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#21. Posted:
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Joined: Jul 13, 201014Year Member
Posts: 3,785
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Joined: Jul 13, 201014Year Member
Posts: 3,785
Reputation Power: 46
Battlefield 1943
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I think that Battlefield 1943 is well worth the money. It is basically a step up from Battlefield Bad Company 1 graphics wise but not quite as good as Battlefield Bad Company 2. Battlefield 1943 takes to into 4 intense, well known, war zones
Guadalcanal- This map is very large like the others with dense forests, to sandy beaches, which is really fun to play with your friends.
Wake Island- This U-Shaped map is perfect for you and 3 others to either do drive-bys with a jeep, or take a boat and patrol the island from invaders trying to get on from their island.
Iwo Jima- Fight for total control on the front line, or camp up with a sniper or Flak gun on Mt. Surabachi. Perfect for bombing with air planes.
Coral Sea- This air only map is awesome to just fool around, or fight for total air superiority. You can also camp on the enemy's aircraft carrier and kill them as they get in their planes.
For only a couple bucks, I would definitely recommend this game to someone who is looking for a fun new game. On my scale, this game is a 5/5 for the gameplay for only 15 dollars.
Feel free to purchase the game [ Register or Signin to view external links. ] off of xbox.com.
[ Register or Signin to view external links. ]
I think that Battlefield 1943 is well worth the money. It is basically a step up from Battlefield Bad Company 1 graphics wise but not quite as good as Battlefield Bad Company 2. Battlefield 1943 takes to into 4 intense, well known, war zones
- Guadalcanal
Wake Island
Iwo Jima
Coral Sea
Guadalcanal- This map is very large like the others with dense forests, to sandy beaches, which is really fun to play with your friends.
Wake Island- This U-Shaped map is perfect for you and 3 others to either do drive-bys with a jeep, or take a boat and patrol the island from invaders trying to get on from their island.
Iwo Jima- Fight for total control on the front line, or camp up with a sniper or Flak gun on Mt. Surabachi. Perfect for bombing with air planes.
Coral Sea- This air only map is awesome to just fool around, or fight for total air superiority. You can also camp on the enemy's aircraft carrier and kill them as they get in their planes.
For only a couple bucks, I would definitely recommend this game to someone who is looking for a fun new game. On my scale, this game is a 5/5 for the gameplay for only 15 dollars.
Feel free to purchase the game [ Register or Signin to view external links. ] off of xbox.com.
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#22. Posted:
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Joined: Oct 08, 201014Year Member
Posts: 3,310
Reputation Power: 150
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Joined: Oct 08, 201014Year Member
Posts: 3,310
Reputation Power: 150
Game Title: HomeFront
Story: u.s getting taken over by Japanese.
Multiplayer rating: 8.5
Campaign: 9
really good game i think..
Story: u.s getting taken over by Japanese.
Multiplayer rating: 8.5
Campaign: 9
really good game i think..
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#23. Posted:
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Joined: Apr 09, 201113Year Member
Posts: 8,372
Reputation Power: 638
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Joined: Apr 09, 201113Year Member
Posts: 8,372
Reputation Power: 638
TheDarkKnight wroteBattlefield 1943
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I think that Battlefield 1943 is well worth the money. It is basically a step up from Battlefield Bad Company 1 graphics wise but not quite as good as Battlefield Bad Company 2. Battlefield 1943 takes to into 4 intense, well known, war zones
Guadalcanal
Wake Island
Iwo Jima
Coral Sea
Guadalcanal- This map is very large like the others with dense forests, to sandy beaches, which is really fun to play with your friends.
Wake Island- This U-Shaped map is perfect for you and 3 others to either do drive-bys with a jeep, or take a boat and patrol the island from invaders trying to get on from their island.
Iwo Jima- Fight for total control on the front line, or camp up with a sniper or Flak gun on Mt. Surabachi. Perfect for bombing with air planes.
Coral Sea- This air only map is awesome to just fool around, or fight for total air superiority. You can also camp on the enemy's aircraft carrier and kill them as they get in their planes.
For only a couple bucks, I would definitely recommend this game to someone who is looking for a fun new game. On my scale, this game is a 5/5 for the gameplay for only 15 dollars.
Feel free to purchase the game [ Register or Signin to view external links. ] off of xbox.com.
This is a great game, I highly recommend it as well.
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#24. Posted:
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Joined: May 02, 201014Year Member
Posts: 1,672
Reputation Power: 72
Status: Offline
Joined: May 02, 201014Year Member
Posts: 1,672
Reputation Power: 72
Hey we can finally edit in here, i don't want to finish my review now... please delete this like i requested.
Last edited by StrangerInMyTub ; edited 1 time in total
Last edited by StrangerInMyTub ; edited 1 time in total
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#25. Posted:
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Joined: Mar 26, 201014Year Member
Posts: 809
Reputation Power: 31
Status: Offline
Joined: Mar 26, 201014Year Member
Posts: 809
Reputation Power: 31
A new Call of Duty experience is fast becoming a seasonal formality, with additional instalments of Activision's war-bound shooter now arriving on an annual basis. So, right on time, up marches this year's entry, Call of Duty: World at War, the fifth iteration of what's become a winning formula of taut gunplay and bombastic set pieces, all delivered with a veneer of military authenticity.
Doubtlessly, World at War's biggest challenge is escaping the colossal shadow cast by last year's Modern Warfare. With Infinity Ward's previous effort earning itself a place among the genre's very best, there's been no shortage of cynicism as Treyarch once again takes the reins following the bum note that was Call of Duty 3. Likewise, by taking the action back to the well-worn theatre of World War II, the Santa Monica developer seemed to compound fears that its latest would be a step back for the series. Thankfully, these reservations prove largely unfounded Call of Duty: World at War confidently takes the baton from Modern Warfare, offering another assured and enjoyable take on military shooters, albeit one that lacks the confidence to stray away from Call of Duty 4.
[ Register or Signin to view external links. ]
Like all Call of Duty games, it can be incredibly atmospheric and tense.
Of course, when handed a template that's as superb as the one that underpinned Modern Warfare, leaving it well alone is probably the best course of action. It's an approach that helps ensure that World at War sits comfortably in the top tier of first-person shooters. Taking the curtain fall of World War II as its source material, World at War manages to wring its own share of memorable moments from a scenario that's already been thoroughly exploited. The campaign is a double header that follows the Red Army's storming of Berlin alongside the United State's battles against the Japanese Imperial Army in the Pacific and, over its six hour-or-so duration, it never lets up in its intensity.
Indeed, the signature all-out chaos that defines Call of Duty is very much intact here, with progression through the campaign a delicately measured affair as players pick their way through a hellish cacophony of gunfire. The tantalising gunplay that's made the series a firm favourite with shooter fans returns, with each gun slavishly realised and an unrivalled joy to handle. True, it's as linear a game as ever, but that only helps Treyarch orchestrate a symphony of anarchy as it funnels players from one set-piece to another. [ Register or Signin to view external links. ]
The timed CQC from Call of Duty 3 returns, though it now doesn't feel as obtrusive.
Importantly, there's been no skimping in terms of production and, in some ways, World at War manages to trump what was achieved in Modern Warfare. While we had Don Beech from The Bill powering Sergeant Price last time, here we're treated to the voices of Kiefer Sutherland and Gary Oldman, who seemingly reprises his Dracula role as he lends his talents to veteran Russian sniper Sergeant Reznov. Call of Duty 4's remarkable graphics engine is put to good use throughout World at War too, proving its sturdiness whether portraying a night time raid in the jungles of Pelileu or embers floating through the stillness of a burning Russian woodland.
As for gameplay, while the core concept of moving from point to point and shooting a seemingly endless procession of enemy soldiers returns, Treyarch has added a little contextual flourish by the nature of the battles it's depicting. This is most explicit throughout the Pacific sections that form the lion's share of the single-player campaign, whereby the aggressive tactics employed by the Japanese Imperial Army offer a slight change of pace for the series' formula.
Enemy troops prepare ambushes in the long grass of Pelileu, laying in wait before springing forward at the last possible moment, ensuring that close quarter combat is employed on a regular basis. Soldiers are more likely to rush positions, attacking with bayonets and creating passages of play that are frenetic even by Call of Duty's frenzied standards.
Unfortunately, these moments are often undone by some errant artificial intelligence allied soldiers will occasionally take a dislike to a certain piece of the environment, firing endlessly at walls and generally feeling useless in the heat of battle. This is compounded by minor glitches that, although infrequent, belie the fact that Treyarch isn't quite as comfortable with the engine as Infinity Ward.
