Dead Rising 2: game review (PS3/360/PC)

Zombies are everywhere these days from movies to games they have infested our cities our pubs and even.. Vegas, that's right its the sequel of the 2006 zombie smashing hacking and slashing hit Dead Rising.

The first game had you running around a shopping mall taking out zombies but giving you the option to save survivor's which in return netted you bonus points. this time around its pretty much the same deal except the story plays a more important part in your gaming experience and its much more open ended with almost double the lifespan.

You take on the role of chuck greene a former motocross star who is forced to enter a game show with a difference in order to buy the medication he desperately needs for his daughter. that game show is TIR - terror is reality, and the main aim of the game is to kill more zombies than the other contestants, simple enough really until the zombies escape and overrun the city tearing apart everything and everyone they come into contact with. so now with 3 days until the military arrive chuck has no choice but to fight it out until help arrives – there is of course the small matter of his daughters medication too.

So surviving the 3 days really is all up to the player, you have pretty much an open world to explore and game through which is similar to the original game but being set in Vegas its bigger and much more vibrant. crazy is a word i have used to describe this game many times and within the first 5mins of gameplay you will see why. chuck has at his disposal an almost limitless amount of weapons and props to use against the undead, these range from simple golf clubs and antique blades to pretty much anything you want or can find laying around. going to a hunting store will net you sniper rifles/shotguns and the like while going to a sports store will result in bats/clubs/rackets and even balls, that's right balls. this is where DR2 really shines, there is an almost limitless amount of novelty items to twist and turn into your very own killing tools. crafting your own items can be challenging at first but once you start to progress you will receive combo cards which work as a blue print in weapon design. i found that a simple bat with some nails worked wonders but you can get as creative as you choose.

Being set in Vegas means there is gambling aplenty to be done but its not always so easy to win, you can increase your luck at gambling by picking up gambling magazines in bookshops and scattered around zombie infested casino’s. the books also serve to raise the skill level of other things like your combat and even driving. the driving in the game actually works quite well but you have to buy whatever vehicle you want and no matter how many times you do playthrough you won’t be able to afford them unless you start gambling.

The enemies range from your average stumbling zombies to shoplifters trying to score big to my personal favourite, the psychopaths. these are individuals who have been affected by the zombie outbreak and they put up one hell of a fight but beating them gets you big reward points and most lead to more survivors who will tag along with you. the psychopaths all have their own unique traits but they all have one thing in common, they are hard as nails to beat and don’t expect to beat even half of them the first time round, but this is where one of my favorite features comes into play. the game gives the player the ability to quit at any time so they can start a new game but with all the skills and points they had from the last game. this really works in building up a stronger character with superior combat skills and a much higher chance of surviving.

There really is so much i could say about this game and i did indeed play it to death, mostly for the achievements but also because each playthrough was so different. the world is so open you can do whatever you want and save or not save the others hiding around Fortune City, its really up to you. the level design is top notch with wide spacious malls packed with stores/costumes/weapons – casino’s filled with slot machines and zany games which can be played, and so much more.

Dead Rising 2 is a game i really can’t say anything bad about, its was hugely enjoyable playing though your first playthrough will be the hardest. i’m giving it a 9 out of 10, i’m removing 1 point because of katey’s zombrex needs – though the medication could be obtained with a little work it sometimes felt repetitive getting back to her with it in time.

Things not mentioned: online co-op, i never tried it - DLC available: mostly costume packs, Ninja, Psychopath, Sports & Soldier.

Tom Clancy’s HAWX 2: game review (PS3/360 & PC/Wii)

Being a big fan of the original game i really wanted to place this and so i snapped it right up on the release date. the first game centred around around high-tech air combat with a plethora of planes to choose from, this time around the formula hasn’t changed but does it still work.

The short answer is of course yes it does, it really does. the story takes place just after the original game with the team being deployed to the middle east where terrorist attacks are on the increase, this changes when three Russian nuclear weapons go missing and they are tasked with tracking them down. tracking nukes down in planes may sound a bit ridiculous but the missions are set up in a way that the player can and does influence what happens with the nukes.

