Brain Hood

Today Microsoft announced a Limited Collector’s Edition of Fable III, the upcoming installment in the popular series from Lionhead Studios.

The standard edition will cost you $59.99 (£44.99/€64.99) while the Limited Edition will go for $79.99 (£59.99/€84.99). So what do you get for the extra cash? Along with a “distinctive” box fashioned to look like a book from the world of Albion, those willing to spend a bit more will also receive:

• A new quest: Uncover the mystery of the haunted forests of Silverpines and earn the legendary sword, Wolfsbane, deadly against wolves and balverines.
• Exclusive location: Unlock a new region, ideal for settling down with a family and discovering new treasures.
• Fable III playing cards: Created by Lionhead, these cards depict every type of character in Fable III including Heroes, royals, rebels and villains from across Albion and beyond.
• Guild Seal Coin: The coin features a Good side (blue) and Evil side (red) to assist players in making critical decisions that will impact the fate of the world forever.
• A new dog breed: Renowned for its loyalty, the Boxer is a brave canine companion worthy of greatest Queens and Kings.
• One unique outfit: Unearth one male and female outfit from the mysterious, faraway land of Aurora, a new destination in your Fable III adventures.

Early shots have leaked of MotorStorm 3, showing the off-road racer taking to the streets of what appears to be a West Coast country in the throes of the apocalypse.

Buildings are ripped apart and concrete flies as a sportscar races through scenes that are reminiscent of Disney and Black Rock’s recent Split/Second, a game that’s a world away from the lush backdrops of Pacific Rift, the last outing for the MotorStorm series.

MotorStorm was one of early flag wavers for the PlayStation 3, and it has since spawned a sequel and a PSP/PS2 spin-off, Arctic Edge.

PS3Gen has the shots, which look like the genuine article, and in the wake of Killzone 3, LittleBigPlanet 2 and inFamous 2 it looks like Sony are going to have a fight on their hands to have any surprises in store come E3.

Often, I’m asked what my favorite game of all time is. Without hesitation, I say Metal Gear Solid for the original PlayStation. Solid Snake’s relationships, the movie-like presentation, and the creepy, skilled enemies blew me away and gave me a glimpse of where the videogame industry was headed — it stole a special place in my heart.

After playing the first 17 hours of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, I can tell you that this PSP game is my favorite Metal Gear game since the original, and it might have a chance at becoming the answer to the “favorite game” question if it fixes a few things.

By this point, I’d imagine you know the basics of what’s going on in Peace Walker — you can of course download the playable demo from the PlayStation Network and play through the opening and get into some missions right now. If you missed all that, this game picks up from where Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops left off. You’re Naked Snake (AKA Big Boss) and you’ve started up Militaires Sans Frontieres (MSF), a group of wayward soldiers fighting battles for countries that can’t fight for themselves. A professor and girl show up on your doorstep and beg you to come to Costa Rica and stop a CIA invasion. From there, it’s on to the cardboard boxes and CQC we all know and love.
The cutscenes hook you in Peace Walker.
You probably knew all that from previous IGN previews, but here’s what I could never figure out when I played the demo: during the conversation with the professor Snake gets pretty pissed when teach assumes MSF will fight for any cause as long as there’s a dollar sign attached to it, but then the game starts up and you’re doing just that. What did we miss? It turns out, we missed a lot. The first meeting cutscene goes well beyond what’s in the demo, and it eventually comes down to the professor playing a mysterious tape — a tape that had the Boss’ voice on it.

That’s right, the Boss. Naked Snake’s mentor. The traitor Big Boss killed at the end of Metal Gear Solid 3.

This is Snake’s true motivation for diving into this powder keg. Sure, he wants to stop the Metal Gear known as Peace Walker (a bipedal tank that can launch a nuke from its back), but he really needs to figure out what he’s hearing on that tape. This motivation is an excellent one. Throughout the 17 hours I played this game, this single goal of Big Boss made his decisions make sense, kept me engaged, and really made a strong, emotional connection to everything that was going on.

