Category: Game Previews

Fall 2012 Video Game Preview

So its video game season again, the most wonderful time of the year! Lets take a look at a few of the games that will be taking your time and money from you this fall.

NBA 2K13                        (October 2, 2012)

With this years release, the 2K series looks to (somehow) improve on its already outstanding NBA simulation video game. The game play will remain the same for the most part, which is perfectly fine. Highlights for this year’s game will include a revamped “MyCareer” mode, an awesome soundtrack put together by the game’s executive producer, Jay-Z, and more nods to previous eras of basketball (1992 vs. 2012 Dream Teams anyone?). NBA 2K13 will be rated E for Everyone, and will be released on the PC, Playstation 3, and the Xbox 360.

Resident Evil 6              (October 2, 2012)

The premier survival-horror game from Capcom makes its return this fall in the series’ sixth installment. Returning for this game are fan favorites and series veterans Chris Redfield and Leon Kennedy, both as playable characters in a globe spanning campaign. Also making a return in this entry to the delight of many players are the traditional zombies players have grown to love (or hate).  Players will be able to fight for survival either alone or cooperatively with a friend. Resident Evil 6 will be rated M for Mature, and will be released on the PC, Playstation 3, and the Xbox 360.

Dishonored                        (October 9, 2012)

Developed by Arkane Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks (Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, Fallout 3), Dishonored is a first-person action game that puts players in the role of a former bodyguard of the Empress of Dunwall, who has become a deadly assassin after being wrongfully framed for her murder. Through a combination of dark magic and unique weaponry, players must stealthily take out anyone and anything that stands in the way of their innocence. Dishonored will be rated M for Mature, and will be released on the PC, Playstation 3, and the Xbox 360.

Assassin’s Creed III             (October 30, 2012)

Ubisofts’ blockbuster franchise returns for its final installment this fall, and it looks awesome. Set during the American Revolutionary war, players once again take on the role of a new Assassin doing his part to thwart the plans of the evil Templars. Players will travel the cities, frontiers, and the seas of colonial America in their quest to stop the Templars, and to do whatever it takes to make sure America wins the war. Assassin’s Creed III will be rated M for Mature, and will be released on the PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, as well as the Wii U. The PC version will be released on November 23, 2012.

Halo 4                          (November 6, 2012)

After more than ten years since the original game’s release, the Halo series is back this fall with Halo 4. With a new developer at the reigns (343 Studios), Halo 4 marks the first entry in a new trilogy that aims to further expand and explain the vast Halo universe. Players return to action in a game set five years after the events of Halo 3, to find a Master Chief ready to face his destiny. While the game will most definitely feature an epic story campaign, the most exciting feature about Halo 4 will be its multiplayer, which now allows players to create their own custom Spartan and progress through your multiplayer career in both competitive and cooperative game modes. Halo 4 will be rated M for Mature, and is a Xbox 360 exclusive title.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II                        (November 13, 2012)

Call of Duty: Black Ops II is the next entry in the blockbuster series, and a direct sequel to the best-selling Call of Duty: Black Ops. Featuring a campaign that will explore both the past and the future, Black Ops II looks to offer a promising and satisfying single player experience.  As with the other games in the series, there is once again a heavy focus on the multiplayer aspect of Black Ops II. Featuring a cleaner interface, a revamped “Create-a-class” system that aims to offer unprecedented customization, and a heavy focus on eSports integration, Black Ops II looks to do what it can to go back to basics and offer the most refined Call of Duty multiplayer experience to date. Call of Duty: Black Ops II will be rated M for Mature, and will be released on the PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, as well as the Wii U.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2… maybe.

With the news that Activision will be announcing the next Call of Duty next week on May 1st, during the 2012 NBA Playoffs (go Sixers!), its time to talk about what I would like to see from a game, that if evidence is correct, will most likely be a sequel to Call of Duty: Black Ops. A game that I only had two minor issues with and because of that, I will be focusing only on the multiplayer aspect of the game, and more specifically the only two issues I had with it.

