4 Soldiers on one Amazing Mission…

Published by: Electronic Arts
Developed by: DICE Sweden (Digital Illusions)
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Number of Players: 1-24
Release Date:
US: June 25, 2008
Europe: June 27, 2008
Australia: June 27, 2008
MSRP: $59.99
ESRB Content Descriptors: Alcohol Reference, Strong Language, And Violence.

Haggard: [after being threatened by the Army] Oh yeah? Says you and what army?
Sweetwater: What?!
Haggard: Well, I’ve just always wanted to say that.
Sweetwater: Why?!
Haggard: Sounds cool.

One of the passion(s) in my life, while playing video games, is to be the one causing most of the damage, whether or not the game is based on Stealth, Hand to Hand Combat, or Special Tactics. I always want to blow stuff up in every game I play. Playing the Battlefield 2 on PC was fun, not the best but was really fun. Not that much interested in PC Games as My hands get tired while clicking all these different keys (over 100 available) just to find the right Ammo, Weapon, Shot, Enemy, Getting into Vehicles, etc. and I can go on…But when Battlefield: Modern Combat was brought onto Playstation 2 / Xbox / and 360, I was pleased that finally they made something that I can play with 14 keys rather than 109 of them on a keyboard. BF: MC was their best decision yet since they went from a large desktop size to a small PS2 Compatible Size.

Nevertheless, DICE has always pleased me with their past collaborations with EA, and has done it again with BF: BC.

Overall Game Play:
You start out being the new recruit to the team of heroes that are ready to fight for their country…NOT! These four patriotic heroes, have taken out the patriotic part from their names, and are ready do kill anyone in front of them to get the billions of dollars of gold and wealth that awaits them in distance. Following you (Private Preston Marlow) are, Sarge, Haggard and the loving Sweetwater. Each are equipped with own personality and some awesome dialogues. Along the way of your “missions” as they call them, you will be having fun hearing to these three guys talk. They tell silly and outdated jokes, but still, the environment that you are playing in anything is a good joke even if it is over 100 years old!

Throughout the Campaign mode (Single Player) mode, you will find weapons, tactics, and plenty more things that give you enough firepower to blow big-ass holes in Buildings, Ground and even in some Enemy Troops. If you love games that give you big weapons like a Bazooka or a Cannon Launcher, or a truck equipped with fully Automated Missiles the size of your body, then you will like this one.

One of the other fun parts of the game-play are the health restorer or as I call it the Health Drug Injector. These small needles like things are what restore health back for Preston (You). So while you are running on the battlefield with low health, just whip out one of these small babies and press the desired button, and inject away. The first time I did this I thought…it looks like you are injecting some sort of steroids into your body to make yourself invurnable to any sort of bullet fire or attacks. o.O Guess my thought came out to be true, these needles restore your health back to full life, so if you or your friend is down with less life you just run over to him and thrust one of these needles into his chest or arm and they will be revived…or reborn. Something that US might need to think about giving their Marines and Soldiers that are in combat / battle, it will help them a lot =]

Another aspect of the game that I would like to talk about would be the ongoing battle between the Helicopters (Chopper) vs. Tanks. That battle is ongoing and it just gets better and better with every launch of Battlefield. The gunfire is more realistic, the damage is more realistic. And overall everything that you fight from the Tank or Chopper point of view looks amazing. One of the fun parts is to be in either and hunt down the other. It is really fun…

Lastly, the bad part about Battlefield: Bad Company is that when you hear the words Bad Company, you think well it ought to be co-operative play right? Well here is where my smile becomes a frown (makes me use more of my facial muscles). The whole Campaign / Story Mode is Single Player, even the Online play is single. well most cases it is single, but would it kill DICE to place in a little Co-Op Action into this battalion of Awesome Gaming? It would have been good…

Ranking: 8.5 / 10
The storyline is good and legible and the 3 commandos helping you as a 4^th member of their team is fun. The multiplayer action is good and far beyond what I had thought of for this release, but some places it huts as for not being able to play Co-Op Mode. A fun choice if you are up for it!

