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Community Manager: Sam D Staff Writer: Joseph T - joseph.tyler@thegamershub.com Staff Writer: Robby D (Rob95) Staff Writer: Talwinder S (JustaGamer) Staff Writer: Gagan G (gagan0305) Staff Writer: Josh Brown (Tastynoodle)
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Welcome...
This is the ninth 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 no longer just getting to grips with the magazine now and have a set template made. But ofcourse please do feel free to give us any feedback on improvements that could be made, or future topics you would like to see appearing in here by emailing: dan.h@thegamershub.com
About TGH
Set up on July 27th 2009 to provide news, reviews, articles, previews and blogs with a community aspect. We have taken big steps to get where we are today, which wouldn’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 100,000’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 Editors Wow what a month has gone by! November has seen so much happen its unbelieveable, not only has The Gamers Hub had a slight design tweak (with bigger changes still to come!), but we’ve taken on a brilliant new Staff Writer (Josh Brown) who has generated some brilliant content for the site, including an entirely new weekly feature on the history of iconic videogame characters, History of a Hero. Of course the big news hasn’t been the stuff your favourite independent games website has been doing, no instead the reason why November has been so significant can be worked out by taking a look at the relese schedules. Straight away the biggest release since gaming began, indeed since any form of media has existed, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 kicked off a killer month with its launch. Shortly following that was a few weeks of complete tripple A titles left right and centre, Skyrim, Skyward Sword, Rayman Origins, Sonic Generations, Assassin’s Creed: Revelations the list just goes on! Unfortunately there are just so many titles that we havent had a chance to put them all in this months issue of the magazine, however by paying a visit to TheGamersHub you’ll see all the latest news and reviews you could feast your eyes on! This months issue is a special one, as its the last one of the year! Bringing the first year of the magazines existence to a satisfying close. Explore the wonders of Soul Calibur V, see how it’s history spawned with Blast From The Past, and we can enlighten you with an interview with the student developmer behind Nitronic Rush. Merry Christmas, and enjoy the issue! -Vaughn. H
As always you can contact the team for any queires at the-team@thegamershub.com or report any problems with the website or magazine to help-desk@thegamershub.com As usual you can keep up to date with everything thats happening at TheGamersHub either via the website www.thegamershub.com or via the ever popular Twitter page @TheGamersHub, Facebook page or our Youtube channel! Happy gaming guys!
THQ Announces Sout... THQ Release Some In... Steam - Daily Wishlist... Gamestation Recreates...
Yakuza Dead Souls Rainbow Six: Patriots Soul Calibur V A Valley Without Wind
Skyward Sword Modern Warfare 3 Sonic Generations Skyrim
An Interview With... Blast From the Past... History Of A Hero...
THQ Announces South Park: The Game Author: Vaughn.H So, South Park still seems to be alive and kicking, even if you haven’t come across a new episode in years despite it being in its fifteenth series; THQ knows that people are still massive fans of the show, and why wouldn’t they be(?) so they have announced South Park: The Game A collaboration between South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, and Viacom Media Networks and Obsidian Entertainment, Inc. South Park: The Game looks set to be in capable hands. Poised as an “epic role-playing adventure that will allow the user to befriend Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny and explore the quiet little mountain town like never before.” it should be a very interesting project to come out of THQ, and probably a very crude one too. Danny Bilson, EVP Core Games, had this to say on the games announcement; “Our goal is simple: to put creative talent first”, “Matt and Trey are arguably two of the most important comedic talents of their generation. Bringing their vision of South Park to the interactive space is a dream-come-true.”
As usual Game Informer have the inside scoop and so in their January issue, shipping to subscribers in early December 2011, the first details of South Park: The Game will be revealed! Scheduled to be available for the PS3 and Xbox 360, as well as Windows PC, in the second half of 2012.
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THQ Releases Some ‘Interesting’ Saints A : Vaughn.H Row: The Third Stats uthor
Saints Row: The Third is the latest open world adventure title from THQ, and the newest in the Saints Row franchise. If you have ever played a Saints Row game, you’ll know that each iteration just gets wilder and wilder in a quest to quench the thirst of fun thats in your mouths. THQ today released a set of, lets say, unique statistics about the game and the play styles of those who play it. It would appear that the world of Steelport is being attacked by gamers with some serious mental issues as 2 million people have been bludgeoned to death by the IED (Inspirational Erotic Device), the Purple Penetrator, a massive dildo based weapon. It would also seem that going au natural is also a preference for many as players have spent a cumulative two years in their birthday suits streaking the streets of Steelport. If that wasn’t enough idiocy for you, 44 million pimps, gimps and prostitutes have been dispatched, in Whored Mode, which is roughly twice the population of Texas for those interested. Also 650 hot dog mascots have been overcooked to death by players using a flamethrower. Ultimately Saints Row: The Third players have bludgeoned, tortured and killed over 5.8 billion citizens of Steelport, which is 19 times the population of the United States, roughly 85 percent of the population of the world.
Of course all these ‘mega lolz’ kills aren’t just there to show people just how much ‘crazy fun’ can be had in Saints Row: The Third, no instead its to highlight the new community features that are coming your way on Saintsrow. com. Yes now you can see how you rank among all Saints Row: The Third players in a number of disturbing categories, and see your actions tracked in real time on the Steelport community map. These new features include: Saints Row: The Third Stats and Achievements Tracker With the new in-depth tracking features on SaintsRow.com, you can now quantify the crazy. Check out your stats page for a list of your most devious accomplishments, from total time surfing moving vehicles, to number of pedestrians you’ve run over. See how you rank against the rest of the community, or head over to a friend’s profile page for a head-tohead comparison. Big Picture Map of Steelport Some maps show directions. This map shows indiscretions. Check out a top-down map of Steelport updated in real-time with a feed of all in-game activity. In addition, tag an area on a map and leave hints for the rest of the community. Know the location of a hidden secret? How about a tip on completing a mission? This is your time to share. Finally, upload your favorite screenshots and tag them on the map to create your own cherished memories from Steelport. For fans of the series this will undoubtibly be a great addition to the game community, who wouldn’t want to see how many people have done some ‘crazy shiz’ all across the fictional dwelling that is Steelport?
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Steam - Daily Wishlist Giveaway Author: Vaughn.H Those lovely guys at Valve always have your back, they’re always watching your wallet and keeping you playing games at a great price. Knowing that Christmas is approaching and peoples wallets start getting tighter they’ve upped the stakes with a Daily Wishlist Giveaway on Steam! Every day, starting from December 1st 2011 and continuing on “into the holiday season” every day 10 steam users can win 10 games from their wishlist for free! There is a catch though, but luckily it isn’t a big one, to enter you MUST have 10 or more games in your wishlist, and you have to visit the page of the game that is part of the daily deal. So I think you all know what you need to do, go forth and fill that wishlist!
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Gamestation Recreates Nativity Scene Author: Vaughn.H It’s a good job the people of Britain aren’t easily offended by mocking religion otherwise Gamestation’s newest promotional tool may not have gone down too well. We all know the nativity story, and we all know that nativity scene, but what would happen if that was replaced by the gaming icons we all know and love? This:
As voted in by customers of the store for who they would like to see playing each role in the nativity scene, you have Sackboy playing the baby Jesus, Zelda in the role of the Virgin Mary and Marcus Fenix as Joseph. The ‘Three Kings of Gaming’ replace the popular notion of Three Wise Men, and are played by Obi Wan Kenobi (who personally I don’t class as a games character…), Mario, and Solid Snake. To finish the scene off Yoshi plays the Donkey and Sonic takes up the role of a casual barnyard animal.
