Since it’s an extremely lazy Sunday (and a very rainy one) here I figured I should post something a little different from the norm. The above picture is a papercraft of Dog, Alyx Vance’s lovable robot pet from Half-Life 2. It was created by chamoo232 over on 4chan (yes, amazingly enough 4chan does sometimes produce some decent stuff) and took around 50 hours to complete. It’s not actually as big as this photo suggests and that seems to be some sort of cupboard behind it, but never the less it’s still pretty damn cool and has amazing attention to detail.

I wish I was creative enough to come up with something like this. Then again I already do enough time wasting so maybe it’s for the best. I think the rest of today will be spent catching up on a few games, since although I write a video game blog I’ve been pretty lacking on actually playing them lately.

Papercraft Half Life D0g is Amazle - Kotaku

While we have another month to go until Halloween I figured that I’d get in there early (when you least expect it…muahahaha!) and take a look at four upcoming horror games. Although I like horror games I’m a bit of a wuss when it comes to playing them as I slowly slog my way through them crapping myself before turning every corner. I have bad memories of stupidly playing Doom 3 in the dark, although I wasn’t as bad as this guy. Anyway, here’s a quick look at what you’ll be needing new underwear for in the coming months.

Left 4 Dead

Release date: November 21 (UK)

The people at Valve always put out amazing games (Half-Life 2 and Team Fortress 2 anyone?) and Left 4 Dead seems like it’s shaping up to be no exception to this rule. The premise see’s you and three other players stuck in a city overrun by zombies and other strange monsters such as the obese ‘Boomer’ who, when it explodes, can cause massive damage to anyone in the immediate area. The objective is to escape, but you have to work as a team to do this and anyone who departs from this will find themselves quickly overrun by the games intelligent ‘director’ AI.

I’m really excited by this one, even if the fast zombies may seem horribly overwhelming at first. I’m not sure what version to get as my PC is not exactly stellar these days but, at the same time, I love the mod scene and one will inevitably grow up around this game. Check out this link for some footage from the Xbox360 version.

Resident Evil 5

Release date: March 13 2009 (UK)

If you haven’t heard of this one then your cave must go pretty deep, especially with all the controversy surrounding it. Fans of the series will recognise the return of Chris Redfield, this time thrown into infected Africa. The game will play similar to the control system used in Resident Evil 4 and, if that game is anything to go by, it will be just as perfect.

Resident Evil 4 showed us that you don’t need the usual shambling zombie to be scared stiff as the thinking one can be far more terrifying. I remember the beginning of the 4th installment when the villages break into the house you’re in and chase you upstairs. Getting trapped in an upstairs room with hordes of people chasing you is pretty scary, until you find the window - and then you realise that they’re climbing up on ladders. That’s not forgetting the chainsaw guy (who makes his return in this installment, along with a particularly intimidating guy with an axe) and the boat on the lake scene that may put you off water for life.

Thankfully you can also experience the terror with a friend as the game supports an online co-op mode.

Dead Space.

Release date: October 24 (UK)

It’s being called Bioshock in space but will it be anywhere near as good? Dead Space is EA’s attempt at creating a new horror IP and they’re doing a good job building up all the fiction around it, but that’s all well and good until the game turns out absolutely pants. Luckily it seems to be shaping up pretty well, and is also looking pretty terrifying!

The story takes place on the giant mining space ship the Ishimura, but the crew who made the distress call seem to have turned into horrific nightmares. Since the ship is stricken and no longer under control you’ll encounter parts of the ship devoid of gravity, which you have to navigate using your magnetic boots while putting up with mind bending ceiling-is-now-the-floor type puzzles like those seen in Prey.  Oh, and there’s also that small matter of the incredible amounts of gore.

If EA can pull this off then we may just have an excellent new horror series on our hands.

Silent Hill: Homecoming

Release date: November 20 (UK)

Like Resident Evil the Silent Hill franchise is still going strong and, as always, will probably turn out to be far more terrifying than the Resident Evil franchise (although the giant spiders still freak me out). Since the original the Silent Hill games have got progressively weirder and weirder and, quite frankly, I’ve lost all hope of understanding just what the hell is going on. I think the above picture pretty much just sums up my reaction to each new Silent Hill game, as I’m sure you’re all with me in thinking ‘what the hell is that??!?’.

