Whats to come

You have to love Rainy days, no guilt felt for sitting in playing games all day.
Metal Gear Solid 4 was out recently and only owning a 360 means we cant review it.I will say this though it seems to have scored 8/10 on most reviews and it's a game you expect to get 10/10, yet another let down in the PS3 world.But that is a topic that we will discuss at a later date.


I am going to do a quick pick of the big titles coming out over the next couple of months.
First, Battlefield 2 see above for a more detailed preview and a game i am still looking forward to.
C&C3 kanes wrath is out the same day, June 27th, for those who are interested.
Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy is out the same day a demo is up on Xbox live. It seems fun and looks good but a bit repetitive and arcade like. Worth picking up second hand maybe?


Not much else seems to be coming out in July and August, September sees the release of Mercenaries 2 World in Flames who's prequel I was a big fan of on the PS2 . Its a GTA style game except based in a war-zone which works quite well and if they make it as fun as the first it should be a good hit.Star Wars Force Unleashed is out in September as well, It boasts new better force powers and Star Wars characters(how many can there be) can't help but feel they need to give the star wars genre a break for a couple of years.

Later in the year, Left for Dead is due out, it's a CO-OP zombie survival game, sounds tasty.
Gears of War 2 is due out of November more CO-OP play.
Fable 2 is delayed until Xmas but its worth the wait if they get it right.It's a RPG that allows a friend to jump into your game and directly affect your world. You can choose to kill your friends wife should you be so spiteful , go on quests, and generally explore the world that Peter Molyneux has created for you.

Theres lots more of course,this is just a few games that i think deserve a mention ~
Until next Time.

SmokyCaveman

COD to be dethroned?

Call of duty 4 - Yet another First person shooter. What could separate it from the from the most saturated genre in the gaming industry? Quite a lot actually, graphically a superb game showing that games can survive without the use of the Unreal Engine. It sounds excellent, especially through a surround sound system. The single player game is a joy to play, with some of the best scripted levels I have ever experienced. Some even involve the use of a A130 gunship! But the single player mode is not the best part of this game. On-line it is a gem, from the fast paced team deathmatch to the tactical search and destroy. It uses an excellent party system which every other multi-player game should take note of.
Call of Duty 4 has pretty much dominated the charts, selling 10 million copies and is still the most played on-line game on the XBox\PS3 networks.

This week saw the release of Battlefield 2 Bad Company Demo. A very popular series on PC and the original XBox. Battlefield is a stunning looking game and with the use of DICE's Frostbite engine which allows a level of destruction which many other games have promised but failed to deliver on. Thankfully BF2 does not fail. Buildings can be blown apart, shells leave craters that work as makeshift fox holes. The use of tanks, jeeps and helos adds a whole new twist to a multi-player game. Hiding in buildings is no longer safe as a well placed shell will destroy your cover (handy for checking for snipers). I must mention that the demo is a bit laggy and the party system seems to make a few mistakes, but it is not the finished article so lets hope they get it sorted. When it runs smooth, it is a thrilling game.

Can Battlefield de-throne COD4? I for one believe and hope it can. The use of destructible scenery and vehicles adds plenty to keep you entertained and the map featured in the demo, Oasis, allows for plenty of flanking. The Gold Rush mode keeps the battle focused in an area until the attackers destroy two crates of gold, then a new base is created further back and this continues until one side wins. If Dice manage to sort out lag issues and keep it running smooth I can see this being a big challenger for the COD4 crown.

GRID Makes Racing Fun Again.

I've long been a fan of racing games, from Test Drive and Geoff Crammonds Formula 1 all the way up to the sublime Forza 2. But lately it feels as if driving games have got into a bit of a rut. Apart from a few minor innovations, such as more accurate driving models, longer and longer car lists, sharper and cleaner graphics and smoother frame-rates, the last few years have seen little change in the basic formula that has been set ever since Grand Turismo popularised the genre again.

However, nothing has been done to improve the nagging problems that have beset the genre since GT either. Problems such as clinical but boring looks, predictable processional AI, multi-player determined by car configuration rather than skill and the pattern of progressing through the game by upgrading cars to the top of their class to easily beat the opposition, have become the norm.

GRID does not re-invent the genre but bravely tackles these issues straight on.
The graphics are not clean, but filtered through movie like post-processing effects. It looks great and I spent the 1st few races just admiring the views.
The AI is brilliant and unpredictable.... cars miss their breaking points, cause pile ups, crash into you on the inside of a turn... everything a human opponent could be expected to do. This can lead to an odd moment of frustration, but this is countered by the excellent flashback facility.

The MP is where I'm really enjoying it though... keep the races short and the damage on and let the chaos ensue. Even if you get written off by some aggressive French driver (no offence, they've just been crashing into me a lot! ) it doesn't take long for the next race to start and another attempt to get through the 1st corner unscathed.

The voting system works well and race types and tracks vary a lot. Yet again though, there is no party system. I don't understand why this isn't standard. Its annoying trying to get a few people into the same room.

Rashers