Over The Top Gamer

Ah yes, once again we are called upon by MI6 to stop the notorious villains from wreaking havoc and destruction upon the world. And who better to send in than the world renowned super spy, 007.


The game Quantum of Solace doesn't really have much to do with the actual movie. In fact, it's actually more of a prequel to Casino Royal. The story does branch right into the movie Casino Royal and you get to play out your favorite parts of that movie. But, you won't be learning much in the way of the new movie. So, the story for the game is actually a recap of what we've already seen. What the developers did was add in deleted scenes from the movie (Casino Royal) and let you the gamer play them out. A sound Idea for sure. But, why tag this game as Quantum of Solace?


The game is utilizing the COD4 engine and for the most part it works out well. But, the developer (Treyarch) is not using the 3D engine to it's fullest potential. And the games graphics are not balanced well either. Some areas of the game truly shine while others do not. When your inside a building the textures on most levels look good. But, when you go outside things do not look so good. For example: On the first level of the game Bond is going after Mr. White who is taking refuge in a big mansion. You'll have to fight your way through the courtyard and into the mansion to get to Mr. White. When your outside everything looks flat and pasted. Especially when you look off into the distance at mountains and other terrain. The backdrops are ridiculously bad and don't even measure up to Call of Duty 4. It's almost insulting to see the COD4 engine used so poorly. Character models look more like dolls than actual people except 007's. They really captured Danial Graig's (007) likeness well. Now, the animations are good and get the job done. NPC's will spin and roll to their death appropriately. And they will take full advantage of the cover system as well. So, you won't be seeing allot of bad guys standing around.


The sound in the game is well done. Everything from authentic sounding weapons to the catchy Bond theme. The only thing that does not sound good are some of the voice over work. It seems forced and doesn't flow naturally. On a positive note Danial Craig (007) and Judy Dench (M) reprise their roles respectively, and do a great job in the game.


Controls are one of the biggest strong points in the game. They are tight, responsive, and comfortable. Think of the controls as a mix between Call of Duty 4 and Rainbow Six: Vegas. It's a great Idea and works out well. The COD4 controls are more for the first person perspective. You can look down your sites and it looks and plays beautifully. The RB6:Vegas controls are geared toward the cover system aspect of the game. The cover system works extremely well and is an integral part of the gameplay. If you don't use cover you will die. You also have a melee attack. By clicking in the right analog stick when close to an enemy, Bond will perform a take down. It's a one button mini game, simply press the corresponding button and Bond will perform the appropriate move. It's a little cheap but it can really help you get out of a jam.


The campaign will only take you about six hours to complete and then it's off to multiplayer. Unfortunately, the online aspect of the game is very basic. It offers all the standard game types from which you would expect, but it doesn't reinvent the wheel by any means. On the plus side the game is fun and a barrel of laughs. I recommend this game as a solid rental. It's just fun to be Bond.



Reviewed By Tril

Burnout Paradise is actually getting more DLC. The Legendary Car pack will be the first to cost anything, but no price has been said yet.


The DLC includes four cars: Jansen 88 special. Basically it is the DeLorean from Back to the Future, and when you use your nitros it even leaves burning tracks, just like the DeLorean. O and it hovers as well. Then there are some minor others, the Cavalry Bootlegger, GT nighthawk and Manhattan Spirit which all sound pretty weird but who cares if they hover and have funny wheels.


But that's not all, there's also the Burnout Paradise Toy Cars pack. It's nine of the Burnout Paradise cars that have had make-overs to look like Hot Wheels toy cars. They haven't said if this will cost anything or if this is and extension to the Legendary Car Pack. But, if you do need to pay for any of these two, they probably won't be much. Either way it sounds pretty cool and makes me wish I still had Burnout Paradise.






Posted by Nick

14th November 2008

Well we are back from our week break and for good reason. We have been experimenting and now this podcast is bigger. However there are still some issues like echoing so sorry for that but you will understand when you hear how BIG this show is.


Anyway on this episode we cover four AAA titles, LittleBigPlanet, Fallout 3, Gears of War 2 and Dead Space and more. So sit back and brace yourself because we are back and into the swing of things.






