Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon PC Review

Posted on May 23, 2013 by No_Style

I’m a child of the 1980′s but I would not call myself a fan of it. My musical touchstone into that era are action movies and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City’s soundtrack. I see the fashion and style of that era through the lens of Scarface and American Psycho. My vision and interpretation of the 1980s is moulded by media which is fitting because that’s exactly how Ubisoft shaped Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon’s sound and aesthetic.

The game starts on a high note with a wonderful 80′s inspired Ubisoft logo. Then Power Glove’s excellent soundtrack lays it on thick with Terminator inspired tracks and sounds from a bygone era. Neon lights were common place and a title card infused with pink and chrome certified this as an 80′s themed game.

Then it was Far Cry 3.

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More Xbox One Thoughts & Musings

Posted on May 22, 2013 by No_Style

Like I did after Sony’s event a few months ago, here are some thoughts on the Xbox One after a day of digestion.

What’s in a name?

The Xbox One successfully gets us mentioning Microsoft’s “all-in-one” entertainment box vision and for that I commend them. It’s a confusing name when I’m discussing the Xbox’s legacy but we’re far enough out that it’s not going to be an issue.

Ironically, the Xbox One is backwards compatible with the original Xbox — they both support the x86 instruction set. It’s up to Microsoft to enable backwards compatibility with their origins though.

I’m still wondering what people are going to settle on as an acronym. XONE? XBONE? XBO? XO? X1? XBONER? I’ve been using XONE but XBONE is amusing to say aloud. I guess we should chalk one up to the marketing team for making this a discussion topic as well.

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Xbox One is now official

Posted on May 21, 2013 by No_Style

It’s not Infinite, Infinity or just Xbox. Microsoft’s next generation console will be known as the Xbox One. That’s such an odd name when you consider the Xbox lineage. It started with Xbox to Xbox 360 and now just Xbox One.

Every time someone is talking about the “Xbox One” I keep thinking they’re talking about the original Xbox. It’s going to take some time before I adjust to that name. Fortunately for Microsoft, the masses probably forgot about the original Xbox.

The entire presentation was a wash. Yes, we saw the box and a handful of high level specifications but a majority of it was TV set box, Kinect demonstrations and more TV related entertainment. Oh and Call of Duty: Ghosts.

On the plus side, Microsoft showed the box. Unfortunately they didn’t share a unique vision for their console. They promised a responsive console that records gameplay but those are the same promises Sony brought forth with their console. I guess we will have to wait until E3 2013 like they kept reiterating during the entire presentation.

As for nitty gritty details, it looks like Wired had the exclusive look through this photo gallery and article.

And here’s the reveal video:

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Checkpoint: Extra Long Weekend Edition

Posted on May 19, 2013 by No_Style

checkpoint-extra-long-weekend-edition

It’s been awhile since I had some time off. I took an extra day (May 21^st) so I could just do nothing.

I wish I had a weekend project to work on but the one thing I want to work on (new home server) isn’t possible at the moment. So what will I do? I already spent a day at a wedding and I suspect one of these days will be spent charring meats.

The game(s) of the weekend will probably be God of War: Ascension and Mechwarrior: Online sprinkled with some Luigi’s Mansion 2.

I guess I’ll continue working on my Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon review and perhaps that Unreal Engine 3 feature.

You know what? It may also just be filled with Star Trek: TNG episodes. The important thing is I’m earning money and not working.

Fuse PS3 Demo Impressions

Posted on May 16, 2013 by No_Style

I finally got around to trying the Fuse demo last night. It didn’t meet my expectations but not for typical reasons.

Fuse would have been far more amusing with four players chatting over the headset; they would have filled the void of noise or notable audio stimuli. I found Fuse to be muted with its audio. Visually it was fine but the lack of audio punch in nearly everything I was involved with left me underwhelmed.

I was also disappointed by the lack of flair from the characters. They too felt restrained and simply weren’t as funny or witty as I thought they could be. Maybe it’s too early in the campaign and they were not accustomed to each other yet. Or maybe — just maybe — developers should divulge a bit more than what we’re given here.

On the bright side, switching between the different characters worked just as well as switching weapons. I appreciated the fact that I could leave a character in a precarious situation and they would find their way to cover. The A.I was actually competent based on what I witnessed. They set up shields, revived and did kept themselves out of unnecessary trouble.

I’m not going to pick up Fuse. I felt like I got all I wanted out of that demo. The final game could end up being amazing but I can’t help shake the feeling that it would be better played as a 4 player co-operative game.

Also this game probably has the ugliest fire effect on this side of the PlayStation 1.

Fuse will debut on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on May 28^th, 2013

Gran Turismo 6 announced for PS3

Posted on May 15, 2013 by No_Style

Just when I thought Sony was done announcing major releases for the PlayStation 3, here comes a sequel to one of their tentpole titles. Gran Turismo 6 for the PlayStation 3 was confirmed for the a holiday 2013 release.

Now that’s not the end of it. Polyphony Digital have already mentioned they have the PlayStation 4 version of the game “in mind“. And with that tacit confirmation, I will be skipping the PlayStation 3 version.

Even if the PlayStation 4 version is nothing more than a cleaned up version of the PlayStation 3 release, I’d be more than okay with it.

But enough about the game’s platforms and release dates, what of the game itself?

It looks fine but all they showed was the racing itself which was fine in Gran Turismo 5 as well. It was everything else surrounding Gran Turismo 5 that was lacking. They claimed an improved interface but that’s one of those “I’ll believe it when I see it” situations.

NVIDIA’s Shield Priced To Not Move

Posted on May 14, 2013 by No_Style

Remember NVIDIA’s Project Shield? That horrendous looking Android handheld that can also stream Steam games finally has a price: it can be yours for just $349.99.

That’s $100 more than a PlayStation Vita and $150 more than a Nintendo 3DS. It is cheaper than a spec comparable smartphone or tablet but that’s not something I would want to bring out in public.

So what does $349.99 get you? A handheld that can play the “hottest” Android games powered by one of the fastest (if not the fastest) SoC on the market today. If Android games doesn’t float your boat, there’s always a plethora of PC games that you can stream via your NVIDIA GeForce GTX video card.

This is one hell of a niche product for that price.

For those who have cash burning in their wallets, pre-orders open May 20^th.