Stalking Venus

Little Big Planet – A review (with help from Sackboy)

Last modified on 2008-11-21 15:19:32 GMT. 1 comment. Top.

Hi, I’m Sackboy and I’m guestblogging for StalkingVenus.com.

I’ve lived my whole life in a world called Little Big Planet. Tim of StalkingVenus fame and (apparently zero) fortune, has asked me to write a quick paragraph or two telling all you readers what I think of my home world. So seeing as how he and I are quite good buddies (even though I only met him recently), I decided to oblige.

To get a good idea of my world, I want you to try and imagine a tiny, round, slightly damp orange peanut, with a sort of tinfoil edging and gold sparkles. My world is nothing like that… but it could be! That’s because my world is made out of your imagination and dreams. Almost anything is possible.

My world is made out of cloth and cardboard, and granite, and metal, and strangely shaped birds connected to the sky with string. My world is filled with fire, poisonous gas and electrical storms; gigantic snapping crocodiles and bone rattling explosions. My world has tunnels, ledges, springs, pulleys, switches, and rockets. It has monkeys and kings; skeletons and giraffes; pits full of spikes and sponge cubes and bouncing platforms.

In fact, every day of my existence is a mad dash through an amazingly alarming set of constantly changing dangers… and I absolutely love it here!

~~~~

Well, you’ve heard it from Sackboy himself. He loves Little Big Planet, and I can almost guarantee that you will too, so if you want a recommendation, here it is: Go and buy it now!

If you’re after a more detailed description, read on…

Little Big Phenomenon:

There’s been a lot of hype surrounding Little Big Planet. It has to be one of the most eagerly anticipated games of the year, and as so often happens, the pressure was really on for Sony and Media Molecule (the game’s developers) to live up to all those expectations. And boy did they deliver.

This is one of the highest rated games I’ve ever been lucky enough to play. Normally games that get good ratings tend to be 3D-style shooters and stealth games, incredibly complicated strategy games, or sprawling fantasy epics that appeal to people who, when they talk about gaming, say things like “Oh, that only took me four hundred and fifty-two thousand hours to complete. Give or take.”

It’s really not very often that a game which has only four basic controls (left, right, jump, and grab), gets to be rated 90 to 100 percent by most of the bigwigs.

To give you an idea of what people thought, take a look at these stats:

• Edge                   10/10
• Eurogamer            9/10
• GamePro                 5/5
• Gamespot             9/10
• GameTrailers      9.4/10
• Official PS Mag    10/10
• IGN UK                9.7/10

Also, on aggregated scoring systems like Metacritic and Game Rankings, which scan hundreds of reviews, comments and opinions it scored between 95% and 100%.

So how come a side-scrolling platformer gets such a high score. Surely it can’t be that good to play?

Little Big Funhouse:

Okay, so let’s talk about the gameplay then. What’s the big deal?

Well, probably the first thing that struck me was the incredibly subtle use of the power of the Playstation 3 graphical capabilities. There are things going on in LBP that you don’t even notice until you take a moment to think about them.

To start with, you can customise your sackboy or girl dramatically. Costumes, facial expressions, hand movements. Dress your character up more or less how you please!

Then there’s the physics engine: If you – meaning your sackboy -  jump up onto a small felt-covered block, it will respond to your movement. Move on it too quickly, and it will topple out from under you in exactly the same way it would do in real life.

In fact, the way that things move in the game seems so natural that you don’t even notice how much computer processing must go into making them work.

The detail of the graphical elements is also incredibly high. Move close to a felt block, and you can see its stitching. Jump over a pit of flames and watch the black smoke swirl with the movement of your body through the air.

The soundtrack is nicely atmospheric, and some of the tunes will be stuck in your head for days. Stephen Fry’s dry quips carry the game through what could otherwise be boring bits.

There’s also something particularly fun about being so small. Back in the late seventies, when the first Playstation hadn’t even been conceived, there was a television show about art that was hosted by a very accomplished and friendly Englishman called Tony Hart. The show, called Take Hart, featured a tiny little brown plasticine man called Morph.

Morph had all these great adventures running around on desks and playing with pencils ten times his size, making things from string and cotton reels and so on that he became quite a hit with the public, and eventually had his own TV show.

Little Big Planet gives a pretty hefty nod to Morph and Tony Hart; the style of the game is very similar to the old shows, and the introductory sequences even feature the same music that used to be played on Hart’s show.

