It's funny you should ask, because Joystiq just posted a hands-on report of Killzone 2's Multiplayer from Leipzig. So if you're as intrigued by this game as we are we suggest you check it out and see what they thought. By which, we mean us. All this third-person talk is starting to get a little confusing, so just click the link and be done with it.
Killzone 2 is shaping up to be an incredible game, and not just graphically. While we didn't originally expect the multiplayer to be a big draw for the game, it's definitely now the most exciting aspect. If Guerilla Games succeeds in giving us an awesome single player campaign too, Resistance 2 will have to make the most of its few months head start, because Killzone 2 has the potential to flatten it.
PS3FANBOY
8/25/2008
8/23/2008
The console version breaks cover for the first time.
It's finally made its way to arcades in Tokyo -- and hopefully before long some enterprising arcade owners will import it out into other territories -- and now Street Fighter IV has made its first appearance running on an Xbox 360.
Retaining the glorious new ink and polygon aesthetic and reviving the spirit of the fondly remembered Street Fighter II, Street Fighter IV on the Xbox 360 is identical to its arcade counterpart in practically every way. Although there's one of Microsoft's subtly revised pads lying around, we took to the game the way it's meant to be played -- with a pair of Hori sticks -- and though we've already had a brief hands-on before, we're pleasantly surprised by the amount of depth at hand. While on the surface its Street Fighter II put through the polygon machine and buffed to HD perfection, there's an immense amount of depth bubbling away underneath.
Indeed, while many of the series' hardcore fans may have bemoaned the supposed dumbing down of Street Fighter after the technically exacting third installment, what we've seen from today's few bouts is that Street Fighter IV has just as much to offer. While it's perfectly possible to bound around the screen taking potshots as we did in our SNES-playing youth, there's also a wealth of extras and specials for the veterans to indulge in, with features like the focus attack and revenge moves proving particularly satisfying.
There's only the most basic of modes on offer for this early build, though we're told to expect a lengthier single player mode similar to that of Virtua Fighter 4 in the final code -- though as yet none of this has been confirmed. All the arcade characters are present, and are soon to be joined by Super Street Fighter II's Cammy, who's sadly absent today. Expect to see more characters unveiled soon -- and we wouldn't bet against personal favourite Fei Long to make an appearance -- and even after the game's release we're told there's likely to be more coming down in the shape of downloadable content.
As for when to expect the port to hit shelves? Our Capcom source tells us that seeing that the original arcade board is a PC in a box, and given that the 360 is a PC in a box, it's unlikely to be too long a wait.
We're hoping to head to Capcom's offices over the next few weeks to bring you fuller impressions, and stay tuned for our in-depth interview with the game's amiable producer Yoshi Ono -- who confirmed our age-old belief that Street Fighter is the thinking man's chess -- later next week.
IGN UK
8/09/2008
Monday morning, as part of my meet George Lucas trip to San Francisco, I was taken on a tour of the Letterman Digital Arts Center. No, that’s not where they shoot the Late Show, it’s another one of George Lucas’s massive compounds. Connected directly to places like Skywalker Ranch and Big Rock Ranch with a fat digital pipeline, it’s there that Lucas Arts is currently putting the finishing touches on their hotly anticipated new Star Wars game, Force Unleashed.
George Lucas’s gamers let us get up and personal with the game, showing us extended demos of just what it’s capable of and bragging about all the crazy force powers players will be gifted with. The story, follows another one of those “secret apprentice” storylines that George Lucas seems to have become so obsessed with recently. In the Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie it’s all about Anakin Skywalker’s secret apprentice. In the Force Unleashed game, you’re playing Darth Vader’s secret apprentice. Basically, it’s just an excuse to shoe horn in a new character without having to explain why no one has bothered to mention him in any of the other Star Wars stuff you seen.
Darth Vader’s secret apprentice is of course, a Dark Jedi, and over the course of the game it looks like he slowly turns to the light. That lets you have the best of both worlds, creating crazy, wanton destruction early in the game when you’re evil and then I suppose behaving yourself more later on. You’re not just limited to playing this secret apprentice dud though, the game lets you control other force powered characters throughout as well. In fact, the whole thing starts with you playing Darth Vader, and I watched as they played through the opening level where Vader strides through an Imperials versus Wookie battle to find his secret apprentice.
Playing Vader is a lot of fun, and the game lets you use your force powers on literally anything. Vader can rip apart trees, choke out Wookies, or violently crush the life out of his own Imperial Stormtroopers. He’s Vader after all, killing is a reflex.
