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Gamefest 2011 Review

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It has been aptly described as the ‘Gaming Event of The Year’, ‘A gaming extravaganza’ by others and a ‘Shame if you failed to get a ticket mate’ by the people online. I am of course talking about GAMEfest; the first-ever gaming festival from high street and online computer game retailers GAME. If you are into games – and you weren’t watching Chelsea lose – there is only one big question: where were you?

The things I have to do to keep Frost readers happy is beyond belief, but I’ll let you know I aptly ‘stayed calm and carried on’ to take one for the team with my sole intention of bringing you the ‘no nonsense’ report of gaming goodness. The saying goes take five a day – well when it comes to games I’ll happily take 50; heck, make mine 100 if that’s what it takes.

Let’s talk numbers:
100+ Big games on show
70+ Big games available for test
3+ hours taken to queue at longest point during the day for the biggest game showcases
1,500 screens displaying the latest games
1,000’s of games players from all over the world
3 girls from Nuts Magazine – well I wouldn’t be a man if I didn’t mention them would I? More on them later…

Lets talk games:
Tons of exclusives, we are talking Street Fighter X Tekken, Ridge Racer Unbounded, Batman Arkham City, Sonic Generations, Modern Warfare 3, Dragon Ball Z Ultimate Tenkaichi, to name just a few. There is loads to get through, the way I see it, it is a good job that Frost Magazine is web as opposed to paper based as the environment is saved by the sheer numbers of trees no longer needed to be cut down to bring you this report. But hey, let’s talk shop because here, in this report I want to focus on the real games that are going to make a real impact this year. The ones that you need to get on your pre-order list pretty sharpish, capiche.

Modern Warfare 3.
Obviously the first stand I headed to was this one under the mighty games developers Activison. Thanks to GAMEfest I got my sweaty hands on the first playable build of the mode in the UK. Yes it really is that good; Modern Warfare 3 by its looks alone raises the bar of a genre already inundated with shooters and looking quite tired. But how does it play? One word: incredible, with the noise of the exhibition it was really hard to hear all the instructions my character was being told but the controls were fine, the graphics even at this stage were ‘baby soft’ smooth. My only gripe is that there is no 3D version planned and after playing Resistance 3 in 3D I just know it would be incredible. Release date is scheduled for the 8th Nov. Seven words spring to mind: Do Not Miss Out On This Game.

Goldeneye 007: Reloaded
Goldeneye looks better than ever thanks to the upgraded power afforded by the PS3 and it goes without saying that it looks better than its Wii counterpart. Although it has to be said although it looks great, MW3 it is not. Nevertheless it ranks up there as a Bond game to own with enemies appearing extremely agile behind cover. I managed to play this with the Move Controller and although it took some getting used to it worked incredibly well.
Release date is scheduled for Nov

Battlefield 3
This is the year’s ‘other’ most anticipated shooter and of course you know it will be going head to head with Modern Warfare 3. Not sure if it is me but this is turning into a regular duel between Activision and EA over who runs the block. I tried the single player campaign and was quite taken aback by the quality of the graphics; smoke and explosions now being even more realistic. Again the movement was silky smooth whereas the controls needed just that little bit more work. So who runs the block? Well, personally, I am a fan of the Call of Duty franchise but this game is enough to make me hedge my bets. As good old Optimus Prime says ‘One shall stand….and one shall fall…’

X-Men: Destiny
X-Men: Destiny sees you step into the shoes of a newly realized young mutant who is tasked with using their special powers for good or evil? Sounds familiar? Yep I thought so too. I am a huge X-Men fanatic so was hoping this game would be incredible, however to me, graphically it looks on par with the first Infamous game and some of the camera angles looked decidedly dodgy. This was my least liked of the titles from the Activision stand, although I could still easily be proved wrong when it is released on the 30th September this year.

Spiderman: Edge of time
The all new Spiderman game was on show looking very tasty indeed. It looks like there is more time hopping around than the last game, and of the in game footage we were shown it looked like not only was Spidey much more fluid and agile but that there was a solid emphasis on action and combos. It’s enough to bring a smile to anyone’s lips.