Anyway, the point of that little history lesson is to show that somehow the folks at Media Molecule have completely ‘grokked’ the concept of Morph and his little big world and managed to update it, streamline it and make it competely interactive. The little people’s challenges become your challenges in a way that, from everything I’ve seen and read, breaks down all the adult barriers and brings out your inner child.

Little Big Worlds:

The worlds that were created by Media Molecule are all carefully crafted to provide several unique environments of great gameplay. From pretty garden to dry and dusty desert; from halloween horror house to tunnels in the jungle, there’s plenty to see. In addition to the eight themed worlds with all of their sub levels, there are also keys hidden about, that when found, unlock fun mini challenges to keep you entertained.

Little Big Creation:

The thing that rounds this game off and adds a good 30 or 40 percent to the review scores, is the ‘Create’ mode. With the inclusion of a custom-built level editor, Media Molecule have totally blown away the industry’s preconceptions of what a console game is.

The editor is elegant, powerful, and remarkably easy to use (take it from someone who’s had a decent shot at editing Unreal and Max Payne levels!)

During the gameplay, your little sackboy collects various items that you can then use to build and decorate your own levels. This is where the sky is literally the limit. Almost anything you can imagine can be built in Create mode. Flaming pits? No problem. A drawbridge? Why not. In fact, one maniac actually built himself a working mechanical calculator, constructed from pulleys, levers and cogs that simply has to be seen to be believed!

Once you’ve created your masterpiece, you can publish it online for anyone to play (as long as it contains no offensive or copyright material!) There’s something tremendously rewarding about logging on and having a few of your friends enter your world with their sackpeople.

Little Big Eternity:

Because of the open-endedness of the game, it can theoretically be extended into eternity. You’ll never run out of new levels to play. More items and building parts can be added. New clothing for your sackperson will be tailored, and people will always be conceiving the next ‘greatest level’.

Little Bad Planet:

Every game has problems when it is first released, and Little Big Planet is certainly no exception. From what I’ve seen so far, LBP only has two major issues, and neither of them is really the fault of Sony or Media Molecule.

Firstly, the online servers are simply not able to cope with the sheer numbers of people trying to play. Perhaps Sony underestimated the game’s success, perhaps they were tight-fisted with the money for online equipment, or perhaps there are bugs in the software itself that were only revealed under extreme load testing.

Still, the fact remains that the game often lags considerably when playing online. For me it’s been a bit of a hit and miss – Sometimes I have no lag at all. Other times the game is unplayable outside of single-player mode. This is a serious issue, and Sony has already issued statements saying that it will be addressed in future updates.

The second issue is largely due to the common gamer knowing sweet bugger all about international copyright law – and really, why should they?

There was a lot of teeth-gnashing after the game was released because many of the players went and created elaborate custom levels and then published them to Sony’s servers for other people to play – only to have them permanently deleted by Sony. A lot of people thought this was incredibly draconian and were understandably miffed that their time and hard work had been obliterated without so much as an explanation.

However, the subject has been substantially investigated and technically Sony was perfectly within their right to delete the levels. By all accounts, there is no evidence that any level was deleted that didn’t infringe on someone’s copyright. What us non-lawyer types didn’t really grasp was that any use of someone’s intellectual property when creating a level is something Sony could get sued for. If you built a level with a gigantic Sony logo because you love the company, then their legal department has to stop you.

If they don’t, anyone else could use the logo however they wanted to.

Little Big Conclusion:

Let’s recap: Great graphics, great physics engine, great characters, fantastic customization options, online play, awesome built-in levels and a powerful editor to create more. Let’s face it – it’s a pretty damned brilliant game!

I’d go so far as to say that everyone who owns a Playstation 3 should go out and buy a copy of Little Big Planet. Something this much fun simply has to be good for the soul.

Review: Motorstorm Pacific Rift!

Last modified on 2008-11-07 13:01:16 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

The original Motorstorm was the first game I experienced on the PS3, and I played it to death. The graphics were fantastic, and the gameplay, despite being difficult to master at times, appealed to my inner madman.

Not many other racing games (with the notable exception of Burnout Paradise) have made me feel exhilarated and charged up to win as Motorstorm did, and 20 months later, I’m glad to say that the sequel, MotorStorm: Pacific Rift, not only re-awakens the old feelings, but cranks them into overdrive.

Brutal off-road racing is back with a vengeance! In Pacific Rift, the festival has moved from the deep canyons and spires of Monument Valley to a previously unexplored island rich in lush forests, crystal-clear waterfalls, pristine beaches, smoking hot volcano fields, and mist-covered mountain peaks.

