BitSnark

For what seems like years now, people have been salivating over the tantalizing possibilities of what famed FPS dev Free Radical could do with next-gen hardware. Well, that wait will shortly be coming to end and for most of us who have access to the PSN, we received a taster of just what to expect in two weeks time.

After a lengthy 1.6 gig download, and an equally annoying five minute install, I was able to finally get my paws on a taster of the game that would revitalise the FPS for PS3. Perhaps my expectations were too high, but Haze isn’t quite the great white hope for the console that Free Radical would have you believe. Upon starting the game up I opted for the single player campaign mode, as the network multiplayer options didn’t seem to have much luck in connecting me with other folk.

After choosing my difficulty level, I was then thrust into the world of Haze. The first thing that will strike anyone that is able to see clearly is just how, generic and soulless the visuals are. The jungle locale has been done many times in the past in previous FPS titles, and Haze’s depiction could easily be lost in the shuffle. Everything from the low res textures used on the foliage through to the drab and repeated use of the same darn tree over and over, smacks of a developer that simply took the short cut. The same visual laziness extends to the models too, with your fellow soldiers sporting the most basic of designs and also the rebels who look like… well, every other ‘rebel’ from just about every other FPS you’ve played before. Compounding the visual problem further, the physics make you wonder if Free Radical actually took the time to look at how the human anatomy reacts to kinetic impact or simply just pressed the ‘Make Physics Engine’ button on their Aegia PhysX dev kit.

Still, i’ll understand if this hasn’t put you off, as graphics don’t so much make a game as solidify the atmosphere and compound a sense of believability, so it’s nothing too bad eh?

Speaking of suspension of belief and cutting corners, Haze has some of the worst voice acting I have ever heard. It just appears they have got some poor guys in the ADR room and said ‘act like a US marine… from an action movie’, so for a game that has such a promising narrative, with the themes of perception, corporate control and personal identity, having your team-mates sound like a bunch of linebackers phoning in a performance, does the narrative a major disservice.

Moving onto the meat of the demo, the actual gameplay, I found that average graphics would be the least of the sins that the demo would have to bear. Haze does play like every other FPS ever. That is by no means an exaggeration. You run, well more like jog, and shoot guys who all look the same, and have little or no concept of how to use cover or any kind of flanking tactics, and who simply line up to get their heads blown off as they shuffle from side to side.

The promise of open battlefields is also broken, with trees and foliage generally acting as a funnel of sorts to prod you in the direction the devs want you to go in, which again puts further cracks in the facade of believability.

But what about the Nectar you say?

Ah yes, that lovely amber coloured goo that pretty much gives Haze it’s narrative legs, does little for you in terms of gameplay innovation. Basically, your character has up to 6 vials of nectar that can be administered. Nectar usage brings with it a whole host of ‘special abilities’. These include being able to run faster, jump slightly further and the illumination of your foes like Christmas trees because y’know, being a crack, privately funded soldier you don’t have any thermal imaging and well, it is kinda useful for the four year olds who play the game as they can clearly need what needs blasting. With each administration your character gets more and more ‘in the zone’ and if you administer too much you can get Nectar overload and you go berserk, attacking team-mates and generally failing in a big way.

And that’s pretty much it. Before all the hate mail comes flooding in, bear in mind this – the demo itself is painfully short and I WILL be playing the finished product in the hope that it is MUCH better than the train wreck that I have just been describing. From what I have seen there is a lot of work to do and no time to do it in as the game is on our shelves in two weeks.

Free Radical IS better than this and PS3 owners deserve better than this, because hopes aren’t high for Killzone 2 to deliver, but that’s another story for another day.

Just a little personal note here. Last night myself and our raid guild defeated Illidan Stormrage with only a single fatality for the first time.

The main bad guy of the Burning Crusade is a corpse.

Just gonna let that sink in a bit 🙂

After the announcement sometime ago, details have finally started to wash down to us common folk from the great EA dam, about what we can expect from the newest installment in the LOTR gaming franchise.

Firstly, the pedigree of the developer Pandemic has meant that LOTR: Conquest apparently feels a lot like a Star Wars: Battlefront game, with various objectives and side missions to be completed on each map.

Like those games also, LOTR: Conquest allows players to play pretty much all the battles of Tolkien lore as pretty much all the sides, each with their own respective classes and abilities. The obligitary online modes are also promised, with a mooted sixteen player limit possibly subject to change.

Those folks over at IGN have posted an intersting in-depth interview with the development leads on the project.

Head over and take a look:

http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/872/872401p1.html

Deliverable to UK addresses only, Play.com are offering a limited edition version of MGS4 for £79.99.

