Onelargeprawn
I never played Resistance before this third iteration, mostly because I only recently joined the Toaster Ownership Fraternity , but largely due to it simply not standing out in the massive backlog of PS3 titles that I needed to catch up on. Obviously that was a mistake on my part, as Resistance offers a refreshingly different universe, unlike any other I’ve experienced before. But is it any good? Find out after the jump.
In 2006, Xbox and PS2 owners were wowed by the explosion-fest that was “Black”. That first person shooter was the original “gun porn” title, and although no one in the marketing departments of Codemasters or Guilford Studios officially labeled it, their latest FPS, Bodycount, was thought by many to be the “spiritual successor” to Black. If you are one of those people, then I hate to be the bearer of bad news. Not only does Bodycount fail to re-ignite the dormant feelings left over from Black, but as a current-gen shooter, it’s terribly mundane. Read on to find out what caused such a misfire.
In an earlier video, Future First Person Shooter, you may recall Freddie Wong’s vision of the future where games like Call of Duty can be as real as life itself.
Freddie’s back with another smashing video, this time with another staple of the gaming world. Together with animator buddy Brandon Laatsch, the duo shows what Super Mario Bros. world 1-1 would look like if it were an FPS title, complete with a mini-map and blood-splattered achievements. Check out First Person Mario below.
And have you ever imagine what Super Mario Bros. would sound like if the retro beeps and blips were replaced with more realistic sound effects? Find out after the jump.
I should probably tell you something. It may repulse you and you may give no credence to this review after knowing it, but you should know. I’m not the biggest fan of the FPS genre. I’ve played Mirror’s Edge, Bioshock, and Singularity but never got the whole obsession with COD or Battlefield. It may or may not shock you then that I have never teabagged anyone. Considering that action is so synonymous with FPS, I may as well be considered a noob, perhaps even a nublet to some. The over-the-shoulder adventure titles and third-person shooters are what I’m used to but recently I’ve had the opportunity to step out of my comfort zone and into the killzone. My experience continues after the jump.
2009 proved a mediocre year for Raven Software who produced X-men Origins: Wolverine and Wolfenstein. They’re back, but this time with a wholly original IP and an altogether different enemy. It’s not the dastardly Germans out to ruin the world, rather the other equally hated nation of Russia. In the 1950s, the mysterious island of Katorga-12 experienced a devastating event known as the “Singularity” and now in 2010, the ever-meddling U.S. government has noticed strange radiation signatures emanating from the island. Players assume the role of Captain Nathaniel Renko, a crack black-ops soldier sent in to investigate the situation. You find out the place was a research station where Cold War scientists were experimenting with E99, a powerful but terrifyingly unstable element only found on the island. It even has the ability to alter time itself, and that plays a major part of the story where strange events result in Captain Renko being sent back and forth in time, his actions in the past have massive consequences in the present. Renko needs to battle soldiers and all manner of mutated life forms to fix what is broken. It’s hardly an original concept and this is further experienced when you explore Katorga-12. Even though it’s themed fit the USSR theme complete with the Cyrillic Иs and Яs and dodgy accents, the moody environments and certain game mechanics share an uncanny familiarity with Bioshock, which is not necessarily a bad thing…
Our Boxhead/Modern Warfare 2 competition has come to an end and you’re mere seconds away from finding out who the winner is. At the beginning of last week, we asked you to play Sean Cooper’s most addictive isometric shooter, Boxhead: The Zombie Wars, and submit your scores to our leader-board. The top scorer at the end of the competition would win a copy of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on the system of their choice and a MW2-branded wallet.
Many zombie lives were lost in the making of this competition. We’ve had 200 score submissions so a big thanks to all our entrants for the blood, sweat, and tears they spilled on the killing fields. It’s now time to see whose effort reigned supreme. There can only be one winner so hit the jump to find out who it is!
Note: This competition has ended.
We’re midway through our Boxhead/Modern Warfare 2 competition, and I thought it would be nice to update you on the standings. Crazy Monkey Games dropped me a mail with the high scores for the “1lp_” users. The numbers are from yesterday, November 18th, around 2:00pm (SA time) – scores may have changed, but it’ll give you a rough idea of our leader-board.
