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BioShock 2 – Xbox 360 Review

Dylan Radcliffe
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6
BioShock 2 – Xbox 360 Review

Bioshock 2Publisher: 2k Games
Developer: 2k Australia
Platforms: Xbox 360 (Reviewed), PlayStation 3
Release Date: February 9th, 2010

Story
“Step back into the unforgettable world of Rapture in BioShock® 2, the next installment in the franchise that has won more than 50 Game of the Year Awards and has sold more than 2.5 million units worldwide. Developed by 2K Marin, 2K Australia, Digital Extremes and 2K China, BioShock 2 features the perfect blend of explosive first person shooter combat, compelling storytelling, and intense multiplayer to form one of 2010’s most highly anticipated titles.         

Set approximately 10 years after the events of the original BioShock, the halls of Rapture once again echo with sins of the past. Along the Atlantic coastline, a monster has been snatching little girls and bringing them back to the undersea city of Rapture. Step into the boots of the most iconic denizen of Rapture, the Big Daddy, as you travel through the decrepit and beautiful fallen city, chasing an unseen foe in search of answers and their own survival.” [Via Xbox.com]

Welcome back to rapture, take the role of a Big Daddy as you re-explore rapture and protect little sisters as you try to unravel the new mystery surrounding Rapture 10 years later. Audio files will reveal more back story as you listen to a father’s attempts to find his kidnapped daughter, or Lamb’s notes as she recreates the little sisters as well as the new big sister.

The story is unique enough to stand alone from the first, so even if you haven’t played the first game you will still enjoy the sequel. The references to the first are small enough to not notice. If you do play the first game; however, you will understand the story in more depth and if you enjoyed the first game you will feel welcomed back and comfortable as you return in the second game.

Gameplay
Your return to Rapture finds you in control of a Big Daddy. You are only the Delta version, so you are not as strong as the Alpha versions but you are faster.  Harness the power of plasmids and and guns as you explore the run down city of rapture trying to save the little sisters and stay alive at the same time. The gameplay in Bioshock 2 is very unique with a combination of special powers and guns. The combination leads to a high number of tactical possibilities.

BioShock 2 is perceived as the mature version of the first. Everything you loved from the first game is in the second but with extra improvements as well.

Improvements

  • Wrench replaced with Drill that requires fuel but does more damage.
  • You can now melee with pretty much every weapon, rather than just your melee weapon.
  • Hacking has been greatly improved. No longer must you move pipes, but instead your reflexes will be tested as you try to land the needle in the green to hack enemy turrets and cameras.
  • Improved enemy AI, as well as more enemy variants.
  • Improved story which involves less twists and is more straight forward.
  • Varied Gameplay, no longer do you go from one location to another, killing things. You must now protect your little sister at spots as well.
  • Dual wield a weapon and plasmid at the same time. No more switching between the two!
  • New and improved upgrade system for plasmids and weapons.

 

For those of you who haven’t played the first game, I’d suggest to go pick it up. You can buy it for about $20 new and it is very fun. After you finish it, come back to rapture in this sequel.

Multiplayer
“Multiplayer in BioShock 2 provides a rich prequel experience that expands the origins of the BioShock fiction. Set during the fall of Rapture, assume the role of a Plasmid test subject for Sinclair Solutions, a premier provider of Plasmids and Tonics in the underwater city of Rapture that was first explored in the original BioShock. Use all the elements of the BioShock toolset to survive, as the full depth of the BioShock experience is refined and transformed into a unique multiplayer experience that can only be found in Rapture.” [Via Xbox.com]

Developed by a separate team, the multiplayer is its own unique story. Bioshock 2’s multiplayer acts as a prologue to all the events that have happened in Rapture. Play as citizen of rapture who was accepted into plasmid testing as you fight other citizens for Adam as civil war breaks lose.

Choose a character, customize your appearance by adding a mask, and customize your loadout with different guns and plasmids. Increase your level by winning games or doing certain objectives or trials in a match. A higher level gives you access to more weapons and plasmids to use. A higher level also gives you more masks to customize your character with.

