"'Wanted' is a film with a fantastic visual style, an in-your-face attitude and edge-of-your-seat action sequences, and moviegoers around the world have resoundingly embraced it," said Bill Kispert, Vice President and General Manager, Interactive, Universal Pictures Digital Platforms Group.  "From the time we read the script and saw the film's pre-visual material, it was clear that 'Wanted' was a powerful property -- one that was well poised to deliver an engaging gaming experience.  We look forward to working closely with the film's creative team to extend 'Wanted's' mythology and to expand the story behind the Fraternity of Assassins."

The 'Wanted' game, in development since early 2007, will be available later this year for consoles and personal computer

What five minutes of One Piece will do to you.

One Piece: Unlimited Adventure is a Nintendo Wii exclusive action-adventure game following the exploits of the Straw Hat Pirates of the popular manga and anime series, One Piece. The overall gameplay of this lengthy journey might not be solid enough to hold its own, but fans of the manga and anime will mine a decent amount of enjoyment out of the title. Though some errant attributes keep it from being generally recommended, it plays surprisingly well for a licensed game, but that's not saying much.

Click here for an explanation of our review and scoring format.

After some misdeeds on the high seas, the Straw Hat Pirates' captain and One Piece's main character, Luffy, is forced to fish aboard their ship as penance for wasting food. He hooks a mysterious orb instead of catching a meal, and this orb causes an island to emerge from under the ship. When the crew comes to, they decide to do what any pirate gang would do and see what treasure the island has to plunder. The absurdity of the plot may only resonate with series fans, but luckily the characters themselves offer some much needed levity in the form of personality, though their at times over-animated nature might put off a few people.

Down with the Navy and its 193 men.

Unlimited Adventure is set up like a traditional action adventure game in the vein of Legend of Zelda. Exploration of the island is key, and of course you'll open up more areas to investigate as you progress. Advancing to new areas is done through the use of Luffy's orb, which for some reason needs to be fed to charge up, amounting to a lot of backtracking and hassle on your part. The barriers the game sets between you and adjacent areas are almost always rock walls that mysteriously explode, so these more traditional gaming restraints need to be taken with a tongue firmly in cheek to be accepted. Unfortunately, once you do enter a new area the game offers little in direction, so you may be wandering around for a while wondering what to do next.

While wandering around, you will run into the militant and evil Navy that surely means more to One Piece fanatics than the rest of us; otherwise they suffice as a near constant fodder for your cast. Once you team up with the rest of the characters, you can change between members at any time with a press of the minus button. There actually is some variance in each character's range of combat. Luffy has the power to make his limbs act rubbery and extend like Mr. Fantastic or Street Fighter's Dhalsim, which lends him some wide-range physical attacks. Usopp can chuck throwing stars from a distance while a little talking reindeer thing called Chopper is only capable of weak short-range melee bursts, but can eventually turn into a powerful, hulking beast. With repeated use, moves become more powerful and new ones become available. Truth be told, the combat is fairly simplistic at its core, but the variety of characters can keep it from being too tedious.

Unlimited Adventure doesn't exactly take advantage of the Wii's unique control options, offering only the traditional Wii Remote and Nunchuk setup. Control is responsive overall, though the game's jumps and attacks don't exactly push the genre's envelope. Camera controls are average, as the Z button on the Nunchuk does most of the camera work. It can lock on to a nearby enemy, set the camera behind you in exploration mode, or be held down and adjusted with the directional pad. The only controls to take advantage of the Wii Remote are the useful character specific moves that are activated with a simple waggle.

One Piece serves up a standard presentation with average graphics. The character models stay true to their 2D roots, but the environments are repetitive and bland. You can at times see an expanse of land, but there's not much to see within the expanse. The sound design may disappoint in that the music, which at best is forgettable and at worst, grating, is accompanied by merely adequate sound effects. But the true crime for some may be that there is no option for Japanese voice acting. This may pain fans, but the English audio is fairly decent and, let's face it – a story about a mishmashed team of character stereotypes with rubber arms and talking reindeer sidekicks calling themselves pirates isn't exactly the stuff of high art.

