ACTIVITY

My blog is back up and running however it will now be available at Giant Bomb. com and my user is tofford so find me and read it if you like what you see. Also check giant bomb out anyway it really is a blast

Development

I apologise for my recent lack of effort with this blog a lot has been going off MGS4 and sequels galore but do not expect much more until summer i am hoping to start a new project which i will post the results of on here. No it is not creating a sequel to the commonly played tits created by me all though that may develope on my next hike.

Bigger, Better and more Badass

Gears of War 2 gameplay footage has just been shown and it looks amazing. Several Brumacks and corpsers all fighting in a huge valley with locusts jumping onto your large vehicles in a very pirate style manner. Chain saw duels using locusts and human shields looks like Gears of War 2 is going to be Epic and possibly the best game of the year for shooter fans.

GTA IV

Sorry i havn't posted in ages because all i have been doing is playing GTA IV which is awesome by the way so anyway i have decided i am not going to talk about it much because everyone should buy it and experience it for yourself. Il be back if any major news comes up or i get to the end of this epic game.

Burnout with just the one wheel

That's right burnout is going down the same route as many other racing games and adding bikes to the mix. Thats pretty much the jist although many of you may be thinking bikes have two wheels you but actually they only burnout with 1. Anyway Burnout downloadable contents and bikes and some stuff at night anyway its worth a look.

Could UT3 make a turnaround

Unreal Tournament has never interested me I tend to prefer stories than multiplayer however, Gears of War got me interested in Epic and with Unreal Tournament 3 the graphics were looking good and i started to think about getting into it. The response to the PS3 and PC versions wasnt anything spectacular but now its coming to the 360 in summer. So my thoughts at the moment are can a better online service make this game into something brilliant.

Mario Kart Wii Review

Ever since Mario has been around there has been a group of sports which the faithful plumber likes to try his hand at. Some better than others he isn't the best at tennis or golf but he can kick some ass when fighting and drift like Paul Walker. The later of these is now out in the Europe and Japan so we have a little bit of revenge for the Rock Band pricing.
Anyway Mario Kart is back and put simply its Mario Kart but on the Wii so expect some motion contols. Mario Kart Wii is split into the usual classes/difficulties of 50, 100 and 150cc however, there is a few changes 50cc you can drive karts through 16 new tracks and 16 retro ones. So lets tackle that first the tracks. All 16 of the new tracks are up to visual standard for the Wii but nothing spectacular some new features such as ramps and a new half-pipe type jump add just enough to keep fans happy. The dissapointing thing is that while there are retro tracks some old tracks such as rainbow road and luigi's circuit have minor changes and yet are passed off as new tracks.
So onto 100cc for which you can only use bikes. Yes thats right Mr. Mario (his first name being super now) has gone down the PGR 4 route and thankfully it has payed off. Bikes keep handling very similar to that of the karts however they cannot get the full boost from drifting. This is compensated by there ability to wheelie on straights and pick up speed anyway there is just enough difference to allow people to define their favourite.
Its onto 150cc now you have your choice of bike or karts and so it all comes down to mastering the controls. You have three control schemes up for grabs the Wii Wheel which is my personal weapon of choice the wheel comes packaged in the box and just adds a bit of grip and an extension to the B button. This is followed by the nunchuck and wiimote which adds an analog stick if you feel the need but if you want to go for the retro look have a go with the gamecube pad or classic controller. All of these work and cater for everyones needs.
Multiplayer is as fun as ever with races and battles and online adds some fun with a lag free experience.
All of these new features mixed in with old make Mario Kart Wii a fun experience and keeps the series fresh the only issue for me is just how much further can this series go and so i give it a good 8.5/10

Mario Kart Wheeley good

So im about half way through mario kart on the wii and it still hasnt got old the single player is simple yet surprisingly challenging. The new tracks are brilliant and the retro ones have been nicely adjusted to fit new features. The online has no lag what so ever from what i have seen. More on this soon when il post a final review but its looking good.

