Uncharted 3 Beta Impressions.

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a boy who likes his Uncharted. It's generally my quickfire response to any question with the words "PS3" or "games" in it. I've Platinumed both games and revisited them many a time. I had some great times with the Uncharted 2 Beta and learned very quickly that, while it most certainly does not need it, multiplayer lends itself well to Uncharted. It's fun, it's relatively balanced and it's not too daunting to the sort that don't really dig online multiplayer (this guy).

So, with that in mind,  I had understandably high expectations for this particular taste of things to come. I, like most of you, had watched all of the Uncharted 3 trailers and learned that: A) It's going to be a beautiful game and B) they're really trying to push the multiplayer this time with new modes and a much stronger emphasis on customisation. Are they hoping to take on the likes of Battlefield and Call of Duty? I can't really tell. But in typical Naughty Dog fashion, they definitely seem to be striving to make the best possible game they can make, and that was clear even before there was word of a beta.

Even with all of this in my mind, I was still struck with just how gorgeous the visuals are when I first started playing. Anything you've seen in the trailers or gameplay demos online really can't do it justice. The lighting is a cut above most games on the scene now, as is the animation. Playing as Drake (naturally) I was pleasantly satisfied with the fluidity of the gameplay. Characters climb and take cover with a natural ease while shooting still looks wonderfully informal. These aren't soldiers you're playing as, they're treasure hunters, pirates. And there's not one single movement in their bodies that will ever make you doubt that. Unfortunately, actually moving these characters around the map is still less than perfect. Many times I found myself jumping into a wall rather than over it or taking cover in front of my enemy rather than rolling out of the way of his bullets. While I view this problem as being simple, I understand that it's not an easy one to rectify. These characters perform many different maneuvers and there's only so many buttons on a Dual Shock. The only thing I could really suggest is that they tighten up the object detection around cover areas. Ideally they'd make some sort of amendment to the controls but it's far too late to be faffing about with those. The problem isn't huge and I've no doubt that players will get a feel for it after a while but it can be a little discouraging, and in many cases frustrating, for new players.

I spend the majority of my time playing the new Three Team Deathmatch. This is a fun mode that works really well. Right from the get-go Uncharted 3 makes it clear that teamwork is essential with the new Buddy System. If you die, you can spawn next to your teammate, provided they're not in combat or near a live grenade. Be warned though, the system isn't hugely tight, I sometimes found myself spawning into a skirmish and dying within seconds. I don't actually know if this is a bug in the system or intentional. I kinda prefer the idea of having to take a moment to weigh up the pros and cons of spawning with a teammate. And believe me, you're going to need that teammate. Generally you're not going to encounter the idiots that permeate the maps of Modern Warfare 2 here. These are players that mean business and will know that two guns are far more effective than one. Running around like a ninja might get you a few sly kills but if you wander into the path of a small clan then you may as well just say that you're very sorry and won't try to hurt them again. Once they've ventilated you, they'll have the option of doing a high five or fistbump over your freshly perforated corpse, further emphasising that teamwork is what this mode is really about. I had played my first few matches on my own with a randomly assigned teammate but it wasn't until I employed the assistance of my good friend Niall (Neel) that the game really opened up for me.

Jumping straight back into Three Team Deathmatch, I learned quickly that this is a far different experience when played with a friend. The open line of communication through headset was essential. Before long we were giving titles to certain areas of the map, warning each other of incoming attackers, and generally having laughs. Pretty soon I felt there was no point in even playing unless I was playing with a friend. We dominated many games of TTDM, even going so far as to have a winning streak well above fifty games. The game works perfectly with pairs of players working together rather and large teams. I found this to be particularly true when we tried our hand at a couple of games of Plunder. The popular mode works pretty much identically to how it played in Uncharted 2. The only major difference I noticed is that you can't throw the idol off the map any more as it seems to be bounced back by an invisible wall. In this situation Plunder was slightly less fun to play because it was just the two of us and a group of strangers. I find the mode to be largely dependent on teamwork and you simply can't rely upon strangers for that. The mode is still hectic, exciting and massively fun but I largely recommend it to people who are playing in a group of four or more.

