Details of combat in Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
The Elder Scroll series has always been one of the best RPG experiences out there and fans have been begging for a new Elders Scrolls. On the 2010 Video Game Awards they have finally unveiled that the 5th one was on the way next year. That's it, no other information about the game. Now gameinformer graced us with a post regarding the changes in combat for Skyrim and it sounds pretty promising.
I've finished both Morrowind and Oblivion and the one part that keeps it similar is the combat. Nearly a four-year gap between the two games, Oblivion combat provides a more similar experience to Morrowind combat if you disregard the graphics and such. As your enemies grow near, you start tapping that left click button until he drops or do the hit and run trick which by the way i use a lot in Oblivion for easy access to good gear. This combat gameplay for me never worked since as i progress it gets repetitive and they were present in both game. What helped reduce the repetitiveness in the combat was Elder Scroll's rich world they created and the many things you can do and explore which is why Elder Scrolls works. But my fear for Skyrim is retaining the same combat with minor changes for realism. They have done this to Oblivion so i feared it may happen to Skyrim.
If the information provided by Gameinformer is true, im fairly impressed with the direction their bringing for Skyrim's combat system. Bethesda will be implementing this new two hand system which allows you to equip anything in any of your two hands. With this, different play styles will be present like dual wielding, two-handed weapons, the common sword and shield. Doesn't sound that interesting yea? well what impressed me was that it will also be for magic. Equiping magic will take one of your arms to be equipped. This concept was inspired by Bioshock 2, having one gun at one hand and a plasmid power on the other.
Bethesda also believes in the repetitiveness their melee combat can bring in past games so their finally going to address it with solution that i hope will work. They have done their research by studying actual melee fights and is implementing the havoc behavior animation system. Like i said earlier, the constant swinging of your sword in front of a foe until it dies has been addressed. This time around that havoc system will be adding staggering effects and camera shakes during combat which requires tactics now to win. You have to pick when to strike or when to block. a mistake can lead you to fall to the ground to be exposed to a heavy attack from your enemy. Your Balance will have a role but how much of a role we will have to see but it's a great improvement because if i know one thing, tactics isn't present in past Elder Scroll Games.
They will also be adding some special kill animations to the game adding a little spice when applying the final blow to an enemy. These kill animations will differ depending on the type of weapon used , the enemy and fight conditions. Hopefully it wont be over the top like a Fallout kill.
Another change is the types of weapons. All the common weapon types will be back but Seriously, what IS the difference with that two hand sword with the same damage stat as to that two hand axe? in oblivion, nothing but Skyrim they will be adding perks to the types of weapons. For example the sword can give you a bigger chance to do a critical damage or the axe provide a bleed effect when used on enemies.to get access to these perks you must train yourself and constantly use that type of weapon. This gives another way to differentiate yourself with your other friends character in exactly what you focus on. This honestly was a feature that should have been implemented a long time ago.
The weapon types concept will also be implemented in magic spells. With fire being the biggest damage dealer, other damage spells will prove more useful depending on the situation you're in. Lightning spells for example will drain the enemies magicka and ice can slow enemies down and drains their stamina. With these now being implemented, learning these spells might prove useful now compared to before. With the two hand system, as you are able to wield one spell on each hand, you have the option to wield one spell on both hands to have better effects for example the fireball spell will hit much harder with two hands but will drain your magicka much faster. These options make the game more interesting and you might see players going full mage instead of the common jack of all trades character having a sword a shield and a powerful spell equipped.
If shooting arrows to poor fellows from afar is your thing, they also have improved in long distance fighting. In Oblivion, being an archer will never work since one, you need 30 arrows for one enemy to drop and two, among the 30 arrows needed to bring down your foe, only 3 arrows has been shot before he has engaged you in melee combat. Now in Skyrim, arrow damage will be hugely increased making you feel like going archer isn't so bad and you can do something to create some distance.
Drawback with the huge increase in arrow damage is it will take longer to shoot. It's fine really, don't want archery in Skyrim to feel like your Legolas all of a sudden. If your still worried about enemies already near you, a bash ability will be an option to keep your distance.For the sake of balance they also mentioned of the limitation of arrows in the game. So pick those shots wisely.
