Prince of Persia

0

Posted by admin | Posted in Featured Articles | Posted on 16-12-2008

Prince of Persia is an action-adventure video game franchise that was created by Jordan Mechner. Through the various titles, the series has been developed and published by many different companies. Although originally primarily comprising side-scrolling platform video games, the franchise has since evolved, featuring mainly three-dimensional action-adventure games, and even spawning a film.

Prince of Persia is set in a land rooted in ancient Persian mythology, with the Prince finding himself caught in an epic battle between the primal forces of light and darkness—the god of Light, Ormazd versus his brother Ahriman, the destructive god of Darkness. The Prince arrives just in time to witness the destruction of the legendary Tree of Life, an act which threatens to plunge the entire world into eternal darkness. Manifested in the form of 'the Corruption,' a dark substance that physically contaminates the land and the skies, the Prince must partner with his new deadly companion Elika to heal the world from the evil Corruption.

Master the acrobatics, strategy and fighting tactics of the most agile warrior of all time. Grip fall down the face of a building, perform perfectly timed acrobatic combinations, swing over canyons, buildings and anything that is reachable. This new rogue warrior must utilize all of his new skills along with a whole new combat system to battle Ahriman’s corrupted lieutenants to heal the land from the dark Corruption and restore the light.

They might not be hip anymore, but you have to hand it to old-fashioned monarchies for saving everyone a lot of time. Forget endless campaigning and painfully long-winded speeches -- if you've got the blood, you've got the job.

And despite a brave new look and total mythological reboot, the same royal blood that gave life to his critically-acclaimed forbears now pumps through the veins of Ubisoft's new Prince of Persia. You jump. You twirl. You run on walls. Occasionally, you fight and solve puzzles. Coming from a long line of vital platformers, it's got great genes, although a few key missteps keep this prince from ascending to the throne.

This time around, the eponymous star is tossed into a conflict between light and dark as the evil god Ahriman is released from his prison beneath the Tree of Life. His touch has corrupted a nearby kingdom; alongside the mysterious princess Elika, it's your job to cleanse the world of gooey blackness and put the bad guy back in the ethereal hoosegow.

Mostly, that involves jumping, sliding, gripping and slipping through over twenty levels worth of platforming mania. It's billed as an open-world experience, and in a sense, it is: based on which magical powers you choose to unlock, you will tackle the world in a different order. It's a nice change of pace from the linear approach typical of most adventure games.

It's just not as open-ended as you might think. Telltale signs point you towards certain run-able walls, which will in turn send you tumbling directly towards the right pole, which is handily placed right in front of that useful column, and onward. Simple controls make the whole thing easier than past Prince of Persia games -- you never have to press loads of buttons or get fancy with the analog stick -- but more seasoned gamers might find it plays more like a guided tour than a truly free-roaming experience.

Buy Prince of Persia Now! Prince of Persia

Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe

0

Posted by admin | Posted in Featured Articles | Posted on 16-12-2008

Only the other week I heard that they were putting a new game together for Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe! I am an ardent fan of Mortal Kombat and have been playing it for years! This is such an awesome idea for a computer game! It has been so long since the people at Midway released a new installment of the Mortal Kombat series but I really think this will truly be amazing.

I was always Scorpion or Sub-Zero in Mortal Kombat as they were clearly the best characters and it will be awesome to see how they fair up against the DC universe! The front cover alone looks so cool, Batman and Scorpion look terrifying! It will be interesting to see how this game will react and play on a next generation console like the Playstation 3 or xbox 360. I bet the graphics and playability will be amazing. I have seen a couple of reviews and have discovered that you can play the game in 2D classic mode and 3D next generation mode. This is what was missing on the latest instalments of the game as I always enjoyed playing the original format so that is something to definitely look forward to.

The only issue I have with the game is the fact that it is hard to believe the cast of Mortal Kombat could actually defeat the mutants of the DC Universe. For example, Superman is suppose to be the strongest mutants in comic history so how would this adapt into a game against someone like Liu Kang who only uses his knowledge of Kung Fu to defeat his opponents?

The game features a story mode, playable from two different perspectives, one from the "DC Universe" side, and one from the Mortal Kombat side. Depending on which side players choose, they will see the characters from the opposite universe as the invaders of their own. Ed Boon has confirmed that the player will have to play as all the characters at different points in the game, which is split into chapters.

Intertwined within the fights are new gameplay modes, such as "Free-fall Kombat," which is activated automatically after throwing the opponent to a lower level in the arena. The players can fight in the air during the fall in a quasi-mini-game, with a player having to hit certain buttons to be on top and deal out the damage when the fall ends. "Klose Kombat" is a mode you can enter during a fight, causing the characters to lock with each other and the perspective to change to a close-up shot of the two, to make for an interval of close-quarters fighting. A "test your might" mini-game is also worked into the gameplay. While fighting in certain areas, the player can smash the opponent through a series of walls. The player on the offense mashes buttons to increase damage, while the player on the defense mashes buttons to decrease damage taken. A mode called "Rage Mode" is also introduced, allowing for a player's attacks to be uninterrupted by offensive combat and an increase of damage. However, Dark Khan, the final boss of the game, is able to both block and attack the player while they are in Rage Mode.

During fights, characters show permanent signs of visual damage, such as bruises, bleeding, and broken or torn clothing. All of the Mortal Kombat characters and DC villains have fatalities, while DC heroes have "heroic brutalities" which function in the same manner, but stays in tone with the heroes who have an established reputation of not killing their enemies.

The animations, both in game, as well as in the cut-scenes are amazing. Since all of the moves for the DC heroes are new to the Mortal Kombat universe, there will be some "Oh my God, did you see that?!?!' moments. The combat is smooth as ever, making for an intense fighting experience. With move lists provided from the pause menu, as is par for the course with fighting games these days, you can always check to see the proper combinations to execute each move.

Right from the get go, the quality of the audio will stand out. Not only do the impacts feel real with such a kick to the sound, but the voice acting is superb (save for Scorpion, who is overacted both in voice and in bodily movements). A lot of effort was put into the audio Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe to make this a very clean title for your Xbox360.

As I said, I'm not a big fan of fighting games, however, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe may change all of that. The fun factor here is definitely high. Combine that with online fights via Xbox Live, and the variety of competition is endless. Throwing in an excellent story line on both sides, and I'm definitely in it to win it

Buy Mortal Kombat Now! Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe