This week’s review sees me battle it out in the guise of some of the most iconic superheroes and villains of our time, each of which have been cherry picked by NetherRealm Studios from the vast array of DC Comics inhabitants.

On the surface of things, this game has all the ingredients it needs to not only be a truly great fighting game, but a great game in general and with the legendary NetherRealm Studios at the helm I had high hopes for this game. Neather Realm is a fairly new studio, but they are the creators of the immensely excellent Mortal Kombat from 2011, the best game in the Mortal Kombat series since the MKIII (in my opinion).

Midway were the original gods of fighting games, creators of the Mortal Combat series that has lasted multiple gaming generations, so who better would NetherRealm studios be made up from than a bought out and rebranded Midway, courtesy of WB Games. Even Ed Boon, the original director of all the other Mortal Kombat games is still in charge!

Add into the mix of DC Comics legends, a legendary development team renowned for their fighting game expertise, the well proved Unreal Engine 3 powering the game its self, not for getting the assistance of legendary comic writers Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti an no doubt countless others and you already have a “shut up and take my money” situation for any DC Comics or MK fan.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I’m not the biggest DC fan ever, sure I enjoy a few of the movies, maybe a few of the cartoons when I was younger and personally I’ve never been one for comics or graphic novels, but that doesn’t diminish from the fact that I want to battle Superman against The Flash! And now… I can do just that in the setting of Metropolis, Arkham City, Wayne Manor and more!

Much like both the Mortal Kombat series and the MK Vs DC Universe title, this game features a cinematic campaign over the old school ladder progression system often favoured by fighting games. This is a great way to explain back stories, bring in a mixture of different characters and really explore what the game world has to offer and to be honest, I’m surprised more fighting games hadn’t thought of this format sooner as it provides a much more engrossing and longer gameplay experience overall.

I don’t want to spoil much, if any of the major story lines because unlike a lot of fighting games, the story is actually really enjoyable, playing out like a movie of its own at the best points. Metropolis is gone, millions are dead and Superman has vanished. The Joker is the main suspect and from that point on even the good guys start to lose their cool.

That is of course until events skip over to a parallel universe! Where you’ll find everyone from the Justice League, Bane, Lex Luthor, alternate universe doubles of Batman, The Jokers and more… but there city hasn’t been destroyed, yet and things don’t take long to escalate into a true to DC and even Mortal Kombat style fight for the “one” to save the earth… but who will it be, best fight each other and figure that one out I guess.

Graphics on this game will simply blow your mind, fans of the comics are going to adore this game and everything from the level design, to the characters and the animation is perfectly polished and in fairness, I doubt fans of a DC series would accept anything less.

Yet as good as the levels look there is still plenty of temptation to smash them to oblivion as you right it out against your foe, trashing the level with your enemy, but even using your environment as a weapon, with crazy things like the giant robot on Striker’s Island getting involved.

Levels are also cleverly multi-tiered too and a well-placed kick or upper cut and send your enemy blasting through the roof or wall into another section and keep the fight going, which only adds to the already very cool comic book feel.

The game features pick up and play gameplay that you could mash your way through on easier settings but it’s no without refinement too and I’d go as far as saying “easy to learn, difficult to master”. Each character has their own unique special ability, but you’ll also be treated to cinematic super movies, many of which are far more over the top that you could ever imagine.

While there is enough content in the main story to keep you entertained for many hours, the game also features a fairly standard online mode, but the bonus here is that you can play online to unlock skins, abilities and other little bonuses. There is Battle mode, which offers up the classic ladder climb format but with little variants to keep things fresh and challenging. S.T.A.R. Labs offers mission based challenges to keep you on your toes, although many of these I found to become impossible to complete, definitely a challenge for the more committed gamer, in fact you’ll have to be mental to try complete most of them, but that’s just my opinion.

What we have here then is Mortal Kombat 2011, with DC characters in a richer universe, not to mention a parallel universe! A much more detailed story set in a universe people are more familiar with that the one in MK (DC Universe), some very cool level design and the fatalities removed sorry fans of MK, no more ripping out spines in this game.

Put simply, if you loved Mortal Kombat (any of them), then you’ll love this game. If you love a good fighting game, you’ll love this game. If you love DC Comics based games, you’ll love this game and if you’re a fan of all three… you need this game in your life. Not only is this better than MK it’s also in my opinion the best new fighting game in years.

The post Injustice: Gods Among Us Xbox 360 Review appeared first on eTeknix.

God of War and the PlayStation brand have been the best of friends ever since the game first launched on the PlayStation 2 back in 2005, but 8 years is a long time and since the first God of War title there is certainly time for chance, even more so given that this is now the 6th console release for the series if you could the HD re-releases of the PSP games (which I will, because they were brilliant).

Sony Santa Monica Studio are one of the most talented and capable gaming studios out there and they’ve been instrumental in the crafting of the God of War series, which is in my opinion the finest hack and slash series to date and given the series has seen sales in the millions, I think many would agree with me on that one.

One thing that must be made clear is that Ascension is essentially a prequel to the original God of War series, depicting a time before the Titans and many of the Olympian Gods, right back to when the Primordials were forging the Earth, but after war broke out the Furies, guardians who punish those deemed guilty arrived and punished Aegaeon for breaking a blood oath to Zeus, turning his giant body into the Prison of the Damned as punishment. It’s all a bit complicated really, but it essentially boils down to the servants of the gods breaking their oath and the gods getting extremely angry. Naturally Kratos is one of these oath breakers and finds himself punished for breaking his oath to Ares. The game essentially takes place over the three weeks prior to your capture and anything after that isn’t worth spoiling of course and while the previous title (GOWIII) saw you exploding all kinds of magical environment surrounding Sparta, the bulk of Ascension takes place in and around the giant statue of Apollo, with a few surrounding areas thrown in for good measure including an epic battle at sea.