Honestly, Metal Gear games since the original Solid have kind of been, well, batcrap insane. Patriots, virtual reality, etc. — it’s been hard to follow and keep a simple story in place. For my money, Peace Walker has the franchise’s most understandable story. Snake is on the scene to find out about the Boss, the professor wants your help getting the bad guys out of his town, and so on. Sure, you as readers only know about a tenth of the real story right now (and I’m not going to spoil it for you here), but as characters get added and the mission evolves, Peace Walker keeps a hold of its pacing and plotline. I didn’t feel lost when I got to the dramatic, awesome cutscenes in the end.
The CQC throw is a nice touch in this Metal Gear.
When you’re in a mission, there’s no denying that this is Metal Gear. You can gently move the analog nub in a direction to have Snake creep that way. When you get behind an unknowing guard, you can hold the right shoulder button to grab him and then hold him hostage or hurl him to the ground. There are the exclamation points, alert phases, and radio calls you’d expect from this franchise, and it all feels great. The aiming reticle on the screen will get smaller and more precise if you give Snake a chance to settle in his position, so popping headshots was simple enough. There’s the camo index on the right side of the screen so you know how hidden you are at any given moment. The gameplay supports the story by being equally as fun.

That story I was just talking about is bolstered by stellar cutscenes and voice work. The cutscenes are done in that animated comic style we’ve seen before where the image is mostly still but reactions and movement gets animated (the flashbacks to Boss vs. Big Boss in Metal Gear Solid 3 are done in these pencil sketches) and the game itself looks brilliant. There was a point in the game where HQ tells Snake to be on the lookout for camouflaged snipers in the jungle, so I was going forward one or two steps at a time and stopping to scan around the perimeter and find these dudes. Then, I literally tripped over one. The game is that good looking — enemies can hide in plain sight.

A bend in the road approaches when suddenly another driver cuts inside and zooms past. It’s brash, arrogant, but nothing compared to what the driver of the passing vehicle does. He turns slightly and facially signals what he thinks of you and your driving abilities. So what do you do? Well, respond, of course, but really … is a rocket up their tailpipe over the top?

Ok, obviously this is not real life – it is kart racing and when May 25 rolls around one of the finest examples of pure fun in the form of video-game kart racing will accelerate into retailers with the release of ModNation Racers from SCEA for the PlayStation 3.

ModNation Racers is the second title in the SCEA “Play, Share, Create” initiative – the first was the acclaimed LittleBigPlanet. Up front, if Sackboy and the ability to create levels, share them, and play online and off were appealing to you, then ModNation Racers is going to be something you will want to play.

It has some of the same elements of LittleBigPlanet. You have a Mod (the little character that can be customized to one’s heart content to be whacky and colorful, or mundane and plain; also that’s where part of the name comes from), a kart, and the opportunity to use a very rich and deep creation system to build tracks. The track editor is surprisingly friendly and yields incredible results.

On the surface, the game offers many of the same racing modes that other kart racers have had – play offline with a career mode, play on the same machine against another player, or go online for head-to-head racing with up to 11 others. Regardless of the race selected, there are load times and the courses are pure eye candy – textured, lush, and colorful with elements that can be interacted with (tokens dot the courses in the career mode and the challenge is to find them all and roar through them to collect them).

Each race is preceded by selecting the speed level, difficulty level, number of laps and number of AI racers. This is an intelligent racer, and the harder you drive (pun intended) the difficulty settings, the tougher it will be to win. There are a number of pre-made race tracks (28) and they are very solid. Each has speed boosts, ramps to jump, and weapon pick-ups scattered throughout the course. Driving solid lines through the course and using the weapons registers style points, as does the appropriate use of drifting tactics in the curves. The style points power up a meter that can deliver a nitro-style short burst of speed – handy for ramp lead-ups, blowing by a close opponent near the finish line, or pulling even with another kart and then using the right thumbstick to side-swipe the opposition and knock the kart off the track. Or snag a weapon and use it to take out a frontrunner or group of them.

