2009
You got teh F.E.A.R 2
By: The Almighty Bobfish Category: F.E.A.R, PC, Preoject Origin
AFTER MUCH DEBATE, and some rather nasty back room dealings, the second official chapter in the F.E.A.R saga hit stores earlier this year. And immediately split the fanbase right down the middle with a massive, flaming meat cleaver sword of doomy doom.
Some were extremely pleased to find that the two expansions (Extraction Point and Perseus Mandate) were made obsolete by the new plot arc. I fell into the other (I believe smaller) category who were disappointed due to the quality of those two offerings, especially Extraction Point. But it matters little in the end, they’re no longer cannon and that’s the end of it. The worst part about that was how it left so many loose ends. Such as the fate of the three survivors from the first chapter. Jin and Holliday were, and still are, my two favourite characters from the series. Though Stokes is pretty cool, but I’ll come to her later.
The important question now is whether Project origin is worthy of it’s place as a sequel to one of the best games made so far. Which is another point which rapidly drew battle lines between the fans. Some did, indeed, very much like the new direction the game was moving in, and others utterly hated it. It seems very much that this is one of those cases where there is no middle ground. But then, there so rarely is anymore. So where do find ourselves at the end? All I’m going to say is that a game with actual hands to press buttons and open doors is an instant win in my books.
Thankfully, at least from my perspective, the game does a very good job of driving the plot forwards. Offering far more insights into the sordid affairs of Armacham. We find that not only was Alma bred for the sole purpose of creating pyschically controlled super soldiers, so too are a number of other children. Fairly early in the game we come to a school set up to train and develop what appear to be hundreds of potential pawns. A point that many will gloss over, but a thoroughly chilling concept when you sit and think about it for just a moment.
Still, that doesn’t answer the primary question. Is Project Origin a good game or not? A worthy successor yes, but that doesn’t immediately make it worth the time to play. I believe that, yes, it is an extremely good game. Not as good as it’s parent, but I spend much of my time explaining the vast difference between “not as good” and “bad”. It’s a very well constructed, solidly written and fun experience. The over abundance of Alma, especially during early stages of the game, irked me somewhat, but fit with the story (and fan requests). And the sudden rash of heavily combat oriented sections right near the very end went a long way towards spoiling the flow for me personally. I also found it to be a little too easy. The AI seemed to be more or less on par with what we were expecting, though the environments were more linear and gave them much less room to really make use of their team smarts. Which was another thumbs down for me.
But don’t let that fool you. No matter how well constructed something is, there will always be the weak points. The important thing is that F.E.A.R 2 has less marks against is than in its favour. Long story short, my thumbs up is definitely there. And I have to say, for such an advanced game I was thoroughly shocked at how low system requirements were. Ignore those listed (which is pretty standard for PC games, they always try and make it sound more impressive than it really is) this is an extremely well coded engine. It actually ran better than the first F.E.A.R did on my rig. Now that is a major case of kudos. Plus, Leftenant Stokes. She has some great lines that add a
sense of realism to the game. “Snakefist? Are you f***ing kidding me?!?”
Graphics: 9.5/10
Gameplay: 8.5/10
Audio/Music: 8.5/10
Plot/Scripting: 9/10
Overall: 9/10
2009
There have been a few things happening in the real world that have taken up most of my time recently. The most notable of them being a visit from my daughter and the purchase of a new PC. But fear not, I have also been busy thrashing the arse off a number of games in my spare time, and have developed a backlog of some of the more recent titles. I’ll be working through them, as well as some older games that I’ve prepared material for, over the next few weeks. By which point I should probably have some more of the newer titles ready to go as well.
