Watch the trailer here:

Black Mesa – Trailer official.

I decided to wait for quite some time before publishing this review. Why, you may ask. Well, Fallout 3 is such a big game, I did not feel like I would be doing the game or the readers justice by publishing early, simply to get a few hits. And I’m glad I didn’t, because in order to enjoy Fallout 3, you need to devote a lot of time and energy, in order to get the reward.

Fallout 3 takes you back to the post apocalyptic United States, in the year 2277, around 200 years after the first bombs fell. You are a vault dweller, spent your 19 years kept away in a clean and safe but ultimately oppressed Vault, designed to keep the human race safe in the years of radiation and mutants. from the first scene, where you are born, you play through certain sections of your characters childhood, learning to walk, having a birthday party. This is crucial in the development of your character, although you can change the bias of being good or bad throughout the game, as this basically sets your starting point.

It’s a bit of strange setting, made stranger by the fact it’s basically the 2000′s as what the people in the 1950′s thought it would be. Retro is the best term for it, with Pip-boy populating many of the posters and ideas of the game, and everything is the equivalent of taking 1950′s America, and making it all ‘technologised’. Rather than rely on the Monty Python pop-culture references made in the originals, instead it uses puns on modern day staples, and over-exaggerates them. This, I feel, does work better than trying to contextualise everything.

Fallout 3 is perhaps a more personal game than both the originals and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Your dad is a key figure in your life, and the main quest revolves around him and his work. There is more of a personal connection to people in the world, and this varies from simply bullying or being bullied, or key events like leaving someone to die, or killing a friend’s parents. It is not ‘Fable 2′, minor choices do not have a dramatic effect on the world around you, instead, they affect you, as a character. You’re SPECIAL stat system remains, as does skill points and perks which are added to give your character a special features.

Additional quests do make a big part of the game, but you will find yourself on the main quest much longer. It’s strange that choices in the main quest do not make that big an impact, the additional quests can destroy towns, kill people, or save them. One such quest takes place in a large apartment building, where ghouls want to get in, but the snobby people wont have it. Now you can either kill the ghouls, let the ghouls in to take over the tower by force, or (the more difficult one) make them live side by side. You get a certain amount of either good or negative karma for the choices you make. Galaxy News Radio, run by Three Dog the informative DJ, also sheds light on what you are doing in the world at the time.

Karma affects a lot in fallout 3. I said about how the character creation can change where you start with regards to being good or bad, but the way you interact with people, as well as being either a pacifist or a murderer, affects your rating and choices. Sometimes you can persuade someone to give you something for nothing, or more ‘caps’ (the currency) than you would before. Various others things, such as the way quests are resolved change your karma, and this changes the way people react to you. This also comes into play when you have some partners come in and try and help. Your team is useful, but some won’t join up unless you are either a really good or really bad person, or sometimes just in-between.

Fallout 3 is a strange world. The occasional articulate ghoul and mutant aside, the majority of the people you will meet are humans. Some of which are more friendly than others. The first town you go to, the now famous ‘Megaton’ contains some honest and hardworking people, and some who would rip your head off. Voice acting is improved, however some strange events can happen. Sometimes, people know things before you have told them, or remain completely oblivious when someone explodes (even though you have just planted a grenade in their trousers).

We can all remember the GTA series very well, and I’d like to see a guy/girl who calls him/herself a gamer, who hasn’t had any experience with the GTA series. GTA (3 especially) is regarded as one of the games which brought some option of nonlinearity to the masses. Let’s face it, you didn’t have to listen to the guys giving you missions, you could just get your chainsaw out, nick a car, and hack people to death until the cows came home. And with a pretty expansive city (and some other areas) it made many people happy just roaming around the city streets with a gun in one hand, and the steering wheel in the other.

Okay, so we’ve dealt with the “city shooter” genre of Nonlinear, but more famously, we have the RPG nonlinears. Now this is where we start to get more nonlinear! We’ve all dealt with Elder Scrolls IV:Oblivion at some point in the last 3 years, and most people (myself included) thoroughly enjoyed playing it. Why? Because it gave us, as the gamer, so much choice and freedom. You could just ignore the quest givers, and hack and slash everyone in the Imperial City (fun, but not advisable at low level!). Or you could just go around on your horse, admiring the vast area of land which is Cyrodiil. Like GTA3, Oblivion showed the average gamer that nonlinears could be fun, and could keep you entertained for 100 hours plus.

