Author Archives: Junior Smart

Pirates of The Carribean: On Stranger Tides – The Review

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Yes indeed – Jack Is Back…

If you were to ask any man, woman or child ten years ago to name the world’s most famous pirate, you might have heard Captain Hook, Blackbeard or perhaps even Captain Pugwash. But since the release of Pirates of the Caribbean, there can only be one pirate for many – Jack Sparrow.

The creation of acclaimed writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, none could argue that Johnny Depp indeed brings Sparrow to life in ways that many other actors of his generation could not. There simply would be no Pirates of the Caribbean without him.

There is just something about him that gets to you on so many different levels. Whether it’s his colourful swaggering demeanour, his mentality, his over the top actions that land him into trouble – or maybe it is the fact that his true motives usually remain hidden. Whether he ends up being honorable or deceptive largely depends on the situation his is in and what is at stake. Either way, Jack Sparrow is like Marmite. You love him or hate him, or perhaps – just perhaps – hate that you love him.

When the last film ended with duelling pirate ships caught in a mystical vortex, one could only wonder where the franchise would head next. For me, I was left slightly worn out of sub-plots upon sub-plots. I think in the end, I had to simplify things in my mind and group the characters into good guys and bad guys just to make sense of it all.

One thing I do remember, is a certain pirate by the name of Hector Barbossa saying that he was off to find a certain Fountain of Youth. But good old Jack, you should never trust him, let alone leave him alone with a map. Barbossa found out to his horror that Jack had torn the centre out of it. So begins another adventure, and in Stranger Tides it is none other than the Fountain of Youth that they are searching for.

Sadly, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley are absent from this movie, but for some, that will be a good thing as their romantic sub-plots have gone too. In their place is a nice-fitting Penélope Cruz, a deceitful old flame of Jack’s.

I was quite surprised at how well Cruz fits into the role. She’s Spanish, she’s feisty, and what’s more can more than hold her own against Jack both verbally and with a sword. It is her character Angelica that throws Jack into his first real pot of hot water when her crew captures him and forces him aboard The Queen Anne’s Revenge, captained by none other than the infamous Blackbeard (played excellently by Ian McShane).

Blackbeard has a good reason to be hunting the fountain of youth. It was prophesied that he will die at the hands of a one-legged pirate. The only way to escape death is to drink from the fountain and Angelica, his ‘long lost’ daughter, is only too willing to do whatever it takes to find it. Also in the hunt for the fountain is Barbossa (played again brilliantly by Geoffrey Rush), and the entire Spanish navy. Will they find it? Who will reach it first? You’re just going to have to watch the film to find out.

Making a welcome return in this film is Jack’s long-time friend Joshamee Gibbs (played by Kevin McNally) and there is a wonderful scene at the start of the film that really reinstates the bond between them. Cue Jack Sparrow entering a court room as a judge. Absolutely priceless.

Keith Richards also makes a welcome return cameo as Jack Sparrow’s father, imparting some good old words of wisdom that will no doubt come in handy in this quest. Newcomers to this adventure include a clergyman, played by Sam Claflin, Richard Griffiths as a decidedly autonomous George II, and Astrid Berges-Frisbey as the vulnerable mermaid Syrena.

One of the highlights of the film are the mermaid scenes. I won’t spoil things, but this film will reinvent the way you think of mermaids – perhaps forever. Not to mention give young kids nightmares. The scenes are shot and executed very well and bring some much needed seriousness to the light-hearted proceedings.

But the main focus of Pirates of the Caribbean has always been action. Trust me, in this instalment you get it in spades. In this respect, it is just as wearisome as the last film. Every single thing, no matter how simple or trivial, just seems like an adventure. No sooner has one set piece come to an end, then we’re thrown into another.

This is even truer for the fact that it is shot on RED 3D cameras, which provides the kind of vista almost befitting 3D gaming in that everything is in 3D –  even walls, candles, and swords. All of which makes it a little more unnerving when things come at you. Yes indeed, 3D has come a long way in the film industry.

Luckily, there are some brief moments of calm between set pieces of action where you can catch your breath, and are party to some lovely comedy. And I am pleased to say that the dialogue is totally up to scratch with some lovely camaraderie between the characters on screen.

Some reviews of On Stranger Tides have been less than promising and it almost had me sitting forward in my seat expecting to be disappointed. The truth is that I wasn’t. Yes, the film was marginally too long, yes, even the largest box of popcorn will be done by the time you reach the halfway point. But yes too, while it is true that you can have too much of a good thing, I think I will still be going back for a second helping.

 

Definitely a piece of 8

 

 

The Greatest Hits and Misses of the Mortal Kombat Franchise

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It is great that the new Mortal Kombat is back, and looking fresher than ever, but like it or not there have been some right crazy ideas along the way, events that you have probably locked out of your mind because they were so much of a nightmare that they were best left forgotten. To help you reach those all too endearing memories here is my run down of the greatest hits and misses of the Mortal Kombat series

The Greatest Hits…

Having great game designers: Ed Boon and John Tobias.

Behind anything great lie special people with ingenious ideas. In this case Ed Boon and John Tobias, both with special and some would say gory ideas on where fighting games should go. Having completed work on Smash TV, Boon turned his attention to a game which was originally going to be based on the popular actor martial artist Jean-Claude Van Damme. The idea fell through and Mortal Kombat was born. Hard to believe that Mortal Kombat started development in 1991 with just four people; Ed Boon, John Tobias, John Vogel, and Dan Forden. It is a little known fact that Mr Boon provided both voice acting and motion capture for the early games. And if that fails to surprise you, how about this: he provides the voice of Scorpion in all of the games, as well as both feature films. And I bet you didn’t know he provides a Cameo appearance in Ep 3 of Mortal Kombat Legacy? Hmm…bet you are going to tell your fiends about that one…

Having great characters and a great story.