With 10 levels to wage civil war on and multiple game types the multiplayer in Bioshock 2 is a nice addition to the game. Use your plasmids and weapons against other players also using their plasmids and weapons.  The multiplayer is a nice addition to Rapture and enables further use of your plasmids in the field.

Sinclair Solutions Tester Pack – 400MSP
This DLC for Bioshock 2 add more to the multiplayer aspect of the game. This DLC increases your rank cap to 50. With this increase cap comes more rank rewards, which include a 3rd set of weapon upgrades, 20 new trials, 2 new playable characters, and 5 new masks to customize your character.

Extend your Bioshock 2 gameplay with the extra levels to gain. The additional trials will help you gain the new levels, and the additional weapon upgrades and masks will make you more unique in the battle.

Audio and Graphics
The music and graphics will easily send you back into rapture and have you exploring the splicer infested corridors again. 100 audio logs are placed within the game to further expand the story or add pointless funny bits. The game gives the look and feel of the first game, but the slight creepiness in the first game was lost in this sequel. Everything seems brighter and less gloomy. 10 years have passed, yet Rapture doesn’t seem as run down as it did in the first game. The soundtrack brings the feel of Rapture to the player. Classic music fits the time period, while splicers will be holding partial conversations or yelling at you.

Achievements
The achievements are similar to those that were found in the first game. Beat the game on the hardest setting, upgrade everything, hack everything, research everything. It even has the brass balls achievement again, although this time it is only worth 25g instead of 100g and you can now do it on any difficulty. This time around; however, they have added online achievements. You should unlock all the other online achievements just by getting to rank. Overall the achievements in Bioshock 2 range from easy to challenging, but all are possible and all of them are fun to get. Except for the audio log one, but if you explore every nook and cranny it should come naturally through gameplay.

The Achievement List can be found here.

 

Overview
Bioshock 2 is a welcomed sequel that delves you even farther into the crumbling city of Rapture. All the problems from the first have been redone and fixed in this sequel to give you a well polished and entertaining game. Throw in multiplayer and you will have even more fun using your plasmids and shooting enemies while trying to dodge the enemy’s plasmids and bullets. With a heavier weight on moral descisions that lead to multiple different endings, because of this Bioshock 2 has a lot of replay value. I give Bioshock 2 9 capsules out of 10.

9-0-capsules-out-of-10

Pros

  • Hacking is greatly improved (but is not friendly towards colorblind people)
  • Your choices weigh much heavier than they did in the first.
  • New and improved weapons, and upgraded gameplay mechanics.

Cons

  • The drill seems fun, but it turned out to be quite a disappointment.
  • Although multiplayer is a nice addition, it wasn’t really needed and seems rushed.
  • The game is much brighter and not as creepy as the first one.

Optional

  • The game seems very familiar, even for a sequel it feels like you have seen it all already. This does wear off eventually and you will enjoy it as if it is your first time in rapture.
  • Although the game is a sequel to the first game, it can still stand alone since there is a 10 year gap between games and the only references to the first game aren’t extremely big.

 

Source

Official MW2 Stimulus Package Trailer

duraroc
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4

Infinity Ward have released the official Stimulus Package trailer due on the 30th March, here it is.

What does everything thing of it? I myself think they look pretty cool, especially Crash. I hated Overgrown in COD4, and I am sure I will hate it as much in MW2. Though I am still not sure of the 1200MSP price tag – come on IW/MS/Activision 5 maps, 2 of them are old and supposedly these are all on the disk already!

I want SHIPMENT! IW give us shipment!

Also as an aside, Microsoft has allowed Capsule Computers to host another Community Night – more details coming in the coming week!  Get ready for this as we have some REALLY COOL XBOX Retail Titles and XBOX LIVE Arcade games to give away on the night !!

Have fun.

@Duraroc

The Witcher 2 Trailer Finally Released, with secret for fans.

Travis Bruno
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7
The Witcher 2 Trailer Finally Released, with secret for fans.

