Tag Archives: games

Kim Cattrall stars in Nintendo’s new Super Mario 3D Land TV campaign

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A fun new TV campaign highlights how women like to game in their ‘me time’

Iconic screen and stage actress Kim Cattrall will add some Hollywood glamour to Nintendo’s latest TV campaign for Super Mario 3D Land, as she reveals her secret passion for gaming.

The brand new adverts, which launch on 11th June, show Kim in her bedroom reaching over to her bedside table and opening her Ice White Nintendo 3DS as she indulges in a bit of ‘me time’.

Kim shares how Mario is one man she can always rely on to have some fun and adds, with a twinkle in her eye, that their shared love of dressing up has kept things interesting over the years.

Nintendo first approached Kim after hearing how much she enjoys playing video games whether with friends or on her own. The campaign aims to show how the rich and colourful world of Mario provides the perfect escape for women for five minutes or five hours*.

Kim understands that women need to keep challenging themselves in all areas of life, and that it is important to make time to play, at every age. Through the campaign, Kim helps to show that gaming can be a form of escapism for all women, in their busy everyday lives.

Vanisha Kavia, Junior Product Manager at Nintendo UK, said: “The new campaign is all about women having fun. Kim Cattrall is an inspiration for women of all ages; she’s attractive, successful, intelligent and knows how to have fun. Plus, she is a genuine fan of Nintendo! We are really excited to have her involved in our new campaign.”

Kim Cattrall said: “It has been fabulous to work with Nintendo. I have been playing Nintendo games for years, have often gifted them to my family and have fallen in love with the new Nintendo 3DS and Super Mario 3D Land. I think it’s really important for women to take time out to play and Mario games are so much fun. An added bonus is that my nephew thinks I am the coolest aunty.”

Super Mario 3D Land is the first-ever true 3D Mario adventure game and sees the return of the Tanooki suit. It launched exclusively on Nintendo 3DS in November 2012, has remained in the top 25 games chart since launch and, like all Mario titles, is particularly popular with women.

Usher Performs at Xbox 360 Conference.

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Usher performed his latest song ‘Scream’ at the Xbox 360 press conference at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles. The star demonstrated the moves that players and his fans will be able to learn and perform in the new forthcoming game, Dance Central 3, exclusively on Kinect for Xbox 360.

Usher has choreographed two of his songs for the best-selling dancing game, out later this year.

Top 10 Street Fighter Facts

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Here at Frost, I am getting all excited about the latest bone crunching matchup release that is Street-fighter X Tekken.

In case you didn’t know anything about it – it pairs up the mighty and most loved characters from the Street-fighter arena and flings Tekken fighters into the mix for an all hands down, blood sweat and tears fisty cuffs. Think of Marvel Vs Capcom, but with finesse. Think of Tekken Tag Team but with more accessible moves, think of Father Christmas Vs the erm…Easter Bunny – yes, it sounds insane but it does work.

Street Fighter X Tekken hits the shops this Friday, and of course the review will be here in Frost Magazine. But for now to get you excited as I am here are some top facts about perhaps the biggest and well-known franchise of all time.