Recognising that Three Team Deathmatch was definitely our mode, we swiftly returned to spend the last few days of the trial playing the mode that clearly suited us best. It was in these intense sessions of mass murder that I began to notice a few minor issues with the gameplay. First and foremost, the melee system just does not work as well as it could. Anyone who has played Uncharted 2 knows all about this melee mechanic as it's quite a popular method of attack in any close-quarter oriented map, so it needs to function as best it can.At the minute it takes two melee attacks to down a healthy enemy (you're open to attack in this time). If the enemy has been weakened by gunfire or whatnot then they'll be dispatched in a nice little beatdown animation. My problem is this, two people should never be able to beat each other to death, yet it happens far too often in Uncharted. Call it a connection problem, call it a server issue, I believe it could be easily fixed with a faster melee system (knife perhaps?) and a larger range on said attacks. The range itself is quite noticeable when dealing with someone hanging off a ledge. The person hanging has a much larger range of attack then the person who is trying to push them off and sometimes if you're sniping from a tower and you hear the laboured grunts of someone working their way up to you, you might find yourself pistol-whipping air instead of pushing your assailant to their grave. I think gameplay would flow a little better if all melee attacks were treated like the stealth ones, one fast two-character animation.

Another small issue is that the servers still have yet to really catch up on the other online games we're used to playing. You can still be stuck in a lobby for five minutes or up and you still find players dying a good second after they've been shot in game. I don't possess enough tech knowledge to put my finger on what the actual problem is but all I know is that it never happens to me in Call of Duty or Killzone so I don't see why it would ever be excusable here. Another minor peeve I have is the matchmaking system. When I was playing solo I was frequently put with groups of beginners playing against veterans. This is another thing that happened a little too often in Uncharted 2 and unfortunately it did ended up marring my enjoyment of the games sometimes. It's a small problem but certainly one I hope gets improved in the future.

With every online shooter under the sun giving the player more control over aesthetics and weapons, I can't blame Naughty Dog for putting more emphasis on customisation this time 'round. In Uncharted 3 you can decide on what your character wears and the colour of their clothes instead of just choosing the character model. Another little touch that's been inspired by games like CoD is the new emblem maker. While not as in depth as the one in Black Ops, it works just fine for creating a signature tag and it never gets old seeing that tag pasted all over the walls of the map you're currently dominating. Weapons can also be personalised too. Magazines, sights and such can be interchanged depending on what way you want to fight. This was fairly limited in the beta so I can't comment too much on it but I can see this being pretty cool in the final build.

All in all, I can't wait for Uncharted 3, and I will definitely be teaming up with Niall again to dish out the PWNage once again. The game is fantastic when played and ten times better when played with friends. There are a few small issues but they are in no way tragic. The melee system could do with a good going over and the matchmaking system really needs some speeding up but aside from that everything is A-okay. Are Naughty Dog trying to take on the big boys? Yes. Can they? I hope so. This game is going to be amazing. Be excited.

inFamous 2 Review.

Every man at some stage in their lives wants to have superpowers, it’s a simple part of life like playing air guitar and lying to a girl about your age. In 2009, inFamous allowed us to live that dream (the superpowers, not the mime music or saying you’re actually twenty three). We followed the story of Cole McGrath, a gruff anti-hero who had been involuntarily gifted with electric superpowers after a massive blast in his New York-esque hometown of Empire City. The game took many influences from comic books and that served it well. It was a well presented experience that mixed games like Grand Theft Auto with modern classics like Uncharted. With a solid engine and graphic novel style cutscenes inFamous played like any third person shooter but was original and identifiable enough to make it a game that Sony could be proud of.  It also had quite an interesting plot twist that not only left the door open for a sequel but rather ripped the whole thing from the hinges leaving us all waiting for the second half of the story.

Now here we are in 2011 and inFamous 2 is upon us hoping to secure its place as one of PS3’s leading exclusive series. We once again find ourselves in the shoes of our reluctant hero. Still reeling from his shocking revelation at the conclusion of inFamous, Cole is departing Empire City in the hopes of achieving more powers so he’ll be capable of facing The Beast, a very evil, very powerful conduit (mutant) that was foretold in the conclusion of inFamous. 

