Game Review: Hitman: Absolution (the campaign)

It’s been over six years since Agent 47 showed his face and any fan of Hitman will have being anticipating it for a long time. So what’s he up to in this new game? Well it turns out that his old friend Dianna from the agency has exposed the agency to the world and brought it to its knees. Now the agency has rebuilt itself and they have put a contract on her head and guess what, the contract is yours.

Pretty much straight away you find out why Dianna did what she did and you find yourself continuing with her work by trying to protect a teenage girl whilst going rogue from the agency. The rest of the game is focused around the wellbeing of this girl and avoiding being killed by the agency that you’ve just betrayed.

To be quite blunt the storyline for Hitman: Absolution is average at best. They’ve finally given the agency a face and to be honest it’s quite a rubbish one. The main characters in the agency seem to be lacking the intelligence of a premiership footballer. As well as this Agent 47 seems to be seeking information from some unlikely characters, which leads you to ask why can a mad man in a bus surrounded by pigeons get Intel before the agency? Also, some of the assassins that come after agent 47, well let’s just say that their appearance sometimes seems less than subtle for people that want to go unnoticed.  

However, the characters have great AI. For instance 47 has a huge range of fake identities that he can take on during a mission. But if someone in the same clothes sees you they will start to become suspicious of you as you are not someone that they recognise. This works really well in an environment such a garage where 47 is dressed as a mechanic. But when he’s dressed as a police officer in a city with 300 other officers on duty, it seems a little farfetched to think that they all know each other’s faces. But it’s a small issue with something that overall works very well.

There is also a large range of difficulty options to choose from that you can switch between during the campaign, meaning that if you’re finding it too hard or too easy at any point then you can just adjust it to suit your abilities. And don’t think that just because you’ve learnt a map on easy that you’ll smash it on expert because you won’t. The chances are they’ll be more enemies in your path and their reactions will definitely be sharper. This gives the game a great deal of replay-ability. The good news about the increase in NPCs is that if you are seen you still have time to take out the people who have seen you before they raise the alarm, unlike previous Hitman games where the alarm is instantly raised as soon as you’re seen.

The controls for Hitman: Absolution are also very smooth. They allow you to take and change cover very easily. There’s a large range of weapons to choose from and 47’s use of them can be very realistic. Especially when it comes to the sniper rifle where you can gently squeeze the trigger to steady your aim before taking a shot, instead of just clicking a button to hold 47’s breath.

However, many hardcore fans of the Hitman games will be disappointed to find that you can no longer select your equipment before going on a mission and that your behaviour in one mission won’t affect how people react towards you in future ones. In a sense this is a major regression for the Hitman series.

 The Graphics for Hitman: Absolution are extremely good and have obviously pushed the game’s engine to its limits. Unfortunately there is the odd occasion where you may find yourself in a huge shootout with two dozen enemies. When this happens and you survive for a little while, you’ll probably find that the NPCs sometimes jump from one end of a room to another and could result in 47 being cheated out of life. 

THE VERDICT

Hitman: Absolution Has its good points and its bad. The story is pretty poor and the choices you have before entering a mission have pretty much vanished. However, you now have loads more weapons to choose from in game and disguises have greatly improved. The graphics are epic and the AI is pretty good as well. Long term fans of the series will most likely be a little unhappy with how the game has turned out though. But overall it is a really fun game to play if you have never played a Hitman game before. And even if you are familiar with the series, you will probably just be happy to be re-equated with your old friend Agent 47.

LHSRAting for Hitman: Absolution – 8/10 (Xbox 360)

-Ayden

Click here to Follow us on Facebook!!! 

Game Review: Spec Ops: The Line (the campaign)

Spec Ops: The Line is set within the destroyed city of Dubai. The city was hit by huge sandstorms leaving Dubai half buried under a desert. Although most people made it out of the city before the storms hit, this is Dubai and there were always going to be people who were too impoverished and incapable of finding their way out of the city. U.S. Army Colonel Konrad and his infantry battalion The 33^rd were tasked with the evacuation of Dubai and when ordered to leave the city before it was too late, Colonel Konrad and his men disobeyed and chose to stay in an attempt to help those civilians left behind.

Six months later and the world now assumes that Dubai is nothing more than a ghost city with its inhabitance fled or dead. That is until a distress signal is received, sent from Colonel Konrad requesting an evacuation. This is where you come into it. You play Captain Walker of the U.S. Army Delta Force and it is your squad’s mission to enter Dubai and simply search for any survivors and particularly Colonel Konrad.  