The original game relied on planes to get the job done and though there was nothing wrong with that the developers have added a little twist to the game play this time in the form of UAVs. you will of course be tasked with take out strategic targets and installations but this time around you can recon the area with a UAV and in some cases destroy targets with armed UAVs. along with this of course comes the use of a gun-ship which can fire 3 different ranges of heavy artillery, these are evident the most in the rescue mission where you have to provide air support for your allies on the ground. there have of course been other improvements such as being able to land your aircraft but that also raises the difficulty when it means you have to land your plane on an aircraft carrier at night. the combat itself is high octane driven with a steep enough learned curve but once you enter the zone you will gain air superiority over your rivals.

One of the features that really stood out too me is the upgrades system which in many ways reminded me of modern warfare 2. my finishing in game challenges you gain experience points and with these xps you can upgrade your planes, the upgrades themselves come in all shapes and sizes with all kinds of categories from evasion to damage. the reason this system works so well is because by having a tough plane if you do play through the story missions again you will have the upper hand on the enemy. another feature i enjoyed was survivor mode which just like it sounds involves waves of enemies coming at you with everything they have, once the timer reaches zero the game ends but its no walk in the park.

Graphics wise the game is quit impressive but my main gripe with the game is this, the video clips are sometimes awful and i’m talking playstation one awful. the reason for this i’m sure is the connection between HAWX 2 and the new future soldier game yet to be released, the footage is just lazy and really made me wonder if they rushed the release, luckily nothing else is lacking detail. this time around planes will take damage more realistically from the new damage system and the AI is greatly improved giving a more challenging game experience. if it were not for the sometimes ugly video clips (there are a few, about 30% of the video) i’d give this a higher rating, the graphics/music and of course game play are all top notch but the difficulty may not suit all gamers. if you were a fan of the original its a must play but if you are a casual gamer i’d say maybe rent it first. 8 out of 10, its losing a mark for the video and for some of the missions not allowing some of the unlocked planes.

my favourite aircraft the russian SU-47 berkut makes an appearance.

IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey: game review (PS3/360 & PC)

Il2 is as you would imagine a flight simulator with the main focus being on combat, there have been previous instalments of the series on the pc but i have never played them so i won’t be referencing any differences between them and this new one.

The game takes place during world war 2 with the player controlling the side of the allies. a wide range of battles are rein acted beautifully from the battle of Stalingrad to the battle of Britain and many more. the game is not just confined to the major battles as it also includes many lesser known operations all testing your skills of both flight and combat.

Graphics wise the game has some of the best visuals i have seen to date at times they even rival other flight combat simulators such as Tom Clancy's HAWX. one level where the graphics particularly shined included search lights piercing the dark clouds of an aerial battlefield, everything looked and sounded ultra realistic. there is no doubt the visual work of the game won me over from the start with the incredibly accurate plane interiors but even the sounds are authentic, sometimes loud and bombing while you get torn up from a flak unit bellow – sometimes screeching while a dive bomber gets you in its sights.

The game play is solid, the missions though sometimes a little bit repetitive are both fun and engaging. there is certainly a lot of life to this title too as you unlock more and more extra single player missions along with a whole host of planes. as a combat flight simulator it has everything you would expect so it wins there but as a pick up and play game it has more than enough here too. trophy hunters will be glad to hear there are a satisfying enough amount of trophies to pick up and you will be earning them in no time. IL-2 impressed me so much in every way i’m giving it a 9 out of 10 – if you are a fan of aerial combat simulators its a must buy.

YLOD - PS3 yellow light of death strikes again...!

A year or two ago if someone told me the ps3 could fry up like the 360 i would have not believed them, surely Sony wouldn't ..couldn't allow such a thing to happen but yes they can and they did.

Two weeks ago while playing a game (R.U.S.E i think) the ps3 gingerly turned itself off once.. then twice after which there was no third time just a annoying yellow light with no way to get the console going again. naturally i freaked and started Googling what to do, contacting Sony was out of the question for the simple fact that the stories of refurbished consoles/tech support were the stuff of nightmares so i started looking for a business that specialized in console repairs. i quickly found said business and once the work was done (new parts were ordered and the chips were re-applied) she is back working like a dream, as for price it was only 50 euro's - the price of a new game here. in the past i had seen many red lights of death on various 360's but i didn't think it was possible with the ps3. i kept the console in a well ventilated area being careful to never overheat the unit but it seems after two years (turned on the first time on the 29th of april 2008 - GTA IV bundle) it was literally played to death. the fact a console can do that to itself is really annoying and problematic but the positives in my own case are very good - i lost no data/saves/etc, there was no serious damage to the console - i got my own machine back and not a refurbished one, and lastly it was cheap to repair - some people have told me they had to pay 150 dollars they have theirs repaired by Sony.

