Left 4 Dead 2 was released last Tuesday (11/17), a mere one year after the first one, and the level of improvement that Valve has added is pretty impressive.  Everything that has been added to the game has been done so to increase the mayhem that your team has to go through.  I’ve always been of the opinion that the best times in L4D1 were, ironically, when you were getting beaten to a pulp.  You needed to REALLY work together as a team when your team was getting pounced by a hunter, pulled by a smoker, fighting a horde off while trying to stay away from a tank… ALL AT THE SAME TIME! 

The feeling of never being completely safe made each experience a nail biter, a feat few games can match.  However, the more you would play L4D1, the more you would get its tricks.  When a horde came, everyone ran to a corner and spammed the melee trigger, a tank brought out the molotov cocktails everyone had, followed by a mad dash backwards to get out of his monkey arm-range.  Boomers?  Please, throw a pipe-bomb.  It grew into a game that you almost HAD to play on Expert difficulty or Versus to get the charm out of it.  L4D2 has fixed this and then some.  Simply put, there are no tricks.  This game is hard, and it constantly puts your teamwork skills to a test, and we’re not talking 1st grade spelling test here, this is more like senior year of college, theoretical physics final exam.  Even if you’ve been through each campaign the amount each single one deserves, the next time you play you’ll have to adapt to the changing environments, the different weapon choices you’ll have, and, most importantly, the very versatile special infected. (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…)

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…)