To be totally blunt, Batman games have been very dodgy in the past while. In fact, the last Batman game to truly be any good was the game based on the original movie on the NES. Therefore, as a professed Batman fan, I was looking at Eidos’s upcoming Batman title (Bat-title?) with equal parts admiration and admonition. However, after taking it for a test drive at E3, I can truly say that this game is on-track to be the best game featuring the caped crusader in years, if not ever. The game nails the darker aesthetic that fans love from the character, while adding in a great combat system, effective stealth gameplay, and excellent art direction for a game that no Batman fan will want to miss.
Batman: Arkham Asylum opens up with the hero helping transport the Joker to the titular institution for the criminally insane. However, things take a definitely bad turn when the Joker breaks free, and with the help of his assistant Harley Quinn, runs amok in Arkham, taking over, releasing hordes of baddies and capturing the Warden and his staff. Bats must then take up arms and use his skills and gadgets to restore order and put the Joker in his place.
The game features a “free flow” combat system, allowing you to effectively chain attacks to build up your meter to perform even more punishing moves. Additionally, you’ll be able to perform counter-hits, airborne kicks, and use your token tools like Batarangs and grappling hooks.
While going in guns blazing is often an option, there are situations that require a bit more tact and stealth is an important part of your interactions with the loonies in the asylum. You’ll be able to enter “Detective Mode” which allows you to enter an “X-Ray” sort of vision mode, seeing inmates’ positions on the other side of walls, whether or not their armed and what their condition is. You’ll even be able to see what their heart rate is, letting you determine if they’re scared or calm. You can even scare enemies by making examples of their mates, hanging them up and then dropping them, freaking them out quite a bit.
The game is filled with plenty of little nuances to pull you into its atmosphere. As you progress, you’ll receive help from Oracle (Barbara Gordon), who will give you clues as to what you need to do to solve certain puzzles, as well as give you bios on the various supervillains that you meet, including recorded therapy sessions with the doctors at the hospital. You’ll also be able to go through the game’s environment and discover the Riddler’s Trophies, which are hidden throughout.
Graphically, the game is definitely a treat. The game sports art design with the creative input of DC’s Wildstorm Productions, who redesigned all of Batman’s Rouges Gallery to reflect a more mature look. The overall quality of the visuals is very impressive and this should be one good looking game when it launches.
Fans of Batman should keep a close eye out for this game, which is definitely poised to offer some of the most accurate and intense Bat-action ever.
Batman : Arkham Asylum Sys. Requirement
Minimum System Requirements OS: Windows XP Sp2/Vista Sp1 Processor: P4 2.8GHz (3.2GHz Vista)/Athlon 64 3000+ (3200+ Vista) Memory: 1GB (1.5GB Vista) Hard Drive: 12GB Video Memory: graphics card with 256MB (SM 2.0b). NVidia 6800 or ATI X700. Sound Card: DX9.0c compliant DirectX: 9.0C Keyboard & Mouse DVD Rom Drive
Recommended System Requirements OS: Windows XP Sp2/Vista Sp1 Processor: Core 2 Duo 2.2GHz processor family/Athlon 64 X2 4400+ (required for MP host) Memory: 2 GB RAM Hard Drive:12 GB Video Memory: graphics card with 512MB (SM 3.0). NVidia 8600 GTS or ATI HD 2900 XT. Sound Card: DX9.0c compliant DirectX: 9.0C *Internet: Broadband (768kbit/sec upstream required to host 16 players) Read More . . .>>
The Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen video game lets gamers step into the shoes of the Autobots or Decepticons, select any available mission and pick from the largest, most diverse range of playable Transformers – each with their own distinct abilities and weaponry. Set in unique environments across the globe such as Cairo and Shanghai, the game allows players to instantly switch between vehicle and robot modes as they drive, fly, fight and blast their way through intense, pressure-packed levels. After engaging in single player action, players will be able to go online and battle friends in all-new multiplayer modes.
