On the morning of November 2, Rockstar gobsmacked the gaming community with the announcement trailer for Grant Theft Auto V, a quick, teasing look at the publisher’s newest tale of guns, cars and criminal activity in the big city.

Twitter and the gaming press were absolutely alight with speculation about the title’s story, how the actual game will play out and what other possible elements might have been hinted in the minute or so of footage released. This sort of behaviour is far from unexpected; Grand Theft Auto is one of the industry’s most popular franchises, and it only makes sense that the announcement would be greeted with such enthusiasm from the gaming community.

So why don't I feel that excited about it?

I suppose I shouldn't be so surprised; the Grand Theft Auto titles aren’t my gaming sweet spot, and never really have been. Granted, I've had my fair share of mayhem-causing sessions in GTA III and Vice City back in the day, and I can definitely appreciate the expert craftsmanship the Rockstar applies to all of its titles, as well as why so many people love the franchise so dearly. That said, the GTA series just doesn't click with me in the way that it does with over 22 million gamers worldwide, and I'll do my best to try to explain why.


For one, Grand Theft Auto titles have always been too big for my taste. By this, I don't mean that the play areas are too big - one of my favourite parts of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker was sailing around and exploring the humongous map - but, rather, that there's simply too much of it. The sheer amount of time and willpower I need to commit in order to experience more than a small portion of what a Grand Theft Auto game offers is staggering, and something that I can't quite get around. Certainly too much of a good thing can only be a good thing, but GTA for me has always been too much of a... thing.

This is because I never know whether it's good or not. Any given GTA experience (and I've played III, Vice City, San Andreas, and IV) always leaves me feeling like I've been spinning my wheels, peddling along until maybe, maybe, I'll get to the 'good part' of the game. A similar complaint can be lodged against JRPGs or the Zelda series, two of my very favourite things in gaming. What makes GTA different, though, and worthy of my ire, is how empty the experience feels between bouts of plot; I always feel like I'm performing disposable tasks in order to get through the game, none of which, taken by themselves, are very fun. Again, you can lodge complaints against nearly any JRPG, but while JRPGs are at least understood to be more deliberately-paced, measured affairs, GTA is ostensibly about action and explosive moments, which makes the mostly-passive missions feel even more like a dishonest sleight of hand.


Perhaps this is the difference between a guided experience (Zelda) and an open one (GTA, Elder Scrolls, etc.), and their place in my gaming lexicon. The Zelda series dictates what sort of gameplay experience I have: what choices my character makes, what dungeons I play through in which order, and what items I need to use in order to progress. This simplification of choice allows me to get caught up in the journey, and to invest myself in the story being told to me. In Elder Scrolls, I'm in charge of charting my own course and telling my own story. While many gamers may feel liberated by the breadth of choice they are given to decide their own fate, I get stressed out by the number of decisions I need to make in order to drive the experience, and fail to get caught up in anything.

Furthermore, I’ve never really been satisfied by GTA’s brand of story-telling, either. I've always felt that GTA's story and pacing have suffered, in favour of its open-endedness. Videogame storytelling at its best is often comparable to a novel, with character traits coming naturally over the course of the narrative; titles like Chrono Trigger and Uncharted have a coherent, measured plot full of well-realised characters. Storytelling in the GTA games, by contrast, always feels comparable to a comic strip, with characters broadly and instantly defined from the moment we first meet them, and handled in bite-sized chunks; only over the course of the games do their subtleties peek their heads out, and only if the player is willing to meet the game halfway and watch for the subtle shades. Because the stories are so stop-start, and the story-telling so shallow, the narratives often feel like they lack urgency and pacing, making them less than compelling, and creating a profound disconnect from plot.


For their newest entry, I hope Rockstar looks to the Assassin's Creed series, and to Batman: Arkham City - two titles I enjoy immensely despite my general aversion to open-world games - for inspiration on how to handle Los Santos in the upcoming game. Assassin’s Creed uses an open world similar to the GTA games, where missions are doled out from side characters found on the main map. However, while GTA missions can often feel tangential to advancing any sort of plot (watch a cutscene, drive somewhere, kill someone, drive back), Assassin’s Creed II and Brotherhood work much harder to give each gameplay segment a context within the narrative, even if the objective is as simple as 'follow this dude over there'. Arkham City, on the other hand, gives players entirely different areas for the game’s main missions, in addition to an enormous, dense world for gamers to explore, segmenting off the main play areas to help present more and different gameplay opportunities than if Batman were forced to chase down The Joker on the actual streets of Arkham City.

I get why people love the Grand Theft Auto games. Rockstar is perhaps the best in the business at crafting living, breathing worlds for players to lose themselves in; a friend of mine says he put literally hundreds of hours into faffing about in GTA IV, simply because he enjoyed the world so much. The game is going to be a smash, and I’m glad that so many gamers find enjoyment in GTA, with all of the freedom, chaos and goofiness that the series entails. I just hope that Rockstar can give the series more focus, for those of us who want more than simply the opportunity to wander around.

Labels: 2011, Andrew Testerman, Grand Theft Auto V, Opinion, Rockstar, Trailer

Metro: Last Light officially stumbled out of the crumbling Russian tunnel into the dazzling post-apocalyptic sunlight yesterday, with previews, screenshots and a particularly interesting teaser trailer whetting the appetites of fans. Not only was the minute-long trailer a lesson in how to perfectly edit video to music, but the pounding beat of Portishead's 'Machine Gun' meant snippets of gameplay were hidden beneath plenty of evocative artwork. This analysis rips open the pulsating mutant flesh of the teaser trailer, slicing through artwork to get to the juicy, vital gameplay shots. Eat up.