Boxhead: The Zombie Wars Top 3 Scores
One part Terminator, one part Harry Houdini, 1lp_squirrley is the bad-ass currently in top spot with staggering score of 1 902 210 500! The other contender, 1lp_Stavey, is in striking distance. Clearly these two players know which end of the gun the bullets come out of.
If you want to take home a copy of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 and a MW2-branded wallet, you just need to top our leader-board, and you have until midnight (SA time) on Sunday, November 22nd to do so. If you’re new to this competition, you can find the full details HERE. Good luck!
Note: This competition has ended.
Competition time rolls around again here at Onelargeprawn. This time, it’s a little different. We’ve moved away from the lucky draw model to one that rewards the last man/woman standing. It’s relatively painless, in contrast, you’ll be one dishing out the pain.
We have teamed up with Sean Cooper Games, Crazy Monkey Games, and our local friends Megarom to bring you a competition where you could win a copy of Modern Warfare 2* on the console of your choice (PS3 or Xbox 360) and a MW2-branded wallet.
Sound good? Excellent. Find the full details after the jump.
So I got an email this morning which I was about to dismiss as spam, but it turns out to be much more mysterious. The unit over at Megarom receive an encoded message from an unknown source, and because their top crypto guy pulled a sickie, they need help in decoding the bloody thing.
--/ Transmission Begin /--
Isop ubje ttmieps, vytpasjkuc hqqucggeoe tf klug pijfwgv rerre hkek lku’ij rvepm isi gde ejxk wfss. Fv fqrv yo jizr bsle jadj aeh ocqxrpp iekoiqmhlse gdrfzgy xa oqhirs@mvlaisy.qr.dr. Ja wzql si dsymvjenx dolv rwoi raz yfz mrc ns vicrytvi ffv m gsitvwl dnsjmab rr 11.10.09 sr ouij yfy mfh vvnzy.
--/ Transmission End /--
It seems the only clue available to decode the message is this: Freedman Arrow. All attempts to decode the message (www.megarom.co.za/oaf.htm) thus far have drawn a blank. Can you decode it? If so you could stand a chance of doing something on some day at a certain place and specific time. Yes, we’re being quite vague here, but that’s how we’re rolling today ;-)
However, thanks to another unknown source who sends us messages in the clear, we do know that Vladimir Makarov is recruiting five more mercenaries for his cause, and will be putting them through their paces on 11.10.09 so we can only assume that these five soldiers will have to be located in the Johannesburg vicinity, or be able to get to Johannesburg.
That is all, get decoding soldier!
I’ll be getting Mirror’s Edge for the PS3 this weekend, and I’m really looking forward to playing it seeing if it’ll make me vomit. In Mirror’s Edge, I’ll be a sexy Asian woman (that’ll be a nice for a change) making use of parkour to deliver black-market messages in a locked-down, police state.
I’ll be running on rooftops some 40 stories in the air, leaping across vertigo-inducing gaps, tight-rope walking on pipes, and wall running like the Prince of Persia, all the while being chased down by the cops who’d loved to pop a cap in my ass. All this frenetic action may cause discomforting simulation sickness and result in me bringing up the pizza lunch I had earlier.
Only 15 minutes into the game, Clive Thompson over at Wired.com said that his mouth began overproducing saliva, and he had to pause the action for a few seconds to avoid carsickness. Other FPS games hadn’t affected him in this way, and he thinks Mirror’s Edge felt so visceral because it is the first game to hack into his proprioception.
According to wikipedia, proprioception is a sense of one’s own body – it is the sense that indicates whether the body is moving with required effort, as well as where the various parts of the body are located in relation to each other.
Most FPS games don’t create a proper sense of proprioception because you can’t see all the limbs of your character and can’t get a sense of the dimensions of your in-game body. In Mirror’s Edge, however, you can see your arms pumping up and down as you run, and your legs come into view when you make a jump. Clive says the game is not merely graphically realistic; it’s neurologically realistic. He feels he is the character, there is a strong sense of physicality, and the speed at which his character moves now means something and affects his brain as if he were really travelling at speed.
In any case, when I eventually get to play Mirror’s Edge, I’ll have my bucket nearby in case of emergency ;)
You can read Clive’s article on Mirror’s Edge and proprioception at Wired.com.