Rage Review

Rage is the new shooter from id, for those of you who don't know who id are; they are the company that invented the first person shooter. Their newest venture has been compared a lot to Fallout and Borderlands, and even slated for it, but I don't think this comparison is fair.

Story: The story is big, really big. However is doesn't feel fresh, I never felt like I was doing something that had not been done before, but this doesn't take away from the overall atmosphere of the game. Characters don't seem to have distinct personalities (with a few exceptions) and enemies don't vary, but there is never a sense of dejavu when moving through the game's many 'dungeons'. The only thing that was enough of a problem to make me lose some interest in the game is the ease of acquiring the weapons at the start of the game. Aside from that the story is polished and well written, even though the player is never properly motivated to finish. 6/10

Graphics and Sound: This has to be the best looking shooter I have seen in my life. Everything from the huge backdrops to the detail on armour looks perfect. There has been a massive amount of work put into varied textures and character models and this does not go unnoticed. The sound is what really immersed me into the game, from every different gunshot to engine noise all the way to the sounds of the mutants, all creates an amazing atmosphere. 10/10

Gameplay: This is where rage really gets noticed in the post apocalyptic crowd. Weapons may not be as varied as the competition but ammo types really feel like they make a difference, especially in how you work through particular situation, plus other things like sentry turrets and bomb cars make all the difference. Everything you do causes a reaction from enemies: if you start laying down heavy fire from your assault rifle, enemies will stay in cover, making pop shots at you at every opportunity, if you're sniping mutants they will duck and weave while moving towards you as fast as possible, this is the point where rage excels more than any other. 9/10

Multiplayer: I was so disappointed when I found out that the coop was in standalone missions and not the campaign, that really put me off, especially when one of its competitors offers 4 player coop through the whole campaign. These missions are fun but feel like something to mess around in rather than do seriously, which is not necessarily a bad thing, it just doesn't feel right for me personally. The competitive multiplayer pleasantly surprised me, the vehicle combat is addictively fun and races are a great time killer. 8/10

Overall: Rage is a fantastically polished game which, technologically, exceeds all its competition. Playing the game however, falls short of the mark, I quickly lost interest in the campaign but there didn't feel like anything else to do. To be quite honest, playing this game immediately made me want to go play borderlands, which isn't a good sign for long life. I'd say this is the perfect game for those who enjoy RPGs and have ran out of games to play at the moment, but for anyone else it seems like a bad option. Im not saying don't buy it, Im saying wait till the price drops and you have nothing left to play. 7/10

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary is a remastered version of the original Halo, to celebrate Halo: Combat Evolved's 10th Birthday!

The game will be released on the 15th of November in the UK.

You will now be able to play the full original campaign in full HD with stunning next-gen graphics and new advanced audio, but you will also be able to switch to "Classic Mode" at any time to play the true original version if you so wish. You will also be able to play the story on Xbox Live, for the first time on Combat Evolved you will be able to join forces with your friends to truly get the most out of the Halo storyline.

Multilayer will also be getting an update too, six of the most enjoyable halo maps will be getting remastered in the Halo: Reach engine. These maps are included on the Halo Anniversary disc, so you won't need the Halo: Reach disc to play. But if you are looking forward to this game, I would guess you own all of the series already.

It will be developed by 343 Industries, alongside Saber Interactive and Certain Affinity. And shall really bring the original campaign up to date and hopefully get more people into the halo storyline. This game looks really exciting as it resurrects a really memorable and fun game for a whole new generation to enjoy.


Master Chief is also getting an upgrade, he's getting brand new armour, whick looks sleeker and much more like the Halo: Reach player models.

We hope to bring you a full review on Halo Anniversary as soon as possible and any news on Halo 4 at a later date.

CLOUD GAMING DOESN'T SUCK!!!

On live has been around for a while now, but it has gone almost completely unnoticed. The idea was perfect: high-tech gaming for the masses, all you need is a computer and the internet. But would this really be able to come to life? We've been playing it recently, and we can gladly report it does. Perfectly.

I downloaded On Live a couple of days ago and it instantly ran smoothly, even with my poor internet connection and dated computer. Graphics depend on the level of computer you have, but adjust according to your connection in order to keep the game running smoothly.

Game demos are a brilliant idea, you can play the first half an hour of a game completely free! but this does mean that games like dirt 3 are a little pointless buying, why would you buy it for a few more things when you can just mess about on it for free?

