Archive - 2011

Duke Nukem Forever Review (PC)

2011/06/16
Jerry Paxton
News, Reviews
1 Comment

Duke Nukem Forever starts off 12 years after the events of Duke Nukem 3D – which, in case you have been living under a rock and did not know, also came out 12 years ago. Duke has basically become the king of Las Vegas after single-handedly stopping an alien invasion of the planet. Unfortunately, the aliens are back and Duke is called upon once again to stop them. STOP here if you are looking for anymore story, serious Modern Warfare-esque undertones, or deep meaning. Duke Nukem Forever is a misogynistic, raunchy, fun-filled game full of alien-blasting and boobs (both human and alien – Duke doesn’t discriminate when it comes to boobs). That’s it. If you are willing to leave your preconceived, “This game took 12 years to make it has to be the best thing since the rise of free porn the Internet”,  notions as well as sense of decency and cultural morays at the door – you should have a great time! I know I did.

Seriously, this game starts off with the player controlling Duke’s aim while he urinates and, shortly thereafter, is seen just after getting oral sex from his two favorite “babes”. The controls are very straightforward for a shooter, WASD and mouse for movement/aiming and a couple of number buttons to plant explosives and throw grenades. Oh, also, you can use a couple more numeric keys to throwback a bottle of steroids for extra melee strength or can of beer for extra toughness. That’s right – steroids and beer, people, I told you this game was not a politically correct affair. Duke, being the guy that he is, is not powered or fueled by a health bar. Instead, Duke runs on pure, unadulterated EGO. By interacting with various, random objects in the environment (like alien boob sacks or a weight bench) you can increase your maximum amount of EGO. When hit, Duke feels less manly and, as such, his EGO bar decreases temporarily until you can get somewhere to allow it to refill. Obviously, this is just a health bar re-named, but it plays into the game’s main character and just feels right for this one.

The game also features several mini-game sections such as signing a young fan’s copy of your autobiography, “Why I’m So Great”, or even piloting a wrecking ball into the side of a building. The shooting sections are very simple in a Serious Sam kind of way and these additions to the gameplay help keep things interesting in between inappropriate sequences.

Duke has a couple new features since his last outing. It seems that he has developed (well, SOMEONE else developed it for him, most likely) “Duke Vision”, a night vision-like system of seeing in the dark. Oh, it also allows you to see through the clothes of the female characters in the game right down to their exposed breasts and panties. In case you have not deduced this from my description thus far, Duke Nukem Forever is a very mature game in terms of content.

Visually, the game is attractive to look at. I don’t think it will be winning any “Best Of” awards for its visuals but they do the job and appropriately show off every breast, corpse, and pig cop. The audio is similar to the game’s visuals in term of quality and appropriateness, but the real star here is John St. John, the original voice of Duke Nukem, returning to voice the titular character once again. He simply elevates the experience to another level. The level designs are fairly straight-forward and should not present too great a challenge to an experienced gamer. Throughout the game, players get to tour several areas of Las Vegas, such as the Duke Dome, and even get to see sights like the “Fellatio” hotel (a take on the Bellagio hotel).

Throughout the game, Duke rags on video game characters like the the Master Chief from the HALO series and even Isaac Clarke of Dead Space fame. He spouts a ton of inappropriate one-liners and references to a multitude of genre films like Big Trouble in Little China and Commando.

Some DNF Quotes that I Enjoyed

“If I promised to kill you last. I lied.” (killing bad guys)

“You must make a good hero sandwich, cause your giving me a footlong!” (talking to his maid)

“I’m from Las Vegas and I say kill ’em all!” (killing more bad guys)

“Take your tentacles back to Japan you sick freak!” (killing even more bad guys)

On the “bug” front, I did experience a strange graphical glitch while running with the post-processing enabled. Disabling this made it cease and I was able to enjoy the three-boobed alien fun on my 5760×1080 displays. Also, Duke has a tendency to get stuck on things at times which requires the player to move him backwards and jump over whatever is holding him up. Aside from these, I encountered no other bugs or game glitches to speak of.

