Raxous / Rax

My latest piece has just gone up on NewbReview.com, it concerns the future of game ownership, and I hope it will stimulate thought and debate by anyone serious about games!

Check it out here!

I’m contributing to the excellent NewbReview Podcast now and this was my very first outing!

Have a listen here!

New piece I co-authored has gone up on NewbReview.com.

It’s our take on Nintendo and why all gamers should learn to respect, if not love, them!

Check it out here!

My latest piece has gone live at newbreview (the leading plain english video game website!)

http://newbreview.com/2010/03/18/multiplayer-preview-command-conquer-4-tiberium-twilight/

Comment on there with your thoughts!

So hows this looking?

Well, despite being limited to one map it’s basically amazing!

One of the biggest and best features is that, despite there being only 1 map it never looks the same twice!

“How is that possible?” I hear you say, well the map STARTS exactly the same each time but is transformed by the felling of trees, the destruction of walls & the leveling of entire buildings.

There are very few games which can give you a real sense of cause & effect, but sprinting round a corner into the safety of cover provided by a 2 floor house you know is there, only to find that not only is it totally demolished this time round, but there’s a tank sitting on top of the rubble is a real game changer!

Not only that, but snipers beware! Used to hiding in the top floor of a 3 floor building with team mates guarding access? Erm, not in this game, you can’t duck behind the window to avoid a tank shell or rpg, no, even if you do manage to do that you can guarantee that the next explosion will remove at least 1/2 the roof and very likely any health you had remaining with it! To be a sniper in BFBC2 requires real guile and consideration for camouflage & cover & even then you may get another sniper calling artillery in on your location, so you’d better be ready to run!!

In addition to this major feature, bringing a huge leap in realism to the genre, the 4 classes included are brilliantly handled. I can honestly say that in most “rounds” I will play as each of the 4 classes at different points. Why? Because each one excells in an area necessary to wind the round.

Assault : For toe to toe, man to man, fighting he’s your man (or woman), excellent pound for pound damage, but not much tactical element other than the ability to provide much needed resupply of ammunition to others. But this can be key, specially when dealing with Engineers who may need a few extra, precious, RPGs or snipers out of bullets or charges. Good, solid Assault play, specially in the final 3rd of the video.

Recon : Sniper & Artillery co-ordinator who also carries a tank & building levelling explosive charge, but are you brave enough to use it in the heat of battle! Outmanouvering your opposition and sniping from the flank or securing a choke point can turn a game in seconds. A sniper controls the opponents most powerful vehicle.

Medic : Able to provide not just healing & “ressurection” but also excellent covering fire with their machine gun. The ability to get team mates back on their feet in 1 or 2 seconds rather than requiring them to travel back to the front line after re-spawning (which can take anywhere up to 30 -40 seconds on occasion) should not be underestimated. Retaining a strong front line is more important than ever in this game. A good demo of some of the Medics key features.

Engineer : Vital for both repairing your and destroying their vehicles, also packs a punch as a distance cover destroyer with their RPGs able to make life very unconfortable for entrenched snipers. Mines add the final piece to this powerful & skill requiring class. Whomever can maintain a vehicular superiority in this game has a very significant advantage. The Engineer doing his thing.

So there you go. If I haven’t been clear yet this is THE team based shooter. It not only beats MW2 at it’s own game but also builds on all the best aspects of the other leading shooters. The new gold standard for “realistic” online FPS. Fact.

And I haven’t even covered vehicle usage and play…  because that is a WHOLE other post!

Have been using this for a while now and I’m loving it. It’s an all in one game tracking & community website.

If you like games, check it out!

http://www.raptr.com

So I finished Mass Effect 2 and frankly I’m very dissappointed…

(Wait for it!!!)…

Very dissappointed because I REALLY wanted it to be at least 10 times longer…

(*blub*, *sob*, *whimper*, *gnashing of teeth*)…

Having said that, it contains soooo much replayability value so I’m just gonna be straight back on it! Yay!

Anyone who knows me knows it takes a lot to make me play a game twice all the way through… there’s just so many games out there! I want to play a new one, not replay an old “one”! So the fact I’ll be getting back in to it says a lot.

Anyway, let’s get to it, was it any good? Well, yes, and not only was it good, it was a whole new type of good, it threw “good” out of the window and created a whole new “good” which is much more like “this game is %$#£&@!^# amazing”.

This game has something for everyone and  I thought it picked up the mantle of such seminal games as; “System Shock 2″, “DeusEx”, “KOTOR” & “BioShock” and ran off with it into a whole new world of awesome. Yes it keeps things simple in terms of equipment choice. Yes it’s skill progression & choice is limited. Yes it’s weapon choice is limited & simple. But NONE of these things negatively impacts the game, infact these things serve the experience by ensuring that all out time can be spent on what the game does best which is… “the experince”. Put all you preconceptions aside (I am a huge fan of ME1 BTW) and you will LOVE this game. “The experience” is slick. For the very first time I really felt like I was in a movie and, without spoilers, let’s just say I felt like I was part of events that developed, rather than the ultimate being doing my thing while the universe waited for me to decide what would happen to it. Yes I had control, but it is so cleverly done it’s breathtaking! The whole game screams quality, nothing is done badly.

