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http://youtu.be/cec-cCfOL0Y

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http://youtu.be/m65D_pY0THI

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This week, the chaps prattle on about:

• Activision’s new mobile games studio
• Another Wii U leak – horrible looking tablet edition
• Star Fox Metroid Fusion Saga is a thing
• StarHawk (PS3)
• Max Payne 3 (360)
• The Great British Debate: Should companies have the balls to release a game that’s multiplayer only?
• WIN! Mass Effect 3 Art Books

There’s also some extra audio goodness for you lucky scamps who are proud owners of the BRB Podcast App – available for Android and the iThing of your choosing.

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On May 4th, 2012, the world lost a pioneer of hip-hop: MCA of the Beastie Boys. His group was a significant part of my childhood, and I wanted to commemorate that with a small, Boom-ish token of my appreciation. Rest in peace, MCA!

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That isn’t to say that the formula is perfect — far from it actually. For what they offered me for free, Rusty Hearts, Blacklight: Retribution, and Super Monday Night Combat provided fun experiences; however, each one was plagued with issues that kept me from spending money, which, from a developer’s point of view, completely defeats the purpose of free-to-play in the first place.

Rusty Hearts and Blacklight: Retribution, both made by Perfect World, face the same problem: they use an arbitrary currency instead of real money. The system is set up the same way Microsoft points are; every 80 Zen equals $1.

Zen is used across Perfect World’s numerous free-to-play games, which causes another issue: To buy something, you must first select how much Zen you want in increments of 1000. Then you select which game will receive the Zen you purchased. Finally, you’ll be able to use that currency in game. This completely takes away the impulse nature that free-to-play games strive to have. The more hoops a customer has to jump through to purchase something, the more likely they won’t purchase anything. What’s more, you’ll often be left with unused Zen and nothing of worth to purchase. It could be a ploy to get you to purchase more Zen, but the hassle of it all more than likely prevent some people form spending money.

With Blacklight: Retribution there’s the illusion that the items are cheap to buy. When you finally decide to go into the marketplace to purchase new weapons and armor, you’re greeted with a price of 40-80 Zen. Pretty good deal right? If you look closely, though, those prices are merely to rent said item for one day. And that’s one actual day, which means that you’ll lose the item whether you play one match that day or 100. It can be $10 or more to keep an item — $10 or more, for one item! Sure the rental system is great if you want to try an item before spending a significant amount of money on it, but it also makes playing an obligation if you rented the item because you don’t want the purchase to go to waste. Luckily, this issue is alleviated by the inclusion of another form of currency called GP, which can only be earned by completing matches. After a few matches you will be able to earn enough to rent an item for a day, allowing you to try out new things without having to spend any money. You could also purchase items using GP, but they obviously are quite expensive and would require hours upon hours of continuous play to accumulate enough GP.

Super Monday Night Combat on the other hand, does away with the arbitrary currency. Each character and item will plainly have a $ amount next to them, so you know exactly how much you will spend. Every character can be purchased with in-game currency that is earned from each match — but again requires a significant time investment to even get one character. While Super Monday Night Combat has a much better handle on purchasing items, it’s plagued with its lack of content, and the way it handles matches. There is only one game type. No matter how many characters, maps or equipment the game has, playing the same game type over and over again gets tiresome. Add to the fact that once a match starts, the players are locked to that game. If you leave a game, you are unable to play another game until the current one finishes. You are allowed to hop back into the game, which is great for random disconnects, but other than that, it doesn’t really do much to deter rage-quitters. They’ll just go on to play a different game instead, and those who are left in the game are at a huge disadvantage. I’ve often seen 3v5 games that always go in favor of the larger team.  I don’t want my fun tied to whether or not I can count on my teammates to stay in the game. I would like to buy something, but this game needs to change a few things first before I’d feel comfortable spending money.

It is good to see free-to-play games break from the notion that the game must be terrible if the developers are giving it away for free, but significant progress still needs to be made in how these games are handled before more people will be eager to try the game and ultimately spend actual money to enhance that enjoyment.

