GamesRadar - Xbox Features

Same name, completely different game (Fable)

Oct 9, 2009

We absolutely know that you've been waiting with eager anticipation for a feature to come along that catalogues examples of new games that share an identical name with an old game. It doesn't happen very often, so it's genuinely exciting when it does. Anyway, we've written that feature, and this is it. Direct all messages of thanks and amazement to the comments thread. K? Cheers.

Afrika | PS3 | 2009

The new Afrika: Is ...

Gaming's would-be innovators (Fable)

Sep 16, 2009

We recently took issue with the claim that “gaming has not yet had its Citizen Kane”. As you can see, we managed to find 25 games that qualified for that title – and you had plenty more suggestions besides.

We’d have had no trouble whipping up a counter-list of dismal flops. ...

The Top 7... trendy game-design crutches (Fable)

Aug 24, 2009

We've all seen dozens of lists over the years that recount all the things old-school game designers loved to include in their games for bizarre and unknown reasons, like exploding barrels and wolves that carry gold and chainmail for you to loot upon their death. Yes, these things were weird, and yes, they were ubiquitous in 8-,16-, and even 32-bit games. ...

Fable (Fable)

Aug 26, 2004

It feels as if we've been waiting a long time for Fable. First announced three years ago at Microsoft's X01 press shindig (where it was called Project Ego), Lionhead's Peter Molyneux promptly declared it to be "the greatest RPG ever". While Molyneux today admits that "really, we just had a few concept sketches and a very basic demo of a hero standing there... I'm just an idiot, I just can't help blurting out games", recent indications are that the game will indeed be one of the finest ...

Biggest wastes of a superhero's powers (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer)

Aug 6, 2008

You’d think that games based around superheroes would be the ultimate expression of incredible powers. Nope. Unfortunately, most superhero tie-ins have had more tedious tasks than chances to protect the planet ...

Gaming's fittest fatties (FIFA Soccer 07)

Aug 13, 2008

Video game characters are increasingly becoming the poster children for gym membership. With most of gaming’s heroes and heroines being chiseled, pert and with cheek bones you could grate cheese on, there seems to be less and less room for the more gelatinous gentleman in the industry. ...

10 movie tie-ins that nobody wanted (Fight Club)

Jul 22, 2009

Everyone expects certain movies to receive the video game treatment. It's pretty much law, for example, that all kid films and superhero flicks are converted for the purposes of gaming entertainment. But sometimes a movie tie-in that absolutely nobody was waiting for comes out of nowhere and surprises us all. They're the games based on the movies that really have no business ever being made into a game. Here are 10 such examples of misfiring ...

Stupid game terminology (Fight Night 2004)

Jun 18, 2009

Why can’t some people just call a spade a spade? Or, in the case of video games, call a health pack a health pack, instead of a multi-purpose, cosmic healitron 3000. We’re sick of developers trying to give their games extra context or dimension by pasting unnecessary and sometimes baffling terminology onto simple, every day game actions or objects. It’s convoluted, embarrassing and totally comically. Below are some of the ...

Zero to 100: Videogames by the numbers (Final Fight: Streetwise)

Mar 31, 2009

Numbers. Man, there must be millions of ‘em. Seems like every other game on the shelf has a number in it. Boy, I bet you could count to a hundred using just videogame titles and related items. Let’s see if I’m right. ...

59 levels to play before you die: D - G (FlatOut)

Mar 21, 2008

A leisurely saunter through the UAC base lets you casually get attached to the game world, before the thick sense of impending disaster explodes in the most horribly visceral way imaginable. You’re suddenly alone in a dark and noisy world of fear and confusion. The people you met earlier are dead, dying, and torn to pieces. ...

FlatOut: Exclusive developer diary - part four (FlatOut)

Nov 2, 2004

Mental stock car pile-up FlatOut is released for PC, PS2 and Xbox this Friday and it's already been met by a slew of positive reviews. But what's it like working on a game during its very final stages of development? 3D artist Ilari Lehtinen talks us through it...Here's the good news: this is it. Or very, very close to it. No, we're not gold yet at the time of writing but all the to-do lists on our project server are showing 'OK' or '95%' for almost all tasks. We'll have fierce competition in ...