Two reviews will be coming either tomorrow or Thursday. Resistance for the Playstation 3, and F.E.A.R 2 PC. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Eyes peeled peeps
2009
Dead Space Final
By: The Inimitable Jedireaper Category: Dead Space, PS3
The USG Ishimura floats listlessly in the ever-reaching vacuum of space, sunlight glinting off of it's dark hull. Looking from afar your un-named character watches as the repair shuttle closes in and then you see the huge chunk of planet beyond, ripped from the ground upon which it had been joined, the Planetcracker class mining vessel immediatly inspires awe. But this the only moment of peacefull tranquility you are likely going to get as a repair mission soon turns into the nightmare that only kids could have after playing Doom back in the mid-ninties. Welcome to Dead Space. The opening scenes for Dead Space were filled with intense and hostillic atmosphere reaching fevel pitched as your ship crash lands in the hanger bay due to a guidance error. You play Isacc, an Engineer wearing a full body RIG (some kind of amour suit, with holo interfaces) who has volenteered for the mission, he has a girlfriend onboard the Ishimura hence the reason he joined the repair team. Upon arrival, they soon find that the ship is apparently desserted, and Isacc is soon cut off from the others when they are attacked by a... thing... a thing that was once a living breathing human being. It's mangled face all the humanity that remains. Soon you find yourself armed with a Plasma Cutter, which fires a straight horizontal or vertical waves of energy to slice through the limbs of the "Necromorphs" as we learn what they are called later. Creeping through the dark tight confines of the ship, the sound ambiance is excellently chilling as you hear Isacc's metallic breathing, his heart thumping with increasing vigour when he is freightened, the sounds of clanging and reverbrating metal as the creatures move about the air-filtration system; the occasional scream. And the gruesome sound of squishing, blistering and tearing flesh is captured wonderfully. Just pump up the volume, turn off the in-game music and close your eyes and listen. An amazing experiance alone. The story in total comprises of many twists you don't expect. And the end is shocking. The gameplay is some of the best I've played in years, having to shoot off the Creatures limbs to take them down is a great mechanic and forces you to be more tactfull in your approach. While the Obsidian Suit I downloaded made me look a lot cooler while Necro-smashing having all black armour, purple eye sensors, meleeing the Necro's is satisfyingly hefty and pleasent. I soon found myself checking every corner and shadow as I proceeded along the corridors. It is a good puzzler, presenting you with obstacles to rival Tomb Raider. I had, unlike Bobfish's controller speed issue, no problems with the controls, finding they bore simularities to Resident Evil 5 and Call of Duty in the shooting department, though while aiming, turning is much slower than the PC version according to Bobfish, I can say; with my outing of the game on PS3 that whilst aiming, your character turns at a realistic pace for a man in a heavy Hazard suit and holding a hefty Line Gun (indeed one of the most devestating in the game) though my favorite was always being able to fall back onto the Pulse Rifle which is baically a machine gun. Whilst not aiming I found Isacc to be quite responsive having been swarmed by many of the creatures having often to fend off my own body with a tap of R1 to swing my fists about untill I could select another weapon. The pause screen, and general in-game interfaces are all 3D holograms that are emitted by your RIG. So much innovation in one game, and the zero-g battles, and vacuum runs are chilling and tense. And the collecting of funds to spend on your weapons and finding power nodes to upgrade your equipment is a joy. I know I must play the game again on one of the higher difficulty settings and I'm sure the fight through the Ishimura will go from challenging to damn near impossible. All in all a must play. And top form for EA. Score: Graphics: 8.5 Gameplay: 9 Sound Design: 10 Plot/Story: 9 Replayability: 8 (its chillingly addictive) Overall Score: 8.9 Personal Score: 9 (Silver Award) Verdict: If you haven't played Dead Space yet, then you had better have a good bloody excuse for letting this little gem slip by. One of the best games in years from EA. Great game.
2009
360 degrees of Dead Space
By: The Almighty Bobomorphish Category: Dead Space, xBox360
HAVING ALREADY PLAYED through Dead Space on the PC, and thoroughly enjoyed it (see my previous review for a more in depth opinion) I was curious how well it would stand up as a console title. I won’t deny that I was extremely sceptical, which is why I wasn’t in any particular rush to pick it up. In fact, it was only because my beautiful wife (Lissa, also now writing reviews here) wanted to try it out that we bought it at all. Hence it being X-Box rather than Playstation 3, since the X-Box is hers. First impressions did little to appease my misgivings and, after only about thirty minutes I saved the game and didn’t play it again for three months.
Not exactly an inspiring start to a review.
However, a couple of days ago (well, four actually) I found myself at a bit of a loose end (I was playing Project Origin, but wasn’t in the mood for it after spending so much time on the first game for my previous reviews) and plugged it back in. The control scheme didn’t leave me with an overly positive impression once again, especially the sensitivity. After so much time on the PC, analogue sticks feel like wading through treacle toffee when you’ve gotten used to a mouse turned all the way up to ELEVEN! Seriously, it takes about three seconds just to turn one-eighty, and when a bunch of necromorphs are swarming all over you a HELL of a lot can happen in those three seconds. And don’t forget that both sticks have a bloody massive dead zone (appropriate eh?)
