Need for Speed: The Run - Demo Review

Need for Speed: The Run shifts you into a underground world of cross country street racing and mobs. I played this particular demo for hour via Playstation +'s program on PSN. The Run was developed by Black Box and published by Electronic Arts for the PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Wii and 3DS. The game released last year November 15, 2011.

The title screen housed the menu tabs of The Run, Challenge Series, Multiplayer, View Cars, Settings, Extras and NFS Store. The controls are from my Dual Shock 3: R2-accelerate, LS-steer, R-look forward/back, R1-change camera, L2-brake, R-look forward/back, R1-change camera, L2-brake, R-look left/right, Square-handbrake, Select-checkpoint, X-nitrous, Triangle-gear up and O-gear down. Controls are vintage Need for Speed. These games all feel and play similarly to a certain extent. The Run is no exception. I would rate the controls good when turning, braking weaving and drifting.

The next action I took was to play some The Run which is the story campaign mode. A long time ago I got the impression that Need for Speed The Run is suppose meld story gamepaly with a driving game. To cut to the chase, no it doesn't. What I got with my hour time was cutscenes featuring Heavy Rain style QTEs when controlling the game's protagonist Jack Rourke. The QTEs weren't bad and reminded me of Heavy Rain (escaping a car being crushed by a car crusher). Yea, that was in Heavy Rain. The story campaign has cutscenes in between missions but lacked substance in the end. Maybe the full game has some captivating cutscenes and QTE gameplay, I do not know.

The early portions of gameplay centers around racing (illegally) against 200 cars from San Francisco to New York. The settings are pretty good in regards to th single player. It did appear like I was racing in a illegal cross country race out of San Francisco to Yesimetee National Park on my way to Vegas. Completing missions earns you XP which can unlock new gameodes, cars, profile images and other stuff that can transfer to competitive multiplayer. Missions range from passing other drivers in a certain amount of time to achieving a specific car position.

I also played some Multiplayer which had Quick Match and a Playlist which features races such as Muscle Car Battles, The Underground, Super Car Challenge, Exotic Sprint Racing and more. The race I played had like 4 other players and took place on a night map called Blue Ridge which was a extremely short race. Understanding menus and selecting cars weren't an issue with multiplayer since everything was presented really well. The multiplayer from the looks of it isn't deep for a driving game. It appears really compact in scope and content compared to other driving games. Just like single player you earn XP and unlocks by performing well in multiplayer. I also played a Challenge Series which centers around earning medals.

Like any Need for Speed game the presentation is going to be good. The music, visuals and production values are all solid. Its an EA game so you know it has the funding backing it. The visuals I did like along with the game's action set-piece moments while racing. The Run really tries to bring a action movie vibe to its gameplay. The music was pretty good and fitted the American setting this game takes place in. Pressing Select brings up a replay checkpoint system much like Forza Motorsport implements. I'm an old school gamer, if you mess up you should pay the price.

Need for Speed The Run seems like another decent Need for Speed game. With that said nothing special stands out. It just seems like another Need for Speed game except this one has some Heavy Rain cutscene gameplay intertwined into its single player campaign. Spec Ops The Line Demo Review

Battlefield 3: Close Quarters Donya Fortress - Gameplay

Battlefield 3 is my go-to shooter whenever I need to sit back, chill and blow off some steam. Although the Close Quarters DLC won't drop till June its still nice to get a visual on the new maps. The map in the trailer below is of Donya Fortress. The video shows a match of Conquest being played inside of a Palace in a open area with a fountain and many close quarter hallways etc. Battlefield 3 needed a few smallish maps and this DLC seems to fit the bill nicely. Donya Fortress should bring some short intense matches of conquest from the looks of it. Thanks Gamespot. Other articles: The Walking Dead

Max Payne 3 - Multiplayer Gameplay Trailer

My body isn't ready for Max Payne 3's multiplayer after watching this trailer. First off, I love gritty noire video games which makes this look extra good. Apparently many of the gamemodes in Max Payne 3's multiplayer will have a evolving story. In Painkiller mode you play as Max Payne. Multiplayer centers around multiple gamemodes, forming crews and unlocking in-game perks. Gang Wars is the biggest multiplayer mode and features elements relating to the single player story of Max Payne 3.

