Category: FPS

Borderlands 2 is Announced, What do You Want in the Sequel?

borderlands 2 confirmed

After being confirmed by just about every gaming site in existence (thanks to Eurogamer’s diligent journalism) Gearbox Software and 2K Games acknowledged that Borderlands, the gun-porn heavy FPS RPG, is getting a sequel in early 2012.

There was a bit of a kerfuffle over this reveal earlier today with Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford saying that the premature confirmations were more down to “shoddy journalism” than anything else (it couldn’t be that the sites messed up your careful marketing plan, could it?). Inside baseball aside, I’m kind of excited that this game is getting a sequel and I can’t wait to see what’s going to be changed.

Borderlands 2 will take place on Pandora, which is kind of a bummer in my eyes because of how boring looking the planet was in the original, but there’s nothing saying that the majority of the planet was represented by the last game. The game will also feature brand new characters and a bajillion more crazy weapons.

There’s not much else being revealed right now until the Game Informer story hits, so I’m going to open the floor to you guys. What do you want from Borderlands 2? What do you think the new classes will be like? What would you change about the loot system, the level progression and the story? Go!

Source – Borderlands 2

GamerSushi Asks: Origin Versus Steam?

Origin

In recent weeks, we’ve seen a bit of drama when it comes to the digital delivery of some of EA’s games. This has mainly occurred on Steam, where Crysis 2 was removed from Valve’s platform, and just this morning, Dragon Age 2. While there are a number of reasons for this, overall it stems from EA pushing their new content delivery system, Origin, as a competitor to Valve’s monopoly.

Here are some thoughts from EA CEO John Riccitiello about the future of Origin, given in a recent conference call with video game press.

“We’ve had a lot of inbound inquiry about getting on. I think forward-looking publishers really want their content on any and every platform possible. One more sale is better than not… We hope to be HBO meets Netflix for gaming. But we’re also very keen to have our content distributed to anywhere and everywhere gamers are.”

So while that does sound like they want to keep their future releases on platforms like Steam, it also sounds like they are setting up a rival system all the same. I’d bet that a big portion of their hopes hinge on The Old Republic and Battlefield 3.

As someone that hopes to play Battlefield 3 in the coming months, the idea of yet another content platform on my PC is kind of irksome at the moment, but I’m willing to see how it plays out. What are your thoughts? Is this like trying to take on iTunes in the music industry? What do you think of EA’s goals here?

Source – Gamasutra

Deus Ex: Human Revolution: Fun or Shun?

Welcome to a new GamerSushi feature, gents. In Fun or Shun, we set our sights on an upcoming release that we are on the fence about, and make final declarations of our allegiance (or lack thereof) to the title. In the first edition of this endeavor, we thought we’d tackle Deus Ex: Human Revolution, the long anticipated follow-up to a legendary series.

Each of us have fallen off the fence about this title in recent weeks. See where we’ve landed below. Continue reading Deus Ex: Human Revolution: Fun or Shun?

Does Halo: Anniversary Pack a Next Gen Punch?

As many of you know, Halo: Anniversary releases this November, right in time for the 10th anniversary of Halo: CE, a game that changed the landscape of FPS gaming on consoles. All we’ve seen of the game thus far has been shown to us in a slew of E3 trailers, but no more. The dudes at 343 have been kind enough to put together a walkthrough of The Silent Cartographer, one of the original game’s more famous levels, in the brand new engine.

So what do you guys think? Do you think the graphics go far enough to make this a contender with some of the other big titles of today? How excited are you that they used much of the original game’s code? Who will be buying this? Go!

Microsoft Admits they “Lost Their Way” with Halo: Reach, ODST

halo lost its way

I know, I know, this is another gaming industry trash talk article, but bear with me for a minute. Now that Bungie has said good-bye to Halo, Microsoft has taken up the banner, trumping up their upcoming schedule of Halo titles like the Combat Evolved remake this fall and Halo 4 later next year. Since Halo 4 features the return of Master Chief, Microsoft’s Corporate VP Phil Spencer talked with OXM about bringing back the O.G. Spartan and why Halo 4 evokes the spirit of the first Halo. I get that he’s promoting Halo 4, but the way he does it is kind of odd. Have a look at the quote, and see if anything strikes you as unusual.