Graphics:

The destruction mode, where you go all out on an enemy vehicle or an enemy for the matter of fact, you will have fun while seeing the explosions, smoke, blood (not that much), and it is all good and great for this game. When you fire a weapon or throw a grenade, the fire impact looks realistic this time of the year. The blow up of the grenade is real, you get more a recoil damage from this side of the sideline than from the previous / past versions of Battlefield.

The part that brings down the graphics view of this whole game is the bit choppy and grainy effects in some parts of the game. Not everywhere but some places like when you are running or shooting different weapons you see some grain, but then again not every game can be perfect in every means now can it?

The destruction is what takes your eyes off all the other aspects of the game and makes the player / you focus more on destroying vehicles, blowing up tanks of oil, gas, explosives as DICE this time of the year has added more and more gas tanks and in places where one blows up and does a chain reaction to the hundreds next to it! It is just amazing.

Haggard: My middle name’s “Not Safe”…well, actually it’s Gordon..but errr…
[walks away awkwardly]

Ranking: 8.7 / 10
Destruction and Explosions are great as you will find from the second you begin the game play, few issues with grain filters being turned on and some other small glitches might slow down your interest in the game, but, if you are all up for the fun ride with the Bad Company then you will have the fun you deserve!

Music / Sound:
Probably one of the best war fighting games that I have played which actually had good sound and music to go together with the blowing up effects. The music that they use is the old battlefield music, with a new twist from the 21^st Century Era. The voiceovers are great in this version of BF BC, and so is the sound effects that are used to make the game play much more realistic than ever in the lines of Battlefield.

If you have surround sound, make sure to blast your speakers up to a level where every single wall in your house can hear you blowing up buildings, vehicles and enemies into dust and pieces…

Haggard: [when Preston dies] Anybody got a band-aid? Preston’s bleeding real bad.

Ranking: 10 / 10
Music and Sound effects are well done though there are some lines which are a bit cheesy and old as we say. Nevertheless if you are up for blowing stuff up and being able to feel the sound effects while you blow things up this is the game for you! The music is the best by far in any other Battlefield or War Fighting game.

Overall Ranking: 8.8 / 10
Nevertheless the game is a good collection of weapons, vehicles, music, sound and the realism factor, and it is better than any other war game out there so far. Battlefield Bad Company is different than Call of Duty as it does not focus that much on the war part of the game, but more on the story line as along all the missions that you go through within the Bad Company you will have fun along each and every path. And that is the beauty of Battlefield Bad Company!

Haggard: Oh look. New guy’s dead.
Sweetwater: Already? I was just about to learn his name.
Haggard: I think it was probably Joe. Usually is.
Sarge: His name’s Preston. Preston Marlowe. And he’s not dead. Right, soldier?

Written by: Zain Abidi

]]> http://www.nextgengamers.com/battlefield/2008/07/23/bfbc/feed/ http://www.nextgengamers.com/finalfantasy/2008/07/21/final-fantasy-xiii-screenshots/ http://www.nextgengamers.com/finalfantasy/2008/07/21/final-fantasy-xiii-screenshots/#comments Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:38:31 +0000 JCM http://www.nextgengamers.com/?p=17  

Well here are some sweet screenshots for Final Fantasy XIII.  This I can’t wait and get for PS3!

To view the normal size, just click on the images.

Developed By:Monolith Productions
Published By: Sierra
Platforms: PC, XBOX 360, PS3
Type: First Person Shooter
Players: 1 Online 2-15

I have always been a huge fan of horror & thriller games. I have played them all from Resident evil, Silent Hill, Condemned and even DOOM. But there was one game that really stuck in my mind, and that game was F.E.A.R or First Encounter Assault Recon.

Gameplay

F.E.A.R. follows much of the same characteristics as DOOM and half life, which stimulates combat from a first person point of view. Meaning the body is fully present, allowing the player to see his/her characters feet & torso . I feel this to be a pretty cool feature because in scripted sequences like rising from a lying position, climbing a ladder, or jumping from a helicopter. The hands and feet can be seen performing relevant actions, and in my opinion add a great deal of realism to the game.