If there is anything that has to be said is that Mortal Kombat has a huge list of characters. By the release of Mortal Kombat Armageddon there were 63 playable characters to choose from, giving it the fourth largest character roster in fighting game history, surpassing Marvel vs Capcom 2’s character roster of 56 but failing to surpass Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi series (which holds 161 if you are interested). But all of those characters wouldn’t count for anything if they were just run of the mill bog standard and boring. Think for a moment about Street Fighter and then ask yourself what set it apart from King of the Fighters or Samurai Showdown. I guarantee it will be the characters and the storyline. You have ninja’s, warriors and just plain ‘insane in the brain’ nutcases that will stop at nothing. As for the story, yes it is that age old battle of good against evil but it is delivered with finesse. Thinking back to when I first saw the first arcade machine years ago I had to admit there was something very, very dark and serious about Mortal Kombat that I don’t think has been repeated since.

Breaking new ground.

Mortal Kombat is fondly remembered for many things, most notably its high levels of blood, guts and gore, including its graphic Fatalities – finishing moves, requiring a sequence of buttons pressed in order to perform an ultra realistic (and ultra bloody) execution to your opponent. This in part, led to the creation of the ESRB and highlighted the need for censoring violence in video games bringing with it the new ‘age rating’ for gaming titles. The use of digitized sprites was also a feature of the game’s creation, which at the time was completely different to the hand-drawn cartoon style of approach which was the norm for the time (a game called Pit-Fighter tried the digitized style but it was very chunky and frankly didn’t work well at all). The control system also broke new ground, with six buttons that were high punch, low punch, high kick, low kick, block, and run (run was added in “Mortal Kombat 3”). Block and run buttons were never used in fighting games previously and have never been used since; yet we know they work and elevate the fight because they work in this game. Later games also introduced the ‘change stance’ button which surfaced in other games such as Tekken.

There is a reboot on the way

Not the ultra gritty Re-birth and web-series Legacy; no we are talking a fully fledged reboot; a re-vamp that is said to be much like the first movie but how they wanted to do it originally which is very dark. Not much else is known about it but we know it was defiantly going ahead because Threshold Entertainment filed a new breach of contract lawsuit to prevent it from moving forward. Hopefully it will all work out because the release date is penned for 2013. I am really hoping it comes to fruition because although I quite like the idea of Mortal Kombat legacy I don’t like the ‘Smallville’ way the are messing around with the mythology; as the saying goes ‘if it ain’t broke don’t try and fix it.’ hey if it works for Batman and Spiderman with all their years running the same story then trust me it ain’t broke.

Having a great movie: Mortal Kombat.

Say what you will about the Mortal Kombat movie; it still was a lot better than the other rubbish game to movie conversions that came before it. Surrounded by the Tomb Raiders and Resident Evil films it is easy to forget that not too long ago converting a game to a movie was a sure-fire way to create disaster. Who could forget the ‘so bad it stunk’ Street Fighter movie, the ‘so awful it was boycotted’ Double Dragon, or the where the f#@8 did they get the idea from ‘Super Mario Brother’s movie’. Mortal Kombat at least had characters that looked like their on screen counterpart, a plot that came from the game and who could forget that ‘bangin theme tune’. No wonder it still stands today; obviously the less that is said about it’s sequel the better.
The Misses

Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub Zero

Sub-Zero -the most enigmatic character from Mortal Kombat had his own spin-off in 1997, in the first of was originally intended to be a series of mythologies chronicling each characters back history. Sounded good on paper but in reality most games players will admit that even if the first stages were interesting it quickly became a mess of poorly digitised actors, poorly rendered cut scenes, disastrous costume and level design and that’s not mentioning game-play so frustrating, unforgiving and just plain downright annoying that it left many players with bite marks in their controllers. No wonder it quickly found itself relegated to the trade-in bin mere days after it was released.

Mortal Kombat: Annihilation

Most people hold the first Mortal Kombat movie in fairly high regard, especially when compared to the likes of the Street-Fighter movie, so with all fairness it did not fair too badly at the box office. So hey, what better way to spoil a franchise then by bringing in the big cash cow film studios to ruin things. The script and any other resemblances to the game was thrown out of the window, along with the entire cast only to be replaced with a bunch of Z-listers who if you met them you would probably just ignore, and then, just when you think it could not get any worse; in a crazy effort to mimic the game’s ‘Animalities’ it decided to bring in ridiculous CG monsters with made-for-TV quality special effects in a fight sequence you can barely make out. Three words: Bad, Very Bad.

