TheGamersHub Magazine 006 by TheGamersHub

Welcome...

This is the sixth edition of TheGamersHub monthly magazine. Each issue brings you the top reviews and news of each month about games and technology. The magazine will also include events that will be happening involving TGH and the community. We are still getting to grips with the magazine, so please feel free to give us feedback on improvements that could be made, or future topics you would like to see appearing in here by emailing: dan.h@thegamershub.net

About TGH

Set up on July 27th 2009 to provide news, reviews, articles, previews, blogs with a community aspect. We have taken big steps to get where we are today, which wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have been possible without you. The sites aim was to create a place for budding game journalists to get some experience in the industry and since then we have helped people all over the place to build a respectable portfolio which has lead to many paid freelance jobs in some big publications. We reach 100,000â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s of people each month checking out the site and we help provide them with a unique string of relevant content. We have a team in the UK, RoI and the US who report news throughout the year and we have some big plans for the future.

A word from this months Magazine Editor Okay, so with the sixth edition of TheGamersHub magazine it looks like this is a worthy contender after the fifth issue with even more articles and content. The main focus for this months issue is Gamescom, mostly focusing on the latest previews. Aside from that, it has the regular catorgories you see every month. Now this magazine has over 100 pages, and to be honest, there could have been more. Sadly due to time constrants I have been unable to squeeze all the Gamescom coverage in, but do not fear As they can still be found on the site! I would like to say thank you to Vaughn our new Features Editor for attending Gamescom on behalf of TGH this year and really putting in the effort writing all the articles and getting pictures for the site. Apart from that, I hope you enjoy the magazine and leave some feedback for us. Sorry this isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t in great depth, doing over a 100 pages in the space of three days isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t exactly easy, and has driven me to the edge of insanity. Next month I will be sure to have more time on my hands, and good old Vaughn will probably help out as usual.

Enjoy!

- Dan H (minihook)

Staff:

In-House:

Site Editor: Henry M - henry.m@thegamershub.net Hot Drinks Editor: Dan H - dan.h@thegamershub.net Tech Editor: Ryan P (Ryan.P) - ryan.p@thegamershub.net Media Editor: Lewis W

Team Ireland:

News Editor: Dylan V (dylan365v) - dylan.v@thegamershub.co.uk Staff Writer: Robert D (Rob95D)

Team England:

Community Manager: Sam D Staff Writer: Joseph T - joseph.tyler@thegamershub.net Staff Writer: Robby D Staff Writer: Talwinder S Staff Writer: Vaughn H (Starfox118) Staff Writer: Gagan G

Team America:

US Editor: Anthony D (Anthony D) - anthony.d@thegamershub.net Staff Writer: Chris C (Chris C) Staff Writer: Nate D Staff Writer: Liam F Staff Writer: Vanessa H As always you can contact the team for any queires at the-team@thegamershub.net or report any problems with the website or magazine to help-desk@thegamershub.net. As usual you can keep up to date with everything thats happening at TheGamersHub either via the website www.thegamershub.net or via the ever popular Twitter page @TheGamersHub. Happy gaming guys!

Get Fowl with Rocketbirds: Hard... Shinobido 2: Tales Of The Ninja... Sega and Marvel Announce Thor... Red Dead Redemption Myths... Digital Reality Announces SkyDr... First Screens For Yakuza Black...

Naughty Dog Is â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;One Franchise...

FIFA Soccer 12 Gets North Amer...

Lonesome Road Gets Release D...

New Modern Warfare 3 Screen &...

OnLive Cloud Gaming service hi... Sony Reveals PSP E-1000 Specs Hands on with PSVita

New PS3 3D Technology

Gamescom 2011

Author: Vanessa H.

Get Fowl with Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken Are you game hen? Ratloop Asia is taking Rocketbirds IP to the next level of the coop with its cinematic adventure game, Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken. The sequel to the first Rocketbirds game builds upon the universe with more characters and missions, but also throws in exclusive music videos, retro cut scenes and more extras than you can shake your tail feathers at.

Players will become the rebel badass, Hardboiled Chicken, to take down the penguin regime controlling Albatropolis. And you’re not doing it empty handed. Hardboiled Chicken is armed with shotguns, grenades and even jetpacks, and he’s on a mission to take the evil penguins, led by Putzki, down. Each mission will lead Hardboiled Chicken to discover who the real enemies are in Albatropolis. If singleplayer isn’t your thing and you think you’ve got the pluck, take part in a co-op campaign to save the general’s daughter. Whichever mode you play, penguins are sure to die and an unbelievable history will be revealed as you advance farther into the past.

Some of the badass hardboiled features include fifteen chapters in solo campaign, ten chapters in co-op to rescue the generalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s daughter, tons of puzzles to be unhatched, ministories, weapons galore (including shotguns, AK-47s and eventually the ultimate weapon, brain bugs!) as well as non-dizzying stereoscopic 3D support running at 60fps/720p to provide shell shocking visuals. Get ready to get fowl and play dirty. Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken is expected to release October 2011.

Author: Rob 95

Namco Bandai have revealed that their game Shinobido 2: Tales Of The Ninja will be a European PS Vita launch title. The sequel to the widely acclaimed Shinobido: Way of the Ninja, Shinobido 2: Tales of the Ninja raises the bar with even more stylish ninja action, new gameplay features, intuitive touch controls and a thrilling dynamic storyline. Set six months after the events of the previous game, Shinobido 2: Tales of the Ninja sees the once peaceful region of Utakata in the grip of a vicious civil war. Players will step into the shoes of Zen, betrayed by his companions and left fatally wounded. Narrowly escaping death, Zen chooses to live the life of a ninja and sets out to find those who wronged him, stopping at nothing to unleash the full fury of his silent yet deadly revenge. So thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s another game coming to Vita, we already know so many games coming so it looks like the launch line-up could be a very strong one. What do you think? plan on picking this up? tell us in the comments below.

SEGA and Marvel Announces Thor and Captain America for 3DS Author: Vanessa H

SEGA and Marvel Entertainment have finally announced the release dates for Thor: God ofThunder (slanted for September 13th, 2011), as well as Captain America: Super Soldier (October 25th, 2011) for Nintendo 3Ds Handheld. Both games were previously available on PS3, Xbox 360, Wii and Nintendo DS. Thor: God of Thunder takes place in the same world as the 2011 movie Thor, and also has Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleson reclaiming their respective roles as Thor and Loki to provide voicing. Players will fight to save Asgard, Thor’s universe, from complete decimation. The author of the Thor comic books and an Eisner Award-winning writer, Matt Fraction, also came on board to work as a story consultant to help develop an original story specifically for the videogame.

Captain America: Super Soldier flashes back to the days of the second World War and pits gamers against the Red Skull and his Hydra minions. Taking up the role and shield of Captain America, players will be faced with employing an acrobatic, liquid smooth style of combat in order to infiltrate Hydra’s lair. Within the castle you’ll find yourself against the Iron Cross and hordes of opposition straight off the pages of the comic books, all seeking to discover the wartime secrets of Arnim Zola, a crazed scientist.

On September 13th, 2011, the Red Dead Redemption Myths & Mavericks bonus pack will be available for download to everyone on PSN and Xbox Live – for free! It includes will include some of the singleplayer story characters in multiplayer, and the multiplayer will also have new locations – including Cochinay, Nekoti Rock and Beecher’s Hope. There will also be new games in Armadillo, Tumbleweed and Chuparosa. Check out the list below of locations, modes and characters! New Multiplayer Characters Landon Ricketts Vicente DeSanta Drew MacFarlane Deputy Eli Deputy Jonah Javier Esquella Nastas Uncle

Maps/Modes Cochinay – Gold Rush, Shootout, Gang Shootout, Stronghold Nekoti Rock – Gold Rush, Shootout, Gang Shootout El Presidio – Gold Rush, Shootout, Gang Shootout Plainview – Gold Rush, Shootout, Gang Shootout Gaptooth Mine – Shootout, Gang Shootout Pike’s Basin – Shootout, Gang Shootout Rio Bravo – Shootout, Gang Shootout Perdido – Hold Your Own, Grab the Bag Benedict Point – Hold Your Own, Grab the Bag Beecher’s Hope – Stronghold Torquemada – Stronghold Armadillo – Stronghold Chuparosa – Stronghold Tumbleweed – Stronghold

Author: Vanessa H

Digital Reality Announces SkyDrift This September gamers can look forward to Digital Reality’s new aerial racer, SkyDrift. Set for release on September 7th for PSN and Xbox LIVE Arcade, SkyDrift is a supersonic experience for any player. SkyDrift transforms eight state-of-the-art planes into weapons of destruction, and includes over thirty different racing skins and events. The tracks are reversible and you are able to go head-to-head in either single or multiplayer challenges, up to eight players. Expect achievements to unlock, reward to collect, and tons of tactical power-ups to give you the edge on your enemies. Gamers will be able to either out race their opposition, or just shoot them out of the sky. Péter Nyester, a SkyDrift producer for Digital reality, sums it up as “SkyDrift is more than your typical arcade style racing game…Skydrift combines all the best elements of arcade-heavy games with stimulating graphics and smooth game play – creating the ultimate racing experience.”

First Screens For Yakuza Black Panther 2 Released Yakuza Black Panther 2, known as Kurohyou 2 Ryu ga Gotoku in Japan was only revealed Today for the PSP along side Yakuza 5, we now have the logo and the first screens for the game. The game is set to release Spring 2012 for PSP, many people are surprised that it’s not a Vita game as it could make for a great game in the launch window of the Vita espically in Japan. I must say for a PSP game it looks great. Check out the screens to the right! Impressive for a PSP game isn’t it? I still don’t get why it wouldn’t be a Vita title but maybe they might change their mind as it’s probably pretty early in development, if not i’m sure the game will be great and i’m also sure we probably won’t even see it in the US/EU as no Yakuza spin-offs have made it over yet.

Author: Rob95

Naughty Dog Is ‘One Franchise Per Console’ In a recent interview with assistant producer Victor Harris of Uncharted 3 we got the low down on the future of other Naughty Dog franchises and were quite sad with what we were told.

We recently sat down with Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception assistant producer Victor Harris and talked about the title in a brief interview. We brought up a question regarding if we will ever see the much beloved Jak & Daxter from Naughty Dog in the near future. To which he replied “Naughty Dog is a one franchise per-console company and Playstation 3 is Uncharted.” Well, there goes all the hope we had for a Jak & Daxter title on the Playstation 3. That doesn’t mean all hope is lost. Vita is still around the corner. Author: AnthonyD

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception releases November 1st in North America and November 2nd in Europe exclusively on the Playstation 3.

