Phil Fish Quits Games - Fez 2 Cancelled

Writing that title made me a little sad, but reading all the tweets and comments levied at Phil made me even sadder, yes it is true that Phil Fish can be rather... well... outspoken at times but there is no way anyone deserves the kind of treatment he has been getting since way before Fez was even released.

But I think his shooting into the public eye so quick also has a lot to do with what has went down, not just the fact that a lot of the people tweeting about him and commenting on his companies website are massively out of line. It is a lot easier to post nothing about a situation than type the words "Suck my dick, choke on it" as a comment, which is what more than one person on the Polytron site has done. Sickening. If you don't like someone, keep your mouth shut.

This isn't to say there hasn't also been people saying positive things about and to Phil Fish, but as everyone knows it is a lot easier to listen to negative things than it is to listen to positive things.

So yes, Phil Fish has quit games, no Fez 2.

Everyone here at Fair Play wishes Phil the best in everything he goes on to do, we don't know him personally, and I have no beef with anything he has said or done. We won't be attacking anyone's character here.

The official announcement on Polytron reads as follows:

FEZ II is cancelled.
i am done.
i take the money and i run.
this is as much as i can stomach.
this is isn’t the result of any one thing, but the end of a long, bloody campaign.

you win.

InDev Spotlight - Fatal Theory by 2Hit Studio (PC)

Today in what I hope becomes a recurring feature of the blog, I will be reviewing a game that is very much still in development, hence the title "InDev Spotlight." Makes sense right? Good, so let's get on with it:

Fatal Theory by 2Hit Studio is, in the simplest terms - fun.

But that isn't much of a review, is it? So lets go deeper. The game, as I said, is still in development so any nitpicks that I may have still have plenty of time to get worked out and sorted. The story follows our hero - Nick Mayhem, who is just a regular guy with a baseball bat who hits the street for a spot of zombie skull crushing when he hears about the zombie apocalypse that has befallen the world, but before too long finds himself embroiled in a deeper plot featuring demons, ghouls and a kickass Chainsword with the disembodied spirit of a demon, a demon he just defeated no less, contained within. After that fight, the best line I have seen so far in the game is spoken: Vlad : "...Have at you" Nick (after a well timed baseball bat to the skull) "How's THAT for at having!?." I laughed probably a lot more than I should have at that, but t hat brings me to my next point.

"How's THAT for at having"

The humour laced throughout Fatal Theory is my favourite mix of dark but cheesy which helps to add some depth to the characters, Nick isn't the only one who uses humour throughout the game, in the very comicbookesque cut-scenes even the enemies will crack jokes before or even after a fight.

The controls of Fatal Theory are simple to grasp, and the unreleased demo version I was lucky enough to be privy to also adds game pad support. Which is perfect for the kind of game that Fatal Theory is. The controls feel responsive and attacks are satisfying to land, especially with the Chainsword. There is one slight issue with jumps seeming to take slightly too long to register with both game-pad and arrow keys, the issue is more prevalent with a game-pad however. As is often an issue with games that have less attack buttons to chose from, Fatal Theory feels to lack attack variety but  after you receive the Chainsword, you are able to use a series of inputs to pull of some special moves using the Rage mechanic, which adds a little more variety to the attacks you can do and helps keep the combat fresher for longer.

The sound and music in Fatal Theory are both excellent and fit thematically. A small problem I have is the repetitive Chainsword sound clip, after 20 or 30 attacks that all play this clip, it gets a tad grating, but that is a minor issue that is dusted over by the music being great and the game-play solid.

The art has two distinct styles, from the comicbook style cutscenes to the in-game pixel art, both are nicely done and give the game, at least to me, a kind of Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game, mixed with a well presented graphic novel feel. Which is something that is only to be applauded. The retro style of graphics is something that I have come to love over recent years and this game pulls it off well.

I am glad that I contacted 2Hit about reviewing Fatal Theory and I am even more glad that they were OK with me doing it. Keep your eyes on 2Hit, these guys could go far. They are also in the process of getting the unreleased demo version I was given onto Desura which will only help this game grow and be even better. We don't give numerical scores for games here at FairPlay but if we did, Fatal Theory would get a bloody high one.

You can follow the progress of Fatal Theory here

Gun Monkeys (PC) Review - Oh the Simianity!

In a bleak future where mankind has been exterminated from the folly of creating a perpetual motion machine and monkeys are now seemingly infinite... Never in a million years did I think I would start a review with those words but that is now the case in the new game from Size Five Games, Gun Monkeys.

You run a power company in the future, staffed by monkeys toting guns, which could very well be where the game gets it's title from. Through the course of the game you collect little blue power cubes, up to three at a time, and you have to transport them back to your base to send them to the past to power all the appliances that modern day living says we need: kettles, TVs, computers etc.

The gameplay is easy to grasp but seems like it will be tricky to master, in my 3 games I have around 11 kills and 7 or so deaths but I have yet to win a game, finding the balance between killing the opposing monkey and collecting energy cubes is something I, as of yet, have been unable to do.

Above I mentioned an opposing monkey, this game is a 1v1 arena shooter, you on one side, your opponent on the other and energy cubes spawning to be collected at random intervals, to be returned to the players respective energy core. As well as the energy cubes the player is given power ups: stronger weapons, attraction of energy cubes and the like. This makes for some interesting gameplay scenarios.

From the moment I played the tutorial of this game, I was hooked on it. The humour brought to the narration by Kevin Eldon is masterful to say the least. I asked Dan (the developer of Gun Monkeys) why Kevin Eldon was chosen and his response was "Kevin Eldon is a hero of mine, he was just hugely influential on me. When it came to getting the voiceover done, I chanced my arm and sent him an email; he's not a gamer but liked the look of the game, it all just went from there. He is a very lovely, friendly man. It was amazing to work with him!"

What more do you need than that? Kevin Eldon has been in some of my favourite TV shows of all time, shows such as The IT Crowd, Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle, Green Wing, Nighty Night and Black Books and every time I have seen or heard him, I have cracked up. Gun Monkeys is no different.
The music in Gun Monkeys is another strong point, fitting the action on screen perfectly and not at all jarring.

