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Twisted Metal Proves to be Twisted Fun (Hands On)

Todd Schlickbernd — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 02:00:12 +0000

Twisted Metal is the oldest Sony-exclusive franchise in all of Sony-exclusive franchise history and yet it hasn’t properly graced the cirsp Blu-ray diskiness of the PlayStation 3. Well clearly Eat Sleep Play has merely been biding its time until the climate was perfect for a new Twisted Metal because this one feels like the car combat game everyone has been waiting for. Vehicles defy reality, twisting and drifting to the player’s whim, combat is fast-paced and intense, and the destruction and mayhem is absolutely top notch. There are some minor hiccups, some of which are probably more of an issue to Twisted Metal fans than those who have never played a Twisted Metal game, but overall this is a game to keep your eye on.

Ever since humans first dreamt they could drive large blocks of metal, they wished they could smash them into other blocks of metal, or perhaps blow them up with all sorts of weaponry, but feared the social impact of having so many deaths on a daily basis. In comes video games, gateway to awesome things unattainable in real life, and with it, the car combat genre. Somehow this genre is one of the most difficult things to make work. You’d think it’d be super easy, like… cars + bombs = win, right? Not right. There’s a million ways to implement the idea of car combat, some use racing, some use deathmatch, some are top-down view, and some… are Twisted Metal. Twisted Metal has always been the epitome of a car combat game, the game other car combat games base themselves off of, and this iteration is no different.

Traditionally Twisted Metal has been an arena-style car combat game and it still is. However, in the past each car had a character attached to it (along with a car-unique special weapon) and everybody had to fight over which character they were going to play, though “everybody” only extended to four human players and bots. This time around, there’s a rather robust multiplayer mode which supports up to 16 players and the game has changed to accommodate this. Now, there are several factions to choose from, four of which are available in the demo, along with any vehicle and basic weapon combination when preparing to play a game of Twisted Metal. While each vehicle still has a unique special, multiple players can pick the same vehicle now, which is super cool. Last of the real big gameplay changes is the inclusion of the helicopter vehicle which freely flies about the sky wreaking mayhem and being generally difficult to target, but short to stay alive.

The demo itself has both a single player experience with bots and two online modes including Deathmatch, a timed kill-everybody-athon, and Nuke, a team based capture-the-flag plus sort of deal. Fearing my Twisted Metal skills were suspect after not having played since Twisted Metal: Black (like nine years ago), I opted to play some single player first. The initial controls completely eluded me, but thankfully there are plenty of control styles because just about every button on the controller is used in this game. After figuring out what button does what, I settled in and quickly started to enjoy myself.

Cars are fast, even slow cars are pretty fast, especially with turbo, and yet a sort of “break reality drift” button allows cars to take ridiculous turns and operate with the precision necessary to even dream of hitting anybody with the myriad of projectile death-causers in this game. That mechanic is really the anchor to this game that makes it playable, enjoyable and not the slightest bit frustrating or difficult to play. The gameplay strategy of weaving in and out of battles still exists, taking time to stock up on weapons and entering battles when it’s feasible. Demoltion derby or not, there’s still strategy to this game. The only time the core mechanics get in the way of themselves is targeting, without a way to manually target or switch targets (as far as I found) sometimes the game locks on to the wrong target and that Reaper (fragile motorcycle) gets away with no health while you target that Darkside (beefy semi) and she laughs at you. While that can be frustrating, those issues only exist with the homing weapons, and there are plenty of non-homing weapons to use.

On that subject, the available arsenal is pretty fantastic. The addition of passenger-used weapons like the sniper rifle and shotgun are awesome. Both are special-case weapons (polar opposites in range) but they can be very useful for securing kills both in and out of the mayhem. The traditional weapons return with the power missiles, swarmers, homing and fire missiles, and they’re all super fun to use and remain a staple in every combat situation. There are a couple items including a remote bomb and RC-C4 Car which use a pop-up cam when fired off into the distance to monitor if there are enemies in its blast radius. User interface-wise, weapons with areas of effect do different are qualified when the damage notification pops up, saying “Napalm Close: 30 Damage” versus “Napalm Far: 10 Damage”, same with shotguns etc. While not crucial to gameplay, it does help give the player an idea of how they need to lead their target and judge space within the universe.