Click the images to see them in their fullscreen glory.


0m 10s Our first look into Last Light, and it's bloody. A shotgun pistol, seemingly with only a single shot left before the need to reload, takes down a mutant with brutal efficiency.


0m 12s Three enemies - I'm placing my bullets on them being Fourth Reich Nazis, from the Hansa line - take cover on a station platform as all hell breaks loose. One seems to have an exremely long sniper rifle of some sort, and the direction of the ribbons on the right indicates strong wind. Look out for the headshot towards the end of this segment...


0m 15s Fifteen seconds in, and all we can make out is an enemy firing his machine gun right in front of you. However, around the seventeen-second mark, Artyom lunges down, to stab something with tentacles. The resulting splatter of goo shows that gas marks will make a triumphant return.


0m 20s Turns out, dark tunnels play a big role in Metro: Last Light. A pistol seems to be enough to take out a whole cave full of mutants, so here's hoping that the guns are a lot more powerful this time around. The mutant, however, does have a swipe at you, making the camera sway and the screen go green.


0m 21s He looks like he's seen a ghost. Probably because he has. Eerie shadows can frighten even the most manly of players and characters alike. The player seems to be helping this poor soul up onto a railway carriage, but it could be that he is trying to stop Artyom from falling.


0m 26s Up to the 26-second mark, we've seen very unclear images of the player shooing something, but here we get the full view. A monster playing carelessly in a puddle, happy as can be. Until you plug it full of lead. There seems to be a crossbow with a sniper sight attached at the 23-second mark, and the wide, open, slightly rural setting means we'll be seeing a lot more of the Russian countryside this time, compared to Metro 2033.


0m 27s "I am 12 and what is this" seems like an apt phrase when we hit 0:27 - a mutant that appears to spurt from the ground gets the front-row view of the barrel of your AK. Some beautiful lighting illuminates the horror when fire spits from the gun like poison.


0m 29s Mutant jumps at you. Mutant screams at you. You stab mutant. You win Nobel Peace Prize.


0m 31s Assorted shooting gameplay, with some lovely reload animations. We're hoping the 'military grade' bullets as money mechanic is still in place, making every miss the stuff of nightmares.


0m 33s Stabbing someone in the back never produced so much blood. Or looked this good. Stealth seems to be a key part of Last Light, and so long as 4a Games fix the issues where AI magically knows you're fifty yards away because they can hear your heartbeat, I'm very happy to see it return.


0m 35s These agile little freaks of nature will pester you no end, a bit like a needy child. Still, they drop dead after a few bullets from your assault rifle. A bit like a needy child.


0m 38s No one likes spiders. Spiders are devious and untrustworthy little buggers. So, when they spill out of a sack of flesh in the heart of the Russian metro? Yeah, best run away.


0m 40s Much as I adore the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series (another gritty survival-horror from a Ukrainian studio), there's nothing quite as haunting as this. Note the lack of ammunition in your gun. Metro: Last Light certainly isn't for the faint of heart.


0m 43s Kill it. Kill it with fire.


0m 45s It's a bit hard to tell - this is either an explosion, or a train hurtling towards you at full speed, swatting soldiers out the way like radiated flies. Cue end of trailer. 'Coming 2012' is the only hint at a release date.

See? It might all be pretty lights and loud noises to some, but teaser trailers hold some grubby delights. Stick around for more awesomeness from Gamer's Guide to Life.com - in fact, follow our Twitter to never miss a beat ever, ever again.

Labels: 2011, 4a Games, Analysis, Chris Hawke, Metro 2033, Metro: Last Light, THQ, Trailer, Video

These two weeks see the release of two of this year's supposed 'biggest hits' Brink and L.A. Noire, which both aim to both bring a new set of dynamics into the lives of gamers. Yet, how do the changes offered by the two big budget titles rack up against one another?

Rockstar's L.A. Noire is, straight off the bat, a completely different experience from most mainstream games released today. This, coming from the publisher that brought us Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, is to be expected; Rockstar are known - nay, famed - for their top-quality, innovative games, and their recipe certainly seems to work, as all they touch seems to turn to gold.

One of L.A. Noire's features that Rockstar really want to push home is the facial detail that they've managed to achieve using the MotionScan system, a sparkling new feature which manages to express a character's every feeling. From gameplay videos, it is clear that the team have really used the system to their advantage; it is arguably the first time a player has been able to easily distinguish lip movements, allowing for near-perfect lip reading.

However good it may look, though, some may question whether the tech will significantly change gamplay in the way Rockstar hope that it will. Rockstar claim that the features offered are needed for the detective-action title, as one needs to physically note whether the character they're interrogating is telling the truth. If it is true, then perhaps we'll see the MotionScan wizardry adopted for other titles, even despite the time-consuming process needed for significant results.



Connections between L.A. Noire and many other titles can be drawn, as it manages to delve into several different genres. It can be difficult to avoid placing it in comparison to Heavy Rain, as both share some common roots, but if you were to look further into the gameplay mechanics of L.A. Noire, you might find it closer to something in the point-and-click genre. Indeed, when searching a crime scene for a set of clues, we are reminded of the lovable Sam & Max duo. In certain scenes, equipped with a gun, elements from third person shooters are seen, although it is apparent that these areas of the game are minimal. The game is trying to 'blend' the genre boundaries, like many titles this generation have attempted to, but perhaps it is worth mentioning that L.A. Noire seems to have picked its colours from a very different palette to those other titles.

