For my second review this week I will be tackling Socom 4, the latest installment of the series from the guys over at Zipper Interactive. As a fan of the original titles for the PS2 and later versions on the PSP I was excited to hear about the decision to put a single player campaign back in the game. The last game named Socom: Confrontation was multiplayer exclusive and wound up being a huge disaster. Hopefully Zipper can catch magic in a bottle once more and wow all of us with a hit game.

Now that the fluffy intro is done and over let’s get down to business. At this point in time I have fully completed the campaign on the hardest difficulty in a shockingly short 4.5 hours. Now while the short length does bother me, it was also a relief that the game was over. That boys and girls is never a good thing. Zipper did a complete about face on this one and strayed so far from what was so great about the originals that if you hadn’t told me it was a Socom game; I honestly wouldn’t have guessed it. While the originals was most known for its multiplayer in an era where online gaming for consolers was a relatively new thing, the single player was just kind of there for most people as a side note but I absolutely loved it. When you played Socom 1 or 2 you felt as though you just stepped into the boots of a real Navy SEAL. That being said, before I sat down to write this review I actually had to check the box to see if it still said U.S. Navy SEALS under the title, which it does. But for the life of me I couldn’t tell you why. Nothing about this game says Navy SEALS.

In the brief campaign you play as two people, Cullen Gray, whom is a commander of a NATO Special Forces unit. And Lieutenant Park or Forty-Five as she is more commonly referred to. 45 is the commander of a group of South Korean soldiers who all met their end early on in the game only leaving her and a companion named Chung. 45 and Chung tag along with the NATO squad for the remainder of the game. There really isn’t that much story in the game. The characters aren’t very memorable with the exception being 45, and that’s only because she has a cool nickname.

Most of the campaign involves your crew starting at one end of a compound or city area and following an extremely linear path to its conclusion where you usually plant c4 on some object and watch the dull explosion afterward, that your crew usually stand right next to and manages to not even wince. The fun parts of the campaign were playing as 45 on stealth missions. I enjoyed these the most, though I don’t think most people will agree with me. The reason I liked these parts is because it almost felt like the originals. The thing that made those first games so great was the attention to realism. You were usually dropped outside of a territory by helicopter or made some type of midnight amphibious assault, completed a mission without even being seen, and moved out for extraction. There is virtually none of that present in Socom 4. They were basically trying to be more like the big boys of the shooter genre by adding campy acting and a meaningless plotline. Furthermore beyond the basic squad commands of regrouping or running to a bit of cover, the game just didn’t feel very tactical. When I think of tactical gaming, a game like GRAW comes to mind. There were virtually no advanced tactics available in this game, and for that they getting nothing but a big fat F.

Something else that has to be mentioned briefly is the atrocious control scheme. My god. The controls for this game are so fucking wonky, to put it lightly. Triangle for crouch? WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING?!?! There is no quick way to switch weapons. If you are in combat and run out of ammo you are basically fucked. You need to stop, hold L2 for what seems like a god damned eternity then press the d-pad button to a different weapon. Hears an idea Zipper. MAKE TRIANGLE THE WEAPONS SWAP! I mean, almost every fucking game we play has that button for changing weapons, apart from the few games that have four weapons, but those games conveniently map them on the d-pad for quick and easy access. Circle takes cover, another weird ass button choice. I swear to god it was like these fucking jack asses have never played a modern shooter. It’s OK to be different, but the controls in this game are fucking stupid and complex.

Now that I am done reviewing the fail of a single player campaign, let’s move onto multiplayer. OH WAIT! I couldn’t play the fucking multiplayer. Why? Because it doesn’t fucking work. Yeah that’s right. Every time I clicked to join the Online I was met with an error saying I wasn’t connected to the Playstation Network, when I clearly was. I checked my connection, ran the connection test, and tried several times over the course of two days to play the online. I did some research on the interwebs and found out I am not the only one experiencing this problem. I’m not quite sure what the issue is but they better fix it fast or you are going to see a lot of used copies at Gamestop. Oh and on the off chance someone makes a smart ass comment like, “Did you put in your online pass code?” Yes I did you hypothetical moron.

Presentation overall was decidedly…meh. On a PS3 exclusive you come to expect a lot more in terms of graphics. The game doesn’t look bad, it just doesn’t look great. When I think PS3 exclusive, graphical juggernauts like Uncharted, God of War 3, and Gran Turismo come to mind. This game isn’t even in the same universe. I would compare the graphics to something more like…Kane and Lynch. The first one, not the second. The audio is pretty bland too. Guns virtually sound identical. The music is an annoying Asian sounding music you would hear playing in the Chinese buffet whilst chowing down on some dim sum.

Overall, in case you couldn’t tell, Socom 4 was a huge letdown. Nothing to great about the single player and the multiplayer didn’t even work. I did play the MP beta once and it didn’t really wow me. So even if it did work I wouldn’t have expected much. I would have to say pass on this one, at least for now. Wait until it comes down in price for like 20 bucks or something. The quality of game on display here really doesn’t warrant shelling out 60 dollars. In stead take that money and pick up Portal 2, it is literally the BEST game I have ever played.

After what I would call a dismal winter for games with barely any huge titles coming out, Dead Space 2 being the only notable title I can think of. Spring has finally arrived and with it has come a flood of big name titles. Kicking things off we had Dragon Age 2, Homefront, and this week Crysis 2, the follow up to the 2007 pc exclusive that was not only known for its fantastic gameplay but the visually stunning graphics that to this day is considered a benchmark for pc gamers to see if there computers could actually run the damn thing.