So we’ve looked at two very good examples of nonlinears (not so much GTA3, but it is in many aspects a nonlinear game). But for many, many years the linear games ruled the gaming roost. Remember those classics such as Medal of Honour:Frontline and the entire Resident Evil series? I do. Why? Because, despite giving you limited (if any) in-game choices, the story line was epic, the characters well rounded, and the weapons simply stunning. Despite now, as I type this very article, being a nonlinear gamer, I still went and brought out Resident Evil 4 for my PS2, just to re-live it (since it’s arguably the best PS2 game ever made, but anyway…). But just think about it for a second, when your surrounded in-game with constant action a superbly entertaining story plot, do you really need choices? That’s the key factor here, almost all gamers/game creators strive for a good plot, with immense action, and if a game has that, it’ll probably become a classic.

At this point you’re probably thinking “Okay, so he’s virtually said that linear games are amazing, why bother with nonlinears?”. WRONG! Today’s gaming climate is gearing towards more choices and “Cause and Effect” gameplay, which, in essence, is gearing towards games which feel more nonlinear. But, it’s also gearing towards epic story lines, and realistic, and mind-blowingly brilliant action…

Before I move one a suggest how to solve this issue, I’ll address the Positives and Negatives on both Linear and Nonlinear gaming:

Nonlinear Positives: Gives player choice/Provides expanisive areas to explore/Gives large gameplay time/Gives good replay factor/Sometimes plays and feels more realistic than linears

Nonlinear Negatives: Can get boring/Too much choice may annoy some players/Can seem too realistic at points/You can lose the point to the game at times (when you’ve got nothing much to do)/Expansive areas may seem daunting (you can get lost!)

Linear Positives: Action is fast paced/Story line can be very involving/Action is seemingly one fight after another/You can’t really get lost/Provides player with constant challenges

Linear Negatives: Replay value isn’t brilliant (if at all)/No expansive areas to explore/You pretty much have to do what you’re told (don’t really have much in-game choice)/If you get stuck on a level, it can soon become to frustrating (chances of increased blood pressure…)

So, now to the proposed solution! Surely the answer to the current dilemma which game makers are faced with, is mix the best of both worlds? Quite like Oblivion and the very new Fallout 3 (and possibly Far Cry 2), include an involving story, and great action gameplay, but also give the player choice, huge maps to explore (Far Cry 2 gives 50km squared, and Fallout 3 gives almost the entirity of a post-nuclear war Washington DC to get your teeth into!) and other mini-quests to involve yourself in. Surely combining the two, instead of letting them fight it out is the answer?

Take what you want from this article, but what is sure to stay true is that Linear games will fade away (at least not without one hell of a fight…) and be sure to expect some absolutely jaw-droppingly amazing games coming your way in the next few years!

One day, we may be enjoying this!

I have good news for all you Playstation triple fans out there. Home 1.0 is on the way. Yes no joke, the open Beta will be launched soon. I ain’t got time fill you in on the details, but apparently, it’s supposedly week, the 28th. It seems official enough, so hopefully, things may work this time. The closed beta is apparently out tomorrow, so I’d go and check it out this link for all the info!

All the talk around the place is of course about the two..erm I mean three. Sorry, I’m finding it hard to include a Wii in any of this talk simply due to it’s almost ‘furby’ like status amongst video gamers. But anyway, it’s not time to forget about the Playstation 2. Sony’s older toaster model is selling ridiculously well worldwide. Why is that you ask?

Asia. Well not Asia specifically, but say if you look at all the less well developed countries in the world, many of them are starting to get to the point where a TV is becoming common in most family homes. It’s one of those things where they are going to be using older technology, simply because there is no need for any new fancy stuff. Internet access is still fairly limited, but the PS2 is perfect due to it’s low power consumption, low price, and wide variety of various software.

Not only has this revival of the PS2 in these areas have helped give people new things to entertain themselves with, but has given birth to the rise of new, independent developers in these countries. Whilst yes, they may be crapping out a load of shovelware, but nearly all developers, especially back in the Atari 2800 days, started this way. The latest PS2 model is a cracking console, and with a massive selection of titles, I’d still recommend it to those on a budget nowadays. Even over the Wii.

In these periods of economic difficulty, you need longetivty over the instant fun factor generated by the Wii’s waggle sticks. The PS2 can boast titles such as Buzz etc, but also the Metal Gear Solid Series, Shadow of the Colossus, Resident Evil 4, a wide variety of shooters, and good ones at that, and almost every type of title you could think of. Until the Wii can generate a lot of games which will keep me glued for upwards of 20 hours, I can’t recommend it to cash strapped folk.

So well done PS2, you’ve done yourself proud.

After completing the first 3 Guitar Hero’s on Expert, I thought I’d give you guys a First Look at the new installment of GH!