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People throw around “rip-off” to describe games that feature overwhelming similarities to others. Darksiders wasn’t a rip-off; instead it was a game that cribbed from a significant number of sources; almost like a mash-up album that was actually better as a collection than a lot of the places it used content from. Darksiders is like the Girl Talk of video games.

This sequel doesn’t seem to change a lot of that mash up feeling. Sure, some of the periphery has changed, you’re a new character who controls differently, but the combat is still super compelling and the exploration is completely valid.

Your character, Death, is swifter than the previous protagonist. His attacking capabilities seem more focused on maintaining a level of distance to avoid being hit and quickly moving in to deliver quick damage. Interestingly, Death is completely incapable of blocking, meaning that if you aren’t willing to learn how to dodge then you aren’t going to progress. Darksiders 2 doesn’t reward skill, it demands it.

That speed equally translates to moving around the environment. Death carries himself with significant momentum. You traverse the world in a variety of styles that feel most comparable to one of the modern Prince of Persia titles. There’s wall running, climbing, shimmying and – my favourite – holding on to a column, moving to the other side of it and jumping off to grab onto another.

One of the few things that the original didn’t include was a loot mechanic; in Darksiders 2, you’re able to pick up gear from enemies. Though you’ll constantly have your scythes equipped, you can choose from a variety of other weapons like axes or hammers for your secondary attack. You’ll also find assorted types of armour that’ll offer bonuses to damage reduction. Equipping new gear – and working out whether doing so is worth it – is easy, when standing over it in the world a tooltip will appear that compares your current gear to the newest item; you can put it on immediately from there with a button press or just store it in your inventory for later.

Darksiders 2 just seems like a better Darksiders all over. Get it when it drops  in August.

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Check back next time because the gang will be discussing Fight Club.

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Sure; we’ve all played games that took place during World War II before, but Relic has attempted to encapsulate far less trodden ground inside the time-frame. Western fiction tends to romanticise an incredibly short period in the 6 years of fighting, normally starting at the invasion of Normandy in June of 1944 and ending after Japan’s surrender in September of 1945. That doesn’t leave a significant amount of war left to cover.

Company of Heroes 2 starts much earlier and rather than supply us with another love letter to the American occupation of France, it takes place on the Eastern Front, detailing the conflict between Germany and Russia with the player controlling the Soviets in their attempt to hold off German invasion.

The Eastern Front is considered one of the most gruesome theatres in history and is generally accepted to have been the deadliest, with casualty estimates making up nearly half the entire total life lost during World War II’s duration. It’s not entirely difficult to see why this conflict doesn’t regularly find a position in entertainment; neither side has had much cause to celebrate. Russia would ultimately win, but would sustain the most casualties, the greatest numbers of which were simple civilians caught within Germany’s brutal invasion tactics.

The reality of war isn’t treated flippantly. These were real events that Relic treats with dignity and respect. The game is intended to be entertaining, but uses that in order to best describe the historical reality. As in the first Company of Heroes, you command units from an overhead perspective, positioning them tactically to overcome enemy fortifications or defend your own territory. The game takes elements of the reality of war and feeds them into gameplay. Your units are encumbered by snow, so as their commander you’ll have to make decisions whether to approach positions quickly through cleared paths that offer little defence, or to risk being slowed down trudging through Russia’s harsh winter climate.

The units you command have their own character and instincts, who will automatically move to nearby available cover to ensure that they stay alive, taking advantage of the newly added ability to vault over obstacles. This self-preservation is limited, though, as in real life Russia would eventually issue Order 227, forbidding anyone from fleeing a battle scene; indeed, should you chose to retreat units that are pinned down under gunfire, these units will be promptly killed by their own comrades from the formation behind them.

This is reality told through gameplay mechanics. This is a respectful view of events told through interactivity. Even genre staples like the ‘Fog Of War’ have been slightly reinterpreted for the purpose of dignity. Company of Heroes 2‘s fog isn’t just limited by your units’ line of sight, but also objects in the environment will get in the way of your vision. You can only see things that your units can. You’re supposed to feel the same terrified under-preparedness for whatever could be lurking just outside of your view behind a tree or rock.

Company of Heroes 2 is about reverence and respect for the harshest moments of reality, told through a medium that doesn’t see enough of it. From the little shown, it absolutely succeeds in its attempts.