[ Register or Signin to view external links. ]
The Russian campaign is enlivened by a barnstorming level at the controls of a tank.
And, for every moment of studied authenticity in the game, there's always another close behind that leaves a cloying taste. Modern Warfare complemented its gung-ho attitude with a detached irony toward the brutality of war, but in World at War this has been largely replaced by an adolescent glee in the violence. Gore's been ramped up to near comical levels, deaths now complemented by geysers of red while shotgun blasts too readily tear legs off enemy soldiers. Any message that Treyarch wished to tell about the brutality of war is lost as it revels in the ridiculous violence. And if World at War's got any pretensions to be a sensitive depiction of the horrors of war, the inclusion of Nazi Zombies is fatally damaging to its case.
But who can argue against Nazi Zombies? Appearing in a bonus mode that's highly reminiscent of Gears of War 2's Horde mode, they're the only tangible addition to Call of Duty 4's multiplayer set. Much like the single-player campaign, Treyarch has stuck close to the formula laid down by Infinity Ward. Aside from the introduction of co-op, which is implemented superbly both off- and online throughout the game, the competitive multiplayer feels like little more than a refit. A few additional perks have been added, alongside tanks which prove by and large redundant. Otherwise, World at War is, to all intents and purposes, Call of Duty 4 with an antiquated weapon set, airstrikes replaced by packs of dogs and flares replacing flash bangs. Again, given the unquestionable quality of Modern Warfare's groundbreaking multiplayer, the similarity is no bad thing. So alike are both games in this respect that which one deserves your time the most depends entirely on what set of weaponry you'd rather go to work with.
[ Register or Signin to view external links. ]
Gary Oldman provides the ham with his turn as Sergeant Reznov.
CLOSING COMMENTS
Although World at War too often feels like a refit, its a refit of one of the greatest games of the current generation - and one thats, by and large, been confidently handled by Treyarch. The WWII setting compounds the wearying feeling of over-familiarity, but the solid engine that powers the game ensures that its often the most spectacular take on the conflict yet, and one thats certainly the most exhilarating. Whether multiplayer offers enough to wrest people away from Modern Warfare boils down to a matter of taste, but anyone whos tempted to return to the Second World War will be met with a solid package but one thats short on surprises.
IGN UK RATINGS FOR CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR (X360)
Rating Description
out of 10 Click here for ratings guide
8.0 Presentation
Minimal front-end, but the cutscenes that precede missions are superb - and even educational.
9.0 Graphics
The Call of Duty 4 engine still shines, although a number of glitches and flat textures means this doesn't scale the heights of Modern Warfare.
8.5 Sound
Although the din of gunfire is handled well, and there's some first-class voice talent, we could do with a bit less rock guitar in the soundtrack to what's supposedly an earnest game.
8.0 Gameplay
Nothing's significantly changed in the Call of Duty formula - so it's intense and exhilirating, if sometimes over familiar.
8.5 Lasting Appeal
Co-op bolsters the otherwise short campaign, and then there's multiplayer which, provided you can pull yourself away from the near-identical Modern Warfare, has plenty to offer.
8.7
OVERALL
Great
(out of 10)
credit to ign for this [ Register or Signin to view external links. ]
Doubtlessly, World at War's biggest challenge is escaping the colossal shadow cast by last year's Modern Warfare. With Infinity Ward's previous effort earning itself a place among the genre's very best, there's been no shortage of cynicism as Treyarch once again takes the reins following the bum note that was Call of Duty 3. Likewise, by taking the action back to the well-worn theatre of World War II, the Santa Monica developer seemed to compound fears that its latest would be a step back for the series. Thankfully, these reservations prove largely unfounded Call of Duty: World at War confidently takes the baton from Modern Warfare, offering another assured and enjoyable take on military shooters, albeit one that lacks the confidence to stray away from Call of Duty 4.
[ Register or Signin to view external links. ]
Like all Call of Duty games, it can be incredibly atmospheric and tense.
Of course, when handed a template that's as superb as the one that underpinned Modern Warfare, leaving it well alone is probably the best course of action. It's an approach that helps ensure that World at War sits comfortably in the top tier of first-person shooters. Taking the curtain fall of World War II as its source material, World at War manages to wring its own share of memorable moments from a scenario that's already been thoroughly exploited. The campaign is a double header that follows the Red Army's storming of Berlin alongside the United State's battles against the Japanese Imperial Army in the Pacific and, over its six hour-or-so duration, it never lets up in its intensity.
Indeed, the signature all-out chaos that defines Call of Duty is very much intact here, with progression through the campaign a delicately measured affair as players pick their way through a hellish cacophony of gunfire. The tantalising gunplay that's made the series a firm favourite with shooter fans returns, with each gun slavishly realised and an unrivalled joy to handle. True, it's as linear a game as ever, but that only helps Treyarch orchestrate a symphony of anarchy as it funnels players from one set-piece to another. [ Register or Signin to view external links. ]
The timed CQC from Call of Duty 3 returns, though it now doesn't feel as obtrusive.
Importantly, there's been no skimping in terms of production and, in some ways, World at War manages to trump what was achieved in Modern Warfare. While we had Don Beech from The Bill powering Sergeant Price last time, here we're treated to the voices of Kiefer Sutherland and Gary Oldman, who seemingly reprises his Dracula role as he lends his talents to veteran Russian sniper Sergeant Reznov. Call of Duty 4's remarkable graphics engine is put to good use throughout World at War too, proving its sturdiness whether portraying a night time raid in the jungles of Pelileu or embers floating through the stillness of a burning Russian woodland.
As for gameplay, while the core concept of moving from point to point and shooting a seemingly endless procession of enemy soldiers returns, Treyarch has added a little contextual flourish by the nature of the battles it's depicting. This is most explicit throughout the Pacific sections that form the lion's share of the single-player campaign, whereby the aggressive tactics employed by the Japanese Imperial Army offer a slight change of pace for the series' formula.
Enemy troops prepare ambushes in the long grass of Pelileu, laying in wait before springing forward at the last possible moment, ensuring that close quarter combat is employed on a regular basis. Soldiers are more likely to rush positions, attacking with bayonets and creating passages of play that are frenetic even by Call of Duty's frenzied standards.
Unfortunately, these moments are often undone by some errant artificial intelligence allied soldiers will occasionally take a dislike to a certain piece of the environment, firing endlessly at walls and generally feeling useless in the heat of battle. This is compounded by minor glitches that, although infrequent, belie the fact that Treyarch isn't quite as comfortable with the engine as Infinity Ward.
[ Register or Signin to view external links. ]
The Russian campaign is enlivened by a barnstorming level at the controls of a tank.
And, for every moment of studied authenticity in the game, there's always another close behind that leaves a cloying taste. Modern Warfare complemented its gung-ho attitude with a detached irony toward the brutality of war, but in World at War this has been largely replaced by an adolescent glee in the violence. Gore's been ramped up to near comical levels, deaths now complemented by geysers of red while shotgun blasts too readily tear legs off enemy soldiers. Any message that Treyarch wished to tell about the brutality of war is lost as it revels in the ridiculous violence. And if World at War's got any pretensions to be a sensitive depiction of the horrors of war, the inclusion of Nazi Zombies is fatally damaging to its case.
But who can argue against Nazi Zombies? Appearing in a bonus mode that's highly reminiscent of Gears of War 2's Horde mode, they're the only tangible addition to Call of Duty 4's multiplayer set. Much like the single-player campaign, Treyarch has stuck close to the formula laid down by Infinity Ward. Aside from the introduction of co-op, which is implemented superbly both off- and online throughout the game, the competitive multiplayer feels like little more than a refit. A few additional perks have been added, alongside tanks which prove by and large redundant. Otherwise, World at War is, to all intents and purposes, Call of Duty 4 with an antiquated weapon set, airstrikes replaced by packs of dogs and flares replacing flash bangs. Again, given the unquestionable quality of Modern Warfare's groundbreaking multiplayer, the similarity is no bad thing. So alike are both games in this respect that which one deserves your time the most depends entirely on what set of weaponry you'd rather go to work with.
[ Register or Signin to view external links. ]
Gary Oldman provides the ham with his turn as Sergeant Reznov.
CLOSING COMMENTS
Although World at War too often feels like a refit, its a refit of one of the greatest games of the current generation - and one thats, by and large, been confidently handled by Treyarch. The WWII setting compounds the wearying feeling of over-familiarity, but the solid engine that powers the game ensures that its often the most spectacular take on the conflict yet, and one thats certainly the most exhilarating. Whether multiplayer offers enough to wrest people away from Modern Warfare boils down to a matter of taste, but anyone whos tempted to return to the Second World War will be met with a solid package but one thats short on surprises.