Another really cool characteristic of the game that isn’t found in many other is the use of “Reflex time” or SlowMo. In which gives the player the option of slowing down the game world, and in return it allows him/her to aim and react with pin point accuracy and precision. Reflex time in F.E.A.R. is represented by a stylized effect of blurred tunnel vision, much like if you were to cut the bottom off the end of a water bottle and look through it. Straight down the bottle it would be clear but around you would be slightly blurred. Some may think this feature sounds pretty stupid but just imagine this; You blow open a door with a grenade and are confronted with Seven heavily armed enemies. You use the reflex time effect to mow them all down before they even knew what hit them, pretty cool if you ask me. If your still not buying it just wait till you play the game and find yourself in a sticky situation, facing a superior enemy force and the only thing saving you butt from for sure annihilation, is the use of your SlowMo!

Another remarkable aspect of this game is computers AI learning capability. In F.E.A.R. the computer controlled players will actually think and act like a real humans by copying actual human characteristics. As such as ducking to travel under crawlspaces, jumping through windows, over vaults or railings and even pushing over objects to create cover for themselves. In addition the computer players will also use flanking techniques to catch you off guard. That’s right, these computer generated pixels of mayhem will actually order a group of enemies to fire at you while another group quickly and quietly sneaks up behind you. I can honestly say there is nothing more frustrating then killing 10 guys just to turn around and find another 5 waiting to blast you to an oblivion.

Atmosphere

I would like to take a minute to talk about the atmosphere of F.E.A.R. and how it doesn’t follow the traditional horror traits that can be found in other games with an in your face monster(s). But instead they decided to play a psychological mind game by subjecting you and your character to a series of hallucinations . Ultimately through these hallucinations you are finally exposed to the games main source of horror Alma, a ghostly little girl. As the game progresses these hallucinations become more vivid and real, ultimately telingl a story about your character and a bizarre connection to Alma.

Setting

In the game your playing a soldier that is highly trained in dealing with unusual situations. Him and his team are called in to confront and contain an unexplained, murderous and potentially life threatening paranormal phenomenon that has occurred on a secret military base.

Plot

When the game first begins your introduced to a cut screen, to which you witness a man named Paxton Fettle taking command of a small army of clone super soldiers. Which then seize control of the Armacham Technology Corporation and kill all it’s personnel.

Your now called in to lead a small team of F.E.A.R. Operatives and Special Forces on a mission to eliminate Fettle. After a brief battle at the Auburn industrial district, Fettle eventually eludes you and the F.E.A.R. operatives. But is then relocated on a satellite tracking device at the docks. The Special Forces team decides to try to eliminate Fettle them selves but are wiped out by unexplained supernatural force.

As you progress through the game you learn that Fettle was raised to be a telepathic military commander as part of this top secret government project named Origin. As you play through you unlock date found on laptops scattered throughout the levels that help you unearth a dark secret of Fettle. That he is actually a brother of Alma. In return this leads your F.E.A.R. commander to believe that Alma is controlling Fettle telepathically, forcing him to search for the Origin Facility in order to free her.

As you continue to search for Fettle through the abandoned industrial compound, your character uncovers the hidden entrance that leads to the facility. As you enter the facility you are confronted with cloned soldiers and ATC personal, who have orders to ward off any unauthorized personnel. Once you make it past them you finally come face to face with Fettle, at which time you are drawn into an hallucination where you learn that your character is actually Alma’s first son (guess that explains on the superhuman stuff)! After the hallucination is over, you are finally able to kill Fettle and save the day! Ok not quite.

Alma is eventually freed by ATC head researcher Harlan Wade. By doing this it now allows her to unleash all her paranormal destruction on you! At this point your commander gives you the order to sabotage the facilities reactor in a last ditch effort to end the mayhem and eliminate this supernatural being. If you successfully sabotage the reactor make it out alive and survive the nuclear explosion you might be in safe waters. I did say might right? Because as part of the games final cut screen you and the other survivors of the F.E.A.R. team are extracted by helicopter, and Alma makes one last appearance. Appearing to pull herself up from the bottom on the helicopter in to the cabin.