Sony Santa Monica have shown their true ability once again and as with every other God of War title, the levels and set pieces are true masterpieces of both style, design and function. The world around you is one giant challenge and it can be a couple of hours before you find yourself back where you started, able to open another door, take another path and unravel the labyrinth of challenges that you find yourself with. Each area of the game seems to hold a bigger challenge than the last, both im a physical and mental capacity. While from the out side the GoW series can seem like a dumb hack a slash adventure, that is so far from the truth and the developers are the masters of cryptic puzzles that see you using a set of abilities and some head scratching to navigate, a trend that seems lost in most other modern gaming titles which favour never ending tool tips and quest markers to hold your hand, you’ll find non of that nonsense here.

Combat is less “grand” than before also and while there are still epic battles to be had, this game has been made in true prequel style, Kratos simply isn’t an all powerful god and he hasn’t gained a million new powers “in the past” much like other gaming series have (I’m looking at you Halo). There are four magical elements that are basically fire, lightning, ice and evil, but these take a while to unlock and each unlocks progressively. There is a couple of power items and weapon pick ups, but they only last so long and 99% of the time you’ll be relying on your stock weapon for this game, but that is no bad thing. Controls are as tight as ever and the controls have been refined nicely, yet manage to take non of the challenge out of combat that fans of the series will be familiar with. Quicktime events in battle have been cut down to a minimum too and now a finishing move involved you getting up close and personal with your enemy, able to lay the blows and evades yourself to finish them off, a much better system that “press X to kill”.

The game is a graphical and musical force of nature, at least for a PlayStation game it is anyway and with the exception of Uncharted developer Naughty Dog, there are few others that have such a solid grasp of the PS3 hardware and once again it seems they’ve managed to push the limits of the hardware to new heights. Graphics are on par with GoW III, but with big changes and improvements in the lighting and environments that really bring the world to life.

So how does it compare to other God of War games in the series? Well, if I’m honest, its the worst one so far! Yet it’s still one of the best gaming experiences on the market and it leaves me with a difficult to quantify contradiction. I loved this game, it offers a lot of challenges, some great puzzles, grand boss fights, power progression and a story that fits in nicely with the series time line. Not forgetting some nice refinements to the combat system, improved graphics and a stunning musical score, so why is it the worst in the series?

Out of God of War, God of War II, God of War III and Ascension, I still think GoW III was the best, in terms of story and battle moment you just can’t compare with the Titans vs the Olympians… ever, there just isn’t anything that could top that. God of War II had one of the best opening sequences of any video game ever and GoW (original) will always have a special place in my heart because its the title that started it all.

There is little new on offer here and while it doesn’t out do GoW III, this is still a mighty new entry to the series and fans of the series simply can’t pass this one up, it’s like missing the first film out of a trilogy, or the first chapter of a novel. It’s an important part of the series and it has plenty of great moments of its own. that make it more than worthy of our Gamers Choice Award, just don’t try to compare it to GoW III because they are the opposite ends of a gods lifetime.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The post God of War: Ascension PlayStation 3 Review appeared first on eTeknix.

One of this year’s biggest game releases is finally out in the wild, and while the game has been with us a few weeks now, it gives me great pleasure to be able to finally sit down and enjoy it, but with so much hype and anticipation prior to the games release, has it lived up to the expectations of the games hardcore fans, not to mention the desires of a new generation of gamers who may never have played the first two games in the series?

While this is the third title released in the BioShock series its set some time before the events of the first two games, a prequel if you will. Yet it’s not directly tied to the plot lines of either of the previous games either, although there are still some connecting themes as it is still set in the same universe and timeline. New comers to the series can easily pick up and play this new title without a worry about story lines and knowing what is going on.

BioShock, in its simplest explanation, is a first person shooter. The first two saw you tackling foes with an array of weapons just like any other FPS, but with a more dynamic, deep and downright passionate story to tell along the way, as well as some difficult and unique moral choices that set the games aside from typical FPS games, even going as far as re-inventing large sections of the gaming industry and setting gaming trends that can be seen in many other games since their release.

The original games were also quite controversial, with the presence of children in the game that could be harvested for their powers, or saved, that choice was yours and its one that raised some moral eyebrows both inside and outside of the gaming community. So how does the new entry to the Bioshock series fit in, is it still the engrossing, story rich, moral choice filled, dark and twisted FPS that it always way? Of course it is!

The story is easily the best in the series and while it took me a little time to get into the depth of it, the free-flowing pace and narrative does take a hold of you and leads you through the game with gentle pace. The NPC’s of the game world comment as you pass, while enemies taunt, your friendlier counterparts baffle and amaze with regular pace and it all helps build the story of the world around you as you work your way through the rather strange and dark plot.

Set in one of the most, if not THE most stunning looking gaming environment ever created, BioShock is a tour-de-force for both your eyes and your graphics card, with a floating world of sky ships, floating buildings, majestic clouds and fog, warm beams of sun shine, the twinkle of water and the lights of a carnival all seem to blend together to create a world that moves like it truly does have a life of its own, there really is nothing else quite like it. I personally couldn’t help but walk slowly through some of the early sections of the game just to admire what was going on around me.

After 12 hours of playing through the game on Hard, I was left wanting more of the majestic world of BioShock but I didn’t want any more of what the game had to offer in terms of gameplay mechanics. While I really enjoyed the story, truly and deeply, I got a little bored of the shooting sections at times and it’s something that has become true of many shooting games for me in recent years. I find it wears me down when you get enemy after enemy pouring into a courtyard as you fend them off, then when they die you go to the next hall, room, courtyard and do the same, its less skill and more repetition half the time. There are also far too many health packs and ammo pick ups that make the game much less of a challenge, even on hard more, so I would suggest looking in to upping the difficulty further to the games hardcore “1999 mode” if your a well versed FPS player looking for a challenge.

