Sep 02
There was no shortage of great games this month (except on PC), but August belonged to football. Even if you weren’t tossing the virtual pigskin around during the last couple weeks, you had plenty to get excited about. Well, on the last day of the month, at least…. Game of the Month on August 2010 is a coveted award, and it’s not given out lightly. That’s why you’ll see some gaps on the list below. There were some decent games for the blank platforms in August, but nothing blew our minds. We’re positive that next month will be a different story.
PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Madden NFL 11 |
| The perennial all-star reigned supreme once again in August, bringing a slew of gameplay refinements and changes that helped deliver some of the best videogame football of this generation. Even though we weren’t huge fans of GameFlow’s automated playcalling mechanic or the lack of feature additions, that doesn’t mean that this year’s Madden didn’t pack plenty of punch in the gameplay department. Not only that, but the new Online Team Play provided some of the best virtual football experiences we’ve ever had. There’s something incredibly rewarding about getting two friends to play on your team with you and run up the score on some poor fools across the country. It’s a feeling that only Madden NFL 11 can provide. |
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written by cimaul
\\ tags: game, games, Nintendo, PC, PS3, wii, XBOX360
Aug 05
Torchlight’s a fantastic game – no doubt – but it’s a bit formulaic. You go underground, bash monsters until they’re six more feet under, and then stuff whatever improbable pieces of loot they were ferrying around at the time into your magic, interdimensional pants pockets. Runic Games, though, makes up for its own game’s predictability in spades. Case in point: Torchlight 2 out of nowhere. After all, weren’t we talking about the Torchlight MMO, like, a few weeks ago?
But no, that’s on hold for now. Fortunately, we’re still definitely sticking our hands in the air for the next portion of Runic’s development rollercoaster ride, seeing as Torchlight 2’s packing just about every feature that was conspicuously absent from Torchlight. Let’s run down the list: Multiplayer? Check. Customizable characters? Yep! A world outside the literal cave your Torchlight 1 character basically lived in? You betcha. Five new character classes? But of course.
Which is all great, but the question remains: why Torchlight 2? Why now? Continue reading »
written by cimaul
\\ tags: game, PC
Aug 04
It’s a simple concept of exponential growth: If you make one game with many different story paths depending on the choices a player makes, then make a sequel that continues those paths and adds even more, and then another sequel with even more paths, you end up with a hell of a lot of variables. How many? According to Mass Effect 2 project lead Casey Hudson, there’s potentially 1,000 total story variables for Mass Effect 3.
“Numerically, it’s over 1,000 variables that we’ll have access to for shaping the Mass Effect 3 experience for people who’ve played the previous games,” Hudson said to PC Zone magazine (via CVG). “We plan out the larger plot points of the story from one game to the next, but it would be impossible to plan it all in advance. More importantly, we’d never be able to plan as many creative opportunities if we’d do it all up front.
“Instead, we record what a player has done in a play-through, and then we have all of those choices available that writers can refer to as they build storylines,” Hudson explained. And if you were a fan of the more action-oriented refinements made to Mass Effect 2, be heartened, as Hudson said they’ll carry over into 2 as well. Continue reading »
written by cimaul
\\ tags: game, PC
Aug 02
EA Sports is once again refocusing and, in a sense, reinventing its FIFA series on Wii. This year’s they’re offering two basic flavors of soccer. The first is on the pitch and is more of a simulation of the genuine article than last year’s game. The second brings the action off of the traditional field of play and puts it indoors with a small number of players on the “field” and throws power ups back into the mix but with a different mechanic than what was seen in last year’s game.
During my demo at EA’s Redwood Shores campus, the developer on-hand said that while users enjoyed FIFA 10’s skill shot, the cool factor of blasting the ball into the net in slow-motion got stale after a relatively short time. In order to spice things up a bit for the new indoor brand of soccer, EA Sports is adding several power ups that can be earned across three different levels that build as you play. You’ll see things like the shoulder charge, a shockwave ability, super speed, extreme curl (on your next cross or shot) and the only way you’ll be able to slide tackle is through the use of a power-up (though I hope they change it up and make slide tackling a part of the core defense).