Transformers:Revenge of The Fallen Gameplay Trailer
The Choice Is Yours – Players can take on the role of their favorite AUTOBOTS and DECEPTICONS such as Optimus Prime, Starscream, Bumblebee and Ironhide, along with new characters making their first appearance in a game. With two distinct campaigns that allow players to save or destroy the human race, players can unlock and play missions in any order and with different characters for a whole new experience
Outmaneuver Your Opponents – Instantaneously convert from a colossal robot to a dynamic land or air vehicle such as a diesel truck, sports car, military chopper or fighter jet. New, ultra-fluid transformations can be performed in-motion anytime and anywhere, allowing players to strategically propel through and decimate hordes of enemies with incredible agility
Take the Battle Online with Friends – For the first time ever in the TRANSFORMERS universe, players can engage in full, multiplayer action, taking the epic war between the AUTOBOTS and DECEPTICONS online to play with friends in a multitude of competitive game modes as they utilize their characters' unique weapons and abilities to lead their teams to victory
Demolish Your Enemies – Each TRANSFORMER can unleash a unique array of assaults on its enemies – ranging from powerful missile attacks and rapid-fire chain guns to explosive energy blasts and visceral melee strikes – allowing players to pick from a variety of weapons and moves in their character’s arsenal and experience diverse gameplay in every brutal encounter.
Intense, Heroic Missions – Every second counts as players drive, fly, fight and blast their way through gripping, pulse-pounding levels straight from the film and beyond to determine the ultimate fate of the world
What are made this game "WOW"??
Each Transformer has powerful weapons and abilities
Two sizable campaigns
Unlockables and bonus objectives enhance each mission
Strategically engaging online multiplayer.
Bored... bored... bored
Frame rate issues ranging from bothersome to crippling
Visual bugs can taint entire environments
Inadequate graphical performance options
Controls are tough to get the hang of
Environmental hang-ups are prevalent.
Minimum System Requirements for PC Game – Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
* OS: Windows XP or Vista * CPU: Pentium 4 @ 2.4 GHz or AMD Athlon Equivalent * RAM: 1 GB * HDD: 8 GB free disk space * Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 6600/ATI 9800 Pro * Sound Card: DirectX 9 Compatible * DirectX: Version 9.0c
Recommended System Requirements for PC Game – Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
* OS: Windows XP or Vista * CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.13GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4800+ * RAM: 1.5 GB * HDD: 8 GB free disk space * Graphics: 256 MB card with pixel shader * Sound Card: DirectX 9 Compatible * DirectX: Version 9.0c
Supported Chipset Graphics Cards:
Min – NVIDIA GeForce 6600/ATI 9800 Pro
Rec – Nvidia Geforce 7600 GT or ATI Radeon X1600 Series
You want to try this game?? Here these are... (2.32 GB only)
1) Mount image through Daemon Tools PRO in vIDE-drive. 2) Install the game using serial 5XX4-4VAH-3ZH6-5175-29C4 3) Block play internet access, using the firewall. 4) Copy crack files into program directory. 5) Play!
Dota-Allstars v6.62 AI 0.21 Map Download. BuffMePlz has just released his first Dota 6.62 AI map. This map is still on development though, but it still a good news for people who already install Warcraft 1.24b Patch ;)
Here is what he said about the DotA-Allstars 6.62 AI 0.21 Map:
First release, updated to 6.62 and 1.24 compliant. Note that this is v0.21, and there will be bugs.
Some abilities are not working for bots yet (they learn them but don't use them), and this is expected and will be addressed in future versions.
The following game modes have been disabled for now: -vr, -rv, -rd, -cd, -cm, -lm, -xl
The following game commands have been disabled for now: -afk, -kickafk, -ah, -switch, -fun
Please report bugs to me.
Things that are bugs: -Crashes with reproducible reasons -Abilities/items not working as expected (for players or bots)
Things that are not bugs: -Bots not using certain abilities -Bots being too strong/weak/cheating. They do that.
Thanks to Overflow_GR for his help on this version.
As one of the few exclusive first-person shooters for the Wii, The Conduit has garnered a lot of attention. From a technical perspective, The Conduit is an undeniable success. The controls in particular are outstanding, finely tuned to make gunning down enemies while sprinting around the battlefield fun and satisfying. Visually, the game is also top-notch, filling the screen with enemies, explosions, and fancy lighting effects, without the slightest drop in frame rate. However, as entertaining as The Conduit can be, the bland level design and relentless monotony of the single-player campaign create an air of sleepy boredom, and the multiplayer is too unremarkable to entertain for long. The Conduit has an impressive backbone, but it's too generic to capitalize on any of those technical feats.
