After a few decent but pretty unspectacular entries in the long running Mortal Kombat series, series creator Ed Boon is taking it back to its roots this April, with a new game simply entitled Mortal Kombat. As the first entry in the core series to appear on the current generation of consoles, hopes and expectations are high, particularly amongst hardcore fans. I have no real affinity towards the series (or fighting games in general), but in a bid to see what the fuss is all about, I downloaded the demo on my PlayStation 3, and was quickly having my arse handed to me on a plate.

I was somewhat disappointed that the demo was single-player only, but you do get to compete against the AI on five difficulty levels as you move up the first four stages of a ladder; fighting Scorpion, Johnny Cage, Mileena, and Sub-Zero along the way. The demo ends at the fifth stage, but being able to check out four characters across a few different environments is relatively impressive for a demo that only weighed in at just over 500MB. The difficulty began as tame on the lower few settings, with opponents barely trying to register any sort of attack on me as I jumped around and crouched like an idiot, desperately trying to get a grip on the controls. Once I had, I was able to string a few combos together by accident, and after checking the moves list I was having a decent time beating the crap out of an AI opponent who wasn't really doing anything in response.

Moving up a few difficulty levels, the intricacies of the fighting system became clear, and soon I was failing epically. It's fairly fast-paced, but not anywhere near the speed of something like Street Fighter IV or Marvel vs Capcom 3. Combos and moves can sometimes take a while to perform, thanks to some pretty excessive animations from a few of the characters, but overall the fights have a nice flow to them. Playing with a D-pad is obviously preferable to using an analogue stick, and for that reason alone anyone with the choice of PS3 or 360 at launch should surely choose the former - the PlayStation 3's easy-to-use D-pad lends itself better than its rival to the gameplay of Mortal Kombat. It's also worth noting that PlayStation owners will enjoy Kratos as an exclusive playable character, although he wasn't available in the demo, and there's no word on whether or not 360 fans will have anything similar to look forward to.


The main menu also reveals the other modes you can expect to be playing; though many single player modes are all present and correct, some interesting challenge rooms make an appearance, and (of course) online multiplayer will also be a feature. After spending some time with Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe online, I think we can expect this new game to provide an excellent online multiplayer experience.

What's abundantly clear from the demo is that this is one damn good looking game. Running on the Unreal Engine, character models and animations are absolutely fantastic, with a great level of detail. The fatal blows you can perform at the end of a fight look incredible and are also absolutely brutal, from freezing a dude's legs and then ripping off his torso, to tearing a guy's head off and swinging it lasso-style by the spinal cord; these moves are not for the faint-hearted. If you're rich enough, you can also enjoy all these brutal delights in glorious 3D. The game looks even more brilliant in 3D, which surprised me, since the fighting happens on a 2D plain. The 3D adds some really excellent depth to the landscapes, and the already-excellent looking environments look even better. It definitely falls into the category of '3D just-for-looks' (rather than '3D for gameplay enhancements'), but it looks terrific and is actually a lot more focussed and much less headache-inducing thanks to its 2D plain.

Sound effects are also top notch; the sounds of bones breaking and limbs ripping sound incredibly shocking and satisfying on a surround sound system.


Bearing in mind that I'm not a massive fan of fighting games, I came away feeling very impressed with Mortal Kombat. I think that fans of the series will instantly feel at home with the fighting system, whilst those who have never touched Mortal Kombat will be able to marvel at its stunning presentation and ridiculous violence. Whether you're a hardcore fan of the series, or a fighting game novice looking for a baptism by aesthetically-wonderful fire, Mortal Kombat could well be worth checking out.

Mortal Kombat releases for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on April 21st in Europe and April 19th in North America.

Labels: 2011, 360, 3D gaming, Demo Impressions, Mortal Kombat, Preview, PS3, Tom Acres

The MotorStorm series has been one of Sony's flagship first-party franchises since the launch of the PlayStation 3 in 2006. When the original game debuted alongside the console, it wowed players with its truly stunning visuals and brutal off-road racing. In 2008, the sequel Pacific Rift was released and added some real substance to the solid groundwork of the original game, and introduced a new setting in the form of a tropical island. Now, having been through the canyons and the tropics, MotorStorm: Apocalypse is heading to the city space as Mother Nature wreaks havoc upon Earth with earthquakes and plenty else, creating the perfect racing environment. As the game nears release, I checked out the demo to see what we can expect from the third outing in the series.

