Skyward Fire

Who else believes that the days are numbered for some of the current "hot" game series? We lost some from last decade when the 2000s came in. New gaming trends came along, new technologies came that led to social gaming going crazy (unfortunately). Some things just became stale, and new graphics and sequels failed to bring the sales.

So, just what’s on the way out and what’s on the way in? Try your luck at being the next great videogame prophet!

It was more than a year ago when Sony made it’s acquisition move over the UK-based company Evolution Studios that had the World Rally Championship franchise for the PS2 under it’s belt. It was the first Motorstorm game in the summer of 07, that pushed Sony to go ahead with the deal in hopes of establishing another (off-road) racing genre for it’s current generation console. Motorstorm, in itself, was a very attractive product, and it’s sequel is no less. You can check out the trailer here.

The game impresses on first run, and all the tracks look amazing and are dangerously addictive, with an opportunity to take up more than one route. The game has 16 tracks with 4 different lighting options, and every combination is of an awe-striking diverse design. They left no stone unturned when it came to perfecting the flaws present in the previous game, including major improvements within the vehicle classes.

Pacific Rift Boxart by radoxist

Some of the texture work, the lighting, the motion blur and the water & other dynamic natural elements are just too good. The intensity of geometry & physics within the game has been magnified with some astounding detailing. The sunlight is a subsequent improvement to the lighting, and it’s just as satisfying as the game itself. The track deformation sequences are sophisticated too. The frame rate is more stable than the prequel, and Evolution deserves due credit for that. Technically, the game is more sound than Pure. The vegetation’s interaction & animation deserves plus points too. You don’t have to install the game, but during load times which don’t span to much time, a whole lot of media is cached on the hard disk.

Compared to Motorstorm, it’s easier to choose & play from amongst so many new events. Though the core game play remains the name, not that I was expecting the slightest change. The offline split screen feature was also a stimuli for many gamers that went on to become a purchase decision factor. The multiplayer component allows you to pick a server from over five regions. Unlocking trophies for various achievement eventually unlocks some amazing extras. Somehow, voice chat seems like the gamers’ kryptonite, and there’s scope of improvement there. Since I noticed no lag issues during continuous multiplayer game play, I doubt the weak voice chat had anything to do with my connection. Also, the lack of static pointers is a bit disappointing. Though an update of the game is in the works, which is to supposedly fix issued related to backing up saved data and other stuff about which more information can be found out here.

A major add-on that is crucial in many races, is the brand new Sixaxis tilt. It’s very helpful when it comes to balancing your vehicle and cushioning the jumps without actually having to break the speed. While handling the quad bikes though, switching to analogue sticks is highly recommended. Getting hold of the various controller techniques might take some time initially to understand and get habituated to, but once you’re through that part, they come off as a breeze. The same goes for the various tracks which might seem a little extensive, but once you get the idea of the geography after some exploration, it all comes down as easy. The 5.1 surround support with artists like Death From Above 1979 & David Bowie is fascinating. These artists have hardly been previously featured in various racing games, thus adding to the beauty of Motorstorm: Pacific Rift.

There’s news on a PSP port of the game, and a sequel, which there’s no reason to doubt, since this is a franchise with a lot of room for improvement and there’s a whole lot to be worked upon.

Skyward Rating – 8/10

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Blizzard. The name says it all. This has been one of those companies which revolutionize gaming and gamers with every title. Launched on 30th November 1996, Diablo was a definitive Earth shattering RPG which gripped us all by the throat and pulled us through its amazing game play, artwork and exquisitely mapped plots and demons. All said and done, it was a screaming success. It spawned countless RPGs from wannabe companies including a slightly appreciable effort by Microsoft when it launched Dungeon Siege. All efforts turned out to be in vein when Blizzard announced the sequel to Diablo. This game shattered the sales of other RPGs which “claimed” to be better than Diablo.

