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First impressions of Far Cry Vengeance
IGN has gotten their grubby little mitts on a final build of Far Cry Vengeance, which is due to release on December 5th, at Ubisoft's San Franciscan offices and they seem to have thoroughly enjoyed what they played. The game, more or less, is an expansion to the expansion that was Far Cry Instincts: Predator, including a new adventure, 3 new maps and weapons, plus characters. What IGN was most suspicious about, and in the end most impressed with, is the control setup. They wondered if the game would play well, having taken part in some forgettable gameplay segments in the console's other FPS offerings of Call of Duty 3 and Red Steel. They also tell of how pressing the A button will steady the screen, allowing the player to aim within the confines of the immediate screen and not worry about turning the Jack's head, which they admit is a small change, however it impacts the gameplay in a big way.[Thanks elbono!]
Vegas face mapping: Larry, meet Larry
Larry Hryb, AKA Major Nelson, recently posted the results of his Rainbow Six Vegas facial mapping on his Flickr site. How does it look? Pretty good actually. We mocked up his in game avatar next to his real life mug in the image above. Vegas fans out there may be wondering how Major Nelson came by those cool shades and hat in Vegas. Does he have access to special content because he works for Microsoft? Nope, he was actually wearing those things when he captured his face with the Vision camera. Knowing this, we can only imagine the lengths that some people might go to in order to really customize their character. You want pink and blue camouflage face paint (you know, for sneaking around a cotton candy machine)? Just paint yourself up and take a picture! In theory, you could add anything to your face before you take the picture: tattoos, fake scars, crazy contact lenses, the possibilities are endless.Now that you've seen the results, will you try anything special to customize your character?
Metareview - Rainbow Six Vegas (Xbox 360)
Rainbow Six Vegas: the other Unreal Engine 3 shooter.Vegas will no doubt live in Gears' shadow this holiday, but series' followers know that Rainbow Six offers its own brand of 'thoughtful' combat. Indeed, it's the team-based multiplayer that will propel Vegas up the Xbox Live popularity chart. Rainbow Six is back. Game Informer (95/100) - "While the single-player mode is great, the multiplayer may be the best thing to come to Xbox Live since Halo 2 ... the best addition in the game, though, is without a doubt the four-player co-op. You and three of your friends can now experience the entire single-player campaign together as one Rainbow Six squad. Note to game developers: Every first-person shooter should feature this mode from this day forward." Games Radar (90/100) - "Deathmatch-style modes do exist and are definitely entertaining, but it's team play -- much like in the single player campaign -- that will keep you coming back ... the game's greatest feat is adding strategy to the first person shooter and getting the player -- whether working alone or with others -- to occasionally stop, forget about the gun and just think." 1UP (85/100) - "There can be no doubt that the reception of Rainbow Six Vegas will be somewhat tainted by the release of Gears of War. While the two games are very different stylistically, they share some fundamental gameplay mechanics, and both suffer from the same problem: namely, bland-but-competent online gameplay."
Rabbids can't cook turkey
In honor of Thanksgiving yesterday, these quirky little rabbids sent out a video to show that they have the holiday spirit too. While we could have told you that a turkey doesn't exactly cook well in a clothes dryer, they're a bit new to this whole thing; it was a good attempt on their part. Next year, they'll know better ... maybe. Catch the video after the break! [Thanks JC!]
Rainbow Six to remain 360, PC exclusive thru holiday
Without explanation, Ubisoft has pushed back the releases of Rainbow Six Vegas for PlayStation 3 and PSP until January 30. The PC version was also delayed from November 28 to December 12, barely squeezing inside the holiday release window. Meanwhile, Xbox 360 owners are already deep into Vegas, which looks to restore the series' respectability after 2005's misstep Lockdown.Both single-player and Xbox Live multiplayer demos are also available for download on 360's marketplace, for those that want to test the waters before leaping in. While not as visually arresting, Vegas' multiplayer has the depth to outlast Gears fo War.[Thanks, Mack]
Metareview - Red Steel
Ubisoft's closely watched project has failed. True, Red Steel has likely enjoyed enough press to move units through the holiday, but critical reception is decidedly underwhelmed.Ubisoft's would-be-grand FPS is still broke, dashing hopes that a third-party developer would 'get' Wii at launch. Instead, Nintendo's lust for innovation has again proved to be a hurdle for developers conditioned in the old ways. Give it time. Game Informer (75/100) - "Aside from Zelda, Red Steel may be the most-anticipated Wii launch title. Unlike our boy in the green tights, this game's doesn't fully deliver on its promise ... Most of Red Steel's faults lie with the game's presentation. Enemies shout annoying obscenities in your direction during every firefight, the cheesy score is bad enough to incite chuckles, and the jaggy graphics look worse than many Xbox and PlayStation 2 games." IGN (60/100) - "When we first started playing the title, we were prepared to score it in the low 5s because of the controls. Defenders may claim that the Wii is unable to simulate a faster, quicker aiming mechanic, which is untrue. Activision's Call of Duty 3 looks like a mess compared to Ubisoft's effort, but it is still the better shooter because its controls are much more responsive ... [We] think that there will be a lot of gamers who will completely ignore any control drawbacks and focus on the prettier visuals and varied play. But these people will be kidding themselves, for although Red Steel was born to use Wii's controller, it rarely uses it in a satisfyingly intuitive manner." 1UP (50/100) - "[The] four-player splitscreen multiplayer, while somewhat fun, is sooo two gens ago. After playing games online, it's hard to revert back to the archaic act of herding four friends together in a room ... Don't be fooled into thinking Red Steel reinvents the FPS. It's nothing more than a ho-hum shooter with a creative but flawed gimmick stapled on."