The demo allows you to play a standard race with fifteen AI competitors and sit behind the wheel of either a super-car or a super-bike as you speed through the Mainline track. As with presumably all the tracks in the main game, Mainline is explosive to say the least. Starting in an underground train track, the landscape also sees you drive across urban canyons caused by the natural disaster that has taken place, as well as along some of the destroyed roads and bridges. As the race develops, the track suffers even more deformation as towers and bridges collapses, alternate routes become available, buildings explode and plenty else. All these effects look stunning for sure, but they also have a significant impact on the race in a way similar to Split/Second. You can't trigger these events at will, but they are no less stunning whenever they occur.


Actually racing in Apocalypse is pretty similar to the prior games in the series and I doubt fans would have it any other way. The sense of speed is still impressive, the handling is also still pretty forgiving and the turbo boost is still always available for you to scrape vital seconds off your lap times. At this stage there's little I can really say about the gameplay; in these standard race terms after a few races on the same track it seems just as fun as ever and will no doubt keep veterans happy both online and off.

What deserves more attention than anything else after my time with the demo is the stunning graphics. Textures on the track and the vehicles are all fantastic and everything is brilliantly detailed. The explosions, collapsing buildings, fire and smoke effects are all convincing and look like they were pulled straight from 2012. It's also well worth mentioning how impressive the 3D effect is in Apocalypse. Having spent time playing Killzone 3, Gran Turismo 5 and Super Stardust HD in 3D, it's easy for me to say that Apocalypse is by far the best 3D gaming experience I've had. Playing the demo in 3D, viewing the action through the first-person bonnet view as rubble and fire fly towards you is a truly adrenaline pumping experience. If you have a 3DTV, this might finally be the game to get you excited about the prospects of PS3 gaming in 3D.

The audio package seems equally impressive thus far, with a similar rock themed soundtrack as heard in prior games and plenty of impressive environmental sounds and vehicles crashing into each other. Just from the demo alone it's obvious that Apocalypse will give your home theatre system a serious workout.


Overall, my time with the demo has been positive, with plenty of impressive moments littered throughout what is only a very small portion of what fans can look forward to. The core racing is just as exciting as ever, whilst the new setting and stunning 3D look set to make Apocalypse one of the most visually breathtaking game on PS3. With plenty of online and offline modes promised, there's sure to be plenty to get excited about as the game's launch approaches.

MotorStorm: Apocalypse's UK release was delayed (due to the earthquake in Japan) from its original 16 March date to March 31st, and should be currently be on store shelves. Its North American release date is yet to be specified. Be sure to check our sister site SystemLink for updates on that NA release.

Labels: 2011, Demo Impressions, MotorStorm Apocalypse, Preview, PS3, Tom Acres

If you think of online shooters, the first game to spring to mind is probably any one of the titles spawned from the ridiculously popular Call of Duty series. Like it or not, first-person shooters are all the rage right now, and it seems as though every game, from Medal of Honor to Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is trying to grab a slice of the pie before it's all gobbled up by Activision's behemoth. These games are everywhere, and perhaps soon you'll grow tired of authentic weaponry and urban environments, kill-streaks and XP bonuses, red dot sights and the like.

There was a time when less ultra-realistic FPS games were common, however. Remember Crysis, that stunningly gorgeous shooter from the guys at Crytek? The lush jungles, the sci-fi gadgets, the brutal combat, the special suit manoeuvres and the crazy aliens; remember all that? You probably do, but chances are you probably didn't have a computer that could run Crysis at a framerate above 4fps. In fact, you probably still don't have a computer that could run it at a framerate of more than 4fps.

Luckily for you, however, the sequel is here soon and it's coming to consoles. EA released a multiplayer demo of Crysis 2 last month to give players the chance to sample the latest shooter attempting to steal Call of Duty's crown. Perhaps its unique take on weapons, special suits and game types will tempt you into buying it?

I was certainly excited, and wondered what kind of cool take on the shooter genre this would throw at me. Turns out, after all this build-up, it may as well be Call of Duty with slightly different fonts when an XP indicator pops up.

