Good news kids! Or not, as kids probably shouldn’t be playing this game anyway - but I’ve always wanted to say that! Anyway, the good news is that the Killzone 2 demo arrives on PSN tomorrow, so don’t fret that you never got into the earlier beta as everyone now has access to a taste of the game.

The game was originally slated to come out on 26th February, but that would have meant that the demo appeared only a day before release. Sony, thankfully, have seen sense and given you another few weeks to save up some cash; instead of knowing that the game is out, playing the demo, and being unable to afford it while everyone else is happily blasting each other apart.

The demo includes the first two sections of ‘Cornith River’ (which is the first level of the game) and a tutorial sequence. Unfortunately there is no multiplayer, so that’s just something you will have to look forward to.

If you have any American friends then look forward to doing some gloating, as American gamers won’t get the demo until 26th February. That is, unless, you preorder the game at GameStop; which gives you access to the demo at the same time as us European gamers. At least we are getting something first for once!

Anyway, let’s just hope that Killzone 2 turns out better than its predecessor. It wasn’t that it was a bad game, it was just pretty average.

The Resident Evil 5 demo hit Xbox Live yesterday, much to the delight of thousands of Resident Evil fans. However, before going in one question remained on many people’s minds; is it just Resident Evil 4 HD?Let’s take a look.

Public Assembly - one of the two levels included in the demo - was my first destination.I was immediately greeted by gorgeous visuals, although there was some noticeable screen tear. While the colours may not be the brightest ones in the rainbow the washed out appearance does transfer that grim sort of feel that Resident Evil 4 gave to an African setting. The character models also look pretty good, and Chris himself seems to have been spending a lot of time in the gym since we last saw him. The new co-op character, Sheva, stood by Chris; and for the moment I remained sceptical of her intrusion into the Resident Evil universe.After a short test of the controls I ran a short distance to a hut (with Sheva following) and was greeted by a cut scene. You may have seen part of this scene in pre-release trailers, but the short version of it is; guy with megaphone, raging crowd, massive dude with axe, someone gets their head chopped off, megaphone guy see’s you. After this has ended you are attacked by the people from the crowd. These are largely the same as the people from Resident Evil 4, and spout the same creature from the stump of their neck when their head is blown off. They immediately begin to smash through the windows and pour through the doors, prompting you to test out the ‘new’ control system.

The first thing I noticed was that you, again, can’t move while aiming and shooting. It could be argued that this adds to the tension and may help drum up some fear, but it also feels like you’re playing a game from years ago. The cramped conditions of the two levels in the demo mean that you can’t get many shots off before the horde is on you, and being able to strafe (EDIT: I’ve since noticied that you can strafe, but my complaints about limited movement while aiming still remain) while shooting would have somewhat helped matters. Instead you find yourself quickly running out of the room and into a more open area, but not – as it happens – by much.

After a short while axe guy makes his appearance, or rather slowly walks towards you while you go and make a cup of tea. Ok, so this is not as bad as it sounds as, again, the cramped conditions mean that you can’t really hope to outrun him much anyway. If you do find a place to hide he’ll just come and smash the wall of wherever you may be hiding down. This was one area that somewhat impressed me, but not by much. It’s also worth noting that Chris can now gradually destroy doors by shooting at them. In any case you have to keep running as axe guy seems impossible to kill.If you run out of ammo then you can collect those dropped by dead enemies, or find some lying around. Eventually though you’ll have your first experience with the inventory system, whether your changing weapon, healing yourself or – god forbid – giving and swapping items with Sheva (Sheva has an inventory to, meaning that she often has to pick up more ammo just like you. In reality this means that she often grabs items before you have the chance, but at least you can easily get them back off her). The inventory is in real-time, meaning that you have to quickly find what item you want when you’re facing a horde. Running out of ammo when you’re surrounded is slightly frustrating, as you have to bring up the inventory and switch to another weapon, all the while losing valuable seconds to the attacking horde. The best thing to do is to simply run off and often directly through enemies. The AI seems so slow and dumb that they often won’t even try to hit you when you run past, something I discovered more on the next level.

Shanty Town is bigger than the previous “survive constant waves of enemies” level, but it still suffers from the tight passageways with hardly anywhere to run. You’ll come across the first point of Sheva being around on this level. Chris can give her a boost up to a rooftop, where she is supposed to provide cover. In reality she barely seems to shoot, and her laser sight can often get in the way of your own. Later instances only confirmed my beliefs that Sheva is as thick as a brick. For example, sometimes she’ll walk in front of you while you’re trying to kill enemies and simply stare at you. Other times she’ll stand behind you and barely get a shot off, leaving you wondering just what the hell she is there for. Later on in the level she has to split up with you, which largely means she screams for help while you try to shoot enemies from across the street. All this can be solved by simply playing with a friend instead, but there is not always a time when you can play with others. So, what used to be single-player experience that left you feeling incredibly isolated is no longer the case. Instead you have to play with AI dimmer than a broken lightbulb.