Catch Up

Its been a busy week.
I had a go on mario kart for the Wii the other day and i will be buying this game on the day of release it packs in all the mario kart fun with the addition of bikes, new weapons and online play. The controls take a while to get used to with the Wii wheel but work very well when you get the hang of it more on this game on release.
Rock Band will finally be hitting the UK on May 23rd on Xbox 360 exclusively but with a price of around £180 for the instruments and the game I think EA has just lost a lot of respect as this is double the US price so unfortunately there will be no review up on that game unless EA make some major changes.
GTA IV is out soon and multiplayer is now on the table and sounding hot. Deathmatch and new modes like cops and robbers will keep me playing this game for a lot longer than before.
In conclusion Well Done to Nintendo and Rockstar I look forward to your games and EA you need some price lessons and to learn how big the difference is between £180 and $169.

Ubi-Soft

I had a few sneak peaks today at up coming ubi-soft games coming out soon. Haze is finally a possible release for May and this could be the best PS3 exclusive yet and be a true console seller. I also got a quick look at Assassins Creed DS which is looking as good as the 360/PS3 version but I expect it will have the similar repetition problems as those versions. The Ghost Recon 2 legacy edition featuring all the new maps and multiplayer levels could have me forking out some more money. Among the midst were some mediocre looking Wii games following the likes of Nintendogs into the market however, it looks like Ubi-Soft will make up for this with Brothers in Arms on the Wii. Overall it looks like Ubi-Soft have got some good titles coming this way soon and hopefully I will be able to keep you posted on these games soon.

April 1st

Bungie has just announced that they are bringing Halo:Cortana's Chronicles out exclusively on the Playstation 3 this game will encorporate all 3 original Halo franchises as well as a brand new story in which Cortana returns to earth to arrive in a futuristic Liberty City where she must complete missions to gain money and rep so that she can organise a trip back into master chiefs head. Halo:Cortana's Chronicles is expected release in November just in time to compete with Gears of War 2 which epic have just announced will contain goombaa's and Bowser as leader of the locusts.

Quiet

Its been a while since I have posted and to be honest not a lot is going on in gaming. Xbox live will be down for a bit on April 1st for some maintenance and hopefully some new features. An Army of Two demo will be joining this and il finally get a go and get some impression of this game. Im sure I will find something good to post as April is a busy month with Mario Kart, Wii Fit and of course GTA IV. I will be posting my impressions on these games and reviews however Wii Fit is still a maybe on my list.

Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (360) Review

The Rainbow Six franchise has always been a great tactical shooter however, the series really got noticed when Rainbow Six Vegas was released for the Xbox 360 and later the PS3 and PC. This game mixed great tactics with run and gun and a mixture of 3rd and 1st person views. The visuals were sharp and the multiplayer became many peoples next generation counter strike. So now Ubisoft Montreal are back with the inevitable sequel Rainbow Six Vegas 2.
The Story line of Vegas 2 takes place before after and during the events of Vegas with a seperate team working in parallel to that of the first game. You control Bishop the leader of your sqaud of 3. The voice acting has improved vastly however, unfortunately the story still gets lost and you feel like your simply taking on several independent missions.
Bishop in essence is you. You can customise his guns clothes and even put on your face using the Xbox Live vision cam. This brings us into the new ACES system. When playing multiplayer and single player you have a big Call of Duty-esque experience bar at the bottom of the screen. You are awarded different points for getting headshots, blinfiring and even shooting through cover. These different features get split into assault,marksman, and CQB which are rewarded for accordingly so, for shooting someone from a distance you may level up in marksman and unlock a new sniper rifle. This all works very well and gives the game replay value.
The single player is very similar to that of Vegas but I feel the level design is much improved you have to plan your moves a lot more or your stopped dead in your tracks. The controls are improved slightly but in essence are the same which will be nice for previous players.
The multiplayer is still laggy at the moment but if you get yourself into a good game it brings endless enjoyment. Teams are starting to work well together and the new maps are brilliant and mixture of new maps and ingame levels give you a lot to explore. The graphics are close to the single player which is a huge improvement from from the first game aswell.
Overall Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is a must have for fans of tactical shooters they have improved everything nessesary with 4 player co-op and better level design while keeping it on the same level as Vegas 1. It will take you about 8-10 hours to complete the single player campaign and multiplayer will give a lot more play. Unfortunately though the game still has bugs and if these had been ironed out this would be a near perfect shooter. 9.0/10

