Only in the context of video games will you hear people clamor on about how they wish they were being chased by the cops, but that's just what many Need for Speed fans have been doing since 2005's Most Wanted. Well, the boys in blue are back for Need for Speed Undercover, and so is the open-world setting that last year's ProStreet sacrificed in favor of quartered-off racing courses. But it's not as though developer EA Black Box has gone into full-on time-travel mode for the latest entry in this long-running series. For every nod to the series' past, you'll find something new like Hollywood-style driving techniques designed to help you elude the police, new events and skill-building systems, and a step toward more mature, less hammy storytelling.
Need for Speed Undercover is swapping the professional racing circuits and nighttime neon lights of the past two games in favor of an open-world Gulf Coast locale. Known as Tri-City Bay, this collection of floating-bridge freeways, dirt roads, and industrial shipping yards is set in the postsunrise, presunset time of day when the sun sits low in the sky and covers everything in a golden light. There seems to be a lot of diversity, and the race events take good advantage of that. One of the Sprint Race events we took part in--a supercar showdown featuring the likes of the Carerra GT and Pagani Zonda--took us from the highway to a high school football field to a millionaire's marble driveway before arriving at the finish line in a freeway tunnel. It's definitely a big world, too. We're told you can drive the fastest car in the game and it would take you a solid eight minutes to circumnavigate the entire world at top speed.
As a way of maintaining balance with your newfound driving skills, EA Black Box is bringing back the police to keep you challenged as you wreak havoc on the roads of Tri-City Bay. Driver AI has been enhanced so that if you do something particularly stupid like nudge someone off the road at 90 miles per hour, you'll have the cops called on you. In other situations, you'll have them on your tail at the start of a mission, like in the Driver Job event we tried that had us stealing a police cruiser (a Nissan GT-R squad car, of all things) and bring it to a shop to sell it off. No matter the origins, getting rid of the cops is the same: You need to put some distance between you and the police cars, and if there's a helicopter, you need to find a tunnel or bridge to hide under.
As you progress through the game's story--a tale about a police officer so deep undercover that only a few people know who he is--the narration will unfold in the traditional cutscene format of the Need for Speed series. This time around, there's a new focus on taking these video sequences out of the stone age and into the modern era, where games don't need to remain stuck in the trappings of the mid-'90s. What this means is cutscenes shot on a live set rather than a green screen, real actors (well, at least the main characters--we're not sure if Jessica Alba's brother playing a side role counts as a real actor), and a director pulled from the show 24. Based on the three cutscenes we saw, these ingredients have come together to form a more mature look for the series. You'll have the chance to see how well the whole package comes together when Need for Speed Undercover is released on November 17.
Mario sports games are well known for presenting arcade versions of popular sports that are easy to pick up and play, yet complex enough to satisfy skilled players. Mario Super Sluggers is the progeny of the GameCube's great Mario Superstar Baseball, but alas, this apple falls far from the tree. A number of changes skew the game toward simplicity and accessibility, and in many ways the game feels like it's been jabbed in the thigh with a strong dose of performance-diminishing Mario Party extract. Many will likely enjoy the redesigned challenge mode and motion-sensitive controls, but those hoping for another engaging arcade sports title will be disappointed.
As you might expect, Mario Super Sluggers is all about the motion controls. Cock the remote back, then sweep it forward to swing your bat. Lift it up, then flick it down to throw a pitch. Shake the remote to run faster. Wiggle it to throw the ball in the field. Add in a button or two and you've got yourself the main control scheme. You can play with or without the Nunchuk; the former scheme is best for folks who want to control base runners and fielders, the latter for those who don't mind leaving some decisions up to the conservative AI. Either way, you'll be shaking your arm a lot, though much of the game is structured to accommodate frequent flailing (more on that in a minute).
You also have the option to hold the remote sideways and eschew motion control altogether, though you'll have to learn it the hard way since you can't use this scheme in the tutorial. The sideways style does give your wrist a rest, but the D pad is much less responsive than the analog stick, and you'll often find yourself overrunning bases since the button you tap rapidly to sprint is the same button that tells your runner to advance. The remote and Nunchuk combo is the best of the lot, but it makes one wonder why they didn't just enable the GameCube or Classic controller as well.
