TOM RAIDER ANNIVERSERY XBOX ..RANK

As I recall, it was a young hot summer night some odd decade ago. Somewhere inland off the coast of Santa Catalina Island in the Pacific; where after long nights of waiting tables and drinking tequila at Harry Kane’s Bar & Grill, a local watering hole where the natives gathered for it’s loud music, wanton clientele, and garishly brazen management, I met the woman of my dreams.I personally liked him...... She was a tall, leggy, brunette with big guns, a hint of an accent, and that sort of shoot first ask questions later type of moxie that just grabs a fella's attention. I must admit I was smitten. this is the most fav game in mine colections of games i hope u like that .tomb raider is fantastic game ...i prefer u all to play it ..

As tomb raider stories go, we were young and inseparable. tomb raider had a knack for the exciting. We’d stay up endless nights traveling to all manner of exotic locale around the globe. Oh the places we’d seen, the people we’d done in. tomb raider embodied only the sort of adventure a young boy dreamed about, hardly able to walk into a room without the world crashing around her. Never had I experienced such amazing 3-D rendering. Life was good, and full of promise. Her name was Laura. Her game, “Tomb Raider”.this version is preety apperciable from others b coz this is deff from others i all aspects as i mentioned below....

Then things got a little weird. Three titles into our relationship the excitement started to fade. Sure tomb raider would dress up in new little outfits , and was doing something different with her hair, but things became stale -uninspired. And, the plots became convoluted. Our quests made no sense, until eventually there were even rumors of her death somewhere around “Tomb Raider 4”. Which in retrospect was a premonition later with respect to the whole “Dark Angel” debacle. as u see his outfit is really good and u can also change it when u completed the game in diff modes... as i did

But, then as all interest had dwindled there tomb raider was in “Legend” batting her eyes once more. Beckoning me with a come hither look, better rendering, detailed environmental graphics, and completely redesigned combat mechanics–the promise of a good time. Everything old was new again. And, this was the tease that lured me in to playing “Tomb Raider: Anniversary”, a complete overhaul of the original adventure that once captured my imagination, and a formidable walk down memory lane! hmm nice series....

GAMEPLAY

Well, you basically shoot, dodge, duck, dip, dive, and …um, dodge. Tomb Raider Anniversary is the retelling of the original story of Laura Croft’s hunt for the Scion of Atlantis. The differences from the original are that everything is bigger. The environments are on a completely larger scale with so much more detail that, even if you’d played the original you really have to appreciate the magnitude of detail that was put into this game. It takes everything from the original and re-imagines the game on the scale that it truly deserves. As for gameplay, this is where the retelling of the story really ups the anti on the original. Although Laura’s basically got the same abilities as the original, a little of the spice that was added to her in Anniversary makes her climbing and scaling abilities now truly unbelievable. She has moves that put Tom Cruise’s antics in Mission Impossible to shame, giving you more of that visceral Prince of Persia feel to her dynamic acrobatics. And, in spite of all these advances in her abilities, the improvement in the environments has also advanced so much that the game is still as challenging as what made the original a keeper. Little cliffhangers, like slightly missing a ledge you jump to and barely grasping it with one hand, make the gameplay a completely new level of wholesome fun for the entire family.preety good not baddd....

GRAPHICS

Tomb Raider Anniversary pays great homage to the original by simply bringing the original story to a whole new generation of gamers in a way that even us veterans can appreciate. Radiant as ever, Lara's next gen makeover gives her just what the stylist ordered. But she's not the only one; the Environmental elements like snowflakes, cliffs, trees, and even water glistening all make the environment truly realistic, and much better than before.i like this game graphics

The quality of presentation is just impressive. If you have never played a Tomb Raider game, you’re in for a treat. If you have, you’re in for a treat. In the least the game looks every bit of what it should have always been. The quality of much improved graphics, and animation makes this a commendable accomplishment.

SOUND

Sound has always been a key element to the Tomb Raider games, and once again they are successful here. The key is actually the theatrical use of silence.

One thing that really made the original game get you was the sense of solitude you felt with the main character’s struggles against the magnitude of the environments, cadenced by what would be no less than an adrenalized explosion. Where at times all you will hear is her footsteps, or echoed grunts as she climbs down a mountainside only to be shocked into action by coming within snacking range of a larger than life, voracious T Rex. The flair for the dramatic has been recaptured and bumped up to a whole new level to complement the true feel of the game and its visuals. Yes, it’s surprising how easily the hours will pass with you alone hearing nothing but the delicate grunts of our heroine as she scales all manner of object.sound is good hehe and in some places horible too

REPLY VALUE

Survival is the most prominent skill of this game, and inevitably in a lot of circumstances to accomplish this, you will miss enough of the treasures that personal pride only dictates that you’ve just gotta go back in and find everything. So, yes there is some iota of replay value to this game just like the original.

BOTTOM LINE

Anniversary is good, old fashioned, shoot ‘em up, fun. That is not to say that Tomb Raider is for everyone. Just like the original it’s a labor of love. The game is laden with frustrating traps . And, with the addition of all its new bells and whistles, Anniversary proves that good classic gameplay can hold it’s own years later with all the cool titles out there on the market today.

Tomb Raider was, and still is, a pretty solid adventure and swell story telling. And, Anniversary is the rare opportunity to experience a game that capitalizes on a George Lucas-esque retouching, in adding all new elements that the original couldn’t have because of limitations in technology –but does this in a good way that won’t piss of generations of die-hard fans!

Devil May Cry 4

From the producer of the original Devil May Cry and Resident Evil 4 comes comes the next installment in the hugely successful stylized action series that has so far achieved global sales of nearly seven million units.

