Sucker Punch’s PS3 debut revolves around a deliveryman in Empire City that unknowingly sets off a huge bomb in the city centre, causing the city to be taken over by a plague and your character, Cole, to receive electricity-related superpowers. InFamous is an original game with no games or fiction (save a small 24 page comic) to come before it, so Sucker Punch really had to work hard to nail Cole, and Empire City’s personality to make this a first-rate origin story, and they did. I thought that Cole’s voice acting, while mocked by many in the press, is fitting to a character that unwittingly killed thousands of people, and that his friends, Zeke and John were well fleshed out, and definitely stood up on their own.

Moral Choices in videogames have been as “in” as Keyboard Cat ever since Mass Effect, and InFamous willingly jumps on the bandwagon. Along the way to the game’s ending you will be confronted by moral choices. These can vary from choosing whether you want to have a “good” or “evil” poster with your face on it, to deciding the fate of the city later on in the game. Your choices in these moments push your “karma” (My name is Cole?) towards good or evil, which changes the way normal citizens, and other characters react to you. There are also some powers which can only be unlocked by going one way or the other down the karma path, which basically forces you to be all the way good or all the way bad - there is no ‘neutral’ karma in this game. I played through the game twice, once good and once bad and found that the powers were a little more fun while being evil, but that I really felt awful making some of the decisions I did.

As the game develops Cole gets more and more powerful leaving you with the decision of “do I take over the city, or save what’s left”. The game definitely does a good job of giving you the powers to act on your decision with awe-inspiringly lethal powers. These powers basically replace guns that you would expect to find in a game of this genre. The normal lightning attack replicates a rifle, the Megawatt Hammer replicates a rocket launcher, and Lighting Storm replicates…I don’t know, something really badass. All of the powers are upgraded using XP earned by completing missions or killing bad guys – but the upgrades you get depend on whether you are good or evil. Good powers generally receive upgrades that make the powers more precise and lethal, whereas evil powers just cause an extra area of damage, making you feel like a dick for killing hundreds of innocent people.

Alongside the main mission there are lots of distractions. There are trophies for any people (such as myself) who are sufficiently insane to collect all two hundred and something “shards” and thirty something “dead-drops” (which are audio clips that help flesh out the story really well). It took me about 30 hours to go through the story twice and get the platinum trophy, but I’ve heard from others that it can take up to 40 hours to do.

However much I have poured over InFamous’ good points, it isn’t a perfect game. The game starts off really hard, enough so that I nearly stopped playing, because at that point Cole hasn’t got all of his powers. But after the first 3 or 4 hours it gets easier, to a point at the end of the game were a small flick of the down button can kill 7 enemies effortlessly. This end-game power is actually great, as it really feels like Cole has developed from a small battery to a nuclear power plant in terms of power, which is, if truth be told, very rewarding.

Another bad point, if minor, is the main bad guy; Kessler. He may be tough and, at times, badass, but his voice acting is atrocious. Seriously, he sounds like the stupidest person on the planet. The only comparison I can make is that of the voice of the doll in the Saw movies. Ugh.

Anyway, I digress, InFamous is a great example of how an open world, superhero action game should be made. At no point does the game stop you from having immense amounts of fun. Everyone with a PS3 that likes action games should buy this. Good job Sucker Punch!

9/10

Matt

Labels: InFamous, Matthew, Matthew Meadows, Review

Before E3 started earlier this month, I made a list of ‘dream game’ announcements that I would love to have seen happen. But did any of them happen?

Dream Number 1: New Kojima IP

No. Kojima-san announced that he was working on a new PSP game – Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and a 360/PS3 game based on Raiden’s story – Metal Gear Solid: Rising. Despite a little bit of disappointment that Kojima isn’t trying something new, I am looking forward to seeing more about Peace Walker’s story which is set in 1970s Costa Rica during the height of the Cold War.

Dream Number 2: Final Fantasy 7/8 re-make, or re-release

There wasn’t any hint of a re-make at E3 but I correctly predicted that FF7 would be released on the PS Store during or on the day of Sony’s press conference. This game is sure to sell A LOT on the store, and hopefully will push Square to release more of their PS1 classics.

Dream Number 3: The Elder Scrolls V

Nope. Bethesda is hard at work on Fallout 3 DLC, Fallout: New Vegas, WET, Rouge Warrior and Brink.

Dream Number 4: Mirror’s Edge 2

It’s happening. While strictly not at E3, Mirror’s Edge 2 was announced to be in development a couple of days ago. Hopefully it’ll retain the original’s amazing art style.