“The key question for me in managing the studio and the creatives is ‘what is Halo?’, making sure Halo lives up to what I think gamers fell in love with [playing Combat Evolved],” Spencer told OXM at E3 after the new game’s official reveal.

“What does that mean? Playing Master Chief,” he said. “We kind of lost our way a little bit, I’ll say. And that’s why I wanted to make sure that at the unveiling of Halo 4, you knew you were playing Master Chief, that John was back. Because Master Chief is the John Wayne character of that universe, and that’s who you want to play.”

It’s the “we kind of lost our way a little bit” coupled with the fact that Mr. Spencer seems to think that Master Chief is what makes Halo Halo. Now that Bungie has officially parted ways with their old publisher, I think a little bit of resentment is starting to crop up in the 343 Industries office. Saying that Halo lost is way in ODST and Reach was a bit unfair, especially considering that Reach was lauded as the closest the series has ever come to emulating the magic of Halo: Combat Evolved.

I guess you could look at this from a story standpoint, but I just don’t think that gamers care that much about who they’re playing as in Halo, as long as the combat is fun and there’s co-op and multiplayer to boot. What do you guys think? Is Phil Spencer dissing Bungie, or does he geniunly believe that people want the Master Chief back really, really badly?

Source – OXM

Bungie’s Farewell to Halo

Master Chief

It had to happen at some point, folks. As somber as it is, Bungie is finally saying their official goodbye to the Halo series as of August 2nd, they’ll be handing control of Halo: Reach’s matchmaking, etc. over to 343 as they send their legendary franchise off to sea. Or the stars, as it were.

Here’s a bit from their farewell post:

Halo is yours now. In many ways, it always has been. Its new caretakers will strive, just as we did, to be worthy stewards but you have the package. Hold these characters and stories and worlds to the same unflinching standards you did while we were at the helm, but allow them all to blossom and change and grow in the ways that they must.

As such, Bungie says they’ll be running dark after August 2nd, as they continue work on their newest endeavor, a brand new universe that they’re building for publisher Activision. Their final words? “See you starside.”

So how do you guys feel about Halo passing hands? I know some of you don’t care very much about it, and I know we also have some fanboys, myself included. Love it or loathe it, it’s hard to deny such a monumental series and its power, and I’ll be curious to see what happens to it in the future. Thoughts, friends?

Source – Bungie

Twenty Minutes of BioShock Infinite Gameplay for Your Friday

Yes, you read that right, twenty minutes of BioShock Infinite gameplay have been gifted to us by the boss of all bosses, GTTV’s Geoff Keighley. In reality it’s a fifteen minute demo book-ended by Ken Levine of Irrational Games chatting about Infinite, but that’s nothing to scoff at either.

One of my big gaming resolutions for 2011 and beyond was to not get dragged into the hype train and consume every piece of media I can get my hands on, but given the quality of what I’ve seen, that pledge has been tough to hold up. Even though BioShock Infinite isn’t coming out until 2012, it’s got me salivating like a fat dude jogging past an ice cream store. What did you guys think of this demo, which was originally shown to journalists at E3? Looking good?

GamerSushi Asks: How Are You Celebrating the 4th?

independence dayI know that not everyone here is a good and proper American (Murican), so I know this post isn’t entirely applicable, but I still thought I’d put it out there anyway. After all, our Canadian friends just had Canada Day this weekend, and our friends across the pond probably celebrate distancing themselves from the U.S. 235 years ago.

As of now, my only plans today are to eat a lot of ribs. Seriously, I’m going to two separate parties in which the purpose is to eat ribs. Besides that, I plan on playing a bit of Half-Life 2, Starcraft 2 and watching some Modern Family, which I’ve just recently gotten into. Good times.

