As you are all aware, Dirt 3 was released on Friday and after reviewing the game we are pretty convinced that this evolution of the title is hands down the best of the lot, offering accessible pick and play gaming at a break neck speed that will make your eyes bleed.

To mark this momentous occasion we are giving you the chance to win, not only, a copy of Dirt 3 on your chosen format but also a T-shirt, Ltd Edition Dirt 3 poster signed by the development team and Kris Meeke, a bottle opener and also a badge set.  Ooh, I forgot to tell you that we have two sets of the grand prizes that include the game with a couple of runners up bags that will include a t-shirt, poster, bottle opener and badge set.

To be in with a chance to win these great prizes you will need to answer a very easy but specific rally question.

How many manufacturers did Colin McRae drive for?

Please e-mail your answer along with your name and contact number by the closing date, which is Friday, May 27th, to the following e-mail address – dirty@mature-gaming.com.  All winners will be notified and their details passed on to Codemasters for delivery of the game.

Rules

• The competition is open to U.K and EU residents only.
• The minimum age for entries due to the rating on the title is 18 (if you’re under 18, you shouldn’t be here you naughty kids!)
• I.D. checks may be carried out to verify your age and if found to be unsatisfactory you maybe excluded from the competition.
• People with the correct answers will be drawn from a hat at random and contacted within 2 days of the closing date.
• The judges decision is final.
• Any suspected breaking of these rules will result in your entry being disqualified.
• Only one entry per person.
• Mature-gaming.com reserves the right to withdraw the competition at any time.

Related posts:

1. Win a copy of Skate 3
2. Codemasters confirms Dirt 3 (sort of)
3. Dirt 3 dated

Banding together in disparate factions, elite soldiers use their diverse talents and quick reflexes to carve out their place in a world where the land you fight and die for is the only land you control. Powerful alliances emerge and leverage their gains to create weapons of war, elevating the scale of conflict and heightening the drama of battle.

The game starts with you having to choose one of four character sets, Medic, Assault, Recon or Robotics.

Medic

The Medic is the healer unit of the game. His primary role is to keep teammates alive while staying out of trouble. He also has the power to unleash biological attacks. The Medic is the only class which can directly heal.

From the official website:

The medic strikes an effective balance between distributing healing effects to keep companions alive, and unleashing nightmarish toxins on unfortunate enemies.

Assault

Assaults are the classes that have heavy weapons along with heavy armor and a lot of health. Although not as maneuverable as the other classes, they make up for this by having the most powerful weapons. If paired with a medic this class is likely to dish out some serious damage.

From the official website:

This heavy weapons specialist is clad in the thickest armor available, allowing for a sustained presence on the open battlefield while laying down a withering barrage of explosive firepower

Recon

The recon class is the stealth class of Global Agenda, being by far the most maneuverable class he can use bionics and jetpacks to get to vantage points and snipe the enemy team or alternatively sneak behind them and stab them in the back with a sword.

From the official website:

Stealth and speed are the main allies of the Recon agent, who also uses subversion and misdirection to confound an enemy force while executing lightning fast ambushes against individual opponents

Robotics

The robotics class mainly uses player built machines to attack and defend, yet have pretty powerful weapons as well. They have turrets, force fields, remote-controlled robots, and various other gadgets.

From the official website:

By using the latest technology to gain the upper hand, the robotics agent is able to defend strategic points with turrets and force fields, or press forward by using remote control combat robots

I started the game as a medic class; I find support roles more rewarding rather than just running and gunning.  The game starts out as most do, a small tutorial level to get you used to the controls, system and the back story of the game. Once through this first half hour or so you are thrust into the main game.  The game is a mix of Missions against NPC’s, which take up quite a large portion, teaming up with other players to take on missions or full blown PvP, 10 v 10.

The game is played in 3^rd person, I was a bit dubious at first as I like my shooters to be first person, especially fast online shooters.  But I soon got used to it and it’s quite handy to have the ability to look around corners. Graphically the game looks very nice with a good variety of locations to explore around.

