Battlefield 3

This year has been host to a number of great shooters so far, but few have been more anticipated than Battlefield 3. After seeing magnificent trailers of infantry, land vehicle and aerial vehicle combat; I must admit that my I was hungry for BF3 as many of you were, I'm sure.
Let's get on with it, and see if Battlefield 3 really does live up to all the hype.

STORY
The story takes place in an interrogation room in New York, as Staff Sergeant Henry Blackburn is questioned by two CIA Agents, who believe Blackburn is some kind of traitorous spy. The games missions take place in flashback sequences as Blackburn recounts his story; of how he and his squad were sent after PLR leader Al Bashir, quickly unravelling a greater conspiracy involving Russian arms dealers and an international terrorist named Soloman.

Now, it's hard to go into Battlefield 3 without subconciously comparing it to the Call of Duty series. EA has made it very apparent that BF3 is the CoD killer. However, as far as I can see, the story in BF3 is trying to be as over the top and action packed as the Modern Warfare games. While a lot of us love the over the top action movie feel of CoD, what BF3 tries just feels weak in comparison.

The "shocking twists" lack any real emotional weight because we don't really have a feel for the characters. While the same could be said for CoD, can you say that you didn't feel a thing when Pvt Jackson died in CoD4? When something similar happens early in BF3, we haven't had nearly enough time to like the characters that it happens to. Had the game come out 5 or so years ago, then maybe we could applaud these scenes, but as it stands, they've been done before, and better.

PRESENTATION
While Battlefield's single player campaign falls somewhat short, the sights and sounds along the way are nothing short of brilliant. The graphics are solid and the amazing lighting effects accentuate that. The sunlight feels so natural on most of the levels, it's insane. There's also a high attention to detail when it comes to the destructible environments; in particular during the multiplayer.

The sound design is also fantastic, with the loud barking of machine guns really hammering through the tv. It helps raise the sense of immersion I felt while playing this game.
Voice acting, on the other hand was workable, but forgettable on the most part.

GAMEPLAY
Battlefield 3 has some of the most solid shooting mechanics in gaming today. Both the weapons and the soldier's movements have a nice sense of weight to it, adding to the "Warfare Sim" feel of the game. It's just a shame that the story took the over the top route and came up short, instead of taking the "tribute to the soldiers" realistic approach and being in sync with it's gameplay.

There are a couple of vehicle segments in the game, but aren't really worth dwelling on. While it's cool being able to drive a tank through vast plains, it's not as cool to sit in the passenger seat of a jet and push buttons as an AI pilots the damn thing.

Theres a big problem right there; the single player doesn't teach you how to play the multiplayer. I will get more in depth with the multiplayer later, but it needs to be said that any good game should introduce you to it's core mechanics in a natural way; a way that will basically train the player in MP Combat.

My only real problem with the single player gameplay (aside from the no jets thing) is the inclusion of quick time events. Not just QTE's, but QTE's that don't make sense. I would get using Right trigger to attack during one, but BF3 always seems to switch them up. While not difficult (they're unbelievably forgiving) it's just annoying that they're so random.

MULTIPLAYER
Let's face it, if you're buying Battlefield 3, the only replay value you'll need is it's multiplayer. Lucky for you, it's multiplayer is by far the selling point of this title. As opposed to CoD's run and gun, fast paced gaming; Battlefield 3 feels like a more tactical, team based shooter. I found myself not trying to benefit my own stats, but instead trying to better my team, and help them win rounds.

BF3 isn't quite as spoiled for choice when it comes to game modes as OTHER shooters, but it's main drawcard (Rush mode) is more than enough to satisfy your tactical hunger.

The destructible environments add a nice tactical element, as do the "suppressing fire" assists and the "multiple firing modes" found on each gun.

Now, back to what I was saying before: there is little to no instruction on how the Multiplayer works. For seasoned veterans, it's easy enough, until you get to the aerial vehicles. While I haven't piloted a jet as of right now, I did attempt to fly a helicopter. It lasted 2 seconds. Seriously, choppers have NEVER been this hard to fly in anything. Give me another few shots, however, and I might be ok. It's just annoying is all.

OVERVIEW
While I've always said that a game should be able to stand on it's single player campaign, I must say that Battlefield 3's multiplayer does make up for the short and utterly average campaign. Just be aware that if you buy on the 360, it'll pay to install both discs, as well as the HD textures (especially if you don't want the game to look like a blurry arse).

