Now  that I’ve recovered from whatever I got down in London, I can finally look at the screen without getting the urge to proclaim that the light burns. Nor do I hack a hernia-inducing hurricane when I’m trying to sleep. Now you’ve got that thought in your head, let me say that it was good.

Nay, it was great.

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First off, if you haven’t downloaded it, get onto your 360 or PS3 and put it in the queue now. Done it? Good.

The demo came out yesterday for the PS3, and today for the Xbox 360. It features a tutorial level and a single level to play on. The level available is exactly the same level that was playable at the Eurogamer Expo (You can find the entry here), so it begs the question of why they didn’t use the demo that was obviously available at the time.

So, having played through it a few times, I stand by what I said before. The controls were the downfall. Not because they were bad, but because there wasn’t a tutorial or information sheet available for you to read and get the controls. This tutorial level is shipping with the finished product, and it solves that issue perfectly. The combat, whether due to the tutorial, or the development cycle moving along, is sorted. I was doing all sorts to those guards.

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I think that this is pretty much the same as the multiplayer beta, except that everything was unlocked. All the perks, all the weapons, everything. And oh dear God, it is glorious. Imagine CoD4, more tactical, with WWII weapons, and vehicles. The same goddamn polish is applied so well, and it looked great and played even better. I got nineteen kills and three deaths on my first and only play of it. One was a fifteen kill streak in which I got the Recon Plane (Aka UAV), artillery (Aka Airstrike without the planes) and the dogs* (Aka RUN YOU F*CKERS) at the usual three, five and seven streaks.

I just heard that there will be a zombie game similar to the Horde mode in Gears 2, which sounds a blast. Keep your zombies in my video games; all the more reason to grab WaW on release day.

They sorted out the one problem with CoD4’s gameplay, and that was the over-spontaneity of the kills. In IW’s masterpiece, in some matches you didn’t even have to move to die. In this game, you get a chance because the matches themselves move slower, simply because the weapons are less ‘pop pop you’re dead’ due to the time period. Juggernaut is no longer Juggern00b, which is a relief to me, since those perks felt toned down, both Juggernaut and Stopping Power, anyway (I of course chose the latter). The guns still felt like they lacked the recoil, but it’s the beta build that we played rather than the Gold build which is being pressed as we speak.

This game no longer requires a fast connection, so much as it requires skill and tactics. And the game, without a doubt, is better for it. With Treyarch at the helm, I assumed it would be CoD3 all over again. How wrong I was.

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This was a game that I expected to do well. But when I saw the queues for it extending around the corner of the whole place, I was still surprised. We sat down, and played Annex for one match before being rotated out. Pity; I would’ve loved to play the Horde mode that’s been touted about. Not only that, but we weren’t able to take any pictures of the screen. The rep from Epic was pretty strict about it, but I’ll see if I can grab one on the sly.

The game was satisfying, with the Hammer of Dawn now having a limited capacity, and reduced movement compared to last time. You can do your meat shield thing, as well as move a little when you’re downed, in order to get out of fire and focus on hammering A to get up.

I didn’t die in the game, which is a first. I also won both of the Annexes, which is another first. It was either that, or get kicked out. Having said all that, it’s still Gears. Cover-hugging is still easy to do, and the weapons still have that satisfying kick. No chance to play the campaign mode though.

Gears 2: Worth a pre-order.

Dave was supposed to review this demo, but since he’s off to find some games that he hasn’t played or owned already, I get it. And I’m glad, because this is a damn good game.

First off, the game is accessible. All you need is one hand (I proved that on my second play), and a voice. All the voice commands work really well, even to the point where I can call upon all units of a specific type to move, attack, or engage. I can combine units’ orders to make things easier, and the HUD makes it so easy to maintain a good eye over the battlefield. Calling it an RTS game is a bit of a push, though. It’s more a tactical game, similar to that of Dawn of War, that you can only call so many units up (In EW’s case, 12), regardless of what type they are. But that’s good, because it means that the equivalent of Zerg rushes, or massing infantry to cause problems for the opponent simply through numbers, is impossible.

