SAD DAY FOR GAMERS AS GAME FILES FOR ADMINISTRATION
Wednesday 22nd March, 2012: The past few weeks have seen Game struggle to hide their financial situation from the public, with several suppliers refusing to supply big-hit games, such as Mass Effect 3, Mario Party 9 and Street Fighter. As the financial year draws to a close, Game Group has today announced it is appointing administrators and has suspended all shares in the company.
“It is a real shame to see yet another British company fall by the wayside,” commented Rich. B, writer at MLM. “It has been obvious that the company had been struggling for some time, with multiple suppliers withdrawing support. With the internet thriving with online retailers in this field, it was understandable that Game would find it hard to keep up.”
Currently hanging by a thread, Game have announced an official statement: “The board has concluded that its discussions with all stakeholders and other parties have not made sufficient progress in the time available to offer a realistic prospect of a solvent solution for the business. The board has therefore today filed a notice of intention to appoint an administrator.”
In a desperate race against time, Game faces a £21rent payment this week, as well as a £12m wage bill at the end of the month. Owner more than £10m in VAT and £40m to supplies, new investors would need to offer significant support up front.
Game Group was established in 1992, and was due to turn 20 this year. Following a number of acquisitions including Virgin Games and Gamestation, the Basingstoke based group currently trades from 1,300 UK stores under the name Game and Gamestation.
As gamers and customers of Game and Gamestation, MLM would like to wish the company and its employees all the best. It will be sad if we lose yet another British brand.
“It is a real shame to see yet another British company fall by the wayside,” commented Rich. B, writer at MLM. “It has been obvious that the company had been struggling for some time, with multiple suppliers withdrawing support. With the internet thriving with online retailers in this field, it was understandable that Game would find it hard to keep up.”
Currently hanging by a thread, Game have announced an official statement: “The board has concluded that its discussions with all stakeholders and other parties have not made sufficient progress in the time available to offer a realistic prospect of a solvent solution for the business. The board has therefore today filed a notice of intention to appoint an administrator.”
In a desperate race against time, Game faces a £21rent payment this week, as well as a £12m wage bill at the end of the month. Owner more than £10m in VAT and £40m to supplies, new investors would need to offer significant support up front.
Game Group was established in 1992, and was due to turn 20 this year. Following a number of acquisitions including Virgin Games and Gamestation, the Basingstoke based group currently trades from 1,300 UK stores under the name Game and Gamestation.
As gamers and customers of Game and Gamestation, MLM would like to wish the company and its employees all the best. It will be sad if we lose yet another British brand.
Assassins Creed Revelations
_
So it comes to the final installment of Ezio Auditore da Firenze’s journey as an Assassin. Fans of the franchise will be familiar with the game mechanics. A free roam world where any building or wall is climbable and any vantage point can be reached. Players are treated to a beautiful and complex world to explore.
Brotherhood, the previous installment, was a great leap forward and a huge improvement in its genre. It introduced an amazing and unique multiplayer game mode which is perhaps one of the most adrenaline fueled online experiences available. Revelations has built on this but essential not much has changed. Whether you think Revelations is just a cash cow to milk from the successful formula or not, I would argue that Ubisoft have made another highly entertaining game.
Some of the missions in the single player do feel similar to the previous installments. In an aim to keep the game fresh the additions to the game change the dynamics but only slightly. The addition of the hookblade means that once unreachable jumps are now possible, allowing players to get to even better vantage points and opens up new routes of escape for players to explore. One of the best additions to Revelations is the ability to use your trainee Assassins and your Assassin guild in siege mini games that take place on all new Assassin hideouts. This allows the player to become a master tactician by placing Assassins on rooftops to take out waves of Templar opponents and guide the Assassins to victory. The other most notable addition to the single player is the introduction of bomb crafting. Different type of bombs can be crafted and used to cause destruction or used tactically to cause a diversion.
Revelations has built on the successful, but unfortunately underplayed, multiplayer. The multiplayer is a hilarious but challenging beast to tackle. In every game mode there is a constant weighting up in the players mind whether to go for a contract kill at the risk of giving yourself away. Blending in is the key and being constantly aware of your surroundings. The aim of the game is being smart and trying to fool your opponents. One of the most important things to bare in mind when playing is that you are going to die… a lot. This isn’t necessarily that important, the game rewards the style of your kill. Players earn more points for classy and stealthy kills than kills where a player is obvious. Running along the rooftops and jumping down with an air assassination may look cool but as it’s not the most stealthy of assassinations and will only score a player minimal points.
Using customisable perks such as ‘Disguise’ and ‘Decoy’ are fun ways to try and outsmart your opponents whilst ‘Firecrackers’ and ‘Smoke bombs’ allow the player to create distractions or ways to stun your opponents. This is no ordinary multiplayer, this is one unique experience that takes a bit of getting used to. Your average FPS fan may find it hard to resist the urge to chase down targets. Do this at your peril as a player that does this will end up at the bottom of the leaderboard.
Whilst Revelations is not a huge departure from the previous games in the franchise, this is the best game in the series so far. Overall the game is hugely enjoyable and the multiplayer is extremely fun and completely different to any other multiplayer experience on the market.
8/10
RazorRich at mlm
So it comes to the final installment of Ezio Auditore da Firenze’s journey as an Assassin. Fans of the franchise will be familiar with the game mechanics. A free roam world where any building or wall is climbable and any vantage point can be reached. Players are treated to a beautiful and complex world to explore.
Brotherhood, the previous installment, was a great leap forward and a huge improvement in its genre. It introduced an amazing and unique multiplayer game mode which is perhaps one of the most adrenaline fueled online experiences available. Revelations has built on this but essential not much has changed. Whether you think Revelations is just a cash cow to milk from the successful formula or not, I would argue that Ubisoft have made another highly entertaining game.
Some of the missions in the single player do feel similar to the previous installments. In an aim to keep the game fresh the additions to the game change the dynamics but only slightly. The addition of the hookblade means that once unreachable jumps are now possible, allowing players to get to even better vantage points and opens up new routes of escape for players to explore. One of the best additions to Revelations is the ability to use your trainee Assassins and your Assassin guild in siege mini games that take place on all new Assassin hideouts. This allows the player to become a master tactician by placing Assassins on rooftops to take out waves of Templar opponents and guide the Assassins to victory. The other most notable addition to the single player is the introduction of bomb crafting. Different type of bombs can be crafted and used to cause destruction or used tactically to cause a diversion.
Revelations has built on the successful, but unfortunately underplayed, multiplayer. The multiplayer is a hilarious but challenging beast to tackle. In every game mode there is a constant weighting up in the players mind whether to go for a contract kill at the risk of giving yourself away. Blending in is the key and being constantly aware of your surroundings. The aim of the game is being smart and trying to fool your opponents. One of the most important things to bare in mind when playing is that you are going to die… a lot. This isn’t necessarily that important, the game rewards the style of your kill. Players earn more points for classy and stealthy kills than kills where a player is obvious. Running along the rooftops and jumping down with an air assassination may look cool but as it’s not the most stealthy of assassinations and will only score a player minimal points.
Using customisable perks such as ‘Disguise’ and ‘Decoy’ are fun ways to try and outsmart your opponents whilst ‘Firecrackers’ and ‘Smoke bombs’ allow the player to create distractions or ways to stun your opponents. This is no ordinary multiplayer, this is one unique experience that takes a bit of getting used to. Your average FPS fan may find it hard to resist the urge to chase down targets. Do this at your peril as a player that does this will end up at the bottom of the leaderboard.
Whilst Revelations is not a huge departure from the previous games in the franchise, this is the best game in the series so far. Overall the game is hugely enjoyable and the multiplayer is extremely fun and completely different to any other multiplayer experience on the market.
8/10
RazorRich at mlm
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Activision
_ It’s that time of year again. That time when girlfriends
become increasingly frustrated with their boyfriends who have been absorbed
into spending so much time on the consoles and where the average singleton will
spend many more nights in rather than nights out! Yes, it’s the release of the
latest instalment in the Call of Duty franchise, ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
3’. The hype as ever is huge for this franchise. Records are broken every year
with each instalment becoming the biggest entertainment launch of all time. Is
this hype really justified though? I warn you now, this review is a long one. A
game of this magnitude deserves it.
For those readers who don’t know, to keep up with the demand of releasing a new instalment every year, Call of Duty has two studios working on different games at any one time on the behalf of Activision. Last years ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops’ was created by Treyarch and only loosely followed on from the release that they had worked on two years before, ‘Call of Duty: World at War’. Modern Warfare has been the storyline that Infinity Ward have created and in contrast to Treyarch, Infinity Ward have kept an ongoing storyline. This continuing storyline helps the player identify with the characters and helps to encourage players to play the campaign. Which is a problem for FPS developers. Although, the developers have finally added the ability to make the multiplayer the default load setting as they did in ‘Black Ops’. The game picks up where the last one left off with Russian forces still attacking America. Players have some new characters to follow and some to play as including ‘Sandman’ and ‘Frost’ of Delta Force and ‘Yuri’ who helps fan favourites ‘Captain Price’ and ‘Soap MacTavish’. The voice actor Craig Fairbrass has also made a welcome return playing the SAS soldier 'Sergeant Wallcroft' despite characters with the same voice dying twice already in the Modern Warfare storylines. Fairbrass is known as the voice of ‘Ghost’ from MW2 and ‘Gas’ from MW. I won’t go into too much detail here as I don’t want to ruin the story for anybody. Overall the single player is fun and should be given at least one play through. The levels are quite short and not too difficult for the seasoned player even on veteran difficulty. There is no grenade spamming, a big thumbs up I am sure will come from those who went through hell trying to complete ‘World at War’ on veteran. For those who are new to the franchise it may be worth looking up a video or two and at least getting the jist of the previous storylines.