Street Fighter X Tekken
This is really squaring up to be one heck of a game. Thank you so much Game for giving us players a direct hands on with more than a handful of characters on each side. The characters of Tekken step into the world of Street Fighter for a fight time spectacular. No wonder the queues went on, this game really has to be seen to be believed, with an overhauled control system that’s easy for fans of the Tekken games to pick up quickly and combos, tag combos and more combos than a KFC bargain bucket this is turning into a ‘must have game’. The backgrounds too are worth a mention; there is one with dinosaurs that looks totally incredible. But what’s that little birdy? There is going to be another game some point later where the characters of Street Fighter step into the world of Tekken? Wow, we better keep that one under our hat….

Dragon Ball Z Ultimate Tenkaichi
Looked pretty incredible, I heard repeated murmurings of gamers going ‘wow’ ‘amazing’ and ‘oh my gosh’ so I went over and pretty soon I was saying the same thing too. Bosses the size that even a 50 inch screen can’t handle and an overhauled control system, all of which takes a little bit of time to get used to but soon had me pulling off 50 hit combos with ease. I liked the look of the sprites, everything just looks spruced up and ‘combat ready’ as they say.

Soulcalibur V
Have you ever picked up sequel hoping that the games developers haven’t taken something out that you really enjoyed? Well if you are, you are a lot like me; the last game I played from this series was Soul Edge, the last Soulcalibur game I heard was cack so I left it alone as that is what you are supposed to do with smelly fish. However this game brought back all the memories and finesse of the original. It looks great, it sounds great. It is easy to pick up and play, but just one question: how many fabled blades are there?

Ridge Racer Unbounded
Is yet another entry into an almost legendary franchise playing like an explosive mix between Burnout and Split-Second. It looks as good as it plays and that is heart in the mouth, pedal to the metal tricky. You build energy by driving dangerously, drifting and overtaking in order to ram cars, destroy buildings and generally just create chaos on the track. Oh yeah and don’t forget to come first – wouldn’t be Ridge Racer if you didn’t have that. The driving controls need tightening up a bit but I actually enjoyed playing this game but and can’t wait to see how it will pan out later.

Ace Combat: Assault Horizon
This was next on my list. I am an avid fan of the franchise and been playing it since the PS One days but if I am honest I think towards the end it went off the rails a bit and got all dramatized. I had heard that the game had been completely overhauled and gone ‘back to the basics’ which can only be a good thing. Immediately from grabbing the control pad I could see the graphics and the control system had been completely revamped; a choice of controlling a plane or helicopter was the first decision I had to make and then in no time at all planes, bullets and explosions met me during an epic duel in the skies; dodging between huge buildings standing out against the horizon. However, I don’t know if it is just me but I found that despite these improvements essentially you are still just lining up your shots as before. Let’s hope it does not get repetitive as its predecessors did.

Ace Combat 3DS
This looked absolutely fantastic; the 3DS taking full advantage of the analogue sticks and whole 3D thing. Bullets, guns and explosions; now you can enjoy them on the bus, the train, on the way to work, you get the picture.

Bethesda Softworks
Bethesda was my personal saviours on the day, providing myself and my nephews with some super sized bags to put our accumulated goodies in. I have to be honest; I have heard of Prey and seen Rage but I had not heard of Skyrim before. Entering their Walkthrough after an hour or so of queuing I could see what the fuss was all about. All three titles looked astoundingly good. RAGE looks like a no holds barred FPS genre with solid action.  

SKYRIM  though was the real surprise for me; swords, wizards, trolls, magic, you get the picture, but what really surprised me was the quality of the graphics and the idea that the game develops around you as you play, sort of like World of Warcraft but with extra 3rd person perspective mmm. I will be keeping my beady little eyes on this one.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
This is one of the titles that my nephew really wanted to play and even now a day later he is still going on about it. Thanks to the Wii Motion Plus Controller you take full control over Link’s sword swipes on a one-to-one basis, taking on the enemies. It looks fabulous with a real nice graphical style to it that sets it apart from its predecessors and the boss fight I saw was pretty ridiculous in terms of combos and big moves. Wii owners have a good reason to rejoice.

