Euro Gamer Expo 2010!

Hey there! Long time no update! (AGAIN!)

But we have some goddamn exciting news for you all!

I - and along with whoever tags with - will be bringing you full coverage of the Euro Gamer Expo in October!

All the newest games and stuff too! It's gonna be awesome sauces!

More reviews and other items for you to read, coming soon!

Its Mario! New! For the Wii!

OK, here's my opinion in New Super Mario Bros. Wii - It's great.

Proper gaming gold, and just the kind of software the wii desperately needs.

You probably all know the storyline by now - Peach is kidnapped by Bowser (or in this case, Bowser Jr. and his cronies,) and Mario embarks on an epic adventure to rescue her.

Much awesomeness occurs...

MULTIPLAYER: A much hyped element of NSMBW was the multiplayer - mario, luigi, and two toads can all play together. The multiplayer is great fun with a couple of friends, although it is often a mad rush to survive, and playing the game properly with more that one person can be quite difficult.

CONTROLS: NSMBW uses the wiimote turned on its side, with the D-pad and the 1 and 2 buttons used like a NES pad. Shaking the remote makes mario spin, a la mario galaxy, but this doesn't do much unless you have the propeller powerup (more on that later.) Tilting the remote on various levels controls mario's different contraptions, for some interesting level design. Overall, the controls are fine and not uncomfortable.

GRAPHICS: The game is in 2-D with 3-D sprites and level maps. It all looks nice and shiny, but doesn't push the wii to its limits like metroid or galaxy does. However, the graphics are very pleasing to the eye.

LEVEL DESIGN: Luckily, NSMBW doesn't copy the earlier DS version of NSMB. There are lots of interesting new level desings, even on world 1-1. Rotating wheels, sting rays, mechanical platforms, flying blocks and the new powerups add much needed variation to the mario formula. While a little more change wouldn't hurt (the basic premise is always the same - complete levels, do mid world castle, more levels, end castle, next world) but the game manages to feel fresh over the 8 worlds. Two new powerups have been added - the propeller suit, which send you flying into the air with a flick of the wiimote, is fun to use, and vital to reach hard places. The blue koopa shell from the ds version has been replaced by a penguin suit, which is adorable - you can slide, throw snowballs and swim well, but its not that useful. Other powerups include the mini mushroom, fire and ice flowers and of course, the super mushroom!

DIFFICULTY: I enjoyed the difficulty curve. It was tricker than the DS version and provided some proper challenge. For noobs, the super guide pops up if you fail a level 8 time in a row. It plays through for you, but no secrets are revealed. Its a good idea that makes the game more accessible and you can ignore it if you want.

This is a very solid, well made game and a worthy part of the mario series. Get it now!

The Bat Strikes Again.

Hallo there.

Recently, I bought that Batman game from 2009. You know the one that everyone raved over? Yeah. I picked it up for 15 quid. A steal and a half. So, what did I think of it?

Upsides!

You Beaut! : The game is stunning. It's gritty, yet a feel of the old Animated Series feel to it. It's over the top, but to a degree of reason, and it's also very detailed. The landscape changes as the game goes on, the Batman model begins to show blood, cuts, and tears on his suit as the game progresses. I noticed in one section of the game, Batman leaps and skids into the dirt, and from the on, his knee caps stayed a little bit muddy. It's fine touches like these that make a game so great. The other character also look incredibly detailed. The Joker is nimbly and prances around as he should, Harley Quinn was given a make over - which thankfully they acknowledged - and even the supporting character that might only last five to ten minutes on screen, are also immensely fleshed out. The detective mode is also really cool to look through.

Voice Acting : Oh. Good. Lord. Best voice acting in any game to date. With the ORIGINAL CAST from the animated series, (my favourite interpretation of Batman to date,) doing most of the voices, it just brings the characters, game and experience to another level. It's fantastic to hear Mark Hamill laugh and taunt you as you progress, and some of the dialogue written for the Joker is fantastic. Genuinely funny too. The banter between Batman and many of the characters is superb too, and it feels very well put together.