Looks like the official trailer has finally been released for The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. The Witcher 2 is being developed by CD Projekt RED and Atari and is finally starting to show signs of completion.

(video courtesy of Game Trailers)

Adam Kiciński, CEO of CD Projekt RED said during a press release:

“I am really glad to officially present what we’ve been working on for over two years,” said . “We learned a lot during The Witcher’s development process, and are using that knowledge to ensure the sequel is one of the best RPGs people have ever played. By improving upon the successful parts of the original and adding new elements we believe that The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings will be loved by fans of the original and newcomers alike.”

The Witcher itself is a 3rd person RPG for the PC, and has a console counterpart coming late in the year, but is known for being very mature and containing adult themes as well. Not only that but the story was extremely in depth and compelling, being adapted from the works of Andrzej Sapkowski a polish writer.

Not only that but a hidden message was placed in the end of the video for those who could scour the video to find it, however the message has already been found and placed on the internet and is shown below, directed to their true fans and thanking everyone who has supported them through the years.

Click to enlarge and view

I was able to play the original game for the PC and really enjoyed the storyline and am glad to finally see an official trailer besides what has been leaked occasionally on the internet. Who else is looking forward to this game as much as I am?

Borderlands’ ClapTrap and the AIAS Awards

Dylan Radcliffe
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4

Gearbox have released yet another video featuring everyone’s favorite ?EVIL? robot, CL4P-TP.

Below the Borderlands mascot attempts to lobby an AIAS representative with regard to the merits of his brilliant (I’m being nice) acting.

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PoP: The Forgotten Sands GameStop Pre-order Bonus

Dylan Radcliffe
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4

Remember when a new game came out and you would go to the store on release day to pick it up? Well those days are gone, you must now search for the best pre-order bonuses so you can get a game cheap, or get extra parts of the game only available through pre-order.

The bonus mode is entitled ‘Forgotten Arena’ and requires the player to defeat “waves of relentless enemies” in a survival mode style. There is no time limit, killed enemies will regenerate health and as the round continues more and more enemies will spawn.

The Prince of Persia Facebook page also notes that players who can defeat 100 enemies “may have what it takes to become a real Prince of Persia.”

What could this possibly mean? maybe a special weapon for beating the arena? What are your thoughts?

A New King Of Kong has been CROWNED !!

Philip Federico
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5
A New King Of Kong has been CROWNED !!

If you know your games then you’d know all about King Of Kong : A Fist Full Of Quarters a great video game documentary about Donkey Kong and the epic battle for claiming the right to be the King of this legendary game.

In the movie the Billy Mitchell and new comer Steve Wiebe battled it out to claim the crown.  In the end Billy ended up winning and his high score was cemented into the record books over at TWIN GALAXIES.  Until NOW !!!!

Enter Hank Chien, a 35 year old Plastic Surgeon from NY City.  Hank has SMASHED through Billy Mitchell’s high score and is now the new KING OF KONG !! 

Hank’s new score for Donkey Kong is : 1,061,700 .. This is a fantastic effort.  From what we’ve heard Hank’s training for breaking the high score was like that of an Olympic athlete, practicing for up to 3 to 6 hours a day.  The only issues were having to go to toilet and lack of concentration.  But thats a small price to pay to be the KING !!

If you want to check out  more have a read of the interview that was done over at details.com.   MasterAbbott will try and see if he can get a hold of Hank himself as he’d like to ask him some more questions.

Stay tuned 🙂

Game Room Game List and details

Philip Federico
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3

Content: Game Room
Price: Free
Availability: All Xbox LIVE regions
Dash Text: Game Room! Your own Virtual Arcade and Games-on-Demand library of Retro Games and Game Platforms.

Ok Game Room is now live, its not working very well but at least its up and you can setup your arcade room, throw in a few extra props and demo the games.  We’ll have a complete review of Game Room coming up very soon but for now I wanted to share with you all the games currently available for purchase and download.

I have to say some are pretty good, it’s funny how the actual ARCADE titles load up the same exact way as they do in M.A.M.E.  with the board reset and stuff. 

