According to multiple rumours floating around on the internet, Microsoft may be introducing a new level of mebership to the Xbox Live.

The new mebership will be called V.I.P and will be one up from Gold. The new membership is rumoured to include:

• Better Connectivity
• Online Storage for content
• New Matchmaking options
• V.I.P Users able to send free invitations to silver members

We have no idea how much this is going to cost or if any of this information is true, hopefully we’ll find out more at this years E3.

In my opinion this is only going to make Xbox Live better, I would be more than happy to shell out a little extra money to have V.I.P status. I’m sure there will be a little bit of a retaliation from certain n00bs of the Xbox live community, but I see this as a possible improvement on the service. Only time will tell!

Halo wars has been developed by Ensemble Studios, who are also developers of the classic Age Of Empires games. Ensemble have a very high place in many gamers hearts and it’s unfortunate that Halo Wars is their last game due to the studio being shut down. With this being the first Halo game that’s not a first person shooter or a Halo game not being developed by Bungie, Ensemble have been put under a lot of pressure to create something special. Have they pulled it off?

Gameplay:
The thing that had people worried the most when Halo Wars was announced was how the game would handle. This is because of how other console RTS games have handled in the past. Most recent console RTS games have been ports of their PC equivalent and developers have tried to contain complicated PC gameplay into a basic control scheme. Therefore the console version of these games seem worse than the often superior PC version.

Ensemble made it very clear that they were going to make an RTS for the consoles and stated that the first thing that they needed to take care of was the control scheme, and I can safely say that they have handled it perfectly. The controls are extremely easy to grasp and I have not once been frustrated because of the restrictions of the controller, something that has been evident in other console RTS games. Halo Wars has your basic unit instructions contained to two buttons, ‘A’ to select units and move units, and ‘X’ to attack. You can also select all of your units by pressing ‘LB’ or just select your on screen units by pressing ‘RB’. All units also have a special attack specific to that unit which can be activated with the ‘Y’ button. This command has a recharge time and can’t be used repeatedly. The special commands are unique and very well implemented, for example, the Spartans have the ability to jack enemy vehicles to make them your own. Navigation around the map can be done by simply moving the camera with the right analogue stick but Halo Wars also includes the ability to quickly jump to key areas of the map by simply pressing one direction on the D-pad, something that especially comes in handy when your base is being attacked whilst your camera is elsewhere. Overall the controls in Halo Wars are fast, fluid and it’s clear that Ensemble have focused more on the combat side as opposed to resource management.

Something that’s also been implemented in Halo Wars is an interesting base design, instead of being able to place your structures anywhere on the map you are instead given a main base with multiple pads which you select and choose what you want to build onto them. This allows you to easily access your unit producing buildings and keeps everything organised and easy to manage, allowing the player to focus more on combat. When you select your buildings you are introduced to a wheel menu system, similar to Mass Effect. From there you are given 8 options which you highlight by holding the left stick in the appropriate direction, you can then select to produce a unit or apply an upgrade. This menu system is quick and very accessible, something that’s very handy when your base is under heavy fire and you need to train units fast.

Halo Wars units work on rock paper scissors balancing, Infantry beats Air, Air beats Vehicles and Vehicles beat infantry. The balancing for the units has been implimented very well and not one unit seems more overpowered than the next, with the exception of the uber units such as the UNSC’s Vulture and the Covenant’s Scarab, however although they are very strong, they are not impossible to take down. The units in the game are interesting, quirky and it’s very satisfying to control the vehicles you’re familiar with from the previous Halo games. The only problem I have with the units is sometimes the path finding can be a little off, especially on the tanks, but hopefully this can be solved with a patch.