Still, I persevered, and made a few purchases on X-Box Live to throw a little variety into the mix. Plus, y’know, the new skins look really cool. Though I didn’t realise at first just how nails the Tank suit really is. Believe me, 60% damage resistance has a massive impact on the difficulty of the game. Especially since downloaded weapons and armour are available for free (in game) once you reach your first store at the end of Chapter 1. So, for those like myself, who have qualms about what should effectively be classed as cheating, probably better to avoid the download section all together until you’ve finished the game once. Which I did on the PC, but I still felt a little guilty after I realised how much difference it all made. Silly I know, but that’s how I am.
Anyway, enough waffling. Fourth paragraph already and I’ve said bugger all about the game apart from how dubious I was. So, well, were my misgivings well place? The question of hour. And, I’m very happy to say, they were not at all. The sensitivity of the analogue sticks still bugs me a fair bit, but not so much so that it spoiled my enjoyment of the game. Caused me several incidences of extreme frustration when I was shooting past a necromorphs waist instead of cutting him off at the thigh, but I think it actually made me better at the game. I thought more about how to approach each enemy and shifted my weapons around a lot more. Initially I only really made use of the Plasma Cutter and the Pulse Rifle, this time I gave them all a whirl and give a major, major recommendation for the Line Gun. That thing is a beast. Especially with the Scorpion pack which more than doubles it’s rate of fire. Though the yellow scorpion motif is a little silly. It would have looked much better in black or a deep red.
Long story short, the differences between the PC and console release of the game are simple cosmetics. The layout of the controls is a little odd, but works well, though it would have been nice to have a customisation option. The turning speed, whilst a point I keep coming back to, isn’t really a major concern after you’ve had a little time to adjust to it. And the downloadable weapons and armour packs add some really cool new skins to what is already an extremely solid and very atmospheric game. I still can’t over how good it actually is after the sheer amount of crap Electronic Arts have shoved down our throats in the past.
I’m eagerly looking forward to both Dead Space 2, and Extinction on the Wii. If you take the time to watch the six animated comics which cover the events of the mining operation leading up to the demise of the USG Ishimura’s crew, and the Downfall Anime which covers events aboard the Ishimura herself, you can see that there’s a lot more to the story. And they are telling it very, very well. If EA keep this up again, they could well become the respected gaming powerhouse they were back in the days of Desert Strike and Buck Rogers : Countdown to Doomsday.
Graphics: 9/10
Gameplay: 8.5/10
Audio/Music: 9/10
Plot/Scripting: 9/10
Overall: 8.5/10
P.S : If my sources are correct, Isaac will return for Dead Space 2.
Altman be praised
2009
From the creator of games such as The Sims and SimCity Brings you Spore, a game where you start off as a single cell and evolve all the way up until you get to space, and then from there it’s endless open play.
Once you start the game you have a galaxy infront of you with a few planets for you to choose from. You can name the planet and the creatures which you will play as. Once you start the cell stage you will have to pick what type of creature you would like to be, carnivore, herbivore or an omnivore. Then to evolve you have to eat the corresponding food which then gives you DNA cells to help you evolve. You also gain different parts to help you swim faster, defend yourself against other cells and several other categories.
After you have evolved onto land (Creature stage), you then go around and either make friends or attack and kill other creatures. Again to evolve its the same as the cell where you go and find different parts to upgrade your creatures and advance them onto the next stage. The way you find the parts is slightly different than the cell stage as you will find bits of skeletons lying around near the nests of the other creatures.
The Tribe stage is where you need to dominate the other tribes by killing them out right or by making friends with them. Unlike the other two stages you don’t need to find parts as you modify your tribe by the city planner located when you move the cursor over the main hut. Also when you hover over the hut you can also make another tribe member for when you expand or one dies.
The second to last stage is the Civilisation stage where you need to take out the opposing teams cities by either befriending them, converting them to your religion or by destroying them.
The space stage is the last stage and offers open ended game play. You will encounter other creatures and help them by doing jobs and trading with them for things you need to help you in your quests. You can also terraform other planets to colonise them.
So as you can tell there are 30+ hours of game play. The online content is a function where you can share your creations with other Spore users and use theirs as well.
I really do like this game and it is really addictive so be warned.
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