andPOP » Josh Salem

Facebook, Twitter, and Zune Marketplace Coming to Xbox Live

Josh Salem — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:33:28 +0000

That’s right, this coming week your TV will transform into so much more with social networking, music, and movies come alive on your Xbox 360. Facebook, Twitter, and Zune video will launch November 17th, on Xbox Live.

Most exciting is instant-on HD video from Zune to be available to Xbox 360 consoles. “We’re delivering some truly exciting social entertainment experiences to our members,” said Marc Whitten, Xbox Live general manager. “Xbox Live’s differentiator has always been our community, and we’ve already seen a tremendous response to these features in our public preview.”

As well, Xbox Live will be debuting a music games store specifically for games such as Lips, Guitar Hero, and Rock Band.

I am excited!

Contest: 3 Game Giveaway for Nintendo Wii, DS and Sony PSP

Josh Salem — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:14:07 +0000

We have three great titles for three great platforms to give away to gaming fans on andPOP courtesy of D3 Publishers.

Astro Boy: The video game

Secret Saturdays: Beasts of the Fifth Sun

and

Ben 10 Alien Force: Vilgax Attacks

Three lucky winners will win all of these titles for the platform of their choice (one winner per platform) . The winners will be contacted via e-mail. The 3 consoles are PSP, Wii and Nintendo DS. Be sure to specify which platform you’d like to enter for (you can enter for all 3 of you like).

You may reenter your details again if you have already entered this contest.

In order to enter fill out the form below and answer the skill testing question correctly.

Contest ends Dec. 3rd, 2009.

Contest: Win a Copy of Spore Hero for the Nintendo Wii!

Josh Salem — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:13:21 +0000

That’s right andPOP gaming fans. Courtesy of EA and Maxis, we want to give one of our loyal readers the chance to win a copy of Spore Hero for the Nintendo Wii Console.

Create a creature with over 250 parts, and become a hero! Fight to save a planet and use your Wii remote to unleash awesome attacks.

Just fill out the form below and we will contact the winning contestant. Contest ends Dec. 2nd 2009.

Check out www.sporehero.com for more information.

Dragon Age to give Thirty Seconds To Mars fans sneak peek

Josh Salem — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:49:30 +0000

Bioware’s Dragon Age: Origins will give Thirty Seconds To Mars fans a sneak preview of the title song to their upcoming album ‘This Is War’.

The new album (which drops December 8th, 2009) also entitled, ‘This Is War’ will be the flagship song on the Dragon Age: Origins sound track.

After the break fans of both Origins and Thirty Seconds to mars can check out the trailer showcasing ‘This is War’ co-produced by leading front-man Jared Leto.

Game Review: NFL Madden 10

Josh Salem — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:12:43 +0000

The pig skin never looked so good

I’ve never been a huge fan of football (American football for those reading overseas). I never enjoyed playing it in the real world, I never enjoyed watching it. But playing it digitally was always a blast. My first Madden experience was on my original Gameboy in 1996, and would you believe it spoke? Like real audible words!

Now, before I dive into the game, I wanted to point something out. Madden 10 is not for someone who doesn’t understand the finer details of football. You can get by with basic knowledge, and with the help of the Madden quiz, practice, and the virtual trainer included in the title, you can pick it up very quickly. Just don’t expect to buy the game, read the manual and kick ass online.

As the game evolved with technological advances and thanks to EA’s talented abilities, the graphics grew astronomically. From legs jittering, yards moving by slowly and other players moving frame by frame towards you to full motion captured pretty movements from all over the field, Madden 10’s attention to detail were just astronomical. The fluid movement in each player as they hurl forward, deke in a hundred different ways, and look around for openings give players an eerie feeling that they are actually controlling real people in some alternate universe of god-like power. The texture of grass, fans chompin hotdogs and tossing towels, and even the detail of each stadium; from the biggest effects like weather to the smallest details like seat arrangement. Madden 10 raised the bar yet again for graphical quality in a football game. Just as long as you don’t mind seeing freakishly odd shaped facial features of the players up close. My favourite graphical aspect? The shakey cam as players run for a touchdown. What I didn’t like graphically? The sponsored replays, granted it does make things more realistic, but for the amount I’m paying for a game I don’t want sponsored ads in my face. What’s next to increase the realism, commercials in between plays?

