Preview: Crysis 2

The first installment of Crysis is widely regarded by many as on of the best single player games released over the past few years. It has graphics that are arguably the best ever produced and is used in many benchmarks to compare performance of graphics cards and processors.

New features:
- While for the first Crysis was made only for PC Crysis 2 will be coming out for game consoles, namley PS3 and Xbox 360 also
- There is a new 'nanosuit'
- Improved graphics

The new nanosuit is what most people are looking forward to, it will bring new features such as power supplies, and new modes other than the previous strength, invisibility and speed.

The game is set to be released around the 22nd of March 2011 and promises to be an amazing game! Check out some gameplay in the below video

Batman Arkham Asylum Review

I know what your thinking. Oh crap another rushed movie cash-in, which wastes a good license on a game with no style, no substance and a full price tag. Well stuff your cynicism in a sack Mr Pessimist, because the caped crusader's newest romp into game world is not just a great game which utilizes the current fascination on the Joker villain played by Heath Ledger in the Dark Knight. It's a great game period.

The game is a mix of stealth and action with a healthy dose of detective work thrown in. As Batman you will sneak up on your enemies, fight fantastic bosses and immerse yourself into the world of the bat. One of the first things you will notice when playing the game is how awesome the combat looks. It really looks choreographed, each punch, kick and throw is done perfectly and seamlessly and really looks like it hurts. The rest of the gameplay however takes a bit of a learning curve, the majority of the controls while smooth once mastered will feel awkward and imprecise in the beginning.

The voice acting, especially Mark "Luke Skywalker" Hamel's Joker is fantastic and gives a nice touch to a great looking game. It's interesting to see how the developer pulled so much out of an aging unreal 3 engine.
Music is used scarcely but to great effect adding an ominous feel.

The story is interesting and will suck you in for some 15 hours. The only real downside to the game is a lack of multiplayer. Though this would have been hard to integrate one can only dream of bat on bat stealth combat. Oh well, maybe in the sequel.

-Moff06

Need for Speed Most Wanted



An Explosive Underground Thriller



From the very start of the game, you are taken on an adventure that wants to see your career led to completion. With its engaging story line, you start of as a nameless racer and work your way through various events (Sprints, drags, circuit races, speed traps and checkpoint tollbooth racers) known as the blacklist. The blacklist is designed to show when and where you can race. In your efforts to earn a name, for yourself, you are immediately confronted by Razor, who sabotages your ride and leaves you in jail. Left with nothing, you are picked up by Mia a stranger who helps you get back in the race and work your way up the blacklist. You eventually take out Razor and find out where everyone’s allegiances lie.

Working your way up the blacklist is not as easy as it seems. There are races, bounty and milestones to complete before even attempting to defeat a blacklist racer. However winning is not enough, running away from cops is another thing. Remember cops will do anything to take you out and impound your car. They hate street racers and if found cruising they will would be more than happy to give you a chase.

Take Down Action

Getting chased by cops is the best feature in Most Wanted. A chase usually starts with one police vehicle however as the heat increases your being chased by twenty police vehicles and even an overhead helicopter. As your heat increases, the more difficult it becomes to lose the cops. The heats range from one to five, one being a simple standard car chase and five, a hot pursuit involving spike strips, road blocks, corvette police vehicles and helicopters. However to get busted you must be either caught by being stopped by spike strips or simply being boxed in. To evade the cops, you must be out of visual range and remain out of sight. This is probably the most intense section of the game as it quite unpredictable.

Throughout the game you participate in a lot of racing in the career mode. However there is a clear distinction with the computer drivers. Early on in your career, the races against opponents are very easy and after a certain voicemail, it becomes difficult to race against your computer opponents. This is shown by how hard it is to recover from a mistake later on in your career. The sudden jump is very evident and annoying as you are expected to drive like a pro. A more gradual increase in the skill would have enhanced the game greatly. However with its action packed driving adventures it will keep you entertained for the whole game!

Achievements: a discussion of evolution.

Since the XBox 360 was released, the trend of player achievements became phenomental craze, that became an unwritten law throughout all releases of games. Sony followed soon after with the trophy system. The purpose of these awards is to show off your progress in several games online. It seems like a new competition nowadays to become the Alpha Gamer, where those who delve too much into these things can cause them to be ridiculed as a trophy/achievement whore. The real question is: Have we had this system before, and haven't even known it?

An achievement for every player, no matter how ridiculous.

