“Time for another drop”

Taking over publisher duties this time around, TimeGate Studios are deadly serious about their successor to Section 8. Prejudice includes all of the revolutionary features from the original, including the super-power-enthusing armor, Dynamic Combat Missions and the ability to spawn wherever gamers wish, but our impressions gleamed from a recent session with the sequel was how everything is improved and much larger in scope.

Take the campaign for instance. The original was little more than a glorified tutorial which made little to no effort to explore the universe, but now gamers can expect a five-hour campaign chronicling the war between the USIF and renegade Orion faction. Alex Corde again stars, as the plot kicks off with the Orion faction trying to save a captured general from an enemy stronghold. The opening hour is all about chasing the fleeing prisoner while ensuring you eat as little enemy fire as possible. The campaign still feels like a bot skirmish retooled, with scripted events and higher enemy counts, a la Frontlines: Fuel of War, with cut-scenes to add color.

The developers recognize that the original let down a lot of people in the fiction department, and they’re looking to redeem themselves. That said, the campaign is still just one part of the equation, as players will get to experience new weapons, an enhanced loadout system with new skills which unlock per progression and new DCMs to add more flavor to the typical capture point style game mode. Best described as side missions to the main action, teams will have to complete objectives such as escorting a VIP or achieve a designated kill tally in a certain timeframe. On completion, these extra missions add further tickets to the match counter and grant each player more cash to spend on deployable turrets, tanks, mechs and an all-new anti-gravity speeder.

Section 8 was a shooter about choice and that hasn’t changed, with players still able to enter overdrive (sprint x10), use the jetpack and auto lock-on that allows gamers to track on their target automatically for a short time, charge permitting. Anti-air fire is still a massive headache, restricting your drops to neutral or friendly territory, but the effect of applying the air brakes too late during drops has been nullified. You can still glide to your location, rather than smashing metal-first into the rock, and carry out pitch perfect landings on high ground. Choosing where to spawn still feels as refreshingly different as it did in 2009.

40-player skirmishes will be supported on PC, with all-new maps set on more than just baron rockland and there’s also an expanded in-game stats portal catering for clans and fans alike. Apparently they want to over deliver on fans expectations and it seems Section 8 2 will do that in spades.

“Turning to the Dark side”

If there’s one universal principle, it really isn’t easy trying to describe what Darkspore ‘is’ to other people, at least, not without drawing comparisons. It was once described to us by a friend as a kind of ‘Diablo meets Spore’ setup, but it’s not until you finally get to grips with the game that you realise how apt that comparison really is. Throw some Halo and generic Sci-fi elements into the gaming mix, and you then have an experience that’s both oddly unique and riddled with déjà vu.

The official Action/RPG label works, although it’s definitely more action than RPG. The way the UI is set up, the way you leisurely plod from A to B, exploring every nook and cranny to make sure you haven’t missed anything, while making sure to blast any fools that get in your way is pure dungeon crawler – even if it is on a scientific platform orbiting a black hole.

The Darkspore themselves are very reminiscent of Halo’s Flood, although they lack that kind of nightmarish quality. And then of course you use the Creature Editor from Spore to upgrade, design and manipulate your genetic heroes.

There is a story to follow, but it’s more of a sideshow than anything else, as the experience is geared more towards loot and evolution. The player represents one of the last of a race of beings who were masters of genetics, however in experimenting with a special type of DNA called E-DNA, they inadvertently gave rise to the Darkspore. These inherently evil mutated beings wiped out most of the Crogenitors and ravaged the Galaxy, and it’s up to you and your squad to stop them.

You start off with a handful of ‘genetic heroes’, and venture from world to world wiping out Darkspore, as well as collecting parts to upgrade your squad. Those creatures have levels associated with them, just like your Crogenitor self, and you level up by collecting ‘DNA’ dropped by the enemies that you defeat. The higher your Crogenitor level, the more genetic heroes you can activate, but also certain unlocks in the Darkspore’s in-game store become available for you to purchase as well. For instance, players aren’t granted access to PvP until you get to level 10 and can purchase the unlock. We can see hero management getting tiresome over time, though.

There are several other elements to the game as well, including easy-to-use co-op facilitation. You can team up with buddies for the harder levels and special challenges dubbed Chaining, where you play several levels in succession – without being allowed to re-equip or re-arm – as a bit of a gamble to get rarer rewards.

