Tech-Out

Review: Left 4 Dead 2

2009-11-24T06:15:14Z

Hold on to your undergarments, Left 4 Dead 2 has you going for an adventurous romp through a variety of zombie wastelands. Four different survivors and five new missions, with one purpose - stay together stay alive.

Stranded in the swamps and townships the south, you control the fate of four survivors, Nick, Rochelle, Coach and Ellis. Like the original, Left 4 Dead 2 has you battling your way through hordes of common zombies and special infected and only staying alive with the help of a surplus of weapons, ammunition and much needed health packs. Once again goal is the same - survive long enough to make it to the next safe house, or helicopter and move forward in the game.

]]>
Back to wreak havoc on our survivors are the smoker, boomer, tank, hunter and the witch. Game developer Valve throws in new assailants to keep you on your toes at every turn or dark corner. Newly introduced is the Spitter who lets out a vile concoction that eats away your health points - her attire is questionable at best. The Charger, rushes at his prey full steam and grasps them by the neck and slams them into the pavement. The Jockey, who's maniacal laugh will haunt you in your sleep, stocks his victims only to pounce on their heads and ride them like a broncos.

The most recent downloadable content for the original game gave us just a slight glimpse into what was to come in the second edition. Crash Course tied together No Mercy and Death Toll and introduced an opportunity to roam free in maps and try out new weapons. Unlike the original, L4D2's storyline seamlessly takes you through five campaigns, an array of shopping centers, back roads, empty city streets and swamps.

New levels test the four survivors and their will to live. In Dead Center, you battle your way through a shopping center filled with raging zombies to find a racecar that you must fill with gas to start up. In Dark Carnival, the racecar runs of gas on the highway and your forced to battle your way through the Whispering Oaks Amusement Park and a stadium where a switch to start a rollercoaster signals a rescue chopper but also alerts an overwhelming horde. In Swamp Fever, your helicopter crashes and leaves you deep in the swamps. Fight your way through a dizzying maze of thick brush and abandoned homes and you will eventually find your way to a plantation where a boat is summed to rescue you. Hard Rain not only pits survivors against the infected but also Mother Nature, with an unexpected weather surprise. In the grand finale, you are left on the banks of New Orleans which is overrun by the zombies. Your final goal is to reach a helicopter which takes you to a cruise ship to safety.

The L4D series would be nothing without an exciting new variety of weapons to choose from. L4D2 starts you off with the same originals including the chrome shotgun and silenced submachine gun, but adds 23 new weapons and wide selection of ammunition to choose from. You now have incendiary and explosive ammunition, and laser sight to make sure you know what you're aiming for.

Shoving the infected was so yesterday. Now, your can equip the survivors with melee weapons which include a frying pan, cricket bat, crowbar, electric guitar, ninja sword, Machete, and my personal favorite, the chainsaw.

L4D2's "Director" keeps players on their toes by switching scenes and keeping a steady flow of hordes coming. Unlike the original these zombies are faster and more aggressive - and the game keeps them coming, wave after wave.

I'd have to admit Dark Carnival kept me struggling. Survivors start up a rollercoaster and which signals an ambush of zombies. The only way to stop it is to fight your way through the hordes of infected, and run to the top to switch off the power. That's if the survivors can get there before they're overwhelmed.

The single player campaign only scratches the surface of the L4D2. I say online game play is a must!

As the survivors slash and shoot their way through the campaigns they leave a wake of mangled bodies of rotting flesh and a life they once knew. In the end, all that can be said is, George A. Romero created the genre, Resident Evil brought it to consoles and Left 4 Dead 2 slaps you silly with total zombie annihilation.

Left 4 Dead 2
Xbox 360 & PC
Valve
Rated M for Mature

Movie: 2012

2009-11-20T23:53:17Z

Director Roland Emmerich's movies are usually hit or miss, usually in trying to explain just what is going on to try and suspend your disbelief. It also looks like he's looking to become King of the Disaster Movie. His other film which froze everything north of the equator, The Day After Tomorrow, was just a warm up...no pun intended...for this one.

But when you forget that there's supposed to be a story behind all of the snazzy CG that he uses to wreck his worlds with, it's almost as fun as watching Sean Connery and Natalie Wood nearly drown in chocolate milk in 1979's, Meteor.

]]> 2012 is about the predicted end of the world based on the ancient Mayan calendar which, according to estimates, says that it will come about on December 21st, 2012. Whether or not you put any stock into the debates swirling around it doesn't matter since the film takes the worst case scenario to deliver some memorable, if not highly improbable, action sequences that are part cartoon, part high octane melodrama.

There's some kind of a story here focusing on the days leading up to the end as the world is knocked off of its axis by changes in the sun. Danny Glover, as the President. is involved in a secret conspiracy with other heads of state to keep this disaster secret years before it happens in order to avoid the chaos that it would cause.

John Cusack only wants to save his estranged family when it finally comes down to the wire and the gifted Chiwetel Ejiofor plays an exasperated scientist who had helped to discover the tragedy and tries to do good in working against his boss' (Oliver Platt) cold hearted practicality. All of this doesn't matter as much when you see the entire West Coast slide into the ocean or a humongous tsunami swallow up India. Ooh, pretty!

The disasters that Emmerich inflicts on the impressive cast are the real stars with the thin stories behind the characters mere excuses to show off just what would happen when entire cities are buried under ash. Even if you focus on the story threads jumping around the film, having the stomach to believe its string of incredible coincidences is a pre-requisite that should be printed on your ticket.