This game is clearly one that takes inspiration from Uncharted 2 (these days, every sequel does), the story is bigger, more emphasis is placed on cinematics and the action is certainly turned up to eleven. The game opens big with a massive fight with The Beast which features an impressive sprint through a collapsing boardwalk and hundreds of civilians running for their lives. The fight ends badly and Cole finds himself on the shores of New Marais, a ruined city based heavily off of New Orleans. He discovers that he needs to collect pieces of radioactive crystal to power a device that is capable of destroying The Beast. The change of scenery is welcome, as by the end of inFamous Empire City felt a little samey. The new marshy setting adds colour to the world and also adds new challenges to the gameplay. The aptly named Flood Town section of the world is particularly fresh as it forces you to be far more cautious to avoid killing yourself in the water while also opening up way more opportunities for electric water carnage. We’ve got all of Cole’s powers from before like electric grenades and the spectacular Ionic Storm but now a few new powers have been implemented as Cole grows more powerful. These powers are pretty unimpressive save for the new Ionic Vortex which works like a miniature tornado that sucks cars, debris and enemies into a swirling pool of badness. Unfortunately the same can be said for the new cryokinetic and pyrokinetic powers that Cole gains during the adventure. While they’re certainly a departure from the electric powers and add a little colour to the gameplay, you’ll still find yourself using the same powers that you’ve been using since the first game. The sad thing is that new powers are all that’s really new to the table in terms of gameplay in inFamous 2. You do join conduit newcomers Nix and Kuo (more on them later) in battle which opens up for some satisfying power combos but generally this feels like you’re replaying the last game instead of really evolving or changing. Also new to the game is Cole’s “Amp” a large metal rod that looks just like a tuning fork and can beat the bad guys to a pulp. This adds a little meat to the lacklustre melee system but I’m afraid that’s offset by just how ridiculous the thing looks. The new setting also brings new enemies. The Militia are your standard shooter enemies and fit perfectly fine into the world while the Corrupted are a nice touch because they only have melee attacks. I like, it adds a little variety to the formula and also motivates the new melee system. The last enemies to be introduced are the Ice Men, hulking supersoldiers with cryokinetic abilities. A deeper story is introduced for these guys but I regret to say it’s never really fleshed out and they end up being just another set of enemies. One annoyance I have with the game is that there are some ridiculous enemies in the game that take a good five minutes to dispose of. Not because they’re challenging, but because they just take ages to wear down. This really marred the flow for me and I really hope I don’t see this again in inFamous 3.

While the gameplay still might be a little stuck in 2009, the rest of the game has luckily moved forward. The graphics are far beyond that of the previous game, which was certainly no visual slouch. Lighting is way better this time and the character models are a great deal smoother now. This is particularly evident in the cutscenes. The original adventure did most of it’s storytelling in the form of flashy comic book style cutscenes. They were an interesting change but didn’t really sell it for me. InFamous 2 has taken a little emphasis off these and decided to split the cinematics between in-engine scenes and little motion comics and it’s worked really well. This also gives the motion capture a chance to shine. I never expected to be complimenting inFamous on its ability to portray emotion without dialogue but, here I am. There are some excellent deep moments that actually take inFamous to places I didn’t think it was capable of going. There are some truly touching scenes in the game that really made me feel for the characters, both old and new.  Unfortunately, not all of the characters fall in to this . . .

There’s one sizable problem with inFamous as a series and unfortunately it shines in inFamous 2, the morality system. From the very beginning it’s made clear to you that you always have a choice. You can do the morally righteous act of heroism or you can be a bad guy and kill everyone. In theory it’s great, especially in the realm superheroes, but as a game it simply doesn’t hold together. At various points in the adventure you’re given the choice between being good or evil, and every act affects a karma meter. The problem is that, if you want to gain any new abilities, you have to be either good or evil, you can’t just be you.  If you’re playing as a hero and you suddenly decide toward the end that you want to jump ship, you simply won’t advance your powers in any way, which kind of sucks in a game which boasts about freedom. The other side of this annoying little coin can be seen in the cutscenes. I’ll gladly say that inFamous 2 has a genuinely strong story and they’ve made characters that you can actually care about, but this karma system is a massive handicap. Most of the cutscenes are clearly constructed with ambiguity in mind so that they can be used in both a good or evil context, essentially by keeping Cole’s dialogue slim and non-committal. Not only is this uncharacteristically lazy for Sucker Punch but it’s also very unbalanced in two ways. For one thing it creates a large imbalance between general cutscenes where Cole is as bland as a soviet birthday party and the specifics scenes where he actually does something. The other problem that it simply doesn’t match up to the gameplay. In the evil campaign you can commit mass murder and then walk into a cutscene where you’re all talking about saving the world. This was forgivable in the first game when Cole’s peers were just as dense as him but the character development has progressed, the story’s stakes have gotten higher and Cole is being held back. I honestly don’t think the game needs a karma system, I really enjoyed my hero playthrough and would have been perfectly satisfied if that was all there was to it. The only way I think the morality system can actually work is if you’re just given the choice before the game even starts and have an entirely different campaign based on that one choice instead of the one-size-fits-all approach that has been taken here.

