Beyond 2 Souls - An experience not forgotten!

I downloaded the demo for this before most people a week early having been signed up for a limited placement in an early demo offer.

I have played other games by Quantic Dream such as Heavy Rain for example and knew it was really good and different, I also liked the look of Beyond but didn't really have any idea what Quantic Dream had created. I wasn't expecting beyond belief shall we say although I knew it was going to be different.

I loaded the game and was presented with two level choices, I simply selected the first one naturally and sat back, headphones on and ready. Upon entering the first level the cut-scene kicked in and played on before shifting control over to me, at this early point my felling was "wow, this is new" The graphic shift from cut-scene to in-game was pretty much the same the vivid colours, sharpness and character renders. 

The first level without giving anything away sees you take control of a little girl in a hospital who has to follow a doctor from this children's room through the busy corridors to a screened room. This alone shows some great dynamics, there aren't many controls and its simplistic in nature but its also intuitive and non-intrusive.

Following on from this again without spoiling it the events that occur after this point, that was the moment when I was hooked, I remember thinking I haven't seen a game take an approach like this before. I was also surprised by the fact that William Dafoe is one of the key characters instantly recognisable as the Gremlin in the Spider Man movies. As you can see from the following image comparisons the graphic character rendering is spot on.

The next level shifts to some years later when a lot of things have happened to this little girl, now a full grown Ellen Page, the mood shifts to a train she is travelling on and I have to say I was blown away playing from here on in, the action the dynamics, the reality of it all was truly jaw dropping, move over Mr Drake and Laura there is a new character gunning for the 3rd person action adventure genre and its gunning for that spot like a mini gun opening fire on an office block of glass, its taken gaming to a whole new level not only in terms of action, and character renders, but game dynamics and story telling.

I have never been this hyped about a game in ages, I have admired Quantic Dreams vision for more enriched games and story telling but even I have to admit that I underestimated their potential, especially when you consider that Beoynd 2 Souls is a PS3 game, one can only imagine what this studio can pump out of  ps4, much like going to a car filling station to top up on petrol but instead pure liquid gold pours out!

I know this is a full on praise review but so far all I have is praise for this little gem trust me it really is that good in my humble opinion and the reviews I have been seeing debated on game forums. If you get a chance and you like games such as Uncharted, or Tomb Raider or just 3rd person action adventure, I strongly suggest you try the demo at the very least.

Beyond 2 Souls is available on the PS3 from October 2nd 2013.

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The Last Of Us Approaches!

What do you get when you cross a game studio such as Naughty Dog with a new I.P. 3rd person action adventure? The answer; nothing short of a masterpiece in-game making and story-telling, which is Scheduled for a worldwide release on June 14, 2013 as a PlayStation 3 exclusive;

"The Last of Us"  promises yet another amazing game-play experience from Naughty Dog the studio behind the highly popular Uncharted series. Having said that, The Last Of Us will undoubtedly feel very similar to Uncharted it would appear, in terms of character control mechanisms with similarities in movement and intuitive cover control, and lets face it a little familiarity isn't a bad thing at all.

When the trailer for the last of us was first shown, audiences were treated to a mouth-watering slice of graphic heaven, offering a much darker and violent mood than that seen in Uncharted for example. It's not all about the vivid graphics, character movements and motion capture though, the game has been in the pipeline for a while now and will at last see the light of a games store shelf near you.

Swamp style streets, I doubt it will stay this quiet for long!

Naughty Dog are also synonymous now more than ever with delivering a rich story, which combined with a cinematic movie feel and blockbusting action making this game a must have upon release. What makes the game more interesting is the fact the main protagonist the player will be controlling, will be a man called "Joel" who is in his late forty's. This is somewhat refreshing and intriguing compared to the average age of your standard and more generic characters we are so used to seeing. Joel is joined by a 14-year-old girl called "Ellie" which adds that more fatherly protective figure to the game, it will be interesting to see how this relationship between both characters play’s out given Joel's dubious past, shady dealings and reported dark and generally violent demeanour.

The Motion capture, graphic rendering look beautiful.

The premise for the game from what is known is a post-apocalyptic United States where an infection has taken hold, with little hint if the infection has spread globally or is confined within the USA. Apparently the infection is spread by being airborne in its nature which would point to a global problem; however we will have to wait and see. There you have it the USA ravaged and reclaimed by nature, inhabitants have also it's been reported to have died at the hands of a killer fungus at the heart of the infection, those who have died or been infected with said fungi have been re-animated and turned into what is being called the infected.

