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Carrier Command – Hands On Preview

Carrier Command – Hands On Preview

One of the first games I ever laid my hands on as a child was Rainbird Software’s Carrier Command. It came bundled with our state-of-the-art Atari ST and from the very first time I loaded it up I was hooked. Providing a futuristic naval simulation, it took place in a beautifully rendered 3D environment, in which you commanded a technologically advanced naval carrier in attacks on gorgeous tropical islands.

Ok, perhaps my memories of the original’s graphical prowess might be a little out of touch with reality, but despite its dated looks, much of what made Carrier Command unique stands out even today. A fully open world with hundreds of miles of ocean to explore. Customisable units, open-ended objectives and a challenging AI to defeat. It was up to you to craft your plan of attack, and defeat could easily come to the unprepared.

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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Flibble – The Verdict

Flibble – The Verdict

Flibble. It’s a word with many uses, and Zayne ‘Zed’ Black manages to cover pretty much all of them in his outlandish new release, Flibble, released for PC on Monday 13th August.

The Flibbles are in peril. Scattered across their planet by evil forces, they now hide in gigantic mazes where they cower from terrifying bat-things and ghost faces. Their only hope is a passing space-wanderer who they summon to their rescue by shooting him down with a space-missile.

Makes perfect sense.

London 2012: The Official Videogame – The Verdict

London 2012: The Official Videogame – The Verdict

What better time to post my review of London 2012: The Official Videogame, than the day after the closing ceremony? If you want to get a taste of the Olympics once again without watching everything once more on BBC iPlayer, you can always try out the game, but you will be missing out on a large number of sports. The game features 46 events from 13 sports, pretty stingy when compared to 304 events from 36 sports that we just witnessed over the past couple of weeks. London 2012 clearly doesn’t quite match the real thing for events to take part in, but the bigger question is, are they any good to play?

Mod Spotlight – The Stanley Parable

Mod Spotlight – The Stanley Parable

This is a story about a man named Nick. Every week, Nick accesses the Reticule’s WordPress account and thinks about what he’s going to write. After sitting there blankly for a few hours, hoping in vain that some words will appear on the page in front of him, he generally gives up and goes to make a coffee. About five cups later, some words would generally emerge, at which point Nick will post them on the Reticule for the world to…

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LEGO Batman 2 – The Verdict

LEGO Batman 2 – The Verdict

It must be noted off the bat that I have been playing the PS Vita version of LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, a bit of much needed context when you consider the rest of this Verdict.

I am gravely disappointed by this version of the game, I have dabbled very briefly with the PC version and I can see that the game on the PC and high-def consoles is quite impressive. But knowing what the Vita is capable of, I am left feeling disappointed by the handheld interpretation.

Interview With Two Kyle’s On Little Inferno and Tomorrow Corporation

Interview With Two Kyle’s On Little Inferno and Tomorrow Corporation

The team behind new indie developer, Tomorrow Corporation, features three massive names in the world of independent gaming: Kyle Gabler, Kyle Gray and Allan Blomquist. The three of them are currently working on a game called Little Inferno which appears very exciting. I had the chance to ask the two Kyle’s a few questions about the forming of the development team, and about Little Inferno itself.

Interview with Timo Gerken From Ubisoft About The Settlers Online

Interview with Timo Gerken From Ubisoft About The Settlers Online

Earlier in the year I gave my thoughts on the newly discovered Settlers Online. Since my first impressions article The Settlers Online has had its official retail launch and has gained considerable interest from all over the world. With the new-found popularity and new direction I thought it was about time we heard some more from TSO. I managed to pose my questions regarding the new direction for The Settlers to the friendly looking chap in the picture Timo Gerken, the ‘Worldwide Active Game Manager’ for Ubisoft.

Kevin – What made you want to bring The Settlers to a browser-based setting?

Timo – Looking at the current changes in the video game market, The Settlers Online was a logical step to expand The Settlers universe. Ubisoft is always looking for ways to reach new customers by expanding into new territories like the online market. This includes releasing strong Ubisoft brands such as The Settlers and Silent Hunter in the free-to-play arena.

The Elder Scrolls V: Dawnguard – The Verdict

The Elder Scrolls V: Dawnguard – The Verdict

If there’s one thing I love about Skyrim it’s that it gives the sense of a deep and real, living and breathing world with meaningful consequences. There are various different stories to delve into, different paths to choose and even random chance encounters with a troll or necromancer that could potentially take you halfway across Skyrim on a quest for glory. Dawnguard is the first available DLC from producers Bethesda and adds to this world by deepening your characters story and environment even more.

Having sunk around 125 hours into my original Skyrim playthrough I thought I had more than had my fill of being dragonborn. But after an absence from the game of around three months, Dawnguard has reminded me of my love for the game and made me realise just how much I had actually been missing it. Certainly I had exhausted almost everything my original mage could do, but Dawnguard gives me a good excuse to start afresh with a new class and gives me the chance to do any quests I missed the first time around. Besides I wanted to try out that awesome looking new crossbow and become an evil vampire lord and my goodie two-shoes mage just didn’t seem like the kind of person to do this.

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.