God of War: Ascension Multiplayer???

 As a fan of God of War, I was surprised when I learned that Kratos’ adventures didn’t end with the third. Now I’m ecstatic to see something never done before for the series—multiplayer. What does this mean for GoW fans? It could mean that you may finally stick it to that friend who says they’re better than you. But this could also open up the series to new gamers who will play this and consider taking a step back to the previous releases just to get up to speed. However, Santa Monica Studios is going up against other multiplayers especially recent titles such as Call of Duty and the upcoming Halo 4. On the other hand, this is happening for a series that hardly anyone thought to go multiplayer. Plus, this move keeps God of War fresh and with so many games offering online play, how could Santa Monica resist?  

Even though it is still in the early stages, the proposed multiplayer scene which features four Spartan warriors taking on a giant Cyclops is impressive. I hope this number gets raised. Sony Santa Monica is really upping the gore factor for this edition (look out Mortal Kombat).  And the amount of detail in this little snipet shows that they are planning to use the full capabilities of the PS3. This just a sneak peak! Imagine what the finished product will look like.

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron (Grimlock gameplay)

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron

Two years ago, High Moon Studios delivered Transformers fans the game they waited for after
three less than stellar movie adaptions with Transformer: War for Cybertron. As impressive
as War for Cybertron was, I wondered what High Moon would do for a sequel. Imagine my
surprise when Fall of Cybertron was announced. So far, we’ve already seen Optimus and the
other Autobots in action. Now we get to see Grimlock stomp around, crushing Decepticons in his
wake.

2011's Game Of The Year

We have now come to the end of the year and we have seen the best the industry has had to offer. Now, we must decide, what were the games this year that really pushed the industry forward, what made us say wow, what will we still be playing for years to come. Ladies and gentleman, let us begin.

Sound Design:

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

In gameplay you can actually use the sounds in the game to locate bad guys, make yourself harder to find, make enemies investigate curious noises, and identify what’s running toward you, trying to eat you (bears and wolves announce themselves from a ways off, dragons shout challenges, skeletons rattle like old bones should) . All this plus weapons unsheathing have different sounds (which change based on which enchantments you place on them), arrow’s impacts sound differently based on what they hit, and no loud annoying click announcing that you just scrolled through a menu. Games like this are the reason people bother to hook their consoles up to surround sound.

Graphics:

L.A. Noire

If you really read the above description, you would have to know why this game had to win this award. The facial motion capture improvements used in this game really put people to shame. This was the first time that a game really fooled me into believing that what was moving on the screen wasn’t just normal mapping and pixels, but human flesh, muscle, and skin. There were prettier games this year (Battlefield 3, Uncharted 3, arguably Crysis 2) but this game has now reset the bar for facial animation in engine (that is to say, not a cutscene) and their advances will no doubt disseminate into the rest of the industry.

Best RPG

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Multiple main storylines, interesting NPCs, almost unlimited builds and play styles possible, and more enemies than you can shake a six foot glass warhammer at. This game is quite possibly going to be the Final Fantasy VII of its console generation, the new official heavyweight champion of RPGs. And its not from Japan! Bad news though: not that many hot chicks to cosplay as (except Aela).

Best Mulitplayer

Super Street Street Fighter 4 AE 2012 Ed

Yeah, I went there. Call me a fanboy, but when you look out over that room, and all you see are faces of people who paid through the nose, and waited forever in line just to sit (or mostly stand) and watch people play a game, you have to give props. Ask yourself this, have you ever cheered while watching someone play a FPS like this roomful of people cheer while watching Daigo play?

Don’t get me wrong, Mortal Kombat 9 has more players, and lets not even talk about MW3, but the design of Street fighter really does allow for great multiplayer fun through the integration of big comeback moves (Ultras), enhanced moves that significantly change the characters abilities for a moment, the ability to save your online matches to watch again in the future, spectator mode, and mostly lag free online. Plus, at high level, the game is still fun to watch: not just who gets first hit wins, or who picks Bob first, or who has the best near-infinite combo. Now that Yun, Yang, and Fei have been put in their places after the new update, we should have some great matches for the next year.

