So I’m hunting my giant Clappy fire Bird, happily slapping it with a sword that is so large it defies logic  and then a bloody great big dragon turns up, nukes the bird and proceeds to eat me. Now, usually I would scream profanities at my Wii and vow to burn the disc but with Monster Hunter I laugh at the brutal murder of my character and vow to turn the dragon into rare – medium rare steaks.

I have been a casual gamer since I threw my wow character off a cliff in winter spring so, when I  picked up a copy of Monster hunter I naturally did so with some trepidation, but after a 4 hour period of being thoroughly confused by my characters mass monster Hunting tendencies and a back pack full of goodies like, “Dung”,” large Dung” and “Paramushrooms” (which makes your character violently throw up when eaten)   I  finally knew how to make  steak’s,  potion’s  and more weapons which is more or less the basics of the admin that needs to be done in-between beating up animals, taking their obscure parts and turning them into knick knacks like bombs and bug nets.  I now run around the wilderness of Monster land ducking and diving underneath fireballs like it was my calling in life.  Considering I play my Wii for only a few hours a week Monster Hunter Tri provides instant satisfaction, easily allowing the player to go heads up against the monster you wish to skin into extinction. I have already clocked up over 40 hours and am still not bored and haven’t even had a glimpse of the big bad Monsters yet. This is the beauty of Monster Hunter Tri.

The Battle system is beautiful and surprisingly intuitive. Once you have the hang of the game and understand how to make your character stop, drop, roll and decapitate, the battles become much like a ballet version of Jurassic Park. If you are facing a new monster just run around like a headless chicken evade its attacks until you know how it moves. Then move in for the kill exploiting its weakness’s. It’s as simple as that for nearly every monster but each time it feels fresh and fun.

This isn’t to say it’s not an ordeal of endurance at the same time. You can find yourself duelling with a Monster for up to 50 minutes before your timer runs out but that time flies by. I personally find that I care about your characters life and don’t want him to just crash and burn under your current foes many serrated teeth.

So remember, stop, drop and roll as much as possible so that you don’t end up as Velociraptor food.

Monster Hunter Tri Review originally appeared on: WireNinja
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On June 11, 2010 LedgeWizard Games, released their first game, Towers, for the Xbox (Live) Indie Games Platform. A unique and imaginative take on the Tower defence game that sets out to build a deep and rewarding experience without losing any of its vibrant personality.

Based in South Cornwall, England, LedgeWizard Games are a small family based team headed up by Adam Steppens who built Towers in his spare time. I was lucky enough to get an interview with Mr. LedgeWizard himself, Adam Steppens.

What differentiates Towers from other Tower Defence games?

I’ve played a number of good TDs in the past so there are obviously strong influences from some games. I’m hoping that a few of the tower designs are fairly original and that they complement each other well. Each of the towers has a few different versions that can be upgraded to individually, so, for instance, a cannon tower could be given a speed upgrade, or damage upgrade or even eventually both. Different towers have other upgrades available, though the total number for each tower has been kept fairly low so that each tower has strengths and weaknesses which have to be worked into the strategy.

There are also multiple endings based on how well you do. All are achievable and seeing one ending doesn’t lock you out from seeing any of the others. I think it’s very important for people to be able to see all of the content without being locked out for making a decision that they might regret later. That’s something for RPGs I think.

The golden rule that I eventually settled on was to keep it simple. It’s a pretty casual game that anyone can pick up and play. The variety is in the different strategies the player can come up with. Originally, different coloured wizards were going to be able to build different towers, or make it so that different objects in the world would be used for different sets of towers. It all got a little bit complicated and potentially quite restrictive. It also played havoc with the difficulty. I might something like that in a sequel. So the game basically only ever has three options. Build, upgrade and sell.

The game has a fairly sedate pace, especially in the earlier levels. The idea being that the player has a moment to think about which towers to choose and where to place them, rather than the whole game being a reaction test. However, there are times when you’ve got everything under control and just want things to move a little faster, so I added a fast forward control.

How did you get into making a game for the 360?

