Assassin’s Creed 2 Beta was available exclusively for all EU PS+ members and we at Gamersmint got our hands on one of them. For the first time in the popular Assassin’s Creed franchise, multiplayer is introduced and Initially we were a bit skeptical on the inclusion but once we got into the beta it became all clear.  This hands on gives you in-depth information about the multiplayer.

As soon as you get into a game, you are dropped in a city along with other players where you are both the Assassin  and the Target i.e being pursued by others like you. It might be too overwhelming at the start to get used to it, since you need to look at the compass often and assassinating civilians are common. It certainly is innovative and due to that scores high in our book.

You score points while assassinating targets and evading assassinations and by successfully executing more actions as described below :

• Killing Targets
• Escaping Pursuers
• Stunning Pursuers
• Performing Co-op Actions
• Performing chains of Actions
• Doing cool session Actions ( first to kill a target etc )

At the end of the game the player can review and compare his score with others.

The following characters are available to choose from :

There are 3 Maps available in the Beta namely :

1) Rome : This map is located in Rome, in the neighborhoods of the Pantheon. Its large streets and crowed market place offer a good environment for a hide and seek gameplay. Its numerous roof tops also offer multiple alternative paths to navigate quickly while exposed from one side of the map to the other.

2) Castle Gandolfo : Located few kilometers from Rome, Castle Gandolfo was one of the Pope residence. This map is mostly based on the interior of the Castle, offering multiple levels of alleys and halls. Mostly ground based, the gameplay is a good mix of hide and seek followed by frequent chases. Railings and balconies offers perfect spots for air assassinations.

Third which is unlocked by the community :

3) Siena : Based on the famous city of Siena located in Tuscany. In this map, the players are competing in the heart of the Paliohorse race. Thanks to the limited size of the map and the absence of the usual roof tops alternative navigation, the gameplay is intense and the action takes place mostly on the ground.

You have a lot of hiding spots to escape from your pursuers, it’s the same as Assassins Creed 2. You can hide in bushes, blend with groups or sit in benches. In the multiplayer you can break the chase in many ways namely -

1. Lifts,
2. Closing doors
3. Falling platforms
4. Corner helpers

This will be highlighted when you go near them so you can identify them easily.

Next Page : Cont’d

If you are an RTS fan, then you probably have your calendar booked for the next couple of years, courtesy of Starcraft II’s release. R.U.S.E might have slipped under the radar for most people (including me), thanks to Ubisoft’s nonexistent promotion.  (Hell, I didn’t even know the game was releasing this month till I was asked to review it). Eugen Systems, the minds behind the critically acclaimed Act of War aims to reinvent the genre with the introduction of a Ruse system that encourages players to think differently and employ deceptive skills to win over the opponent. The concept isn’t new but an entire game built around it is. Is it worthy of a break from Starcraft II or are we the ones being deceived?

Story

If you didn’t already know, R.U.S.E’s campaign is set in the World War II era. But that’s all there is to it. Rather than letting you live out key scenarios in the historical battle, R.U.S.E follows a fictional story and tells the tale of General Sheridan. The prologue mission sees Sheridan rescuing an agent held captive in a castle who happens to know the identity of a certain spy known as Promotheus that you are after. What follows afterwards are the events that led to that moment; from Sheridan’s early days as a tank commander to the moment he became General.

The plot is too predictable and cliché filled to keep you engaged and comes off as nothing but an excuse to push you forward. And most players can see the plot twist coming miles away, from the very first few missions. Most scenarios in the campaign only serve the purpose of introducing new ruses. For a game set in the World War II era, it really doesn’t feel like one most of the time, as the game mostly focuses on fictional scenarios which are nowhere as engaging as some of the key battles.

If you were hoping to relive the chaos and slaughter fest of Stalingrad then you will be disappointed as the game doesn’t feature a Russian campaign. You get to hear the name Hitler only once throughout the entire campaign and that itself will explain the rest.

Design and Gameplay

The first thing you will notice when you launch the game is the ridiculous size of the map and the lack of “fog of war”. The new Iris zoom engine lets players view the battlefield in any way they want. A zoomed out view represents units as circular icons, small icons represent infantry while larger ones represent armour.  And the zoomed in view lets you view the battle from any desired angle. The lack of fog of war adds another element to gameplay. You will be always be able to see your opponent’s troops and buildings and can also track down their movement.

