Skyrim: Review

It has been quiet on this blog for a while and that may have something to do with Batman: Arkham City (PC), Saints Row the Third and Skyrim. If not, then congratulations: you have found a rock to hide under that will keep even an atomic apocalypse at bay.
I think Skyrim alone has my agenda booked for a few years and I wish I was joking but I'm not.

It's hard if not impossible to review the game without comparing the game to its predecessor, Oblivion. And in many aspects the game feels and plays much like Oblivion 2.0 than a truly new game.

This doesn't need to be a negative comment however. Many stupid flaws like bandits pimped out in daedric armor has been removed, and turned into a more realistic way. This mostly due to a revamped levelling system. The game thankfully throws away number-crunching and instead opts for perks in the form of a stellar talent tree of sorts.
The graphics and animations are a much improvement, and gone are the outdated and dreadful faces from Oblivion. That is not to say that Skyrim is a next-gen game however. Graphically it's a very pretty game especially in its depiction of the wild northern wastelands. Unfortunately animation-wise melee still feels artifical and clunky. The game's incorporation of finishing blow cinematics helps that somewhat, especially on larger foes such as dragons but often it's not very seamless when it comes to normal foes.



Unfortunately what Skyrim does not succeed in improving from Oblivion, is its stupid AI and pathfinding. NPC's either have an IQ similar to that of Skyrim's temperature. or they were all dropped on their heads as an infant and then promptly used as some kind of Nordic basketball substitute. This is even worse if you manage to have a henchman. If you play as an archer they will invariably run in front of you to a point where an arrow magnet would drop to its knees for in worship. Half the time they will run away to fight some thing (god knows what) half the map away. At some point I noticed my companion Lydia had been absent the last few hours I played. Probably chasing some vampiric butterflies or a similarly retarded aberration of the mind.
To be honest your henchmen are so stupid that they only have one practical use: As a glorified mule to carry *my* dungeon swag.

And then of course there's the crashes, errors and the often-hilarious infamous Bethesda glitches. As mentioned before at some point I lost Lydia, and later I decided to have a go at marriage. I obtained the quest to attend my own wedding ceremony. Piece of cake I thought, and I set the waiting timer to 24 hours.
I was greeted by two men spawning at the door, with in their midst a naked woman's corpse: Lydia



"Honey, I can explain" I muttered to myself  as I saw the dooming "You have failed the quest" dance in front of my eyes.
Luckily I was able to drag her corpse to a side-room, including a priest telling me "To stop that" during my blasphemous act, and try the wedding a second succesful time.


And then there's the character that got an arrow stuck in its head which was more relentless to remove than a  hobo from an atm machine:

The game's biggest flaw though is its User Interface. A UI is supposed to be practical and intuitive.  Those are exactly the values that Skyrim's UI is lacking. On the contrary it's clumsy and unresponsive. It's so bad that it becomes impossible at times to click on the right item in your inventory.
Another failure is how the game introduces "Favorites". They are like a custom skill bar except you need to press "Q" and then move your cursor to the right magic skill or item. This also pauses the game.
So, why not use a skill bar in the first place with an integrated hotkey ability?

Beats me.

Overall though Skyrim is a lovely and addictive game. Where Bethesda truly outshone itself in however is the complexity of Skyrim's open world. Skyrim is a northern landscape encompassing glaciers, vast white mountains and tundras. It's an immersive world that at this point can't be equalled by any other game. It's definately the best installment so far in the Elder Scrolls saga.
It's a game where you are encouraged to explore and investigate and be rewarded for that by finding new dungeons, a great amount to detail to Skyrim's beauty and the ability to create your own story.

Skyrim is a game where each gameplay is vast and unique. It's a game that even with its many flaws, and at times even thanks to its flaws, is a game of beauty, unrivalled in its genre.

Saints Row 3 : Launch Trailer

I have been writing about Saints Row 3 for a while now, and the game was finally launched in the UK on the 18th of November. You can view the game trailer here:



I have been playing it for a bit now and I have to say the beginning sequence has to be one of the best I've ever played to my knowledge. It's completely over the top and plays as if it came straight from a Jason Statham film. Ranging from robbing a bank while handing out autographs to crash-landing through an air plane's front windows. No seriously.
The game's slight satirical tone blends in extremely well so far. This is especially noticeable at the beginning when watching a Saints Row (Japanese) commercial.

I'm intending to post a review of the game later this week after I've completed it, and I hope the game can keep the high quality from the beginning chapter. If that's the case then this is going to be one damn rollercoaster of fun and explosions.
 Even if that's not the case, so far I have to admit that Saints Row the Third is holding its ground quite well compared to simultaneous killer game releases: Skyrim and Arkham City. And having played all three at the moment, that's one hell of a compliment.







Although this is a sponsored article, my opinion stated herin is my own and unbiased.

Saints Row 3: Pimps and Gimps

Saints Row the Third is being released this week here in the UK on the 18th of November. In accordance to that THQ has released its newest trailer which is aptly named: Pimps and Gimps

You can view it here:



As you can see this video showcases some of the more aaaah, let's say "creative" things you can do or encounter in the game. They range from the surreal, to the completely ludicrous. So here's a quick break down:

Inflated sex dolls: Check
Gimp-driven chariots racing in true Ben Hur style: Check
Dr. Seuss Hats: Check
Flipping off cars while simultaneously blowing them to hell: Check
Burt FUCKING Reynolds: Wait ... what?!


This game just begs to be played with copious amounts of spirits, so my weekend just got interesting ... for once. Bring it on!



This article has been sponsored by Burt effin' Reynolds, Patron Saint of Movember

Sponsored Video: Samsung Note

Samsung recently released a video introducing its recent product, the Samsung Note. You can view it here:




As far as a gadgets goes, the Samsung Note has a large array of possiblities as showcased by the video. Even its specs are nothing to sneeze about. From a 1.4 Dual Core Processor to its HD display screen.

I have a suspicion however that its entire existence seems to be built upon it being a gap for other technologies, more specifically tablets; as promptly indicated by the Samsung Note using a stylo.
And it is exactly there that the crux of its achilles heel resides: It's a great device but I can't help but look at it and find it a clumsily and rather unpractical large smartphone. But for someone who enjoys the functionality of a tablet but who is at the same time marred by a tablet's lack of portability, then the Samsung Note is definitely a worthy option!




This is a sponsored article.