After Rock Band came out a year back, those guys at Activision had to role their sleeves up, and enter the market once more with originality, or face loosing the market to the combination of Harmonix and EA. Guitar Hero:World Tour (GH:WT) is the result…

Okay, so the basics, the Song List!!!

Check out the full song list available at launch here (thanks to Nintencast.com)

Plus, more downloadable songs!!!

Okay, so it’s looking promising with all those amazing songs, Activision seemed to have sourced some all time greats, such as Van Halen, Muse, Zakk Wylde, Jimi Hendrix, The Eagles, and Metallica. And that’s just to name a few!. The graphics have also had a step up, they look nice, but not too nice, so that your failing due to the admiration of the graphics. The gameplay is still as good as the previous 3, and it still feels like the Guitar Hero which we fell in love with a few years back.

Now you can make your own songs, (which I personally haven’t tried out yet, but it looks novel, to say the least), and play along with your mates on bass, drums and vocals. Being in a certain gaming shop, I only had time to wow the croud with a quick rendition of “Eye of the Tiger” (the guys at the store hadn’t unlocked Muse’s Assassin, I was annoyed, but I had to play, TNL needed me!).

After wowing the crowds, I was slightly disappointed, to be fairly honest. From a guitarist’s point of view (as with all of GH’s fans) the guitar parts weren’t full of demanding verses, and epic solo’s on virtually every song. Which is disappointing, but then again, look at it from Activision’s point of view, if they’re to rival Harmonix with Rock Band, they’ve got to make a game which is challenging for drummers, bassists AND guitarists. So, a little downscale in skill is evidently going to be present.

So, we come back to the “Wii” debate…It may be immense with your mates at parties, but can you fully enjoy when you’re on your own? Only time will tell, but from what I played, it can’t be as good as GH3 for the guitar side of things. Songs have been watered down, so that the other instrument controllers can be employed. But, evidently most songs have to be like this. But there are some monster songs on there (look at videos of gameplay for Hot for Teacher, it’s a monster of a song on GH:WT) so, some evidently are gonna keep you amazed for hours. So buckle up, get your fingers at the ready, Guitar Hero’s on Tour…

Guitar Hero:World Tour is out now on PlayStation 2, Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii

In this 10th (and sadly final) episode of the podcast we discuss all the new site features as well as announcing the new podcasts. Then we proceed to go through the latest news in gaming before saying goodbye to the ”TNL Podcast’.

(Duration: 1:11)

Download

Imagine you end up in a war zone in the middle of Africa, you expect to get shot at a fair bit, look at the journalists out in the world at the moment, and the likelyhood is that they will have some sort of body protection. So in this respect, Far Cry 2 is possibly the most accurate representation, visually and atmospherically of any game based in an open-world warzone. But then, it may fall slightly in the trap of being a bit too realistic in some places, and not enough in others.

You play one of a variety of characters, picked at the beginning of the game. There appears to be no necessary advantage to being any of the characters, or disadvantages, as you all catch malaria, not long after landing in the war torn wreck of a country, and have an encounter with ‘The Jackal’ the arms dealer you were sent to kill. An escape sequence follows, where you end up in a faction base where you get a brief tutorial series or missions to let you gently into the world. Ubisoft Montreal did well to get rid of Jack Carver from Far Cry 1, apart from the fact that game was made by Crytek, the fresh approach to the character and game allowed them to take an fresh approach to the series. This however means that you gain more of a connection with the characters you didn’t pick than the one you did.

Connection is everything is Far Cry 2. You see your arms a lot and they are always doing things, from repairing cars by tightening a single nut, or constantly bringing your map and GPS system up, to find where you are going or where diamond cases are located. It does take a bit of getting used to, but becomes second nature after a while, especially once you get used to the world. It’s a shame your character still doesn’t feel quite dynamic enough, with you only being able to jump about 12 inch’s and it’s difficult to get around the rocky environment on foot.

The merc’s you chose not to play as instead appear around the world needing rescuing or at the mysterious ‘Mike’s Bar’ an ex-pat bar where most of them choose to hang out. You can have two buddies at one time, one of which who’ll give you a call after being offered a mission to offer another step, or option, in a mission. This could prove risky, as once your buddy dies, they are dead for the rest of the game. You can choose to heal them or mercy kill, but at some points, I found that even if i had ‘Magic Syringes’ left (yes, they are back from Battlefield:Bad Company) sometimes I just couldn’t bring them back. Anyway, without getting too soppy on you, buddies don’t tend to give you any more diamonds (your basic currency for buying and upgrading weapons), but take the story in a new direction. Your ‘second buddy’ also comes and rescues you from death, through a cool FMV sequence where they cap some guys before giving you a gun. A nice feature, but something you definitely need in this game.

