GTA IV: DLC / We like to abbreviate

Ahhh, GTA IV, isn’t it amazing?  Hell yes it is and we here at 360Stage believe it impossible to think of any one thing wrong with the game that Rockstar have given us.  But, looking towards the future, what are the things we’d love to see arrive as Downloadable content for the game?  Take a look:

1.       GTA: IV: The Prequel, which focuses on Niko’s life before moving to America to live out the “dream”.  We’re adamant, however, not to turn it into some kind of war focussed shooter, but hell, to see what Niko got up to in the homeland would be cool.

2.       The ability to fly plains.  They’re one of the things which make Liberty City look so cool, but it would be great to be able to fly one...and maybe jump out.

3.       To be able to fly to Vice City and San Andreas would be nostalgically cool, , but be likely pricy.  How much would you pay?

4.       A Co-op campaign mode, where the second player could play as Roman.

5.       Deep can customisation, not just painting

6.       The ability to trade vehicles online with your friends

7.       Clan or Gang creation online

We realise that possibly all of these are too much to expect, and besides, we haven’t even completed the game we’ve got.  However, Rockstar have announced that the first lot of DLC will come in the form of an extra story mission set which will last around ten hours to complete.  A sizable piece for a game that’s already successful set for an August release.  Look forward to it, we are!  

--360Stage--

At a glance: Brand new Prince of Persia to loose itself in time...or not.

The original Prince of Persia: Sands of Time team have recently announced new details on their new and upcoming Prince of Persia game that is in no way related to the Sands of time trilogy. Following is a list of new features you’ll be able to expect from this instalment, or should I say reinvention of the extremely popular series?:

• cel-shaded graphics with an "illustrative" visual style creating a "more poetic vision"

• Zoroastrian myth plot – epic in scale with a focus on healing the world, as in games like Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

• A mixture of open-ended and linear gameplay – The Prince will be able to choose which mission he would like to play in an open world environment, but as the missions starts they become linear to allow for the Prince’s usual aerobics

• A new spiked glove allowing the Prince to slide along and jump from vertical surfaces

• A less “God of War like” fighting system, with an emphasis on 1 Vs 1 duels with a dynamic camera

• A confrontational boss fight with distinctive characters dissimilar to those in the MGS series

• A secret “something” which will take the place of the time reversal ability from the past few games

So, with a whole new direction and a style which Creative director Jean-Christophe Guyot said that the Ubisoft management “knew we weren't going to make a second Assassin's Creed," he said. "However, they did raise their eyebrows a bit at the new, stylised artistic direction. They were worried the Americans wouldn't like it. There were many discussions, but they never said no to us." So lets hope that this sticks, because In concept this sounds like a fantastic way to bring back an old series without sticking too much to trodden formula.

My only personal worries are that the game may be considered as less of a mature title because of the new “poetic” artistic direction, so hopefully we’ll still be able to decapitate dudes; that cool-ass glove with a spike on the end I’m sure could deliver some grizzly fun.

Look for more information on the new Prince of Persia from the UbiDays event on the 28th and 29th of May, it’s going to be awesome!

--Tom Rhodes, 360Stage Editor--

Podcast: Zygos, yeah

New podcast with Ryan Crossland, enjoy


Online Videos by Veoh.com

Review: Universe At War

Looks like: An N64 game
Feels like: A poisonous ice cream – Something we really want to tough but will actually kill us if we do
Sounds like: Tribal drums and Opera mixed into one
Smells like: Something disappointingly cheesy
Tastes like: Rust and a bad port

There have been several attempts at bringing RTS’s to consoles from their stagnant pool on the PC, and none of them fail as much as Sega’s Universe at War: Earth Assault. There are no general areas that really stick out as being poor, but that’s only because every single thing that Universe at War does is pretty damn awful.

Looking at past RTS’s to make it to the 360, so stuff like Battle for Middle-Earth II and C&C3, one would think that the areas of general crappage with both of those games, would be the areas in which Sega would make sure they were getting right. Those areas are control and technical performance i.e. frame rate. Suffice as to say Universe at War does neither of these two things correctly; in fact, it does them worse than any other RTS on the consoles. Word.

In terms of controls, it appears as though Sega just lifted them straight from the PC version and mapped them to random buttons. I’ll give them that allowing the player to move quickly across the screen by holding in the RT and moving in the direction you want to go is a clever idea, but because the frame rate of the game is so bad, it makes it hard to control and therefore falls flat, but remains one of the games original ideas that could have worked with some slight, additional technical work.

If you’re anything like me and you’re in dire need of a change from Unreal Engine – supported shooters, then you’d be excited at the prospect of an RTS, especially after the arguable success of BFMEII, but alas, you’re going to have to rethink and go back to COD4 or something (for a few days...) because this really is no good. However, if you’re looking for something which is literally a generic, badly made copy of every other RTS in existence then you’re in luck, because UAW does nothing new whatsoever. In terms of its narrative it’s a mere copy of everything else, with a Futuristic Protector, Evil Universe Tyrant, and Suppressed Earth-force, one knows that they’ve been here before. The way in which the game is structured is one of the only good things about the entire package. You begin the first campaign learning the basic techniques which will help you through the rest of the game, and in online matches, if you can find anyone (good luck with that...) and then you move onto the second campaign, do the same. Move onto the third campaign, up to the end, where the world map opens up to you, and you get the choice of where you want to take your fight to.

