We all can expect to find puzzles and strange terrors as we venture through Silent Hill.  Silent Hill 8 has the look and feel of Home Coming.  The use of mundane objects bring a new level to the combat.  The players will be shrouded in darkness most of the game adding to the tension and fear, along with facing new horrors.  The sound track is expected to be fantastic, something we have come to love from the franchise.

Electronic Arts and Visceral Games takes on God of War with Dante’s Inferno.  In many cases Dante’s Inferno is a watered down version of God of War and can leave you bored after a few hours of playing.  The combat is hack and slash and flawed in some cases.  The story and bits of poetic history can be refreshing during your journey through Hell.

The story of Dante’s Inferno is about a man fighting to save the woman he loves and atone for his sins.  Dante is a crusader who has done unspeakable acts during the holy wars.  He becomes disenchanted and returns home to his love, Beatrice in Florence, Italy.  Once he arrives home, Dante finds his house has been destroyed and Beatrice dead outside their home.  Top make things worse for Dante, Lucifer appears and drags Beatrice’s soul into Hell.  Dante fights his way through Hell, facing his sins and other dark creatures before taking on the Devil himself.

If you have read the the Divine Comedy do not expect to recognize much.  This interpretation of Dante’s Inferno is fresh and fun to play.  The player’s main goal is to find and save Beatrice.  The player gets to hack, burn, blast, slash from the top of Hell to the bottom.  The story is told through CG movies, and in-game cutscenes.  The story has plot-twists, and many moments that will rival any drama.

The game is based around the different levels of Hell from the Divine Comedy,  If you are familiar with how they are described then you might know what to expect.  There is plenty of violence, torture, nudity and creatively disturbing areas in the game.  This is not a game for the family or kids.  I found times in the game where I felt bad for the tortured souls from the punishment they received.

Moving on to combat, we all know that for any action game, creative and fun combat is the key.  Dante’s Inferno offers some creative maneuvers for the player to use to dispatch hordes of enemies.  Dante’s primary weapon is his scythe which he gained from fighting Death.  Dante also has the power of the cross which gives Dante the ability to attack from afar.  Once the player kills any enemy, the player gains its soul.  Think of God of War, souls let you buy powers and upgrade abilities.

The player has two ways to finish off enemies, the player can punish enemies or judge them.  If the player chooses to punish the enemies, Dante will use the scythe and the souls will collect into Dante’s unholy meter.  If the the player judges the enemies, Dante will use the cross and thus collecting souls in the holy meter.  Souls translate into points, points let you buy attacks and abilities. Unholy points will buy scythe attacks and holy points will buy cross attacks.  Also you can buy other skills and acquire boosts by collecting relics.

As the player battles their way through Hell, they will come across many historical figures such as Pontius Pilot, Orpheus, Electra, Marc Antony and many others.  All these figures have been damned to eternal punishment in Hell.  With these figures the player is faced with a choice, either absolve them or punish them.  If the player chooses to absolve the historical figure it starts a mini-game, where the “sins” float towards one of the four icons on a cross.  It is a game of timing and if the player is good enough they can earn a lot of points.

The combat system is extremely simple but comes across very complex.  The player has a ton of option available to them in combat.  The player can chain together fun and creative ways to dispatch enemies.  The player can combine scythe and cross attacks to deliver some very powerful attacks.  Sadly, most enemies can be killed with a single hit.  The combat is fun and there is not a shortage in the supply of enemies.  Dante’s Inferno offers more than battle after battle, it is packed with puzzles and platforming.

Dante’s Inferno is a visually stunning game and the explicit depiction of Hell is for a mature audience only.  There are some parts of the game that are for shock value only.  Each circle of Hell is unique and has a style of their own.  The level of Greed is covered in gold and a brightly colored level compared to the rest.  The color scheme of the game is dark, with splashes reds adding to the feel of moving down into darker more evil places.

The game has a good amount of replay value, the player can replay in Resurrection mode.  Resurrection mode allows the player to carry over their skills and souls into a new game.  There is a prequel level that came out in March which I will write about later.  The other mode is called Gates of Hell which is a timed endurance mode.  Overall, the game is solid but nothing new, it has a good story and neat historical info.  I recommend that players buy this games used or get it from a friend.

Last words,

Overall, the game is solid but nothing new, it has a good story and neat historical info.  Dante’s Inferno will shock you and disappoint you, the imagery pushes the limit of ratings and I applaud that.  The story is refreshing and poetic, it fits nicely into the game.  I believe that we will see more to this game in the future and I hope we see new game play and mechanics.  I recommend that players buy this games used or get it from a friend.

Heavy Rain starts off slow and it will take a couple of hours before you start getting into the heart of the game.  The start of the game helps you get used to the controls, giving you plenty of time to gain a solid feel for everything.  Once you get passed the first couple of hours the plot starts building and story will have you on the edge of your seat.  You will not be able to put down the controller for hours.

One of the last titles I played by Quantic Dream, was Indigo Prophecy, this title tried to bridge together intricate storytelling with gameplay by using quick-time events (simon says).  Button prompts would appear on the screen, and if you press it in time, the game continues. If you don’t, you fail. Game Over man.

With Heavy Rain, the studio took this control mechanic to a completely different level.  They got rid the pass or fail result and turned it into a narrative thats branches off depending on how well you did. You can’t really fail in Heavy Rain but continue the story in another way. Game Over has been taken away and the story will go on, adapting to how you play.  The characters progress and adapt as well.