Add Game Room to your Xbox 360 download queue

Once you download Game Room, you’ll have access to the following classic arcade titles to download within Game Room below :

Adventure
Armor Battle
Asteroids Deluxe
Astrosmash
Centipede
Battlantis
Crystal Castles
Gravitar
Lunar Lander
Red Baron
Combat
Finalizer
Football
Tempest
Jungler
Millipede
Outlaw
Road Fighter
Realsports Tennis
Sea Battle
Scramble
Skiing, Mountain Madness/Super Pro
Space Armada
Space Hawk
Shao-lin’s Road (Kicker)
Star Raiders
Super Cobra
Sub Hunt
Tutankham
Yar’s Revenge

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What’s everyone think of Game Room so far.  I know there are some issues with it and Microsoft are still working on getting them fixed.  Once its up send us a friend request and a challenge 😉

Bioshock 2 Achievements

Dylan Radcliffe
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3
Bioshock 2 Achievements

For anyone that would like to know or is interested in the Bioshock 2 achievements check them out below.  ** There are some spoiler alerts as well in the secret achievements **

Bought a Slot – Buy one Plasmid or Tonic Slot at a Gatherer’s Garden.
Max Plasmid Slots – Fully upgrade to the maximum number of Plasmid Slots.
Upgraded a Weapon – Upgrade any weapon at a Power to the People Station.
Fully Upgraded a Weapon – Install the third and final upgrade to any of your weapons.
All Weapon Upgrades – Find all 14 Power to the People weapon upgrades in the game.
Prolific Hacker – Successfully hack at least one of every type of machine.
Master Hacker – Hack 30 machines at a distance with the Hack Tool.
First Research – Research a Splicer with the Research Camera.
One Research Track – Max out one Research Track.
Research Master – Max out research on all 9 research subjects.
Grand Daddy – Defeat 3 Big Daddies without dying during the fight.
Master Gatherer – Gather 600 ADAM with Little Sisters.
Fully Upgraded a Plasmid – Fully upgrade one of your Plasmids to the level 3 version at a Gatherer’s Garden.
All Plasmids – Find or purchase all 11 basic Plasmid types.
Trap Master – Kill 30 enemies using only Traps.
Master Protector – Get through a Gather with no damage and no one getting to the Little Sister.
Big Spender – Spend 2000 dollars at Vending Machines.
Dealt with Every Little Sister – Either Harvest or Save every Little Sister in the game.
Against All Odds – Finish the game on the hardest difficulty level.
Big Brass Balls – Finish the game without using Vita-Chambers.
Rapture Historian – Find 100 audio diaries.
Unnatural Selection – Score your first kill in a non-private match.
Welcome to Rapture – Complete your first non-private match.
Disgusting Frankenstein – Become a Big Daddy for the first time in a non-private match.
“Mr. Bubbles– No!” – Take down your first Big Daddy in a non-private match.
Mother Goose – Save your first Little Sister in a non-private match.
Two-Bit Heroics – Complete your first trial in a non-private match.
Parasite – Achieve Rank 10.
Little Moth – Achieve Rank 20.
Skin Job – Achieve Rank 30.
Choose the Impossible – Achieve Rank 40.
Proving Grounds – Win your first non-private match.
Man About Town – Play at least one non-private match on each multiplayer map.

~~Secret Achievements~~
Daddy’s Home – Found your way back into the ruins of Rapture.
Protector – Defended yourself against Lamb’s assault in the train station.
Sinclair’s Solution – Joined forces with Sinclair in Ryan Amusements.
Confronted Grace – Confronted Lamb’s lieutenant in Pauper’s Drop.
Defeated the Preacher – Defeated the Preacher.
Nose for News – Uncovered the secret of Dionysus Park.
Found Lamb’s Hideout – Gained access to Lamb’s stronghold.
Reunion – Reunited with your original Little Sister.
Heading to the Surface – Headed to the surface on the side of Sinclair’s escape pod.
Escape – Escaped Rapture.
9-Irony – Paid your respects to the founder of Rapture.
Distance Hacker – Used the Hack Tool to hack an object at a distance.
Unbreakable – Defended yourself against the Big Sister without dying.
Look at You, Hacker – Killed 50 enemies using only hacked Security.
Adopted a Little Sister – Adopted a new Little Sister for the first time.
Savior – Saved every Little Sister and spared Grace, Stanley and Gil.
Counterattack – Killed an enemy with its own projectile.

