Review
Played on: Xbox 360
Released: 2011
You know what gets boring? Going to work each day, doing the same things and starting your day at a desk. Well, guess what, Rockstar made a game making you do exactly this! L.A. Noire puts you in the role of an ambitious police officer in the corrupt post-war years in Los Angeles.
The game is all about finding clues at crime scenes, then investigating witnesses and accused criminals. It starts out intriguing enough and actually feels like a very original game. Questioning people is a tricky affair, having to read the actors expressions to see how their in-game characters, which all look kind of creepy, uncanny valley more than impressive valley, react to allegations or questions.
While this gameplay sounds fairly good on paper, it sadly turns out to be a really repetitive and annoying affair. Little does it help that the action-orientated controls, needed for car chases, handle like they are made of air.
Released: 2011
You know what gets boring? Going to work each day, doing the same things and starting your day at a desk. Well, guess what, Rockstar made a game making you do exactly this! L.A. Noire puts you in the role of an ambitious police officer in the corrupt post-war years in Los Angeles.
The game is all about finding clues at crime scenes, then investigating witnesses and accused criminals. It starts out intriguing enough and actually feels like a very original game. Questioning people is a tricky affair, having to read the actors expressions to see how their in-game characters, which all look kind of creepy, uncanny valley more than impressive valley, react to allegations or questions.
While this gameplay sounds fairly good on paper, it sadly turns out to be a really repetitive and annoying affair. Little does it help that the action-orientated controls, needed for car chases, handle like they are made of air.
The shoot-outs scream Rockstar clunkiness, hello GTA, and are terrible. The driving and action scenes are almost a joke and it seems that the developers knew this allowing you to skip any action scene if desired.
This is a release truly for people with patience and very little interest in typical gameplay heavy titles. Only jump in if you are interested in a stylish story and solving crimes and murders.
This is a release truly for people with patience and very little interest in typical gameplay heavy titles. Only jump in if you are interested in a stylish story and solving crimes and murders.
Review
Played on: Xbox 360
Released: 2011
DNF is probably on of the most delayed games in gaming history and gained fame because of it. I remember reading about in a PlayStation 1(!) magazine back in the nineties. The development has been restarted numerous times and been handed from one developer to the other, until finally, Gearbox decided to get it finished.
The game doesn't look particularly pretty, in fact, it can look really rough around the edges and actually quite ugly. In other parts it takes benefit from running on the Unreal 3 engine though, and boasts some rather imaginative and cool locations. It feels like old-school first person shooter, but that isn't actually sso bad these days.
DNF doesn't take itself serious, with really crude, but funny, humour combined with straight forward shooting. The challenge are the brutal enemies and simply playing it like an old FPS, with very little tools at you disposal. Forget iron sights and laying down to fire, this is all about hip-firing and jumping around to avoid bullets. Think Unreal or Quake and not modern military shooters.
The game even has a few hints to it's development time and early screenshots, it sends you on a varied set of locations and will challenge most FPS players today with a harsh difficulty, compared to the rather casual gamer orientated modern FPS games.
Released: 2011
DNF is probably on of the most delayed games in gaming history and gained fame because of it. I remember reading about in a PlayStation 1(!) magazine back in the nineties. The development has been restarted numerous times and been handed from one developer to the other, until finally, Gearbox decided to get it finished.
The game doesn't look particularly pretty, in fact, it can look really rough around the edges and actually quite ugly. In other parts it takes benefit from running on the Unreal 3 engine though, and boasts some rather imaginative and cool locations. It feels like old-school first person shooter, but that isn't actually sso bad these days.
DNF doesn't take itself serious, with really crude, but funny, humour combined with straight forward shooting. The challenge are the brutal enemies and simply playing it like an old FPS, with very little tools at you disposal. Forget iron sights and laying down to fire, this is all about hip-firing and jumping around to avoid bullets. Think Unreal or Quake and not modern military shooters.
The game even has a few hints to it's development time and early screenshots, it sends you on a varied set of locations and will challenge most FPS players today with a harsh difficulty, compared to the rather casual gamer orientated modern FPS games.
Not essential at all, but a worth pick up for Duke fans that have waited all these years!
PS: If you want to extend your DNF experience even further, the singleplayer DLC download "The Doctor Who Cloned Me", is really good value and takes about 2 hours to complete!
Review
Played on: Xbox 360
Released: 2011
One of my truly favourite PS1 titles back in the days was Driver. I would sit for hours just driving around in it's four huge cities. Sequels followed, but each one turned out to be a bigger disappointment than the last, although I realise Parallel Lines did a fair job.
Released: 2011
One of my truly favourite PS1 titles back in the days was Driver. I would sit for hours just driving around in it's four huge cities. Sequels followed, but each one turned out to be a bigger disappointment than the last, although I realise Parallel Lines did a fair job.
Hearing about DSF from an E3 conference, made me kind of sceptical and even the playable demo didn't really convince me. Finally, the game went on the cheap and I decided to jump in. Turns out, I shouldn't have doubted Reflections all along, the game is great!
It evolves around the idea of the main characters skill, which he obtains after crashing his car and ending up in a coma. This skill, called "Shift", is the main feature of the game. It allows you, at any time, to pan the camera out of your car and zoom in on another vehicle and take control of it. While unrealistic, this feature actually makes the game very enjoyable and makes it stand out from the crowd in a very positive way.