One Piece does offer a passable versus multiplayer mode where you can select a team of characters from the game, hero and villain. It's passable enough to offer a decent diversion from the main narrative, though it would only keep the interest of series fans, and even then the combat isn't deep enough for it to last for long. The main game also has a few sidequests like butterfly collecting and item creation but outside a few items whose creation is necessary to progress, only the most ardent of One Piece fans will stick through to see all of either mode.

One Piece: Unlimited Adventure isn't a bad game, but that hardly makes it good. It's adequate enough for series fans, who should be able to overlook its relative mediocrity for the chance to play a rather lengthy adventure with Luffy and crew that is somewhat solidly made. For everyone else, you'll be hoping that the adventure isn't quite unlimited.

• A huge co-op component featuring eight player story-driven campaigns over PSN (two player local) alongside single-player campaigns.
• Sixty player competitive modes with a focus on squad-versus-squad combat set in huge United States landscapes.
• New enemies including Chameleon and Stalker with total cloaking ability
• Multiplayer class system. Three basic templates - tank with heavy weaponry, special ops for distance (bullseye modified with zoom) and medic.
• Online matching - standard difficulty discarded for scaled challenges for team skill.
• Partially randomised geometry making levels different with each play through.
• Insomniac have been listening to players complaints about the first game and are also further tapping the power of the PS3 to give more enemies onscreen and improved AI. They are also working on a solution to the long checkpoints and health system.

• The Core Game Itself- Yep, the hit PSP game - Twisted Metal:Head On - is now on PS2. And now it’s running at 60 frames/second, has improved textures and art, and even has a new level created specifically for this version (Transylvania Castle).
• The Lost Levels - Four brand new levels straight out of the dark, demented world of Twisted Metal: Black. These levels are designed with two player deathmatch in mind and I think they are some of the best Twisted levels we have ever made. My favorites are Suburban Terror and Stadium Slaughter.
• The Twisted Metal Symphony- folks who purchase the game will get a free code to let them download a free copy of The Twisted Metal Symphony. TMS is a compilation soundtrack of the greatest musical tracks from TM1, TM2, TM:BLACK, and TM:HEAD ON. Yes, old school TM fans, Rooftops from TM1 WILL be on there!
• A Continuous Suicide Of Reason: The Art Of Twisted Metal- a pack in art booklet filled with concept art dating back to the very first Twisted Metal game.
• The Dark Past- A 30 minute documentary tracing the history of Twisted Metal, the struggles the team went through in making the games, the success, the failures, the fans,etc. Heck, we even touch on what went wrong with TM3 and Tm4 and what the original team REALLY feels about those games. It’s a nice little doc that- I feel- is much more honest than the usual ‘making of’ puff pieces you see [in] a lot of games these days.
• Sweet Tour- This is where you get to take control of Sweet Tooth himself and run him around some levels built for Twisted Metal: Black 2. As you run around, you find icons you can collect. Each icon opens up concept art and behind the scenes information about the making of the series.
• The Lost Ending Movies- Back in 1995, I wrote and directed some live action end movies for the very first Twisted Metal. Because they were deemed too sexist and too violent, they never saw the light of day. But it’s 2008 now and what was once offensive is now just- to most folks- cheesy and charming. So these flicks are on the disc for folks to finally judge for themselves if they are cinematic masterpieces or the final proof of my total lack of talent. I’m sure you’ll let me know which.

• Manhunt 2
• Vampire Rain
• Deal or No Deal
• Lair
• Escape from Bug Island!

• Halo 3
• Assassin's Creed
• Blue Dragon
• Heavenly Sword

• Tony Hawk series
• World Wrestling Entertainment games
• Final Fantasy series

• Inventory system in Mass Effect (agreed)

According to the Cumberland Times, a Frostburg State University students was arrested after comments he made on Xbox Live.

The 19-year old reportedly mentioned to fellow Call of Duty 4 players a threat of shooting up the school. Apparently the student went into much detail about how he would even do it.

Police followed up with the reports by working with Microsoft and Xbox Live to track down the suspect through his internet address.

Following his arrest, he reportedly told investigators he was joking and had no intention of following through with the threat. He could face up to a year in jail and/or a $5,000 fine.

• Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
• College Hoops 2K8

• MotorStorm Devil's Weekend ($6)
• Guitar Hero III song packs (6.25/each)

• MotorStorm Devil’s Weekend Video
• Ratchet & Clank Future: ToD Launch Trailer
• Devil May Cry 4 TGS Trailer 2
• WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 Trailer
• Burnout Paradise “Carson GT” Trailer
• Burnout Paradise “Manhattan” Trailer
• Movie and Blu-ray Disc Trailers:
• One Missed Call Trailer
• Sweeney Todd Trailer
• Hostel Part II Trailer

• (5) Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Wallpapers (free)

• Classy Pink, Pixel and Nature (also free)

If Lara Croft was a dude, his Tomb Raider would be Uncharted: Drake’ Fortune. Uncharted is an upcoming adventure/exploration/action game for the PlayStation 3 that I had a few minutes to sit down with at E3 this week.

Uncharted’s story kind of “re-imagines” the life story of Sir Francis Drake, the legendary explorer. According to the game’s plot, Drake didn’t die of dysentery when he was supposed to have. Rather, he faked his death so he could pursue El Dorado, which he realized was mis-interpreted; it doesn’t really mean “man of gold,” it means “city of gold.”

The main character in the game isn’t Francis Drake, though, it’s his son, or his grandson.. or his cousin’s nephew, I don’t really remember. The new, younger Drake is also an explorer, the Indiana Jones type. The game takes him through the jungles and the mountains as he tries to uncover the mystery of Sir Francis.

The section of the game I had time enough to play took place in a jungle and featured a lot of climbing and jumping. There’s a pretty nice, simple acrobatic system for scaling walls and handling obstacles.

Combat also has a pretty big role in the game, as even remote jungles seem to be full of enemy hoodlums gunning for you. Uncharted has a cover-fire system similar to Gears of War, though nowhere near as satisfying. You can stick yourself to most surfaces and fire around corners, but it all feels loosey-goosey. Aiming guns seemed rather sloppy as well, especially around corners.

The biggest problem I faced, a phenomenally huge problem, is that it takes a ridiculous amount of bullets to kill an enemy. With the pistol, the primary weapon in the game, I counted over six body shots before an enemy went down. I’m not talking about futuristic cyber-soldiers with mithril body armor, either. These are guys wearing tank tops and tshirts. With picked-up weapons like assault rifles and such, it still takes way, way too many shots. It’s almost cartoonish.

The graphics seemed typical for a PS3 game: very pretty, but distractingly shiny. It’s like there’s a layer of bacon grease was sprayed over all the foliage and characters. I think there’s some default lighting effect present in the PS3’s graphics drivers, and developers get way too excited when they find it.

 

Just a few minutes ago I was reflecting that it seems like I think every game I play at E3 is going to be awesome, but then I remembered Uncharted. If this game wants to make any kind of impact come its holiday release, it needs some major tuning. Aiming is poor, bullets are rubber, and everything looks wet. There is a lot of potential in the graphics, controls, and possibly the story. I just wasn't feeling it with the E3 demo.

]]> Sat, 14 Jul 2007 16:07:45 -0500 Shiva Stella http://www.gamebump.com/go/new_uncharted_drakes_fortune_trailer http://www.gamebump.com/go/new_uncharted_drakes_fortune_trailer http://www.gamebump.com/go/new_uncharted_drakes_fortune_trailer# This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.

Here's the SCEA Gamer's Day 07 trailer for Naughty Dog's Uncharted: Drake's Fortune on the PlayStation 3. Announcement details and artwork/screenshots can be found here. Enjoy.

divxMovie('http://files.gaminghorizon.com/t_uncharted_gd07.divx',true);

]]> Thu, 17 May 2007 14:15:00 -0500 Shiva Stella http://www.gamebump.com/go/enchanted_arms_slated_for_ps3_release http://www.gamebump.com/go/enchanted_arms_slated_for_ps3_release http://www.gamebump.com/go/enchanted_arms_slated_for_ps3_release# This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.

Ubisoft has announced that Enchanted Arms, an RPG recently published on the Xbox 360, is currently being developed by From Software for the PlayStation 3 and will be available sometime in March.Enchanted Arms is being created by development studio FromSoftware in Japan and is one of the first true next-generation Japanese role-playing games (RPG) arriving on the PLAYSTATION 3 system. The adventure takes place in a fantasy world filled with beautiful cinematic graphics and vibrant characters. It includes more than 50 hours of gameplay and is the only next-gen RPG with the fast-action SpeedTactics Battle System, which enables the player to move his or her characters and use distance-dependent attacks while in battle.