  1. If Ryu was a real person he would be 47 – yep, you heard that right, in the original Street Fighter game Ryu’s date of birth is clearly stated as July 21, 1964 which makes him 47 to date. So, not so much Hurricane Kick as Hurricane wheelchair. Not like I would ever tell him that to his face…obviously.
  1. Ken and Ryu are the only characters that have appeared in every single Street Fighter title. In the first StreetFighter, you could only play as Ryu by default in single player, and player two as Ken in multiplayer. The two are best friends (and rivals) from different sides of the world. Ken is an American-born fighter, and Ryu from Japan. According to the storyline, and the fantastic Manga Movie they trained at the same school of martial arts – the same school that can been seen on the first stage of the original Street fighter game. Their tournament led them to take on the final boss, Sagat. In the final battle between Sagat and Ryu, Ryu defeated Sagat with a mighty dragon punch, leaving him with his iconic chest scar.
  1. Evil Ryu was a fluke and came about by chance. I am going to feel like I am telling a child that Santa doesn’t actually leave presents but it’s true. You can believe the ‘published’ stories that Ryu succumbed to ‘the dark side’ but the reality was that in the arcade version of Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo there was a ‘cheat’ to get a hidden character – Akuma. To do so required a series of button presses on the character selection screen which would land on Ryu at the last step. If you did it correctly Ryu’s face would be replaced with a blacked out image of Akuma, which would reap incredible kudo’s and benefits in the game for the player.  However if you did it wrongly you would still end up choosing Ryu but a somewhat tanned version which would reap humiliation because everyone would know what you had tried to do. This was originally meant to be an in-game joke but such was the feedback that Capcom in later additions gave the tanned version extra abilities which were similar to Akuma and thus a new character was born.
  1. There were two American Street Fighter movies made, the first, titled Street Fighter starring Jean-Claude Van Damme as Guile, and Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue as Cammy. The second adaptation released in 2009 was called Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li which stars Kristin Kruek as Chun-Li, Chris Klein as Charlie, Michael Clarke Duncan as Balrog, and one of those dudes from the Black Eyed Peas (Taboo) as Vega. In essence all you need to know is that they are crap. Well, that’s not entirely true the first movie is crapity crap, crap and the second one is, well…average…o.k. no it is crap.
  1. Super Street Fighter 4 was the first game in the series to be released on console before hitting the arcade. The simple answer to why this happened is because the arcade industry is slowly dying. Blame it on the recession, or newly formed anti-social behaviour with this generation of couch-dwelling gamers. Don’t believe me? Well check out the once flourishing arcades known as Namco Wonder-Park or Fun Land Trocadero in central London. Once upon a time games developers would prize themselves on bringing out ever more elaborate gaming cabinets and gaming hardware. Once upon a time it would be the hardware in the arcade pushing the home markets. Now it is the opposite and you will find that these gaming arenas are slowly closing their doors, making it difficult for game companies to justify making a true arcade game over a console game.

Ever get that feeling when you see someone who looks exactly like you?

  1. Dee Jay, Super Street Fighter II’s Jamaican kick boxer, was originally designed to have pants that read “MANTIS” down the side of his leg. However, the words would not have looked right when his sprite was mirrored to face the opposite direction. To save time and resources the game designers changed the word to the vertically symmetric “MAXIMUM,” so it can be spelled correctly facing either direction. Think “MAXIMUM” is cheesy? Other options for his pants could have been “YUMMY”, “WAX MOUTH”, “OOOH YUMMY MUMMY” or “HI WHY AM I A MOM”.

Sheng Long...you know? Dragon Punch thingy? ...oooh just forget it!

  1. Quite a few things were lost in translation. Whenever Ryu won a match during the one of the early iterations of Street Fighter II, he would say, “You must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance.” Who or what the heck is Sheng Long? I hear you cry well, “Sheng Long” is actually the Chinese pronunciation of “Sho-Ryo”, as in “Sho-Ryu-Ken” (better known as the Dragon Punch). What Ryu was trying to say at the time was that his opponent needed to master his technique in order to defeat him. Due to one poor translator’s epic mistranslation, many gamers across the world believed that Ryu’s cryptic words hinted at a hidden character named Sheng Long. Taking full advantage of gamers’ gullibility, Electronic Gaming Monthly Magazine pulled off one of the greatest April Fool’s jokes of all time and claimed that Sheng Long is indeed a playable character. The long-rumoured master of Ryu and Ken can be unlocked by performing certain ridiculously difficult feats, causing players from across the world to pour in quarter after quarter into Street Fighter II machines in order to unlock him. So how did Capcom respond to the Sheng Long fiasco? They made him a real character of course for the release of 2009’s Street Fighter IV.
  1. Bruce Lee lives on – Street Fighter’s very own Fei Long has more than a striking resemblance to what many would call the god father of Martial Arts Bruce Lee but it is not the only game where his likeness appears. It seems as if any fighting game worth their salt pays homage to his memory and with damn good reason; the man, the myth and the movies are the reason many a man has jumped about, pulled a mean scowl, imitated his cool noises and even tried to do a bicycle kick. He has appeared in many many games but here are a few: Liu Kang (Mortal Kombat)  Jann Lee (Dead or Alive) Kim Dragon (World Heroes) and Marshall Law (Tekken). Now Fei Long versus Marshall Law would be the mother of all match ups but will they make it to the final rosta of characters?

