Kratos

You don’t really get manlier than the god of war himself do you? Kratos has shown gamers his brutality and visceral fighting techniques as he disembowels minotaurs and pulls other god’s heads off; but now if he only showed some class in his masculinity. While Kratos is rocking a pretty impressive goatee, a little mo would do him wonders. Not only would he look even manlier, but his enemies will see him as a more dignified and civilized opponent, rather than a blood thirsty savage (which we don’t really mind by the way).

Nathan Drake

Everyone’s favourite smooth-talking treasure hunter seems to have it all – good looks, witty lines, endless luck, globe spanning escapades and of course any girl he lays his eyes on. Well, you’re wrong. One thing Nate is oblivious to is his own facial hair. The man does not have a mo, and he should. A moustachioed Nathan Drake would add greater depth to his suave demeanour and leave the ladies chasing him, rather than the opposite. Maybe we’ll see a facial hair DLC pack for Uncharted 3.

Marcus Fenix

Similar to Kratos, Gears of War’s main protagonist seems to have the manly attitude down. Fenix takes a no-holds barred approach as he curb stomps and chainsaws his way through hordes of Locust without even blinking. His tough guy front still requires one thing though – the mo. A glorious moustache would be a perfect match for Fenix’s straight-faced grimace, and with Fenix’s right-hand man Dom showing off his beard in Gears 3, hopefully Marcus will be flashing the ‘stache sometime soon.

And a notable mention to some of gaming’s men already rocking the mo: Old Snake, Prince of Persia (on occasion), Mario, Luigi, Victor Sullivan,

Prominant South African gaming site Do Gaming have served up an offer too tantalising too ignore. R100 000 is up for grabs as a prize for their soon-to-be launched Battlefield 3 league; who says gaming can’t earn you money!? Check out the official statement below:

Telkom Do Gaming will launch a Battlefield 3 league in 2012 with R100 000 in prize money.

Ricus Groenewald, Telkom Gaming Manager, says Battlefield 3 has been a key focus for Telkom Do Gaming over the past couple of months and will be an important part of the 2012 Do Gaming League.

“The Telkom Do Gaming stand at the rAge expo exclusively hosted the game before its launch, giving gamers the chance to experience the title. We also launched our Do Uncapped offering at rAge with a Battlefield 3 bundle. With the game’s launch last month, we’re working hard to prepare for the 2012 season,” he says.

Having supported both Battlefield 2 up until 2009 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 in 2010, Do Gaming will soon open registrations for the Battlefield 3 league on the Do Gaming League website – http://www.dogamingleague.co.za.

Groenewald says that as with all Do Gaming Leagues, the Battlefield 3 league is scheduled to run over multiple legs on servers hosted at SGS. The first leg will be used for seeding and gamers will battle it out in the following legs for rankings. The top teams from the online league will be invited to play at the League Championships.

It is likely teams will be structured in an eight player format with a maximum of three reserves allowed.

The Battlefield 3 league is being supported by both EA, the publishers of the game and Gaming Inc http://www.gaminginc.co.za, which will each contribute R50 000 to the Championships, making a total of R100 000.

Ralph Spinks, EA South Africa’s product marketing manager, says EA is thrilled to have a title in the Do Gaming Leagues once more.

“Battlefield 2 was first launched in 2005 and was a regular fixture in the Do Gaming Leagues. With Battlefield 3 launching six years later, we’re excited to see gamers have the chance to compete online at the highest level with Do Gaming,” he says.

Rynier Schoeman, Gaming Inc events coordinator, says Gaming Inc is throwing its weight behind Battlefield 3 and hopes to see it become the largest online league in South Africa.

“Battlefield 3 is one of the most anticipated competitive gaming titles in the last few years and Gaming Inc will be actively supporting the game through the year in a bid to see it become the largest competitive gaming title in South Africa,” he says.

Battlefield 3 launched on 28 October 2011 and the Do Gaming League will kick off in February 2011 with registrations expected to open before the end of the year.

