Computer And Video Games - Previews

2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:31:00 GMT

EA polishes its golden balls...
Once upon a time the biennial announcement of a FIFA World Cup or Euro game was met with unparalleled disinterest. And rightly so: the titles were pure shovelware, produced to make a quick buck out of the biggest sporting event of the summer. In 2008, however, things changed. After an appalling 2006 World Cup game hopes for anything above average for Euro 2008 were rock bottom. But instead of the usual gurnfest, EA delivered its first good football game of the decade. Euro 2008 is the criminally forgotten evolutionary step in FIFA's transition from trade-in fodder to greatness, and though it wasn't perfect* it laid the groundwork on which FIFA built its stock, excelling where PES has failed so gloriously.

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Dead To Rights: Retribution

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:00:00 GMT

Sorry, Florence: the dog days are just beginning...
If you're going to be in a hostage situation, it might as well be a good one. You don't want to be held up by namby-pamby kidnappers who say it will 'be alright'. No, it won't: we're missing Come Dine With Me for this. Piss someone's brains up against the wall, or get off the pot.

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Hunted: The Demon's Forge

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:30:00 GMT

Gears meets Diablo in Bethesda's latest.
Bethesda wants to "bring back the dungeon crawler". Not the World of Warcraft style of dungeon crawler, but the ultra violent, goblin-decapitating, boob-bouncing kind we haven't seen in videogames for many a year.

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Metro 2033

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:37:00 GMT

Moscow, monsters and machine guns. Is it just more of the same?.
The FPS market is immensely successful but it's also immensely full, so the first question on anybody's mind has to be: "How can Metro 2033 stand out from the crowd?"

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Split/Second

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:27:00 GMT

Hands-on: Appetite for destruction.
After a period of lean times for action racing fans on Xbox 360 and PS3, 2010 is shaping up to spoil them for choice.

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Splinter Cell Conviction

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:00:00 GMT

Year ﬁve. Half a decade. Read on...
If you ever feel like being so cold you'd rather die than move another inch, Montreal has you covered. It's a cold we sort-of braved for four days as we sat in a comfy studio eating delicious sandwiches and playing Splinter Cell Conviction for review.

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Space Ark Preview

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:41:00 GMT

Geon makers return with a retro treat.
Do you remember when games were jolly? When the key to success wasn't how angry you could make your protagonist, or how many shades of brown you could coat the walls with? 20 years ago all you needed was a bright blue sky, happy animal hero and a crap-ton of fruit to collect - Space Ark resurrects this spirit.

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Space Ark

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:41:00 GMT

NBA Jam Preview

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:33:00 GMT

Whoomp, there it is - it's like 1993 all over again...
Few games achieve mainstream success only to vanish completely from the public eye, but it's a feat NBA Jam managed. A big noise in 1993, it had all but outstayed its welcome by 1996 despite appearing on multiple consoles. While its style of over-the-top arcade action has inﬂ uenced many subsequent sports games, NBA Jam's day seemed to be over a long time ago.

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NBA Jam

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:33:00 GMT

Crackdown 2 Preview

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:20:00 GMT

New skills for fresh kills, Agent...
True breaths of fresh air are a rare thing in videogames, but Crackdown was a genuine belter. Three years on, it's tricky to recall a single release - let alone a rival sandboxer - that's felt quite so joyously, triumphantly gamey. Nope, not even Saint's Row 2. Hoarding cars, grannies and barrels in giddy anticipation of one enormous napalm-fuelled bonfire remains an enduring memory. Or our sheer joy after the internet revelation that, yes, it was indeed possible to drive a tricked-out SUV to the top of the Agency Tower.

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Crackdown 2

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:20:00 GMT

Crysis 2 Preview

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:00:00 GMT

A new jungle but it hasn't got swamps.
Forget Far Cry 2. The real sequel to Crytek's tropical PC shooter was Crysis, a game so powerful it could only run on a nuclear-powered PC the size of a semi-detached. Until now.

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Crysis 2

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:00:00 GMT

Blur Preview

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:00:00 GMT

Hands-On: The best things come to those who...
What a difference a year makes. Last May when we travelled to Bizarre Creations' Liverpool HQ for the first ever hands-on with Blur, we experienced a Frankenstein racer that wasn't nearly as fun to play as it should have been. And now 12 months later... well, it's sorted.

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Two Worlds 2 Preview

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:46:00 GMT

A world of improvement - but is it enough?.
Ever since Bethesda's stonking Oblivion achieved the seemingly impossible (getting mainstream gamers hot under the jerkin about beardy RPGs) there's been little shortage of wannabes looking to barge in on some grandiose, wizard-whacking action. Pale imitator Two Worlds' most notable achievement was a sales-to-critical reception ratio that could only have been the work of Beelzebub, panned as it was by our man Matt as "a -10 for execution, with no chance of a saving throw." Sage words at the time, for sure - it was an absolute dog - but has any ailing series ever looked as potentially reborn as this one here?

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Two Worlds 2

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:46:00 GMT

Metroid: Other M Preview

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:18:00 GMT

Wii's other blockbuster raises concerns.
From the demo we played last week, Team Ninja co-developed Metroid: Other M is definitely a culture shock for fans.

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Metroid: Other M

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:18:00 GMT

Wii's other blockbuster raises concerns.
From the demo we played last week, Team Ninja co-developed Metroid: Other M is definitely a culture shock for fans.

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Halo Reach Preview

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:56:00 GMT

Inside Bungie's last hurrah - and the biggest Halo ever...
Back in 2007, Bungie invited us to finish the fight. But in 2010 it looks like we're going to be starting it all over again, as we look back to the events that lead to the elimination of the Spartan super soldiers, the destruction of a colonised planet and the galaxy-spanning war that took Master Chief three whole games to finally put an end to.

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Halo Reach

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:56:00 GMT

Super Mario Galaxy 2 Preview

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:46:00 GMT

Hands-On: CVG plays the most anticipated Wii game of 2010...
It's great to see that even after the massive success of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Nintendo hasn't been tempted to "dumb down" Mario Galaxy 2. In fact, in the demo levels we played in London today, the second game feels even more challenging than the first - and we love it.

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Super Mario Galaxy 2

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:46:00 GMT

Red Steel 2 Preview

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 12:48:00 GMT

Does MotionPlus make for Red SteelPlus?.
Consider our expectations slashed. Red Steel 2 takes what you thought you knew and carves it up.

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Red Steel 2

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 12:48:00 GMT

Does MotionPlus make for Red SteelPlus?.
Consider our expectations slashed. Red Steel 2 takes what you thought you knew and carves it up.

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