This isn’t the fault of the game of course, as I just think I enjoyed the games ambience and narrative more than I did the actual shooting, fortunately though the FPS mechanics are some of the finest in the industry. The guns feel snappy and fun, plus a full range of powers are unlocked through the game that allow you to throw fire, electricity and even crows from your fingertips, not to mention taking over enemy turrets, throw enemies into the air and many other crazy things that do keep things entertaining.

The biggest factor of this game however isn’t the guns, the magic, the game’s world or anything of that other stuff, it really boils down to Elizabeth, the side kick and escort mission that gamers have been wanting since games began! She never gets in your way, she never slows you down, she’s highly entertaining and she’s incredibly powerful.

Elizabeth has the ability to open up “tears” in the fabric of the game world, these act like portals to what are essentially other dimensions, you can even use these “tears” to grab cover while in combat, you can explore inside them, find ammo there and all sorts of other madness, it’s an interesting dynamic and one that really sets this game apart from…well…anything else.

As bright and colourful as the game is, no matter how many parades you see, carnivals, candy floss and balloons that adorn the gaming world, there is one thing that you can miss, the dark tones that quietly echo the streets that something is awfully wrong about this paradise. Torture, violence, sex and extreme racism are abounding in this city and it doesn’t take long to realise that there is plenty of evil behind the smiles of its inhabitants.

It’s a difficult mix to put in to words, but the game is like a big fun house and a house of horrors all at the same time. You’ll often find yourself enjoying the graphics and the view of the game world, before putting your melee weapon in someone’s scull and being attacked by a bunch of racist nut jobs, it’s certainly an eye opener.

This is easily on the best shooters of this generation and while yet, I did find the shooting to get a little tiresome at times, it’s because it’s the one bit of the game that isn’t new, FPS has been well covered in the games industry. Yet this game offers you so much more, it’s not just about guns and killing, it’s about escaping and surviving in a world gone mad and it’s a gaming experience that you simply don’t want to miss out on.

Pros:

• Superb sound & graphics
• Original and exciting game world
• Well realised characters and story

Cons:

• Gun scenes can drag a little at times
• Too many health packs and items in the game world

The post BioShock Infinite PC Review appeared first on eTeknix.

It’s taken me longer than I would have liked to complete this game, but after a few late nights and a few important jobs swept under the carpet, I did it, I finally completed Tomb Raider!

Hailing from the talented minds of Crystal Dynamics, although when I say talented I do know that the studio has had some rather off pace titles over the years, yet they are the people who made games such as Legacy of Kain – Soul Reaver, so we do know that they are capable of creating something special from time to time.

There is no point in hiding behind the truth however, the Tomb Raider franchise has been stinking of rot for a good few years now, and while there may have been one or two half good games in there, or at least enough to please the loyal fans, I think the games have gone down hill since the early PlayStation 2 days. What the franchise needed was some new blood and a complete reboot in the backside! Fortunately, that is exactly what Crystal Dynamics have done, throwing us right back to a time of a 21yr old, much less experienced in the art of exploring, and scared Lara Croft.

I don’t want to dive right in and ruin the story, surely half of the fun of a single player game is discovering that part your selves! But what I can say is that the game starts with you suffering a ship wreck, separated from your friends and co-workers and basically stranded on an island full of mystery, treasure and cultist nut jobs… so a lot like LOST then!

This is where the most interesting dynamic of this game comes into play, survival. Where games such as Uncharted, or of course many of the Tomb Raider games prior to this one were action adventure titles, this is simply a survival adventure game. There is a bigger emphasis on life being fragile, and while sure, you can still take a bullet to the belly and be ok a few moments later if you don’t take another one, you’re certainly easier to kill than is normally the pace for a modern game.

Gun fights are shaky and brutal, Lara is not some gun wielding ninja and your equipment isn’t that great to start with either. Shaky hands, scrambling for cover, minimal health and some well coordinated enemies, that will communicate with each other to circle around you, use fire to burn you out of cover and destroy your environment, or use shields to charge up on you, all of which adds up to some pretty chaotic but entertaining fights.

The AI isn’t the best in the world, but its certainly better than most any adventure game and the dialogue between enemies feels a little better than just triggered scripts, especially as they react to their environment dynamically as they try to find you and pursue you.

Gun battles, fire and other weapons are one thing, its what happens when Lara runs into the wrong end of them that gets me, “she dies” would be one way of putting it. However, Crystal Dynamics have put a lot of effort into the death scene animations of Tomb Raider and its easy for the first few to catch you off guard and make your eyes go wide. I can see some sadists jumping off every edge, getting killed in every quick time event and more just to see what happens. Unless you want to see her impaled through the throat, crushes, burned, strangled or maybe even worse, I would keep her alive! As grim as it all sounds, it plays really well on the survival adventure aspect I was talking about, and it shows how the character is more fragile and prone to death, of course that illusion is ruined by the fact real life doesn’t have save points / checkpoints.

The PC edition of this game certainly has a few benefits over the console counterparts, and while sure, they also look fantastic they’re a far cry from what this game engine can do on a high end gaming PC. Most famously for this game is TressFX, a fancy physics based hair simulation that gives Lara a more realistic head of hear, doesn’t sound like much does it? Well your half right, it does look fantastic, and it is better than the more rigid hair model, but her hair does have a complete and utter seizure from time to time that can ruin the effect. Also if you own a Nvidia card, good luck getting the TressFX setting to work as intended, this is an AMD trick that Nvidia hasn’t quite emulated yet, even if they say they’ve patched it, I beg to differ.

