The Witcher 2: Assassins Of Kings- 90`s ponytails become popular again!

If you’re the kind of gamer who wants more out of his game than just pure entertainment, you know the kind of person, the gamer who immerses themselves in the story and becomes for a period in their lives, that character, well if you are that kind of person, then THE WITCHER 2: ASSASSINS OF KINGS has your name written all over it.

Developed by Polish studio CD PROJEKT RED and published by NAMCO-BANDAI it really is a cut and thrust above the rest in many ways.

As I have mentioned before these “wandering around” kind of games with endless cut scenes are not my cup of tea, not that this makes this a bad game, if it can hold my interest then it must have something.

The storyline is pretty complex and based on the books of the same name by ANDRZEJ SAPKOWSKI as we all know.

 

THE WITCHER 2: ASSASSINS OF KINGS is of course the follow up to THE WITCHER a hit back in 2007; all you PC gamers out there have already been playing THE WITCHER 2: ASSASSINS OF KINGS for nearly a year now as it was released back in May 2011 so I imagine you won`t be reading any further.

NAMCO –BANDAI have finally took the plunge and released it on Xbox 360®, will it do well? You ask ,personally I am not so sure, as there are quite a few great sword and sorcery type games out at the moment, KINGDOMS OF AMALUR to mention just one, and with SKYRIM selling well, this game has to have something special to beat them.

THE WITCHER 2 is the story of GERALT OF RIVIA a pasty faced, grumpy kind of guy who for some reason is a bit of ladies’ man (there’s hope for us all)he isn`t the kind of dude you would invite to a party to liven it up that’s for sure.

 

GERALT`S job is that of a monster slayer and as you quickly find he is not your everyday monster/demon killer, even if he does sport a 90`s type pony tail and can make his eyes glow.

THE WITCHER 2 is a very complex game and is definitely aimed at adults, not because of the sex, violence and of course bad language,(again what is it with swearing in these games ) but the game tries to stimulate our intelligence with a deep and intricate story, this is way beyond many of its contemporaries and has been a big hit amongst the PC fraternity because of this.

Personally as I have mentioned these games tend to bore me, I did after a while start hitting the skip button because of the endless cut scenes ,and I did think the controls where not that great , the game did remind me of ASSASSINS CREED but without the action and dynamic game control.

As a gamer who can take or leave these kind of games I didn`t find it as interesting as KINGDOMS OF AMALUR or SKYRIM and the both these games had better in game controls.

OK there is much to praise about THE WITCHER 2, with such an incredible array of potions and spells as well as a plethora of weapons and armour, and you have to think as you enter each situation as to what spells and potions etc you will need for each event.

This is very much a thinking mans (or woman’s) game, if you are after a good old slash fest then you will quickly tire of this.

THE WITCHER 2 is a vast extravaganza with plenty of side quests available form fist fighting in bars, playing pokerdice ,getting involved in missing persons and even ghost stories, again the usual kind of thing for these type of games. I do like the way it is crafted though with well thought out quests that are more than just “fill ins”

The scenery is highly detailed and well lit but I still kept thinking of the comparisons to ASSASSINS CREED, in fact GERALT even wears a hood for a while.

PC gamers of course get the better deal as the frame rate and graphics are way better, but if you load it onto your XBOX 360® hard drive then quality does improve.

The Splatters-It Really Does Make A Splash

There are plenty of Physic engine puzzle games on XBLA® at the moment ,some good some not so good , THE SPLATTERS developed by SPIKY SNAIL is one of the former, it’s a new take on the genre and quite refreshing to see something different .

THE SPLATTERS are little fluid type creatures, and your goal is to shoot their liquid filled bodies at bombs placed around the stage, a simple task you may think, well we all know that isn`t going to be the case don`t we. There are many ways to do this including throwing them onto spikes or even changing direction to get to the more difficult bombs.

There are many obstacles to overcome in this game and you will have to put on your thinking cap as well, to start with game play is relatively easy and you are slowly lured into the game, with little tips like pressing the Y button, which will show you how to complete the level if you can`t figure it out, this is a nice touch, then just as you are getting used to it, on the next section you have more complicated levels and no help.

 

OK so there are loads of these kinds of games around, and this is a mixture of PUDDLE, LEMMINGS and half a dozen other games we have had over the years, even the voices reminds me of WORMS, therefore originality is not what this is about, even if the developers like to have us believe, in fact this is all about having fun, and as I have just spent my entire weekend hooked on this game I can guarantee fun is indeed what you will have (including a few moments of frustration).

There is the usual format within THE SPLATTERS, the better the stunts the higher your score, and attaining 3 stars on a regular basis is not particularly hard after a while, with the use of stunt combos you can create liquid blasting mayhem .

The three sections within the game offer a variety of skill, and what seems like endless levels certainly keep you occupied that’s for sure, using the left trigger helps you flip momentum so you can launch at those difficult areas, this is a handy little move and does take a while to master, it’s a bit like a time reversal kind of thing.

The controls are pretty straight forward, and can be mastered in no time, but what makes this game interesting  is that you really cannot be complacent when playing, as it isn`t very forgiving, there will be moments when you want to throw the controller because it just doesn`t look possible to complete, but the addictiveness of the game keeps drawing you back to have “just one more go”

SPLATTER TV is the spectator/sharing element of the game which is a sort of leader board with knobs on, enabling you to see how other players completed difficult sections and sharing scores.

