Thursday, 3 May 2012
Closed for business
I know its been a long time but I just wanted to officially state that this project of ours is totally defunct at this point in time. It was good fun while it lasted and thanks for all your support along the way!
Cheers!
Josh and the rest of the team at Triforce Games
Sunday, 30 August 2009
Batman: Arkham Aslyum Review
Is this the best licensed game, and the batman game fans have been waiting for? Lets flip a coin and find out.
Gameplay: 5
Graphics: 5
Presentation: 5
Sound: 5
Replay value: 4
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
Fallout 3
Fallout 3
Basically the game is set in the post-apocalyptic world following The Great War (Not to be confused with World War I) between the US and China, a ground and nuclear war that happened on October 23, 2077 and lasted less than two hours but still causing a lot damage and destruction. Before The Great War we fought for fuel and such, during which the U.N disbanded, a plague made the U.S.A paranoid, and Canada was annexed. When China invaded Alaska, America (as usual) declared war and began to “erase the communist” thus ending in the end of the world as we know it.
The story is about a boy/girl who was born in the vault that has been shut for 200 years. But your father leaves with out any explanation and you go after him.
Review
The first time I played this I found myself doing laborious tasks and generally repeating myself and then I left the vault. As you leave the vault your eyes readjust (you have been underground all your life) this, this was a small but significant part to why this is one of the best RPG's ever made.
Wondering about the wasteland I have found nearly everything and it has taken me about 70hours to get there, but I’m still finding more and more. There are many tiny details that make this game so great, one example is the bombs hit the U.S.A at 10:47 and every single clock in Fallout 3 reads that time. One of the things that drew hype about the game was the new type of fighting; this is called V.A.T.S (Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System). This allows you to get away from the thick of battle and take time to think about your next move. Basically this allows you to specifically target areas of the enemies’ body and take them down without too much effort. This not only allows you to slow down combat but really allows you to see how visually marvellous this game really is.
Another thing that makes this game so amazing is the karma element. The actions you make including conversation and combat choices, affects your status in the game world; a person who makes good decisions is received more positively by in game characters and a player that makes bad decisions has the opposite. If you are very good, Talon Company will attack you (Mercenaries), and if you are very bad the regular NPC's will ambush you randomly, this really gives this game more of a push to greatness.
Together and many, many other things make this one of my personal favourites.
Gameplay: 5
Graphics: 5
Presentation: 4
Sound: 4
Replay value: 5
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DLC
Operation: Anchorage
In this add-on, the Brotherhood Outcasts are trying to acquire military tools, and the only way to enter the vault containing these relics is by completing a military V.R simulation. But, none of them have a Pip-boy, so you go inside the simulation. In the simulation the player fights in one of the greatest battles of the Fallout universe: the liberation of Anchorage, Alaska from the Chinese troops. Inside you’re stripped of any equipment and weapons and forced to utilize the things supplied throughout the simulation. The Chinese Army are everywhere, and you first have to secure the mountain and then fight their way into the Chinese base. You have to use a lot of basic combat skills, along with several new weapons that are only available in the add-on. Including teams under the player's command as well as unique armour, weapons, and other gadgets. Also in the Simulation, the player is introduced with a new system, which instead of healing with Stimpaks, you will have Health Dispensers that will fill your health completely. You will also have Ammo Dispensers in most of the places. When people die, you won't be able to search them or take their weapons and this makes the whole simulation harder.
Gameplay: 4
Graphics: 5
Presentation: 4
Sound: 4
Replay value: 3
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The Pitt
In this add-on, you journey to the raider town called The Pitt, located in the remains of Pittsburgh. The Pitt involves a traditional quest line with several moral choices. The main quest is you taking on the role of a slave in order to investigate rumors that the Raider boss of The Pitt has discovered a cure for a disease. When The Pitt starts you will hear a new radio distress signal from a slave from the Pitt named Wernher, he needs help in getting a cure for the disease developed by The Pitt's boss, Ashur. In order to successfully reach him you have to give up your gear for a while. You are then able to use a new weapon the Auto Axe, you get to The Pitt by a train and has its own map away from the Capital Wasteland.
Gameplay: 4
Graphics: 5
Presentation: 4
Sound: 4
Replay value: 3
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Broken Steel
Broken Steel alters the ending of the original Fallout 3 to allow continued play after the end of the main quest line. The game to lets you continue your game save after the end of the main quest and it raises the level cap to 30, also it is the same length as the other previous expansions.
Due to spoilers I won’t go into too much detail about this expansion.
Gameplay: 3
Graphics: 5
Presentation: 3
Sound: 4
Replay value: 5
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Point Lookout
Point Lookout is Fallout's version of Point Lookout State Park. This is by far the best expansion with 4-5 hours of gameplay and is about a sixth of the size of the Capital Wasteland.