Best Shooter

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Think of a big Hollywood movie. Got it? This game made more money than it. How about a book? Still more money. Game? Same answer. CD or record of your favorite artist or group? Not Even close. In the first day of sales, MW3 sold $400 million plus, and in a week, blew right past $1 billion. And guess what, the game ain't bad either. Kinda settled the MW3 vs. Battlefield argument right there, huh?

Best Fighting Game

Mortal Kombat

While Street Fighter is traditionally always the better gameplay-wise, Mortal Kombat has been more fun. And while Mortal Kombat once again borrowed heavily from its fighting game counterparts (Ultra vs X-ray, Enhanced vs Ex, 2d gameplay with 3d characters, Tekken juggle system and four limb control…), the package they came up with is well, fun. With the challenge tower, and deep story mode, Mortal Kombat even added value for people who didn’t have friends. Granted, at high levels, the game basically becomes less about fun, and more about meter management, first hits, and 40 to 60% combos (yeah, really); but really, who didn’t want to watch Kratos fight Freddy Kruger?

Game of the Year

The game of the year is not the game that had the best graphics, although they were pretty good. It’s not the game that sold the most copies, although it did ship more than $450 million worth of copies in the first week. It’s not the game with the best multiplayer or co-op, because it has neither of them. If there was an award for most ridiculous glitches, it would win easily. This is game of the year, because it exceeded what we at J1 Studios thought was possible to do in a game. It won because there will never be a good reason to trade it in. It won because it simply blew everything out of the water as far as sound design, attention to detail, story, and depth of gameplay.

Our Game of the Year is The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Here’s how it broke down for the top ten list of 2011 GOTY Nominees (and conveniently, the last ten games for 25 Days of Begging)

1. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

2. Batman: Arkham City

3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

4. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

5. Assassins Creed: Revelations

6. Rage

7. Portal 2

8. Battlefield 3

9. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

10. Gears of War 3

The King of Fighters XIII (Console-version) Review

Platform(s): Playstation 3, X-Box 360

Developer(s): SNK Playmore

Publisher(s): Atlus

Genre(s): Fighting

Rating: T for Teen

So who remembers a little game released about 2 years ago titled The King of Fighters XII? If you do (or want to), then you can agree with me that the game was a complete disappointment to KOF fans worldwide. Why, you ask? Because, in comparison to all the previous games under that title, KOF XII was nothing more than an incomplete title that should have stayed in the development labs. But now, with the release of The King of Fighters XIII, will SNK Playmore’s legendary fighting game title get the revival that fans have been longing for or will it be the sad end of an otherwise illustrious legacy?

The Story:

The King of Fighters XIII takes place after KOF XI, and is the last game of the third story arc that started in The King of Fighters 2003. The fighter Ash Crimson has absorbed the powers from two of the descendants of the clans who sealed the Orochi away 1,800 years ago, Chizuru Kagura and Iori Yagami, while Kyo Kusanagi is to be his last victim. As his former comrade, Elisabeth Blanctorche, prepares to stop him, fighters receive an invitation to another King of Fighters tournament hosted by a person labeled as "R". The tournament is sponsored by Rose who is being controlled by "Those From The Past", the organization behind the two previous tournaments that has been trying to break Orochi's seal.

The Pros:

Okay. So the first major pro that I have to add on here is that this game is a major improvement from its previous version, KOF XII. There’s no more Critical Counter system (tapping Heavy Punch at the right time to make your own custom combo), Guard Attacks or anything of the sort. It’s all taken out, and replaced with better moves that are reminiscent of the older titles of the games.

My next pro is the roster. KOF XII had myself (and many other players) ticked when certain people weren’t included in the short roster. Once again, XIII has fixed that problem by bringing back the characters we wanted to see in the game. Yuri Sakazaki, Mai Shiranui, and K’ are just a few of the returning faces making it on the roster for the newest installment.