Now that my on ones been repaired i can get back to playing and reviewing games. coming up will be Tom Clancys HAWX 2/R.U.S.E/Sturmovik/Dead Rising 2/Castlevania: lords of shadow, and of course the next installment of Medal of Honor. my advice to anyone who does get the YLOD of death is to not freak out too much, just see if there are any local repair companies in your area - i found that most places offer no fix no fee and it sure beats buying another console.

SAW: game review (PS3 & 360)

Taking over after the SAW movies comes SAW the game. the character you control is that of David Tapp, a detective obsessed with catching the infamous jigsaw killer. his obsession quickly leads him into jigsaws biggest game yet, being a pawn in an ultimate test. waking up in an abandoned insane asylum he quickly finds how real the situation is, driven by his determination to bring jigsaw to justice he has no choice but to stay and play jigsaws deadly game.

The first thing the game developers did was successfully recreate the feel of the films in such a uniquely way that dangerous as it is you just want to explore it inch by inch. doing so will not only put you in the path of jigsaws maniacal traps it will also put in direct contact with the other inmates… that’s right jigsaw has concealed a key to the exit inside of your chest and people will be hell bent on getting it out of you to gain their freedom. the environments themselves like the movies are dark/dank but beautifully rendered, yes the game oozes atmosphere at every level.

the lighting is fantastic with everything from flame effects to the little blips of CCTV cameras adding unparalleled realism. the building itself is abandoned so expect decaying floors “pitfalls”/pitch-black offices/cold operating rooms and much more… of course the levels would be nothing without jigsaws own personal touch. some of the traps such as the jaw-split and shot-gun collars will be instantly recognizable to SAW fans but there are a whole host of new traps designed specifically for the game each one mechanically different from the other but equally as horrific.

Adding in the element of other people roaming the asylum really sets the game into overdrive, i soon found out that they don’t just attack with whatever they can find scattered around the environment “bats/iron bars/furniture” but they will also set traps of their own so the player is constantly on watch for trip-wires that could lead to a very sticky situation.

Being in the SAW universe means that the player has to work their way around puzzles to not only free themselves but to also free others. Each major stage of the game has the player work to gain the freedom of jigsaws other victims, often they are there for their own personal reasons but some are directly linked to Tapp.

Ok so as a diehard SAW fan i can admit playing the game i really was in my element and so it would have been hard for me to find any faults in the game… but i did. my first gripe with the game was the fighting system it seems that if you get the first punch in then you win the fight, but if they get the first punch then they win. of course you can change the odds drastically by swinging an iron bar or nail-bat at their heads… this is SAW after all. my second gripe is with the puzzles themselves, although most of them are very well created and implemented i found myself looking for tips on YouTube and Google. of course the puzzles are supposed to be challenging and the brain teasers tricky but on many occasions i found it being a bit much when i couldn’t work a puzzle because the gas being pumped into the room kept throwing me off. the best example of this would be would be a puzzle that involved me connecting up three circuit boxes under an impossible time limit while the room filled with gas… i got it after about 10 tries.

So my final conclusion is this: SAW is actually a great game with stunning visuals and edge of your seat game-play which should be experienced by SAW fans and survival horror fans alike. if you are a fan of neither then there may not be enough to there to keep you playing, the ultimate question remains… do YOU want to play a game?

New Hobby: Modelling

If you can’t tell i don’t mean modelling as in fashion i mean building modelling kits, i started a few months ago and so far its turning into quite the hobby. my first kit was a russian battle tank by revell which i found easy enough to build (except for my first run in with tracks!). painting it was a whole other story, i think the paint went on way too thick but then it was only my first try and i expected it to turn out much worse.

The following kit is a set of russian special forces known as vimpel, the kit is by zvezda and went together realy well, even the painting seemed to be less complicated than the previous kit. i changed the colours slightly to make them look more like the irish special forces unit. the vimpel were formed as an elite team to deal with terrorism against the soviet union and its states.

