Do not click the spoiler!

• 5Feb 10

  Top 7 Games That Need a HD Makeover

  Ever played an old game and thought of how awesome it would look and feel if it were to be given a remake? Well plenty of us have and after playing through the brilliant Metal Gear Solid, I couldn't help but think of how immersive and engaging the game would be if were to be given a massive overhaul both in gameplay and in its graphics. Not only would it look a whole lot prettier with a fresh coat of paint, it would also be just as addictive if Konami introduces the Drebin system that was simply intuitive as it was fun. With that said, the following games are great titles that I would love nothing more than to get their much deserved remakes.

  System Shock

  System Shock may in fact be an adventure game, but different from other adventure games of today you do not just roam around triggering the next story element. Indeed, your actions are not tied only to the plotline. So, maybe it is not an adventure game at all. System Shock may in fact be a role-playing game, but different from other role-playing games of today you do not just about complete many generic quests to advance your character stats. Indeed, this game has a full story with unique character developments. So, maybe it is not a role-playing game at all.

  

  A game of fetch goes horribly wrong.

  Overall, System Shock is an unique game that combines adventure, role-playing, and action elements into a single coherent interactive experience. It is one of the best games I have ever played. Its graphics may not shine compared to today's games, but its unique sty!e definitely outshines today's titles.

  Perfect Dark

  Throughout Nintendo's history as one of the worlds most popular videogame companies, a few ingredients have been key to its success. At the top of that list, is revered game designer, Shigeru Miyamoto, whose imagination reinvigorated the industry years ago and continues to be a pioneering force of innovation and creativity today. Not far behind Miyamoto on that list would have to be UK-based, second-party game developer, Rare. Miyamoto may be the soul of Nintendo that has kept them vital, but Rare is the heart that has kept the company pumping with a string of successful titles that date back to the first 8-bit NES console.

  

  Notice where the reticule is aimed at.

  The surround sound effects arent as readily apparent as I would have liked, but most sound effects and character voices are crisp and convincing. In terms of visuals, Perfect Dark compensates with diverse textures and some inventive special effects that revolve around the different X-ray, infrared, and night-vision modes. Throw in life-like animation with the same complex hit-detection found in GoldenEye (enemies react very vividly to being shot in particular appendages), furthered by the rock-solid feel of the controls, and you have a game that plays great regardless of time and space.

  Resident Evil 2

  Like the first Resident Evil, you have the choice of two characters. This time you can be Leon Kennedy, a cop who should be tried for violating the civil rights of Zombie-Americans. This rouge cop seems to feel that the 'living-impaired' are just his personal punching bags, to beat up and shoot as he pleases. Of course, your only other oppressive option is to be a 'life-ist', biker chick in a bubble-gummer outfit. Her bigotry towards Zombies is just as obvious, whether she's shooting them or stabbing them with the knife she keeps strapped to her chest. Her name is Claire, and she's the brother of Chris from the first game. Let's just say it runs in the family.

  

  Claire's usual stroll around the station may just turn out to be her last.

  Now, I hear what you're saying: "This Zombie is chewing on my foot, it deserves to be shot." But that's just the response that society has conditioned you to have. So even though this is a great game with good graphics, terrific sound, riveting action, and puzzles that will keep you entertained for hours... As a favor to our Zombie friends, do not buy this game.

  Just remember... they can't control it. It's really just a cry for help. With some therapy and big, warm, loving hugs, the living-impaired can be welcome members of a productive and happy community.

  Parasite Eve

  It is rare for an RPG to be set in the real world. It is rare for an RPG to be under twenty hours long. It is rarer still for an RPG to incorporate the themes of horror. Square's Parasite Eve, based loosely on the novel of the same name, is therefore a highly unique experience.

  

  Eve's mere presence proves to be much for these poor sods.

  Set in New York City, the very month the game itself was released (December of 1997), the story of Parasite Eve revolves around mitochondria, the microbes present in every cell which produce energy, rising up to destroy humanity. In practical terms of course, this means that there's a large amount of people bursting into flames or melting, and a number of cute cuddly animals transforming into grotesque monsters. Although the game can be completed in twelve hours, and spans a period of only six days, the fast paced plot does spare the time for some interesting philosophical and scientific discussion.

  All in all, Parasite Eve is a fairly solid title with some elements that only appeal to a select few people. If you're in the mood for a horror themed game that's more disgusting than frightening, or just an RPG that can be completed in one sitting, Parasite Eve is an excellent choice. If however you want more substance, you may want to skip this one.

