The Guildmasters

Hi all,

Sorry for not posting in a while, but I do get carried away once I get to playing a game I’m really enjoying it. The latest on my list is Far Cry 3, I really didn’t expect to get hooked so easily on this game but it’s absolutely great. I’m loving it, there is tons of stuff to do and the storyline is pretty cool too.

I’ve also got Tomb Raider which is coming tomorrow or the next day, which should also be cool, and I also took advantage of the PSN offer of spending $50 and get $10 back, so I pre-ordered Bioshock Infinite which I will now be able to download one minute after midnight on the 26th of this month, how cool is that? Which, means it only actually cost me $49.99 instead of $59.99, awesome.

There are some pretty awesome games coming out this year, also there is Sniper 2 Ghost Warrior, I enjoyed the first one so this one should be pretty cool, then you have The Last of Us later this year, which is certainly going to be another game of the year game, just hope I can get that one the day it releases, we’ll have to wait and see.

I’m still in the process of trying to get a recording system setup, but I’m short of a couple of cables, once I have those in place I should be able to start doing the video walkthrough’s again, so looking forward to that.

Well, that’s about it for now, happy gaming.

Tony 🙂

 

Hi all,

I’ve just been over to youtube and watched this amazing footage of one of the first videos online of the first part of Assassins Creed 3, it doesn’t really spoil anything as it just shows the introduction and part of the tutorial. It’s worth checking out so you can see how good it is compared to previous Assassins Creed games, so if you don’t have it yet this will give you a taste.

There are more of them but if you don’t want to spoil anything for yourself I would recommend just watching the first one, this guy is pretty cool too. And giving you a chance to win a collectors edition AC3 and console, very nice. Hope I win one, lol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cppwdn61zW4&feature=colike Link will open in a new window, if not just copy and paste this link in your browser so you don’t have to search through all the nonsense.

Tony 🙂

Hi all,

Yes there are at least two gameplay videos of the new Assassins Creed 3 on PSN which I really recommend you download and watch. One is of the city and one is out of the city and surrounding area.

After watching them several times, and yes it is addictive just to watch, I couldn’t believe how everything flows so well, very natural and seamless. I love the part where you can blend into cover, a little brush and you can crouch and become almost invisible.

This becomes part of not only stealth play for assassinations, but also for hunting game so you can sell for profit to stalls in towns.

There are also many new ways to distract guards, like using the dart rope to hang a person which, in turn attracts the guards while you sneak around another way. Also assassinating from moving carts is a new area. Before you could only do this from stationary carts, now you can jump onto and into things while they are moving.

You won’t be able to heal while in battle, although this seems like a downside it is more true to life, you can heal once a battle is over. The idea is to keep all the movement, even in battle, flowing and getting the right moves performed so you can get through in one piece.

Much of it sounds complicated but as with all the great games it always takes a little while to get used to the mechanics of the game but it is always worth it in the end and I think this will take little time to get all the controls down pat.

Check the two downloads out, you won’t regret it and you will be even more desperate to get your hand on a copy of this, I can’t wait, lol. The downloads only take a few minutes on a good connection and you can watch them while they are downloading.

Tony 🙂

This game is really going to blow your mind, just like Skyrim did with never before seen graphics and animation, this one has gone even further.

The Ubisoft Anvil Next engine has taken the game to the next level. Everything in this latest installment is bigger and better than ever. More realistic than you could ever imagine a game to be.

The story is set around the 1770’s and the american revolution, you play as Connor, whose mother is American and English father and you are fighting to save your homeland.

This world is massive, going from cities, to woodland and battlefields to oceans. A huge game with an awesome storyline, many new weapons, including more guns. There are also tomahawks, rope darts, knives and more.

Even the weather system is magic and extremely realistic compared to many previous games. The battles are much more detailed and realistic and you can either fight face to face or use your stealth to take enemies out either by surprise or from a distance.

It’s actually quite impossible to describe a game like this to someone who hasn’t seen it, you just have to, at the very least, watch some gameplay or trailer to get where this is coming from. The minute you see the detail, combat, graphics, weather and massive environments your going to just want this game so bad.

On top of all this the new multi-player promises to be the best yet, with new characters, maps and modes to give us even more time enjoying what is an epic game.

To put it simple, every so often a ridiculously realistic game comes out that you want the minute you see it, it just draws you in like a really good movie. Well, this one is one of those, you would have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to want this game.

Assassins Creed 3 releases October 30th but you can pre-order now from Amazon:

Get this one, I will be.

Tony 🙂

The reason I took so long to write this review is because I wanted to play the game for a while first. This gives me the opportunity to write a decent review, unbiased, with no guess work.

