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Battlefield: Bad Company 2

Friday, 12 March 2010 00:00 |

Written by Andrew Hammond |

Reviews - Xbox 360

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It’s becoming harder and harder for games to make a name for themselves within the first person shooter genre without being subjected to an inevitable comparison to Infinity Ward’s seminal Call of Duty: Modern Warfare franchise. DICE, the developers responsible for the firmly established Battlefield series, have anticipated such a comparison, and consequently created a game that could persuade even the most hardcore CoD players to try something new.

Enter Battlefield: Bad Company 2, a game that provides a full single player campaign and intense, addictive multiplayer combat. One of the first things to notice when playing BFBC2 is the depth of detail within the environment. Previous Battlefield games have boasted about their fully destructible environments, and never before has this system looked as it does within BFBC2. Other than a few instances of shadow clipping that I noticed on the Xbox 360 version, the game is perfectly rendered and ought to be experienced in HD to justify its beauty.

The campaign provides a well narrated story which, although a little clichéd, avoids condemnation by not taking itself too seriously. The very start of the game turns back time and players will find themselves fighting their way through Japanese troops on a Pacific island during World War 2. Soon enough a secret weapon is discovered that could have the power to eliminate a country‘s enemies. Back to the present, and Russia has begun slowly invading continents all around the globe. It now becomes Bad Company’s objective to find this weapon before it falls into Russian hands. The game offers plenty of refreshing environments in which to play, and the four members of Bad Company, though far from innovative characters, all compliment one another well.

DICE do not take themselves too seriously in BFBC2 and it’s obvious that they are not trying to cater to the same sort hardcore demographic that have latched onto other popular modern first person shooters, and in light of this, provide gamers with much appreciated doses of humour. There are often full on tongue in cheek stabs at Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Most memorable of which was when an argument broke out amongst the four members during a cut scene and one yells something along the lines of “Next thing you know, they’ll be sending in a bunch of dorks with heartbeat monitors attached to their guns.” Alluding to a mission in Modern Warfare 2 which requires players to sneak around enemies with the assistance of such a device.

The BFBC2 campaign, on normal mode, takes a meagre five to six hours to complete, do not worry though, as inevitably you will spend most of your time on the multiplayer game modes. Though it may seem that at first, having only four game modes and ten variable maps that there will be little choice within the multiplayer matches, however, it is the way that these maps unfold as you progress through a battle and the numerous weapon and gadget unlocks that ensure you‘re addicted. Matches can last anywhere between five minutes and half an hour. Of the four game modes, Rush seems to be the most popular. It involves two teams, one attacking and one defending, fighting to destroy or save a select few ‘M-Com Stations’. If these are successfully destroyed, the teams will be forced across a map where they will begin fighting in a new expanse of terrain.

Other multiplayer modes include Conquest, Squad Rush and Squad Deathmatch. Conquest is the unique game mode responsible for making Battlefield the competitive multiplayer phenomenon it has become. In Conquest, two teams have a fixed number of tickets which decrease at a certain rate depending on how many flags they are in control of. It forces players to focus on teamwork, so that a balance of attack and defence can be maintained. Squad Rush is similar to the aforementioned Rush game type, except that it is on a much smaller scale. Instead of having two teams of twelve (or sixteen on the PC), the teams are restricted to four players each, and there are only two objectives to defend or destroy. This makes for a game that is much quicker and on a smaller scale. It’s great for when you don’t want to dedicate too much time to a match or if you want to hone your squad skills with your friends. The final match type; Squad Deathmatch, involves four squads, each consisting of four players, that are pitted against one another a team death match. Oddly, this game mode, now a fundamental of most modern online shooters, isn’t as enjoyable as the other game modes that BFBC2 has to offer. The reason for this being that there doesn’t seem to be much call for tactical gameplay. It’s a simple run and kill affair, and this seems a little out of place in a game where the spotlight is aimed at communicative team play.

I can already tell that the BFBC2 disc will be stuck in my console for a pretty long time. The presentation of the game is in a league of its own and the multiplayer creates a constantly changing environment that will inevitably keep you pinned on the edge of your sofa.

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Pirates of The Caribbean: At World's End

Monday, 01 March 2010 20:06 |

Written by Simon Flatman |

Reviews - Xbox 360

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Why not eh?

“Use skill, style and wit to become the greatest pirate ever,” boasts the back of the game box. Perhaps the best way to discover if Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is the greatest pirate game ’ever’ is to also judge it by those merits.

