Malaysian Gamer

Randy Pitchford Borderlands 2 Video Interview

noreply@blogger.com (frags) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:14:00 +0000

GameInformer has posted up a lengthy video interview of Gearbox boss, Randy Pitchford talking about Borderlands 2. What is Gearbox doing with differently with Borderlands 2? Watch the interview below...

First 10 Minutes Of Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City On YouTube

noreply@blogger.com (frags) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:58:00 +0000

GameReactor has uploaded a YouTube video of the first 10 minutes of Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City. A shooter from Slant Six Games that puts the focus on co-op action. The game is due out in March for the consoles and the PC. Check out the video below...

Bastion Review - The Kid Reached The End, Gives His Opinion

noreply@blogger.com (frags) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:23:00 +0000

It's been a long time comin'... but the kid never gave up... always trucking along...always eating away at the obstacles... The Bastion calls to him like the fireflies that are attracted by the light... but he ain't about to get burnt by it... oh no Sir! The Bastion beckons...

Bastion is the début offering from Supergiant Games, made up of former EALA staffers that worked on Command & Conquer Red Alert 3. And it's an absolute cracker! It's a 2D action game with an interesting narrative and a unique approach of presenting itself to you. As you probably already know, Bastion makes use of a dynamic narration gimmick, which while sounding rather gimmicky, works amazingly well.

Bastion is set in a child like fantasy world of Caelondia(it looks childish, but turns out to be a lot more darker than the game's aesthetics implies). A world that has been ravaged by an apocalyptic event called 'the calamity', it is now populated by wild beasts gone mad(such as those pesky squirts). The Bastion is the only remaining bastion(no pun intended) of civilisation and life.

A good scumbag is a dead one!

You play as the protagonist simply called 'the kid'. You aren't given much to grasp on with the story in the beginning... who is this kid? and who is this narrator that is encouraging you on? What scheme do they play in the Bastion and in Caelondia? This is the beauty of Bastion, it drip feeds you little by little of the story, thanks to the narrator and some of the bonus levels that give you extra lore. Challenge and reflection levels give you more experience as well as new lore as the narrator narrates to you a new bit of info at every wave you've defeated(these levels take on the shape of a gauntlet style, waved based mission where you defeat wave after wave of enemies).

"Bastion's world is like a mix between fantasy and western stylistic themes. It is further enhanced by the twangy rhythms of a western/cowboy music fused with world music and eastern styled beats"

Bastion's world is like a mix between fantasy and western stylistic themes. It is further enhanced by the twangy rhythms of a western/cowboy music fused with world music and eastern styled beats(imho.... one of the best soundtracks in a video game to date). They've managed to craft a world that you would want to learn more about as it is so unique and at many a times, unpredictable and surprising. It will keep you on your toes most of the time. I just can't stress how much of an impact the narrator makes on the storyline.

The kid has a selection of fine beverages that pack a punch at the distillery

This Kid Ain't No Ordinary Cowboy

Bastion plays like pretty much most 2D(isometric) action games. You control the kid with WASD(movement with keyboard) and use the mouse for aiming and attacking. This gets a bit of getting used to as you will be whacking away at the wrong direction lots of time in the beginning(as you get used to the fact the kid only attack in the direction you have you mouse pointed towards). Bastion is quite playable using the mouse and keyboard combo, although, I would highly recommend the use of a gamepad.

The kid can carry any two weapons at any time, with the Cael Hammer and the Fang Repeater being the more popular ones(from what I've read from other peoples weapon combo). The Cael Hammer is a DPS dealing heavy weapon that strikes slower but harder(melee weapon of course).

The Fang Repeater is a ranged crossbow that shoots fangs, you'll have to reload when you've used up a clip(there is no ammo count in Bastion, but reloading will often put you in a precarious situation, so you'll often have to time when to reload and when to fire these weapons).

