Tag Archives: gaming

Top Ten Christmas Computer Games

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HO-Ho-HO

Christmas is once again upon us and you know what that means: games; but not just any game, only the finest games will do. Only the finest games will still make it past the Boxing day and New Year trade ins. Only the finest games will be the ones that your special lad (or lass) will be talking about, showering you with praise and calling you erm, ‘Love muffin’ all night long.

So when you think about it, you need a Father Christmas like me. I am the fairy tale you can believe in. Follow my top ten and rest assured that although they will be some turkeys out there it all will end happily ever after, ignore it and trust me there will be a lot of booing and hissing and cries of ‘she’s behind you’…

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3

People have got all emotional over which is FPS (First Person Shooter) is better – Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 or Battlefield 3. To quote my special friend out there ‘Hell, why not have both?’. You know what – he is right. Modern Warfare 3 picks up in the explosive aftermath of Modern Warfare 2. With that naughty boy Makarov still at large, you must overcome tougher than tough odds as World War 3 erupts.  In Battlefield 3 you will experience intense fire fights thanks to the all new Frostbite 2.0 Engine. Buildings crumble as you use a variety of vehicles from planes to tanks that seem to do one thing – make the enemy explode. Both titles have great multi-player modes – although my personal favourite is Modern Warfare 3 both titles clock in at around 6 – 8 hours play. Which means you can easily fit them in – both before, and after your turkey coma.

FIFA 12

Having Christmas without football is like having corn flakes without the milk. Running on the all new Player Impact Engine, which incidentally sounds like a piece of PIE to me – FIFA 12 gets you ‘on the pitch’ closer than close to the football action. Of course there are Volleys, dribbles and passing, but thanks to the new Engine even the slightest knock by an opponent can send you tumbling to the ground if you’re off-balance.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Packing around a whopping 90 hours play – Elder Scrolls 5 is the reason why many gamers have just woke up from a gaming coma. Highly acclaimed, highly detailed. This game reinvents the whole the whole idea of what RPG’s should and could be capable of. Skyrim offers action, adventure, huge dragons, and lots of beheadings. There are over 150 dungeons to explore and loads of realms. In your adventure you will travel the countryside, become a blacksmith creating and forging your weapons, talk to people, shoot bows and arrows, and unleash different magic spells. The part that I loved the most was being able to play the entire game in the first person perspective.

Yes, there are faults with this title but not one games player I know would say they are big enough reasons not to get this game.

Batman: Arkham City

Say what you want about superhero games but keep the Dark Knight of Gotham out of it. Rebuilding a franchise in much the same way as Mr Nolan has rebuilt the film series, Batman: Arkham City is just sheer incredibility on a disc. The game mechanics put you firmly into the man of the Cape-and-Cowl and will have you gliding unseen into Arkham City; the new residence of Gotham’s criminally insane. With improved mechanics, free flow combat, and gadgets that would even make James Bond go green with envy the only let down is when the game keeps returning to the ‘Gargoyle’ routine seen in the previous game for taking down a room full of enemies. Other than that it has Cat-woman, Robin, and more than a few other surprises to keep you on the return factor.

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

Nathan Drake is back and once again in hot water. You join him as he sets out in search of the “Atlantis of the Sands”.  Head to head against a shadowy group also in search of the lost city, Drake must confront some of his greatest fears as he starts unearthing truths about the lost City. One thing is apparent from the offset, and that is the game looks stunning. Naughty Dog has clearly eked out every last drop of processing power from the PS3 and harnessed it to unparalleled effect. There are some scenes that will make your jaw drop and even the multiplayer stages have multi-levels which is a first. This is one fantastic game to play – but in my opinion way too short on a single player. It is however still a masterpiece and should ride high on any shopping list.

Need for Speed: The Run

EA are certainly going all out to redefine their Need for Speed Franchise. The Run sees you step into Jack Rourke shoes, a character trapped inside a red Porsche Carrera about to be put on a serious diet inside a car compactor. The young man owes the Mob money and they want him dead. Thanks to a Heavy Rain-button press sequence, you are able to escape the crushing and flee. Later you are tempted by a friend into a race across America in the hope of winning a $25 million top prize and getting the Mafia off your back. What is great about The Run is the diversity of environments, taking you to the bright lights of the cities through to the sprawling open highways. The game is really well presented, with great attention to detail in the environments, the cop chases are also heart stopping. However racing is just racing at the end of the day and wont suit everyone.

Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Proving that there is truth in the saying that everything comes to those who wait. Skyward Sword is the game that Wii owners have been waiting for. Re-energising the entire Legend of Zelda franchise but also legitimising motion controls is no mean feat, but one that is accomplished easily here. Trading sliding block puzzles and fetch quests for full action and motion plus puzzles makes this game infinitely more playable and fun. Equally the graphics are beautifully shaded and easy on the eye. The game that the Wii has been waiting for.

