Gameplanet

News - Capcom looks to substantially shorten game development cycle

Thu, 24 May 2012 10:40:00 +1000

Capcom are striving to reduce the time it takes to develop key franchises by up to 18 months.

The aim was to reduce a game’s development time from four years to two and a half, the company’s most recent earnings report stated.

"Speeding up development will probably raise the cost. But creating quality content will be vital to Capcom’s ability to survive by overcoming intense global competition," said Capcom CEO Kenzo Tsujimoto.

Screenshots - Total War map editor "TEd" screenshots

Thu, 24 May 2012 10:20:00 +1000

SEGA has released a series of screens showcasing "TEd", The first official modding tool for the Creative Assembly’s Total War series has been released today. The editor enables modders to create their own Total War: Shogun 2 and Fall of the Samurai custom maps for use in multiplayer and versus AI.

[PC] News - First official Total War modding tool released

Thu, 24 May 2012 10:14:00 +1000

The first official modding tool for the Creative Assembly’s Total War series has been released today.

The editor enables modders to create their own Total War: Shogun 2 and Fall of the Samurai custom maps for use in multiplayer and versus AI.

The map editor, referred to as TEd, allows modders to alter typography and place hundreds of assets such as trees, buildings, coastal batteries, rivers, choke-points and custom deployment zones says publisher SEGA. Modders can also construct “vast and intricate castles from their component pieces”, continues the announcement.

[PS3] News - Chronicle director signs on for Shadow of the Colossus

Thu, 24 May 2012 09:51:00 +1000

Chronicle director Josh Trank has signed with Sony Pictures to direct a live-action adaptation of beloved PlayStation game Shadow of the Colossus.

Trank has allegedly been a fan of the game since it launched in 2005, and sought out the job.

He is currently associated with the development of two Marvel superhero franchises in Fantastic Four and the Spider-Man spinoff Venom, as well as an adaptation of comic book Red Star.

News - 35,000 Telstra GameArena and Games Shop passwords reset after attack

Thu, 24 May 2012 09:25:00 +1000

The passwords of 35,000 Telstra GameArena and Games Shop users were reset today following a hacking attack.

“Information that might have been obtained was limited to BigPond Games usernames, the email address used to join the site and the encrypted GameArena and Games Shop passwords,” reads a statement by Telstra.

No financial or credit card details were kept on the sites, adds the company.

News - Diablo III: some religion-based names banned; Monk class powers reduced

Thu, 24 May 2012 09:17:00 +1000

Should you wish to name your Diablo III character Atheist, Christian, Mormon, Hindu or Islam, you are out of luck.

The names have been banned by Blizzard, which would be quite an annoyance if your name actually was Christian.

Catholic is also banned, yet Protestant isn’t.

Trailer - Ghost Recon: Future Soldier Elite mode trailer

Thu, 24 May 2012 08:53:00 +1000

Ubisoft has released a trailer showcasing Ghost Recon: Future Soldier's Elite mode.

Interview - EA Sports' Andrew Wilson: building a recreational empire

Thu, 24 May 2012 08:17:00 +1000

A keen sports fan, Andrew Wilson has an impressive history at EA Sports where last year he suceeded to the position of executive vice president - not bad for a boy from Geelong. We caught up with Andrew in London to learn a little more about his future insights.

Gameplanet: Euro 2012 – tell us more about this live service you have planned?

Andrew Wilson: A big move overall for us as a brand is moving from product to service, I think we started that first with Ultimate Team in FIFA three or four years ago now where we gave you a new mode to play and ever-changing content within that mode. Then last year we launched EA Sports Football Club, 10 million people signed up for that, and played the challenges we pushed out week to week. Then now, of course, we're adding Euro to the mix. So for us, there's always going to be big annual launches for FIFA; FIFA 12, FIFA 13, FIFA 14, but what gamers are telling us is that they want to engage with the game throughout the year. Whereas they used to play for three or four weeks then put the disk away and go and play something else, now they're saying "hey, we're FIFA fans, we're soccer fans year in, year out, you've got to keep giving us stuff to make this world rich and exciting for us". So that's what we're really doing.

That means we have rolling development with teams that are always creating content. It means we have analytic teams that are always evaluating the billions of telemetry events that happen in our games every day, and making millions of queries into the data to try to figure out how people are playing. And then it's live service teams that then take the content the live dev teams are producing, based on what the analytic teams are telling them, who are then pushing it out to the community on a day-to-day, week-to-week basis.