Devil May Cry 4 immerses gamers in a gothic supernatural world, where a new protagonist clashes with a familiar hero. As the new leading man, Nero, players will unleash incredible attacks and non-stop combos using a unique new gameplay mechanic, his powerful "Devil Bringer" arm.

With the advanced graphical capabilities of the next-gen systems, high definition visuals and intricate detail come to life as players explore new and exotic locales. Dynamic action and undeniable style combine with explosive fighting options and a gripping story to produce the incomparable experience that only a Devil May Cry game can deliver.(mast game hay yah pata nhee kab aya gii waiting for it )

Features * From the producer of the original Devil May Cry and Resident Evil 4 * High-definition visuals moving at 60 frames per second * Blend of familiar and new: newcomer Nero clashes with veteran Dante * New characters and environments * Signature blend of guns and swordplay * Deep combo system rewards stylish dispatching of enemies * Unique "Devil Bringer" arm opens up a range of combo options * Distinct set of weaponry and moves for Nero and Dante * Exceed System allows Nero to charge up his sword with a throttle effect, revving up to three levels with powerful attack options * New active style change system for Dante allows him to switch styles and weapons on the fly, producing crazy combo possibilities.(screemshots say pata nhee laag rha kia ...kaisee gamee hay )

Dead Space (xbox360) review

In Dead Space, set 500 years in the future, you'll fill the shoes of Isaac Clarke, an engineer sent as part of a support team to investigate the lack of communications from the USG Ishimura--a city-sized "planet cracker" ship used to strip entire planets of their resources. Some of Isaac's weapons will be mining tools, such as a plasma cutter, a "gk" gun--Dead Space's answer to Half-Life 2's gravity gun--and a dangerous-looking buzz saw that is fired and retracted along an invisible axis, but there will also be traditional weapons, such as a pulse rifle. You'll be able to easily access only four weapons at a time, but you'll be able to store more in your inventory, which is accessed via the menu system The over-the-shoulder, third-person view follows what's happening with Isaac and his bodysuit. While you start with a suit called RIG, you'll acquire new suits and other upgrades as you progress. Vital information is presented onscreen around the bodysuit and weapons. Isaac's "stasis" meter (more on this later) and health bar appear on his spine. The story progresses through video, audio, and text messages shown on virtual video displays that appear in front of Isaac, so there are no cutscenes to interrupt the creepy atmosphere The sound effects in the zero-gravity environment are what you might expect to hear in a vacuum, such as hollow, muffled blasts from the weapons, and raspy, shallow breathing. This is a departure from the loud, screeching, intense environments in other parts of the game, which, for the most part, looked suitably dark and seedy.(this game is like bioshocked my personal thinking)must come on pc)

In Dead Space, you'll acquire and use "stasis," which, when fired directly at enemies or machinery, briefly slows their movements and gives them a handy blue tinge. These valuable few seconds can mean the difference between survival and death. This is useful in some of the more puzzlelike areas; for example, in one section we saw, you need to shoot a spinning shaft to slow it down and then use the gravity gun to drag it along a cylinder and connect it with some cogs to activate a room-sized centrifuge.(as in crysis hmmm seems to b nice)

According to Schofield, at times you'll be low on ammo and will need to use your gk gun creatively to survive. In one instance, if you use a regular weapon to dismember an enemy's sharp clawlike arm, it's possible to then grab the severed limb with the gk gun and use it to finish the creature off. As well as using your weapons and enemies' limbs, you'll be able to stomp on and kick enemies and will have to use some rapid button mashing to get smaller creatures off your back.

From what we could see of Dead Space's often dark, atmospheric, and eerie setting, the game looks promising, with subtle, detailed environments. Lighting effects, smoke, and other touches further the sense of isolation. While the parts we saw were mostly action-focused, EA has promised plenty of horror, but not necessarily much survival. Schofield said that you might go 20 minutes without bumping into anything actively trying to kill you, but those 20 minutes could make you "scared sh**less."as i said before am i right the game must hit

The action in Dead Space relies in part on "strategic dismemberment"--taking down aliens, one appendage at a time. For instance, severing the head from a tail-slashing enemy does little. If you cap his legs, however, he'll still approach you, but much more slowly.its shows its also a stealth game

EA says that Dead Space, which is being developed at its Redwood Shores studio, is progressing well. The game is expected sometime this year, and EA hopes to be able to narrow down the launch window soon.

Assassin's Creed™

Assassin’s Creed is the next-gen game developed by Ubisoft Montreal that will redefine the action genre. While other games claim to be next-gen with impressive graphics and physics, Assassin’s Creed merges technology, game design, theme, and emotions into a world where you instigate chaos and become a vulnerable, yet powerful, agent of change.

The setting is 1191 AD. The Third Crusade is tearing the Holy Land apart. You, Altair, intend to stop the hostilities by suppressing both sides of the conflict. a fully action game like prince of persia my fav

You are an Assassin, a warrior shrouded in secrecy and feared for your ruthlessness. Your actions can throw your immediate environment into chaos, and your existence will shape events during this pivotal moment in history. in that i am a prince ...hheheheh no difference

Key Features

• Be an Assassin
  Master the skills, tactics, and weapons of history’s deadliest and most secretive clan of warriors. Plan your attacks, strike without mercy, and fight your way to escape.
• Realistic and responsive environments
  Crowds react to your moves and will either help or hinder you on your quests.
• Action with a new dimension – total freedom
  Eliminate your targets wherever, whenever, and however. Stalk your prey through richly detailed, historically accurate, open-ended environments. Scale buildings, mount horses, blend in with crowds. Do whatever it takes to achieve your objectives.
• Relive the epic times of the Crusades
  Assassin’s Creed immerses you in the realistic and historical Holy Land of the 12^th century, featuring life-like graphics, ambience, and the subtle, yet detailed nuances of a living world.
• Intense action rooted in reality
  Experience heavy action blended with fluid and precise animations. Use a wide range of medieval weapons, and face your enemies in realistic swordfight duels.
• Next-gen gameplay
  The proprietary engine developed from the ground up for the next-gen console allows organic game design featuring open gameplay, intuitive control scheme, realistic interaction with environment, and a fluid, yet sharp, combat mechanic.

