Thursday 11 December 2008

Mirrors Edge Review

Right here is the first of my reviews as promised. This time we will look at Mirrors Edge seeing as I finished the main story just a few hours ago. Seeing as this is the first of my reviews I will go over the format I will be using briefly.

1. No Spoilers
2. Review Based on 5 categories, Gameplay, Graphics, Story, Sound, Re-playability.
3. Scores for each section will be out of 10.
4. An overall score out of 10 with a brief overall conclusion of the game.

I hope you find my reviews helpful. (Please comment on any changes you would like to see to make my reviews better)

Mirrors Edge...

Gameplay - 7
The gameplay is very fun when it's flowing the way your character moves seems very realistic and sometimes your actually willing your character to reach out and grab a ledge on some of the really crazy jumps. However for all its fantastic gameplay mechanics wall jumps, wall runs, sliding, vaulting it can get very frustrating at times mainly the sheer few bullets that the main character can actually take before dying. When surrounded by machine gun armed enemies it can get annoying to see yourself ripped to shreds everytime you move. The combat system is fairly well done however is rarely needed due to there being little opportunity to fight anyone in the game unless you wish to get killed. With only a a 2 second gap to disarm some enemies you will find yourself dying a lot.

Graphics - 8
The overall presentation of this game is superb in my opinion the white washed buildings look amazing especially when you see little details such as the shadows reflecting off objects or the sun bouncing off a nearby skyscraper window. The areas which you run around are incredibly well done and are very easy on the eye allowing you to become immersed in the game quite easily. The cutscenes between each chapter are something a little different presented as little cartoons this can be good or bad depending on how you feel but i thought it worked well as they were well drawn. However this game falls slightly on it's in game character models they look slightly underwhelming when compared to the landscapes it's nothing major but it's enough to pull you out of the immersion of the game whenever characters appear on screen to talk.

Sound - 8
Although this game has no real soundtrack to base it on as during levels there is no music playing in the background apart from the odd occasion during fights. All you have to listen to in game are the various sounds of your character landing, running, jumping and sliding around various areas and off different surfaces. However I scored it highly due to these sounds they are spot on every surface sounds realistic and every landing gives you the feeling of that must have hurt which is good. However a backing track during levels might have added to the adrenaline while running round the city.

Story - 7
There isn't to much of a story to Mirrors Edge, there is one there it's just not that well explained this game is mainly about the thrill of the chase more than an actual goal. The brief story is that Faith the main character is what is known as a runner people who live on the edge of society and deliver messages to less discerning citizens via the rooftops. Faiths sister Kate is found to have murdered a man and it is up to Faith to prove her innocence. However Faith's past is not really explained very much nor is her real reason for being a runner bar a brief little conversation. Some more detail would have been nice.

Re-playability - 7
With the main story being able to be completed in less than 7 hours and only 9 chapters to it this is a very short game. However there are numerous time trial maps that will keep you entertained if you just like running around the city and also speed runs of the chapters are available if you like a challenge. Although replaying the story offers no new content so isn't really worth doing. Some unlockables might have been nice.

Overall - 7/8
This game is an amazing concept if some time is spent on fleshing it out and making the main story longer then it has the potential for a sequel hit. It's a great first entry to a franchise and I'm sure there will be more in this series. I'd recommend this game just for it being something different it offers a good thrill when your jumping over rooftops and wandering weather you can actually survive if you throw yourself off a building into the unknown. However be prepared to get very frustrated having to replay the same bit maybe 10 times to get it right.

Rent - Definite
Purchase - Recommend

What I'm Playing - 11/12/2008 - 8:30PM

Well after completing Mirrors Edge earlier I decided to go back to playing Lips. I haven't unlocked anymore achievements since yesterday. I won a couple more challenges online against my friends and added a few more medals to my tally, have to reach 100 of each of the 6 types going to take a very long time sigh. I've mainly been singing Ruby by the Kaiser Chiefs sing along if you like.



I've also been playing FIFA 09 played a few online rank matches won all 4 of the ones I played so not to bad.

Anyway that's about it for now so stay tuned for my Mirrors Edge review that will be up later.

Fallout DLC To Change Ending!

Those of you that have finished the story of fallout 3 and have watched the ending, you are probably now waiting for the DLC packs to be released in order to keep the Fallout goodness going. Well the first pack will be out shortly as was detailed earlier. However this concerns the 3rd DLC pack known as "Broken Steel" and obviously involves the Brotherhood of Steel. However this piece of DLC happens after the end of the game and if you've seen the ending you'll now its very hard to carry on after it. It has been announced by Bethesda that they will be changing the actual ending of the game in order for this DLC to work. So those looking for an alternative ending stay tuned. The statement is below.

“In our third DLC, “Broken Steel,” we’ve come up with a way of allowing the player to continue on past the game ending… by changing it! You will not have to load in a new game to play any of the DLC material – though you will have to finish the main quest to experience most of what “Broken Steel” has to offer.”

Here's the Trailer for those unfamiliar with Fallout 3 and wish to try it :) TRAILER

New World Tour DLC

Guitar Hero World Tour has added some new December DLC to the Marketplace. There are 6 new tracks added 3 from Nirvana and 3 from European Bands who i personally have never heard of but oh well. As usual the individual track prices are 160 points with the packs being 440 points. Details below.