 

When you first start playing the game it just appears to be a bog standard third person shooter, all be it with a pretty original back story. After a chapter or two you start to realise that Dubai is far from uninhabited and you find yourself killing people all over the place to rock music. And the music isn’t just random, because Dubai has its own radio DJ. This comes across as quite strange at first and the story doesn’t seem to be going anywhere for a few chapters.

Then all of a sudden about half way through the game you are given choices to make To start with this just feels like an afterthought from a developer that has just finished playing Mass Effect. But by the end you see that it really isn’t an afterthought and that the person who wrote this game is a bit of a psychological genius. The difference is that with other games the choices you make are clear cut and will result in good and bad things happening. In Spec Ops you don’t have that luxury; you just have to do what you have to do to survive and hope that that is enough whilst you search for the truth and maintaining your sanity.  

You also have two NPC team mates with you and again at first Spec Ops seems to be trying to get you to feel for these guys but you just can’t because they are the generic soldier characters that you get in most action games. But very slowly as the game progresses you start to build some sort of respect for them and you almost feel like you need them as their own character profiles develop.

There are also collectables in Spec Ops which for a change actually fit into a game really well. The collectables come in the form of ‘evidence’ and each piece gives you a bit more information about what is going on and slightly more insight into some of the characters.

The game itself has lots of different locations, from desert wastelands to the hotels that were once only for the very wealthy. Usually when a game tries to do this the levels seem very forced together, making cut sense appear to be just a tool used to move locations. But in Spec Ops this isn’t the case and pretty much all of the cut scenes seem to be telling an important part of the story whilst also moulding the chapters together.  

The environment is also used very well. With most of it destructible you can shoot windows out to make sand fall in on people and you can take out things that people where stood on to make them fall to their deaths. You can even blind your enemies with sand that has been thrown up from an exploding grenade. You also have to make every shot count because ammo is few and far between, meaning that you will almost definitely have to pick up new weapons in each chapter.

The A.I is quite intelligent in this game as well, for both the enemy and your team mates. You can even tell your squad to target someone and they will actually do it, and from behind cover as well. The game controls are a bit scratchy at times though and you’ll quite often find that you’ll melee a wall instead of jumping over it, and then you’ll run up to cover but not actually hide behind it.

THE VERDICT

Spec Ops: The Line seems very generic to start with and things happen throughout the campaign that make you question why the developers thought it was a good idea to put these things in at all. But half way through things start to get interesting. If you play the game all the way through all will be explained, and you will not be disappointed when you find out the truth about Dubai and the secrets that it holds. 

LHSRAting for Spec Ops: The Line – 7.6/10 (Xbox 360)

-Ayden

Click here to Follow us on Facebook!!!

2.8 Hours Later

2.8 hours later – a city wide zombie chase game

Can you survive a zombie apocalypse?

Survivor

2.8 hours later is a city wide zombie chase game in which you and a group of friends test your wits (and stamina) against the hordes of the undead. The 2012 UK Epidemic spanned six cities: Leeds. Nottingham, Bristol, Manchester, London and for the first time this year the game came to Birmingham. Hundreds signed up to see if they had what it took to survive.

Before the game began we were registered and given three things,an armband (so the zombies know who to eat), a map and a set of co-ordinates. We were given a safety briefing (basically don't be an idiot and remember that it's just a game) we were also given a warning that there had been two promotions of “boss zombies”, seasoned volunteers who we should avoid at all costs. We were set loose in the city with a chilling message: there are zombies outside that door who are trying to eat you.

Walking into the street during a zombie apocalypse changed how I started to think. My mind entered a heightened sense of awareness and everywhere was a possible lurking place for the infected. After making our way to the first checkpoint (very cautiously) we met the first survivor; a woman who had lost her husband. She was understandably distraught, and a little bit crazy, but what do you expect in a zombie apocalypse! After eventually teasing the second set of co-ordinates from her we were advanced upon by zombies and fled the scene.

I'm reluctant to give the plot of the game away because I enjoyed it so much and wouldn't want to spoil the surprise for you, but this pattern continued for a while. We were met by many different survivors along the way, each with their own story to tell. As the game progressed the zombies became more and more commonplace, and even worse: they were getting faster. By the midway point my adrenaline was pumped up and I started to forget that this was just a game. 
“I'm being chased by zombies! They're about to eat me! RUN!” I kept thinking. It's easy to think that you'd be calm and collected at the end of the world but if this experience has taught me anything it's that I won't be, no-one will.