It may play to the theory that one of the characters puts forward of how the odds can often shape the most incredible moments in history, but in this film, its hard not to think of it as a convenient escape clause for the story, or the holes that it creates such as how the death of a particular character (and an important one) is promptly forgotten about as if he were never written into the script in the first place. It didn't matter to me because I was too busy watching Mount Everest used as a giant reef to care which may have been the entire point in the first place.

By the time the credits rolled, I felt that I had just seen Emmerich raise the bar on throwing human civilization into the molten blender of a malfunctioning planet. If you're in the mood to see nearly every natural disaster known to man invited to one party, 2012 is where it is at.

2012
Disaster movie
Centropolis Entertainment / Roland Emmerich
Rated PG-13

Bioshock 2's CE edition brings turntable love

2009-11-20T22:14:35Z

The first Bioshock CE came with a Big Daddy statuette and plenty of support from developer, Irrational Games, in providing freebies such as a digital art book, soundtrack, and free replacements for the Big Daddies that didn't survive their trip in the mail.

They wanted to do more for the fans, but at the time, no one was sure just how well the game would actually do to justify going all out with a full blown CE. Just offering what they could was a surprise in and of itself (as well as turning those Big Daddy statuettes into something of a collector's item) to everyone anticipating it.

But Bioshock was a huge success and now it almost looks as if they've been given a blank check to pull out all of the stops for the sequel's CE.

Looking at it, I could go for the hardcover art-book, but the other items are also interesting for those wanting to dress up their homes as if they were living in Rapture. Also included are three retro, 60's-styled posters, a CD containing the orchestral score and get this...a vinyl LP with the same score with its own album sleeve. Now you can laugh at everyone else that had thrown out their turntables for little platters of overpriced, shiny plastic!

But the price is just a wee over what I had expected to spend for this fan pack. The console version is going for about $100 (the PC version is ten dollars less) on Gamestop and Amazon, and here's what it looks like courtesy of the official site:

Review: Demon's Souls

2009-11-20T20:16:02Z

It's nearly winter here. The trees are mostly bare, cold winds rustle dried leaves, and everyone is getting ready to deal with the ice and snow that it inevitably brings. Around these parts, it's a yearly ritual that brings both pain and joy to our particular corner of the world.

Demon's Souls comes off as the season of winter pressed onto a blu-ray disc with the freezing rain, white outs, and ditched cars stuck on the side of the road that help define it. It's usually below freezing and salted ice forms up on your mudflaps like barnacles before breaking away to leave behind a surprise for the person following you, just as an eighteen wheeler did for you a few miles earlier. Many loathe it with the kind of hate that would defrost their cars on their way in to work.

But it's also the favorite time of the year for others that love snowball fights, ski trips, snowmen, and warming up with a mug of cocoa. I loved it when I heard that my school was one of those closed, usually because the roads had gotten so bad or that the same water main that had broken the year before had done the same thing again. But in our small world, it was a temporary reprieve, and Demon's Souls is filled with just enough of these to find joy within its brutal season of gameplay.

]]> Demon's Souls isn't for the impatient. It's not for people that don't want to feel as if they're inches away from success only to have it often taken away from them at the last second, pushing them even harder if they haven't broken their controller yet. But it's not so hard so as to be a masked attempt at humiliating its players. In some ways, it shares a lot in common with an old-school 2D title on the NES, right down to the respawning enemies.

Demon's Souls' hardcore attitude refuses to coddle you. Death is as much a part of the festivities as is dispatching the shambling, soulless things that stand in your way. Its deep character development and crafting system, open world hub, provide enough glimmers of hope to string players along and its gothic aesthetics brilliantly stain its fantasy world with plenty of Prozac inducing gloom while leaving you crying at the same time for rolling off of the edge of a cliff while dodging an enemy.

The story is simple: in the Kingdom of Boletaria, Old King Allant has dared to use forbidden magic, inadvertently awakening a demonic power known only as the Old One. As the hero, it's up to you to journey across five different worlds in an effort to lull the Lovecraftian Old One back to sleep by killing the primal demon in each, all the while slaking your thirst for hack 'n slash. It's bare bones stuff, but shrewdly presents everything in-game by using the unique environments as well as its twisted collection of enemies to tell it.

Picking a character class is only a leg up on how you would like to play the game and how easy it might be at the beginning. Eventually, you will be able to improve your stats, craft new weapons, and purchase supplies in order to tailor your character with the souls taken from your enemies. You might start out as a Mage, but finish the game dual wielding the most powerful swords in the game while wearing its mightiest armor...as long as you're strong enough to avoid moving like a glacier in combat.

Death is introduced as a play mechanic not too unlike the similar discipline explored in Quantic Dreams' Omikron. On dying, you're reincarnated back at the Nexus or the nearest Archstone within each region which can make it a handy travel technique if you don't want to waste the time in walking back or lack the spell to return. Every death also robs you of the souls that you might be carrying around.

Fortunately, Demon's Souls cuts you a little slack by leaving a bloodstain behind at roughly where you had died. If you can get back to it and touch it, you can reclaim your undead booty as long as you don't die again. Death also refreshes all of the monsters that you may have killed in that area just in case you thought that you might only have to walk on back, changing the dynamics of why it's not a good idea to die while carrying a load of precious, juicy souls.

