MotoGP has a long history of creating a very exciting motorcycle racing experience though in the recent generation the franchise has struggled. The previous title lacked any sort of depth and gamers were left with wanting much more. With MotoGP 09/10 developers Milestone look to change that. The upcoming racing title will feature a very robust career mode unlike any seen in the MotoGP franchise. Players will take control of everything on and off the track. With the game only a few weeks away, Capcom has announced that gamers will be able to test drive MotoGP 09/10 this Thursday March 4 when the demo goes live on the PSN and XBLA. You’ll be able to check out three modes- Championship mode, Time Trial and the all new Arcade mode.

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With only one more day to go, the follow up to last year’s best baseball title, MLB 10 The Show looks to once again provide gamers with the most realistic baseball game in the market. For those who haven’t been closely following the upcoming title or if you just missed something, we created a one stop shop for everything you need to know about The Show. What you’ll find in this preview are some highlights of key features and additions to MLB 10 The Show and all the videos released, and yes that includes the “Dear Playstation” commercial that we all love.

If you haven’t seen it already or even if you have, the commercial for MLB 10 The Show is hilarious. Check it out.

The realism that Kevin Butler is talking about in The Show comes from all the little subtleties in the game.  Last year I was blown away by how accurately they were able to capture certain player’s rituals or mannerisms at the plate or on the mound.  This year’s version will include all of that and will also bring a more realistic environment. MLB 10 will have real-time players in the dugouts and bullpens, fireworks, rally towels/tundersticks, working clocks and home run counters like the one seen in San Francisco. Of course you can’t bring a game to life without fans and this year crowd detail has also been improved. They will be much more active this year, reaching over the wall for foul balls, scrambling for home run balls and making more noise in pressure situations. This might seem like very small additions but brought together it helps bring the real game to into the virtual one.  Here’s the trailer showing off some of these features.

Road to The Show (RTTS) is one of the best modes of the MLB The Show franchise. It has been the leading sports title in creating a realistic and engaging “create a player” mode. This year in RTTS you’ll have much more control over what your player looks like and his accessories. Once you create your player you’ll be sent right to the Double-A season. While last year’s version had you start in spring training, starting in Double-A will give you a more realistic approach to working your way to the majors as most players don’t receive an invite to spring training until after their first year. Before you get into a game you now have the option to participate in pre-game batting practice or when you get called from the bullpen you’ll get some time to throw practice pitches. Just like batting practice and your time warming up on the mound, it doesn’t help you gain experience, but it will help you get ready for the game or at-bat. Once you are in a game you have full control of what you want to experience. You can play out every pitch/play in the game, only the last pitch in the at-bat, or just plays that involve you. Whether you are on the field or in the batters box there is a bigger emphasize on fundamental baseball. Throwing to the wrong bag, stealing when you shouldn’t be or failing to cover a base will put you in a bad spot with the manager. Lastly a huge emphasis went into gaining skill points and the flow of the game. New training modes have been added for both hitters and pitchers, and goals throughout the game will be shown in way as to not break from the pace of the game. You can also hit the D-pad to show the goals of the game in case you missed it, which is really nice.

To go along with RTTS you now have the full control as the catcher in the new Catcher Calling the Game mode. You’ll be calling for pitches and locations which includes 9 zones inside the strike zone or 8 zones outside. Just like in real life it is your responsibility to know the batters and your pitchers strengths and weaknesses. The pitcher might shake you off so you can pick another pitch but sometimes the catcher knows best and he’ll throw that pitch if you keep asking for it. You’ll have to also watch out for wild pitches and base runners, which adds to the difficulty of being a catcher. It’s a really cool mode and I’m excited to get a chance to call a game but then again, playing every game as a catcher might take it’s toll.

Making it’s return to the series is the Home Run Derby. Fans have been asking for this to be added to the game for some time now and we finally have it. You won’t only get the Home Run Derby, you’ll be getting the entire All-Star experience. During your franchise or RTTS season you’ll get a chance to play in the All-Star Futures Game along with the Derby and the regular All-Star game. Check out this trailer that showcases the new All-Star experience.

MLB 09 The Show suffered from very poor online play, mainly due to lag. Sony has been saying they have worked very hard on fixing that issue for MLB 10 and if they can then I think fans will enjoy the improvements to the Online Leagues. In addition to added customization when creating the league, people can now drop in and out of leagues during the season. If someone can’t handle the season and needs to back out, the commissioner can find a replacement to take over that team. Fatigue is also another factor managers will have to deal with as you will no longer be able to use your ace for every game. Here are some of the key features of the new online leagues:

·    Additional Commissioner Slot (6 total leagues now)
·    NEW Auto-resolve feature. Set to On/Off when creating a league and helps keep leagues progressing
·    Ability to Drop and Replace players within an In-progress league
·    Apply a Custom Slider to a league
·    League Invitation system upgrade
·    New My Complete Leagues list, showing a summary of all completed leagues, the winner and playoff participants
·    New League Round-up and League History tabs in Gamer Card
·    More emails and communication on league changes
·    Players Needing Leagues upgrade. Commissioner can now send invites directly from that screen
·    Additional information about users for a commissioner resolving a game
·    Quit a league at any time (commissioner or league member). No more being held hostage

Finally Real Time Presentation Mode is one of the brand new features to this year’s game. The new presentation mode should give gamers a further sense of realism by attempting to capture the camera angles and shots seen while watching a game on TV. Instead of going in-depth on how this new system works here is a short video displaying the Real Time Presentation.