Does any of this sound familiar? Even though the storyline may not be a massively new revelation from similar movies or games, the fact that Naughty Dog are behind it give it more credit than just another action-survival game. Weapons will be in short supply with ammo being something of a rarity it would seem, making the player more of a scavenger/hunter rather than all in one action hero, it will be interesting to see if the choices you make at certain points in the game factor into the overall outcome which would be a nice touch indeed, this remains to be seen, no doubt a few side missions may also factor into the game, while not certain it seems inevitable.

Welcome to the States, Home of every kind of deadly plant-life known to man.

As far as a post-apocalyptic United States, go this has to be one of the prettiest I've seen, with what can only be described as forest's engulfing entire cities reclaiming the land that was once nature’s, needless to say there are lots of shades of green to be seen but the contrast between the decaying buildings, the re-growth as it were and the military seem to mix very nicely, the inside of ruined buildings really draw upon shadows and dark lit spaces in contrast to very bright lit rooms and wide open spaces. It also pretty much stands to reason that exploration will be a major part of the game, no doubt with the odd item scattered about to collect, all for that shiny trophy that pops up on-screen, but I could be wrong about that!

Not all of the United States has been overrun however, with the military setting up quarantine zones and body scan checkpoints to prevent the infection from spreading further, the game will see both Joel and Ellie travel across the country starting from Boston which should provide plenty of diverse surroundings and scenarios along the route, on a side note the military are also chasing the pair if a killer fungus wasn't bad enough, but then again who doesn't love a challenge right?. In a nutshell you have your two main characters being chased by the military as well as battling the fungi, the infected and various scavengers hunters and generally unfriendly people who are trying to survive amidst whatever else may be lurking in the infested city jungle all while attempting to reach an as yet unknown point of origin, well I didn't say it was going to be easy.

The hotel was rated 5* Just don't expect the residents to be friendly!

Interestingly the game is set 20 years after the initial Fungal infestation began so prepare for a lot of back-story within game to explain events leading  up to present day, the end goal seems a little unclear, however I'm sure you can draw your own conclusions on possible plot endings. The game has a very violent tone from the outset it seems, using whatever means necessary to stay alive and reach the end location that the pair are trying get to.

I really think that this could be mad into a squeal with a cliff-hanger at the end giving Naughty Dogs past record, but that may be jumping the gun a little too far, what is certain though is another great 3rd person action adventure I can't wait to sink many game hours into just to see how it all turns out in the end, all while enjoying those glorious rendered graphics.

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"Fuse" First Impressions!

You know the sort of feeling when you look at a game and judge it by just the artwork practically making an opinion before even reading the description and think “oh yet another 3^rd person shooter knock-off”?. Well this was the case when I first saw Fuse advertised, however it had a small buzz going about and once it became available as an exclusive download, well I thought I’d try it hoping it would be good. At this point I had no idea what the game would be like or which game studios were involved in its creation. My expectation soon raised substantially however once the game loaded and the infamous studio title “Insomniac” presented itself. It gained more of my interest coming being an unusual looking game, sort of a breakaway from the usual series we are used to seeing form them, Combined with the colourful graphics showing lots of tints of orange, I now felt "Fuse" would be something fun to enjoy at the very least.

Think of “Fuse” as a “Lost Planet” meets “Vanquish” combination, which is a pretty good thing in this case as Vanquish didn't seem to receive the recognition it deserved so its up to games like "Fuse" to broaden that appeal. The premise for the game sees you take control of one of four playable characters working for an organization called “ Over strike 9” each character naturally have their own abilities, back-story’s, and upgrades all of which can be selected before game starts. I chose to go with a female assassin “albeit quite good-looking as assassin’s go” I initially thought that this character would last for the entire play-through, but I could not have been more wrong.

No you dont need glasses, that's right giant air-ship that fires a pure energy beam

Once the game starts you take control of your chosen character and are accompanied by the other 3 as well, ok so you get some help that’s one thing, being able to as Insomniac quaintly put it “Quantum Leap” between characters instantly is a real joy, you now have a game where you can jump from any one of four characters instantly each with their own abilities. The good thing is that when in battle against enemy soldiers it feels like the A.I. is really intelligent, saving you when you go down after taking to many hits, taking cover and attacking hostile's they really make it feel like there’s 3 other people in the game, something which does not really seem to work in similar games where you have A.I partners to work with.

