Game Of The Year: Scott's choice

Written by Scott Thursday, 10 December 2009 22:58

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The last two years have been very hard on the GOTY awards – we had many titles from Grand Theft Auto 4, Fallout 3, LittleBigPlanet and Metal Gear Solid 4 it was difficult to choose a winner but I fear 2009 is even harder. There have been a number of contestants for this award from my view: [Prototype], GTA: Stories from Liberty City, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and as an outsider, Halo: ODST.

 

Game Of The Year: Wage's pick

Written by wages Thursday, 10 December 2009 19:40

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This has been one heck of a year for gaming, particularly the last few months. We have been blessed with a variable cornucopia of digital delights, tantalizing our various gaming senses. However, when considering a game for goty, one must whittle it down to the season's finest pickings and ultimately come up with something that stood out above the rest. This year is no exception, the only significant difference being the sheer amount of great titles across all the platforms, that would warrant the title. The game I have chosen isn't leaps and bounds above the rest, but, if you read my review I think you'll see why. My pick for goty 2009 is:

ASSASSINS CREED 2

Top 10 Games of 2009: PS3

Written by wages Saturday, 05 December 2009 16:23

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Since the release of the PS3, we've heard over and over again how it's going to be it's year to take over. I'm not going to sit here and claim, like some sites, magazines, fanboys and sorted other media, that 2010 is going to be "the year PS3 takes over".  What I will say is that that if 2009 is any indication then gamers should expect a rip roaring ride through the calendar year as PS3 owners. With the black beast hitting it's stride (finally) with a bevy of first party titles, actually decent multiplatform releases and the all important price drop, Sony is poised to help give gamers what they want, awesome gaming experiences.  Without further delay, here is my top 10 for the PS3 this year. Keep in mind it's not in any particular order.

 

10. Killzone 2

 

 

9. Uncharted 2

 

 

8. Demons Souls

 

 

7. Katamari Forever

 

 

6. Flower

 

 

5. Shatter

 

 

4. Little Big Planet

 

 

 

 

3. God of War Collection

 

 

2. Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time

 

 

1. Trine

 

 

And there you have it, my top 10 for 2009 on the PS3! Make sure you keep glued to DJ for our upcoming Game Of The Year selections as well. In addition, head on over to the forums and chat it up. What games did we miss? What would you have added? What do you expect in the future? All I know is that's it's a great time to be a gamer!

 

How will you play Modern Warfare 2?

Written by Scott Monday, 09 November 2009 22:07

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On the eve of the release of the latest Call of Duty, I’m sure many gamers are wasting (or have wasted depending on their position on earth) their time at work thinking about what setups to run when they jump online.

 

Primary Weapons 

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Assault Rifles

 

• M4A1
• FAMAS
• SCAR-H
• TAR-21
• FAL
• M16A4
• ACR
• F2000
• AK-47

 

Sub-Machine Guns

 

• MP5k
• UMP 45
• Vector
• P90
• Mini Uzi

 

Light Machine Guns

 

• L86 LSW
• RPD
• MG4
• AUG HBAR
• M240

 

Sniper Rifles

 

• Barrett .50 Cal
• Intervention
• WA2000
• M21 EBR

 

Riot Shield

 

Secondary Weapons

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Shotguns

 

• SPAS 12
• Armsel Striker 12 Guage
• Ranger
• M1014
• Model 1887
• AA-12

 

Machine Pistols

 

• PP-2000
• G10
• M93 Raffica
• TMP

 

Grenade/Rocket Launchers

 

• AT4 HS
• Thumper
• Stinger
• Javelin
• RPG-7

 

Hand Guns

• USP .45
• Colt .44 Magnum
• Desert Eagle
• M9

 

 Gun Attatchments

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• Red Dot Sight
• Heartbeat Sensor
• ACOG
• Silencer
• EOTech Sight
• Thermal Scope
• Shotgun (Master Key)
• FMJ
• Akimbo
• Extended Clip

 

 Equipment

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• Frag Grenade
• Semtex (Sticky Grenade)
• Throwing Knifes
• Tactical Insertion
• Blast Shield
• Claymore Mines
• C4

Camouflage 

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• Desert
• Arctic
• Woodland
• Digital
• Urban
• Blue Tiger
• Red Tiger
• Fall

 

 

Perks

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Perk Slot 1

 

Marathon – Unlimited Sprint

Marathon Pro – Get over obstacles faster

 

Sleight of Hand – Reload faster

Sleight of Hand Pro – Look down sights faster

 

Bling – 2 Primary Weapon Attachments

Bling Pro – 2 Secondary Weapon Attachments

 

One Man Army – Change class at any point during game (removes secondary weapon)

One Man Army Pro – Change classes faster

 

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Perk Slot 2

 

Stopping Power – Increased Bullet Damage

Stopping Power Pro – Increased bullet damage against vehicles

 

Lightweight – Move Faster

Lightweight Pro – Aim quicker after sprinting

 

Hardline – Requires 1 less kill for killstreak bonus

Hardline Pro – Requires 1 less death for deathstreak bonus

 

Cold Blooded - Undetectable by UAV, air support, Sentry Guns, and thermal.

Cold Blooded Pro - No red crosshair or name shown when you are targeted.

 

Danger Close – Increase Explosives Damage

Danger Close Pro – Increases Air support damage

 

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Perk Slot 3

 

Commando – Increased melee distance

Commando Pro – No fall damage

 

Steady Aim – Increased fire-from-hip accuracy

Steady Aim Pro – Hold breath for longer

 

Scrambler – Jams Enemy Rader in certain distance

Scrambler Pro – Delays Enemy Claymore detonation

 

Ninja – Invisible to Heartbeat Sensors

Ninja Pro – Move silenty

 

SitRep - Insertions. This will reveal enemy explosives and Tactical Insertions.

