Finally the time has come for the now expected annual Call of Duty release. Black Ops kicks off this week and I am fucking pumped. This is my very first Call of Duty review and I am ready to let you guys know the goods, the bads and everything in between. We are going to cover single player, multiplayer, and finally my favorite mode of all, ZOMBIES!!! Enough of this bullshit lets play some fucking COD.

Let’s begin by talking about some nice, relaxing, single…BOOM!!! Oh wait, I’m sorry. Did my sentence just explode in your face? Yes it did, because this campaign is not only explosive but it is amazing. I have been waiting 2 years for a good COD campaign. MW2 was alright, but the replay value wasn’t there for me. The second I was done watching the credits, I wanted to start playing the campaign again. Possibly my biggest gripe with MW2 campaign was the length. 4-5 hours in my book, just doesn’t cut the proverbial mustard. Black Ops on the other hand should take about 8-10 hours for the first play through on normal, and even more hours of awesomeness on the higher difficulties.

Another thing I love about the campaign is the way the whole story plays out. I honestly thought the days of good writing in an FPS were long gone, with the recent onslaught of dumbed down games with that are filled with a ton of explosions and repetitive door kicking sequences. Basically the main character you play is named Alex Mason. He is an ex Black Ops soldier who has been involved in almost every conflict from the Bay of Pigs until present day. In the opening story sequence you learn that Alex is having a bad day and is now strapped to a barbers chair and being asked about numbers (ummm…sort of reminds me of LOST). The rest of the game plays out with you reliving certain key memories that stick out in the head of Mr. Mason. Overall though the campaign has some memorable moments, great action sequences and all the while managed to do it in an original and fresh way.

Alex Mason doesn't take any SHIT!!!

Now that you have all had your appetizer, let’s talk main course. Multiplayer is the reason that almost everyone gets this game. First off I would to congratulate Treyarch on this accomplishment. They not only managed to make the best COD multiplayer experience I have ever had, but in the process they even eliminated the little 8 year old bastards that littered the lobbies of the MW2 and made that game an absolute dread to play. Long gone folks are the days of quick scope, no scope, and noob-tubing, little pieces of shit. Say hello to a COD multiplayer that focuses on one thing and one thing only…balance. Such a nice word, balance, try saying it with me….balance. Wasn’t that nice? Treyarch has put into play so many different little tweaks and adjustments that may pass by the casual gamer unnoticed, but under the hood you can tell that a lot of work has been done in effort to thwart, noob-gameplay, unfair advantages, and boosting.

Some of the new additions to the COD multiplayer experience include the use of a new theater mode and some interesting adjustments to the game types. The theater mode is on par with what we have seen in the past from Bungie. The setup is in fact almost the same and it works perfectly. You can watch not only your recent games, but the games of anyone on the game. You can navigate the leader boards and go up to the number 1 person and watch any of their previous 10 or so matches and sees what makes them so good. Or if you worked for Treyarch you can use this to monitor the top of the leader boards for boosters wink wink.

The game modes are typically what you would expect from a COD title. The only new additions are the Barebones modes. In my opinion the PURE mode in barebones is the way an online FPS is meant to be played. No perks, attachments, equipment, or kill streaks. It’s just you and your gun, that’s it. Soldier vs. Soldier, who’s the boy now? I honestly do love these new barebones play lists and everyone who has ever been pissed off by the use of kill streaks or anything else in the game, should check these out.

Ready to pwn?

Besides the changes I have mentioned, Black Ops feels generally like any other COD title. With the edition of some new guns and maps, this should feel familiar to the veterans of the series. I think most people will find the level design in Black Ops is very good. There is a lot of interesting ways to navigate the maps. Some maps allow you to transition yourself between the spawns using multiple routes not only on the same plane, but you often can find an alternate route above or below ground. This aspect really is great for those who play objective based games and make a point to learn the maps. CTF is a joy on most maps and the same could be said of any of the bomb modes.

Now that you are nice and full, how about some desert? Everyone always has room for some desert or in this case some ZOMBIES!!! Turn out the lights, turn up the mother fucking volume and get ready to slay some undead Zom-Bags. After World at War, the biggest impression made on me by Treyarch was the inclusion of the co-op phenomenon that is Zombie Mode. Simple in design but addictive in its gameplay you can be assured you will spend a metric shit ton of hours slaying the undead over this years holiday season.

Unlike the one map that shipped with WAW, Black Ops comes with 2 new maps and an additional mode known as Dead Ops Arcade. First you start out with only 1 map, the others have to be unlocked, but I’ll talk about that later. First map you get is called Kino der Toten. Der Toten is a Nazi Zombie map, with the undead SS soldiers of yesteryear making a comeback in one last map. The level is set inside a theatre, kind of like the theatre from the film Inglorious Basterds. At least that’s what it reminded me of. The gameplay is the same as before, so if you enjoyed Zombies before, you will be satisfied with the simple fact that this is just another setting to feed your appetite of killing zombies. Other than the fact that it is a new map, the only noticeable addition was the replacement of the famed Wunderwaffe DG-2 with the new and very much improved Thunder Gun, which emit’s a massive white pulse that will kill not only the zombie in front of you but all the other zombies standing behind it.