The other big hitter of this week is Brink, a title which, similarly, tries to 'blur' the genre boundaries by bringing single player and online play closer together. The system that Brink utilises allows for 'drop in, drop out' gameplay, whereby a player can invite their companion to join them straight from a single player game, without the need to set up lobbies specifically for online campaign game modes.

In my honest opinion, I've been extremely excited for a system such as this, and I really want it to succeed, in the hope that other companies will adopt the idea. Imagine the variety it could bring to other genre; for example, in something like Skyrim, one could wander into a town, find a tavern and seamlessly 'recruit' a friend as a mercenary force. One of the biggest pitfalls for a system like this, though, is that it could be completely ignored by players - if you want to maintain a single player campaign, it's likely you'd entirely leave any sort of seamless offline-online, jump-in-and-jump-out feature alone.

Brink is also a title which offers a grand amount of customisation for gamers, with recent stats having revealed the scale of this mechanic. Bethesda stated that there are over 4,963 different combinations of weapon attachments, and a mind-boggling approximate of 47,325,358,080,000,000 costume combinations (that's over forty-seven quintillion combinations, if you couldn't work it out). It's one crazy amount, and means it'll be extremely difficult (if not impossible) to find two players with exactly the same qualities.



Both games are set to rock some pretty nifty changes from the norms that gamers are used to, and both are extremely unique. For a purely technical advantage,the most impressivle has to be L.A. Noire, as the impressive facial animation is something it is difficult to find in past games. However, with questions surrounding how many games the advanced technology will really change, the award for influence to the way we play can only go to Brink, whose innovative online system will hopefully lead to a fluid mix of online and single player play.

Labels: 2011, Bethesda, Brink, Jacques Hulme, L.A. Noire, Rockstar, Splash Damage, Team Bondi, Trailer, Video

This past week, Naughty Dog revealed the multiplayer component of their much-anticipated Uncharted 3, and it appears to be a massive expansion of the multiplayer in Uncharted 2. While the second Uncharted's multiplayer was surprisingly robust and lasting (around 40,000 players still play daily, a year on from release), it mostly conformed to our expectations for what a multiplayer game should be.

Based on Naughty Dog's reveal of Uncharted 3's multiplayer, it looks as if they're aiming to really add some new ideas to the conventional multiplayer experience. This is still a cops-and-robbers shooter, but with some new ideas that may prove to preserve onward in multiplayer experiences to come.

Before perusing the nuances of Uncharted 3's multiplayer, make sure you watch Naughty Dog's reveal video to get a good snapshot of all the additions.

1: Three Team Deathmatch and the 'buddy system'

Along with the tried-and-true Team Deathmatch, Uncharted 3 puts an emphasis on tight-knit team play with Three Team Deathmatch, a game mode which pits three teams of two against each one another. By constraining the size of the teams, players are forced to cooperate with one another, resulting in a 'buddy system' style of play, which is further encouraged by the ability to spawn on your teammate so long as they're not in the middle of combat. Team play has always been the quickest route to winning in multiplayer games, but in most games it's hard to communicate with a large team, even using voice chat. The 'buddy system' could do wonders for keeping players coordinated, partied or not.

2: Two-part maps

Dynamic maps are not a new idea, and Uncharted 2 even had its own few map fluctuations, such as aeroplanes swooping down and knocking off large strips of cover from the map, or helicopters coming in to attack both teams. But Uncharted 3 takes this idea and jumps ten steps ahead; in the above video, players are shown fighting on an airstrip between accelerating convoys and an aeroplane, pre-take off, and then later at a more traditional, cover-based airbase-hangar arena. These two maps are actually connected. After the plane sequence (lasting presumably about half the match), all players are transported to the hangar and the match continues.

This two-part map system really spices up the traditional multiplayer formula, making it something more cinematic and more exciting, hopefully whilst still retaining the balance between team advantage. If the timing between the shift in gameplay environments is reasonably predictable, perhaps players can use the switch strategically, giving dynamic gameplay environments much more bearing on gameplay than we've previously seen.

3: Emblems

If there's one thing video games have proven in this era of multiplayer, it's that players love validation. They want to know when they're doing well, and they want everyone else to know it, too. Emblem editors can be found in games like Call of Duty and Halo: Reach, where you can design your own insignia to be shown on your character, or to pop up alongside other players when you've killed them. The new take on emblems in Uncharted 3 is to display the top player's emblem in the playable, natural environment, smacking the map with personality.

You can see this in action at about 45 seconds into the mutliplayer trailer, where a custom emblem is embellished onto the hangar map. Presumably, these emblems can change as the map goes on, meaning the top player will dominate the map aesthetically, as well as putting bullets into your skull.

4: Medal Kickbacks

At first glance, Medal Kickbacks seem like the equivalent of killstreaks, the ubiquitous multiplayer mechanic pioneered by Call of Duty that rewards a string of successive kills with more killing power. In reality, Uncharted 3's Medal Kickbacks are a more refined version of this killstreak mechanic. Instead of rewarding players for racking up as many kills as they can, Medal Kickbacks reward players for specific types of kills, such as kills on opponents who are currently attacking one of your teammates, perhaps kills with an unconventional firearm, or maybe headshot kills.

