Bad Company looked great i was really looking forward to it but you know what i may not be getting it. What they have announced is that for multiplayer not all the guns will be available in the retail version.
Basically there will be ten weapons that won't come with the retail version of the game. 5 will be on the gold edition, okay that doesn't bug me that much. Now what does, is that the other 5 will be available either through promotions or through purchase online.
Now i don't know if the guns are actually on the disc and you are just buying an activation key to put your hard drive, but what this does mean is that they have already designed these, gone through the whole process of tweaking them and getting them right. And they won't be available unless you pay that extra price which is just rediculous if you ask me.
Monday, 31 March 2008
Wednesday, 26 March 2008
Army of Two Review
Alright i have finally got around to writing this review, so enjoy:
Army of Two is a surprising game, when you play it at first it seems somewhat lacking in something but as you continue it just begins to feel more and more fun and there are a number of reasons for this.
The story isn't a stunner, it is half decent and would work very well for a movie but less for a game. And each mission doesn't have a direct link with one another which retracts from the overall experience. And after playing through COD4 it is clear that it is perfectly possible to make a story driven modern shooter. Also the storyline is very short, and on the medium difficulty (contractor) it can probably be completed in 6 hours. But i wasn't really disappointed with it because of this, the game didn't need to be longer then 6 hours.
The characters are great, Salem is a bit of an arse but still they are both comical and by no means serious. Also their armor and masks are cool and have a very unique look to them which is a nice change from other modern shooters. Also the enemies graphics are quite good, not the best but as good as they need to be because frankly one terrorist / soldier looks the same as any other.
The take cover and shoot mechanic of Army of Two turned out to be great. Unlike Gears of War you don't have to press a button to get into cover but just by walking towards it and putting yourself near it automatically in cover. This doesn't mean you put your back to the wall or anything, instead you continue to face the wall but you will now raise or move your gun to shoot while in cover. And this system is very smooth and runs great and makes for a very believable shooter. Also not only walls can be used for cover but almost everything.
Army of Two's acclaimed aggro system works seamlessly and your opponents react to it very quickly and effectively but not to the point that it is unbelievable. If your partner has the aggro and you run at an enemy right in front of him he will just shoot you instead. So it really does make Army of Two a more tactical shooter rather then a spray and pray game.
The environments of the game change with each mission which makes each mission a new experience. For example in one mission you are in Iraq and in another you are in China. And these environments are all very uniquely designed. However the main issue i have is that all the enemies speak perfect English and all seem to have a similar accent if not exactly the same.
Where Army of Two shines is in the co-op. Both me and Warp have gotten to do the campaign together in split screen. And it is excellent and makes for one of the best co-op games to date. All the different features available to do in co-op like co-op snipe and the overkill mode makes it great. Overkill is a mode where one character has full aggro you can activate it and the one with full aggro will go slow and have everyone attack him but he will deal a lot damage. While the over goes to stealth mode and moves very quickly and does very strong melee attacks. Army of Two was just built for co-op and to be truely experienced it needs to be played split-screen in my opinion.
However Army of Two does have short comings that need to be mentioned. The multiplayer is only just decent. All you do is there are two teams of two and you run around competeting to complete different missions for cash. But it seems laggy and quite boring after your first few matchs. This really reduces the games life. Also the games AI isn't great. When i played through it with the AI partner he seemed like a complete fool and would need to be told everything which gets old. The back to back moments although quite fun at times can be a chore at times because they are just too easy and them being scripted doesn't help it.
Also if there are any readers out there in the EU you may have seen this EU tag on Army of Two. This basically means that you can't play with anyone outside the EU which is just pathetic. I don't understand it, i mean Halo 3 could run 4 player co-op perfectly with everyone around the world but Army of Two can't for some reason manage 2 player co-op. This is probably just an attempt to save money someway, but if anything it will just piss off gamers.
So to conclude Army of Two is a very decent game but not a must buy, but still fun for a few weeks especially if you can play split screen with a mate.
Score - 7 / 10 A decent buy if you have some spare cash and have someone to play co-op with.
Army of Two is a surprising game, when you play it at first it seems somewhat lacking in something but as you continue it just begins to feel more and more fun and there are a number of reasons for this.