Besides the game itself, the limited package includes:

– 6″ Old Snake ‘Olive Drab’ action figure
– “The Making Of Metal Gear Solid 4” documentary on Blu-ray Disc
– Official Metal Gear Solid 4 soundtrack

Hmmm, for £79.99 I was hoping for a bit more than that to be honest, but still for those MGS collect ‘o’ nuts out there (you know who you are), click the link below and burn away those pounds:

http://www.play.com/Games/PlayStation3/4-/5500791/Metal-Gear-Solid-4-Guns-Of-The-Patriots-Limited-Edition/Product.html

Downloadable from both the interweb and XBOX Live, Epic Games has released the first gameplay footage of Gears Of War 2. The video depicts a massive battle between CoG troops on a mounted convoy, hundreds of Locust soldiers and a few massive Brumak monstrosities, that were seen but not fought in the first game.

Of note is simply just how ‘busy’ the battlefield is – there are literally hundreds of enemies spilling out of the earth, missles and rockets soaring through the air, huge brumaks clashing against a convoy and of course, the obligitory cover ‘n’ shoot gameplay in full force.

New gameplay features that are noted from the relatively short trailer, include the ability to use weakened enemies as body shields and then snapping their necks quite brutally, once they are of no more use. In addition, there appear to be more chainsaw death animations and also chainsaw ‘duels’ where the player seemingly has to tap a button to win the struggle and cleave their foe.

Graphically, the game looks just as pristine as the previous game. Not much of the new tech that Epic touted for the newest game appears to be visible, as much of the visual onslaught is provided by just how much is crammed onto the screen as opposed to the finer graphical details and physics that are apparently in the sequel.

All in all, pretty darn impressive.

Take a lookie: http://www.gametrailers.com/game/6236.html

Finally, Joe Average can get a chance to try out Free Radical’s first game since Timesplitters: Future Perfect. The demo itself clocks in at around 1.6 gigs and supports up to four players.

Groovy. Impressions shortly.

Nearly three years after the release of the third in the Fight Night series, the fourth in EA’s popular boxing franchise is due to hit shelves sometime next year. It’s always striked me as strange that a sequel to Round 3 never materialised before now, especially considering the critical and commerical success that it enjoyed.

However this time it’s not the now defunct EA Chicago who developed last year’s sub-par Def Jam: Icon title and Fight Nught Round 3, but instead EA Canada.

The developer promises a completely retooled game engine with more physics based animation and a tighter focus on inside fighting.

Oh yeah, and Mike Tyson is in the game too.

More as and when folks.

A somewhat minimalist headline for a megaton announcement I grant you, but ID Software played a low key on the announcement too, when it was discovered in an employment ad for top programming and artist positions within their outfit to bolster their team for the upcoming title.

Whilst no platforms, or details for that matter have come to light, one would fairly assume that Doom 4 would be powered by the same multiplatform engine that ID Software showed last year with their original IP, Rage.

Watch this space for more on this…

With the monumental release that is GTA IV, now firmly behind us, the marketing and sales suits have very kindly chimed in with some notworthy figures from the title’s launch.

The Rockstar press release going something like this:

Take-Two Interactive Announces Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto IV Breaks Entertainment Launch Records

Retail Sales of Grand Theft Auto IV Top $500 Million in First Week

New York, NY – May 7, 2008 – Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), said today that Grand Theft Auto IV has surpassed all-time entertainment records for day one and week one sales by dollar value. Released on Tuesday, April 29th, Grand Theft Auto IV, the critically acclaimed video game, has sold through to consumers approximately 6 million units globally with an estimated retail value of more than $500 million in the first week. Grand Theft Auto IV sold approximately 3.6 million units on its opening day with a retail value of approximately $310 million globally.

“We knew Grand Theft Auto IV would break new ground in terms of the player’s experience, with its compelling story line, extraordinary gameplay and action that ranges over a broad urban canvas. Now, it has broken sales and rating records as well. Grand Theft Auto IV’s first week performance represents the largest launch in the history of interactive entertainment, and we believe these retail sales levels surpass any movie or music launch to date. We congratulate the entire Rockstar team on creating a must-have experience that takes the legendary Grand Theft Auto franchise to a new level,” said Strauss Zelnick, Chairman of Take-Two.

“Rockstar’s goal is to make each new title in the Grand Theft Auto franchise even better than those that preceded it, and Grand Theft Auto IV is a smashing success on that score. Grand Theft Auto IV makes full use of the power of next generation technology, and offers players an experience unique in the interactive entertainment medium. This game sets a new standard in the industry, with critics hailing it as both an artistic and technological masterpiece,” said Ben Feder, Take-Two’s Chief Executive Officer. (Source: Teamxbox.com)

In addition to this it would appear that GTA IV not only managed to best Halo 3’s previous day one sales record, but also that of entertainment too, beating Pirates of The Carribean: At World’s End three day take.

Also for those interested, the XBOX360 SKU appears to have outsold the PS3 SKU by roughly 20% in the UK territory, shifting some 514,000 copies versus PS3 sales of 413,000 copies. The ratio in other territories remains unclear however, as the various figures are being interpreted and spun by their various outlets.

Not bad R*. Not bad at all.

Announced mere moments ago, THQ have gone on record to say that WWE: Legends of Wrestlemania, is now in development for the XBOX360 and PS3 platforms, no other details have been disclosed.

http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/871/871968p1.html

Interesting.

More details as and when the annoucement is formally made.