The Mantle Kick

How many times have you taken cover at a conveniently-located chest-high wall only to discover that, rather inconveniently, your opponent has chosen the same wall to take cover behind? You each switch to your trusty Gnasher Shotgun and fire off some rounds of blind fire to break the ice, then dance back and forth, surreptitiously popping up to take a proper shot at your opponent. It plays out like a game of Whack-A-Mole, except the hammers are shotguns, and the mole in question is trying to kill you. To do away with such antics, Epic has introduced the Mantle Kick. Executed by pressing the ‘A’ button, the Mantle Kick will send your character vaulting over the wall, delivering a solid kick to anyone foolish enough to be sitting on the other side. Successful execution of the Mantle Kick will leave a victim momentarily stunned, and horribly vulnerable to all manner of blades and bullets. Take that, you stupid mole!

Spotting

The Gears of War games are all about teamwork, and while a single player can sometimes run the table and massacre an entire team, it usually takes a co-operative effort in order to secure victory. One of the best ways to co-operate is through communication, but with the advent of Party Chat and the sometimes volatile environment found in online games, communicating with the entirety of your team may prove difficult or painful. Thankfully, Gears of War 3 features a new Spotting mechanic that allows players to pinpoint the location of enemies in a non-verbal manner. Clicking the left stick while your crosshair is trained on an enemy will place a marker over their head for a few seconds that can be seen by all teammates, even through walls and obstructions. The best part? If a teammate kills an enemy that you have spotted, you get an XP award. High five!

Tac/Com

The Tac/Com, short for Tactical Communication, isn’t anything new to Gears players. However, having practical applications for it in multiplayer matches is! Activated by pressing the Left Bumper, the new and improved Tac/Com will give players much more information during matches than its predecessor, including the ability to see the location of teammates, where weapons spawn on the map, and it will even identify wall-tagged grenades as being friendly or not. Additionally, we learned that Leaders in the new Capture the Leader mode can use the Tac/Com to see the location of their enemies, allowing them to issue more helpful orders to their subordinates. I’m going to miss sneaking up on leaders to steal a victory, but I’ll settle for them quaking in their boots as they see me coming.

Map Preview

Knowing where to find the best weapons on any given level offers a huge strategic advantage, so Epic has included a new Map Preview feature that gives players the skinny on where to find the good stuff. Before each match begins, an illustrated overhead view of the map is shown, complete with designated names for each area of the map, such as ‘The Crane’ and ‘Concession Stands’, to aid players in describing the maps. Furthermore, if players view the map during the game, it will be updated with the location of weapon spawns. This is immensely helpful to new players, and helps me plan my strategy from the moment the match starts, which typically amounts to “I’m heading to the Torque Bow!”

Meatshield Tagging

Using an enemy as a meatshield to protect yourself from his or her understandably upset teammates is a hobby of mine. Sometimes I even perform a ventriloquism act, saying things like “if you kill me, you’ll never get that money I owed you,” or, “you wouldn’t shoot a Locust with glasses, would you?” Okay, so I don’t actually do that – not out loud anyways. However, for those looking to add a little more fun to their meatshield experience, Epic has included an awesome new feature: Meatshield Tagging! If you’re carrying a meatshield and have grenades in your possession (any will do), you can press up on the d-pad to attach your grenade to the meatshield, then send the bundle of joy hurtling toward your enemies for an explosive reunion. Even better, if you’re fresh out of grenades, but your meatshield was carrying them, you can use theirs instead! “Get ready for a surprise!”

Control Tweaks

Here’s the situation: Don and I are about to secure the Torque Bow when a Locust Grunt rushes around the corner, frothing at the mouth, and downs Don with a single shot of his active-charged Gnasher Shotgun. Not wanting to face the rabid brute on my own, I quickly press the ‘X’ button to revive my fallen teammate. However, instead of reviving him, I unexpectedly pick up the Torque Bow and get gibbed during the ensuing pick-up animation. While I typically value the Torque Bow higher than Don’s life, things probably would have played out differently had I actually revived him. Unfortunately, such accidents were common in the first two Gears of War titles, but it has finally been addressed. Epic has made a distinction between actions that use the same buttons by changing some of them to a hold function. To revive a teammate, you tap ‘X’, and to pick up a nearby weapon, you now hold ‘X’ for a second. The same is true for executions; you tap ‘Y’ to quickly curbstomp an enemy, and hold ‘Y’ for the more bloody and satisfying, weapon-specific executions. This should help us avoid situations like the one described above, but I guess it means that I can no longer lie to Don about whether or not I actually intended to revive him instead.

In our brief time with the beta, we fell in love all over again. It has all of the makings of what made the first two Gears of War titles great, but polished to perfection. Veteran Gears will feel right at home, and thanks to many of the new features, players new to the franchise will find it easier to pick up and play than previous instalments. Join us on Monday when we review each of the four maps found in the Beta, as well as post a Q&A with Epic’s crazy canuck, Rod Fergusson.

There are actually significant improvements to the gameplay, depending on what kind of games you like to play. The combat is much more of an action style game, especially for console, where you have to button mash normal attacks. Characters never just walk up to their targets to attack. They will jump, charge, roll, or do something else equally dramatic and the end result is that the combat feels very cool and dynamic. However, it still plays like MMOs such as World of Warcraft, RIFT, or DC Universe Online, except that you can pause the combat and take control of different characters in order to get more strategic control. On PC, you can move your character using the WSAD keys, or by pointing and clicking, or by holding both mouse buttons down, which is the way I’m used to navigating in WoW. Removed from this game is the bird’s eye camera that would truly give you a strategic sense of the battlefield, but I didn’t miss it too much.

Questing was made much simpler with quest markers. People with quests will have an exclamation mark above their heads while people or things relevant to a quest in your Journal will have some arrows pointing to it. This new “feature”, so prominent in other games, is actually an unwelcome change. Sure, it’s great that the game is easier to play, and I’ve always been a big believer in making things easier to play, but I found myself just mindlessly following the markers instead of taking the time to know my environments and talk to every NPC in the city. Instead of picking the quests I felt were urgent, I would just go to the areas with the most quests to complete. It’s not that exploration isn’t rewarded, but it is to a lesser extent than the first game. The first game was more immersive simply because it forced you to figure out things on your own, and I prefer immersion in my single player RPGs.

The Tactics system, borrowed from Final Fantasy XII, remains intact. This is usually a boon and for most of the game you just let your NPCs do their thing, but there are occasionally hard battles where you must turn these off and control things on your own. There’s no easy way to disable all the Tactics, but that’s a minor complaint. I enjoy the Tactics system and how it just keeps the game flowing when you don’t need to micromanage things.

Dragon Age II keeps the Enchantment system from the last game, where you place runes that you find into weapons and armour in order to increase their effectiveness. It also introduces a crafting system, where you can find different sources of materials throughout the world and then craft potions, bombs, poisons, or runes from them. You’ll have to discover the recipes for them, too. Unlike the last game, you can’t recover the runes from your equipment, and you have to destroy them by slotting a new rune. Even though that improves the enchantment system, the crafting system feels unfinished. The crafting table just becomes another store. Discovering the materials are a way to reward you for exploring, but it’s too shallow and straightforward to be enjoyable, and not quite involved enough to be annoying. So in the end, the items are useful, but the system is like that wallflower at the high school dance: It’s just kind of there.

The skill trees are a bit more interesting this time around, with each tree being a graph of different dependencies. Once again you’ll get two specialization points to spend in two of the three specializations you can get for each class. Each of the Warrior, Rogue, and Mage classes had 6 skill trees plus 3 specializations, so you can actually get fairly diverse characters even within the same class. The spells and skills look really cool, too. Every spell is a joy to use because of the magnificent effects that happen, such as encasing someone in rock with Petrify, or spraying an arc of ice with Cone of Cold.

The Stamina and Mode systems are kept from the last game, so if you choose to turn on helpful Modes, it will reserve a portion of your Stamina or Mana that you would otherwise use on skills or spells. This is an interesting trade off and definitely affects your gear decisions and decisions about which skills to pick up.

The equipment management interface underwent an upgrade as you have the option not to show your helmet, and now things are sorted into five helpful categories: Weapons and Shields, Armour, Trinkets/Belts, Consumables, and Junk. Looting everything from a container or corpse is now bound to a hotkey, making looting a smooth experience. However, you can no longer choose what armour your party members wear. Though you have full control over your own gear, you can only choose weapons, shields, necklace, belt, and two rings for your other characters. In place of choosing what armour they wear, you are forced to find up to five upgrade slots for their armours, usually by going through their individual story quests. I don’t really understand why BioWare chose to do it this way, but it means that most of the torso armour, helmets, boots, and gloves you find are garbage to be sold as they will not be for your class. Upgrading the equipment of my party is one of the joys of playing RPGs, so in this particular aspect Dragon Age II is only a quarter of what nearly every other RPG delivers.