Something Halo is famous for is the epic scale of the universe and the stories that have been created for it. With the classic storylines of Bungie’s Halo games and the many books that have been released, it was crucial that Ensemble got the story right, otherwise hardcore fans would notice any discrepancies in the timeline. Halo Wars is a prequel to the original Halo game and focuses on the massive wars that took place. Halo fans are familiar with the concept that the Master Chief is the last Spartan alive, but what they may not have realised was that there were hundreds of Spartans, most of which died during the Spartan training process. The Spartans play a heavy role in the Halo Wars story and gamers get a chance to learn more about the Spartans. As the story progresses players are treated to some of the most gorgeous cut scenes I have ever seen which really get the player involved and interested in the story, something that is hard to achieve in a game of this genre. Ensemble have been very creative when designing the campaign and have managed to create some excellent missions. The missions are filled with interesting objectives that players will need to use a wide variety of strategies to complete.

Halo Wars also features a multiplayer option which can be played with up to 6 players in 3v3 skirmish battles. Players are allowed to choose from six different leaders, 3 for both the UNSC and the Covenant. Each leader has their own special ability, unit type and bonus which dramatically alter the way you play the game. The leader you select will have their own main focus for unit production, this can be Infantry, Air or Vehicles so whichever leader you select you will need to make sure you stick to their primary focus to ensure victory. This gameplay element can really be put to use well in 3v3 battles, if you and your other team mates all have their own focus you could possibly become an unstoppable force and annihilate anyone who stands in your way. Communication with your team mates is key for victory and you’ll find that you’re often lending a hand to a team mate by either sending over units to help them destroy the enemy, or by sending them some of your resources to aid them in training units. This allows for epic and immersive online battles that you care about immensely, the online experience is where I have spent most of my time and had the most fun, however sometimes you can get a little slowdown in the 3v3 battles, but this still doesn’t take away from the experience and is hardly noticeable. Co-op also makes an appearance for Halo Wars, allowing 2 players to team up and tackle the same campaign. This gives a new spin on previously played missions due to the communication you’ll need to have with your buddy to successfully complete them.
Graphics:
Graphically Halo Wars looks outstanding, the shading and textures are very well done and even though the camera can be 40ft up in the air the detail is still as noticeable as if you were playing it in first person. When in battle with the enemy, some incredible explosions can take place that fill up the whole screen with colour, these moments can either be very satisfying when you’ve caused them, or devastating when you’re on the receiving end. The Map design has been tailored very well and players get the chance to battle in many different environments ranging from snow filled forerunner artifacts, to foggy flood infested planets. The environments look stunning and are a joy to play on. Halo Wars really pulls the player into the game with its graphics and it really is candy for the eyes.

Sound:
The soundtrack for Halo Wars is perfect, the music fits in very well with the flow of the game, especially in the long battles, and the contrast of soundtrack when playing in different environments really set the mood for the missions. But what’s most pleasing about the sounds in Halo Wars are the many noises the weapons make. You will hear all of your favourite weapons from previous Halo games including the trademark clanking of the Assault Rifle and the click when you pull the pin on a grenade. All of these sounds combined with the explosions and the voice of the narrator provide a very pleasurable audio experience.

Longevity:
The replay value for the single player game is outstanding, as players are rated from tin to gold medals at the end of a mission which is based on the score they achieve – naturally gamers will forever be trying to better their scores. There are 4 difficulties to play and upon completion of optional objectives during a mission, players will unlock a segment for the Halo Timeline, which arranges all the battles into a timeline complete with times and dates. Although the UNSC campaign is 15 missions long, something that I missed was a Covenant campaign, in most other RTS games you get to play multiple campaigns as the different factions and this is something I feel could have been very interesting to play.

Overall:
Ensemble have created something really special, they have managed to make a genre previously inaccessible to console audiences and turn it around into something that’s easy to play and heaps of fun. Halo Wars has flawless fluid controls, beautifully polished graphics, a interesting and immersive story, hectic online play with co-op and tons of replay value. As a whole package Halo Wars is something that is very hard to fault. If it wasn’t for the minor path finding issues and the occasional lag online I’d be scoring it a perfect 10. But never the less Halo Wars is a fantastic game that has to be experienced by all 360 owners, so head over to Xbox live and download the demo, then fall in love, go out, and buy the game. Ensemble have really gone out with a bang, what a great way to pay tribute to twelve years of service to gaming.