Saints Row: The Third
This game looked like it was shaping up very nicely indeed, colourful solid sprites with a kind of tongue in cheek storyline being at the core. The fight and combo moves feel quite satisfying. Apparently Hulk Hogan and a certain porn actress are playable characters in the game. That certainly brought a smile to my nephew’s face.

Need for Speed: The Run
Only got to see videos of this owing to the time – it was such a shame. From what I saw the game has few on foot sections, and those it does have seem to serve to push the story forward as opposed to being a part of the race itself. One thing I did see was a kind of ‘rewind’ feature that rewinds time back to just before a crash giving you time to avoid it. Use of this is incredibly limited and is quite exciting when you think of it especially if it transfers to online play. Speed was on par with the fastest Burnout and the cops were unrelenting.

The Black Eyed Peas Experience
Hot on the heels of the Michael Jackson Experience comes this title. Opting to feature digitized sprites instead of stand-ins, this can have you dancing and singing as a group or as any one of your favourite lead singers or their entourage. Now, There is no denying that the Black Eyed Peas aren’t spectacular but are they on the same level as the king of pop? I am not so sure – whats next? The N-Dubz Experience. Anyhow it has to be said the game does look good and it was fun to play – lets just hope we are not seeing the dawn of another dancing, singing, play the guitar type franchise take over the world only to crash and burn and leave players angry.

SEGA
SEGA have been in the computer game business for almost three generations now, wisely backing out of the console making business to focus on games. It looked like they had brought their gaming offices with them showing off some of their biggest titles to date. First up – Mario and Sonic at the London Olympic Games on Wii and 3DS – good solid game filled with cutesy Wii’ness that tough guys like me stay away from…o.k I can explain about the photo….

Next up Rise of Nightmares for the Xbox Kinect only, and it has to be said that it is not a bad first attempt at a survival horror title for the Kinect. Rise of Nightmares begins a bit like a SAW movie with a bad guy who just likes doing bad things to people for fun. Waking up on a moving train you have an argument with your for girlfriend for being buried in the bottle, she storms off and then the dreaded monsters attack killing almost everybody. Using the Kinect controls is a bit of a hit and miss in my opinion and take some getting used to, but if you think of melee combat similar to Dead Island you are not far wrong. Although the premise is good time will tell whether the actual gameplay will be improved enough before the release.

Next up House of the Dead Overkill on the PS3 and thankfully this is a whole new state of affairs. Compatible with Playstation Move and in 3D with effects that I have got to say jump out of the screen like your heart jumps out of your mouth, this ‘on the rails shooter’ should be on your pre-order list pronto.

Sonic Generations on Xbox 360, PS3 and 3DS was a crowd pleaser, namely because it seemed to offer something for SEGA fans in the way of nostalgia that only the Megadrive collection with all your favourite hits missing could possibly do. You have a choice of both types of Sonic, new – with 3D run into the screen gameplay and old – sideways stages. Both types offered new stages, blistering speeds, familiar faces and lets not forget his go-go I can do anything attitude which is really hard not to fall in love with. My nephew was undecided on this title, however I enjoyed it immensely.

Warner
Popping over to the Warner stand the first thing I saw was a huge Batman statue – yes this was Arkham City territory and the crowds here was unbelievable. The game hosts had good sense to have the games on a timer with players on a roll on roll off queue to prevent any game hogs and it is easy to see why people would not want to give up their joypad. The quality of this title is simply incredible. The way Batman moves, the new detective mode, the combat system, the epic vistas; everything just looks bigger, better, badder and downright tastier. I don’t know about you but I can’t wait.

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North took me by surprise – where did this game come from? The monsters are simply huge and although RPG in nature in reality the gameplay seemed a lot like Baldur’s Gate with slo-mo finishers and non stop combat. A video showed some flying sections too with the character on the back of an eagle. Could be well worth a look on its release.

And, so ended the first-ever fantastic gaming festival. But the show would not be complete without making the most of every opportunity and funny enough big boy’s magazine Nuts were on hand to show that games festivals can be fun in every way. Arm firmly twisted firmly behind my back I was frog-marched over to the table to have my Nuts Magazine signed by the lovely Stacy, Daisy and India and oh look someone took a photograph. The things I have to do eh?