IGN UK RATINGS FOR CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR (X360)
Rating Description
out of 10 Click here for ratings guide
8.0 Presentation
Minimal front-end, but the cutscenes that precede missions are superb - and even educational.
9.0 Graphics
The Call of Duty 4 engine still shines, although a number of glitches and flat textures means this doesn't scale the heights of Modern Warfare.
8.5 Sound
Although the din of gunfire is handled well, and there's some first-class voice talent, we could do with a bit less rock guitar in the soundtrack to what's supposedly an earnest game.
8.0 Gameplay
Nothing's significantly changed in the Call of Duty formula - so it's intense and exhilirating, if sometimes over familiar.
8.5 Lasting Appeal
Co-op bolsters the otherwise short campaign, and then there's multiplayer which, provided you can pull yourself away from the near-identical Modern Warfare, has plenty to offer.
8.7
OVERALL
Great
(out of 10)
credit to ign for this [ Register or Signin to view external links. ]
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#26. Posted:
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Joined: Jun 25, 201014Year Member
Posts: 7,353
Reputation Power: 336
Status: Offline
Joined: Jun 25, 201014Year Member
Posts: 7,353
Reputation Power: 336
Red Dead Redemption
Game information:
Developer : Rockstar Games San Diego
Publisher: Take-Two /Rockstar Games
Platform: PS3, Xbox 360
Engine: R.A.G.E ( Rockstar Advanced Game Engine)
Downloadable Content: Outlaws to the End, Legends and Killers Pack, Liars and Cheats pack, Undead Nightmare and The Hunting and Trading pack
Rating: 18+
Synopsis
AMERICA, 1911. THE WILD WEST IS DYING
When federal agents threaten his family, former outlaw John Marston is forced to pick up his guns again and hunt down the gang of criminals he once called friends. Experience an epic fight for survival across the sprawling expanses of the American West and Mexico, as John Marston struggles to bury his blood-stained past, one man at a time.
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Story
The story
In the year 1911, John Marston, a retired outlaw formerly of a gang led by Dutch van der Linde, is taken away from his wife Abigail and his son Jack by government agents. The agents tell Marston that he will be reunited with his family if he hunts down the remaining lead members of his former gang. Left with no choice, Marston travels to the territory of New Austin to capture or kill one of his old friends, Bill Williamson, who now runs his own gang of bandits out of Fort Mercer. Marston confronts Williamson, only to be shot and left for dead outside the fort. A rancher, Bonnie MacFarlane, finds him wounded, and brings him to a doctor to be treated.
After recovering from his wounds several days later, Marston begins repaying the MacFarlanes for their help in the form of several jobs around their ranch. At the same time, he recruits help for a plan to attack Fort Mercer. Along with U.S. Marshal Leigh Johnson of Armadillo and his men, con man Nigel West Dickens, grave robber Seth Briars and drunken arms dealer Irish, Marston uses a Trojan Horse strategy to breach the fort. Marston and the Marshalls breach the fort and massacre Williamson's gang, only to find that Williamson had already fled to Mexico to seek help from Javier Escuella, another member of Marston's old gang. Irish offers to take Marston into Mexico over the river border. Along the river, Irish and Marston encounter Mexican bandits. Marston and Irish take the bandits out, barely making it into the country.
In Mexico, Marston works with Mexican Army Colonel Agustin Allende and Captain Vincente de Santa, as well as the revolutionaries in the area led by Abraham Reyes. He also improves his gun skills under the tutelage of elder gunslinger and childhood inspiration Landon Ricketts. Allende promises to deliver Escuella and Williamson to Marston, but soon betrays him and has de Santa attempt to execute Marston for working with the revolutionaries and killing Allende's men with Ricketts. After escaping execution, Marston sides with the rebels who help kill de Santa and successfully get Marston to Escuella. Following Escuella's capture or death, Marston joins Reyes and his men for an assault on Allende's villa, not only culminating in the deaths of Allende and Williamson, but also Marston's rebel friend Luisa as well when she attempts to save Reyes. Reyes takes control of the surrounding Mexican counties, and vows to march onto the capital with his rebel army. Marston, meanwhile, returns to the city of Blackwater to meet with his government contact, Edgar Ross.
Much to his dismay, Ross will not let Marston return to his family until Dutch van der Linde, who has emerged from hiding, has been killed. While Dutch and his men wage war on the United States Army in the area, Marston has several run-ins with Dutch who manages to elude capture each time. Marston eventually joins Ross and a group of U.S. soldiers in an assault on Dutch's hideout. Marston follows the outlaws to their base, and confronts Dutch on a cliff. Dutch ultimately chooses to commit suicide, falling off a cliff to his death. Before he dies, Dutch warns Marston that the government will always find another "monster" to justify their pay.
Marston is released from his deal with the government and returns to his family at his ranch. After some time spent getting the farm up and running again, Marston is forced to repel the army when Ross betrays him with a surprise attack. After Marston's friend Uncle falls, Marston manages to get Abigail and Jack out safely but stays behind to hold back the soldiers. Despite a valiant last stand, Ross and the soldiers riddle Marston with bullets. Jack and Abigail return to the ranch after hearing the gunshots, finding John dead and the soldiers gone. John's body is buried on a hill overlooking the ranch, his grave inscribed "Blessed are the Peacemakers". The game then jumps three years ahead to 1914, where the fresh grave of Abigail rests next his. A manthe spitting image of Marstonis seen standing at the graves. It is revealed that it is John's son Jack, hardened by the last years. Jack walks away from his parents grave and then becomes the playable character.
Jack searches the land for Edgar Ross, who has now retired by the lake and apparently earned medals for both John's work and his death as an outlaw. After questioning Ross's wife under the guise of a messenger, Jack learns that the retiree is enjoying the day out hunting. Eventually, he finds Ross dropping ducks at a riverbed. When Jack reveals his identity and intentions to Ross, the two get into a heated argument, with Ross claiming that John Marston killed himself with the life he lived. To resolve the dispute, the two have a duel, in which Jack guns down his father's killer. Almost immediately after Ross's death, Jack looks down at his gun in confusion; while he has avenged his father, he might have put the very future his father had died to give him in danger. Jack holsters his gun, pauses, and then walks back up the riverbed.
A newspaper summarizes the fate of John Marston's companions. Marshal Leigh Johnson retired as sheriff of Armadillo, and then moved as far away as possible from the town. Abraham Reyes, though promising to lead Mexico into an age of freedom, was consumed by power and became a tyrant. Bonnie MacFarlane eventually married, but it is not said to whom, although several conversations heard throughout MacFarlane's Ranch suggest she married her foreman, Amos. Irish shot himself dead in an outhouse in Thieves Landing when his gun discharged. Seth Briars eventually found the treasure he was looking for and became rich. Finally, Landon Rickets passed away quietly in his sleep. Wikipedia'd
Gameplay
Red Dead Redemption is a third-person action-adventure game set a fictional open-world American Wild West environment for players to explore. Gameplay area types include frontier towns, rolling prairies teaming with wildlife, and perilous mountain passes - each packed with an endless flow of varied distractions. Along the way, players will experience the heat of gunfights and battles, meet a host of unique characters, struggle against the elements and animals of one of the worlds last remaining wildernesses, and ultimately pick their own precarious path through an epic story about the death of the Wild West and the gunslingers that inhabited it. In their travels throughout the territories of the gameworld players partake in a morality system built on honor and fame, where they gain or lose points in each area based on their actions. The game features an easy to use cover system, a variety of mounts and period specific weapons including a cattleman revolver, a mauser pistol, a repeater rifle, a sawed-off shotgun, a throwing knife, a lasso and more. Western themed mini-games are also available, including showdowns, gambling, hunting bounties, cattle herding and five finger fillet. From amazon
Graphics
The Graphics are stunning, with a massive variety of places to go, and things to do you are never short of a spectacular sight, from mountain ranges
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To deserts!
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Controls
The controls are very similar to GTA IV, although they have implemented a better cover system, it is much more effective because you can easily shoot, it is somewhat like GTA's but better!!
Game information:
Developer : Rockstar Games San Diego
Publisher: Take-Two /Rockstar Games
Platform: PS3, Xbox 360
Engine: R.A.G.E ( Rockstar Advanced Game Engine)
Downloadable Content: Outlaws to the End, Legends and Killers Pack, Liars and Cheats pack, Undead Nightmare and The Hunting and Trading pack
Rating: 18+
Synopsis
AMERICA, 1911. THE WILD WEST IS DYING
When federal agents threaten his family, former outlaw John Marston is forced to pick up his guns again and hunt down the gang of criminals he once called friends. Experience an epic fight for survival across the sprawling expanses of the American West and Mexico, as John Marston struggles to bury his blood-stained past, one man at a time.
