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Iwata: Not All Wii U Games Have to be in HD

Sam Naylor — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:00:27 +0000

Speaking to investors, Nintendo‘s President Satoru Iwata has said that not all Wii U games have to be in full HD.

When asked about development for the Wii U, Iwata said:

Looking at the software for home console systems, there are certainly the software titles for which very rich graphics must be reproduced on HD displays… But we do not think that any and all the software must be created in that fashion.

He went on:

Rather, we have to create the dynamic range of appeals that the consumers can appreciate… As we will showcase the Wii U at E3 in June this year, the detailed announcements must wait until then, but we are aiming to make a system which shall not be forced into competing with the others where the contenders can fight only with massive developer resources and long development times as their weapons.

Iwata made it clear that titles like The Legend of Zelda will be treated to full HD, as the fans will expect it of them at this point. Still, it seems very odd that in this day and age there would still be issues with making every game in HD. You would think they’ve got it sorted by now- though maybe Nintendo doesn’t have as much practice as the other developers.

Via [Gamingbolt]

Edit: I realise how this looks- thanks to some snide comments below- and think I should clarify. When I wrote “HD” I was referring to high definition as a concept, rather than a screen resolution (i.e 720p, 1080p)- you can read for yourself in the quoted sections what Iwata means. I understand that my writing could be clearer on this occasion, and seek to improve at any opportunity. I’ll leave the post as it is for history’s sake.

The Jak and Daxter Collection Set to Release Early February

Justin Carter — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:30:11 +0000

Since the release of the God of War Collection back in 2009, Sony has been releasing their old PS2 titles on the PS3. Last year gave us the release of the Team Ico Collection and the Sly Collection. Next up on Sony’s list? The Jak and Dexter Collection.

Naughty Dog’s action platformer franchise has been MIA for about quite some time now. Fans have been clamoring for a sequel, but with Naughty Dog working on The Last of Us, it looks like we’ll have to wait a little while longer. In the meantime, the original Jak trilogy–Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Jak II, and Jak 3–is coming to the PS3, remastered in HD with Trophy support.

You can pick up the Jak & Daxter Collection for $39.99 on February 7.

RipTen Review: Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD (PSN)

Catherine Cai — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 07:12:59 +0000

I’ve never had any experience with the Oddworld series before Stranger’s Wrath except for a scant few minutes with Abe’s Oddysee, so hardcore Oddworld fans, bear with me. I’m not privy to all of the names of the different species in Oddworld and why they’re unique, nor do I know the relation of Stranger’s Wrath to the other games in the series except that it seems that the developers didn’t attempt to force an “odd” wordplay out of the title, although from what I can tell, it’s only related to the other titles simply because it’s set in the Oddworld universe.

Since Stranger’s Wrath is an HD port, I thought it was probably a good idea to take a look at the source material. No, I didn’t go on an adventure scouring retailers and the Internet looking for the original Stranger’s Wrath for Xbox.

Yeah, I cheated.

I bought Stranger’s Wrath as a part of the Oddbox off of Steam, which packages Abe’s Oddysee, Munch’s Oddysee, Abe’s Exoddus, and Stranger’s Wrath into a ridiculously cheap bundle.

Comparing the PC version of Stranger’s Wrath, which has yet to get the HD treatment (although it’s in the works), to the PSN version, the changes are obvious. Just Add Water has gone above and beyond the call for this HD release, although to be fair, when I hear HD remaster I usually expect little more than the game to be blown up to HD resolution and have its shaders updated. Just Add Water really put in the work to do Stranger’s Wrath justice. The game’s graphics have been touched up by sharpened textures and more saturated, vibrant colors, enough to make me croon that the game looks jaw-droppingly gorgeous. That’s quite an impressive feat, considering that Stranger’s Wrath is done in the style of a spaghetti western and most of the environment you trek across is desert. And since the game’s graphics are stylized, it’s hard to believe that the game was released in 2005.