I pried for information about the game's development from Dan, being curious as to how the game formed the way it did. His response "OK. So, the game started out years ago as a silly game called Gibbage. It was local-only, 2 player 1 on 1. It was just incredibly good fun - the core mechanic of trying to grab cubes and return them to your base without dying just worked really well. When I had an opportunity to make something small in Unity, it seemed like a good concept to revisit, only this time I could make it online! The 1 on 1 thing stuck because that's what I knew worked- any more than that and Id need to invest in some serious prototyping, so I deliberately kept the project's scope small and manageable, but expandable if the game took off" 

The one problem I can foresee with Gun Monkeys is will the one game mode be enough to keep most players invested? It's not a problem for me in the slightest because it is such a fun game mode, not too hectic but hectic enough that you will end up blowing yourself up more than once (at least 3 of my deaths were from my own bombs.)

Gun Monkeys is great fun and well deserving of your time and money, especially if watching multi-coloured virtual monkeys explode into gore is your thing. You can find Gun Monkeys on Steam

Steam Group

Hello there, Fair Players.

A Steam group has just been set up and we would love to game with you sometime.

Find us on Steam - FairPlayGaming

My FavouritE3 (My Picks of E3)

Now that E3 is over for another year, well and truly gone. A distant memory to some and a hazy mess of late nights and early mornings to most, I thought I would knock together my top 3 things that were at E3, hence "FavouritE3." It's witty and clever!

I will start off with the amazing video Sony showed about "Sharing games." It was as genius as it was an obvious and childish dig at Microsoft. Let's be fair though, Microsoft totally deserved it by being such massive idiots so far with what they have shown and said in regards to next gen, even going so far as to limit what countries an Xbox One will even be functional in at launch, which is ridiculous as some countries that are being excluded have a pretty high gaming population. Also, don't even get me started on what a PR failure Don Mattrick was, because after all, the point of this part of the article was how amazing Sony's video was.

Next on my list is Metal Gear Solid V. Really that's all I need to say on the subject of that. If you saw the footage from E3 of it you will know exactly why. It is a shame though that David Hayter will not be reprising his roll but Keifer Sutherland does a really good job of voicing everyone's favourite eyepatch wearing badass. The game is an open world game which blew my mind. Metal Gear Solid in an open world, just think about all the great stuff to do and see! No doubt there will also be a massive amount of hidden items an easter eggs that only the most dedicated players will find. Not to mention the fact that it is technically two games. 

And finally, my top pick from E3, is Watch_Dogs. This game looks set to be Game of the Year for the rest of time. The footage that was shown at E3 totally blew me away, having control over a whole cities electronics through a WiFi (technically a CtOS) network, raising road blockers to total a car that is chasing you, changing traffic lights to cause a horrific multi-lane multi-directional car crash looks so much fun! The protagonist, Aiden Pearce, has had a troubled past and it seems like his future and present aren't going to be a walk in the park either. Watch_Dogs is another open world game, you can go anywhere, do anything you want to do. Randomly hacking people's phones for bank account information then using that to withdraw all their money from an ATM. You can do that. I could talk about Watch_Dogs for hours but for the sake of keeping this less than 30 pages I will stop here.

What were your picks of E3? Let us know in the comments.

World of Tanks Is Coming To Xbox 360

The only thing so far I have managed to gleam from E3, apart from how amazing Watch_Dogs and The Phantom Pain look, is that the popular tank warfare game World of Tanks, is coming to Xbox 360 later this year (very probably the Xbox One as well at some point.)

The beta, however begins THIS WEEKEND and if you feel so inclined you can sign up over at worldoftanks.com/xbox/. Which is something I highly recommend doing, especially if you enjoy explosions. I mean, really... Who doesn't love explosions!?

WoT: 360, in the beta, will feature tanks from the United States and Germany, but Wargaming, the company behind the game, has plans to add more tanks and nations, power-ups and other gaming good stuff.

Oh, did I mention that WoT: 360 will be free to play for Xbox live Gold members? Oh, also free for 7 days for unpaid XBL members. Free games for the win!

The Humble Indie Bundle 8 Is Amazing. Fact

Humble Bundle - Pay What You Want

A couple of days ago over at the Fair Play Facebook, I told you that I would be reviewing the latest Humble Indie Bundle, I have thought long and hard about what the best way to do that would be, and I think I have come up with something that works, what I'm going to do is tell you a little about what the Humble Bundle does and then give you a little information on each game, then I will give you the link to the Humble Bundle page and insist that you pay whatever you can. This article will focus on the games you get for paying under the average because unfortunately that's what I had to do.

By buying the Humble Bundle you are also supporting Child's Play, which is an amazing charity that a lot of people in the gaming community are always supporting. You can too.

I will start with the game I have played most - Awesomenauts: Awesomenauts is a "MOBA" style game where two teams vie for control over the map. The characters are all amazing. The art style choice really compliments the humour in the game

The two teams are the Reds and the Blues. You pick your Awesomenaut, from quite a small selection at first but as you level up your profile more become available to play as. So playing more and often benefits you sa you get more gear, more characters and better at the game. Wins all round.

If you aren't confident enough in your skills, you can play as much as you want against the AI and still unlock all the things, Taking the M and O out of MOBA. But my hope is that you will go online eventually so I can see you there and we can Awesome it up.

Next is Thomas Was Alone: In Thomas Was Alone you control a series of blocks with varying attributes, from being able to jump great heights or being able to fit through spaces that the other blocks can't.

Thomas Was Alone tells an amazing story and is supplemented with the amazing narration of Danny Wallace, who also was a voice actor in the Assassin's Creed series, so we all know how good he is at what he does.

The graphics aren't amazing but graphics DON'T make a game. The gameplay does, graphics just help. But the gameplay in TWA is so tight an easy to grasp, you will spend hours just hopping around taking in the story in this delightful puzzle-platformer.