If you were fortunate enough to play the original you will remember playing as Prophet. I’m sorry to dissapoint the Crysis fan boys but in the sequel you will instead be playing as his predecessor, Alcatraz. What a fucking name! The story of Crysis 2 starts off with you obtaining the Nanosuit, I won’t explain how because I don’t want to ruin it for you. But needless to say Alcatraz is now the boy. The events of this game take place three years after the finale of the original in beautiful New York City.

You really can’t talk about Crysis 2 without mentioning the graphics. I would say to date this is the best looking game on consoles. Not just the Xbox 360 which I am playing it on, but on any console. Killzone 3 looked like a massively dark gritty pile of dog excrement when compared to this fucking masterpiece. The lighting effects alone are enough to cause a nerdgasm of astronomical proportions. If the visuals of this game doesn’t make your pussy moist than put down the controller my son and get to the hospital and have the doc check for a fucking pulse. During the intros and my first emergence from darkness into the light I literally had to scrape my jaw off the floor. I actually had a tear stream down my cheek because of how beautiful it was.

If graphics aren’t your thing than the gameplay will do you in as well. In an age of watered down shooters that are super linear… cough… call of duty… cough! Crysis 2 comes across as a breath of fresh air. Now while you won’t get to completely explore New York you will be given quite a bit of room to stretch your legs. When encountering an objective you are met with multiple options as to how you can plan your attack. So if you want to run hay diddle diddle right up the middle, go for it. If you prefer a more stealthy approach than the option is there. With the different abilities of the Nanosuit at your disposal the options for attack are well varied.

Now while the gameplay is great, I will say the story is slightly lacking early on. For the first third of the game you are basically met with one objective, which is to find Nathan Gould, a scientist who worked with Prophet and is awaiting his arrival with a sample of the Alien tissue. Once you do make it to Gould in chapter 6 the story does pick up. Towards the end I think most people will be satisfied with the way it plays out as the story does come together nicely.

Another point I would like to make about the campaign is that it is rather beefy. As we have seen in recent history it has become a trend and almost acceptable to put out the inexcusably short campaigns lasting six hours or sometimes even less. It’s as though the developers feel that this is OK as long as they tack on some bullshit multiplayer mode. Crytek avoided this and chose to put out a 12+ hour campaign. I say twelve plus because it really depends on the difficulty and if you are going for all the collectibles. You can expect the game to take around 12 hours on the normal difficulty, while if you step up your game to Super Soldier you are in for around 20 hours including deaths. This is how I have chosen to do my first play through and I am telling you right now that Super Soldier is no fucking joke. Even with abilities of the Nanosuit you will have a very tough time navigating certain areas of the game.

Let’s talk multiplayer. I would have gladly shelled out my $60 or 40 quid, depending on location, for just the single player experience. Thankfully Crytek has included a robust multiplayer experience that is extremely fun. The basic leveling system is there, and you can unlock different weapons and abilities just like any other modern shooter. Crysis 2’s multiplayer doesn’t really bring anything new to the table but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t good. I can easily see myself putting in 100+ hours into the multiplayer so I can get to level 50. All the standard game modes are included as well. You got your TDM, Free for All, a capture the flag variant, another game type similar to COD’s domination mode, and another one which is kind of like King of the Hill.

The Audio in this game is really good too. It especially serves well in the multiplayer for hearing footsteps. The guns all sound great. From far away you can hear people’s guns popping off, bullets whizzing past your head, and some really gruesome sound effects when you dig your blade into your opponent’s neck for stealth kill. In the campaign you will find some very atmospheric sound effects as you navigate New York. Abandoned vehicles car alarms going off and the birds chirping in Central Park all add a creepy feeling to the now run down city.

In closing I would have to say Crysis 2 is an absolute must own for shooter fans. Even if you weren’t fortunate enough to play the original part 2 is a great point to enter the franchise as the games kicks off with a brand new protagonist. I have played the game on both consoles and I have to say the clear winner here is Xbox 360 from a visual stand point. The PS3 version is muddy at times, lighting doesn’t look as good and plus you will be forced to use that piece of shit controller that makes playing any shooter extremely painful. So get your ass down to the game shop pronto for Crysis 2, it is not to be missed.

Quicklik is a gorgeous little Korean puzzle game in which you match corresponding images to whatever you’re tasked with.

The game has two modes; Classic and Crazy Mode. The second comes with a warning that it is meant for experienced players only and starting this mode you’ll see why.

Classic Mode is slower paced than Crazy. Atop the screen will be a bar with a Kitten’s face or a picture of a Peach with “x X” where X is the number you have to reach to move on to the next level. “Kitten x5” obviously means tap 5 kittens, just thought I’d explain that for you slower folk.

The classic mode will try and throw you a curve ball occasionally and instead of showing a picture it will just give the word. When you tap an image, it’s removed from the board but always replaced with another, sometimes the same image.

Crazy Mode is a little more intense. It will do things such as show a color and you must tap everything with the requested color to move on. Sometimes the word will pop up but with a letter missing, it isn’t hard to figure out the word but if you’re going on a diminishing time limit, it can throw your concentration off. The more common ones are just a word like “Animal” or “Glasses” and well, you know what to do.

