It was past mid night and I was getting tired of the vague storyline, but not of the cover-aim-fire-kill ritual. This along with my modified guns had kept me and my partner alive in China which — in the game — is under siege by a militant group.
Army of Two: The 40th Day, sequel to Army of Two is a co-op campaign which throws you into China and expects you to stay alive despite being out numbered and auto-gunned. But hey it’s the world of gaming where anything is possible, provided you have the guts and the wits. So if you think you got it, pick up your Xbox360 controller and play this game alone or with a friend on co-op.
Where the game really pulls a punch is with the action sequences. The fights along crumbling walls, falling buildings and treacherous streets is one great ride, but the biggest let down is the storyline or the abscence of one, rather. That said, the lacklustre storyline is complimented by ‘morality moments’ where you get to make a decisions on behalf of both the players and these decisions have a consequence which you get to see immediately. You can either be a goody-goody and do the most righteous thing, or be a money-hungry killer and follow orders of the organisation who employs you without a second thought. Either way remember that you’re being judged.
The AI can be really cheeky and can bust your out of your cover at times and really weak otherwise. Boss fights which involve juggernaut like enemies carrying a flamethrower or gatling gun are difficult till you figure out that things are not as complicated as they might seem to be. In short you’ll make it, provided you think beyond headshots. And yes, once you kill them do pick up their guns as they cannot be purchased anywhere in the game. Speaking of weapons, they are gorgeous, drool worthy, provided you are not a miser and spend all the money you earn and steal in the game on upgrades. My best buy was a diamond encrusted grenade. If you buy it and plan to use it, remember to take cover as diamond cuts to anything and everything!
Playing it in co-op is definitely more exciting than depending on an AI partner, because sometimes four, one-word instructions are not enough to build a good strategy.
The cover system used in the game is simply superb though the new camera system might take a bit getting used to. You need to flip between camera mounted on left shoulder to camera mounted on right shoulder depending on which side you’re taking cover. Personally, I had a few issues initially, but after suffering a few unpleasant deaths with bullets on my rear I figured it out.
The game is a good enough sequel but towards the end you feel that it could have been better. The game looks great, plays great, and will leave you wanting for more.
I used to love playing NFS series of games as a kid; as a matter of fact, it was one of the first games that got me totally hooked on to video games. But through the years the charm wore off as the developers used their tried and tested formulae way too many times.
I gave up on the series and moved on to other Flatout and Burnout which were not just fun to play, but also different in their own unique ways. That being the context I had high hopes for NFS Shift, for in the game I saw something that would get me back to liking the series yet again, and I need to say it has done so successfully.
Shift is not a racing sim, nor is it a total arcade racer either. It finds itself in between these two groups which have their own top games and franchises. With the car modelling and control, it works somewhat like a sim, but when it comes to overtaking and catching up, it’s still an arcade game. You can still catch up after an initial spin out, provided it’s a three or four lap race and you can even push opponents off the road with ease.
Where the game really shines is with the cockpit view. The screen goes blurry when you crash, you get an real sense of speed as surrounding flash by, but you’ll also end up slamming on the brakes way too late. The last issue however is a temporary one and once you get used to the tracks, it’ll be a non-issue. In the beginning of a race, when all cars are trying to crowd around and push ahead this camera angle makes it even more difficult to navigate through the road ahead. You might say that’s how life is in a real race, but then in a real race the driver has 360 degree vision, he doesn’t need to press a few keys on the numpad to look around. That being the case, I ended up starting most races with normal, helicopter view.
Track Record
Apart from the staple races, Shift brings to us a few special events which have some of the most interesting races in the game. The best are those in which cars from the same company are placed against each other. My favourite mode in the NFS series, the drift mode, however, is almost impossible to get used to. I tried and I tried and I tried.. yet failed. I’ll keep trying mind you, but the level progression system in Shift is such that you can keep going even if you haven’t won all races. You can avoid almost all Drift races and still do pretty well.
Levels are dependent upon the number of stars you get for each race. Every race will have different criteria, in completion of which, you’ll be awarded stars. So when you first play a race, you can concentrate on winning a race, and the second time, you can try to achieve those points you missed out the first time. It could be ‘mastering all curves’ or ‘clean overtaking’ to name a few.
Going Faster
To keep winning races you need to upgrade your car on the way and the [smartads] tuning settings have progressed a lot since the last version. Because of the lack of time, I opted for the Quick Tuning mode and set the car to perform the way I wanted it to. If you’re an automotive freak, you can hit the Advanced Tuning and fine tune your cars performance. Another point to note is that certain upgrades don’t work well until another upgrade is bought. I realised this after I installed a few performance updates only to find it almost impossible to control my car. Once I installed the weight reduction package, things fell into place. My Porsche returned to its normal self.
Paying for all thee upgrades will never be a hassle considering the kinda money you win in each race. A friend of mine who played a few races, thought money was showered on the driver more than what was necessary — ehmm you’ll feel like a member of Indian cricket team .