[ Register or Signin to view external links. ]
Story
The story
In the year 1911, John Marston, a retired outlaw formerly of a gang led by Dutch van der Linde, is taken away from his wife Abigail and his son Jack by government agents. The agents tell Marston that he will be reunited with his family if he hunts down the remaining lead members of his former gang. Left with no choice, Marston travels to the territory of New Austin to capture or kill one of his old friends, Bill Williamson, who now runs his own gang of bandits out of Fort Mercer. Marston confronts Williamson, only to be shot and left for dead outside the fort. A rancher, Bonnie MacFarlane, finds him wounded, and brings him to a doctor to be treated.
After recovering from his wounds several days later, Marston begins repaying the MacFarlanes for their help in the form of several jobs around their ranch. At the same time, he recruits help for a plan to attack Fort Mercer. Along with U.S. Marshal Leigh Johnson of Armadillo and his men, con man Nigel West Dickens, grave robber Seth Briars and drunken arms dealer Irish, Marston uses a Trojan Horse strategy to breach the fort. Marston and the Marshalls breach the fort and massacre Williamson's gang, only to find that Williamson had already fled to Mexico to seek help from Javier Escuella, another member of Marston's old gang. Irish offers to take Marston into Mexico over the river border. Along the river, Irish and Marston encounter Mexican bandits. Marston and Irish take the bandits out, barely making it into the country.
In Mexico, Marston works with Mexican Army Colonel Agustin Allende and Captain Vincente de Santa, as well as the revolutionaries in the area led by Abraham Reyes. He also improves his gun skills under the tutelage of elder gunslinger and childhood inspiration Landon Ricketts. Allende promises to deliver Escuella and Williamson to Marston, but soon betrays him and has de Santa attempt to execute Marston for working with the revolutionaries and killing Allende's men with Ricketts. After escaping execution, Marston sides with the rebels who help kill de Santa and successfully get Marston to Escuella. Following Escuella's capture or death, Marston joins Reyes and his men for an assault on Allende's villa, not only culminating in the deaths of Allende and Williamson, but also Marston's rebel friend Luisa as well when she attempts to save Reyes. Reyes takes control of the surrounding Mexican counties, and vows to march onto the capital with his rebel army. Marston, meanwhile, returns to the city of Blackwater to meet with his government contact, Edgar Ross.
Much to his dismay, Ross will not let Marston return to his family until Dutch van der Linde, who has emerged from hiding, has been killed. While Dutch and his men wage war on the United States Army in the area, Marston has several run-ins with Dutch who manages to elude capture each time. Marston eventually joins Ross and a group of U.S. soldiers in an assault on Dutch's hideout. Marston follows the outlaws to their base, and confronts Dutch on a cliff. Dutch ultimately chooses to commit suicide, falling off a cliff to his death. Before he dies, Dutch warns Marston that the government will always find another "monster" to justify their pay.
Marston is released from his deal with the government and returns to his family at his ranch. After some time spent getting the farm up and running again, Marston is forced to repel the army when Ross betrays him with a surprise attack. After Marston's friend Uncle falls, Marston manages to get Abigail and Jack out safely but stays behind to hold back the soldiers. Despite a valiant last stand, Ross and the soldiers riddle Marston with bullets. Jack and Abigail return to the ranch after hearing the gunshots, finding John dead and the soldiers gone. John's body is buried on a hill overlooking the ranch, his grave inscribed "Blessed are the Peacemakers". The game then jumps three years ahead to 1914, where the fresh grave of Abigail rests next his. A manthe spitting image of Marstonis seen standing at the graves. It is revealed that it is John's son Jack, hardened by the last years. Jack walks away from his parents grave and then becomes the playable character.
Jack searches the land for Edgar Ross, who has now retired by the lake and apparently earned medals for both John's work and his death as an outlaw. After questioning Ross's wife under the guise of a messenger, Jack learns that the retiree is enjoying the day out hunting. Eventually, he finds Ross dropping ducks at a riverbed. When Jack reveals his identity and intentions to Ross, the two get into a heated argument, with Ross claiming that John Marston killed himself with the life he lived. To resolve the dispute, the two have a duel, in which Jack guns down his father's killer. Almost immediately after Ross's death, Jack looks down at his gun in confusion; while he has avenged his father, he might have put the very future his father had died to give him in danger. Jack holsters his gun, pauses, and then walks back up the riverbed.
A newspaper summarizes the fate of John Marston's companions. Marshal Leigh Johnson retired as sheriff of Armadillo, and then moved as far away as possible from the town. Abraham Reyes, though promising to lead Mexico into an age of freedom, was consumed by power and became a tyrant. Bonnie MacFarlane eventually married, but it is not said to whom, although several conversations heard throughout MacFarlane's Ranch suggest she married her foreman, Amos. Irish shot himself dead in an outhouse in Thieves Landing when his gun discharged. Seth Briars eventually found the treasure he was looking for and became rich. Finally, Landon Rickets passed away quietly in his sleep. Wikipedia'd
Gameplay
Red Dead Redemption is a third-person action-adventure game set a fictional open-world American Wild West environment for players to explore. Gameplay area types include frontier towns, rolling prairies teaming with wildlife, and perilous mountain passes - each packed with an endless flow of varied distractions. Along the way, players will experience the heat of gunfights and battles, meet a host of unique characters, struggle against the elements and animals of one of the worlds last remaining wildernesses, and ultimately pick their own precarious path through an epic story about the death of the Wild West and the gunslingers that inhabited it. In their travels throughout the territories of the gameworld players partake in a morality system built on honor and fame, where they gain or lose points in each area based on their actions. The game features an easy to use cover system, a variety of mounts and period specific weapons including a cattleman revolver, a mauser pistol, a repeater rifle, a sawed-off shotgun, a throwing knife, a lasso and more. Western themed mini-games are also available, including showdowns, gambling, hunting bounties, cattle herding and five finger fillet. From amazon
Graphics
The Graphics are stunning, with a massive variety of places to go, and things to do you are never short of a spectacular sight, from mountain ranges
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To deserts!
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Controls
The controls are very similar to GTA IV, although they have implemented a better cover system, it is much more effective because you can easily shoot, it is somewhat like GTA's but better!!
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#27. Posted:
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I've only just started playing Fortress Craft after buying it with money I don't have.
But for me to buy so instinctively must mean something...that it must be so **** good that I've scrapped my morals and broken my own rules.
And it really is!
Minecraft I didn't enjoy that much. Mainly because it lagged like a bitch on my computer but also because the graphics style made me dizzy and my eyes couldn't take it (i sometime get this with perfect dark zero strangely enough lol) . Also I couldn't get that immersed into it.
Well Fortress Craft, I downloaded the trial of. Within minutes I was hooked, making intricate mines and tunnels underground, building my own little house. I had more fun than I've had in..well...most xbox games tbh. (which is why I then bought it)
For an indie game it's really fantastic. Aside from the ocassional dip in framerate, the game is very tight and solid. Graphically it's pretty impressive. I'm surprised that indie developers could put such great detail into their games. The scale of the game is massive, the level of freedom is excellent and the core gameplay mechanics work well.
I particularly liked the way you play as your avatar. It definately helped engross me into it.
What I'd say is if you like minecraft as it is, then you've no need to change to this unless you're dying to play it on the console. But if you like me, found the minecraft concept intriguing but never really could get into it for perhaps the same reasons as me, this is definately worth a look.
In terms of value, for 240 microsoft points you can't go wrong...in fact this should be selling at the same price of minecraft at minimum.
But for me to buy so instinctively must mean something...that it must be so **** good that I've scrapped my morals and broken my own rules.
And it really is!
Minecraft I didn't enjoy that much. Mainly because it lagged like a bitch on my computer but also because the graphics style made me dizzy and my eyes couldn't take it (i sometime get this with perfect dark zero strangely enough lol) . Also I couldn't get that immersed into it.
Well Fortress Craft, I downloaded the trial of. Within minutes I was hooked, making intricate mines and tunnels underground, building my own little house. I had more fun than I've had in..well...most xbox games tbh. (which is why I then bought it)
For an indie game it's really fantastic. Aside from the ocassional dip in framerate, the game is very tight and solid. Graphically it's pretty impressive. I'm surprised that indie developers could put such great detail into their games. The scale of the game is massive, the level of freedom is excellent and the core gameplay mechanics work well.
