PC Gaming

Hitman Absolution confirmed for PC, PS3, Xbox 360

2011-05-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

Square Enix launches teaser trailer for next installment in stealth action series; Io Interactive developing.

In late April, Square Enix filed a trademark application for the term "Hitman Absolution," reigniting rumors of a new entry in the long-dormant stealth action series. Those rumors were initially confirmed by a teaser video and brief description that appeared on YouTube this morning.

Agent 47 is back in Hitman Absolution.

Shortly after launching the trailer, developer Io Interactive and Square Enix Europe officially announced that Hitman Absolution is indeed in development for the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. The announcement did not offer a release window for the title but did say it had been built from the ground up using Io's proprietary Glacier 2 engine. The game will be shown off behind closed doors at next month's Electronic Entertainment Expo.
The trailer, which also surfaced on the official Hitman.com website, shows series protagonist Agent 47 screwing a silencer onto the end of a pistol. The scene then fades into a shot of one of his trademark Silverballer .45 pistols with a rattlesnake curled around it. The shot then fades to a UPC barcode with the numbers "110706" and "47" highlighted in red.
Both the YouTube page and the official announcement offered a brief synopsis of Hitman Absolution's plot: "Hitman Absolution follows Agent 47, a cold blooded assassin, who takes on his most dangerous contract to date. Betrayed by those he trusted and hunted by the police, he finds himself at the centre of a dark conspiracy and must embark on a personal journey through a corrupt and twisted world, in his search for the truth."
Hitman Absolution will be the first entry in the series since 2006's Hitman: Blood Money, which saw 47 bring silent death to locales ranging from mid-Mardi Gras New Orleans to the White House. The series follows the murderous exploits of Agent 47, a bald killer genetically engineered to be the perfect assassin. Hitman: Codename 47 (2000) told the tale of how the protagonist found work with the International Contract Agency (ICA) whacking high-profile criminals. In Hitman 2: Silent Assassin (2002), 47 is pulled out of retirement after his priest friend is kidnapped by the Sicilian Mafia. In Hitman: Contracts (2004), he revisits many missions from the original game, albeit in reverse.

Hitman Absolution Teaser Trailer (PlayStation 3)

2011-05-11T07:48:00.000-07:00

Hitman Absolution Teaser Trailer (PlayStation 3)
For preview and more details here !

Embed:

Hitman Absolution confirmed for PC, PS3, Xbox 360

Nintendo's Secret Weapon !

2011-04-26T14:36:00.000-07:00

What Nintendo's past reveals about its future console.

You might have already read the news and witnessed the ensuing circus of conjecture, but for the uninitiated: Rumors of Nintendo's next console and its imminent unveiling are percolating, and they aren't the ordinary "a friend of a friend who works for the Petco near the Kmart said" rumors. These are the sorts of rumors that carry some urgency because they've made their way through trusted channels, or more specifically, third-party publishers that are likely privy to such events. Where it all starts to get a little murky is in the details. Is it more powerful than the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3? Will it be backward compatible? Is it true that the control mechanism will have some kind of touch screen? Will it at least display HD resolutions? The answers to these questions vary, and we're left to interpret the vagaries of the situation until Nintendo confirms details. Until it does, if you want a real peek into Nintendo's future, its past serves as a suitable, if not surprising, guide.

The Nintendo DS sprang from the silicon loins of the dual-screen iteration of the Game & Watch, Nintendo's first successful foray into handheld gaming. The Super Nintendo's Mode 7 effects and Super FX chip heralded Nintendo's forthcoming push into 3D worlds and the coming age of polygonal graphics--perhaps too much so, because Nintendo canceled Super FX projects to create greater demarcation between the Super Nintendo and the Nintendo 64. The Nintendo 64DD's roots are traceable to the Famicom and its disk drive. Even the "it's so bad" Power Glove, though only licensed but not developed by Nintendo, and its technological aspirations ostensibly live on in the Wii.

Then there's the 3DS. The entire existence of Nintendo's new handheld platform is expressly owed to Nintendo's sheer stubbornness with 3D technology and its repeated attempts to make it more than an afterthought. This is a company that has constructed no fewer than three devices (starting with the Famicom 3D headset, Virtual Boy, and the GameCube's unused 3D display technology) devoted in some form to the technology. For Nintendo, it was only a matter of time before the technological stars aligned and 3D integration could happen in a logical and nonintrusive way, and quite frankly, we all should have seen it coming.

Two decades in the making.

Of course, hindsight being the great historical equalizer, it's far easier to correlate Nintendo's past with its future when the future is already on store shelves, but the lesson is this: What we perceive as successes or failures in the company's vast product pantheon, Nintendo views as opportunities to extract, improve, and use as a foundation for a new product. To establish a link with Nintendo's next system, the key is to focus on something that falls in line with this entire philosophy; something that reveals an iterative, improvable process; something that gives insight into Nintendo. That something is Animal Crossing.
More than Zelda and more than even Mario, Animal Crossing is Nintendo's hardware functionality test bed--it's the game the company uses to push features that sit outside of what's normally expected of games on Nintendo platforms. It was the first Nintendo game to support connectivity between the GameCube and the Game Boy Advance in a huge way, letting users access a secret island, customize clothing patterns, and even download NES games to the Game Boy Advance. It even supported the woefully underutilized e-Reader and let item exchanges occur via codes in the absence of online functionality. More importantly, its entire premise is built around the internal system clock and how the ensuing passage of time changes the game.
The confluence of time and gameplay is significant in itself because it highlights a concept that had been bouncing around at Nintendo HQ for years. The Satellaview system, an add-on released for the Super Famicom in 1995, was in essence the hardware incarnation of Animal Crossing. Various forms of content, including full downloadable versions of games as well as Satellaview-specific products, were available at designated times set by Nintendo.
While there wasn't anything noteworthy about the ports, the original Satellaview games were remarkable because not only were they episodic (long before that became a thing), but their mechanics also changed at the whim of the in-game clock. This translated to changes in weather, gameplay tweaks (like infinite ammunition), or even special events involving in-game characters. Sound familiar? There are some other obvious connections between Animal Crossing and Nintendo's Satellite-powered hardware. The included software featured a town that represented various features of the service. Avatars were able to navigate that town as well as use an inventory system to access money and other items.
WiiConnect24 is a modern take on the Satellaview concept, and not surprisingly, Animal Crossing: City Folk (and Mario Kart Wii to a lesser extent with its tournaments) has made some of the most effective use of the service, offering special items to commemorate holidays and other celebrations. More importantly, these items are available even when the Wii is in standby mode, giving greater incentive to revisit the game long after the initial purchase. This is exactly the same reason the 3DS's SpotPass feature exists--to push content for specific games and notify users when new content is available, even when the 3DS is in sleep mode.
In fact, SpotPass is an important feature in relation to Nintendo's next system because it supports the idea of an online-focused, living console--always connected, always promoting changes. From a general standpoint, this plays into what the industry is already doing. The Halo series features playlists that change according to parameters set by Bungie. From Software's Demon's Souls executes something similar, changing the difficulty of creatures at specific intervals. But the difference between what's happening now and what Nintendo can do with its console is as simple as active versus passive promotion.