Around 70 cars are available in the game, but me being me, stuck to Porsche cars for most parts of the game, except for the first stage when I was driving a Mazda.
How Hardcore is It?
One reason why racing titles appeal to everyone is its simplicity and the level of complexity it could be pushed to, NFS Shift is no different. IN the beginning of the game you’ll get to drive a car with minimal assists and aggressive opponents, just to check your driving ability. Depending on how well you fare, you might be slotted to the most difficult setting — realistic damage, no driving assists, aggressive AI — and if you screw up you’ll be thrown lollipops in the form of, easy AI (will skid out way too often) driving assists (brake last moment and still get away with it!) to name a few.
Verdict
Overall, NFS Shift is a good game, and a great way to take the franchise ahead and the game has brought me back to liking NFS franchise again. The graphics are beautiful and the cars sound too sexy. Great going, EA, Slightly Mad (developer), you got the trick right this time
When Eidos and Rocksteady announced the new Batman game, I was filled with mixed emotions. Being a huge batman fan, it’s easy to say that I was elated, but at the same time, I feared that, like almost all the previous Batman games, it would not be able to do justice to the Dark Knight.
The previous batman game, which was based on the movie of the same name, Batman Begins was good, but not great. It was the first Batman game which incorporated Batman’s use of stealth and fear as a weapon, which was really good, but the game was flawed in many aspects and hence didn’t really turn out to be great.
The first teasers of Batman Arkham Asylum I saw, raised my expectations. But there was still some doubt. But now, having played the game, all doubts of this being a quality game has been removed. The game is awesome and does justice to the gritty and dark theme, presented in the comic books as well as the last movie.
The story is simple. Batman has captured his arch-nemesis Joker and has transported him to Arkham Asylum. While all would presume the situation to be hunky dory, Batman being his cynical self, smells a rat. His ‘Bat-Sense’ turns out to be accurate as Joker breaks free with the help of his girl Harley Quinn and escapes into the depths of Arkham, leaving a trail of death for Batman to follow.
All hell breaks loose as the inmates are freed. What follows is Batman’s fight to save Gotham City, the hostages within the Asylum and his atempt to spoil Joker’s master plan. Along this quest the Batman battles thugs, unarmed and armed, mutated giants and some old villainous faces — The Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Killer Croc, Bane — in Arkham.
The gameplay
The gameplay is divided into two part within the game (which can also played later in challenge mode). The first is fighting where Batman is attacked by a horde of goons. The controls are simple enough . A button to attack, a button to stun and a very useful button to counter an incoming attack when the player sees a ‘lightning like’ animation over the enemies head. This might seem a little too easy at first, but it gets harder as the game progresses and as the number of enemies increase. Later on in the game, you’ll encounter thugs carrying weapons (like a knife or a stunner and guns). In their case, you need to employ a slightly different tactics. Say hello to shadows, catch them unaware, attack from the back to name a few. More on the stealth aspect later.
The fighting mechanism works well and is extremely fluid. Moreover it looks as if the player is watching the action in a movie while playing simultaneously. The animation is detailed and I could forgive the few incidents where Batman missed the goon completely with a swing but still floored him.I like to call it bat magic
Another important aspect of the game is the stealth mode. Here Batman is put into a room filled with goons with weapons. Now we all know that Batman is unlike any other superhero, in the sense; he has no powers. Hence, when it comes to thugs with guns, Batman cannot go bash them up heads on. But what Batman has at his arsenal are his brains and his gadgets, along with his skills in terms of stealth and his reputation which instills fear into his ‘victims’.
All this has been taken into consideration when the stealth levels were conceptualised. What essentially happens is that Batman surveys his environment and threats from a vantage point, like a gargoyle. A press of a button trigger the view to switch to an infra red sort of a view called ‘Detective Mode’ where Bats can see his enemies through walls, see if they are armed, and also, get this, their heart rate. Here, the player needs to pick off his enemies one by one, without being detected. Don’t worry there are enough gargoyles in Arkham. As he eliminates his enemies, the level of fear instilled in the remainders increases. Once Batman picks off all but one bad guy, the last guy will be so scared that you can just jump in front of him and the victim will be too petrified to react.
This system works really well. The feeling when you pick off a bad guy without being noticed is really good. In case you are detected, you will be shot at, and all you can do is run, grapple onto a gargoyle and swing between them until they lose sight of you (which considering the fact that you could swing right in front of a thug, undetected, as long as you are in the air is a little unrealistic, but I’m not complaining). You might get out alive, but it will hurt your ego, nonetheless. But again, the system works well. All the stealth and picking off bad guys one by one without being detected makes you feel that you really are the Bat.
The Joker meanwhile will continue to tease you on the speaker phone and this adds to the feel of things. The conversation between the goons is even better. When Batman enters the room, the goons are confident, brash and cocky, which makes taking them out even more pleasurable. But things change once you begin to play with their heads. A slight sound can make the last few enemies start shooting wildly into nothingness. It gives the player a real essence of the Batman and fear and also gave me a sense of sadistic pleasure that I could mess with them so much.
