Ubisoft threw away the last version of Splinter Cell they showed off in 2007 and replaced it with a bold new direction for the franchise in terms of both gameplay and art-direction.
We took a long, hard look at what the game has on offer in a controlled demo and probed about just how dynamic this simplified yet more tangible new direction would be with some positive answers and equally positive live viewing.
It's certainly not uncommon for games to borrow concepts and features from each other, particular when the inspiration is as popular as Team Fortress 2, but it looks like one Korean developer just may have taken it a bit too far.
H.A.V.E. Online is a class-based multiplayer shooter, set to launch an open beta on PC later this year, and according to the developer's site, offers: "Ease and comport anytime 3rd-person-view shooting game. A new enjoyment of selecting weapons fitting for situations Everyone can enjoy with ease and comport anytime.".
Activision have just sent through a press release outlining the involvement of the legendary DJ Grandmaster Flash in their upcoming DJ Hero title.
DJ ready? Dance floor ready? Everybody ready? Let's go! Musical legend Grandmaster Flash, the first DJ to make the turntable an instrument, is coming to DJ Hero, joining the epic list of DJs who will appear as in-game characters and who have created mixes exclusively for the award-winning game. Along with contributing two never-before-released mixes, Grandmaster Flash lends his unique, recognisable voice and DJ know-how to the game's tutorial level, schooling players on the game mechanics and the turntable controller. To top it off, FreeStyle Games created an exclusive mix using two of Grandmaster Flash's original creations – "Boom" and "Tap."
The list of AAA hip hop and rap stars for this game gets stronger all the time. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty excited for it.
You can check out two trailers for GMF in DJ Hero here and here.
Following up yesterday's in-depth preview, here's even more info.
In between closed doors screenings of SEGA's new Aliens vs Predator first person shooter at E3 2009, AusGamers was fortunate enough to score a quick Q&A with Tim Jones, Project Lead on the game at UK-based developer Rebellion.
One of the key things for us about the game is, particularly for the marine gameplay where we're really trying the recapture the sense of fear that a lot of people experienced on the first PC version in particular; recapturing that. It's not good if you just sort of walk around a corner, you get killed by an alien and then you return to checkpoint and you're like "ok that alien is going to be right around that corner again" -- that kind of spoils the scare.
Not to be overshadowed by the recent AmrA 2 launch, Codemasters have released a new batch of screenshots from their realism focused first person shooter, Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising.
You can take a closer look right here on our Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising game page. Dragon Rising is due on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, September 2009.
We've all heard the cry: "videogames are bad", and no amount of blue-in-the-face rebuttal tends to change standard, uneducated opinion (try telling people it's your job). But thankfully, every once in a while, proper testing is done and positive results come in.
The University of Rochester in the US has been conducting studies using videogames for cognitive science. The ABC has an interesting article up pointing out the positives researchers are beginning to find.
Today, a growing area of brain research suggests modern fast-paced action video games — in particular first-person shooter games — may sharpen your vision, improve your attention and working memory, and develop your fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
It's suggested in the article the positive affects of this sort of thing translate to every day activities such as driving, and may even help reverse brain degradation in the ageing process.
The fourth episode of downloadable content for the massive Fallout 3 has arrived. Fallout 3: Point Lookout offers players a whole new area to explore that shifts the game's setting from one of barren wastes to wet marshland on an island inhabited by dangerous mutated inbreds, tripped-out cultists and two-faced locals.
This is arguably the best of all the DLC on offer and if you haven't divulged in any yet, this is one we certainly recommend checking out.
Blizzard have released some images showing the tech trees for the Zerg, Protoss and Terran sides in the upcoming Starcraft 2.
If you're already laying down your strats to figure out when you can build your Hydralisk Den or Infestation Pit, then you might want to check these out - we've got them available as images in our Starcraft 2 screenshot section.
Rebellion Developments, creator's of the original Aliens vs Predator first person shooter have come back to the series to revive the much-loved three faction formula with a modern touch.
AusGamers recently had the opportunity to check out the new game in action and you can find our our very positive impressions in this in-depth preview feature.
Aliens vs Predator (Still tentatively titled) is currently slated for an early 2010 release on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
David Perry, whom some might remember from his work on games like Earthworm Jim and MDK has released a new video showcasing Gaikai, a new technology that lets you stream games in a web-browser, with a remote server doing all the heavy lifting.
Not to be confused with On-Live, which uses it's own client hardware device, all Gaikai needs is a web browser and the latest version of Adobe Flash.
Gaikai is a revolutionary new technology that lets you play any game online in your browser. In the age of the cloud, when all your documents, email, photos and videos are instantly reachable online, it seems archaic that you still need to install gigabytes of game files on an expensive PC with an even more expensive video card. And even then you can only play from that specific computer!
Gaikai takes a radical new approach – we host the games, we run them, we worry about hardware and software updates, and we stream them to you. Full resolution, full speed, stereo sound, low lag, no compromise. The only thing you need is a browser and an internet connection.
The video demo showcases a surprisingly smooth experience and is purportedly running on a client with a 21ms ping to the server (similar to the latency most here would experience to local gaming servers in Australia). David demos a variety of recent games including Spore and Need for Speed Pro Street, World of Warcraft, Eve Online and even a Nintendo 64 emulator running Mariokart.
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If it's as good as it looks, this may well be the perfect way to play a lot of modern games without having to upgrade, but we're going to stay skeptical at this point because there's no way to judge what kind of input latency we're seeing there.
Most gamers can probably recall playing a first person shooter or other fast-paced game on a laggy plasma or early LCD monitors and how bad that lag feels, so 20 or 30 more ms from an Internet connection could only be worse right?
Nevertheless, it's still very cool tech and would be extremely handy for say, trying a game before you buy. Purchasing a 20 minute trial of a full game with no need for lengthy installs or hefty system requirements would be way better than any demo, input lag or no - even from a Mac or Linux machine.
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