Definitely Bigger and Badder... (The new Gears 2 footage)

Last night was the world premiere reveal of first gameplay for Gears of War 2 and just like what CliffyB said in the beginning, it is definitely bigger and badder than ever. Graphically, it is marginally improved from Gears 1 as the big debate in the NeoGAF thread about this is whether or not this game is running at 60 frames per second. From what I seen, it seems like 60 fps, but it won't stick to it throughout the game. One of the significant improvements is the scale of the battle scenes since there would be more levels similar to the last level in Gears 1 of riding in vehicles taking out numerous Locust forces. The amount of Locust running on the ground that battle is crazy and Epic is nailing what they showed off at GDC with their Unreal Engine 3.5 demo (insert meat box joke). The lighting has also been improved as well since that level is perfect to show it off.

As for the gameplay, it is typical Gears with the infamous stop and pop style even though there is not enough of that in this level, which is okay. The weapons in this video have received some changes like the Lancer getting a new look, the Hammerburst being more semi-automatic, and the pistol being more of a burst style. They added enemy shields to Gears 2 now and that's cool how it will play out in both campaign and multiplayer, which makes the pistol more versatile than it should be. Along with the human shields, Marcus can break their necks for more satisfactory killing. The chainsaw duel is also in this video where you have to mash B the quickest to eliminate the enemy, which makes me curious how this will be handled on multiplayer. Lots of Brumaks in this level which is awesome and an example of the improved scale of the action and this seems to be an early level in the game, which means Epic is straight up starting big with the campaign and the action keeps rising and rising till the end with more big and bad bosses we never seen yet. For the sound, it is the same as Gears 1 with the one-liner dialogue (there's not much of that in this video) and the fact a surround sound system is destined to make this game be awesome. 

Overall, this gameplay footage of Gears 2 is living up to what Epic wants it to be and that's good to me. The elements that made Gears 1 amazing are here and not tampered that much, but better. The action is more intense because of the improved scale of the battles and the new weapon changes so far has made fans happy. I was a little worried that Gears 2 may not deliver the same impact as the first one, but boy I'm wrong and this fall is going to be great for this 360 exclusive killer app. Might as well start the hype machine now for this one even though it won't have the same gigantic success as GTA4 sales-wise.

LOTR Conquest = LOTR Battlefront

EA and Pandemic announced today a new Lord of the Rings game, called LOTR Conquest, and it is coming out this fall on Xbox 360, PS3, PC, and DS. The developers have simply called this Lord of the Rings Battlefront as it is pretty much similar to those Star Wars games that came out last generation, but now the LOTR universe gets the treatment. While there are many ways to relive the greatest battles of the movies and books in past LOTR games like the beat-em-ups based on the movies and the Battle for Middle-Earth RTS series, Conquest throws a different spin on the LOTR universe being a normal dude like a warrior or an archer at the various battlefields like Minas Tirith and Helm's Deep, and then as the battle progresses doing well, you can play as the hero characters for a limited period of time (Gandalf, Aragorn, Sauron, and more) just like Star Wars Battlefront 2. I'm curious about how Pandemic will balance out the gameplay with the good and evil factions since they did a decent job with the Star Wars Battlefront games. Multiplayer is currently limited to a maximum of 8 players even though there are so many CPU controlled characters to worry as well. While we are not getting Star Wars Battlefront 3 anytime soon, Lord of the Rings: Conquest does fill the void for a Battlefront game in this generation of games and hopefully it will be pretty good. I have high hopes for this since I liked Star Wars Battlefront for what it brings to the table even though I didn't play Battlefront 2 that much.

SCEE Day Trailers.... LBP and Killzone 2

Other than DICE'S Mirror Edge making a huge showing at the Sony Europe Day, Sony's big first party games have gotten high attention too.

Here's a new trailer for LittleBigPlanet, which is now the most critically hyped game that game journalists (both mainstream and hardcore) are looking forward to other than Metal Gear Solid 4 (You get the whole "I can't wait to play this so bad" vibe every time they mention it). I'm still wandering if all this critical praise before its October release will equal success because the concept has already sold the hardcore audience, but I don't know yet for the casual gamer. Hopefully, a big marketing campaign would start closer to its release to attract the Wii crowd because Sony needs it if they want to make this a killer app. Personally, I'm already sold on everything LBP offers, it is the matter of buying a PS3 to support this.