At times, I didn’t even bother taking them out, but just kept throwing around stray batarangs to see a reaction. What also works well with the stealth mode is that you have so many options to take them down: Batrangs, Explosive Gels, falling debris and my personal favorite, the Inverted Takedown.
Of course, what would a Batman game be without the gadgets? And he has a lot of gadgets in his arsenal: Explosive Gel, Batarangs, Multi Batarangs, Sonic Batarangs, Remote Controlled Batrangs (yes!) and a handy device called the Bat-Claw. All of them work well. Also Batman’s cape can be used to stun enemies as well as glide a good distance. And there’s Detective mode, as I had mentioned before.
Detective Mode, as players will find is probably Batman’s most useful gadget, and will help him find clues and objects which he can use. The one problem I had found with Detective Mode is that, the user will have to use it for most part of the game, which is not a good thing considering that the user will be sacrificing the true graphic quality of the game while in that mode. I was also a tad disappointed that there was no Batmobile, but I didn’t really expect one as Arkham Asylum is a closed environment. Batmobile does makes a brief presence in the game, but then all you’re required to do is protect it from goons.
The game is a mixture of a linear game and a free flowing game. The game is linear as Batman has to follow a certain path for the story to progress, and doesn’t have missions to choose from. But at any time, Batman can deviate from this path to search for ‘Riddler Clues’, a bunch of clues and trophies which ‘The Riddler’ has hidden in different areas. The trophies can be found in normal vision but most clues can only be deciphered using Detective Mode. This gives the user a welcome change in pace of the game after beating up a bunch of bad guys or scaring the wits out of them. It also rewards the player with Character Bios, Models and Patient interview tapes, which make an interesting listen. Occasionally, the game breaks into what I’d like to call ‘Scarecrow Sequences’. These are brilliant!!! I will not get into details at risk of spoiling it for those who haven’t played the game, but they are out of this world.
Really graphic
Graphically the game scores well. The game has managed to capture the dark gritty environment of Arkham Asylum. One look at the Asylum and you can tell that this is a place with a dark past and a darker present. The character models are well done and even villains like Killer Croc look very realistic. Unfortunately, lip movements in the game should have been given a little more detailing, and proves to be a negative point in what sis otherwise a graphically sound game. Batman looks good except that his basic movements seem very stiff. But what really a treat graphically is the outdoor settings of the Asylum. All in all, the game looks beautifully disturbing, and is a visual treat, especially for fans of the comic book.
More brownie points
Another area where the game absolutely scores is in the voice acting department. Hats off to the producers of the game to get the real voice actors of the animated series into the game. Kevin Conroy, and the rest of the animated series cast, all do a brilliant job. But what really steals the show in this regard is Mark Hamill’s portrayal of the Joker. He has captured whatever Joker stands for in his voice acting. It is dark and sadistic which a hint of crappy humor. Hard to imagine he was once Luke Skywalker of Star Wars fame. Kudos to you, Mark.
Bashing time
This game is brilliant in every sense of the word. Well, almost. In spite of being such a good game, it is not without its flaws. The most notable flaw in the game are the boss battles. They get really repetitive, with Batman using a gadget, fighting a horde of goons, using the gadget again… and so on. The worse of these battles is the Killer Croc mission which really kills the mood of the game.
The Boss battles just don’t work, and kill the feel of the game which happens besides them. Another flaw of the game is the ending, which, is not with the mood the game has set. But the most major flaw I found with this game is that it ends too quickly, or at least it seemed like that. Maybe the flaw is just that the game does come to an end.
Final Verdict: Must Play
But all the flaws mentioned above does not stop Batman: Arkham Asylum from being a great game. It is a must play game for fans of the Dark Knight, and it is a game which will make players fans of him, if they are not already. It is the best Batman game ever made, and dare I say it, the greatest superhero game of all time. Watch out for the story, the action, the stealth mode, the graphics and most notably the Scarecrow sequences in the game. I am already looking forward to the sequel (and praying that the refrain from bringing Robin into the game), and trust me there will be a sequel. So to those who haven’t played the game yet, Don your capes and cowls and go and be The Batman.
The latest game from Pixar, UP, based on the movie by the same name, is enjoyable if you have watched the movie and liked it, else you might find it a little dull and childish. The game has almost the same story as the movie; but doesn’t engage one the way the movie does. Carl an old man, decides to travel to Paradise Falls, just as he promised his wife he would while she was in her death bed. He manages to get his house to fly by using hundreds of hydrogen balloons. Mid-way he realises that Russell, a boy scout, was standing on his house porch while the house lifted-off. He gets him into the house and after heading through a patch of rough weather, they reach Paradise Falls. Now both of them begin a chase behind the house which drifted-off when they got off at the falls.
Most of the game time will be spent hiking through jungles and jumping over narrow cliffs along waterfalls. So you’ll get Carl and Russell to run, jump, run, jump through the forest floor. To add a little variety to the mind-numbing action you have an option to collect items, which will unlock personal skills through the game.