Blizzard: Marketing at its finest/most deviant

Blizzcon is what the old Romans used to call Panem et Circenses. Pleasing the crowd with an overdose of entertainment and news on some of the hottest games. They even have their own triumvirate: WoW,  Starcraft,  and Diablo.
It's an also an incredible PR circus and Blizzard are keen masters of suspense, the newest expansion called Mists of Pandaren was probably on any gaming site and blog that is worth a single damn. This one excluded, but then again, it's not really worth a damn anyway.
The most revealing information during Blizcon however, was not the new expansion, it was actually a deal where they offered a free Diablo 3 copy to anyone who took an annual subscription of WoW. You can read it for yourself in full detail here.
It would be naive to interpret this as a present to the loyal fans, and it would not be giving it enough credit to simply say they get their money back from the subscriptions.
Note instead how they give the newest game for free. In the gaming industry this is very rarely done. In fact, tt is usually the other way round. For example how the preorder of Modern Warfare 3 comes with an older instalment of the franchise. Or how at some point you got a free Mass Effect 2 with Dragon Age 2.

This is a marketing move at its finest, and marketing is always a strategic move to address present and future situations. So it is always useful to look at not just what is mentioned, but especially at what is hinted at between the lines.

Boosting Diablo 3 Revenue:

This does not seem to make sense at first sight seeing as how they're giving a free copy away, but let's not forget that Blizzard is making use of an online auction system in Diablo 3. And more precise, an online auction system where they take a cut.
There's also a very likely chance they will introduce expansions to this game as well, because let's face it, Blizzard and Activision know how to milk out their franchise. So having a larger player base will increase their revenue from Diablo a lot further in the pipeline than it probably would otherwise.
So directly and indireclty Blizzard will be getting some pretty decent monetary means back from this deal out of Diablo 3.

Boosting WoW Revenue:

The promotional stunt is of course naturally more inclined to further the revenue of WoW sales, but to understand what Blizzard is gaining here it's necessary to list the effects and background first:

Firstly, this is a very timely deal that is announced roughly two months before the launch of  Star Wars: The Old Republic. TOR is a rival MMO with a gameplay that is almost identical to WoW. Hooking players for one full year to WoW will undoubtedly keep quite a few players to WoW instead of them changing lanes. Of course people will see if the grass will be greener on the other side, but to engage into two monthly subscriptions for two games at the same time, that is a step few will likely take.
Secondly, there will be a guaranteed move from WoW players to the game of Diablo 3. The Diablo franchise may not be an MMO, but it has a deep online cult status. And although both games run on Blizzard's own platform Battle.net, there is still the surface-problem to Blizzard's shareholders that a profit from Diablo 3 could be at the cost of a declining playerbase of WoW. By hooking their own players to WoW, that effect will only have the effect of a mere ripple.
Thirdly, the Mists of Pandaren announcement may have been met with joy, but it may easily cause a rift within the community between the game's huge casual player-base, and it's hardcore and raiding playerbase. The latter is a minority in the game, but it is also a very vocal one. This is further affirmed by many of the game's famous community members foregoing the next expansion for other MMO's or games. Its biggest and most (in)famous example being Total Biscuit.

These are all actions that are specifically aimed at adressing a current and future decreasing amount of subscribers. Before this article was written it has been known that Blizzard has already lost a million subscribers. This is still peanuts compared to the 10 million remaining players of WoW. But taking into account both a theoretical loss to TOR and GW2, a subsequent switch towards D3 and a sceptical reception of its newest expansion means that Blizzard is forced to go on the defence for perhaps the first time in its PR and marketing. That, or they are finally preparing to move their eggs to a new basket: Titan.

Shock and Awe

The latest trailer from Saints Row 3 is a brutally sharp "fuck you" to the popular upcoming releases of Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3. For anyone not familiar with those games (where in the nine hells have you been living? in space?).
Anyway, you can get right up to date with this fitting video describing both publisher's recent behaviour.

Which reminds me, is Saints Row 3 trying to say here it's the third dog ... cat? running away with the bone?

Unfortunately I doubt it,  but it's quite pleasing to see a game embrace its free nature and over-the-top humour as much as Saints Row the third does, while at the same time mocking the most popular and current linear first-person shooters. You can watch the trailer here:





I am an advertorial. No seriously, it says so right here.

Rage Review

Wolfenstein, Doom, Quake, Doom 3D, ...

id has a legacy of first person shooters that not only helped define the genre, it perhaps single-handedly sculpted its defining aspects and tropes.
It's not unsurprising then that after so many years of silence and hard work on their latest franchise, the stakes were bigger than the distance I tend to keep from Activision.

But did Rage hold up to the hype? Unfortunately the question is more, could Rage ever really stand up to the hype?

I could sum the PC version of the game up in one brilliant picture:








The PC version of Rage is Fubar, and although game releases for that particular platform very rarely ever went smooth, this one has already been listed in the PC annals of a complete cluster fuck due to a lack of correct drivers, and textures looking like they're from the prehistoric year of 2000.
As a game reviewer this gives me a lot of mixed feelings. The technology behind the engine is certainly phenomenal and that is because id took huge risks to once again provide genre-defining graphics, ...
Yet, the amount of problems on the PC release beg the question if enough development and QA went into that platform in the first place?
The end-result is pretty damning for id.

During the Eurogamer Expo we were shown a few early passages in the game, and it looked a vibrant open world. The comparisons with Borderlands and Fallout were never far away, and perhaps by this time it's a reference that's been overdone already.
But playing the game, it doesn't take long to realize the open world and large vibrant wasteland, is nothing more than an optical illusion. At its core Rage is still a corridor shooter, except its walls give you the impression that there's a whole wide world lying open .... in vain.
It's a very fine optical illusion and I think very few would mind playing through it, but I was still reminded of a self-mocking and ironic quote from a Gearbox dev during a preview of Borderlands 2 saying "Our artists did a lot of research, they actually found out there's other colours in the palette"

As amazingly deep and colourful as Rage's characters are, as brownish pale and montone the colour palette in Rage is.

And that brings out another important aspect of Rage. You can compare Rage as a genre-game with an identity crisis. It's a shooter combined with both racing sequences and quite a few what we would call RPG elements such as quests, fleshed-out character personalities, ...
But it's like with Mr' Jekyll and Mr. Hyde where the shooter element keeps the RPG elements in check. The world is open but the game still holds your leash tighter than a Beegees pants. Heck, tighter than David Cameron's vagina. And before any Indigned Conservatives start spouting nonsense. Of course he doesn't have a vagina, he's an asexual lizard after all.
But anyway, they included a linear story that still feels generic and bland, etc ...
Rage is more of a cautious attempt of flirting with other genres, but being afraid of stepping too far and for that reason doesn't go as far as it should go.