Nirvana Track Pack - 440 Points
- Negative Creep
- You know You're Right
- Sliver

European Track Pack - 440 Points
- 54 74 90 2010 by Sportfreunde Stiller
- Dis Moi by BBBrunes
- Mama Mae - Negrita

What I'm Playing - 11/12/2008 - 6:00PM

Right I have finally completed the main story on Mirrors edge just this minute. As a result I'm going to do my first review on Mirrors Edge now that I have a good insight into it so I'll post that up either later tonight or tomorrow.

Anyway Mirrors Edge was an enjoyable and frustrating game had some fun times bouncing off the walls and sliding around and some very very very frustrating times of getting shot to pieces by guards. I only played through on easy so I may start another Play Diary of my Mirrors Edge playthrough on hard to go with the Fallout 3 one I will be starting so stay tuned for that.

I'm on 385/1000 GS for Mirrors Edge now. Below are a couple of the achievements that I selected as the best that I have unlocked today.

That's a wrap60
Complete the story mode on any difficulty
Test of Faith80
Complete the game without shooting an enemy
I also unlocked "Chapter 7 Complete" and "Chapter 8 Complete"

Anyway that's all for now I'm off to play a bit of Lips and FIFA.

Final Fantasy XIII Screenshots Surface

A new Japanese book called CLOUD has been released and included some scans and images of FF13, FF13 Vs and FF13 Agito. The scans can be found over on SCRAWL's blog. The links to the scans are below.

Scan 1
Scan 2
Scan 3
Scan 4
Scan 5
Scan 6
Scan 7
Scan 8

Gears 3 Christmas 2010?

The rumors of Gears of War 3 have begun even though Gears 2 isn't even 2 months old yet. The latest rumors claim that Epic are already busy developing Gears of war 3 and it will be ready for release Christmas 2010. Also rumors stating that Gears 3 will up the co-op ante a long way by including 5 player co-op campaign.

However don't get excited Epic have already shot down these rumors in a ball of flames saying they are complete nonsense and they will not be discussing Gears 3 as they are still developing for Gears 2. Expect DLC for Gears 2 next year I'd put money on it.

Fable 2 DLC Gets Set Date

The first Fable 2 DLC known as "Knothole Island" will be releasing on December 22nd it has been confirmed today. It was previously stated as being released tomorrow on the 12th however Lionhead of said that this was incorrectly published and the official release date is the 22nd.

Left 4 Dead Exploits Fixed Already

This week hackers found a way to exploit Left 4 Dead on the 360 in order to make changes to the games online play giving them an overall advantage. This began to get people worried that their online play would be ruined by these hackers. However this morning valve have released a server fix in order to stop these hackers and prevent it from happening from now on. Although how long will it be before they find another way? Here's a link to some of the Hacks in the game at work.

Left 4 Dead 360 Hacks

"Valve has released a server-side fix to deny the recently reported cheats on all dedicated Left 4 Dead Xbox 360 servers," states Doug Lombardi. "The fix is designed to halt the cheating behavior on the dedicated servers, which accounts for the majority of the co-op and Versus modes of play. A title update for those playing on user-hosted servers and/or via system link will be released in the coming days."


Hopefully NO Xbox live crash this Xmas

Remember last year come Christmas everyone was excited about their new 360 consoles and couldn't wait to get online and play Gears or FIFA with millions of others. However this was more difficult than they thought when due to the sheer number of new Xbox live users the entire service caved in on itself. As a result over Christmas few if any could connect to live and these problems persisted into the new year resulting in Microsoft having to dish out free arcade games to compensate people.

However all is well this year we hope and Microsoft are better prepared with their newly updated service and new Jasper Consoles. So lets hope it's alls well that ends well. As Aaron Greenberg (Group Product Manager for 360) assures us.

"We've built a lot of infrastructure, a lot of behind the curtain no one seed," he said. "This is something that Microsoft is good at.

"We are well prepared for the type of growth we expect this holiday."

"We will have people standing by, more people on hand than we've ever had before," he said. "Knock on wood we will hopefully not have any issues."

Endwar DLC Update!

Information on the achievements that will be added to Tom Clancy's Endwar have been released. The achievements are worth a total of 220 GS leaving 30 still available for Ubisoft to possible add more DLC int he future.


Stormbringer
15
Storm 10 enemy buildings.

Gates of Fire
20
Defended Capital in Siege 20 times in Theater of War.

Lonely at the Top
30
Win 100 missions in Theater of War.

Under Cover
30
Defeat 50 enemy units with infantry in cover.

Unit of Action
15
Play 30 2 vs. 2 matches in any game mode.

Super Soldiers
20
Have 12 units in your Battalion promoted to Legendary Rank in Theater of War.

Oppenheimer
20
Defeat 6 Hostiles with one WMD.

Casualties of War
20
Kill 200 units in multiplayer matches.

Down to Size
20
Purchase 60 unit upgrades in Theater of War.

Rorke's Drift
30
Win 20 missions without calling reinforcements in any game mode.

Fallout 3 DLC Revealed

Information on the new Fallout 3 DLC has just been announced by Bethesda. The DLC will be called "Operation Anchorage" and will expand Fallout 3 by about 4 hours. Details of the DLC are below;

Operation Anchorage Expansion - 800 Points
Release Date - January
Allows players to fight the Chinese Red Army in order to liberate Anchorage via an in game simulator.
- New Weapons
- New Armour
- Covert Ops Perk
- New Achievements.

This will be followed up later in the year with 2 more pieces of DLC known as "The Pitt" and "Broken Steel" dates are unknown.