FARCRY 2 (PC) REVIEW

Caught between two rival factions in war-torn Africa, you are sent to take out "The Jackal", a mysterious character who has rekindled the conflict between the warlords, jeopardizing thousands of lives. In order to fulfil your mission you will have to play the factions against each other, identify and exploit their weaknesses, and neutralise their superior numbers and firepower with surprise, subversion, cunning and, of course, brute force.

1:DUNIA ENGINE The Dunia Engine was built specifically for Far Cry 2 by the award-winning Ubisoft Montréal development team. It delivers the most realistic destructible environments, amazing special effects such as dynamic fire propagation and storm effects, real-time night-and-day cycle, dynamic music system, non-scripted enemy A.I. and so much more…
2:REAL-TIME IMMERSION Real-time story telling, systemic auto-healing, minimal in-game interface are just few of the features that will make you feel the tension of being alone against barbarous warlords that threaten thousands of innocent lives.WEAPONS OF CHOICE Choose from a wide range of weapons to make your way to your primary target. Meet the fight head-on with your machine-gun, go berserk with your machete or make stealth kills as a Sniper. If you feel that the atmosphere is not warm enough, light up your flamethrower and let your enemies and everything around them feel the heat.

SCREENSHOTS

Review: Call of Duty 4 (Xbox 360)

The 4th instalment of the Call of Duty series shows us that the series hasn't yet run out of steam. Considering the fact that Infinity Ward didn't develop Call of Duty 3 (developed by Treyarch instead) shows us that the team needed to spend a lot of time on their next big title, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

Infinity Ward has taken the series in another direction. They've tossed out the World War I & II theme and have brought the series to modern day. It's so modern in fact, that it's almost striking close to home by featuring a fictional war that is similar to the war happening in Iraq right now. You could call this USA & UK Vs Iraq: The Game.

Story

The story is a bit long to explain, but I'll give you the basic gist; a fictional war breaks out between USA, UK, Russia and a country in the middle-east, when a president is murdered by two sought after terrorists named Imran Zakhaev and Khaled Al-Asad. The fear and use of nuclear weapons become involved and we are left with a modern day war story that is both interesting and gripping.

Gameplay - Single Player

CoD4 is probably the most cinematic single player experience I've ever had in a FPS. You feel like you are playing out a great war movie. The single player introduces you to the game with an interesting tutorial that consists of shooting wooden boards and a fun run-and-gun obstacle course that you need to do as quickly as possible (My record is just under 20 seconds). Once you make your way through that, you are presented with your first live mission.
Unfortunately, CoD's single player is a short, linear experience. The game only took me 5 hours to complete on Normal difficulty. I am now replaying it again on the hardest difficulty (Veteran) and I'm happy to say that I'm getting a slightly different single player experience (from when I played it on Normal). Although the single player is short, it's 100% solid gameplay and quality from start to finish. It seems games these days are opting for shorter, quality experiences rather than longer, less-quality experiences - which doesn't bother me. While others may argue, I feel it's about the quality, not about the quantity.

The single player is very story driven and you are often jumping between a British S.A.S soldier and an American U.S.N.C soldier and although they are in different places in the world, they are fighting for the same goal. At one point, you will even jump back 15 years into the past to play another character in the game. While this is a weird story-break in the game, it's necessary that it gets told (and played) for the better understanding of what's happening in the story in modern day.
Infinity Ward has pushed the CoD series in a whole new (and welcomed) direction. WWI & WWII were getting a bit stale and bringing it into modern times was the next logical step. Although, with that said, at the back of my mind I am worried about what the future holds for this series. The only next step from here on would to be another modern day war game (Call of Duty 5: Modern Warfare 2?) or once again, move ahead with the times and go into future war (Call of Duty 5: Future Warfare?). Only time will tell.

Gameplay - Multiplayer

While the single player is a finite experience, the muItiplayer is an infinite experience. If you have a DSL connection and a Gold Xbox Live Subscription, you'll probably be spending more time on the multiplayer side of things. Infinity Ward have gone all out to bring us a complete multiplayer experience on the Xbox 360 that can only be matched by Halo 3.

The amount of depth in the multiplayer is both amazing and daunting and I can honestly say I've never seen anything quite like it. Firstly, it has both tons of maps and gameplay modes to keep you playing for weeks, months, if not years to come. Initially, you'll only have access to a limited set of weapons, accessories and skills to equip, but as you play and earn XP, these become unlocked allowing you to create better custom classes. It has a ranking system (a big skill number next to your name) that starts you off from 1. You increase your ranks by earning experience from playing, killing opponents and completing challenges (sorta like an RPG). A big experience bar at the bottom of the screen represents how much experience you have and is needed to 'level up' your rank (kinda like Diablo II). The challenges available to complete are various and range from 'kill 10 opponents through walls' to 'get 25 headshots with a sniper rifle' and completing them gives you extra experience points, which in turn, helps you level up faster, which in turn gives you more stuff.

Graphics

The graphics are a knock-out. I know there is talk on the inter-tubes about it not being true 640p or HD...blah, blah, blah - you WILL be hard-pressed to find a better and more realistic looking game on both the Xbox 360 and PC (with the exception to Crysis for the PC of course). It's runs at a gorgeous 60fps and has some really insane lighting effects. You will think you're playing a DirectX 10 game, but this isn't the case. The 60fps is really something you just have to see as it's so smooth and even when you've got sheer chaos on the screen, there is little to no slowdown.