And you will die a lot, though there's no shame in that, but its open nature also requires you to exercise a little responsibility. You can easily break your playthrough and make things much harder on yourself by using everyone as a personal target. I started my game over after taking out someone that I shouldn't have. He had it coming - after all, he shoved me down a hole to die before I escaped to backstab him -- only realizing much later that he wasn't coming back.

Demon's Souls doesn't forgive mistakes and one way it enforces this merciless rule is by saving to only one, unchangeable slot. The game saves when you quit out, when you pick up something, or do something special like kill a massive boss. Since you only have one slot to record your exploits, anyone hoping to see what happens if you kill Ed the Blacksmith for kicks and then hoping to reload later may weep when they discover that the game has forced them to live with the consequences.

One reason why it leaves itself so open to the player's interpretation of what they should and shouldn't do lends itself to the World Tendencies that each 'world' has depending on certain actions. The more "white" and pristine a world appears in the status menu, the weaker the enemies will be and certain events may open up that weren't available earlier.

But if it is black, as every world was during Halloween as a special event, Black Phantoms come out to play. These appear as black shadows of certain enemies outlined in glowing red and hit much harder than those they are based on. Ordinary enemies become tougher making each world considerably tougher to overcome. Certain Black Phantoms are downright lethal, able to kill careless players in one or two hits.

Taking this experience across the network also delivers as much fun and as much grief.

Online, players can leave simple messages based on a preset list of words and phrases warning of dangers ahead or clue others in to the weaknesses of certain bosses. What they scribble in their game is seen by everyone else, although the messages cycle through and are cleaned up on occasion so that hallways don't look like they were made up of slices leftover from the west side of the former Berlin Wall. Bloodstains of other players will also be left behind for you to touch (although their souls remain theirs) and act as a voyeur of death in watching just how they had died, perhaps helping you in avoiding the same fate.

White phantoms can also be seen for a few seconds at a time, running down hallways or through empty ruins, each one representing a real-life player playing the game elsewhere giving Demon's Souls' ghostly ambiance an even deeper sense of vacationing in Hades while playing up its story's multiversal angle at the same time.

This also has its downside, one that lives up to the hunger for souls and the thirst for power that the story is surrounded with when other players invade your game as Black Phantoms themselves.

The reason why anyone would want to do that is to regain their body and earn some extra souls. When you have your body, you have all of your hit points which is always a good thing since as a spirit, your health bar is crippled. But in defeating a player, you not only earn souls as a reward but it also drains the other player of a soul level for an additional humiliation. Soul levels represent the number of times that you had improved your character's statistics, so in a way, its your "level" in the game. Depending on how high the lost level is, a corresponding number of souls are given over to the winning invader making it easy to guess why some choose to hunt other players in this way.

Of course, there are ways to banish the other soul from your game (or simply quit out and play offline), but it certainly adds an undeniably nervous edge to staying connected with a body, if only to see how long you can hold onto it while leaving you to wonder whether it will be lost to a boss or to another player hungry for souls when you least expect it.

But this also opens opportunities for players that want to help others, not only through messages, but by leaving invitations to bring them into a game to aid in taking down a boss as a friendly, albeit bodiless, Blue Phantom. As a Blue Phantom, you can also earn souls for successfully tackling a boss, making it a fun and cooperative venture for both players.

From Software's flirtation with turning its players into Grim Reapers, first through Otogi and now with Demon's Souls, has certainly created unique experiences that stand far and away from anything else that asks to serve up evil with the edge of a sword or burned to ashes with a well timed spell. The cold, winter chill that they've delivered with Demon's Souls is not quite as unrelenting thanks to the warm respites that its leveling and crafting system offer in keeping players alive.

And just as Spring creeps up on me every year, so did I start to notice that I was doing a lot less dying and a lot more mauling the closer I came to the end. Brutal bosses fell before a blade sharpened with rare ores wielded in the hand of a stat-enhanced warrior fueled by souls, making this particular snowball fight a little easier to weather, but no less challenging, when it threw the gauntlet down again.

Demon's Souls
PS3
Atlus / From Software
Rated M for Mature

"Dragon Age: Origins" review

2009-11-18T21:55:06Z

We should all be used to compelling, immersive role-playing games from Bioware by now, but "Dragon Age: Origins" stands out even while following in the footsteps such games as "Mass Effect" and "Knights of the Old Republic."

"Dragon Age" sets its roots in familiar swords-and-sorcery territory, but Bioware's always-great writing and wonderful design set the game apart from its genre competitors. You'll enter a world in a time of crisis, and you'll have to get your hands dirty to have any hope of making things right.

]]> The nation of Ferelden is under attack by an army of monstrous Darkspawn (like orcs, but tougher), who are led by an archdemon determined to rule. Your actions will determine the future of the fight, but you must first decide on your own past. There are six unique beginnings to the game, and your choice will have a great influence on how your story unfolds and how you interact with the world. There are two human origins, noble and mage; two elven origins, city dweller and Dalish nomad; and two dwarven origins, noble and commoner.

You'll spend a few hours playing through your background story -- my character began as a small-time dwarf criminal in the slums of an underground city -- before being recruited into the Grey Wardens, a group of knights who cut ties with their pasts and families to fight the malevolent Darkspawn. Remember the choices you made in your origin, though. Although you leave to join the Wardens, the effects of your decisions even in the early stages of the game can be far-reaching, and you might not be as far from home as you think.