The first thing you notice is that the Jack Sparrow character model looks relatively detailed and life like, unfortunately that’s where the compliments end. The ugly textures look like a badly imagined PS2 game, lighting effects are nonexistent, environments lack detail to the point where the countless identikit corridors make it difficult to tell where you’re going or where you’ve been and Sparrow’s jumping animation is just weird. He does this clunky little knees up jig that just looks plain odd.

Combat can be a varied affair. Combo’s can be executed by pressing A to swing your sword and X to punch. Knives can be found and thrown, flintlock pistols can be used to shoot enemies and finishing moves (unlocked as you progress through the main game) can be executed. Note the word can. You can use all these alternatives, but when simply hammering A gets the job done quicker and easier there isn’t much point bothering with any fancy shenanigans. Enemies simply wait in turn to be soundly butchered with three taps of the A button. Occasionally boss enemies appear that can only be defeated by filling up the finishing move meter and using a finishing move. This is done by defeating constantly respawning enemies. More mindlessly hammering A, in other words.

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Problematically the combat remains incredibly basic and has no sense of flow. Bayonetta this is not. Jack can perform a counter attack when a red circle appears under an enemy, pressing X or A at the right moment (which is incredibly easy) activates a little scene where Jack nimbly evades the attack. Just before this animation activates though, there is a small pause which completely removes any pace or urgency from the combat.

In terms of wit At Worlds End also fails to impress, certainly when regarding AI. One set piece involves finding and activating three switches whilst manually swapping between Jack and Will. Reaching one of the switches requires quite a lengthy trek involving climbing castle walls, balancing across broken wooden beams etc. If, at any time you decide to switch characters (which is often, due to the lacklustre AI managing to get itself pummelled by the simplest of enemies), all your work will be reset as the character who is supposed to be pulling the switch will see fit to come bumbling back to your aid, whether needed or not. This is extremely frustrating especially when enemies are constantly respawning. What further adds to the frustration is that the AI seems to have zero ability to stay alive without being attended to, despite the enemies having the fighting ability of corned beef. This happens several times throughout the game and is infuriating.

Combat is broken up with duels, these are points in the story where you must have one on one combat with an important NPC. Duels play out like a quick time event where you must press either up or down on the analogue stick when prompted to block attacks, thus avoid taking damage. You can then mount your own offence by doing the same and hoping your opponent doesn’t counter. It plays out like a videogame version of Michael Barrymore’s Strike it Lucky, only you know where all the hotspots are and you don’t win a years supply of bacon. Duels have two major problems, firstly the opponents attack with the same pattern almost every time, secondly they are incredibly dull.

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Despite heavy criticism it must be said that at one point this writer did actually start to enjoy himself. Several sections involving traversing tricky environments, such as manoeuvring around a cliff face using various nooks, ledges and jumps are actually quite fun. Here the controls work well and the game reaches its highpoint. Unfortunately there isn’t enough of this to redeem the awful combat.

At World's End has many other moments of woe; waist high water results in Jack drowning (some pirate he is), the camera is uncooperative and the voice acting isn‘t even authentic. Perhaps if they had concentrated on the Tomb Raider like exploration a little more it wouldn’t feel like such a banal exercise in mutton mashing. It’s like paying sixty dollars to waste ten hours and get a free RSI.

“It’s worse than torture,” one of the guards guffaws. He’s not wrong you know.

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Bioshock 2

Tuesday, 16 February 2010 00:00 |

Written by Sam Stevenson |

Reviews - Xbox 360

The first Bioshock was a fictional masterpiece, telling the tale of the city of Rapture, a utopia turned dystopia, through the abuse of a genetic altering drug named Adam. The environments were drenched in beautiful art Deco creating a very original, underwater world resulting in one of the most visually striking games in years. The way the story panned out through your own exploration was one of the things that made the first so fantastic. This is where Bioshock 2 steps in, giving fans a look at the city of rapture 10 years in the future.

After a short opening, you wake up as a prototype Big Daddy, referred to as Project Delta. With only one objective, to find Eleanor Lamb, a Little Sister who you are bound to, you set out on your quest. Your attachment to Eleanor Lamb is so strong that without her being in your proximity you will enter a comatose state and eventually die. It just so happens that the mother of Eleanor is Sofia Lamb, a twisted woman who is now in control of Rapture. As this game is set 10 years after the original, those Little Sisters from the first game have now hit adolescence and are far more powerful and aggressive. You come up against several of these so called Big Sisters a number of times on your route to finding your Eleanor.

The quest to find Eleanor is the impetus for at least the first ¾ of the game, with the end of the game being where the story really opens out creating an overall more linear feel whilst on your route through Rapture’s leaking, rotting corridors and cavernous rooms. This slightly takes away from the strongly emphasised exploratory aspect the first game pushed so heavily.

