01/28/2011
Review by: Matt Hastie
We got our mitts on a couple new demos for the Xbox 360 on Tuesday, and you can join in the fun as well. Head over to your Xbox Live Marketplace to download Bulletstorm and Crysis 2 (Multiplayer). Sorry, PS3ers you only get to check out Bulletstorm for now. Both Bulletstorm and Crysis 2 are high profile on the gaming radar and here’s your chance to see how these shooters are shaping up. Check out our impressions of both games below, or hop online and decide for yourself!
The points are racked up by kills and the way you do them. Headshots, groinshots, and environmental hazards are just a few of the colorful ways you’ll be offing the opposition. Your weapons are assigned to the Dpad like in many games, but you can cycle with Y. Sadly some of the weapons are ripped from Gears of War. The carbine is just the lancer without the chainsaw, the flailgun is just a shotgun that shoots the flail grenades. The revolver with rocket flares is one of the more hilarious guns; it’ll impale an enemy and send them flying through the air. You’ll also have access to a leash that will drag enemies to you who are far away or behind cover, if you hold the leash button down it will launch anyone attached in the air and explode. All melee and leash attacks cause bullet time on the enemy affected so you can get some precision hits in for extra points.
Levels feature a drop pod that you can access for guns and ammo that’s similar to the vending machines of Borderlands and Bioshock so rest assured you’ll always have guns, lots of guns. Heavy weapons like turrents are available for pick up, the one I found was time based instead of ammo based so there looks to be some strategy involved in their used besides holding down the trigger. You’ll be able to play through Echo levels multiple times, trying to better your score or hit a higher mark on the global leaderboards.
While it’s fun for a few while, we can only wonder if the campaign and multiplayer offerings will be enough to keep coming back for more. Oddly for a FPS, there’s no jump button. Instead you have to hit a low wall and attempt to vault over. The vault action is the same as a charging melee attack so you may find yourself stuck a few times which can get frustrating. It is still a hard call on this one; the final product is a month away so there’s not a long wait time for more. If you’re looking for a fast paced shooter that has some thrills and laughs you will want to check out Bulletstorm. The Xbox 360 Epic Edition will feature a beta for Gears of War 3 if you need some more incentive to pick this one up when it’s released.
Crysis 2 (Multiplatform) March 22, 2011 (US)
There are six game types set for the full game but only Team Instant Action and Crash Site (unlock at rank 6) are available for play. TIA is your standard team death match and Crash Site is a team based capture and hold objective. Players will be assigned either to the Marines or the C.E.L.L., with no real difference between the two. Both games are quick and pretty balanced so it’s up to your preference if you like the slaughter or an objective. While the core game play is nothing new, your Nanosuit is what adds some extra flavor. Use of powers can quickly mean the difference between life or death. Early on cloak is the most useful as you learn the levels and choke points. While just a standard move, I had a blast with being able to pull yourself up a ledge that you can’t quite jump to; it’s a great way to give chase to an enemy or cut time getting to the Crash Site. As you rack up kills you get new team abilities similar to killstreaks; better radar, jamming of enemy Nanosuits, and airstrikes are just a few available in the demo.
Review by: Matt Hastie
We got our mitts on a couple new demos for the Xbox 360 on Tuesday, and you can join in the fun as well. Head over to your Xbox Live Marketplace to download Bulletstorm and Crysis 2 (Multiplayer). Sorry, PS3ers you only get to check out Bulletstorm for now. Both Bulletstorm and Crysis 2 are high profile on the gaming radar and here’s your chance to see how these shooters are shaping up. Check out our impressions of both games below, or hop online and decide for yourself!