Another person goes to Silent Hill in search of someone…yawn. Real-time wounds will show up on Alex, the protagonist, and the strange creatures that populate this town from hell, which I guess sounds pretty cool. This is combined with completely new enemy AI and physics that allow more realistic interaction with the environment, so bumping against an object can alert terrifying creatures to your position.

However, Team Silent (the developers behind most of the franchise) aren’t developing this installment so I’m a bit sceptical about how the new developers, The Collective, will be able to handle the constantly confusing storyline.

The Battlefield series has always been incredibly popular, but the casual gamer hasn’t really caught on. This, in part, is due to the learning curve. For example, I remember it taking me a good few hours to learn to fly a helicopter properly in Battlefield 2, and even then the slightest wrong movement could see me spinning (much to my teammates annoyance) to the ground. Secondly, PC FPS games have never been a big draw to the casual crowd as they seem to prefer the console market. EA are keen to capitalise on both the casual and free-to-play market (an area that is quickly gaining ground on the Internet) and, thankfully, have combined the two with the help of DICE.

Battlefield Heroes is a massively scaled down version of the Battlefield franchise, taking on a cartoon-style look that you could mistake for Team Fortress 2. The new look is directed at a casual and younger audience - because apparently shooting people is ok if it’s in a cartoon! While the game features yet another World War II setting the armies are entirely fictionalised, although it’s pretty obvious who their real world counterparts are. This may raise some concerns about depicting the Nazis in cartoon form but, hell, it’s not like it hasn’t been done before. Another reason for having this graphical style is to try and reduce the system requirements so as many people as possible can have a shot at the game.

The game itself is designed to place less emphasis on skill and strategy, areas that may have turned prospective Battlefield players off in the past. It does this by scaling down the game to a measly three classes; the stealthy Commando, the all-around Soldier and the heavy Gunner. This totally eliminates old integral classes like the Medic or Engineer, but the presence of abilities and power-ups negates the need for these anyway. These abilities will do anything from allowing you to suck grenades in and heal yourself, to throwing fifteen grenades at a time. In my opinion each individual player build still seems to encourage strategy, but I guess Battlefield needs to retain some degree of this as the ticket system still remains (each team has fifty and a death reduces the count by one) and, at heart, it’s still a competitive shooter. You’ll be happy to know that vehicles still remain, however, which are jeeps, planes and tanks.

Players will also have the ability to level up their characters (the maximum level isn’t set yet), so in this sense the game is a little like an MMO. Leveling up will give you access to move skills and abilities. You’ll also be able to use points to buy new clothing and weapons, although EA is implementing a micro transactions system to allow you to buy new things instead. This also means you can customise your characters with new clothing, although personally I wouldn’t pay for something like that.

One concern I have is that DICE says the emphasis is on skill yet gives players access to plenty of ‘buffs’ (abilities that strengthen the player to some degree) by leveling up. Any game that has a leveling system results in the higher level players being far more powerful than the lower level players. Does this mean that skill will only come into play when a play reaches the top level? Or is DICE going to segregate players of similar levels? It sounds great, and it will probably be pretty fun, but this concern just leaves me to believe that it won’t be much different from an MMO. In previous Battlefield games you had access to new weapons but the toughness of defeating another player was largely based on who was the more skillful of the two. It’s free though, so I guess I can’t complain too much.

Battlefield Heroes has been delayed until December/early 2009 but an open beta should be starting pretty soon, giving players full access to the game minus micro transactions.  The reason for the delay is continued work on social networking features, which we know are all the rage these days.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is one of my games to buy in September. Thankfully, for those unwilling to splash the cash to buy the game on release Lucas Arts has gone and released a demo on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. I had a play through the Xbox 360 demo and here are my impressions.

I’ve always been looking forward to a Star Wars game which effectively makes use of the force powers that mark both the Star Wars films and the Expanded Universe (such as the novels). In previous Star Wars games it never really seemed like you controlled the most powerful force in the universe, but I’ll put this one down to the lack of technology rather than the shortcomings of the developers. In Star Wars: The Force Unleashed you have all the power of the force at your hands, and we all know that it’s far more fun using the force on the dark side. The demo is pretty short but extremely sweet, and it gives you enough time to get to grips with the new spectacular ways of using the force while easily leaving you wanting more.