The island contains four different zones — Water, Air, Earth and Fire; each zone has its own unique attributes and obstacles. Some elements can be used to your advantage though — driving through a flowing stream or a stagnant pool of water will cool down your turbo so you don’t overheat as much. On the flipside, lava heats up the turbo faster (so watch it closely), but you can also gleefully extinguish you opponents by shoving them into the nearest molten lake!

Motorstorm is characterized by two main things — boost and alternate routes. And Motorstormers will be pleased to find out that all 16 of the island’s tracks come riddled with multiple routes. It’s easy to move from one route to another several times throughout the race.

Depending on the vehicle you have chosen, you need to pick the most strategic route — if you’re on a bike avoid the deep water for you shall sink, and if you’re driving a big rig avoid the big jumps for you shall plummet to an explosive death. Track deformation also has a part to play — as laps progress roads are carved to various depths, and this will affect how your vehicle handles the track. Lighter vehicles, for example, will have a harder time negotiating through the carve-out of a big rig truck.

Speaking of vehicles the usual roster of bikes, ATVs, buggies, rally cars, race trucks, mudpluggers, is complemented with the notable addition of the behemoth Monster Trucks. Good for crushing opponents and vegetation, the monster truck is relatively fast, but careful when making turns, the high centre of gravity makes it very easy to overturn. All your vehicles are conveniently stored in the Garage from which you can make colour and model selections prior to the race.

There are two main modes — Festival and Wreakreation. Festival is the single-player campaign mode where you begin by choosing a rider (male or female) and then jumping into the races specific for each zone. There are various race types, from the normal races, to the speed events, to my favourite, the eliminator events.

The full quote of 16 racers start, and every set period of the, the racer in last position gets eliminated i.e. dies in huge explosion. Be #1 at the end to claim the glory. Winning races allows you to unlock new rider costumes, vehicles, and paint-jobs for each vehicle. The included Photo mode allows you to capture all of your finest (or not-so finest) moments. There are also over 40 varied music tracks to keep your adrenaline pumping during the races. A great addition is that Pacific Rift supports custom soundtracks! All you need to do is access the XMB via PS button and start playing the music.

In Wreckreation, you get to access online play, four-player split-screen, or just for have fun with free-play, which allows you to select your vehicle, track, number of laps of your choice, and the type of vehicles you want to race against. In term of the online play, competitors gather in a lobby where the host selects the tracks and vehicles.

Players are able to veto a track if they are not entirely happy with the choice — enough votes and the track selection will have to be made again. Alongside the ranked and casual races, the custom match option enables you to create a game and send invites to your friends. There is matchmaker to help you find games based on your preferences, and you can access all manner of statistics and leader boards. Evolution Studios, creators of Pacific Rift, will also make downloadable content available in the near future.

Compared to its predecessor, Pacific Rift has much better presentation values, and the controls feel somewhat tighter. The graphics look fantastic with vivid colours, good lighting, mesmerising scenery, and a very smooth frame rate. Add on the multitude of tracks and race types, and Pacific Rift is a frenzied racer that shouldn’t be missed whether you’re a fan of the original or a newcomer.

As with most games, practice makes perfect and it is no different in Pacific Rift. The gameplay is intense and can be frustrating at time, but it is good fun and feels very rewarding to win. Once you’ve become accustomed to the handling of your vehicles, learn how to take advantage of the tracks elements, and you’ll be boosting to victory! God luck and don’t forget your crash helmet!

- Many thanks to contributing reviewer onelargeprawn for assistance with this one!

Win a copy of Devil May Cry 4 for Xbox!!

Last modified on 2008-09-16 10:30:06 GMT. 1 comment. Top.

StalkingVenus is giving one lucky South African a chance to win a copy of Devil May Cry 4 for the Xbox, and all you have to do is answer a simple question. Be sure to check out the deets below! Winner will also receive a ‘mystery’ hamper of Playstation 3 goodies.

Question: What is Nero’s new power arm called?

Send answers to competitions@stalkingvenus.com

THIS IS FOR THE XBOX VERSION OF DMC4

Competition is valid to South African residents only. Closes 30 September 2008.

So what’s it all about?

Long ago the Dark Knight Sparda rebelled against the dark emperor and waged a one-man war to save humanity. Thousands of years later, a religious organization worships this renowned saviour and has taken it upon themselves to rid the world of all evil.

Residing in Fortuna, this organization is known as the “Order of the Sword,” and is made up of an elite group of “Holy Knights.” One day a young knight named Nero witnesses Sparda’s legendary son Dante slaughter his fellow warriors. Has the renowned devil hunter turned his back on mankind? What does this encounter mean for these two individuals?