The good news is, as a shooter Rage is still an id game at its best. You have a vast arsenal of over-the-top and unique weapons that each sound and fire as they should. My favourite being the sniper rifle with a bang and kick as it should be. Additional props also to the Wingsticks, which can be compared to sharp boomerangs you can use when the enemy closes in on you. And don't think Rage makes the mistake of having your melee opponents run into you in a very British queue all lined up to be popped in glee. They're insidious critters hopping and rolling in to claim your head all too eager. As AI goes, it's incredibly good. Also great is the fact that the bullets have a kick and you can see the effects of the impact on your opponents. Shoot them in the leg and you'll more often than not see them hobble towards you instead.

The shooter elements in Rage are all great, and graphically it is a stunning game. But it still doesn't detract from the fact that with the lazy writing, short time-span and too many old clichés in there, it can only be a decent to good game.
Rage is as potentially wasted as its wasteland setting.

Orcs Must Die Review!

Orcs Must Die from Robot Entertainment doesn't really pretend to hide behind the most intricate concept or story. Its premise is crystal-clear. Gotta stop that Orc invasion.
You have an insane arsenal of traps at your disposal ranging from the usual spike trap, or swinging blades and sizzling brimstone floors but you are also granted magic items, as the protagonist isn't exactly an apt mage. In fact, he's a cocky dimwitted wise-guy. And I like him for that. Evil Dead is never far away when playing, and that can never be a bad thing. Especially not when playing as the Chin.

Hurrrr

It's also an incredibly fun game with a surprisingly deep gameplay. Don't let the simple premise fool you with that. The developers have cleverly put fighting in the game as a means of thinning out the Orc rank in between traps/spells through the use of either melee or ranged. The game lends itself more to a ranged style however, especially with a very satisfactory albeit inaccurate crossbow. It is this fighting that gives the game a more intense gameplay than most tower defence games I've played. It's easy to fall into the trap of playing the game as a simple tower defence game but that would not be doing the gameplay any justice. On top of that, the in-game fighting means it's not impossible to get the upper hand again if the monsters bypass some traps.
The map  is also often laden with regular objects that you can cleverly use at your own disposal. You can shoot down chandeliers for example, or pots with lava.
The maps are varied and although they usually favour one or two methods. Bottlenecking orcs, slowing them, then frying them like oversized piggies is one of the most satisfying things I've done in a videogame for the last month or so.

Sizzlin' Orc

 Unfortunately, you'll find yourself going back to roots and improved archers for most of the time, and it's sad how the majority of the traps will collect dust because there's little use for them. I don't think I ever used steam traps and a few of the wall blades for example.

The graphics and animations are extremely solid and pleasingly cartoony. The traps have a distinct look and the cut scenes although adding little to the story, are a nice refreshment and are enjoyable to watch. The entirety of the game is exceptionally well-designed. Give this Robot a chapeau tbh.

The only thing thing missing is a form of co-op in the game. Although I can imagine co-op would need a restructuring of maps and scaling difficulty the game almost feels designed to work together through either the use of combining traps or perhaps each defending your own corridor and backing each other up. It's a shame because it would give the game the ultimate extra value.

A very recommended game that lends itself perfect as a few hours of stress-relief!

RIFT Patch 1.5: Win a free copy! (CLOSED)

It's surprising how apart from some quick previews there haven't been many articles here yet on MMO's. Especially considering how we will soon get absolutely bombarded with them for the next months to a year with titles such as KOR, GW2 and Wildstar, because for some reason the community hasn't agreed yet on a fitting acronym for the latter.


Gameplay-wise RIFT has about the same combat and addictive/grinding gameplay like all other MMO's. The comparisons between RIFT and WoW for example have been beat to death so far,  so I'll spare you of that boring drivel. But RIFT does offer a level of detail rarely seen in other games, granting it a slick, translucent feel of a triple A game. In an interview a long time ago, Trion mentioned that to stay alive in the competitive world of mmo's, they needed to adept and evolve. Rift's answer to that was definitely by it's amazing graphics. It is a bold move as well since the lower the specs an mmo has, typically the more subscribers it can rake in. You can see that by having a look at previews of the new Star Wars mmo, or by Blizzard's constant catering to its own Midas-complex.

The other commendable element is Trion's fastpaced highquality patching service. In my interview with Hergen Thaens, the German community manager, I was told it was their aim to keep bringing out a new patch packed with new content each 6 weeks. In its latest patch we got a new battleground, a new post lvling system to customize your role even more, and my favourite: Chronicles, which is a sort of co-op mode for dungeons. An amazing feature that's just perfect for the people that play it only casually with a friend or partner.
The story of Hergen Thaens himself is both remarkable and enviable, having been picked for the function after he quit his old boring job. Having been active in the German community he was being referred after there was a job vacancy for a local community manager.
It proves, there's hope for us all!
He also hinted at an expansion for the game, so we can start speculating on that.

To celebrate the new patch I have a free copy of RIFT to hand-out, courtesy of Trion, to anyone currently living in the UK or Belgium. All you need to do is tell me what the world of Rift is called:

A: Azeroth
B: Kansas
C: Telara
D: Erfworld







Mail me your answer, name and address at confuzzledgeek  AT gmail DOT com and I will randomly pick a winner with the correct answer.
If your email bounces back, please get off my interwebs, turn off your computer, and do the world a favour and never turn it back on.




I'd like to thank the German community manager Hergen Thaens, but also the French communtiy manager Michael Servotte for the free copy, the interviews at Eurogamer Expo, and for just being all-round awesome peeps.

Saints Row 3: The Wide World of Genki

Saints Row 3 keeps on releasing trailers with some serious WTF value. I wouldn't even bat an eyelash if they'd show it in one of those freaky Japanese reality TV shows. I'd really like to know who slipped crack in the coffee of these developers during their "brainstorm" meetings. Or in this case more accurately: Who slipped the coffee in their crack.
The latest video shows "Fun for the whole fucking family" I'd honestly doubt Peggy would agree, but it's definitely the first time that the word "ethical" hasn't got me fast asleep on my desk like a sloth who overdosed on prozac.

The only bad thing? The winner gets to keep his or her own life, awwww.
The best part? An octopus gun. I'm looking forward to nut shot with that....

Watch it here:








This advertorial is sponsored by THQ to promote hilarity of ethical proportions.

OnLive Review

OnLive is a cloud-based gaming system that has been live in America for some time, and only just recently joined the European market, especially the UK and Belgium. Because of that they had a massively marketed booth in Eurogamer Expo and I had the chance to have a chat with one of their CEO's.