Dream Number 5: Bully 2

When Mr. Jack Tretton, Sony Computer Entertainment’s CEO, came on stage on the 2^nd of June and announced the PS3 exclusive Agent, he briefly mentioned Bully. Awesome, I thought, he’s going to announce a new Bully! But alas, it was not to be. Still; Agent does sound good.

1.5/5 isn’t that bad…oh well, maybe next year.

Matt

Labels: Bully, E3 2009, FF7, FF8, Matthew, Matthew Meadows, MGS, TES

In the UK; June and May represent the times when all students collectilely use exams as an excuse to not do anything else hard. This exam period proved no different, and GGTL got a little...quiet.

Labels: Matthew, Matthew Meadows, Misc., Writer's note

On the off-chance you didn't know - GGTL will be liveblogging E3 09 on our E3 sister site: ggtlate3.blogspot.com. Go check it out later on when we will be covering Microsoft's press conference live at 6:20pm UK time.

Labels: E3 2009, Matthew, Matthew Meadows, Microsoft

Punch-out is Nintendo’s latest attempt to appeal to the game-hungry hardcore fans that have followed the brand since the NES days. But will this game live up to the wishes of those rose-tinted-spec wearing gamers? Maybe.

The game uses the same perspective as the hit NES boxing games of the same franchise. This is good in concept, but could present a few problems in the gameplay front – as games and the people that play them have moved along in the past 22 years.

However, fortunately, the game may differentiate from the original games through usage of two control schemes. One of which is a so called “Classic Control” scheme, and one of which uses the motion functionality. While at first I was glad to hear this, normally one of the control schemes in games that feature two schemes sucks really badly (see motion control in Motorstorm).

I hope that isn’t the case here however as this game could just be a sleeper hit of 09’ if the developers don’t rely too much on nostalgia and focus more on effective, modern, but still classic gameplay.

Matt

Labels: Matthew, Matthew Meadows, Month of Hype, Punchout

MONTH OF HYPE POSTS

Punchout

It’s 2009, and…well, things have been a little quiet. Although there have been big releases in the form of Killzone 2, Resident Evil 5, Street Fighter 4 and of course 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, there hasn’t been a lot in between. However, fear not, as this year still has potential to be a memorable one.

GGTL’s month of hype aims to educate you, the reader, about what’s coming in 09, and why you should be pumped for it. Over the next month you’ll be seeing post after post on games ranging from Modern Warfare 2 to Pro Evolution Soccer 2010.

Later on today or tomorrow I’ll be starting the month off with a preview post of Punch-out which looks to add to the Wii’s catalogue of retro remakes.

Matt

Labels: Matthew, Matthew Meadows, Month of Hype

The trailer for Codemaster's upcoming free-roaming race-em-up FUEL was just released, and well...it looks amazing. Sure, you might argue that it looks a little like Evolution Studio's Motorstorm, but let me ask you this: is Motorstorm set in a quasi post-apocalyptic world with very little fuel? No. Does Motorstorm have 100,000 miles of roads? No. Does Motorstorm have a 40km draw distance. No.

All in all this is one of my most anticipated games of 2009. It genuinely looks like it could deliver a fun, and gorgeous racing experience, one that I haven't seen since Burnout Paradise.

For God's sake the game world is the size of Northern Ireland! This game is gonna be awesome!

Labels: FUEL, Matthew, Matthew Meadows, Trailer

Fallout: New Vegas will be released by Obsidian Entertainment - a company made up of developers that left Black Isle studios (the makers of much adored Fallout 2) - in 2010.

Labels: Bethesda, Fallout, Matthew, Matthew Meadows, Obsidian

Pro Evolution Soccer - a favourite franchise for me, and I’m sure many readers out there - will be expanding its game roster with…PES 2010. Sure the name isn’t original but what is in this new football game? Take a look at some of the standout points on Konami’s press release:

• New zonal marking system.
• Better referees and goalkeepers - hopefully a huge improvement over 2009.
• Improved animations, player likeness and visuals. If that means no more cardboard fans, then count me in.
• Commentary altered. Maybe I'll be able to go 2 matches without turning it off as opposed to 1?
• Revamped Master League, with more details to be announced soon.
• Better AI
• New penalty system, a game seller for sure.
• Enhanced online...which you will need 50 different Konami IDs and passwords for!
  

Labels: Matthew, Matthew Meadows, PES 2010

A new PSN/XBLA/WiiWare game from Curve Studios of Buzz! fame is coming sometime in 2009. Apparently the point is you have to explode to get extra charge? I don't know, maybe you can make more sense out of it than me from this trailer.

