in at around 9 hours, Armageddon does offer replay value in its multiplayer experience. Strangely there are absolutely no competitive multiplayer modes present, but instead you can play a horde-style mode called Infestation. This four-player cooperative mode can provide a heap of fun and challenge as you and your friends battle for survival against waves of enemies. The other mode present is Ruin where a single player takes on the challenge of doing as much destruction to the environment as possible in a set period of time. While the latter offers leaderboards and quite a chunk of replay value due to the variety in guns, you will find that to score top marks, only a certain bunch of weapons are actually useful. The former game-mode is by far the more enjoyable since you can be partnered with friends and a satisfying difficulty curve can be put in place to ensure the action is always exciting and hectic. 


What’s great about Red Faction: Armageddon is that it boldly steps out and says that it is ok to be a linear game, there is no problem with being told what to do and where to go, as long as you are having a great time doing it. Armageddon strings together a good balance of content, action and unique physics to ensure there’s always plenty to do and even more to destroy. While the lackluster story and slight repetition might irritate some looking for a more independent experience, for the rest of us, it’s time to get our magnet guns ready and watch the caverns of Mars turn to ruin.

9.0 Gameplay – Fantastic physics and unique weaponry makes destroying the world around you a whole load of fun.
6.0 Graphics – Aliens aren’t really impressive and the bland and dull environments get boring pretty quickly.
7.0 Replay – The almost limitless ways to destroy enemies using the environment makes each new kill exciting. Infestation mode makes you come back with friends.
8.0 Tech – Great controls, audio is impressive, online runs smoothly for the most part.

Overall – 7.5

Check me out on Twitter @ss4Igor 

Wednesday 1 June 2011

MCM Expo London--Eat your heart out Comic-Con!


You may or may not have been aware that one of the most iconic video game, anime, manga, comic and movie conventions was in London's ExCel Center last weekend where an astonishing 55,000 + people got their nerd on! Yes Comic-Con, eat your heart out because it can be done just as well across the pond and boy was it an absolute blast!

GameSpot UK Crew @ MCM Expo!
I was fortunate enough to get back together with the GameSpot UK team and man their booth (as the muscle) across the weekend, with front row seats to their excellent stage show and all the weird and wonderful action of the Expo around me. My partners in crime were the lovely Lauren Wainwright and Capcom's Daria Gerasimova, who are both super happy fun time people and need your love on Twitter!



So I thought I'd drop this blog to give a little run-down of what was present, the GameSpot UK booth, stage-show and whatever else I managed to catch a glimpse of amidst all the carnage.

The GameSpot UK booth was right at the heart of the arena, which made sense considering the amount of space needed for the stage, audience and the booth itself. This was a prime location as it seemed everyone was buzzing around us, waiting to see what goodies we were showing off, and giving away.

The picture says it all doesn't it?
Across the weekend we show-cased Child of Eden (Kinect), Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (360), Shadows of the Damned (360), Red Faction: Armageddon (360), DiRT 3 (360), Mortal Kombat (PS3), Virtua Tennis 4 (PS3) and some old school classic arcade games. Endless amounts of people flooded through our confines, played games, talked to us, signed up for our awesome competition and had a great time. It was obvious the exclusives were getting more attention than other games, but nothing was ever free, so we were kept busy.
The gang recording a podcast with the guys from Red Faction: Armageddon

The awesome stage show was really the highlight for GameSpot UK, with a plethora of content, special guest speakers, a live podcast and lots of cool games, I don't remember a free chair all weekend. The stage saw Europe's first exclusive look at Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition with Capcom's lead PR Leo Tang leading the presentation, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Child of Eden, Red Faction: Armageddon, Earth Defence Force and a host of other titles throughout the weekend. Fantastic work from our team up on stage ensured everyone was kept entertained and every presentation ran smoothly.

Lion Man busy promoting his awesome lion wrestling abilities.
When I wasn't playing security for our booth, I had a chance to wonder around and take in and awe at everything around me. Needless to say, every single person was dressed in cosplay--you couldn't walk from one booth to another without stumbling into a Batman or Cloud Strife. Highlights for me included 2K's fantastic Duke Nukem courtesy of their PR team, Darth Vadar, Tony Stark in his Iron Man suit and a female Predator. I also totally met the Lion Man from the hit show on Sky 1--no idea what he was doing there but super stoked regardless!!!

Hail to the King baby!
There was plenty of other amazing stuff across the arena--aside from all the little shops selling memorabilia and the countless tables set up for card games, I had a chance to check out the other video game booths. Nintendo were in attendance showing off The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D. I tried to get a quick go but was quickly told to turn round and look at the 200 man line waiting to play--needless to say my VIP badge was not getting me on that console any quicker. Epic Studios had a wicked 5 on 5 LAN Gears of War 3 station that showed off essentially the Beta that came out not too long ago. F3AR and Mortal Kombat also had their own booths and Red Faction: Armageddon was sitting near by too. I think Capcom had the most popularity across the weekend as they held Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition and Marvel vs. Capcom 3 tournaments. Every time I wondered over there the place was rammed and it was super cool that they had arcade sticks for the more hardcore gamers.

So that's about it from what I remember, the weekend was just so hectic that I may have forgotten bits and pieces but I will add things as they come back to me. This would of course be an appropriate time to thank the GameSpot UK team for inviting me to work with them again, always an absolute pleasure. For those of you guys who want to see all the amazing photos we took over the weekend, you can do so right here on the GameSpot UK website.

The next expo is in October once again at the ExCel Center London, you'd be crazy to miss out it is truly one of the best experiences! See you guys there! Hit me up on Twitter: @ss4Igor