There is a lot of detail put into every offering of The Show and I don’t expect MLB 10 to be any different. If you want to learn more about the game you can read the full preview here. I am extremely excited about the upcoming title and I hope that all of these new features can come together to bring us the realism that we have come to know and love from this franchise.

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Spawn Kill and several other gaming outlets were recently invited to join in on a MLB 2K10 Developer Q&A session. Ben Bishop, Producer of 2K Sports, Jonathan Rivera, Gameplay Designer and Sean Bailey, also a Gameplay Designer for 2K Sports were all there to answer our many questions about the upcoming baseball sim. While there were a lot of questions about the additions to MLB 2K10, everyone seemed to just want to know one thing: Is it going to be like MLB 2K9?

Throughout the call no one from the dev team was shy about saying how disappointed they were with last year’s title and mentioned that MLB 2K10 is much improved. Though we didn’t get to have an open Q&A session at the end of the call the developers were able to give us some insight on what they did to make sure they don’t repeat the issues from 2K9.

Here are some of the highlights from the call and if you are interested in listening to the entire call we got that for you as well below the questions. Enjoy!

How much of 2K9 was used in 2K10 and was the game rebuilt from the ground up for the new release?

Sean: We completely rewrote everything from fielding, hitting, pitching, the physics, AI, camera views, swapped up all the animations. We had a lot of work ahead of us because I don’t think any of us were happy with last year nor should we have been. So rather than just trying to touch up last year’s game we just made sure the new game included all the fixes that frustrated people as well as a new, rewritten game.

What new additions were made to the franchise mode and how wide of a range of options are available to the player now?

Jonathan: The biggest new addition is the 40 man roster in franchise for September call up. The draft happens in the middle of the year. Another new addition is the trade finder. You can essentially add any player out on the trade block so other AI teams can make you offers for that player. In addition to that we have compensatory picks for free agents. So in the off season when you’re trying to sign a player you might risk losing a first or second round draft pick and if you lose a high rated player you will also get a compensatory pick.

Since gamers and industry critics have noted that early iterations of MLB series have struggled with technical issues surrounding pitching, hitting and gameplay, was this a primary focus of improvement for 2K10?

Sean: It’s almost an understatement to call it a primary focus of improvement. We didn’t just want to improve, we wanted to nail it. We knew that the core gameplay experience needed improvements across the board but when it came to pitching and hitting we really went beyond focusing on improving. We created an entirely new experience starting with the cameras, different strikes zones, different swing types, different analyzers, different replays and the physics were all rewritten. It was a huge primary focus of improvements.

Has there been improvement to the hitting component aside from the defensive swings? It’s either been too easy or too hard to make solid contact as the big hitters would almost always turn a fastball into a sure homerun and an average player could barely get it out of the infield.

Sean: It has been out of balance in the past. Aside from defensive swing we have made it all about the timing. The days are gone when you can simply hold the influence stick and just paint where you want the ball to go on every swing. It’s all about timing, which is very satisfying. The balls that are hit with more velocity in real life are the ones that are pulled or the ones that a right handed batter sends down the first base line weaker are late swings to the opposite field. The timing was done in a very realistic way that takes care of a lot of complaints of the past.

What determines whether or not the Batter’s Eye feature appears? Is it purely based on their real world skills or are there other factors involved such as the pitchers skills? How often can they see the Batter’s Eye appear in a game?

Sean: When this originally came up the problem we were trying to solve is we were trying to make certain players better in the video game that are good in real life at reaching base and getting walks but didn’t have that skill set in the video game. So what we did was come up with eye rating versus lefties and righties and the batters eye rating drives the frequency of the Batter’s Eye. So the guys that take a lot of walks they have a very high eye rating so they’re going to see it more often. It also helps if they have good timing.

Why did you add the My Player feature in this year’s game?

Ben: It really seems like across the board in all sports titles that are out there right now career modes in general are becoming the popular thing and something that people are expecting to see. It was a big focus for us to be able to add the mode this year. A lot of our early build up and planning went into making My Player in this year’s version. At the same time we had NBA 2K10 come out with My Player and so that was a basis for what we did too. We really felt like it was a hole that we needed to fill with 2K10.

In My Player can you give an estimate on how long it will take to get into the Majors?

Ben: That can really vary there is so much flexibility you can do. You have a lot of flexibility in terms of how you want to play the game. When you actually do play a game you are just playing the moment that your player is directly involved in. You can play though a game in 5 or 10 minutes depending on the situations you end up with. You can also simulate games entirely, you won’t get as many skill points through simulation but if you can do that. Simulating the game might take you a bit longer to get the call to the majors. Playing all the games can get you to the majors in as soon as 10-15 games.

Framerate and online lag was a big issue for last year’s title. What was done to fix the issue s for the upcoming game?

