So, it's time for some reviews again. A lot of games being released at the moment. I've decided to leave Batman: Arkham City and Assassin's Creed Revelations alone for now and play them closer to Christmas.
You've probably noticed the decline, both technically and in quality, of Japanese games. Especially, in their lack of changing and modernising themselves this generation. Most of them, seem to be enhanced versions of PlayStation 2 era, graphics and ideas, adding little new. New IPs and innovations this generation, have been from western gaming companies. It's taken a long time for Japanese developers to adjust, some have even stated they don't care about the western market.
Remember, how I told you in my review of Crysis 2, that I had never played the original Crysis? Well, guess what, Crytek improved the lighting engine of the original and released it on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3! A no-brainer purchase for me on Xbox Live On Demand, a full title for a reasonable price and you can clock in a 1000 achievement points!
While Crysis 2 took on an urban jungle and gave you city warfare, the original is all about natural environments and jungle warfare. It evolves around an object that has crashed from space, on a pacific island, and a race between US and North Korean forces to get to the crash site first.
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Like always, there are even more cars to select and the cockpit view seems to be tweaked to look even more detailed. Combined with the new lighting, the cockpit is the view of choice to drive in! The handling has also been taken to a more realistic level and I really like the feedback when turning now. You really can sense when your grip loosens and how the car reacts to the surface and turns.
Review
Played on: Xbox 360
Released: 2011
Released: 2011
However, those who dare to modernise themselves, usually win. Let’s take a look at Namco's latest Ace Combat then!
Modern warfare is really popular in gaming these days, the trend all kicked off with Call of Duty 4. It's about making a believable plot, set in our time, based on politics and combat today. Ace Combat has always been about putting real life fighter jets in a fictional environments, with fictional countries at war. Assault Horizon dismisses this, and puts us right at the present state of the world, starting a conflict of it's own.
Modern warfare is really popular in gaming these days, the trend all kicked off with Call of Duty 4. It's about making a believable plot, set in our time, based on politics and combat today. Ace Combat has always been about putting real life fighter jets in a fictional environments, with fictional countries at war. Assault Horizon dismisses this, and puts us right at the present state of the world, starting a conflict of it's own.
Right from the beginning, this feels much better, the story is believable, is far less cheesy and melodramatic, typical for most Japanese stories. The western influence is present throughout Assault Horizon. It also suits the real jet fighters better, as they're assigned to the countries they're made and produced in.
A game though, cannot catch newcomers without radically changing gameplay and adding new features. The audience today is far less patient and want incredible action and refined gameplay from the get-go. Especially, in the popular modern warfare genre.
A game though, cannot catch newcomers without radically changing gameplay and adding new features. The audience today is far less patient and want incredible action and refined gameplay from the get-go. Especially, in the popular modern warfare genre.
AH fixes this, by making the aircraft very controllable, yet different from model to model and adds a brand new close combat gameplay feature. The latter is about getting close in on an enemy plane, pressing the shoulder buttons simultaneously, followed by the camera being dramatically zoomed in and your aircraft auto-following the enemy aircraft, somewhat.
This new dog fighting feature gives way for some spectacular scenes, often close to the ground, between buildings, with many twists and turns. The zoomed in view allows for more use of the aircraft's main gun too, combined with lots of damage animation. It looks awesome when you gun down an enemy and the plane disintegrates into flying debris, fire and oil! There are also counter manoeuvres, which look spectacular, when an enemy is tailing you. I enjoyed mostly the outside view of the plane, just to see all the really cool camera effects.
The missions are varied, you take control over fighter, multi-role and ground attack jets. There are even helicopter missions, where you use the mighty AH-64 and even a bombing mission where you can fly a B2! There's of variation in the scenery and locations, from snowy Moscow to rainy Miami and the warm deserts in Africa.
This new dog fighting feature gives way for some spectacular scenes, often close to the ground, between buildings, with many twists and turns. The zoomed in view allows for more use of the aircraft's main gun too, combined with lots of damage animation. It looks awesome when you gun down an enemy and the plane disintegrates into flying debris, fire and oil! There are also counter manoeuvres, which look spectacular, when an enemy is tailing you. I enjoyed mostly the outside view of the plane, just to see all the really cool camera effects.
The missions are varied, you take control over fighter, multi-role and ground attack jets. There are even helicopter missions, where you use the mighty AH-64 and even a bombing mission where you can fly a B2! There's of variation in the scenery and locations, from snowy Moscow to rainy Miami and the warm deserts in Africa.
The missions being a door gunner, in a Blackhawk chopper, are also really fun, just lacking a little oomph to the sound. Set together with great detail in the graphics, distinct airplane sounds and precise controls it's a joy to play this game!
Namco have dared to renew a famous brand, they have modernised, took influence from other titles, like Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X., and outdone themselves in quality and options.
Namco have dared to renew a famous brand, they have modernised, took influence from other titles, like Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X., and outdone themselves in quality and options.
Has it paid off? Yes, yes of course it has. AH is a fantastic, fun game, it even has a very good online multiplayer segment complete with coop missions!
The singleplayer should have been longer, but all in all, they've really taken a lead on other Japanese developers, showing them that is pays off to dare to take a step forward and not just stay at the same spot forever!
Review
Played on: Xbox 360
Released: 2011
Released: 2011
While Crysis 2 took on an urban jungle and gave you city warfare, the original is all about natural environments and jungle warfare. It evolves around an object that has crashed from space, on a pacific island, and a race between US and North Korean forces to get to the crash site first.