Stranger’s Wrath is about Stranger, a gruff, bad-ass Clint Eastwood-esque bounty hunter who tracks down Oddworld criminals in order to fund an expensive and frequently referred to but mysterious surgery he urgently needs to have. The plot doesn’t get more complicated than this, except a few hitches and a bit of a twist towards the end that makes the purpose of the surgery clear.

Clint Eastwood as seen in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The plot moves on between sections of the game that are broken up by missions. Every few missions or so, there’d be a cutscene that would move the action of the game forward, which causes the game to feel monotonous at points where the action lulls. The game also tends to have difficulty spikes and combined with the lulls, I almost put the games down at some points since there’s little motivation to move on without any of the plot driving the game forward and boss fights that are window-punchingly frustrating.

Besides a few plot hiccups, Stranger’s Wrath is solid. It’s gameplay mechanics feature a seamless blend between first person and third person, which is so well done that it makes Stranger’s Wrath shine. The game is primarily played in third person for the platforming and melee elements, although after the first half an hour, melee combat becomes less effective since all of your enemies wise up and start carrying guns. Then, the first person shooter elements start becoming more useful. Stranger uses a collection of small cute animals and bugs as ammo for his crossbow, each with different status effects ranging from electrocution to blunt force trauma, to bring down his enemies.

The reticule in first person is sluggish and reloading often takes four or five seconds longer than it should. Since Stranger’s Wrath isn’t a twitch shooter, this doesn’t pose much of a problem, except when you’re embroiled in boss fights involving multiple enemies. The game usually encounters the aforementioned difficulty spikes here, as Stranger doesn’t really have an effective way of dealing with multiple enemies at once except to uselessly flail at them in melee combat.

Just Add Water’s remaster of Stranger’s Wrath is probably one of the best on the PSN, and probably should stand as some sort of model for other companies who look to re-release their games. The game’s been given a nice fresh coat of paint that makes it look new and worth every penny.

Here’s the Rundown:

+ Stranger is Clint Eastwood in animated form

+ Switching between first and third person is almost seamless

+ The game’s atmosphere brings me back to my days when I was but a wee lass

- Fighting multiple enemies sucks

- Difficulty spikes makes me want to stick my tongue in a hot oven

- This isn’t on Xbox Live yet (stupid Microsoft size restrictions)

Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath was originally developed by Oddworld Inhabitants and Just Add Water, and published by Just Add Water. Its HD remaster was released on PSN on December 27, 2011. A copy of the game was graciously provided by the publisher. Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath was played lovingly to completion in about 12 hours.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – 150 “Ultra” Quality Screens To Die For

Dave Oshry — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 22:00:29 +0000

It’s often been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, if my previous musings about Skyrim were roughly 7000 words, then these 150 screens should be worth roughly over 9000. Yes, that never gets old.

These 150 screens have been selected from the thousands I’ve taken during my first 75 hours in the vast lands of Skyrim. They were taken with Steam, and are therefore only inferior .JPGs, but both our database and yours will thank you for that.

These were all taken on “Ultra” settings with no modifications made to the game whatsoever. Other than the pictures which have been obviously altered, the majority of these shots have not been edited in any way.

Anyhow, here’s the PC used to take these screens:

Her Name is Raven

The stats on that glowing blue monstrosity above are as follows:

Asus P6T Motherboard
Intel Core i7 CPU 975@3.4GHz
12GB Corsair Dominator DDR3 Ram
Nvidia GeForce GTX 590 / Nvidia GeForce GTX560ti (PhysX)
1250w CoolerMaster PSU
Asus VG236 23″ HD Monitor (3D Enabled)
Windows 7 x64

These screens may contain some spoilers (if you know what you’re looking at) but hopefully they also contain some memories from your adventures as well.

Do you remember the first time you walked into your house in Whiterun?

Or how about when you killed a defenseless rabbit and immediately regretted it?

The first time you ever saw a dragon in the moonlight?

Or came home once again to find your wife making dinner for you?

Yes, I’m sure you and I have had many of the same adventures, and you know I could talk about them to no end. Alas, I’ll let these screens do the talking for me:

Watch The Devil May Cry HD Collection… In HD!