The final part of the second level see’s you facing off against a chainsaw wielding maniac. What should have been a thrilling encounter actually bored me to tears. Again it was largely shoot-run-shoot-run, but even if stood next to him he didn’t seem to want to cut you apart. Maybe his heart wasn’t in it after discovering he was in such a poor demo. Anyway, at first I couldn’t figure out how to kill him, so spent most of the time shooting at enemies (he is joined by constant reinforcements of other enemies) and running away. Finally I discovered that you’re supposed to shoot him in the head a few times, and then give him a right hook with Chris’ fists of steel. What? A high powered rifle won’t kill him but a simple punch will? You have to repeat this a number of times, until he finally dies and you can pick up the key to end the level. This feels like something out of a Megadrive game rather than a HD 2009 video game. I’m not saying that bosses shouldn’t be hard to kill, but are really supposed to expect that a fist can beat bullets? Haven’t games like Dead Space already changed the boss formula for the better?

Resident Evil 5 doesn’t add much more to the formula than what Resident Evil 4 had already accomplished. In fact the only thing distancing it from its predecessor is the co-op mode, and this only seems like it will be fun with a friend. Is it really too much to ask to be able to move just a little when aiming a weapon? Instead I have to constantly run in circles while stopping to shoot every so often. Of course, it’s only a demo and the rest of the game may change my mind, but I can’t honestly see myself buying this (at least not straight away) unless I always have a friend to play it with. Even then it’s really nothing special, and I’d take Left 4 Dead over this any day.

The demo for one of the most anticipated titles of 2009 - Resident Evil 5 - is now finally available on Xbox Live. Japanese gamers originally had access to the demo on 5th December, but it is now available to the rest of the world.  Unfortunately Playstation 3 gamers will have to wait until 2nd February to get their hands on the demo, as Microsoft has secured one of those annoying ‘exclusive’ deals.

Capcom have included two levels from the full game - Public Assembly and Shanty Town - with the ability to play both in both single player and online or split-screen co-op. If you have the misfortune to not be near your Xbox 360 right now don’t forget that you can head over to Xbox.com and add the demo to your download queue. The 478mb demo will begin to download as soon as you get home and turn your Xbox 360 on (if you’re a silver member then, sorry, but you don’t have access to the demo as of yet).

I had a quick play through the demo myself and I have mixed impressions, but I’ll post those later when I’ve had a bit more time to spend with it. Feel free to let me know what you think of the demo in the comments below!

Ensemble Studios may be getting shut down at the end of this month, but they’re determined to go out with a bang. Their last project, the Xbox 360 RTS Halo Wars, has just gone gold (meaning it’s complete and ready for sale); leaving plenty of time for manufacturing ahead of its 27 February release.

While you’re waiting for the factories to pump out those shiny Halo Wars DVD’s Microsoft has released details of the game’s demo. The demo will arrive on 5th February, and it sounds like it’s going to be worth waiting for. Not only will the demo guide you through beginner and advance tutorials, but you’ll also be able to play the first to campaign missions from the full game. Is that enough for you? Well, there’s more.

You can also play on one of the skirmish maps, “Chasms”, which is one of 14 included in the full game. Unfortunately there’s no mention of online multiplayer in the demo, so you’ll be playing against AI; but that’s better than nothing, right?

To celebrate going gold Microsoft has released some new screenshots of the game along with the first Halo Wars video documentaries. You can see these over at Destructoid.

Burnout Paradise (which I picked as one of my essential Christmas buys for the Xbox 360) doesn’t arrive on the PC until February, but gamers will be pleased to know that they’ll be able to test the game out with a free trial. Plus, on top of this, you’ll be getting access to all the extra content released for the game so far.

Criterion are doing away with the demo and instead giving gamers access to a big chunk of the game. While the trial will obviously only last for a limited time, you’ll still be able to try out all the game’s events and multi-player modes. There are also three cars for you to try out.

So, want to know if the game will work on your PC? Download the trial in February. Also, want to know if the game is actually any good? Download the trial! (If it’s anything like the console versions then it will be excellent).

You’ll be able to download the trial come February, or share it on discs which can be shared with friends.

Burnout Paradise The Ultimate Box – FREE PC trial available to millions - Criterion Games

Call of Duty: World at War doesn’t hit shops until November 14th, but you can try out the game’s multiplayer modes right now on Xbox Live. The beta was originally only open to those who had pre-ordered the game or had got a key from the giveaways on the official Call of Duty website and other websites. Thankfully that restriction is now lifted and anyone who downloads the 890MB file will be able to try out three levels and a bunch of modes from the multiplayer portion of WaW.