So, yeah. On this great day of fireworks (unless you’re in Texas, that is, where the drought is stopping all that), hot dogs and general lazing around, what are you guys doing? What are you playing? How do you normally celebrate on holidays like this? Go!

GameCop Vs LameCop Vs PsychoCop: Summer Edition!

Gaming’s finest have returned, and they’ve got a slew of opinions and rants on several industry-related topics from the last few weeks: the Duke Nukem Forever PR debacle, the Lulzsec boat and the lone save file of Resident Evil: Mercenaries 3D.

By this point, you should all get the shtick, but in case you don’t: GameCop is a sensible gamer, looking out for your best interests. LameCop is your average forum troll, causing havoc for the lulz, while PsychoCop should be locked up for everyone’s safety.

Keep reading to find out what they have to say on these issues:

Continue reading GameCop Vs LameCop Vs PsychoCop: Summer Edition!

Crysis 2, Transformers 3, and Why Movies Resemble Video Games

transformers 3

Today I went and saw the latest Michael Bay robot-fest, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, in theaters and something struck me on the way back home: this movie reminded me of Crysis 2 to a great degree. An ancient alien threat, hectic ground-level combat and amazing visual effects? Given that most of the final hour of Transformers 3 is seen from the perspective of Special Forces soldiers rather than Autobots, my brain couldn’t get away from Crysis 2 and the image of hopping around lower Manhattan killing vaguely robotic aliens in the ruins of a famous city (even though TF3 takes place in Chicago).

Like most Michael Bay films, Transformers 3 is too long, bloated and full of forced, painful humor, but the actions scenes are top notch. Still, I couldn’t get it out of my head that I was watching someone play a video game. Video games have been trying to be like movies for years, but it occurred to me today that they might already be there, or at least have attained the level of Summer popcorn-flick. People complain about the Hollywood-ising of the industry, but we’re too late: every big action game is essentially a Bay movie with threadbare plots and engaging action.

I know that video games are hoping to move past this phase, but in a medium where it’s easier to give the player a gun and turn them loose, are we ever going to get past this stage? Crysis 2 was a pretty fun game, but given that a mindless movie like Transformers 3 can evoke it so heavily, it kind casts a dark shadow over the aspirations of many a development studio. Even games that we decree to be better than movies, like Uncharted 2 or Mass Effect 2, would ultimately fall flat on their face if they ever transition to the silver screen.

Past all my rambling thoughts regarding Transformers 3 and Crysis 2 lays a question for you guys: are video games becoming like movies or is it the other way around? As computer generated effects become cheaper and more believable, will we see more big set-piece films that try to wow our eyes instead of appealing to our brain? Will these movies become the Call of Duty of the film world, or are they already there? Am I just crazy? Go!

Valve Treats Us With Meet the Medic and Free Team Fortress 2

Valve certainly is doing everything they can to make up for a lack of Half-Life 3, now aren’t they? After dropping Portal 2 on us earlier this year, they’ve turned their attention towards their other critically-acclaimed darling: Team Fortress 2. With this week’s Uber Update promising tons of content and a new Meet the Team video to boot, Valve also announced today that Team Fortress 2 will be free forever. Now isn’t that quite the how-do-you-do? As you might except, Meet the Medic is filled with blood and guts, albeit in that Team Fortress style, so use discretion if necessary.

Not my favorite Meet the Team video so far, but the Sniper and Spy trailers would be hard to top. So there it is, more loving from Valve to all of us. Apparently there’s some discontent out there concerning Team Fortress 2’s new price tag, but this game has been around since 2007; chances are, you’ve gotten your money’s worth by now. What do you guys think of the new trailer and Team Fortress 2’s low, low price?

What Are You Playing: It’s Too Damn Hot Outside Edition

la-noire-nicholson-electroplating-screen

Salutations, faithful readers, it is I, your humble Canadian, back for another round of What Are You Playing. If you’re new to this recurring post, the basic set-up is pretty simple: I ask you what video games you’re playing, and you answer. It doesn’t have to exactly be video games per se; if you want to launch into a (spoiler-free as I haven’t seen the show yet, and people may not have read the books) discussion about the season finale of Game of Thrones, feel free to do so. It’s an open forum, but we’d love to get your thoughts on some current games, and maybe some oldies too.