Ready to eat some Presidential Lead Zombies?

The other standard zombie map you get is called FIVE. You can unlock this 1 of 2 ways. The first is by simply completing the single player campaign on any difficulty. However, if you can’t wait that long, follow these simple instructions to access it straight away. When on the games main menu, not the press start screen, but the one when you can actually look around and select your game type. On this screen simple start hitting LT + RT at the same time repeatedly until you stand up and can move about the room. Then walk forward past the televisions and go to your left where you will find an accessible computer on the wall. Walk up to the computer, and follow the on screen prompt to Hold X for access. Once on the CPU just type in 3ARC UNLOCK, then hit enter and it will unlock. You can than go to Zombies and play the new unlocked map, FIVE and go slay some zombies inside the Pentagon, and play as JFK, Richard Nixon, Fidel Castro, or former Secretary of State Robert McNamara.

The other mode you are able to unlock on the same CPU is Dead Ops Arcade. To do so simply type in the letters DOA and hit enter on the computer and there you have it. Dead Ops Arcade is a completely new thing to the Call of Duty gaming experience. DOA is basically like the standard zombie mode, except you get a top-down camera angle and the game plays a lot like a traditional twin-stick shooter. Imagine “I Made a Game with Zombies In It”, except with and HD kick in the ass. If you never played that game, get your ass to the indie games section and give it a go, only 80msp and you get a great game.

Free Arcade Game? Yes Please!

I think by reading this review you can basically surmise that I have enjoyed myself thoroughly. I have absolutely no problem recommending this game to pretty much anyone, as long as you are mature and behave so while playing it. At $60 or 40 pound, this game is a deal. You are getting more content than you will in any other game you will see until the next Call of Duty comes out sometime next year. Fantastic single player, deep and engrossing multiplayer, an exciting and fun co-op gameplay plus the addition of basically a free arcade game, you would be a fool to not pick up Black Ops. Well done Treyarch, all hail the new kings of the FPS.

The Golden Joystick Awards are quite confusing. This is the reason why: Games that were in last years categories still remain in this years and the voting between games seems to start from mid-calendar 2009 to mid-calendar 2010. It’s an odd mix, so if anyone was wondering yes, old games like Uncharted 2 are in the mix. We’ll be at the awards next Friday and wanted to bring you our pick of whom should win, agree or disagree? Let us know! Don’t forget you can vote at the Golden Joystick Website

Nuts Magazine Action Game of the Year

We Voted: Uncharted 2

Reason: It was still valid for the vote due to GJA’s odd seasonal voting system and against its competitors it clearly came out as the best action game despite being one of the oldest of the games released. Uncharted 2 stole all of our hearts over a year ago and it won notoriety at last year as being one of the most anticipated games by multiple award givers. The adventures of Drake had us on the edge of our seat and standing in at a good 15 hours of gameplay stood as one of the best value games of the year too. A real adventure, a real delight.

Best Downloadable Title Sponsored by Green Man Gaming

We Voted: Trials HD

Reason: Our own awards gave this to Shadow Complex but our viewers completely disagreed and voted for Trials HD. Since the emergence of extra downloadable content we couldn’t agree more that Trials HD really was the downloadable title of choice. Addictive, frustrating and rewarding when beating your friends scores, this game had a huge draw without their being any direct multiplayer action.

 We Voted: BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger
Reason: We just enjoyed it more than Tekken 6. Tekken 6 has some nice character introductions, but it never really did anything particularly new. BlazBlue grabbed our vote for the sheer insane amount of move sets and the fact that the characters and moves were ultimately interesting. The story mode was a pile of wank but then so was the quest mode on Tekken 6. Tatsunoku Vs Capcom was another honourable mention but we just couldn’t warm to it enough, even with Frank West into the fray.

Music Game of the Year

We Voted: DJ Hero
Reason: No, it’s not because Activision sent us two copies of it for attending last years GJA’s, it was because it was a damn good game with a shit load of original never heard before mixes of classic songs. The hardware was beautifully made and the experience was immersive, DJ Hero was a real treat and a breakaway from the now rather boring Guitar Hero games. Honourable mentions; Just Dance and Beatles: Rock Band.

MSN One to Watch Award

We Voted: Brink

Reason: Up against a bunch of games already out made this award very odd to vote for, but Brink truly is one to watch, it doesn’t come out until 2011 but is really heating up the expectations of Multiplayer fans. Splash Damage have done excellent work on the game and it walked away clearly from our Best Eurogamer Expo poll as a clean winner. Hardly surprising, expect to see Brink win this award, fans of Bethesda are voting in polls all across the interwebs.