The screen then cuts to black and the credits begin, leaving in the air for a possible sequel.

Graphics

To put it simply they are ok. I feel they could of put some more time and effort into making the characters seem more realistic. I mean you do such a good job on the thinking aspect of them game just to turn around and make the visual part mediocre. In some areas it seems a little rough and parts of the characters body seems too sharp and pointy.

Sound

I guess where they lack in visuals they make up for it in audios. The sounds in the game defiantly goes well with the title of the game. It really does keep you on the edge of your seat and on the tip of your toes.

Gameplay

The features this game offers like the AI learning capabilities and the use of the SlowMo features really separate it from others. Though for being a game based on supernatural occurrences why would they make it so you don’t fight Alma till almost near the end? Sort of defeats the whole purpose of the game in my opinion.

Ranking

Graphics 6/10
Sound 9/10
Gameplay 7/10

Overall Ranking 7/10

Final Thoughts

I would rent it before you buy it, there really is no gain from buying the game. Once you beat the story mode the only thing you can do is play multiplayer. But with the amount of cheats and glitches that are found it’s not even worth it. It’s a good game but the novelty of it wears off too quick for me. I like it better on the PC then I do for the PS3.

Written By: Rick Stewin A.K.A Morpheus

Founder: Tom Clancy
Devolper: UbiSoft Gaming
Name: Rainbow 6 Vegas 2
Platforms: PC, PS3, XBOX 360

Personally I am a huge fan of the Tom Clancy Rainbow 6 Vegas video game for the PS3. However, I was really disappointed with the final cut screen of the first game, and how it left you with a cliff hanger ending. But I guess everything happens for a reason cause the ending had sequel written all over it. And almost two years to the date they have done it with Tom Clancy Rainbow 6 Vegas 2.

Pros

• - Amazing First Person Shooting Action (best I have seen next to MGS4)
• - The new sprint ability really helps speed up game play
• - Evolution to the Console gaming
• - Ground Breaking Graphics and Sound
• - Being able to rank up on single player! Yahoo!

Cons

• - Besides the continuation in the story they really played it safe and stayed with the same style as the first game
• - AI`s sometimes go a little nuts
• - Online play (their working on it)

Gameplay

The new features in the game such as Persistent Elite Creation, or P.E.C. allows players to dress their own characters with a whole new arsenal of weaponry and equipment. And with the addition of the new sprint ability (that was none existent in the first game) makes you one hell of good killing machine. And your going to need it, considering you will be fighting you way through countless amounts of enemies. But hey don’t complain because now when you kill enemies in single player you earn xp, which makes it so much easier to obtain all them new goodies (weapons and equipment).

The story mode now focuses on a much seedier side of Las Vegas then in the last game, with more outdoor combat and more daytime missions. Also, certain mission even have real day to night cycles which is pretty cool. There is also more bullet penetration in the game now, which might turn out to be in your favour or against. The game also has three levels of difficulty (Casual, Normal, and Realism) now instead of just two like in the first.

Another cool feature that they added in this game that they didn’t have in the first is the ACES or Advanced Combat Enchantment and Specialization. This new feature allows player(s) to be rewarded for using certain tactics in the game, in which they are rewarded with new weapons and equipment. ACES is Divided into three categories Marksman, Assault and Close-Quarter Battle or CQB. All of the players kills are organized into one of these three categories.

Marksman points are gained through accuracy and long range shots.

CQB points are gained by successfully combining short range attacks with the use of gadgets.

Assault points are earned by exploiting your enemies defenses such as shooting a shielded opponent or shooting through cover .

Once the player reaches as high enough score in one of the categories he/she is award the new level and unlocks a specific item related to that category.

With the new release of the “Fan Pack” there are now 80 more ACES levels added. Once a player reaches level 20 every new level the player gains he/she is rewarded with 5 000 xp.