  Final Fantasy VII

  At the time of its release, Final Fantasy VII (FF7) broke new grounds with respect to graphics (3D), sound (CD-quality), story (epic) and gameplay (huge game, huge customisation). But does it stand the ravaging test of time? Although Cloud and his fellow eco-warriors may not look as phat as current-day heroes (box-fists and all), Hironobu Sakaguchi's original blockbuster is still one of the finest, most captivating and refined RPG experiences ever.

  

  Square-Enix, make it happen.

  If you're any kind of RPG-nut, you've probably already played and completed FF7, wasting several days of your life in the process of logging in countless hours of exploration, side-questing, random battles or just chilling with the trove of mini-games available. If you haven't yet experienced what millions of others already have (since that glorious day in 1997 - yes, a whole decade ago now!), FF7 truly is a fantasy well worth (re)playing. Do try it.

  Goldeneye

  You all remember it too, don't you? Those first few steps towards the dam, pistol pointed nervously ahead of you and guards strolling around left, right and centre. The control tower concealing the sniper rifle, allowing you to crouch carefully and pinpoint oncoming enemies with accuracy never before offered in a first-person shooter.

  GoldenEye. The mere mention of the name sends rose-tinted shivers through many a gaming brain, harking back to a time when Nintendo's 64 was taking its first faltering steps and Rare still had a whole catalogue of c!assic titles still ahead of them. Shattering the illusion that movies do not make good video games, Rare produced a genre-defining title which had the player frantically diving for the nearest piece of cover and firing copious amounts of bullets at enemies way after they'd completed the single player mode for the first time.

  

  Who knew a tiny bullet could pack in so much punch?

  Obviously, things have moved on since then. Online battling with Modern Warfare 2 on the 360 attests to just how much fun shooters have become these days, with tense fighting and team battling absorbing players for hours. The fact that GoldenEye managed to do the same with only a fraction of the hardware capabilities and a comparatively basic multiplayer mode shows just how good it was for the time. It's safe to say that for its period, GoldenEye provided a turning point. From the moment it was released, every first-person shooter was judged against it. Whether or not anything has bested it in the eyes of many gamers is still a point of debate even to this day.

  Metal Gear Solid

  Metal Gear Solid is an EXCELLENT game. It is presented with such well-balanced cinematic quality that the overall experience is much greater than the sum of its graphics and sound components. The faces of the characters are not well defined, but this appears to be done as a sty!e of design. Rather than attempting to look extremely realistic, Konami has achieved a moody, believable atmosphere in which the drama can fully unfold.

  

  A decade later and MGS still looks great.

  The graphics are great for a PS1 game, using some really nice visual effects. No matter if your journey takes you across snow, down dark corridors, or through air ducts, the display is realistic, making it very easy to get "absorbed" into the world of Metal Gear Solid. The music is phenomenal from the first intro screen right on through, and the sound effects are very well handled. The game has just the right mix of graphics and sound to allow it to look and sound good, without upstaging the gameplay.

  Final Note

  While graphics aren't quite the dealbreaker when it comes to what makes a great game, it can help keep you immersed into a ten hour game with its believable portrayal of the world that its set in. And with today's advanced physics and technology, it can help elevate great games such as Resident Evil 2 to unimagineable heights.

  What game(s) would you like to see getting a HD remake?

  • Posted Feb 5, 2010 7:18 am GMT
  • Category: Editorial
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• 31Jan 10

  CK's Monthly Highlights: Raid My Tombs

  

  Lara Croft is one of a dying breed of video game icons from the mid 90s. She was once seen as a pin-up for PlayStation and helped convince thousands (if not millions) of gamers that they needed to ditch their 16-bit consoles in favour of a shinier, more powerful 32-bit monster. Needless to say, the rest is history, with Tomb Raider now standing as one of the most popular video game series ever created. After the critically mauled Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness, developer Crystal Dynamics took the reigns and has returned Lara to her glory days. With Underworld being the most ambitious title in the series to date, is it three for three for Lara's saviours?

  Underworld centres on Lara's quest for Thor's hammer, the Norse god's hugely powerful weapon. After discovering proof of the Norse underworld at the bottom of the Mediterranean sea, Lara starts an adventure that takes her all over the world and into her own family history. It's a truly epic journey, with the game offering the kind of adventuring Tomb Raider made its name from and some solid combat thrown in for good measure.

  

  That's quite the view.

  Tomb Raider: Underworld is a visually stunning, epic adventure that continues Crystal Dynamics' excellent run. It's the best completely original Tomb Raider (Anniversary was, of course, a remake) I've played in years, and is only let down by the odd control quirk and camera issue. If you're looking for a game heavy on exploration instead of gun-play and don't mind looking at a finely toned arse for 12 or more hours, Underworld comes highly recommended.