The first level shown takes place at an enemy base located high above snowy mountain tops, the enemy in this case are known as “Raven” either that or there just happens to be a Para-military convention taking place in the alps. I decide to go for the more stealthy approach to start with and see if I can stealth kill me a few sentry guards. Moving and taking cover I notice that my A.I. team also does the same, it seems they mirror my actions, in the sense that they are bedside me taking cover and can see the enemy but don’t start firing as if waiting to see what I will do, this is A pretty great mechanic meaning that your AI friends don’t follow their own agenda and blindly go charging in.

Big bosses that's what we like, the beam of energy not so much!

After a few stealth kills I get spotted, and then it all kicks off, as one would expect, now this is the first time I actually get to test fire the |”Fuse” weapons and it is different, using a sort of energy which brings down the enemy’s health as seen in “Vanquish”. This plays a big part of combat however as if you take down an enemy’s health they will freeze in a black sort of energy which you can shatter into a wormhole or if you do this to a few enemies and then shatter one it creates a chain reaction and takes them all out. The levels will undeniably take longer to get through as a result presumably but switching characters makes it a good solid 3^rd person game. The controls are not too difficult to master and once you get the hang of it, its plain sailing, switching characters quickly is easy with the use of a sort of selection wheel the same type as that found in its "Resistance series"

Stealth kills are pretty brutal, but hey its a knife to the rear of the neck why wouldn't it be brutal.

After completing the first level the game shifts to a completely different one as to not reveal too much, one which as fate would have it contain two armoured mech’s, one wielding a large flame-thrower  the other a larger mini-gun while throwing mini robots one of which allows one of the mech’s transport itself to another place. Needless to say it takes all four characters’ to bring them both down; a fair bit of time is spent doing this but it is enjoyable. The other great thing is that these other three characters who are in-game with you can be three people off your friends list or random people on-line  the option to invite three other players is super easy as it is shown at the main menu before starting a game, each person invited fills one of three player slots making it a great game to play with either friend’s or solo.

Mech's are pretty cool but oh so dangerous, advise admiring from a distance.

The game shows plenty of promise as well as some humour good humour which is clearly shown in the loading screens with a message from insomniac displaying a subliminal message stating to buy the game like some sort of Jedi mind trick which is just priceless compared to the usual wall of text usually encountered. The story also seems pretty solid and again unusual with one of the main character’s shown intending to kill a senator in order to take away the leverage of the enemy again with some subtle humour. Multi-player wasn't available but it will be interesting to see what sort of game modes are made available, hopefully some unique modes which will be as fun as the main game.

All in all a very pleasing game with plenty of action, great AI sure to be a hit with people who also like to play co-op with friends I wasn't sure about it and it still has to try to compete with a lot of new games coming out, I'm hoping that people will realise that this is a really good play and may even get into games like “Vanquish”

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Disney Shuts Down LucasArts!

I never dreamed I would be writing this article, at least not for the foreseeable future. Lucas Arts, a game studio renowned for many a Star Wars inspired title, has been closed down by Disney with at least 150 staff losing their jobs as a result. I reported in an earlier article the current future of Star Wars 1313, which had recently been delayed and was shaping up to be a very nice Star Wars game indeed. It now appears, as a result of Lucas Arts being shut down, that the game has a cancellation status attached to it, however just because the studio is not developing the game any more does not mean an interested company would not be able to continue development where Lucas Arts left off.

1313 concept art with a much loved character of the series.

The news of the studios closure comes as being both unexpected and somewhat irrational on Disney’s behalf, despite Disney wanting to change their business model. One can’t help but think this idea may not win any awards especially form the 150 currently unemployed development staff.

Delving into the history of the studio Lucas Arts, it was formed back in 1982, acting as the main game development studio for LucasFilm. Expanding from the movie studio Lucasfilm into other areas turned out to be a great move, not only for fans of Star Wars related games, but also for fans of action adventure games. The studio has had some great success with other games that they originally started creating before the never-ending stream of Star Wars games came to light. The first games developed by the studio were for the Atari gaming system. Interestingly the first Star Wars title didn't manifest itself until much later after the studios creation; not until 1990 to be exact. The first action adventure game to be created by Lucas Arts was labyrinth in 1986, which is based on the film version that LucasFilm also produced starring David Bowie.

