PS4 VS XBone at E3 (The Abridged Versions)

So by now I'm sure everyone has made their mind up as to which console they'll be getting (cough PS4), but just in case you haven't, here are 2 brilliant videos by VideoGamerTV to help you choose.

LA Noire Game Review

 Team Bondi and Rockstar Games team up to bring gamers an epic experience that truly goes where no game has gone before.

 Set in Los Angeles 1947, the player takes control of war veteran-turned-cop Cole Phelps as he works his way up from on-the-beat street cop to Detective. The game takes an artistic focus on 1940/50s film ‘noire’ styles with characters, plots and environments drawing largely upon themes such as sex, drugs, glamour, fame, crime, gangsters and more.

The ESPV lowdown: with much anticipation we rushed out to play this game and even now, three weeks later we’re playing it as slow as possible so we don’t finish it too soon! Unless you’re strictly a fan of fast paced online multiplayer FPS games, LA Noire will almost certainly intrigue you and keep you wanting more. 

It’s fun to finally play a game as a cop. Not just any cop either, but one living in the 40s in LA with plenty of dark and dirty cases to solve. Whilst this game’s storyline is epically long and there’s plenty to keep you entertained throughout - it’s the style in which you go about solving cases that is truly impressive, definitely nothing I had experienced before. 

 Each crime scene (some of them very bloody) has clues scattered about that you must search for and document. Then when interrogating a suspect you must decide on which question to ask, whether they are telling the truth, and which clue is evidence you can use against them.

 Using Lightsprint’s RT Global Illumination Technology and MotionScan’s Depth Analysis, Bondi used real actors and 32 different cameras to capture real facial expressions of characters. This comes into play mostly when the player interrogates or interviews suspects of crimes… it’s up to you to watch the suspect’s face closely and determine if they are nervous, angry, upset, truthful, lying, or hiding something. This is what makes the game interesting. If you ask them a question and they seem like they are hiding something you can push them further or get shirty with them - but the results you get are not always the same.

 From petty cop to Vice Squad Detective there are a wide range of cases to solve including: fraud, theft, murder, serial killings, rape, drug trafficking, racketeering, arson and more.

 Overall the gameplay style is similar to a mix between GTA free roaming environments and a third person exploration game, like Tomb Raider or Assassin’s Creed.

With only minimal glitches we found little to be disappointed with. Getting around in the open free roam environment with your old school cars was fun at first but got a little boring towards the end as there is not much on street level to keep you amused such as in games like GTA4. Whilst some cases felt repetitive, overall I was always tested on every case and left wanting more.. in a good way.

Gameplay 9/10
Graphics 10/10
Storyline 9/10
Characters 10/10
Game life 8/10
Overall 10/10

The Top 5 Most Graphically Insane Games For 2011

#5 Gears Of War 3

Epic Games are pretty well known to push the boundaries of visualization beyond limits. They did that with Gear of War and Gears of War 2 and they are all set to surpass all of their previous achievements with the third iin the genre defining series, Gears of War 3. The game is already looking spectacular and with almost a year left before it’s releases Epic Game’s third entry in to the Gears of War saga will make people’s jaw drop.

#4 Killzone 3

With levels ten times bigger than in Killzone 2, this is Helghan like you’ve never seen it before. You’ll face brutal combat in a host of environments that threaten to bury you on the deadly planet. Killzone 3 will see you trudge through toxic nuclear wastelands, get lost in a lethal alien jungle, fight in bitter arctic conditions and take the battle into space as you fight against Helghast domination. Killzone 3 will be fully playable in Stereoscopic 3D, immersing you more deeply into the ferocious world and putting you at the heart of the action.

#3 Rage

Built on id Software’s newest game engine, id Tech5, RAGE is an all-new take on the first person shooter genre by adding combination of racing and rpg elements. Every object in the game will be different and if you have seen all those crazy E3 demonstrations than you may have an idea on what I am talking about.

#2 Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

Third in the Uncharted trilogy, Drakes Deception see’s the return of adventure hero Nathan Drake and his loveable rogue mentor, Victor Sullivan. Sony recently revealed that the new game will be improved in many areas including combat and multiplayer. It has also been announced that Uncharted 3 will be in 3D, which should help sales of 3D TV’s. With its award-winning storytelling, blockbuster cinematic action sequences, immersive high resolution 3D and stunning environmental detail and effects, Uncharted 3 is already looking better than Among Thieves.