Capsized is a weird game, but enjoyable all the same. It is a retro inspired 2D action game with a run and gun style. The game looks gorgeous, with its hand drawn style. There isn't too much I can say about Capsized apart from the game is fun, the satisfying "Pop" of the enemies, the fact that you have a Metroid style / hookshot inspired way to navigate the maps, as well as a jet pack and a high powered rifle makes this game a perfect addition to any games library.

Little Inferno is more of an experience than a game, if I am totally honest. A very engaging and clever experience all the same. The core mechanic is burning things in the titular "Entertainment Fireplace" to stay warm. The fire graphics and the wide array of things you can immolate, as well as the continuing narrative will keep you coming back for more. Also your "neighbour" is bloody hysterical.

Those are all the games from the bundle I have played, Dear Esther is also in the bundle but I have been warned to stay as far away from that as possible.

If you pay over the average you also receive - Hotline Miami, Proteus, Tiny and Big in Grandpa's Leftovers, English Country Tune and Oil Rush (with a map pack)

If you can afford to pay over the average I highly reccomend it, if nothing else than for Hotline Miami

Xbox Reveal... Underwhelming

So the live-blog thing didn't quite go the way I wanted it to, primarily because the reveal is underwhelming. I am strongly considering just turning it off. There is far too much focus on turning the Xbox One into some kind of Hub-like One-stop-shop for everything in your living room. I wouldn't be having one in my living room! It's all been TV and sport so far. Very little mention of games.

We will bring you a complete update tomorrow at some point, after all the dust has settled but for now, I really cant bring myself to keep going with the One reveal.

Update: Tomorrow Will Be A Busy Day

We are sorry for a massive lapse in content again everyone, but honestly neither me nor Sean have found anything worth reporting, that hasn't already been reported on in a greater amount of detail in other places. There are big things on the horizon though, don't worry. From me there will be a Bioshock Infinite DLC review as soon as it comes out and I get my grubby little mitts on it and Sean has some plans that I'm not too sure on, you would have to ask him, I'm afraid.

But tomorrow, tomorrow is a big day for 360 players such as myself, the Next Box, Durango, 720, Xbox Infinity... whatever you want to call it is being announced all across the world on 360 and Xbox.com, and I for one will be watching on the 360's Live Events Player at 6pm GMT. I will also be live updating a special blog post as the conference goes on to try and keep you up to date with all the ins and outs.

We are too nice to you.

Scribblenauts Sued Over Cat Memes!?

Will the world never stop being absolutely and utterly stupid? As you may have guessed by the title, Scribblenauts creators, 5th Cell are being sued over the use of Nyan Cat and Keyboard Cat by the people who created them. My brain can't even... WHAT IS THIS!?

Kotaku dug up the lawsuit, which I found on Rock, Paper, Shotgun and it reads as follows:

“Plaintiffs accuse Warner Bros and 5th Cell of including, without any licenses or authorizations, the Keyboard Cat and Nyan Cat characters in their original Scribblenauts videogame released in 2009, the 2010 Super Scribblenauts, 2011 Scribblenauts Remix, and the 2012 Scribblenauts Unlimited.”

“Defendants are accused of shamelessly using identifying ‘Nyan Cat’ and ‘Keyboard Cat’ by name to promote and market their games. Plaintiffs claim that Warner Bros and 5th Cell’s trademark infringement was willful and intentional and are requesting an award of treble damages and requesting the case be deemed exception under 15 U.S.C. § 1117(a), thereby entitling Plaintiffs to an award of reasonable attorneys’ fees.” 

Warner Bros. and 5th Cell are of yet to make a statement, but this lawsuit comes at a really strange time considering the memes in question have been Easter eggs in various Scribblenauts games for years. But maybe they weren't copy-written until recently? Who knows, not me. We will try to keep you posted as this story unfolds.

I, for one, hope nothing comes of this because I absolutely love Scribblenauts, and everyone else should!

Rusty Hearts Online - Weird Name, Great Game

Over the course of the last week I have gotten back into PC gaming and there is one game I found in the course of my searching for new games to play that has had me more hooked than any other. This game is the ludicrously titled "Rusty Hearts".

Developed by Stairway Games and published by Perfect World Entertainment, was released way back in 2011, with the first expansion Rusty Hearts: Reborn dropping in July 2012. Even though the game its self is a couple years old now I still felt compelled to review it and give it some exposure because this game is mind blowing.

Rusty Hearts is a free to play anime inspired hack and slash MMORPG, taking influence from games such as Castlevania, Persona and to a certain extent, Diablo. Personally I feel like the games biggest influences are the newer Castlevania games and the Stylish system from Devil May Cry, as each area you fight through is scored on a style rank from F to SSS.

I can only speak for one character, Frantz - The Vampire Knight, in this review so if you have played RH:O and think I am covering something wrong or with not enough depth, that's probably why. I should also note that I haven't been paying too much attention to the story but then again, I wasn't planning on writing this article and I was just enjoying the combat sections so much.

Controls: Movement is done with either the arrow keys or clicking with the mouse. I don't know if you can click to move in the dungeon sections as I haven't tried, but you can in the over world. Your combat skills are bound to A,S,D,F,G and H and X is standard attack. Z is guard and C is grab. Consumables such as potions are used with the number keys. The keys are fully configurable in case you fancy trying something different.

The Combat: I only really have one word for the combat in RH:O and that is "Yes." RH:O absolutely nails combat, it's fast and fluid and the combos you can pull of using the skills at your disposal are amazing. I'm not that great at it and I'm using a keyboard and mouse (partial game pad support is available) but I can still clear dungeons on the Very Hard setting pulling off 80 hit combos without even trying, and as the enemies level up and can withstand more damage that number will only get higher.

Rusty Hearts provides a reasonable challenge but there are some quests that have you retrace your steps. It never feels grindy and there is always something to do. If you like hitting things fast and lots with swords, scythes, gauntlets or guns then Rusty Hearts could very well be for you. Don't let the age put you off, it still looks gorgeous, as gorgeous as an anime game can be. The controls are tight and the combat is nearly perfect. What are you waiting for? Kick some ass.

Rusty Hearts can be found on Steam or here. 