While Cole is still left stuck between two levels of morality, I’m glad to say that the other characters are rich and interesting. In my opinion Zeke really steals the show this time around, a pleasant surprise since he never really interested me in the last game and ended up walking that funny line between traitor and friend. I’m very glad to see someone has given him way more depth this time around as he slowly tries to regain Cole’s trust after the last crusade. By the end of the game I cared just as much about Zeke than I did Cole, possibly even more and I take my hat off to Sucker Punch for achieving that. New to the cast are Nix and Kuo, Kuo being an FBI agent who has apparently been sent to look after Cole (or something, I’ve the sneaking suspicion that this was explained in the comic and I’ll be very pissed off if I’m right) and Nix, a New Marais native who’s out for revenge. Both characters are nice additions even if they do have “good karma/bad karma” tattooed on their foreheads.  I give special mention to Nix, she starts out as the typical crazy bad girl meant to give contrast to straight laced agent Kuo but by the end she shows herself to be just another victim of circumstance that’s just trying to survive along with everyone else.

Another area where I’m glad to say inFamous has improved is in sound, more specifically music. Many times during my experience of the game I found myself consciously acknowledging how good the soundtrack was. Even now having finished it I find myself listening to some tunes from the game on my iPod. It’s one of those things that didn’t necessarily need to be improved upon but I’m certainly pleased that it was.

The final new feature to be added to the game is a level editor. This also falls into my little book of “things inFamous didn’t need”, but I guess this will find it’s market and is less of a cliché than “let’s add multiplayer!” (I’m looking at you Assassin’s Creed). I tried out a few user generated levels to get my Platinum trophy and it was fairly uninspiring if I’m honest. I’d say it’d be worth checking out in a few months when the hardcore players have given it a go. The tools are fairly comprehensive but like many other games with the same mode it’s not particularly inviting to the casuals. It’s worth checking out but not something I’d consider being a defining feature of the game.

Overall, I’m glad I’ve played inFamous 2. It’s a good game that you will get enjoyment out of, especially if you played through the first game. While the gameplay hasn’t made any massive leaps, the story arc is brought to a nice conclusion while leaving the possibility of a third instalment, the characters have been given some great development and we’ve had loads of fun along the way. I don’t believe the game needs two versions of the same campaign and I think the evil playthrough adds nothing to the game. If you just play through the hero story then you’ll be seeing the best side of the game while the evil story just highlights the games wrinkles.

Go out and buy inFamous 2, you owe it to your PS3.

8/10

inFamous 2, Hero Edition. Is it worth it?

No!

Right, first off, this is not a review of the game (that's on the way), I just wanna make a quick post about this package. 

The Box.

I pre-ordered this while up to my knees in college work and looking for a carrot to dangle from a stick at the end of the tunnel. I saw the little Cole model and figured "I deserve a treat" and I didn't stop to consider the price. I was so blinded by sheer consumerism that I didn't even stop to consider I'd be buying it from Gamestop, a place I normally avoid like the black plague. So the release day came and I enthusiastically entered where gamers go to get screwed over and was presented with this large box of inFamous 2-ness. 

Now, I had heard rumours that this was one hundred and thirty euro before, but it still hurt me like stepping on an upturned plug while wearing loose socks when I saw those ungodly numbers flash across the till. inFamous 2 retails at about forty five euro in my local HMV so I was really hoping for at the very least seventy euro's worth of product in the box along with the game, which I figure was a reasonable compromise on my end. This is what one hundred and thirty euro got me: 

So, for one hundred and thirty euro you get:

• A copy of inFamous 2 in a weird case.
• A scale model of Cole McGrath.
• A bag based off the one worn by Cole McGrath (that you'll never wear).
• A bunch of DLC stuff (that I can't find).
• A soundtrack.
• A miniature version of the first issue of the inFamous comic series.
• A beta code for Uncharted 3's multiplayer mode.