I don’t know about you but if I was a kid that hadn’t grown up knowing and learning about the nativity scene so much then this Gamestation one would scare the bejesus out of me. Understandably they can’t make the characters look exactly like their intended forms because of copyright but Yoshi’s eyes and face are already giving me the creeps… You can view or comment on this article here
Yakuza: Dead Souls Format: PS3 Release Date: 2012 Publisher: SEGA Developer: In-House
Author: Vaughn.H With Sega’s recent announcement that they will be bringing Yakuza: ‘of the end‘ over here under the guise of ‘Dead Souls‘ very little other information has really come forward about the western release of the title, until now. Here you can see the latest character artwork for all the protagonists you’ll be playing as in Yakuza: Dead Souls. You can also see a character trailer at TGH.
Rainbow Six: Patriots Format: 360, PS3, PC Release Date: TBA 2012 Publisher: Ubisoft Developer: In-House
Author: Vaughn.H Details have snuck out into the world about the upcoming Rainbow Six game, Rainbow Six: Patriots. After the Work in Progress gameplay trailer was teased last month, little has been known about the future of the Rainbow Six series. Speculations have been made as to how it will continue but even the game footage teased out was entirely demonstrative, rather than an indication of what was to come, that is until now. Ubisoft have not only released some tantalising concept art shots, but PC Games also managed to acquire some interesting gameplay screenshots too. Ubisoft also began to outline what players can expect from this tactical shooter. This time around Team Rainbow faces a new threat calling itself the “True Patriots,” a highly-trained, well-organized group of militias. The True Patriots are capitalizing on the growing frustration and anger in a modern day America that they feel has been corrupted by greedy politicians and corporate special interests. Lead by a calculating figurehead named Tredway, this grassroots terrorist organization will
stop at nothing to overthrow the government and financial institutions. It all seems rather a little close to home, and entirely plausible, one look at the current economy of the US, heck even the world, will show you that we are in a dark time indeed for the modern age. Rainbow Six: Patriots seems to capitalise on this fact to make sure its content hits home. Whilst in the guise of a new Team Rainbow member, you’ll be pitted against scenarios that require you to make ethical decisions to stop this new breed of terrorist threat. One look at the WIP trailer will show you exactly what they intend to bring players this time around, sounds a lot more promising than the hollow sound of gunfire that dominates every other FPS title. Along with this new direction for the franchise Ubisoft have also detailed six key points about what this title offers over its predecessors for those who aren’t sure if Team Rainbow can better themselves after Rainbow Six: Vegas 2; -UNPRECEDENTED NARRATIVE: Patriots’ storyline explores an ultra-realistic what-if scenario inspired by real events and characters. The game will allow
players to experience events from multiple perspectives creating an unprecedented level of immersion. -ENHANCED SQUAD MANAGEMENT: At the press of one button, the Rainbow squad will perform the most efficient and deadly tactic given the context of the situation. When extreme measures are required, or when players call for it, you can take full control of your squad to plan the perfect assault. -INTENSE MULTIPLAYER EXPERIENCE: Players will be rewarded for working as a team and mastering the game’s new features that enhance communication and tactical execution between teammates. Once such feature found in the pre-game online lobby is the Sandtable, a holographic display that helps acquaint players with the level maps before they jump into the action. This will help players strategically coordinate attacks and add a new dimension to squad tactics. You can read more on RS:P,view the test gameplay footage trailer and look at some screens at TGH.
You can see from these concept art shots that Ubisoft are envisioning Rainbow Six: Patriots as a darker and grittier entry into an otherwise more sterile series. It is also a much more visual entry with bloom effects, weather, dazzling lights; a fitting continuation from the Rainbow Six: Vegas entries
You can view some more concept shots as well as in game screenshots over at TGH
Soul Calibur V Format: PS3, 360 Release Date: February 2012 Publisher: NamcoBandai Developer: In-House
Author: Vaughn.H Namco Bandai do like to spoil us Soul Calibur fans and this time they have really gone and spoilt us rotten. This month we’ve been spoilt with artwork and screenshots released for seven characters, some level screens, as well as details emerging on a collectors edition of the game! The characters that revealed were: Old hands Yoshimitsu, Cervantes, Ivy and Tira, as well as newcomers Leixia, Aeon and Xiba. Yoshimitsu looks as glorious as ever, sporting his Prince of Thieves look from the series past, whilst Cervantes is possibly looking the most fresh faced he has ever looked! Xiba seems to be taking on the role of Kilik style stick annoyance, but also sporting a little tail, and Aeon appears to be filling the boots of the incredible Lizardman from series past. Aeon does however have one immediate difference to Lizardman of yore, he’s got wings (and has a name). Ivy looks as stunning as she has in all previous iterations, and Tira looks set to be as interesting as she was to use in Soul Calibur III. Its Leixia who proves to be the one of the more interesting entrants
because she is is Xianghua’s daughter, who arguably was one of the more versatile characters in the fighting franchise. The Collectors Edition of Soul Calibur V will come not only in a wonderful SCV book styled case, but it will also include: -A Hardback Artbook -A ‘Making of’ DVD -The Original Soundtrack -Exclusive signed art by the development team -Exclusive DLC costume pack for character creation (Dark Knight & White Knight) -A copy of the game. Finally, for those who haven’t seen/didn’t know, Ezio from Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed series will be a playable character for this outing! It is certainly shaping up to be an extremely enticing entry into the series, and sure to be a highlight for the fans when it releases in February next year. As there are so many screens for this game you can see the rest of them on TGH: -Ivy, Leixia, Tira -Yoshimitsu,Cervantes, Aeon, Xiba -Collectors Edition
Beautiful is all that needs to be said.
A Valley Without Wind Format: PC, Mac Release Date: Q1 2012 Publisher: Arcen Games Developer: In-House
Author: Dan Hook Developed by indie studio Arcen Games, A Valley Without Wind is a huge game, one that is currently still in its beta stages, therefore this is a preview of what they have accomplished so far and it is subject to change before its release. First off it should be noted that this is a side-scrolling survival game, set after some unknown disaster that has struck the game world. The main aim is to survive whilst fining and exploring the world through different time periods. On your journey you will also encounter a whole range of enemies, magic, and ancient technology. You can also help other survivors establish settlements and craft new things with the resources you’ll find; there are certainly a lot of things for you to do and also to look forward too as the game progresses, and no doubt evolves in future updates. A Valley Without Wind initially didn’t quite gel with us, though this is no fault of its own though. It turned out to be a very promising start to an ambitious game, and was really enjoyable to play, we just happened to get off on the wrong foot. Shortly after picking up
AVWW, the guys at Arcen Games brought out an update that added a introductory quest to the start, which goes to show just how early this game is in beta. This just confused the hell out of us as, being the adept gamers we are, we were following the tutorial that had been linked to us online. Now of course we don’t really mind, and as mentioned its no fault of the game, but it meant instead of starting off in a settlement, you had to complete the first mission to even get to the settlement, and it wasn’t that easy, seeming as we had only one power at our disposal. Eventually we did complete it, but it was not the most enjoyable first experience, due to being dropped straight into the thick of it, and being primarily unfamiliar with PC based games, the keyboard controls became somewhat baffling. Ideally for a game of this scale and scope an optional in-game tutorial explaining it all to you and helping you may help ease newcomers in. After all many people would switch off after a laborious struggle at the beginning of the game. The main point of contention came from a menacing red blob that needed to be
destroyed before continuing the mission. It was extremely resistant to fire, fire being the only move available to us; maybe something had been missed along the way crept into thought, but if so it was too late to turn back. Instead we just opted for spending a lifetime destroying this globule. A lifetime made all the harder with it was spitting out little flame enemies, every time we gained ground against the thing. Getting back to the gameplay at hand, survival and exploration games need to be big to actually have lasting fun. This definitely ticks that box, in fact it ticks it so many times the form with the box on has been worn though. The map is unfathomably vast for any game, let alone an indie title. It has different places to explore that range from forests to pyramids, and will keep you going for endless hours. Enemies, which have their own individual levels which differ from arwas, can also be seen when looking at the map. Some areas will have a 2 for example, where others could have 12! Obviously the higher the level, the harder the enemies are to fight.