Anyway, enough stream of conciousness, not helpful, let’s talk specifics;

Gameplay: Perfect. yes, you heard me! Sliding into cover is a delight, poping up to shoot is a delight (particularily dodging a heavy weapon or power / skill at the last second as you duck back into cover after firing… if only there was a button mapped to “snigger”…), skill use is well… a delight (throw ‘em, burn ‘em, warp ‘em, slam ‘em, freeze ‘em, lift ‘em, turn ‘em on each other… and the list goes on!!!) Fights don’t drag on, but are almost always a challenge (and often in very different & clever ways! “Sorry? What? My shields don’t work? Erm… bother… *puts shotgun away*”)

Story, Script & Dialog: Beautifully done. Definately better than any recent film. Interrupts are a fantastic idea / addition. Every companion feels unique, interesting & complete. Absorbing. Theres also no unnecessarily long diatribes or “fluff” in either story or dialog. It’s direct, gritty, witty and engrossing. The acting is top draw too, which a a bonus, and a very welcome one.

Graphics, Sound & Atmoshpere: Flawless. Live the movie people, live the movie! Trust me, just play it!

Variety & Replayability: Amazing. Just when you were going to get bored the game puts a spin on missions, dialog or combat, gives you access to a new skill or companion option or hits you with a major plot development and it’s all exciting and fresh again (and again! and AGAIN!!) Yay!!!

GREAT:

• Erm, everything! (seriously, I’m not listing it, it would be pages & pages)

NOT-SO-GREAT:

• Hacking mini-game: Seriously, it’s very nearly an embarassment.
• Equipment choice: It works, but it is the absolute most basic systems they could get away with.

Gameplay Hints & Tips;

• Powers / Skills recharge (& VERY fast when you level them later in the game), ammo never does.
• Headshots. Headshots. Headshots.
• Tough fight? Send your team into fire infront of you (using the “position” system) & then enter the fray yourself afterwards, the opposing “mobs” will be focused on attacking them, oh and you can ressurect your companions if they go down, but game over when you go down.
• If you are a reasonable FPS player then play on “Veteran” difficulty. It’s just too easy otherwise.
• If you are a good / very good FPS player then play on “Hardcore”.
• Don’t be afraid to pause & micro manage your team if things get tough.
• Warp Ammo.
• Extra Shields is NEVER a bad choice.

How to make ME3 Perfect:

• Keep everything from ME2 as it is but;
• Completely re-do the hacking game. It’s not difficult to make a good one (See Covert Action‘s “Electronics” (from 1990!) or BioShock‘s version, both HUGELY better!) Oh and make sure hacking difficulty scales with rewards.
• Bring drops back, defeating adverseries & not having them drop ANYTHING is silly and breaks immersion.
• Bring full equipment variety (weapons, armour, ammo & amps) back. Having to choose which combination of damage, accuracy or cooldown you want  and / or deciding if damage reductions suits your play style better than extra shields is a very rewarding, even if it has little actual effect on gameplay!!
• Make research more complex & developed. Multi-resource requirements and a tech-tree style interface would be much better, also more complex pre-requisites would help (See the X-Com series (from 1994!) for how to do research properly)
• Add co-op mode.
• Add true “flight” & ship to ship space combat. (See X-Wing (from 1993!) for how to do this perfectly) . Or at least have a “gunnery” type mini-game in it’s place if not possible!
• Oh and make sure that flying the ship uses fuel whenever it moves, the current setup is just wrong!

So, please, PLEASE, if you have ANY money,  go now and buy Mass Effect 2, now… please!!! Go!

You: “Hmmm… ‘Mass Effect 2′… not that interested in it, I don’t like FPS and / or RPGs.”

Me: “Really? OK. Please be so kind as to press the “play” button below;”

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Want to play it now? Yes I thought so… thank me later!

Interesting article from the Beeb

So not overall brain size per se, but rather the sizes of certain parts of the brain… so my big fat head is of no particualar help then… pity…

A reminder of where we stood in 2009, in advance of the 2010 report(s).

The 2009 games industry statistics (as provided by ESA) made for interesting reading as usual!

(All data is US data, Oh and in the report “Video” = “Console” & “Computer” = “PC”)

In 2008 / 2009 the facts / stats of particular interest to me were;

• The combined “Games” industry was worth 11.7 billion dollars ($11,700,000,000.00!).
• Console games outearnt (gross sales) PC games by OVER 15:1!
• Console games outsold (unit sales) PC games by OVER 9:1!
• Over 40% of people have bought / played a Video or Computer Game.
• 25% of gamers are over 50.
• 40% of gamers are female.
•  The average gamer is 35 years old.

What will 2010 bring?