What is going on? This is what I asked myself as I was competing in race at an airport and an air traffic control traffic is detonated and collapsed onto the racetrack, right in front of me while I narrowly avoid getting hit by it. Split/Second is an upcoming racing game by Black Rock Studios, the guys previously responsible for Pure. The aim of the game is simple. Finish first. But how you do this is where the game is unique.

The main feature of Split/Second is the ‘Power Play’ meter which is separated into three segments and is filled by performing various stunts, such as drifting, jumping and drafting. The meter is used to perform ‘Power Plays’ which usually consists of some over-the-top explosion that causes your opponents to crash. There are three types of power plays: 1st level, 2nd level and route changes. You can perform 1st level power plays if you only have on segment of the meter filled but the 2nd level and route changes require the entire meter to be filled. 1st level power plays consist of a minor explosion that is only used to target a single opponent. 2nd level power play are more extravagant ways to take out more opponents, for example an entire building exploding or a plane crashing into a runway. Route changing power plays are self explanatory: they change the route. The example I noted at the beginning of this post is a route changing power play. The tower comes down and blocks the previous route and redirects the race onto the nearby runway.

My immediate reaction to the controls were that they were a bit stiff. They were not as responsive as I had expected but I quickly adapted to them. The game plays very similarly to the Burnout series, most notably Burnout Paradise. Crashing is fairly easy so you have to be careful, which is a bit strange in a game that involves driving through an exploding gas station.

Split/Second is a good looking game. It’s vibrant, well detailed and stays at a solid frame rate, a feat that’s difficult to do when there’s so many explosions happening on the screen at once. The explosions are appropriately over-the-top and are presented very well, for example if you are driving near one of the many explosions, you will be thrusted away from it, the camera swerves appropriately and the game slows down time which makes surviving each and every explosion even more satisfying. The music is very fast-paced and adds to the tension of the action.

One concern I had going in was ‘Will this game be good to play over and over again?’ The answer: Yes, to a point. The route changes and the different power plays add some replay value but if you strip all that away, what you’re left with is a fairly mediocre racing game. This demo did grab my attention and I’m looking forward to trying the finished product. I’m just hoping that it won’t get too boring, too quickly which is still my concern with Split/Second.

Melee combat is a major focus of the game. There are a wide variety of weapons you can wield, such as a sledgehammer or a conduit, each with their own individual attributes. There are also some firearms you can find but their ammo is limited and the game somehow discourages the use of them. The melee combat feels realistic and satisfying. Hitting an enemy over the head with a locker door makes them stumble back realistically and blocking and countering feels rewarding.

The AI of the enemies feels like a major selling point the game tried to push there are some flaws when it comes to it. For example, some enemies are programmed to find cover occasionally and sometimes this makes them go from being up close and personal to fleeing in a split second in mid combat. It felt strange when I had to chase after the enemies that were fleeing from me. Plus the enemies follow the same routine of 'attack, block, attack' that you can easily exploit. Occasionally the enemies will unpredictably go for an attack but stop, making you block to early and leaving you vulnerable. This was a nice touch.

The game is very atmospheric, making you feel as though you're actually in a city that's turned to shit and anybody is a threat.

Condemned is a great game and, with it's satisfying combat system and interesting setting, will make to keep playing until the end.

Fallout 3 is a post-apocalyptic role-playing game from the creators of the Elder Scrolls series, Bethesda Softworks. The game is set 200 years after a nuclear war almost completely annihilated the entire human race, if not for the Vaults which are underground bomb shelters set up by the government. You play as the 'Lone Wanderer', a young adult who lived in Vault 101 his/her entire life and escaped into the decimated ruins of Washington DC.
 
The main goal you are given at the start of the game is to find you father who apparently escaped the Vault just before you did. You can follow this goal if you want but the main focus of the game is the seemingly limitless opportunities and exploration and can have in the game world, which may seem a bit strange at first since this is a barren wasteland. There's over fifty hours of enjoyment to be had by just exploring the world and completing quests so this is a large game, definitely one if you want a game to invest a lot of time in.

 
Fallout 3 looks like a real-time first person shooter at first but elements of a turn-based system are pushed in through a mechanic called VATS, a targeting system where you can aim at a particular part of the enemy's body and let numbers decide the outcome of battle. The main idea of this is to give battles a more cinematic appearance to it. A problem with this is that it oversimplifies combat altogether by being able to just run up to enemies and blowing their heads off at short range.
 
Fallout 3 is a great, immersive game which, despite the obvious glitches and bugs, provides the player with hours and hours of entertainment and enjoyment.

Originally posted on my new blog here.
 
Left 4 Dead is an online cooperative first-person shooter that pits four survivors against hordes of swarming zombies.

The object of the game is to defend each other as you make your way through a campaign until you reach a rescue vehicle. Teamwork is an important part of the game because there are certain kinds of 'special' infected that can pin you and only your team-mates can save you.