Posted By Blood

Well the first question that sprung to my mind when I heard that Gears of War will have a sequel was, How would they top it? All I can say now is that they have gone so far passed the top they are almost out of this world. Gears of War 2 has not only built on what the first game was about but it has actually added things which has made the game feel fresh.


The main thing that Epic was promoting about this game was a more bigger single player experience. The story starts about six months after the detonation of the Lightmass Bomb at the end of the first game, and from there you are thrown straight into the battle against the invading Locust Horde, again. There are five acts to go through and a lot of variation through the levels so that you don't get bored of seeing the same environments. It will take you through ruined cities, vast forests, the Locust undergrounds and even up mountains. The story will take about 10 hours to complete depending on what difficulty you do it on and Epic have provide enough variation in difficulty for everyone. The story in general is a lot more flushed out and has great boss battle, great cut scenes which move the story along at a steady pace and even new characters which gave the whole story and world a more believable feel.


All the weapons from the first game make a welcome return. However, they are now a lot more balanced and there seems to be a weapon for every scenario. They have thrown in a few new weapons for good measure like the Scorchers which is basic flamethrower, a new pistol which fires in bursts. Some heavy weapons like the Mulcher which is a Gatling gun, Mortar and a shield that you can deploy for cover. There is also a new meaning in this game of close quarter combat.


The new executions are some of the most gruesome and brilliant things in gaming history. Thereare roughly 11 different executions from punching someone to death when they are on the ground, to using your gun as a club to smack a head off. Its all there. Then the standard curb stomp is back and a standard melee. You can also now take people hostage when they are down and use them as a human shield to block enemy shots until the body is cut to bits by gun fire. One of the biggest additions to the system is chainsaw duels. If two people run at each other with a chainsaw revving they will go into a small mini game where you have to hammer B for about 4-5 seconds and who ever press it the mosts get to slice the other in two. All of these features just makes the game feel fresh and you keep wondering how should I show off my superiority.



All of these features spread over into the multiplayer which has not changed much, which is good because why change what already works. However they have definitely cleaned up on some of the problems that the first one had. The major thing is that you can take a party of four of your friends into a matchmaking lobby. However I have noticed that it is very slow at matching you up with people to play with. Here you can fight on any game modes that allows the full five people fighting. They still have the classic Warzone, Execution Annex and King of the Hill but on top of that they have Wingman which is a 2v2v2v2v2, which is basically assassination from the first one but revamped to make it better where if the Leader dies your team cannot respawn. Finally there is Submission which was called MeatFlag and this is just basically Capture the Flag but the flag is a man called Franklin and yes he can kill you and most of the time he will.


One big addition is the Horde mode where you can have again up to four of your friends join you as you tackle wave after wave of Locusts. There are 50 waves and even though you think you might be the best at Gears of War you will need help in this. After every 10 waves the enemies will get more accurate more stronger and much more f@*king annoying, in a good way. This mode has so much to offer. You can set the A.I difficulty and you can play it on all the maps which gives you different experiences every time, as you have to think of different points to defend against the onslaught.


The whole feels of the game comes across in the graphics. Even thought it looks the same it should. However everything is a lot more detailed and bigger. The slicing someone in two has never looked better and by the time you get to the end of the game your jaw will be on the floor. There are just so many moments in the game which takes your breath away. The sound design is brilliant as well. The music has been revamped and you can really feel the tension rise when the music hits in the bigger moments of the game. The weapons have also had a sound upgrade. The Lancer feels punchier and all around the whole packed is great.


So after all of that I will answer the question. Is Gears of War 2 just Gears of War 1.5. NO. It is so much more. Epic has raised the bar for cinematic gameplay and story telling but not only that they have given the great Gears of War multiplayer we always wanted them to balance. This game is brilliant and even though there are some still graphical texture loading problems they have smoothen the animated instead of the jump in they used to do. Gears of War 2 has brought back great memories and I am hoping it will live on through its multiplayer.



Reviewed By Blood

Welcome back to another addition of Over the Top news. Bethesda's Fallout 3 has shipped recently with more than 4.7 million copies totaling $300 million in sales. It's an impressive launch for sure but not as impressive as Halo 3's launch which took in a mega load of $8 mil it's first week. Also, Gears of War 2 has been released selling 2.1 million units in one day, and I must say this game is a must have title. So if you haven't picked it up yet, you need to get moving and join the community.