Ben: This was something that was important for us. We felt that there was room for improvement from 2K9. We definitely made sure that we got the framerate up to an acceptable level. That’s a huge part of making the experience good and you are in full control. If you get a little lag or framerate drops, it can take away some of that control from you. It was certainly important for us to make sure we were as optimized in those departments as we could be.

Is there a PC version and how did last year’s response to the PC version go?

Ben: We definitely have a PC version this year too. You will get all the same features you will get in the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions. I think a lot of the responses were similar across the board, just a lot of room for improvement and we definitely took a lot of the criticism to heart. The PC version just like the other versions is very much improved. The series in general is going much more in the right direction.

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In Episode 02 of The Away Team, Eric (The Herp) and Gabe (Lethalwraith) talk about what we’ve been playing which includes Bad Company 2 and Tiger Woods Online. We will also be previewing MLB 2K10 and the first round of the closed beta for FIFA Online.  As always we’ll chat about recent news in the sports gaming world and share some of our opinions on in-game ad support in sports games. This is a very interesting topic which we hope to get Stephanie (Tigresa) involved in for a future podcast so we didn’t spend too much time on it. For those of you who are also playing Tiger Woods Online, we have a group created called Spawnkill The Away Team Cast if you are interested in joining.

Of course you can follow The Away Team on Twitter and for you iTunes users you can download and subscribe to the podcast here.  Enjoy the podcast!

@Theherp80 @Lethalwraith

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MLB 2K9 suffered from a large amount of issues. The game struggled in multiple areas including poor framerate, annoying bugs and lackluster game modes. With MLB 2K10, developer Visual Concepts is attempting to bring this franchise back to life. In this year’s title, gamers will experience the new Batter’s Eye system, a slightly tweaked pitching mechanic and franchise mode along the brand new MLB Today and My Player mode. From what I’ve seen, the new modes are very similar to those found in NBA 2K10 which worries me. Visual Concepts tried to add way too much to this year’s NBA title which left them little time to work out the numerous bugs. Let’s just hope that isn’t the case for MLB 2K10 because this year’s version is adding a lot of features 2K fans have been asking for.

All reports, from everyone who has played the title, seem to be indicating that the framerate issue has been fixed. I wouldn’t get your hopes up yet, since early builds of the game are missing some features here and there. Still, it’s a good sign that the issue was looked at. Poor framerate can ruin a baseball game, so let’s hope that it is actually fixed for the final product. Another complaint that gamers had about last year’s title was the exclusion of pre-loaded throws. In 2K10 you will be able to pre-load your throw to turn quick double plays or to quickly get the ball back from the outfield. This also makes the animation look smoother as you won’t see the players stand there for a split second before they throw the ball.

Pitching and Hitting has always been MLB 2K’s strong point and this year they aim to keep it similar to last year’s title with a few small changes. In 2K9, players would have to select a pitch by completing a gesture using the right stick which led to many issues of picking the wrong pitch. The pitching itself hasn’t gone away from the stick controls but in 2K10 you select your pitch using the face buttons and the new pitch analyzer will let you know exactly what went wrong with the pitch. This was done in an attempt to make the pitching more accessible which it definitely was not last year. I’m sure those new to the title will still struggle with the pitching but at least you will see exactly what you are doing wrong.

At the plate they have added a couple of new features. One of them is Batter’s Eye. Depending on the pitch type and the skill of the player, the pitch will flash above the batter’s box. The camera angle has been lowered just a bit which I don’t like but it was done so players can see the text and the pitch coming in. There’s also a defensive swing this year that can be pulled off by flicking the right stick left or right. The defensive swing and Batter’s Eye should give players a more realistic approach at the plate by having longer at bats and running the count full. Here is a 9 minute gameplay video that shows off some of these new features to MLB 2K10.

The two brand new modes to the game are MLB Today and My Player. These modes were in Visual Concept’s NBA title and now are making their debut in MLB. MLB Today is a mode in which users can play out the entire season based on what is happening in real life. The mode will display all the games that are being played on that day. It will also upload current stats and rosters to adjust the in the game rosters and player ratings. The menu screen will also display all the current box scores and stats in case you missed a game or two. I really enjoyed this feature in NBA 2K10 but I can’t help but wish they could take this mode and integrate it into a season or franchise mode instead of it being pretty much a quickplay mode.

My Player is a game mode that is just like the EA’s Be a Pro mode or like the rivals Road to The Show mode. You start by creating a player and picking a position. From there you will work your way through the minors to your ultimate goal of becoming a Major League superstar. You can choose to play any position including pitcher and even a catcher; though as catcher you aren’t asked to do very much. The first task as a minor leaguer is to perform in a clutch situation. As a batter you’ll be asked to drive home a run or get on base. As a pitcher you will be asked to not allow the tying run. If you are able to complete the challenge you will be awarded with skill points. These skill points are used to upgrade a particular attribute. They can be gained in a number of ways, through the various drills or through in-game actions. In-game skill points can earned for doing normal things in the course of the game. For instance getting a sac bunt down will net you 15 exp points, driving in a run or getting a putout will net you 25 exp points. You will also get goals for every at bat which will also get you more exp points if completed. As a pitcher it works the same way, getting exp points for things like strike outs, a shut out inning or getting a win or save. One of the issues with NBA’s My Player Mode was the fact that players can quickly upgrade their stats to become unstoppable but from what 2K is saying the skill points will be dynamic. If you are a power hitter you won’t continue to get points for bunting or things that a contact hitter would get.