There are 5 chapters in each Gangwars match. Matches evolve storywise accordingly depending on what your team does. Match types change in Gang Wars offering diversity. Vendettas and Bursts are Max Payne 3's perk system. Players will be able to join large public crews or create smaller private crews that members can customize. There are specific crew Bursts which is dope. Man I  can't wait for this its been a long time coming. First day buy for me. Thanks Gamerspawn. Other articles: Resistance Beta 1 and 2.

Floating Cloud God Saves The Pilgrims - Playstation minis Review

Developer: Dakko Dakko, Publisher: Dakko Dakko, Genre: Action, Systems: Playstation 3 (minis), Playstation Portable, Release Date: May 1, 2012, Rating: E.

Presentation: Floating Cloud God Saves The Pilgrims is a action side-scroller where protecting pilgrims by air is paramount. This game is small figuratively as well a content standpoint. Minis games are small by nature hence its name however I wasn't impressed with this game's content. As far as presentation goes besides its small content issues was pretty good. The gameplay is decent along with the artstyle and sound design. I'll target the title menu page here which featured Play, Instructions and Credits. Not many menu tabs as you'd expect. The controls are via the Dual Shock 3: D-pad: fly/move, X: shoot and O: bombs. That is it, pretty simple huh? The controls are sluggish but get the job done. I feel if the controls and movement of the protagonist was faster the game would be much easier.

Story: Harness powers and destroy demons below you with bombs and God fire.You are the Cloud God and lead protagonist in Floating God Saves The Pilgrims. For a thin game such as this I am surprised there is even a protagonist with a name.

Visuals: Tthe art and visuals in this little minis game was pleasantly good. The Asian artstyle really popped-out along with vibrant colors. The levels featured copy and pasted mountains, clouds and trees but looked decent. The enemies had imaginative design.

Sound Design: The music was pretty good especially the main title screen tune which was catchy.

Gameplay: Gameplay premise is simple but fun and at times addicting. Your a floating cloud you can control has the ability to shoot down flying as well land monsters with lightning and or bombs. Your goal is to protect a specific amount of pilgrims till they reach the end of the level. Levels last a few minutes. Difficulty ramps up when more/faster waves of enemies presents themselves. Overall gameplay is ok, however its just not diverse.

Replay Value: No replay value with Floating Cloud God Saves The Pilgrims. The game is short and offers no reason to play it again.

Final Verdict: Floating Cloud God Saves The Pilgrims does have good gameplay but the content is so thin and no replay value exists.

4.5/10


Other articles: Nation Red Review at Gamer Blog

Shank 2 - Demo Impressions

Shank 2 is the sequel to the 2D arcade action beat-'em-up Shank. Shank is the main protagonist who is a former mob hitman who also carries a Rambo-like persona. Shank 2 was developed by Klei Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts for download on PC, PSN and Xbox 360. Shank 2 released February 8, 2012. For this particular Videogames4Gamerz article i played the demo of Shank 2 on my Xbox 360.

The title screen featured many menu options including Campaign Mode, Achievements, Medals, Rebel Intel, Leaderboards, Player Stats, Help & Options, Unlock Game, Quit Game. The Medals section shows in-game medals you can earn like Zombie Killer. Rebel Intel are collectible profiles of people, places and events. Achievements section shows what achievements are in-game and how to attain them. The controls via the Xbox 360 gamepad: LS & D-pad-move/aim, LB-grenades, LT-pounce, RS-roll, X-shanks, A-jump, B-guns, Y-heavy attack, RB-pick-up/drop, RT-grab. The controls are good except jumping. Jumping just felt weird and awkward. Climbing, pouncing, shooting and throwing grenades all felt good.