#1 Crysis 2

In Crysis 2, the aliens have returned with a full invasion force bent on nothing less than the total annihilation of mankind. In New York, terrifying alien invaders stalk the streets and a nightmare plague strikes down the city’s myriad inhabitants with brutal epidemic speed. Built on Crytek’s new state-of-the art multiplatform game development system, Cry Engine 3, Crysis 2 will simply blow away players with its mind boggling visuals.

Taken from HERE

Epic Mickey Game Preview

Has anyone played this yet? Looks good! According to HERE:

"The character Yen Sid (originally from the Fantasia movie) created a world where all the original and now forgotten characters of Disney’s incredible animated history can reside.

Mickey Mouse, seeing all this through his mirror, decides one day to visit the model/world that Yen Sid created to see what it is truly like. In the process of Mickey’s exploration and Yen Sid’s sudden awakening out of bed;

Mickey accidentally spills thinner on the model, damaging the world and in effect creating “Wasteland” as well as the ink blot that becomes the game’s antagonist. He spends some time trying to quickly repair the damage he has made and then rushes back through the mirror and forgets all about the model.

That is until one day when the ink blot seemingly pulls him back through the mirror to face what he has done. You spend a lot of the game furtively trying to clean up the mess Mickey has made.

To accomplish this you must of course defeat enemies along the way. But you have two options; take the easy route and use the thinner which will essentially destroy your enemies or you can choose the more difficult path and repaint them."

Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days

This game looks the bomb. It's got a great concept, and the multiplayer gameplay is sweeet!
Coming this August!

Game on! - Far Cry 2

It’s been a while since we reviewed a decent game here at ESPV so we thought we’d kick-off the year by reviewing one of favorite shooters..

Far Cry 2 isn't new but it sure is pretty. Developed and published by gaming legends Ubisoft and released in late 2008, this open-world free-roam style first person shooter turned a lot of heads and ranks highly in our personal top 10 list of favorite shooters.

Set in war torn Africa in present day, you play a mercenary.. (you get to choose from 6 characters) your primary goal is to find and assassinate the infamous arms dealer the Jackal. Along the way you make friends and buddies with other mercs whilst completing campaign and side missions for rebel factions locked in a bloody civil war that’s ripping the country apart.

As with most free-roam open-world games you have a massive list of weapons (everything from sniper rifles, RPGs, shotguns, assault rifles to flame throwers and silenced weapons) and vehicles (cars, 4x4s, boats) at your disposal and a large amount of side missions and upgrades available. This, together with the main story missions, keeps you busy and you often find yourself simply immersed in just cruising around the amazing landscapes picking off gorilla rebels and faction members whilst collecting diamonds that you find hidden around the map.

In short, this game boasts amazing graphics, fun action-packed missions and endless game play set in a fictional modern-day East Africa.. boasting beautiful jungles, deserts and savannas. If you like shooters that mix epic sized maps, countless side-missions and plenty of shooting then you’d be nicely satisfied.

So far we’ve played FC2 for about 6 days (on Xbox 360) of continuous game playing and we’re only 50% the way through.. and liking it a lot. There is a lot of repetitiveness at this point but as we still have much to do, achievements to unlock and upgrades to get.. we’re still pleasantly entertained.

Eval:

Graphics 8/10
Game play 7/10
Game life 7/10
Replay ability 7/10
Action 7/10
Gore 6/10
Glitches and annoyances 3/10

Over all 85%

(Images – Google Images)

Table-Flipping Arcade Game

In Japanese, people often talk about flipping over a table in anger — "chabudai gaeshi" or "upending the tea table" is seen throughout popular culture in Japan. Of course, when some people in Japan get totally pissed off, they might actually flip over the tea table.
Japanese arcade game Cho Chabudai Gaeshi is a score attack game that lets players pound a soft table for combos and then upend it for the finishing move. Settings include a host club, a wedding party, an office and a Japanese style living room. So for example, in the living room stage, players bang on the table as their family complains more and more and finally flips over the table.
Its one of the more bizarre arcade games I've seen and I cant wait to play it!