Game Gears Online Game of the Year

We Voted: Farmville
Reason: For shits and giggles. Runescape won an unexpected award last year in a similar category and I am expecting Farmville to do the same. The addictive Facebook game played by those who are addicted to Facebook could well end up winning and we’d thought we’d vote for Farmville as for some stupid fucking reason FIFA Online was not short listed despite it being a cracker of a game. 

Pocket Gamer Portable Game of the Year

We Voted: Professor Layton and Pandora’s Box

Reason: Why was GTA Chinatown Wars short listed for a second year? That makes no sense at all. Anyway, Professor Layton has crossed the boundaries between kid and adult gaming on a handheld like no other game, great puzzles and a decent storyline, we liked it okay? 

Puzzle Game of the Year

We Voted: Professor Layton and Pandora

Reason: It was short listed against majority of other DS games. Not sure why other puzzle games on PSN or XBLA didn’t make the shortlist but our options were very limited on this one. Anyway, professor Layton and Pandora comes out a clear winner. Surprised Darwinia+ was not short listed as that picked my brains more than a crusty council estate kid picked his nose.

Racing Game of the Year

We Voted: Mod Nation Racers
Reason: It showed Nintendo just how basic and archaic Mario Kart now looks after what San Diego studio has done with this outing. Sure, the physics and handling could use a much better responsiveness but there is no doubt in our minds that we’ll see a future Mod Nation Racers title. Weekly DLC and a community as big as Little Big Planet, it’s little wonder why we voted this over Forza 3. Why did Zombie Driver even make the short list?

RPG Game of the Year

We Voted: Fallout 3 Game of the Year Edition
Reason: It’s better than Mass Effect 2 and any of the other short listed games. The fact we could vote for a 2008 released game meant we leapt at the chance to give accolades to this unbelievable yet ultimately buggy title. Awesome game

Soundtrack of the Year

We Voted: Brutal Legend
Reason: Last year Guitar Hero 5 won and due to uproar in the bloggersphere it is little wonder why no music based games are short listed this year. Seems as though CVG have finally got the point that a music based game cannot be short listed for a soundtrack award, when it isn’t a fucking soundtrack it’s a play list! Grrr! Anyway Modern Warfare 2 will probably win but we loved the soundtrack in Brutal Legend and you should too!

Sports Game of the Year Sponsored by Mousebreaker.com

We Voted: 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa
Reason: You couldn’t lob the keeper so easily! It was a great game that encapsulated the World Cup extremely well. It was the first World Cup game that wasn’t positively shiet too. It also had a graphical leap from FIFA 10. Oddly, I can see FIFA 10 winning this category as much like Euro 2008 people just waited for FIFA 11 which ironically isn’t that great this year.

Strategy Game of the Year

We Voted: Plants Vs Zombies
Reason: Do we really need to say why? It’s a strategy game that everyone can get into. Unlike Victoria II, anyway with that pop shot out of the way Popcap’s zombie like shooter is a real joy to play and combines in depth strategy and simple based game play coupled with a reward system that makes you want to keep playing that makes it so special. We are unsure if it’ll win, but in our eyes it’s already won.

Developer of the Year

We Voted: EA Bright Light
Reason: Great bunch of guys and two fantastic Harry Potter games (one in the works) produced to keep the long magical series alive. EA Bright Light are pushing the boundaries of graphical architecture for Deathly Hallows, it may seem quite odd to vote these guys but trust me, once November comes you will see why.

Ultimate Game of the Year

We Voted: Red Dead Redemption
Reason: It’s taken us back to the wild, wild west and allowed our friends to join us. Red Dead Redemption was allot of fun to play, it had plenty of variety and some great voice acting. It’s a cracking title that Rockstar should be proud of. Despite Modern Warfare 2 set world record sales, it is after all a box standard shooter.

So that rounds it up, no doubt people will bitch and moan that COD MW2 isn’t on the list but when you consider the amount of exploits the multiplayer has coupled with the fact that the shooter has about as much tactical nouse as the film Machete and you’ll understand our reasons why. Oh, the game is incredibly short too. Anyway, enough bitching. Who will you be voting for? Let us know! Don’t forget to join us on our live blog on Friday afternoon where we will announce the winners. No doubt Activision will be showered with awards again like they were last year. But i’m going to go for an outside bet on Farmville winning online game of the year.

It seems as though yet again, a Call of Duty game has made it into the hands of Internet Pirates just a few short week before the scheduled worldwide release date. Torrent sites all over the internet have been bombarded with leechers trying to get a piece of this sure to be hit game.