Sound & Music

The voice acting is top notch. Infinity Ward went to great lengths to ensure that the game would sound authentic. Even the terrorists sound good and they don't even speak English. The music is great and overall it has an epic sound to it. This compliments the scale of the fictional war and at the same time, makes you feel important in the game.

Conclusion

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is a package that can be closely compared to Halo 3. It's got a short (but excellent) singleplayer and an awesome (and virtually infinite) multiplayer component. If you are looking for a powerfully compelling singleplayer experience and a multiplayer game that's going to knock your socks off, Call of Duty 4 is your game. If you've never played a CoD game before, don't worry - this game has nothing to do with the previous three games. Unless you really don't like FPS games, there is no reason to not buy this game, it's got everything.
OVERALL RATING: 92%

GEFORCE 9 ARRIVED

Ok i have been surfin the web for info on the Geforce 9 series codnamed G92 and its really starting to get me excited! ok this is what i have dug up so far!
Here is how the situation with the so awaited new GeForce series 9 is fixed, so far. This info is most probably containing the final specs of the new cards and is presented just as nVidia marked it.

G92 will be released in November 2007 timeframe in the form of "GeForce 9800" series.

"G92" GeForce 9800 GTX specs.

- 65nm process technology at TSMC.
- Over one billion transistors.
- Second Generation Unified Shader Architecture.
- Double precsion support (FP64).
- GPGPU native.
- Over one TeraFLOPS of shader processing power.
- MADD+ADD configuration for the shader untis (2+1 FLOPS=3 FLOPS per ALU)
- Fully Scalar design.
- 512-bit memory interface.
- 1024MB GDDR4 graphics memory.
- DirectX 10.1 support.
- OpenGL 3.0 Support.
- eDRAM die for "FREE 4xAA".
- built in Audio Chip.
- built in tesselation unit (in the graphics core"
- Improved AA and AF quality levels.

65nm process will allow for better yields and better power consumption. power consumption will be lower than that of a GeForce 8800 GTX. GeForce 9800 GTX will be over two times faster than a GeForce 8800 Ultra in real world games and applications.

Release date : November 2007. There will be TWO products at launch: The flagship GeForce 9800 GTX and the second fastest GeForce 9800 GTS.

PRICE!!!!!!!


price for the GeForce 9800 GTX will be 549-649 USD.

price for the GeForce 9800 GTS will be 399-449 USD.

VISTA BUILT IN DX 10 FOR GAMERZ

NVIDIA GeForce® GPUs, world renowned for innovation, stability and award-winning performance, are the choice of reviewers and consumers worldwide. Together, they are essential ingredients for the best Windows Vista™ experience.

Features
1:Provides just the essentials needed for computing in Vista. 2:Run productivity applications such as Microsoft Office, e-mail, web browsing, instant messaging, applications, or play simple games. 3:Automatic defenses against malicious software such as spyware from websites. 4:Built-in parental control to help ensure children are protected when surfing the internet.

Features

1:Complete Windows Vista experience in work, entertainment, and gaming needs. 2:Ultra-rich graphics, three-dimensional modeling, high-performance multimedia experience. 3:Experience Windows Aero features such as dynamic reflections, smooth gliding animations, transparent glass-like menu bars, and open windows in a new three-dimensional layout. 4:Built-in Media Center makes it easier to enjoy photos, music, DVDs, recorded TV, and home movies. 5:Automatic defenses against malicious software such as spyware from websites. 6:Built-in parental control to help ensure children are protected when surfing the internet.

Premium 3D User Experience
1:Drives the Windows Vista Aero User Interface.
2:Second processor for the PC dedicated to graphics, offloading the work from the CPU for better performance in multimedia-rich environments




Premium 3D User Experience
1:Faster desktop response time and
efficient multi-tasking
2:Instant access to multiple open
windows
3:Support for multiple monitors


Crisp, Vibrant Photos
1:Unprecedented color clarity with NVIDIA Digital Vibrance Control™ 2:Photo viewing and management in high-fidelity resolutions


Smooth, High-Definition Videos
1:Ultra-smooth HD DVD and Blu-ray™ Disc playback with NVIDIA PureVideo™ HD technology
2:Easy output to your TV or HDTV

Ultra-realistic Games
1:Accelerates the latest standards in 3D
2:Unparalleled performance
3:Stability, reliability and compatibility

2007 CRYSIS A GREAT GAME REVIEW

"2007 is the Year of the First Person Shooter and Crysis is the Best Shooter of 2007"

I have been a huge fan of the first person shooter genre since the Wolfenstein and Doom days. I remember, as a 13 year old, being impressed by the violence, gore, and overall carnage. Silly, I know. But as far as my young mind was concerned, it was cool to run through little corridors with power ups scattered about, firing shotguns at hellish monsters, and having some bloody fun with a chainsaw. In those days, at that age, you were actually considered "lucky" at school if you were playing Doom because a lot of kids weren't allowed to. Believe me, I remember all too well the kids that would say "Doom sucks!" in a mad rage; a way of venting at their parents and refusing to believe that other kids might be getting to enjoy a game that they could not.


Somehow that makes it rather ironic that, almost 15 years later, the same kind of scenario is playing out with Crysis. Crysis polarizes gamers, but for the most part this is not a result of "you either love it or hate it". This is simply a result of Crysis being a PC exclusive. As such, the majority of mainstream gamers won't get to play Crysis, and many who try on older PCs will be flabbergasted by the ugliness of the game at "Low" settings. "Crysis sucks! The graphics suck!" they will scream in prepubescent anger. But on this day, PC gamers have good reason to let those outbursts fall upon deaf ears.