I started up Campaign Mode where you had to get Shank outfitted with gear before playing. You can select Heavy Weapons for Shank like the machete or his famous chainsaw. Ranged Weapons include throwing knives or pistols (not in demo). Munitions include grenades and molotovs. Most of the weapons are graded on speed, damage and stun. Some weapons are graded on other aspects such as tactics and splash. After you pick Shank's weapons of destruction you have a option to switch his look. I left it default and a nice looking cutscene featuring Shank on a bus in what looks like South America.

It doesn't take long before a group of Militia enter the bus and piss Shank off. Next thing you know Shank cuts off a Militia guy's arm and gameplay immediately ensues. Before i knew it i was kicking some serious ass with Shank in a beautiful 2D jungle setting. I was pouncing Militia troops, throwing grenades and slicing them with my machete. Much of the level featured minor platforming and a area with a big meat grinder where you can throw enemies into. Militia enemies ranged from normal grunts to big fat guys and the final bossfight with Razor which was pretty entertaining. I collected a "Primo" Bio which was 1 of 24 collectible intel in Shank 2.

The gameplay was decent but what really stood out to me regarding Shank 2 was the visuals and animations. Let me just say they are top-notch stuff for a arcade 2D game. The visual and art pops out of the screen. Shank and his animations were really impressive. The jungle setting look visually stunning. Every Militia member featured nice texture work and detail. The comicbook style cutscenes which tells Shank 2's story also popped out of the screen. The sound design and music while not as good as the graphics was decent.

Shank 2 was a good demo. Its not a groundbreaking 2D brawler by any means. However its sure is a sight for sore eyes. Thanks for reading.
Assassins Creed Revelations Review

Max Payne 3 - Official Trailer #2

Now this is good stuff. The new Max Payne 3 trailer digs deeper into the story of our favorite hard-boiled cop Max Payne. We learn that Max is working for Rodrigo Branco who's hot wife, Fabiana gets kidnapped while under Max's watch. That isn't good. Whats even worse is what Max Payne is gonna do to the thugs that kidnapped her. Things are about to get gritty which is how i like my Max Payne. Developed by Rockstar Studios and published by Rockstar Games. Max Payne releases May 15, 2012 for the PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.Click

Nexuiz - Mutators Trailer

Nexuiz is a free first-person shooter developed from the modified Quack engine. As you can see from the trailer below this sci-fi shooter packs in the mutators for diversified fast-paced gameplay action. Over 100 mutators ranging from Pinata, Uber Melee, Mix-Up, Wipeout, Rapid Fire and Slick. The trailer shows a few of those mutators at work. It is what is, its a free shooter to play. It doesn't look that bad to me for being a free game. Nexuiz has that fast twitched PC game Quack and Unreal Tournament vibe going on. Nexuiz is developed by IIIFonic and published by THQ. This high octane shooter will release on the PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 sometime this year 2012. Thanks Gamespot.
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Katana Land - Demo Impressions

Katana Land is a 2D action platformer featuring ninjas and heros with katanas. Sounds good huh? Kablammo Games is the developer to this Xbox Live Indie Game (XBLIG). Katana Land released February 3, 2012 and retails for 80 msp.

I guess i'll start at the title screen. You have Play, Medals, Options and Exit. Medals are like in-game achievements. Some look like ninja star embalms. Others had names like Speedster, Ranger and Lightning. Button layout for Xbox 360 gamepad: LS-move/climb, LB-compass, Start-pause, RB-projectile(throw), Y-interact, X-attack/charge attack/ air attack(with A), B-block and A-jump. Katana Land has too many buttons that do too many functions for a game like this.

This is a 2D action game. You really shouldn't have to block and perform air attacks to defeat the ninjas in the demo. Maybe later you will need all of those moves. But judging from the demo it just seems like too much work and takes some of the fun away (which should be mindless fun in this case). Its not, you really have to think when you do air attacks on ninjas. The full game of Katana Land has three playable characters but only Katana Kid "Hero of Katana Land" is available for the demo.