The “Missions” or single player part of the game is your usual MMO affair, get a mission, go collect, kill or turn on a number of things then run back for the reward of XP and gadgets.  I did enjoy them, the story was interesting and the missions seemed to stay varied enough for me not to notice them become repetitive as has happened in other games.

There’s plenty of gear to collect and a wide variety of weapons, so you’re always swapping out items trying to get the best or use stuff that compliments each other.  Being a medic I had a rifle for shooting baddies, not the most powerful but fine for the job.  A healing gun, which I point at a friendly click and hold to give them some health back.  All items run off power which regenerates when not in use.  Firing, healing, using items and your jet pack require energy.  But these can be reduced but skilling up as you progress through the levels. Every level or so you will be given a skill point to spend.  Your character has three trees to spend these in, usually attack, defence and class specific.  You can remove these skills and re-distribute them anytime you like so there’s lots of room for experimenting.

I enjoyed the team objective missions the most. You join a mission queue and the game will try to find one of each class to place in the mission.  They usually involve working your way though the level to face the final boss at the end.  Teamwork is usually required on the missions and makes for a much more fun experience rather than blasting through the normal quest missions.

The big PvP arena matches are good fun also, usually a domination style map with both sides fighting over three points. There are also “Push” style maps with one team escorting a bomb and one team defending. These matches can be hit and miss in my opinion, some games can be a real good struggle with both sides moving back and forth. Winning or losing may only be by a couple of points but sometimes it can go wrong and the teams can be horribly stacked, when this happens the enjoyment drops a bit.

When not fighting the good fight, there is other stuff to keep you busy. There is an auction house to sell or try and find a good deal from.  There is crafting in the game for making mods etc that can be used on your weapons.

I was hoping for a Planetside style game. It’s quite different and I’m glad, guess I’ll just have to keep praying for any news on Planetside 2 .

All in all I found Global Agenda to be a good fun game, the versus play kept me entertained for a long time and was my main attraction to the game. But the single player aspect of the game is also strong and entertaining.

Written By:- Adam Carter

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1. Reviewed: Worms Reloaded (PC)
2. Halo Reach – Reviewed (360)
3. Mass Effect 2: Reviewed (360, PC)

Originally, the game that put Microsoft’s Xbox hardware on the map, Halo has made some bold statements over the years with beautifully designed levels, narrative and pacing that can match some of the greatest films and with Halo 2, a multiplayer system that catapulted players of console games online seriously for the first time in a seamless flow of high octane assault with a matchmaking system that put other games to shame.

The problem was that the main two games which stamped Halo’s legendary status were on the original Xbox and as great as Halo 3 was it felt that Halo had lost its way a little.  Halo 3 and ODST had some great ideas and with the power of the 360 wanted to deliver them all.  In the chaos of trying to milk the 360′s power for all of it’s worth Halo, well, just didn’t play like Halo as I knew it and I found myself wanting.

Bungie’s last hoorah though to the Halo universe is now upon us with the developer promising to make this the greatest Halo game ever and even stating that it will take the best element’s from all the games and bring them into Halo Reach.  That was a bold statement indeed and something I was very wary about after being let down by the last two outings.

I shouldn’t have worried though as Bungie has lived up to their promise and Halo Reach has gone well beyond my expectations.  The campaign tells a story that prequels the original game as you, Noble 6, help to take on the might of one of the biggest Covenant attacks in history, an attack that has to be stopped in a bid to save humankind.  In a different tact to other Halo outings, Bungie have written a story of sacrifice for the greater good which has taken a more adult and darker turn than the previous pulp that was written.  The pacing and narrative of the story is spot on and although character development is lacking in parts, there will be cuts scenes that will grab your heart and give it a little twist.

The level design and graphics are absolutely astounding with multiple path choices that allow for a more sandbox feel rather than being driven down one path.  This really becomes apparent when you are in co-operative modes and players are shooting off in different directions but all coming back for the common goal.  Firefights are plenty and huge in scale to emphasise the plight of struggle and what you are trying to achieve.  Some of the old school weapons are back which fits perfectly with the story arc being before the original Halo game and the re-introduction of health packs makes you work for every inch of the game rather than the easier task of hiding and letting your shield re-charge.

