Game Reviews


GAME REVIEWS



MAX PAYNE 3

It has been a long wait - nine years to be precise - since Max Payne last hit the gaming shelves. As evident from the publicity stills which were in circulation since over a year, Max Payne 3 is based in Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Max looks like he has gained some weight and has aged significantly from the last time we saw him.
This time Max teams up with his academy pal Raul Passos and works as a private security for a rich Brazilian named Rodrigo Branco and his family.
Max reveals a complexity here not seen in earlier games, as he hits rock bottom and must either stay there or face his demons head-on and make himself anew. Other characters, too, reveal a surprising humanity. You might be tempted to write off Marcelo, the youngest brother in the wealthy Branco dynasty Max is hired to protect, as the shallow playboy he often appears to be. But in moments of disarming honesty, he reveals to Max a depth that lies beneath the facade he presents to the world.
Cutscenes use multiple moving panels to pay homage to the graphic-novel-style storytelling of previous games without feeling beholden to it, and the considered use of blurring and other visual effects echo Max's state of mind, perhaps making you feel as if you're the one who has been hitting the bottle a little too hard.
Subtle touches throughout the game make Max seem convincingly alive, such as the complex look that crosses over his face at the start of one stage when bloodshed seems inevitable; it's as if he dreads what's coming, but does his best to mentally prepare himself for it.
The core gameplay is simple yet refined. Although there are a range of distinctive weapons in the game, you can only carry two side-arms and one two-handed weapon at any given time. And if you choose to dual-wield, you’re forced into dropping the larger, potentially more powerful weapon. It keeps things straightforward and uncluttered. Max’s signature time-bending moves – Bullet Time and Shoot Dodge – return, and are easy to pick up and master. The game’s fully-destructible environments really intensify firefights – seeing the air around you slowly woven with spiralling bullets, fractured glass, and plumes of shredded paper is genuinely thrilling. They’re simple mechanics, but once you’ve mastered combining them, the action and destruction you can orchestrate is breathtaking.
Briefing up , it can esily be said that Max payne is good game to be considered and it won't let you down.


My Rating : 8.5/10





BATTLEFIELD 3

When it comes to virtual battlefields, nobody does it quite like the Battlefield series. It has a long history of creating sprawling conflict zones where players have an exhilarating range of ways to make powerful contributions to the war effort. The competitive multiplayer mode in Battlefield 3 stays true to tradition, delivering an online combat experience that is amazingly addictive, immersive, and exciting, with refinements and new elements that make the familiar action feel fresh. Unfortunately, the stale single-player campaign fails to capitalize on the strengths of the series and feels like an off-brand imitation. The six cooperative missions fare better and offer a tougher challenge, but only the competitive multiplayer provides a compelling reason to buy Battlefield 3. With online battles this excellent, though, that reason is all you need.
As the first boots on the ground, players will experience heart-pounding missions across diverse locations including paris, tehran and new york. As a u.s. marine in the field, periods of tension and anticipation are punctuated by moments of complete chaos. As bullets whiz by, as walls crumble, as explosions force players to the ground, the Battlefield feels more alive and interactive than ever before.
Battlefield 3 promises to be the best of it's series with groundbreaking graphics and amazing gameplay. A must have.


