MediaBlog by www.Dee-London.com

Bear in mind that Linger in Shadows is an interactive audiovisual art, but not a game (though Playstation Store exclusive). It’s a surrealistic digital dream with a fantastic musical score and secrets for you to discover. Though you can find the rendered video on internet for free, but for a symbolic fee (consider it as art support) you’re getting much more- easy trophies, timeline control, photographing, hidden items and even an easter egg.

Read more »

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune is not exactly a horror game, but its special atmosphere, mysteries, gorgeous tombs, dark ruins of forgotten temples and even living deads should earn recognition from the majority of horror genre fans. There are not many games that would feed your imagination and exploration desire with the quality of a good adventure book. But is the game scary? Regardless its overall lightweight and bright tone, there are plenty of moments that would please the dark side of your heart.

Read more »

First of all I have to confess that I’m such a huge fan of Ratchet & Clank Tools of Destruction that I even made two of my friends to play that game. But my eagerly awaited Ratchet & Clank Quest for Booty ruined all my expectations- yeap, I can’t recommended the game neither for fans nor for new-comers. How come? The game’s engine is the same, the assets are the same, the story is being continued… But the level designs are annoyingly unbalanced- and that includes missing checkpoints (or weapons) in the most difficult parts of the game. The only exception is Morrow Caverns chapter where Ratchet explores an abandoned (and very atmospheric) cavern with monsters and ghosts. I should say that it’s the best level I have played in Ratchet & Clank franchise! Another great thing is the return of Cap’n Slag- so we will meet him again next year in, hopefully, full game.

- It grows on you. Soul Calibur IV is not only a fighting game- there is fairly more than that. Exploration of characters and their fighting styles, creation of your own ultimate anti-heroes, finding out tactics against tougher enemies, enormous amount of moves and combos- all this together makes the game highly addictive.
- Creativity of styles. There are such wicked mates like Voldo or Tira that were not particularly advertised, but actually they make Soul Calibur IV such an outstanding fighting game. In fact, you won’t experience that in any other game.
- Strategy. There’s a very interesting feature- swapping your chosen characters during a fight (R1 button). So when you’re facing several different enemies in a row, such swapping lets you to adapt and win. A successful set of your ‘warriors’ will bring you a victory- you just have to find out that works the best for you.
- Treasures of Tower of Lost Souls. That’s quite an interesting challenge here. You not only have to fight increasingly tougher enemies to ascend in Tower of Lost Souls, but also to figure out what the riddles mean in order to get those treasures.
- Controls. I have mixed impressions on this. On one hand, the control scheme is quite sophisticated, so a novice can just jump into the game and enjoy randomly performed combos. On other hand, this sophistication makes more difficult to perform more complicated combos. I miss here clarity & sharpness of Devil May Cry 4…

Anyway, so far I’ve played for more than 30 hours and enjoyed every minute of it. Soul Calibur easily became one of my most favourite games on PS3.

Soul Calibur IV Tower of Lost Souls Walkthrough on IGN

Soul Calibur IV unlockable characters & secrets on IGN

Hell, it was a cool ride! Salem and Rios kicked all the bad asses for good- they’re definitely worth the heavy cash they earned. Good work, mates!

Army of Two is basically a proper shooter with some little, but sweet innovations that are much appreciated by hardcore shooter fans. You play from third person perspective, which is more then welcome because of the gorgeous character models and their animations. In the single campaign you ‘re directly controlling your chosen character (either Elliot Salem or Tyson Rios) and giving the orders to your comrade (8 commands with four direction D-pad).

And here comes the most important novelty feature of Army of Two- Aggro. That’s basically a level of not welcome attention from your enemies for your “activity”- firing. The more you shoot, the more aggro (and bullets) you get. The same applies to your comrade if you command him to stand in aggression mode. In fact, you can sneak around comparably safely while your partner has all the aggro- and that adds some strategy to the gameplay. On other hand, if you keep the aggro on yourself for too long, you can enter so called Overkill mode (”bullet time”)- “Look, Tyson, I’m a killing machine!”.

Army of Two didn’t receive overwhelming reviews, because, actually, the shipped game was a bit too short. On top of that the ending is a bit disappointing and leaves you wanting more. However, free downloadable Veteran Map Pack adds two big levels to the single campaign, so it fixes the issue.