Game mode wise, every mode was super awesome fun times, but each had a bit of a hiccup that was a tad frustrating. The single player mode in the demo is elimination style and, while totally fine in theory, can be frustrating because like most games with cars the AI makes a habit of making sure it’s around you at all times. Most every game I finished (after dying and losing) I have taken a significantly greater amount of damage than my AI opponents, having healed so much trying to evade their incredibly tenacious chases. That’s no fun. It’s no fun to be hunted down and forcibly removed from a demo experience. It’s one thing to be killed because, well, it’s a game about killing each other, but it’s annoying when consecutive matches end with receiving way too much AI attention.

The two online modes, Deathmatch and Nuke, were far less hiccupy. Deathmatch pits up to sixteen players against each other in a giant clusterfuck on a massive map (the same map available in all modes) and gives players points for kills and assists. Before hiccups, it should be noted that this game might be the only game to get freaking assists right. Why is it so hard to credit players for assists in first person shooters? No idea. But in Twisted Metal you get varying levels of points based on how much damage you contributed to the death of any player ranging from soft to hard assist. Hard assist is much like the Halo assist in that it is essentially a “kill steal”. Beyond that, gameplay is frenetic and filled with all sorts of explosions and people driving through and off of buildings, leading to immense satisfaction in victory and in loss. My only qualm is with the often-unobserved Twisted Metal powers including the mine, shield and freeze. While the first two are totally fine, freeze lasts way too long; with sixteen players blowing the shit out of each other constantly, getting frozen is pretty much guaranteed death unless you’re Darkside.

Nuke is a team mode where players alternate offensive and defensive roles, with the offense team attempting to capture faction leaders, sacrifice them to nuke firing devices, then guide a nuclear missile into the other team’s statue. Awesome in theory, awesome in practice. This take on capture the flag is really fun, and takes full advantage of the all of the game’s features, giving fast vehicles a dedicated role and tanky vehicles a dedicated role as well, allowing mid-ranged vehicles to play the field. The strategy here is really under-the-radar, but man can a good strategy just dominate. Unfortunately, the biggest strategy I’ve seen so far is to have the helicopter capture the faction leader, fly a million miles into the sky then go deliver it safely. The helicopters are far too difficult to target, but they’re not that fast or durable so it’s plenty easy to counter this strategy, but it is frustrating nonetheless.

Twisted Metal is absolutely back, though it has changed in more ways than one. Just about every change to the core mechanics of this game has been to accommodate the current generation and is ultimately welcome, this coming from a massive Twisted Metal fan. Combat was fast, frenetic, and even when hunting for weapons I couldn’t escape the violence for long. Destroying the level, finding weapon caches and entering and leaving combat at the right times remain the key to victory and fun, and no game with cars does it better. This game must be demo’d, everyone should try it, even if you’re not a racing fan because it’s more about using a car as a giant weapon than driving an actual car, and any lover of shooting things or BSU needs to play this.

Twisted Metal is out on PS3 exclusively on Valentine’s day, February 14; blow up your significant other then hand them flowers. Then blow those up.

Mass Effect 3 Demo Offers Temporary Free Xbox Live Gold Access

Alex Co — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:00:42 +0000

In a rather good move from publisher Electronic Arts and Microsoft, the demo for BioWare’s Mass Effect 3 will offer Xbox players free temporary access to Xbox LIVE’s Gold service – presumably, so players can try the franchise’s first foray into multiplayer.

In a post on BioWare’s official forums, Chris Priestly of BioWare states, “The demo of Mass Effect 3 will include a limited time Gold access when you download the demo.” Though no specifics like how the access will be distributed and for how long is still up in the air.

The demo for Mass Effect 3 will hit the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on February 14 and it will consist of a mission set early in the game’s campaign. If you bought Battlefield 3 new and used its Online Pass, the multiplayer component of Mass Effect 3 will be accessible on the same date. If not, it will be available at a later date on February 17.

Yeah, there are a lot of people complaining that the game has an online component, but at least this way they can try it AND then complain about how they’ll never play it.

Mass Effect 3 will be available this March 12 for the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.

Source: IGN

Twisted Metal Multiplayer Demo Rolls Out January 31

Todd Schlickbernd — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:30:42 +0000

Twisted Metal is rapidly approaching its Valentine’s Day (February 14th for those living under lonely rocks) release, whereupon all future inter-relationship disputes should be settled with vehicular destruction, manslaughter and otherwise twisting of metal.