I have argued before when reviewing other FPS games that developers should just release a pure multiplayer game like MAG. Focus on getting the most popular part of the game 100% right and ready for release day, rather than dividing resources on a campaign mode and a third special/co-op mode that people only play to get a few trophies or achievements. Despite this MW3 offers a worthwhile campaign, unlike in ‘Battlefield 3’, but also a return to Spec Ops which has been re-vamped since MW2. I still have painful memories of trying to get my final star on MW2 Spec Ops and I daren’t imagine the time I will waste trying to complete the new Spec Ops. I don’t blame Infinity Ward for trying to re-vamp Spec Ops. To be honest in MW2 the missions were boring, one off play through that were not that inspiring. Now, there are not only the Spec Ops missions there is also an endless survival mode (Nazi Zombies anyone??). Unfortunately in the mission mode there is no noticeable improvement. What about survival mode? Take ‘Black Ops’ and the incredibly popular cult classic Nazi Zombies, which was started in ‘World at War’, and Infinity Ward have a lot to live up to. Whilst enjoyable, the concept of this repeated over fifteen different maps from the multiplayer just becomes dull. Nazi Zombies was about tactics, luck and knowing the incredible intricate maps. In survival mode a high score can be achieved by sitting in a building with your co-op partner and just keeping them out of the building. Nazi Zombies always got the adrenaline running and this seems to be an imitation that really doesn’t pay off. It is worth a play through on a couple of maps but after that there isn’t much here to keep players coming back apart from practice for the maps. The fact that you can unlock more powerful guns and equipment only makes it easier the more times it is played. This is not ground breaking and will certainly never draw people into the franchise which Nazi Zombies did achieve and could have made it as a stand-alone game. Now we move onto the biggest reason why this game shifts so many units.
The Multiplayer verges on being addictive. Pioneered in the original ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’ and was truly ground breaking in that release the series has long held the title of best multiplayer. Many players manage to build up multiple days worth of play time. Parents, girlfriends, boyfriends, friends will not understand the amount of time that one can spend on this game unless they play it too. Level progressions, prestige modes, challenges, bonus points mixed with the thousands of combinations of weapons, attachments, perks and equipment give the game huge longevity. Finding the right class for the right situation and mixed with the multiple factors of the game will mean that players spend an eternity searching for the perfect set up. And ultimately the game is almost impossible to fully complete. There will always be a challenge left to do or a gun which hasn’t been completed.
Worryingly for fans of the multiplayer was the announcement earlier in the year of the subscription service for Call of Duty called ‘Elite’. Players have been worrying about this for a few years now as Activision have always been keen to get a subscription out of the franchise. Fans had believed that the online game itself would become a subscription game. Luckily this is not the case…yet. I have decided to purchase it for this year as I regularly buy all the DLC and supposedly all DLC is free to Elite members. Also the cost of Elite should be less than if players purchased all the DLC separately. Along with this is an app available on the Xbox dashboard or home screen on PS3. Here players can monitor more things such as time spent on maps, kills with certain guns etc. To be honest there is not a great deal more on here than what is already available under the ‘Barracks’ section on the multiplayer itself. Some hard-core players may get some use out of it but to me I would rather play than analyses what I need to improve. A lot of the time, a bit more practice will increase skill as with anything in this world. So if it is value for money, what is there to loose? This is one that we will have to wait and see whether the service is worth it, or whether it is another money grabbing venture for Activision after the huge success of DLC sales in previous years. I hope that the quality of the DLC is not compromised after they already have the sales!
The highly addictive multiplayer with its thousands of combinations and play styles all contributes to the fun of the game. However, players are met with a barrage of bullshit and problems. Last years ‘Black Ops’ is arguably the most balanced of all Call of Duty games until players ruined it with the over use of the Ghost perk. Has anything changed for the better?
One of the first things I noticed was the broken spawn system. The system that has been adopted is designed to get players back into the game as fast as possible to make the game fast paced. Unfortunately what this means is that someone that is killed can spawn with in metres of their killer and then return the favour. Known as the “pay-back” spawn, this is one of the most frustrating things in the game. There is nothing worse than being within a few kills of a big killstreak reward and then having the person you just killed spawn behind you and get you back. People who don’t believe me, start watching your kill cams. Players can watch a kill cam and in the space of five seconds see part of the killers previous life, them getting killed, spawning and then killing you! ‘Black Ops’ was not a lot better but it is far worse in ‘MW3’.
Lag is another major issue. Understandably Call of Duty will never be on dedicated servers as the cost of running them will be astronomical due to the high demand. This would be passed onto gamers and with the added cost of a new subscription service this would end up alienating a large percentage of the market reducing the need for the servers in the first place. So that leaves the only option which is to give the player with the best connection host. Those players who are far away from the host or with worse internet will suffer from lag. The number of times where a foreign host has shot me from around a corner is in the hundreds and this can be extremely infuriating. The kill cam will look different to what was on screen and it will be obvious as to why you died from the kill cam. Unfortunately there is no ‘Hindsight’ perk! There is also an issue with over powered guns, equipment or perks. Already players have spotted which guns are the best and the number of players who regularly use the ‘Type 95’ assault rifle or the ‘P90’ submachine gun must be in the millions, just as the FAMAS and AK74u are in ‘Black Ops’. The legacy of ‘Black Ops’ has unfortunately meant that many players now resort to hiding and using the ‘Ghost’ perks ‘Blind Eye’ and ‘Assassin’. These perks used in combination make up the Ghost perk and protect players from killstreaks and hide players on the mini map when a UAV is up respectively. A player running these perks only needs to put a silencer on and then they are completely invisible. What doesn’t help with this problem and what encourages people to use these perks is how easy it is to call in a UAV or advanced UAV and how useful these perks are against such killstreaks.
Killstreaks have been changed and luckily there is no game ending nuke which caused players to camp for killstreaks. Although there is the secret M.O.A.B. where the player earns a nuke that kills the entire lobby apart from them and then the game resumes. The game in general has been made more noob friendly and player can now customise killstreaks even further from choosing the three they want at which kill in the streak. Players can now choose to either use the strike killstreaks progression or support killstreaks progression. In theory this is a great idea. Whilst the support ones are easier to obtain they are ultimately useless for the purpose of support as there is no such thing as team playing in Call of Duty. It is every person (or every kill) for themselves! Support streaks do not re-set when the streak is broken and instead work on the number of kills the player gets throughout the game. (They shouldn’t really be killstreaks in this case!) The killstreaks also cycle through again after the top reward has been earned. So at only three kills, UAV’s are called in at least once per game per person that uses it. Frustratingly a player who is playing a game mode such as ‘Domination’, where kills do not contribute to whether the game is won or lost, could potentially have a three kill reward of a UAV, a four kill reward of a counter UAV and a five kill reward of ballistic vests. If that player earned twenty kills in that one game they would have called in four of each kill reward in the course of a fifteen minute match giving the player a total of twelve kill rewards. And that is one player out of a team of six. Add in a ‘Hardline’ perk where kill rewards are earned one kill earlier and the player would have earned themselves five of each, a total of fifteen! Those using the strike killstreak progression may only earn one or two killstreaks, especially if they use the harder killstreak rewards and if the enemy team is rinsing the support kill rewards making it harder. In my opinion players using the support kill rewards should only get one cycle through in a game as a sacrifice for earning the kill reward whilst not being on a streak. Those players that wanted to earn lots of UAVs can do so with the strike killstreaks anyway as the UAV is available on there too but will be rewarded for being on a streak. One bonus to the killstreak system is the ability to stack killstreaks and use them in which ever order you choose rather than just the one you earned last. For example it would make sense to use a UAV just before an airstrike. In MW2 if you saved your UAV when you earned your airstrike you would have to use the airstrike first to use the UAV. Now by using the d-pad, players have this option making for smarter play.
Quick scoping has made a return. This ability to draw into a scope and fire then releasing all in under a second was adjusted so that in most cases the aim would be off centre in ‘Black Ops’ and became near impossible to get a quick scope kill. This then comes as a mixed blessing to the community as there will be plenty of deaths that will appear to be absolutely impossible from those good at quick scoping and then there will the noob running around who ends up being an easy kill. Personally I don’t understand why players do this. Those that do, tend to be on about a 1.00 kill to death ratio. Most quick scopers tend to get a couple of impossible kills in a game, a couple of average kills and then an equal amount of deaths. In a game where the emphasis is on kills to deaths there seems to be no draw other than it looks cool and requires skill. What makes this untrue was evident in a game I played recently where in the match winning kill cam a player saw two enemies in front of him in the open before a smoke screen appeared. He then quick scoped three times into the smoke and on the third time got the match winning kill. To get someone blind like that means one of two things. Either complete luck or a broken aim assist. I would tend to lean towards a broken aim assist as this is not a one off moment that will get millions of views on YouTube. If those who use quick scoping are honest I think they may admit that they get some help. My other major problem with quick scoping is that when people praise Call of Duty for being realistic. Quick scoping is utterly ridiculous. The weight of a sniper rifle in real life and the reckless nature of the practice would rule it out. Snipers tend to work in pairs too, one as a spotter and one as the shooter. Having snipers in a game like Call of Duty where the maps are small and the game is fast pace should make it redundant.
The removal of the “Dolphin Dive” from ‘Black Ops’ has also meant an unwelcome return to the “drop shot” where a player will hit the ground every time they come across someone. Whilst this is more like real life it is less skill based and more frustrating as in the end you get two guys drop shoting each other.
Whilst there are many frustrating point about this game, especially for players who have a lot of skill but are killed by “pay back” spawns or “noob tubes” or any other noob friendly aspect of this game, this game is incredibly fun. Infinity Ward have actually addressed some of the problems from MW2 including the removal of commando, although there is still an abnormally long lunge. The removal of last stand, although this is a death streak now where the player still gets their primary weapon! And finally the removal of One Man Army where players repeatedly refilled noob tubes and grenades. This half-hearted approach was probably done to encourage players who may have been put off coming back. All I can say is that it worked on me and more fool me. What you can be sure of is that Infinity Ward never addressed these problems during the time that ‘MW2’ was at its most popular and I am sure that anything that comes up in ‘MW3’ will go exactly the same way. That is why it is best to play this game early on before people figure out the biggest bullshit on the game. Despite all the problems, It’s understandable why so many people play this game. The one thing that I am most pleased with, although I am sure this has happened inadvertently is that Elite can only be owned by players over the age rating of the game due to it being a subscription service. I am hoping that the number of twelve year olds playing this game will be less than in previous years as I am sick of getting messages from kids trying to taunt you, asking people to join quick scope lobbies, pretending to masturbate (yes I have had several voice messages sent to me containing this material), join prestige hack lobbies or for a game of Mike Myers.