FIFA Soccer 12 Gets North American Cover Art With FIFA growing in popularity year on year in the US, and peculiarly launching a few days earlier in the US than in the EU, EA have released the box art for the title. As opposed to the EU box art that was revealed a couple of weeks ago, and can be seen to the right, and had Wayne Rooney and Jack Wilshire, both from UK teams (for a UK market), the US cover features three players on the front. As you can see on the left you still have Wayne Rooney of Manchester United and his wonderful face, sans his new hairdo. In the middle you have LA Galaxy Midfielder Landon Donovan and, united together for the cover of FIFA 12, his rival Rafael Márquez who is Defender for the New York Red Bulls. Unlike the EU version of the game this will be the first time that Wayne Rooney has graced the cover of US FIFA Soccer and although Rafael Márquez does play for the NY Red Bulls he is depicted in his Home national Mexico kit Alongside the box art reveal it should be noted that this FIFA entry will be like no other in the series, boasting new features that will revolutionise how soccer/football games are played. Here’s what EA had to say on the new features: FIFA Soccer 12 brings to the pitch the game-changing new Player Impact Engine, a physics engine built to deliver real-world physicality in every interaction on the pitch. Revolutionary gameplay innovations inspired by the real-world game make FIFA Soccer 12 deeper and more engaging. All-new Precision Dribbling creates a higher fidelity of touch on the ball for better control in tight spaces, more time to make decisions on attack, and more control over the pace of the game. Innovations in attack are balanced by a re-designed defending mechanism called Tactical Defending, which fundamentally changes the approach to defending by placing equal importance on positioning, intercepting passes and tackling. Plus, players have been infused with Pro Player Intelligence, the next generation of player intelligence and performance. This FIFA also has a much more immersive online experience where you get a real sense of community and shaping a team. FIFA Soccer 12 also introduces EA SPORTS Football Club—the heartbeat of FIFA Soccer 12. This live service is available at no additional cost and connects players to the real-world game with fresh, new content all the time, enabling them to support their favorite club and connect and compete with their friends, and millions of players around the world. FIFA Soccer 12 launches on all major platforms on the 27th September 2011 in the US, 30th September 2011 in the EU. Author: Vaughn.H

Bethesda’s Fallout New Vegas released last year and was then promised to receive four DLC packs. So far three have been released including, Dead Money, Honest Heart and Old World Blues. The forth DLC pack Lonsome Road was supposed to release in August until Bethesda said it had been delayed. If you were wondering when you could get your hands on it your in luck because Bethesda have now announced the release date. Lonesome Road will now release on September 20th. In Lonesome Road, players are contacted by Courier Six – the man who originally refused to deliver the Platinum Chip at the beginning of Fallout: New Vegas‘ campaign. Ulysses piques the main character’s interest by offering to explain why he refused to take the job. Though, he’ll only divulge the secret after you make one last journey into the hurricane-swept canyons of Divide, a landscape torn apart by earthquakes and other violent storms. It’s up to you as to whether you take the job or not.

Author: Rob95

Bethesda also announced two other DLC packs would be available from September 27th. The packs names are Couriers Stash and Gun Runners Arsenal. Courier’s Stash: Gives players access to four content bundles which were previously only available through preordering the game. There’s the Caravan Pack, the Classic Pack, the Mercenary Pack and the Tribal Pack. Each offers unique weapons, apparel and aid advantages that will help you through your journey. It will be available for 160 Microsoft Points or $1.99 on PSN and Steam. Gun Runners’ Arsenal: Increases the range of unique weapons, weapon mods, ammo types and recipes which are waiting to be uncovered in the vast Mojave Wasteland. It will be available for download for 320 Microsoft Points or $3.99 on PlayStation Network.

New Modern Warfare 3 Screen & Concept Art Uncovered Author: Vanessa H You have to be living under a rock to have not heard about Modern Warfare 3, the next release in the Call of Duty series from Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games. It picks up where Modern Warfare 2 left off, with the Russian Federation moving forward with their takeover of the United States of America â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and continues with their attack on Europe (including England, Germany and France). With the COD XP coming up on the 2nd and 3rd, when the full multiplayer will be revealed, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s only fitting to show off some of the concept art for the newest Call of Duty game!

Harbor Screenshot

Berlin Concept Warlord Marketplace Concept

On Author: JustaGamer It’s finally coming to the UK! The cloud-based online gaming service known as OnLive will available in the UK from the Thursday 22nd September 2011 for gamers to check out and play. This service has been officially out in the US since last June and enables gamers to play many of the console games we all know and love such as Assassins Creed Brotherhood, Batman Arkham Asylum, Deus Ex Human Revolution, Lego Harry Potter, and many of this autumn’s hot releases. OnLive confirms over 100 top titles will be available at launch, but there is currently no pricing or particular title names announced for the UK release date. For those of you who have not heard of OnLive, the service stores many of the top console games onto Servers based in a mass DataCentre, and then allow us to connect to the service via our broadband lines. The game data is then streamed from the server, over the broadband line to the MicroConsole TV adapter, and then via the HDMI cable to the HD TV (720p resolution currently supported). Once logged in we can play games via the broadband line direct to your – PC’s and Apple Mac based machines – via downloadable application Apple iPad – via Onlive viewer app from iTunes HD TV’s – As described above in addition to a Controller. The Controller is similar to a PS3/Xbox 360 controller and is to play the games and navigate the OnLive menu. The controller also includes buttons for recording, sharing and playing game clips (Brag Clips).

And soon, Android tablets such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab via an Android Market app. There is also numerous ways to subscribe and pay for games. Currently the structure in the US is like this Demo’s are Free. Games can rented for 3 days ($5.99) or 5 days ($ 8.99) A Full PayPass is around $30 which is basically a purchase of the game. Or you can play an overall subscription fee of $9.99 per month for the Flat Rate option. Hopefully we will be getting some UK prices rolling in but this should give you a rough idea of what to expect. Once on the system, you can play games, spectate other people playing their games, demo nearly any game for free, and share your awesome gameplay moments by using the record button on the OnLive controller to record a 10 second clip which can be posted for others to view. All games Saves will also be kept within your cloud based OnLive account, so you will not fear any data loss due to the non requirement of a local hard drive, memory card or even Console. On the bandwith side of things, the requirement for a smooth experience is around 5mb per second data rate on your broadband line. Personally though, I think a 3mb rate should be classed as minimum for a decent playable experience. Just by chance, I am currently upgrading my broadband line from the current 2mb to Virgin’s fibre optic 30mb, so I will intending on trying out OnLive when it hits in a few weeks. I’m not about replace my PS3 or 360 just yet, but I will admit, I am intrigued. Visit the OnLive UK site to sign up, get more info and check out video’s of the service in action. Will you be thinking of giving this a go? If so, what kind of games would you like to play? Apologies if I left any facts or points out. If you have more info then please feel free to add more details in the comments section for everybody to learn about this revolutionary new gaming service hitting our shores (not stores) this Sept. As always, thanks for reading, JustaGamer.

Sony Reveals PSP E-1000 Specs Author: Ryan.p See what was cut out of the latest PSP to lower the price to £99. PlayStation Vita is the hot handheld right now. People are excited by the impressive tech. However, until the device launches, we will have to continue playing the PSP. The device has been selling like hotcakes in Japan but sales have been stagnating everywhere else. At Sony’s Gamescom Presser on August 16, they announced a budget line PSP model, the E-1000 for £99. Seems like a steal right? Well it is missing some features including Wi-Fi. Now Sony has released the specs of the device to compare to the other models. Now we can see what all is missing: LCD screen: – 4.3 inches / 10.9 cm (16:9) full-transparent type, TFT drive. – Approximately 16,770,000 colours displayed. Sound: Monaural speaker. Internal disc drive: Read-only Universal Media Disc drive. Interface: – DC IN 5V connector. – Hi-Speed USB (USB 2.0 compliant). – DC OUT connector. – Headset connector. – Memory Stick PRO DuoTM slot. Power source: – AC Adaptor: DC 5.0 V. – Lithium-Ion rechargeable Battery Pack. Maximum power consumption: Approx. 6 W (when charging). External dimensions: Approx. 172.4 × 73.4 × 21.6 mm (width × height × depth) (excludes largest projection). Weight: Approx. 223 g (including Battery Pack). Operating environment: temperature 5C – 35C. Compatible codecs: – Universal Media Disc Video: H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Main Profile Level 3. – Music: H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Main Profile Level 3, Linear PCM, ATRAC3plus, Memory Stick. For details, refer to the User’s Guide. Universal Media Disc laser: – Wave length: 655 – 665 nm. – Power: Max. 0.28 mW. – Type: Semiconductor, continuous. AC Adaptor: – Input: AC 100-240 V, 50/60 Hz. – Output: DC 5 V, Max. 1500 mA. – External dimensions: Approx. 61 × 23 × 84 mm (width × height × depth) (excludes largest projection). – Weight: Approx. 62 g The biggest change is the fact that device will only have one speaker rather than the 2 on other models. The device also somehow weighs more than the PSP 2000 and 3000 models, which doesn’t make much sense seeing as it is losing features.

Hands on with Author: Vaughn.H The Sony booth was awash with people all fighting to get a chance to salivate all over the shiny new Sony handheld, Playstation Vita. Already its unusual name, that means life in Latin, has become commonplace in the videogames world and now the device is turning heads left, right and centre. Many people clambered to ge http://reenvizion.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/ps-vita-front.png t to the games they wanted to see and touch, not to belittle the offerings for the PSV on launch, TGH was more interested in letting you guys know about how the device feels itself. Firstly the largest difference is the addition of a second stick and the fact that both sticks are now proper thumbsticks instead of the awkward pad that was previously used. These thumbsticks also have a small grip section that is very similar to those found on PS3 thumbsticks. The buttons were also noticeably smaller than on previous PSP devices and he directional pad is completely joined together. The buttons however fit well, even in large hands, as they are curved to the shape of the thumb meaning you can just roll onto and off them with ease. Many people were worried about the PSV beinga big and bulky device to carry around but the truth is its actually quite reasonably sized. The console is thinner than a PSP 3000 and much lighter than a PSP Go, yet it feels incredibly robust. The weight is lost because there is no disk drive inside which takes up a lot of space in most hardware.

At the top of the unit is a flap, that was unfortunately covered so we couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get to it, but that is probably where the game cards and flash memory goes. The screen is also crisp sharp and bright and games really do have near PS3 visuals; when playing Little Big Planet on the device it would be hard to tell one from the other when put next to its PS3 brothers. However the touch pads are what seem to let the device down. Placing too much pressure on them causes it to register poorly when making movements, too lightly and it also doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t register it, this is made even harder when youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve worked up a gamers sweat playing games all day in an incredibly hot and humid environment. Moving around on the rear touch pad is also rather uncomfortable without repositioning how you hold the device. It is probably something that you learn how to use properly but currently right now its very awkward to do. Overall when the PSV launches next year it will really be worth picking one up first and trying it out. Its extremely impressive and will break out all your expectations of what a handheld should deliver, and if even more functionality is brought in via the 3G and Wifi features than it will be a killer device for the market.

New PS3 3D Technology Over in the corner of the Sony 18+ booth was a very small device that had garnered little attention over the big games with big guns on show around it. As it turns out this little white prototype device could easily be the most interesting thing at Gamescom. Gamescom is the first time that it has been publically shown off in the world after its rather quiet announcement a couple of weeks ago in Japan. So what is this mysterious device? Well one of the booth attendants described it in broken English as a “new gaming feeling”, and he really wasn’t wrong.

The item in question is a white visor; something that looks like it has come straight out of a Star Trek remake by JJ Abrams, the final device will look similar to the prototype but it will be a full wrap around device instead of just the first half that we got my hands on with. It is really lightweight too and, although the version we used was wired, the final product will be totally wireless with rechargeable batteries. The device has built in speakers and delivered some incredible sound, although they appeared as stereo they delivered what sounded like 5.1 surround sound directly into the ears. They were rather loud though and it seemed that there was not any immediate way for them to be turned down on the device but they surely can. So other than the sound it delivers and the way it looks what does it actually do? The device creates a 3D image right in front of the eye, just like wearing a pair of glasses or looking through a binocular it means you can see everything that is happening onscreen in wonderful and lush 3D. The greatest thing about the glasses was that it delivered a sharp, vibrant and extremely realistic 3D image. It topped any 3D television includes all the 3D displays on show at Gamescom. The 3D, despite technically requiring glasses, is even better than that found in the 3DS, it creates an image that doesn’t look layered or papery and floating, something that dogged the 3D version of Resistance 3. However playing resistance 3 with these bad boys on it created an entirely new experience and made the game feel more realistic and made it more enjoyable to play too. The viewing lenses can also be adjusted for eye gap width so you get the best picture for yourself when playing.