Sweat, Sweat and More Sweat – Mortal Kombat SNES Version

Although almost comical by today’s standards, Mortal Kombat perhaps holds the title for being one of the most violent games of the 90’s. When news came out that Mortal Kombat was going to be developed for home consoles there was outrage at the level of violence and gore it contained. Parents began going ga-ga with nightmares of their children pulling their faces off and giving them ‘toasties’, giving them solid uppercuts or freezing them and ripping their hearts from fresh from their cadavers. Cue the quick formation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) to monitor violence in games and a rapid toning down of violence. At the time of the game’s Super Nintendo release, Nintendo of America had a strict “Family Friendly” policy firmly in place. This required the removal of graphic violence, religious imagery, and mentions of death from all game content. This meant that the Nintendo version had characters that sweated upon injury instead of bleeding. Given how bloody the original game was, this meant that it had more sweat than an R-Kelly and Usher music video combined and left Kano desperately needing some Lynx anti-persperant…probably.
Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm

Mortal Kombat is a violent game isn’t it? So it is kind of hard to imagine it translating well into a Saturday morning cartoon show. However the early 90’s saw just that; an animated series based on the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. With a storyline that served as a sequel to the first Mortal Kombat film what we have here is a mess of ideas. As the show was designed for young kids the ‘sensible’ choice was made to have no violence at all. But how can Mortal Kombat exist without violence; the very idea is absurd and some would even say offensive. Which begs the question of why Defenders of the Realm even made it past the planning stage? In a nutshell it was terrible; actually it was worse than that and thankfully was destined for a rapid game over.

Mortal Kombat: Conquest

Not content with destroying The Mortal Kombat mythology to pieces Mortal Kombat: Conquest dived to new depths by bringing changing the format of the movie into a television series which curiously followed the storyline of razor-hat-wearing monk Kung Lao rather than Liu Kang. On the plus side I was surprised to see Kristanna Loken (star of Terminator 3) as a main character – Taja. If you look closely you can even spot Eva Mendez in an episode. Ultimately though even with their ever so alluring smiles the series was a smoking pile of crap. Viewing figures sunk deeper than the titanic and when the producers panicked they brought out the big guns: Scorpion, Sub-zero, Goro and Smoke. In theory that should have worked except that Goro and Smoke were both badly computer generated characters and this only served to put the final nail in the coffin, bringing the series an abrupt end at season’s one finale.

Mortal Kombat – The Review

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“Finish him” “Fatality” “Excellent” “Flawless Victory”

If these famous words strike a chord in your conscience then you will be thankful for the all too recent release of the new Mortal Kombat (a.k.a MK 9) – the ninth installment in the ground breaking fighting game franchise. A game synonymous with blood, gore, death moves, twenty hit combos and did I mention blood? As Jigsaw from the SAW films quite aptly said: “Yes – there will be blood!”

Developed by NetherRealm Studios (what a name) (formerly known as WB Games Chicago and Midway Games Chicago), it is the first game published exclusively under the Warner Bros. label. At the time of writing only Xbox and Playstation 3 versions are available. Apparently the producers have discussed a PC version but unfortunately they have yet to reach an agreement.

Mortal Kombat was released almost a month ago on April 21st, but owing to the PSN outage I had to wait until full online play was restored before I could give you my full low down review.

Managing to get my hands on the full collector’s edition I was as excited as ever to fire up the disc. Mortal Kombat 9 certainly brings to the table a whole buffet of options and gaming experiences. Whilst perhaps not as over indulgent as previous titles such as Armageddon which included Kart racing and the like, for MK 9 ‘less is definitely more’ with a firm emphasis on quality over quantity.

Entering the Full Story Mode, I was surprised to see that Mortal Kombat began and played out almost like a movie. Beginning after the events of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, it is clear to see that the classic struggle between good and evil has claimed many lives on both sides. As the opening credits roll we see decapitated and tattered corpses laying in a desolate landscape while vulture type creatures feed from their flesh. In the distance we hear Raiden and Shao Khan fight. As the camera pans closer we see that this is their final battle and Raiden; the Heroic Thunder God is losing big time; his magic amulet shattered into pieces by a blow that sends him flying to the floor. Just before Shao Khan is about to deliver the final death strike, Raiden casts a spell that returns time to the very first Mortal Kombat tournament – can he change events and save the world?

Playing Mortal Kombat in the story mode puts you on a linear pathway spanning the first three games. In each chapter a short movie or cut-scene will play to set the scene and then you are thrust into the shoes of the character and will have to defeat your opponent to progress. This is a style seen before in DC Versus Mortal Kombat and to be honest it works even better here as for players new to the Mortal Kombat universe, it encourages you to learn each of the character’s moves in turn.

It starts with an introduction to the first tournament; Liu Kang, Sonya Blade and Johnny Cage arriving for the battle to defend earth with each of their motivations revealed. The storyline makes some nice nods to the feature film of old and advances through some impressive cut-scenes that really expand on what you know. Characters interact before and after a fight and whilst some of the reasons for a fight are a bit petty the dialogue is great and the action is well paced. Also, owing to the fact that Raiden now has knowledge of the future and is trying to change it, there are some lovely twists along the way as the events of the mythology are altered, so you meet characters you might not expect, characters die when you least expect, motivations are changed and different alliances are formed. This all makes for an interesting game especially for those who needed more than just a reboot.

Game modes include the typical Tower Matches of the ‘old school arcade’ which are ten battles randomly chosen with the final battle being with supreme big bad boy Shao Khan. There is also a Challenge Tower which allows players to complete different tasks to earn Kombat Currency, Online play which includes a King of the Hill tournament, where fighters line up as spectators and wait for the next battle. There is also one on one and Tag team matches to sink your teeth into.

Not so new to MK 9 is Kombat Currency; you earn it in almost everything you do in the game, every fight and every challenge. With it you can purchase art work, alternative costumes, unlockable characters the list goes on.

