Written By Kom Limpulnam on Senin, 23 Desember 2013 | 11.52
Should you buy the PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 version of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes or the PlayStation 4/Xbox One version? Series creator Hideo Kojima weighed in on Twitter today.
"I've been asked which ver u should buy. The feel of play & impression's similar as it's been made multiplatform/multigen this time. Sense of realism & graphics looks much better in next gen. So I'd say current-gen for those who can't buy next gen just yet & upgrade later."
"FYI, the world ranking of mission result/trial grade in GZ differs to each platform. The feel of play/difficulty levels are the same as we consider slight difference parts found in each hardware, controls or frame rate."
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, a prologue to Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, launches on March 18, 2014. The game will be available to download on PS4 or Xbox One, or in stores for PS3 or Xbox 360 for $30. PS3 and Xbox 360 owners can download the game for $20.
Ground Zeroes runs on the Fox Engine and features a day/night cycle, as well as dynamic weather conditions that affect gameplay. Missions are designed to help players understand the game's new control and gameplay mechanics.
This week on New Releases, we find out that Max: Curse of the Brotherhood is now available! Edge and Cubit The Hardcore Platformer Robot arrive for the 3DS.
Written By Kom Limpulnam on Minggu, 22 Desember 2013 | 11.52
Gamespot's Site MashupMr. Krabs voice actor lands role in Warcraft filmTop 5 Skyrim Mods of the Week - Falskaar Xmas Adventure Part 2X Rebirth Review
http://auth.gamespot.com/ Gamespot's Everything Feed! News, Reviews, Videos. Exploding with content? You bet. en-us Sat, 21 Dec 2013 20:19:21 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/mr-krabs-voice-actor-lands-role-in-warcraft-film/1100-6416834/ <figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1179/11799911/2407236-krabs.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2407236" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1179/11799911/2407236-krabs.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2407236"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/1179/11799911/2407236-krabs.jpg"></a></figure><p style=""> </p><p dir="ltr" style="">Clancy Brown, the voice actor behind the penny-pinching restaurant boss Mr. Krabs from Nickelodeon's hit animated show <em>Spongebob Squarepants</em>, has joined the Warcraft movie.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Legendary Pictures <a href="https://twitter.com/Legendary/status/413461860550070272" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">announced the news on Twitter this week</a>. Brown also appeared in <em>The Shawshank Redemption</em> and <em>Starship Troopers</em>. Brown will be joined by Daniel Wu (<em>Protege</em>, <em>The Banquet</em>), the second new actor confirmed this week for a role in the Warcraft film.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The Warcraft movie will be an <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/star-wars-effects-studio-working-on-warcraft-film-an-orcs-vs-humans-origin-story/1100-6416089/" data-ref-id="1100-6416089">origins story</a>, though neither Legendary nor Blizzard have provided any details regarding who the actors will play. Previously confirmed actors for the Warcraft film include <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/warcraft-movie-cast-revealed-colin-farrell-not-listed/1100-6416553/" data-ref-id="1100-6416553"><em>Captain America</em>'s Dominic Cooper and Paula Patton from <em>Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol</em></a>, among numerous others.</p><p style="">Production on the Warcraft film is slated to begin next month, before the movie comes to theaters on <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/blizzard-makes-a-smart-choice-delays-warcraft-movie-to-2016/1100-6416445/" data-ref-id="1100-6416445">March 11, 2016</a>. </p><div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6416038" data-width="100%" data-height="100%"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6416038/" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style=""> </p> Sat, 21 Dec 2013 17:59:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/mr-krabs-voice-actor-lands-role-in-warcraft-film/1100-6416834/ http://www.gamespot.com/videos/top-5-skyrim-mods-of-the-week-falskaar-xmas-advent/2300-6416592/ Join Cam and Seb for part two of their Christmas Falskaar adventure with Kevin VanClaus. Have the people of Borvald been naughty or nice? Kevin and his candy cane sword will decide! Sat, 21 Dec 2013 12:00:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/top-5-skyrim-mods-of-the-week-falskaar-xmas-advent/2300-6416592/ http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/x-rebirth-review/1900-6415614/ <p style="">Einstein taught us that space is both homogeneous and isotropic--that is, on a large scale, the universe is smooth and uniform in all directions. It's empty out there. Like many space games before it, X Rebirth depicts an unrealistically vibrant universe bursting with color and texture, and that's as it should be. A near-vacuum makes a dreary backdrop for a video game, at least for a human observer.</p><p style="">It isn't X Rebirth's inauthentic view of space that should anger you; it's that this sequel is a galactic collision of unparalleled scale, an interstellar parade of bad ideas badly executed. Just as the observable universe has no center, neither does space exploration game X Rebirth find a foundation from which to grow outward, and I am unsure how to begin describing its failures. I can only begin at the quantum level, pulling out each particle and analyzing its deficiencies. And so I start in the cockpit, where most galactic adventures begin.</p><div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6416370" data-width="100%" data-height="100%"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6416370/" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style="">The Albion Skunk is the aptly named vessel that carries you on this journey. Unless you're peering out of a space port's window or piloting one of the game's different drones, you always see space through the Skunk's front window, and overlooking the aesthetically dull control panel that tells you the ship's condition. In fact, you look at most of X Rebirth's menus in the cockpit, each list pulling up on a digital display viewable by both you the player and protagonist pilot Ren Otani.</p><p style="">This menu integration might have been a sensible way to draw you further into this universe, but no amount of immersion would have been enough to veil the system's grave deficiencies. Pulling up so much as a simple galactic map requires a ridiculous number of keystrokes, with each submenu buffered by just enough input lag and unnecessary animation to cause impatience. Furthermore, the menu doesn't always take up a sensible portion of the screen, making it hard to read intricate mission objectives--and even harder to read them when a particularly garish spacescape shines from behind the Skunk's menu screen.</p><figure data-align="left" data-size="medium" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2406835-0001.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406835" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2406835-0001.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406835"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_medium/416/4161502/2406835-0001.jpg"></a><figcaption>For a near-vacuum, it sure is busy in space!</figcaption></figure><p style="">Garish spacescapes are common in X Rebirth, though there are sights of real beauty. Ships feature a remarkable amount of detail, and space stations and capital ships catch the eye with their intricate industrial designs. Rushing between systems via the game's space highways can be a visual delight, particularly as you watch ships and structures approach and then race by. When the color scheme embraces tranquil blues and developer Egosoft exercises visual restraint, the hazy background nebulae and tumbling asteroids are a treat. All too often, however, the view erupts with harsh orange and turquoise hues, making you wonder if you shouldn't stock the Albion Skunk with sunscreen. A vibrant vision of space is typically pleasing enough, but X Rebirth's depiction occasionally surpasses "meticulous" and surges straight into "gaudy."</p><p style="">Buy low and sell high. It's a solid economic policy, and it forms the backbone of X Rebirth's explore-fight-collect-build gameplay loop. It's an inviting loop, and I found myself pushing onward to collect enough funds, hiring enough ships to join my squad, and building enough structures in the hope of calling the result a true empire.</p><p style="">Sometimes, doing so means shooting spacecraft piloted by members of the slave-trading Plutarch Mining Corporation. Combat is functional, but ship controls are loose, though I never felt as though I wasn't properly directing the action. Regardless, the Skunk is your only ride for the duration, so get used to the way it looks and feels, though you can improve its performance with enhanced weaponry, shields, and so forth. Fortunately, you will build up an entire squad of vessels that perform various vital actions on your behalf, assisting you in combat, erecting structures, and ferrying goods about the sector. Massive battles are visually explosive, momentarily interrupting the slow-paced trading with fiery combat.</p><blockquote data-align="center" data-size="large"><p style="">This sequel is a galactic collision of unparalleled scale, an interstellar parade of bad ideas badly executed.</p></blockquote><figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2406836-0002.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406836" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2406836-0002.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406836"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/416/4161502/2406836-0002.jpg"></a><figcaption>Oh God. Just... Oh God. </figcaption></figure><p style="">And boy is trading slow-paced. Buying and selling goods isn't an immediate process, or even an efficient one. Instead, you must wait for many minutes on end as your sluggish trading ship edges ever closer to the trade port, giving you an opportunity to poke around the sector, or more likely, to go grab a glass of wine and peruse the latest issue of <em>Science Magazine</em> from cover to cover. You also must maintain fuel reserves, which can come as a shock the first time a hired pilot informs you of his fuel shortage over the comm and has you scrambling to figure out how to rectify the situation, given how ordering your ship to fuel up is not an option you can find in the game's menus.</p><p style="">Building up a fleet takes time and money, and you don't find capable crew members free-floating in space, but rather within space stations, which you explore on foot after docking. First-person exploration could have been a grand addition, taking the X series that much closer to the everything-and-the-kitchen-sink games developer Derek Smart wanted his <a href="/battlecruiser-millennium/" data-ref-id="false">Battlecruiser</a> series to be, but never was. It soon becomes obvious, however, that traversing cookie-cutter stations sucks the mystery out of space travel, leaving behind horrifying human visages that spout absolute drivel in the most excruciating tone of voice imaginable. You see the same grotesquely scarred faces over and over again, and engaging one of these unblinking ghouls results in absolute nonsense. Any given conversation is utterly devoid of logic. Characters are routinely rude when you approach them, then become delighted, and then lapse into obnoxiousness again. In the meanwhile, female characters frequently whine "Ew! Slimy green lizard things are everywhere!" in the shrillest possible manner, as if they are 1950s housewives from classic cartoons, crying atop the kitchen table and swatting at pesky mice.</p><figure data-align="right" data-size="medium" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2406838-0004.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406838" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2406838-0004.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406838"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_medium/416/4161502/2406838-0004.jpg"></a><figcaption>Colorful is one thing, but X Rebirth's artists really should have turned things down a notch.</figcaption></figure><p style="">That line is shrieked in regard to the reptilian Teladi race, whose existence in the X universe is well established. Perhaps Egosoft wanted to use first-person exploration to further develop the game's tone and deepen its lore. Sadly, a universe full of rude, moronic space travelers barely capable of communicating normal thoughts in a logical order is not a compelling place to be.</p><p style="">Instead, having to dock at a station and walk around looking for the right merchants becomes a chore. My first foray into a station delighted me; I could loot lockers and crates for marketable items, leading me to believe that X Rebirth might spill into role-playing territory. Alas, clicking on lockers becomes monotonous busywork, as does roaming the cut-and-paste hallways looking for vendors and crew members for hire. These places are as lifeless as a white dwarf, even in their underpopulated lounges, each living statue stiffly waiting for you to click on it. Characters speak of their own accord only when prompting you to take part in a ridiculous-beyond-measure minigame in which you engage in surreal small talk to earn a few discounts. It wasn't long before I avoided this minigame altogether, however: no matter how deep the discount, I couldn't stomach the stupid dialogue, which made me question how such imbeciles could have devised any form of space travel.</p><p style="">It isn't just in the space stations where you go hunting for discounts. Out in the black beyond, you glimpse icons that urge you to investigate the objects they identify; examine enough of them, and you unlock discounts and side missions. Little lowercase i's are splattered all over the place, but you have to be close enough to see them, and you must have line of sight. And thus your adventure turns into a vapid Easter egg hunt in which you float around satellite arrays seeking icons, and then soar close enough to them to interact with them. It isn't uncommon to briefly see an icon identifying a side mission only to have it flicker away in a flash, forcing you to maneuver carefully around the starbase hoping to catch another glimpse.</p><figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2406842-0003.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406842" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2406842-0003.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406842"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/416/4161502/2406842-0003.jpg"></a><figcaption>According to the theory of special relativity, X Rebirth stinks. </figcaption></figure><p style="">Don't expect those missions to work properly once you graciously accept them from your sneering contacts, however. Each X game has suffered from a certain number of rough edges at launch, and you could be forgiven for assuming that like those games, X Rebirth would be superficially glitchy but eminently playable. Yet no matter how low your expectations might be for the newest X's stability, the game still manages to sink lower. Only a few hours in, and a mission proved impossible to complete, leading me to commiserate with other players suffering from the same game-ending bug in Internet forums. After downloading a saved game file from a helpful comrade, I continued my journey, only to have a side mission task me with destroying a story-critical capital ship, leaving me to wander for hours wondering why I couldn't find my mission objective.</p><blockquote data-align="left"><p style="">A universe full of rude, moronic space travelers barely capable of communicating normal thoughts in a logical order is not a compelling place to be.</p></blockquote><p style="">Listing all of the bugs I encountered would take up inordinate amounts of space, and so I offer here a random array. Crashes too numerous to count. Poor frame rates that had me wondering why I'd spent so much money on modern computer hardware. Suddenly unresponsive dialogue that left me stuck mid-conversation. Enemy ships flying around in the middle of space station geometry, keeping me from completing missions. Trading ships that simply wouldn't conduct the assigned transaction. That last one was particularly aggravating, considering how much time you must wait for functional transactions to complete. All too often, X Rebirth had me asking the age-old question: "Is it a bug or a feature?"</p><p style="">The fact that it's too difficult to tell the difference tells you all you must know about X Rebirth. You might assume a bright future for the game, given Egosoft's solid history of supporting its games after release--and given the community's dedication to crafting fixes and modifications that further improve these starry treks. X Rebirth's failings are rooted too deeply to simply be patched away, however. No matter what your level of enthusiasm for the X series is, do your best to escape the pull of Rebirth's gravity. It's only bound to cause a fatal crash.</p> Fri, 20 Dec 2013 18:12:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/x-rebirth-review/1900-6415614/
Gamespot's Site MashupMr. Krabs voice actor lands role in Warcraft filmTop 5 Skyrim Mods of the Week - Falskaar Xmas Adventure Part 2X Rebirth Review
http://auth.gamespot.com/ Gamespot's Everything Feed! News, Reviews, Videos. Exploding with content? You bet. en-us Sat, 21 Dec 2013 20:19:21 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/mr-krabs-voice-actor-lands-role-in-warcraft-film/1100-6416834/ <figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1179/11799911/2407236-krabs.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2407236" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1179/11799911/2407236-krabs.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2407236"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/1179/11799911/2407236-krabs.jpg"></a></figure><p style=""> </p><p dir="ltr" style="">Clancy Brown, the voice actor behind the penny-pinching restaurant boss Mr. Krabs from Nickelodeon's hit animated show <em>Spongebob Squarepants</em>, has joined the Warcraft movie.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Legendary Pictures <a href="https://twitter.com/Legendary/status/413461860550070272" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">announced the news on Twitter this week</a>. Brown also appeared in <em>The Shawshank Redemption</em> and <em>Starship Troopers</em>. Brown will be joined by Daniel Wu (<em>Protege</em>, <em>The Banquet</em>), the second new actor confirmed this week for a role in the Warcraft film.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The Warcraft movie will be an <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/star-wars-effects-studio-working-on-warcraft-film-an-orcs-vs-humans-origin-story/1100-6416089/" data-ref-id="1100-6416089">origins story</a>, though neither Legendary nor Blizzard have provided any details regarding who the actors will play. Previously confirmed actors for the Warcraft film include <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/warcraft-movie-cast-revealed-colin-farrell-not-listed/1100-6416553/" data-ref-id="1100-6416553"><em>Captain America</em>'s Dominic Cooper and Paula Patton from <em>Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol</em></a>, among numerous others.</p><p style="">Production on the Warcraft film is slated to begin next month, before the movie comes to theaters on <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/blizzard-makes-a-smart-choice-delays-warcraft-movie-to-2016/1100-6416445/" data-ref-id="1100-6416445">March 11, 2016</a>. </p><div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6416038" data-width="100%" data-height="100%"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6416038/" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style=""> </p> Sat, 21 Dec 2013 17:59:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/mr-krabs-voice-actor-lands-role-in-warcraft-film/1100-6416834/ http://www.gamespot.com/videos/top-5-skyrim-mods-of-the-week-falskaar-xmas-advent/2300-6416592/ Join Cam and Seb for part two of their Christmas Falskaar adventure with Kevin VanClaus. Have the people of Borvald been naughty or nice? Kevin and his candy cane sword will decide! Sat, 21 Dec 2013 12:00:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/top-5-skyrim-mods-of-the-week-falskaar-xmas-advent/2300-6416592/ http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/x-rebirth-review/1900-6415614/ <p style="">Einstein taught us that space is both homogeneous and isotropic--that is, on a large scale, the universe is smooth and uniform in all directions. It's empty out there. Like many space games before it, X Rebirth depicts an unrealistically vibrant universe bursting with color and texture, and that's as it should be. A near-vacuum makes a dreary backdrop for a video game, at least for a human observer.</p><p style="">It isn't X Rebirth's inauthentic view of space that should anger you; it's that this sequel is a galactic collision of unparalleled scale, an interstellar parade of bad ideas badly executed. Just as the observable universe has no center, neither does space exploration game X Rebirth find a foundation from which to grow outward, and I am unsure how to begin describing its failures. I can only begin at the quantum level, pulling out each particle and analyzing its deficiencies. And so I start in the cockpit, where most galactic adventures begin.</p><div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6416370" data-width="100%" data-height="100%"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6416370/" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style="">The Albion Skunk is the aptly named vessel that carries you on this journey. Unless you're peering out of a space port's window or piloting one of the game's different drones, you always see space through the Skunk's front window, and overlooking the aesthetically dull control panel that tells you the ship's condition. In fact, you look at most of X Rebirth's menus in the cockpit, each list pulling up on a digital display viewable by both you the player and protagonist pilot Ren Otani.</p><p style="">This menu integration might have been a sensible way to draw you further into this universe, but no amount of immersion would have been enough to veil the system's grave deficiencies. Pulling up so much as a simple galactic map requires a ridiculous number of keystrokes, with each submenu buffered by just enough input lag and unnecessary animation to cause impatience. Furthermore, the menu doesn't always take up a sensible portion of the screen, making it hard to read intricate mission objectives--and even harder to read them when a particularly garish spacescape shines from behind the Skunk's menu screen.</p><figure data-align="left" data-size="medium" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2406835-0001.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406835" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2406835-0001.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406835"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_medium/416/4161502/2406835-0001.jpg"></a><figcaption>For a near-vacuum, it sure is busy in space!