PC Preview - 'Armed Assault'
by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2006
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Publisher: TBA
Developer: Bohemia Interactive Studio
Release Date: Q3 2006
When you look at the first-person shooter genre as a whole, they can largely be broken up into gameplay that is either based on strict linearity (heavy use of hallways, such as Half-Life or Doom 3) or the somewhat less linear collection of larger, more open areas (e.g., Ghost Recon series, Half-Life 2). The original Operation Flashpoint came out on the PC a few years ago and was critically successful for two reasons. Firstly, the title absolutely oozed atmosphere, from the well-written yet totally
)
Come On, What Was Wrong with [eM] -eNCHANT arM-?
As a kid, one of my favorite games was the PC classic, Prince of Persia. It was a crushingly hard and deeply unforgiving game that nonetheless manages to be addicting enough that I memorized every pixel of it. A variety of sequels have ranged from fun to terrible, but few could ever match the enjoyment of the original Prince of Persia. When they announced Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, I wasn't expecting much and found myself blown away by some of the finest action-puzzle gameplay
)
At just about every turn, Braid thumbs its nose at your expectations.
Brothers in Arms is one of the great things to come out of the military game boom, and certainly one of the franchises that keeps driving massive demand for World War II shooters. This spring, the latest entry in the franchise, Hell's Highway, hits the XBox 360, PS3, and PC in full 720p high-resolution. This is the kind of game that will move 360s, make you think twice about the PS3, and send you shopping for a new top-of-the-line graphics card. Ubisoft displayed the
)
With companies like Konami and Harmonix making rhythm/music games popular in the 'States, we've begun to see lots more than the latest Dance Dance crazes coming our way. We've had taiko drums, regular drums, virtual karaoke bars, guitars, and now ... well, now we've got touch-tapping.
Galaga Legions was developed by the same team that made Pac-Man Championship Edition, and much like the dot-chomping fellow, this new Xbox Live Arcade iteration is a successful update to the original Galaga formula. Although the premise is still the same - you pilot a spaceship and are tasked with shooting down waves of insect-like aliens - Galaga Legions incorporates a number of additions that help modernize the title.
I've loved Castlevania since the moment I took Simon Belmont on his awkwardly difficult adventure through the castle to punch Dracula in the face, and while not every title in the franchise has been good, the 2-D titles remain some of the best offerings on their respective systems. The announcement of a new Castlevania for the DS brought joy and happiness to my heart. While I was a bit disappointed with the last DS title, Portrait of Ruin, it was still a great game, albeit a tad
With the announcement that Final Fantasy XIII will be coming to the Xbox 360 in addition to the PS3, things are looking kind of grim for Sony in one of the areas where they used to be the undefeated champ: role-playing games. With titles like Infinite Undiscovery, Star Ocean 4 and now Final Fantasy XIII coming to Microsoft's system, in addition to support from niche companies like Atlus, Sony's lost a lot of its normally unbreakable hold over the RPG gamer market. Yet for all of that,
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
Nintendo has been pimping Red Steel unusually hard for it to be a third-party title, especially a third-party FPS with a Western developer. It's because Red Steel embodies Nintendo's promise that the Wii's games are going to cater to every possible type of gamer, including the aggressive, predominantly male demographic of FPS fans that felt distinctly ignored by the GameCube. Red Steel is not just an FPS, either, but almost a tech demo that shows third-party developers just what kind of an experience they can create
We live in perilous times, my friends. These days, the game industry is either all about the single-player experience, or the dynamics of (God help us, sometimes massive) multiplayer. Remember back in the day, when it was only about two people? In games like Streets of Rage, Contra and Final Fight, you had to help out your partner every step of the way, or face mutual destruction. These days, we're lucky to get a "cooperative mode" in the games of our choice.