Next week, it should be an Uncharted 3 review. And tomorrow, seeing as it'll be Halloween, i may just have an inFamous: Festival of Blood review. If I'm feeling up to it.

Batman: Arkham City

I normally reserve my picks for Game of the Year until late December, but honestly, don't be surprised if Batman: Arkham City appears in the nominees. In fact, I can guarantee that it will be.
Arkham Asylum was one of the best licensed games of 2009, if not the best game overall. How does the sequel live up to Rocksteady's Dark Knight legacy?

STORY
After the events of Arkham Asylum, the titular Madhouse has been shutdown, and it's former Warden is now the Mayor of Gotham City. His first major act as mayor is to section off part of Gotham, turning it into a huge high security prison. The newly created "Arkham City" is put under the care of Hugo Strange; an intelligent, scheming man who knows the darkest secret of The Dark Knight.

After an interesting turn of events, Batman finds himself trapped, with the inmates practically running the asylum. Gang wars devestate the streets, while major players fight for power. And to top it all off, a certain "Clown Prince of Crime" is dying, and has Batman by the throat, forcing Bruce Wayne to aid his arch nemesis.

The story is well written, penned by Paul Dini, it's typical Batman. The villains are typically deranged, tragic and engaging; and there are a LOT of villains. From the psychotic Zsasz to the hilariously messed up Joker; the villains are a lot of fun. The plot has a reasonable amount of twists and turns, some more obvious than others. The game starts with a bang, and maintains momentum all the way through.

The only real criticism I can think of story-wise, is that with so many villains, it's difficult for Rocksteady to go into any depth with many of them. Some of the more unexpected encounters come and go before you can say "I'm Batman".

PRESENTATION
Aside from some sterile looking face animations of NPC's, the graphics are really good. The visuals are full of character, and Arkham City almost feels like another character in this very comic-book world. There are a bunch of iconic locations that Batman fans will definitely recognize, and it all adds to the authenticity of the world.

The soundtrack also adds to the atmosphere of the Arkham City, with soft tracks during the silent predator sections of the game, and loud, fast scores during intense combat sections. The feeling of panic once gunmen discover you is only intensified by the fitting soundtrack.

Definitely the highest point of the presentation aspect of B:AC is the stellar voice acting. Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill reprise thier roles as Batman and Joker respectively; both killing in their parts. Fred Tatasciore and Nolan North also lend thier talent to Batman: Arkham City, but to be fair, every character is played perfectly.

GAMEPLAY
The strong gameplay of Arkham Asylum is not only retained, but refined for Arkham City, in almost every way. First off, where Arkham Asylum was set on Arfkham Island, Arkham City is a much larger open world playground. Now with a larger world to explore comes new ways to get around said playground.
Being able to grappel up to buildings, then boost over them to gain a more powerful glide is definitely awesome, and it feels perfectly Batman. The only thing that would have been more Batman would have been the use of the Batmobile. But I just don't see that working, so the gliding is perfect.

The freeflow combat from the previous game was certainly a high point, and it's been refined further in Arkham City. The simple to learn, difficult to master controls are the key to the mechanic's success; but Rocksteady have found ways to add more to it without over complicating things. All gadgets are now mapped to a quick use button, for fast and effective use mid-combo.

As well as shortcutting the gadgets to buttons, new gadgets have been added; such as the remote electromagnetic shock rifle and the freeze grenade, allowing even greater variation during fights.

The last main sector of gameplay is in the sheer variety of things to do in Arkham City. The Riddler trophies are back for the Batman to collect, as well as numerous riddles to find and solve. As well as that, there are various cases for the world's greatest detective to solve; and almost all of them are well put together and play out nicely, behind the main plotline of the game.

Some minor clipping issues occasionally affect the combat, making Batman miss counters that should be hit; but its a very minor problem.

REPLAYABILITY
With an engaging, action packed story, I can see myself playing Arkham City over and over for quite some time. Hell, a somewhat hidden easter egg will definitely have me coming back at least once a month til next September.
Aside from the fantastic experience, there's a new game plus feature, as well as the Riddler's challenge maps, Riddles and collectibles to complete and find.

OVERVIEW
Batman Arkham Asylum isn't a perfect game. The story is a bit too Villain stuffed, the combat does bug out very rarely, and some might say that there aren't enough new gadgets or gameplay mechanics to keep the game more interesting than its previous installment. No, Batman is not the perfect game, but it's one of the closest games to perfection that I've seen in some time. If nothing else, it's the definitive Batman game, and my bet is that it always will be.