L.A. Noire – Game Review

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Rockstar Games makes the 1940’s world dark, sinister and not to mention sexy.

I knew it the very minute I saw her; something about the way she made her approach at me, like eyes looking from afar. Her controversial nature shone a reputation like a Rockstar and demanded my attention. Like a woman of your wildest dreams Rockstar Game LA Noire puts you in an incomparable situation where too much is never enough and, more often than not you will be left crying out for more or to get just that little bit further.

I have been talking like this ever since I played LA Noire – the newest release from Rockstar Games and what can I say – I am smitten.

In LA Noire you become Cole Phelps, a hero returning from World War II and now a cop on the LAPD. Murders, corruption and dirty, dirty deceit stand in your way as you attempt to piece together vital clues and discover the truth. During the game you will track and solve cases that include serial killers, rapists, smash paedophile rings and drug rackets. You will also come face to face with the seedy world of 1940’s LA, Hollywood, racism, Domestic Violence not to mention the questionable motives of the police department. Typical of Rockstar Games – whom almost seem to delight bringing you the gritty reality – the game does not shy away from the hard topics, coupled with sharp, period-specific scripts, solid direction and the adoption of Motion-Scan technology, (seen in Heavy Rain and Mass Effect but used with much more proficiency here) LA Noire is the embodiment of Cole Phelps, and you cannot help but develop rapport with him for what he is facing. Like fellow title Heavy Rain there is a strong undercurrent that all is not as it seems and that there is a large area of grey between black and white. Throughout the game there are frequent flashbacks to his troubling tour of duty – some of which concern his colleagues and around the game there are newspapers which show you a gritty back story independent of the main game which are pretty shocking. There are also cases that leave you with a sick feeling in your stomach because you realize the characters in the game have got it all wrong.

The majority of the gameplay lies in solving crimes. These are presented in a lovely ‘Columbo’ Sunday matinee prologue kind of feel; there is a murder, a woman is snatched, a man is shot, a shady dealing takes place or you see someone enter a building and there is a scream. You make your way to the car, drive to the scene and find and examine as many pieces of evidence as you can find. Finding evidence is partially similar to Heavy rain, but rather than technology good old Cole has his instincts. Sometime the pad will vibrate if he comes across something, sometimes if you are searching an apartment you will hear the music change, sometimes you will have to use your saved intuition points and sometimes you will just have to be lucky. It is through unearthing this evidence and speaking to witnesses that you will build up enough of a case to put a suspect behind bars.

It is in these sequences where LA Noire comes into its own. The MotionScan technology truly takes things to a whole new level. Facial expressions, body language, tones of voice all play a part in helping you determine whether a witness is telling you the truth or plain face lying in order to hide skeletons in their closet. In questioning a suspect you can make accusations but if you do you need to refer back to incriminating evidence perhaps located earlier on. Explicit questioning can be a nerve-racking affair especially in the later stages of a case when the pressure is on by your superiors to wrap up a case or when evidence is so slim you have to go with anything you have. In the first few stages of the game the in game tutorial provides quite a lot of support and hand holding but later, when the gloves are off you are expected to do it all and there are quite a few surprises along the way – nothing is as it seems.

Quite often you may not even get as far as questioning a suspect as some will make a break for it and need to be stopped. This begins a chase sequence where you and your partner have to give chase either on-foot or in a vehicle. Whilst these sequences offer a welcome break from the main question and answer routine they fail to be done with as much spit and polish. Some sequences end in a fisty-cuffs or a shoot out – and again whilst these are credibly delivered and the combat and firearms are nicely executed in an ‘Untouchables’ kinda way, sometimes you get the feeling that these were just flung in for extra good measure. It is a bit like when you commandeer a vehicle in the game; although you are taking the vehicle with authority it is essentially no different (besides the mandatory drag to the street or slap to the face) of that seen in ‘Grand Theft Auto’. Not that these sections are bad, the quality of the actions is as you would expect of any other sand box game, they just could be done better.