I’ve had the beta for a while now and it plays a lot like like Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, except with bolt action rifles and dogs instead of helicopters. I actually don’t know what to make of the dogs. They can be incredibly annoying but can also net you quite a few kills. The ‘War’ mode (a bit like Battlefield’s ‘Conquest’ mode, but only one point stays open while the rest stay locked. You effectively push each other back and forth across the battlefield)  is my favourite so far, and I managed to get a 35 kill streak just by jumping in a tank and protecting one of our flags.

If you haven’t already, give it a shot and tell me what you think.

(Via Joystiq)

There’s two new demos to try out on Xbox Live if you’re short of pennies in the run up to the Christmas season. They’re not the full games, of course, but you can try them out to possibly put them on your Christmas wish list. This way you can stop wishing that you could actually afford all the games coming out around now and just get someone else to buy them for you instead.  Are the two demos any good? I haven’t tried them yet so I can’t possibly comment, but I’d just like to inform you that they are now available.

Our favourite female video game character Lara Croft returns in Tomb Raider: Underworld. The reason for the ‘Underworld’ part is because the game is all about water this time around, and you’ll also be swimming through old ruins as well as doing the old fashioned Lara way of climbing all over the walls. After you’ve sat through the 1.3GB download you’ll get the chance to find out if this new take on Lara’s adventures is actually worth parting with your hard-earned cash. Hopefully it will be latter, but that’s totally up to you.

The full game arrives for Playstation 2, Playstation 3, Mobile, Nintendo DS, PC, Wii, Xbox 360 on November 21st.

Don’t laugh, but this is one game I’m actually looking forward to. Despite never touching a Banjo-Kazooie game in my life (apart from one in a McDonalds on a holiday to Florida, which didn’t really work) I’m loving the look of  Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts and what you can actually do with the game. The idea is that you’re taking part in a contest against a witch named Gruntilda for control of Spiral Mountain.  She’ll be constantly trying to stop you while you undertake challenges to preserve your home (as Gruntilda wants to build malls everywhere). Anyway, the point is that you can build things, and that’s the big pull (as with many games these days). There’s over 1,600 components that you can build vehicles with, so you can pretty much build a vehicle in any style you want.

The demo will take up 1.07GB of space and will allow you to try and the building and take on ‘Jiggy challenges’, whatever they may be.

The full game will be out for Xbox 360 on November 14th.

Try them out and tell me what you think!

In case you’ve missed it in your excitement about the end-of-year line-up then you may want to know that upcoming RTS Tom Clancy’s EndWar now has a demo available on Xbox Live. The demo weighs in at a hefty 1.6GB so read a book or something if you’re only on a lousy 4mb connection like myself. The demo includes a single-player tutorial and one-on-one multiplayer with matchmaking support.

Instead of using your Xbox Live headset for poor comebacks to the abuse thrown by 12 year-old Americans you’ll be able to command your troops through the power of your voice alone. That is, of course, if it is able to recognise your accent. My own mother can barely tell what I’m saying sometimes, so I’m not too confident that an army will - especially if I order them to bring me a cup of tea!

No word on a Playstation 3 demo yet but I wouldn’t be surprised if one came along.

EndWar is out on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 on November 7th.

Fracture is Lucas Arts attempt to create a popular franchise other than the Star Wars games that they’ve continually churned out. It’s also not just another futuristic third-person shooter as its big pull is in its unique terrain deformation weapons, some of which you get to play with in the demo. The demo itself opens with some futuristic airplanes flying over the Golden Gate Bridge, which is now over hilly land instead of a stretch of water. This gives you some idea of the story, but the basic gist of it is that two factions (Atlantic Alliance and Republic of Pacifica) are fighting against each other due to conflicting ideologies in a world completely transformed by the effects of global warming and the damage done attempting to combat it. Both sides have access to terrain deformation weapons, so you have to wonder why they don’t just create their own land or sink the enemy into the sea like this Penny Arcade comic points out.

Anyway, forget the wider story for now as it’s not really that important in the context of this demo. After being dropped off on the ground (just outside the famous Alcatraz Island prison) the Colonel explains how your Entrencher tool works. With this weapon you can raise and lower terrain, as long as you’re aiming at dirt of course, and will most likely be your must used tool in the game. Firing it at the ground either pops up a great mound of dirt or sinks it into the ground, both of which can be used in puzzles and as a means of cover as I will explain later. I know this first part of the demo is intended to be a tutorial but it still has some pretty idiotic moments. For example, after Jet Brody (the awful name of the character you play in Fracture) has been taught how to use the Entrencher you come across a tunnel blocked by a pile of dirt. While it’s pretty obvious what you’re supposed to do Jet goes ahead and states the obvious anyway; ‘the path is blocked’ and then a short while later ‘Colonel, the wall is to high to jump over’. Well, duh, you have a tool in your hand that will remove the blockage or create a hill to hop over the wall, what the hell do you think you have to do?