New to this Mortal Kombat game is the tag team system. This is where you select two characters and can swap them in and out at key moments during the fight. This is very similar manner to the Marvel versus Capcom and Tekken Tag series set of games. Essentially tag matches run at a much more frantic pace to the normal game with characters jumping in and out at will, so learning how to jump in and out and initiate tag team combos is essential, as it can turn simple combinations into brutal air juggles and that is not even when taken into account the new super attacks.

Super attacks are initiated through use of another first for this game the “super meter”. This is charged by various actions during battle such as blocking successfully, performing a combo or getting hit by the opponent. The super meter can be charged to three levels and depending on the available level, three special actions are made available. A single level can be used to deliver an enhanced version of any one of the character’s special attacks; two levels can be used to interrupt a combo, and the full three levels will allow for the delivery of a special combo called an X-ray move. X-ray moves are very exciting and satisfying to pull off; the camera zooms in and shows an inside view of the character that is being attacked, showing bones and organs being broken or ruptured with each impact. The amount of damage you can inflict (or receive) is incredible and can really make or break a match, so it really does count to understand and manage your meter properly as well as to watch that of your opponent’s. Obviously Fatalities are a key point of this game and here whilst MK 9 has less of the smorgasbord of signature death moves, babilties and brutalities etc present in previous titles what it does have doesn’t disappoint. The death moves here whilst over the top are truly disturbing and gruesome. To help you get started there is even fatality tutorials so you can practice before you ‘enter the field’. It definitely warrants its 18 certificate.

Talking of 3D, this Mortal Kombat 9 is one of the first side-on fighting games to utilise stereoscopic 3D graphics for 3D compatible TV’s. I really didn’t think that this was going to work that well, I mean; if a game is in a 2D plane how can you as the gamer really be immersed in a 3D world. However, whilst this is not by any means one of the best 3D experiences I have seen in a game it is not done badly. NetherRealm Studios decided to reserve 3D effects for the fight matches only and whilst this leaves out the cut-scenes (which in many ways would have been perfect for 3D effects) what this does mean is that the level of immersion comes in the depth of the characters and their backgrounds. This brings to life the vista that is the Mortal Kombat world. For instance when you are fighting in the coliseum you can clearly see Shao Khan on the throne edging the crowd on. As you fight in the city you can see the Extermination squads setting fire to the city and dragons breathing fire onto helicopters as cars skid past you and crash, another noteworthy stage is the train station where litter gets blown past you and trains fire through the station in the midst of your battle. Although a little bit gimmicky if you have a 3D TV these effects do stand out are all nice touches especially if you are lacking games with 3D content.

Not so good is the online play. I am not sure if this was because the PSN network is yet to be restored properly or maybe that a lot of PS3 owners had defected to the XBOX 360, but trying to get into any match took quite a while. When I finally did manage to get into one, I found connection to be more than decidedly dodgy. Hopefully an update will sort this out. If it doesn’t though I figure I will be better off calling the boys round for a ‘quiet night in’.

One last thing that I do have to mention what this game has in its favour is the inclusion of the God of War character Kratos; all I can say is wow. I think if they had just included him without any real thought to the actual character; how he moves etc, then he would be a let down. As it is they have given him the full works; with a real insane fatality to boot. The only thing that is not so impressive is the non inclusion to XBOX owners – Come on NetherRealm Studios – that is just not fair.

My final verdict-
Whilst I am not an avid supporter of gratuitous blood, guts and gore in video games I have to admit that I shamelessly enjoyed this game. It is the re-telling of the story that needed to be told and in many ways exactly what the franchise needed. Packed full with tons of extra features and options, gamers and fans of the series are going to be in for a treat!

9.3 / 10

How does this game compare to others in its genre?

Fighting games are two-a-penny these days, this is however the first proper installment on the PS3

Equal to: Marvel Vs Capcom 3, Super Street Fighter IV.

Better than: Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2, Soul Calibur 6, BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, Tekken 6 (only just).

PSN Back Online

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You heard it from us at Frost magazine – the Playstation Network is now back on line.

Although the Playstation Store still comes up saying, ‘currently undergoing maintenance’, all the other features appear to be working.

Yesterday (15th), we told you that you were able to download the latest update for your PS3 – version 3.61. Well, today you can get access to all your account information, including billing and card details, although we are sure that it won’t be long before the rest of the service is up and running

Attempting to sign in today brings up the password change request. There are no options to cancel this – you have to change it, although thankfully it doesn’t ask for the old password. After that, we recommend you head straight for account management and amend all the personal info as necessary. There is also an option for the password to be entered before any action is completed in the store like check out – which, while infuriating to some owners, is probably a wise option considering what information might have been stolen.

Sony were forced to close its network and implement new security protocol after the details of over 77 million users were stolen from their servers.

PSN Update: PSN Back Online In Parts Of U.S.

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The Sony Store and PSN are now back on line in certain parts of the U.S.

In an amazing move that is sure to surprise users of PS3, Sony appears to have brought the deadline of bringing its network back ahead of the speculated deadline of the 31st. And although the PSN is only fully active in the United States right now, UK owners of PS3 can download the latest update (3.61) for their machines today (15th).

In the US, users are requested to change their passwords after installing the update to take advantage of the new features as well as the ‘thank you for your patience package’ offered by Sony after their service was hijacked and taken off line nearly a month ago. More than 77 million users had their personal details stolen.

You can be sure more news will follow. Keep your browser on Frost for all the latest updates.

 

PSN Network goes down.

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PSN Network goes down –

Another day – another day without the Playstation Network (PSN) being up and running.
Shut down on the 20th for what many gamers thought might be just a couple of hours, annoyingly hours then turned into days and with bank holiday Monday now well and truly over and the Royal Wedding on the horizon – online gaming on the PS3 has now ground to a complete halt.