It's like the difference between receiving a new email notification on a phone (active) and the hassle of starting an email client over and over to check for new messages (passive). Xbox Live and PSN are passive. They both require users to either boot up the game in question (like Mass Effect 2's Cerberus Network, for example) to receive notification of changes, or browse around labyrinthine menu systems, the appearance of which is largely dictated by marketing strategies. At worst, these platforms assume their users are already up to speed on what events or changes are happening and when.
Nintendo's new console, like the 3DS, may be able to take the active approach by detecting what games you've already played and then allow developers of those games to send notifications of changes or upcoming events directly to the system. This potentially opens the floodgates for advertising spam about the next downloadable content available for purchase, but it also gives developers an opportunity--and more importantly, a reason--to actively support their games for longer periods of time. Additionally, it incentivizes the development of Satellaview-style games that aren't quite episodic, but they're not quite full games in the traditional sense, either. Instead, this gaming environment can theoretically produce new types of experiences that essentially reward users for playing a specific game every day. This can even take the form of a new achievement and trophy system (that Nintendo has been reluctant to embrace), in which players are rewarded for accomplishing certain goals on designated days--not unlike what Blizzard does with timed World of Warcraft achievements and rewards, or what Animal Crossing does with its traveling salesmen.
The visual representation of this ecosystem can take two forms. Nintendo can go with its preexisting WiiConnect24 system, which occasionally updates a section for messages on the system, but it's possible that Nintendo is aiming in a different direction. First, consider this: Miis aren't going anywhere. They're one of the most popular functions of the Wii and the 3DS. Second, and keeping with the Satellaview theme, it's entirely possible for Nintendo to layer an Animal Crossing-like experience on top of everything and populate it with Miis instead of the traditional Animal Crossing characters. Throw in the ability for users to visit each other's towns, collect items, display rewards, manage a house, and you have a great piece of software built into the system that doubles as an easily digestible user interface. For those familiar with PlayStation Home, this concept should sound immediately familiar, but the two would differ in focus.

A glimpse of the future?

Where does that leave the particulars of Nintendo's new system? One thing that stands out is the rumor of the screen on the new controller. While this poses some interesting questions about the size of the screen and the resulting bulk of the controller itself, it's something Nintendo has done before with connectivity between the GameCube and Game Boy Advance, so it's not all that far-fetched and carries some obvious applications. What will be interesting to see is if Nintendo takes this opportunity to re-create what it already did with Animal Crossing and let users download old or even new games to the controller--perhaps even a 3DS--to play independently of the console.
There are plenty of other features to speculate on, so we'll leave that to the comments. But it's important to remember that Nintendo isn't the company it once was. While it's logical to assume that it just wants to build a machine that's better than the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, its recent history suggests otherwise. Nintendo doesn't want to compete with Sony and Microsoft--it's in a competition with itself to realize a vision of the video game industry that has been in the making for more than two decades.

Red Faction: Armageddon Hands-On Preview

2011-04-26T11:44:00.000-07:00

We go underground on the Red Planet in the sequel to 2009's Red Faction: Guerrilla.

In Red Faction: Armageddon we are on Mars with a shaven-headed Mason once again: Darius Mason this time, grandson of Alec, hero of 2009's Red Faction: Guerrilla. But where Guerrilla had us rove around on the Martian surface, Armageddon takes us underground. Terraforming has failed since the events of the last game, making Mars uninhabitable aboveground, forcing the human population to relocate into deep networks of rocky caverns. And where Guerrilla was open-world, Armageddon is basically linear, though with some larger, open areas suitable for sandbox-style play linked by the game's subterranean roads and corridors.

Life on Mars.

The game's producer, Jim Boone, tells us Armageddon's linearity comes from player feedback. Though fans of the previous game enjoyed the vehicles and free-form destruction, he says, they were less keen on trundling long distances through an open environment. He also tells us that some 20 percent of the third-person action still takes place topside, though we didn't see any sky for the few-hour duration of our hands-on demo, which was taken from early in the game.
As the demo began, the humans were already besieged by huge and vicious insectile beasties. Since these came from deep within the planet Mars and the humans from planet Earth, they are technically the natives. For the purposes of this preview, however, and because they are huge and vicious insectile beasties, we shall call them aliens. Our hero Darius is somehow to blame for the alien uprising--but inadvertently, mind you, and doing his best to make up for it. In the course of the demo, he escorts a convoy through hostile territory, fetches power cells and fixes water pumps for beleaguered civilians, and demolishes all manner of alien-infested structures.

Among the enemies are various brightly coloured red and green creatures, accessorised with organic blades and spikes and ranged bioweapon fire--glowing green globs that explode just after impact. We encountered plenty of ravagers: fast-moving, wall-climbing aliens with bone-bladed arms. Another alien creature, a stealthy variant, is invisible except when attacking but signals its proximity with a blurring effect on Darius' vision. Others are less subtle and less buglike: one creature was a hulking, horned biped, like a Martian minotaur.
We weren't short of hardware to see off the alien hordes, with Armageddon forever dropping new weapons in our path, but chief among them was the tremendously fun magnet gun. With this, the game's signature weapon, you shoot item A (say, the side of a building) and then shoot item B (say, a spiky ravager) to fling the one into the other, as if by magnetic attraction. The quick two-shot operation works a bit like Dead Space's kinesis module, letting you smash large chunks of the level furniture--girders, walkways, shacks, and the like--into your squishable foes, but also letting you launch enemies up and away, by firing at them and then at the distant cavern ceiling.
The magnet gun is also useful for demolition purposes. Alien-infected buildings can be destroyed by "magnetising" the roof and the floor, or one wall and the other, making it crumple up with zero ammo expenditure. Another demolition option is the powerful, no-mess nano-rifle: a gun that simply dissolves objects and enemies, with none of the gooey splatter of swatting an alien with a corrugated iron shack.
The extensive destruction will be familiar to players of Red Faction: Guerrilla. (Once again, terrain can't be deformed, except for the odd rocky crystal structure, though most man-made structures are fair game.) But Armageddon balances the large-scale demolition with the addition of a repair ability. Darius is equipped with a nano-forge, which is a kind of multi-tool with a number of unlockable and upgradeable abilities, such as shockwave, which freezes and levitates foes close to you; beserk, a double-damage buff; shield; and repair. This last ability is the inverse of the nano-rifle's disintegrating ray. Like an all-powerful undo button, the repair ability conjures anything you've annihilated back into being; you can rebuild walls around you when you're short on cover or reform a stairway while you climb it. Watching buildings rematerialise in a shimmery nano-glow is an unexpected treat.
For remote rather than up-close repairs, Darius has repair grenades, which can be tossed at distant ruined targets to remake them. These are also found in Infestation mode, the game's Horde-style multiplayer mode, in which four players fend of waves of aliens. In Infestation mode, the repair grenades are especially useful for salvaging cover out of the destruction wrought by four magnet guns.

