Warning: Crysis 3 Will Melt Your PC, Says Crytek

Crysis 3 will melt your PC, says Crytek.

Once Crysis hit the gaming scene in 2007, the popular slogan used to describe any rig was: but can it play Crysis? That's because thegame was way ahead of its time, requiring high-end hardware to crank out the most modest of graphical settings. It became the primary PC benchmark for years to come, causing waves of hardware upgrades so that gamers could play the PC exclusive.

Crytek has always prided itself in saying that the engine is three years advanced, and it shows in the quality of its shooters. But now the popular slogan is about the change. Once Crysis 3 hits the PCgaming scene, the new question will be: so has Crysis 3 melted your computer? Will it be a mere marketing campaign to sell millions of units? Probably not.

"That joke will be resurrected again with Crysis 3, I’m quite sure about that," Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli said during an EA-hosted Q&A session live-streamed from Gamescom 2012. "There are brutal expectations around the PC version of Crysis 3. So this time we promise to melt down PCs."

Many Crytek fans grew bitter after the company chose to shift its focus over to the consoles. Crytek blamed the new love on piracy, but the true cause is likely due to the popularity of the lucrative Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles, and that it's essentially cheaper to develop for a single hardware set. Still, Crysis 2 proved that the developer still had love for its core PC gaming audience, and that won't change for the third installment. Promises of melting PCs is like being in 2007 all over again.

"There is unfortunately always in a multi-platform development that kind of compromise that we have to take, but at the same time we are trying not to take it, so we try to make sure that the PC version looks fantastic, plays fantastic," he said. "This time we’re saying, 'Okay, let’s not compromise the PC but let’s try to push the consoles so make the PC version happen.'"

Yerli added that high-end PCs are leaps ahead of the current crop of consoles in terms of raw power (Nvidia's Keplar), further widening the gap that already existed at the time of Crysis 2's release back in March 2011. The third installment is slated to invade the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows PC in February 2013.

Let the PC melting commence this Winter.

OoooHHH!!! now thats wat I am talkin about :-)


Regards
Ram

A plea to Game Deveolper by a Gamer :

Game Accessibility: What It Is And Why It Matters ::

Whether it’s God of War: Ascension or Gears of War: Judgment, I’m sure everyone reading this has a game they are looking forward to next year. But imagine what it would be like if you had to play that game with your fingers taped together. How long would you try to fight the Locust or the Cyclops if – no matter how hard you tried – you couldn’t get your hands to move fast enough to avoid dying dozens of times in one level? How long would you try before you would put the controller aside and log on to Netflix or start to read a book? No gamer would willingly put up with these limitations, yet thousands of gamers do every day. I am one of them.

I am a disabled gamer and I am determined to keep playing. Sometimes, my disability prevents me from moving my hands fast enough to execute certain sequences in games. For example, one of my favorite games of all time is Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Near the end of the game Drake is in a Tibetan temple, in which there are levers he must crank to open doors. The way the player makes Drake open these doors is by tapping the triangle button repeatedly. Because of the delay in my muscles, there is no way for me to tap fast enough to get him to open the door. When I realized this, I was forced to confront the idea that I had just spent $60 on a game, progressed most of the way through it without help and now had to rely on somebody else to get me past that point. Beyond that point, however, the game was easy for my hands to handle. It was literally two small sequences, opening two small doors that made the game inaccessible. For me, game accessibility is not an empty phrase or a buzzword – it’s a part of my life.  

Unfortunately, trying to define game accessibility is like trying to nail Jello to the wall. Since each disabled gamer has different limitations, we all have slightly different definitions of what makes a game accessible. The four categories of disability, sensory (sight and hearing), fine motor (hands and fingers), ambulatory (walking), and cognitive (mental), all have different issues that have to be addressed. 

It’s also important to understand what game accessibility isn’t. Game accessibility does not mean taking all of the challenge out of a game. No serious gamer, no matter what their limitations, would advocate nerfing a boss fight to the point that there is no challenge, especially given the fact that disabled gamers make up only a fraction of the entire gamer population. If the industry were to simply make games easier to help accommodate the disabled, they would end up alienating a majority of gamers. 