Love Batman? Get Arkham City. Love solid combat and a lot of side missions and collectibles? Arkham City will not steer you wrong.


Hope you guys found that informative, and next Sunday I'll be bringing you a review of RAGE (most likely). Or perhaps Battlefield 3.

EB Games Expo Re-cap

Hey guys! What a great couple of days I had at the EB Games Expo with my awesome girlfriend. It was such a great experience, and it allowed me a great sneak peak at lots of fantastic upcoming game.It was a weekend full of motocross riders, fireworks, games, cosplayers and even more games. So I'll just get on with it, this is what happened during my time at the EB Games Expo. FYI, when I refer to "we" I mean myself and my girlfriend.

SESSION ONE
Our first session at the EB Expo was kicked off with a quick presentation involving a montage of awesome trailers accompanied by rock music, and the monster energy drink motocross riders. The opening event was pretty cool, but once it was over, the real show began. We were set loose onto 10000 square metres of gaming for 6 hours, and most would say it wasn't enough. Luckily we had another two 6 hr sessions to get.

First up for us was the Uncharted booth, where we played a chapter each of the upcoming Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. The excerpt I played was the "Burning Chateau" chapter from some of the earliest demo's. I'm glad to say that Drake's Deception handles as well as, if not better than, it's predecessors. Drake moves naturally and the combat, both melee and ranged, feel solid and the controls work well.
Lauren (the Tophat Girlfriend) played the cargo plane chapter that has been seen recently, which I played later in the weekend; so I'll get to it later. Lauren isn't the most practiced of gamers, but she felt that Drake's Deception was easy to pick up and play, with no direction or help.

After we left the Uncharted booth, we made a bee-line to Saint's Row The Third, which was situated conveniently close. As Lauren perused the new clothing options, I had a look at the character creator. With so many clothing items, and customization options, you could play as anyone you choose, in theory. After creating my purple ponytailed, musclebound, hung-like-a-horse pirate, I exited the lastic surgeon and started busting faces and performing nutshots.

While the customization has improved somewhat (despite it being amazing in SR2), the controls are a bit of a mixed bag. They work well enough, but they've been changed since the last Saint's outing. They felt quite a lot like GTAIV's control scheme, but don't fear. The car physics feel as Saint's-y as ever, whereas the on-foot physics have a significant amount of weight added to them, making them feel more powerful and more realistic, without compromising the over-the-top action.

Next on the agenda was Batman: Arkham City; which had an obscenely large line attached to it. During the hour-long wait, however, I got a chance to play some of the Darkness II. Now, never having played the darkness, I didn't know what to expect. However, the colourful, slightly stylized visuals helped me get sucked into a game that eventually allowed me to dual wield weapons as well as slice dudes in half with demon tentacle arms. The action in this game is nice and varied, as well as solid and visceral. It's satisfying being able to pick up a pole and impaling a person on it, then being able to throw his buddy down an alleyway to his doom.

Finally, the line for Batman dwindled, and it was our time to put on the cowl. But not after whipping some thugs with Selina Kyle's Cat-of-Nine-Tails first. Catwoman feels fast and agile, possibly quicker than the dark knight. Playing as the femme fatale is a lot of fun, but let's face it, she's no Batman.
After kicking ass as Ms. Kyle, Batman is tasked with saving her from Two-Face, giving us a short amount of time to do as we wish in the new Arkham City. I spent my first outing beating people up as Bruce Wayne, and boy, does he have some new moves.

Certain takedowns can bring down more than one opponent, and the reversal button is a lot more flexible than in the previous game. Batman is still able to take on more foes than a few, and it feels powerful to be back in his boots. Batman also has a lot more freedom in his movement, with the pitch of his glide being controllable, allowing you to divebomb down and regain altitude.

Our time with Arkham City was cut short by the attendant, but little did they know we'd be back. oh yes, we would be back.

After a quick lunch, we were back in, looking at the Lollipop Chainsaw trailer, as well as some sweet tech. Seriously, the Batarang ps3/360 Controllers are completely awesome. I want one. Now.