Dave Oshry — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 10:00:40 +0000

Dante’s back and he’s not spouting any black emo hairdos this time.

The Devil May Cry HD Collection was just recently announced, but I bet you want to see how it looks.

Have at you!

Run DMC in HD will be available sometime early next year.

Watch This Awesome Gunslinger Spin His Revolvers Like Ocelot

Dave Oshry — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 04:15:58 +0000

Anyone who’s familiar with the Metal Gear Solid series knows Revolver Ocelot. That cocky bastard sure does love his six shooters and he sure knows how to spin ‘em. He does some pretty impressive gun spinnin’ in the game, but let’s see someone try that in real life!

Well, not only is YouTuber Juski1000 one hell of a gunslinger, he’s so damn good, he can drop it like he’s Ocelot.

Yes, that is impressive.

New GoldenEye Reloaded Trailer Shows off Improved Combat

Dave Oshry — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 20:20:07 +0000

This just in from MI:6 agent, a new trailer for the highly improved version of last years critically acclaimed GoldenEye reboot.

Activison had this to say:

GoldenEye 007: Reloaded is a contemporary James Bond experience featuring HD visuals and realistic environments running at 60-frames per second, akin to today’s elite action games. Additional to the legendary story campaign, the game introduces the brand new ‘Mi6 Ops Missions’ – new, distinct levels separate from the campaign that span the varied environments from the story and challenge players to complete different Assault, Elimination, Stealth and Defense objectives. GoldenEye 007: Reloaded also takes multiplayer to new heights, maintaining and improving its renowned four-player split-screen action and adding full, adrenaline-pumping 16-player online matches with more maps, weapons, characters and game modes than ever before.

Goldeneye 007 Reloaded will be available on November 1st.

For more on the game check out our hands on preview.

Devil May Cry HD Collection Confirmed by Capcom

Dave Oshry — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 16:20:13 +0000

The long rumored Devil May Cry HD Collection is officially official.

Today, Capcom has announced that Dante’s original adventures will be returning in HD:

Devil May Cry HD Collection brings the first three original Devil May Cry® titles; Devil May Cry®, Devil May Cry® 2, and Devil May Cry® 3: Dante’s Awakening Special Edition together in one high definition package for the first time. The collection will be available in North America for $39.99 in early 2012.

However, if these versions are anythng like Resident Evil 4HD, then we’re not too excited just yet…

Stay tuned to RipTen for conintued coverage of Devil May Cry and all things Capcom.

Leisure Suit Larry HD Remakes Are Coming!

Dave Oshry — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 20:00:38 +0000

^ Play while reading for maximum effect.

In today’s edition of, “News You Didn’t See Coming” Leisure Suit Larry is coming back… in HD!

But that’s just the beginning. Not only are remakes of all the Larry classics happening, but they’re being made by some of the men who were originally behind them!

That’s right, Al Lowe has the Leisure Suit Larry franchise back!!

According to EGM:

Replay Games has announced it has obtained the rights to the Leisure Suit Larry franchise, and will re-release the original series, as well as commence work on all new adventures, beginning in 2012, the year that marks the series’ 25th anniversary.

Replay Games founder and CEO Paul Trowe, and series creator Al Lowe, are teaming up to re-introducing gaming’s favorite lovable loser Larry.

The first project under the agreement will be an HD re-mastered version of the original, Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards, on every platform Replay can figure out how to port it onto, including: Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, XBLA, PSN, On-Live, Steam.

Upon reading this news I immediately reached out to Al Lowe to congratulate him via E-mail. He had this to say:

How ‘bout that!?! I’m excited. Hopefully, we’ll have the first remake out in time for Larry’s silver anniversary in June!

How bout that indeed. As a huge fan of the original Larry games, this news couldn’t come a moment sooner. Perhaps now we can finally forget all about those terrible LSL games that Universal put out without Al’s involvement and finally get the game we’ve all been waiting for:

Leisure Suit Larry 8: Lust in Space.