Sound wise, while Madden 10 boasts Hammond and Collinsworth’s commentary. I understand it’s hard to have good commentary in a game people will play for hours on end, over and over again. I just wasn’t feeling it. They tried, I feel the effort is there, but otherwise it just seemed a little unpolished, especially compared to the graphics. Again, the commentary at times sounds like it was just random words pieced together after the fact, not smooth and realistic in the forms of speaking to say the least. While the commentary is varied and often times customized and useful, after a while you begin to hear the same phrases and comments time and time again. In terms of the sound track, I would have to admit that while I first expected many frat anthems, after playing through and taking a look at what the game had to offer, I think this may have very well been my favourite sound track in a sporting video game. Music from 2Pac, Alice in Chains,Beastie Boys, Mastodon, System of a Down, and Nirvana, just to give fans out there a feel for what’s available. As always otherwise the smashes, tackles, and whistles all sound realistic and well done. EA is good with these kinds of noises by now.

In terms of gameplay, there is just so much depth and detail to every aspect of Madden 10 that I would be here for months writing about it all, and you for weeks reading and soaking it all in. For the sake of both time and sanity I’ll just provide you with a rundown of ALL the modes of play and the feel of gameplay itself, and trust me, there’s a lot to discuss. To start off, let’s talk about what’s new and all the talk about Madden 10 over Madden ‘09; Online franchise mode allows up and coming NFL manager types to take the franchise mode they loved, and play it online, much in the same way one could play it offline in ‘09, this is again souped up with things like The Extra Point a little segment that summarizes what had happened in the week before. As well, aspects throughout the game have been somewhat tweaked (some times well, sometimes not so well) as the passing system and feel have been improved to new levels as well as the tackle system which provides gamers with new and more innovative ways to bring the pain to their competition. Other aspects new to the game also include more realistic gameplay including pile-ons, fumbles, and a somewhat slower – less arcade like speed to simulate real life. My favourite new feature in Madden 10 may have to be the small details they added in, like Superbowl patches to the jerseys during, well… The Superbowl. Actually playing the game gives a lot of power to the player, being able to tweak nearly every aspect of Madden and having access to so many plays, variables, and being able to alter all of these gives fans nearly endless possibilities… That is, IF you know what you are doing, which takes time, research, and practice for those new to the Madden world. For those that are new to the game, again, there are methods to get you up to speed, but for those who are seasoned pros – the difficulty levels are there for them. Personally, I found Madden 10 to be challenging, hard even, on the easy difficulty… But then again, I found NHL 10 to be just as hard, and I’m a bigger hockey fan than football. The control layout for Madden 10 has been perfected year after year, and from what I can remember from last year’s title, they have remained the same, an aspect myself (and I hope many others) appreciate. The controls are set up perfectly for this football romp and from controlling the QB to audibles, the flick of a joystick or click of a button is all that is needed to score that hail mary touchdown. Like I said before, there are A LOT of game modes and options; for an overall feel, check out our Madden ‘09 review which can be found here, otherwise just play the game and see for yourself, I think you’d like it – especially if your a football fan.

Overall like most sports titles, lasting appeal is never an issue. You can play against computers over and over again, play against your friends until you go blue in the face. If you get too good for the game you can always up the difficulty, choose teams with lower stats, or play with one hand tied behind your back. Beat everyone you know, all the computer settings and used every team out there? Madden 10 boasts one of the best online modes available from single games to leagues to online franchise mode. While I enjoyed playing (and getting beaten severely) playing online, I did experience quite some lag while playing my opponent, both of us located in Canada, and both with broadband connections.

Madden 10 is exactly what you would expect from the leading football developers who launch a new title every year. Some new features, some improvements, some aspects that still need work (but mostly all improvements in themselves). If you’re a football fan you owe it to yourself to pick up Madden 10, if however you are on a budget and can’t afford a new title, Madden ‘09 can still do what you need it to do and enjoy on a regular basis. You just won’t get the best of what’s available without Madden 10.

Graphics: 4.0 / 5.0
Gameplay 4.0 / 5.0
Sound 3.5 / 5.0
Lasting appeal 4.5 / 5.0

Assassin’s Creed Lineage short film 1 of 3 hits YouTube.

Josh Salem — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:25:55 +0000

Ubisoft has released the first of three Assassin’s Creed promotional short films on the World Wide Web via YouTube.