The Force Powers are the games real selling point though, and they’re bigger than ever. Force pushes throw people across the map, characters held suspended in the air by force grip realistically struggle and flail around trying to find their balance. The effects are bigger, the impact of everything you do is bigger. For perspective on just how powerful your force powers are in the game, at one point during the demo we watched the player use force grip to rip an Imperial Tie Fighter off its moorings in a docking bay, and throw it at a group of soldiers.
Standing there taking the game in though, I couldn’t help but think that for all the flash and story mumbo-jumbo about a secret apprentice, Force Unleashed still looks a lot like it’s just a jazzed up version of the Jedi Knight series. The force powers are huge, but it’s really the same force powers you’re already familiar with. Sure force push throws people further and some of the powers have more lightning and create these cool distortion effects, but at the end of the day it’s still the same powers and you’ll still use them the way you always have. If the game we toyed around with is the one they’re delivering, it’s going to be a lot of fun, just don’t expect it to be a big leap forward in gaming.
cinemablend
7/31/2008
The Last Guy is a title that has caught our eye recently, simply because it's a game with a bizarre concept, and its developers are an equally odd bunch to say the least. Its strangeness has ensnared us, pulling us in; it's even gone as far as making us purchase it off the Japanese PS Store -- not waiting for a full English release. So we did just that, we bought the Japanese release and what we got was a delightful little surprise. Want to know how it faired?
When we fired up The Last Guy for the first time, we noticed right away that the menu was in English. There were three options, Start the game, "How to Play," and Tutorial. The "How to Play" bit was useless as it was all Japanese text; however, the tutorial was easy to follow, especially for non-Japanese readers such as ourselves, because it shows you how to use the controls with images/actual trial. So, if you can't understand a lick of Japanese, this game isn't a problem to import and play. In fact, when you start playing, you'll notice the HUD is completely in English as well -- you'll get the feel of it within seconds.
As you probably know by now, the world is ravaged by monsters and the objective is to go around the city as a member of the URF (United Rescue Force) and find survivors. You need to rescue people from buildings across town, then bring them back to the "Escape Zone." It appears that The Last Guy is an episodic title, so our download (which only costs ¥500/$5) had only three stages. Each stage took place in the exact same locale in Asakusa, Tokyo but progressively expanded with each subsequent mission. After finishing the three stages, there's sort of a demo reel which reveals possible other locales (for future episodes) such as London, Yokohama, and Washington D.C. in that order.
Now when you actually play the game, you'll have several tools at your disposal. If you hold down the X button, the screen goes into a night vision mode where you can see large green blips which represent people. This makes it easier to find people to rescue, but you won't be able to see monsters with this mode activated. Holding down the triangle button lets you run faster, but depletes your stamina gauge located in the lower left corner. You can increase your stamina gauge by finding items scattered across the map. R1 zooms out for a better aerial view of the city, while R2 zooms in. Use the left analog stick to move and the right one to shift the camera focus, so you can double check adjacent areas to see if they are safe to go through. All of this gives the game simple but engaging strategic gameplay.
Your main concern when rescuing people is, obviously, avoid the monsters at all costs. Running into them will cause them to break your line, scattering them and probably killing some -- ultimately shaving the total number of potential saved people. That's a problem because to clear a stage, you need to save a certain amount of people within the allotted time. Different monsters have different tactics; small purple ones will chase, if they spot you, but will give up once you're out of visible range. The one to watch out for the most are these green things with tentacles which are very fast and will not give up chase easily. You'll meet that difficult creature in the third and final stage. The difficulty overall is very easy; only the last stage gave us a bit of trouble.
Other interesting bits? Let's see ... the game is only 314MB. It has leaderboards so you can compare your scores online. You can rescue VIPs, but don't expect cameos like you'll suddenly be saving famous people like Hideo Kojima; VIPs are represented with a green person symbol and seem to only be there to give you extra points for your score. Lastly, we thought this was just weird: while the HUD and menus are in English, all other text is in Japanese, and the audio is all in the developers' native language of Hindi. How international!
If you're planning to get this game, it might be a good idea to wait for the release in your region as it is episodic and you'd probably want to enjoy the whole experience. Overall, we really enjoyed the game, even if it was way too short. It is, however, still a good value. If you can't wait, then by all means, go ahead and get it off the Japanese PS Store if you've got an account and a Japanese PSN card. We certainly recommend trying out this title and we're looking forward to the next installment.