</figcaption></figure><p style="">Garish spacescapes are common in X Rebirth, though there are sights of real beauty. Ships feature a remarkable amount of detail, and space stations and capital ships catch the eye with their intricate industrial designs. Rushing between systems via the game's space highways can be a visual delight, particularly as you watch ships and structures approach and then race by. When the color scheme embraces tranquil blues and developer Egosoft exercises visual restraint, the hazy background nebulae and tumbling asteroids are a treat. All too often, however, the view erupts with harsh orange and turquoise hues, making you wonder if you shouldn't stock the Albion Skunk with sunscreen. A vibrant vision of space is typically pleasing enough, but X Rebirth's depiction occasionally surpasses "meticulous" and surges straight into "gaudy."</p><p style="">Buy low and sell high. It's a solid economic policy, and it forms the backbone of X Rebirth's explore-fight-collect-build gameplay loop. It's an inviting loop, and I found myself pushing onward to collect enough funds, hiring enough ships to join my squad, and building enough structures in the hope of calling the result a true empire.</p><p style="">Sometimes, doing so means shooting spacecraft piloted by members of the slave-trading Plutarch Mining Corporation. Combat is functional, but ship controls are loose, though I never felt as though I wasn't properly directing the action. Regardless, the Skunk is your only ride for the duration, so get used to the way it looks and feels, though you can improve its performance with enhanced weaponry, shields, and so forth. Fortunately, you will build up an entire squad of vessels that perform various vital actions on your behalf, assisting you in combat, erecting structures, and ferrying goods about the sector. Massive battles are visually explosive, momentarily interrupting the slow-paced trading with fiery combat.</p><blockquote data-align="center" data-size="large"><p style="">This sequel is a galactic collision of unparalleled scale, an interstellar parade of bad ideas badly executed.</p></blockquote><figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2406836-0002.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406836" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2406836-0002.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406836"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/416/4161502/2406836-0002.jpg"></a><figcaption>Oh God. Just... Oh God. </figcaption></figure><p style="">And boy is trading slow-paced. Buying and selling goods isn't an immediate process, or even an efficient one. Instead, you must wait for many minutes on end as your sluggish trading ship edges ever closer to the trade port, giving you an opportunity to poke around the sector, or more likely, to go grab a glass of wine and peruse the latest issue of <em>Science Magazine</em> from cover to cover. You also must maintain fuel reserves, which can come as a shock the first time a hired pilot informs you of his fuel shortage over the comm and has you scrambling to figure out how to rectify the situation, given how ordering your ship to fuel up is not an option you can find in the game's menus.</p><p style="">Building up a fleet takes time and money, and you don't find capable crew members free-floating in space, but rather within space stations, which you explore on foot after docking. First-person exploration could have been a grand addition, taking the X series that much closer to the everything-and-the-kitchen-sink games developer Derek Smart wanted his <a href="/battlecruiser-millennium/" data-ref-id="false">Battlecruiser</a> series to be, but never was. It soon becomes obvious, however, that traversing cookie-cutter stations sucks the mystery out of space travel, leaving behind horrifying human visages that spout absolute drivel in the most excruciating tone of voice imaginable. You see the same grotesquely scarred faces over and over again, and engaging one of these unblinking ghouls results in absolute nonsense. Any given conversation is utterly devoid of logic. Characters are routinely rude when you approach them, then become delighted, and then lapse into obnoxiousness again. In the meanwhile, female characters frequently whine "Ew! Slimy green lizard things are everywhere!" in the shrillest possible manner, as if they are 1950s housewives from classic cartoons, crying atop the kitchen table and swatting at pesky mice.</p><figure data-align="right" data-size="medium" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2406838-0004.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406838" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2406838-0004.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406838"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_medium/416/4161502/2406838-0004.jpg"></a><figcaption>Colorful is one thing, but X Rebirth's artists really should have turned things down a notch.</figcaption></figure><p style="">That line is shrieked in regard to the reptilian Teladi race, whose existence in the X universe is well established. Perhaps Egosoft wanted to use first-person exploration to further develop the game's tone and deepen its lore. Sadly, a universe full of rude, moronic space travelers barely capable of communicating normal thoughts in a logical order is not a compelling place to be.</p><p style="">Instead, having to dock at a station and walk around looking for the right merchants becomes a chore. My first foray into a station delighted me; I could loot lockers and crates for marketable items, leading me to believe that X Rebirth might spill into role-playing territory. Alas, clicking on lockers becomes monotonous busywork, as does roaming the cut-and-paste hallways looking for vendors and crew members for hire. These places are as lifeless as a white dwarf, even in their underpopulated lounges, each living statue stiffly waiting for you to click on it. Characters speak of their own accord only when prompting you to take part in a ridiculous-beyond-measure minigame in which you engage in surreal small talk to earn a few discounts. It wasn't long before I avoided this minigame altogether, however: no matter how deep the discount, I couldn't stomach the stupid dialogue, which made me question how such imbeciles could have devised any form of space travel.</p><p style="">It isn't just in the space stations where you go hunting for discounts. Out in the black beyond, you glimpse icons that urge you to investigate the objects they identify; examine enough of them, and you unlock discounts and side missions. Little lowercase i's are splattered all over the place, but you have to be close enough to see them, and you must have line of sight. And thus your adventure turns into a vapid Easter egg hunt in which you float around satellite arrays seeking icons, and then soar close enough to them to interact with them. It isn't uncommon to briefly see an icon identifying a side mission only to have it flicker away in a flash, forcing you to maneuver carefully around the starbase hoping to catch another glimpse.</p><figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2406842-0003.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406842" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2406842-0003.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406842"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/416/4161502/2406842-0003.jpg"></a><figcaption>According to the theory of special relativity, X Rebirth stinks. </figcaption></figure><p style="">Don't expect those missions to work properly once you graciously accept them from your sneering contacts, however. Each X game has suffered from a certain number of rough edges at launch, and you could be forgiven for assuming that like those games, X Rebirth would be superficially glitchy but eminently playable. Yet no matter how low your expectations might be for the newest X's stability, the game still manages to sink lower. Only a few hours in, and a mission proved impossible to complete, leading me to commiserate with other players suffering from the same game-ending bug in Internet forums. After downloading a saved game file from a helpful comrade, I continued my journey, only to have a side mission task me with destroying a story-critical capital ship, leaving me to wander for hours wondering why I couldn't find my mission objective.</p><blockquote data-align="left"><p style="">A universe full of rude, moronic space travelers barely capable of communicating normal thoughts in a logical order is not a compelling place to be.</p></blockquote><p style="">Listing all of the bugs I encountered would take up inordinate amounts of space, and so I offer here a random array. Crashes too numerous to count. Poor frame rates that had me wondering why I'd spent so much money on modern computer hardware. Suddenly unresponsive dialogue that left me stuck mid-conversation. Enemy ships flying around in the middle of space station geometry, keeping me from completing missions. Trading ships that simply wouldn't conduct the assigned transaction. That last one was particularly aggravating, considering how much time you must wait for functional transactions to complete. All too often, X Rebirth had me asking the age-old question: "Is it a bug or a feature?"</p><p style="">The fact that it's too difficult to tell the difference tells you all you must know about X Rebirth. You might assume a bright future for the game, given Egosoft's solid history of supporting its games after release--and given the community's dedication to crafting fixes and modifications that further improve these starry treks. X Rebirth's failings are rooted too deeply to simply be patched away, however. No matter what your level of enthusiasm for the X series is, do your best to escape the pull of Rebirth's gravity. It's only bound to cause a fatal crash.</p> Fri, 20 Dec 2013 18:12:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/x-rebirth-review/1900-6415614/
Written By Kom Limpulnam on Sabtu, 21 Desember 2013 | 11.52
Gamespot's Site MashupX Rebirth ReviewHighlights and Hijinks from the PS4 Launch ShowMX vs. ATV returns from the dead in 2014 on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC
http://auth.gamespot.com/ Gamespot's Everything Feed! News, Reviews, Videos. Exploding with content? You bet. en-us Fri, 20 Dec 2013 20:18:51 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/x-rebirth-review/1900-6415614/ <p style="">Einstein taught us that space is both homogeneous and isotropic--that is, on a large scale, the universe is smooth and uniform in all directions. It's empty out there. Like many space games before it, X Rebirth depicts an unrealistically vibrant universe bursting with color and texture, and that's as it should be. A near-vacuum makes a dreary backdrop for a video game, at least for a human observer.</p><p style="">It isn't X Rebirth's inauthentic view of space that should anger you; it's that this sequel is a galactic collision of unparalleled scale, an interstellar parade of bad ideas badly executed. Just as the observable universe has no center, neither does space exploration game X Rebirth find a foundation from which to grow outward, and I am unsure how to begin describing its failures. I can only begin at the quantum level, pulling out each particle and analyzing its deficiencies. And so I start in the cockpit, where most galactic adventures begin.</p><div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6416370" data-width="100%" data-height="100%"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6416370/" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style="">The Albion Skunk is the aptly named vessel that carries you on this journey. Unless you're peering out of a space port's window or piloting one of the game's different drones, you always see space through the Skunk's front window, and overlooking the aesthetically dull control panel that tells you the ship's condition. In fact, you look at most of X Rebirth's menus in the cockpit, each list pulling up on a digital display viewable by both you the player and protagonist pilot Ren Otani.</p><p style="">This menu integration might have been a sensible way to draw you further into this universe, but no amount of immersion would have been enough to veil the system's grave deficiencies. Pulling up so much as a simple galactic map requires a ridiculous number of keystrokes, with each submenu buffered by just enough input lag and unnecessary animation to cause impatience. Furthermore, the menu doesn't always take up a sensible portion of the screen, making it hard to read intricate mission objectives--and even harder to read them when a particularly garish spacescape shines from behind the Skunk's menu screen.