I know you! : The interview tapes and cameos from many of the characters from the Batman series are either subtle, or very in your face. With Clayface, Riddler, and a very subtle hint to Mr Freeze all locked up in the game, it is just brilliant to see them all. The interview tapes are nicely done, and add to the fiction of the universe if you aren't a massive BatNerd like me.

Stealth Done Well : I'm not a huge stealth fan, and will usually go in guns-a-blazing. I do enjoy a spot of Metal Gear and also enjoyed the Splinter Cell Conviction Demo they just released, (any other Splinter Cell games I hated with a passion.) But, this game does it in it's own way. You still have the sneaking element and the hiding away bits if you screw up, but in this game, you are Batman. So you have a whole range of tactics that Snake and Sam Fisher can't even dream of.

You have these gargoyles that hang from the ceiling which you can use to climb up to and dangle villains from and very quickly grapple to another and watch the havoc ensue. You also have, "detective" vision, (which Sam seems to have nicked from Batman...) In this mode, you can see everything and everyone with a super x-ray vision. Using this to your advantage, you can silently take someone out, and still keep an eye on someone across the room in case they notice you breaking someone's neck like a tooth pick. Batman is also very easy to control, with buttons on the controller doing one thing at a time, meaning you aren't clogged up with crap while trying to avoid being turned to Bat cheese from the gun fire.

'Realism' : You are Batman. A man. Nothing more. Nothing less. Apart from the whole detective and master at the art of fighting, stealth and a whole different range of things, you are still a man. And a man can die very quickly from bullets. Even if you are in a suit, with fully upgraded health. This is very welcomed into the stealth genre. Snake seems to be a machine, sucking in bullets and stuffing his face with stolen food to heal himself, and Sam Fisher just has to hide behind a corner now, and he is fine. Where as Batman appears to die on Normal after 5 or 6 hits, and on hard mode, after 2 or 3. It's brutal, and incredibly fun.

Eat Boot! : Combat in this game is almost perfect. All combos are literally linked to the face buttons, and tie in seamlessly with each other. Start a fight with the X button, (and you can complete most fights with just the X button,) activate the counter after the little flash appears above a goons' head, leap over to the back of someone and knock them out cheaply with A, and press B to swing your cape to stun. You can also tie in some of your Batarangs and other equipment as you go along, which can help in great length. As you go along, the bad guys end up equipped with knives and stun batons, but in general they are very similar, but all good fun to fight. You feel like you have accomplished something when you take down 20 henchmen and watch Batman flip and slide all around the room with just a button press. It's simple, but incredibly complex at the same time. You can also unlock more moves as you go along, such as throws, but they aren't required and I found myself hardly using them.

Metroidvania Man : The game has a RIDICULOUS amount of unlockables, secret areas, upgrades and puzzles. Early on, you will only have the Batarang, but as you unlock more equipment, - such as explosive gel, zip lines, bat claws, and a sonic device to unlock security gates - more of the areas inaccessible to you in the beginning, open up, allowing you to delve deeper into the island. The Riddler's appearance isn't in person, but in the form of puzzles and trophies littered around the island for Batman to collect. The upgrades range from more combos, to remote controlled Batarangs and even an Ultra Bat Claw, which you can use to destroy breakable walls which the explosive gel can't reach. It is a huge game, and can take hours after finishing it off, to 100%.

A Challenge, I LIKE IT! : The challenge rooms are the only part of the game linked to online play, and even then it is just a leader board. Fair enough, this game isn't made for multiplayer, but I'm sure a mode such as Bat vs Man would suffice. These challenge rooms test your skills to a degree of impossibility. They lengthen the game quite a bit if you are after a 100% completion, and add replayability value to the game to try and rack up a higher score.

DOWNSIDES?!

How much does a wood chuck if a chuck wood wood chuck wood sdifingbpomav : The Riddler's riddles are supposed to be hard. But, I'm having such a massive ordeal trying to find them all. The scanner given to you is almost useless, with zero hints coming up to how close or how cold you are from the subject needed to complete the riddle.

Darn : The difficulty is always on a slow uprise through the whole game. That is fine by me. But, some sections are so infuriatingly hard that I had to set the controller down to cool off.

