Making games hard for some reasons is satisfying. Making them hard enough that you have to struggle and eventually overcome obstacles with wit and skill rather than brute force is impressive. When you’re up to your 19^th try on the same boss, and no matter what you do he keeps killing you and driving you insane, then the game suffers a bit of pretension. It assumes that because you are a gamer, and you think yourself good and skilled, then you will continue to play. But my generation of gamers have been weaned on the teat of easier games where your health recovers instantly, and checkpoints are God’s bounty, prevalent wherever you walk. Demon’s Souls is no such game. It is merciless, cruel, and strangely beautiful at the same time. It is the vicious, vindictive ex-wife, ex-lover, ex-CIA agent with a bone to pick with you. It hunts you down wherever you are, and beats the crap out of you, until you can’t take it anymore.

Then it waits.

Because it knows you’ll come crawling back eventually.

The premise of the game is that terrible demons have swept across the land of Boletaria, and you are an unknown adventurer who adventured right into the sinkhole of despair at the center. You are met with impossible odds and promptly die. After that unpleasantness, which also serves as the tutorial, you awaken in a large, hollow citadel known as the Nexus. Here a mysterious woman tells you she has brought you back to life and linked your soul to this place, so that you may continue your quest, and your soul will not be lost to the demons you fight, but returned here.

The Nexus: An excellent place to hide your circles.

From this point on, you begin to trek from the Nexus to 5 different level-paths, each with its own architecture, design, monsters and themes. The magic is split into two forms as well, because of the recurrence of theology in this game. You can learn miracles from priests and you can create effects such as healing or protection using a talisman of God. You can also learn spells, which require a wand to cast, from magicians. They are usually more destructive in nature, being fueled by pacts with demons. More powerful wands and talismans are hidden out in the wastes of Boletaria, just like the best armor and weapons are to be found in similar dangerous areas. These places are of course wrought with pitfalls, monsters, traps and the like.

Demon’s Souls uses conventions in game play, some of them good, some cruel, to make the game even more difficult. Death results in a restart at the beginning of the level you’re on, some of which are upwards of 20 to 30 minutes long, so each death respawns all enemies and places you neatly back at the starting point with any items you’ve used up, such as potions or ammo, still lost. Your body is in soul form: a corporeal but weaker state that only has half the health of your fully reincarnated character. This means that every hit from an enemy is an instant to near-instant kill, which is understandably frustrating.  Where it gets good is when you actually defeat something. For all of the difficulty, this game has mastered the sense of progression. As you kill enemies, you collect souls from them, which work as a form of super-currency. You can exchange them in large increments to upgrade stats, such has willpower, luck, strength or dexterity, use them to purchase goods, such as swords and armour, or transfuse them into new spells and miracles. The catch is that you never want to have too many souls at any time while adventuring. If you die – and you will die – a blood splatter is created at your feet, and your souls are trapped within. So you begin anew with any souls you gained lost until you make it back to that point. If you die a second time, it restarts you again, with the new blood splatter containing your souls up to that point, and you lose all the souls at the previous mark.

See what I mean?

The only redeeming factor to the souls nonsense is that you occasionally collect souls off of bodies and slain monsters that are concentrated, so they can be carried like an item. They come in varieties ranging from an unknown soldier to a renowned hero and reward you appropriately once consumed.

OhCrapOhCrapOhCrap

Even boss monsters, once defeated, turn into this sort of soul with a descriptor. For example, Wriggling Demon’s Soul and Flaming Demon’s Soul are a couple of the ones you can collect. These are worth a hefty, massive amount of souls, but can also be turned into powerful spells by a mage, if you’re willing to forgo the chance to upgrade your stats. They basically act as credit cards with fixed balances. Thus, you can retreat back to the Nexus, consume them, and use the accumulated total in the safety of the base, without fear of losing them all. Unless you trip and fall off of a bridge in there, which happens fairly regularly.

The sound design is fantastic, tapering off or mounting up at the right times with a powerful orchestral score. It is different for each level, and each monster’s signature moans or growls are disturbing and evocative. The weapons feel powerful with the sound of their impact, the spells are cackling with energy on their release, and your death throes are always infuriating as you’re brought to your knees.

While adventuring across the game, you’ll often encounter ghosts of other players, running about and interacting with their own version of the world. This is where Demon’s Souls is unique in its online aspect. Other players can leave messages for you warning of traps, enemies’ weaknesses, or treasure all along the floors of the game. A good choice made in the design of these scrawled missives is that they are created in a flow chart and not by typing. So you don’t come across a situation where you adventure into a dank corridor filled with traps and have “LOSERS GO THIS WAY” scrawled on the floor. There is never a break in the immersion. Furthermore, you can recommend them if they are helpful, which in turn boosts the writer’s health.

This does not look promising.

When other players die, their blood splatter is visible in your game, and if you touch it, it replays the last few minutes of their demise. You don’t see who’s fighting them, just their ghost moving about the room and reenacting their last few moments. Sometimes these are incredibly enlightening, as you see a player cautiously move around a corner, then get sent flying back, strafe away, and eventually get ripped apart. That means run. Other times, they’re comedic or downright tragic. On a delightfully precarious staircase, where moving right means a infinite fall into sadness and death, it’s rather common to see five or six splashes of blood up the winding path, with a few characters just strafing too far right, and cascading off the edge into death. If nothing else, they lighten the mood a bit.

The other way online is helpful is in the use of multiplayer. You can summon another player that puts down a marker on the floor with a special item, which is visible to all in that level. If you assist them in defeating a major demon, you are reincarnated, and feel just awesome about yourself. However, you can also use a different item to invade other worlds, and attack players PvP style. This is random and you could be matched with an utter weakling or an incredibly powerful jerk who destroys you in one hit. Either way, it’s an interesting premise.

Demon’s Souls is peculiar in that it values mortality, making it very important to be brought back to life, whether by defeating a major boss or finding rare stones that can reincarnate you. But after you’ve reached that point, you are forever carrying a liability. I find it safer to move about the levels in soul form, because then at least I have nothing to lose. In addition, if you come across a “Cling Ring” in your travels, it restores your health in soul form to only three quarters of the total instead of half.

Demon’s Souls is rare, strange, and misunderstood on both sides of the reviewing spectrum, and I think due in part to the urge to only see the good or bad of this game. I personally wouldn’t recommend this game to people looking for a way to fill a weekend or indulge in a light gaming habit. This is for the most Hardened of Cores. However, if you’re looking for a little something to test your mettle, then there are few better measurement sticks than Demon’s Souls difficulty curve.

But don’t come crying to me when she burns you – like, with a dragon the size of a zeppelin.

In Case Zero, you start off in a contamination zone wheeling a garbage bin with the base of a motorcycle inside. The objective is to navigate through Still Creek town to find other parts to put your motorcycle back together, all the while navigating through hordes of zombies and obtaining points for smashing into them with the garbage bin.  Once the garbage bin is placed within home base you begin the task of combating zombies, trying to locate people of interest who aid you on your journey, collecting money, and finding keys to unlock doors – all in order to collect parts and construct Chuck’s motorcycle. However, there is a catch as you must achieve this task within 24 hours, before the military arrives and Chuck’s infected daughter is put into quarantine.

There is a massive number of weapons available to kill off the zombies: guns, swords, chairs, and axes, just to name a few.  Each zombie kill is recorded which in return levels up our protagonist, giving him more fighting moves and abilities.  The experience gained in Case Zero will carry over to Dead Rising 2.

Case Zero has a ton of replay value and the game will give you a solid 20 hours of game play if you want to unlock everything.  Having said all that, it’s a great build up for the actual Dead Rising 2 game, which releases September 24^th, 2010.

Dead Rising 2: Case Zero is available now for download via Xbox Live.

Such a scenario could occur when engaged with Epic Citadel, the iPhone app developed and published by Epic Games as an interactive demonstration of Unreal Engine 3 for Apple’s iPhone. The app – which I’m hesitant to call a game at this point, seeing as how it’s more-or-less a tech demo – drops you in the middle of a medieval citadel, completely rendered in gorgeous 3D graphics, and grants you the freedom to explore. The citadel is completely uninhabited, so there are no characters or creatures to interact with, but the citadel itself is beautiful and full of life.

The visual quality of the demo needs to be seen to be believed, a testament to the flexibility and power of UE3. The stone and rock textures found throughout the citadel benefit greatly from bump-mapping, enhancing them with a host of intricate details. Furthermore, the architecture makes use of normal mapped surfaces, which allow the engine to create details without having to render additional polygons. However, what really makes this demo come to life is the lighting.

Epic Citadel makes use of Unreal Engine 3’s built-in global illumination system, known as Unreal Lightmass, to provide realistic lighting and shadows, and with minimal hardware strain, to boot. The mid-day lighting found in the demo is on par with games such as Oblivion and Dragon Age: Origins, minus the blown out bloom effects used in both. The demo also makes use of real-time reflections, which blew me away the first time I saw them. Using the environment-mapping capabilities of the engine, the floor of the citadel’s cathedral reflects your surroundings in real-time. It’s jaw-dropping.