Matt

Labels: Explodemon, Matthew, Matthew Meadows, PSN, WiiWare, XBLA

Hey, just thought I'd let you guys know that the reason I haven't been writing as much recently is that I have been playing a lot of Persona 4 - which I don't know if any of you know - is very very long. Like 70 hours long. So expect a review for that within the next couple of weeks.

Labels: Coming soon, Matthew, Matthew Meadows

Killzone 2 is Sony’s latest attempt to release a flagship game for its PS3. Lair was met with angry chorus, Heavenly Sword disappointed many and Haze was…terrible. Can Guerrilla Games’ effort meet the expectations of killer-app thirsty fans? Yes.

For those that haven’t been paying attention to the last 3 or 4 years of video games: Killzone 2 is a first person shooter set in an alternate reality. The Helghast are a race of human-like people that are, to all intents and purposes, trying to control the star system. The ISA are the “good guys” that, after being invaded in the first game, are trying to exact their revenge by invading Helghan.

Whilst this back-story is pretty clichéd, the characters do a good job of presenting themselves as real foot soldiers that, while being important, are still part of a much bigger war that would go on with, or without them. Voice acting is okay for most of the characters, but Rico is poorly voiced, and sounds pretty fake.

I’m going to get onto the bit you’re interested in. Graphics. Do they look amazing? Yes. Is this the best looking game on any console? Yes. Can they be bettered? Apart from a couple of loading freezes, no.

Gunplay in this game is great, with an assault rifle that could shoot a fly from a mile away; you’ll find yourself popping off Helghast helmets easily. Even with this ease the game never becomes dull, as later on you find yourself in situations where accuracy doesn’t matter anymore, because you’ll be, “No fighting in the war room” (CoD 4) style, ducking behind stuff while crying for mercy.

I’ve played around 10 hours of the online, and while I can’t say it’s as good as Call of Duty 4, it is at least comparable, with a semi-similar class system that seems more dependant on completing side-objectives (e.g. revive 3 people in 1 match) than normal ranking up. This can be frustrating as you find yourself playing in a way that just get’s that side-objective done, as opposed to putting in a 100% effort to help your team win.

However, when it comes down to it, the online mode really delivers, especially because of the match format. All modes are rolled into one 30 minute (approx.) violence orgy that promises to set your heart beating as fast as it has since…well…Call of Duty 4.

All in all, this game will deliver on the hype that Sony put on it – but the extent to which it goes beyond all of that hype probably depends on how much you like online gaming.

9/10

Matt

Labels: Killzone 2, Matthew, Matthew Meadows, Review

Imagine my delight this morning when I woke up to find a coffee next to me, my cat lying on the bed, and a fresh, unwrapped copy of Killzone 2. Following the orders that my still half-asleep brain gave me, I unwrapped the copy and placed it into my PS3. With a 3 or 4 hours before college started (I go in at 2pm and leave at 3pm on Fridays) I decided to get stuck in and give you some first impressions. 

As the game loads into the campaign mode I’m greeted by an impressive, awe-inspiring cutscene. It scares me that I don’t know whether it was pre-rendered or gameplay footage, but either way it was amazing. The general plot seems to be that the ISA (good guys) is pushing back the Helghans (bad guys) from the invasion seen in the first game.

My immediate impressions of the controls were not good. They felt heavily weighted, a problem which apparently was visable in the first game, and the controls didn’t match the standard FPS scheme (CoD4). However, over a short period of time, about 20 minutes, the controls quickly warmed to me, and I found myself really enjoying using the ISA’s default rifle, with it’s ultra accurate dot-sight.

I only had a chance to play one or two matches online. What I played there, was breathtaking. Stunning visuals which matched the single player mode, atmospheric explosions and gun shots all around, NO LAG (J) and a lot of over excited kids that really should have been in colle…I mean school. The way that the multiplayer works is that there aren't any kind of set game modes. You enter a game which should last you about 30-40 minutes, and during that time you’re given multiple objectives. From what I’ve played, the system works really well, and should keep gamers from piling onto one game type (I’m looking at you Search and Destroy on CoD4).

From what I have seen, this game ISN’T a reason to buy a PS3. But this along with Uncharted, Resistance, God of War and Metal Gear Solid, really should get you thinking about buying the black behemoth.