Free Grill Prop for your Xbox 360 Avatar

Philip Federico
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4

Have you ever wanted to flip burgers ? Well now your Xbox 360 Avatar can,  Simply enter the code below and you’ll be able to download a very cool and most importanly free Grill Prop item for your Avatar.

9XBX9-9RCD9-9BCK9-9PRTY-9RCKZ

This Grill Prop was actually mean to be an exclusive bonus to anyone that purchased and played all four Block Party XBLA titles (Perfect Dark, Toy Soldiers, Scrap Metal, Game Room), but has been made available for everyone to enjoy !!

Make sure you grab the final XBLA game on Xbox Live Arcade’s Block Party promotion, Game Room.  Game Room is available to download for free from Xbox Live Marketplace RIGHT NOW.  As your probably already aware Game Room allows you to play old arcade classics from the 70’s and 80’s using your Xbox 360 Avatar.

One LAST cool piece of information.  Capsule Computers Community member @BTHRZeroX also discovered this really cool message in the Grill Prop code,  Check it out below :

9XBX9 – 9RCD9 – 9BCK9 – 9PRTY – 9RCKZ

Remove the numbers for one 

9XBX9 = XBX + o = XBoX

9RCD9 = RCD + aae = aRCaDe

9BCK9 = BCK + lo = BloCK

9PRTY = PRTY + a = PaRTY

9RCKZ = RCKZ + o = RoCKZ

XBoX aRCaDe BloCK PaRTY RoCKZ

–

How cool is that !! Looks like we have some very creative peeps over at Microsoft 😉  Enjoy your FREE Grill Prop.  Make sure you send one over to MasterAbbott…  He loves BURGERS !!

Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition Review – Playstation 3

Philip Federico
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3

Title: Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition
Genre: Action / Survival Horror
Platform: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Rating: PEGI 18+ / USK 18 / MA15+ / BBFC 18
Developer: Capcom
Producer: Jun Takeuchi

Resident Evil 5 was released on the 13th of March 2009 last year on both Playstation 3 and for the first time Xbox 360. The response to the release was pretty much split down the middle.  On one side we had gamers that had never seen the game before and were used to action shooters like Halo, Gears Of War etc.  On the other side of the road there were the hardcore Resident Evil fans that were eagerly awaiting RE5 to make it’s appearance so they could pick up from where Resident Evil 4 left off and continue the story of this fantastic franchise.

The new comers to the franchise were quick to complain about its control system, saying it was  “Wrong” to stop and sho0t as it’s not how your meant to play these style of action games,  also not being able to jump or roll out of the way was a big problem as well.  This resulted in a few unhappy people who probably returned the game and went back to playing Halo and Gears Of War.

With that out the way the remaining gamers who embraced the game play mechanics, which thankfully stayed true to the franchise since day one, and something I am very glad was not changed, as it would of ruined the entire experience, were in for a ride of their lives as they set out on an epic journey across Africa.

Fast Forward 1 year ahead and Capcom have released Resident Evil 5 GOLD Edition, an all in one package that includes all the content released since it’s launch at a great price.  If you haven’t yet set foot into the world of Resident Evil, now is your chance to pick it up, equip your pistol and shoot some Kijuju right between the eyes !!

If you’re not familiar with the story for Resident Evil 5, let me take you on a crash course in Resident Evil 5 101.  Our story picks up with original STARS member Chris Redfield, now a fully fledged member of the anti-terrorist group called the BSAA.  Who has been sent to Africa to investigate a man by the name of Irving, a black market salesman involved in selling illegal bio weapon products to terrorists.