It IS a puzzle game, which means there will be items both good and bad.

Time will do just as it says, gives you more time.
Find will show you the images for the current mission.
Arainbow star will reduce the number of images, making that round easier.
A skull and cross bones with a red X will remove any bad item.

What are the bad items you ask?
A cloud will show up on the screen and you’ll have to drag it away in order to continue.
Blackened graffiti will cover areas and you’ll have to quickly rub it away.
Ice is probably more annoying as you’ll tap this item several times to finally break away.

As fun as this game is, its cutesy art style, music, and sound effects will make you feel like a prepubescent Japanese girl when playing. Besides the art direction which will throw your gender into question, the simplicity of the game is what makes it so addicting.
The images will shake and dance as you tap them out leaving a cloudy effect and a satisfying “Combo!” with each match and “Lucky!” when you complete a match. Continuing a chain will cause the overly cute voice to shout out “Nice!” or “Excellent!” It’s nice to play a game that’s actually boring without the sound.

At only $1, this is a great buy and is one of my favorite puzzle games on the app store. I’d highly recommend it if you’re looking for something fast paced with little learning curve to just pick up and stop whenever you’re on the go.

Fitting right into the addictive ‘match-3’ puzzler mould, Pantheon is easy to play, fun and unputdownable. I may have created a neologism there but it does accurately express my feelings for this game. The concept of the game will be nothing new; match coloured diamonds into patterns by tapping them to get rid of them. What sets Pantheon apart from other generic puzzle games is its sheer number of combos and power ups. The power ups and combos keep the game from slowing down, there’s always something eye catching and interesting happening on screen which helps to keep the fast flowing race-against-the-clock gameplay fresh.

Set in various Asian inspired gardens and landscapes the backgrounds provide a pretty and easy on the eye backdrop to the main action on screen with plenty of vivid colours and animations which can also be said for the diamond grids themselves. Menus and on screen displays are all presented in a beautiful ruin style, the overall effects of the aesthetics are very pleasing and are one of the many factors of Pantheon’s success.

The audio also fits into the Asian theme permeating the game; brilliantly catchy sitar riffs which I found rather relaxing add another layer to the games façade. Pantheon is simple to play, offers a challenge and is wonderfully presented. It’s a game I recommend anyone owning an iDevice to check out; casual or hardcore; old or young, lots of fun is to be had with Pantheon.

With the 2010 holiday shopping season edging its way closer and closer, game developers have already begun the mad dash to release all the big triple “AAA” titles we have been waiting for. During this time a lot of my friends ask me what games I will be getting, or should they pick up Medal of Honor or Black Ops. So I thought I would type something up letting everybody know what games I personally am excited about picking up before Santa rolls into town.

First, I want to point out the titles I already have purchased that will be big sellers for the holiday. Of course we have to start with Halo: Reach. An absolutely amazing game with a lengthy, albeit difficult campaign and an extremely addicting multiplayer experience. This is a game that will probably be on every kids X-Mas wish list if they don’t have it already. If you haven’t picked this game up already I want you to push aside that rock you are living under and get your ass to the store promptly.

More recently, this week in fact I picked up Enslaved and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. Now I have to say coming in to this weeks releases I was super excited about Enslaved hitting my 360 disc tray. But after playing both games I was quite surprised to find out the game I just can’t hit the eject button on is Castlevania. The story is so captivating and visual set pieces take your breath away at almost every corner. With a campaign that takes around 24 hours to complete and possibly close to 100 hours required to get full gamerscore, I think it’s safe to say I will be coming back to Castlevania time and time again after the calendar year has ended.

Although I haven’t been able to stop playing Castlevania that’s not to say that Enslaved isn’t a good game because it really is. The graphics and gameplay mechanics in Enslaved are extremely tight. This is a truly gorgeous game that should be enjoyed by all. This game has so many interesting gameplay dynamics that I don’t have time to mention them all in one paragraph, but let’s just say Enslaved is a unique game. If you took Uncharted and put it in a Japanese developers hands this is what you would have gotten, minus the guns because Namco decided to give the games hero, Monkey, a retractable staff to quickly dispatch enemies with fluid melee tactics.

Now that I have gotten those games out of the way, let’s talk about what games I will be picking up in the coming weeks. To start things off we have Medal of Honor, an attempted revamp of the series that looks to move from their traditional setting of World War II into a more modern era with a controversial setting. Medal of Honor (2010) takes place in terrorist ridden Afghanistan in 2002. On the single player side of things you play as three characters. First you have the tier 1 operator, then there is the Army Ranger, and lastly you will spend a third of your time as a gunner on board a helicopter providing support to ground troops below.

Medal of Honor also promises to have a quality multiplayer experience. EA has chosen to have its DICE studio, which are responsible for this years Battlefield: Bad Company 2, develop the multiplayer side of things. While this may sound strange to have one team make the game and have a separate studio working on the multiplayer exclusively I think a lot of people will be surprised once the game is released on October 12^th in the U.S. and on Friday the 15^th in UK.