When trying to write a good review it almost always includes a downside, Skyrim is no exception but any downsides to this game are not that bad that it spoils the overall gameplay, and you can improve on any negative issues just by taking a little extra time to do a couple of things that will make it better.

First off, you will get instances where the game will lag, quite badly at times. I have found the best way to cut down on this is to not overload your chests in your houses, this helps for some reason. I found this out because I was putting everything in one chest, which appears to be a bottomless pit, it doesn’t fill up. The game was lagging a lot, then I went to a dresser and starting putting stuff in there and it was running quick again.

Another option which pays is to delete all the autosaves, these seem to build up and don’t overwrite the previous autosaves, at least on mine they were all seperate, so I had my game save, and about 6 autosaves, as soon as I started deleting the autosaves the game didn’t suffer from lag anymore.

Apart from above there really isn’t anything else, apart from the odd glitch which most won’t even come across.

Basically Bethesda has taken everything good about all their previous games and incorporated it into this one huge game, then they have added a bunch of other stuff to improve on it even more.

This game is probably more open ended than anything previous. The added randomness of everything just gives it a ton more playability. Dragons free roaming and random encounters makes it more “real” because you can visit the same area time after time and get a different encounter or outcome.

Bethesda obviously listened to previous advice from their players because they have added all the things that everyone wanted to see and then some.

Instead of owning a house, you can own a house in every city, 9 in total, with some extra free residences which you will acquire by completing a line of questing, like the thieves guild, or becoming arch mage. You can also put your books in bookcases now, something I previously saw a lot of posts on where players were saying this would be a good idea.

Although there is a lot of randomness in the game, it is organized, you don’t just come across an animal in the middle of nowhere that seems out of place, you will come across deer or elk grazing, then you might see a pack of wolves attacking it which gives it a more sense of reality than a basic random encounter, you can watch or dive in and kill for the materials.

The other new aspect of creating weapons from scratch by using smithing is a great addition, it makes you want to experiment with everything. I think I spent a couple of days creating, sharpening and enhancing weapons, and if that wasn’t enough you can make a tidy profit when you sell them.

Everything about this game involves you, it is impossible to get bored of a game like this. I played for more than a week before I rode my first horse, I just didn’t want to ride one, I wanted to explore everywhere by foot because you can miss so much just by traveling by horse.

The towns are so interactive and with virtually endless quests I can honestly see me playing this game off and on for years, this is the kind of game you can just cut yourself off from reality for a few hours and become immersed in something extremely enjoyable, like a really good movie.

The list is endless on what this game can do for you, and what you can do in the game. Harvest flowers, catch insects to make potions, kill animals and use the hides, kill dragons for some of the best armor in the game, join all the factions, buy a house, decorate your house however you want, explore dungeons, ruins and caves which are not small by any means, some caves and ruins can take up the best part of a day to explore.

Overall Bethesda did not let fans down this time around in any way, I would go as far as to say that what most of us expected was nothing compared to what we got, me personally? I’m extremely impressed, and if this game had $100 price tag i’d still buy it, can’t wait for the game of the year edition, you know there will be one.

Rating out of 5 = 5 simply because it’s as close to perfection as you can get right now with a game, and that is based on graphics, main storyline, playability and the amount of things you can do to keep you wanting to play more.

Tony:)

First hand review of the new Madden NFL 12

by Eric Holsomback.

I’ve invited my son Eric to give a personal review on the latest Madden game which has just been released on the PS2 system as well as the PS3. I would like to thank Eric for his personal input of the game.

Review: Madden NFL 12

Hi, everybody its Brian Urlacher’s best mate. I got to say when I played madden NFL 10, I fell in love with the game. I was glad i owned the game. I played it for months, and i completed it. And when I see the Franchise mode, it made me go Nuts. I tackled as many people as I could. I scored Touch-down left & right, I won as many Super-Bowls as i possibly could. I never came a cross a NFL game that lets you customize your own playbook and pick your own routes. And then you get to demonsterate, what you customize, which was cool. And when I heard that they were working on the next madden NFL game, I played that game as well, which was good too.

As you know that madden NFL 12 is all already out now. And as you can see I’m already playing madden NFL 12. And its like falling in love all over again. And as i’m playing madden NFL 12 right, i’m in the middle of the game right, and you have to play beside your best mate Brain Urlacher, knowing that you can’t let your mate down can you. It’s like watching the NFL football game on T.V and your waiting for your team to score. And when you think your team lose’s. And you find your team running all the way down the field, and scoreing a touch-down. Your heart’s racing, and there in the 4’th Quarter & 40 seconds remaining in the clock. And then you glab a nice cold beer to celebrate a good game. That how i feel about madde NFL 12.