Apart from running around on the forest floor, you’ll get a chance to get Carl and Russell to travel on a raft and fly a plane.
Also, gamers can switch between the pair at any point during the game and this will be mainly to do certain tasks only one of them can perform. For example, Russell can lift up Carl up a steep cliff and he can in turn lift him up by dropping his cane down.
Graphically, the game is a disappointment considering how good the characters look in the movie. The PC version of the game could easily pass-off as a PS2 game, even if you turn on all the bells and whistles of graphics settings on.
The game however might appeal to children and the tasks and gameplay are easy to learn and get used to. But in an attempt to make a game aimed at kids, I think the developer of the game, THQ, ended up making dumbed down version of the movie.
It has been a month since Dell launched it’s Alienware M17x Gaming notebook in India and I have been trying to get my hands on this product once. And I did finally, last week, when I caught an old friend of mine who had recently bought this 17-inch gaming monster. Claimed to be the dream of gamers (is it?) this gaming notebook has a striking bold red & black colour design.
First impression
Initially, I thought the price, Rs 1,39,000, was a bit too high. Mainly because I am desktop gamer. I would rather assemble a mammoth gaming desktop in this price. But this product is for the gamers on the move, though it’s slightly bulky to be considered mobile.
The available processor configurations starts with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor and top out at an optional Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad with two overclocking options for the best possible HD video and audio editing, 3D animation and high-end PC gaming. Storage capacity options include up to dual 500GB 7200rpm hard drives in a RAID 0 or RAID 1 configuration, giving you up to a full 1TB of storage for a library of games, full-length movies or songs.
Checking out the build and design, the notebook is adorned with an aluminium casing with a black finish. This looks more industrial and aggressive than the rounded “alien head” shape other notebooks Dell had in their range.
Soft(ware) side
The Alienware Command Center provides access to programs like AlienFX lighting controls which lets you change the colour of the lights on the notebook, or the new AlienSense Facial Recognition software that will automatically log on/off the user when they step in front of the notebook’s built-in webcam…Quite cool HA!!!
The AlienFX lights in the pre-production M17x that I spent some time with had incomplete lighting features, but the production-level notebooks will ship with AlienFX lights that completely illuminate the front air vents.
And Hardcore
The M17x has FireWire, four standard Hi-speed USB 2.0 ports, and a single eSATA/USB 2.0 combo port capable of PowerShare to supply power to accessories even if the notebook is turned off. If that isn’t enough, then there are three video output ports (VGA, HDMI, and DisplayPort) as well as a standard ExpressCard/54 expansion slot and more audio ports than one can know what to do with.
Game on we say
We played Fifa 2009 & Hitman 2 on this monster. Yes, not the graphic intensive we know but we wanted to give Crysis a break!
Equipped with two NVIDIA GeForce GTX280M graphics processing units for a grand total of 2GB of graphics memory, makes the gaming experience extremely hmm… for lack of another word, beautiful! The sound quality of the speakers is also good, much higher than my expectations.
The notebook is fast, with a decent mix of price & performance.The games run with no problems at all. It is big & heavy, just like monsters are meant to be . This is big in performance, as well as size (& of course price). The battery performace is poor in comparison to a normal laptop, but lets not complain because not many laptops use such big-ass graphic cards. Overall, a gaming monster if you like carrying monsters with you.
Key Features and Specs
Processor: Up to Intel Core 2 Extreme Quadcore with 12MB Cache
Graphics: Up to Dual 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M – SLI Technology
Memory: Up to 8GB DDR3 1333MHz
Hard Drive: Single or Dual Drives (RAID 0) up to 1TB 7200RPM
As soon as I got my hands on Ashes Cricket 2009, I ran towards the PC all excited and launched the game. The game is interesting, but I need to say the game has failed to meet my expectations.
As you would expect, Ashes Cricket 2009 allows you to play through the entire Ashes Test Series, as well as several other game types such as one day internationals, Twenty20 and test matches.
While the Ashes remains the full 5 sets of 5 days worth of cricketing action (I mean rain doesn’t affect the game as often as it does otherwise in England) there’s enough instant action right here with the included T20 games. These essentially offers all the breath taking swift bouncers, and long range sixes that the part-time fans adore so much.
Training
But before you take to the wicket, it’s a good idea to take a peek at the training options on offer, for your own sake. Splitting up the sport’s main disciplines, you’re walked through all the batting and bowling techniques you could ever desire. You are guided by the Legends of Cricket, Sir Ian Botham and Shane Warne. The voice overs are nicely done and fun while you practice the batting or bowling. The training mode over all is very helpful to get used to all the aspects of the game. Once you’re done with training you realise the game is all about training, no matter what you’re doing — batting, bowling or taking a catch — you realise that the game is all about training, pressing the right button at the right time.
Batting
The control system is quite simple. Select the direction you want to play the shot in. Chose if you want to play on front foot or back foot and select the kind of shot (defence, grounded, lofted) just at the right time.