Bethesda Announces The Evil Within

After days of posting cryptic videos on their Vine account, Bethesda have today (Friday) announced that the game they were teasing at, sadly was not Fallout 4 or even a new Wolfenstein shooter, but a collaborative outing with the Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami, entitled The Evil Within.

The Evil Within will be released on current and next gen consoles and PCs in 2014, that's as much of a ballpark as we can give you just now, but this is such an exciting venture that you can be certain we will keep you as up to date as we can.

I am interested to see what two great creative minds can come up with, Bethesda make great (but admittedly a tad buggy) games, and Mikami's name is attached to other great games, not just Resident Evil, but titles such as Dino Crisis and God Hand. This is also the first game from Mikami's new studio "Tango Gameworks."

The trailer, a live action trailer none the less, is below. We hope you enjoy it and let is know what you think the game will turn out to be like. I am reasonably excited for The Evil Within but admittedly I'm not a big fan of horror games... I'm a bit of a scaredy cat really.

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon

If like me, you thought Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon was a wacky April Fools joke then it would appear that we were wrong. It just seemed too different from anything else tied to Far Cry 3 to be real. But it is, and it looks amazing.

Although it still hasn't been officially announced, there is plenty of information to be found on it all over the internet, and even some leaked footage if you know where to look and can get there before it gets taken down by Ubisoft for copyright violation.

Blood Dragon is set in a dystopian 2007, but it is also the future. You are Sergeant Rex Colt (voiced by Terminator and Aliens actor Michael Biehn.) Tasked with defeating a rogue cyborg army, getting the girl and saving the world. What's not to love?

It is clear from all the promotional materials surrounding Blood Dragon that it is a wild spin off and is shaping up to me absolutely insane in all the best possible way. Like the Mad Hatter's tea party with Charles Manson, Michael Myers and Ted Bundy. But without them murdering you.

Blood Dragon will be a stand-alone download for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 and is touted for a May 1st release

Slendytubbies: Who Needs Sleep Anyway?

Who wants to ruin their childhood in a matter of minutes? Well that is exactly what Sean from Zeoworks set out to do. Thus Slendytubbies was born! I bet you are saying to yourself right now “Slendytubbies? Pah, sounds like a game for a toddler.” Well, you are very wrong.

Slendytubbies is a re-make of the infamous indie game, “Slender”. The concept is the same, but instead of good old Slenderman following you, it is a deranged, possessed Tellytubby. Sounds messed up, I know.

You walk around Tellytubby Land, searching for 10 bowls of Tubby Custard. Seems harmless enough. Well, you also have to avoid being caught by the Slendertubby and the various traps set out to get you. You can't help but feel like you are constantly being watched. The eerie ambiance to the game combined with the innocence of Tellytubbies provides a terrifying experience.

Slendytubbies proves that what you are being chased by is not always what causes fear. Simply turning a harmless character like a Tellytubby into a killer maniac can be enough to creep out even the best of gamers.

If you don't believe me, or want to prove how courageous you really are, why not download it for yourself. After all, they are only Tellytubbies, fictional characters from a kids program. Nothing to worry about... right?

Opening the Valve: Portal, The Key To Success.

When Valve released the Orange Box way back in 2008, I doubt they realised the future popularity of their new puzzle-platform game, Portal. We can all agree that it was thanks to Portal, the Half-Life franchise and Team Fortress 2 that Valve became the well known corporation that they are today. The quirky first person shooter consists of escaping from a facility that challenges you with various puzzles that require, well, common sense and a lot of patience.

You play as the “dangerous mute lunatic” test subject called Chell who battles through Aperture Science's 20 test chambers, designed purely to leave you questioning your sanity. Your only weapon is the hand-held portal gun which can shoot portals onto the white “moon rock” painted walls. And if that doesn't seem confusing enough, you also have to fight against turrets, avoid acid pits and most importantly try not to get killed by deadly neurotoxin. Seem interesting enough yet? Well don't forget the main antagonist GlaDOS. Her job is to lead you through your pleasant testing experience and guide you to the so called end of testing.

The game is fast moving, clever and witty and can be at times simply sadistic. It's no surprise that all those who have played cannot seem to get enough of it. Unfortunately, it can sometimes be too fast. By the time you finally get into the game, it seems to be all coming to a unwanted and premature end. The first 15 levels are a piece of cake and can be finished within the hour if you take your time. You are left feeling unsatisfied, an unquenchable thirst for more demanding puzzles.

Despite Portal primarily beginning as a mere add-on for the Orange Box, it has expanded and developed a name for itself, quickly becoming one of the most creative and original games of its time. It has certainly pushed Valve into the limelight and the popularity of the game allowed them to create the well-known sequel, Portal 2 which helped to answer the questions that players were left asking themselves upon completing the first game.

All in all, it's an excellent stepping stone into Valve's vault of awesome games and I hope that there will be many more like it in the future.

Aren't Stealth Games Great

The New York Times said once of stealth games "Once upon a time, stealth in games was rare. This began to change in 1998." They hit the nail right on the head there, for as far as I could tell, the only games before 1998 that had a heavy stealth element were Castle Wolfenstein (1981) Metal Gear (1987) and it's sequel; Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (1990).

Then in 1998, the success of Tenchu Stealth Assassins, the first 3D stealth game, and a couple of months later the runaway success train that was Metal Gear Solid very probably revolutionised stealth games forever. Not to forget Thief: The Dark Project which pioneered stealth games on the PC, also being the first, first person stealth game and being dubbed a "First Person Sneaker."

The main difference between other action games and stealth games is that the player is tasked with avoiding combat and striking from the shadows, often there will be numerous ways to achieve your goal either completely avoiding combat, subduing your enemies or if you feel inclined you can still take out your enemies with lethal force, but in games such as Dishonored, it won't necessarily lower your score or anything but it just might effect your game in other ways.

When using the darkness to your advantage is one of the gameplay elements, light and dark become integral to level design, allowing players to disable light sources to create new shadows to hide in and strike from. Not only is light and dark utilized but so is sound. Taking your time in a stealth game, not running around like a headless chicken, making sure you don't make too much noise. You make too much noise and you will be swamped by enemies and very probably killed. Not good.