In Devil May Cry 4, players control the formidable Nero who comes to grips with his newly found power as his beliefs and allegiance are tested. Continuing the legacy of fast paced action synonymous with the series, Devil May Cry 4 pushes the envelope of excellence even further with the inclusion of a new combat system that incorporates Nero’s “Devil Bringer.” This new feature has players delivering overwhelming damage to enemies with non-stop combos, while gaining new power for Nero’s right arm.

With the Xbox3’s system’s advanced graphical capabilities, high definition visuals and intricate detail come to life as players explore new and exotic locales. Amazing visual effects and dynamic action coupled with a complex storyline, provides the very cool, slick and stylish attitude that only a Devil May Cry game can deliver.

Special Features:

• Next-gen visuals: The high-definition immersive experience is presented at 60 frames per second.
• Familiar and new: The newcomer Nero clashes with veteran Dante, with new characters and environments and a signature blend of guns and swordplay. The deep combo system rewards stylish dispatching of enemies, while the unique “Devil Bringer” arm opens up a range of combo options.
• Exceed System: This new system allows Nero to charge up his sword with a throttle effect, revving up to three levels with powerful attack options. The new active style change system for Dante allows him to switch styles and weapons on the fly, producing crazy combo possibilities.
• Blend of familiar and new – newcomer Nero clashes with veteran Dante.
• New characters and environments.
• Signature blend of guns and swordplay.
• Deep combo system rewards stylish dispatching of enemies.
• Unique “Devil Bringer” arm opens up a range of combo options.
• Distinct set of weaponry and moves for Nero and Dante.
• Exceed System allows Nero to charge up his sword with a throttle effect, revving up to three levels with powerful attack options.
• New active style change system for Dante allows him to switch styles and weapons on the fly, producing crazy combo possibilities.
• During any cutscene in the game, the camera can be controlled, giving you alternate views of what you’re seeing. To move the camera around, use the right analog stick on your controller. You can zoom in and out by using the right trigger button.

GTI Club+ coming soon to PS3!

Last modified on 2008-09-05 08:53:06 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

I’ve always been a fan of racing games. The first one I ever played was on an old Apple II Europlus, and it consisted of a bunch of full-stops (periods) sliding by to form the track. Things have changed a lot since then, as evidenced by the upcoming release of GTI Club+ on the Playstation Network…

Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH will release a completely updated and enhanced version of its popular GTI Club arcade game for PLAYSTATION®3 via the PlayStation Store this November. Entitled GTI Club+, the game boasts all-new HD visuals and widely expanded gameplay elements.

The original arcade game was released to huge acclaim in 1996 and was a fun and manic free-roaming racer featuring four styles of rally car and a unique handbrake feature for sharp turns. GTI Club+ retains the open element of the original, but has been totally reworked in every aspect. Running at 720p at 60fps, the new game has all the modes of its arcade forebear, but takes the race online, allowing up to eight people to compete simultaneously.

The new game has been overseen by Konami’s European Product Planning department and developed by SUMO Digital Entertainment, and has been designed to boast all the content and add-ons expected of a next gen title. GTI Club+ brings the arcade game bang up to date with incredible visuals and speed, with the option to customise the various cars with bespoke paint jobs and decals. The original game’s four cars have also been expanded with a number of vintage and modern vehicles added to the roster.

In game, GTI Club+ also utilises a rear-view mirror for the in-car view, and a Sat Nav system to help traverse the open nature of the huge courses. Dizzying replays of key action, 5.1 sound including a remix of the coin-op’s music by Atjazz, and player-to-player voice comms also add to the camaraderie as players compete against each other. The game is also compatible with Sony’s Eye Toy HD, allowing users to see their rivals as they play.

With a full set of modes, including Free Run, Arcade and Bomb Tag, GTI Club+ sets a new standard for downloadable titles. Die-hard racers can test their mettle via worldwide rankings, while Konami is committed to expanding the game via regular downloads.

“GTI Club+ brings the fun back to racing games and offers incredible value for money,” commented Dave Cox, Head of Product Planning for Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH. “It is the most ambitious and expansive addition to the PLAYSTATION®Network to date, and brings one of the most exciting coin-ops of yesteryear bang up to date with stunning HD visuals, all new in-game elements and the ability to add new elements to keep the gameplay fresh.”

Fantastic Contraption

Last modified on 2008-08-29 07:19:20 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

If you’re old enough to remember DOS games, then you’ll probably have played The Incredible Machine.

Well, this is very similar, only it’s a simplified online version called Fantastic Contraption. The idea is to get the little red thing into the other little red thing. This isn’t nearly as simple as it sounds.