Overall, Duke Nukem Forever is a mindless, misogynistic game for adults that has a lot of raunchy fun should you leave your morality and preconceived notions at the door. If you are easily or, hell, MODERATELY offended by inappropriate content I highly recommend you skip this one. Otherwise, pick it up on the PC platform and try it out. Come get some!

 

Screenshots

Duke Nukem Forever PR Controversy

2011/06/15
Jerry Paxton
Articles, News
2 Comments


Ars Technica reported early this morning that PR agency The Redner Group (who was in charge of DNF PR) posted up a rather threatening tweet on their official Twitter account in response to some of the reviews that Duke Nukem Forever has been receiving (our review is coming out tomorrow, just FYI, as the PC build was not able to be played early). This tweet has since been deleted from their Twitter account.

In response, 2K Games has apparently stopped doing business with the PR agency, as per this official tweet from the game publisher/developer:

2K Games does not endorse or condone the comments made by @TheRednerGroup and confirm they no longer represent our products.

Jim Redner, head of The Redner Group, has since apologized for the tweet made earlier, by way of another tweet:

I have to apologize to the community. I acted out of pure emotion. I will be sending each of you a private apology.

and…

Again, I want everyone to know that I was acting on my own. 2K had nothing to do with this. I am so very sorry for what I said.

I am editorializing this at the moment, but I have had the pleasure of communicating with Jim, in covering various games his company has handled PR for, over the last couple years now. I have never found him to be unprofessional in any way and I have always felt him to handle games with the passion of someone who might as well have created the darn things. He gets behind the products he represents 100%. So, I can understand the reason behind his purely emotional outburst on Twitter. It is difficult seeing something that you believe in getting roasted over the coals and I have to agree with him that many reviews out there seem like they are pouring on the hate just for comedy’s sake or purely for the sake of getting additional article reads. Then again, most of these reviews have been of the Xbox 360 version of the game – so, my experience with the PC version could be completely different. The game is not the Gone With the Wind of video games, but it is not “barely playable” as some reviews state (again, at least the PC version).

Does this excuse the threatening nature of the Tweet? No. But, it does make for a fascinating look at the inter-relationships between game publishers, PR agencies, and media outlets – especially for many average gamers out there who may not realize just how inter-connected the three entities really are.

Building an iBuyPower Erebus Rig

2011/06/15
Jerry Paxton
News

The folks at iBuyPower have released a video showing off a time lapse build of one of their Erebus liquid-cooled gaming rigs. The rig sports up to ten 120mm fans and up to four GPUs – it was designed for over-clockers and enthusiasts.

Carrier Command: Gaea Mission E3 2011 Preview

2011/06/15
Jerry Paxton
E3, News, Previews

One of my personal gems of this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo was Bohemia Interactive’s upcoming Carrier Command: Gaea Mission. The game is a re-imagining of the classic Amiga game where players take on the role of the commander of a battlecruiser complete with aircraft, landing craft, and an arsenal of offensive missiles and defensive turrets. The goal: Destroy the OTHER battlecruiser sailing the seas by way of force and controlling various islands to grant bonuses and provide industrial support.

The game features some very pretty visuals and commanding from the ship’s CIC, you can see crew members working in the background at their respective jobs. The CIC view allows you to handle ship navigation and craft operations as well as dedicated occupied islands to their role (defense, production, research, etc). In this mode you also have a great external view of the ship to show off what exactly is happening to her.

The game also allows commanders to jump to control one of the ships air or landing craft, making it an action title like Battlezone in terms of overall feel. Furthermore, the commander can actually go island-side and the game presents this in the style of a first-person shooter. This varied gameplay helped break up experience and keep things changing and interesting – although, it should be noted that you don’t have to play any of the additional modes you do not wish to. It is entirely possible to play the entire game while commanding from the CIC.

