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ORIGINAL STORY: Kinect is out across America and millions are jumping around their rooms and learning some brilliant dance moves to show off at the clubs, but what is the that massive camera up to while you play? RumblePackNZ has made this great video in which he films the Kinect at work through some Infrared goggles. The highly anticipated piece of kit comes to the UK on Wednesday November 10th, are you ready to go controller free?

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I used to love the WWE and the SmackDown game series. I would watch all the monthly spectaculars, went to live events and dreamed of one day making the trip over to the USA to take in WrestleMania live. Alas,a couple of years ago I fell out of love with the company and felt that the SmackDown games were getting a bit stale and didn’t feel much different to the old PS1 games – and no game had emulated the awesome Create A PPV mode from SmackDown 2. I was quite apprehensive sitting down to play this as it had been a while since I had properly got stuck in to one of the games and did not want my fond memories spoilt, but I was in for a pleasant surprise.

There is so much content. There are a ton of wrestlers to pick from, lots of arenas and more match types than you can imagine. Once you have selected your match type you can tweak away at the rules to have your all time dream match up. Most of the favouite gimmicks are included such as Hell In The Cell, Inferno, TLC, Money In The Bank but no way to climb into a bulldozer and bury your opponent alive, so you won’t be able to recreate the Undertaker vs Kane much from the recent Pay Per View. Away from the brawling you can also get creating and Create A Superstar is as extensive as ever as spend hours creating a 8ft tall freak before creating a storyline where the freak finds love with the WWE Divas. Anyone who has ever player EWR on the PC in the past will know it can be great fun – and very time consuming – to create your own storylines and feuds, and in this game you can even stick in cut scenes to see your demented creation come to life. I had fun doing a storyline that saw Rey Mysterio go mad and keep screaming ‘DINNER IS SERVED’ at fellow superstars. Took a while to decide what the gripping climax should be before a light bulb went off in my head and Rey appeared at WrestleMania to claim that ‘DINNER WAS DISAPPOINTING WHERE IS PUDDING’ to the applause of the crowd. I don’t think I need another game this year, I’ll be stuck in the storyline creator. Once your masterpiece is complete you can share it online for others to enjoy and perhaps call a doctor for you if your scenarios are too crazy.

Replays can edited and shared with online friends. If on PS3 you can upload to YouTube

Back to the grappling and a neat new addition is that every time you play a match it has an effect on the WWE Universe. Instead of doing a plain exhibition match, you are actually playing out what is happening on that week’s TV show and storylines are generated based on what is happening on the ring. Superstars in feuds will see their rivals interfere in matches and it’s a very nice touch to keep matches interesting after you have finished the story modes.

Story mode is ‘Road To WrestleMania’ and you have five scenarios to choose from – be a plucky up and comer who wants to end the Undertaker’s streak, pick Christian and reunite withe Edge for some fantastic nostalgia, select Chris Jericho and be a nasty cowardly heel desperate to destroy HHH, feud with Randy Orton as John Cena and cheer up children as Rey Mysterio. Between matches you can wander around backstage talking to fellow superstars – or push them – and search for hidden items. It’s a bit odd and the Backstage Brawls are pretty awful and very repetitive. The storylines are fun though and you often wish the actual WWE TV shows could do something like the Christian and Edge story, though they are more likely to follow the crazy OTT Undertaker story complete with magical urn.

All this and no mention of the in ring action. When brawling you use the left stick to wander around, and the right stick to grapple. As your opponent gets more battered you can do more impressive moves with the right stick. It’s quite controversial as it feels as if you do not have much of a move set unless you let the match run longer. Your opponent does need to be stunned in order to pull off a finisher which is very nice when playing in single player but sometimes frustrating in multiplayer.  Reversals are plentiful and you can turn them down when playing on your own, but again multiplayer can be very frustrating with every move being reversed. Buying your copy new gives you free online play, all the match types are in there including for the first time Royal Rumble. Get prepared for pleas of mercy coming through your headset as you prepare to toss out another victim.