Now lets talk business shall we, your mind is here for one thing, and one thing only mate. And that is to see what people have say about madden NFL 12. And what the game is like. OK? now lets talk business mate’s. Now lets talk about the graphics, the graphics all unreal, the grapics are like on T.V, its like they knew what they were doing. They nail the grapics. I give the graphics 5 star, they don’t get better then that.

When I loaded the game up, and the frist mode I went for was the Franchise mode. They really nailed Franchise mode, everything about it was cool. You can spend hours on customizing your play-book. And other things too. You can customize your packages for Offense and Defense, as well as your global package, and your goal line, and more mate. And i know they had this in the other madden NFL 10 and madden 11 as well, but in this mode seem to have a lot more, you can customize your Hot route, which is what I used a lot. And scored big time. I give you idea on some of the name’s for Hot routes, and your play-book. now lets see ??? now where was i ? O yes sorry mate? they got your Streak, Out n’ up, and your zigout Rt.

Now if you play NFL game then you know what i’m talking about then. You also got your Offensive Audibles, & Defensive Audibles. And my favorite, your Formation shifts play-book, by the way I use it all the time, and it works in the long run. When I’m playing madden NFL 12, I try to injure as many players as I can. Plus its hole lot of fun. Plus I like it. I remember this one time I tackled a player, and his helmet came right off his head.

Now lets look at the other NFL game modes, lets see, you got your Franchise, Fantasy challenge, NFL super-star, skill-drill, Tournament, mini games and then there Practice for the Rookies, that Don’t know what they are doing; but in my case I always my playing level at the highest difficult level which is all-madden. Now lets get back to business mate. I’ll start with Fantasy challenge. Now when you play Fantasy challenge, you start with your Newbie League and you work your way up to the top. And the graphics are very good they made them look so real. They nail this game. When your playing in Fantasy challenge you get to pick your favorite team, in my case mine would be the Chicago Bears. I’m always going to be a Bears fan.

And now the NFL Super Star mode. The super star is good too, when your player in pre-season. the Movie star ask you do you want to star in a movie which is cool right mates. You also get your own place that nice. And if you play your cards right, you can make it in the Hall-of-fame. And now mates we move on to next draft round. Which in our case is the mode. You got the skill-drill, which lets you brush up on you skill, so you don’t look like a fool. That the frist thing you don’t want to look like a fool,in front of your mate. I know I don’t.

OK next you got your tournament. In the tournament you can set your tournament type, like single Elimination, Double round Robin, Round Robin, And Double Elimination. And then you select the team you want, mine was the bears. And then you the mini games mode, when you select the mini game you got mini-camp and you try to get as many gold trophie’s like I got. It take a lot of practice, and skill. I’m a pro. And mates I save the best till last; The Ring. You start to notice Diamonds, and I’m almost done with Franchise mode. I completed General, And the Diamonds fill up and the Ruby. If I was you I would buy madden NFL 12. This game is worth it. I give this game a 10 out of 10 star.

I got to thank my best mates, and they are Dad and Brian Urlacher.

From Eric

Not my usual review of a game but this is a completely different experience. Sure, I don’t usually like shooters, unless it’s got something unique and this game is pretty unique.

If you ever wanted to play as a sniper this is your chance. There is no running in with guns blazing, it’s a purely sniper type game, and it’s pretty realistic too. I love it.

You have several different types of sniper rifle, a pistol, and a knife. You can throw the knife if your close enough for a silent kill.

The story line is good and it makes sense, your basically after a target, a high profile target. After your first failed attempt you have to complete several Acts trying to locate him and get the job done properly this time.

Easy mode is a good mode to start with so you can get used to being stealthy, crawling through the grass, hiding, scanning the area and working out the best time to take the shot.

Hard mode is exactly what it says on the can, it’s really hard, you can get killed with one shot and you really do have to be well hidden, and extra stealthy. This game is for patient players who don’t mind sneaking around and taking skillfully planned shots, one at a time.

Multiplayer online is very good, plenty of maps, a good selection of game types including team deathmatch, capture the flag, and deathmatch.

If your going for platinum in this game believe me when I say it’s going to take some time, kill 250 players with the pistol and 2,000 players with the sniper rifle so expect a long game if your going for platinum.

I hate war games and shoot em ups but like I said previously, this one is totally different, a true game for snipers, and I don’t mean lots of gunning and running, there is none of that, it’s totally sniping which makes for a refreshing change.

I give this game 9/10 for it’s originality, not fantastic on graphics but certainly good enough for you not to worry about them, and realistic story with plenty of play hours.

Tony:)

Yes for the last few days i’ve been watching the E3 live convention, the biggest in america for new game releases and console info.

First let me say the new Wii U looks pretty cool, and i’m not a Wii fan but this looks good. The new ‘controller’ has a screen which means you don’t even need a tv, or it just means you can use it just as a controller, but it does so much more than that, too much info to post here so i’ll give in detail more info on the forum.

