New Games

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• More fire in the belly with another Dragon's Dogma video
• The DTOID Show: Mass Effect 3 DLC, Halo 4, & Diablo 3
• The Network Roundup: Time to play
• First Tony Hawk HD DLC will be Pro Skater 3 stages
• First look: The Last of Us
• Live show: Serious Sam giveaway on Mash Tactics
• New Arkham City behind the scenes vid talks sound design
• PlayStation Vita gets access to more PSP games and minis
• The voices of DCUO: The Last Laugh
• Preview: Making FIFA 13 'predictably unpredictable'
• DiRT Showdown console release pushed back to June 15
• 'Sausage Fest' DLC coming soon to Swords & Soldiers HD
• Review: Sniper Elite V2
• Epic Mickey 2 dev diary talks up camera, co-op play
• Time to get hyped with this cinematic for The Last of Us
• Kenka Bancho's back with some more punk ass whoopin'

More fire in the belly with another Dragon's Dogma video Posted: 16 May 2012 03:00 PM PDT So I'm sure most of you by now will have heard of Capcom's upcoming Western/Eastern-Skyrim-Monster Hunter-Dark Souls-inspired-medieval-monster-slaying-epic that is Dragon's Dogma, which is exactly one week from now. If by any chance, you've been living under a rock -- or not checking out Dtoid regularly -- our corgi lover leader Dale had an interview with producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi at SDCC last year, and recently gave us a wonderfully extensive preview of the game, whilst Jim gave his trademark Jimpressions on the demo around the same time. Both were mightily impressed - particularly Dale - though recent revelations and decisions regarding Capcom DLC have left a sour taste in the consumers' mouths yet again. For those wondering what on earth these Japanese devs are saying, don't worry as it's mostly all things Dale has already covered. The dragon rips out the protagonist's heart. Rather than dying, it just so happens that he is "the Arisen" - the enlightened one destined to slay the dragon. "Pawns" then appear out of nowhere, who exist to serve and help him in the quest to defeat the dragon and get his heart back.  There were small snippets of new info on plot points, such as finding out why these pawns exist and why they obey "the Arisen." The developers also describe having a strong desire to build a game where these pawns would appear very human and be genuine in wanting to help while allowing you to build them however you please, turning them into the rays of hope necessary to overcome all adversity that lies before you.  The rest of the spiel talks about the abilities of the pawns. They can be your partners in battle, employing battle tactics and saving you from death, whilst able to acquire vital information for you. Depending on what party you choose, battles will operate differently, offering many new possibilities and experiences. Furthermore, with the help of the Rift system whereby online players can borrow your Pawn and take them along on their quests, the developers revels on the prospects of allowing you to utilise the Pawn's personal experiences when they come back to aid you further. For them, all the quest knowledge, battle knowledge, and offering advice on playing, adds to the possible adventure experiences on offer, and adds value to the game as a whole.  So, with just over a week to go, who's up for some more monster slaying? Or has the ever-present DLC debacle turned you all away from this potential beast of a game? Also, anyone getting it for the Resident Evil 6 demo at all? After all, I know a few people who only bought Ninja Gaiden 3 for the Dead or Alive 5 demo. カプコン、PS3/Xbox 360「ドラゴンズドグマ」メイキング映像第2弾を公開 [GAME Watch]

The DTOID Show: Mass Effect 3 DLC, Halo 4, & Diablo 3 Posted: 16 May 2012 12:30 PM PDT Greetings, dear readers! It's been a while since I've written one of these; I could be wrong, but I think this is where the joke part goes. ...How was that? On today's show, we got a first glimpse at Mass Effect 3's unconfirmed (but highly likely) Rebellion DLC, along with a cinematic trailer for The Last of Us, a collector's edition for Halo 4, and a couple Serious Sam games on XBLA! We also discuss the launch of Diablo III and the subsequent onslaught of server issues that have been plaguing users since the game's release. Between those and other begrudgingly-essential well-being practices (work/school/bathing/eating), have you been able to log more than a few hours so far?