There are four weapon types, and they are gathered by running through the icons that pop up on the track. However, knowing when to use them and when to hold them is important because if held on to, the next time a weapon icon is driven through, the weapon possessed by the player gets an upgrade and becomes a bit more powerful. You don’t want to hold on to them for too long, though, because the race pacing is wonderfully fast and a three-lap race can seemingly be over just when you start to feel like you are getting warmed up.

The career mode features a lighthearted story that has some great characters and clever dialogue. In fact, listening to this game is pretty much a treat as well. Not only is the soundtrack capable of being player managed, but the announcing can be pretty funny at times. Like when the overly pompous announcer proclaims that “10,000 cameras” will be covering every second of the race. The more down-to-earth color commentator says that “10,000” is an exaggeration, leading to an insult from the announcer that the only “exaggeration is the size of” the color commentator’s forehead. (Admittedly, that’s a bit sophomoric, but it’s still smile-worthy.)

Online also will feature leaderboards for online racing as well as a matching system for finding races appropriate for your skill level. Everything is accessible through the hub known as the ModSpot.
From start to finish, this is a game infused with fun.

The rest of the formula is pretty stock, though. Race, place and win customization items. Head into the Mod area, and there is a lot that can be done. The Mods can be customized with a rich palette of textures, clothing items, head items, stickers, colors and other assorted accessories – some themed, but all that bring character and personality to the Mod. The karts can be customized with body types, colors, stickers, accessories and kart parts.

And then there are the tracks and the very powerful, but simple-to-use editing tools. From land levels to environmental elements to track textures and shortcuts – everything that the developers used to create the pre-made courses is there for the players to use to create their own. And then everything, the Mods, karts and tracks, can be uploaded and shared online.

This is one of those instances where jumping into the create section is supposed to be a quick drop-in to see what can be done and several hours later, the player comes out with a new Mod and several track designs ready for use.
Replace that mantra of just one more race with “I’ll build just one more track” as hours are kissed off.

Back to the racing … The controls are spot on and tight. Filling the style meter is important because in addition to the nitro boost, you can also get a temporary shield – important when you know you are targeted (and you do know – the game shows you with a red warning light and the sounds shift to let you know there is incoming).

The first time that this United Front Games title was mentioned, it was one of those “gee, another kart racer” moments – but dismiss all those thoughts. ModNation Racers is an intelligent, deep and enjoyable game that takes the ‘play, create, share’ initiative and runs with it. Fun, entertaining, a pleasure to look at and create in – MNR raises the bar for the genre.

Ever since we first heard about it, we’ve always loved the concept behind Way of the Samurai – a free roaming adventure where your actions in the game world have a significant impact on how the story pans out. We’ve always loved the setting too, where you play a wandering samurai in rural Japan. And we’ve always wanted to love the Way of the Samurai series itself – but unfortunately, the series doesn’t make itself easy to love.

The first problem is that it all starts off very vague. You’re never really 100% sure what, exactly, you’re supposed to be doing, and when you do, you’re not always certain how you should go about it. Often you’ll fail a mission because the game doesn’t signpost your objective well enough, or imperfect controls mean you accidentally kill someone you weren’t supposed to. Its intentions are honourable, though. This isn’t a game that you work through from start to finish and then put back on the shelf. Instead, it invites you to complete the game over and over again, trying different things every time.

Died in battle? Don’t worry about it, just start over and play in a different way! Bored of a cut scene? Just whip out your sword and kill the person you’re talking to! Don’t like the clan you’re working for? Simply wipe them out and switch sides!

Each time, the story bits that you witness change, and you earn points to kit yourself out in different ways. And then, if you have the patience, you’ll play again and see what happens next time. If you have the patience. That’s the key – and in the face of some tedious errand boy missions and an emphasis on being in the right place at the right time, or collecting the correct items, patience is something most players will run out of.