Talking of fighting...who am I kidding? The war in Universe at War is terrible. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that the abstract noun “War” in the title of the game should be changed to something more appropriate, such as “really tedious base-building, and then sending a few units over to crush them”, but I don’t think that that would make for good PR, do you? In any case, all you need to know is that the combat in Earth Assault is terrible. Repetitive, badly implemented, badly controlled.

The overall package that one gets with Universe at War at first glance appears to quite substantial. You get three single player campaigns, which unlock after the completion of the previous one, a skirmish mode and a multiplayer portion. However, when you think about it, you’re only getting what every other game can give you, except that those games will give it to you better. To add insult to injury, UAW for the Xbox literally does nothing new to the PC version, so in effect, you’re actually getting nothing you couldn’t get on your PC, and probably with a better frame rate.

There we go then. Universe at War: Earth Assault. Wrapped up it’s a game that should have been left on the PC. If a company feel like developing an RTS for a console they should put a little bit of effort into it, because with that effort, they’ll be the ones who evolve a genre, making them more money and respect then they’d receive if they just do a quick port.

--Tom Rhodes, 360Stage Editor--

Note to staff/hardcore fans: The new resolution of the graphics are now 500 x 300 and now include the new review images inside the graphic itself... like you saw in the Dark Sector picture but better... flashing... lights... funky.

MK vs DC universe

The trailer looks awsome. Lets not deny the fact, however, the beat 'em up genre is limited to where it can go and with the recent success of Super Smash Bros it seems that Midway have followed a similar direction. Next we'll be running around as Pac-man in Turok. The game has lots of potential and the grpahics look pretty stunning. However, the grouches at DC won't allow fatalities that intefer with the DC comic's universe. Still, I'm looking forwarding to kicking ass as Batman ;) Check out the HD trailer below!

Podcast: Wiimote-Pl0x-cast

Here is the third 360Stage podcast, enjoy

http://www.veoh.com/videos/v7019117gg48DAqq

--360Stage--

At a glance: Rockband

Rockband coming this May!

It’s not time for all XBOX owners to gloat. One of the year’s biggest games is coming to us first (May 23^rd to be precise and Autumn for WII and PS3). But stop, will this game be able to warrant its hefty price tag?

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the price tag of rockband it will cost £180 for those of you who want to purchase the game and all instruments and for the mathematicians, yes it does cost more than a brand new XBOX. Included in the package there is a drum kit, guitar controller and microphone amounting to £130 and an extra £50 is required for the game. That’s right the game isn’t included, you have to buy it separately. Harmonix seem to be quick on the “this games a success lets charge a hell of a lot of money”. They blame it on high import costs but then there is a simple solution make the game in Europe and with EA’s investment it is of course possible.

Guitar Hero users are in luck. If you own an XBOX live mix and a regular Guitar Hero controller then all you need is to grab a copy of the game and the drums which will cost you around £100-£120. Non-Guitar Hero users should be able to buy Everything (game included) for around £140 according to retailers.

Getting your moneys worth? Harmonix say the above should cost you £130 with NO game

The track list varies, in fact many cross over from Guitar Hero 3 (Surprise, Surprise) so the main selling point for Rock Band is DLC but with the lack of this within Europe anyway will Harmonix focus DLC in America? Probably, but it will be interesting to see the DLC available for European gamers.

European gamers can look forward to some exclusive tracks including Muse as we get a special edition of Rockband which is another reason for the hefty price tag according to Harmonix. But am I the only one who would sacrifice this for the American price tag of around £90 for everything including the game?

£90 more for Blur, Muse, Oasis and Tokyo Hotel in the UK

In all fairness Rockband never does anything totally new. The microphone is a clone of Singstar, the guitar controller of Guitar Hero and the drum controller is just a different shaped Guitar Controller. It’s the fact that you can put all these together that makes the game different and so popular. If you enjoyed Guitar Hero and are willing to pay for Rockband you won’t be disappointed, Rockband has received rave reviews in America and looks set to do the same here too. The game doesn’t warrant its price tag but if you do have the money the game will be addictive and highly re-playable.

In a sense you're getting 4 games: Vocals, Drums, Guitar and Bass.

If you’ve played Guitar Hero you know what to expect. Rockband is quite simply an extended version of Guitar Hero but will it captivate a European audience or has its price already hindered the marketing? With Activision said to be working on a drum controller and microphone also, we can only hope this is a good thing and will drive prices down. It may also kill any future waiting in this genre. If anything, competition should make for a better game but it will inevitably kill a once original genre as the gamer gets ready for their yearly dosage of rocking out.

Watch this space for a review this May!

--Sean Linley, 360Stage Editor--

At a glance: Rockstar's Social Club

The Rockstar Social Club went live yesterday, for those who don't know what it is it's basically a leaderboard similar to guitarhero.com which tracks many stats. This will include leaderboards, favourite songs, a friends list I'm guessing and some other cool stuff which will enchance the future Rockstar Games experience, most noticebly Grand Theft Auto IV, which by the way I cannot wait for.

You may notice that you get an ID which starts at 10000. Since I wasn't one of the sad people who sat there pressing F5 all day I didn't get into the top 1000.

My member ID is #11446 incase that is any revelance which no doubt it will be, perhaps a number you can dial in Grand Theft Auto IV or something... well anyway I'm going to get back to playing Dynasty Warriors 6, check back soon for other crap later on.

--Josh Pollard, 360Stage Editor--