What happens in Vegas stays online

I have just spent a fair few hours playing rainbow six vegas 2 which in my opinion is pretty darn good. You start the game off buy creating your character I of course used the vision cam for (achievements) and it has improved greatly since the first game. You then get to choose from a small amount of outfits which you can unlock more of throughout the game. Then of course I went into the story mode which doesnt seem that developed story wise however, the level design is much more interesting than the previous game. The next thing is the new experience system which works in a very RPG style way it also carries some unlocks over from the first game if you played that. I am still very annoyed as I havnt recieved my achievement for ranking to private first class even though I am past it. I had a quick go at terrorist hunt which is very difficult as the AI is very good in these games. The multiplayer has graphics that are a lot better than the first one however, this is ridiculously laggy hopefully this is just due to full servers and will improve. Rainbow Six is looking like another great game for the 360 and one for the PS3 I will post a full review as soon as possible so keep posted.

Rainbow Six Vegas 2

Yes thats right, the most anticipated sequel of the year is out on Thursday but will it live up to it predesessor and manage to grab the market away from Call of Duty 4. I will be posting my first impressions of the game on launch and also posting a full review of the game once I have completed it so keep an eye out for my upcoming posts on this game in the city of sin and flashy lights.

Manhunt 2

Manhunt 2 has finally been given a rating and the permission to be released in the U.K. but will this mediocre game actually be sold for its content or just for the controversy. Hopefully I will be able to tell you closer the time as I work in a retailer but no doubt the opening weekend will see a lot of 14 year olds being turned down.

Bioshock 2

Bioshock 2 has just been announced at Take-Two's (were not EA's yet!) latest onslaught of games along with the delay of the midnight club sequel. Bioshock was released to critical acclaim and the announcement of a sequel is unsuprising however, i feel Bioshock was best left as a single outing so it will be interesting to see this game develope and see if it lives to up to its predesessor.

Plans

After watching the guy's on giantbomb.com I have decided to try and get a bit more interest in the blog rather than it becoming a diary of a teenage gamer. I don't know what to do next but watch this space if anyone is already.

Fifa Street 3

I have recently downloaded the Fifa Street 3 demo and thought i would put up a review of the demo so you would no whether its worth the precious room on your harddrive.
Now one thing you should not expect is for Fifa Street to be another standard Fifa game for once EA seem to have tried to break the mold of the regular monotone game that never seems worth my £40 when i could just have a kick about. The new stylish graphics and brilliant sound effects give a new lease of life into the Fifa Street series. Its a shame the rest cannot be as intuative as the style the controls are nice and simple however the players don't always do what you want when you want. After a few games I was beginning to realise how frustrated Steve McClaren felt. The music is limited on the demo and extremely annoying luckily the 360's custom soundtrack helps to combat this. Overall a football fan will have a couple of hours enjoyment from this demo and I am sure it will be a good one for a late night play with mates however, Fifa Street 3 is repetative and fails to break the mold its great graphics style aims for. 6.5/10

New Site

I have always got a lot of gaming information form Gamespot which is a great site however recently a lot of the team have left for certain reasons. Now I have found a new site made by Jeff Gerstman and Ryan Davis previously of Gamespot and I recommend checking out www.giantbomb.com

Airsoft

Spent the whole day playing airsoft so i havnt had much chance to do anything. I am currently deliberating whether or not to buy Army of Two which my friend says is the best game out however he is playing it on coop and the single player is apparently rubbish so i will wait and see and after all Vegas 2 is just round the corner

Forza Motorsport

I recently purchased a copy of Forza 2 for my 360 a game i have been meaning to buy from launch. I must admit i have not been disappointed this game is massive with endless amounts of things to do and i have barely scratched the surface after getting rid of my monstrosoty that is the new mini (biggy) i am now trying out a cleo sport with the hope of saving for a crossfire or DB9 anyway im sure i will play this game for a long time however i might be tempted to get Army of Two tomorrow and get back to games with guns being as i have just broke my addiction to Call of Duty 4. If you havnt played Forza or COD i recommend buying a copy second hand and selling your life.

First Post

I have been reading a lot of blogs recently arrow pointing down etc. and spend most of my time telling my friends facts like the current demise of High Definition DVD hence the name. I came up with the idea of trying my own blog with the hope of educating people although i will probably just end up getting corrected a lot. I also hope the posts will get more interesting.