The Network Roundup: Time to play Posted: 16 May 2012 12:00 PM PDT Sick of all the Diablo III complaining and news? I'm just happy to be playing. With my hectic work and writing schedule, playing games is something I set certain times of night aside for. Unfortunately, those times had not been lining up for the past two days, and I had been greeted with the sad maintenance messages. Not tonight! It is now time to play! Keeping the joy of gaming going on the network, Destructoid is giving away some Serious Sam goodness. Japanator announces the return of an old friend. Flixist shows us how to watch some great Korean yummies. Finally, the Tomopeeps remind me how much I miss Domokun. Let's do some serious gaming tonight! Japanator Toonami returns on May 26, 2012. Yes T.O.M., we missed you. More Persona 4: Golden gameplay videos to drool at. See this drool? It's all for you Yukiko. First Impressions: AKB0048. The ladies of AKB48 try 2D on for size. Flixist Korean Film Archive Youtube channel is awesome, free. I know what I'm doing this weekend. Ooh yeah, gimme dem Flixist Show questions. Yell at the Flixist crew! Review: The King and the Clown. I love Korean movies! Tomopop Mezco announces new Domo figures, merchandise. I almost forgot about my buddy Domo. Tomopop Review: Good Smile Company's 1/4 Nanoha. Those are some serious eyes you got there. Tomocast 35 records tonight, give us questions! Please say mean things to Pedro.

First Tony Hawk HD DLC will be Pro Skater 3 stages Posted: 16 May 2012 11:00 AM PDT I'm pretty pumped for the upcoming release of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD. Today, Activision has given me even more to look forward to by confirming that the first round of downloadable content for the game will include stages originally seen in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3. Which levels will appear has yet to be decided by the folks at Robomodo and they're once again turning to the fans for guidance. A post has been published over on the THPS HD Facebook page asking for people to suggest their favorite stages with the final decision to be made by Hawk himself.  Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 is, in my opinion, the last truly great game in the franchise. It implemented the final really valuable trick, the revert, still had a great soundtrack and hadn't quite yet gone off the rails in terms of silly unlocks.