That, however is not the most interesting part of this story. It seems as though Black Ops developer Treyarch is downloading the torrent as I am writing this. I suppose they want to test the validity of the file and then attempt to stop any further downloads. You can see in the picture I have posted below that this is in fact true.

Disclaimer: Wedotech.net does NOT endorse the piracy of games or software in any form. Wedotech.net strictly warns its readers NOT to pirate any games or software, especially videogames since the developers work very hard to make them. Buy a original copy and enjoy the game like it should be.

Today Activision and Treyarch unveiled the Prestige and Hardened editions of the follow up to last year record sales breaking first-person shooter, Modern Warfare 2. Here is a trailer for the Prestige Edition as well as a list of what will be inside this beast. The Prestige Edition will be priced at $149.99 in the US and £129.99 in the UK.

The Call of Duty: Black Ops Prestige Edition comes with:

• RC-XD Video Surveillance Vehicle
  • Fully custom RC vehicle modeled after in-game RC-XD Killstreak Reward
  • Video camera to send wireless video to Transmitter
  • Microphone to send wireless audio to Transmitter
  • Digital proportional steering and throttle
  • Independent suspension
  • Display stand
• RC-XD Transmitter
  • 2” backlit TFT 220 x176 color screen to receive video from car
  • Integrated speaker to receive audio from car
  • Custom pistol grip style RC controller
  • High and low speed settings
  • Up to 200ft control range
• Includes the full Call of Duty: Black Ops Hardened Edition
  • Limited edition Black Ops Collector’s Medal w/display case
  • 4 extra playable co-op maps not in the standard edition
  • Black Ops Xbox Live avatar outfit
  • Premium, special-edition SteelBook™ case
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops full game

[UPDATE] Since posting this it has been revealed that the 4 extra playable co-op maps included with the prestige and hardened additions are the 4 original nazi/japanese zombie maps from Treyarch’s Call of Duty: World at War.

Today, Treyarch has decided to tease all of us with a wee glimpse of the multiplayer action we all will take part in once Black Ops ships this November. One really cool thing I noticed when watching this was at the very end, the screen sort of jumps around and shows something for just a second. You have to pause it at just the right moment to be able to analyze it, and from what I gather it seems Treyarch has decided to include the ability to record your matches so you can share and edit all your best moments from the game. Something else has been revealed as well, a three killstreak which allows you to take control of a RC vehicle that is strapped with C4! Sounds like a lot of fun to me. Now, watch this trailer, and get out your drool guard for the keyboard.

This week I picked up Transformers: War for Cybertron, which was published by Activison and developed by High Moon Studios. This is High Moon’s third game, other releases include the 2005 vampire-western Dark Watch and the fairly well received, The Bourne Conspiracy, based on the Robert Ludlum authored, Bourne series of novels and films starring Matt Damon.

Transformers: War for Cybertron is a third person shooter that takes place on planet Cybertron. The story is set before the events in the original cartoon as well as the films. The campaigns lasts about 10-12 hours combined depending on which difficulty you select. When you start the campaign you get to choose whether you would like to play as the Decepticons, lead by the all-powering Megatron or as the Autobots with Optimus Prime at the helm. You can also select to play as Brawl or Barricade on the Decepticon side as well as Bumblebee or Ratchet with Optimus. Each campaign is a separate entity with the Decepticon campaign acting as a prelude to the Autobots storyline. I personally chose the Decepticons first because it was chronologically correct to do so. If I was going to watch all the Star Wars films I wouldn’t start with episodes IV, V, and VI, even though they are way better.

This Transformers game also features cooperative as well as a competitive co-op campaign option. You can very easily drop in and out of co-op and single player without missing a step. When not playing co-op however it should be pointed out that AI will take control of whichever two transformers you aren’t controlling.

If you are a fan of the always popular and addictive horde mode that seems to be in almost every single game that comes out now days then you are in luck because War for Cybertron doesn’t disappoint with its own take, Escalation mode. It’s exactly what you would expect, the enemy’s start off few and weak, and then grows to massive numbers and increasing not only in difficulty but size as well. Luckily there’s only one Escalation specific achievement, and it only requires you to survive until round 15, which isn’t that difficult as long as you got a few friends or talented strangers to play with.

OK, so if two excellent campaigns and an incredibly addictive co-op mode wasn’t enough, how about a deep and robust multiplayer mode as well. Well you got it my friend because Activision as always delivers the goodies. You can create your very own Transformer by selecting from different unlockable chassis’s and color schemes. You also get to select from four different classes, each with its own set of distinctive weapons, abilities and vehicle type. Scouts are cars, Leaders are trucks, Scientists are jets and Soldiers are tanks. The multiplayer also has a leveling up system, unlockable perks and upgrades as well.

The graphics in War for Cybertron are extremely sharp. Everything looks crisp, textures are nice, and it is without a doubt the best looking Transformers game to ever be produced and has officially set the bar for any other Transformer games to come out in the future.

