Spec Ops: The Line Review

System: PC, PS3*, Xbox 360
Dev: Yager Development
Pub: 2K Games
Release: June 26, 2012
Players: 1-8
Screen Resolution: 480p-1080p	Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language

It's As Course As The Sand
by MDPGerman developer Yager did quite a surprising thing with Spec Ops: The Line: They gave us something different from the common shooter fodder we're used to.

Instead of a global threat with international conflicts or campaigns against terrorist organizations where you triumphantly emerge the world's hero, Spec Ops maintains a narrow focus and delves into the psyche to tug at your most morbid of emotions. Though loose with controls and nothing completely transforming in the gameplay department, the mental journey you are taken through with disturbingly realistic possibilities makes Spec Ops: The Line a shooter that you don't just put down and forget. The choices you make will gnaw at your heart, making it an impactful experience, a true sign that justice was done with the story.

The setting is Dubai, after cataclysmic sandstorms have engulfed the city. The sandstorms haven't ceased either, and will continue to impact your campaign through the sand dune city, sprawling beneath abandoned and teetering skyscrapers that jut out toward the heavens.

You play as Captain Martin Walker, leading a pair of squad mates: Sergeant Lugo, your scout and tactical officer, and Lieutenant Adams, who handles the heavier work. After receiving a distress call from Colonel John Konrad, commander of the 33rd Infantry charged with evacuating Dubai after the catastrophe, you lead your three-man Delta force through the storm wall for recon. After an unexpected attack from local insurgents, the plot very quickly becomes twisted, and those you were out to help will ultimately become the enemy. The 33rd has gone rogue, massacring civilians without cause. CIA operatives are opposing them, but you're unsure of their agenda as well. You soon realize that you're on your own, unable to trust anyone

The scene continuously becomes grimmer as you witness the graphic extent of violence against the former residents of Dubai and your countrymen. Though not his original intent, Walker finds himself in the middle of the conflict as he tries to be the hero. You are tasked with difficult choices that present themselves swiftly and offer you no direction as to which is the right one. The life and death decisions do not deliver any consequences instantly, but rather impact the outcome much further into the campaign. Thus reloading a checkpoint to choose the alternate route will not give any indication as to whether it was the right one. Also, you're given little time to converse with your conscience and try to intellectually reason out your decisions; they have to come from the gut. This makes Spec Ops as real as it gets for a warfare shooter. There's still some melodrama present in the script, but for the most part the game was not designed to replicate an epic Hollywood blockbuster, but rather make it extremely personal. And it's likely an experience you will keep private, as there's not a single choice worth gloating about.

Where Spec Ops: The Line returns to normalcy and the standard conventions is in its gameplay. The controls are almost exactly what you'd expect from any squad-based shooter: one trigger to aim, another to fire, another to throw grenades, a button to sprint, reload, swap weapons, melee attack, etc. If you've played any prior shooters you will instantly be able to fly into the action and pay little heed to the constant control tip pop-ins.

That said, the controls could be a lot tighter. There are many instances where you're forced to walk to compensate for conversations, and there are spots where you'll suddenly not be able to fire your weapon. But the most frustrating is the melee button being tied to the vault button. While playing a lighter difficulty level, this won't be much of an issue, but on harder modes, hurdling over a barrier instead of punching a shotgun-toting enemy could send you back to the previous checkpoint, forced to trudge through the combat again, when all you want is to see the next segment of the story unfold.

The generic enemies don't provide much excitement either (aside from the discomfort of being asked to shoot American soldiers). They all have expected designations, with a large percentage of rifle wielders, the occasional goon with a shotgun, some snipers at expected waypoints, and even a couple kamikaze skinheads with military knives. The A.I. is very aggressive, forcing you to handle swarms of troops quickly, which is a nice way to keep the pace moving. Unfortunately, they aren't very intelligent, and they'll chase you behind cover only to run circles around you, or have a rifle barrel pointed right at your forehead and instead use the butt end of the weapon. Pair their idiocy with them obviously being brainwashed to the point where not a single one shows any sign of remorse for their atrocities, and you won't feel all that distressed about performing execution blows on your fellow countrymen.

The character models seem to randomly switch back and forth between very detailed and pixelated messes. Even when the graphics engine is performing at peak, easily discernible mistakes—like eyes not sitting properly in their sockets—indicate areas where a little extra polish would have been appreciated. Animations are decent enough, but the enemies often run toward cover inexplicably, causing a drag in movement. On the other hand, the environments and backgrounds, as well as the still imagery of corpses and other disturbing scenes, will burn into your mind and may even cause you to shudder. Also, the impressive vistas, looking down on a desolate metropolis placed between mile-high mountains of sand, delivers a spectacle you probably haven't seen in any other game.