First look: The Last of Us Posted: 16 May 2012 10:42 AM PDT Today, Sony and Naughty Dog showed off the first gameplay for their upcoming survival action game, The Last of Us. The demo played out after the cutscene Naughty Dog released this morning. It was a short look at the cross-country journey of middle-aged Joel and teenage Ellie in a decimated world some 20 years in the future, but it gave us a solid idea of what we can expect. And I'm expecting really good things after seeing this. The Last of Us (PlayStation 3) Developer: Naughty Dog Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Release: Fall 2012 With this being an early look, not all of the game's systems are in place right now. Naughty Dog says that we can expect gameplay focused on paralleling the player's emotions with those being felt by Joel and Ellie. They're trying to a create a reality where players will feel the same tension, instilling in them the survival instinct that the characters will rely on. Even at this early stage, The Last of Us is gorgeous. A city overgrown with vines and weeds is as lush as you'd expect from the makers of Uncharted. They've beefed up the lighting, building on Uncharted's already stellar engine to include more ambient sources and softer lighting, making the world feel richer and more realistic. I saw gorgeous afternoon sunlight shimmer through windows in the ruined town, with just enough light bouncing off the floors to illuminate rooms in a world where electricity is no longer available. The music of The Last of Us will also be approached from a different angle, a different context. In the demonstration, we only heard one song from Joel's truck, a country tune about how the world will end. The game's focus on survival will bring about AI that goes beyond standard enemy fodder. Naughty Dog says that they want each enemy to feel real, and have realistic animations to match. Even in this short demo we could see that each encounter Joel and Ellie had to work through felt unique, with each attacker having their own behavior. The game's balance-of-power system will have enemies reacting appropriately to how Joel and Ellie are armed. A group encounter would have enemies behaving differently from a lone attacker, for example, and a gun in hand will see an attacker react in a much different way than a brick might. The demo starts out with Joel and Ellie riding in a truck on a highway, heading into piles of abandoned cars with busted windows. Joel contemplates turning back, but decides to press on. A disheveled man in a hoodie calls out for help, but Joel ignores him, telling Ellie that "he ain't even hurt." Joel suddenly runs him over with the truck, but quickly finds that other attackers have come out of the buildings of the abandoned city, throwing bricks and rocks at his vehicle. A few of the attackers push a bus down a hill, plowing it directly into Joel's truck. After the crash, ambushers pull Ellie and Joel out of the truck and begin beating them up. Joel fights back and acquires a gun, at which point the cutscene transitions seamlessly into a gunfight. That ends quickly as Joel runs out of ammo, defending himself behind the counter of an abandoned store. Ellie saves the bullet-less Joel after he tries to fire a shot (click!) by calling an attacker to distract him ("Hey, fuckface!") and then throwing a brick at his head. Joel takes his opportunity to jump out and punch the attacker, narrowly escaping. Joel and Ellie continue to fight their way out of abandoned buildings, hiding from these organized attackers, taking each of them out individually in very brutal, cinematic fights. All of the encounters seem to use tools found around the environment, like bricks, boards, and spare ammo, and all of them appear to be quite the struggle. They're violent, with face bashing, glass slashing, and forceful fistfights. And between bouts, Joel and Ellie work to find supplies that will help them survive another battle. Eventually, Ellie finds a way out of the area through a garage door. The building itself looks to be a temporary home for squatters, which the two call "hunters." They loot the building for supplies as they make their way to the roof of the building, moving past several rotting bodies. "I knew I should have turned the damned truck around," Joel mumbles as they leave. The serious tone and high tension of the stage break for a brief moment when Joel scolds Ellie for moving too far ahead of him. He warns her to stay behind and keep her voice down, but she responds by saying "OK!" in a voice that seems to mock Joel's gruff, scratchy tone. A glimpse of backstory is revealed when Ellie asks Joel how he knew about the ambush. He tells her that he has been on both sides of the situation. Later, Ellie asks Joel how many innocent people he has killed in the past. He brushes her off, replying, "Just search the place." The two make their way out into the open, moving past a permanent traffic jam of cars, each filled with dead people. Ellie: "What happened here? Hunters do this?" "My money is on the military," says Joel. "Can't let everyone in. Sacrifice the few to save the many." Ellie: "That's kind of shitty." All of the cars seem to have been pointed in the same direction, headed toward a gate labeled Military Security Zone Checkpoint. Looks like they never made it. Hopefully Joel and Ellie will. --------------- After seeing this, I hope Naughty Dog fans are not expecting anything like Uncharted, as this is completely different. Forget platforming and rock climbing to pretty locales so that you can shoot enemies from a distance. This is violent, close-quarters combat in a tense world where you're forced to creep around to survive. This game may be just as beautiful as Uncharted, but you'll be too busy striving to survive to stop and enjoy the scenery. That said, it's already clear that we can count on more of Naughty Dog's impeccable storytelling and deep characters. I was already quite excited for Naughty Dog's take on survival action, but after seeing this first gameplay demo, I'm practically vibrating with anticipation. They promise a brand-new look at the game at next month's E3, so stay tuned.

Live show: Serious Sam giveaway on Mash Tactics Posted: 16 May 2012 10:30 AM PDT It's about to get all super serious on Mash Tactics today! King Foom is going balls to the wall in Serious Sam 3: BFE multiplayer. On top of that, we have a bunch of codes for the Serious Sam Complete Pack on Steam, courtesy of Croteam, and we're giving them away to the viewers! Tune in, and try to catch a code between all the bullets. Mash Tactics airs Monday through Friday at 4p.m. Pacific on Dtoid.TV. Watch King Foom play a variety of games, each day with its own theme. With a heavy focus on community and viewer interaction, you can be as much a part of the show as anything else.

