Computer And Video Games - Previews

BioShock 2 Hands-On Preview

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:27:00 GMT

Big Sisters, Rivet Guns and aggressive, beautiful Rapture.
Last month PSM3 Magazine got down and dirty in the first BioShock 2 hands-on and yesterday morning, with notepad and extra strong coffee in hand, we travelled to Take-Two in Windsor to do the same.

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BioShock 2 Hands-On Preview

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Welcome home Daddy...
That's our first bit of bad news. Big Sister, who was previously presented as BioShock 2's hyper-agile, Terminator-unstoppable, main villain - isn't alone. Worse, she's part of an army of Big Sisters. Plural. But the really bad news is that they're being led by an all-new, previously secret, villain, Sophia Lamb, a political rival of... Andrew Ryan, one of the main antagonists of the original game. But can a second visit to Rapture be as, well, rapturous? Our exclusive hands-on - in San Francisco, home of its developer 2K Marin - suggests the sequel still has the capacity to thrill.

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Aliens vs. Predator Preview

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:00:00 GMT

Hands-On: Three's a crowd.
Playing Aliens vs. Predator 2010's multiplayer mode fills us with 1999 nostalgia. And yet, in some respects, this update of the old PC classic feels like a very different beast entirely.

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Assassin's Creed II Hands-On Preview

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:53:00 GMT

Sequel's opening hours unravelled.
When Ubisoft says it's looking to fix the niggles of the first Assassin's Creed, it's not joking. Assassin's Creed II oozes choices and check boxes to keep the preferences of fans and critics in check. You can turn off each item on the HUD, switch historically inaccurate English into full Italian, opt not to accept that mission collecting feathers on the rooftops and even adjust the frequency of fancy killing move camera angles.

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Modern Warfare 2 Hands-On Preview

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:26:00 GMT

Preview: We've played it again.
Yesterday morning we got another chance to see Modern Warfare 2 as part of Infinity Ward's epic European tour. It was a more laid back affair than last month's multiplayer event in Los Angeles and felt less like we were being treated to something completely 'new' but we did get a chance to catch up with Robert Bowling (Infinity Ward's adopted spokesman and Creative Strategist) see some more single-player and have a go on Special Ops.

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Dark Void

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:35:00 GMT

Jet pack willy vs the generic space robots...
Despite the crap name - equal to 'murky emptiness' - Dark Void is shaping up to be more of a Dead Space and less of an Infinite Undiscovery. Not that even Airtight themselves were too confident that the hoaky 'aliens are invading, you're sucked into a parallel world called the Void, team up with human survivors to fight little green blah' set-up was worthwhile - which is why it's been set back to early next year.

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Hydrophobia Hands-On Preview Pt. 2

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:00:00 GMT

Part 2 of Kate's XBLA revolution...
Water here, water there, water, water everywhere. Water is the game: before the Queen of the World, before the Neo-Malthusian politics, before Kate even, Hydrophobia was about one thing and one thing only. Water. That wet stuff. You know.

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World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Preview Pt. 1

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 10:03:00 GMT

The end of the world.
The roar isn't any less deafening the third time around. Welcome to Blizzcon, the now annual celebration Blizzard host for their community. 20,000 loyal World of Warcraft fans have gathered in Anaheim, California, a goblin's throw from Disneyland, to see what their developer idols have in store for their favourite game. Expectations are running high. Even so, we've been here before. This is the fourth Blizzcon, the third expansion, and the third time Blizzard have extended World of Warcraft.

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Final Fantasy XIV

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:19:00 GMT

Square bravely attempt an accessible console MMO.
Square's last MMORPG (massively multi-player online role-playing game) was Final Fantasy XI. We reviewed it way back in issue 49 and gave it 85%, citing its major problem as a lack of accessibility. Because if you didn't have a large group of friends, all with PS2s, special PS2 hard-drives and import copies of the game, the fun was severely limited. But that's all changed in XIV, a timed PS3 exclusive. We interviewed producers Sage Sundi and Hiromichi Tanaka at GamesCom and they explained the changes they've made to make new MMO, FFXIV, fun for everyone, not just groups of friends.

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Fable III Preview

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 10:46:00 GMT

King Wrong.
Did you treat your kid well in Fable II? Did you take care of them? Feed them? Clothe them? Give their mother plenty of money for when you're off hunting gargoyles, digging treasure or satisfying the whims of those annoying demon doors? Or did you father multiple sprogs with multiple wenches, kill your demanding other half rather than pay her any maintenance money, then fart in your child's face, laughing heartily as social services took the traumatised toddler off your hands? Er, us neither.

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Fable III

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 10:46:00 GMT

Mafia II

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 11:00:00 GMT

The don of GamesCom wants GTA to sleep with the fishes.
Walking into GamesCom, few could have imagined that the Game of the Show would be a coin flip between Splash Damage's Brink and 2K Czech's Mafia II. A ball-achingly dull Modern Warfare 2 presentation coupled with Bioshock 2's no-show helped somewhat, but even against the biggest of big hitters we're confident of Mafia II holding its own. One to watch? Like you wouldn't believe.

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Tony Hawks: Ride

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 10:12:00 GMT

Hands... erm, feet-on preview.
When the Wii first launched a spate of comical videos showing punters smashing expensive TV sets with sweaty and slippery Wii Remotes hit the net. This coming Christmas a new batch of videos is likely to appear, although it'll be heads, not controllers, hurtling through screens the world over.