In Enchanted Arms, players will embark on an epic RPG adventure and escape to a fantasy world filled with unique and bizarre creatures. Taking the role of Atsuma, enchanter-in-training, players will transform from a naïve student into the most powerful savior in a war 1,000 years in the making. In an immersive, deep storyline filled with increasingly difficult challenges, players will meet new allies and master Atsuma’s special fighting and magic abilities.

SIXAXIS™ Wireless Controller Integration Provides an Immersive Experience: Use the motion-sensitive controller to harness weapons, recover your EX power meter, unlock more powerful attacks and solve puzzles.

Features include:

Master the SpeedTactics Battle System: Easy-to-navigate interface, the ability to move characters in-battle and distance-dependent attacks combine to create fast-paced, hands-on gameplay.More Than 500 Characters, Including 130 Unlockable Creatures You Control: Find and unlock 130 controllable creatures to use in battle as part of your team. Customize your party and learn to harness their unique abilities. Includes 30 all new creatures exclusive to the PLAYSTATION 3 system.Includes Both the Original Japanese and an All-New English Language Track: Choose to play the game with either Japanese or English dialogue.More Than 50 Hours of Epic Gameplay: Delve deeper as you meet new characters and explore over 75 environments with multiple objectives and branching missions.Includes More Than an Hour of Anime Cinematics and Video: Including ten minutes of all-new exclusive video. ]]> Thu, 11 Jan 2007 23:42:00 -0600 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_test_drive_unlimited_360 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_test_drive_unlimited_360 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_test_drive_unlimited_360# This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Brian Mohr.

Racing has suddenly gone in a new direction with Atari’s Test Drive Unlimited. Players head to the island of Oahu to drive through various races like any other driving title, but this time there is a twist. Instead of just straight races, Eden Studios is taking you for a new ride with a massive open racing game where you can go and race anywhere on the island you want even against online opponents. It’s quite a different trip and Test Drive Unlimited is venturing into new territory, but how does the experience pan out?

First and foremost, Test Drive Unlimited is a pretty good looking title on the Xbox 360. Where it really shows is in the car models. Inside and out, it is impressive to look at and there is some really nice detail and reflection graphics presented. These are easily some of the better looking car models shown on the 360 to date. On top of that, the environment looks lush and beautiful. It certainly captures the tropical atmosphere of Hawaii and isn’t repetitive looking at all. There is a real nice attention to detail about the island too as the developers went out of their way to map Oahu right with landmarks, road signs and more. The only problem is that Eden Studious obviously didn’t give much attention to the characters as they are blocky and visually distracting.

Of course graphics wouldn’t mean all that much for a racing game if there aren’t any good cars to drive. Thankfully Test Drive Unlimited features approximately 150 cars from nearly 50 manufacturers including Mercedes, Lamborghini, Lotus, Ford, Dodge, Chevy, Jaguar, Alfa Romeo, VW and plenty more. This game features a nice variety of new and classic vehicles for any car lover. Cars are nice, but Eden also included a nice variety of motorcycles too.

Aside from the cars and graphics, TDU does a nice job of making the entire experience seamless. You’ll have one or more residences on the island with a garage. If you want to test drive a car, you simply go to a dealership that carries the brand you like and you can give it a spin as well as buy your vehicles there. That is easy, but joining races whether online or off is just as simple. Players simply drive to starting points on the map and press X. This is where everything is seamless as you can choose a single-player game or select multiplayer all while driving around the city.

If you jump into multiplayer, this is where the action in Test Drive Unlimited is at. The developers made the experience very simple by always having you online and able to interact with other players. On the roads around Oahu, there are other cars that you can challenge on the spot or you have the option to meet up with opponents through the club area.

Through the online game, players are able to wager money on the outcome of the race and even trade cars with other online members. You’re also given the option to filter the type of player you’re looking to race by car, friend or more. There is a nice news ticker that alerts you to races and you are given the option to create your own races too, right down to the checkpoints, class participants and more. One other nice feature is that TDU offers players the opportunity to create a unique identity with create-a-driver. This allows you to select your physical looks, accessories and wardrobe which include brand name merchandise.

