GameOnYou UK

Being big fans of the Red Faction series since it’s beginning eight years ago, it’s latest installment for the next gen, Red Faction: Guerrilla, was some welcome news, albeit long overdue.

The beta consists of two maps and two game play modes, being the usual Team Death match and Territories.

Team Death match self explanatory, two teams, kill as many of the other team as possible etc. Territories however, has a new Red Faction spin on it, as you would expect there are various points on the map that can be controlled by either team, the more you control the more points you get, but, because it is Red Faction, these points must be constructed to be controlled, this is done by using a construction beam weapon carried by every member of the team, much like repairing vehicles in Unreal Tournament 3. Also if  the opposing team controls a point you want you must  smash it to little pieces using your trusty sledgehammer and then re-construct it.

Unfortunately, the weapons featured in the beta leave a lot of room for improvement, as they are unbalanced and feel very un-nessesary as everyone goes for the basic assault rifle or rocket launcher because they are the best for speed and damage while being effective at long range.

This is even more of an issue with the addition of power packs in the game, these are dotted around the map and are worn on the back of the players to enhance abilities and gain an advantage. These are great fun to use, especially the ”Rhino” which when activated will propel you forward and through any walls that are in your way, there are also packs to increase your speed and damage. The pack you see used the most though is the jet pack, with players often using it to reach high cliffs and ridges, which when carrying the assault rifle makes you near untouchable.

The biggest difference to the game is it’s look, being next gen it looks great as expected, but instead of being a FPS like the previous titles, it is now third person which looks like Mass Effect but plays like Lost Planet.

All in all, Red Faction: Guerrilla looks set to be another chart topper, bringing new and innovative ideas which the series was always known for, of course there are a few problems which need attention, but name a game that hasn’t got problems.

Check back for more news on this title as it happens in the coming months.

Unreal Tournament 3 is of course the latest installment of the Unreal series for Epic Games. Leading up to it’s release, the game generated a lot of hype, mostly down to so many other titles utilising the Unreal engine with mostly impressive results and, we are happy to announce that UT3 lives up to the hype in spectacular fashion.

Unlike most shooters, UT3 hasn’t changed much at all over the years, it is still the extremely fast paced, no holds barred, fragfest that we’ve all came to know and love. Of course the graphics look amazing and the old weapons have been re-designed, slightly but are still instantly recognisable to Unreal veterans.

The single player campaign is a series of matches as you would find during online play varying from deathmatch to capture the flag, The story takes a back seat, only being told through short cut-scenes at the beginning of each chapter and text briefings before each mission. During the campaign you will take control of Reaper, (a Dom and Baird hybrid from Gears of War), along with his team of “Ronin”, Jester the sarcastic sister of Reaper, Othello the Cole Train of UT3 and Bishop an self proclaimed crusader of god, all of which can be commanded to great effect during missions.

Along with single player, you can play the campaign in co-op, play Instant Action, basically a custom bot match or Multi-player, either way your guaranteed to have a good time, especially with the addition of vehicles, hoverboards, some crazy power-ups, mutators and a hell of a lot of maps.

The only real problems we had, at least with the console version, was the “push to speak” system. which was not really thought out. In order to speak to your team you must push right on the d-pad and hold it throughout your sentence. This posed problems as, for example in CTF, if you capture the flag, the enemy will converge on you, in order to shout at your team for help with covering fire you must either come to a complete stop as movement is controlled by the stick above the d-pad, or fumble about with the controller until you can speak and move forward and back but not turn. This is also complicated by the ability to “feign death” by pressing down on the d-pad, meaning any movement of your thumb while speaking can cause you to collapse to the ground, dropping the flag in the process.

Despite that minor flaw, UT3 is still fantastic game to play both online and off. Easily rated at 9 out of 10, it is a must buy for all shooter fans.

For everyone that missed it, yes there is in fact a Too Human demo on the Xbox Live Marketplace right now. With all the hype surrounding this game, everyone expected a huge demo to really show us why we should buy this game, unfortunately we were left slightly dissapointed with a fairly short taster.

The demo is single player, and only one of five player classes can be used. After a short video sequence you find yourself in a ancient temple where no-one has set foot for years, at least no-one human. After a little exploring you will move into the next room where you encounter the enemy, a robotic based lifeform. That is about as much of the story you will see in the demo, as the rest is dedicated to showing you how combat works while flashing through various scenes that show off the graphical quality you will also find various weapons and armour for you to play around with to get a taste of the customisation options.

The only problem we had was getting use to the control system, you use a single stick movement control, while the other stick contols you melee attacks and triggers controlling your ranged weapons, which can get frustrating at times, epecially when you try to move the camera and end up cutting open one of your soldiers. The only control you do have over the camera is the distance from the character you want from the pre-sets.

All in all, the demo does really wet the appetite for what is to come, albiet surprisingly short. But we are still very much looking forward to this title and suggest you download the demo and try it as soon as possible.  

I’ve been clinging on to my precious 1600 MS Points like they’ll save me from some sort of gaming nuclear winter, but yesterday I finally broke and splashed out.