R.U.S.E‘s main highlight is… well, the ruses. Ruses are basically your power cards that give you a special ability which you can activate over a sector of the map. This is what the game is all about. There are ten Ruses in total and they range from spy agents to radio silencers and decoy units. Ruse is not a game where the larger army wins nor is it one where the more strategic player command victory. It’s about deceiving your opponent and the game provides plenty of ways for you to exercise your will.  You can lure the enemy to a decoy base while you destroy their supply line or you can use decoy units to attack a base head on while your entire army can attack from the rear under radio silence. The possibilities are endless and each ruse serves more than the intended purpose.

For example, your blitz ruse increases the movement of all friendly units by 50% but when used in sectors with supply depots it also increases resource gathering by 50%. Only two Ruses can be applied at a time in sector and are of course, active only for a limited period of time. The Ruses, you are constantly replenished with and you won’t find the need to preserve them in most occasions. Other Ruses can inspire your soldiers to fight till death or instil fear into your enemy troops. Jumping right into an instant battle will lead you nowhere; you will need to play the campaign to get acquainted with each of the Ruses.

Next Page – Cont’d

]]> http://www.gamersmint.com/gamersmint-review-r-u-s-e-a-innovative-new-rts/feed 4 http://www.gamersmint.com/alienware-spaceship-bangalore-hands-on http://www.gamersmint.com/alienware-spaceship-bangalore-hands-on#comments Sun, 15 Aug 2010 06:09:28 +0000 Devils Own http://www.gamersmint.com/?p=7386

A few days ago, Bangalore witnessed the birth of India’s first Alienware Gaming Lounge  ( Spaceship). Now you all know what to expect, but we are here to give you a more in depth coverage of what is India’s finest gaming lounge.

As soon as take your seat, you feel like as if you are in heaven. And it’s not because of the pixel crunching beast in front of you. The chairs themselves are custom made from Alienware and are as comfortable as computer chairs can get. They offer full back support along with a head cushion. Lights are switched off to create the perfect atmosphere for gaming and succeeds in truly immersing you in the game. Unlike other gaming cafes, you won’t notice the dozens of people sitting around you, which can constantly get annoying and ruin the experience. In other words, you feel like you are right at home. Each Aurora Desktop houses a pair of GTX 260’s running in SLI which is hooked up to a 23” Alienware monitor (only a monitor of such calibre can do the desktop justice). The headphones offer virtual surround sound. Don’t be fooled by the word virtual, these are just as good as a set of 5.1 speakers.

Initial games installed include COD WaW, COD MW2, L4D,L4D 2,GTA 4, AC 2,Dirt 3,Team Fortress 2, WOW (though it’s of no use since you need to have a paid subscription) Half Life 2, Arkham Asylum and much more. The list just blows away what other gaming cafe’s have on offer. But this is just the initial list of games. More games are expected to arrive very soon including Crysis and plenty of EA Sports games (But you would have to be an absolute lunatic if you decide to play FIFA 10 over COD on a desktop like this). All of them run at 1920 X 1080 with AA and AF enabled. Plus, you also get the option to play in 3D. That’s right; all the desktops come with Nvidia 3D Vision. A must try for those who haven’t experienced it yet. But it takes quite a bit of time for your eyes to get adjusted to it and you may experience some eye strain while playing.

Now here is the part for which you have all been waiting for, Pricing. This Treatment, worthy of the Gods, will set you back by Rs 100 an hour. Expensive yes, but worth it? HELL YES. Keep in mind that this is not your regular PC. If you want to play on desktops whose price tag exceeds well into six digits, you better cough up the green. Hell, I’m surprised they don’t charge Rs 200 for what they have to offer. No other PC gaming lounge in India can offer the same experience and the price is totally justified especially when you consider that you pay Rs 30 – 50 for what your local or Zapak gaming cafes offer which is a trifle when compared to what the Spaceship has on offer. If you still disagree with the price, the only thing which I can tell you is get your ass there and try it out for yourself and then talk.