Setting

I will try and make this quick and too the point so I don’t give too much away. The setting for the game initially begins in Pic des Pryenees, France, then promptly moves ahead five years to Las Vegas. Where terrorist have seized control and are reeking havoc on the city and installing wide spread panic in both the public and law enforcement agencies. As the plot unfolds, the setting moves away from Las Vegas to other places, such as small town Nevada, which is a total switch from the first game which was primarily focused in Vegas.

Graphics

Vegas 2 really did set the bar higher then ever when it came to graphics department. It’s just mind boggling how real the game is. From the faces, texture, to how the levels load, it’s all extraordinary. Even the minuet detail in the guns are ground breaking.

Sound

If you gave me a gun and let me shoot it when shot in the game I am not sure if I could tell the difference between the two. How they made the games sound so real is besides me. I guess that is another UBISOFT secret.

Ranking

Gameplay 9/10
Graphics 9/10
Sound 9/10

Overall 9/10

Last Thoughts
Just another amazing installment to an already awesome franchise of games, I recommend you all to at least try this game I promise you that you won’t regret it

Reviewed & Written By: Rick Stewin A.K.A Morpheus

Published by: Activision
Developed by: Infinity Ward
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Number of Players: 1-18
Release Date:
US: November 5, 2007
Japan: December 27, 2007
Europe: November 2, 2007
Australia: November 7, 2007

MSRP: $59.99

ESRB Content Descriptors:Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language

Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind. ~John F. Kennedy

I Am Hit! I Am Hit! … MEDIIIIC!!!!!

Don’t you just love that voice for help when you are hit, from the previous Call of Duty 3? Wasn’t it a bit creepy in the beginning but when you got used to it, it became friendly? Want to hear it again and again?? Well you can hear it AGAIN in Infinity Ward’s newest achievement to the Modern World called Call of Duty 4 – Modern Warfare.

This game is exhilarating to the point where you want more and the more you want the more you get sucked into the black hole that this game creates. It is a jarring, intense, and gripping take on war in the new millennia, said by IGN reviewer Hilary Goldstein.

Overall Game Play:
Ever wondered what it would be like to get hit in the Leg? Arm? Body? How about the Head?

Well now you can go beyond your wildest imaginations in COD4, where anything is possible in the World’s worst Battlegrounds. COD4 takes you behind the enemy lines to fight the worst of the worst enemies the world has to offer. This time they are smarter, have better aiming skills, and off course Modern Technology…Better Weapons (for those who didn’t get the joke). As you develop through the Story Line, you get more and more wrapped up into the battle that is going on between the three world powers, British, United States and Soviet Union (Russia). I am not going to go through the whole story line as I have read about it and well listened through it while beating the game. I am not a big fan of story telling and orders, so I kind of skipped all my orders, the way they were supposed to be done, and did them in my own way; Going in the enemy lines and going all out till I am out of Ammo and fighting till my very last Breath…

Before you did not need to have a clue of what was going on in the game, all you cared about was the fighting and the shooting, the cry for help, and the most important factor in any fighting / action game is the Blood and Gore. Well you can keep that same game face for this version of the COD as well.

The weaponry and the gunmanship that is used and portrayed in this game is far beyond any other World at War game that I have ever seen and experienced, being a Game Player for the past Couple of years (almost a decade). The Rifles and Machine Guns are freaking realistic looking with some awesome timing and recoil damage. Even though you don’t see the recoil you can see pretty much everything that is going on from the time you press the trigger and the time the bullet is fired from your gun. The bounce back factor is what threw me off balance when I started this game off, especially the sounds and the blast effect that the guns have while being fired. Other games out there did get to utilize this effect, but for COD and the whole franchise I would say they have done a better job than was expected from them in this feature…

Throughout the story line, I found out that, there are two options that you have when you are playing the game. (These are not really meant in the game play structure, nor are told by anyone playing the game or in the storyline. I just came up with these and thought they were pretty cool…up to a point that is.)