The game is controlled by a system called the 'AI director' which monitors each survivor's stress level and changes the game to work with it, such as spawning health packs if you're nearly dead or a mob of zombies if your proceeding at a nice pace. This system is necessary to game play because it provides nearly infinite re-playability to each of the four hour-long campaigns. No two playthroughs will ever be the same.

There are three modes to play. They are the campaign, versus and survival modes. In campaign mode, you and your three friends will have to simply go through a campaign made up of five maps. Versus mode is similar to the campaign except it is split into two teams, one made up of survivors and the other made up of special infected whose job it is to hinder the survivor's progress. Survival mode place you in a small 'arena' based on locations in the campaign and sends an infinite amount of zombies at you. The object is to survive for as long as possible.

Left 4 Dead is one of the best cooperative games available and is definitely a must-buy. 

Note: This review is for the PC version.
 
Indigo Prophecy is a paranormal thriller presented as an interactive movie. Released in 2005, Indigo Prophecy follows Lucas Kane, man whose life is turned upside down when he unwittingly murders a stranger in a New York diner, and two detectives, Carla Valenti and Tyler Miles, who are investigating the murder.

The game progresses using cutscenes with some quick-time events thrown in to keep the player's interest. This isn't so much a game as it is just a five hour long machinima. When you do actually control a character it turns into a kind of adventure game where you have to interact with your surroundings using gestures, such as dragging down the mouse to pull open a door. While these gestures provide a small amount of immersion, they come off as tedious when you're put under the pressure of a time limit, which happens often during the game. The quick-time events are performed with eight lights that are shown and you have to keep up by pressing the corresponding keys. This degrades the game's quality because not only do they come off as misplaced and awkward, they distract you from some of the game's best action moments and since this is a 'movie' that's not a good thing.

The story starts off as your average murder mystery but a couple of hours in the story will turn towards an ancient Mayan cult and a mysterious power called the 'Chroma' which is just the smart man's way of saying the 'Force' without getting sued. In short, the plot progresses fairly well but be prepared for insanity that only anime can rival.

Indigo Prophecy was a good original concept but it would have been better if it were just an hour long cutscene with no interactivity what-so-ever. You should at least try it.

The Xbox Live Arcade is renowned for having cheap, short indie games that are produced and played by people to tide them over until the next major gaming release. It is also known for containing innovative and creative concepts. When something like Shadow Complex comes around, boasting that it's taken the ' metroidvania' style of gameplay and reworked it to suit today's gaming industry, it might raise a few eyebrows. This isn't the most original game on the Xbox Live Arcade but it certainly goes about it by pretending it is.

In Shadow Complex you play as Jason, an average twenty-something guy who is dragged along to go explore some cave with Claire, a girl who he just met in a bar. Jason soon discovers that the cave is actually home to the 'Restoration', a fairly large and technologically advanced terrorist group who are planning an attack on San Francisco in a matter of hours. When Claire is kidnapped by them, Jason must ultimately save her and prevent these guys from attacking the country. To do this he will need to use every bit of technology he passes by, even though I'm a bit perplexed as to why he doesn't just pick up the assault rifles dropped by early enemies, against the Restoration including grenades, missiles and a battlesuit.

If there is one aspect of the game that it wants to boast the most about then it would be exploration. Everything you do in the game is about exploration. Hidden items, secret doors, power-ups, it's all to do with exploring every part of the game world. This may sound like a hassle at first but the possible frustration is quickly eased by the flashlight, an item you get right from the start that lights up secret doors where hidden items may be and which item has to be used to open it. Since this game boasts so much about exploration and secrets it comes across as a bit strange to have an item that you can use almost all the time that tells you exactly where all the secrets are.

Another thing the game wants to boast about is replayability. The short single-player adventure helps this by not making it tedious to play the entire game again the moment after finishing it once. A leveling system is also used here to help make the game feel less repetitive. Every level brings a slight upgrade to your character, usually through increased firing precision and every ten levels bring a major upgrade like infinite foam or the entire map being unlocked. If you do eventually get bored of the main game then there is a challenge mode, called Proving Grounds, where you are pulled into a series of challenges where you are only permitted certain items and weapons from the game.

Combat in the game isn't something to get excited about. Shooting is performed by aiming with the right stick and firing with the right trigger. A laser pointer is used as your aiming guide but it feels as though it makes the game far too simple. With this laser you can easily pop headshots with almost every enemy in the game making combat quick, easy and boring. These encounters are broken off with the occasional boss fight where it has a specific weakpoint but if you're not really in the mood to carefully observe the boss and it's surroundings then you can just unload all your items onto it and defeat it without much trouble.

This game is most reminiscent of Super Metroid which boasted exploration and replayability but Shadow Complex lacks the functionality of Super Metroid. The jumping feels awkward, some items are overpowered or difficult to use, such as the hyperspeed, and, overall, the game just doesn't have the same charm and atmosphere that Super Metroid had.

Shadow Complex is a nice attempt to bring the 'metroidvania' genre to the current generation but it lacks the depth that most of those games had. Maybe if Shadow Complex was larger, more complicated and challenging then it might have stood up as a spiritual successor to Super Metroid. Get it if you liked those games but don't get your hopes up too high.