Choosing your character in this isn’t exactly too hard, which is always a pleasant touch. When selecting your protagonist of choice the menu shows the pros and cons of each character; red means less then average, white means average, and green means better then average, just like your standard menu system really. So if you’re unsure, go for the one with the most greens and no reds, at least that’s what we did. Interestingly, when you die you have to select from the remaining characters and continue as them, somewhat similarly to how Aliens Infestation’s life system worked, at least you get to keep all the same items
you had before though. It’s always a good sign when a game has your tea getting cold several times, though also annoying to then have a sip and it’s cold, but it’s a sure fire sign that this is one addictive game. It becomes addictive due to the fact that you can explore, and whilst exploring, find crystals and items, which can then be made into spells to help you progress further e.g. turning into a bat. Easily a staff favourite as in some places you have a floating boss, a boss that you can’t quite get to from the ground, so use the bat spell and BAM you got wings. For a game that still has a long way to go, it’s doing bloody well so far and will
not disappoint those waiting with bated breath on the finished product. It’s creative, ambitious, and most of all fun! It can become a little repetitive at times, but so can the best of games. It can also become slightly confusing on what you should be doing. Ultimately you’ll be getting your moneys worth, even now on the beta (which is half price), and when the finished product rolls out we can only imagine that it’ll be one of the most ambitious indie games on the market, and a great addition to Arcen Games library. You are getting a lot for you moneys worth already, even though its still in beta, and also half price. Article can be found here
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Author: Josh Brown Format: Wii Release Date: Nov 20th 2011 Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Nintendo EAD It has been 5 years since our last trip to mainland Hyrule and this Hyrule is like none you have ever seen before. Set before any game in the Zelda timeline, it tells the story of Hyrule’s first threat and how the goddess protecting the land put its fate into motion. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword has been stated many times to precede the events of Ocarina of Time, the game most consider to be the first of the ever disputed timeline. This makes it a tale of origin, one veteran players will constantly be researching deep into to discover its connections, but as a story with none preceding it, it makes a perfect entry point for a new generation of Zelda devotees. Just as in previous titles the formula stays roughly the same. Link sets out on a journey to rescue Zelda and the land from a threat of total darkness. To do this he traverses the land in search of dungeons housing key items to give him the ability to vanquish the threat. It’s the same classic deal in each game, and this one is thankfully no different. Bringing a huge improvement to the motion controls of Twilight Princess, Link’s latest
combat offering comes in the form of true 1:1 motion controls handled by the Wii Motion Plus remote attachment allowing your precise sword swings to be replicated as on-screen actions. Mastering the swings rather than just flicking your wrist will be key to your success. The controls are very easy to get used to (and why wouldn’t they?), you essentially perform movements you have done your whole life. Swinging left and right up and down controls your sword, turning your wrist will see your sword mirror the turn and pointing the remote up down followed by flick or roll of the remote respectively is used to roll bombs, throw objects and even pull switches while pushing the Nunchuk out sets up Link’s shield for deadly block counter attacks. Your precise motions and control of your Wii remote truly offers a unique and more free-flowing combat experience. Enemies will constantly surprise you with their weak points and block patterns requiring you to examine them and counter their movements with your angled swings and taking advantage of any hole in their defences.
Combat on the whole is the real shining point of the game, we constantly found ourselves killing everything in our path rather than running straight past them. The motions controls as a whole are very responsive but we did find them to lose responsiveness a few times and require recalibration, it isn’t a pain to fix but it could get a little annoying during a fight. The controls also allow for a very fluid experience ridding the game of the constant need to pause and swap item set-ups as all are available through an on-screen dial accessed by holding B and pointing to the item, a process you will quickly learn to do with a simple flick as you memorize each item’s position.Visual style is something under constant scrutiny with every major Zelda revision. The reception to Skyward Sword’s blend of realism and bright colour palette was generally well received, and so it should be.
The almost watercolour design is absolutely beautiful, and you can guess the storyline reflects its softer look. While Skyward Sword does have a focus on the usual threat of a return of an evil being, it also focuses a lot more on the relationship between Link and Zelda and their corresponding involvement in the great destiny of the land along with a deeper focus on the personalities of other characters. While not coming close to the dark story of Majora’s Mask or Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword has it’s moments of cynicism thanks to the deeper involvement of character personalities. A nice touch and much needed addition.
Link follows the same formula of old being sent on a quest to realize his full potential and prove his worth as the chosen Hero of the Goddess, annoyingly this meant having to complete some rather boring little “tests” and item searches in between dungeons, that usually came in the form of “trials”, requiring you to run around an alternate version of a province to collect tears similar to Twilight Princess, but the consequence of getting hit by an enemy means having to start all over again making the unavoidable side-quests feel just as annoying as the Temple of the Ocean King sections of Phantom Hourglass.
The sequences only felt remotely fun when the threat of restarting was almost staring you in the face but this actually happening is something you will really want to avoid. Generally the highlight of any Zelda game are the dungeons and are the pinnacle of Zelda gameplay offering a bed of action and puzzles to wrap your head around with the reward of a new toy part way through pushing you to solve each obstacle. Skyward Sword is again no different in this formula. Featuring just as many dungeons as every other game, the concepts were often very promising, fun and still a great demonstration of classic Zelda gameplay but were usually let down by blatant and unavoidable hints being thrown your way with too many puzzles being solved by predictable motion controls rather than pure logic. The dungeons and their bosses both seem considerably smaller and more predictable than past games, yet are both equally as enjoyable in the process making the laborious tasks to reach the next all that more annoying.
Music has long played a big part in the Zelda franchise, so much so that this year saw fans crying at the sound of orchestrated versions of the songs they grew up with throughout the years! Surprisingly Skyward Sword comes very close to cancelling out that tradition, sure you gain the harp and its songs very much push you through the story, but none of them are used to solve any puzzles or hidden surprises, hell you can’t even play them! Usually Link just plucks at the strings as you sweep the air in time with a pulsating ring during scripted parts of the story. Ingame music is nothing much to shout about either, for a game almost defined by its music, none of the tunes (in exception to the theme) struck us as the kind you would begin to hum in the streets without realising.