Because Crysis isn't just about blood and gore, like Doom was. Nor is it about fancy graphics at the expense of everything else. Crysis is the complete package despite the common criticism of, "It brings nothing new to the table.” The humor of this comment is the fact that it comes from fans of shooters (Call of Duty 4, Halo 3, etc.) that truly do bring nothing new to the table. I love Call of Duty 4 as much as the next guy, but as great as it is, its gameplay is the same as the original Call of Duty from 2003. Do I care? Of course not because it's still a blast to play. The same goes for Crysis, which actually has more variation in its gameplay than any other shooter released in 2007 aside from Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.

GRAPHICS: 10

Still, having said all that, no review of Crysis would be complete without acknowledging the graphics. As of the date of this review, and surely quite some time beyond, these are the best visuals to ever grace a videogame. However, unlike consoles which offer all gamers the same performance without any hassle, it can take some time and effort to get Crysis up and running effectively.

I played Crysis on a PC with Windows Vista 64-bit, an Intel E6850 Core 2 Duo, 4 GB of Super Talent DDR3 RAM, and an NVIDIA 8800 Ultra video card. Even with that kind of hardware, playing at all “Very High” settings, I wasn't getting the frame rates I wanted at my 22” monitor's native resolution (1680x1050). Additionally, I was also seeing some jaggies in the graphics, like the anti-aliasing wasn't working correctly. I tried lowering the resolution, but playing at a non-native resolution on an LCD monitor is blurry and unacceptable.

So, downstairs I went, and before I knew it my PC was hooked up to a 52” Mitsubishi DLP HDTV. Playing the game at 720p (1280x720), all graphics settings at max, on a DLP was just brillant looking. I can now say from experience that Crysis offers silky smooth framerates on current hardware at high definition resolutions. Additionally, leaving my LCD behind got rid of the jaggies...the game looks absolutely stunning.

Unlike the first CryEngine used in Far Cry, where outdoor environments were huge and impressive while indoor areas suffered by comparison, CryEngine 2 is equally good at rendering both. There is no denying that the wide open areas in Crysis are amazing, with their sandy beaches, superb water (the best in game history, topping even BioShock), lush vegetation (including trees which can be shot down), wildlife (birds, fish, insects, frogs, crabs, turtles), and massive view distances. Yet, the most memorable level in the game could very well be “Core”, which takes place at zero gravity inside an alien vessel.

There has never been a level like this in a game. The Descent series comes close to this style of gameplay, but Crysis is light years ahead in terms of atmosphere and art direction. The visual effects in this level are second to none, from the use of lighting and steam, to the particles drifting by and various floating objects you can interact with. One could argue that Mario Galaxy has more architecturally complex and ingenious level design throughout (Portal should also get some love here), but as far as single levels go, “Core” in Crysis is the most original, even awe inspiring, level in a game this year.

Crytek should also be praised for their ability to keep the visuals fresh by constantly throwing something new at players. There are levels set at night and during the day, there are levels in snow and others in rain, there are indoor and outdoor environments, there is the aforementioned zero gravity alien ship and a level on an aircraft carrier. All of this keeps the pacing of the game brisk and exciting.

As for the character models, they are the best in a first person shooter since Half-Life 2 and its episodes. Who would have ever thought Crytek would eventually compete with Valve in this area? From the first moment we see Prophet explaining the mission as Psycho cracks jokes in the opening cutscene, it is clear that character detail was a priority. As for the enemy models, they are top notch as well. The Korean soldiers have quite a visual range and the aliens are excellently designed, both in and out of their “machines”.

With that, I actually have to stop and commend Crytek for taking the time to make their aliens different. Many shooters (too damn many) feature aliens as primary villains, but that only becomes a problem when the aliens themselves are generic and boring. I'm referring to the countless games that feature standard, bipedal, humanoid creatures that are supposed to be aliens from outer space (Unreal, Quake, Area 51, Halo, Resistance, Prey, etc.). Why such a lack of creativity? Why do so many games feature barely “alien” aliens? Crytek doesn't. The aliens here seem almost aquatic. Zero gravity is disorienting for the player, but the aliens swim through the environment gracefully and with fearsome speed. This is their home. The alien machines are also impressively agile and very different from earthly technology, though there is no denying their resemblance to the flying machines in The Matrix.

What we have here is, quite simply, the most beautiful game ever made. As with any game that holds that title, another will eventually come along to dethrone it. But in the case of Crysis. I don't see that day coming any time soon (not even Ubisoft Montreal's Far Cry 2 looks to top it from what I've seen), especially since the game has been designed to scale ahead several years. It's hard to believe, but Crysis will look better a year from now than it does today, if Crytek is to be trusted.

SOUND: 9

As far as presentation goes, the graphics of Crysis are just a single element, and they would lose about half of their effect without the well done sound effects and music. In the process of making a video of the zero gravity level, there were times when I had the sound turned off. As a result, one of the best parts of the game became far less impressive. When the sound is on during this level you hear ambient music, subtle sounds in the environment, as well as aliens communicating in a way that brings dolphins to mind.

High quality sound is everywhere in this game. From the extremely powerful grenade explosions and assault rifle bursts, to the realistic underwater audible effects and the sounds of trees crashing into the landscape after being severed. The voice acting is also fine, though it can be, at times, the weakest part of the sound. The North Koreans scream some pretty cheesy stuff in English, but the game feels more realistic when they speak in their native tongue anyhow. It's rather annoying that they only speak Korean if you play on the Delta difficulty mode, but there are ways to make them speak Korean in any difficulty level if you simply alter a certain file.

Lastly, the music from composer Inon Zur is quite good, and does more than its fair share to compliment the visuals and enhance the experience. For the most part, the music is done in the epic “film score” style of the Call of Duty or Halo series and it overachieves in this respect. I love the way Asian instruments are cleverly weaved into the very Western scoring style. I thoroughly enjoyed Inon Zur's work here, and I would rather listen to the CD soundtrack of this score than those of most other shooters.