This will take a lot of repair grenades to clear up.

For anyone who played Guerrilla and did enjoy the open-world roaming, there's no escaping the linearity of Armageddon. There was even a disheartening bit of backtracking through tunnels in the stretch we played. The largest caverns, though, do provide arenas for sandbox-style play. Hopefully, as vehicles are introduced--we saw little of these in our hands-on--the arenas grow too, with more room to manoeuvre and more sandbox opportunities to exploit. Fingers crossed also that the jittery frame rate on screens crowded by extravagant use of the magnet gun turns out to be a rarity.
Otherwise, Armageddon promises a fun third-person action game with enough novelty to make it interesting. A rugged protagonist against aliens on Mars is hardly fresh new territory--even discounting Red Faction titles--but Red Faction: Armageddon has an edge in its powerful magnet gun, free-form destruction, and magical repair tool. Look out for it this summer.

Sony 're-building system' to fix PSN outage

2011-04-24T17:34:00.000-07:00

Game giant offers update on days-old shutdown of the PS3's online service, says it is "working around the clock" to find a fix.

It hasn't been the best week for Sony. After shutting down the PlayStation Network Wednesday night with no explanation, the company admitted late Friday that it had suspended the PS3 and PSP's online service due to an "external intrusion." The company did not elaborate, but did say it would offer an update on the situation soon.

Sony is working "around the clock" to fix the PSN outage.

That update came late Saturday, when Sony Computer Entertainment America senior director of corporate communications and social media Patrick Seybold made a post on the official PlayStation Blog.
"We sincerely regret that PlayStation Network and Qriocity services have been suspended, and we are working around the clock to bring them both back online," he said. "Our efforts to resolve this matter involve re-building our system to further strengthen our network infrastructure. Though this task is time-consuming, we decided it was worth the time necessary to provide the system with additional security."
Sony then thanked the public for their patience, but did not give an estimate as to when the PSN would come back online.

Portal 2 Review - Part 2

2011-04-23T11:52:00.000-07:00

A few hours into the campaign, the narrative focus expands beyond "What happens now?" to include "How did that whole weird situation come to pass?" In your explorations, you encounter new characters who provide some of the best lines in the game, and your AI companions evolve in surprising and gratifying ways. You also encounter a variety of new testing materials, from catapults to bridges made of light to gelatinous goos that splatter on surfaces and directly affect the way you move through the world. Portal 2 does a great job of introducing you to new tools and then challenging you to use them in clever ways. Successful navigation requires careful study of your environment and experimentation with the materials and surfaces available to you. There are some very tricky situations that you must puzzle your way out of, and figuring them out is always immensely satisfying.

The single-player campaign will likely last at least twice as long as your first Portal playthrough, clocking in at somewhere around seven to nine hours. Replaying it isn't very satisfying from a gameplay perspective, but with a ton of clever writing, some interesting developer commentary, and a bevy of achievements, a second playthrough is still appealing. Unfortunately, there are no stand-alone test chambers or leaderboards to really stump you or scratch that competitive itch, but even so, Portal 2 is not light on content. The cooperative campaign is an entirely separate, two-player experience that provides hours of exciting new puzzles and environments. You and your partner play as two robots that GLaDOS guides through a serious of test chambers. She's a bit disappointed that, as robots, you can't die horribly in the name of science, but that doesn't stop her from putting her perverse sense of humor to work. The robots provide a bit of physical humor themselves; their animations are a treat to watch, and seeing your partner bash into a ceiling is good for a chuckle.

There are some trips off the beaten path, but the action here is more akin to that of the original Portal--lots of clever test chambers that present an increasingly difficult challenge. Each player can deploy two portals of his or her own, and having twice as many portals allows a new degree of complexity. Again, the difficulty curve is fairly gentle, teaching you the basics before getting down to the tricky stuff. Teamwork is the name of the game, and some puzzles require some coordinated feats of timing. To help you communicate, you have a few simple visual indicators that you can place in the environment to direct your partner's attention or set a countdown timer for a simultaneous action. Verbal communication is very helpful as well, but if you aren't able or inclined to chat, these indicators are a surprisingly effective way to get your point across.

Cooperative mode also includes the Aperture Science versions of emoticons--little dances or gestures that you can perform for fun. Solving puzzles with a friend is definitely satisfying, but it's also a lot of fun to goof around. Shooting a portal under your partner's feet and transporting him in front of a moving spike plate may not be nice, but it's a great way to get him back for the time he disappeared the bridge from under your feet and dropped you into a pit of deadly goo. Your potential pool of friends to play with is expanded to include PlayStation 3 owners, thanks to some neat connectivity that lets players log into their Steam accounts through their PS3s. You can then link up with them via your Friends list, and after a longer-than-usual initial load time, everything proceeds apace. You can also spice up your robotic protagonists with various pieces of flair (some free, some not) from the Robot Enrichment menu option. This is a whimsical little touch, and while the cooperative campaign is shorter than the single-player one, together they provide 12 to 15 hours of very enjoyable, very accessible content.

As you journey through the massive Aperture facility, it becomes clear that Portal 2 does not merely come after Portal. Instead, it radiates outward from its predecessor, simultaneously illuminating the world that gave rise to Portal and continuing the adventure that began there. The sense of novelty is diminished, but the thrill of exploration and puzzle-solving is still intoxicating, and it's amazing how Portal 2 manages to tell a better story with disembodied voices and spherical robots than most games can with full-on humans. Your return to Aperture Science is a joyful one in this immensely appealing, laugh-out-loud funny, and thoroughly satisfying sequel.

If you're already playing Portal 2, be sure to check out our game guide which includes both a Story mode walkthrough and tips for cooperative play.

Portal 2 Review - Part 1

2011-04-23T11:48:00.000-07:00

Portal 2 is an accessible, clever, and downright hilarious adventure into the eccentric world of Aperture Science.