The consequences of the choices you make are driven home by the sense that each culture has its own history, each character has his own motivations and feelings, and that the Darkspawn threatens it all. "Dragon Age" offers a feast for the mind and the eyes. If you find yourself interested in the tales you hear and the books you see, the game's codex has information on all of the nations, characters and enemies in the game. But the design of the places you visit makes them feel real without requiring you to memorize backstory. The ornate Circle Tower, which is the home of Ferelden's mages, and an ancient temple you'll come to in the course of the main quest deserve special mention.

You'll need to gather a group of allies to defeat the Darkspawn, and some of my favorite moments of the game have been the quiet ones at your party's camp. There are laugh-out-loud moments involving your hound interacting with (and often annoying) your compatriots; moments of great character development and interesting conversations; and some grace notes, such as the bard in your party singing a somber song she learned as a girl, that simply make the game and its characters feel more alive.

The voice acting, especially for the members of your party, is top-notch, which adds to the immersion. You'll want to learn more about everyone you travel with, but you'll have to get them to trust you first. To that end, you can find or buy gifts for them, which can open up new dialogue, side quests and possibly romance. As your companions grow to like and trust you even more, they can gain permanent stat boosts that strengthen in tandem with their admiration for you.

These boosts can be invaluable in the game's bruising combat sequences. You'll fight with three party members at a time, and finding the right mix is crucial. If you want to be an archer, keep a melee specialist with you so you can loose a barrage of arrows without enemies in your face. If you like to smash Darkspawn skulls from as close range as possible, it pays to have a mage who can heal you and cast protective spells.

And you'll need lots of healing during battles in "Dragon Age." The combat is intense and fun, but it's also the area in which the game has its biggest flaws. The tools you're given to lead your party in battle generally work, but it's the tools you lack that can cause frustration. For example, you cannot position your party members unless you order them all to stop moving completely, which removes a strategic card from your deck.

Another shortcoming is that you cannot set targets or order an ally to attack a specific enemy until it is dead. As a result, your allies tend to run to whichever character you are controlling at the moment, even if there are enemies that are closer.

Each party member has a list of tactics that you can use to assign context-based actions, such as using an area-effect spell when surrounded by enemies or a poultice when health drops below a certain level. The great advantage to tactics is that you can set standing orders for your allies and avoid micromanaging their every attack or potion intake. They prove to be incredibly rigid in following the orders, however. For example, if a tactic requires your mage to use a certain level of potion to refill her magic, she will use only that level. Even if her magic is drained, she will not use a different magnitude of potion unless you pick out the action for her in the heat of battle. This forces you into a kind of micromanagement that the tactics are meant to avert.

These combat-related headaches require you to choose between allowing the battles to flow freely, which is more fun but potentially catastrophic if your a character refuses to heal himself, and continually pausing the action to select each spell or potion, which can turn battles into a long slog.

But when combat in "Dragon Age" is working like it should, it provides some really rewarding moments. Winning a tough fight (especially if you've failed a few times before) is a visceral, satisfying experience. Your character can uncork some flashy finishing moves on enemies, and there's enough variety of loot to make you want to search every body.

If you or one of your party members "dies" during a battle, he will revive as long as someone in your party survives, but he won't come back at full strength. He will suffer from one of a variety of injuries, such as a wrenched arm, which reduces attack speed, or a torn jugular, which applies a penalty to the Constitution stat. These injuries are curable with kits you can craft from components or buy from vendors, but the concept is a clever way to ensure that combat has consequences.

There are too many facets and intricacies of "Dragon Age: Origins" to fit in one review. Perhaps the best praise I can give it is that it worms its way into your mind and stays there. I find myself frequently trying to figure out where the game will go next and what sacrifices my character and my friends will need to make to get there. Ferelden's a dangerous place, but I still want to dive back in.

Score: 9 out of 10
Developer: Bioware
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Rating: M for Mature

Review: Call of Duty - Modern Warfare 2

2009-11-18T00:01:04Z

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a one night stand of flying bullets, explosions and cool moments. It pushes you forward with guns blazing, hoping to God you don't stop to realize how confusing it all is.

Because for all of Modern Warfare 2's awesome action -- and it is indeed deserving of whatever superlatives you can throw at it -- the game also suffers from a disorienting absence of sense in its storytelling. You do things, but you don't know why. All you know is that it all looks badass in HD.

]]>

If it were surely a matter of making you experience one huge moment after another, then Infinity Ward (the game's designer) accomplished its mission. If you're not snowmobiling in Kazakhstan, you're blasting your way through a Russian gulag or turning away waves of raiding Russians outside of the White House.

All of these missions assault your eyes with as much visual splendor as both the PS3 and 360 can muster, and the game does a splendid job of alternating between heavy action, stealth tension and genuine battle drama.

However, no mission epitomizes the impact-per-minute philosophy and its flaws than the infamous airport mission, where you -- as an undercover CIA agent -- are part of a team of armed terrorists whose sole purpose is to mow down everyone in a packed Moscow terminal. The game gives you the option to skip the mission.

But it almost doesn't matter. If there's a mission that begs the question "why," that was it, and it's a question the game fails to answer in many respects at almost every step of the less than six-hour single-player journey.

Instead, you either get more action thrown at you or perhaps a few preachy lines of dialogue with the hope that those will be the springs you need to make the necessary leaps in logic. I'm not really afraid of spoiling anything, because I don't think I'm 100 percent sure of what happened.