Halo Reach has also had an engine re-design that has made the A.I. a lot more intelligent as well as providing the stunning scenery that just makes your jaw drop.  In battles, you feel as though you are working as a team for once and can now rely on your squad to provide the necessary cover fire for you to complete the task at hand.  On a side note, enemy A.I. do not feel on rails and as predictable as they did.  Very handy at flanking, finding cover and leaping away from grenades the covenant will keep you in battle for a lot longer than you expected.

The most controversial inclusion to Halo Reach is the loadout system and how it would work in campaign and mutiplayer.  Halo 3 opted for having equipment to collect and use which, I felt, was bad for the dynamic of Halo as a game.  The armour attributes on the other hand add a balanced and strategic element to Halo Reach which feels perfect.  In the campaign, being able to pick up hologram, jetpack, sprint or other armour attributes is essential on heroic or legendary to be able to complete the game.  In multiplayer each skill comes with its pluses and minuses and there is a lot of fun to be had trying to figure out the right loadout for you.  Trust me, there is nothing better than reigning death from above as an enemy wonders where the hell it is coming from.  It is equally as satisfying shooting down a player that has not got a clue how to use the jetpack properly.  The introduction of armour attributes feels perfect, balanced and fun.

When all is said and done the campaign can be played out to around 8 – 10 hours but the quality of the campaign, which can be played on your own or as a group of up to four people will keep you coming back for more and legendary means you may get frustrated a few times but it is worth putting the effort in to complete.  Also, the way the maps work mean that you will probably play through it again slightly different to your last which keeps the campaign fresh.  The locations to the story are varied and you will visit cities, space, spaceships etc and although some scenes did not need to be there, the hook of the game stops it from detracting from the main storyline too much to give much varied gameplay.

When your campaign is over then the wealth of multiplayer modes available is astounding.  ODST delivered the co-op classic, Firefight and this has be re-introduced into Halo Reach and them some.  Up to four players holding off waves of covenant on various maps will keep you going for ever and is an absolute blast and something to use as a break from the main multiplayer gametypes.  In the multiplayer section all the classic matchmaking options are there like slayer, CTF, king of the hill and with the addition of headhunter amongst others will give your online action variety and depth.  Each map is balanced, creative and demands to be played.   Some might find a weak link and have their favourites which can be put to the vote in the lobby.

Fully customisable games can also be introduced and Bungie have nailed in Reach what they came close to in Halo 3.  A workable tool set for Forge that let’s players create and define maps that can be shared and downloaded through their portal.  Games can be recorded to show their friends and gametypes can be shared also making this the most complete online experience to date.

Opting not to engage in a perks system that has done so well for the MW series, Bungie have implemented a loadouts system instead which as I have explained earlier works really well in the online environment.  Pros and cons for each loadout add variety to the gameplay without knocking the balance.  Each weapon set comes with its own armour attribute which can be used on the battlefield.  Although weapons can be collected and changed when people die, the attribute will stay the same until you die when you may prefer to change the loadout and attribute that you may feel will be more beneficial in that particular game.

The biggest draw for me though, after all the praise I have given the other areas, is that it feels like Halo 2 again.  Halo 3, I felt, seemed slow and sloppy.  Straffing did not feel right and Master Chief felt like he was walking through treacle.  The plastic feel of your character and the gameplay didn’t feel like the Halo I knew and loved and was put aside pretty quickly.  Halo Reach, on the other hand, feels right.  The weapons feel weighty, the shots accurate and you feel part of the character again.  Absolutely beautiful and I cannot fault it at all.  The other big draw is the exclusion of the ranking system that was in Halo 2, opting for credits to allow you to level up.  I know that Bungie have their own system behind the scenes to determine your skills and match you with the right players for a fair fight but with the credit and level up system there is no need to worry about it.  This will stop the boosters, cheaps, bridgers and with Bungie’s beady eye bearing down on you at all times and the tools to punish negative play in a variety of ways will bring the enjoyment back to slaying a 14 year old screamer that smacktalks you because you killed him so many times and because of that you MUST be gay.