All the major features are here FXAA, SSAO, AO, High Precision, Tesselation, AF and high resolution support. Should you have the system to enable them all to maximum the game world really comes to life in terms of detail that put it with the best looking games on the market today. Unfortunately not everyone has an SLI capable gaming rig, equipped with powerful i5 CPU’s and Crystal Dynamics have been good at creating a versatile engine that allows for good gaming performance as the cost of graphical fidelity on lower end systems, a humble Core2Duo is enough in some cases.

The main story will take you around 9 hours to complete but if you bolt right through the game, your only getting half of the experience that the game offers. Through out the game you will find items like books, GPS beacons and wall markings that lead you off the beaten track, into caves, tunnels and more in the search for rare artifacts and some interesting level based puzzles. It’s a great way of getting some extra play time and fortunately its a sideline that’s entertaining to complete. It’s also important to find items such as food, ammo and salvage, the most important however is salvage. Using this salvage you can upgrade your guns, axe, bow and any other weapons you pick up on your travels. While the game starts with a shaky handed Lara and a clapped out old bow, salvage will see you with the precision of a skilled hitman and the moves to match in the latter half of the game.

Overall its a solid gaming experience, on one had you have the classic exploration that made tomb raider famous, as you figure out the best way to climb a set of obstacles to trigger a door or event to progress to the next section. Add to that the high action gun fights that made games such as Uncharted popular. Throw in the survival aspects and plenty of scenarios that put the life of a 21 yr old, inexperienced adventurer on the line constantly and you’ve got your self a game that can keep you on the edge of your seat more than once throughout its story.

I’ll admit, the story is a bit dull for my liking but it does help push the action and exploration along and its the gameplay that really matters here. The only issue I have with the game is that its caught what I call “Uncharted Disease” and where the developers at Naughty Dog have some of the best camera work in a gaming, a trend to try emulated that in recent years has caused a widespread case feeling like your game character is being followed by a very drunk camera man, does it really need to wobble that much Crystal Dynamics?!

If you love the original Tomb Raider series, you’re going to really enjoy this new adventure. The same is true for those who hated the original Tomb Raiders as this brings the game into the modern age, loosing all the old issues with the poor ledge grabbing mechanics and actually making the series enjoyable once again, just don’t bother with the tacked on multiplayer and you’ll be fine.

I’m still awarding the game our Gamers Choice award and even though it has some little niggles like the camera and poor multiplayer, the core gaming experience is by far one of the best of the last the last 12 months. If you’re not playing the new Tomb Raider, you’re missing out on a great game.

The post Tomb Raider PC Review appeared first on eTeknix.

There have been so many debates recently over the issues with the new Sim City title. The issues with the game have been so wide spread, so highly publicised, and a combination of being blown out of proportion thanks to social media and not been taken seriously enough by some of the PR folks at EA have caused the issue to turn viral, making for one of the worst gaming product launches of the entire generation. We’ll I personally haven’t lifted my wallet to purchase the new Sim City and for good reason too, why would I buy a product that may not work, when in my mind it could never be better than its predecessor.

When Sim City 4 launched in 2003 it was a breath of fresh air, its relatively advanced graphics were praised given that it used a 3D rendering engine for the bulk of its graphics, a far cry from the more isometric sprite based system used in the earlier titles, not that there is anything wrong with isometric sprints of course. Ten years ago the games graphics and calculations were quite the taxing effort for CPU / GPU combinations of the time, it could also be that the game isn’t the best optimised either and overall the game just wasn’t easy to get running smoothly on more decent system of the time. Fast forward today however and even a low spec system will rip through the rendering options on Sim City 4 with ease, it may have 10 years on its clock but Sim City 4 is far from being an ugly looking game thanks to its hidden support for custom resolutions.

Music is a little more old school, and while many of you may enjoy the classic chimes of the Sim City I find that are capable of inducing a gaming coma after an hour or so. Fortunately there are options to customise the playlist, or just turn the music off all together. Personally I just prefer to keep it off and enjoy the sounds of the city.

I shouldn’t need to explain the gameplay to the bulk of you, this is one of the purest and true to form city building titles ever made. With no complications of online functionality, social networking or anything else to get in your way, Sim City 4 is about starting a new, laying the foundations of your City and building your way to success over the generations. Of course, its nowhere near as easy as just laying a few blocks and watching your sims develop into a clean and organised society.

Sim City 4 strikes a strong balance of managing the extremely large and the extremely small aspects of your city, every item you place has an initial layout cost, as well as a monthly maintenance cost, not to mention a long list of benefits and/or side effects toward the well being of your city. It offers a level of challenge you rarely find in games these days, and while it may take you a few cities turning to hell before your eyes before you learn the ropes, its worth the effort as the rewards can be great. It’s generally regarded as the hardest game in the Sim City series, but to me its the most enjoyable too and its easy to find your self lost for hour after hour as you turn the smallest farm town into a bustling mega city.

Now that the game has been on the market for quite some time, there is a robust network of third party content for the game to be explored that opens up a whole number of possibilities within the game its self. software such as Lot Editor, Network Addon Mod, Building Architect Tool is just a few of the mod tools available and a quick google throws up sites where you can download new buildings, landmarks, maps based on real cities, or even fake ones such as Tamriel. Add extensively more advanced and easy to use road building systems, fix bugs that EA missed and even improvements for modern quad-core systems.

Its certainly a game that has gotten better with age, not just because of the mods, but also the community that is behind those mods and its a community that is still building and releasing content for the title even after ten years. Modern PC’s also do a much better job of running the game than they did 10 years ago, obviously.

Yet my favorite thing about revisiting this title is a reminder of how cans can be, it really wasn’t all that long ago that we had a more pure gaming experience. There are no Facebook or Twitter features, no microtransactions, in game currency exchanges, if you buy the retail edition it doesn’t require a 3rd party launcher app (Origin, Steam etc), it doesn’t require online activations and doesn’t feature always on DRM, the list goes on. What you do have is the game and that’s all that really matters its all you really need and once you get a few hours into the game and realise that none of these things are there to distract you, then it just makes it all the more enjoyable.

