May 31, 2010
‘What a difference a few extra months in development makes,’ was what we all thought when Arkham Asylum finally arrived. With an even bigger delay preceding the eventual arrival of Obsidian’s Spy RPG many gamers started to worry about the condition of the nevertheless eagerly awaited title.
The idea of being able to actively affect the story with your own choices in conversations and via your actions had minds swimming with possibilities of combining gameplay styles of the legendary JB trio of James Bond, Jason Bourne and Jack Bauer. Read the rest of this entry »
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Action, Action / Third Person, Dealspwn.com, PlayStation 3, RPG, Reviews | Tagged: Alpha Protocol, Brendan Griffiths, Dealspwn.com, Obsidian, Sega | 
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Posted by Brendan Griffiths
May 11, 2010
It might have the Iron Man 2 movie poster for the front cover, but this is pretty far removed from the film, with only Iron Man, War Machine and Nick Fury putting in a decent day’s work. At least their movie-counterparts faces and voices have made it in.
The game takes place ‘beyond’ the movie with the Russians stealing some tech from Stark Industries to make their own robot armies and so on. Players have the choice of playing as Iron Man or War Machine which is a nice touch, but the lack of a two-player option feels like a missed opportunity. You can at least change character at the start of each mission. Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Action / Third Person, Dealspwn.com, PlayStation 3, Reviews | Tagged: Brendan Griffiths, Iron Man 2, Sega, War Machine | Permalink
Posted by Brendan Griffiths
March 20, 2010
Kratos and God of War III have patiently sat atop Mount Olympus watching the likes of Bayonetta, Darksiders and Dante’s Inferno clamber their way upwards in their efforts to usurp him. He’s let them get tantalisingly close, before stirring and smiting them from the mountain in amused rage at their audacity.
The end of the trilogy begins where GOWII ended, with Kratos clambering up Mount Olympus with his new Titan buddies for the climactic war to kill Zeus and any gods that cross his path. There’s seemingly nowhere for the Olympians to hide anymore seeing as he’s dispatched pretty much every mythological monster they’ve thrown at him already. Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Action, Action / Third Person, Dealspwn.com, PlayStation 3, Reviews | Tagged: Brendan Griffiths, Dealspwn.com, God of War III, Kratos, Santa Monica Studios, Sony | Permalink
Posted by Brendan Griffiths
March 20, 2010
How to describe Yakuza 3? Well it’s an RPG beat ‘em up stuffed with a huge variety of mini-games to distract you from the games story that involve multiple Yakuza gangs and government conspiracies in Tokyo and Okinawa. Oh and you look after an orphanage too.
Players new to the series are welcomed by detailed compilations of cutscenes from the first two games that make a decent effort of bringing you up to speed. Long story short, Kazuma (that’s you) climbed the ranks to become the 4th Chairman of the Tojo Clan of the Yakuza, didn’t fancy it and went to start an orphanage on the Japanese island of Okinawa. Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Action / Third Person, Beat 'em up, Dealspwn.com, PlayStation 3, RPG, Reviews | Tagged: Brendan Griffiths, Dealspwn.com, Sega, Yakuza 3 | Permalink
Posted by Brendan Griffiths
March 14, 2010
Set in Feudal Japan you star as an injured Samurai, regaining consciousness on a battlefield surrounded by corpses of other warriors after a bloody battle. From here on in you get to decide how to shape the story in this sedately paced Samurai-sim.
The series, which started on PS2, has always prided itself on the amount of choice it provided to gamers with multiple endings being a key selling point. This time there are over twenty of them. Players are allowed a degree of freedom in shaping their adventure by selecting from multiple dialogue options, usually based around being nice or nasty. Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Action, Action / Third Person, Game-Hub.co.uk, PlayStation 3, Reviews, Xbox 360 | Tagged: Brendan Griffiths, Gamebridge, Rising Star Games, Way of the Samurai 3 | Permalink
Posted by Brendan Griffiths
January 10, 2010
The hack n’ slash genre is back in force this year with the first quarter playing host to Bayonetta, Dante’s Inferno and God of War III. Amidst the hype of these three big names Vigil Games have been pretty quiet promoting their effort Darksiders. Turns out keeping their heads down and getting on with it has paid off as we have our first surprise of the year. Read the rest of this entry »
2 Comments | Action, Action / Third Person, Beat 'em up, PlayStation 3, Reviews, Xbox 360 | Tagged: Brendan Griffiths, Darksiders, Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Mark Hamil, THQ, Vigil Games, War | Permalink
Posted by Brendan Griffiths
December 14, 2009
You are Sean Devlin, an Irish racing car driver who becomes The Saboteur on his road to revenge against the Nazis. While the visuals are painfully average and the open-world gameplay offers nothing new, you might just get find yourself sucked right in anyway with fun gun battles and the optional stealth approach.