Developed by Ubisoft Digital Arts as well as Ubisoft’s Hybride Technologies (yes, the visual masterminds behind the hit films Sin City and 300) have unleashed a live action introduction into the world of Assassin’s Creed 2. Staring the game’s main character Ezio’s Father, Giovanni Auditore da Firenze. With a mix of live action combined with CGI backdrops and special effects the films will tell of the growth of Assassin’s Creed’s protagonist and how he came to be where he is now.

The film series will entice gamers to get more involved in this upcoming title (which by the way, I had the chance to demo and was AMAZING) and give them a feel of the Italian Renaissance period they will be playing in. With Assassin’s Creed 2 coming out November 17th, 2009, this little taste will have you begging for more.

And what’s this? We have the Assassin’s Creed Lineage video embedded right here after the break! CLICK MORE to see it!

Make Your Own Bayonetta costume

Josh Salem — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:56:09 +0000

Halloween is almost upon us and for those game fans who want to dress up in the latest gaming fashion (hopefully just for the ladies), Sega has created www.bayonettahalloween.com.

This website provides potential Baynetters tips, hints, and the needs to create the best halloween costume on a budget.

Game Review: Uncharted: Among Thieves

Josh Salem — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:47:21 +0000

More. That’s the key word when discussing Naughty Dog’s PS3 exclusive hit sequel Uncharted: Among Thieves.

He definitely works hard for his money!

They have given us more of everything we loved from Uncharted: Drake’s fortune. More witty commentary, more weapons, more items, more actions, more explosions, more girls, more modes of play, more… well, you get the idea.

Recently, this writer had eye surgery, and as such, I have had a hard time staring at screens for long periods of time while my eyes healed. Let me tell you, this title was so much fun to play and so hard to put down, that I very well could have destined myself blind in the future from eye strain, especially at a time when my eyes are at their weakest.

Normally I would choose my Xbox 360 over the PS3 due to control preference and number of friends online, however, Sony comes out with amazing exclusive titles from time to time that bring me back to the PS3 powerhouse. Titles like Uncharted: Drake’s fortune, Metal Gear Solid 4, Little Big Planet, and now, Uncharted: Among Thieves.

Among Thieves takes you behind the eyes of brilliant and ridiculously lucky treasure hunter Nathan Drake as he searches for the elusive lost fleet of Marco Polo and the Cintimani Stone, a giant sapphire said to be worth billions. Of course if you’ve played the first uncharted title, you know better to think this is all that is being searched for and all that you will find, but in order to not spoil the game for you all, I’ll leave it at that. Along the way you run into old friends like Victor Goddamned Sullivan and Elena Fisher as well as new characters who had a past with Nathan such as Harry Flynn and Chloe Frazer. Before I go any further in this review, the reason I point out characters so quickly is that Among Thieves has something so many other games lack, extremely detailed and relevant character depth. By the end of the game, nay, within the first hour of play, you feel like you personally know each character and have a strong emotional connection with them. When one gets hurt or goes missing, you feel for them, you share the same emotion Drake does. I will even admit that my eyes teared up and I was actually worried for a specific character at one point in the game, heaving a large sigh of relief when the dust settled.

Yes, the game is that beautiful. Those are in game graphics here!

Before we dive into the technical aspects of this review, I wanted to continue on the line of character and emotion. Among Thieves has almost every basis covered for being both a great game AND a great movie. Just like Drake’s Fortune did for me in the past, while playing you get so enthralled in the story that you actually wish it were a movie, everything from the great story filled with countless plot twists, to the witty commentary between characters with intelligent use of vocabulary as ‘Jerkweed’ and ‘Asswipe’ slipping from Drake’s educated lips. He even says on many accounts what I would be thinking at that exact moment at points where he is climbing high mountains he might utter, ‘Oh man, I am so tired of climbing sh*t’, or while in a pool he would shout out, ‘Marco… fish out of the water?’, or at moments where I would think how lucky Drake is as he is about the be crushed by flying train debris only to be saved by the first and only tunnel you spot for hundreds of miles, a comment would be made about it. The story itself is bigger and more epic than any other somewhat realistic (as in, not space or fantasy) story I have ever played, read, or even saw in a movie, even the scene swipes remind me of Indiana Jones and Star Wars.

I could go on and on about the story and character design, but then we would never get into the meat of the game’s mechanics, so if you want to go beyond what I have discussed so far, my only recommendation is to just go out and try the game yourself, I don’t think you’d be disappointed.

