Game Reviews from Expo

My comments and ratings on the games that I played:

Gears of War 3

What more can be said. Only Beast mode was available to play, and this was enough. The controls are the same so it was easy to slot straight into the game play, apart from my ‘epic fail’ of blowing up my Ticker on spawn with enemies no where near, the spectators must have had a chuckle at that. Playing as the different types of Locust never got boring, in fact the only one I didn’t play as was a berserker – not sure how I missed that one. It was everything that I had hoped and expected. 9 out of 10

Assassins Creed: Brotherhood

I managed to jump on this first thing Sunday morning, and without realising had gone straight to the PS3 versions!!! Like Gears, only the multiplayer was available. Visually the game is exactly the same as AC2, and that isn’t particularly a bad thing. Having been a fan of both the previous games, this didn’t disappoint. The multiplayer could be a riot with up to 8 assassins, which are given contracts to kill each other. So at any one time, you will be given a contract to assassinate 1 of the other 7 players, while 1 of them gets a contract to assassinate you. It can get quite frantic but was really good fun. Suffice to say that I came first in of our game after a couple of ‘stealth’ kills which earned me extra bonuses. This is a definite for me. 9 out of 10

Hunted: The Demons Forge

This was one of the games that I was really looking forward to trying and again wasn’t disappointed. It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but it did the trick for me. This is a co-op campaign in a similar vein to Gears of War, using a cover based system when fighting. Main differences would be swapping the guns for swords, grenades for bows and crossbows, and throw in some magic. Another difference to GOW would be that there are different strengths and weakness between the 2 characters, which is balanced in game to encourage teamwork rather than rampaging through each level. It has been dubbed in some quarters Gears of Warcraft, and I can why. This will be also on the list to get. 8 out of 10

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit

Had a quick blast on Saturday, and wasn’t particularly impressed. My view was probably slight off as I am grinding my way through Undercover at the moment, which isn’t very good, and slightly unfair as Hot Pursuit is being done by Criterion. Sunday’s impression was much improved, even though I got totalled by a copper. I can see the multiplayer being a good giggle, especially being able to play as a cop. 7 out of 10

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West

I really liked the feel of this one. It compared in terms of game play to Prince of Persia. It is very much a platform driven game with puzzles and fighting thrown into the mix. Visually the game looked really nice so this one will be on the list to pick up. 7 out of 10

Mafia II

Didn’t really have long enough to play this, other than to suggest it felt very much like GTA4. In the few minutes that I played I managed to steal a car, right in front of the police which was then preceded by a car chase around the city!! I would want slightly longer to try this one out so I am giving a slightly lower mark. 6 out of 10

F1 2010

I had on 3 lap race on this, and finished in the same position as I started – 8th. It was difficult to tell on this because I couldn’t hear the engine noises, so consequently I struggled when breaking into corners. I also felt the driving line/breaking line very misleading. I did have a decent 2nd lap and managed to get myself up to 5th but then got a little too confident and spun out on a corner and dropped back to 8th. I would like a slightly longer go on this one to properly mark, so it gets a: 6 out of 10

Pro Evolution Soccer 2011

I haven’t played any of the recent PES games, the last one being PES 6. I wasn’t impressed, graphically it wasn’t smooth, quite ropey and the game play just hasn’t felt like it has moved on since earlier versions of the game. They still haven’t got the correct names for some of the teams either, with my team Villa still called West Midlands Village. The only slightly satisfying point was beating the knuckle draggers West Midlands City aka Small Heath 2-0 while playing with 10 men after getting Milner sent off. I won’t be buying this one. 4 out of 10


Others I was going to jump on, didn’t, but had a good look at others playing:

Fable 3 – Graphically looks much better, but very much the same sort of game. I wasn’t too fussed about number 2 so may pick up when it becomes a bit cheaper

Fallout: New Vegas – Fallout 3 was a slow burner for me, struggled to get into it, but really enjoyed it towards the end. New Vegas looks almost identical in terms of graphics, game play and menus

Dragon Age 2 – Having just finished Origins, it was interesting to see that graphically the game has been improved, although didn’t bother to try it as difficult to get a feel for an RPG in a couple of minutes.

Summary

Must buy: GOW 3, AC: Brotherhood and Hunted.

Possible: NFS, Enslaved, Mafia II and F1, but won't pay full price for them.

No thanks: PES 2011.

nice write up shaun,i cant wait for fallout new vegas,and also now interested in hunted

Got to be honest, i watched Bub play New Vegas and for a game so close to release it looked incredibly buggy (almost crashed on him at one point)

tom dont spoil my vegas hardon

fancy hunted myself.

Nice write up Shaun. Fallout, Fable & Dragon Age for me

killswitchmad wrote:Got to be honest, i watched Bub play New Vegas and for a game so close to release it looked incredibly buggy (almost crashed on him at one point)

Bub did mention it was really buggy, and a few of the machines had to be re-set. Hope thats ironed out for when it is released.

Mav - I think you are going to have a New Vegas hard on anyway

FWG Unky Al wrote:Nice write up Shaun. Fallout, Fable & Dragon Age for me

Same here mate, will defo be picking up Dragon Age 2. Might give New Vegas and Fable 3 a blast but not fussed about picking them up on release.

hopefully the combat in dragon age 2 wont be quite so hard!

Great write up, i'm also looking forward to Brotherhood, sounds more and more fun everytime i read about it.
PS. It's not just giggles playing as a cop

I thought it was all giggles and eating doughnuts?

if they giggle when eating doughnuts then they are likely to choke!

and spill the fucking jam down my vest!

I thought you all ate ring donuts of each others truncheons

great info guys - next year is all about GoW3 for me. I can see that being a great laugh between all of us. Beers & Gears....looking forward to that!

Nice one Shaun, GOW3 and AC brotherhood look a an absoulte must then