Heres the Link:
Happy Gaming fellow fans.
Tuesday 22 November 2011
If you like the review try now.
Ive set up a small site allowing anyone who decides to purchase any of the games i have reviewed below to purchase them on my partner site.
Monday 21 November 2011
The time has come: SKYRIM !
Short version:
While Skyrim does almost nothing to address the weaknesses of its predecessors, it expands on the strengths to such an extent that even its most substantial flaws seem microscopic. You may not lose yourself in the unimaginative combat and story, but the world Bethesda has created is so huge and so beautifully realized that you won’t care.
Pros:
vast, vast world to explore
dungeons and caves are wonderfully differentiated
graphics and sound are for the most part incredible to behold
Cons:
Combat isn’t very visceral, and victories and losses feel unearned
Menus and interface are terrible
While the world is wide open, most quests and dungeons are very linear
Full review:
Let me just say right off the bat that I have not finished the main campaign. However, having put around 40 hours into the game so far, I felt I had enough to go on for a review. There will necessarily be some spoilers here, but I’ll try to refrain from specifics.
Also: be sure to open screenshots in a new window or tab to see them in their original resolution. They are also slightly more dark and compressed than they looked in-game because of the original bitmap compression.
Graphics & Sound
Skyrim is, as I’m sure you know, a beautiful game. But like many of us playing it, it has good angles and bad angles. Fortunately, 90% of the game is good angles: the wide-open terrain of the overworld, the majestic towers and walls of the cities, and dank and decaying tombs and barrows, the wonderfully-modeled monsters and objects, all of these things are difficult to fault. The landscapes of the mountains can often be truly breathtaking, and many times I stopped for a moment to appreciate the view the way you might if you were hiking. And not simply because it looks good “for a game,” but because it was beautiful enough to warrant a moment of appreciation. Similarly, many of the tombs and dungeons you explore have excellent looks to them and great attention to detail.
So what I have to criticize is certainly a small minority of the game, and while you’ll notice the same thing in your playthroughs, it rarely detracts from the game. Humans are probably Skyrim’s weakest link graphically; while people certainly look better than they did in the previous games, and look natural enough when they’re doing certain normal things, there was little attention given to many of their animations, and they walk with a strange combination of woodiness and gliding. It’s 2011, the world is rendered with astonishing richness, yet its denizens slide up steps like ghosts. It’s a little sad that the opening scene of the game is a demonstration of its least-appealing visual aspects.
And the faces are still, alas, not so hot. Quest characters and many shopkeepers and such look all right (and to Bethesda’s credit, are extremely varied), but many simply don’t, and people all seem to be the same medium height and build. The Nords seem to have eliminated the short, the tall, and the overweight from their population entirely.
Low-resolution textures and low-poly models are plenty, though they can usually be overlooked and at any rate are among dozens if not hundreds of other, more well-done items. Decals are particularly disappointing; while I appreciate that blood, scorching, and frost marks should be created, there has to be a better way to do it than the simple models and repeating textures we are given.
The sound and music are excellent. Weapons and materials produce a variety of noises when struck, there are a number of different footstep sounds, and creatures all emit distinctive noises when you’re in their vicinity. The atmospheric noises are good, too, with deep rumbles accompanying visual effects in caves, satisfying swishes and thwocks from arrows, and lots of great-sounding nature noises, from wind and rain to wildlife.
The soundtrack is, for once, not only worth keeping on (I usually mute game music) but worth listening to closely. The eerie pieces accompanying your spelunking and graverobbing expeditions is clearly meant to evoke the quieter moments of Indiana Jones, while different themes fade in and out naturally for various different settings, from windblown cliffs to forests to city markets. It’s all beautifully done but for the most part low-key. Bravo to the music team.
The combat music could do with a little tweaking, though: it’s the same intense piece whether you’re fighting an ancient reanimated warlord and his zombie thralls or if your’e wandering in a marsh and accidentally alert a mudcrab. In the first case it raises the tension – in the second, it feels absurd.
The weakest part of the sound is almost certainly the humans, both in scripting and delivery. Naturally putting together a game like Skyrim entails the use of many voice actors, and quality varies. But some of the lines are done so poorly that I wonder whether the designers listened to them at all. And the repetition of some lines is really disappointing. It’s a little shameful that every crypt and castle is unique, yet blacksmiths throughout the land all use the same stock phrases.
The game runs well on my computer, which is fairly high-end, but a few tweaks to the config file are warranted, to eliminate mouse acceleration (deceleration, rather) and make a few things go a bit more smoothly. Watch the mod scene for improvements.
