Not long ago the staff had a Serious Discussion (which lasted 3 minutes and consisted of “why not?”) about whether our First Impressions section should include demos… that is, whether we can state first impressions based on one. It didn’t occur to us to set up some kind of rule about how long the demo should be. After all, size doesn’t matter. What matters is enthusiasm.
Summer. It’s a beautiful time of year, isn’t it? Well, on the northern slice of the planet, I should say– sorry Aussies, et al. It’s a time to hear the laughter of children playing in the streets (well, not in the city; I hear drunkards in the streets, mostly), a time to visit beaches and canyons (must confess I haven’t done much of this either), and a time to sample summer beers at your local …
The original Mafia was a game I always wanted to love but never really did. As something of a fan of popular gangster culture in the film industry, I’ve always wanted 1930s gangland Chicago to translate well to video games. As far as the history of the criminal underworld goes, the era’s rather unique blend of quick talkin’, trilby wearin’, suited and booted, Tommy gun totin’ kingpins should really translate well to gaming. For one reason or another however, it never really has. Mafia wasn’t a bad game by any stretch of the imagination, but despite such a rich abundance of source material to pick up on, it was a game which in my opinion lacked an identity or a unique sell.
Despite mixed feelings on the original however, Mafia II has remained firmly on my radar for some time. Thanks to the pre-release demo launched on Xbox Live, PlayStation Network and Steam yesterday, I’ve finally had an opportunity to get my hands on this long awaited sequel.
“Sounds like something you need to check out,” wrote my friend Ben Hoyt of 47Games. “Would love to hear your thoughts.” He was speaking of this.
Ben’s a good guy; a far better writer, and a much crueler – though undoubtedly more genuine – critic than I. Being a game-maker himself, he’s very hard on them. I’ve never known anyone more adept at dissection of game experiences. Ben also knows I like the occasional oddity, so whenever he stumbles across one he tells me about it.
Thus did I buy Deadly Premonition…
I swapped Ikaruga for Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. There. I said it. And here’s another thing: I had more fun with Double Dash!! than Ikaruga, despite the Treasure shoot ’em up being a thing of beauty. So what made me swap it? Because as much as I love an indiscriminately difficult game I wimped out. I couldn’t do it. I didn’t have the patience to learn the bullet patterns or have the perseverance to wield …
Based on yesterday’s flurry of bad press for Obsidian’s new Spy-PG, I’d decided to contradict myself (when I said I would buy regardless of reviews on account of Chris Avellone’s penmanship) and hold off on Alpha Protocol. After all, I still haven’t finished Final Fantasy XIII or Mass Effect 2 or Metro 2033 or Splinter Cell Conviction or Tropico 3, Dobry just loaned me Bioshock 2 and Assassin’s Creed 2 and sooner or later I’ll …
It’s not easy being a Mac owning gamer. For so long the deserved recipient of the industries jokes and PC gamers distain, gaming on Mac has always been something of an afterthought, falling some way down on Apple’s priorities both from a hardware and software perspective. With games software remaining overpriced, underpowered and largely unsupported, Mac gaming has existed as the proverbial wasteland for the mouse and keyboard loyalist. However, to quote the ever quotable …
While the rest of the T-R silo dwellers are wandering the wastelands of Fallout 3, painstakingly making their way back to a bloodstain in Demon’s Souls or negotiating the jump mechanics of Portal I decided to go retro with Cranberry Production’s new point-and-click adventure Black Mirror II, the sequel to the reasonably well-received Black Mirror (well, except for the voice work of the main character).
“It’s like the most retarded action movie ever made,” said the message Dobry left me. “It is totally awesome. Good call, dude.” Earlier that day he’d called from Best Buy, laden with gift cards and a screaming toddler, asking what he should get. “Just Cause 2,” I said. “Are you sure?” he replied dubiously. “It’s basically… running around and blowing shit up, right?”
Anyway, I got the impression that he wasn’t going to buy anything, but then later he left me that message.
Darkfall is enjoying its first birthday this year. Born on the 26th February 2009, and developed by Aventurine SA, the game was plagued upon its release by a catalogue of problems that stretched as far as Agon’s land mass. One year later, has the game really managed to overcome its shortcomings, and will it ever prove Ed Zitron and his infamous review wrong?
EA Digital Illusions CE (DICE) have been around for a while. Since the days of Benefactor on the Amiga, and the first of the Battlefield series, they have carved out a name for themselves in an industry flooded with militaristic games. With ten Battlefield games (including expansion packs) across three platforms under their belt, many critics were wondering how far DICE could continue to develop the sub-genre of team based warfare…
A quest for revenge. Blood spilled on the cliff sides of Mount Olympus. Betrayal from an ally. Untold numbers of casualties slain by the Blades of Athena, etched into Kratos’ flesh and chained to his arms. A boss battle. The slaying of a God at the hands of a vengeful Spartan and the resulting condemnation to the depths of Hades. At that point, the opening hour of God of War III draws to a frenetic …
It’s mortifying to be cheated and robbed by a hooker in a videogame. I mean, sure, if it happens in real life, I guess it’s to be expected. But when you’re playing a game where survival is a daily challenge, where ammunition is money and money is scarce, knowingly paying a whore for some sweet loving is kind of like inviting failure. It’s not my fault, though, I am a sucker for Russian accents. I …
Mortal Online, currently in Open Beta, is a new massively multiplayer online RPG by the Swedish video game developer Star Vault. Inspired by Ultima Online, the game places significant emphasis on sandbox-style game design. Unlike other MMOGs, MO proposes to offer the player a level of freedom yet to be experienced in the current generation of World of Warcraft clones…
Mat and I were talking about this just the other day, but the poor fellow had work then a soccer game, which doubtless delayed him. I’m hoping to see his first impressions of Square’s latest epic soon, but you know how those football fans are…