But as beautiful as it is, how does the demo control? Like most first-person games on the iPhone, Epic Citadel uses analog stick emulation, and as someone that typically hates that control scheme, I can tell you that it worked well. However, I still find that my thumbs obscure too much of the picture, which is even less excusable now that I have such gorgeous graphics to admire. Thankfully, Epic has included a means of navigating the environment that I found quite intuitive, and far less obscuring. If you tap a location on the screen, Epic Citadel will place an arrow marker at that location, near or far, and make your character walk there. While traveling to your destination, you can swipe the screen to the left or right to observe (and admire) your surroundings.

The Epic Citadel demo is very impressive, and a wonderful example of what Unreal Engine 3 is capable of on the iPhone. However, a tech demo is just that, a demo. What will ultimately determine the success of the engine is how developers choose to use it on this new platform. Epic themselves have already announced Project Sword, the codename for an Unreal Engine 3-powered role-playing game they are currently developing for the iPhone. Will it be enough to convince hardcore gamers that the iPhone is the portable platform to beat? We shall see. In the meantime, the citadel awaits!

Gathering the best prospects from around the league, including the likes of first overall pick, Taylor Hall, second overall pick, Tyler Seguin, and the Toronto Maples Leafs top prospect, Nazem Kadri, Electronic Arts held a single-elimination NHL 11 tournament to see who had what it took to lead their draft team to Lord Stanley’s Cup. The rules were simple: Each player had to use the team that drafted them, the game was to be played on the default settings, and to determine who held the home ice advantage, the players would engage in a cut throat round of rock, paper, scissors. Exhilarating!

The tournament started off with a bang: Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin were slated to face each other in the opening round. Drafted first and second overall, debates raged all summer long about who was the better player. EA wasn’t messing around; things were about to get real.

Contrasts between the two prospects came early as Seguin changed his control scheme to the Classic layout, claiming that he was an old-fashioned player. Hall stuck to the new controls, feeling more comfortable using the franchise’s signature Skill Stick. The puck hit the ice and the tension in the room rose. Within seconds of the faceoff, Hall broke through the Boston defense to challenge young goaltender and former Leafs prospect, Tuuka Rask, mano-a-mano. He weaved left, then right, causing Rask to bite early, allowing Hall to return to his backhand and roof it over the young goaltender’s shoulder. Seguin looked stunned. Moments later, shortly after the subsequent faceoff, Hall was at it again, bursting across the blueline with a two-on-one. He made a last-minute pass, just out of the reach of a diving defenseman, and tapped the puck past Rask on the short side. If only Seguin had Jonas Gustavsson in net.

Hall had scored on each of his first two shifts, and would continue to dominate throughout the rest of the game, going on to win by a score of 5-1. After the game, when asked about his disappointing performance, Seguin said, “I’m going to have to hit the exercise room right after this and get my thumbs in shape, so I can be better prepared for the next one … It’ll be a little different in real life, obviously, but in this game it’s all about past experience, and I didn’t have it, I guess.” So much for Classic controls.

The rest of the first round went by in a flash, with Colorado Avalanche prospect, Kevin Shattenkirk, eliminating Predators prospect, John Blum. Detroit Red Wings prospect, Tomas Tatar, falling to Blackhawks prospect, Kyle Beach, in a classic Western Conference battle. Jacob Markstrom sinking Calvin Pickard, Calvin de Haan ousting Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson, and Zach Hamill beating Ryan Johansen. Then it was time for the hometown hopeful to take centre stage, as Nazem Kadri of the Toronto Maple Leafs squared off against Erik Gudbranson of the Florida Panthers. Could Kadri finally bring glory to the Buds? In short, no.

Throwing the tournament rules out the window, Kadri convinced his opponent to select random teams instead of their draft teams. After some deliberation, and a few rolls of the virtual dice (Gudbranson wasn’t keen on Kadri using his first result, the Western Conference All-Stars), Kadri ended up with the Boston Bruins and Gudbranson: the Detroit Red Wings. How many Maple Leafs prospects do the Boston Bruins have now? I’m losing count.

Within minutes of the opening puck-drop, it becomes clear that Kadri would be a lethal opponent regardless of which team he chose. He danced and weaved around Gudbranson’s players like they were pylons, dominating the game with four unanswered goals, winning 4-0. It’s obvious when watching him play that he possess offensive creativity, and when asked if he could pull off such goals in real life, he claimed, “Totally. Most of the moves that I pulled off in that game were the moves I use in real life. That’s me, that’s how I play.” When the topic of playing with the Maple Leafs this coming season came up, he was asked who his ideal line mates would be. “Kessel and Versteeg,” he said with a smile.  Did you hear that, Ron Wilson? Make it happen!

The next round saw Kadri once again eschew his draft team in favour of choosing randomly, urging his opponent, Zach Hamill to do the same. Kadri took to the ice using Anaheim, and Hamill lucked out by landing the offensively-stacked Washington Capitals. However, with little effort and plenty of flair, Kadri sent Hamill packing with a 5-2 win in regulation. Across the room, Taylor Hall entertained guests with another dominating win. Could this be leading to a Kadri vs. Hall for all the marbles?

With wins by Kyle Beach and Ryan McDonagh, the stage had been set for the semi-finals. Kadri vs. McDonagh; Hall vs. Beach.

Hall and Beach played a real nail-biter of a game, with neither team scoring, despite many great chances, until late in the third period when Taylor Hall scored a beauty of a one-timer while on the power play. Beach pulled his goalie in the final minute in an attempt to tie it up, only to surrender an empty netter moments later. Edmonton’s first overall pick, Taylor Hall, had earned himself a spot in the finals. When asked about the secret to his success throughout the afternoon, Hall responded, “I’m just taking it one game at a time, staying focused on the things that matter, and getting pucks deep.” Sounds like someone has been practising his canned media responses.

Across the room, Kadri once again broached the idea of choosing random teams. Much to Kadri’s surprise, his opponent, Ryan McDonagh, opted to stay with his draft team, the New York Rangers. He had been successful with them thus far, so why not? Despite this, Kadri still opted to let the Fates decide which team he’d play. Their answer? The ‘09-’10 Stanley Cup Champions, the Chicago Blackhawks.

The game got off to a quick start, with Kadri scoring two goals in the first period, including one by former Toronto Maple Leafs winger, Viktor Stalberg. However, the Fates would soon betray him. Kadri’s defense began falling apart in the second period, and McDonagh adapted quickly to Kadri’s style of play. With renewed focus, McDonagh scored three unanswered goals in the second, dominating Kadri at both ends of the ice, and later added a fourth goal late in the third. As the seconds dwindled, so did the hopes of the Leafs fans in attendance. At least he never lost in the blue and white!

The finals were upon us. Would Taylor Hall prove himself worthy of being the first overall pick, or would McDonagh pull off the upset? Both players laced up in the skates of their respective draft teams, and the room fell quiet as the game began. McDonagh drew first blood, scoring on a breakaway with none other than Sean Avery. He added a second off a beautiful one-timer before the end of the first, taking a commanding 2-0 lead. Hall had responded early in the second, bringing the game within one, when he tripped McDonagh while he was on a breakaway. Unfortunately, this led to a penalty shot with Rangers sniper, Marion Gaborik, who McDonagh had a great deal of success with throughout the day. McDonagh worked his Skill Stick magic, earning a cheer from the gathered crowd, then roofed a backhand past the goalie. If this game was real, that would have been the TSN Turning Point.

Both Hall and McDonagh would add a few more goals each, making the score 5-3 in the final minutes of the game. Due to a hooking penalty, Hall went on the power play with just over two minutes of regulation remaining, and manage to convert it for a goal. Within one goal, Hall poured on the offensive pressure, frantically slapping at rebounds and putting pucks on net. The arena announcer declared the last minute of play, and Hall didn’t hesitate to pull his goalie. However, even with the extra attacker, his efforts were not enough. With a final score of 5-4, Ryan McDonagh wins the NHL 11 Rookie Challenge!

Whether or not this is indicative of things to come, I couldn’t say, but we had an awesome time at the tournament, and it seems that the players did too. During each game, the players would banter back and forth with hockey lingo, and talk about great plays as though they happened on a real sheet of ice. Not only has EA succeeded at earning the approval of real NHL players with NHL 11, but as a group mostly eighteen year old guys, these prospects are also hardcore gamers. What more could you want?

NHL 11 hits the ice on September 7 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Before I began, I was asked to align myself inside a white box located on the screen for motion scanning. Once inside I moved the controller in different directions indicated on screen for calibration purposes.  After a few tries, the scanning was complete and it was onto the gaming. The first game I tried was Table Tennis and it was very difficult to swing accurately and connect with the ball. With practice it became a tad easier but it was still not fluid.  The second and most fun game was Disc Golf. I threw a disc toward a highlighted objective, trying to get the disc into the target with the fewest number of throws as possible in order to beat my opponent.  The game requires one motion to mimic throwing a Frisbee while holding down on the back trigger button, and then releasing the trigger as you bring your arm forward.  Both games were relatively simple and fun but might have limited replay value when the Sports Champions title is released.