Israel's main battle tank came next, the merkava mark III. like the russian tank above it too was a 1/72 scale model by revell. this time there was a few little problems, the main one being when the top part of the tank had to attach to the bottom a gap was left so i made a sort of tow-bar out of left over plastic and filled the gap in, it actually worked. the next problem was the decal sheet that came with it, the decals fell apart so i had to paint most of them by hand. other than that it was a good build and i’d build it again in a bigger scale like 1/35.

The next kit i tried was a german artillery vehicle known as the panzerhaubitze 2000, popular in modern warfare combat zones such as afghanistan. again the kit went together with very little problems and there were no issues with the mould itself. the pzh is quite a remarkable vehicle that has enough firepower to take out the competition the move away without being detected. i spent a long time painting this kit because i wanted it to be as close to the real thing as possible, in the end i think i did a good job with the modern german camouflage scheme.

Finally i’m posting some pictures of a rather quirky camo design i tried, mostly i wanted to see if i could do something different so i picked another modern german kit by revell. the leopard 1A5 is one of germanys main battle tanks so it looks a lot like many other tanks used in modern combat, i figured i might as well try unique camo on something i could always paint properly lately and there are a few different versions of the leopard. for paints i used a mixture of brands from revell/tamiya and even games workshop.

Completed kits in order of build

Russian t80-b tank (Revell 1/72nd scale)
Russian vimpel antiterrorist unit (Zvezda 1/35th scale)
Israeli merkava mrk III tank (Revell 1/72nd scale)
German panzerhaubitze 2000 (Revell 1/72nd scale
German leopard 1a5 tank (Revell 1/72nd scale)
German leopard 2a4 tank (Revell 1/72nd scale) (pics TBC)
German ksk commando unit (Trumpeter 1/35th scale) (pics TBC)

To view larger and more in-depth images of the kits mention head along to the following set on Flickr

An afterthought.. i don’t see war as the answer to any of the worlds problems nor do i support any specific armed forces. i’m simply busying myself with the kits provided by companies like revell and such. on another site someone questioned my liking of palestinian's because i built the merkava tank – not the case. that kind of backwards thinking is something i like to avoid.

Irish Government forced to recognise Transgendered issues

Legislation recognising transgender people in their new identity is set to be introduced after the Government scrapped a Supreme Court appeal.

The State was due to challenge a ruling that current Irish law on transgender rights was in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
But after dropping its appeal against the High Court decision, the government will now have to bring in fresh legislation - or face condemnation from Strasbourg.

The Government dropped its challenge to a High Court declaration that Irish law on transgender rights is in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Government must now introduce legislation recognising the new gender of transgender persons and allowing them to obtain new birth certificates or it will face condemnation from the European Court of Human Rights.

Dr Lydia Foy, a transgender woman registered at birth as a male who had challenged Irish law on this matter, today welcomed the Government's decision saying it finally marked an end to her 13-year battle for recognition as a woman.

The Government has withdrawn its appeal to the Supreme Court and has set up an inter-departmental group to advise the Minister for Social Protection on the legislation required.
The Free Legal Advice Centre welcomed the Government's decision, which it described as significant and groundbreaking.

A spokesperson for the Department of Social Protection has said that a Gender Recognition Advisory Group has been established. I met Dr Foy last weekend and it really was such an honor to be in the presence of someone who has worked so hard so that we all can live out lives that way everyone else can. It was clear from last weekends Pride turnout that things in Ireland are finally changing.

facebook show how to run a social networking site without allowing people to be sociable

being a regular enough facebook user i get about 50 friend requests a day on facebook, some days double that, i spend more time on myspace & have over 53,000 contacts on there - i go to answer a bunch of friend requests on facebook today & get this rather annoying message “You have been blocked from adding friends because you repeatedly misused this feature. This block will last anywhere from a few hours to a few days. When you are allowed to reuse this feature, please proceed with caution. Further misuse may result in your account being permanently disabled. For further information, please visit our FAQ page."- so when you get sent so many requests you cannot respond to them? what a stupid way to run a site. i will be contacting them immediately about this. If people send you requests you should be able to respond to them without being accused of spamming or being a spam-bot. utterly ridiculous way to run a so called social networking site.

it should not matter if i have 50 or 50 million friends, if they advertise to be a social networking site they should realise that some people out there have one hell of a social circle & just because they do it doesn’t make them suspicious or guilty of anything other than having an abundance of friends.