Call of Duty: Black Ops brought some changes to the traditional multiplayer style of Call of Duty, with the introduction of CoD points. This brings me to the first thing I would like to see in Black Ops 2’s multiplayer; the removal of CoD points! These points took away some of the satisfaction that came with leveling up a specific gun until you unlocked the desired attachment. CoD points made it too easy to acquire the attachments like the red dot sight or a fore-arm grip;  things that can make any decent player a serious threat. For Black Ops 2, I would like to see a return to the traditional earning of XP for weapons, as it has always been in the Modern Warfare series.

The other thing that I would like to see brought back to the series’ multiplayer would be a return to how killstreaks used to function. While it was more challenging to get 11 kills on your own, without the assistance of your death dealing killstreaks rewards, the amount of killstreaks available to players was limited because of this. The original Black Ops only offered 15 total killstreak rewards to choose from, compared to the total of 28 killstreak (including the bonus MOAB for 25 kills) split up amongst the different strike packages. If Black Ops 2 were to make the return to the traditional killstreak style, where your attack helicopter kills and so forth are included in your total killstreak, this would allow for more variety in the amount of killstreak rewards available to players.

As long as they fix these two things, and don’t stray to far from Call of Duty’s true form, Black Ops 2 should not only be able to match the enjoyment brought by its predecessors, but also their sales.

Diablo 3 Beta – Afterthoughts

This past weekend marked the first time the masses could get their first taste of the highly anticipated dungeon crawler from Activision-Blizzard, Diablo III. Many people, including myself and my roommate, devoted the majority of our weekends to slaying mobs and gathering all the loot we could get our mouses on. The instant I sat down in my chair and entered the game world, I finally knew what had been missing from my life for over a decade; the urge to advance my character further through the levels, and to acquire the best gear available to me, while praying my mouse would not burst into a million pieces from the ridiculous amounts of clicking it was about to be the recipient of. Diablo III is definitely a return to glory for Blizzard (as if they ever fell from it), as well as a game that holds tons of promise for countless hours spent in front of the computer screen. Though short, the beta contained more than enough to give any fan of the series, new or old, a taste of what is to come and to leave them begging for more.

While I did devote the majority of my weekend to the beta, I did have other responsibilities to take care of (stupid homework). Due to those other obligations, I was only able to two of the classes the game had to offer; the returning Barbarian class, and the new Monk class. Both had their advantages and disadvantages, but in order to avoid any spoilers for anyone who might have missed the beta (and who might actually read this), I will discussmy time with the Barbarian, and just leave my time with the Monk as a very enjoyable experience.

Oh the mighty Barbarian… it was the first class I played in Diablo II, so in order to keep the tradition going, I set out to make it the first experience I had with Diablo III as well. Needless to say, I was not disappointed. From the second I smashed my first skeleton enemies to a million pieces, I could only imagine what sorts of awesomeness lied ahead. The Barbarian in Diablo III is the only returning class from Diablo II, and the way the class is played has also made a return. Whether you chose to be a tank, or an all-out damage dealer, the Barbarian’s main resource is Fury, which functions similar to a Warrior’s Rage bar in World of Warcraft.  I chose to go with the relentless play style of a dual-wielding Barbarian, to bring down my enemies with a whirlwind of steel and brute strength. Though my playtime was short, I could not have been happier with what I encountered and cannot wait until I am able to advance further.

Diablo III hits stores on May 15th, 2012.

Please feel free to share your thoughts of the beta in the comments section.

Battlefield 3: Call of Duty Killer?

Playing Call of Duty (CoD) has been a hobby of mine ever since the world was graced with the original Modern Warfare. The series has had its ups and downs over the last couple of years, but the people at both Infinity Ward and Treyarch have managed to keep bringing myself, and millions of other gamers back for more.  Due to that fact, I’ve always avoided the CoD‘s competitors like the plague; games like Medal of Honor and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 were never able to break my CoD addiction… until now.