Stealth was improved as well. Stealth will be similar but NPC's will act differently with this alert status their adding. As you get close, they might notice you thinking they heard something. Depending on how good your stealth is will determine if you have time to dug for cover if they feel suspicious. Quite neat. And if you successfully sneak up to someone you can do a sneak damage and the best weapon to use this on sneak attacks are daggers. Finally they gave those things some use in the game. Daggers are essential since using them on a sneak attack will do x10 more damage or so on the enemy. I think they went over saying it would hit x10 the damage but we get the idea, it's gonna kill.
These improvements in combat gameplay sound very interesting and I'm relieved that their taking this direction for combat. The improvements also make other paths such as archery, a full fledge mage or even being a sneaky rogue a viable option to progress in.
Elder Scrolls: Skyrim will be released on Novemeber 11, 2011 on PS3 Xbox 360 and PC.
Duke Nukem Forever Reveal Trailer
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-b78TKZIyw] A reveal trailer of Duke Nukem has finally showed up. First announce thirteen years ago by 3D realms, with its financial problems losing the whole Duke Nukem Developement team. Take two intereactive, the company with publishing rights, filed a lawsuit against 3D realms for leaving an incomplete product. Because of that lawsuit, game development came to a halt giving the impression that we wont be seeing Duke Nukem anytime soon.
Just last year, that lawsuit has finally came to a conclusion. On Sept 3, 2010, 2K Games announced that Duke Nukem Forever is now in the hands of Gearbox Software,creators of Borderlands.
The game might seem old and outdated but come on, its Duke Nukem. It's been more than a decade since the last one so let's all rejoice and enjoy the fact that it's finally coming out. People who bought the Game of the Year Edition of Borderlands will have early access to the Duke Nukem Forever Demo but so far no info on when the demo will be out.
Gearbox Software is still working on the game and is aiming for a may 3 ,2011 release in North America and a Worldwide release on May 6, 2011.
REVIEW: Dead Rising 2
For guys like myself playing a Zombie infested game, is heaps of fun! This Fantasy Creature we call the walking dead has been a favorite to many over the years. Ever since Zombies invaded the gaming world, we’ve been “blessed” with games such as Resident Evil, House of the Dead and the famous Left 4 dead. These games have proved that killing off zombies over and over again and surviving a Zombie outbreak is oh so satisfying. You might ask why is it satisfying to murder these slow, brain eating, rotting corpse over and over again? Heck, who cares, it’s fun! And Dead Rising 2, gives you just that and a lot of ways to do it too. It sucks to be a zombie, it is even worse if you’re a zombie in Dead Rising 2.
You play as Chuck Greene, an Ex-motocross Champion forced to play this game show called Terror is Reality to support his only daughter Katey. He lost his wife during the last outbreak and has been killing zombies for a living ever since. Which bring him to another zombie break in Fortune City, a city based on the casino strip in Vegas. Chuck gets Katey and heads to the safe house where he meets other survivors. He then finds out that he’s being framed for the outbreak and now has 72 hours to clear his name before the Military arrives to clean up the outbreak. The story was not great and is easily forgettable but the gameplay more than makes up for it.
Dead Rising 2 is time driven. Your given 72 in-game hours to do everything that has to be done, and you must manage your time carefully or you’ll miss important parts of the game. I’ve gotten myself in situations where I did not make it in time for the main story because I had too much fun smashing zombies while saving survivors in Fortune City. Don’t worry, if this happens to you, you’re given the choice to restart the story and carrying over your stats and key items or you can just simply load your last save file. The time given for each mission is not forgiving; you’ll be seeing yourself racing against the clock every time to head to your next objective. Just like the first game, Leveling is still around. You start at level one and as you progress in the game, your Chuck gets faster, stronger, and you get skills that can help you take care of those zombies in your way.
Fortune City is a huge place for Chuck to explore. Everything in Fortune City can be a weapon, from swinging golf balls, to using a lawn mower outside to clear the way for your allies, the game has a huge number of items that can be picked up any time. In fact, running around trying every item to use on zombies can be time consuming but still awesome. Besides weapons in Fortune City, you find a huge number of clothing that you can wear to give your Chuck your own personality which carries over on the cut scenes. You don’t only encounter zombies, there are still bosses in Dead Rising 2, just like the first, their called Psychopaths and man! fighting them can be annoying. There’s not much strategy in these fights, it’s mostly hack away and use a healing item when you’re low.