The story isn't a stunner, it is half decent and would work very well for a movie but less for a game. And each mission doesn't have a direct link with one another which retracts from the overall experience. And after playing through COD4 it is clear that it is perfectly possible to make a story driven modern shooter. Also the storyline is very short, and on the medium difficulty (contractor) it can probably be completed in 6 hours. But i wasn't really disappointed with it because of this, the game didn't need to be longer then 6 hours.
The characters are great, Salem is a bit of an arse but still they are both comical and by no means serious. Also their armor and masks are cool and have a very unique look to them which is a nice change from other modern shooters. Also the enemies graphics are quite good, not the best but as good as they need to be because frankly one terrorist / soldier looks the same as any other.
The take cover and shoot mechanic of Army of Two turned out to be great. Unlike Gears of War you don't have to press a button to get into cover but just by walking towards it and putting yourself near it automatically in cover. This doesn't mean you put your back to the wall or anything, instead you continue to face the wall but you will now raise or move your gun to shoot while in cover. And this system is very smooth and runs great and makes for a very believable shooter. Also not only walls can be used for cover but almost everything.
Army of Two's acclaimed aggro system works seamlessly and your opponents react to it very quickly and effectively but not to the point that it is unbelievable. If your partner has the aggro and you run at an enemy right in front of him he will just shoot you instead. So it really does make Army of Two a more tactical shooter rather then a spray and pray game.
The environments of the game change with each mission which makes each mission a new experience. For example in one mission you are in Iraq and in another you are in China. And these environments are all very uniquely designed. However the main issue i have is that all the enemies speak perfect English and all seem to have a similar accent if not exactly the same.
Army of Two has great character customization. As you complete objectives in a mission you earn cash and you can buy new mask designs, new guns and mods for your guns. There are a tonne of guns from a mini guns to a stinger missile launcher and of course the smaller and less fun guns like the M16. And the mods for a lot of these guns is great. Some you can attach shields to and others you can even attach a shotgun / grenade launcher onto the front of it. But one of the best gun options is the ability to 'pimp' your gun. This
makes it gold and has cool designs on the side on it. Some look crap and lame while others just look awesome, who doesn't want a golden AK47.
Where Army of Two shines is in the co-op. Both me and Warp have gotten to do the campaign together in split screen. And it is excellent and makes for one of the best co-op games to date. All the different features available to do in co-op like co-op snipe and the overkill mode makes it great. Overkill is a mode where one character has full aggro you can activate it and the one with full aggro will go slow and have everyone attack him but he will deal a lot damage. While the over goes to stealth mode and moves very quickly and does very strong melee attacks. Army of Two was just built for co-op and to be truely experienced it needs to be played split-screen in my opinion.
However Army of Two does have short comings that need to be mentioned. The multiplayer is only just decent. All you do is there are two teams of two and you run around competeting to complete different missions for cash. But it seems laggy and quite boring after your first few matchs. This really reduces the games life. Also the games AI isn't great. When i played through it with the AI partner he seemed like a complete fool and would need to be told everything which gets old. The back to back moments although quite fun at times can be a chore at times because they are just too easy and them being scripted doesn't help it.
Also if there are any readers out there in the EU you may have seen this EU tag on Army of Two. This basically means that you can't play with anyone outside the EU which is just pathetic. I don't understand it, i mean Halo 3 could run 4 player co-op perfectly with everyone around the world but Army of Two can't for some reason manage 2 player co-op. This is probably just an attempt to save money someway, but if anything it will just piss off gamers.
So to conclude Army of Two is a very decent game but not a must buy, but still fun for a few weeks especially if you can play split screen with a mate.
Score - 7 / 10 A decent buy if you have some spare cash and have someone to play co-op with.
Thursday, 20 March 2008
Rainbow Six Vegas 2: Is it a buy?
I have been going back and forth on this descision because it looks good but i never got the first one so should i buy it or not? If anyone out there has it or has played leave a comment saying whether it is a must or not because if i get this i will not be getting Dark Sector on release, so have to be sure
So just leave a comment by making an account with blogger, it doesn't take long at all and then you can comment on every post with your views and opinions.
So just leave a comment by making an account with blogger, it doesn't take long at all and then you can comment on every post with your views and opinions.