Back on the game side of things, my lovely girlfriend and I lined up for the Assassin's Creed multiplayer LAN party. It was an intense battle, but I come up 800 points over the nearest follower, who coincedentally was Lauren. The multiplayer plays much better than it did during the Beta, with very few glitches hindering the experience.
The "Honourable Death" reward feels a lot better than the game not registering your stun attempt at all, and it feels good to at least put up a fight. The amount of customization is pretty cool too, with custom symbols being on display during our play-time. For my efforts, they gave me postcards. Win!

For the remainder of the first session, we played parts of Sonic Generations. I played the green hill zone, but as current Sonic. While I feel that Sonic lost his way when he went to 3D, the "Current Sonic" variations on levels feel really good, and the blue hedgehog retains his speed throughout. As with the demo earlier this year, Classic "Chubby" Sonic still feels great, and hey, we love 2D.

SESSION 2
As the first session ended, we made our way out of the convention centre, and quickly went back in, Session 2 wristbands on tight. As soon as we got a chance, we went straight to the Skyrim line which, as we had foreseen, was really really long. Luckily, someone had seen us wandering near the line before, and invited us to come to the next session available.

As we were lead into the box like room in the middle of the showroom floor, we were greeted by a large projector screen and a dozen "Lovesac" beanbag chairs. As Lauren and I settled into the marshmallow like seat, the film started running. If you've watched the Skyrim demo from E3, then you know pretty much what we saw. I must say, however, there were extra bits that I'd never seen before. Not a whole lot to really dwell on, however. Got a sweet poster out of it though.

After leaving the Skyrim theatre, we went straight to the Battlefield 3 line, which stretched farther than the Batman and Skyrim lines combined. Whether it was worth it or not, I'm still not entirely sure. After the attrocious wait, we played through part of the mission "Operation: Guillotine", where your character is tasked with taking out machine gun nests and clearing out an enemy building with the help of his squad.

All in all, Battlefield 3 feels really good. The weapons have a nice weight to them, and the audio accompanying the game is loud and powerful. Shooting down enemies has a satisfying feel, and while it isn't as action packed as a CoD game, the core gameplay felt more grounded than any recent CoD game ever will.

While we were at the EA Booth, Lauren and I decided to check in on our favourite Commander, Shephard. The demo we played begins with familiar face Mordin Solus telling us about the fertile female krogan he has come across, and informs us that she is central to helping an alliance between Turians and Krogans against the Reaper threat. After a quick cutscene, Cerberus operatives crash the party, like the jerks they are.

The cover based combat is as strong as ever, with Commander Shephard feeling more agile on the battlefield than he used to be. Also welcome are the re-addition of grenades to your standard arsenal; as these come in serious aid when you're faced with massive shield carrying opponents. If the action for the rest of the game plays out like this, I'm confident that Mass Effect 3 will be one of my games of the year.

On our way out, we checked out some others playing Need For Speed: The Run. It looked really good, with fluid graphics helping the gameplay seem really fast and entertaining. If it plays anything like NFS: Hot Pursuit, the gameplay will be more than enough to match the high quality graphics.

After visiting nintendo's little area; during which we saw the awesome looking Kirby's Return to Dreamland (I Think) and Super Mario Land 3D (when I discovered that the 3DS hurts the fuck out of my eyes), we wandered back to Warner Bros booths, and tried out LOTR: War in the North.

While I am a huge fan of Lord of the Rings, I found that War in the North didn't really scratch any itches. I suppose the gameplay was solid enough, I wasn't really given enough instruction, or enough context to make me care about the game or its characters. I did enjoy taking off goblin heads as the dwarf, however, so I may check it out when it finally hits store shelves.

After the massive wait in the Battlefield line, it was no wonder that our time in the second session had come to an end so quickly. As I bought myself a t-shirt, we packed up our posters and headed for the door. We'd be back tomorrow, full of energy, ready to go back over the things we loved the first time around.

SESSION 3
As our 3rd Session began, we made our way to the arena to see some Live shows from some of the developers. First off, a Representative from Sony took the stage, heralding the amazing qualities of the upcoming PSVita. I was already sold on the device, but Lauren on the other hand was not. The showcase certainly changed her mind. After a quick showing of "Reality Fighters" which has a humorous charm to it, the presenter gave us a demonstration of LittleBigPlanet Vita.

Now, it's no secret that I love the LBP franchise, from the PS3 titles, to the PSP one. PSVita looks to have its own promising entry in the serious that utilizes most of the device's features (front and back cameras and touch-pads) to not only create levels, but to play them as well. As with it's PS3 brothers, LBPVita has a cute charm to it, which is as endearing as ever.