For the first time ever in a Resident Evil series the player does not go at it alone, Capcom put huge emphasis on team work with co-operation being the name of the game. Therefore Chris is joined by a local operative called Sheva Alomar.  Playing alone via single player will have Sheva controlled by the game AI.  She’s not the sharpest tool in the shed when not controlled by a human player, but with tactical and strategic item placement Sheva does her job well, even on the hardest of difficulty levels.  On the other hand when you’re joined by a friend this is when the fun and action really starts to pick up as you’re both tactically scrambling to find the best vantage points to take down enemies as well as SURVIVE !! 

Resident Evil has a total of six fantastic action packed chapters that will keep you heart racing every step of the way especially when you’re playing with a friend on the hardest difficulty.  The dialog, soundtrack, game atmosphere and visuals are amazing, fans of the Resident Evil series will not be disappointed as a lot of questions are answered, puzzle pieces put in place and a few characters from the past make an appearance.

One thing that true Resident Evil fans have mentioned is that the game has taken a more action feel than its original survival horror origins.  In all fairness this is somewhat true as there are less scare moments, but don’t worry Capcom have replaced them with heart pumping adrenaline moments where your frantically running for your life or trying to save your fallen comrade in battle all the while making sure your fully healed and armed to the teeth with ammo so that you can blast your way out of deadly situations.  It might not be Survival Horror but it sure is a BATTLE FOR SURVIVAL !!

Resident Evil 5 Gold comes packaged with all the downloadable content, including Costume Pack 1, Costume Pack 2, Extra Figures / Characters for Mercenaries Versus mode / The Mercenaries Reunion and the two episodes : Lost In Nightmares & Desperate Escape. 

Desperate Escape picks up around the final chapter of the game, here you take control of Jill Valentine and Josh Stone.  Your mission is to escape the Tri-Cell Compound in an action packed hour long mission.  Enemies are everywhere and the headshots are the special of the day, there is not much in terms of strategy, your sole objective is to make it to the escape helicopter alive.  Enemies are relentless and will keep you on your toes, you will need to gun your way through, it’s intense a little repetitive but certainly great fun with a friend.

Lost in Nightmares will have you playing as Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine.  This story is not part of Resident Evil 5 but takes you back to a section of Flashbacks you see in the game where Chris & Jill are exploring a deserted mansion in hopes of finding the missing head of Umbrella Ozwell. E. Spenser.  It’s great to actually relive this part of the game as you get to experience a different style of gameplay.  The pace is a little different compared to Desperate Escape, here tactical and strategic planning is needed to get ahead.  I personally enjoyed this mission much more, and to top it all off the Spencer Mansion was absolutely amazing.  If you’re a true fan of the Resident Evil series Lost In Nightmares will be a more enjoyable experience.

Other extras jam packed in Resident Evil 5 Gold is Versus and Mercenaries Reunion.  These are multiplayer levels where you’re playing in teams to take down hordes of Majini whist gaining top scores and working against the clock.  Multiplayer allow you to pick certain characters, some are locked until you have enough money to unlock them.  The new additions included with the Gold Edition are Excella Gionne and Josh from Resident Evil 5, and originals from Resident Evil and Resident Evil Zero, Barry Burton & Rebecca Chambers.  Topping it all off are the two outfit packs for Chris & Shiva which make you look a little on weird side, but hey you need to look a little weird and a bit whacky when your popping off heads with your Magnum.

One really important note to take into consideration.  The Bonus stuff included with the Gold Edition isn’t readily available from the get go.  You’re going to have to play through Resident Evil 5 story to unlock them.  If you’ve completed the game, then you’re in luck.  As long as the Resident Evil 5 GOLD disk can access your save game then everything should magically unlock and you should be right to go as you’ve already done the hard yards.

Capsule Computers gives Resident Evil 5 GOLD    9 Capsule Out Of 10. 

9-0-capsules-out-of-10

With heart pounding moments around every corner, bonus content, 2 great episodes, extra multiplayer characters, and weird and whacky costume packs, I think Capcom have really hit the nail on the head or should I say shot a Majini in the head with this one.

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