New Arkham City behind the scenes vid talks sound design Posted: 16 May 2012 10:00 AM PDT Rocksteady did absolutely everything right in Batman: Arkham City. This includes the stellar sound design; punching thugs makes a satisfying thud, bones make an earth-shattering crack, and even Batman's cape itself has a cast of sounds. John Roesch was the Foley Artist that made it all happen in Arkham City. He also made it happen for The Dark Knight, The Matrix, Inception, and many other huge projects. Basically, he knows his sh*t. This video shows off how Roesch made the effects. For example, to make the sound when punching Mr. Freeze, Roesch put a snowboarding boot inside a motorcycle helmet and hit with a hammer. This is exactly why I wanted to be a sound engineer at one point. Oh, there's also some stuff about recording gun sounds, but that's a snooze fest. Hitting things with hammers is always more thrilling. By the way, if you haven't picked up Arkham City yet, you can the Game of the Year Edition releases on May 29th. That's my birthday, and if you don't play Arkham City it'll make me sad on my birthday. No one wants that.

PlayStation Vita gets access to more PSP games and minis Posted: 16 May 2012 09:30 AM PDT Sony is slowly but surely filling out the roster of PlayStation Portable games and minis that are available on the PlayStation Vita Store. This new batch, which is out right now, isn't the most glamorous, but they can't all be. Take a look: PSP Titles: Cho Aniki Zero (Aksys Games Localization, Inc.) Strikers 1945 Plus (PM Studios, Inc.) Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 (UbiSoft, Inc.) Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas (UbiSoft, Inc.) Valhalla Knights 2: Battle Stance (XSEED JKS, Inc.) Ys: I & II Chronicles Digital (XSEED JKS, Inc.) PSP minis: Aero Racer (Halfbrick Studios) Age of Zombies (Halfbrick Studios) Blast Off (Halfbrick Studios) Dynogems (StormBasic) Echoes (Halfbrick Studios) Me Monstar: Hear Me Roar (Cohort Studios) Vempire (Impressionware Srl) You can thank me later for opting to use a Cho Aniki image for the thumbnail only.

The voices of DCUO: The Last Laugh Posted: 16 May 2012 09:00 AM PDT Although DC Universe Online's next DLC pack, The Last Laugh, is primarily a PvP pack, that doesn't mean SOE aren't throwing money at voice actors for it. Adam Baldwin and Arleen Sorkin return to lend their vocal stylings to Superman and Harley Quinn respectively. Joining them is the only man who should ever voice The Joker, Mark Hamill. After wanting to go out with a bang in Arkham City, it's strange to see him going back to DCUO. But more of his interpretation of The Clown Prince of Crime is always welcome. The Last Laugh is free for Legendary players, Premium and Free players will be able to purchase it on PSN or on the website. It looks like it's going to address some of the PvP issues, but perhaps too little, too late.