SitRep Pro – Makes enemy footsteps louder

 

Last Stand – After being ‘killed’ fall to floor and pull out pistol

Last Stand Pro – Use equipment in Last Stand

 

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Personally, I am all about the most accuracy and will sacrifice fire power to gain this advantage. I will be using a SCAR-H with EOTECH sight and silencer, Bling, Stopping Power and Steady Aim. Very conventional but it works for how I play. Now, how do you? In the comments add your personal line-up of weapons, perks, attachments and equipment for when you hit the virtual battlefield.

 

Project Gotham Racing: The Series

Written by Paul Barbara Wednesday, 21 October 2009 03:03

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Project Gotham Racing (PGR) was a launch title for the original Xbox and was released during November 2001.  PGR is of course a racing game, the first in its series and was developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Microsoft Game Studios. Project Gotham Racing had quickly became the second best-selling game for the Xbox console after Halo.  PGR is also a spiritual successor to the Sega Dreamcast game Metropolis Street Racer, for those that remember the old Dreamcast. 

PGR differs from most racing games in that winning a race does not necessarily mean the player advances to the next round; instead advancement in PGR requires both driving fast enough to meet the challenge set, and scoring enough Kudos points to advance. Kudos points are gained through the player's driving skills, such as power sliding around a corner at speed, or overtaking other racers in the race.

 

Project Gotham Racing was a huge success on the original Xbox and quickly found itself with a sequel during November 2003

 

 

 

Microsoft was continuing to build the Xbox market and November 2005 saw the Xbox 360 released in North America.  Project Gotham Racing 3 was indeed a launch title for the Xbox 360.  PGR3 was the first racing game to sprout next generation visuals, which were very impressive.  Other improvements to the series were the level of detail in the car models.  In PGR2, cars comprised of a mere 10,000 polygons and the damage looks like it was made of clay.  However, thanks to the vast power of the Xbox 360, Bizzare’s modeller’s have been able to put as many as 45,000 polygons worth of detail into the cars.  The increased polygon count allows for smoother, less jagged-shaped cars than in earlier games. PGR 3 featured a solid 80 cars in the game, 71 of which are unlocked and available for play at the start of a new game, while the remaining 9 (prototypes, one-offs, and concept) cars are left for the player to unlock. 

 

 

 

Unlike PGR 1 & 2, PGR3 emphasises supercars instead of generic production cars. One of the starter cars is the Acura NSX. While there are production cars in PGR3, PGR2 had common vehicles such as the Ford Focus. 

During E3 2007, Project Gotham Racing 4 was announced with a release date of September 07.  However, subsequent issues prevented the title from being ready at this time and the official release was pushed out to October 2007. Project Gotham Racing 4 continued to build on the success of its 3 predecessors.  The most prominent addition to PGR4 is advanced weather effects that affect the look of the game and the physics of the cars on the track. The weather can change from sun to rain to snow to hail within a single race. A system logged on to Xbox Live will download weather data from The Weather Channel, allowing users to set in-game conditions to mirror current weather in their respective cities.  Pretty impressive!

 

 

 

The game simulates ten types of weather, including clear days, clouds, light to stormy rain, fog, snow and even ice. In user-created races, weather is fully customisable along with all the other race variations. In the game's expanded and improved career mode, weather is predetermined, which adds an extra obstacle for players to overcome. 

Project Gotham Racing 4 features more than 130 vehicles and also, added Motorcycles to the equation.  This feature has tried to be replicated in games such as Burnout Paradise which too has added motorcycles to its title.  

Shortly before the release of PGR4, Bizarre announced that PGR4 will be their last game produced for distribution by Microsoft Game Studios, as Bizarre has since been acquired by Activision.  It has been mentioned that there is a possibility that Turn 10 Studios, the makers of the Forza series, may oversee development of future instalments in the series. 

Personally I enjoyed each and every release of Project Gotham Racing.  In my opinion each release of the franchise brought improvements and change.  Still an Arcade racer at heart, PGR was always known for its beautiful visuals and ease of play.  It certainly made for some fun online play and had plenty of challenges to keep you busy in single player mode.  Only recently I’ve gone back to play PGR4 in a quest for achievement completion and I must say, I found the game to hold up to standards today.  Having just played Need for Speed Shift, I can tell you that the visuals in PGR4 are leaps and bounds ahead of Need for Speed Shift.  Sure the cars are not as detailed, but the gameplay and the way the cars handle feels so much better than Need for Speed Shift.  This is not a comparative, just an observation.  PGR4 stands tall in its own right and should certainly not be overlooked.  Unfortunately when PGR4 released it was amongst titles such as Halo 3, BioShock, Forza 2 and Call of Duty 4 etc and it didn’t receive the attention it sorely deserved.  Had the game have been release a little later or earlier, it would have had a much larger success rate. 

Moving forward I ask if there will be a Project Gotham Racing 5?  Its hard to tell when a studio is absorbed by another, their combined portfolios may not render it necessary to release two racing games.  Then again, maybe it does.  With mention of Turn 10 overseeing future projects by Activision, this can be seen as positive indeed.  However, given Turn 10 are working on their own game Forza 3 which is soon to be released, I can help think that any advice or help would be second best compared to their own product.  I don’t personally think we’ll ever see a PGR5 title in the near future, which is a shame given the series had a great run on both Xbox consoles. 

If you’re like me and your getting excited for Forza 3, take a trip down memory lane and give PGR4 a go, or even some of the others which are available via Games on Demand.  You may actually walk away very impressed indeed.