The only complaint that I have is that it is located too far away from where most people live. Here is the address: # 644, 80 Feet Road, Koramangala 4th Block. But it won’t help much once you reach the area. Getting to the place was hell for me as none of the locals had heard about it. In order to spare you form the torment; the lounge is located opposite to Maharajah Hotel and is on the same road as the Sony Centre, about 300 metres from there. So now you know where to go, if you want the ultimate gaming experience in the country, let alone the city.

Kane and Lynch 2 is the successor to the 2007 game Kane and Lynch : Dead Men. The first game was received warmly by critics but proved to be an average game at most. Fast forward 2 years and we have the sequel almost ready for launch, but is it an massive improvement over the first game? Gamersmint received a preview code of the game which was a decent representation of what the final game had in store for gamers.

The preview code had four levels set in a masterfully recreated Shanghai which impressed, the physcotic duo are BACK to unleash hell again. Lynch was planning to settle down in Shanghai with his girlfriend Xiu but undertakes a job for Glazier, calling Kane for support. As you take control of Lynch in the back alleys of Shanghai, things turn chaotic pretty fast as expected and soon you are chasing a guy in cramped buildings, running over rooftops, shooting waves of bad guys and what not which ends with Kane shooting the girl and the guy slitting his throat. Well what did you expect? Soon they are found running away from the law. Once they come out to the streets, you will be awestruck by the beautiful Shanghai, the traffic, the neon lights as you run for your life killing cops on the way.

There was a definite improvement in firefights although I feel the guns felt very unsatisfying and didn’t pack a punch. The game feels like a live recording hence the screen is shaky and unstable, is that realistic or was that needed? I felt it provided a different gameplay experience and didn’t feel tacked on, It suited the game pretty well. Also the presence of a filter combined with the shaky cam made it very realistic, although it can be disabled in the options. The addition of pixels to cover the gory areas especially when you shoot someone in the head felt unnecessary and although this was the experience intended for gamers, it would be interesting to see how they react to it. I for one, felt this was tacked on and would have preferred having an option to disable it.  My main gripe with the demo was the cover system which handled very clumsily and needs a bit of work before they ship the game, but too late for that I guess which is a bit disappointing. Overall the gameplay mechanics were pretty smooth and refined and a definite improvement over the first game.

The game is hardcore just like the first one although the clumsy cover system as I mentioned earlier was a spoilsport but wasn’t a huge factor and didn’t ruin the enjoyment. In one of the levels you need to defend Glazer’s car in a highway as it is attacked by a bunch of goons, the set-pieces in this level were tremendous and eventually in the final level which was a restaurant scene you get to kill a shitload of cops. It’s the classic gameplay from the first game and its back and better than ever.  The demo ends abruptly, which left me craving for more.

The voice acting and dialogues are the best things about a Kane and Lynch game and I am not too surprised that it impresses here as well, the action is really tense with both our protagonists yelling at each other which really increases the chemistry between the two, the game features a new concept called “down but not dead” which is self explanatory. It basically means when you get blasted by a lot of bullets you will get to shoot people with one hand, till Kane comes and does the needful. Think of it as the last stand perk in Modern warfare 2 but with you being able to recover.  The pacing of the preview code I played was perfect with a great mix of action and dialogue, IO Interactive has clearly taken it a notch up with Dog Days.

The Multi Player is back and is better than ever with Fragile Alliance looking pretty neat,  you rob a bank, escape and have the option of betraying your team members to increase your cash count, but be warned of the repercussions. In addition to Undercover cop, Cops and robbers, there is a new arcade mode where you can play offline with AI teammates and hone your skill for the real gang wars online.  Although I can’t give much impressions about the MP due to the lack of players, this certainly seems like a whole lot of fun online just like the first game was.

IO Interactive have certainly polished this game a lot and it’s looking promising, their attempt at providing a realistic experience is genuine. You should be certainly interested in this game as it does provide an unique experience and is much better than their previous offering. The game releases on August 17  in NA and August 20 in EU, be sure to check out our full review of Kane and Lynch 2 : Dog Days .

Discuss about the preview build and the game at our forums here