I particularly liked the way you play as your avatar. It definately helped engross me into it.
What I'd say is if you like minecraft as it is, then you've no need to change to this unless you're dying to play it on the console. But if you like me, found the minecraft concept intriguing but never really could get into it for perhaps the same reasons as me, this is definately worth a look.
In terms of value, for 240 microsoft points you can't go wrong...in fact this should be selling at the same price of minecraft at minimum.
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#28. Posted:
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Joined: Jun 25, 201014Year Member
Posts: 7,353
Reputation Power: 336
Status: Offline
Joined: Jun 25, 201014Year Member
Posts: 7,353
Reputation Power: 336
ModCapo wrote I've only just started playing Fortress Craft after buying it with money I don't have.
But for me to buy so instinctively must mean something...that it must be so **** good that I've scrapped my morals and broken my own rules.
And it really is!
Minecraft I didn't enjoy that much. Mainly because it lagged like a **** on my computer but also because the graphics style made me dizzy and my eyes couldn't take it (i sometime get this with perfect dark zero strangely enough lol) . Also I couldn't get that immersed into it.
Well Fortress Craft, I downloaded the trial of. Within minutes I was hooked, making intricate mines and tunnels underground, building my own little house. I had more fun than I've had in..well...most xbox games tbh. (which is why I then bought it)
For an indie game it's really fantastic. Aside from the ocassional dip in framerate, the game is very tight and solid. Graphically it's pretty impressive. I'm surprised that indie developers could put such great detail into their games. The scale of the game is massive, the level of freedom is excellent and the core gameplay mechanics work well.
I particularly liked the way you play as your avatar. It definately helped engross me into it.
What I'd say is if you like minecraft as it is, then you've no need to change to this unless you're dying to play it on the console. But if you like me, found the minecraft concept intriguing but never really could get into it for perhaps the same reasons as me, this is definately worth a look.
In terms of value, for 240 microsoft points you can't go wrong...in fact this should be selling at the same price of minecraft at minimum.
Another guy who copied and pasted who didn't even give credit.
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#29. Posted:
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Joined: Apr 24, 201113Year Member
Posts: 208
Reputation Power: 12
Status: Offline
Joined: Apr 24, 201113Year Member
Posts: 208
Reputation Power: 12
Halo: Reach review
It was 2001 when we first became Master Chief and stepped onto the titular Halo of the title. Now, nine years on, were at the end of Bungies custodial service, Reach marking the studios final farwell to the game that made its name. Has Bungie made it a send-off to remember?
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Imagine a world without Halo 3: ODST. Right now, it would have been three years since you last embarked on a campaign in Bungies storied universe; three years since you last claimed to be sick of Halo and then spent dozens more happy hours playing it; three years since you were last reminded that some videogame franchises attain global success through more than just canny marketing.
Combat Evolved was such a grand achievement when it was released in 2002 that each of its sequels were expected to make the same quantum leap forward, and while many still protest that Halo 2 and Halo 3 were underwhelming, disappointing or just plain bad, its nothing more than bluster. In truth, the Halo series has offered innovation and smart design in every major instalment, but ODST is another matter. It was the first time that Bungie had truly failed to match the finished product to its own daunting standards, and the effect was jarring. It was an excellent multiplayer mode with half a game hanging off the side. It felt like manipulation; more Halo when all most fans would have been happier with a break.
Any damage the cynical undertones of ODST did to the Halo brand will be fixed by even a few hours in the company of Reach. With a new product in development with Activision and complete freedom to choose its projects from now on, Bungie has been completely transparent about the importance it places on making its parting shot the finest in the series. In concept, Halo: Reach should be the product of every lesson learned and every mistake made, a tribute to the fiction it created and the millions of gamers it inspired. In reality, Bungie has come as close to achieving that ideal as anyone could reasonably hope.
Not that Bungie is in a hurry to discard the founding stones of the series appeal, of course. Even as the interminable lore threatened to sink the entire trilogy, a brief taste of the sublime gameplay was all it took to restore faith in its creators. Reach is a welcome reminder that there was a time when every shooter in the world wasnt struggling to be like Call Of Duty they were all struggling to be like Halo, and on pure moment-to-moment satisfaction Bungie still holds the edge.
Familiar weapons have been subtly tweaked the assault rifle now has a more lo-fi feel, giving it a wonderful sense of power and violence and the new additions manage to fill gaps in the already excellent armoury that we didnt even realise existed. But the one element that has always set Halo apart from the teetering mountain of possible alternatives is the AI, and in that respect Reach is virtually untouchable. Every enemy type has a unique range of tactics and responses, and all approach battle with what appears to be a legitimate desire to stay alive. The Covenant dodge, dive and take cover, rush you when youre on the back foot and retreat as soon as the battle turns. In terms of conveying the intense cut-and-thrust of battle Halo has no peer, and Reach is the series pinnacle.
Theres the bigger picture to consider, too. Combat Evolved managed to get away with the gobbledygook that constitutes the Halo mythology by virtue of being new, but its sequels didnt have the same luxury. Familiarity with the core mechanics resulted in more players actually paying attention during the cut-scenes, and most didnt like what they saw. These interludes were expertly crafted and had a nice sense of momentum, but you were only ever being propelled into more nonsense.
VERDICT 9 /10
Brilliant. A fitting end to the series.
It was 2001 when we first became Master Chief and stepped onto the titular Halo of the title. Now, nine years on, were at the end of Bungies custodial service, Reach marking the studios final farwell to the game that made its name. Has Bungie made it a send-off to remember?
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Imagine a world without Halo 3: ODST. Right now, it would have been three years since you last embarked on a campaign in Bungies storied universe; three years since you last claimed to be sick of Halo and then spent dozens more happy hours playing it; three years since you were last reminded that some videogame franchises attain global success through more than just canny marketing.
Combat Evolved was such a grand achievement when it was released in 2002 that each of its sequels were expected to make the same quantum leap forward, and while many still protest that Halo 2 and Halo 3 were underwhelming, disappointing or just plain bad, its nothing more than bluster. In truth, the Halo series has offered innovation and smart design in every major instalment, but ODST is another matter. It was the first time that Bungie had truly failed to match the finished product to its own daunting standards, and the effect was jarring. It was an excellent multiplayer mode with half a game hanging off the side. It felt like manipulation; more Halo when all most fans would have been happier with a break.
Any damage the cynical undertones of ODST did to the Halo brand will be fixed by even a few hours in the company of Reach. With a new product in development with Activision and complete freedom to choose its projects from now on, Bungie has been completely transparent about the importance it places on making its parting shot the finest in the series. In concept, Halo: Reach should be the product of every lesson learned and every mistake made, a tribute to the fiction it created and the millions of gamers it inspired. In reality, Bungie has come as close to achieving that ideal as anyone could reasonably hope.
Not that Bungie is in a hurry to discard the founding stones of the series appeal, of course. Even as the interminable lore threatened to sink the entire trilogy, a brief taste of the sublime gameplay was all it took to restore faith in its creators. Reach is a welcome reminder that there was a time when every shooter in the world wasnt struggling to be like Call Of Duty they were all struggling to be like Halo, and on pure moment-to-moment satisfaction Bungie still holds the edge.
Familiar weapons have been subtly tweaked the assault rifle now has a more lo-fi feel, giving it a wonderful sense of power and violence and the new additions manage to fill gaps in the already excellent armoury that we didnt even realise existed. But the one element that has always set Halo apart from the teetering mountain of possible alternatives is the AI, and in that respect Reach is virtually untouchable. Every enemy type has a unique range of tactics and responses, and all approach battle with what appears to be a legitimate desire to stay alive. The Covenant dodge, dive and take cover, rush you when youre on the back foot and retreat as soon as the battle turns. In terms of conveying the intense cut-and-thrust of battle Halo has no peer, and Reach is the series pinnacle.
Theres the bigger picture to consider, too. Combat Evolved managed to get away with the gobbledygook that constitutes the Halo mythology by virtue of being new, but its sequels didnt have the same luxury. Familiarity with the core mechanics resulted in more players actually paying attention during the cut-scenes, and most didnt like what they saw. These interludes were expertly crafted and had a nice sense of momentum, but you were only ever being propelled into more nonsense.
VERDICT 9 /10
Brilliant. A fitting end to the series.