If the news reports are to be believed then our worst fears have been confirmed.
“Hackers have seized control of gamers details” “Sony are asking for gamers to check their accounts for ID fraud”

The current situation has got gamers screaming at their screens ‘Just what the hell is going on Sony!’
Sony came clean a few days ago admitting that the service was compromised by hackers. The outside ‘intrusion’ was apparently so severe that it warranted one of the key people in the high level of the food chain within Sony to throw the ‘kill switch’ to prevent further damage. As a result, the company disabled the service Wednesday evening last week to investigate the matter, an official statement indicated.

Spokesperson for Sony Patrick Seybold said “An external intrusion on our system has affected our PlayStation Network and Qriocity services,” Temporary closure to the service was done “to conduct a thorough investigation and to verify the smooth and secure operation of our network services going forward”

Regrettably this is not the first time Sony has shut their PSN Network and then blamed the issue on outside ‘intrusion’. Scouring other sites gives clues that point the finger towards hacking group ‘Anonymous’, however they were quick on Thursday to deny any involvement in the matter. The group is reportedly not happy with Sony over its treatment of hacker George Hotz – you know the chap, the one who became infamous over his hacking into Iphones and was filmed having hacked into a PS3 so that it would run an open source version of Linux.

This was like a kick in the teeth for Sony; the PS3 was previously thought of as virtually un-hackable that was until Hotz got his mitts on it, so they promptly took him to court and charged him with copyright infringement. This intrusion is a bit like ripples on a pond because it risks drawing out other hackers who might have an axe to grind with Sony or might see it as an opportunity to gain reputation.

All the while gamers are the ones left suffering and Sony stupidly left its gamers in the dark for quite some time and in doing so risked damaging their reputation.

Understandably they are getting angry. One gamer posts on his site: ‘Thanks to you Sony I had to talk to my wife over Easter – thanks a lot!’ and there are some rumours / propaganda circulating from the XBOX fraternity urging gamers to now switch sides and get an XBOX if they want to be playing online by the next bank holiday.
So why is this situation driving gamers into a frenzy? Well, PS3 users rely on the network to play online content and gain enhanced features from their games. Titles such as the recent release of Mortal Kombat and Crysis 2 are heavily dependant on online play; to put it simply without it games have limited life spans, PSN is also the source for demos, trailers and downloadable content and the main centre for gamers to play together online. Far be it without the network gamers would have no choice but to be social again and we can’t have that can we?
Jokes aside there is a very serious side to this, because if your account details have been compromised, copied or cloned it will be really hard to check for internet or identity fraud until it is too late. So the advice is to go into your bank (rather than online) and check all your statements for anything suspicious. Any questionable withdrawals or payments you should raise directly with the bank’s fraud team. Passwords are equally a big issue because many people use the same passwords for a range of different accounts. It makes sense for all users to change their passwords.

In terms of when the PSN will be back up and running Sony posted this blog yesterday “We have a clear path to have PlayStation Network and Qriocity systems back online, and expect to restore some services within a week.”
For some gamers, a week is way too long to wait. I await with baited breath, Sony have always had a tight grip on their console network and it has always been free to users. Let’s hope this matter gets resolved.

Motorstorm Apocalypse – Gaming Review

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Imagine a post apocalyptic cityscape, perhaps akin to that seen in ‘Fist of the North Star’ or ‘2012’ and as desolate as that seen in ‘I am Legend’. You get the idea – broken glass, skyscrapers leaning vehemently on edge, a feeling of total dread, the lingering question ‘what on earth happened here’ filling your thoughts. Suddenly an earth shattering roar of engines fill the air, first one, then two, then you in your vehicle enter into sight. Hearing the rumble of another earth tremor on the way you hammer home your pedal to the floor and hit the nitrous oxide switch so you can enter onto a ramp that will leap you over a chasm of destruction.

Scenes like this are pretty common in Motorstorm Apocalypse; the newest edition to the Motorstorm franchise. From the moment you get past the somewhat lengthy installation and see the first introduction you realise that developer Evolution Studios wanted to bring something new and dynamic to the table. It is clear that they had had enough of the deserts, mud tracks and palm trees of their first two titles and now just wanted to mix things up a little which basically equates to just ‘destroying things’ because that is exactly what happens, oh and by ‘destroy things’ I mean a little thing by the name of earth…well a city…but can you blame me for capitalising on the dramatic moment?

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery then the makers of Split Second should be well pleased; after all this is the very style of genre that they created therefore is the only other title that this can be compared to. However as great as Split Second is, it has been out for a quite a while now, players have been round the block a few times with it and are looking for something new. Thank the heavens Motorstorm is still a PS3 exclusive franchise. As the saying goes – Ha-ha-hee-hee Xbox owners.

Whereas Split Second allowed players to initiate the explosions that tear apart rivals, Motorstorm flings you into cataclysmic events where in every track the world is literally pulling itself apart. Hence tracks change from dramatically from lap to lap, buildings fall from the sky, earthquakes will rip open gaping chasms, and in a world where an ever more erratic population create civil unrest, the police are pushed into controlling the crowds with ever more questionable methods. Sounds a tad familiar? Well Sony thought so, enough to push back the release date significantly after the recent world catastrophes of late. Is this game art imitating life or life imitating art? You decide. In reality it is a tragedy and one’s thoughts can only go out to the families affected – some of which were Sony’s own developers.

