Dead Space 2 builds upon the success of the original, by developing the story in a dramatic and adrenaline fuelled way. It ups the ante in terms of combat, exploration and suspense, while remaining firmly grounded in the mythos of the series. Is it possible to bring that same experience online, where you can share the fear and dread of being stalked with your friends? The answer is probably not.
Back in 2007, if you listened hard enough, you were sure to hear the sound of thousands of home PCs crying out as they struggled to play the graphically impressive juggernaut that was Crysis. Here we are in 2011 and Crytek is set to impress and astound the critics by releasing the eagerly anticipated sequel to Crysis, and on consoles no less. The Xbox 360 exclusive beta has gone live and it’s making a splash online, as Nanosuited soldiers are tearing each other new ones in the virtual world. Can it live up to the hype is the question on everyone’s mind.
The lovely thing about the Indie section of the Xbox LIVE Marketplace is the fact that sometimes you can find some really fun and novel ideas which some of the bigger money splashing companies seem to miss in favour of repetition, repetition, repetition.
Gravity does have a rather clever idea as its main selling point. Granted, Riddlersoft haven’t been too clever on the story department, as it does have a stale, almost Prisoner: Cell Block H (if anyone is actually old enough to remember it (Google if you get stuck)) tale to tell. Simple premise is that you’re in the future, you’ve been implanted with some sort of device and it allows you to do these cool and crazy things with the laws of physics and your mind.
With the demo live on Xbox LIVE and the PlayStation Network it’s clear that Bulletstorm is kicking up quite a fuss by the number of names on the global scoreboard. People Can Fly, with the support of both Epic and EA, are trying to hammer their zany old school sensibilities home with Bulletstorm, but is it any good?
Since Dreamworks have decided to pump out a couple of CG kids movies every year, it’s only inevitable that mediocre licensed “kids” games appear on our shelves. Megamind: Ultimate Showdown is no exception and really proves that you don’t have to try too hard to make a few quick bucks by piggy-backing off the success of a relatively low key movie.
The game itself is simplistic enough for anyone over the age of six to play and far too easy for an adult to really enjoy. It has all the core elements that make any modern game; platforming, shooting, puzzle solving and dreaded QTEs. Puzzles are basic and involve defeating a bunch of guys until object A is ready to be placed in point B, though they really shake things up when object C must be placed at point D in the same area.
It’s a slow process of clearing each area of bad guys before moving on to perform some clunky platforming, and then using the action button. Though there’s a selection of weapons available in the game they can only be used at certain points to perform necessary tasks. This leaves each level feeling stale, not to mention that combat involves the repetitious spamming of one button. Even kids will get bored at the mundane process.