The game is set out into areas, with each area being accessed by a train system. In each area you will find that you need to overcome an obstacle to get to the next, be this finding a key or convincing someone to shut down security. At times you will find that, as you are now a Big Daddy and can breathe underwater, you are required to get from one area to the next by walking on the seabed. Although these moments are only intended for travel -you can't use weapons whilst travelling- they do look really good, and are a nice break from the constant threat of attack.

Though the main story points intertwine, and the seabed moments are really nice, you will often find you are simply trying to remove an obstacle, getting back on the train and moving on to the next area. This is not necessarily a bad thing as the narrative moves along at a good pace and requires you to move on to meet the new characters and pick up the optional Audio Logs to fill you in more.

The Audio Logs give you the opportunity to find out more about Rapture’s lore. They have been recorded by familiar characters, such as Andrew Ryan and Sofia Lamb, but also unknown, smaller characters who will let you in on what life in Rapture is actually like.

Piecing this extra story together, coupled with the main storyline gives you a far larger, and much more interesting idea of what life living under the sea is actually like. Combining these secondary elements with the main storyline gives you a comprehensive, and much more interesting version of events within Rapture.

Combat is an area where Bioshock 2 really shines over its predecessor. You can effectively duel-wield weapons with a plasmid in one hand and gun in the other which gives you a wide and engaging number of ways to deal with the diverse types of enemies you encounter. A choice of 8 weapons of varying potency is given including a drill, rivet gun, machine gun, rocket launcher, shotgun, spear gun, hack tool and research camera. The aiming and power of these weapons feels like a marked improvement over the first game and the guns are far more exciting to use.

The most innovative of these is probably the hack tool which allows you to shoot a hack dart at any hackable machinery to take control of it or, in the case of vending machines, allows you to lower the price. It also allows you to shoot out mini turrets, which give really good defence in desperate situations. The research camera has also been overhauled, now requiring you to start rolling before attacking the enemy. The range of ways in which you kill the enemy effects how useful your research will be, eventually giving you access to better items or making enemies easier to defeat. All the weapons in the game can be upgraded to increase their usefulness. This comes in a plethora of different forms, though most often increases either damage dealt or clip size.

Most of the Plasmids from the first game return with some upgrades for improved effectiveness. Upgrading the Electro bolt to level 3 allows you to fire a continuous stream of electric from your hand, whilst upgrading Winter Blast allows you to freeze enemies in a block of ice for a few seconds, giving you time to try to shoot them until they shatter. There are also tonics, which give you passive effects such as hitting an enemy with a blast of electric should they hit you or allowing you to slowly recharge your health if you stand in water.

All of the standard Plasmids drain you of a substance called Eve. Eve can be found scattered around Rapture as well as being readily available in vending machines and is very plentiful. You can initially have up to 3 Plasmids selected for use however, as you gain more Adam you can buy new slots, eventually having up to 8 slots open for use. This combination of Plasmids and Tonics allows you to really customise your character to the way you like to play.

Little Sisters play a vital part in Bioshock 2, getting you Adam, the currency you need to buy and upgrade your plasmids and Tonics. They are always protected by a Big Daddy, a huge, tank-like foe who you must defeat before you can decide how to deal with the Little Sister he leaves behind. There are two ways she will help you in your constant quest for Adam.

You can sacrifice her, giving you an immediate gift or you can use the Little Sister to hunt out corpses containing Adam. After you set her down at one of these corpses, she will use her oversized syringe to extract Adam. This doesn't go unnoticed though and you must protect her as she is attacked by droves of increasingly aggressive enemies as you progress through the game. As you can't backtrack after you have left an area, you will have to hunt out all the Little Sisters before progressing if you are a Completionist.

There are a number of new enemies in BioShock 2 to add to the already vicious roster of Splicers and Big Daddies. One such enemy, a Brute Splicer, will charge you regularly at speed taking little damage whilst really pounding you. The biggest addition, however, is the Big Sister. She can use a number of attacks, and her combinations of weapons and speed of movement make her by far the toughest enemy you will meet in the game. She is also the closest the game ever comes to a boss fight, with harder encounters featuring more than one Big Sister to ramp up the difficulty.

Bioshock had a fantastic story, as does Bioshock 2. It was somewhat surprising when we first heard a multiplayer mode would be included. This section is handled as a completely separate part of the game, being set during the fall of Rapture when Andrew Ryan and Atlas were fighting it out for supremacy. The maps are set in familiar areas from the first game such as Arcadia, Fort Frolic and the Kashmir Restaurant. It may surprise you to hear that all this makes for a really fun aspect of the game which just wasn't expected.