A friend of mine showed me a site he had been learning from, [xnadevelopment]. He’d followed a tutorial and had gotten a blue wizard to jump around whilst shooting fireballs. I was instantly intrigued and even more so when he pointed out that the software needed to get going was completely free. Needless to say, I was interested and after trying out the tutorials myself, I set about making a game myself. This would become Towers. Originally I designed it as a side on game, like old style platformers. The first step was to create a series of platforms, on which I stood a blue wizard (which I had coincidentally drawn years before, for a game I’d never made). Being fairly new to this, I was quite impressed by my little wizard standing on his ledge. Other’s not so much, but he was the starting point and when I came to sign up for the XNA Creators Club, I couldn’t use my original choices, so I went with LedgeWizard.

From that point I continued learning as I went along, not quite sure what I’d be able to do. Thankfully the XNA forums and numerous code samples are available, so with a bit of time and effort you can achieve a lot. I can’t say I never got stuck, but I persevered and I’m pleased with the way it’s turned out.

What was your favourite part of the process?

Seeing people’s reactions to the game. At one point, I had one tester playing and five other people criticising his tower placements, each asking to have the controller passed to them next, so that they could show them how it’s done. When people get out of their seats and start pointing to where they think towers should be placed it’s very cool, especially when it’s meant to be a single player experience.

Overall, the feedback I’ve received has been incredibly gratifying. As a result of the feedback, we’re even planning an update, to add multiple difficulty levels and are planning on smoothing out the difficulty curve a little. One particular level, Everwinter Trail, has been commented on a few times and is definately possible, but generally harder than the other levels around it. We’ve got some tips on our website at www.ledgewizardgames.com if people are struggling and will possibly offer walkthroughs in the future if people are interested.

What was your least favourite part?

I’m generally happy with everything that went into the game. I cut a number of items early on when it was apparent that they either bogged the game down, or made it overcomplicated. Despite this, the things that did go in took a lot longer than I’d originally expected. I think I told my wife that the game would be done in a few evenings and odd weekends over a month and it dragged out a lot more than that. To be fair, I was learning as I went along, so was essentially encountering new problems at every step. But I worked through each and every one and firmly believe the next one will be quicker. At least, that’s what I’ve told my wife.

There’s almost as much work in getting the game playing right and running smoothly as there is just getting it to work in the first place. I owe a seriously huge thank you to my testers who volunteered their free time playing and replaying the levels as I made minute changes to the levels or the controls or some other incredibly small point.

So, what are you working on next?

Loads of things! Whilst working on Towers, I kept getting ideas that either were too complex to go in and might work for a sequel or for an entirely different TD. I want to work a lot more with game generated music for instance, as it’s an area I really haven’t explored much. Also, I’ve had at least a dozen unrelated ideas. Some being clones and some being quite original. I’ll have to let you know when I’ve picked one!

I tend to create a very rough prototype (like a ghost, wearing a hat whilst wandering through a forest and being shot at by cannons) and throw it out to a few close friends, who will quite honestly tell me that it’s either a rubbish idea, or maybe that it’s got some potential . Getting people to look past placeholder graphics is tricky, plus I’m really not very good with drawing graphics yet, so they have to fill in the blanks with their imaginations.

Lastly, Some of the levels can get a bit tough, Do you have any recommended strategies?

This unintended one arose in early play testing. An interesting use of the lightning tower. Designed to have huge range and really high damage to a single target or anything standing really close. Ideal for boss monsters, since it will always output its maximum damage rather than over-killing. It also targets the monster with the most hit points remaining so that it’s not generally wasted on smaller monsters.

Most people put these towers near the centre of the screen, exposing them to as much of the monster’s paths as possible, but one tester put one right at the end of the path, covering very little ground. It turned out that the tower acted really well as a filter. The tester has put gun towers down to finish off weakened monsters that had gotten past everything else. However, gun towers get locked onto targets, shooting them for as long as they possibly can. Therefore if they start tracking something with a lot of health, weaker monsters that could easily be killed quickly will creep past. The lightning tower solved this by severely weakening or frequently killing off just the tougher monsters as opposed to the ones that the guns could quickly destroy.

Could I please just add a huge thank you to everyone who helped suggest ideas and improvements whilst testing the game. Without you guys the whole experience would’ve been a lot less satisfying and a lot less fun.