The sound in the game is great too. Weapons sound authentic to what you would hear in one of the films, and the soundtrack is unbelievable too. During really big action scenes in both campaigns there is usually an equally awesome heavy metal track playing in the background. My Turtle Beach X41’s really shined during these moments and I couldn’t help but get pumped up by the kicking metal tracks.

There are presently 50 achievements for this game totaling 1000 gamerscore. There are achievements for beating both campaigns on the hard difficulty, which isn’t too troubling. There are also a lot of level specific achievements such as reviving five downed soldiers in first Autobot campaign mission. The hardest achievement requires you to reach a combined class rating of 100 in multiplayer. Basically you need to get to level 25 with all four classes. This achievement is worth 75 G and is titled, “Top of the Scrap Heap”.

I had a great time playing both campaigns, the horde mode, and the surprisingly deep multiplayer. I was skeptical about this game when I purchased it, but what I found out was you can’t judge games before you play them. You may think this game is just another silly Transformers spin off but you would be dead wrong. I would recommend this game to anybody who enjoyed Transformers as a child the way I did or to any gamer for that matter just enjoys shooting the hell out of something and having a kick ass time while he or she does it.

Look at this kids Transformers collection! It looks utterly epic indeed. Well, it just got better for this scottish lad who’s landed himself a tasty prize courtesy of an Activision competition. I secretly know all of you out there have some sort of collection, mine being video games. Have a read of what he won below;

On the 25^th May, to celebrate the release of the video game Transformers: War for Cybertron, a nationwide competition was launched to find the nation’s biggest Transformer aficionado.  Over four weeks and 300 entries later, we can finally reveal who this fanatical enthusiast is….12yr old Jack Gaughan from Glasgow!!

With over 600 toys, games, official merchandise and memorabilia, Jack’s collection stood out by a mile. His Transformer themed room, which was adorned with posters of Optimus Prime and Bumblebee, was just a small highlight of Jack’s ultimate collection.  For his efforts, Jack has won a priceless life-sized drawing of himself as one of his favourite characters by official Transformer artist Jon Davis Hunt, to add to his ever growing collection.

Jack said of his amazing feat “I just can’t believe it.  I’ve been collecting for three years and love everything about Transformers.  I don’t think there is an inch of space on my walls left for anything else!!”

Transformers: War for Cybertron, released 25^th June, is a gripping, 3rd person action shooter set on the Transformers’ war-ravaged homeland.  Complete with several multiplayer modes, the game allows gamers to play through story missions with their friends in co-op, as well as create their own Transformers character for competitive head-to-head multiplayer modes, choosing among four distinct character classes and selecting from a huge variety of weapons, skills and abilities. To find out more about the new video game Transformers: War for Cybertron please visit www.transformersgame.com

On this weeks episode we talk about:

• The Activision, Infinity Ward Drama
• Halo Reach
• World Cup 2010
• Favourite movie tie-in games
• Best video game bargains

A gaming press event at a Zoo? It makes no sense, well that was until we realised that the game in question was based on the movie license by Dreamwork Pictures; How to Train Your Dragon. A few coffees and train stops later and we made our way to Colchester. We did a little research on the Zoo itself and it looked like al ot of fun and to be honest we just didn’t know what to expect. As for How to Train Your Dragon well, the movie has just literally released and according to the Twitter buzz it’s well received especially in 3D. Dreamworks do a great job with their animated movies, though I have to say the video game adaptations are always left wanting, like pretty much every movie licensed tie in. Why this happens is a bit of a no brainer, lack of development time, sometimes as short as six months to push something out half enjoyable, it simply isn’t long enough. What do we expect to make of the game, we just don’t know but we’ll have reviews of both the film and game within the next week or two.

Bearded Dragons & Snakes We Got to Hold!

So with the show firmly on the road, our first stop was the discovery centre. We were guided by two Colchester Zoo staff members, one of which is was named Robert who distinctly reminded me of a young Steve Irwin. In the discovery centre we got to hold three different types of animal. Firstly and aptly was a bearded dragon, flat and sandy not forgetting boggled eyed, these Dragons were docile and interesting, as I held one you could feel the dry scales and sand that poured off of his body. What I didn’t realise was just how flat their bellies are. Which in some ways it would explain the way they travel in their real habitat. Secondly I managed to conquer a fear, for the first time in my life I had held a snake, not just any snake but a python. Luckily it wasn’t particularly animated when I held it, but it didn’t feel how I expected it to feel at all, with snakes you get the impression that they are greasy or slippery, not at all. In some ways they have a very similar texture to that of your average garden hosepipe. How odd. Lastly we got to hold a stick insect, these brittle creatures aren’t remotely attractive and why anyone would want one as a pet, I don’t know. You have to be a complete sadist or a general nutter to want one of those, it was horrible.