Fireball is just a projection but still looks cool and is well handy....

  1. No such thing as a fireball – just a cheap trick. I used to think that it was a huge ball of energy moving out of Ryu’s hands whenever I managed to pull off his fireball move. That is until I saw the picture above. Look closely at the still image of the Hadoken Fireball. The centre of the flame of the fireball is an image of Ken and Ryu’s hands. Developers at Capcom must have been laughing.
  1. Street Fighter X Tekken is the first time that a Street Fighter game will actually become a crossover. Capcom does come out with a lot of crossovers, but this is the first time they’ve teamed up with Tekken. Announced at the “Street Fighter Mania! SSFIV and Beyond” panel at Comic-Con 2010, it is another benchmark in the Street Fighter history books.

 

Lionel Blair Charades on Twitter This Christmas

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LIONEL BLAIR CHA, CHA, CHA-RADES ONTO TWITTER THIS CHRISTMAS

National treasure, dance legend and charade champion Lionel Blair is the face of the first live-streamed twitter charades game show on 8th December!

· Former ‘Give Us a Clue’ captain Lionel Blair is the face of the first live-streamed, Twitter-led Christmas charades.

· “Lionel Blair’s Twitter Christmas Charades” live streaming on 8th December

· Join in and guess via Twitter in real-time to win Lionel prizes

· Embed i-frame on your website so viewers can play along

Former ‘Give Us a Clue’ captain Lionel Blair is the face of the first live twitter-led homage of the popular family game show in a Christmas special created by digital agency Collective.

“Lionel Blair’s Twitter Christmas Charades” is the 21st century update on the popular family game and Blair, along with help from everyone playing along on Twitter and a panel, will be appearing live in London, ready to respond to the real-time guesses made via Twitter.

Tune in to www.collectivelondon.com on the 8th December and play along with Lionel via the live video stream for the chance to win some signed Lionel merchandise, and be hailed as a charade champion. Add your guess in real-time via Twitter, using hashtag #Lionelscharades.

More information can be found by following Collective London on Twitter @collectiveldn or on the agency’s Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/collectivelondon

Coming soon…. Host on the day Joe Fry will introduce the Christmas game show and explain the rules on a special videocast ahead of the big day!

Top Ten Christmas Computer Games

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HO-Ho-HO

Christmas is once again upon us and you know what that means: games; but not just any game, only the finest games will do. Only the finest games will still make it past the Boxing day and New Year trade ins. Only the finest games will be the ones that your special lad (or lass) will be talking about, showering you with praise and calling you erm, ‘Love muffin’ all night long.

So when you think about it, you need a Father Christmas like me. I am the fairy tale you can believe in. Follow my top ten and rest assured that although they will be some turkeys out there it all will end happily ever after, ignore it and trust me there will be a lot of booing and hissing and cries of ‘she’s behind you’…

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3

People have got all emotional over which is FPS (First Person Shooter) is better – Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 or Battlefield 3. To quote my special friend out there ‘Hell, why not have both?’. You know what – he is right. Modern Warfare 3 picks up in the explosive aftermath of Modern Warfare 2. With that naughty boy Makarov still at large, you must overcome tougher than tough odds as World War 3 erupts.  In Battlefield 3 you will experience intense fire fights thanks to the all new Frostbite 2.0 Engine. Buildings crumble as you use a variety of vehicles from planes to tanks that seem to do one thing – make the enemy explode. Both titles have great multi-player modes – although my personal favourite is Modern Warfare 3 both titles clock in at around 6 – 8 hours play. Which means you can easily fit them in – both before, and after your turkey coma.

FIFA 12

Having Christmas without football is like having corn flakes without the milk. Running on the all new Player Impact Engine, which incidentally sounds like a piece of PIE to me – FIFA 12 gets you ‘on the pitch’ closer than close to the football action. Of course there are Volleys, dribbles and passing, but thanks to the new Engine even the slightest knock by an opponent can send you tumbling to the ground if you’re off-balance.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Packing around a whopping 90 hours play – Elder Scrolls 5 is the reason why many gamers have just woke up from a gaming coma. Highly acclaimed, highly detailed. This game reinvents the whole the whole idea of what RPG’s should and could be capable of. Skyrim offers action, adventure, huge dragons, and lots of beheadings. There are over 150 dungeons to explore and loads of realms. In your adventure you will travel the countryside, become a blacksmith creating and forging your weapons, talk to people, shoot bows and arrows, and unleash different magic spells. The part that I loved the most was being able to play the entire game in the first person perspective.