New games were coming quick and some of the ones we have been really looking forward to wasn’t disappointing at all.

Elder Scrolls Skyrim was about 30 minutes worth of clips and it looked fantastic, by far the best one yet with over 150 dungeons to explore, free roaming dragons and detail beyond belief.

Assassins Creed Revelations again did not disappoint, definitely another one on my list and again to my amazement looks like a big improvement to the last one, didn’t think that was possible.

More games included the new Twisted Metal, Halo 4, yes I did say Halo 4, bet many didn’t expect that one and tons more which I will post more on in the forum.

Also Sony announced the new playstation vita (vee tah) which I believe will eventually replace the PSP although i’m a bit vague on that, I’ll confirm that later but it looks pretty good.



Tony:)

As mentioned in a much earlier post on the blog Dragon Age 2 is now upon us, releasing March 8th.

While browsing the playstation store I noticed one of the new demos was for Dragon Age 2, i’m sure it wasn’t there yesterday but I decided to download it anyway.

The demo is huge, it’s a massive 1804MB and for just a demo that is fairly large, even on my high speed it’s taking a couple of hours, a little disappointing but I can’t wait to try it out. I just have a good feeling about this game, and after playing the first Dragon Age, which was a very cool game, i’m convinced that this demo will only confirm that my purchase will be worth it.

It seems I still have another 10% to download and then it’s got to install but by tomorrow night I should be able to give a first hand review of the demo and also give some insight into some of the features, weapons, abilities etc…

Until tomorrow then, good gaming.

Tony:)

Ok although racing games are not really my thing I thought this particular racing game deserved a review.

I originally got this game for my boys as I promised them they could play some games on my PS3. Gran Turismo 5 was the first real game I let them spend any length of time on.

Firstly i’d like to mention that if you plan on getting the platinum trophy for this one you better plan on playing for many, many hours, it’s a huge game and there is absolutely no quick way to get platinum on a game like this, we talking several hundred hours for most players, as yet I haven’t found anyone who has got platinum.

As far as the game goes, this has got to be the most realistic racing game i’ve ever seen and with more than 1,000 cars there isn’t a shortage of choice.

To give a better example of the time playing involved, between me an my two teenage sons we have been playing around 3 weeks, one son has 4hrs in the morning, the other son has 4hrs in the afternoon and myself between 2 and 4hrs in the evening. that’s 10hrs+ per day for 3 weeks. We have 49% of trophies with my driver level at 31 and personal driver level at 30 and we have around 130 cars, this shows you the time that can be spent on this game.

The graphics are extremely clear, lifelike and actually a joy to watch, very crisp. The driving is about as realistic as you can get. The licenses are extremely hard to get for the player who doesn’t play many racing games (myself). We did manage to get all licenses but no gold, only bronze and silver places.

B-spec races can be tedious so I switch those on at night before I go to bed, at least the endurance ones. The rest of B-spec is quite enjoyable to watch. A-spec can get a bit frustrating, especially if you don’t have the correct car for a particular race. We’ve managed to acquire some extremely good cars, we have the 20,000,000 credit jag, the toyota 7, Bugatti veyron and a good few more, we can win most races fairly easily now although there are a few which require a specific make and model which are a bit harder to win.

The adjustments you can make to your car are by far the most detailed i’ve ever seen in a racing game, from tweaking the suspension or upping the speed to adding ballast for extra weight. Upgrading each car with a new engine type, intake, exhausts and so forth all help add additional HP to your ride.

Even though i’m not a big racing fan I would have to say this game deserves a 10/10 as I don’t really see how you could improve on a game this real. To get the most out of each car you really have to spend a little time on adjustments and even a newbie to racing games can learn everything by reading the related info for each section. It explains in detail what each section does to improve speed and handling as well as power increases.

The AI is pretty realistic too, we’ve ran races where the AI even crashes into walls or spins out whereas in many racing games the AI doesn’t quite behave in the same realistic manner.

There are some disappointments from what i’ve read elsewhere, mainly in the updates, like the one where you cannot trade cars that are worth more than 1,000,000 credits now. I think most wish that option hadn’t been available from the start and I would agree with that, if you have something in a game at the start you shouldn’t be able to take that feature away.

I would have to say to get platinum on this one is a rating of “very hard” as one trophy is to get all gold in every race and license. It would be interesting to find someone who actually platinumed this one just to find out how long it took.

All in all, if you enjoy most racing games, you’ll love this one. If your not a big fan of racing games but want to try one, this would be the one to try. I even find myself wanting to see/get the next available car, for fans of racing games this one could be extremely addictive.

If your new to this game and want some help, ask here and between me and my two sons we may be able to offer some tips and advice for you.

Tony:)