RipTen Review: Resident Evil 4 HD (Xbox 360)

Aaron Alexander — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 14:19:45 +0000

When Resident Evil 4 hit shelves in 2005, it instantly redefined third person shooting. Modern shooters have no doubt been inspired by “over the shoulder” system that the game’s known for popularizing. Yet, RE4 was not only known for it’s mechanics, but also for flipping the Resident Evil formula on its head. It was a widespread success for Capcom, and an instant classic for fans. Unfortunately, time is a harsh mistress, and Resident Evil 4 is her lover no more.

Looks pretty cold bro.

If you haven’t played Resident Evil 4 before, you’ve missed out on a genre defining moment. It presented a dark, somewhat mystical turn for the series – instead of shambling zombies, you have mind controlled parasitical Spanish humanoids. The main character, Leon Kennedy, is on a mission to find the president’s kidnapped daughter, and soon walks into a barrel of problems along the way. You’ll fight beast-like bosses, use and upgrade interesting weaponry, and traverse haunting and frightening landscapes.

Ada makes a return

However, almost immediately, the presentation of RE4 in HD falls flat on it’s face. Capcom have taken no time to clean up any of the presented text or interface – instead seemingly opting to scale the game to 720p display and slapping a giant blur filter on it. Not only does it make certain text look smudged, but cut-scenes and menu’s are made unpleasant to look at because of this. Fortunately, you won’t be spending half the game in the menu, so it’s a minor gripe in the grand scheme of things. The actual in-game models and environments do look good – for the most part everything is up-rezzed quite nicely, and textures hold up quite well, provided you don’t get close enough to ruin the magic. The visual quality certainly doesn’t compare to the PS2 HD classics, but it does the job just fine.

Smiles all round!

Yet, it’s actually the controls that are the biggest flaw. I get it, you’re remaking a classic title and by all means – don’t change anything or the die hard fan-base will have your heads, however some concessions need to be made. When Resident Evil 5 launched, I, like many people thought it controlled exactly the same as it’s predecessor, boy was I wrong. The controls presented here feel clunky, arbitrary and outdated. The camera is loose and button placement for firing your gun or slashing your knife feels unnatural by today’s standards. Aiming is still done with the left stick, the same stick used for movement. Perhaps it’s just me, but I’m subliminally always tugging on the right stick when lining up shots. Looking back, it’s easy to forgive these controller layouts as it was easily one of the pioneers of the genre, but coming back to the title can cause nothing but frustration as the movement and combat can feel very stilted. A new modern day layout for the control scheme would have been one of the easier tasks Capcom could have done, it’s a shame they didn’t bother.

Wolverine makes an appearance.

With that being said however, Resident Evil 4 is still one of the best (if not the best) in the series. The locales, enemies, and weapons are varied and exciting and it has a good amount of intrigue to keep the story moving along. Unlike the lack of horror in RE5, this game will have you damn near shitting your pants when hordes of Ganados and chainsaw wielding maniacs are hunting you down. The sound quality can be disappointing, but it’s still eerie to hear the various zombies mutter under their breath whilst chasing you. Aside from killing crazed zombie Spaniards, you’ll solve various puzzles along the way and spend your hard earned coin buying upgrades and items from the mysterious Merchant, who’s easily the best character in the game (FACT).

Best character in any Resident Evil, period!

It’s a lengthy game, and you’ll definitely get your money’s worth. The additional PS2 re-release content is also here in full effect, and the constant progression of weaponry will warrant more than one play-through. Hell, it goes without saying that you’re presented with more single-player content with RE4 than most modern titles. There’s also a full 1000 gamer-score on offer, for the rabid achievement hunters like myself.

Say what you will, but replaying a classic like this with the incentive of achievement points, is actually kind of awesome.

Despite outdated control mechanics and less than ideal sound quality, nothing can detract from Resident Evil 4′s originality. It still holds up to this day, and that is truly a testament to one of Capcom’s finest games of all time. It’s a shame then that Capcom never bothered to truly reinvigorate the game, as in spots it can feel like nothing more than a relic from another era thanks to patchy audio, flawed controls and often blurry visuals.