Yes, there are faults with this title but not one games player I know would say they are big enough reasons not to get this game.

Batman: Arkham City

Say what you want about superhero games but keep the Dark Knight of Gotham out of it. Rebuilding a franchise in much the same way as Mr Nolan has rebuilt the film series, Batman: Arkham City is just sheer incredibility on a disc. The game mechanics put you firmly into the man of the Cape-and-Cowl and will have you gliding unseen into Arkham City; the new residence of Gotham’s criminally insane. With improved mechanics, free flow combat, and gadgets that would even make James Bond go green with envy the only let down is when the game keeps returning to the ‘Gargoyle’ routine seen in the previous game for taking down a room full of enemies. Other than that it has Cat-woman, Robin, and more than a few other surprises to keep you on the return factor.

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

Nathan Drake is back and once again in hot water. You join him as he sets out in search of the “Atlantis of the Sands”.  Head to head against a shadowy group also in search of the lost city, Drake must confront some of his greatest fears as he starts unearthing truths about the lost City. One thing is apparent from the offset, and that is the game looks stunning. Naughty Dog has clearly eked out every last drop of processing power from the PS3 and harnessed it to unparalleled effect. There are some scenes that will make your jaw drop and even the multiplayer stages have multi-levels which is a first. This is one fantastic game to play – but in my opinion way too short on a single player. It is however still a masterpiece and should ride high on any shopping list.

Need for Speed: The Run

EA are certainly going all out to redefine their Need for Speed Franchise. The Run sees you step into Jack Rourke shoes, a character trapped inside a red Porsche Carrera about to be put on a serious diet inside a car compactor. The young man owes the Mob money and they want him dead. Thanks to a Heavy Rain-button press sequence, you are able to escape the crushing and flee. Later you are tempted by a friend into a race across America in the hope of winning a $25 million top prize and getting the Mafia off your back. What is great about The Run is the diversity of environments, taking you to the bright lights of the cities through to the sprawling open highways. The game is really well presented, with great attention to detail in the environments, the cop chases are also heart stopping. However racing is just racing at the end of the day and wont suit everyone.

Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Proving that there is truth in the saying that everything comes to those who wait. Skyward Sword is the game that Wii owners have been waiting for. Re-energising the entire Legend of Zelda franchise but also legitimising motion controls is no mean feat, but one that is accomplished easily here. Trading sliding block puzzles and fetch quests for full action and motion plus puzzles makes this game infinitely more playable and fun. Equally the graphics are beautifully shaded and easy on the eye. The game that the Wii has been waiting for.

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations

If most gamers are completely honest – Assassins Creed Brotherhood should never have been there – thankfully Revelations brings us right back on track with a quality game that brings a satisfactory conclusion to the Assassins Creed 2 Trilogy. You are Master assassin – Ezio Auditore, returning to walk the path of discovery and revelation as he journeys to Constantinople. But in the heart of the Ottoman Empire is a Templar Army that threatens to dislodge everything.  Aside from a few glitches, this Assassin’s Creed is near as good as it can get – for now.Constantinopleis possibly the best city so far and the few CGI moments are nothing short of stunning. There is a solid 20+ hour single player offering plus an augmented multiplayer mode that could last you for days.

Just Dance 3

Christmas isn’t just about playing games on your own – no way, this Christmas get the whole family together with a ‘dance off’ that pairs granny with uncle and if you really want to have fun breaking down barriers why not get the ‘in-laws’ together. Yes this is Just Dance, featuring over 40 tracks from a wide range of music genres and for the first time properly featuring vocals with lyrics displayed on the screen. As a game it is something you can’t really go wrong with – and don’t even pretend you weren’t thinking about getting it, I the look on your face when it came up in the advert break in TOWIE. Just  make sure you have the Mics and the Move controllers already in the house before you go out and buy.