The button prompts have different effects, say if you’re in an action scene, missing one prompt might not mean much, the action will drag out a little longer and end slightly different.  Miss too many and you might get killed or the enemy might escape.  Regardless of what happens the story will continue on, no matter the outcome. The other prompts are used for different types of conversation you have within the game, how you might respond in a given instance.

Even though this sounds like a button-mashing game, Quantic Dream has given you the power to change the story as you progress through it.  You are influencing what happens in real time instead of just reacting to the game.  This is a major and key element of the control mechanics that separates Heavy Rain from the likes of Indigo Prophecy or even God of War’s boss takedowns.

Heavy Rain does not give you a chance to slack off as you play, you have to stay sharp and on your toes.  Action happens when you least expect it, and if you’re not ready, you may regret the outcome.  On the other hand events can transpire very quickly and your gut instinct will have you react, when the best option may have been to wait or not react at all.

If you think that the controls might not be for you, you should understand that the mechanic main element of the game, the story.  Your actions drive the story and the outcome, every choice and every inaction drive the game forward.  Think of the controls as evolving throughout the game as you drive the story forward, the buttons change and so do the outcomes.  You are in complete control of the characters future and how everything will come to an end.

There are four main characters that you play, each is interesting well developed and extremely important to the overall story.  The way that the characters enter and work through the story is nothing short of magic and natural.  The game plays like a film, a movie that unfolds before as you continue playing.  It is an astounding piece of work and you will be surprised on how you simply forget it is a game.

From my first playthrough, your choices don’t result in major changes throughout the game, instead they send slight ripples throughout the dialog and character interactions. This causes results that can vastly change the ending of the game. After finishing the story with one of the best possible endings, I went back and played it a second time as poorly as I could; I killed off characters, skipped over clues and picked harsh dialogue choices. I wasn’t able to kill off any of the main characters until about most of the way through the game. The only main changes I noticed was in the dialogue.  As I mentioned, the ending can change extensively depending upon what clues you’ve found, characters still alive, and things you’ve done earlier.

Moving on to the graphics, which are great with regards to characters’ faces. The hands, clothing, and some objects in the environment are not as detailed as I would have hoped.  There are some slight things in the character animation that seemed a little off.  A hand motion my seem unnatural, or a slight twitch.  Quantic Dream has used some of the highest animation quality out there and it shows even for the slight problems the game may have.  Some characters are great, while others are only ok.

I will have to say that the dialogue is amazing and natural.  Nothing seemed forced or rushed which is hard to find in games at times.  Sometimes you will find that the delivery can be a little rough but all in all everything is damn nice.  When you compare Heavy Rain to most games, the voice acting is very good.  Think of Prince of Persia and Uncharted which have some of the best voice acting out there.

Last Words

Heavy Rain is an experience not to be missed.  The controls are different and take a moment to get used to but work perfectly with the game.  The game does start of slowly but I feel that it is needed so the player can gain a good grasp on the controls.  The plot twist and hooks will keep you playing for hours.  This game offers replay value which is a automatic winner for me.

Looks like Playstation is working hard to become a stronger voice in the industry.

[Header photo courtesy: gamerlimit.com]

Naughty Dog’s Uncharted 2 was very well received at E3 this year being called “one of the prettiest games ever seen”.  Uncharted 2 packs a punch with unique game play and astounding graphics.  Uncharted 2 brings back the original cast of voice actors from the first, Nolan North and Emily Rose.  These two really know how to make the flow of the game seem so natural with the characters.  This game has strong potential for game of the year.  If this vid does not convince you then I guess you will have to wait until 11.15.09 when the game is released.

[Video Credit: 1up.com]

With three great names working on this title: Activision, id Software and Raven; Wolfenstein will take you on a ride you will not forget.  With less than a week away from the release date you should grab your pre-orders now and get ready for mayhem and in your face action.
This trailer has everything you could want from Wolfenstein: (my favorite) Zombies, demons, bad-ass weapons, the amazing castle, in your face monsters, oh and something special jet-packs!  This game will be intense and expect nothing less from Wolfenstein.  Lock and load and get ready on August 18th for trip through the hellish world of Castle Wolfenstein.

[Header photo courtesy playworksonline

This trailer says it all.  It might be another Post-apocalyptic game but nothing can come close to touching this.

Here is the trailer released at QuakeCon (via That VideoGame Blog) I don’t have much info on this game except that id Software and EA are behind this beauty.  Rage will release sometime next year and it looks amazing.  It reminds me of Fallout 3 meets Mad Max and they had a love child.  I can already see all the dune buggy fun I am going to have when it comes out.  From the looks of the trailer you will have access to an assortment of great weapons to help spread a bloody mess across the wasteland.

“It is with a heavy heart we announce today that GRIN has been forced to close its doors. This as too many publishers have been delaying their payments, causing an unbearable cashflow situation.

After twelve years of hard work, employing hundreds of wonderfully talented men and women, it is over.  It has been a great adventure and the GRIN family has experienced what few have”

GRIN started to make a come-back with last year’s downloadable remake, Bionic Commando Rearmed, a precursor to this year’s 3D version of the Bionic Commando franchise. Sadly, this years game along with the two film adaptations: Wanted and Terminator Salvation fell way short in sells. This along with the publisher problems were most likely the downfall of the studio. The last bit of sad news as stated on the website goes: “unreleased masterpiece” in the works.  We will not get a chance to see if GRIN had something beautiful in the making.  The only up side to this is that the devs have found work with Outbreak Studios.

It s very sad too lose a studio that has made a staple in the gaming community, yes that have released some failed work but Bionic Commando takes us way back to something campy and fun.  That game is a part of growing up and is something I will remember cussing and loving at the same time. You will be missed!