Despite all the problems, when it’s good it is really good. When it’s bad it is really bad! After all that, what more can I say? Apart from if you have never played Call of Duty before, where the hell have you been!? Fall in Solider!
7/10
‘RazorRich’ for mlm
For those readers who don’t know, to keep up with the demand of releasing a new instalment every year, Call of Duty has two studios working on different games at any one time on the behalf of Activision. Last years ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops’ was created by Treyarch and only loosely followed on from the release that they had worked on two years before, ‘Call of Duty: World at War’. Modern Warfare has been the storyline that Infinity Ward have created and in contrast to Treyarch, Infinity Ward have kept an ongoing storyline. This continuing storyline helps the player identify with the characters and helps to encourage players to play the campaign. Which is a problem for FPS developers. Although, the developers have finally added the ability to make the multiplayer the default load setting as they did in ‘Black Ops’. The game picks up where the last one left off with Russian forces still attacking America. Players have some new characters to follow and some to play as including ‘Sandman’ and ‘Frost’ of Delta Force and ‘Yuri’ who helps fan favourites ‘Captain Price’ and ‘Soap MacTavish’. The voice actor Craig Fairbrass has also made a welcome return playing the SAS soldier 'Sergeant Wallcroft' despite characters with the same voice dying twice already in the Modern Warfare storylines. Fairbrass is known as the voice of ‘Ghost’ from MW2 and ‘Gas’ from MW. I won’t go into too much detail here as I don’t want to ruin the story for anybody. Overall the single player is fun and should be given at least one play through. The levels are quite short and not too difficult for the seasoned player even on veteran difficulty. There is no grenade spamming, a big thumbs up I am sure will come from those who went through hell trying to complete ‘World at War’ on veteran. For those who are new to the franchise it may be worth looking up a video or two and at least getting the jist of the previous storylines.
I have argued before when reviewing other FPS games that developers should just release a pure multiplayer game like MAG. Focus on getting the most popular part of the game 100% right and ready for release day, rather than dividing resources on a campaign mode and a third special/co-op mode that people only play to get a few trophies or achievements. Despite this MW3 offers a worthwhile campaign, unlike in ‘Battlefield 3’, but also a return to Spec Ops which has been re-vamped since MW2. I still have painful memories of trying to get my final star on MW2 Spec Ops and I daren’t imagine the time I will waste trying to complete the new Spec Ops. I don’t blame Infinity Ward for trying to re-vamp Spec Ops. To be honest in MW2 the missions were boring, one off play through that were not that inspiring. Now, there are not only the Spec Ops missions there is also an endless survival mode (Nazi Zombies anyone??). Unfortunately in the mission mode there is no noticeable improvement. What about survival mode? Take ‘Black Ops’ and the incredibly popular cult classic Nazi Zombies, which was started in ‘World at War’, and Infinity Ward have a lot to live up to. Whilst enjoyable, the concept of this repeated over fifteen different maps from the multiplayer just becomes dull. Nazi Zombies was about tactics, luck and knowing the incredible intricate maps. In survival mode a high score can be achieved by sitting in a building with your co-op partner and just keeping them out of the building. Nazi Zombies always got the adrenaline running and this seems to be an imitation that really doesn’t pay off. It is worth a play through on a couple of maps but after that there isn’t much here to keep players coming back apart from practice for the maps. The fact that you can unlock more powerful guns and equipment only makes it easier the more times it is played. This is not ground breaking and will certainly never draw people into the franchise which Nazi Zombies did achieve and could have made it as a stand-alone game. Now we move onto the biggest reason why this game shifts so many units.
The Multiplayer verges on being addictive. Pioneered in the original ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’ and was truly ground breaking in that release the series has long held the title of best multiplayer. Many players manage to build up multiple days worth of play time. Parents, girlfriends, boyfriends, friends will not understand the amount of time that one can spend on this game unless they play it too. Level progressions, prestige modes, challenges, bonus points mixed with the thousands of combinations of weapons, attachments, perks and equipment give the game huge longevity. Finding the right class for the right situation and mixed with the multiple factors of the game will mean that players spend an eternity searching for the perfect set up. And ultimately the game is almost impossible to fully complete. There will always be a challenge left to do or a gun which hasn’t been completed.
Worryingly for fans of the multiplayer was the announcement earlier in the year of the subscription service for Call of Duty called ‘Elite’. Players have been worrying about this for a few years now as Activision have always been keen to get a subscription out of the franchise. Fans had believed that the online game itself would become a subscription game. Luckily this is not the case…yet. I have decided to purchase it for this year as I regularly buy all the DLC and supposedly all DLC is free to Elite members. Also the cost of Elite should be less than if players purchased all the DLC separately. Along with this is an app available on the Xbox dashboard or home screen on PS3. Here players can monitor more things such as time spent on maps, kills with certain guns etc. To be honest there is not a great deal more on here than what is already available under the ‘Barracks’ section on the multiplayer itself. Some hard-core players may get some use out of it but to me I would rather play than analyses what I need to improve. A lot of the time, a bit more practice will increase skill as with anything in this world. So if it is value for money, what is there to loose? This is one that we will have to wait and see whether the service is worth it, or whether it is another money grabbing venture for Activision after the huge success of DLC sales in previous years. I hope that the quality of the DLC is not compromised after they already have the sales!
The highly addictive multiplayer with its thousands of combinations and play styles all contributes to the fun of the game. However, players are met with a barrage of bullshit and problems. Last years ‘Black Ops’ is arguably the most balanced of all Call of Duty games until players ruined it with the over use of the Ghost perk. Has anything changed for the better?
One of the first things I noticed was the broken spawn system. The system that has been adopted is designed to get players back into the game as fast as possible to make the game fast paced. Unfortunately what this means is that someone that is killed can spawn with in metres of their killer and then return the favour. Known as the “pay-back” spawn, this is one of the most frustrating things in the game. There is nothing worse than being within a few kills of a big killstreak reward and then having the person you just killed spawn behind you and get you back. People who don’t believe me, start watching your kill cams. Players can watch a kill cam and in the space of five seconds see part of the killers previous life, them getting killed, spawning and then killing you! ‘Black Ops’ was not a lot better but it is far worse in ‘MW3’.
Lag is another major issue. Understandably Call of Duty will never be on dedicated servers as the cost of running them will be astronomical due to the high demand. This would be passed onto gamers and with the added cost of a new subscription service this would end up alienating a large percentage of the market reducing the need for the servers in the first place. So that leaves the only option which is to give the player with the best connection host. Those players who are far away from the host or with worse internet will suffer from lag. The number of times where a foreign host has shot me from around a corner is in the hundreds and this can be extremely infuriating. The kill cam will look different to what was on screen and it will be obvious as to why you died from the kill cam. Unfortunately there is no ‘Hindsight’ perk! There is also an issue with over powered guns, equipment or perks. Already players have spotted which guns are the best and the number of players who regularly use the ‘Type 95’ assault rifle or the ‘P90’ submachine gun must be in the millions, just as the FAMAS and AK74u are in ‘Black Ops’. The legacy of ‘Black Ops’ has unfortunately meant that many players now resort to hiding and using the ‘Ghost’ perks ‘Blind Eye’ and ‘Assassin’. These perks used in combination make up the Ghost perk and protect players from killstreaks and hide players on the mini map when a UAV is up respectively. A player running these perks only needs to put a silencer on and then they are completely invisible. What doesn’t help with this problem and what encourages people to use these perks is how easy it is to call in a UAV or advanced UAV and how useful these perks are against such killstreaks.
Killstreaks have been changed and luckily there is no game ending nuke which caused players to camp for killstreaks. Although there is the secret M.O.A.B. where the player earns a nuke that kills the entire lobby apart from them and then the game resumes. The game in general has been made more noob friendly and player can now customise killstreaks even further from choosing the three they want at which kill in the streak. Players can now choose to either use the strike killstreaks progression or support killstreaks progression. In theory this is a great idea. Whilst the support ones are easier to obtain they are ultimately useless for the purpose of support as there is no such thing as team playing in Call of Duty. It is every person (or every kill) for themselves! Support streaks do not re-set when the streak is broken and instead work on the number of kills the player gets throughout the game. (They shouldn’t really be killstreaks in this case!) The killstreaks also cycle through again after the top reward has been earned. So at only three kills, UAV’s are called in at least once per game per person that uses it. Frustratingly a player who is playing a game mode such as ‘Domination’, where kills do not contribute to whether the game is won or lost, could potentially have a three kill reward of a UAV, a four kill reward of a counter UAV and a five kill reward of ballistic vests. If that player earned twenty kills in that one game they would have called in four of each kill reward in the course of a fifteen minute match giving the player a total of twelve kill rewards. And that is one player out of a team of six. Add in a ‘Hardline’ perk where kill rewards are earned one kill earlier and the player would have earned themselves five of each, a total of fifteen! Those using the strike killstreak progression may only earn one or two killstreaks, especially if they use the harder killstreak rewards and if the enemy team is rinsing the support kill rewards making it harder. In my opinion players using the support kill rewards should only get one cycle through in a game as a sacrifice for earning the kill reward whilst not being on a streak. Those players that wanted to earn lots of UAVs can do so with the strike killstreaks anyway as the UAV is available on there too but will be rewarded for being on a streak. One bonus to the killstreak system is the ability to stack killstreaks and use them in which ever order you choose rather than just the one you earned last. For example it would make sense to use a UAV just before an airstrike. In MW2 if you saved your UAV when you earned your airstrike you would have to use the airstrike first to use the UAV. Now by using the d-pad, players have this option making for smarter play.
