Pull my finger!

In this next instalment of the game, set to be released in 2011, the player will find himself in Tajikistan as opposed to the chinese island from the last game. At this point, this is about all that we know :p

The offical press release said that Red River will “include a deeper narrative-led campaign, streamlined inventory and control system, a refined enemy and squad AI system, player class roles including customizable XP upgrades and loadout choice, close-quarters combat and new air support options.” They also said that Dragon Rising would include dedicated servers *rolls eyes*

For now, here are some beautiful pictures to quench your visual thirst:

Looks Smokey

Damn

The award-winning Project Reality Studios team are proud to announce that the official first release of v0.1 of the Project Reality ArmA2 Mini-Mod will be coming very soon. Although we are now moving into the Beta Testing stage, we think the time is right to inform the community of what will be coming to you very shortly. Project Reality will enter the ArmA2 battlefield for the first time!

Our main aim for PR:ArmA2 is:

“To create a realistic and immersive modification for ArmA2, which focuses on encouraging teamwork through gameplay”

As with Project Reality’s original conception on the Refractor 2 engine, at this stage PR:ArmA2 should be classed as a Mini-Mod; we have to start somewhere! Don’t be fooled though, this release will by no means disappoint, due to the large number of high quality art assets already created by the Project Reality Team, and the considerable experience of the PR:ArmA2 Development Team on the Real Virtuality 3 engine!

PR:ArmA2 will exist as a standalone modification. It will remain self contained, self developing and not rely on or use externally held add ons from other sources where at all possible. What that means to the player is that it will be a ‘one stop shop’ as an installation package, with no requirement for additional multiple add on packs.

We also want to emphasis we are not in direct competition with any of the other great mods out there. However as a team we want to see what we can now do with the Real Virtuality 3 engine, as well as the continued full scale continued development of PR for Battlefield2. We are not in any way changing engines. We have simply expanded the team’s reach into ArmA2 with new developers. It is not PR2, nor are we ceasing PR:BF2 development.?

An now for a video:

If you hop on to the Steam store, you’ll find it’s true! The game has been reduced to an acceptable value, it’s a shame they couldn’t have made this the original price, considering the majority of people paid a good £30 for it. £30 is the standard game price for PC, but considering the game was made broken, it should have been cheaper.

What? No more patches?

Codemasters also announced not that long ago on their forums that they would not be realizing any more fixes for the game, to the outrage of the vast majority of the community. Many people where since banned as a result, myself included. Codemasters promised all the problems, bugs, crashes, broken menus would be fixed, and also promised dedicated servers. It seems all the more fraustrating that they should make a post saying that they apologize if it’s ‘left you wanting even more’ – no! We don’t want ‘more’ of the same broken crap, we want a FIXED game! Such a patronizing statement from codemasters has made me want my £30 back.

I don't think so.

The patches and downloadable content added in some interesting maps etc, but still left the PC version feeling like a frankensteins monster console game. The game was made sloppy, the interface designed for a controller and the visuals reduced for a console. (Chinese and US uniforms are identical, just a different shade, realistic? I think not).

Of course, what can we expect? Game developers don’t seem to care for PC gamers these days, consoles make more money, so it makes perfect sense for them to make a game cross platform half way through development, even if it does mean it’ll be shit for PC.

Codemasters should be offering us £25 from steam. Dragon Rising really is turning out to be like an old, used hooker, cheap, but not clean.

If you want to visit the codemaster’s post, click here.

In 2002, Medal of Honor: Allied Assault landed on the game shelves of Normandy. Certainly the best WW2 shooter, if not the best shooter of it’s time, it was massively successful, leading the Medal of Honor series to dominate the market for some time. It was a first, with great scripted momments and an unmatched, epic campaign. Medal of honor had come a long way from being a mediocre playstation game.

War on two fronts.

High explosive hide and seek.

Since the rise to power of the Call of Duty series, Medal of Honor took a blow, and sat on your self gathering dust for some time.  Call of Duty 5: World at War was pretty much crowned as the best WW2 shooter, which left EA with it’s tale between it’s legs. And sadly, EA’s counterattack wasn’t going to change the tide of this battle. Medal of Honor: Airborne was released and promised to break new ground in WW2 shooters, with the slogan ‘Get ready, to get Airborne’. Sadly, no matter how ready you were, you’d get shot down one way other another, as Medal of Honor polarized from being the best, to the not-so-best, WW2 shooter.

If you can’t beat em’, join em’.

With the idea of ‘Modern Warfare’ (the actual thing, not the game name) being all the rage these days, Medal of Honor is making a come back, with new ideas, new concepts, and breakthrough settings. All be it, too late and not so new. We don’t know much about the new Medal of Honor, all we’ve seen is a trailer, but from what we can see, you can certainly see from where the influences have come. Graphics wise it looks fantastic, and we know that the game will take on a special forces theme, and will be set in modern day Afghanistan. This contemporary edge it appears to have, hopefully will provide a link between the player and the game, or it hit a nerve.  We all know about the current conflict in Afghanistan, and the toll it is taking. So this time it’s not ‘Made-upistan’ – it’s a real place (assuming EA don’t decide to change all that, which wouldn’t be surprising for a game developer to ruin a game before it’s release).

Flyable Jet, Please?

We know also know the game will feature vehicle missions, and even a part where the player gets to pilot an AH-64 attack helicopter! Although, we aren’t sure it the player can actually fly it, or just gun.  The array of weapons and realistic settings also look very interesting, and notably, the hefty beards of the Special Forces guys look very cool, like a special forces santa, fighting a ho-ho-holy war. So far though, you can’t deny that this could just be a preview of Modern Warfare 2, which pretty much covers everything we saw in the Medal of Honor trailer. So the bar is set even higher for EA, they have to really push boundaries, and give us a reason to play Medal of Honor again, over Modern Warfare 2.

Wait and see.

What I would say is, don’t expect anything ‘new’ in terms of gaming as a whole, it’s obvious what formula makes lots of money, and EA aren’t going to go meddling with that. But, maybe Medal of Honor will beat Call of Duty and it’s own game this time, rather than vice versa, since it’s loss in the WW2 theatre. Maybe this battle seems un-winnable for Medal of Honor, like the theatre in which it is based, maybe it’s only a matter of time before defeat is admitted. Do check out the trailer though, and make up your own mind, and let’s just hope it wont become another casualty.