The story behind Motorstorm is told this time through a series of gritty motion comics. In it we join the ‘Stormers’. These are a group of nutcases who have a lot in common with ‘Storm chasers’ but rather than chasing storms for perhaps scientific purposes this group are have actually heard about the impending disasters and are actually hoping that the unpredictable and inhospitable conditions will create the ultimate racing experience.

Enter then three lunatics…erm…I mean racers taking part in the Motorstorm festival: Mash; a rookie racer who managed to stow away on the festival’s ship. Tyler; a hard edged racer who likes to gamble on his races and is also member of a racing fraternity called the ‘Brotherhood’. Finally there is Big Dog; a veteran racer who just doesn’t give a damn.

In festival mode these three characters represent the game’s three difficulty levels; first you will play as Mash, then Tyler and finally Big Dog. Their cut scenes will show you how their stories intertwine. In festival mode you can’t choose which vehicle to use for each race, which is a shame but what this does mean is that you’re given a great introduction to the various types of vehicles on offer, and the different handling that each provides. Each character too has their own racing style; for example Mash who is an amateur racer has vehicles with a lower top speed but a higher grip, whereas Tyler tends to opt for Muscle cars with a higher power range and a lower grip meaning that you really have to squeeze that break to power-slide around corners in order to make it through.

There are a larger number of vehicles to play with in this title compared to previous offerings ranging from small dirt bikes and ATVs, right through to big rigs and monster trucks. New additions include super bikes, hot hatches, super cars and rally cars all of which have their own strengths and weaknesses. Bikes are quick and light and so can reach areas that larger vehicles can’t, but they can’t take much punishment from other opponents and are easily wrecked, while the trucks are slow but resistant to damage. As typical of Motorstorm there are multiple routes to the finish line and which route you take will depend largely on what you are driving and whom you are facing off against.

Sad to say but the handling in this game is nowhere near as good as that seen in Split-Second with the bike being especially twitchy; so twitchy in fact, that at slow speeds you will almost want to throw the joypad at the screen in disgust. However games players shouldn’t be deterred, for this title more than makes up it in terms of pure destructive mayhem.

There are nine different race environments, on which there is a base of 33 tracks featuring different disasters. These all feature a number of critical disaster moments that really do give each race a thrilling adrenaline rush, or will make your jaw drop; one out of the two. The ‘Skyline’ track is especially worthy of note as it sees you racing on top of skyscrapers in the middle of an earthquake and as some buildings fall they actually form or change the layout of track and may I impart a word or two of caution: don’t you dare miss that jump. Nevertheless, for all of its credit it does come at a price in terms of graphical finesse; this title is just a whole lot weaker graphically than that seen in Pacific Rift where there was shadows and realistic convulsive lighting effects.

However, This could be seen as a minor criticism as it does deliver and does so without a hint of slow down or motion blurring in order to achieve its aim of making you say ‘Wow’ and ‘Did you just see that?’

As typical of Motorstorm, this game is about how and when to use your boost. Rather than other titles where you are rewarded with it by driving into oncoming traffic for example, in this game you have it from the start. However, it overheats quite quickly and too much boost in one go will cause your vehicle to explode into a rolling ball of flames. Taking your finger off the boost button allows it to cool down as does driving through water. Boost can also be used to ram opponents off the road, but compared to other takedown systems such as Need for Speed Hot Pursuit this is a rather disappointing effort with little, if any thought gone into creating cut-scenes of your opponents spinning out of control.

I was pleased to see an enhanced game system and improved AI opponents. In previous Motorstorm games they would just be plain unfair and some would say that in a sense the whole franchise has been built on the whole ‘love to hate’ nature of the game. You could be in 1st place one moment, crash and end up in 15th all on the final lap. Those moments are gone, or are at least few and far between and I say that this is a good thing especially as owing to the nature of the game the likelihood is that you will crash and crash often, thus they wisely have made the re-spawn rate very quick and brought the AI level down a notch or two. This doesn’t mean your opponents are stupid, far from it, using shortcuts and boosts to keep you on your toes and the different characters give you a great introduction to the game and its mechanics.

What really provides strength in this title is the wealth of options for both online and offline play. In addition to Festival mode you later unlock Hardcore Festival in Wreakreation mode, which lets you replay the race against super-aggressive opponents. There are also Time Attack modes, with results which appear on global leaderboards; allowing you to compete for the best time with others online. Wreakreation also has the now standard Quick Race mode, letting you race a circuit with the vehicle of your choice. You can also select from three different racing types: standard races; and elimination; where the racer in the last position is periodically destroyed. There is also Chase, where you must maintain a certain distance between yourself and the race leader. Other options include managing the AI difficulty, number of laps, and whether disaster incidents take place. But honestly – would you really want to turn it off?

Quick races can be played locally with up to three other players via split-screen which makes a welcome return in this title and is something I think developers of late have long forgotten. So what if there is slightly less detail when you play split-screen? What I want is to be able to get my mates round crack open a beer and beat them in person rather than arranging to meet them online or having to play against some unknown individual who may even try and get to know me. This brings back the social element to gaming.

Online there is a really nice Perks system that lets you choose from a selection of three power-ups to use in a race. These include Swift Return, which gives you a quicker respawn to the track; Critical, which allows you to hold your boost for longer; and Cheap Shot, which lets you ram people using less of your boost. Each race awards you with chips, a form of experience points, which increases your driver level which in turn unlocks new perks. You can also unlock new player icons, driver avatars, and parts for cars, which you can use to customise your favourite ride for online races. I found that any customisation was purely visual, so no matter what I added, my vehicle performed the same. This is a bit of a let down especially when potentially it could offer the gamer so much and would have brought something new to the table.