There are a smattering of game modes which you would expect to find in a multiplayer game. Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch are here, with slight variations on the Capture The Flag and Territories modes. You start out with a very basic set up offered, consisting of a pistol, shotgun and a choice of 3 plasmids. You will soon be unlocking more as Bioshock 2 includes a persistent levelling system, made popular by Modern Warfare, which gives impetus to keep playing and definitely keeps the game fresh.

Although Bioshock 2 does really try hard to create a new story in an existing world, it does feel a little odd that through all the Audio Logs and exploring you do in the first game, Sofia Lamb is never mentioned at all. It feels as if she was dropped into the Bioshock fiction just so there was a new villain to contend with. Some of her audio logs portray her as the main threat to Andrew Ryan in the quest for control of Rapture with no mention of Atlas at all, which doesn't sit well in the overall Bioshock fiction. There may be a reason for this; it just doesn't feel like the game does a good enough job of explaining itself in these instances.

It feels slightly unfair to draw so many comparisons to the first Bioshock, after all, the original set the bar so high it was going to always be hard to improve upon. Bioshock 2 does manage to deliver on some levels and if judged as a standalone game is a good all round package. The story is compelling and the world looks fantastic. There's also the case of the surprisingly good multiplayer mode, which will keep people playing with its persistent levelling system.

While it may not be as ground breaking as the first outing, enough has been improved on to safely say that Bioshock 2 satisfies enough for fans of the original to dive back under the sea for another exciting, if slightly disturbing, visit to Rapture.

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Army Of Two: The 40th Day

Thursday, 21 January 2010 16:15 |

Written by Nick McLean |

Reviews - Xbox 360

The name of cooperative (co-op) gameplay has had a wierd flux when it came to the current generation. What used to be a staple back in days past, had withered away, and is currently finding itself in a sort of rebirth. Titles such as the Gears of War series and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 have tackled the subject, finding thier own successes. However, very few titles have made it a true point to make co-op a main focus of the gameplay.

The Army of Two series, from Electronic Arts(EA), has been at the forefront, at least in the eyes of most First Person Shooter(FPS) gamers, trying to lead the charge. The first title in the series, Army of Two, made some serious leaps in getting gamers to shoot together. It was a change of pace, as most of us gamers love to have the chance to take each others heads off. Even so, there were some serious deficiencies that stopped the title from being the home run EA Montreal thought it could be.

With it's second title, Army of Two: The 40th Day, EA Montreal wishes to make a comeback. It does start off with two familiar faces, your old buddies, Salem and Rios. They find their new stomping grounds in Shanghai, China. We find them there doing what they do best, getting money the fast way. After completing your first contract everything goes wrong. The city’s being shelled by artillery and helicopters and falling from the sky.Reality hits you, its all your fault that and your still in the city. The story is a heart pounding hair-raising adventure that builds character development. It just seems to draw you in, either it’s the deep storyline or how detailed the Rios or Salem’s personalities are.

One of the newest features is Moral Choice. Taking a hint from games such as Fallout 3 and Mass Effect, you can create the path for our warriors to go through. Although you are able to make choices, their effects seem negligible at best. It rarely varies the story if you choose to make an unmoral decision. such as a bribe. You may enjoy a small boost in your funds now, but useful gear may be locked away later. However, when they do, it can have a huge effect on some serious points in the story.

Sooo Good or Evil

The graphics are very rich and polished. Rios and Salem have received a big cosmetic upgrade from the first game. They have become just as sharp in detail as they are in personality. It may not be the best looking title in the world, but it does have the ammunition to hang with some of Q4 2009 titles.

The controls are decent. Like most FPS' this generation, controls aren't changed to much. Nothing ground breaking, but most importantly, there is nothing game breaking. If you are playing with an A.I. buddy your in luck, he is smarter then before. As in he is more tactical, smarter on his feet, and most importantly he will actually drag you behind cover before trying to heal you! If you played the first game you will understand the pain everyone has felt when you’ve had to start the mission over again because your buddy did not have enough sense to take you behind cover before healing you.

Your partner actually will drag you behind cover before healing you...

He Will Actually Try To Save You

The weapon customization system is even better then before, featuring over twenty primary rifles and over ten special weapons. Secondary weapons are given the back seat however, as the player is only given 3 selections. The player can be very creative while creating their weapon. You could have an AK-47 barrel with a Scar-H stock and a screw driver bayonet if you so choose.

EA Montreal has done a good job of fixing just what went wrong with Army of Two. Even though there are some new, smaller flaws, at the end of the day, they have created a very solid title that they can be proud of. The co-op has been fixed tot he point where having a CPU as a partner isn't a death sentence, the story has been worked on, and many of the minor annoyances have been done away with. This may not be a home run, but this can definitely make a few run to the store. Give this one a shot.