I understand more than most the need for security when it comes to protecting people from phising sites & spam-bots but there should be a validation system in place to filter out the genuine users, as if captcha’s wasn’t enough - all my requests I answered went through captcha’s yet it still proceeded to ban me from either accepting or adding any more contacts.

Windows live blocks accounts

After 3 days of waiting my hotmail/windows live account has finally been unfrozen. To the best of my knowledge it started on Sunday night when I tried to send an email to a contact, I was met with a message that informed I could not send out going mail yet I could receive mail. I thought maybe it was a glitch with the site but after trying again a few hours later I found it was far from a glitch. It seems that my account was frozen because of hot mails new extreme measures in filtering out spam. The funny thing is that particular email address was private & only gets used maybe once every two weeks. When I got to the forum to report what had happened & to ask for help from the support team I was greeted with a endless barrage of people claiming to have the same problem. The forum posts were so crazy that each most was only 10 or so seconds old. There was one particular person who said they had been waiting 3 months to get a response from the support team. After writing about 3 postings they finally got back to me & last night fixed my account. even though the account is back they still have not offered any kind of explanation what so ever as to why the account was frozen in the first place. I’m figuring this has happened to many users of the hotmail service so I’d be interested in hearing from anyone else who this happened to, drop a line in the comments section if the same things has been done to you - and if so was there a resolve.

My own account feedback - most posts on the forum are not being answered.

Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City - game review (PS3 & 360)

At last I thought when I picked up my copy of the game, finally its on the ps3. Originally the idea was to not release either of the dlc on the ps3 & to keep it exclusively on the xbox 360, in the end though much to the delight of ps3 owners that plan fell apart. So without going into too much detail (I’m trying to keep my reviews short these days) here’s my review of the game/dlc. The map of the game is entirely identical to gta iv except for a few minor changes in buildings, such as clubs but the changes are really only because of certain characters or occurrences in the game world. Other changes in the game include a selection of newer weapons such as grenade launchers & remote detonated explosives. One of the main guns in lost & the damned is a sawn-off shotgun which can be fired from the lead characters bike to take down enemies. With the ballad of gay tony more sophisticated high powered weaponry is available such as machine guns & shotguns, in-fact any time you are low on ammo or guns you can make a quick call to your buddy & they will show up offering you a vast stockpile..for a price of course.


If like most GTA fans you felt let down by the music in the last game then you will be pleasantly surprised by what’s on offer this time around. To match the gritty world of the lost biker club rocking tunes are provided by bands like sepultura, bathory & even cannibal corpse. The ballad of gay tony goes for a more glitzy glam feel with tunes by bands like don omar ( I love virtual diva) prefab sprout, hall & oates, even waiting for a star to fall is on there, of course any time it would come on I’d pause the game & listen to the song..even during a mission!.


The stories in both games are fun in both respects but the lost & the damned is definitely darker than tbogt & a bit more plain. Tl&td follows a gang of bikers who use brute force to make their way up the ranks of the biker underground. The missions were entertaining & the voice acting flawless as usual but I had much more fun with tbogt. Bikes are the main form of transport for the lost mc so there are a bunch of new bikes added to the game. With tbogt we are treated to new cars that seem to handle better than a lot of the vehicles in gta iv, perhaps the developers wanted an overhaul on the vehicle handling, whatever they did it works. Perhaps one of most fun features is the inclusion of a parachute, using the parachute is straight forward enough & there are plenty of mini-missions & challenges to get to grips with it. The multiplayer & online games are some of the best I have seen in any game, the modes are very similar to gta iv but there is more depth & tons of fun to be had. The game pack is not a full game but rather an add-on, however for the value packed in it would easily sell as a stand-alone game. All in all I really enjoyed both games but it’s a shame some of the new weapons could not be imported into GTA IV itself. For anyone that had any doubts about the dlc being worth the price tag I can say it more than met my expectations.

