Archive for category Shooter
Battlefield Bad Company 2 beta: try before you buy
Posted by Sam in Gaming, Multiplayer, Shooter on 23 January 2010
The good
The closed beta available to those who pre-order the game from selected retailers is planned to start on the 28th of January, just over a month before the real thing hits the shelves (or fibre wire). Places to get it from are Play.com, Direct2Drive, or Steam, others are not guaranteed to give you access to the beta.
The not so good
A fairly generic campaign trailer has been released, but who’s buying the game solely for the singleplayer anyway? DICE did promise dedicated servers but now apparently only from pre-approved partners, though it has been this way in previous Battlefield games unless you host an unranked server (no stat gain).
The bad
Rumours are that the PC version of the game will have a fixed FoV (field of view), however the details of what the fixed value will be are as of yet unknown. This is a problem for PC gamers who like to change the default FoV to suit themselves, and possibly for gamers with additional monitors or eyefinity. This is a sign of a console port.
The shady
Why have DICE not released any videos or screenshots from the PC version? They are also being very selective about what questions they answer and use their own forums and blogs so content can be carefully moderated… Why would they be hiding things from us?
Mod: Half Life 2 Cinematic Mod 10 Final
Posted by Sam in Gaming, Mods, Shooter, Single Player on 22 December 2009
If there was one Half Life 2 mod I had to recommend to somebody it would be this. The amount of work achieved by FakeFactory (Juergen Vierheilig) is simply staggering. A personal project of sorts, it has taken him 4 years and over $15,000 but the end was finally reached earlier this year with the final patch for Cinematic Mod 10. The premise is to unify Half Life 2 with Episodes One and Two, using the latest Source engine and enhancing the original’s graphics and giving the game a more gritty, uncomfortable look.
- Unified Engine; play the game (HL2 / EP1 / EP2) with the latest Orangebox engine / Advanced HDR / Dynamic Shadows
- Enhance the old HL2 maps with HDR, blooming, color-correction, new props
- Eliminate all blurry / Lowres textures with new Highres textures and/or Hires-Detail-Overlays
- Give the HL2 trilogy a more stressed, darker and uncomfortable look
- Enhance the soundtrack with a semi-dynamic new hollywood-style music
- Add optional HD characters
- Add more replay-value
You can download the full, final version from here (torrent) and here (http). It’s important to know before downloading that you need a 64-bit operating system and installed copies of Episode One and Two, and the original Half Life 2 to use the mod. More information, including recommended system specifications can be found on FakeFactory’s website. The mod also includes a model picker, so you can get rid of the god-awful Adriana Lima version of Alyx and restore the high resolution original version.
They say a picture speaks more than a thousand words, so here are some screenshots taken directly from the mod (click to enlarge), with no editing at all. Find more in AltTabbed’s gallery.
Official trailer
Get Medal Of Honor Airborne for free!
Thanks to timko for finding this cock-up on the EA Store which allows you to legally ‘purchase’ Medal Of Honor Airborne for nothing, nada, nilch.
- Go to the EA Store, and search for Battleforge, click on the free version (or click here).
- Add Battleforge Play4Free to your basket.
- Click the big orange ‘Checkout’ button.
- Click ‘Add Medal Of Honor Airborne’.
- Log in to your EA account, or create one, then fill in your billing details (no card required).
- Continue, and download the EA Download Manager.
- Load the EA Download Manager, sign in, and download the game.
According to sources, this is a deal EA are doing that lets you get the WW2 shooter for free with any other game. It seems to be an oversight on their part that they are ‘selling’ Battleforge for nothing. EA are sure to catch on soon though, so do this while you can! Click here to view the original thread.
Update: This no longer works.
End of the War
Posted by Sam in Gaming, Multiplayer, Shooter on 18 December 2009
It’s been a fun week, but in the end one class had to come out on top of the other. The Soldier prevails over the Demoman 6,372,979 kills to 6,406,065. There are always spoils in war and this was was no exception, with the Soldier walking away with (well, in) some spangly new boots, interestingly named the Gunboats. It’s hard to believe that Demomen put up such a good fight, I’m almost certain Valve did some jiggery-pokery akin to BBC vote rigging antics. Also hard to believe is that the Gunboats will be unique to the Soldier for very long.
In other update news, two new official maps have been released, one (pictured above) is ctf_doublecross, which has a layout similar to ctf_2fort, in that there is a central open area with symmetrical ‘bases’ on both sides. The other is a simple two capture point attack/defend map that plays a bit like cp_junction with lots of chokepoints, called cp_gorge. So far I like Doublecross, the night setting makes a nice change, and there is a lot of rocket jumping action in the middle. I am a bit less fond of Gorge, but maybe that will change when 90% of players aren’t Soldiers or Demomen.