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#30. Posted:
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Late last year, Atari and developer Eden Studios released Test Drive Unlimited for the Xbox 360. Purportedly the first "massively open online racing" game, Unlimited provided you with a wide-open setting (the Hawaiian island of Oahu), a myriad of slick rides, tons of different races to take part in, and an online mode that actually let you occupy the same basic driving space as other online players and challenge them in competition. Not everything the game did on the 360 worked brilliantly, but it was an inventive and unique piece of technology that was impressive in its own right. Now the game has come to the PC, and for all intents and purposes, this version is nearly identical to the 360 game. It's a little rougher around the edges than its 360 counterpart, but if you never played the 360 version and think the idea of racing around Hawaii while bumping up against other online players sounds like fun, this version's worth a look.
If nothing else, Test Drive Unlimited is a nice change of pace from the typical batches of cheesy street racers and hardcore driving sims.
You start by picking a basic character model to represent yourself, and you're whisked away to fabulous Hawaii to buy a car and a house, do a lot of random racing, and drive hitchhikers and models around the island for some reason. That's about all there is to the premise. While it's not shocking that a racing game wouldn't have a major, in-depth storyline, the way the game introduces itself and the open-ended nature of the game world give you the impression that there might be some kind of plot to tie everything you do together. There isn't. The lack of a cohesive thread to the missions and races does make Test Drive seem a bit pointless, but after a while, you cease to care and find yourself oddly engaged by this scattershot series of objectives. It helps that there is quite a lot to do on the island. The objectives themselves don't extend beyond races, time trials, speed challenges, and some basic delivery missions, but there are enough of them to keep you going as you explore the massive island of Oahu.
The way the game forces you to explore is clever. You start out with only a few available mission icons on the huge world map, but as time goes on, you'll see more and more begin to pop up across the entire stretch of the island. If you happen to have driven through a road where an objective resides, you can simply click on that icon on the map and be instantly transported there. But if an icon appears on a road you've never driven on before, you have to drive there to access it. What this does is force you to cruise through just about every nook and cranny of Oahu without being overly pushy about it. There's often more than enough races and missions available at any given time, so if you don't feel like driving halfway across the island to see something new, you won't necessarily be hurting for things to do right where you already are.
It's just too bad there's not more variety to what you end up doing. Races are fairly typical street races, with up to seven opponent drivers and a number of checkpoints scattered throughout a course. There's a huge roster of them to take part in on various roads that range from hairpin-filled hill climbs to straight-and-narrow city races. There's also the time trials, as well as the speed challenges, which task you either with driving a set speed past a number of speed traps laid about a course, or simply reaching a designated speed within a set amount of time. The missions are more repetitive, which come in only a few set categories. You'll either find yourself delivering illicit packages for seedy individuals, delivering some of the game's more expensive rides to dealerships and mechanics, delivering hitchhikers to their desired destinations, or delivering high-strung models to their homes after a long day of shopping. Basically, you're a delivery service no matter how you look at it, and the only variances are in what you're delivering, and occasionally what kind of car you're driving. Fortunately, the various races and challenges are quite a bit more compelling than these missions. However, you don't earn nearly as much cash just sticking to the races, so you'll likely be inspired to put up with the monotony of the missions.
Why? Because without cash, you can't buy any of the game's numerous cars, houses, clothes, or upgrades. Obviously, the big draw is the cars, and there are over 90 licensed cars and motorcycles available in the game. From basic rides like Volkswagens, Chryslers, and Chevys to more exotic models of Lamborghinis, Ferraris, and Aston Martins, there are plenty of available cars, and you can likely expect even more to be made available via the Xbox Live Marketplace at some point. Paying more for new cars isn't the most ideal scenario, but at a less-than-full-retail-price $40 price tag for the game, it's a little bit easier to swallow.
Building up a car collection is key, as you'll need at least one car from each of the available A-through-G car classes, since at one point or another, you'll encounter races that require cars from these specific classes. Some races also require very specific cars, but if you don't want to buy them, there are rental agencies that will give you access to those cars for 10 to 20 minutes at a time. To house all your rides, you'll find yourself buying real estate throughout the island. Each house has its own look, but more importantly includes at least a four-car garage, if not higher. The houses don't have a ton of purpose beyond acting as basic hub levels and as a storage area for cars, but they're a nice touch all the same. You can also spend credits you earn from the hitchhiker and model missions on clothes for your character. Though it's not as if you stare at your character much while you're driving, there are enough cutscenes in the game to where it sort of makes sense to be able to dress up your driver in some new threads.
There's a ton of races and missions in the game, though the variety of objectives is smaller than you might prefer.
Other ways to earn money involve the online component of the game. You can tap into the online audience by creating your own custom race challenges for them to take part in, or by selling your cars via the online trading market. Buying and selling cars is exceptionally simple; all you have to do is jump into the trade menu when you're in one of your houses, and buy and sell accordingly. You can set prices however you like, though you'll likely want to judge the market for your particular brand of car before trying to price gouge people with that Volkswagen Golf you have no use for. Creating challenges is a bit more involved a process. With this feature, you can map out a course of just about any length using all the available roads on the island. You can set all sorts of arbitrary rules, like time limits, whether or not the driver is relegated to the cockpit camera view, and whatnot, and you can also set entry fees and awards. Of course, the trick is that the awards are taken from your bank account, so you'll want to be careful with how much cash you're dishing out. Fortunately, there's also a time limit for how long a custom challenge can sit on the servers, so you're not destined to get gouged by people forever. You will, however, be able to access your custom challenges within your own game for however long you like.
The online driving audience is obviously a big draw of Test Drive Unlimited, since so much of the multiplayer functionality has just been built into the basic gameworld. There is no quick-and-dirty multiplayer menu to jump into to find a match. Every designated multiplayer race appears as an icon on the map just like the offline races, and at each race you'll find the option to jump into a player match or a ranked match with any other players hanging out at that race. It's a little bit more convoluted than a standard menu system, since you might have to scan the various online race icons on the map, trying to find a race to get into, but in our testing, we found a decent number of competitors at just about every race hub, though mostly for player matches. Ranked matches have been decidedly fewer in quantity. It's probably also worth mentioning that Test Drive Unlimited doesn't offer any kind of single-system multiplayer, so if you want to play against friends, it'll have to be online.
If you prefer simply driving the open roads to sticking to predetermined courses, you also have the option of tracking down other players free riding around the city. This is where the whole MMOG comparison comes in (or as the game refers to it, MOOR, or massively open online racing), as players driving around the city are very visible to you while you're not engaged in a race or mission, and if you happen upon any rival online drivers, you can challenge them to a quick race for cash and ranking points. All you have to do is flash your headlights at them, and they can choose to accept or decline the challenge; if they accept, you just pick a finish line somewhere away from where you're currently situated, and race to the end.
One thing you can't argue with is the myriad of hot rides the game offers up.
The whole system of being able to find other, random players while simply driving around the island sounds brilliant on paper, but it doesn't offer quite as much freedom as you might hope for. For one thing, you can't just run into every single driver that happens to be in your vicinity. Though you'll certainly find plenty of other players driving around, there seems to be a limit on exactly how many can appear to you while you're in a specific zone of the island, and getting specific players into your zone can be kind of a pain if they aren't already on your friends list. It's not a bad system in theory, since it does prevent the streets from getting overcrowded with rival racers, and to its credit, the switches between instances as you drive around are completely seamless, but if you want to find someone specific that isn't automatically appearing on your list, it's a rather clunky process.
Still, caveats aside, the multiplayer is where it's at, both because of the variety of ways to compete and because the online competition is just better than the offline. When you're racing offline, the opponent artificial intelligence is, in a word, limited. Opponents wreck and end up in the dirt more than you will, and the only advantage they'll ever have is if they have a markedly faster ride than you do. You'll also notice that if you end up having to redo races a few times, the opponents will follow the exact same AI routines every time, braking at the same points, veering around other drivers at the same times, and things like that. The only thing that can seem to throw them off this is you wrecking into them, but after a while, the routine resumes.
That's about the worst thing you can say for the in-car action, however; the core driving mechanics are quite solid. The handling of the various cars can take some getting used to, as almost every car is a bit squirrelly and prone to random spinouts. But once you get a handle on things, you can pretty easily master the controls and take to the roads with minimal issue. Of course, you'll still have to navigate around AI-controlled traffic and, occasionally, cops. But it's more the random traffic that poses an issue than the cops. Whereas AI cars will sometimes veer into you at random or bunch up at intersections, cops rarely seem to care terribly much what you do. Scraping or crashing into other cars alerts them, but you have to do it a bunch of times in a short period before they'll really start coming after you. Typically, all you have to do is avoid wrecking for around 10 seconds after alerting them, and your alert level will just drop right back to nothing.