You can find and download the game from the XBox LIVE Marketplace. I highly recommend that you give it a go. Or you could visit LedgeWizard games yourself. Here.

LedgeWizard Games – Indie Developer Interview : Towers originally appeared on: WireNinja
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Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 reinvigorates the series with the most advanced set of improved gameplay additions, control options and to catch up with the evolution of the real-life soccer. Central to its total freedom of play, the game introduces a power bar for each player that allows the user to determine the exact strength and placement of every pass and shot. Balls can now be spread absolutely anywhere with surgical precision, with long balls into space, short passes to feet, and intricate one-twos allowing the player to dictate play and control the tempo of a match.

This freedom of play is also extended via AI routines designed to place every move and decision into the player’s hands. No longer will assisted AI intervene during matches; users will now need to sense and react to threats intuitively as opposed to chasing the ball; and passes will not automatically reach the nearest player. Instead, routines facilitate complete control both of the player and their chosen actions in every respect to give the player sublime control over every movement.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 originally appeared on: WireNinja
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Red Dead Redemption features an open-world environment for players to explore, including frontier towns, rolling prairies teaming with wildlife, and perilous mountain passes – each packed with an endless flow of varied distractions. Along the way, players will experience the heat of gunfights and battles, meet a host of unique characters, struggle against the harshness of one of the world’s last remaining wildernesses, and ultimately pick their own precarious path through an epic story about the death of the Wild West and the gunslingers that inhabited it.

Read Dead Redemption originally appeared on: WireNinja
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Uniting revolutionary gameplay enhancements with a high-octane, no-holds-barred storyline, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction arms you to the teeth with all the high-tech weaponry and lethal skills of an elite operative and invites you to enter a dangerous world where justice means making your own rules.

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction originally appeared on: WireNinja
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Gran Turismo will feature both a single player and split screen two player arcade mode. GT Mode includes world map, my garage, car dealer, tuning shop, championship race, and license test. Online support includes open lobby, text/voice chat, private room, online photo album, online replay album, and export of replays to YouTube.

Gran Turismo 5 originally appeared on: WireNinja
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For players who idolize Joe Mauer, the new “Catcher Mode” gives the ability to call the game as the catcher, select pitches, and be the ultimate field general. Five new Minor League stadiums are introduced, as well as a selection of classic parks available on the PS3 for the first time. Online multiplayer has vastly improved this year to bring more of that competitive fire out amongst friends. Along with the core online league play, MLB 10 The Show now offers fully functional online season leagues! MLB 10 also offers daytime transitional lighting, a newly added “Movie Maker” menu giving the user the ability to select multiple replays to add to and edit a single movie, and 11 new stadiums. Lastly, The Show will offer the ability to view every game you’ve ever played online, complete with opponents, box scores, and game logs.

MLB 10: The Show originally appeared on: WireNinja
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Age of Zombies originally appeared on: WireNinja
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The long-awaited return of StarCraft has been rumored for years, and now is finally official — Blizzard officially announced on May 19, 2007 the sequel to its incredible strategy title Starcraft.

Designed to be the ultimate competitive real-time strategy game, StarCraft II features the return of the Protoss, Terran, and Zerg races, overhauled and re-imagined with Blizzard’s signature approach to game balance. Each race will be further distinguished from the others, with several new units and new gameplay mechanics, as well as new abilities for some of the classic StarCraft units that will be making a reappearance in the game. StarCraft II also featurse a custom 3D-graphics engine with realistic physics and the ability to render several large, highly detailed units and massive armies on-screen simultaneously.

Each chapter of Starcraft II focuses on a specific faction of the Starcraft war. By splitting the game, players will access more story content, more characters, and more customization as the explore each side of the conflict.

StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void originally appeared on: WireNinja
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The long-awaited return of StarCraft has been rumored for years, and now is finally official — Blizzard officially announced on May 19, 2007 the sequel to its incredible strategy title Starcraft.