The PlayStation representative then asked if I wanted to try Tiger Woods Golf, and this is where the frustration and humour kicked in.  I would say it took me a good 9 practice swings (you must mimic a golf swing) before it was time to tee off, and it took me another 3 or 4 tries to connect with the ball while in game, at which point the rep and I had a good laugh. I will not divulge how many attempts it took to reach par as I want to save myself further embarrassment.  The golf swings were hard to pull off and there was some delay, and no way of telling if this was a calibration issue or if I was doing something incorrect.

I would say the controllers for the Move and the Wii react and play nearly the same. The only glaring difference is that the Move controllers are sturdier.  Overall I was very impressed with the Move titles at Fan Expo, and I must say the future looks bright for Sony.

The PlayStation Move ships September 17^th, 2010 across Canada.

]]> http://gamenorth.ca/2010/08/31/fan-expo-2010-playstation-move/feed/ 1 http://gamenorth.ca/2010/08/30/a-pair-of-canadians-dominate-sc2-at-mlg-raleigh/ http://gamenorth.ca/2010/08/30/a-pair-of-canadians-dominate-sc2-at-mlg-raleigh/#comments Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:01:36 +0000 Don Tam http://gamenorth.ca/?p=5435 Major League Gaming (MLG) is perhaps the only pro gaming circuit in North America, and as such – it is the most prestigious! Thus it fills me with pride to announce that Chris “HuK” Loranger has taken down some fierce competition, including fellow Canadian Jonathon “KiWiKaKi” Garneau in the finals, on his way to the first ever StarCraft II MLG event title. HuK has been an amazing player since beta and we managed to catch an interview with him a while ago, so check it out. KiWiKaKi has always been around the SCII scene as part of Team Root, but his strong second-place performance surprised many spectators. In other notable Canadian results, Payam “TTOne” Toshyan secured 8th place, going home with a cool $200 USD. HuK and KiWiKaKi received $2,500 USD and $1,500 USD respectively.

Other Canadian finishes include SLusH (11th), Drewbie (12th), Silver (14th), Suggy (T-17th), and Catz (T-17th).

Good luck to all our virtual warriors in the next two MLG 2010 stops in Washington, D.C. on October 15th and Dallas on November 5th!

Source: GotFrag

Felicia is genuine as well. When some celebrities say they play video games, I end up thinking that they said that just to win the geek vote or they only play very rarely. But when Felicia talks about games, you know she plays them like we do, going as far as to talk about her extreme addiction to World of Warcraft prior to starting work on The Guild and how an intervention was required to snap her out of it (she plays a Shadow/Holy Dwarven Priest, by the way). Adding to her gamer cred was the fact that she grew up on the Ultima series, humourously dismissing the eighth game as “not so great”. Her favourite games of all time include Planescape: Torment and Diablo, which are two of the most critically acclaimed PC games of all time as well as fan favourites, scoring 91 and 94 on Metacritic’s list. When asked about games she would like to be turned into shows or games that she would like to star in, she listed The Longest Journey, an obscure point and click adventure title that Richard and I both enjoyed.

But not only does she play hard, she works hard as well. In addition to starring in roles in various TV series such as Eureka, she does a large portion of the work for The Guild on her own. She explained that in the beginning it was just her and one other person who did all the marketing – the website, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc. – in addition to the writing and producing, as they did not have funds to pay anyone. In fact, the entire first season subsisted on donations through Paypal, but eventually it became too much work and now she has a third person to help.

Don’t let her humility and down-to-earth demeanor fool you, either. Felicia Day can stand up to the Man. When asked about how she got involved with Microsoft and Xbox Live, she explained that a lot of studios wanted her show, but they also wanted the rights and to have major creative input – a proposition Ms. Day was not comfortable with. She knew she had a good thing that just needed a little funding so she held out. Microsoft eventually came in, riding gallantly on a white horse and offered her a perfect deal as they were searching for original content for Xbox Live.

I think what I really want to convey from my experience with this panel and everything I’ve heard or seen of her prior to this event is this: liking Felicia is easy for nerds, geeks, and gamers everywhere because it’s like liking yourself. She was on BBSes when she was young (Richard and I met on a BBS). She gets addicted to games. She is frugal. When people talk about celebrities being like you or me, they are referring to her. I’ve never been such a giddy fanboy over a celebrity, but Felicia deserves all the attention she gets.

Felicia Day stars as the voice of Veronica in the upcoming Fallout: New Vegas and is currently filming episodes of Eureka. She also has a secret project going on that she wouldn’t divulge, but she promises it will be awesome.

There was also a strange problem when we started the second game that it lost Richard completely. I guess I should’ve also turned sideways to see if it would lose me (as I am basically two dimensional when viewed from the side), but I didn’t think about it. After a little bit of moving and jumping around, Richard mysteriously re-appeared though and we went on our second adventure.

There is a little bit of delay between our motion and the action appearing on screen, which messed up some of our dodging. It appeared to me that jumping had the most lag, and is especially noticeable with some warping when going from crouch position to jumping. It could’ve been the setup in the room we were in, but I don’t have any conclusive data either way.

It was kind of fun to jump around, though it didn’t feel any more exciting than when I first played Wii Tennis. Having been very impressed with the original Kinect unveiling (when it was still called Natal), I probably expected more from the experience than I received. But then again, it’s still in its infancy, and there could still be some very cool things to come in the future.

Kinect releases for $150 CAD on November 4th, 2010 for the Xbox 360.

In order to obtain the map, players must bring their Nintendo DS and copy of Dragon Quest IX to the Nintendo Canada booth with the game placed in Tag Mode. In order to access Tag Mode, players must have unlocked the Quester’s Rest in the city of Stornway, where they can speak to Erinn about canvassing for nearby players.

This is an incredible opportunity for Canadian Dragon Quest IX fans to meet, exchange maps, and upgrade their inns. The Nintendo Canada booth will be sure to attract taggers throughout the entire weekend, including ourselves, so make sure your DS is fully charged, your inn is nice and tidy, and get ready to find some treasure.

I’ll be there on Saturday with my copy of DQIX, so if anyone wants to arrange a gathering of some kind, feel free to post it in the comments below.

Shattered Dimensions is four different games rolled into one. When you’re playing at the film noir stealth-action suit Spiderman, the game feels like Batman: Arkham Asylum. When you play as the Venom suit Spiderman, the game feels more like Devil May Cry. Although there is nothing else innovative in the game, everything from those different genres of games seem to be implemented. The Spidey Sense works like thermal vision from Splinter Cell. There are different emblems to collect, abilities to upgrade, storylines to follow, and it felt fun without being too shallow, even if you get the impression that you’ve seen it all before. This game looks like it is a must try for Spiderman fans.

Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions releases for the PS3, Wii, X360, and DS on September 7th, 2010, with a PC release date still to be announced.

With a new real-time physics engine for unique and exciting hits, broken and dropped sticks, revamped face-off mechanics, an improved passing system, and the inclusion of the three regional leagues that make up the Canadian Hockey League, NHL 11 may very well be the most accurate hockey simulation to date.

Kane lunges for the puck like it's a taxi driver

The new physics engine is fantastic. Every hit looks unique and in context, and adds a great deal of realism to the game. Slam someone into the boards and you’ll see them crumple to the ice in a satisfying manner, or line them up for a hip check in open ice and watch as they tumble head over heels through the air. In one of the games that we played, we demolished a player with a devastating Luke Schenn hip check. As Schenn’s hip collided with the other player’s right leg, they tumbled over in an awkward and painful manner, resulting in a leg injury. It was a beautiful thing to watch.

This addition doesn’t just benefit the large, thunderous hits, either, as the more subtle physical game is also well represented. Bumping or shoving a player will result in a momentary loss of balance or stumbling, sometimes just enough to displace them from the puck. Furthermore, the physics allow the puck to interact realistically with lost or broken sticks laying on the ice. These errant sticks can accidentally intercept passes, knock the puck off the stick of a rushing forward, and even redirect the puck toward an unsuspecting goalie. I don’t know why it took so long for a physics system to be implemented in a hockey game, but there’s no going back now.

The changes to the face-off mechanics are also a huge step forward, and for the first time, they give players a variety of strategic options as the puck drops. First, players must determine whether or not to use a forehand or backhand grip by moving the right analog stick to the left or right. Depending on the handedness of your player, either option could be more appropriate. It doesn’t end there, though. As the puck hits the ice, you have the option of pulling it back toward your defensemen, or attempting to pass it through the opposing center’s legs. Additionally, if you’re not interested in securing the puck yourself, you can attempt to tie up with the opposing center, allowing one of your wingers to swoop in and snatch the puck. In one game against the Detroit Red Wings, we used this strategy, allowing Nikolai Kulemin to snatch the puck out of the circle, rush into the slot, and fire a well-placed wrist shot over Jimmy Howard’s shoulder.

Laying down on the job

The differences in the passing game between NHL 10 and NHL 11 are subtle, but will definitely be noticeable to veterans of the franchise. In previous installments, the pass was executed upon pressing the pass button, and now it’s executed when the pass button is released. This change allowed EA Canada to implement a new feature that allows players to control the speed of the pass itself. The longer you hold the pass button down, the harder the pass will be once it’s released. The slow, more accurate passes, are ideal for cycling the puck on the power play, and the faster passes are great for setting up a one-timer during an odd man rush. It’s a simple mechanic, but it works.

