I know it's not quite 2009 yet (well, not for about 2 and a half hours anyway), but from all at Gamer's Guide to Life I'd like to wish you a very happy new year.

Linford

Labels: Happy New Year

So, we haven't had much updating going on over the last week or so. Sorry about that - Christmas, turkey sandwiches and chocolate are taking up much of our time, so we can't write much.

However, never fear, dear readers! Gamer's Guide to Life has some fantastic content coming around the New Year. Just some of the things that you have to look forward to can be found in the 'Coming Soon' section of the sidebar. Also, keep an eye out for our special New Year logo, which can be seen on the site from the 31st through to the 1st January, 2009.

Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas, and try not to drink too much at the New Year.

Linford

Keep on gaming!

Labels: Matthew, Matthew Meadows

If you look at the video game market today then you’ll see a swarm of remakes clogging places like XBOX live or the PSN, when thinking of major remakes two games come to mind: Bionic Commando and Black Mesa Source. The latter is a remake of Half Life, made in 1998 by Valve, it is one of the most influential games in the FPS genre.

Labels: Black Mesa Source, Hypetrain

Independent UK games studio, Free Radical Design, has gone into administration, it has been confirmed.

The company, best known for it's award winning TimeSplitters series and FPS Haze, had been rumoured to be dying for a few months now - rumours that Free Radical's director, Steve Ellis, has strenuously denied.

"Nothing unusual is happening here," Ellis claimed. "Projects end. New projects start. That's how things have worked for nearly 10 years". Even a few days later, when rumours were spreading like wildfire, Ellis was adamant. "We certainly won't be laying off any staff today. Or, for that matter, any time in 2008.

"If something happens in 2009 I'm sure we'll be prepared to comment - but from where I'm sitting, whatever happens is far more likely to be positive than negative".

Ellis' optimistic outlook on the company's future hasn't turned out to be the kosher truth, however. Resolve, an administration company, confirmed that Free Radical Design had gone into administration.

"We will be spending the next three or four days assessing the financial position of the company but it's business as usual, although we have asked that almost all of the employees apart from a skeleton crew remain at home," commented a spokesperson from Resolve.

"All employees have been paid up until the end of December," the spokesman continued, "and we hope to make another announcement before Christmas or very soon thereafter, but we must stress at this stage that it's business as usual".

Free Radical Design, who recently suffered a blow after it's hotly anticipated FPS, Haze, was badly received by the gaming world, was thought to be developing both Star Wars Battlefront III for Lucasarts as well as the fourth installment in the companies own baby, the Timesplitters series.

It is believed that around forty staff are still active at Free Radical, compared to the 185 there were before the company slumped. The remaining employees, however, are thought to be working on concepts into 2009.

I'd like to sign off by wishing Free Radical the best of luck during their time of crisis.

Linford

It's the end of the year, and as usual, this is the time when gaming journalists come together to announce a Grand Theft Auto game as the game of the year (oops, did I give it away?).

However, I thought I'd try something new for GGTL; a video. I'll be shooting the video using a PSEye and some un-funny sarcasm, so watch out for that at some point before Christmas.

Matt 

Labels: Game of the year, Matthew, Matthew Meadows

So I bought the Puzzle Quest game on PSN. I’ve got to say, I am very impressed. The game matches up an awesome, classic RPG storyline with great in-depth puzzle gameplay.

I know what I’ll be playing over the Christmas holiday! (Of course, now that Fallout 3 has trophies, that will get some serious loving too)

I’ll probably do a review of it, along with the LittleBigPlanet one I keep intending to do.

Matt

Labels: First impressions, Matthew, Matthew Meadows, Puzzle Quest

It's nearly the end of 2008, and the gaming world seems to be accepting that without debate. So it seems with Atari; they've recently released their early 2009 EU lineup. The full list is below.

Labels: Atari, Lineup, Releases

The PlayStation®Network update list for Thursday, 11th December 2008.