One criticism of the many Star Wars titles appearing was that the overall quality dropped and appeared to be simply cashing in on the name, without putting any substantial amount of resources or effort into it. However, the result of throwing so many games at the wall meant that some of them had to stick, and as a result there were some instant classics. Some games kept to the standard story-lines and characters while other company’s expanded on it and made the games their own, so that they were different in terms of game-play, style and story.

The most recently released Kinect Star Wars: not a great critical success for Lucas Arts and was symbolic of its difficulties. The problem is that when such a game is announced, having the ability to control a character using move based gestures, with the expectation in a player’s mind is already at a high level to begin with, leads to a disappointing experience.

One of the quirks of playing a Lucas Arts Star Wars title was the constant logo animation which changed in it’s games, often the character in the logo would come to life and hurl a lightsabre about like a boomerang before ducking. Other games such as the Force Unleashed had the character in the logo jump and use force lightning. Even if a game failed to live up to expectations this amusing little quirk it always put you in a good mood when loading the game.

There are way too many Star Wars games to make reference to as much as I’d like to however I believe that there are a few games which deserve a mention or at least an affectionate nod as being among the finest that Lucas Arts helped to shape.

Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II (1997) Is a First Person Shooter which added some great puzzles, good fps game-play large explorable levels and story-line.

Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999) was a PS1 game based on the movie version, receiving mixed to good reception the game was a best seller in the UK.

Star Wars: Demolition (2000) A firm classic because it was just pure simple fun to play, allowing the player to take control of some of the iconic vehicles from the movies weather that be on the PS1 or Dreamcast  playing with friend or alone it worked well.

Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds (2001) This is by far one of my favourite RTS games, the game allowed you to take control of armies of all of the main film factions and characters it was also a nice break from the usual lightsabre action.

Star Wars Battlefront which arrived in (2004) for xbox, PC and PS2 was a classic third person action experience which allowed the player to act out his fantasy of being in a Star Wars battle on various planets, it went on to create a sequel and also have a lot of interest in a 3rd game being made.

Star Wars Empire At War was yet another RTS game in (2006)  which was hoped to be close to the battlegrounds game which came before it, however it offered a completely rethought design with a new style of game-play which in itself was great even if a few of us were hoping for battlegrounds 3.

Star Wars The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition (2009) was a very appealing concept as you were able to take on the role of the Sith and be utterly evil with your Jedi powers, even turning on loyal stormtroopers. One of the last two major titles form the studio the other being Star Wars Kinect both of which received very mixed views and disappointing sales figures, both of these games offered a great game-play concept  but it seems it just wasn't enough.

Both 1313 and First Assault are now under the officially cancelled status, however this does not mean the games are nothing more than a hopeful dream; they may yet see the light of day, although the chances are now far less. While we haven’t seen the last of Star Wars with all new titles being developed exclusively by other studios, somehow it just won’t be the same without the official branding off Lucas Arts stamped on it.

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DuckTales Remastered by Capcom

“Life is like a hurricane
Here in Duckburg
Race cars, lasers, aeroplanes
It’s a duck-blur
Might solve a mystery
Or rewrite history

DuckTales (oooh ooooh)”

As you may have guessed by the less than subtle hint, the DuckTales are getting a new game. Well at least technically new after all it has been a long time since the first Ducktales game, around 24 years in fact since the original was released for the NES. The original game was published by none other than Capcom, which may surprise those who would only associate it with more well-known titles such as Resident Evil. The game was an adaptation based on the TV series of the same name and, as adaptations go, it was a great one, which is a rarity in itself these days.

DuckTales was well received upon its original release, often being a subject for NES nostalgia among fans; the game itself is a fine example of some of the work Capcom were doing back in the 80s and 90s. The original game saw the main character “Scrooge Mc Duck” travelling around the world finding lost treasures to become the worlds richest duck, using his trusty iconic cane to whack his way through obstacles. Scrooge can also use his cane as a pogo stick allowing him to reach higher ground defeat enemies from above and avoid some hazardous obstacles. The game provided the player with colourful graphics, tight-play control and offering a non-linear game-play experience.

The original game was delivered in 8 bit architecture, even so it was still a fun game; after all as hard as it is to believe 8 bit was once all the rage. Just by looking at the pictures or trailer for the new game invoke a happy sentimental feeling of fun, no doubt there will be a few achievements to get along the way.