Companions cannot follow you to Point Lookout, but you are able to travel back to the Capital Wasteland with the Duchess Gambit (The boat you go in on) anytime after finishing the Local Flavor mission, which means you can spend as much time as you like exploring, and still head back home when need be. It takes a month to travel to Point Lookout in game time.
Gameplay: 5
Graphics: 5
Presentation: 4
Sound: 4
Replay value: 4
And plus! On top of all these expansions that add to an already massive game, you can go online and search for mods if you're a PC gamer. These mods can add anything from quests to gear and new textures or effects. You can pretty much get what ever you want added into the game, or if you want to create anything for in game use in Fallout 3 yourself, you can get the software from the Fallout 3 official site.
Wednesday, 5 August 2009
An Apology and Teh Gaming News Issue 8
Yo guys! First up I need to apologize for the lack of posts last month. This is mainly my fault for not rallying the troops together who had gotten out of the routine thanks to E3. And two, Luke should be doing this but I am a nice person and covering for him as he is working on a BIG review on Fallout 3 and its many DLC so look forward to that! Now to the news...
Wii Sports Resort
Wednesday, 22 July 2009
Gaming Diary: Resident Evil: Code Veronica
Hey guys, Mark here and I've gotta say over the summer I've been playing on my Dreamcast a lot. Also recently I bought Resident Evil Code Veronica for it, have been playing it and it is amazing.
It follows on from Resident Evil 2 and Claire Redfield is still looking for her brother Chris, and she gets captured by Umbrella. She is transferred to a prison on Rockfort Island and a strange guy called Rodrigo frees her but is too wounded to leave the room, Claire then finds that the T-Virus has been released onto the island and there are zombies and B.O.Ws (Bio Organic Weapons) She meets Steve (another prisoner) and together they have to get off the island. That's a basic rundown of the story and it is like the other resident evil games I suppose. The game also features 2 discs, 1 for the first half of the game and another for the second half. I have just started the second disc and I'm enjoying the game so far.
Overall this is probably one of my favourite games in the RE series because it has a fairly unique vibe to it all even though it is similar to the other RE games. I also enjoy the story and it has a great cast of characters. Also people who have played Resident Evil 5 and know about Chris and Wesker's hatred for each other may want to play this as it has some pretty good moments with them. Alfred and Alexia Ashford are both...interesting characters as well.
Tuesday, 21 July 2009
Fifa 09 (X-Box 360)
Well I thought I would do a sport game as no one has really done one, and no this isn't josh or mark or anyone else this is callumthesalmon. I recently got an X-box 360 with gears of war 2, Farcry 2, Fifa 09 and Call Of Duty: World at War.
So as I said earlier I thought I would do a sports game. To put it bluntly if you don't like football don't buy this game. But if you stumble upon a cheap copy then get it! I don't like football, I think it is so pointless but the amount of times that you will cheer or boo or get angry at this game is just immense really. There are several different gameplay modes like the mangers mode or tournament mode and you can play online as well (which I tried but i got thrashed).
The graphics are amazing, when I first played this my mum walked in and said 'why are you watching football when you don't like it'. It took me a while to explain it was a video game but that's another story. Each player has been designed to look just like their real life counter part and they do, they look pretty realistic. EA also do a lot to get this game the way they do because every week they watch every single football match and update each player depending on how well they played which I can say would take a very long time. (But it's alright if you like watching football i suppose.)
Next up is the music, this ranges from chart music to just general annoying game music, you all know what I am talking about. So yeah I was a bit surprised to hear Duffy on there so, I think that's it for music.
For those hardcore fans of football and actually know who the players are then there is a special mode for you, where you can make your dream team of football players which is a real nice touch to this game.
My last point about this game which I found very amusing it was the fact that when you score a goal in the game, you have the opportunity to perform a celebration by pushing different buttons on the controller. So yeah you can do anything from sliding on the knees to the robot.
So that about wraps this up for Fifa 09
Gameplay:3
Graphics:5
Presentation:3 (The menus get very confusing at times)
Sound:4
Replay value:5 (You can never get bored seen as you can play as any team that ever existed in professional football.)
Thursday, 9 July 2009
Beautiful Katamari
Wednesday, 1 July 2009
Teh E3 News: Microsoft
Microsoft then showed the new controller to go with Tony Hawk Ride, a new game that doesn't require a conventional controller but uses a Skateboard itself that you stand on and can be used to steer and pull off tricks.
Infinity Ward showed off Modern Warfare 2, they showed a snow covered level and it appeared to be very appealing. It looks better than the original modern warfare. It had some vehicles in it, dazzling graphics and awesome gameplay. It is scheduled for release sometime in November so keep your eyes out for that!
