Up - Playstation 3

I’ve not seen the film, but by all accounts Up is quite good. So it’ll be interesting to see if the game can soar to the same heights.

Rather oddly, the game starts off with an airplane dog fight in which you control the dog that is controlling the plane – see what they’ve done there, a dog fight featuring dogs! This sequence is halfway through the story in the film, so why the developers have decided to have it as the introduction to the game is beyond me.

One of the first things that struck me about this sequence was the controls – they are awful, and what is even more annoying is the fact that you cannot change them! There wasn’t even the option to invert the axis – a rather odd negation if you ask me.

Thankfully, this level is not indicative of the rest of the game and from here on out the game is a rather pleasant 3D platformer.

Controlling the characters of the boyscout Russell and the grumpy old man Carl, you have to collect items and work together to solve puzzles, often by switching characters.

The game can be a two-player co-op, meaning players can drop in then out and join in with the proceedings – a nice little touch that was probably encouraged to make parents play the game with their children.

When not playing with someone else, the computer takes control of the other character and the AI does an amicable job. However, it’s not nearly as sufficient as having another player with you, and since both characters have unique skills teamwork is an important factor.

Should you find yourself stuck an audio cue will give a hint as to what to do. This is a nice little addition that adds a cinematic touch to the game.

As I’ve already mentioned, I’ve not seen the film and without any cohesive cutscenes to explain the dog fight at the beginning or the reason why Carl and Russell are tied to a floating house, I have to piece together the plot for myself.

Having said that, this game is squarely aimed at a younger audience who have already seen the film.

At times the game can become a bit repetitive and matters are not helped by the lack of action. Naturally, being a Pixar-based game I’m not expecting anything too dramatic like Call of Duty, but for most of the game you are just required to jump from one platform to another.

When there is a villain to overcome, taking them out is not that difficult. However, watching Carl tie a balloon to a dog’s back, only for it to drift away, is quite amusing.

Visually, the game is a pleasant treat for the eyes – it’s colourful, vibrant and the animation flows as a Pixar-based game should.

While the graphics are nothing particularly groundbreaking, they get the job done. The same can be said of the audio. The sound design is solid enough, featuring quips and clips from the movie.

Overall, despite a few misfires, the game won’t leave the younger gamers feeling deflated and it has enough charm to win over the older audience too.

Score: 7 out of 10

The Good
Good teamwork mechanic
Colourful and vibrant graphics

The Bad
Dog fight level at the beginning
Bit short

Compared to the rather meagre offerings from the MCM Expo last week, Eurogamer was a relative feast for the gaming senses, ranging from the hilarity of ‘new’ Super Mario Brothers Wii to the relative sobriety of Heavy Rain, all in the halls and vaults of the surprisingly massive Old Billingsgate building on the shores of the Thames.

Here’s my highlights from the Expo, but more details are covered in our Game On Podcast: Eurogamer Special, so listen to that too if you get a moment!

Here’s my take on the day’s best offerings:

Battlefield: Bad Company 2
A massive booth set up on the main floor of the building was running BC2 games throughout the day, and with my shiny press pass I was one of the first gamers to get my hands on EA’s hotly-tipped squad shooter. Playing similarly to its predecessor, BC2’s graphics had clearly had an overhaul, and a variety of new vehicles and weapons were on offer.

I jumped on to a quad bike at one point, then hijacked a tank and drove through a building – needless to say EA’s Frostbite graphics engine is still up to the task of simulating dozens of buildings exploding in sequence, so expect more of the falling bricks and mortar of the previous titles.

The enhanced radar and tighter controls were a welcome improvement on the last game, but it remains to be seen wether EA can improve the laggy gaming typically associated with playing Battlefield games online.

Aliens Vs Predator
I missed the last game in this series, and having seen the movies I was hoping Rebellion wouldn’t be using those terrible insults to SciFi as any point of reference for this new game – luckily I was right.

Playing in a booth off the main showfloor, AvP was showing off a deathmatch mode, pitching Colonial Marines (armed with traditional guns and a flashlight) against the deadly aliens (who can clamber over every surface in the game and even cling on to the roof) and the stealthy Predators (who come with the familiar red-tinted heads up display and a wicked pair of claws ideal for ripping the enemy to shreds).

Though the action suffered from a fair few graphical bugs, the game was a blast to play, with each of the three combatants offering their own variety of advantages and disadvantages.