TITAN : God damn. Not only are they the most ridiculous enemies in the game, but also the most annoying. They aren't hard, oh no. But when they appear, there is either 2 of them or a whole gang to take on as well. They deal stupid damage, stupidly designed to defeat and get boring quick. They also reuse the method on Bane, and you encounter them up to 5 times. Daft, stupid, and just a pest.

Shoddy management: The downside to this game is that it hypes up the boss fights. And executes them poorly. Bane was a boring fight, (at this moment, my head is in my hands trying to figure out who I fought in the game,) Killer Croc was a mess, Harley Quinn wasn't even involved with the player, just through cut scenes, The Titans I've already discussed, and Joker? What is wrong with an old fashioned fist fight? Like in the comics? Disappointing last boss. The only decent boss encounters were the Scarecrow sections and the Poison Ivy. Scarecrow was just messed up, and they made a whole new style of play. A 2D/3D platformer/stealth. Most fun.

On the whole, the game was really enjoyable with a few minor complaints. I look forward to seeing what they make in the next one.

Lime.

Lime's Favourite Moments in Gaming (PART ONE)

Hallo.

Spoilers ahead.

So, I wanted to share my favourite moments in gaming. Let us dive into it.

In no particular order...

BioShock's first Big Daddy fight:

Oh what a doozy. Even when I first witnessed the brutality these creatures can cause to other characters surrounding me, my reactions were mixed. "Pure badass," and "Oh crap. I don't want to battle that!" But when I reached the moment, where I needed to confront such a force, I was filled with pure terror and thrill. I was weak, and he continuously towered over my characters body in anger. Taking him down and reaping the rewards was a great feeling.

Left 4 Dead's Tank:

Fearsome, huge and deadly. Seeing this bounding towards you, initiates the FPS Gamer's first reaction, "Hit S and peg it." Massive fun to fight and something to be proud of if you can kill it in single player.

Left 4 Dead 2's 'Dark Carnival' Finale:

Explosions, clowns, zombies, guns and rock 'n' roll. Only in Valve's Left 4 Dead series would these make for such a perfect combination. Along with the banter between Coach, Ellis and Nick before entering the area, the perfect crescendo of pure zombie apocalypse and rather surprisingly good Midnight Riders blaring through my speakers, I felt epicness flow from my machines.

Portal's Credit Song:

A recap of everything I've done? Dark humour? Sold. This was a pleasant surprise to end such a fantastic little game.

Mass Effect 1's Final Boss

Saren. You mother fucker. Not only did you finally reinstate my hope in a proper final boss battle at the end of my games instead of these silly final sequences found in most games. And also, you were a pretty kick ass bad guy to start with. Two sequences, resulting in a really exciting and thrilling battle. Contained with constant healing, issuing orders and poor frame rates, this could only mean the greatest boss battle in years.

Persona 4's Music:

Never has a game made me smile with J-Pop/J-Rock. Catchy, played in nearly every battle and awesome music to accompany the cutscenes and other story elements locked deep within.

Lead Designers in the Wards after shenanigans.

Infinity Ward has lost it's two lead designers after a little scuffle with Activision early this morning, (UK time,) with them not being seen by employees after a little meeting with the corporate giant.

Bouncers had been reported to have entered the premises, but their intentions were unknown. Presumably they were there to retrieve the belongings of Vince Zampella and Jason West without them taking anything of value to the company.

Activision have so far stated that they have breached contracts and the such. What they have done is yet to be confirmed, but so far, rumours are circulating that they have said "NO," to the companies owners, been nicking out of the wads of cash Kotick rolls around in at night or something of far greater consequences.

A lawsuit could be under way against the two, as Activision have gone and taken out a SEC filing.

My speculation, and along with many other internet dwellers, is that the two have rejected a proposal from Activision- for example, making Modern Warfare 3 in such a short space of time- or have asked for the opportunity to move on from Call of Duty franchise and begin work on another set of games.

Either way, we will continue to see Call of Duty - or similar games- from Treyarch and the rumoured third company. But with IW's top men - and the reason Kotick has such a smug grin at all times - gone and out of the picture, the magic behind seems to be fading, and another exciting franchise becomes stale and bland at the hand of Activision.