When you start the demo you can see a overview map. It sorta looks like a world map you can see the path you have to take in the game and all of the levels. You immediately start out playing the tutorial (which you can't skip). The old man at the start of it guides you and tells you how to perform attacks, sneak and use your compass. Th tutorial was tedious.You can't get hit many times in Katana Land or your heart containers will empty fast. Asides from the tutorial the gameplay is pretty good. Hacking/slashing and throwing shurikens never gets old. Back in the day i mean like back in the late "80's" i played games like Kid Niki and The Legend of Kage.

Those games above were 2D action platformer games similar to what Katana Land is. So in a sense this game  reminded me of some of those old school games i played as a kid. Visually this game is really good looking. The imaginative art design of the world and characters was impressive. At times the sound design seems lifeless. I just expected more sound effects while i played the game. It just seemed quite and lifeless at times. The atmosphere is there and its pretty good for most of the demo. Its an indie game and it does what it has to do which is keep the player entertained.

Katana Land is a decent 2D action platformer game featuring ninjas, heroes, demons and monsters. It has a really nice visual flavor and fun combat gameplay. Try it out on XBLIGM. Thanks for reading. Click here

Brand - Demo Impressions

Brand is a 2D hack'n slash indie game that can be found on Xbox Live Indie Games Marketplace (XBLIGM). This swords & sorcery themed adventure game was developed by Nine Dots Studio and released February 2, 2012 and retails for 80 MSP. Its clear to me after playing so many XBLIGs i can spot a quality title just by playing a short demo. Brand is quality so there is our start.

Brand has main menus of Story, Buy Now, Options, Tips, Credits and Exit. The button layout for Brand via the Xbox 360 gamepad: LS-move, Back-map, Start-pause, X-quick attack, Y-heavy attack, A-jump, B-dash attack and LT and RT-block. Brand is a action hack'n slash game that takes place on 2D levels. The controls are adequate while jumping, blocking and hacking away was pretty effective on monsters. I really didn't have any gripes with the controls.

The story of Brand is about a Sword you have to upgrade given to you by your commander. To upgrade this sword you must acquire gold from defeating monsters. After you have slain enough monsters in either Necropolis, Castle or Mine districts you can go back to the Blacksmith for upgrades. You can refine, strengthened or sharpen your blade. You shouldn't get confused as to what to do next since there are objectives you can keep track of. Other sections of Brand's worldmap include Mage and Chemist sections.

Brand has an impressive presentation for an indie game. The visual artsyle creates a lore of its own practically. The in-game graphics as well the comicbook style cutscenes exude quality. The writing was acceptable, nothing special. I really liked the animation system while hacking away at monsters in 2D. The protagonist as well the monsters moved with some good fluidity. Monsters ranged from flying to walking to just laying there shooting goo at you. The level design in some of the areas were decent. You had to search for levers to access more of the area while battling monsters.

The combat in Brand was visceral but not perfect. If your not perfect with your block timing the monsters can and will take a big chunk of your health off. I like how you can jump in and out of levels after you acquired enough gold to upgrade your sword. Although i didn't get to enhance my sword in the demo it is possible with special materials you can collect. The music was decent and the sound design good. The atmosphere was pretty engaging in the demo and makes you want to keep playing. Maybe i should just say Brand is addicting huh? You can also play as your avatar which is a nice perk. Who doesn't like looking at themselves kill monsters?

Brand is a quality XBLIG judging from the demo. It has fun addicting hack' n slash gameplay with an interesting world to explore filled with monsters. Thanks for reading. Check it out

I Am Alive - Survival Trailer

Just don't say Uncharted or Nathan Drake. I Am Alive is a survival action adventure game that takes place in a city ravaged by a recent apocalyptic catastrophe. The Survival video below is just one in a series of I Am Alive trailers. This one focuses on climbing and platforming. The narrator points out that staying hydrated is important. It is a survival game after all, gotta stay hydrated. If your totally new to I Am Alive it will have varied gameplay elements of stealth, shooting and CQC (Close Quarters Combat). The climbing and platforming is just icing on the cake. I Am Alive is developed by Ubisoft Shanghai and published by Ubisoft for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. It has a TBA release date. Thanks Machinima.

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