We'd give Ken Levine's team the benefit of the doubt by default -- that BioShock Infinite looks as impressive as it does leaves us vibrating in impatience. The first BioShock was one of this generation's first truly great games. Gears of War and Oblivion certainly rocked our world, but neither had the strong, thoughtful voice saying powerful things BioShock brought to the table.
It was equal parts game and social commentary, and each complemented the story and message in meaningful ways. Irrational Games has set the bar remarkably high for itself, but we aren't worried. BioShock Infinite, in the limited demos we've seen, has characters with personality and complex relationships that rival any of its progenitor's characterization.
Hero Booker DeWitt swinging on airborne train tracks and accomplice Elizabeth's reality ripping abilities are wonderful complements to Infinite's civil war story setup, political undertones, and distinct aesthetic.
Oh, apparently you can shoot stuff too. We often forget about that part. Halo 4. Developer: Industries. Bungie left Master Chief in capable hands when it retired from Halo. We still only know the basics about Microsoft's second Master Chief trilogy, but its existence is enough to get us excited. Halo 4 has the opportunity to do a lot of interesting things within a familiar framework. The Halo 4 announcement trailer showed us new weaponry and an intriguing setting, and we're hoping to learn more about Master Chief and Cortana as deep characters, to see their relationship develop, and explore vast new worlds.
Oh, and to shove sticky grenades down enemy throats. We're likely going to have to wait until E3 for concrete details, which only adds to our anticipation. Alan Wake: American Nightmare. The Biggest Xbox Games of IGN's Xbox team weighs in on the 10 games they are most excited about in Have you played Tomb Raider?
YES NO. Was this article informative? In This Article. Rebooting Tomb Raider for next-generation consoles, this game focuses on a younger Lara Croft in her formative years of facing danger.
Release Date. There's a good chance you missed one of these. These are seven of the hardest to find or obtain upgrades that require the Speed Booster or Shinespark upgrades.
IGN Logo Recommends. Jackson as Nick Fury, sans eye-patch. Secret Invasion Adele Ankers But almost too big. Maybe not with a PG Unfortunately, Electronic Arts failed to recapture the things that made this game so great.
The great news is that we got to play Need for Speed: Most Wanted. For the first time, the franchise placed an emphasis on the narrative.
In previous installments, the plot was far from significant, as the focus was primarily on car customization. Most Wanted retained the customization depth that made the franchise a must try and incorporated a captivating story mode. As you defeat the members of this crew, more cars and parts become available, and customization options grow.
All while the player is trying to make a name in the underground racing scene, police forces are hot on the tail of these illegal events.
Police chases play a large role in the outcome of races. Enemy AI can be difficult to deal with. Thus, not only are you tasked with winning a race; you must also evade law enforcement.
The graphics used to depict the gritty underground racing scene is a highlight. Cars effortlessly gleam off the neon lights during night races. Although the game was a commercial success and tons of fun to play, the multiplayer aspect held the game back. Connectivity issues were too much of an influence over online races.
With Skate 3 we have a video game that has reached cult classic status due to the support from passionate fans across the world. Something unexpected occurred and fans clamored to play the new Skate game. Looking back on the event we now know the rise in popularity of skate culture is heavily linked to the success of Skate 3. Fans have been demanding a follow up for years. Ten years later, Electronic Arts has finally broken their silence by announcing Skate 4 is in development.
There is no better time to recapture the glory of Skate 3 than right now. First and foremost, the open world is brimming with life.
The vibrant colors on display are a joy to witness via the third person camera. It is no coincidence the gameplay takes place in an open world. Not having access to certain areas would be a shame amongst the gorgeous landscape. Players skate around a variety of environments, urban otherwise, executing numerous tricks to stack up points.
If you get bored from the cityscape, you may venture into an industrial area. For a game that essentially forces you to repeat actions while skating, it is important to include some variety via different locations. It is disappointing that the multiplayer mode must be purchased separately seeing as it is a resounding success.
The depth and hours of gameplay multiplayer offers is well worth the purchase. The zombie craze was taking over the entertainment industry and Valve did not shy away from this trend.
In fact, Valve knew they had such a hot property after the release of the original game back in and immediately worked on developing a sequel. Left 4 Dead 2 released exactly one year after its predecessor and improved on it in every way imaginable.
Survival horror games were nothing new, however, Left 4 Dead 2 took the genre to new heights off the back of its innovative cooperative gameplay. The story follows four survivors of an apocalyptic scenario that has turned the majority of humans into zombies. There are five different campaigns worked into this single title.
The idea behind each campaign is to reach a safe point where the survivors can rest. Navigating areas becomes a real challenge and more importantly the first person camera creates a genuine frightening quality. Due to this game being a first-person shooter, the action appears up close and personal. The game is no stranger to scenes of gore and violence. In fact, the game has been banned in several countries. Left 4 Dead 2 is made for cooperative play. It is simply not as fun to play any other way.
You can still run through levels on your own, as any of the survivors not controlled by players will revert to acting as friendly AI. Valve put a ton of attention to detail in their weapons, which are a huge appeal of Left 4 Dead 2 's strategic gameplay.
Not all of the game modes are a success. The campaign is the clear frontrunner and all else hollows in comparison. All in all, Left 4 Dead 2 is a highly enjoyable game geared for brilliant cooperative play. The third iteration of Guitar Hero launched the franchise into the stratosphere.
This game was released to the public at the peak of the rhythm genre craze. The concept is quite simple to grasp. The player uses a controller shaped like a guitar in order to play the correct notes at the right time as they scroll across the screen.