NHL 11 was one of the first games we decided to play upon arriving at the X’10 event, and throughout the rest of our stay, the game just kept calling to us. We played four full games in total, and watched others play a few more. Even as spectators, we found ourselves cheering and jeering the players on the virtual ice. It’s an exciting game, to both watch and play, and we can’t wait to drop the gloves and get our hands on it.

NHL 11 will be released in North America on September 7 for the PS3 and Xbox 360.

Excuse me, that looks infected

One of the first things I noticed upon sitting down with the game was the visuals. While beautiful in their own right, the graphics found in the original Dead Space were somewhat monotonous and repetitive; a series of dark and dreary corridors, barely illuminated by the fluorescent glow from nearby computer terminals and flickering lights. With Dead Space 2, Visceral Games has opted for a much more varied visual presentation, which is made possible thanks to the diversity of the game’s setting: a massive, densely populated space station known as the Sprawl. As players navigate the station, they will find themselves exploring industrial, residential, and commercial zones, each with their own decor and design, and will even get the opportunity to visit the infamous Church of Unitology. On a whole, the Dead Space 2 experience that I had was much more colourful and visually appealing than its predecessor.

The demo featured many noticeable gameplay enhancements as well. Those that hated having to access their inventory screen whenever they needed to replenish their stasis reserve will be pleased to know that Isaac’s stasis supply will now slowly regenerate on its own. Furthermore, players will no longer have to search for save points in order to save their progress, as Dead Space 2 now employs an auto-saving checkpoint system. Saving happens seamlessly while you play, so the gaming experience isn’t interrupted, and the checkpoints are placed intelligently. For those that are concerned that the implementation of such a system would make the game easier, don’t worry, I still managed to die several times while playing, and while the setbacks weren’t substantial, they were definitely noticeable.

Adventures in babysitting

Most of my deaths came while I was adjusting to the increased number of enemies Isaac encountered. While it was common in the original Dead Space to get ambushed by one or two Necromophs at a time, that number has significantly increased in the sequel. While exploring the Sprawl, I was frequently attacked by groups of five or six Necromorphs at once, surrounding me from all sides. It made for an intense and often painful experience, but being the butt-kicking engineer that he is, Isaac came prepared, and packing some new tools. My favourite new weapon was the Javelin Launcher, which hurls massive spikes toward Isaac’s enemies at terrifying velocity. A direct hit with one of these bad boys will propel its unfortunate victim across the room, impaling them on the wall. However, due to the nature of the Necromorph psychology, while such an attack may incapacitate them, it’s not guaranteed to kill them. Thankfully, the Javelin Launcher comes equipped with a secondary attack that will send a powerful electrical current through impaled javelins. Necromorph shish kabob!

Isaac has also learned to use a Necromorph’s own body against it, thanks to the kinesis field emitted from his suit. Using the deadly precision of his weapons, Isaac can shoot one of the javelin-like arms off of a Slasher Necromorph, lift it with the kinesis field, and shoot it right back at them. It’s not as powerful as the Javelin Launcher itself, but it’ll help Isaac save more ammo to deal with the swarms of Necromorphs that he’ll inevitably face, and let’s face it, it’s devilishly fun. This strategy isn’t just limited to using the arms of a Slasher, either. Remember those Necromorphs that had a giant, exploding tumor for a hand? Rather than shooting the tumor itself, Isaac can now shoot the entire arm off and use it as an explosive projectile.

I can see my house from here!

Another welcome change is the new and improved low gravity gameplay. Instead of jumping from wall to wall, or floor to ceiling during low gravity segments, Isaac can float and fly around freely, thanks to a series of small propulsion boosters built into his new suit. These segments not only feel more natural as a result, but also allowed Visceral Games to be more creative with their low gravity environments. During one segment of the demo, I had to fly up through a series of rotating fans and automated doors, both of which required use of the stasis module in order to survive. It was a fun diversion from the combat gameplay, and it sure beat fiddling with the camera to figure out where your next low gravity leap should take you.

My experience with Dead Space 2 didn’t disappoint, and I’m looking forward to the title now more than ever. It looks like Visceral Games took the already stellar foundation of their first offering, gave it some polish, ramped up the horror, and made the act of surviving all the more fun. Admittedly, my sample size was small, but it certainly left me wanting more. If Visceral’s vision remains consistent throughout the whole experience, then we’re in for a beautiful, terrifying treat.

Dead Space 2 is planned for release in January, 2011.

In all seriousness though, SteelSeries products are used by many professional gamers, including Team EG, Fnatic MSI, and SK Gaming. They are really high quality products and if you’re in the market for some gaming peripherals, please check them out. The Xai mouse has been my favourite mouse since the legendary Razer Boomslang, and that’s saying a lot. SteelSeries has also been a pretty visible force in the eSports scene, sponsoring various tournaments in competitive games such as Heroes of Newerth.

Even if you aren’t looking to drop money on some peripherals right now, apparently their Facebook page and Twitter can keep you posted of giveaways so that you can score some of their loot for free.

Space Headshot!

When holding the Wiimote in a “classic” gamepad style, the game enters a third person perspective, where you can run, jump, dodge and open fire on enemies based on which direction you are facing. The movement feels exactly like a Team Ninja game, with Samus nimbly dodging away from attacks and blowing away enemies with ease, until you rotate the controller to face the screen. Then the camera instantly whips into first person, allowing precision aiming and a more detailed view of your surroundings, a la Metroid Prime. You remain glued to the spot, but that’s the only trade off, and you can move again with a simple rotation of the controller. The movement is surprisingly accurate. You don’t tend to get accidental switches in perspective, and you’re usually blessed with a continuous ability to dodge, even if you are in first person mode.

Spaced Out Samus!

The plot of the game follows the life of Samus after Super Metroid, and leads up to Metroid Fusion. Samus escapes Zebes as it explodes, and awakens on a Galactic Federation ship. We see neat shots of her in her Zero Suit, blinking awake in a sterile facility with some smiling technicians in the background. She walks into a adjoining chamber, and powers up her suit, which spawns onto her body with a interesting graphic, resembling individual squares of steel (like pixels) digitalizing out of her Zero Suit as a projection, and then hardening. One thing I really love about the experience I saw is that they take Samus away from just being a suit and a gun, and decided to have her narrate her adventure, not only conversing with allies she encounters, but divulging her inner thoughts and motives as she treats the audience as a sort of diary, chronicling her experiences. After being given a clean bill of health, she takes off and soon answers a distress call from a Galactic Federation (GF) “Bottle Ship” known as a “Baby’s Cry”. Upon entry into the ship, the gameplay begins. We’re given a brief tutorial on movement and first to third person switching. She eventually encounters a compliment of GF soldiers, one of which is Antony Higgs, an old friend of hers from her days within the army that affectionately refers to her as “princess”.

Space Bugs! In Space!

Samus narrates over the proceedings, providing interesting peeks into her rebellious past as a GF soldier. She fought with them for a long time, always with her suit, but felt coddled regardless due to her gender. The story plays on interesting themes of independence and dependence, and also of the brashness of youth. Samus remembers her actions when she was younger and more headstrong, and laments some of the choices she’s made, especially with relation to her father-figure in the GF forces, a general by the name of Adam Malkovich. Adam is an important facet of both the plot and gameplay, as Samus reconciles her past with him and also relies on him for authorization of weapons. The game starts off with Samus in possession of a full compliment of weapons and skills, but they are only unlocked after being authorized, which provides a good narrative option for new abilities without relying on the tired “lose everything at the start” mechanic that has been prevalent for a long time. That doesn’t mean Samus won’t find some new toys within the Bottle Ship though.

Metroid: Other M is a delicious-looking take on a beloved franchise and personally one that I’m pretty excited to get my hands on, time permitting. I think it’s gonna be outta this world. Cause, you know, it’s in space.

Metroid: Other M is being released on August 31^st in North America, September 2^nd in Japan and Australia, and September 3^rd in Europe.

The single player campaign is magnificent. There’s nothing ground breaking here, but Blizzard did manage to make it interesting enough that it doesn’t feel like you’re just playing a bunch of multiplayer maps, which is something the older Blizzard strategies always had trouble with. Despite strong plots in both StarCraft and Warcraft III, the single player campaigns were lacking to me. This time around, Blizzard gives you an entirely different experience in single player as you can command completely different units than in multiplayer, get special upgrades for your buildings and units that don’t exist outside the single player campaign, and you can talk to people on your ship in order to get a better feel of the story and characters. The story is told in a much better way this time around and the single player experience simply feels way more cohesive than it did back in the day, even if we only get the perspective of the Terrans (humans) in this one. The plot was even quite surprising and takes a turn I did not expect. It’s not Odyssey or anything like that, but it certainly ain’t bad.