News - Diablo III sets sales record

Thu, 24 May 2012 07:33:00 +1000

Diablo III was purchased an incredible 3.5 million times in the first 24 hours that it was available, becoming the fastest selling PC game ever in the process.

After a week, 6.3 million were playing, said Blizzard.

Those figures excluded World of Warcraft Annual Pass owners who got a copy for free. If they are counted, the day one total would be 4.7 million gamers playing on May 15.

Also excluded were players logging on in internet gaming rooms in Korea, where on May 22 the game had jumped to the top of the most-played chart and took a 39 per cent share of players.

"We're definitely thrilled that so many people around the world were excited to pick up their copy of Diablo III and jump in the moment it went live," said Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime.

Trailer - League of Legends "Darius" trailer

Thu, 24 May 2012 01:11:00 +1000

Riot Games today released a new video for League of Legends, its online multiplayer session-based game in which rival teams compete against one another for victory on highly stylized battlefields and landscapes.

[PS3] Trailer - Dust 514 "Welcome To New Eden" dev diary

Thu, 24 May 2012 00:31:00 +1000

This video features producer Thomas Farrer, creative director Atli Mar Sveinsson and art director Richard Dimond, who each explain what’s special about this new, persistent FPS.

Trailer - Far Cry 3 Insane Edition trailer

Thu, 24 May 2012 00:15:00 +1000

Ubisoft has advised that all players need to fully dive into the insanity of the island has been put in the Insane Edition.

Competition - Win the 10 best games of E3 2012!

Wed, 23 May 2012 17:50:00 +1000

E3 is the single biggest event on the gaming industry's calendar.

Every year, developers, journalists, publishers and retailers the world over come together in downtown Los Angeles to showcase and share what the gaming year ahead holds.

Gameplanet will be there, and this year, we're offering you the chance to win the 10 best games shown at E3 on your choice of platform.

News - Australian industry body outlines dangers of retailer grey importing

Wed, 23 May 2012 12:37:00 +1000

Ron Curry, CEO of the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association, has warned that retailers who choose to parallel import stock may harm the local games industry and that such actions could impact negatively on the retailers themselves.

This week, JB HiFi began selling and promoting imported games in its stores. The move follows growing anger among local gamers over the seemingly inflated price of games sourced through sanctioned channels.

“In some cases consumers could purchase titles cheaper from overseas than we could locally via the licensed distributor,” JB’s Marketing Director, Scott Browning then told Kotaku. “We have decided to act in accordance with our cheapest prices promise and source selected popular titles directly from overseas wholesalers in order to provide these prices to our customers.”

[PC] Trailer - Star Wars: The Old Republic update 1.3 preview trailer

Wed, 23 May 2012 10:15:00 +1000

Game Director James Ohlen highlights some of the new game systems coming in Star Wars: The Old Republic update 1.3, as well as some of the playable content that will be released in the coming months.

News - Heavy Rain, Journey devs criticise industry immaturity, violence fetish

Wed, 23 May 2012 10:13:00 +1000

Quantic Dream founder David Cage and Thatgamecompany's Jenova Chen have independently spoken out against what they perceive to be the immaturity and narrow focus of modern games.

"The industry is too far balanced towards kids and teenagers. It's too focused on violence," said Cage.

"All I want to do is offer some diversity to the medium. I want to give people the chance to buy something other than ten different first person shooters and RPGs. There should be games for all ages, all tastes. Whatever is possible with interactive entertainment should be explored, and I don't think we're seeing that right now."

Trailer - Saints Row: The Third Penthouse DLC trailer

Wed, 23 May 2012 10:00:00 +1000

The Saints Row: The Third Penthouse DLC features Penthouse magazine Pets Nikki Benz, Justine Joli, Ryan Keely, and Heather Vandeven, all of whom can be addedto your gang and called into combat anytime to do battle against the Syndicate. "For the first time in your life, when you call Penthouse Pets, they'll actually answer," says THQ.

Trailer - Bullet Run announcement trailer

Wed, 23 May 2012 09:38:00 +1000

Sony has announced Bullet Run, a free-to-play FPS in the vein of Super Monday Night Combat. Presented as a reality TV show, Bullet Run brings the best elements of the FPS genre together with unique levels of immersion and character progression, creating a fully-customisable, persistent gaming experience, says Sony.

Trailer - The Amazing Spider-Man web rush trailer

Wed, 23 May 2012 09:30:00 +1000

Beenox's Brant Nichols talks us through the first-ever in-game footage of the new Web Rush mechanic.