Preview: Making FIFA 13 'predictably unpredictable' Posted: 16 May 2012 08:30 AM PDT The draw of “reality” television is its ostensibly greater degree of unpredictability over scripted shows, the coveted “you can’t make this stuff up” factor. Many simulation videogames better replicate the infinite variability of life than reality TV does, and one way in which a few recent sports games have gotten there is by implementing real-time physics engines. EA Sports’ venerated FIFA series did that with FIFA 12 last year, delivering often impressive but occasionally laughable results. There was more work to be done; modeling collisions is only one aspect of simulating soccer. The holy grail in sports games is calculating everything on the fly, taking into account the unending variety of variables in every case. “The philosophy of the team,” explained David Rutter, executive producer for the FIFA franchise, “has been to take all of the inputs that would occur in this real world that we live in, and use them to drive the outcomes of the game that you are playing.” It’s an asymptotic venture, and the talented developers at EA Canada are getting closer every year. [Editor’s note: I use the terms “soccer” and “football” interchangeably in this article. --Samit] FIFA 13 (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, Wii, Vita, 3DS, PSP, PS2, iOS) Developer: EA Canada Publisher: EA Sports Release: Fall 2012 Three of the creative leads behind FIFA 13 delivered a lengthy presentation to members of the press a few weeks ago at EA Canada, located on a sprawling campus in the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby. They discussed five major gameplay innovations that are coming in this fall’s new soccer game, but they did not speak of new modes or any other changes, and we didn’t have a chance to play the game. So there’s a lot more to come regarding FIFA 13 -- perhaps at E3, or, more likely, at Gamescom -- but for now, I’ll take you through what gameplay producer Aaron McHardy called “a revolution of game-changing features” for the PS3, 360, and PC versions. Attacking Intelligence lets AI teammates think ahead Dumb AI is a perennial nuisance in team sports games; it’s always frustrating when a scoring opportunity evaporates because a computer-controlled teammate didn’t do something you perceived as natural, lifelike, and/or smart in a particular situation. EA Canada has revamped FIFA’s positioning code, making AI attackers smarter and opening up the field for your offense. FIFA 13’s new Attacking Intelligence feature is felt in a number of ways. Players are now much better capable of analyzing space to go on decisive runs -- they can not only evaluate openings on the pitch and realize they’re in position to make a run, but also can get to valuable space in a manner that creates more scoring chances. This encompasses new behaviors such as stutter-stepping to stay onside, curving runs around defenders, and creating separation from opponents to open up passing lanes, as well as more complex soccer strategy in player positioning and ball movement. The world’s best players have an unparalleled ability to visualize and predict the progress of a play. As McHardy put it, “They’re processing the game at another level,” always thinking ahead to try and gain the upper hand on defenders. Your teammates in FIFA 13 will do the same: they have the intelligence to understand where the ball is likely to go next, and accordingly -- instead of standing around until the play comes to them -- they’ll start moving one or even two passes ahead of time, putting themselves in better position to receive passes and propel the attack forward. McHardy played footage from the studio’s test bed environment, complete with wire-frame players, proving the improvements between FIFA 12 and FIFA 13 to be apparent, significant, and remarkable. Dancing around defenders with Complete Dribbling Last year’s game introduced Precision Dribbling, a setup that suffered from the same problem that has plagued the movement systems in almost every soccer game: players pushed the ball in a direction and turned their body to follow the ball. It made it difficult to get around defenders without using FIFA’s relatively complicated Skill Moves. FIFA 13 brings in an update called Complete Dribbling. McHardy said it’s “way bigger” than Precision Dribbling, with the key element being that EA Canada has finally separated the moving direction from the facing direction. I asked McHardy how important that change is, and he told me it’s “completely liberating.” Until now, he explained, “You couldn’t really face up a player 1v1 and beat him in the way that Messi beats a player 1v1: running straight at him, sidestepping around him, keeping that facing angle forward, and being able to get around the player.” It’s now possible to move laterally while still facing forward, which lets you quickly evade defenders and continue attacking. Complete Dribbling gives you the power to embarrass your opponents, and the freedom and creativity to do it in a variety of ways. Precision Dribbling brought shielding into FIFA, and Complete Dribbling expands on that with the ability to lock a facing-away angle contextually and chain shielding more fluidly with other dribbling moves. In addition, you now have the ability to change direction more quickly in low-speed dribbles, as well as finer control over close touches. Some of these elements came from the dribbling system in FIFA Street, according to Rutter. While Street is an arcade game, the FIFA team felt that “mapping stick control one-to-one with foot movement work[ed] well,” and implemented parts of that setup in FIFA 13. Complete Dribbling also makes advanced dribbling tactics accessible to all players. It’s controlled completely by the left stick, so even novices who can’t pull off Skill Moves