Dead Rising 2 lacks several small things that could elevate its game play satisfaction such as options to plot your own waypoints and less loading time. The lengthy loading time destroys the game’s pace of racing against the clock. The game isn’t that difficult although it gets a little harder as you progress having zombies more aggressive but the gameplay will feel just the same when you hit that part of the story.
The Best Feature of Dead Rising 2 is their new Combo Cards system, where you get to combine 2 items and make an awesome weapon, like grab a box of nails and combine it with a baseball bat and you get a deadly bat with nails on the tip of the bat for you to smash on zombie heads! There’s a total of 50 Combo Cards for you to find and using these combined weapons gives you extra PP(Prestige Points) when used. This is a great addition to the game, as you progress, killing zombies may begin to feel repetitive but The Combo system helps create ingenious ways of annihilating them. It’s great to explore all the combinations, some are absurd and weird while some are just awesome to look at when used on a zombie.
Another Great addition is Co-op play. You get the option to bring your version of chuck into someone’s game or make a friend join your game for some zombie killing cooperation. During my first play through, I played on my friend’s story progression and it’s a blast smashing zombie heads with a friend. Aside from co-op play, just like games nowadays, they have multiplayer. The multiplayer is pretty much the game show Terror is Reality, the game show Chuck was in before the outbreak started. You become one of the contestants of the game show, competing against 3 other people in 9 different kinds of zombie mini-games. In my opinion this was the least fun. The Multiplater aspect of Dead Rising 2 Felt like an afterthought and seemed pretty pointless to me.
The Graphics of Dead Rising 2 wasn’t all that impressive, the character models were decent looking but What Impressed me was the sheer number of zombies that were on screen for each area. Don’t try clearing the area because they will just randomly spawn out of nowhere so it’s never ending really. I’ve had usual Frame rate drops but the frame drops weren’t a bother in gameplay. Overall, the game was worth the buy, it has small issues that if resolved, could have made Dead Rising 2 a better game. It has tons of content, lots of replay value and a fun co-op game to enjoy with a friend. If you enjoyed the First Dead Rising, you will love the second one for sure.
Score: 85/100
REVIEW: Call of Duty: Black Ops
One year since the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Activision decides to release a 7th installment in the Call of Duty series. Call of Duty was always about those intense moments in Single Player but now they slowly evolved in also providing us with a satisfying Multiplayer formula that just works. Treyarch, The developers of Call of Duty: World at War decided to take another shot on another Call of Duty Title. With the success of Modern Warfare 2, this was the must buy Title in 2010 and is expected to be just as good as Modern Warfare 2. After completing the Campaign, killing zombies as JFK and spending at least 24 in-game hours into multiplayer, this Call of Duty Title still maintains the thing we love about this franchise and improved it for the better.
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Developer: Treyarch
Publisher: Activision
Platform: PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, DS, PC
Rating: MA 15+(PS3, Xbox 360, PC) M(Wii and DS version
Release: 11/9/10
Story and Presentation
Black Ops provides us with 3 modes to play around with. Single Player, the famous Multiplayer and Zombies. With just these 3 modes and some Easter eggs to find, this title delivers a huge package for players.I’ll say this right off the bat. Compared to all Call of Duty Single Player Campaigns, Black Ops Campaign is the best in series. While the intense moments that Call of Duty is famous for is still intact, with intense gun fights, cool breeching scenarios and the most brutal Call of Duty Title yet, everything was led by a great story. Throughout the campaign you mostly control Alex Mason. Alex wakes up and finds that he is strapped into a chair and is being constantly asked about past operations that he was in and the purpose of a series of numbers. Most of the missions are flashbacks of past Operations. Not only do you relive past Missions of Mason but you also relive certain Operations of different individuals that have a part in uncovering the truth.
Having Alex Mason being the center of the whole story gives a different feel compared to other Call of Duty franchise which I appreciate. Each mission is completely different that keeps the pace fresh. From the war in Vietnam, exploring an abandoned ship in Russia, to the roofs of Hong Kong, you’re always dumped into fresh environments that keep you interested. As I said, the story is top-notch. And at first it may seem confusing but everything comes together in unison that leaves you jaw dropped in the end.
Treyarch retained the reason why the Call of Duty Franchise is a success and made it their own by providing elements not seen before in the past Titles. World at War was their last Call of Duty game and they made a huge leap with Black Ops showing people that they are still around and better than before. With titles like these, because of multiplayer, Single Player gets overshadowed instantly. Treyarch created a Single Player Experience that won’t make you feel like you want to just jump back into the multiplayer action but rather to know what happens next in the story. It’s hard to pull that off nowadays but Black Ops Single Player proves that it can still be done with a deep multiplayer in the mix.