News - US Xbox import ban a step closer

Wed, 23 May 2012 09:17:00 +1000

An administrative law judge has recommended that the International Trade Commission ban importation of some Microsoft Xbox gaming consoles into the United States because they infringe on Motorola patents.

If implemented, the ban would be limited to the 4GB and 250GB versions of the Xbox 360 S console.

Judge David Shaw also recommended that sale of the consoles be stopped with a cease-and-desist order, and that Microsoft post a bond equal to 7 percent of the declared value of unsold Xbox inventory already in the country.

Trailer - 007 Legends Moonraker trailer

Wed, 23 May 2012 09:12:00 +1000

Acitivision has revealed the first of six classic Bond movies that have inspired missions in 007 Legends. Moonraker, the 11th movie in the Bond film franchise, sees aspiring secret agents transported to the well-known space port of billionaire industrialist, Hugo Drax. There's Bond will need to infiltrate the orbiting evil lair and defeat one of the most iconic Bond henchmen, Jaws, and foil Drax's plans to poison the world.

Preview - Call of Duty: Black Ops 2

Wed, 23 May 2012 08:42:00 +1000

For several years now, campaign content for the annual Call of Duty instalment has been shown to media a few weeks ahead of E3. It's a way of ensuring that the franchise stands out amid the mad rush that is the largest gaming convention on earth. Activision needn't have worried; the vision for Black Ops 2 is pretty bold in itself, as Dan discovered in Los Angeles last week.

One of the major criticisms levelled at publisher Activision over its multi-million dollar Call of Duty franchise is that it lacks innovation.

Also, water is wet.

Realistically, and from Activision's perspective, there's simply no reason for a known entity such as Call of Duty to continually reinvent itself in the manner of a confused teenager when it's readily apparent exactly what kind of game the majority of subscribers are happy with. Modern Warfare 2, Black Ops and Modern Warfare 3 all featured, to an extent, pretty much what was expected of them. This is why they were hugely successful titles.

News - 38 Studios lay-offs confirmed

Wed, 23 May 2012 08:41:00 +1000

Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee has confirmed that Kingdoms of Amalur developer 38 Studios has cut staff, presumably as part of an effort to meet its debts to the state.

The number of people who had lost their jobs was not specified, although it is known that all contractors and temporary staff had been let go.

Chafee also confirmed that not every employee had been paid.

[PC] News - Star Wars: The Old Republic layoffs announced

Wed, 23 May 2012 08:10:00 +1000

BioWare co-founder Dr. Greg Zeschuk has signalled that the company has let go some staff who were working on its Star Wars MMO, The Old Republic.

"Sadly, we are bidding farewell to some talented, passionate and exceptionally hard-working people who helped make SWTOR a reality," he said.

"Impacting people's lives this way is always very hard, but we're ensuring the affected people are treated with dignity, fairness and respect."

News - Street Fighter X Tekken patch breaks game [UPDATED]

Wed, 23 May 2012 07:30:00 +1000

Update:

In a statement published on Capcom Unity, Street Fighter X Tekken developer Tomoaki Ayano has promised a fix for the Rolento knife bug introduced in the last patch. Capcom expects to roll out a patch to fix the glitch by mid June.

Original story:

News - Diablo III accounts compromised - report [UPDATED]

Wed, 23 May 2012 07:30:00 +1000

Update:

Blizzard has released a statement on its Battle.net forums regarding the Diablo III hacking.

The Diablo III developer calls on its experience releasing World of Warcraft expansions when it says that any new release will result in an increase in incidences of accounts being compromised. Blizzard has also outlined three measures players can take to secure their accounts, the Battle.Net authenticator and Battle.Net mobile authenticator, and a recently-added service, Battle.net SMS Protect which sends a unique login code to an account-holder's SMS-enabled phone, can be used to remotely reset passwords, recover an account name or disable a lost Authenticator.

[3DS] Trailer - Mario Tennis Open launch trailer

Wed, 23 May 2012 07:21:00 +1000

In Mario Tennis Open for 3DS, players can take on the role of fan-favourite characters such as Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach and Bowser, or play as their own personalized Mii character.

News - XCOM: Enemy Unknown dated, XCOM FPS sees further delays

Wed, 23 May 2012 07:05:00 +1000

XCOM: Enemy Unknown will be available from October 12, 2K has announced.

