In the years following the advent of broadband online console gaming many games have struggled to match up to what the market wants. While the Wii is struggling to reinvigorate social party gaming with friends all in the same room the hardcore section of the market has seen a shift in the opposite direction to singular online gaming. Services like Xbox Live have been a tremendous success in this regard, offering triple-A titles like Halo, Call of Duty, and Burnout that enjoy a spot of the shelves of many gamers. Another shift has begun however as these services have expanded and advanced, this one being in the direction of cooperative-focused titles that allow gamers to share a singleplayer experience simultaneously. Taking a hint in more than one way from Epic’s massively popular Gears of War, Electronic Arts has unleased its own co-op focused title into the fray entitled Army of Two. But does the partial redesign that pushed back this title for so long stand a chance? Read on and find out…
Three years ago Monolith Productions, previously known for a diverse set of titles ranging from The Matrix Online to No One Lives Forever, released two games near simultaneously of which both utilized similar resources and themes while at the same time being quite different in style and approach. While the more successful title of the two, F.E.A.R., went in the more traditional FPS direction with a complete focus on gunplay the other, Condemned: Criminal Origins, went in a direction that is rarely utilized in games to a successful level: FPS meele combat. Condemned 1 was a sleeper hit as a Xbox 360 launch title and its sequel has a lot to live up to. But does it? Read on and find out…
Last October saw the release of one of very few raceing titles on the Xbox 360 in 2007: Flatout Ultimate Carnage. While it was at the top of the pile for the arcade racers that year it was not available as a Playstation 3 title and failed to define itself as either an arcade or simulator style racer. This January has seen the release of Burnout Paradise, the latest in Criterion’s landmark franchise and the now-gen successor to the biggest arcade racer series of the last generation. Making its official now-gen arrival Paradise changes up many of the rules of play that Burnout fans have come to relish.
But do these changes redefine the Burnout experience or does it ultimately ruin it? Read on and find out…
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