Archive for the ‘Game Talk’ Category

Ubisoft’s “R.U.S.E.” is not your typical real-time strategy game. Brute tactical force is replaced with high-level strategic posturing, both on the physical battlefield and in the backdoor misdirections of two wily commanding generals. Playing your cards right, quite literally, takes precedence over unit production and constant micromanagement. That’s the theory anyway. How does it pan out in practice? Let’s take a look.

The Basics

The main single player campaign in “R.U.S.E.” features two consecutively laid out storylines. The first follows a U.S. Army officer from World War II’s Africa front all the way to Germany. The second focuses on Erich Von Richter, the German general who developed the strategy of Blitzkrieg (not really), though don’t let that fool you into thinking there’s no cloak & dagger: a traitor’s afoot. Joining the campaign mode are a welcome selection of other options: Operation (standalone multi-objective scenarios), Battles (offline skirmish-style engagements) and, of course, Multiplayer (online skirmish).

The Highs

Look Over There!
The driving force of the strategic engagements in “R.U.S.E.” boil down to the title itself. A cooldown meter ticks away, rewarding players every few minutes with a ruse point. The titular ruses are sneaky special modes that can be activated specific areas on the battlefield. Ruse benefits — 10 in all — come in a variety of forms; one reveals all enemies in a sector (all of the game’s large maps are divided in this way), another show enemy orders and yet another masks friendly structures with camouflage.

The Art of War
Ruse effects go nicely with the basic gameplay, which places a focus on setting a broad strategy for your amassed forces. The game’s zoom goes from a unit closeup to a view of the battlefield that is so distant, it appears as a map laid out on a wooden table in a war room. Play works best most of the time with the zoom somewhere in between, far enough out that grouped units are represented as a single stack of tokens. The feel is very much that of a general issuing orders from inside a war room, with occasional jumps into the heavy fray to keep things running smoothly.

The Most Dangerous Game
The best place to engage in the art of misdirection is online. The computer-controlled AI is fine, sometimes seeing through your tricks and sometimes not, but human opponents are, of course, endlessly unpredictable. There’s a learning curve of course, and some hurdles to cross, but the basic elements are there for a compelling online experience.

The Lows

World War Boo
Seriously… World War II? Again? There’s something to be said for keeping things familiar to offset the uncommon RTS flavor of the “R.U.S.E.” gameplay… but World War II? Come on.

Cam-plain
The single player campaign really tries to tell a good story. It so badly wants to. Unfortunately, much of the dialogue — and dry delivery — is laughter-inducing. Cutscenes drag and drag between missions. Worth noting that the audio in all cutscenes was completely out of sync in the PC review copy I played. That, coupled with the gradual unfurling of key game elements makes the campaign feel like a laboriously drawn out tutorial. A proper tutorial would have been preferred, but there is nothing of the sort.

Glacial Progression
“R.U.S.E.” features HUGE maps and relatively few units moving around on them, resulting in a s-l-o-w-l-y paced game. It is plenty rewarding to get all of your people and ordnance into place, fire off the masterstroke ruse and move in for the kill… but damned if you’re not going to first have to sit there patiently waiting for your grunts to crawl into place. It would be nice to see the game patched to include some kind of speed control, even if it’s just for offline play.

The Verdict
The patient strategist will appreciate this less frenzied flavor of RTS in “R.U.S.E.,” but take caution. Issues with the overused setting, forcibly gradual learning curve and snail’s pace gameplay progression are going to be a big turnoff for the majority. This isn’t a game without its rewards, but you’re gong to have to tolerate a lot to achieve them.

NOTE: This review is based on play with the PC (Steam) version of “R.U.S.E.”

Steve Jobs let loose with details on Apple’s new socially networked Game Center last week at a press conference, and the service arrived yesterday along with the iOS 4.1 update for iPhones and iPod touches. 3G iPhones and 2nd-generation touches won’t be able to use the software, but everyone who does successfully log in and set up an account will be linked in to leader boards, achievements and other features for equipped titles.

