Fallout 3 DLC coming to the PS3

Set to hit the PlayStation Network (PSN) this coming June, PlayStation 3 owners will be able to snaffle the original Operation: Anchorage pack, with releases of The Pitt and Broken Steel due to follow every four to six weeks after that point. And, once those packs have successfully landed, Sony’s console will then be graced with new expansion packs Point Lookout and Mothership Zeta; the former offering new quests and content within a vast swampland environment, while the latter will put players through the related stresses (anal probing?) of an in-game alien abduction. However, with Point Lookout scheduled for release on the Xbox 360 and PC in June, with Mothership Zeta expected in July (both for 800 Microsoft Points), PlayStation 3 owners will still have to wait until at least September before once again catching up with the episodic embellishments. Not only will the content be released online but Bethesda has announced plans to release all of the Fallout 3 DLC through conventional retail outlets too.

Far Cry 2 - game review

Well this game is huge & I don’t just mean the levels/map I mean everything the selection of weapons & features is simple massive. it’s a first person shooter obviously & part one on the xbox was also a first person shooter but its missing something that the first one didn’t have & I’ll get to that. So its set in Africa & there are a few different characters to choose from including an ex-IRA man (huh?) but really the character choices are nothing special & because it’s a first person shooter you will only see different arms anyways. The African landscape featured here is really something special, its vast & vibrant at times & has everything from lush green jungles to dusty deserts. The game cycles smoothly from day to night & I have to say I haven’t seen as smooth a transition in any game since then. Your character is a mercenary that’s sent into Africa to track down & assassinate an international arms dealer known only as “the jackal”. to get to the jackal you must find & fight your way through the game but its not as easy as it sounds, the game play can be tough & you will find yourself backtracking through the vast landscape just to do business with a faction or even to complete a mission. Like I sad the map is huge but it’s a little too big at times & it can be irritating getting from one point to another, even once you learn the layout of the map you will have moments where you are cursing the size of the map.

Speaking of maps the game comes complete with a very impressive level editor that lets you build your own maps full of weapons & buildings.. But that’s really the tip of the iceberg & its near impossible to do the editor justice by using just words. The maps you can build are simply amazing & the freedom of design is something I have never seen in a game before (including the one on the original xbox) of course once you have your map built you can pop it online & let other people play on it, this works great for the multiplayer. Some people have dubbed this GTA set in Africa but its not, it plays differently & the controls are more like the call of duty series. Its got a lot going for it & the game engine it uses is spectacular especially the way it deals with weather & fire effects, for instance if a fire does break out the whole area around it will be consumed by flames in an ultra realistic way.

For me the game was great fun & the missions were very time consuming but I simply cant get over the size of the map, if there was more in the actual environment like towns or villages it really would have been a better experience but driving around or in some cases running (they blew my jeep up!) for god knows how long.. It was just too much. I guess to sum it up I’d call it a survival game because you really are in the middle of no where & you have to survive to get through to the next mission. don’t get me wrong it’s a fun game but it might be a little too raw for some people & if you don’t like huge maps then this wont do you any favours, I’ll give it an 8 out of 10.

Call of Duty 4 modern warfare - game review

OK so the game is old now & its making me feel all nostalgic even writing about it but it still packs a wallop. A lot of the games I reviewed today have something in common (they are old enough titles that I never got around to reviewing before) call of duty was released back in 2007 so that too fits right into the category. Since its release it has won countless awards & by June 2008 it sold over 10 million copies, so 10 million people cant be wrong..right?. Set in locations like Ukraine/Azerbaijan & the Middle East you alternate between an American marine & a British SAS commando. The characters are likable & the plot is believable with a few little twists along the way. There have been many call of duty games before this one but they were never set in the modern battlefield, that’s what really hooked me in the first place - because its more modern its more realistic & definitely more believable than the previous world war 1 & 2 games, don’t get me wrong I enjoyed the previous call of duty games but for me I much rather prefer the modern approach. The game is packed full of great combat & incredible graphics that really sell the power of nextgen consoles. There are stacks of weapons that you can use & all of them handle/sound/feel & shoot like the real thing, mp5s/m4a1s/m203 grenade launchers/claymores/grenades/night vision goggles & even sniper rifles, my favourite of course is the sniper rifle & there is one level where you need to calculate the power of the wind before carrying out a very important one shot one kill scenario. The single player campaign plays exceptionally well with a great story, amazing level design, powerful music, raw realistic combat & a whole host of other features.

