Saints Row 2 brings true freedom to open-world gaming. Players can play as who they want, how they want, and with whomever they want in this sequel to the much acclaimed and tremendously successful Saints Row. Set years after the original, the player finds himself in a Stilwater both familiar and strange and challenged with bringing the Saints back as the rightful kings of Stilwater and bringing vengeance to those who wronged him.
That of course is the official blurb. Sounds sweet. I’ve heard reviewers say that Saints Row 2 – the wanna be GTA killer – achieves it’s goals in this second outing, beating GTA IV hands down. It apparently brings back the fun element that was lacking in GTA IV. Now I’ve played, and enjoyed every full incarnation of GTA, from the top down original through to the latest 3D offering. And I’ve enjoyed them all from the get go. Sure, GTA IV was lacking in some of the instant fun, and the storyline was a tad short, but as soon as I started the game, I was enjoying myself. Everything worked the way it was supposed to be. Read the rest of this entry »
Solid Snake returns one final time for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Armed with new gadgets and abilities, an aging Solid Snake must overcome all obstacles whilst using the chaos of the battlefield to infiltrate deep into enemy territory. His mission is to stop his nemeses from world domination…
This is the game that the Playstaion 3 has been waiting for, apparently, the first defining game for the console.
The real problem for this die hard Xbox fan however is the waiting that the game forces you to do. Read the rest of this entry »
When it comes to serious racing games there are only two choices: Microsoft’s Forza series and Codemaster’s Race driver Series, with Codemasters consistently taking top honours. Codemaster do have an unfair advantage over Microsoft however, they’ve been creating the best racing games in the world since the original Playstation with the TOCA series, which morphed into the Race Driver series. It’s also helped spawn the Colin McRae rally games and Codies recently announced they had secured the licence to create a Formula 1 game.
But I’m going off on a tangent. My love in touring cars, with a real leaning toward the Aussie V8s, so it has been with heightened anticipation that I’ve been waiting for Race Drive: grid to come out. Sadly, the first thing I noticed was the absence of the local V8s. In fact Codemasters seem to have thrown everything out the door, grabbed the code for Colin McRae and built a circuit racing game around it. Read the rest of this entry »
I’m not going to sugar coat the violent nature of Rockstar’s latest incarnation of the Grand Theft Auto series, but it’s only fair that I tell you I’ve been a fan since the original top down version way back when games were played exclusively on PCs. Grand Theft Auto IV is a very violent game, not only the physical violence on screen, but also the audio violence – the language used is akin to a physical assault on your ears. The strange thing is though, as jarring as it may be at times, the language or violence doesn’t feel gratuitous.
Lets put the game in context: The story revolves around your character, Niko. Niko has just illegally emigrated from Eastern Europe, seeing Liberty City as a way to put behind him the horror of the Bosnian war. His cousin has promised him the American Dream, but on arrival he discovers that Liberty City isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and to survive these mean streets, Niko has to become a killer and enforcer for the Russian Mob. With a storyline such as that, it would be impossible to make a credible game with out violence and foul language, so why make such a game you might ask? Read the rest of this entry »
Grand Theft Auto IV has been getting a lot of perfect 10 out of 10 scores from overseas reviewers, but I’m not ready to do the same. In fact my initial impressions were not that great. The sluggishness of your characters movement and seemingly slow driving speeds reminded me of how slow the second (top down view) GTA game compared to the fast and furious original.
Fortunately things got better. Niko, the dude you play has the ability to sprint, but his natural tendency is to slouch and take his time. As for the sluggish cars, well you just have to jack a faster car. Whilst we’re on the subject of cars, they handle pretty much the way I remember, with a very bouncy suspension and almost mandatory Hollywood style sliding round corners. GTA has remembered to keep it fun. Read the rest of this entry »
Good World War 2 shooters have been as scarce as hen’s teeth since the Call of Duty series went modern. Medal of Honour: Airborne was a graphical treat with slightly flawed game play, but its online play really let it down, and then their was the abysmal Battle for the Pacific, so Codemasters unique foray into the established genre was looking like a fresh invigorating breeze, ready to get people excited about World War 2 once more.
Of course it wasn’t going to be your run of the mill WW2 FPS. Mixing historical fact – an incident where Winston Churchill is hit and injured by a cab in New York City –it with a what if scenario – Churchill dies, Codemasters bring us a chilling alternative history where England without her charismatic leader stumble and falls to Nazi tyranny, which in turn gives Hitler control of Europe and enough time to develop weapons and an army big enough to invade America, starting with (where else) New York. Read the rest of this entry »
The History Channel’s Battle for the Pacific looked like it would be a worthy addition to the World War 2 First Person Shooter genre. It had the credibility of the History Channel behind it and was being distributed by a company with a number of hit games under their belt.
In addition, it was moving the fight from the ETO to the Pacific. This could only mean some fresh perspective on and old, established genre.
Now for the bad news.
The game started off weird, the movement seemed a little off kilter, but I shrugged this off as possibly being the History Channel doing a little research into what it was actually like to run about in full kit holding a rife at the ready. Who knows, it was something I was going to have to get used to. Initially the graphics were quite nice, pleasing to the eye, if somewhat repetitive in the opening level which sees you running back and forth in trenches, shooting an attacking enemy. The biggest problem however was that the buggy frame rate kept enjoyment to a minimum. Read the rest of this entry »
Kane & Lynch picked up a lot of early buzz, as a third-person perspective shoot em up, it was going to be a little different from the usual run of first person shooters. Add in the game play that sounded like a string on bank heists, and you had some eager anticipation.
The storyline however turned out to be a little different. Starting out as a chance at redemption, this violent shooter turns into a revenge fest that puts you on the trail of not only stolen money, but also pits you against the crime syndicate you used to work for.
Teamed up with an unlikely ally, You play Kane, a flawed mercenary partnering up with a medicate psychopath, Lynch. It’s an interesting parring that drives the storyline well. Read the rest of this entry »
There is something about me..