The game feels easier than ever to get into too but some of the problems plaguing the title from the PS1 days are still here. There are problems with collision detection, the commentary is rather poor, and the physics system for weapons has some very weird problems at times with steel steps bouncing off peoples heads and then into the ring. As well as changes to weapon physics, the Hell In A Cell match has changes and you will need to read the manual before playing or you ain’t getting out that cage. Sadly not a total overhaul as there is still only one spot on the top of the cage then you can slam your foe through, so if you haven’t played the game for 5 years you will still know what to do when up there.  The good old ‘NOW SAVING’ screens return with a vengeance and this has annoyed me for years. Why not have an icon in the bottom of the screen to indicate the game is saving instead of pausing everything.

Another annoyance is the roster again is a bit out of date. I understand there has to be a cut off time, but it feels like it was very early this year. At least most of the Nexus will be available later as DLC, though it’s a shame they were not in the game to begin with seeing how big their storyline on Raw has been. A few niggles that do spoil the hectic action, which you feel would not be an issue if they game was not released every year and the developers had some time to breathe.

The Pros

- A wealth of content

- Some great storylines in Road To Wrestlemania

- Create a storyline is packed with features to let your WWE Fantasies run wild

Cons

- Feels rather blurry on PS3

- Same old niggles when in the ring

- REVERSALS

Overall

With so much content you feel that THQ could easily extend the life of this game by releasing DLC roster updates and giving the developers two years instead of one to overhaul the game. The game is fantastic fun, and will no doubt be a dream title for WWE fans, but it would be great if the ageing engine could be revamped to give a genuinely new gameplay experience in future outings. Still it’s the safest and legal way to attack a friend with a steel chair. Fun but flawed, which could be fixed with a longer development cycle.

SmackDown vs Raw 2011 is out now for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PS2 and PSP. The version reviewed was PS3 and had a mandatory install of around 3GB.

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Microsoft are finally bringing the Zune Music service to the UK- but not the MP3 player, Many laughed at the device which launched a few centuries ago in the USA for selling very little when compared to the iPod though they could have sold a few dozen more if they bothered to release it in more than one territory. THE FOOLS. Anyway, you will be able to buy MP3’s from Zune through your PC and Windows 7 Phone (oh-er) when the service launches this Autumn. Paying £8.99 will give you access to the the Zune pass allowing to download as many Mp3’s as you want on PC and W7 phone, and stream them online through the Xbox 360. Once you stop paying, you can’t play the files – just like Napster. I must admit I am a big fan of subscription music and was a subscriber to Napster to Go for over 5 years which charged me £15 a month to download songs to my computer and transfer them to a compatible player. I now pay for Spotify Premium and would buy an iPod in a heartbeat if iTunes introduced a subscription service. Alas I think Microsoft may struggle with Zune in the UK due to the lack of player being sold – we’ll need a Windows 7 phone to have tracks on the move. Users in the USA also get 10 songs to keep forever every month but that sweetener is missing from the UK offering. Will you be Zuneing or sticking to Spotify, iTunes, HMV Digital or being naughty with those ‘other’ websites?

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The worst kept secret in gaming was finally confirmed today with Capcom announcing a reboot to the Devil May Cry series, and as you can see from the above Dante artwork it is a quite a departure for the much loved franchise. Development moves from Japan to Cambridge, England into the hands of Ninja Theory – developers of Heavenly Sword and the upcoming Enslaved. Many are already agahast at the character design and with the choice of developer. Heavenly Sword looked stunning but annoyed many with it’s lack of jump button and very frustrating boss battles that felt cheap when you failed a QTE sequence. Enslaved has been getting positive vibes from critics though there is concern that these two games both run at 30fps compared to the 60fps standard set in previous Devil May Cry titles. A demo is now available on PS3 for Enslaved so check it out for a flavour of Ninja Theory’s work. The studio has Andy Serkis on it’s books as a Dramatic Director and appears in Heavenly Sword and Enslaved  we wonder who he’ll play in this game. Check out two screenshots below and we’ll have the trailer featured as part of our Trailer Thursday Tokyo Game Show special. Are you happy with the new Dante and choice of developer?