Combat & AI
Some changes have been made to the way you fight, and magic is much more practical than it was before. The left/right hand system is great in most situations, allowing you to, for example, have a shield ready while firing lightning at an enemy. Alternately, you could hack away at a mage while keeping a warding spell ready for when they try to magic you.
It feels a little weird having your right hand be the left mouse button and vice versa. A handedness option would be appreciated by many, I’m sure, but that’s a minor detail compared to the larger issues with combat.
The fact is that combat in games is all about a relationship between you and your antagonist, and your relationship with almost every single enemy in Skyrim is the same. Every wolf, skeleton, mage, fighter, and so on uses the same strategy: run directly at you by the shortest path possible and attack as soon as you’re within range. Then, once their health gets low, they run away to the next room or cower on the ground until you administer the coup de grace. A few trifling differences can be found in novelty mini-bosses and so on, but by and large every enemy acts the same.
Fighting isn’t bad, exactly, but it’s exactly as floaty as it has been for years in the series and you have no sense of the weight or reach of your weapon. You can tell if you hit or were blocked, but it’s really not very physical. Bows and magic are more satisfying, though the “stream” style spells you get have very little feedback.
Many will be disappointed to learn that the autoleveling system is still in place, though there are merciful exceptions. I’ve always though it rather stupid in Elder Scrolls games that you can pretty much enter any location at any level and have a good chance of beating it. Enemies level up with you, so that a bandit when you’re level five takes three arrows or five sword swipes, and a bandit when your’e level 30 takes the same. It really acts as a buzzkill when you level up, get a new perk, find a sweet new bow or axe, and feel like a badass — but the game just gives everyone slightly better armor and more hit points to compensate for your badassery. Setting the difficulty is no help, it just tweaks the variables. Bethesda really, really needs to adjust this system. There’s a feeling of awe in other open games when you enter an area and find yourself being killed in a single hit. “I’ve got to come back here when I’m more awesome,” you think. And when you go back to a previous area and can smush enemies with a single hit, you really feel that you’ve moved up in the world. That feeling is more or less absent in Skyrim.
Naturally this system enables all the game’s locations to be accessible throughout the game, and you’re never going to skip something because the dudes are too easy and the loot is probably weak. But there has to be a better way.
That’s not to say that I didn’t occasionally find myself in serious danger, but when I did, it often felt arbitrary. One time I found a bandit’s den with a few guys in it, nothing special, and then the head bandit rushed out and killed me in two hits. I had unwisely saved after alerting him so I needed to finish it, and it took me perhaps 30 tries, no exaggeration. I honestly don’t know how it was possible that he kept killing me; when I finally took him down, I found he had a fairly powerful magic axe, but nowhere near the level it would take to destroy me that way. And later, a mage killed me a number of times by casting spells way faster than he should have been able to. I rarely felt I won or lost in a fair fight.
Except with this guy, who didn’t stand a chance:
Magic weapons, by the way, are a bit unbalanced. A bow that does 20 fire damage, great. A bow that does 20 stamina damage? The guy will gain that back in like five seconds. Why even bother? There seemed to be a lack of unique enchantments, the kind of thing you’d find in Diablo games. Almost everything is just a regular item with extra damage of one type. I rarely found myself excited about finding one, since they were so generic. The few unique weapons I found (Red Eagle’s Bane, Dawnbreaker) were weaker than the gear I had when I found them. The local blacksmith carried better weapons.
There are a number of other problems: sneaking and bows are overpowered, two handed weapons are underpowered, dragons are too easy, multiple opponents often interfere with each other awkwardly, and so on. But you get the idea.
UI and interface
Skyrim’s menu systems are terrible, all of them. But instead of going through the details, I’ll just point you to this article at Gamasutra and its excellent sequel, which describe the many shortcomings in illustrated detail. Suffice it to say that the menus are counter-intuitive, inefficient, buggy, and obviously geared towards controller navigation. I look forward to the user-created replacements.
The World
I’ve saved the best for last. The world of Skyrim is the whole reason for playing. The dungeons and caves in Oblivion were disappointingly samey, reusing assets and often entire rooms or buildings. Skyrim… well, first of all, let’s talk about the overworld.
It’s huge.
Huge in area, but many games tout square mileage greater than Skyrim’s. The difference is that nothing in Skyrim is wasted space or cut-and-paste scenery. Every meadow, every cliff, every log, every glacier, every mountain, every town, every ruin, every lake, every everything is hand-crafted, natural, beautiful, and purposeful. I can’t overstate how very real the land of Skyrim looks and feels.
