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Beijing 2008 (PS3, Xbox 360)

Tue, 27 May 2008 22:17:00 GMT

If you’ve played any sort of track and field, Olympic, or world of sports game in the past 20 years or so, then you’ve probably come to the same conclusion that most of us have--they’re not all that different from each other. They mostly rely on the ability to tap your fingers on a couple of buttons as fast as you can to win the gold. While Beijing 2008 still relies heavily on this design method, Sega has tried to inject some new mechanics that tie in a little more with each individual event involved.

For example, in the 100m dash, you’re still going to be mashing buttons to run as fast as possible, but the development team has introduced a start mechanic where you essentially hold down one of the triggers on the controller and attempt to time your start with the sound of the gun. In another event, platform diving, you have to move two color-coded bars (via the analog sticks) so that they’re constantly in sync with two dots that represent the diver’s head and feet. Likewise, in swimming, how well you perform depends on how well you can keep a rhythm of stroking going with the two analog sticks. Many events, particularly ones involving dismounts, also make use of a DDR-style mechanic where you have to press a series of buttons as designated on the screen. All of the other events we’ve seen so far have similar touches and most seem to be fairly intuitive.

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Interestingly, Beijing 2008 is also the first Olympic game to support online play (up to eight players) along with the requisite leader board feature. Much like you would in the single-player game, you can compete online by selecting a series of events to compete in. Since some of these events may take some time to complete, players are free to drop in and out at any point. If online isn’t really your thing, Beijing 2008 also supports offline multiplayer up to four players.

Questions or comments? Email the GameTap editors and let us know.

Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath (Xbox 360)

Sat, 24 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Even more so than first-person shooters, real-time strategy games depend on the keyboard and mouse. Establishing an economy, building and expanding your base, managing unit production, and having your units smack the crap out of others requires a lot of finesse. Anyone who plays RTS games "seriously" uses the hotkeys to the point that playing an RTS sounds a lot like furiously typing up an email. So it's always tricky when someone tries to bring an RTS game, even one as fast and actiony as Command & Conquer 3, over to the console. While EA performed a valiant effort with both Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth II and Command & Conquer 3, it's trying to refine the RTS interface even more for the upcoming Xbox 360 release of Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath.

First off, the "commandstick" interface is already a significant improvement over the nested menus of the original C&C3 for the 360. While it could conceivably take about 16 button pushes to make a few tanks using the old interface, now it's just a matter of pulling the triggers, then selecting what you want, and then watching stuff happen. Pulling the right trigger brings up a circular menu designed like a clock; each "digit" is assigned to a different action, such as a specific production structure, or unit, or ability to stance (defensive versus aggressive). To make a unit, you just hold the right trigger, select the unit production icon (or two o'clock) with the right analog stick, and then point with the stick again at whichever unit you want to make. Since you can pull up the menu at any time, it's easier to be in the thick of battle and then queue up some extra tanks for reinforcement without having to either go all the way back to your base, or blunder through a bunch of menus.

Pure (PS3, Xbox 360)

Fri, 23 May 2008 22:46:00 GMT

Back in the day, I used to hit the arcade looking for the latest racing games. I'd stack my tokens across the tops of machines like San Francisco Rush and California Speed, looking for that fast pace and those big jumps that back then you could only find in a cabinet with a wheel. These days, arcades are all but dead, but when I see a game like Pure, an ATV racer where you spend 60 percent of your time in the air in an exaggerated reality of speed and danger, I almost feel like lining up quarters next to my Xbox 360.

That's right, I said 60 percent of your time in the air.

Pure's focus is on tricks. Getting air and letting loose flips, one-hand grabs, and death-defying moves one could only string together when jumping off the side of mountains. And with 16 riders racing through canyons and mud all at once (including 16 players online!), the mayhem from those mountains to the air looks like a serious return back to those arcade racers of old.

These high-speed ATVs can travel up to a quarter of a mile in the air when boosting off jumps, and as the paths start to split, you can actually find shortcuts by going higher up into the mountain, making all that time in the air worth more than just a few trick points. The more you jump, the more you start to get a vertical rush, and you'll find yourself wanting to go push yourself higher and farther across the mountains as you spot faraway caves while busting a kiss of death over opponents and wonder how you can make the jump up there on your next lap.

As you race, you fill up a thrill bar that enables you to do crazier tricks while airborne. Start with single-button basic tricks, then move up two-button advanced tricks, and if you fill the thrill bar to the top, there are even eight or so signature tricks tied to each racer (think triple barrel roll!). Watch out, though, because if you crash, you not only lose some of your boost, you drop down an entire group, falling from signature jumps to advanced, or even worse, from advanced all the way down to the most basic tricks.