</p><figure data-align="left" data-size="medium" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2406835-0001.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406835" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2406835-0001.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406835"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_medium/416/4161502/2406835-0001.jpg"></a><figcaption>For a near-vacuum, it sure is busy in space!</figcaption></figure><p style="">Garish spacescapes are common in X Rebirth, though there are sights of real beauty. Ships feature a remarkable amount of detail, and space stations and capital ships catch the eye with their intricate industrial designs. Rushing between systems via the game's space highways can be a visual delight, particularly as you watch ships and structures approach and then race by. When the color scheme embraces tranquil blues and developer Egosoft exercises visual restraint, the hazy background nebulae and tumbling asteroids are a treat. All too often, however, the view erupts with harsh orange and turquoise hues, making you wonder if you shouldn't stock the Albion Skunk with sunscreen. A vibrant vision of space is typically pleasing enough, but X Rebirth's depiction occasionally surpasses "meticulous" and surges straight into "gaudy."</p><p style="">Buy low and sell high. It's a solid economic policy, and it forms the backbone of X Rebirth's explore-fight-collect-build gameplay loop. It's an inviting loop, and I found myself pushing onward to collect enough funds, hiring enough ships to join my squad, and building enough structures in the hope of calling the result a true empire.</p><p style="">Sometimes, doing so means shooting spacecraft piloted by members of the slave-trading Plutarch Mining Corporation. Combat is functional, but ship controls are loose, though I never felt as though I wasn't properly directing the action. Regardless, the Skunk is your only ride for the duration, so get used to the way it looks and feels, though you can improve its performance with enhanced weaponry, shields, and so forth. Fortunately, you will build up an entire squad of vessels that perform various vital actions on your behalf, assisting you in combat, erecting structures, and ferrying goods about the sector. Massive battles are visually explosive, momentarily interrupting the slow-paced trading with fiery combat.</p><blockquote data-align="center" data-size="large"><p style="">This sequel is a galactic collision of unparalleled scale, an interstellar parade of bad ideas badly executed.</p></blockquote><figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2406836-0002.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406836" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2406836-0002.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406836"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/416/4161502/2406836-0002.jpg"></a><figcaption>Oh God. Just... Oh God. </figcaption></figure><p style="">And boy is trading slow-paced. Buying and selling goods isn't an immediate process, or even an efficient one. Instead, you must wait for many minutes on end as your sluggish trading ship edges ever closer to the trade port, giving you an opportunity to poke around the sector, or more likely, to go grab a glass of wine and peruse the latest issue of <em>Science Magazine</em> from cover to cover. You also must maintain fuel reserves, which can come as a shock the first time a hired pilot informs you of his fuel shortage over the comm and has you scrambling to figure out how to rectify the situation, given how ordering your ship to fuel up is not an option you can find in the game's menus.</p><p style="">Building up a fleet takes time and money, and you don't find capable crew members free-floating in space, but rather within space stations, which you explore on foot after docking. First-person exploration could have been a grand addition, taking the X series that much closer to the everything-and-the-kitchen-sink games developer Derek Smart wanted his <a href="/battlecruiser-millennium/" data-ref-id="false">Battlecruiser</a> series to be, but never was. It soon becomes obvious, however, that traversing cookie-cutter stations sucks the mystery out of space travel, leaving behind horrifying human visages that spout absolute drivel in the most excruciating tone of voice imaginable. You see the same grotesquely scarred faces over and over again, and engaging one of these unblinking ghouls results in absolute nonsense. Any given conversation is utterly devoid of logic. Characters are routinely rude when you approach them, then become delighted, and then lapse into obnoxiousness again. In the meanwhile, female characters frequently whine "Ew! Slimy green lizard things are everywhere!" in the shrillest possible manner, as if they are 1950s housewives from classic cartoons, crying atop the kitchen table and swatting at pesky mice.</p><figure data-align="right" data-size="medium" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2406838-0004.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406838" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2406838-0004.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406838"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_medium/416/4161502/2406838-0004.jpg"></a><figcaption>Colorful is one thing, but X Rebirth's artists really should have turned things down a notch.</figcaption></figure><p style="">That line is shrieked in regard to the reptilian Teladi race, whose existence in the X universe is well established. Perhaps Egosoft wanted to use first-person exploration to further develop the game's tone and deepen its lore. Sadly, a universe full of rude, moronic space travelers barely capable of communicating normal thoughts in a logical order is not a compelling place to be.</p><p style="">Instead, having to dock at a station and walk around looking for the right merchants becomes a chore. My first foray into a station delighted me; I could loot lockers and crates for marketable items, leading me to believe that X Rebirth might spill into role-playing territory. Alas, clicking on lockers becomes monotonous busywork, as does roaming the cut-and-paste hallways looking for vendors and crew members for hire. These places are as lifeless as a white dwarf, even in their underpopulated lounges, each living statue stiffly waiting for you to click on it. Characters speak of their own accord only when prompting you to take part in a ridiculous-beyond-measure minigame in which you engage in surreal small talk to earn a few discounts. It wasn't long before I avoided this minigame altogether, however: no matter how deep the discount, I couldn't stomach the stupid dialogue, which made me question how such imbeciles could have devised any form of space travel.</p><p style="">It isn't just in the space stations where you go hunting for discounts. Out in the black beyond, you glimpse icons that urge you to investigate the objects they identify; examine enough of them, and you unlock discounts and side missions. Little lowercase i's are splattered all over the place, but you have to be close enough to see them, and you must have line of sight. And thus your adventure turns into a vapid Easter egg hunt in which you float around satellite arrays seeking icons, and then soar close enough to them to interact with them. It isn't uncommon to briefly see an icon identifying a side mission only to have it flicker away in a flash, forcing you to maneuver carefully around the starbase hoping to catch another glimpse.</p><figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2406842-0003.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406842" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2406842-0003.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406842"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/416/4161502/2406842-0003.jpg"></a><figcaption>According to the theory of special relativity, X Rebirth stinks. </figcaption></figure><p style="">Don't expect those missions to work properly once you graciously accept them from your sneering contacts, however. Each X game has suffered from a certain number of rough edges at launch, and you could be forgiven for assuming that like those games, X Rebirth would be superficially glitchy but eminently playable. Yet no matter how low your expectations might be for the newest X's stability, the game still manages to sink lower. Only a few hours in, and a mission proved impossible to complete, leading me to commiserate with other players suffering from the same game-ending bug in Internet forums. After downloading a saved game file from a helpful comrade, I continued my journey, only to have a side mission task me with destroying a story-critical capital ship, leaving me to wander for hours wondering why I couldn't find my mission objective.</p><blockquote data-align="left"><p style="">A universe full of rude, moronic space travelers barely capable of communicating normal thoughts in a logical order is not a compelling place to be.</p></blockquote><p style="">Listing all of the bugs I encountered would take up inordinate amounts of space, and so I offer here a random array. Crashes too numerous to count. Poor frame rates that had me wondering why I'd spent so much money on modern computer hardware. Suddenly unresponsive dialogue that left me stuck mid-conversation. Enemy ships flying around in the middle of space station geometry, keeping me from completing missions. Trading ships that simply wouldn't conduct the assigned transaction. That last one was particularly aggravating, considering how much time you must wait for functional transactions to complete. All too often, X Rebirth had me asking the age-old question: "Is it a bug or a feature?"</p><p style="">The fact that it's too difficult to tell the difference tells you all you must know about X Rebirth. You might assume a bright future for the game, given Egosoft's solid history of supporting its games after release--and given the community's dedication to crafting fixes and modifications that further improve these starry treks. X Rebirth's failings are rooted too deeply to simply be patched away, however. No matter what your level of enthusiasm for the X series is, do your best to escape the pull of Rebirth's gravity. It's only bound to cause a fatal crash.</p> Fri, 20 Dec 2013 18:12:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/x-rebirth-review/1900-6415614/ http://www.gamespot.com/videos/highlights-and-hijinks-from-the-ps4-launch-show/2300-6416699/ Here's a look back at the awesomeness and buffoonery of the PS4 Console Launch Fri, 20 Dec 2013 17:22:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/highlights-and-hijinks-from-the-ps4-launch-show/2300-6416699/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/mx-vs-atv-returns-from-the-dead-in-2014-on-xbox-360-ps3-and-pc/1100-6416831/ <figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1179/11799911/2406795-mx.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406795" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1179/11799911/2406795-mx.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406795"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/1179/11799911/2406795-mx.jpg"></a></figure><p style=""> </p><p dir="ltr" style="">The MX vs. ATV franchise is making a comeback. Nordic Games, which <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/nordic-games-gets-darksiders-red-faction/1100-6407362/" data-ref-id="1100-6407362">purchased the franchise as part of a THQ bankruptcy auction</a> this year, announced today that a new entry in the series called MX vs. ATV Supercross will debut in the first half of 2014 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, Mac, and Linux.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The game will be available as a download, not a boxed product.