Darkspore boasts a refreshingly unique approach, and a good evolution of the Spore engine. It’ll be misunderstood, and will probably only appeal to a niche audience at first, but we suspect there’s a good and solid game here that promises hours of fun in both single-player and online. With the added community support features, as well as a focus on collectables, this will be a neat little title for gamers to sink their teeth into, especially if they want something different.

The game takes place in the same universe but centuries in the future, and Tyria is a much-changed place. Following from the events of the Eye of the North expansion, when players saved the world from a Dwarven menace, five ancient dragons, masters and mistresses of specific elements and even undeath itself, have woken up and created chaos in their wake. Their re-emergence has ripped apart the continents and sent many species spiraling towards extinction. Post-Searing, the dragons have chased old races from their homes and great cities have fallen into ashes. Human civilization had been most effected but now races stand much more united and with a common language. But, when one door closes a window is always left open. Guild Wars 2 also introduces new ones but it has turned Tyria into a much more dangerous and bewitching place.

Race-wise, we can expect the return of humans, Charr and Asura, as well as the introduction of the gigantic Norn and the strange Dream-born Sylvari, the children of the Pale Tree. Similarly, the playable classes has also changed to reflect the different world. As of writing, ArenaNet have begun having themed race weeks – the first two focusing on humans and the Norn, allowing for more information specific to each race to be released. It’s not a great leap of the imagination to think it won’t be long before we have weeks focusing on the Charr, the Asura and the Sylvari.

After races, the next thing people want to know about are the classes you’re going to get to play. Five professions – as they are being called – have been announced so far: the Elementalist, the Warrior, the Ranger, the Necromancer and – most recently revealed – the Guardian. Each has its own pros, cons and play styles which echo the classic MMO archetypes but also give them a little twist which makes them new and inviting. That said, veterans will recognise the Tank, the Healer, the Mage and the long-range DPSer, even if all are dressed up with their own unique skills and abilities.

The Guardian, for example, is a master tactician, while the Necromancer can summon undead minions to do their bidding and feed on the lifeforce of others. The Ranger is excellent at long-range combat and comes with animal companions who can fight at their side. Then there’s the classic Tank, the powerful Warrior who relies on brute strength and armor to keep them alive during the harshest of battles. Finally there’s the magic-welding Elementalist, who uses the four elemental to devastate, which more than makes up for their squishy exterior.

Given how long Guild Wars 2 has been in development, ArenaNet has been working on updating the official wiki with information as well as slowly revealing new game and class information to the Guild Wars community. The official site is regularly updated with essays and posts on specific subjects, and the wiki is continually updated to reflect the post-Searing world. Will finally get their hands on the biggest release since Aion.

The game promises to offer much more, including dynamic events and choices which will leave marks upon Tyria and its people. Indeed, it feels like a single-player game, more like Oblivion or Dragon Age, than a traditional MMO in these moments. That said, the ability to not need to rely on other player characters in order to do quests, raid and progress was one of Guild Wars’ success stories, and it’ll be interesting to see how this addition of choice changes each player’s personal game experience.

Yet because of the slow build and the ever-increasing level of hype, Guild Wars 2 promises to be a revolutionary MMO, mixing the best of the original with new and exciting zones, fun classes and old and new races. The game promises so much but is also setting a precedent for MMO sequels. After all, this isn’t just a new expansion to a much-loved game, it’s a whole new stage in Guild Wars’ evolution. This means it’s a dangerous and exciting time for players, and anyone else who is keen to walk through Tyria with their friends. Here’s hoping it will deliver when Guild Wars 2 is eventually released – hopefully sometime before the end of this year.

Batman is back in Gotham City and hot on the trail of The Joker, who he’s told has feline favorite Catwoman tied up and hovering precariously over a vat of bubbling acid. Sounds like an all-too familiar scenario, but Bats can’t ignore it. It’s his duty.

This time, instead of being trapped in the confines of Arkham Asylum, Batman is free to really show off. He can now glide across the rooftops of the city, checking out the madness below. Just seeing him perched on the corner of a skyscraper while the jet-black grime of Gotham sprawls out in front of him echoes Batman at his cinematic and literary finest.

Rocksteady has shown an innate understanding of what makes Batman unique both as a character and a universe before, and this commitment to the Dark Knight spreads to every facet of Arkham City’s gameplay. Like the genre-redefining combat.