Your credits can be spent on asthetic and cosmetic armour changes and extras that add a little more fun to proceedings.  The options in store are vast and the ability to purchase something that when you die throws birthday celebration is genius.

I really could go on forever about how this game is but at some point I must come to an end because I have probably bored you to death by now.  Bungie may have dropped the ball a couple of times in the past but I feel they have more than made up for it in Halo Reach.  One of the most important titles and franchises to date has been saved and when everybody thought that it was a one horse race in the FPS genre with the COD franchise, Bungie have come up trumps with Halo Reach.  Back to its former glory in feel and gameplay mechanic, a story that is bursting with character and sumptuous graphics and a multiplayer system that is fully customisable in every way, Bungie has delivered one of the most inspirational games in history.  Due to the power of the 360 and the mechanics that defined the early versions, Halo Reach is the most definitive, comprehensive, customisable and arguably the greatest Halo title ever.

Bungie may be signing off on the Halo franchise but the sheer quality of this game will have Halo Reach imprinted on many a gamers minds for years to come.

Related posts:

1. Halo Reach vid doc released
2. Halo Reach beta dated
3. Halo Reach: Birth Of A Spartan

In the now traditional EA Sports yearly update, NHL 11 is set to deliver the most defining experience in a hockey game yet and will include the following features:-

Revolutionary real time physics engine

Pioneering the next step forward in team sports video game realism, the all-new Real-Time Physics Engine brings real-world highlight reel moments in-game like never before. From face-offs to body checks, real-world puck and player physics trigger true-to-life reactions. Now anything can happen, including the ability to shoot and make plays while lying on the ice.

All new hockey Ultimate Team

Build a team from the ground up by acquiring top Canadian Hockey League and American Hockey League prospects and training them to superstardom, or win now by acquiring current NHL superstars. Put your squad in retro jerseys and manage your team’s chemistry to find out which players gel best throughout the regular season and monthly playoffs online.

Over 200 gameplay enhancements

An all-new faceoff system, quick dekes, the new Hit Stick, and hip checks are just some of the many gameplay improvements that make NHL11 the most authentic hockey video game experience to date.

All new broken sticks

Broken sticks now affect the action in more ways than one. After snapping your stick on a wicked slapshot or having it broken in two from a hit, the play is never dead. Kick the puck to your teammate or have your teammate pass you his stick if you can’t make it to the bench to get a new one.

Be A Pro enhanced

For the first time ever, begin your career playing for the Canadian Hockey League’s Memorial Cup. Playing with and against licensed CHL players from the Western Hockey League, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, and Ontario Hockey League, experience both highs and lows of junior league hockey action. Get scouted, enter the NHL entry draft, and see if you can become the greatest player of all time.

All new EASHL dynasties

The EA SPORTS Hockey League takes online play to the next level as championship seasons are awarded with banner-raising ceremonies and new user celebrations that allow you to rub it in the faces of your biggest rivals. Prep your team for their playoff run with an all-new Practice mode.

To be in with a chance of winning a copy of NHL 11 on your chosen format you will need to answer the following question:-

Which Hall Of Fame hockey player was nicknamed “The Great One”?

Please e-mail your answer along with your name, contact number and format of choice by the closing date, which is Monday, September 20th, to the following e-mail address – nhlcomp@mature-gaming.com.  All winners will be notified and their details passed on to EA for delivery of the game.

Rules

1. The competition is open to U.K and EU residents only.
2. The minimum age for entries due to the rating on the title is 18 (if you’re under 18, you shouldn’t be here you naughty kids!)
3. I.D. checks may be carried out to verify your age and if found to be unsatisfactory you maybe excluded from the competition.
4. People with the correct answers will be drawn from a hat at random and contacted within 2 days of the closing date.
5. The judges decision is final.
6. Any suspected breaking of these rules will result in your entry being disqualified.
7. Only one entry per person.
8. Mature-gaming.com reserves the right to withdraw the competition at any time.