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations

If most gamers are completely honest – Assassins Creed Brotherhood should never have been there – thankfully Revelations brings us right back on track with a quality game that brings a satisfactory conclusion to the Assassins Creed 2 Trilogy. You are Master assassin – Ezio Auditore, returning to walk the path of discovery and revelation as he journeys to Constantinople. But in the heart of the Ottoman Empire is a Templar Army that threatens to dislodge everything.  Aside from a few glitches, this Assassin’s Creed is near as good as it can get – for now.Constantinopleis possibly the best city so far and the few CGI moments are nothing short of stunning. There is a solid 20+ hour single player offering plus an augmented multiplayer mode that could last you for days.

Just Dance 3

Christmas isn’t just about playing games on your own – no way, this Christmas get the whole family together with a ‘dance off’ that pairs granny with uncle and if you really want to have fun breaking down barriers why not get the ‘in-laws’ together. Yes this is Just Dance, featuring over 40 tracks from a wide range of music genres and for the first time properly featuring vocals with lyrics displayed on the screen. As a game it is something you can’t really go wrong with – and don’t even pretend you weren’t thinking about getting it, I the look on your face when it came up in the advert break in TOWIE. Just  make sure you have the Mics and the Move controllers already in the house before you go out and buy.

Saints Row: The Third

Whereas Grand Theft Auto always took itself too seriously – Saints Row: The Third always stood back; tongue firmly in cheek. If you’re not too worried about the realism of a game and more about the fun factor – this is for you.  What other game has a special mode called “Whored Mode”, where you can be chased around by prostitutes in leather “geek suits” wielding long purple dildos?  Yes, it’s that kind of over the top fun that has been a staple of this entire series. Some would say that it is a true sand-box game in that you can do anything you wish, in many ways the most amount of fun that you can have in this game is when you do just that. Wreak havoc.

So there is my list – of course there are games that just missed the top ten; Goldeneye Reloaded, Mario and Sonic at the 2012 Olympic Games, Sonic Generations and of course Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom, ooh and Rayman – games that are all good in their own right.

I know what you are thinking – games aren’t cheap and its true – however take heart – prices are always changing as everyone feels the pinch and companies try to get one up on their competitors so my advice is get out there and check on-line (from reputable dealers) to see if you can save money. Zavvi for example has a Mega Monday where there is a price drop on most of their major titles, Play has a deal of the week, even Sainbury’s had a deal on Elder Scrolls 5 – knocking an amazing £5 of the asking price. So seek and you shall find.

At Last! GTA 5 Trailer

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The new trailer for Grand Theft Auto 5 has finally been released.

What can I say? Typical of its developers, Rockstar Games, it leaves a lot to the imagination.

Different magazines and sources have all given their own dissections of where Rockstar could go with this latest release.  It looks as though they are going to give the player even more freedom in the open world, much like what they did in Red Dead Redemption and from the feel of the trailer, one gets the feeling the game will focus even more on the storytelling.

One thing to improve upon will be the online multiplayer aspect. It’s not hard to understand why, as they have seen other games like Uncharted 3 do so well in this area.  Maybe they will bring a social element into GTA 5, such as offering Facebook integration.

It’s hard to say what direction the developer will go in terms of the tone of the game. We all know that the previous version was violent, while the one before that had its funny side. Maybe they ought to offer some sort of parental control, so you can have the best of both worlds.

One other source apparently ‘leaked’ some information regarding the GTA 5 world – which proved very interesting – suggesting that owing to the size of the game Grand Theft Auto 5 would be digital only. This would mean that it would not be on a physical disc, but via an online set of downloads.  So let’s play devils advocate for a second. Let’s say for a moment that there will be a physical copy as well. Would this be a PS3 only release?  It will not require as many discs as the 360, due to the fact that Sony use the Blu-ray, whereas Microsoft went for the smaller capacity DVD.

Questions are always about in matters like this. but I am interested to know what you think of the trailer, where you think it is going and what you think the new game should include.

As for the release date? Well,  we cannot be certain of this, but the rumour mill is circulating that the release date could be as early as May 24, 2012.

We wait with bated breath.

Gamefest 2011 Review

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It has been aptly described as the ‘Gaming Event of The Year’, ‘A gaming extravaganza’ by others and a ‘Shame if you failed to get a ticket mate’ by the people online. I am of course talking about GAMEfest; the first-ever gaming festival from high street and online computer game retailers GAME. If you are into games – and you weren’t watching Chelsea lose – there is only one big question: where were you?

The things I have to do to keep Frost readers happy is beyond belief, but I’ll let you know I aptly ‘stayed calm and carried on’ to take one for the team with my sole intention of bringing you the ‘no nonsense’ report of gaming goodness. The saying goes take five a day – well when it comes to games I’ll happily take 50; heck, make mine 100 if that’s what it takes.