The Good

Immensely clever writing
Portal mechanics combine with new elements for delightful puzzles
Cooperative campaign creates intriguing situations
New characters are hugely entertaining.

The Bad

Frequent load times
No challenge maps or leaderboards to inspire competitive play.

After the outlandish setting, ingenious gameplay, and hilarious dialogue had all run their course, Portal left you with some pretty big unknowns. Chief among them were, "What happens now?" and "How did that whole weird situation come to pass?" Portal 2 sets out to answer these questions, and in doing so travels both forward and backward from the conclusion of Portal. The result is a sequel that doesn't try to replicate the successful formula of its predecessor. Rather, it expands upon that original experience, creating something that feels initially familiar. Yet as you progress through the enthralling single-player journey and tangle with the clever cooperative campaign, any worries that things might be too familiar are swept away by the scope of your adventure and the characters you meet along the way. Once again, you are caught up in the fantastic world of Aperture Science, where hilarious and endearing dialogue is delivered by disembodied voices and artificial intelligences, and where inventive gameplay mechanics and a smooth difficulty curve make the sublime satisfaction of puzzle solving accessible to all.

The single-player campaign starts by addressing the issue of what happens now that you've destroyed the malevolent AI who tried to incinerate you. "Now" may be a relative term in the bowels of Aperture Science, but the facility you enter is still reeling from your actions at the end of Portal. Almost immediately, you meet a very helpful and attentive AI who wants to team up with you so that you both can escape dire peril. Despite looking like a metal basketball with handles and a camera lens, this AI is physically expressive and immensely entertaining. His well-meaning yet slightly inept persona is an immediate source of laughter that consistently delights throughout the game. Like that of its predecessor, Portal 2's writing is a standout. Not only is it packed with splendidly witty writing and excellent voice acting, but it also manages to create robust characters out of metal parts and thin air.

It's not long before you find an Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device (colloquially known as a "portal gun") and start slinging portals like it was 2007. Those unfamiliar with this technology need not fear: Portal 2 has a nice learning curve that quickly brings you up to speed. The basics are these: Using this gun, you can create two distinct portals on certain walls, ceilings, and floors. Go into one hole, and you come out the other. You start off learning basic navigation and then move on to transporting objects and experimenting with more complex moves, like jumping off a ledge into a portal below in order to fling yourself across the room. Getting the hang of this requires you to flex your spatial awareness, but the introduction is so smooth and intuitive that, before you know it, you're thinking in portals.

This may sound like a slow start to Portal veterans, and from an action standpoint, it is. It's a while before you encounter challenging puzzles, but the scenery is so different that you won't mind getting your bearings once again. Aperture Science has seen better days, and the broken test chambers, malfunctioning robotics, and encroaching plant life are an early sign that Portal 2's environments are much more varied and ambitious than its predecessor's. Later levels reveal the true scope of the Aperture facilities to great effect, piquing your curiosity and spurring you onward. As you work your way in and out of the damaged test chambers, you catch some intriguing glimpses behind the scenes. You also see a fair number of empty areas where the scenery fades into nondescript gloom, and these dull areas are a bit disappointing, given the busy industrial vibe of the place. You also encounter a lot of load times throughout the game, and though they rarely feel excessively long, they are often long enough to make you take notice and wish they were shorter.

While you are getting reacquainted with the basics of portals and trying to escape with your new friend, you run into your old test-administrator-slash-nemesis, GLaDOS. Though she isn't exactly happy to see you, she is glad to have a subject to run through test chambers and pester with sarcastic barbs. Her signature malevolence is alive and well, but those who have spent time testing with her before may find that her shtick has become familiar. She still has some wonderfully sinister lines, but her acerbic comments don't have the quite same shock value. Yet as you spend some time being shuffled through test chambers at her mercy, it becomes clear that her lack of bite is due to her injured self-confidence. After all, she fancied herself an omnipotent puppet master, and you tore her to pieces and threw every piece into a fire. She may be bent on your destruction, but GLaDOS is a complex character who evolves throughout these early levels. Before all is said and done, you'll once again come to cherish your relationship with that cruel AI.

Part 2 .. >>

Japanese publisher's UK arm files European application to lock down rights for title--is it the name of Hitman 5?

2011-04-23T06:37:00.000-07:00

Ever since Hitman: Blood Money was released in 2006, the popular stealth-action series has lain fallow. There have been rumors of a fifth installment in the series, with one report having Batman: Arkham Asylum maker Rocksteady Studios taking over development of the series from franchise creator IO Interactive. More recently, though, an apparent alternate reality game has been offering teaser images that point to an imminent reveal of a new Hitman title.

Today came another indicator that a new installment in the Hitman saga is in the works. Square Enix has filed a trademark application (spotted by Siliconera) for the term "Hitman: Absolution" with the trademark registry for the European Union. The filing was done through Square Enix's British arm, formerly known as Eidos Interactive before the publisher was bought and absorbed by the Japanese company in 2009.

The Hitman series follows the murderous exploits of Agent 47, a bald killer genetically engineered to be the perfect assassin. Hitman: Codename 47 (2000) told the tale of how the protagonist found work with the International Contract Agency (ICA) whacking high-profile criminals. Hitman 2: Silent Assassin (2002) sees 47 pulled out of retirement after his priest friend is kidnapped by the Sicilian mafia. In Hitman: Contracts (2004), he revisits many missions from the original game, albeit in reverse. Hitman: Blood Money sees 47 bring silent death to locales ranging from mid-Mardi Gras New Orleans to the White House.

Gamers Heart Japan + Video

2011-04-07T16:08:00.000-07:00

Victor Lucas of Electric Playground gathers together some of the top talent in the gaming and game media industry to discuss their love for Japan and Japanese-developed games and to ask for your support.

Mass Effect 2: Arrival Review

2011-04-01T17:14:00.000-07:00

The Good

Atmospheric environments
The action is entertaining.

The Bad

No real decisions to make
Glitches and other execution flaws
No memorable dialogue or characters.

The Mass Effect universe has a galaxy's worth of potential; it's too bad that Mass Effect 2's final add-on, Arrival, squanders it so readily. If you play Mass Effect 2 exclusively for the shooting, Arrival's predictable action will put your itchy trigger finger to good use. Otherwise, this downloadable content serves only to disappoint. The single mission acts as a rickety bridge connecting Mass Effect 2 to the upcoming Mass Effect 3 and feels hastily assembled. A couple of lovely new environments aside, it's sloppy and unimaginative, possessing none of the spark and personality that made the Lair of the Shadow Broker and Overlord add-ons shine. This bridge didn't need to be built--and you shouldn't pay the $7 (560 Microsoft points) toll to cross it.