Irish Model Show - May 2010

Last weekend played host to the irish 52nd annual model show. The event was held in the national museum (collins barracks) and the turn-out was really good. It was the first year I myself attended & I'm glad I did.

To my surprise there were war & military rein-actors such as roman centurions, german paratroopers & other various military personal. They put on a great show & the level of authenticity was astounding, they set-up displays of war time equipment & paraphernalia along with guns such as the .303 bren & an assortment of hand-guns & grenades. The models themselves were expertly crafted & the detail on some of them was out of this world. The day before the show I had first experimented with building a model kit of my own so the show the next day was the best introduction anyone could ever have to the hobby. Its great to see that Ireland as small as it is has such a high level of skilled modellers, its no easy hobby & it takes patience & hard work but it’s a hobby I’ll try to keep pursuing. Below are links to a gallery of pictures from the show itself & a gallery of models of my own. I’ll be uploading my own gallery as I get through kits. For the moment I’m sticking with 1/72 model kits but the 1/35 kit I have my eye on is the Chinese df21 ICBM truck by the trumpeter, I was told it would take weeks to construct so I’m not sure when/if I’ll actually get it. My next kit is an Israeli merkava III by revell, also 1/72. I’d love to hear from any other model builders out there so if you have any tips on building/painting please feel free to send them along.






























Pictures from the show - Some of my own models.. so far

Pirate Bay Sunk Again

The Pirate Bay is suffering some temporary downtime as their bandwidth provider has stopped passing through traffic. A week ago, Hollywood got an injunction to effectively shut down the Pirate Bay by threatening its provider with huge fines. The team is currently working on a solution.

It seems several major Hollywood movie studios have obtained a preliminary injunction against CyberBunker operator CB3ROB Ltd. & Co. KG from the Regional Court of Hamburg. The injunction , which was granted without an oral hearing, stated that CB3ROB and Managing Director Sven Olaf Kamphuis were now prohibited from connecting The Pirate Bay website and its servers to the Internet.

yesterday Kamphuis officially confirmed receiving the injunction and has decided to stop routing The Pirate Bay’s traffic until his lawyers have carefully read and reviewed the legal documents. This decision has resulted in downtime for the world’s largest BitTorrent site.

A Pirate Bay insider told a well known torrent site that they are not planning to wait for a decision from the Cyberbunker team, and that they’ve already set the backup process in motion which will bring the site back online. The Pirate Bay’s servers are untouched and getting the site up and running only requires the routing (IP-tunnel) to go through another provider.

It may take several hours before this process has been completed and before all ISPs see the new AS-path. rumors around the internet state things will return to normal as soon as possible, probably within hours.

Ever since The Pirate Bay’s servers were raided back in 2006, the operators of the site have taken extreme measures to ensure that there are proper backup mechanisms in place and that the locations of the servers are well concealed. Where the servers are actually located remains a mystery.

Modern Warfare Franchise Finished?

Two months after Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 launched to a huge media fanfare, its publisher Activision announced that it had taken more than $1bn in sales.

The sales put the video game in an elite club alongside other entertainment franchises such as James Cameron's Avatar and Michael Jackson's Thriller.In fact it beat both to become the most successful entertainment launch of all time, in terms of its first 24 hours on sale. Its success should have allowed its creators to reap the rewards and become the leading lights of the video games industry. Instead they were ignominiously sacked and their studio now teeters on the brink of collapse.