Speaking of enemies, the AI in stealth games needs to be ignorant of certain parts of the game world and they operate on a line of sight mechanic as well as being able to hear you, if they see you or hear you they will be on you, and on more than one occasion you will find yourself heavily out-gunned and have to rely on your skills in stealth to make sure you don't get iced.

Stealth games will always have a special place in my heart, my top five favourite games list contains 3 stealth games, being Dishonored, Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 3, and you may ask why is this article coming out now? I will tell you exactly why. The new Thief title, releasing on "PS4 and other next gen consoles" and PCs in an undisclosed time in 2014. Developed by Eidos Montreal and published by Square Enix. 

Thief (2014) is a reboot of the Thief series and it may be the highest draw for me so far to buy a next gen console, especially after all the news about how the new Xbox will require a constant internet connection and connection to the Kinect 2.0. 

As news about Thief filters through, we will endeavour to keep you posted with it.

What is your favourite stealth game? let us know in the comments. 

Bioshock Infinite Review - On Cloud Nine

From the second the game opens, with you, Booker DeWitt, a former agent with the Pinkerton Detective Agency, are sat on a boat rowing through murky waters late at night en route to a lighthouse. This opening scene had me invested already, the writing and the voice acting were both incredible, in the lighthouse, things didn't change. But it's not until you reach Columbia that Infinite's true grandeur can be observed.

Columbia is easily one of the most striking environments in gaming history, from your first steps, the gorgeousness of the architecture and art style will entrance you, if you are anything like me. I spent a good 20 minutes just walking around the first area after the rather violent baptism of Booker DeWitt, exploring for collectibles such as Silver Eagles, the games currency, and items to restore my health.

Gorgeous architecture is a common site in Columbia

The world of Infinite feels alive: the buildings float graciously through the sky and it is easy to get lost in time watching them. There are so many little great things to see and overhear, my favourite in the opening 40 minutes or so was the barbershop quartet singing God Only Knows. 

I meant to only play an hour or so before I wrote this review, but Bioshock Infinite has the power to suck you in, so I spent about 2 or 3 hours playing, forgetting about even writing this. It was hard to pull myself away.

Don't think that just because you play the main protagonist you are the focus of the story, oh no. Infinite is most definitely the Elizabeth show Featuring Booker DeWitt. Elizabeth, the Lamb, will be the best ally you could hope for, both keeping you alive and keeping your ammo levels topped up, and playing a much larger role in the story as it unfolds.

Elizabeth wants a high four and half.

The stand-out moment for me so far, is the first time you get to ride on the Sky Lines. I literally have no words for how amazing that was. There is a true sensation of speed but you never feel out of control, you can speed up, slow down, reverse and execute Sky Strikes, a devestating attack on opponents who are below you, think air assassinations in Assassin's Creed but more awesome.

Adam and Eve are gone - replaced by Salts, for use with the eight, I believe, Vigours, the new powers. My favourite Vigour so far is easily Murder of Crows. Not only is the name cool but so is the actual power, win/win all round. 

Bioshock Infinite isn't perfect, the textures are sometimes bland and the AI seems slightly... off somehow. But those two little faults I have found do not hamper my enjoyment of the game at all. Infinite is easily one of the best games I have played in recent years. 

I have four parting words for you all, Go buy Bioshock Infinite

Throwback Thursday: Metal Gear Solid

On September 3rd 1998, the gaming world was changed forever and as far as memory serves, sometime in 1999 my young life was also changed forever, when into my hands fell the original Metal Gear Solid.

At the time, my young mind really couldn't comprehend the awesomeness that was MGS, but now looking back, I can say that the original is in my top 5 games, ever. The order of the top 5 changes all the time, but MGS is a constant in that list.

Metal Gear Solid has a deep, involving (albeit slightly confusing) story with great characters and character development. We care about what happens to these characters.

Solid Snake, the protagonist, who according to character designer, Yoji Shinkawa, has a physique based on Jeanne Claude Van Damme and a face based on Christopher Walken, has to infiltrate Shadow Moses island to thwart the threat of a walking nuclear weapon - Metal Gear REX, which is being manned by the twin brother of Solid Snake, Liquid Snake. The full arsenal of which will be unleashed if Liquid and his group aren't given the remains of legendary super soldier, Big Boss. That's a brief summary of the plot.

Metal Gear Solid features some of the best boss fights I can recall in any video game, but the best, and the one I always remember most vividly is the Psycho Mantis boss fight. Which actually holds the record for the most innovative use of a video game controller (in the 2008 Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition.) I won't go into too much details about it because I am sure you have all played it, but if you haven't, It's something that you have to experience and telling you about it really won't do it any justice.

Going back to characters - the character design in this game is incredible. Not only is Snake an amazing character but the game is full of them. Overflowing with them even, from the Alaskan shaman, Vulcan Raven to Revolver Ocelot, whose weapon of choice as you may have guessed from the name is a revolver, a Colt Single Action Army to be precise. Every member of FOXHOUND is a glorious foray into how to design a well rounded character. But my favourite character from Metal Gear Solid is Grey Fox - a cybernetically enhanced ninja, who is neither friend nor foe to Snake but opposes FOXHOUND. There is just something about how badass he is that makes him a stand out character for me.

I won't say anything about the ending(s) because you have all played MGS and if you haven't then, as with the Psycho Mantis boss fight, talking about it won't do it any justice. So if you haven't played Metal Gear Solid, go do it. Now, stop reading this, and go play Metal Gear Solid!

MGS:V - No David Hayter?

image from 1up.com
David Hayter as Snake.

The Phantom Pain is officially Metal Gear Solid 5. How shocked are you? Not shocked at all? Good.

As a long term fan of the stealth action game and loving David Hayter's voice work as Solid Snake in every Metal Gear Solid game to date. His voice just fits Snake so well it is hard to imagine anyone else filling the vocal shoes.

It also appears that Hayter wasn't even asked to be the voice of Snake in MGS:V going by his Twitter feed.