You have one special move that you equip in the armoury. The use of these special moves use up one black tonic(you pick these up in the game) and they range from trip mines, hand grenades to even a spinning attack for the Cael Hammer.

The Kid can travel all across Caelondia from the Skyway

You select missions by accessing the skyway in the Bastion, which acts as an over world where you get to upgrade your weapons, build structures on building plots, and generally get all your crafting and upgrading done. Some of the buildings you get to build includes a distillery, in which you get to pick from a fine collection of beverages(alcoholic I might add) that act as a modifier when equipped. It can often mean endless frustration in repetitive defeats or successfully finishing a level.... just with the right selection of spirits.

The Forge allows the kid to use collected weapons upgrade items(such as bow strings for the fang repeater) to upgrade his weapons. What is interesting is the fact that you have a choice, a branch of upgrades to chose from. It is often a compromise between giving off some negative attribute for one improved one. It's not a straight up improvement as so many other games often just carelessly rig a game up with an upgrade mechanic that often seems fluff. Upgrades, like in so many aspect in Bastion, truly is a moment that requires much thought and reflection on its advantages and disadvantages before taking the plunge.

The Kid is able to forge more deadly weapons with the right items

This is just one of the many indications of just how much thought and care went into the crafting of this game. While it might have been a passable action game with good combat and decent story and an okay mechanic, Super Giant Games instead lovingly fine tuned every aspect of the game to offer more depth, intricacy(in the narrative) and playability that takes it above and beyond any other average action game...Bastion is by no means average... In fact it is quite a stupendous feat.

"Bastion joins a pantheon of classic must have indie games that elevate the art of video games to new heights than your regular old joe 'Call of... generic shoot person press X countless number of times' does for the industry"

Conclusion

The mark of a special... classic game is one that makes you reflect on it even after you've completed it, or when you're not playing it. It elevates gaming to more than just a mere form of entertainment about pressing buttons and testing your motor coordination. Bastion does this... and it will remain in your mind as one that is exceedingly rare in pushing forth narration in bold new ways in video games.

Bastion's narrative is one that will call upon discussions long after the completion of the game. It's dynamic narrative will never cease to catch you off guard, offering brief new commentary even in repeated playthroughs. Bastion joins a pantheon of classic must have indie games that elevate the art of video games to new heights than your regular old joe 'Call of... generic shoot person press X countless number of times' does for the industry. Bravo Supergiant Games for such an exquisite debut title!

Genre	2D Action RPG/Action
Similar games	Quake 4, Serious Sam 3: BFE
DRM	Steam
Price	USD$14.99
Best Moment	Point Lemaigne, the kid fell many a times, but never got his spirits down

Pros:

A visual style that is beautiful and unique
Possibly one of the best music soundtracks in video gaming history
Dynamic narration fits in perfectly to the action.
Challenge and reflection missions give more lore to the game and adds replayability
Branching ending with different outcomes
Narrative is a little abstract, which leaves room for lots of different interpretations.

Cons:

Some of the challenge levels tend to go on for just a bit too long
Keyboard mouse combo takes some getting used to(I'm nitpicking here)

Verdict: The Kid was blown away at the end of it!

King Arthur II: The Role Playing Wargame Launch Trailer

noreply@blogger.com (frags) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 02:19:00 +0000

King Arthur II is now available on Steam and GamersGate. It is the sequel to King Arthur which I thought was quite a unique take on the Total War formula of turn based and real time strategy. It might not have had the right balance... which I hope this sequel would have rectified. Check out the launch trailer below...

Crusader Kings II Developer Interview Video

noreply@blogger.com (frags) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 02:12:00 +0000

The lead developer for Crusader Kings II gives us a short summary of what a game of Crusader Kings II is about. Crusader Kings II releases on February 14th. Check out the video interview below...

Aliens: Colonial Marines Cinematic Trailer - Delayed To Fall 2012

noreply@blogger.com (frags) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 05:13:00 +0000

Gearbox has released a nice short cinematic trailer for the team based shooter, Aliens: Colonial Marines. They've recently announced that the release date has been pushed back to fall(initially it was spring) which would put it in roughly Q3 2012. Watch the cinematic trailer below...

