E3 2011 started with a blast, as the Microsoft conference provided the first gameplay peek at surely the year’s biggest gaming release, Modern Warfare 3. The packed out Galen Centre in Downtown Los Angeles was treated to a level of explosiveness that would even rattle Michael Bay’s temperament – submarines explode, bullets are fired rapidly and New York’s coastline gets completely obliterated. Sheer lunacy, sure, but it’s some of the most impressively bombastic imagery from the Call of Duty series to date.
It was a thrilling kick-start to proceedings that unfortunately lost momentum rather quickly as Don Mattrick, president of Microsoft Interactive Entertainment Business, hit the stage to welcome everyone.
That was followed by a brief look at the Tomb Raider reboot, which saw a young Lara fighting off cannibals while trying to escape a cave using just her cunning, along with using survival skills to forge items to solve puzzles. It was brutal and slig...
If you're not in the know, "Suda51" is the nickname of reknowned Japanese game director Goichi Suda, the man who's produced such influential and controversial titles as The Silver Case, Killer7, and the No More Heroes series.
Often heralded as one of the few "auteur" video game directors out there, he's famed for his mad punk style and regular gaming signatures - like exceptionally long corridors, games within games, and creepy hotels - but with his first game for Western audiences (and with the help of EA) Shadows Of The Damned coming out later this year, it's interesting to see just what he has planned for this horror survival game that us poor Westerners will be able to wrap our heads around.
So as his team got in touch with us, a email full of questions was sent, and an email full of answers was recieved, and here is the result, a little Q&A with a gaming maverick and someone who's never, ever made a boring game in his life - no mean fe...
There’s no denying that Microsoft’s Xbox controller is a glorious piece of engineering. After a brief misstep with the original Xbox’s colossal ‘batarang’, the smaller, svelter model has proved an able gaming companion across two generations of consoles. But it’s not perfect. The digital D-pad is lacking when compared to Sony’s DualShock, the triggers are a tad stiff for twitch shooting and the thumbsticks lack the pixel precision that PC gamers enjoy with a mouse. It’s that last point that I’ve always pined about, especially during heated Call of Duty matches with the rest of the office – most notably when I fail to snipe John with the Barrett, only to have him run up and stab me in the face. Fun times.
I’ve gone through buckets of third party offerings over the years and, by and large, all third party 360 controllers have two things in common. Firstly, they’re all wired, rather than wireless. Secondly...
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Back To TopInfinite Lives: Trejo! Gellar! Rooker! Englund! Romero! It's Call of the Dead...
Posted on Wednesday April 27, 2011, 10:34 by David Scarborough in Infinite Lives
“You’ve just messed with the wrong Mexican!” Screams the slightly-less-foul-mouthed-than-usual digital incarnation of the legendary Danny Trejo. No, it’s not some kiddie-friendly censored version of Machete, but the recently-released trailer for the upcoming Call of the Dead – the latest, slightly barmy Call of Duty: Black Ops zombie DLC expansion pack.
Surely one of the most gloriously ludicrous pieces of geek fantasy to ever hit mainstream gaming, this zombie shoot-‘em-up expansion pairs together the aforementioned dual-machete wielding Mexican with a veritable chocolate box of creature-crushing heroes. Teen vampire slayer, Sarah Michelle Gellar? Check. The Walking Dead’s current hick zombie-basher, Michael Rooker? Check. Finger-knives, pizza-faced maniac, Robert Englund? Oh, yes please.
"This is Treyarch's tribute to the legendary George Romero, who truly defined the zombie genre and whose incredible work has been such an inspiratio...
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Back To TopInfinite Lives: Nintendo's 3DS: First Look
Posted on Wednesday March 23, 2011, 17:55 by Sebastian Williamson in Infinite Lives
After the monumental success of the Wii and the original DS, you might consider forgiving the house that Mario built for resting on its laurels as it sat back and bathed in its own sweet success. Not so, because the Japanese gaming superpower has been busy tinkering away on yet another gaming revolution in its headquarters in Kyoto – the Nintendo 3DS. At first glance the naysayer may not be entirely unlikely to brush this one off as just another cheeky tweak on the tried and tested DS formula. Pop the lid, test drive it and you’ll be in for a surprise.
The 3DS is essentially a sleeker, shinier version of its handheld brethren we see plastered all over our telly boxes; same dual screen setup and same touch sensitive control system. The difference, however, is this: the pint-sized powerhouse is capable of beaming full stereoscopic 3D without the need for glasses. 3D is everywhere right now, and its taking over our living rooms too, but at the expensive of zanily priced TVs and goofy, cum...