Spore: The Creature Editor (Mac, PC)

Fri, 23 May 2008 22:06:00 GMT

Making a game that’s populated largely by user content can be a bit of a paradox: Without the game, users can’t create content, and without the content, there’s not as much of a game. And in Spore, where the game is an entire universe, that’s a whole lot of space to fill. EA has come up with a solution, however, which is to release the creature editor as a standalone product on June 17, more than full three months before the game is scheduled to come out.

We were invited to come to the Maxis studios in Emeryville to spend an hour with the editor in advance of its release. One of the coolest things about the creature editor is that you can spend five minutes building a character or you can spend five hours. The setup is very user friendly; everything is mouse-based, and you’ll simply be clicking, dragging, and wheel-scrolling. But just from those simple controls, you can create a crazy variety of characters.

When you start a new creature, you’ll start with just a body, which can be shortened, lengthened, fattened, and thinned however you desire. There are seven different parts categories; while there’s not a cap on how many of an individual part type you can use, there is an overall limit for parts, so if your tendencies are like ours (if less is more, then more is even more!), you’ll probably find yourself having to pick and choose.

Civilization Revolution (PS3, Xbox 360)

Fri, 23 May 2008 21:35:00 GMT

Dana: My thought process is way too methodical to ever succeed at real-time strategy games. I get so caught up in weighing options that by the time I’ve made a decision, the opponent is usually tromping in with a full-on army and wipes out my paltry settlement with a single blow. However, turn-based strategy gives me a slightly better chance, since at least I know enemies can’t make their decisions any more quickly than I do. Now my only issue is making the right decisions. I decide to pick the Chinese because they begin the game with knowledge of writing, and I make my living by writing. Also, I’ve been craving dim sum all morning. Gee, I wonder why I don’t usually do very well at strategy games…

Scoot: In "regular" Civilization, I usually play as either the Russians or the English. Well, specifically, Catherine for Russia because she has the creative and financial traits (more culture per city per turn and more commerce per tile respectively) and Victoria for England (for the expansive trait, which means more health per city and a cost reduction for structures, and for the financial trait as well). Plus, I think their unique cossack and redcoat units are pretty spiffy as well. Civ Rev's versions of Catherine and Victoria are a bit more streamlined, mirroring the overall streamlining of the game. No more needing to hit up the Civilopedia or a handmade spreadsheet listing leaders, traits, and technologies; you now have 16 nations each with a single leader that gives a unique unit, a starting bonus, and an additional age specific bonus as well. The immediate starter bonuses for each are that Catherine starts with a local area map and a bonus to food, while Elizabeth begins with "knowledge of monarchy" and a defensive bonus. I prefer knowing where things are than to knowing how to wear a heavy hat, so I'll go with Catherine and the Russians for this bout.

Dana: As the game begins, my little settlers are on a patch of land that has water on at least one side. A little exploration shows that the water is actually on three sides. Civ Rev consists entirely of randomly generated maps, so you never know what combination of water and land you’re going to get; it’s entirely possible you could find yourself marooned on an island, which means you’re stuck until you can build galleys to get to another coast. My resource options are not good here—only one food square and four production squares in the immediate perimeter—but there’s nothing close by that’s any better and I can’t start developing new units till I have a settlement in place. So I plunk down Beijing to start churning out some warriors.

MotorStorm Pacific Rift (PS3)

Mon, 19 May 2008 23:56:00 GMT

The biggest difference between the off-road racing game MotorStorm and its sequel is the setting. The original took place in a desert, specifically in a Monument Valley-type setting that had plenty of cliffs to drive straight off and massive boulders in your path. The sequel does away with all of that and places the racers in a tropical setting with plenty of trees and ocean views. But at its core, the gameplay in MotorStorm remains largely the same.

Many of the vehicles from the original game--which included ATVs, dirt bikes, trucks, and big rigs--are back in Pacific Rift, but now, you can also choose to race in a monster truck. Obviously, this vehicle isn’t as nimble as something like a dirt bike, but what it lacks in maneuverability is made up for by its brute strength. If you’re racing against one, it’s almost never a good idea to try and ram it into an obstacle or off the track because, unless you’re driving a big rig, it’s more likely that the monster truck will instead cause those very things to happen to you. Each of these vehicles, including the monster truck, can use turbo to boost their top speed a little bit, but like in the previous game, if you use too much of it, your car will overheat and essentially burst into flames.