To me, batting is where all the fun lies, and those who ‘re new to cricket can leave the decision of which foot the play the shot in to the AI. In easy mode you can just scores fours and sixes without blinking your eye. But in hard mode things turn nasty to an extant. But hey it doesn’t become impossible to score runs just a tad difficult.
Bowling
Bowling is a different prospect. Like in all the cricket games till now, you get to nudge a circle to the specific area of the pitch you want to direct the ball towards – with a colour-coordinated option allowing you to see where this specific bowler pitches perfectly.
The problem I have with bowling is that, when in hard mode unless you bowl full speed you stand a chance of being hit for a six or a four. For example try bowling slightly below full and the AI will score at a rate of 8 runs per over even in a test match. After around 20-30 overs when the ball wears out fast ballers will be able to perform reverse-swing. If weather is perfect you will see a few balls which swing in arcs.
Spin bowling again is again not so enjoyable because spin is not just about moving the ball around on the pitch. It’s also about flight. There are zilch options to change the flight of the bowl. Once you manage to bowl well continuously, spinners will be able to perform special deliveries such as a doosras.
Bowling overall feels more flexible than ever before in a cricket game, but it would have been much better if Codemasters do something about manic AI.
Fielding
Never has it been so much fun to field. A wide range of preset formations are available, with the option to set your own custom fields. Fielding itself is automated in the main, though you can choose which end you throw the ball back to from the outfield. And catching takes the form of a close-up Quick Time Event. I have a little love for QTEs, but here it actually works pretty well in creating a snap moment of drama. To catch, make sure you press the return key when the colour turns green.
Graphics
The stadiums, the shots all look so good but player likeliness is totally absent. Pitches feature an excellent level of detail that portray realism. The cricket grounds also feature a nice level of detail although the sprites used for the crowd look seriously out of date and would have looked poor on the last generation of consoles.
Quite bugged up
Despite being solid overall, there are a few problems that stop it being a perfect sports game. The main bug is the run out goof-up. Sometimes the AI doesn’t run the full length of the pitch while taking a run and stops in the middle of a pitch. The result an easy run out. Now who wants that?
Another bug is while throwing from the outfield. In case it’s a flat throw, a fielder in an in-between position will dive to grab the ball. This time you lose a chance of a run out.
LBWs are a rarity thanks to the in-game umpires who rule it not-out despite hawk-eye (yes, the game has hawk-eye ) showing it’s out.
Other problems
This particular problem I am going to refer to cannot be blamed on Codemasters. Electronic Arts holds the usage right for all the names and jerseys of international teams. So most teams have older jerseys (India wears the ‘99 kit) and names are all jumble up and players look nothing like they’re supposed to look like. But hey, you can change the names from within the game.
“Potter pot and pot potter topped the potting pot,” try repeating this gibberish non-stop while playing Harry Potter and the half-blood prince, because as I see it, that’s the only way you might find this game a little difficult, challenging.
The world of Harry Potter, as presented in the game, is not just magical, but also very beautiful. The game presents you with an open world which you are free to explore at your own pace. But with a story line we have grown so familiar through the book, those side-missions can wait for later and you can concentrate on things like horcruxes and Malfoy that might worry the-boy-who-lived.
If you judge the Potters universe by the game, it is awfully easy and you might wonder why Harry found it so challenging. Also, being a seeker just might be the easiest thing to do in the world. All you got to do is fly through star shaped hoops and did you know that Nimbus 2000 Firebolt has auto-pilot? At least it does in the game, and all you need to do is move your mouse a little so that Harry doesn’t miss the hoop.
One distinct feature of this game from the previous titles is the potions class and the amount of game-time that has been devoted to making potions. These mini-games are good fun and intuitive.
When not mixing potions or chasing Malfoy on the Marauders map, Harry spends his time collecting crests and mini-crests which are scattered all over the castle. Why would he do that? To put it bluntly, for brownie-points. Some of these crests unlock certain features like dung bombs among many others. Some of these mini-crests are on top of walls and in between obstacles. This is the only part of the game where you might have to your brain.
Another aspect of the Potter universe which always caught my imagination was the duels. Turns out, Harry is quite good at them. I managed to defeat Bellatrix Lestrange twice in the game without a retry that too! The only person who managed defeat Harry was Snape, but that happened in a cut-scene and there’s nothing I could have done about it. As they say, it was written, however in Harry’s case it was in the book and not in the stars.
Gameplay is pretty straight forward, though I found the camera a little restrictive. The spells are easy to cast and its one of those games which you can pick up and start playing. The graphic quality requires a special mention. Sure it might not be Crysis, but the game universe looks as good as it does in the movies.
To sum it up, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is certainly not be the-game-which-must-not-be-played, but it fails to deliver on various counts. It doesn’t do justice to the story, quidditch and to the beautiful Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) who looks a weird in the game. But of course, it offers us muggles a trip to the enchanting universe we have all come to love.