Tekken is an exclusive country club. Similar to other fighting games, Tekken has an audience that understands and expects more of what made them join the club in the first place. Tekken 6 isn’t an open invitation to newcomers; it’s another incredible complimentary buffet for its members.

Understanding what makes Tekken different from other fighting games comes with time. Getting the timing right for a juggle and memorizing combo chains for a stronger defense aren’t found in a Tekken 6 tutorial. Tekken’s slow-paced, methodical battles start making sense after hours and hours of practice; don’t expect any pampering from this game. Tekken isn’t reinventing itself or grasping for a new audience (as Street Fighter 4 tried so hard to do before). Tekken 6 knows what it is and doesn’t hide it. That deserves a fist pump.

Namco Bandai apparently doesn’t care what people’s expectations are for a portable game. From its ridiculously large character roster to pleasing aesthetic, there’s no reason to give a pass to Tekken 6 for being on the PSP. This game stands on its own.

However, with no online infrastructure battles (only ad-hoc here), the members-only attitude is reaffirmed. Without a local group of friends, newcomers are left alone to learn alongside computer opponents – opponents that are easily toppled over one moment while being frustratingly difficult the next.

Character customization has lost some of its zeal as well. Without online fighting there isn’t an audience for your silly or impressive costumes. There is self-appreciation in crafting a character that is all your own, but without the chance to jump online and find a knight in hot pink armor fighting off a user-crafted Gandhi flailing a baguette, it’s not quite as rewarding.

EA’s World Cup games used to suffer from a lack of effort; now they’re built to look effortless. 2010 FIFA World Cup exudes the confidence of a development team at the top of their game – orchestrating the bigger picture with myriad subtle prods and pokes, like Zinedine Zidane in his majestic, late 90s pomp – rather than relying on showy gimmicks to deflect attention from fundamental weaknesses.

What’s changed since FIFA 10? Loads. EA claim over 100 gameplay improvements, the majority obscenely subtle, though no less welcome. Keepers are quicker off their line, headers are punchier, players more physical in collisions, short passes crisper, chesting no longer leads to infuriating player ‘freezing’ and player/ situation specific animations are more expressive. Simply, it plays better.

For example, when using the right stick first touch, Bellamy might flick a bouncing ball over his head to keep momentum, rather than trapping it on the ground, while midfield schemers like Fabregas might automatically opt to heel flick a one-touch pass in a crowded midfield. Shooting also benefits from context-sensitive animations, resulting in goals like Joe Cole’s delicate flick in the recent Manchester United game with a simple tap of the shoot button.

Visually, it’s brighter and crisper than FIFA 10, with – for the World Cup teams at least – improved likenesses. Sadly, for fans of Ireland, Wales and, er, Aruba, ‘star’ players like Damien Duff are decent, but more generic – forgivable, given the 199 team roster. There are new, more ostentatious, goal celebrations – Heskey doing the moonwalk never fails – plus authentic manager likenesses, although the cutscene breaks start to intrude.

The penalty system is deeper, but initially bewildering. You need to stop an oscillating ‘composure’ bar in its central sweet spot, then direct the shot ‘blind’ using analogue pushes. Top players have a bigger sweet spot, but the bar speeds up subject to the occasion. Problem is, even when you nail the composure, gauging the length of analogue stick pushes is highly demanding. Initially, your shots either go straight, or blaze wide. The practice arena lets you see how the ‘invisible’ shot pointer responds to your analogue pushes, but in-game, it’s still slightly nebulous. Our tip? Practice. A lot.

The new, optional, ‘two button’ control scheme screams father/son play, mapping complex controls – fairly intuitively – to two buttons. Tap, or hold, pass, and the game will play the appropriate through ball, or lofted pass; hold shoot, and it chooses between precision strikes, chips and blasts. It’s surprisingly effective, but on higher difficulty, feels a bit like attempting heart surgery with artificially intelligent forks, not surgical implements. Still, it’s another smart addition to broaden the game’s appeal.