PS3Fanboy
7/28/2008
So, it's finally here. The definitive weapons-based fighter is back and we've been lucky enough to get an early taste of all the steel-clashing action. We've been practicing our combat skills over the weekend and have sunk a good amount of time into the PS3 version. So, want to know what our first few hours were like? Want to know answers to those questions burning in the back of your mind, like: Is the install worth it? What's up with rumble? If you're planning to pick up Soulcalibur IV tomorrow, you'll want to read on.
First up, let's discuss the install. The most important piece of information is that it is completely optional. There's no need to install, but it certainly doesn't hurt to go ahead and do it anyway -- it's only 2.6GB and will only take about 10 minutes of your time. You can install/uninstall from the options menu. The most noticeable area that benefits from the install is the load time for loading the fighting stage. Without it, you'll have to wait roughly 30 seconds on average for the stage to load up; with it, you save some time as it only takes less than 10 seconds for a stage to load. Another area is in character creation mode where character models will take several seconds to load without the install; they will load almost instantaneously with the install.
Now, let's talk about rumble. Yes, there is no rumble in the PS3 version, but this exclusion isn't really detrimental to the gameplay experience. The lack of rumble is hardly noticeable; we've been enjoying the game for several hours before we even found out that the controller wasn't rumbling. We were too busy checking out the new combat elements such as destructible equipment and critical finish.
Speaking of which, equipment and weapons can give bonuses to a character in story mode and in special versus battles. Targeting an area (high, mid, low) may cause a piece of armor to break making the character lose their bonus. The effects of equipment destruction, while tactical, also has a nice visual appearance. You can see some pieces literally break off and even remain on the fighting stage floor. The fighting overall is just fast and fluid and plays a lot like Soulcalibur II.
Character creation is a pretty meaty section. You have up to 50 slots for created characters or modifications of current characters (meaning canon characters with special weapons and equipment). Character creation is a good mode, but we do have a slight problem with it. The menus are a tad cumbersome as you'll have to go shuffle through several before getting to where you need to go.
Online multiplayer is a standard affair. There are ranked and unranked matches. An interesting bit is that you can host unranked matches with up to four players. This means that only two players fight at a time, while the others watch and wait their turn; it' not two-on-two battles. There is a lag at times; of course it depends on who you're playing against. You'll see a signal strength bar on various screens letting you know who has the best connectivity, so you could most likely avoid that problem if you pick and choose your opponent.
So what about Vader? He's pretty good, although he is pretty slow. The Apprentice, however, is wickedly fast. Vader is available right from the get go, and you'll need to unlock The Apprentice by using Vader in Arcade mode. The five anime-designed characters are unlocked by defeating them in Story mode. We're just laying out that information in case anyone wants some help completing their character collection -- you can collect them all in a day, really.
On a minor note, the game has already been patched (v1.01). It's a small install at 16MB. Anyway, that's it for now. We're still going to try out some of the other areas. If you've got any questions, just leave us a comment and we'll try to answer it.
7/24/2008
Here it is folks. The man Adam Sessler brings us an exclusive hands on demo of Capcom's latest survival horror masterpiece Resident Evil 5. The game is due out Friday, March 13, 2009 for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.
E3G4TV
7/22/2008
We recently went hands-on with Midway's Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, available this fall for Xbox 360 and PS3, and in short, we had a blast.
Only six playable characters were available in the demo: DC characters Batman, Superman and The Flash along with Mortal Kombat brawlers Sub-Zero, Sonya Blade and Scorpion. Each has specific moves that match their unique personalities, such as Sub-Zero's freeze techniques and the Flash's multi-hit speed punch, and to our surprise, the characters are wonderfully balanced. Superman, for instance, has a variety of his super powers, including X-Ray Vision and temporary flight capabilities. However, he's vulnerable to attacks, taking as much damage from projectiles and physical strikes as other characters.
Along with characters from both realms, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe also features familiar locations. One minute, you're fighting in a fiery lava pit in the middle of Outworld. The next, you're in the middle of a destroyed Metropolis, with cluttered buildings and Daily Planet globe in the background. Even better, these stages are multi-tiered, allowing you to knock opponents through walls. One even took us back to the classic "Test Your Might" button-mashing minigame. You ram your opponent through multiple walls, tapping buttons to either maximize or minimize the damage.
Catwoman is back – and she's very naughty indeed. Click to see more images from the game...
Gameplay is very similar to previous MK 3-D efforts, although there are minor improvements. For instance, when you grapple an opponent, the camera zooms in close and lets you duke it out in slow motion. If you're successful, you can get four critical hits on your foe before the view zooms back out. However, if you're on the receiving end, you can time your button presses to perform a quick counter attack called a "Kounter."