Shepard gives the cold shoulder. And a cold torso. And head.

Even the story, typically a high point for BioWare products, suffers from flaws. The setup is simple but has thrilling promise: a researcher named Dr. Kenson has potentially found proof that the Reapers are coming--and coming soon. She's also a captive in Batarian space, so it's up to Shepard (without a squad) to set her free and obtain proof that the galaxy's greatest threat is knocking at the door. But this DLC isn't just short--it's short on words, so much so that unless you listen closely to every personal log you stumble upon, you may not even understand the motivations driving Arrival's plot developments. It's also short on choice. BioWare burdens Shepard with a crucial decision and then undermines it by making the decision on your behalf. You approach this moment with a heavy heart, yet watch powerlessly as Shepard continues forward after a too-brief moment of pondering. This action sets up important plot points for Mass Effect 3, but that doesn't excuse how flippantly the moment is treated, or the messy attempt to wrap up dangling threads in Arrival's final stretch of boring dialogue.

And so Arrival is best suited to those who long for any reason to return to Mass Effect 2, or those few who come solely for the action--since that's all there is to this 90-minute tease. At least you get some nice new areas to engage enemies in, including a cluttered shuttle hangar and a final and imaginative battleground that seems to break the laws of physics but nonetheless gives the shooting excellent visual context. Arrival's initial stretch is equally atmospheric; the craggy mountains in the distance and a soft drizzle of rain attempt to elicit tension that the mission unfortunately can't make good on. For one, that stretch is more boring than it is ominous. A couple of canine creatures attack but are easily dispatched as you crawl about a few corridors and flip a few switches. For another, inattention to detail undercuts any uneasiness. For example, Shepard may call out "We've been spotted!" even when he (or she) is alone.

Decent action isn't enough to hold this disappointing DLC together.

Such sloppiness even invades the action. You can take cover and then lean out to take potshots at the Batarians returning fire. But upon returning to cover, Shepard might slide several feet to the side as if skimming on ice. At one point, you provide protection to another character, which gives your enemies a chance to show off their incompetence, running right past you and toward your comrade, and giving you a chance to fill these ignorant bullies' backs with bullets. The later action holds up better as you race down a series of cylindrical hallways, dispatching your foes with a few shotgun blasts or flinging a powerful shock wave in their direction. Mass Effect 2's mix of shooting and biotic skills remains entertaining, and it's just enough to keep this dangling bridge from collapsing into the abyss of missed opportunity gaping beneath.

Decent shooting does not make for a fitting finale to Mass Effect's second chapter, however--not when prior add-ons have set the bar so high. Compared to what has come before in this universe, Arrival is a husk--outwardly familiar, yet lacking the character and careful construction that give Mass Effect 2 its soul. This is how a game can suffer when the elements that make it special are remixed or removed. By withholding excellent characters, squad banter, and the element of choice, Arrival transforms Mass Effect 2 into a mediocre third-person shooter.

Download Crysis 2 Multyplayer DEMO

2011-03-20T07:51:00.000-07:00

New, news, news .... The Crysis demo was released ! Weighs 1.6 GB and contains maps and Pier Skyline 5:02 p.m. game modes: Team Deathmatch and Domination.

Download directly EA

Crysis 2 - Multiplayer Demo Trailer (PC)

2011-03-12T04:10:00.000-08:00

Here's the new multiplayer demo trailer for Crysis 2 showcasing the various maps, game modes, and classes that you can get your hands on.

Battlefield 3 First Look Preview

2011-03-07T16:13:00.000-08:00

We head to the Iraqi border and see some impressive sights in this hands-off demo of DICE's returning shooter.

In the more than five years since the release of Battlefield 2, the first-person shooter landscape has come to be dominated by one franchise alone--Activision's Call of Duty behemoth. EA and developer DICE are hoping to steal the thunder away from Call of Duty with Battlefield 3, the long-awaited sequel to one of the best multiplayer shooter experiences of the past decade. Battlefield 3--which is set to hit PCs, the Xbox 360, and the PlayStation 3 in the fall of this year--is once again promising an extensive multiplayer side, but EA chose to focus on the game's single-player component at an event held overnight during this year's Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco.

First up, there are some technical details. Battlefield 3 will run on DICE's internally developed Frostbite 2 engine, the predecessor of which powered the last few Battlefield: Bad Company games. One of the biggest things the original Frostbite engine did for the Bad Company series was give its environments a good level of destructibility, and DICE has amped up that aspect with Frostbite 2 to extend the damage on a building-level scale. So not only will small structures collapse, but entire multistory constructions can and will also topple in Battlefield 3, given the right amount of destructive pressure. Animations, too, will receive an upgrade, with the sequel co-opting the ANT system--which is used for EA's sports titles--for use with its character models. DICE says this will result in more lifelike animations for all of the characters you'll see within the game. The Frostbite 2 engine--which in itself has been in development for more than two years--also supposedly markedly improves rendering and audio, resulting in extremely realistic lighting effects coupled with immersive sound.
The reason for all this technical focus, according to DICE, was to create a game that would be able to push the FPS genre as far forward as Battlefield 2 did when it was released back in 2005. And from what we saw at EA's GDC event, the long wait for Battlefield 3 seems to have paid off, with the game looking truly impressive at this stage of development. The hands-off demo--which was running off the PC build of the game (with PC being the lead platform for the Battlefield 3)--didn't give away too many story details, but we did manage to eke out some facts. The year is 2014, and Iranian insurgents (named the PLR) are starting to amass on the border between Iraq and Iran. You'll play as Sgt. Henry "Buck" Blackburn, a US Marine stationed along the border (although it's not clear whether the good sergeant will be the only character you'll play throughout the entire game).
At the start of the demo, Blackburn and a small group of marines were tasked with finding a squad of missing soldiers that were on the trail of a possible chemical weapons site. Blackburn and his teammates travelled through some tight alleyways and an abandoned school on their search for the missing soldiers, which was a neat way to showcase the great ambient lighting on show as the sun's rays filtered, bounced, and blazed through different sections of narrow spaces. When the team hit a car park surrounded by tall buildings, things went south, with a sniper shooting down one of Blackburn's teammates. As bullets started flying from insurgents using the cars as cover, the DICE developer controlling our demo showed off a new move to be found in Battlefield 3: the ability to drag downed teammates into cover with, from what we could see of onscreen prompts, some rapid pressing of buttons in what amounted to a mini quick-time event. This, as you can imagine, is a fairly slow process, but Blackburn soon managed to drag the fallen soldier into a building before heading out into the fray. As well as being shot at by insurgents in the car park, one rocket launcher-wielding enemy was positioned on a balcony in a nearby building, making things even more difficult for Blackburn and his team. The DICE demo driver threw a grenade into the balcony, killing the enemy and once again showing off the impressive destructibility of Frostbite 2, with the balcony exploding in a shower of dust and debris in an extremely believable manner.
The demo then skipped ahead in the level, with the squad now atop a building in an attempt to take out that pesky sniper. This was a pretty tense sequence, with the team having to run from cover to cover as the sniper's bullets flew by, sending chunks of concrete flying as they narrowly missed Blackburn. With no cover left, the entire squad then went prone (and yes, prone is back), crawling along the ground to the edge of a low wall encircling the roof. Blackburn then armed himself with a rocket launcher, and once the rest of his squad had popped up from behind the wall to provide covering fire, he stood up and sent a rocket flying into a nearby building. On impact, the rocket's explosion shockwave caused shards of glass and other material to fall from the structure, as well as destroyed the enemy sniper opponent's position.
The demo once again skipped ahead to a different section of the level, and Blackburn was alone in the basement of a building, following a wire that led to a bomb. Blackburn followed the wire through some tight air vents, before dropping into a small storage area where the explosive was located. But as he moved to disarm it, he was pulled back by a lone soldier who started raining blows on him in what looked to be another quick-time sequence. Blackburn and the insurgent engaged in hand-to-hand combat, with Blackburn's strikes activated by hitting the indicated mouse button. Once he dispatched the attacker, Blackburn turned and disarmed the device before heading outside to rejoin his squad, which was once again embroiled in a serious firefight. Blackburn ran to a nearby overpass and grabbed a heavy assault rifle to mow down advancing enemies. With only weak sheets of metal covering the overpass, Blackburn had to continually reposition as the metal he was using for cover was shot to pieces, but thankfully, a friendly chopper soon joined the fight to lend support. With that wave of enemies defeated, Blackburn got off the overpass and rushed to a nearby jeep to man a mounted .50 cal to once again tear shreds off advancing insurgents. But this moment of firepower superiority was short lived. A massive tremor suddenly rocked the city, sending Blackburn flying from the jeep. As he looked up, a tall building slowly started to crumble before collapsing entirely, taking out the chopper as it fell and headed straight for Blackburn. With that cliff-hanger, the demo ended.