The online multiplayer is really where the game comes to life & it’s the first game to really sell me on playing online games. Its hard to really sum it all up in words, it has the usual death match features but what really stands out is the reward system. Put simply the better your performance & the more enemies you take out the higher your score & the more perks you are awarded, the perks system works flawlessly & it adds a serious lifespan that will have you logging on day after day to unlock that special something you are after, for me it was the .50 barrett rifle that I earned by levelling up & up.

There are not enough good things I can say about this game its simply perfect & it plays solidly. I wasn’t a serious first person shooter fan when I first got it but I quickly picked up the controls & through playing the campaign I learned all the skills to use for online play. Whatever you do play the campaign first! Too many people seem to be buying games like this & going straight to the multiplayer, if you do end up doing that with call of duty 4 you will really miss out on one of the best gaming experiences ever. The game came out in 2007 & recently part 5 was released but 5 is not a follow-up to part 4 so avoid it if you want the modern experience again, instead wait until November 10th 2009 when the proper sequel Call of Duty modern warfare 2 will be released & trust be it will be well worth the wait.

Quantum of Solace - game review

Oh no not another badly made James bond game.. that’s what I thought too but I heard good things about it so I just had to find out for myself & honestly my expectations for this one were so low that I struggled with the idea of buying it in the first place but I’m glad I did! Bonds never looked or played better (yes I was a big fan of bond on the n64 but this is different) as you may have guessed it follows the movie by the same name but unlike the movie this is actually really good. It focuses mostly on the new movie but there are some great little moments where you get to play in the casino royale world, you don’t get to play the famous cards scene but the scene at the start where you are jumping from crane to crane chasing a terrorist that's here & it plays perfect. Another great sequence included in the game is the Miami airport one where bond has to prevent an airliner from being blown sky high but of course the game extends on the scene & adds little elements of stealth where you have to infiltrate certain areas of the airport. Its not all about sneaking around of course as this really is a first person shooter & it certainly plays like one, I was afraid they would stick in some awkward driving sequence that would take away from the game but they didn’t.

The controls are pretty nifty & easy to get used to so you wont be screaming at the screen every time you pick up the controller. There is a good amount of weapons & gadgets to make use of & they all feel different which is good because in the past most bond games all had a lot of weapons but they all felt identical. The graphics are stunning enough though at times they can be a little glitchy but its nothing serious, levels like the mansion at the start & the opera all make use of nice lighting effects but they are a little too linear for my tastes. The music or score is sharp & fit’s the mood perfectly, a nice little surprise was the theme song “when nobody loves you” by one of my favourite artists Kerli especially since I hated the theme song for the movie itself. If you want to go online with it you can & there are lots of game modes to choose from like bond vs./golden gun/team conflict/bond evasion & territory, points are awarded which can be used to upgrade various weapons & gadgets. So onto my final thoughts.. What I liked about the game was the level design really immerses the player into the world of bond/lots of enemies populating the levels/the lack of a vehicle section keeps all the action on foot which makes it more realistic/the graphics engine from call of duty 4 is incredible. Of course it was not all good, the game was a little too short/the online multiplayer was a little flat & could have done with a little more variety/hacking doors is annoying & its in there too many times/for a bond game there was a considerable low amount of weapons/there are not many achievements to get so it wont really inspire you to go back & play through it again. At the end of the day it’s a fairly balanced game & I did have fun playing it, it was a thrill to step back into the world of 007 & an even bigger thrill to realise that for once a movie inspired game (especially a bond one) had been made that was actually very good. Offline the game is a gem & if you are looking for a solid first person shooter then you cant go wrong with this one, even though it didn’t inspire to play through the whole game again I did find myself playing various little missions/scenarios again. I’m going to recommend this to not only bond fans but to fans of first person shooters too & casual gamers, its getting a well deserved 8 out of 10.

Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. - game review

Set in the near future h.a.w.x. (high altitude warfare experimental) is an air combat game with plays more like an arcade game than a flight simulator . You play as an air force pilot that leaves the air force for a PMC (private military company) the aim of course to provide military services for organisations & countries all over the world. There are about 20 levels most of which are fun to play but where the game really shines is the map design - using global satellite images the developers have modelled every level from actual real locations so when you are flying over Washington it really is Washington that you are looking at.. However it does get a little blocky if you fly too low to the ground but it is a nice little feature. So it’s a flight game so there are a lot of planes to choose from including classic fighter jets to modern planes like the F22 Raptor & all of them handle fairly realistically. There are a ton of planes to unlock & you can use experience points to upgrade each of them with different weapons/bombs/missiles etc.. now this might sound like a good idea & at times it is but I have finished the game on normal already & have half the game completed on both hard & elite but I’m still only half way up the ranks so really the rewards system is just too hard & I think that will put people off playing. The game uses a new feature known as ERS (enhanced reality system) which when used provides a gateway on your screen that can either lead you out of harms way or right into a fire fight.. I used this only when the game made me use it because it does feel kind of like cheating so avoid it when you can because it will really take the fun out of the game for you.

The missions can be fun but very tough at times & most of them involve dog fights/bombing runs & close air support ..but at times this can be a little repetitive & just when you compete your objective you seem to always bump into one last batch of enemy jets & this does gather rather tiresome. I did like this game & it did have its moments but the story was lacking a little & its no where near as good as other Clancy titles like EndWar, its very challenging if you want to climb the ranks & upgrade your planes but the fact it’s a tough game sets it apart from all the others. I’m not going to recommend this to everyone but if you do want to experience it I’d suggest renting it first because its not going to appeal to everyone & its really one of those games you might just want to play through once. If you want to know anything else about the game then drop me a line here & I’ll get back to you when I can, in the meantime I’m giving h.a.w.x. a 7 out of 10.. It was fun to play & very challenging but it has its problems.

Burnout Paradise: Ultimate Box - game review

Straight off there are 2 versions of burnout paradise, both have more or less the same name except one of them (this one) has that extra “the ultimate box” written on the box. So what’s the difference between them? Well ultimate box has a hell of a lot more in it! Not only does it have lots of the online content like extra cars/game modes (even bikes now) but it also has little fixes like day to night cycle & enhanced weather effects. I always loved the burnout series ever since I played the first one on the ps2, they weren’t taken too seriously back then because of the way they played but this latest instalment really changes that all. Its seriously jam packed with things to do & they drop you right into paradise city with the whole map fully unlocked, I think they do this to let you go get used to the roads & explore the map which really does work because when you do get into a race or challenge you have a good enough idea of a few secret routes & shortcuts. So obviously it’s a racing game & it delivers when it comes to realistic car controls & character models but this is a burnout game so there is lots of crashing & crazy stunts thrown in.

I wasn’t sure if I’d get tired of the game because of all the racing but the different game modes offer such a variance that I kept playing all the way from my first license up to my A class license (that’s well over 300 races!) its not only the racings that kept me coming back for more, at nearly every set of traffic lights in the city is a challenge/race that can be activated by hitting the top 2 shoulder buttons. Game modes include racing/road rage/marked man/stunt run/ burning route, they all start off easy enough but as you get closer to that A licence it gets much tougher & in events like marked man/road rage unless you give it your all you will be annihilated by the other drivers. Burnout paradise was a nice little surprise for me because so many people assumed it would be just another burnout game, it was a lot more & maybe one of the funniest games I have played in a long time. One thing I have heard people complain about is the soundtrack to the game.. Fair enough its not amazing but do those same people know you can play your own songs (from your hard drive) through the game on both the ps3 & 360, doubtful. If you are looking for a game that’s easy to pick up & play then I highly recommend this game, its great value for money & so much fun.