Don't get me wrong, Crysis 2 plays just fine and if you've played any sort of military-based shooter recently you'll feel right at home. It feels a bit more weighty than something like Call of Duty, striking quite a nice balance between that and something more akin to Killzone. The thing is that it's also the biggest problem I've had with my time with the multiplayer: it just doesn't feel like I'm playing a Crysis game. The maps are small, enclosed urban environments and the weapons are fairly uninspired. The game modes aren't anything that you haven't seen before, and everything from kill-cams to XP bonuses are present and accounted for - it's very much more of the same. You can customise equipment and load-outs too, but you can also do that in every other shooter out there. Even the control scheme is ripped straight from the Black Ops manual and there's just not enough about it to make you say, "hey, this is fun and interesting and new'. It's all just kinda 'meh'.

Like I said, Crysis 2 plays perfectly well, and the nano-suit abilities do provide at least some variety even though they don't seem as impacting or relevant as they did in the original game. The abilities include the likes of invisibility and super speed, but we've seen this done before in the Halo series; whilst these abilities felt fun and fresh in the huge jungle environments of the original game, in Crysis 2 the cramped urban spaces just make it feel like you're playing Modern Warfare with some Halo perks.

The fairly familiar feel behind the game extends to the visuals as well, with fairly plain-looking environments, albeit with very technically proficient textures, animations, effects and the like. Say goodbye to the beautiful sandy beaches and lush jungles of the first game, and say hello to grey rooftops and boring office blocks. As with everything else about the multiplayer though, it just screams Modern Warfare 2 rather than what you may of been hoping from a Crysis sequel.

In fairness, the single-player mode may well be a little more interesting, and from what I've seen of it, it looks like that may well be the case. The multiplayer however just doesn't have enough about it to draw you away from the popular shooters you're already playing. It doesn't help that Crysis isn't a particularly huge franchise, and it almost feels like the developers realised this, and in doing so have sucked all the originality and personality from the game, which will no doubt alienate existing fans.

It's too early to say if the single-player is going to retain the open-endedness and freedom that made the first game so great, but the multiplayer certainly isn't anything to write home about as it stands.

Sure, you could accuse me of double standards after my glowing review of Call of Duty: Black Ops, but that is what Call of Duty is. Millions of you buy that game every year because you love that style of gameplay with all the perks that come with it, and you're always guaranteed a fun campaign and some great co-op to go with the addicting multiplayer. Ask yourself why you might want to check out Crysis 2 and you'll probably end up disappointed when you play the game itself.

If Crysis 2 is to succeed then it needs at least some identity to call its own, and on the evidence of the multiplayer demo it simply does not have that.


Crysis 2 is due for release for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on 25th March.

Labels: 2011, 360, Crysis, Crysis 2, Crytek, Demo Impressions, Preview, Tom Acres, Xbox 360

Hands up who has a PSP? Okay, so not too many. Those people who put their hands up: do you have more than 5 games that you think are pretty awesome? Hmm. Everyone with a PSP has God of War: Chains of Olympus though, right? Ah, I thought so.

I have a PSP, I have only ever bought about 6 games and, in all honesty, the only game I would consider as a real 'system seller' or 'killer-app' is God of War: Chains of Olympus. The PSP is a great device but not many outside Ready At Dawn Studios (who also developed the excellent Daxter) has really unleashed the potential of Sony's little machine. As I said, there's only one game that is really, totally, exceptional.

Erm, yeah, make that two - Kratos is back for another round.

The first thing that will come to a lot of people's minds when they think about the God of War series is the word 'epic', and this new PSP instalment throws a tonne of epicness at you right from the start of the demo and doesn't really let up at all. You start off on a ship in the middle of a storm, on the way to Atlantis, and you're being attacked by a giant sea creature called the Scylla - it's kind of a cross between a Kraken and an ogre, massive and easily one of the biggest bosses outside God of War III. It attacks your ship with its massive tentacles, and also sends a few waves of little sea-urchin-esque drones that grab you by the chest, forcing you to perform a few quick mashes of the L and R buttons to escape.

When Kratos reaches Atlantis, I'm pretty sure you'll be amazed at how good the environment looks. This is a portable outing, let us not forget, and it looks vastly superior to Chains of Olympus - and that was a damn good-looking game. I'd go as far to say as this new one looks better than God of War II, and easily surpasses a heck of a lot of Wii games out there. The textures are detailed, the animation is smooth and the sheer scale is incredible. It's helped by some terrific effects, with rain pouring down constantly and the whole city cascading with water. It's a really impressive sight on the PSP's lovely widescreen display.