  

  

  Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story doesn't put on airs about itself. Up until now, the series has been a collection of chuckle-filled titles, with light action and RPG elements designed to make the game accessible to just about everyone -- and this latest game is no different. It's plain and direct in what it wants to be, but it's set apart from its predecessors in a deepening of the core aspects of the series.

  AlphaDream's writing and humor in these games have always felt almost timeless and the humor here, while definitely G-rated, is something that should work with gamers of all ages. And for those of you looking forward to the return of staple characters, know that Fawful is as endearing as he's always been (well, as endearing as a bad guy can be, anyway) and clumsy Luigi still gets no respect.

  

  Expect to be overloaded with charming visuals.

  As hilarious as the game's story and characters are, though, they don't have to carry the experience alone. The combat, puzzles and witty dialog all come together to make a charming game that is AlphaDream at its consistent best. The series is still fun after all these years, and the new addition of Bowser really goes a long way towards freshening up the formula. Bowser's Inside Story is easily recommended to those of you who've played the previous games and is the best in the series so far.

  

  

  I have to admit, I really didn't see this one coming. Sure, I knew BioWare was making a new fantasy RPG, but as someone whose experience with that genre goes back to the early days of personal computers, I didn't really think a tale of dragons, demons, magic and mighty armies could still manage to grab me the way Oblivion did. Not even two hours into Dragon Age, I realized my life was now its to do with what it pleased. I was hooked. From its earliest moments, BioWare managed to have me caring about my character, the NPCs, the world and what was going to happen next.

  

  Like me, you might not have Dragon Age: Origins on your list of definite must-buys and potential game of the year candidates, but I'm here to tell you that you should. It's a glowing example of the RPG genre done very right -- and an experience you'll still be finding surprising, memorable moments in for months to come.

  

  

  Genre: Action/Comedy

  The horror comedy Zombieland focuses on two men who have found a way to survive a world overrun by zombies. Columbus is a big wuss -- but when you're afraid of being eaten by zombies, fear can keep you alive. Tallahassee is an AK-toting, zombie-slaying' bad *** whose single determination is to get the last Twinkie on earth. As they join forces with Wichita and Little Rock, who have also found unique ways to survive the zombie mayhem, they will have to determine which is worse: relying on each other or succumbing to the zombies.

  

  
  

  Genre: Horror/Thriller

  After finding out a guy cheated on their sister, sorority house Theta Pi play a simple prank on him. They trick him into thinking that he has killed his girlfriend, then take him into the middle of nowhere to 'dismember" the body, only then revealing it was a prank. However, the prank goes horribly wrong and all involved swear never to speak of it again. A year later at graduation though, they are all reminded of the past..

  

  

  With stolen top-secret technology, terrorists have created a next-generation Universal Soldier - an elite fighter genetically altered into a programmable killing machine. With this "UniSol" (Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei "The Pit Bull" Arlovski) leading the way, they seize the crippled Chernobyl nuclear reactor, threatening to unleash a lethal radioactive cloud. The only one who can stop them is Luc Deveraux (Jean-Claude Van Damme), a UniSol who's been decommissioned for years.

  Reactivated and retrained, Deveraux must make a full-out assault on the heavily armed fortress. But inside, he'll discover not one but two of these virtually indestructible warriors. Andrew Scott (Dolph Lundgren), Deveraux's vicious UniSol enemy from the original Universal Soldier, has been secretly reanimated and upgraded. Now, these elite fighters are locked, loaded and programmed to kill; and the fate of millions hinges on this high-action showdown.

  

  Lamb Cutlet

  

  The use of the cutlet is quite widespread in Italian cuisine in many different variations. The most famous variant is the Milanese cutlet (cotoletta alla milanese), a veal cutlet covered in bread crumbs and fried in butter. It should not be mistaken for the Wienerschnitzel (which should be referred as a scaloppina alla viennese, or as fettina impanata in Italian), because it's a different cut of meat; the Milanese cutlet cut includethe bone, whereas the Wienerschnitzel doesn't. It is disputed whether the cotoletta alla milanese originated the Wienerschnitzel, or vice-versa.

  

  Lasagne alla Bolognese uses only Parmigiano Reggiano, Bolognese sauce and nutmeg flavored bechamel sauce (besciamella). c!assic Bologna lasagne should be made with Lasagne verdi (green lasagne) which is egg pasta with added spinach, although in other towns of Emilia-Romagna, the lasagne need not be green. As with the term 'lasagne', the verdi variety can refer to the dish or the pasta. A vegetarian version of the traditional Bologna lasagne or "Lasagne alla bolognese" is sometimes found in adjacent in Tuscany– not traditionally a pasta region– and other regions. It substitutes a simple tomato and basil sauce for the Bolognese sauce, arranged with layers of noodles, nutmeg flavored béchamel sauce and Parmigiano - Reggiano cheese.