As you capture islands across the archipelago you are fighting around, you can assign them different functions. These functions can be defensive, in which case the island becomes a turret platform. You can also assign them to do things like research. In Carrier Command: Gaea Mission, you will be able to outfit your carrier and craft with new weapons and equipment as you like, so long as you have researched the tech. You can also assign islands to produce replacement craft should your shipboard stores dwindle – just be careful you don’t stretch your supply line too thin as these craft will have to travel from the island to your carrier.

Overall, Carrier Command: Gaea Mission reminds me a lot of a classic naval war games like Harpoon mixed with a game like Total Air War. It has a great mix of sim and action that should please fans of both genres. It accomplishes all this while also being very true to the original title and should be a lot of fun to play when it releases in early 2012.

Screenshots

Trailer

Crimson Alliance E3 2011 Hands-On

2011/06/15
Jerry Paxton
E3, News, Previews

While at this year’s E3 expo, I was fortunate enough to take an appointment to checkout Certain Affinity’s upcoming XBLA hack and slash title, Crimson Alliance. Crimson Alliance allows up to four players to fight hordes of evil creatures across various fantasy environments. Players choose from three character classes: Mercenary, Assassin, and Wizard – each with their own special attacks and abilities. Additional character classes are a possibility after launch.

In the level I was able to play with the developers, I chose the warrior-like Mercenary class while the developer played as a Wizard. We began moving throughout the beautifully-detailed environments, smashing just about everything we saw for gold and loot. The creatures look equally well-detailed, especially for an XBLA title, and getting the hang of controlling my character took just a couple minutes.

On the same console, each player shares the same screen, so you don’t miss out on any screen real estate by splitting it up. The combat is quick and intense, with simple controls for jump and attack. As you kill enemy units, you will eventually be able to pull off a mega-attack which, depending on your class, has various effects. For example, the warrior goes into this whirlwind attack slicing through enemies in 360 degrees. The levels were made up of various monsters – some ranged, some magical, and some melee based. There were also mini-boss and boss battles to be had to change things up and keep it interesting.

While parallels are bound to be drawn between Crimson Alliance and the Diablo series, they are not really comparable. Crimson Alliance is meant for quick game sessions of pick-up and play with players ranging from childhood to adult. The Diablo series is far more mature.

Overall, my playtime with Crimson Alliance was enjoyable and easy to figure out. Look for this title to come out a little later this Summer.

Trailer

Screenshot

Infamous 2 Review (PS3)

2011/06/15
News, Reviews

Infamous 2 by Sucker Punch and Sony is an interesting beast to say the least.  Going back in time a bit I wasn’t a huge fan of the original game.  I felt the story was a little bland and the camera issues simply killed the game for me.  I walked into the world of Infamous 2 with a little bit of hesitation but my gut feeling said to give this game a chance.  I am glad I did because Infamous 2 is a whole different beast from the first game.  In a time where the Playstation needs iconic characters, Cole Mcgrath fills that role quite nicely.  Set in a sort of New Orleans like city called New Marias, Infamous 2 starts off right from the end of the first game.  The Beast has laid waste to everything around him and you must find a way to stop The Beast from destroying everything around him.  Let’s jump right into the world of Infamous 2 and find out what we thought about it.

What We Thought Was Cool

Ultra Powers:

There is something awesome about being a “Super Hero” and using that one huge power to gain an advantage in a tricky fight.  Infamous 2’s “Ultra” power is that one move that left me staring at my screen saying “Wow, that was cool.  Having Cole send a giant tornado across the landscape filled with lightning is just simple destruction.  everything caught in it’s path including civilians and buildings will get flown up to the heavens.  There are other Ultra attacks that use ice and pure lightning that give the same amount of cool factor to use.