After a short cinematic featuring the great Darth Vader himself - and where you learn that Starkiller’s (the character you play) father, a Jedi, was killed and Vader took him as his apprentice - you’re thrown straight into an Imperial shipyard with the task of hunting down a Jedi and killing everyone abroad (including Imperials). The first few corridors let you get to grips with your force powers (although there is a short tutorial as well). They’re packed full of droids and crates that you can throw around to your leisure using the force grip. To use your force grip you select your target (Starkiller auto targets when you look at something) and press the right trigger. Once it’s up in the air you can control it by moving the right and left sticks up and down to move the object up and down or forward and back. You can throw the object by pointing the left stick in the direction you want to throw and hitting the left trigger. There’s an especially cool moment in this first area where you can pick up an object with your force grip and throw it through a window, sucking everything in the immediate area out into space before the bulkhead shield slams down.

Your force grip comes into better play when you’re faced with a group of soldiers, be them rebel or imperial.  In the demo you usually approach them from a distance, such as in one of the TIE Fighter (which, incidentally, you can pick up and throw with the force grip) hangers, so you have ample time to grab something with your force grip. For instance, you can grab an explosive barrel and launch it into a group of soldiers, the resulting explosion killing some of the group while knocking the others to the ground. If you’re brave enough you can approach and take them out with a lightsabre (see next paragraph) but I much prefer grabbing hold of one with the force grip and tossing him across the room, possibly into a set of explosive barrels. When floating a guy through the air there’s neat little touches such as him grabbing hold to a handhold on the ground, or grabbing old of a comrade as he floats past so they both go flying around. You can also use the force push that will send anyone in the way flying, and as Starkiller increases in level this is one of the moves that will get more powerful. In the demo you can also use the force push to rip through heavy bulkhead doors, while the force grip allows you to bend support struts into the oncoming path of TIE Fighters. The force grip controls can take some getting used to, especially in the heat of battle where it’s easy to target the wrong thing. Also, you have to be quick as a laser bolt can make you drop whatever you have in your invisible grasp.

Starkiller is a pretty athletic guy and has a set of fluid movements in his arsenal. You can jump fairly high, especially combined with the double jump, and slam down with the lightsabre - which is perfect for landing in the centre of a group. You can also execute the force push in mid-air, which also lets you extend the blast downwards. You can combine lightsabre attacks with the force grip, such as dragging a person towards you with the force grip, slashing them with the lightsabre and sending them flying with your lightsabre still impaled in them. Your lightsabre then returns to you, spinning through the air like a boomerang. If all else fails you can just hit ‘y’ and execute a lightning bolt - which has the ability to take down a few guys if they’re standing close together.

The end of the demo - which comes far too early in my opinion - see’s you fighting an AT-ST Walker. Large enemies like these are where the double jump comes in handy as you can jump up and slash at it in the air - which comes in handy for avoiding the laser fire. While you’re on the ground you can avoid the rapid laser fire from the walker (and the storm troopers around it) by using the dash skill. When you get the walker down to a certain level of health a QTE (Quick Time Event) will activate, which means you have to press the button that pops up on screen with perfect timing. If you do this correctly Starkiller will slash the walker in two from the bottom up, which ends the demo.

Flinging storm troopers around is pretty fun, but it’s hard to see how this can get you through the entire game. If Lucas Arts manages to put out a decent storyline and also manages to expand on the innovative force powers seen in the demo then Star Wars: The Force Unleashed will be a pretty wild ride. From the variety of settings and moves seen in the media released so far it just may turn out to be one of the finest Star Wars games yet, and a very action packed one at that.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is released for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Playstation 2, Wii, Nintendo DS, PSP, N-Gage and the iPhone on September 19 (UK).

With August nearly out of the way (for which I will be forever thankful for) it’s time to take a look at some of the games that will be hitting the shelves in September. Autumn is always a great time for games and this years end-of-year line-up is no exception.

Spore.

Release Date: September 5th (UK)
Platforms: PC, Mac

Spore is by far the game I’ve been looking forward to the most over the past few years. While I’ve been keeping up with every little bit of news about Spore events this month have took my mind of things so it was, to my utter surprise, that I realised we’re less than two weeks away from the game that will destroy my life.