Exhibit A - Tony Hawk's games.

Exhibit B - Guitar Hero.

NEWS SOURCE - http://kotaku.com/5483492/scandal-hits-call-of-duty-devs-what-we-know-[update]

Kick Ass Posters...

http://kotaku.com/5478247/there-are-secret-messages-on-your-bioshock-2-posters

Take a look.

Some lists of games... and movies.

Just a quick post today.

The folks at IGN UK have had a look back at the past decade - the "Noughties" as people are calling it now. They've compiled a list of the top ten movies and games for each year.

Take a look. Do their decisions make sense, or do they make your teeth gnash with rage?

Do let IGN know...

http://uk.ign.com/decade/

Every Plasmid and Tonic from BioShock 2!

Damn. These are looking fine. Fine like the lady you find on the internet.

The new variations of the plasmids from the past game are looking slightly overpowered, but alas, incredibly awesome. Then again. You are a tank. The Big Daddy. I'm ecstatic about this game. It is looking great, and just generally looks like a good BioShock romp.

If the story falls flat on it's face, at least the great gameplay will back it up. But BioShock is all about story first. So if it does explode in it's face, I'm presuming the angst like and nit pickers out there - I'm looking at you IGN - will carve this a score of at least 7. We'll see in 5 days. We'll see.

EXCLUSIVE: ‘BioShock 2′ Guide - Every Plasmid And Tonic Revealed � MTV Multiplayer

Hawksworth Reports: BioShock 2

Instead of the more exciting route of crashing a plane and going down a sub into the impressive city of rapture, you wake up in a pool of water and see yourself in the reflection. You observe those huge hands and the yellow window and you suddenly realise “I’m a big Daddy: FTW!”
His purpose is clear and is the same as any Big Daddy’s goal: FIND YOUR LITTLE SISTER. This little sister is unlike any other that you have encountered before. She has a name. A name in common with your new antagonist, Sofia Lamb. She took over from Andrew Ryan after he died 10 years ago. She was originally hired by him as a psychiatrist to help calm the citizens of Rapture during the chaotic times. She is the complete opposite of Ryan believing in religion and sanctity: the things which Ryan hated.
The Little sister’s name is Eleanor Lamb and your basic mission throughout the entire story is to find out who she is. As you go along you soon find that she is being worshipped by a cult of splicers and that she is of great significance to them. Why? Is yet to be revealed.
If you’ve seen any gameplay videos, you’ll know you aren’t any big daddy: you’re the first prototype and therefore have the ability to use plasmids like Jack from the previous game. These plasmids are much more varied in their upgrades rather than the old game where they only got slightly more powerful. For example the incinerate plasmid starts off as normal but when upgraded, it becomes a charged ball of fire or a flamethrower. Plasmids can also be mixed together to get better, harder hitting combinations i.e. you can set a cyclone trap on fire.
The weapons are of course big daddy badass kind of things; the drill being the most famous. However, there is a drill fuel gage meaning your splicer drilling is limited. Fortunately all is not lost. The rivet gun makes an improved appearance: as does the machine gun and there are a couple of new ones. There is a spear gun and a hack gun. The hack gun allows you to hack from a safe distance and the spear gun... well... fairly obvious isn’t it? And a fair few come early in the game; meaning more fun for you.
The splicers are more grotesque and more insane. Some have become so spliced that they have turned into a new brand of splicer: the Brute Splicer. He is huge and is not afraid to use his huge muscles to hit you or throw things at you. There is also a new big daddy called the Rumbler. He fires rockets from his launcher and throws out turrets to shoot you.
However, there is another enemy, more powerful than both of them. It’s called the big sister and she protects the ADAM economy of Rapture. ADAM is needed to buy tonics, boosts and plasmids. To obtain it; one must retrieve it from a little sister. Big Sister is always watching always waiting, until she snaps and comes to hunt you down. Ammo is expensive and in short supply making it a very supply exhausting fight. You know she’s coming to get you when you hear the terrible shriek which scares the crap out of you.
Some of the best parts of the game seen so far have to be the underwater segments. It gives great piece of mind to know you are safe for once and you won’t be attacked. All this is of course is courtesy of the huge diving suit your internal organs are stored in. Another good feature about the suit is that it has a torch allowing you to see in darker areas.
The multiplayer is what really is exciting me. The games appear to be fun and challenging and it is awesome how 2K has tweaked the games to give them Bioshock themes. For example ‘Capture the Sister’: a variation of capture the flag where you have to capture the sister and deposit her safely in the hatch. This is all set in the Rapture during the civil war (two years before the events in the first game) and Mr Sinclair of Sinclair solutions who wants you to test his products in the multiplayer games.
All in all, Bioshock 2 certainly appears to live up to expectations in all aspects and should be an excellent game to play. Until my next preview which will be posted whenever the hell I feel like it, goodbye.