STORY: 8

I give the game high marks for the story not because it could compete with an art film or Shakespeare, but because, for what it is, the story is quite solid and fun. This is the stuff of Hollywood blockbusters, and as such, the plot really fits the game and gives the player enough reason to keep moving forward (aside from the fun factor itself).

It begins in the year 2020 with a team of U.S. Delta Forces, decked out in high tech nanosuits, en route to a chain of islands in the Philippine Sea. Archaeologists working there had made a discovery in the mines that drew the interest of the North Koreans, who immediately moved military forces into the area and locked down the island. The Delta Forces have been tasked with recovering the archaeologists who have been taken hostage.

The player takes control of Jake Dunn, codenamed Nomad, one of the Delta Force operators who takes part in this “locate and evacuate” mission. However, along the way, full scale war erupts between the U.S. and North Korea with Nomad joining the invasion force in a splendid level called “Assault”. Eventually, the stakes are raised even higher when the the truth about the archaeologists discovery is revealed to be an alien vessel in the mountains...

Like I said, it's not high art, but Crytek's execution of this popcorn movie plot is quite good. There are plenty of fantastic set pieces (all of which feel less scripted than those in the Call of Duty series), and cutscenes that always seem to appear right when they are welcome. The pacing is also top notch, with rarely a lull in the excitement. Plus, if you ask me, Crytek keeps ratcheting up the thrills to the very end. The stakes continue to rise with each passing chapter, and the fun follows suit. This is in stark contrast to a game like Halo 3, where the early chapters are decent, and then the game devolves into a completely boring mess for the last few levels.

GAMEPLAY: 9.5

Obviously, this is the most important part of any game, first person shooters included. Therefore, it is great news that Crysis delivers superb gameplay in spades. To get a pretty good idea of what to expect, simply take the best attributes of other good first person shooters and add huge, non-linear levels to explore, the customization provided by the nanosuit, and weapon modification options.

The first item is pretty self explanatory; the game is filled with magnificent environments that offer numerous ways to approach situations and objectives. You can steal a boat and get around by sea, hop into a jeep or pickup truck and hit the gas, make a stealth approach on foot through forests or mountains, find a nice perch and snipe the enemies in the valley below, cause a distraction to help you slip through an enemy patrol, fire a rocket from a distant hill to destroy an AA gun instead of infiltrating the base to disable it, or just mix it up in combat against far greater numbers. The options available, due to the well designed levels alone, are extensive.

When the nanosuit is added to the mix, things get even more interesting. Each ability the suit offers makes itself useful numerous times over the course of the adventure. Frankly, the only reason Nomad isn't invincible is because the suit has a limited amount of energy that recharges over time. The armor mode makes Nomad more durable as every enemy attack drains only suit power until it is spent. Speed mode allows Nomad to move at a much faster pace, with no cost to suit energy unless he sprints. Strength mode has several nice effects, including better aim stabilization, the ability to leap much higher, the ability to throw objects and enemies with great force over large distances, and strong punches that can destroy objects in Nomad's path (all at the expense of suit energy). Lastly there is cloak mode, which makes Nomad quite hard to spot and drains suit power slowly when standing still, but rapidly when in motion.

As I stated, each of these abilities is useful. Armor is constantly a big help in combat, obviously. I used Strength quite often to leap onto high ledges, roofs of homes, over fences, etc. I also used it to melee in several situations, and throw enemies into their own allies, not to mention the times it helped me aim better. Speed mode comes in handy for quick escapes and is priceless in its ability to allow the levels to be traversed faster. Cloak is also extremely useful for sneaking around and getting the jump on the enemy, though it is more lasting and effective when waiting in one place.

The weapon modifications are also very helpful, and a lot of fun. Being able add the scope of your choice to a gun can make it useful in several situations where it might otherwise be useless. Your choices, once you find them all, include the regular iron sight, a reflex sight, an assault scope, or a sniper scope. In the case of the FY71 assault rifle, you can choose between regular ammunition and incendiary rounds, and you can add a grenade launcher attachment to any assault rifle. You can also switch to tactical ammunition (sleep darts) with various weapons if you choose, and laser pointer and flashlight modules are also available. Lastly, you can equip silencers for quiet takedowns, but the drawback is that they weaken bullet damage.

Adding to your wide range of choices is the ability to change firing modes. With an assault rifle you can use full auto or single shot, which combined with the right scope can effectively turn them into decent medium range sniper rifles. Other stuff is pretty standard first person military shooter stuff, like night vision, plastic explosives, and three kinds of grenades (fragmentation, smoke, and flashbang). I can't forget to mention the binoculars either, which have three levels of zoom and allow you to “tag” enemies, making them show up on your radar from that point forward until disposed of.

The weapons themselves are a solid, varied bunch. You've got your pistols (which can be dual wielded), two flavors of assault rifle, a pretty awesome submachine gun, a powerful shotgun, a sniper rifle, a killer minigun, the Gauss Rifle (extremely strong and accurate over great distances), missile launchers, and the Molecular Accelerator (an alien weapon that fires sharp ice shards). There is also the TAC Launcher, but it's not really worth mentioning since it is only used once in the game. At any rate, all of these weapons are enjoyable to use and perform just as one would expect.

For most of the game your primary foes are KPA soldiers (Korean People's Army), and fighting them is a blast. The A.I. deserves a lot of the credit for this, though as is the case with all sandbox style shooters, it is imperfect. There will be occasions where the A.I. might do something a little questionable, but for the most part it is effective. These guys will hunt you down, flank you, move in groups, flush you out of your hiding place with grenades, run like hell from your grenades, quickly get out of burning vehicles, and so forth. If you are spotted by a small enemy patrol, they will even fire off flares to signal for help, at which time a tactical vehicle usually drives up and starts hosing down the area. Deciding how to deal with these enemies is thoroughly enjoyable.