Three core elements make this game a must-play. The first is the catalog of songs. Players can dive into a whopping total of 73 songs. Not only is the catalog filled with memorable songs at launch but the developers also offered continued DLC content. Players could download additional songs of their choice after launch. However, once you get a few games under your belt you can comfortably tackle easy mode.
The varying modes on offer were perfectly spaced out. Players could choose from easy, medium, hard, and finally expert. Each level would perfectly test the player's skill. Only the masterful gamers would reach expert mode. Lastly, the varying game modes meant that the game never felt stale. Players can enjoy the short albeit extremely fun career mode in either single-player or co-op.
Finally, the multiplayer mode offered players a ton of replay value. Fable III is the third installment of the franchise and is oftentimes remembered as the greatest. Players truly witnessed a compelling narrative develop before their eyes.
The protagonist is tasked with overthrowing an evil King. Once the successful uprising is complete, the player then assumes control of the throne. It is an all-encompassing story that begins as a revolution and continues as you command an entire kingdom. As you could imagine with a game that delivers such an extensive narrative, it does take some time to build up. However, this slow buildup is certainly worth the wait. The environments are imbued with such vibrant personalities.
From a small village to castles every detail looks fantastic. Fable III is all about building relationships and alliances. Therefore, interacting with characters is a vital aspect of the game. What makes Fable so special is that you are always in control. Although combat is not the main attraction, it does occur often. Players can attack with short-range, long-range, or magic options. Different weapons will be available to you throughout the game. Unfortunately, the combat mechanics were criticized for being overly simple.
In truth, the game would have benefited from a more complex system. Thus, the voice acting is a major selling point of the series. It seems as though the Batman: Arkham series appeared out of thin air. It is safe to say at the time nobody was truly asking for a Batman video game series. Its sequel Arkham City quickly became a highly anticipated instalment. As a stealth game, the camera angle was always going to be a legitimate concern. It is no surprise that a third-person perspective is utilized.
This way, players control Batman as the camera freely rotates around him. The camera motion is smooth and rarely hinders stealth gameplay. Even in the shadowy locations, enemies remain visible. Combat is immensely satisfying this time around. It is up to the player to counter blows and attack in real time. Striking down enemies is tons of fun.
It hits the perfect balance between button mashing and strategy. Certain enemies can only be taken down in specific circumstances. Therefore, combat variety is also taken into account. For a campaign centric game, Arkham City has surprising replay value. In addition to its 40 hours of core gameplay, a new game plus mode is unlocked after completing the game. This mode sees an increase in difficulty, as enemies are stronger. Luckily you can keep the equipment used in the first play through.
As expected for a game based on comic book material, most of the voice acting borders on corny and ridiculous. Often times the dialogue will have you cringing.
This leads into the following issue of too many characters. The number of characters distracts from the storytelling. It feels as though most are thrown in for fan service purposes. Fallout 3 is credited with reviving the franchise after being dormant for ten years. Most people are unaware that the Fallout franchise debuted back in The franchise never broke through the mainstream.
That is until the release of Fallout 3. The game released in would propel the franchise into much deserved critical and commercial success. As a survivor of a nuclear apocalypse the protagonist lives underground as most survivors do. Forced to flee his safe haven, the protagonist must venture to the world above to find his father who mysteriously disappears. This plotline sets up the perfect premise for an open world game. The sound design relies heavily on drones and static to create an atmosphere of tension.
It is a game played in a perpetual state of anxiety. A mind-blowing series of options lure the player from one goal to another, providing weight to the carelessness needed to accomplish them by shoving police cars into our bumpers and flipping our car relentlessly over the cliff, leaving us to sit and think, if only for a few seconds, about what we have done. Despite how akin to Diablo II and therefore, Diablo III the game is in its story and act structure, the change of pace and environments helps make it like a larger and grander experience than crawling around in a dungeon and returning to the same town over and over.
Developer : Giant Sparrow Publisher : Sony Platform : PlayStation 3 The charming would-be storybook Unfinished Swan explores a few interesting ideas within the well-populated world of puzzle platformers. With an open character development system and an in-game ARG framework, The Secret World just might be the smartest contemporary adventure game and the biggest financial risk of the year. The company has steadily been working towards creating hour films in video game form. With GTA IV and Red Dead Redemption , that meant breaking up open world driving, riding and shooting with extensive dialogue scenes that demonstrated voice work and cinematography a cut above the industry standard.
Developer : PlayStation C. The addictive animal-based action RPG Tokyo Jungle allows me to craft personal narratives for each playthrough while shooting for a high score. Developer : Blendo Games Publisher : Blendo Games Platform : PC In Thirty Flights of Loving designer Brendon Chung trades overbearing clarity for emotionally true moments, capturing something in a moment or expression that most games clumsily try to do with entire games.
Consider the characters. They look cartoonish. Chung is confident: Thirty Flights of Loving makes space elastic and hopscotches through time, from years to hours to seconds. It embraces the core ideas—parkour, historical drama, conspiracy theories, derring-do—and pushes them further. If you have loved those things in the past, you will love them even more here. If you hate the sci-fi infused framing story with its flickering digital artifacts, or the repetitive objective based action, or the slow-burn multiplayer, well, there is a lot more to gnash your teeth over.
It requires thought, strategy and patience. Trials Evolution is a sadistic bitch of a game, forcing players to earn every inch of progress.
Reaching the finish line is a feat in itself. With no faults, at a gold medal time? Developer : thechineseroom and Robert Briscoe Publisher : thechineseroom Platform : PC, Mac, Linux and OnLive Dear Esther uses the immediacy of the first-person perspective commonly employed by shooters to minimize the distance between player and story.
As he moves forward, the landscape becomes less and less grounded until, at its most fantastic, he is finally able to deal with his relationship to the monster that represents his father.
0コメント