Those who have pre-ordered the game will receive an elite soldier pack, featuring the Hyperion and Reaper soldier armour kits, a full colour customisation feature for armour sets in the game, and a character from the original XCOM.

The PC-exclusive special edition of Enemy Unknown will feature an art book, fold-out poster, XCOM insignia patch, soundtrack, and more.

Trailer - XCOM: Enemy Unknown Deep Dive #2 Trailer

Wed, 23 May 2012 03:48:00 +1000

Go behind the scenes with the XCOM: Enemy Unknown dev team as they talk about the aliens and enemies players will face as they battle to save humanity.

Trailer - Batman: Arkham City Harley Quinn's Revenge DLC trailer

Wed, 23 May 2012 02:59:00 +1000

Harley Quinn's Revenge, the final chapter in Batman: Arkham City, sends players back into Arkham City to face their final challenge as they interchange between playing as both Batman and Robin.

Trailer - Aliens: Colonial Marines release date trailer

Tue, 22 May 2012 15:27:00 +1000

Gearbox Software has announced that Aliens: Colonial Marines will launch on February 12, 2013. "The bug hunt is on! Stay frosty!"

Review - Sniper Elite V2

Tue, 22 May 2012 12:48:00 +1000

Sniper Elite V2 includes moments of great gameplay, but it's let down by padding and systems that don't work quite as intended.

Nazis. History frowns upon them, as well it might – what with the evil, and everything. Nazis were bad, and we all know it. Even if on some logical level we understand that there must have been at least a considerable number of non-Nazis in the German army in WWII, history is written by the winners, stories need villains, and by now we gamers as a collective have surely mown down a thousand times more generic digital Nazis than the Third Reich ever produced, and all without so much as a second thought between us. So while there are a lot of adjectives frequently pulled out to describe the Nazis, “sympathetic” is rarely among them.

Credit then must go to Sniper Elite V2 for almost provoking that second thought. The game's much-publicised selling point is lovingly detailing the grisly fates of those hapless members of the Wehrmacht that stray into our rifle sights. In this aspect at least, it succeeds so well that what happens to these bog-standard faceless, generic Nazi gaming enemies while playing can provoke the same sympathetic wince that one finds oneself deploying when watching particularly horrendous skateboard mishaps on YouTube. Indeed, far from being faceless, it's perfectly clear that these poor blokes are also in full possession of skulls, jawbones, eyeballs, hearts, lungs, kidneys, and testicles, at least until a high-velocity slugs smashes, bursts, perforates, liquifies or disintegrates one or more of them in the game's eye-watering slow-motion bullet cam. And he was just a week from retirement.

It's 1945, Berlin is under siege, and even the Third Reich knows it's defeated. With the end of the war in Europe mere days away, America is thinking about post-war matters, and the Russians make them mighty nervous. Therefore when the OSS learns that several of the scientific minds behind Germany's advanced V2 rocket weapon are making arrangements to defect to the Soviets, they send the game's gravel-voiced protagonist Karl Fairburne to the ruined German capital to put a stop to it and ensure that the “Reds” won't get a head start in the inevitable post-war arms race.

[iPad] Interview - Developed down-under: Ski Safari

Tue, 22 May 2012 12:37:00 +1000

Developed down-under is a new feature series on Gameplanet Australia. In it, we highlight the best locally-created games, and speak to the Australian industry’s most talented or promising developers to learn about their latest projects, and discover how they bring each from concept to product. First up, we speak to Brendan Watts on Ski Safari.

A handful of heavyweight developers consistently dominate the games section on the App Store. Rovio and its Angry Birds franchise, Halfbrick with Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride, and Popcap’s Bejeweled are rarely usurped on the podium. Every so often a new game will make an appearance, fueled by positive word of mouth, a successful marketing strategy, or – more often than not – luck.

Ski Safari by Defiant Development is the latest game to not just rank highly, but also to successfully retain its position. In the three weeks since launch Ski Safari has sold over 500,000 units, hit the number one spot in four countries, and claim the number three position in the States.
Not bad for a game developed by two Aussie boys and distributed by a Brisbane-based studio.

The game is best described as a mix between Tiny Wings and auto runner games such as Jetpack Joyride. It’s a side-scroller with a skier is followed closely by a deadly snow avalanche. Players tap and hold the screen to jump, spin, build combos and avoid obstacles. A variety of animals and vehicles offer more advantages, as well as entertainment value.

