Microsoft scrap Xbox One's used game and always online policies.

Microsoft have made a complete U-turn concerning the Xbox One's used game policy and the always online policy. The move was made due to increasing discontent from gamers worldwide, which largely overshadowed their presence at E3 2013.

In a statement made last night Microsoft's interactive president, Don Mattrick, said, "The ability to lend, share, and resell these games at your discretion is of incredible importance to you. Also important to you is the freedom to play offline, for any length of time, anywhere in the world".

Mattrick's statements will please gamers who were angered at the idea of losing their freedom to exchange and rent used games.

"Trade-in, lend, resell, gift, and rent disc based games just like you do today - there will be no limitations to using and sharing games, it will work just as it does today on Xbox 360"

Consumers lacking broadband internet have also been addressed with the announcement that the proposed 24 hour always online connection has been scrapped.

"An internet connection will not be required to play offline Xbox One games".

The decision to reverse the planned policies may now put the Xbox One back in contention with Sony's PS4, which has been seeing more consumer interest since both consoles became available for pre-order.

Image credits

www.edge-online.com

REVIEW: LEGO The Lord of the Rings (Xbox 360)

Build, play, destroy. This is the LEGO philosophy. A cycle of infinite creation that continues to entertain different ages all over the world. Since 2005’s LEGO Star Wars, Travellers Tales have been applying the same old formula onto Hollywood’s blockbusters, creating different games that play exactly the same way. Now they give the Lego treatment to Tolkien’s fantasy epic: The Lord of the Rings and at long last, they have cracked it.

If you've been living in a hobbit hole for the past 12 years here is a super quick summary of the trilogy. The Halfling Frodo must unite the races of Middle Earth embarking on a dangerous adventure to destroy the one ring, ending the threat of the evil Lord Sauron’s world dominance. LTLOTR takes 11 hours and 23 minutes of film and condenses that into a neat package of 18 levels, six for each movie. As sparse as this seems the story never looses momentum, due to engaging cut scenes and a great new overworld.

Explore Hobbition at your leisure.

LTLOTR has a huge free to roam overworld, that keeps the story flowing by allowing players to travel to the next chapter. This welcome addition eradicates the need for a LEGO Star wars style central hub that abruptly interrupts the narrative. For example this time around after finishing the prologue level the player is dropped into Bag end, from there the whole of Hobbiton is up for exploration. Ride sheep, visit the fairground, and creep through Farmer Maggots field, all at your own pace. It is in these moments that the game excels. Yes the linear levels are still in there but now the overall experience feels like you are really living out the story not just joining it at important moments. Fanboys of the trilogy will be in their element canoeing down the river Anduin or taking a rest in The Prancing Pony. However the thing that keeps gamers coming back to these games isn't the movies license, in fact the LEGO games fundamental strength is in the third word of this review.

"Let's hunt some Orc"

There is something peculiarly satisfying about destroying every object in sight. The B button gets a good workout at every opportune moment, be it a colourful patch of flowers, a stray boulder, or even a lonely elf taking a moonlit stroll around Rivendell. LTLOTR actually rewards player’s sadistic side in the form of LEGO stud pieces exploding out of every object you vandalize. Collecting studs allows players to purchase new characters to use when replaying the game in free play mode. As with previous iterations there will parts of levels during the story that characters cannot interact with. Targets can only be shot by bow users and certain blocks can only be built with a wizard’s magic. This is where free play mode comes in, allowing any character to play through any level, finally letting you claim that out of reach purple stud piece.

They say there is no “I” in team, and there certainly isn't one in LEGO. LTLOTR is built for cooperative play. It features local co-op through an easy one button drop in/ drop out experience. Players seamlessly switch between shared screen and split-screen action through an innovative animation, giving the freedom of single player but always keeping the connectivity of multiplayer. Co-op play lets players experience the story as they unfold in real time. Same time events such as the hobbits running from the Ringwraiths whilst Gandalf duels with Saruman can now be enjoyed simultaneously via use of the split-screen, giving players a much more exciting and involved experience.

The lighting effects look fantastic.

LEGO games aren’t renowned for their blistering graphics, or sweeping landscapes, however this excursion into Middle Earth is a surprisingly pretty adventure. The art style reflects LEGO’s playful nature with colourfully bright LEGO pieces set against more natural environments. The landscapes are vast and quite spectacular views can be seen from one of the games many peaks. (Caradhras being a personal favourite) When rotating the camera these heights really highlight the scale that the overworld map encompasses. Many toy based games try their utmost to hide the fact that they are just that, toys. However the Lego games have always used this as their strength and exploited it for a finely balanced comedic value. Frodo’s LEGO hand being bitten off by Gollum actually adds to the charm of the game rather than hurting the integrity of the film. Characters look as “Legofied” as they would in real life and have been given a really nice polished rendering, which makes them more living plastic than digitized toy.