Quick scoping has made a return. This ability to draw into a scope and fire then releasing all in under a second was adjusted so that in most cases the aim would be off centre in ‘Black Ops’ and became near impossible to get a quick scope kill. This then comes as a mixed blessing to the community as there will be plenty of deaths that will appear to be absolutely impossible from those good at quick scoping and then there will the noob running around who ends up being an easy kill. Personally I don’t understand why players do this. Those that do, tend to be on about a 1.00 kill to death ratio. Most quick scopers tend to get a couple of impossible kills in a game, a couple of average kills and then an equal amount of deaths. In a game where the emphasis is on kills to deaths there seems to be no draw other than it looks cool and requires skill. What makes this untrue was evident in a game I played recently where in the match winning kill cam a player saw two enemies in front of him in the open before a smoke screen appeared. He then quick scoped three times into the smoke and on the third time got the match winning kill. To get someone blind like that means one of two things. Either complete luck or a broken aim assist. I would tend to lean towards a broken aim assist as this is not a one off moment that will get millions of views on YouTube. If those who use quick scoping are honest I think they may admit that they get some help. My other major problem with quick scoping is that when people praise Call of Duty for being realistic. Quick scoping is utterly ridiculous. The weight of a sniper rifle in real life and the reckless nature of the practice would rule it out. Snipers tend to work in pairs too, one as a spotter and one as the shooter. Having snipers in a game like Call of Duty where the maps are small and the game is fast pace should make it redundant.
The removal of the “Dolphin Dive” from ‘Black Ops’ has also meant an unwelcome return to the “drop shot” where a player will hit the ground every time they come across someone. Whilst this is more like real life it is less skill based and more frustrating as in the end you get two guys drop shoting each other.
Whilst there are many frustrating point about this game, especially for players who have a lot of skill but are killed by “pay back” spawns or “noob tubes” or any other noob friendly aspect of this game, this game is incredibly fun. Infinity Ward have actually addressed some of the problems from MW2 including the removal of commando, although there is still an abnormally long lunge. The removal of last stand, although this is a death streak now where the player still gets their primary weapon! And finally the removal of One Man Army where players repeatedly refilled noob tubes and grenades. This half-hearted approach was probably done to encourage players who may have been put off coming back. All I can say is that it worked on me and more fool me. What you can be sure of is that Infinity Ward never addressed these problems during the time that ‘MW2’ was at its most popular and I am sure that anything that comes up in ‘MW3’ will go exactly the same way. That is why it is best to play this game early on before people figure out the biggest bullshit on the game. Despite all the problems, It’s understandable why so many people play this game. The one thing that I am most pleased with, although I am sure this has happened inadvertently is that Elite can only be owned by players over the age rating of the game due to it being a subscription service. I am hoping that the number of twelve year olds playing this game will be less than in previous years as I am sick of getting messages from kids trying to taunt you, asking people to join quick scope lobbies, pretending to masturbate (yes I have had several voice messages sent to me containing this material), join prestige hack lobbies or for a game of Mike Myers.
Despite all the problems, when it’s good it is really good. When it’s bad it is really bad! After all that, what more can I say? Apart from if you have never played Call of Duty before, where the hell have you been!? Fall in Solider!
7/10
‘RazorRich’ for mlm
Battlefield 3
DICE
_
With two big releases in the FPS genre this winter it was always going to
be a tough call as for which would be better. The Battlefield series has built
up a reputation as being one of the most balanced all round war games ever
created. There are very few weapons or in game features which seem over powered
and the game allows for a variety of skill levels. This is still true for the
latest release in the series 'Battlefield 3'.
One important change is that it seems there has been an increase in the focus on multiplayer. This is evident from the short, around six hour, and very linear single player campaign. Whilst visually stunning and is a massive step up with well-polished graphics, it follows the tried and tested storyline of the character trying to remember what happened through gameplay whilst parts of an interrogation of the player fill in the gaps. This will seem extremely familiar to players of the last 'Call of Duty' game which is a massive downer for Battlefield. Disappointingly the missions tend to be long winded and verge on becoming dull. One mission in particular takes around five minutes of watching and listening to another character before any gameplay which then just involves picking out targets and firing guided missiles. Unfortunately for the casual gamer who doesn't like multiplayer this game is not for you. Co-op play does extend the life span of the game but the missions are lengthy and again verge on being dull. Luckily the multiplayer is a huge success and well worth the cost of the game. And if you are not into FPS multiplayer then there is no better game to get into it than Battlefield.
What makes Battlefield as a franchise stand out is the emphasis on team play. The idea is to have a balanced squad where players can choose from one of four classes. If every player in a squad/team is a sniper then the objectives will never be taken. Likewise, a good tank commander won't stand a chance unless they have an engineer to back them up. The whole concept of squads within teams helps to balance the game out. Ultimately this encourages players not to play selfishly as this will cause the team to lose. This is why I was worried about the addition of a team deathmatch game mode for 'Battlefield 3' as this tends to bring the focus back on to a “who can get the highest kill to death ratio” which I unashamedly would usually do. Battlefield is the only FPS game where this doesn't matter to me as much and this is why I personally will steer clear of team deathmatch.
Some problems that I pointed out in the Beta have been fixed and some are still a little irritating. The ability to go prone whilst useful can be infuriating. It is extremely irritating when you run through a choke point only to get gunned down by a player in prone with a bipod. Even worse when you are against a team that have got all the choke points lined up and there is no way to break through. Usually driving a tank around the back would suffice but there are no vehicles on some maps (particularly in team deathmatch!). The addition of flash lights hasn't been as big a problem as I thought it may be from what I saw in the Beta. Although you do come across players who think it’s funny to get their team killed by blinding them, this seems to be rare. Players that use this attachment tend to give away their position which actually makes it near useless. The knifing system seems to have been adjusted and runs much better than in the Beta too. Although when you come across a group of enemies all oblivious then the first knife kill is easy enough but the second will often not connect. The only way I have found to remedy this is to switch to your main gun and then try knifing again. This all takes time and before you know it one of their squad mates has spawned on them and knifes you!
Of course Battlefield veterans will remember the dog tag system where knifing enemies give the player a little memento to remember your fallen enemy by. Unfortunately I think pervious versions of the system were better. For example, there is no way to see if you have knifed one enemy multiple times. The whole dog tag system has been developed and is no longer exclusive to knifing/being knifed. Players can give themselves custom dog tags that show off their in game feats which stems from the ribbon and medal awards. During each game players can earn ribbons for various activities. For example an assault ribbon will be awarded for getting seven kills in one round with an assault rifle. Ten assault ribbons will give the player a left hand dog tag to show off this achievement. Fifty ribbons over an online career will give the player a medal which gives the player a right hand dog tag to show off that achievement. There are other ways to earn some dog tags such as spending time in a certain vehicle. A player can then set themselves custom dog tags showing what they have achieved. When a player is knifed the killer gets the dog tags. When scrolling through all the dog tags it now just shows the last victim to be knifed who was wearing that particular dog tag. It also shows how many players you have knifed who were wearing that dog tag. So when you have forty people knifed with that dog tag you don't get to see who they were. I always found it amusing when you would play with friends to get their dog tags and have their name in your list of victims as it was in 'Battlefield: Bad Company 2'. That gave the player bragging rights and added to the competition. That has sort of been lost as I know to put on low level and easy to earn dog tags that everyone uses so that my friends, if they do knife me, will lose my name in the last victim section when they knife another holder of that dog tag. Problem solved, but the adrenaline rush is lost!
The air warfare has been ramped up with the addition of jets. These are extremely difficult to pilot and even harder when the enemy has an experienced pilot. Persevere with it though and it becomes an incredibly fun part of the game. What I don't like about it is that when a player starts off for the first time in the jet they only have machine guns available. It is incredibly difficult to shoot an opponent on the ground so that limits it to helicopters and other jets. If the enemy pilot has unlocked heat seeking missiles then the nooby pilot has no chance!
For the best multiplayer experience I strongly recommend getting in a squad with people you know. Failing that get with people you can communicate with. It adds to the fun of the game as a squad that works well together tends to get the most points and take out the most enemies. For ‘Call of Duty’ players who fancy something a little different then this really is something special. There are aspects that are similar to Call of Duty but this really raises the stakes (again).
Battlefield 3 is a visually stunning and high adrenaline game. Some may argue that it is too slow paced. These will tend to be the Call of Duty players. Battlefield can be slow and fast paced. It all depends on your style of playing. If you want it to be more fast paced then there are ways of playing that will increase that. There is nothing that is ground breaking in terms of gameplay compared to previous Battlefield games and other FPS. Also the campaign mode feels like it has been neglected. Barring these small problems this is a game worth getting and sinking many hours into. This game is no giant killer and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will no doubt be the best selling game of all time this year, just like all its predecessors, but Battlefield offers a more interesting, intelligent, balanced, team based game.
8/10
‘RazorRich’ for mlm
One important change is that it seems there has been an increase in the focus on multiplayer. This is evident from the short, around six hour, and very linear single player campaign. Whilst visually stunning and is a massive step up with well-polished graphics, it follows the tried and tested storyline of the character trying to remember what happened through gameplay whilst parts of an interrogation of the player fill in the gaps. This will seem extremely familiar to players of the last 'Call of Duty' game which is a massive downer for Battlefield. Disappointingly the missions tend to be long winded and verge on becoming dull. One mission in particular takes around five minutes of watching and listening to another character before any gameplay which then just involves picking out targets and firing guided missiles. Unfortunately for the casual gamer who doesn't like multiplayer this game is not for you. Co-op play does extend the life span of the game but the missions are lengthy and again verge on being dull. Luckily the multiplayer is a huge success and well worth the cost of the game. And if you are not into FPS multiplayer then there is no better game to get into it than Battlefield.