It evolves around the idea of the main characters skill, which he obtains after crashing his car and ending up in a coma. This skill, called "Shift", is the main feature of the game. It allows you, at any time, to pan the camera out of your car and zoom in on another vehicle and take control of it. While unrealistic, this feature actually makes the game very enjoyable and makes it stand out from the crowd in a very positive way.
Having trouble getting chased by the cops? Just jump into a car in the opposite lane and ram them, then go back to your own car, which meanwhile has auto-driven in the direction you left it in. It paves way for some spectacular crashes and very creative ways of stopping cars or winning races.
Technically, DSF runs at a smooth and rather spectacular 60fps, instantly giving you that increased responsiveness in the controls. The car models are nice and are actually real licensed models. In fact, there are over a hundred of them. The cars feel heavy and drifty, so the car chases look spectacular and movie like. DSF handles perfectly for this type of car game, it's all about those weighty turns and drifts around corners. It's not realistic, but it's fun and makes you feel like a pro.
Technically, DSF runs at a smooth and rather spectacular 60fps, instantly giving you that increased responsiveness in the controls. The car models are nice and are actually real licensed models. In fact, there are over a hundred of them. The cars feel heavy and drifty, so the car chases look spectacular and movie like. DSF handles perfectly for this type of car game, it's all about those weighty turns and drifts around corners. It's not realistic, but it's fun and makes you feel like a pro.
The sheer variation in missions and modes is very impressive. Reflections have really found every way a driving game can be played. A funny multiplayer mode, that needs mentioning, is to trail a Delorean, everybody competes to stay in it's wake, the one doing so earns points. I also liked the missions where you had to protect a stationary armoured truck by ramming incoming cars into it, utilising other cars in traficc through your shift ability.
While the story and cutscenes of the main campaign seem a little cheesy at the beginning, let the game settle. You'll truly be in for one the most varied driving games and free-roam driving games made.
While the story and cutscenes of the main campaign seem a little cheesy at the beginning, let the game settle. You'll truly be in for one the most varied driving games and free-roam driving games made.
It's the game you are looking for if you've finished Burnout Paradise and are looking for something similar. Plus all of those that have missed the fun Driver games always offered about the actual driving of cars.
Review
Played on: Xbox 360
Released: 2011
In a way, the F.E.A.R. franchise should have been much larger than what it became, at least considering it's roots. The original F.E.A.R. was a fantastic cross between an action-filled FPS and a horror game. It completely outdid the competition graphically and the effects it used in it's slow-motion and destruction, were amazing for it's time.
Perhaps the first fault Monolith did was letting other people take care of some confusing add-ons, and later on, deny their story canon and make their own sequel. F.E.A.R. 2 did deliver a far more varied experience, but never quite nailed the atmosphere and originality of it's predecessor.
Released: 2011
In a way, the F.E.A.R. franchise should have been much larger than what it became, at least considering it's roots. The original F.E.A.R. was a fantastic cross between an action-filled FPS and a horror game. It completely outdid the competition graphically and the effects it used in it's slow-motion and destruction, were amazing for it's time.
Perhaps the first fault Monolith did was letting other people take care of some confusing add-ons, and later on, deny their story canon and make their own sequel. F.E.A.R. 2 did deliver a far more varied experience, but never quite nailed the atmosphere and originality of it's predecessor.
F.E.A.R. 3 seems to follow the originals add-ons, being created by a different developer. A strange move for a franchise which has a lot of potential in my eyes.
What we're delivered in F.E.A.R.3, is a story of two brothers. Both sons of the project in the first F.E.A.R., where Alma was born. One is Paxton Fettel and the other, a new character, is Point Man. The latter guy plays like the original F.E.A.R. games, with his slow-motion abilities and gun expertise. Fettel, on the other hand, has more psychics abilities and relies on taking over enemy soldiers bodies and using them to kill each other. A more defensive playstyle, if you like.
It doesn't take much playtime to realise that F.E.A.R.3 is a fairly low-budget release. The presentation of the story is messy and never really explains much. The graphics are really generic and at times quite dated, and while the gunplay feels solid, the small levels look like an older FPS game. The environments you traverse are fairly standard too, making most of the game a sort of sleep walk through it. The airport level is the only one that stuck out for me and was quite good.
I guess it's an okay FPS for those who really wanting to expand in the F.E.A.R. lore, but there's little to get from this title as a whole. If you're a huge fan of the series and a FPS fan looking for more obscure experiences, you could give it a go.
What we're delivered in F.E.A.R.3, is a story of two brothers. Both sons of the project in the first F.E.A.R., where Alma was born. One is Paxton Fettel and the other, a new character, is Point Man. The latter guy plays like the original F.E.A.R. games, with his slow-motion abilities and gun expertise. Fettel, on the other hand, has more psychics abilities and relies on taking over enemy soldiers bodies and using them to kill each other. A more defensive playstyle, if you like.
It doesn't take much playtime to realise that F.E.A.R.3 is a fairly low-budget release. The presentation of the story is messy and never really explains much. The graphics are really generic and at times quite dated, and while the gunplay feels solid, the small levels look like an older FPS game. The environments you traverse are fairly standard too, making most of the game a sort of sleep walk through it. The airport level is the only one that stuck out for me and was quite good.
I guess it's an okay FPS for those who really wanting to expand in the F.E.A.R. lore, but there's little to get from this title as a whole. If you're a huge fan of the series and a FPS fan looking for more obscure experiences, you could give it a go.
