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Tuesday 23 August 2011

Weekly Wrap Up

Australia finally 18+
            For years Australian gamers have had to watch as all the great mature games that have become so popular around the world were either prevented from being sold in their country or had their content striped down and censored because 15+ is currently the country’s most mature rating for video games.  Luckily that will soon change because this month the Australian Classification Board approved an 18+ rating for games which means that they will no longer have to play games like Gears of War with gore permanently turned off.  I can’t believe it has taken them this long to make an 18+ rating for games since they have always had it for movies.  Hopefully it is a sign that more and more people are opening their eyes and learning to appreciate games as an art form that should be respected.

Project Osborne
            No this isn‘t about either of the Green Goblins, this is the newest project from Ubisoft.  Not much is known about the project but what has been leaked is a little bizarre, yet intriguing.  You play as a Navy SEAL tasked with leading a team codenamed Osborne to stop John Washington a descendant of George Washington who after witnessing his base in Afghanistan bombed turns against the American government and starts a terrorist organization called the Minutemen.  While there are a bunch of modern day shooters that deal with taking down terrorists I like that they are giving the bad guy a back-story and personality which hopefully will lead to a compelling and deep storyline which has been lacking from other games in the genre.      

gamescon
            This past week Europe held their biggest gaming convention of year; gamescon.  Some new games were announced, some already announced games got new trailers and news released and I thought I would briefly list some of the things that caught my eye.  All trailers or sites will be linked at the bottom of the article.
I Am Alive:  This game was announced back at E3 2008 and seemed really interesting because it appeared, at least to me like it was a story about a regular guy trying to survive a natural disaster.  I admit that could sound boring but the lack of power and a tangible enemy could have made a very unique gaming experience.  However the new gameplay trailer is a little different from what I had expected.  The terrain is still a major issue that you will have to navigate through and deal with but now your guy seems to know parkour and he now has weapons which he will use to take out bad guys throughout the city which seems a little weird to me.  I’m glad that this game appears to finally be on its way but I am disappointed that this game isn’t going to be a totally unique experience like I believed to be.  Instead it just seems like a really grounded version of the post-apocalyptic games like Fallout and Rage which we have been seeing a lot of lately.   
Assassin’s Creed Revelations:  This game is coming out on November 15 but if you’re dying to see more Assassin’s Creed you’re in luck because Ubisoft has released a new trailer for the game.  In it we see a lot of in game action scenes as well as some blurring between Ezio and Altair where they are traversing the same area or taking out guys in very similar ways.
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception:  The new trailer for this game is pretty short and really just expands on one of the scenes featured in the E3 trailer but it still had a really cool moment when Drake gets on a plane.
Guild Wars 2:  I don’t play MMOs but the new trailer for Guild Wars 2 looks amazing.  The characters, environments and the bosses oh my goodness they all look so cool!  If you like MMOs you should definitely be following this one.
Wildstar:  From NCsoft the company behind the above Guild Wars 2 comes a brand new MMO called Wildstar which judging from the trailer seems to be a more colourful and light hearted game to target people who may not want to play in a dark mature world like Guild Wars 2 for hundreds of hours.  I think that Blizzard needs to watch its back before NCsoft takes over the MMO space with these two intriguing games.
Prototype 2:  I never played the original Prototype so I’m not really excited for this game but I did like this new trailer because it explains what has happened in that world in an interesting way so that new comers can understand what’s going on.  If you’re interested in this game but haven’t played the first one you should get caught up with the trailer below.
Ninja Gaiden 3:  This game does not have a new trailer; instead it has a new announcement which is that on the PS3 Ninja Gaiden 3 will offer Move support.  Can someone please tell me in the comment section how this could possibly not wreak the experience of this game.  Have you seen the action in Ninja Gaiden you cannot swing your arms that fast and that much for an hour or two and you can’t just pick up and turn on the Move controller whenever you want to shoot an arrow, this is just another lame attempt to paste motion control on a hardcore game that everyone is happy with just to say that it works with hardcore games.  Don’t they get that it doesn’t matter if it works with hardcore games; it matters if it works well with hardcore games.     
Infamous 2: Festival of Blood:  Well that is a cheery name isn’t I mean look it’s a festival, those are always fun.  This is an interesting piece of DLC not just because it screws with the game’s universe by adding vampires but also because of the fact that this will be a an add-on that doesn’t require you to own the actual game, which I think is great.  I mean it is strange when you sort of throw out all the rules from the main game when you make DLC like when they added zombies to Red Dead but I think if you are going to take that route you should make it absolutely clear that this is none cannon and try not to offend the fans.  That being said once you have that taken care of making it available for people new to the series is a great way to introduce people to a game through a small unconnected story that is just quirky and fun.  
The Secret World:  This is a really cool MMO where you play a member of a secret society like the Templer or Illuminati and must protect the world from monsters like werewolves and vampires that most people don’t realize exist.  The game will come out in April and the beta will start on August 26, oh that’s this Friday sweet!   
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning:  Last but certainly not least (Ninja Gaiden with Move support) Kingdoms of Amalur will be released on February 7th.  That’s right Ninja Gaiden your Move support lost to a single sentence.

Assassin’s Creed Revelations: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8XnVSEUcaE
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=503OMvC8t3w
Infamous 2: Festival of Blood: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gdi9f19XWgk
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning: http://www.ea.com/reckoning

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