Of course if you’re looking for more of a simulation flavor to your indoor soccer you can always turn the power ups off. Still, that won’t stop moves like smashing shots off of your opponent’s crotch, thus sending them crumpling to the ground, from happening. You’ll also see cool moves like being able to kick the ball off of the wall and back to yourself to get by a defender (ala FIFA Street) are possible in this year’s game. Continue reading »
written by cimaul
\\ tags: game, wii
Aug 01
This month saw the release of a major sports title and one of the most anticipated PC games of all time. But if you’re not into football or strategy games, you’re still in luck, because the console download services delivered in a big way, too. Round that selection out with a hotly anticipated handheld RPG, and you’re in for a hot July. These are the games we couldn’t get enough of over the past 30 days. They are Games of the Month July 2010 :
PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
NCAA Football 11
College pigskin is back, and it’s never looked better. Thanks to the new locomotion system, the players on your alma mater’s starting lineup are going to break tackles, take hits and lower the boom with a sense of realism you’ve never seen in a collegiate videogame. Need more? How about awesome on-the-field video replays as you pick your next play? An ESPN integration that makes it seem like you’re watching the network when you’re playing your game? An online dynasty where you can recruit and manage your team from your real life mobile phone? Yeah, NCAA Football 11 has all that, and it’s rather awesome.
PC
StarCraft II
We’re still working on getting the review together, but from what we’ve already seen there’s no doubt that Blizzard’s real-time strategy sequel is the best game on the platform this month. It’s been over a decade since the original was released, but the reworked campaign is among the best real-time strategy story modes in recent memory, and it’s complemented by one of the most robust multiplayer suites around. Even if your personal computer isn’t super powerful, this game should be on its hard drive. Continue reading »
written by cimaul
\\ tags: game, Nintendo, PC, Playstation 3, wii, Xbox 360
Jul 29
A key PlayStation Move-compatible title won’t be launching until 2011. Zipper Interactive confirmed today on their official website that SOCOM 4 has been delayed.
While the game was playable at both GDC and E3, it seems that it wasn’t quite ready. Zipper didn’t say why the game has been delayed, but they did say that they didn’t want to take “any shortcuts.”
“Instead, we want to deliver the best and most immersive SOCOM game we possibly can and we’re going to use our extra time to do just that,” Zipper Interactive community manager Jeremy Dunham wrote.
SOCOM 4 was originally slated for this fall, making it a key cog in the launch of the PlayStation Move. While SOCOM 4 doesn’t have an official release date, the new 2011 window puts it close to Killzone 3, which is slated for next February.
We’ll let you know when Zipper announces a new release date.
written by cimaul
\\ tags: game, Playstation
Jul 19
The Disciples games had their own comfortable sub-niche in the genre of fantasy strategy. Unlike games with finicky tactical combat, Disciples focused on the units moving around the strategic maps. Battles played out quickly on a simple grid rather than the extensive, chess-like encounters that characterized games like King’s Bounty, Heroes of Might and Magic, Master of Magic, and Age of Wonders. It was simple, fluid, and uniquely slick.
But for whatever reason, Disciples III has decided to be like the competition. Now it’s virtually identical to King’s Bounty and Heroes of the Might and Magic, except for the fact that it’s nowhere near as good as either of them. If you’re going to compromise your unique identity, the worst thing you can do is do it poorly.
There’s almost nothing to recommend the new tactical battles, especially since the A.I. is unable to play them in any meaningful way. For instance, there are special squares on the map that give units a bonus. The A.I. is absolutely unaware of these. A cover system lets melee units defend frail neighbors, which is a great way to lend the tactical battles a sense of actual tactics by encouraging units to stay together. The A.I. has no sense of this. The A.I. has no idea how to effectively use unit abilities, ranged fire, spells, and so forth. This is a classic example of how a strategy game is utterly undone when it doesn’t have a competent A.I. Continue reading »
written by cimaul
\\ tags: game, PC, RPG