If enthusiasts didn’t think the free downloadable version of Twisted Metal: Black was enough (I know I did), there’s now a multiplayer-only demo releasing for Twisted Metal on January 31st as confirmed by Sony’s Senior Social Media Specialist during a recent episode of the PlayStation Blogcast. No details appear to have been released regarding content, but it’s fair to assume that there will be vehicles, weapons, and clowns. And metal.

Source: PlayStation Blog

Demo Released for King Arthur II – The Role-playing Wargame

Garrett Hartman — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:30:57 +0000

Paradox Interactive and Neocore Games today have released a demo for King Arthur II. It’s not one of those short 20 minute demos. The demo allows gamers to play through the title’s tutorial and first mission which should equal about 60 minutes of gameplay.

Download the demo here.

King Arthur II: The Role-playing Wargame releases on January 27th, 2012.

UFC Undisputed 3 Demo Becomes Available Next Tuesday

Garrett Hartman — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:30:25 +0000

THQ has confirmed that a demo for UFC Undisputed 3 will become available next Tuesday (Jan. 24th) on PSN and Xbox Live.

Which fighters will be available and additional demo details will not be revealed until Tuesday as THQ teased in a Tweet:

Demo details and fighters included will be announced/revealed the day it launches, let your speculation continue =)

UFC Undisputed 3 releases on February 14 for the PS3 and Xbox 360.

via: Kotaku

Here Are The Mass Effect 3 PC Specs

Justin Carter — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:30:10 +0000

Today, Bioware revealed what you will need for Mass Effect 3 if you choose to buy it on the PC. And from the sound of things, people aren’t too happy about having to buy the game through Origin and Origin only. The only thing that may change, Bioware Community man Chris Priestly said, will be the hard drive space needed. In the meantime, here’s what you’ll need:

Minimum Spec:

OS – Windows XP SP3/Vista SP1, Win 7
*Supported
chipsets: NVIDIA 7900 or better; ATI X1800 or better. Please note that NVIDIA
GeForce 9300, 8500, 8400, and 8300 are below minimum system requirements, as are
AMD/ATI Radeon HD3200, HD3300, and HD4350. Updates to your video and sound
card drivers may be required.

CPU – 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (equivalent
AMD CPU)

RAM – 1GB for XP / 2GB RAM for Vista/Win 7

Disc Drive -
1x speed

Hard Drive – 2.5 GB of free space

Video – 256 MB* (with
Pixel Shader 3.0 support)

Sound – DirectX 9.0c compatible

DirectX
- DirectX 9.0c August 2009 (included)

Recommended Spec:

OS – Windows XP SP3/Vista SP1, Win 7

CPU -
2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (equivalent AMD CPU)

RAM – 2GB for XP / 4GB RAM
for Vista/Win 7

Disc Drive – 1x speed

Hard Drive – 2.5 GB of free
space

Video – AMD/ATI Radeon HD 4850 512 MB or greater, NVidia GeForce
9800 GT 512 MB or greater

Sound – DirectX 9.0c compatible

Mass Effect 3 arrives for the PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 on March 6. Expect a demo February 14, just in time for some in and out-game space love.

Via Game Informer

Bioware Releasing Mass Effect 3 Demo on Valentine’s Day

Brandon Fenty — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:18:13 +0000

Bioware may have come up with the best Valentine’s Day present ever. A demo of the Kinect-enabled Mass Effect 3 is being released on February 14th.

In case you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past few years, Mass Effect is the story of Commander Sheppard, humanity’s last hope in the war against the Reapers to save the galaxy.

Girlfriends and wives everywhere mourn this news, as many of us guys will be playing the demo on that day. That is, unless your girlfriend is Stephanie Gutowski, in which case you won’t be able to pry the controller from her.

Syndicate Co-Op Demo Incoming. Here’s a Trailer.

Justin Carter — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 22:00:01 +0000

EA’s FPS Syndicate reboot is a little over a month away, and excitement for the game is rising. If you want to get your hands on the electronic, coporate sabotage action, you’re in luck. EA revealed today that a demo will be available for a limited time this month on the Xbox Marketplace and Playstation Network.