If you’re one of those people lucky enough to own a 3D screen, well let me tell you that you’re in for a treat. As many of you may well know, I have had an issue with so called 3D games for quite some time now; and my argument has been that there is nowhere near enough content to warrant buying one. This is one of those games that could very nearly change my mind. I was lucky enough to play this on a 3D screen and although there was a marked drop in the resolution I was totally stunned by what I saw. Driving on the skyline track now literally brings an explosion of rubble down around you, water and mud which before would land on the screen and trickle down now appears to whiz past your face. This all creates a rare experience of fear and dread that I haven’t experienced in quite sometime. To be honest I had to play the game again because I felt sad when I completed it and the roller-coaster ride came to an end.

This is one of those rare instances where I would say 3D really enhances the experience, making each race even more that intense than it already is. Perhaps it is little wonder really, as this game was designed in 3D the same way a 3D movie is made for 3D; not like a 2D movie which has the 3D makeover bits added afterwards. If you check the history books, Sony did this same feat years back when they introduced Gran Turismo to the world at a time when many gamers thought racing games had had their day and thought the PS One was done for. Not so said Sony. I am as awestruck now as I was back then.

My Final Verdict –
Motorstorm Apocalypse is a joy ride of epidemic proportions. It’s fun to play, has jaw-dropping visuals and provides perhaps some of the most intense racing experiences seen on the PlayStation 3 of late. It does have a number of shortcomings that let it down, but these negatives are far outweighed by positives that this title has to offer. With the plethora of content and great multiplayer options Motorstorm Apocalypse is an incredible game that just needs to be played. In short I think it will go down a storm.

9.2 / 10

How does this game compare to others in its genre?

This is really hard as the only other game in its genre is Split Second, so the only other comparable game genre are those with big jumps and big air –

Equal to: Split-second

Better than: Nail’d, Pure, Motorstorm and Motorstorm – Pacific Rift

Nintendo 3DS – The Review

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God bless that in 2011 it still boils down to not what you know, but who you know. I mean my friend is like a gaming addict man. If games were in powdered form he would be stuck in some grotty pub toilet somewhere and he would never come out. Most people would wait for the Nintendo 3DS to reach our shores in its timely but yet extended wait, but not him, he imports the bloody thing. Shame it only arrives a few days beforehand.

God bless the small print…

 

But who am I to complain, especially when I am sitting here now with perhaps one of the most eagerly anticipated blue clams in gaming tech history with perhaps the most enviable task in history of breaking it down to all of you. Thank God it’s Friday.

 

In case you didn’t know, or was hiding out near Jupiter for the last decade or so, Japanese based company Nintendo is responsible for all those iconic household names like Super Mario, SNES, Gameboy and erm…Duck Hunt. In the ‘chicken versus egg’ of gaming history none could argue that Nintendo was the chicken, even if it wasn’t the most powerful system out there it did make it the most accessible, smashing the SEGA Master system into a million pieces and more.

 

The last serious console effort – The Wii, again reinvented ideas of console entertainment, beckoning gamers back into the home like Labour would welcome voters back into the polling station. In a world where solitude online play was fast becoming the norm, the Wii made it a social activity.

I still refuse to see the Nintendo DS as a serious console effort – hand consoles just lack the graphical power or raw intensity of experience that you can get with a console. I just can’t think of a journey long enough where I could become absorbed in a game. However, Nintendo is almost like ‘Apple’ in the way they consistently refine ‘objects of desire’ and I have to admire them for refining the erm…refinements…until now where we have something pretty substantial it looks like they are about to change the gaming world yet again.

 

3D is pretty substantial for any home console but can a handheld have 3D and better yet, one that is achieved without the need for 3D glasses? I was eager to find out what it looked like, what it played like; I had that energetic feeling in my tummy, the one that you get as a kid when you know tomorrow is Christmas.

At first glance it looks exactly like its predecessors, although slightly bulkier and defiantly more robust. Open the lid and you immediately notice it still has the same dual-screen, touch sensitive set up. The most striking addition is the new circle pad, which feels very ergonomic. Slightly less obvious are the three buttons below the touch screen: Start, Select and the new Home button are now flush to the surface in a very Samsung-esque fashion. Pressing the Home button returns you to the 3DS main menu, pausing your game while you’re there and bringing up options for you to use. I have to say this is very reminiscent of the PS3 or Xbox 360 menu which is not altogether a bad thing.

On the right side are the usual Y, X, B and A buttons for gaming, and around the sides there is an SD card slot for saving photos, music and…well…you know…regular stuff, the usual stylus port for the system’s pointer, two small shoulder buttons and a headphones socket. Worth mentioning are the speakers, maybe it has been a while since I used a regular DS but the speakers on this machine seem to have been improved, with greater clarity on the low and upper end of the sound spectrum.

On the right side of the upper screen there’s a slider control, allowing users to adjust the 3D intensity – basically shifting the two virtual cameras in the game further apart or closer together. It is possible to play games in normal 2D if you fancy. Interestingly enough I saw various leaflets regarding stereoscopic sickness, and what Nintendo recommends players should do if start to suffer blurred vision and / or headaches, there are also warnings that children under six should not play 3D titles. Hmmm….