will be able to dribble circles around their opponents in FIFA 13. “What we would like is for everyone that plays our game to feel like they have tools to go around defenders,” said line producer Nick Channon. First Touch Control means nobody’s perfect McHardy played footage from a real soccer match in which Ronaldinho perfectly trapped a pass from 50 meters out -- just one gentle tap from his foot, and the ball fell safely into possession. But he’s one of the world’s best footballers, and even he can’t pull that off in every situation. The next clip McHardy showed was from FIFA 12, in which a middling player managed to receive a long pass with perfect touch. That’s simply not realistic, and FIFA 13’s First Touch Control system aims to fix that. This year, the ball isn’t glued to your foot. The new system introduces “contextual trap error,” taking into account a wide variety of factors to determine how easy or difficult it will be for a player to secure the ball. Rain makes it much tougher; a soft pass is easier to gather, unless it’s coming to Earth from way up high; and a well-timed shove from a defender could make all the difference. First Touch Control also accounts for players’ attributes, differentiating the Ronaldinhos of the world from less skilled footballers. Channon made sure to note that it’s “unpredictable, [but] it’s not random, and that’s a very key difference.” EA Canada implemented the system to eliminate perfect control and introduce opportunities for your opponent to take back possession. Playing aggressive passes will make it harder for your teammates to corral them, and it will give the other team chances to pick up balls that bounced away from an attacker’s foot, providing balance to the more offense-minded gameplay changes discussed above. Getting physical on and off the ball with the Player Impact Engine The FIFA team debuted a completely new collision system with the Player Impact Engine last year, and it had its share of glitches. Many of those errors -- the infamous “kiss,” or players’ limbs being forced into biomechanically-impossible-without-tearing-tissue positions -- arose because FIFA 12 didn’t properly model the musculoskeletal structure of its players. Joints now have the proper tension associated with them, and EA Canada has added (and slowed down) animations so players can disentangle themselves without expressing their love for each other. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. “What’s really rewarding this year is building loads of features” on top of FIFA 12’s solid foundation, said Channon. The original Player Impact Engine had a major limitation: it only calculated physics for collisions in which one player already had the ball. Two opponents waiting for a pass to drop, however, had very little interaction. FIFA 13’s evolution of real-time physics allows for players to push and pull each other off the ball, bringing in the crucial element of jockeying for position. “We never really had that concept in our game,” Channon told me, “and I think that’s something we’re very excited about.” This development makes playing defense much more active, and it allows bigger players to use their size and strength to their advantage in preventing attackers from getting to the ball. It’s all about the “battle for the ball,” said Channon, noting that “it’s like any sport, really: if you’ve got good body position, you’ll generally be in a good place.” Tactical Free Kicks provide creative freedom I have limited experience playing FIFA, but even I’ve noticed that free kicks weren’t very exciting -- not nearly as interesting as they are in real life. “Free kicks, in FIFA, have just been kicking the ball over the wall,” admitted Channon. That’s only one element of many in the highly variable setup, and FIFA 13 finally retools the system to give you numerous options, both on offense and defense. The kicking team can now organize up to three players over the ball to play around with fakes, and execute dummy runs to take the ball down the side or to the front. Test bed footage showed two players hopping over the ball, after which the third player sent a pass to the first, who put a shot on goal. You can add to or subtract from the defensive wall, and even creep upward (with the potential for the referees to notice and penalize you). If you mis-time a shot-blocking attempt, you can reform the wall and jump again. More aggressive teams can send a player toward the kickers to intercept passes or block shots. These changes have been “in the making for a while,” Channon told me, “and we felt that this year was the time to do it.” Minor enhancements can have major effects McHardy closed his presentation by discussing additional gameplay improvements. Last year’s iteration of real-time physics made it “infinitely more difficult” for referees to call fouls correctly, so the team has “re-architected” the rules system to work better. They have also humanized the CPU by making it a bit more forgiving, especially on Professional difficulty, which used to be robotically perfect. Lateral defensive containment is a new option, letting defenders cut off passing lanes by moving sideways instead of only toward or away from attackers. On offense, you can take advantage of new pass types, sending lofted through balls or passes that bounce over defenders’ outstretched legs. EA Canada has also added animations for 180-degree shots, off-balance shots, and celebrations. As you can see, EA Canada is doing a lot of work to more accurately simulate soccer. It took Rutter, Channon, and McHardy 90 minutes to cover all the new gameplay features -- that’s how much is changing this year. I heard a few amazed gasps from fellow journalists during the presentation, so it seems like FIFA fans have a lot of stuff to get excited about between now and FIFA 13’s launch this fall.