The rest of the level saw some fairly standard God of War combat, a few smaller bosses and a couple of occasions in which the Scylla made a reappearance, only for the demo to end just as Kratos launches himself towards it.

The gameplay is classic God of War, but Kratos comes armed with a few new moves, magic abilities and weapons which are available in the demo. Kratos has access to a move called the Hyperion Charge, which enables him to grab an enemy, tackle him, throw him at other enemies or smash him into the ground. The new magic spell in the demo is called the Eye of Atlantis, which is a cool and powerful lightning attack. Finally, the new weapon you get a look at is a spear-and-shield combo which allows Kratos to block attacks from close- and long-range, and also enables a short-armed thrust with the spear whilst you stay protected by the shield.

There's also a glimpse of platforming and puzzles, but it's nothing we haven't seen before.

From my 20 minutes with the demo it's clear that Ready At Dawn knows what the fans want. God of War: Ghost of Sparta is shaping up to be just as violent, exciting, finely tuned, graphically stunning and epic as any God of War before it.

It's time to dust off that PSP.

Labels: Demo Impressions, God of War: Ghost of Sparta, PSP, Tom Acres

The original Crackdown is one of my favourite games ever released on Xbox 360. It will, unfortunately, be remembered by many as the game that got them access to the Halo 3 multiplayer beta, but I'll always remember it as an insanely fun sandbox action game with some of the best co-op I've ever played.

On July 9th, the sequel arrives from new developers Ruffian Games. Microsoft released a demo on Xbox Live Marketplace last week, although I had gained exclusive access a week before so I've had plenty of time to play around with the demo.

Hit the jump to see my thoughts in a walkthrough video.



Look out for a full review here on GGTL when the game releases.

Labels: 360, Crackdown 2, Demo Impressions, Tom Acres, Video, Xbox 360

Monster Hunter Tri, a highly successful and highly acclaimed title released in Japan last August, will be hitting U.S. and European store shelves in April. Having earned the illustrious and seldom given 40/40 score from Famitsu magazine, Monster Hunter Tri has revitalised the series from its stagnant PS2 and PSP forbearers. This time around, Wii owners are reaping the benefits of being the least costly platform for game development, as this game was originally designed for the PS3, but budget constraints shifted the game to become exclusive to Nintendo’s current gen. console.

After being announced for localization in Europe and the U.S., Capcom has worked hard to ensure that the game is tailored to its respective audience. The game will boast impressive online capabilities for the Wii, utilising the Wii Speak, an onscreen keyboard, and a USB keyboard for ease of communication between players. The content for Monster Hunter Tri has also been significantly upgraded, offering a vast selection of new monsters to hunt, all visually stunning and insanely large and intimidating. To combat these mammoth beasts, you are given an arsenal of disproportionately large weapons yourself. From the Great Sword to the Switch Axe to the Lance, these giant tools of destruction make Cloud’s Buster Sword from Final Fantasy VII look like a toothpick. Veterans of previous Monster Hunter games will quickly remember the “potion-pumping”, as you must tailor your battle tactics to keep yourself alive with items while trying to subdue your foes. Along with potions, you have access to an expansive inventory that can be stocked up with various materials you forage, mine, and harvest off of fallen prey, which are then combined to create all sorts of useful offensive and defensive items.


The demo, available for free through GameStop retailers, features a very nice taste of many elements of the game. You are able to hunt either the Great Jaggi (a large bipedal reptile) or the Qurupeco (a large avian reptile). Capcom must really have wanted to showcase the difficulty that Monster Hunter Tri will bring, since these two rather simple looking enemies (compared to those seen in the trailer) require several attempts and plenty of strategy to take down. Each has their own specific attacks, which although become predictable, does not make them any easier to defeat. You are allowed to try virtually all the different weapon classes to test their various powers. It is nice to see that each weapon is unique and requires its own learning curve to master, and that some are more capable at handling certain foes, adding even more strategic elements. After trying all the weapons on each monster, I found the Hammer to work best on the Great Jaggi, and the Lance to be very proficient at taking down the Qurupeco.

