Rubi Malone is a complete and utter badass. She drinks, swears, has tattoos, a foul temper, and possesses a set of lethal skills that serve her well as a “professional problem fixer” in the seedy underbelly of society. You’ll have a riot playing as her in Artificial Mind & Movement’s WET, a third person action shooter that’s meshed Matrix-style acrobatics with gun slinging and swordplay. In many ways, it’s like Stranglehold with a sword and more platforming. But to peg WET as a knockoff of Stranglehold with a few new tricks won’t do it justice, as it’s far more endearing and fun.
As Rubi, you’ll make use of a variety of impressive maneuvers in bullet time to annihilate waves of enemies throughout the campaign that has her caught in the middle of a war between two drug syndicates. The foes that you’ll encounter aren’t overly cunning or difficult and you’ll be able to take them out with relative ease. But the goal is to do so with style. The game will reward you with Style Points as you rack up kills, and these can be used to purchase upgrades and new skills. The key to increasing your score is to drop enemies with as much flair as possible, and this is achieved by making good use of Rubi’s acrobatic abilities.
Firing your gun while Rubi is in mid air or performing various stunts such as sliding will trigger slow-mo and split targeting. One weapon automatically locks on to a nearby enemy, while you’ll have to manually aim the other, and this allows you to take out multiple hostiles at a time. This trick has been implemented extremely well and it’s one of the key ingredients that makes WET so satisfying. Sliding on the ground in slow motion while firing at two grunts at the same time and finishing another off with a violent slash of your sword is beyond entertaining. It’s moments like these that make WET such a treat to play. Just wait until you shoot at enemies upside-down as Rubi makes her way down a ladder – it’s insanely fun. (more…)
Section 8 is a recently released team-based FPS on the Xbox 360 and PC. There are few games on the Xbox 360 that are more unapologetic when it comes to team-based strategies, as even using the creme de la creme of long range weapons – the sniper rifle – is best used when you have 2 or 3 teammates with you concentrating on one enemy. That being said, some of the design choices that TimeGate Studios went with in regards to actually getting into a game are very disappointing. Thankfully, that is the only thing that really keeps this game from being great, and it’s one that may be addressed in a future patch.
The first topic that should be covered in any review of Section 8 is the spawning method. To spawn into the game, you’re given an overhead view of the entire map. You can move a crosshair anywhere on the map to, what it is called in the game, “burn-in” to that location. It then switches to a first person view of your character from 3000 meters in the air, rocketing towards the ground. At around 1500 meters, you can choose to hit your air brakes to change your position (though not hitting them won’t hurt your player at all – it will just give you a short recovery period once you land). You can literally spawn anywhere on the map, though it would be unwise to spawn into AA fire. Yes, the enemy bases have AA guns that will tear apart your shields and armor if you try to burn right on to one. This is an amazingly awesome-looking effect, and having the ability to drop on someone is one of the more satisfying ways to score a kill in any recent game. (more…)
F.E.A.R. 2: Reborn brings players back to Alma’s playground, but this time you follow the story of Replica Soldier Foxtrot 813. Once a regular soldier, Foxtrot 813 starts hearing voices which lead him to go against Replica Command’s orders. The voice is coming from a familiar character that we all know well: Paxton Fattell. (more…)
In light of the amount of competition that a new shooter faces, it’s important for developers to innovate and provide a fresh experience. With Raven Squad, Atomic Motion has achieved this with the unique concept of blending traditional FPS gameplay with RTS components. While the model is distinctive and the two modes have been merged together well enough, the game is of low quality in general and will not appeal to fans of either genre.
You’ll control two squads (Infiltrator and Assault) that are fighting together behind enemy lines in the Amazon. It all looks very reminiscent of Far Cry 2, but not nearly as polished. Each squad consists of three men, and you’re able to switch between the two teams or select which soldier you want to play as at will. Generally, I only changed squads or men depending on which gun I felt like using at the time, or if a certain weapon was required to complete a task.
Raven Squad’s principal design component, as alluded to previously, is the option to toggle between the FPS and Tactical / RTS Modes. You’d expect this transition to be awkward, but it has actually been done fairly well and you can seamlessly change modes by pressing Y. However, you’ll find that for the most part, you’ll prefer using the first person viewpoint as the RTS Mode can be somewhat confusing and boring, basically. Although, it does serve as a useful aerial map that lets you scan your location to determine the proper direction or to preview what dangers lurk ahead. There will be times when the game forces you to use a specific mode for a period of time depending on your objective, but when given the choice, it’s best to use the FPS option. (more…)
This fresh BioShock 2 trailer provides a glimpse at the game’s multiplayer offerings. Make sure you tune in long enough to see the Big Daddy clean house towards the end.
You’ll be able to return to Rapture when BioShock 2 arrives for the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC in 2010.
By Chris Fildes — Filed in Reviews, Xbox 360 — Viewed 600 times
Available now on Xbox Live Arcade is a game called Shadow Complex – easily the biggest release in the “Summer of Arcade” game list, and not just because it’s a whopping 834MB.
The game centers on an average American man who received “special forces” training from his father, but he is initially uninterested in using his skills in a career because he isn’t a killer, nor does he condone it. This rapidly changes when his girlfriend is kidnapped on a nature hike. Although the story follows the age-old “kidnapped princess” cliché, it’s still fairly entertaining and exciting. (more…)