The reason it’s not so simple, is that you can only build things in the workshop, which is the light blue area you see above. So in this example, you have to get the little red ball into the red ‘Goal’ box on the right. By default, when this contraption is started, gravity makes the ball drop, so you have to use the available tools to create conveyor belts, ramps, catapults, bridges and slides to get the ball across.

Some of the levels seem truly impossible (see below), but where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Check it out at FantasticContraption.com – but be warned: It’s incredibly addictive!

Preview: Diablo 3

Last modified on 2008-07-09 07:43:14 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

I just finished watching the 568 mb Diablo 3 game play video, and boy am I psyched! I was a bit sceptical at first, having only seen some still screenshots of the game, which — as has been mentioned by countless others — looks a bit like a wishy-washy watercolour painting.

However, as soon as you see everything in motion, the graphics are actually pretty amazing. The colours lend the game a lot of atmosphere and the lighting, water, weather and particle effects are fantastic. From fairly obvious stuff like rain drops, to the much more subtle, like refraction rainbow effects in mist and variable fog density.

The environment is also more interactive than the first and second Diablo games. Bridges crumble and collapse, broken walls can be bashed so that the blocks tumble onto your enemies, doors splinter when bashed and take a few hits to break through properly, and so on.

Inside looks more like what I remember from the older Diablo games, although revamped with better lighting and effects. There’s also a much greater sense of depth, in that there are often balconies and ledges, where you can see the levels below you.

The indoor lighting is also incredible, with atmospheric pools of light contrasting with dark shadows in which nasty creatures could be lurking. Again, there are more details, with better textures on everything, and effects like smoke rising from candles, intricate cobwebs and things fading off into the distance just the right amount for it not to be a pain in the ass.

The interface has also been revamped. Again, it looks like the Blizzard team has tried not to deviate too far from what made the first two games popular. The look and feel of the interface are similar to the older games, and work in a similar manner, but the graphics have been updated and improved.

The characters and their abilities are excellent. There’s a new character type called the Witch Doctor, that can summon ‘familiar’ demons to serve his needs. He can cast pestilence on people, which jumps from enemy to enemy, inflicting damage as it swarms. He can also cast this spell on his own familiar creatures, which causes them to inflict infection damage too. When a familiar creature is running low on health, the Witch Doctor can choose to destroy the creature, making it explode and cause major damage to nearby enemies.

The Witch Doctor also has a great spell called ‘Wall of Zombies’, which does exactly what the title says: Creates a great big wall of the undead, which attacks any enemy that comes near it. Great for casting across narrow passageways when you need to buy yourself a bit of time!

Then there are the enemies… There are a hell of a lot of enemies! Skeletons by the kazillion, zombies, big ugly rotting creatures that explode when you kill them and turn into scores of serpent-like beasties that bite and squirm around you, massive — and I mean massive — creatures like the ‘Siegebreaker Assault Beast’ that will stomp you for hundreds of points of damage at a time, and spawn a graveyard full of skeletal warriors when they die…

Yes, this look like it’s going to be a pretty entertaining game! We’ll have to wait a while to review the actual gameplay mechanics, but from what I’ve seen, this looks like it’s going to follow the first two Diablo games into the halls of fame. Nice one Blizzard!

For more, visit: Diablo 3 website

Mirror’s Edge (p)review

Last modified on 2008-06-06 17:17:51 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

Mirror’s Edge is a new First Person… er… Jumper, that makes leaping around the tops of tall buildings an integral part of the game play.

If the game is as good as the footage looks, this first person Parkour based game from Electronic Arts is going to be awesome!

The story’s protagonist is a Japanimation-style freerunner chick called Faith (yeah, very subtle). Faith grew up on the streets after her folks were killed during a government protest. She learns the art of running while lurking about with the free-thinking rebellious underworld types that live in the shadows of the surveillance state.

Because of all the Big Brother nastiness in the form of enough surveillance to make Britain look like they’ve never heard the word ‘camera’, sensitive and private has to be delivered by specialized athletic couriers known as runners.

For some reason, the government has abducted Faith’s sister, and the game revolves around Faith using her runner skills to try and rescue her.

The game is being developed by Electronic Arts and DICE, and is set for release in 2008 (although the sketchiness of information currently – and, to be honest, my general skepticism about release dates – means that we may only get to see it in 2009).

One of the selling points of the game is the heavy reliance on physics, and utilizing ideas such as building up momentum while running in order to fling Faith across the rooftops in a series of multiple jumps and runs to create a string of combination moves that will probably be optimized to look graphially spectacular. In the above screen shot, you can see Faith about to slide down a cable. When she does this, she’ll build up enough momentum to allow her to combo jump onto the wall next to the cable end and lever herself off and up to the rooftop, or something along those lines. It’s easier to understand by watching the video below.