Review By: Dean Griffin (Rikoshay) – Overall Rating 9 (out of 10)

Gameplay: 9/10

Graphics: 10/10

Sound: 10/10

Longevity: 9/10

Overall: 9/10

Just for a laugh myself and Mark96 thought it would be funny to pay tribute to long serving team member xTOMOx, by changing out avatars to match his. You can see the results of this in the image above.

You may have heard that the ESRB leaked a few of the Guiat Hero: Metallica songs. But now Metallica have gone one better and revealed the full tracklist on the band’s website

You can see the full set list after the jump!

Metallica Songs

All Nightmare Long
Battery
Creeping Death
Disposable Heroes
Dyers Eve
Enter Sandman
Fade To Black
Fight Fire With Fire
For Whom The Bell Tolls
Frantic
Fuel
Hit The Lights
King Nothing
Master of Puppets
Mercyful Fate (Medley)
No Leaf Clover
Nothing Else Matters
One
Orion
Sad But True
Seek And Destroy
The Memory Remains
The Shortest Straw
The Thing That Should Not Be
The Unforgiven
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
Wherever I May Roam
Whiplash

Other Artists

Alice In Chains – No Excuses
Bob Seger – Turn The Page
Corrosion of Conformity – Albatross
Diamond Head – Am I Evil?
Foo Fighters – Stacked Actors
Judas Priest – Hell Bent For Leather
Kyuss – Demon Cleaner
Lynyrd Skynyrd – Tuesdays Gone
Machine Head – Beautiful Mourning
Mastodon – Blood And Thunder
Mercyful Fate – Evil
Michael Schenker Group – Armed and Ready
Motorhead – Ace of Spades
Queen – Stone Cold Crazy
Samhain – Mother of Mercy
Slayer – War Ensemble
Social Distortion – Mommy’s Little Monster
Suicidal Tendencies – War Inside My Head
System of a Down – Toxicity
The Sword – Black River
Thin Lizzy – The Boys Are Back in Town

All together a pretty nice tracklist. I’ll defiantely be purchasing this one instead of renting it like I did with Guitar Hero: Aerosmith

Title update 2 for Gears Of War 2 has finally arrived addressing a number of issues with the online multiplayer. The patch seems to have fixed a huge amount of glitches and exploits which is going to make the online experience much more enjoyable again. The glitches were really starting to piss me off and I stopped playing for a while, but now I hope to play more with the arrival of this latest update.

Epic has released this list of the problems that have been addressed in Title Update 2:

Read more after the jump

Exploit Fixes

Title Update 2 fixes these possible exploits, where under certain circumstances:

• A player could melee or grenade tag through certain walls.
• A player could equip a shield and a two-handed weapon simultaneously.
• A player could make their shield invisible.
• A player could become invisible.
• A player could do a “super” mantle or “kung fu flip,” flying high into the air.
• A player could gain unlimited ammo with the Lancer Assault Rifle.
• A player could fire while roadie running (also known as “crabwalking”).
• A player could pick up a weapon while sliding into cover.
• A player could walk forward while firing a deployed mortar.
• A player could force an opponent to be stuck in the down but not out (DBNO) position.
• A player could prevent other players from picking up a heavy weapon.
• A player could pick up a dropped meatflag without having to knock him down.
• A ragdolled player could be killed without ever going DBNO.
• A player could roadie run while firing the Scorcher Flamethrower.
• A player could get stuck while evading, though they could continue shooting in any direction.
• A player could concuss themselves under the stairs on the River map.