Nuclear launch detected

The cinematics are a treat as expected from Blizzard, but the in-game engine looks so good that it’s not a jarring switch. Moreover, as if to ensure you that it is in fact a Blizzard product, all the good looks doesn’t come with hefty requirements for your system. If you have a good system then the game will look better, but even on my four-ish year old PC it is gorgeous. Blizzard wants you to play their games, and they’re not going to let an old machine stop you! Since the engine is 3D this time around, zooming in will give you nice and up close visuals of the units or landscape, but if you zoom out to the regular camera, everything still looks… pleasant. I’ve heard some higher level players say that they like to turn the graphics down in order to not have so much visual input to distract them – that’s how much detail there is in the animation. My favourite little addition is that when units die to a fire attack, they are incinerated and fried up in a neat animation.

The voice acting is very good. The dialogue itself is very heavy and a bit on the serious side, aside from the newscasts and commercials on television, but the actors did a good job of making everything believable. One hilarious commercial in particular is the space marine iPod parody with a silhouetted marine touting an “iGun”. The game does not have the best voice acting out there. It didn’t quite impress me the way Dragon Age: Origins did, but it was solid. The music in the single player campaign is fantastic, with the likes of covers of Sweet Home Alabama and Suspicious Minds while the jukebox is on. During a mission, there are great musical scores to go along with building up armies and crushing the souls of your enemies under your metallic boots. The unit sounds are standard Blizzard fare and thankfully none of them are annoying, though some of them are still humourous.

You villain, you!

The mission variety itself is great, and better than in previous games. Even though achievements are old news in this industry, and I normally don’t worry about them, the addition of them still added a great deal to the experience for me. Every map has an award for achieving all the objectives, which is something I’d do normally anyway, but it’s nice to receive some recognition for my OCD dedication. You can go back to clear a previous level at any time through the mission archives, even after you’ve completed the game, so that is a great addition to the longevity of the game, even just considering the single player alone. On top of the various difficulties you can play through, there are also 3 missions where you have to choose branching paths, and one secret mission. Thankfully, the alternate paths can be explored through the aforementioned archives, but unfortunately the secret mission can’t be unlocked after you clear the campaign, so it looks like I’ll have to play through it again at some point. In addition to the campaign, the single player experience also includes tutorials for people that are new to the franchise or real-time strategies, and it also includes a series of challenges that are intended to get the player ready for multiplayer. These challenges include multitasking, micromanagement (topics covered in our StarCraft II Guide) and other skills you’ll need to not feel completely helpless.

It's true. This game has lasers.

As great as the twenty-hourish single player campaign is, StarCraft II is really about the multiplayer. There has been a lot of debate about Battle.net 2.0 and its lack of various features, but since Blizzard has agreed to fix most of the issues, I won’t evaluate them here. What has been added to Battle.net is pleasant. Players can view their profiles, see their match history, look up their opponents’ profiles, and it includes the ever important replay system, which itself is vastly improved over the Warcraft III replay system. The look of it is much much nicer and there is a cross-game IM type service embedded that will allow you to chat with your friends that are playing World of Warcraft while playing SC2. The cross-game functionality unfortunately comes at the cost of sharing your real email address, so it might not be for every one of your guildmates, but it’s a pretty cool idea nonetheless. The matchmaking and ladder system has also been improved over Warcraft III and StarCraft, as now players will play 5 placement matches to determine their skill. Thereafter, they get placed in a league where they can be promoted or demoted from, but otherwise will play people of around the same skill level. No matchmaking system will be perfect, but I like the idea of placement matches so that people don’t get too frustrated when they first start playing against other people. The feature that was surprisingly lacking was clan support, which games like Heroes of Newerth has done a great job of implementing.

Blizzard has gone great lengths in order to make the game more accessible. Even casual players won’t be too overwhelmed with trying to control many units as they can put them into one control group now, and the algorithm to determine the path that your units take (called pathing) has been greatly improved so that your units don’t run around stupidly and get stuck behind everything in the universe. Doing the advanced things and clicking faster is still a benefit to you, but you can still play without incredible skill.

There's too many of them!

As a watchable eSport, StarCraft II is much more entertaining than the original. There are a variety of strategies, and though maybe 12 years of refinement will stamp out most of them, the improved spectator UI and graphics alone make it more of a delight to watch. There are already massive tournaments (as well as smaller ones) being organized, paying winners over $80,000 USD, so there is no doubt in my mind that it will succeed as an eSport as players will flock to where the money is. Even though there is so much infrastructure dedicated to Brood War, it will all be replaced in time.

Blizzard had to make a great game with StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, not because they had to sell a lot of units, but because it might be twelve years before we see StarCraft III. As a big fan of the original, I can honestly say I am not disappointed with the sequel. They have made the game more accessible, more fun to watch, more fun to play, and it still has the depth of strategy as its predecessor. It doesn’t add anything innovative to the genre like Company of Heroes did, but it had an extremely delicate balance to uphold. It couldn’t shed all the history and fans before it and yet it had to be new. I wouldn’t call it refreshing, but gaming is certainly a better place now that StarCraft II has arrived.

Presuming Gamebuzz.ca has actually sent my copy today like they said they would and haven’t run off to Mexico with my $100, I won’t get it until sometime tomorrow sadly. Luckily there are many many events planned and streamed to assuage my thirst. Do you know where your copy is? Do you have it already (we won’t tell anyone)?

In addition to preparing yourself with some basics from our guide (Part I, Part II, Part III), there is a huge party being hosted by SCII’s premiere caster, Day[9], which of course will be streamed. The party and the culmination of a Razer-sponsored tournament will start at 19:00 EST and remain live for a whopping 12 hours. I haven’t even heard of any Superbowl broadcasts that go on that long! Unfortunately, our local talent HuK was eliminated from the tournament in an earlier stage, but check out his interview with us anyway.

Another news item of particular interest is the Electronic Sports League (ESL) World Challenge. This tournament has a massive $15,000 prize pool for a tournament that only involves 16 players and is the largest one for StarCraft II to date. In addition to the gigantic pot of gold, this tournament will also be covered on cable television by Eurosport, which as I understand is Europe’s version of TSN. That’s great news for eSports and gaming in general, but how long will it be before we get to see coverage in North America?

As for other news, I’ll just direct you to GosuGamers. They’ve got your back. Share your launch day plans, general enthusiasm, or even your in-game ID below!

So, without further ado, we’d like to announce the winners of our Gears of War 2: All Fronts Collection Giveaway, which will give five lucky readers the chance to enjoy this event while playing on all 19 of the Gears of War 2 DLC maps. Our winners are:

InsaneBreakout

Wick

Ian790

maidenfan666

AddyRuffs

Congratulations! We will be contacting you via the email address supplied with your contest entry comment, so be sure to keep an eye on your inbox. I’ll be doing my best to reach level 100 and earn my wings this weekend, so feel free to send me a friend request if you’d like to play. My Xbox LIVE gamertag is Ithilis. See you on the battlefield(s), Gears!

For those that haven’t caught wind of his zany plans, Rod will be awarding Gears of War 2 players with an experience points multiplier equal to the sum of his Twitter followers divided by 500. When he originally proposed the idea on Wednesday, July 14, he had 3000 followers. As of time of writing this article, he has 10,793, but chose to cap his campaign at 10,000 followers and a 20X experience points modifier. That’s a lot of XPs!

The Contest

To honour Rod’s crazy idea and his ongoing dedication to the Gears of War community, we’ve decided to award five lucky readers with Gears of War 2: All Fronts Collection codes, giving them the chance to enjoy all 19 DLC maps while earning truckloads of XP!

To enter, simply tell us what excites you most about Epic’s upcoming Gears of War 3 by commenting on the article below. On the morning of Thursday, July 22, to coincide with the opening of the San Diego Comic Con, we’ll draw five names out of a hat and announce the winners. Remember: only Canadians need apply! You can still leave a comment if you’re not Canadian – as we’re always happy to hear and talk about Gears – you just won’t be eligible to win a prize.

For further rules and eligibility, please consult our official contest rules. Failure to comply with these rules will result in a merciless chainsawing. Canadian-style, of course.

Good luck!

ModNation Racers starts us off with a beautiful and very colourful race. As we launch off from the starting line, the race is packed with other karts trying to get the lead. All of the karts’ different colours and the scenery around you are very vibrant and grabs your attention. The cut scenes are very well done, and everything is crisp and clear. All in all, the graphical aspects of this game are fantastic from the karts to the scenery to the explosions – everything is top notch.

The gameplay is different from other racing games out there. The button mapping is very easy to get used to and the game itself is a blast to play, and there are powered up power ups. There are only four power ups to collect, but each one can be improved. The missile power-up, for instance, starts off with one measly rocket, but powering it up unleashes an impressive barrage that can easily clear the field of the competition. Using these power ups with boost and your shield makes for a whole new style of play.

Unfortunately there are times when you or your kart will explode or somehow suffer destruction. You can be thankful for two things: you will respawn in a couple of seconds, and it will sound wonderful. The audio work done by the team is fantastic, and it sounds even better when playing in a surround sound environment.