Let’s talk numbers:
100+ Big games on show
70+ Big games available for test
3+ hours taken to queue at longest point during the day for the biggest game showcases
1,500 screens displaying the latest games
1,000’s of games players from all over the world
3 girls from Nuts Magazine – well I wouldn’t be a man if I didn’t mention them would I? More on them later…

Lets talk games:
Tons of exclusives, we are talking Street Fighter X Tekken, Ridge Racer Unbounded, Batman Arkham City, Sonic Generations, Modern Warfare 3, Dragon Ball Z Ultimate Tenkaichi, to name just a few. There is loads to get through, the way I see it, it is a good job that Frost Magazine is web as opposed to paper based as the environment is saved by the sheer numbers of trees no longer needed to be cut down to bring you this report. But hey, let’s talk shop because here, in this report I want to focus on the real games that are going to make a real impact this year. The ones that you need to get on your pre-order list pretty sharpish, capiche.

Modern Warfare 3.
Obviously the first stand I headed to was this one under the mighty games developers Activison. Thanks to GAMEfest I got my sweaty hands on the first playable build of the mode in the UK. Yes it really is that good; Modern Warfare 3 by its looks alone raises the bar of a genre already inundated with shooters and looking quite tired. But how does it play? One word: incredible, with the noise of the exhibition it was really hard to hear all the instructions my character was being told but the controls were fine, the graphics even at this stage were ‘baby soft’ smooth. My only gripe is that there is no 3D version planned and after playing Resistance 3 in 3D I just know it would be incredible. Release date is scheduled for the 8th Nov. Seven words spring to mind: Do Not Miss Out On This Game.

Goldeneye 007: Reloaded
Goldeneye looks better than ever thanks to the upgraded power afforded by the PS3 and it goes without saying that it looks better than its Wii counterpart. Although it has to be said although it looks great, MW3 it is not. Nevertheless it ranks up there as a Bond game to own with enemies appearing extremely agile behind cover. I managed to play this with the Move Controller and although it took some getting used to it worked incredibly well.
Release date is scheduled for Nov

Battlefield 3
This is the year’s ‘other’ most anticipated shooter and of course you know it will be going head to head with Modern Warfare 3. Not sure if it is me but this is turning into a regular duel between Activision and EA over who runs the block. I tried the single player campaign and was quite taken aback by the quality of the graphics; smoke and explosions now being even more realistic. Again the movement was silky smooth whereas the controls needed just that little bit more work. So who runs the block? Well, personally, I am a fan of the Call of Duty franchise but this game is enough to make me hedge my bets. As good old Optimus Prime says ‘One shall stand….and one shall fall…’

X-Men: Destiny
X-Men: Destiny sees you step into the shoes of a newly realized young mutant who is tasked with using their special powers for good or evil? Sounds familiar? Yep I thought so too. I am a huge X-Men fanatic so was hoping this game would be incredible, however to me, graphically it looks on par with the first Infamous game and some of the camera angles looked decidedly dodgy. This was my least liked of the titles from the Activision stand, although I could still easily be proved wrong when it is released on the 30th September this year.

Spiderman: Edge of time
The all new Spiderman game was on show looking very tasty indeed. It looks like there is more time hopping around than the last game, and of the in game footage we were shown it looked like not only was Spidey much more fluid and agile but that there was a solid emphasis on action and combos. It’s enough to bring a smile to anyone’s lips.

Street Fighter X Tekken
This is really squaring up to be one heck of a game. Thank you so much Game for giving us players a direct hands on with more than a handful of characters on each side. The characters of Tekken step into the world of Street Fighter for a fight time spectacular. No wonder the queues went on, this game really has to be seen to be believed, with an overhauled control system that’s easy for fans of the Tekken games to pick up quickly and combos, tag combos and more combos than a KFC bargain bucket this is turning into a ‘must have game’. The backgrounds too are worth a mention; there is one with dinosaurs that looks totally incredible. But what’s that little birdy? There is going to be another game some point later where the characters of Street Fighter step into the world of Tekken? Wow, we better keep that one under our hat….

Dragon Ball Z Ultimate Tenkaichi
Looked pretty incredible, I heard repeated murmurings of gamers going ‘wow’ ‘amazing’ and ‘oh my gosh’ so I went over and pretty soon I was saying the same thing too. Bosses the size that even a 50 inch screen can’t handle and an overhauled control system, all of which takes a little bit of time to get used to but soon had me pulling off 50 hit combos with ease. I liked the look of the sprites, everything just looks spruced up and ‘combat ready’ as they say.

Soulcalibur V
Have you ever picked up sequel hoping that the games developers haven’t taken something out that you really enjoyed? Well if you are, you are a lot like me; the last game I played from this series was Soul Edge, the last Soulcalibur game I heard was cack so I left it alone as that is what you are supposed to do with smelly fish. However this game brought back all the memories and finesse of the original. It looks great, it sounds great. It is easy to pick up and play, but just one question: how many fabled blades are there?