Now, there is another argument that you could make and that is Hayter wasn't asked because it was mutually assumed that he would feature in the game, in some way. Kojima is known for misdirection and theatrics when releasing games, and it seems like he has pulled out all the stops with Metal Gear Solid 5, lest we forget "The Phantom Pain" and "Joakim Mogren / Moby Dick Studios"

This could be the end of Hayter's reign as Snake, but I, for one, truly hope it isn't.

Facebook and Exciting News

First things first, we now have an official Facebook Page so check that out, like us and leave comments and feedback, we cant wait to hear from you. 

Also and this is quite a big deal (to me at least) we have officially breached 1000 page views. Thank you to everyone who has dropped by for a little read. We promise to not slow down now and we will only be bringing you loads more glorious content, I have a couple pieces I'm looking forward to getting out, I believe Sean is the exact same and I can't speak for our new boy, Alex, but I'm sure he is chomping at the bit as well.

So again, thank you all. It means a lot to all of us here that you are reading what we are writing.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown Coming to iOS

  

I think the title pretty much says it all in this case to be honest, news out of PAX East confirms that the fantastic strategy and alien blasting game by Firaxis and 2K, XCOM: Enemy Unknown will be coming to iOS devices in the Summer.

The video below, from Jake Solomon, who is the lead designer on XCOM, which I found earlier tonight, makes me really optimistic for how this can turn out. 

Wasn't that amazing? Look how pretty! Also, it is the FULL game, not a streamlined version, not a companion app, the FULL XCOM experience that you have had the chance to play on consoles and PCs alike. 

If you haven't had the chance and don't already own this game, and would like it on your iDevice, Summer time should be a hoot for you.

A Couple of Things

Thing the first - A massive thank you to everyone who has read, shared, commented and been involved with getting Fair Play up to 800 page views so far, you are all amazing people. That includes Sean and myself by the way.

Thing the second - Another thank you to Sean who has basically kept the site going recently, by posting content and sharing our articles while I have been so far in my own head that I couldn't get out.

So basically, in conclusion - Readers, sharers, that one comment-er we have so far, thank you all and hopefully our next 800 page views are more interesting for you all.

New Star Wars Battlefront?

Did you love Star Wars Battlefront? I know I did, I played it with my brother quite a lot, I loved it. So when I heard there may be a new one coming at some point, my face nearly cracked with the size of my smile.

Then I read more into it, and as always, there was a caveat - Battlefront 3 will only be released if a game that is nothing like Battlefront sells well. The game in question is Star Wars: First Assault.

First Assault is said to be a downloadable 8 vs 8 shooter, one team plays as the rebels, the other as the empire. Sounds good right? Yes, I thought so too.

First Assault its self sounds pretty good, but I've seen screenshots and it just looks like a generic, bland, FPS. Which is a bad thing! One of the main things I loved about Battlefront is how much I felt like I was in the Star Wars universe, the screenshots look like they could be any interchangeable modern FPS.

Call of Duty: Clone Wars anyone?

Let's just hope that between now, and the prospective Spring release of First Assault, and if that does well the hopeful release of Battlefront 3 - things change.

Kickstarter Saturday - Updates

So as many of you know, my weekly article Kickstarter Saturday highlights games that are being funded via the crowdfunding website Kickstarter, as the name may suggest.

I started with Artizens by Artizens Inc. so that's where the updates will start. I am happy to say that Artizens has been fully funded, and then some, 157% at my last check with 27 hours to go. I am very happy for everyone at Artizens Inc. The game looks fantastic and I cannot wait to play it.
Artizens' stretch goals are as unique as Artizens itself seems to be, for every stretch goal that is achieved, a new pet for EVERY backer will be unlocked. The stretch goal "bounties" can be found here.

The second KS was Cryamore by NostalgiCO. Cryamore was already fully funded when I covered it, which was contrary to my original plan, but I couldn't resist covering it, it is one of the better looking games I have seen on Kickstarter, and it sounds amazing as well, so it kinda wins in all the areas. At my last check Cryamore was at 279% funded and with 9 days to go. My original article can be found here.

And thirdly, came Asylum, a Lovecraft inspired journey through, as the name suggests, an asylum. I wont go into too much detail about Asylum in this brief update because the Asylum article was only posted last week. But Asylum is up to 83% funded with 11 days to go. I hope they get the funding they need because Asylum looks amazing.

I would also like to thank the Artizens guys and Augustin Cordes for replying to my tweets on the weeks of their articles, just goes to show that community is important to both of these guys, which in my opinion, is only ever a good thing.

DmC Gets Bloody Palace

Bloody Palace mode is coming to DmC: Devil May Cry next week, 19th for US PS3 players and the 20th for EU PS3 and EU/US 360.

So get ready to put your demon killing skills to a real test.

Face your demons.

Information on The Next Xbox?

It seems you can hardly turn any where on the internet nowadays without hearing about the next generation of consoles and it seems like, today, new information has surfaced about the new Microsoft console, Codename: Durango.

The first thing that I read made me cringe and wince... Mandatory Kinect... Yey! Ugh...

Although the sensor has reportedly been beefed up but unless it gives me a cookie every time I get an achievement I can't see my getting TOO excited about the forced Kinect-ivity.

It also looks like the games will install automatically and in the background as you play because "Durango" games apparently can't read directly from the disc.

Not only that but you can suspend play and switch around through other apps and games and then go back to the original game a'la smartphone apps. Sounds neat.

At this moment, this is all conjecture so don't take anything I say as gospel.

Oh and also, I didn't feel the need to mention the obvious graphical improvements because... Durrr..

Kickstarter Saturday - Asylum

As a fan of H.P. Lovecraft, this game jumped right out at me, Asylum by Senscape and Augustin Cordes.

Asylum is a point and click adventure game set in a large, decaying mental asylum. One can assume that, with the setting and the Lovecraft inspiration, the game will be completely terrifying in the most delightful way. As much as people would like to deny it, everyone loves being scared. It's one of the things that make us feel truly alive.

There aren't a lot of details about Asylum as of yet as Senscape feel it better to keep story details under-wraps to surprise the players, I think that this is a good technique, too much information is liable to sully the experience and no-one wants their experiences sullied.