You play as Michael Ford, a Secret Service agent with a penchant for gunning down hostile alien forces. Your role changes throughout the game as your supposed allies reveal their true identities, but the cliche story and personality-free characters offer you no real reason to care about these supernatural events. The lack of compelling exposition makes it difficult to get sucked into this world. The plot is conveyed by static dialog boxes before levels, giving the game a stale energy that it is never quite able to shake. However, despite the bland tale this game inexpertly weaves, there is one nice touch that adds a bit of flair to the drudgery. There are radios scattered throughout the campaign with broadcasts filling you in on the backstory of this ravaged land, and catching a bit of news as you mow down enemy forces gives you some much-needed context.
The Conduit Launch Trailer
The real draw in The Conduit is the outstanding control scheme. Conceptually, it's nothing special. You aim your gun with the remote, walk around with the analog stick, and perform various moves by hitting buttons or performing specific motions. However, the execution is nearly flawless. You can aim with pinpoint precision, easily lining up headshots from across the screen or spinning around to cut down a critter creeping up behind you. With more than 10 different actions to keep track of, it can be difficult to find the ideal controller setup, but you can customize the controls to suit your play style. For instance, the default setting forces you to thrust the remote forward to perform a melee attack, but that drastically reorients your viewpoint, which makes it difficult to aim your next shot. You can easily map that action to the D pad, though, and use the remote swing for a less important move. Furthermore, the aiming sensitivity and strafing can be tweaked until it's ideal, which makes the shooting in The Conduit satisfying.
If only the rest of the game could have lived up to the impressive controls. The levels are poorly designed, alternating between generic shooter cliches and frustrating enemy encounters, with nary a sweet set piece battle or over-the-top boss fight in sight. Although you travel through a few different environments--including underground government bases, war-torn streets, and stinky sewers--the only difference among these areas are slight visual changes. They all play in exactly the same way, making for a repetitive and ultimately forgettable experience. Every level is comprised of narrow corridors herding you from one alien battle to the next, with dull key hunts serving as the only taste of variety.
The lack of interesting objectives creates a monotonous feeling, but questionable design decisions make the campaign even more grueling. Your buglike enemies quickly incubate and hatch from fertile eggs, and you must continually hunt down these replenishing wombs to stem the flow of angry aggressors. Although being forced to constantly track down well-hidden nests gives the game a tireless pace, it leads to a number of cheap deaths because you constantly find enemies sneaking up behind you, shooting you from above, or attacking you through paper-thin walls. Furthermore, these nests are often hidden in devious locations, forcing you to risk death to incinerate them. At certain points in the game, you will also encounter nearly invisible bombs that must be disarmed before they blow you to pieces. On their own, they're slightly annoying but hardly life threatening. But when you're forced to travel down a long corridor populated by these translucent explosives while trying to avoid snipers perched above and foot soldiers swarming on the ground, they just pour gas on the flames of frustration.
Searching for hidden keys along the walls
The Conduit's difficulty is all over the place. Thanks to the superb controls and powerful guns, you'll spend parts of the game vanquishing enemies with style. Entering a room filled with armed troopers and taking them out with grenades and potshots as you move in to and out of cover can be thrilling. But all too often, the game erects a roadblock that will artificially halt your progress. During a few occasions, you'll be swarmed by attackers as soon as you enter the room, but you'll have no cover to hide behind. Other times, enemies will target a door that's still closed, resulting in instant death as soon as you open it. These situations are almost impossible to pass your first time through because you will need to memorize where the threats are positioned before you have a chance of survival.
The multiplayer is as technically impressive as the single-player experience, but it lacks the excitement that could have made it something special. Twelve players can compete at one time, and though the game occasionally lags, it generally remains stable throughout matches. Although you can speak to your competitors using WiiSpeak, it only lets you converse with friends, which severely limits its usefulness. The seven maps are based on the single-player levels and suffer from many of the same problems as the campaign. They're all a series of corridors without much diversity, so deathmatch duels boil down to shooting your closest foe without any need to seek out an optimal position or plan a more advanced strategy. Although it can be fun to shoot your enemies, the tactically uninteresting landscapes create a feeling of repetition that hinders the long-term enjoyment of the modes. The capture the flag variants aren't much better because the linear levels don't allow for enough creativity to outsmart your opponents. The ability to rank up by earning experience points in battle is a nice touch, but the multiplayer ultimately lacks depth.