The Altered Reality technology that Vita brings to the table is also pretty cool, which is saying alot, seeing as I'm not a huge fan of gimmicks. If the videos were anything to go by, the Altered Reality features on the system will prove to be an interesting waste of time, if nothing else.

Following that was the Ubisoft Rep. with the Gamescom Demo of Assassin's Creed Revelations. And let no one tell you that it wasn't actual gameplay being played. I've seen that demo played well, and not-so-well now. But in all honesty, the game still looks fantastic, and the bomb crafting feature looks very interesting, if nothing else.
After a quick "Just Dance" demo, another UbiRep showed of Gunsmith in Ghost Recon: Future Soldier; featuring the Kinect.
While the feature looked pretty cool at E3, here it seemed a bit lacking, with the Kinect not being responsive to movements OR Voice controls.

Back out into the showroom for the last time, we made our way back to booths that we had wished we spent some more time at on our first day. We backtracked over Uncharted 3, Saint's Row the Third and Batman: AC again, trying to do different things to our last playthroughs.

Back at Drakes Deception, Lauren and I chose the alternate levels to our first choice. As I controlled Drake during the Cargo plane mission, I noticed a particularly cool new move in his repertoire. At one point, I pressed the melee button, and launched Drake down a drop at an opposing guard, promptly knocking him out in the process. This impressed me to no end.

Uncharted continued it's reputation as a highly cinematic game, when I had to jump Drake from a speeding jeep to the landing gear of the large plane. It was an exciting moment, even though it wasn't terrible difficult. That isn't to say I didn't see people fail at it.
After making my way onto the plan, I find myself in a fist fight with a large, very angry guard. If you've seen the recent trailers, you know this ends with him, and a lot of cargo, flying out the back end of the plane. After this, however, a gunfight ensues with many guards and Drake as you struggle away from the cargo bay door. Just as the fight begins to die down, a massive explosion tears a hole in the ship, sucking the enemies and Drake to an unknown fate. I guess I'll have to wait til November 1st to see how it turns out.

Rushing back over to the Saint's Row booth, I take a little time to fuck around with everyone. The shooting gameplay works really well, and guns are alot of fun to play around with. While none of this is new, I did find the "Awesome" Button. Now, the Awesome button is essentially the sprint button, except now it adds a touch of awesome to anything. Melee a guy? The awesome button makes you smash his face into the ground with enough force to make a jedi blush. Steal a car? Awesome button it! It causes you to missile dropkick into the front seat of the vehicle of your choice.

Once more over to the Batman section, and we're right back into the swing of things. Instead of fighting random thugs, I choose to try and get as far through the mission at hand as I can. It takes me to the courthouse, where two face is holding catwoman. After beating the ugly out of a dozen guys, a cutscene plays where Ms. Kyle takes some revenge out on Harvey. Near the end of the scene, however, someone takes a shot at Catwoman, which gives me a chance to use Batman's detective vision to deduce where the shot came from. It's a far better use of the feature than spotting tobacco traces and following them to the next target. Instead, a calculated trajectory of the shot directs us to the next location. Unfortunately, my time is done before I can follow it up.

Not wanting to waste the last few minutes of the Expo, we decide to go to the Modern Warfare 3 booth, at last. While we didn't have a 2 hour line to wait in this time, we also didn't have a playable demo. Instead, we were given a quick presentation on the CoD Elite service that was going to be implemented for MW3, which featured it's in depth stat tracking and connectivity features. As a whole, the presentation wasd pretty interesting, but it was nice to finally see some gameplay right at the end.

We were shown the dying minutes of a "Kill Confirmed" match, on the map Village (Or so I'm led to believe). Players have to pick up a fallen foe's dogtags to score points for their team. Kills are no longer enough in this game mode. If this demo is any indication of the multiplayer to come, then we have yet another solid multiplayer title to sink our teeth into this coming year.

And just like that, our time was over. We had seen and played alot of really fantastic games, and met alot of colourfully costumed characters. I look forward to it next year, and I hope all of you who couldn't make it enjoyed my little recap. Next week, I review either Batman Arkham City or RAGE. We'll See how far I get in either of them. See you next time!