Taking the field in exhibition mode is the best way to get a pure Mario-style baseball experience in Super Sluggers. The computer can provide a stiff challenge when set on a high difficulty level, and building your roster and lineup to capitalize on chemistry between your players is a fun exercise. Chemistry enables players to perform special defensive moves, like a quick buddy throw or a home run-robbing buddy jump. If the batter and the player in the on-deck circle have chemistry, then the latter can launch Mario Kart-esque items into the field to try to disrupt the defense. These additions add a neat arcade twist, and multiplayer games can get pretty heated. Super Sluggers offers good, competitive fun for a group of good-natured opponents, and it is certainly at its best when played by two or more people at a time.
The single-player challenge mode was one of the strengths of Mario Superstar Baseball, and in it you traveled from stadium to stadium playing baseball games and recruiting new players by completing certain in-game challenges. This mode has been reworked for Mario Super Sluggers. Where previously you would go to Mario Stadium and play the plumber and his team a few times, you now go to the Mario Stadium area and wander around a bit. You'll startle balled-up Nokis, wake up Monty Mole, defeat a few Magikoopas, and break a Pianta out of a barrel. Different team captains have different abilities, each of which must be brought to bear in each area. To vanquish foes and convince locals to join your team, you'll have to complete short baseball challenges like "throw different pitches" and "get a double play." Separated from actual baseball games, these challenges become much shorter and much easier to accomplish, not to mention easier on your elbow.
Whether or not you'll like the challenge mode really depends on your perspective. Folks looking for some light, baseball-themed Mario fun will probably enjoy it. The minigames sprinkled throughout play like goofy tests of your baseball skills, and a few remote-twisting puzzles add some extra variety. Pretty much every iconic Mario character you can think of is in here, quipping and griping as they are wont to do, and winning them all over to your side will require a substantial amount of adventuring. However, if you're in the market for more actual baseball action, then challenge mode just won't fit the bill. Along with the aforementioned omissions, the quest to earn each character a star rating by completing a number of diverse challenges is no more, replaced by just one condition: Play on a team that beats Bowser.
One strike against Mario Super Sluggers is that the production values aren't noticeably better than those of Mario Superstar Baseball. Attention has been paid to the character models, but everything else feels neglected. Many stadiums have wacky obstacles in the outfield, but none of them are as lush, intricate, and well designed as the GameCube's Peach Garden. Activating your star power while pitching or hitting triggers a short power-up cinematic, but it's never anything more than some bland red and orange flourishes. Particularly onerous is the single-player behind-the-mound pitching camera that makes it very difficult to tell where your pitch is when it crosses the tiny plate in the distance. People who didn't play Mario Superstar Baseball may be more forgiving, but the whole presentation has a fuzzy, unpleasant, phoned-it-in feel.
See Screenshots:
Despite its many shortcomings, Mario Super Sluggers is good enough to offer some solid entertainment to the right gamers. Collect-'em-all Mariophiles will dig the new challenge mode, and Wii party hosts will enjoy playing frantic multiplayer games. More serious baseballers will find satisfaction in facing off against one another, but will find the rest of the package wanting. While there's certainly fun to be had, it's a shame Super Sluggers couldn't find that balance between accessibility and complexity that has made past Mario sports games so successful.
The Good - Fun multiplayer arcade baseball action. The Mario gang's all here. Kid-friendly baseball adventure mode. The Bad - Less challenging, complex, and pretty than its Gamecube predecessor. Lousy camera makes single-player pitching unpleasant. No good alternative to motion controls. Nonsensical post-game stats.
The terrans are relative newcomers to the Koprulu sector. They are the descendents of a disastrous colonization expedition launched from Earth centuries ago, its human cargo made up of dissidents and malcontents the government deemed expendable. The survivors of the expedition established three colonies that became the basis for the major power blocs in terran space: the Confederacy, the Kel-Morian Combine, and the Umojan Protectorate. The corrupt Confederacy was overthrown by terrorist and revolutionary Arcturus Mengsk during the chaos of the zerg invasion. Now the Terran Dominion has emerged from the ashes of the old Confederacy as the dominant power, ruled by none other than Emperor Arcturus I.
Terran Units:
Marine Trains From: Barracks Armament: 8mm C-14 Impaler Gauss Rifle Role: General-purpose Infantry marines are the first line of defense for most terran worlds in the Koprulu sector. In the time of the old Confederacy the vast majority of marines were criminals or rebels who had undergone mandatory neural resocialization. Freed from any previous allegiances or ideologies, these fearless soldiers stood ready to defend Confederate interests with their lives.The intake of "resoc" marines has been scaled back in many places since the fall of the Confederacy.