Perhaps the most important system of all to any BioWare game is the Friendship system. This is equivalent to the Paragon system in the Mass Effect franchise, and appeared in some form in Neverwinter Nights, Knights of the Old Republic, and everything significant BioWare has made dating back to Baldur’s Gate. After all, what is awesome about BioWare games are the choices you have to make and how other people will like or dislike you for them. If you become friends or rivals with different party members in Dragon Age II, they will gain an extra skill. For example, if you are friends with Aveline, the protective warrior, she will start taking a portion of your damage in your stead. Being friends or rivals will also have massive implications at certain points in the game, but I can’t discuss it too much without spoiling the story.

The game centers primarily around space-pirate Grayson Hunt and his brother-in-arms Ishi, as they attempt to escape from the ruined paradise resort world of Stygia. After warping out of deep space and coming upon the flagship of the General that betrayed them, The Ulysses, Grayson makes a drunken kamikaze attack on the ship, essentially punching the most advanced Warbird in the galaxy in the face. While his ship is nearly destroyed and goes plummeting onto the surface of a strange alien world, the Ulysses is also wrecked, and both ships crash a few miles apart. Grayson then attempts to not only exact his revenge on the general, but get himself and Ishi off the world as well.

The gameplay consists of lots of standard shooter fare with a ton of added kicks in the form of “skillshots”. These skillshots range from something as simple as a headshot (25 points) to something zanier, like kicking someone into electric cables (50 points) or shooting them in the groin, then blowing their head off as they writhe in pain (gleefully named “Mercy” and rewarding 100 points). There are a litany of over 100 skillshots, and every new weapon added into your arsenal further increases the number of creative ways you can destroy and maim those around you. A “leash”, which you discover fairly quickly in the game, is a module that attaches to your hand and displays both skillshot information and your ammo. It ties in with the various dead-drops you discover in the game. These dead-drops are where you cash in the points you make with your kills to unlock new weapons and ammo. In the context of the story, these were left here by a previous military campaign, and (in a delightfully Darwinian twist) were designed specifically so only the good soldiers would receive more ammo or better weapons.

There are a large number of set encounters: Big, crazy scripted battles where you are up against an unusual enemy or have a super powered weapon for a short amount of time. The game plays out nicely, moving at a breakneck pace from caves to trains to cliffs to villages to cities, propelling you through an amazing number of creative, vibrant, and stunning levels. This is one of the things I enjoyed the most as this is a departure from other shooters. Each level looks beautifully detailed, from the massive vistas near a gigantic dam, to the beautiful sci-fi skyscrapers, and crazy, The Fifth Element-headbutts-Bioshock design, to many of the more civilized parts of the city. The natural flora and fauna of Stygia are just as wide ranging and vivid, from electro-flies to huge man-eating Venus fly traps, and hilarious pods called Noms that, when kicked at an enemy, latch onto their heads and start chewing headcrab-style. That’s only a taste of the enemies you encounter on this murder paradise.

The game controls are tight and easy to pick up, and they at least use the matching buttons when giving you quick time events, such as shoot when you need to shoot in the sequence. One button activates the leash, and holding it down fires a “thumper” that launches all enemies caught in the area into the air, making them easy pickings. The artificial intelligence (AI) of your allies is competent enough, and invincible to the point where you usually don’t have to worry about them. The enemy AI is akin to Left 4 Dead, in which melee enemies swarm you, and regular shooter fare by using cover to advance into a confetti of bullets raining down on them.

The game is accompanied by a suitable soundtrack of loud, action movie fanfare, and squishy, gooey, gorey sounds whenever you land a good kill. The weapons have a great, loud kick to them and the charge shots that come with each weapon sound devastating and brutal. The dialogue is ridiculous and offensive, and delightfully colourful. The visuals mix perfectly with the audio, providing graphically sound and satisfying character models, level design, and effects. Explosions in particular look bright and powerful, streaming off like fireworks from their origin.

The multiplayer and “echo” segments, both of which involves replaying single player levels or edited maps, have some enjoyable times to be had, and it’ll keep your interest for a while as you attempt to get three stars on various challenges. But aside from that, it’s a straightforward multiplayer component, with the cooperative “Horde” mode (like swarm or wave cooperative modes in other shooters) adding a more diverse element.

Bulletstorm is raw and distilled fun for a mature audience. If you love cheesy sci-fi pulp and over-the-top machismo, mixed in with a vibrant, straightforward shooter, this is a game to add to your collection.

Nevertheless, Atlus revealed today that the game will arrive in North America this summer – only a few months after its Japanese release.  No details were given, but you can check out the shell of a website, and even get your pre-orders in from Amazon.ca if you can’t wait.  The game will be available for both PS3 and Xbox 360.

Personally, I’m excited about the game, and am always eager to support Atlus in taking the risk of bringing games English speakers otherwise wouldn’t have an opportunity to enjoy.  We’ll keep you updated when Atlus reveals more.

[Source: Atlus]

Listed below are the games that will be affected by the shutdown (* denotes a game with online achievements):

• FIFA 07
• FIFA 08 *
• FIFA 09 *
• FIFA Street 3 *
• Fight Night Round 3
• Madden NFL 09
• NBA LIVE 08
• NBA LIVE 09 *
• NCAA March Madness 08 *
• NCAA Basketball 09 *
• NCAA Football 07
• NCAA Football 08 *
• NCAA Football 09 *
• NFL Head Coach 09 *
• NHL 08 *
• NHL 09 *
• Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 09 *
• UEFA EURO 2008 *

For those of you who are gamer score enthusiasts, this is essentially a last call for these games and their online achievements.

The figure stops and rests his hand upon the sturdy relic before drawing it out of the loop. More wings begin to beat in unison, more fangs drip with insatiable hunger. With a small flick of his wrist, a long, spiked chain hits the floor with a heavy thud, liberated from the confines of the cross. The wings all halt for a brief second, and there is naught but breathing between the horde and the strong, imposing form of Gabriel Belmont, first of the famous clan.

Then – a battle cry from both sides, the whip chittering in anticipation along the stone floor, and the slaughter begins.

This is the world of Castlevania. I have not seriously played any other Castlevania game, so I suppose I was immune to a lot of the criticism that fell upon this 3D endeavour.  Some would say that makes me unqualified to review this iteration, but I think it enables me to judge it on its independent merits alone. Lords of Shadow is one of the most enjoyable games I’ve played this year. It combines a host of themes and gameplay styles from a number of different titles, but envelops them all in a distinctive style. I have not seen such beautifully crafted landscapes in a long time, and while part of the appeal of it was its linearity (having played little but free roamers for so long), the scope and dedication to the design resonates in the execution.

Gabriel travels through the deep recesses of an ancient city, the titular Castle, bogs, marshes, ruined mountain towns, and what seems to be the dusty ends of creation itself, and it all is beautifully designed and sculpted from the same vision.

Gabriel is an enjoyable character. He is both mired by his conviction to his quest and riddled with self-doubt and agony over the death of his beloved. His quest is to not only defeat the various Lords of Shadow, but also to reincarnate his wife. They recruited convincing vocal talent, including Patrick Stewart as Zobek, a knight errant of the same order as Gabriel, who narrates every level opening, and Robert Carlyle (Trainspotting, The Full Monty) as Gabriel.

I think one of the reasons I found this game so satisfying, aside from the art direction and gameplay, was after all the comparisons my friends kept making to God of War, I enjoyed this experience more than Kratos’s forays into madness. Gabriel is a human character and he hurts and emotes as you go through the game, whereas Kratos just rages all the time nonstop without end. Whereas some would say the combat is stolen from God of War, I would argue that Castlevania did everything God of War did first.

The musical accompaniment is suitably haunting with riveting accelerations during tense boss battles and quiet, contemplative tracks during the many puzzles. The puzzles were especially enjoyable, shifting back and forth between obvious and devious like a pendulum. As you encounter each Lord of Shadow, you discover more and more about the order you belong to, the Guardians of Light, and the intrinsic sense of balance of the world. This follows suit all the way up to the game’s powerful conclusion and intense ending.

The gameplay is laced with an interesting magic concept revolving around light and dark magic, which is activiated by either the left or right shoulder buttons, and gives you the ability to either heal yourself by dealing damage (light side) or simply deal more damage (dark side). There’s no moral compass, it’s just more of a “you must know the dark to see the light” sort of jazz. The game takes a fervent and intense turn when you’re forced to switch back and forth on the fly during later boss battles. I found myself intensely focused on the proceedings, due to the whole split-second response time necessary. The various weapons and abilities you unlock are cool and actually appear on your body as you acquire them, which resolves something that has always bugged me about some games. By the end of the game, you’re decked out in some pretty awesome gear. The only thing I would’ve loved more is if Gabriel looked all harrowed and beat up like Batman did by the end of Arkham Asylum. However, it works within the context of the game, so I didn’t exactly hate that they didn’t do it. The animation is brilliant as well, whether it be in game, or cinematic. The boss kills are always very impressive and satisfying.