News - DRM doesn’t work; pirated games are not lost sales - CD Projekt

Tue, 22 May 2012 12:15:00 +1000

Digital Rights Management technologies do not work and will eventually disappear, says CD Projekt Red CEO Marcin Iwinski.

His comments came after it was announced that copies of The Witcher 2 which contained DRM were pirated heavily whereas those with no DRM were not.

“I have to admit it was a big surprise,” said Irwinski.

News - A new Castlevania game will be revealed at E3 - rumour

Tue, 22 May 2012 11:06:00 +1000

Castlevania: Mirror of Fate, a 3DS title, is rumoured to be set for an E3 reveal, or so Dutch site N1ntendo reported earlier today.

The post has since been withdrawn at Konami’s request.

A quick search reveals that Konami has registered a domain for Mirror of Fate.

News - Silicon Knights and Epic Games finally face off in court

Tue, 22 May 2012 10:41:00 +1000

Too Human developer Silicon Knights and Epic Games have finally met in court this month, following a five-year feud over Epic’s Unreal Engine.

The case, originally filed in 2007, looks to settle whether Epic used licence money from Unreal Engine 3 to fund Gears of War, to the detriment of the engine and thus other developer’s games.

Silicon Knights claim the problems it encountered with Unreal Engine 3 forced it to create a new game engine for Too Human, sending production costs spiralling.

News - Next gen consoles will definitely support used games - Pachter

Tue, 22 May 2012 09:58:00 +1000

Wedbush Morgan Analyst Michael Pachter has gone on record stating that there is no way the next console from Sony or Microsoft will block used games.

Blocking used games made no sense for the console manufacturers, according to Pachter.

“Sony doesn’t sell that much software – maybe 10 per cent of sales are Sony products. Everything else, the other 90 per cent, is third-party. Sony isn’t going to help its overall sales that much – let’s go with one, two per cent,” he said.

News - Halfbrick announces Fruit Ninja two year anniversary Australian tour

Mon, 21 May 2012 14:41:00 +1000

Australian developer Halfbrick Studios is celebrating the two-year anniversary of its hugely popular food-slicing franchise Fruit Ninja by holding a series of competitive events in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

Winners in each city will be invited to Sydney to compete in the national finals for the title of Australia's Fruit Ninja Master, and thousands of dollars worth of prizes including a "Ninja trip for two" to Japan, says Halfbrick.

"Fruit Ninja is a huge international success, and it’s important to recognise it’s developed locally by Halfbrick in Brisbane Australia," Halfbrick's Phil Larsen told Gameplanet Australia. "This event is our way of celebrating, acknowledging the local fans, and making people aware of the vibrant game developer industry in Australia."

Screenshots - New Crysis 3 screenshots

Mon, 21 May 2012 14:31:00 +1000

Screenshots from Crytek's upcoming release, Crysis 3.

News - Next big Kinect innovation will be on existing hardware - Microsoft

Mon, 21 May 2012 13:49:00 +1000

The next big motion-sensing breakthrough will occur on this generation of the Kinect hardware, according to Microsoft Creative Director Kudo Tsunoda.

There has already been a lot of software-side innovation with the Kinect including finger tracking, object capture, and seated play, but fidelity will increase further and a major breakthrough is inevitable, said Tsunoda.

He attributed this to developers becoming more familiar with the device.

[3DS] Review - Rhythm Thief & the Emperor's Revenge

Mon, 21 May 2012 12:07:00 +1000

If you need to fill your bump-'n'-grind fix so badly that you don't care about story or character, Rhythm Thief is just the game for you. For everyone else, it's probably best to take a raincheck on this tedious, straight-faced offering.

We're long past the days of narrative not mattering in videogames. The moment that gamers stood in an open field west of a white house with a boarded front door, the pressure's been on the developers and the designers to create compelling stories, and to tell them better.

That's why we have triple-A titles - like BioShock, Shadow of the Colossus and Half-Life - that wade into the contemporary discourse on subjects as varied as politics, societal issues and the act of gaming itself. That's why we have a burgeoning indie gaming scene through which creators like Edmund McMillen, Tim Schafer and Phil Fish can peddle intelligent, evocative narrative works without the consumer ever having to leave their couch. That's why the games industry is constantly pursuing the ultimate goal of becoming cinematic in the way it tells its stories (though whether it's desirable to aspire to films is another debate in and of itself).