An interesting addition is the further introduction of the collectable bugs and trinkets found in the more recent adventures. The system has been tweaked to be of better use with bugs and materials being found all across the surface world and it’s many inhabitants. These materials can be collected and used to apply upgrades to some of your key items and to boost the effects of your potions. Though we collected a lot of materials throughout the 40 hour story, we only really saw a use for them at the very end to buff up some potions for the final fight. The idea is very good, but it still needs some tweaking to become a bigger part of the game. Also collecting them often took us away from the game as it paused to show us the materials piling into our bags, it doesn’t happen a lot, but often enough for it to be a pain. While Skyward Sword features free exploration of the sky and its islands, as opposed to Wind Waker’s great sea, the bird flying exploration doesn’t come close to delivering the feeling of the Wind Waker‘s ocean. The islands available don’t seem to offer the same sense of mystery those of Wind Waker were capable of, and instead just seem to be places to house the chests unlocked from the Goddess Cube side-quest. While Skyward Sword does feature hours of side-quests available on Skyloft, don’t expect to run into many stray wanderers on your travels around the sky.
In the end Skyward Sword feels very much like an entry level Zelda adventure. While not entirely a bad thing, the games reluctance to let you think for yourself make it easy and predictable. The controls are a blast and bring combat to a new level but long-time fans may begin to miss the thought of never really having to think about their actions in puzzles. Veterans will blitz through Skyward Sword without breaking a sweat leaving only Hyrule’s tale of origin compelling them to continue along with the countless hours of side-quests, whereas new comers will find a lot of the formula millions of us fell in love with originally minus a few necessities for which we urge those to see this game as a reason to go back and play the earlier titles. While all the classic gameplay is here it ultimately feels toned down. Twilight Princess was very well received at launch but recently seems to be surrounded by negativity, a fate we feel Skyward Sword will surely follow.
Final Score: 4/5 You can view or comment on this article here
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Author: Chris C Format: 360, PS3, PC, Wii, DS Release Date: Nov 8th 2011 Publisher: Activision Developer: Infinity Ward The Modern Warfare series has been a successful juggernaut for the Call the Duty franchise. As the eighth Call of Duty instalment, Modern Warfare 3 hopes to achieve high standards in the FPS genre. Developed by Infinity Ward, and co-developed by Sledgehammer games and Raven Software, Modern Warfare 3 continues the Modern Warfare story, expands the cooperative modes, and continues the addictive multiplayer action. Does Modern Warfare 3 improve upon its predecessors, or will it fail to meet expectations?
Taking place right after Modern Warfare 2 where Soap, Price, and Nikolai are still on the run after killing General Shepherd, and the main antagonist, Vladimir Makarov, still at large and planning a full scale invasion of Europe. Whilst this is going on the same time Russian forces continue their fight on American soil; all these events culminate in World War 3, where the only hope is to eliminate Makarov once and for all. Taking place in multiple locations around the world: India, New York, Russia, England, Paris, etcetera, you take the role of various soldiers on the battlefield, with the majority of the game spent following either Frost or Yuri, but other characters include an SAS operative Marcus Burns, and a
security agent for the Russian president. You’ll follow these characters though many different scenarios, some of these include surviving a Russian ambush, destroying a Russian submarine, retaking control of a plane, you get the gist. As the story continues it begins to start piecing itself together, and reveals quite how this snowballing of events occurred. In the end the story fills in all the plot holes that Modern Warfare 2 had. It’s got a nice pace and good variety of situations, although some of the situations you find yourself in many not be as fresh or creative, but they are entertaining. Essentially it still has the same Hollywood style action to keep the player entertained.
Just like its predecessors, Modern Warfare 3 is still a first-person shooter, imagine the backlash if the even thought f changing that! Gameplay is practically untouched in comparison to previous Call of Duty games, with a few tweaks in each of the three modes. Once again you have three modes of play; Campaign, Special-Ops, and Multiplayer. Special-Ops adds a new mode called Survival to its repertoire, and the Multiplayer has been tweaked slightly. Featured in Modern Warfare 2, Infinity Ward has expanded on Special-Ops a little more. Survival sees one or two players fighting endless waves of enemies, with every wave becoming a little more difficult, very similar to Hoard mode in practically every the game under the sun. You will earn cash for killing enemies, surviving waves, killing stylishly etcetera, with that cash you’ll be able to buy new weapons, upgrades, supports, and equipment; this mode even supports all 16 multiplayer maps! On top of that players can still experience spec ops, these challenge missions test your skills by pitting you against specific challenges with time restrictions. The coop modes in Modern Warfare 3 now also support experience levels, when a player levels up (just like multiplayer) he/she can earn new rewards, maps, and challenges for spec ops and survival.
Multiplayer is what gets many addicted to Call of Duty, in Modern Warfare 3, the multiplayer mode has been revamped to balance the game out just a little more. Most of it has been left unchanged though, like leveling up, creating a class, challenges, modes, to name just a few. There are some features however that have been tweaked in multiplayer; Killstreaks are now Pointstreaks. Pointstreaks increase by killing or completing objectives, like capturing a flag or planting a bomb, and there are three types of Pointstreak packages: assault, support, and specialist. An assault package has offensive rewards like a predator drone or missile, whilst a support package has defense rewards like advance UAV or care package and do not reset, and the specialist offers perk rewards to give player an edge on the battlefield. As always there are a variety of weapons on offer, weapons that now must be leveled up to gain attachments and, the all new, proficiency perks. Proficiency perks help you to have more control of the weapon you’ve chosen, some proficiency perks would include assists like reduced recoil.
For those who have prestige in both previous Call of Duty games and Modern Warfare 3, an all new prestige shop has also been set in place. The prestige shop allows players to gain extra rewards via tokens when the player prestige. Some rewards double XP, or allow an extra custom class, and the creation of unique titles, these are but a few of the rewards to be unlocked. Also the perks of Modern Warfare 3 have also been changed, there are quite of few perks that have been removed or replaced in a different section with a lesser affect and new games modes have been added, such as Kill Confirmed where players must collect floating dog tags to register the kill, and Team Defender where players must fight over a single flag. The multiplayer portion of Modern Warfare 3 is addictive, but it still feels unbalanced and shallow in many aspects. Many of the guns feel unbalanced and unfinished, the addition of proficiency perks further make these already unbalanced guns into a complete mess; even the pointstreaks are too easy to gain. This especially happens with the support package, and some overpowering rewards like juggernaut. There is also a big issue with the maps being a little smaller than its predecessor and the spawn points having some weird and unbalanced placements.
Modern Warfare 3 uses the same, but improved, IW engine now dubbed MW3 engine. There are little touches here and there to improve it graphically, nicely enough the game is able to handle more action, events, and runs at 60 frames per second. These are all huge improvements over Modern Warfare 2, but sadly it’s starting to show its age and the graphics are not as impressive as they once were. Voiceovers use the same cast, Kevin McKidd and Billy Murray reprise their roles as Soap and Price, and even new actors like Timothy Olyphant play the voices of new non-player characters. No matter who they are, and who they play all of them play their roles well and give each character life. The soundtrack features an epic orchestral score that fits well with the whole Modern Warfare theme. As one audio package, Modern Warfare 3′s presentation is set on a high standard even with graphics that are starting to show their age.
At the end of the day, Infinity Ward’s creation comes full circle. The story is a thrill ride with over-the-top situations and a good plot. Gameplay is basically the same untouched experience since Call of Duty 4, but has been enhanced, for better or worse, in multiple ways. The addition of Special-Ops and the new survival mode is great feature to have, and multiplayer still offers the same addictive experience that everybody loves, but it does fail to impress in the end due to quite a few problems and issues. Presentation wise, Modern Warfare 3 is starting to show it age, but manages to still have some impressive moments. The voiceovers have an all-star cast of people who play their roles and character perfectly and even the soundtrack has an epic orchestral score that people will love. Overall, Modern Warfare 3 is a good game that has a lot to offer in terms of story, gameplay, and presetation, but the shallow and unbalanced multiplayer and ageing graphics do put a dent into this ageing franchise and series.