Graphically this could very well be the most beautiful game I have ever played. Sure, I may have said that with the first Uncharted title, but like I said at the beginning of this review, Naughty Dog has given us more of everything! Detail has reached an all new high with hair movements, clothing wrinkles and the amount of detail found in the environments. Not only do run down streets of Nepal have the most minuscule detail present (pictures of families in buildings as they collapse) but the sheer size of these environments are just amazing. Huge Tibetan temples as far as the eye can see encrusted in jewels and scripture kept me playing the game for at least an extra hour or two just because I was so blown away by what I saw that I had to explore every corner of every space provided. Weapon and item detail have also been boosted as you can see every gear and bolt of every gun being used in the flash of an eye. It goes beyond detail for Among Thieves, the lighting effects in terms of shadows, sun, and explosions are also top notch. There are so many examples I would love to share right now, but I feel like anything I say will ruin the plot, something I would never want to do to fans of Uncharted. So again, I will cut off my critique of graphics here by saying, play the game. Your eyes will thank you.

Audibly this is arguably the best sounding game I have ever played as well. Not only do the scores match the environment and mood extremely well, but they have also been improved in terms of how they were implemented versus Drake’s Fortune (In the first title, you would know when a gun fight would be coming up due to the score change). Often a good game’s mood can be dampened by the choice of music, and rarely does this reviewer find there to not be a single hiccup in musical tastes as Among Thieves hits each point perfectly. It’s not only the music that brings you deeper into the title but also the voice acting. With multiple languages available for both subtitles and dubbing, each character looks like their voices were made for their in game counterparts. Even though there are many different accents and dialects being used throughout the game, none of them seem outlandish or unrealistic. Heck, even the Australian voices sound authentic! Beyond the voice acting we are also given such details in how we hear our fan favourites speak depending on the scenario: on a train, it sounds like they’re on a train; in a cavern, you hear a slight echo; my personal favourite is at one point when Drake is holding a pen cap in his mouth, the muffles and whistles sound as if you were doing the exact same thing, extremely detailed and realistic. When my eyes were hurting from playing too much, it didn’t faze me too much to have to close my eyes and relax a little because the audical experience was more than enough to keep me thinking about this title through and through.

Now THAT was a rockin' party.

An issue with the first Uncharted title was that it seemed much too planned out. You would climb a little, then walk into a much more open area with plenty of cover and ammo. Here you knew there was going to be a gun fight, rinse and repeat. In Among Thieves they did a much better job of not only making everything less obvious in terms of what would be happening next (they did a great job in this aspect), but they also changed up the types of gameplay as well, with more running scenarios (away from trucks, tanks, helicopters, falling buildings), boss fights, and now a very expanded stealth mode of play (hanging from ledges, hiding behind cover and so on). Add on new items such as shields and propane tanks, and you have a whole new level of gameplay to enjoy. Again, more of everything. If you though Drake’s Fortune had some epic battles, try fighting a helicopter from a building as it collapses… with you inside the building! More explosions, more near death experiences, more more more. Get the idea?

In terms of lasting appeal, Uncharted: Among Thieves has increased their offering drastically from the first title. With plenty of treasures to find in the oddest places (who leaves priceless artifacts on the back of a caboose?) and multiple difficulty levels, you already have more reasons to replay this great game. Add on the ability to buy special effects like sepia colour, fast forward mode, new skins, and special cheats and weapons give you even more replay value. Add on a nifty little Twitter feature to tell all your friends how good you are at this game and even more to play with. But after all this, I still feel like it’s all a little sliver of replay value compared to the newly introduced online multiplayer modes. oh, I didn’t mention that Uncharted 2: Among Thieves had a fully featured multiplayer option? And no, this isn’t just some slapped together death match mode we’re talking about here; Among Thieves provides a unique mash up of all the best multiplayer options in a set that will have you addicted to playing over and over again. The way character progression works in multiplayer is great, you earn money for each other player you kill, for each objective you accomplish, and for each award you are given (you get awards for killing people with your fists, throwing people off of ledges, killing people in a row, killing people who are killing people in a row, etc). and with this money, you can buy new skins, skills, taunts, and abilities – but only if your character is at a high enough level to unlock the ability to buy these options in the first place. So as a gamer you obviously want the best of the best (which can be abilities called boosts like better accuracy with a handgun, quicker reloads, extra grenades and so on); because of this, when you get to a certain level you want to play that little extra bit to get to the next milestone. This leads to MANY late nights playing online.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves provides two main forms of multiplayer action, competitive and cooperative. Competitive gives players 5 on 5 battles with game modes like your standard death match, elimination, plunder, turf war, king of the hill and chain reaction pitting heroes against villains. As well there are co-operative modes of play in which you work with a partner to play modes such as survival, gold rush, and standard co-op mode. Along with these online modes of play you have the choice and variety of 8 maps from the sanctuary, ice cave, lost city, train wreck, temple, village, plaza, and finally a blank stage mode to test out different aspects of the game. This multiplayer mode is definitely something that will bring you back to Uncharted time and time again.