In the above video, you can see Drake activating a Medal Kickback to use an RPG at the most opportune moment. Fine-tuning the criteria for killstreaks discourages the 'kill as many as possible as quickly as possible' mentality, and instead rewards more finesse with a bigger payoff. Hopefully, the mechanic will discourage techniques that focus on getting the most kills with the least effort, such as camping near spawn points or 'spamming' quick-kill weapons.

5) Power Plays and Overtime

Power Plays kick into gear when one team is grossly dominating the other. What they are exactly isn't yet defined, but we do know that they give the losing team a chance to close the gap and the winning team a chance to close the game. If you've ever played multiplayer of any kind, you'll know the experience isn't all that enjoyable when there's a big disparity between the teams, no matter if you're on the winning or the losing side. It may feel good for the winners to steamroll another team, but after a while, domination gets stale. Power Plays work to prevent this snooze-fest from occurring.

Similarly, it's pretty frustrating when both teams are neck and neck but the match suddenly ends due to something that's happening on the other side of the map, irrelevant to you. Kicking things into overtime for ridiculously close matches helps ascertain the true victors.

6: YouTube and Facebook Integration

Facebook is integrated with nearly every service available in 2011, but it's rarely been done successfully in a video game. Both PSN and Xbox Live allow social networking in some form (be that Twitter or Facebook), but neither are particularly quick or presented in an interesting way. In Uncharted 2, Naughty Dog included the ability to tweet whenever players levelled up or completed a campaign chapter, and the result was pretty annoying.

This time around, Naughty Dog has really gone the extra mile to make sure Facebook integration with Uncharted 3 is done in a compelling and tasteful way. From the Uncharted 3 multiplayer menu, you can see which of your Facebook friends are online, what they're playing, and what media they've uploaded, all of which is viewable from your console.

Similarly, YouTube integration lets users edit and upload videos seamlessly from their console. It's a small step, but the effect is a much smoother, more encouraged experience.

7: Uncharted TV

Possibly the most interesting addition to multiplayer is Uncharted TV. The best clips and images will be selected by Naughty Dog and broadcasted over Uncharted TV, a small reel of clips playing the corner of the screen between matches in multiplayer. It seems innocuous, but the logic behind it is actually pretty ingenious.

"If you watch a football game, you talk about it the next day because everyone watched the same game," says Christophe Balestra, co-president of Naughty Dog. "This is (to) get people who play to have a better experience."

Simply by creating a common feed of content, Naughty Dog is looking to tie the community together in a more meaningful way than a common set of mechanics. This way, players can commentate outside the game to their friends about what they've seen online, which pushes the Uncharted multiplayer experience out of the living room and into conversation.

8: Crotch Kicking

The benefit of this addition is self-evident.


Are you one of the many eagerly anticipating Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception's release? Have you lost sleep due to sitting up until unholy hours, looking at screenshots and videos? Do you simply love the way Drake can climb a building? Give us all your thoughts in the comments section below.

Labels: 2011, Feature, List, Multiplayer, Naughty Dog, Parker Scott Mortensen, Trailer, Uncharted, Uncharted 2, Uncharted 3, Video

Games, games, games. Sexy, flashy games. Sexy, flashy games, with robots. And snowboards. But never snowboarding robots.

2011 is going to be another big year for gaming. A huge year. To sate our ever-present need as gamers to absorb information on new game releases like an internet sponge, GameTrailers.com has released a list of world premiere trailers to wet your digital appetite. It's long. It's varied. And it has at least one major title you've been anticipating for years.

Uncharted 3, Batman: Arkham City, Resistance 3, Thor, Forza, Portal 2, Deadliest Warrior, Mortal Kombat, Mass Effect 3, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Insane, SSX, and Prototype 2. They're all there. For the sake of convenience, I'm taking all the trailers from that there list, embedding them here in this article, and including my own personal take on each. Why? Because I'm oh-just-so filled with that good, olde-timey Christmas spirit, gosh darn it! It's time to share.

Thirteen trailers, one webpage, and five minutes of sweet, distracted bliss, free from the responsibilities of family, last-minute capitalist blitzkrieg shopping, and work. Sit back, grab a cup of eggnog, nestle into your favorite easy chair, and relax: here we go.

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

Another chapter for the adventurer in Wranglers.



This looks good.
Déja vu, anyone? Replace sand with snow, and you've got the trailer for Among Thieves. A barren landscape, followed by a cryptic monologue, interrupted by a supporting character, and topped off rapid-fire clips of piping hot gameplay. This is the recipe for Uncharted, and it always goes down strong. The trailer for Drake's Deception makes me want to play it. Mission accomplished.

Sweet Thor at the Ragnarok, why?!
After reading Mr. Hawke's take on Nathan Drake and his cavalier, devil-may-care tendency to accidentally commit horrible acts of genocide, I'm afraid I'm going to overthink every Uncharted ever made from now until oblivion, forever ruining its magic. Thanks, Chris. Thanks for killing the joy.

Batman: Arkham City

This man is every psychologist's dream.



This looks good.
Dear God, our next villain is Hugo Strange. This guy is twisted in ways that would make even the Joker raise an eyebrow. The man is known for taking ordinary thugs and killers, injecting them with everything but the kitchen sink, and watching them mutate into giant, tumored monstrosities before setting them loose in the city to murder a sleeping populace in the dark. He's basically Dr. Josef Mengele, unchained and given free reign to haunt the DC Universe. With Rocksteady Studios' wonderful portrayals of Batman, Joker and Scarecrow in Arkham Asylum, it's a safe bet that they're gonna do Strange right. Awesome.