Play Your Way:

The way you play Infamous 2 is up to you.  Do you feel like being a bad guy the entire time and killing everyone for getting in your way?  You can do that and in doing so it will unlock powers for that karma range.  No matter what side of the coin you wish to play, powers will unlock appropriate for that karma.  Missions in the game give you a good or bad choice and what you decide will change the path of the story.  With two endings to the game there really is just a ton of replay factor here.

Always Something To Do:

Infamous 2 has a mega ton of things to do.  Not only do you have major story missions but there are tons of side missions in the game.  Topping that are good and bad karma events to help you build points towards your goals.  Oh and not to mention the addition of User Generated Content that auto imports fan made missions into the game.  You could literally spend hours just doing these missions and not get tired of the universe.  The previous game felt like there wasn’t much to do when the story was done and Infamous 2 has really upped the bar for an open world.

Super Hero Story:

Straight out of a comic book (complete with comic like cut scenes), Infamous 2 has a story that any comic fan will love.  The dark and brooding main character who needs to find his way, two love interests, and the knucklehead buddy complete the cast.  The story in Infamous 2 keeps the player locked in no matter what decisions they make playing through the game.  There are several “edge of your seat” moments and not once did I find myself zoning out while playing the story missions.  This was a big change from the original game and some kudos need to be sent to the writing staff.

What We Thought Sucked

The Camera:

As with the first game, the camera in Infamous 2 is your worst enemy.  In an open world game that requires you to use parkour skills for dashing across roof tops the camera sure does make you hate life.  There were several missions where the camera decided to swing into no mans land on its own and I ended up getting swarmed by mobs because I couldn’t correct in time.  The camera seems to always be a problem in these type of games and hopefully one days some developer will find a way to make it right.

Repetitive Action:

While there are tons of missions to take part of some of them feel like you are doing the same thing over and over.  Fighting Bertrand’s Militia feels almost identical to the ice guards that you run across later in the game.  There really is just a smash and grab type feeling to some of them where all you need to do is rush in, fire off some bolts, and you are done with the mission.

Creating Power:

During several parts of the story you are required to give power back to the new areas you encounter.  While I understand that this is an integral part of the story the way you go about is is nauseating.  Cole needs to fire off “Tesla Missles” from generators and then he needs to guard them until they are at full charge.  Sounds easy right?  It would be if the waves of mobs coming to kill you weren’t so damn over powered.  For the first time in the game i ended up turning down the difficulty meter just so I could pass the part.  There were moments where even with cover and a lightning blast I was gone in 4 or 5 hits.

Final Thoughts

Infamous 2 is leaps and bounds above the original title. A fun game that immerses the player into the frustrating world of Cole Mcgrath.  the characters are engaging and there is a lot of replay factor with the tons of missions.  While the game is not perfect it deserves to be played and is a recommended buy for our Shogunites.


 

 

Hamilton’s Great Adventure – A Review (PC)

2011/06/14
Judgeman
News, Reviews

Fatshark follows up their release of Lead and Gold with a new puzzle game named Hamilton’s Great Adventure.  Hamilton’s Great Adventure tells the tale of Ernest Hamilton, a overweight Indiana Jones look-a-like, as he scours ancient civilizations for treasure while avoiding Lovecraft Cthulu rejects.  While the aesthetics and puzzles were very interesting, the story and use of other peoples’s character ideas just made the game itself fall flat.  Let’s get into the details of Hamilton’s Great Adventure.

Story:

Hamilton’s Great Adventure is told through a series of flashbacks as Ernest Hamilton tells his granddaughter about his past exploits.  These exploits take place in many exotic and ancient civilizations, such as Incan ruins, the Himalayans, Egypt and even Atlantis.  Besides the played out search for treasure and glory, there isn’t anything else going on here.