Tom Clancy shirks gamers -- Vegas Vacation ensues
So... many... references... in... this... title. Anyway, it's all true! Rainbow Six: Vegas (seriously... doesn't anyone else care that it's Rainbow? Are they trying to imply ethnic diversity or univeral acceptance? Tom Clancy, I'm on to you...) has been delayed until the end of January 2007. For the PS3 and PSP. 360 fanboys who invariably come here, rejoice! You can do more of the Rainbow Six-ing while we wait with bated breath to play this neato game.Why the delay? IGN hypothesizes the online component. But that's fine by us, since Rainbow Six pretty much works because of the online component, a delay to fix that up isn't exactly a bad thing, right? Sony was pretty sparse in its information regarding the PlayStation Online thingy to third-party games (just look at Tony Hawk's Project 8). So, is anyone particularly bothered by this? Or is it all good as long as the final product can compete with XBox Live's online functions for the game?
PA ditches GOW for Vegas, will you?
In their latest update, Penny Arcade informs the world that they have switched from Gears of War to Rainbow Six Vegas as their game of choice -- though Tycho admits he was against the idea. The reasons for the switch are about what you would expect: Vegas is what some would call more "hardcore." Kills are near instantaneous, weapon choices are numerous, player counts are higher, the cover system is (arguably) more flexible than Gears, and Vegas has a robust persistent online structure. I had a feeling after playing the Vegas multiplayer demo that it might become the hardcore game of choice, much like Rainbow Six 3 was on the original Xbox. However, just because it's more hardcore does not mean that it will be more popular. If that were the case, Halo 2 would have been knocked from the Live top spot long ago. Will Vegas topple the new Gears behemoth? Well, no. No it won't. There are many reasons for this, but the main reason is that Vegas simply isn't as accessible as Gears. Even if pressing "A" can have undesired results in Gears -- diving from cover instead of rolling around the edge for instance -- it's still a more friendly setup for the masses (compared to Vegas' use of the left trigger). Also, the weapons of Vegas can be daunting to the uninitiated, as the advantages of one machine gun over another may elude the average gamer. And of course, there is the quibble that Vegas looks nowhere near as good as Gears, despite the fact that they run on the same engine. It seems minor, but graphics alone were enough to turn many of our readers off of the demo, despite how fun it is to play. What are your thoughts? Will the hardcore, fast tactics of Vegas lure you in, or do you prefer the polished, simpler destruction of Gears?