There’s more to it than twenty against one gun fights in Black Ops. The Single Player provides a lot of scenarios that you get to experience. From rappelling and breaching through the windows, flying an apache through the Vietnam jungle, alerting your squad in a SR -71 Blackbird if danger is near, there’s a lot of instances like those to keep you at the edge of your seat. The fact that the story revolves around one man rather than a squad or an organization feels like events were ripped out of an action movie.
Aside from the impressive Single Player mode, we have mode called Zombies. It’s the replacement of Modern Warfare’s Co-op Spec ops missions. It’s pretty much you and 3 other friends surviving a zombie apocalypse. If you remember the Nazi Zombies mode then you will feel right at home here. As you try to survive, the Character you are using usually make comments that are hilarious, especially what JFK says when fighting the undead. You are placed in an area to hold waves of zombies as long as you can. You earn Money by killing zombies and rebuilding Barricades, and can use those funds to buy weapons, ammo, and buffs. You also have to use your money to access other rooms of the stage that provide better weapons and traps to prolong the inevitable. It’s a great mode to take a break and enjoy some zombie killing fun with some friends.
Gameplay Graphics and sound
Call of Duty has this similar formula when it comes to their Gameplay. In Black Ops, they retain the same mechanics which die-hard fans love so dearly. Even the HUD is exactly the same. It may be similar to previous Call of Duty games, but who’s complaining? I’m not. For me, their gameplay just works. The guns feel great too. Each gun has a different feel when fired. You can feel the accuracy or rate of fire of each gun that you can easily tell if that certain gun is right for you or not. Gun sounds and explosion were also well done that might just satisfy a gun enthusiasts but I doubt it. As long as it doesn't sound like pee shooters and sounds close to the real thing I’ll be happy.
In Single Player, each level you have a starting primary and secondary weapon. Usually there’s enough ammo for you to retain the same guns from the start but there are so many guns lying around with different attachment that it’s a trip looking around to find guns like an AK-47 with a Flamethrower attachment. Some Guns are always seen placed conveniently for the player to see as if they are giving you a hint on what’s to come. Throughout the course of my play through I was using different kinds of guns found in the mission that proved effective.
AI could have been better, but it felt similar to Modern Warfare 2 AI. There’s no random AI standing in the open, but you still have those weird AI where they don’t get the memo that the player has flanked him. Even after a few hits, the AI still doesn't adjust.
The Graphics were great but there’s only slight improvement in detail if you compare it with the last Call of Duty title. Map Designs have more detail and lighting, and character models in single player were well designed in detail showing decent emotions. Single Player is where you can see the improvement in graphics. The multiplayer on the other hand is exactly the same as Modern Warfare 2. Map Design and Character design in terms of detail are exactly the same. There's n
Multiplayer!
Now that everything else is out of the way. It’s time to talk Multiplayer. The Multiplayer experience that makes players spends 80+ hours online reaching that 6th or 8th prestige. Fear not. Everything is intact with changes for the better.
One thing to take note right away is that now there’s an economy system. Aside from earning experience, you earn COD points. These points are spent to get everything the Multiplayer has to offer. From Kill streaks, Weapons, Weapon attachments, perks, equipment, everything. If you have enough money, you can get it. It lessens the grind to get that specific load out. Any perk can be bought at any time just like attachments. Buying attachments was a relief in Black Ops. The constant grind to unlock a specific attachment in Modern Warfare 2 was a chore. The economy system is a great addition to multiplayer, giving players better control on his/her progression as they level up.
The unlock system is still around. You unlock new guns, buy you don’t have access to them yet, you still need to buy it to be accessible. Aside from unlocking guns, you unlock other features in Multiplayer. Besides the usual unlocking custom classes, You can customize your character and your gun in many ways now. Gun Camo, face camo, and changing their Red dot reticle shape and color. You can also place your logo into your gun and clan name, which by the way is hard to notice on certain guns. These features will be unlocked as you progress in level.
You can be a little creative too in Black Ops. which has an option to create your own logo. You are given shapes to buy to make your own logo. You also buy layers so you may put more shapes to create a cool looking logo that represents you. There’s a series of shapes and images you can purchase to create your own logo. It’s a cool feature to further customize in the game.