The Model.

This was the main attraction to the package and I'm suitably impressed with the overall quality of it. It's built quite solid and heavy. The level  of detail is fairly decent and it's painted quite well. It now sits proudly on top of my shelf.

The Bag.

I was actually quite surprised at the quality of this. It's a decent size and fits nicely enough. From what I can tell it's fairly durable. You'll never use it though. This is one of those things that will end up in the bottom of your wardrobe and never be seen again which is exactly why things like models work, they're meant to be left on a shelf and never touched. If I want a bag, I go out and buy it, why would I want one that looks like the one Cole McGrath wears? And is orange?

The Comic.

Now this is the one that pissed me off. I'm paying over a hundred euro for this set. I want the whole fucking comic, not just issue one. For that price it's laughable that I'm only getting the first issue without the other five. Not only that but it's a miniature version, less than the size of a DVD case. The box is huge, you could easily accommodate a whole trade paperback in there. Hell, even a hardback. For the money I'm paying a consider it quite a big slap in the face that I'm getting this shitty little leaflet. 

DLC. 

Just to get this out there from the start, I never consider digital content to be something that should add cost to a game, but I'll address this in it's own post later. Included with this set was: 

• Fifty percent discount of inFamous on PSN.
• Original inFamous Cole and Kessler skins.
• Lightning Hook, Electrocution Grenade, Gold Amp.
• Official Soundtrack.
• Uncharted 3 multiplayer beta code. 

Right, if I'm paying over a hundred euro, I want the first inFamous free and on disk. Fifty percent is simply not good enough. This was also around the time that inFamous was free online but that's not Sucker Punch's fault so let's leave that there. The weapons stuff is pretty worthless to me in the scheme of things (side note: I've played through the game twice and I still have not figured out how to actually try out any of these things in-game), same goes for the skins. The soundtrack is actually a pretty nifty thing to have and exactly the sort of thing that I think any collector's edition should have. The multiplayer beta for Uncharted 3 is pretty cool although it'll be another while before it's actually available. I always think it's cool when studios sorta work together so I like seeing Sucker Punch supporting Naughty Dog (although I'm quite sure the inclusion of the code was Sony's decision). A beta code is another nice little thing to have in a special edition but definitely not something that should ever add cost.

The Conclusion.

Is this a cool collector's edition? Yes. Is it worth nearly a hundred and fifty euro? Hell to the no. The model is pretty good and will definitely be the biggest selling point aside from the game itself. It's good and heavy and will look cool on your shelf. The bag on the other hand will rot away in your room somewhere, regardless of quality. These sets are about things you can throw up on your shelf and display, not things you wear or take outside (night vision goggles, remote control cars). The comic is just a joke to me. The box could easily contain all six issues at the very least. It's a cheap tactic to get you to buy the other five issues and I don't like that one bit. The soundtrack is pretty cool and I've already moved mine onto my iPod. The DLC? Who cares? A few skins and different colour weapons should not mean more money from my pocket. 

If this set was selling for a hundred euro I'd say it was a reasonable deal but there are simply too many pointless things in it. Buy the game on it's own instead I say. 

So, Shall I Introduce Myself?

Hello there, so I'm Graham. I'm an animation student and I've been playing video games for as long as I remember. I started out with an Amstrad and Sega Mega Drive playing classics like Sonic and Double Dragon. Then my awesome mam got me a Playstation for my eighth birthday and that's where the obsession sorta began. So now I am the proud owner of a Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Playstation 2, Nintendo Gamecube and Playstation Portable. I have a fairly respectable collection of games although I bought many of them in a binge and there are still a few I haven't got to fully experience yet. These days I spend most of my time either in college or work so I don't have nearly as much time to play games as I'd like but I still do my best. I keep a close eye on the industry and anyone who follows me on Twitter will tell you that I nearly always have something to say about it so this is essentially what the blog is going to be about.

My aim with this page is to voice my views and opinions on the ever changing world of video games. I'll post reviews up here and little articles about trends, topics and news in gaming. I'll post the odd review but seeing as I'm no journalist, don't be expecting it on release day :). You may also be subjected to my views on other topics such as film and other various subjects but generally I wanna keep this page about the gaming. So stick around, read some stuff and please mail me, comment or send me a message on Twitter if you want to respond to anything.

Cheers.