ESWC 2011 - viewer's guide
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Saturday, October 22, 2011
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| Language: | English |
| Date: | 2011-07-22 |
| MD5: | bb5ed8b0ecb6cb89774da47db1dafd96 |
| Changelog: | For Details visit |
| http://www.getdota.com/ | |
TOP 28 UP COMING GAMES
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception:
Despite myself, I love Nathan Drake. More rugged than Jason Statham, sexier than Indiana Jones and much less of a jerk than Han Solo, he is one of the great action heroes. Watching him escape death by a hair is endlessly compelling. He isn't just one of the PlayStation 3's best heroes, he's one of the best game characters of this console generation. And he has amazing hair.
Uncharted 3 is finished and will be on shelves in just under a month, and before we get stuck into the review, I got my first chance to actually play two of the scenarios that have had everybody salivating for the past eight months: the burning mansion and the cargo plane escape. Although I've seen both of these short missions before, it's suprising how different it is when you're actually playing them. One sees Nathan and Sully escaping a grand old building as it erupts in flames and crumbles to pieces around them, where the other shows Drake board a cargo plane as it takes off and fight off the bad guys within whilst dodging barrels and crates as they fly out of the loading bay and into the sky. Both are action sequences better than anything Hollywood has come up with in the past five years.
It's indicative of a wider shift in games, this – where once they were
trying their best to approximate the excitement and visual spectacle of a
Hollywood blockbuster, now they're effortlessly outdoing them. It's
partly because of the graphical capabilities of modern consoles, of
course; Uncharted 3
looks incredible, whether it's the thoughtful lighting, the realistic,
context-sensitive animation or the thoughtful cinematography, the camera
following Drake dramatically as he leaps, stumbles and hangs on for
dear life, or framing the sunrise in the background as he stretches out
from Elena's buggy towards the landing gear of the plane.
But it's also to do with the creativity of the design, the flow and pace
of the action set-ups. It's not just about guns and explosions, as
anyone who's suffered through one of the Transformers movies can tell
you. The first two Uncharted games
might have had a thing or two to learn when it comes to pacing, but
Naughty Dog has learned from experience. And lastly, it's to do with
characterisation. Nathan Drake might not be the deepest character in the
world, but he's a more endearing personality than most movie action
heroes, not to mention the useless meat-heads that typically populate
game worlds.
There's a problem that games have that films don't, though, and that's the unknown quantity of the actual player. Like every Uncharted game before it, Drake's Deception is
flawless until you hit a momentary stumbling block and ruin the flow.
Miss the Triangle prompt next to a beam that you have to kick down from
the ceiling, and you can spend a couple of minutes running pointlessly
back and forth across a room as the tension and sense of grand adventure
disappear in a flash. Or Sully might get himself momentarily caught in a
doorway, temporarily breaking the illusion that this is all really
happening in front of you.
Thing is, though, that Uncharted 3 almost never seems to slip up. Its signposting is much improved since Drake's Fortune.
You're guided seamlessly through action sequences so intense and
high-octane that spectators can't help but laugh out loud as Drake
climbs up the cargo plane's landing gear as it takes off, or hangs by
his fingernails from a crumbling banister as everything around him goes
up in flames. If these two scenarios represent the overall pace of the
full game, we're in for one hell of a ride.
I wish they still made movies like this. The fact that they don't, though, is good news for games – and great news for the people who play them.
I wish they still made movies like this. The fact that they don't, though, is good news for games – and great news for the people who play them.
As we speak, Uncharted 3 review code is winging its way to our offices. Look out for our final verdict on what looks like Nathan Drake's greatest adventure in the near future.
RELEASING DATE IS 01 NOV
Friday, October 21, 2011
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
It's easy to forget how unforgiving Counter-Strike can be. Valve's competitive online shooter truly rewards the skilled and stomps all over the newcomers. There are no Call of Duty-style kill streaks, no artillery barrages to call in or packs of dogs to let loose. It's just you, your guns, a few grenade types and your ability to react. Map knowledge, teamwork and quick reflexes are the only things that matter. With Global Offensive (or GO), the next version of Counter-Strike, Valve isn't trying to completely reinvent the franchise. This isn't Counter-Strike 2, it's more like an incremental update. Terrorists still fight Counter-Terrorists in round-based combat. You still plant bombs on Dust and rescue hostages on Office. Some maps, like Dust and Aztec, received updates while others, like Dust 2, are largely unchanged. Though the changes aren't wild, franchise fans will find a few new interesting additions to the formula that may very well turn out to be series staples moving forward.
If you're using GO's matchmaking system you'll be dumped into relatively small maps for five versus five gameplay. Valve built an ELO-based ranking system into GO to determine your skill level, so ideally you're set up with players around your level of skill. Bots of appropriate difficulty settings will also be added in if a full game of live players can't be put together. If the idea of a five on five match sounds too limiting, PC players will be able to set up custom matches that Valve assures will provide the same degree of flexibility as is available in Counter-Strike: Source. Console players will not have the option to set up servers, however.