Clever use of blurring techniques and subtle changes in movement like the ‘camera wobble’ speeding up and getting smoother as Faith runs faster supposedly make for a much more intuitive play experience. The screen shots have been out for a while, but the spanking new video highlights the physics and graphics.

I can’t say I don’t have my doubts about the playability of the game. I guess it seems weird to me that you can move with such a great degree of freedom, but without being able to see your body. I know that in theory it’s the same as an FPS like Quake or Half-Life, but I guess I think this one’s gonna make me nauseous. I really hope not though, coz it’s a really cool idea, and a great way for me to exercise my Parkour fantasies without breaking any bones!

Newbie review: Grand Theft Auto 4

Last modified on 2008-06-18 17:45:05 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

I’m new to the Playstation, having recently made the switch from PC gaming to console gaming, so I have to admit that I didn’t really know what all the fuss was about with this game.

Everybody – including people who don’t play games at all – was going on about it long before it was even released. The Lesbian Liberation Front called it “evil and vindictive – a terribly chauvinistic game, with uncouth references to hot pussy”. The panel for global warming and climate change called it “the nastiest thing since carbon emissions”. Bill Gates, in a recent interview with the New York Times, said “Dis da best damn ting I ever saw, yo. It’s changed mah life bitch, so fuck you!”

I’m talking of course, about Grand Theft Auto IV.

The first thing I noticed about the game was the packaging (Actually, the first thing I noticed about it was the steep fucking price, but we’ll leave that aside for the moment). Inside the cover was a large, full-colour fold-out map of Liberty City, the city that is New York in everything but name. It is a detailed street map that shows the whole of the city, and makes for a cool thing to wave about at your friends, if not actually use while playing the game.

In addition to the map, there’s a glossy booklet with great info in the form of advertisements about several of the sweet spots in Liberty City. This is a good starting point for sightseeing, although again, it’s more of a fun-to-have than a particularly useful tool to use while playing.

On the PS3, the game takes quite a long time to run the initial installation and copy files to the system. It had me worried at first, because there have been some games in the past that had really dodgy first releases with incredibly long load times. However, I’m pleased to say that this is a once-off coffee break. After the initial install, the rest of the game loads pretty quickly.

You play an immigrant called Niko Bellic, a true bad ass dude from, like Kazakhstan or somewhere along those lines (I’m not hardcore, so forgive me if I gloss some of the details). Anyway, Niko is very well designed. I’ve seen plenty of movies and games in the past where the bad ass is totally one dimensional and overacted. Niko is just the opposite. His voice takes a bit of getting used to, and I found it a bit cheesy at first, but once you start getting to know him, it integrates very well with his character. But it’s in his movements and dialogue that he really shines. He’s the sort of bad guy that will stare you down rather than try and come up with a witty tough-guy thing to say. He’ll be able to say “What the fuck is going on here, you stupid cunt?” without even speaking. He just holds his arms out in a particular way that says it all. Seriously, you have to see it to believe it.

The game seems to be largely about (surprise!) stealing cars, and then doing criminal shit to people. There are cops everywhere and believe me, they’ll try and bust you if they see you getting up to no good. Now here’s where all the conservative ranting kicks in… When you find yourself driving around the streets, in between missions, it’s surprisingly fun to smash into some street whore with your car, flinging her broken body through the air while the cops are watching, in order to lure them into a high speed chase. Yes, it’s wrong. I know it is. But… It’s such FUN!! In fact, If I believed in god, I’d be thinking “Goddamn it, this game is gonna get my ass sent to hell!”

Liberty City is an open world, meaning that there aren’t (many) restrictions on where you can go and what you can do. It’s a massive city, and finding all of it’s treasures can take a long time. As a newbie player, I’m nowhere near seeing it all, which makes me inordinately happy. I loved Burnout – Paradise City, as it was my very first experience with an open world environment, and Liberty is even bigger!

There have been a few mutterings about the graphics in GTA IV. The general complaint is that they’re a bit cartoony and I think a lot of folks were expecting the same sort of photorealism as in the latest Burnout game. The thing is though, that when you take into account the sheer size of the city, the number of things you can do in it (e.g. steal any vehicle that’s driving around the streets), the gameplay and cut scenes, and the amazing soundtrack (everything from Phil Collins through to Sisters of Mercy), the slight lowering of things like advanced reflections and shadows is a minor thing that I honestly stopped noticing about 2 minutes into the game. Coming from basic PC gaming, this still knocks my socks off.