Matt

Labels: First impressions, Killzone 2, Matthew, Matthew Meadows

So I just made a twitter account. If you wanna hear more of my thoughts on games and such, go to www.twitter.com/meadows14.

Matt

Labels: Matthew, Matthew Meadows, Misc.

Flower is thatgamecompany’s 2^nd game on the PSN, and 3^rd game overall. I haven’t played the companies 2 previous games, Fl0w and Cloud, but after playing this, I think I’m gonna have to. Flower’s art style and production values have shone through in this PSN effort.

So what is this game? I'll try my best here but I can't promise that this will be an accurate description of what the game is. You start off the game as a single petal in a colourless field. After you extract the petal from the flower your aim is to blow it around the map, touching other flowers as you go, all the while releasing colour into the previously grey surroundings.

One problem that this game might have is its relatively high price, considering that it’s very short. The game costs $10/£6.30/€8. To be honest, if you were looking for a long lasting game, you probably weren’t looking at Flower. But if you were, then don’t expect this game to provide more than 3 or 4 hours of entertainment.

As you can tell from this review’s images, this game looks great. Combining excellent grass effects with a wonderfully bright/moody sky really makes this game stand out, especially considering its price. If you appreciate well crafted graphics with no noticeable flaws then get this game.

Now, I hate to be “that guy” that brings up the debate over whether video games are an art form. But this game really strays the boundary between game and art. On one hand I’m playing it with a controller, but on the other hand it’s like no “game” I’ve played before.

Get to the point, you’re probably thinking. So I will. I can’t score this game. It’s just simply too much of a subjective experience for me to guide you on whether to pay £6.30 for it. All I will leave you with is two links that seem to describe popular feeling on the internet for this game.

Review
Forum

Matt

Unrelated note: We have had some problems with the ShockCast. We recorded the first episode over Skype but the audio quality was terrible. If you have any VoIP recording suggestions then please email me at matthewmeadows@hotmail.co.uk.

Labels: Flower, Matthew, Matthew Meadows, PSN, Review

Mirror’s Edge was released in 2008 by DICE. I haven’t reviewed it until now because I hadn’t felt like I’d finished with it. But now, after completing it 4 times, I can tell you that it is fantastic, for me, but might not be for other gamers. 

You see, I’m an odd type of gamer. Whereas some complain about frustrating gameplay, I love it. Remember that Burnout demo? I set myself a course stretching the entire length of the sizeable demo level and challenged myself to complete it at full boost without crashing. 15 hours later I did it. Sounds like hell? Well you probably won’t like this game.

The reason I make the connection between the Burnout challenge and Mirror’s Edge is that they both offer incredible frustration. At times Mirror’s Edge can be the hardest, most unforgiving game in the world. At other times it can be a free flowing, rewarding experience which will leave you gawping at the excellence of the first-person camera perspective.

However, even the masochistic gamers like myself, will hate the combat. While hand-to-hand combat is passable, the shooting really blows. If you dare fire at any target more than 1 meter away you will undoubtedly miss, due to the terrible aiming controls of the guns. What annoys me the most is that the developers probably justify this lack of accuracy by saying “oh, well, your not supposed to use guns, it’s a platformer”. Bullshit. Let me tell you now, when you get onto a certain section of the game that takes place on a boat, you will agree with me 100%.

If you appreciate good art style you’re in for an absolute treat. Mirror’s Edge is my favourite looking game of all time. Sure Killzone 2 looks nice, and sure Uncharted wasn’t without it’s charm, but Mirror’s Edge paints the important parts of the game in different colours making the game look like a 6 year old’s painting that has been sharpened by Picasso.

The score I’m about to give is for you guys. You are the ones who may or may not purchase the game because of this and as such it would be irresponsible for me to give it a 10/10 (which is my personal score). Because of the frustration factor, which will turn a lot of gamers off, I just can’t recommend it for everyone. 

5/10 

Matt

Labels: Matthew, Matthew Meadows, Mirrors Edge, Review

As Linford pointed out, we are on the verge of a new GGTL experience, a GGTL 2.0 if you will. This "experience" does begin, but doesn't end with the ShockCast. Expect the site to start delivering videos and other interactive tidbits.

We said we wanted to provide you with the complete gaming news website and we're committed to fulfilling that promise.

If you have any ideas on improving the site in ANY way, or even some criticisms, email me at matthewmeadows@hotmail.co.uk. Who knows, your name might get read out on a podcast!

Matt

Labels: 2.0, Matthew, Matthew Meadows, Misc., ShockCast

First off, sorry about not posting for a while. A wonderful cocktail of coursework, exams and illness (along with laziness) prevented me from doing so.