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To celebrate the launch of Halo:Reach, Microsoft are planning a special ‘blue carpet’ event where a team of celebrities will be taking on six top players to see who are the best at Halo. However, the celebrities need a bit of a helping hand and over 800 people entered the “Searching for a leader” promotion to become team captain, training and looking after  Rio Ferdinand, Mr Hudson, Jameela Jamil, Ben Cohen and Jason Bradbury. Good luck with that. The winner was 17 year old Lewis Chapman, who is really excited as after winning he said “I’m really excited that Xbox has given me this opportunity – Halo is my biggest passion and this is a dream come true. I would like to say to my new team members, ‘Get practicing! You might be celebrities, but you better be good on the night!’ I will do everything that I can, as their leader to beat the opposing team.”

Halo:Reach is out on September 14th only on Xbox 360, expect a lot of sick days once it’s released. Anyone ever played a celebrity online?

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Kane & Lynch are not your typical lead game characters and Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days is not your typical game sequel. All too often the begging bowl is brought out and we cry ‘More of the same but shinier’ and go on our way, but this was not going to be the case for the dastardly duo as while the first game sold well it was panned by critics and public alike. An overhaul was needed and the trailers have shown a dramatically different game, but is this sequel more poodle than rottweiller? Read on to find out….

The look of the game is incredible. While and more big budget titles pull out all the stops to look crisp and clear on your shiny new HDTV, Kane & Lynch 2 is downright grubby. Instead of loading screens, we have buffering screens and you often feel like a voyeur peeking at a snuff film on a dodgy website. Sound design is fantastic with very loud guns and atmospheric noises coming from the variety of locations such as tv sets blaring in peoples homes and happy bouncy music playing in shopping malls. There is no musical score, but you won’t even notice once the bullets start whizzing by.The camera swings all over the place and you feel like being in the centre of an action scene in a Bourne movie. I have played many fast paced action games, including Mirror’s Edge, but have never suffered from motion sickness till playing this. Probably my fault for using the sprint button, which tilts the camera like crazy, too much. Luckily for me – and other queasy gamers, is that you can switch the camera off and run for the hills. Or you could just stop running around so much – especially as doing this often gets you killed.

While Kane & Lynch 2 is a raw and intense action shooter, you do not want to be running and gunning too much as you be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of onscreen enemies – most of them far too accurate with a handgun for their own good. The best tactic is to head for the nearest bit of cover, hammer the X button (no loose auto-cover this time round) and pick your spot to pop up and ruin some faces. Sound a bit violent? Well it is an 18 and it is brutal in places. This is not a happy jaunt through the jungle killing hundreds of baddies as a happy adventurer like in Uncharted. In this game you are a very bad man, in a bad situation dealing with even worse people. It is actually quite refeshing to play as someone who is completely unhinged and who kills as he is a bad person, without having to justify his actions. The worst of the violence is kept hidden though. In keeping with the guerrilla documentary/ user generated video style, blowing a baddie’s head off results in heavy pixilation. A lot of the time though it will be your head being targeted and if you take a heavy hit you may find yourself encountering the new ‘Down and Out’ feature which sees you sprawled out on the floor crawling desperately with a gun in one hand trying to protect yourself while you get into cover.  Luckily, the gunplay is very good. You will get rather frustrated in the first few missions as it feels like you could probably aim better swatting bullets with a bit of rolled up newspaper, but when you get your hands on some decent weaponry you will love popping up above cover to take down strings of baddies with a single bullet in each of their heads. There is a lot of fun to be had taking down a group of 12 people who are armed to the teeth with body armour while the two of you take your time to take them out one by one. You feel like a hobo James Bond.

