OK, have we all had a break? Had something to eat, ready for more E3? Good. Now it’s time to take on EA’s press conference. Hopefully a bit less Kinect-focused than MS’ offering, we’re expecting Battlefield 3, Mass Effect, SSX and a few surprises from this one. Get yourselves to your video feeds, and have this open up in an adjacent window as I subject you all to more strained jokes and commentary while we watch the stream together like…
Hello! I’m totally not sat at E3, but I am near a computer screen. As such I’m going to be providing commentary on the Microsoft conference as it happens. Join me will you, for hopefully irrelevant commentary and probably some snark on the biggest party of videogames since that time Master Chief vomited into the visor of his own helmet.
There’s no denying that L.A. Noire is an adult game in the truest sense of the word. Yes, it has swears. Yes, it has blood. But L.A. Noire is probably the most mature of all the games featuring the Rockstar branding thus far. With themes of rape, exploitation, shady dealings and of course, murder it’s a game that proudly displays it’s genre on its sleeve. The only problem is, it doesn’t nearly reach the narrative heights it wants to, although…
Brink is an incredibly schizophrenic game in many ways. It wants to be an overarching, cutscene driven story about the struggles of the Ark on which the game takes place, yet simultaneously be a fast paced shooter with the quick pacing and instant gratification that multiplayer focused games need to entice players and keep them around. It wants to offer the character progression and unlockable skill mechanics of an RPG, while offering the fluidity of movement and freedom of traversing…
“FINISH HIM” – It’s been nearly twenty years since we first heard that phrase emanating from our local arcades, pumping fistfuls of coins into the slot as we proved to the gathering crowds just who was better, Scorpion or Sub Zero. The exclamation point being the resultant bloody OTT Fatalities performed on the unlucky loser. Spinoffs, movies, more games and an entire franchise later and we find ourselves in present day. Thankfully Mortal Kombat has also shed the majority of…
So we’ve had our long Easter weekend, and the charts are in. Perhaps unsurprisingly the awesome Portal 2 is sitting at the top with Mortal Kombat close behind it. Both games are excellent (look out for our MK review later this week) and both offer some exclusive bonus content to those who purchase their games on the PS3. However Mortal Kombat has sold more on the PS3, Portal 2’s best selling format has so far been the 360. There are…
It’s almost unbelievable, but it’s been almost seven years since the last full length single player game from Valve. It’s not like they’ve been quiet since then or anything, on the contrary – Portal 2 is in fact the cumulation of the things learned from all their output in the intervening years: The short form Episodes provided the platform to test out the original Portal. The lessons learned from Team Fortress 2 in predicting player behaviour. How players interact with…
Lego Universe has a lot in common with a second hand Lego set. It seems like an awesome premise from the outset, is great fun for a while but is marred by the frustration of finding out that not all the pieces are there. Set in the titular Universe of the title, a dark force known as the Malestrom has taken over the world, and can only be defeated by the minifigs (characters) of the Lego Universe by restoring imagination…
Comparisons are hard to live up to. It’s obvious, but it’s true. The original Mafia was a classic game with a deftly told story and an awesome open world that took us all on a brilliant journey and annoying race missions aside, is constantly recognised as one of the best alternatives to GTA in recent memory. Quite frankly, Mafia 2 has some mighty big shoes to fill in the eyes and minds of gamers, and sadly it doesn’t quite live…
Kane & Lynch 2 is just like a drunken blow job. Forgive the rather crass analogy, but it’s true. It’s a guilty pleasure that is brazenly adult, yet at the same time all too brief and over quickly, and it’s not long before you catch your reflection in the mirror and can’t help feeling somewhat empty.