However if you’re a long-time fan of the series, you’ll feel right at home here. Even if you’ve never played RE4 but you’re curious enough to try it, go ahead, but don’t expect something that looks and plays like other titles of this generation.

Here’s The Rundown:

+ It’s Resident Evil 4, one of the greatest survival horror games of all time!

+ It looks better!

+ Achievements!

- It could have looked much better

- Controls just don’t play well in 2011… at all

Learn more about the RipTen scoring system and what this score means. Visit our review scoring page

Resident Evil 4 HD was developed and published by Capcom. It was released on September 20th, 2011 for $19.99 USD on PSN and Xbox Live. A copy of the game was provided by the publisher for the purposes of review. Aaron beat it, even with the wonky controls simply because he really liked the merchant who sells you his wares n such.

RipTen Review: Galaxy on Fire 2 HD (Mac)

Brandon Fenty — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 01:55:23 +0000

Galaxy on Fire 2 was originally released for the iPhone in 2010, and it met with great success. A hardcore space sim on iOS is quite an achievement, and one that many gamers appreciate. So when I heard that the game was going to make the jump to the Mac App Store, I was thrilled. The game can only be improved by upping the graphics and putting it on a bigger screen, right? I’m glad to say the game not only survived the jump to the big screen, but it flourishes.

Galaxy on Fire is the tale of Keith T. Maxwell, a space pilot who has been thrown 35 years into the future by a hyperdrive accident. In order to get home, you’ll have to travel the galaxy, fighting, making trades, and meeting many interesting characters along the way.

The game starts you off with some standard tutorial missions, which teach you how to fly your ship, mine resources, trade, upgrade your ship, and dogfight. These missions are quickly over, however, and you’re ready to roam the galaxy. There are 20 solar systems in the galaxy, each with multiple space stations in them. There’s plenty to explore, and each solar system has a unique look, and there’s a sense of traveling to a new place instead of the same one with a different texture set. As you travel, you’ll pick up various missions which range from the main story-driven ones, to random side quests which can help you get better upgrades and more cash. You can also mine asteroids for some quick cash if you need it. The gameplay stays varied.

All I can say is, WOW.

Dogfights are handled well, with smart AI that dodges your attacks and manages to slip in behind you fairly often. You have to stay on your toes to survive the combat. Luckily, the controls and interface help you stay in control of the battle. When you find yourself tracking multiple targets and deftly maneuvering between them, it’s a great feeling. At first, the combat is pretty basic, due to your rudimentary ship and lack of upgrades, but as you progress through the game and get better weapons and ships, the combat intensifies.

The upgrades system provides a good incentive to keep going through the game. Upgrades are made available and priced in such a way that you’ll always feel like you’re just a mission or two away from getting that next upgrade, which is a good thing. Upgrading your ship keeps combat interesting, and it’s always fun to try out that new blaster or rocket on enemies. There are 30 different base ships to choose from, and each one is completely customizable. The sheer number of available upgrades means the possibilities are nearly endless, and when you’re working on your ship, there’s a real sense of ownership. Being able to craft your ship and really make it your own is a rewarding experience.

The graphics are, in a word, stunning. Fishlabs has done a complete overhaul of the graphics from the iOS version, and it’s a good thing. While the game looked great on a tiny 3.7″ screen, when played at 1080p resolution you can really appreciate the extra work that’s gone into the game’s visuals. Every texture is detailed, the space backdrops are downright gorgeous, and the sense of scale is enormous. It’s not just upped resolution, however; new OpenGL shaders and post effects really make the visuals pop. From the lens flares to the explosions, the effects are beautiful. Just simply flying through the galaxy is a visual experience, and when you get into combat with lasers and missiles flying, it’s definitely a beautiful game.

If you’re a fan of space sims, you should definitely check out Galaxy on Fire 2 for the Mac. It’s got impressive visuals, addictive gameplay, and a compelling storyline. If you’ve already played the game through on the iPhone, it’s still worth playing the game on the Mac due to the vastly improved visuals. At $19.99, the game is definitely worth the price, so check it out!