Related posts:

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2. Competition: Win a copy of Dante’s Inferno
3. Competition: Win a copy of MX Vs ATV Reflex

With the release of the new developer diary, you will get to look inside Splash Damage HQ and see how the developer is trying to break down the difference between genres in single and multiplayer and melding the game online as well as offline.

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With its blend of classic side-scrolling action gameplay and stylized animation set against a modern-Western canvass, Shank tells a bloody story of revenge, penned by award-winning game writer Marianne Krawczyk.

“Our goal with Shank was to create a game that pays homage to the classic 2D brawler, while seeing how far we could push it by melding it with our own pulp-fiction influences,” said Jamie Cheng, CEO of Klei Entertainment. “At the end of a long road that began as an indie dream in 2009, we’ve finally shipped a visually striking, cinematic brawler.”

“With Shank, Jamie Cheng, Jeff Agala, and the team at Klei Entertainment have delivered the game analog of the black comedy symphony of violence dominating today’s indie film circuit,” said Jamil Moledina, Outreach Director at EA Partners. “This exquisitely bloody game conjures memories of the best arcade brawlers of the late 1980s, while delivering the production values and pitch perfect controls of a modern high definition blockbuster masterpiece.”

Shank tells a classic story of gangland betrayal through a violent, pulp-fiction lens. Gamers play as Shank, getting their hands bloody as they uncover the secrets of Shank’s past and the reasons he is hell-bent on revenge. With a deep and intuitive combat system, players unleash a tremendous number of creative combinations as they take down waves of enemies standing in their path. Shank also features a special co-operative campaign, designed to be played with a friend locally, which tells the backstory of the revenge plot. This prequel mission allows players to play as Shank or his partner-in-crime Falcone, with deadly double-team moves and gameplay that encourages teamwork.

Shank is one of the most highly anticipated downloadable game releases of this summer, having been nominated for Excellence in Visual Arts by the Independent Games Festival, as well as multiple “Best of E3” awards, including “Best Action Game” from IGN.com and “Best Downloadable Game” from GameTrailers.com. Shank is available for download now on the PlayStation Network for £9.99 and on Xbox LIVE Arcade for 1200 Microsoft Points. Shank is rated PEGI 18+.

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As you are all aware, Skate 3 will be released on Friday and to celebrate this fact, we at mature-gaming are offering you a chance to win one of five copies of Skate 3 on your preferred format (360, PS3).

Skate 3 will take this genre to the next level in a franchise that has delivered time and time again a quality and the most natural feel to a skating game yet that stands head and shoulders above anything else that is out there.

To be in with a chance to win a copy you will need to answer this simple question:-

What is the name of the Coach in the all new Skate School feature?

Please e-mail your answer along with your name and contact number by the closing date, which is Monday, May 17th, to the following e-mail address – skate3@mature-gaming.com.  All winners will be notified and their details passed on to EA for delivery of the game.

Rules

1. The competition is open to U.K and EU residents only.
2. The minimum age for entries due to the rating on the title is 18 (if you’re under 18, you shouldn’t be here you naughty kids!)
3. I.D. checks may be carried out to verify your age and if found to be unsatisfactory you maybe excluded from the competition.
4. People with the correct answers will be drawn from a hat at random and contacted within 2 days of the closing date.
5. The judges decision is final.
6. Any suspected breaking of these rules will result in your entry being disqualified.
7. Only one entry per person.
8. Mature-gaming.com reserves the right to withdraw the competition at any time.

Related posts:

1. New Skate 3 trailer released
2. Trailer: Skate 3: Just Another Day co-op
3. Skate 3 demo coming in April

Although, the scene has been somewhat dominated by a certain Infinity Ward title I have found that this franchise is fast becoming stale with no new innovation.  There is a gap appearing in the market and EA are making serious headway into filling that void.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 picks up the Battlefield franchise again and leads the charge, head first into this war with a slightly witty, more cinematic and beautiful looking game.  Now, I wasn’t a massive fan of the first game due to the main protagonists being annoying in their delivery of witty remarks as well as a wooden storyline and more open gameplay.  That said, the multiplayer delivered innovation, teamwork and something that held the original Bad Company game together giving you vast amounts of fun.