Bulletstorm (Multiplatform) February 22, 2011 (US)
From Epic/People Can Fly comes a new project to wet your appetites for Gears of War 3. The game itself is an odd mix of several games, but it is fun all the same. Featuring a mix of Duke Nukem profanity and bravado with Borderlands style humor the dialog is funny for a while, but you’ll slowly tune it out. The demo kicks off with a self promoting instructional video of one of the game modes called Echoes. It’s basically a time trial of the level Collapsed Building. The premise is simple, make it through the level causing as much hell as you can as quick as possible. You’ll receive a rating at the end based on points and time completed.The points are racked up by kills and the way you do them. Headshots, groinshots, and environmental hazards are just a few of the colorful ways you’ll be offing the opposition. Your weapons are assigned to the Dpad like in many games, but you can cycle with Y. Sadly some of the weapons are ripped from Gears of War. The carbine is just the lancer without the chainsaw, the flailgun is just a shotgun that shoots the flail grenades. The revolver with rocket flares is one of the more hilarious guns; it’ll impale an enemy and send them flying through the air. You’ll also have access to a leash that will drag enemies to you who are far away or behind cover, if you hold the leash button down it will launch anyone attached in the air and explode. All melee and leash attacks cause bullet time on the enemy affected so you can get some precision hits in for extra points.
Levels feature a drop pod that you can access for guns and ammo that’s similar to the vending machines of Borderlands and Bioshock so rest assured you’ll always have guns, lots of guns. Heavy weapons like turrents are available for pick up, the one I found was time based instead of ammo based so there looks to be some strategy involved in their used besides holding down the trigger. You’ll be able to play through Echo levels multiple times, trying to better your score or hit a higher mark on the global leaderboards.
While it’s fun for a few while, we can only wonder if the campaign and multiplayer offerings will be enough to keep coming back for more. Oddly for a FPS, there’s no jump button. Instead you have to hit a low wall and attempt to vault over. The vault action is the same as a charging melee attack so you may find yourself stuck a few times which can get frustrating. It is still a hard call on this one; the final product is a month away so there’s not a long wait time for more. If you’re looking for a fast paced shooter that has some thrills and laughs you will want to check out Bulletstorm. The Xbox 360 Epic Edition will feature a beta for Gears of War 3 if you need some more incentive to pick this one up when it’s released.
Crysis 2 (Multiplatform) March 22, 2011 (US)
The multiplayer demo is currently a Xbox 360 exclusive, there’s no confirmed date on when a demo will appear for PS3 or PC. Crysis 2 is like all the current FPS games out there, with a few tweaks. It’s modeled after the CoD and Battlefield series as far as multiplayer is concerned. You’ll have to level up your character to unlock new weapons and suit powers. Classes available are the standard assault, scout, heavy, and sniper classes to choose from with the option to make custom load outs once you reach rank 4. Powers available in the demo are cloak (like a Predator!), max shield, and jump slam (damn hard to pull off). Weapon modules are also available like extra ammo and the ability to detect cloaked enemies.
There are six game types set for the full game but only Team Instant Action and Crash Site (unlock at rank 6) are available for play. TIA is your standard team death match and Crash Site is a team based capture and hold objective. Players will be assigned either to the Marines or the C.E.L.L., with no real difference between the two. Both games are quick and pretty balanced so it’s up to your preference if you like the slaughter or an objective. While the core game play is nothing new, your Nanosuit is what adds some extra flavor. Use of powers can quickly mean the difference between life or death. Early on cloak is the most useful as you learn the levels and choke points. While just a standard move, I had a blast with being able to pull yourself up a ledge that you can’t quite jump to; it’s a great way to give chase to an enemy or cut time getting to the Crash Site. As you rack up kills you get new team abilities similar to killstreaks; better radar, jamming of enemy Nanosuits, and airstrikes are just a few available in the demo. Crysis 2 looks gorgeous; while you only get to experience two levels it’s easy to get lost in the depth of design. Skyline is on a rooftop and features many pitfalls and close quarters combat. Pier 17 is out in the open with lots of places to hide and ambush your enemies. I didn’t notice any slack in the visuals even on slower servers. The full game is supposed to support full stereoscopic 3D which will hopefully enhance the already great visuals.
You’re likely to have some major trouble finding open servers, but this might change as more people get the demo. I had a few games drop in connection and was prompted that game drops don’t count on your record, I’m sure a few of you will be thankful for that. Connection problems aside, it’s a solid game. While still way too similar to the current swath of FPS games, what will set it apart is the strength of multiplayer and customization. If you are into CoD and the like, Crysis 2 should be on your wish list. It’s like mixing your super soldier Halo abilities with the fast paced brutal action of CoD. Frag on soldier. 
No comments:
Post a Comment