(Sorry, no original screenshots. My print screen button is not working. Will post a few by tomorrow)
Guns? Check. Attitude? Check. Sharp curved blades thirsty for blood aka Ulaks? Check. Expressionless face and a grumpy voice? Double check. Then press C to crouch and carefully tread your way into the unforgiving world of Chronicles of Riddick – Assault on Dark Athena. Assault on Dark Athena is a sequel to Chronicles of Riddick – Escape from Butcher Bay, which is a part of a series of Chronicle of Riddick movies and games brought out over the years, which has Vin Diesel playing the protagonist. The game takes forward the story of Richard B Riddick, a remorseless killer and one of the most feared criminals.
The game begins with his spaceship being dragged into a ship controlled by the mercenaries (mercs) called Dark Athena. On the ship, he meets a young girl, Lynn, who is searching for her parents, who were captured by the mercs. Along with Lynn and other hostages held by the mercs, Riddick finds his way to Revas, the leader of the mercs and the controller of the ship.
Riddick just does what he wants to and listens to none unless they offer him their soul or something very valuable in exchange. How good you find the game depends on what you’re looking to get from it — the gameplay surrounding stealth or the adrenaline rush of action. Depending on these, it can either be a disappointment or a break from the past. One moment you are embracing the darkness waiting for the enemy to step into the shadow. The very next moment you are spraying bullets like a maniac to fight away hoards of drones (soldiers pieced together from dead bodies and brought to life by chips) and mercs.
The first game in the series, Escape from Butcher Bay, was pretty much a stealth game. Dark Athena, however, feels more like an action game with the player provided with massive ammo — guns and heavy artillery — quite early on in the game.
Once you have killed the drones, you can use the guns attached to their bodies, to gun down any other drone soldier who might turn up to check on the commotion. Now, that’s all-out action. Darkness just adds to the visual appeal of the game and provides cover for little Lynn and provides no advantage, as such, for Mr Riddick.
What made Escape from Butcher Bay such a big hit on Xbox, was the quality of its gameplay. The developers managed to add some depth to the game with sub-missions which came from prisoners who inhibited the Butcher Bay, one of the most high security prisons in the game universe.
Assault on Dark Athena, in that sense, feels hollow. There’s no need to do all the sneaking around you were forced to do in the earlier version. This time, you’re loaded, and how! With enough ammo to back you, there’s no stopping your getting ahead. What’s more, later in the game, you also get access to Scar gun, and then you can forget about ammo altogether. The Scar gun fires suppressed gas balls, which attaches itself to any object that comes in the trajectory. It stays stuck to the object till you decide when it should explode. So with such a gun, small obstacles like crates and drones become non-issues. The only issue will be surviving the moment.
The enemies are hardly a challenge in the beginning. But as you progress, you will come across a few who will require more than sharp shooting to kill. The toughest ones are the spider drones, which look like surveillance cameras, but can cause severe damage with its laser precision shooting.
For those who haven’t played the original, the Assault on Dark Athena comes with the revamped version of the original game. So it would be better for newbies to start with Butcher Bay before they try out Dark Athena. It not only fills you in on Riddick’s life, but also gives you a better taste of skills and gameplay. Unlike the action-packed movies, the game is more enjoyable and challenging if you try to adopt the stealth method. The multiplayer-options of the game deserve special mention. Apart from options like ‘deathmatch’, ‘team deathmatch’ and ‘capture the flag’ — which are now the staple diet of multiplayer — the game offers two more intriguing options in the form of ‘pitch black’ and ‘riots at Butcher Bay’. ‘Pitch black’ takes the cake for the most interesting of the lot. You can play the game as a merc or as Riddick. If you opt to play as Riddick, you are left with only ulaks, to fight your way past mercs who will be armed with some heavy artillery available at their base. Riddick starts on a lower level and in pitch darkness.
Overall, the game is an enjoyable experience and the fact that it comes packed with two games makes it a good value proposition. The gameplay is as amazing as the storyline, and you will enjoy the multiplayer too, provided you get someone to match up with.
Rating: 4/5
Developers: Starbreeze
Distributor: Milestone Interactive
Reviewed on: PC (Rs999)
Available for: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC
Age-Rating: 16+ (PEGI)
Hanuman: Boy Warrior, the first console game to be fully developed in India, is a great concept with poor graphics and average gameplay. Yet, it’s poised to be a runaway hit in the market, says NT Balanarayan
Screenshot from Hanuman Boy Warrior
There are good ideas and then there are bad ideas, but not all good ideas necessarily turn into good videogames. Hanuman: Boy Warrior is an ideal example of a brilliant idea gone horribly wrong. It promises the world, but delivers little. The game narrates the story of Hanuman as he
grows up from a vanarabala to a strong God.
The game opens with Hanuman angering a sage and being forced to live the life of a simple boy in a jungle. He’s taken in by a kind villager. Just when he gets used to the village life, asuras attack and turn the world into stone. Hanuman’s adventure begins from this point. He reveals his identity and sets out to stop Shirkasur, a rakshasa who has command over all five elements — air, water, wind, fire and ether; he is armed with a gada and the ability to restore life to creatures turned to stone.