Ridge Racer Unbounded – Road Rage Never Felt So Good

If you have ever wanted to drive at high speed through a city centre, smashing through buildings and destroying rival vehicles in an explosive fireball, then I would seek professional help immediately. Then again if you want to do it in a virtual world, RIDGE RACER UNBOUNDED is the place for you!

RIDGE RACER UNBOUNDED is the latest release from NAMCO-BANDAI and BUGBEAR ENTERTAINMENT and is a petrol heads wet dream. Ok it’s no Forza or Dirt, but it doesn’t claim to be . In fact this is more like Burnout ‘s evil cousin. Not since the days of Burnout have I enjoyed myself so much with a driving game. Fair enough, the cars are not as realistic as say FORZA 4. Each car does have its own characteristics though. Let’s face it folks, this is all about carnage and destruction! RIDGE RACER UNBOUNDED has some of the best elements from Burnout, and then added its own twist to the tale. No surprises though as the developers are BUGBEAR, who are responsible for such classics as Flatout and Flatout Ultimate Carnage.

This game is nothing like its predecessors, in fact the only thing it has in common with them is the name. Yet this is a good thing! BUGBEAR has introduced a fresh and dynamic new look to the series and about time too! After all RIDGE RACER has been around for nearly twenty years. The whole game is set in the city of Shatter Bay, so be prepared for some hairy inner city driving.

RIDGE RACER UNBOUNDED is not a forgiving game at all, and you really have to earn your points right from the start. It’s not at all like in Forza 4 where you can progress to the next track whether you win or lose. Oh no, not this time buddy! Be prepared to return to races over and over again until you reach that magic top 3 position. You can earn points for crashing into things and taking out opponents, which does eventually unlock cars and tracks, but you still have to do better each time or you won’t progress.

The level of destruction available is very impressive and I took great pleasure in smashing through objects at high speed. Make sure though that the object is smaller than your car, otherwise its crash and burn time for you. You do have a power boost bar which fills when you do a nice power slide round a corner or slipstream another car. Its then that you have the ability to smash through buildings and create shortcuts. You can of course use the power boost to frag other cars and initiate explosions, which when timed right, can take out multiple rivals.

The big thing about RIDGE RACER over the years has been the drifting, and that is available in this game, by holding the B button as you hit a corner it allows your car to drift around it. Which is fine with a controller, but a slightly awkward when using a driving wheel. I found I could reproduce the same effect by braking and spinning the wheel like a real car. Of course using a wheel is the best way to enjoy this game, I used the Madcatz Wireless Wheel, which was superb and really brought the game to life.

RIDGE RACER UNBOUNDED is divided into different zones within the city and within each of these zones (as they become unlocked) are a variety of races and challenges:

• DOMINATION races are a real test of your driving skills, and you aren’t given an easy ride from the offset, in fact you will be hitting the restart button a good few times before you get up in the top 3.
• FRAG ATTACK speaks for itself really. You have a certain amount of time to take down (FRAG) as many opponents as you can. Again not that easy when you are trying to avoid oncoming traffic and obstacles.
• SHINDO RACING, which is more racing than anything, can be fast and furious.
• TIME TRIALS are all about completing an outrageous stunt course within a certain time; you have to hit the bonus time tokens to keep going.
• DRIFT ATTACK again pretty obvious. You gain points and time by drifting, which is not easy with a steering wheel.

RIDGE RACER UNBOUNDED is a big game, and well worth the money as the nine different areas take some time to get through. Plus there’s the course building element, which enables players to build their own course and share it online. This is a great and innovative move by the developers and should be a favourite amongst the on-line community. What a great idea to be able to build your own racetrack and challenge people to beat it! The on-line play apart from the course building element is spot on, just a pity the game doesn’t have a multiplayer/split screen element.

Capcom requesting fan art and music submissions for Street Fighter's 25th anniversary

Capcom has only revealed a few details about their plans to celebrate Street Fighter's 25th anniversary, but they're dropping hints. The publisher is calling for fan submissions in honor of the fighting series.

Art and music contributions are now being accepted. Capcom is looking specifically for "celebratory art" that shows a theme of "reflection and nostalgia," as well as remixes or fresh iterations of Street Fighter songs. Lucky fans will have their submissions featured in an "official capacity" later on.

The Capcom-Unity website also announced that a series of tournaments with a $500,000 prize pool would be held to commemorate the occasion.

New activity in the performs by person who proved helpful on ToeJam & Earl

A job list was published by HumaNature Companies, an independent creator that looks to carry a new name for one of Sony's game playing gadgets. Greg Jackson, who proved helpful on the pleasant ToeJam & Earl together with Level Voorsanger, said his facilities is operating on a name that is "cute and loaded with unique individuality."

Johnson is looking for someone to take on the part of cause developer on the venture. Though there's no concept on the mission's name or any other information, the dev said you can examine out the studio's web page to get an concept as to what art design the encounter is going for.

After looking at the web page for myself, I can certainly verify the whole "cute" and "quirk personality" components HumaNature is preparing to generate into its activity. Moreover to the enchanting factors of the encounter, HumaNature also wishes to make an encounter that's "super modern in the place of psychological AI and individuality simulator."