Saints Row: The Third

Whereas Grand Theft Auto always took itself too seriously – Saints Row: The Third always stood back; tongue firmly in cheek. If you’re not too worried about the realism of a game and more about the fun factor – this is for you.  What other game has a special mode called “Whored Mode”, where you can be chased around by prostitutes in leather “geek suits” wielding long purple dildos?  Yes, it’s that kind of over the top fun that has been a staple of this entire series. Some would say that it is a true sand-box game in that you can do anything you wish, in many ways the most amount of fun that you can have in this game is when you do just that. Wreak havoc.

So there is my list – of course there are games that just missed the top ten; Goldeneye Reloaded, Mario and Sonic at the 2012 Olympic Games, Sonic Generations and of course Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom, ooh and Rayman – games that are all good in their own right.

I know what you are thinking – games aren’t cheap and its true – however take heart – prices are always changing as everyone feels the pinch and companies try to get one up on their competitors so my advice is get out there and check on-line (from reputable dealers) to see if you can save money. Zavvi for example has a Mega Monday where there is a price drop on most of their major titles, Play has a deal of the week, even Sainbury’s had a deal on Elder Scrolls 5 – knocking an amazing £5 of the asking price. So seek and you shall find.

It's Christmas time- there's no need to be afraid.

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I’ve just seen an ad for Littlewoods, or copses as they should be known. It’s your usual fare. Loads of cute kids on stage at a school and the proud parents beaming from the fold-up chairs below. It’s not a nativity of course, god forbid, it’s a singing tribute to how wonderful mums are. Nice? Well not really no, because the song- and there’s even a rap in there to keep it ‘street’, is all about how mum is wonderful for buying just about every consumer electrical gizmo you could imagine that doesn’t begin with an ‘i’.

There’s a laptop and an HTC Android phone. The first kid proudly holds up his X-Box Kinect unit like it’s the ‘fragrances that are also useful in scrabble’ shop’s entire stock of Myrrh.

It ends with a little girl, her ruby cheeks poking out from between the just-closed curtains, reminding us that the mark of a wonderful mum is the quality, measured in expenditure, of her gifts. And that we should, therefore, measure our own maternal love by that scale alone.
The add stops short of having Santa flying overhead trailing a banner from his sleigh that reads, “MONEY = LOVE, don’t forget kids!” But that mantra is sewn, inextricably, into the underpants of every precious, seasonal second.

I’m not against Christmas, contrary to the view of the parent of a child that approached me once and asked if I was Santa’s sister because his mum has said I was ‘Aunty Christmas.’ I love Christmas. I come over all Jimmy Stewart as soon as Summer’s over and I can’t hear the opening bars of ‘Silent Night’ without bursting into tears and wanting to join the Sally Army. I just hate this unnecessary and inexplicable extortion every year.

I don’t have kids, and I’m sure some of you are thinking, “If your wife’s as tight as you are, you never will!” But my sister does. My sister is a single mum with two sons. The eldest is 22 now so his festive focus has fully relocated from under the tree to under the table but his kid brother is 14. Old enough to want everything but too young to care what it costs.

When his mates are all tweeting photos of their new PS3 on their new ipads and running round to his house in their new trainers to make sure he got it because he hasn’t ‘RT’d’ yet, he’s going to hide his market versions- the ‘iPhone’ and the ‘Games Centre Play Console- with 7 game cartridges included!’ And look at my poor sister like she’s picking the last of Santa’s gonads from between her teeth just because she couldn’t get herself into deep enough debt to avoid the emotional scarring a shit present can have on a teenager.

He won’t really because he’s a good kid. He’ll do what I used to do and pretend it’s just as good as the thing you really wanted then find a way to hide it long enough to casually mention you played with it so much it broke, and suffering the inevitable comeback, “That doesn’t just apply to toys you know!”

I still remember desperately faking happiness when the ‘Evil Knievel action figure with interchangeable costumes and multi-trick stunt bike’ I’d asked for turned out to be a small plastic moulded ‘figure-on-bike’ with a big glued seam running down the middle that you revved up and watched career in a short curve into the nearest skirting board. Not to mention picking the stitching from the fourth stripe on my ‘same as Adidas’ trainers before I got to school only to be told by my jeering fellow students, as I knelt down for assembly, that they had different coloured soles- not from genuine Adidas trainers but from each other.