For me, I spent the morning playing Nicholson Electroplating, the new Arson case for L.A. Noire. I bought the Rockstar Pass when it was on sale a while back, so I got all the DLC for the game for a reasonable price. Nicholson Electroplating is a very action-intensive case and the investigative aspects are relatively slim, but it’s a solid addition overall. It also got me that much closer to rounding out the achievements for L.A. Noire, so that’s always good. Besides that I’ve been finishing off my Evil karma run-through of inFAMOUS 2 and getting back into Halo: Reach in preparation for this year’s Bungie Day. A friend of mine also picked up The Witcher 2 on Steam, so I’m going to log into his account and play it when I have a moment. I’m also trying to desperately bring myself up to a respectable level on StarCraft 2 so I don’t embarrass myself. It’s hard though, but I’m working on my three barracks build.

That’s probably enough out of me, so what about you guys? Has anyone tried Nicholson Electroplating, and what did you think? Opinions of the L.A. Noire DLC overall would be good too. Anything else that you’re playing? Let us know!

The Half-Life 2 Files, Part 2: The Road to Ravenholm

HL2 DogNote: This series is a correspondence between fellow writer Anthony Taylor and myself about one of the most critically acclaimed games of all time, Half-Life 2. In the first HL2 file, we talked about our history with Half-Life and the opening of Half-Life 2.

This week, we cover the levels Root Kanal through Ravenholm. Continue reading The Half-Life 2 Files, Part 2: The Road to Ravenholm

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

The Curse of Annoying Online Teammates

Black Ops

We’ve posted a lot in the past about online multiplayer. Everything from awesome moments of pwnage to griefers to foul-mouth bigots and the racists who love them. But as I was playing Call of Duty: Black Ops on Sunday with my brother, something new occurred to me to ask the wise veterans of the GamerSushi community (that’s you guys and gals).

Team Deathmatch can only take you so far. Sometimes, the urge to work together, to be a part of something greater than yourself rises from somewhere deep inside you and you find yourself playing objective games…with strangers…online. You can probably see where this is going already, but I saw some of the dumbest things of all time on Sunday.

During a game of Domination, people running past enemy flags, instead of stopping and capturing them. Not an enemy in sight and they can’t be bothered because apparently they still think they are playing team deathmatch. Then, during Search and Destroy, you get people who defuse or plant the bomb while standing up, in plain sight. No crouching or going prone, or hiding behind the box to maybe buy yourself a few more seconds of precious time. Just morons.

And the icing on the cake for me was when you die and you can watch your teammates play while you wait for the round to end. You get people camping and sitting still when time is running out, practically forfeiting the round. Also, I guess some people had ADHD, because if there is even one moment where they can’t shoot someone, they switch weapons, just to have something to do. Switch back and forth and back and forth and oh look, an enemy just shot you in the face while you were playing with yourself.

Whew. Sorry. I had to get all that out. So those are my complaints. What are some of your biggest annoyances from teammates while playing online? This is a safe zone: no one will hurt you here. GO!

Battlefield 3 and the DLC Backlash (Updated)

battlefield 3 physical warfare pack boycottAs I’m sure you’re well aware, given my constant posting of anything slightly related to this game over the past few months, Battlefield 3 is coming out later this year setting its sights on taking the FPS crown away from Call of Duty. As is the norm with games these days, a bit of pre-order DLC was offered in the form of the Back to Karkand expansion pack which gives early purchasers access to the map pack on day one, whereas late adopters will have to wait and buy it at a later date.