According to the Asylum Kickstarter page, the story of Asylum will be "very twisty and satisfying." Now I don't know about you, but those are two words I love to hear when describing any game, twists keep things fresh and new, also with close to 100 rooms to explore in the Hanwell Mental Institute, filled with detail and back story, Hanwell's history is your's to discover.

 For helping to fund this project via Kickstarter, you can receive some pretty awesome rewards, including being immortalized in-game, if you pledge $10,000 you can even be an integral point of the story, appearing twice and being a bit of a nuisance to as many players as the game gets. Which will hopefully be a lot as Asylum sounds incredible.

At the time of writing, Asylum is 52% funded with 19 days to go.

The other rewards I haven't mentioned can also be found on the Asylum Kickstarter page 

When Is A Duck Not A Duck? An Antichamber Review

Very rarely will you find a game with such charm and subtle beauty as Antichamber, which started out as being called "Hazard: The Journey of Life" and is just simply... There truly are no words to define this game, but for the sake of this review, I guess I should try and find a couple.

Now, before I start I am only going off of the very limited time I have spent with this game, a short little play and a couple of YouTube videos, most notably the TotalBiscuit video with the developer, Alexander Bruce, where I pulled the title of this review from. It seemed like too good a line to pass up really.

Antichamber is a single person, first person puzzle game. That is where the similarities to any other game end. Some people have likened it to the Portal series, and I can see why. But doing so, is a massive disservice to both games, which are as different as they are similar.

The game is a series of choices, pratfalls, trials and triumph. With clever design and a habit of messing with your head. Antichamber tries to teach you to not trust what you have learnt from other games you have played in the past and instead slows you down, makes you look for the solution, it wont just hand it to you on a silver platter and hold you aloft while you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. No, not at all, Antichamber will perplex you, mystify you and ultimately charm you. I really cannot sing the praises of this lovely indie title enough, released only five days ago.

The game is highly psychological, featuring a 4D art gallery, and who can say no to that?

You can find Antichamber on Steam.

The Witcher 3 Announced

Game Informer Cover

Yes, you heard me correctly the hotly anticipated The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is this months Game Informer cover story, and has officially been announced. As you may notice by the picture, "A Must See Next Generation RPG." Next Gen? Yes, It's due to be released on "top of the line consoles and PCs" by 2014 so we will probably be in the next gen by then, with our PS4s and Xbox 720's (I hate calling it that... if anything its the Xbox 3.)

According to Game Informer though, The Witcher 3 is 30 times larger than The Witcher 2... That's massive right? Well, it must be, it's bigger than Skyrim. With a world that big you're going to need to fast travel right? Right, also there will be mounts and mounted combat

Wild Hunt isn't broken up into acts, however as the new engine, REDengine 3 allows for the exploration of a vast world, and the world of The Witcher 3 is truly vast. However, enemies won't scale to your level so it is possible to wander into an area of the map and have your face unceremoniously ripped from your body, and no one wants that. There will not only be blood thirsty enemies however, there will also be friendly characters who want try to have a bath in your blood, unpredictable weather and sailing.

See that? I ended on a strong note there. Sailing.

Kickstarter Saturday - Cryamore

I had originally planned to cover games that needed more exposure on Kickstarter but this game, Cryamore, Really caught my eye. It sounds almost to good to be true, and apparently more people than me thought that - Cryamore is currently sitting at 171% funded and still has over three weeks to go until the date the funding closes. To me, that is kind of incredible, but after reading through the games Kickstarter page, I can see why the funding has gone so well, so quickly.

Cryamore is an ARPG (action role playing game) and as you can see from the screenshot above, Cryamore looks amazing, the other screenshots on the page are equally as gorgeous. The gameplay of Cryamore will be strongly ability based, using elemental abilities to solve puzzles and advance through the game's story, as well as in combat, a'la Legend of Zelda and Metroid. Certain abilities can be linked to get the most bang for your buck, different abilities can give bonuses against certain elemental enemies. There is no shortage of abilities either.

The developers want the story of Cryamore to be engaging and want the players to play at their own pace, discovering secrets and piecing things together, also it seems the developers are fans of huge plot twists, so expect a couple of those as well, I can imagine.

The rewards for backing Cryamore can be found on the games Kickstarter page

Cryamore is being published by NostalgiCO

Grand Theft Auto V Delayed

The fifth installment of the ever popular open world crime-em-up Grand Theft Auto has been delayed to a September 17th release.

Rockstar acknowledge that this is roughly four months later than the game was expected and hope that the fans of the series will not be too disappointed and ensure the fans that the extra time will be worth the wait.

I personally haven't played much of GTA IV, but I have played many of the other GTA games, and many other Rockstar titles, I fully believe that if Rockstar think they need more time with GTA V then they probably want to make it a really special game.

The team behind GTA have issued a statement which can be found here.

Already on the comments for the statement released by Rockstar, fans are in uproar. One fan even goes as far to say "Honestly , I am very disgusted with this , I mean sure I understand gotta make the game the best it can be , but seriously R* don't give out false information if you're not even too sure of it yourselves!" - username: Infumous

Four in February

A lot of gamers are looking forward to February, it's the month we all get chocolates, flowers and other assorted gifts from the ladies, or indeed men (girl gamers and all that) under take the challenge of completing four games in the month of February. My four are Devil May Cry 1 - 4 in chronological order.

I have completed a couple of the Devil May Cry games before but this seems like a good chance to play through them all again, and because I don't have the new DmC yet. If I did... I would leave out 2 or 4, the to weakest of the four, but still good games in their own rights. 

I will post progress reports every now and again to let you all know how its going.

What will your Four in February be?

Kickstarter Saturday - Artizens

I've decided on a new weekly article, Kickstarter Saturday, so I will be discussing games that are being funded by Kickstarter. For those of you who don't know, Kickstarter is a company that  provides, through its website, tools to fund raise for creative projects via crowd funding. A multitude of games, independent films, music and stage shows.