One thing Blizzard glorified was individual triumph. In most RTS titles, we mass armies and lay waste on the enemy base. Warcraft III changed the way we look at RTS titles with the excellent and highly developed hero system which involved making a hero (obviously) and small strike teams and micro managing them, which commanded much more skill and precision. In other words Blizzard is all about innovation. Big news hit the air on 30th June 2008 that the next game of Blizzard has been declared and fans cheered and campaigns popped as we had in our hands screen shots and videos from the next game in line, Diablo III.

Diablo III looks very promising. The moment Blizzard revealed the game play and interface screen shots; fans were in shock that blizzard had stuck to the interface as in Diablo I and Diablo II. This shows that these guys are smart enough to not let a tactic that worked, go waste, three cheers for that. However just putting in HDR and Bloom Effect and a million particles in one effect will not compete with games of today (for example, Crysis). Unless the game has substantial game play to back up the graphical power, it is an utter waste.

That is exactly the doubt fans had, “with all this graphical glory, will Blizzard maintain Diablo III true to the wonderful game play of Diablo II?” Looks like they heard our plea and released a game play video the very next day which showed II classes of characters -The Barbarian and the Witch Doctor. As the names itself suggest, the barbarian is a brutal bad ass who eats demon scum for breakfast. With overwhelming powers and amazingly brutal attacks, he looks like the Blizzard version of Kratos from the God of War fame. The Witch doctor is more of a defensive character with tactics that distract and kill off enemies when they are in clusters or when they are off-guard.

The sorceress in Diablo II could raise a wall of fire. We have also seen walls of rock, ice and bones in Diablo II. Ever seen a wall of Zombies? Some of the spells shown in the game play and the effect they have on the environment are unbelievably amazing. We have the freedom to knock down walls over approaching enemies. In Diablo II, substantial time was consumed in shuffling through the inventory for health potions. Diablo III will have a unique system as every enemy killed will drop small health orbs which increase health by small amount. Nothing huge and earth shattering but as we all know and have seen, simplicity is what drove Diablo II to the place where it is.

While games like Bethesda Game Studios‘ Oblivion and Bioware’s Never Winter Nights have too much loitering around, Diablo has always been an in-your-face-combat RPG. You either fight or you die. Right from the start we all knew Diablo III will be a bad ass gory and fun RPG which will give the player less time to make decisions and be involved in combat most of the time. Laying waste on 10 Million + demons sounds cool but it demands a strong story, since Diablo II almost shut down the plot with the death of Baal in Lord of Destruction. It will be interesting to see what causes Diablo to rise from the eternal death he was confined to. Coming to the graphical section, the game literally shines in this department. The video currently out shows some really nice effects caused from the attacks of both Barbarian and the Witch Doctor. Especially the Bash attack which demolished a door and the particles hit and knocked back the monsters behind it. Better start saving for that graphics card. I would recommend at least an 8800 GT to even try this game.

The reason is that if a game like Diablo isn’t played the way Blizzard intends it to be, and then you will not, I repeat, you will not enjoy it. It is supposed to be played with high frame rates and a good resolution. People, do justice to this requirement. The game deserves it. Also, if you don’t posses a hard core 5.I speaker set or some nice headphones, its time to shell out that extra booty you had been saving for your other half’s birthday gift. About the character classes, I just hope the old ones make a comeback. What is sad though that the Witch doctor will probably replace the Necromancer? I for one do not like this change. The Barbarian has been made very brilliantly and there are male and female versions of each class (they were absent in D2) which is really admirable. One thing which caught my attention was a video playback which was basically a cut scene in the game.

The video had the barbarian talking to his party member and he was wearing the same armor in the video as he was in real time! I mean the armor was totally random as he just got it from killing a demon! And it showed in the video which wasn’t even in game graphics! How Blizzard managed to pull off something like that astounds me. Sadly the game will be out somewhere in the 3rd quarter or 2009. So it’s a long wait. I just hope it doesn’t go the way of Starcraft Ghost!

For more Diablo 3 screenshots, artwork, trailers, news and information, keep watch at the Official Diablo III website.