Ridge Racer Unbounded
Is yet another entry into an almost legendary franchise playing like an explosive mix between Burnout and Split-Second. It looks as good as it plays and that is heart in the mouth, pedal to the metal tricky. You build energy by driving dangerously, drifting and overtaking in order to ram cars, destroy buildings and generally just create chaos on the track. Oh yeah and don’t forget to come first – wouldn’t be Ridge Racer if you didn’t have that. The driving controls need tightening up a bit but I actually enjoyed playing this game but and can’t wait to see how it will pan out later.

Ace Combat: Assault Horizon
This was next on my list. I am an avid fan of the franchise and been playing it since the PS One days but if I am honest I think towards the end it went off the rails a bit and got all dramatized. I had heard that the game had been completely overhauled and gone ‘back to the basics’ which can only be a good thing. Immediately from grabbing the control pad I could see the graphics and the control system had been completely revamped; a choice of controlling a plane or helicopter was the first decision I had to make and then in no time at all planes, bullets and explosions met me during an epic duel in the skies; dodging between huge buildings standing out against the horizon. However, I don’t know if it is just me but I found that despite these improvements essentially you are still just lining up your shots as before. Let’s hope it does not get repetitive as its predecessors did.

Ace Combat 3DS
This looked absolutely fantastic; the 3DS taking full advantage of the analogue sticks and whole 3D thing. Bullets, guns and explosions; now you can enjoy them on the bus, the train, on the way to work, you get the picture.

Bethesda Softworks
Bethesda was my personal saviours on the day, providing myself and my nephews with some super sized bags to put our accumulated goodies in. I have to be honest; I have heard of Prey and seen Rage but I had not heard of Skyrim before. Entering their Walkthrough after an hour or so of queuing I could see what the fuss was all about. All three titles looked astoundingly good. RAGE looks like a no holds barred FPS genre with solid action.  

SKYRIM  though was the real surprise for me; swords, wizards, trolls, magic, you get the picture, but what really surprised me was the quality of the graphics and the idea that the game develops around you as you play, sort of like World of Warcraft but with extra 3rd person perspective mmm. I will be keeping my beady little eyes on this one.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
This is one of the titles that my nephew really wanted to play and even now a day later he is still going on about it. Thanks to the Wii Motion Plus Controller you take full control over Link’s sword swipes on a one-to-one basis, taking on the enemies. It looks fabulous with a real nice graphical style to it that sets it apart from its predecessors and the boss fight I saw was pretty ridiculous in terms of combos and big moves. Wii owners have a good reason to rejoice.

Saints Row: The Third
This game looked like it was shaping up very nicely indeed, colourful solid sprites with a kind of tongue in cheek storyline being at the core. The fight and combo moves feel quite satisfying. Apparently Hulk Hogan and a certain porn actress are playable characters in the game. That certainly brought a smile to my nephew’s face.

Need for Speed: The Run
Only got to see videos of this owing to the time – it was such a shame. From what I saw the game has few on foot sections, and those it does have seem to serve to push the story forward as opposed to being a part of the race itself. One thing I did see was a kind of ‘rewind’ feature that rewinds time back to just before a crash giving you time to avoid it. Use of this is incredibly limited and is quite exciting when you think of it especially if it transfers to online play. Speed was on par with the fastest Burnout and the cops were unrelenting.

The Black Eyed Peas Experience
Hot on the heels of the Michael Jackson Experience comes this title. Opting to feature digitized sprites instead of stand-ins, this can have you dancing and singing as a group or as any one of your favourite lead singers or their entourage. Now, There is no denying that the Black Eyed Peas aren’t spectacular but are they on the same level as the king of pop? I am not so sure – whats next? The N-Dubz Experience. Anyhow it has to be said the game does look good and it was fun to play – lets just hope we are not seeing the dawn of another dancing, singing, play the guitar type franchise take over the world only to crash and burn and leave players angry.

SEGA
SEGA have been in the computer game business for almost three generations now, wisely backing out of the console making business to focus on games. It looked like they had brought their gaming offices with them showing off some of their biggest titles to date. First up – Mario and Sonic at the London Olympic Games on Wii and 3DS – good solid game filled with cutesy Wii’ness that tough guys like me stay away from…o.k I can explain about the photo….

Next up Rise of Nightmares for the Xbox Kinect only, and it has to be said that it is not a bad first attempt at a survival horror title for the Kinect. Rise of Nightmares begins a bit like a SAW movie with a bad guy who just likes doing bad things to people for fun. Waking up on a moving train you have an argument with your for girlfriend for being buried in the bottle, she storms off and then the dreaded monsters attack killing almost everybody. Using the Kinect controls is a bit of a hit and miss in my opinion and take some getting used to, but if you think of melee combat similar to Dead Island you are not far wrong. Although the premise is good time will tell whether the actual gameplay will be improved enough before the release.