ICO Collection

While I'm one of the first to proclaim games as a mature art form whenever the topic comes up, I find myself at a critical loss when looking back over my "artsy game" back log. You see, I had never before played a game by Team ICO, a developer who has two of the most highly praised games of the last generation. Luckily, those two games have recently been re-released as HD Classics, so I filled the gap in my arty repertoire. Time for me to let all of you know if they really are as good as people say they are.

STORY
ICO follows the tale of a young boy, cursed with horns on his head since birth, who is taken to a temple and locked in a chamber. After getting free, he meets a young, somewhat lost girl named Yorda. As he and Yorda try to escape the isolated, empty temple, shadow beings attempt to kidnap Yorda. As the game continues, we learn more about Yorda and the situation.

Shadow of the Colossus puts players in the tunic of Wander, a young man who enters a forbidden land to save the life and soul of his young love. To do this, he makes a deal with Dormin, an ethereal voice, who asks only that Wander find and slay sixteen Colossi who reside in this world. Despite being warned of dire consequences, Wander proceeds with his quest.

Both games have protagonist's who seem to have a great love or affection for their female companions, despite certain obstructions such as language barriers between Ico and Yorda, or the whole death thing between Wander and "Mono". The stories also have very few main characters for the duration, which gives the game worlds a sense of isolation and loneliness. The games are both well written, and its amazing to find that I cared so much for the characters despite the low amount of dialogue.

PRESENTATION
ICO and Shadow of the Colossus share a similar art style, with vibrant colours, as well as more light, pale pastel-like colours to add contrast. The world's in which the Team ICO games are set look almost like paintings in which we can move the characters around.

The graphics are pretty good, considering they're from last generation, and I must say, the Colossi benefit most from the HD makeover. They truly look intimidating, and thats part of their appeal. They actually feel COLOSSAL, as opposed to some of the truly huge bosses of God of War that don't feel that big at all.

These visuals all help to keep the games rather immersive, and the soundtracks of each game help the immersion factor along quite nicely. The music of SotC stands out in particular, with the music being rather soft and sparse during travel time, but really picking up and getting louder as the Colossi battles rage on.

Overall, Shadow of the Colossus is the more impressive of the two titles, both visual and audio-wise. Both are immersive, but SotC moreso, thanks to it's expansive, varied open world and the soundtrack that fits so perfectly with it.

GAMEPLAY
As amazing as the atmosphere in these games are, the gameplay almost lets them down; or at least one of them. ICO isn't the most technically sound game, what with most of the game being a massive escort mission , but it does help to convey how Ico feels about his companion. Having to hold her hand almost all the time may be a bit annoying, but it's as good a way as any to tie narrative to gameplay.

The combat in ICO doesn't flow very well, but that may be because Ico is a 12 year old boy. One wouldn't expect him to be a force to be reckoned with. That doesn't excuse the poor combat, however, and if you're going to add it, it has to work as well as possible.
The platforming and puzzle solving on the other hand are a nice contrast, and work quite well. Theres something very relaxing about having a game where you just jump on things and open gates.

Shadow of the Colossus is yet another game with unique gameplay. While normally called an action adventure game, it's different from the usual Action Adventure fare in that it has a wide open world, populated by no enemies or NPC's aside from the 16 Colossi and Wander's deceased love. The game mostly consists of traveling on horseback to each Colossi's lair, followed by a near puzzle-platforming style boss fight with the aforementioned Colossus of the day.

As I wrote before, all of the Colossus battles are fun and frantic, and when your game consists of mainly 16 boss battles, then you'd better hope they were great. And as it turns out, on the most part, they are.

REPLAYABILITY
While not having any multiplayer modes or multiple choices during the story, I feel like I'll be playing the ICO Collection for a while to come. While I'm not a huge fan of ICO, Shadow of the Colossus has hit a high mark in my life as a gamer. I intend on making Wander's quest over and over again for quite some time.

OVERVIEW
While I preferred SotC over ICO, both are fantastic games. It's nice to not have to kill a hundred russian soldiers or blow up giant space crabs; and instead just experience two tales of companionship; one about saving a new-found friend, and the other about trying to hold on to a lost love. Both games deserve the title of classic, and it's great to see the games for such a reasonable price on the same disc. If you haven't played them and want a break from the killfest of other games, then Team ICO's HD Collection is probably right up your alley.