Sometimes LA Noire is too smart for its own good. Rockstar obviously wanted to cram a great deal into this project and it shows but to be honest at times it is bursting at the seams. Despite being linear in its approach quite often you are encouraged to stray from the path into sheer nothingness with side missions which are just petty and rarely drive the plot forward. In short it just is not becoming of the title. Another gripe would be in the character animation. Occasionally I found annoying glitches when I wanted to manoeuvre the character to do exactly what I wanted him to do. The same happens for your partner’s animations too, which, on more than a few occasions can only be described as erratic. As a games player I found this quite disappointing, however thankfully these were less of the norm. Everything is so beautifully rendered from the vehicles to the buildings that to be honest the minor faults pale in comparison to the appeal and trying to cram so much into a game is almost destined to run into problems of some kind sooner or later.

With 21 primary case missions to solve, along with 40 side missions and countless collectables there is certainly lots to discover wit La Noire, and although you may not wish to trawl through the game for a second play in order to succeed in your gameplay rankings there is a whole host of Downloadable Content to sink your investigative skills into. These include:

The Naked City – a bonus case previously given away to those who pre-ordered the game. Here Phelps investigates the apparent suicide of a fashion model. It also contains the “Badge Pursuit Challenge” where the player is tasked with finding 20 police badges hidden in the city. If you manage to find them all you will gain access to the “Button Man” suit; an in-game piece of clothing that allows the player to carry extra ammo.

A Slip of the Tongue; a traffic case where a simple car theft escalates into a large scale investigation into the largest car fraud racket in the city’s history.

Popping into the PSN Store in the game also give you the opportunity to purchase:

“The Broderick” detective suit; a suit that boosts the fighting ability of the player’s character as well as its resistance to damage.

“The Sharpshooter” that enhances a character’s aim with pistols and rifles.

“The Chicago Piano” an OMG type of Machine Gun as they say ‘favoured for its reliability’ which when purchased is stored in the boot of Cole Phelps’ car throughout the game.

If that isn’t enough more DLC is planned for the future including two other cases: Nicholson Electroplating, an Arson case and Reefer Madness, a Vice case due for release on 12 July 2011.

All of this means that there is plenty of reasons to return to this title and purchasing a RockStar pass gives you entitlement to new content as it is released.

My Final Verdict –

So I turned my eyes to her as she entered the room and smiled as I turned her on…I knew it wasn’t going to be a one night stand, as long as she kept bringing something new to me I would keep wanting to play with her all night long. She was never going to stay on the shelf…not for long anyway…

Sorry…In short – Granted it is not perfect – but it is still gloriously good.

8.9 / 10

How does this game compare to others in its genre?

There are only a few games of this type for comparison…

Equal to: Heavy Rain

Better than: Alpha Protocol

Worse than: None

Microsoft Shows Off New Kinect & Windows Phone Crossover

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If you thought it was just going to be for games, think again. Microsoft was always going to have more special things in the pipeline for their innovative Kinect.

In typical Microsoft style, the following video surfaced showcasing some early features of cross-platform use between Windows Phone and Kinect. It demonstrates just some of the basic features that can be used, and wow! The future does look promising – sending reminders to your phone or even sending directions.

 

While the video shows development testing in its early stages, already the rumour mill is turning about what’s next. Personally, I would like to see if stereoscopic 3D could be added into the mix. Or how about online play between Kinect users? How about Windows being used by the Kinect ‘touch style’ like Tony Stark in Iron Man?

What would you like to see…?

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Trailer Officially Unveiled

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You read it here first at Frost Magazine – the trailer for most eagerly anticipated game of the year  – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – has been officially unveiled.

In the first trailer to actually show ‘in-game footage’, we can clearly see pulse-pounding, First-Person action from four of the key areas of conflict – Germany, France, England and America.

The teaser trailer gives an insight into the games plot. Panning shots show a devastated New York City while elsewhere, a solider descends from a helicopter in full view of the mighty Big Ben, only for the scenes to culminate in an epic, explosive race with a tube train. The widely predicted release date for this title is November 8th.

Is Modern Warfare 3 going to be Heaven or Hell on earth?  Let us know what you think of the trailer below.

 

 

 

http://youtu.be/coiTJbr9m04

 

 

 

 

 

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 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