Reaper Trains From: Barracks Armament: P-45 Scythe Gauss Pistols, D-8 Charges Role: Raider Reapers are the most hardened terran criminals, taken from the most dangerous and violent prisons. Potential marines who prove too intractable even after resocialization are instead sent to the "Icehouse" in the Torus system, where reapers are trained. Reaper troopers are chemically altered to make them even more aggressive before being subjected to weeks of brutal training in close-quarters combat and the use of their jet packs.
Ghost Trains From: Barracks Armament: 25mm C-10 Canister Rifle Role: Stealth Sniper Ghosts epitomize the height of terran evolution and physical conditioning. Born with incredible psionic potential, these individuals are recruited and quarantined for government training from childhood.Ghosts channel their psionic energies to augment their natural physical strength and endurance. This process is enhanced by specialized skin-suits worn by ghosts that are laced with a form of psi-sensitive artificial muscle fiber.
Viking Builds From: Factory Armament: Twin Gatling Cannon (assault mode), MT50 Lanzer Torpedoes (fighter mode) Role: Air Combat/Ground Support The Brood War revealed critical weaknesses in terran anti-air capability. The new Wraith combat fighters and Valkyrie missile frigates proved to be an unwieldy combination against agile zerg airborne organisms.Ground-based anti-air support from goliath assault walkers was too limited in its mobility: all too often airborne attackers would simply move out of the goliath's range and find less well-defended targets to destroy.
Banhsee Builds From: Starport Armament: Backlash Cluster Rockets Role: Tactical Strike Aircraft Many experiments with dedicated air-to-ground attack have been undertaken by the terrans. Various dead-end approaches were tried and then discarded: ordnance packages for dropships, remote semi-autonomous drones, and airborne artillery platforms, to name but a few.Such continual compromises eventually led to retrofitting variants of the Wraith space superiority fighter with a belly-mounted burst laser to fulfill the role in the short term.
Thor Built By: SCV Armament: "Thor's Hammer" Particle Accelerators, 250mm Bombardment Cannon Role: Ultimate Heavy-assault Mech The Thor project has been shrouded in mystery since its very beginning. Agents of the Umojan Protectorate were the first to uncover a trail of clues that the Terran Dominion was intent on creating some kind of new terror weapon. The Umojans' curiosity was aroused when they heard rumors that the huge Simonson munitions facility on Korhal IV had been placed under a complete security lockdown by Dominion forces.
Battle Cruiser Builds From: Starport Armament: Laser Batteries, Yamato Cannon, Plasma Torpedoes Role: Capital Ship These massive, heavily armored combat ships are virtual flying fortresses, built to keep the peace and dominate the space lanes of the Koprulu sector. Outfitted with bristling laser batteries and thick neosteel armor, these imposing vessels are among the most powerful to be found in terran space.Many commanders use battlecruisers as their command vessels during extended campaigns.
Nomad Builds From: Starport Armament: None Role: Battlefield Support/Construction The TF-620 nomad is an all-around workhorse that combines the functions of light manufacturing center and observation post rolled into one. A common sight among the fringe-world colonies, the nomad is a robust, air-mobile vehicle built to operate independently in all but the harshest climates.Although the nomad shares a number of common traits with its smaller cousin, the SCV, the nomad is a far more specialized and advanced engineering craft.
Siege Tank Builds From: Factory Armament: Twin 90mm Cannons (assault mode) 120mm Shock Cannon (siege mode) Role: Armored Support and Mobile Artillery The Crucio is the Dominion update of the immensely popular but aging Arclite siege tank. The Arclite was renowned throughout the Confederacy for its devastating firepower and stalwart emplacement/advance tactics. Originally designed to serve as a "final defense" security cannon, the siege tank adopted a two-stage configuration in its final form: a mobile assault mode and a deployed siege mode that brought its massive shock cannon to bear.
Forced to adapt to the harsh existence on the mostly lifeless worlds of the sector, the terrans are masters of survival. With neither the advanced technology of the protoss nor the natural prowess of the zerg to rely on, the terran military forces consist of a varied mix of units. From basic but effective infantry like the marines to heavily armed battlecruisers, terran units rely on solid armor, plentiful firepower, and strength in numbers to hold the line. Terrans excel in defensive situations where their bunkers and siege tanks really shine.
In the Red Alert games, it is asserted that Adolf Hitler's rise to power was thwarted, which prevented Nazi Germany from forming and averted World War II as we know from taking place. In this timeline, Joseph Stalin is the main aggressor against Europe.