Unfortunately, on the Delta difficulty, there are almost too many KPA soldiers and you can't really take them on in the open because they'll kill you quickly, not just because your suit and health deplete faster, but because you have to completely rely on the gun sights as there is no crosshair. On Delta, I found myself running around hiding more than fighting, and my enjoyment suffered as a result. I had much more fun with Crysis on my “Hard” playthrough because it offered a nice mix of challenge, stealth, and gunplay.

There will also be times when you have to deal with boats, manned by a driver and a highly accurate gunner, as well as helicopters, which can be quite a nuisance unless you take them out with a missile launcher. Later you will also have to deal with aliens and their machines, and I loved this section of the game because it was a nice change of pace. I adamantly disagree with anyone who believes this part of the game is another Crytek mistake, like the Trigen in Far Cry. On the contrary, these aliens are fun to fight by various means, and must be approached in a much different manner than the KPA.

These levels of the game only consist of about one fourth of the playtime, but despite the more linear nature of the game at this point it is consistently exciting. In the “Ascension” level, when I realized I was actually piloting a VTOL and freakin' dogfighting with alien machines in midair to protect a convoy in the valley below...“awesome” was the only word that came to mind. I recommend the Xbox 360 controller for this part though as it makes it far easier to zip around, roll, and fire off bullets and missiles effectively (mouse and keyboard is better for everything else in the game, however).

Other vehicles include tanks, jeeps, trucks, and boats, which can be added to your strategies of approach. The jeeps and boats have quite a bit of firepower onboard thanks to their mounted turrets, and the level “Onslaught” successfully creates the feel of a real warzone designed around tank combat. I should also note that the physics in this game are, in every respect, the best since Half-Life 2.

With so many elements coming together under the hood of one shooter, it really is impressive that they blend so well. In summary, Crysis offers big non-linear levels for three quarters, Call of Duty-esque linear levels for the last quarter, customization via the nanosuit, great weapons that allow modification, player controlled vehicles (land, sea, and air), solid A.I., terrific physics, and an exciting story. I would say that Crytek threw in everything but the kitchen sink, but as others have stated, there is even a kitchen sink in this game!

MULTIPLAYER: 8

The multiplayer aspect of the game consists of two modes: Instant Action and Power Struggle. Instant Action is, like Halo's Slayer, just another name for Deathmatch. Personally, I'm not a big deathmatch fan anymore because I've been playing that mode for many years. Crysis is no exception to the rule, even though you can employ the nanosuit powers. Cloaking isn't very useful in multiplayer, and frankly, unless you're one of the people who runs around the map with Maximum Strength trying to “one punch kill” people, you will likely find that Armor mode is by far the most useful.

The real strength of Crysis multiplayer is in the Power Struggle mode. As many others have said before me, this is like a combination of the large environments and infantry/vehicle combat of Battlefield 2 combined with the economy system of Counterstrike. However, Power Struggle has a much bigger learning curve before its quality begins to show. Earlier this year it took me about three or four hours of playtime to really give Enemy Territory: Quake Wars a chance, and now it is my favorite multiplayer shooter of 2007. The delay in my appreciation was due to the learning curve, but Power Struggle probably takes even longer to get the hang of.

With support for up to 32 players, 16 to a team, you begin the game by choosing to play on the U.S. or North Korean side. Both teams have a headquarters on the map, and the goal is simple: destroy the enemy headquarters. However, achieving that result isn't as easy as it sounds. The headquarters are so extremely well defended by turrets that there are only three options powerful enough to destroy them: the Singularity Tank, the TAC Tank, or the TAC Launcher. The quest to achieve this “power” is the “struggle”.

Your team must begin pushing forward on the map, capturing factories (via the Battlefield-esque flag system) that allow the production of weapons, ground vehicles, and air support vehicles (which can be purchased with Prestige Points). Your team must also capture forward bunkers, where you can spawn from that point on, unless the bunker is lost. These bunkers also provide a place where you can spend your Prestige Points on weapons and accessories. For instance, you can buy the weapon of your choice, the ammo for it, scopes for it, grenades, mines, etc. The Prestige Points you spend to purchase these things are gained by killing enemies and capturing the various objectives on the map.

However, for the most part, all of these are just methods of increasing your team's power and remaining competitive with the opposing team. The real objective is the Prototype Laboratory. When you gain control of the lab, you can start capturing alien crash sites to power it up. Only then can you attain the advanced weaponry required to damage the enemy base. It all adds up to a lengthy, strategic match often consisting of a back and forth push, quick shifts from offense to defense, and so forth. It's well worth the effort to learn.

Now, despite all that, I'm not saying Power Struggle is as good as Quake Wars, but then again, Quake Wars is a retail game that is entirely based around multiplayer. However, as a multiplayer component for a single player FPS, Power Struggle can certainly compete with the likes of Call of Duty 4, Team Fortress 2, or Halo 3. However, those other games I mentioned are easier to pick right up and play, with their relatively simple modes and objectives. Like I said, due to the higher learning curve, it is easier to dismiss Power Struggle before giving it a proper chance, even though it is actually a lot of fun.

OVERALL: 9.4

Simply put, this is the best first person shooter of the year and a Game of the Year candidate. That is really saying something when you consider that this is also the year of The Orange Box, BioShock, Call of Duty 4, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, Halo 3, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl. I have played all of those games and completed the single player modes on each that has one. With the exception of Halo 3, I enjoyed all of them a great deal (and I suppose I even liked Halo 3 for about 150 multiplayer matches, after which I was bored). Still, as much as I liked the others, I believe Crysis stands as the best FPS of the year. I am anxiously looking forward to the sequel.