What makes Battlefield as a franchise stand out is the emphasis on team play. The idea is to have a balanced squad where players can choose from one of four classes. If every player in a squad/team is a sniper then the objectives will never be taken. Likewise, a good tank commander won't stand a chance unless they have an engineer to back them up. The whole concept of squads within teams helps to balance the game out. Ultimately this encourages players not to play selfishly as this will cause the team to lose. This is why I was worried about the addition of a team deathmatch game mode for 'Battlefield 3' as this tends to bring the focus back on to a “who can get the highest kill to death ratio” which I unashamedly would usually do. Battlefield is the only FPS game where this doesn't matter to me as much and this is why I personally will steer clear of team deathmatch.
Some problems that I pointed out in the Beta have been fixed and some are still a little irritating. The ability to go prone whilst useful can be infuriating. It is extremely irritating when you run through a choke point only to get gunned down by a player in prone with a bipod. Even worse when you are against a team that have got all the choke points lined up and there is no way to break through. Usually driving a tank around the back would suffice but there are no vehicles on some maps (particularly in team deathmatch!). The addition of flash lights hasn't been as big a problem as I thought it may be from what I saw in the Beta. Although you do come across players who think it’s funny to get their team killed by blinding them, this seems to be rare. Players that use this attachment tend to give away their position which actually makes it near useless. The knifing system seems to have been adjusted and runs much better than in the Beta too. Although when you come across a group of enemies all oblivious then the first knife kill is easy enough but the second will often not connect. The only way I have found to remedy this is to switch to your main gun and then try knifing again. This all takes time and before you know it one of their squad mates has spawned on them and knifes you!
Of course Battlefield veterans will remember the dog tag system where knifing enemies give the player a little memento to remember your fallen enemy by. Unfortunately I think pervious versions of the system were better. For example, there is no way to see if you have knifed one enemy multiple times. The whole dog tag system has been developed and is no longer exclusive to knifing/being knifed. Players can give themselves custom dog tags that show off their in game feats which stems from the ribbon and medal awards. During each game players can earn ribbons for various activities. For example an assault ribbon will be awarded for getting seven kills in one round with an assault rifle. Ten assault ribbons will give the player a left hand dog tag to show off this achievement. Fifty ribbons over an online career will give the player a medal which gives the player a right hand dog tag to show off that achievement. There are other ways to earn some dog tags such as spending time in a certain vehicle. A player can then set themselves custom dog tags showing what they have achieved. When a player is knifed the killer gets the dog tags. When scrolling through all the dog tags it now just shows the last victim to be knifed who was wearing that particular dog tag. It also shows how many players you have knifed who were wearing that dog tag. So when you have forty people knifed with that dog tag you don't get to see who they were. I always found it amusing when you would play with friends to get their dog tags and have their name in your list of victims as it was in 'Battlefield: Bad Company 2'. That gave the player bragging rights and added to the competition. That has sort of been lost as I know to put on low level and easy to earn dog tags that everyone uses so that my friends, if they do knife me, will lose my name in the last victim section when they knife another holder of that dog tag. Problem solved, but the adrenaline rush is lost!
The air warfare has been ramped up with the addition of jets. These are extremely difficult to pilot and even harder when the enemy has an experienced pilot. Persevere with it though and it becomes an incredibly fun part of the game. What I don't like about it is that when a player starts off for the first time in the jet they only have machine guns available. It is incredibly difficult to shoot an opponent on the ground so that limits it to helicopters and other jets. If the enemy pilot has unlocked heat seeking missiles then the nooby pilot has no chance!
For the best multiplayer experience I strongly recommend getting in a squad with people you know. Failing that get with people you can communicate with. It adds to the fun of the game as a squad that works well together tends to get the most points and take out the most enemies. For ‘Call of Duty’ players who fancy something a little different then this really is something special. There are aspects that are similar to Call of Duty but this really raises the stakes (again).
Battlefield 3 is a visually stunning and high adrenaline game. Some may argue that it is too slow paced. These will tend to be the Call of Duty players. Battlefield can be slow and fast paced. It all depends on your style of playing. If you want it to be more fast paced then there are ways of playing that will increase that. There is nothing that is ground breaking in terms of gameplay compared to previous Battlefield games and other FPS. Also the campaign mode feels like it has been neglected. Barring these small problems this is a game worth getting and sinking many hours into. This game is no giant killer and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will no doubt be the best selling game of all time this year, just like all its predecessors, but Battlefield offers a more interesting, intelligent, balanced, team based game.
8/10
‘RazorRich’ for mlm
Batman Arkham City
Rocksteady
2011
It’s that time again Batmen and Batgirls to don your cape, affix your masks and fasten your utility belts because “Batman: Arkham City is finally” here. Rocksteady’s follow up to the critically acclaimed “Arkham Asylum” is one of the most eagerly anticipated games in recent memory precisely because “Arkham Asylum” was not just the best Batman game ever created it was the best Superhero game ever created period. Let me re-assure you nervous fanboys that Rocksteady have produced a game that is superior to “Asylum” in almost every way. This is the closest thing any of us are ever going to get to being the caped crusader, that is, assuming there are no “Kick Ass” style nut-jobs out there. And if there are...go get ‘em Tiger!
One of the first things you’ll notice as you take those first tentative glides around “Arkham City” is the scale of the map. Let’s get this straight, it’s not as much of a sprawling Metropolis as some of the marketing might have you believe, but it’s certainly a step up from the tight, twisty corridors of Asylum. You sure as hell won’t get lost, unless you’re a moron, but you will feel things have certainly opened up. Rocksteady have done an amazing job creating a dark, twisted and sombre environment for your Caped Crusader to glide, grapple and fight crime in. Like all the best renderings of Gotham, the city feels like a character in itself, ready to betray Batman at every turn. “Arkham City” is full of fiendish characters, with almost every major enemy from Batman’s rouges gallery accounted for so fans are sure to have a whale of a time hunting them down. You will be disappointed if you’re a mad Clayface fanatic (although I can’t imagine why you would be) and Scarecrow is notable by his absence but we can’t have everything now can we? The story-line is very strong and contains several genuinely shocking twists. A great thing about these games is that the developers and writers are extremely respectful to Batman’s history and seem proud to display it in the extensive character bios you unlock along the way. The story feels natural and organic to the Batman canon and isn’t coming at you out of left field. At the same time, perhaps more importantly than that, the game adds plenty of new perspectives and plots to that history as well and isn’t afraid to put its own spin on things. There are a few shaky plot points here and there that seem as though they were stuck in the script to serve only as boss battles but this is forgivable when you consider the story as a whole. Why you end up fighting Solomon Grundy I still haven’t the foggiest of ideas. The fact that you most likely will find yourself breaking away from the main story in order to complete one of the many side missions can sometimes make the game feel a little disjointed. Stick with it though and you will find a story that is both engaging and captivating.
The voice acting is near impeccable, with almost every actor turning in a stellar performance. Kevin Conroy’s brooding Dark Knight is cool and understated, while Mark (don’t call me Skywalker) Hamil threatens to steal the show once more as the brilliantly deranged Joker. The most affecting performance comes from Futurama mainstay Maurice LaMarche, who adds an air of sadness and melancholia to the often one-dimensional Mr Freeze. It’s not overstating it to say that the games rendering of Freeze is probably the best I have ever seen. There are a few clunky lines, delivered mainly by ancillary characters and the wonkiest English accent since Dick Van Dyke, delivered by Nolan North’s Penguin. But with the rest of the cast in such sparkling form this is easy to forgive. Seriously do some American’s still think we say “Loife” instead of life? Beggars belief it really does!
The game benefits from having essentially the same mechanics as the first game –showcased most impressively in the amazing freeflow combat system - (X= Strike, O= Stun, Y= Counter) with a few notable additions. Counters are made easier and cooler by the fact that you can now counter multiple enemies simultaneously. You can also use your Batclaw to pull an enemy into a Bat-clothesline which is by far and away one of the coolest moves I’ve ever seen in any game. In an age where developers are constantly adjusting gameplay mechanics in an ill advised bid to evolve them, it is refreshing to see Rocksteady take this “If it aint broke, don’t fix it” approach. Especially if that approach allows you to kick 7 shades of shit out of 30 guys, counter their moves and thus really feel like the ultimate badass. Old gadgets such as the Explosive Gel and the Baterang make a return alongside a few new ones such as Freeze Spray and Smoke Pellets. Gliding is also made much more fun with the addition of dive bombing and pulling up, which is not only unassailably cool, but also serves to make the Dark Knight much easier to control mid-flight. The ability to grapple onto buildings mid-flight is also an advantage as it makes transportation across the map much quicker and easier
Riddler trophies and challenges make a return but are more varied this time. You will still find yourself traipsing around in search of those little green question marks but they are much more of a challenge to find and obtain. Accumulating these trophies will unlock amazing concept art, 3D character models and Challenge maps so it doesn’t feel like such a chore this time around. I am also informed they are needed to access a showdown with the Riddler later in the game so get hunting!! There are also random assaults, training challenges and a particularly twisted game of cat and mouse with Victor Zasz to complete, so there is no excuse for Batman to sit on his arse. Put the boy to work, that’s what I say!
Before you even start the game I implore everyone reading this to download the free Catwoman DLC pack which allows you to play as Selena Kyle herself. Her missions are not completely independent and are instead woven into the fabric of the story. Rocksteady have made sure to make playing as Catwoman a unique experience and have equipped her with her own fighting style and gadgetry. Tripping someone over with her whip has to be one of the most satisfying and hilarious moves you can pull off. She climbs up buildings and has the ability to crawl upside down on the ceiling. This really isn’t half-arsed. The developers have really put a lot of care and attention into Catwoman and the game is richer as a result. She is so good I almost wish she had her own game!