There is a breathtaking amount of effort put into the creation tools of this game. You can create your racer, kart and even tracks. This is where you will roughly spend the majority of your time. The success of the creation tools is that any player can use them, even if they are just starting the game. There are options for every level of creativity, talent and patience. You can skim the surface of every preset skin or vinyl, or completely get into the full customization, fiddling with material properties, multi-layer stickers and transparencies. You can use all of this to make a creation that will make your friends envy you. You can pave your track however you feel fit. You can let the game auto-populate the track with scenery, power-ups and other fantastic items, or you can control it all yourself. At any point in time you can jump in and test your track, or once you’re finished, have a practice race. This is one of the most amazing editing tools to be put onto a console, but it’s also very simple.

You can create a professional-looking race track that you and everyone on the PlayStation Network can race, edit and enjoy. After creating your amazing Perry the Platypus driver, you can upload it onto the Network where people can see, rate and download and edit your creation. Should enough people like your creation, you could see yourself on the Top Mods spot in the games hub.

The Career mode is quite enjoyable with many fantastic things to do. Quite often, I found myself not finishing first and not having those gigantic Need For Speed leads. One of the only downsides to this beautifully crafted game is the fact that I never once had comfortable lead and the aggressive AI hassles you constantly. Although the AI is very intelligent, it seems as if it was programmed to stay on your tail and take you out with stacked power ups like a human player would. I guess this is all for making my driving ability better, but most times I felt like I won by luck rather than skill. The career mode has a wonderful story line starring Tag, a rookie racer trying to get up into the big leagues of racing and claiming the ModNation Cup.

On the multiplayer side of things, ModNation’s a great way to have fun with your friends on created tracks or the game’s default ones. The XP race modes are very enjoyable and will keep you coming back for more. These races are focused on drifting because you can use the points to boost and your shield ability.

The final plague of this game is load times. It takes roughly a minute or so to load the next map or menu.  I realize this is most likely due to the game having to load all of the customized tracks, karts and drivers, but this seems a bit too much. Although, there is a new update that should help shorten these times to around 10-20 seconds instead of regular 30-45 seconds.

United Front has done a magnificent job with ModNation Racers. The customizable tracks, karts and drivers bring new life to the racing genre and I would recommend this game to anyone who loves kart racing games.

This leads to interesting social interaction, especially with various love interests as you try to seduce or flirt and select the wrong type, and end up annoying everyone in the room. There is no morality system in Alpha Protocol, so much as there is a manner in which you get things done. The right or wrong is replaced by individuals liking or disliking you, and the consequences that brings. Often this is demonstrated in the emails you can return to contacts in the field, which can be written in any of the three styles, resulting some pretty fun responses from the characters. Email is surprisingly useful in this game, as it deals with your dossiers and intelligence on a given mission as well, and was one aspect I particularly enjoyed. The ability to purchase satellite images of the engagement zone, bribe an arms dealer to bring extra goods for you to procure once you arrive, or even a sniper rifle dead-drop were all pretty cool, and purchasing information about contacts or factions through your information brokers was fascinating as well. Each dossier can be completed and it gave you more of an incentive to search every nook and cranny in a level for a computer or laptop filled with relevant data.  Once you have a dossier complete, a secret fact about the character is unlocked, and you can use that to your advantage when you encounter them again, pulling it out as a sort of  trump card, which can change the playing field powerfully if properly deployed.

The combat is classic third person shooter fare, with cover mechanics at the touch of a button and shooting at people who don’t enjoy your company. However, because this is an RPG, often your weapon and tactical abilities are not very high during the first few firefights, making your aim rather bad. This serves to make the end result a little more satisfying though, when your expertly trained pistol specialist pops out of cover to score a headshot blind, then ducks back without taking a bullet. There are simple upgradeable hand-to-hand combinations you can unlock, which look cool the first time, and vary on which direction the controller is facing, but get old fast.

That is the biggest problem with a lot of Alpha Protocol. It is not a bad game, but it is not great either. The level design is flawed when you have trained out your spy to have stealth skills, and are then forced at every turn (especially near the end) to violently blast away opponents that deal incredibly high damage due to your lack of health upgrades, or when you are constantly setting off alarms for dropping one guard far away from everyone else. The different areas  you visit are initially cool and exciting, but I was hoping for a bit more free roam in the game. You simply arrive at a safe house, a mission hub of sorts, and then choose your actual assignment, check your emails, or flirt with death at your leisure. The graphics are underwhelming and occasionally graphics pop in and out of texture, or create a caustic black “burn” across some characters’ faces for a second. This game was clearly pounded out rather quickly or at least with less than full foresight, and it shows in the delivery. I did not hate this game, but it could’ve really benefited from a few more months in the pressure cooker of design. Everything felt half-rudimentary. Whereas the sincerest form of flattery is imitation, Alpha Protocol brought little that was new to the table, aside from the spy thriller theme and the slight conversation-dynamic upgrades.

When all is said and done, I would recommend that you pick it up to at least try it out, but don’t expect an epic experience. The game has its moments, but nothing that you’ve not seen before if you’re into games such as Deus Ex or Mass Effect. Ultimately, Alpha Protocol still feels like it’s in Beta testing. Not in all areas, but enough of them to make this game a mediocre experience.

Where: YK Internet Café 5582 Yonge St. It is located just south of Yonge & Finch. Look for the Xerox building (it’s right on Yonge & Finch) which is just north of YK, and Shopper’s Drug Mart which is right next to YK. It is 1 min South from the Finch GO Station if you’re planning on taking public transit.

When: Saturday, July 17th, 12:00 PM (noon) – approx. 8:00 PM Tentative — may change the date around if the majority of people can’t make it

What: Bring your own mouse/keyboard if you wish. Bring headphones since they only have speakers. We’ll be meeting at noon to eat lunch somewhere (tbd) and go for 5 hours starting from 1, eat dinner, and go for a few more hours if there’s enough interest. The tourney will be for Brood War, but there will be an attempt for them to have SC2. They will be eating korean food for lunch and dinner is undecided, and are going to have a tourney and free dinner for the winner!

Cost: Lunch should be ~$10,l dinner, $10-20 depending on where we go. It should be $10 for 5 hours plus a free can of coke (or equivalent) at the Cafe. You must return your card before leaving otherwise there will be a $3 charge for each missing card and other people (i.e. the host) will have to pay.

So if you have a free Saturday and are in the GTA area (or beyond), stop by and have some fun! It’s always nice to see local tournaments like this, so post below (and here) if you’re planning to make it. The thread is also setting up carpools if you need a ride.

Similarly, there is a LAN event in Calgary on the 25th for Brood War, with actual (possible) prizes and alcohol. Get drunk and play StarCraft? It’s about time.

I couldn’t get anyone to admit to any Kinect, Move, or 3D integration in the future but it seems unlikely for this iteration. However, Executive Producer Brent Nielsen promises that there will be more news in months to come – maybe a PS3 special edition? One of the new features that is being heavily promoted, mostly because it has been requested from the fans, is that sticks can now break. Once your stick as broken, you can either try to play without a stick, get one from a teammate, or get a new one from the bench, just like in real life. Sadly, there is no option to switch to a wooden stick to avoid breakage. The physics engine makes the game so dynamic that Nielsen claims they saw 25 new scenarios that they had not seen before during the E3 show. Either way, EA is pimping over 200 gameplay improvements, so I’m looking forward to this one.

Also new to this year is integration with the CHL minor league so that you can experience the Memorial Cup tournament with your favourite minor team. There is also going to be a feature like the Dynamic Season in NBA Live (which was by far the best feature in NBA Live), where updates to “a couple of thousand” game states can be pushed to consoles during the season.

The other cool thing about the reveal is that EA actually brought the cover athlete, Jonathan Toews, and top prospect Tyler Seguin to the reveal so that us peasants get to bask in their glory and badger them with questions. Find the full interviews, along with the Line Producer for the game, below.

Interview with Sean Ramjagsingh, Line Producer for NHL 11:

GN: Are you aware that 2K is not producing a sports game – an NHL game – this year? How did that affect you guys?

SR: Yes, we are. We get the same information same way as you do; through the internet, so we’re aware of that. But to be honest with you, [over] the past couple of years, our goal every single year is to be the best sports game in general. So we compete with the Maddens of the world and FIFAs of the world and that’s who we judge ourselves against and we try to raise the bar every year so that we’re on the top of that list. So whether they make a game for the PS3 or 360 doesn’t really affect us.

GN: Speaking of the PS3, from the Sony press conference at E3, it seems like there is a partnership with Sony. Are there going to be any PS3-specific features?

SR: Nope. We are partnered with Sony – we’re partnered with them for this event, but the versions will mostly be on par with each other. So no console-specific features.

GN: So no 3D integration or anything like that?

SR: No, I mean 3D’s real hot right now. We’re just going to sit back and see what other people are going to do with it. When we do something we really want to do it right, and not do it just for the sake of doing it. So definitely something we’ll look at down the road, but no plans for it right now.

GN: Any confirmation on Kinect or Move integration?

SR: Again, we’ll sit back and see how other people break ground with it and then when it’s the right time for us [we'll do it]. It’s definitely on our radar right now with Sony and Microsoft making a big push for it. But we’ll monitor to see when the time is right then you might see something.