And yet it is enormously varied, as well. The swamps around Markath are a whole different territory from the woodsy hills near Riverdale, which are different from the snow-swept peaks of Winterhold. And you can go everywhere. Like, pretty much everywhere. Only the highest peaks and ornamental features are unable to be clambered up (buggily or otherwise). There are trails and roads to follow, but if you choose to beat your own path, nature is wide-open to you, if you’re game to take on a few bears (which, despite a tame early encounter, are probably more dangerous than dragons). And whether your’e on or off the path, the scene is lavishly sculpted just the same.
The attention to detail and go-anywhere aspect make the world seem even bigger than is — not that it’s necessary to do so, because the world is already gigantic. Once you do a little traveling and get a sense of the scale, the map starts to make sense. Originally I thought “okay, there’s a big mountain in the middle, a few towns around it, and some wildlife around them. But not only did I underestimate the size, number, and richness of the landscape, but I neglected to account for the size and depth of the many barrows, holds, tombs, caves, and so on.
I was complaining to a friend that generally (so far in the game at the time, and under the influence of my previous experience with Oblivion) the caves and dungeons were generally of a medium size, sometimes with a boss, and usually with treasure at the end, and you can get through them in 20 or 30 minutes. At the time that was what I had found in Skyrim, but I’m happy to say that those impressions have been almost totally reversed.
Sure, there are the bandit cubbyholes and medium-sized mines that you can pop into and clear out in 15 minutes or half an hour. But literally the next place I entered after discussing the lack of depth with my friend was probably four times deeper than anything I had found since. It probably took me an hour and a half to clear. And it was really my first foray into the Indiana Jones-style delvings that really make you feel, more than any game I’ve ever played, that you’re truly in an ancient tomb, going places no one has been for centuries, and opening doors that probably should have stayed closed.
The one complaint I have is that most of these dungeons are very linear and all you can really do isadvance, not explore. They also use the slight cop-out of conveniently returning you to the entrance via a back stairway or passage. Really, no one thought to force this door open, which leads directly to the throne-room of the undead king, who laid sleeping behind ten locked doors and innumerable traps for a thousand years?
This linearity was beginning to bother me (as much as it can, since the dungeons are all different and all very fun) when I found Blackreach.
Oh, Blackreach. Spoiler warning.
Do yourself a favor if you haven’t done this yet. Go to Winterhold and travel north until nearly the end of the map, where there will be a “cave” icon indicating a door in an iceberg. Inside is a guy who will send you on the most insanely huge side quest I’ve ever seen in a game.
Picture this: At the top of a mountain, buried by snow, are the tops of some towers. Entering the towers, you must decent through a dungeon (in the generic sense) of machinery and ice. At the bottom of this dungeon is another dungeon, the actual ruins of the Dwemer buildings, which are better-maintained and more full of mechanical monsters. At the bottom of this dungeon, you will find the entrance (only accessible via the quest, as I found out) to Blackreach:
Blackreach is one of the most astonishing pieces of world design I’ve ever seen. And within this massive and incredibly beautiful underground world larger than any of the game’s cities by far, there are further sub-dungeons, and dungeons within those! I remind you that to my knowledge this quest is not only optional, but hidden in an obscure location at the very edge of the map! (Update: Oops, it actually is a main story quest, though I came across it randomly. That’s what I get for not finishing the game first.)
This review is already too long, so I’ll stop, but I wanted to highlight Blackreach as an example of everything this game does right.
Conclusion
Despite the serious faults in many of the game mechanics, Skyrim is a triumph because what it succeeds in outweighs those flaws (which may be fixed by patches and mods) by an enormous amount. The world is the richest and most lovingly created that I’ve ever seen in a game, and you are completely free to explore it at your own rate, in your own way, and for a long, long time. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to playing. Despite 35 hours of exploration, and rather efficient exploration at that if I may say so, I have yet to even lay eyes on half of the world, much less explore their hidden depths. I expect to be occupied with Skyrim for days and weeks to come, and look back to revisiting it years from now. A genuine modern classic.
Wednesday 9 November 2011
Forza Motorsport 4 for Xbox 360
Forza Motorsport Game play
Circuit-based racing games are ultimately repetitive by nature, but the familiarity you experience when playing Forza 4 especially if you were familiar with Forza 3, you will notice most of the cars and tracks are the same. Visually they are now better, which is no easy feat in itself but early on in the game veterans may stop and think why this new title isn't called Forza 3.5. I am glad to announce with new features and improvements revealing themselves there's no doubt Turn 10 have created a worthy sequel in the Forza franchise.