Its also quite the bargain these days too and a retail edition of Sim City 4 can be bought from many major online retailers for under £6 / $10 and given the wealth of content that the game its self offers, plus the free mods and easily obtainable extra content its one of the best deals in gaming.

I think I’ve hit on a perfect antidote, the cure, and the thing that will make all your Sim City misery go away, its called Sim City 4, and to my mind, its one of the greatest management titles ever made. If you’ve never played a Sim City game before, this is a great place to start and if your having troubles with the latest Sim City title, why not revisit its predecessor and find out why people were so excited in the first place.

The post Sim City 4 Deluxe Edition PC Review appeared first on eTeknix.

When the original Crysis launched it quite literally made a mockery of high end gaming systems around the world, even today the game is a graphical juggernaut that offers a real feast for the eyes and even today’s low-mid range gaming systems can have a hard time getting to grips with its engine. It was lauded for its prowess at testing systems and getting your system to run Crysis (well) was like a badge of honour in the gaming community. When Crysis 2 came along things were not so demanding and while the game was graphically impressive, it proved more accessible for a wider range of gaming system.

Crytek it seems had crossed both sides of the river on their last two titles, with one that was hard to run and another that was more accessible, and if the developers are to be believed, they’ve managed to squeeze both high end graphics and accessibility in to their latest incarnation, Crysis 3.

The game may have earned its reputation for epic graphics, but it wouldn’t have gotten far if the series wasn’t backed up by some of this generations greatest gaming experiences. First we had the almost free-roaming style of the original, combined with the more confined story and objective qualities of the second, both of which have their merits and shortfalls, but finding where to take the third title has no doubt proven difficult for the team at Crytek as they try to mix the gameplay elements of the original titles together for Crysis 3, much as they did with their approach to graphics performance.

As you can see from the requirements below, Crysis 3 is still one tough game to get up and running, DirectX 11 is now a requirement no matter what level you enter at, although the specs do allow for just about any combination from the last couple of years for those on a low budget system, so long as the resolution isn’t too taxing. The real magic doesn’t happen until you hit the high performance settings, demanding a quad core GTX 680 system that at retail would set you back anywhere around £800 / $1000 +, the kind of system PC gamers want, but not the one they can all afford right now.

The thing I want to discuss however is my test system, its a fairly new build and were you to build it your self the tower alone would set you back a cheeky £1200 ($1800), I’m running a 23″ 1080p monitor and was able to max everything out, using TSAA AA and 16AF, SSAO and all the other bells and whistles you can imagine. My SLI setup beats out the GTX 680 by a good 60% and can you guess what my frame rate was? 60FPS. That sounds good, but take into account that this game can go that little bit further, how about even more advanced anti aliasing, 3D mode enabled, higher resolutions, multiple monitors! Long story short, if you want this game to look its best, you better have an epic system or deep pockets to obtain one.

The good thing is, Crysis 3 will still run on any mid range system without breaking a sweat, the game features robust graphics options, and with relative ease you can tailor its graphics to your system and let it be said that even on low to mid settings, this is still one stunning looking game.

Minimum System Requirements

• Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8
• DirectX 11 graphics card with 1Gb Video RAM
• Dual core CPU
• 2GB Memory (3GB on Vista)
• Nvidia/Intel example setup: Nvidia GTS 450, Intel Core2 Duo 2.4 Ghz (E6600)
• AMD example setup: AMD Radeon HD5770, AMD Athlon64 X2 2.7 Ghz (5200+)

Recommended System Requirements

• Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8
• DirectX 11 graphics card with 1GB Video RAM
• Quad core CPU
• 4GB Memory
• Nvidia/Intel example setup: Nvidia GTX 560, Intel Core i3-530
• AMD example setup: AMD Radeon HD5870, AMD Phenom II X2 565

High Performance System Requirements

• Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8 •
• Latest DirectX 11 graphics card •
• Latest quad core CPU
• 8GB Memory
• Nvidia/Intel example setup: NVidia GTX 680, Intel Core i7-2600k
• AMD example setup: AMD Radeon HD7970, AMD Bulldozer FX4150

Review System Specifications

• Windows 7 64bit
• Direct X 11.1
• Intel Core i5 3570K @ 4.8Ghz
• 2 x 4GB 2400 Mhz DDR3 (Kingston HyperX Predator)
• 2 x EVGA GTX 660 Ti 2GB in SLI configuration

Graphics

This is definitely the strong point of Crysis 3, this game doesn’t just look good, it looks better than any shooter that preceded it and then some, of course that statement is only true should you have the system to push it up to ultra but even at mid range settings you can expect graphics on par or better than Battlefield 3.

The set pieces in this game are staggering to look and the use of lighting, water and foliage over the vast destruction of a crumbling city are breath taking to see. For those who simply buy this game for the graphics, you will not be disappointed.

Story

On the surface of things, Crysis 3 is your typical shooter, your a badass tough guy who has to fend off an alien invasion, and that’s about the basics of it all, its a tried and tested formula and its one that still works well.

You take control of Prophet, enhanced by his ever strong nanosuit, the year is 2047 and New York is literally a jungle of concrete, trees and swarming with aliens and enemy soldiers. Two years have passed since the events of Crysis 2 and the CELL Corporation has a firm grasp on the city thanks to a man made dome that has been fitted over the entire city.

The game leads you through a brilliant story arc of revenge, betrayal and friendship culminating in some epic battles and some well scripted cutscenes through out, which are in my opinion much more engrossing than what was found in Crysis 2.