Next up House of the Dead Overkill on the PS3 and thankfully this is a whole new state of affairs. Compatible with Playstation Move and in 3D with effects that I have got to say jump out of the screen like your heart jumps out of your mouth, this ‘on the rails shooter’ should be on your pre-order list pronto.

Sonic Generations on Xbox 360, PS3 and 3DS was a crowd pleaser, namely because it seemed to offer something for SEGA fans in the way of nostalgia that only the Megadrive collection with all your favourite hits missing could possibly do. You have a choice of both types of Sonic, new – with 3D run into the screen gameplay and old – sideways stages. Both types offered new stages, blistering speeds, familiar faces and lets not forget his go-go I can do anything attitude which is really hard not to fall in love with. My nephew was undecided on this title, however I enjoyed it immensely.

Warner
Popping over to the Warner stand the first thing I saw was a huge Batman statue – yes this was Arkham City territory and the crowds here was unbelievable. The game hosts had good sense to have the games on a timer with players on a roll on roll off queue to prevent any game hogs and it is easy to see why people would not want to give up their joypad. The quality of this title is simply incredible. The way Batman moves, the new detective mode, the combat system, the epic vistas; everything just looks bigger, better, badder and downright tastier. I don’t know about you but I can’t wait.

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North took me by surprise – where did this game come from? The monsters are simply huge and although RPG in nature in reality the gameplay seemed a lot like Baldur’s Gate with slo-mo finishers and non stop combat. A video showed some flying sections too with the character on the back of an eagle. Could be well worth a look on its release.

And, so ended the first-ever fantastic gaming festival. But the show would not be complete without making the most of every opportunity and funny enough big boy’s magazine Nuts were on hand to show that games festivals can be fun in every way. Arm firmly twisted firmly behind my back I was frog-marched over to the table to have my Nuts Magazine signed by the lovely Stacy, Daisy and India and oh look someone took a photograph. The things I have to do eh?

L.A. Noire – Game Review

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Rockstar Games makes the 1940’s world dark, sinister and not to mention sexy.

I knew it the very minute I saw her; something about the way she made her approach at me, like eyes looking from afar. Her controversial nature shone a reputation like a Rockstar and demanded my attention. Like a woman of your wildest dreams Rockstar Game LA Noire puts you in an incomparable situation where too much is never enough and, more often than not you will be left crying out for more or to get just that little bit further.

I have been talking like this ever since I played LA Noire – the newest release from Rockstar Games and what can I say – I am smitten.

In LA Noire you become Cole Phelps, a hero returning from World War II and now a cop on the LAPD. Murders, corruption and dirty, dirty deceit stand in your way as you attempt to piece together vital clues and discover the truth. During the game you will track and solve cases that include serial killers, rapists, smash paedophile rings and drug rackets. You will also come face to face with the seedy world of 1940’s LA, Hollywood, racism, Domestic Violence not to mention the questionable motives of the police department. Typical of Rockstar Games – whom almost seem to delight bringing you the gritty reality – the game does not shy away from the hard topics, coupled with sharp, period-specific scripts, solid direction and the adoption of Motion-Scan technology, (seen in Heavy Rain and Mass Effect but used with much more proficiency here) LA Noire is the embodiment of Cole Phelps, and you cannot help but develop rapport with him for what he is facing. Like fellow title Heavy Rain there is a strong undercurrent that all is not as it seems and that there is a large area of grey between black and white. Throughout the game there are frequent flashbacks to his troubling tour of duty – some of which concern his colleagues and around the game there are newspapers which show you a gritty back story independent of the main game which are pretty shocking. There are also cases that leave you with a sick feeling in your stomach because you realize the characters in the game have got it all wrong.

The majority of the gameplay lies in solving crimes. These are presented in a lovely ‘Columbo’ Sunday matinee prologue kind of feel; there is a murder, a woman is snatched, a man is shot, a shady dealing takes place or you see someone enter a building and there is a scream. You make your way to the car, drive to the scene and find and examine as many pieces of evidence as you can find. Finding evidence is partially similar to Heavy rain, but rather than technology good old Cole has his instincts. Sometime the pad will vibrate if he comes across something, sometimes if you are searching an apartment you will hear the music change, sometimes you will have to use your saved intuition points and sometimes you will just have to be lucky. It is through unearthing this evidence and speaking to witnesses that you will build up enough of a case to put a suspect behind bars.

It is in these sequences where LA Noire comes into its own. The MotionScan technology truly takes things to a whole new level. Facial expressions, body language, tones of voice all play a part in helping you determine whether a witness is telling you the truth or plain face lying in order to hide skeletons in their closet. In questioning a suspect you can make accusations but if you do you need to refer back to incriminating evidence perhaps located earlier on. Explicit questioning can be a nerve-racking affair especially in the later stages of a case when the pressure is on by your superiors to wrap up a case or when evidence is so slim you have to go with anything you have. In the first few stages of the game the in game tutorial provides quite a lot of support and hand holding but later, when the gloves are off you are expected to do it all and there are quite a few surprises along the way – nothing is as it seems.