The device has very few noticeable downsides at this point in time, one thing that was somewhat different was that the resolution of the screen did not seem to be quite as high as it would be if you were playing on a PS3 itself, however it makes some sense as the lenses are so close to your eyes it could probably do some damage. On top of all this you can also set it up to view 3D films so you can do more than just play games with the device. It also has the ability to play alongside other screens; for instance if you were playing a splitscreen game, or you had people over, you can play in 3D and they will still be able to watch the action, or indeed play along, in either 2D or 3D! This new device, which is still to be named, is set to release around November/December of this year in the EU. Annoyingly there are no details on price yet either, if priced right though this device could really change how people view (ha!) 3D gaming. Author: Vaughn.H

NCSoft Press Conference Round-up Metro: Last Light Preview Sonic Generations Preview Skullgirls â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Preview & Interview Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine Preview A Look at Calibur 11 Dark Souls Preview Darksiders 2 Preview & Interview Q&A with Hello Games Joe Danger: The Movie Preview Anarchy Reigns Preview Darkness II Preview Forza Motorsport 4 Preview Final Fantasy XIII-2 Preview Skyrim Impressions Rage Preview Dishonored Preview Prey 2 Preview

Press Conference Author: Vaughn.H Round-up At 9am on a very sunny and warm day in Germany, Gamescom opened its doors and the first big announcement of the day came from publisher NCSoft. NCsoft are best known for publishing ArenaNet’s Guild Wars and today they have come toegether to talk not just about Guild Wars 2 but also a brand new IP that they want to show the world with great force. There new IP? Well Its developed by Carbine Studios. Wildstar is their first game and they plan on jumping right in and going for the big shots of the MMO world, and to be fair to them they are onto a golden one, at least in theory. Wildstar lives by the mantra of “let gamers play how they want to play”, by this they mean that they want to let gamers have all the freedom to go off and do things as they please in the world, they wanted to build a world where players can ‘go anywhere and find anything to do in a rich deep world’. To do this they give players to choose their path, depending on what path you choose it shapes the world directly around you, so like others your ability tree will be locked in certain places by class but also you will find and experience different things compared to other players on different paths. They want you to choose each path based on what you feel motivates you as a player when you grab the mouse in hand and pose those keyboard fingers. So far they revealed 4 class types, but didn’t supply names for them yet either. You have your explorer who investigates the landscape and finds clues and can alter the environment to gain access to new areas and challenges; you have the Conquerors who work much like soldier class where mainly their path involves throwing them into high combat situations; you have your Settler class who are more interested in forging social links with other players and working with them in aiding and finding somewhere to hold down a fort; finally the last class on show was one that was focused more on finding out how the ruins across the world came to be and how they can be used.

Because of these paths you can dynamically change the world, no place will be the same when you come back to revisit an area, because of your actions you will come back to find a totally different environment to play around in even though it is the same section. In a demo gameplay sequence it showed the world covered in snow and then an Explorer class finding a snow station and switching it off, thus changing the world from a snowy wasteland for himself and other players. The way that Carbine studios see the game is a unique world filled with technology and magic, a crossing and combining of science fiction and fantasy, guns that fire magic is one such example. You can see some gameplay footage and the trailer in off screen videos posted below.

The other game at this little morning announcement was ArenaNet’s highly anticipated Guild Wars 2. They didn’t announce so much about the game today as they said a lot at last years Gamescom where they unveiled the game, however today they had a huge hands on area for players to experience the game themselves. They did however reveal that there are going to be 5 playable races, although the demo they showed only had 4 and they weren’t prepared to reveal the fifth one yet. They also now have a fully useable character customization where they can tweak and change almost any part of your character in any way you want. They also showed that they have underwater combat in this game and as expected PvP is back. TGH managed to get their hands on Guild Wars 2 however having not played Guild Wars before it is hard to measure the improvements, but the game runs fantastically well and visually looks superb. The controls seem much the same as many other MMOs but combat is fast and frantic. Video’s will be published soon when we’ve finished checking them over.

Preview Author: Vaughn.H

TGH got the chance to have a sit down with THQ and get a run th Games. Internally, as well as externally, Metro 2033 is known as a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;fl that this direct sequel to the cult classic will be much, much better. and feature a better stealth system and implementation, it also still found in Metro 2033.

The demo we get to watch starts above ground, the camera pannin extremely like the Cathedral next to the Volga in Moscow, but that this eerie wasteland we see some winged beasts flying around clear into a destroyed building where we see two soldiers opening and cl cinematic ends and gameplay takes over letting you climb down th there and covered in cobwebs, you can burn these away with your for such an inventory item. Up ahead past the cobwebs is a light, a sharpish if you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to be spotted by the patrolling guards. In opts to manually unscrew the light from the wall making no sound

hrough the sequel to Metro 2033 by 4A flawed masterpieceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; however THQ assures us . Not only does it have brand new enemy AI l contains all the atmosphere and loneliness

ng across a destroyed Church, which looks tâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just jumping to assumptions there. Across rly looking for its next prey. The camera pans limbing into a manhole, this is where the he latter into the tunnel below. Its dark down lighter and that clearly alludes to more uses light that needs to be taken down pretty nstead of shooting out the bulb the player d and making the area pitch black.

The guards notice the lack of light and then begin to walk over whilst the player lurks in the shadows. One gua grisly end by way of a slit throat from behind; the second guard goes down with a shot to the head. Then to adv further down on the wall and the light above the entrance door. Sneaking forward it turns out that he has ende the tunnel, a compound now being used as a holdup for the new army that has formed in these apocalyptic tim stealth style of shooting out lights and silently killing guards, until one guard notices something is up, TGH ass the bodies lying around the place. The guard begins to work out where the player is, all it takes is one more gua exactly where he is hiding. Suddenly gameplay changes into a crazy gunfight in the dark, cover flies away as eac blocks being used for cover. After this sections you meet up with the other solider at the start and together you soldiers, and soon after cause a distraction that triggers something that looks exactly like a cutscene but actuall

ard gets too close and meets a rather vance he shoots out both the light ed up inside a train compound in mes. Gameplay continues on in a sumes it was either the lights or ard to fall and then he sees where ch bullet chips through the concrete u infiltrate a massive meeting of the ly isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t.

You have to run through a shantytown and follow after your comrade, jumping and ducking under cover whilst avoiding fire from behind. This ends in jumping into a cart and then going into an on rails shooting section, and then jumping from a minecart whilst moving and landing on a prisoner train so you can save another one of your comrades. You move forward through the train shooting guards who eagerly find cover from your fire and work out ways to flank you and outsmart you. The demo ends shortly after in a dramatic blaze of fire from the front of the train. They THQ representative was eager to stress that this was a very action oriented demo and not what the entire game was like, he then went on to show a small thirty second gameplay trailer of a very different situation, underground and alone walking through sewers and tunnels and then fighting some huge mutant wolf beast. Sorry for being a bit pessimistic but that still sounds like something a bit action oriented, however having the quiet beforehand did make a difference in comparison to the demo shown off. The nice thing about Metro Last Light is that the weaponry had a very post World War II feel to it, making the gameworld much more believable. Also, to some peoples dismay maybe, the ammo system from Metro 2033 has been abandoned so to make it more appealing and less confusing to the majority of gamers, as from feedback many found it quite annoying to use it. Metro Last Light will launch in 2012 for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, the build TGH were shown today was on a standard spec PC and it looked beautiful so lets see what the coming months can do to the game!

view Author: Vaughn.H

If you aren’t going to be playing it in stereoscopic, and lets face it many of us aren’t going to be, then Sonic Generations could easily be the sonic game you have always been waiting for. 2D levels with Sonic are a dream to play when not in stereoscopic and are great fun, capturing the sense found in the old games; playing as the ‘new’ Sonic it is amazing fun in both stereoscopic 3D and standard HD, his levels are awesome and are the best 3D sonic levels and gameplay ever, which is good after the shocking Sonic the Hedgehog on 360 and the many Wii games, oh and the awful Sonic Unleashed. This game could easily be the best sonic game yet, which is a very controversial thing to say after 20 years of Sonic.

TGH managed to get its hands on a lovely version of Sonic Generations in stereoscopic 3D, we also got the chance to play the game not just as ‘old’ Sonic but as the ‘new’ Sonic too. Straight away you notice the 3D, which is both good and bad, when playing as ‘old’ Sonic the 2D side on levels don’t work so well in stereoscopic. The level becomes confusing and with the immense speed when moving through a level only makes it harder to focus on exactly what is happening, let alone where sonic actually is. However playing as ‘new’ Sonic the stereoscopic 3D works wonderfully with the 3D gameplay, the intense feeling of speed is clearly present and it gives you a wonderful idea of how far away objects you need to doge and avoid are. The levels wind up and around and are only improved by being in stereoscopic 3D. Playing as ‘new’ Sonic feels intuitive, it is no longer floaty like he has always seem to be, he isn’t sluggish either, but he feels refined and grounded. It is clear that in the ‘new’ Sonic stages Sonic Team are clearly trying to emulate the sense of fun found in the Dreamcast Sonic Adventure games, and it works, rushing through Green Hill Zone as this Sonic is by far and away better than any other 3D sonic game made yet.

Skullgirls – Preview & Interview Author: Vaughn.H

TGH got hands on with a brand new, and unreleased, Xbox Live Arcade title, Skullgirls. We also got a chance to ask the guys at Autumn Games and ask them a couple of questions about the game itself. Firstly for a downloadable fighting game it is incredibly impressive, really up there with other fighting games that reach full retail release, even in a PreAlpha build of the game!

Gameplay wise it is similar to both the Street Fighter and Marvel Vs. Capcom series, you have a tag team element allowing for up to three members per team, and switching team member is as easy as holding down both medium punches or heavy kicks. You can perform super moves and also stronger standard moves and blocking is as simple as holding back on the pad. One feature they have included that no other fighting game seems to have done is the ability to break out from ‘infinity loops’. Infinity loops occur when one player pins another to a wall and just repeats the same cycle of events trapping their opponent indefinitely, with this breakout move when this occurs you can press any button to perform an un-blockable knockback so you can even the playing field. Another nice feature is that the fewer team members you have, the more damage you can deal out, the flip side to this is that you wont have as much opportunity to duck out and heal up, however again this evens the challenge a bit more.

Visually Skullgirls is beautiful, all the stages and characters are hand drawn and contain over 20,000 individual animations, showing just how much care and attention has gone into this game. The character style has come from a western animation influence as well as some manga, and although the build we got a chance to play today only had four characters to play as we were promised that the final build will contain 8 fighters with more to come via DLC, including male fighters. However if that isn’t enough for you the opportunity to change what you look like is also available as some characters have as many as 12 indivisual looks. As mentioned before the stages are also hand drawn. All the stages are visually 2D, and in the build we played were static (but we were told the final build will feature movement), however they are all entirely rendered in 3D so they all contain dynamic lighting. That dynamic lighting is more important than you may first think for a 2D fighting game as it allows for correct shadow placement and the colours even light up the characters themselves, creating a more grounded illusion of the world.