Army of One and Half.

Oh. Dear.

That is my responce to Army of Two.How can you screw up a game with such a simple concept, this bad?

A quick summary of the story:

Rios and Salem are two hired mercenaries who start to get a little suspicious about their boss and co-workers as they begin to spiral into more and more trouble. Or so

that is what I gathered from the rather pathetic story line. It had so much potential, and it is just gunned down. The wafer thin story line has so much back story that

isn't developed. Why can't we play through the years shown in a particular cutscene? Because the game is litterally too generic and repetive to do so.

The explosive montage cutscene towards the begining was the highlight of the game. The polish of the cutscenes in the game, with the rather cell shaded textures and

bold colours. So why does the game have such a bland and lackluster settings for it's missions? Why do the graphics look generic and flat? If you can work cutscenes

like that, I'm sure you can make a decent looking game.

The combat does a good job- if you have a secondary human controlling the other member of the group. The AI in this game is flabagasting. Never have I seen such poor AI

from a well funded game. Let me give you an example of what happened to make me hate it so much: I had gotten myself into a spot of bother with some terrorists, and

needed assistance from my good chap Salem. As he wandered over to me, walking right past the enemy troops and dragging me from decent cover I had, to the begining of

the checkpoint. From there he ran forward and took out most of the men shooting those darn bullets, and left me to die. When he had finished, he began to walk in

circles until I had perished. Another time, in a simple 'puzzle' the game had given us the task of, was to press a switch, so that I could open a door on the other

side. The AI walked past the switch and out the door. Leaving me stranded on the other side awaiting his return. The enemy AI has no problems, they take good cover, and

shoot you. So why can't my guy do the simple task of pressing a goddamned switch?!

The best is when you get knocked down. You sit like a primary school student, awaiting to be dragged around and healed. You can't move, but you can shoot. This is

painful to watch, as the enemy disappears behind the wall, and you can't crawl to do such things as, blast his face.

The cover mechanic in this game is confusing. It works, but has this odd feeling about it. It isn't Gears of War, where it is clear you are taking cover, but you crouch

and you'll nestle in nicely, or press why and you'll be flung from your spot to a near by wall. It works, but it seems a little light. No solid ground being taken. The

guns also don't feel solid when you shoot. There isn't any feedback from getting a satisfying headshot. Once you unlock a particular gun, it becomes more fun, but

that's not the point. Why should I wait to unlock fun? You have a whole range of guns to choose from, but you end up just sticking to one sort, and upgrading it.

Another mechaninc which was also a high point in the game, was the Aggro Meter. Now this, is how games should do it more often. What this does is, the more you shoot

and the type of gun it is, the more aggro you'll pull towards you, making the enemies focus on the Rambo of the team. This also means you can activate Overkill, a

mindless feature in which you get two times the damage on enemies. The one with the least aggro can then sneak up on enemies and take them out.

The back to back feature was poorly used. It was used at the wrong times and the wrong places. Why couldn't it be used in the boring final shoot out to make things a

little more exhilarating?

'Boss' fights were umongst the most useless things in the game. Along with the sniper rifle, Co-Op Snipe, (the AI partner kept declining, when it could've proved

useful). They are basically the more stronger enemies that you see scattering the stages. Shoot till one has more aggro, and run behind and shoot. Boring, tedious and

just downright dumb. To add to this, there is no actual character or build up to fighting them, it sort of just happens without you knowing. This doesn't help when the

boss tends to be half way down the map, and if you die, you have to rewatch the unimaginative cutscene all over again.

