The last mission from SC Conviction’s coop campaign had to be the hardest one of the game. After reaching some kind of hangar, my partner and I had to deactivate the security system, run to the airplane and finally escape, while at the same time fighting off waves and waves of enemies. Stealth had pretty much jumped out the window at that point. It was more of a Gears of War type kind of game, with less health and ammo.

“Throw a grenade!” I yelled at my team mate, sitting right next to me in real life.

“I threw my last one five minutes ago!” he replied hectically.

I started to think about the best way to reach the controls we had to deactivate, as I flashed back to the beginning of the game. My friend had never played a Splinter Cell game before. Granted this one is a lot less focused on stealth, but it was still a challenge for him. The only games he had ever played were platform games, and a couple of racing ones. It took a lot of convincing to finally get him to try it out, but as soon as he got the hang of the intuitive controls, he was hooked.

The game started out very slowly, showing him how to kill an enemy from behind, use him as cover, and also one of the key features of the game: mark and execute. The more stealth hand to hand kills a player racked up, the more his execution bar would fill, until he could point at two or three enemies in a room, and instantly kill them with a press of a button in a very smooth fashion. The added benefits of the coop were that the two players could combine their executions and get the job done faster. If one of the player was down, he could play dead until his team mate came and revived him, provided he did within the time limit. The game was fun and felt rewarding. You could play the solo campaign if you wanted to be alone, but here you had to have your partner’s back and vice versa.

I realized I had one grenade left. A well placed explosion later, we made our way to the security controls where we had to both push a button and finally get on the plane, our objective. We eventually did, but that’s when something interesting happened.

A cutscene played, where I was alone in the cargo section, when I got a very simple email: kill my partner. Was it part of the story? That’s when I realized he probably got the same one asking to kill me. The game turned into a very intense death match, and all of the skills I had taught him were now being redirected towards me. After what seemed like forever, he got me and I fell down to the floor.

That part of the game was really unexpected. The game turned from being cooperative to being competitive in the blink of an eye. After working hard together for so many hours, we had to finish each other off. This practice is not very common in video games, and felt really refreshing to be honest. Even if it lasted a few minutes at the end of the game, the fact that you had been helping each other since the start made it seem much more interesting, than say online death matches where you spawn, kill, repeat.

Another game that looks to be implementing cooperative and competitive gameplay at the same time is the upcoming FEAR 3. You play as either the main character with his ability to slow down time, or Fettel (who got shot by Point Man in the fist game) with his telekinetic abilities. Both players share the same health meter, and have to revive each other when one falls to the ground. The maps have also been designed to make the best use of both players, assuring gamers that it’s not just a run and kill thing. The interesting competitive feature, which has been done in some games before I believe, is that both players get points for kills, the goal being to outnumber your teammate. Quoting from MTV Multiplayer Blog:

“The gist, though, is that you’ll be scored based on your performance in a mission, and those points can be used to upgrade your character. For example, you can increase Point Man’s slow-down meter. This makes the co-op a bit of an uneasy truce between the two brothers, and it often encourages players to think for themselves rather than the group. Unfortunately, if one brother dies, so does the other (they’re psychically linked or some such ridiculousness), so you can’t be a total jackass to your partner. Just a partial jackass.”

This could lead to very interesting sessions where players feed for themselves, and only play together when they really have to: an uneasy truce. This raises concerns in other places, like can a game still be scary when playing with someone else? That’s a topic for another day, but it could be interesting to look at how this competitive aspect can be used to enhance the scary parts of the game. For example, separating the players, and making them do a actions that benefit one (One player turning the light on…) and at the same time impacting the other (…turns the light off for the other player).

There are not too many competitive coop games out there, as in games that truly blend the two, but it could be a refreshing way to tackle the multiplayer side that a lot of games come with today. Let’s not make it a thing though: after all coop means cooperative.

King of Fighters 12 is the 3rd fighting game to be released this year which I am proclaiming as the year of the fighting game comeback. As with the death of American arcades the death of the console fighter was imminent and 2009 is proof that fighters can prevail in the HD gaming world of FPS and MMORPGs. KOF12 is the 3rd major release behind king SF4 and BlazBlue. As with the earlier 2 fighters, KOF12 offers great depth of gameplay, stunning visuals and replay factor engraved in the online arena.

