Video Games Today

The Halo Wars demo has hit the XBL Marketplace and we have our demo impressions for you. Halo Wars was developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The game is a Xbox 360 exclusive title and releases March 3rd in North America. Hit the jump for my impressions.



The demo gives you the opportunity to play 2 missions in the human campaign, and play unlimited amounts of 1v1 skirmish matches versus the computer. I'll start off with the campaign. Your army is on the UNSC ship the Spirit of Fire orbiting the planet Harvest. Your first mission is a basic tutorial on how to move around and fight. You are then given a hero unit and you set off on the missions. The missions are nothing to scream about, the main part of this demo is the skirmish mode.

Skirmish mode allows you to play as both the covenant and the UNSC, but you must use the preselected leader. For the covenant you can be the Prophet of Regret and for the UNSC you can be the Captain of the Spirit of Fire. Each leader (Six total in retail game; 3 UNSC/ 3 Covenant) has unique units, bonuses, powers, upgrades, perks, etc. to help define their play style. The Captain can use an orbital "sniper bomb" known as the MAC Bomb. With the MAC bomb you pinpoint an area and deal major damage in that small Area of Effect. The Prophet of Regret can use his power to destroy enemies quickly. The prophet, who is a decent fighter/defender early game, can call down a "holy beam" for 10 resources a second to nearly "insta-kill" and units found under it. He also has the unique Honor Elite Guards. These are basically Elites equipped with only energy swords and can cloak to sneak around. From what I tested they are only good to make an early rush with or defend from an early rush. Once the opposing side has middle tier units they are useless, except to be canon fodder.

The demo does not include all units or all of the tech tree so it is hard to estimate how deep this game will be, but from the demo it looks deep enough to keep you interested but will look like a flat experience to hardened PC RTS fans. Another issue is the controls. Many sites have critically acclaimed the controls, but I beg to differ. Sure, the controls work for a console, but there are many useless things maped to buttons that could be used better off. For example, you can use the right trigger to jump between bases and when you pass one and want to go back, you'd click the left trigger...right? Wrong. The left trigger is used to increase scroll speed accross the map. Sure, the increased speed is nice, but could have been implemented much better. They could have just made the scoll speed gradually increase as you scroll, for larger maps.

Overall, Halo Wars looks like a step in the right direction for a console RTS, but it is not the final step. Future console RTS should use Halo Wars as a model, but expand on it. Think of Halo Wars as the skeleton, we just need to add the muscle to it now. Also, after playing EndWar, lack of voice commands seems like a step backwards for a console RTS. I would have really liked to see Ensemble add an option for voice commands for tedious controls, that would free up the controller even more for a deeper experience.

Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew

The first game I ever got a taste of on the PS1 was the very first Resident Evil, and it is one of my all time favorite survivor horror games. None the less RE5 is one of my highly anticipated games to come out in 09. I say this due to the lack of enjoyable survivor horror games in 08. Now don't get me wrong the new Silent Hill and EA Dead Space, where not that bad. They did not just have the kick one would look for from a RE title. Anyways, onto the demo. When the game screen initiates, you are left staring at the lava carved Resident Evil 5 logo. After it takes a blink, you can Start the game, with the traditional "Resident Evil!" title calling or view the Options. Only two options available to you for the demo. You're brought to a page with 3 options of gameplay, with Single Play being the highlight.

Once the game selection is made, you're brought to a Stage Select screen. Personally, I think the Select Stage is for demo purposes, but it has potential to make it into the final release. You can choose between the Assembly Place or Shanty Town. It doesn't matter which one you choose, because the playtroughs won't be linear or straight-forth.

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Review:
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Controls- The multiple control schemes really give you an edge over how you start off into the game. While the classic RE4 controls are more easier to use, the Gears control scheme is pretty solid in itself as well. Strafing isn't as action-paced or fps-ish, it's basically fast side-steps. You can't do much while strafing. The classic control scheme seems to be the way to go for the demo or if you are familiar with the series. Not only are they easy to use, but their quite flexible too.

The basic controls with Type A are L to walk, hold L and A to run, and shoot with X+RT. RT+A reloads. Basically, they are RE classics's PS3 controls in 360's format, with minor changes.

Inventory-The 3x3 grid is rendered in real time. You can set up to 4 weapons in the Top, Right, Left and Bottom of the center grids. You can hotswap weapons using the d-pad alignment. The hotswap feature is a big plus, it adds to tension and feels very relieving at the same moment. The first few times it also feels weird not having to open inventory to equip/change weapons, etc.

Enemies- While not exactly the way shown at E307, or the way promised, the enemy AI was not poor either. It is definitely improved from E3 of this year, and was good for a demo. Last recalled, Capcom has not even touched upon the AI of the enemy yet, so don't expect too much from the AI at the moment. They are however, even in early stage, a lot better and more of a challenge than RE4's final enemy AI even. They run a lot faster, they might stop at the last moment in front of still, but some of them have some pretty swift moves. For example, any enemy holding a shovel will pose a higher threat than one with a stick. They tend to run forth and swipe the shovel upwards.