If you believe the game, then you believe the airport massacre led to Russia launching a surprise attack against the United States. Russian forces park across U.S. freeways, and NORAD had no way of tracking them down until it was too late.

If Doc Brown can explain time travel to Marty McFly on a chalkboard, than Infinity Ward can take a little more time to explain how a single American bullet casing from a terrorist attack suddenly leads to Russian gunships strafing burger joints in Virginia. Was there another operation to blind NORAD? What about the communication breakdown between the two global superpowers that would cause one to sucker punch the other? If you're a CIA agent, where's the communication with the intel communities of both countries to ensure the attack doesn't happen? So many questions, but no answers. Just shoot.

Another gem of confusion involves an ACS module stolen from the Kazakh airbase. I don't know what an ACS module does, but according to the game, it's the "key to everything," and I'm left to simply accept that. I can almost hear Colonel Hoffman from Gears of War yelling at me to get the resonator.

Thankfully, there's less confusion when it comes the game's other facets, like Spec Ops, which remains the game's lone co-op feature -- you can't team up with a friend in the story mode. And of course, there's also the game's diverse multiplayer.

However, multiplayer isn't immune to the bigger-is-badder mentality. In addition to the regular airstrikes you get from a killing streak, you also get an AC-130 gunship and -- in extreme cases -- a tactical nuke.

It makes for some wild experiences online, but the matchmaking needs some work. If you're a new player, be prepared to be dropped into a hornet's nest of vastly more experienced players. It's trial by fire -- some people might like that, but newer players might find the experience overwhelming.

The simple act of playing Modern Warfare 2 is a blast. Each individual mission is an example of visual and audio mastery with the kind of action you'd get from summer action movies. But even those movies, at their explosion-filled worst, made a better attempt to explain why stuff needed to blow up.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
PS3, Xbox 360, PC
Activision / Infinity Ward
Rated M for Mature

Angry PC Gamers are still irked over MW2 (and We Love Moon Gravity)

2009-11-16T16:40:29Z

Despite having one of the biggest launches in history and collecting over $300 million in one day, PC gamers are still upset over the feeling of being shortchanged on features, not that it's going to tarnish the runaway success that MW2 is currently experiencing. This also sent Activision's stock price surging allowing its controversial CEO, Bobby Kotick, to exercise his stock options netting him a cool $20 million plus in the aftermath.

And now that Amazon has officially opened its rating system, PC players have let their version have it. Surprisingly, several of the top entries lambasting the title make excellent points on why they don't like it. Some sound as if they have even played it. There's even a new petition out, although I doubt its success after the first one was basically ignored.

It's hard not to think that MW2's massive economic success has closed the door on whatever the PC crowd wants to bend Infinity Ward's ear over with the game at this point. As upset as many are, it is a business and with that much money in tow along with the millions of sales made in one day for consoles alone, any complaints about dedicated servers will be marginalized.

Still, I've already seen posts talking about a tool that unlocks the console and several commands unavailable on the stock version of the title, allowing ways to kick players from games or change the field of view among others. On some days with Xbox Live, I wish I had the option to vote-kick certain players from a game, if only because of the sewage usually streaming across my headset when I take it off mute just to get a sampling of what it's like to hear everything.

It's only one game, though id is also considering to not include dedicated server support for their upcoming apocalyptic game, Rage. Whether others follow suit on the PC front remains to be seen, but it is clear that with MW2, Infinity Ward and Activision won't be losing any sleep over dedicated servers.

Update 11.16.09: Those tools I mentioned earlier? Yeah, it appears that they work. Mind you, this isn't the only thing that they're meant for, but it does show off the kind of weirdness that having the freedom to tweak the online experience allows for. Ah, moon gravity...brings back the good ol' days of beaching a destroyer halfway up Normandy in Battlefield 1942. Now if only they can get more players into the game...

Also, it's not just one person doing this. Everyone on the server is affected by the rules set up by the admin, so its moon boots and unlimited ammo for everyone!

Modern Warfare release

2009-11-10T07:39:28Z

Gamers rejoice, the much anticipated Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 game is finally out. Over 150 people waited out side the Best Buy store in San Bernardino for the Midnight release.

Dominic Diaz of Highland waits outside the San Bernardino Best Buy for the midnight release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Lines wrap around the Best Buy in San Bernardino during the Midnight release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Halo Reach?

2009-11-06T05:42:46Z

Some pictures have shown up on a message board by a poster named 'Tom Morello' that purportedly show some of the weapons and HUD from Bungie's upcoming Halo Reach. The poster allegedly took the pictures at Microsoft headquarters. Follow the link to see the pictures and make up your own mind as to their validity

Merry Xbox-mas!!

2009-11-04T19:27:46Z

It seems as if Walmart is giving everyone a preview of holiday shopping deals. One day and one day only, in-store shopping specials which start at 8:00 am on Saturday November 7. Grab a 46" Panasonic Plasma HDTV for $788 or a Sony Blu-ray for $148 or even better a Xbox 360 Arcade Console with a $100 gift card. With that deal you can grab COD Modern Warfare 2 for free!! As usual, quantities are limited so good luck.

Review: Forza Motorsport 3

2009-11-03T18:51:46Z

Editor note: There is no definitive shape, size or style of a game review, and this is proof. This piece from Derrick Hopkins not only reviews the game, but it also challenges it by comparing it to a very real, once-in-a-lifetime experience. Enjoy.