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The publisher said it assembled a team of former MX vs. ATV staffers, presumably from THQ Digital Phoenix, to work on the game, including executive producer Ken George, as well as other "high-profile developers."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">MX vs. ATV Supercross promises to take the series to "greater heights" while retaining the franchise's core formula. As its name suggests, the game will focus on Supercross action sport, and features some kind of multiplayer mode.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The game will also make use of the same code found in <a href="/mx-vs-atv-alive/" data-ref-id="false">MX vs. ATV Alive</a> and <a href="/mx-vs-atv-reflex/" data-ref-id="false">MX vs. ATV Reflex</a>, the most recent entries in the series. Other features for MX vs. ATV Supercross will be announced at a later date.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"A lot of the original team members have been aching to continue their passion: building the most authentic off-road racing games possible," George said. "The hiatus is over, and the team is back to work on MX vs. ATV with great new things to come."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Nordic Games business and product development director Reinhard Pollice also teased that MX vs. ATV Supercross is "just the start" of the company's plans for the franchise, suggesting future projects may also be in development.</p><p style="">The publisher also purchased the rights to former THQ properties like Red Faction, Darksiders, Destroy all Humans!, Summoner, and Supreme Commander during the auction for $4.9 million. Future plans for those franchises have yet to be unannounced.</p><p style="">For more on the most recent entry in the series, check out <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/mx-vs-atv-alive/" data-ref-id="false">GameSpot's review of MX vs. ATV Alive</a>.</p><div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6286480" data-width="100%" data-height="100%"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6286480/" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style=""> </p> Fri, 20 Dec 2013 16:35:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/mx-vs-atv-returns-from-the-dead-in-2014-on-xbox-360-ps3-and-pc/1100-6416831/
Gamespot's Site MashupX Rebirth ReviewHighlights and Hijinks from the PS4 Launch ShowMX vs. ATV returns from the dead in 2014 on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC
http://auth.gamespot.com/ Gamespot's Everything Feed! News, Reviews, Videos. Exploding with content? You bet. en-us Fri, 20 Dec 2013 20:18:51 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/x-rebirth-review/1900-6415614/ <p style="">Einstein taught us that space is both homogeneous and isotropic--that is, on a large scale, the universe is smooth and uniform in all directions. It's empty out there. Like many space games before it, X Rebirth depicts an unrealistically vibrant universe bursting with color and texture, and that's as it should be. A near-vacuum makes a dreary backdrop for a video game, at least for a human observer.</p><p style="">It isn't X Rebirth's inauthentic view of space that should anger you; it's that this sequel is a galactic collision of unparalleled scale, an interstellar parade of bad ideas badly executed. Just as the observable universe has no center, neither does space exploration game X Rebirth find a foundation from which to grow outward, and I am unsure how to begin describing its failures. I can only begin at the quantum level, pulling out each particle and analyzing its deficiencies. And so I start in the cockpit, where most galactic adventures begin.</p><div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6416370" data-width="100%" data-height="100%"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6416370/" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style="">The Albion Skunk is the aptly named vessel that carries you on this journey. Unless you're peering out of a space port's window or piloting one of the game's different drones, you always see space through the Skunk's front window, and overlooking the aesthetically dull control panel that tells you the ship's condition. In fact, you look at most of X Rebirth's menus in the cockpit, each list pulling up on a digital display viewable by both you the player and protagonist pilot Ren Otani.</p><p style="">This menu integration might have been a sensible way to draw you further into this universe, but no amount of immersion would have been enough to veil the system's grave deficiencies. Pulling up so much as a simple galactic map requires a ridiculous number of keystrokes, with each submenu buffered by just enough input lag and unnecessary animation to cause impatience. Furthermore, the menu doesn't always take up a sensible portion of the screen, making it hard to read intricate mission objectives--and even harder to read them when a particularly garish spacescape shines from behind the Skunk's menu screen.</p><figure data-align="left" data-size="medium" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2406835-0001.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406835" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2406835-0001.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406835"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_medium/416/4161502/2406835-0001.jpg"></a><figcaption>For a near-vacuum, it sure is busy in space!</figcaption></figure><p style="">Garish spacescapes are common in X Rebirth, though there are sights of real beauty. Ships feature a remarkable amount of detail, and space stations and capital ships catch the eye with their intricate industrial designs. Rushing between systems via the game's space highways can be a visual delight, particularly as you watch ships and structures approach and then race by. When the color scheme embraces tranquil blues and developer Egosoft exercises visual restraint, the hazy background nebulae and tumbling asteroids are a treat. All too often, however, the view erupts with harsh orange and turquoise hues, making you wonder if you shouldn't stock the Albion Skunk with sunscreen. A vibrant vision of space is typically pleasing enough, but X Rebirth's depiction occasionally surpasses "meticulous" and surges straight into "gaudy."</p><p style="">Buy low and sell high. It's a solid economic policy, and it forms the backbone of X Rebirth's explore-fight-collect-build gameplay loop. It's an inviting loop, and I found myself pushing onward to collect enough funds, hiring enough ships to join my squad, and building enough structures in the hope of calling the result a true empire.</p><p style="">Sometimes, doing so means shooting spacecraft piloted by members of the slave-trading Plutarch Mining Corporation. Combat is functional, but ship controls are loose, though I never felt as though I wasn't properly directing the action. Regardless, the Skunk is your only ride for the duration, so get used to the way it looks and feels, though you can improve its performance with enhanced weaponry, shields, and so forth. Fortunately, you will build up an entire squad of vessels that perform various vital actions on your behalf, assisting you in combat, erecting structures, and ferrying goods about the sector. Massive battles are visually explosive, momentarily interrupting the slow-paced trading with fiery combat.</p><blockquote data-align="center" data-size="large"><p style="">This sequel is a galactic collision of unparalleled scale, an interstellar parade of bad ideas badly executed.</p></blockquote><figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2406836-0002.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406836" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2406836-0002.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406836"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/416/4161502/2406836-0002.jpg"></a><figcaption>Oh God. Just... Oh God. </figcaption></figure><p style="">And boy is trading slow-paced. Buying and selling goods isn't an immediate process, or even an efficient one. Instead, you must wait for many minutes on end as your sluggish trading ship edges ever closer to the trade port, giving you an opportunity to poke around the sector, or more likely, to go grab a glass of wine and peruse the latest issue of <em>Science Magazine</em> from cover to cover. You also must maintain fuel reserves, which can come as a shock the first time a hired pilot informs you of his fuel shortage over the comm and has you scrambling to figure out how to rectify the situation, given how ordering your ship to fuel up is not an option you can find in the game's menus.</p><p style="">Building up a fleet takes time and money, and you don't find capable crew members free-floating in space, but rather within space stations, which you explore on foot after docking. First-person exploration could have been a grand addition, taking the X series that much closer to the everything-and-the-kitchen-sink games developer Derek Smart wanted his <a href="/battlecruiser-millennium/" data-ref-id="false">Battlecruiser</a> series to be, but never was. It soon becomes obvious, however, that traversing cookie-cutter stations sucks the mystery out of space travel, leaving behind horrifying human visages that spout absolute drivel in the most excruciating tone of voice imaginable. You see the same grotesquely scarred faces over and over again, and engaging one of these unblinking ghouls results in absolute nonsense. Any given conversation is utterly devoid of logic. Characters are routinely rude when you approach them, then become delighted, and then lapse into obnoxiousness again. In the meanwhile, female characters frequently whine "Ew! Slimy green lizard things are everywhere!" in the shrillest possible manner, as if they are 1950s housewives from classic cartoons, crying atop the kitchen table and swatting at pesky mice.</p><figure data-align="right" data-size="medium" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2406838-0004.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406838" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2406838-0004.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406838"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_medium/416/4161502/2406838-0004.jpg"></a><figcaption>Colorful is one thing, but X Rebirth's artists really should have turned things down a notch.</figcaption></figure><p style="">That line is shrieked in regard to the reptilian Teladi race, whose existence in the X universe is well established. Perhaps Egosoft wanted to use first-person exploration to further develop the game's tone and deepen its lore. Sadly, a universe full of rude, moronic space travelers barely capable of communicating normal thoughts in a logical order is not a compelling place to be.</p><p style="">Instead, having to dock at a station and walk around looking for the right merchants becomes a chore. My first foray into a station delighted me; I could loot lockers and crates for marketable items, leading me to believe that X Rebirth might spill into role-playing territory. Alas, clicking on lockers becomes monotonous busywork, as does roaming the cut-and-paste hallways looking for vendors and crew members for hire. These places are as lifeless as a white dwarf, even in their underpopulated lounges, each living statue stiffly waiting for you to click on it. Characters speak of their own accord only when prompting you to take part in a ridiculous-beyond-measure minigame in which you engage in surreal small talk to earn a few discounts. It wasn't long before I avoided this minigame altogether, however: no matter how deep the discount, I couldn't stomach the stupid dialogue, which made me question how such imbeciles could have devised any form of space travel.