The animation has also vastly changed from last seen. When you shoot them straight in the head, they will fall down instantly on their knees. A enemy mid-air will end up being flipped in the air. There a few last animations that might seem similar to RE4's, but they're not really noticeable and will probably be changed due time.

Sheva- Quick on the feet, and quite intelligent. Her AI is delivered a lot better than Outbreaks' or Ashley's. You basically don't even have to worry about her for most of the time. She'll run around, take out enemies, find any useful items, and recover you if needed. You doesn't exactly ask for ammo, you have to hand her some, but she gives you a lot of the things she picks up. Basically, leave all the healing to her, and make sure she picks up more health items than you. But that doesn't mean you should leave no attack items for her either, because she does great on her part with the Attack feature. You can control the way Sheva interacts. You can either have her Attack, or Cover. Having her Attack will control her AI to have her go on about alone, and do what's basically needed to do, and Cover will make her stay near you and do some cover fire. This is useful for enemies you do not see but she might(off-screen).

Weapons & Ammo-There's a total of 4 weapons. The Handgun, Rifle, Shotgun and the Machine Gun. Ammo is somewhat plentiful for the demo, but it's not going to be the same for the actual game like stated in an interview. There's enough ammo to not be cheap, but not enough to go crazy shooting everything and everywhere.

There are a number of environmental hazards that you can use to your advantage. A number of gasoline barrels, several electric boxes, and more. Enough to inflict tons of damage to groups of enemies or the two sub-bosses in their respective stages.

The electric boxes tend to hurt the Executioner more than the barrels do, whereas the barrels do more damage to the Chainsaw freak. It seems they have enemy-weaknesses already pre-planned.

Extra:
A lot of people got this around as well. You can make Chris taunt by holding the left and right buttons. It doesn't do anything for in-game purposes, and since it's not a game with gages like DMC, I doubt it's there for anything other than a small Easter egg or looks. Nothing major.

Overall, the graphics are stunning, small details are great. Enemy AI has been improved since the last time I played the demo at a local gaming convention, the animations for the enemies have also been modified a lot. There is enough ammo to go around the demo without fretting, unless you waste it. It's easy to waste ammo, because the enemies usually do things when least expected. The controls are quite simple and flexible, with A being the classic control scheme. Those familiar with the series will find that Type A is the way to go. However, the Gears scheme is quite decent as well.

Real-time item management really adds to the tension and playthrough of the game. You really feel a relief once the coast is clear, because it gives you time to peacefully manage the inventory. Hot swapping weapons is simple and a very useful feature. Aside from being a huge plus, it also feels weird at first for a Resident Evil feature. It comes in quite handy, but the tension and enemies gaining on you might confuse you here and there(at least the full game will anyways).

Some things need to be touched on. For example, the cut-scene flow. When Kirk arrives to take out the door, everytime the camera is on something not Kirk or the chopper, the chopper's blades sound is muted. There is no distinct chopper sound, which heavily breaks the flow of that one cut-scene.

They also messed around with the execution cut-scene. The newer voices don't sound as good as before for the crowd, and when Chris and Sheva enter the small room, there is no distinct yelling of the crowd(like before, or recently in the Play God trailer). This, again, kills flow of the cut-scene.

Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew

The Demo for LOTR: Conquest has been up on the Xbox Live Marketplace for awhile and we have a little demo impression/review in store for you. The game is designed by Pandemic, the makers of the Star Wars: Battlefront series, and published by EA. The game released January 13th 2009 in North America, and on January 19th 2009 internationally.

LOTR: Conquest, in general terms is Battlefront with LOTR skins, but much much more. The gameplay in LOTR:C goes back to the style seen in the first Battlefront game, abandoning the annoying "Must have 'x' points to get 'x' unit", excluding heroes. Heroes can be desirable in certain situations, but right now with the demo's selection of heroes the heroes can be more of a burden and arrow magnet rather than being helpful. For example, the Balrog is slower than any other unit in the game, so if your opponent is an archer and is backtracking shooting at you...you can never catch him to kill him. Plus annoying button setup on some heroes can cost you your life. For example, when using the Balrog for the first time, you might try pressing "A" to jump or move fast...instead he stops and taunts the opponent for a few good minutes.

The game has multiple modes on the retail, but on the demo you can only play capture points. In this gametype you capture flags to gain points every interval, the more captures per interval, the more points you get. These capture points also allow you to spawn on them, making wait times in between fights less prevalent. One holdup on the game is the small choice between classes and how deep each of these classes are. Sure, there are different combos and ways to play each class, but after you learn those the game gets repetitive.