The original 8bit Version compared to the upcoming Remastered version.

Capcom are now bringing the game up-to-date for a new generation of gamers to enjoy, in addition to creating a fresher experience for fans of the original, recreating a golden gem not just of nostalgic gaming but of a much loved TV series. The new game title gets straight to the point with “DuckTales Remastered”. Essentially the game will be the same in all aspects but with an overhaul using things such as current generation graphics and processing power to name but two. The new game also promises new hand drawn sprites along with original voice-overs.

Currently DuckTales is being published for the PSN, Wii-U and XBLA platform’s for a relatively low price of $15 which converted in UK sterling works out at around £9- £10 which is pretty good for a downloadable network game. The game will be developed by WayForward Technologies, the announcement comes as one of two new games teased by Capcom; the other being Dungeons and Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara.

The advancement in technology and gaming is very apparent with the reveal trailer compared to the original game, now offering 2D characters in 3D modelled levels, looking just as though you were watching a rerun of the series. It's both interesting and great to see that some of the more well renowned classic games are being revived; even though they may feel familiar, the experience promises to be be brand new.

Lighting and shadows make levels stand out vividly.

The game is made up of five levels which can be played in any order of the players choosing, much like the mega man games were. At the end of each level Scrooge must face off with a boss, once the five levels have been completed the player is transported to Transylvania for the final boss fight. Once complete you can also revisit levels in order to find items which unlock parts of other levels.  The controls will be fairly simplistic to master; it will be one of those games you can just pick up your controller and jump straight into.

Lots of platforming fun to be had.

The game won’t be overly long in terms of game-play hours; it will be relatively short depending how you play it, this won’t deter fans who have waited so long for a remake or for those looking for a fun filled experience down memory lane. In truth what fan can resist the charm of such a proposed title, with pure and simple platforming  fun and such an infectious intro song to get you in the mood.

DuckTales Remastered is set for a an unspecified date in Summer of 2013 with the possibility of being made available to portable devices such as the PS Vita.  I will most definitely be downloading this classic to relive a great game in its new found glory; the question is will you?

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The “TimeSplitters” Are Back, Well Almost!

If there’s one game series that holds a soft nostalgic spot in FPS gaming it most certainly has to be Timesplitters. I'm sure if you have played any of the previous games you will not need an introduction to such an amazing trilogy. TimeSplitters literally broke the rule book on FPS gaming by not really conforming to your standard shoot ‘em up’s style. The games were fun; with an incredible cast of characters and locations, which were at times were unexpected and stylish. The games followed an alien race known only as the Time Splitters, who cause trouble by travelling through time, wreaking havoc at different periods in order to destroy the human race.

The first game saw you completing missions by completing set objectives with the follow up games following more story oriented objectives.

Having the games constantly jump between different time periods added a new level of variety to an FPS game, which more than likely became its unique selling point. An example of this would be when you find yourself fighting alongside a world war one Englishman known as Captain Ash, complete with a stereotypical gentlemanly accent and moustache. You are fighting soldiers with weapons both from the current time period and from the future. Another level was set in a futuristic world currently in war with machines, which featured the deadliest and coolest looking of killer robots. The series employed a cartoonish look at times, whether that be in facial expressions from the characters or  with the comic book inspired levels. It also had a wry sense of humour that is currently lacking in the more serious offerings found today.

      

One of the fondest memories I have for the series is with the built in map editor; there wasn’t anything else like it at the time on PlayStation 2.  TimeSplitters 1 allowed multi-player maps to be created, with TimeSplitters 2 however you could create single player levels with objectives, while the third game included the ability to have maps take place outside. The creator was a simple grid based level editor which you could create an entire level filled with auto turrets, objectives and as many enemies as the editor would allow you to fill it with. Imagine creating a futuristic lab level with armed robots and objectives located in a macabre haunted house style level which also joined onto a separate part of the map. It was so enjoyable to spend many hours of my time doing this.

The biggest limitation, however, was the space taken up by the editor when saving it simply was never enough on traditional PlayStation memory cards. Even when using the game with the PlayStation 3’s inbuilt memory cards level’s always seems it full up too quickly, this was because it still had the same restrictions on internal card space. Once a level was created you could also share it for others to play on-line, allowing a lot of possibilities.

A simple map editor which anyone could make use of.