</p><p style="">It isn't just in the space stations where you go hunting for discounts. Out in the black beyond, you glimpse icons that urge you to investigate the objects they identify; examine enough of them, and you unlock discounts and side missions. Little lowercase i's are splattered all over the place, but you have to be close enough to see them, and you must have line of sight. And thus your adventure turns into a vapid Easter egg hunt in which you float around satellite arrays seeking icons, and then soar close enough to them to interact with them. It isn't uncommon to briefly see an icon identifying a side mission only to have it flicker away in a flash, forcing you to maneuver carefully around the starbase hoping to catch another glimpse.</p><figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2406842-0003.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406842" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2406842-0003.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406842"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/416/4161502/2406842-0003.jpg"></a><figcaption>According to the theory of special relativity, X Rebirth stinks. </figcaption></figure><p style="">Don't expect those missions to work properly once you graciously accept them from your sneering contacts, however. Each X game has suffered from a certain number of rough edges at launch, and you could be forgiven for assuming that like those games, X Rebirth would be superficially glitchy but eminently playable. Yet no matter how low your expectations might be for the newest X's stability, the game still manages to sink lower. Only a few hours in, and a mission proved impossible to complete, leading me to commiserate with other players suffering from the same game-ending bug in Internet forums. After downloading a saved game file from a helpful comrade, I continued my journey, only to have a side mission task me with destroying a story-critical capital ship, leaving me to wander for hours wondering why I couldn't find my mission objective.</p><blockquote data-align="left"><p style="">A universe full of rude, moronic space travelers barely capable of communicating normal thoughts in a logical order is not a compelling place to be.</p></blockquote><p style="">Listing all of the bugs I encountered would take up inordinate amounts of space, and so I offer here a random array. Crashes too numerous to count. Poor frame rates that had me wondering why I'd spent so much money on modern computer hardware. Suddenly unresponsive dialogue that left me stuck mid-conversation. Enemy ships flying around in the middle of space station geometry, keeping me from completing missions. Trading ships that simply wouldn't conduct the assigned transaction. That last one was particularly aggravating, considering how much time you must wait for functional transactions to complete. All too often, X Rebirth had me asking the age-old question: "Is it a bug or a feature?"</p><p style="">The fact that it's too difficult to tell the difference tells you all you must know about X Rebirth. You might assume a bright future for the game, given Egosoft's solid history of supporting its games after release--and given the community's dedication to crafting fixes and modifications that further improve these starry treks. X Rebirth's failings are rooted too deeply to simply be patched away, however. No matter what your level of enthusiasm for the X series is, do your best to escape the pull of Rebirth's gravity. It's only bound to cause a fatal crash.</p> Fri, 20 Dec 2013 18:12:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/x-rebirth-review/1900-6415614/ http://www.gamespot.com/videos/highlights-and-hijinks-from-the-ps4-launch-show/2300-6416699/ Here's a look back at the awesomeness and buffoonery of the PS4 Console Launch Fri, 20 Dec 2013 17:22:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/highlights-and-hijinks-from-the-ps4-launch-show/2300-6416699/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/mx-vs-atv-returns-from-the-dead-in-2014-on-xbox-360-ps3-and-pc/1100-6416831/ <figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1179/11799911/2406795-mx.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406795" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1179/11799911/2406795-mx.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2406795"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/1179/11799911/2406795-mx.jpg"></a></figure><p style=""> </p><p dir="ltr" style="">The MX vs. ATV franchise is making a comeback. Nordic Games, which <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/nordic-games-gets-darksiders-red-faction/1100-6407362/" data-ref-id="1100-6407362">purchased the franchise as part of a THQ bankruptcy auction</a> this year, announced today that a new entry in the series called MX vs. ATV Supercross will debut in the first half of 2014 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, Mac, and Linux.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The game will be available as a download, not a boxed product.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The publisher said it assembled a team of former MX vs. ATV staffers, presumably from THQ Digital Phoenix, to work on the game, including executive producer Ken George, as well as other "high-profile developers."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">MX vs. ATV Supercross promises to take the series to "greater heights" while retaining the franchise's core formula. As its name suggests, the game will focus on Supercross action sport, and features some kind of multiplayer mode.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The game will also make use of the same code found in <a href="/mx-vs-atv-alive/" data-ref-id="false">MX vs. ATV Alive</a> and <a href="/mx-vs-atv-reflex/" data-ref-id="false">MX vs. ATV Reflex</a>, the most recent entries in the series. Other features for MX vs. ATV Supercross will be announced at a later date.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"A lot of the original team members have been aching to continue their passion: building the most authentic off-road racing games possible," George said. "The hiatus is over, and the team is back to work on MX vs. ATV with great new things to come."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Nordic Games business and product development director Reinhard Pollice also teased that MX vs. ATV Supercross is "just the start" of the company's plans for the franchise, suggesting future projects may also be in development.</p><p style="">The publisher also purchased the rights to former THQ properties like Red Faction, Darksiders, Destroy all Humans!, Summoner, and Supreme Commander during the auction for $4.9 million. Future plans for those franchises have yet to be unannounced.</p><p style="">For more on the most recent entry in the series, check out <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/mx-vs-atv-alive/" data-ref-id="false">GameSpot's review of MX vs. ATV Alive</a>.</p><div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6286480" data-width="100%" data-height="100%"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6286480/" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style=""> </p> Fri, 20 Dec 2013 16:35:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/mx-vs-atv-returns-from-the-dead-in-2014-on-xbox-360-ps3-and-pc/1100-6416831/
Written By Kom Limpulnam on Jumat, 20 Desember 2013 | 11.52
Gamespot's Site MashupCommunity News Update: Thursday 12/19GS News - New Assassin's Creed may be incoming + is eSports a 'real sport'?Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag - Freedom Cry Review
http://auth.gamespot.com/ Gamespot's Everything Feed! News, Reviews, Videos. Exploding with content? You bet. en-us Thu, 19 Dec 2013 20:18:23 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/community-news-update-thursday-12-19/1100-6416818/ <figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1522/15229312/2406166-communitynewslogo.png" data-ref-id="1300-2406166" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1522/15229312/2406166-communitynewslogo.png" data-ref-id="1300-2406166"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/1522/15229312/2406166-communitynewslogo.png"></a></figure><figure data-align="left" data-size="small" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1522/15229312/2406170-screen+shot+2013-12-19+at+3.43.39+pm.png" data-ref-id="1300-2406170" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1522/15229312/2406170-screen+shot+2013-12-19+at+3.43.39+pm.png" data-ref-id="1300-2406170"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_small/1522/15229312/2406170-screen+shot+2013-12-19+at+3.43.39+pm.png"></a></figure><h2><strong>Game of the Year</strong></h2><p style="">The cat is finally out of the back. The overall GameSpot pick for Game of the Year 2013 is the Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.</p><h4><em>A Link Between Worlds is a stunning masterpiece that's so consistently rewarding, so unexpected, and so gosh darn fun that even thinking of it makes us giddy all over again. -Tom McShea</em></h4><p style="">Many editors have called this game a masterpiece. This game is fantastic and should be tried out by everyone. After hearing about this game for weeks, I am buying my own copy this weekend. You should too. Congratulations, Nintendo.</p><p style=""> </p><h2><strong>GameSpot Original Content/Shows</strong></h2><figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1522/15229312/2406171-screen+shot+2013-12-19+at+5.38.14+pm.png" data-ref-id="1300-2406171" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1522/15229312/2406171-screen+shot+2013-12-19+at+5.38.14+pm.png" data-ref-id="1300-2406171"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/1522/15229312/2406171-screen+shot+2013-12-19+at+5.38.14+pm.png"></a></figure><p style="">This has probably been one of the busiest seasons for the GameSpot team. Since the mid November, our team has been working none stop to bring you new and original shows. A couple of these new Shows include: Ask the Experts, Player VS Gamer, and The Gist.</p><p style=""> </p><p style=""><a href="http://www.gamespot.com/shows/ask-the-experts/">Ask the Experts</a> is a collaboration with our sister site CNET to bring you answers to all of your next generation console questions.</p><div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6416657" data-width="100%" data-height="100%"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6416657/" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style=""> </p><p style=""> </p><p style=""><a href="http://www.gamespot.com/shows/player-vs-gamer/">Player VS Gamer </a>takes pro-athletes and puts them head-to-head with their teammates and pro-gamers to battle it out on the Xbox One. Oh and the host is none other than Ms. Jessica Chobot.</p><div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6416656" data-width="100%" data-height="100%"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6416656/" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style=""> </p><p style=""><a href="http://www.gamespot.com/shows/the-gist/">The Gist</a> features our very own Jess McDonell who gives you 5 things to think about in the gaming community.</p><div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6416590" data-width="100%" data-height="100%"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6416590/" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style=""> </p><h2><strong>Razer Blade Sweepstakes Reminder</strong></h2><figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1522/15229312/2404681-razer.png" data-ref-id="1300-2404681" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1522/15229312/2404681-razer.png" data-ref-id="1300-2404681"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/1522/15229312/2404681-razer.png"></a></figure><p dir="ltr" style="">We are still giving away a Razer Blade Laptop on our Facebook page. All you have to do to enter is head to our Facebook page, LIKE GameSpot and Razer, and you are done! You're in it to win it!</p><h2 dir="ltr"><strong><a href="https://www.facebook.com/GameSpot/app_143103275748075" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">ENTER NOW!