Lastly, here is a new trailer for Killzone 2, which got delayed to February 2009 and that's good news for it because obviously it wouldn't be that smart of Sony releasing 2 high-profile exclusive first-person shooters at the same time. While Resistance 2 gets the glory of this fall's big Sony release other than LBP, everyone still asks what's up with Killzone 2 and whether or not it will deliver on all the hype it has gathered since that first trailer at E3 2005. By watching this trailer, it is getting better and better graphically, but who knows if it would be the same thing as that first trailer that shook the gaming world apart in 2005. I don't know about this game because it is just Sony's big hype machine and Resistance 2 would be better. Then again, I could be wrong and it could be the "Halo-killer" it was meant to be ever the since the series started.

Codemasters brings back the awesome menus... GRID Demo Impressions

The demo for Codemasters's new racer, Race Driver GRID, came out today on Xbox Live Marketplace and Playstation Network and it is so far pretty good from what I played. First of all, the slick and awesome menus from DIRT along with the stylish loading screens return giving it great presentation. The racing itself is solid if you are used to previous Codemasters racers like DIRT and the spiritual successor to this, the TOCA series. At first, it seems like an arcade racer, but the simulation elements kick in with damage, and taking turns perfectly since this is not a racer that you can get away from being bad at it. The damage element is pretty good since it affects your car's performance significantly as too much damage will mean a defeat since it can't continue the race. Then again, when your car is totally jacked up with the handling allowing swerving everywhere, you might as well give up. Especially with many cars in the same track, one mistake can lead into a messed up car. This gets frustrating in the multiplayer side of things when the usual big pileup happens at the first turn pending on people's skill level. The physics does take some races to get used to as many people at various message boards are complaining about the car handling. This ain't no Forza or Gran Turismo killer, but GRID so far is half-arcade, half-simulation like the PGR and Need for Speed games.

Graphically, this is one of the best looking racing games on this generation even though the bloom may be a little overboard for some people. It runs smoothly at 30 frames per second even though the first trailers have shown it at 60 FPS, but maybe that is for the PC version. The cars look great when in perfect shape and deformed at various parts. The tracks themselves also look great especially the San Francisco course even though I didn't really pay attention to the crowd that much. I'm pretty sure the scenery is better to focus on with the engine than the crowds. Sound-wise, it is your typical music for a racing game with various electronica and some rock.

With an okay amount of single-player race modes and up to 12 players for online multiplayer at two tracks using two cars. The GRID demo offers a good taste of what is come in the final version when it is released next month. The car physics and handling are typical of the Codemasters racers, which may take some races to get used to especially driving in GTA IV and other racers like Burnout Paradise. The damage element is neat allowing players to be careful not to hit walls or bump to other cars even though it will likely happen in every first turn of an online race. For me, it is a matter of luck if I start near the top or the back hopefully to avoid the big pileup like most online racing games for the first week. As mentioned in my racers to watch out for the rest of 2008 post, GRID can be a pretty solid racer for fans of the genre with a slick presentation, a lengthy single-player mode, and online multiplayer up to 12 players. Now I'm considering buying this even though Ninja Gaiden 2 and MGS4 are out around the same time.

Clip of the Day (5/8/08) - Sir Charles getting Punk'd again

Another funny moment for Inside the NBA when Charles Barkley reads the teleprompter and falls for the joke. 

Music Video of the Day (5/07/08) - Ne-Yo's "Closer"

Okay, this is my current jam right now and the video came out last week. There is always something about Ne-Yo delivering banging hits and "Closer" is another one to add to his list of hits ranging from "So Sick" and "Because of You." His new album is out next month, titled Year of the Gentleman, and it will probably be pretty good. Even his version of Beyonce's Irreplaceable is pretty sick since he wrote the song. He's currently on tour with Alicia Keys and Jordan Sparks, so he is a busy man writing songs for nearly every big artist these days. Looks like this summer is pretty good for R&B with this album and Usher's highly anticipated album, Here I Stand, being out in that time frame.

Begin these Clone Wars again... or not??

This Star Wars: The Clone Wars CG movie is coming out on August 15 and it is already getting written off by various sites and publications. Sure, its Star Wars and the hardcore fans will watch this in a heartbeat, but will disappointment strike again thanks to George Lucas? Many are predicting that this will flop critically because of Lucas's "crappy" work on Episodes I - III and the fact that these Clone Wars were better in that short stint on Cartoon Network with its animated style. Who knows if this CG version would be deja-vu for those who watched that cartoon before Revenge of the Sith came out, and if the general audience still cares about Star Wars, but I'm still checking this out to see more Star Wars or another train wreck. A new theatrical trailer is supposed to debut tomorrow on various Warner channels, so this post will be updated with that and my reaction until then.