It is also important to realize that game accessibility is different from hardware accessibility. People who approach game accessibility tend to do so with the attitude of: “If the physical interface of a game is inaccessible, then the best way to make a game accessible is to change the physical components of controllers and systems.” This is the wrong way to approach game accessibility. While it should ultimately be the goal to create video games that anyone can play, and that means that eventually hardware accessibility will have to be addressed, a very large part of the problem can be solved by addressing game software rather than hardware. It is easier to change a line of code and make a controller layout accessible than to redesign a physical system. If total accessibility is going to be achieved it must be focused, mainly on software developers, since they are the ones that determine if a game is accessible. Oddly, the Wii, Kinect, and the push towards motion control in games, which has been an effort to involve people that previously didn’t play games, has had the unintended consequence of alienating a very large portion of the disabled gaming community.

The best definition of game accessibility, that I have come up with, is giving as many players as possible the best opportunity of completely experiencing a game. A lot of times when a disabled player is unable to fully experience a game it is not because they cannot figure out what to do. It is simply because the way a game is set up does not flex to fit their abilities. Would that door-opening sequence of Uncharted be diminished if, instead of tapping the triangle button, you simply had to hold it down? If that particular command sequence were deemed too crucial to the pacing of the mission to change it from a rapid tap to a hold, would it have been hard to give the player the option whether they would like to tap or hold the button? Many of the issues of game accessibility could be solved with a few extra customizable features. 

But the question remains: Why do we need to bother programmers to include extra features in their games to satisfy only a fraction of their audience?  The fact is gaming is more than entertainment for a lot of disabled people. Personally, games have helped me both physically and psychologically. As a small child, I used my Game Boy during therapy sessions to strengthen my dexterity and take my mind off of the pain of some of the activities. A hamstring stretch is so much easier when you’re focused on capturing Zapdos instead of the burning sensation in your legs. I’ve also found a much-needed escape from my disability in online gaming. As a gamer, hidden behind an avatar, I can be sure that people are not filtering their words through the fact that I am disabled. They’re not going to pull any punches when I mess up because they worry about my feelings. They also won’t avoid me because they see me as different.

This is why accessibility matters. If games fail to become more accessible, many disabled gamers won’t be able turn to games for the escape that games have provided them for years.

Regards

Ram

Anvil Engine Marvel in AC III

HOMEFRONT

Created by Kaos Studios and published by THQ,  Homefront was released way back in 2010. What with all the new entires swamping me , I got a chance to try out the game just now. I expected the game to be just a pathetic drag like ordinary FPS ( eg : Tunnel Rats )are. Didn t expect great things from it . 

But from the initial start the game had an attractiveness to it that cant be described perfectly . Graphics looks stunning and beautiful . Just remember to keep you AA on ,and get ready to be blown away by the sunlight streaming at you in open fields and realistic fires and explosions .The game looks absolutely perfect .

Phosphor Bomb 

The game  is supposed to take place in post future where the Koreans dominate the world under their New leader and US forces are pushed to a corner without anything . With no fuel to power their vehicles the US Army are nearly driven entirely out of existence . But a small resistance Unit starts Building up headed by a man called Boone and supported by Connor , Rianna and Hopper and of course u  , Jacobs ( A Pilot).

Boone, Rianna, Cooper, Hopper

Automated Sentry  with Miniguns

The game begins with a initial dramatic rescue of your ass  as you are bussed of to somewhere. From there its one hell of a ride against the short but enthralling Single player campaign. Althought the game is too short that you can finish off the entire game in a whole 3 hrs , it sure as hell packs a punch at some places .I mean there are a lot of WOW , COOL, F**K that S**T moments in the game . Especially whenever you get helped by Goliath . Man thats one awesome Drone which has the firepower to take down anything that stands in its way . And the part where you drive AH700 Scout Heli is awesome. I mean after all you being a pilot , the game should give you an opportunity to show off your driving skills right. Well this stage is really cool , especially the countermeasures you can deploy whenever SAM sites throw a missile at you and the one moment where you unload your team onto a moving fuel truck while on mid air ..Pure awesomeness..You will take down automated sentries ( grenade to the base ) and use Phosphor Bomb to take out an entire batallion. WOW.