Zeus's furious lightningbolt, why?!
There's not much about this video that concerns me. Maybe Batman's voice. Call me crazy, but I actually like Christian Bale's 'last stage of emphysema' Batman. It works.

Resistance 3

Hey look, the past has monsters and stuff.



This looks good.
Meh. Skip to the paragraph below.

Aprhodite's vanishing chastity, why?!
It just seems like they're trying too hard. Cliché soldier-looks-at-picture-of-loved-one-before-being-tugged-into-battle at the beginning... bitter American folk ballad symbolising hard times at the end... a goddamned 'scary monster face' (arms up in the air, head pulled forward in a 'hideous' roar) somewhere in the middle. It all seems generic. Nothing about this trailer tells me that Resistance 3 will be different than any other monstered FPS on the market.

Thor: God of Thunder

...I just know you're going to mess this up.



This looks good.
...dammit.

Shiva's six-pronged handshake, why?!
Movie adaptations into games, like American soccer teams, never end up being very good. Some have promise. Thor: God of Thunder doesn't. Quickly summed up, this video featured bad facial graphics, detached voice acting, an awkward script ("...his enemies know him as the god of thunder..." Everybody knows him as the god of thunder! That's what he is!), and an overall feeling of disappointment. Hey, at least the movie could still be good.

Forza Motorsport 4

People play video games to experience situations that we could never witness in real life. Like watching cars driving.



This looks good.
Without understanding why people enjoy cars or would buy a video game about them in the first place, I will say that this trailer had strikingly beautiful cinematography. Without saying a word, it almost made me feel the same sort of exhilaration most red-blooded males supposedly feel when looking at a Lamborghini made out of pure sex.

Fleet-footed Hermes' sandals, why?!
No trailer will convince me to buy a racing game that doesn't involve tortoise shells, an Italian plumber, and a monkey.

Portal 2

We can settle our differences. For science.



This looks good.
OMG, CUTE ROBOTS WITH PERSONALITIES! This video is going to be an instant hit in Japan.

Fancy mechanical Moses, why?!
We've seen adorable droid antics made before, Valve, and not by you either. Be cautious, or you may follow his route to the dark side. Otherwise, release whatever trailer you want. We know it'll be stellar.

Deadliest Warrior

History meets history. Finally we can learn what would go down in a three way brawl between a Roman centurion, a Shaolin monk, and a jet-packed Jesus (collector's edition only).



This looks good.
Fundamentally, this trailer tells us one thing - that we can settle our "[historical fighter A] would completely thrash [historical fighter B]!" arguments using the power of our thumbs.

Dick Cheney's metallic heart, why?!
As trailers go, this is short and sweet. For the most part, I like that. Still... only twenty-eight seconds? Personally, I would have gone for a little more info.

Mortal Kombat

"You have a new challenger!" I'll give you a hint: it's not Ghandi.



This looks good.
The classic feel of Mortal Kombat seems to have remained intact. That classic feel is, of course, mindless, uncaring violence, but hey, it brings you back. Kratos will feel right at home in this world.

Tapdancing Franklin Roosevelt, why?!
Like all fighter games, Mortal Kombat could end up as little more than a fad with a religiously-dedicated cult fanbase in mere months. I doubt it'll happen, but it could.

Mass Effect 3

More universe to save, more blue crewfolk to tear the armor off of with your space teeth.



This looks good.
Earth?! They're bringing the story back to Earth?! Terrific. Also, the graphics and voice acting in the trailer were superb. Watching it left me thinking of a futuristic War of the Worlds in which the humans had the technology to fight back (common cold excluded).

Hornswagglin' hootenany city-folk, why?!
Nothing. Nothing about this trailer looks bad to me. Maybe it's too short. I dunno.

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Drums. Drums in the deep...



This looks good.
The perfect portrayal of a prophecy, and perhaps the best fantasy teaser (not full trailer, mind you) that I've seen in a decade, and I don't even like the Elder Scrolls series. Take notes, fantasy game makers. This is how it's done.

Caesar's befouled toga, why?!
Not much bad to be found in this trailer. It's short, it's sweet, and it makes me look forward for the next installment in a franchise I usually don't care for. All in all, a fine piece of cinematographic work.

Insane

Not only in the membrane, but also in the brain.



This looks good.
The fact that Insane is being guided by film director Guillermo del Toro, the man behind the upcoming adaptation of The Hobbit, both gives me hope that the game will be solid, and worries that his portrayal of Bilbo Baggins will be the stuff of nightmares.

You damned, dirty apes, why?!
This trailer really doesn't say much, other than "Guillermo del Toro is working on this," and "he owns his own copy of that video from The Ring."

SSX

Snowboarding... TO THE EXTREME!!!



This looks good.
Stupid though the concept is, the idea of snowboarding down Mount Everest is mildly amusing, in that it could keep me entertained for at least five minutes.

Spock's logic, why?!
This game already feels like junk food. Once those five minutes of initial enthrallment are over, I imagine this game will lose its taste, leaving me feeling bloated, ashamed for playing, and utterly alone in the world. I mean, what's deep about snowboarding down a hellishly dangerous peak for absolutely no reason? Not much.

Prototype 2

Let the genocide haikus resume, 2012.



This looks good.
Does your life suck at the moment? Things tough at work? This will be the game to let off steam with after a hard day. Nothing cures depression like destruction at the level of the gods. Forget the story. The sooner you let it go, the better. With Prototype, the gameplay is all the fun.