One: You can sit around and wait for your enemies till the point when they start showing their tiny skulls from their hiding places, and then you use your given weapon to shoot them and try your best to aim at heads for 1 shot kill (head shot). And to follow your Officer’s Orders for everything he tells you to do, from the minute you land on his battalion.

Two: If you are fed up with Option ONE which I was in the first 5 minutes or so, thus I decided to go for the following: Find the place where your enemies are hiding. Once those are found, then go and find a nice rifle or a pistol or semi auto, anything that can kill your enemy while you are in front of them. For me the beginning guns were kind of stupid and the ones I had were worse than what my allies had, so I had to kill a few to get the right combo of guns. After that I went around the corner, directly into the enemy grounds, found those creepy crawlers and went for an all out open fire reign. Believe me I got hurt and shot but it was worth it.

For most part of the game play I did not follow the instructions as they were given to me. Come On who follows the real story line? Eh? I never did and never will…it is always fun to come up with something that actually works. Hence, I had fun shooting my own allies, enemies and blowing up stuff with better grenades than last time. This time the recoil in grenade explosion is better than before. You actually feel the whole impact from the beginning of the explosion till the end when you are painting for more stamina and or when you are hurt…though it all recovers in the end…

…

Ranking: 9.5 / 10
+ Story Line…Even though I did not follow or listen to it completely.
+ Realism Factor
+ New Shout-Outs
+ Better Weaponry Arsenal
+ More Advanced Enemies and Better Fighting Tactics against them… (This is the big step forward)
- haven’t found any yet…

Graphics:

When we get to this factor of the game play, it is really what the whole game has to be about. Right? No matter, what the story line is, no matter what we are using against our enemies, all it comes down to is how real it looks to us as the gamers in the mainland fighting for our freedom and our country, sometimes even on enemy soil and not our own.

I believe that in Call of Duty 4 – Modern Warfare, Infinity Ward took a big step forward towards the realism factor of this game. Now you can actually see everyone’s faces and the voice over is actually aligned perfectly (in some manner) with the Coloured Graphics (CG) emulation. The clothing and the overall look of the battlefield / battlegrounds is realistic. Now you can see the blood spatter when you shoot someone, the blood spatter on the walls looks real. The explosions that happen around you are much more real than the previous version where the whole tank just blows up, without showing us how it happened.

Overall I am very well pleased with COD4 and the amount of CG Time that they all put into this gaming franchise to get the best out of the computers and PS3 / X-Box 360 for their loving Fans and Players.

Ranking: 9 / 10
+ Real-Life CG Work
+ Everything goes together with everything else.. Blending
+ The Weapon Design and Outfit Design
+ An Amazing Game Play!
- ..No game can ever be perfect in Game-Play part of their game, be realistic…
- Find some more…

Music / Sound:
Not picky about this part of the review. Yes, to others sound does matter but to me not really, if it is there then it has to be something that is soothing for my ears while I play throughout the Story Mode. In this case, the soothing sounds were the following:

-Firing Noises
-Background Music (at some points)
-Recovery Sequence
-Running and Bags / Ammo / Guns / Shoes Juggling alongside
-The Explosions did actually sounded better…or maybe it was just me since I had surround sound this time.. =]

Ranking: 10 / 10
+ Voice Overs
+ Soundtrack (some points)
+ Everything you are carrying goes along you while running / walking
+ Same old Explosions
- … nothing really

Overall Ranking: 9.5 / 10

Call of Duty 4 – Modern Warfare is a Fantastic game and a great addition to the ongoing franchise of Call of Duty. This is the 4^th Chapter to this gaming monster, and the best improvement in the overall being of Infinity Ward’s Franchise. They have well cooked the grenades, rocket launchers and military vehicles for us to have the best and all out fun that you can imagine in a regular play here at the Enemy Playgrounds. Though Single Player Campaign / Story Mode lacks a bit of length, the Online Play takes over that misleading flaw. As Online Play is filled with great Tactics and a all out war with each another. As friends or as enemies, Call of Duty 4 is a great installment to the Online World, better than any other game out there.