As you drive around the city, performing your various nefarious deeds, you can switch between several radio stations, allowing you a good choice of music, from immigrant Russian (or whatever) tunes to Techno (see below for full soundtrack list). There’s also some fantastic commentary by the radio DJs. I don’t want to spoil the surprise by quoting the stuff here, but suffice it to say that just driving about in your car listening to the radio is actually quite a laugh.

The car (or, strictly speaking, Niko) has a built-in GPS system that allows him to find his way around. By opening up the GPS map, you can find and set waypoints for navigation. The route to your waypoint is then drawn on the map, which makes it surprisingly easy to find your way around (once you’ve learned to control your vehicle that is!)

Niko carries his cellular phone wherever he goes. As he meets people, he can add their phone numbers to his phone’s address book. This is useful for speed dialling contacts. He can use the phone for things like arranging dates with women, contacting his cousin, Roman (an important person for getting the first few missions started), and getting text messages. The phone is also used to do a quick-restart of any mission that you failed. This is an incredibly useful feature considering that the game doesn’t allow you to save (one thing I miss terribly about PC gaming). The game does save, but only in specific places like Niko’s apartment, or upon successful completion of a mission.

Multiplayer mode is also accessed through the phone, allowing you to start or connect to many different styles of multiplayer games, such as deathmatch, team deathmatch, cops and crooks, kill everything in sight and other such delightful online diversions.

All in all, from a newbies perspective (and from what I can gather, loads of regulars too), this is a fantastic game. It’s huge, diverse, fun to play and with enough things to do that you’re not likely to get bored for quite some time. Go get it (but maybe wait for the price to drop R750 is simply too fucking steep!) and enjoy it.

If you’re also a newbie to either the PS3 or the Grand Theft Auto franchise, drop us a comment and let us know what you think of it!

Update (20/05/2008): I’ve seen a lot of search results for Phil Collins leading to this article (what’s with that?) Anyway, I assume it’s because people are looking up the songs that Phil performs on some of the GTA radio stations.

He does two numbers: One on his own, called In the air tonight and another with Phil Bailey called Easy Lover. So there you go. Now you have your money’s worth.

As an added bonus, here are all of the tracks in GTA IV, sorted by station:

Emotion 98.3

The Motels – Only The Lonely
10cc – I’m Not In Love
Quarterflash – Harden My Heart
Toto – Make Believe
Elkie Brooks – Fool If You Think It’s Over
The Assembly – Never Never
The Passions – I’m In Love With A German Film Star
Foreigner – I Want to Know What Love Is
Pat Benatar – We Belong
The Pretenders – Private Life
Phil Collins – In The Air Tonight
Roxy Music – Avalon
Eddie Money – Baby Hold On
Rainbow – Stone Cold
Giuffria – Call To The Heart
Art of Noise – Moments In Love
Dan Hartman – I Can Dream About You

Flash FM

Laura Branigan – Gloria
Rick Springfield – Human Touch
INXS – The One Thing
Philip Bailey & Phil Collins – Easy Lover
Scandal – The Warrior
Alison Moyet – Love Resurrection
Alan Parsons Project – Games People Play
Hall & Oates – Family Man
Pat Benatar – Love is a Battlefield
Nik Kershaw – Wouldn’t it be Good
Phil Oakey and Giorgio Moroder – Together In Electric Dreams
Talk Talk – It’s My Life
Missing Persons – Destination Unknown
Wang Chung – Don’t Let Go
Gino Vannelli – Appaloosa
Genesis – Turn it on Again
Blancmange – Living On The Ceiling
Paul Young – Come Back and Stay

Fresh 105 FM

Afrika Bambaataa & Soul Sonic Force – Renegades of Funk
Jonzun Crew – Pack Jam (Look Out for the OVC)
Run-D.M.C. – It’s Like That
Planet Patrol – Play At Your Own Risk
The Egyptian Lover – Egypt, Egypt
Art of Noise – Beat Box
Man Parrish – Boogie Down Bronx
Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three – Request Line
Midnight Star – Freak-a-zoid
Whodini – Freaks Come Out At Night

Paradise FM

Unlimited Touch – I Hear Music In The Streets
Plunky & the Oneness Of Juju – Everyway But Loose (Larry Levan Remix)
Geraldine Hunt – Can’t Fake The Feeling
Raw Silk – Do It To The Music
Jimmy Bo Horne – Is It In
Exodus – Together Forever
Jackie Moore – This Time Baby
Class Action – Weekend (Tonight is Party Time)
Gwen Guthrie – It Should Have Been You
Thelma Houston – You Used To Hold Me So Tight
Sister Sledge – Lost in Music
Donald Byrd – Love Has Come Around
Change – The Glow Of Love

V-Rock