One of the best aspects I really have to admire about Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is that the game has a great sense of progression; every aspect of the game ramps up in awesomeness. You start off encountering small titans for certain Shadow of The Colossus-inspired boss battles, then each subsequent battle after that the scale is increased ten fold! The combat starts off simple, then gets steadily harder and more complex as more abilities and flourishes become available. Even the environments start off almost conservative, then as you advance, you’re shifting whole towers around and scaling massive, impossible land masses. The castle that you spend about a third of the game exploring is so massive that it seems to be a whole mountain range, ascending to scrape the sky and plunging deep into the earth.  In the various scrolls you uncover on the corpses of your fallen brothers, you read tidbits of information that help you sink further into the universe, give you bits of information about enemies or puzzles ahead, or even give nods to other great games, such as a “Great ‘Dekuh’ Tree” or “The Cake is a lie” references that litter the corners and forgotten passages of the world.

As I’ve stated before, the concept art behind this game cannot be overlooked for it is simply divine. It is some of the most beautiful and detailed work I’ve ever seen go into a game. Whether it is the simple ink illustrations in your skillbook that animate and show you different combo abilities, the gorgeous, massive, wallpaper-worthy works that are unlocked after various encounters and levels, or the awesome quick storyboards showing the progression of the final kill animation, I adore them all. I wish I could capture each one in a print book because I tend to buy those things the instant they’re offered.

Aside from minor grievances like “I shouldn’t have jumped there,” or the occasional glitch, my main complaint would be the saving bug that affected the game a few months prior, and stopped my play entirely for about a week or so, but has since been remedied by the developers. I had progressed up to the final boss battle when my console froze and abruptly restarted with all of my progress locked away. Another complaint is the locked camera. It encounters issues if you move back and forth in certain areas, or if you push yourself into a corner, which disorients it. Mostly, if you avoid those areas, you tend to be rather well off, especially considering this is one of the best implementations of fixed cameras I’ve seen in a game.

I’ve since beaten the game again and unlocked a number of things past that point, so the save complaint is moot. The length added to the frustration with losing the save game because this is not a short adventure. I was pleasantly surprised that this game took at least 40 hours or so to finish, and that was on medium difficulty. With many of the encounters already being quite a struggle, I can only imagine how difficult the two later levels would become.

Castlevania : Lords of Shadow is a stellar title, and with the hearty dose of artwork to unlock at the end of each level, I was subjected to one of the most engaging, immersive, dark, and beautiful games I’ve ever seen. I recommend this title for anyone looking for a good third-person platformer, a videogame art-nut, or really anyone looking for some good old-fashioned fun, with a new flavour. Castlevania will offer all you need to waste a week away.

*Controller doesn’t actually have bells or whistles.

Analog Sticks

I never had any real complaints about the analog sticks on the original 360 controller, save for the texture. During extended and strenuous gaming sessions, in which my hands would begin to sweat, I often found that my thumbs would begin to slip. This led to inaccuracy and having to readjust my thumb position during gameplay, a split-second distraction that can often lead to death in games like Gears of War or Halo. The analog sticks have little grip nubs, but as I mentioned above, they wear away with heavy use, leaving a slick surface.

Microsoft addressed this problem by changing the texture of the analog sticks to provide more friction. Additionally, they chose to use a more pronounced indent at the top of the analog stick in place of the nubs to give your thumbs a more defined resting place. Overall, I find them much more comfortable to use and they definitely provide more grip. If you love shooters, like me, you’ll definitely appreciate this change.

D-Pad

Microsoft’s most touted feature of the new controller is the redesign of the directional pad, and with good reason. The original d-pad was a circular disk that acted as an eight-way directional input, with a raised cross devoted to the four primary directions. Due to the nature of the disk design, accidental diagonal inputs were common, as were residual inputs, where pressing one direction would sometimes result in another directional input being registered immediately afterwards. Do you know what happens to a COG soldier when they switch to their shotgun as an enemy approaches, only to accidentally switch to their smoke grenade a moment later? They become wall art.

This lack of precision also made playing fighting games on the controller a pain in the butt. Even the most talented of Tekken veterans would have been hard-pressed to pull of an Electric Wind God Fist on the old controller, but what about the new one?

Well, Microsoft decided to give gamers the best of both worlds with a new hybrid d-pad design. The new d-pad can transition between the original disk design (for those that took a liking to it, through some twisted form of peripheral Stockholm Syndrome) and a traditional cross design with a simple twist and click.

While the d-pad still feels loose and springy in disk mode, the cross mode feels much tighter. However, due to the d-pad being noticeably smaller than the cavity in which it resides, it slides around a bit when being used. Despite this movement, my experience with the d-pad in cross mode has been a very positive one. Individual direction inputs, such as choosing a weapon in Gears of War, feel much more deliberate and no longer result in residual inputs. Inputting more complex strings, such as those found in most fighting games, benefited from the accuracy of the improved design as well. I borrowed a copy of Tekken 6 for my Xbox 360 (I usually play my fighting games on the PS3), and with little adjustment, I was pulling off my characters’ most complicated strings and juggles. Definitely an improvement, but in my opinion, this new d-pad design is still inferior to that of the DualShock for fighting games. It is a very good substitute though, and if you don’t own a PS3, it may be your best option.

Buttons

The buttons on the new controller remain the same as those found on the old controller, with the exception of their colour, or lack thereof. Throwing the red, yellow, blue, and green colour scheme out the window, Microsoft has chosen to adopt a monochromatic colour scheme instead. While this change certainly makes the controller look more sleek and modern, and less like a toy, the new colour scheme no longer matches the on-screen tips seen in most games. This isn’t a huge issue for those that already know the controller like the back of their hand, but for those that play less frequently, or for those that aren’t familiar with the console, finding buttons by colour was both quick and helpful.

Summary

The new Xbox 360 controller is a big improvement. The new design is slick and easy on the eyes, the analog sticks provide more grip, and the new d-pad design is very welcome. Hardcore gamers, especially shooter and fighting game aficionados, will get the most out of the controller, but these days, the casual gamers are their own controller anyway. So if you’re in need of a new 360 controller or just want more precision at your fingertips, I’d strongly recommend picking one of these puppies up.

• December 22nd “Concussion from a smoke grenade” – 12x XP
- Concussion grenades added

• December 23rd “2 Flaming Bloodmounts” – 13x XP
- 2 Bloodmounts with flamethrowers appearing on every Horde wave.

• December 24th “3 Extra Clips” – 14x XP
- 3 extra clips of ammo in every weapon.

• December 25th “4 Frag Grenades” – 15x XP
- Every frag grenade pick-up now includes 4 grenades instead of the usual 2.

• December 26th “5 Torque Bow Tags” – 16x XP
- Many creatures who usually carry rifles in Horde mode will now carry torque bows.

• December 27th “6 Melee monsters” – 17x XP
- Horde waves will now entirely consist of melee creatures.

• December 28th “7 Sires a Storming” – 18x XP
- N/A (Most likely all Sire Horde waves though)

• December 29th “8 Old School Gears Heads” – 19x XP
- 4v4 Multiplayer Mode added

• December 30th “9 Boomers Booming” – 20x XP
- Boomer squads in every Horde wave.

• December 31st “10 Waves of Tickers” – 21x XP
- Tickers only in Horde

• January 1st “11 Wretches Wretching” – 22x XP
- Wretches with shotguns will make an appearance.

• January 2nd “Some of the Above” – 23x XP

This is a combination of concussion grenades, extra clips of ammo, extra frag grenades in each pickup, 4 vs 4 multiplayer mode, and Ticker horde waves.

Playing video games over the holidays does have certain advantages. This would be a great opportunity to both rank up and rack up some kills for that seemingly inconceivable 100,000 mark. Merry Gearsmas to all!

In addition, SteelSeries has added these new Scope glasses to their store (also available at Best Buy). They look cool and my vision does need enhancing, but I’m not quite sure about this one. Has anyone tried these or something similar? Are they really all that much better than your natural ogling devices for gaming?

Hard Corps: Uprising (PSN, XBLA) [Q1 2011]

The game “heavily inspired” by Contra: Hard Corps does a great job of resurrecting the look and feel of the Contra franchise, right down to the power up capsules with wings. In addition to the pleasant graphics, the revival of familiar weapon upgrades (such as the Spread), and the renowned difficulty of the old school series, Uprising promises some improvements as well.

