Zath

UK Tech Blog - Hi-Tech Gadgets & Gaming

The Path of Zath: Gaming Roundup #1

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The Best PC Games being released in 2013 – a great list of pc games due for release this year broken down by type of game, it looks like it’s going to be a great year for PC gaming! (UPDATE: PC Gamer have included updates of how the games turned out with quick summaries and links to their full reviews, quite cool to see how the year turned out!)

Amazing Chinese-style Assassin’s Creed artwork – I’m a real fan of the Assassin’s Creed franchise, while admittedly these are far from perfect yet, still very enjoyable and a great way to virtually experience some history from around the world. From looking at this artwork, I think Medieval Chinese assassin would definitely be an interesting setting for a future game.

This fantastic aerial photo of NYC turns Manhattan into ‘Sim City’ – I used to love the first two Sim City games back as a kid, so this view of New York looks amazing!
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Assassin’s Creed: Revelations Review (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)

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assassins-creed-revelations-cover-artOur old friend Ezio Auditore is back for one final romp, and this yearly dose of conspiratorial frolics is getting somewhat perplexing. Surely such a hasty turnaround should result in shoddy and rushed sequels? But I think it’s safe to say last year’s Brotherhood proved us all wrong, with a healthy measure of new content and logical improvements. The question is, as we close Ezio’s chapter of the story, has Ubisoft’s army of international studios pulled it off once again?

Revelations is the first game to tie all three existing protagonists together, exploring both the twilight years of ancestors Ezio and Altair (the 12th century Syrian assassin), and fleshing out present day Desmond’s troubled past. Now here’s where I have to blurb the “previously on Assassin’s Creed..”, but to tell you the truth, it isn’t exactly straightforward. Not that the esotericism is necessarily detrimental to the franchise, but it does make it a tad impenetrable to newcomers.
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Deus Ex: Human Revolution Review (PC/Xbox 360/PS3)

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deus-ex-human-revolution-xbox-360-coverDeus Ex: Human Revolution has a hefty weight on its shoulders: the expectations and apprehensions of thousands of fans of the original Deus Ex released in 2000, a highly acclaimed RPG whose levels of complexity in both gameplay and narrative are a force to be reckoned with. But in another respect, it’s almost a new franchise that needs to win over a new generation that doesn’t necessarily remember PC games of a bygone era. Either way, half-baked isn’t going to cut it. Fortunately, the game has spent at least four years in development, showing Eidos is committed to giving the franchise a prequel it deserves.

Story

You play as Adam Jensen, a former cop who works as a security specialist for a bio-mechanical augmentation company known as Sarif Industries in 2027. These augmentations are the powerfully divisive preoccupation of the age, raising tensions in society and exposing the disparity between the have’s and have-not’s. The corporations bill them as the next stage of human evolution and a chance to better ourselves, while anti-augment groups are concerned over both philosophical issues, such as playing god, and inequity problems.
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Portal 2 Review (PC/Mac)

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Portal-2-logoBack when Steam was finally released on the Mac, many users (myself included) got their first taste of the original physics-based puzzle game: Portal. It was unique in so many ways and earned rave reviews from even the most critical of judges thanks to it’s relaxing, yet challenging tests; humerous, yet at time frustratingly difficult characters; and altogether brilliant storyline, gameplay and visuals.

However, one criticism of the original though, was its length. It really was a game that could be completed in just a couple of hours, and that grinds with many people who were left wanting more of such a potentially classic title.
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Bulletstorm Review (PS3, Xbox 360, PC)

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bulletstorm-xbox-360-coverIn the school playground of shooters, Bulletstorm is the sailor tongued big kid whose motivation for the next wedgie lies more in the prospect of beating his personal record, than in any angsty hatred. People Can Fly’s new shooter is brazen and unabashedly brutal, but does the sci-fi butcher-fest successfully make its retaliation to the ubiquitous Call of Duty and its wannabes, and more importantly, is it the romp one hopes it to be?

Bulletstorm follows the exploits of space pirate Grayson Hunt and the, well, storm of bullets that ensues when a bid for a revenge against his former general lands him and his friend Ishi, in a giant, vicious-alien-filled, torn and ruined resort on a strange planet.