Call of Lawyers

Infinity Ward is a Californian video games developer of just under 100 employees. They created the first Call of Duty game in 2003 and saw the series gradually increase in popularity until the breakthrough hit Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare switched the setting from World War II to the present day.Until recently the studio was lead by Jason West and Vince Zampella. Then in March they were suddenly dismissed by owner Activision for unspecified "breaches of contract and insubordination". There had been rumours of a rift between Infinity Ward and Activision but the move still astonished the games industry. "I was surprised at how public and ugly it got very quickly," says Matt Martin, editor of website GamesIndustry.biz. "I'd imagine a lot of ego and pride has been bruised, when Activision would rather let studio heads go than give them the creative control they thought they were entitled to.""It's also difficult to argue it's all about creativity when you're slinging mud at your old employer and demanding millions of dollars from them," adds Martin. Almost immediately after being sacked the pair launched a $36 million lawsuit against their former employer. They accused Activision of operating in an "Orwellian fashion" and concocting false allegations in order to fire them - thereby gaining the company full creative control of the Call of Duty franchise and avoiding paying agreed bonuses. The lawsuit accused Activision of "astonishing arrogance and unbridled greed" and complained that Activision forced the pair "to sue for their pay - in the hopes of either getting away with not having to pay them anything, or maximising its leverage to reduce that pay". The suit even quotes Activision CEO Bobby Kotick's famous statement about fostering a company culture instilled with "scepticism and pessimism and fear". Activision then countersued, making it clear that they were aware West and Zampella had secretly held talks with with Activision's arch rival Electronic Arts. Activision also claimed that the pair had tried to "steal" Infinity Ward and "hijack Activision's assets for their own personal gain". Although Infinity Ward does not have control over the Call of Duty name as a whole, the situation with the Modern Warfare sub-brand is less clear and Activision has warned fans that West and Zampella's legal efforts may seriously delay any new sequel. And that was before the exodus at Infinity Ward began.

Two by two

At time of writing over 30 employees have left Infinity Ward including all the lead designers of Modern Warfare 2. Midway through the migration, West and Zampella unveiled their new company Respawn Entertainment. Just as Activision had predicted, this turned out to be a new studio created with help from Electronic Arts. It has quickly begun to announce the hiring of many of the errant Infinity Ward veterans. To complicate the picture further, 38 current and already exited staff have filed a separate lawsuit against Activision for breach of contract and unpaid bonuses, royalties and profit shares. The "Infinity Ward Employee Group" alleged that Activision had withheld the money "in order to force them to keep working for Activision so that Activision could receive delivery of Modern Warfare 3". As it had done before, Activision dismissed the lawsuit as "meritless". "It would seem that the studio shock from massive employee defections has likely destroyed any remaining creative culture within Infinity Ward," said analyst Mike Hickey of research firm Janco Partners."We expect the Infinity Ward studio will be essentially closed after their next Map Pack release."Mr Hickey expects the development of Modern Warfare 3 to be spread between two Activision studios not historically tied to the franchise. "Delaying Modern Warfare 3 wouldn't necessarily harm the Call of Duty brand so long as new titles in the franchise continue to be released," suggests Mr Martin. "It might do the series good for a 2011 Call of Duty title to be something new entirely and give Modern Warfare 3 time to come together out of the limelight. "Activision has big teams able to work on demand - as it has in the past with various Guitar Hero spin-offs for example - it can afford to scale up and down as and when it needs to, " says Mr Martin.

Bungie jump

As the predictions of Infinity Ward's demise, and the implied negative effect this would have on the Call of Duty franchise, reached their crescendo Activision played their trump card. They announced a 10-year exclusive contract with developer Bungie, creators of Halo - one of the few video game series that can compete with Call of Duty on an equal footing. The deal immediately papered over any holes in Activision's portfolio that a collapse at Infinity Ward might have produced. "We understand that Bungie has been working on its new multiformat game for some time and from that we assume that this game could come out in 2011 - that would help to offset any fall in performance or delay with Modern Warfare 3," said Mr Hickey. The situation is especially ironic given that Bungie was previously a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft. Unlike the relationship between Activision and Infinity Ward, the lead creatives at Bungie tugged themselves free from the software firm after they made it clear they wanted more creative freedom. Activision though seems to be banking that games players really don't care, and in the majority of circumstances are completely unaware, of who exactly makes their games, said Mr Martin. "It's a sign of the immaturity of the industry", he says. "Creatives in Hollywood prove themselves in multiple genres or different disciplines. The majority of game makers make the same game over and over for different systems, or make variations on a theme." "West and Zampella have made some great first person shoot 'em-ups and two great franchises, but it's only one theme that's evolved over time," he adds. "It might hurt egos, but I don't think the average consumer cares or recognises who makes the games, only whether they are good or bad."

Leprechauns to bail out Irish Government

The Leprechaun community is to give its pots of gold to the Government to help cover the cost of recapitalising the banks.

Copyright © 2010 LisaTiffanyPhotography

The financial crisis is expected to cost billions so Taoiseach Brian Cowen and Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan have been looking for ways to ease the burden on taxpayers.

The two men travelled to the ends of the rainbow to persuade Leprechaun leaders to invest in the country's future.