Thankfully, the view is generally accompanied by little audio, save the gusting winds of the ever looming sandstorm. With such visceral visuals portraying the genocide, the silence compliments your personal grievance far better than any music would be able to. Every so often, you'll find yourself close to makeshift intercom speakers where a deranged disc jockey comments on the justice of the violence while mixing it up with American rock and roll tracks. Never have I been more disturbed with our rock music then when I heard it here; I almost wished I could silence it with my rifle.

The incomparable Nolan North voices Captain Walker and does a masterful job with the script. However, with his instantly recognizable voice, I had a hard time not picturing Walker as Nathan Drake, though with more swearing and military jargon.

Spec Ops: The Line also comes packed with competitive online multiplayer, with a handful of different modes such as the free-for-all Chaos, Mutiny (team deathmatch), and Rally Point. Buried and Uplink are the two objective-based modes with a little more substance, requiring the destruction of Vital Points in order to reveal the High Value Target, or controlling a central rally point. However, since combat isn't exactly the highlight of the single-player campaign, multiplayer isn't really worth more than a few quick matches here and there. It does have a leveling system, leaderboards, and unlockables, but they've been done better elsewhere and don't present anything new.

Despite criticism in all other departments, the gritty story supersedes the game's mediocrity elsewhere, and finally delivers something outside the box. It dives into a disturbing realism that war, racism, and the psychological repercussions that could ensue, going far beyond the dramatic fluff that we've seen in other shooters. The gameplay is decent enough that you won't mind playing through Spec Ops: The Line at least a couple of times to see how different choices affect the conclusion, and the lasting emotional impact you'll likely take away makes this shooter worthy of being placed at the top of your pile.

RAGE Review

System: PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Dev: id Software
Pub: Bethesda Softworks
Release: October 4, 2011
Players: 1(2+ Online)
Screen Resolution: 480p-1080p	Blood and gore, intense violence, strong language.

Guns, Buggies, And Mutants, Oh My!
by MDP

id Software popularized the first-person shooter genre with their breakout game Wolfenstein 3D back in 1992. Since then, id has spent the last two decades pushing the envelope and giving us one incredible game after another, including the Quake and Doom series. They could've stuck to the tried and true path and given us another installment in one of their handful of renowned franchises, but instead they decided to take a risk. That risk is RAGE, a post-apocalyptic shooter that offers a unique mixture of gunplay and frenetic dune buggy fights with some RPG elements thrown in for a little added flavor. It's an intriguing concept, but how does it stack up against their previous work?

Pretty well I'd say. In the current economic climate, fewer companies are taking risks, so that only makes RAGE all the sweeter; it's something new and different while also being familiar and approachable. This game has a little for everyone: shooter fans will appreciate the finely tuned combat, responsive controls, and the vast arsenal of weapons that you can use to mow down your foes. RPG fans will appreciate the side quests, speaking with the locals, upgrading your equipment, and the sheer amount of time you can spend exploring every nook and cranny of this beautifully realized environment. There's even something for the gamers who have a lust for driving real fast, since the buggy fights play out like Mario Kart for adults.

id is known for their attention to detail, and RAGE has benefited greatly from this. The world they've created will be familiar to fans of the post-apocalyptic genre, but this isn't a desaturated, depressing world. Despite everything being in a state of decay, RAGE's environments are surprisingly vibrant. There are a few set pieces in particular that are definitely eye-catching, and you'll probably have to take a moment to soak in all the little details. RAGE even rewards you for breaking away from the path and exploring, with hidden items and collectibles strewn about each environment. Add RAGE's remarkable ability to render all the details and action in a slick 60 frames per second, and you have yourself a game that never slows down.

The attention to detail expands far beyond the environments, reaching the enemies you encounter and the guns to dispatch them with. There's a decent variety in the types of enemies you'll encounter, ranging from buggy-riding bandits to agile mutants who can navigate the environment in ways that make me wonder if they were into parkour before they became the foul, blood-thirsty savages they are when you meet them. Sprinkle on some incredibly intimidating boss fights and RAGE's enemies are some of the most terrifying ones id has pitted us against so far—and that's saying something after Doom 3's Pinky.