So after surviving the zombie apocalypse (and yes, I did survive and no, it wasn't easy) we were led into the “safe zone” through a quarantine tunnel to be scanned for the infection. Those who were infected were sent to the infected area where the virus took it's hold (they were made up to look like the zombies who had just been chasing them) and we all danced the night away at the zombie disco.

Infected

The following night I took a turn for the worse and, as it turns out I must have been infected because I spent the evening as a zombie!

If you get a chance to volunteer (and if you pass zombie school) then I'd definitely recommend it. It is one of the single funniest experiences of my life. First of all the team were great, the guys really have a passion for what they do and it's such a lively atmosphere. We were assigned zones and zombie types (shuffling or running) based on our strengths at zombie school.

I was lucky enough to be put in one of the creepiest zones. It was a massive street which was pretty poorly lit alongside some derelict buildings, the perfect place for a zombie ambush! As an added bonus I could see the whole street from my hiding place and watching the action unfold was just awesome. When the first zombie started chasing the survivors they all grouped up along the right hand side, avoiding another zombie on the left. Little did they know that there was one in the bushes, then, BAM! Out he ran and the whole group scattered like a flock of birds, easy pickings for the living dead. I was at the bottom of the street, waiting for the survivors who thought they were safe. So many people would turn around to see if their friends had made it, BIG mistake. Half the time I decided to chase people and half the time I made it my mission to scare the shit out of them. Both times were hilarious and I've never seen so many grown men scream like little girls and so many people say “Holy fuck” with real terror in their voice.

Once our shift was finished we were transported to zombie HQ to get changed and make our way to the zombie disco, where we could meet the people we'd been terrifying all night long.

As you can probably tell, I really enjoyed the whole experience, and there's no doubt in my mind that I'll be doing it again. For more information on the game, and when it'll be coming to a city near you, visit http://2.8hourslater.com/

-Simon

Game Review: Max Payne 3 (the campaign)

So Max Payne is back and after waiting nine years for this all I can really say is, it’s about bloody time (although it has taken me an extra  five months to get around to actually playing it).

So for those that don’t know, the Max Payne games are all about a bitter alcoholic cop who has lost pretty much everyone he has ever cared about due to crime and corruption. Usually the Max Payne games are based in the dark underground streets of New York and are very personal to the Max Payne character because they’re all about him seeking the truth and vengeance of his dead wife and child. 

Max Payne 3 takes you in a new direction however. Max has left the NYPD and gone to sunny Brazil to work as a bodyguard for the rich and live out his years drinking whisky at boat parties. Max’s current contract is to protect some wealthy brothers and one of their wives, whilst escorting them to night clubs and parties. Obviously this wouldn’t make a great Max Payne game so in true Max Payne style things soon take a turn for the worst and you find yourself shooting up half the country.

Now if you’ve never played a Max Payne game, don’t worry, you don’t need to know anything about the other two to play this one. Plus Rockstar have been good enough to devote a whole half a page of the manual to explain Max’s background. This doesn’t mean that fans of the first two games are going to be disappointed or feel that Max is a new man though. There are constant references that Max makes throughout the game that will remind you of the things he’s been through in previous games.

It’s not just the Character that has retained that Max Payne aura about it either. Max still has this internal monologue thing going on throughout the game, meaning that as stuff happens Max is letting you know what he’s thinking, without actually speaking out loud and to himself like an idiot.

People who have played the first two games will remember that cut scenes were actually just comic book strips with speech bubbles. Well obviously a game in 2012 would not get away with doing that, especially one developed by Rockstar. However, they have managed to combine that classic comic book style with actual video cut scenes by occasionally pausing the video, shrinking the screen, and continuing the video in another box. It sounds a little strange but it actually works really well, whereby it has real cut scenes but stays true to the classic Max Payne approach. The cut scenes also have a way of reminding you that Max is always either drunk, hungover, high on prescription drugs, or a combination of all of these things and it gives the game a great cinematic feel to it. If you don’t like the idea of constant or lengthy cut scenes then you may get a little irritated by them in Max Payne 3, but I personally found that they always fitted in quite well and were only really there to explain the next part of the story, which is what cut scenes are meant for in my opinion.

The only downside to the cut scenes are that every other word that is spoken by a character is flashed up on the screen. I can only imagine that they did this to further add to keeping in line with the original Max Payne games as they had the whole texts written in each comic frame. But it really doesn’t work that well in Max Payne 3 and you often find yourself being drawn to a random word that has popped up instead of watching that guy crawl away with a missing arm.