If you are one of the people who put hours of effort into Forza 3 don't despair you are rewarded once you start up Forza 4. You wont be able to keep your mass collection of cars or multi millionaire status but may be surprised by what is added to your garage from the beginning of the game, these are calculated from previous driver level, VIP status and whether you owned any "unicorn cars". If you are a new member of the Forza franchise you will need to put up with the starter cars which are no specialty but be a returning member of Forza 3 and you will be graced with cars such as Lamborghini gallardo, Ferrari 430, Audi R8 and a Bugatti Veyron to start your career, and to name a few.
A big improvement between the predecessor is the freedom to drive what you want when you want. In Forza 3 you were challenged to complete numerous themed series which could see you driving the same cars for hours. In Forza 4 you may not choose where you race in the world tour but in each location you can choose from 3 events which will have their own car requirements allowing you greater choice.
Saving up credits for new cars was crucial in Forza 3 but is now no longer necessary, as your driver level increases you earn free car rewards. This happens every level with car quality increasing with level, thinking of saving up 9 million credits for the Ferrari '67 330 P4 or would you rather just rank you driver level to 30? The choice is yours. Every level you get to choose a car from3 or 5 cars for your garage.
Another difference is that cars no longer level up as your drive them, whereas the manufacturer of that car gains an affinity bonus when that type of car is driven. With these levels you gain perks and at the level of just 4 you gain 100% discount on all manufacturer parts for that type of car. This allows you to upgrade a stock E class car into an S class car for 0 credits. This makes it easier for you to make your favorite cars competitive along with easier credit collection, but in turn devalues in game currency.
Acquiring new cars is a pleasure and they are all a new experience to drive. The cars bring a new breed of responsiveness no matter which camera view you use the car goes exactly where you want it to go. The rumble effects from the controller setup and steering heel setups add to the experience. The AI of opponents has been turned up to a more aggressive driving style keeping up the fight even when your are side by side.
Of course catering to drivers of every skill level is a must in racing games and Forza meets this superbly. Options allowing the player to tweak everything from transmission, ABS and traction control to the rewind feature for mistakes. Of course the more you turn off the higher the overall multiplier when you finish a race giving you more of a step forward after every race. Whether you have these options active or deactivated Forza gives a small graphic on all passes, corners and drafts which show when you are earning extra driver bonuses and are a great indication on how you are racing helping you tweak different sections of races.
Of course Forzas action racing gameplay is best enjoyed online with up to 15 players racing at one time. A robust lobby system makes it easy to find and get into sessions that include straightforward races, drift and drag events, and games of tag and the team-based cat and mouse. There's also an all-new option to participate in multi-class races that see two, three, or even four different races take place on a track at the same time. These events invariably pose an interesting challenge, because at the same time you're competing with cars in your own class, you need to steer clear of drivers from other classes whose cars are significantly faster or slower than yours. The potential for drama on the track increases in these situations, and while it's rarely much fun getting forced off the road, the silver lining is that collisions often make for great photos and replays, which can be shared via both your in-game storefront and forzamotorsport.net quickly and easily.
Another great new way to enjoy multiplayer competition is the new Rivals mode. Here, you pit your skills against other players' ghost car replays in events that include hot laps, track day overtaking challenges, drift contests, and slalom-style autocross events. Beat a rival's score, and if they're a friend or a member of your car club , they receive a message letting them know that you beat them. If you don't have any friends or fellow club members to compete against, you have an opportunity to compete against the replays of randomly selected players.
You also have the option to revisit events from your world tour and to take part in events that you passed on at any time. There's little reason to rerun races that you've already won, but some of the new, score-based event types are definitely fun to play more than once. Track day challenges require you to overtake as many slow cars as possible while driving a fast one, for example, while one-vs.-one challenges are head-to-head races in which you much chase and overtake an opponent on a course filled with slow-moving traffic. These event types feel very different from regular races because with so many cars in front of you and around you, you rarely have an opportunity to stick with the racing line that you're normally trying hard not to stray too far from. Top Gear events are similar in that regard, but rather than challenging you to avoid other drivers, they involve knocking over bowling pins as you race around the popular BBC show's test track.
