Give them some money...

...it's for charity. You know, for kids! Besides, tell me you aren't jealous of the eye-bleeding fun they must be having while you're at work.

http://desertbus.org/

First Impressions: Left4Dead 2

If the enormous amount of lag was anything to go by, I wasn't the only one to download the Left4Dead 2 playable demo today. While 30,000 boycotters may still be keeping up the pretense that they're not going to play the game, the magically vanishing, twitching, reappearing state of play today suggested that a heavy load was being placed on the game by everyone who did want a go.

Personally, I've never been particularly bothered by Valve's decision to go for a sequel rather than DLC for the original game. Yes, the four campaigns in the original installment can't help but become overfamiliar very swiftly, despite the best efforts of the AI director.The recent addition of an extra DLC map didn't do much to compensate, as it's hard not to cast a grudging eye at the PC players downloading stacks of user generated maps such as the brilliant Coal'd Blood and feel that the console version is looking a little tired. More DLC would have been nice, but a sequel is just as good, its not like we haven't had a year to save up for it. The fear for me was never that L4D would be abandoned, but that the sequel wouldn't be able to create the same cinematic excitement offered by the first installment.

So, based on the demo, how's it looking? Well, the addition of melee combat has brought the expected mild whiff of Dead Rising, as you trade in your second pistol for frying pans, machetes or even a guitar. It works, and provides a comedic, ammo-conserving alternative to firepower, but it doesn't really seem to add that much to the game. Explosive bullets, on the other hand? They look pretty handy, not that I managed to lay hands on any today. The new special infected are pitch perfect, with Jockeys,acid phlegm and Chargers all providing new varieties of peril and creating new flavours of havoc, without being powerful enough to detract from the games uber-threat, the Tank. Yes, you'll still get dreadbelly when that distinctive roar and ominous music kick in.

Best of all, the environments seem to be greatly improved. While there were lots of side paths and rooms to explore in the original, they were always just bolt ons, you never lost sight of where you were going. In Left 4 Dead 2, however, it's easy to stray off the correct path, and should a team member become seperated and incapacitated, you'll embark on a heart-in-mouth trackback through lengthy, meandering maps to rescue them, expecting the horde at any second. It was at times like this that I began to feel like L4D2 might even surpass it's predecessors ability to crank up the tension. Having only had 'The Parish' to play so far, it's to soon to tell, but if the other levels are as good at forcing splits in the group, then L4D2 is going to exceed it's predecessor.

Wolfenstein Preview

Wolfenstein, from the hour or so I've played of it, is pretty much exactly what you're expecting of a Wolfenstein game: A mixture of Nazi's and Lovecraft that has just enough tongue in its cheek to excuse the combination but not enough to make you feel entirely comfortable with it.

It's glossily presented and has a very physical feel to the action. There's a time-slowing mechaqnic and a sort of green mist that can be used to see alternative pathways through the place.

It's extremely messy as well...a glancing shot, apparently unscripted during open play, took the arm off one opponent and carried on into the head of another. It's gleefully messy and violent, with some incredibly powerful weapons, both ballistic and sci fi, and opponents that are dumb as hammers but fast and accurate when they do find you.

Great fun. Nothing new or original, but I enjoyed it.

Yes, I had a lovely holiday...

...thanks for asking. Back to it now, and Wolfenstein previews is on the way.

I've played Batman: Arkham Asylum, who wants to touch me?

Surrounded by mannequins depicting a selection of gaming’s greatest characters, not to mention some preposterously breasted Lara Croft models, I started wondering if Batman has what it takes to join them in gaming’s pantheon. On the evidence I’ve seen it definitely has what it takes to impress Batman fanboys, thanks to endless visual and dialogue references to all parts of the Batman canon and a selection of script and voice talent from the popular animated series. So, as a massive comic geek I can say that I’m deliriously happy with the game. But the question is, what’s it like when you pick up the controller?

I’ve now had about two hours of hands-on time with a copy of Batman: Arkham Asylum that’s so close to being finished that there’s little more than a bit of sound balancing to be done, and from what I’ve seen so far, it’s really very good…but perhaps not perfect. I won’t review on the basis of two hours, but I’m guessing the finished game is heading for a very positive three stars or perhaps even four.

For starters, it’s beautifully presented, with everything from the strangely tinted lighting effects through to the rippling of Batman’s cape clearly showing the benefit of some painstaking work. Huge amounts of motion capture have been used, with the actor playing Killer Croc wearing weights on his legs to get a suitably lumbering, musclebound gait.

Combat is split between three buttons: Y for counters, X for strikes and B for ape sweeps that brush aside knives and batons. Dealing with hand-to-hand weapons is one thing, but Bat’s really doesn’t like guns, and if armed opponents are around you’ll need to use stealth to get above, below or behind them unnoticed, and then use the stealth takedowns you’ve unlocked to take them out. It’s a nice mixture of smooth, combo-based brawling and clever stealth that looks a lot smoother and less scripted in play than it does in the trailers.

You can see if opponents are armed using the game’s detective mode, a visor that scans opponents, walls, hostages and weapons to identify their conditions, weak points and grapple points. It can also be used to follow scent and chemical trails and to spot the question marks left around the asylum by the Riddler.

This mixture of scanning and swinging, combined with the need to re-traverse certain areas, gives Batman: Arkham Asylum the feel of Metroid Prime at times, albeit a Metroid Prime with added stealth and hand-to-hand combat sequences.

The script is excellent, and while there are a few dud moments in the delivery, the important lines from the important voice actors are delivered perfectly.

I have got a few reservations, mind you. The Detective mode is almost too useful to turn off, yet having it on all the time gets in the way of the gorgeous graphics. In two hours of play, I never came across a reason to come out of detective mode apart from my own desire to see the game properly. Without a cost, or a need to recharge it, Detective mode feels like it might become one of those game mechanics so ever-present that it becomes a distraction.

On top of that, the game seemed strangely room-based, having you progress along corridors towards open areas in which large brawls take place, in a fashion that feels more like an old-school beat-em-up rather than a modern action-adventure game.

Small complaints like that don’t mean its not one of the best games I’ve played for a long time, or that I won’t be buying it come August 28th, but they are enough to make me think that it might not get a full five stars.

What's up?

I've reviewed all the Fallout 3 DLC side by side over at The Leisure Lab, which is a bit like reviewing a gorgeous side salad that's been served alongside your crackpipe. It's not really necessary and in some cases incongruous, but it does make an unquittable experience even better.

Apart from Operation Anchorage, of course. That's the brown leaf in the salad, or perhaps the Vim in the crack.

Anyway, Batman, Wolfenstein and Mini Ninjas on their way later, I need to sort my thoughts out, as at present Mini Ninjas seems to be the most engaging of the three!

Ok, ok...

...I'll do some real posts later. I'm going to the offices of Eidos this morning for a hands-on with Batman: Arkham Asylum and Mini Ninjas, and I should be getting preview levels of Wolfenstein this afternoon as well. So, real content is on the way.