One, there will be both online and offline co-op play. Two, there are gameplay improvements, such as the very useful dash move, as well as an air dash. The weapon power up system was upgraded and players can now upgrade their weapons three times for each power up, on top carrying TWO weapons. And three, people will actually be able to pass the game through the Uprising mode, which is a mode where you can collect points and spend those points to power up your character in order to make things a little easier. “We decided to throw gamers a bone since most people have a queue of games that they’re playing,” said a Konami rep. Fear not though, hardcore gamers! An Arcade mode is also available if you want to try to beat the game with three lives and three continues. Since we were on the topic of difficulty, I couldn’t help but ask about the famous Konami code, which was made popular by the original Contra: “You’ll find out. That’s all I’ll say,” the rep said coyly after a very long silence, “you’ll have to try it for yourself.” She might as well have just said it would work!

Another reason to be excited about this game? The development studio involved is Arc System Works, the people that were responsible for BlazBlue, the fighting game that became a cult hit, and Guilty Gear X, which… is also a fighting game that also became a cult hit. So if nothing else, we’ll be treated to great visuals and smooth gameplay.

Rush’n Attack Ex-Patriot (PSN, XBLA) [Q2/Q3 2011]

This game looks a lot like Shadow Complex, which is a good thing. This 2.5D action combat game is based on Systema, the martial art used by the badass Russian Spetsnaz commandos. I once watched an episode of Deadliest Warrior featuring a Spetsnaz, and yeah, I don’t ever want to cross one. I’m not even sure I’d ever want to meet one, on the chance that I might cross one. However, someone else did cross one by imprisoning Sid Morrow’s buddies. Now he’s going to break them out of prison, which leads him on an epic adventure to battle something involving some kind of weaponized biochemical.

Set 20 years after the Cold War, this revival contains serious cartoon violence and ninja (i.e., wall) jumping puzzles. From what I played, the action parts are fast paced if you just want to dash and slash, but you could also hide in dark rooms and wait for enemies to pass by before pouncing on them. There were night vision goggles power up and a body armour power up, both of which were lost when I died. The combat animations of the close quarters combat were neat to see.

X-Men: The Arcade Game (PSN Dec. 14, 2010, XBLA Dec. 15, 2010)

One of my all time favourite arcade titles, I can’t count the limitless number of quarters I lost to this side scrolling beat ‘em up. This 6 player online co-op adventure features red Sentinels AND green Sentinels – Green Sentinels with guns! There is also an option to play 4 players in case no one wants to play Dazzler and Cyclops. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade Game, D&D: Shadow Over Mystara, River City Ransom, Final Fight, and this game probably make up the co-op sidescrolling canon, so if you haven’t tried it, the $10 USD points equivalent is well worth it.

Dance Dance Revolution (X360) [Q1 2011]

It’s already out for the PlayStation 3, but now it’s also coming to the Xbox 360. My wife will be excited. It’s funny how I show her the Kinect stuff but she still wants DDR with a dance pad instead. I guess controllers aren’t obsolete quite yet, even for the casual crowd. Konami confirms that there will be downloadable songs and many of the old favourites from other games will be available.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 (PC, PS3, X360) [already released!]

I’m not a big soccer fan, but man, the games have great visuals. This year, the game features an exclusive license with the Copa Libertadores league as well as an all new camera and passing system. “[It's] more than just add-ons and features, there’s actually a whole new gameplay element here,” Konami promises. “When you play, you’ll get that sense of authenticity and theatre of soccer.” He also stressed the amount of freedom players have over their lineup and strategy, such as putting Messi on the wing if they wanted to.

When asked about any plans to infiltrate the eSports scene in North America (where FIFA seems to reign supreme), he said that they already have a presence in Europe and Latin America but have not considered North America yet. You soccer fans out there will have to tell me how this would play as a competitive game.

Sadly, there is no headbutt to the chest button and no cover your face button, which are the only two things I know about soccer. They tell me you CAN do some “wicked back tackles” though.

Karaoke Revolution: Glee (Wii) [also already released]

Based on the first part of the first season of Glee, this game actually features about 30 minutes of exclusive footage from Fox from the show. I don’t watch this show, but I did enjoy the Karaoke Revolution games in the privacy of my own home. This comes bundled with a microphone so you’ll be ready to go out of the package. This sounds like a good Christmas gift for that extended family member who watches Glee. You know the one.

There are new faceoff options, such as tying up your opponent.

For one, if last year’s game had any issue it was that it played way too fast. You could sort of just glide around the ice like Bobby Orr, skate into the slot with extreme ease, and take undefended shots on the goalie all game. NHL 11 slows  things down. Not to a boring degree, but just to a pace where you really have to set up plays and work hard for your opportunities. I grew up playing EA Sports hockey games. The reason those early games work so well is that they perfectly balance realism and fun. It’s something that most sports games today struggle with mightily, but an area where NHL 11 seems to flourish. I almost feel as if the developers have a real appreciation for those old Genesis and SNES games. It’s almost as if they channel the spirit of those classic games.

I’d also say that it’s probably the most immersive sports game on the market, and likely the most immersive sports game ever made. Your skating is controlled by the left analog stick, while your hockey stick is controlled by the right. It’s been honed this year and works extremely well most of the time. One issue is that occasionally your passes and shots don’t really do what you want them to. Sometimes you just want to drop a pass back to a teammate skating behind you in the offensive zone and you wire it back to your own blueline instead.

Opening a star player can earn you a lot of pucks on the marketplace.

The game is also filled with robust features as usual. The Be A GM mode is fantastic. I think an underrated aspect of this game is just how good the management features are. The trading, signing, and coaching aspects of this game are the best I’ve ever seen in a sports game. I’m a big fan of sports management sims like Baseball Mogul and NHL Eastside Manager, and the joy I got out of building a championship calibre Leafs team in this game was completely unparalleled by any other console sports game.

The Be A Pro mode is also rather good. I’m not a huge fan of these types of modes in sports games but I found the mode to be quite enjoyable. Having to make line changes and play good two way hockey is fun and challenging. The online play is also very solid.

A new physics engine lets you really appreciate a good check.

The other big new mode this year is the Hockey Ultimate League. In this you are given a pack of hockey cards from which you build a team. You earn pucks, which you can buy new packs with, or bid for cards in the auction house. You can then take your team and play against the CPU or against another human online. You also have to worry about team chemistry while training and developing your players. This mode has been used in EA Sports games before, but this is the first time it has been included in the NHL series. It is a neat and addictive game mode.

They have also included broken sticks in the new game. It is kind of amusing and cool to see. Also added is a new faceoff system and real time physics engine. These features are kind of neat but what is most important  is just the fact that the gameplay is just so refined, and so well executed.

I can’t hate NHL 11 because it isn’t just a brilliant hockey game – it’s a brilliant videogame. It’s one of the best games of the year, and one of the best sports games ever made. If you love hockey it’s an absolute must buy.

Boutin was visibly nervous while speaking, and that may have something to do with the fact that English is not his native language (he is from Montreal), but he still explained his job and the work he performed very well.  He went on to talk about the director of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Paul Robertson, with whom he shares a good rapport.  According to Boutin, Robertson is responsible for all of the character designs in the game; he laughed while he clicked around the screen during his presentation and remarked that Robertson does all of his animation with a mouse, which is something he has trouble fathoming.

Universal Studios helped out with the project by sending lots and lots of reference pictures to Boutin’s team so they could better understand what they needed to put into the game, though Boutin took a couple of creative liberties here and there.  In addition to the pictures, he also visited Toronto one weekend and walked around the city.  He took tons of pictures and visited local hot spots such as Sneaky Dee’s, but due to licensing restraints they weren’t able to use the actual logos and names in the game.  Still, while playing the game you may notice familiar places with slightly altered logos in homage to the places Boutin visited.

Unfortunately in December of 2009, the project hit a wall and was cancelled.  The company told Boutin and his team that they wanted to make better use of their talents and reassigned them to different projects.  The team spent 6 months in Montreal trying to find someone else to pick up the game, but were unsuccessful.  Eventually the project was moved to a new Ubisoft studio in China, and Boutin and his team made the very, very long journey overseas.  The game seemed to be resurrected finally, and Boutin claimed he had never worked so hard in his entire life.

The hard worked paid off, and we were treated to a very cool visual presentation.  Boutin showed us all of the pictures he took around the city right beside the video game Toronto, and it was absolutely amazing to see.  When it came to the other levels, he says he created “puzzle pieces” out of the graphics he created, and then pieced them carefully together.  Once he was finished showing us how the levels were created he flipped to another picture in his presentation, this time of the menu select screen.  Most gamers will recognize the character selection screen in Scott Pilgrim from Super Mario Bros. 2, which Boutin says is “the coolest selection screen ever.”

