Anytime I come across a video game trailer set to some good music I have to share it. Here’s the latest trailer for Ubisoft’s Far Cry 2 set to the tune of ‘Angel’ by Massive Attack. Although Angel is a perfect track for a badass shoot and blow ‘em up video game, it doesn’t seem to fit with Far Cry 2. I would have expected something along the lines of this.

Regardless, Far Cry 2 is fixin’ to be a great game. Check out the trailer below. If you have a decent connection I suggest you click the HD version, it looks amazing.

Well it’s that time of year fanboys and girls, when the worlds biggest video game console makers, developers and soft drink makers converge at a deserted airport hanger somewhere in the Los Angeles area to pimp their wares and make gamers start saving their money for the Fall splurge.

This morning Microsoft was the first to show off a few of their highly anticipated titles, namely Fallout 3, Fable 2, Resident Evil 5 and of course, Gears of War 2.

While watching the keynote I decided to, in true geek fashion, take screenshots of gameplay footage. It was alot easier than I expected so I took as many as I could and posted it on our gallery page. Be sure to check it out. In the meantime, here are my brief impressions of what Microsoft showcased:

Fallout 3 - One word: Fatman. Described as a ‘mini-nuclear bomb catapult’.

Resident Evil 5 - Kicking African Zombie ass with a friend online. Finally!

Fable 2 - Kicking mythical creatures ass with a friend online. Booyah! Lionhead has created an innovative way with how you can play with your friends online. Instead of doing the usual ‘Invite friend to game’ function through your Xbox dashboard, Fable actually shows where your mates are in-game in the form of ‘Ambient Orbs’. All you need to do is walk over to the orbs, press a button, invite them to play and if they accept, they instantly pop up on your screen.

Gears of War 2 - Brand new gameplay footage. Fight through the pain!

Xbox 360 Dashboard - They’ve totally revamped it for the Fall update. Looks pretty sleek and yes, you can create your own Mi..er ‘Avatars’.

War. What’s it good for if you can’t blow shit up? I think Churchill said that. I also agree with that statement. Too long have we been forced to play games with indestructible buildings and with trees and fences left standing after calling in a carpet bomb air strike. I was never one to complain about such things but with the technology being used on the current generation of games, we’ve become spoiled. If there are games that don’t allow me to shoot through a window or water without causing a realistic effect, it definitely takes away from the experience. Battlefield: Bad Company not only does the above, it let’s you blow the crap out of pretty much any structure on the battlefield.

I played it for a few hours yesterday with fairly high expectations and so far I haven’t been disappointed. This game takes first person shooters to another level man. Imagine the following scenario…

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*Warning: Contains Spoilers and geeky video game references you may not get or care about

I’ve never been a hardcore fan of this series. Before yesterday the only games in the Metal Gear story that I actually played was the original Metal Gear for Nintendo, MGS2: Solid Snake on PC and MGS3: Snake Eater on PS2…I think. There have been so many releases under the Metal Gear Soild moniker it’s tough to keep up. I finished the NES and PC versions but only played a about a quarter of MGS3. Being a huge Splinter Cell (SC) fan at the time, Snake Eater didn’t give me the instant gratification of a perfect stealth kill I would get from Sam Fisher. Not to mention the weird storyline and excruciatingly long cut scenes. So after all this you might be wondering why I purchased MGS4. That’s simple, I’m a nerd that hates missing out on big game releases.

I should mention that I’m maybe 3 hours into this game so don’t expect a full review, just the impressions from a dude who (currently) thinks this entire Metal Gear series is “Okay”.

Despite having a knack for milking the hell out of a cutscene, I have to admit that Hideo Kojima is probably the most creative video game producers out there. This shows within the first 15 minutes (8 of which are used to install the game on your HD). I’m going to spare you the description and let you see for yourself:

Now let’s talk about the game. I’m going to try my best to avoid describing every single detail and just give my impression.

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Am I done with with series? Initially it was hinging on what theater of combat it was going to take place in. There have been rumors abound about this for the past while. Most hardcore COD(4) fans wanted another go in the modern warfare arena, but many gaming sites were hinting on a return to World War II. Well my friends, it looks like the latter has been confirmed, we’re going back to the trenches. WWII: Pacific Theater to be exact. My first reaction was that comparable to this dude, but upon further investigation, I may have been a tad harsh. While we’re currently sparse on details, from what I read this game may not be too bad. Check out reported intro to the game:

“The opening scene of the first level we are shown is a Japanese commander stubbing a cigarette out in the eye of a prisoner before slitting his throat - the blood splatters and dribbles down the side of the tent you are being held in. He turns towards you to deal out the same treatment but help arrives just in time. Cue a daring level-long escape.”

Gruesomeness aside, if you’re like me you loved the story that unfolded in COD4. This is what set it apart from the previous versions (other than the obvious reasons). Based on this very short description of COD5, it looks like we’re in for another great story, well I hope anyways. I think Activision realized that players these days aren’t interested in games based on real events, it’s been done to death (I’m pointing at you Call of Duty 3). A tight storyline is what gets games flying off the shelves (I’m patting your head Bioshock).

Sure COD5 may be another WWII shooter, but if the story is anything close to COD4, I expect we’re in for a real treat.

I purposely left out any mention of COD4 multiplayer because The Panic Manual wholly endorses Halo 3. Pure pwnage yo.

Here are some screens of COD5 someone posted on YouTube:

Man this game looks pretty hot. That’s a bold statement considering 99% of all video games based on movies end up being utter shite…other than Harry Potter and the Order Of The Phoenix, I got mad achievements playing that game. The Bourne Conspiracy however, may shove a book in the face of that theory and punch it to a bloody pulp. By the look of initial gameplay and reading the hype it’s been receiving, it seems like no expense was spared for the production of this game, although “Matt Damon” (pronounced like in Team America) had nothing to do with it because his mom wouldn’t let him.

One of the best features of this game is that Paul Oakenfold has produced the soundtrack. There’s even a theme song called “Falling” with a video featuring Cee-Lo from Gnarls Barkley. I think this video was made as an argument by the games creators showing why they didn’t want Cee-Lo as the face of Bournes character.

The song sounds like it would fit in perfect playing during the end credits of Commando. I much prefer Moby’s “Extreme Ways” from the Ultimatum. It just fits in perfectly with the end. The song kicks in when Bourne starts moving around and you think “Ahhhh yeah…Moby just made another million dollars”.

 

 Moby - Extreme Ways: Play Now