Technically, The Conduit is one of the finest looking games available for the Wii. Highly detailed enemies swarm the screen, tossing grenades and peppering you with fancy weaponry, and the game is able to run smoothly despite the chaos. Guns create a brief burst of light on walls as the bullets streak by and explosions illuminate the screen, leaving death in their wake. As fine as The Conduit performs technically, the lousy art makes it an eyesore at times. The levels blend together because they all have the same drab color scheme and no memorable landmarks. The enemies could have been ripped from any number of science fiction stories and are based on an unimaginative insect design that would be impossible to pick out of a lineup. It's a shame the art direction couldn't have matched the impressive technology because what could have been a visual showcase for the system is now just a model for wasted potential.
Watch out this monster has no mercy
Wasted potential is the main theme for The Conduit because its technical prowess is overshadowed by misguided design decisions pasted onto a generic science fiction universe. The excellent control scheme is able to save this otherwise average adventure for a little while, but the many missteps of the campaign become suffocating before too long. The multiplayer, too, is entertaining for a few hours, but the seven maps are too simple and predictable to provide a consistently thrilling experience. The Conduit may provide a glimpse at the future of Wii shooters, but it's still largely mired in the well-worn past.
Open world games seem to be popping up more and more these days. In the development world, they are probably the most exciting things to create. No matter what kind of world you find yourself in, it’s always fun to explore it and that’s what every gamer does when they first throw in an open world game, you explore it and climb to the highest building in the area like you own the world. That’s the case with Prototype, the newest open world game from Radical Entertainment. In many ways, some compare it to Sucker Punch’s, inFamous, which is an interesting topic for conversation but not one we’ll delve into much here. We’re here to talk about Prototype a completely new IP in the industry and something that actually manages to do things differently for once. Let’s take a look.
Gameplay In the case of Prototype, a viral outbreak has the city running rapid. The military is doing its best to control the situation but things just get out of hand before they get better. The game opens up on Day 18 of the viral outbreak with 100% of the population infected; however that’s not where you actually begin the game. This is where the game fails before it even begins.
You play as Alex Mercer as he tells the story of the events of the breakout as it happened 18 days ago. He is a man with no memory and wakes up in a morgue wondering what the hell is going on. You find yourself holding a power that you have not yet realized the potential of. Alex is unfortunately at a loss as to how he got these powers. His mission? Find anyone who had an involvement in creating the monster that he is. The game teases you into thinking you’re beginning as this powerful antihero on a revenge plot to find out what and who you are. You are dropped into the game with all of you’re powers in tact giving you the chance to mess around in the world before taking them away like taking candy from a baby, cliché phrase but it’s literally how the game works.
If you manage to get a hold of the Xbox 360 version of the game, you will be mighty pleased by the controls and how easy it is to control Mercer. In the beginning it’s easy to control your character because you only have so few moves to learn and remember. However, as the game moves on and you start to upgrade and purchase new abilities the list just keeps getting bigger and bigger and it becomes more of a challenge to keep up. The game, however doesn’t force you to remember every move, this is why the radial sub-menu is there to help you select which move is the right one for you and the mission you have on hand.
New moves are earned from using experience to purchase them and upgrade your abilities. If brought up, a radial menu by pressing the right bumper; slows the game down allowing you to make your next decision on which move you’re going to use next. Outside of using your own abilities to wreck havoc you can use conventional weapons like machine guns and rocket launchers dropped by enemies as well as eventually hijacking helicopters and vehicles for even more damage points.
The biggest selling point of the game has to be Alex’s ability to “consume” or absorb anything in his path. By pressing a specific button combination you can easily regain your health and the memories of unsuspecting victims to give you the advantage in your mission. You’ll be doing a lot of this as you reach deeper into the game and find yourself in an overwhelming position. There are times where the difficulty is sneakily bumped up a bit to keep you on your toes once you start fighting more and more infected enemies. Consuming also has its benefits by allowing you to take the disguise of the person you just consumed. This will help as you sneak into military bases and try to uncover the secrets of the viral outbreak and where you’ll need to head next.
Another big thing that you’ll notice about the game is your detection-meter. You are obviously a target that the military is trying to search for and kill. If you get anywhere near a military presence, your meter will turn yellow and if you do things that get their attention the meter will build up and if it hits red be prepared to be pummeled with gun fire and rocket launchers from every possible angle. The only way to escape it is to run away as fast as possible until the meter drops and you’ll hear on the radio that military has lost track of you. The game certainly doesn’t get any easier as time passes, and the city starts to become a rather perilous place to be.
