Sim City, oh how I’ve missed you.
Sure we’ve had some pretenders trying to fill the city building void since 2003’s Sim City 4. We’ve had the the fun to play, but hellishly unoptimised Cities 2011/2012 and then there was EA’s own awful Sim City/The Sims hybrid Sim City Societies.
In 2013 the king of city builders returns with the simply monikered SimCity. Continue reading EA’s SimCity beta goes live on 26th January, applications open now!
Well I’m back again after the Christmas break and some much-needed rest. The last six months has been a roller coaster ride that saw me moving across the Tasman, from New Zealand to Australia, and yet again just before Christmas to a leafy suburb of Sydney.
I’ve also introduced myself to the local video game publishing circuit, resulting in copious preview invites and being inundated with game review opportunities, which have been published on the Game Console pages of Techday.com, www.shanethegamer.com and the pages of this site.
I’ve spent the holiday mopping up the likes of Assassin’s Creed 3 and Far Cry 3, as well as enjoying the budget delights of Valve’s annual Christmas Steam sale. I’ve also started the transition of Vic B’Stard’s State of Play from the NZ focused www.stateofplay.co.nz to the more global www.vicbstard.com. You can reach the site using either URL, but expect the a bit of re-branding in the future. Continue reading Vic B’Stard’s State of Play: a post-christmas PC upgrade
The release of Far Cry 3 brought to an end, for me anyway, this year’s pre-Christmas rush of AAA game releases. It has been a pretty insane period that started with the surprise hit from Square Enix, Sleeping Dogs. The journey has taken me from a chinwag with the producers of Need of speed: Most Wanted, a hands-on with Assassin’s Creed 3 on the Sydney waterfront with the game’s Canadian developers to a drink-fueled “training” session celebrating the launch of XCOM: Enemy Unknown.
With the last game of the year comes the last unboxing of the year. Far Cry 3‘s special edition is suitably monikered Far Cry 3 Insane Edition. Not the most impressive collectors edition I’ve seen. But to be honest, this year hasn’t seen the same level of special editions as last year. As great as the Conner figurine in the Assassin’s Creed 3 Freedom Edition was, last year we had Arkham City, Skyrim and Uncharted 3; all with top class collectors packs.
Anyway, check out the juicy details on Ubisoft’s Far Cry 3 Insane Edition, below. Continue reading Far Cry 3 Insane Edition Unboxing
I love Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. His decision to stretch JRR Tolkien’s relatively short children’s novel, The Hobbit, over three films did, however, raise an eyebrow. Continue reading The Hobbit: 13 minute featurette released!
I love Star Wars and so should you. Whilst George Lucas’s prequel trilogy may have been a mis-step in the eyes of us older fans, Bioware’s (and Obsidian’s) Knights of the Old Republic games where the prequels that we should of had.
More Star Wars than Star Wars itself, Bioware’s take on the Star Wars Universe was inspired and quite excellent. Continue reading Star Wars: The Old Republic now free to play
A review copy of Konami’s Zone of the Enders: HD Collection just arrived at Vic B’Stard Towers with a disappointing explanatory note.
The European version of the Zone of the Enders: HD Collection includes a demo of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. But it seems that, due to Australian classification restrictions, Aussie gamers will be missing out on a copy of the demo in their versions.
Zone of the Enders: HD Collection has been rated M, but it is anticipated that Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance will have a higher rating. Under Australian classification law only video games with the same or lower classification can be promoted in-game. Continue reading No Z.O.E HD Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Demo for Australia
Last week I finally put my reviews for Medal of Honor Warfighter and Assassin’s Creed III to bed. As I mentioned last time, both games got a bit of a roasting by the media, with Assassin’s Creed III coming away only slightly singed and Medal of Honor Warfighter getting burnt to a crisp.
It was a shame really. I awarded Medal of Honor Warfighter a decent 75% in my review on Shane the Gamer. The game was good, if uninspired, modern warfare first person shooter. The game’s comparison in other reviews to the iffy Medal of Honor Airborne were total bollocks. Even I couldn’t bring myself to finish Airborne. Continue reading Vic B’Stard’s week in review Assassin’s Creed 3, Need for Speed Most Wanted, Halo 4, Hitman Absolution and F1 Race Stars
In his first foray into Ubisoft’s historical sci-fi series, State of Play’s new boy Grant Cheetham reviews Assassin’s Creed III on XBox 360. Take it away Grant!
Assassin ‘s Creed III is Ubisoft’s fifth major installment in the series. Having not played the previous games, the idea of starting this late in the series initially seemed daunting. Ubisoft however did a great job at welcoming new players into the series.
If you haven’t played an Assassin’s Creed game before basically you play as an assassin, a group of super freaky climbers who fight for freedom and peace. Their adversary, the Templars, seek order and control, mostly through morally questionable means. This game combines history and science fiction with a ton of conspiracy theories thrown in. The gameplay is that of an action-adventure with a focus on climbing and stealth. Continue reading Assassin’s Creed 3 Xbox 360 Review