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Forza Motorsport 3

Wednesday, 13 January 2010 00:00 |

Written by Sam Stevenson |

Reviews - Xbox 360

Often the term racing simulation can turn off those who aren't pumping motor oil in their blood. Turn 10's Forza series can be a testament to that, often turning off players who aren't gearheads because of the learning curve and the harsh competition. Forza Motorsport 3 doesn't change any of that for those who like to restart races to cut .002 seconds of thier time. What Forza 3 does, is allow the casual racer to jump into the action, making this the most accessible in the series.

The first thing you are asked to do when you load up Forza 3 insert disc two for installation of the extra cars and tracks which couldn't be fit onto the first disc. This installation is definitely worth the 3 minute wait though, as the incentive is a wealth of extra content of which the game would suffer without.

When you finally make it to your first race you will find Forza 3 starts you with off with a bang as you are given an Audi R8 and told to race a few laps of Camino Viejo de Montserrat to see how you deal with the car, before giving you an offering of various assists to help you start out. After finishing this you are given a choice of cars to help start your career. These early cars are fairly slow and controllable, giving players a good footing for the later stages of the game. The game is split into seasons, with smaller tournaments and a season world championship up for grabs.

Earlier on in the game you will find yourself short of funds, so will have to resort to driving some of the less desirable cars on hand. The events you are presented with to take part in are derived from your car collection. This means, if you find a way to buy a Ferrari or Aston Martin earlier on, you will be able to join tournaments which include these thoroughbred cars . A minor bug which is present in the game occasionally let the player join tournaments with a car which far exceeded the restrictions set in place. It shows up rarely, so it won't crush your gaming experience.

The game allows you to choose the AI difficulty from either easy, medium or hard. Medium offers enough of a challenge, whilst being easy enough to get your bearings without cheapening the experience. Hard is where the metal meets the road, as those who have the most intent concentration can find themselves winning even meager races.

All of the assists can be turned on or off before each race and whilst keeping them on does not penalise you in any way, having them turned off will give you an extra percentage of income depending on your choices. This seems a very fair way to dish out the cash throughout the career mode as you don't feel like you are being punished for using assists, however, you do feel like you are being rewarded for turning them off. It is a good way to ease on the learning curve and will show improvement.

When starting out, You will probably want to turn off the auto breaking which will get you a +5% increase in winnings. Turning off things like the driving line and turning on simulation damage, fuel and tire wear will get you an extra 15%-30%. One assist which can't be turned off is the rewind feature which allows you to rewind your game by 5 seconds. Many gamers will feel this is a cheap get out for driving badly, however, it's not forced upon you and can simply be ignored. If you do feel the need to use this feature, it will probably be towards the later stages of the career during the elongated endurance races.

The Multiplayer aspect of Forza 3 is as you would expect and more. There is plenty to customise here with some pre-set favourites from the last game. Multiplayer mode allows up to 8 players to try to outdo each other in the many variations of game types on offer here. 'Cat and mouse' and 'Tag' , two user created game types from the last Forza are here, with the option for players to create much more, the scope for competitive modes is virtually endless. There are also drag racing and drift events which add yet more variety to an already packed mode.

Forza 3's paint shop and vinyl group editor is one of the areas which got a lot of attention before release. Using generic shapes such as fire, lightning and vegetation, people created some incredible designs in Forza 2. This has been a straight repeat for Forza 3 as a very similar system has been re-introduced into this game. The job of creating logos has been made slightly easier because they can be created on a flat surface and then imported to your car after creation. There is also a store for people to sell their designs, tuning set ups and vinyl groups with any credits accrued going towards your total earnings. Other shop features include the ability to view other peoples uploaded replays and check out their photos.

Forza 3's presentation is fantastic across the board. The menus are slick, well set out and easy to explore, The in game graphics are gorgeous and never fail to impress and the consistent 30 frames per second help re-enforce the feeling that you really are driving at immense speed. The cars all sound great too, screaming and growling and really adding to the excitement you feel when you wheel spin off the start line or rev your engine in an echo filled tunnel.

Forza 3 is not only a fantastic racing game but a great video game game full stop. It treads the formula it's predecessors set out but goes way over their heads offering, undoubtedly, the best racing simulation this generation. The fact that this is the second in the series released this generation and the game being packed with such undeniable quality says a lot about Turn 10 Studios passion for motor sports. With a massive variety of cars to collect, tracks to race and game types to try out, Forza 3 will keep players coming back for a long, long time.

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