After these basic ‘puzzles’ you’ll come across the freighter crash you’re supposed to investigate and you’re first weapon (apart from the machine gun you carry). In the weapons cache that the colonel helpfully pointed to you’ll find subsonic grenades, which the colonel cheerfully recommends you waste by throwing at two piles of crates (thankfully there’s an infinite amount of the things in the cache anyway). These subsonic grenades are actually pretty cool, as they’ll blast a big crater in the ground that flings rocks and objects (in this case, the crates) up in the air. Next you have to toss one of the grenades through a window, which blows out the wall and allows you to use the Entrencher to create a ramp of dirt up to the newly created hole in the wall. Up here is your next weapon.

The Bangalore is effectively a rocket launcher that packs a pretty hefty punch. To test it out you’re tasked with firing it at a small shed, which gleefully explodes in a shower of metal. Unsurprisingly Jet is unimpressed by this display so the colonel suggests he tries firing it at a nearby water tower. As the supports buckle and the water tower collapses to the ground there’s a nice little attention to detail as the ground deforms as it realistically would when a heavy object hits it.

The next weapon you’ll find it the Black Widow - which is a sticky bomb launcher.  You can fire up to six at a time and then detonate them by hitting the ‘x’ button (I was playing the 360 version, by the way). The colonel tells you to test them out by destroying the column supports holding up another freighter on a landing pod. With this done another cache drops down and you now have access to the spike grenades. Spike grenades create a column of molten rock that launches up from the ground, which can create an instant platform for you if you throw one underneath you. This time, however, you have to throw one under a piece of metal to create a ramp up to  a window. Up there is the sniper rifle, but that doesn’t really need to be explained to you as it’s your standard video game issue. If you want you can stay in this area before moving on to the next (such as messing around with an infinite ammo supply of each weapon you’ve found).

Annoyingly you’ll be reverted to the standard issue Entrencher and machine gun when you enter the next area. General Sheridan revolts and quickly kills off most of the troops surrounding you and the colonel. What follows is a chase through the prison, but all you’ll be able to pick up for the meantime is the subsonic grenades. Eventually you’ll come across a gun emplacement where you have to employ the use of your Entrencher to create cover for allied troops pinned down by the emplacement. Once you go through a nearby door your faced with nothing but an open stretch of dirt between you and the gun emplacement, so it’s pretty obvious what to do. This is your run-and-gun style play, running along creating cover for yourself while you advance towards the emplacement. Then you can either get behind the emplacement to take out the enemy soldier controlling it or simply do what I did and raise the terrain, stand on top of the new mound and toss a subsonic grenade at the emplacement. It’s worth nothing that the emplacements bullets are powerful enough to lower the terrain you raised to use as cover.

Upon climbing up to the roof you’ll come across some explosive barrels, a staple of pretty much any video game that involves a gun or two. Shooting them will create a huge hole in the roof, which you can then drop through on to the battle below. You’re troops are pinned down behind the columns of a nearby building and, unfortunately, the only thing between you, your allies and a new weapon are a number of enemy troops. Thankfully you can hit ‘Y’ to sprint across Gears of War style to the other side of the battlefield. Unfortunately General Sheridan manages to escape, no doubt setting up the rest of the games story but who cares when you now have access to the torpedo launcher?

“Torpedo? But we aren’t on water Tom!!!’

Ah, but we are playing a game that has everything to do with the terrain below your feet. At this point of the demo you have to hold out while waiting for extraction, and you’re holding out against a constant flood of enemy troops. Thankfully all you have to do is fire your infinite supply of torpedo launcher ammo at the oncoming enemy. The torpedo will go underground and zoom towards your enemy (you can see the ripple on moving across the ground, kind of like the film Tremors) and detonate when you hit ‘X’,. It’s incredibly satisfying to see enemy troops go flying into the air, their last thoughts being ‘Where the hell did that come from?’. It’s kind of both disappointing and gratifying to have an infinite supply of the ammo right next to you, hopefully the full game won’t be so easy. After your extraction arrives you hop into it and so ends the demo.

Fracture has some pretty nice elements, but it all depends on whether or not they extend the terrain deformation elements beyond what we can see in the demo. Of course, for a developer to put everything in a demo would be incredibly stupid but the simple terrain lowering and raising puzzles, plus the original but eventually tiresome cover system doesn’t exactly impress me past the first ten minutes of play. It’s a demo in the end, and it’s a fun 15 minutes regardless of whether or not the full game will turn out to be far more complicated. Right now the freedom that’s supposed to be granted by the terrain deformation feels terribly linear but I suppose there’s always the multiplayer (which does look incredibly fun) if the singleplayer game doesn’t live up to expectations.

You can check the demo out now on Xbox Live and the Playstation Network. The full game will hit our shores on October 10th.