Thankfully, you'll have a vast arsenal of weapons at your disposal that can be used to take out the mutants that will inevitably attack. There are the classic weapon types like rifles, machine guns, pistols, and shotguns, along with more exotic choices like the stealth-friendly crossbow. But by far, the weapon of choice for anyone who wants to survive in a post-apocalyptic wasteland overrun by mutants and all sorts of bedlam is the wingstick. It might not sound intimidating at first, but believe me, the wingstick will soon become your best friend. It's best described as a deadly boomerang that homes in on the target before killing it in a delightfully gruesome way, then it returns safely to your hand (most of the time).

If that's just not enough to satiate your endless appetite for all things painful, you can choose from the game's hearty selection of gadgets including remote-controlled cars that explode, deployable turrets, and sentry bots. Still not enough? How about some steamy buggy-on-buggy action? At first, the buggies are a means of going from point A to point B without having to traverse the sprawling environments. But they soon become another way to defend yourself against the plethora of enemies you'll face—some of which have their own buggies—whose sole purpose seems to be to take you out. This is where the buggy upgrades and weapons come in handy: you can outfit your vehicle with special parts that make it run more smoothly. Also, there are custom paintjobs, weapons like machine guns and rocket launchers, and special gadgets. The gadgets can be particularly fun as they include a temporary shield, drop mines, hover turrets, and more.

Story-wise, RAGE is above average, though it probably won't wow you with any surprising plot twists. The story is simple: you awake after being frozen and find yourself in the middle of a mutant-infested wasteland; now you must survive. Along the way you'll meet a myriad of memorable characters who feel as real and alive as the world they live in, and there's a feeling of progression that makes the whole experience all the more rewarding.

The missions are interesting too, and this game actually manages to give us interesting side-quests. You won't have to worry about completing mundane fetch quests that plague so many RPG games; instead RAGE's side-quests reveal interesting side stories or offer fun things to do like protecting your allies from waves of mutants as they try to repair a vehicle.

The single-player campaign is a little short and ends rather abruptly, but it's likely to run you anywhere from 10-15 hours, depending on how much time you spending completing side quests. Once it's over, you can occupy yourself with the competitive and cooperative multiplayer modes. The former pits you and up to five other players in frantic dune buggy fights that put your driving skills to the test. The latter includes several missions that can be completed with a friend online. I would've preferred a more fleshed-out competitive multiplayer, since the current offering is pretty shallow, and it would've been nice if the campaign could be taken on with a friend. But as it stands, these are still viable options to keep this game in your collection long after you've beaten it.

Does RAGE push boundaries and set a new bar for future shooters to come? Not really. But it doesn't need to. Instead of trying to revolutionize a genre, id has given us another stellar game that's taken elements from a few different games, in many cases improved them, and seamlessly integrated them into RAGE's world. Everything about this game is polished to near-perfection: the guns feel satisfying and the quests aren't comprised of the lame "fetch this" or "go kill that" missions that many of us have grown tired of long ago. This is a game that manages the impressive feat of appealing to many different types of gamers without sacrificing any of its quality. Even if you're on the fence as to whether or not this is something you'd be interested in, I'm sure that if you give it a chance you'll find something worthwhile in the savage and exciting world that is RAGE.

Torrent Download Link : http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/6720504/Rage-SKIDROW

Max Payne 3 Review

System: PC, PS3, Xbox 360*
Dev: Rockstar Vancouver
Pub: Rockstar Games
Release: May 15, 2012
Players: 1-26
Screen Resolution: 480p-1080p	Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol

Purgatory Is Worse Than Hell

by MDP

Those of you who made it through Max Payne 2 (and happen to possess a particularly well-focused memory) might recollect a hint of optimism in our hero's closing line: "I had a dream of my wife. She was dead. But it was alright."

Well, nine years later, life has proven to be far less sunny than Max Payne might have hoped for. But in a franchise whose primary gameplay mechanic is a tortured metaphor for lost time, we certainly can't expect our protagonist to have recovered from his past.

Actually, Max's pain actually seems to have grown deeper over the last decade. He's has traded his Detective's shield and crappy New York City apartment for a private security job and an even crappier apartment in São Paulo. Payne spends his days playing babysitter to the socialite family of industrialist Rodrigo Branco, and spends his nights downing pills and drunkenly stumbling into a bed that makes a wooden sound when he collapses.

His new digs are the product of an old Police Academy friend named Raul, who thought it would be a slick way for Max to take a Brazilian vacation. But when Branco's trophy wife is kidnapped by an army of ski mask-wearing, AK47-toting goons, Max's vacation is evidently over in favor of yet another damsel in distress story.