There are several zones which make up the layout of the demo, consisting of mountainous grasslands, caves, misty crags, and oceanfront vistas. Although you have the capability of testing the waters - literally - neither boss is an aquatic creature, therefore the venue is simply provided as a break from the hunt. You can swim around different rock formations, take in some fishing, or even take down some of the tamed creatures and harvest their meat and bones. However, since you must dispatch your main target within 20 minutes, you won’t have much time to stop and smell the roses… or seaweed. Between dodging and attacking, and chasing after the big baddie when it retreats, you better know exactly what you are looking for from the surrounding plants and wildlife to supplement your inventory, or that timer will expire and you will have just wasted 20 minutes of your life. Hopefully the full version of the game will allow you to at least revisit cleared areas without a timer, in order to fully explore and enjoy what the flora and fauna has to offer. Finally, although the various battlefields were visually interesting, I did feel like I was trapped in an arena, and pray that the finished world is much more open and expansive.


After viewing the cinematic trailer, the world just may be. From the brief clips of the different locales, it looks as if your hunts take you from one end of the globe to another, battling in barren deserts, snowy peaks, molten volcanoes, and of course under the sea. The graphics look to be very polished and lag free, which is surprising considering the immensity of the foes. While we can surmise that the PS3 would have offered absolutely pristine colouring and texturing, Capcom seems to have squeezed every graphical bit out of the Wii. It will definitely be interesting to see how the frame rate holds up when the monsters, background effects, and multiple online players are on the same screen. Which takes me to my final point - multiplayer. While it looks like you are completely within your right to attempt a hunt single-handedly (*gulp*), looking at the trailer it would appear that a well balanced group of heroes is the way to go. Some hunts may be very well near impossible to handle alone, and thus we are blessed with the aforementioned communication tools to hook up with friends (or possibly strangers) and head on out into the field of battle. If successful, Capcom will have finally found a way to breach Nintendo’s limited and often frustrating online venue, which would certainly get cheers from this multiplayer hungry Nintendophile.

Monster Hunter Tri will be released in the U.S. and Europe on April 20th and April 23rd respectively, so get you sharpening blades out and your Broadband cleared, because the hunt is about to begin.

Sean

Labels: Demo Impressions, First impressions, Monster Hunter, Nintendo, Wii

Ever since this game was announced I’ve been waiting on pins and needles for a chance to get my hands on it. Now that a playable demo has been released on the PSN and Xbox Live, I finally did. I know curious Bat-Fans want to know; was it worth the wait? You can bet your green Robin speedos it was! Even though the demo only gave me a little taste of what to expect of Arkham Asylum, I’m going to go ahead and say that this game brings you the Dark Knight at his finest.

The demo begins with Batman bringing the Joker into Arkham Asylum, the home away from home for Gotham City’s criminally insane. All hell breaks loose when the Joker escapes custody inside the Asylum’s walls, and Batman soon discovers he’s walked into a trap. The inmates are running the Asylum and you’ve just delivered them Gotham’s Crowned Prince of Crime to help them run the show. Of course, now that everything is going to hell the game lets you take control of things.



Now, even though the system works well and is definitely fun, I have to say that the combat was probably what I liked least about the demo. Sure, Batman looks amazing while letting loose those oh so flashy moves, but even though the fights look hard-hitting, they don’t feel hard-hitting. All in all I found the combat to be more style than substance, which wasn’t helped at all by the fact that the enemies were extremely easy to take down (I’m pretty sure I wasn’t hit once). Hopefully the difficulty was watered down for the demo, and extra combat options in the final game (by way of combos) will help spice things up.



The rest of the scenarios the demo set up were far more interesting to me, with a strong emphasis on stealth, strategy and resourcefulness. The best example of this is the last area of the demo, a wide open space being patrolled by four of the Joker’s henchmen. Armed henchmen + direct approach = lifeless Bat - hence, its time to put your thinking cap on. And think you shall, because the great thing about the game is that there are tons of different ways to take this challenge on, and each time I played through I took a different approach.

Here’s just one example: As I walk into the area (carefully avoiding stepping on my cape, mind you) I notice gargoyles set up on the walls surrounding the room. I quickly grapple on to the nearest one and survey the room. I dispatch the first guard quickly enough by glide kicking off the gargoyle. Having found his companion down, the next henchman arrives to inspect the area, I’m hanging upside down from the gargoyle waiting for him of course and quickly zip down, grab the unsuspecting b**tard, and leave him hanging off the gargoyle from his ankles (I had a little geek-gasm right there).