The road to the Majors still seems a bit easy though. Every player will have a menu that will display goals you must complete to get the call to the majors. For hitters its things like batting average and having your contact at a certain rating but for pitchers it’s all about getting your pitches and stamina up to a rating of 60 or above. There are a minimum of games you must play in order to get the call but that’s only 5 starts for a pitcher and 15 games for a position player. This makes it seem like skilled players will find their created player in the majors pretty quick, which some people will like. I don’t like that because that’s not realistic at all. Even the most skilled players in the minors will most likely spend a year or at least half of the year there until September call ups. Although that is my goal to get to the Majors I want to take the realistic route. Of course it will all depend on the team you choose and injuries but we’ll see how long it actually takes in the final product.

A few changes have been made to presentation and franchise mode but those are very minor. Presentation wise they added the option to play Hurry Up Baseball, which skips all cut scenes and extra animations. This is said to cut down the play time by half. You can toggle this on and off during any point of a game. Franchise mode will see a 40-man roster in spring training and you will have to break that down to 25 before the season. You will also have the ability to control every team in the league to edit the franchise to mirror real life, which is nice to have but I’d rather have 2K do it for me instead of me having to do all the work. You can also seamlessly go online from franchise mode and have a friend play against your team. Seamless online integration was a new addition to most of the 2K sports games last year and makes its debut in this year’s MLB. In terms of online play, online leagues have been tweaked to give commissioners more options including the option to allow only strikes, which is interesting. There will also be a website to track your league stats and trades. Just like every multiplayer mode it’s only good if lag is not an issue, something that 2K Sports games have always dealt with.

MLB 2K10 is looking to bring a lot to the table especially after seeing the high scores their rival has gotten in the last two years. The problem is Visual Concept did the same thing with NBA 2K10 and that game was flooded with issues. Only time will tell if they learned from their mistakes or if they will once again release a game full of bugs. For now everything seems to be going in the right direction for the struggling franchise and gamers should be getting a look at what they have been working on when the demo releases this week. As always, stay tuned for our demo impressions later this week.

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I was recently able to attend a live demonstration of 3D Dot Game Heroes, the upcoming parody/homage action/adventure title under the Atlus umbrella. During the demo, Atlus USA’s Manager of PR and Sales Aram Jabbari went through some of the bigger bullet points and finer details of the upcoming game.

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Recently I got a chance to check out some of the multiplayer in the upcoming Alien vs. Predator title during a community event held at Astro Studios in San Francisco. The game’s set to release on February 16^th for the Xbox 360, PC and PS3 and was developed by Rebellion, the same company responsible for thee classics released in the 90s. The Alien universe, as well as Predator’s has a very hardcore fan base, something that I do not share the passion for. Even though I am not a diehard fan of either franchise, AVP’s multiplayer immediately sucked me in and I found myself actually enjoying something that had AVP in the title.

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Putting out a solid sports game every year isn’t the easiest thing to do. Companies either don’t improve enough from the successful title or they try to do too much and turn a game that was once great into a disappointment. Sony’s MLB series was struggling to break through the baseball market with 2K Sports’ and EA’s titles getting all the spotlight. It wasn’t until they decided to take a couple of years off to create The Show that they became the baseball franchise for three years running. With MLB 10 The Show, Sony hopes to yet again provide the best baseball experience to gamers by introducing some new features while improving presentation, Road to The Show, and the all-important online play.

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I was fortunate enough to get my hands on a brief demo of Hudson’s upcoming horror game Calling for Wii, in which you play as various characters transported into an alternate world via a mysterious website rumored to link the dead to the living. In this build, I got to play a segment called “The Posession,” in which a curious otaku is transported into a spooky old house filled with creepy dolls.

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This week Capcom released a demo for their upcoming sci-fi shooter Dark Void, and for anyone either too lazy to download it or just uninterested but still curious, I thought I would give my own opinion on this slice of the pie.  Dark Void has an odd history in regards to exposure.  At one point, Capcom really pushed on the advertising, even going so far as to give away a Tesla Roadster in their efforts to promote it (I didn’t win it, which will forever leave a bad taste in my mouth).  But since then, the publisher has been fairly quiet about the title.  With its imminent release on the 19th of this month, we’ve seen a slight resurgence in its promotion, but still not a ton.  The game’s biggest selling point seems to be its jetpack, multi-level combat, and thankfully that’s just what the demo gives us. 

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When it comes to God of War, despite being similar in real life to anti-hero Kratos, I’m fairly inexperienced.  I played through the first game only a year or so ago, and enjoyed the pants off it.  The series is known for gore, mythology references, and some of the best action you’ll find in video games.  The first game certainly wasn’t without its flaws, but most of them were overshadowed by the epic adventure, massive boss fights, and fatalities to make Mortal Kombat veterans blush.  With the imminent release of God of War III in early 2010, I was happy enough to lay my hands on a copy of the demo showcased at E3 this year.  Always late to the boat, I nonetheless wanted to give my own thoughts on what I played. 