Goliath blasting the S**T

The gameplay is wat that astounded me . It parrallelled COD easily , which is quite famous for its intense and cinematic gameplay moments . Guns were damn cool and lethal as hell . But the poor thing there was no distinguishing factor between them . I mean using a s M4P automatic and Sub machine gun felt the same . And everything was lethal .

AH 700 Scout

There was a total of 7 levels

1. Why we fight !
2. Freedom
3.The Wall
4. Fire Sale
5.Heartland
6.Over Watch
7.Golden Gate

Final Battle on Bridge

There were no QTE events in this game , thank GOD..Maybe back in 2010 it was not quite famous I think . But still the game had epic moments in it , thats for sure . The only thing that can be said as flaw is that the A.I is completely stupid and idiotic.I mean enemies never take cover and just come out and shoot , which is plain BRAVADO but its kind off stupid bcos of course you are going to get popped in the head u S**THEADS. And wats not our Team is worse than that . I mean whenever you reach a checkpoint you have to wait in line for something to be done in the particular order they were actually coded . I mean if u are expected to crawl thru the Hole , then u cant do it first . You have to wait for Cooper to do it and then Rianna and then hopper and then  , only then u are expected to follow . I mean that kind of looks Stupid . And Veteran Players are going to be pissed off with that . Well atleast I was @@#%$@#$%$ ..

But hey the game packed one hell of a punch for such a nobody . So Kudos to Kaos Entertainment and THQ . Please try this one when you have time . It sure is the best 3 hrs I spent ;-)


Rating : 8.8 /10

Regards
Ram

Reveal Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel

We’ve got an exclusive first look at the latest game in EA’s flagship co-op series, Army of Two. Visceral Montreal is taking a new approach with The Devil’s Cartel, emphasizing mature storytelling over the series’ divisive high-fiving antics. The studio is focused on pushing forward instead of dwelling on the past, starting with two new characters, Alpha and Bravo. They’re determined to leave their mark during a deadly mission in Mexico, which is all possible thanks to the Frostbite 2 engine’s destructive capabilities.

Visceral Games has established itself as a top-tier developer with the Dead Space franchise, and with the expansion to the Montreal studio Electronic Arts has shown a commitment to elevating the Army of Two franchise.

“I felt like the first two Army games were good games, but they weren’t great games,” says producer Zach Mumbach. "They were memorable and they were fun to play, but they weren’t on that level where you’re going to tell all your friends, ‘Man, you have to play this game.” I think that Visceral being involved, especially on Frostbite 2, is just a huge opportunity. "

Regards

Ram

Courtesy : Game Informer..

H.A.W.X 2

Released in November 12 , 2010 , H.A.W.X 2 was expected to blow out of proportions and get much nastier than its predecessor. But unfortunately it failed miserably . The game's DRM was so brilliant that it constantly needed a server ping with Ubisoft Server through Uplay . Which made it absolutely uncrackable for the pirates. U have no other option but to just go and get the orginal copy of the game if u wanted to play this game for real. So I finally got my hands on a original copy of the game and here we are .

So coming back to the game , Wats new ?? Well let me tell u , Dogfights have become much more difficult with the enemy difficult to get a bead on , Landing and takeoff both on ground as well as on Carrier and Air to Air refuelling . The Multi AA missiles and Radar Guided missiles (Long range) and missiles which are able to get track of close flying targets are missing in this which deals a huge blow to the gameplay . I mean you only have the ordinary AA missiles and Machine Gun to go with . Some mission's do provide you with some bombs but they are so poor and retarded that they just piss u of some time.

One thing which has to be appreciated is that the difficulty in the game has been upped a lot . Its no longer easy to get a lock on a enemy and he is not going to fly in a straight line so that you can tail him and get a lock . These guys know how to escape from a lock on after the missile is fired. You cant even imagine how many missiles I waited just by jumping the gun . But they do have their Achilles Heel. If you watch closely they always follow the same pattern . So after the initial surprise it gets easy to predict what they are upto.