Next, the combat has to be a favored pro of mine. As I said earlier, they’ve taken out all the failed moves from KOF XII and added newer moves to keep the combat fresh. EX moves is one of the newer things added to the game, allowing the characters to not only perform an EX version of their special, but of their Desperation moves. Also, the Hyper Drive gauge is a new addition, where players can sacrifice half of this gauge meter to perform Drive cancels, or activate the once it’s full to have a short but unlimited use of Drive cancels.

That means that if you catch the opponent in a combo and activate the Hyper Drive gauge, you can create your own devastating combo. It’s not an easy task, seeing that combos in this game require near surgical precision to execute a lot of moves, but once you get it down, it’ll be a problem for opponents.

Finally, the extra modes that are included in this game are a personal pro. For the beginners and newcomers to the game, they have a solid tutorial mode that really teaches you the mechanics of the game. A Mission Mode is added for players to get the character-specific combos down (which goes from simple to ridiculous sometimes). However, the Time Attack and Survival modes are the two that’ll keep the fighting game fans who aren’t big on playing online busy for a while. And personally, the last 2 modes should be a staple for any fighting game.

The Cons:

What can I say that’s bad about this game? I can mention a few things, to be honest. First of all, I’ll mention the one thing that every fighting game fan knows about a SNK game. Yes, the SNK Boss Syndrome is heavy in this installment, folks. For those who don’t know what that is, the SNK Boss Syndrome is the term associated to the bosses in a SNK fighting game, who are nowhere near easy to beat due to their cheapness, sheer strength, and ridiculous difficulty. So if you thought that Seth (Street Fighter IV), v-13 (BlazBlue), and Shao Kahn (Mortal Kombat 9) was bad, fight against Saiki and Shadow Ash. It’s guaranteed that you’ll hate every moment of that fight.

My second con falls in the story mode. Now…the story mode is done well, considering that it tells the story from different teams’ perspective and everything. However, the one thing they could have added in there was some voice-overs. As much as I like the story mode for KOF XIII (which is a first for the series, I believe), they could have added that in as well.

My final con isn’t really a con at all, but I think that it should be noted. Now, I love the fact that there are new moves added to here to improve the game. But on the other hand, it seems that they are taking a few pages away from their rival’s books. What do I mean? EX moves and NEO MAX moves…you can easily see the resemblance to Capcom’s famed EX Moves and Level 3 Supers. Overall, it’s not a bad thing, considering that the NEO MAX moves look and are more devastating than the Level 3’s, however it seems a bit monotonous in a way.

Overall:

It’s safe to say that The King Of Fighters XIII is an exceptional improvement over its predecessor. However, I can say that the 13th installment of KOF is possibly one of the best fighting games this year. From the roster to the solid, technical game play and even the extra modes, this is probably the one game that most hardcore fighting game fans will keep with them for a while.

Final Score: 5 out of 5

Gears of War 3 Review

Platform(s): X-Box 360

Developer(s): Epic Games

Publisher(s): Microsoft Studios

Genre: 3rd Person Shooter

Rating: M for Mature

It seems that 3 is the magic number for video game series nowadays. From God of War to Resistance: Fall of Man and even Skate, 3 games seem to be the ideal life span for a series…although Halo doesn’t count if you consider ODST and Reach. This time, X-Box’s golden child Gears of War is back with its third installment, ending the saga once and for all. But does the final chapter of Gears make the epic impact that Epic Games aimed for, or fizzles out into a mass of hype?

The Story

The game takes place 2 years after the COG was forced to destroy the Jacinto plateau, the last major city on their planet, in Gears of War 2. Their world ravaged by a new enemy, the Lambent, the remaining teams of COG are left to survive, some on land and others by sea. However, after receiving a message from his father via Chairman Prescott, Marcus Fenix and Team Delta go back out to search for the missing scientist…who possibly has the answers for destroying the Lambent once and for all.