Games
Jet Rider 2 - SCEE - All Territories - £3.99/€4.99
Puzzle Quest : Challenge of the Warlords - D3Publisher of Europe - All Territories except Belgium, Netherland, Portugal, Russia - £15.99/€19.99 -
Astro Tripper - PomPomEP4052 - All Territories except Australia, New Zealand, Russia, - £3.19/€3.99
- Saudi Arabia, South Africa, UAE
Packs
LittleBigPlanet Santa Boots & Coat - SCEE - All Territories - FREE -
Tom Clancy's End War Escalation Expansion Pack - UBIsoft Entertainment SA - All Territories except Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia - £7.99/€9.99 -
LittleBigPlanet Street Fighter costumes - SCEE - All Territories - £4.79/€5.99
LittleBigPlanet Ryu costume - SCEE - All Territories - £1.59/€1.99
LittleBigPlanet Chun Li costume - SCEE - All Territories - £1.59/€1.99
LittleBigPlanet Zangief Costume - SCEE - All Territories - £1.59/€1.99
LittleBigPlanet Guille character - SCEE - All Territories - £1.59/€1.99

Rock Band - All Territories except Czech Rep, Greece, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, UAE
Bathwater - £0.99/€1.49
Don't Speak - £0.99/€1.49
Ex-Girlfriend - £0.99/€1.49
Excuse Me Mr - £0.99/€1.49
Hella Good - £0.99/€1.49
Hey Baby - £0.99/€1.49
It's My Life - £0.99/€1.49
Just A Girl - £0.99/€1.49
Running - £0.99/€1.49
Simple Kind Of Life - £0.99/€1.49
Spiderwebs - £0.99/€1.49
Sunday Morning - £0.99/€1.49
Underneath It All - £0.99/€1.49
The Singles 1992-2003 (Album) - £9.99/€14.99

Guitar Hero World Tour - Activision - All Territories except Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, UAE
Negative Creep By Nirvana - £1.59/€1.99
Sliver By Nirvana - £1.59/€1.99
You Know Your Right By Nirvana - £1.59/€1.99
European Track Pack - £4.39/€5.49
Dis Moi By Bbbrunes - £1.59/€1.99
mama Mae[/i] By Negrita - £1.59/€1.99
Nirvana Track Pack - £4.39/€5.49

Crash Commando trailer - SCEE - All Territories except Germany - FREE
Prince Of Persia Developer's Diary #1 - UBISOFT Entertainment SA - All Territories except Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal Russia - FREE
Prince Of Persia Tgs Trailer - UBISOFT Entertainment SA - All Territories except Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal Russia - FREE
Prince Of Persia Theatrical Trailer - UBISOFT Entertainment SA - All Territories except Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal Russia - FREE
Söldner-X: Himmelsstürmer Trailer - EastAsia Soft - All Territories - FREE

Wallpapers
GTI Club+ - KONAMI - All Territories - FREE
Endwar American Wallpaper - UBISOFT Entertainment SA - All Territories - FREE
Endwar European Wallpaper - UBISOFT Entertainment SA - All Territories - FREE
Endwar Russian Wallpaper - UBISOFT Entertainment SA - All Territories - FREE


PSP content available to download via PS3 Store
Game
Brain challenge PSP - Gameloft SA - All Territories - £7.99/€9.99
NBA Live 09 - ELECTRONIC ARTS LTD - EFIGS & Australia, Russia, UAE only - £29.99/€39.99
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 - ELECTRONIC ARTS LTD - EFIGS & Australia, Switzerland only - £31.99/€39.99

Labels: PlayStation Store, PSN, Update

It has to be the fantasy of every bloke in the world. Tanks, aircraft, war and hanging with your mates. So, most men were ecstatic when all these aspects came together to form one superbeing. So, to all the blokes (and the women, for the sake of political correctness), I give you Warhawk.

Warhawk, as we know it on the PlayStation 3, is a remake of the 1995 PSone flying sim of the same title. However, quite unlike the 1995 retro version, this Warhawk is a multiplayer online frag-fest exclusive to PlayStation 3, in which you can kill your friends with tanks, aircraft, vehicles (yes, you can run people over), and also various non-mounted weaponry.

Graphically, Warhawk was good compared to the standard of other games released at a similar time. It ran at a good, solid framerate; the graphics were good and weren't pixelated or jaggedy; and, despite the rather cartoony look and feel of the visuals, they felt immersive and attractive.

Gameplay was decent and solid, although could at times feel slow, and often the almost ragdoll physics (hitting the ground and bouncing off, jumping, dying from grenades etc) could get slightly irritating. Controls and the feel of tanks and flying were particularly good, probably some of the best seen for a very long time; the thing that made them so brilliant was that they were just so simple.

Warhawk also came packed with some nice features. The option to customise both your planes and characters for both teams (Eucadians and Chernovans), even including a full 256-colour RGB colour picker - which allowed you to choose in any colour imaginable. Online and LAN split-screen was also a really nice idea, similar to the options available on newer shooters such as Resistance 2.