It is stated that TimeSplitters 2 became the highest ranked game among the FPS genre on the PS2 platform. As some people may be aware, the studio behind the games, Free-Radical, unfortunately ran into problems. Free radical design shut down and went into administration on December 18th 2008. Crytek confirmed on Feb 4th 2009 that they had purchased Free Radical Design.

TimeSplitters  4 was set to be a PS3 exclusive proprietary title as was described in 2007, images were leaked with hints pointing at the new game this included a parody of the  Gears Of War logo with the infamous TimeSplitters Monkey head inside a gear. Then in 2008 fresh images appeared, this time parodying the Need For Speed series. The next was the memorable image of a more mature Jo Beth Casey in a torn nuns outfit brandishing a blood stained chainsaw. With so many images being leaked all of which looked entirely reputable, it seemed the game was an inevitability. Following the administration of Free Radical’s studio, no new images appeared and all sources from Crytek seemed to point at TimeSplitters 4 having being laid to rest.

Jo Beth Casey leaked image, opens to a lot of speculation on where the next game was heading.

Ever since Crytek took over Free Radical, news has been scarce, non-existent perhaps. Despite strong support from fans, Crytek were not satisfied that the game would sell or gain enough interest to green light the development. For this reason, a petition was set up by fans to reach out to Crytek to develop the next game in the series. Despite receiving over 75000 signatures the studio still seemed reluctant to give the go ahead. Hope has not been lost, however, with the studio stating that if there is enough demand it will go ahead. In order to test the water so to speak Crytek have done the next best thing.

A new TimeSplitters Emerges

The new game has been titled TimeSplitters Rewind losing the number 4 in the process.

Crytek have given their official permission to bring out a new game for the series to a team of 25 talented game developing fans. But before you get too excited this isn't exactly the TimeSplitters comeback we were hoping for, especially when TimeSplitters 4 was on the verge of potential development by Crytek

There you have it then a confirmed title at last simply named ”TimeSplitters Rewind”,  here are the good and the bad points of the proposed new game development;

TimeSplitters Rewind will be based primarily on PC and without support from Cryteks development team, have limited resources, no single player or co-op campaign modes, utilising just the multi-player and challenge aspects from the series. The major plus of a somewhat less than hopeful comeback is “Rewind” will be absolutely free to download and play as well as all available DLC made for the game. The team are actively recruiting programmers to help them and have reached out to fans for character ideas some of which if good enough will appear in the final game.

The whole array of characters from previous games are set to headline, but who else will make an appearance aside from Harry Tipper and Cortez?

Crytek also gave permission to allow the team to access assets form the main TimeSplitters games. The 25 strong team declined however in favour of building the new game with the use of Cry Engine 3. This is a very sensible move; in order to review the games properly I recently started replaying Future Perfect with the use of my PS3. The graphics especially the cut-scenes are very dated but unlike other games it is still engaging and playable as a fun replay. This is because it is so unique in terms of story characters locations and weapons frankly you won't find in any other game. In fact you can really get a sense when playing one of the previous gamers now how it could be if they were to have a sequel on a next gen system, but it would only really work if it had as many of the creative talents from the free radical studio behind it as that is the soul of the game. The new game promises 300+ playable characters in addition to maps that reflect the feel and look of the original games.

Rewind ditches a lot of things then instead focusing on the fast paced mult-player aspect of the series this means that the game will complete in a shorter space of time with hints pointing to a December 2013 release. Multi-player will feature from 8 to 16 players either on-line via LAN or solo competing against AI bots, all the usual modes are set to make a comeback such as TDM and Vamp with along with a few new ones.

The team have also stated that the possibility of a campaign may still happen but all immediate attention is set on the multi-player. While the best of hopes goes to the team now in charge or “Rewind” it is disappointing that Crytek haven’t confined with a following to future perfect despite a 75,000 strong petition by fans across the world.

We can only hope that the fans will be able to not only make the game a hit but also confirm to Crytek without a shadow of doubt that TimeSplitters 4 has a market, is a great selling series and a fourth next gen title needs to be produced, it seems we have more confidence in Cryetk making a new game than they do themselves.

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Star Wars 1313, insight and delay

It’s nice to see that after so many outings with one of the most iconic and much loved weapons: the trusty Jedi Lightsaber (or even republic blaster), that such a series can still bring something fresh for gamers to enjoy. We have seen many variations and game-play styles span many games, most of which centre on movie based tie-ins. However, because the Star Wars universe is such a large one it is great to see titles like 1313 take a more alternate approach to the story. Set in familiar locations from the Star Wars lore, 1313 takes place mainly on Coruscant, specifically Coruscant’s subterranean level 1313; which is the premise of the title.