Bloodied gladius of Mars, why?!
As expected, the narrative in this trailer looks pointless. People aren't playing this game to experience the human story. They want to throw a tank at a helicopter and fly into the sunset. So why highlight story in your trailer? Show us your moves, Radical Entertainment, and nothing more.


With these titles, and a troupe of non-trailered releases led by The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, 2011 is looking to be a solid year. I'm already making sure that, on the release dates of these games, my 'I'm so ill' lies are prepped.

Labels: Christmas Season 2010, Feature, Greg Mengel, Trailer, Video

In case you hadn't noticed, Red Faction 4 has been announced, and the first details, including a debut trailer, are on the way in GTTV on Friday.

All that's been seen is the picture above you - the title text. Now, title texts usually don't tell you anything other than how to spell the damn name, but this... this is interesting. Compare the 'Red Faction 4' screen with this Medal of Honor shot (after the jump).


They look very similar, don't they? The moody blacks, the dusty greys, the debris chipping off the N of Red Faction, and the shrapnel on the left of the Medal of Honor soldier - all Red Faction 4 needs is a grumpy protagonist, which I'm sure they'll somehow manage to include, and you've got two very close art styles.

The point of all this? For years, Medal of Honor has been in slow decline, with games becoming more colourful, cartoonish and unreal. You could have cel-shaded Airborne and it wouldn't have looked out of place. Now, the 2010 reboot of the series is claiming to show the true horrors of war, and put you in a much more realistic simulation of battle.

So, what about Red Faction? The previous installment, Red Faction: Guerrilla, certainly had more than its fair share of realistic physics, with harsh, future-Soviet buildings crumbling and exploding with sickening devotion to the real world. Still, there were the cookie-cutter enemies, vivid colours and wise-cracking, surprisingly upbeat (considering the sudden demise of his brother) Alec Mason. While destruction was beautiful, the rest of the game was a blur of happy endings and enemies marked 'bad' that you definitely should shoot, because they do 'bad' things with 'bad' people.

We suspect that come Friday, you'll see a whole new style. Red Faction 4 will aim to 'redefine' the series as you know it, with a gritter, darker, and more menacing tone. What that includes, we don't know - enemies who might not just be pure evil, moral choices, an interesting main character with a dark backstory (because there's always room in gaming for another one of them)? Maybe the focus will be on realistic gun battles, or choose whose buildings to blow up based on their moral standpoint, or it might just be the same good vs. evil, with an extra layer of morbid - genocide, terrorism, death round every corner, and all the other trappings of an 18-rated game.

I suppose we'll have to wait until Friday to find out, but with E3 coming up fast, hopefully GGTL will get some exclusives for you when we head out to L.A.

Chris

Labels: EA, Medal of Honor, Red Faction 4, Trailer

A new teaser for a Treyach game, Call Of Duty 7, appeared on the internet recently, and we recorded everything we've seen and heard. Here's what is hidden within the teaser.

Please note: Many say this is a Fallout: New Vegas teaser. Bethesda were contacted, and said the teaser was 'cool', but 'didn't have anything do to with [our] games'.

Video: By twisting the dial at the top right of the TV, you can tune into an old 60s TV picture. This video shows these events: A radioactive nucleus emitting either alpha or beta radiation, which then splits other radioactive nuclei, and so on, until they all explode. This is what happens in the A or H-Bomb as ionization. The video then cuts to a baseball stadium, which suddenly seems to explode, with a small nuclear cloud coming out of the field. Suddenly, the video buts back to the baseball field, and zooms into a baseball, which morphs into a globe, which becomes increasingly misshapen.

The video again cuts to an Atom bomb, showing the workings of it inside, before showing a diagram of radioactive material Uranium 238 being converted to Uranium 235. Again, the video cuts to a map labeled 'Plan', with diagrams of battleships and infantry appearing round it. The final shot is of Kennedy announcing the 500-mile Naval Blockade of Cuba on live TV, on the 22th October, 1963.

From this, it's clear that Call Of Duty 7 will take place during the Cold War, with most of those shots looking like 50s and 60s American Propaganda, explaining the A/H-Bomb and Arms Race. The final shot of Kennedy is a dead givaway - either the Bay of Pigs, or Cuban Missile Crisis, will be included.


Audio: A man and woman continually spell out NOVA SIX intermittently. A little sound effect plays - we don't know if it is from something relevant, like a 60s computer. Sometimes, you can hear a man say something like 'Hell Is Horrible/Purple', very slowly. The man also says 'Man is starting to make a world of their own conception, and profit from their own mind all the material which they employ.' Sounds pretty Capitalist to us.

All you can tell from this is... well, nothing really. We don't know what NOVA 6 is, what the little electronic ditty is, or what the man says. However, the 'Man is starting to make a world...' bit sounds like 60s capitalist ideology.

We'll keep updating this with anything that happens to the site. Found something else? Add it to the comments!

Chris

Labels: Activision, Analysis, Call of Duty, Chris Hawke, CoD7, Trailer, Treyarch, Video

Update: After that trailer the other day, I was ready to get back into my vault (bedroom), and wait months for any more Fallout: New Vegas news. But I was awoken to find loads more info. Catch up on this story

I'm a rather large Fallout 3 fan, so you'll forgive me for being a little excited about Bethesda Softworks' upcoming to the ever-popular Fallout 3 - Fallout: New Vegas. To my joy a trailer was released yesterday and, after analysing it, I'm here to bring you a decoded look at the sneek peek given in the video.