Along the way, you (the player) will encounter rakshasas of various sizes and temperaments. Some will just circle you with swords; others will treat you like a pest who needs to be squashed. But luckily, Hanuman has a gada and the asuras are not too smart. Unless you are playing in hard mode, fighting these minions is just a cakewalk. The level of difficulty keeps rising as you progress, but the fights against the bosses (super villains), although lengthy as they are meant to be, are a little too easy.
The developers have drawn inspiration from God of War 2, one of the biggest successes on PS2. The similarities range from melee combat to storyline. But in terms of quality of gameplay, Hanuman is just the opposite of God of War which is dark, gripping, entertaining and pretty tough at stages. Ironically, the thing Hanuman was so good at doing — jumping great distances — is the toughest part of the game. There are certain sections of the game where you will wrack your brains trying to get that perfect jump. And when you fail, you might end up cursing the very God you are supposed to be worshipping!
The game might also provoke a few thoughts on the depiction of Indian mythology. Here, it turns out that Hanuman, who is chiranjeevi (immortal), can’t swim, and drowns just like lead in water! Maybe it’s the weight of his gada that pulls him down. This game might be enlightening for those who do not know about this stage of the God’s life. The graphics are nothing to boast about. The developers should hang their heads in shame for they are poor, even by PS2 standards. Agreed, the console has been around for ten years, but we have seen the levels of rendering it can produce. The semi-pixel shaded graphics look like the result of poor, hurried development. It seems like a desperate attempt at creating an Indian style of animation.
Hanuman looks good in the cover image but in the game, he isn’t as interesting. The environment is too bland and the low-poly makes it look like a PC game developed back in the ‘90s.
However poor it may be, it just might sell well in India because it appeals to the Indian mindset. We don’t want the next generation to be totally ignorant about our mythology. But surprisingly, it is not preachy at all — no sermons on time and maya. Having said that, on the whole, Hanuman: Boy Warrior is disappointing.
Hardcore gamers will know that Quake III, much like Half-Life, is a cult game. Gamers get hooked on to it for years while trying on its different mods (modified versions). One even remembers a mode which let you play as any character from The Simpsons television series. However, like everything else, even computer games come with an expiry date. And the game developers know they are headed closer to this date when gamers start to look elsewhere for steamier entertainment.
Quake had reached that stage of its life and just when the gaming community thought it was dying an inevitable death, id Software, the American game developers, pulled out its trump card — a free version of Quake, which is playable through a browser. And suddenly, gamers were talking with feverish excitement about a game which you could play without worrying about system specs or DRMs or patches — nothing. Just plug and play.
What makes Quake Live a must-try is the ease with which it allows you to play multiplayer matches. It provides you exceptional gameplay and multiplayer experience, a first, almost, in gaming. There is no need to ‘join a server’ or to download a map-pack. Just when you begin to think that plug-and-play sound too good to be true, you figure there’s a hitch. It’s in the form of a compulsory tutorial level for first-time players. This, you will later discover, is really a ploy to distract you while the game quietly downloads some 250MB to your computer.
Once you’re over the shock of this game’s invasion of precious space on your hard drive, focus on its other interesting features — all minor options, but they make a world of difference. The game dices your performance into figures and gives you the choice to flaunt it or hide it. As the game is almost embedded in a webpage, your personal stats, and those of your friends, are just a click away. The available statistics start with basics such as your ranking and performance in recent battles. It then goes in-depth, listing individual performance ratings — your score with individual guns, performance from map to map and so on.
Every new achievement can bring you an award. But the ultimate goal of every Quake fan is to get his name on the international leader board. This board is sub-divided into most wins, frags, games played, time played, efficiency, accuracy and medals.
The graphics are a bit of a let down. The very last-gen graphics in Quake Live is bound to put off gamers addicted to the Crysis variety of games. But the more-than-impressive gameplay makes up for all the missing bells and whistles. Plus, dated graphics are the price you pay for high frame rates on a browser-based game.
With its automatic skill-matching feature, you need not worry about being posted against a tougher opponent. But you’ve got to be alert every second of the high-voltage game, as even the slightest distraction, and you could turn to face a rail gun pointed at you. The controls scheme too is similar to the one in Quake III — the usual ‘aswd’ combo we have come to terms with in numerous first-person shooters through the years.
As of now, you can pick and choose from 40 arenas with three team-based game modes — capture the flag, deathmatch and clan arena. The game can be set in any of the two individual game modes — duel mode and free-for-all.
What’s sorely missing from this otherwise near-perfect game is that among its many options for minor settings, it leaves no room for the gamer to add mods of his choice. The developers have announced that such a feature will be made available in the near future. We’re waiting.
Clouded vision
Lock and load and you are ready to go,
But the sense of betrayal doesn’t let you so.
You were promised manna from the heaven,
But given the forbidden fruit instead then.