Final Score: 4/5 You can view or comment on this article here
Sonic Generations Author: Rob95 Format: 360, PS3, PC, DS Release Date: Nov 1st 2011 Publisher: Sega Developer: Sonic Team Sonic The Hedgehog is one of the most well known video game characters, ever since his first appearance back in 1991. The 2D Mega Drive era Sonic games are loved by many, but the 3D titles have suffered with only two or three decent games releasing in the series. This year for Sonics 20th anniversary Sega decided to look back on the old days of Sonic, bringing back classic levels and remaking them in 2D and 3D. The big question is, is this the Sonic game that fans have been waiting for, or is it just another disappointing entry in the series? Sonic Generations story is pretty basic. Sonic’s friends hold a surprise party and when he arrives they begin to celebrate, which apparently means a plate full of hot dogs, one of which is a present from Tails to Sonic (as usual, Tails is always being a great buddy). Out of nowhere a mysterious enemy Sonic has never seen before appears and sucks all his friends into a portal. Despite all of them being incredibly annoying, he pursues in order to help save each of his friends from the limbo they have been trapped in. Sonic goes to an area which is completely white with familiar
locations from past games, he soon realises that each area is somewhat familiar, it’s only when Classic Sonic shows up that things click. Together this double team must race through each area collecting Chaos Emeralds and saving their friends so together they can finally fell their foe. Incase you haven’t guessed, the story isn’t the best of the bunch, but it’s great to see both New Sonic and Classic Sonic together, and frankly it’s probably one of the better Sonic stories only just because the majority of his friends only make brief appearances. Sonic Generations gameplay is split between 2D and 3D, with each stage having a Classic Sonic Act and a New Sonic Act. The 2D levels are amazing, and look great with the upgraded graphics, in these Acts you wont find the same kind of side-scrolling as found in the recently released Sonic 4, if anything it’s better! The 2D levels may be great but the 3D ones are even better. One of the levels that stood out to me is Speed Highway, a level straight out of Sonic Adventure. Comparing it to the original Speed Highway, you can see that it has been dramatically changed and, because of this, is absolutely stunning to look at. Other levels such as Chemical Zone were brilliant to play through as were the likes of Seaside Hill, Rooftop Chase, and especially City Escape.
The only disappointing levels were the last few, they were good levels but compared to the previous levels they just didn’t cut the mustard, a sign perhaps of the latest generation of Sonic titles having lost their original charms. The objective in every level is the same, you start at point A and you get to point B as fast as you can without dying. Levels are dotted with hidden coins to help give the levels a bit of replay value but, as we’ll come to later, there are more reasons to return to levels. The best parts of the game are, without a doubt, in the 3D sections where you have a long stretch where you can just go as fast as possible, with no worry of the oncoming unknown. New Sonic can no longer spin to pick up speed, instead he can now run ever faster, or boost, which is generated from successive ring collections and enemy kills, when boosting you go amost twice as fast, causing near tunnel-vision if you are skilled enough, and it’s fun every time The game also offers a lot of replay ability, as each time you pass a level you unlock a set of challenges on that level for New and Classic Sonic. Challenges vary from reaching a goal in a time limit via a redesigned course, getting there with only 1 ring, or maybe even getting the help from a friend to complete a objective. The challenges seem a largely
pointless addition by Sega, but they are a great addition and provide fans with new ways to play old favourites. The game also features a fair few boss fights. Unlike previous sonics where bosses would occur after two acts on each level, once you pass a few levels you will get to a boss area which can only be accessed from gaining a few keys, that are gained through finishing 3 challenges each with both Sonics. The main story bosses are quite enjoyable, however the biggest disappointment came from the ‘rival’ bosses for a Chaos Emerald. When hearing that there were boss battles against the likes of Shadow, Silver, Metal Sonic our nostalgia radar went haywire, we were excited to try them out but battles were too easy and too short. Metal Sonic and Shadow weren’t even interesting to fight, with a looping set of moves and a tedious method to dispatch them. However in comparison the batte against Silver was rather enjoyable, but still suffered from the same problems. To add some variety, and longevity, to the game there is a shop that you can buy items in that can be used during any level. You can buy things that give you advantages during the levels such as, extra lives, higher jumps, constant speed shoes, or a Mega Drive controller to unlock some retro Sonic The Hedgehog fun, something that is a rather nice addition to the title. One thing that always stood out in Sonic games is the audio.
The soundtrack is compiled of previous songs from the series but given a 2011 modernisation through orchestras and synths. Hearing songs such as the Seaside Hill Song, City Escape or the remixed Chemical Zone song brought back memories of playing the old Sonic games and every piece of music in the game will chime into someones Sonic sub-conscience; even the wonderful sound of Sonic’s jumps and the springs are present in 2D levels, and the impending doom of Sonic drowning is back to terrify you. Sonic Generations is the best Sonic game since Sonic Adventure 2. There’s no doubt about it, this is a great game and Sega have finally done what so many Sonic fans have wanted since we got Adventure 2. The mixing of 2D and 3D together works so well, and almost every level is enjoyable. One complaint would be that the story is rather short and, if you have no interest in it, you may not get a lot out of the game. It comes highly recommended if you’re a Sonic fan that you have to go out an buy this game as you won’t see a better one for some time, however if you’re not a fan maybe it’s best to give it a rent as your sure to get some enjoyment out of it. Overall Sonic Generations is a blast to play and it’s great to see both New Sonic and Classic Sonic back at their best.
Final Score 4/5 You can view or comment on this article here
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Author: Chris C Format: 360, PS3, PC Release Date: Nov 11th 2011 Publisher: Bethesda Softworks Developer: Bethesda Game Studios It’s been nearly six years since we last saw an entry into The Elder Scrolls series. Oblivion brought Bethesda’s game into the next generation with universal acclaim from both critics and fans. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is the next chapter in this epic saga, ready for players to explore and experience. Skyrim not only offers players new locations, characters, and loot, but it includes the holy grail for any fantasy RPG, those infamous dragons. Does this chapter of The Elder Scrolls burn with great ambition, or does it just fail to impress? For those of you who are well versed adventurers in the land of Cyrodiil from The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, prepare for a new grand adventure that will spans across the Nord land of Skyrim. Two hundred years have passed since the gates of Oblivion were shut, the high king of Skyrim has been assassinated, and civil war between the Imperials and a rebel group called Stormcloaks threatens the land. And to make matters worse dragons return to the land of Skyrim to terrorize and wreak havoc for the citizens that inhabit the land.
As usual your fully customizable character is the only person to prevent the destruction of Skyrim, however like all customizable characters, you have to start somewhere. Skyrim begins in rather a unique way, without wanting to spoil the intro, it starts with quite an epic bang! It does of course have similarities to both Morrowind and Oblivion by taking certain cues from both games. Once that breathtaking starter has subsided you can soon set out on adventures in the land of Skyrim.