The story of Hamilton’s Great Adventure just left me uninterested.  I started off by watching each and every cut scene, but found myself skipping them later in the game.  I just felt like I’ve played this game before from the story point of view, and other games have told this story better.   You are following a clone of Indiana Jones as he just collects treasure, there’s your story.  I feel that if you are going to at least take somebody’s ideas and make a game out of them, at least make it humorous.  Magika is a great example of this, the developers took many names and ideas from other properties, but put their own unique humor to tie it all together.  Hamilton’s Great Adventure is missing that major key.  It just feels like the developers tried to find as many properties that would draw people’s attention to their game.

Gameplay:

Here is where Hamiloton’s Great Adventure at least gets interesting.  Each level is designed for you to get from point A to point B, while collecting as much of the treasure as possible.  If you just focus on getting the key and leaving the level, you will receive a bronze rating.  However, if you take the time to find every piece of treasure on the map, you can raise your ranking by the time you hit the exit.

You have a companion with you in the form of a bird named Sasha.  Sasha helps you out by grabbing items and hitting switches that are just out of your reach.  Sasha was an interesting idea, but really did not pan out that well for me.  I will talk about why a little later in my review.

As you move through the levels, the difficulty will increase.  You will run into different types of platforms, like streams or scaffolds, that will change how you move through the level.  The game also throws some evil minions at you that you will need to avoid.  These minions are based off of Lovecraft’s Cthullu mythos, so you will see Cthullu himself along with some Deep Ones.

In the end, the puzzles were nicely done, but the game itself did not run as well as I would have liked on my PC.  Sure, my PC is not a top end machine, but come on, it should have been able to run Hamilton’s Great Adventure better then this! Hamilton moved like a dead, bloated elephant through the maze of puzzles, and Sasha would completely ignore many of the commands that I tried to give her.  The leve designs were done quite well, but the actual game play and how the game ran left a lot to be desired.

Aesthetics:

The game is interesting to look at.  Yes, many of the items and characters are ripped off from other ideas and stories, but the game itself uses color and design to make the levels interesting by themselves.  Hamilton’s Great Adventure is done using a cartoon aesthetic, which fits in perfectly with the overall design of the game.  The levels are bright and well done.  The character design, however, is strictly taken from other people.  Hamilton himself really does just look like a fat Indiana Jones, sporting a mustache instead of a hat.

I wasn’t pleased at all with the sound design of the game either.  The voice overs are nothing more then just grunts and groans, even during the cut scenes.  Sure, doing voices as mumbles and grunts can work, again I’ll reference Magika, but here the grunts and mumbles are completely done without any type of humor or aesthetic choice.  It just feels like a cheap way out for Fatshark.  Other then that, the other sounds in the game are passable for a budget title.

Final Thoughts:

Hamilton’s Great Adventure is, overall, a passable puzzle game for $10.  The puzzles are interesting and pleasing to look at, but the story and sound aesthetic really left a lot to be desired.  If Fatshark would have used their own ideas instead of taking ideas from Indiana Jones or Lovecraft,  Hamilton’s Great Adventure could have stood on it’s own.  Instead, you are constantly comparing certain aspects to the original sources that Fatshark borrowed from.  If you are looking for a budget puzzle game that is not from Pop Cap, Hamilton’s Great Adventure is worth some time, but other than that I would just say skip it.

 

Transformers Universe Assets Released

2011/06/14
Jerry Paxton
News

While one of our intrepid reporters attended Jagex’s Transformers MMO party last week at E3, the company today has released some official art assets for the upcoming game, which is due out next year. The company also announced that it would be partnering with Hasbro for the game and also that the game’s story would fall in the “Prime” timeline along with the book Exodus, the War for Cybertron games and the Prime cartoon.

Teaser Trailer

Screenshots / Art

Crysis 2 Decimation DLC Pack Released

2011/06/14
News

Crytek has unleashed a new DLC pack for their popular shooter, Crysis 2, on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace and PlayStation Network. Called “Decimation”, the DLC pack grants players five new maps as well as the DLC- FY71 Assault Rifle and M18 Smoke Grenade. The Decimation DLC pack retails for 800 Microsoft Points.