Out the Box

KOF12 is a vibrant game with excellent 2D fast-paced animation deeply rooted in the arcade culture of fighters.  KOF12 is the 1st installment of the series on any next gen console and graphically the game holds up very well. Every animation in the game was hand drawn by a multitude of artists to stray true to 2D fighters purist and I will tell you that their labor over the animations rewards my visuals. Every character flows so well and the action is not slow due to hand drawn animations unlike SF3: Third Strike which was hand drawn but had slower gameplay to compensate for the fact that the animations could not be interrupted once they were started.The character models are great and every character’s style, fighting stance and move’s list is unique and evident from watching the game. You will not mistake Terry Bogard for Kyo by any chance due to the great animations for the badass know as Terry Bogard with his signature ripped jacket and trucker hat.

The roster of characters is trimmed down from other installments of KOF, as some where omitted and such as fan favorite Mai. The most popular characters of Terry, Kyo and Iori are present as well as other KOF legends which make up the roster of 22. It is a change to become accustomed too, to see a small roster but the revamped series benefits from the slim roster and the saying of “quality over quantity”.

Other than fighting, what is there to do !?!?!

KOF12 has your standard fighter modes of gameplay such as Arcade, Versus, Practice, Replay, Gallery and Online. Arcade mode is without any story of any sort, instead you fight to win the best times for each trial during arcade. Honestly, the trials are anit-climatic as KOF has a rich story with interesting characters and the developers choice  to leave it out puzzles me, as I would of greatly enjoyed more bad anime cut scenes that progress the story along as with the other major fighters released this year. Versus is as basic as they come, 1 vs 1, 3 vs 3, or 1 vs CPU. Practice is also as basic as a practice mode back on SNES, so I will not touch on it. The heart and soul of KOF12 is online play, arcade mode on Hard is still ridicuously easy as the CPU offers no challenge. I did not even lose a match the 1st time I played the game on hard. So the true test of a warrior will be online gameplay. The online mode is pretty standard, lobbies, chat, create room, clans, watching online matches to mimick a virtual arcade, etc. Online mode will occupy most of your time if online play did not suffer from terrible lag. I played online with a good high speed connection and suffered lag as I got destroyed by an opponent. The same connection suffered from 0 lag with other fighting games that same day. I hope this issue is fixed by the developers because the standard game modes have replay value so KOF12 needs a solid online mode experience.

Can I be the King of Fighters?

Fighting in KOF12 is fast, furious and rewarding. The fighting system is simpler than KOF11 which is a plus for veterans and new comers alike. The dynamics of different types of jumps to combat standing, aerial and crouching opponents is a plus, the roll feature is not over powered or cheap and the Critical Counter feature is a great addition.

The Critical Counter allows you to bring the pain to your opponent if you successfully land a counter hit when your meter under your life bar is full. After the hit you can barrage your opponent with numerous devastating attacks, juggle them mid air or link to you super move.

Stripped down but not completely naked ?

KOF12 is obviously a stripped down, revamped version of  a classic fighter for old and new fans to enjoy in gorgeous HD. The omission of fighting game standards such as Survival mode, Time-Attack, an in depth training system or other modes leaves the KOF12 experience dry with only online play to satisfy your inner warrior. The arcade mode provides a false sense of any skill as it only provides 3 difficulties, Easy , Normal and Hard, while Hard plays like other fighters medium difficulty. Online play is the only arena for any true competition and reason to play the game. However, the online experience is not seemless or 100% enjoyable so far due to lag which can be fixed potentially through an update.

Bottom Line

KOF12 is a must have for the fighter enthusiast, due to the great character animations, incredible depth of characters fighting styles and the bonus of playing the  best version of SNK’s fighter is recent memory.

Score: 8/10

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LIVE FEED

Evo (short for Evolution) is the worlds largest fighting game event. Going on 10 years, Evo is the must-attend event for fighting game fans and competitors all over the world. Over three days, Evo hosts a variety of fighting game tournaments, exhibitions, and a free-play area where gamers can compete, meet up, and generally have a good time.

And we are covering the event! We will try to bring you what;s hapenning in Las Vegas right now, as soon as it happens!

Check out the schedule right here.

• The Saboteur (preview coming up)
• Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
• Modern Warfare 2
• Bayonetta (preview also coming soon!)
• Borderlands
• Tekken 6
• Darksiders
• Avatar
• Wet
• Assassin’s Creed 2

What about 2010?

• MAG
• Heavy Rain
• God of War 3
• Bioshock 2
• Final Fantasy XIII
• Singularity
• Max Payne 3
• Dante’s Inferno

The surprise:

Interestingly enough, Ubisoft’s Beyond Good and Evil 2 is listed on Amazon.com as a 2009 release. Mistake? Maybe, maybe not. I will try to get info from Ubisoft.