New features and improvements are relatively thin on the ground for tuners and painters, but for those of you who simply love cars, Forza 4 has a treat for you in its new Autovista mode. Here, using the optional Kinect support to mimic the act of walking around a car and interacting with it if you choose, you get to explore some of the game's most desirable automobiles in stunning detail. You can open doors, trunks, and hoods; you can get into the driver and passenger seats; and you can even inspect wheels and engines. Interact with the right part of your chosen car, and you get an amusing overview of it voiced by Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson; interact with other areas of the car, and you get much drier but informative descriptions of various components. Only four cars are available at the outset, but you can unlock another 20 or so (including the Halo series' Warthog, which can't be driven) by completing specific race challenges.
In Conclusion
Forza Motorsport 4 is a delight on and off the track, visually but also most importantly user friendly. Accommodating for every player from beginner to the most veteran player there is something for everyone. With hundreds of different cars from dozens of manufacturers you will never get bored and that's just single player. Throw yourself into the online world and you will have a game to last you a few years without boredom.
Graphics : 8.5
Sound : 8.5
Game play : 9
Lasting Appeal : 9.5
Final Verdict : 9
Circuit-based racing games are ultimately repetitive by nature, but the familiarity you experience when playing Forza 4 especially if you were familiar with Forza 3, you will notice most of the cars and tracks are the same. Visually they are now better, which is no easy feat in itself but early on in the game veterans may stop and think why this new title isn't called Forza 3.5. I am glad to announce with new features and improvements revealing themselves there's no doubt Turn 10 have created a worthy sequel in the Forza franchise.
Interiors are extremely detailed
If you are one of the people who put hours of effort into Forza 3 don't despair you are rewarded once you start up Forza 4. You wont be able to keep your mass collection of cars or multi millionaire status but may be surprised by what is added to your garage from the beginning of the game, these are calculated from previous driver level, VIP status and whether you owned any "unicorn cars". If you are a new member of the Forza franchise you will need to put up with the starter cars which are no specialty but be a returning member of Forza 3 and you will be graced with cars such as Lamborghini gallardo, Ferrari 430, Audi R8 and a Bugatti Veyron to start your career, and to name a few.
A big improvement between the predecessor is the freedom to drive what you want when you want. In Forza 3 you were challenged to complete numerous themed series which could see you driving the same cars for hours. In Forza 4 you may not choose where you race in the world tour but in each location you can choose from 3 events which will have their own car requirements allowing you greater choice.
Saving up credits for new cars was crucial in Forza 3 but is now no longer necessary, as your driver level increases you earn free car rewards. This happens every level with car quality increasing with level, thinking of saving up 9 million credits for the Ferrari '67 330 P4 or would you rather just rank you driver level to 30? The choice is yours. Every level you get to choose a car from3 or 5 cars for your garage.
Another difference is that cars no longer level up as your drive them, whereas the manufacturer of that car gains an affinity bonus when that type of car is driven. With these levels you gain perks and at the level of just 4 you gain 100% discount on all manufacturer parts for that type of car. This allows you to upgrade a stock E class car into an S class car for 0 credits. This makes it easier for you to make your favorite cars competitive along with easier credit collection, but in turn devalues in game currency.
Lighting brings tracks alive
Of course catering to drivers of every skill level is a must in racing games and Forza meets this superbly. Options allowing the player to tweak everything from transmission, ABS and traction control to the rewind feature for mistakes. Of course the more you turn off the higher the overall multiplier when you finish a race giving you more of a step forward after every race. Whether you have these options active or deactivated Forza gives a small graphic on all passes, corners and drafts which show when you are earning extra driver bonuses and are a great indication on how you are racing helping you tweak different sections of races.
Of course Forzas action racing gameplay is best enjoyed online with up to 15 players racing at one time. A robust lobby system makes it easy to find and get into sessions that include straightforward races, drift and drag events, and games of tag and the team-based cat and mouse. There's also an all-new option to participate in multi-class races that see two, three, or even four different races take place on a track at the same time. These events invariably pose an interesting challenge, because at the same time you're competing with cars in your own class, you need to steer clear of drivers from other classes whose cars are significantly faster or slower than yours. The potential for drama on the track increases in these situations, and while it's rarely much fun getting forced off the road, the silver lining is that collisions often make for great photos and replays, which can be shared via both your in-game storefront and forzamotorsport.net quickly and easily.