Now they’ve kept something that to new users will look stupid and unprofessional, and that is that when Max is riddled with bullet holes and a cut scene happens, Max is still riddled with bullet holes. He just walks around with blood coming out of his lungs and stomach, and has no limp what so ever even though you could probably pass a pencil through his knee. But I think the developers did this on purpose, partly because this is how it was in the other two games and partly because Max Payne is a Bad Ass! 

There is obviously still quick time in Max Payne 3 which any fan of these games will remember and know that it is really quite easy to master. For those that don’t know what quick time is, it’s just slow motion. Just think Matrix and you’ll have a pretty good understanding of what it is. Oh and Max Payne did it first by the way. The other thing that is still in the game is the health bar. In recent years we’ve seen the rise of the regenerating health system, meaning as long as you can hide for long enough you’ll be fine. But Max Payne isn’t a pussy and he doesn’t hide... ever! Instead you’ll have to find pain killers and Max will use them like med kits. That’s right, Max doesn’t need to stop the bleeding, he just needs to numb the pain a little.

So what’s actually new? Well the environment is different, and I don’t just mean because he’s in Brazil. The environment is now destructible. I know this isn’t new to the world of gaming but it is new to the world of Max Payne and it does lead to the player having to been a little bit more tactical. Thinking about it, this is probably another reason why Max doesn’t hide.

The developers have also added in golden guns. You can to collect all the parts during a campaign level and then whenever you pick a gun up that you have all the golden parts for it turns gold in your hand. I don’t like this for two reasons. Firstly it’s a golden gun! This is Max Payne, not Amy of Two. Secondly, I just don’t like the idea of searching levels high and low for an in game collectable because by the time you’ve finished looking you’ve forgotten what the hell is going on the game. But to be fair to the developers every game does it and it’s a real minor thing to complain about.

The game can be quite graphic at times, which is good because it’s a Max Payne game. It does this by showing you people who have had limbs blown off, people who have been burnt alive and by allowing you to slow down time for your final kill so that you can empty an entire clip into some guy’s head. And I did waste a lot of ammo by using the final kill slow motion camera. It’s just very addictive. 

The story is also very clever in its approach. As mentioned earlier Max is now a bodyguard for the rich in Brazil. Whilst you play the game you get a real good insight into the social tension that is going on between the rich and the poor. Max sees that there are some wealthy people that are trying to help the poor, whilst others are abusing and exploiting them. But Max also gets to see the other side of the coin and often comments on the different ways in which the poor try to escape the extreme poverty that comes with living in the Brazilian slums. This is not only shown in the main story but also in the clues that you can find, resulting in little bits of Max’s internal monologue being played and giving the player an insight into what Max thinks of all this. Of course, like always, Max never really sees the whole picture until later and neither do you.

Now any fan of the Max Payne games will know that the stories in the first two games are very personal to the Max Payne character, and that this is one of the main things that made those games so great. But you don’t really get that feeling in Max Payne 3. Instead you’re left wondering if Max actually feels he owes these people something or if he’s just trying to get himself killed in a heroic last stand. Or maybe he’s finally completely lost it and thinks he’s some sort of Batman Robin-Hood hybrid with guns. The story is still pretty good though and it does have a few dark twists in it, some more predictable than others. And at least there are no bad dreams in this one where you’re tight roping on blood to the sound of a crying baby.   

Unfortunately there is a huge lack of freedom in both the path you take to reach your destination and the tactics you use to get there. You have no choice but to go in guns blazing with a very structured path to follow at all times, even when it looks like you might actually be given a choice or two. 

 

So overall I’d say Max Payne 3 is a pretty good game. It stays true to the first two and does very well in the new environment. The story isn’t perfect or personal enough for a Max Payne game but it is good and does give a great social insight into the how people from different economical backgrounds live. The graphics are pretty good and the cut scenes give the game a cinematic style whilst also maintaining that classic comic book approach. It does have a couple of down sides, like flashing words during the videos and collectable golden guns to remind you that this is just a game. But these are tiny issues and can be overlooked. The main downside is the lack of freedom that you are given in strategy and rout. But when judging the game as a whole it has to be said that this is still one worth playing, if you are new to Max Payne or not. The Bottom line is that Max Payne is back and he’s still a bad ass.... Just now he’s a bad ass with a beard.

-Ayden