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Back To TopInfinite Lives: The GAME BAFTA Video Game Awards 2011
Posted on Friday March 18, 2011, 11:19 by David Scarborough in Infinite Lives
If you thought the glamour of award season was well and truly over, then you were sorely mistaken, readers. First of all, there's the Empire Awards next Sunday, and besides, The GAME BAFTA Video Game Awards was back in town this week, celebrating the biggest entertainment industry in the world and honouring some of the most talented developers in the business - by cramming them in a ballroom chock full of c-list celebrities.
Thumb-busting titles competing for the golden gongs this year included Mass Effect 2, Heavy Rain, Call of Duty: Black Ops (or Blops, as the kids call it), Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Red Dead Redemption. In fact, the nomination lists were stuffed full of equally deserving titles, even finding room for edgy arcade game LIMBO on the list (buy it now – it’s the sort of independent gem to rarely get recognition).
This year’s awards were hosted, once again, by Irish funnyman, gaming crusader, and regular Empire Awards host Dara O’Briain, bringing wit...
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Back To TopInfinite Lives: Empire Sits Down With The Portal 2 Writers, Gets Worryingly Excited
Posted on Wednesday March 2, 2011, 17:56 by Ali Plumb in Infinite Lives
The original Portal was never expected to be such a huge hit – but it was. A big hit. Bundled in with the fantastically good-value Orange Box by Valve, it become nothing short of a sensation, winning rave reviews from practically everyone who played it.
The premise was deceptively simple: you’re trapped in a futuristic testing zone called the Aperture Science facility, armed with a gun that opens two portals when fired. Using the portal gun you had to puzzle your way out of the facility, room by room, before defeating the AI computer system in charge the whole facility.
So as two of the game’s writers, Chet Faliszek and Erik Wolpaw, were in town, we jumped at the chance to meet the pair of them to talk about it all. And, of course, play the game for half an hour or so. Our pre-emptive review of what we saw? Very, very good.
...
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Back To TopInfinite Lives: Movie Karaoke, Anyone? Yoostar 2 Can Turn You Into Arnold Schwarzenegger... Kind Of
Posted on Wednesday March 2, 2011, 11:42 by Ali Plumb in Infinite Lives
We cover a many different types of games here on Infinite Lives. Some are movie tie-ins, some are only movie-affiliated, and some are so good that movies are just waiting to made from them.
This one, however, was 100 per cent made for you. Seriously, if you’re a movie geek, this game was produced to delight you more than any other. It’s called YooStar 2, and essentially it’s movie karaoke.
Allow us to explain. Using your PS3’s PlaystationEye or your Xbox 360’s Kinect, Yoostar 2 records your very own body and transposes it ...
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Back To TopInfinite Lives: 9 Upcoming Movie-Related Games You Should Know About
Posted on Monday February 21, 2011, 17:23 by David Scarborough in Infinite Lives
Love it or hate it, video games have been tirelessly trying to replicate some of Hollywood’s greatest creations for as long as kids have been waggling control pads in the general direction of their televisions.
And while GoldenEye, Aladdin and New Ghostbusters II (look it up kids) can be considered button-thumping classics, the same can’t be said for ET: The Extra Terrestrial, Iron Man and a small continent’s worth of god-awful Star Wars titles.
And 2011 is definitely no different in packing in those movie-related games (something to do with the fact they’re genuine money-spinners, no doubt). There are the general tie-ins, some ‘80s revivals and, yes, even a Star Wars title here and there. Here’s a rundown of what could (and should) be the best of the year’s movie-related joypad offerings.
Captain America: Super Soldier (Summer TBA)
The Good:
If the thought of launching Cap’s s...
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Back To TopInfinite Lives: Have You Seen The Awe-Inspiring Dead Island Trailer Yet?
Posted on Wednesday February 16, 2011, 17:19 by Ali Plumb in Infinite Lives
Dead Island is a "first-person zombie-slasher/action-RPG" – at least that’s what the developers call it, anyway – and it’s got a trailer you quite simply have to see.
It’s a trailer so good, so engaging, so goddamn bloody that half the zombie-loving internet (so, half the internet, then) is talking about it, and as we like to share only the best with you here on Infinite Lives, we thought we should show it to you here too, just in case you’d missed it.
The game itself revolves around a group of survivors who find themselves trapped in The Royal Palms Resort, a luxury hotel complex on the remote island of Banoi, Papua New Guinea. Just being trapped in a hotel resort would be fine and dandy (for a while, at least), but it’s all very different when everyone you’ve been sharing mojitos with suddenly starts trying to eat you.
The guys behind the...
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