The origins of an achievement, you might say, started off taking on a human opponent in Pong down in the cornershop. One would take on the rest of the other Pong fanatics from the surrounding area, where there would be the one person you just had to beat. So what would have happened if you couldn't find an appropriate challenger at the time? With no other excuse than because you were antisocial and spent all your 20 cent pieces on the game when everyone else did all those silly things, like going to school.
Pong wasn't going to go around forever, and new games would be released. Therefore, games worked out a system where gamers would score points. There was a new objective now: beat the high score. Personally, I was one to sink numerous dollars of pocket cash just so I can have the advantage of having my initials engraved on at least one place of the coveted top scores of shooters and racing games. Obviously, this feat never worked out as I lived under a parents-know-best household that frowned upon video games, and I had child-like hands that didn't know the basics of accuracy. This, like all aspirations people have, was something I would aim for, knowing full well it would be a lifetime struggle, amongst all other things such as work, school, relationships and family. Everyone else would feel the same way, in a perfect world.

One of the prestigious accolades for any gamer before 2000

Publicity was very limited at the time, and even less so on the consoles before the 5th generation, unless you decided to invite friends over, and even then the only time when anyone gave a toss was when a new game was released for the Sega Saturn, or whichever. However, mention that you never passed the last stage in Alex Kidd in Miracle World and be prepared to be ridiculed. during the Nintendo/Sony wars, the competition was tightened with 4-player action, finding out who could become the supreme player. Single player games could also be determined as well, showing who could have the most complete collection of Materia, and who obtained all 23 cheats on GoldenEye. OK, so we talked about the consoles, but even so, we were being ridiculed by the PC elitists who could take on people either worldwide, or within LAN parties.

Achievements were also symbolised by showing how much a game was completed (via percentage), or receiving a particular reward for passing a game on a certain difficulty, such as stealth camo in the Metal Gear Solid Games. But with even more online interaction of games in the 6th generation of consoles, and the implementation of Xbox Live, you could say that the gamers wanted more than just credibility in the chat rooms. Thus, modern day achievement systems were implemented. Nowadays you could tell what the player has done, such as gaining complete information in a codex, or killing a certain amount of chickens in 10 seconds, and the standard level clear, game and difficulty clear. Xbox Live, followed soon by Playstation Network, have surpassed the PC in gaming popularity, but Xbox Live could also support games that were marked "Games for Windows". It wasn't until Steam was released that PC gamers could be able to diversify their achievement gaining. Now we just have to wait for Nintendo.

So we could safely say there have been an existence of achievements of video games throughout our lives. The trials and tribulations of gamers to achieve a specific goal, be it to finish a game, or to gain the world record score. There have just been many different evolutions of the system. Trust me, they will be here to stay, and there will be an aim. Above all else, there are millions of people to gain the high ground as the ultimate gamer.

 - Random Cynic

Feature roundup of Fifa 11

The release of Fifa 11 is just around the corner, and with Fifa 10 being one of the most popular sports games of all time its release is highly anticipated. 

Fifa 11 has offered to completely reinvent the way in which you pass the ball during the game, with improved passing physics, this is a direct response to the users feedback on the issue of “ping-pong” passing which in previous games has provided an unrealistic passing experience. To counteract this each player will have a certain degree of accuracy and the pass will go roughly towards the receiver depending on the degree of the passer’s given accuracy.

Not being able to watch or replay online is another piece of feedback the users had given to the Fifa developers, you will now be able to watch and replay that stunning goal that you scored against your opponent online.

A new feature to make each player unique is Personality+. Personality+ gives each player unique attributes, looks and a certain feel that should be exclusive to that player. This includes things like injuries, speed, aggression and a whole range of other attributes that come together to describe each player fully.

The goalkeeper until now has been distant from the team, while you can rush the goalkeeper he has operated mostly on his own accord. Now with Fifa 11 you can control ALL 11 players on the pitch. You can embark upon the quest of creating a career as a goalkeeper or play online with 10 other friends.





The last big feature is custom audio and celebrations. This gives the game a certain ‘feel’ in that you can customize the chants of the crowd, the names of certain players and the way your player celebrates a goal can be the way you have chosen.    

A 5-hour rundown of H.A.W.X. 2

In the early stages of 2009, where I had good feelings about video games and had no worries in a workplace before the mail server collapsed, I revived my love of flight simulators by playing Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. Despite the story not being written by Clancy, it seems that all the related games Ubisoft have released have created an interactive universe that goes beyond the books. For the first H.A.W.X. it actually turned out quite good. The controls were solid, combat was flowing and edgy, and the story, albeit far-fetched, was somewhat pushing me to go on and find out what happens next.

So, what has changed in H.A.W.X. 2? Well, this time you have a pick and mix of different pilots from the Call of Duty All Stars: Yanks, Poms, and Russkies. Each have their own unique stories, but the story revolves around mostly the Yankee variety, because Tom Clancy would have a hissy fit if he doesn't hear more about America the Beautiful in his little universe. Take off and landings have more of a major involvement in this game, which makes it immersive (as far as playing by controller goes), but for retards who don't know how to give a level landing, there is a friendly path-following system that will gently hold your hand to the airstrip. Even in levels without an airstrip, you can refuel and re-arm with the help of a friendly jumbo jet. Air combat is also extended with the control of a U.A.V. and you can gun down enemies in an auto-controlled combat talon.