Playing it hands on it really reminded TGH of old school fighting games like Rival Schools and the PS1 Marvel Versus Capcom. Its extremely good fun to play and has so many tongue and cheek moments alongside little homages to other games, one example comes from the character Peacock. Peacock has a gun that can fire out a blade to attack an opponent with, the blade is always random and at times has Squall’s gunblade from Final Fantasy VIII, other times it can be a Gears of War chainsaw bayonet, and one time it looked vaguely similar to Sigfried’s weapon in Soul Blade, sometimes Peacocks gun also fires out Bullet Bill bullets too! As of yet there is no word on full singleplayer details, price or release date, however we do know that single player will contain an Arcade mode as well as a training mode too. They stress that the training mode will teach players how to play rather than how to just perform character moves. TGH can only assume that it will retail at a standard XBLA price point (8001200 points). We got a chance to ask some questions to the team too. TGH: How many characters and levels can we expect from the final game build? Skullgirls: Well there are currently eight stages, and in the final build they will all feature some aspects of movement instead of the static screens you see here today. In terms of characters we have 8 for the launch with more planned as DLC, including some male characters as that seems to be the response we are getting from our fans, they really would like to be able to play as males. TGH:What inspired the games art direction? SG: Well it was mostly Western animation. When looking at the Peacock character she clearly shows signs of 1940s animation like Felix the Cat or Steamboat Willie. She also has the kick that Charlie Brown in Peanuts. Some others ape more anime/manga stylings but it is primarily western comics and animation. You can see more of the anime side in the free flowing nature of the game.

TGH: The game is clearly inspired by traditional 2D fighters, it really reminds me of the original MvC. How come you chose to go down this route? SG: Well we all loved these games, Street Fighter, Marvel Vs. Capcom etc, but we thought they were broken in places. Because Marvel Vs. Capcom gives you the freedom to chain any move together and create free combos against your foes it gave players ultimate freedom, a freedom that became exploited and created holes for players to exploit. We felt that it was better to have some rules in place and still have this really fun experience. By including these breakout modes it meant that people exploiting loops can’t get the upper hand by spamming as after a cycle of 10 similar moves the system detects what you could be doing and activates the system. We really wanted to get to a market who never played a fighting game before and get them playing and having fun.

Currently they are unsure as to when the game will be ready, however it will be out by the end of the year and TGH strongly recommends you pick it up or give it a chance as soon as you can, it is an absolutely excellent game and one that should really be getting more attention from the industry.

PREVIEW Author: Vaughn.H TGH got its grubby, and by this time, incredibly clammy hands all over the new THQ Warhammer 40k game. This was a multiplayer demo on the 360 and our objective was to capture tactical points on the map rather than have an out and out deathmatch, although arguably that is what it became. As far as gameplay goes the controls were the usual really, ‘A’ was jump (or roll if you didn’t have a jetpack), clicking in the left stick meant you sprinted, Right Trigger was your fire button and Left Trigger your aim, you get the idea, it was all very familiar and comfortable to play. You really get a great sense of playing as a Space Marine in the game as when walking you have an incredible clunk and a real heavy feel (although the controls never feel sluggish), the sounds used are excellent in creating that sense of weight even jumping around in a jetpack feels like you have a furnace on your back. The weapons continue on with this feel of weight and clout, each bullet shot rippling through the gun and into your foe, or into the wall if your aim is like ours. Using a chainsword is also incredibly gratifying swinging wildly at your foe as you close in for the kill, first stunning them with your pistol. Alongside a standard reloading system you also have the ability to vent your weapons as they fire as fast as you can pull the trigger, meaning that not only does this mechanic feel like a realistic way to deal with a powerful weapon but it also means that it stops people using turbo controllers dominating the online landscape. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see any of the singleplayer but if it plays as well as the multiplayer seems to then it will be a very impressive game as the multiplayer is extremely addictive fun.

A Look at Calibur 11 Author: Vaughn.H

The Calibur 11 stall is by far the most striking stall at Gamescom. Its huge monolith booth with bright white interior just entices gamers to it like a moth to a flame. I found myself having a chat with Kat from Calibur 11 who took me on a tour of their wares. Firstly Calibur 11 make cases for consoles, cases they call vaults. The name makes perfect sense when you see them. The cases are screwed together across the ouside of the console and they pop like nobodys business in some really nice and bold colours, something that can liven your xbox up in a flash. These vaults not only provide a nice aesthetic to the device but also stablilise it when standing up and take up little footprint whilst doing so, they also improve ventilation to the console allowing air up and into it and they are fully customizable too!

At Gamescom Calibur 11 also debuted their PS3 cases for the first time, showing them off in full force to the trade audience that was present at the time. The PS3 Cases are also very similar in colour choice to the Xbox ones and serve very much the same purpose, however because they come with stands it means you can finally have your PS3 Slim stood upright in your livingroom. The great thing about these cases you can attach a handy storage hook and place pads or headphones on them with ease. As said before you can also customize these fully too with add on packs that you can buy separately that contain some fun little extras.

One awesome thing about the Vaults is that Calibur 11 get some really nice deals with publishers and organisations and can release custom Vaults for them. One such design is a Gears of War one where the Gears Cog is on the side and lights up dynamically whilst you play, if you die it goes out and then lights back up as you come back to life, and it is all powered by your USB. They have also gone to make a Battlefield 3 vault too and plan to have many more on the way soon! You can pick yourself up a Vault online at their website or in most EU stores like HMV. Picking up a tandard Vault for PS3 or 360 will cost you around ÂŁ40 and the limited ones like the Gears case will be about ÂŁ70 (which is still a damn sight cheaper than the gears console Microsoft are bringing out!).

Author: V

Vaughn.H

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Demon’s Souls was a game that many gamers loved the look of, it sounded perfect; a game that was tough as nails, had loads to unlock and discover as well as a deep and rich upgrade system all inside a creative and dark twisted world. For many the reality was in fact never quite getting past that first boss, let alone the second, for some it was a true test of your skill and patience and was worth every penny. Dark Souls will feel exactly the same for everyone. Gameplay wise very little seems to have changed, the light, heavy, parry and guard commands are in the same place as before, as is dodge and run. What has changed is that fighting feels much more rewarding. Swinging your weapon (in our case a sword as we played as a Black Knight) feels fluid and unlike Demon’s Souls doesn’t jar between animations, moving around on the environment also feels responsive and interacting is a pleasure to do. One thing that was noticeable from the demo is that there are now campfires you can sit and either save your game around or rest up with. Something of a compromise between accessibility and punishing difficulty, of course as the game goes on their role will clearly become more evident. The in game HUD has also been massively stripped back, the item slots appear to be larger allowing for a clearer image of what is in each slot, and the health and fatigue bars have been adjusted so you can see easily how much you have left of all your measurable skills.

In general the world is a much brighter and more vibrant place too. The level in which we played was a massive fort stronghold up in the mountains covered in ivy and moss, it was truly a sight to behold. It was instantly recognizable that Dark Souls has had a huge graphical overhaul with all the textures looking intricate, rich and deep. The levels themselves have also taken a similar feel to Demon’s Souls in their sprawling maze of different routes to take, incidentally TGH walked straight into a dragon in the demo and sure to say that was the end for us. However going back on closer inspection we noticed that we had missed a leaver, this leaver opened a gate, which meant we could progress the way we were meant to. If we came back later we could easily, hopefully, take down the dragon with a higher leveled character. Ultimately this isn’t going to win people over who didn’t like or get along with Demon’s Souls. It is still as punishingly hard as before, if not more so, and yet it is still enjoyable to play despite always dying. If you were a fan of Demon’s Souls then Dark Souls will offer everything you ever wanted and more.

Darksiders 2 Preview & Interview

Author: Vaughn.H

Darksiders was somewhat of a dark horse (excuse the poor pun there) when it launched two years ago. It came with a lot of hype around it and then released and seemed to fall off the face of the earth despite having reasonable reviews and a large amount of admirers. Now with an established player base Darksiders is back again with Darksiders 2. This time you wont be controlling War, instead you will take hold of War’s brother, Death. Death’s adventure takes place at the same time as War’s and so loosely has the same key plot point, to prove War’s innocence at supposedly starting the Apocalypse.

In the demo that we were shown of Darksiders 2 it showed off a lot about the game even though it was still in an early build. We joined Death approximately 20% into the game, as he was on his way to talk to the Lord of Bones so he could get closer to finding out about what had happened with War. Of course this isn’t as simple as it should be, Death must go face and defeat the champion of the arena and bring his head back so he can be granted an audience with the Lord of Bones. First things first the scale of this game is huge. Walking out of the main gates the camera pans up and towering above were two huge Wyverns tearing through the sky and in front of Death was a door that appeared to be small, but as you got closer it was huge. Scale seems present throughout the game too as bosses seem to be hulking beasts you need to whittle down to defeat and you can call forth your horse regularly as the spaces on show are enormous to traverse. It appears that this game is easily a longer and larger adventure than what came before it.

Gameplay wise Death is a different beast to War in pretty much every way. Death is all about doing what it takes to get the job done, this is reflected in the way that Death has no block, instead he opts for dodging all the moves he can because he is an incredibly quick fighter. He primarily uses two twin blades but can also switch out for a hammer and, typically for death, a scythe too. It also appears that by this point in the game you also have access to a grapple hook which can be used in battles as well as in adventuring. We were promised that despite the extremely combat heavy demo that we were shown, the game is much more than just hack and slash. Platforming, puzzle solving and exploration will all be included in the game. Magic also seems to be making a return to the game too, but little of that was shown in the game demo we saw. One thing noticeable about the early build we were shown was the complete lack of HUD onscreen, no doubt this is set to change but without the HUD it really let you appreciate how good this game looks. Visually the art style for the world of the undead, where the entirety of this game takes place, is really imaginative. The art design guys clearly went nuts with the freedoms they had in such a world. To finish off our session with THQ we had a quick Q&A over some things from the game.

TGH: We noticed that upon defeating enemies gold was dropped along with other various items. Does this mean that there is stuff to purchase in the game or is it another commodity to be used, similar to souls in the original Darksiders? THQ: Ah you noticed that! Well you can gain items and new armor by buying it or finding it. The armor you saw in the demo is not what you start out with at the beginning of the game. Because Darksiders 2 is so much bigger than before we built in hub worlds where Death can restock on supplies, travel between hubs and buy upgrades. You need gold to be able to do some of these things easily. TGH: Does Death have a sidekick like war did in the first Darksiders? THQ: Death does have a sidekick, and he is known as Dust. Dust is the crow that you can see sat on his shoulder in much of the artwork we have. We are still working with the ins and outs of how Dust will interact with the player, but we know for sure that he will fly off and circle over locations where you should be going, he is there to aid gamers who can be finding it a bit difficult to navigate across the world. TGH: It was shown that you get your own horse again, how much will it actually be used this time? THQ: Ah yes that was an issue we wanted to address. In the original Darksiders you had your horse but rarely any real reason to be using it. In Darksiders 2 you get [your horse] Dispair really early on. As it is a very large game having the horse makes navigation a breeze across large spaces and so you can now summon him almost anywhere. I wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t recommend trying it in a small space though. TGH: Finally, compared to Darksiders is Darksiders 2 a bigger game? THQ: Oh definitely. Darksiders was a large game but it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t as big as this. Darksiders 2 is huge in comparison, but we did listen to fan feedback and now the dungeons are smaller, although still packed with things to do and puzzles to solve. This is because fans were saying it took too long to get back through them to find places that they needed to revisit to find things. Now we can have more dungeons and still make it easier and engaging for players to go back through them to find what they want. Darksiders 2 launches on PS3, 360 and Wii U and will be out in 2012.