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This year, I expect The Last of Us will blow people away.  We have met Ellie and Joel, the main characters, and we know the basic story elements about a plague, a journey westward and a day-to-day fight for survival, but E3 seems like the perfect venue for Naughty Dog to blow the doors off of this one.

First off, Sony Computer Entertainment always shines the spotlight on Naughty Dog.  If Naughty Dog has something to show, it’s always at the SCE press conference for the world to see. I have so much faith in Naughty Dog and The Last of Us that I’m going to make a prediction: The Last of Us will be awarded near-unanimous E3 “Game of Show.” Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception were popular candidates for overall best honors during E3 2009 and E3 2011 respectively, and they were shoe-ins for the “Best PS3 Game” awards.

This year, though, Naughty Dog’s bark will be louder than the competition’s.

First, BioShock Inifinite won’t be at E3.  Not to take anything away from The Last of Us, but BioShock Infinite looks incredible. The press threw honors and praise at the game last year – and rightfully so.  Infinite, however, won’t be there to chew up the spotlight this year, and I think The Last of Us is poised to rise above the rest of the competition.

Naughty Dog knows how to get the most out of the PlayStation 3.  When you’re a SCE-owned studio, you have deep access to everything about the console and its technology, and Naughty Dog has learned how to harness that power to make breathtaking games.  The Uncharted games are absolutely stunning, and you can bet that Naughty Dog is using all of that knowledge to make The Last of Us look just as good – if not better.

The world in The Last of Us looks very detailed.  Even simple blades of grass seem important.  It’s the little touches that really matter: specks of dirt on the windshield of a pickup truck and the reflection of the cityscape in the truck’s side windows.  I’m willing to bet that Bruce Straley, the game director for The Last of Us, has learned a lot since he oversaw the development of Uncharted 2.

The Uncharted games are neither the best cover-based shooters nor the best action-platformers, but they are completely engrossing.  If there are more thrilling and exciting games out there, I haven’t played them; it has been said – admittedly to the point of nausea – but playing an Uncharted game, thanks to the sublime visuals, engrossing storyline and top-notch acting, almost feels as if  you’re watching a movie.  The Last of Us will be very different from Uncharted, but it seems like one of  those games that you can just dive into and get lost in for hours.  I’m eager to see if gameplay is a near-even split of combat and exploration or if it is more of one than the other, and I want to learn more about  the story, Ellie and Joel.

Naughty Dog does characters really well.  Want to make people care about your story?  Tug at their heart strings and give them characters to care about.  Yes, Nathan Drake, Elena Fisher and Victor Sullivan are video game characters, but there I feel an undeniable connection to them whenever I play an Uncharted game.  I went through a range of emotions during Elena’s near-death scene in Uncharted 2; I went from sad to angry in about 15 seconds.  That scene wouldn’t have been nearly as powerful if Elena were just a throwaway character like Jeff the cameraman.  You can’t have a good story without good characters. Developers are creating characters that are more lifelike than ever, but few do it as well as Naughty Dog.  Even support characters like Tenzin (Uncharted 2) and Charlie Cutter (Uncharted 3) shine.

The latest trailer for The Last of Us reminds me of a scene from The Book of Eli: Denzel Washington’s character, Eli, walks down a deserted highway and is accosted by a gang of ruthless hijackers who use a seemingly vulnerable woman to draw innocent people into a trap.  It creates that fear that you have to always be on your guard.  In the scene from The Last of Us, naïve teenager Ellie wants to help a seemingly injured man, but Joel knows the plot: The guy is faking; his armed buddies are hiding behind wrecked cars ready to pounce.  Ellie and Joel have to be wary of not only the infected creatures but also desperate and malicious humans.  It truly is survival from moment to moment.

Ellie and Joel, though not related, seem to have a father-daughter relationship, and their budding friendship will no doubt be at the heart of the story in The Last of Us.

Naughty Dog, I assume, will show us more of Ellie and Joel during SCE’s E3 press conference, but my gut says that gameplay will be the focus.  If Naughty Dog can live up to the pedigree, then The Last of Us will be the near-unanimous “Game of Show” for E3 2012.

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