Cloud-gaming is much like streaming your games. The games are running on hardware somewhere else, and you simply play the game "on the cloud". It's actually a quite natural step in today's digital world. Where we used to have everything located on our personal computer, much of our info nowadays is already on the cloud. Think of Twitter for example, and Apple's latest belated iCloud.
Streaming games might seem odd but it has a few inherently powerful benefits. The most important one is that since the games are running on different hardware, you can actually run near any game whatever specs your computer has. "If you can run Youtube videos, you will be able to run our games" I was told during the private interview.
OnLive is also a cross platform console, so it can be played on your TV (although it will need a USB port), your PC, laptop, Mac, but even your iPad. During the developer session in Eurogamer Expo we saw an example of From Dust, running on an iPad almost as if the game was made just for that application. Smooth and fluently.

Of course the downside of the games running on the server's hardware, is naturally that the quality of your game becomes inherently tied to your broadband infrastructure. If your network cannot cope you'll be inevitably witnessing huge latency. For that reason OnLive will work on a PC, but if you have decent hardware then I strongly suggest you stick to a traditional way of playing.
If you're a hardcore gamer or you're into e-sports, then it will matter even more, since you will never be able to beat the response-time you would have normally, than with OnLive.

It's still an amazing console, so small and lightweight you could easily take it with you when you travel, and as it's cross-platform it makes it an even more practical device.

Cloudgaming is definitely the future of gaming, but the jury is still out on its verdict on OnLive. But since OnLive is heavily marketing its release in the UK with promotions and great deals, I heartily recommend any gamer be it hardcore or casual, to pick this up. Perhaps even more so if you are the latter, since it is so accessable.

Rage Preview

Sometimes I wonder. When you think of the world of ultraviolence from Clockwork Orange, wasn't it really just a premonition of the 90's id Games such as Wolfenstein 3D, Quake, and Doom.
You know, the point of the games  is just finding new ways on how to blast monsters, nazis, or really whatever, to shreds. In his presentation at Eurogamer Expo Tim Willits brought us back in time showing footage from the old classics and also gave them perception with his quote "against Nintendo sensitivity". I got the fortunate chance to chat to him and shake hands and now I'll never wash that hand again. Already banned at work for that, but so worth it!

Mind you they were all great games, single-handedly both inventing and revolutionizing the First-Person Shooter genre with its aspects of violence, great engines, and pvp addition. The other side of the coin being of course that it turned the genre quite stale. You only need to look at the recent Modern Crapfare games to understand that point. The genre has got stuck.

Unfortunately don't expect anything quite as revolutionizing in their recent game Rage. You can come to that conclusion by having a look at the background setting and story. A post-apocalyptic wasteland with a world dominated by "The Authority" and a rebel faction quite aptly and creatively dubbed the "Resistance".
It's a setting that's been beaten to death by now like a reanimated dead horse. It proves that even though id has finally had a go at dialogue and story, it really is just a little loincloth covering the gratuitous violence and gore.
The only thing Rage may be revolutioning is even a negative thing. Namely the gaming industry trying to crack down on second-hand games by offering content tied to the original game. Tsk Tsk...

That's not too say Rage is a bad game, in fact to the contrary. I played it during the Expo and had a blast. Of course expect no depth, instead it's like a virtual game of popping a bubble wrap sheet. Except in this case it's popping heads with a double barrel shotgun to the face and giggling like a 14-year old schoolgirl. And really, would you seriously have it any other way?
The game has vehicles but they're smooth and very reactive to the environment. Drive against a large rock and see your character being plummeted to the high skies and his own embarrassing death. Much to the amusement of any spectators of course. The game's engine has an amazing quality of detail that we've been accustomed to by id. It boasts a weapon arsenal that would make the most perverted gun nut drool like a fat kid looking at cake. You can see a few of them in action in the following video. Especially enjoy the floating balloon of death at 0:28 and what appears like an attached propane tank at 0:40.
You can already imagine that player cackling like a mad German scientist.

You can watch the Uprising trailer it here, with a fitting and beautiful accompanying score of A Perfect Circle:



This article is sponsored by id, because I do like being paid to promote violence.

Review: Monstermind

I personally dislike your average Facebook game. In essence they are nothing but self-propagating pyramid schemes devoid of any real gameplay. I'm not even harsh about that, I'm just pointing out the obvious here. In fact raise your finger how many times you've seen the spam like "X has find a sick duckling and would like you to give it a home" on top of your Facebook page.

There is no doubt however that in the last few years casual games have soared, and the gaming industry has slowly turned its gaze towards it. The last counter of facebook inhabitants was that of 700 million users. And that is a huge playerbase which is not to be ignored. It is in this light we have to look at EA's recent acquisition of Popcap. A game developing studio that has perhaps single-handedly revolutionized casual games.
But that said, the selection of casual games on Facebook itself, the so called application games has never really broken through that stereotype of boring collector games. It is for that exact reason that I was initially cautious about trying MonsterMind. Bossa Studio's take on social games.

MonsterMind plays much like a RTS-based city simulator. You not only build your city based upon population and tactical resources (Money). You also need to defend it from an onslaught of monster attacks. These come in the form of 1950's B-movie monsters, from a gaint Ape to the 49 1/2 ft woman.  The entire game is stylized around that area as well. Even the little mission videos are black-and white reels that any fan of the Fallout series will surely appreciate.
The unique angle of the game however is how you can annihilate your friends' cities by unleashing your own homebrewn version of terror and fear. The game even wants to be played as an antisocial game. Where it is incredibly fun to not only destroy your friend's city, but where it's also hilarious to see your own city in ruins. The game namely doesn't penalize you much for it. Repair cost is minimum, and you will be rewarded by drops and xp still. I would say that that aspect of the game is well-balanced, unfortunately you'll find the start of the game a bit too slow as you struggle to get money.
In my interview with the game's lead developer Mike Bithell during Eurogamer Expo, he relayed an anecdote where someone in the team was boasting about how great and awesome his studio was, until a secret mail going round banded the entire rest of the team against him in a one-all assault.
I think it's that exact that anecdote catches what MonsterMind makes so much fun and unique at the moment. Sure it's fun to make your own city, but I'll be damned if it's not more fun to inflict doom upon those unsuspecting cities.

That's not to say the game is all positive. There are some bugs currently and the micro-transaction system is in my opinion mildly overpriced. It's nice that the developers have made some of the real currency buildings to be available as a crafting drop, but to expand your city by one grid you'll have to fork out a reasonable sum. I was also missing a scroll function to have more control and vision over my city, but the developer told me that was a thing they would like to include, and as of this article it appears to be included sort of.