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The only track we got to play is a perfect example of how the different setting comes into play. Yes, there are still plenty of crazy jumps and places where you can put other racers out of commission, but there’s more variety in terms of terrain. You’ll not only be driving across cement and mud, but you also have to drive through shallow pools of water in the parts of the track that are closer to the ocean. Additionally, this track showcased how you can take multiple routes to the finish--though it became clear a little later in one race that one path seems to be a little safer or easier to handle than the other.

While we only participated in a single-player race, Pacific Rift will also have options for four-player splitscree multiplayer as well as an online multiplayer mode that supports up to 20 vehicles at once. Naturally, there will be an assortment of features to flesh out the multiplayer aspect of the game, including online rankings and downloadable content that will apparently come in the form of new tracks and vehicles. Look for more on MotorStorm Pacific Rift before its fall release.

Questions or comments? Email the GameTap editors and let us know.

SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation (PS3)

Mon, 19 May 2008 23:51:00 GMT

I have to confess: SOCOM wasn't a game that zipped through my PS2's Ethernet connection. It's a damn admirable franchise, in that it proved that team-based, real-world tactical shooters could be successful on the PS2 as well as the PC, but it's a franchise that I don't have intimate familiarity with. However, I recently got some playtime with the new PS3 installment, Confrontation, and it looks like I might finally join the SOCOM party--albeit six years after SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs' debut on the PS2 back in 2002.

SOCOM: Confrontation is purely about multiplayer, and I got to play a sort of team objective map in a full 16-versus-16 bout. The match type I played had "mercenaries" (I guess it's not cool to use the word "terrorist," though my dude was sporting both a balaclava and an AK-47) facing off versus the SEALs. Or rather, SEALs and their super-friends--the player who killed me as I grabbed the controller was actually wearing Kommando Spezialkräfte (KSK) gear. Random factoid: These guys are the German Special Forces (like British Special Air Service or U.S. Navy SEALs), which I had never heard of until now. I'm actually totally fascinated by that, because when you play as German badasses in other games, you tend to play as the German counterterrorism unit, the Grenzschutzgruppe 9 (or GSG-9).

Anyhow, besides mercenaries, players could choose to be a U.S. Navy SEAL, a German KSK, a British SAS, a Spanish Unidad de Operaciones Especiales (UOE), or a member of France's 1er Régiment de Parachutistes d’Infanterie de Marine (1er RPIMa). Random observation: I think it's interesting that people can play as non-American badasses in a game with the words "U.S. Navy" in the title.

After picking to be a mercenary, I decided that the current gear I had wasn't something I'd be into, so I opted to change my loadout, which is one of the tweaks that SOCOM: Confrontation brings. My dude was equipped in light armor overall; I figured that since I like running around and don't want to waddle around the map in heavy armor, that I'd keep my light armor for maximum mobility. Weapon-wise, I switched from whatever rifle (it might have been a sort of M16 variant) to the trusty AK-47, but added a scope and a different stock to punch up its damage and stability. I kept the balaclava.

Killzone 2 (PS3)

Mon, 19 May 2008 23:24:00 GMT

The original Killzone received a fairly positive response from consumers and critics alike, but many were left wanting more from a title that was purported to be a “Halo killer”--the one game that would usurp Halo’s crown as offering the best first-person shooter experience on a console. But let’s just forget all that nonsense for a moment and focus on the fact that the development team at Guerilla wants to improve and build upon many of the ideas introduced in the original game and make them even better for Killzone 2.

One of the first things that's readily apparent about Killzone 2 is how nice it looks. Similar to the tech demo shown at E3 a few years ago, the first scene in this demo has you flying down to the planet surface in a troop transport with your squadmates yelling at you as other troop transports explode and fall thanks to Helghast antiaircraft fire. There’s lot of action going on and it’s all pretty detailed. Once on the surface, your squadmates fan out and take cover, giving you a brief opportunity to become familiar with some of the controls.

They basically function much like they did in the original Killzone, so if you played the first game, it won't take you too much time. Firing and maneuvering are in their appropriate spots and you can still sprint, which becomes incredibly useful when moving from cover to cover. Cooking grenades (holding them down for a few seconds before releasing) is still incredibly easy thanks to a visual indicator on the grenade that shows how much time you have left before it’s going to detonate. There’s also a new cover system that allows you to pop up from behind an object and fire off a few rounds before ducking back under to avoid enemy fire. It takes a little getting used to, but it definitely is helpful when you have six or seven enemy soldiers opening fire on you.

Resistance 2 (PS3)

Mon, 19 May 2008 23:06:00 GMT

When you're playing Resistance 2 for the first time, it's pretty weird to get personal guidance from Insomniac President and CEO Ted Price of all people. For context, this is akin to having the talking paperclip in Microsoft Word replaced by Bill Gates himself. It's just a bit humbling to have the big head honcho of the company excitedly tell me about the new features coming up for his company's next big first-person shooter.

