Xbox 360

The Evolution of Game Mechanics

Game
mechanics have undergone somewhat of a renaissance over the past decade.  It’s almost crazy to think that a game like
Dino Crisis 2 was once classified as a third-person shooter. Games
have always been defined by their mechanics; it’s what determines their genre. Fifteen
years ago there was no separation between shooters, but now we have first-person
shooters, third-person shooters, over-the-shoulder shooters and rail shooters. The
scope for defining games has increased dramatically in recent years due to the
extensive evolution of game mechanics.

First, let’s
look at shooters. Back in the Doom days, you couldn’t strafe (I’ll give the
youngsters this sentence to go find their socks that just flew off) and your
gun was at a fixed position and you couldn’t even aim up or down. You also held
enough weapons to kit out a small army and your progression through the game
was akin to hunting for keys and defeating large numbers of enemies. Compare
this to a modern shooter where you can strafe, your weapons are limited far more severely
and you progress through the game as the narrative unfolds. Platformers are
another good example, thinking back to the Sonic era where everything was about
speedy progression though controlled levels. Now when you look at a game like
Ratchet and Clank, the leap forward between the two is astounding when you
consider that they classified under the same genre.

Rango (Xbox 360) Review

EA and developer Behaviour Interactive have teamed up to take the movie Rango to Rango the video game.  We all know how bad movie based games are, but is Behaviour able to make a competent video game that is playable for anyone?  Are they able to make a game that is enjoyable for kids and be equally enjoyable for an older crowd?

Rango takes place after the events of the movie.  You play as a chameleon who is sheriff of a desert town call Dirt.  Rango is in the local salon where he is then approached by one of the towns people that have found a mysteries rock.  Rango then goes on to tell a tale of each time he has encountered one of these stones.  Each tale he tells is broken up as a level in the game.  Almost all of the game is told in the past tense.  Come to find out that these rocks are part of a meteorite that has been spread across the desert.  So you take on the task of collecting these rocks along with trying to catch your nemesis Bad Bill.

Mortal Kombat Challenge Tower Revealed

Are you excited for the new Mortal Kombat game? Well you certainly
aren’t alone as the newest title in the historic franchise is taking the
series back to its roots, a move that is arguably needed to save the
legacy.

Gears of War 3 Beta Starts April 18th

You may have been so busy with Bulletstorm that you forgot about the
Gears of War 3 Beta that comes with the “Epic Edition” of the unique
shooter. The beta will finally drop on April 18th for those of you smart
enough to grab an “Epic Edition” of the game.

Bulletstorm (Xbox 360) Review

There’s
a good chance you’ve already made up your mind regarding a Bulletstorm
purchase, between the lackluster demo and questionable marketing it’s
understandable that some may be put off. The final product is a very well made
shooter and attempts to serve as the antidote for other shooters that are
clogging up the market like a bad infection these days. Bulletstorm doesn’t let
up one bit in its attempts to make every single aspect incredibly over the top,
the dialogue, characters, environments and of course; the weapons are light-years
away from what you would find in any other modern shooter. The action is what
matters here though, and Bulletstorm has some of the most responsive and
satisfying gunplay you’re likely to see in any shooter this year.

The
story in Bulletstorm is surprisingly decent, in the sense that a game called
Bulletstorm has a story and more so because it’s not complete garbage. Granted,
it’s safe to say that it won’t peak any emotions out of you, but it really
works for the game. You’re placed firmly in the boots of Gray, a soldier turned
outlaw that is being hunted by various nasty people. There is a very brief
flashback near the beginning that sets up why your character is on the path
that he is on. You can really take or leave the story in Bulletstorm, but the
characters are done well and give the occasional chuckle and they move the game
along in a way that’s better than just sitting through loading screens.

What Is In A Name?

Microsoft
is going to start removing old and dead gamertags.  This means that the
name you may have always wanted may be made available to you.  I am
sure most of us had our first choice of a gamertag shot down.  This is
your time for revenge.  The news was posted on Major Nelson’s blog.  The
blog post went on to say, “This process will take some time to
complete, and no we can’t tell you when the Gamertag you want might be
available.” 

He
also goes on to say that if you are interested in a new gamertag, then
you should check back often because the process will take several days
to clean out all of the dead tags.  If you are interested in looking for
a new gamertag, sign into Xbox Live, go to “My Xbox Channel,” and then
select the “Change Gamertag” option.  From that point you can then
search for a name or have it randomly generate a name for you.  But to
change your name is not free.  It will cost you 800 Microsoft points or
$10.00. 

What We Want: Assassin’s Creed III

Sequels are coming out on almost a bi-weekly basis, and a majority of those sequels either suck or don’t do enough iteration on their previous installment. So we here at the Player Affinity Xbox team decided to start a feature where we state what should change in the next installment of a popular (or not so popular) franchise.  The game doesn’t have to be announced, it just has to be an inevitable release. Without further ado, let’s start this thing out with Assassin’s Creed 3.

Warning: Spoilers for the Assassin’s Creed franchise are below