If you’re not familiar with Spore (where have you been?) it allows you to control the evolution of a creature of your own design from cell stage through to civilisation and space stages. You can customise your creatures to your hearts extent, along with buildings and vehicles. Plus, your universe will be populated by the creations of other players across the world.

You can view the over two million creations already created by players here, and you can have your own shot at it before the full release with the free version of the Spore creature creator available here. While you’re at it take a quick look at my own creations.

Mercenaries 2: World in Flames.

Release Date: September 5th (UK)
Platforms: PC, Xbox 360, Playstation 2, Playstation 3

As you can see from the video above it’s pretty much all ‘BOOM BOOM BOOM’ in a sandbox arena. There’s nothing wrong with this though, nothing at all. It’s pure incredible fun and that’s what video games were originally invented for. While it does have a plot who really cares when you can nuke the hell out of something?

Unfortunately it comes out on the same day as Spore and my pockets aren’t exactly crammed with cash at the moment. I guess I’ll just have to wait a little while long to blind myself with the sheer awesomeness of the explosions.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.

Release Date: September 19th (UK)
Platforms: Xbox 360, Wii, Playstation 2, Playstation 3, Nintendo DS, N-Gage, PSP, iPhone

What can be better than flinging a Tie Fighter into a Storm Trooper? When it looks as good as this it’s apparently not much.

You’ll play the part of Darth Vader’s apprentice tasked with destroying the last of the Jedi. You’ll soon become more powerful than even Vader himself and your actions will determine which ending you get. The story fits pretty nicely into the Star Wars universe so you’ll want to get it if you’re a hardcore fan. For the rest of those who aren’t hardcore fans but still like a bit of Star Wars then you’ll probably love the amazing physics effects that occur when using the force. These effects are helped along by the Euphoria engine - the same engine that controlled the physics effects in Grand Theft Auto IV.

A lot of Star Wars games are pretty poor, but this one just may change that trend.

The term ‘GTA Clone’ is thrown around way too much. Nothing is original these days and everyone takes inspiration from somewhere, it’s just whether or not they can actually build upon what originally inspired them. Besides, there’s always room for competition in the market; although it’s often the case that ‘GTA inspired’ games don’t really make much of an impact. The original Saints Row was pretty successful and I see no reason why its sequel can’t be as successful. In fact, I believe it may be more successful based on recent happenings in the video game world. As I previously wrote a lot of people felt GTA IV was a disappointment because some of the whacky over-the-top fun that had marked previous outings (such as driving a monster truck off a huge mountain) was reduced due to Rockstar’s attempt to focus on realism. It didn’t make it a bad game - and the humour still remained - but it did seem like Rockstar was handing the stupid factor off to someone else. This is where Saints Row 2 steps in, and they even tried to win over those disappointed GTA fan boys with the comparison video below. Saints Row was known for its improvement of some of GTA’s features, and while GTA IV also fixed many of those it seems that, yet again, Saints Row 2 is set to try and win one over on GTA.

The picture above can pretty much sum up what you’re going to get out of Saints Row 2. The list of activities in the video above is pretty exhaustive compared to GTA IV’s, in my opinion, pretty lacklustre offerings. It’s hard to see how you could avoid getting at least some fun out of the game, even if the game’s humor is far more slapstick than the satire we’re used to in the GTA franchise. The hot dog costume signifies the great deal of customisation and choices you have in Saints Row 2, far more than the few outfits available in GTA IV. Now you can completely customise your characters appearance (including the ability to play a female character), such as their age, weight, features, voice, fighting style etc. Clothing is far more modifiable than before, meaning that you can modify the colouring and layout. These options also extend to your gang, so you can have your gang all decked out in the same costumes (which, thankfully, can also be ninja costumes) and also modify the graffiti tag they use. You can also completely deck out the ‘cribs’ that you and your gang call home, adding items such as pool tables, TV’s and minibars.  This is all without touching the apparently ‘extensive’ vehicle customisation options. Weapons start with the basic submachine guns and handguns (which can be dual-wielded) but you also have access to flamethrowers, sledgehammers, satchel chargers, katanas, shock pads etc. Additionally you are now able to pick up items of the scenery to use as melee weapons.There’s far more I could get into, such as the respect system, the ability to own businesses, the new combat system, the new gangs, multiplayer (and the co-op mode). However, I don’t want to make this post too long - as I tend to make a habit of that. The point is that Saints Row 2 packs a massive amount of features, but it remains to be seen if the gameplay can be engaging enough to make let you experience them all. Yes, like I’ve done with this post they’ll be plenty of comparisons to GTA but, if the game is good enough and sells enough, it may just have established it’s own franchise that widely differs from the new realistic approach of GTA. There’s enough room in this world for more than one sandbox game, they just have to be good enough.