I thoroughly enjoyed this game, and I was impressed with it, both graphically and ergonomically. Needless to say, this is a game that I will be putting on my Pre-Order list.

When I saw that it was supposed to be a PSP game, and it involved a helicopter, I was dismayed. I thought that this would have made an awesome XBLA game, or even one for the Wii.  But, despite all that, the game looks pretty good.

The controls were the first thing that I was going to be worried about, yet they handled surprisingly well. The Analogue stick is used for movement, with the shoulder buttons being used for strafing. Triangle gives you a lock-on, and all the other buttons (circle, square and cross) give you a weapon to fire. There was no buttons for altitude, and I found myself having to leave the movement controls to swap targets. Your index finger is on the shoulder buttons, and that means that you can’t try to do all three at the same time.

The graphics were pretty solid, the image header being an enlarged screenshot from actual action. I was impressed, since 3D games can’t really be used in portable games without looking shoddy. There are always exceptions, but that’s the general rule. All in all, I wouldn’t say that this is a system title, but if you already have a PSP, keep an eye on it if you have a little trade-in credit left at your local store.

No sign of any people, nor games. Just this.

Almost sad, since it was one of the games I was really hyped up for.

Things are looking good for this game, so let’s get the positives out of the way.

• I haven’t seen a first person game in a long time where the killing of people isn’t the main objective. A game based around time-trials with the slight inclusion of guns, for the simple reason that you can pick up the gun of an enemy, is great.
• The graphics look sharp, even without the motion blur that is on the corners of the screens. As much as for some people it takes away from the experience, the feeling of motion is definitely there. It was slick, smooth, and altogether awesome. Thoroughly impressed.

So now onto the one thing that I just couldn’t get around with the demo; the controls.

As much as I can appreciate that the controls have had to be tailored (I was using the PS3 version, but simply because I was using Sony’s console is no reason for me to hate on the controls; chances are it would raise the same problems if I was playing the 360 version) for this game, there was no demonstration of the controls. I had to spend a few moments glancing through the options menu to find it. In a living room environment this would not be a problem, but in an area where you’ve got people behind you, and they’re getting just a tad aggravated because you keep dying, it’s a downer.

The combat also felt a bit messy, almost in a touch-and-go sort of way, but that is easily because I hadn’t played it before.

Overall, I was highly impressed. Cannot wait to see the finished product, and I already have my pre-order in.

I have to admit that I didn’t have too high a hope for this game. After all, it’s treading where Ace Combat has already tread. Like Generals, HAWX is proving that a named License (in this case, Tom Clancy) can be put onto any title and automatically generate the hype.

The demo wasn’t really too hefty. Just keep defending an oil refinery against wave after wave of enemy tanks and planes. Pretty basic stuff, nothing that hasn’t already been covered by it’s cousin from Japan. But there are a few unique differences. One of which is the ‘Intercept’ ability. By quickly pressing ‘X’ (on the 360), you can follow a set of markers. Match all the markers, and you either end up ready to smash a missile into the cockpit, or come up on his tail to make evading the missile that much more difficult.

The graphics have to be applauded. They pretty much beat AC6 hands down. Granted, Ace is a lot older than HAWX, but the rendering of the ground feels like a generation apart, almost to it’s detriment. The graphics are just too sharp for me to really consider real, and there was no resistance or notions of wind as you tear through it on your fighter/attacker. But then again, I was only using an A10 Thunderbolt, which doesn’t really move that quickly anyway. I saw someone play as a Berkut (a really fast fighter-bomber, if my knowledge serves me well), but still had the same lacking realism that I did.

Having said that, from what I played it’s still a damn good flight game. Honestly though, I doubt I’ll be buying it when EndWar is just around the corner. Dave’ll be covering that for you.

Now that we’ve managed to get over the slight hiccup that I couldn’t find something called a bus, we’re in London and at the press room as we speak. Or rather, as I speak. Dave and his little brother have gone somewhere. Ash is chowing down on a chicken-club-minus-the-bacon, and Mike is perusing the floorplan. Dan is nowhere to be seen.

So expect many entries, or at least something similar to an entry.