I have a lot to say about the new weapons in regard to balance, but I can save that until i’ve played a bit more with them. However, from about three hours of play as a Soldier I am finding the Chargin’ Targe rediculously overpowered. It gives the Demoman an EHP (effective health points) value of well over 300 (somebody do the math). In short, demomen are now harder to kill than a Heavy for a Soldier or another Demoman. I haven’t had a chance to try out the Direct Hit yet, apparently it’s damage is currently 50% higher than the regular launcher instead of 25% as advertised.
Oh, and crafting.
Propaganda poster competition winner (click for full results)
Crysis Wars: More like Christmas Wars!
Posted by Sam in Gaming, Multiplayer, Shooter on 16 December 2009
Crysis Wars is the multiplayer aspect of well known graphics card melting, explodey, chicken tossing game, Crysis. There is a free trial period courtesy of MyCrysis (AKA official Crysis community), spanning from the 19th to the 29th of December. Grab the client here, register here, and then use your CDKey on the 19th to get fragging those exoskeletons.
Why Battlefield: BC2 will be better than Modern Warfare 2
Posted by Sam in Gaming, Multiplayer, Preview, Shooter on 16 December 2009
If there was one game I’m looking forward to in the coming months it would be Bad Company 2 from EA DICE. There have been so few good multiplayer shooters recently (considering I didn’t buy Modern Warfare 2), and judging from the videos of it there isn’t much reason not to be excited. So, why will BF:BC2 be worth waiting for?
- Dedicated Servers. Not only that, but DICE have said that they will be giving the PC version extra features, presumably modding tools. Player limits are said to be 32 per server, but that may be moddable.
- Huge maps and destructible scenery, set in snow and jungle theatres, not just desert, desert, and more desert.
- A fantastic engine if the videos are anything to go by, the game looks great.
- Vehicles! Official count is 15 ground vehicles and helicopters
- Online stats and rankings similar to BF2.
- A massive armoury consisting of over 200 weapons and thousands of possible weapon loadouts.
- Beta coming early in the new year.
- Singleplayer, well, it could be worth a look at.
It is important to note that this is not Battlefield 3, which has been confirmed to be in development. This is probably going to be the natural successor to BF2 with 128 player servers and full air and sea combat. It’s unknown whether it will be PC exclusive but I think that’s unlikely to be the case. Here are some videos of Bad Company 2 so you can make up your own mind before the release date on (supposedly) the 5th of March 2010.
Panama Canal gameplay (by EA)
Arica Harbour gameplay (by EA)
Actual gameplay from PS3 beta
Team Fortress 2 WAR! Live Battlefield Report
Posted by Sam in Gaming, Multiplayer, Shooter on 15 December 2009
As these two heavyweight rivals continue to face off against each other in the week long war for the ‘secret weapon’, the Solder edges slightly ahead of the Demoman, with 4,666,558 kills to the Demoman’s 4,441,214. However, groundbreaking new discoveries by the Black Cyclops could help turn the tide, as he discovers his Scottish roots with two new weapons, The Eyelander and The Chargin’ Targe. Replacing the Demo’s Bottle and Sticky Bomb Launcher respectively.
True, the shield might block the occasional sword blow. However, they are essentially weapons to be used for hiding behind, and this is a concept the average Scotsman does not understand. “If I were to pick up this cowering-plate, I would have to put down my second sword,” a Scotsman thinks. “And surely that is madness.”
Valve’s motive behind these new weapons seems strange. However, the thought of singling out a target (perhaps a medic) on the enemy team, charging him down and one-shotting him with a critical sword hit sounds quite frankly rather fun. It’s also not too hard to see where Valve may have got inspiration from, *cough*L4D2′s Charger*cough*.
Stealth update: According to my sources, new weapons are released on thursday.
Demoman versus Soldier. Round one. FIGHT!
Posted by Sam in Gaming, Multiplayer, Shooter on 11 December 2009
It’s about time Valves came round to giving Team Fortress 2′s neglected classes a few new toys, now development on Left 4 Dead 2 has ceased. There is a twist this time however, because there is a secret seventh weapon which will be given to either the “one-eyed bagpipe-playing sonofabitch“, or the “Brutus Benedict Arnold Judas Bloody Iscariot himself: the SOLDIER!“. The winner is the class who frags the other the most over the next week, with the results announced presumably when the update is released in a weeks time.
I have to admit, I do not play TF2 as regularly as I used to, however, updates are always fun to get involved with, and you have to do your bit for the war effort. Therefore I have to chose a side, which is tough considering they are my two most played classes. The Demoman’s ‘Meet The Team’ video is probably my favourite of the bunch, but I have more hours played as the Soldier, and find the soldier’s playstyle more entertaining than the Demoman’s. Needless to say I will be having many games of TF2 in the following week, hunting down and killing as many Demomen as I can find.
Keep track of the WAR! status here.
Update: I think this team has decided who they’re supporting. Click for full image.
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