Publishing giant Activision and publisher/developer Blizzard have recently merged into one company. But, unfortunately several key games were dropped from the Sierra Entertainment division. Some of these include Ghostbusters, Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena (remake from the Xbox 1 original/PC), and 50 Cent: Blood on the sand. THQ recently picked up the rights to the 50 Cent game and now Atari has picked up publishing rights for Ghostbusters and Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena. Now that these games have found a publisher there set for release sometime in 2009.


Halo Wars finally has a release date window for February 09. The developer Ensemble Studios will have two sku's available at launch. There will be a standard edition and a limited collector's edition. For the extra $20 (us dollars) you will get the upcoming Halo 3 Mythic map pack add-on consisting of three new levels, and extra in-game vehicle (the Honor Guard Wraith), six cards describing the games leaders, a"Spirit of Fire" crew member patch, and the Halo Wars: Genesis graphic novel. The graphic novel tells the story of one of the earliest confrontations between humankind and the alien Covenant. Those of you who pre-order the game (either version) at select retailers will also receive a code for a downloadable in-game Warthog vehicle sporting flame decals. After the games release the developer will be closing the studio. Some of the core team members will go on to form their own independent studio, their first project will be to support Halo Wars after it's launch while the rest of the employees will be placed throughout Microsoft.


In closing, the Left for Dead demo will be made public today for the PC and Xbox 360. The demo will be available until November 18Th when the game is released. For those of you who don't know the game is being developed by Valve, the masterminds behind the epic Half-Life series. And just to remind everyone, Call of Duty: World at War ships tomorrow. So, I'll end the news with this video just to get your blood pumping.








Posted By Tril

Well we are all busy playing all the great new releases and getting ready for all the review we will be having to write but anyway here is something which caught my eye.


Left 4 Dead is out in less than a month now and for those of you getting it, look at this trailer. It's the epic opening cinematic to the game and it looks great. I think Left 4 Dead will still be brilliant even though loads of other zombie modes/ survival modes like Horde in Gears of War 2, Call of Duty: World at War and the rumours of GTA 4's zombie modes. Just because it's the only one that is specifically zombies and because of that it will do things more professional and genuinely better, anyways enjoy.

Hello folks, it seems like ages ago when I did this and well it was. My god it was five weeks ago. Anyway snap out of it Blood we've got work to do.


Some of you may have signed up for the New Xbox Experience preview program and if you did on the 1st November you would have got the update. And if you got the update i hate you. No seriously though, for all of us regular folks who have to wait until the 19th November here are all the features of the NXE in all of these videos. Click Here.


Beatles are finally coming to Rock Band and they are saying it will be available by the end of 2009 and it will be a standalone title. All the song will be based on UK releases and it will focus on their first album. I personally am not a huge Beatles fan but I am glad that Harmonix are finally splashing out on some well known groups instead of Siouxsie & the Banshees.


For people who have recently bought Guitar Hero World tour and have got the drum kit you might need to tune it and luckily RedOctane have released it. But you cant use it. Why you ask. Well you need a USB cable to connect it to your PC and well it was not packaged with one, so you will have to ask them to send you one. But luckily it is free.


Burnout Paradise seems to just keep growing and now Criterion Games have released details on their next update, even though its not as nearly as impressive as the rumoured planes. It will be a Party mode were up to eight people offline can compete against each other in some short games. The update also effects the to make them much more brighter and colourful. this update you will have to pay for however and to be honest this is not worth it unless they include something else. Like planes maybe?


Microsoft is now also looking to get into the creative market after the huge interest in Sony's LittleBigPlanet. Microsoft's version is called 'Boku' and is actually and XNA project. It does not seem as in depth as LittleBigPlanet seeing as its an XNA title but this actually seems quite cool. Take a look yourself below.






Games Radar
Gears of War 2 - 360
Motorstorm Pacific Rift - PS3
Tom Clancy's End War - 360/PS3/PSP/DS
Guitar Hero World tour - 360/PS3/PS2/Wii
High School Musical 3: Senior Year Dance! - 360/PS2
Resistance 2 - PS3 (USA Only????)



Posted By Blood