Probably one of the few major problems in the game has to be the sound. The engine sounds are mediocre. The soundtrack and voice work are even worse. The soundtrack is anything but memorable and the voice acting has no depth or personality to it. The other real bothersome problem with the sound is the GPS voiceover which is too frequent and quickly gets irritating.

One other problem with the game is the fact that the single-player experience isn’t that engrossing. Basically you’re participating in various races and other driving jobs (i.e. time trials, errand runs and more) to build up money for cars, accessories and parts. The opponent A.I. is poor, the storyline is extremely weak, and the overall adventure gets tiresome quickly.

Test Drive Unlimited is a solid product that features stunning graphics and a tremendous open-ended online experience. Though the game has a slight drawback in the sound and single-player campaign, the multiplayer more than makes up for it and should provide racing fans with plenty to do. Overall Test Drive Unlimited is a new experience that is worthy of the trip particularly for the reasonable $40 price tag.

Fun and easy to play. Combining the single and multiplayer experience is very exciting.

Cars and the island look nice, but characters aren’t refined enough for today’s graphics.

Voice acting is average; the soundtrack, car sounds are poor. GPS voice quickly gets bothersome

The game is fun to play for a little while, but grows tiresome quickly on single player

There is plenty of replay value with multiplayer since it is well done and keeps you interested

]]> Thu, 21 Sep 2006 23:15:00 -0500 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/test_drive_unlimited_for_360_gets_green_flag http://www.gamebump.com/go/test_drive_unlimited_for_360_gets_green_flag http://www.gamebump.com/go/test_drive_unlimited_for_360_gets_green_flag# This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.The original author is Philip Palmer.

The Xbox 360 version of the much anticipated Test Drive Unlimited shipped to stores today in North America, according to Atari. The title is rated E10+, and will retail for $39.99. In addition, a 48-hour free trial of Xbox Live Gold will be included with the purchase cost. The PS2 version has not been released yet.

Test Drive Unlimited has generated a lot of high hopes for a unique and exciting blend of racing and massively multiplayer online content, and could go far towards diversifying and innovating the current field of online gaming.]]> Tue, 05 Sep 2006 23:04:00 -0500 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_need_for_speed_most_wanted_3603 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_need_for_speed_most_wanted_3603 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_need_for_speed_most_wanted_3603# This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Chuck Landry.

I skipped the last Need for Speed. Underground was a bit too “cool” for me to even give it a chance. The street-racing scene was a little too much for me to swallow, and so I missed a supposedly great game because I was turned off by its “urban” flare. But I love the Need for Speed series. NFS 2 was one of the first games I ever played using a 3D graphics accelerator in a PC. It was a 3D Monster FX chip, and it kicked ass. The pinnacle of the NFS series was when they called in the fuzz. There was something about outrunning and/or outmaneuvering the cops that brought NFS to a whole new level.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted aims to combine the flashy tuner world with the thrill of escaping the black and whites into one seriously fast racer. In Most Wanted your goal is notoriety. You’ll begin the game as another racer strips you of your car, and you must climb your way up the Black List 15, becoming the most disreputable street racer in town before you can get it back. Along the way you’ll race against several min-bosses (other ranking racers) who each have their own strengths and weaknesses.

What makes Most Wanted different from Underground and Underground 2 is, of course, the police force. Police chases promise to be the most exciting part of the game, and videos of the unfinished product confirm it. You might start off against three or four cop cars early on, but as you progress you’ll face six, eight, or even twelve at one time. The developers also claim the police will use real-world tactics to try and bring you to a stop, including rolling roadblocks and the like. Players will have some nice tricks at their disposal to give them an edge, including a bullet-time mode to let you squeeze through a small gap or dodge a messy wreck. There will also be areas marked on your map that provide some sort of diversion. The only one I’ve seen thus far is where by hitting a column, you can make a giant donut fall off of a cafe and block the road behind you, letting you escape.

Need for Speed Most Wanted is coming out on just about every platform you can imagine, so clearly what makes the Xbox 360 version special are its graphics. Most Wanted supports 760p resolution for HD monitors and all sorts of special effects that you won’t see on the other versions. The cars look absolutely amazing thanks to the sheer number of polygons that go into modeling each one, and effects like normal and bump mapping on the textures. The entire color scheme of Most Wanted is gritty brown and washed out, giving it a dusty and grimy look. The result is a very stylized environment we haven’t seen before in a racer, and judging by the screenshots and videos available, I’d say it works very well.