Sunday, 16 March 2008
Army of Two review on the way, but not yet
Hey i will be getting an Army of Two review out soon just i caught a cold and i also need to work so it will be out soon but not quite yet
Sunday, 9 March 2008
Army of Two First Impressions
I picked up Army of Two when i saw it for Xbox 360 and have played it for about 4 hours now. I have mainly been playing through the campaign on single player which is very fun at the moment. The cover mechanic in Army of Two works so smoothly and makes the single player fun to play. However the storyline seems somewhat limited and lacks substance, especially after playing through COD4. I also gave the multiplayer a go and it really did feel last minute and the controls when on multiplayer just feels strange and makes shooting really difficult.
I will be following this up with a review so if you want to wait for that to buy it, that may not be a bad idea. But if you are not interested in multiplayer Army of Two seems pretty good.
I will be following this up with a review so if you want to wait for that to buy it, that may not be a bad idea. But if you are not interested in multiplayer Army of Two seems pretty good.
Thursday, 6 March 2008
Army of Two Preview
Army of Two is a title that has a lot of potential to be great, and hopefully it will be. It would have been released already however EA decided to continue development on it for a longer period of time. This in my opinion was a great decision. A polished Game is a good game.
Army of Two firstly is a third person shooter, which means instead of seeing through the eyes of the character you will see from a shoulder view. This is probably my preferred point of view and allows for some very cool and interesting game mechanics. It is possible to make the game appear cinematic and more fluid because you can see more of the actions of your character, their appearance, etc. Army of Two is also very heavy on co-operative play; even in the single player campaign you will always have a partner helping you out. This aspect is similar to your squad in Gears of War. And what they have done with this mechanic is beyond anything that has been done before, which I will discuss later.
However in Army of Two you are not your average soldier fighting the good war, you are mercenaries hired by the government to take out key targets and complete missions, which you get paid for. This is a great basis for a game I think. It allows for the gamer to feel they are fighting a war that has meaning and you are not just going out and killing for no good reason. But also it gives the opportunity for more fun and out of the ordinary methods that would not be seen when playing as a soldier in the army.
The characters of Army of Two are also just brilliant. They are different, interesting and out of the ordinary which is what you want for classic mercenary characters. One is called Tyson Rios and the other is called Elliot Salem. They also have a very unique look, something that is different from any other game. They both wear very customized armor and always seem to be wearing bulletproof masks which just look badass. You can see them in the screenshots. So playing as these characters should be an experience in itself.
The game play of Army of Two also looks to be very promising. It is your classic third person shooter where both cover and accuracy must be utilised in order to succeed. You can focus on taking out enemies through stealth or by full on assault. You can also carry out some cool different moves, such as breaking an enemy’s neck, kick them in the stomach and even head butt the opponent. Another unique action is that you can drag your wounded partner along the ground, while he keeps shooting. This sounds very different in that you can no longer just walk up to a ally and get them back up with a tap of a button, but you have to get them to a safer position beforehand. There is also something called Back to Back mode which is where you will both, shockingly, stand back to back and attempt to make an impenetrable turret like formation to fight off foes which are currently surrounding you. This sounds really cool and fun but it is automatically activated and cannot be used whenever you want. This I have a problem with, because it takes away from the freedom of the game and the sense that you are in control of how you fight.
What really set Army of Two apart from other shooters however is the aggro system. The aggro system is basically that the more attention you create for yourself the more bullets will be flying at you. Now because there are two of you, you have a small semicircle at the top of the screen which will indicate which partner has the greater aggro in the fight. This will likely make for a fun game play mechanic because it allows the player to maybe force the attention of the enemy onto to them by blind firing at the enemy and consistently building aggro. This will allow for your team mate to move around undetected and kill the enemies through stealth.
The Aggro system also takes advantage of a player going to either extreme of the aggro bar. If you have complete aggro you will go into something that is called ‘Overkill’ mode. This is that you will do more damage and have access to special melee attacks. However if you have near to no aggro your character will go transparent, now you aren’t actually transparent it is just indicating that you can now easily carry out stealth manoeuvres.