Other key features of Army of Two:
- Back to Back mode- you’re standing back to back with your comrade and shooting enemies in slow motion. Though, I wish it happened more often in the game :P
- Parachuting- that’s a very sweet spot. One is controlling the parachute, another firing (sniping!) enemies below.
- Death- you’re not dyeing instantly in Army of Two. If your partner manages to get to you in time, drag you into a safe corner and make an injection (10-20 seconds?), you’re good to go. However, please note, that there some so hot situations, that this won’t help :]
- “Play Dead”- that’s another cool and very welcome feature. When the things are way too bad, you can pretend to be dead and enemies will leave you alone. Though, you can fool them only once…
- Interaction with your comrade- you can slap your partner or give a high five, you can play “guitar” on your machine gun or swap guns with your partner.
- The control scheme here is one of the best I have encountered in console games.
- AI (artificial intelligence) is very good and even cunning. Though, it’s not perfect.
- You earn money by completing tasks and spending them on the beefy amount of weapons and cool customisations

Verdict: if you’re a shooter fan, you don’t want to miss Army of Two.

Visit the official Army of Two site

Well, I can’t make my final verdict on Soul Calibur IV, because it’s huge in meaning of the content and I played only 4-5 hours

However here are few notes:
- Yeap, it’s a fighting game, but it’s a fighting game on steroids.
- It’s quite flexible in meaning of gameplay- you can button-mash through Soul Calibur IV, but there are quite complicated combos for each character. However, I didn’t sink my teeth into the last feature too much, so I can’t say if the fighting is the same rewarding as in Devil May Cry 4.
- Character creation feature is enormous and highly enjoyable- I spent half of my time just tweaking my character (Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica :P)
- There are few modes to play- so if you’re stuck you can play a different one for a change
- There’s such amount of unlockables- including characters, their powers and customisation items- that the game feels next to infinitive!
- Graphics of Soul Calibur IV are not as crystal as in Metal Gear Solid 4, but the lighting engine, colours, designs- everything is maxed out. It’s a gorgeous and very charming game
- Darth Vader fits quite nicely in this universe and he is really fun to play
- It’s rather a sexy game. The female fighters look like the most desirable actresses, especially if you decide to play them in underwear only… :D On top of that, there is the whole set dedicated for creating a geisha character!
- While Soul Calibur IV is highly accessible for such sort of games, it’s still very challenging- hardcore gamers will have enough of satisfaction here

So my overall impressions are quite satisfactory- Soul Calibur 4 is a unique and enjoyable game.

I recommend reading Soul Calibur IV full review on IGN.com

So, yeah, it’s all about giant shuriken (JP. ninja star) or in other words- hand released tri-blade. And what’s the use of it in Dark Sector? You name it! Want a direct control of its flight with the camera fixed behind? Got it! What about watching sliced off limbs flying away in the same slow motion? Yeah! Just don’t forget to charge your glaive with fire, electricity or ice for additional effects :)

What else you’ll find in this heavily infected ex-USSR area? The list is quite solid: some very well made and upgradable guns, slow-motion finishers, pleasing puzzles for your beloved glaive, impressive boss fights and some top exciting toys like four-legged and heavily armoured tanks that you’ll be able to test-drive by yourself :P (These are as great as in MGS4!)

Sounds good? Well, not everything is perfect here, mind you. First of all, I have an impression that level designers were undecided which audience they wanted to address- hardcore shooter fans or mass audience. So the gameplay is not consistent- it varies from enjoyable to quite demanding. Secondly, the graphics. The game development took more years than usual (6y), but the most of graphics were nicely updated before the release. However, the artefacts from the primary built are present and too obvious. Though, the interface itself is superb- there are no numbers, bars or any other “tech” info the screen- just Hayden Tenno, the glaive and infinitive numbers of enemies :)

And finally, WARNING: don’t play this game if you’re sensitive to vast amounts of blood fountains. In the end, there was a reason why Dark Sector was banned in Australia :)