So far, so shooty, so what else does the game offer? More shooting. Yes, there is not a lot of variety on offer in the game’s story mode and even fewer light hearted moments. You start the game shooting at enemies that take a few bullets and end shooting enemies that take more. They come in large numbers and try to flank you, you rush to different bits carefully blasting them before they get a lock on you. Then repeat. There are no boss encounters with the only variation in the game coming from an incredibly bizarre – but thankfully short stealth section, and some action onboard a helicopter that also involves some shooting. In some fights you can also use handy gas canisters to take down the hordes of baddies, but that also involves shooting the ruddy things. There are no puzzles, no collectibles, no side story and the very, very brief points of exploration reward you with a different vantage point to shoot from. If you are in the mood to shoot some folk, Kane & Lynch 2 is definitely for you. In between the action there are some cutscenes which tell the bleak story. The story is very dark but there is a moment that makes you wonder should you be laughing or should be repulsed. It is surreal and the longer it goes on you wonder what is going on in the head of the developers.  Worth playing the game just to experience that scene of madness.

Now here comes a bit of a paradox – the game can be extremely difficult in places, but you will no doubt finish the story mode in under 5 hours. Not a typo – under FIVE hours. There are many points where you be overcome with the power and number of enemies, barely making it to the next stage after a long drawn out firefight, but the story as a whole seems to breeze past. Once you are done there are no incentives to play through again – no extra weapons or fun new modes. It would have been great if you could unlock a mode similar to ‘The Club’ where you get points for killing enemies, and could get competitive with online leaderboards. I finished the game first on Normal difficulty, and I am now playing it on Extreme (hardest difficulty) which looks like taking about three times as long to get through, but I could never recommend starting off with Extreme as you have no time whatsoever to get used to the controls before being killed by a single shot. Heck, you will probably be tearing you hair out playing Level 2 on Normal mode as it is quite a challenge so early on in the game. Saying that, I would highly recommend doing an Extreme run after a normal playthrough. I thought I would be fatigued from all the shooting, but I found clearing a level in Extreme to be incredibly satisfying. The AI is really cheap in this mode, killing you with a handgun from 3 miles away while you struggle to line up a shot with a sniper rifle, but finally getting past the buggers made me want to punch the air. If you are patient and forgiving and find Modern Warfare fun on Veteran, you will feel at home here.

You may also need to be forgiving for a number of glitches in the game. The game is meant to look a bit drab in places, but I don’t think the visual style was meant to feature sections where Kane & Lynch merge as they try to take cover at the same wall. Another slight annoyance was pumping bullets into a bad guy while he continued on with his predetermined running animation, which only altered when he died.  This type of thing only happened a couple of times in the game, but it broke the impressive atmosphere that the game weaves around you. Still it provided a laugh in a world of bleakness.

It’s a shame in a way that IO have built a fantastic world and scary characters but failed to deliver a great story. Lynch is genuinely freaky and throughout the game you are witnessing him break down. In stressful gunfights he starts muttering under his breath, followed by some babbling then war cries. It is really unsettling and the voice actors as whole do a great job, but the storyline is far from gripping – Kane & Lynch plan to do a deal and make a ton of cash, it goes wrong, they are fighting for their lives. When I saw the first trailers I wondered if the pair were actually being followed by a cameraman and fantasied that the title could be the gaming equivalent of the film ‘Man Bites Dog’. Now that the technology is in place hopefully IO can go on to make a very dark comedy featuring Kane & Lynch being tailed by a documentary maker. I think with a good writer and brave direction, that idea could be a brilliant premise for an enthralling future game. Or maybe I think too much of my own ideas!

I would go on to talk about the multiplayer, but it did not seem to be live during my time with the game. Rest assured I will keep trying to log in this week and will have multiplayer impressions ASAP. I could however play the Story Mode via split screen co-op and I want to give a lot of praise to IO for including a mode that is sorely lacking in so many games these days. I used to play some hideous games on older consoles as they were still a lot of fun with a friend, so warm up your vocal chords now to shout at your friend who refuses to get into cover. In this mode the screen splits horizontally with no option to split vertically. You can also practice the main multiplayer mode ‘Fragile Alliance’ in the single player Arcade Mode. Here you and a gang, usually made up of fellow human players, try to steal money from a variety of locations, before fighting the cops and heading to the getaway van. Along the way you can kill other gang members to steal their cash – but be warned the rest will turn on you. This was quite good fun, but I expect it to have much more atmosphere when playing with other humans, but it is a good way to learn how to play before jumping in with a group of strangers. There is a online high score leaderboard for Arcade mode, so when the story is done there is something to go back to that encourages replay as a single player.