Bad Company 2 in campaign now offers a solid driven storyline that has a cinematic quality and more focus has been put on the mission structure.  Starting out in 1944, a group of soldiers went on a mission to capture some weaponry that remains in military myth.  This weapon has turned up again in the present day and your squad has been tasked to recover the weapon and bring it into safe hands.  Cue dynamic set pieces that put you into the heart of battle on many different levels with the action not letting up one bit.  Dynamic destruction modelling of buildings, yet again, see their presence shown as you clamber around trying to find cover from incoming rocket and mortar attacks as well as gunfire.

Various guns can also be collected along the way, not only to use there and then but also go into the supply drops that can be found at various points along the way.  The movement is typical battlefield fare and if you think you can run and strafe ala Call Of Duty then you’re in for a sharp shock.  The movement feels more like Killzone with body physics playing a part.  If you run then you will not be moving to either side, only being able to do so when you slow down.  The aiming and firing feel really fluid with easier levels having a slight auto aim to lock onto the enemy.  Don’t be put off by this though as there is so much going on you welcome it almost immediately to help you through.

Various chapters require various tasks for you to complete.  From driving tanks into towns, to racing through enemy infested areas on quads its all there but one concern with this is that it jumps from scene to scene a little too much which breaks the flow of the story and immersion somewhat.  More essence has been put on giving the game a more realistic feel with a prime example being split away from your team in a blizzard.  The idea is to get to your team mats before hypothermia sets in.  As you progress and cannot get into a building or near some fire, created by yourself or not your breathing gets heavier, your mask ices up and you start to slow down.  Finding cover is essential here as your life slips away from you.

Another massive improvement in the game is the sound.  The cracking of gunfire is sublime and every weapon has a realistic noise to it.  If you’re in a tunnel or inside then the echoes that are reproduced add that little extra depth to proceedings.  Overall, the campaign will take around 6ish hours to complete on an easy level but is not trying to be overly complicated or pretentious like its competitor.  It is what it is, a solid story that will give you depth and immersion without you feeling cheated by the end of it.  After all, these types of games are not based on the storyline for longevity but the multiplayer elemements of the game.  Those pure story driven fps’s are left to games like Bioshock which are solely judged on their stories.

Moving onto the biggest part of the game and something that DICE knows how to nail perfectly.  Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare has held onto the FPS multiplayer crown for a while now and I may be sounding a little evangelical here but DICE, with Battlefield: Bad Company 2 have roundhouse kicked that crown off, trod the rusty little thing into the ground and created the best jeweled crown you have seen yet.

This element of the game is as perfect as I have seen so far.  One thing that DICE knows well is how to make well balanced maps with a lot of scope for team work, communication and pure fun.  No room for the one man hero here.  Everyone has their tasks and everyone has their place.  Whether you choose a medic class or an engineer class you all have your roles and one thing that this multiplayer shouts loud is that you’re no more important than your team mates.  If you go in all guns blazing like COD then you will lose, its as simple as that.  With 24 player online, you are working with 11 other players to complete your goal and only after a few games I can see that Bad Company 2 is more of a mature game than MW2.  Defending a base in rush and I jumped onto one of the mounted machine guns.  Within seconds I was joined by a sniper to protect me whilst I done some damage to some incoming tanks.  It’s instinctive to want to aid one of your team mates even if you have never spoken to them before.  Can you say the same about COD unless you’re in a team you know?  I think not!

There is a basic unlock system in play too, the more you rank up the more you unlock and so on.  There is nothing here that switches the balance to heavily towards one team or another by using these “perks”  No Nuclear warheads and all that crap just plain old sight unlocks and things that will help you improve your combat but team work will always shine through.

Points are awarded for your play from kills/streaks to blowing up tanks, helicoptors etc which helps you rank up and unlock new weapons.  The only problem I have with the multiplayer, and it may be me, but it has issues with the host dropping out.  Nobody likes a loser and nothing is more frustrating than having a host on the team that is losing and doesn’t like the way it is all going.  I invested 19 minutes of my time and were winning the battle in the final push when I got a network error and was brought back to the menu screen looking for another game.  Please DICE, if you only do one thing, please let the game look for a new host if one drops because he doesn’t like what has happened.