Check out the trailer below, and get the game on the Mac App Store.

Here’s The Rundown:

+Gorgeous Visuals

+Vast Galaxy to Explore

+Freedom to create your own ship

Konami Drops More Details on the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection

Catherine Cai — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 01:00:28 +0000

Snake…?

Snake?

SNAAAAAAAAAKE…

…is getting a HD facelift. As you already know, Konami intends on bringing old Metal Gear titles from the PSP and the PS2 together into a HD collection for the 360 and the PS3. These titles include: Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (MGS3), and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.

Here’s the rundown:

・Remastered from the ground up for PS3® & Xbox360®
・Stunning 1080p graphics
・60 frames-per-second graphics
・Icons, sound effects, and all fonts upgraded for HD
・User interface rebalanced for HD
・Added right analog stick input and force feedback*
・Features Trophies on PS3® and Achievements on Xbox 360®
・Worldwide matchmaking for multiplayer (tentative)
・TRANSFARRING (save data sharing) compatible with PSP® version*

METAL GEAR SOLID HD COLLECTION brings together HD versions of the PlayStation®2 hits METAL GEAR SOLID 2: SONS OF LIBERTY (2001), METAL GEAR SOLID 3: SNAKE EATER (MGS3) (2004) and METAL GEAR SOLID: PEACE WALKER (2010) which debuted on the PSP®, in one package. In addition, METAL GEAR SOLID HD EDITION contains the ports of METAL GEAR and METAL GEAR 2: SOLID SNAKE for the MSX2 that were included with the complete version of MGS3, METAL GEAR SOLID 3: SUBSISTENCE (2005).

Is there a pricetag for this package? Not yet, so stay tuned.

Max Payne Coming to Mobile

Brandon Fenty — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 17:13:54 +0000

The guys over at Rockstar are known for their groundbreaking new titles. Recently, they’re known for such games as LA Noire and Red Dead Redemption. More than 10 years ago, they brought us one of my personal favorites, Max Payne. The dark, gritty detective story redefined the genre. Stuff like bullet time, which we now take for granted in action games, was first introduced in Max Payne. Max’s immersive story made him one of the genre’s first multi-dimensional characters, attracting loyal fans worldwide.

So it’s awesome to find out that Rockstar is bringing Max Payne’s original adventure in HD to mobile devices. Max Payne will have connectivity to the Rockstar Games Social Club and boast the same features as its PC counterparts – including HD graphics and high-resolution textures, taking full advantage of the latest mobile technologies, including incredibly customizable controls.

Max Payne redefined what a console action game looked like over a decade ago; now Rockstar is bringing that classic to mobile gamers. I’m looking forward to this one coming out, for sure. While no specific release date was specified, Rockstar has assured us the game will be ready before the launch of Max Payne 3 in March 2012.

RipTen Review: Splinter Cell HD Collection (PS3)

Catherine Cai — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 16:56:04 +0000

My feelings for HD video game “remakes” (really a term that has to be used loosely in this context) run lukewarm. On one hand, they bring video game classics to a new generation of gamers, or gamers that just simply never had a chance to play the originals. On the other hand, these reduxes are usually poorly put together, with maybe shaders updated and resolutions blown up to fit HD technology. I suppose I understand leaving most of the game alone in order to keep the integrity of the original experience, but at the same time, simply stretching the display out for a “remaster” seems insufficient, in lieu of the fact that game’s mechanics and controls are now considered outdated and awkward.

I also can’t help but only see HD reduxes as a moneymaking ploy on the publishers’ parts. Nothing to release for the next few weeks that are our moneymaking titles? No problem. We can cushion our profits with the RE-RELEASE of a classic title! Now, I’m sure more thought goes behind a remaster, like which classic title would appeal to a new generation of gamers and bring up enough nostalgia to get old gamers to re-buy. The title has to be something still recently fresh in gaming memory that new gamers would recognize… and what better than Sam Fisher and Splinter Cell? And even if someone hadn’t heard of the game before, the game’s premise alone is enough to pull in some attention. A stealth game with super cool spai things? Three games for much less than the price of one? SOLD.