It’s early days for the game though, so wether the high speed of the alien and the Marine’s overpowered pistol-whip will be in the final build is up for debate, but either way, I’ll be keeping an eye on this one.

God of War 3
Ex-servant of the Gods, Kratos, returns in the blood-drenched conclusion to the venerable Playstation series.

Screens in the over-18’s section of the expo (watched over by a suitably massive bouncer) were showing the game in all its brutality, with Kratos in fine form tearing enemies to bits with his familiar chain blades, as well as some funky new magical powers, an improved bow and pair of rather nifty wings.

Also making a return are the massive bosses so beloved by fans of the series, and I can promise that the boss battles are just as spectacular as before – I saw Kratos rip the horn off a demon and stab it through the head with the bony protrusion – It doesn’t get much better than that!

Mass Effect 2
Not much to say here which hasn’t already been discussed.

Sadly BioWare didn’t have any new songs to sing, showing the same game scenes released in earlier months. I was happy to see the improved combat system in full swing, with Spectre agent Commander Shepard gunning down robots and organics in equal measure, pausing now and then to hold a conversation with his target. The wheel of conversation choices I loved so much in the last game (with the added bonus of being able to interupt your partner in mid flow!) also makes a return.

Graphically the game’s had an overhaul, and the ever-annoying pop-in textures seems to have been done away with, hopefully along with the game’s notoriously long elevator loading times…

The Saboteur
Tucked away in the basement was a preview build of Pandemic’s World War 2 shooter. A quick play of this revealed a control scheme familiar to anyone who’s played Star Wars: Battlefront or Mercenaries 2, and the previous game’s open-world action makes a welcome return in this game.

I played my way through a factory level, slaughtering Nazi’s left and right and taking in the interesting colour scheme the developers have implemented, as killing Nazis gradually restores the colour saturation to the area, bringing the world back to life, as it were.
However, the main character’s terrible Irish accent didn’t help the proceedings.

‘New’ Super Mario Bros. Wii
Since this one was Colin’s game of the expo, I’m going to let him write this bit, as though I enjoyed the new Super Mario Bros. I was rubbish at it…

“For me, the game that surprised me most at Eurogamer was Super Mario Brothers Wii. While not really a game that I have paid much attention to, I was vaguely aware that it was due to come out this side of Christmas.

Upon taking the wii-mote from the friendly PR lady I was immediately taken with how familiar the game was. For me, it was almost like hooking up with an old friend.”

“Nintendo have very wisely stuck with the familiar 2D layout, giving the game the retro feel that will appeal to gamers of all ages. Those who fondly remember playing Super Mario Brothers on the NES back in the 80s will feel at home playing this game.

The level we played was 4-player co-op, and was immense fun. I was controlling Luigi and Andy was a toadstool. Needless to say, naturally, I used and abused the opportunity to jump on Andy’s head, several times.

It’s not often I get excited at the release of a Wii game, but this one has perked my interest.”

Left 4 Dead 2
This was the game of the show for me, and the new mode on show – Scavenge – only continued to keep me excited for the return of Valve’s venerable zombie blaster.

Graphically the game hasn’t really changed much, though the textures have clearly had an overhaul.

New weapons were on show though, ranging from a katana and frying pan for melee combat to a whole variety of rifles and pistols. Good thing too, as Valve also bought the new special infected into play, with the Charger – a massive hillbilly who can send survivors flying, and the Jockey – who clambers on to survivors and can steer them off cliffs and into fire (all while screaming horribly) being two particular favourites of mine.

The new mode, Scavenge, pitted the survivors against waves of the infected, while they worked to collect petrol cans and get them back to the safe zone.

This looked a total blast on versus mode, and the relatively short rounds seemed ideal for combating the familiar rage-quitters which mar the Left for Dead versus’ online experience.

I really can’t wait for this one, so watch this space.

So those were the highlights of the expo for me, but to hear more about what Colin and I got up to, along with a whole bunch of hear-say and other whispers of a pair of deranged gaming journos, have a listen to our special podcast.

Fairytale Fights - Playstation 3

“But Grandmother!  What big teeth you have,” said Little Red Riding Hood, her voice quivering slightly.

“The better to eat you with, my dear,” roared the wolf, and he leapt out of the bed and began to chase the little girl.