I taunt the two remaining henchmen by throwing a few batarangs their way while perched high above them on the gargoyles. By now these baddies are completely terrified, so much so that they begin to shoot at inoffensive cauldrons just because they made a noise. No joke. The henchmen were scared out of their minds, because of me, Batman. One word: Awesome. With the baddies in such a state it was fairly simple to glide down from the gargoyles and pull off stealth knockouts from behind the jittery goons. It was somewhere between perching up on the first gargoyle and hanging the second henchman from said gargoyle that I realized it: this will most likely be the best Batman game ever made. And here’s why: I felt like Batman. For a few minutes, I was Batman.

Making you feel like Batman is accomplished not only by making you a complete badass, but also by giving you access to all of the Dark Knight’s nifty gadgets. A great example is the cowl’s detective vision, which tints the screen blue, identifies enemies and friendlies as red and blue skeletons respectively (comes equipped with x-ray vision, as expected), and gives you an insane amount of information about your surroundings. Want to know if your opponents are calm, nervous or terrified? The cowl will measure their heart beats and let you know. Do you need to know that the security box controlling the doors was designed by Wayne Industries and programmed by Lucious Fox? Well, no, but the cowl gives you this information anyway, and the fact that the developers took the time to put such an incredible amount of detail into the game is just astounding, and comic fans, like yours truly, are sure to appreciate it.



As for the game's graphics - well, lets just say the developers had “an attention to detail” fetish apparently. Simply put, character models in the game are extremely well done. Batman, Joker and Commisioner Gordon all look great in the Demo, and truth of the matter is that even the random goons are sporting an impressive amount of detail. Yup, the graphics of the game don’t disappoint, as the developers made sure to create characters and environments that feel ultra-realistic with a comic world feel (think Watchmen). If I’m going to nitpick I do have to say that I found the character animations during the cutscenes a bit stiff, but just a bit, and it was nothing I couldn’t easily overlook, given how gorgeous Batman looks in motion during gameplay - I could spend hours looking at the cape flutter in the air. Well, maybe not hours but a good solid 5 minutes for sure.

I’ll leave it at this. The demo is impressive, really impressive. I’m excited about the game and have extremely high hopes for the finished product; however, although it might seem like it, I am not 100% sold. There are two reasons for this: Easy combat can be a huge problem for an action game, and can sink a lengthy adventure into the black hole that is repetitive gameplay; and there's the 'Comic-Book-Game Curse' - this isn’t the first time comic nerds around the world have gone into a collective frenzy of anticipation for a game, just to have their hopes crushed. What will be the final verdict on Arkham Asylum? I guess we won’t know just how good Batman’s latest venture into the videogame world will be until August 25th, but one thing I can tell you for sure, when Batman goes through those Asylum gates, I’ll be going along for the ride. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Joey

Labels: Batman: Arkham Asylum, Demo Impressions, Joey Núñez

I love fighting games. I love the Final Fantasy Franchise. Needless to say when Dissidia: Final Fantasy was announced for the PSP I was pretty darn excited… so excited that I finally made up my mind to go out and buy a PSP. A demo of Dissidia was recently launched on the PlayStation Network and, of course, I have been playing it non-stop for a couple of days now. As the responsible gamer that I am, I figured I could rip my claws off of my PSP for a while and put you guys in the know, GGTL style.

What’s that? You've been living as a hermit for the last few months and don’t know what the heck “Dissidia” is? Fear not, faithful reader! We’ve got your back. Dissidia is a Square-Enix fighting game which pits the main heroes of the first ten Final Fantasy games against their respective villains, in an all out war of Good versus Evil. Ever dream of pitting Terra, of FF VI fame, against FF X’s Jecht? Or delude endlessly about taking on the infamous Sephiroth with FF X’s Tidus? Well, now you can. A fan boy couldn’t have set this up better.