The Pros

Geez…how do I begin this? For starters, my personal pro would be the enemies in the game. There are two types of enemies: the Locust, which are/have been the staple enemies in the game (but far from common) and the Lambent, creatures in the game that have been mutated by Imulsion. The pro about this is that they are far from simple to kill, especially the Lambent. When you kill one, move away b/c they are bound to explode. That, plus some will mutate after taking a lot of damage, taking the fight to another level.



A clip of Horde mode, where you fight off
wave after wave of Locust.



Secondly, Horde mode is a second pro in my book. If you haven’t played Gears 2, Horde mode is an arcade-style mode where you fight off wave after wave of enemies until you reach Level 50. And after every 10 levels, the enemies stats increase, making them harder to defeat. This mode has undergone some massive improvements, to say the least. A money system has been added, allowing players to buy items to protect their fort from caltrop barriers to mounted turret guns and even a decoy to draw enemy fire.

But the biggest improvement in Horde mode is that they added boss battles at every 10th round. Meaning after you fight the entire wave off, you have to battle a boss. And if you played any of the Gears games, you’ll know that the boss is far from easy…or small. And with the addition of Mutations in the game – similar to the Skulls in Halo ODST/Reach – it adds a deeper challenge to the game than just shooting enemies to survive.


A new mode to the Gears series (and another pro) is Beast mode, which is the complete opposite to Horde. In Beast mode, you’re playing as the Locust whose goal is to destroy all the humans in the area. The money that you gain from this mode is used to spawn better Locust. So if you play your cards right, you could appear as a Kantus on one round…or a Beserker.


Finally, my last pro would be the weapons in the game. A lot of the weaponry has been improved since the second installment of Gears. And with the addition of newer weapons (the One-Shot, Incendiary Grenades, Cleaver and more) and more savage versions of older weapons (Retro Lancer, Sawed-Off, and Digger), combat gets a bit more nuts.

The Cons

Alright…so for my first con, I’d have to get on Story Mode. Why? It’s shorter than expected. With 5 acts and 5 chapters an act, that’s 25 stages that you have to play through. And with the promise of the “biggest-ever Gears campaign solo”, that seems like a bit of a letdown.

And yes, that was written on the back of the Gears 3 box.



Members of COG.



The second con has to be one that I always find in every FPS (or in this case, 3PS) game. There’s always that one weapon in the game that’s unreasonably unbalanced and overused by everyone online. What is it in Gears 3: the Sawed-off Shotgun. The reload time is extra slow, however if you are in point blank range of someone and shoot (or get shot), the result is simple: You Die!

My next con lies with Beast Mode. Now, that mode is great, seeing that you pretty much flip the script and play as the antagonists. However, the mode is short. You only get 12 rounds and a minute per round, which slightly increases with each kill you acquire. And compared to Horde, where you get 50 rounds and unlimited time…yeah, enough said.

The leveling up system in the game…I can’t say it’s a complete con, but I do feel that it needs to be listed. The more you level up in the game, the more characters and weapon skins you are able to unlock. It looks nice, however it’s been considered useless by a good amount of players so it’s a noteworthy con.

Overall

If you’ve been waiting for Gears of War 3 anxiously, from the moment you first heard the announcement, then you’re guaranteed to get your money’s worth in this final installment. With the new modes, the 4-player campaign co-op, and gritty, brutal gameplay that the series is known for, you won’t put it down. If you’re buying this game and haven’t played the other two, you will still enjoy this game. Even though the campaign may be a bit short, there are plenty of modes that will keep your hands on the controller for a long time!!!


FINAL SCORE: 4 out of 5

E3 Video of God of War 3!!

Wow, God of War III is looking quite impressive! 

The game was announced at E3 2009 and is due for release in March 2010.
God of War III is the latest installment in the God of War series, currently in development for the PS3.

Check out these gameplay videos:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Click HERE to go to discuss it in the FORUM!

Source: IGN