GN: And do you watch a lot of hockey yourself?

SR: Oh yeah, I watch a lot of hockey.

GN: So what is your favourite team?

SR: Well, our studio is in Vancouver so our entire dev team are Canucks fans, so having Jonathan Toews on the cover here, you know I had to tell him: two years in a row now you knocked our team out, and he says there’s no team he likes beating better than the Canucks.

GN: Do you slip your favourite teams some ratings? Like, knock the Sedins up a couple of notches *laugh*?

SR: Well, you know we get accused of that every once in a while, but we actually have a pro scout who does the ratings for us. With the integration with the CHL this year, [we're] just making sure everyone is on par with reality. So as much as we like to and talk about that, we don’t do that.

GN: One of the biggest problems I found with last year’s EA game is the lack of goalie animation. Have you guys improved that?

SR: Yeah, you’re right. Coming off 09 there were these guys that found some glitch goals so we put some moves in just so the goalies would be able to make those saves. This year we worked on making the goalie look more natural looking and more realistic. This year you’ll actually see the goalie [as you're] coming down the ice, playing one side or cheating one way or another so that you can score a goal from the slot. Just trying to make the goalies more natural looking and less robotic.

Interview with Brampton, Ontario’s highly touted prospect Tyler Seguin:

GN: You said you played these games when you were young. When did you start and who was your favourite player?

TS: First game was NHL 97 over there on the board [They had all the old games set up on old consoles in the room - Don]. My favourite player back then was probably Wayne Gretzky. You know, I was only like 5 years old so I’d probably go with him.

GN: Is it different now?

TS: Oh it’s way different now. Now the physics that they’ve put into it, with the broken sticks and you can go change it and flip it over to people, it’s almost surreal.

GN: Speaking of broken sticks, do you prefer the wooden or composite sticks?

TS: Composite, yeah.

GN: You just had a pretty good year. I’m guessing that your rivalry with Taylor Hall will be a pretty big deal for the next few years. What do you think about that?

TS: Yeah, I’m sure it’ll continue. I think that we’re both super competitive guys chasing the same dream and goal and in this past year we’re getting better on the ice. You know, if I get 5 points in a game and he got 4, then next game he’ll try to get one more. Just examples like that.

GN: Everyone knows you’re going in the first two picks. How much does it mean to you to be the first overall pick?

TS: I think going #1 overall would obviously be something amazing. I want to be first, I want to be the best. But in the end, that was never the goal, so if that doesn’t work out then I’m not going to be sitting there crying. But if it does then I’ll be very excited.

GN: It’s probably not too politically correct to discuss this, but which of the two teams are you hoping to go to?

TS: I don’t have a preference. Both teams are phenomenal, and there can always be a trade. So I’m not really expecting anything.

GN: As a Leafs fan I have to ask: How do you feel about playing for Toronto some time in the future?

TS: Well that would be cool cause all my friends could come out here, but first thing first, I have to make the NHL still. I hope to have a great summer this year, earn a spot, and be an impact player in my rookie year.

That’s right, you heard it here first: Seguin to Toronto! Of course, this interview only served to remind me that we probably could have drafted him if we had kept our draft pick this year. And finally, we have an interview (in collaboration with MSXbox World) with Jonathan Toews, the captain of the Chicago Blackhawks, Winnipeg native, and all around cool guy.

Interview with Jonathan Toews:

GN: Thanks for taking the time to talk with us.

MSXW: What are your impressions of the game?

JT: It’s awesome. You play every game every year, and they always push the limits and it gets better and better and they’re taking it to a whole new level. The graphics are amazing. The controls and specific details of the moves you can do on the ice are so realistic. You look at every guy’s face and they’re so recognizable – [even] the equipment they use and is obviously original with what the player actually does use when he’s playing. So it’s amazing what they’ve been able to do and put it in this game.

GN: I noticed they’ve implemented the broken stick mechanic in this game. Personally do you prefer the wooden or composite sticks?

JT: I don’t think there’s anybody left with a full wood stick with the NHL so everyone seems to prefer the composite. So the unfortunate thing you have to deal with is breaking sticks in the middle of shifts. It’s part of the game, it happens, so it’s pretty cool that they brought it into this.

MSXW: I just came back from E3, and basically E3 was all about motion controllers. PlayStation has got the Move, Xbox has got Kinect, and I know for a fact this game won’t be supporting either device. But what do you think about the future in which we may be using no controllers at all, or the Move controller to control your motions?

JT: It depends on what people prefer. It’s still fun to go back and play the old school games like [on] the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis. Again, this game has brought it to a whole new level. With Sony’s new remote, if that’s what it evolves to I’m sure people will try it out. I dunno, we’ll see what we’ve got but I like this game.

GN: I know an external scouting agency decides all the ratings for the players for this game. But if you could give your linemate Patrick Kane a rating, what would you put his overall rating at?

JT: *joking* You have to take into consideration his defensive play, which is very sub-par. His play on the defensive side of the puck, his back-checking, physical play: really lacking. So I’d have to take his average down a little bit. Fortunately he’s a pretty gifted offensive player so taking everything into consideration, I’d give him high 70s to low 80s.

GN: *laugh* And finally, how do you feel about playing for the Leafs in the future?

JT: Playing for the Leafs? *laugh* That’s funny. In the future?

GN: In the future!

JT: I dunno, I’m going to stick in Chicago as long as I can. They’ve been great and in my opinion is the best hockey city in the NHL. You know, best of luck to your Leafs by all means but uh, I don’t think you’ll be seeing me in a Leafs jersey any time soon.

GN: Aww, you break my heart.

MSXW: Which system – Xbox or PS3?

JT: I have an Xbox, that’s kind of the leading one for me. In the playoffs we played a lot of the Wii as a team. But my first system was a Sega Genesis and that’s when I started playing the game and I kind of evolved slowly. I was always behind the game – I never had the newest system, I was always one or two behind so Sega was definitely the classic one that I mastered.

MSXW: Which game?

JT: Probably 95 or 96. Sonic and stuff and Donkey Kong games I was all over that too.

And there you have it: Gold Medalist, Stanley Cup champion, Conn Smythe Trophy winner, EA Sports NHL 11 cover athlete, and gamer. Is he dreamy or what?

The West is a horrible place. Death in all its forms is present here. Larceny, rape and corruption pass and swell like the clouds in the sky. Through all of this, John Marston has persevered, surviving in a domain which mercilessly snatches people away as each day passes. He wears this constant struggle in the scars that adorn his face like trophies. In Red Dead Redemption, he saddles up one more time to fight for the most crucial thing to him – his family.

Red Dead Redemption is a study in wonderful game design, specifically in open-world gaming. The designers understand all the steps necessary to create a great experience, and all the staples of Grand Theft Auto 4 are still there, with the map and travel banter still intact. Everything has been further refined though, and the art and details really shine through to make this game a super set of good design choices. The horses behave like the cars of the last game, except a loyalty system has been worked in, so that the longer you stay with one horse, the longer it can sprint for you. This makes losing a horse a frustrating ordeal. As one of the two staples of a Western, horses have received a lot of attention. Motion capture (using a real horse in a studio) along with exquisite modeling and textures have crafted the most lifelike and realistic looking horses ever in a video game.

Shooting people is one of the more satisfying pursuits in RDR.

Shooting, the other vital part of any Western,  is beautifully executed. The guns have a powerful kick that rocks John back, and each reload animation is properly detailed, with him opening up a break-apart revolver like the Schofield, or rolling a chamber to the side with the double-action revolver and feeding in each round. Lever action rifles are common and very useful. I haven’t used such rifles in a videogame in a long time, and the solid report of each rifle as it delivers a round is very satisfying, accompanying the cocking action to free the shell. The game is very quick and dirty with the fighting, but has beauty buried in its execution. The Dead Eye mechanic is something akin to Max Payne (also from Rockstar) and allows you to drop multiple banditos or empty a few rounds of your pistol into a duelist’s chest. I have fond moments of high-art gunplay, such as when characters being thrown back when hit, and combatants stumbling realistically away from the point of impact. I rode up to a man at one point, and shot him point blank (knowing he was going to steal my horse) in his face. He rocked back, almost as shocked as he was injured, and then dropped to his knees, grabbing onto a bench beside him, before lying still. Moments like this are hard to find anywhere else, and the formula is refined from GTA4.  The fine touches are both beautiful and greatly appreciated: blood that paints a wall from a shotgun blast, or pools around a bandit as he meets the business end of your pistol. The variety of body destruction achieves its goal with exit wounds and churned flesh where needed, adding to the brutality of combat.