Verdict: What can I say folks!? This game is amazing! Rocksteady have taken a winning formula and built on it magnificently. The story is strong, it looks fantastic and there is plenty to get your teeth into. The voice acting is stellar, its missions are various and its sheer scale is pretty impressive. This is a true Batman experience for fans and newcomers alike. It is loyal to Batman’s history and doesn’t patronize while at the same time offering plenty of thrills if you want to ignore the back stories and just kick some villainous arse! Quite simply one of my favourite games of the year!
Score: 10/10
BadIdeaDan, for mlm.
It’s that time again Batmen and Batgirls to don your cape, affix your masks and fasten your utility belts because “Batman: Arkham City is finally” here. Rocksteady’s follow up to the critically acclaimed “Arkham Asylum” is one of the most eagerly anticipated games in recent memory precisely because “Arkham Asylum” was not just the best Batman game ever created it was the best Superhero game ever created period. Let me re-assure you nervous fanboys that Rocksteady have produced a game that is superior to “Asylum” in almost every way. This is the closest thing any of us are ever going to get to being the caped crusader, that is, assuming there are no “Kick Ass” style nut-jobs out there. And if there are...go get ‘em Tiger!
One of the first things you’ll notice as you take those first tentative glides around “Arkham City” is the scale of the map. Let’s get this straight, it’s not as much of a sprawling Metropolis as some of the marketing might have you believe, but it’s certainly a step up from the tight, twisty corridors of Asylum. You sure as hell won’t get lost, unless you’re a moron, but you will feel things have certainly opened up. Rocksteady have done an amazing job creating a dark, twisted and sombre environment for your Caped Crusader to glide, grapple and fight crime in. Like all the best renderings of Gotham, the city feels like a character in itself, ready to betray Batman at every turn. “Arkham City” is full of fiendish characters, with almost every major enemy from Batman’s rouges gallery accounted for so fans are sure to have a whale of a time hunting them down. You will be disappointed if you’re a mad Clayface fanatic (although I can’t imagine why you would be) and Scarecrow is notable by his absence but we can’t have everything now can we? The story-line is very strong and contains several genuinely shocking twists. A great thing about these games is that the developers and writers are extremely respectful to Batman’s history and seem proud to display it in the extensive character bios you unlock along the way. The story feels natural and organic to the Batman canon and isn’t coming at you out of left field. At the same time, perhaps more importantly than that, the game adds plenty of new perspectives and plots to that history as well and isn’t afraid to put its own spin on things. There are a few shaky plot points here and there that seem as though they were stuck in the script to serve only as boss battles but this is forgivable when you consider the story as a whole. Why you end up fighting Solomon Grundy I still haven’t the foggiest of ideas. The fact that you most likely will find yourself breaking away from the main story in order to complete one of the many side missions can sometimes make the game feel a little disjointed. Stick with it though and you will find a story that is both engaging and captivating.
The voice acting is near impeccable, with almost every actor turning in a stellar performance. Kevin Conroy’s brooding Dark Knight is cool and understated, while Mark (don’t call me Skywalker) Hamil threatens to steal the show once more as the brilliantly deranged Joker. The most affecting performance comes from Futurama mainstay Maurice LaMarche, who adds an air of sadness and melancholia to the often one-dimensional Mr Freeze. It’s not overstating it to say that the games rendering of Freeze is probably the best I have ever seen. There are a few clunky lines, delivered mainly by ancillary characters and the wonkiest English accent since Dick Van Dyke, delivered by Nolan North’s Penguin. But with the rest of the cast in such sparkling form this is easy to forgive. Seriously do some American’s still think we say “Loife” instead of life? Beggars belief it really does!
The game benefits from having essentially the same mechanics as the first game –showcased most impressively in the amazing freeflow combat system - (X= Strike, O= Stun, Y= Counter) with a few notable additions. Counters are made easier and cooler by the fact that you can now counter multiple enemies simultaneously. You can also use your Batclaw to pull an enemy into a Bat-clothesline which is by far and away one of the coolest moves I’ve ever seen in any game. In an age where developers are constantly adjusting gameplay mechanics in an ill advised bid to evolve them, it is refreshing to see Rocksteady take this “If it aint broke, don’t fix it” approach. Especially if that approach allows you to kick 7 shades of shit out of 30 guys, counter their moves and thus really feel like the ultimate badass. Old gadgets such as the Explosive Gel and the Baterang make a return alongside a few new ones such as Freeze Spray and Smoke Pellets. Gliding is also made much more fun with the addition of dive bombing and pulling up, which is not only unassailably cool, but also serves to make the Dark Knight much easier to control mid-flight. The ability to grapple onto buildings mid-flight is also an advantage as it makes transportation across the map much quicker and easier
Riddler trophies and challenges make a return but are more varied this time. You will still find yourself traipsing around in search of those little green question marks but they are much more of a challenge to find and obtain. Accumulating these trophies will unlock amazing concept art, 3D character models and Challenge maps so it doesn’t feel like such a chore this time around. I am also informed they are needed to access a showdown with the Riddler later in the game so get hunting!! There are also random assaults, training challenges and a particularly twisted game of cat and mouse with Victor Zasz to complete, so there is no excuse for Batman to sit on his arse. Put the boy to work, that’s what I say!
Before you even start the game I implore everyone reading this to download the free Catwoman DLC pack which allows you to play as Selena Kyle herself. Her missions are not completely independent and are instead woven into the fabric of the story. Rocksteady have made sure to make playing as Catwoman a unique experience and have equipped her with her own fighting style and gadgetry. Tripping someone over with her whip has to be one of the most satisfying and hilarious moves you can pull off. She climbs up buildings and has the ability to crawl upside down on the ceiling. This really isn’t half-arsed. The developers have really put a lot of care and attention into Catwoman and the game is richer as a result. She is so good I almost wish she had her own game!
Verdict: What can I say folks!? This game is amazing! Rocksteady have taken a winning formula and built on it magnificently. The story is strong, it looks fantastic and there is plenty to get your teeth into. The voice acting is stellar, its missions are various and its sheer scale is pretty impressive. This is a true Batman experience for fans and newcomers alike. It is loyal to Batman’s history and doesn’t patronize while at the same time offering plenty of thrills if you want to ignore the back stories and just kick some villainous arse! Quite simply one of my favourite games of the year!
Score: 10/10
BadIdeaDan, for mlm.
Grand Theft Auto V - Rockstar Games
The hot topics of the gaming world these past few weeks have been the soon to be launched Battlefield and Modern Warfare 3, but finally, Rockstar has doused the flames with an even hotter game. GTA V.
Short and sweet, Rockstar teased the gaming world with a simple tweet reading ‘#GTAV rockstargames.com’. No information has been given about the launch date, nor the consoles it is to be released on, just the logo and the teaser trailers release date, November 2. This minimalist approach is something to be admired, and something only achievable by such a game series. With so little information, much speculation is already building up.
With a fourteen years of history behind it, the Grand Theft Auto series has gathered a humongous following. Much has changed though since the 1997 game launch where gamers played on a 2D map with a birds-eye view –point, running around the city, as a little rough dot. It wasn’t until GTA III, released in ten years ago this month, that the real groundbreaking game-play was brought to the market. GTA III allowed players a fully immersable 3D game-play, where you played within the map in the third person. Revolutionary at the time, this form of game-play was much less usual, especially in such detail and depth.
Today, 3D style game-play is commonplace, gamers expect nothing less. Follow 4 years since the last major GTA game, which has sold in excess of 22 million units, fans of the franchise have been eagerly anticipating the news of the next in the series.
This fantastic use of minimalist marketing has proved the perfect way to get people talking. Trending on Twitter, GTA has suddenly become one of the most talked about games of the week, despite only four days until the official Battlefield launch in the UK.
So, what MLM wants to know is, which new fictional city are we going to be presented with, and what city will it be based upon? Rumour has it a Hollywood theme may be on the books, however, with so little information, it’s too early to start getting too excited!
So, pencil it in your diary, November 2, the trailers release date, available at Rockstar Games.
To keep yourself up to date, why not follow us on Twitter @mlmGB, or bookmark our website Many Like Minded.
Excitement factor: 11/10
By 'Miss Weeble' @mlmGB
FIFA 12
EA Sports
So we meet again old friend.
After much umming and ahhing and some six years away from the seminal console football franchise I picked up FIFA 12 under the perhaps misguided apprehension that they had finally created the most realistic football experience short of doing it yourself and getting some much needed exercise in the process. EA sports have come together to help perpetuate the deluded fantasies of armchair football buffs and appeal to the ever growing crowd of people waking up to the fact that perspiration and aching muscles are no fun! You evil, maniacal, wonderful bastards you! The superior feeling one gets from mastering such a game is not quite on a par with the “Guitar Hero” franchise but seriously...I could have been Wayne Rooney! This football lark is a piece of piss!!
Let me preface all that follows by saying that I have never played one single second of the irritatingly worshipped Pro Evolution Soccer series. So with that, if you were expecting a comparison between the two games and 50 reasons why Fifa is better (or worse) than said game, you fan-boys who like to discuss the superiority of the “realistic dribbling system” will be sorely disappointed. I couldn’t give a rats hind-quarters frankly and yes my devotion (if you can call 6 years away devotion at all) to FIFA is founded upon the most shallow of criteria;
1. Superior Graphics
2. FIFA was here first...sorry!
3. I’m a real stickler for authenticity and FIFA holds all the licensing rights...I wouldn’t feel nearly as great about scoring a goal with some balding potato named “Layne Pooney” anyhow.
One of the things that irks me about yearly franchises is the apparent lack of imagination or innovation that is an inevitable result of the quick turnaround time. FIFA it seemed was one of the worst offenders for this type of air-headed complacency and that became one of the main reasons that this Pro Evo pretender was able to muscle its way onto the scene like an annoyingly pretentious hipster whose always one step ahead of his unfairly maligned older brother. See the thing is, FIFA promises its fans innovation every year and so far all it’s given us is barely a nod towards such improvements. Toddler steps were never going to get the franchise very far. Even if this toddler was cute and we were applauding it for trying we were still frustrated he was a slow stumbling little shit.