“Game Center is all about multiplayer games,” Apple CEO Steve Jobs explained during last week’s presentation. “It allows you to challenge your friends to games, and they can challenge you. If you don’t have any friends it will automatically match you. It will allow you to compare scores, and discover new games.”

You should see the Game Center icon show up on your screen as soon as you’re done with the update. If you don’t happen to have any games installed to bolster your achievement numbers, Apple’s a step ahead of you there as well, as they’ve set up a Game Center section in their App Store.

Right now, the big titles in there include “Real Racing,” “Flight Control” and a handful of others, though Apple will surely be pushing other developers to tack some achievements onto their games in the coming months, so keep an eye on your update details as they appear.

What do you think of Apple’s Game Center? Which games would you like to earn achievements with? Share your picks in the comment section below.

Ludacris and A Tribe Called Quest will enjoy the company a few more rap and hip-hop luminaries on “Def Jam Rapstar,” and Busta Rhymes and DMX will be among them. Busta will be pulling overtime, since he’s already on the “DJ Hero 2″ track list, but the latest batch of titles confirmed by Def Jam Interactive includes a few other names as well.

Tracks by Bashy and Devlin will be UK exclusives, according to a press release that went out today, but Ja Rule and Lil’ Jon will appear internationally. Here’s what’s been added:

• Bashy – “Black Boys” (UK exclusive)
• Busta Rhymes – “Put Your Hand’s Where My Eyes Can See”
• Devlin – “Giant” (UK exclusive)
• DMX – “Ruff Ryder’s Anthem”
• Fat Joe featuring Terror Squad – “Lean Back”
• Ja Rule featuring Ashanti – “Always on Time”
• Lil’ Jon – “Get Low”
• Public Enemy – “Can’t Truss It”
• Twista featuring Kanye West and Jamie Foxx – “Slow Jamz”

Additionally, three new producers were listed in the announcement:

• Bangladesh – “Gutter”
• DJ Premier – “Go Back”
• Just Blaze – “8 Bit”

Bangladesh will be providing exclusive beats for the game, which comes out on November 5. So far they’ve stuck with established classics and a let a few hot new stars like Drake sneak in. And that’s all fine. They’re sticking to the genre’s core, and they obviously know what they’re going for, but coming into the games industry with a rap game, I think they’re missing out by not throwing in some nerdcore samplings from artists like MC Chris and MC Frontalot.

What do you think of the announced tracks for “Def Jam Rapstar” so far? Who else do you want to see in the final game? Share your suggestions in the comment section below.

Tecmo Koei made it known a while back that they would be making a Dead or Alive game for Nintendo’s 3DS. The DoA world of games is expansive and crosses many genres (some of which the franchise has created from the ground up). One thing’s for sure, though; many gamers probably nodded when then they first found out about a 3DS DoA project and assumed that it would be part of Nintendo’s broader plans to make the 3DS appeal to older age groups. While it’s not a game based almost entirely around beach activities and precariously tiny bikinis, “Dimensions” should contribute to that cause as a fighting game.

Characters showing up for the fights include Kasumi, Ayane, and Hayate, according to a report published by Famitsu and analyzed in English at Destructoid. Beyond that, details look slim, but Tecmo reportedly doesn’t want it to play like a standard fighter, and as a DoA game, I can’t imagine that “Dimensions” was ever in danger of suffering such a fate.

The graphics look clean in the initial screenshots, and that bodes well for the game and the 3DS, which remains an odd system to get a visual feel for via 2-D images. Stay alert watching reports out of the Tokyo Game Show next week, however, and you may see some more info from the developers, since they’ll be in attendance.

Is a DoA fighting game going to be on your buy list if you pick up a 3DS? What do you think of the first screenshots? Share your impressions in the comment section below.