MISSING: Playstation 3 exclusives
Have you been wondering why our Playstation 3 friends have lost so many exclusive games? Think about it, Grand Theft Auto and Assassin's Creed are both shinning examples. Also, why has the Xbox 360 wrapped up exclusives from third party developers like Bioshock and Winning Eleven? It's quite simple actually, Sony's lead man Ken Kutaragi dragged his feet for far too long. Mr. Kutaragi couldn't give developers the thumbs up for exclusivity and Microsoft played the roll of annoying best friend, constantly bugging developers to flock to their console. And look at the result, we've got great games coming. Good job Microsoft, third party exclusive titles are butter and cream and we're all anticipating Assassin's Creed. Oh the joy.[Via, Digg]
Metareview: Rayman Raving Rabbids
The Wii launch window is teeming with minigame madness. Between Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, the upcoming WarioWare: Smooth Moves, and the devil bunnies in Rayman Raving Rabbids, what's a gamer to do? Time to check out the reviews. So far, Rayman and the legions of rabbids haven't seen a lot of review time, but what's out there seems solid. Looking for twisted humor, cow tossing, and freaky bunnies? Rayman's got it.Deeko - 85%: A lot of people are spoiled because of the next-gen graphics seen on the Xbox 360 and the PS3, but the fact of the matter is the graphics in Rayman are very good and serve to prove that this little system has more power than you'd think. The game's overall presentation is wonderfully colorful, superbly animated and highly detailed, running at a very fluid 30 frames per second. Those who feel jaded because the graphics aren't on par with a next-gen console need to get over themselves, because the game is visually quite impressive and that's no small feat. Musically, the soundtrack is all over the place in terms of presentation, with some very strange Rabbid renditions of classic rock tunes, coupled with a handful of interesting musical pieces created for the game. It's eclectic, most certainly, but works quite well. The voices are more like odd sound bytes, which is very traditional Rayman and that is a very good thing. The Rabbid voiceovers are particularly amusing and only add to their overall charm and allure. IGN - 83%: Purists, traditionalists, conventional snobs - none of these people will be happy to read it, but Ubisoft's Rayman Ravving Rabbids completely ditches the franchise's trademark platformer background. Let's be clear to avoid any confusion: there is no platforming to be found in this Wii-exclusive title, which arrives from the undeniably talented Beyond Good & Evil team, led by Rayman creator Michel Ancel. In place of those run-and-jump levels are mini-games designed around the Wii remote. There is a central storyline that sews the minis together, but make no mistake: this project is Ubisoft's deeper, prettier WarioWare. It may not follow the classic Rayman template, but Rabbids is nevertheless a welcomed addition to Wii's launch lineup for it is a fun and oftentimes hilarious game and an ideal choice for the old-school and new-school alike ... The majority of minis in the title are fun whether you're playing by yourself or with friends, although there are the occasional duds. The biggest drawback is that many of the minis are not designed for simultaneous play; instead you go in sequence. But even with that being true the experience is still engaging and addictive and the title's sense of humor is in a league of its own. It is almost unfair to label this effort a Rayman game because the real stars of the project are the bunnies, whose blank faces and inevitable agonized screams will make you laugh over and over again.
Red Steel screenshot madness, round 2
Here we are, just hours away from the US launch of the Wii. Still debating on Red Steel? Here are some shiny new screens to look over while you think about it. Several of these really showcase the lighting effects to their advantage. The Wii may not be able to boast the power of the PS3 or the Xbox 360, but if the design is good enough, Wii games can be just as beautiful.Check out the screens after the jump.
Rainbow Six: Vegas multiplayer impressions
We just spent the last hour playing the Rainbow Six: Vegas multiplayer demo, and so far it's pretty damned good. First of all, the character creation and outfitting is surprisingly robust for a demo. There are plenty of faces available -- sorry, no Vision support in the demo -- lots of facial hair options, as well as a few different camouflage options. The amount of weapons and armor is very impressive for a demo. There are multiple types of rifles, machine guns, pistols, grenades, and plenty of armor and clothing choices for the whole body. What's more, there are even some gadgets and custom weapon attachments, too. Finally, the game lets you add a three character prefix to your Gamertag. This is great for those who haven't appended Clan prefixes to their tags (or those who don't want to). Unfortunately, none of these options are saved when you quit the demo, so you may not want to get too attached to your avatar.
Vegas multiplayer demo infiltrates Live [update 1]
There's nothing quite like a nice Friday demo. For those of you who can't get enough of the Rainbow Six: Vegas demo, you're in luck, because a multiplayer demo just dropped on Live Marketplace. According to the description, there are tons of modes available, including Adversarial, Attack & Defend, and Terro Hunt. Terro Hunt, 4 player co-op game in which your team slaughters hordes of terrorists, sounds particularly fun. We haven't finished the download yet (almost a gig), so we don't know if character creation -- or face mapping -- is available. We'll update you with our impressions as soon as possible.Update: It looks like this demo is only available for Gold members. Silver members can get this on November 24th. Still, considering it's online multiplayer, how would Silver members play it anyway?[Thanks, Chris Hipple]
Red Steel screenshot madness
Say what you will about Red Steel -- whether you're interested in the game or not, the concept art we've seen from the design process has been uniformly gorgeous. We got our hands on some fresh new screens that are almost as pretty. Check 'em out after the jump.
Bet on it, Rainbow Six Vegas delayed [update 1]
You'll have an extra week to exercise your slot machine arm and practice your craps throwing wrist action, because today Ubisoft announced that Rainbow Six Vegas would ship in December. Rainbow Six Vegas was originally announced to ship on November 24th, but according to their updated list of release dates it has been delayed to release one week later. I guess it's just one week, nothing to big. But I have a feeling that Ubisoft has something against November and Thanksgiving. Ubisoft hates turkeys and that's not a fact.Update: I forgot to mention this delay affects only Europe. My bad.