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For me, Heavy Rain was a console seller from the moment it was announced at E3 years back. I had the sentence framed in my mind “When Heavy Rain comes out, THAT will change my life. I’ll buy a PS3 just for that.” When I got a chance to play several levels for myself with Sony just a few days ago, it did nothing short of sealing the deal for me. This game changes the possibility of gaming on so many levels.

I’m not so sure Heavy Rain needs much of an introduction, but if you’re reading about it for the first time here at Spawn Kill, you’re looking at a game that will be making some serious waves in the realm of possibility for gaming once it launches. The game’s creator, David Cage, also the founder of Quantic Dream, the studio developing Heavy Rain, has dubbed it with a new genre in our always blurring lines between genres of today. Heavy Rain is an “interactive drama.” I have heard a lot of people cry out about it seeming more like a movie than a game. Non-believers, as I call them, must know that it’s much deeper than pressing the X button to continue.

The first level I got a chance to play is going to be the prologue of the game where you take upon the role of a husband and father of two named Ethan. It seems to serve as a rather slow-paced introduction to the control scheme. You start off waking up being alone in the home. You are introduced to the ability to see your characters various thoughts and listen to them if you desire, in which you’ll learn Ethan is quite keen on the idea of a morning shower. As you saunter into the shower, a quick disrobing will leave you fresh and clean. You can also shave or brush your teeth. All simple everyday tasks to familiarize you with the controls. Well, it’s definitely not just Quick Time Events like most people seem to believe. It may take a bit to get used to, but the characters are controlled by holding down the R2 button to move forward. I found this to be incredibly frustrating at first because I felt so inclined to want to use the more simpler obvious method of just holding up on the analog stick. Doing so will just make your character turn in circles because you only need to just tab the analog stick into the direction you wish then release, and continue holding the R2 button to propel the character. It’ll take some getting used to, I assure you, after being so trained to press the analog stick to walk.

Interacting with the environment will take place with the right analog stick, in which you will make movements indicated on-screen if you so wish to open a cabinet, playfully spin around your son, or sit down and work at your desk. Other times you will need to hold multiple buttons to corroborate with what is going on on-screen. For example your wife in this prologue level asks you to carry the groceries, pressing and holding the X button will hold one bag and holding another face button will secure the other. Now you can also let go and the groceries will fall to the floor, surely firing up your old woman. It’s interesting, and feels much more involving than tapping random buttons. So if you’re holding items, you’re holding buttons. Fair enough.

Heavy Rain actually makes use of the Sixaxis controls, and fairly well at that. In some cases, such as brushing your teeth, it may seem silly rowing your controller left and right for a few seconds, but in other instances, I felt incredibly satisfied slamming it up and down to smash a sleazy jerk’s head repeatedly into a table or pushing it quickly forward to kick down a door.

If you’re familiar with Indigo Prophecy, this is the same creator we’re talking about. It was incredibly unique, and an interesting (though quite a bizarre ending…) story worth experiencing. Some major battle as well as other story sequences would trigger a Simon Says type panel in which you’d repeat the buttons you saw on the panel to succeed and continue. Though quirky and one of my favorite games, it had its fair share of issues. Heavy Rain seems to have built upon these issues to make a whole new and immersive experience. The Simon Says-esque sequences (which is fancy talk for Quick Time Events pretty much) would sometimes draw your attention away from the actual events taking place in the game, with your focus on succeeding at the correct button sequences. I’d often find myself frustrated with missing some of the action taking place whilst I was so concentrated on that area of the screen. Heavy Rain’s button press motions and triggers will lie on-screen exactly where it will take place. If you have the choice to punch someone’s face in, throw them against the wall, or grab them, all of these options will float around your character’s fist, so as not to let you miss out on the action and saving the experience from being broken up.

The first level was a bit of a sleeper for me, granted it is the introduction, it was just incredibly slow-paced and lengthy for what it was. It felt like an overlord version of The Sims being able to perform mundane tasks, interact with my wife and children, put away the… dishes… But it is definitely just setting the grounds for what you will be able to do coming up. That’s the thing about Heavy Rain, or what I’ve played thus far at least. Some levels seem very slow-paced whilst others are action-packed and on the ball. I didn’t really get to be a part of any “middle ground” levels. You may go from a crawling conversation right into an all-out frenetic street brawl. And when you do — it is juicy.