Gameplay

If your a fan of the original two Crysis titles, your in for pretty much more of the same in terms of basic gameplay. Using your nanosuits abilities is just as important as ever, making almost constant use of your suits stealth camouflage, speed and armor mods to give you that edge in the battlefield, not only because its fun to do so either, if you don’t learn to utilize the suits abilities and know when to change between them, you’ll be dead pretty quickly on the battlefield.

The game offers plenty of game changing enhancements that can be unlocked throughout the game too, such as motion tracking technology, heavy weapon enhancements, proximity alarms and more, allowing you to tailor Prophet to your playing style.

The action isn’t as fast paced as I thought it would be and while there are sections of intense battle its all really dictated by how you approach each problem the game presents. If you keep getting discovered, making sloppy kills, then your going to be in the middle of a thick fire fight pretty quickly. If your patient, skilled and lucky, you can do things the slow way, picking off your enemies one at a time, trace their foot steps, watch their patterns, its slow, but its highly rewarding.

The enemies aren’t exactly subtle this time around either, and a good mixture of human and alien targets are set to keep you on your toes throughout. As for the final chapter of the game, its safe to say that its a massive improvement on the let down that was the end of Crysis 2, finally featuring a proper final boss that does put up a fair fight, beyond that, you’ll have to learn the finer details for your self.

Multiplayer

Multiplayer is still the biggest aspect of Crysis 3 and while the single player offers plenty of gameplay for those who don’t like online battles, you would be missing out on many hours of entertainment that you just can’t get from the singleplayer component of the game.

Hunter mode sees you pitted as 2 vs 14 on Hunters (equipped with nanosuit and bow) against Cell soldiers (guns, no nanosuit). Kill a Cell soldier and they spawn as a hunter, tipping the balance as the game progresses and its certainly an interesting take on the standard death match formula.

Crash site features plenty of vehicle based carnage thanks to the Pingers (alien mechs) and of course there are still the usual death match variants that you find in near every online shooter, as well as a good mixture of environments that have been adapted from the single player campaign to keep you busy.

I really enjoyed Crysis 3, a lot more than I expected I would given my disappointment with the second game in the series, which may have looks great, it even had a fantastic multiplayer, but the overall story and the final scene left me unhappy. I managed to get a quick go on the Beta for Crysis 3 multiplayer and I immediately knew that I wasn’t to try the full title.

Mostly I wanted to see how good the game looked, push my new rig to the maximum and generally droop at the graphics. In those respects I really wasn’t disappointed, and this is by far one of the best looking games ever made and definitely the best looking game in the Crysis series.

Silliness aside however, the gameplay and story were actually gripping and it didn’t take long before I found myself getting drawn into the chaotic world of Prophet, from the opening set piece to the final battle it was a highly enjoyable ride. I managed to complete the game in a bout 6 hours on normal difficulty, but the incentive to go back on play on a harder difficulty will certainly keep me entertained for a while longer.

The multiplayer is rich and exciting, providing plenty more action after the single player story and while you may spend your first few days getting pummeled by those of higher rank, sticking through the hard times for your first few skill levels will pay off in the end.

I highly recommend this game to anyone who wants to test their gaming rigs capabilities, or if your brave enough for the higher difficulties and steep learning curve of the online multiplayer, you can test your own capabilities too.

The post Crysis 3 PC Review appeared first on eTeknix.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted was released just towards the end of 2012 in one form or another for nearly every major format on the market. PC, PS3, Vita, Xbox 360, iOS, Android, Kindle and the Wii U all have their own iterations of EA’s latest street racing title and its the 19th title in the long running Need for Speed series. Today however I will be focusing solely on the PC edition of the game, but for the most part (mobile devices excluded) you can expect gameplay to be the same across all major platforms.

Most Wanted stood out to me for one major reason, that being that in my opinion the main Need for Speed franchise has been on somewhat of a decline in recent years. I enjoyed “The Run” a little, didn’t much like the recent Hot pursuit title and prior to that the only good one I can think of was Carbon, which even then was a bit on the dull side. Yet Most Wanted 2012 has a different developer at the helm, famed fast paced racing creator Criterion Games, who created one of the finest arcade racing games in history, Burnout.

TrickStyle, Burnout 3: Takedown and Black are some of Criterion Games finest creations and are three of my all time favourite games, so I’ve always had faith in the developer to make something a little special, that’s exactly what I’ll be hoping for today.

The System requirements for this game are pretty modest, the good old 8800GT should be enough to get you up and running and just like many other EA racers this game is fairly forgiving for lower end systems. However if you really want to push things to the maximum and still apply AA, AF, FXAA, SSAO and more, then not even a single GTX 660 Ti will do you much beyond 25Fps, I know this because I disabled SLI to test it and things didn’t run as smoothly as the recommended requirements imply.

Crack the game up to SLI mode however and your presented with one of the best looking racing games on the market today. The lighting in this game is spectacular and the Chameleon game engine does a fantastic job of pushing reflections, shadows, particle effects and varying amount of destruction around the game world, so long as your system is capable of taking advantage of such features.

Car models are well realised but the pale in comparison to the stunningly details and realised gaming world. Filled with plenty of civilian traffic the roads are busy and chaotic, police are everywhere and there seems to be enjoyable driving routes no matter which way you turn, sometimes even slowing down to enjoy the view is just as good as 200MPH in this title.

Minimum System Requirements

• Windows Vista 32bit (No support for XP)
• 2GHz Dual Core (Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz or Athlon X2 2.6GHz)
• 2GB RAM
• DX 10.1 compatible 512MB GPU (HD 3870 / Geforce 8800 GT or higher)
• 20GB Hard Drive Space

Recommended System Requirements

• Windows 7 / 8 64bit
• Quad-Core CPU (Core i5 2.4GHz or Phenom II)
• 4GB
• DX 11 Compatible 1024MB GPU (Geforce 560 / HD 5870/6950 or higher)

Review system specification

• Windows 7 64bit
• 3.2GHz Intel Core i5 3570K
• 8GB DDR3 @1800MHz
• 2 x GTX 660 Ti 2GB (SLI)

Illegal street racing has always been a popular format for racing games and it seems its one that isn’t quite worn out yet. Most Wanted throws you back to some of the earlier titles in the Need for Speed titles and the gameplay is highly focused on pick a car, find a race, get chased by cops, loose cops, rinse and repeat.