So from that Apart ,

1) Landing / Takeoff  :

Landing on a Carrier

                                

Now this is new . I mean we have heard of games where only the video of  plane taking off is shown and the gameplay begins only after the plane is flying at the proper height. Even HAWX 1 was like that . But they have rectified that here . The take off is really easy that anyone can easily execute it without any guidance or practice . But when it comes to landing now thats where the going is to get ugly and challenging. I mean you really need to have a sense of height and timing in ordrer to execute it correctly . Atleast on the ground you have an option of landing with a lot of space. But imagine landing in a carrier . You need to have a good sense of Timing and idea of when to dip the plane and when to make it higher up. God , and whats so frustating is that , they have built the game in such a way that they you will be forced to land in between checkpoints in order to restock up . Bcos the missiles which you carry initailly are so low that and also what with the difficult A.I that you are going to waste atleast 2-3 missiles before you completely finish off an enemy. And when the landing is done on a carrier , Its HELL . And also keep in mind that you are extremely vulnerable during the time you slowly glide to land  . Thank God for the check points that once after your resources and u r severely injured , all you have to do is to die and you can come back again with full life and extra ammo ..Cool huh ..Thats what I did ;-)

2) Air To Air Refuelling : 

Now here is where shit gets serious . This is the most irritating and difficult things in this game . And no practice before u actually do it too. Even with the first time u have to race against a clock to finish the move. Although its exciting and challenging , Thank God that it only comes 2 times in the entire game.

Air to Air Refuel

3) Dogfights :

These are the most easy ones in HAWX 1 and therefore the most satishfying ones. But here this has become even more tougher to comprehend. Its extremely difficult to get a lock on and when you finally do and fire off a missile the enemy escapes by banking hard or by deploying flares . God its so pissing off . I was shouting curses like anything when it started happening at the most crucial times when Time is of essence  in a mission.
But when you finally do get the kill , hell u feel like F**K yeah !!!.. :-D

Dogfight - Head on 

There are about  20 levels in the game which 

Mission 1 – Contact
Mission 2 – Training Day
Mission 3 – The Prisoner
Mission 4 – Interception Course
Mission 5- The Rescue
Mission 6 – Oil City
Mission 7 – Thieves in the Night
Mission 8 – Seek and Destroy
Mission 9 – Desert Fortress
Mission 10 – Blackout
Mission 11 – Final Push
Mission 12 – Trans Caucasus Express
Mission 13 – Behind Enemy Lines
Mission 14 – The Truth
Mission 15 – Getaway
Mission 16 – No Room for Error
Mission 17 – Maelstrom
Mission 18 – Amphibious Assault
Mission 19 – Standoff
Mission 20 – Last Stand


Some off the missions are really challenging and mind blowing in proportions . The one where you have to use night vision to take out the troops on the ground , take out a railway track before the the train crosses the bridge , and the one which i really loved the most was the LAST STAND where you fly the Raptor - F22 right inside a underground tunnel in order to take out a underground bunker.

LAST STAND - Bunker enrty 

The planes which you get to drive include Harrier GR9, F-22 Raptor, A-10 Thunderbolt II, F-16 Fighting Falcon, Eurofighter Typhoon, F-35 Lightning II and Su-47 Berkut.

Another thing which was really irritating was the STALL which occures only in Assistance mode OFF , now starts occuring in normal mode too. God it was really bitching . Thats the only way which we use to get the plane away from the missile at the last moment . Now when you try to execute that the plane stalls and u start falling .

ERS also is availabe only when you want to do a landing and is unavailable to get behind an enemy .Overall the game provided a greater challenge than HAWX 1 . But being a later version of the series the game fails miserably in Graphics , Cutscenes, story and weapons and missiles.Even the DIRECT X 11 version of the game looks like Shit . I don t know why they haven t used that glossy touch to the game. It looks completely grainy at some places.

Overall , not a compulsory Buy . But folks who loved HAWX are definitely going to buy it for sure.

Rating : 7/10

Regards
Ram.