Blacklight Retribution Heavy Weapons Trailer

noreply@blogger.com (frags) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:22:00 +0000

Blacklight Retribution, the free to play sequel of Blacklight: Tango Down, is now in closed beta phase 4. The developers have promised open beta news to be soon'ish'. It's a a futuristic team based shooter with armour, weapon customisation and some sort of high tech x ray scanner that lets you see player through walls... yeah no need to wall hack in this game. Check out the latest trailer below...

Mass Effect 3 Special Forces Trailer Shows Off Multiplayer Co-op

noreply@blogger.com (frags) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:00:00 +0000

New trailer out for Mass Effect 3. This one shows the multiplayer action and details the classes and races you can play as in the multiplayer co-op section of the game. Mass Effect 3 releases on March 6th. Trailer after the jump...

Steam App For Mobile Finally Arrives

noreply@blogger.com (frags) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:38:00 +0000

Valve has decided to enter the mobile market... well not quite but they have released a Steam App for mobile. Currently available in closed beta on Android marketplace and Itunes. For now, you can download it and log in to register in on the beta. No public access yet. The Steam app will allow users to check out the latest Steam sales, checkout your friends profile and screenshots and even chat with those online on Steam. COOOOOL! Press release below...

Valve Announces Steam Mobile App

Press Releases - Valve Closed Beta Available Now For iOS and Android Devices

January 26, 2012 -- Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Counter-Strike, Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, Portal, and Team Fortress) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced the beta release of the Steam application for iOS and Android devices.

With the Steam app, gamers around the world may chat with Steam friends, browse community groups and user profiles, view screenshots and user-generated content for their favorite games, read the latest gaming news, stay up to date on unbeatable Steam sales, and more.

“The Steam app comes from many direct requests from our customers,” said Gabe Newell, co-founder and president of Valve. “Seeing which of your friends are online and playing a game, sending quick messages, looking at screenshots for an upcoming game, or catching a sale -- these are all features customers have requested. Mobile is changing way people interact, play games and consume media, and the Steam app is part of our commitment to meet customer demands and expand the service functionality of Steam to make it richer and more accessible for everyone.”

Those who wish to join the beta just need to download the Steam app (free of charge) and log in to their Steam account via the mobile app to express interest in the beta. Gamers will be added to the Closed Beta as the service ramps up.

Steam is a leading platform for the delivery and management of PC and Mac games with over 40 million accounts around the world and over 1,800 titles offered.

For more information, please visit http://store.steampowered.com/mobile

Dead Island Ryder White Campaign DLC Incoming - Trailer Out

noreply@blogger.com (frags) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:03:00 +0000

SPOILERS... for those that haven't completed Dead Island. Techland are releasing a new campaign DLC which will allow you to play Ryder White, the bad guy in Dead Island. It's a single player story campaign so there are no new characters for co-op unfortunately. The Ryder White Campaign DLC will be out on February 1st. Check out the trailer below...

Crusader Kings II Pride Trailer - Pride Comes Before A....

noreply@blogger.com (frags) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:44:00 +0000

The latest in a series of live action trailers for this character driven grand strategy game by Paradox. You might be proud of your little Kingdom... but there is always a bigger enemy. Watch the latest trailer below...

Warlock: Master of The Arcane Video Interview - Fantasy Civ V?

noreply@blogger.com (frags) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:28:00 +0000

Paradox has uploaded a video interview with the producer of Warlock: Master of The Arcane, a turn based fantasy strategy game based on the Majesty franchise. I have a preview copy of it and it's... well even a look at it and you will be able to tell, it takes quite a bit from Sid Meier's Civilization V, aesthetically and mechanically as well. It uses hexes damnit! :s To be fair mechanics are the differentiation but I wouldn't blame you if you said this looks like a fantasy version of Civ V. I'll try to have some preview content up for this game. For now, check out the developer interview below...