Obviously, the lack of cop interaction prevents them from getting in the way of your enjoyment of driving around the island. In fact, with the exception of the AI traffic and largely immovable scenery, everything about Test Drive's design seems built with the expressed purpose of making Oahu as leisurely a place to drive around as humanly possible. Sure, the racing can get intense at times, and there are few things more frustrating than taking on a timed car-delivery mission and inadvertently wrecking into another car while trying to take a blind corner as quickly as possible, but for the most part, driving around Oahu is a relaxing experience. The game's mileage counts for each point-to-point drive are completely accurate, and unlike most games that tell you that you'll be going 15 miles to your destination, you feel like you're driving a realistic 15 miles. For some, the pacing of the island's travels might feel kind of sluggish, but for those who just like the idea of driving a hot car against a striking backdrop, Test Drive provides precisely that.
And it is quite a striking backdrop. Oahu is rendered with a high level of detail, and it looks extremely pretty as you're driving from place to place. Of course, most of the island's highways stick to the shorelines and heavily populated areas, but there's plenty of windy mountain roads and backcountry areas to explore, too. If you've got a high-end PC, you're going to see crisper in-game visuals, especially if you run it in HD mode. It doesn't look perfect, mind you. When you aren't speeding along, some of the more obvious texture seams and lower-resolution set pieces tend to stick out, and the fact that there's absolutely no people at all wandering around a bustling beach community is altogether weird; but at high speeds, the environments look great, especially with the attractive motion-blur effect the game uses. Unfortunately, high speeds also sometimes cause some problems for the game. Specifically, texture pop-in and frame rate hiccups tend to occur at frequent rates. The actual frame rate never seems to drop below 30, but you'll see these quick hitches from time to time that can be a little off-putting. The environmental streaming also tends to chug a bit no matter how powerful your system is, and we did run into some occasional graphical glitches specific to the PC version, like extreme amounts of flickering from the textures and lighting.
The cars in the game are modeled beautifully, looking like pristine, out-of-the-factory renditions of their real-life counterparts. There's no damage modeling to any of the licensed vehicles, though you can damage the generic AI traffic. Collisions look strange, though, as the physics of you smashing into another car at a 150 miles per hour just don't look right. It's also bizarre when you go head-on into a lamppost or fence or something equally unassuming, and get stopped on a dime by it. There's also no car-customization element to speak of. There are some basic performance upgrades you can buy that sometimes do involve some visual upgrades, but there's no way to trick out your ride to make it look like your ride beyond basic paint jobs and some rim upgrades you can grab at the time you purchase a car. It's just strange that a racing game involving such a community-driven design would go to the trouble of letting you play dress-up with your character that is barely visible outside of cutscenes (and also doesn't look particularly good, dressed-up or not), but wouldn't let you give your various cars more unique identities. Each car also has its own unique cockpit view that's accurate to the real car; a feature sure to please the kinds of car fanatics that love this level of detail. It's especially cool if you've got a driving wheel hooked up.
It's all about the cockpit camera view.
The in-game audio is reasonably enjoyable though not nearly as in-depth as many of the other racers on the 360. The game has good car sound effects but a fairly forgettable soundtrack consisting largely of songs from relatively unkown bands. There are a few notable tracks by artists like Queens of the Stone Age, Metric, and the James Gang, but you're more likely to want to get your custom soundtrack on while playing this one. There's not a hefty amount of voice acting in the game, save for a few awkward (and abysmally lip-synced) lines during mission set-ups, but what's there is serviceable.
While Test Drive Unlimited blurs the line between single-player and multiplayer racing better than anything that's ever tried it before, it's not quite a slam dunk. The game's open-ended mission design belies its purposeless nature, and the whole massively open online racing thing isn't quite as massive as one might be led to believe. But even with its limitations, Test Drive Unlimited's concept is executed well enough to make it an addictive and interesting racing experience. Of course, if you already played this game on the Xbox 360, the PC version isn't different enough to make it worth looking at. But for PC players who didn't try this on the 360 and are interested in something new and unique in the driving-game genre, there's nothing quite like Test Drive Unlimited on the market right now. Though you're undoubtedly going to take issue with a few of the game's peculiarities, there's enough here to make it a racer worth checking out.
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Late last year, Atari and developer Eden Studios released Test Drive Unlimited for the Xbox 360. Purportedly the first "massively open online racing" game, Unlimited provided you with a wide-open setting (the Hawaiian island of Oahu), a myriad of slick rides, tons of different races to take part in, and an online mode that actually let you occupy the same basic driving space as other online players and challenge them in competition. Not everything the game did on the 360 worked brilliantly, but it was an inventive and unique piece of technology that was impressive in its own right. Now the game has come to the PC, and for all intents and purposes, this version is nearly identical to the 360 game. It's a little rougher around the edges than its 360 counterpart, but if you never played the 360 version and think the idea of racing around Hawaii while bumping up against other online players sounds like fun, this version's worth a look.
If nothing else, Test Drive Unlimited is a nice change of pace from the typical batches of cheesy street racers and hardcore driving sims.
You start by picking a basic character model to represent yourself, and you're whisked away to fabulous Hawaii to buy a car and a house, do a lot of random racing, and drive hitchhikers and models around the island for some reason. That's about all there is to the premise. While it's not shocking that a racing game wouldn't have a major, in-depth storyline, the way the game introduces itself and the open-ended nature of the game world give you the impression that there might be some kind of plot to tie everything you do together. There isn't. The lack of a cohesive thread to the missions and races does make Test Drive seem a bit pointless, but after a while, you cease to care and find yourself oddly engaged by this scattershot series of objectives. It helps that there is quite a lot to do on the island. The objectives themselves don't extend beyond races, time trials, speed challenges, and some basic delivery missions, but there are enough of them to keep you going as you explore the massive island of Oahu.
The way the game forces you to explore is clever. You start out with only a few available mission icons on the huge world map, but as time goes on, you'll see more and more begin to pop up across the entire stretch of the island. If you happen to have driven through a road where an objective resides, you can simply click on that icon on the map and be instantly transported there. But if an icon appears on a road you've never driven on before, you have to drive there to access it. What this does is force you to cruise through just about every nook and cranny of Oahu without being overly pushy about it. There's often more than enough races and missions available at any given time, so if you don't feel like driving halfway across the island to see something new, you won't necessarily be hurting for things to do right where you already are.
It's just too bad there's not more variety to what you end up doing. Races are fairly typical street races, with up to seven opponent drivers and a number of checkpoints scattered throughout a course. There's a huge roster of them to take part in on various roads that range from hairpin-filled hill climbs to straight-and-narrow city races. There's also the time trials, as well as the speed challenges, which task you either with driving a set speed past a number of speed traps laid about a course, or simply reaching a designated speed within a set amount of time. The missions are more repetitive, which come in only a few set categories. You'll either find yourself delivering illicit packages for seedy individuals, delivering some of the game's more expensive rides to dealerships and mechanics, delivering hitchhikers to their desired destinations, or delivering high-strung models to their homes after a long day of shopping. Basically, you're a delivery service no matter how you look at it, and the only variances are in what you're delivering, and occasionally what kind of car you're driving. Fortunately, the various races and challenges are quite a bit more compelling than these missions. However, you don't earn nearly as much cash just sticking to the races, so you'll likely be inspired to put up with the monotony of the missions.
Why? Because without cash, you can't buy any of the game's numerous cars, houses, clothes, or upgrades. Obviously, the big draw is the cars, and there are over 90 licensed cars and motorcycles available in the game. From basic rides like Volkswagens, Chryslers, and Chevys to more exotic models of Lamborghinis, Ferraris, and Aston Martins, there are plenty of available cars, and you can likely expect even more to be made available via the Xbox Live Marketplace at some point. Paying more for new cars isn't the most ideal scenario, but at a less-than-full-retail-price $40 price tag for the game, it's a little bit easier to swallow.
Building up a car collection is key, as you'll need at least one car from each of the available A-through-G car classes, since at one point or another, you'll encounter races that require cars from these specific classes. Some races also require very specific cars, but if you don't want to buy them, there are rental agencies that will give you access to those cars for 10 to 20 minutes at a time. To house all your rides, you'll find yourself buying real estate throughout the island. Each house has its own look, but more importantly includes at least a four-car garage, if not higher. The houses don't have a ton of purpose beyond acting as basic hub levels and as a storage area for cars, but they're a nice touch all the same. You can also spend credits you earn from the hitchhiker and model missions on clothes for your character. Though it's not as if you stare at your character much while you're driving, there are enough cutscenes in the game to where it sort of makes sense to be able to dress up your driver in some new threads.