By Derrick Hopkins
Editor, deadpixellive.com/special contributor to Tech-Out

The Nurburgring is a 13-mile-long race track in located Nurburg, Germany. Nicknamed the "Green Hell", it was built in 1927, has 72 corners, constant elevation changes and is considered one of the most dangerous race tracks ever constructed. And for about $15, anyone can drive on it.

A lot of games have included the Nurburgring on their list of locales to simulate. The latest is "Forza Motorsport 3," which claims to be the most "realistic racing experience ever." "Forza 3" gives Xbox 360 owners the option of taking on the Nurburgring and dozens of other tracks in a collection of SUVs, exotic sportscars and purpose-built racers.

My brother and I had flown to Germany for the express purpose of driving on the legendary track. And we'd do it in a rented Mercedes C230 sedan.

]]> Once you arrive at the public section of the Nurburgring, also called the Nordscliefe, there's an unassuming booth that stands between you and the track. I walked up and handed the attendant 75 euros and received a license that allowed me four laps on the track.

That was it. No lengthy safety lecture. No car inspection. It would have been harder to get on a roller coaster at Universal Studios.

Safety lessons weren't needed, though. On the drive up to the track, we crossed paths with a tow truck carrying the remains of a Porsche 911. The front end was nonexistant, and the roof was crushed from an obvious rollover. While Turn 10 Studios has improved the collision model in "Forza 3" over the previous installments, even on the highest setting, a rollover won't result in the carnage featured on the back of that tow truck. That's the sort of damage Forza 3 doesn't simulate.

I drove to the entrance of the Green Hell and waited for the yellow-clad track worker to give the "go" signal. The gate lifted and I headed down the first straight. This was it. I was on the 'Ring. My brother sat in the passenger seat as we sped by the series of cones that guide the cars down the first part of the track. After I left the coned area, I was tentative about speeding up. Part of me didn't believe I was actually driving on my dream course, and another part kept picturing the metal carcass or the Porsche.

When I got to the top of the first incline and headed into the initial collection of twists and turns, I began to feel at home. I knew the corners well. Games like "Forza 3" take pride in how closely they can recreate real-world tracks. A long downhill straight opened up in front of me and I pressed the accelerator to the floor. The 2.3 liter engine of the Mercedes pulled the car up the hill, gaining speed. The curve at the top looks a lot less severe than it actually is, a lesson learned from "Forza." I lifted off the throttle and eased the car into the corner. It hugged the road perfectly, the body rolling to the outside while the tires stayed planted on the tarmac.

"Nice," my brother said. I agreed. That gave me the confidence to launch into the next corner, a sweeping right-hand 90-degree curve, at full speed.

I aimed for the inside of the turn. What happened next was a sharp reminder of the difference between a game and real life. "Forza 3" gives you the option of putting a colored line on the road, telling you when to hit the brakes. There's even an option to let the game apply the brakes for you, making it accessible to just about anyone who can hold a gamepad.

I didn't have those helpful lines here. Nothing was going to step on the brake pedal for me as I hurtled towards the trees that bordered the turn. I heard the screeching of the rear tires as they struggled for grip. I heard the sound fade away as they lost that struggle and began to slide toward the outside of the corner. The sensation of unexpectantly facing one direction while your body travels in another is eye-opening. Thankfully, the C230 regained its composure quickly. While it doesn't have all the driving assists of "Forza 3," it does have traction control, and that stepped in to cut power to the rear tires, ending the slide.

The sequence only lasted a split second. But for a split second I was drifting on the Nurburgring. For a split second I was out of control on the Nurburging. For a split second -- I was terrified on the Nurburgring.

I maintained my speed down the decline and back up into a set of 'S' turns that I looked forward to tossing the car into. A motorcycle was ahead of me, and I had to rethink attacking the corners. I was right up on his tail as we entered the turn and there was little room to manuever around him. Instead of risking an incident, I decided to just follow his slow lead into the section. When we exited, I pulled out beside him and passed. At anytime, there can be dozens of other vehicles on the Ring. Even though "Forza 3" excels in allowing diversity in its multiplayer offerings, the fact that a maximum of eight racers can share the road is disapointing. Add to that the fact that unless you have enough people to create a private match, your multiplayer experience will be limited to the scant few modes available in the game's matchmaking system.

I sped around the cyclist and headed into the next set of curves. I glanced to the left and was greeted by a bright blue sky. It was a beautiful scene. "Forza 3" has some of the best graphics ever seen on the Xbox 360, but even they wouldn't have compared to the vista that spread out from the edge of the mountain. Then it dawned on me that I wasn't just driving on a road or a track. Beside me was a cliff. A cliff elevated a few hundred feet into the air. And there wasn't a lot to stop me from going over the side of that cliff.

I checked the rental car's rear-view mirror and saw an A-Class Mercedes storming up behind me. I figured I'd just need to stay in front of the minuscule vehicle for the next few turns, and once we hit the upcoming straight, I'd easily pull away. I was wrong. The nimble car was on my bumper before I reached the final turn entering the next straight. My ego tried to convince me that the tiny A-Class had more than the standard 100hp that it's born with. Maybe the owner had taken a page from the "Forza 3" book and modified the engine with a large turbo, added racing tires, and tuned suspension parts, transforming what was once a normal automobile into a fire-breathing racing machine. But it was more likely that the Mercedes A160 was simply being driven by a better, more experienced driver. I clicked on my right turn signal and moved over to let him pass.

