So a few days after The Burning Crusade came out we went through all the new end-game content in an effort to prepare ourselves and our guildies for the upcoming attunement grind. We knew it would be hard, having experienced endless Jailbreaks and UBRS runs, but we didn't expect that we would have sit down and create a flow chart of the instances in order to even begin to comprehend the convoluted, overlapping, intricate Rubiks Cube of pre-quests, key chains and attunement runs.
So after we
Public swimming pools are often fun affairs, with people swimming fast and children doing slow-motion underwater kung fu in the shallow end. Its a jolly affair, but while swimming coach and former international swimmer Merlin Batchelor stands on the ridged tiles next to the pool encouraging his protégés to kick their legs off, deep inside hes angry - angry that his chosen passion has been so horribly treated by PC gaming for so very, very long. So much so, that he contacted us to
The end is nigh. Ice caps are melting, polar bears are being forced to beg for coins outside bus stations and everyone is moving to the Midwest as coastal areas shrink and temperatures soar. Good god, were doomed. OK, so global warming scaremongers occasionally get carried away with stories about our impending demise, but even the most delusional flat-earthers can no longer deny it. Things are definitely heating up.
Homo sapiens have been farting obscene amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere
Chances are, you've never heard of Saboteur. Until last week, most of the people in our office hadn't either. But then the first amazing screenshots arrived - gripping cinematic tableaux of WWII Paris with stark black-and-white blending seamlessly into sparkling, vibrant color. Suddenly, we wanted to know everything about Saboteur.
Fortunately, the producer and lead designer of the title were happy to oblige. Turns out, the game's more than just an artistic experiment... it's also an
Las Vegas - a city synonymous with Hollywood glamor, Elvis, casinos, the Rat Pack and endless sketchy escort/contact magazines promoted by unfortunate illegal immigrants. Americas gambling paradise, however, is an unlikely setting for a notoriously hardcore tactical shooter with a squad that has to take on a band of particularly brutal South American terrorists. Ubisoft Montreals game designer Steven Masters huddles in Canadas -14-degree big-freeze to give us a warm insight into the making of
Guild Wars' heavily instanced-based nature and subscription-free model raised more than a few questioning eyebrows when the MMORPG was initially unveiled, but the game went on to prove itself and ArenaNet's design philosophy reap reward. Now the developer is expanding the Guild Wars horizon and is working on a sequel, and its foremost goal with Guild Wars 2, it says, is "to make it the ultimate Guild Wars for Guild Wars fans."
We spoke to ArenaNet founder Jeff Strain and Guild Wars lead
From what you've seen and heard of it up until now, you may think Bioshock is a complicated beast. Ken Levine, Irrational Games' Creative Director, thinks otherwise. "At its core," he tells us, "Bioshock is about giving players cooler ways to do nasty shit to enemies." He's right, of course - you can do some nasty shit to enemies. But reducing the game to such simple terms is like saying the White House puts a roof over the president's head. Because Bioshock is much more than that. So much more
You may be aware that tomorrow is Good Friday - the time of the year when Christians remember the crucifixion of Jesus Christ at Calvary. And how better to commemorate this holy day than with a feature about the games that arrived as saviors draped in expectation, only to be met by Old Testament-style wrath from the critics. Sure, it's tenuous, but since when has that ever got in the way of a good sermon?
While the games we've picked might not have been cast into the most sinful depths of Game
It would be so easy for a developer to chuck in a simple bit of code as a let's-cram-a-few-extras-in afterthought with full price games and, let's face it, many have.
But we know there are those out there who really do care about us gamers and want to reward us handsomely for completing the main game. And those caring developers certainly don't want us slamming down our pads in frustrated boredom over that one tedious minigame that's preventing us from moving on to the next level.
If you get
Working as a games journalist has its good points. There's the fame, the money, the endless barrage of adoring, screaming women who follow you whenever you walk down the street... oh, wait a minute, that's being a rock star. Um... ok, well at least there's still the free stuff we get sent 'most every day.
The quality varies considerably, but there are some real gems of PR merchandising that would probably be worth loads of money on eBay. Of course, by contract we're not allowed to sell them,