General Fixes

Title Update 2 fixes these other issues as well:

• An issue with client-side hit detection of the Gnasher Shotgun. The fix makes the shotgun more reliable in high-latency situations.
• An issue where players could have shotgun or Boomshot rounds fire into the ground when shooting from the hip.
• A split-screen issue where one player transitioning to the death battle camera disrupted input from the other player.
• An issue that could cause players’ Look sensitivity to be changed to their Zoom sensitivity while zooming in, zooming out, and firing.
• An issue that could cause players to get stuck if they tried to pick up a heavy weapon while firing the shotgun at the same time.
• An issue where players could become stuck if they kicked over a shield while ragdolled from a smoke grenade.
• An issue where bots were unable to kick over a shield that was planted backward.
• An issue where players who quit during voting didn’t show up in the end game stats, which meant other players couldn’t easily provide negative feedback on them.
• An issue where players couldn’t chainsaw enemy meatshields if the meatshields were already damaged.
• An issue where some players would not see the animation of a meatshield being chainsawed.
• An issue where players could not chainsaw an opposing team meatshield in a game type that doesn’t allow respawns (for example, Warzone and Execution).
• An issue where a player partway through the act of raising or lowering the chainsaw did not transition into a duel when attacked from the front with a chainsaw.
• An issue where occasionally a player waiting to respawn could not respawn when repeatedly hitting the left trigger to switch cameras.
• An issue where some teammates couldn’t communicate between rounds in games type that don’t allow respawns, because dead team members were left in the dead radio channel until the next round started.
• An issue where a DBNO player could be seen as standing if knocked DBNO while reloading the mortar.
• An issue where a player joining a Private Xbox LIVE game in progress from another specific type of game could potentially lose HUD functionality.
• An issue on the Flood map where a player’s dying from Imulsion did not trigger a death message or penalize the player as other environmental deaths did.
• An issue with Guardian games where if the leader is the last player killed on a team, the round may not end, due to the respawn timer.
• A campaign issue where the gamer picture would not be awarded when the game is completed on Insane.
• An issue where a player would continue to fire the flamethrower and damage other players if that player was knocked DBNO while firing it.
• An issue that could cause a player to get stuck while moving and quickly attempting to aim the mortar at the same time.
• An issue with Horde games where clients didn’t receive the “waiting for host” message after they failed a wave.
• A Horde split-screen issue that could cause a team to get –2 billion in score, which when posted to the leaderboards looked like +2 billion.
• An issue where dead players may not show up in the metadata for multiplayer photos.
• A system link issue where if a multiplayer match and a co-op game were hosted at the same time on the same LAN, neither could be joined.
• Additional miscellaneous bug fixes.

Balancing

Title Update 2 makes these balancing changes:

• Made planted proximity grenade mines much easier to shoot off the surface they’re planted on, by giving them 50 percent less health.
• Set grenades to respawn less frequently. When a player picks up grenades from a spawned location, a new set of grenades does not respawn until the previous grenades have been used.
• Increased the penalty to rank for players who quit Public Xbox LIVE matches early.
• Buffed the flamethrower to have stopping power (to slow a charging enemy) and to cause a chainsaw interrupt (to force the opponent to lower a revved chainsaw).
• Removed the ability to instantly shoot coming out of a roadie run.
• Added additional spawn protection to prevent proximity grenade mines and chainsaws from killing a player within 5 seconds after spawning.
• Balanced grenade spawn cycling on the Hail map so that both teams have equal access to both types of grenades.

We continue to test internally and monitor online gameplay to determine what else may need adjusting.

Improvements

Title Update 2 makes these new improvements:

• Changed Annex games to use execution rules, to prevent players from leaving DBNO opponents on the ground to bleed out.
• Made Horde waves count toward the “Party Like It’s 1999″ achievement. Each wave is counted as one round.
• Added the ability, during Submission games, to see the flag’s final destination by using Tac/Com.
• Increased the frequency of most of the toasts for in-game achievement progression.
• Added achievement progression numbers to the War Journal.
• Added 7 new DLC-based achievements worth 175 points (progress toward them starts after Title Update 2 is applied):

• “Skeletons in Your Closet” (20 points): Complete waves 1 through 10 on all Flashback Map Pack maps in Horde (any difficulty).
• “Trial by, and on, Fire” (20 points): Complete waves 1 through 10 on all Combustible Map Pack maps in Horde (any difficulty).
• “More Mystery, Less History” (15 points): Win a multiplayer match on each of the 5 Flashback Map Pack maps (any mode except Wingman).
• “The Roof! The Roof! The Roof…” (15 points): Win a multiplayer match on each of the 3 Combustible Map Pack maps (any mode except Wingman).
• “Bound by a Shared Past” (15 points): Win a Wingman match on each of the 5 Flashback Map Pack maps.
• “Forged in the Fire” (15 points): Win a Wingman match on each of the 3 Combustible Map Pack maps.
• “Annex: Now with Execution Rules” (75 points): Win an Annex match on each of the Flashback and Combustible Map Pack maps (Public only).