Another great new way to enjoy multiplayer competition is the new Rivals mode. Here, you pit your skills against other players' ghost car replays in events that include hot laps, track day overtaking challenges, drift contests, and slalom-style autocross events. Beat a rival's score, and if they're a friend or a member of your car club , they receive a message letting them know that you beat them. If you don't have any friends or fellow club members to compete against, you have an opportunity to compete against the replays of randomly selected players.
Going for the strike
You also have the option to revisit events from your world tour and to take part in events that you passed on at any time. There's little reason to rerun races that you've already won, but some of the new, score-based event types are definitely fun to play more than once. Track day challenges require you to overtake as many slow cars as possible while driving a fast one, for example, while one-vs.-one challenges are head-to-head races in which you much chase and overtake an opponent on a course filled with slow-moving traffic. These event types feel very different from regular races because with so many cars in front of you and around you, you rarely have an opportunity to stick with the racing line that you're normally trying hard not to stray too far from. Top Gear events are similar in that regard, but rather than challenging you to avoid other drivers, they involve knocking over bowling pins as you race around the popular BBC show's test track.
New features and improvements are relatively thin on the ground for tuners and painters, but for those of you who simply love cars, Forza 4 has a treat for you in its new Autovista mode. Here, using the optional Kinect support to mimic the act of walking around a car and interacting with it if you choose, you get to explore some of the game's most desirable automobiles in stunning detail. You can open doors, trunks, and hoods; you can get into the driver and passenger seats; and you can even inspect wheels and engines. Interact with the right part of your chosen car, and you get an amusing overview of it voiced by Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson; interact with other areas of the car, and you get much drier but informative descriptions of various components. Only four cars are available at the outset, but you can unlock another 20 or so (including the Halo series' Warthog, which can't be driven) by completing specific race challenges.
In Conclusion
Forza Motorsport 4 is a delight on and off the track, visually but also most importantly user friendly. Accommodating for every player from beginner to the most veteran player there is something for everyone. With hundreds of different cars from dozens of manufacturers you will never get bored and that's just single player. Throw yourself into the online world and you will have a game to last you a few years without boredom.
Graphics : 8.5
Sound : 8.5
Game play : 9
Lasting Appeal : 9.5
Final Verdict : 9
Battlefield 3 for Xbox 360
If Call of duty was my first post it only seems right to put its competitor next on my list, there is mass hype surrounding both games and trying to compare the two is utterly useless, apart from both being about modern war they are completely different genres and each offers game play worlds apart from the other. Lets take this in depth shall we?
Single Player - Campaign
Single Player - Campaign
Stunning scene showing graphics at their best
As in both Call Of Duty and EA's Battlefields of the past and present Single Player is always just 'another' linear shooter with little to no tactical decision making in play, opting to throw the character down narrow (invisible) environment walls to their objective, giving no tactical routes or larger tactical areas.
I have played through Battlefield now almost two times and have to say i am rather disappointed about how the games AI plays out, everything is set in stone. Every enemy position, explosion time, squad placement remains the same on every play through.
Of course death is something nobody wants but when its accompanied by massive load times and clumsy check pointing it even becomes a bit of a chore. With no warnings when you are in danger death can become a regular thing for newer players bringing in an era of trial and error. I challenge you to complete Battlefield 3 on your first play through with a clean streak, i can guarantee one moment in particular will haunt your chances.
A few technical issues reared their heads while i was making my way through the game such as clipping - Finding myself stuck in a car door during a cut scene as i had moved to far back before it was triggered comes to mind.
All these negative points aside DICE have managed to make an surprisingly good single player game, fitting in a story which gets you interested and a nice 6 hour of game play (normal) or even more on a harder difficulty.
I wont go into to much detail here because i don't want to spoil it but i will say there is an alternative point of view on offer throughout the story giving you greater depth of the story. Along with each of the levels having a snappy pace and consistent action, they never feel like 'extra' padding.
When Battlefield pushes the limit is where it shines. A flight section in the story line may see you only manning the guns but the first time your put in this situation, you feel a sense of awe, everything is tense and scenes around you are breathtaking. These points coupled with the incredible voice acting capture the atmosphere and sense of dread better than ever before.
Being reviewed on the XBOX 360 with HD pack installed i can say the graphics are stunning and i haven't noticed any lag while playing, the game runs at 30 fps meaning it isn't a fluent as Call Of Duty but that is because COD is not visually as stunning.
Without ruining the game with spoilers that's about as much as i can give you. The single player works, but never really threatens to change what we expect from the genre or push it beyond its incredible graphics and sound play. Single player is defiantly worth a good play through. Once.