One year after “Final Fantasy: Dissidia” came out, the RPG/fighting game has spawned word of a sequel, and Square Enix will be bolstering the title with some Latin to call it “Final Fantasy: Dissidia Duodecim.” That extra word means “twelve,” but since most of the news available is in Japanese right now, you’re on your own to figure out what that implies.

The sequel will be out for the PlayStation Portable sometime in 2011, according to a Japanese Shonen Jump scan spotted at Destructoid. The pictures there include Kain from “Final Fantasy IV” and Lightning of “Final Fantasy XIII” fame, which means you can expect to see both of them appear.

The battle system in the original was a massive piece of work, but if you’re already into FF games, that may have been a good thing as far as you’re concerned. Still, this may be another game to watch for along with “Dead or Alive: Dimensions” in case Square Enix feels like sharing some more info at the Tokyo Game Show next week.

If you aren’t already fluent in the ways and looks of the FF universe, “Dissidia Duodecim” will likely be almost as incomprehensible as the Latin in its title to you — if do speak Latin, though, you’ll almost certainly have a leg up on a great many FF fans, in which case, good for you; those are very useful skills you have.

Are you stoked for a “Dissidia” sequel? Which FF characters would you like to see Square Enix include? Share your proposals in the comment section below.

“Claptrap’s New Robot Revolution” has already been outed as Gearbox’s next DLC release for “Borderlands,” but their previous announcement didn’t detail the free patch coming out soon that will allow everyone to bump their character up eight levels. Additionally, they’ve let some details go public about the revolution being featured in the new release.

First off, after downloading the patch, you’ll be able to level up to 58, and if you’ve installed the General Knoxx DLC already, you’ll be able to go even further to level 69, according to a report on IGN. All of that should be possible by late September or October.

“Claptrap’s New Robot Revolution,” meanwhile, has been dated for September 28 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, where it will cost you about $10. That money will get you six new zones worth of adventures, including subterranean areas, new soldiers and enemies, and converted cyborgs.

You’ll be able to get into those zones no matter which level you currently happen to be at, but extra bonuses will await those who grind through the content twice. That accomplishment will be worth two skill points and the chance to expand your inventory limits.

It sounds like a healthy buy for $10, but even if you’re not interested in DLC, you’ll want to keep an eye out for that new patch, which should come out ahead of or just after “Claptrap.”

Do you think you’ll download “Claptrap’s New Robot Revolution”? Are you convinced it will be worth the money? Share your responses in the comment section below.

Given the franchise’s track record in the third dimension, when “Lords of Shadow” was announced as the next entry in the “Castlevania” series, longtime fans were a little hesitant to welcome the game with open arms. Interestingly enough, it seems that the game’s appearance was no coincidence. As far back as four years ago there were forces working high up at Konami (much like there are at all major game publishers) trying to position the next title in the classic franchise to be a mainstream hit, and, after talking to the “Lords of Shadow” producer, David, Cox it seems that keeping the game 3D is expected to be one of the keys to its success.

When I asked Mr. Cox if there was ever a point in the development of “Lords of Shadow” where his team considered making a 2D “Castlevania” game, he had this to say about whether or not the higher ups at Konami would have approved:

“2D Games are more of a niche market nowadays than they used to be, and we need to make ‘Castlevania’ appeal to a wider audience, and especially to the mainstream. Certainly on the Japan side they wanted to appeal to Western gamers outside of Japan, so that was kind of our brief if you like, when we first pitched the game. So at no point did we consider doing a 2D game. That’s not to say that Konami won’t continue to release 2D ‘Castlevania’ games, I think they will for the fan base, but our goal with this game was to make ‘Castlevania’ more mainstream, like it used to be in the Super NES days.”