Two of the best sports games that I have played in a long time, UFC : Undisputed 2009 and Fight Night Round 4 came out within a month of each other. Both games offer plenty of game modes, stunning graphics and most importantly cringing knockouts. In real life UFC has taken boxing’s spot in America’s heart as our favorite blood sport but has it done the same in the 3D rendered world?

Graphics : UFC has extremely detailed fighters and rings. Popular fighter  are easily recognizable from George St. Pierre to Frank Mir.  Fighters’ models reflect the damage they are receiving and it is evident after rounds where you can see bruises, cuts and swelling on your fighter. The rings range from different locales but they all look the same. There’s no real difference from Madison Square Garden or another arena.

Fight Night Round 4 has the best graphics of any sports game that I have EVER seen. Round 3 set the bar higher but Round 4 surpasses the bar 10 fold. The improved graphics add another level of realism that UFC can not compete with. The new physics system in FNR4 is spectacular, now glancing blows register and create damage, while the collision detection is the best in any sports game to date. All 40+ boxers look recognizable from their models, Mike Tyson’s model is spectacular, little details such as the part in his hair adds to the detail of the Tyson model being from the 80s, adding authenticity to the game.

Winner – FNR4

Gameplay : UFC being a MMA game has numerous of fighting styles ranging from Brazilian Jujitsu to Muay Thai, all of which feel authentic and add to the depth of the game.  There are standard puches, kicks but that’s no fun, the real fun comes in the takedowns, ground-and-pound and submission mechanics. UFC does a great job of switching effortlessly between all the different gameplay mechanics fluidly. If you like to wrestle, it feels authentic, if you are a muay thai enthusiast, you can easily pull off flying knee kicks with ease. Knockouts in the game are a great feeling, a powerful kick to the head or a superman punch to the face is accompanied by great animation and Joe Rogan saying my favorite catch phrase in sports, ‘.. he hit him right on the button.’ The knockout animations come from a stock set so do not expect dynamic knockout animations. The game feels like I am watching GSP vs Alves in UFC 100 all over because of the authenic feel of the gameplay, every moment is authenic  and has you on the edge of your seat as if you are watching the real thing.

FNR4 gameplay has been tweaked tremendously from Round 3. My prayers have been answered and the annoying parrying system is gonzo and more refined, realistic gameplay is present. An obvious inclusion is the new counter-punching system, in which if you dodge a haywire punch from an opponent you are rewarded with a small window of opportunity to counter-punch to deal major damage. The corner game has been improved greatly, gone is the mini game where you have to heal your boxer while moving the sticks, instead you are rewarded points for fighting well that can be attributed to improving your health, stamina and damage.  My favorite part, knockouts, have finaly been imagined properly in a game, gone is the method from Round 3, stun appoint then throw a barrage of punches to knock them out. Now a knockout can come in the 1st round after a clean punch lands and clinching no longer saves you from a knockout(thank GOD). Each knockout is different thanks to the physics engine and no longer come from a predetermined knockout animation.

Winner – Push

Controls – UFC is a complicated sport with numerous fight styles and techniques and in order for the game to truly represent it, the controls need to reflect it, the controls page in the instruction manual is an excrutiating 1000+ pages, just kidding but the controls are complicated and change according to fighting situation. For instance there are different controls for standing fighting, clinch fighting, shooting, ground-and-pound, and submission. Every button on the controller is used, make sure you read the instruction manual before playing and stretch your hands as you will need to be limber to execute the more technical moves in the game’s command list. With that being said, the learning curve is the most extreme I have ever encountered for a sports game. However, I can not imagine it simpler and still living up to the complexity of the sport.

FNR4 control scheme is effortless and smoothe. The boxer movement is isolated to the left stick while punches are on the right stick, punch modifers are the R2/RT while block and lean are attributed to the respective right and left shoulder buttons, the face buttons are used to clinch, push (a huge tool in FNR4) , illegal hit and signature punch. (A DLC will allow people to use the face buttons to punch in the near future.) The boxer moves and punches effortlessly on the screen, using the stick for punches feels so great and the best use of the right stick in any sport game to date.

Winner – FNR4

Realism – UFC fighters take damage during the fight but it does not seem as if effects them during the fight. Cuts and swelling seem to disappear midfight. Knockouts in the game seem to end with players always spitting out their mouthpiece then spinning to their demise, I found this weird. While playing the game with superstars like George St. Pierre and Brock Lesnar, I feel like I can dominate a fight with ease but I guess the intangible intensity of a UFC fight can not be packaged and sold as a game. The gameplay is authenic and realistic while standing or setting up a submission. This game does reflect different player styles like in real life, you can be an aggressive brawler or systematic and set up submissions to get the win.