PS3 WAS THAT WONDERFULL

CPU
Cell Processor
PowerPC-base Core @3.2GHz
1 VMX vector unit per core
512KB L2 cache
7 x SPE @3.2GHz
7 x 128b 128 SIMD GPRs
7 x 256KB SRAM for SPE
* 1 of 8 SPEs reserved for redundancy
total floating point performance: 218 GFLOPS

GPU

RSX @550MHz
1.8 TFLOPS floating point performance
Full HD (up to 1080p) x 2 channels
Multi-way programmable parallel floating point shader pipelines

Sound

Dolby 5.1ch, DTS, LPCM, etc. (Cell- base processing)

Memory

256MB XDR Main RAM @3.2GHz 256MB GDDR3 VRAM @700MHz

System Bandwidth

Main RAM 25.6GB/s
VRAM 22.4GB/s
RSX 20GB/s (write) + 15GB/s (read)
SB< style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 102);"> Storage

Detachable 2.5" HDD slot x 1

I/O

USB Front x 4, Rear x 2 (USB2.0)
Memory Stick standard/Duo, PRO x 1
SD standard/mini x 1
CompactFlash (Type I, II) x 1

Communication

Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T) x 3 (input x 1 + output x 2)
Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR)

Controller

Bluetooth (up to 7)
USB 2.0 (wired)
Wi-Fi (PSP)
Network (over IP)

AV Output

Screen size: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
HDMI: HDMI out x 2
Analog: AV MULTI OUT x 1
Digital audio: DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL) x 1

Disc Media

CD PlayStation CD-ROM, PlayStation 2 CD-ROM, CD-DA, CD-DA (ROM), CD-R, CD-RW, SACD, SACD Hybrid (CD layer), SACD HD, DualDisc, DualDisc (audio side), DualDisc (DVD side)
DVD: PlayStation 2 DVD-ROM, PlayStation 3 DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW
Blu-ray Disc: PlayStation 3 BD-ROM, BD-Video, BD-ROM, BD-R, BD-RE

Product name: PlayStation 3

Penumbra: Black Plague Review

February 1, 2008 -
In adventure games there are only so many times you can strap a cell phone to a cat to distract an NPC before you jump up, swat aside your monitor, and bellow "Blast! This doesn't make sense!" at an unsuspecting family member or roommate. It took a while for developers to hear the cries of sheer bewilderment and disorientation from their faithful player base, and thankfully those pleas' sonic reverberations jiggled through the Earth's particles and into the minds of Frictional Games when they started planning the Penumbra series. The follow up to Overture, Black Plague is the second and final Penumbra game, and the better of the two.

Perhaps the best part about Black Plague is, quite simply, that the puzzles generally make sense. Use a lighter on a barrel of oil to set it on fire. Put a coin in a pop machine to get a can. Soak a cloth in alcohol to make if flammable. I'm getting pretty fed up with adventure games that try to tell a story, but then fracture all sense of pacing and continuity by forcing you to spend hours running between locales, trying to figure out how dials in one room are affected by punching keypads and manipulating jigsaw puzzles in another. As you sneak your way toward uncovering the Shelter's true nature and what lies beyond, you might get tripped up here and there by puzzles, but even if you're stumped the eventual solution won't strike you as unintuitive for the sake of padding gameplay hours. One issue with making the puzzles more comprehensive is, by the end, it feels as though not enough was done with the physics-focused adventure to really stand out, or really wow you. Some of the puzzles are fairly pedestrian and tend to repeat themselves, the valves and switches in particular. Even so, it's a far less frustrating experience than with more traditional point-and-click adventure games.

The physics provide a solid hook. You wander around in a first-person perspective snatching up boxes, rolling barrels, and opening drawers to find keys, flashlight batteries, and glow sticks. Instead of just clicking on a drawer, though, you click a button to grab on, then actually have to mimic a pulling motion with the mouse (or move backwards while holding on) to open it. With valves you actually have to make a circular motion, with levers you have to pull them down, and with doors you have to push them open like you would in real life (meaning push on the outer edge of the door, not the hinges, dummy). Now I don't want to say every game out there needs to let me open doors realistically to be interesting, but in an adventure game like this that relies on a sense of atmosphere and immersion, little things like this make me feel more rooted in the game world and more connected with my surroundings. Black Plague, like Overture, doesn't deliver on this mechanic flawlessly, but it does make improvements.

First off, you don't have to fight dog patrols like you did in the Overture. There are grotesque roaming enemies, but they're relatively infrequent and easy to disregard. Without the threat of dogs jumping on your face, the puzzles tend to be more enjoyable. The physics system works just fine when you've got time to assess the situation, but its limitations and awkwardness come screaming to the forefront whenever you're suddenly dropped into a twitch situation. Trying to fight things with pickaxes in the first was one of my major problems, since the fighting system was an unwieldy mess. Here you don't get any weapons and there are only a handful of instances I can think of when twitch elements are thrust upon you, though I won't go into them because, well, spoiling things isn't very sporting.

The narrative still proves to be clumsy at times, but there a few things at work in Black Plague's story that make it more digestible than Overture. First off, since you're already embroiled in the mystery of the Shelter, you don't have to deal with Overture's flimsy exposition and implausible justification for protagonist Philip to suddenly interrupt his life and risk everything to visit a remote area of Greenland. Frictional built in another mechanic that toys with your sense of perception, heightening the already powerful atmosphere that exists here. I don't want to give too much away, but essentially it forces you second-guess that what you see and hear is a reality – if only it had been developed to a greater extent and utilized in more creative ways.

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Welcome to the Gamez Info World, where you will find information about games of all kinds. I have played games of every imaginable variety for as long as I can remember. My family finds that games are a great way to enjoy each others company while keeping a friendly competitive environment at the same time. Because we enjoy games so much, I decided to develop this site to share information like rules and strategies for as many games as I can.

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