Special moves are executed through double-taps and circular motions, along with punches and kicks that you can chain together to form multi-hit combos. In addition, Fatalities will make a return, but in modified form. You won't be able to kill Superman, but you'll be able to knock him into next month. Since Midway wants a Teen rating, don't expect anything gory. To our delight, however, there is blood, staying somewhat true to the MK theme.
When we asked about playable modes, Midway reps only talked about the game's versus action and not the story mode or other minigames. However, previous MK releases have had them, we wouldn't be surprised to see a modified version of Puzzle Kombat or Motor Kombat. Online play should also be available in the final release, along with an expansive roster of characters that includes the sexy Catwoman, the equally attractive Wonder Woman, the vicious sorcerer Shang Tsung and many others. We'd love to throw down with Apocalypse and Goro.
Characters animate beautifully, right down to Superman's flowing cape and Scorpion's hilarious finishing scene where he spears the cameraman, only to drag him over and punch him. Some animations look stiff (particularly with the free-fall fight scenes), but we're confident that Midway will patch them up.
When we first heard about this game, we weren't that excited. However, after playing Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, we can't wait for it to arrive this November. Sure, it doesn't have Fatalities, but the graphics, characters and addictive fighting make it one of 2008's must play games.
GameDaily
7/21/2008
You’ve seen our deeper SOCOM preview, but here at E3 we got a little more insight on the headset and voice options. Players can engage in proximity chat or radio chat, but need to watch out as enemies can listen in tactics as the open radio is loud enough to be heard by those nearby. Also cool is that it will incorporate the acoustics of the environment. If you’re talking on the other side of a wall, you’ll be muffled, versus shouting in an open environment where sound may carry a bit to unwanted ears. In some situations, it might be better to whisper… though we suspect that also might be creepy. We’re not sure how many folks will be sneaking around behind people long enough to listen to their conversations, but it will be an option.
Player loadouts were talked about a little more, and would-be soldiers will be able to tailor the type of armor they wear on specific body parts. So you can don heavy armor on the torso, but keep it light on your legs so you’re not encumbered and move slower. There will be different camo options as well so that you can really customize your player’s look.
As a Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare fan, I don’t really get SOCOM. I dig the cover system, but think the Sixaxis controls are a little wonky (I need more time to tune them before I give a final verdict), and the lack of experience and character customization make me just want to play Counter-Strike Source on the PC, but maybe I’m a dinosaur. If it were a PSN title with a PSN price-point, I’d be more forgiving but as a retail/PSN full price release, I’m a little disappointed. The jury will stay out until its release in September.
GamesBlog
Disclaimer: This preview is based on the Xbox 360 version of the game. Developers have told us the PS3 version will be identical to the Xbox 360 version.
In a room that featured Resident Evil 5, Mega Man 9 and Street Fighter IV, how is that Dark Void managed to become Capcom's greatest game at E3? Perhaps no other game at Capcom's already-stellar booth quite captures the intensity of combat quite like Dark Void. It's Gears of War meets Rogue Squadron meets a jetpack. It's the kind of game that makes PR catchphrases like "skyjacking" seem appropriate. It's not one single element that makes Dark Void so much fun. Rather, the game's ability to make all of the game's varied features feel so thorough and complete that makes the experience of playing Dark Void more than a simple meshing of its inspirations.
Unfortunately for Will, the game's main character, his flight gets accidentally detoured through the Bermuda Triangle. Apparantly, that's not a very smart thing to do. He ends up in a parallel universe called "The Void" and must join the Survivors to stop an alien race's plan to invade and destroy Earth. Guess it's up to you, player, to save the universe -- again.
The on-ground combat will be familiar to anyone who's played a third-person action game this generation. Yes, you will be running, gunning, taking cover, and performing some gruesome melee attacks when close to an enemy. However, once the jetpack is thrown into play, we get to walk into some uncharted territory. Being able to jump into the air while firing at enemies below gives us fond memories of Tribes. The verticality isn't simply limited to jumping around, though. The new vertical cover system takes the gameplay we've become so accustomed to and turns it on its side. Strangely, simply changing the perspective of combat makes it that much more thrilling. As we climb these massive structures, enemies will attack from all directions, and our tactics must change. Thrusting upwards, grabbing an enemy and throwing him down simply feels fun.
If that weren't enough, Dark Void offers full flight combat experiences as well. As seen in the Lair debut trailer, expect some "skyjacking" as you jump from one vehicle to another, struggling to remove enemies out of their vehicles. The struggling is animated in such a cinematic way -- we can't help but wish more games featured such compelling drama.