Q&A with Author: Vaughn.H In the chaos of what was another busy day at Gamescom, we managed to drag Managing Director Sean Murray away from watching people enjoy their creation and instead come and answer some questions. Sat in a beer garden/outdoor cafeteria, next to a very odd dry track surfing booth, TGH gave him a grilling. Only a light one though as, like the rest of the Hello Games team, Sean was a great guy. After a little light conversation about the absurdities of the queues and crowds at Gamescom we got down to business: TGH: What made you want to make another Joe Danger game? Sean Murray: Well it’s a funny one really, when you are making a game most people they would assume that you would never want to see the game again, never really want to do a sequel to it, you would have just had enough. With just the four of us working on Joe Danger we just felt really constrained, we did the best we could but we shipped the game because we ran out of money, not because we had ran out of ideas. In fact we had loads of ideas, we just couldn’t put them in and see it through. It was a huge surprise to us that the game was as well received as it was, but we just saw that and thought, there’s so much more! It kind of wasn’t even discussed we just got on with the game, still messing around with ideas and visiting older stuff. It all just kind of formed on its own. TGH: How come you chose movies as the theme then? SM: We were helping Ryan [a member of Hello Games] move house and he is really into his films. He had a huge collection of VHS tapes, a lot from the 80s, and he was moving this from house to house and so he was going to throw it all out. We couldn’t convince him not to, I mean at some point he’ll have to throw it all out, but we couldn’t bring ourselves to do it without watching some of them. After moving him into the new house we just sat down and started putting in tape after tape and we ended up just talking over them, saying quotes, talking about how awesome this bit or that bit was. It then dawned on us that these things just hadn’t been in games before. The amount of things you can actually do in games is really limited, if you like shooting things or being a soldier you are really well catered for; but movies, books and childhood aspirations, like I want to be an astronaut, just aren’t really catered for in games. We just knew we wanted to put this stuff in a game, we didn’t know how we were going to do it, but we really wanted to just get it in and that’s kind of how it became Joe Danger: The Movie.

TGH: The name does seem to seem to aspire to the idea of being epic, just everything in one package, was it that simple to decide upon the name? SM: Well we argued about it a lot, as it’s also a terrible name. It’s not a movie and it certainly isn’t ‘Joe Danger: The movie: The Game’. TGH: What made you decide to go into a sequel over, say, Downloadable Content for Joe Danger? SM: Well because it’s so different. We intend to, even if we are only partly there now, change a lot about the game. Already there are a lot of different ideas in there, all the vehicles handle differently and they all have different properties. We also wanted to reach a wider range of people so providing DLC wouldn’t have really done this. You also have to remember we had already put a years work into it and we didn’t do any DLC for Joe Danger and now we just want to go on into the next thing. We wanted to create something new rather than be constrained by what something else was. TGH: As you mentioned the gameplay is more varied, how did you come to the decision of what features should actually end up in the game? SM: The cool thing about [Joe Danger: The Movie] is that we all these separate elements and already have tight gameplay, so we can just build on that which gives us great freedom. I could come in, and just have an idea for a vehicle or gameplay mode and I could put that in. The whole idea of the game is variety, so it doesn’t matter if that its not good enough to be played for hundreds of hours, if its good enough for one level or so it’s a cool idea. Its kind of that Mario Galaxy thing, all these genius ideas used in each little planet; looking at it with my programmer/game developer head on you see it and think ‘that’s a brilliant idea, and that’s a brilliant idea’ and so we just wanted to have that with our games. We’ve had people come up to us at the stand and talk about the Skiing levels and be like “I would just play an entire game like this!”, but you wont actually be able to, so we’ve got to make those levels as good as we possibly can so they love them and also love all the other levels that are different but still contain the core idea of fun from Joe Danger. We don’t have massive brainstorming meetings or anything like that, we just come in and start implementing stuff or someone has an idea and we all get behind it. We’re not very well organized.

TGH: Moving away from the inspiration side of things, would you do more with the multiplayer this time, such as put in more modes? SM: We are definitely going to do multiplayer, we have some really cool things to do with local multiplayer too as well as some online features too. However it all depends on platform and well we don’t know the platform yet. We’re trying to keep our mouths shut about that, incase we say something and then can’t deliver it. TGH: Finally linking in with that, being a small developer it must be hard finding the right platform for your creation. Do you feel some level of pressure to deliver it to PSN just because of the fan base you have created? SM: Well [the fans] have been really supportive of us from the beginning, so we kind of owe them. But it is this minefield for small developers to find the right platform, and I think people are understanding of that. At least I hope they are. I think that they will have grown accustom to developers, especially small ones don’t have the time to be able to put it onto more than one platform. We all joke that the one complaint about Joe Danger that everybody who ever wrote about it just ended up having all these comments of ‘will it be on XBLA please?’; it would just flood the comments with bits like that, so we would never hear anything else about the game. We would love to please everyone. TGH: What about when it becomes the success it should be, do you think you will spread it around? SM: Yeah, as a developer that’s all you really think about. When you are at something like Gamescom at a stand and you see someone come over and look at the controller, it can be a PS3 or an 360 pad or even an mouse and keyboard, and that makes them just put it down and walk away. I mean they might have really liked it; you kind of want to bring them back and make them play it. That’s just the natural mindset, you put all this work in and you just want to see people playing it. I mean what’s really nice is when you see a developer has actually gone multiplatform and hasn’t just gone and done a port with lazy shoe horning in of achievements and such. I think that’s all people actually really care about; they just want to have fun.

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Author: Vaughn.H Joe Danger was a small breakaway PSN hit when it launched a year ago. Based on the idea of an Evel Kenevil style stuntman who performs tricks and stunts for showmanship and fun, its simple controls, friendly artwork and fun game design mean’t that almost anyone could pick up and play the game and enjoy it within minutes of playing. However for developer Hello Games this wasn’t enough. Joe Danger was never quite the game they originally wanted it to be, due to limited time and resources they had to compromise and come up with the Joe Danger that launched. Of course that Joe Danger was a brilliant game so surely if that wasn’t the game they set out to make, the game they intended to make was going to be one hell of a game. The thing is you don’t have to wonder any longer. Hello Games’ next project, Joe Danger: The Movie, is not just a sequel to Joe Danger but is instead the game they had always wanted to make. We got a chance to sit down with the guys at Hello Games and get some real hands on time with their very early build of the game. First off for a game early in development the levels play well and so does the control scheme too. If you didn’t know it would be near impossible to tell that it wasn’t far into development yet. This is in part testament to the four strong team at Hello Games who managed to not only produce the original title to such a high standard but also create a level creation kit that is both simple an intuitive meaning that levels can be stitched together easily and effectively. And the level editor rears its head again in this iteration and allows players to have even more control over what they can do and change within levels.

So what does JDTM have to offer players that JD just couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t? Well to start with you no longer have just one vehicle. Now Joe can ride, drive and wear different modes of transportation, in the demo levels present at Gamescom five were available for testing and they were rather varied. You had a mine cart, a snowmobile as well as a cop bike but the most interesting additions were skis and a jetpack! The inclusion of different vehicles, and such a varied bunch, came from the team not wanting players to feel the game was getting bored and stale by repeating itself, so this was a fun way to vary the experience, plus it was what they had always intended from the original ideas for JD. Each vehicle has its own gameplay theme, as well as a film genre it pays homage too. The mine cart for instance is intended to play similar to a rollercoaster, gaining momentum as it continues and having the track littered with loop the loops and jumps to really up the speed and the pressure. Levels played with the Cop Bike follow that cop/action movie style of film, you chase down rival bikers whilst sweeping in and out of traffic, having to time lane changes correctly so to avoid the cars, or maybe instead you fancy collecting doughnuts or speeding to a scene of a crime; its clear that these ideas have a lot of potential and variation in them. In terms of these various themes running about the place, Sean over at Hello Games ensured us that they all do link together to tell a story, things that you see in one level will appear in another later on and slowly all these different Joe characters will wind up coming together, however that is the idea, as we said earlier the game is still very early on in development and things are always bound to change along the way. The guys have also made some changes to how the scoring system works in the game. Previously players could achieve some crazy high scores in a level and yet not meet the criteria for fully finishing a level, whereas someone who did finish the level fully would be lower down on the board despite technically having done more. Well now the stars you earn for finishing objectives count towards your final score, as well as staying in a combo for the entire level. This time those who managed to finish the level as intended can get the scores they deserve and the truly skilled can rise to the top. They also worked really hard on making sure that each vehicle could feel different yet be instantly familiar to any player, meaning that they could very quickly get the most out of it. Watching Grant, the games artist, play what looked like a rather confusing and difficult jetpack level with relative ease was just mindblowing and is a sure sign of the thought that has gone into JD:TMâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s design. Even though the game is probably a year away from being finished it is already putting on a strong showing on the showroom floor. If they continue on as intended then Joe Danger: The Movie will be a must have title for any self confessed gamer. This game deserves all the attention it gets and hopefully it will rise above and beyond is prequelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cult status. Joe Danger will be out by 2012 on a yet to be determined format. Stay with us for all the latest news on Hello Games new project.

Anarchy reigns Preview Author: Vaughn.H

When a bunch of prolific game developers left their respective studios and got together to create their own, one would think that anything they produce could either be absolute tosh or pure brilliance in digital form. Some people would still say that what Platinum Games have released has been more on the side of tosh, however those people would be fools. Platinum Games brought the world the incredibly amazing Bayonetta, the extremely addictive and incredibly testing Vanquish and the extremely violent Wii title MadWorld. The developers at Platinum Games have a history for creating top-notch titles that have always been regarded as some of the best in the industry. Anarchy Reigns is their latest game, and it is absolutely fantastic. We got a chance to sit down with Sega and get hands on with this really unique title. The game itself ties together almost everything found in the other games they have made. It features the extreme violence of MadWorld, the frantic action found in Vanquish and the huge list of combos and moves found in Bayonetta, it is essentially the game that Platinum have always wanted to make. Its been said to be ‘Super Smash Bros. the Platinum Games way’ and it very much is like that. All these descriptions and you still don’t quite know what it is yet, truth be told we aren’t completely sure either. Its pitched as an online multiplayer fighting game, something that has never been done before, at least never been done this well. The focus was to get an anarchistic brawl going online seamlessly between four people, and maybe more (this wasn’t mentioned but a LAN match only supported four in our playtest).

The game has four online multiplayer modes in its current build, and may feature more later; players can choose to play a standard Deathmatch, a Cage match, a Batte Royal and Cooperative play. Cooperative would be a game type such as survival but its also apparently contains even more modes inside. Alongside this you also get a singleplayer mode that focuses on the characters Jack and Leo. Singleplayer is split into two campaigns that follow the same interwoven storyline and it lasts for around 10 hours in total. As the main focus is about getting people to go and battle online the story mode is really there to flesh out these two characters rather than create some single masterpiece of storytelling, although it is hard to imagine Platinum Games doing a half hearted effort in any part of the game. By playing your way through story mode you can unlock more characters to go and play online with, so the story is integral to getting the most out of online play. You can however just jump right into multiplayer but you will have a limited set of characters until you go an unlock more. Although the current roster is at 11 characters, who each have their own strengths and weakness, there are more on the way and potentially even more via DLC.

We got a quick crash course in how the game plays right before being dropped into a match were we got to kick our fellow journalists asses into oblivion. At least that’s what we like to think happened, although TGH did come a respectable second in what can only be described as a mindfuck of the highest order. Each character has their own unique special move that can be triggered with a simple press of both triggers and either the circle or the triangle button. Characters also have something called ‘Rage Mode’ which can be activated with the simple press of both thumbsticks. As our host at SEGA nicely put it, ‘when you see someone in Rage Mode you just get the hell out of the way’. Rage Mode is one mean mother and will pretty much clear most players off the arena rather quickly, however it can only be activated after a certain amount of damage has be dealt out. Fighting is very simple as move combinations work smoothly and grabs, blocks and dodges are all mapped to individual buttons making it a pleasure to play, its so simple anybody can just jump right into the game.