The game is currently in beta, and unfortunately it is still having some issues. Town Halls not repairing, tanks blocking your monsters, or just the usual maintenance. So it's currently not the stablest condition, but I heartily recommend this game to absolutely everybody.
You can find it here: http://apps.facebook.com/monstermind/?ref=bos_mainsite

Eurogamer Expo: Day 4

Sunday 25 September was the last day, and although unfortunately the Dark Souls peeps had to cancel, we got to see Batman Arkham City and Assassins Creed instead. Combined with a Guild Wars 2 and End of Nations session, it was going to be an effin' busy day for a geek like me. However, I was geek enough for the challenge!


Star Wars: The Old Republic

Thanks to an early entry I finally got the chance to try out the new Star Wars MMO without having to waste one's life (Not that I have one) in an hour-long queue. For those unaware, KOR is an mmo being developed by Bioware and is firmly etched on the company's previous award-winning Star Wars game.
It was Bioware's intention to make an mmo with strong writing and RPG-based conversation options inside an engrossing story. The expectations of the game are then quite high although recent footage does not seem hopeful. So how was the demo?


As a Sith I started in Korriban, and after a little cutscene it starts well. You are greeted and instead of the usual "go kil x amount of creatures" I was met with several dialogue options. Unfortunately one area later, the aforementioned quest doomed up, and even later still, I was told of creatures that laid waste on the imperial army, who were supposed to be smart creatures. But nope, they were still the usual cannonfodder that are just numbers in my quest screen. Dissapointing


Honestly, it was so bad, had Chewbacca witnessed this travesty, he'd have shaven his entire body and admit himself into a cloister. Now, it's hard to base an mmo on 15 minutes. But good story and writing will never make up ancient graphics combined with dated gameplay in an MMO.

Perhaps instead of putting money in marketing, and cosplayed stormtroopers, the company should have taken a year to brainstorm on what a future MMO should have.

Playstation Vita

The Playstation Vita is Sony's newest handheld device I got my hands on to have a small test session with. What struck me first is how light the device is, and how intuitive and userfriendly the controls are, exactly at the right place. I have little experience with handhelds, but I was sucked in extremely fast.
The device has a touchscreen at front, a second touchpad at the back with which for example you could raise terrain, and motion sensors.
From the game I played: Little Deviants, these elements were utilized well, and the level design was cute and fun.

Its only downside is most likely the cost at 230£, and the fact its batterylife is only at around 3 hours.


End of Nations

Not many RTS games were to be found this year at the expo but End of Nations is certainly a promising and very ambitious project from Trion and Petroglyph. If that latter studio doesn't seem very familiar to you, they are a new studio comprising some of the dev team of Command and Conquer.

End of Nations is quite unique in that it is actually a free-to-play MMO-RTS. Instead of harvesting resources to amass your army, you can choose a team of units at the beginning of the battlle, who can resurrect if you have the tactical resources to afford. This latter element is more akin to DOTA gameplay such as the now famous League of legends, but when you think about it, in an MMO this makes much sense.
Another strong MMO element is the character progression in the line of a skill-tree which branches out between crowd control, straightforward combat, and a more sneaking style of play.

What is very interesting, is that the world map plays much like the board game Risk. Two factions will vattle for domination of land sectors. Although how exactly this will play out we were not told.

The game itself is quite beautiful and has a very distinct AAA quality to it. Especially as the map offers scale, so you can choose with the tactically superior isometric view, or if you prefer a third-person view. The simple choice between both, kind of touches upon what is the ground developing principle of this game. It is open to any type of player, from the hardcore RTS fanatic, to a more casual that will only use his mouse.
This is also found in the fact that the game is highly customizable, with aesthetic skins you can buy for cash.
But also the fact the game offers a stand-alone single player campaign or co-op.

Unfortunately this wide customization and openess could prove to be the game's Achilles heel. For the time I had to play it seemed fun and of a very high quality. But if it will hold up against games such as Star Craft, that are geared towards hardcore RTS gameplay, is not entirely clear.

Assassin's Creed: Revelations

It is a shame the Dark Souls session was cancelled, but luckily instead I got to watch Assassin's Creed Revelations, which I would otherwise have missed.
This game is the last instalment in the series, and we were told it would tie in the game's loose ends, especially in regards to the characters of Altair and Ezio.

We got to see many concept art pictures, and it shows a very rich and detailed city of Constantinopel, where much of the game will take place. A nice touch is that the districts in the city will each have a distinct artstyle. Especially the game's particles and lighting effects were showcased, with a dramatic change as a result. I was pleasantly surprised with how a place from dusk till dawn, almost seemed like two different areas.

The game also gives you the chance to craft small explosives, ranging from lethal bombs that you can toss at groups of soldiers, to a small distraction bomb, to even caltrop bombs, giving the game a much more tactical range of choice when you are met with a group of enemies chasing you.
And speaking of, absolutely stunning was a scene of a cart chase in the game.


Guild Wars 2


In a recent article I wrote how I tried the demo and had mixed feelings about the game. Well after the developer session and seeing some live footage you can now go all Prague defenestration on my opinions in there, heck, throw me out into the trash at the same time. Because believe me, that footage was jaw-droppingly sweeeeeeeet.

We were shown how the game's public event system works. It's pretty much like serverwide quests that are open to anyone to participate it. But absolutely amazing is how these events can branch out to new events, or even other events if the former was unsuccessful.
Say you need to attack a fort of Charr. If you are successful you'll proceed to pushing the enemy back, but if not, then the Charr will quickly proceed to dominate the entire area, repopulating it with their own minions. This gives it a very refreshing dynamic life to it.



Batman: Arkham City

Batman: Arkham Asylum was a revelation of a game. It stands as the best superhero game ever made. It's not only uncanny as how natural it feels to play as Batman, but using the original voice-over actors Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy mixed with original writing is a cocktail of pure awesome.
You could see the passion from the developers as they're giving their session as well, constantly gesturing and talking. It's obviously there's much love going into the Batman franchise.
The only downside to the first game was a widely recongnized fizzle of an end-bossfight, and the game's relatively slow campaign.
Arkham City definitely seems to address that last part, taking place is in an open part of the city itself, populated by criminal scum and villainous masterminds. 


The combat is again extremely smooth and fluent, using combo points to perform take-downs. And from what I saw it's nearly the same as the previous game. But why change something if it's not broke of course.


The best part was a catwoman sequence, they really did outperform themselves in giving Catwoman a very sneaky playstyle and animation. You are even able to scale the ceilings if it is lined with a grid, and you can use your whip to navigate from gargoyle to gargoyle much as batman is able to. Best part, whipping people off a corridor from right beneath them.