Quite often you may not even get as far as questioning a suspect as some will make a break for it and need to be stopped. This begins a chase sequence where you and your partner have to give chase either on-foot or in a vehicle. Whilst these sequences offer a welcome break from the main question and answer routine they fail to be done with as much spit and polish. Some sequences end in a fisty-cuffs or a shoot out – and again whilst these are credibly delivered and the combat and firearms are nicely executed in an ‘Untouchables’ kinda way, sometimes you get the feeling that these were just flung in for extra good measure. It is a bit like when you commandeer a vehicle in the game; although you are taking the vehicle with authority it is essentially no different (besides the mandatory drag to the street or slap to the face) of that seen in ‘Grand Theft Auto’. Not that these sections are bad, the quality of the actions is as you would expect of any other sand box game, they just could be done better.

Sometimes LA Noire is too smart for its own good. Rockstar obviously wanted to cram a great deal into this project and it shows but to be honest at times it is bursting at the seams. Despite being linear in its approach quite often you are encouraged to stray from the path into sheer nothingness with side missions which are just petty and rarely drive the plot forward. In short it just is not becoming of the title. Another gripe would be in the character animation. Occasionally I found annoying glitches when I wanted to manoeuvre the character to do exactly what I wanted him to do. The same happens for your partner’s animations too, which, on more than a few occasions can only be described as erratic. As a games player I found this quite disappointing, however thankfully these were less of the norm. Everything is so beautifully rendered from the vehicles to the buildings that to be honest the minor faults pale in comparison to the appeal and trying to cram so much into a game is almost destined to run into problems of some kind sooner or later.

With 21 primary case missions to solve, along with 40 side missions and countless collectables there is certainly lots to discover wit La Noire, and although you may not wish to trawl through the game for a second play in order to succeed in your gameplay rankings there is a whole host of Downloadable Content to sink your investigative skills into. These include:

The Naked City – a bonus case previously given away to those who pre-ordered the game. Here Phelps investigates the apparent suicide of a fashion model. It also contains the “Badge Pursuit Challenge” where the player is tasked with finding 20 police badges hidden in the city. If you manage to find them all you will gain access to the “Button Man” suit; an in-game piece of clothing that allows the player to carry extra ammo.

A Slip of the Tongue; a traffic case where a simple car theft escalates into a large scale investigation into the largest car fraud racket in the city’s history.

Popping into the PSN Store in the game also give you the opportunity to purchase:

“The Broderick” detective suit; a suit that boosts the fighting ability of the player’s character as well as its resistance to damage.

“The Sharpshooter” that enhances a character’s aim with pistols and rifles.

“The Chicago Piano” an OMG type of Machine Gun as they say ‘favoured for its reliability’ which when purchased is stored in the boot of Cole Phelps’ car throughout the game.

If that isn’t enough more DLC is planned for the future including two other cases: Nicholson Electroplating, an Arson case and Reefer Madness, a Vice case due for release on 12 July 2011.

All of this means that there is plenty of reasons to return to this title and purchasing a RockStar pass gives you entitlement to new content as it is released.

My Final Verdict –

So I turned my eyes to her as she entered the room and smiled as I turned her on…I knew it wasn’t going to be a one night stand, as long as she kept bringing something new to me I would keep wanting to play with her all night long. She was never going to stay on the shelf…not for long anyway…

Sorry…In short – Granted it is not perfect – but it is still gloriously good.

8.9 / 10

How does this game compare to others in its genre?

There are only a few games of this type for comparison…

Equal to: Heavy Rain

Better than: Alpha Protocol

Worse than: None

Titan Poker Remains Safe and Secure for Online Poker

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Titan Poker Remains Safe and Secure for Online Poker

– The Leading Poker Room in Europe Continues to Offer a Secure Gaming Environment Despite Legal Actions Taken Against Major Online Poker Room, Full Tilt Poker.

Titanpoker.com , the leading online poker room in Europe, continues to offer its poker players a secure gaming environment in a rapidly changing industry.

While legal actions have been taken in recent months against some of the major online poker rooms, players at Titan Poker continue to play their favorite game at cash tables and tournaments, make deposits and unrestricted withdrawals, and enjoy the full functionality of a safe, secure, and graphically pleasing online poker room.

Titan Poker offers its new players an improved First Deposit Bonus [http://www.titanpoker.com/promotions/first-deposit-bonus.html ] up to a maximum level of 200% up to $1,000. This bonus is released to players automatically as they play at Titan Poker and the redemption rate is set to enable players to enjoy the full benefits of this bonus as quickly as possible.

Titan Poker and the iPoker Network withdrew from the United States market following the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in 2006. The room continues to stage regularly scheduled guaranteed prize tournaments [http://www.titanpoker.com/tournaments/schedules.html ] with discounted entries, and has increased its standard tournament offering as an additional way of demonstrating its stability and its user-friendly software.