Skyrim is set in the northernmost region of Tamriel, where most of the Nords inhabit, and is suitably called Skyrim. In the land of the Nords myths, legends, and rumours are aplenty; one legend that is spoken across the land, and is the main focus of the story, is the tale of the Dragonborn. These unique individuals are born and charged with the duty of defeating the Alduin, the Nordic god of destruction and the many dragons that accompany this god. One part of being a Dragonborns is the ability to speak and shout in
the dragon’s tongue. Soon you will discover that you are one of those few mystical Dragonborns, and that you must complete your predestined task before all of Tamriel is destroyed. Even though this may be your destiny, that doesn’t mean you’ve got to go running off down the straight path to the goal, oh no, Skyrim offers you many ways to get to your goal. Geographically Skyrim consists mostly of mountains, forests, arctic plains, and rural countrysides that weighs in at roughly the same size as Cyrodiil. Having only five major cities, and scattered settlements, most of Skyrim is made up of a huge wilderness to explore, despite its lack of inhabitants it does feature many more creatures to tackle. Among the wilderness, players can explore many locations: caves, dungeons, abandon castles, etcetera, at least in this wide expanse you have the tools to combat the hulking beasts that dominate this landscape. Before any actual gameplay can occur you must mould your fully customizable avatar into the visage fitting of a Dragonborn! Just like many Bethseda titles before it, character creation is the start of your new adventure and hero. There are ten playable races within Skyrim, each one a re-imaged race from the TES stable that still have their unique special abilities. Argonian’s can still breathe under water and resist poison like nobody’s business, whilst Khajiit can still see in the dark and claw anybody and every
body’s face off. Every race is detailed from head to toe with gritty realism, unlike the papery characters from Oblivion that looked cartoonish. Once race and gender has been picked you can finally fine-tune your character, refreshingly character creation has advanced and become more precise. You’ll have more control than ever before to create their perfectly made avatar, you can even adjust facial and body features along with adding beards, war paint, scars, the list goes on. However if you’re the lazy type, who doesn’t want to be Prometheus moulding a man from clay, you can pick from a roster of preset faces and builds. Once you have finally finished or perfected you’re creation your true adventure begins. Now on your ever expanding adventure, you’ll soon be free to experience the new additions, tweaks, and improvements to the TES gameplay. The first noticeable difference is the user interface and its much more streamlined appearance. Health, Fatigue, and Magic bars only appear when being depleted, or used, along with this the level up bar rears its head when experience is being gained. Bethesda have completely overhauled the menu system which now contains equip screens for your seperate magic, skills, items, as well as a map; a map that has been significantly overhauled into a fully 3D rendered model than can be viewed in 360°. At the press of a button you can also
view your journal which contains your quests, general stats, and the system menu. This overhaul is really welcome, you’ll wonder how you did without it in all the previous TES games, it’s just so convenient and accessible. Unlike many RPGs, instead of choosing a pre-set class with minor and major skills, characters now develop abilities naturally and in anyway you want them to. The skill tree is a new system which will house perks for you to choose. Once the levelled up you can choose to increase Health, Magic, or Stamina by ten points, and give one perk point to use on the skill tree. This makes for a less confusing leveling up system, and more precise distribution amongst abilities. Perk points can be put into one of the eighteen skills trees which include: Smithing, Alchemy, Light Armour, One-Handed weaponry, the list just goes on. Within the skill tree there are three major play styles; Warrior, Mage, and Thief. Each one of these styles then has six skill trees that correlate to them. Such a level of fidelity given to players means that you can create your ideal class anyway you want. All of these skills correlate to combat in some way shape or form. If magic is your thing, then there are a variety of spells at your disposal, you can even have a spell in either hand! If those spells then happen to be the same their effects will be doubled, however more mana is spent in the process.
Those who want to be valiant warriors, or skulking thieves have the option to choose from a wide array of weapons and features. One tasty addition to combat is the dual wielding of swords, daggers, one handed axes, and maces, and if that isn’t enough you can even perform assassinations, and finishing moves (which does include the fabled decapitation.) For those who are penchant to a sneaky bit of lock picking will find out that the mechanic has been lifted from Fallout 3. By giving players these options, Bethesda has really allowed for diversity in combat to happen on the fly, truly creating a game where everybody’s experience will be different. The ability to switch weapons and magic via the quick swap menu makes for faster and immersive battles that can really change in pace and strategy swiftly. The newest aspect to combat would be Dragon Shouts. As a Dragonborn, Dragon Shouts are an intrinsic part of the role, along your adventures through Skyrim you’ll find and utilize these shouts; there are many way to gain such vocal chord destroying powers, killing dragons and absorbing their souls, and finding lost ruins, are just a few ways to obtain these mysterious scripts. Each shout has a different ability and are made up of three key words, once all three words have been found it will be finally useable against whatever foe is foolish enough to stumble across you.
The skill tree doesn’t just offer ways to sculpt your characters abilities, it also offers you the chance to improve how you craft your own armor, weapons, and equipment. You can go to the blacksmith to use their facilities and, like the beast you are, forge, grind and work those weapons into shape. Blacksmith facilities can upgrade, create, and dismantle your equipment, you can even use alchemy tables to create potions and traps, whilst an enchanter’s table can be used to enchant weapons, armour, and equipment, even a chief pot can be use to make food and new recipes. All of these facilities don’t have any requirements to use them so straight from the off you can begin customising and creating, however you will need the items you want to synthesise together. You’ll also be happy to know that the world is completely dynamic, each enemy has a different strategy to kill you. Bandits will, for the most part, rush in and attack, whilst more organized groups of Imperials or Stormcloaks will have complex strategies to take an opponent down. Creatures in the wild have different strategies, whilst most will rush in and attack (Wolves love this strategy), some enemies like trolls may back away if hurt too much so they can regenerate their health. Enemy levelling is somewhat questionable at times; taking the method from Fallout 3 there are areas in the game where high level
monsters roam, but for the most part they are on par with your level.As for the rest of the world you’ll see that NPCs have a full schedule, they live normal lives like farming, smithing, and go about their general activities, which give them individual personalities. Tied into this conversations also have been improved so time no longer freezes time and gets uncomfortably close to their face, this allows NPCs to continue their current activity and means conversa-
tions feel more realistic. Bethesda has developed a brand new engine for Skyrim, and so understandably it’s a huge improvement over other Bethesda titles. Draw distance is better, character models are more realistic and detailed, enemies come in different varieties, and each of the environments have a unique feel; it engine offers an immersive and beautiful experience for the TES universe. The dragons are really where the engine shows off the
detail and time that Bethesda invested in creating each one of them. Even the music reacts depending on your environment, from a nice, calm melody to an epic battle cry depending on your situation. Voiceovers fair better than other Bethesda titles, they may not be perfect, but NPCs are no longer wooden. Sadly some of this immersion can be broken by graphical glitches, screen tearing, and some game-breaking bugs, like getting stuck in a dungeon.
Overall Skyrim offers an improved, accessible, and immersive experience. The story offers a simple, yet dynamic and expansive, tale of saving the world once again from ultimate destruction. Gameplay has become more accessible by giving players more control over levelling, a user friendly interface, and improved combat. Presentation has been vastly improved over other Bethesda titles, which only heightens the immersive experience. Although voiceovers can be downright laughable at times, the games overall audio has come on leaps and bounds. Sadly there are some game-breaking issues and graphical glitches that really break immersion. Besides this small niggle Skyrim is possibility the best Elder Scrolls game in the series.
Final Score: 4.5/5 You can view or comment on this article here
An Interview With Team Nitronic Author: Josh Brown Hopefully you have read our overly ecstatic review of Nitronic Rush that we published last week. Before the release of Nitronic Rush, we submitted a few questions to the development team to gain an insight into the creation of this gem of a racer. Fresh from the huge launch the game has garnered, Jordan Hemenway (Audio director, lead composer) and Kyle Holdwick (Producer, programmer) from Digipen’s Team Nitronic are here to provide the answers.