The only thing I can find wrong is the price of games, even though this method cuts out all the physical side of buying a game (e.g. boxes, discs, postage) the games are the same price as in store. Surely the price could be dropped slightly, even a couple of quid saved would be nice.

Overall though, On Live works incredibly well, and there is a console too, its only about £70 and its tiny! In the very near future this system will become serious competition for the major consoles, possibly overtake them completely. The "Micro-console" as On Live has branded it is perfect for using On Live on your full HD TV, it's simple to set up and comes with a free controller. But if you would prefer to stay on your computer, many conventional controllers work too, including wired xbox 360 ones.

Oh, one more thing, It's free. One small download to your computer and its yours, no one off payment, no mandatory subscription, all you pay for is your games.

Forza Motorsport 4 News

Forza Motorsport 4 is set to be released in Northern America on the 11th of October, Australia on the 13th of October and Britain on the 14th of October.

Forza Motorsport 4 is the fourth instalment of the Forza Motorsport series, a heavily respected series in not just racing, but gaming as a whole. The series began in 2005 and has evolved through the following two games, but can number four carry it on?

I have played the demo of Forza Motorsport 4 and all I can say is that I am very, very impressed with what I have seen so far. The graphics are incredibly sharp and in a completely different league from any other xbox 360 racer. They may even be better than GT5, which is one of the most impressive driving simulators on the market.

The game play on the demo also shows the behaviour and characteristics of a few cars, and so far the differences are great. The muscle cars look to actually behave like real muscle cars, having lots of straight line power but being very heavy on the steering, meanwhile the super cars are on the other end of the spectrum, only performing at their highest when feathering both the accelerator and brakes to maintain the perfect cornering speeds.

There also seems to be a scoring system on things such as cornering, drifting, overtaking and speed, in which you are marked between one and four (four being the best) just after you complete your manoeuvres, these don't seem to significant but are a nice touch.

The full game will boast 500+ vehicles from over 80 manufactures and of course the Forza customisation which is heavily used in the games. There will also be additions to the online community, including car clubs. Car clubs are clubs which you can set up with your friends where you can all share your vehicles with one another, i think this is a great addition to show off all your new cars and paint jobs.

Those of you interest in the limited edition will receive 25 bonus cars, a steel-book case and a book by top gear with all the facts about the included cars in the game. But I believe many, if not all, of the bonus vehicles will be available for download on the marketplace if you cannot get a limited edition copy of the game.

The game is soon to be released in all of it's glory and I  am immensely looking forward to it, both in career mode and online.

Battlefield 3: A Look At The Beta

Battlefield 3 is set to be released on the 25th of October in Northern America, 27th of October in Australia and 28th of October in the UK. But before its ever nearing release date we have been able to have a look at the Battlefield 3 Beta. After a fair bit of time on the Beta, Battlefield 3 looks to be a serious contender for  one of the best games hitting the market in 2011. Of course there is positives and negatives, as in any game, but considering this is only the beta, it is looking good for Battlefield.

I'm gonna start with the negatives, spawn killers, balance issues, annoying voice overs, flash-lights, not enough destruction, terrible servers, squads can't join the same game and more spawn kills.

These are all, as well as being incredibly annoying, just teething problems. It is worrying that it is so close to launch but I'm sure these things will be corrected, and when you set these problems aside, you'll be glad you did!

But the Beta does show some incredibly good aspects to the upcoming title, we get a taster of what is to come and so far things such as classes and maps look to be great. We are able to use four different classes and get a grip on some of the weaponry, play full Rush games on the map; operation metro and have a sneak peek at the ranking up system, which I believe works very well. It appears to be that you earn attachments for weapons through performance with a certain gun, not through rank alone, meaning you will be able to customize your favourite weapons with sights, suppressors and more.

All in all, from what has been seen in the Beta, Battlefield 3 looks to be a terrific game for both the casual and hardcore gamers among you. It has had a lot of hype over the months and has so far lived up to expectations, accept for a few problems, but that is what the Beta is there for.

With Battlefield 3, you'll find an incredible experience that feels more real than anything you've ever played before, it looks incredibly realistic, vaulting objects is a great addition, the sound is perfect, and the destruction works, it works from buildings falling to bullets hitting walls.

Battlefield 3 looks fantastic, and we'll tell you more about the full game as soon as we can.

Dead Island Review

The concept was an open world role playing shooter with melee combat and zombies. This game could easily be the greatest game in history. But did it deliver on all fronts?