That was nearly 30 years ago. The pressure’s ten times worse now.

Why? Where did this law that you have to spend a couple of hundred quid on gifts come from?
Not the Nativity, that’s for sure. Its been sacked by Littlewoods in favour of ‘Grange Hill does the Ludovico Technique.’ (Google anyone?) And I’m sure Jesus would be spinning in his shroud, if he was still dead, at the thought of his birthday being hijacked by everyone else. Imagine if everyone got presents on your birthday. It’d certainly take the sheen off it I’ll bet, and that’s my point really. Birthdays are personal and they only involve one person.
Mark Twain said, “The two most important days of your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” I agree with the first part, although the day I heard my mum say, “by the time I realized it wasn’t wind it was too late,” doesn’t even make my top 100, but you get my point. Presents on birthdays make sense! Let’s just do that shall we?

Here’s what I think we should do: Everyone, at the same time, stand up and say, “There won’t be any presents this Christmas.” Then enjoy a huge sigh of relief and start, for the first time in a long time, to really look forward to the holidays.

It’s important that everyone does it at the same time and sticks to it, which will be hard to organize and even harder to check, and there will be mass disappointment for every child in England but it will pass when they all realize they’re in the same boat and they’re not missing out.

Now imagine the Christmases that will follow. Everyone can just work until the holidays start and then enjoy time with their friends and families. Boyfriends and husbands won’t have to reduce themselves to asking the teenage assistant behind the perfume counter for suggestions because they’ve forgotten what their wife’s favorite is called and EVERYTHING just smells of perfume!

It can feel like a real holiday for a change and, once it’s all over, there won’t be a national depression as everyone spends January skint, cold and about as festive as Scrooge’s warts. Better still, single parents or families that have little or no income won’t have to worry that their kids will hate them and/or get bullied at school. Loan sharks, feeding on the poor and vulnerable in in the less affluent areas of the country, will have to find other ways to ‘help people out till pay day’.

A weight of unnecessary obligation would be lifted from everyone and we would all be no less festive for it.

As for Christmas morning? Imagine getting up (whenever you like- you’re on holiday remember) and strolling downstairs to greet your family with a hearty breakfast and a mulled wine and hugs all round. Elders can talk to youngsters while the crisp winter morning air draws the first flame from the Yule log. Christians can take a moment for silent reflection while the rest of us slap a bit of Slade on and work up an appetite for the largest and best meal of the year. Happy in the knowledge that it’s cost you no more than all the good will and genuine Christmas cheer you can muster.

Sounds great to me.

The Cursed Crusade – Game Review

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Take a dark period of thirteenth century history, mix in generously some supernatural elements, now whisk in some of that ‘buddy genre type thing’ and turn up the combat engine to about 89 degrees centigrade. Now pop in the oven with some decent cut scenes. Add a sprinkling of Darksiders, a dessertspoon of Dantes Inferno, a gallon of blood.

What do you get?

 

A dish that looks good, tastes good, but ultimately could have stayed in the oven just that little bit longer.

 

The dish in question is none other than The Cursed Crusade, the latest game from French seasoned PC Games developer Kylotonn Entertainment. A game, I might add that has had so many delays that not even ‘Game’ knew when it was coming out. It also sports the now familiar ‘reduced’ price tag of £32. Make of that what you want, the reality is The Cursed Crusade is nowhere near a bad title, it’s just not a great one and it could do with more, a little bit of a lot more refining.

 

Young Templar Knight Denz de Bayle is the hero of the piece. His dad has gone missing, his family’s land seized and his mother killed. All knights of the crusade have committed unspeakable acts, but those who have carried out true evil atrocities find that they are befallen with a curse. A curse that will follow their bloodline and damn their souls to hell. Denz is heir to this curse; what’s more, Death wants him and will stop at nothing to take him personally to the hot house.

 

So begins the story. Denz de Bayle is a more than capable fighter but like many tales of this genre like Ghost Rider he can use this curse to his advantage. He can switch between this world and the cursed parallax of hell almost at will. Think Constantine but with horns and glowing eyes and screams. In the hell world he is stronger, can move faster, attack quicker and has access to more power and more areas but it comes at a price – energy and then health, not to mention also providing death with easy access to your soul and he cannot be stopped.