[VIA]

Wireless Game Gun For PC

Finally, all you gamers can start using more muscles then just your thumbs with this new Wireless/VR Game Gun for PC one-person shooter games...
Some features include low-cost, dual-axis miniature rate gyroscope that is fully self-contained for easy integration into human input devices such as the PC VR Gamegun. A unique electromagnetic transducer design and a single etched beam structure utilize the Coriolis effect to sense rotation in two axes simultaneously. Operating between 2.3 and 3.6 volts. 1K of available EEPROM storage on board. Low drift.
Full Motion Tracking - Move the gun and it moves the mouse.
Specs
7″ Widescreen Active Matrix TFT Display
Sleek, Stealth Design
Emulates as a Windows Mouse 100% compatible
Built-in Game pad 3 triggers and dual axis no drivers
High-Quality Black Finish with Black Shroud
High Dot Resolution: 1440 (H) x 234 (V)
3 Selectable Screen Modes (Full, Wide, Normal)
Wireless Remote Control with Front Panel Controls
On Screen Display (OSD)
Power Supply: 12 VDC
Standard RCA Composite Video Input (NTSC only)
Dimensions: 5″ H x 9″ W x 0.7″ D
Plug ‘n play USB, no special drivers or software needed


The Game Gun In Action....


UPDATED: Wireless version

[VIA]

The Best Of E3 2009

Forza Motorsport 3 looks visually amazing and has a feature known as the 5 second rewind so that beginners can retake that awful corner they just messed up. That plus 400 cars on offer make it the best Driving Game of this year.

Modern Warfare 2 was previously seen before E3 and had created alot of buzz. The First Person Shooter features snowmobile chases and ice climbing as well as the usual covert oprations.

Without a doubt, Final Fantasy XIII was the best Role-playing game on offer. Not out til 2010, the new dynamic battle system and stunning graphics will be enough to make this a best-seller next year for sure.

Doesn't come out until Spring 2010, but Action Adventure, God Of War 3 looks set to be a stormer...I loved the first and second and the series is getting better and better.

Pes2010....what can I say? We have all been playing it for a decade now and each one is tweaked to give you a better experience. PES2010 will be amazing...I know it already.

Pics [VIA]

Machinarium and Samorost by Amanita Design

Amanita Design rocks! They make flash-based games, animations and websites for people like Nike & the BBC. Their point and click flash-based games are really fun and the animation is gorgeous! The two stand-out games for them have to be the Samorost series, (see below) and the preview to their newest game, Machinarium.



Play Samorost HERE. (I just spent my breakfast playing it and was thoroughly entertained!)

[VIA]

ESPV Nutshell: April

April Fools is upon us once again; hope your day is full of kick-ass practical jokes. PHilfy in Melbourne has witnessed a gang of ‘Glad Wrap bandits’ who have completely Glad Wrapped over 400 cars, top to bottom, in the city area over night.. that’s some funny shit.

Below is our ESPV nutshell for April

Listening to: The Qemists – Join The Q (awesome DrumNBass meets rock band, female vocalists, new album out now, see ninjatune.net for more info or search via YouTube for new Join The Q video).

Reading: The Watchmen, original 1980’s comic (very good! 4/5 stars rating)

Watched: There Will Be Blood (4/5 stars), and The Ruins (3/5 stars)

Have witnessed: Some seriously funny prank calling today – guy in the office calling the office manager and telling her that her car was caught on a surveillance camera last night doing a runner from a petrol station without paying, and could she please come into the station to have a chat. Which she did, before realizing she’d been pranked. That’s some funny shiiit! (See Friday Night Cranks on YouTube for a long list of prank call madness)

Gaming: Seriously dying to try new Total War Empire on PC, new chapter in the long Total War series by the Creative Assembly. Eagerly awaiting previews for GTA China Town on Nintendo DS, not to mention the sexy new looking DS (Reviews coming soon).

What’s hot? The clever dude that invented the Conficker worm

What’s not? The G20 in London

Final Fantasy XIII Trailer

It's out, it's gonna be amazing; just check out the trailer and feel the jaw drop to the floor and make you want to buy a PS3....

Reloaded Studios Amazing Concept Art

Reloaded Studios make amazing concept art for the computer game industry. They have worled on MU, a game that revolutionised the Korean gaing industry, Kingdom Under Fire and Capcom's Street Fighter comic series. I really like their series of robots being set in the Victorian times and thought I'd share...



See more HERE.