Dark Void is still early in development, as evidenced by the sluggish framerate of this build. The game isn't scheduled for a release late in 2009, so this early look has us quite hopeful for more robust builds (on the PS3) in the future.
PS3Fanboy
Remember how innovative the original Resident Evil game was? It essentially defined what the survival horror genre should be on consoles -- and in spite of its infamous "tank" controls and fixed pre-rendered camera angles, it become an instant-classic for PS1 fans everywhere. Resident Evil 2 was also a great game, but it simply added more of what fans came to love about the first game.
Resident Evil 5 is Resident Evil 4's immediate successor. When RE4 debuted on Gamecube last generation, it was praised for its innovative reimagining of the then-aging series. The series lost its fixed camera angles, and gained a behind-the-shoulder perspective to fight a horde of intelligent enemies. RE5 for PS3 is simply more of what we've come to expect from the new invisioning of the franchise.
Considering the accolades RE4 received when it debuted (considered by many to be the finest game of the last generation), continuing with the established formula shouldn't come as a surprise. With a new coat of (incredibly beautiful) paint, will RE5 garner as much praise as its PS2/GC predecessor?
The answer is sadly, no. While the core mechanics were fresh back in 2005, we doubt Leon Chris' tank-like controls will come as accepted, especially with the number of enemies that are on screen. The tactics we're able to employ from RE4 work just as well in RE5 -- a bit disappointing because it no longer feels surprising. We're able to simply run by enemies, shoot their kneecaps and go in for a melee blow. This process can be repeated over and over again. Considering my familiarity with RE4, RE5 came much too easily. Not once in the entire two-level demo did I get hit by an enemy.
That's not to say that everything is a carbon-copy of RE4. Your new partner is far more interesting and helpful than Ashley could ever hope to be. Seeing her capably work through the non-zombies is refreshing -- having her give you ammo when you're low is incredibly helpful. The graphics engine runs incredibly smoothly on the PS3, rendering dozens of detailed enemies at high resolution without a hitch in the framerate. The destructible environments and beautiful explosive and fire effects add to the immersion. One must also point out the fantastic sound design: the sounds of enemies crashing through windows as they circle around you easily brings out the goosebumps.
There isn't much in the demo that "wow"ed us, but it would be a downright lie to say we weren't excited for this game. While we're a bit disappointed at how familiar the experience was, the moody atmosphere and the still-visceral gameplay still has us excited. We're undoubtedly picking up RE5 when it releases next year, but we're not going to hope for any genre-redefining experiences.
PS3Fanboy
7/18/2008
Namco Bandai's upcoming Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm is such a surprising treat. The PS3 exclusive has earned a lot of attention due to its fantastic graphics, but Ninja Storm features far more than just a pretty face. We had a chance to play a more expansive build at Namco Bandai's E3 booth, where we took a sneak peak at the game's elusive single player mode and got some hands-on time with the multiplayer.
Naruto's adventure begins just like it does in the manga. A cool treat for fans will be the inclusion of both Japanese and English audio for the story. From the looks of things, all the dialogue in the game may be spoken. While the lip-syncing was very off, we're hoping it can be fixed before Naruto's upcoming holiday release. The adventure will have Naruto exploring the Hidden Leaf village, much like in the Xbox 360 Naruto game. He'll have to talk to various villagers to progress the story, unlock missions and goals. Surprisingly, the first PS3 Naruto game covers a lot of territory: we were told that the game's story will go all the way up to the Sasuke Retrieval arc.
The build we got to play with had other characters, such as Sasuke and Gaara. However, we weren't allowed to take a glimpse at the entire roster. Undoubtedly, all the series favorites will be available. We played against a Namco PR representative in a battle: we played as Sasuke, he played as Naruto. Just like in the public demo, the graphics look rather lush. The stylized explosions in particular look rather nice. Our build had some unfortunate aliasing problems, which is blamed by this build's early state (the public demo looks much more polished). The delay after being knocked back is still a bit too significant -- hopefully, the Naruto team will be able to change that before the game's release.
One new thing we were able to do in this E3 build was enter Sasuke's second state. After charging enough chakra, we were able to transform into a much deadlier Sasuke -- we were shooting fireballs, and moved with lightning-fast speed. It wasn't long before the PR rep fell, defeated.
Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm is a lot of fun, and with its beautiful graphics and extensive single player story, we're sure it'll appeal to both Naruto fans and non-fans alike. With just a few tweaks, we can see it becoming a great (offline) multiplayer addition to any PS3 collection.
PS3Fanboy