GAMEPLAY

The first thing I noticed when playing Dead Island was that the controls felt sluggish and unresponsive, fortunately this feeling didn't last long but did put me off a bit, the controls become natural shortly after but a lot of people struggle with the vehicle controls later on. By far the most annoying part of the game is the random encounters: you're in an intense battle, there's too many zombies to take on at once so you begin to back off, when suddenly, you're smacked repeatedly in the back and killed, I would like to point out this is a rare occurrence but it is still incredibly aggravating. Coop completely redeems the game of all of these downfalls, as long as you're playing with friends. I'm sorry but random stranger who join you out of nowhere online just doesn't work!

CAMPAIGN

I'm afraid its not exactly deep, not emotional either. But what do you expect from an open world game? Fallout is the only series I've played where I've enjoyed the story, and some of that wasn't great. but ignoring the motives behind the missions, they are epic fun with a few friends.

GRAPHICS & SOUND

The sound effects are just perfect, gunfire, zombie screams, slicing cleavers, the list goes on! It's the same story with graphics too, broken limbs, burnt flesh, all exactly how you want them. This drastically changes between battles, cinematics and character models are lifeless and crude. Its the same with sound, weapons no longer seem the same in these scripted events, and the voice acting is the worst I've ever heard!

MULTIPLAYER

This is the only upside to the gameplay, as long as its with friends. Drop in coop with strangers is great in theory, but in practice, no. Not at all. I was playing and someone who was a much higher level dropped into my game, waited for me to finish a massive fight on my own and then took all the loot and health kits, then left! On the other hand, with friends it is one of the most fun, and hilarious games you will ever play.

OVERALL

All of its faults are forgiven in coop with friends, if this is what you want to do then this game is a must buy, and if based on this quality alone this game would get a 9/10. But unfortunately all the other things do drag it down a bit and it loses some appeal.

GAMEPLAY: 7/10
CAMPAIGN: 5/10
G&S: 8/10
MULTIPLAYER: 8/10
OVERALL: 7/10

Gears of War 3 Review

Gears of war 3 is the final episode in this storyline and brings the epic trilogy to a close. There is a lot here for hardcore fans (especially in mulitplayer) but theres also chances for casual gamers to get stuck in and chainsaw people into bits.

GAMEPLAY

The game feels exactly like both its predecessors, but smoother and less buggy. shotguns still aren't always reliable and you still sometimes roll into fire instead of taking cover but these moments are now far and few in between. The most noticeable difference is the sights blooming when fired or moving, which is a great addition as  guns like the retro lancer are to powerful to have a small scope when fired at full speed but needs a smaller sight when burst firing at a distance. new moves such as the meat shield grenade tag and the mantle kick into enemies do make the complete experience more enjoyable and add many different scenarios into the multiplayer firefights. 

STORYLINE

This is an area epic has always succeeded in with Gears, aside from the cheesy lines every other sentence from the predictable characters. The storyline is improved greatly from the previous two games, adding colour and emotion into the mix, not that the previous games had no soul, but moments like Dom shooting his wife never had a big effect while playing whereas the new game has one of the saddest moments in any game I've played. 

GRAPHICS & SOUND

Most of the graphics look the same at first glance, but it becomes more apparent as the game goes on that a lot has been improved. Character models look better and have more detail than before and huge areas in the campaign look believable, unlike Gears 2's open areas. the music in the background is so good that you almost never notice it, voice acting sounds better, guns sound more distinct from shooting to reloads and the locust creatures make better noises too, like the Brumak roar or the lambent berserker cry.

MULITPLAYER

Versus mode matchmaking is still far from perfect, but at least you get into a match now, but its a small part of the new multiplayer, Horde 2.0 is some of the most fun and stressful hours of your life, moving quickly (sort of) from running around with shotguns to screaming down the mic as you're destroyed by the lambent bosses from the fourth time this wave. Building defences adds new levels of depth to matches (until the berserker destroys them) and points, trading weapons, and things like the silverback make a richer experience which is more cooperative than before. Beast mode is fun but lacks depth and replayability after a while, but its good for killing 20 minutes.

OVERALL

A strong but cheesy story makes a brilliant campaign, followed up by great competetive multiplayer and incredible cooperative modes make this the best shooter so far this year and the best 3rd person shooter of all time. This game is a must buy for any Gears fan and a great game for anyone who wants a great game to play with friends. I think this game will have a long lifespan because it always managed to avoid hacking like other shooters on the market.

GAMEPLAY: 9/10

STORYLINE: 8/10

GRAPHICS&SOUND: 10/10

MULTIPLAYER: 9/10

OVERALL: 9/10