In response to the AGCC’s announcement regarding the suspension of Full Tilt Poker’s license and operations, Marc Kenigsberg, VP of Marketing for Euro Partners, the affiliate program behind the Titan Poker brand, released a statement saying “Online poker lost one of its major players today, and has left both poker affiliates and poker players questioning the future of our industry. As the exclusive promoters of Europe’s leading, legally-operated online poker rooms, Euro Partners is confident that the online poker industry as a whole, and our poker affiliate partners in particular, will continue to flourish. To help in jumpstarting their activity, we’re also staging a lottery during the month of July to give away a brand new Porsche Carrera to affiliates who place our brands in top position and increase their poker traffic.”

New players are invited to try out the free poker download [http://www.titanpoker.com/download.html ] and experience the exciting poker action at Titan Poker.

Titanpoker.com is the number one online poker room in Europe and part of the iPoker

Microsoft Shows Off New Kinect & Windows Phone Crossover

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If you thought it was just going to be for games, think again. Microsoft was always going to have more special things in the pipeline for their innovative Kinect.

In typical Microsoft style, the following video surfaced showcasing some early features of cross-platform use between Windows Phone and Kinect. It demonstrates just some of the basic features that can be used, and wow! The future does look promising – sending reminders to your phone or even sending directions.

 

While the video shows development testing in its early stages, already the rumour mill is turning about what’s next. Personally, I would like to see if stereoscopic 3D could be added into the mix. Or how about online play between Kinect users? How about Windows being used by the Kinect ‘touch style’ like Tony Stark in Iron Man?

What would you like to see…?

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Trailer Officially Unveiled

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You read it here first at Frost Magazine – the trailer for most eagerly anticipated game of the year  – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – has been officially unveiled.

In the first trailer to actually show ‘in-game footage’, we can clearly see pulse-pounding, First-Person action from four of the key areas of conflict – Germany, France, England and America.

The teaser trailer gives an insight into the games plot. Panning shots show a devastated New York City while elsewhere, a solider descends from a helicopter in full view of the mighty Big Ben, only for the scenes to culminate in an epic, explosive race with a tube train. The widely predicted release date for this title is November 8th.

Is Modern Warfare 3 going to be Heaven or Hell on earth?  Let us know what you think of the trailer below.

 

 

 

http://youtu.be/coiTJbr9m04

 

 

 

 

 

Mortal Kombat – The Review

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“Finish him” “Fatality” “Excellent” “Flawless Victory”

If these famous words strike a chord in your conscience then you will be thankful for the all too recent release of the new Mortal Kombat (a.k.a MK 9) – the ninth installment in the ground breaking fighting game franchise. A game synonymous with blood, gore, death moves, twenty hit combos and did I mention blood? As Jigsaw from the SAW films quite aptly said: “Yes – there will be blood!”

Developed by NetherRealm Studios (what a name) (formerly known as WB Games Chicago and Midway Games Chicago), it is the first game published exclusively under the Warner Bros. label. At the time of writing only Xbox and Playstation 3 versions are available. Apparently the producers have discussed a PC version but unfortunately they have yet to reach an agreement.

Mortal Kombat was released almost a month ago on April 21st, but owing to the PSN outage I had to wait until full online play was restored before I could give you my full low down review.

Managing to get my hands on the full collector’s edition I was as excited as ever to fire up the disc. Mortal Kombat 9 certainly brings to the table a whole buffet of options and gaming experiences. Whilst perhaps not as over indulgent as previous titles such as Armageddon which included Kart racing and the like, for MK 9 ‘less is definitely more’ with a firm emphasis on quality over quantity.

Entering the Full Story Mode, I was surprised to see that Mortal Kombat began and played out almost like a movie. Beginning after the events of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, it is clear to see that the classic struggle between good and evil has claimed many lives on both sides. As the opening credits roll we see decapitated and tattered corpses laying in a desolate landscape while vulture type creatures feed from their flesh. In the distance we hear Raiden and Shao Khan fight. As the camera pans closer we see that this is their final battle and Raiden; the Heroic Thunder God is losing big time; his magic amulet shattered into pieces by a blow that sends him flying to the floor. Just before Shao Khan is about to deliver the final death strike, Raiden casts a spell that returns time to the very first Mortal Kombat tournament – can he change events and save the world?

Playing Mortal Kombat in the story mode puts you on a linear pathway spanning the first three games. In each chapter a short movie or cut-scene will play to set the scene and then you are thrust into the shoes of the character and will have to defeat your opponent to progress. This is a style seen before in DC Versus Mortal Kombat and to be honest it works even better here as for players new to the Mortal Kombat universe, it encourages you to learn each of the character’s moves in turn.