Call of Duty is a Win – Win situation in any Condition!

Infinity Ward has outdone us again…

“There are only two kinds of people that understand Marines: Marines and the enemy. Everyone else has a second-hand opinion.” -General William Thornson

Written by: Zain Abidi

]]> http://www.nextgengamers.com/callofduty/2008/07/14/cod4/feed/ http://www.nextgengamers.com/news/2008/07/13/mgs4/ http://www.nextgengamers.com/news/2008/07/13/mgs4/#comments Sun, 13 Jul 2008 16:03:28 +0000 Zain http://www.nextgengamers.com/?p=9 Metal Gear Solid IV — Guns of the Patriots

Tactical Espionage Action

Published by: Konami
Developed by: Kojima Productions
Genre: Third-Person Action
Number of Players: 1
Release Date:
US: June 12, 2008
Japan: June 12, 2008
Europe: June 12, 2008
Australia: June 12, 2008
MSRP: $59.99 USD
ESRB Content Descriptors: Blood, Crude Humor, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence

A man’s feet must be planted in his country, but his eyes should survey the world. -George Santayana

RISE UP!
And look at the ongoing wars between good and evil through Snake’s eyes. You will see desperation, determination, inspiration and overall patriotism.
I don’t know about you but, I am a big fan of the old coming and going Snake Series. The first ever Metal Gear Solid was good, had various glitches, and the graphics back in the days were worth the game.
As a new era begins for our hero Snake, so does it for us gamers, as Konami brings us to another great year with a world breaking in graphics technology with MGS 4 - Guns of the Patriots.

Overall Game Play:
I have gotten the time to go through most of the story line in MGS (PS3), and I have go to say this, Konami has done it again for our Patriotic Hero.
Snake is back in Action, six years into the future when the war between the Good and Evil has ranged far to supreme for the Naval / Army forces, thus, they have called in our great hero out of retirement just for one last mission, to find and assassinate once and for all Liquid Ocelot, the head of five of the largest PMCs in the world.
Old and Rusted maybe some of the words that we use when we are over the age limit and are constantly aging due to cellular degeneration, but, those they have no meaning to Solid Snake. His smoking, constant denial of recoveries from past missions, and environmental factors due to Age, are still keeping our hero going into the hands of Liquid Ocelot, and defeating him once again in his own backyard.

Another good part about this game is the game play (off course you would say what else? But, in the past some games have had much better storyline / cinematics than their game play) This game kills every other fighting, tactical, first person shooter, action, violence, humor, and any other desciptions you can find, game out there. From the second you begin the game, till the second you finish, you are going to extraordinary styles of combat, using much more advanced and well developed weapon systems, and the best part, the same old, yet somehow stronger, enemies who know you from the inside out.

My favorite part of the game is the shooting. As I said you use much more advanced weapon systems than usual, hence, you get more ammo, clear aiming at your enemies for head shots (even though sometimes they fail) and re-using the bets gun of them all, STUN! My brother and I had loads of fun just toying with our enemies, while, going through the storyline.

The game is not mostly based on its storyline & shooting as it has much more than that offer the players, & Snake Fans and for our sakes Konami has Outdone itself in this one folks.
As going through the story line or just regular fighting, you will see that each and every explosion you go through, each and every bullet you fire you get recoil. Yes! you heard it right, first game after a long time, which gives us the real things. Environmental effects pop up from no where during the game play as you can see pints of dirt coming up and residing on your screen, raindrops dropping through the sky and falling on your screen / camera, scraps of metal flying through the air and falling next to you during an explosion and Snake trying his best to live on and avoid those small environmental effects. The realism factors are outsmarted in this game as every new chapter of Snakes ongoing life is revealed to us.

Overall, I would say that the realism factor that we were looking for in this Series has been outdone and has reached beyond our expectations. The storyline is awesome indeed, and the Old Solid Snake is back in action with one of the greatest hits of the summer.

