Hype

[fog]

Man, that's a brilliant level. Many a grind was ground on those rails back in THPS 2.

Yeah likewise.  I can't think of many bad levels in the early games TBH.  It was only when they went open world that it went a bit crap.

What with this and a new SSX things are finally looking up again in the extreme sports (  )  genre.

[fog]

Hubba hubba hubba 

Inside Xbox featuring Trials Evolution	powered by Aeva

[fog]

Speaking of which I still live in hope that those responsible for The Darkness 2 haven't entirely ditched the stealthy parts as the rest of it is looking great.

Hm, having played the demo it does indeed seem they have entirely ditched the stealthy bits and what you're left with is and average FPS with a mixture of cool and frustrating darkness powers.  Quad wielding (two weapons and two demon arms ) sounds great in theory, in practice though it's often a bit cumbersome.  The devs clearly know this judging by the ridiculously strong auto aim and the way everything you can interact with glows garishly.

When it works it feels great, but more often than not it felt like the FPS equivalent of a button-mashing beat em up.  I often got better results just by randomly spamming the attack buttons 

Maybe I'll rent this one.

[fog]

This is fantastic.  I want games to do this instead of making the 3 on screen characters shinier.

The Great Battle of Skyrim	powered by Aeva

[fog]

The SSX demo is out and, much to my relief, EA haven't made a total mess of it.

The graphics, music and presentation are good and most importantly it still feels like an SSX game.  The courses in the demo aren't the most inspiring, but there seem to be plenty of them so hopefully the others have a bit more personality.

 

[fog]

Just looking at the releases for the rest of the year and there aren't a whole load that have been confirmed that I'm excited about.

Bioshock Infinite stands out.  The second game was good but much of it felt overly familiar already.  A whole new location should freshen things up a bit 

BioShock Infinite - Heavy Hitters Trailer	powered by Aeva

[fog]

Hardly cutting edge I know, however the previous Saints Row games have been great fun.....like they copied GTA and then removed anything that wasn't utterly ridiculous.  It's now so OTT it's in danger of becoming a parody of a parody.  I just hope this third game is a bit more polished.

Saints Row: The Third - Exclusive Gameplay trailer

I've just rented Saints Row: The Third and it's exactly what I expected.  GTA lite with the ridiculous cranked up to 11.

One design decision is really really awful though.  Once you've completed a mission objective it keeps jumping to a cut-scene and that's pretty annoying if you're still in the middle of a big gunfight.  Doubly so when that cut-scene teleports you to a totally different location away from all the action

[fog]

this is the first time I've come across Dragon's Dogma.  At first glance it looked a bit too close to Skyrim for it's own good, however the second part of the video showing how time of day effects gameplay have gotten my interest.  A lot of games use day/night cycle to effect gameplay in some way, but very few are brave enough to plunge you into complete darkness .....they are too busy showing off their game engines lovely shadows and lighting effects 

Dragon's Dogma Gameplay Preview - OXM Exclusive	powered by Aeva

[T_M_C]

I always found day / night cycles a real chore.

They look good but i find they always get in the way of gameplay.

I'm forever waiting until morning in Skyrim.  At least that game allows you to skip the night.  I doubt i could play a game that didn't allow that.

TMC

[fog]

I always found day / night cycles a real chore.

They look good but i find they always get in the way of gameplay.

I'm forever waiting until morning in Skyrim.  At least that game allows you to skip the night.  I doubt i could play a game that didn't allow that.

That's interesting as the day/night cycle never effected me in Skyrim although that could simply be down to different brightness settings.

[fog]

This is the first I've seen or heard of Deadlight (XBLA).  The gameplay looks like Flashback and the atmosphere comes across well even in the trailer.  Definitely one to watch out for.

Deadlight - Official Gameplay Trailer from Tequila Works	powered by Aeva

[fog]

The SSX demo is out and, much to my relief, EA haven't made a total mess of it.

The graphics, music and presentation are good and most importantly it still feels like an SSX game.  The courses in the demo aren't the most inspiring, but there seem to be plenty of them so hopefully the others have a bit more personality.

 

Ok hands up.  I couldn't have been more wrong.   

The new SSX is a mess....

Why do I keep getting stuck in scenery?
Why can't I see where I'm going because it's too dark/crap camera/poorly designed circuits?
WTF are the "survive it" levels doing in an SSX game? Race 3 seconds, crash, restart...repeat.
Why do I auto-grind on some objects but not others?
Why do I need to buy augmented reality goggles before I can even see the bloody track on some mountains?
Why bother building dozens of tracks and then making them all so similar and uninspired?
Why do I need to buy and fit body armour?
Why do I have to keep changing characters?
Why do I have to worry about equipping the right ice axe?
I could go on....

Unfortunately so much of it is typical EA.  Style over substance.  Did they even play the original games?

[fog]

Even though it's not fashionable, I'm slightly hyped about the new Tony Hawkes game.

The first few games in the series were brilliant before it went all THUG and the new game is said to take the best levels from the early games and give them the HD treatment.  If they've left the gameplay and controls the same as the first games it could be great.

Well after being hugely disappointed by the new SSX game and EA's "updating" attempts (ie. add loads of superfluous shit that makes the core game worse) I'm now looking forward to something similar happening to the Tony Hawkes HD remakes.

But Neversoft's original designs still hold up, and Robomodo's tweaks to the classics' formula -- such as faster skating, additional goals, more responsive controls, and improved physics -- better equip players to explore them. Just like old times, only better.

Do you not understand that the speed, controls, physics and general feel of the games is what made them so playable?

[fog]

finally a game that lives up to the hype.  Trials Evolution.  TBH the previous Trials HD was near perfect for me so they didn't need to do much more than add more tracks and I'd be happy, but they have done so much more than that.

Online & local (yeah!) multiplayer races, new motocross style events which are ace, a whole new bunch of mini-games (which are a rarity in that they are fun mini-games),  baike and rider customization (purely optional like it should be) and numerous other small additions.

The biggie though is the way they have expanded the in-game course designer.  The game now takes place in an open world sandbox and you can create tracks anywhere and best of all, player designed tracks can be uploaded and shared with everyone and all with Live leaderboards.  Unlimited Trials levels.....Oh shit. 

[T_M_C]

LOL.

Sounds really cool.

Looks like they are going the Little Big Planet route.

That's had millions of levels designed for it the last i heard.

TMC