I won’t go into the actual technology in this review as I think that has already been well covered by various other articles, but I will say is that in order to receive the full 3D depth effect you need to hold the device directly in front of your face, perhaps what some would say at a comfortable reading height. Moving it around; perhaps like you might do with a mobile phone game just ruins the effect and makes it go all flat and blurry. Think of it a bit like one of those ‘magic eye pictures’. Once you find your optimum position it is kind of striking how immediate and dramatic the 3D effect is.

As for the 3D effect itself, you quickly realise what the 3DS is, and is not capable of doing. If you think it will be like one of those 3D movie or console type effects where things blast ‘at you’ and whiz ‘past you’ from the screen think again; the screen is just too small to provide that kind of immersion; in fact knowing this has made Nintendo almost remove it from the equation. Instead it plays to its strengths. Imagine peering down a rabbit hole or looking down a well and it will give you a much more of an accurate idea of what the 3D experience is like, in the sense that the viewing pleasure is one of depth and expansion. It’s worth noting too that while the 3D is without doubt exceptionally cool, it adds absolutely nothing to the game play itself, for example you won’t be using it to peek around corners or using it to better judge your shot. In most cases when we talk about the 3D imagery what we are really talking about is no more than cosmetic changes.

The 3DS has not one, not two, but three cameras scattered about its casing so that it can capture stereoscopic pictures. For those of you getting excited right now, one word – don’t – Together all three cameras offer a combined resolution just short of one megapixel. That said, taking 3D photos with it are a lot of fun. I wouldn’t say the 3D photos make your jaw drop – but it is interesting to see. It’s only shortcomings being that you can only share the images by gathering everyone around your handheld or giving them to another 3DS owner on an SD card. This spoils the social element of taking snaps in 3D, after all you are the only one who can see them, at least immediately, and at present there is no online platform to upload them to. Then again, some would say that is exactly what your smart phone and camera are there for.

 

Prior to getting my hands on the 3DS I had heard all manner of complaints about the battery life; this made me even more determined to test this out for myself. Sadly I was disappointed. Whilst certainly not as bad as I feared, with full 3D the battery lasted just short of three hours which is no where good enough. If you turn the WiFi off – let’s face it on most public transportation you are not likely to be using it – you save power and can add about another half-hour to that total. Equally the same goes for playing old DS titles or removing the 3D depth completely; basically the more power you save, the longer you have – but surely doesn’t that just defeat the idea.

 

In terms of games, Nintendo have done themselves proud with no less than 13 titles released on the same day, including:

Pilotwings Resort
Nintendogs + Cats: (Golden Retriever, French Bulldog and Toy Poodle editions)
Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition
The Sims 3
Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D
LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
Ridge Racer 3D
Super Monkey Ball 3D
Samurai Warriors: Chronicles
Asphalt 3D
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell 3D
Rayman 3D

 

I can’t speak for other gamers but I am glad that Nintendo seem to be maturing a little with the 3DS, I was worried that the majority of titles would be soft, cuddly and fluffy like their Wii counterparts. Not so, besides Lego, Sims and Nintendogs (personally I would like to see a Snoopdogs) most of the games lie in mature action or puzzle territory which can only be a good thing.

 

I suppose the real question with the 3DS is the price and whether it is actually worth it. 3D and me have had a bit of a troubled history, in my opinion it is a term that is overused and under-attempted in the same way that VR was used back in the 90’s with everyone talking about a Virtual Reality that in no way shape or form came close to the real Virtual Reality, instead in the end it became no more than a label to define something that was different and not to mention costly. We are seeing it now with 3D; cumbersome LCD’s, 3D glasses which are more expensive than your console just to play games with this whole 3D element in them. Sure, Avatar, Tron Legacy, and other films have brought it back into fashion, but 3D has now become a sexy word. Having 3D in the palm of your hand is therefore seen as desirable from the off, the suggested retail price of £229.99, which is more than a Wii but ‘just that little bit less’ that an outright console will no doubt get gamers thinking it is a good buy and in their hype to play as many 3D games as possible will dash out, ignore the cost of the games; some which cost the equivalent of their full console counterparts and foolishly buy up whole shops. All for a hand console which will probably drop in price soon anyway.

 

I can hear the sounds of gamers cooing already at reading this saying to themselves…

’it’s the technology’ ‘you get what you pay for’ ‘how dare you say that, have you ever made a 3D game….’

 

Well…erm no I haven’t but I have done my homework and know that if you ‘must have one’ you’ll find much cheaper prices if you shop around.

 

Most of the big supermarkets are selling it at £200, with special offers chucked in – Tesco, for example, is slinging in one 3DS game for £10 up to today and HMV and Game also have a range of trade-in deals, offering a reduced price 3DS in return for your old DS, PSP or console. Some of these deals are slightly more dubious than others, so look closely and always check the small print.

 

My verdict – the 3DS is here. Boy it looks good, sounds good and delivers the…erm goods. Not quite the 3D some might expect but it is tasty and it does work well. Equally it brings the term ‘special’ to the palm of your hand. The 3D isn’t for everyone, if you haven’t seen the 3D in action it I recommend you go down to a game store and try it before purchase because it is a lot to spend. Having said that though there is no doubt that this will fly off the shelves purely because it brings something different to gaming.

It is good to see Nintendo back in action, the very technology that they have developed here beckons a new future of gaming again. And boy, it is a reason to be happy. If it wasn’t for bad memories of their last 3D effort – the Future Boy I would sleep in pixilated wet dreams…for now though I will keep one eye open…