Overall Battlefield: Bad Company 2 should send a shockwave through the FPS gaming community unless people are still blinded by how stale the Call Of Duty has started to become.  There is room for both mind you but I am here to tell you that this game beats it hands down on every level and every area.  Infinity Ward and Activision rented the FPS room from EA and DICE but the landlords have raised the rent and evicted the tenants from its property.

Related posts:

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2. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 demo on live now
3. EA announces Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Ltd Edition

Film to video and video to film
I don’t think you can take a look at video gaming heroes without mentioning the influence and interaction with the film industry. I’m sure most would agree that there has been some great film action heroes that have wanted the same success on video games, but most have failed miserably.

However, there have been some notable exceptions when viewed the other way around, that is, games making it onto the big screen, such as Lara Croft-Tomb Raider (starring Angelina Jolie) and Hitman (starring Timothy Olyphant – who also starred in Die Hard 4). I just want to mention, I thought the Hitman film was a particularly good film. I also went to see Final Fantasy(animation) at the cinema, and thought the film makers did a very good job on that too.

Heroes

Sonic the Hedgehog
Everyone’s favourite blue hedgehog. Sonic became such a success, people are still buying the original games today, in the form of ‘compendiums’. Sonic was cool, great graphics for it’s day and addictive gameplay, the sideways scrolling platformer won the hearts and minds of millions of gamers around the world. I can still remember the music that rather monotonously repeated itself throughout the game.

Snake
The first ‘sneak-em-up’ to hit the consoles. Metal Gear Solid defined a new gaming genre, and it’s leading character Snake became a huge success. He was cool and dangerous and hid in cardboard boxes. Who still remembers the guards response when he passed Snake if he was hiding in one?

Lara Croft
Ah, Miss Lara, where art thou? When Lara exploded onto the consoles, many gawped at her huge assets and fine figure, but let’s be honest, the gameplay was great too. Her unlimited pistol power, her agility to climb and swing from one ledge to the next, not forgetting the excellent puzzles and maps that gave the game much longevity. Lara didn’t always ‘perform’ to expectations however, a lot of the magic seemed to have been tarnished in subsequent games, and only recovering briefly in ‘the last revelation’, where she found herself exploring the Egyptian tombs.

Sam Fisher
To me, Sam Fisher was the cool version of Solid Snake. Maybe not as charismatic, but Sam got to use all the modern gadgets you could hope for. Splinter Cell offered all the ‘sneak-em-up’ action that Metal Gear Solid did, but without all the boring cinematic story scenes to wade through. Sam was cool, he sported a ’5 oClock shadow’ (pun intended), and as long as the lights where out, he was one of the most dangerous espionage agents ever to grace our consoles.

The Master Chief
When Halo 3 was released in the autumn of 2007, there was much hype and fanfare, and with good reason. The game was superb and built upon the previous Halo successes. The Master Chief became one of Xbox’s biggest heroes, not just demonstrated by the massive financial returns, but the Master Chief found his image everywhere tea-shirts, mugs and other paraphernalia. More than one million people played Halo 3 on Xbox Live in the first twenty hours, and the action is still growing strong today.

Gamers and their Gaming heroes
No doubt we love our gaming heroes and the adventures they lead us on. What is perhaps frustrating, is when the developers ‘loose the plot’ and try to build on the success of their first outing with a particular hero, but straying too far from the path that made the character and game so successful in the first place. But we forgive those developers for putting us through such pain and torture, should they realise the error of their ways and ‘return to the fold’ in the following release.

Many such loved heroes have suffered from this ‘developer foggy-brain syndrome’ such as Sonic; and in my opinion never really made it successfully onto the 3D platform, 2D just worked, as it did for the Street Fighter series. Tomb Raider and Splinter Cell suffered from this syndrome too, though it looks as if Splinter Cell will recover somewhat with the forthcoming title: ‘Conviction’.

When all is said and done, we enjoy good characters, decent plots, a huge dose of good gameplay and we’ll be happy.