Skate 2 is the latest in EA’s skateboarding franchise. Whilst this game offers little difference from the last, it’s still a solid game, with only a few problems.

In case you didn’t know, the Skate franchise’s success is based on it’s utilisation of the right stick. The right stick is used to do all kick based tricks (ollie, nollie, kickflip, pop shuvit etc), and the left stick is used to direct the player. This system works really well if you are allowed to just go around and “jam” (def: do whatever you want), but when the game forces you to pull off certain tricks to progress, it can get tricky, especially since there are literally about 30 tricks mapped onto the stick, which isn’t the most accurate input in the world.

You won’t have had to have bought the first Skate to understand what’s going on in Skate 2. The near complete lack of any story means that you can just pick this game up straight away. However, the lack of story really put the game on a downer for me, the thing I loved about Tony Hawk: Underground was its great, if tacky plotline, and although the Skate series has improved on the Tony Hawk gameplay formula it’s still a big ol’ shame to not have any real substance behind the gameplay.

The online is a big improvement over the first game, and pretty much the only big difference between Skate 1 and 2 (along with on-foot “gameplay” which I’ll talk about later). There’s all your normal online skating stuff like S.K.A.T.E, which works like H.O.R.S.E of basketball fame, a Hall of Meat mode, which challenges you to get the most bail-points, and a few other standard modes. But the cool thing for me was the spot downloader. If someone online made a “spot” (a place to skate) then you could play it and try and beat their score. The beauty of this feature is its competitive nature; if anyone takes my Cougar Mountain high score, they're dead.

The gameplay of Skate 2 is both its main good quality, and main downfall. When your stringing together quad-kickflips over a staircase, its amazing, but when you get told to do a varial heelflip 360 over a security guard infested staircase, you want to throw the game out of the window. Seriously, at times the game is unnecessarily hard, and not in a good way, in a; why didn’t it register that I did a heelflip instead of a pop-shuvit way. Add onto this, the game’s terrible on-foot controls, which feel like they were made by a five man Soviet game development group coming straight outta Vladivostok, then you get a teeth grinding, frustrating  (at times) game.

Overall, if you’re a really zen person, with massive amounts of patience then you’ll enjoy this game, but if you’re a hot headed idiot with uncontrollable thumbs, like me, then give this game a miss.

6/10

Matt

Labels: Matthew, Matthew Meadows, Review, Skate 2

I know the original plan was to do this on video, but I decided that it would be little more than me talking to a camera for 5 minutes, holding game boxes if I didn't do it this way. Anyway; 2008 was a great year. Here are my top 5 from it:

#5 Resistance 2


Resistance 2 should be used as an example for all game developers. Easy to pick up and play, hard to master. Great online mode, no lag. Amazing co-op gameplay with classes that actually work together; Resistance 2 does it all. Well maybe not, it has all of the fundamentals of a classic…but at times it feels like that’s all it has, fundamentals.

#4 Mirror’s Edge


Mirror’s Edge is the most unique game I have played all year. Even though combat is a big let down, and at times the missions can be frustrating (see boat level), the times when you run from rooftop to rooftop being chased by the police, are among the best of the year. Just as a note, ME has my favourite art style in a game ever.

#3 Grand Theft Auto 4


GTA 4 represents a more mature GTA series in times to come. I welcome this change. Whilst other games can boast of “amazing” character creation or “ground-breaking” user generated content, GTA 4 is one of the only games in history that have ever captured the feeling of a real city.

#2 Burnout Paradise


This is what racing games should be like. I don’t want to tune a car’s engine; I want to smash it to hell while jumping off a car park roof. I don’t want boring tutorials; I want to smash a car to hell, while jumping off a car park roof. I don’t want to change my car’s tyres, I want to smash it to he- OK, you get the picture. Burnout shows racing at its very best.

#1 Fallout 3



Fallout 3 has a great setting. Sure, at first it looks like a bunch of rocks and debris scattered around a wasteland, but if you dig deeper, what you find is an immersive world full of rich characters with good voice acting (at times), and a fun combat system. However, the thing that made this my game of the year was all of the little finishing touches. Stumbling on an exhibition in a museum that contains a replica vault complete with car salesman-like voiceover? Amazing.

Matt

Labels: Burnout, Fallout, Game of the Year 2008, Grand Theft Auto, Matthew, Matthew Meadows, Mirrors Edge, Resistance 2

Keep on gaming!

Labels: Matthew, Matthew Meadows