I’ve been playing the Battlefield series since Battlefield 1942. BF:1942 was the game that really got me into multiplayer gaming. Unlike the Quakes and Unreal Tourneys, you could actually get to the top of the score table without firing a shot thanks to the use of a bit of stealth in conquest mode. This extra bit of depth, along with all those lovely vehicles to play with, served to elevate the series above id and Epic’s multiplayer offerings.
Battlefield 2 took things further, with Battlefield developer, DICE, further refining the gameplay (and increasing the accuracy of the weapons) into a modern combat experience that was, at the time, without peer. Even though I’m sci-fi nut, Battlefield 2042 with its futuristic setting took things a bit too far, if you ask me. I just didn’t get on with it. Continue reading Battlefield 3: PC Review→
After Bat-week , a long weekend here in New Zealand , a little bit of intellectual property drama and me being too busy in Arkham City to write anything, State of Play returns to normal. Well sort of, as best it can in this game encrusted run-up to the Christmas holiday.
Even though I’m still getting down and dirty with Batman in Arkham City and taking Battlefield 3 through its paces, my attention is turning towards the next triple A title, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception which launches in little over a week’s time, exciting stuff. After Nathan Drake’s outing we then have Modern Warfare 3, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Assassin’s Creed Revelations. Busy, busy, busy.
Sony go all Joseph Campbell on our ass with a new Uncharted 3 related video that asks “what is a Hero”.
As a tie-in to the upcoming Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception a host of hollywood types including Sam Rockwell, Michelle Rodriguez and Nathan Drake himself: Nolan North tell us what, in their eyes, it is to be a hero. Continue reading Uncharted 3: The Hero’s Journey→
DC Comics’ Batman: Arkham City was originally presented as a 5-issue mini-series serving as a prequel to Rocksteady Studios’ follow up to their 2009’s video game Batman: Arkham Asylum. The comic-book series has now been collected into a single volume book.
I’ve been reading comic-books for years. I’m not the worlds greatest fan of DC Comics, but Batman was always my favorite DC character. This is probably more to do with Frank Miller’s interpretation of The Dark Knight rather than anything else. whilst I was excited for Tim Burton’s Batman of the 1990s, time hasn’t been kind to them. Even Christopher Nolan’s current cinematic Batman outing hasn’t really done it for me. But Rocksteady’s Batman: Arkham Asylum video captured Batman’s character perfectly. Continue reading Bat-week: Batman: Arkham City comic-book review→
This week is Batman week on State of Play, celebrating the release of the Batman: Arkham City video-game in New Zealand on Friday.
I’ve just looked at the last issue of the 5-part Batman: Arkham City prequel comic-book as well as the first two issues of the relaunched Detective Comics from DC and later this week I’ll share with you what I thought of them. Not Batman, but related, I’ll also be having a look at former Batman writer/artist Frank Miller’s Holy Terror graphic novel and getting back to you about that as well.
This week also sees the Blu-ray and DVD release of the Batman: Year One animated movie, based on the classic Batman origin tale by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli. It’s a cracking yarn following a very flawed pre-commissioner Jim Gordon and a fledgling Batman, drawn together for the first time by Gotham’s dark underbelly. I’ll hopefully have more to say about this later in the week (hint,hint). Continue reading Bat-week: Arkham City launch trailer, Detective Comics relaunch, Year One movie and Holy Terror!→
This week sees me wind down my formal game reviews to make time for the arrival of some of the year’s top titles that are being released over the next few weeks. I discuss why my last review, F1 2011 on the PS3, left bad taste in my mouth. I also rattle on about some of the exciting comic-books on their way to me from Mark One in Hamilton.
We all know what the PlayStation 3 is capable of. You only have to take a look at the Uncharted games and God of War 3 to see what Sony’s machine is made of. Dare I say it, but there’s nothing in the Xbox 360’s catalogue that even comes close to the PS3’s flag-ship titles. Now, I’m a great fan of the Xbox 360, but as Microsoft and Sony’s machines enter their twilight years it’s the PlayStation 3, and not the Xbox 360, that continues to surprise me. Continue reading Vic B’Stard’s week in review- F1 2011, Xbox Live Arcade, Batman: Arkham City and Frank Miller’s Holy Terror.→
It’s somewhat ironic, at a time when the rest of New Zealand is going mad for rugby that this Englishman has spent the week sitting in front of Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 enjoying a proper game of football. None of that odd game played by gentlemen with funny-shaped balls around here.
The big problem is that if you mention football in gaming circles, all you are going to hear is FIFA. EA’s football gaming franchise has pretty much got the digital version of the sport sewn up. I’ll admit to being rather disapponted when what I’d have preferred to be a nice review copy of FIFA 2012 actually turned out to be a copy of Konami’s PES 2012 instead. Continue reading Vic B’Stard’s week in review→
We’ve had zombie Nazis, wild west zombies and all manner of other reanimated flesh-eaters.
bizarrely, we have to hand it to Sega and their upcoming House of the Dead OVERKILL to lower the tone with ZOMBIE STRIPPERS!!
Gaming punters will get the chance to enjoy the gyrating hips of the recently deceased as their decaying bodies writhe around for their pleasure. Player will be able to enjoy the view and then blow their brains out, as one must when confronted with any sort of walking dead.