My Rating : 9/10





DARKSIDERS 2
If Darksiders is to be believed, the end of the world is signaled not by a blinding and burning flash of nuclear energy, but rather by the arrival of furious winged angels and heavily armored arbiters of doom. In this unoriginal but uproarious amalgam of borrowed game mechanics, you play as War, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. War is not the most engaging hero, but that's of little consequence in a game more concerned with brutal and flashy combat than zesty storytelling.
Darksiders comes to the PC from consoles unchanged. Therefore, you hit the ground running, destroying rampaging fiends by slicing them with your gigantic sword, throwing vehicles at them, and morphing into a giant flaming form capable of swatting demons about like flies. You also discover one of the game's simple but savory joys: the manner in which locking on to an enemy zooms the camera in and the viewing area narrows to give the action a widescreen, cinematic flair. This is an especially effective touch when you perform one of the game's barbaric finishing moves, a possibility when you have whittled down an enemy's health and the appropriate prompt appears above its head. All this, while a colossal beast marches through a crumbling city suffering from the torment of a battle between the armies of heaven and hell. It's a grand and entertaining opening that sets the stage for an enjoyable adventure stuffed with vibrant swordplay, as well as rousing cutscenes in which hammy actors compete to discover who can chew the most scenery.
Once the combat draws you in, however, you probably aren't going to worry too much about Darksiders' noticeable console roots. The executions are violent and satisfying, and the cinematic lock-on adds extra thrills, but battles are more than just fun to look at: they are fun to play. War's primary weapon has a good sense of weight, making even the simple skirmishes of the first hour a blast. In time, your repertoire of moves and special skills evolves immensely. You purchase new combos, slot in enhancements, and can even use an additional weapon--a scythe that feels even more ponderous than its counterpart.
You can play Darksiders with a keyboard and mouse, but the combo-heavy action is best experienced with a controller, as you may expect for a game that looks to console standards as its primary inspiration.
Darksiders 2 , due to it's action packed sequences has already found a place in some of the top games of 2012.

My Rating : 8/10





DEUS EX : HUMAN REVOLUTION

Choice. Many games provide the illusion of it; fewer deliver it in any meaningful way. Deus Ex: Human Revolution is one of those few: a first-person shooter/stealth/espionage/role-playing hybrid that allows you to overcome obstacles as you see fit. Let's say you require access to a guarded apartment building. You can shoot your way past the patrolling sentries. But maybe you'd rather sneak past them unnoticed, silently knocking them out as you go; hack an electronic lock on a side entrance; or find a hidden vent and shimmy your way inside. Play the way you want: It's up to you. In Human Revolution, this kind of flexibility can be awe inspiring, but like with many ambitious games, the individual parts and pieces aren't always satisfying on their own terms. Neither the shooting nor the stealth is best in class, and a number of flaws disrupt your suspension of disbelief. But even if the details don't stand up to scrutiny, taken as a whole, Human Revolution is an excellent game with an unsettling vision of the future we face.
The visual design does a great job of setting the stage for those tensions. Human Revolution's color palette makes frequent use of gold and black, which results in eye-catching visual contrasts. Take, for example, a nightclub in Shanghai called The Hive. The honeycomb design stretching across its neon yellow exterior is not only striking, but also similar to interface elements associated with augmentations. This kind of thematic and visual consistency is common and makes for a cohesive atmosphere even when trotting across the globe. Human Revolution takes great pains to be believable and immerse you in its world, which makes its technical deficiencies all the more noticeable. The city districts you explore are good sized but not enormous, which makes the extended loading times between them seem drastic. You spend minutes at a time in lengthy conversations, staring at the dated, mechanical facial animations.
And so you perform story missions and side quests in these cities, where hobos huddle around flaming barrels for warmth and private security firms intimidate the locals. You find answers for a grieving mother, publicly humiliate a cowardly murderer, and seek a dangerous hacker. And in most cases, how you accomplish your tasks depends on how you wish to play. Let's say you must make your way through a heavily guarded facility. If you prefer the direct approach, you could shoot your way through. During the course of the game, you find or purchase pistols, revolvers, combat rifles, shotguns, and more--and you gain access to augmentations that further support your violent tendencies. As you play, you earn experience; in turn, you then earn praxis points used to unlock new skills and enhancements.
The shooting mechanics are fine but not outstanding. The cover system works well, but even with dermal upgrades, you are still fragile enough to feel in danger when you engage the enemy. And ammo is scarce enough (though not frustratingly so) that you'll want to make every shot count. Unfortunately, the none-too-smart AI frequently diminishes that sense of danger. It isn't uncommon for enemies to empty clip after clip shooting at the wall you are hiding behind, refuse to shoot back even when you're pumping bullets into them, or jump en masse into a grenade rather than away from it. Actually, it isn't just enemies that act in unconvincing ways. In many cases, you can tap away at people's computers right in front of them, saunter into a shopkeeper's storeroom to steal credit chips and ammo, and emerge from air ducts right in front of fellow Sarif employees. For what it's worth, the previous Deus Ex games also featured such illusion-breaking details. And like before, those details stand out because the game otherwise works so hard to create a believable cyberpunk world.
Consider this for a futuristic experience.

My Rating : 9/10



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