In return for donating the pots of gold to the State coffers, Leprechaun leaders have asked for land in west Clare to create their own reserve.

The final deal was brokered on St Patrick's Day when US President Barack Obama invited Leprechaun leaders to the White House for talks.

UN Leprechaun Ambassador Bono, who is partial to a good cause, was also present at the talks, where he called for the rights of Leprechauns to be fully recognised by the State.

There was once a larger Leprechaun population in Ireland but they were culled by Oliver Cromwell in the 1640s.

Leprechaun leader Hairy Twinkletoes O'Shaughnessy said: 'Top of the morning to ya. Bejaysus and Begorrah. 'Tis a soft day afterall.'

Taoiseach Brian Cowen said he welcomed the deal and was grateful for the Leprechaun intervention in saving the country from financial meltdown.

Mr Cowen also said that the Government was discussing plans to introduce an extra bank holiday.

He said that the banks could do less damage to the economy if there were more holidays.

Aliens Vs Predator - game review (PS3 & 360)

Rebellion brought the first avp game to the pc many years ago & since then its always had a great following, but then its no surprise seeing that the alien & predator movie franchise is so popular among people of all ages. At the time of its first release in 1999 avp got strong welcoming from many gamers who wanted to try playing in a unique kind of way & that’s exactly what rebellion did then & are doing again now only this time they have the benefit of producing next-gen graphics on home consoles. The story is rather linear but the catch is you can play through the campaign as all three species marines/aliens/predators. Set on the planet BG-386 a human colony discover an ancient pyramid while mining the area, a galaxy away the alien race who built the pyramid are alerted to the discovery & dispatch a hunting party to secure their secret. Deep inside the depths of the ancient pyramid the xenomorphic race of aliens are also awoken & they soon wreck havoc on the planet & its inhabitants. A distress call is sent & a platoon of marines is sent to the planet to assess the situation & deal with any hostiles. From there on in its fairly straight forward.

Playing as a marine you thrown into a world where anything that appears on your motion tracker could be a potential threat, but then as a marine you are equipped with high powered weaponry. For fans of the film you will be glad to know your main weapon of choice is the pulse rifle, there are also pistols/shotguns & the ever useful flame thrower. Playing as the marine was not my favourite part of the game because its rather straight forward, something moves & you kill it. of course its not as easy as it sounds because not only are the alien xenomorphs after you, the dreadlocked warrior predators are too. Playing as the alien is actually quite fun, thought at first the controls were a nightmare because the alien can run up walls & that’s not something gamers won’t be used to. As the alien you have to use stealth & smarts to outwit your enemies, hiding in the shadows works best as you become almost invisible. The alien is by far the fastest of characters to control in the game & in my view the most fun. Using the predator is kind of like a cross between marine & alien.

The controls are not too difficult & its rather satisfying to play as the real hunter in the game. Anyone familiar with the predator from the movies will expect the inclusion of the laser cannon & various other space age weaponry. All are included & it really pays to have the option to lure your prey into an area only to blast them in half with the cannon. I had great fun stalking a platoon of marines only to meticulously pick them off one by one. The online play also adds so much life to the game, there are the usual modes you would expect like death match but there are also so many other new modes thrown in to spice up your experience, my favourite is survival mode where you have to fight off waves of incoming xenomorphs. The graphics are good but they are not what I’d exactly call stunning, the lighting is however fantastic & you really get the claustrophobic feeling of the movies. Because its officially licensed by Fox all the sounds are genuinely taken from the movies, everything from the predators scope to the rip roaring sound of the pulse rifle all sound legitimately real. I was going to review this game weeks ago but I wanted to finish the campaign on all species, so having done that I can honestly say the game met all of my expectations & more. I’d recommend the game to anyone who’s a fan of shooters like modern warfare & survival horror games like the resident evil series. I really cant think of anything negative to say about the game, maybe it starts slowly but it sure picks up speed you get into the swing of things. Visually it could have been a little better but saying that the graphics are still next-gen, the music too fit’s the game perfectly & intensifies the mood & atmosphere. I’m going to give aliens vs. predator a much deserved 9 out of 10 - I’m only taking one mark out for the graphics. I played the game on both the ps3 & the 360.