Horrible stick insect!

The second part of our tour was more to do with what we came for, we got to see some real dragon training. If you haven’t seen a Komodo dragon before, you really should as they are a real sight. Their tongues are massive, their backs are scaly and they have a majestic almost wise look about them. When speaking to one of the trainers at the Zoo, he informed us that Komodo dragons are now on the lethal animals list. The dragons rather than breathing fire (which is a myth) bite their victims. Their saliva excretes a blood thinning toxin that has the ability to kill large mammals and humans alike. If you ever do train a real dragon you will need to always be on guard, whilst the Komodos look docile, you always need to be alert as once you let your guard down, that is when accidents can happen. The trainer (who looked a little like Sawyer from Lost) told us about how they have managed since 2006 to train the Komodo dragons to follow a target and stop for them to be able to perform health checks on call, doing this is purely voluntary and Colchester boast that their animal treatments and level of care are from voluntary behaviours as opposed to the use of sedatives or tranquilisers. The enclosure they are housed on itself has enough gadgets and computer horsepower than you can ever imagine, taking care of these cold blooded dragons is more than a simple case of feeding them, ambient temperatures and natural UV light all comes into play as well.

Komodo Dragons, More Lethal Than They Look!

To dispel a few myths for you, I can unfortunately bring you the news that dragons cannot fly, nor can they breathe fire. So in terms of the How to Train a Dragon 3D movie and game don’t expect any real accuracies at all, training a dragon is very much a different ball game from the film and sadly not as exciting either. It’s a good job that Dreamworks hasn’t followed the real life version of training a dragon otherwise people would be walking out of the cinema or become induced in a coma. Activision have the opportunity to create a great game from the films concept, on paper it would make a very interesting game and from the information that we have it would suggest that there will be a few interesting features bundled with the game. At the end of our tour we had a Q&A session and were presented with some goodies and an Activision key ring bundled with the additional data we needed.

Graphics look great, now the gameplay, can it cut the mustard?

“Based on the upcoming film from DreamWorks Animation, the How to Train Your Dragon™ video game launches gamers into a third-person action-adventure as a Viking hero where they must embark upon an epic quest to become the ultimate dragon trainer. Gamers can play as characters “Hiccup” or Astrid” on the vast Island of Berk, which features expanded locales from the film including Vikings’ Village, Wild Zone, Training Zone and Fight Arena. In this truly larger-than-life adventure, players will train dragons, explore environments and battle in prestigious dragon tournaments as they battle for Viking victory. Plus, gamers can become the Dragon hero of their living room as they square-off with friends and family in endless head-to-head multi-player combat”

As stated at the beginning of my report, movie licensed titles are a bit of a bitch to get right. It’s not necessarily the fault of the developer either. Tight schedules and a lack of guidance from the film production company and you can easily get a disjointed and rather ‘played it all before’ experience. Can Activision take these licenses and make them into something decent? Ubisoft tried last year with Avatar and failed miserably, despite having two years and co-operation from James Cameron himself. We’re not expecting wonders, but what we are expecting is a game that will be fun to play for the whole family, as that is the ethos of a Dreamworks animation, it’s family based entertainment.

Create Your Very Own Dragon – The “Create Your Dragon” feature allows players to customize six different types of dragons, providing virtually unending combinations of ways to modify your dragon’s appearance.

Train your Dragon for Battle – “Level Up” your dragon’s speed, power, fire and other abilities through intense training to face the critical Viking challenge of becoming the ultimate dragon trainer. Then use your arsenal of trained dragons to battle friends in a variety of unique environments.

Pick up Where the Movie Left Off – Players enjoy an all-new post-movie adventure as they jump into battle as their favorite characters. Explore the picturesque Island of Berk as Hiccup or Astrid in Adventure Mode or experience fierce battle action in Arena Mode as you fight for your crown as ultimate dragon warrior.

Head-to-Head Multiplayer Mode – Arcade mode allows friends to select their dream team of four individually customized dragons or dragons chosen from the arcade roster, then jump in and battle against each other. In addition to Astrid and Hiccup, additional characters are playable in Multiplayer Mode including Tuffnut T., Ruffnut T., Fishlegs, and Snotlout.

Mini-Games – Mini games include Ice Sculpting, Looping Race, Flying Sheppard, Memory Torch, and Puzzle Dragon.  Excelling in Mini-Games earns players experience points toward leveling up your dragon, winning gold and other items to help care for dragons.

The sealion view tunnel is awesome!

It was a rainy day, not that rainy though!

