Games Toaster

Two new Irish games sites seek volunteers

Two new Irish computer games website, ‘Irish Gamers Ressurected!’ (sic), and ‘Next Gen Ireland’ are looking for volunteers to write. The new sites launch at a time when updates on IrishGamer.ie have come to a standstill.

Both sites are in the early stages, Next Gen Ireland has recently launched and is publishing content (including press releases).

Meanwhile, the blogspot-based Irish Gamers Ressurected!, which we previous reported grew out IrishGamers.ie’s forums, is now looking for staff, but so-far the site only contains internal announcements.

In other Irish games website news (or at least news to us), gamingireland.net have started staff blogs – unfortunately login is needed to view, and registration was not working when we tried.

Irish Gamers Ressurected is located at http://igressurected.blogspot.com/, while Next Gen Ireland is at http://www.nextgenireland.citymax.com/. There are more links to Irish computer games websites here.

REVIEW: F.E.A.R.

Developer: Monolith | Publisher: Vivendi | Format: Xbox 360

REVIEWER:CRAIG GALLAGHER || Last year, F.E.A.R. was a critical and commercial success which brought survival horror ambience to the first-person shooter genre like no other title before. At long last F.E.A.R. makes an appearance on the console market. Vivindi have done a fantastic job of taking the PC experience and tailoring it for the console in an original and unique manner.

F.E.A.R.’s storyline follows a soldier of the First Encounter Assault Recon team, as you search for Paxton Fettel, a cannibal battalion commander who can control his troops through telekinesis. Like all games in the genre, things are never what they appear and soon a spooky long haired girl called Alma is stalking you.

F.E.A.R. is a creepy as hell. The atmosphere is superbly created through imaginative use of sound and lighting. The evocative music and sound effects conjures a constant prevailing sense of dread.

Like all FPS it doesn’t matter how good the game looks, it’s how well the carnage is handled. F.E.A.R. has an awful lot going for it in that department. The fire fights are intense, and coupled with the superior AI make this one hell of a title. Enemies will find cover, and even kick over tables to hide behind. This isn’t one of those games where you hide around a corner and pick off enemies one at a time, like shooting fish in a barrel. F.E.A.R. rewards a strategic run and gun metality.

Thankfully, you have a few aces up your sleeves. You can utilise Slo-Mo that allows you to enter a bullet time type mode, slowing the action down just enough to give you an advantage. There’s also a very impressive array of weaponry at your disposal. Old Favourites like Combat Shotguns, Assault Rifles sit side by side with  high-tech weaponry such as the Perforator, a gun which shoots metal spikes, allowing you to impale enemies to the wall.

The 360 version includes an Instant Action mode, which is basically an endurance test. You are dropped in the middle of a group of enemy soldiers and you must stay alive as long as possible.

The only department that F.EA.R. on the 360 couldn’t master are the controls. While perfectly acceptable, the button lay out could do with a bit more thought. The melee combat controls are an annoyance. You’ll often find yourself getting killed simply because the holster button and melee button are one and the same.

F.E.A.R. is an excellent port of a superb game. Anyone who missed out on the PC version would do themselves a great disservice if they missed out again on the console version.

Gaming dolls and super men at Xbox centre

Superman Returns will be free to play at Dublin's Xbox Live Gaming Centre this Saturday, while next week Ubisoft’s girl gamers will be making an appearance.

A promotion for Superman Returns will see the centre host to free play of the game from 11am till 5pm on Saturday, all thanks to publisher EA.

Meanwhile, on next Saturday, December 2, Ubisoft’s Rainbow 6: Las Vegas will be promoted by the company’s ‘Frag Dolls’ (pictured – wasn’t there once five of them?). If you’re up for the challenge, they will be playing the game sometime from 12pm till 2pm [insert tabloid-like joke about boys not playing with dolls here].

The centre is at 51 South William Street, Dublin 2, more info can be found at xboxlivegamingcentre.com.

Irishgamer.ie “site dead?” asks users

Irishgamer.ie which named it self “the only Irish games website which is updated regularly" is no-longer doing so.

The site’s news section was last updated almost two months ago on Thursday, September 28.

Games Toaster was previously told by site editor Noel Brady the site was “glad to be filling a niche as the only Irish games website which is updated regularly".

Before the stop in updates the site had included regular retail price checks, reviews, general games news, interviews, other features, and a reasonably busy discussion forum for a new site. 

Replying to site users over a week ago Brady wrote on site’s forums that “The site isn't dead. We're going to try and get some content up and running soon. I'm still writing games content for Campus. Just been too busy with work to concentrate on IG.

However, the last games reviews published on campus.ie's games section were 24: The Game, Fight Night Round 3, and BLACK – all released some time ago.

Furthermore, between September 20-21, admin Andy “There has been no new games out recently.... IrishGamer will be hitting peak, along with MS and Ninty.... Loads of early reviews and a new design will be coming along shortly....” and Brady wrote after him “Nothing major is being released lads. We'll be back in the next few weeks with some improvements!”. That was around eight weeks ago.

The ‘General Chat’ section of Irishgamer.ie‘s forums contains a number of threads asking about the site’s health, including threads titled “erm....... site dead?” and “wakey wakey”.

One forum user even set up and suggested using a blogspot.com blog named “Irish Gamers Ressurected!” (igressurected.blogspot.com) to replace the site.

Separately, the website Xbox Ireland, which previously was accessible vie the address XboxIreland.com, has now closed with an advertisements website taking its place. Site owner Jason Powell had told us that “xboxireland.com is coming back bigger and better then ever before”.

REVIEW: 50 Cent: Bulletproof G-Unit Edition

Developer: High Voltage | Publisher: Vivendi | Format: PSP

Reviewer: Craig Gallagher Despite largely negative reviews last years 50 Cent: Bulletproof sold over a million copies worldwide. Inevitably, we get 50 Cent: Bulletproof G-Unit Edition on the PSP.

After receiving a distressing call for help from his friend, K-Dog, 50 stumbles upon K-Dog’s murder. In the ensuing commotion 50 receives a number of bullets in the back, as well as being framed for the murder by corrupt government agents. It’s up to you to clear 50’s good name. It’s a pretty thin story, which given the games audience is probably a positive.

This PSP port turns a third-person shooter, into a top-down hack-and-slash action game. The top-down view could have worked, if you had been given the option to zoom in and out of the action. Unfortunately you’re forced to follow 50 up close, meaning that at times it is almost impossible to see what the hell is going on. Thankfully, the auto-targeting system works, otherwise you wouldn’t stand a chance of progressing. The reason 50 dies so often in the game isn’t because of superior enemy AI, it’s that damned camera.

The game is pretty easy going fare. Dispatching enemies is a rather simple task, due to the fact that they simply run at you, never seeking out cover or vantage points. It’s far too simple to merely grab enemies and use them as shields, as you mow down their AI retarded accomplices. There is a range of weapons available, from baseball bats to shotguns.

This is a dull game which only comes alive in multiplayer. Up to five can play in a variety of modes such as Smash and Grab, Breaking and Entering, Urban Warfare, King of Bling and Slaughter the Pig. All are somewhat self explanatory.  Of the multiplayer matches, Breaking and Entering, a game in which you attempt to destroy or defend your team’s vehicle  is the most enjoyable.

All in all this isn’t a great game. The mediocrity of proceedings make it difficult to recommend to any but the most hardened of hip hop fans.