Cox went on to later note that his team “didn’t set out to appeal to the Japanese market, or the American market” but they think that their character Gabriel, one of the biggest elements of the game that Hideo Kojima suggested they change when he came on board, is sympathetic, and should be able to appeal across markets. If he is right, MercurySteam and Kojima Productions could have a certified hit on their hands, and it would be the first time that the “Castlevania” series makes a successful leap into the third dimension.

If “The Devil’s Playground” really did it for you during your romp through campaign mode in “StarCraft 2,” Blizzard’s first official custom map for the game should be a good fit for your 3v3 matches. The “Burning Tide” map requires you to race against an opposing team to gather mineral resources in much the same way you did as a single player, and it’s now selectable through the game client.

Blizzard announced the map’s arrival via the “StarCraft 2″ blog on Battle.net, citing “greed” as your fundamental motivation for completing the challenge. “Players hoping to achieve victory on this map will need to work together, carefully managing their team’s unit production and safeguarding their vulnerable workers as they defend against enemy forces,” the post explained.

From the looks of it, air units are going to be your best friends here, but the timed lava flows will really put the pressure on players to cooperate and coordinate their strategies, since the map will basically create a new ground war every time the tide goes down.

“Burning Tide” looks like it good be good fun, but watch out for those Protoss black hole attacks. I’d imagine seeing a flock of your foot soldiers and SCV’s caught up in its pull just as the lava starts to rise would be a major source of frustration on the road to victory.

Have you checked out the “Burning Tide” map yet? Are you glad to see Blizzard breaking out some new multiplayer challenges? Share your reactions in the comment section below.

“Final Fantasy XIII” director Motomu Toriyama revealed many months ago that his team had already prepared DLC to come out at a later date, but the story seems to have changed. Now, it’s more of a case of there once having been DLC ready to ship out, and those plans have since seen a paradigm shift to the point that there is currently no DLC coming out for “FFXIII.”

“We had plans for DLC, but those plans disappeared,” Toriyama told a Japanese game magazine, according to a translation provided on Kotaku. “Apologies!”

Theoretically, there was extra content lying around somewhere, so it’s a shame all around if Enix decided to seal it up in the vaults where it can’t be sold or experienced with no plans to let it loose into the wild. At best, I guess “FFXIII” players can hope that two decades down the road when we’re all complaining to children about how big the pixels were on Blu-ray movies, they might decide to releases a remastered Final Fantasy boxed set that includes new material from the Square Enix vaults.

Or, maybe we’ll just see some fancy “Game of the Year” edition or something like that in the next couple of years. If you felt like “FFXIII” didn’t take away enough hours from your life out of the box, my sympathies are with you today.

Were you hoping to see some DLC come out for “FFXIII”? Would you like to see Square Enix rethink their plans? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Whether you’re a first-time Xbox 360 buyer or an experienced owner who recently received a red ring and needs to pull a hardware replacement, you may have looked at the $299.99 4GB Xbox 360/Kinect bundle and thought that a little more memory could go a long way. Well, Microsoft has a solution for you, and it’s come in the form of a 250GB bundle that will make its way to stores on November 4 for the new control system’s launch day.

The box includes one of those newly redesigned 250GB Xbox 360 consoles with built-in Wi-Fi, a Kinect sensor and “Kinect Adventures” for $399.99, according to the press release. Pre-order listings have accompanied the announcement, too, so if you’re afraid supplies may run out, options are currently available to you.

If DLC, Xbox Live Arcade games, or other media downloads are anything you’re remotely interested in along with your Kinect investment, this is probably the package you want to look at. 4GB isn’t going to hold all that much, and extra memory is going to cost you more in the long run and require you to remember where you’ve stored it all.

Of course, if you like your memory to be mobile or stick almost exclusively with disc-based games, the 4GB box will be the way to go. And if you love your current 360 like I do, you’ll save more money than all other Kinect buyers because you’ll only have to throw down $149.99.

Are you going to buy Kinect on Day One? Which bundle do you think you’ll pick up? Share your intentions in the comment section below.