</a></strong></h2><p style=""> </p><figure data-align="right" data-size="small" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1522/15229312/2406187-3120394307-Holid.gif" data-ref-id="1300-2406187" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1522/15229312/2406187-3120394307-Holid.gif" data-ref-id="1300-2406187"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_small/1522/15229312/2406187-3120394307-Holid.gif"></a></figure><p style="">2013 has been a great year and have gone out with a bang. We would like to wish you happy holidays and a happy new year! 2014 will be a big year for GameSpot, so stay tuned for more info about the amazing year to come.</p> Thu, 19 Dec 2013 18:56:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/community-news-update-thursday-12-19/1100-6416818/ http://www.gamespot.com/videos/gs-news-new-assassin-s-creed-may-be-incoming-is-es/2300-6416677/ Today we chat about a rumour that 2014 will bring two new Assassin's Creed games, Playstation exec Shuhei Yoshida says that the Wii U is just getting started, and controversy is sparked over whether eSports is a real sport. Thu, 19 Dec 2013 16:00:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/gs-news-new-assassin-s-creed-may-be-incoming-is-es/2300-6416677/ http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/assassin-s-creed-iv-black-flag-freedom-cry-review/1900-6415608/ <p style="">As the sea-faring partner in crime to Edward Kenway, Jackdaw quartermaster Adewale often projected a sense of self that made him a ripe candidate for the assassins. Adewale is now ready to forge own path, though Freedom Cry is just a small window into Adewale's solo exploits; we don't bear witness to his initiation into the Brotherhood, and this downloadable content merely teases us with a Templar pursuit in its opening minutes, which quickly goes awry in a storm.</p><p style="">If this stormy start rings a bell, it's because it curiously mirrors the beginning of Black Flag, except now it's Adewale lying on a beach in the West Indies with a mystery package from the Templars. While he's eager to resume his mission, his detour in tracking the package's recipient leads him to Bastienne, a madam in Port-au-Prince. Given Adewale's firsthand experience as a slave and his inherent sense of justice, his interests in freeing the local slaves align with the madam's. Considering Bastienne's association with the Templars, their alliance is a tenuous one, which is further complicated when they don't see eye to eye on how to best initiate a rebellion.</p><figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2404701-0001.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2404701" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2404701-0001.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2404701"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/416/4161502/2404701-0001.jpg"></a><figcaption>An uneasy trust is established with Bastienne.</figcaption></figure><p style="">Whereas Black Flag merely touched upon the plight of slaves in the New World, slavery is the main thematic thrust of Freedom Cry. The center of Port-au-Prince provides limitless opportunities to steal keys to open cages and end human auctions stealthily or brutally. Echoing a scene in Black Flag where Kenway is carrying a dying character, Adewale has opportunities to carry poor injured slaves to hideaways in the jungle. It's infinite slave spawning as designed, and given your obligations to the main story quests, the perpetual influx of slaves is a blunt allegory about how freeing such captives isn't a task for one man, let alone one assassin. Yet when you start seeing runaway slaves pop up from the same spots and chased along the same paths repeatedly, these respawns bring out the game's monotony. Moreover, there's no penalty for ignoring these rescue missions aside from missing out on bonus items. It feels mildly twisted that slaves are still treated as a commodity even after you set them free. The more you liberate, the greater the access to optional enhancements, such as more ammo pouches and a steel-forged machete. The story justifies this with exposition that shows the freed slaves are working toward your cause and giving you resources to free others. That doesn't change the discomforting fact that these humans have been itemized and given a value related to various upgrades.</p><p style="">Spread across nine missions, each with its own series of goals, Freedom Cry plays like a sampler platter of the many mission types in Black Flag. There are ships to sink, suspects to tail, and targets to kill. Just because this mini campaign is a fraction of the size of Kenway's adventure doesn't mean the missions themselves have to be smaller. Yet that's what you get with a couple of the eavesdropping settings; one confines you within a bar, rather than asking you to snoop via long walks through town. There's nothing wrong with these brief objectives, though they do give a sense that the game is more jam-packed with goals than it actually is. Like most other Assassin's Creed games, Freedom Cry is a more gratifying experience when you're accomplishing certain missions stealthily. It's all the more rewarding to liberate plantations quietly, since land owners begin to kill slaves once you're spotted.</p><blockquote data-size="large" data-align="center"><p style="">The perpetual influx of slaves is a blunt allegory about how freeing such captives isn't a task for one man, let alone one assassin.</p></blockquote><figure data-align="left" data-size="medium" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2404703-0002.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2404703" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2404703-0002.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2404703"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_medium/416/4161502/2404703-0002.jpg"></a><figcaption>Fortune favors the stealthy strategist.</figcaption></figure><p style="">Between the dense town of Port-au-Prince and the adjacent jungle that provides cover for freed slaves, island life can feel rather confining. So it's to Freedom Cry's credit that it features the same mainline and optional content ratio of Black Flag. That includes a segment of the Caribbean available to explore by sea with no fewer than nine question marks worth investigating, as well as fort-invading, harpooning, and diving for treasure within sunken ships. While this gameplay loop very much resembles what you would experience on the seas of Black Flag, the added presence of slave ships to liberate provides a new, albeit minor, level of strategy in ship combat. The challenge comes in destroying escorts without damaging slave ships, a tough task depending on how close to each other ships remain in relation to your cannons' trajectories. The one drawback is that these opportunities to save large groups of slaves at sea in a single battle undermine the value of spending time freeing slaves on land one person at a time.</p><p style="">Adewale has a much cooler head than Edward Kenway, so it's easy to picture him adept at wielding swords and pistols while gracefully taking over enemy ships. Yet because of the limited resources of the resistance, he spends most of the game with brutal tools like a heavily used machete and the blunderbuss. However crude, the machete affords Adewale the same counter and break defense moves that we've seen from many other assassins. As a rare shotgun-style weapon for the series, the blunderbuss is highly effective in killing at least four colonists in a single round, and dubiously so when you have slaves and other bystanders in the line of fire. Since the main missions take less than four hours to clear, upgrading both Adewale and his ship is a much more abbreviated--and ultimately optional--endeavor than the deeper enhancement paths in Black Flag. You gain access to rope, sleep, and berserk darts early on, as well as the smoke bomb, which is a crowd-stunning weapon that, as it always has, gives too much power to the player.</p><blockquote data-align="right" data-size="small"><p style="">Freedom Cry plays like a sampler platter of the many mission types in Black Flag.</p></blockquote><p style="">From the infectious sea shanties to the jovial singing circles at the taverns, Black Flag was certainly the most musically vocal game in the series. Freedom Cry manages to match that, which is an achievement when you find out it doesn't feature sea shanties. This time, the in-game singing comes from the slaves tending the fields. Whether the songs were the earliest form of slave songs or merely hymns that evolved from African origins, I couldn't discern. Whatever their sources, the songs add texture to this cast of captive non-player characters, not to mention the game overall. Even Adewale participates when he uses a one-line chant as a password within the resistance movement. And while the non-vocal Pirates of the Caribbean-inspired music of Black Flag was functional at best, Freedom Cry's soundtrack gives the sea combat an epic atmosphere that the ship battles of the main game lacked. This suspiciously memorable soundtrack compelled me to check the game's credits, and where I learned that the music was composed by Remember Me's talented Olivier Deriviere.</p><p style="">With the strongest ensemble cast in the franchise, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag wasn't short of assassins and pirates worthy of their own playable tales, DLC or otherwise. Freedom Cry is more than just another Assassin's Creed IV chapter with a reskinned protagonist, but its troubled handling of dark themes makes this a turbulent voyage.</p> Wed, 18 Dec 2013 10:47:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/assassin-s-creed-iv-black-flag-freedom-cry-review/1900-6415608/
Gamespot's Site MashupCommunity News Update: Thursday 12/19GS News - New Assassin's Creed may be incoming + is eSports a 'real sport'?Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag - Freedom Cry Review
http://auth.gamespot.com/ Gamespot's Everything Feed! News, Reviews, Videos. Exploding with content? You bet. en-us Thu, 19 Dec 2013 20:18:23 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/community-news-update-thursday-12-19/1100-6416818/ <figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1522/15229312/2406166-communitynewslogo.png" data-ref-id="1300-2406166" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1522/15229312/2406166-communitynewslogo.png" data-ref-id="1300-2406166"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/1522/15229312/2406166-communitynewslogo.png"></a></figure><figure data-align="left" data-size="small" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1522/15229312/2406170-screen+shot+2013-12-19+at+3.43.39+pm.png" data-ref-id="1300-2406170" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1522/15229312/2406170-screen+shot+2013-12-19+at+3.43.39+pm.png" data-ref-id="1300-2406170"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_small/1522/15229312/2406170-screen+shot+2013-12-19+at+3.43.39+pm.png"></a></figure><h2><strong>Game of the Year</strong></h2><p style="">The cat is finally out of the back. The overall GameSpot pick for Game of the Year 2013 is the Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.</p><h4><em>A Link Between Worlds is a stunning masterpiece that's so consistently rewarding, so unexpected, and so gosh darn fun that even thinking of it makes us giddy all over again. -Tom McShea</em></h4><p style="">Many editors have called this game a masterpiece. This game is fantastic and should be tried out by everyone. After hearing about this game for weeks, I am buying my own copy this weekend. You should too. Congratulations, Nintendo.</p><p style=""> </p><h2><strong>GameSpot Original Content/Shows</strong></h2><figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1522/15229312/2406171-screen+shot+2013-12-19+at+5.38.14+pm.png" data-ref-id="1300-2406171" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1522/15229312/2406171-screen+shot+2013-12-19+at+5.38.14+pm.png" data-ref-id="1300-2406171"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/1522/15229312/2406171-screen+shot+2013-12-19+at+5.38.14+pm.png"></a></figure><p style="">This has probably been one of the busiest seasons for the GameSpot team. Since the mid November, our team has been working none stop to bring you new and original shows. A couple of these new Shows include: Ask the Experts, Player VS Gamer, and The Gist.