Happy Gaming

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The moment you put Mass Effect 2 into your drive and you begin the opening sequences you have a feeling that something special is about to happen.  Perhaps it is the anticipation from the amount of hype that has surrounded the game or perhaps you realise that Bioware has absolutely nailed the composition of storylines and the immersive adventures that you plunge head first into from titles like Dragon Age: Origins.  Whatever it is, Mass Effect has that feeling of grabbing you with a vice like grip, squeezing every last ounce of feeling from you until you will be sitting there thinking.  I want to play again, or for fook sake, when is Mass Effect 3 coming out!  It can be that intense at times and that thrilling and has definitely found itself as the master of the genre which may be hard to beat for sometime yet.

Mass Effect 2 plays in the same way as the original, build your team, gain their loyalty through a solid dialogue system and progress through the game unearthing the stories many cliffhangers but the refinements in every aspect of the game makes Mass Effect 2 a truely remarkable achievement.  The storyline itself is worthy of standing against any great film script and although I will not go into it here as I want you to experience it for yourself is something to behold.

The combat system has been overhauled to with more a more precise targeting and cover system that will not fail you at any point.  With the amount of action and things to think about whilst in combat even the most casual of gamers will not struggle to be able to pick this up and learn to play quickly.  Weapon mods, ammo and cooldowns have also been looked at to provide a fluid fighting experience that is very accessible for people well versed in the art of Mass Effect gameplay down to the gamer who’s first experience with Mass Effect 2 will not diminish feeling that they are out of their depth.

Side quests from the original Mass Effect title were shallow and felt as though they were not worth completing.  In Mass Effect 2 the side quests have depth, meaning and an understanding where making the right decisions will change the scripting over the course of the game.  Planets are accessed through an improved map on the Normandy which can be mined for minerals to help re-strcture your weapons and are now fun to visit, scan and send probes in to extract the minerals found.  Side quests can also be opened in the same way and with a personal messaging system you will never be too lost on what to do, where to go and how to tailor the adventure for your own personal taste.

Another massive change is the character depth.  We are not talking the main protagonists here but the characters that work in the background to make the adventure more believable.  Mass Effect had a problem with characters that were bland and not developed properly.  Not with Mass Effect 2 though.  Every character that you can talk to has depth, meaning, an agenda and sometimes their own personal nuances that become apparent further into the game.  These character actually have personalities that make it a joy to talk to, gain information from and change the course of your story depending on how nic or how much of a bastard you want to be.  Something that has definitely been learnt and built upon from previous Bioware products.

There are small problems with Mass Effect 2 but nothing that will overshadow the grandeur of the title.  You squad may glitch in certain places as they did with me.  Is it something to be concerned about?  Well, not really, it didn’t bother me, was not a game breaker and didn’t destroy the flow at any point.  It did happen enough though for it to be worthy of writing about but I am, at present, being the pickiest bugger I can to find fault with what could be considered a pretty faultless game.  With over 20 hours of main storyline to go through and what I consider as near a perfect lesson in the art of storytelling, graphical and level design, something has to go wrong somewhere and this was the only thing that stood out a little.

Overall, Mass Effect 2 is the space adventure RPG shooter that people have wanted for a long time.  It excels in every part of its structure and fails to disappoint for a moment.  The game plays better for Mass Effect officianadoes due to the fact that your stats can be imnported from the first title and decisions that were made there will have an effect in this game as I would imagine that anything carried from this game will have an effect in Mass Effect 3.  This should not put off the gamers that want to delve into the Mass Effect universe for the first time as you will be immersed in the depth of its gameplay and immediately fall in love with it.

Mass Effect 2 delivers the RPG element and story arc very successfully but never lets you forget the fact that there is a solid third person shooter embedded into the game’s fluid production.  Probably not the game for everyone but certainly the game for the RPG masses and the best rendition of a game in this genre to come out ever.  Bioware has excelled itself once again in delivering a masterpiece that can now take the flawed tag away and replace it with perfect.  A game in this genre comes along once in a blue moon and I feel that the only game that will eventually topple it will be the next release of the final part in its trilogy.

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