There's a ton of races and missions in the game, though the variety of objectives is smaller than you might prefer.
Other ways to earn money involve the online component of the game. You can tap into the online audience by creating your own custom race challenges for them to take part in, or by selling your cars via the online trading market. Buying and selling cars is exceptionally simple; all you have to do is jump into the trade menu when you're in one of your houses, and buy and sell accordingly. You can set prices however you like, though you'll likely want to judge the market for your particular brand of car before trying to price gouge people with that Volkswagen Golf you have no use for. Creating challenges is a bit more involved a process. With this feature, you can map out a course of just about any length using all the available roads on the island. You can set all sorts of arbitrary rules, like time limits, whether or not the driver is relegated to the cockpit camera view, and whatnot, and you can also set entry fees and awards. Of course, the trick is that the awards are taken from your bank account, so you'll want to be careful with how much cash you're dishing out. Fortunately, there's also a time limit for how long a custom challenge can sit on the servers, so you're not destined to get gouged by people forever. You will, however, be able to access your custom challenges within your own game for however long you like.
The online driving audience is obviously a big draw of Test Drive Unlimited, since so much of the multiplayer functionality has just been built into the basic gameworld. There is no quick-and-dirty multiplayer menu to jump into to find a match. Every designated multiplayer race appears as an icon on the map just like the offline races, and at each race you'll find the option to jump into a player match or a ranked match with any other players hanging out at that race. It's a little bit more convoluted than a standard menu system, since you might have to scan the various online race icons on the map, trying to find a race to get into, but in our testing, we found a decent number of competitors at just about every race hub, though mostly for player matches. Ranked matches have been decidedly fewer in quantity. It's probably also worth mentioning that Test Drive Unlimited doesn't offer any kind of single-system multiplayer, so if you want to play against friends, it'll have to be online.
If you prefer simply driving the open roads to sticking to predetermined courses, you also have the option of tracking down other players free riding around the city. This is where the whole MMOG comparison comes in (or as the game refers to it, MOOR, or massively open online racing), as players driving around the city are very visible to you while you're not engaged in a race or mission, and if you happen upon any rival online drivers, you can challenge them to a quick race for cash and ranking points. All you have to do is flash your headlights at them, and they can choose to accept or decline the challenge; if they accept, you just pick a finish line somewhere away from where you're currently situated, and race to the end.
One thing you can't argue with is the myriad of hot rides the game offers up.
The whole system of being able to find other, random players while simply driving around the island sounds brilliant on paper, but it doesn't offer quite as much freedom as you might hope for. For one thing, you can't just run into every single driver that happens to be in your vicinity. Though you'll certainly find plenty of other players driving around, there seems to be a limit on exactly how many can appear to you while you're in a specific zone of the island, and getting specific players into your zone can be kind of a pain if they aren't already on your friends list. It's not a bad system in theory, since it does prevent the streets from getting overcrowded with rival racers, and to its credit, the switches between instances as you drive around are completely seamless, but if you want to find someone specific that isn't automatically appearing on your list, it's a rather clunky process.
Still, caveats aside, the multiplayer is where it's at, both because of the variety of ways to compete and because the online competition is just better than the offline. When you're racing offline, the opponent artificial intelligence is, in a word, limited. Opponents wreck and end up in the dirt more than you will, and the only advantage they'll ever have is if they have a markedly faster ride than you do. You'll also notice that if you end up having to redo races a few times, the opponents will follow the exact same AI routines every time, braking at the same points, veering around other drivers at the same times, and things like that. The only thing that can seem to throw them off this is you wrecking into them, but after a while, the routine resumes.
That's about the worst thing you can say for the in-car action, however; the core driving mechanics are quite solid. The handling of the various cars can take some getting used to, as almost every car is a bit squirrelly and prone to random spinouts. But once you get a handle on things, you can pretty easily master the controls and take to the roads with minimal issue. Of course, you'll still have to navigate around AI-controlled traffic and, occasionally, cops. But it's more the random traffic that poses an issue than the cops. Whereas AI cars will sometimes veer into you at random or bunch up at intersections, cops rarely seem to care terribly much what you do. Scraping or crashing into other cars alerts them, but you have to do it a bunch of times in a short period before they'll really start coming after you. Typically, all you have to do is avoid wrecking for around 10 seconds after alerting them, and your alert level will just drop right back to nothing.
Obviously, the lack of cop interaction prevents them from getting in the way of your enjoyment of driving around the island. In fact, with the exception of the AI traffic and largely immovable scenery, everything about Test Drive's design seems built with the expressed purpose of making Oahu as leisurely a place to drive around as humanly possible. Sure, the racing can get intense at times, and there are few things more frustrating than taking on a timed car-delivery mission and inadvertently wrecking into another car while trying to take a blind corner as quickly as possible, but for the most part, driving around Oahu is a relaxing experience. The game's mileage counts for each point-to-point drive are completely accurate, and unlike most games that tell you that you'll be going 15 miles to your destination, you feel like you're driving a realistic 15 miles. For some, the pacing of the island's travels might feel kind of sluggish, but for those who just like the idea of driving a hot car against a striking backdrop, Test Drive provides precisely that.
And it is quite a striking backdrop. Oahu is rendered with a high level of detail, and it looks extremely pretty as you're driving from place to place. Of course, most of the island's highways stick to the shorelines and heavily populated areas, but there's plenty of windy mountain roads and backcountry areas to explore, too. If you've got a high-end PC, you're going to see crisper in-game visuals, especially if you run it in HD mode. It doesn't look perfect, mind you. When you aren't speeding along, some of the more obvious texture seams and lower-resolution set pieces tend to stick out, and the fact that there's absolutely no people at all wandering around a bustling beach community is altogether weird; but at high speeds, the environments look great, especially with the attractive motion-blur effect the game uses. Unfortunately, high speeds also sometimes cause some problems for the game. Specifically, texture pop-in and frame rate hiccups tend to occur at frequent rates. The actual frame rate never seems to drop below 30, but you'll see these quick hitches from time to time that can be a little off-putting. The environmental streaming also tends to chug a bit no matter how powerful your system is, and we did run into some occasional graphical glitches specific to the PC version, like extreme amounts of flickering from the textures and lighting.
The cars in the game are modeled beautifully, looking like pristine, out-of-the-factory renditions of their real-life counterparts. There's no damage modeling to any of the licensed vehicles, though you can damage the generic AI traffic. Collisions look strange, though, as the physics of you smashing into another car at a 150 miles per hour just don't look right. It's also bizarre when you go head-on into a lamppost or fence or something equally unassuming, and get stopped on a dime by it. There's also no car-customization element to speak of. There are some basic performance upgrades you can buy that sometimes do involve some visual upgrades, but there's no way to trick out your ride to make it look like your ride beyond basic paint jobs and some rim upgrades you can grab at the time you purchase a car. It's just strange that a racing game involving such a community-driven design would go to the trouble of letting you play dress-up with your character that is barely visible outside of cutscenes (and also doesn't look particularly good, dressed-up or not), but wouldn't let you give your various cars more unique identities. Each car also has its own unique cockpit view that's accurate to the real car; a feature sure to please the kinds of car fanatics that love this level of detail. It's especially cool if you've got a driving wheel hooked up.
It's all about the cockpit camera view.
The in-game audio is reasonably enjoyable though not nearly as in-depth as many of the other racers on the 360. The game has good car sound effects but a fairly forgettable soundtrack consisting largely of songs from relatively unkown bands. There are a few notable tracks by artists like Queens of the Stone Age, Metric, and the James Gang, but you're more likely to want to get your custom soundtrack on while playing this one. There's not a hefty amount of voice acting in the game, save for a few awkward (and abysmally lip-synced) lines during mission set-ups, but what's there is serviceable.
While Test Drive Unlimited blurs the line between single-player and multiplayer racing better than anything that's ever tried it before, it's not quite a slam dunk. The game's open-ended mission design belies its purposeless nature, and the whole massively open online racing thing isn't quite as massive as one might be led to believe. But even with its limitations, Test Drive Unlimited's concept is executed well enough to make it an addictive and interesting racing experience. Of course, if you already played this game on the Xbox 360, the PC version isn't different enough to make it worth looking at. But for PC players who didn't try this on the 360 and are interested in something new and unique in the driving-game genre, there's nothing quite like Test Drive Unlimited on the market right now. Though you're undoubtedly going to take issue with a few of the game's peculiarities, there's enough here to make it a racer worth checking out.
Pictures
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