Boutin could have probably talked all day about the game but he ran out of time.  There was a very short Q&A after he was finished speaking, and someone asked him what kind of program was used to create the game.  Boutin didn’t seem as though he knew how to really answer this question and said that it was a “homemade program” that Robertson used on his computer that he might’ve taken with him from another project.  Scott Pilgrim vs. the World went through many trials and tribulations, but Boutin says that they all made the best out of a bad situation.  If time wasn’t an issue, Boutin says that he would have loved to work even more on the game.  Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game is available on the PSN and Xbox Live Marketplace and features music from Anamanaguchi.

First off, if you’re doing mostly PC gaming and are looking for a PC headset, pay the extra $20 for the Siberia v2. The v2 is much more comfortable and all the material feels higher quality in general. For Xbox gaming though, the 5XB is definitely a good investment, especially if you play in a noisy room or travel to local tournaments. The first thing that surprised me about the Spectrum is that the plastic feels… well, plastic. Unlike the heaviness due to gold content in the 6g keyboard and the leather on the Siberia, the 5XB features a leather veneer filled with foam along the headband, a hard plastic frame, and cloth cushions for the earpieces. The result is more comfortable than it sounds, but still not as amazing as the Siberia.

One advantage that the 5XB has in quality over the Siberia is the braided cord, thus making it much more durable if you accidentally tug your headset cord. The sound from the headphones is actually quite good and I had no problems detecting where sounds are coming from and even the distance of the sounds while playing Gears of War 2 and Batman: Arkham Asylum. The microphone in the headset retracts just like the Siberia and it does a better job of it by hiding in a nice little nook. The microphone is very clear, and in trying my different headsets, Richard enjoyed hearing me on the Spectrum the most.

This fantastic little thing is the AudioMixer

The headset hooks up to your console in two ways: Through the PC plug which uses the provided adapter for sound output, and through USB for the voice input. The result is a rather upsetting mess of extra cords, although to SteelSeries’s credit, the cords are long enough that it should never be a problem. Still, we’re being brought back a generation and turns your wireless controller into a wired one.

One fantastic feature of the headset is that it comes with an AudioMixer device that plugs into the bottom of your Xbox 360 controller. This mixer allows you to control the incoming voice and game volume right on the controller, which is absolutely great as you can adjust to different teammates’ microphone volumes as they join the game. I found myself fiddling with it all the time to get the perfect noise level for every gaming session, even while playing solo. This is a feature that has surprisingly relevant results, so applause to the SteelSeries Research and Development team!

The LiveMix feature on the AudioMixer is similarly great. It automatically adjusts the voice and the game volume on-the-fly for you. It is hard to gauge something like this but with it on I had no problems hearing all the different people on my team and the game sounds at the same time, so that there is no need to fiddle with the AudioMixer when your hands are already occupied. It wasn’t perfect 100% of the time though so you may want to just stick with the manual adjustments, but the option to use the LiveMix or the manual mode is a great feature.

As always, SteelSeries has made their product for gamers who travel. In this respect, the Spectrum features a neat 3-piece design to the headset. It’s much easier to carry 4 small pieces than one big one, and in addition you can lay the ear pieces flat in this disassembled mode. Well designed once again.

If the Spectrum 5XB was as comfortable as the Siberia v2, I would be using the Spectrum for all my gaming needs, not just the Xbox 360. But as it is, the Spectrum is a really good choice if you’re an Xbox 360 gamer, want all your sound coming through your headset (for example, in noisy environments) or if you travel with your gaming headset. The sound quality, design, and technology are all up to the usual SteelSeries standard I’ve come to expect, but unfortunately the material feels a bit cheaper even while maintaining good durability. The Spectrum 5XB is currently priced at $100 CDN at Best Buy.

Microsoft is not settling for just “pretty good” though. Tomorrow they’re launching a new controller, which tackles the D-pad issue with a rather fancy solution. By twisting the disc on the D-pad, you can alternate between a flat mode (the way it is on the current controllers) and a raised mode. We’ll call this mode the Good mode. Did my words confuse you? Would you like to see it in action? Luckily, Major Nelson has us covered:

In addition, the controller features a sleek new colour scheme that distracts me with shininess. The controller will only be available in the Xbox 360 Play and Charge Kit, which is currently listed on Gamestop.ca for $70 CAD, which means you could probably find it for $65 when it’s listed elsewhere.

In less than two hours, Kinect will be released into the wilds. Will it change the course of gaming history? As Mr. Flannagan says: “This is the beginning.”

GN: It was recently announced that Microsoft is spending 500 million dollars in marketing for Kinect. How much of that budget did you get here in Canada?

CF: <laughs> I don’t know the specifics of that one. What I can say is that we are really behind this, and it’s going to be huge. What you see here is a celebration, and it’s a celebration worthy of the launch we’re going to have. We’re really excited about the Kinect. We have some great feedback so far and it really makes you the controller and people are really digging it, it’s good.

GN: It was reported today that the US is giving away a free Kinect to every Boys and Girls club. Do you have any plans for marketing like that in Canada?

CF: We’re really just at the beginning now with Kinect. I think between now and the holiday you’ll see a lot more from us for Kinect for sure.

GN: One of the worries about Kinect is from the hardcore fanbase. It was made especially significant because of your E3 presentation where it was mostly Kinect and there were a lot of casual games. I don’t think there is a really hardcore title at launch. Where do you see that market going with the new technology here?

CF: Again, I say we’re at the beginning with Kinect. Our strategy has been clear from the beginning; we really wanted to secure the core when we launched the Xbox 360 and we did. There are amazing games and Xbox 360 is the number one console for playing blockbuster games on. When it comes to Kinect – we’re at the beginning. We think gamers will gravitate and love Kinect. We’re seeing a lot of our hardcore Xbox community out here tonight, because the games for Kinect are fun. They’re great to play and that’s what it’s all about at the end of the day. We think the gamers will love it. And with great features like being able to talk to your console, being able to navigate your dashboard with your hand while sitting on your couch – it’s a pretty cool feature, so we think gamers will be pretty excited about it.

GN: One of the disconnects [diskinects??] I see is with Kinectimals specifically where you’re petting or the pet is trying to lick your face, but you don’t have the tactile feedback. How do you get around that challenge?

CF: That’s actually one of my favourite games in the lineup. Kinectimals does do a pretty great job of breaking the mold for videogames and breaking down the barriers. It’s an interesting game where at different points you kind of forget you’re playing a game. You’re not holding any controller with Kinect, so that’s a good start, but when you actually start being able to interact with these exotic cats, when they’re in their beautiful high def[inition], when they come right up to the screen, there are some pretty cool moments [and] you kind of get lost in the Kinectimals world.

GN: I did see a kid down there enjoying it, it was pretty funny.

CF: Yeah, it’s a lot of fun. You have a number of exotic cats to choose from, mostly of the African variety. You can come up and pet your cat, you can play with your cat, you can teach your cat tricks. There’s a robust and in-depth storyline to the game and a lot of progression and achievements so it’s a great game. I think that one will surprise a lot of people.

GN: If there was any franchise that you would want on the Kinect, which one would it be?

CF: I’m a fan of a lot of the games that we’ve already got coming. I’m a huge fan of sports, and I’m a big fan of Dance Central. And I think I’ll start to get a little bit more fit with Your Shape Fitness Evolved from Ubisoft. But it’s just the beginning – every developer in the industry has a development kit for Kinect right now and they’ve been working on them for two E3s, so I think, like I said before: this is the beginning and we’re going to see a lot of cool games. At Tokyo Game Show, there were a lot of core games announced, so it’ll be interesting to see some M rated titles and see where they go.

GN: Are there any plans to backwards patch any of the games like the Move did?

CF: Not at this time. It’s important to know that everything you see at launch was built from the ground up for Kinect. So everything was built with Kinect in mind, everything was built to take advantage of the Kinect sensor and the innovation that’s there. So no, you won’t see a lot of porting.

Did he just say that Kinectimals has an in-depth storyline? Now I’m pretty intrigued. Kinect launches in about an hour for $150 CAD, or $300 CAD if you want the bundle that comes with an Xbox 360.

The Force Unleashed 2 is a sequel to the acclaimed The Force Unleashed, which featured some of the first tastes of Euphoria physics and Digital Molecular Matter object simulations in a game. This lent to shockingly realistic glass, wood and steel, while also providing physics-based, reactionary movement in the bodies of the enemies you would fling about the level. The original plot focused on the life of Darth Vader’s secret apprentice. He was trained to hunt down the Jedi who survived Order 66. He turns to the Light side and fights against him. Eventually, due to his intervention, the Rebel Alliance is born.