A great Lock-on system also means that you can navigate effortlessly around a 3D environment without having to fumble with the camera whilst aiming for your foe. The winner is determined by whoever has the most points by the end of the match, similar in style to how Super Smash Bros handles working out a winner. It compares your score along with your kill/death count to determine which player is superior, you can gain points by killing opponents and taking them down stylishly, sometimes you can get more from using items scattered around the levels or power ups that can give you more points and deal even more damage. What Platinum games and SEGA have got here is a goldmine. This game deserves to do well and if people adopt its kookiness, its out there charms, and persevere with adjusting to a frantic 3D fighting game this should be a success in every right. Its frantic, its fun, and honestly no other fighting game can come close in terms of sheer absurd fun. Anarchy Reigns’ nearest rival seems to also be the game its always compared to. However this is more like Super Smash Bros on one crazy trip from LSD. Anarchy Reigns will be out in January 2012, on both Xbox 360 and PS3

The Darkness was based on a graphic novel, its world, the powers the Darkness held over the protagonist Jackie Estacado, it pretty much dictated the way the game felt and thus played. In the Darkness II this is no different, the world in which this story unfolds is as dark, seedy and gritty as before. However things have changed in the intervening years. Instead of Starbreeze Studios developing the game, it has been handed over to Digital Extremes. Instantly you can see a difference in between the two games, and from the demo level (which we were informed was not going to be part of the game, but instead developed to help understand the game), it is probably going to shape up all the better for the change.

Previ

The game itself has a completely new look. Gone are the realistic visuals that were present in the original, in their place something between the cell-shaded graphics of borderlands and the visuals found in more mainstream shooters. This is clearly to show the comic book roots of the series and it also adds a strange tone to the extreme Author: Vaughn.H violence that is happening on screen infront of you. And we do mean extreme. Usually FPS games either go for the all out lets blow the hell out of our enemies approach, or for the more realistic and nuanced stance of you shoot your enemies then fall down and die. In the Darkness II it seems to be a mixture depending on how you kill them. Shooting them with guns just seems to kill them, as you would very much expect. Using your extra limbs gained via the powers of the Darkness you can can slash at your foes with the right limb, choosing the direction by swip direction, it will literally cut the foe in half, or behead them, or indeed split even cut up body parts that you already cut up, and the entire time there is pl arm deals with the more up close and physical side of things, grabbing items to can pin them to walls if they are pipes or spear like objects, or you could throw can grab enemies and execute them by tearing out their heart or cutting off their h comes as no surprise that this game was kept behind doors at Gamescom so

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n perform some grisly kills. First off you ping the right thumbstick in the desired t them from top to bottom. You can lenty of screaming and blood. The left o throw and impale enemies, which dead bodies their way instead; it also head right in front of your eyes. It o that young eyes did not see it.

In terms of gameplay it has stayed largely the same, the controls are near identical and, apart from the new moves for the Demon Arms as mentioned before, not a lot has really been done in that department, but as the phrase goes ‘if it aint broke don’t fix it’. One thing that was different in the demo build is that when you killed an enemy you seemed to receive points. You could get points for killing with style, utilizing your Demon Arms, or killing in quick succession. This could, and probably is, an extra function for a separate score based campaign mode but it seemed to work rather well and led to play being a creative experience. It does seem that Digital Extremes have really put a focus on how the story is conveyed through gameplay. There was a lot of inner monologue and some flashes of Jackie’s past whilst playing through, and it regularly cut to a section that would shine some light on the main story theme of the Darkness II. Overall it is shaping up to be a very nice game indeed. If it stays on track with how its developing already, Digital Extremes will have a title that bests the original in almost every way. The Darkness II will be available on October 4th in NA and October 7th in the EU on PC, PS3 and 360

Forza Motorsport 4 Preview Author: Vaughn.H

Typically Forza Motorsport titles have been games that you are either good at, or you arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t. Usually TGH falls into the latter category. Forza Motorsport has always been about the simulation of racing and creating an experience that improves with skill due to honing down exactly how you take that corner or deal with the upcoming apex of a hill. This hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t changed in Forza 4, but what has is its level of accessibility.

TGH took out the fastest available car in the demo, it was supposedly an S class car, and managed to do two perfect laps in it. Granted it was on easy and so driving assists were on, but in comparison to the other Forza games even on easy it felt like you would be fighting for control when going into or out of corners, just such a simple change has made the game more appealing to newcomers who want to get into the game but just donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t feel like they cut the mustard. Now however players can get in and work their way up improving their skills so they can become the Forza racing driver they have always wanted. Racing from inside the cockpit was an even better experience too; something that Microsoft and Turn 10 knew as they had a booth especially set up to have three televisions providing a huge panoramic view that placed the player right in the drivers seat.

As expected with a Forza game the visuals have been improved, something that seemed quite hard to do from Forza 3 but placing the games side by side the difference is massive. Not only do car exteriors and interiors look so good you want to reach out and touch them, but the tracks themselves are more richly detailed and look closer to their real counterparts than before. Exteriors reflect the environment around them, changing to reflect light and shadow from surrounding objects and lights, and even the interior does similar. Now with the addition of Kinect for exploring your cars in the garage, basically increasing the car porn on show as you can now virtually open all the doors and bonnet and lift flaps all by performing the action yourself! I joke; the inclusion of Kinect does look very impressive, and reacts well to peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s actions. Even though the game has been made easier for newcomers those who go in on the Normal mode or harder will still find the excellent and intimidating simulation game they always dreamed of. Ultimately the game is all about the joy of driving and now everybody can get that experience. It genuinely felt fantastic to play and that was using a pad. Below you can view some gameplay footage and the video of a Gamescom attendee playing around with the Kinect features. Forza Motorsport 4 launches on October 14th in the EU and October 11th in NA.

Preview Author: Vaughn.H

Many people found Final Fantasy XIII to be a very disappointing Final Fantasy game, a game that was only Fina Enix’s last Final Fantasy outing it did have some really interesting and good features, it was just a shame that it a change this and from the demo we got our hands on at Gamescom 2011 it seems that maybe, just maybe, the Fin

Although the game continues on directly from FFXIII, the demo we played today was placed a reasonable way in and a young man called Noel. It appears the duo have just warped from the world of Coccoon down onto Gran drops you right into a town, but more on that later. During the demo you take control of Noel and right from th much the same as before, the options of auto picking moves is still there, otherwise you can go for your own cho your team was organized and less on the actual combat, this still seems to be the case, however there was what lo able to see it in screenshots, it’s a little sphere with a weapon etched into it). What was present in the boss battles of ‘eugh QTEs’. They do actually work quite well in breaking up the flow of what can become a monotonous boss attacks or dealing more damage out to the enemy, so they are rather helpful and in your interest to do correctly.

al Fantasy by name and by nothing else. However you may have viewed Squarealso cut so many out from other games in the process. Final Fantasy XIII-2 sets to nal Fantasy series is back on track.

nto the beginning of the story and we joined Serah (Lightning’s younger sister) Pulse, suggesting that you can travel and interact between the two worlds. In fact it he start you were thrown into a boss battle. The battle system still seems to be very oices. The thing with FFXIII and its battles was that you had to really think up how ooked like some changeable feature that was not enabled in the demo (you may be s however were short cutscenes that had QTE’s. Now don’t let out that universal sigh s battle, and handily if done correctly they can result in either reducing or blocking

Whilst still on the subject of battles, there is a new battle encounter system too. You may have noticed from screenshots that you now have a little Mog following you on your journey, we still don’t know why he is with us but he has his uses. Thanks to Mog you now get something called the ‘Mog clock’; the Mog clock appears when enemies randomly spawn on the map near or around you, its presence works as a gauge for how aware of you the enemy is, and thus lets you know how to act accordingly. If in the green zone it meansthe enemy is unaware that you are around, yellow means that it is suspicious (and will thus investigate) and red means it is alert to your presence. When in the green state you can wade in and get a pre-emptive strike and stagger all your foes with ease, in the yellowstage its anybody’s game and in the red stage the enemy gets a pre-emptive strike on you. Its simple and because it appears before jumping into the battle scene it gives you a chance to run away.

a town used to inha enemies to fight f populated and large, N you talk to them, it’s reassur needless departure last year. The g the idea of just funneling you down one in the demo levels at least. Now ‘corridors’ ar which hid its linear nature rather well. All in all, after a disappointing outing with FFXI rather low expectations of it in a very short time. W with fans as it is very hard to resist the allure of a Fin they wont go home feeling disappointed with the gam played on the 360 version of the game, and it was visu FFXIII visuals and performance, so it can only get be You can pick up Final Fantasy XIII-2 winter 2011 on

Remember how we mentioned that you drop into n at the start of the demo? Well it isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t the town that abit Gran Pulse, as in ones laden with random for no reason. No this time around they are NPCs roam around and have things to say when ring to see them back in the franchise after their game spaces themselves also seem to be larger, e narrow straight path seems to have dissipated, re wide-open areas and ape the linearity of FF X,

III it seems that FFXIII-2 has really beaten my We all know that the game will be a sell out hit nal Fantasy title, however this time it looks like me. Also just for point of reference TGH ually impressive compared to the 360 etter on the uncompressed PS3 version. both 360 and PS3.

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Nothing quite lets you experience a game than being ushered into a small cinema, sitting in the pitch black whilst a typically pretty ‘booth babe’ talks in German about what we are about to see. The only words that resonate are “The Elder Scrolls Fünf, Skyrim” at which point the crowd cheers. Shortly later some more words that ring familiar “Xbox 360”, at which point the crowd on the whole seems to boo. As it turns out, what we are about to watch is entirely gameplay from the 360 version of TES V: Skyrim. Now the features shown off in the gameplay is nothing new to those who have been actively following the games progress, however it is the first time that such features have ever been shown strung together in a natural progression in a single gameplay sit down, it is also the first time 360 footage has been shown off to the public too. As the room darkens more (as if that even seemed plausible when sat there before in what seemed to be the dark), a huge ground-shaking roar erupts from the speakers in front and to the side of us; we are literally surrounded by the game. In comes the typically epic music and chanting associated with Skyrim and then the screen brightens up and in front of us we see a huge lush green world of woods and off into the distance on the horizon huge mountains just begging to be scaled, of which they of course can be. Dragonborn begins to walk downhill, passing some nature on the way, until before him stands three waystones. Rather annoyingly we weren’t treated to seeing what two of the stones were, but one was the stone of the warrior, clearly this appears to be where you choose which class you would like to take; at that point the stone lights up and shoots a beam up into the heavens and the screen is swooped up into the sky where we can see all the abilities and the new leveling system. Each attribute has a star constellation and inside that constellation is a map where each node is what looked like a new ability to upgrade too (at least that what it looked like, it was hard to understand the German explanation), it looked similar to Final Fantasy XIII’s Crystalarium upgrade system, however not as annoying to traverse between nodes.

The next notable section came on th animation of their movement seem tain a dragon was waiting and n freely across the world of Skyr This is a perfect time to explai steal, Dragonborn crouches to kill the second. Proceed sneaks up behind him an fortlessly pulls it back o dual wield almost anyt block whilst dual wie frantically and hac bit of a lying chea dungeon. Later Dragon use

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he way to a ruin up in the snowy mountain, not only are horses back in, albeit slightly chubby looking ones, but the ms a lore more realistic and less likely to be able to just climb a cliffside on the back of one. At the top of the mounnow was not the time to face it. These dynamic dragons chose when they want to find you and fight you as they fly rim; as said before now was not the time to fight so our hero runs into the ruins and triggers a sidequest in doing so. in how the combat works in the game. There are two NPCs sat talking by a campfire about the loot they are going to s in the shadows and pulls out a bow and picks off one with a headshot and then lines up the shot and takes it again ding past the fire and down the stairs we see an Orc walking on patrol in the ruin tunnel, once again Dragonborn nd then in one smooth animation grabs him round the neck and thrusts his blade right through and then just as ef out throwing the body to the ground. Next up is dual wielding, which can be done very simply in the menu. You can thing, spells, swords, staffs and maybe even shields (although that would serve no purpose). It appears you can’t elding but you do theoretically have double the attack power. Our hero carries on through the dungeon fighting cking down foes until we get to what appears to be the end. However it really isn’t as our quest target turns out to be a at and so you chase him down and kill him, picking up the item you needed to progress through the rest of the r we see Dragonborn gain a shout, which are ancient words imbued with magic, and then come under attack from a n Guardian who summons a Frost Antronach. Although this isn’t the first time in the demo where we see spells being ed it’s a moment where the spells are really shown off well. You can combine two of the same to make a really powerful version of that spell, or you can mix two together and create some interesting concoctions. Firing off a couple of fire spells causes the Guardian to catch alight and slowly burn away in a vibrant blaze, soon after his defeat our hero casts a clairvoyance spell where upon a cool blue hue lights up and floats above the floor in the ection of the nearest exit; an extremely ingenious way to light the path ahead for those who may be lost.