Battlefield 3 is looking sharp.

There are still plenty of questions we want answers to, such as what the background story is, what locations you'll be fighting in, and most importantly, what sort of improvements are being planned for multiplayer. But what was clear from this short demo was that Battlefield 3--at least with its single-player side--is aiming for a high-impact, cinematic experience. What the game is absolutely nailing right now is its visuals, which looked amazing from start to finish, with plenty of impressive detail to help flesh out this realistic-looking world. We're definitely looking forward to seeing more of this great-looking shooter, which is scheduled for release in fall of 2011 on the PC, Xbox 360, and PS3.

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood - Cerinte /System requirements and Review

2011-02-27T13:17:00.000-08:00

Ubisoft firmed up all the details on Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood's PC release today. For starters, they revealed that the previously announced release date was wrong.

Brotherhood will hit the PC in North America on March 22nd. Ubisoft had previously stated it was coming on the 17th. The European release date - March 18th - is the same, though.

The $49.99 standard edition of the game will be available at both retail and through digital stores. It will include the main game as well as all the downloadable content: the Abstergo Project Update 1.0 and 2.0 multiplayer DLC as well as the "Da Vinci Disappearance" add-on announced last week. A Digital Deluxe Edition, priced at $59.99, comes with the following additional content:

Exclusive Single-Player Maps: The Trajan Market & The Aqueduct
Multiplayer Characters:
- The Officer - Death's Finest Ally: Few have seen him. Even fewer have lived to tell about it. Fear is his friend, and Death is his ally.
- The Harlequin - The Walking Nightmare: Behind the gaudy costume and twisted smile lies the soul of a merciless Assassin.
Ezio Skin - Helmschmied Drachen Armor: Fashioned by the Helmschmied Armory in 1489, only a few sets were completed due to the weight of the metal. Very few men proved strong enough to wear it.
The Original Codex Written by Altaïr: Take a closer look at the history of the Assassins and art of Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood.
Multiplayer Characters Collectible Trading Cards: A set of trading cards featuring all the characters of Assassin's Creed Brotherhood Multiplayer, including their kill moves and biographies.
Map of Rome
Assassin’s Creed Lineage - The Complete Movie: Explore the events that revolve around Ezio’s father, Giovanni Auditore da Firenze, and gain insight on the Assassin’s Creed story and universe.
Making-Of Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood - Behind the Brotherhood: Go behind the scenes with the development team to learn about how the game was made and Ezio’s continuing story.
Game Soundtrack: 22 songs from the original game soundtrack by Jesper Kyd.

Of course, it doesn't really matter how much content the PC version has if your system can't run it. Ubisoft thankfully included the recommended and minimum system specs for the game in today's announcement: Minimum Configuration:

Processor: Intel Core® 2 Duo 1.8 GHZ or AMD Athlon X2 64 2.4GHZ
Video Card: Nvidia 7900 256 MB or ATI Radeon X1950 256 MB

Detailed version Minimum Configuration:

SUPPORTED OS: Windows® XP (32-64 bits) /Windows Vista®(32-64 bits)/Windows 7® (32-64 bits)

Processor: Intel Core® 2 Duo 1.8 GHZ or AMD Athlon X2 64 2.4GHZ

RAM: 1.5 GB Windows® XP / 2 GB Windows Vista® - Windows 7®

Video Card: 256 MB DirectX® 9.0–compliant card with Shader Model 3.0 or higher (see supported list)

Sound Card: DirectX 9.0 –compliant sound card

DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0

DVD-ROM: DVD-ROM dual-layer drive

Hard Drive Space: 8 GB

Peripherals Supported: Keyboard, mouse, optional controller

* This product does not support Windows® 98/ME/2000/NT

Recommended Configuration:

Processor: Intel Core® 2 Duo E6700 2.6 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ or better

Video Card: GeForce 8800 GT or ATI Radeon HD 4700 or better

Sound: 5.1 sound card

Peripherals: Keyboard, mouse, joystick optional (Xbox 360® Controller for Windows recommended)

Supported Video Cards at Time of Release: ATI® RADEON® X1950, HD 2000/3000/4000/5000 series, NVIDIA GeForce® 7/8/9/100/200 series

