Results tagged “video game” from Tech-Out

Simply advancing to the next generation of hardware doesn't necessarily mean that everything else will improve alongside it. Terrible movies made with megabucks still get out to theaters, anyone without two notes to rub together can still market themselves on MySpace in the hopes of landing a contract, and awful games occasionally land on shelves before the eyes of an unsuspecting audience.

Raven Squad's ideas sound good on the back of its box in blending both FPS and RTS elements together to create what could be a solid take on mercenary-led firepower in a hot zone. After all, that's one of the things that made Rainbow Six such fun on the PC for many would-be commanders. Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter would also get into the act with its Cross Com tactical overview and squad command system which made anyone feel like an operator sitting somewhere deep within Langley before switching into the head of one of their own in the field.

With that kind of history already out there, Raven Squad seemed like it would be built atop the shoulders of giants. The bad news is that Raven Squad would manage to break that formula on every level.

With the G.I. Joe movie out, the inevitable, action packed, tie-in was almost expected. It isn't the first time that the Joes have seen themselves in the hands of gamers, either, as their adventures have taken them to the Atari 2600, the Commodore 64, and even into the arcade with blistering, four player co-op against the nefarious plans of Cobra. The new game takes place right after the film finishes up and introduces a number of nostalgic pieces to tug on the memories of its fans from the 80s. Unfortunately, even for this fan, there seem to be a few accessories missing from this blister pack.

8monkeylabs and Phantom EFX have released a demo for Darkest of Days, a time traveling FPS which casts you as a survivor plucked from certain death in order to serve as an anonymous guardian of history thanks to advanced technology. Although history remembers you as a dead man making you prime material for recruitment, you'll soon be on the front lines in defending the timestream from someone else's idea of history.

The demo knows how to get things started with a bang and the engine wasn't kidding about boasting about filling the screen with lots and lots of soldiers (i.e. targets) for you to fend off. It includes the intro battle in which you relive your final moments at Custer's Last Stand, a training level, and a jump to the Battle of Antietam during the Civil War to save someone who shouldn't be in the fight.

And because you're working for a highly advanced group of time travelers, you might also have to take care of things the old fashioned way: with superior firepower...such as an assault rifle for breaking through Confederate lines...

Oh yes.

By the way, that circle thing that winds up around the reticle and the green block? That's the game's version of "active reload". By hitting the reload button as the bar passes through the green area, you finish reloading your weapon much faster. It varies depending on what you have, but in the case of the Springfield rifle, it cut roughly 2/3s of the time needed to get it ready for another shot.

But along with that awesome moment, the demo also has a few iffy things...some of the voice acting is a little bland and there are some invisible walls that are a bit too obvious...but the overall atmosphere in staging a big battle piece if great stuff. That, and this is only a small piece of a game that will take you from Antietam to Pompeii to WW2. The game is due out for both the PC and the Xbox 360 in September.

I'm always going to remember the mid-to-late '80s. It was a simple time for me, and a lot of people my age (I'm 30). School was easier, life issues were easier ... and if you wanted to know who the best person was at almost anything, there's a chance his first name was Mike, and there was a chance he had an unearthly talent.

You had young Michael Jordan building his mythos through the air. You also had the other MJ, dubbed the "King of Pop" and always a moonwalk away from another chart-dominating piece of work.

Then, there's this guy:

I can't remember anyone who seized my attention more when I was younger than Iron Mike Tyson. Jordan soared, Jackson dazzled, but there was something about Tyson's contained feral energy that captivated me and millions of other people. As a gamer, the only real taste we had was in Mike Tyson's Punch-Out, and he was a boss battle.

All this sentiment is why Fight Night Round 4 was especially important for me. I had a thought in my head that maybe I didn't need to invest myself into it as much, since my fighting jones would be sated with UFC: Undisputed. I was kidding myself: UFC's a fine game, but I don't remember watching those dudes when I was 10. I remembered Tyson, and I wanted to see if EA was watching the same guy.

I'm not sure I want this. Iron Man beating the hell out of even more machines sounds like a fun time, but the first game also featured one of the crazier spikes in difficulty I've experienced in a while. It was like the game had a sudden mood swing and decided to hurl unavoidable waves of missiles and ordinance at you until you were ash. This wasn't like Ninja Gaiden or Devil May Cry 3, games that made you fully aware of their hate for you early on. The first Iron Man practically betrayed you. It wasn't a bad-looking game, though -- just not particularly fun for me.

Developer Zootfly had stirred up plenty of attention last year when a number of teaser trailers like this one made the rounds in showing off a prototype for a Ghostbusters game that they had hoped to make. That is, until they were unable to secure the license, a license that Sony would later award to Sierra Entertainment and Terminal Reality. Ironically, the excitement created by Zootfly's trailers had helped Terminal Reality sell the idea to Sony.

And now Zootfly have come up with an idea that could be just as cool, if not ripped from some alternate dimension forgotten by the Twilight Zone.

Brace yourselves for this one, A-Team fans...Mr. T goes to war against the Nazis!