Let me start by saying I’ve played a good bulk of the trials (probably about 25% of them, which is quite a few) on XBLA, so have a fairly good idea of the quality that can be expected. It might also help you to know that, when shopping for the ‘perfect’ games for me, I was looking for certain aspects; I wanted the game to playable for five minutes or five hours and still be fun, I wanted a co-op mode, and I also wanted that co-op mode to be playable over Live (ever since I started playing online games, the thing that has interested me most is working together with a fellow human being to get the win. Co-op everything is the future - you heard it here first!).

With this in mind, you won’t be surprised to hear that new release Schizoid’s tagline, “The most co-op game ever.” grabbed my attention somewhat. After watching a couple of videos (after the post break), I was instantly sold.

Read the rest of this entry »

Let me start off by saying that I do not own this game but rather, I rented it from Blockbuster (they do 7 day rentals now). Now that’s out of the way, let me reassure you that I have completed the Single Player story mode (albeit coop with a friend) and I have played a few terrorist hunts with a friend also. So back on topic, this is a review of the sequel to the immensely successful and immensely awesome Rainbow Six Vegas.

In Vegas 2 you play the role of an operative within Rainbow Six (a top secret special operations unit set through collaboration between NATO states) called Bishop. Bishop looks like… well, the thing is you decide. Yes, unlike the original there is character customisation, and apart from facial features it’s surprisingly deep. The first thing you’re greeted with when you boot up the game is a character creation screen, where you get to choose uniform (with some armour choices affecting game-play e.g. heavy armour will make you slower but able to absorb more lead), clothing, camouflage, choice of weapons and facial features - All of which can be changed at multiple occasions

This becomes your avatar throughout the game, for single and multiplayer modes. What you may have expected even less is that not only does your avatars appearance follow you throughout the game but there is also an experience system in place, which records statistics about everything you do in the game. you get experience for killing enemies and you get an increased amount if you put your experience and known tactics to use when confronting a bad guy (such as long range kills, shooting through cover or close quarters. More experience unlocks new weapons, armour and clothing to give your character.
Read the rest of this entry »

Having only just seen the Escapist review of No More Heroes, it has put me at a slight disadvantage. I had told myself to write the review and THEN view what Yahtzee had to say. Oops. Still, nevermind eh? Congratulations must first go to me for actually finishing the game, and in the second instance, to the game, for providing me with some welcome and much needed entertainment. I was looking forward to playing this game after enjoying the unpidgeon-holeable killer 7 - seems you can’t mention one without the other - which I loved even though I didn’t quite understand the ending. I guess it means I’ll have to play it again. Boo hoo.

The intro to this game has you killing assassin number eleven. This sets the story of your character then killing the top ten assassins in a bid to become the number one assassin. Boy, that’s a lot of ass. Whilst initial feelings of GTA copycatness will explode in your ‘I thought this was going to be original’ part of your brain, you should accept that certain aspects to the game will be familiar because if they weren’t, I don’t think game would be as playable as it is. Because it isn’t trying to be GTA or killer 7 or Cooking Mama or whatever, it excels in its own right. This is essentially a linear game with side quests to help you earn money to finish the main story which progresses the game which explains the story. You should note that this is not me criticising the game, just clarifying that I know what it’s doing and am happy with the way in which it is doing it. So far, so vague. Read the rest of this entry »

In a way that probably only Street Fighter II can match, Mario Kart instantly evokes the overwhelming urge to gather ones acquaintances, crack open the alco-pops and scream “You bitch!” at each other until the neighbours complain. On this front at least, Mario Kart Wii succeeds. It is a fun game. You will have more fun playing it as part of a rowdy group.

Part of the series’ lasting appeal has been that we would all secretly go home and rehearse racing lines, banana drop-spots and, the most of sacred of acts, decide on a favourite character and kart. While you may choose to do this for the latest incarnation, it probably won’t get you very far. Tracks are invariably so wide that the player can often, on the first couple of run-throughs of an unfamiliar course, genuinely get lost and end up driving sideways towards a wall.

Read the rest of this entry »

Not the game. Well, we might love the game. We haven’t played it. In fact, you tell us - is it any good?
I digress. Embedded you shall find Yahtzee’s latest Zero Punctuation. This time we’re looking at No More Heroes, which Myk is currently playing AND HAD BETTER BE REVIEWING - ED.

Along with Sony’s new flagship title for the PSP, God of War, came universal acclaim (a metascore of 94) although there is also concern over the length of the game.

Wired.com blogger Chris Kohler reports;

Chains of Olympus is still really short at just under five hours. I’d be a little more forgiving of this if the game was jam-packed full of holy-shit moments like previous God of War games, but it just isn’t.

This sounds disappointing to say the least.
Watch this space as I will be picking this game up on release and will give you my verdict then.

Source: http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/02/god-of-war-psp.html

What? You haven’t heard of this game? You’re not interested in a video game cash in of Lost? Either way you now have reason to be excited, as the first couple of reviews have come out and the verdict is more than anybody could have expected from Ubisludge.

Here is a summary of the reviews; Read the rest of this entry »