Homefront - Cerinte / System Requirements

2011-02-27T12:59:00.000-08:00

THQ a publicat ieri cerințele de sistem – necesar și recomandat – pentru Homefront PC. Între timp, producătorii ne anunță că modul single player va dura cel puțin opt ore și se va inspira din seria Half-Life și din filmul Children of Men. Din păcate, Kaos Studio, producătorul jocului, trece acum prin momente delicate și se pare că va fi desființat după ce va apărea jocul… <

Minimum System Requirements:

Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7
Intel Pentium Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz or AMD Athlon X2 2.8GHz.
2 GB RAM
Shader Model 3.0 graphics card with 256MB of memory
NVIDIA GeForce 7900GS or ATI Radeon 1900XT
10GB of free hard drive space

Recommended System Requirements:

Windows Vista or Windows 7
Quad Core 2 GHz+ CPU
2 GB RAM
NVidia GeForce 260 or ATI Radeon 4850
10 GB of free hard drive space

Bulletstorm - Cerinte / System Requirements

2011-02-27T12:49:00.000-08:00

Today Epic Games revealed what you'll need to run Bulletstorm besides a lust for carnage. They've detailed the minimum and recommended system specs for the PC version of the first-person shooter.

Minimum System Requirements:

Operating System Windows XP (SP3), Windows Vista (SP2), or Windows 7
Processor Intel Core 2 Duo, AMD Athlon X2, or equivalent, running at 1.6 GHz or greater
Memory (RAM) 1.5 GB
HDD Space 9 GB available
Video Card DirectX 9.0c compatible, 256 MB of VRAM; NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GS, ATI Radeon HD 2400 Pro 256 MB, or greater
Soundcard DirectX 9.0c compatible, 16-bit
Disc Drive 16X CD/DVD Drive
Network Internet (TCP/IP) connection

Recommended System Requirements:

Operating System Windows Vista (SP2), or Windows 7
Processor QuadCore 2.0 GHz
Memory (RAM) 2 GB
HDD Space 9 GB available
Video Card DirectX 9.0c compatible, 512MB of VRAM; NVIDIA GeForce GTX260, or ATI Radeon 4870
Soundcard DirectX 9.0c compatible, 16-bit
Disc Drive 16X CD/DVD Drive
Network Broadband Internet (TCP/IP) connection

Bulletstorm will be released for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on February 22nd. If you opt for the Xbox 360 version, note that you can get access to the Gears of War 3 beta.

Bioshock : Infinite - Release Date & Debut trailer HD

2011-02-21T14:36:00.000-08:00

BioShock Infinite Release Date – Three years ago, Irrational Games unleashed the hit game Bioshock to the world, which received much critical acclaim and was a smash amongst gamers worldwide.
Many wondered how Irrational Games was going to follow up such a success. Last night at the lavish Plaza Hotel just off central park in Manhattan, the announcement was made to the gaming world.
Their next project is going to be Bioshock Infinite, a continuation of the hit game, based around Columbia as a floating city.

A trailer and an extended demo were on show for the lucky media and guests to watch and play as studio head Ken Levine watched on in a hope that this new game will be a worthy follow up to their other title.
The trailer, like all good trailers, is a tease show of graphics and it definitely hits the interesting button hard. It starts by showing an illusion of a city suspended underwater, before revealing this isn’t the case, it’s really what the protagonist is seeing as he is drowning in a fish tank.
This isn’t looking to be a nice game, as by the end of the trailer the main character is dead, just like in the first Bioshock where you see scenes of the character dying gruesome deaths.
The release date for BioShock Infinite is 2012.

Dead Space 2 - Cerinte / System Requirements

2011-02-16T15:52:00.000-08:00

Dead Space II
EU Release Date - Jan-28-2011
US Release Date - Jan-25-2011
Genre: Shooter, Action
Theme: Horror, Sci-fi

Game Info:
Engineer Isaac Clarke returns for another blood-curdling adventure in the sequel to the critically acclaimed Dead Space. After waking from a coma on a massive space city known as “The Sprawl”, the lone survivor of a horrific alien infestation finds himself confronting a catastrophic new nightmare. Battling dementia, hunted by the government, and haunted by visions of his dead girlfriend, Isaac will do whatever it takes to save himself and dominate the gruesome onslaught. With an arsenal of tools to dismember Necromorphs and new determination, an engineer will bring the terror to space. …”
Quoted from:
Home site
Dead Space 2 System requirements have been posted up courtesy of EA. Check out the specs below and see if you computer can handle the game.

Minimum System Requirements:

OS: Windows XP (SP2), Windows Vista, Windows 7
CPU: 2.8 GHz processor or equivalent (any Pentium 4 2.8 GHz or better, AMD Athlon64 3000+ or better, any Athlon64 X2 or Core Duo processor)
RAM: 1 GB (XP), 2 GB (Vista or Win7) or more
DISC DRIVE: 8x speed or faster CD/DVD drive
HARD DRIVE: At least 10 GB of free space
VIDEO: 256 MB Video Card and Shader Model 3.0 required. NVIDIA GeForce 6800 or better (7300, 7600 GS, and 8500 are below minimum system requirements) ATI X1600 Pro or better (X1300, X1300 Pro and HD2400 are below minimum system requirements)
SOUND: Direct 9.0c compatible sound card

Recommended System Requirements:

System Requirements* GD Hardware
Intel Processor - Core 2 Duo E6700 2.66GHz GD
AMD Processor - Athlon II X2 220
Nvidia Graphics Card - GeForce 8800 GTS GD
ATI Graphics Card - Radeon HD 3800 series
RAM (Memory) - 2 GB
Hard Disk Space - 10 GB
Direct X - 9 Gamepad
Dead Space II can be played with a gamepad or Xbox 360 controller
Downloadable Content
Dead Space II is intiailly released as a download. It is usually an expansion pack so check to see if you need a main game before getting this. Dead Space II may be released in the shops at a later stage

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - Cerinte / System Requirements

2011-02-16T15:43:00.000-08:00

Game Description:
The story and action of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed expands with the release of Star Wars The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition, a special new version of the game that will show gamers the deepest, darkest side of the Force in a story that puts them on a collision course with Luke Skywalker himself. The Ultimate Sith Edition includes all of the original missions found in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed as well as three new levels and tons of bonus content.