This isn’t just a straightforward racer, though. There are times when you are simply cruising around town, looking for an opponent. Here you’ll spend some time hiding from the cops while a meter runs down to signal that you’re all clear. Some modes also include cost of state and bounty, which let you see how much damage you can cause to the city and how much illegal crap you can get away with, respectively. You’ve also of course got multiplayer over Live, supporting up to four players online.

Need for Speed Most Wanted has the luxury of being a launch title, but it’s going up against some stiff competition in the form of PGR 3. There ought to be room for both, though, as PGR is more about exotic cars and straight up racing whereas Most Wanted focuses on more action-packed pursuits and import tuners. It ought to at least be a nice way to showcase next-generation graphics, and if it’s anything near as enjoyable as Hot Pursuit was back in the day, I’m going to have to grab a copy. ]]> Mon, 07 Nov 2005 15:38:00 -0600 Brian Mohr http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_infected_psp1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_infected_psp1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_infected_psp1# This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

Zombie games have yet to hit the handheld market, but this fall Majesco looks to break that trend by bringing an innovative experience to the PSP with its third-person action title, Infected.

The game puts players in the role of Officer Stevens during Christmas in New York City. Stevens must spend the holidays battling the city from infected zombies that used to be normal human beings. Luckily our hero is of course immune for some reason and he must use a viral gun to spread his blood to the infected zombies to kill them. A drop of your blood will cause enemies to explode in a massive mess and consequently other enemies around them will explode as well. The gore is actually pretty impressive from the early build we’ve seen as you’ll see blood, guts, bone and more fly up onto the beautiful PSP screen.

The single-player campaign is pretty solid with an impressive 50 levels of gameplay and the ability to upgrade your weapons. In order to upgrade, players must rack up points by accumulating combo kills with multiple zombies. Other weapons players can unlock include chainsaws, shotguns, rocket launchers, bazookas and more.

Though the single-player experience is impressive, the ad hoc multiplayer option is what keeps people coming back for more. When you enter into a multiplayer game, players are given plenty of options including customizing a character’s hair, gender, skin, clothes and more. Creating your own player also creates a customizable virus that can be spread to PSPs across the world.

By beating others in a multiplayer match, you’ll infect their PSPs. This results in three previously finished single-player missions to open up with zombies that look like the opponent that beat you. The only way to stop the virus is to either beat the three missions or spread it on to others by beating them in multiplayer. This will obviously spread the disease down the line from PSP to PSP.

Planet Moon is planning to have an infrastructure option so that players can check to see how far their virus has spread. Every time players jump on to check the map, they will have to enter a Global Universal Identification which then positions every player with the game that they’ve infected.



Overall, Infected should fill the zombie action void that has yet to make a leap to handhelds. Infected should be worth checking out upon release as it’ll have plenty of replay value for both the single and multiplayer experience. The game looks a little simple both visually and through gameplay, but the interesting options by infecting opponents and spreading viruses should keep this UMD in PSPs for a while.]]> Tue, 16 Aug 2005 20:38:00 -0500 Tim Grube http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_need_for_speed_most_wanted_3602 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_need_for_speed_most_wanted_3602 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_need_for_speed_most_wanted_3602# This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

While over at the Electronic Arts booth, on display was one of the first Xbox 360 titles. Need for Speed: Most Wanted was on hand and to tell you the truth, it looks absolutely amazing. The first thing you’ll notice right away is how remarkable the graphics are in every way. The cracks in the road, the wet areas, and the amazing details of the vehicles are all jaw-dropping.

We were unable to do a multiplayer game, but the few races I did play were easy to get into. It follows the traditional Need for Speed style, so you have the cops chasing you down while you build a street cred and a rap sheet. There are several short cuts in every map that can be found hitting certain objects in the race.

Gamers will be able to build up there rap sheet with breaking record time, street challenges, and out-running the evil cops. Since all Xbox 360 games must have Dolby Digital support, NFS does a good job in that area of pulling off precise vehicle sounds along with the killer background music. No word on what music will be licensed.