A neatly condensed Paris and its nearby countryside make up the landscape of the game. You help out members of the French resistance and British spies to help liberate Paris and send the Germans scurrying back to sausage country. Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Action, Action / Third Person, PlayStation 3, Reviews, Xbox 360 | Tagged: Brendan Griffiths, EA, Game-Hub.co.uk, Nazis, Pandemic, Paris, The Saboteur, World War II | Permalink
Posted by Brendan Griffiths
October 27, 2009
Eddie Riggs (voiced by Jack Black) is the best roadie in the business, but modern times have seen him forced to work with some awful bands as he’s seen his beloved heavy metal get watered down to suit a ‘tween demographic’. After saving one of the dipshit band members from certain death onstage, Rigg’s huge stage set collapses on him. As his blood drips into his Motorhead-esque belt buckle a metal monster erupts from the stage wasting the band, and Riggs is transported to a whole new dimension. It’s got the crazy turned up to 11 all the way from here on in. Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Action / Third Person, PlayStation 3, Reviews, Xbox 360 | Tagged: Brendan Griffiths, Brutal Legend, Double Fine, Heavy Metal, Jack Black, Lemmy, Ozzy, Rob Halford, Tim Schafer | Permalink
Posted by Brendan Griffiths
October 18, 2009
The team at Naughty Dog and Nathan Drake may just have saved the day for the PS3. The console has had plenty of great games, but many doubters still thought it was missing its ‘killer app’, a true system seller. No longer.
No other game tries so hard to entertain and excite you. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is a constant barrage of ‘Wow!’ moments, one after another, just wiping out previous favourites with each spectacle. In just under ten hours the likes of Uncharted 1, Gears of War, Tomb Raider, Arkham Asylum, and God of War become just a footnote in gaming’s distant past. Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Action / Third Person, PlayStation 3, Reviews, Shooters / FPS | Tagged: Brendan Griffiths, Cintamani stone, Nathan Drake, Naughty Dog, Nolan North, Shambhala, Sony, Uncharted 2 Among Thieves | Permalink
Posted by Brendan Griffiths
October 3, 2009
Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 arrives with memories of its predecessor filling most gamers’ hearts with a self-doubting terror from being made to feel utterly rubbish at games and having to call it a day by the time the motorbike ninjas arrived. Only the old school, challenge hungry, were really up for that madness.
Don’t worry if the first one handed your ass to you on a plate though as the sequel is much more accessible. That doesn’t mean you can happy slap it into submission, but you’ll probably make it half way and maybe even whisper it… finish it.
Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Action / Third Person, Beat 'em up, PlayStation 3, Reviews | Tagged: Ayane, Brendan Griffiths, Dead or Alive, Momiji, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, Ryu Hayabusa, Team Ninja, Tecmo Koei | Permalink
Posted by Brendan Griffiths
September 22, 2009
Rubi: a hired gun, thief, errant son deliverer, car roof surfer, the works, with no questions asked. Along as said ‘Wet work’ involves shooting in slow-motion, wall-running, diving, sliding around on her knees (stop it) and stabbing things a lot. Gameplay wise it’s PS2-era Prince of Persia meets Stranglehold.
Style points earned from racking up combos of kills in slow-motion or with the sword can be used to upgrade Rubi and her weapons with extra health and moves or for extra damage, ammo and faster rates of fire. If you played the demo and felt a bit under whelmed it’s a pleasure to say that the full game does feel a lot better once you’ve got some upgrades under your belt. Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Action / Third Person, PlayStation 3, Reviews, Shooters / FPS, Xbox 360 | Tagged: Artificial Mind & Movement, Bethesda, Brendan Griffiths, Eliza Dushku, Malcolm McDowell, Stranglehold | Permalink
Posted by Brendan Griffiths
August 27, 2009
What is it that makes the world of Batman so cool? Costume? Detective skills? Unmatchable martial arts? His gadgets? The ability to strike terror into the hearts of criminals? The setting? The sheer madness of his foes?
