Haze finally on its way
After a number of date changes and disappointed gamers, Haze has finally been given a release date it intends to stick to. Due for release this May, the game, set in the ear 2048 follows a newly enlisted soldier looking to battle the forces of evil.
In the future, worlds governments have outsourced military operations to Private Military Corporations, whom are currently engaged in combat with a rebel group known as the Promise Hand. All appears to be in order, good vs evil and all that, but under closer observation things are not as they seem.
So, far early word is good and developers, Free Radicals, have a proven track record. So, you can forgive me for being excited.
- Craig J Gallagher
REVIEW: Kingdom Under Fire: CoD
Developer: Blueside | Publisher: Microsoft | Format: 360
Reviewer: Craig J Gallagher The
Kingdom of Fire franchise has remained an unsung hero for the original
Xbox console. It managed to continuously impress by taking the tired
hack and slash formula of old and mix in a compelling real time
strategy element. While never receiving the acclaim or sales it
deserved, the series did develop a cult following.
For the game’s first bow on the 360, developers Blueside have
decided to do away with the strategy parts of the game. This robs
Circle of Doom of the individuality of its predecessors. The move away
from strategy seems to have been done so as to broaden the games
appeal, making it more accessible.
The added RPG elements are the usual building up a characters
attributes while gaining new weapons and moves. To be honest it’s a
poor substitute which will have many gamers harking back to the more
involving Xbox versions. The random hack and slash gameplay quickly
becomes repetitive and will bore most casual gamers.
The story follows a motley band of heroes traversing the land in an
attempt to vanquish the evils of the netherworld. Each of the six main
characters offers a different view point of the action. Allowing for an
almost Rashomon sense of storytelling to the game. The story isn’t the
games strongest point, but there is a certain comfort in its
familiarity.
The addition of the new RPG elements fell like every other
uninspired hack and slash title on the market. You walk around for
awhile before discovering a horde of evil doers, engage in combat and
repeat until you find an idol and progress to the next part of the
game. Bar the customisable RPG elements there’s nothing here that
stands out from the crowd. It’s all just far too linear to impress.
Circle of Doom isn’t a terrible game, nor is it a truly bad title.
What it is, is an old school hack and slash adventure which seems to
have forgotten all the lessons learnt over the past decade. While it
entertains for a short while, it’s difficult to recommend the game.
Seasoned gamers may enjoy it for the absurd old school feel of events
but beyond that there is very little here to make the game a must own.
Hopefully the next title in the series will remember what made the
original games so much fun to play.
Lego Batman: The Videogame
The release this Summer of The Dark Knight has ensured that there is an array of Bat related merchandise hitting stores over the coming months. Perhaps most tantalising of all is Lego Batman. After the huge
success of the Lego Star Wars, it was only inevitable that we would see more titles immortalised in the famous blocks.
Read on for a look at some screen shots from the still in development title.
VIDEO: Lost the Game trailer
Given the success of the TV show it was inevitable that someone would release a spin off game, which will soon be with us thanks to Ubisoft. The game promises to delve further into the mythos of the island and offer some answers. So far the game looks quite decent, and will undoubtedly please fans of the show.
The game is scheduled for release in Ireland on the 29th of this month on all the major consoles.
REVIEW: Soldier of Fortune: Payback
Developer: Cauldron | Publisher: Activision | Format: PS3
Reviewer: Craig J Gallagher After
2002s Soldier of Fortune 2: Double Helix the franchise seemed to go
MIA, which was surprising given that both games were highly enjoyable
and sold decently. Payback appeared out of nowhere and unfortunately
for the franchise it should have stayed MIA, as the games seems to have
forgotten what made the franchise so much fun and embraced all that is
wrong with FPS.
first impressions are good, the game looks nice and features some
inventive and fun visual quirks. Reloading is given a heightened sense
of urgency due to depth of vision going all blurred when you reload.
The dynamic lighting on display through out the game, while not ground
breaking still impresses.
Old hero John Mullins doesn’t return, instead you play as a new
mercenary caught up in what can only b described as a bad 90s action
plot. You take on an evil worldwide terrorist group so devious and
cunning that they brand all their operatives with an identical tattoo
on the back of their necks. Helps them blend in at company functions.
What follows is a first person shooting by the numbers. Linear
action, overtly scripted situations and some terrible AI. Bad guys have
two actions. The first involves them running at you shooting, the other
simply involves them standing in the open as they attempt to shoot you.
There’s no sense that these characters can think for
themselves of even react in the most rudimentary manner, bar
kamikaze mode. Which is fun in small doses, but sustained enjoyment is
marred by the lack of a quick save meaning you are constantly searching
for a check point. Replaying the same are a dozen times isn’t uncommon.
The game is quite violent and the ability to shoot off various limbs
is fun, even if the developers seem to have copy and pasted the old
code. Legs, arms, and various other limbs can all be blown off at
regular intervals while copious amounts of blood flies everywhere.
Payback harks back to yesterday, when all a FPS need to do was offer
a torrent of blood. In this day and age, where titles such as Call of
Duty 4 offer so much more it’s difficult to recommend this game to
anyone bar gore junkies. The game is worth a lazy weekend rental but
gamers looking for some substance are best advised to look elsewhere.
REVIEW: Socom Navy Seals Tactical Strike
Developer: SCEE | Pub: Slant Six Games | For: PSP
Reviewer: Craig J Gallagher Socom:
US Navy Seals has appeared on all of Sony’s consoles to date bar the
PS One. Which really is’nt say much at the moment as it’s yets to appear
on the PS3 though confirmation is due sometime soon. Best rephrase
that and say, various Socom games has to date appeared on the PS2 and
PSP.