So what is it about Quake Live, the new “browser-based” game from developers id Software that makes me feel betrayed? The game was initially promoted as one which is playable through a browser after installation of an add-on. This had many thinking that the game would make use of cloud computing technology, which would be a first in gaming. And so the game was awaited with much nervous anticipation.
However, those who signed up for the game at quakelive.com where initially told to download a small plugin – a .msi file.
And the dream was a short one. It turned out the game required much more than an add-on to be downloaded. After installing the downloaded add-on, you can immediately login to the site and get gaming. You are forced to go through a training session – disappointing and annoying for those who have spent entire nights away playing first person shooter games. But it’s useful for first-timers. After this, you are pitted against a computer player who will try to blast missile after missile aimed straight at your head. How well you duck and dodge will decided if you begin with a “beginner” rating or as an “expert”.
Now, let me get back to the story about being betrayed. While going through the training session and fighting a crazy bot with the rocket launcher, the game had downloaded files more than 250MB into the system. So the core parts of the game will be on your system and not on the cloud! So why does this game play through a browser? id Software thinks it helps boost multiplayer element of the game and helps in better tracking of the user base.
Bad news for all fans of cloud computing. The shift from PC to cloud, you will know, happens only when all games adopt the cloud. Many thoughtQuake Live would show the light. Unfortunately, it has taken the road much-trodden. The wait continues.
ot of the cover-aim-fire-kill ritual. This along with my modified guns had kept me and my partner alive in China which — in the game — is under siege by a militant group.
If you buy it and plan to use it, remember to take cover as diamond cuts to anything and everything!
Where the game really shines is with the cockpit view. The screen goes blurry when you crash, you get an real sense of speed as surrounding flash by, but you’ll also end up slamming on the brakes way too late. The last issue however is a temporary one and once you get used to the tracks, it’ll be a non-issue. In the beginning of a race, when all cars are trying to crowd around and push ahead this camera angle makes it even more difficult to navigate through the road ahead. You might say that’s how life is in a real race, but then in a real race the driver has 360 degree vision, he doesn’t need to press a few keys on the numpad to look around. That being the case, I ended up starting most races with normal, helicopter view.
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how well you fare, you might be slotted to the most difficult setting — realistic damage, no driving assists, aggressive AI — and if you screw up you’ll be thrown lollipops in the form of, easy AI (will skid out way too often) driving assists (brake last moment and still get away with it!) to name a few.
The first teasers of Batman Arkham Asylum I saw, raised my expectations. But there was still some doubt. But now, having played the game, all doubts of this being a quality game has been removed. The game is awesome and does justice to the gritty and dark theme, presented in the comic books as well as the last movie.
All this has been taken into consideration when the stealth levels were conceptualised. What essentially happens is that Batman surveys his environment and threats from a vantage point, like a gargoyle. A press of a button trigger the view to switch to an infra red sort of a view called ‘Detective Mode’ where Bats can see his enemies through walls, see if they are armed, and also, get this, their heart rate. Here, the player needs to pick off his enemies one by one, without being detected. Don’t worry there are enough gargoyles in Arkham. As he eliminates his enemies, the level of fear instilled in the remainders increases. Once Batman picks off all but one bad guy, the last guy will be so scared that you can just jump in front of him and the victim will be too petrified to react.
At times, I didn’t even bother taking them out, but just kept throwing around stray batarangs to see a reaction. What also works well with the stealth mode is that you have so many options to take them down: Batrangs, Explosive Gels, falling debris and my personal favorite, the Inverted Takedown.
Really graphic
The game has almost the same story as the movie; but doesn’t engage one the way the movie does. Carl an old man, decides to travel to Paradise Falls, just as he promised his wife he would while she was in her death bed. He manages to get his house to fly by using hundreds of hydrogen balloons. Mid-way he realises that Russell, a boy scout, was standing on his house porch while the house lifted-off. He gets him into the house and after heading through a patch of rough weather, they reach Paradise Falls. Now both of them begin a chase behind the house which drifted-off when they got off at the falls.
T20 games. These essentially offers all the breath taking swift bouncers, and long range sixes that the part-time fans adore so much.
In easy mode you can just scores fours and sixes without blinking your eye. But in hard mode things turn nasty to an extant. But hey it doesn’t become impossible to score runs just a tad difficult.
Assault on Dark Athena is a sequel to Chronicles of Riddick – Escape from Butcher Bay, which is a part of a series of Chronicle of Riddick movies and games brought out over the years, which has Vin Diesel playing the protagonist. The game takes forward the story of Richard B Riddick, a remorseless killer and one of the most feared criminals.
from the past. One moment you are embracing the darkness waiting for the enemy to step into the shadow. The very next moment you are spraying bullets like a maniac to fight away hoards of drones (soldiers pieced together from dead bodies and brought to life by chips) and mercs.
series, Escape from Butcher Bay, was pretty much a stealth game. Dark Athena, however, feels more like an action game with the player provided with massive ammo — guns and heavy artillery — quite early on in the game.
What they said…