Well fans...FIFA has finally decided it wants to bulk up and sprint towards delivering truly mind boggling innovations. More power to them, but I’m really not sure if this is a good or a bad thing yet as I will now attempt to explain. The major innovation this year comes in the form of a new “more realistic” tackling system that I was quick to scoff at. ‘Oh yeah? What have they done? Added new “realistic sounds” in the foley studio??’ Imagine my utter stupefied surprise to find that this year’s innovation is so mind bendingly massive and game changing that it requires a whole fucking tutorial before you even start playing. Instead of mindlessly mashing the conservative tackle button in the hope you would finally catch up to that speedy prick Ronaldo, players must now employ a much more tactical and measured approach that requires patience and skill. There is an emphasis on jockeying and positioning that delivers a (dare I say it) much more realistic defending experience. In previous games no matter how many times you mashed the conservative tackle button your player would only tackle if he was close enough to do so. Doing the same in FIFA 12 will cause your player to kick out at thin air, take him out of the game for a few valuable seconds and generally leave you looking like a bit of a prick. There is also the option to harass the player on the ball and employ a sneaky shirt pull. Too much of this and the referee will deem it a foul which is often at times infuriating. This is FIFA folks but not as we know it.
I was impressed by the size of EA sports huevos in their employment of such a major change and it takes quite a while to get used to. Thing is, I’m not sure if the often frantic pace of FIFA lends itself to these kinds of investments in patient play. It is a well known fact that for a good few years now FIFA has successfully made its A.I. more tactically aware and harder to play against. Unless you’re are playing the game on the easiest of difficulty settings it is nigh on impossible to carry the ball the length of the pitch or score a hat-trick of forty yard belters. My brother and I still lovingly refer to such real-life exploits as “FIFA runs” when we see a player like human tank Micah Richards storm forward. That being so, for the regular player chances to breach an irritatingly solid defence, however satisfying it may be when you do, are few and far between. I don’t want to spend a quarter of the fleeting six minute half jockeying Ashley Young into a corner only to see the tricky rapscallion win the throw at the end of it. It may finally fall into place for me a few weeks down the road but I’m not quite there yet. The most infuriating thing about the new system for me is that it makes the difficulty spike between “Semi-Pro” difficulty and “Professional” difficulty annoyingly sharp especially when it comes to scoring goals. I spent my first week or so playing FIFA 12 deliberating the toss-up between being able to perform “FIFA runs” thus winning 9-0 and playing out frustrating 0-0 stalemates. I’m sure I’ll get there in the end and while the pick up and play element is there I would prefer more of a happy medium between the two difficulty levels. Scoring 5 with Peter Lovenkrands shatters the veneer of realism like you wouldn’t believe!!
EA Sports have also ramped up the difficulty stakes when it comes to delivering a pinpoint cross. Before, all you had to do to land a cross on your forwards head was tap the cross button and hope you did so with enough power to find him. This time there is a greater emphasis on having to align the cross with the RS, which is more difficult than you think when taking a buccaneering run. EA Sports seem to have realized this fact when they decided to include the baffling “Ruud Boy” achievement which requires you to score from a volley. Other aspects of the game are annoyingly or challengingly difficult to master as well. I’m sure I’m just being a noob here but how the fuck you’re supposed to score free kicks I have no idea. Cue 100 comments of people, rightly, calling me an idiot.
Another innovation is the “Player Impact Engine” which allows for more realistic and varied responses to various kinds of tackles. It is indeed as hilarious as it sounds that when you successfully execute a crunching sliding tackle on Nani he falls arse over tit. It is one of those things that when it is goes right it adds an incredible layer of realism to the gameplay and when it goes wrong it does so with extremely funny results. The ability to crash into your own player means that I have seen Suarez and Carol perform all manner of homo-erotic embraces and contortions after falling over each other.
The single player career mode is your standard “Play through a league season with the club of your choice” format with the major changes coming from the way that you interact with your players and the press. You actually can this time YEAH?!? This is a good addition in the main but I can’t shake the feeling that FIFA was trying to appeal to the rabid Football Manager fanbase who will gleefully play through 10 seasons, soiled nappies and all. The problem with FIFA is that once I get through one season I can’t imagine for the life of me why I’d want to play the second, which ultimately makes the idea of constructing a youth academy a useless premise. Also why should I give a fuck Carrick is unhappy because sitting on the bench is giving him bedsores? Sit there and rot you whiner!
Online gameplay has been greatly improved with the addition of “Head to Head Seasons” which grant you the same points as if playing in a real league. Accumulate enough of these points after 10 games and you can climb up through the leagues and offers a great incentive to play ranked matches. My one complaint with the online is not the fault of the developers but the fault of thousands upon thousands of fans; ‘Ok ok who am I playing...Oh Barcelona...That’s refreshing!’ Maybe I’m just sick of the site of a thousand virtual Messi’s turning me inside out but have some imagination people will you please?! I long for the days when I can pit my wits against the mighty Hartlepool or try to stop human mediocrity machine Darius Vassell.
Last year’s DLC only “Ultimate Team” mode is available on disk this time around and is a really fun experience that requires patience, timing and tactical nous. You can trade players, gain money to by packs of new players and swap them about to create lethal combinations. This mode is a true delight! As is the return of the Challenges to which FIFA are adding more and more to week in week out.
Overall the visuals are amazing, the authenticity is hard to top and Martin Tyler’s commentary is well acted and impeccably delivered. Which brings me nicely onto the main problem I have with FIFA 12. Chauvinist pig dog he may be but FIFA 12 makes me long for the days of the passionate Scott Andy Gray. Who didn’t love ‘Take a boo son!’? The problem is that they have replaced him with Buzz Killington himself Alan “Smudger” Smith who is about as exciting as a Help the Aged trip to Hull. Here is a person who delivers his lines with all the charisma and panache of a cold unseasoned potato soup given to you by a Soviet Matriarch aboard the Trans Siberian express. A train that has gone through a wormhole, taken a detour and broken down somewhere on the outskirts of Barnsley.
These flaws aside FIFA is as enjoyable as ever and has made great strides in maintaining its status as the most realistic representation of the beautiful game on the market.
FIFA 2012: 7/10
'BadIdeaDan' at mlm
So we meet again old friend.
After much umming and ahhing and some six years away from the seminal console football franchise I picked up FIFA 12 under the perhaps misguided apprehension that they had finally created the most realistic football experience short of doing it yourself and getting some much needed exercise in the process. EA sports have come together to help perpetuate the deluded fantasies of armchair football buffs and appeal to the ever growing crowd of people waking up to the fact that perspiration and aching muscles are no fun! You evil, maniacal, wonderful bastards you! The superior feeling one gets from mastering such a game is not quite on a par with the “Guitar Hero” franchise but seriously...I could have been Wayne Rooney! This football lark is a piece of piss!!
Let me preface all that follows by saying that I have never played one single second of the irritatingly worshipped Pro Evolution Soccer series. So with that, if you were expecting a comparison between the two games and 50 reasons why Fifa is better (or worse) than said game, you fan-boys who like to discuss the superiority of the “realistic dribbling system” will be sorely disappointed. I couldn’t give a rats hind-quarters frankly and yes my devotion (if you can call 6 years away devotion at all) to FIFA is founded upon the most shallow of criteria;
1. Superior Graphics
2. FIFA was here first...sorry!
3. I’m a real stickler for authenticity and FIFA holds all the licensing rights...I wouldn’t feel nearly as great about scoring a goal with some balding potato named “Layne Pooney” anyhow.
One of the things that irks me about yearly franchises is the apparent lack of imagination or innovation that is an inevitable result of the quick turnaround time. FIFA it seemed was one of the worst offenders for this type of air-headed complacency and that became one of the main reasons that this Pro Evo pretender was able to muscle its way onto the scene like an annoyingly pretentious hipster whose always one step ahead of his unfairly maligned older brother. See the thing is, FIFA promises its fans innovation every year and so far all it’s given us is barely a nod towards such improvements. Toddler steps were never going to get the franchise very far. Even if this toddler was cute and we were applauding it for trying we were still frustrated he was a slow stumbling little shit.
Well fans...FIFA has finally decided it wants to bulk up and sprint towards delivering truly mind boggling innovations. More power to them, but I’m really not sure if this is a good or a bad thing yet as I will now attempt to explain. The major innovation this year comes in the form of a new “more realistic” tackling system that I was quick to scoff at. ‘Oh yeah? What have they done? Added new “realistic sounds” in the foley studio??’ Imagine my utter stupefied surprise to find that this year’s innovation is so mind bendingly massive and game changing that it requires a whole fucking tutorial before you even start playing. Instead of mindlessly mashing the conservative tackle button in the hope you would finally catch up to that speedy prick Ronaldo, players must now employ a much more tactical and measured approach that requires patience and skill. There is an emphasis on jockeying and positioning that delivers a (dare I say it) much more realistic defending experience. In previous games no matter how many times you mashed the conservative tackle button your player would only tackle if he was close enough to do so. Doing the same in FIFA 12 will cause your player to kick out at thin air, take him out of the game for a few valuable seconds and generally leave you looking like a bit of a prick. There is also the option to harass the player on the ball and employ a sneaky shirt pull. Too much of this and the referee will deem it a foul which is often at times infuriating. This is FIFA folks but not as we know it.