If western shooters aren’t your thing and you haven’t picked up Halo or Medal of Honor than you may want to take a look at a little game called Vanquish, developed by SEGA. The Japanese made third person sci-fi shooter promises to be a fast paced and gun toting thrill ride. Taking its inspiration from games like Gears of War, you will notice some similarities between the two. It should be noted however that SEGA has done something very special with the genre and should be noticed by everyone. This game got absolutely zero coverage at E3 and little to no marketing, at least in America. With what could possibly be a sleeper hit for 2010, Vanquish is worth a look from everyone. You can download the demo now for free on the Xbox Live Marketplace. Vanquish hits store shelves October 19^th and 22^nd in the U.S. and UK respectively.

If you thought the next big game I was going to mention was Black Ops you would be wrong. Because there is a pit stop we must first make on October 26^th. Two weeks before the biggest launch in gaming history, I am going to be grabbing Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II as well as Fable III. I personally can’t wait to get cracking on both of these games. I already have a bride to be for Fable, hey Sophie, and I am hoping this game drives home with a heavy story and recovers from what I considered to be an epic fail in Fable II. While part two was good graphically and in the gameplay department the story seemed to lack something. It started off with this amazing cut scene where your sister is murdered and you are left to fend for yourself and then nothing happens. You grow up and level you character through thirty some odd hours of gameplay only to get to a final boss fight that you win by pressing one button and firing a single bullet. Fable III needs to wow me and from what I have heard so far it should.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II is the direct sequel to the original game by the same title. We will finally get to find out what happens after Starkiller learned the truth about his past and was thrown away by Darth Vader who chose to stick with Sidius despite the fact that Sid himself tells you to kill Vader. With light sabers akimbo, Jedi mind tricks, and increased Force powers I can’t wait to get a hold of this game.

Alright, finally its time to talk about Call of Duty: Black Ops. Call of Duty (COD) wouldn’t be COD without multiplayer. In an attempt to keep things fresh and fans happy, Black Ops developer Treyarch looked to bring customization to the COD universe. We can finally customize everything from our load out, to our character’s appearance, all the way down to what color the red dot sight is. But at the end of the day it’s still COD and every douche with an internet connection will be playing this game come November 9^th. This in my opinion is the downfall of COD. The game is way too accessible and easy to pick up which ruins what otherwise would be a solid multiplayer experience is ruined by twelve year olds hacking servers or just general noob gameplay like camping, using grenade launchers, and sprinting around like a fairy with its wings cut off and not firing a single shot the entire match. So why am I looking forward to Black Ops? Because all these idiots will be playing it, which means I can finally go back and enjoy Modern Warfare 2 for the first time in months. Other than the soon to be failed multiplayer, Reznov and Zombies are back so we can rejoice about that. Fail of Duty: Black Ops will launch world wide on November 9^th.

For the 2010 gaming calendar that wraps it up for me. After Black Ops I will be eagerly counting the days until Dead Space 2 in 2011. This has possibly been one of the best years for video games in a long time. There have been dry patches, mainly the summer, but the year started off so well and is finishing on a good note with a slew of Triple A titles coming out. I think its safe say a lot of kids will have a stack of games under the tree this year or if you’re Jewish you could ask for a game for each night. LOL. For reviews on all the games mentioned here and all news leading up to their releases keep checking back here at wedotech.net, part of the wedo network.

Oh and just a quick P.S. If you think I forgot to mention the Kinect I didn’t. It looks like the biggest pile of shit to hit the gaming world since the Virtual Boy and Power Glove. Besides that don’t forget to comment about what games your excited about getting and please feel free to tell me to fuck off if you think I am wrong about something, I love a good debate. Happy Holidays.

Thanks to our web artist Hendy for donating the articles feature picture.

It’s another year and that can only be one thing, another Need for Speed game. EA have been somewhat unsure where to take the whole series of late, Shift and Nitro being two vastly different games, a stab at the arcade and a stab at the simulated. Now it’s time for EA to do what it does best at, throw back the police cars into the mix and this time you can be the police!

EA’s strongest owned studio for racers in our view is Criterion and finally they have been tasked with a NFS game and from our play at Eurogamer you can really feel that they have had their hands on Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. Immediately the game handles half way between Undercover and Burnout Revenge which for those not akin to Sega Rally or Forza 3 is a perfect mix. I didn’t play any of the single player, instead we played an eight player multiplayer battle. I played as both sides; Cops and street Racers. The multiplayer elements work this way, if you are a street racer you simply need to make it to the end checkpoint without your car getting wrecked. If you are the Cops make sure all cars are disabled before you are out of your area of jurisdiction.

Your usual NOS boost is still available but this time you are presented with a set of weapons or aids to help you win the race. Cops will get access to spikes, EMP grenades, road blocks and a police chopper where as racers will get access to spikes again but also radar jamming equipment and special boost. Playing as a cop is interesting but it’s all too easy to lose sight of the pack if you crash. It’s very difficult to work as a team at the expo because their simply was no way of communicating, so the role of the police could possibly be explored as a tactical affair once we get those headsets on. Playing as the racer though is an adrenaline pounding, satisfying velocity feast. Zooming across desert plains at high speed and narrowly missing road blocks and spikes feel particularly immersive and you’ll also get competitive with your own team as you battle to win the race and gain the most points.

Graphically the game is very sexy indeed, as the police lights reflect off the sprawl of tunnels it’s little subtle touches that make this game look visually gorgeous. Set during the night and day particular attention to detail has been made here, especially with the car models and damage physics and graphics too. There is none of this tinted haze that you had with Burnout Paradise either which is a relief. The game has real scope for being an addictive online racer, it’ll need some cool features added to really hold you in the offline experience, but as a multiplayer game it’s looking very good indeed. It’s another NFS game and this time EA are truly playing to their strengths. Bring it on!