One thing you really need to be prepared for in this game is to be under assault constantly. Whether it was a limitation of the AI or not, everyone attacks you in the world. When driving through the country, which is around 50 sq KM, you will inevitably pass guard checkpoints and outposts, and will attack you constantly. I’m confused about if this was a design issue or simply an attempt to make the journey’s more tricky, as when you accept a mission from a faction leader, they say something along the lines of ‘This is a top secret mission, even our guys will attack ya’. But perhaps in a game filled with such tensions, aligning yourself to one faction would not be a sensible idea.

Other missions vary from taking out a ‘target of opportunity’ from picking up a mission at a aerial point and doing a job for a buddy. Now, when you go missions, it’s likely you’re going to be picking up some injuries. You have a 5 point bar which can recover if a bar isn’t completely out (good old rechargeable health) but if it drops very low, you heal differently, basically by healing your wound, from ripping the bullet out with pliers, re-socketing a joint and various other things. It’s perhaps easier to be hurt than to hurt the enemy, it takes quite a few shots to take someone down, whereas where you find yourself dead after been killed by a random jeep or another outpost assault.

The game is filled with novel ideas for making itself standout. The one most people will be concentrating on are the fire effects created by the new Dunia engine (means earth or something like that). Sure, you can create fire in the traditional ways i.e. Flamethrower and barrels (which shockingly, only explode if they are yellow), but anything from exploding cars to a grenade going off near fuel causes flames to spread and clamber up trees. It’s realistic, and tends to melt everything in the area, tearing through buildings and camps, before, if it has only spread to one area, burning itself out as it follows the generated wind effects. Obviously, it may of spoiled the game slightly if the fire had burned through constantly, then 12 hours later you came back and there was nothing left. Would of been funny though.

]]> http://tnlbackup.wordpress.com/2008/11/04/roasting-african-plains/feed/ 0 Josh D http://tnlbackup.wordpress.com/2008/11/04/burnoutparadise-city-review-paradise-citys-party-pack/ http://tnlbackup.wordpress.com/2008/11/04/burnoutparadise-city-review-paradise-citys-party-pack/#comments Tue, 04 Nov 2008 17:52:06 +0000 Josh Dean http://home.thenextleveluk.net23.net/?p=279 ]]> First of all, a quick review of Burnout Paradise:

First off, this installment of the Burnout series is different from all of the rest, and it is is different for all the right reasons. Unlike it’s predecessors, in Paradise City you get a lot of choice, you can play the game on your own terms, do what races you like, and when you like. In my opinion this makes the game more enjoyable, since instead of concentrating on passing one event, you can just simply drive to next stop (traffic) light, and rev that engine! In essence, Burnout: Paradise has taken on aspects which were present in the Need for Speed series. It gives you a lot of freedom, and literally a whole city (hense the name) to explore. From congested (but insanely fast) highways, to mountain roads, full of twists, turns and hairpins. This time, Burnout:Paradise has become one of the driving games of the year, with a great range of roads, stunts, cars (even bikes and vans!) and of course, awesome crashes.

Like on the previous Burnout games the crashes are expertly done in slow-motion, and look amazing, as does the graphics throughout the entire game. Unlike most new games, the graphical department in Burnout 3 have got the lighting bloom spot on! So all in all, Burnout:Paradise is a great game, and the best driving experience you’ll have on a console for a while!

Now onto the Party Pack:

“Continuing the trend of regularly scheduled downloadable content releases for Burnout Paradise, developer Criterion Games has just revealed details on the first additions for the new year, dubbed “Party.”

The premium DLC will add a hotseat multiplayer mode to the game, allowing for group gameplay with a single controller. The pack also includes an altered aesthetic for this special mode.

There is no word on whether any of the current multiplayer modes will be incorporated into this Party mode, but as most of them require more than one person’s car competing against another, I can’t imagine how that would work.

The Party pack is scheduled for release on the Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Network in February 2009. Criterion has yet to reveal how much this round of DLC will cost, but parts of it may well be free, such as the restart mode they are planning to add.

Additionally, Criterion revealed the impending release of the Burnout Paradise Ultimate Box.

This updated retail release of the game will contain all the content of the original boxed copy, alongside all downloadable content released up until that point.

No price has yet been established for the Ultimate Box, but it will hit retail shelves roughly around the same time that the Party DLC reaches your online-enabled consoles.“

(Sourced from: Original Article)

Also, Criterion have altered the Visuals for the Party back supposingly add to the Party theme of the pack (Click Here to see the somewhat colourful visuals…)

Burnout:Paradise is out now on Xbox 360, PC and PS3

Burnout:Paradise Party Pack is coming to Xbox 360, PC and PS3 February 2009