Unfortunately although the game has gone gold, the PC version has had  a month's delay. So here's to hoping this will not be affecting the PC version of the game.

Eurogamer Expo day 1: 22 September 2011

Eurogamer expo is the UK's biggest and bestest gamer convention. Last year was a huge hit and this year -keeping in mind with the amount of blockbuster games to be released- was bound to repeat that.
It's also the biggest event not to need signposts, since all you have to do really is just follow the nerds. Heck, you can already spot them in the tube going there. The tube btw, which is London's closest point to the depths of the Nine Hells itself. Mind the Gap? Mind the Chasm more like...

Still, I went with one single goal, to amass as much swag as humanly possible. And during the process I found out there's literally no limit to the weight I am willing to carry when it comes down to gaming swag.

Battlefield 3

The Battlefield 3 conference was presented by Karl Magnus Troedson, the VP of Dice itself who took us a brief look through some trailers and a live-played single-player demo.
We were also promised exclusive footage  but that turned out a bigger dissapointment than waiting 15 years for Duke Nukem Forever. Seriously, since when is rehashed trailer footage with some music exclusive?
The presentation was mostly about showcasing their new engine Frostbite 2, and the 5 pillars its built on. You can see it here for yourself, but don't ask me why they list SOUND as a pillar, and then only use a musical piece in the video...
Troedson began the session by putting the bar high, calling Battlefield 3 "All out war" and calling it the best "Battlefield game yet". I'll have to admit that from going by the footage of the live-played single-player demo, the game looked bloody slick. Graphics and animations were of a high-standard, and when the guns were shot you could actually hear it ricocheting off the walls in the room. Impressive as well to see the actual recoil of the weapons in action.

Troedson was hammering on innovation a lot, but ... As fancy and new the game looks, it's like with a car. Apart from the new engine, gameplay-wise there's litte new under the hood.


Btw, Mr. Troedson? Please don't compare a game ever again to the filmclassic Heat, .. ever .. again ...


Guild Wars 2

Of all the games on show I'd have to say Guild Wars 2 was defintitely one of the ones I *had* to try out. And there seems a pretty fanboyish following as well. There were multiple people who were trying the demo out for the second and even third time, and there was someone with probably the ugliest Charr teddy-bear I've seen
Yep, Guild Wars 2 booth definitely had its fair share of freaks ... me included.

Before you ask, nope we did not get to see the last class, it's still as of yet unannounced. I have already bought the biggest bucket I could find to harvest the tears of nerds that will be shed when it is revealed the last class is not mesmer. (it probably is though)

I played the Norn starting area with an engineer. A class where you could spec into goggles but those didn't seem active at the demo yet. The class itself seemed to much like a ranger with a blunderbuss, but as I only got to level 4 it's hard to fully judge a class at that stage.
The Norn area itself was of a nordic beauty, at first with thick blankets of fog, and then later in a greener area where you could see little currents of wind sweeping through the trees.
My neighbour was playing a high level Asura  guardian and I got to witness high-paced combat, and even a dragon boss who was of an absolute gargantuan size. There were bigger ones even I was told. Crikey.

Gone are also the days of dualclassing and putting your skill points in your class skills, it looked like you could dump your points only in class attributes as is usually the case in RPG's.

From what I played it was a beautiful and fun game, but do not expect a complete revolution of the genre. Because what I saw, I've already seen in many other games.

Skyrim


Last game I played was Skyrim, Bethesda's latest addition to The Elder Scrolls saga. Although the area was absolutely gorgeous, the distance was set at minimal resolution, which just contrasted a highly detailed surroundings, with a blurry horizon. That and some clunky animations made me see it more as Oblivion 2.0 than anything else. Of course it's an immense landslide of difference with Oblivion, a game whose graphcis have dated exceptionally badly. It was played on a console though, so hopefully on a PC we will be able to crank up the details and graphics.
Don't get me wrong, the landscape was wild and of a sublime beauty. In fact there were swooping rivers with waterfalls, and you can even feel it's harder going against the stream. On top of that, I was capable of catching a salmon while wading in it. I was told you will be able to cook them as well for buffs. Neat.

I got to try out the new dualwielding system. It worked great, especially the  conventional melee dualwielding, but also a literally "spells and sword" fighting style. Not completely seamless, but still quite smooth. Of course at that stage in the game it was impossible to try out multiple spell combinations, but if executed correctly this could bring a nice new dimension to the spellcasting gameplay, and fighting in general.
Also worth pointing out is that you'll get to a larger city, with an excellent nordic medieval architecture, including sculpted woodwork.
There was a giant nearby that even makes the screen shake from his walking.

Either not implemented yet, or discarded, but the persuasion-wheel mini-game was gone. There is only a Persuasion line available.

Interviews

I had the great opportunity to speaking directly with OnLive and the lead dev of Bossa Studios but those merit different articles.


Thanks for reading!

Space Marine Review

This review is probably as belated as could be, but I have mostly Amazon to thank for that. Shipping my copy four days late. What is the point in pre-ordering a game if you get it so late?
And before anyone adds: "Pre-order it on steam" I would have done that, if some unknown force hadn't actually disabled Space Marine from the Steam Store.
That's right, a game that requires Steam to be played, can not actually be bought in the Steam store itself.
More than likely we have the Evil Empire of www.game.co.uk to blame. They replied Nu-uh, but seeing how this only affects the UK and where the only victor could only be retail sales then yeh, you'll understand that statement would be Pinochio's equivalent of a 10-foot pole. Ideally used to keep distance of aforementioned corporation...
It's so absurd and surreal, I almost fathom myself being back in Belgium. And speaking of, do they have a government there yet?

But how is the game? A month ago I gave my thoughts on the demo and that seems pretty much true for the entire game. The game engine renders Game Workshop's setting graphically both stunning and beautiful. It's a mix best described as industrial gothic. A big thumbs up to the engine that earlier gave birth to another graphically lush game: Darksiders. The game is also filled with lots of particle effects and events and I can't say I've ever seen my framerate drop, or had a crash.

It's a game that is also true to the 40k setting since it actually makes you feel like a real space marine, a one-man war machine with bolter guns that feel like they're really firing explosive rounds the size of a fist.
The story itself, although not the most original, is enticing and plays as if it doesn't just use Warhammer 40k as a background, no it actually really feels like it is part of the whole setting, with little audiobooks around, and references to for example the Space Wolves. And allow me to call the protagonist Captain Titus, Badass of the Year.