Its a formula that works well and your never left out of the action thanks to the expansive and well detailed open world environments that becomes your play ground. There are 10 top racers in the city known as the “Most Wanted” and its your ambition and goal to become the number one most wanted racer in the city. Win races, complete objectives such as discovering shortcuts and jumps, out run the police, burst through speed cameras at crazy speeds, drive like a pro and more to boost your self up the Most Wanted ranks.

Soon enough you’ll find yourself caught in high speed pursuits that immensely difficult to escape from, resulting in 10-15 epic car battles between you and the local law enforcement. Battling against the Most Wanted racers in head to head battles in a bid to shut them down, although this part is exactly like Burnout Paradise its still cool to literally take other drives out of the race.

Other Burnout features are here too “takedown” your opponents mid race with a cheeky nudge and your nitrous bar is filled to the maximum, stylish camera cuts for when you total your car, drive through petrol stations for speedy car repairs mid race and so on.

One thing I really like about this game is the cars, the game doesn’t start you off in a Ford Focus and force you to grind through slow races. You get right to the good stuff and the better cars are all available right from the start too, all you have to do is find the time. Littered around the city are jack points, if you see a car you want then just pull up near it, press the button and you not only get in the car but also fully unlock access to it for races, free driving etc, you can even fast travel to that location should you wish to use the car again at a later time.

I was really expecting to hate on this game when I received it, especially given I’ve been burned by a few of the more recent Need for Speed titles, even the good ones were only enjoyable for short periods of times. That really isn’t the case though and I have been drawn deep into the word of illegal street racing once again.

I’m a big racing game fan and while I typically prefer the more commercial driving simulators like Gran Turismo, Forza, Project CARS and other such titles, sometimes its nice to just go crazy in the fantasy worlds that games like Needs for Speed provide. I was really hoping that some of the Burnout series magic would be brought to the table here and that developer Criterion Games would in fact create a homage to not only the classic Need for Speed titles but also the early Burnout titles and that is exactly what they seem to have done here.

EA seem intent on churning out yearly updates for all their major gaming series, not forgetting the occasional spin-off, tie in, or sub-sequel, prequel and beyond, so the games do tend to go through a rollercoaster of quality and ideas as they try new things or over use old features. In my opinion though this is one of the highest points in the Need for Speed catalogue and its a true return to form and focus for the street racing series, although it still doesn’t beat the best in the series which was Hot Persuit II for the PlayStation 1, which in my mind will always be the best in the series.

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This week I’ve been playing the most “PlayStation” game available on the market today, I am of course talking about PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, a game filled to the brim with top PlayStation game characters in a heated battle to the death in one of this generations least unique fighting games, because lets be honest, this concept isn’t exactly new.

The game its self only came out last November and I’m ashamed to admit its been sat on my review pile quietly hiding from my eyes to the point where I had all but forgotten about it, yet here I am with it finally in my hands and boy do I feel silly for leaving it there for so long, because this game is a lot of fun. Hopefully today I can enlighten you on why I think this is one of the best and games I now have in my collection.

Coming from the developers at SuperBot Entertainment and SCE Santa Monica, Battle Royale is available for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. Unfortunately the game hasn’t been the biggest success that Sony were hoping for and the developer recently cut back its staff in a bid to save money, how this will effect future updates for the title and any future DLC is unknown but that’s a whole different story from today’s review.

It’s obvious this concept has been well tried and tested with games like Super Smash Bros, but do I care that it’s a remarkably similar concept? Not really, a lot of other reviewers have made a big fuss about this but not me, I’ll be judging this game on its own merrits and short falls.

The post PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale PS3 Review appeared first on eTeknix.

Some of our readers may have noticed that the weekly game review has been missing these last few weeks, I’ve finally found not only the time to return to writing them but the time I need to play the games. There has also been a slight shortage of games to pick and play so this week I figured I would visit one of the games that I got included in the THQ Humble Bundle deal from a few weeks back.

Saints Row III isn’t exactly a new game yet it’s one that I have long over looked for a mixture of financial reasons and the fact that I have a stack of un-played and incomplete games that is starting to get a little too big for words.  Either way I finally got around to not only buying this game but also putting in the time required to complete it, so have I been missing out or was I right to avoid the streets of Still Water for so long?

Well as many of you will know THQ has really gone the way of the dinosaurs and is no longer with us, but for its time they did put out some truly fantastic games, so too did the developers behind Saints Row III, Volition, Inc. who are well known for their work on Summoner, the first Saints Row game and the Red Faction series. For those of you who care about such things, Volation have been acquired by Koch Media (Dead Island, ArmA).

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This week I finally managed to find time for the sequel to one of my all time favourite games, Batman Arkham Asylum, the multi million selling Batman Arkham City. Sure this game has been with us for quite some time now, but its popularity seems to have diminished none, not to mention we have the latest re-release of it on the Wii U, GOTY editions, Armoured Editions and a tonne of DLC that has kept the title selling well since its initial release just over 12 months ago.

So why am I looking at this one so late you might ask? Well a number of reasons really, most importantly I’ve really wanted to get around to playing this one since it came out and just haven’t been able to dedicate the time to it, something I was able to rectify over the Christmas holidays. Plus I needed an extra review to tie me over while I’m away at CES in Vegas.