One of the things I like most about certain games is being able to customize my characters, their weapons and everything else about them, and Army of Two delivers well in this factor. In the campaign you can change the armor of your character, from the look to its actual functionality e.g. light – heavy. You can also customize your guns with a whole range of attachments and improvements. Most guns also have a option to ‘pimp’ them. This will make the gun gold basically and it looks awesome. Now you can’t just apply these customisations straight away. You are mercenaries so obviously you get paid to do your work and this is what you use to do all these cool changes to your character. This will be a great feature of Army of Two I suspect because it will just add another level of control over the game you play
Now in my opinion a game is only as good as its lasting appeal. You either have a very long single player mode like Mass Effect and a lot of replay ability. Or, like most shooters, you have multiplayer. In Army of Two there are 4 different modes: Warzone, Extraction, Bounty and cooperative mode. Now the cooperative mode I assume you will just be playing the campaign with a friend over the internet or split-screen on the same console. Which is will make for a great game, because Army of Two is designed to be cooperative so it should play very well in this sense. Warzone is that targets spawn that you either need to defend and keep alive or aim to kill. Extraction is where you need to extract key allies to a certain location. Bounty is where you will aim to kill enemy targets and leaders. Now I haven’t had a hands-on on Army of Two or anything so I don’t actually know how the multiplayer modes will play out and whether they will be fun or not. But from reading it I doubt it will beat the likes of Call of Duty 4 and Halo 3. But an upside to Army of Two is that I suspect a full character customization system will be in place in the multiplayer as well, which will make it more fun to play.
A really big plus point to Army of Two is that it looks very nice. The graphics are great and suit the style of the game heavily. I don’t think they are best graphics out there but they are defiantly good which is great for gameplay and the overall experience.
Army of Two should be out any day now on PS3 and the Xbox 360 and will most likely be a game I will buy, for the Xbox 360, which means a follow up review once I have played through it. It looks like it could be a great game and a lot of fun. The only issues I have with it are the back to back modes being scripted and that the multiplayer seems somewhat last minute, so the lasting appeal could be minimal. But other then that it looks to be a promising title.
Army of Two firstly is a third person shooter, which means instead of seeing through the eyes of the character you will see from a shoulder view. This is probably my preferred point of view and allows for some very cool and interesting game mechanics. It is possible to make the game appear cinematic and more fluid because you can see more of the actions of your character, their appearance, etc. Army of Two is also very heavy on co-operative play; even in the single player campaign you will always have a partner helping you out. This aspect is similar to your squad in Gears of War. And what they have done with this mechanic is beyond anything that has been done before, which I will discuss later.
However in Army of Two you are not your average soldier fighting the good war, you are mercenaries hired by the government to take out key targets and complete missions, which you get paid for. This is a great basis for a game I think. It allows for the gamer to feel they are fighting a war that has meaning and you are not just going out and killing for no good reason. But also it gives the opportunity for more fun and out of the ordinary methods that would not be seen when playing as a soldier in the army.
The characters of Army of Two are also just brilliant. They are different, interesting and out of the ordinary which is what you want for classic mercenary characters. One is called Tyson Rios and the other is called Elliot Salem. They also have a very unique look, something that is different from any other game. They both wear very customized armor and always seem to be wearing bulletproof masks which just look badass. You can see them in the screenshots. So playing as these characters should be an experience in itself.
The game play of Army of Two also looks to be very promising. It is your classic third person shooter where both cover and accuracy must be utilised in order to succeed. You can focus on taking out enemies through stealth or by full on assault. You can also carry out some cool different moves, such as breaking an enemy’s neck, kick them in the stomach and even head butt the opponent. Another unique action is that you can drag your wounded partner along the ground, while he keeps shooting. This sounds very different in that you can no longer just walk up to a ally and get them back up with a tap of a button, but you have to get them to a safer position beforehand. There is also something called Back to Back mode which is where you will both, shockingly, stand back to back and attempt to make an impenetrable turret like formation to fight off foes which are currently surrounding you. This sounds really cool and fun but it is automatically activated and cannot be used whenever you want. This I have a problem with, because it takes away from the freedom of the game and the sense that you are in control of how you fight.
What really set Army of Two apart from other shooters however is the aggro system. The aggro system is basically that the more attention you create for yourself the more bullets will be flying at you. Now because there are two of you, you have a small semicircle at the top of the screen which will indicate which partner has the greater aggro in the fight. This will likely make for a fun game play mechanic because it allows the player to maybe force the attention of the enemy onto to them by blind firing at the enemy and consistently building aggro. This will allow for your team mate to move around undetected and kill the enemies through stealth.