Designed to be the ultimate competitive real-time strategy game, StarCraft II features the return of the Protoss, Terran, and Zerg races, overhauled and re-imagined with Blizzard’s signature approach to game balance. Each race will be further distinguished from the others, with several new units and new gameplay mechanics, as well as new abilities for some of the classic StarCraft units that will be making a reappearance in the game. StarCraft II also featurse a custom 3D-graphics engine with realistic physics and the ability to render several large, highly detailed units and massive armies on-screen simultaneously.

Each chapter of Starcraft II focuses on a specific faction of the Starcraft war. By splitting the game, players will access more story content, more characters, and more customization as the explore each side of the conflict.

StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm originally appeared on: WireNinja
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The long-awaited return of StarCraft has been rumored for years, and now is finally official — Blizzard officially announced on May 19, 2007 the sequel to its incredible strategy title Starcraft.

Designed to be the ultimate competitive real-time strategy game, StarCraft II features the return of the Protoss, Terran, and Zerg races, overhauled and re-imagined with Blizzard’s signature approach to game balance. Each race will be further distinguished from the others, with several new units and new gameplay mechanics, as well as new abilities for some of the classic StarCraft units that will be making a reappearance in the game. StarCraft II also featurse a custom 3D-graphics engine with realistic physics and the ability to render several large, highly detailed units and massive armies on-screen simultaneously.

Each chapter of Starcraft II focuses on a specific faction of the Starcraft war. By splitting the game, players will access more story content, more characters, and more customization as the explore each side of the conflict.

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty originally appeared on: WireNinja
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In SKATE 3, teammates can complete challenges together while advancing each other’s careers. From rewarding epic bails and fails with a beefed up Hall of Meat mode to honing your craft with the all-new skate school, players of all skill levels have multiple ways to kill it in the game. The game also includes Create feature suite, an innovative toolset that empowers gamers to truly express their skate style by creating their own graphics, videos, and skate parks.

Skate 3 originally appeared on: WireNinja
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Yakuza 2 added a new location to the game world, a version of Kamiyacho located in the Osaka area. In Yakuza 3, Okinawa has that role. Yakuza 3 also continues with series traditions of making use of famous actors for its voice staff and also tapping into real world brands for in-game signs and shops. The game uses the impressive Yakuza: Kenzan! engine to create a lifelike representation of the hustle and bustle of urban Japan.

Yakuza 3 originally appeared on: WireNinja
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Toy Soldiers originally appeared on: WireNinja
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Set in the realm of Greek mythology, God of War III for the last time puts Kratos at the center of the carnage and destruction as he seeks revenge against the Gods who have betrayed him. A single-player game, this final chapter allows players to take on the climatic role of the ex-Spartan warrior, Kratos, as he treads through the intimidating heights of Mt. Olympus and the dark depths of Hell once more to seek revenge on those who have betrayed him. Armed with double-chained blades, Kratos must take on mythology’s darkest creatures while solving intricate puzzles throughout his merciless quest to destroy Olympus.

Utilizing a new game engine built from the ground up and state-of-the-art visual technologies, the development team behind God of War 3 have made significant strides in giving players the realistic feel of actually being on the battlegrounds. With texture resolutions being quadrupled since God of War 2, God of War 3 will feature fluid, life-like characters, as well as dynamic lighting effects, a robust weapon system, and world-changing scenarios that will truly bring unmistakable realism to Kratos’ fateful quest. Players will have a chance to join battles on a grand scale with many more enemies on-screen and be able to interact with levels like never before.

God of War 3 originally appeared on: WireNinja
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Celebrating the milestone 10th anniversary of 2K Sports Major League Baseball, this 2K10 edition of the game features Evan Longoria of the Tampa Bay Rays, a 2009 American League Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Award recipient, as the cover athlete. Players can work the count and the corners with Total Control Hitting and Total Control Pitching designed to make use of the Wii controller. Franchise mode lets you play multiple seasons as your favorite team and try to turn them into a dynasty. And in Home Run Derby play, you’ll have to outslug baseball’s most feared power hitters!

Major League Baseball 2K10 originally appeared on: WireNinja
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Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 will support Sony’s new PlayStation 3 Motion Controller to give gamers an authentic interactive swing experience.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 originally appeared on: WireNinja
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Final Fantasy XIII originally appeared on: WireNinja
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