I was impressed by the size of EA sports huevos in their employment of such a major change and it takes quite a while to get used to. Thing is, I’m not sure if the often frantic pace of FIFA lends itself to these kinds of investments in patient play. It is a well known fact that for a good few years now FIFA has successfully made its A.I. more tactically aware and harder to play against. Unless you’re are playing the game on the easiest of difficulty settings it is nigh on impossible to carry the ball the length of the pitch or score a hat-trick of forty yard belters. My brother and I still lovingly refer to such real-life exploits as “FIFA runs” when we see a player like human tank Micah Richards storm forward. That being so, for the regular player chances to breach an irritatingly solid defence, however satisfying it may be when you do, are few and far between. I don’t want to spend a quarter of the fleeting six minute half jockeying Ashley Young into a corner only to see the tricky rapscallion win the throw at the end of it. It may finally fall into place for me a few weeks down the road but I’m not quite there yet. The most infuriating thing about the new system for me is that it makes the difficulty spike between “Semi-Pro” difficulty and “Professional” difficulty annoyingly sharp especially when it comes to scoring goals. I spent my first week or so playing FIFA 12 deliberating the toss-up between being able to perform “FIFA runs” thus winning 9-0 and playing out frustrating 0-0 stalemates. I’m sure I’ll get there in the end and while the pick up and play element is there I would prefer more of a happy medium between the two difficulty levels. Scoring 5 with Peter Lovenkrands shatters the veneer of realism like you wouldn’t believe!!
EA Sports have also ramped up the difficulty stakes when it comes to delivering a pinpoint cross. Before, all you had to do to land a cross on your forwards head was tap the cross button and hope you did so with enough power to find him. This time there is a greater emphasis on having to align the cross with the RS, which is more difficult than you think when taking a buccaneering run. EA Sports seem to have realized this fact when they decided to include the baffling “Ruud Boy” achievement which requires you to score from a volley. Other aspects of the game are annoyingly or challengingly difficult to master as well. I’m sure I’m just being a noob here but how the fuck you’re supposed to score free kicks I have no idea. Cue 100 comments of people, rightly, calling me an idiot.
Another innovation is the “Player Impact Engine” which allows for more realistic and varied responses to various kinds of tackles. It is indeed as hilarious as it sounds that when you successfully execute a crunching sliding tackle on Nani he falls arse over tit. It is one of those things that when it is goes right it adds an incredible layer of realism to the gameplay and when it goes wrong it does so with extremely funny results. The ability to crash into your own player means that I have seen Suarez and Carol perform all manner of homo-erotic embraces and contortions after falling over each other.
The single player career mode is your standard “Play through a league season with the club of your choice” format with the major changes coming from the way that you interact with your players and the press. You actually can this time YEAH?!? This is a good addition in the main but I can’t shake the feeling that FIFA was trying to appeal to the rabid Football Manager fanbase who will gleefully play through 10 seasons, soiled nappies and all. The problem with FIFA is that once I get through one season I can’t imagine for the life of me why I’d want to play the second, which ultimately makes the idea of constructing a youth academy a useless premise. Also why should I give a fuck Carrick is unhappy because sitting on the bench is giving him bedsores? Sit there and rot you whiner!
Online gameplay has been greatly improved with the addition of “Head to Head Seasons” which grant you the same points as if playing in a real league. Accumulate enough of these points after 10 games and you can climb up through the leagues and offers a great incentive to play ranked matches. My one complaint with the online is not the fault of the developers but the fault of thousands upon thousands of fans; ‘Ok ok who am I playing...Oh Barcelona...That’s refreshing!’ Maybe I’m just sick of the site of a thousand virtual Messi’s turning me inside out but have some imagination people will you please?! I long for the days when I can pit my wits against the mighty Hartlepool or try to stop human mediocrity machine Darius Vassell.
Last year’s DLC only “Ultimate Team” mode is available on disk this time around and is a really fun experience that requires patience, timing and tactical nous. You can trade players, gain money to by packs of new players and swap them about to create lethal combinations. This mode is a true delight! As is the return of the Challenges to which FIFA are adding more and more to week in week out.
Overall the visuals are amazing, the authenticity is hard to top and Martin Tyler’s commentary is well acted and impeccably delivered. Which brings me nicely onto the main problem I have with FIFA 12. Chauvinist pig dog he may be but FIFA 12 makes me long for the days of the passionate Scott Andy Gray. Who didn’t love ‘Take a boo son!’? The problem is that they have replaced him with Buzz Killington himself Alan “Smudger” Smith who is about as exciting as a Help the Aged trip to Hull. Here is a person who delivers his lines with all the charisma and panache of a cold unseasoned potato soup given to you by a Soviet Matriarch aboard the Trans Siberian express. A train that has gone through a wormhole, taken a detour and broken down somewhere on the outskirts of Barnsley.
These flaws aside FIFA is as enjoyable as ever and has made great strides in maintaining its status as the most realistic representation of the beautiful game on the market.
FIFA 2012: 7/10
'BadIdeaDan' at mlm
Battlefield 3 Beta Overview.
The next few weeks are going to be a busy for most gamers. With the highly anticipated Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3 due to make and appearance, it is safe to say that there will be many people spending nights in trying to level up to get ahead of the competition.
The Battlefield 3 Beta gave us the first chance to see how the game will feel. Battlefield Bad Company 2 really blew me away when it first came out. It took into account many of the problems of most multiplayer first person shooters, in particular the Call of Duty series. Some of the best features were to reduce the amount of camping. Features like spotting and having no ability to go prone really balanced out campers vs rushers. The knifing system was also greatly improved. No panic knifing or commando lunges. Having the knife on a separate button helped. Also gaining a dog tag off the fallen player really added to the competition. The addition of squads helped to contribute to team work. Categories for players such as assault and engineer helped to stop players from being one man armies. Vehicles widened the scope for fun but also encouraged players to work as different classes and work together to take down an opponent. It was with baited breathe that I sampled the Battlefield 3 Beta.
So when I started playing the first thing I noticed was the ability to go prone has been added. I wanted to believe that Battlefield players would not abuse this new ability but from my short experience on the Beta it appears that players will hide and camp in bushes and then spring out, ruining the game. So for me this is not the greatest addition.
The next notable addition is the addition of a flashlight attachment. You can light up dark areas of the map and also blind opponents. More frustratingly, if you want to annoy your friends or team mates then put the flash light on and shine it in their eyes. This soon gets old when some annoying players decide to do this constantly or whilst you are defending an objective. Even more frustrating is that red dot sites on primary guns will also blind team mates. Although this is more like real war, this is a simulated game where people will mess around and abuse the system. What I will say is that it is pretty funny when you see some noob in prone hiding in a bush, giving away his presence by having his flashlight on. So maybe it's not all bad!
The next thing is the knifing system. They have taken the old system and put an action to the knife system. Although this makes it more realistic than a panic knife, it is quite hard to initiate the action. You can be behind someone and it just will not connect! It also takes a while to finish the action and if you get that golden moment and run into a group of unsuspecting snipers all sat looking out of a window; one of them may just notice in the kill feed that his buddy who was sat next to him has been knifed. But of course it's worth the risk as you can still get those dog tags!
Squads and team play are hard to comment on as in the Beta it was difficult to get into a squad with a friend and also there were no vehicles, hence no encouragement for anyone to use the engineer class.
There were also the flaws in the map where players were able to hide under the map and take out players without being seen. But this is to be expected with a Beta and will be ironed out in no time. So I won't go into any more details on this. The one map that we did see, on the whole looked like it would be a lot of fun in the full version.
Time is running low and Battlefield 3 will be released very soon. I hope that some of these issues will be ironed out. I'm not quite sure how they will be able to fix some of them. I can't wait to see the finished product and I hope this game is going to as good as it promises to be. More importantly will it be the game to finally topple the Call of Duty franchise from the top of the pile?
'RazorRich' at mlm
The Battlefield 3 Beta gave us the first chance to see how the game will feel. Battlefield Bad Company 2 really blew me away when it first came out. It took into account many of the problems of most multiplayer first person shooters, in particular the Call of Duty series. Some of the best features were to reduce the amount of camping. Features like spotting and having no ability to go prone really balanced out campers vs rushers. The knifing system was also greatly improved. No panic knifing or commando lunges. Having the knife on a separate button helped. Also gaining a dog tag off the fallen player really added to the competition. The addition of squads helped to contribute to team work. Categories for players such as assault and engineer helped to stop players from being one man armies. Vehicles widened the scope for fun but also encouraged players to work as different classes and work together to take down an opponent. It was with baited breathe that I sampled the Battlefield 3 Beta.
So when I started playing the first thing I noticed was the ability to go prone has been added. I wanted to believe that Battlefield players would not abuse this new ability but from my short experience on the Beta it appears that players will hide and camp in bushes and then spring out, ruining the game. So for me this is not the greatest addition.
The next notable addition is the addition of a flashlight attachment. You can light up dark areas of the map and also blind opponents. More frustratingly, if you want to annoy your friends or team mates then put the flash light on and shine it in their eyes. This soon gets old when some annoying players decide to do this constantly or whilst you are defending an objective. Even more frustrating is that red dot sites on primary guns will also blind team mates. Although this is more like real war, this is a simulated game where people will mess around and abuse the system. What I will say is that it is pretty funny when you see some noob in prone hiding in a bush, giving away his presence by having his flashlight on. So maybe it's not all bad!
The next thing is the knifing system. They have taken the old system and put an action to the knife system. Although this makes it more realistic than a panic knife, it is quite hard to initiate the action. You can be behind someone and it just will not connect! It also takes a while to finish the action and if you get that golden moment and run into a group of unsuspecting snipers all sat looking out of a window; one of them may just notice in the kill feed that his buddy who was sat next to him has been knifed. But of course it's worth the risk as you can still get those dog tags!
Squads and team play are hard to comment on as in the Beta it was difficult to get into a squad with a friend and also there were no vehicles, hence no encouragement for anyone to use the engineer class.
There were also the flaws in the map where players were able to hide under the map and take out players without being seen. But this is to be expected with a Beta and will be ironed out in no time. So I won't go into any more details on this. The one map that we did see, on the whole looked like it would be a lot of fun in the full version.
Time is running low and Battlefield 3 will be released very soon. I hope that some of these issues will be ironed out. I'm not quite sure how they will be able to fix some of them. I can't wait to see the finished product and I hope this game is going to as good as it promises to be. More importantly will it be the game to finally topple the Call of Duty franchise from the top of the pile?
'RazorRich' at mlm