Artizens by Artizens Inc. is an currently at 436 backers, and have more than half of the money they need pledged, with 22 days remaining. The closing date for backing Artizens is Sunday February 17th. The game seems to be inspired by games such as Monster Hunter and Shadow of the Colossus. It also features a high level of customization for character gear "Artizens' developers promise that the game will feature an "unprecedented" level of customization; each piece of equipment is visible on your character, and players can create and import their own gear with unique properties. The game will also include an online trading feature, to encourage player-drawn creations." - IndieGames.com

What follows are the benefits from backing Artizens: 

•  $15 - The Gamer - Get the game and access to its early versions. This is a great way to get early backstage access and get the game for less money than when it’s released!
• $25 - The Music Lover - Get a digital download of every song produced during the lifetime of the game plus the rewards above.That's right, this isn't your ordinary soundtrack. Since we're an ongoing game, we're going to have a whole lot of music over time and each time we master a new track, it'll be sent to you.
• $40 - The Team Leader - Get the game and soundtrack for you and three friends, enough for a party of adventurers. Because all of our missions support cooperative play and many of our monsters are quite challenging, you’re going to want to play with your friends. It's a great way to show off all the cool gear you make as well. 
• $60 - The Immortal - Get all the game expansions as soon as they are available. For life. Plus all the rewards above. We plan on releasing new monsters, missions, crafts, and mods for as long as we’re in business, so this will add up fast. This is just for your account, not for your three friends, so you'll have some sweet bragging rights.
•  $100 - The Pioneer – *Kickstarter Exclusive* Get a specially made set of equipment with custom art and modifications which are only available through Kickstarter. Plus all the rewards above. We plan on releasing our alpha with 6 weapons/tools and 6 armors. As a Pioneer, you'll get a specially made set of all 12 equips with custom art and mods. This includes Sword and Shield, Bow and Arrow, Potion, Air Bursters (let you double jump or air dash), Repair Turret, Mini Trittentrat (little creepy pet), Helmet, Shirt, Chestplate, Gloves, Pants, and Shoes.
• $250 (limit of 20) - The Chosen - Let our illustrator produce custom art for an equipment of your choice, just for you. Plus all the rewards above. You can choose one of the starting crafts, tell us what you want it to look like, and we’ll have our illustrator draw it up for you. Check out the list of crafts above to see what you can choose from.
• $500 (limit of 10) - The Alchemist - Design a new modification to a craft with our team. Plus all the rewards above. We have a virtual office and we’ll give you access to it, so you can meet up with us online. We’ll work together to come up with a new modification to an existing craft of your choice. For example, maybe we don’t have a mod that makes swords hit twice instead of just once, so you could help us to build the ‘double-hit’ mod. The only restrictions are that we all think it’d be fun for the whole community to use, it will work on an existing craft, and that it has balanced pros and cons, otherwise it can be anything. You’ll be added to the credits for your contribution. 
• $1000 (limit of 5) - The Craftsman - Design a new armor, augment, projectile weapon, or tool with our team. Plus all the rewards above.  This is a much bigger deal than modding a craft. A craft is a whole new object you can use in the game. It will change the way everyone plays the game and you could be one of the devs! You’ll join us online to design a new craft that we all think will be fun for the whole community. You’ll be added to the credits for your contribution. 
• $2000 (limit of 2) - The Virtuoso – Design a new melee weapon, pet, or monster with our team. Plus all the rewards above. These are very complex crafts and require quite a bit of animation, scripting, and design. You’ll join us online in our virtual office and help us make this new complex craft as fun for the whole community as we can. You’ll be added to the credits for your contribution. 
• $5000 (limit of 1) - The Visionary – Design an entire mission scenario with our team. Plus all the rewards above. This is a huge deal. Missions are the core of the game and involve a lot of different things coming together: level design, background drawings, NPCs, big and little monsters, win conditions, time limits. You’ll join us in our virtual office to design a unique mission that will be fun for the whole community. You’ll be added to the credits for your contribution. (Taken from the Artizens Kickstarter page)

If you are able to contribute at all, the game looks and sounds amazing. So I highly recommend it, I will keep you updated on Artizens as the closing date approaches.

Sequels. Franchises. Reboots.

More and more nowadays games are one of the three things the title of this post describes, a sequel, part of a franchise or a reboot of an old series.

Now, I'm not saying all sequels or reboots are bad, that would be ridiculous. If there were no sequels, gaming would go nowhere, no new ideas would be birthed and we would still be stuck with the stuff we played back in the 80's and 90's. Now those games weren't bad but by today, those games have spawned a myriad of sequels, spin offs, movies, collectible card games, you get the picture, there is a lot of excess.

When did gaming become about churning out more of the same stuff over and over again? Well, it's really always been like that. Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Sonic, Metroid, Mega Man, Street Fighter, even my beloved Final Fantasy... They are all guilty. But that's because people buy it! The worst offender, to me, is Call of Duty. Every year, there is a new CoD game, now tell me that isn't slightly obscene?

The same, I have noticed can be said for the movie industry, the amount of remakes of classic movies, or even some movies that didn't need to be rebooted as soon as they were, I'm looking at you Spiderman. The Toby Maguire ones aren't even that old for Heaven's sake!

For my liking, there aren't enough original ideas and when there is they are over shadowed by that years sequel or remake/reboot. Even if that idea is a complete masterstroke! If the world would celebrate creativity and fresh, original ideas more, we would see more new games but then the cycle self perpetuates... A good game, with a lot of fan feedback is likely to get a sequel then turn into a trilogy and then BOOM! We have a franchise and a movie and a TCG or CCG, figurines, special edition consoles.

I guess, when I really think about it: Sequels and franchises and reboots are necessary, they keep the industry churning... But wait! What about indies? Ah, the lovely independent game studios, they aren't afraid to take risks, look at Fez or Minecraft! Both widely different from anything on the market at the time and they killed the markets. Even Super Meat Boy, although a tad formulaic still destroyed the market. Purely because the game control was tight, the story was creative (I am aware Minecraft had no real story, but that was the beauty of it, you created the own lore for your world.) 

If independent games companies aren't afraid to take risks when more than likely they can't afford to fail, why don't big studios take more risks?