ALL VIEWS ARE BASED ON CODE PLAYABLE AT THE EUROGAMER EXPO THAT TOOK PLACE BETWEEN OCTOBER 1^ST – 3^RD 2010. EUROGAMER TOOK PLACE AT EARLS COURT IN LONDON AND IS THE UK’S LARGEST CONSUMER VIDEOGAME EXPO.

The game is set in the mid 21st century when the world has fallen into the chaos of the “Great Population Flood”, and takes place aboard the Queen of the World, a city-sized luxury ocean vessel, built by a group of corporate giants known as the Five Founding Fathers; the group who, due to the Queen, have prospered while the rest of the world suffered. At the beginning of the game, the craft is bombed by a group of fanatical terrorists known as the Malthusians—named after political economist Thomas Malthus who predicted that population growth would one day outpace agricultural production, returning society to a subsistent level of existence (credit wikipedia for that tid bit of knowledge). The Malthusians have a plan to murder the vast majority of humans on the planet, so that the survivors wouldn’t suffer from the effects of the population explosion. Their slogans, including “Save the World – Kill Yourself”, are written on the walls and displayed on computer screens all over the ship.

In Hydrophobia you play as Kate Wilson, a systems engineer who becomes and unlikely hero following the attack on the Queen. Helping Katey navigate the different decks of the ship is Scoot, who is constantly saying obvious things over your headset with quite possible the worst Scottish accent in the history of not only gaming but any form of entertainment. What happened to Sean Connery? He isn’t doing much these days.

At its core, Hydrophobia is an action-platformer/puzzle game. To me it kind of felt like a mash up of Tomb Raider and Shadow Complex with the lead character being played by Joanna Dark with a new name. The platforming and puzzle solving can be rather tedious. Most of the time you are just trying to decode a cipher by following arrows on a wall until you locate said cipher using your MAVI. The MAVI is basically your all purpose hacking/decoding tool. Using the MAVI to find these ciphers is kind of like searching a hotel room with a black light only in the game you find a cipher to open doors instead of the love stains in the hotel.

The following has to be said for this to be a complete review, so if you don’t like spoilers stop reading now. The ending of this game is so absolutely terrible. To call it an ending is actually an insult to game endings, because there isn’t one. Just as the story is picking up and you are readying  yourself for an amazing finish as you escape the ship, you are treated to a “TO BE CONTINUED” screen just as you are reunited with the person you have been searching for in the past two acts. I actually felt dirty after completing this game. If this is the road games are headed down, where I actually need to pay to see an ending to a game, I don’t want to be a part of it. No way in hell am I paying for content add on to this game, nor will I invest one single msp for a sequel. I haven’t felt this led on, teased, or let down by any form of entertainment since Back to the Future 2.

At the end of the day is Hydrophobia worth your 1200 msp??? Probably not. If I were you I would wait for some type of game deals week where the price drops to 800, or you can always check out the trial for free and go from there. If you are like me and can look past sketchy gameplay because you feel so engrossed by the mind blowing water physics and the realistic sound, than you may want to pick up this game. But be forewarned…when you have completed the game you will be angry with that atrocity of an ending.

 To differentiate itself from the Wii at E3 imaginary VP of Sony Kevin Butler showed imagery of a man pummelling a guy to death using the Move controller. That game was The Fight. The Fight has a very gritty art style, mostly using grey and black hues to create a seedy under belly of bare fist fighting. It’s set to appeal to the adult gamer or for those that think wearing hoodies makes them an hard nut innit bruv. Anyway, it turns out the game makes Wii Sports Boxing not only archaic but a rather stupid experience.

 Your left and right hands are occupied with two Move controllers, whilst your head is being tracked by the Playstation Eye. This allows you to dodge, duck and weave around at ease. Your opponents are particularly skilled and will give you a good work out. Calories burnt are shown at the end of every round, so the game has a nice fitness edge to it too. You can even bet your winnings on winning future fights, how that transcends in the game is currently unknown, but either way it adds a nice bit of pressure throwing money on the line.

 What’s really successful is the range of movement. You can uppercut, sideswipe, one-two punch, forearm smash, hammer-smash, smash your arms together to hit your opponents upside the head, it really felt intuitive. The higher you punched, the higher your character would display the movements, same for below the belt shots. I was astounded by the depth of combat and just how much fun I had working up a sweat. Bouts can last up to five minutes at times, before you know it you are burning hundreds of calories. It’s the presentation and constant surprise of recognised movements that makes The Fight stand out as a really good Move title, unfortunately we have to wait until 2011 but it’ll be worth it. Sony doesn’t need a fully fledged fitness game, though it’ll get one. The Fight will give you a tremendous workout and you will feel cool doing it at the same time. Every punch has a tremendous blow to it, the fighters are brawlers to the core, it is dirty and not afraid of being so. Sound is excellent too, you can hear every impact and it sounds pretty darn painful. As the match progresses you see the cuts and sweat pour from your players faces and the body fatigued. Definitely check this one out, you won’t be sorry.

THE FOLLOWING GAME WAS TESTED AT EUROGAMER EXPO BETWEEN OCTOBER 1^ST-3^RD 2010. EUROGAMER EXPO IS A LARGE CONSUMER EVENT HELD AT EARLS COURT IN LONDON. IT WAS THIS BUILD OF WHICH I FORMED MY IMPRESSIONS.