This is all well and good but one of the biggest problems in my opinion hasn’t been addressed. If you look at the above list under the Balancing section it states that the update has ‘Removed the ability to instantly shoot coming out of a roadie run.’ I tested this out and they have indeed stuck a huge delay on the time between coming out of a roadie run and being able to shoot, but they haven’t removed the ability to instantly melee someone when coming out of a roadie run.

This issue is definitely the one that pissed me off the most, when you’d get some n00b roadie run at you, butt you in the face, then blow you to pieces with the shotgun. It’s a terrible tactic and I find that more and more people are resorting to this to get kills. This is not the way Gears is supposed to be played, it’s a tactical shooter for christ sake! The worst part about this is that it is extremely difficult to defend yourself against, when someone is roadie running at you, you don’t get very much thinking time and 9 time out of 10 you’re just going to get pwned.

I was hoping to be able to arrange some Gears clan matches with the new update. I knew that attempting one before would just result in the n00bish clans (which we see alot of now) using all the exploits to get a cheap win. But with the most used and most annoying exploit still existing in the game, i’m not sure. I don’t want to start a clan match just to get raped by that bullshit all night.

We’ll have to see, I’ll keep you all posted!

- Rikoshay

I today discovered a charming little independent game called ‘Crayon Physics Deluxe’, it’s made by Kloonigames and recently won the grand prize of the Independent Games Fesitval 2008, beating the extremely popular World Of Goo!

The game features a variety of different puzzles ranging from a bit too easy to very challenging, the concpet of the game is that you draw objects with your crayon to move the ball to collect the star.

I recorded myself playing the second island in the game to give you a general idea of what the game is all about

I seriously reccomend giving this game a purchase, it’s relaxing and really fun to play, great for unwinding after a long day

You can purchase the game or download the demo HERE

Nintendo have today revealed a patent that was filed back in June 2008 for their interesting new gameplay system code-named ‘Kind Code’

The system is aimed at casual gamers who loose interest in a game and switch off before completion, therefore not getting the end of the story. The system will allow gamers to skip through certain parts of a game by instead viewing a pre-recorded playthrough by one of the developers, then jump back into the action whenever they see fit. The new system will also allow gamers to bring up video hints and tips whenever they’re stuck.

In a game the new play system will be broken up into 3 options:

Game: Which allows gamers to play the game normally and bring up video hints when stuck

Digest: Allows gamers to watch a pre-recorded play through and jump into the action on scenes currently being shown

Scene: Allows the player to skip to a specific scene of the game to play, similar to what we saw in Alone In The Dark

This patent is intended to allow casual gamers (n00bs) to experience the benefits of the story without actually having to play the game, basically turning it into a DVD

In my opinion this completely defeats the object of a game, you play a game for gameplay, achievement and the fun of playing a game, this patent will just end up turning ‘games’ into interactive cut-scenes removing all elements of the game!

I’m not impressed, this is taking casual gaming to the extreme, i’m not sure what to think! Only time will tell what effect this has on gaming!

What are your opinions?

Orignial Article

Merry Christmas guys, have fun!

The team blog hasn’t been updated in a while. The last post was October 30th, the last week before the clusterfuck of games were released. From Novemeber 7th up until December we’ve had 3-4 titles being released every week, all games that have been higly anticipated. This is the main reason that there hasn’t been much in the way of updates, we’ve simply spent all of our spare time playing these new releases.