In one word- crap. That’s one of the worst gamesplays I have experienced in >20 years. The only reason I finished the game- that’s the story itself and explanations of some enigmas (I’m huge fan of Lost series). But the gameplay itself was far from enjoyable. The electrical puzzles are an exception- that’s a creative re-make of the classical game “Pipes”. One more “funny” point- there was almost no exploration element in this adventure game. On top of that, graphics are no good. Models of Lost cast are terrible- Kate, Hurley, Clair should feel especially offended. What else? Maybe one of the most annoying things for me personally was the lack of Lost atmosphere. Actually, it was absent at all. Conclusion: buy this game only if you find it for £1. OK, OK, maybe for £2 :)

(The photos above: you will unveil the beauty of Scarlett Chorvat, Mieko Rye, Lyndall Javis and Yumi Kikuchi during MGS boss battles. For high quality photos, please visit GGL Wire)

Where to start from? There is so much of everything in Metal Gear Solid 4, that it’s difficult to lay down focussed impressions. Though, I could describe it in an abstract way- that’s phenomenal and masterpiece. I personally think MGS4 goes beyond any known media by synthesising them into one the most solid experience. That’s a seamless hybrid of a film, a video game, an intriguing story and superb music. Well, basically this is it- Metal Gear Solid 4 invented a new media- Interactive Films.

My personal picks from it are- the scene on motorbikes, Screaming Mantis battle and the fist fight with Liquid Ocelot. Though, all the bad girls there are unforgettable as well as the whole experience. Did I mention the music? MGS4 soundtrack (2 CD) is set on loop on my MP3 player!

But I will write no more. You have to experience it by yourself. Period.

The Official Cheat Codes
Though I don’t recommend you using them- some of them lock achievements (not to mention that it ruins the in-game atmosphere). However, they saved me lots of time when I had to re-check all 200 pigeon locations again to find one missed or not saved pigeon

4825550100 Restore Health
3625550100 Armour
4865550100 Advanced Weapon Set - Baseball Bat, Grenades, Combat Pistol, Combat Shotgun, SMG, Carbine Rifle, Combat Sniper, RPG
4865550150 Standard Weapon Set - Knife, Molotovs, Pistol, Pump Shotgun, Micro SMG, Assault Rifle, Combat Sniper, RPG
2675550100 Remove Wanted Level
2675550150 Add one star to Niko’s wanted level
4685550100 Change Weather
3595550100 Spawn an Annihilator in front of Niko
9385550100 Spawn a Jetmax in front of Niko
6255550100 Spawn an NRG-900 in front of Niko
6255550150 Spawn a Sanchez in front of Niko
2275550100 Spawn an FIB Buffalo in front of Niko
2275550175 Spawn a Comet in front of Niko
2275550147 Spawn a Turismo in front of Niko
2275550142 Spawn a Cognoscenti in front of Niko
2275550168 Spawn a SuperGT in front of Niko

Telephone calls from Niko’s friends
If you don’t want Niko to go for an activity with his friend and don’t want him to loose his friendship rating, than simply answer the phone, accept the invitation and shortly after call back and cancel the plans (a special option on the phone’s menu)

Simple way to loose Niko’s wanted level
After doing a hell mess in streets and gaining wanted levels, just take Niko to his safehouse and put him to sleep :)

Friends’ special abilities
Friends’ special abilities are unlocked when Niko’s friendship ratings are above 75%:
Roman - free taxi (who needs one in Liberty City?:)
Brucie - sends a helicopter to your location, so you can travel around the city quickly
Little Jacob- brings all the essential weapons (except RPGs) near you- and the prices are 2x cheaper than in ‘official’ shop! (That’s the essential in-game feature!)
Dwayne - sends 2 mobs in a car for a gunfire support
Packie - brings near you a car bomb. You can attach it to any car and explode later using the mobile phone
Stevie - he will buy all the cars from Niko
Francis - he can remove Niko’s wanted level
Carmen - she can restore Niko’s health through a phone conversation
Kiki - she can remove up to 3 stars wanted level
Alex - 50% off at all clothing stores (for a limited time after a date)

Dial 911 if your car’s engine stopped working and it will start again!

P.S. It’s impossible to list all the features in one blog post. Buy the official guide book instead- this game is worth in-depth exploration!