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.

Steve Jobs has officially announced the ‘iPhone 4’ – and what a stunning bit of kit it is. The iPhone 4 is 24% slimmer than the 3gs and at 9.3mm the slimmest smart phone in the world.

iPhone 4g Feature Points:

• 24% Thinner than the 3gs
• Bluetooth
• GPS
• Stainless Steel shell
• Integrated Antennas
• Dual mics
• 802.11n WiFi
• Compass
• Accelerometer
• Larger Battery (7 hours of 3G talk, 6 hours of 3G browsing, 10 hours of WiFi browsing, 10 hours of video, 40 hours of music)
• Gyroscope (“3 axis gyro, and we tied the gyro and accelerometer, compass, and gyro together for six axis. It’s perfect for gaming”)
• 5mp Backside Illuminated Sensor
• 5x Digital Zoom
• Tap to Focus
• LED Flash
• 720p HD video at 30fps
• iMovie for iPhone (Priced at $4.99)
• Automatic Movie Theme Geotagging
• iOS4 (OS4 Renamed; Multitasking, Gaming etc.)
• 960×640 Display (4x more)
• 800:1 contrast ratio
• iBooks and iBookstore
• Facetime (a iPhone 4 to iPhone 4, WiFi only video call)
• Pricing (U.S Contract; 16GB $199, 32GB $299)
• Release date: June 24th

Keep an eye on this article for updates as they come.

Black Hole is an iPhone ‘Path Management’ game from Clickgamer, the guys who brought us Angry Birds. Let me set the scene; The world is under attack from thousands of asteroids- all hope seems lost, but who can save the earth from this plight? The answer….. You. You are tasked to use a mad scientist’s ‘Black Hole creator’ to divert the asteroids away from the Earth and cause collisions between them to earn points and achieve chain multipliers. The controls couldn’t be easier, a simple tap on the screen will place a black hole in the desired position, the controls complement the gameplay perfectly, anything other than the current control scheme would detract from the experience.

There are four types of asteroid; the smaller asteroids offer no special powers when they collide so trying to force collisions between the three larger and different coloured asteroids- which offer unique effects on the game world- is a risk, but one that will give rewards that could mean the difference between surviving and failure.

Graphically the game is decent; it isn’t world beating but is perfectly adequate for this type of game, with smooth and quirky animations and nicely presented menus. The music is well suited to the setting, a futuristic beat that adds to the tension that some of the later levels bring. It did get a tiny bit monotonous after a few sessions but is easily overlooked.

The games learning curve is virtually nonexistent, guiding the player through the tutorial and easier levels – which teach the player the necessary skills for the later, more challenging levels and the unlockable “Endless Mode”. The later levels and latter stages of the “Endless Mode”, although harder, are the most fun. There are only very few levels in each difficulty and this in future could become a problem. As the pace quickens and more asteroids enter the field of play whilst the player battles to rack up the multipliers, the game becomes a challenging and engaging example of what this genre is capable of.

The genre itself however, is a double edged sword; for a while it may be addictive and challenging but once the levels are complete, the “Endless Mode” is the only challenge and the game offers little replayability. But this game succeeds at what it aims to, which is a fairly superficial jump in and out game and should fill the five minutes you have spare.

Battleships is a game which hasn’t evolved, it hasn’t changed. There are probably thousands of fans who still play the board game and will be over the moon with ‘Warships’. ‘Warships’ itself is basically a repackaged version of the board game, it doesn’t set out to be groundbreaking – instead giving the oppurtunity to carry the game in their pocket.

I’m not going to review ‘Battleships’ which is all the gameplay is, therefore I’ll comment on how the game is implemented, aesthetics and audio.
There is a ‘Campaign’ option which gives a basic shell to multiple battles that lead on from eachother; a fairly superficial addition in all fairness.  Also available is the ability to choose which type of theme you want; Warships, Pirate and Space, this is a nice feature and can help freshen up the game experience.  The visual side of the game is good, it doesn’t push any boundaries but the different themes are a nice touch and the menus are very nice on the eye.

Audio wise the game satisfies everything needed; a seafaring song is played throughout your time playing ‘Warships’ and it is actually very catchy and suits the game well. A sound clip of a submarines sonar is played when a menu option is selected or a ship is anchored, although there are no submarines in the game it fits in with the marine vibe. Some quite cartoonesque bytes have been used to accompany the firing of the cannon, hitting a ship or firing straight into the ocean; these fit in very well with the light hearted nature of this game.

I’m a guy who doesn’t mind to play the board game with a friend, it can be fun; but when you’ve sent umpteen odd shots into the sea it can lose it’s appeal. I can’t knock the way in which the game has been implemented but with this being basically a portable board game, it all depends on your love (or lack) of ‘Battleships’.

OK – so if you’re wondering what the concept of Mini Plane is – think the ‘Helicopter game’. The aim of the game is to keep your plane in the air for as long as possible. The longer you are in the air the more distance you can travel, press the screen to ascend and release to descend whilst avoiding planes and buildings and collecting star pick ups and petrol to keep your plane in the air. The game is very pick up and play; it should be accessible to most ages and is something you’ll find yourself playing in a spare 5 minutes traveling.