But it’s getting to the stage now when games are being released at a much slower pace, giving everyone a chance to rest and play the christmas releases. So now updates should be more frequent because more spare time will be invested into the blog.

We’ve done no clan matches, there is no major news, updates or anything like that. We’ve just been doing what we do best.. Playing games!

However you will notice that we have a new banner! Avatars were introduced in the lastest dashboard update, making the old gamercards redundant. Thefore we thought it would be best to change the banner to include our avatars! If you’re confused by whos avatar is whos here’s a breakdown:

(From left to right) Erdal6, LCDking, Rikoshay, Mark96, xTOMOx

- Rikoshay

Last night I was lucky enough to get a chance to play the new Guitar Hero: World Tour live on stage as part of the London Games Festival.

So the night before, I was quite happy just sitting on my PC checking up on gaming news, when a friend IM’d on MSN telling me about this Guitar Hero World Tour tournament taking place in London. The prize was a copy of the game and guitar plus tickets to the launch event on Nov 6th which had a free bar! After much discussion we managed to form a band and we attended the event!

Me sporting the ‘Slash’ hair!

We arrived at The Rigg, London South Bank University Student Union, signed up, and chose to play The Middle by Jimmy Eat World. We got a chance to have a practice run, but we weren’t allowed to play the song we had chosen to use in the competition. So we chose Beat It by Michael Jackson.

I was on guitar and chose to do it on expert. I used the brand new World Tour guitar, which at first, was very strange to use. It was obviously new because the buttons were very stiff and I had to press down on them with a lot of force, and I found the strum bar very difficult to get used to. The new guitar’s strum bar has a ‘bobble’ on the end which makes sure your fingers don’t slide off. Problem is, I always slide my fingers off the strum bar, I find it helps me keep rhythm easier. The strum bar also seems to have some sort of silencer and you don’t really feel the bar clicking when you strum, but I got over all this half way into the song. Unfortunately I didn’t use the new touch sensitive slider because I wasn’t familiar with it, although looking back I really should have given it a try in the practice run. All together though the guitar feels very nice, it’s quite heavy and is a lot fun to use, and the new star power button near the strum bar is very accessible and great to use.

The Barrel Rolls!

So our time came to perform, unfortunately we got chosen to go up first which may have affected our performance slightly. We discovered that the competition was being judged on the percentage of notes hit, so we decided to go one difficulty below our normal level, so that we felt comfortable. So I was on Hard Guitar, Chelsey was on Hard Bass, Dave was on Medium Vocals, and Richard was on Medium Drums! Together we formed the first toy band of the night.. THE BARREL ROLLS

You can see how we performed in this video:

Up on stage, playing with plastic guitars, in front of an audience, was the most surreal experience ever. I’m used to playing GH at home, on my own, or occasionally at a party, but this took things to the extreme. It was awesome!

We came off stage and it went over the the three judges, who scored us 7, 7, and 6 out of 10. These were definately not the worst scores of the night, but we deserved a lot better. As the night went on, one of the judges pulled us aside and apologized for the scores, he explained that because we were first of the night he didn’t know what to expect and therefore gave us the mediocre scores.

After the judging we were then approached by a member of the press and he asked us to to a video interview. We obviously agreed, wrapped our arms around each other and started answering his question. Which ranged from ‘Do you play real instruments’ and ‘Can you see this kind of event taking off in the future’.

The night went on and we watched as people played the game on stage and then get grilled by the judges. We had a few drinks and really enjoyed the night. Until a band called ‘Imperial 9000′ took to the stage and blew everyone away. They were showboating and didn’t miss a note on expert difficulty! It was then revealed that they were representing the UK in some sort of tournament. They completely demolished our chances of winning. They obviously already had the game, they were hitting notes without looking at the screens and the guitarist was using the touch slider like it was no big deal and it had been there all his life!

It was no surprise that at the end of the night Imperial 9000 won, but we did all get a Guitar Hero t-shirt each which made up for it!

It was a fantastic night and a once-in-a-life-time experience. The most fun i’ve had in a long time!

You can find more videos HERE

And photos HERE and HERE