Watch the trailer below to see what you can expect in the co-op demo.

Syndicate wipes out the competition February 21 for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

via Game Informer

The Darkness II Playable Demo Now Available for Xbox LIVE Gold Members

Garrett Hartman — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:45:46 +0000

2K Games today announced that The Darkness II demo is now available for download for Xbox Live Gold members.

The Darkness II is the sequel to 2007′s acclaimed Horror/Shooter hit The Darkness, that put you in the shoes of mob enforcer Jackie Estacado and his inherited connection/possession with a dark ancient evil force called The Darkness. The Darkness II promises new abilities such as Quad-Wielding, which allows players to slash, grab and throw objects.

While the demo is available now exclusively on Xbox Live, on January 24, the demo will become to all Xbox Live members, PSN and Steam.

The Darkness II will be available at retail of February 7th for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

Darkness II Demo Available on Platforms Next Week

Justin Carter — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:35:12 +0000

If you’re excited for Darkness II, you’ll be happy to hear that the game’s demo is incoming. If you’re an Xbox Live Gold member, you’ll be able to download the game’s demo next Tuesday the 17. The following Tuesday, the demo will be available for Silver members, along with Steam and PSN users. Wednesday the 25, it’ll be released on the European, Asia, and Pacific PSN stores.

Darkness II creeps into stores February 7 for the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC. Check out our most recent hands-on to see what you can expect from the game.

via Game Informer

Hey, There’s Finally a RAGE Demo Out on Xbox Live! (PSN Coming Soon)

Dave Oshry — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 17:15:35 +0000

Oh RAGE. So beautiful, so bloody, so much better on Xbox 360 than any other platform…

Speaking of RAGE’s premier platform, there’s finally a demo available for id’s latest shooter on Xbox Live.

So, if you were on the fence about the game before, now would be the perfect time to check it out.

The demo will let you take on one mission and mess around in the hub town of Wellspring a bit:

The Ghost Clan, a cult of murderous fanatics, has infiltrated the waterworks beneath the town of Wellspring with plans to poison the water supply. You are the only one with the weapons, talent and courage to stop them. While in Wellspring, you can also meet the townsfolk, try your hand in games of skill and chance, peruse the wares of the local vendors or hit the Speedway for some racing.

The game is also getting a Black Friday sale price of $29.99 at GameStop and select retailers.

Oh, in case you were wondering, the PSN demo is coming on December 6th.

For more, be sure to check out the RipTen Review of RAGE.

This has been a public service announcement.

Guild Wars 2 Reveals New Character Customization Video

Jensen Walker — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 20:15:58 +0000

Arenanet is currently attending G-Star, Korea’s premier game show, where the latest demo build for Guild Wars 2 is on display. Fortunately for those of us not in Korea, Arenanet have published a new blog entry detailing the demo and its features, including UI improvements, a new system for learning skills, and character creation and customization options.

You can view the new character customization video below, and make sure you head over to the Arenanet blog post for further details.

New Sonic Generations XBL Demo Coming Tuesday (PSN Next Week)

Dave Oshry — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 23:15:01 +0000

Need more hedgehog in your life? Of course you do!

Can’t wait any longer for Sonic Generations? Of course you cant!

Well, you’re in luck!

SEGA® America, Inc. & SEGA® Europe Ltd., today confirmed that a second demo is being released prior to the launch of the highly anticipated Sonic Generations™ game for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PlayStation^®3 computer entertainment system. Demo #2 for the game will be available in North America via Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for Xbox 360 on October 18 and PlayStation®Network on October 25.

The first demo, released on June 23, 2011 – the anniversary of Sonic’s 20^th year – allowed fans to play as Classic Sonic only. Now the second demo means fans can finally play as Modern Sonic – as well as Classic Sonic again – in the stunning environments of the iconic Green Hill level from Sonic Generations.

Yep.

Need For Speed: The Run Demo Races to the PSN and XBL on Oct. 18th

Garrett Hartman — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 20:00:15 +0000

EA has confirmed a Need For Speed: The Run demo will be available on October 18th for the PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles.

Players will be able to race with the Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2 Valentino Balboni and the 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera S. The Porsche will only become available if you “refer a friend to download the demo.”

The demo should serve as sufficient tease until the game releases on November 17th for the PS3, Xbox 360, 3DS, Wii and PC.