My personal opinion on the demo is that the game could be a hit or miss. Due to the relatively low hype about this title in Q1, I do not see this the big sleeper hit of 2009. It is fun, but lacks the huge longevity of multiplayer giants like Call of Duty and Gears of War. Stick around for our full game review coming soon!

Left 4 Dead is Valve's latest project which releases next Tuesday, the 18th of November. The game is a survival horror which brings the "survival" part of the genre to the fullest. You are one of four survivors of a zombie infection, which is very similar to the Resident Evil series, who must fight to stay alive in the infested city. From what I gathered from the demo you must work your way, in the campaign, to escape the city and get to a government refuge. At the intro of the game a government helicopter is shouting to the city for survivors to head to the hospital for evacuation.

So you pick one of the four survivors you want to play as, none of any has an advantage or disadvantage over any other of them. There is a table in front of where you spawn with a pump shotgun and what appears to be a MP5, or other SMG. You may pick one of them and grab the First-Aid kits on the table, which you will need. You also have a pistol that has unlimited ammo. As it stands, the pistol is way to powerful for it to have unlimited ammo. I found myself using the pistol more than my shotgun because of range. I'd only use the shotgun if the zombies got up close to be, which happens alot. Valve needs to make the pistols have an ammo cap, or lower damage. As is, it takes 2-4 hits with a pistol to kill. Also, if you find a pistol on the ground you can dual-wield.

The co-op element of this game, and it's major selling point, is great. It is probably the best co-op experience I've had it awhile, if not ever. If you are constricted by a smoker zombie, or tagged by a boomer zombie, or on the ground because of a hunter zombie you NEED the help of your allies to survive. There cannot be a lone ranger in this game because of that. Also, the AI Director keeps this game fresh. Each time I ran through it, it was different. The zombies never came the same way, nor in the same numbers or types. This will give the game untold amounts of replay value.

Since this is only a Demo Impression and not a full on game review I will stop here and give more time to reviewing this game when it releases. I highly suggest this game, and it will most likely have my vote for game of the year.

Tom Clancy's EndWar released in North America yesterday and hit my front door this morning. First Impressions of the game will be up shortly followed by a full length review in a few weeks. Busy season is officially started with Fable, Fallout, EndWar, and others released! Also coming this Sunday are my Gears of War 2 first impressions.

We are also giving away a FREE Copy of Gears of War 2 later this November, so if you cannot get your hands on a copy...dont worry! Stay tuned for more info on this giveaway.

Fallout 3, one of this year's Triple-A RPG's (Roleplaying Game) hit shelves this past Wednesday. The game places you in post-apocalyptic Washington, D.C. The game begins with you being born "in Vault 101", an underground fallout shelter, where you can custom the appearance of your character to be. You then have segments of your childhood, at one year old and your first time walking. This fits great into the walking and movement tutorial. Then you eventually turn 10 years of age and receive your Pip-Boy 3000, which is basically a personal PDA device strapped onto your arm. At this segment you meet some of the people in the Vault like Butch, the Overseer, Amata, etc.

I am going to stop there with story details to avoid spoilers, needless to say you soon escape the vault. Note, this is just my first impressions not a review as I have not finished the game fully yet. The game controls handle well and the graphics look amazing on my HDTV. You should save before leaving the vault because the opening scene is one of the best scenes in recent video games. Stepping out from the vault, the first sunlight you ever see hits your eyes and you are blinded for a few moments before adjusting to the light and seeing the ruins of, what used to be, Washington D.C. Not only is the scene great, but once you realize, "Hey, I can go ANYWHERE I can see right now" you realize this is what "Triple-A Game" really means. From atop the hill you exit the vault from you can see famous buildings such as the Washington Monument and the Interstate Super Highway.

From there it is up to you. You can proceed with your Main Story and go to a town named "Megaton". Megaton is a city built around an atomic bomb that landed but never exploded. This transitions into what I will talk about next, the moral choices in the game. Many RPGs try to bring this into their games...but Fallout 3 really succeeds. You will soon face a hard decision in Megaton that will ultimately shape how you play the game. When you enter Megaton you can, and will, go to the local Saloon. You meet a Mr. Burke who wants help detonating the A-bomb in the city so wipe the town off the map. Now, you can agree to this and go through with it. Or you can run to the sheriff you met when you first entered Megaton. I choose to be the "goody-goody" during my first play through so I immediately run to the Sheriff. I tell him what happened and we heads to the Saloon. After telling Burke he is arrested and turns his back for a second, Burke pulls out his 10mm Silenced Pistol. This is another point in the game that sees how you react to what is happening. You can sit and let the Sheriff die, or you can kill Burke before he assassinates the Sheriff. This is what RPGs are supposed to be like, your decisions REALLY matter. This is not some Peter Molyneux "fake" moral decisions as seen in past Fable games.

I will stop there and leave you to think upon what RPG you will be picking up this holiday season. With the November rush of games this year, Fallout 3 really stands out well in the crowd.