Army of Two. More like Army of One and a Half, if you play how I did. Dear lord, please don't. If you do have to play this game, please find someone willing to waste

their time. It is just so boring and unoriginal. The guns don't feel great, and the mechanics are wasted. The enemies are bland and the antagonists are goofy and daft.

I have little hopes for the sequel and this has put an impression on me, as to where the third person shooter genre is going. Boring, generic, cover based shooters. Oh dear.

Retro Binge: Super Castlevania IV

Ah, Castlevania. For those of patience and skill. If you don't meet these requirements, you are surely to be enraged and throw your controller through the 16 inch TV.

The story is sufficent enough, nothing compared to other SNES games, but it suffices enough, as you won't be concentrating on such things we take for granted today. You are here to beat down Dracula, and you are doing it as fast as you can.In a way, it is a remake of the original Castlevania from the NES, just with improvements and a complete make over.

Castlevania is known for its difficulty, and its nuisences.For example, the original Castlevania trilogy, when the player was hit, he would fly backwards, and usually into a pit; resulting in death. This little punch in the balls, was slightly fixed by three, with platforms being cleverly placed within a level, to prevent death- this carries over to Four, but the whole thing should have been removed. It isn't game breaking, but it is incredibly annoying.

If you do die, you are sent back to the start of that particular screen, no shits and giggles in this game. If you die, you are going through hell to get to where you have been. You will also lose the metal and more powerful whip, and have to recover it again before you can start kicking demon ass properly. This isn't hard though, with the classic Castlevania candles littering the stages, even the outside areas, leave power-ups, and usually subtle upgrades for the whip. Whether it be making it a metal or even longer whip. Among the other power-ups, which consist of: holy water; the cross; knives and axes, hearts will fall from the candles. These do not replenish life, but infact are your ammunition for the weapons you aquire. When you die, you lose all the hearts you collected and restart with five. Again, no shits and giggles. If you don't concentrate, you are going to be cussing like a fishwife.

While on the subject of weapons, the whip has now been given a feature of eight way movement. This makes it the most advanced whip out of the entire series; it was dropped for later 2D Castlevanias, in which Simon Belmont was involved.


The game requires you to have utter control over Simon Belmont, pure concentration and the ability to time jumps and whip lashes together to bring down enemies. Failing to do so, will result in death. And once again, brought to that dreaded remastered 8-bit death tune. But with the games utterly tight controls, you shan't fail because of the game, but because of your own skill.

For a game that tried to distill a slight horror tinge on the gamers of yesteryear, once you leave the start screen and it's chilling music, it becomes more scary for the game's uncanny ability to turn you into a raging monster yourself. The monsters in the game are incredibly unfair if they get the advantage on you. The easier enemies- such as skeletons- are not so much of a hassle one on one, but when three decide to gang up on you, you better be able to be quick on your feet. Flying enemies are incredibly annoying, and over powered. Bats shouldn't be able to destroy such a powerful man, and the Madusa heads hadn't been given a correct pattern. The stronger looking enemies are a complete piss take now. With Simon's whip, you can let it hang loose by holding the attack button. This gives you an incredibly unfair advantage over them - I'm not one to complain but I found some enemies a little too easy. Knights in the first Castlevania were the one of the most feared to the 8-bit gamer. 9 hits with the whip and almost impossible to hit without getting touched. But in IV, you have this loose spin with the whip, meaning a less powerful hit, but if you can find a ledge in which the knight cannot reach you, it'll be dead in no time. This was amusing to me. How much we have progressed with AI. Now a days, the enemy would clamber to you and destroy you if you camped, but in this, it cannot leave it's path.

The levels are cleverly designed and much fun to plough through. The whip is one of the most fun weapons I have used in a while, and the enemies are imaginitive and downright hard to defeat at times. Leaving this game was hard for me, and after beating down Dracula, I went through it all over again. Todays games do not do this as often as they should, with replayability litterally due to achievments.

Fuck achievments.