Then Little Red Riding Hood pulled out her giant axe and decapitated the wolf, sending his head flipping end over end towards the door, spraying his blood all over the furniture – or, at least in Fairytale Fight’s version of the fairytale, this is what would probably of happened.

Put simply, this game is twisted. Twisted beyond belief.

Imagine the cutest game world ever, where blue cows moo admid the grass and cute bunnies play as the babbling brook meanders around the screen. Then imagine that your hero or heroine, either Red Riding Hood, Jack (of beanstalk fame) the Naked Emperor (from the Emperor’s New Clothes) or Sleeping Beauty, comes in and kills everything, layering the screen in streamers of blood and guts, slicing the cute bunnies in half and melting the cows with acid.

Jarring image isn’t it? It certainly bothered me a bit!

The set up is simple- in fairytale land these four heroes have been usurped by a new hero. In an effort to regain their notoriety, the four launch themselves off on missions for various fairytale legends, like the three bears and the Pied Piper of Hamelin, and have to win back their supporters.

To do this they have to face off against staples of the fairytale world, chop a path from one screen to the next and complete a few tricky puzzles, all while killing everything in sight, with a variety of spells and dozens and dozens of blades, clubs and axes (even a massive carrot.)

The story is incredibly weak, and since the characters don’t speak, instead communicating entirely in grunts, it becomes laughable very quickly – it seemed to me that the developers just wanted to revel in the bloodlust of killing so many cute characters – this is a game for sadists.

There’s a decent amount of things to do, and the missions are varied enough to hold your interest for a while, but eventually mauling your way through ream after ream of psychotic woodmen, rabbits and cute little kiddies becomes incredibly boring, despite the interesting control system the game has adapted for the combat.

The combat is executed using the analogue stick to pull off combos, combined with a couple of the face buttons for the more interesting attacks. The large amount of weapons laying around makes the combat a bit different every time, but the enemies are really easy to defeat and require no forethought or planning to rip to shreds.

As you progress the game also keeps track of the number of kills with each weapon, and there are a few PS3 trophies waiting for anyone with the stomach to butcher a certain number of cows and cute bunnies, for example.

Graphically the game is decent enough. The fairytale worlds are rendered nicely, with the various green pastures and wide rivers sticking to the outlandish and garish style of the action. The camera, however, is a nightmare.

Sticking to a fixed-angle view, the camera sometimes wanders off the action and has to rush to catch up with the psychopathic fairytale character. It also sometimes changes direction abruptly, and some of the trickier puzzles are rendered twice as difficult thanks to the odd angle.

The sound design is also flawed. While the music is a mix of pretty ‘chimes in the breeze’ happiness and more brutal battle hymns, the constant squelching of the bloodletting and the ‘clink’ of metal on metal are about the only sounds on offer, and they start to grate quickly. The developers should have made the main characters incredibly foul mouthed, as this would have made the game all the funnier to play, and would have allowed you to enjoy playing as each of the four main fairytale legends. As it is, the differences between the four protagonists only stretch as far as a few different melee attacks, with no major changes between them otherwise.

While there is a multiplayer mode it’s pretty much a drop-in-drop-out co-op similar to a dozen DLC games, and finding anyone else who owned the game was very, very difficult – perhaps there aren’t as many psychopaths out there in the world as I’d thought.

Playing like a cross between Shrek, Happy Tree Friends and my psychopathic dreams of world domination, It’s fun for a while, but can get boring quickly. It is, however, rather good for de-stressing after work…

Score 5/10

Good Stuff:
Interesting premise
Decent graphics

Not So Good Stuff:
Very jarring effect on your psyche
No plot
No voice acting

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

When Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune came out in 2007, it was hailed as one of the flagship games on the Playstation 3.

Some people wrote the game off as a Tomb Raider clone or ‘Lara Croft lite’, but ultimately it was an exceptional game.

Starring lovable rogue Nathan Drake, and an ensemble of other characters, the game gave the Playstation 3 a much needed kick in the market and quickly established itself as the must-have title on the system.

That was just the tip of the iceberg, as Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is an altogether more epic experience.

For those unacquainted with the first game, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is a linear action-based game where you control the character of Nathan Drake.

Set roughly 2 years after the first game, it all begins in Tibet, with Nathan Drake waking up on a train. As the events unfold it is revealed the train is hanging off a snowy mountain cliff, and our hero Nate has to take it upon himself to climb the train and get back on to level ground.