After stepping out Bathed in the light was real. Soon we clearing. Moving i rec

to a on, on We menti flies around of the nearb summons

From the look of the 360 footage visually it was a b from Oblivion and It does raise intere ever that was down screen is the comp the bottom in a lin (or in the case of h top too, so now yo

tside the world begins to shake, huge booms are heard through those incredibly powerful speakers surrounding us. t from the screen and disoriented by the huge booms around us it really did make you feel like the world of Skyrim realize where the ground shaking movements were coming from, a Giant and two mammoths walking across the in for a closer look Dragonborn pulls out his sword and hacks at the mammoth’s leg, which is clearly not well ceived, and thus ends up with two mammoths and a Giant all trying to attack him. When things look like they aren’t going to pan out well for our hero it begins to go his way, sort of. Another room shaking roar is heard from off screen and then fire rains down onto both the mammoths and the Giant. The mammoths run off scared, the Giant gets less of a lucky break and is swooped up by a dragon as it swings in low overhead to grab something to eat. Bow and Arrow in hand Dragonborn begins firing which gains its attention and so naturally it begins attack. Right after defeating this dragon and absorbing its soul another dragon shows up, this time it is a Frost Drag ne of the harder and larger dragon types in the game. ion this fight over the other purely because it had the ‘WOW’ moment over the entire gameplay video. As the dragon d destroying the landscape with its frost breath and rendering fort guards useless our hero has climbed up to the top by fort tower and begins to fire of arrows to no avail. Soon he switches to a newly acquired dragon shout. This shout forth lightning to attack the enemy, however going by previous Elder Scrolls expectations of a ‘storm’ being summoned and lightning raining down on you foe it didn’t seem like it would be such a big deal. How misguided. He uses his shout, the room erupts with his roar and then the entire screen fills with heavy thick rain as far as the eye can see. Clouds darken and thunder cracks between them illuminating them for split seconds, lightning flies down and strikes and scorches the ground, and then fires from above again squarely onto the dragon who becomes paralysed and electrocuted and crashes with a ground tearing thud into the ground; where by our hero then combines magic to conjure forth an axe weapon made entirely of electric magic, here he proceeds to slash away at the dragon until he can climb upon his back. Even though the animation of him fighting to stay on, and then beautifully, jumping up into the air and smashing his axe right into the head of the Frost Dragon, is totally scripted it is still immensely powerful. Combined with the music and chanting as the game fades out to black and the lights return this has only reassured us in every way that Skyrim is going to be the single most epic game made in 2011.

bit of a disappointment. The graphics were by no means poor, miles ahead of many games this year and worlds apart d Fallout, however compared to the amazing scenes we have seen on the PC footage it just came as a disappointment. est in how the PS3 footage will shape up seeing as Oblivion looked a lot better on the PS3 over the 360 version, hown to the time gap between release. The next thing to mention is the HUD, or lack of. The only permanent item on the pass. Placed at the top of the screen it is incredibly unobtrusive. Your Magic, Health and Fatigue bars are displayed at ne, however they only ever show up when being drained, and will disappear again when they have filled back up again health when combat has calmed down), enemy health and name are neatly displayed underneath the compass at the ou get the biggest viewing picture you can.

Menus have also changed considerably. Instead of the fiddly and rather jarring menu screen from Morrowind and Ob Skyrim has a very minimalistic translucent menu that sit over the screen so you can see right through. It displays a lar pass like cross with four options to choose from, Map, Spells, Items and Heavens. Flicking into the inventory brings up list of item names on a thin black bar on the right of the screen, again overlaid on the gameplay. The items you scroll o presents itself in full 3D on the screen and underneath it a short description and its traits, if it is a weapon a small trian to its name shows that if equipped it will be stronger. You can also zoom in on the item and rotate it to see it from all s this is needed to solve some of the games puzzles too and investigate items such as letters and books. It is a genius syst incredible to see being used, it makes you wonder why nobody has done something so elegant before. Walking away from the time we had watching the gameplay footage it is safe to say that Skyrim will be the real gamers over another overhyped game that releases in November, and no we arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t looking at you Uncharted.

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Preview Author: Vaughn.H

When a game is shown off four years ago and then nothing more is heard from it, many people begin to lose interest in the title. When the game in question is the latest project from id, the geniuses behind both the Quake and Doom series, all that changes and now people are more excited than ever for the world of Rage. TGH got a real hands on session with the game, playing the opening section of the game, we also got the chance to play it on PS3 as well as seeing the PC version of the game. As this is the opening section of the game we wont detail out the demo, so not to spoil the surprise and discovery you will find yourself when you get to pick it up and play. The demo starts with an intro movie detailing out how the world became the way it is. Set in an alternate reality where in the year 2029 the asteroid 99942 Apophis hits earth, an when this colossal asteroid hits the world it creates such an impact that almost all life is destroyed; pretty much just like how the dinosaurs were wiped out. Mankind however knew all about the impending asteroid for years before and so had been preparing â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Arksâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; for special members of mankind, such scientists and other noteworthy members of society, where people could be cryogenically frozen underground and then awake to rebuild society. Now this may all sound very Fallout-ish, and you wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be wrong in thinking so, however Rage is an entirely more believable scenario as fears of asteroid 99942 Apophis hitting Earth entirely existed up until around 2006, so this would have been something that mankind would have to have considered doing to survive.

Playing through on PS3 and then on PC it is really noticeable how far ahead the PC version is. Not only does it show that the console world really does need a new generation sooner than it thinks it does, but it also shows that maybe the console versions of the game still need a bit of polish. Upon exiting the Ark a vast world was laid out in front of my character (which you couldn’t customize in any way, at least not in the demo). On the PC this world looked incredible and breath taking, a destroyed wasteland with pockets of what was once there, highways that spread across the landscape but torn up and twisted, settlements based around old gas stations or hotel and apartment buildings; Everything just looked so believable, it was unbelievable. On the PS3 however it was a much more jarring experience. Walking out of the ark before my character was a wasteland of brownish grey blobs and some terrible bitmapping, upon moving a bit, the game slowed and then suddenly all the textures dropped right in and everything was fine, until the game had to load another area in the distance. Once all the textures have settled down the game doesn’t look bad on PS3, it still isn’t up to the standards found on the PC but it still was a very good looking game to play. Clearly the guys over at id had spent time developing and tuning the PC versions and had not yet finished on the console iterations, however that can be sorted by its release later in the year.

Upon meeting an NPC called Dan Hagar and being taken to his settlement, which works pretty much like a mission hub, we were given some supplies and a handgun. Missions are given to you in a rather similar way to those found in Borderlands. You speak to someone, they want a job done and then a ‘accept or decline’ panel slides in along with a short description of what’s being asked of you. Once accepted a blue dotted line on the compass in the top right hand corner details the route that you need to take to get to the current objective. As with other RPG styled games you can take on more than one quest at a time. Whilst our playthrough is not anywhere near extensive of how the game will be, it feels very much like a FPS game than an RPG, something that id has done quite well to hide. Even games like Borderlands felt very much like an RPG even though shooting was very much the focus of the game and weapon modification and upgrades weren’t possible, just the nature of having objectives a move set to improve and weapon stats made it seem very Role Playing; neither game however felt like Fallout which was an RPG.

As the world is so vast and id are also pitching this as a vehicular bike to the our destination of a bandit camp that seems to be loca was like in the game. Controls wise its exactly what you would even on a normal difficulty level (the game offered four differ tables, chairs and sofas taking pot shots at you or venturing they could to get to you, we saw many jump from high up le or swinging from overhead lights to strike from above. Com One of the most interesting par it and going back to an earlier a member of the Ark your bo your body and work essentially console versions arguably havin then determines how much life nodes per stick), you then ha times you are successful triggers when a line cr in an enjoyable way t

From what we got to play it seems tha too. From our hands on we couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t r open world game like Fallout is, or if where areas are locked off. We also d ing systems as an inventory men could not see how things were l Rage seems to also have a lot o the proposed multiplayer offeri time.

Rage will launch on 360, PS3 and in the EU.

r based game, even including a racing multiplayer mode, our first mission meant we got to get on and drive a quad ated inside a mostly destroyed hotel. Pistol equipped this would be the first time we got to experience what combat d expect for a shooter so already shooting and aiming felt like second nature. The enemy AI seemed incredibly clever rent difficulties, Easy, Normal, Hard and Nightmare), those with ranged weapons would hang back ducking behind g out to get a clear shot. Enemies who were wielding knives would charge at you like crazed beasts doing anything edges and into a landing roll and then run at us, leaping over tables in the way, bounding off a wall to lunge into us, mbat was truly an engaging and involving experience that felt like a joy to play through. rts of combat however is the part that everybody tries to avoid, death. Instead of dying and that being the end of r save, what happens in Rage is you get a chance to revive yourself and jump right back into the action. Due to being ody has been injected with nanites, the reason for this is not explained yet, and so they can deliver a shock charge to y like a defibrillator. The method for doing this differs between the PC and the console version of the game, with the ng the better system. On PC you have to click at the right time when two charged nodes overlap with each other, that e you will be revived with. On PS3 and 360 you are presented with 6 nodes and the left and right thumbstiscks (three ave to match the direction of the sticks with the lit up nodes and pull both the triggers to educe a charge, the more the more health you will start with, once that stage has finished another moment arrives when you have to pull both rosses the right threshold. It may sound confusing but it works well and provides an original idea to resolving death that doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t let up the pace found in combat.

at Rage is a varied game and its really good fun really tell if Rage was a complete sandbox f instead it opted for a Boderlands system didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really see any of the weapon upgradnu wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even present in our play so we laid out or what options were present. on offer, sidequests seem to be rife and with ings the game is going to last players a long

d PC on 4th October in NA and 7th October

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It isn’t every day that a game can come along and blow your socks off in a pre alpha build. Its even rarer that a game can come and do all that and at the same time make you wonder why nobody else has done something that the gaming industry has been crying out for. Bethesda clearly realized the potential for Arkane Studios newest project and so decided to help publish it. Akane’s previous developments have been Arx Fatalis, Dark Messiah and they helped develop BioShock 2, you can see all these elements in their latest game Dishonored. We were shown the game being played and it was just incredible, apparently we were being shown it being played on a PC although throughout the demo it was giving xbox prompts for button presses. Throwing out a little bit of the backstory to the game may be handy, although it still didn’t quite explain why the protagonist had been given the quest we were watching unfold. You play an assassin, an assassin who had formerly been bodyguard to the Empress. The Empress was killed and you, or Corvo as the character is called, is framed and so flees and lives a life beneath in the dark of the sewers and the streets. The world itself is also deeply rooted so to create a rich and believable world for the player to romp about in, its origins started back in a world of 1666 London where the plague was rife and life was very segregated. This was then twisted by supposing an industrial revolution came about earlier and the land found a means for creating resources from whaling, this Whale Oil was a very high output energy source and so the world evolved quickly, however still along its current path. The world the game is now set in is a 1900s that has come directly on from that era, the city has now also become Dunwall, and although the player will never leave the city they outline what other worlds and nations are like so to give further enhance this reality (Something that Bethesda did with The Elder Scrolls series and that has only gone from strength to strength).