Dio – Holy Diver
Queensrÿche – Queen of the Reich
KISS – Lick It Up
Dokken – Breaking the Chains
Autograph – All I’m Gonna Take
Accept – Balls to the Wall
Scorpions – Rock You Like A Hurricane
Krokus – Long Stick Goes Boom
Ted Nugent – Stranglehold
Ratt – Round and Round
Judas Priest – Electric Eye
Mötley Crüe – Looks That Kill
Quiet Riot – Metal Health (Bang Your Head)
Iron Maiden – Aces High

VCFL

Marvin Gaye – Sexual Healing
Earth, Wind & Fire – Fantasy
Hot Chocolate – It Started With A Kiss
Rick James – Mary Jane
The Commodores – Nightshift
Sylvia Striplin – You Can’t Turn Me Away
Wally Badarou – Mambo
Barry White – It’s Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next To Me
Roy Ayers – Everybody Loves The Sunshine
Keni Burke – Keep Rising to the Top
Teddy Pendergrass – Love TKO

The Wave 103

The Human League – Love Action (I Believe in Love)
Thompson Twins – Love On Your Side
Depeche Mode – Everything Counts
Blondie – Heart of Glass
Frankie Goes to Hollywood – Relax
ABC – How To Be A Millionaire
New Order – Blue Monday
Japan – Quiet Life
Kajagoogoo – Too Shy (Midnight Mix)
Heaven 17 – Penthouse and Pavement
Howard Jones – Like To Get To Know You Well
The Cure – A Forest
A Flock of Seagulls – Space Age Love Song
Yazoo – Don’t Go

Radio Espantoso

Ray Barretto – Acid
Pete “El Conde” Rodriguez – I Like It (I Like It Like That)
Tito Puente – Oye Como Va
Bobby Valentin – Mi Ritmo Es Bueno
Celia Cruz and Johnny Pacheco – Quimbara
Hector Lavoe – Mi Gente
Eddie Palmieri – Revolt / La Libertad Logico
Willie Colon – El Malo

A great diversion

Last modified on 2008-06-02 09:37:34 GMT. 3 comments. Top.

This is currently my favourite work diversion. It’s a free web based game that allows you to start and expand a civilization. The cool thing about it is that you can login, set something in motion (e.g. upgrade the town hall) and then log off again.

The game keeps going while you’re away, so that you can leave it for a few hours, days or even weeks, and when you log back in again, your town hall is built, your citizens are happily collecting wood, making wine from the grapes they’ve collected and having a drink in the tavern when they finish work.

One of the most important things to do in the game is to establish a research centre, where your citizens can find out about the many different skills, trades and abilities that are available in the game.

Research can follow a number of different paths. You can choose to focus on your military, which will enable you to protect yourself from would-be attackers; or maybe you want to focus your attention on the sciences, allowing you access to new items such as paper and ink, which will allow you to form better trade agreements, and so on.

What makes this game so enticing, is that while there is a huge amount you can do with it (some features taking over a year to establish), it’s actually very simple to play. Most of it’s pretty intuitive. If there’s something you aren’t too sure of, there’s also extensive help documentation.

There are three main views to the Ikariam world. These allow you to switch your console display so you can work with different items:

• Town view – This allows you to work with your buildings, citizens, research, troops and so on. You’ll spend most of your time in the town view at first.
• Island view – This allows you to see the other people on your island. You can make trade agreements with them, attack and loot their towns, send spies out to see what they are doing and more.
• World view – The Ikariam world is comprised of many islands, and each island has several towns that are run by people all over the ‘real’ world. Each island has a primary resource, such as crystal, sulphur, marble and so on. These resources are limited, so you have to build your town up to a point where you can trade with other islands for the resources you are short of.

You also have access to various advisers, who will let you know how you are doing in a particular area. The towns adviser lets you know what is happening with your town, such as what buildings have recently been built, research completed, etc.

• The Military adviser will tell of your battles, showing their outcome, strength of enemy and resources looted. You can also jump from here to examine your troops or hire more soldiers from the barracks (if you’ve built it).

• The Research adviser tells you what you’re currently building in your research centre, as well as the dates and times of all previously researched subjects.

• The Diplomacy advisor lets you communicate with other players and their islands, as well as establish trade agreements and alliances.

All in all, it’s pretty high retun for very little time and effort… And it’s free! Go play!