DiRT Showdown console release pushed back to June 15 Posted: 16 May 2012 08:00 AM PDT Codemasters has announced that they are delaying the release of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of DiRT Showdown, previously scheduled for release on May 29. The combative racing game will now be found in stores two weeks later, on June 15. The publisher stated in a press release that they came to the decision -- along with the title's distributor, Warner Bros. -- in order to give the game a "clearer release window," which might be code for, "not the week before the biggest North American gaming trade show where it could be drowned out entirely by hype for products which won't be released for months or years." It's probably a smart move. On the plus side, PC players will be unaffected by the delay and DiRT Showdown will still be available for purchase through Steam on May 24.

'Sausage Fest' DLC coming soon to Swords & Soldiers HD Posted: 16 May 2012 07:30 AM PDT Ronimo Games has been working on a new single-player story campaign for Swords & Soldiers that's due out next week on Steam. They had my attention with the expansion's name, "Super Saucy Sausage Fest." Then I saw the badass poster art and had to share the news. You'll command the forces of Chief Meat across ten levels as he travels to the annual Super Saucy Sausage Fest in hopes of winning its grand prize: 1,000 cows. The DLC also throws in a new challenge mode, Boulder XL. At a price point of two dollars, I'll probably have to give this a go.

Review: Sniper Elite V2 Posted: 16 May 2012 07:00 AM PDT The appeal of the World War II shooter faded long ago. Medal of Honor, Battlefield and Call of Duty now look to contemporary war zones for inspiration, while other shooters look toward the future (Syndicate). Sniper Elite V2 comes with a twist, however: What if you could snipe Nazis in the balls? Tantalizing, I know. Sniper Elite V2 is the perfect meeting point between shooters today and shooters a decade ago. On one side, you have a tasteful campaign based around (partially) historical events. On the other, you have gore galore and bloody balls. We can all agree that sniping Nazis in the balls is awesome, but is everything surrounding it equally sound in V2? Read on to find out. Sniper Elite V2 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360 [reviewed]) Developer: Rebellion Developments Publisher: 505 Games Released: May 1, 2012 MSRP: $49.99 When I think of snipers I think of two films -- both set against the backdrop of World War II -- Enemy at the Gates and Saving Private Ryan. The latter represents an escort mission of sorts: A sniper picks off a horde of Nazis as his friends down below hold their ground. Sniper Elite V2 has some moments like this. It’s Enemy at the Gates that really makes me excited about the prospect of a sniping WWII game. The film is basically a long cat-and-mouse chase between two snipers trying to outwit each other. This is what I was hoping to find in V2. Here’s what I found instead … You can’t make a game where you only snipe. Well, you can but that game would have to be called Silent Scope. At its core, V2 is a glorified shooting gallery that spotlights your shots with brilliant presentation and impact. Imagine the slow-mo bullet cam that followed Max Payne’s sniper rifle and combine it with the brutal skeletal damage animations of last year’s Mortal Kombat reboot. The fun of sniping Nazis in the head, organs, and testes never gets old due to this great feedback loop. Unfortunately, it’s all sandwiched between a rather frustrating stealth game. Stealth is the only route that makes sense for a game of this type. After all, it would just be another third-person shooter with a sniper rifle if it didn’t focus on stealth. The problem is that the game feels designed around action with stealth as an afterthought, making for a very frustrating experience at times. Unlike the original Sniper Elite, V2 presents much narrower levels that route you waypoint-to-waypoint, a la Call of Duty. You rarely feel like a sniper trying to get the lay of the land, working toward a vantage point. Instead you feel like a hamster guided by a hand within a maze. You expect an abandoned building to be there for your benefit but instead it's blocked off. There are some levels that are more open in V2's campaign but they are the exception and don't come until later in the game. V2 adapts some stealth mechanics seen in many recent games. You can mark targets through your binoculars, which will summon an icon, visible at all times (even through walls), above enemies' heads . You also have a stealth meter that surrounds your character, indicating the direction of enemies nearby and their level of awareness. Finally, you have a ghost image -- borrowed from Splinter