The event didn't showcase any single-player; instead I jump right into a full, 60-player deathmatch session between media and developers both at Sony and Insomniac. Right after I grab the controller, Price starts telling me about how the game makes a 60-player match manageable: "You're now going to be assigned to a squad of about five or six other players. Don't worry, this server is set to auto-assign, but once we get the community features implemented, you can certainly make a party from your friends list and join games together."

Price then points out that the squad is given a focused objective; he explained, "We give you an easy-to-understand objective that is shown in big letters on your screen, and we mark it on your map so you always know where to go." At the moment, my objective is to capture a, well, capture point on the map. As I zip over to where the big star mark is on my map, my squad runs into a bunch of flashing-red bad dudes.

This is the final component to manageable matches as opposed to unorganized free-for-all mayhem. "Those flashing guys are your rival squad, and they always have counterobjectives to your squad. If you're capturing, they're defending. If you're assassinating, they're protecting. If you're pressing an attack, they're reinforcing their team. Of course, everything you do is for the greater good of your team in the overall match, but we keep things smaller and focused through these squads and objectives."

It's when I actually start shooting away and actually tagging my opponents that I notice Resistance 2's score system at work. Every bullet impact is greeted by a steadily increasing number appearing over the fool that I was hitting. Sometimes I hit a passing baddy with a couple of rounds and see a " 20"; other times I unload a full rifle magazine and take down someone to the tune of 1500 points or so. "We want to make sure players always feel rewarded with every contribution, no matter how minor."

These points, besides determining your score, also build toward special powers. As your overall team reaches certain point thresholds (for example, let's say a team total of at least 10,000 points), you gain abilities like a quick health boost for fast healing or an energy shield to protect a capture point. However, I'm too busy playing with the guns and gaining points to really pay close attention to the abilities (they seem to be single-use but I could be totally wrong in that regard). I see someone else in the game use an energy shield, which acts a bit like Halo 3's bubble shield in that it protects you from all gunfire while letting you physically cross the barrier and shoot someone while inside the shield.

FaceBreaker (PS3, Xbox 360)

Mon, 19 May 2008 21:46:00 GMT

A boxing game where kicks to the groin are as legal as a right hook, FaceBreaker combines the basic elements of the sweet science with some of the most sour moves to hit the squared-circle since the infamous ear-biting incident of 1997. And by sour I'm talking about a boxer rubbing his ass on a downed opponent's face. Not sour enough for you? How about watching a monkey fight an overweight wannabe ninja with asthma in a trailer park? Those are the types of fights gamers can expect from EA's initial offering with its new Freestyle brand, a title EA hopes brings gamers back to the days of PunchOut! and Ready to Rumble.

FaceBreaker features everything from the stereotypical Latin lover to the stereotypical DJ to the stereotypical Russian demolitions expert to the stereotypical voodoo magician exchanging blows in locations like a cave, a zoo, an asylum, and a garage. Gameplay is broken down into simplistic button presses that include both high and low attacks, and the more blows you're able to link together, the faster you build your Breaker meter. There are four levels of Breaker moves--bone, ground, sky, and face--and as you quickly link together jabs, hooks, and even throws, you can then unleash a special move to try and finish your opponent off. The thing is, if one of your punches is countered or you miss a strike, your combo is over and your meter sinks back to zero. So gamers need to quickly decide if they want to throw a few punches, get enough for a simple BoneBreaker move, and go with that, or do they try to link together around 12 shots and go for the FaceBreaker knockout.

Fights are broken down into three rounds and can end one of two ways: by knocking your opponent down three times or by knocking him out with the aforementioned FaceBreaker. That means if a gamer is good enough and starts the fight with a 12-punch string followed by a FaceBreaker, the fight can literally be over in 10 seconds. Then again, judging by the demo I saw, it looks like stringing that many moves together without your opponent blocking at least one and ending the combo is going to be a significant test of skill.

Dean Richards, the senior producer for the product, explains FaceBreaker's punching mechanics as a simple rock-paper-scissors formula. "Light attacks beat strong attacks, strong beats defense, and defense beats light," he says as he knocks an opponent down, then performs a one-handed pushup on his opponent's face using the character Ice (bus driver by day, bruiser by night).

As the characters continue to fight, the pockets of life in the background move around and continue to change after every round. For example: As Ice fought in the ring, another character, Socks (looks like the Joker from Batman) was being arrested in the background. By round two, he was now in the cop car.