Saints Row 2 is out on November 7 in the UK, annoyingly the US version hits on October 14. You’ll also have a choice of Xbox 360, PS3 or PC.

Bargain Bin is a semi-regular guide to playing quality games on a limited budget.

Zombies and video games, two things that are pretty much impossible not to love. When you combine the two you’d expect to get something of epic proportions but, while Capcom’s (the developer of Dead Rising) immensely popular Resident Evil series has brought us some stellar video games, this doesn’t always go to plan. Part of my disappointment with a lot of zombie games is the lack of, um, zombies. Many zombie movies (such as Dawn of the Dead, which bears such a striking resemblance to Dead Rising that a notice saying the game was ‘not endorsed by George A Romero’ is printed on its cover) have hordes of zombies present on the screen, which makes Resident Evil’s tiny groups pretty lack lustre in comparison. This is where Dead Rising differs from the rest, presenting hundreds of zombies packed into a mall and giving the player free reign to gleefully cut through these hordes.

The story has you as Frank West, a photojournalist who’s keen to get the story of his career by investigating a mysterious incident in the town of Willamette. After dropping into Park View Mall from a helicopter the player is given 72 hours (in game time, not real time) to investigate why the residents have started eating each other. This investigation has you completing a series of ‘case files’ (basically story chapters) that take place at specific times of the day. While these are compulsory if you want to see the end of the story (the helicopter still comes if you choose to ignore them, although you’re locked out from continuing the storyline. Only your death actually ends the game) there’s also a whole series of optional side missions that give you far more gameplay and further information relevant to the storyline.

The problem with getting to places at a specific time is hampered by the incredibly inefficient save system. You’re only allowed one save per storage device, which means most of us are pretty much screwed. If you save (and you can only save in specific places around the mall) without having enough time to get to the next storyline location the game is effectively over for you. Capcom has provided a remedy for this by allowing your skills and levels (a basic RPG style system, you’re given more points for taking unique photos) to carry over to a new game. This means that you can get through the missions much easier than before, and if you’ve completed the story already it also allows you to complete those side missions you missed the first time around (and subsequently get the achievements), as it’s nigh-on impossible to complete them all in the first play-through. It’s frustrating but it doesn’t mean you should stay away from the game. If you use your head and save when you know you have plenty of time left until the next story mission then you shouldn’t have a problem, but part of this does mean dying in a story mission may mean you’ll have to play a small chunk again.

Thankfully you’ll forget any frustrations when you cut your first zombie in half with a katana. There’s so much variety to the way you can dispatch of the walking dead that it hardly ever gets old. A wide variety of shops present in the mall means a wide variety of weapons are available to Frank. Step into a sports outlet and pick up a baseball bat or a golf club, while a hardware store gives you access to the awesome smashing power of the sledgehammer or the raging blood-fest of the chainsaw. Even the toy shop provides you with weapons, and there’s nothing more fun than throwing a Frisbee at a zombie wearing a Lego head. Aside from weapons you can even clothe Frank in kids clothes…um…if that’s your thing. While there are also guns you can’t really beat splatting a zombie in the face with a cream pie, and you know that when playing Resident Evil you’ll wish you can use one of Frank’s many melee moves (as seen in the screenshot above).