Up next was the Karussell, a banked section of the track that almost begs you dip into it. It's a turn that can do one of two thinggs: Help you traverse it's hairpin radius at an insane speed aided by centrifugal force, or launch you up and over the guardrail like a ramp.

I knew this turn was coming, and I knew how dangerous it was. I told myself earlier that if I didn't feel comfortable, I could always stay on the outer, non-banked section of the turn. I didn't feel comfortable. Still, I dove into the banked section of the Karussell. I could feel the suspension compressing and pushing the car into the road as it was cradled around the curve. My brother and I both let out a scream of joy. "That was awesome!"

Again I checked the rearview mirror. In the distance, I was able to make out the distinctive white silhouette of the "Ring Taxi." The Ring Taxi is a service run by BMW, where for 200 euros, you can be a passenger in a 500hp V10 BMW M5 driven by a professional race driver. Currently, the Taxi was far behind me, but the race-prepped M5 would be on top of my borrowed C-Class grocery hauler soon. I concentrated on the sharp corners ahead, hitting the apexes and accelerating out of each one. The motions were smooth and fast. I checked the position of the Ring Taxi again, expecting him to be a few corners behind me. Instead, the shark-like grill of the BMW loomed impossibly large in the mirror. It was right behind me. How fast was that car? I knew I had to get out of the way as soon as possible.

The next turn was a narrow left-hander and afterwards was a fairly straight section that would make it easy for the Taxi to get around me. I planned on taking the corner as fast as I dared, staying wide, setting myself up to end the turn on the outside edge and thus, giving the fierce BMW a lot of room to pass. But halfway through the maneuver, I looked to my left. There, I was surprised to see the white and blue markings of the BMW M5, taking the inside of turn at twice my speed. I didn't see the driver, or the passengers. I was looking at the rear of the M5.

It was going through the corner sideways.

I can't explain the feeling that went through me. What I can do is describe how my brother and I both yelled as we saw the BMW beside us. I can explain how the instant rush of adrenaline felt and how my accelerated heart rate made time seem to slow to a crawl. But the feeling itself? I was in Germany, on the Nurburging, in a Mercedes, on the edge of traction, and less than 3 feet beside me was a roaring BMW M5 with the combined power of 500 horses harnessed by a professional driver going double my speed, sideways.

It felt ... incredible.

And we still had 5 miles left to go in the lap.

"Forza 3" has a lot to offer driving enthusiasts. It's as close to a simulation that you can find on the Xbox 360. It goes to great lengths to welcome players in with numerous assists and customization options. Theres still something missing that I don't believe any game will be able to capture -- the visceral look and sounds of driving on the edge. I doesn't convey the fear of knowing that you cant lose concentration for a second. For many people, that's probably a good thing. But I remember the feeling of losing control for a moment while heading toward a tree, glancing over the side of a cliff and knowing only a quarter-inch thick guardrail was protecting me, and seeing that BMW sliding past me close enough to touch. You can't simulate that.

We drove a total of four laps during the trip. We had flown 4000 miles, and driven another 150 miles on the autobahn, just to go around a 90-year-old stretch of road four times.

I would do it again.

Forza Motorsport 3
Turn 10
Xbox 360
Score 8/10

Review: Borderlands

2009-10-29T18:42:11Z

Cool guns have become as much a part of gaming's fabric as health packs and life meters. Whether it's a Barrett .50 caliber sniper rifle or a machine gun that fires heat-seeking bullets, many gamers have their favorite brands of fire-spitting, death-spewing hardware. For some, it's even an obsession.

That's where the true power of Gearbox's Borderlands lies. It's the "Guns & Ammo" of gaming, appealing to our inner firearms enthusiast. Not only does it stroke our urge to search for, collect and play with new toys that go bang, it gives us the ultimate playground. Sure there's a plot and a story, but who cares when you have a high-powered rifle that shoots electric rounds?

]]> A land called Pandora serves as the playground of death, where you step into the role of a mercenary in search of the legendary Vault, a place rumored to have untold riches and endless power.

Naturally, you're not the only one who wants the Vault, so you'll encounter legions of creatures, crazy bandits and other characters who generally serve as either sources for your various missions or food for your weaponry.

I enjoyed the game's visual tone. A wide-open wasteland like Pandora doesn't immediately lend itself to stunning graphics, but the game's hand-drawn art style adds personality to the glut of shantytowns, arenas and landscapes you encounter.

It also adds detail to the roughly 500,000 guns (so I was told at E3) in the game, all with special powers and funky design concepts, such as a shotgun that loads like a revolver. You also have access to tons of mods, shields and other items that can help make your character in a fearsome treasure hunter.

As a fusion between the first-person shooter and role-playing disclipines, the gun-happy nature of Borderlands has a tinge of ambition to it. It's almost covert in how it weaves it's load of potentially tedious role-playing elements (looting, character building, exploration, branching side-stories) into the atmosphere of explosive gunplay.

But when a game fuses genres in the hopes of capitalizing on their strengths, it inevitably runs into some weaknesses as well.

For instance, as fun as playing with hundreds of thousands of guns can sound, the action still breaks down into shooting enemies -- which can get very boring. The game likes to chuck gobs of bandits and indigenous creatures at you at almost every opportunity, and it eventually becomes less about being engaged in a gunfight and more about leveling up.