Online Multiplayer
Showing the frostbite engine in play
If you have played the beta version of Battlefield 3's multiplayer throw everything you saw out the window. This could give Call Of Duty a run for its money. The Beta only included one game mode and no vehicles this caused doubt in gamer's minds everywhere whether or not Battlefield 3 would deliver a game worthy of besting Call Of Duty.
From the very start of plunging into one of the massive visual rich maps players will stand in awe. PC vs console graphics is a long debated topic but seeing the HD package come to consoles has made many gamer's day. Everything is as crisp as it could be, there is no texture pop up (Texture pack installed) and the environments bring battles to life.
Anyone familiar to the Battlefield franchise will recognize the pre game level map showing spawn points and squad locations allowing you to strategically map out where you want to attack or defend, or which squad mates you could backup. Below the map is your current class and weapon load out which can be changed during play, a huge asset as there are dozens of attachments and specs to choose from.
Players can pick between five classes: Assault, Combat medic, Support, Engineer and Recon. One of these classes is catching everyone's eye on other reviews i have read in the form of the Combat Medic. This is a class created by DICE who decided that people running the front lines would be the ones who risk everything to save a dying comrade, dodging bullet after bullet to help their team. This adds nicely to the support and recon classes providing support from afar and engineers defending command posts. All coming together to give you a real sense of being a unit in the middle of a war.
A great point that makes Battlefield different to other FPS war games is the character weight, the gear they carry will slow their movement and every weapon feels so much heavier than in Call Of Duty which is a great addition. Running past gunfire, artillery shells and feeling explosions miss you by inches, stumbling over obstacles and through enemies while making your way to an objective has never been so satisfying. This sense of (loose) realism has yet to be accomplished by any other game.
Vehicles when used correctly will turn the tide of battle, clearing out whole command points if no engineers are present. The game provides you with a real sense of character roles and keeps you on your toes about the next move you make as a squad.
Team based game play is the main focus of battlefield 3 with many 'lone wolves' falling short on points. Meaning even though they have a nice 20 - 0 Kill to death count, the players who are working together capturing command posts and throwing out supply's for other players are the ones reaping in the points. This is where i think Call of duty players lose interest in the game.
In Conclusion
Battle Of the Gamers
Im not going to conclude this review with why one of the games is better than the other because ill leave that up to you.
I will however sum up on this amazing release by DICE with an impressive single player that does show some depth in the story the player will follow accompanied by perfect voice acting and stunning visuals Battlefield is worth purchasing for the avid gamer. But where Battlefield really shines is its massive multiplayer world filled with team work and customization, i cant explain how awe inspiring the graphics are on the maps, you will just have to buy and find out yourself. You wont be disappointed having this title in your collection and it is definitely a contender for GOTY.
Graphics : 9
Sound : 9.5
Game play : 8
Lasting Appeal : 7.5
Final Verdict: 8.5 / 10
Tuesday 8 November 2011
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 for Xbox 360
What can i say, could i have picked a better day to start my new blog checking out the latest games for you guys and gals. Modern Warfare 3 has arrived on shelves this very day and if like me you went to the midnight release to grab one of the first copies... Congrats!
Single Player - Campaign
Now i have not completed the campaign in any way shape or form yet but i have to say initial thoughts are amazing this new sequel adds on to where Modern Warfare 2 left us off. The graphics seem more crisp and landscapes are just as rich as ever.
Of course this is in the Call Of Duty franchise meaning action is never short lived and you are thrown into the mix from the beginning. Few games keep the crazy roller coaster pace the COD franchise is famous for with brief seconds to breathe between the next eruption of gun play. New maps in single player can challenge even the battle hardened keeping you on your toes at all times, this is perfectly paired with the extreme responsiveness and well tuned shooting mechanics we have all come to love.
There is a downfall however in the games campaign i just can't seem to get too deep into the story as a new level starts and waves upon waves of enemies are thrown at you between objectives, you get caught up outside the story and cant really follow whats happening.
Online Multiplayer
I believe COD lack on the single player but for one very good reason, their Multiplayer. When it comes to online gaming this is the Mach Daddy the one everyone wants, the one everyone gets so engrossed in. Whos got the better K/D ratio, whos higher prestige than who, how high can you rank up in the first few weeks. Its endless and i can guarantee it will be part of many peoples conversations for the weeks to come.
A new awesome addition to the games 'leveling up' mechanics are that now instead of just unlocking guns, they also have levels. This means perks such as hip fire accuracy or steady aim will be equipped to your gun once unlocked giving you a chance to unlock other perks while customizing your character.