Multiplayer mayhem, fast paced, high action, and not a lick of slow-down.

Overall Uncharted 2 was by far one of the best PlayStation 3 titles I have ever played, even one of the best video games I ever got to enjoy period, however there were a few negatives I had with the title. Nothing overly major, however they should be mentioned. First off a small annoyance is that random priceless treasures can be found in the most random places: The roof of a train, in the middle of a road, on the top ledge of a cavern that supposedly has never been seen by man before. Things like that just irk me. The second issue I had came with the multiplayer modes, yes I praised them continuously above, however, after playing for hours upon hours I grew stale with the few maps available; I figure this was done purposely so that new maps could be released in the future for further markup… or free! Finally the biggest problem I had throughout the game were glitches. While this was by far one of the most technical titles I have ever played and the vast majority of the game was glitch free; I did get frustrated when Drake would jump towards a ledge, glitch out and fall only to try again a moment later. Or getting stuck in a wall or snow bank while running for your life. While these only happened a few times throughout the game, I did notice them to occur more later on in the title as if the ending bit was rushed; more or less from the beginning of the Nepalese snowy mountains to right before the last area in the game is where I found most glitches. On a side note, not really a glitch but something I wish Naughty Dog and Sony included in Uncharted 2, a self play mode so that once you finished the game, you could just sit back and watch it as though it were a movie… because we all know it would be a fabulous movie!

Summary:

If you only buy one PS3 game this holiday season, I highly recommend you make it Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. It has everything you could want, great controls, great gameplay, replay-ability, great story, great dialog, great sound, great graphics, a long lasting single player mode, an ever expanding and fantastic multiplayer mode… jeeze, I can’t think of any reason not to play such an amazing game. Go out and buy it. If you don’t have a PS3, go buy it for a friend that does… and move in with them. This has been one of the most polished and impressive games I have ever had the pleasure of enjoying.

Gameplay: 5/5

Graphics: 5/5

Sound: 4/5

Replay Value: 5/5

Mass Effect 2 Launch Date Announced, Pre-order Bonuses Too!

Josh Salem — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:49:42 +0000

Yes, that’s right folk. The wait to know when you can re-join Commander Shepard and his crew has finally been announced, and that date? January 26th in North America and January 29th in Europe.

But wait, that’s not all, with this announcement comes bonus goodies to those that pre-order the title. If pre-ordered in North America at GameStop you get a special code to download the Terminus Armor which is designed for use in extreme planetary conditions, increasing run speed and personal shields as well as augmenting weapons with an additional magazine of ammo. As well, those people who act early get the M-90 Blackstorm Heavy Weapon which generates a high-powered localized gravity well, accelerating particles to near-infinite mass.

Those who pre-order at other retailers in North America will get the Inferno Armor, which is used by officers to monitor the battlefield conditions by recognizing elevated heart rates, and regulates sub-systems with extreme efficiency to allow for greater response times. These bonuses will translate into greater negotiation skills for Shepard and increase run speed and augmented damage from combat powers.

“Our fans are in for a genuine thrill in the New Year with Mass Effect 2 – the
second installment in the trilogy will be of amazingly high quality,” said Dr. Ray
Muzyka, co-founder, BioWare and Group General Manager of the RPG/MMO Group of EA.
“BioWare’s fans worldwide have been eagerly awaiting this epic sequel, and we
couldn’t be more excited to reward them for pre-ordering by delivering some awesome
bonus content!”

Drop with Commander Shepard this January!

andPOP Covers NHL 2K10

Josh Salem — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 16:39:09 +0000

andPOP got the opportunity to try out 2K Sports’ latest hockey title, NHL 2K10. We had the chance to play the game and talk with the developers.