Thematically speaking, Rockstar Games is really playing to their strengths; some might even say that they've found an interesting storytelling niche. While developers like Bethesda are focusing on spells and dragons, and companies like Activision are preoccupied with military-based narratives, Rockstar places their characters into a universe that borders on our own. Sure, it's darker and more disheveled than most suburban white kids are used to, but they've managed to blend the storytelling of L.A. Noire with the composition of Grand Theft Auto to shape Payne's particular purgatory. But even as we're becoming reacquainted with the franchise, it's immediately clear that this is an entirely new game.

When Max Payne showed up on the scene in 2001, the gaming masses were quick to latch onto Rockstar's newfangled Bullet Time mechanic. However, as with most good ideas, developers managed to quickly overuse the feature, turning it into an industry cliché and relegating it to the same category as most Law and Order episodes.

And this was my biggest worry when I sat down to play the game. See, even though the Max Payne franchise practically has a responsibility to utilize Bullet Time, they also need to create an experience that's altogether different from the dozens of copycat titles that have surfaced over the last decade; just because you invented something doesn't mean you're exempted from the stereotype. Just ask U2.

But Max Payne has certainly aged well. Even after a decade off the job, the Detective still has enough finesse to casually place round after round into the forehead of any approaching enemies. If anything, it feels like he's been practicing.

In fact, in the first two titles, the transition between bullet time and standard time always involved a bit of clumsiness. Players were constantly forced to reacclimatize themselves to their surroundings before reengaging their enemies. But in Max Payne 3, the process is silky smooth. There's a bit of video lag from time to time, and the auto-aim mechanic always manages to lock onto the most inconvenient enemy. But you really shouldn't be using auto-aim anyway, so hopefully that'll teach you to turn it off, cheater.

The transition actually seems to downplay the Bullet Time mechanic, and this is a good thing. The Max Payne empire may have been built on a singular atypical effect, but Rockstar Games has managed to find ways to make it feel like just another feature. This allows players to focus on the game as a whole rather than reliving what made the original great. (Are you taking notes, Duke Nukem?)

And, whereas the original beat us over the head with its distinct lack of subtlety, Max Payne 3 manages to do just the opposite. In fact, subtleties are the name of the game in Max Payne 3. Players won't find themselves being screamed at by a drill sergeant or having to diffuse a suitcase nuke. This story is told in the twitch of Max's hand as he unscrews a bottle and the broken frame on his coffee table that contains a beer-soaked picture of his deceased family.

However, and I hate to say this, subtleties don't make the transition to multiplayer. It's not that the multiplayer component isn't fun; it is. It's just that the lighthearted pandemonium of the multiplayer seems to undermine the tone of the rest of the game. Though, even though I had my reservations, I still managed to spend several hours addictedly glued to a multiplayer game. So you should probably just ignore me.

As far as the controls go, if you've ever played a third-person shooter, you're probably ready to go. Some of the buttons that are typically allocated for grenades and hand-to-hand combat have been co-opted for the Bullet Time mechanic, but it's an easy switch to make. You utilize the slow-down controls so often that they become part of your repertoire quickly.

I should also mention, just to cover my bases, that this is not a Rockstar Game in the same way that Grand Theft Auto or Red Dead Redemption is. Players are strapped to a fairly linear storyline that lasts between 15 and 70 hours, depending on how frequently you use bullet time. However, the narrative has Rockstar's stamp all over it. There's a nouveau kind of interactive storytelling happening in Max Payne 3 that could only really be told by the people who brought you GTA and L.A. Noir.

The cutscenes, while possibly too numerous, are seamlessly integrated into the overall narrative in a way that often makes you forget when it's time to take control of your character. This, coupled with a graphical universe that undoubtedly pushes the limits of this generation of consoles, creates an immersive experience that will give titles like Uncharted a run for their money.

However, if you're looking for a fast-paced, explosion-filled, Michael Bay-type experience, you're probably going to want to steer clear of Max Payne 3. Remember, this is a game where you slow things down.

When you actually add them up, Max Payne 3 contains more played-out references than I'm typically comfortable endorsing. You've got a burned-out cop with a drinking problem who plays by his own rules, a highly funded crime syndicate bent on personal revenge, and a gameplay mechanic that's made its way into almost every video game and film over the last decade. Rockstar even added a last stand mode, à la Call of Duty, as if one overused mechanic weren't already enough. But clichés exist for a reason, and Max Payne uses them all flawlessly.

In fact, I would almost say that anyone who's used one of these clichés up till now was just trying to be like Max Payne 3.