Once the tour had finished, we had some time to go around the zoo at our leisure. It was nice, we particularly liked the sea lion area where they would swim over the top of your viewing tunnel, that was pretty awesome. We had the chance to see lions, cheetah’s, giraffes and elephants to boot and not even the appalling weather could of spoilt the day. If only the same could of been said for the journey home. We were unfortunate enough that on every train back to Portsmouth to be in the carriage with some moron, whether it being overly enthusiastic Americans on holiday, female Vicky Pollards or materialistic air heads straight out of Legally Blonde. As I write this I’m half way up to London again. Journalism, there’s no better job in the world.

Keep an eye out on our website in the next couple of weeks for a review of How to Train a Dragon 3D film and the video game. I’m a 3D whore, no mention of a Stereoscopic 3D game mode, damn!

The JAY-Z vs. Eminem Mix Pack is available now on Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox 360 for 640 Microsoft Points. The Mix Pack will be available on the PlayStation®Store for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system on 25^th March, 2010 for £6.29. All mixes will be released as downloadable singles for Wii™ on 25^th March, 2010 for 300 Wii Points each.

“From sold out concerts to #1 albums to double digit Grammy Awards, JAY-Z and Eminem define what it means to be a successful artist,” said Jamie Jackson, Creative Director, FreeStyleGames.  “The DJ Hero soundtrack is an expanding collection of chart-topping hit music – mixed in an all-new way – that can only be experienced in our game, and with the addition of the JAY-Z vs. Eminem Mix Pack, players and their friends can not only experience, but interact with over 100 unique mixes.”

The JAY-Z vs. Eminem Mix Pack features the following exclusive mash-ups:

“Shake That” by Eminem Mixed With “Show Me What You Got” by JAY-Z

“Without Me” by Eminem Mixed With “Encore” by JAY-Z

“Can I Get A…” by JAY-Z Mixed With “Lose Yourself” by Eminem

All battle, no bolt

Activision brings us the video game instalment of the current box office buster, Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightening Thief. It’s currently out in the cinema as we speak and oddly enough my significant other and niece is actually seeing it as I write this. Yes, the game reviewing world sometimes deprives you from cinematic delights if there is a work load to do. Nevermind, I shall sit here with a coke and a smile instead. So what’s it all about? Well, it’s probably the US equivalent of Harry Potter except instead of Wizards it’s replaced by demigods and Greek Mythology. In Riordan’s epic adventure (author) these Greek gods are alive today and living amongst us. Percy is accused of stealing Zeus’s lightning bolt which just happens to be most powerful weapon that resides in the universe. With Percy having to prove his innocence and attempt to stop an all out war with the gods his work is most certainly cut out.

So you get an idea of the plot line and the game does a good job of gently introducing you into the world almost as if you are Percy yourself, he doesn’t know any more than you do and soon he is sent into a tumbling world of confusion as he finds out his dad is Posiedon. Not exactly your average day then? No, especially when your maths teacher turns into a monster and your disabled principle turns into half beast, half human. You could be forgiven for snorting a little bit of the white stuff and totally tripping out on the outlandish plot line but Riordan’s world is most certainly inventive and interesting. Unfortunately, Activision lacked the attention needed to make the game that interesting. The plot line is executed with a lack of animation and instead slide based screens with static text and this isn’t helped with the hand drawn characters that lack any real recognisable features. A shame, as the plot line should have spoken for itself.

One you become acquainted to basic combat you’ll be whisked off to camp half-blood where you’ll meet other demigods that want to kill you. Nice. Fortunately combat is relatively forgiving and unlike many turn based RPG titles, you’re not required to grind and level up to progress. This in turn can appeal and put off some people. There is no real freedom in terms of where you want to go in the game, it has a grid based path system that keeps you on the straight and narrow and whilst there are some optional battles to get additional items and up your skill level, you’re not engaged into forced combat, you’ll walk into it knowing a battle is ahead thanks to its distinctive symbolism on the map. Now in terms of strategy there is quite a depth to it, to equip your Demigods which will include your protector Grover, a girl called Annabeth amongst others, you can never be overly attacking minded. You will need someone in your team that can heal as enemies come in different variations and can put you on the back foot. Stick one of your healers into the mix and you’ll have a well rounded battle that in theory you should be able to win without having to retry at all.

So what about the powers that they possess? Well Percy gains the power of the sewer early on and that does not require a degree in scatology. His poison magic will cause constant damage to the enemy for a set number of turns, other highlights include pick pocketing, making your enemies blind and the ability to raise your accuracy levels for a team attack. The team attack itself can be extremely powerful, but you’ll need to build the power meter to ever see it used, charging this up on spare turns can be devastating in boss fights, so it’s worth using it. Now, obviously this game is on the DS. So you would expect some stylus type gestures and in the game you’ll come across a few of them. Each time the enemy attacks you, you can tap the bottom screen to activate your shield. This can be incredibly tricky, especially when you first play the game. Each enemy has a different attack speed and animation, so it’s very difficult to avoid plenty of damage on each go, thankfully that’s the case otherwise it just would have been overly easy. One of the other gestures is using swiping motions to build up an attack strength on a single shot, this seems to randomly happen in battle and once again it’s utterly devastating and can win you battles at times.