So, what does Warhawk look like now, compared to other games released recently? Graphically, it's still good - but lacks some of the 'shapow' which nearly everything possesses now; the cartoony graphics can get tiresome for the more serious gamer. Gameplay is still excellent, feeling exactly how it should; the weapons can feel a little weak though. And the splitscreen feature is on par with the online splitscreens on games being released now.

The real question, however, is this: should you buy Warhawk with all the new and amazing games coming out this Christmas? The answer, at least in my opinion - yes. At the £14.99 it now costs on the PlayStation Store, it's a bargain - especially if you want trophies or a game with in-game music. Oh, and there's one more reason...

It's really quite good.

Linford

Labels: Looking Back On, Warhawk

Earlier this year Microsoft annouced that Ensemble Studios -creator of Age of Empires- would be being shut down after the company had finished development of Halo Wars. Recent screenshots and concept art however, show that Ensemble had been working on a new MMO for Microsoft. Judging by these shots and other rumours, this MMO was to be based on the Halo universe.There has been evidence that Ensemble was working on an MMO since 2006, when it began hiring for an MMO project, no information was released however, linking this MMO to Halo.

Sci-fi MMOs rarely work well, you only have to look at the infamous reputation of Star Wars: Galaxies, the recently annouced to shut down, Tabula Rasa and the general unpopularity of both of these games to see this.

Perhaps the abandoning of a Halo MMO is a good thing, perhaps we gamers have dodged an MMO bullet?

Lewis

Labels: Halo, MMORPG, Writer's note

Labels: Playstation Home, PSN, Releases, Update

Here's the (slightly late) PlayStation Network update list from last Thursday's update. Also, apologies to all for my lack of posting at the moment; I promise an article is coming very soon.

PS3 Games
* Brain Challenge (£3.99 /€4.99)
* GTI Club + Rally Cote D'Azur (£9.99 / €12.99)

PSone games on PS3/PSP Store
* Command & Conquer: Red Alert Retaliation (£3.99 / €4.99)
* Jet Rider (£3.99 / €4.99)

Demos
* LEGO Batman (free)

PS3 Add-ons
* LittleBigPlanet - Kabuki Actor costume (free)
* Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm - Storm Pack 2 (free)
* Race Driver GRID 8-Ball Pack (£4.99 / €6.28)
* Soul Calibur IV - Customisation Equipment 6 (£0.79 / €0.99)
* Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - Costume Pack 2 (£3.99 / €4.99)
* Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - Jedi Temple Mission Pack (£7.99 / €9.99)

PS3 Guitar Hero World Tour DLC
* The Smashing Pumpkins - "1979" (£1.49 / €1.99)
* The Smashing Pumpkins - "G.L.O.W." (£1.49 / €1.99)
* The Smashing Pumpkins - "The Everlasting Gaze" (£1.49 / €1.99)
* The Smashing Pumpkins Track Pack (£4.39 / €5.49)

PS3 Rock Band DLC
* Children of Bodom - "Are You Dead Yet" (£0.59 / €0.79)
* Finley - "Tutto E' Possible" (£0.59 / €0.79)
* Miranda Cosgrove - "Headphones On" (free)
* Naked Brothers Band - "Body I Occupy" (£0.59 / €0.79)
* Naked Brothers Band - "I Don't Want to Go to School" (£0.59 / €0.79)
* Platero y Tu - "Hay Poco Rock N Roll" (£0.59 / €0.79)
* Squeeze - "Tempted" (£0.59 / €0.79)
* Tokio Hotel - "Ready, Set, Go" (£0.59 / €0.79)
* The All-American Rejects - "Real World" (£0.59 / €0.79)

Linford

Labels: PS3, PSN, Update

Another terrible World War Two game to add to the others in the exhausted genre and made by Treyarch to top it all off. This was the general reaction from gamers when they heard about the follow up to the critically acclaimed Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. But as November 14th (11th in America) crept closer, expectations rose thanks to good previews and spectacular screenshots. By the time Call of Duty: World at War was due to be released it was eagerly anticipated and in high demand.

Treyarch had an uphill battle to overcome their own reputation and the now legendary CoD 4, but despite this they’ve managed to create a game that feels new, crisp and compelling in a genre that most gamers got sick of years ago. By setting the game in the Pacific, playing one Pvt. Miller as you fight your way to Okinawa, Japan and in Russia, playing Pvt. Petrenko, fighting towards Germany, Treyarch have managed to make a run of the mill World War Two game into an original and gripping first person shooter.