Every little decision you make — or don’t make — makes an impact. In the Sleazy Motel level I went through, I played a character who was a private agent seeking out information on the Origami Killer. I knocked on a woman’s door. She opened, told me to leave. I knocked again and she decided to let me in. “Fifty dollars on the table. I don’t kiss and I don’t do weird shit. You’ve got ten minutes,” she says, as she winds up her alarm clock for a ten minute countdown. You can put money on the table, walk straight up to her, begin talking, it’s all your choice. Treating her one way may make her divulge information whilst another will get you the boot. Getting the boot doesn’t mean you failed though, the story continues on as such. There really doesn’t seem to be a “losing” or “failing” feeling in the game. The story simply is what it is, or what you craft it to be. I spoke to her kindly and asked for information, she said she’d call if she learned anything. (Leaving out a few details to spoil as little as possible!) As you’re on your way out, some sleazebag pounds open her door and goes inside. You can go inside and find out what it’s all about, or simply let it be and have nothing to do with the likes of him. Being the strong man that I was, I decided to confront him and knock on the door to which I was harassed to leave by the junkie-looking jerk. Why knock again? He didn’t seem like the reasonable type, so I jarred the Sixaxis forward and kicked the door open, and he wasn’t in the mood for tea and crumpets to chat about it either. I engaged him in an all-out fight, and it was exciting as hell. Heads were smashed through glass, slammed against the table, fists flying through the air. It was wild, fast, and it was damn fun.

I haven’t even mentioned the graphics yet! Because I know you’ll be in dire need of such knowledge. To be blunt, the graphics speak for themself. They are all done via motion capture and are incredibly fluid in motion. Motion capture is when a developer uses the movements of real people when translating it into sequences for the game. The graphics are surely not the best we’ve seen of this generation thus far, but I’m hard to talk to about this, because I’m never sold on a game purely based on graphics. My first and foremost concern for (most) games is the story, save for games like God of War and Bayonetta since they’re just straight up blessed by the Action Goddess herself. And Heavy Rain surely has that down pat.

If you are heavy into experiencing a good story, you would be a fool to skip out on Heavy Rain. Whether you buy it or simply rent it, it is definitely worth experiencing at least once, because the experience is surely an innovative one being brought to the home plate of video games next year. No official date yet in North America, but keep a lookout during the early Q1 release window.

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I’d like to cordially invite you into Hell. Yes, the fiery pit of despair that it’s said you’ll be banished to if you commit enough sins in your meager mortal lifetime. Throw away your inhibitions and ready yourself to witness copious amounts of filth, despair, desolation, and self-loathing. Really, you’ll be glad you did. There’s nothing to fear, especially if you’re on a mission to reclaim your lover’s soul from the likes of Lucifer while wielding the scythe of Death himself. So walk with me through the nine vicious circles of hell. Fear nothing, as you have now become death. You have become he who walks amongst the shadows. You are Dante. And your game is set to rival one of gaming’s heavy-hitters if it plays its cards right.

The most recent demo of upcoming Dante’s Inferno, the “Gates of Hell” excursion released exclusively on the PlayStation 3 for now (Xbox 360 gamers must wait until December 24th) takes a look at the uneasy protagonist (the term is applied rather loosely) Dante as he sets off on an agonizing journey to be reunited with his captive betrothed Beatrice, nestled deep within the bowels of Hell. As you begin the demo, you’re given a glimpse of Dante himself, alone in a hallowed forest, lit only by the amber glow of a campfire. A seemingly peaceful scene, until it’s made apparent that the easily broken man is sewing a cross-shaped tapestry into the flesh of his very chest, eyes transfixed on something in the distance. He utters no cries of pain and simply grunts with effort until he nears the completion of this gruesome task. Then, suddenly unleashing an agonizing animal wail that settles into the darkness around him, we are treated to a flashback that further illustrates Dante’s unfortunate fate.

As we soon learn, the self-mutilation is merely penance for Dante’s deeds committed back in the days of the third Crusade. As a knight of the service of King Richard, Dante and a great deal of Crusaders held a glut of the citizens of the city Acre hostage until holy man Saladin would participate in negotiations for a holy relic. Saladin refuses of course, and the knights, in an exercise of frustration, unleash their rage upon the countless citizens held within their grasp. The poor townsfolk do not take this lightly of course, and it’s then you’re launched into your very first battle within Dante’s Inferno.

Armed with a poleaxe, a quick and dirty tutorial is initiated, running down the basics of the game without being intrusive or unintuitive. Simply speaking, if you’ve played God of War, you should feel right at home here, with most mechanics being mirrored down to the quick time events that occur should you pull off a particularly grisly maneuver. Dante may hack and slash through the oncoming hordes of peons like a hot knife through butter, as they pose no real challenge. It’s here you’ll become familiar with the same moves you’ll employ throughout the rest of the demo. I will say that Dante’s arsenal of moves does seem to mirror that of Kratos’s in God of War, as does most of the rest of what is presented here to us in “Gates of Hell.”

However, the action takes a sharp detour as Dante moves away from the action to detour through a courtyard — shockingly, an errant assassin lodges a knife in his back. Instantaneously in this moment of sheer terror and excruciating pain, Dante can feel his life draining away from his mortal vessel. It is then he comes face to face with the hooded nothingness that is Death. The skeletal behemoth gravely informs Dante that his soul is damned to Hell, doomed to suffer there in torment for all eternity, thanks to the poor man’s transgressions in the past. Never one to take no for an answer, Dante challenges the deity and your first taste of a miniboss battle commences.