The game is described as an open world title; it isn’t exactly as open world as you might think. Manhattan has about 200 orbs flowing around specific landmarks that will end up unlocking an achievement if you manage to collect them all. The city unfortunately ends up looking the same everywhere you go, and outside of those landmarks nothing else looks very desirable. Outside of that there are optional side quests like timed missions allowing for races on top of buildings or consuming a certain number of pedestrians before the time runs out. The game isn’t shy about exposing its “Mature” rating, the language and blood throughout the game is quite pleasing and something that harkens back to Gears of War.
It will take around a good 10 hours or so to complete the core story for Prototype. After the ending credits, however, the fun doesn’t stop there. You can easily return to Manhattan with all of your upgrades and abilities in tact. You can either play through the main story again or stick with the side missions and optional objectives. Mercer is a nicely designed character that manages to take to the parkour adventure of the game and it feels good. The game surprisingly manages to hold up pretty well framerate wise with all the crowd’s enemies running around onscreen. Crowds and enemy animations don’t collide much with each other. Enemy AI is ok for the most part and despite jumping up in difficulty a few times on certain boss battles.
Prototype Slideshows
Graphics
Prototype is a hard game to judge on the graphics front. It isn’t exactly astounding or a graphically powerful game to look at. Manhattan itself is nicely designed and all the landmarks are there and replicated with much detail. The city itself is pretty detailed as well and although it doesn’t differ much as you explore, you probably wouldn’t care to take a gander at anything once you get your glide ability and find yourself literally surfing around the city. The game has its own style and because of that you get a feel for the viral outbreak that’s going on and why the art direction is the way it is.
The game’s physics engine is something I would scratch my head at. If you watch a building collapse for the first time, you would notice that it practically looks like your playing on the Playstation 2. A little more effort could have gone into making things a bit more realistic at least for a game that has you destroying everything in its path. Sound
You’ll manage to hear everything as usual here. Voice work is rather bland and doesn’t exactly capture your mind if you’re looking for something mind blowing. There isn’t much emotion other then the fact that you know you’re in it for revenge and pretty much the script sticks to a one string emotion that carries throughout the rest of the game. Radio chatter lets you listen in to what the military is doing and lets you keep track of when they’re calling in for a strike team and you’ll have to remember to kill the person calling in before it happens. Mercer himself is nicely done but again a rather bland character that doesn’t make you feel involved in the storyline.
Plasma Factor
The bonus for the game? The ability to consume your victims, the fact that you are stuck with being the bad guy helps in this situation. Consuming anything in your path allows for health regeneration and memory regeneration essentially. It’s what keeps the game moving and what hopefully keeps you happy.
Unfortunately, combat ends up feeling like a button mash contest to see where you’ll end up in the end of it all. As you learn new abilities you’re going to be learning new button combinations once the situation presents itself. This is where the feeling of being overwhelmed comes in after being attacked by waves and waves of enemies before you can manage to run away from them. The military certainly doesn’t make any qualms about hunting and killing you.
Conclusion
Prototype manages to keep one word in mind, satisfying. While it will manage to annoy some at times, especially when the difficulty ramps up, the option to just explore the world will ease your mind from the trials and errors of the main campaign. You will die a lot, especially once you start getting overwhelmed and have no idea what you’re doing. Prototype has enough unique abilities and missions that it’ll keep you busy and interested for the time being while waiting for something else to pop up. In the long run, Prototype is an interesting new IP and is certainly welcomed in an industry that always seems to lavish in the sequel realm.
Prototype Sys. Requirements
Operating System: Windows® XP (with Service Pack 3) and DirectX® 9.0c or (Windows Vista® with Service Pack 2) Video Card: 256 MB 3D hardware accelerator card required - 100% DirectX® 9.0c with Shader Model 3 support* Processor: Pentium(R) Intel Core® 2 Duo 2.6 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ or better RAM: 1 GB of RAM for Windows ® XP / 2 GB Windows ® Vista systems Hard Drive Space: 8 GB of uncompressed hard disk space (Plus 500MB for swap file.) Sound Card: DirectX 9.0 –compliant sound card DVD-ROM: DVD-ROM Peripheral: 100% Windows(R) XP/Vista - compatible mouse, keyboard and drivers 100% Windows(R) XP/Vista - compatible 4X DVD-ROM drive or better (600 K/sec sustained transfer rate) and drivers Supported Chipsets for Windows(R) XP and Vista: All NVIDIA® GeForce™ 7800 256 MB and better All ATI® Radeon™ X1800 256 MB and better chipsets