The further you travel the more points awarded. More points can be gained by collecting the star pick ups; which can also be used to buy new planes, picking up characters from the top of the buildings and flying close to the top of the buildings.

This is where the games encounters some quite problematic glitches. The collision detection is- to put it nicely – ridiculous, if you fly even remotely near a plane or building your plane ‘crashes’ and plummets into oblivion, this makes the game frustrating and detracts from the overall experience as more time is spent guessing and hoping how far away from away from the planes you need to fly to avoid crashing. This makes picking up the people from the buildings not worth it due to the fear of crashing, it really is a off-putting problem.

Graphically the game is good, funky backgrounds and plane designs give a good visual experience.

Mini Plane

Sound wise the game falters a bit, it mainly consists of the sound of the planes engine with a couple of bleeps and bloops when the pick ups are collected. I think it would have benefited more from some groovy and catchy electronic songs that would increase the experience tenfold.

Mini Plane is a decent game, not spectacular – it has it’s flaws which are easily fixable by the developers. Really it comes down whether or not the free ‘Helicopter game’ will suit your purpose; it’s free, addictive, largely the same and doesn’t suffer from the glitches that hound mini plane.

“GAME AND GAMESTATION ARE GOING FOR GOLD!”

In addition to apologising for that terrible pun, Capcom UK is pleased to announce an exclusive partnership with Game and Gamestation. UK players looking for Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition should head to their nearest Game or Gamestation, and nowhere else.

Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition is the incredible Resident Evil 5 packaged together with all of the DLC on one handy great-value-for-money disc.

Snatch the yummies from the sky!!

OrangePixel releases “Gulp!” for Android. Grab all the falling yummies to avoid getting hit! Use your extending tongue to snatch all the various yummies that fall from the sky. Don’t let too many yummies hit the floor, or you won’t survive ! Collect coins to fix the floor and advance to the next level.

More information can be found at: http://orangepixel.net/games.php?gid=83

Or on you tube: http://orangepixel.net/games.php?gid=83

Stereotype or Fact?

 DTP Young Entertainment releases their first game for the iPhone™ and the iPod touch™: in „The Ultimate Battle of the Sexes“ players take up the challenge between the genders. Will the classic roles and clichés of men and women prove to be true? This hilariously funny entertaining app plays with established stereotypes.

This mini game collection will finally decide the battle between genders: is struggling with parking spaces really only a female problem? Are men capable of multitasking? “The Ultimate Battle of the Sexes” gives players the opportunity to do away with the typical role clichés and campaign for their own gender.

The game includes six mini games: Parking, Shopping, Pub Crawl, Catwalk, Barbecue and Multitasking. After choosing one of the four different avatars, players will face many challenges against other profiles and win trophies like the “Golden Grill Pliers” or the “Golden High Heel”. For direct comparison with friends, the personal high score can also be uploaded on facebook.

Features

• Six different mini games – six different clichés
• Choice of four avatars
• Character and gender specific graphics
• Seven trophies to unlock
• Local highscore can be saved
• Upload game results on player’s facebook profile
• Languages: German, English, French, Italian und Spanish

Why not go and check it out in the apple store today.

It’s rather appropriate that my first review for Wedotech be Soldier of Fortune which casts you as a mercenary because I myself have been drafted in mercenary style to contribute content to this site. The only difference between myself and a real life mercenary really is the fact that they kill people… and probably aren’t hunched over a keyboard with a nearby pouch of tobacco and a cold cup of coffee as their only sustenance right now.

I’d love to pretend that I chose to review this game just so I could write that opening but the truth is that Soldier of Fortune no longer works on my PC so the only way I’ll ever get to review it is through the written word. Before anyone starts throwing terms like “backdated drivers” and “compatability mode” at me please don’t. I’ve been gaming on the PC for nearly twenty years now and if there was a way to get the game working with my hardware, I’d have found it.

Now I must warn you that I’m about to review a manly game here which heavily features guns and explosions. If you’re a woman or gay then this review will probably be too hardcore for you to bear. You might not even be officially homosexual, maybe you just like playing The Sims. What I’m saying is that any degree of femininity will cause adverse effects when combined with a game as manly as Soldier of Fortune and indeed, a review as manly as this written by myself, the manliest of men. Oh what’s the matter? You’ve scrolled down the page and noticed there are no screenshots? Can’t read words without pretty pictures to accompany them? I spit on you fairy boy. What? The plastic chick hanging around my neck in my last video as I pranced around with my face half-shaved? My David Bowie, Queen and Elton John collection? Eh… can’t waste time chatting so onto the game.

Soldier of Fortune was released for the PC in the year 2000 and was developed by Raven Software who have built a reputation for generally delivering solid and enjoyable games. People will inevitably associate the game with the magazine of the same name and while the magazine itself is keen to emphasise there is no relationship between the two, it’s clear that both the game and publication are aiming for the same target market and by that I mean men who talk about guns in the same way the rest of us talk about members of the opposite (or same) sex. Frightening people who must be purged before they bring about the End Times.

Alright so I shouldn’t generalise. There are also the bullied school kids who fantasise about gunning down their tormentors, the morons who think that being good at first person shooters qualifies them as soldiers, the gore-fiends who come after every headshot and innocents like myself just looking to play a good game.