The frenetic battle with Death is one meant to challenge your newly-acquired evasion prowess as well as several of the moves in your arsenal. Rather than swatting Death away like the flies that were the enraged citizens, this contest requires much more finesse and precise timing. Silky-smooth combos paired with rapid blows are the pathway to success, and the combo system really begins to shine here. At the climax of the battle, Dante pulls off some truly stunning and aesthetically pleasing moves, commandeering Death’s almighty scythe in the process — not something any regular mortal should be capable of. Successful quick time events are the key to coming out of this fight unscathed, shaming Death and essentially assuming the role of the spectre yourself. The entire confrontation was most certainly one of the most memorable moments of the entire demo, and one that you won’t likely forget anytime soon.

With Dante’s return home to Italy after completing his work in the Crusades, he arrives there to find his lover Beatrice ravaged and murdered, with his dwelling and belongings in complete disarray. A broken man emerges from his previously brutal yet valorous persona as the soul of his deceased soulmate rises before him. Her porcelain skin, flowing blonde hair, and pert breasts are a sight to behold as previously CG and animation merged together to give the scene an entirely organic feel. Dante’s time with Beatrice is brief and futile, as Lucifer whisks her soul away. In his wake, waves of the undead are summoned to slow the grieving man’s progress in reuniting with his lost love.

With Death’s scythe, battle has changed and improved dramatically. While you can still pull off interesting melee attacks as well as gruesome slicing and dicing, a new dynamic has been tossed into the mix — the harvesting of souls. Souls can be put to use to attain new attacks and abilities to facilitate Dante’s journey through Hell. However, it’s not as simple as slashing up enemies and simply receiving the type of souls that you need. You’ll be given the choice to punish or absolve the minions of Lucifer via usage of Death’s scythe, and depending on which path you take, you can gain either holy or unholy points. Unholiness is rewarded much less since it makes sense that torment and anguish runs rampant in the depths of Hell already, so if you take the high road and forgive the damned you will earn more souls. This, however, takes a bit more time and you gain a different tree of skills than you would from unholy souls.

It’s an interesting move to say the least, challenging the player to either walk a path of righteousness or to give in to the darkness and become a hateful, vengeful killing machine. While it’s not a Mass Effect in terms of awarding Paragon or Renegade points, the choice is yours to make regarding how you’re going to play the game, and your skill set will mirror the type of person you mold Dante into. This was one dynamic that truly set Dante’s Inferno apart from God of War for me. Despite their undisputable similarities, you do not have this type of choice within Sony’s darling, and it’s something I applaud Visceral for implementing.

Another addition to Dante’s arsenal is the Redemption meter seen at the bottom of the screen, which fills up with each combo you manage to pull off. Activating Redemption mode allows you to move at faster speeds and deal heaps more damage to your enemies, much like Devil Trigger provides in Devil May Cry. It’s nothing terribly innovative, but surely useful since it’s upgradable via the same skill trees that open up when you choose to punish or absolve.

Jumping right back into the plot of the demo, after Dante defeats the hordes of the damned, he makes his way into the church Lucifer disappeared to. The supposed sanctuary crumbles to pieces right before your very eyes — a bizarre and unsettling sight at that — and Dante is led down a pathway that ends at the titular Gates of Hell. In front of the gates lingers Virgil, who has been sent by Beatrice as a sort of tour guide through Hell. This revelation is empowering as Dante must power through yet another wave of demons and a much larger demon with a rider on top of its massive shoulders. Through a chain of quick time events, including some interesting new moves involving both analog sticks (I won’t spoil it for you here), Dante eventually makes his way to the top of the brute and commences to impart some serious damage unto the unholy beasts scurrying beneath his feet — think of certain sequences from Batman: Arkham Asylum. When you turn to enter the gates right behind you, however, the next screen doesn’t load, and you’re left with the startling realization that you’ve reached the conclusion of the demo.

And what an explosive ride it was.

Suffice it to say if you’re not a fan of the burly accursed Kratos, you won’t find a sanctuary in this identical yet stylish brawler. Visuals could stand a bit of sprucing up, but Dante’s Inferno plays like a dream. Its sense of dread couple with familiar mechanics, reputable studio backing, and clever design as evidenced in dev diaries should give you the push you need to regard it as much more than a God of War clone. Remember, God of War didn’t start the fire, per se, and it’s going to be a breath of fresh air to experience a similar adventure without being limited to Greek mythology and the same characters. Granted, I’m a rabid God of War fan, though it’s going to be a toss-up between which new release will please me more. It will all come down to plot progression, additional combo moves, and my undying love for Kratos being pushed out of the way, but I’m tickled to death to see one of my favorite franchises inspiring another in so many fantastic ways.

It may not be perfect, and it could most certainly stand for some tweaking. Purists will ignore the game outright due to its subject material and how far it strays from the classic epic poem. From a gamer’s standpoint, it’s shaping up to be another hit; familiar, but a hit nonetheless. And these days, I’ll take substance over fluff any way I can get it.

On February 9, 2010, I’ll see each and every one of you in Hell.

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This generation Japanese RPGs haven’t really ridden the momentum they had going for them during the PS2 days. Both the PS1 and the PS2 were literally an everlasting cave of wonders for gamers who love JRPGs. Unfortunately this generation I can’t say the same yet, with only a handful of them out 3-4 years into this generation, none of them are really much to write home about. My optimism hasn’t been flushed down the toilet yet, because aside from the powerhouse that is Final Fantasy XIII, there are still a few such as Resonance of Fate and White Knight Chronicles coming down the pipeline with something worth offering to the genre. Today I got a little hands on time with the PS3 exclusive White Knight Chronicles to see what this has different in store for us.