This game expands on the story, taking place during the fledgling days of Rebellion, and Vader’s apparent attempts to recreate his apprentice in a Kamino cloning lab, even though no clone could be imbued with the Force thus far. The plot takes you from Kamino to hanging cities on Cato Nemoidia and even Dagobah, home of the now-exiled Yoda. The level design is apt, each area featuring a wide variety of objects and enemies to play with.

Colour keys range from the sterile bluish-grey of Kamino to the warm, royal reds and golds in Cato Nemoidia. The Apprentice also looks better than ever, with an updated and refined character model. His acting has a wider range, with him showing more rage and frustration than before. He’s become more of an animal within the cloning facility. The gameplay is succinct, with the Force powers having an even more explosive effect on Stormtroopers and the various specialty troopers and droids you face. The animations are still solid, and the combat is slightly expanded upon but feels basically like the first game, except with a second lightsaber. There’s nothing really wrong with this, aside from the frustrations I felt with the dodging mechanic and the time it took Starkiller to right himself after being knocked down.  The new Force Fury ability – a staple of most over the top third-person action/adventure games – lets you become invincible and overpowered for a brief period of time. It is actually exhilarating to perform, as each attack is a flurry of light (he begins to just throw the sabers everywhere, instead of the usual acrobatic combo) and his Force powers become a never-ending tsunami.

So that’s what’s good about The Force Unleashed 2: The acting, gameplay, and level design. The bad resides in the length. Alongside some costumes to unlock, saber crystals to collect, which have different effects, and trials to complete, there are some rather amusing and well written data files about all the characters, enemies and locations. However, a friend and I picked this game up, excited to devote a few evenings to the ensuing insanity, and we were surprised and disappointed when we reached the final, climactic boss battle a mere six hours into the game. The game sets itself up for a sequel, which is a little redeeming, but at the same time, I felt let down because as thrilling as the ride was, it was pitifully short.

Certain amazing set encounters and the gameplay make this a game worth checking out, but much like a snack, it feels like a stepping stone to a bigger meal later on.

“We’re delighted the Online Co-op is ready and going live – as a thank you to the patient Xbox gamers, and for a limited time only we will be giving away our first DLC pack for free. Download it, have a go and while you’re there try the online co-op mode, it’s great fun,” encourages Darrell Gallagher, General Manager of Crystal Dynamics.

The DLC and title update will be coming soon for the PS3 and PC, but no word about whether the DLC will be free for those platforms also.

The inventory screen is clean and simple

The best parts of Puzzle Quest 2 are the RPG elements. You get to pick from four classes and they each have different play styles. For example, if you’re a Templar you might end up focusing more on matching Action gauntlets rather than colours. If you’re an Assassin, you’ll want to build up to get your shield activated and then just constantly deal damage without relinquishing your turn. As you level up, you gain new spells, but you can only ever bring five of them into battle simultaneously. What ends up happening is that you’ll never use most of the spells given to you because you’ll have a favourite setup and that’ll work for you through large sections of the game. Leveling up also gives you a skill  point to spend among five attributes, with each of them benefiting a colour as well as having secondary effects. For example, an agility point will grant you several bonuses for yellow, but will also raise your defense and give you extra Action points when matching gauntlets on the board.

In addition to leveling, you get to hoard gold and buy stuff. Unlike most RPGs, most of the best items I found were purchased from stores. Money also allows you to enchant your gear, upgrading their quality from common white items to legendary orange items. There are class specific items that helps to differentiate the classes, and these items are significant. The Assassin’s poison felt more than a little overpowered, but the Barbarian’s two handed weapons also seem devastating. The inclusion of a respec mechanism so that you can reallocate your attribute points was also a nice touch, even if it is pretty much mandatory these days. It was appreciated because I didn’t know how many points it would take to get the next level of benefit of a particular colour, so it helped me maximize my points later on in the game. Also you will want to redo your attribute points as your spells and gear change.

Though skull damage is not as vital, it can still be useful if you have high strength

The main puzzling gameplay is where the game fails to meet my expectations, but there are many positives. The mechanics are simple as they are in the first Puzzle Quest, except that skulls are much less important. In addition to damaging with your spells and skulls, Puzzle Quest 2 lets you beat on your opponent the old fashioned way: With weapons. Different weapons will cost different amounts of Action points, but equipping the right weapon for your strategy is a key to success. For example, you might want the most efficient damage per Action point cost weapon if you don’t get a lot of Action points, but otherwise you may want a weapon that deals a lot of damage at once. Other considerations are that using a weapon can trigger a critical hit that does double damage, and that using the items in your hand does not affect the board. The items you hold in your hands will be used often, even if they don’t have the astounding impact of some of your spells. As an Assassin, it felt very satisfying to build up the colours for a few rounds in battle, and then use a series of spells and matches on the board to keep my opponent from having another turn. There are some mini games to break up the action, which forces you to match a number of certain types or get certain pieces into specific slots located on the board. These mini games are played to find traps, unlock doors, or to find treasure. Finding treasure was always a delight for me, even if it was a little frustrating at times because it often felt like luck was the deciding factor as to how many items you received.

Despite these cool mechanics, the game just falls short of achieving the kind of greatness that causes months of addiction. Perhaps sadly, Puzzle Quest Anonymous will never come to be. The balance of the game seems broken, which causes the game to be very repetitive as you just have your way with one opponent after another. The game stops scaling its awards for chains longer than five and the chains are more dependent on luck than anything else. This is because you’re dependent on what falls onto the board from the screen to chain matches, unlike puzzle games like Super Puzzle Fighter II, which lets you set up your chains through organization. The awards from battle stop being significant fairly early on and I kept very few sets of gear through long periods of the game, and winning eventually just becomes unsatisfying. The story and sidequests are barely worth a mention and do not provide an incentive to keep playing. All this combines to form an unexpected result of a fun puzzle game that doesn’t remain fun in the long run. I still had a great time for about 15 to 20 hours of the game, though.

The graphics are nothing to write home about. They’re pleasant enough that everything works and the colours are brilliant, but they were disappointing overall. Even the special story cut scenes amounted to no more than scrolling around a static art piece, and not great ones at that. The feedback for getting long chains does not look epic enough, and there is not a whole lot of variety of icons for the items. Overall, the graphics are not much worse than Culdcept, but lacks the variety of animation and art that Culdcept provides.

One of the many locales you'll visit in Story mode

The sound and music are similarly well done but also lacks variety. The sound is really what makes me feel good about long chains and the music is on par with what you’d expect. I would have liked more monster noises and things like that. The narration was not remarkable, but also not terrible, which is a plus in my book. Puzzle Quest 2 ends up with a pretty mediocre effort in the sound department.

There is a surprising number of modes packed into this title. Aside from the regular story mode, you can also take your hero into single battles against the AI or into an Endurance mode, which is like the survival modes found in fighting games. Each round pits you against a tougher opponent, and your health carries over. In addition, you can play any of the mini games or take your character online and play multiplayer. You can also play multiplayer with new characters entirely and choose the level of the characters for the battle. The coolest mode of all though is the Tournament mode, where you pick a team of monsters and pit it against an computer team of monsters in an team elimination showdown.

Puzzle Quest 2 is a good game if you want to kill some time and generally have some clean fun. If you were a fan of the first Puzzle Quest and are you not tired of the formula yet, then Puzzle Quest 2 will satisfy your RPG puzzling needs. However, if you’re looking for a deep and addictive puzzle game, then it may disappoint you.

At the start of the game, you’re immediately thrown into the action without any explanation as to where Sonic has been all these years and what he’s been doing.  This actually required a little bit of research on my part, so I headed to the official Sonic the Hedgehog 4 website.  Here’s the situation since Sonic & Knuckles:

Sonic has destroyed Dr. Eggman’s space station, the Death Egg.  Sonic decides that after his task is finished, he’s going to split up from Knuckles and Tails and take a break somewhere on his own.  Unfortunately for him, the vacation’s over before it ever really begins because Dr. Eggman has survived the events of Sonic & Knuckles.  Sonic must then traverse through four different zones in order to defeat his latest robotic creations.

It would have been nice if this had been explained at the start of the game, but oh well – not a big deal I guess.  What is a big deal is how frustrating the game can become in such a short amount of time.  You start off in the Splash Hills Zone, which should definitely look familiar to anyone who has ever played a 2D side scrolling Sonic game.  However, it differs from the Sonic formula in that it is a 2.5D side-scrolling game.  For those who are unsure of what 2.5D means, it’s when the graphics are 2 1/2 dimensional and give the illusion that something is in 3D when it really isn’t.  The music isn’t terrible but compared to its predecessors it just doesn’t hold a candle.  After a while it even becomes mildly irritating and just isn’t nearly as catchy as it should be.  Moving Sonic with the thumb stick is leaps and bounds easier than using the D-Pad, which is a little odd but is nothing too vexing.