The original film score was used in the game, and to be quite blunt, it’s as glorious as it was first time around. Watching the trilogy is an enchanting experience that largely is due to composer Howard Shore’s masterful soundtrack. The original voice acting brings an air of authenticity to the overall package that is especially noticeable during cut scenes. Hearing the likes of Boromir’s second most popular saying “They have a cave troll” (runner-up only to the meme friendly “one does not simply walk into Mordor”) envelops you deeper into Tolkien’s adventure, making it easy to forget you are playing a LEGO game.

The longevity of LTLOTR depends on what type of player you are. For the casual player the story will give you about eight hours of play time. But for the 100% completionists there is 40 hours+ that can easily be squeezed out due to the abundance of collectables. Not only studs are up for grabs, there are also three wearable items, ten minikit pieces and one Mithril blueprint on every level. Then in the overworld there are the aforementioned characters available for purchase, (a whole 84!) Mithril blocks to discover and countless NPC’s in desperate need of help. Mithril is used alongside a blueprint to create an item for one of these people in need, prolonging the games life even further. For a LEGO Game there really has a huge amount of content to enjoy.

A world of collecting stud pieces awaits.

LEGO The Lord of the Rings marks a fresh instalment into Travellers Tales previously sinking ship. The inclusions of free to roam play, upgraded current gen visuals, and a truly immersive LOTR experience, give a much needed boost to the ageing gameplay. Although at times repetitive this game provides an enjoyable adventure to anyone and is a must have for LOTR fans.

-Image credits

www.mattbrett.com 

www.impulsedriven.com

www.feralinteractive.com
www.videogames.lego.com

Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge Xbox360 Review (Demo)

 Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge Xbox360 Review (Demo)

Blood. This is the first and last thing you will see when delving into the demo for Tecmo’s Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge. Players new to the series should not come expecting the stereotypical stealthy ninja game, a la the Tenchu series. Instead NG3 presents the fabled ninja as less of the live in the shadows, art of deception, silent killer, and replaces it with a more slash first ask questions later depiction. Think John-117 trading his assault rifle for a katana and greeting a phantom-load of grunts. Definitely not one for the squeamish among us, NG3 delivers a blood splattering experience but ultimately suffers from rushed development and shallow gameplay.

Graphically NG3 is a good looking game for its genre. It's a fast paced action game and the art team recognised this by taking the perfect approach. Bland environments contrasted with vibrant blood. You progress through locations quickly and with a blood thirsty appetite, therefore there isn’t much time for sightseeing. The demo is set in a run-down desert town where sand is in abundance. This makes the blood stand out in a very outrageous fashion; you will certainly know when you make contact with an enemy as their glorious streaks of red stain the sand. 

"The negotiations will be short" - Qui-Gon Jin

Gameplay is the heart and soul of NG3 and at its core the game revolves around a hack and slash mechanic. The game shares its time between two distinct sections, exploration and combat. The first is very similar to Assassin’s Creed’s acrobatic free running. Jumping between buildings here, running across walls there, all with seemingly effortless ninja flair. This part of the game is extremely enjoyable and provides intuitive interactions allowing the user a greater participation than merely “Press A to scale wall”. Unfortunately these sections throughout the demo are few and far between, unproportionately sharing the limelight with the combat segments.

When you reach the combat the action becomes very hectic. The protagonist, Ryu uses an arsenal of swift katana combinations, acrobatic ninja skills, and elemental magic attacks called Ninpo to defeat his enemies. Progression in the game allows the player to upgrade to stronger Ninpo and develop Ryu’s sword skills. Mastering these skills will enable relentless barrages of limb severing attacks. However trying to remember and execute these routines, all whilst being bombarded with countless enemies, only results in confusion and death. Which nine times out of ten is at the hands of one of the game’s many grenade wielding suicidal terrorists.  In fact countless resurrections only inspire the player to pound X (quick attack) and Y (heavy attack) even harder. Talk about sore thumbs.

In fact the entire demo feels hurriedly put together. From the offset there is a clear lack of guidance; Controls are hurriedly thrown at the player mid battle without even the courtesy of halting the action, enemies all have the same voice repeatedly shouting the same pleasantries of “F*** you!”, and they attack in very unrealistically rigid waves, that seem to spring out of thin air as soon as the previous group is killed.

NG3 offers a wide variety of upgrades to earn.

In general the game takes a very linear approach. For example after a short run about the rooftops you are repeatedly lead to very obvious square clearings, where upon reaching the middle a fight ensues. A rather monotonous way to drive a narrative.

Speaking of the story, the demo fails to give one. The player is simply dropped off in the desert outside a ruined town and as soon as you enter you are inundated with bandits trying to kill you. Understandably this is a trial run of an unfinished product but even a paragraph detailing the basics would have given the player a sense of motivation that this presentation is sorely missing.

Overall the demo of Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s edge disappoints. The visuals fail to save what is ultimately a shallow hack and slash affair. By all means the fun is there to be had and quite frankly the gore puts NG3 up there with God of War Ascension, as one of the filthiest games currently out there. But for the serious gamer looking to invest his time in something that will satisfy his gameplay and storytelling needs, this isn’t for you.



-Image credits
 www.videogamer.com
 www.garetro.com

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