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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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.

EA have recently announced that they are withdrawing their micro-transaction driven plan for Battlefield: Bad Company. This no doubt comes s quite a surprise to many as they seemed very certain of their £40 now, £40 later DLC scheme and now, in contrast they’re withdrawing all attempts to suck out the contents of your wallet (and soul). One possible reason for this could be Sarcastic Gamer’s boycott initiative, proposing to gamers that they boycott the game unless they omit the controversial pricing scheme. We at GoYuk hope that the latter played a large role in the deconstruction of EA’s money-leaching plot as we were firm supporters of the Boycott (as you may well have heard in our awesome new podcast).

DICE/EA were pretty ambiguous in their retraction, they said to IGN…

IGN: So there’s no charge for the Gold Edition guns?

Karl-Magnus: No, there’s no charge for any of the guns in the game. All of the guns in the game can be achieved without purchasing them. All guns are available to everyone. However, we want to give some exclusivity to those who buy the Gold Edition. They will get the five Gold Edition weapons from Day One when they put the disc in. People that don’t buy the Gold Edition can get the five additional weapons by getting to the final rank in the game. There will be a golden, shiny five-weapon unlock when they hit level 25 in the game.

They don’t seem to definite on this but we’re sure that the Boycott was successful and gamers will be able to enjoy this fantastic looking game without feeling any instance of shame.

Who says a leopard can’t change its spots, eh?

Source: SG: Boycott Successful