The Aggro system also takes advantage of a player going to either extreme of the aggro bar. If you have complete aggro you will go into something that is called ‘Overkill’ mode. This is that you will do more damage and have access to special melee attacks. However if you have near to no aggro your character will go transparent, now you aren’t actually transparent it is just indicating that you can now easily carry out stealth manoeuvres.
One of the things I like most about certain games is being able to customize my characters, their weapons and everything else about them, and Army of Two delivers well in this factor. In the campaign you can change the armor of your character, from the look to its actual functionality e.g. light – heavy. You can also customize your guns with a whole range of attachments and improvements. Most guns also have a option to ‘pimp’ them. This will make the gun gold basically and it looks awesome. Now you can’t just apply these customisations straight away. You are mercenaries so obviously you get paid to do your work and this is what you use to do all these cool changes to your character. This will be a great feature of Army of Two I suspect because it will just add another level of control over the game you play
Now in my opinion a game is only as good as its lasting appeal. You either have a very long single player mode like Mass Effect and a lot of replay ability. Or, like most shooters, you have multiplayer. In Army of Two there are 4 different modes: Warzone, Extraction, Bounty and cooperative mode. Now the cooperative mode I assume you will just be playing the campaign with a friend over the internet or split-screen on the same console. Which is will make for a great game, because Army of Two is designed to be cooperative so it should play very well in this sense. Warzone is that targets spawn that you either need to defend and keep alive or aim to kill. Extraction is where you need to extract key allies to a certain location. Bounty is where you will aim to kill enemy targets and leaders. Now I haven’t had a hands-on on Army of Two or anything so I don’t actually know how the multiplayer modes will play out and whether they will be fun or not. But from reading it I doubt it will beat the likes of Call of Duty 4 and Halo 3. But an upside to Army of Two is that I suspect a full character customization system will be in place in the multiplayer as well, which will make it more fun to play.
A really big plus point to Army of Two is that it looks very nice. The graphics are great and suit the style of the game heavily. I don’t think they are best graphics out there but they are defiantly good which is great for gameplay and the overall experience.
Army of Two should be out any day now on PS3 and the Xbox 360 and will most likely be a game I will buy, for the Xbox 360, which means a follow up review once I have played through it. It looks like it could be a great game and a lot of fun. The only issues I have with it are the back to back modes being scripted and that the multiplayer seems somewhat last minute, so the lasting appeal could be minimal. But other then that it looks to be a promising title.
Saturday, 1 March 2008
hello to our zero reader
I thought i would just make a quick post since i was supposed to write an anticipated game post as well but uni has been crazy lately with test and reports and eating up my time i was struggling to get any gaming time in so blog kind of fell out of the picture. So here it is in short form a bit late :P So the most anticipated for me is Spore since i have been dieing to play it for past few years and maxis has not been helping by not really releasing much in form of solid information so to full fill my hungry i have had to dig around on the Internet.
The second most anticipated game is of course Wrath of the Litch king as what self respecting world of warcraft player wouldn't be drooling at the mouth to get there hands on the expansion. Then it would Dawn of War: soulstorm which is not that long away with the release date set on 7 which is same day as next LAN with my uni society, Handy that.
On the gaming front i have been enjoying campaign of supreme command: Forged alliance which on my laptop is barley manging to run which is causing me to think maybe its time to get myself a new computer for gaming but since finances are tight i am gonna have to wait awhile. Anyway supreme commander is a solid game which is entertaining to play even though it does take up a lot of time which I don't have at the moment. A testament to this is the fact my pally has only managed to get to level 24 since my last post. So until my next post, game on people.
The second most anticipated game is of course Wrath of the Litch king as what self respecting world of warcraft player wouldn't be drooling at the mouth to get there hands on the expansion. Then it would Dawn of War: soulstorm which is not that long away with the release date set on 7 which is same day as next LAN with my uni society, Handy that.
On the gaming front i have been enjoying campaign of supreme command: Forged alliance which on my laptop is barley manging to run which is causing me to think maybe its time to get myself a new computer for gaming but since finances are tight i am gonna have to wait awhile. Anyway supreme commander is a solid game which is entertaining to play even though it does take up a lot of time which I don't have at the moment. A testament to this is the fact my pally has only managed to get to level 24 since my last post. So until my next post, game on people.
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