Driver: San Francisco

Thought it had been a while since I'd reviewed a racing game, and the release of Driver San Francisco has given me the perfect opportunity; especially since shooter season 2011 is sprinting towards us, ironsights at the ready. Have to say, though, Driver SF was surprisingly engaging, even when you remove the solid core racing. I'll get to that though. Lets start our engines and review this sweet ride.

STORY
Driver San Francisco is set six months after Driv3r, but if you haven't played that title before, don't worry. I haven't picked up a Driver game since the original, and I kept up with the story pretty well.

In summary, Driver: SF begins with Detective John Tanner and his Partner, Tobias Jones as they pursue a criminal named Jericho, who has hijacked the prisoner transport vehicle he was being held in.
During the pursuit, however, Tanner and Jones are hit head on by a truck. Afterwards Tanner finds himself with the ability to possess anyone behind the wheel of a car, which he uses to track down and catch Jericho.

The story, despite its outlandish events, is surprisingly well written. Jones and Tanner are genuinely likeable characters, and while the "shifting" premise may sound crazy, it's been worked into the story in such a way that it almost makes sense. At the end of the day, D:SF feels like Starsky and Hutch, but with some superpowers from Quantum Leap thrown in for good measure. The game has a fun story, and it's woven into the game mechanics more finely than many other games developed lately.

PRESENTATION
Driver: SF is an interesting game in terms of presentation. Visually, it's a mixed bag, with some pretty stunning CG cinematics and fantastic in-game car models; but the in-game human models aren't as stunning.
The visuals are somewhat varied, with city, dirt/offroad and seaside tracks available to speed across; and the colours are all rather vibrant and fresh.

The soundtrack is fairly mediocre, however, with some real gems amongst the bland tracks. Tracks by the Black Keys, the Prodigy and Queens of the Stoneage are only some of the artists who turn the soundtrack from virtual whitenoise, to actually not so bad.
The voice acting is pretty good, and the dialogue sticks within the fun confines of a buddy cop tv show. There's a lot of humour and wit in the script, and instead of coming off sounding like the writers were trying too hard, they lines are really quite funny.

GAMEPLAY
While the high quality story and voice acting tend to set Driver: San Francisco apart from the rest of the grid, it's gameplay maintains the high quality of arcade racing gameplay that we've come to expect from current gen racing titles, while innovating within the genre with one fantastic gimmick.

I was saying before that Driver: SF weaves story and gameplay together like few other games, and part of that is due to the Shift mechanic. After his accident, Tanner gains the ability to leave his body in auto pilot while he takes control of another driver on the road for whatever purpose he so chooses.

This leads to some fantastic side missions, such as helping some asian teens win some street races so they can afford to go to college, or taking control of a learner driver to make his asshole instructor wet himself just for the hell of it.

While providing great reasons to have side missions, the Shift mechanic also allows for new tactics while racing or pursuing criminals. Coming in last? Possess someone in the oncoming lane and drive them into your competition. Need to take down a criminal? Possess a truck with a ramp trailer and park it in the middle of the road, forcing them to go flying off and increasing the likeliness of them crashing.

Take away the shift mechanic, and you still have solid racing mechanics. The cars are fast, and drifting around corners is fun. Smashing into your opponents will always have an amazing cathartic potential, but this is somewhat balanced out by the stress caused by excessive rubber banding. I found that, quite often, my progress in a race wouldn't actually matter until the last few checkpoints. That being said, I've seen much worse cases of this (NFS: Hot Pursuit, I'm looking at you), and it's never really been a deal breaker in my books before.

REPLAYABILITY
This game honestly has enough side races, dares and pursuits to keep any driving game enthusiast entertained for a fairly long time. Alongside that are a buttload of unlockable cars and extra challenges to buy, as well as a fairly good, solid multiplayer functionality.
Funny thing is, though, I'd play Driver: San Francisco all over again simply because the story was lots of fun, and had a few really awesome moments that I'd love to play through again.

OVERVIEW
If you're in the mood for a solid racing game, you could do a lot worse than Driver San Francisco. It's got solid driving mechanics, and amazing range of cars and a fresh new twist on gameplay to help it stand out.
If you want a good story, then Driver San Francisco may just hit the right buttons for you. It's certainly a lot more light hearted than everything else out lately, but is that really a bad thing? The fun tone fit's perfectly with the gameplay and I think it'll be up there in my top 5 for this year.

Hope that helps you decide whether or not to get Driver: San Francisco. I'll be back next Sunday, with either a RAGE or ICO Collection review.
See you next time!!!