 

Denz is joined on his generic quest by Esteban Noviembre, a wise-cracking Spaniard, tried, tested and formulaic. Esteban has the curse as well so together they form a partnership and it is their camaraderie that flows throughout the game.

 

Combat is what this game is all about. If you look at other games of this genre it is really hard to escape the ‘old chestnut’ of repetitive gameplay. However The Cursed Crusade gets around this with a deep enough combat system. Thanks to the directional controller you can carry a combination of swords, axes, shields, double handed swords, maces, with either one in each hand or, if the weapon is big enough just one. Blocking, parrying and dodging is built around timings of button presses with enemies flashing a certain colour if they are about to attack. Points are awarded at the end of every stage which you can use to build up your combos and finishers to make you even more of a formidable fighter.

 

The scenarios themselves never vary too much from the reliable old staple diet of ‘go here’ ‘do this’ ‘meet this person’ ‘fight that person’ but the nature of the storyline and their friendship is strong enough to carry it through. More often than not the enemy just runs towards you and then take it in turns swinging their swords in your direction and at first you don’t need to think about your parries and protecting your self. But later when preserving your health is a requisite to survival you find yourself drawing on all your skills and Death really doesn’t give a damn how he gets you so hopping in and out of hell to get a one up on your foes is not always the answer.

 

Did I mention the game is bloody? Well be warned, true to its historical origins heads roll, maces can be used on either side to flatten a head to a pulp, axes chop people in two. I like the way the game developers opted to define each and every limb so that you can remove each one from the torso with deadly blows each one splattering blood on impact.

 

All of this sounds pretty good and indeed like the first mouthful of Diet Coke it actually tastes really good. I found myself drawn into this game quite quickly; rapidly building combos and cutting swathes through my opponents learning new skills all the time. However there were a few things that the game can’t shake.

 

Firstly the camera angle is dreadful. Why oh why did they opt for a floating camera when it would not know its way through a paper bag? Even with the right analogue stick being used as a last resort to control it gets stuck behind trees, buildings and walls. In the early stages this is not so much a problem but later, when you have tough enemies you cannot do anything other than block and watch as your life is ebbed away by an enemy who will tag team you into oblivion.

 

Secondly there is a real lack of direction, there are a few times where it really is not clear what to do or where to go. You spend ages aimlessly running around when if they had incorporated it into the ‘hell self’ or even done as LA Noire did where you could ask your partner for guidance the game would have flowed better.

 

Finally the game tends to sporadically save at the end of the level which means that if you die; even at the end of a stage you have to do the whole thing again and this includes the cut-scenes of which; take it from me, there are many. Just incase you are thinking to yourself – hey I have done Demon Souls and there is no way this game can be tougher than that, then hats off to you and you are right; this game isn’t tougher but the enemy tends to infrequently jump in difficulty and with the camera angles not being as solid you should expect to lose lives.

 

My Verdict

 

With a thrilling action packed story not to mention blood guts and gore and a reduced price tag The Cursed Crusade is not a bad title at all. However it does suffer from faults that set it back from being a decent enough purchase especially in light of the competition which is going to be huge in the run up to Christmas. It is competent and satisfying enough and no where near a bad title just not a great one. Try before you buy or Wait until the price drops further before you splash your cash.

 

7.5 / 10

 

 

How does this game compare to others in its genre?

 

 

Equal to: Quantum Theory

 

Better than: Wet, LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game, Disney Universe

 

Worse than: Enslaved, Castlevania, El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron

 

 

 

Scotland’s Islands autumn & winter 2011 events

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Celebrate island culture and heritage this autumn and winter with an action-packed line-up of exciting events as part of the Year of Scotland’s Islands festivities.

Royal National Mod

Lewis

14-22 October 2011

Scotland’s premier Gaelic festival returns to the Outer Hebrides in 2011, providing opportunities for people of all ages to celebrate Gaelic linguistic and cultural heritage, including Gaelic music and song, dance, instrumental, drama and literature.