Battlefield 3

Ever since DICE released their first game play teaser trailer for Battlefield 3, I have been checking the headlines over at IGN daily hoping to catch the next glimpse of amazingness. I can’t say that something as simple as a game play trailer have ever been able to get me so excited for a game, and I’ve been actively researching upcoming games for well over a decade now. The pure intensity that these trailers provide is unlike anything I’ve ever witnessed in a trailer… for anything.

Not to say Call of Duty is down for the count, but with all the legal issues between Infinity Ward and Activision that surfaced earlier in the year, I’m a little discouraged about the upcoming Modern Warfare 3. The size of Infinity Ward’s staff has been significantly reduced following the dispute, which has led to Activison bringing on Sledgehammer Games (Transformers: War for Cybertron) to assist Infinity Ward with the single-player campaign, with Raven Software (Singularity) handling the multiplayer aspect. Both of the additional developers working on the title are more than capable of making Modern Warfare 3 great, but I guess it just comes down to how well they mesh together.

Hopefully some footage of Modern Warfare 3 surfaces soon, but until then, I’m all aboard the Battlefield 3 train.

Both games are scheduled for a November, 2011 release date.

Another Linear Spider-Man Game?

With the recent announcement of Spider-Man: Edge of Time, another web-swingingless Spider-Man game,  I decided to take a look back on the series’ slow and painful descent into darkness over the past couple of years.

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions

Lets face it, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions was a mess. The developer, Beenox (also developing Edge of Time), seemed to have spent too much time on making four Spider-Mans seem interesting, instead of just making one Spider-Man perfect. The madness that came with jumping from one Spider-Man to the next made for a game that was easily forgettable, and deeply regrettable. Honestly, my largest issue with this game was that somewhere along the line, somebody at Beenox decided that it would be a good idea to get rid of the open-world web-swinging. Yeah, the thing that made Spider-Man games fun.

The last game I have knowledge of that actually included open-world web-swinging was Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, and that game was decent at best. Aside from all of its technical glitches though, Web of Shadows had some solid core game play concepts, as well as a pretty enjoyable storyline. Still, the most enjoyable part of this game was the ability to swing around New York City, taking out bad guys at your leisure.

I guess I just don’t understand why developers have been venturing away from a perfect concept. Even today I still consider Spider-Man 2 as one of my all time favorites, and that game was the king of open-world web-swinging. Call me old fashioned, but I still believe in the concept of if something works, it probably doesn’t need fixing.

Mortal Kombat Preview

Mortal Kombat 2011

The Mortal Kombat franchise is one of those video game series that people my age grew up with, but after a while it kind of became like that one friend that you used to talk to, but due to some poor decisions on their part, you eventually started avoiding. Luckily, both people and video game franchises can redeem themselves, and from the looks of the recent Mortal Kombat demo, this familiar face is sure to please.

Its been almost five years since the last true Mortal Kombat game (Mortal Kombat: Armageddon), and fans of the series have been craving for some brutal hand-to-hand combat the whole time. Not to say that the recent Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe wasn’t an enjoyable game, but the fact is that with its Teen rating and somewhat cheesy “Brutalities”, it was less than true to the gut-wrenching series.

What makes the upcoming Mortal Kombat great is that it is going back to basics. Although the game features a traditional 2-D style (the characters are rendered in 3-D), it offers all of the excitement of the classic originals, while adding its own unique feel. Fan favorites such as Scorpion and Sub-Zero make their returns to a character lineup featuring over 25 characters, each with their own unique moves and fighting styles. Playstation 3 owners get a special treat as Kratos, the God of War himself, will be a console exclusive for PS3 owners.

New to this entry in the series is a 4-Button fighting system made popular by the Tekken series. In this setup, each of the four main buttons on a controller correspond to a character’s body part. This new feature makes for some very interesting combos while fighting. Also featured in this entry is a unique Story mode, the Classic Tower mode, and the always exciting Tag-Team mode. Check out the Offical Tag-Team gameplay video below.

Mortal Kombat hits stores Tuesday, April 19th.