Since dispatching zombies is so easy (yet so fun) you’d be forgiven for thinking that they can become a minor annoyance compared to some of the ‘psychopath’ boss characters that you have to deal with. Since they can be hundreds of zombies on screen at once (when you get into the maintenance tunnels you’ll see the awesome amounts of zombies that the engine can render) they can easily block your way from one section of the mall into another. Weapons don’t last forever so you’ll have to make intelligent use of the item slots available to you (thankfully they do increase with Frank’s level) if you don’t want to get stuck in the middle of a horde with little health and only Frank’s hands. The zombies become even more of a hindrance when you consider the side missions that have you escorting survivors around. While you can arm some survivors with weapons others need to be held by the had (literally) and the injured have to be carried. When you’re escorting one it isn’t that hard, but with a group of survivors you can quickly lose track when you’re mobbed by hordes of zombies. To be honest sometimes I just wanted to leave them as a snack for the zombies, in the coming zombie apocalypse it’s every man for himself isn’t it?

None of these things matter as there’s so much fun to be had, and so much content to have this fun in. Even after you’ve completed the storyline you’ve still got all the side missions you couldn’t get the first time around, you’ve got the overtime mode that gives you two extra hours of storyline, and you’ve also got the infinite mode that strips all storyline elements but tasks you with surviving in the mall with your health slowly draining. On top of all this there’s also the leaderboards and the normal achievements for you to get. There’s a lot of fun to be had chopping up zombies in a shopping mall, so you can easily forgive things that are only niggling annoyances in the end. Now that the game is as low as £14.99 (although I saw it for £12.99 on Amazon Marketplace) there’s easily enough content for your money, and far more after that. It’s one of those games that you need to own for the Xbox 360 as it really emphasises just what the console can accomplish - and you can whack a zombie in the head with a frying pan!

For those of you who own a Wii a version of Dead Rising (Chop Till You Drop) is currently in development. For me it pains me to see this as the whole ‘hundreds of zombies on screen’ thing has to be severely reduced due to the lower power of the Wii when compared to the 360.  The photo aspect has also been dropped (WHAT???), as has the 72 hour time limit. However, for sheer zombie killing it should be good enough for people who only own a Wii, but if you also own a 360 it’s pretty obvious which version you should go for.

This is part of the Bargain Bin series, which is dedicated to bringing you excellent games for mere peanuts. Got a bargain you know of? Hit me an email!

I absolutely adore the SimCity series. From the simple-but-fun original to fun-yet-complicated Sim City 4 there’s not much more fun than building a city up from scratch and then watching it be destroyed by aliens/meteorite/earthquake/volcano etc. (after saving of course!). I also like the micro management aspects of the series; even though setting tax rates can be frustrating they still make you feel somewhat intelligent. Recent developments in the series (such as SimCity DS, which I reviewed here) have seen many of the micro management aspects from the PC versions stripped out. I found this slightly annoying but there’s no doubting that it makes the game far easier and leaves all the fun parts in for a new younger and casual audience.

Although SimCity has been used in schools as an educational tool it’s pretty safe to say that the idea of running a city and negotiating a budget doesn’t exactly scream excitement to the younger crowd. It may help youngsters learn how to manage a budget but they’d much rather blow things up. SimCity Creator doesn’t completely remove the micro management features but the emphasis is more on the fun part of SimCity and the expressions of creativity that all youngsters (and even adults) should have access to.

The reason EA has chosen the Wii is, in part, because of it’s large user base of both young and casual players but it’s also because of the original applications of the Wii Remote. The Wii Remote obviously plays a large part in expressing your unique creativity when designing your own city. Firstly, it gives you the ability to – for the first time – create curvy roads. Now I know that this doesn’t sound like an instant sell but when you consider that past SimCity games were all rigid grid structure straight roads it does somewhat enhance the ability to create more original cities. The Wii Remote is also used, with much glee, to control the game’s destructive elements. For example, you can guide a giant wrecking ball to destroy your entire city. Hopefully you won’t have a psychotic grin on your face when you do it, like the people in the video below.

More creative elements come in the form of the various buildings and styles you can give your cities. Realism isn’t a big part of this game (I would have thought the giant wrecking ball would give that one away), which is easily shown by cities you can create made out of deserts. Yes, that’s cakes, pies, sweets – wouldn’t it be amazing to live there? You could eat your way out of a snowstorm! There’s also 32 ‘hero’ buildings that are pretty over-the-top creations such as the Watermill of Fruit – there’s plenty here for the sweet tooth in you!