Electronic Arts seems to be going in the right direction for the Xbox 360. I was amazed of the visuals and sound. Although, I’m kind of curious if there will be any downloadable maps since the new Xbox can support it. We’ll have more information as soon as it becomes available. ]]> Thu, 19 May 2005 17:28:56 -0500 Tim Grube http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_twisted_metal_headon_psp http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_twisted_metal_headon_psp http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_twisted_metal_headon_psp# This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

Massive enviroments and online play! Short single-player

Very crisp, but a few slowdowns here and there. Still beautful though.

Not a big soundtrack, so you tend to hear the same songs a few times.

Found myself playing more online than single-player. Lots of extras.

Single player wont last long but online will keep the replay up just a bit.

]]> Thu, 24 Mar 2005 17:56:00 -0600 Aaron Dunlap http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_twisted_metal_headon_psp1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_twisted_metal_headon_psp1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_twisted_metal_headon_psp1# This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

If you handed me a hand-held, wide-screened, wireless-enabled gaming system and told me to make a game that you can play against all your friends wirelessly, I would probably end up with something very much like Twisted Metal: Head-On. If they told me I couldn’t do that, I’d probably make a portable "You Don’t Know Jack!" Game – by the way.

I had a chance to get my hands on Head-On this week, including a rather enjoyable multiplayer session against another journalist and two representatives from Sony. I won. Booyah.

You probably remember the Twisted Metal series; its two iterations made a mild splash on the PlayStation and the PS2’s Twisted Metal Black was just great, though not very well-received. The game’s story can be as simple or complex as you like it, depending on how far you read in the manuals, but the basic idea here is that you’re driving a car with guns and missiles – and so is everyone else. Destruction, mayhem, etc.

For your solo entertainment, the game offers three single-player modes: Story mode, Challenge mode, and Endurance. Story mode is basic, with a set of character-driven (pun may be intended) missions. Challenge mode and Endurance are less of a commitment; in Challenge you pick a map and have to match or beat some goal scores or times, and in Endurance you just have to last as long as you can against an onslaught of enemies.

Multiplayer mode, however, is where things get really interesting. In addition to allowing you to go "head-on" against up to seven of your friends via the short-range (ad-hoc) wireless modes, you can also hop on Infrastructure mode via a wireless router or a free hotspot and battle for online play. Connecting via ad-hoc mode was simple: someone started a room, it showed up on my screen, I hit X, and there I was. In a four-player match, the framerate was flawless and the game played smoothly. In multiplayer games, all players spawn onto a rather large map with weapon and vehicle upgrades scattered freely about. A rudimentary radar system shows you directionally where other players are, and when someone is close enough to you, an arrow appears on your screen showing the player’s name and which direction you need to turn to find him.

Because the PSP uses 802.11 technology for wireless gaming, you don’t need line-of-sight to connect to other units, or even to be in the same room, so gameplay isn’t really constrained as it often is with multiplayer gaming. The four of us were lounging around on couches, pounding away at each other’s vehicles, and laughing manically as we destroyed each other. I liked how it took quite a few hits to destroy a vehicle, so gameplay lasts longer and you don’t need to worry about getting taken out with one direct hit.

I’m excited about the notion of playing this game online, because the game is pretty simple and you can just sort of pick up and go; unlike games like Splinter Cell or Halo 2, you can only get so good at a game like this, so you don’t have to worry about going online and getting spanked by people with no jobs or lives and who do nothing but play the game online (which is why I’m terrified of Splinter Cell’s online play, people just get too bloody good at it). Twisted Metal has a great play model that’s accessible to anyone who can understand that homing missiles home and clusterbombs cluster.

The graphics look great in Head-On; the PSP’s beautiful screen makes the game look almost perfect. It’s not exactly Burnout 3 on the Xbox, but it isn’t supposed to be. Games like this, where you need to be aware of as much of your surroundings as possible, are perfect for the PSP’s 16:9 widescreen. The audio packs a punch too, even from those deceptively small speakers.

Before I had a chance to play this game, I probably wouldn’t have even considered buying it. Having experienced it first-hand now, I’m hooked. Twisted Metal: Head-On makes perfect use of all of the PSP’s landmark features. It’s the perfect multiplayer game (especially for those who aren’t interested in sports titles), and it’s going right on my list of games to buy.]]> Fri, 11 Mar 2005 15:52:05 -0600