Although the focus of the Royal National Mod is on competition, the event also offers a wide and comprehensive programme of non-competitive events which include performances from some of Scotland’s top traditional musicians and Gaelic singers.

http://www.scotlandsislands.com/festivals-events/info/64/royal-national-mod

Scottish International Storytelling Festival (Summary of Island-Based Events)

21-30 October 2011

An ideal place to discover Scotland’s treasure-trove of stories in a lively celebration of storytelling performance exploring the links between Scotland’s rich storytelling heritage and other cultures. These island-based events take place on Bute, Fair Isle, Iona, Cumbrae, Mull, Skye, Orkney, Shetland and the Outer Herbrides.

This year the Festival is all about exploring and pursuing the island experience through story, myth, music, song and dance. Greek and Roman myths mix with sagas of the Celts in this ten day festival. Enjoy the traditions of Scotland’s Islands alongside Mediterranean tale spinners and musicians from Corsica, Sardinia, Malta, Greece and Cyprus.

http://www.scotlandsislands.com/festivals-events/info/502/scottish-international-storytelling-festival-(summary-of-island-based-events)

Comedian Ed Byrne

Shetland mainland (24 October 2011 )

Orkney mainland (25 October)

As an observational stand up Ed Byrne, has played in major comedy venues across the UK and Ireland, including the Vaudeville, Riverside, and New Ambassadors theatres in London, and the Gaiety, Olympia, Ambassador, and Vicar St. theatres in Dublin. His UK tours and regular TV appearances are always hugely popular and well received by the critics.

http://www.scotlandsislands.com/festivals-events/info/447/comedian-ed-byrne

Night Time Tour of the Spectacular

Mount Stuart

Bute

27 October 2011

Mount Stuart is claimed to be Britain’s most astounding Victorian gothic mansion. An opportunity to experience the house at its most peaceful.

By candlelight and torchlight, your guide will lead you through the house on a specially devised route, taking in many private areas of the house.

http://www.scotlandsislands.com/festivals-events/info/507/night-time-tour-of-the-spectacular-mount-stuart

Shetland Food Festival

Shetland Mainland

5-13 November 2011

A celebration of mouth-watering Shetland produce, including some more unusual specialities such as seawater oatcakes, Shetland Black potatoes and more-ish fudge!

Food lovers’ events include cookery demonstrations, producers’ markets and Christmas craft fair. There’s also a ‘Ready, Steady, Shetland’ cook-off, where Shetlanders present their take on the popular TV programme, Ready, Steady, Cook.

http://www.scotlandsislands.com/festivals-events/info/440/shetland-food-festival

Harris Tweed – Past, Present and Future (celebrating the centenary of the Orb 1911-2011)

Lewis

18 November 2011

This one-day event marks the centenary of the orb by reviewing the history of this vitally important and distinctive island industry with a variety of engaging talks, poetry, film, story-telling and discussion sessions.

Arranged by the Island Book Trust in conjunction with the Harris Tweed Authority, the event will bring together people from different backgrounds to celebrate the island’s successes and achievements and reflecting on the current and future challenges it faces.

The Ba

Orkney mainland

25 December 2011

Traditional street rugby, played by the Uppies and Doonies with a much prized locally made leather Ba’ (ball).

The Ba’ is thrown up outside St. Magnus Cathedral and the game ranges through the town. This game is played annually on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Spectators are welcome but be careful!

http://www.scotlandsislands.com/festivals-events/info/491/the-ba

Up Helly Aa

Shetland mainland

31 January 2012

Shetland’s biggest fire festival, Up Helly Aa, celebrates Shetland’s history with a series of re-enactments, culminating in a torch lit procession and Viking Galley burning.

Considering it’s held in mid-winter on the same latitude as southern Greenland, Up Helly Aa has never been cancelled

http://www.scotlandsislands.com/festivals-events/info/434/up-helly-aa

Papay Gyro Nights 2012 Art Festival

Pap Westray, Orkney

6-13 February 2012

Papay Gyro Nights is an international film and video art, contemporary art, music and architecture festival based on folklore and tradition of Orkney. The Festival takes place in unique and remote settings on the island of Papa Westray. The idea of the festival has originated from the ancient Papay tradition of the Night of The Gyros. The Festival is also a reflection the island’s landscape and heritage as well as interpretation of tradition and ritual.

http://www.scotlandsislands.com/festivals-events/info/274/papay-gyro-nights-2012-art-festival

For more information on the Scotland’s Islands initiative visit: www.scotlandsislands.com