All of the early Sonic elements are present, and yet something feels…off.  Something is missing.  Don’t get me wrong, this is not a bad game by any stretch of the imagination.  It isn’t broken, though the physics are not the best.  The difficulty curve is downright ruthless: It starts off nice and simple in the Splash Hills Zone and then once you hit the Casino Street Zone, you may find yourself screaming at your television.  It’s challenging, which is great considering the game’s length, but it’s far from a pleasant experience overall.

The level designs often give you the impression that the developers just don’t like you very much. The enemy placement is almost cruel, giving you very little time to react.  The special stages are all pretty cool and instead of moving Sonic around the swirly kaleidoscope maze, you move the entire level around him.  They’re well done, though I almost never got to experience them since I kept missing the giant ring at the end of each level.  I would run so fast I’d miss it completely and the game doesn’t allow you to quickly correct yourself and run backward.  Nope, you’re done.  If you missed it, that’s too bad.  Try slowing down next time.  Each of the four zones includes 3 acts and of course, a boss fight.  The boss fights range from dull and simple to obnoxiously difficult.  The level select screen is a nice new touch and is esthetically pleasing to look at it.  If you grow tired of the Casino Street Zone, you can try your hand at Lost Labyrinth instead.

The graphics are crisp but lack the usual Sonic charm and are devoid of any personality whatsoever. SEGA didn’t completely screw up, I just don’t think Episode 1 is worthy of a $15 price tag.  The game is a short albeit difficult romp that may prompt dyed-in-the-wool Sonic fans to cringe in distaste.  I felt many periods of déjà vu.  Haven’t I played the Lost Labyrinth Zone already?  I could have sworn I did in a previous Sonic game.  Those who have never played a 2D Sonic game may become easily frustrated and discouraged from making it to the final boss.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 gives me funny feelings.  This game lacks a soul, but maybe I feel this way because the game doesn’t feel like a true sequel.  It’s not bad and it’s not good but I still feel vaguely disappointed.  It feels a lot more like a remake than anything else, which is okay but just doesn’t nourish the desire for a direct and canon sequel.  After sixteen years I still don’t feel sated, but perhaps this is a strong indication that it’s time to finally let go.  Or, I could just wait for Sonic Colors to come out.

Click here to watch the video

Either way, if you purchased Borderlands on Steam, check your downloadable content in order for a chance to get an early look at the long-awaited, Bruce Campbell quoting over-the-top macho man in his upcoming foray.

Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 released today, October 12th, 2010 and Duke Nukem Forever releases for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 sometime in 2011.

Wanted is a mode where you are given a target, which is another player in the game. Before each spawn, you can choose your loadout of two tricks. An example combination that we saw was the Morph ability and Smoke Bombs, both evasive skills that let you blend in with the crowd and create a smoke cloud ninja-style respectively. The goal of each five minute round is to gather as many points as you can by killing your target and evading the person trying to kill you. These contracts have a limited time, and if you can get your pursuer to kill the wrong target by blending in with the other pedestrians or if you can lose them in an all out chase, then you will be awarded points for evasive action.

A circular radar on the bottom of your screen helps you track your target, and the circle will fill up depending on your proximity to your target. But even when you get to your target, unless they’re alone, you need to be sure they’re which person is the one you’re looking for before making the killing blow as there can be clones walking around at the same pace.

In the round I played it, it was intense. You want to hurry up and catch your target, but you don’t want to give away that you’re a player by running. The rooftop and alleys provide nice shortcuts but you’re a sitting duck if you get caught out there, so there are very different risk and reward dynamics than your average multiplayer game. Unlike most games, you spent most of your time walking and being patient. There were a few times when my pursuer would kill me just as I finished off my target, and that was a little frustrating, but I think next time I will just use an evasive skill right after I kill someone.

See how the mode plays for yourself below. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood releases for the PS3 and Xbox 360 on November 16th, 2010, and on PC in 2011.

Click here to watch the video

First off, I’m not sure about the technological specifics, but there seems to be two kinds of 3D technology being used: one that will make me dizzy and my eyes hurt, and one that is pleasant but still feels weird. For example: Avatar, the movie, was completely okay, but the screen before the movie that asked us to put on my glasses was completely blurry. Black Ops has the pleasant kind of 3D, where the depth of field just literally adds a dimension to the visuals without being too distracting. They demonstrated two single player missions and a multiplayer mode, and everything looked really cool. Nothing actually jumped out of the screen at us, but eventually I presume games will have bullets flying by our heads and we can watch the tracer lines come out of our screens to make us feel like we’re on Omaha beach. One thing I particularly enjoyed is the red dot from the laser actually feeling like it’s on the target. It’s pretty hard to describe the experience and we can’t show any video (one of the downsides of a 3D demonstration), but I think Call of Duty fans would not be disappointed if they invested in a pair of 3D glasses – if they already own a 3D ready television or video card.

Another thing that was cool about the demo was that there was an element of Real-time Strategy type gameplay in one of the missions, where you direct the squad to take cover or hide in buildings in order to avoid patrols. Sometimes there would be an action sequence when the player would go into first person mode to deal with the opposition first hand, and then revert back to the RTS mode. It helps to break the feeling that Black Ops is just generic First Person Shooter #4324255669.

The Activision rep said that the 3D feature is available on both PS3 and Xbox 360, as well as PC for people who have a fancy Nvidia card that supports the technology. I might actually be tempted to try a Call of Duty game since the original offering. Call of Duty: Black Ops releases for the PC, PS3, Xbox 360, and the Wii on November 9th, 2010, but again: Only the first three will have the 3D option.

Side note: My favourite part of the demo was at the end, when Phil Kessel and Tyler Bozak came in to look at ‘Black Ops’. From the EA NHL Rookie event, we had heard from Nazem Kadri that the Leafs were more into ‘Call of Duty’ than EA’s NHL games, so maybe the rumours are true! I did later spot Mr. Kessel playing ‘Virtua Tennis’ with the Move controller and heard him exclaiming that it was “awesome!”

The interactions with Elizabeth are exciting, along with the terrifying “HIM” that occupies the tail end of the trailer. All in all it looks like a promising title. I find the idea of the tracks that you use as zip lines from platform to platform exciting and tense. Furthermore, he has a voice! I love hearing him strain as he nearly loses his arm from dropping from one platform to the next, and the conversations with Elizabeth seem natural and fluid.

Also, “FALL…… FALL!!!” is just excellent.

Apparently the buildings in the distance are actually floating in real time and can collapse or sway due to exterior factors.

What do you guys think? Was that enough for you to gush over?

Click here to watch the video

“The custom Collector’s Edition retail box of Enslaved contains a hard-backed high quality artbook featuring concept art and exclusive images documenting the development process of the game at the studios of Ninja Theory in Cambridge, UK. Music fans will be treated to a separate CD containing the original soundtrack from the game, written and produced by internationally renowned composer and musician Nitin Sawhney.”

No news on a price yet.

Furthermore, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow has a demo on PlayStation Network plus out now.

The new game is released on October 5th in North America, Oct. 7th/8th Worldwide. The demo will be available exclusively for one week from PSN+, but will be widely available on the standard PSN service from September 29th. Konami will also be releasing an Xbox 360 demo via Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade service, with dates to be confirmed.

The collector’s edition features a 30-40 page artbook and a soundtrack that has roughly 20 tracks from the game! It will set you back $80 CDN.

]]> http://gamenorth.ca/2010/09/22/enslaved-and-castlevania-lords-of-shadow-demos-out-now-on-psn-later-on-xbl/feed/ 0 http://gamenorth.ca/2010/09/22/dj-hero-2-83-track-song-list-revealed/ http://gamenorth.ca/2010/09/22/dj-hero-2-83-track-song-list-revealed/#comments Thu, 23 Sep 2010 01:18:30 +0000 Jeremy Cole http://gamenorth.ca/?p=5734 DJ Hero 2 tracks after the jump!]]> The full song list for DJ Hero 2 was announced today with 83 tracks in total and combining 105 tracks from 100 artists.

DJ Hero 2 releases October 19th!