Cell: Conviction -- that will appear whenever an enemy spots you. Enemies will go toward your last seen position, leaving them vulnerable for a flank attack. All these abilities make the stealth portions bearable, so don’t make the mistake I did and go into the game on Sniper Elite difficulty which takes away all of these features. Thankfully, you can customize the enemy AI, ballistics, and stealth abilities to make the difficulty that suits you. So, with all these great features you must wondering where the game went wrong? For starters, V2’s heroic US sniper Karl Fairburne walks like he has a stick in his ass. I’ve never seen a slower stealth walk in a game before. It’s unbearable! I frequently broke stealth to suffer the consequences of enemy fire because it was easier to take than a five minute walk across a room. Fairburne is no Solid Snake. He loud, clunky, and awkward -- even if he is really awesome at holding his breath and shooting people in the face from a mile away. Then there are issues with the enemy AI which is inconsistently mediocre at best. If the Germans were as dumb as they are depicted in V2, World War II could have been won in a day. There are times when you can shoot a soldier with a silenced pistol, wait a couple seconds for him to react, and then kill him near a friend who doesn’t seem to mind. On the other side of the spectrum, the game is filled with enemy snipers and turret gunners who will spot you from a small country away and fire at you with pinpoint accuracy. What makes it even more maddening is that no one else on the field seems to notice. They can be raining bullets on you and it makes no difference to the foot soldiers, yet when you fire a bullet the entire army comes running to your location. The inconsistency in what breaks stealth leads to many irritating scenarios in V2. Add on some sloppy movement controls, an undependable cover system, and glitches, and you have what is a terrible stealth game. Thankfully, that’s not all V2 is. One clever aspect of the game is the ability to be aggressive in setting traps. As a sniper, you must seek out vantage points, sneak into them, and fortify them with landmines and trip wires. This can be a lot of fun when maps give you enough room for some creative freedom -- something all too rare in this game. Most levels give only one way to approach a situation. Stealth is sometimes not even an option. Instead, you are forced to awkwardly face enemies with other weapons. V2 is at its best when you are going on a sniping spree from the rooftops. Perhaps it’s realistic that you walk very slowly, run very loudly, and are a terrible shot with a machine gun but it doesn’t make for an enjoyable game. Even so, the AI and level design take away what could have been a hardcore tactical experience. This is very much a videogame: One in which debris magically disappears when you pick-up an objective item. Despite its quirks, I had a lot of fun when I found myself behind a rifle in V2. The sniping is some of the best to ever grace a game. Having to factor in distance and wind makes for a unique sniping experience that has some rewarding payoffs in the game’s brutal death animations -- skull fragments and blood spill all over the place! It’s nauseating, yet I couldn’t look away. V2’s lackluster campaign (story isn’t mentioned here for a reason: It stinks!) clocks in at about six hours. There are four co-op modes you can tackle afterward but none of them are particularly enjoyable. You can play the campaign co-op or survival mode, but the most interesting mode is Overwatch; this game type positions one player as a sniper and another as a foot soldier that spots enemies. It’s a neat idea but it doesn’t work since there is no joy in being a foot soldier with such terrible cover and combat. The PC version has multiplayer, which is absent from the console releases. I have no idea why. It's a real bummer too because sniping battles could be a really great addition. V2 is a mixed bag. Even though it makes good on rejuvenating the sniper rifle in videogames and giving players creative ways to fortify their location, it buries it all in one of the worst stealth games to come around in years. But, if you are the type of patient player that can look past a game’s flaws, you may find an enjoyable Nazi testicle shooting gallery in V2.

Epic Mickey 2 dev diary talks up camera, co-op play Posted: 16 May 2012 06:30 AM PDT Enter your email address: Delivered by FeedBurner Search This Blog Translate CouponVasool - Coupons, Deals India CouponsGOD -Coupons, Offers India Google Ping - Submit Url to Google, Bing, Yandex MMO and Gaming Feed readers Follow Teli's World Visitor Map Visitor Count statcounter View My Stats Pageviews last month Simple theme. Theme images by gaffera. Powered by Blogger.