Behold as Todd Howard Walks You Through 20 Minutes of Skyrim Gameplay!

Chris Carlson — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 15:40:07 +0000

Bethesda has finally released a three-part video demoing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Game Director Todd Howard narrates the demo which is currently being shown on the Xbox 360.

This is the same demo we’ve been seeing since E3, but if you’ve every played an Elder Scrolls game, you’ll know that every experience is different. If that’s not enough, RipTen’s Dave Oshry wrote one of the most epic previews you’ll ever read.

Behold!!

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is set to release November 11th for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

Cyper Punk FPS “Hard Reset” Demo Now Available

Dave Oshry — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 23:30:47 +0000

Do you like the future? Do you like to shoot robots? Then you might like Hard Reset.

It may look like Crysis 2, but it plays like a cyber punk Serious Sam.

We’re currently reviewing it and we’ll have the full rundown in a few days, but until then you can get the demo!!

Said demo offers about 20-30 minutes of play time and a good amount of replayability thanks to a wide range of weapon options (12 of 20 weapon modes are included)

Where can you get it?

For most, the best bet will be Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/98400

For others, here are some mirrors that may or may not be up as of the time of this mailing, but which will certainly be up today:

Gamers Hell: http://www.gamershell.com/download_79104.shtml

WorthPlaying: http://worthplaying.com/article/2011/9/8/demo/83212

Fileplanet: http://www.fileplanet.com/files/220000/222166.shtml

GameFront: http://www.gamefront.com/files/20754229/hardresetdemo_en_exe

ComputerGames.ro: http://computergames.ro/en/downloads/viewitem/id/21393/name/hard-reset-demo.html

So, what are you waiting for?! Go shoot robots!!

Space Marine Demo Available Now – Watch the Announcement Trailers

Garrett Hartman — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 01:25:43 +0000

Have to admit, I never thought I’d be stoked for anything Warhammer. I’ve never been the role-playing dungeon master type and the people I knew in college who collected pewter Warmhammer figures were, well…NERDS! But there is something about Warhammer 40000: Space Marine that beckons me.

Perhaps it is because the game a more than passing visual similiarity to one of my favorite series – Gears of War. Nonetheless, Space Marines looks good, the demo has landed and I feel the HYPE (downloading the demo right now).

Watch the trio of demo announcement trailers below. Space Marines releases in North America on September 6th, the demo is available now for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

-

-

NHL 12 Demo Now Available on XBL and PSN

Dave Oshry — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 16:05:20 +0000

Do you like hockey? Sure you do! Who doesn’t? Americans? Fuck them!

Here at RipTen Canada, we’re all aboot it, eh?

Anyway, if you’re all aboot it too, go get the demo for NHL 12. It’s available now.

EA says:

The highly anticipated EA SPORTS™ NHL® 12 demo is available beginning today through PlayStation® Network and Xbox LIVE®*. The demo will feature three modes – Play Now, Be A Pro, and Hockey Ultimate Team. In Play Now, relive the emotion of the 2011 Stanley Cup® Final as the game inserts you into the third period of a match-up between the Boston Bruins® and the Vancouver Canucks®.

NHL 12 will be out on September 13th.

Warhammer 40K: Space Marine Demo Now Available On Xbox LIVE

Chris Carlson — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 14:30:44 +0000

THQ has released a single-player demo of Warhammer 40K: Space Marine via Xbox LIVE. The demo consist of two levels, one of which features the jump pack. The demo is currently a Gold exclusive and weighs in at 1.5GB. The demo is also expected to launch on PSN later today.

For those of you not currently at your Xbox and can’t wait to get your hands on the demo, you can queue it up here.

Warhammer 40K: Space Marine is set to release on September 6th for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

Heroes of Might and Magic 6 Demo Available Now

Dave Oshry — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 01:30:45 +0000

UPDATE: It looks like Ubi already stopped the demo.

Feel free to /facepalm.

Yes, I’m still calling it Heroes of Might and Magic, because Might and Magic Heroes sounds ass backwards. Anyway, a bit of news that isn’t ass backwards is the fact that HoMM 6 just got a demo, and it’s out right now!

Download it HERE

Stay tuned to RipTen for continued coverage of Heroes VI and reverse nomenclature