Killstreaks have been reworked into 'Strike Packages' and you can choose which strike packages you wish to use. For example, if you love getting massive K/D ratios you can grab an assault package which will drop offensive weapons for you to use in battle. On the other hand if you like to be behind the front lines and prefer to support and snipe from a distance get the support strike package which will give rewards in that direction. Kill streaks for rewards ARE now carried over when you die this balances the game out for less experienced players helping them contribute to the fight.
I have noticed from both sides that a map can still be dominated if a team calls in a few assault care packages like in past COD games where maps were ruled by helicopters making it nigh-on impossible to move outdoors.
New game modes come into play such as kill confirmed and team defender which will bring in a new shake up for players already familiar with game modes of the previous games. Although all the previous game modes are still included for the hardened veterans amongst us. I myself have played a few games of Kill Confirmed and think it could be a new favorite with the aim being to kill a player and collect his dog tags, the twist is that the enemy team can collect their comrades tags effectively denying your kill. Ruling out camping and snipers completely.
In Conclusion
The multiplayer of Modern Warfare 3 is by far the best it as ever been, adding extra features, game modes and a massive 16 initial maps for the player to enjoy. Single player and the return of spec ops missions add something nice to the package creating something which may not be perfect but is going to have people addicted for months and years to come non the less.
Graphics : 8
Sound : 8
Game Play : 8.5
Lasting Appeal : 9.5
Final Verdict: 8.5 / 10
N9BPT7D24MB2
Single Player - Campaign
Still Rich with effects and huge battle scenes
Now i have not completed the campaign in any way shape or form yet but i have to say initial thoughts are amazing this new sequel adds on to where Modern Warfare 2 left us off. The graphics seem more crisp and landscapes are just as rich as ever.
Of course this is in the Call Of Duty franchise meaning action is never short lived and you are thrown into the mix from the beginning. Few games keep the crazy roller coaster pace the COD franchise is famous for with brief seconds to breathe between the next eruption of gun play. New maps in single player can challenge even the battle hardened keeping you on your toes at all times, this is perfectly paired with the extreme responsiveness and well tuned shooting mechanics we have all come to love.
There is a downfall however in the games campaign i just can't seem to get too deep into the story as a new level starts and waves upon waves of enemies are thrown at you between objectives, you get caught up outside the story and cant really follow whats happening.
Online Multiplayer
Team Deathmatch in "Arkaden"
I believe COD lack on the single player but for one very good reason, their Multiplayer. When it comes to online gaming this is the Mach Daddy the one everyone wants, the one everyone gets so engrossed in. Whos got the better K/D ratio, whos higher prestige than who, how high can you rank up in the first few weeks. Its endless and i can guarantee it will be part of many peoples conversations for the weeks to come.
A new awesome addition to the games 'leveling up' mechanics are that now instead of just unlocking guns, they also have levels. This means perks such as hip fire accuracy or steady aim will be equipped to your gun once unlocked giving you a chance to unlock other perks while customizing your character.
Killstreaks have been reworked into 'Strike Packages' and you can choose which strike packages you wish to use. For example, if you love getting massive K/D ratios you can grab an assault package which will drop offensive weapons for you to use in battle. On the other hand if you like to be behind the front lines and prefer to support and snipe from a distance get the support strike package which will give rewards in that direction. Kill streaks for rewards ARE now carried over when you die this balances the game out for less experienced players helping them contribute to the fight.
I have noticed from both sides that a map can still be dominated if a team calls in a few assault care packages like in past COD games where maps were ruled by helicopters making it nigh-on impossible to move outdoors.
New game modes come into play such as kill confirmed and team defender which will bring in a new shake up for players already familiar with game modes of the previous games. Although all the previous game modes are still included for the hardened veterans amongst us. I myself have played a few games of Kill Confirmed and think it could be a new favorite with the aim being to kill a player and collect his dog tags, the twist is that the enemy team can collect their comrades tags effectively denying your kill. Ruling out camping and snipers completely.
The assault Strike Package
In Conclusion
The multiplayer of Modern Warfare 3 is by far the best it as ever been, adding extra features, game modes and a massive 16 initial maps for the player to enjoy. Single player and the return of spec ops missions add something nice to the package creating something which may not be perfect but is going to have people addicted for months and years to come non the less.
Graphics : 8
Sound : 8
Game Play : 8.5
Lasting Appeal : 9.5
Final Verdict: 8.5 / 10
N9BPT7D24MB2
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