Rally’s Back!
I make no secret of the fact that I’m a huge racer fan, and the one series that set me on my way down this path is the Colin McRae series, or what has been renamed the Dirt franchise. I regaled you with my experiences in my Dirt 2 review, of how I had bought a steering wheel for the original Colin McRae on PS1 and how Dirt was my first 1000 gamerscore on the Xbox 360, but then Dirt 2 was released and I maligned its cut down rally sections and lost a little faith in the direction of the series.
Rockstar have always been about delivering titles that push the limits, whether those boundaries are the vast scale of the world where the game takes place, the staggering level of overall game quality, or the insane amount of hype their games seem to have, and LA Noire is no exception. But instead of resting on their laurels, Rockstar have strived to offer a game that’s quite unique in a world full of cookie cutter titles, delivering something that’s more interactive entertainment than game and ultimately, a product unlike anything you’ve ever played before.
A few tweaks can make a big difference.
I can only imagine how difficult it must be to work on a formula that’s proven to work and try to make it better. Imagine getting the task of making Guinness a tastier stout, or making a Cadburys Dairy Milk even more chocolaty. It’s impossible right? Well, the guys over at Tiburon run into this problem every year with the release of Tiger Woods PGA Tour. Last year they packed in some great additions like True Aim and the Ryder Cup, both of which proved successful. But this around they went for the top shelf and secured the rights to golf’s greatest tournament The Masters. In addition to this, a few other tweaks have been added, giving us perhaps the best Tiger Woods game to date.
Finally, The Rock has come back to kick some candy ass.
Being an old school rasslin fan, i always wanted that dream matchup of the Andre the Giant vs. Big Show, or Jimmy Superfly Snuka vs. Rey Mysterio. Well, with the release of WWE All Stars we finally get our chance to go toe to toe with true legends of the squared circle. What All Stars looks to offer is a more arcade style game, with over the top player models and outlandish moves, but does it succeed or does it tap out?
Who says simulation racing is boring?
In the interest of full disclosure let me set one thing straight, i loved the original Shift. I know it was a kind of love it/hate it game, but for me it was a racing sim that breathed new life into the otherwise jaded market. Don’t get me wrong Forza and Gran Turismo are super games aswell, it’s just that Shift evoked terror in me everytime i settled in for a race, the kind of terror that results in a super focus while racing and man sweats when finished. This Zen like focus is rarely achieved in any game and has only been matched in Codemasters F1 2010. So i was delighted when it was revealed that the white knuckle ride would continue with Shift 2 Unleashed.
I feel pretty, Oh so pretty, I feel pretty and witty and bright.
Forgive my West Side Story transgression, but Crysis 2 is probably the prettiest game you’ll ever play on your console. And that’s saying something considering the competition these days with Uncharted and Gears of War pushing the boundaries of what’s achievable. Since the release of the original Crysis, console gamers harked for it to be brought to their platform of choice and while Farcry gave us a sense of what to expect, we wanted to get up to all sorts of bad ass-ery in our Nanosuits. Thankfully Crytek have obliged and delivered Crysis 2 as a multi-platform behemoth, where the lines are blurred between PC and Console gaming.
Rough and Tumble
MotorStorm has the distinction of being this generations WipeOut and Destruction Derby for Sony. In every iteration of the PlayStation we get a racing title that pushes the boundaries of what the system can achieve, along with offering fun filled gameplay that is bound to keep you hooked. Now on its third instalment for the PS3, MotorStorm finds itself tearing across a ravaged city, all in the name of fun.
Delivering the knockout punch
Fight Night Champion is the fifth in the series and the third to be released on the current gen consoles. Fight Night Round 3 was staggeringly beautiful and wetted the appetite for what the new breed of consoles could achieve. Round 4 was a mixed bag, and while the visuals had been stepped up, the lack lustre controls divided gamers. Now with Champion i feel we get the true representation of what the Fight Night franchise can achieve.
Fun Filled Fun
I’m a sucker for kid’s games, i mean, what’s not to like about them in a day and age when everything is getting more and more gruesome and violent. And just to point out, i don’t love kid’s games because of the achievement hunter inside of me; that died a long time ago. I think there’s something to be said for a game that breaks the gameplay mechanic down to its most simplest form, yet be clever enough to be engaging for kids, and in this case, me.
Epic Bromance
With it being so long since Gears 2 was released and with Gears 3 a little bit away in the future, Bulletstorm, i hoped, would fill the void till we get to joust with Marcus and Dom again. But does it bridge that gap, or is it a leap of faith?