The opening torture scene supposedly “sets the tone” for the rest of the game. This is true, Treyarch have clearly attempted to show it isn’t holding back with this game, however, its attempts at unnerving us feels unsuccessful and the trend is followed throughout the game. For example, the suicidal banzai chargers who run at you with their bayonets lowered often miss and run in circles behind you and your comrades for a minute before attempting to gut you.

The storylines for both characters are good however; the American campaign which had the most exposure in trailers and screenshots feels poor compared to the Russian campaign which concludes with an enthralling siege of the Reichstag. In both campaigns, the developers try to replace the usual patriotism with vengeance as the main motive of you and your fellow soldiers. The Russian campaign seems to do this better than the American one though. The narration of Sergeant Reznov –voiced by Gary Oldman- after each Russian mission is the main reason for this. Telling the player of the atrocious acts of the Germans as you move closer to Berlin. The similarity between the torture scene and attempted execution of Pvt. Miller in Japan in the opening of the game and the executions of German prisoners by fellow Russian soldiers once you get to Berlin shows the obvious anger of the soldiers of the Red Army and reinforces the idea of fighting for vengeance not for your country.


Apart from the slightly disappointing American campaign other small annoyances spoil an overall good game. One of these annoyances is over the brilliance of your enemies grenadiers. The Japanese and German armies are apparently made up of nothing but their countries top baseball pitchers, able to make every grenade land close enough to kill you but not close enough to throw back. Another of these annoyances becomes evident if you survive this perfectly aimed bombardment of grenades. When you moving to take cover from the grenade’s blast radius, it isn’t uncommon to get cause on protruding scenery or get trapped behind your cover by AI following you as they too run from the grenade.

Despite these flaws, the game overall is good, the Russian campaign more than making up for the slightly below par American missions. Many of us however, where looking for more than “good” for the follow-up to Modern Warfare. Call of Duty: World at War is a good game, but isn’t even in the same league when compared to its older brother.

8/10

Lewis

Labels: Call of Duty, Review

Activision has announced that there will indeed be a Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Guitar Hero 5 and new Tony Hawk game.

More when it comes in.

Matt

Labels: Activision, Matthew, Matthew Meadows, Releases

Resistance 2 combines all that is good about first person shooters and puts it onto one disc. With great gunplay and fantastic online, you really couldn’t go wrong with this game – so long as you like the FPS genre.

As you may have guessed Resistance 2 is a sequel (no, really!) to the underrated Resistance: Fall of Man. In the first game you played as Nathan Hale, who went through Britain helping the armed forces fight off the mysterious Chimeran threat. The second game is set a number of years after this failed resistance, and focuses on the threat to America. The objective of the game is to cripple the invader’s chances of taking the country. Okay, it’s hardly an original storyline, but it’s executed really well, especially considering the bad taste in the mouth left by most alternate history shooters (I’m looking at you Turning Point: Fall of Liberty).

The main thing that made me love Resistance 1 was its great gunplay. You never felt like a weapon was bad, and that every shot mattered. Things haven’t changed on this front, with the weapon list retaining such classics as the Bullseye and my personal favourite, the Rossmore 236 Shotgun. The quality of these weapons becomes especially clear when you go online. Normally on games, you find everyone online using the same gun (CoD4 being an exception) due to it being classed as the “best”. However, I can report that I have been killed by every type of weapon online, many, many times – which is a good, if depressing, sign of a good weapons roster.

Resistance 2’s multiplayer experience is top notch. With a squad based – 60 player “Skirmish” mode, Insomniac upped its ante. Matches feel like great fun, and actively encourage teamwork, a rare thing in the online FPS world. Another highlight of the online mode is the Co-operative campaign. This mode allows up to 8 players to take part in various missions based on the back-story of the game. The amount of team work needed eclipses other team based online shooters I have played, including the often applauded Team Fortress 2, if everyone on the team picks a solider class, with no medics or special forces; you’re buggered.

Overall, if you want solid shooting, you’ve got it. If you want a great online mode, you’ve got it. If you want replay value (XP offline transfers to online XP), you’ve got it. If you want a great, if hard to follow storyline, you’ve got it. And chances are, if you own a PS3, this review is pointless, because you’ve got it.

9.5/10 

Matt

Labels: Matthew, Matthew Meadows, Resistance 2, Review