Do you remember the days when you could run backwards just as fast as you could forwards? When you were allowed to carry more than two weapons onto the battlefield? When plots could generally be summed up by the words ‘bad stuff’s gone down?’ Brad Carney, creator of Wrack certainly does, and he misses them.
Although an incredible story, I couldn’t help but feel that the puzzles in Portal 2 lacked a certain finesse. Abandoning the streamlined approach of the original Portal might have provided Valve with the ability to tell a remarkable tale, but some fans, myself included, believed the difficulty of the puzzles had been reduced to increase pacing. On May 8th, Valve is due to release the Perpetual Testing Initiative update for Portal 2, at which point the internet will probably explode.
As the Reticule’s self-appointed Ambassador for Pointing and Clicking, I would be remiss in my duties if I failed to draw your attention to up and coming releases in the adventuring genre. This time it’s independent developer SkyGoblin’s turn in the spotlight, as I poke The Journey Down with my ambassadorial poking device.
Since a quiet initial announcement back in 2008, XII Games have spent the past four years busily working away on Resonance, a thrilling point and click adventure. As its final release looms ever closer, I’ve been lucky enough to take a sneaky peek at what is to come, and you’re lucky enough to read about it.
A few days ago I got the chance to take an early look at the Mass Effect 3 single player demo and all the glory that came with it. An updated levelling system, sharp graphics and some heart pounding action were just some of the highlights. Having played it to death however, it was time to move onto the much discussed and awaited multilpayer side of the Mass Effect 3 demo which was made available on the 14th for anyone…
Final Fantasy XIII split fans and critics down the middle, while many loved the change in direction for the series some hated it just as much. Reviewers were scoring the game at around 8 or 9 out of 10, praising the combat system and the production of the game while fans were upset by the lack of freedom and the slog to get through the first third of the game. Die hard fans of Final Fantasy will never like change, and yes from the days of FFVII -IX which was a personal favourite time for me, the game has changed and advanced a lot, but it wouldn’t it be somewhat foolish for a company to bring out thirteen or so games that were near exactly the same.
As a long term fan of the Final Fantasy games I can see just how much they have changed over the years bringing in all kinds of new aspects and abilities for each new game and revisiting and improving the parts we know and love. Square Enix has promised that Final Fantasy XIII-2 will be an huge improvement on its predecessor and it’s clear to see that they are determined to make some major developments, so much so that it has all become a little overwhelming. But just what have they changed for the new game and will it be for the better? Decide for yourselves after reading my hands on impressions from the demo and all the inside facts.
Do you like shooting men? Then do I have the game for you.
At the Eurogamer Expo, Chris got some hands on time with Rage, after completing some of the first few missions he has gathered some thoughts together. Read them below. Beware of early game spoilers.
A game which features a giant dildo as a meleee weapon, a mollusc launcher which fires mind controlling crustaceans and the ability to dress a male character as a female wrestler deserves to get some attention. That game is Saints Row: The Third.
“We think Counter-Strike: Global-Offensive is the best version of Counter-Strike”. That is the bold statement from Valve’s Chet Faliszek about the upcoming shooter which is following twelve years of history. The Counter-Strike franchise is amongst the most played series of games on the PC, Counter-Strike 1.6 and its successor, Source both regularly find themselves at the very top of the Steam stats page.