Anyway, after waiting a good half an hour to install all three games, I first notice after starting up Splinter Cell how quickly gaming technology is moving. Hell, in less than a decade, we went from character models looking like we painted over burlap sacks and stretched them across mannequins crafted by a sculptor with Down Syndrome to character models pushing the uncanny valley.

The second thing I notice about the trilogy is how much they feel like rushed remasters. It really looks like the Ubisoft team assigned to touching up the game was actually one clueless and overwhelmed individual who didn’t even know what the hell the meaning of a redux was. Nothing really was done to pretty up those graphics of “auld”. Considering the original and Pandora Tomorrow were released in 2002 and 2004, respectively, they both look very, very dated. Surprisingly, Chaos Theory, released in 2005, had graphics that could somewhat slide by today’s standards. Really, the Splinter Cell HD team look like they blew up the resolution and took the sharpen tool to each game. I mean, look at the blu-ray edition of Star Wars. George Lucas at least took the time to add some extra rocks for god sakes. The least the Splinter Cell team could have done was touch up a bit of the textures.

The trilogy is ported from the original PC versions of the game so that you can quick load and quick save at any point in the game. The point of a quick load and a quick save are that they’re supposed to somewhere mid-game, and faster than a regular load and save. I dreaded doing either, since clicking on either quick save or quick load would mean a minute of whistling and twiddling my thumbs as I waited for the game to “quickly” save or load a file.

Disappointingly, little has been done to fix a lot of the issues that plagued the original trilogy. Splinter Cell and Pandora Tomorrow are plagued with frame rate hiccups. Hilariously enough, the lip syncing in Splinter Cell‘s cut scenes are all off, not so much the “foreign film”-off lip syncing but the “I’m-streaming-a-video-ah-this-is-irritating” lip syncing, if you catch my drift. Thankfully, neither Pandora nor Chaos Theory suffer the latter issue.

Now, I’ve always been a Hitman person more than a Splinter Cell person because although they both give you about as much guidance as a negligent parent, Hitman offers you more freedom in terms of getting to your target. In both the original and Pandora, every level is very linear and structured, although it isn’t always clear where you’re next supposed to go. I remember being stuck at one portion of a level in Splinter Cell for a good 15 minutes climbing everything in sight, trying to figure out what I had to do next, until I finally realized that I was supposed to wall jump via a dumpster hidden far in a corner… because… well… Splinter Cell don’t give a fuck. Perhaps what’s most frustrating in both Splinter Cell and Pandora Tomorrow is the lack of melee combat. I know some hardcore Splinter Cell/stealth gamers are sneering at me right now that melee combat shouldn’t be necessary since these games emphasize stealth, but I’m not a god of stealthery. I happen to trigger alarms and freak out some civilians or guards every once in a while, and I like being able to knock someone down before they trigger an alarm, instead of having to awkwardly back up and pull out my gun to shoot at them.

Thankfully, Chaos Theory is the best out of the three and addresses this issue with a combat knife. The game is no longer as linear as the first two and you can choose your loadout before you embark on each mission. Still, Chaos Theory is great because it was that good originally, not because the HD touch up did anything for it.

Really, the trilogy edition is something good for absolute hardcore (and I mean HARDCORE) fans of Splinter Cell or for those who don’t have an older console to revisit the series with. The original three Splinter Cells were all great games, but time tends to be harsh on video game mechanics. The HD collection didn’t do much to “touch up” these three games, and they stand up today, simply as a testament to how good they were originally. The frame rate issues, terrible load times, and (this one’s a bit of a non-issue for me, since I’m mostly a single player person) lack of multiplayer make the HD collection fall flat on its face.

Here’s the rundown:

+Great opportunity for Splinter Cell n00bs to jump in

+Three games are more than one

-Very little HD in this HD edition

-Weird glitches and ugliness everywhere

-Load time fail

Learn more about the RipTen scoring system and what this score means. Visit our review scoring page.