The trailer starts to the song 'Blue Moon', and is a lot like the debut trailer for Fallout 3. The camera begins to pull back and reveals a screen with a (rather creepy) cowboy's face on.

As the trailer continues, you can see that the TV screen sits, slap-bang, on the face of the robot. Perhaps an updated version of the Enclave Eyebot's from Fallout 3? Or, perhaps, an advertising robot from New Vegas itself. Whatever it is, however, it seems to be doing something quite strange - as you can see in the picture below, it's lifting stones and moving them, suggesting it may have gone a little wrong.

Also, you observe that the robot seems to have a cannon in place of a hand on his other arm. However - with the camera panning out - you can begin to see what the robot is actually doing. A hand is sticking out of the dusty soil, and we finally realise that it's burying bodies. Oh, how sweet.

Our initial concerns at the idea of a gravedigging android are soon confirmed, as the trailer continues to reveal the cyborg working away in what is clearly a graveyard. The crosses and tombstones which litter the scene are sinister against the grey background of the night.

Continuing with the outward zooming, the scene changes to a panoramic view of the landscape, and our first view of (what I presume is) New Vegas.

The image is quite dark, so in the above screenshot I've brightened it for your delictation. As you can see, New Vegas is a thriving place, filled with buildings and light - just like Vegas nowadays. Notable locations include a huge tower standing proud in the middle of the city, and what seems to be a curved building to the left of Vegas; think a stand at a sports match or maybe Sydney Opera House. However, the cemetery in the foreground suggests that things have gone just a little astray.

And now, what I believe to be the Pièce de résistance in my video decoding.

The flag in the foreground looks suspiciously like the flag of California. And, upon closer inspection, we notice that it is the flag of California - the bear emblem and word 'California' are both obvious in the trailer. What does that mean for us? Well, seeing as Vegas is actually in Nevada, it could mean that the city of sin has relocated to California. Or, it could mean you cross the border from California to Nevada. Or, it could mean California tries to invade Vegas.

And one last point: the rather frightening-looking guy in the final few frames of the trailer has 'A7' printed on his back, and the number '7' on his helmet. What's that all about, I wonder? Why not let me know your ideas, thoughts and conspiracies in the comments section? We'll find out more in due time. I can't wait!



Update:
Those naughty games magazines have broken their embargos, and a tonne of information on New Vegas has flooded in. Now, I'll warn you: this info could spoil the game slightly, so be warned.

- It's a first-person view game, using the same engine as Fallout 3
- A new "Hardcore mode" will be available which provides gamers with an even more desparate land. For example, Stimpacks will heal you over time
- The story focuses on a conflict between three main clans - The New California Republic, New Vegas and the men and women of old Vegas.(Told ya! I was right!)
- A reputation system measuring faction friendliness allows you to juggles friends and hostiles. This is turning out to be like Merceneries!
- Notable locations include the huge Hoover Dam, which is providing energy for the inhabitants of Vegas.
- Multiple types of Super Mutants.

A plethora of further info can be read on this thread. It contains a few plot spoilers though.

Jacques

Labels: Fallout: New Vegas, Jacques Hulme, News, Trailer, Video

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I'm a little wary of any Final Fantasy titles released after FFX. Actually, make that any after IX. So, when I watched the new english-language Final Fantasy XIII trailer released on Sunday by Square Enix, I did so from between narrow, doubting eyes.

My problem with Final Fantasies released after IX is that they just seem too 'poppy', too flashy and stylised, too... anime. Now anime is a fine genre with a noble tradition, but there comes a time when I want to play a good, solidly built Eastern-style RPG and not be sent to the hospital with an epileptic attack. Anime, especially interactive anime, does that to me. It inspires epilepsy.

That being said, I am definitely going to play this game. I pride myself on the fact that I've played all the main Final Fantasy titles released in English, and many of the spin-offs. It may be naïve nostalgia, but I consider Final Fantasy Legend II to be one of the most unfairly overlooked and underappreciated RPGs made to this day. I don't think I've ever played a Final Fantasy that was bad, ever. The only thing that comes close is the Kingdom Hearts series, that horrible abomination born of the forbidden union of Disney and Square Enix. The Little Mermaid levels of both the first two games in that series will still inspire frightened and helpless feelings in me if spoken of in my presence. It's like mentioning Cthulu. Or better yet, Voldemort.

I really don't expect Final Fantasy XIII to be even nearly as bad as Kingdom Hearts. Actually, anime styling aside, the gameplay and mechanics of the game shown to us so far look really, really good. Good enough that I can forget that my some of my characters are summoning transformer cars (see 2:30 in the video), while others look like a pirates-turned Abercrombie models (freeze on 5:15, 6:18), that for no apparent reason one of the villains speaks in a tacky Australian accent (see 6:31), or that every single character, even the afro-sporting black guy, looks and acts overtly Japanese. I guess that's part of the charm.

Enough said for now, we'll talk more about this game when we can actually play it. Until then, here's the video, compliments of Square Enix, Gametrailers, and, of course, Gamer's Guide to Life. Bon appetit.

Greg

Labels: Final Fantasy, Greg Mengel, Square Enix, Trailer

Twitter seems to have become the place for announcements regarding the games industry, and it seems that Killzone dev, Guerilla Games, isn't being left out of the tweeting mayhem. The upcoming third downloadable map pack for Killzone 2, Napalm and Cordite, was announced recently, along with information for the latest patch to hit the game, and since has captured the imaginations of loyal Killzone players the world over.