Speaking of leveling, I was a little annoyed at the fact that my level determined the power of my bullets. I understand the RPG concept of higher levels meaning more attack power, but the FPS player in me wanted to believe that a combination of skill and timing can overcome any obstacle. Not the case. If someone's too high a level, not even a rocket launcher could be enough to destroy them if you're not at least on par with their number. That neuters some of the pleasure you'd take in blasting away at the enemy.

In some ways, it felt like the game was compensating for the fact that some of its enemies moved like lemmings, content to wander into your hail of gunfire.

At least the game has a sense of humor. When in multiplayer, you can melee attack one of your friends and immediately find yourself squaring off in an arena, much like the Thunderdome. The game experience as a whole improves when you play with friends, as the single player experience has a tendency to drag -- unless, of course, you enjoy the art of building up your character.

Borderlands at its base can serve as the equivalent of a hunting range or shooting gallery, where you and your pals play with guns and tinker with them to pass the time. But unless you're really into gun shows, there's a chance you'll eventually move on to another obsession.

Borderlands
Xbox 360, PS3
2K Games / Gearbox
Rated M for Mature

What kind of Mickey Mouse game is this? Oh, wait ...

2009-10-28T22:12:57Z

This morning, Disney announced that they were creating Disney Epic Mickey, an action platformer for the Wii that's looking to give the vaunted mouse some new life. Mickey travels to a place called the Cartoon Wasteland -- a place for Disney creations that have either retired or faded into obscurity. The caretaker of the wasteland is Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, who was Walt Disney's first star ... until Mickey came along. Naturally, this leads to issues when Mickey stumbles into the wasteland and ruins the land's sense of balance. Now, it's up to Mickey to provide damage control.

Here's a snippet about gameplay from Disney:

Players use the Wii Remote to wield magical paint and thinner to re-shape the world around them. Paint's creativity and thinner's damaging effect give the player robust tools and empowers them to make choices about how they move through the world. Each player's decisions to use paint, thinner or both dynamically changes the world with consequences that affect the environment, interactions with other characters, and even Mickey's appearance and abilities.

The painting concept immediately brings me right to Okami, an outstanding game from Capcom where you had the ability to "paint" items into the scenery and watch them spring to life -- for instance, if you painted a sun at night, you would immediately make it daytime.

Disney sent over some screens and art for the game, so you can see it after the jump. The game's slated to drop in the fall of 2010.

]]> Screenshots:

And, here's some concept art:

Not an issue

2009-10-26T18:58:36Z

I love Sony's new ads featuring Kevin Butler, the VP that wears as many hats as Sony needs him to and with plenty of style to boot.

On that note, and in view of Red's review of the amazing Uncharted 2 (I've played it,too), here's a little example of what I'm talking about. Enjoy!

And don't forget, it's also fun for the whole family!

Modern Warfare 2: One star rating on Amazon

2009-10-20T20:54:48Z

At least according to "customers" on Amazon.com in the UK.

Today's information saturated world has turned the internet into an open bulletin board allowing anyone with a chip on their shoulder to post their unflattering review of the Transformers in less than three words, accessible to anyone with a browser. But it's not all off the cuff. Some of that anger is also backed by a number of legitimate concerns.

Amazon is no stranger to this kind of internet vengeance. Last year, Turbotax maker, Intuit, raised the price on its flagship product by $15 and started charging users $9.95 for each additional return made on it. Predictably, this made many upset for a variety of well thought out reasons spanning more than three words. People who quickly downrated Turbotax's listing on Amazon to one star.

The good news is that Intuit actually listened and reversed the $9.95 charge.

In another example, self-help author, Cooper Lawrence, had stated on Fox News that Mass Effect had "full digital nudity and sex." which was extremely misleading, sensationalist "SE"XBOX" news header not helping. Mass Effect does have one sex scene, but it happens late in the game and is the kind implied on prime-time television, even for a game rated "M" for Mature (titles like Max Payne 2 or even the original Duke Nukem were a lot more explicit compared to Mass Effect). Of course, to anyone that believes that games are just evil, this is great ammunition...even if it is absolutely wrong.

Gamers quickly protested by hitting her self-help book on Amazon with one-star ratings, indirectly attacking her in the process and questioning the veracity of her own work in their comments. Soon, enough of these were submitted to drive it into the ratings basement until Amazon deleted them, but it did elicit a retraction of sorts from Lawrence a week later.

And now with Infinity Ward's controversial decision to build IW.Net and remove dedicated server support from their latest game, Modern Warfare 2, moving it closer in design to what console players are used to, PC players furious over the changes haven't wasted time in making their anger felt. A petition already passing 100K 'signatures' is still earning more, Infinity Ward's response to the furor has only thrown more gas on the fire by simply looking at the comments, and angry gamers have already found its listing on Amazon's UK storefront.

Interestingly enough, Amazon's storefront over here has wisely opted not to open up the ratings for the any version of Modern Warfare 2 yet. It's probably hard not to wonder why.

UPDATE 9.25.09: It looks like Amazon.UK have removed the PC title's star rating (although the screenshot above shows what it had appeared as), likely because the reviews rating it aren't from people that have actually played the game. The Xbox 360 version, though, has a five star rating according to one poster. The petition is still going strong, though, now surpassing 150K signatures. Not bad for one week.