The jungle setting is followed by an outbreak of aliens, giving for a lot of enemy variety and environmental changes halfway. You play as an elite soldier, with the newest army technology, a nano-suit.
This nano-suit gives way for what Crysis is based around, switching between abilities and as a consequence makes you play differently with each of them. You can set the suit to strength, which lets you throw heavy things easily. Armour, which lets you survive a lot of bullet damage. Speed, which lets you run really fast or stealth, which makes you invisible. All these four, nano-suit modes, open completely different ways of playing the game. Much like in Crysis 2.
The play area is quite open and I noticed from the beginning, that I started to play it differently from other FPS titles. It actually reminded me of how I used to play the first FarCry back on PC. Instead of rushing forward and being forced down a corridor, playing more like Rambo than an actual hunter, I began to slow down and use the environment a lot.
This nano-suit gives way for what Crysis is based around, switching between abilities and as a consequence makes you play differently with each of them. You can set the suit to strength, which lets you throw heavy things easily. Armour, which lets you survive a lot of bullet damage. Speed, which lets you run really fast or stealth, which makes you invisible. All these four, nano-suit modes, open completely different ways of playing the game. Much like in Crysis 2.
The play area is quite open and I noticed from the beginning, that I started to play it differently from other FPS titles. It actually reminded me of how I used to play the first FarCry back on PC. Instead of rushing forward and being forced down a corridor, playing more like Rambo than an actual hunter, I began to slow down and use the environment a lot.
I would check, far forward, for enemies that have a tendency to be hard to spot in dense jungles and plan my attack accordingly. This makes it a far more difficult game than it's sequel. You feel like you're going hunting, as you progress through the jungles, sandy beaches and mountains. Scouting for enemies along the way and being very vulnerable. It's a really nice feeling to play an FPS in such a different way again.
Technically, Crytek have done a good job on porting such a demanding game over from high-spec PCs to consoles. It looks good and holds a fair framerate. There are obvious framerate drops on crowded scenes with a lot of action, especially at the final scene at the end of the game. It was fine for playable state though.
The amount of trees, grass and bushes together with buildings, varied terrain and incredible ocean effects, really makes you want to take a closer look at just the scenery! The game world is large and lets you take a path of your choice to get to the objectives. It just might not be right up there with Crysis 2 graphically, but it's still a solid looking game with a lot more woodland than your average FPS title.
I would recommend Crysis to fans of the original Far Cry, but it doesn't quite beat it and doesn't touch it's sequel Crysis 2. However, you won't find many games that play like this in today's market as they're often focused on rushing you through their environments. Recommended for FarCry and FPS veterans that want something a little different then? Sure!
I would recommend Crysis to fans of the original Far Cry, but it doesn't quite beat it and doesn't touch it's sequel Crysis 2. However, you won't find many games that play like this in today's market as they're often focused on rushing you through their environments. Recommended for FarCry and FPS veterans that want something a little different then? Sure!
Review
Played on: Xbox 360
Released: 2011
Released: 2011
It's taken Turn 10 less than two years, from Forza Motorsport 3, to get to the fourth instalment. While most of the changes are fairly subtle, it's a nice update to a great franchise of racing simulators. You get a clear picture, that Turn 10 has listened to the fans and fixed issues they had with FM3. The last instalment being one of the best racing simulators on consoles this generation.
Well, what has changed? The first thing you'll notice is the change of lighting. A lot of people complained that FM3 didn't quite nail the lighting like it's competitor Gran Turismo 5 had. FM4 adds more real and contrasting lighting, and while I quite liked the more dramatic and colourful lighting of FM3, I can now see the benefit of what they changed. FM4 still has some sunset versions of their circuits you can choose, if you like dramatic sunlight, so in this regard everybody is happy.
The main World Tour event has been overhauled with a lot more variation. It travels more frequently around the world to various circuits and adds more variety in event types. Most of the world’s most famous racing tracks are in the game and they've even added a brand new track of their own, set in the Swiss Alps. It looks incredible and has a really nice flow to it. The amount of cars in each race has been taken from, a rather meagre eight, to twelve cars this time.
There's even a Top Gear feature with the Top Gear racing circuit and Jeremy Clarksons voiced introductions of cars in the Autovista mode, where you can circle around and look at a small selection of stunningly detailed car models. The Top Gear events also include funny events like car bowling, football and of course the event of TV fame, a star in a reasonably priced car!
There's even a Top Gear feature with the Top Gear racing circuit and Jeremy Clarksons voiced introductions of cars in the Autovista mode, where you can circle around and look at a small selection of stunningly detailed car models. The Top Gear events also include funny events like car bowling, football and of course the event of TV fame, a star in a reasonably priced car!
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In multiplayer, they've added a great new car club option, which lets you join or start your own club. Here you can add friends and share cars within the club, so everybody can drive them. It’s fun to be able to share, not only a cool new car you have obtained, but also a design or tuning setups of your own.
Overall, Forza Motorsport 4 is an excellent package, it might not take a dramatic step up from FM3, but the many subtle improvements are very welcome. Although, Turn 10 have stated that they didn't add weather effects and night racing to maintain the silky smooth 60fps framerate, something that really benefits the gameplay in racers, I would maybe have liked some variation in that department.
If you already own FM3, my rating is that below, if you don't, consider it a six.