No Blizzcon For You This Year!

noreply@blogger.com (frags) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:22:00 +0000

PC Gamer is reporting a rather major news! Blizzard has announced t hat they won't be having their earth shaking, gargantuan yearly convention.... called Blizzcon, won't be happening in 2012. Heresy! Apparently their schedule for 2012 is packed to the brim. They are organising a 2012 Battle.net World Championship that will be taking place in Asia. It would host a World of Warcraft Arena Tournament as well as a StarCraft II tournament. Beside these tournaments, Blizzard are busy at work on StarCraft II: Heart of The Swarm, Diablo 3(still no release date), and WoW: Mist of Panderia(this is still not a joke). In light of their busy schedule, there you have it... they are only having Blizzcon in 2013.

Source: Battle.net Blog

Red Orchestra 2: Rising Storm Trailer Takes A Leaf Off Of Call Of Duty

noreply@blogger.com (frags) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:05:00 +0000

For those new CoD player, you'll probably miss the reference, but a boat... crossing a bombardment area... Remember the Stalingrad mission in Call of Duty? The one where the officer shouts NOT ONE STEP BACK!. Well here's where we're at in terms of cinematic quality in games at this point... the mod to RO2, Rising Storm showcases a rather pretty trailer of the attack of Iwo Jima(from the side of the Americans). This is awesome war movie stuff. You can register for Beta here. This is a mod and will require RO2 obviously. Check out the trailer below...

Are Retail Games Priced Unfairly In Malaysia? - Publishers Do Take Note

noreply@blogger.com (frags) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:40:00 +0000

Pricing has always been the eternal question in Malaysia and around our region. Well, at least for video games(PC or console games for that matter). It is one that has divided so many gamers into those that buy original and to those that continue to buy pirated game(or instead drop into the slew of free to play games available now). Although it can be argued that even pirates(you have to be fair here) could afford original game, just not that too often. This isn't the main reason for piracy, just one that is often quoted. At least in Malaysia.

And this is a common argument amongst fellow Malaysians, and one that I'm finding myself starting to fall into recently. Fact is, our purchasing power is just not equal to Singaporeans. Publisher often lump us Malaysians together with Singaporeans which often means we're getting local retail copies of games adjusted to the Singaporean cost of living. The Thais get further price drops, but we Malaysians get a minor discount, when you think about it, the cost of living and purchasing power parity of Malaysians with Singaporeans is just not the same or even fairly similar.

This dissonance(between purchasing power parity and price points) has been bothering me quite a bit. Don't get me wrong, I still purchase all my games and would never consider pirating any game. But don't publishers have a responsibility to be fair to regions they are marketing their games too? Shouldn't publishers be looking at Malaysia separately from Singapore and treat Malaysian consumers fairly, giving us a fairer localised pricing? It may be a logistical convenience to lump us together with Singapore, but is it fair?

Looking back at previous attempts at localised pricing, I remember a couple of years back, Supreme Commander had a localised version that was sold at retail for RM80. Taking into account EA, Activision(but not Blizzard games since that is a special circumstance that requires a separate retort of sorts) and Ubisoft game pricing here, most games retail at average RM170. The increased cost of everything basically has affected pricing a little here, EA games now average at RM159(when they used to go as low as RM139, which is now only available to their less 'bigger' titles).

Going back to the localised Supreme Commander case, it was reported that the publisher complained that the drop in price didn't see a double in sales... in essence, it wasn't worth it for them to drop it's price to RM80. It did not pay off in the end. This lead to a general discouraging effect that no publisher would ever consider putting out a localised copy cause it would not mean a double in sales.

Oh and don't even get me started on Blizzard and their distributors, IAH Games in Malaysia. A so called localised copy that meant we had to pay even more than the rest of the world for StarCraft II. Where's the logic in that?