For the third appearence on the PSP the publishers have
decided to shake things up a bit by replacing the third person action
of past entries with strategy elements that would feel more at home in a
Full Spectrum Warrior title.
The transition to strategy based
gameplay is largely successful, due in no small part to the previous
games need to run and gun while thinking on your feet. Past games
focused on a sole character, where as this time you have at
your disposal an entire squad to control and order around. While the
gameplay is perfectly suited to a strategy title and the developers
succeed magnificently in implementing it there are a few niggling
issues.
The
gameplay is perfectly fine, with one of the easiest to pick up control
systems in awhile. Switching between squads is a doodle. Just a quick
flick of the bumper buttons and away you go.
The story concerning the team rescuing the President
of Panama is told through cut scenes which coupled with the cheesiest
script since the late 80s make the entire game somewhat laughable.
Thankfully you can skip these cut scenes and spare yourself the torture
of acting so bab Roger Corman wouldn’t allow it.
The camera is another problem. While quite adequate in the
outside environments and levels taking place inside a building are a
nightmare as the camera seems to have a problem following the action.
The poor camera isn’t hte only let down. The AI is dreadful at times,
trying to position your own men is problematic at times. Move them one
direction and they’ll go the opposite, or flat out refuse to move,
Tactical
Strike falls on some important points, but the overall quality of the
game and most importantly the gameplay more than makes up for these.
The game is worth at least a cursory glance and is highly recommended
to strategy fans.
Xbox 360: Low impact on GameStop chart
- Nintendo DS appears the most on retail’s chart
- Follows Xbox low ranking on Chart-Track game chart
Microsoft’s Xbox 360 console only appears once across two weeks of top-10 charts from retailer GameStop Ireland.
So-far this year the games retailer has sent out two ‘GameStop Top Ten Bestsellers’ for the weeks ending Saturday, 12 and 26 January (both viewable below).
The Xbox 360 only appears once in the two weeks, at number six for Burnout Paradise, while the PlayStation 3 version of the same game topped the chart and the PS3 has four places across the two weeks. The hand-held Nintendo DS holds the largest amount with eight places in the two weeks, the Nintendo Wii has three, and the PS2 has another two for Sony.
GameStop’s chart can only be viewed as a snapshot of the retailers top sellers within the two named weeks. However, it mirrors the Xbox 360’s low ranking on the Chart-Track Irish games charts. The chart includes a large selection of retailers in Ireland, but not Gamestop, Xtravision, or Smyth’s Toys.
Microsoft had complained that GameStop - in Microsoft’s words, “the largest video games retailer in Ireland” - was not included in the Chart-Track data, but GameStop’s own charts back the picture of low games sales.
The console maker has said it does not release country-by-country numbers and told Games Toaster it
is unlikely to comment on the GameStop charts. The only independent numbers available helps draw a picture of large media coverage and advertising but small shear of the games sales market.
New data provided by Chart-Track to this publication shows that the PlayStation 3 gained a larger percentage 5.8 percent from March to the end of last year then the 5 percent Xbox 360 obtained in 2006, its first full year. Chart-Track’s data is complied at the point-of-sale from a large selection of retailers including Game, Tesco, Argos, PC World, HMV, Play.com, Currys, Golden Discs, and others.
GameStop Top Ten Bestsellers
- Week ending Saturday January 26, 2008
- Burnout Paradise | PS3
- Mario Sonic at the Olympics | WII
- New Super Mario Bros. | NDS
- Dr. Kawashima’s Brain Training | NDS
- More Brain Training | NDS
- Burnout Paradise | Xbox 360
- Super Mario Galaxy | WII
- The Simpsons | NDS
- Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare | PS3
- WOW 60 day pre paid card | PCR
GameStop Top Ten Bestsellers
- Week ending Saturday, 12 January 2008
- Uncharted: Drakes Fortune IRL | PS3
- Super Mario Galaxy | WII
- Dr. Kawashima’s Brain Training | NDS
- More Brain Training | NDS
- Fifa 08 | PS3
- Bee Movie | NDS
- WOW 60 day pre paid card | PCR
- Need For Speed ProStreet | PS2
- The Simpsons | NDS
- Fifa 08 | PS2
Star follows Sun’s lead on games in prisons
- More sensationalism on games consoles in Irish prisons two years later
The Irish Daily Star has followed the Irish edition of the Sun to sensationally link PlayStation access in Irish prisons to an individual criminal on their cover page.
The start of the year must be a slow news time for the two tabloid newspapers; the Irish Sun’s story was published Friday January 27, 2006, while the Star’s story was published on last Friday, February 01, 2008.
The Sun screamed “PLAYSTATION KILLER,” when there was no link to the killing in question and the games console. Meanwhile, the Star had the slightly more sober headline of “PAEDO’S PLAYSTATION”.
Nevertheless, Irish prisoners having access to games console has little to do with individual cases, and how likely it is for the 65-year-old convicted paedophile Martin Meaney to have much if any interest in computer games is also questionable.
The Star is normally levelheaded compared to the Irish editions of UK redtops available in Ireland, but in this case it invited readers to read on to page two where readers to a less than 150 words at the bottom of the
page.
The story focused on the prisoner being allowed a games console, a colour TV, and a kettle in their cells, rather then any detail of the court case which ended with Meaney receiving a two-year sentence.