It’s all of this and developers Rocksteady Games know it, and have shown the best understanding of the Dark Knight yet.
Story
The story begins with Batman delivering a gibbering Joker to Arkham Asylum. Only problem is that it seems he gave himself up way too easily. Like Michael Schofield in Prison Break, the Joker has a hidden agenda in getting locked up (ok, what he wants to do inside is slightly different). He manages to escape the useless Arkham guards before they’ve even put him in his cell, with a little help from the ever-doting Harley Quinn (brilliantly acted). So it’s up to you to chase after the Clown Prince while he leaves a trail of released psychopaths and familiar villains. Read the rest of this entry »
1 Comment | Action / Third Person, PlayStation 3, Reviews, Xbox 360 | Tagged: Arkham Asylum, Batman, Brendan Griffiths, Dark Knight, Gotham, Harley Quinn, Joker, Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamil, Rocksteady Games | Permalink
Posted by Brendan Griffiths
August 1, 2009
It cheers me up every time I explain this game to anyone. It’s a 32 player, medieval era game of capture the flag, except the flag is a Princess. And to make it extra difficult to get away with her, the other team stuff her with cake making her a Fat Princess meaning it takes much longer to carry her back to your castle. If you don’t laugh every time you hear her scream “CAKE!” you probably never will.
The maps are symmetrically designed so no team has an obvious upper hand. As you can see by the pictures, the game’s gone for a cartoonish, cell-shaded style that belies all the blood and gore plastered all over the battlefield. It’s a treat to look at and is razor sharp on a HD set. The locations include forests, volcanoes, tropical islands and mountains. Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Action / Third Person, PSN (PlayStation Store), PlayStation 3, Reviews | Tagged: Brendan Griffiths, Cake, Fat Princess, Multiplayer, PSN, Sony | Permalink
Posted by Brendan Griffiths
June 15, 2009
There’s no doubt whatsoever that the Bourne films are absolutely stunning. The reinvention (Bourneification) of James Bond through Casino Royale would not have been were it not for Bourne bringing the spy / action genre back with such unflinching force. So it’s a little disappointing that this game is not based on the films, instead it’s apparently more based on the original books by Robert Ludlum.
This was probably due to Matt Damon apparently not wanting to get involved with the project because he didn’t like the violent content. Wait…what? Mr Damon, you shoved a biro up someone’s hand and have spent three films smashing the fuck out of people. We’ll assume the cheque didn’t have enough zeros on it then.
Don’t be fooled by the new subtitle of ‘Conspiracy’, this is not a compilation of all three titles; this only covers The Bourne Identity. Having read the book though it’s obvious the developers have ignored it and ripped off the film instead, tweaking the odd familiar action set-piece a little (for the worse). There are also ‘memory’ missions from before Bourne went for his midnight swim off the coast of Marseilles. I’m guessing they’re written in invisible ink and between the lines in the book. They have done well to get the same awesome music from the films, which really pumps up the action. Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Action / Third Person, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | Tagged: Brendan Griffiths, Quantum of Solace, Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Conspiracy, Bourne Conspiracy, Bourne Identity, Bourne Trilogy, High Moon Studios, Matt Damon, Uncharted, QTE | Permalink
Posted by Brendan Griffiths
March 24, 2009
Prepare for a moody Elika when she wakes up. Not an end-of-the-world morning person apparently.
After
that ending
(FIRST GAME SPOILER: The Prince releases Ahriman to resurrect Elika) of the first game last year it’s a relief we don’t have to wait a year or two for more. If you didn’t already know, this isn’t a full-blown sequel to last year’s best adventure game, it’s more of a segue before the bound-to-be-announced-soon sequel. Unless of course, Ubisoft is planning on slowly drip-feeding us one downloadable episode at a time?
Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | Action / Third Person, PSN (PlayStation Store), PlayStation 3, Reviews, Xbox 360 | Tagged: Brendan Griffiths, Elika, Nolan North, Prince of Persia, Prince of Persia: Epilogue, PSN, Ubisoft | Permalink
Posted by Brendan Griffiths
‘What a difference a few extra months in development makes,’ was what we all thought when Arkham Asylum finally arrived. With an even bigger delay preceding the eventual arrival of Obsidian’s Spy RPG many gamers started to worry about the condition of the nevertheless eagerly awaited title.