Development and marketing (see Duty Calls) has been keen to show the world that this is no run of the mill, stale first person shooter and perhaps the most prominent feature is the points system, which overtly awards the player for “skillshots”, flares of creative execution, in big flashy letters. This arcade-inspired reward system essentially underpins the main premise of the game, which is expertly calculated hyperbolic violence.
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SteelSeries World of Warcraft: Cataclysm MMO Gaming Mouse – For Online Gamers Everywhere!

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steelseries-world-of-warcraft-cataclysm-mouseA full two years ago we brought you the first incarnation of the SteelSeries’ World of Warcraft Mouse which we really enjoyed here on Zath and since then the company have been taking in feedback and doing a bit of R&D to come up with the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm MMO Gaming Mouse which aims to not only match, but exceed the benchmark left by the first one.

It doesn’t really take a genius to see that they have done a pretty good job: whilst the aesthetics clearly resemble the previous mouse (especially in the amour-like top) they have been improved to offer a slightly more rounded appearance, and the gold colour certainly makes it look that bit more exciting and lively and certainly looks the part as it ties in with the recent World of Warcraft: Cataclysm expansion pack.
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Football Manager 2011 Review (PC/Mac)

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football-manager-2011-coverYes, readers, it is indeed that time of year again! Football Manager 2011 was recently released, and after becoming completely addicted for what will probably be the better part of the next few months, I’ve decided it’s about time I just got the Football Manager 2011 review written up and get on with my game as soon as I can. So here goes…

The transition to Football Manager 2010 from 2009 took quite a bit of getting used to. We saw an overhauled user interface which was received with mixed reception, although after over 200 hours of gameplay, I got used to it in the end.

We were promised a number of improvements for FM 2011, but not much mention was given of the interface this time around. This is because the user interface remains mainly the same, with not many changes on that front. There is, however, a slightly revamped theme as default which I really dislike. There is a dark skin on its way though, so no need for panic there.
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F1 2010 Video Game Preview (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)

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f1-2010-game-cover-pc-windowsOver the last few years the license for F1 games has been a bit of a mess, with Sony and EA’s brief periods of ownership being poor at best, which couldn’t be more of a contrast to the fortunes of the sport itself which has positively boomed in the last few years with two British champions in two years, championships being won on the last corner and of course the return to BBC leaving advert breaks firmly in the past.

However two years ago in 2008 Codemasters have taken over the license for official F1 games, and after the F1 2009 outing on the Wii and PSP last year (which was aimed very much at the casual market) F1 is now well and truly back on the gaming scene with F1 2010 has a release date for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC of 24th September 2010.

F1 is a sport which tends to very quickly divide opinions: some people see it as incredibly boring and tedious and see no fun in watching cars go round a circuit 50 odd times over 1½ hours, but others (like myself) can’t get enough of it and love the combination of the technology and sheer hard graft of the team along with the immense competitiveness and talent of the drivers, and it is really for the second group that this game is for.
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Win A World Of Warcraft Keyboard (Competition)

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world-of-warcraft-keyboard-3A few months back we ran a World Of Warcraft competition in anticipation of the latest expansion WoW: Cataclysm being released. After seeing how popular that competition was and given we’re still waiting for more new WoW content from Blizzard, we thought we’d give away another World of Warcraft related prize.

For this competition, we thought we’d give away another World of Warcraft Keyboard to further aid one lucky WoW player’s online gaming experience.
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Football Manager 2011 Preview

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We absolutely love Football Manager at Zath (even if some of us are still recovering FM addicts!), and every year I look forward to the latest installment of what is most probably the greatest game ever created. You can understand my excitement at the unveiling of Football Manager 2011, then, which promises to add more features to the game including a refreshed training system which gives you more control over the training ground in your team.

Sports Interactive have never been shy in making major changes between different versions of Football Manager, and I suspect that this year will be no different. Last year saw a complete overhaul of the interface, which took quite a bit of getting used to at first, but proved to be just as successful as Football Manager 2009 in making the game as intuitive as it could be after a few hours of gameplay. Looking at early screenshots of FM 2011, it appears that the main user interface remains mostly intact, so hopefully it will be familiar to users who have used Football Manager 2010.
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