As in Arkham Asylum, hand-to-hand fisticuffs are all about counters and combos. It’s now possible, thanks to double the number of animations, for Bats to swoop into a huge crowd of goons, and through timing and concentration, dispatch the lot without taking a hit. You’ll need to use your wits in the same way Batman would – identifying the most dangerous adversaries (gun toters, stick holders) and take them out before dealing with the rest. It’s phenomenally satisfying. If you don’t let a gravelly ‘I’m Batman’ out after doing it, you have no soul.

Arkham City is promising more scope than its predecessor. The environment is purportedly five times the size of the Asylum, and although not an open-world in the traditional sense, it will give Batman the freedom to travel large areas as he wishes. There are even overhead helicopters that Bats can grapple onto for a sky-borne taxi ride over the rooftops.

As before too, Arkham City promises a harmonious marriage of story and gameplay. Writer Paul Dini returns after his stellar work on the original, and along with The Joker, Bats and Catwoman, we’ll see Two Face and Hugo Strange join the ensemble cast. Dini didn’t miss a beat last time, with memorable dialogue and a compelling story that only let itself down towards the end. He captures the darkness and stoic melancholy of the character beautifully, so you would be wise to expect more of the same here.

Batman Arkham City truly has the potential to lead where others follow. It’s already shaping up to be a marked improvement in both scope and detail over Asylum, a game that garnered its fair share of Game of the Year awards itself. If only other superhero games could match the ambition and craft of Rocksteady’s Caped Crusader, then the world would be a better place. As it is, though, it’s a dark, tortured and pestilent hole that can only be policed by one person. The god-damn Batman.

The game starts, as you would expect from a Square-Enix game, with a beautifully created and dramatic FMV sequence. This introduces the story perfectly, as giant tentacled beasts (named the Twisted) attack a busy Manhattan that’s packed full of Christmas shoppers.

Get into the gameplay itself, and Aya is soon thrust into the action. With monsters rapidly decimating New York, you and a squad of SWAT soldiers have to systematically work your way through the city, destroying anything in your path that’s not human.

The action is viewed via a third-person perspective, with a wide range of weapons to choose from (you can have four on-board at any time), a clever cover system and a new feature that Square are calling ‘Overdive’. Here, you can target a member of the SWAT team and take over his mind, giving you the ability to hop from character to character and allowing you to attack your enemy from all sides. It’s a great feature, and adds real depth and tactical thought to the gameplay.

The 3rd Birthday is shaping up to be a very worthy addition to the Parasite Eve legacy, and with some frantic action, deep atmosphere and stunning graphics, could well be an essential PSP game release for 2011.

The 3rd Birthday – Trailer

Total War has always been a very fragmented experience, with some only playing on their own, and others thrusting themselves fully into competitive online combat. Shogun 2 is set to change all that with a dedicated online hub, league structure and tweaked game modes. Before entering into the online realm, players must create a General which has his own skill tree, customizable armor and elite bodyguard regiment. This unit has its own skill-tree and can be guarded down four different skill paths – physical, bow, close combat and leadership. Choosing from these 27 traits will determine not only tactics, but also your online persona’s descriptor which betrays tactics from your previous 30 matches, as well as titles concerning your behaviors. For instance, disconnect during battle multiple times and you’ll earn the ‘Dishonorable Coward’ accolade in your traits column.

This creation aspect feeds directly into the flat 2D-based multiplayer hub, which offers persistent battle rewards. If you initiate a battle for one of the regions and win, you’ll own that particular portion of the map and a special piece of kit to outfit your General with. These hubs will be populated by 30 other players, matched on your skill level, and should result in region ownership constantly changing. Clans will also be facilitated in this area and leaders will be able to order their brethren around, instructing which area to invade next and reward those obeying with Clan Tokens, which can be used to unlock kit or respected Generals.

When it came to the gameplay, battles were even more atmospheric than before with an improved UI which communicates the strength of units, and visuals that encapsulate the period perfectly. There are plenty of tweaks, and all-new units such as explosive packing archers, but the excellent Total War formula is still in abundance.

All this additional functionality flanks a lengthy campaign mode – now facilitating two player co-ops with Generals able fight battles together – offering limitless hours of play.

The strategy genre and online competition are natural bedfellows as StarCraft has proven, and it’ll be interesting to see if Total War can emulate that title’s multiplayer success. With a system as well thought out as this and a battle system which is even more unpredictable than before, we have extremely high hopes.