Many of you may have played this game already, but I’m sure many of you will still be holding out, or maybe just waiting for another Steam daily deal to roll around. This review is for those of you who have yet to make your mind up on the caped crusader.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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I’ve been an on and off fan of the Ratchet & Clank games ever since the PlayStation 2 days, but have always fallen short of really getting stuck into what the games have to offer. I’ve casually played some single player and co-op on many of the titles from the franchise on PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3, from what I did play I know the games were pretty good too, but as I said, I never really got hooked on them.

So when this landed on my desk I at least had a passing fancy that it may be rather good, plus we (my girlfriend and I) had been looking for a few extra co-op friendly titles to play through on an evening.

The game comes from the developers at Insomniac Games, who have always had a warm place in my heart for their superb work on the original Spiro the Dragon trilogy for the PlayStation 1, that and the Resistance Trilogy, all standout games for their respective consoles and generations.

The Ratchet & Clank series has a large following of loyal fans too who will no doubt be looking at this spin-off title with eager eyes, yet where the series is normally known for its platforming action, Qforce makes a change for third-person shooter / tower defence, but has it worked?

Click here to view the embedded video.

The post Ratchet & Clank: QForce PS3 Review appeared first on eTeknix.

So we come to the end of another fun week here at eTeknix, Christmas is almost upon us and truth be told I kept playing Assassin’s Creed 3 long after I finished reviewing it, so much so that I forgot to move onto another game for this week’s review! Then this fun little number appeared in my email inbox with the offer of a free code for what I could only think looked like Minecraft with rocket launchers. I’ll have a piece of that action I thought, so here I am.

Ace of Spades comes from the developers at Jagex who have set out to create one of the most unique shooters on the market to day, ironically by ripping off the concepts from other popular games (but I’ll let them off this time haha). Now its blatantly obvious that this game focuses on the ideals of Minecraft, a game which in its self has been a global sensation, popular with millions and Notch has likely built him self a real house of gold blocks with a diamond pickaxe by now. The only problem with Minecraft as far as I am concerned is that I thought it was garbage, I just can’t get into it. I see the potential, but I don’t have the time, effort or creativity to be bothered. So I just go play some more Battlefield 3 instead.

So now someone has heeded to my needs and made a Minecraft game, where just about all the principles of digging and block placing remain, with the addition of heavy weapons, teams and a scoring system, but is it any good?

Click here to view the embedded video.

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It was only a couple of weeks ago that I dived into the kart racing world of F1 Stars, a massive spin off from the super serious world of Formula one from Codemasters. But I’ve got two karting games to review this month and I’ve been looking forward to finding out just which one will come out on top. As some of you may know, F1 Stars didn’t favor too well in my review, it wasn’t a bad game, but certainly nothing special. But the Little Big Planet franchise has a place in my heart, as a gamer I quickly became a fan of the first and second LBP games on the PS3. Their extensive customization options, multiplayer madness, creative levels and more make them some of my all time favourite games. All in all this means that LBP Karting has got a lot to live up to.

Karting games have a long history in gaming, they are a somewhat traditional step in the evolution of a gaming series and its always a quick and easy cash-in for the developers between main entries in a gaming series. Of course the most famous karting spin off has to be the Mario Kart games, which since their inception have gone on to be their own long standing franchise. More recently we’ve seen Sonic All Stars, F1 Stars, Mod Nation Racers and to be honest there are countless others. I love a good racing game though and in my opinion there are only a few good kart games out there. Mario, Crash Team Racing and Mod Nation are the only ones I care for, so can LBP Karting not only live up to my expectations for the franchise, but also rank itself above the countless and mostly unremarkable masses that have taken up the karting game genre?

Click here to view the embedded video.

The post Little Big Planet Karting PlayStation 3 Review appeared first on eTeknix.

This week I have been spending time with the much anticipated Assassin’s Creed III, the latest free-roaming AAA title from Ubisoft. Now I’m a big fan of the original two Assassin’s Creed games, although I will admin I haven’t played any of the in-between games such as Brotherhood or Revelations. It’s hard to keep track though, as there are many Assassin’s Creed stories within the franchise (click here to see what I mean). I’ve been looking forward to this title since before I even knew it existed and I’m sure I’m not the only one.

For those of you who haven’t played the first two games in the main part of the series, the story doesn’t exactly conclude with each title and Ubisoft weren’t exactly hiding that this would be more than a two part adventure.

Free roaming games have been big business this generation and while they had their run on the PlayStation 2 era of console gaming, with titles like Grand Theft Auto setting a pretty high bar for its time. These days you can’t seem to bring out a new game in the series without making the environment bigger, its all about the square mileage and the number of cut-scenes you can throw in (/rant).  Assassin’s Creed III, I expect will be no exception to these rules however, with a much promised expanse to give more freedom to the player and a much more detailed and enriched story.

So lets dive in and see just what ACIII has to offer, is it an improvement on the series or is it time to lay our history traveling protagonist Desmond to rest?

The post Assassin’s Creed III PC Review appeared first on eTeknix.

This week I’ve been spending time with Agent 47 in his latest outing Hitman Absolution. Now I know many fans of the series will have been waiting eagerly for this title to be released, but not me. I last played Hitman Codename 47 (yes the very first in the series) and even then it was only the demo! so that’s 12 years between a demo and Absolution, I’m going into this one blind.

For those of you that don’t know, the premise of the game is right in the title. You play the role of Agent 47, a contract Hitman and naturally this being a game, you’re supposed to be the best, most bad ass and apparently baldest Hitman there is.

Hitman comes from IO Interactive, who have been behind the whole Hitman series and most worryingly (for me at least) the god awful Kane & Lynch franchise. Now of course I am playing the PC edition of this game, which was in fact developed for consoles as the primary format, but Nixxes have done some stunning conversion work in the past and I have high hopes for this port.

So lets get started with the trailer for Hitman Absolution so you can really see just what this game is all about.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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