The multiplayer must not be over looked. A variety of classic game modes, including Capture the Flag, Team Deathmatch, and Deathmatch, are rounded out by the innovative online free roam. This last mode allows you to assemble a posse of up to 16 players and travel to wherever you like within the map of the full game. You can hunt bears as a group or take on gang hideouts – all while seamlessly working together. You gain experience, which in turn unlocks better weapons, character models, and horses, which serve to fuel your ascent upwards, in addition to awarding arbitrary titles. An interesting feature of the Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch modes is that at the start of every battle, the players form either a circle or two parallel lines, and then are told to start shooting. Generally, you shoot at whoever is across from you, but you can pick whoever you want. This leads to interesting scenarios in the free-for-all. Dueling in such a way allows the member with the fastest draw and a decent amount of luck to get a head start, gathering any weapons or powerups they want before everyone else respawns and the game begins proper. It’s a fun and novel mechanic which serves to dish out some immediate action, and an added incentive to hone that trigger finger.

Traveling in a group has its advantages.

The residents of the various towns, outposts, and establishments are also very well crafted. Unlike traditional free-roaming games, which only allows rudimentary movements, RDR provide you with a variety of encounters, such as people chopping wood, selling wares, drinking, gambling, haggling, hunting, and behaving in any manner.  The populace will challenge you to duels, call you out for cheating at Poker (which leads to duels), ask for assistance, or attempt to beguile you into a scam on the open road. The inclusion of a fair variety of wildlife roaming the countryside is an important factor. It serves to further immerse you as you travel across wide open plains and slow rolling hills as deer prance by or trotting through the pseudo-Colorado “Tall Trees” forest, with your hand constantly on your rifle as you survey for cougars or bears.

The need to hunt for a source of money is pervasive, and the tools to aid you, be it bait or a survivalist map for herbs, are properly implemented. Hunting and skinning your prey can lead to the leftovers that make an animal lover cringe, but it’s worth it. The more rare or dangerous an animal, the higher the payoff when trading their pelts or claws in town. The skillful recreation of the noises of the animals, whether it’s the “rattle” of the rattlesnake in the bushes, the call of a song bird in the early morning or the frightened shriek of an elk as you startle it with a gunshot is an evocative feature. Firing off a gunshot sends creatures skittering for cover and birds into flight from the trees. I find that it serves to better communicate the impact you have on the world around you. The animals don’t constantly feel like set pieces, and they seem to breathe and interact as their own distinct characters at times.

The music is some of the best I’ve heard in a long time. It captures the mood of the game at every turn with a wonderful combination of modern direction with Western inflection. The sound in general is moving. As I rode through a powerful thunderstorm, I stopped for a second to enjoy the savage splendor of it, whipping around trees and soaking the terrain around me, as lightning blasts hard light across the scene. Spectacular. There are several key songs played throughout the game, which were departures from the usual “sans-vocals” background music, and awesome in their own right. The set mood and approach of each tune is a signature moment in the game, and also marks my favourite moments within the narrative. The background noise pulls away, and a slow, melancholy tone overtakes you – with a lower the chance of interruptions like random encounters – as you travel to a destination. John Marston renders a superb performance, coming across as gruff and worn, but at the same time intelligent and well-rounded. His admiration of Landon Ricketts, an old Western duelist who confronts and trains him in Mexico, adds a subtle depth which further serves to make you enjoy the ride. Even now I’m listening to track after track as I type this.

The inclusion of costumes that affect variables in game is not only appreciated, but awesome.

Know how I got these scars?

It allows the character more freedom than being stuck to one garment for the entire game, and allows players who enjoy getting into the experience the opportunity to dress up John for the locale he inhabits, whether it’s the duster accompanying the Wild West, a musky poncho thrown over his shoulders for Mexico, or a suit for more civilized destinations. The inclusion of faction costumes allows the player to disguise themselves and sneak into gang hideouts, making it fun to turn on the men around you suddenly and unleash a surprise attack.

The bottom line is that Red Dead Redemption is one of the best games to come out this year. It is the best Western ever made, and possibly the best free-roaming game in the last couple of years. This is a title that should not be missed and any minimal graphical or gameplay glitches don’t serve to sour the deal in the least. This is a game for the ages. Whether you’re nearing  100% completion (95.4% at the time of writing this) or cornering the story and then jumping into the fun and engaging multiplayer, Red Dead Redemption is a must have for any fan of a good story, great gameplay, and an awesome Western.

That was then and this is now. The game has been revealed. Not just with classically well done cinematics, which would not have served to impress me very much, but with the desperately needed gameplay to confirm its legitimacy! The slicing action, which is very Afro Samurai or Samurai Jack, seems like it’s going to be satisfying in its integration into the world by not limiting you to chopping just foes in half, but the rest of the environment as well. He can collapse building supports (architecture or stationary construction) or props such as cars or fruit. Enemies are severed precisely where they are cut, and that makes slicing and dicing take on a whole new meaning. The fighting system is a made up Japanese word, which looks great brush-stroked across a screen, called Zan-Datsu. It revolves around “cutting at will”. However, control is maintained, allowing you to finesse the depth of a cut – allowing you to kill, simply maim or wound an enemy. This precision was demonstrated with the watermelon slicing at the conclusion of the trailer. Zan-Datsu may also extend to the implementation of stealth within this game, focusing on hunting and striking from vantage points or hiding spots. The possibility to hide vertically seems to be present based on the word of the developers on hand. Stealth movement is accelerated, moving past the slow toddling pace of earlier “wait and evade” designs. This game moving in this direction is similar to the way Splinter Cell: Conviction broke away from previously established norms for that franchise, by introducing fluid and dynamic stealth where a flow is created from cover to cover, enemy to enemy, and kill to kill.  Secondary weapons, items, and gadgets are said to be in the works, along with a game advancement mechanic of draining energy from the batteries you relinquish from dispatched synthetics to increase your own power.

The F.R.O.G. soldiers remain along with the P.M.C. (Private Military Company) ones. This game is set between MGS2 and MGS4, where at some point Raiden apparently gets the ORGANS ripped out of him. In particular, I was fascinated by the design of the male F.R.O.G. soldier, handling something like a gorilla with the iconic clawed feet. a machine gun was mounted on his long, heavy arms.  Slowly moving through the area, he brushed expended shells aside with his feet, implying that there was already a lengthy conflict here. I am interested to see any other diversions in the established aesthetic. The combat vest remains a centerpiece, featured on every combatant (save Raiden) – even on the more outlandish opponents like Mr. Gorilla. The hard points, bolted down armor, diagonal lines and jagged edges seem to lend more to the “Cut” theme of the trailer. I enjoy the placement of the bandage over his eye without knowing anything about the origin of the mark. The diagonal swipe of the fabric serves to break up the cold, hard symmetry of his design.

I originally scoffed at the idea of the white synthetic blood that made its debut when he was injured in the last game, but now I see why they chose that colour specifically. In the early concepts for Raiden – which I have deliciously laid out for me in a MGS2 artbook – Yoji Shinkawa, the conceptual designer, said that he wanted Raiden to symbolize purity or innocence. Colour-wise, that means he would be very close to pure white due to his whole life being spent in virtual reality. This showed itself in his hair. The white blood seemed to follow this aesthetic, not only showing the extent of his loss of humanity, but how deep the purity flowed. At the same time, this runs contrary to the battle experience that his synthetic body indicates. His armor does feature an interesting amount of orange to it in this iteration, something the previously monotone Raiden lacked. His eyes are also a predatory and feline orange. Perhaps this reflects his heightened predatory state before he became the “flawless” Raiden of MGS4? Or maybe this is a reference to the white/black/orange colour scheme of Grey Fox? Everything about him channels both the Cyborg Ninja, which was a beautiful expression of design and death all his own, and the long hair that made Raiden pop out in the screen. They kept the hair for two important reasons. First, if they closed off his head entirely it would make him seem to lose any humanity he had left, as the majority – if not all – of his human features are in his face. Sacrificing that would’ve been a step too far and I think the novelty of the design would have been lost. Secondly, the smooth, flowing nature of the hair provides an energetic and lightning-hot contrast with the cold hard lines of his armour. As he moves through the scene, his body moves and whips from side to side as he slashes, but all of the smooth flow of his hair helps to add a serious style to his movements. It almost reminds me of a brush traveling around a page. From a mechanic perspective, it also provides the player with a clear indication of his head the whole time, helping to maintain a spacial understanding that would be crucial during any rapid or confusing movement. Examples of this could be seen in Bayonetta, with her hot pink weapons, or Sam Fisher, with the glowing walkie-talkie and goggles. The way his hair  juts out from his head enclosure (when his helmet is down in MGS4) makes him seem like he’s wearing a sort of  intense tribal mask and the hair is the only piece of his humanity left in combat. He becomes a cold calculating animal, ripping everyone apart with ease that rivals the Cyborg Ninja, but with a distinct excess of mobility that the previous iterations lacked.

That mobility is what has me excited for this next game. I want to be able to leap onto walls and lie in wait for prey, then drop down and rip one apart, leaving the second to fumble with his gun as I run up to him in slow motion, sweeping out his legs and then slicing him in a hard diagonal across his body. It’s moments like that which make me excited for Rising, and also happy they’ve drawn the plot away from Snake, but left it in a fairly familiar, established setting.

One closing note: I think I speak for many of us when I say that during the battle with Vamp and Raiden, where Snake provided cover, I wasn’t the only person who had a friend play it through again, just so I could watch the badassery carrying on to the right of the screen. Making a whole game based on that?

Solid.