Merc-Y needs your help
So you've decided to adopt. Society applauds you for selflessly taking on the responsibility of caring for a child, dog, cat, fish or any other member of the kingdom Animalia. If you're like us and responsibility is not your cup of tea, Ubisoft is your man. Adopting something that involves guns, astrological signs, lederhosen and costs nothing sounds like the porridge for us. Through the program Merc-Y, you can help bring love and care to a mercenary in need. These mercenaries are no ordinary mercs. They are those that must face destruction when crossing in Far Cry: Vengeance protagonist Jack Carver's path. Armed with Wiimote and nunchuk, Jack spares no one and these mercs tremble in fear. How you can help is simple. A nice letter and packaged goods sent from the heart will do. Forget hand grenades and ammunition! What they need from you is a box complete with a stuffed animal, sunscreen, romance novels (for those lonely moments), fancy drinking water and fake-nose glasses. Now that's what we call war equipment. Our adopted mercenary is a simple, 26-year-old man with love for his mother, hang gliding and bubblegum. His turn-ons are gunfights, yellow cake and good listeners. We know what you are thinking and don't worry -- when it comes to boxers or briefs, he goes commando. It makes us wonder if Ubisoft is trying to reach out to the softer, more nurturing side of gamers by making us feel bad for someone who chooses to put their life in danger. Or, they could be trying to coax the stereotypical female gamer into joining the "boys" in a few rounds of simulated violence, and, hopefully, commerce. Or, we could be reading too far into a joke. [Thanks Jinx!]
Heroes V: Hammers of Fate goes gold
Strategy fans will have no shortage of new releases to pick from this holiday season with expansions available for Empire at War, Battle for Middle-earth II, and Dawn of War. If dwarves are your preferred faction, you'll be pleased to know that Hammers of Fate -- Ubisoft's first expansion pack for Heroes of Might and Magic V -- has gone gold and is on target for a Tuesday release. Independent fan site Age of Heroes has some unofficial details about our bearded friends, as well as the new renegades for hire and neutral units that debut in Hammers. Which strategy title is at the top of your list?See also: Metareview - Heroes of Might and Magic V
Assassin's Creed producer speaks out, we listen intently [update 1]
Not to belittle the feminist movement, or to say something that makes it seem like girls are material things, but the producer of Assassin's Creed, Jade Raymond, is quite beautiful. A beautiful, intelligent gamer? Not just that, friends! She's helping to make games for our enjoyment. Raise your bottles and toast this lady, for she makes our lives that much sweeter. No bottles? Hmm... then, raise your controllers! Let's see what she's going to tell us about Assassin's Creed. The game was never intended as a part of the Prince of Persia universe (although we still hold to our hypothesis that the engine being used will be seen in future PoP titles) The game is based on the book Alamut, by the Slovenian writer Vladimir Bartol. As far as stealth or action, it seems focused on fast-paced action, while being "socially stealthy" -- blending into crowds to get close for an attack or to escape undetected. No sneaking around corners or hiding in shadows, though. Why the Crusades as a setting? Jade replies: "We really believe as a company that in order to reach the next level in entertainment, you need to look for richer subject matter and for there to be more meaning and depth to games." So, since this is a pretty rich part of history that's been relatively untapped in gaming, it does seem a good choice. There's a big twist in the game. It's not quite a sci-fi quirk, but there are elements relating to the modern day. This is interesting news, honestly. Twists are good. There are some heavy RPG elements to the game -- a goal being the "satisfaction of levelling up". Like the time rewind in Prince of Persia games, there's some secret gameplay element when you get in big trouble in Assassin's Creed... but... it's still under wraps. Damn. There's more, but these were the points that made us stroke our beards and go "hmmm". Maybe your reaction was different, maybe not. Either way, check out the pieces we didn't cover and continue to get excited for this game, even though it's not coming for a while.[update: If you're interested in the book Alamut, check it out on Amazon.com!]
Red Steel: how do you feel?
Red Steel is certainly shaping up to be one of the most talked about titles of the Wii launch. Love it, hate it, or maybe think it's just a quick rental way down the line -- likely, you have an opinion, and we want to hear it. And we'll even give you something new to talk about, like this new video from GameTrailers (sorry, you'll have to follow the link for this one). Though it must be said ... whoever is navigating in this video doesn't appear to be the world's most skilled player. It's either that or all the bad guys are capable of massive damage, and we're going to bet on the former.Check out the video and speak out: are you gonna get your vengeance on or take a pass on Red Steel?[Via NeoGAF]
Red Steel TV spot aired, for the kids
Ubisoft's first Wii ad, a Red Steel TV spot, has all the makings of an effective after-school commercial: Action (swords, guns, flailing arms, etc.) Humor (stereotyped Asian "master" ridicules disciple: "you suck") Reassurance (older gamer is playing; it must be cool) Are we sold? Nope -- but we're not the target. Think Ubisoft captures the kids' imaginations with this one?