While this did cause some outcry, the Back to Karkand controversy pales in comparison to the furor that has cropped up around the Physical Warfare Pack. This add-on is only availble in the UK through GAME and Gamestation stores and features items that will not be obtainable in the retail game. Naturally, fans of the game are quite incensed and a boycott has already been arranged on Reddit, calling for EA and DICE to remove this pre-order incentive from the game.
Continue reading Battlefield 3 and the DLC Backlash (Updated)

Are We Seeing Too Many Shooters?

ghost recon future soldier

One of the weird trends that I noticed during E3 2011 was the overall disdain for the mass amount of shooters that were on display. It didn’t really crop up until UbiSoft’s press conference, but once Ghost Recon and FarCry 3 came on the stage I noticed that most gaming journalists on Twitter started adopting a “oh, great, another shooter” attitude.

Sure, a lot of games these days do involve guns, but it’s been like that for the past few years and it seems odd that this is the year that people start ranting about it, especially considering that the quality of the shooters were pretty decent. I suppose that if you spend everyday writing previews and reviews and whatever else on shooter games it gets a little stale after a while, but consumers play them just as much if not more. The difference there is that game journalists have a venue for their output where people get to read that stuff.

In light of that, I thought I’d open up a little discussion for you guys to sound off on this topic: are we seeing too many shooters these days? I know that we’ve touched on a similar issue before, but this is the year that sort of seemed to tip things over the edge. What do you think? Are we inundated with too many shooters? Why do you think that is this the most prevalent style of game? Sound off!

GamerSushi Asks: What Was Your Game of Show for E3 2011?

battlefield 3 e3 2011 game of show

This is kind of a tricky GamerSushi Asks, what with all the quality showings from many publishers and developers, but I feel that we can get an interesting discussion going around this one. Now that E3 2011 is behind us, we can gaze back fondly at the at the games and scoff at the terrible press conferences and Mr. Caffeine.

Since we’ve seen everything that the industry’s biggest trade show had to offer, we’re going to open this up and ask you guys what your Game of Show was for E3 2011. There’s so many strong contenders from the shooters to the RPGs and the sandbox/adventure games that it might be hard to choose just one.

So what are you leaning towards? Personally, I’m thinking Battlefield 3 with Skyrim, Saint’s Row: The Third and Gears of War 3 coming in close behind. It was really hard to choose, but the tank video impressed the hell out of me and the multiplayer sounds super tight with lots of new improvements. I also know that at least one of you lucky devils made the trek out to L.A., so maybe there’s something we all missed that we should pay more attention to going forward? Hit me up in the comments, son!

The GamerSushi Show, Ep 31: E3 2011 Edition

The most epic week of the gaming year has passed us by, and there’s certainly enough news to keep everyone buzzing for the rest of 2011. That’s why we fast tracked this week’s podcast, in order to get it out the day after E3 ended. The result is a super-sized podcast that’s fit for one of Skyrim’s mammoth-herding giants.

In it, you’ll hear our thoughts on everything from the ridiculously confusing Wii U announcements to fighting dragons, buildings forts and rips in space-time. After all of that, we embark on a hilarious rendition of Grades, where we evaluate each of the “Big 3” conferences in turn.

Alright, you know what comes next, fools. Listen + Rate + Enjoy. Continue reading The GamerSushi Show, Ep 31: E3 2011 Edition

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Battlefield 3 Campaign Gameplay Brings the Thunder

I’m of the opinion that EA really brought the heardcore games at their press conference today whether you’re a fan of sports, shooters or sci-fi RPGs. Sure, the foot-based gameplay in Need for Speed: The Run looked a little wonky, but Mass Effect 3 is shaping up nicely and Battlefield 3 is coming hard, aiming its sights square at Modern Warfare 3. After MW3’s showing at the Xbox briefing, DICE showed off a campaign demo called ‘Thunder Run’.

Those are some of the best looking explosions I’ve seen in a game. From top to bottom this game is looking really tight, and I can’t wait. What do you guys think of ‘Thunder Run’? Does this look like a serious Modern Warfare 3 competitor?

Microsoft E3 2011 Press Conference Highlights

x360Microsoft’s big shindig just went down, and it was kind of crazy. Despite the early leaks, they still manage to pull off a few tricks and bring a lot of Kinect.

Hit the jump to see the round-up!
Continue reading Microsoft E3 2011 Press Conference Highlights