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The sequel of Divine Divinity, Divinity II: Ego Draconis, is coming to America on January 5, 2010 for Xbox 360 and PC (Rated M for Mature). It was developed by Larian Studios, and being published by cdv Entertainment (publisher of Sacred 2). Divine Divinity was released in 2002 so it’s safe to say this has been long awaited by the fans.

To cover some of the technical bases first, the game seems like it will play fine if you have an up-to-date decent PC. I have a gaming PC so I was able to turn up the visual slidebars some in the options, but not all the way. My FPS dropped significantly when I turned everything up all the way. The slidebars are there for a reason so if you experience FPS problems just drop it a bit lower. When you are playing the game the graphics look somewhat “grainy”, but they’re definitely not the worst I’ve seen. When the game cuts to a character conversation the graphics look better and smoother. So you don’t need a super computer to play this, but if you still don’t feel comfortable purchasing it for PC then buy the Xbox 360 version. One thing to be aware of on the PC version is sometimes when you alt-tab out of the game, then you try to go back in you won’t get the game or the menu the first time. It may take a try or two before it loads correctly. I kept getting a yellow screen when I tried to go back into the game, but I just alt-tabbed and went back in again, and it was fine.

The game starts with a beautiful CGI opening cinematic, then it’s on to the character selection screen where you choose your gender, hair and hair color, face, and voice. It’s not all fancy with slidebars like alot of similar games boast, but sometimes sticking with the basics is much better. Character creation is important and fun, but at the same time people just want to play the game.

After diving right into the game I was caught up in a bit of backstory telling that usually starts off these kind of games. The story is rather interesting. You play as a newly initiated Dragon Slayer hellbent on destroying all dragons in the land, but you have more to learn. You just finished your training at the academy, now you’re ready to become a full fledged Slayer. You receive your very first quest from the character, Rhode, and you’re on your way!

The first level is the tutorial level. You will learn all the basics of playing here. First thing you learn about is controlling your character. Movement is very odd in the game. You use ASWD to move forward, back, left, and right, and moving the mouse controls the camera and turning. This takes a bit of getting used to since I’m one to prefer moving forward and around with my mouse instead of solely ASWD. When you start fighting you have to use the hotkeys to use your abilities. Transitioning from ASWD to the numbers, and back again to move is actually pretty difficult in battle when you’re trying to dodge ranged attacks as well. The fact that you can use a plain swing or shoot attack by just hitting the left mouse button does make it a bit easier. Thankfully, you can reassign the movement in the options to play more to your liking. You can also pause the game, select the spell you want to use, and target who you want to cast it on. I don’t really like playing this way, though in the later levels it’s sure to pay off. I just feel it destroys the “flow” of the battle.

When you arrive in the first town you start really talking to people, and a couple more quests. You are given choices of responses to people to find out more information or to just leave. The quest options get deeper as you go along. Instead of just picking up all the quests possible you are supposed to think hard about it and decide because you can possibly get rewarded for not taking a particular quest, or even for failing one. In the first town is also where you can try the three different weapon classes, Warrior, Mage, Ranger. If you look into your skill trees you also see Priest and Dragon Slayer. You don’t have to stick to what you start with in the first town. You can mix and match skills you learn within the talent trees as you level; there are no class restrictions. What I like best about the talent selection is the fact that an in depth explanation of the skill is given, as well as a video showing what the skill looks like when performed!

The voice acting in the game is actually decent. With the action/RPGs you never quite know what you’re going to get. The acting in this game isn’t academy award winning by any means, but it does keep you interested and isn’t bad to a point where you will become detached from the game.

Something cool that was added in the game is Mindreading. In Divinity II you can read anyone’s mind when you talk to them. Some of them recognize what you’re doing, while you may get some information from others. What makes Mindreading special is the fact that it costs XP to do. XP doesn’t only level your character, but it now serves as currency to perform Mindreading. I’m not particularly a fan of spending my XP so I kept the mindreading to a minimum, but I’m sure you can get some useful information from NPCs with it.

Later in the game you can create your own creatures to fight along side of you. As you kill enemies and creatures you will start to collect their body parts. With these you can create a creature to hold aggro on a mob or perform other various needs while fighting. You also will have your own Battletower. The Battletower is your own personal space where you can customize and upgrade your character and gameplay even further. Here you can create potions, train, summon your creatures, etc. Eventually you will also be able to transform into a dragon and take part of aerial combat. In dragon form you will have a separate talent tree and armor.

The game does have a Diablo-esque feel to it when it comes down to the looting and upgrading your character. And the long (apparently over 80 hours of gameplay), in-depth story is sure to remind players of Dragon Age, especially since the main focus of Divinity II is dragons. This game is already being held in high regards by many RPG fans because of the immersion level, customization, and fights (they’re pretty tough!). Only thing I’m afraid of is if Divinity II will get pushed aside by many because they will think it’s a “Dragon Age wannabe.” I hope not. This is destined to be a pretty kick ass game.

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