Ranking: 11 / 10 (simply because I love the MGS Franchise)
+ Story Line
+ Realism Factor
+ Same old Snake
+ New Tactics
+ / - Some Glitches….(kind of in the middle…the ones I found are the ones you can actually laugh while going through…but not that many..as I heard)
- … you tell me.

Graphics: (the reason to buy this game)
In the past, if you remember, the Last MGS 3 wasn’t really that heart breaking in graphics now was it? Well as this new chapter is born out of determination, you will see that the graphics level of this game has gone off the charts. Konami has pumped this bad boy game with enough smoothness that you can’t tell the difference between the graphics of your character (Snake) during gameplay and during Cinematics Sequence.

Then again lets say it once more, no game is perfect in game play, as the bits and pieces of the code are mostly lost in the production during the writing process.
Yet, somehow this game manages to get the best part of the graphics and provide the players with an amazing blend of real life 3D along with lots and lots of (Houdini Master) Visual Effects during the Cinematics Sequence.

The enemies you shoot, the smoke, the fire, the sweat, everything seems so real in this game and it is not a joke. It is all so real.
If you ever watch the movie Beowulf (which I haven’t, but there is always Internet), you will see that this game comes very close (during game play) to the actual CG Sequences of that film.

The joy of the game is the explosions, and the shooting. Every time you pull that trigger or push that button, you are being sucked into the Snake’s world where every damn thing in front of you is another helpful weapon to destroy the means of Liquid Ocelot.
But never forget folks, when going into an all out war, remember to pack some cartons of cigarettes, as you will need them…

Ranking: 10 / 10
+ Awesome In-Game Graphics
+ Lovely Cinematics
+ Real time 3D During Game Play
- I hate his new suit….
- .. list them if you can find some..

Music / Sound:
I am not that picky about the sound since all I care about is the shooting and blowing up stuff around me, but I have got to admit, some of the sound tracks in this game have gotten my utter attention (that is not what you get most of the time from me). One of the best songs of the MGS Series is the “Love Theme” which is “haunting and melodic with a tone that evokes loss and remembrance, this song feels rather appropriate for the sentiment of this title.”¹
The soundtrack delivers the breath taking and heart breaking times that Snake had to stand up and take control.
If you ever get a chance to play this game, make sure that you keep an EAR out for the sounds surrounding you, because you might not know when you might fall in love with some of the great soundtracks in this Multimedia Game. And no matter how hard you try to get rid of the voice of snake, it will haunt your head forever as a memory of the greatest patriot fighter you have ever seen…or in this matter of fact played as…

Ranking: 10 / 10
+ Awesome Voice - Overs
+ Great Soundtrack
+ Same old Classic Music
- … post..

Overall Ranking: 10.5 / 10 (Deserves 5 + 2 Stars)
A MUST BUY!!
Lets go over this again shall we? No game in the history can ever have a perfect overall score, because no matter how hard the editors and game makers try, there are things that happen which we cannot stop, like glitches that only take place on a few CD’s due to production. But this game no matter what glitch you find or what sequence you go through, just bursts out to you.
Konami has taken a huge step leap forward with their MGS Series, and I cannot wait for what they have in store for us as our hero Solid Snake is becoming Old, & Tired.

Remember to get yourself a cigarette or two before going out in the open for an all out war…

Written by: Zain Abidi

Are you ready? The biggest gamers are geared up for one of the most anticipated games of the year. We were hoping that it would be as intense as the first gears of war and it seems as though they have out done them selves. The first 15 minutes is set up to be one of the most intense fights since the first 15 minutes of Saving Private Ryan, and just as bloody. New features in this game are going to be wild as you capture a Horde Soldier and use him to shield yourself in an attempt to flee from the expected rain of terror. Vehicles are bigger and packed with more firepower than ever. Most importantly for the guys, the girls can play along side at a simpler difficulty to make it a little more fun for both of you. Each player can choose their own difficulty, which makes it a sweet time for the advanced and for the aimless bound hopefuls that will be filling our shoes in the near future.