My question to you all is this, will you support a publisher if they dropped the retail price of their game below RM100? Would you buy more games if they did drop the price below RM100?

EA Expanding Origin With Offers From 11 Publishers

noreply@blogger.com (frags) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:15:00 +0000

EA announced today that their digital distribution platform , Origin, will be getting bigger with the addition of 11 publishers that have agreed to put their titles on Origin. They've announced that "Additional titles from publishers CD PROJEKT RED, Freebird Games, Recoil Games, Autumn Games, 1C Company, inXile entertainment, Paradox Interactive, Core Learning Ltd. and N3V Games will be available on Origin in the coming months". More competition can't be a bad thing right? They've also announced that TRION World's MMO RIFT will be making an appearance on Origin.

Source: BusinessWire

Tribes: Ascend First Play Video

noreply@blogger.com (frags) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:03:00 +0000

Leo has been playing the free to play Tribes: Ascend which is currently in beta. It's very much a Tribes successor with lots of jet packs moves and trick shots. Lots of skills required and don't stay stationary. The only issue is with ping since there isn't a sever closer to Malaysia. Check out the first play video below...

Happy Chinese New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (frags) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 04:31:00 +0000

Malaysian Gamer wishes everyone a Happy Chinese New Year! I hope all of you are having a great holiday. I know I needed one. It's back to work for me, writing reviews, previews, and videos. Thanks for supporting Malaysian Gamer. Have an awesome week!

Alan Wake Hitting Steam On February - Minimum Requirements Out!

noreply@blogger.com (frags) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 14:42:00 +0000

Remedy has confirmed on the official forums that the PC version of Alan Wake will be released on Steam in February(nothing more specific than that. They also posted the minimum requirements to run the game. Alan Wake for the PC will be using Steamworks which means it will NOT be a Games For Windows game. Requirements seem pretty reasonable. Remedy are trying to make the game compatible with Windows XP SP2, at the moment there are a few bugs that need sorting out for the game to run on Win XP. Minimum requirements after the jump...

Minimum Requirement

OS: Windows Vista or Windows 7 (see below for Windows XP)
PROCESSOR: A dual core processor is required:

AMD: Athlon X2 2.8GHz
Intel: Core 2 Duo 2GHz

MEMORY: 2 GB
HARD DRIVE: 8 GB
VIDEO CARD: DirectX 10 compatible or later with 512MB RAM

AMD: ATI Radeon 3650, 4450, 5550, 6450 or higher (per series)
NVIDIA: GeForce 8600GT, 9500GT, GT120, GT430, GT520 (per series)

SOUND CARD: DirectX 9.0c compatible
INPUT: Mouse and keyboard, Xbox360 controller also supported

War of The Roses Developer Video Interview

noreply@blogger.com (frags) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 07:00:00 +0000

Here's a new video with Gordon Van Dyke from Fatshark talking about their upcoming medieval multiplayer focused game, War of The Roses. Imagine Mount & Blade: Warband only in large scale multiplayer. If you don't know Mount & Blade, it's like a medieval large scale, team based, multiplayer game. With objectives like sieges and all out battles, War of The Roses puts its own spin on things with some persistence in terms of your character. Check out the video below...

Salem The Crafting MMO Developer Video Interview

noreply@blogger.com (frags) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 04:29:00 +0000

We've been hearing about this one for quite a while. This is the first time they have shown gameplay footage in a video. Salem is being called a rafting MMO. It takes place in the New World, as colonists you and other will have to forage and build up your colony. The entire world is crafted by human players(well at least that is the idea behind it). This is a free to play game that I am quite excited to try out. It's set for a Q3 2012 release. Video interview below...

A Game Of Dwarves Gameplay Trailer - This Is Dwarf Fortress

noreply@blogger.com (frags) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 04:14:00 +0000

Recently, Paradox announced A Game Of Dwarves(to be out sometime this year), a fortress constructing strategy game from Zeal Game Studio. You have dwarves, tunnelling randomly generated worlds, levelling up, defending from hordes of enemies... familiar? This does seem like a more friendlier version of Dwarf Fortress. My curiosity is piqued. Watch the debut gameplay trailer below...