When starting up the demo you'll have the choice of choosing from either a normal or hard mode. Once you’ve decided just how badass you are and what difficulty you can manage, it’s time to choose your character. A total of 5 characters can be selected: The Onion Knight (Hero of Final Fantasy III), Cecil (Hero of Final Fantasy IV), Terra (Hero of Final Fantasy VI), Cloud (Hero of Final Fantasy VII) and Sephiroth (Villian of Final Fanstasy VII). This is a pretty decent roster for a demo version of the game, especially since all of the characters offer up very different play experiences, and not to mention both Cloud and Sephiroth, obvious fan favorites, have both been included. I should also point out that in your battles you’ll encounter a set of completely different opponents (so far I’ve run into Zidane, Squall, Kefka, Firion, and others).

So you’ve chosen your difficulty level and you character. Now it’s on to the good stuff. Cue epic battles please.

Setting aside the recent comeback of 2-D fighters (spearheaded by Street Fighter 4, and propelled even further by Blazblue), Dissidia decides to stick to a fully 3-D battle field, and when I say 3-D, I really mean 3-D. If you’ve ever played Kingdom Hearts 2 you have sort of an idea of how these fights work. With the press of a button you can send your opponent flying across the huge 3-D battle field, which you move around on by running, jumping, gliding and (a very cool transport option) grinding on surfaces and lines of light set up across the field (à la Infamous).

I won’t get too into detail on the fighting system given that this is just a demo version of the game, however, I can give you the basics. As stated, you and your opponent are on a huge 3-D field and, like most fighting games, your objective is to beat your opponent into humiliating submission. There are three basic gauges you have to be aware of: Your HP gauge, Your EX gauge and, the FF twist, your Bravery points.

The HP gauge is pretty standard fare - each time you get hit with a square button attack you lose Hit Points, or HP, and once you lose it all, you’re done for. As for the EX Gauge, you don’t have to worry about this depleting; rather, you need to set your mind to filling it up. You can accomplish this by nabbing EX cores on the battlefield, and once the gauge is full you can enter EX Mode. This is a special mode which can entail a transformation of your character, or a switch of your character's weapon. In any case, what it really means is your opponent is in for one hell of a beating, as you can unleash special Limit Break style attacks while powered up.

Finally there are the Bravery Points: now pay attention, this can get tricky. Both characters have an assigned number of Bravery Points, or BP; every time you successfully land a circle button attack you gain BP, making your attacks stronger and your opponent's defense weaker. Get it? BP attacks won’t deplete HP but they will make your standard attacks a hell of a lot stronger while, at the same time, weakening your opponent. The system is odd, and can take some getting used to, but it works.

As for the technical stuff, well the demo looks and sounds beautiful. Dissidia has highly detailed 3D characters, with gorgeous animations, and yet the battlefields (all in all) are a bit bland. However, the somewhat boring locations are completely made up for by the awesome music score - all battles are accompanied by remixed versions of famous Final Fantasy songs, which are of course of an incredibly high quality.

Controls are easy enough, as PSP controls go. I did have some trouble handling the camera, and movement in the huge field can get tricky (there are a lot of options open to you so it can get confusing), but the more I play the easier it becomes.

If you haven’t been able to tell so far, I am very excited about this game. If you’re at all curious, do yourself a favor and download the demo (it's free!) off the PSN, and see if Dissidia might be for you - you’ll need about 78MB of free space. However, if you're not into demos, just wait for GGTL’s official review once the game is released on August 25th.

Joey

Labels: Demo Impressions, Dissidia Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy, Joey Núñez, Square Enix

For those of you who haven't heard of it, Steam is a PC based download program that hosts lots of new games, demos and other media. It's owned by that great developer Valve, and apart from developing genre defining titles, such as Half Life, Left 4 Dead and Counterstrike, they update it weekly with various media, including full games, demos and more. This week's demos included one that I had only seen a small part of before and as such I wasn't sure how good it would be - that title being Trine. The demo downloaded very quickly, and soon I was listening to the opening story.

Labels: Demo Impressions, Jacques Hulme, Steam, Trine

Now, I must start this article by admitting that I never played the first F.E.A.R game. There was no demo available, and I really didn't want to fork out more than twenty quid for a game which I may or may not have liked. However, things are different this time around; a demo has been released for the latest from Warner Bros, F.E.A.R2: Project Origin.

There isn't much of an insight to the story in this demo, just one hell of alot of shooting. It's obvious, from the flashbacks which the player experiences to the pure and total destruction everywhere, that a disaster has happened. Why, though, there are armed guards trying to kill you, and why there are multiple ghostly spirits and other-worldly creatures is yet to be seen.