The key feature to Dishonored for the guys at Arkane Studios is the idea that they want the player to play the game their way. They don’t make missions with specific requirements or methods to finish them; they give the player a mission, scatter about potential ways of solving it, and then let the player find their own method to play it or if they want do it in a way that has already been structured. In the gameplay we were watching the player was tasked with assassinating a Lawyer. We were told that if the player chose to investigate buildings they could, inside some buildings are things that can assist you in reaching your target, such as keys or maybe papers, like the lawyers schedule so you know where he could be etc, however in this session they decided to investigate his offices as it was daytime and it made the most sense for him to be there.

To get there however Corvo needs to get out from the sewer tunnel the level starts at and progress past the guards and plies, although what they are doing is of no concern to the player, the fact that they could potentially spot them is what picks out his dagger blade, holding it in his right hand with the blade pointed outwards, ready to cause some violence, have been seen or are in danger of being spotted, currently behind the crates it says hidden. Suddenly Corvo pops up a stantly, he then bounds of the boxes and jumps towards a second guard grabbing his head and thrusting the blade in th guard is there slightly dumbstruck at what has just unfolded, and in a split second after dropping the head Corvo picks display of violence it is worth stressing that you can go through the entire game without killing a single person ever.

other obstacles in his way. Upon leaving the sewers we see a set of guards around a dock keeping guard on some supt makes them dangerous. This is the first time we get to see combat in this world where anything seems possible. Coro , and boy this game is violent. Crouching brings up a little Elder Scrolls-esque status detailing if you are hidden or and grabs the guard nearest and plunges the dagger into the back of his neck separating his spine and killing him inhrough, around and up his through completely beheading the guard, at which point he throws the head away. A final s up a gun and lands a headshot right between the eyes, downing the final guard. After such an impressive scene and

To add to the dynamic style of combat already present in the g possession. If the incredibly simple climbing and jumping me should be somewhat helpful. With ‘blink’ you can warp to any er jumps and then ‘blinks’ midair to land squarely and safely o over bodies of NPCs and rats too. As a rat you can slip into the inside of a locked house. Once inside that house you act normally, you can go undetected through the buil back of the neck so not to raise alarm. Now we see h by pickpocketing the passing guard Corvo can n room, with another door. The player opts to look through the keyhole off screen too. Instead of opening the doo doing so the characters clearly have a loo come into play, the time bend. In Time from guns and debris from another g over to a guard and does a very cas stomach and then finishing off w gadget on show. A whirlwind unsurprisingly this brings for tops and then to the streets w

game are some incredible gadgets you can possess too, with one such gadget actually being echanic isn’t enough for you to traverse the city, then the teleporting ability simply called ‘blink’ y point in your line of sight, within a certain distance, one example is to traverse rooftops the playon a roof that was previously too far to reach. Possession is a great skill that means you can take o areas you couldn’t previously access, such as going through a ventilation duct to gain access to u can then get about the heavily guarded building by possessing a guard, whereby as long as you lding. When ditching the possessed body the player quickly executes him with a dagger to the him hiding in a chimney hearth whilst waiting for a guard to pass by. With a key that was obtained now unlock a door that was at the end of the hallway. On the other side of the door was a small

e and inside we can see the target Lawyer, talking to another man and we hear a third voice from or it seems that for maximum effect breaking it down and charging in will be the best tactic. Upon ok of shock on their faces and begin to start their attack. It is at this point we see a third gadget e bend everything stops still, frozen perfectly in place the world is drained of colour and bullets gunshot hangs in midair. Corvo can move freely around this environment and so calmly walks sual beheading with his dagger blade. He dispatches a second attacker by stabbing them in the with a bolt to the face from a crossbow and then for the Lawyer himself we get to see the fourth d blast that throws the Lawyer up and out of the window and over the balcony to the floor below, rth an armada of guards and so our player makes a quick escape using blink to warp to the roof where the guards come in pursuit.

It should be mentioned at this point that to keep the city free of plagued rats there are gates dotted about the city that or by destroying them you can allow rats into the city. Of course the gate that our player has landed on the other side o Continuing his escape three guards block his path but at the same time a wave of rats arrive and begin climbing over t if you venture to close to a large pack of rats too. The rats themselves are a large part of the game world, they each hav you can’t ever predict what may happen. The gameworld of Dishonored is vast and has lots of deep intricacies that aren’t present on the surface. The way that th important person or so their lack of influence in the world will either improve or decrease ‘chaos’. This is not so much way will be more pleased by some chaotic actions but not by others so it is always worth thinking if you really needed

Visually it is really good for a pre alpha stage game. The world has a very stylistic and angular feel yet also has a very B most impressive game at Gamescom and it was only a small snippet at what is possible inside the world they have crea lutely amazing piece of game design. This is very much a title that is worth keeping on the gaming radar. Dishonored will be out in 2012 on PS3, 360 and PC

zap any rats attempting to get in, by hacking these gates you can make it so it zaps any guard that tries to go through, of is one he hacked on his way to the Lawyers location so every guard just gets turned into a pile of ash on the spot. the guards and start devouring them until only some semi flesh covered bones are left. The same fate can come of you ve their own AI and so can act individually or in a swarm and so are completely dynamic in how they act, meaning

he demo was played doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to be done like that, more subtle ways will change how the world works, for every like a morality system but more how the game world shapes and changes. Some of your allies you meet along the d to kill that guard, or if he could have been left alone, although ultimately its up to you how you wish to play it.

Bioshock look to it to, probably in part to the contribution Arkane made to the series. So far this game was by far the ated, if this game turns out like it promises to be it is hard to imagine it being seen as anything other than an abso-

previ

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Having developed the underrated and overhyped Prey back in 2006, Humanhead Studios started work on the sequel immediately. Six years on and Humanhead will release their sequel, however TGH were lucky enough to get a sneaky peak at how the game will work and how it all fits in within the world of Prey. From the gist of the game alone you can see that it is a much more ambitious title than its predecessor and even though it ultimately has the same theme in the story it plays completely differently. In Prey you played as Tommy a Cherokee Indian who was abducted by aliens along with his father and girlfriend, the game revolved around Tommy trying to discover who he was through such a turbulent time. This time you play as Killian a U.S. Marshal who gets abducted at the same time as Tommy in Prey, as he was onboard a passenger jet that got sucked into the Sphere. Prey 2 starts right after this incident, but then very quickly jumps forward in time to a time where Killian finds himself on an alien planet called Exodus, and somehow he has become a Bounty Hunter in this world. In Prey 2 it is all about Killianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s story and about Killian trying to discover what happened to him, we arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t quite sure how bounty hunting will solve this but plot will eventually come into play later on in the actual game, for now we can enjoy the sights of todays gameplay session. The game all takes place in one large open city on the planet of Exodus. Exodus is a tidally locked planet, so one face of the planet is always facing the sun and another is always in darkness, the city that Prey 2 takes place in is right in between the two and so is perpetually in twilight. This perpetual twilight lends itself perfectly to creating an amazing visual spectacle and giving the game a gritty noir feel, like Ridley Scottâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fantastic Blade Runner. Bright neon lights cast beautiful shadows across the futuristic cityscape that stretches off into the distance, and when night vision is switched on to illuminate darker areas a yellow hue comes over this incredible world making it easier to see but taking nothing away from its striking style.

Inside this striking world are people and events that all happen of their own accord, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a living, breathing world and y your weapon is holstered as this is a city with rules and it would seem jarring to allow you to wander around with you One example we saw was a beggar who sees you and begins asking you for money, or for belongings, for anything real pull out his gun and aim for the head, at which point the beggar immediately retracts back into the corner he came fro he didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want trouble he isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t one for dying. Later we see a group of three beating up another alien, you can choose to you never know what could come from it, you could have ended up severing a lot of sidequests by not saving a potent quests from whoever those guys may have been working for. Prey 2 seems to really be a multi-layered game and this p system comes into play too when dealing with some bounties.

When it comes to bounties you also have completely free choice whether to take them or leave them and on how they which lights up and identifies where the quest point is, thus eliminating the need for a compass or map onscreen, and around you too. If someone is highlighted green they are friendly, someone is coloured yellow they are quest points, re mean they will attack you) and finally blue means the person is your bounty target. Thanks to this overlay its makes hu crowded nightclub that much easier, and if they decide that yielding to your threats is not what they want to do, it mak could waltz in there and shoot them straight away and create a scene, you could just capturer them there and then and and get them to come willingly, the choice is very much yours. In this instance the target ran and was very quickly cau capture device, however as retribution for being shot at the player shot the target and took in less money for the bount another bounty chase, this involved scaling buildings and ducking and diving under and over obstacles to finally pin t left to go he then began pleading for his life, even offering a bribe that was higher than the money we were paid as a bo that you can get missions from them later or instead they may just come back to haunt you later, you cant tell. In this c capture him, whilst on capture you can then choose to interrogate or send him off. If you interrogate you can gain info indeed point out someone who they work for, but if you interrogate too much you can risk killing the bounty and then

your actions can change how it works too. By default ur gun waving, even characters react accordingly. lly, after a while of listening to him we see Killian om saying that he will be quiet and leave you alone, o help them, help the alien or leave them all alone, tial quest giver or in saving him have closed off permeates it all the way through as a semi morality

y can play out. Using a scanner overlay d it highlights characters in the world eds are threats (which doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t necessarily unting down exactly who the target is in a kes chasing after them easier too. You d avoid most of a fight or you could try ught and captured using some humane nty. Later in the sitting we witnessed the target. Once the target had nowhere ounty. Choosing to let him go could mean case he opted to not take the bribe and ormation on why they committed the crime or n suffering the consequences.

Now although everything there sounds pretty awesome, and was incredible to see happening around you, it isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t what makes Prey 2 so special. There is one massive feature about this game that has just been glossed over so far in this preview and it is by far the most impressive addition. Before we mentioned that in a chase Killian had to duck and dive up and over obstacles, well it goes beyond that, in Prey 2 you can climb and jump and hang all in first person. Working on a system maybe similar to Brinks, we werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t told how it works, you can dive into cover and then vault over it with ease and can jump and grab ledges and pull yourself up. However it goes one further than that, you can fully scale buildings, moving forward your arm naturally reaches out and then you can jump and grab on to the next ledge or grababble object, we watched as Killian climbed up the side of a building, turned his head and jumped to grab a ledge to the left of him, and all in first person. You can even shoot from these hanging positions too, so perfect for stalking a target and taking them down silently with little fuss. And to make it even easier to come back down without killing yourself Killian has hoverboots so you can glide down easily or even traverse large distances. Prey 2 is shaping up to be one impressive offering, it is vastly different from its prequel in so many ways and because of that it is potentially all the better for it. Now there are no portals at all and by removing Tommy from being playable could have also really alienated some of the fans from the old game too, it was a risk but a risk that clearly seems worth it, and for fans of Tommy he does star in the game later on. The demo we watched being played was happening on an Xbox 360, which is extremely promising as the PS3 version should look better thanks to not being compressed and the PC version can only be unbelievably beautiful when it launches next year.

When is the next issue of TheGamersHub Magazine?

The next issue of TGH magazine will be released 5th October 2011. This will be our seventh edition of the magazine and hopefully with all the feedback we recieve from you, it will be improved even more and so we always are aware off what our audience would like to read. As TheGamersHub Magazine is a (not so new) introduction for the site, please bare in mind we are still getting on our feet with it. If there is anything you would like to see appearing in this magazine or just want to give us feedback please email Dan at: dan.h@thegamershub.net For advertising in the magazine please contact Henry at: henry.m@thegamershub.net