So which of those demographics does Soldier of Fortune satisfy? Well first and foremost it sates the bloodlust of the gore-fiends the primary selling point of the game being the ability to dismember enemies with all manner of guns. At the time this was very controversial and seen as “excessive violence” but the game isn’t actually that excessive. Shooting someone in the head with a 9mm pistol won’t result in bits of skull and brain flying everywhere. You need something with a little more firepower for that such as the “Silver Talon” or perhaps the shotgun.

Oh don’t get me wrong, Soldier of Fortune positively revels in its violence but this isn’t a FPS as envisaged by Quentin Tarantino. It’s bloody yes but only as bloody as you’d realistically expect when you use such lethal weapons against the human body. Let us not forget that the same people who wail about violence in videogames are often the same people who have no objection whatsoever to sending men and women overseas to incur horrific injuries for real. The terrible reality of war is kept out of their faces that way and they can continue to preach about how virtual slaughter is corrupting our youth.

It’s hard to tell what gun enthusiasts would make of Soldier of Fortune. There is certainly a good selection of weaponry such as the sniper rifle, the submachine gun, the heavy machine gun and others with depressing names like “M202A2 Flash Rocket Launcher” and “M343D Flamegun”. However I don’t know whether these are actually based on real weapons or behave like them and nor do I care and if you think I’m going to do the research for the kind of cretins who would care then you have misjudged me. There is a “Microwave Pulse Gun” which while certainly based on real weaponry (or at least a theoretical weapon) is not the kind of hardware you’re likely to see wielded on the streets anytime soon. There are also the obligatory items like body armour, grenades and health.

As someone who doesn’t spend his free time polishing guns and is no longer a virgin, I can say that the weapons are really fun to use and guns intended to be powerful certainly feel that way when fired. Soldier of Fortune delivers a satisfying arsenal even if the loser next door who refers to real guns as “toys” disagrees but frankly who gives a shit about him?

Soldier of Fortune is nothing if not cathartic so it should delay the quiet kid in the classroom from going on his inevitable shooting spree for at least a while. The real question is of course, is it a good game?

My liberal leanings tend to come across in most things I write mainly because I use every opportunity to get on the soapbox and the simple fact is I dislike guns. I dislike them because they are tools designed for the sole purpose of killing people and as such are abhorrent to me. It may come as a surprise for you to learn then that I absolutely love Soldier of Fortune. How can I loathe guns and love a game all about their use? Well the answer is in the question, it’s a game. More than that, it’s a game you’d have to be an absolute moron to take seriously.

Lets look at the facts, you play as John Mullins (a character based on real life mercenary John Mullins) who works for a fictional organisation “the Shop” which sends him all around the world on secret missions all of which boil down to “kill everyone” and you have a partner called “Hawk”. Hawk for fucksake. Your mission as the game opens in a New York subway is to kill a gang leader by the name of Sabre who towards the end of the level escapes on the roof of a train with his arms folded going “mwahahahahaha”. If there was ever a game that embraced all of the silliness we still love to watch old Arnie movies like Commando for it is Soldier of Fortune. This is not any kind of soldier simulation. This is a FPS in the traditional sense, run around, shoot the badguys and push a button now and then to activate something or other.

You’ll travel to Uganda, Kosovo, Siberia, Iraq, Sudan, Japan and Germany dispatching terrorists for Uncle Sam. When Soldier of Fortune was originally released there were some accusations of racism at the way certain countries were portrayed and at the fact you spend most of your time killing people with dark skin. While I have no doubt that certain people relished the undeniable jingoism of the game as they wanked themselves off with a miniature flag, I get the sense that Raven Software were subtly taking the piss out of such people. It’s like a joke you have to have a certain level of intelligence to understand. Because of this it’s a game that works for both crowds. If you really are an idiot who believes that the best foreign policies always involve bombs then you’ll happily wallow in Soldier of Fortune thinking it has been designed by people who think just like you while on the other side of the spectrum people with brains will be silently sniggering at the irony of it all and enjoying the obvious ludicrousness of the game.

Soldier of Fortune was made using a highly modified Quake 2 engine so the graphics are obviously considerably dated now but not to an extent that should prevent any real gamer from enjoying it. The music and sound effects are still great, hearing the screams of a man who just had his leg blown off never gets old for me.

If there’s one area where Soldier of Fortune still stands as an example to current developers it’s in the difficulty settings. As if five different difficulty levels wasn’t enough you can also customise your experience altering specifics like how aggressive the enemies are, how many guns you can carry and how many times you’re allowed to save the game during any given level.

Why the hell aren’t we seeing this option all the time in games? I’m so sick and tired of playing games that are pathetically easy even on their hardest settings. By offering the ability to not only choose from “Easiest” to “Hardest” but to also customise the difficulty in detail, developers can satisfy the hardcore gamers while not alienating their precious casual crowd so why don’t they do it? God damn it.

So that’s Soldier of Fortune for the PC summed up in one thousand five hundred and eighty-six words. It was also released for the Playstation 2 but I never played that version so I can’t comment on how much worse than the PC release it is although of the fact that it is worse we can be certain. At least with the Playstation 2 version you know the game will still work which is not a guarantee on the PC depending on your hardware unfortunately.

I enjoyed writing this first (and possibly last depending on how many people I managed to offend) review here on Wedotech. Of course the biggest problem with it is the fact that you don’t get to see my handsome face unlike here on my YouTube channel which you should definitely subscribe to if you haven’t already: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheFinalHighlander

Until next time, take care… and be manly. Like me.

David