Wednesday 26 January 2011

Guess who's back..........New post for a new year!


Before you say anything I know it has been nearly a month from my last post and I have been a bit lax in getting some writing done, but in my defence there hasn’t been all that much to write about at the start of the year and I have been job hunting, so you know.....priorities.  =)

Anyway all that changed yesterday when the hotly anticipated Bulletstorm and Crysis 2 Multiplayer demos were released. All I can say is WOW!

Bulletstorm
Created by the studio ‘People Can Fly’, the makers of cult hit title ‘Painkiller’, and in collaboration with ‘Epic Studios’, Bulletstorm has you taking the role of Grayson Hunt an elite mercenary from the group known as Dead Echo. Stranded on a planet after betraying your former squad commander you must do anything and everything to escape in one piece. 

In terms of narrative Bulletstorm isn’t going to be winning any awards, however the fast, frantic gameplay is where this title truly shines. At its core it is a simple first person shooter with an extremely morbid twist. The point of the game is to utilize the ‘skillshot’ system, this rates players on the creative ways in which they dispatch their enemies. To give you an example, simply shooting an enemy in the face may net you a cool 100 points, however if you boot the enemy into the air then headshot them you will gain a score multiplier. Each ‘skillshot’ has a crude name attached to it, which I will admit can at times be funny, for example shooting an enemy in the neck is called ‘Gag Reflex’. 

All of this is what makes Bulletstorm so much fun, coming up with creative ways to decapitate, mutilate and explode your enemies. You are not short on tools either with an array of weapons all of which have secondary firing options, environmental hazards such as iron spikes, pit falls and man eating plants also the ability to leash enemies and pull them in close or bounce them into the air for added mayhem. 

It is no surprise that due to its crass language, gruesome deaths and sinister humour, Bulletstorm has earned itself an 18 certificate. That’s not to say it is a bad game or doesn’t deserve a place in the market, but we should be aware that the game was created simply for entertainment and nothing more. There is no moral message behind it, no underlying sentiments that should affect people, it is simply mindless fun. In the same sense of a summer action blockbuster like ‘Rambo’ it is meant to be enjoyed for the big explosions on screen and the fantastical sense of it all.  Obviously with the way the industry is and the way we are perceived in the media I can see this game causing a huge ruckus, with moms everywhere screaming ‘please won’t somebody think of the children’. 


From working in retail for so long I know exactly who is to blame for this problem which the industry faces and trust me when I say it isn’t the developers. I’m looking at you parents. Anyway this is a whole other discussion which I hope to write about at a later date. Maybe once Bulletstorm has been launched and the media shit storm begins.

Whatever your views are on this type of game there is no denying that it is fun. With its great ‘skillshot’ system which is so over the top it is almost satire and beautifully rendered planet I for one cannot wait to get my hands on Bulletstorm on 25th February UK.

Crysis 2 Multiplayer Beta
Crysis 2 is the follow up to the massively successful Crysis from Crytek, damn that’s a lot of Cry. It was hailed by PC gamers as one of the best looking games in recent years and is still a benchmark for graphics cards capabilities. Again a first person shooter at its core but the twist this time is players are able to control the ‘Nanosuit’. A futuristic looking wet suit which imbues it’s wearer with super human abilities such as strength, speed and the capacity to become completely invisible for a limited time.  


As this is only a multiplayer beta I am unable to comment on the narrative on the sequel, however if the gameplay is anything to go by we are in for an amazing experience. In the demo each player takes control of a soldier in the new and improved ‘Nanosuit 2.0’ you then compete in the standard 6v6 team deathmatch which we have come to know and love. 

Tweaks have been made to the control system in its port over to the consoles. No longer do players use the radial wheel to access the suits powers. Now instead powers are hot keyed to bumper buttons or automatically activate when needed. I.E Sprint boost activates as soon as you sprint. All the powers are controlled by your energy meter which depletes while a power is active and refills when they are not.  You are able to use multiple powers at the same time such as armour and sprint however this will cause the energy meter to drop quicker.  


Adding these simple changes creates a whole new tactical element for the first person shooter model, as players can switch their play style on the fly going from a stealthy attacker picking enemies off as they pass by, to an armour clad tank using the ground slam manoeuvre to get right into the fight. If that isn’t enough to change up how each match will play out, Crytek have also borrowed from the Call of Duty franchise and added perks and weapon attachments which each player can customise to their specific needs.

On the graphics front Crysis 2 looks stunningly beautiful on consoles, maybe not as good as its PC counterpart but it can certainly hold its own. To me it feels like a mix between Battlefield Bad Company 2 and Killzone 2, with its amazing lighting and smoke systems mixed with a bright and vivid colour palette. 


I have been playing this demo nonstop since its release and it will most defiantly be a day one purchase when its launch date rolls round on the 25th March UK. 

That’s all for this week, I urge you to go and download both these demos now you won’t regret it. 

Hope you enjoyed the read.

See y’all next time.