Or how I learned to love the atomic bomb

The gameplay is good, with a fluid combat system where you can switch from melee to ranged nearly flawlessly. Unfortunately the first part of the game can get tedious after Ork wave number 100, with the same types of orks, and the same type of behaviour/tactics. It's also suffering from a few unnecessary and unfortunately at times boring level designs. Did we for example really need a level through sewer tunnels where we get perhaps 3 waves of enemies?

He's Boss Grimskull

Luckily once halfway and introducing the forces of Chaos, the pace becomes fast and the fights much more complicated and vast, with beautiful three-way fighting between Chaos, Orks, and you the Space Marines. There's also a few mindblowing levels such as fighting on a moving train or alongside other Space marine chapters.





The single player campaign unfortunately is unforgivingly short. It took me 9 hours on normal difficulty, which means it can be done on anywhere from 7-10 hours. That is damningly short.
That would be ok though, if the multiplayer was good. Sadly though, it is not. There are only two modes currently (co-op mode is being introduced later). But even these two modes seem rough and simple. Not to mention unbalanced as you get weapons and gear through levelling. That latter part is not to be underestimated, if you realize the potential of the hammer and jetpack.


If you want an entertaining game where you're satisfied enough with just hacking down endless  waves of orks and Chaos forces then you'll feel right at ease. But be wary that the single campaign is short, and the multiplayercampaign is rough and unbalanced.

Saints Row 3: Meet the Deckers

A few weeks ago we could see a luchadore-based gang in true Warriors-style. Today in the most recent video we can now see glimpses of ... a nerd squad called The Deckers.
No I take that back, it looks more like a nerd squad with a neon-sense of fashion. A truly dangerous and lethal combination!
The trailer is seeping with gratuitous 80's Tron elements which I'm sure anyone will appreciate, but I'll truly take my hat off if they manage to put a lawnmower man character somewhere in that level.

So far the whole mindless jokes and references just-for-the-heck of it is looking awesome. But I hope that Volition, the game developer behind the Saints Row trailer hasn't just thrown all these elements into a game and then shaken it (not stirred) into a cohesion-less soup. It would be a shame if the game turns out to be a mere pastiche with a complete lack of focus.

You can see the latest trailer here:, and definitely enjoy the old Atari reference:






This article was sponsored by THQ

The Baconing Review

The Baconing is the third instalment in the Action-RPG-Adventure series. A game managing to borrow from three genres and pretty much failing at each one. Ouch.

In this part, the hero Deathspank has worn the six(?) thongs of virtue all at once which has somehow caused a disturbance in the force, causing an Anti-Spank to erupt.

As you can guess the humour in it is absurd, filled with cultural references and often completely (and yet satisfactory) over-the-top. It's also the game's greatest (and only) redeeming feature. Although, graphically the game is quite beautiful as well, with a great change in scenery and colour with levels in a jungle, a barnacle lake all rendered cartoonishly breathtaking. Unfortunately it is not enough. Which is a shame as the game offers quite a few hidden gems that will make you burst out laughing: A leprechaun maffia, A demented Zeus berating you to "get off his lawn" to a tongue-in-cheek reference to the game-industry itself, and so many more.

Deathspank humour at its finest

Leprechaun Maffia-themed armour

Although the game only lasts about 8-10 hours there is a reason the review is so late. That's mostly due to a very repetitive gameplay and tedious fightingsystem. The game's fighting consists of constant mouseclicking on the foes. And there's your other reason this review took so long. You start to get arthritis in your fingers from clicking away hours and hours on end .... The game is a natural habitat for a WoW-clicker. And before you start fanboyishly disagreeing. Yes there's blocking, a "fury" bar and grenades. But it doesn't offer enough of a change in pace. Even the grenade system is flawed as you can only throw right ahead of you with no aim. 

This could have been so easily remedied by using fun feats and skills or gadgetry with (hilarious) drawbacks. But no, levelling up offers more weapons (Kek, the same ones) and some unimaginative feats such as "move faster" "do more damage", ... In fact the game even managed to make your co-op henchmen have more fun than you. That's quite impressive to pull off.

I don't understand how a game that tries to be funny, fails so hard and ends up making levelling the most boring thing whatsoever.

I wanted to like this game, but unfortunately instead of popping out new parts in the series as if state benefits depend on it, Hothead would do much better trying to make the fighting and gameplay more innovative and rewarding, instead of a chore. Turning the game into an adventure struggling from one joke to other.

 As it stands now The Baconing is much like a one-trick pony. Stay for the comic dialogue, avoid everything else.

I'm still not complaining too much however, for I became:

We'll need a bigger cradle

GOD OF ... ORPHANS

Saints Row Teaser

Saints Row 3 has been on my radar ever since it opened up with what *has* to be the best damn teaser trailer ever.
The game is easiest to describe as a sandbox game with no rules and disregard to even its own genre. It's there to have fun and provoke.
Its developer once famously quoted "Our game philosophy is: why give players a baseball bat when you can give them a giant phallic weapon" and "We're an equal opportunity defender, you can nutshot even women"
And that pretty much sums up the game, nor can I disagree with such flawless yet outrageous logic. It's completely over the top and bigger-than-life, and that message just oozes out of its latest trailer. You can watch it here:



A gang based on luchadors, with the leader called Killbane, the Walking Apocalypse (As if Killbane alone isn't adequate enough) To top it off, how to better represent the game and its bigger-than-life genre than actually have Hulk Hogan himself do the voice-over for Angel de la Muerte.

My only criticism is that the previous games were quite atrocious on the PC platform, with the second instalment suffering from technical issues, and I have a feeling the third instalment will be best enjoyed on a console as well. So bear that in mind.



This article is sponsored by THQ to promote gender-equal nutpunching.

Deus Ex Human Revolution Review

When it was released in 2000, the original Deus Ex quickly became perceived as a landmark in PC gaming history. Not so much for its graphics, or even story, but rather for its immersion and open gameplay combined with a futuristic setting full of deceit and conspiracies.
One can understand that the stakes were pretty high for this title. Combine the open game, with the stunning graphics that were hinted at in the trailers, and you've got a mouthwatering cup of ambrosia in your hands. But where does Deus EX: HR come out precisely?

The gameplay is what you would expect, and in my opinion it even excells the standards that were set down by its predecessor eleven years ago. There are so many different paths and methods available that exploration is a reward in itself.  The e-books, well-detailed graphics, and e-mails shape the game into a vibrant and stunning setting. They're also not just thrown in there right in your face. The game really rewards you for scouting and exploring. In fact by snooping around and hacking terminals it is possible to slowly start unravelling the game's mysteries. One hack at a time.