Also hitting in November is Left 4 Dead 2, the sequel to the zombiefest that was L4D. It appears to be set around the same time as it's predecessor. It features new characters, new campaigns, new weapons, Melee weapons (Chainsaw please!), new special infected and special ammunition. It appears to have different things to do from the original, for example there will be areas where you'll have to alert the horde then advance somewhere else to stop them again.
Square Enix showed a brief battle trailer to their highly anticipated game... Final Fantasy XIII, this stops the rumors of it being PS3 only. It looks like its going to be awesome so I'd order that soon if you are a fan of the series. (Editor: This news was announced last E3!)
Several 360 exclusive games were also showed off, the first was Crackdown 2, which had a trailer, it seems to look like the original and so lets look forward to that (Editor: Apparently it will have zombies! Or mutants... Something along those line anyway). Anyone out there like Splinter Cell as well? Splinter Cell Conviction was shown off, it features Sam Fisher and he's on a revenge fest after his daughter was murdered. Also revealed was Metal Gear Rising, I've already mentioned this though (go back to my Konami post if you want to know more about this).
Bungie though, revealed quite a bit this E3 as well, showing Halo 3: ODST (also known as Recon) where you play as an ODST (that's Orbital Drop Shock Trooper- I read the books too much) and its set during Halo 2 on New Mombassa, when the humans and covenant were still at war. It features Firefight mode, where you play as an ODST in a mode that is very similar to Gears Of War 2's Horde mode with the covenant. It's scheduled for release in September. If you pre-order it now you'll unlock... Sgt. Johnson =D
Bungie also showed us Halo 3 Reach in a teaser trailer. It showed a planet, explosions and some voices. Its unclear what it's about or what it'll be like but hopefully it will be revealed soon (Editor: It will be based on Reach and probably cover the invasion by the Covenant. This is also a prequel to Halo Combat Evolved as it takes place just before The Chief goes off onto the Pillar of Autumn. Oh and it WILL be an FPS)
Another game showed was Alan Wake... This game has been delayed so many times but now it is apparently coming to the 360 in Spring (Yay?) It appears to have some creepy gameplay and so hopefully it will be worth the wait.
Project Natal has also been revealed, its a new way of gaming using gestures and spoken commands with the help of an add-on. A price has not been revealed yet and this aims to expand the 360's audience. This features many things, like Face recognition and looks pretty awesome.
Pictures from dosomething.org and wikipedia.org
Sunday, 21 June 2009
Gaming Diary - Nethack
The picture above, for those who may not understand is of me getting killed by a ghome lord in level 5 of the dungeons of doom. It uses symbols and colours to create everything, for example a browny green + is a door while a white + may be a spell book. The controls are quite complicated, with pretty much every button on the keyboard doing something and capitals as well, Eg 'w' is to wield another weapon while 'W' is to wear something.
This game is also good because of the variety, it generates a new dungeon every time you play and anything can happen, last night I got some +3 boots which gave me a good Armour class, owned some monsters then I found a potion, drank it, went blind and died. You basically have to go through the Dungeons and find the pathway to the next one, avoiding or killing the monsters, getting items along the way, and avoiding traps and hazards.
Overall I am very happy that I returned to playing this game, as it is very fun and very addictive (once you learn the controls that is!) I am very happy that I dug it up from my files and now I shall go play it some more =D
Screenshots by me! =D
Monday, 15 June 2009
Teh E3 News: Ubisoft
Well here is the list of games presented by Ubisoft; Assassins Creed 2, No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle, Rabbids Go Home, R.U.S.E, Splinter Cell Conviction, Red Steel 2 and Academy of Champions.
Well Assassin's Creed 2 certainly has got many people wondering what could be in store for them, it is following a highly successful game and will be really hard to get it quite as popular as the first but i have heard how many people are looking forward to this so keep an eye out.
No more heroes 2: Desperate Struggle, again a follow up to a great game although one thing that was a bit off with the first one was the lack of free roaming when your not doing missions so it is possible that they may have fixed this, again a highly awaited game.
Rabbids go home, yet again another rayman spin off is on the way, it is rumoured to be the last in the series of the rabbids, i have yet to play any of these but i think i might invest in one, when I have the money.
There is also R.U.S.E which is a new strategy game and another pretty good follow up of Red Steel with Red Steel 2 which again you slash people with swords as you do in the first one, then you run around a little so yeah just a classic killing game.
Then lastly Academy of Champions which is being released on the Wii and again is another Sports/Fitness game which there has been too many of these for the Wii and my mum has decided to buy the newly released ones recently and to be frank they aren't that good so fingers crossed this will be better.
This line up of games is definitely quite pleasing, most people will be looking forward to these new games and sequels.
Pictures from: http://www.cheatcc.com/images/news/e3logo.jpg
http://dlb-network.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/ubisoft.gif