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Diablo III Hands-On

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:50:00 GMT

Finding entertainment in evisceration: what it's like to play Diablo III.
The bleed effect is just ridiculous. Awesome in its spectacle, brilliant in its execution. It works like this: Diablo III's monk class plays as if he's stepped out of God of War, or any other console brawler. If he chains three punches in quick succession, he can set up a finishing move. One is a flashy flurry of strikes like something from the Pokemon cartoons - zipping through the air and hitting everything in range. You could finish your flurry with one epically violent slap - knocking your target backwards with full force through the scenery.

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James Cameron's Avatar Preview

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 11:43:00 GMT

James Cameron's James Cameron's Lost Planet. By James Cameron.
Pandora's war has two sides. One faction consists of the human invaders, bearers of devastating weaponry, pilots of mechanised infantry and yellers of crass one-liners. In the opposite corner sits the Na'vi, a race of blue-skinned indigenous warriors armed with spears, bows and some slightly vicious plants. Which side you pick dictates the genre you play. Sadly, neither of them is all that great.

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Tropico 3 Preview

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:08:00 GMT

Quiet, peasants! David Brown, your glorious leader, wishes to speak.
I put it to you, dear readers, that a lot of people remember the first Tropico game fondly. I also put it to you that of those people, only a minority actually gave it any significant degree of time. Let's forget about the second game - where the setting was changed from a fictional Caribbean socialist paradise to a community of bloodthirsty, grog-swilling pirates - and concentrate on the first one, because this is where Tropico3 is picking up thebaton. No buccaneers here, just honest citizens and corrupt leaders of revolutions.

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Hydrophobia Hands-On Preview

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:16:00 GMT

Hands-on with the watery romp...
By the year 2051 the world's population will have hit a staggering total of 9.8 billion. Mankind's resources will be unable to cope with the demands. Clean water will be hard to source. Food supplies are projected to be even tougher to maintain. Space shortages will give rise to housing problems. For many the world will not end in a bang - rather it will wither away slowly as its inhabitants are starved and left without the basics needed for life.

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Hydrophobia

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:16:00 GMT

Assassin's Creed II Hands-On

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 01:00:00 GMT

Preview: We play the Tokyo Game Show demo.
We saw Assassin's Creed II at Gamescom in Germany earlier this year and were blown away by what we saw. But any attempt to lunge at the controller got us a slap on the wrists. Fortunately, Ubi was back in town and this time willing to hand over the pad to us writer types.

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Splinter Cell: Conviction Hands-On Preview

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 01:00:00 GMT

Preview: TGS demo demolished.
Ubisoft has definitely been watching 24. Like Jack Bauer himself, Splinter Cell protagonist Sam Fisher has "gone rogue" a million times before. But this time Sam's properly pissed off with his old employers; his daughter's been 'killed', dirty stubble sits on his face and he's head-shotting mercenaries as if to impress the loud-mouthed announcer from Quake III Arena.

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Alpha Protocol

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:03:00 GMT

We spend two hours playing Sega's impossibly deep spy RPG.
You could accuse Alpha Protocol's hero Michael Thornton of being bland. After all, he's a spectacularly generic caucasian 20-something with short hair - the 'go to' character design for every action game in the world. But this is entirely intentional, because Michael Thornton is you. He's been specifically designed as a blank canvas; a host for your own personality and playing style.

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GTA IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:30:00 GMT

Preview: Time to go nuts.
Within an hour of playing The Ballad of Gay Tony, we'd leapt from the window of a skyscraper and parachuted onto a moving truck below, shot military helicopters out of the sky with an explosive shotgun, shot missiles at a rich guy's yacht and stolen the front carriage of a moving subway train via helicopter. We didn't blink once.

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Borderlands

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 09:00:00 GMT

Land of the glee.
The Man with No Name strolls into Fyrestone with nothing but a date with death on the cards. Dr Death, that is. Or Dr Zed, if you're being picky. Ducking under the awning of the black market body-part-dealer's caravan, No Name's greeted by a wretched sight: a dead body splayed over a rusting table, amputated legs left to fester in a bin, skulls sat in a line on bookshelves and blood absolutely everywhere. Awkward.

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DJ Hero

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 08:56:00 GMT

The city of Heroes expands...
The problem with Guitar Hero and Rock Band is that the games are slaves to the music. Neversoft, Harmonix and anybody else who develops a band-centric game is at the mercy of their soundtracks - and all the licensing woes these give rise to. True, music games are all about the music and the subsequent appeal of 'playing' a track. But when a song fails to be interesting there's little a developer can do save for adding phantom notes and ruining the simulation they were originally striving for.

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Tekken 6

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 13:15:00 GMT

Pandas and leopards and kangaroos, oh... good?.
You'll have to imagine this preview is being whispered in your ear as we don't want Michael Gapper to hear this, but... Tekken is - in some ways - a lot more fun than Street Fighter. We make no bold claims for it on any technical level, to us it's always just been 'the silly scrapper', perfect pissed-up post-pub pugilism that will reduce you to a heap of giggles at a piece of outré inanity just as often as it will get you fired up for a fight. It's always been a button-masher with none of the complex nuance of SFIV's combos, but what it does have is balls, and humour, and the option to punch a kangaroo square in the tits.

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