Only fair if you're on the giving end.

The opening sequence lets us play as the main protagonsit ruining enemy equipment after shooting down a chopper. After the brief battle, you return to base. Oh no! you get shot down, and the scene fades to black, letting you play two different non-American characters in the intervening time, before being introduced to a nameless, faceless, speechless Yankee protagonist to take over for the majority of the game, which makes it an old formula of hating player characters. Controls are simple enough as well: Press X to start plane, A to launch missile, B to rain bullets, and the chicken to eject out of a plane, because that's what you are!

Nevertheless, I enjoyed H.A.W.X. 2, the flying is fun, the actions are more immersive, and you can feel like you’re fighting for freedom with a different way of dying – 5000m above sea level. I'll still be playing this one to the very end, and then play it some more just for fun. Different planes control differently, challenges are grand enough, and if you've played the first H.A.W.X. the plane-shearing drift moves are standard throughout the whole game. That's too sugar-coated, now let's hate on it a little bit.

Selecting missions is easy enough, but why the hell can't I choose my plane? I know that there were an excess of planes in the first one, but that's what I liked most. You could choose your method of lightning, your method of quick-time-mass-murder, and away you went. Now it's just gone linear for the purpose of the story, saving the custom battles for multiplayer. It feels like I've been given a restriction of freedom, and I can't help but get irritated by that. I suppose you have to put up and shut up, but it's still all whoosh-flighty-shooty fun.

Too bad the stunts in "Assistance OFF" mode can't be seen in 1st person.

Next up are the enemies for a story. I think we've run into a bit of a snag when it comes to bad guys in war games. As gamers, we have given a body count of Nazis that have exceeded the original WW2 body count, Russians were the Cold War fantasy, brought back by fantasists for Modern Warfare and Bad Company, Middle Eastern terrorists are still being used (though rarely), PMCs can't be used as a result of the Reykjavik Accord from the first H.A.W.X. (spoiler alert), and developers are edgy when it comes to China and North Korea in fear of being attacked by the secret nukes stockpiled. What I don't understand is how Cold War fantasists and Middle Eastern extremists could get along: The only interest is hating the West. I guess the only theory now is that stamping the Tom Clancy brand on a game means re-enacting past victories for modern times, but this game, I think, should be played just have some flying fun with a storyline being: We are at war, enemies are there, you’re air support, bomb them to hell.

Judgement: Enjoyable, close to realistic flight sim, as long as you don’t let the story get to you that much.

God of War 3 Review

Kratos is back and angrier than ever. Best of all he’s never been better. While the previous games were stellar on the Playstation 2 the aging consol lacked the hardware to fully realise the potential of the God of War universe. So let’s start with the obvious. Graphically God of War 3 is one of the best looking games ever made. The luscious environment and its inhabitants ooze detail from every facet. Complimenting this is the games grand scope in which towering mountains of fire and behemoths of battle are fully realised in stunning high definition with few instances of frame rate slow down, this is brought to life with a fantastic orchestral score. 

From a gameplay perspective God of War 3 is more combat focused that the previous entries into the series. But this is in no way a bad thing. The combat in God of War 3 is top notch not only in animation but also in style. Your moves look like they hurt and really immerse the player into the game. A first for the series, the weapons you gain after the blades of exile are actually valid alternatives and you’ll find yourself using them (particularly the earth shattering cestus) in many of your heated battles.

               

Boss encounters are simply amazing in God of War 3 with the challenges being both varying and difficult. Boss’s behave in a variety of ways and victory always feels satisfying and never cheap against your intelligent foe. The same is true of all your enemies. While not necessary the brightest AI ever seen they will block and wait for opportunity, gang up on you and attack with relentless violence. Violence has been a hallmark of the series and this entry doesn’t disappoint in any way. Heads will be torn off, the contents of bowels poured out, limbs detached and all round brutality. This is not for the faint hearted. But for anyone else it’s a treat to see what horrible way you can slay your foe.

The story is a slight let down by comparison to that of previous entries in the game. While the two thirds of the game provide enough reason to go through your quest the story doesn’t really pick up till the end of the game, that’s not to say it disappoints though. The fantastic culmination and cliff hanger ending serve as a great testament to the culmination of this amazing saga.

               

In the end there is no reason not to buy God of War 3. Unless your truly averse to gore then this is the game for you. Lasting for some 10-12 hours it’s a great ride that will leave you in awe long after you drop your controller.

Fusion Gamer intro

Fusion Gamer, the newest interactive blogger created  blow your mind away with gaming reviews.

A black background template was selected and altered to a soundwave type background to make it more eye catching. Most of the font is in white, however the heading is larger to capture the audience. A realtime twitter feature is available and links staight to twitter keeping the users updated regularly. There is also a profile of about fusion gamer and how each individual will bring something different to the blogger giving you different perspectives and opening new and exciting ways to review games.

However, the question is are you a Fusion Gamer?