We're working to increase the output of the site, but the focus is still very much on involved, personal gamesthink. We still don't do news, and we don't put scores on things. We are, however, trying our hand at putting out a weekly podcast, which I've been editing. Episodes one and two are up, with three to follow tomorrow lunchtime. There's a lot that we're looking to improve as we go, and feedback is really appreciated.
Links to my latest articles after the jump.
Like any good piece of municipal planning, clearly demarcated paths pull visitors from place to place before effortlessly depositing them back where they started. It’s the system that Blizzard established seven years ago, and, well, it still works. It’s quest-area as rollercoaster, game as circuit; a genre trapped within a recursive reward mechanism that on good days manifests as a gentle corporate cuddle. It’s slick, it’s well engineered, it’ll be the same for everyone, and you’ll either find your own reasons to enjoy it or you’ll be repulsed by it.
Demo Shepard was armed with the Mattock Heavy Rifle from the second game’s Firepower Pack DLC, which has been beefed up to – as its name suggests – fire single shots with palpable impact and weight. Weapons now have slots for upgrades, and in the demo these included increased heatsink capacity and muzzle velocity. Best of all, these add-ons have a visual effect, extending barrels and tweaking textures. It feels a lot like Mass Effect 2′s armour customization in practice, and it’ll be interesting to see if any of the original game’s more nuanced upgrades (scanners, explosive rounds) make a reappearance.
Why is now a good time to be relaunching Counter-Strike?
Last year we started playing with an XBLA version of Counter-Strike: Source, and thought we’d just release that – but as it caught on in the office and more people became excited about it, we decided to make a bigger investment and make more of a game out of it. Take the chance to look back and see, over the years, what worked and what didn’t work.
The character creation process itself is lovely – a strange point to begin on, but god damn is Guild Wars 2 a game with beautiful menus. There’s a cohesive style to the game that begins here and is carried through to gameplay – something like high fantasy impressionism, if that’s not a contradiction in terms.
There's one last piece to go up from Eurogamer, a preview of Rich Edwards' Pineapple Smash Crew, the indie top-down-shooter that nabbed RPS' Game of the Show award. I had the strange honour of accidentally breaking the news to Rich, who is a very nice man whose game deserves your attention.
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