FlatOut: Exclusive developer diary - part three (FlatOut)

Oct 18, 2004

Bugbear's 3D artist on FlatOut, lari Lehtinen, talks about a crash-test dummy's worst nightmare, alcohol-inspired petrolhead mentalism and Ragdoll Olympics in the penultimate part of our exclusive developer diaries.In this part I'll fill you in with one of the most talked about aspects of FlatOut. As you can probably guess by now, I'm talking about the poor ragdoll driver who gets flung out of the car when the player crashes badly enough. Seatbelts in FlatOut are for wussies, and following that ...

FlatOut: Exclusive developer diary - part two (FlatOut)

Oct 1, 2004

Developed by Finnish petrolheads Bugbear Entertainment, mental stock car pile-up FlatOut is not for the faint-hearted Sunday driver. Thanks to completely destructible cars and worlds and persistent, dangerous debris, each and every lap is more fraught than the last. In the second of a series of exclusive developer diaries, Bugbear's Ilari Lehtinen - the game's 3D artist - talks us through the creation of the game's environments...Last time we gave you a and now it's time to look at the ...

FlatOut: Exclusive developer diary - part one (FlatOut)

Sep 7, 2004

Developed by Finnish petrolheads Bugbear Entertainment, mental stock car pile-up FlatOut is not for the faint-hearted Sunday driver. Thanks to completely destructible cars and worlds and persistent, dangerous debris, each and every lap is more fraught than the last.In the first of a series of exclusive developer diaries, Bugbear's Ilari Lehtinen - the game's 3D artist - talks us through flattening cars and driving them into telegraph poles...I'm a 3D artist in the car team - smack in the middle ...

Flat-Out (FlatOut)

Jan 6, 2004

"It's the Half-Life 2 of racing games." Okay, stop right there. Edge can see a press-baiting headline a country mile away. But Aki Jarvilehto, director of business development at Bugbear, has a point. He doesn't mean it in the sense that his game could be qualitively as good as Half-Life 2, but more that it shares many of that game's design principles."Gamers should be playing on the edge," continues Jarvilehto. "They need to be on the limit and feeling each impact. Our environments are ...

The cheesiest videogame songs EVER (Freaky Flyers)

Sep 23, 2008

You’ll often hear about games lauded for their exceptional soundtracks. Some succeeded with NES-style bleeps, others had orchestral scores or fully licensed songs that lent credibility to a medium struggling to be more than a toy. ...

23 amazing game soundtracks you don't remember (Freedom Fighters)

Mar 19, 2009

Unsung, underrated and unbelievably good. Sit back, relax, and enjoy. ...

Twelve sequels we actually want (Freedom Fighters)

Jan 3, 2008

Some people say you can have too much of a good thing, but we say they can bugger right off. A cake is good, right? But are two cakes bad? No, theyre just more cake, and we like cake so well take all we can get. Om nom nom. In gaming terms, the only thing better than a great videogame is a great videogame that acts as the start of a great franchise. Final Fantasy, Burnout, Super Mario Bros… We love them not only because theyre great but also because of what they later gave us. The only ...

The games that shaped a generation: Xbox (Full Spectrum Warrior)

Mar 30, 2007

25. Dead or Alive 3 Team Ninja | Tecmo | 2001 Buxom beauties (and, we're pretty sure, some male characters too) meet to fight in cosplay heaven in this sassy one-on-one beat 'em-up What made it so great? Didn't you hear us? Girls fighting one-on-one? Dubious teenage fantasy scenario aside, the game is still a furious and explosive take on the previously staid genre. With electrified fences around some stages, massive windows to smash your opponent through and multi-tiered fighting arenas, ...

The Top 7... Lamest party games (Fuzion Frenzy)

Oct 12, 2009

It’s comforting, isn’t it? Though our hobby is famous for igniting stupid flame wars and for inspiring stubborn fanboy bias, all gamers – no matter what their console or genre preference – can agree on, and rally around, one unassailable truth. Party games suck. ...