This is the underworld section of Coruscant home to villains, corruption and non-Jedi supporters, with no hint as yet to any other locations or familiar characters.

With no sign of the Jedi or Sith being present within the game yet, I think it likely that there will be an appearance somewhere along the line during the course of the game. The first screenshots show a much darker Coruscant, a living breathing city deep beneath the refinery of Coruscant’s wealthier and more prominent population. The game looks set to promise a harsher, grittier and unfriendly atmosphere. Gone are the days of strutting around with your trusty Lightsaber, thus making you slightly more vulnerable, albeit not entirely useless. You are still pretty dangerous as a bounty hunter, even without Jango or Boba's cool outfit.

When bounty hunter, Star Wars and video game are mentioned in the same phrase, one can quickly cast their minds back to the 2002 Star Wars Bounty Hunter game. The game follows Jango Fett as the main character who hunts down various bounties across 6 different worlds. Surprisingly the game received mixed reviews and scores; it was little more than an add-on to the already expanding Star Wars universe, which you either loved or you hated. It had both its good points as well as its bad. However, whilst not being an instant hit or an immediate failure, it was unique; and a similar game had yet to be attempted. Until now that is.

Maybe it's me but "I got a bad feeling about this" The population of 1313 should be interesting if nothing!

Star Wars 1313 makes a prominent change to start with, as the main character of the game is not your usual Jedi/Sith or foot soldier variant. Instead you are put into the shoes of a bounty hunter with little in common to the Jango Fett outing, previously mentioned. Although I actually really enjoyed it myself for what it was and for where it was trying to go, I don’t believe it was a successful as it should have been. The question remains, will 1313 be the game that bounty hunter was trying to be.

As much as we like cutting storm troopers down with the power of a Lightsaber or going head to head against the dark forces of the Sith, it’s nice to enjoy a new game perspective. The 3rd person style once again is reminiscent of an Uncharted style character mechanic, which is a great start. The game also promises environmental adaptability and cover combat. As with most of the newer Star Wars games, such as the Force Unleashed, there will no doubt be an element of interacting with the environment around you, to assist you in-game. The combat will, again, probably be your generic style of gun play and close quarters combat; but sadly no specifics on any other style of play have currently been released.

The action will be focused on weapons, gadgets and tools traditionally found with bounty hunters, such as trademark blaster and more than likely an arm attachment or two (although not yet confirmed).

News of a delay of up to a year came as an odd and unwelcome announcement. The game was supposedly going to make an appearance in games stores sometime later this year, with a preview expected at one of the various games conferences to boot. That, sadly, does not seem to be the case; instead the earliest perceived date will be sometime next year in 2014. Why has the game suddenly gone into another year of possible development then?

Some speculation says it is due to be a tie in with the latest upcoming  Star Wars movie by J.J Abraham's.   Another reason may also be the impending launch of next gen consoles; could a re-think to port the game for the newer console platforms be on the table for the developer’s? After all the trailer for the game was a beautiful cinematic render which could easily be ported to a next gen system. It’s understandable that departments such as Lucas Arts industrial light and magic, Lucas animation and Sky Walker sound have their hands full at present with the upcoming movie, but would this also allow 1313 to benefit from some extra development time.

The trailer for 1313 gives an almost political movie thriller feeling following the characters shown above Coruscant as they descend deep down to its seedy underbelly while mentioning an unravelling of corruption.

The game seems to be a separate entity within the Star Wars universe, although it was noted as being set between the original movies and the prequels. Turning it into a sudden spin-off/tie-in to the new upcoming move seems unlikely, as the game itself was conceived way back in 2009. Lucas Arts stated that the game has not been cancelled, but they are instead focusing their attention on the new upcoming trilogy; with undoubtedly a few more game related installments to follow. This may be a good thing for gamers, if the game is developed for next gen systems; which was previously not seen as an option for the game.

Will Star Wars be reworked as a next gen title? Will the game ever see the light of day? Most of all, will it be worth the wait, or will it lose its current appeal?

Whilst these questions remain unanswerable for now, we can only hope extending the release is a good thing, and that the game will be even more exciting. Until then we will have to quench our fan boy thirst with the current slew of Star Wars games available to us.

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