Duke It Out

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This game is rated MA. As such I will pull no punches while making jokes here. You don't want to read it? Tough, I know you will anyways.

Hail to the King

With 7 days till the international release and 11 days till the US release Duke is playable as a demo for people who've pre-ordered the game. And it is the same demo as described at various conferences, starting with the urinal scene.

Now if you do have access to the demo, make sure to check out the pictures of the cheer leaders when you first start, their uniforms appear to be painted on.

Gameplay

Same run and gun as always, duck and cover to recover health or in this case ego. The weapon selection appears to be fun, I played with a pistol, shotgun, rail gun, shrink ray and something called the devastator. Driving the truck and running down baddies was great, and I was impressed about how the AI would rush in groups.

Using the RPG was a little wonky, especially since the controls aren't really explained well, but that's OK. The NPC near the whiteboard was annoying, telling me how my Snoopy plan was "Just crazy enough to work." (Thank you Stephen Colbert.)

Oh and I have to say, one beer and Duke was weaving all over the place. I call BS on this. It should have been a bottle of whiskey, no way a single beer could do that to the King.

Graphics

Everyone made a big deal about how the graphics were sub par. I think the graphics are perfect for this kind of game, you don't want photo realistic graphics this kind of thing (except for the photos in the game, which seem to be just fine.)

Overall

Getting drunk, running down people, pissing and shooting sound great for the next 11 days while I wait for the game to be released. Hell I might even play the demo again. Just to hold the multiple vaporware lifetime achievement award winner in my hands will make it worth every penny. Yes some times even vaporware does come true.

Avoiding Heavy Rain Spoilers - *SPOILER FREE*

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So I'm convinced that Heavy Rain will be an awesome game. So much so I actually pre-ordered the game, something I don't normally do. With approximately 13 days to go until I have the game in hand, avoiding spoilers is a little harder than normal.

First there's the Demo. While I'd love to get my hands on the game early, the demo has to give away some of the story. Even if it is just the first chapter, it would only drive me nuts later on.

Second, the trophy list. Almost all the trophies for this game are hidden trophies. Why? Well the trophies are based on the story line. Thus the trophy list its self is a spoiler, once it is populated.

So if you're like me and want to enjoy the entire story line, I'd strongly recommend skipping the demo/trophy list. Remember, what is seen cannot be unseen.

Demo Review - Battle Field Bad Company 2

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Finally, I can tell you why Battle Field Bad Company 2 is a must have game.

Is this because EA finally realized that the little gaming blogs matter? In a word, No. Is this because DICE feels that a Full Frontal Gaming review is needed to boost sales? Wrong again. Is this because the demo came out and I can base the entire post on that demo? Bingo.

Controls

I don't know about you but for me this is my first stop whenever playing a new game. Too many games have bitten me with things like inverted x/y look and stupid default control placement. Note to game developers: Would you please, for the love of god and country, allow players to place commands on buttons rather than forcing a particular layout or set of layouts? I know you think you know what we want, but really, I may want to use a different button than L3 to crouch, or circle to enter/exit a vehicle.

From the demo there's basically 4 layouts for ground combat, 4 layouts for air combat and 4 layouts for vehicles. If you don't like the layouts, tough. That said, the layouts seem to work and getting used to them isn't a problem.

Game Play

The multiplayer experience is very good. You get points for protecting/attacking objectives and more for helping your squad. And as mentioned on here before, most elements can be destroyed in the game. I say most not all which at first seems to detract from the game (it certainly detracts from the realism); however, there are elements which you cannot destroy for good reason. Take for example the objectives. If you can get a tank close enough, forget planting a bomb you can just blow the objective up. That said, if the attackers could just drive over the objectives it would make for a very boring and predictable game. As a result some pillars and other game elements cannot be destroyed.

Speaking of predictability, there's one thing that's bothered me. I have no insight into which game I'm joining. Once you start playing, you could be on the losing team. The game doesn't seem to balance the teams out so sometimes you just have to leave.

Speaking of leaving, I found it really hard to actually quit a game. Let's say you join and you're the attacker. When the game is over, you play the same map again as the defender. And the intermissions are short, with lots of stats to look at. You can easily spend a couple of hours without ever realizing it.

Audio

Nice and crisp. You'll hear things differently if you're indoors compared to out doors, and proper language for the team you're on. I hope you speak Russian. (I think. I don't speak the language.) It would be nice though, to talk to your whole team from time to time.

Visuals

Good. While there may be a glitch or two from time to time (like a tree that's floating in air) it works. Oh did I mention, shooting at the trunk of a tree with a sniper rifle can take it down? Good to know if you need to clear out the cover the other team is hiding behind.

Other

This game is a must buy before you add in the single player mode. It'll be a contender this year for sure. I recommend your local Mom and Pop game shop first, but if that's not around, Amazon is a good choice.

Scores:

• Explosions - Yes
• Controls - 8/10 (More layouts/custom layouts would be good)
• Game Play - 10/10
• Audio - 10/10
• Visuals - 8/10
  
• Rating - 9/10
• Get the Demo - Yes.
  

• Get the Game - Yes.
  

Demo Review - Star Trek D-A-C

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So I was excited to see a new Star Trek game. My hopes were high while I downloaded the demo on my PS3. I should have known better, really.

Imagine my disappointment when it turns out to be Super Stardust HD, only repackaged with different things to shoot.

Yes there's a co-op mode, and a few other things that Stardust doesn't have, but in general the control scheme is the same and all you do is fly around and shoot things in an asteroids style game.

Like I said, I should have known better.

There is no strategy, no thought. Part of what I loved about Star Trek was the the cerebral part, mixed with ship battles. In fact you could do much better by allowing most of the ship battles to be automated and work on the missions. Worth a download, but not worth the money.

Scores:

• Explosions - Yes
• Controls - OK
• Rating - 5/10
• Get the Demo - Meh.

• Get the Game - No