If I have to describe Black Ops multiplayer in one word, it would be “balanced”. All the problems and exploits in Modern Warfare 2 are addressed in this title. You won’t have some kid running around with a knife knifing people, stacking up kills with kill streaks and getting 30 -8 K/D anymore. I really hated that style. With Black Ops, the feel is more of what the multiplayer felt like in the first Modern Warfare. Perks are still around and finally feels like a bonus instead of an exploit waiting to happen. Right off the bat Black Ops has a total of 14 maps to play in. Each map is well designed, making you change your style of play depending on the map and mode.
Kill streaks are of course are back with many changes. They also feel balanced. Kill streak rewards don’t stack up your kill streaks anymore so achieving them is rewarding again. When you see someone unleash attack dogs, it’s either he was lucky with the Care Package drop(kill streak reward that rewards a random killstreak) or he literally got 11 kills in a row. This is how the Killstreaks should be; it should feel like an award for your success in the match. And I just want to say it, the RC- XD kill streak is just fun!
There’s a new feature in Call of Duty: Black Ops called Contracts. Think of them as mini goals during a match. You spend COD points to buy these contracts. When you complete the contract you earn more than the amount of COD points spent. Some contracts also reward XP along with COD points. You can buy 3 contracts in total. The goals of these contracts are usually for example kill 25 people with a silencer or be the top player in 2 domination matches.
The contracts available for purchase changes every 8 hours and contracts already finished may be repurchasing a few hours later if available after the 8 hours cycle. This is a great way to earn quick COD points and level up faster and it gives you something else to aim for during a match. Contracts don’t stay forever until finished, most contracts have the duration of an hour or 30 mins so if not successful the money spent on the contracts will be wasted. These small additions can make a difference into making matches very interesting and different. With the contracts you see players using different kinds of guns, kill streaks or attachment in attempt to complete the contract.
The usual game modes are still around but Black Ops has introduced something new that’s a good addition to their multiplayer. Wager matches are matches that make u place an ante at the lobby. At the end of the match, the top 3 players will be what Treyarch calls “ in the money” and will earn COD points depending if their 1st, 2nd or 3rd. There are five wager match modes to choose from.
One in the Chamber, Sticks and Stones, Sharpshooter and Gun game. Each of these modes is really fun and unique to play with friends or be competitive with other players. There are 3 levels of ante’s to choose from. First one makes you bet a small amount while the next 2 makes you cough up a lot of dough. Playing the higher ante’s can provide a lot of pressure when playing the match. Risk 1,000 COD to earn more COD points? It all depends if you want to take the gamble.
Treyarch has also provided a Combat training mode in multiplayer. Yes you can practice! You can set up a match to practice with a bunch of AI if you don’t feel confident yet or you want to work on something specific. You can level up and earn XP and COD points for practice but the points and XP don’t carry on your actual account. Pretty neat if you ask me, a way to practice with unfamiliar load outs without hurting your stats.
Aside from Combat Mode you have Theatre mode, the last 10 games will be recorded and you have the choice to replay certain matches to get info if you choose. Aside from that you can save specific replays to share with your friends and the community. Got a 5 kill with one grenade??? Or a random tomahawk throw kill? You can view that replay and record that specific part of the replay into a new file. You can then upload it and share it.
With all these modes added in, Treyarch finally has given an option to play split screen online. A feature long overdue, you get to play online and level with a buddy in one console. Sadly, and I don’t know why it’s different, only the Xbox version allows you to do online splitscreen with 2 different profiles leveling up differently while the PS3 version you’re not allowed to do so. In the PS3 version your buddy will have to work with whatever you have unlocked and pick from whatever load out you have made. Why that is feature exclusive to Xbox?? Ask Activision and get back to me on that one because id like to know as well.
Overall
Now this Title is a PACKAGE. You have a robust Single Player Campaign that hooks you in for 10 hours. A co-op zombie mode that makes you either go split screen or tackle the zombie apocalypse with 3 other friends online. And of course the famous COD multiplayer mode that everybody loves and adores. It’s worth every penny. Treyarch should be proud of this Title. If you like First Person Shooters, this game is for you. Black Ops has something to offer for any First Person Shooter fan and should not be ignored. Finally we have a game that was hyped up so much and didn’t disappoint.
Score: 95/100
Customization Trailer
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0_r4-eTmlA&feature=player_embedded]