TGH: What was the inspiration behind creating a game like this, how did the idea of a survival/racer game come into the minds of the development team?? Jordan Hemenway: Originally the team thought of ideas that revolved around driving a car, but nothing as specific as the survival driving that’s currently in the game. After seeing what each member of the team was passionate about, inspirations from Rush 2049, Hydro Thunder, and Trackmania were on everyone’s minds. Since the game was built from the ground up, the technical development really drove most of the design direction. Implementing new ideas and playtesting each week led the team to establish mechanics that made the game enjoyable. We let that drive us towards new tracks and game modes that showcased these new ideas, and the design grew naturally. After many months of development we knew that we had something that we enjoyed playing, and the final design came from implementing what felt fun to us.
TGH: How long did it take Nitronic Rush to go from a concept to a finished product? JH: The project has lasted for 17 months, originally starting in May 2010 and shipping in November 2011. While development has slowed a bit since release, we definitely still
plan on providing updates down the road.
TGH: Were
you working with a specific deadline/
launch date in place all along?
JH: DigiPen has always had a history of its games placing into competitions (Independent Games Festival, Indie Game Challenge, etc.), getting in ourselves became driving force for the team. The original members of Team Nitronic decided early on that they would aim to complete the game by the IGF submission deadline (October 30th, 2011), but outside of that the game was to be nothing more then a normal Junior year game project. About halfway through the project, we realized that having a proper professional launch for Nitronic Rush would make sense for how much time and effort was being put into the game. We simply tied the launch of the game to competition submission time and the schedules lined up great for us to get the game to the press.
TGH: Why did you opt for a more continuous corner turning style as opposed to a break/drift mechanic seen in most driving games? Kyle Holdwick: We wanted the game to feel more unique and also have a nice flow when driving through all the tracks. We also decided to add side jets to the car to allow for a more
fun-filled driving experience while doing tricks. We wanted our players to feel that they had full control over the car when going over jumps and avoiding obstacles within the levels as well.
TGH: If you had the time, which areas of Nitronic Rush would you revisit to tweak/improve further? KH: Honestly, I feel that we could revisit and improve almost every area of Nitronic Rush if we had the time. We would definitely make sure to revisit and improve the trick system within the game. We would tweak what is already there as well as add more stunts and levels. We would also greatly improve upon the online support by adding multiplayer for both competitive and cooperative play within the game.
TGH: You have a set of tracks in-game that are labeled as rejects. Can you elaborate on why these maps were shelved as story/challenge/hardcore tracks and why you decided to include them in the final release of the game?
JH: Old levels are really there so that future DigiPen students and people interested in the development of the game could see how we changed and adapted the levels to their final story mode versions. They aren’t really polished or finalized, but playtesters enjoyed playing them so we decided to make a special category for them.
TGH: Was
TGH: Are there plans to release any additional team in terms of the development route? content (tracks, cars etc.) or available mod tools in KH: Surprisingly we never had any major the future?? there ever any disagreement between the
disagreements in terms of the development route for the game. We did, however, question the flying feature midway through the development. One of our instructors even told us that we should take it out since he felt that it broke the game. In the end, we decided to keep it in after tweaking the controls a bunch and making it raise your heat.
TGH: As
a whole, which team
found their role the most
JH: Depending on time we’d love to release as much of the game as possible to the modding community. We’re also hoping to post updates with new content such as new levels and possibly new vehicles. Tutorials for modding will be posted on our forum within the next few weeks, so subscribe there to stay up to date.
TGH: Do you (the developers) have any plans to work etc.) on another title in the future? If so, which genre
(sound, visual challenging. Could
you
elaborate as to why?
KH: Since we built the game from the ground up, I would say that all of the team members found their roles challenging. The visuals were challenging since we programmed the graphics completely from scratch using only DirectX 9.0. We were also going for a style that required a lot of difficult elements such as the Tronesque glow and the high dynamic range lighting effects. The soundscape was challenging since we really wanted it to feel rich and unique. Since there are always so many sound effects happening at once like the car, the obstacles, and the announcer, it was difficult to balance them all. To give the game more of a musical presence, we also implemented a system for bringing in different layers of music during boosting, jumping, flying, and to warn the player about overheating. Overall, I would say that the physics may have been the most challenging aspect though. This was difficult because we were building a fast paced car game and we didn’t use any third party engines such as Havok or Bullet.
TGH: Are there currently any plans to release Nitronic Rush on other platforms? JH: We currently don’t have any plans for release on other platforms besides Windows PC, but it’s definitely possible down the road. If anything is announced we will post it on our website, Facebook, and Twitter, as well as on our mailing list (sign up on the front page of the website).
would the group be most interested in developing for next??
JH: Some of the artists and musicians on the team are currently working on new game projects at DigiPen already, and there is a good possibility for a few of the developers to be working on new projects down the road. As for a genre to work on next, I wouldn’t say anything is off the table. If nothing else, we all have a passion for striking visuals that tie strongly to audio so expect games that run in that same vein. it seems we can look forward to more games from these enthusiastic students along with mod support in the very near future. For those who haven’t already, Nitronic Rush can be downloaded for free from their website.
You can view or comment on this article here
BLAST from the PAST Soul Calibur II
Format: PS2, Xbox, Gamecube Release: 2003 Genre: Beat-Em-Up Developer: Namco
Author: Vaughn.H
Trying to break into busy genres is always an impossible task, there are so many games that don’t break into the fighting game genre at all, some are so shoddily put together that journalists can win a match by “literally just bashing the controller against my ass.” Some games however carve themselves a position into the market and remain there for years, Street Fighter is epitome of the 2D fighter, Tekken is seen as the 3D fighter and Super Smash Bros. has etched itself as the outright four player fight fest. There is one game series however that stands out completely on its own, it’s never had a rival worthy of its name, and over the years its style has changed but ultimately it’s the definitive weapon fighting game. Soul Calibur is the staple of the weapon fighters and this week we’re taking a special look at the Xbox, PS2 and Gamecube sequel, Soul Calibur II. Released in 2003 as a sequel to the 1999 Dreamcast title, Soul Calibur II was bigger, better and downright amazing compared to its predecessor. Taking place three to four years after the events of Soul Calibur, in 1591, where the fragments of Soul Edge have been scattered across the land. Nightmare sets out on a journey to recover the fragments and take souls to recreate the legendary blade, however at the same time these fragments have come into contact with Europe’s greatest fighters
who take up a quest to either destroy or revive the sword. It my not be the deepest story in the world, but it certainly bests any other fighting game narrative as many revolve around some fighting tournament solving world issues, which is incredibly farfetched. What made Soul Calibur II so much better than the competition was its incredible features and unlockables. Unlike other fighting games they didn’t just reward players with 3D models to look at, Namco gave players a whole world of weapons to purchase and use, they gave players different modes to enjoy, and to top it all of the Arcade mode wasn’t the main singeplayer focus. Weapon Master Mode was a huge story quest that took place in an alternative 1591 European map. Upon each region of the map were sub levels where fights with specific missions took place, each victory would gain points that levelled up your chosen character and gained you gold to spend on buying new weapons, it essentially played out like a self contained RPG game. It was impressive and expanded upon what previous entries in the series offered. Once played through, this story mode could then be replayed again with entirely new objectives and an increased difficulty, it allowed you to unlock some secret characters like Lizardman and Assassin.