Source

This time, the story revolves more around Nathan Drake’s long late relative Sir Francis Drake than ever before. Nate notices a discrepancy in Sir Francis’ diary in regards to his voyages and realizes that his ring is the key to finding a city known as “The Atlantis of the Sands”. As expected a shady organization wants to find it too and the treachery and cat-and-mouse games ensue. While it may sound very familiar, Drake’s Deception houses the best story of all three games and manages to personalize many of the characters and relationships we’ve grown fond of. Underlying themes of Nate’s obsession and endangerment of others is addressed which lends a lot of gravity to the story. The voice acting is stellar and exhibits narrative storytelling that is unprecedented in the medium.

Graphically, Uncharted 3 impresses from a technical and design standpoint. The models, lighting and scale of the game is absolutely jaw-dropping, while the attention to detail is second-to-none as every model, environment and set-piece is beautifully designed.

Throughout the game, you’ll still be fulfilling the mix of gameplay styles the Uncharted series has become known for. Cover shooting, platforming and puzzle sections make up the majority of the game, although the melee combat system has been overhauled. Brawling sections are more prevalent now where an attack, counter and grab moves are available. These segments end up being very cinematic and aren’t as fast as something such as Arkham City, but they flow well and the animations in the fights are great to watch.

Quick-time events are still evident throughout the game, although they have been cut down as opposed to Uncharted 2. Putting the player in control more often than not works well for the experience as it gives players that immersive feeling during intense action sequences.

Online multiplayer appears relatively unchanged from that of Among Thieves, however the platforming and shooting mechanics still make the matches unique in comparison to other online games out there. New co-op survival modes have also been added, as well as local split-screen which makes the whole package much more valuable.

Overall, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception is the closest thing to perfection. It manages to juggle a variety of different gameplay styles and mechanics in order to create a game which can just about do anything. The action, story and gameplay is bigger and better than it’s ever been and if you’re a Playstation 3 owner you shouldn’t even be hesitating to buy this.

Pros

• Thrilling story
• Gorgeous visuals
• Constantly surprises

Cons

• Some cheap deaths

• A copy of the game (PS3/Xbox 360)
• WRC 2 windscreen visor
• and a WRC 2 steering wheel grip

All you have to do is answer this easy question below: what does “WRC” stand for?

Conditions

Competition closes 18th November 2011.

Winners will be notified via email.

Only SA citizens with viable postal addresses and emails

As WRC 2 is the official licensed game for the World-Rally-Championship, the game has just about everything that a rally enthusiast can hope for. The cars, the tracks, the drivers and the season are all mirrored straight from the WRC.

Blackbean haven’t exactly produced the most graphically advanced games to date, and unfortunately WRC 2 carries the same misfortune. Cars are relatively well-modeled, although the enviroments and interface seem really bland and often resemble Dirt’s asthetic a little too closely.

On the plus side, the gameplay is extraordinary. Not only is it a massive jump from last year’s original, it gives the game so much character that you will find yourself coming back for more and more. There is so much that they’ve done right in this game, for example, the different track surfaces feel unique and have a large affect on handling. The handling models of each car feel more realistic than ever as there’s a good sense of speed, which makes cornering and braking a real challenge.

The career is very involving. It starts off quite basic and becomes a lot more challenging and advanced. Hiring team managers and technicians to look after your chosen sponsors and do research on better performing components are some of the career criteria at your disposal. All of these options take time and cost money, the less time you allocate towards your research, the less you have for repairs for the following tournament. So allocate and plan wisely.

The aspect that makes the game so enjoyable is the variety, length and overall layout of the tracks. Each track has different surface levels and will give many, a hard time on deciding what setup to choose.

The sound department leaves quite a bit to be desired. There’s nothing worse than having to listen to someone rambling on with a very flat monotonous tone of voice. Playing this game with no audio and your own music in the background will save you from going crazy. Mix one of the most boring, flat, unexpressive voice with the same constant popping sound of your engine backfiring, will have you tearing your hair out in no time.

WRC2 is the rally game for enthusiasts. The career is long, it will keep you playing for hours on end as there is so much to unlock in terms of cars, sponsors and tracks. I recommend it for those who are fans of the WRC and want to race against their favourite drivers on the world’s most prestigious rally tracks. Unfortunately, the game is so focused on conventional rally, there there is not much else. Those searching for a more relaxed and varied game, should look elsewhere.

The title doesn’t too many favours of special goodies. Instead you get the two games, maxed out in glorious 1080p HD visuals and some trophy support. That’s not to say it isn’t a good deal, as you’re already getting two games for less than the price of one.