There's a whole market full of games out there that offer rich, deeply satisfying narrative experiences. The bar's been lifted so many times, even on handheld consoles, that it's easy to lose count. Take the 3DS, a platform in its infancy that still has on offer games like Kid Icarus, Cave Story 3D, and Ocarina of Time. If developers are going to make interactive fiction in this market, they have to put some effort into it. It's not enough to cobble together something inane and slap-dash in the hope that the gameplay will distract the audience. They'll notice.

[PC] News - Carrier Command dated, to be available on PC and Xbox

Mon, 21 May 2012 11:52:00 +1000

Carrier Command: Gaea Mission will be available in Australia on Windows PC and Xbox 360 on September 27.

The game, a re-imagining of 80s classic Carrier Command, contains a unique combination of first- and third-person action alongside strategy elements such as instructing units, managing resources and customising equipment.

In command of an armed vehicle carrier, players will traverse the seas to engage in free-roaming combat and establish a strategic network of island bases for mining, manufacturing and defense, according to Bohemia Interactive.

News - New Wii U controller pics tweeted

Mon, 21 May 2012 09:45:00 +1000

Pictures of the newest version of the Wii U controller have been tweeted by a Traveller’s Tales employee.

The posts, made under the Twitter handle @MATTYBOOSH, have since been deleted.

The biggest change appears to be that analogue sticks have replaced the circle pad nubs seen on the device at last year’s E3.

Preview - FIFA 13

Mon, 21 May 2012 09:03:00 +1000

Some immutable truths are obvious: the sun will rise, politicians will lie and there will always be another FIFA release. It only remains to be seen precisely how EA Sports will tweak its annual ode to Football. We're in London to find out.

The EA Sports development team based in Burnaby, Vancouver have their own full-sized football field.

Their studio floor is replete with banners, pendants and all manner of shirts and associated football paraphernalia. This, then, is clearly a team who take the game extremely seriously indeed.

So as each development cycle in the long-running FIFA series draws to an end, their only thought is towards the next iteration. Which aspects to improve, which to shelve, and which exciting new gameplay additions can be introduced to an audience measured in the millions.

Trailer - Project Copernicus world fly-through trailer

Mon, 21 May 2012 08:29:00 +1000

Studio 38 has released a first look at project Copernicus, the MMO based in the Kingdoms of Amalur.

News - Kingdoms of Amalur studio may yet survive

Mon, 21 May 2012 08:17:00 +1000

The first cheque 38 Studios has written to the state of Rhode Island cleared yesterday after bouncing on Friday.

Although it covered the studio’s first repayment, the USD $1.125 million (AUD $1.27m) cheque barely made a dent in the USD $49m (AUD $50m) loan 38 Studios received from the taxpayer-funded Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation.

Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee, who was elected after the loan was made, stated that the state was changing tax break legislation so such a deal could not be made in the future.

Trailer - XCOM: Enemy Unknown community video 3: modernising a classic

Mon, 21 May 2012 08:13:00 +1000

2KTV speaks to Casey O'Toole, lead programmer for XCOM: Enemy Unknown, about the development of the game and its progression into the modern age.

Trailer - Medal of Honor: Warfighter TV premiere trailer

Mon, 21 May 2012 07:58:00 +1000

Inspired by actual events across the globe and written by real Tier 1 Operators while deployed overseas, follow the global Warfighters as they are asked to take on a real terror threat, PETN, says Electronic Arts.

Hands On - Ghost Recon: Future Soldier co-op preview

Sat, 19 May 2012 12:52:00 +1000

Tom Clancy's games used to be the "thinking man's" shooters. Could the forthcoming Future Soldier's co-operative multiplayer modes bring back intelligent team play? Gameplanet's Matt Maguire sought to find out.

First-person shooters may be thick on the ground these days, but few require the level of co-operation that Ubisoft is hoping to inject into the genre with the imminent release of Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier.

A recent play test through two of the game’s co-op modes — campaign and guerrilla — suggested that the game may distinguish itself not only with the teamwork and communication required to play successfully, but also with quieter moments, something other shooters generally pay lip service to, at best.

Campaign mode may see all four soldiers outfitted for a particular specialty, with sniping, machine-gunning, and close-combat load-outs all available. Equipment too is dispersed amongst the team, with one member carrying a UAV drone whilst others lug grenades about. Flexibility is key to advancing in the game, so it pays to have all bases covered.

Trailer - The Walking Dead Episode 1 Accolades trailer

Sat, 19 May 2012 08:26:00 +1000

Telltale Games has released this trailer, revealing that The Walking Dead has sold over one million episodes across PC, Mac, PS3 and Xbox 360.