</p><p style=""> </p><p style=""><a href="http://www.gamespot.com/shows/ask-the-experts/">Ask the Experts</a> is a collaboration with our sister site CNET to bring you answers to all of your next generation console questions.</p><div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6416657" data-width="100%" data-height="100%"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6416657/" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style=""> </p><p style=""> </p><p style=""><a href="http://www.gamespot.com/shows/player-vs-gamer/">Player VS Gamer </a>takes pro-athletes and puts them head-to-head with their teammates and pro-gamers to battle it out on the Xbox One. Oh and the host is none other than Ms. Jessica Chobot.</p><div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6416656" data-width="100%" data-height="100%"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6416656/" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style=""> </p><p style=""><a href="http://www.gamespot.com/shows/the-gist/">The Gist</a> features our very own Jess McDonell who gives you 5 things to think about in the gaming community.</p><div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6416590" data-width="100%" data-height="100%"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6416590/" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style=""> </p><h2><strong>Razer Blade Sweepstakes Reminder</strong></h2><figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1522/15229312/2404681-razer.png" data-ref-id="1300-2404681" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1522/15229312/2404681-razer.png" data-ref-id="1300-2404681"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/1522/15229312/2404681-razer.png"></a></figure><p dir="ltr" style="">We are still giving away a Razer Blade Laptop on our Facebook page. All you have to do to enter is head to our Facebook page, LIKE GameSpot and Razer, and you are done! You're in it to win it!</p><h2 dir="ltr"><strong><a href="https://www.facebook.com/GameSpot/app_143103275748075" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">ENTER NOW!</a></strong></h2><p style=""> </p><figure data-align="right" data-size="small" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1522/15229312/2406187-3120394307-Holid.gif" data-ref-id="1300-2406187" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1522/15229312/2406187-3120394307-Holid.gif" data-ref-id="1300-2406187"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_small/1522/15229312/2406187-3120394307-Holid.gif"></a></figure><p style="">2013 has been a great year and have gone out with a bang. We would like to wish you happy holidays and a happy new year! 2014 will be a big year for GameSpot, so stay tuned for more info about the amazing year to come.</p> Thu, 19 Dec 2013 18:56:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/community-news-update-thursday-12-19/1100-6416818/ http://www.gamespot.com/videos/gs-news-new-assassin-s-creed-may-be-incoming-is-es/2300-6416677/ Today we chat about a rumour that 2014 will bring two new Assassin's Creed games, Playstation exec Shuhei Yoshida says that the Wii U is just getting started, and controversy is sparked over whether eSports is a real sport. Thu, 19 Dec 2013 16:00:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/gs-news-new-assassin-s-creed-may-be-incoming-is-es/2300-6416677/ http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/assassin-s-creed-iv-black-flag-freedom-cry-review/1900-6415608/ <p style="">As the sea-faring partner in crime to Edward Kenway, Jackdaw quartermaster Adewale often projected a sense of self that made him a ripe candidate for the assassins. Adewale is now ready to forge own path, though Freedom Cry is just a small window into Adewale's solo exploits; we don't bear witness to his initiation into the Brotherhood, and this downloadable content merely teases us with a Templar pursuit in its opening minutes, which quickly goes awry in a storm.</p><p style="">If this stormy start rings a bell, it's because it curiously mirrors the beginning of Black Flag, except now it's Adewale lying on a beach in the West Indies with a mystery package from the Templars. While he's eager to resume his mission, his detour in tracking the package's recipient leads him to Bastienne, a madam in Port-au-Prince. Given Adewale's firsthand experience as a slave and his inherent sense of justice, his interests in freeing the local slaves align with the madam's. Considering Bastienne's association with the Templars, their alliance is a tenuous one, which is further complicated when they don't see eye to eye on how to best initiate a rebellion.</p><figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2404701-0001.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2404701" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2404701-0001.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2404701"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/416/4161502/2404701-0001.jpg"></a><figcaption>An uneasy trust is established with Bastienne.</figcaption></figure><p style="">Whereas Black Flag merely touched upon the plight of slaves in the New World, slavery is the main thematic thrust of Freedom Cry. The center of Port-au-Prince provides limitless opportunities to steal keys to open cages and end human auctions stealthily or brutally. Echoing a scene in Black Flag where Kenway is carrying a dying character, Adewale has opportunities to carry poor injured slaves to hideaways in the jungle. It's infinite slave spawning as designed, and given your obligations to the main story quests, the perpetual influx of slaves is a blunt allegory about how freeing such captives isn't a task for one man, let alone one assassin. Yet when you start seeing runaway slaves pop up from the same spots and chased along the same paths repeatedly, these respawns bring out the game's monotony. Moreover, there's no penalty for ignoring these rescue missions aside from missing out on bonus items. It feels mildly twisted that slaves are still treated as a commodity even after you set them free. The more you liberate, the greater the access to optional enhancements, such as more ammo pouches and a steel-forged machete. The story justifies this with exposition that shows the freed slaves are working toward your cause and giving you resources to free others. That doesn't change the discomforting fact that these humans have been itemized and given a value related to various upgrades.</p><p style="">Spread across nine missions, each with its own series of goals, Freedom Cry plays like a sampler platter of the many mission types in Black Flag. There are ships to sink, suspects to tail, and targets to kill. Just because this mini campaign is a fraction of the size of Kenway's adventure doesn't mean the missions themselves have to be smaller. Yet that's what you get with a couple of the eavesdropping settings; one confines you within a bar, rather than asking you to snoop via long walks through town. There's nothing wrong with these brief objectives, though they do give a sense that the game is more jam-packed with goals than it actually is. Like most other Assassin's Creed games, Freedom Cry is a more gratifying experience when you're accomplishing certain missions stealthily. It's all the more rewarding to liberate plantations quietly, since land owners begin to kill slaves once you're spotted.</p><blockquote data-size="large" data-align="center"><p style="">The perpetual influx of slaves is a blunt allegory about how freeing such captives isn't a task for one man, let alone one assassin.</p></blockquote><figure data-align="left" data-size="medium" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2404703-0002.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2404703" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2404703-0002.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2404703"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_medium/416/4161502/2404703-0002.jpg"></a><figcaption>Fortune favors the stealthy strategist.</figcaption></figure><p style="">Between the dense town of Port-au-Prince and the adjacent jungle that provides cover for freed slaves, island life can feel rather confining. So it's to Freedom Cry's credit that it features the same mainline and optional content ratio of Black Flag. That includes a segment of the Caribbean available to explore by sea with no fewer than nine question marks worth investigating, as well as fort-invading, harpooning, and diving for treasure within sunken ships. While this gameplay loop very much resembles what you would experience on the seas of Black Flag, the added presence of slave ships to liberate provides a new, albeit minor, level of strategy in ship combat. The challenge comes in destroying escorts without damaging slave ships, a tough task depending on how close to each other ships remain in relation to your cannons' trajectories. The one drawback is that these opportunities to save large groups of slaves at sea in a single battle undermine the value of spending time freeing slaves on land one person at a time.</p><p style="">Adewale has a much cooler head than Edward Kenway, so it's easy to picture him adept at wielding swords and pistols while gracefully taking over enemy ships. Yet because of the limited resources of the resistance, he spends most of the game with brutal tools like a heavily used machete and the blunderbuss. However crude, the machete affords Adewale the same counter and break defense moves that we've seen from many other assassins. As a rare shotgun-style weapon for the series, the blunderbuss is highly effective in killing at least four colonists in a single round, and dubiously so when you have slaves and other bystanders in the line of fire. Since the main missions take less than four hours to clear, upgrading both Adewale and his ship is a much more abbreviated--and ultimately optional--endeavor than the deeper enhancement paths in Black Flag. You gain access to rope, sleep, and berserk darts early on, as well as the smoke bomb, which is a crowd-stunning weapon that, as it always has, gives too much power to the player.</p><blockquote data-align="right" data-size="small"><p style="">Freedom Cry plays like a sampler platter of the many mission types in Black Flag.</p></blockquote><p style="">From the infectious sea shanties to the jovial singing circles at the taverns, Black Flag was certainly the most musically vocal game in the series. Freedom Cry manages to match that, which is an achievement when you find out it doesn't feature sea shanties. This time, the in-game singing comes from the slaves tending the fields. Whether the songs were the earliest form of slave songs or merely hymns that evolved from African origins, I couldn't discern. Whatever their sources, the songs add texture to this cast of captive non-player characters, not to mention the game overall. Even Adewale participates when he uses a one-line chant as a password within the resistance movement. And while the non-vocal Pirates of the Caribbean-inspired music of Black Flag was functional at best, Freedom Cry's soundtrack gives the sea combat an epic atmosphere that the ship battles of the main game lacked. This suspiciously memorable soundtrack compelled me to check the game's credits, and where I learned that the music was composed by Remember Me's talented Olivier Deriviere.</p><p style="">With the strongest ensemble cast in the franchise, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag wasn't short of assassins and pirates worthy of their own playable tales, DLC or otherwise. Freedom Cry is more than just another Assassin's Creed IV chapter with a reskinned protagonist, but its troubled handling of dark themes makes this a turbulent voyage.</p> Wed, 18 Dec 2013 10:47:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/assassin-s-creed-iv-black-flag-freedom-cry-review/1900-6415608/