Unfortunately its biggest flaw is the formulaic and archaic story. The game is not without many plot-holes, and even cliches. That's easily forgiven however when put that next to the outstanding dialogue and the many social and ethical quandaries that the game poses to you. That latter part alone I see way too rarely in so-called modern RPG's.
The biggest game design error though, is its implementation of the archetypical bossfight. You know the one where each chapter ends with a boss-fight? And of course you know the ones that are really just henchmen and a prelude to the real boss fight.
Sounds familiar? Yeh that's pretty much what you can find in most games. So why is it such an abashment in Deus Ex:HR? Because it just seems so out of place compared to the game itself. Kind of like a naked uncle at your Christmas dinner.
It's a point seriously hindering the game, because Deus Ex: HR allows you to approach any mission at your own leisure. You can adapt to the situation, kill anything insight, or you can even resort to a non-violent action.
But all that becomes completely obsolete once you've passed the cut scene and are thrown into the arena as it were. Because at that point you are met with only one course of action: Violence

Not to mention every three poses that Adam Jensen, the main protagonist takes, is one folding his arms while leaning backwards. What is he? Captain Passive Agressive? You can pretty much switch half his lines with the single statement: "O RLY?"

And as detailed as the main characters in the game may be. The difference becomes striking when you meet a certain secretary whose animation makes her look like an epileptic patient who's had so many fizzy drinks, she must be peeing out tonic water.
This is me only nitpicking on minor details though. I'm neurotic and in all fairness still awestruck with how the game is visually a true masterpiece. The black-yellow futuristic colour scheme works well, reminiscing of Blade Runner in plenty of ocassions. And visually the game is packed with so many minute but important details. For example how many personal references they snuck into your apartment. To even the common blue-screen-of-death easter egg:

Overall the game was of an exceptional quality. The fact I didn't encounter a single bug or error alone is praiseworthy in nowadays' games. Together with Portal 2 this tops the list so far in 2011's best games, and Deus Ex: HR has already become a modern classic in my eyes.

Get this!

Space Marine Preview

For those not yet in the knowing, Relic has shifted this chapter in its Warhammer 40k games to what plays like a complete third-person action game.
The demo itself was a bloody nuisance to get. Whoever's responsible for this, I hope you get torn apart by a flock of Squigs. Once procured however it felt like a proper and meaty main course where you could really get a good impression of the game.

Unfortunately as for gameplay, Space Marines still felt like a console-port at the surface-level but luckily only slightly, and I can see it being better on those platforms. Although after a while you can definitely get used to the controls. Once that's the case the combat feels extremely fluid and oh-so-delightfully visceral, especially as you can execute goons to regain health. With that gory effect that feels right in place.

Coincidence or not but the combat has many striking similarities to that of THQ's other game: Darksiders. The melee is simple with a few combos thrown in, and the combat itself fuels an extra ability called Fury which can be unleashed to deadly result.
On top of that it's incredible how seamless the switch between melee and ranged and vice-versa is.

Graphic-wise the game is good, although nothing exceptional, and in the option-screen it had a few options to alter the graphics, but again nothing exceptional in my opinion. That is of course if these options will remain unaltered in the final version.
The sound however is where the game really shines, the weapons sound as they should, and Mark Strong delivers an enticing voice-over for the game's main protagonist.
My only beef soundwise is that I'm not a 100% sure on the Ork sounds. I can't really pinpoint it, but they don't sound completely Warhammer-y to me.

Overall the game was a mindless and incredibly fun gorefest. If the entire game continues on this level, we are sure to have a top game here. So stay tuned for the complete review once the game is released.

EA vs. Steam

A few days ago I read an article in PC Gamer which got me in full ranting mode. You'll find the article in question here.
For anyone not in the loop. There has been a bit of a covert and at times open warfare between EA and Valve concerning Valve's digital distribution platform Steam.
It started with EA taking Crysis 2 off of Steam, and then later Dragon Age 2 as well. The latest precedent was the announcement that Battlefield 3 would be available on multiple digital retailers except for, yep, you got it, Steam.
Now I'm not here to shed any light on the whole matter. Franky, there's not anyone around apart from the concerned parties because this battle is fought through ... press releases.

I wish gaming journalists would stop with regurgitating the PR-bullshit that they are being fed by the publishers. It's even worse than a Japanese Fetishist gone wild. Because that's what press releases about conflicts usually are: nice but essentially empty words, .... aka perfumed bullshit.
And just like million dollar companies like EA and others play the safe card with many rushed (console-ported) games, so have many gaming magazines retreated to "safe" reviews and reporting.
For example, how was Dragon Age 2 lauded with 80/100 in PC gamer? Or how was a crap game like Duke Nukem Forever punched down the gutter? (And yes, the game was bad, but I still enjoyed it enough)
The answer is simple: money. There's too much at stake nowadays and for that reason not many risks are taken.

Still I would love to hear some opinions from insiders, or otherwise more thorough and intelligent cross-fire questions. If EA says games from steam are removed because Valve has a restricted contract regarding DLC, then why has nobody mentioned or referred to This?
Going from EA's recent trackrecord though, they really do need to start getting their testosteron level back in check. Someone seriously needs to calm them down and explain the point of publicity through one's own merits, instead of beating the dead horse that is Call of Duty.

So why the rant? Because like always in life, there's only going to be losers if this issue is not resolved. Both companies will likely hemorrhage money because of this. But the biggest loser of them all is bound to be the average gamer.

Space Marine demo announced

Relic has announced on the official site that there will be a Space Marine demo available on August the 23d.
Although the Warhammer 40k games have always had a decent potential and quality, the series from Relic always played more like a hybrid that's not really sure of what it is. RTS, RPG, action?  As a result of that the last game in the series felt like it still needed some fine-tuning. Adding on top of that some of the RPG elements were still quite poor. You can't come up with a story that is as your average B Hollywood film and expect it to be engaging, m'kay?

Still as a strategy game the Dawn of War series has really shined through, and its foregoing of a base in its gameplay is both refreshing and fitting. It also helps that the franchise has a deep and rich lore, not to mention crazy Orks like this fellow here:

The latest news and trailers also showcase a much more seamless game with a fluid combination of ranged and melee damage. And us gamers like nothing more than ripping through opponents with bolt guns and chainswords. Mmm-hmm...
Not to mention, you'll get the chance to fight off a frigging Ork Horde in the demo.

You can see more about the game in the following video here, and let me know what you think!






This post is sponsored by THQ, and by no means am I being held at gunpoint by a crazy Ork.


"WAAAAAGH from Above"