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Author: Jordan Harling

The Reticule Presents Installing to Disk Episode 14 — Trachea Turmoil

The Reticule Presents Installing to Disk Episode 14 — Trachea Turmoil

In this episode Jordez and Nicknameless James talk about Steam’s new Big Picture mode, discuss the declining relevance of video game consoles and, through the wonder of time-travel and clever editing techniques, dissect the newest announcements about the Nintendo Wii U including its long awaited release date. Classic flight-sim Red Baron crashes out of the Retro Roundup and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD and  Journey are the Games of the Week. So what are you waiting for? Hit the jump…

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The Reticule Presents Installing to Disk Episode 13 — More Than a Feeling

The Reticule Presents Installing to Disk Episode 13 — More Than a Feeling

Episode thirteen of The Reticule’s podcast is here. Hosted by Jordez and Nicknameless James – The Reticule Presents Installing to Disk is a chaotic half hour of videogame news, rumours and opinions. This time around the lads speculate on the possbile Wii U release dates, the future of The Last Guardian and whether cloud gaming will ever take off. So what are you waiting for? Hit the jump for the embedded player with a nice little download button.

New Super Mario Bros. 2 – The Verdict

New Super Mario Bros. 2 – The Verdict

Mario’s back, Peach has been kidnapped, yadda yadda… you know the drill. If you want a one line review of the game, then there you have it. If you want more, then New Super Mario Bros. 2 is a largely soulless retread of a game you’ve already played several times, with the few innovations it does attempt appearing both ironic and superficial at the same time.

New Super Mario Bros. 2 is another 2D Mario game and a sequel to the DS and Wii games that all share the ‘New’ moniker. It’s telling that this hasn’t been updated, partially because ‘New New Super Mario Bros.’ would be grammatically awkward but also because all three games are near identical. The set up is the same as always — Bowser and his Koopalings have stole away with Peach, and Mario must pass through several themed worlds, conquering all the platforming challenges in his way to save her.

The Reticule Presents Installing to Disk Episode 12 — Factoids

The Reticule Presents Installing to Disk Episode 12 — Factoids

Episode twelve of The Reticule’s podcast is here. Hosted by Jordez and Nicknameless James – The Reticule Presents Installing to Disk is a chaotic half hour of videogame news, rumours and opinions. This time around the lads speculate on the possibility of yet another Prince of Persia reboot, Jordez gets animated about Final Fantasy Theatrhythm and James causes anarchy in the Retro Roundup. So what are you waiting for? Hit the jump for the embedded player with a nice little…

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Rainbow Moon – The Verdict

Rainbow Moon – The Verdict

Rainbow Moon has been described by many as an hardcore old-school RPG. When a game is described as hardcore it is meant to signify that the game is a complex and requires a sizeable amount of time and practice to fully master. This is far from the truth with Rainbow Moon, an ultimately shallow game stretched out for so long that it requires immense dedication and patience to complete.

The Reticule Presents Installing to Disk Episode 11 — Not the Olympic Special

The Reticule Presents Installing to Disk Episode 11 — Not the Olympic Special

The Reticule podcast is back with another 30 minutes of videogame news, rumours and non-sequiters. In this episode of The Reticule Presents Installing to Disk the lads talk about the rumoured super-slim PlayStation, 3 Jordez gets nostalgic with some SNES games and Nicknameless James gives his verdict on Wolfenstein 3D. So what are you waiting for? Hit the jump for a listen/download button or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

The Reticule Presents Installing to Disk Episode 10 — Turkish D

The Reticule Presents Installing to Disk Episode 10 — Turkish D

Jordez and James are back with another chaotic half hour of gaming news, reviews and rumours in episode 10 of The Reticule’s fortnightly podcast, The Reticule Presents Installing to Disk. In this episode Jordez talks about his experience down at the PC and Indie game show Rezzed, Nicknameless James gets animated about Little Computer People in the Retro Roundup and the two discuss all the latest news and rumours from the world of video games. So what are you waiting…

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Aliens: Colonial Marines – Multiplayer Hands On

Aliens: Colonial Marines – Multiplayer Hands On

“You’re the marines, the key to survival is to work together.” It sounds simple but when Xenomorphs are leaping all around, composure and teamwork make way for terror and unfortunately damp trousers.

Playing two 6 vs 6 LAN games at Rezzed we demoed the online deathmatch gameplay of Aliens: Colonial Marines. As aliens the games is most similar to a hack-n-slash. The small warehouse we played offered aliens chances to ambush and annihilate individual marines, but the narrow hallways made it easy for the marines to stick together.

Unlike most other online games tactics played as much a deciding factor in which team won as skill. Charging head first into a group of marines will just end in a bunch of smug marines high-fiving each other and acidic blood splattering the walls.

A co-ordinated attack is needed. Either isolating and picking off individual marines or attacking with an all-out assault from all directions. And it really is possible to attack from all directions as the aliens have the ability to cling to walls and ceilings. Dropping down on a marine while decapitating him with your tail is immensely fun as well as a great tactic to terrify the opposition.

The Reticule at Rezzed

The Reticule at Rezzed

E3 2012 was criticised by many for being bland, overhyped and predictable. None of these adjectives describe Rezzed, a PC and Indie games show set up by Eurogamer and Rock, Paper, Shotgun. This year our very own Jordan Harling attended. Here are some of his highlights.

Far Cry 3 – Hands On Preview

Far Cry 3 – Hands On Preview

Beginning a demo with a cut-scene of a half naked woman is a risky manoeuvre. It can put people off the game instantly, making people think that it is shallow, attention seeking and even misogynistic. Yet this is how the demo to Far Cry 3 opened, a game which could possibly be the most intelligent and abstract FPSs of the past few years.

The demo was available to play at Rezzed where I got a hands-on preview. The first thing that was noticeable was how beautiful the game looked running on a high-end PC. After the opening cut-scene the demo started out in a thicket of jungle, every leaf on every tree stunningly rendered. A path led to a cliff overlooking the island and the pristine blue sea that surrounded it, showing off the game’s impressive draw distance. On a dock on the island a man was casually tipping corpses into the sea.

After a dive into the lagoon and a brief swim the game really began. The jungle’s thick foliage and the default weapon, the bow and arrow, made stealth the most obvious tactic. Picking off enemies with the bow gave a satisfying sense of power. The tension of being seen while drawing back the string countered by the elation of an enemy dropping to the ground, bolt protruding from his body.

This feeling was somewhat lessened though by the relatively quick drawback speed of the bow and its one hit kill effectiveness, regardless of where you shoot an enemy. However, it’s possible that both these issues were due to the difficulty settings of the demo.