The DS version is pretty much the same gameplay wise, except your guided through the ages of history. You’ll start off in the Stone Age and run through other ages such as the Renaissance, Industrialisation, Global Warming and the future. You can also share pictures and city information over Wi-Fi, while on the Wii the online features extend to challenges and leaderboards.

Although it’s been heavily watered down and then pumped up on the casual juice SimCity Creator still looks like a pretty worthy edition to the franchise. Who knows? If it catches on with the younger more casual audience then they may move on to the more complicated editions to the franchise.

SimCity Creator hits the UK on September 19th.

No, you haven’t stumbled into the past and discovered that movie blogs were around in 1974. This is because it isn’t 1974 and you aren’t reading a movie blog (unless you live in some strange parallel universe); you’re reading a gaming blog and this, wouldn’t you believe it, is a game!

Right, that’s the confusing stuff out of the way.

Godfather II is the sequel to EA’s Godfather: The Game – a pretty average but still enjoyable fair. While it’s loosely based on the plot of the second film it takes some liberties by Michael Corleone appointing you as the stand-in Don over Brando’s character, Vito Corleone. The unique aspect of the game is the combination of GTA inspired action with strategy-orientated play. While you’ll be doing the usual missions and partaking in all the glorious violence that mob life brings you can also pull back to the ‘Don View’. This gives you a citywide bird’s eye view where you can direct the actions of your men, who they’ll hit and what businesses you’d like to offer ‘protection’ to. Your men will each have their own specialties, such as a demolitions guy that can be used to…well…you know the rest.

Godfather II will feature three locations; Miami, New York and Havana. However, if you’ve read the book/watched the film then you may be slightly miffed that the game won’t feature Vito’s childhood or see much of what Michael is getting up to. At least the locations fit with the story, but it remains to be seen how much of the original plot will actually remain.

The game is in pre-alpha sage at the moment, but it’s slated for release in February next year for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and the PC. Hopefully it will bring a different twist to the usual GTA style formula.

Update: Gametrailers has just got the world exclusive debut trailer. The trailer shows a hefty amount of action and also a gives you a little look at the ‘Don View’. Check it out below.

There’s plenty of MMO’s out there today but there aren’t many that don’t try to copy (and fail) the formula adopted by the immensely popular World of Warcraft. If a developer wants to beat World of Warcraft then they’ll have to offer something different yet attractive and casual enough for players to migrate, or just attract new players that wouldn’t have played an MMO otherwise. APB (All Points Bulletin) is one of the upcoming MMO’s that is attempting to offer something different than the usual point and click hack and slash fantasy/sci-fi MMO – which really is a breath of fresh air.

APB is currently being developed by Realtime Worlds – the same guys who brought us the incredibly fun Xbox 360 game Crackdown – and will be familiar to anyone who’s played a GTA game in the past. Until recently GTA has never really had multiplayer options and, even now, GTA IV’s multiplayer has plenty of problems. When the novelty wears off you move on to something else, which makes me wonder how an MMO with a similar approach to GTA will fair, but I’m not about to dismiss it just yet. In APB you can either be a gang member or a member of the law enforcement, which puts you in the middle of the two sides endless battle for the control of the city. This means that you’ll constantly be either on the offence or defence, and being an MMO this is obviously happening even when you’re not online.

Due to the game being an MMO (or an MOG as described by lead game designer David Jones, due to players only likely interacting with up to 25 other players at the same time) they’ll also be your usual missions, with you earning money instead of experience; which is then used to upgrade weapons, vehicles and character appearances (IGN discovered that the customisation options are pretty deep). In these missions, for example, a gang of players may be asked to rob a store while law enforcement players will be sent an APB to try and apprehend them. All in all it sounds a lot more exciting than your usual package delivery/kill ten pigs missions that you often get in MMO’s. The best part of it all is that there’s no dull repetitive grinding that is so common in other MMO’s.

APB isn’t set to come out until next year, but there are strong hints that a beta may be on the way soon. You can go to the official site to register your interest or you can join the Facebook group for regular updates – or both if you’re crazy like that! While it’s only coming out for the PC at the moment there may also be an Xbox 360 and PS3 version, depending on how well the PC version does. Here’s hoping that it becomes the next big thing.