Both stories are very good and tie into the franchise very neatly. Chains of Olympus covers Kratos’ service to the Gods, while Ghost of Sparta sees our beloved disemboweler explore his past. The narratives stand out from one another, particularly Ghost of Sparta, which is probably the strongest of the whole series.

The game’s visuals have their ups and downs. Given that the games are originally PSP titles, and particularly the older Chains of Olympus, many of the models and environments appear blocky and geometric. The pre-rendered cut scenes are also pulled straight out of the original titles and are grainy and ropey at best.

Onto the good. The use of another analogue on the full PS3 controller does wonders for the control of the game, as you can now dodge without the use of the PSP’s shoulder buttons. This makes the whole combat gameplay that much better, and gameplay is where God of War shines.

The fast and frantic fighting mechanics remain intact here and the clearer visuals and sharper controls make it a much more enjoyable experience.

God of War: Origins is going to be a must-buy for any fan of the series. However, for those on the fence, it’s a great value title, where you’ll get to experience both games (which were overlooked by most gamers) at a decent price. Everything you loved about the God of War franchise has survived the transition to the PS3 and given that each game will provide another 10-12 hours of addictive violence, it’s worth checking out.

Huge overhauls in the game’s visuals are immediately apparent. While maintaining the same graphical style as previous games, PES 2012 sharpens up on just about everything on the pitch. The game really does look gorgeous and is now feels that way to, as the player movement is fluid and even more flexible than ever before. There are still certain graphical issues in some of the cut-scenes, but when they work out, they’re absolutely gorgeous.

The passing mechanic, where you push the ball into space as opposed to directing it at a player, has been reinvigorated this year. The difference is that the passing seems a lot faster and more responsive, changing the pace and manner in which the game is played, mostly for the better. This results in a general improvement on the all-round control of the ball.

The AI also seems more active and prominent than before, with better and more frequent timed runs and sticking to strong defensive patterns, making the attack and tackling aspects of the game much more dynamic.

The PES series has been looking to have more and more potential with each release and this year’s title appears to have all the franchise’s strong points in place while sharpening up it’s gameplay to provide something different, yet familiar. PES 2012 doesn’t necessarily exceed expectations, it simply meets them. We’d like to see some more innovation from Konami, but it doesn’t take anything away from the fact that PES 2012 is a great football title.

The Run sees players fill the shoes of Jack, a talented driver who finds himself participating in an illegal yet prestigious race from San Francisco to New York. Not much else is known of the story, although the Run appears to be a massive chase-scene across North America which is sure to be filled with some high-jinks with the police, and twists and turns along the way.

The demo itself allows players to choose between a Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2 and a 2012 Porsche 911 S, although you have to notify a friend via message that the demo is out to grab hold of the Porsche – sneaky marketing at its finest.

There are two event types to play: a standard street race and a one-on-one dash down a mountain, which give you a bit of incentive to go as fast as possible. The normal race sees you attempting to beat 10 other racers and plays out similar to that of Hot Pursuit’s race modes. The desert track allows for big speeds, sharp turns and big drifts, while traffic adds a smidgen of difficulty in overtaking the relatively smart AI opponents. The game is looking very cinematic with an impressive dynamic camera that shifts and tilts as the car moves, while crashes are rewarded with some great camera-angles.

The highlight of the demo was undoubtedly the second event, whereby a sprint against an Audi R8 down a snowy Colorado mountain, turned into a fight for survival as an avalanche erupted. Dodging falling snow, boulders and ice around narrow roads, while trying to remain in first position, is an unparalleled experience. As chaotic as the race is, it is also one of the most beautiful as EA’s Frostbite 2 engine (used in Battlefield 3) caters for some of the greatest lighting, particle effects and models seen in games.

It’s safe to say that Black Box are set to deliver one of the most adrenaline-pumping titles come later this year, and Need for Speed: The Run has managed to establish an action/adventure game, hidden within a solid racing title – and that’s something worth keeping more than an eye out for.

Very little is known regarding the game, as all that Rockstar have released is a piece of artwork – the logo. Despite the slim information, Rockstar will be dropping the reveal trailer on November 2nd (Wednesday), which will then hopefully fill us in regarding the location, characters and plot of the game.