Minimum System Requirements:

Processor : 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon X2
Video Card : 256 MB with Shader 3.0 support (Nvidia Geforce 8800 / ATI Radeon HD 2900 )
Memory : 2 GB
Hard Disk : 25 GB
Operating System : Microsoft Windows XP SP3 / Windows Vista SP2 / Windows 7
Sound Card : DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card
Direct X : 9.0c
Gameplay : Mouse and Keyboard or Xbox 360 Controller for Windows
Installation : 8X DVD-ROM Drive

Recommended System Requirements:

Processor : Intel Core 2 Duo 2.8 GHz or AMD Athlon X2 Dual-Core 5200+
Video Card : 512 MB (Nvidia Geforce 9800 GT / ATI Radeon HD 4870 )
Memory : 2 GB
Hard Disk : 25 GB
Operating System : Microsoft Windows XP SP3 / Windows Vista SP2 / Windows 7
Sound Card : DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card
Direct X : 9.0c
Gameplay : Mouse and Keyboard or Xbox 360 Controller for Windows
Installation : 8X DVD-ROM Drive

Stargate Resistance - Cerinte / System Requirements

2011-02-16T15:35:00.001-08:00

Game Info :

Stargate Resistance is a team-based 3rd person shooter set in the Stargate universe. Players will join a team based on which faction they choose and go head- to-head against other players as they vie for control of the galaxy across different worlds. Publisher : Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment
Developer : FireSky
Homepage : www.stargateresistance.com

Minimum System Requirements:

Processor : Intel Pentium IV at 2.0 GHz
Video Card : 256 MB VRAM – Nvidia GeForce 6200+ / ATI Radeon 9600+
Memory : 512 MB RAM
Hard Disk : 8 GB of free Hard Drive Space
Operating System : Microsoft Windows XP SP2 / Windows Vista
Sound Card : -
Direct X : -
Controls : Keyboard & Mouse
Installation : DVD-ROM Drive
Multiplayer : Broadband Internet Connection

Recommended System Requirements:

Processor : Intel Pentium IV at 2.4 GHz
Video Card : 512 MB VRAM – NVIDIA 7800GTX+ / ATI Radeon x1300+
Memory : 1 GB RAM
Hard Disk : 8 GB of free Hard Drive Space
Operating System : Microsoft Windows XP SP2 / Windows Vista
Sound Card : -
Direct X : -
Controls : Keyboard & Mouse
Installation : DVD-ROM Drive
Multiplayer : Broadband Internet Connection

Split Second Velocity - Cerinte / System Requirements

2011-02-16T15:33:00.000-08:00

Game Info :
Split/Second Velocity is an intense action racing game set within a reality television show. Competitors will vie to be the first to the finish line in a made-for-TV city set rigged to blow with the ultimate goal of becoming the season champion. Players in Split/Second don’t just collide with other vehicles to knock them from the track, but can also trigger devastating events that drastically alter the dynamics of the race. Players must use pinpoint timing to obliterate huge structures and towering TV set pieces to tactically alter the track or create entirely new routes.

Publisher : Disney
Developer : Black Rock
Genre : Racing
Release Date : June, 2010

Minimum System Requirements:

Operating System : Microsoft Windows XP (SP3) / Windows Vista (SP2) / Windows 7
Processor : Intel Pentium D at 3.0 Ghz or equivalent AMD
Video Card : 256 MB VRAM – DirectX 9.0 compatible with Pixel Shader 3.0 suppot (nVidia GeForce 7600 or better / ATI Radeon X1600 or better)
Memory : 2 GB RAM (XP) / 2.5 GB RAM (Windows 7 / Vista)
Hard Disk : 6.5 GB of free Hard Drive Space
Sound Card : DirectX 9.0 compatible sound card
Direct X : 9.0c
Controls : Keyboard & Mouse
Installation : 8x DVD-ROM Drive

Recommended System Requirements:

Operating System : Microsoft Windows XP (SP3) / Windows Vista (SP2) / Windows 7
Processor : Intel Core 2 Duo at at 3.0 Ghz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 at 2.4 Ghz
Video Card : 512 MB VRAM – DirectX 9.0 compatible with Pixel Shader 3.0 suppot (nVidia GeForce 8800 or better / ATI Radeon HD3870 or better)
Memory : 2 GB RAM (XP) / 2.5 GB RAM (Windows 7 / Vista)
Hard Disk : 6.5 GB of free Hard Drive Space
Sound Card : DirectX 9.0 compatible sound card
Direct X : 9.0c
Controls : Keyboard & Mouse
Installation : 8x DVD-ROM Drive

Test Drive Unlimited 2 - Wallpapers and Game cover

2011-02-16T15:24:00.000-08:00

We have 1 covers (front cover) for Test Drive: Unlimited 2 on PC Game. The thumbnails are shown below or scroll down further to see the larger versions. This cover artwork is categorized in our pc game covers section. Please visit it for more related covers.

Test Drive Unlimited 2 - Trailer HD

2011-02-16T15:08:00.000-08:00

Test Drive Unlimited 2 - Preview

2011-02-16T15:05:00.000-08:00

Test Drive Unlimited 2 aims to transform the driving genre, adding the persistency, progression and customization of the latest multiplayer games to the racing experience. Test Drive Unlimited 2 blends single player and multiplayer experiences seamlessly, creating a dynamic world of evolving content and challenges. Players define their online persona through unparalleled customization of their avatars and vehicles, and the acquisition of property, clothing and other accouterments of a luxurious international lifestyle.

Test Drive Unlimited 2 will be coming to the PC, the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 starting September 21. New features include the brand-new island of Ibiza, vehicle damage, weather and a full 24-hour day & night cycle.

Test Drive Unlimited 2 - Cerinte / System Requirements

2011-02-16T15:02:00.000-08:00

Publisher : Atari
Developer : Eden Studios
Genre : Racing
Platform(s) : PC / X360 / PS3
Release Date : September, 2010

Minimum System Requirements:

Operating System : Microsoft Windows XP (SP2) / Windows Vista (SP2) / Windows 7
Processor : Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2GHz or AMD Athlon X2 4400+
Video Card : 512 MB VRAM – NVIDIA GeForce 8800 / ATI Radeon HD 3870
Memory : 2 GB RAM
Hard Disk : 14 GB of free Hard Drive space
Sound : DirectX 9.0c-compatible
Direct X : 9.0c
Controls : 10-button controller such as Xbox 360 / Logitech Dual-Action
Installation : DVD-ROM Drive
Network : Broadband Internet Connection
Other Requirements : Microsoft .NET 3.5

Recommended System Requirements:

Operating System : Microsoft Windows XP (SP2) / Windows Vista (SP2) / Windows 7
Processor : Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2GHz or AMD Athlon X2 4400+
Video Card : 512 MB VRAM – NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 / ATI Radeon HD 4870
Memory : 2 GB RAM
Hard Disk : 14 GB of free Hard Drive space
Sound : DirectX 9.0c-compatible
Direct X : 9.0c
Controls : 10-button controller such as Xbox 360 / Logitech Dual-Action
Installation : DVD-ROM Drive
Network : Broadband Internet Connection
Other Requirements : Microsoft .NET 3.5