Once you do get a match up and running, the gameplay may be seem simple
at first, but there's quite a bit of depth. Depending on the map the
Terrorists either need to plant bombs or protect hostages, and the
Counter-Terrorists need to stop them from planting and detonating bombs
or rescue hostages. Before any of the fighting starts, you need to buy
weapons by drawing on a personal pool of accumulated funds. Weapons
include pistols, rifles, SMG and sniper rifles, as well as specialty
items like flashbangs, high explosive grenades and smoke grenades. In
the in-development build I played body armor is automatically purchased
at a round's beginning, though Valve says when GO's done in 2012 the
armor will be a separate purchase. In an interesting twist, defusal kits
that let Counter-Terrorists quickly disarm bombs are no longer
purchaseable. Instead they're randomly assigned to two teammates at a
round's beginning.
Confirmed Maps
- Dust
- Dust 2
- Aztec
- Office
- Nuke
- Italy
- Infern
Armor and defusal kit changes are important because you don't have
infinite money in Counter-Strike. Kills and victories in each round earn
you more funds, but you start off poor in GO's Competitive mode. The
first round is typically only pistols, and if your team keeps losing
don't expect to be running around with a one-shot kill AWP sniper rifle
any time soon. Weapons need to be earned through skilled play, which
makes acquiring them all the more rewarding. Alternatively, you can
scoop weapons up off the ground from dead teammates and opponents, and
in either case, if you die you'll have to purchase everything all over
again. If you're new to Counter-Strike or don't want to have to deal
with amassing a small fortune to buy your favorite gear, the Casual mode
will be a good thing to try out where you'll get plenty of money each
round to buy whatever you wish.
The weapon you choose dictates your combat role. If you're running
around with the sawed-off shotgun, don't expect to do much damage from
long range. Let the players with sniper rifles take care of that, then
spearhead your advance with smoke and maybe a flashbang to disorient the
other team before charging in. Chances are you won't be able to get up
close very often, though, unless it's by accident or you manage to flank
someone. It's tough to get close because it doesn't take much to die
in Counter-Strike. Health doesn't regenerate and there are no first aid
packs. Charging around maps out in the open is pretty much the worst way
to play. In fact, running really isn't a very good idea at all.
Footsteps make noise in Counter-Strike, so when in hostile territory
walking or crouching is the best thing to do, unless of course you're
fleeing an encounter. Move against walls, move slowly, move with your
teammates, and always make sure you're checking every entrance to your
part of the map. It's a lot to keep track of, but if you do it's a
hugely rewarding feeling to hunt, kill and ultimately defeat the
opposing team.
Part of the brilliance of Counter-Strike is how dynamic the combat can
be. On each map, any experienced player will know exactly where the
zones of contest will be every single time. To get around that, your
team needs to not only be accurate, but creative. Use the grenade types,
flank, take up intelligent positions if you're defending, and be
stealthy whenever possible. If the majority of your team is drawing the
attention of Counter Terrorists on Dust's underpass, the bomb carrier
might try to sneak around to the map's opposite side to plant the bomb.
Once the explosive is activated, the Counter-Terrorists panic and rush
to the bomb site to defuse it. But if the bomb carrier gets killed
before the device is planted, then the game changes again. Instead of
defending the bomb sites, the Counter-Terrorists now protect the bomb
wherever it dropped, ensuring no Terrorists swoop in to pick it up and
scamper off to the designated detonation zones.
RELEASING DATE IS Mar 31, 2012
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
TOP 28 UP COMING GAMES
Assassin's Creed: Revelations
Since the advent of hidden treasure and side-quests in Assassin's
Creed, the series has shown off some epic set pieces amidst crumbling
ruins, dark caves, and secret rooms. But Assassin's Creed: Revelations says bigger in almost every way.
But it's the hidden Masyaf Keys that really show off how far Assassin's
Creed: Revelations takes the adventure. Masyaf Keys are the Revelations
equivalent of Tombs and Lairs. As a player who tackled all of Da Vinci's
weapon quests, all of the Romulus Lairs, as well as all the Assassin
Tombs in II, I've seen a lot of dungeons, ruins, and treasures. But in
the two instances of Masyaf Keys that led me into the memories of an
older Altair, I saw that the scope of the exploration had ratcheted into
a higher stratosphere.
The first dungeon took place in an enormous cavern full of waterfalls,
collapsing scaffolding, and what looked like a bottomless pit. The new
zip lines throughout the game help escalate this sense of depth
throughout the environments. Crumbling scaffolding and falling pillars
aren't new to the formula, but the size and sense of impending doom add
to the drama.The second Masyaf Key dungeon feels similar to the Naval Cannon quest in Brotherhood in which you stalk a boat through an underground river.
But in the case of Revelations, there's no stealth involved, the soldiers on the boat blast you with rifles as you chase them across crumbling archways, pilings, with fire nipping at your heels. Rather than slipping into a boatyard without being seen, this chase scene ends at a waterfall – and I won't spoil more.
Speaking of guns, there's a new kind of big fight in the form of rifleman aiming at you from point-blank range. While guns aren't new to the series, the sharpshooting rifleman stands as a new combat bane that was just annoying enough to add difficulty. But with the addition of bombs, these steady-eyed nuisances might not be as annoying as they initially seem.
Where else have the mechanics taken a turn for the more complex?
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