Kane & Lynch 2 is a vast improvement over the original game but it is far from perfect.  IO need a very good story and some mission variety for a future sequel in order to make a truly great game featuring the psychotic pair. It seems very appropriate that the game is being released on the same day as ‘The Expendables’ film coming out in cinemas – both hark back to a simpler time where action dominated over plot and character. If you are looking for a game that delivers a nonstop intense shooting experience then this for you. If you fancy a bit of variety and depth in your games you might want to give it a miss.

The Pros

- Great visual style and atmosphere
- Incredibly intense, pace never drops
- Satisfying gunplay

The Cons

- Lack of variety
- Very short story mode
- Shallow storyline
- Some bad glitches and partner AI

Overall

Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days was inspired by online user generated content and indeed you can see similarities to the majority of people found on chatroulette – it’s hard, unpleasant and grainy but you’ll pop back for that short term buzz and excitement. The most intense game of the year so far, shame about the lack of variety. Maybe 3rd time will be the charm.

Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days is released on August 20th on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. The version used for this review was PS3 with a mandatory 1.6gb install.

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Lara Croft & The Guardian Of Light hits XBox Live Arcade on Wednesday but is the latest adventure worthy of your time and 1200 Microsoft Points? The game focuses heavily on co-op so we got two Lara disciples in the shape of Mark and John (Matthew and Luke were unavailable) to play through the game and give us their thoughts.

Marks Thoughts:

Being a fan of the Tomb Raider series from the very beginning, I was a fair bit disappointed when Crystal Dynamics announced that Lara’s latest adventure would not be the usual third person action adventure romp, but instead, a downloadable Diablo style top down shooting arcade game!!

To my surprise, once I had fired up ‘Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light’ I found myself quite enjoying the new direction the game had taken.

The story is your usual Tomb Raider affair. We find our heroine has been tasked with finding an artifact called The Mirror of Smoke by some undesirable types who are quickly disposed of when they inadvertently set free the evil spirit Xoxolt from the mirror. Luckily also freed is an ancient Mayan warrior called Totec, Xoxolt’s arch nemesis and Lara’s co-op partner for the game. Xoxolt makes his bid for freedom and it is then left to Lara and Totec to take him down and destroy his onslaught of beasties.

The game play uses an isometric style camera following Lara and Totec about as the players dispatch enemies coming from all directions, while moving from one area to the next solving puzzles and collecting items in order to progress. The action is broken up by optional challenge rooms, that can be found through the levels, where the player can acquire extra weapons and items.

The areas themselves are made up of the usual jungle and old tombs that have been a staple in the series so far. Each area also has it’s own set of objectives that can be done in order to unlock extra items. These range from killing a specific monster to reaching the end of the level within an allotted time. The action feels good is fast and fun to play, with the left stick on the moving the player character about while the right stick controls their aim. Lara starts with her dual pistols as her standard weapon and Totec has a spear, which respawns in his hand after each throw. This weapon has a slightly slower firing rate than the pistols making Totec a slightly harder character to play in the later levels when enemies are numerous. Other weapons can be used as they are collected through the game, but unlike the standard weapons, have limited ammo. Each character can also have artifacts and relics equipped to them to give them special state bonuses or abilities, when going without taking damage for a time, much like armor and magic items in games like Diablo. Although this sounds like a cool idea, I didn’t really feel the benefit of them, as I made it through over half the game without changing what I had equipped in the first level.

As well as the new game play style Lara Croft: GoL has also decided to go for a new look, ditching its ‘realistic’ look for a more comic book style cell shaded one, with bold colours and dark character outlines. This works really well, looks great and also making it easier to pick out enemies in the environments.

Although Lara Croft: GoL can be played in single player without Totec, Co-op is where the most fun is to be had. Whether it’s from helping Lara reach high ledges by jumping on top of Totec’s Shield or having Lara catch Totec with her grapple rope and pull him to safety, running, jumping, climbing and shooting your way through the levels with a friend is where this game really shines.