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Classic Trilogy HD was developed and published by Ubisoft. It was released on August 2nd 2011 on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC and $39.99 USD. A PS3 copy of the game was provided by the publisher for the purposes of review. Cat’s life is a little less colorful now that she’s played it.

TGS 2011: Final Fantasy X HD Announced for Vita, PS3

Garrett Hartman — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 06:30:23 +0000

At Sony’s 2011 Tokyo Game Show press Conference, Square Enix Executive Shinji Hashimoto announced that Final Fantasy X HD will be released on both the PS Vita and PlayStation 3 game consoles.

The HD upgrade has been described as a “special 10th anniversary production” to honor the original. Considering the original debuted in 2001 you would expect a 2011 release. Unfortunately, neither a date or footage has been released.

It has been said that the Vita and PS3 versions should look comparable. Hopefully, this will lead to more Final Fantasy re-releases. *cough* VII *cough*

The Assassin’s Creed Revelations Official Gamescom Trailer is Awesome

Garrett Hartman — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 13:46:21 +0000

Ubisoft sure knows how to make a good trailer – that fact is undeniable. The Assassin’s Creed Revelations hype has definitely benefited from the stunning E3 trailer and now the Official Gamescom 2011 trailer below.

See Ezio in all his badass glory when AC:R releases on November 15th.

New Resistance 3 Multiplayer Gameplay is Notably Badass

Dave Oshry — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 03:38:54 +0000

Resistance 3 is less than a month away and with the beta underway, some noteably badass gameplay is pouring in.

Check out the latest from the Alice Springs map:

We’re all in the beta, Y U NO?!

Resistance 3 launches on September 6th exclusively for the PS3.

Goldeneye 007: Reloaded Formally Announced for PS3 and Xbox 360

Garrett Hartman — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:14:05 +0000

Activision has officially announced Goldeneye 007: Reloaded for the Xbox 360 and PS3. Goldeneye will be an HD version of last year’s Wii hit and is built on an “all new engine” which will offer improved graphics, sound and run a full 60 frames per second.

New features include extra ‘Mi6 Ops Missions’ — new, distinct levels separate from the campaign that span the varied environments from the story and challenge players to complete different Assault, Elimination, Stealth and Defense objectives. On the PS3 Goldeneye will have PS Move and SharpShooter support.

The press release says the release is for this fall, while retailers yesterday dated the game for the end of October. Either way, I’d like one shaken, not stirred.

GoldenEye Gets HD Makeover for PS3 and 360 – First Screenshots

Chris Carlson — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 17:39:19 +0000

Those who missed out on the classic remake of GoldenEye 007 on the Wii, fear not. Reloaded is heading your way this October.

GoldenEye 007 Reloaded was first spotted in Activision website registrations about a month ago, and this morning Amazon confirmed the remake with a nice set of screenshots before the listing was taken down. Reloaded was listed as an updated port of Goldeneye for the Wii and set for an October 28th release date for Xbox 360 and PS3. Check out the first screenshots for the game below.

[Source: Gamekyo]

Still Not Sold on Dungeon Siege III? Check Out Some of Our HD PC Gameplay

Dave Oshry — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 14:00:02 +0000

I don’t have time like I used to, to spend hours making awesome gameplay videos for you guys. Yet, every once in a while I find a few minutes to make a nice little video that will help to show off a game that I know many of you are still on the fence about. One such game is Dungeon Siege III. Obsidian‘s seriously solid hack n slash has gotten favorable reviews, RipTen included, but a lot of you are still undecided. So, as usual, I cranked the settings up to maximum and recorded some gameplay so you could get a better idea of how DSIII looks in action. Enjoy:

Those shadows are serious business, eh? I originally had Jack Sparrow by the Lonely Island looped over that gameplay – but YouTube didn’t like that. :-( However, the hip hop track I swapped in turned out to be rather dope, didn’t it?

That gameplay is from pretty early on in the game, and I’ve only got two abilities in each stance, however that segment does a great job of showing off the lighting, shadows, physics and gameplay.

So, if hack n slash RPG’s are your thing, do yourself a favor and check out Dungeon Siege III, you won’t regret it.