FNR4 inclusion of height, reach and boxer style adds new realism that was significantly missing from Round 3. Tall boxers have an advantage to fight “tall” and use their jab to distance themselves from their opponent. While inside fighters like Tyson need to get inside and throw uppercuts and body punches to be effective due to lack of reach. The game incorporates many boxing styles such as orthodox, brawler, classic puncher, inside-fighter and many more. The knockouts in the game make the game realistic, each knockdown is dyamic and muscles in the fighters flex realistically depending on the situation, making for a memorable knockout everytime.

winner- FNR4

Commentary: UFC has the team of Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan and they are amazing together as they are in real life. They provide accurate commentary on the action, give detailed recollections of fighters’ past fights and they sound enthused to do so. The commentary is as if I am watching a ppv match live. And of course, if there is a great knockdown, Joe Rogan times in with”…he hit him right on the button.” , I can not hear that phrase enough.

FNR4 has the ESPN Friday Night Fights team of Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas at the helm. Teddy Atlas’ commentary is authentic to a t, many times you scratch your head with his analogies, stories and phrases, just as you do in real life. While Joe Tessitore repeats himself and uses generic third person pronouns to comment on the action, “…he’s in a world of hurt.”, who Joe, who? You should never have to play the guessing game with commentary.

Winner- UFC

Decision

UFC is a great game, I played it NONSTOP when I first bought it. I will admit that the control scheme took me a while to get used to since it is so complex. For a while I just fought standing up, then I slowly progressed into the ground game as I became comfortable with the controls. During my addiction to UFC I thought nonstop of how FNR4 will compete with such a great UFC video game, I mean boxing is losing the real life fight , it could not take another loss to UFC.

FNR4 is the follow up to the great Round 3, with new improvements to the phyics, graphics and gameplay, FNR4 is a sure shot great game. The boxer models are the most detailed to date with Tyson, Ali , Cotto and many others rival their real life counterparts. In fact they play like their real life counterparts due to the many boxer styles incorporated in the game.

Winner : Fight Night Round 4

The upcoming Final Fantasy Gaiden, by Square Enix, just got new screenshots! The game will be on the DS, and displays a very interesting (and new in the Final Fantasy franchise) art style!

Acoording to IGN, “expect dragons and crystals to play a major part in the story. [...]The game makes use of a turn-based battle system, requiring that players simply select a command with the stylus (it’s unclear if the game is exclusively stylus-based). Regarding the game’s Crown System, said to resemble the FF series’ Job System, this allows you to set abilities with your characters, which then appear as panels in a command panel area of the bottom screen. To execute cure and other spells, you simply touch one of these panels.”

Is it me, or are there more and more games under the Final Fantasy title but look less and less like Final Fantasy games?

Yesterday we announced that the price of the Prestige Edition of the upcoming Call of Duty was $149.99 Well it is now available for pre ordering at Amazon, along with the normal edition and the Hardened edition (which is pretty much the Prestige Edition minus the night vision goggles and the molded head, at $79.99).

What do you think? Is it going to sell out? I have a feeling it will.

In other news, the popular God of War game will soon be adapted into a series of books! For now, two books have been announced that will be published under Del Rey. The first one will come out at the same time as the third game, expected in Spring 2010 (limited edition anyway? Maybe..). Looks like this is franchise not ready to die, with a third game, books, and a movie adaptation! Let’s hope for the best quality.

As a final note, the Team would like to give their moral support to the employees of Midway Castle, who are now out of a jab (80 staff members!). The studio was not able to be bought, and had to close down. This is the team responsible for games like Wheelman and Necessary Force (the latter now for sell). Best of luck in your future!

In case you do not know, the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 game has a very special bundle that will be released if you are ready to put down the money: the Prestige Edition! In a nutshell, the edition contains: night vision goggles, an artbook and more!

And a price has finally been revealed: $149.99 !!! Talk about expensive.

I don’t know about you guys, but I am actually tempted. I mean, nightvision googles!! What do you think? Decent or not?

I think this tweet from the official Battlefield 1943 tweeter account says it all! Congrats to all players!

A very good port as you can see. You will be controling Leon and playing through the normal RE4 story line. All I can say is, thank god it is not another rail shooter!

Thank you MTV for this information!

But what do you think? Is this a good idea, or is it stripping the game out of its main purpose: scarring you? Comment below!