So the combat system sounds pretty intuitive and for the most part it is, the stylus doesn’t have the most fantastic registration however it’s a game that won’t punish you for not having a 100% response rate. My other gripe with the combat system is the magical powers themselves, the animations are simply woeful. You may see a colour emit from your sword, or a cloud of smoke appear over a characters head and considering that the DS has pretty much a 64bit engine you would of expected Activision to at least put some extra polish into these areas. Oh, you’ll also notice that if you are in a given area the same background textures are used all the time. Not very fun when your stuck inside Camp Half Blood for easily over an hour. Luckily though, the monsters are pretty cool in this game, from Fury’s to Skeletons although sometimes repetitive there is a new enemy thrown into the works often enough to make it visually interesting. It’s not until later in the game though that you’ll start using certain magical elements like fire and poison to affect your enemies to the optimum amount. Most of the time you’ll be swinging your sword and using melee attacks as it seems to deliver the most HP punch.

For your RPG fan, this game isn’t going to interest you mainly because it’s RPG elements aren’t too deep enough and the narrative simply isn’t engaging enough. Couple this without a free roam system and it just cannot stand up to any of the Final Fantasy games. For the casual gamer, there may be somewhere in the marketplace for this title, it’ll no doubt sell pretty well like all movie licensed titles do however, I can’t see many going past the three hour mark before they lose interest in the constant battles and lack of variation to the gameplay. Not amazing, not bad either. It sits nicely in the mediocre category much like the movie.

Now you maybe asking, what has this got to do with gaming? Well hear me out! Myself and Sam Bage reviewed the excellent DJ Hero yesterday and realised that none other than Government Funded job search/agency Job Centre Plus has been using the game to try and get people back to work. Perhaps I should go on the dole? I never knew that people claiming the JSA had the money to go out and spend £100 on DJ Hero. Who is with me! It must one of the stupidest moves made by the Government when it comes to videogames. Or if it wasn’t the Government responsible for the choice of games the advert would be displayed in, then the game ad supplier should certainly be responsible for making one of the stupidest errors possible in the world of advertising.

I wonder how long it will be before it’s pulled off the servers itself? Activision should also be responsible for the type of advertising that runs in the game, the chances of a Job Centre Plus advert being held inside a nightclub is extremely remote, if we have to live with advertising at least make it relevant! Adverts for the new Leona Lewis album may have been adequate, not adverts for the doll ridden unemployed who spend their money on DJ Hero instead of food. What a joke!

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We talk with Dee Dhanjal reference DJ Hero that released today (Senior Remixer for DJ Hero) get his lowdown on the game below;

Never played Wolfenstein before. Heard of it but never played it. It happened to come up in conversation once with my friends and I quizzed them about it. Their response was “It’s Doom…but with Nazis doing stuff with the occult…Oh and a cybernetic Hitler with miniguns for hands.”…Sold. Totally sold.

As I understand it, Wolfenstein had some sequels and was quite popular but I still never played any of them. But Raven Software, id Software, Pi Studios and Endrant Studios (Yes really, four developers!) and publisher Activison has picked it up and is doing a new one, so perfect time to jump on in. I’m still not sure if this is a remake or a reboot but I frankly after playing the demo, I do not care.

After playing the Demo I am psyched up for this title and I wasn’t really excited about many titles coming out by the end of the year. It’s the little things that make this game exciting for me. Firstly the cut scene sort of filled in everything you need to know about this game in glorious HD. You’re some sort of American spy and you have an amulet that does terrible things to people you don’t like. The other is gun play. It’s solid and hasn’t been sacrificed in place of supernatural powers (which you still get!)

Wolfenstein looks bloody and violent and this is no bad thing. Many developers are shying away from blood and violence to get the lower age rating and thus more dough. But the developers (four!) know that Wolfenstein is all about guts and melting faces and has gone balls to the wall with this one. Bravo!

The demo has some wonderful pieces with the occult messing with gravity and the Nazis having weaponry they really shouldn’t have. Wolfenstein mixes a great World War 2 game with inspiration from almost every horror film ever. Gunning down a charging Nazi with a particle cannon and have him dissolve in to nothing and have a scream echo from his dead lips was just plain gruesome and satisfying.

The game screams atmosphere and you get flavours of Indiana Jones and Hellboy mixed in. There are no other better bad guys than the Nazis, but Nazis who are messing with the occult and imbuing the power into technology. Well, that’s just fine. This game snuck up on me and then bit my head off and for that I’m very excited and can’t wait to get the finished item. Get a review for you guys soon! Reviewed on the Xbox 360 and PS3. Best bolt action rifle in a computer game award goes to….