In contrast to the first game, the opening of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is dramatic and epic. Setting up the game nicely, the opening is actually midway in the actual story – as Nate collapses and has a flashback, detailing how the messy situation all began.

The flashback scene shows Nate talking with Harry Flynn and his partner Chloe Frazer, treasure hunters who are trying to convince him to help them with their latest chase. As it turns out, they are after an ancient lamp which may hold a clue to Marco Polo’s long-lost fleet, a fact that peaks Nate’s interest and leads to him accepting their offer.

From here the game gets going and soon enough and, much like its predecessor, you are running around, treasure hunting, shooting the bad guys and throwing grenades and one liners in equal measure.

The developers, Naughty Dog, have clearly spent some time refining the Uncharted experience. The gunplay mechanic are smooth and the melee attacks have been enhanced to make you anticipate your opponents moves.

Whereas Drake’s Fortune focused mainly on gun fights and Tomb Raider-esque puzzles, Among Thieves includes elements of espionage. There are levels where you have to sneak around and quietly take out guards. The level in Istanbul is all about timing and positioning, and if done wrong, you have to start again. Luckily, the section is so well designed and so addictive that you don’t actually mind restarting.

The game is mostly viewed in the 3rd person, giving the proceedings the same sort of look and feel as a Gears of War or a later Resident Evil title – albeit a more colourful and less gritty one.

Nathan relies on cover quite a bit – be it hiding from villains or just to protect himself from the gunfire from the never ending onslaught of nameless goons.

At times the camera doesn’t work as well as it should with the cover mechanic, and you may find yourself having to re-adjust you view. However, this problem is so slight that it doesn’t detract from the overall fun.

The various weapons that you acquire through out the adventure also bring a bit of variety in the game – with each weapon serving a purpose.  Oddly enough, one of the most reliable weapons is the standard pistol.

The viewpoint changes during set pieces that are spread out through the game. For example, during one sequence Nathan runs towards the camera with a car chasing him. The change of angle gives the game a nice cinematic feel which adds to the drama, and also gives the designers an opportunity to show their creative flare.

The platform elements of the game are fluid and well paced. They walk a very fine balance of being not too easy and just the right level of entertaining, as Drake will rarely jump in the wrong direction and fall to his death.

Should things prove a little complicated, the developers have included a hint system that will point you in the right direction.

The combination of the action, platform and puzzle mechanics make the single player campaign one of the most enjoyable games on the Playstation 3. Not once does the game get boring or repetitive.

The graphics are as expected – solid, vibrant and nicely rendered. The game was designed on a revamped and optimised version of the original Naughty Dog Game engine, and having made full use of the 25gb available on the blu-ray disc, the artwork and level design is jaw dropping. Settings from Istanbul, the coast of Borneo and all the way up Kathmandu practically look photo realistic.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is a visual labour of love, with every section of the game featuring the finest of details that all help to create the atmosphere and setting of the environment. Birds will fly in your wake and flags flap about in the wind.

The cutscenes are among the best I have ever seen. They are all animated superbly, with some very convincing body language and facial expressions.

Audibly the game also excels, especially with the voice acting. Not once do any of the characters sound forced and their performances flow along nicely. This matter is also helped by the fact that several key characters from the first game are back, with the voice actors slipping back into their vocal shoes nicely.

Played through a digital amplifier the sound is presented in DTS, further adding to the realism. If a character is behind you that’s where you will hear them if they are talking to you. The same goes for all the other in-game sounds – gun fire, explosions, the odd attack helicopter or two.

When early word hinted that Uncharted 2 would be darker than its predecessor I was worried that the series would lose part of it charm. As fate would have it, it is more fun, more enjoyable and more entertaining than Drakes Fortune.

No game is perfect, and Uncharted 2 does have it flaws.  However what Uncharted 2 does, it does extremely well.  With a strong single player campaign, in which its only flaw is that it finishes, and an addictive multiplayer mode, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is a must have if you own a Playstation 3. It is a monumental achievement that has set a benchmark for the gaming industry.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is not only possible contender for game of the year, it is a contender for game of the decade.

Verdict: 9.5 out of 10

The Good
- Great single player campaign
- Good variety of gameplay mechanics
- Great multiplayer features

The Bad
- The single player campaign ends
- Problems with the cover controls