ESA Drops Support For SOPA - SOPA Shelved

noreply@blogger.com (frags) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 04:01:00 +0000

Good news! The ESA, the organisation that runs E3 and is considered as the lobbying arm of the video games industry has backed out of supporting SOPA(the Stop Online Piracy Act). SOPA is a bill that would have given IP holders absolutely authority over anything related to their IP including screenshots and videos. It would allow IP holders to call for the blocking of a website(very very bad). Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith conceded that they would not be considering SOPA until a compromise was reached. The sister act(no relation to Whoopi Goldberg), PIPA(Protect IP Act) has been put on hold. Mr Smith said "I have heard from the critics and I take seriously their concerns regarding proposed legislation to address the problem of online piracy."

And the ESA had this to say "From the beginning, ESA has been committed to the passage of balanced legislation to address the illegal theft of intellectual property found on foreign rogue sites. Although the need to address this pervasive threat to our industry’s creative investment remains, concerns have been expressed about unintended consequences stemming from the current legislative proposals.

“Accordingly, we call upon Congress, the Obama Administration, and stakeholders to refocus their energies on producing a solution that effectively balances both creative and technology interests. As an industry of innovators and creators, we understand the importance of both technological innovation and content protection and are committed to working with all parties to encourage a balanced solution.” I think the ESA got cold feet when huge sites started protesting this bill. Well done guys! We did it!

Source: BBC

Resident Evil 6 Confirmed! Trailer Released

noreply@blogger.com (frags) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:14:00 +0000

Capcom released the debut trailer for Resident Evil 6. You're back to playing as Leon Kennedy. Something about the President affected by a bio terrorist attack and making the hardest decision Leon has ever had to make. That's not all though, you also play as Chris Redfield with the game taking you to China. Co-op is confirmed. Resident Evil 6 is announced for the XBOX 360 and PS3(to be release on November 20th 2012), with a PC version said to be released later. Debut trailer after the jump...

From Capcom Blog:

The internet buzz is true - Resident Evil 6 is indeed in development for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.That detail may not be too shocking considering the level of speculation churning over the past few days, but we can also confirm RE6 pairs Leon S Kennedy and Chris Redfield together, and is scheduled for release on November 20, 2012.

Zombies. Outbreaks. BOW outbreaks across the world. The looming threat of global bioterrorism is finally a reality, with our roster of capable heroes forced to confront this horrific scenario head on. Based on the trailer, we can see Leon investigating a small town that's suffered a Raccoon City-like infestation, while Chris heads to China for an all-out assault on the front lines. These two play styles merge to form what executive producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi calls "dramatic horror," which fuses action, tension and scares in a brand new way.

Further details:

"It has been ten years since the Raccoon City incident and the President of the United States has decided to reveal the truth behind what took place in the belief that it will curb the current resurgence in bioterrorist activity. Due to be by the President’s side is his personal friend and Raccoon City survivor, Leon S. Kennedy, but when the venue suffers a bioterrorist attack, Leon is forced to face a President transformed beyond recognition and make his hardest ever decision. At the same time, Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance member Chris Redfield arrives in China, itself under threat of a bioterrorist attack. With no country safe from these attacks and the ensuing outbreaks, the entire world’s population is united by a common fear that there is no hope left."

More information is on the way, so be sure to follow @RE_Games on Twitter as well as the series' Facebook page.

Max Payne 3 Targeting & Weapons Explained In Trailer

noreply@blogger.com (frags) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:37:00 +0000

This latest trailer is part of the design and technology series that give a behind the scene look at the tech behind the game. Max Payne 3 is looking pretty solid. You can actually wield different weapons in two hands now. It is due out on May 29th for the PC. Check out the trailer below...