From the press release:

“With the highly skilled DJs and music producers at FreeStyleGames – joined by Deadmau5, David Guetta, DJ Qbert, RZA, Tiesto and a crew of world renowned mixologists – dropping the beats, everyone will have a chance to experience their favorite music like never before in the following mixes:

Produced and Mixed by A-Trak:

• Justice – “D.A.N.C.E.” Remix
• Naughty By Nature – “O.P.P.” Mixed With Jackson 5 – “ABC”

Produced and Mixed by Diplo:

• Kanye West – “Heartless” Mixed With DJ Shadow – “Midnight In A Perfect World”
• Major Lazer feat. VYBZ Kartel – “Pon De Floor” Mixed With Harold Faltermeyer – “Axel F”

Produced and Mixed by DJ Jazzy Jeff:

• Busta Rhymes – “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See” Mixed With M|A|R|R|S – “Pump Up The Volume”

Produced and Mixed by DJ Qbert:

• DJ Qbert – “Super Battle Breaks” Remix
• Newcleus – “Jam On It” (DJ Qbert vocals) Remix

Produced and Mixed by DJ Shadow:

• Kanye West – “Love Lockdown” Mixed With Metallica – “The Day That Never Comes”
• Young Jeezy ft. Kanye West – “Put On” Mixed With DJ Shadow feat. Q-Tip and Lateef The Truth Speaker – “Enuff (DJ Fresh Remix)”

Produced and Mixed by Tiesto:

• Adamski – “Killer” Remix
• Lady Gaga – “Bad Romance” Remix

Produced and Mixed by Z-Trip:

• Afrika Bambaataa and The Soul Sonic Force – “Planet Rock” Mixed With The Crystal Method – “Busy Child (Still Busy After All These Years Remix)”
• Missy Elliott – “Get Ur Freak On” Mixed With Dillinja and Skibadee – “Twist ‘Em Out”

Produced and Mixed by RZA:

• Damian Marley – “Welcome To Jamrock” Mixed With Walter Murphy – “A Fifth Of Beethoven”
• LL Cool J – “I Can’t Live Without My Radio” Mixed With Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five feat. Melle Mel & Duke Bootee – “The Message”

Produced and Mixed by The Scratch Perverts:

• The Chemical Brothers ft. Q-Tip – “Galvanize” Remix
• The Prodigy – “Omen” Mixed With Orbital – “The Box”

Produced and Mixed by FSG DJs:

• 2Pac ft. Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman – “California Love Remix” (Remix by FSG)
• 2Pac ft. Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman – “California Love Remix” Mixed With B.o.B ft. Bruno Mars – “Nothin’ On You”
• A-Trak – “Say Whoa” (Remix by FSG)
• Basement Jaxx – “Where’s Your Head At” Mixed With Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Heads Will Roll (A-Trak Remix )”
• BlakRoc ft. Pharoahe Monch & RZA – “Dollaz & Sense” (Remix by FSG)
• Calvin Harris – “I’m Not Alone” Mixed With New Order – “Blue Monday”
• Daft Punk – “Human After All” (Remix by FSG)
• Damian Marley – “Welcome To Jamrock” Mixed With Dillinja and Skibadee – “Twist ‘Em Out”
• David Guetta & Chris Willis – “Love Is Gone” Mixed With Sam Sparro – “B&G” a/k/a “Black & Gold”
• David Guetta ft. Kid Cudi – “Memories” Mixed With Pirate Soundsystem – “Bashy Bashy”
• Deadmau5 & Kaskade – “I Remember” (Remix by FSG)
• Deee-Lite – “Groove Is In The Heart” Mixed With Chic – “Le Freak”
• Dizzee Rascal & Armand Van Helden – “Bonkers” Mixed With Basement Jaxx – “Where’s Your Head At”
• Dizzee Rascal & Armand Van Helden – “Bonkers” Mixed With The Prodigy – “Omen”
• DJ Shadow – “Midnight In A Perfect World” (Remix by FSG)
• Edwin Starr – “War” Mixed With Justice – “Waters Of Nazareth”
• Eminem – “Not Afraid” Mixed With Lil’ Wayne feat. Static Major – “Lollipop”
• Estelle ft. Kanye West – “American Boy” (Remix by FSG)
• Estelle ft. Kanye West – “American Boy” Mixed With Chic – “Good Times”
• Flo Rida – “Low” Mixed With David Guetta vs. The Egg – “Love Don’t Let Me Go (Walking Away)”
• Flo Rida ft. Will.I.Am – “In The Ayer” Mixed With Clinton Sparks, DJ Class, & Jermaine Dupri – “Favorite DJ”
• Gorillaz ft. Mos Def & Bobby Womack – “Stylo” (Remix by FSG)
• Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five feat. Melle Mel & Duke Bootee – “The Message” Mixed With Kool & The Gang – “Jungle Boogie”
• House Of Pain – “Jump Around” (Remix by FSG)
• House Of Pain – “Jump Around” Mixed With Busta Rhymes – “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See”
• Iyaz – “Replay” Mixed With Rihanna – “Rude Boy”
• Janet Jackson – “Nasty” Mixed With Justice – “D.A.N.C.E.”
• Kanye West – “Heartless” Mixed With Lady Gaga – “Lovegame”
• Kanye West – “Heartless” Mixed With DJ Shadow – “Midnight In A Perfect World”
• Kanye West – “Love Lockdown” Mixed With Donna Summer – “Bad Girls”
• Kaskade & Deadmau5 – “Move For Me” (Remix by FSG)
• Kelis – “Acapella (David Guetta Extended Mix)” (Remix by FSG)
• Lady Gaga feat. Colby O’Donis – “Just Dance” Mixed With Deadmau5 – “Ghosts N Stuff”
• Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz ft. Ying Yang Twins – “Get Low” Mixed With 50 Cent – “In Da Club”
• Lil’ Wayne – “Go DJ” Mixed With 50 Cent – “In Da Club”
• Lil’ Wayne feat. Static Major – “Lollipop” Mixed With Flo Rida – “Low”
• LL Cool J – “I Can’t Live Without My Radio” Mixed With Chic – “Good Times”
• M.I.A. – “Galang” Mixed With Wayne Smith – “Under Mi Sleng Teng”
• Major Lazer feat. VYBZ Kartel – “Pon De Floor” Mixed With Harold Faltermeyer – “Axel F”
• Major Lazer feat. VYBZ Kartel – “Pon De Floor” Mixed With New Order – “Blue Monday”
• Malcolm McLaren – “Buffalo Gals” Mixed With M|A|R|R|S – “Pump Up The Volume”
• Missy Elliott – “Get Ur Freak On” Mixed With Sean Paul – “Infiltrate”
• MSTRKRFT ft. N.O.R.E. – “Bounce” (Remix by FSG)
• MSTRKRFT ft. N.O.R.E. – “Bounce” Mixed With A-Trak – “Say Whoa”
• Nas feat. Keri Hilson – “Hero” Mixed With Talib Kweli – “Get By”
• Nelly – “Hot In Herre” Mixed With Warren G feat. Nate Dogg – “Regulate”
• New Boyz – “You’re A Jerk” (Remix by FSG)
• Newcleus – “Jam On It” Mixed With Donna Summer – “Bad Girls”
• Pitbull – “I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)” Mixed With Nightcrawlers – “Push The Feeling On (MK Mix 95)”
• Pussycat Dolls ft. Busta Rhymes – “Don’t Cha” Mixed With Pitbull – “I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)”
• Robin S. – “Show Me Love (Stonebridge Radio Edit)” Mixed With Calvin Harris – “I’m Not Alone”
• Salt N Pepa – “Push It” Mixed With Afrika Bambaataa and The Soul Sonic Force – “Planet Rock”
• Salt N Pepa – “Push It” Mixed With Armand Van Helden – “I Want Your Soul”
• Sam Cooke – “Chain Gang” (Remix by FSG)
• Sean Paul – “Get Busy” Mixed With Harold Faltermeyer – “Axel F”
• Sean Paul – “Get Busy” Mixed With Rihanna – “Pon De Replay”
• Snow – “Informer” Mixed With Jackson 5 – “ABC”
• Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em – “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” Mixed With Chamillionaire – “Ridin’”
• Sparfunk & D-Code – “Apocalypse” (Remix by FSG)
• Stevie Wonder – “Superstition” Mixed With Edwin Starr – “War”
• The Chemical Brothers ft. Q-Tip – “Galvanize” Mixed With The Chemical Brothers – “Leave Home”
• The Notorious B.I.G. ft. Mase & Diddy – “Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems” (Remix by FSG)
• The Prodigy – “Firestarter” (Remix by FSG)
• Tiesto & Sneaky Sound System – “I Will Be Here” Mixed With Tiesto – “Speed Rail”
• Tiesto vs Diplo – “Come On” (Remix by FSG)
• Timbaland ft. Drake – “Say Something” Mixed With Young Jeezy ft. Kanye West – “Put On”
• Timbaland ft. Keri Hilson & D.O.E. – “The Way I Are” Mixed With Tiga – “You Gonna Want Me”
• Tweet ft. Missy Elliott – “Oops (Oh My)” Mixed With Snoop Dogg – “Who Am I (What’s My Name)?”