The demo begins with a very flashy cutscene, some scary lighting effects and some eerie background sound. All par for the course in a horror game, you might think. However, you soon find that F.E.A.R2 isn't the most frightening game you've ever laid your hands on. It's creepy, I'll give it that much, but to call it a horror game would be a little too kind.

There are some things that Warner have got just right in the horror department, though. The graphics are dark and moody and there's a few of those 'what was that I saw' moments, where you look again and whatever you did see has now gone. They're the sort of bits in the demo that are quite freaky.

Gameplay is good, and shooting in the game solid. The aiming systems feel very similar to those of Call of Duty 4; but, then again, what shooters aren't compared to CoD nowadays? The use of slowmo is well implemented and is essential to beating the game, especially with the hordes of enemies who flock to the first sign of gunfire. The weapons feel good, although there isn't much difference between the feel of the same types; the sub-machine gun is very similar to the assault rifle, bar the fact that they have different scopes. The bad side is the gore; it's out of place and actually takes away from the creepy feel of the demo.

F.E.A.R2 looks like one of those games which you might pick up on a whim because you like the boxart or the screenshots look good. Another reason why you might pick it up is the fact that you like shooters, or you were a fan of the first. However, the likelyhood of the matter is that F.E.A.R 2 is probably one of those 'pick it up when it's £14.99 pre-owned' games. Definitely rent before you buy.

It's a shame. I was hoping to be wetting myself with fright.

Linford

Labels: Demo Impressions, FEAR2

Okay, so sports and games have always had a bit of a love affair going on. For football there's FIFA and Pro Evo; for basketball there's NBA and for boxing fans there's Fight Night. There's even PGA tour, if you love golf so much you want to play it indoors, on your PS3. However, you just know things are getting silly when fans of parkour, or freerunning, get a little bit of gaming heaven. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Mirror's Edge.

Mirror's Edge comes from one of EA's many studios, and takes the player into a modern city where a group of freerunners are used to relay messages, unbeknown to the government. However, the danger doesn't stop at great heights or falling off a zipline; government agents attempt to track you down and shoot you, while you have to jump, run and fight your way out of the pickle you're in. It's all quite snazzy.

The demo was very promising. The controls were easy to master, with all upwards tricks being controlled by L1 and downwards moves by L2. Fighting was good, too, with the ability to counter-attack and disarm opponents. The guns resembled a Walther PPK in design and were satifsying to shoot, although lacked much graphical 'shapow'.

The full game will follow Faith, the main character, and her journey through the danger of being a parkour messenger. The game will feature a Time Trial mode, as does the demo, but the demo version of the mode can only be accessed with a pre-order keycode. Graphics are good, although a little cartoony and occassionally slightly pixelated in cutscenes.

Mirror's Edge is a surprisingly original take on the sports genre, and incorporation of combat for the more violent of players is sure to lure many shooter fans into buying the game. I know the one group of people they were aiming for, though, and I doubt they'll deny it.

Adrenaline junkies.

Linford

Labels: Demo Impressions, EA, Freerunning/Parkour

A demo for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed was recently released on PSN/XBL and as a big Star Wars fan I jumped at the chance to try the eagerly anticipated LucasArts game.

One thing that I picked up whilst watching ‘making-of’ videos of SW:TFU was their intent to let players “kick ass” with the force as much as possible. And boy does that intent get through. Within five minutes of the start of the demo (which stands at a meaty 1.6GB) I was able to pick up and throw a TIE fighter at those pesky rebel troops.

What was disappointing though was the lack of strength of the lightsaber had, most notably when compared to one of my favourite games of all time, PS1 epic: Star Wars: Episode 1 Power Battles. I never really felt the need to use the series’ iconic weapon when I could do so much more damage with the force powers given. But maybe in the full game there will be combos available to make fighting with the lightsaber more fun.

Also a disappointment was the voice of Darth Vader in the game. I guess after watching the original trilogy more than thirty times I was probably going to pick up on every little inaccuracy in the voice. But the voice acting isn’t so bad that I was disappointed by what was a very fun, if short demo.

Matt

Writer’s note: Mace Windu is awesome.

Labels: Demo Impressions, Matthew, Matthew Meadows, Star Wars