Rise of Nightmares
As the foundation of Kinetic zombie bashors I would say that this game definitely hit the bulls eye, but as an actual game on it’s own it leaves a little to be desired. Although I am a big fan of what SEGA have done here. Not only have they taken one of the worlds most popular cults and attempted to make it even more realistic but they have started a new generation of zombie games. As we dive, head first, into the this very 2D story line you must remember that it has mountains of potential, and with a little refining Rise of Nightmares could be an amazing game. Underneath all of the overly done plots and heavily repetitive game play there is the chance to literally wade through hordes of zombies, smashing their faces in and chopping them to pieces with various tools you find along the way. The game starts with a normal guy like any other, players accompany Josh and his wife Kate as they travel European by train. As the story unfolds, the couple is found fighting over Josh’s boozing. Kate storms off, leaving Josh (and the player) to pursue her. Kate is kidnapped by a mad scientist and Josh then sets off to rescue her from a castle of creepy only to be met by brain starved zombies who are let loose on him. The game allows you to use what ever tools you can find to defeat the zombie masses and reach new levels in an attempt to free Kate. One thing I’ll admit though is even though fighting the undead may be easy (in the beginning) getting control of the game and your character is not. To begin it will be difficult as you try to steer your character through corridors and train cars, often running into walls of falling off to one side, but once you have mastered your movement it can be rewarding. I am impressed that all control of the character is given to the player, it’s a BIG leap in Kinetic games that may be the first step toward true virtual reality gaming. Another great feature in this game is the interactively of your surroundings. Whether you are required to climb ladders, pull levers or kick in doors you can do this all with the real world movements you would normally use. One such situation sees Josh exploring a derailed train on the verge of tumbling over a waterfall. Here you are forced to keep balance until it was time to just run. As you get farther in the game fighting becomes more difficult, now you are required to aim at certain weak points in your enemies defences rather than just swinging and hoping to hit. Your weapons become more complex although you have become accustom to the games movements you a expected to be able to pull off better combos and tasks. Properly applied, the games ideas could make for a grand adventure game, opening us up to an entirely new breed of gaming. As it stands, I believe that for a first try this game exceeds any expectation, and any flaws it may have are just technicalities. Many other games have made it to the top of the list with more faults than this one on charm alone. And while Rise of Nightmares is a novel experiment, it has a good chance at being one of our best games of the year.
Twisted Metal 2 One of this years biggest and longest running PS franchises releases, Twisted Metal 2, seems to have stayed true to its predecessor’s cruel and twisted form. While the game sees no change ion format of playability (which is a good thing) it does sport a few additions including more vehicles, more weapons and eight new worlds in which to run riot. Instead of the fictional worlds of the first Twisted Metal this game hosts a variety of real world playgrounds for you to rev your hard core engine in. TM2 features maps based on Los Angeles, New York, Hong Kong, Moscow, and Paris. It even showcases the frozen Iceland of Antarctica; the moulten lava ruins of Amazonia; and the serene farmlands of Holland. While I am sure there are those who will disagree with me I think I prefer the make up battle tracks. They seemed a bit more inventive, but because of the shear size of these tracks it is easy to get lost in exploration, but we all know that is not why most of us pick up this type of game. This latest addition to the Twisted Metal legacy will have you jumping about in excitement as you play one of ten characters, a few of which we are all familiar with (Mr. Grimm;Warthog; Sweet Tooth and even Minion) and a few new recruits who will give you a real run for your money. The game features a tournament mode which requires you to destroy all opponents on that level before you are allowed to advance, while a challenge match lets you select levels and opponents to tackle. Your characters ultimate goal is to compete in one of the most grandly destructive vehicle combat races and survive. Should you manage to avoid being smashed to little bits, chomped by metal jaws or blown to smithereens in a fiery ball of scrap metal and win you will be awarded “anything your heart desires” by an insanely evil man named Calypso. Like in the original game the characters have a very human aspect making you hate or fear them, this brings a realistic sense of competition that leaves you screaming at your screen or insulting your opponents. The playability like the rest of the game is smooth but with such a variety of weaponry you will be wishing you had a third hand with which to bash your console. And now with the ability to play online disciples of this wicked car killer can strategically dismantle opponents through the Playstation Network. Players will unleash destruction with up to 16 players and battle through a variety of favourite and new game modes.
To find out more go to their web site www.twistedmetal.com/
November Game Review
Zombie Panic: Source
The basic idea of the Zombie Panic is to create a scenario in which players are able to play both humans and zombies. Allowing for the situation you are faced with to seem more realistic. The game calls for players to join each other on a server where one person will volunteer themselves as the first zombie. If no-one volunteers some one will be chosen and the game will begin. The idea is that one zombie then infects the other humans playing and they turn into zombies themselves. At this point your objective to fight off the undead and survive the outbreak changes to hunting down and infecting the remaining survivors. The humans not only have to survive but complete tasks and even attempt to wipe out all of the zombies, the catch here is that they cannot tell just by looking at their players list who is and isn’t zombiefied. However the zombies have their weaknesses to, they only have a certain number of lives before they are destroyed. When a zombie is killed they lose 1 life from the counter. However, when a human is killed they gain 1 life. If the zombies only have 1 respawn left the humans can win the round by killing off the remaining undead. Zombie Panic may seem simple, kill all zombies and survive, but it can get a little complex at times. For example the game allows for weight/speed control, while zombies cannot run faster than a human can by carrying lots of weaponry and ammo you will slow your character down and allow them to be caught. Weapons are also a big thing in this game, you will have a wide range of weapons to choose from if you can find and collect them. You will start out with a random melee weapon and handgun but with a little bit of skill and team work you can locate a treasury of zombie destruction. The down side is that at the beginning of the round, everyone else is a Survivor. This means that they can easily watch each others backs but once their ammo starts to run dry they begin to squabble amongst themselves. Another great feature in this game is instead of typing messages to each other (occupying busy hands), the humans will have the ability to communicate by voice commands. There is a menu with several commands that can help the humans to organize a defence, trade ammunition and request help. However the humans are not the only ones who have fun in this game, zombies also have their perks. One such perk being regeneration, over time a zombie will regenerate hit points making it more difficult to make the undead dead. They are persistent little f***ers who will keep on coming back until their last life, and as the game commences and the survivors are turned by the bucket load the zombies will also have numbers on their side. Another cool feature is Z-vision, allowing the zombies to see in dark corners and monitor who is most active on the field by seeing your prey surrounded by a red glow. Those who camp or play hide and seek will also appear with this glow. To add to this the original zombie looks and sounds different to the rest of his droning cronies and sports talents they wish they had. He is the Carrier! With the power to infect people (10% infection chance per hit by default) and he causes panic and paranoia amongst the living. The mod on this game is well creepy but it is not the kind of game that takes itself too seriously. Like any good zombie game Zombie Panic has a sense of exciting desperation in which the player can make choices for themselves, getting the blood pumping in anticipation. As I said it has a lot of freedom, which not too many zombie games are open to, allowing you to kick zombie ass your own way. And while this makes it one of the hardest zombie games out there it brings a certain authenticity to the experience. Whether you are a survivor or a zombie you will be able to enjoy the thrill of killing your team mates in a friendly fit of glee as you shoot, slash, hack, gnore, bite, tear and obliterate your way through the game. I believe in all honesty that this game is one of the greatest in zombie bashing history, and is one for the record books for many years to come.