John’s Thoughts:

Guardian of the Light is designed as a co-op experience – heck you are awarded an Achievement purely for starting a co-op game!The game is slickly presented using the Underworld engine and again features the voice of Keeley Hawes (TV’s Ashes to Ashes) as Lara Croft. Thanks to it’s hefty 2GB download, the graphics are among the best Arcade games with only Watchmen: The End is Nigh springing to mind as a worthy visual competitor – though this game plays so much better than that unfortunate mess.

GoL is best played with friends in the same room as we were able to coordinate reasonably well or able to discuss tactics/solutions to problems with reasonable ease. Over Xbox LIVE this could prove difficult if one player hasn’t played through a level before as it will inevitably lead to the usual 12 year old YouTube verbal tirades as they get frustrated with your lack of ‘l33t’ skills.

Of the two characters, Lara feels the stronger of the two as she always has her trademark Twin Pistols when he special ammo gauge runs empty. Series newcomer Totec is reduced to throwing spears which feels a little clunky and slow though it’s typically a one-hit kill.

The first level introduces you to most of the Lara/Totec combo skills to familiarise you with them as it is essentially a training level of sorts. Lara being able to use Totec’s shield as a stepping stone to higher platforms or Totec being able to tightrope walk on Lara’s grapple provide a good balance between the two ensuring that Totec is not left doing all the mundane tasks.

A typical level runs to about 30 minutes and completing the full game in co-op will require roughly 6-8 hours of play time. Not bad for a 1200MSP (approx £10) title as many retail games offer less playing time. It’s also worth remembering that the solo experience of GoL is subtly different as Totec is not present, thus playing through the solo experience will offer another few hours worth of gameplay.

Lara Craft and the Guardian of Light will please a lot of people as it spans many genres. At it’s heart it’s still a Tomb Raider game but it adds elements of classic shoot ‘em ups, some good puzzles and an enjoyable co-op aspect.

The Pros
- Nice Cell-Shaded Visuals
- Fast paced action
- Excellent co-op
- Fun challenge rooms

The Cons
- Can easily be overwhelmed by enemies in later stages of the game
- Totec’s slightly harder to play

Overall

Although the great departure from previous games may upset some fans, Lara Croft: Guardian of Light is a fast, fun action packed game and a worthy addition to the Tomb Raider series. A fantastic co-op game that can also be enjoyed in single player, well worth the asking price. A worthy purchase for any Tomb Raider fan or someone looking for a new co-op experience.

Lara Croft: Guardian of Light is released on August 18th on Xbox LIVE and 28th September on PSN and PC, with co-op online support for Xbox also being enabled on that date. The version used for this review was Xbox 360, co-op was played locally with two players on the same machine.

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Deadly Premonition is coming to Europe! The game is the marmite of the survival horror world with lovers and haters attacking each other with venom across internet messages. You play as Special Agent Francis York Morgan as he investigates the brutal murder of a young woman in a small sleepy town where nobody goes outside when it rains. The game attracted a cult following in the USA thanks to its inappropriate soundtrack, barmy characters and hilarious cutscenes. Playing the game seems to be a bit of a chore though with poor combat and baffling design choices. The game was region locked putting a stop on imports to Europe but Rising Star Games have stepped in to bring the title to these fair shores this Autumn on Xbox 360 for a RRP of £24.99, so not too much money to take a risk on.

“Having seen how Deadly Premonition split reviewers’ opinions in America, gamers are itching to get their hands on it to judge it for themselves,” says Martin Defries, managing director, Rising Star Games. “We have high hopes for what can only be described as the most distinctive survival horror game that has ever been released – it’s going to be interesting to see how the game is received over here. It’s a cult classic in the making.”

He is right about reviewers having split opinions, with Destructoid giving the game a perfect 10 and IGN giving a 2.0. See what the fuss is about this Autumn and join in the fun of FK in my coffee, delicious turkey sandwiches and the fantastic instrumental track ‘Life Is Beautiful‘.

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Kane Vignette

Lynch Vignette

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