This rather neatly brings us onto the games characters; like every fighting game each character has their own fighting style, in Soul Calibur II they also had their own weapons to go hand in hand with their fighting styles. Some characters have a similar moveset to others but would have tweaks on their stats to make them better at certain styles than their ‘clone’, however Charade would take on any characters traits each round to make it the choice for any player who was truly adept with every character. Soul Calibur II was also the first in the series to spark off the introduction of characters from outside series, something that led onto the inclusion of Star Wars characters in Soul Calibur IV and Ezio Auditore in the upcoming Soul Calibur V. For this outing, each version of the game had its own special character for players to choose and enjoy, Link from The Legend of
even then Soul Calibur II made him look even better. Visuals are really what people judge fighting games for on the surface, for those who don’t follow their development, the visuals are the first point of entry into the series. Many fighting games look spectacular for this reason, one look at Temko’s Dead or Alive just shows you how brilliant they can be. Namco have always shown care with their fighting titles, and Soul Calibur has always had the highest quality visual sheen around, one glance at the Dreamcast game and you’d be forgiven for thinking they were taken from a late Xbox game, Soul Calibur II outdid this by providing models and textures that were eyepopping, even now they look like an early PS3 or 360 game. Animations were smooth and materials blew in the wind, it was an incredible feat for a game from 2003, its something that
Zelda was the Gamecube special character, Heihatchi from Tekken was featured on the PS2 release, and for the Xbox Todd Mcfarlane’s Spawn was the exclusive. Despite everybody having their preferences and talking about how some characters were better than others, they were in fact all reasonably well balanced (despite Link’s Boomerang, Hookshot, Arrows and Bombs.) Each exclusive character had their own story arc and reason for why they were fighting, however they weren’t extremely well implemented but their addition was much smoother than Yoda and Darth Vader in Soul Calibur IV. Link was the best suited out of the lot, and for fans of The Legend of Zelda series it was the first time Link had been realised in such realistic visuals, it wouldn’t be until Twilight princess that he would ever look so good, and
games even today seem to find hard. For many the visuals are the best the series has had, Soul Calibur IV’s characters were covered in a spit shine sheen and took a rather unrealistic route in terms of style. Critically Soul Calibur II gained a brilliant reception, it currently holds a Metacritic score of 92/100 and is currently rated as the 2nd best in the series (Soul Calibur being rated 98/100), it also gained 10/10 from practically all major publications, Shawn Elliott from Electronic Gaming Monthly even went so far as to say it was the greatest fighting game ever created! Largely regarded as the best fighting game by many fans of the series and fighting fanatics. With Soul Calibur V on its way next year there is no better time than now to revisit an amazing classic.
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History Of A Hero Author: Josh Brown
Spyro The Dragon
Today we will be looking back to a flagship character from the early days of the PlayStation. Unarguably one of the system’s definitive titles starring a small winged serpent and his dragonfly companion in his quest to protect his homeland, this little hatchling helped to modernize the 3D platform genre with over 13 titles to his name. Today we are are looking back through time at none other than Spyro the Dragon. Created by Charles Zembillas, Spyro came about through contracted commission by Insomniac games, the producers of the original Spyro trilogy. During the early stages of development, Zembillas was given the basic creative direction for the character saying “It didn’t really matter what the dragon looked like at this point”. Dozens of concept sketches feature on Charles’ Animation Academy website with almost all of the early designs featuring a much larger, fiercer looking dragon than we came to know in the late 90’s. During the refinement process of Zembillas’ designs, Spyro’s final look of a small mischievous dragon hatchling started to come together. Switching from the tall, mean, bipedal dragons of earlier designs, our hero’s final from took the shape of a much smaller, quadrupedal hatchling with his creator then expanding on earlier concepts to help create the larger dragons and enemies who inhabit Spyro’s universe.
Spryo was born alongside his fairy guardian, Sparx, the provider of the powers each dragon possess. In each game Spyro is tasked with restoring order to the Dragon Realms after varying antagonists threaten to disrupt their peaceful everyday lives. Sometimes straying to the neighbouring realms of Avalon, Forgotten Realms or beyond. Spyro takes the form of a dragon considerably smaller and younger than the other denizens of his world, and was first put to the test after avoiding an attack by Gnasty Gnorc which encased the other dragons inside crystals. Spyro then had to utilize his limited abilities, compared to his kin, in order to free them from their prisons. The alternate incarnation of Spyro featured in the first reboot trilogy explain his birth from a threatened brood of dragon eggs. His particular brood fell in line with the prophecy of a rare purple egg appearing every 10 generations, this egg was being hunted down by the ‘Dark Master’ and was instead left by its protector to drift down to a swamp. Raised by a family of Dragonflies, Spyro hatched from the egg and was raised alongside Sparx who both left the swamp in search of Spyro’s home land. Most recently voiced by Elijah Wood in the first reboot of the franchise, Spyro was often described as a brave and adventurous young dragon with a knack for helping others. He was a dragon slowly growing to lead his race and was eager to learn and educate his naivety toward the ways of the world. Often showing little concern for his own safety, Spyro had proven himself time and time again to be a worthy leader of his own species by protecting his land from evil forces.
Another early idea sketch for Spyro - Imagine a platform game with a character of that size!
First appearing on our screens in 1998, Spyro has since gone through two reboots, four voice actors, countless development studios, and as such, numerous design artists; but our little hero has barely drifted away from his classic cute/smug expression and arrogant personality that has both got him into trouble and helped him to avoid it. Initial development studio, Insomniac Games (headers of Ratchet & Clank and Resistance) decided to drop Spyro during the final stretch of the PlayStation due to his inability to pick up objects limiting potential gameplay mechanics. Originally green, the studio allegedly opted to make Spyro purple to avoid clashes with the game’s scenery. Despite his lack of abilities in his first adventure, Spyro has since aged and developed into a dragon of many elements. Originally being only capable of short ember breathes and glides, he later mastered the art of continuous bursts of superflame with his breathes expanding into icy blasts, electrical bursts and even shots of water in later releases from the help of the Guardians. Since Insomniac’s exit from the franchise, Spyro has moved on to cross-platform releases on all major consoles from each successive generation, and has even been featured in cross-over titles in the past. In the isometric games released on the Gameboy Advance in the early 2000’s, Spyro crossed over into the universe of Crash Bandicoot, another character designed by Zembillas for Naughty Dog (of Uncharted/Jak & Daxter) with the most common antagonist from Spyro’s world, Riptide, forming an alliance with Neo Cortex of the Crash Bandicoot universe. Since just last month Spyro has been reborn again on modern consoles featuring a similar yet noticeably more reptile-like incarnation of the dragon. Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure sees the dragon return in the new world of Skyland. In these cross-platform games, players can purchase physical toy figurines of playable characters to unlock their in-game counterparts. While the most recent version of Spyro still shows his danger embracing attitude, he has lost his voiced personality in favour of more animal-like groans and snarls. With Skylanders expanding into physical world
toys and merchandise, along with PC and web versions, it looks as if Spyro’s is here to stay for some time. Judging on the game’s success, we may not be seeing a fourth reboot or return to his former self any time soon.
One of the earliest conecpt designs for Spyro Note the bipedal pose
The final design of Spyro took the form of a small dragon stood on all fours
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When is the next issue of TheGamersHub Magazine? The next issue of TGH magazine will be released on the 9th of Jan 2012. This will be our tenth 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. 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.com For advertising in the magazine please contact Henry at: henry.m@thegamershub.com