  

  A banana split is an ice-cream-based dessert. In its c!assic form it is served in a long dish called a "boat". A banana is cut in two lengthwise (hence the split) and laid in the dish. Variations abound, but the c!assic banana split is made with scoops of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice-cream served in a row between the split banana. Pineapple topping is spooned over the vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup over the chocolate, and strawberry topping over the strawberry. It is garnished with crushed nuts, whipped cream and maraschino cherries.

  

  NoobFeed - The Ultimate Gaming Fuel

  A site that has got all the latest news and features that are a joy to browse through, NoobFeed is where you'll want to be. With great users that form a tightly knitted community, its dysfunctional as it is great. Did I mention that the site also has got many users from this site as well? Take canana and Moroes for instance as they are both as influential on GameSpot as they're on NoobFeed. How you may ask, well just take a moment and browse through the site or better yet be part of it all.

  Thanks for reading and have a great week.

  • Posted Jan 31, 2010 1:27 pm GMT
  • Category: General
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• 20Jan 10

  Top 7 Gaming Annoyances

  With the bar for quality games constantly being pushed, its imperative that developers constantly strive to deliver innovative and genre breaking titles to meet the demands of gamers. For every Ocarina of Time esque game out there, there is bound to be a game so bad that its best not to speak of them. They might either have been simply unplayable or have such dumb enemies that its possible to beat the game with a knife. The following are 7 gaming annoyances that have refused to go away:

  Infinite enemies

  

  A flamethrower works best to work though a group of enemies.

  Caught in a corner with nowhere to run but into the arms of crazed soldiers? Through insurmountable odds and limited ammo, you find yourself cornered and lying on your last breath. You wait on the ground for a while and your health somehow miraculously gets healed on its own. With newfound confidence, you go head on with reckless abandon and just when you passed through a certain point, the infinite spawn of enemies that had beaten you to a pulp has ceased their march. Think its all over? Well think again as a few seconds in and surprise surprise, they are back again.

  Bad Camera

  

  With a camera so bad, expect many frustrating moments.

  Reached the last platform only for the camera to go haywire at the end? With the margin for error so slim in platforming games, you would think that developers would at least include a camera that actually works and not one that spasms out of control when you have reached a high combo in Ninja Gaiden. For all the effort and sleepless nights that developers have endured to bring a quality title onto the masses, a broken camera would mar the experience and just increase the rage of gamers who bought the game. And no its not alright if you were to patch a game two months after its been launched.

  The "Glitch"

  

  "What in the world is that?"

  Made it all the way to Tenpenny Towers with a bad karma level that even Zeus would be proud of? That's cool, but take a few steps in and your character suddenly gets caught in magical quicksand that refuses to let go. Figured a good old reload would get you off this rut? Not going to happen as the game somehow saved on the very place that you have found yourself in. If only you had listened to Tom about creating multiple saves, eh?

  Health Regeneration

  

  Much needed health is only a step away.

  For all the shooters that pride themselves on crafting a realistic game, a health regeneration system is anything but. When a tough and intense shootout is reduced to who makes the best use of cover whenever they are injured or on their last breath, it does take away the intensity and dread of being reduced to a tomato puree. Wouldn't a 100 point health system throughout a level be more immersive and engaging?

  Brain dead AI

  

  "I WANT TO EAT YOUR BRAAAINNSS!!!"

  Its dark and foggy, the lights lay ominous and dank in the distance. You find yourself stuck in this dilapidated town with nowhere to go. Walking past the streets of this long abandoned town, you hear footsteps - only these aren't yours. With fear creeping in, you slowly turn around when it would be best to run. A hulking zombie has got his eye on you but he seems to be more interested in attacking another undead that is in his vicinity. You take out the disc and vow to never play Zombie Playland again.

  Current Gen Games with Last Gen Graphics

  

  If it weren't for the 360 on the box art, it would fit perfectly on the PS2 shelves.

  Nothing screams unpolished more that a game that has graphics even worse than some of last gen titles. With visuals so muddy that its hard to distinguished a tree from a hedge, you know that this game is a bust. Its almost as if the developers were daring you to play their game.

  Broken Controls

  

  With controls so bad, expect to go through many broken controllers.

  At the heart of all great games, controls are the backbone that form a title. Take it away and you are left with something unplayable. Mess it up, and no one will want to play your game. Ever played a game that refuses to co-operate with its tank like controls and even something simple as moving can be a chore in itself? No I am not talking about Resident Evil. Just load up a copy of the abysmal Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness and see for yourself. Don't say that I didn't warn you.

  • Posted Jan 20, 2010 11:45 pm GMT
  • Category: Editorial
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