It starts with an introduction to the first tournament; Liu Kang, Sonya Blade and Johnny Cage arriving for the battle to defend earth with each of their motivations revealed. The storyline makes some nice nods to the feature film of old and advances through some impressive cut-scenes that really expand on what you know. Characters interact before and after a fight and whilst some of the reasons for a fight are a bit petty the dialogue is great and the action is well paced. Also, owing to the fact that Raiden now has knowledge of the future and is trying to change it, there are some lovely twists along the way as the events of the mythology are altered, so you meet characters you might not expect, characters die when you least expect, motivations are changed and different alliances are formed. This all makes for an interesting game especially for those who needed more than just a reboot.

Game modes include the typical Tower Matches of the ‘old school arcade’ which are ten battles randomly chosen with the final battle being with supreme big bad boy Shao Khan. There is also a Challenge Tower which allows players to complete different tasks to earn Kombat Currency, Online play which includes a King of the Hill tournament, where fighters line up as spectators and wait for the next battle. There is also one on one and Tag team matches to sink your teeth into.

Not so new to MK 9 is Kombat Currency; you earn it in almost everything you do in the game, every fight and every challenge. With it you can purchase art work, alternative costumes, unlockable characters the list goes on.

New to this Mortal Kombat game is the tag team system. This is where you select two characters and can swap them in and out at key moments during the fight. This is very similar manner to the Marvel versus Capcom and Tekken Tag series set of games. Essentially tag matches run at a much more frantic pace to the normal game with characters jumping in and out at will, so learning how to jump in and out and initiate tag team combos is essential, as it can turn simple combinations into brutal air juggles and that is not even when taken into account the new super attacks.

Super attacks are initiated through use of another first for this game the “super meter”. This is charged by various actions during battle such as blocking successfully, performing a combo or getting hit by the opponent. The super meter can be charged to three levels and depending on the available level, three special actions are made available. A single level can be used to deliver an enhanced version of any one of the character’s special attacks; two levels can be used to interrupt a combo, and the full three levels will allow for the delivery of a special combo called an X-ray move. X-ray moves are very exciting and satisfying to pull off; the camera zooms in and shows an inside view of the character that is being attacked, showing bones and organs being broken or ruptured with each impact. The amount of damage you can inflict (or receive) is incredible and can really make or break a match, so it really does count to understand and manage your meter properly as well as to watch that of your opponent’s. Obviously Fatalities are a key point of this game and here whilst MK 9 has less of the smorgasbord of signature death moves, babilties and brutalities etc present in previous titles what it does have doesn’t disappoint. The death moves here whilst over the top are truly disturbing and gruesome. To help you get started there is even fatality tutorials so you can practice before you ‘enter the field’. It definitely warrants its 18 certificate.

Talking of 3D, this Mortal Kombat 9 is one of the first side-on fighting games to utilise stereoscopic 3D graphics for 3D compatible TV’s. I really didn’t think that this was going to work that well, I mean; if a game is in a 2D plane how can you as the gamer really be immersed in a 3D world. However, whilst this is not by any means one of the best 3D experiences I have seen in a game it is not done badly. NetherRealm Studios decided to reserve 3D effects for the fight matches only and whilst this leaves out the cut-scenes (which in many ways would have been perfect for 3D effects) what this does mean is that the level of immersion comes in the depth of the characters and their backgrounds. This brings to life the vista that is the Mortal Kombat world. For instance when you are fighting in the coliseum you can clearly see Shao Khan on the throne edging the crowd on. As you fight in the city you can see the Extermination squads setting fire to the city and dragons breathing fire onto helicopters as cars skid past you and crash, another noteworthy stage is the train station where litter gets blown past you and trains fire through the station in the midst of your battle. Although a little bit gimmicky if you have a 3D TV these effects do stand out are all nice touches especially if you are lacking games with 3D content.

Not so good is the online play. I am not sure if this was because the PSN network is yet to be restored properly or maybe that a lot of PS3 owners had defected to the XBOX 360, but trying to get into any match took quite a while. When I finally did manage to get into one, I found connection to be more than decidedly dodgy. Hopefully an update will sort this out. If it doesn’t though I figure I will be better off calling the boys round for a ‘quiet night in’.

One last thing that I do have to mention what this game has in its favour is the inclusion of the God of War character Kratos; all I can say is wow. I think if they had just included him without any real thought to the actual character; how he moves etc, then he would be a let down. As it is they have given him the full works; with a real insane fatality to boot. The only thing that is not so impressive is the non inclusion to XBOX owners – Come on NetherRealm Studios – that is just not fair.

My final verdict-
Whilst I am not an avid supporter of gratuitous blood, guts and gore in video games I have to admit that I shamelessly enjoyed this game. It is the re-telling of the story that needed to be told and in many ways exactly what the franchise needed. Packed full with tons of extra features and options, gamers and fans of the series are going to be in for a treat!

9.3 / 10

How does this game compare to others in its genre?

Fighting games are two-a-penny these days, this is however the first proper installment on the PS3

Equal to: Marvel Vs Capcom 3, Super Street Fighter IV.

Better than: Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2, Soul Calibur 6, BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, Tekken 6 (only just).