After the events of Red Alert 2 the leadership of the doomed Soviet Union devises a plan to travel back in time and assassinate Albert Einstein (whose own time travels led to the events of the previous two games) in order to change history and restore the Soviet Union as a world power. However, during the mission, something goes quickly and horribly wrong and an "alternate timeline" is inadvertently created, erasing the events of the previous two games, which alters the technological evolution and creates a new, technologically advanced superpower in the East, known as the Empire of the Rising Sun (i.e. Japan). And thus, a World War breaks out among the Soviets, the Allies and the Empire and is fought with exotic weaponry such as "Tesla coils, heavily armed War Blimps, teleportation, armored bears, intelligent dolphins, floating island fortresses, and transforming tanks"
Red Alert 3 features a fully co-operative campaign mode where the player can team up with another player, or one of several AI characters such as Major Giles, a stiff upper lip British commander, to complete the campaign. The game brings back the Red Alert series' light-hearted style and classic action-oriented gameplay, while maintaining the fast-paced C&C gameplay of the latest titles. And here is the rest of it.
The factions in the game have been confirmed by executive producer Chris Corry to emphasize Red Alert's traditional "light-hearted, colourful" feel by making their differences even more pronounced than in previous Red Alerts. Corry says Red Alert 3 will "[play] up the silliness in their faction design whenever possible". New units for the Soviets include an armoured attack bear, Tesla boats known as "Stingrays" (that can also travel on land, making them a replacement for the Tesla Tank), anti-infantry spider-like tanks called "Sickles" that have the ability to jump over terrain elevations and a transport unit called the "Bullfrog" that evacuates its passengers using a large "man cannon". The Allies receive a new Tanya unit that is equipped with a "time belt", allowing her to transport herself to the past in order to regain health, and "Cryocopters", helicopters equipped with a powerful freeze ray. The Empire of the Rising Sun has transformers-like units that have the ability to transform, should the need arise. This idea of secondary abilities is common to each and every unit in the game, although how each ability is employed may vary slightly between units; some may be toggled on and off, others may apply instantly and some may have a cooldown, requiring a period of time to pass before the ability can be activated again.
Naval warfare has also been reintroduced. Corry has stated many units are now amphibious, trading effectiveness for increased flexibility compared to ground-only units. In addition, bases are now able to be built mostly on water with the MCV featured in every Command and Conquer RTS, as it is now able to move and deploy on water, so that all buildings - excluding barracks and war factories - can be built on water and players who "ignore the ocean [are] likely forfeiting a significant part of their potential economy to their opponents". Further stressing this is the fact that, despite some campaign maps being entirely land based, all multiplayer maps will have significant bodies of water in them.
The RNA engine (the engine used by Red Alert 3) was created from the rewritten SAGE engine. See screenshots:
Third installment in the insanely popular strategy-RPG series from Blizzard. Diablo 3 takes place twenty years after the events of Diablo II and a evil has risen again, it is up to the heroes of Sanctuary to defend the world against the powers of the Burning Hells. Deckard Cain and several characters from previous installments have returned, players have five character classes to choose from, Tristam and previous locations are back as well as new areas of Sanctuary, and their are updated visuals with attempts of keeping much of the gameplay the same.
However, asked if Blizzard could make a Diablo game for consoles, Pardo said, "I think it's theoretically possible. It would have some control changes that I think you'd have to make... But it's probably, of our major franchises, the one that's most console friendly, for sure."
Pardo - formerly lead designer on World of Warcraft, now occupying a design role with oversight of all Blizzard's titles - quickly focused on the practical and design problems of a console version.
"You'd need to think about a lot of the point-and-click spells, like point to area-of-effect, or things like line-damage in this direction," Pardo said. "Target selection is something you're going to lose on console, you're really going to be able to do targeting direction, but not specific targeting."
However, asked if this would mean a ground-up redesign, he disagreed. "Oh, I don't think it would be a redesigned game," he says firmly. "Out of StarCraft, Warcraft or WOW, Diablo would be the easiest game to translate. But it would still take a bit of work."
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Starcraft: 2 Oh Hell, Its About time
According to its creators, StarCraft II is designed to be the "ultimate competitive real-time strategy game", building on the successes enjoyed by its predecessor, StarCraft. It features the return of the three races from the original game — Protoss, Terran, and Zerg; Blizzard states these are the only playable races in the game.StarCraft II is also designed to focus more heavily on the multiplayer aspect, when compared to the original StarCraft.
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