Well, those loyal fans will be rewarded tonight when the people over at Guerilla release the trailer for the upcoming Napalm and Cordite pack, as they have promised on their Twitter account. Hopefully we'll get a good look at what's in store for those who download the maps, including the main bulk of the new locations and a peek at the new weapons and some of the patched features. However, I won't hold my breath for all that, as we'll all see what's going to be in the trailer when it hits the internet tonight sometime.

Keep your eyes glued to Gamer's Guide to Life for more - we'll have the trailer up as soon as we find it.

Linford

Labels: DLC, Killzone 2, Linford Butler, Trailer

“In Assassin’s Creed II, we follow Desmond, who’s going to live the life of Ezio Auditore de Forenze,” says Patrice Desilets, Creative Director on Assassin’s Creed II. “As the player, you’ll be just like the character, so going from a life of dolce vita in Italy, he’ll have to be a guy who has to kill to survive. He’ll be, at first, just like you and I, and then he’ll become this badass main character.”

In the first of an expected six developer diaries from Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed people, we are introduced to the latest protagonist in the Assassin’s Creed series, Ezio Auditore de Forenze. An Italian noble from 1486, Renaissance-period Italy. Betrayed by other nobles, Ezio becomes an Assassin as a means of protecting his family and seeking vengeance on those who betrayed him. This more personal storyline will hopefully add a bit of charisma and realism to Ezio’s character, something that Altair from the original lacked.

Keep an eye on Gamer’s Guide to Life for the rest of the developer diaries and all the latest on the sequel before Assassin’s Creed II is released at the end of this year.

Linford

Labels: Assassin's Creed, Dev Diary, Linford Butler, Trailer, Video

The Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Multiplayer Beta has been out for almost a week now and reviews are coming in thick and fast, most of which seem to show the current multiplayer gameplay in a good light. However, with these reviews have come two new videos which show some of the maps in play, online.

Plaza Showdown, the first of the maps shown in these new videos, seems to be set in a darkened courtyard. With broken walls, upturned cars and sandbags there is plenty of cover in this map. From what I can gather, the map is quite big and seems to include several side streets which all lead to the central courtyard. There also seems to be several floors to the level which will provide good spots for snipers. This map looks very promising and, if all of the maps are as highly polished as this, Naughty Dog shouldn't have anything to worry about.



The second video showcases a map named Village Firefight. Set in a village, this small map seems to fit in well with the feel of Uncharted 2 as, like the Plaza map, it also contains a lot of cover. Again, this map also seems to provide a vast expanse to roam and hide away in. The war-torn atmosphere to the map creates a dead and lifeless feel, with only the odd splatter of colour; usually provided by the fire. This map is also shaping up to impress and dazzle the fans.



Jacques

Labels: Beta, Jacques Hulme, Trailer, Uncharted 2, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Video

It's been two days since Linford posted the Modern Warfare 2 Extended Gamplay trailer, and today for my first article I'm going to bring you two minutes more footage. Posted last night on IGN, this new trailer is much longer and seems to depict another global crisis with the ultranationalist Russians at the center - the story ties in with Call Of Duty 4 with references to Zakhaev, the ultranationalists and a quest for revenge.

In terms of gameplay, things seem better than it's predecessor, Call of Duty 4. Gunplay looks to have come on leaps and bounds since the first, with a faster pace and much meaner-looking enemies. The single player is looking as though it will be longer this time round, with the bigger set pieces and further-polished environments. From this trailer, it's certainly looking like Modern Warfare 2 is set to compete with other big titles due for release this year.

Jacques

Labels: E3 2009, Jacques Hulme, Modern Warfare 2, Trailer, Video

So, a week or so ago I brought you a gameplay teaser of upcoming and highly anticipated sequel to Call of Duty 4. And, if I’m honest, it was very short and actually quite underwhelming. That’s about to change with this extended trailer, including some of the shots you’ve seen before and some which you won’t have seen. So, sit back and enjoy.

More Modern Warfare 2 information will be coming at E3 2009. You can follow all the E3 action at our dedicated E3 coverage site, GGTL at E3 2009.

Linford

Labels: E3, Modern Warfare 2, Trailer, Video

Infinity Ward and Activision aren't half working hard to keep us in suspense. The latest of the hype for the latest in the Call of Duty series, Modern Warfare 2, comes in a short but very, very sweet trailer. Not much has actually been announced concerning Modern Warfare 2, but it looks like new melee moves, vehicles, swimming and cold, bleak winter environments are all par for the course this time round. Hopefully they'll be some more information at E3 2009.

Linford

Thanks to our affiliate MWG Podcast for bringing this to our attention.

Labels: Call of Duty, Modern Warfare 2, Trailer, Video

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

Credit goes to Giant Bomb for the trailer. Oh by the way, this video isn't safe for school/work, so watch out!

Labels: Godfather II, Matthew, Matthew Meadows, Trailer

The source was in fact true the Wrath of the Lich King cinematic was unveiled at the Leipzig Gaming Convention. The chilling cinematic shows the once human Arthas walking the icy plains of Northrend in his cursed armor and wielding the mighty runeblade Frostmourne. He kneels down and wipes the snow from the ice and then drives his blade into ground. I won't say any more but you will need to watch it your self.



Grimmy

Labels: Trailer, WotLK

They really went at GTA IV there. However, this looks pretty good, and hopefully it will allow some of the wacky stuff GTA IV wouldn't.

Matt

Labels: Matthew Meadows, Saints Row 2, Trailer