Men Free Blog

After a recent demo of Sierra’s Prototype, I came away feeling a little less excited for the title than when I started. I’m still anticipating its Fall, 2008 360/PC/PS3 release, assuming it ships on time. I think it could be an exciting third-person action/mystery. But I’m uncertain about if it will become a cohesive experience by then; I saw well-executed elements but I’m not sure if they will combine.

And admittedly, Prototype’s open-world scope is much too big to take in from a single demonstration. The fast, physical action and control look better than other games, with the the player able to change fighting techniques and attacks at any moment. Developer, Radical Entertainment didn’t spill too much about the story, only repeating that you play an amnesiac with the ability to morph into other peoples’ identities.

I hope that plot can connect to the action. I think it could, especially because the character gains the memories and abilities of the identities he steals. And while the anti-hero is becoming a cliche, Radical stressed that you’re not trying to save Manhattan from its plague of monsters. You’re out for yourself, and the story is supposed to explain why.
Prototype is a fairly open game, letting players wander through all of Manhattan, although it’s not a literal building-for-building remake. The demo I saw centered on the ability to fight through situations, although gamers will be able to choose a sneakier path, walking in shadows and impersonating others.

The city has been infested with a plague, turning some people into zombies and introducing other monsters. Even the buildings evoke this wasteland setting, decaying with the exposure. The military has moved in — in addition to a shadow group of mercenaries — and you’re at the center of the mess.

While you’ve lost your memory, you’ve gained unnatural powers. One attack swings your arm out like a tentacle, striking everyone in the vicinity. Your hands can turn into claws, quickly cutting down others. A punch into the ground can raise a circle of spikes around you.

But the shape-shifting and movement are the most important powers. By touching any other person, you can take their form, and meander through the city mostly unnoticed. Or you can run — literally — up buildings and scamper along ledges, moving over any surface.

The story will require players to steal certain identities. For example, if you can take the form of a military commander without being seen, you can run that local outpost. One part of the story will even have you pretend to be a pilot, flying missions and following orders until you get enough clearance to learn more about your history.

I saw a couple of these 25 military bases, and like the rest of the game, the graphics seemed adequate but not a highlight of the game. Sure, details are being optimized, and some areas clearly were being further developed. But there still seems to be a lot of work to finish by the fall.

The animation, however, looked fluid and fantastic. Everything moved at a strained pace, from the character hopping between buildings, to the black-ops attackers trying to bring him down. These aspects should make Prototype a physical thrill, regardless of how much the other visuals improve.

Maybe I was hoping for too much, wanting to see Prototype neatly come together in front of me after a brief demonstration. The massive open-world setting and twisted characters are messy. Whether the story can give a through-line or not, that chaos could be a good thing.
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If you buy only one game featuring 50 Cent and G-Unit shooting people in a quest to get back their diamond-encrusted skull this year, make it 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand. I’m still overwhelmed by the game’s plot, and when 50 Cent is your protagonist, you might as well embellish as much as you can. Go over the top, and then go even higher.

50 Cent: Blood on the Sand is a straight-ahead action game. You’ll fire all kinds of guns to kill waves of disposable enemies, all trying to stop you from getting back what’s rightfully yours. In a recent demo of the title, I felt a little bad for the sheer numbers of enemies you must dispatch; surely, these lowly thugs aren’t making diamond-encrusted-skull money.

And before I get too far, a clarification: 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand is not necessarily set in the Middle East. Lots of places have sand, including Miami Beach, school playgrounds, ant farms, and other non-Middle-Eastern settings. The game is merely set in a fictitious, unnamed country with sand, palm trees, and vaguely Middle-Eastern architecture.The game is powered by Unreal Engine 3, thankfully freeing developers to keep piling on the crazy. My favorite is the customizable set of taunts 50 and the G-Unit hangers-on can employ. (And at this point, “favorite” has a deadly mixture of sarcasm and sincerity, like swallowing a spider to catch a fly. I just don’t know which will win anymore.) These dozens of one-liners not only liven up the dull moments between gunfire, they actually add multiplier bonuses to your score when shouted after an attack. “Cut them down with words, and guns,” I like to think 50 Cent would say.

50 Cent can shoot over and around obstructions, sort of like other UE3 games. But “Gangsta Fire” ads even more precision. Call out this bullet-time effect, and the action slows down around you, letting you quickly fire off shots against many targets.

But Blood on the Sand isn’t just about gunfights. 50 Cent switches to hand-to-hand combat when closely engaging a foe. Enemy fire politely halts, and the action scopes in on the close-quarters fight. You don’t control his specific attacks, but well-timed button presses to on-screen prompts unleash his power.

This title is about excess, and all of these game elements lead to that goal. Online-only multiplayer let two gamers share in the action, with drop-in and -out compatibility. Certain vehicles are ideal for cooperative sessions, like an armored truck with a turret in the back.

If you’re playing alone, the second character will be controlled by the AI. Fittingly, player 1 always controls 50 Cent, while the second character could be Tony Yayo, Lloyd Banks, or DJ Whoo Kid. Either way, you’ll have to work together in some moments, like boosting each other over a wall, to solve quick puzzles between the fighting.

I have no idea if 50 Cent fans will like this game or if they’ll be calling him a sellout. For the fans, the game will include music from his entire catalog, so you can play old and new hits behind the frenzy of bullets.

I own no 50 Cent music, but I’m strangely attracted to the spectacle of the game. It could be a tangled, explosive, exploitive mess. I just want to stare, gawk, and get back the diamond-encrusted skull. Look for the spectacle in Fall, 2008.
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If you remember World in Conflict from last year, expect more of the same in this fall’s World in Conflict: Soviet Assault. If you don’t remember it, you might have been washed over by a dozen other great games. The real-time battle strategy takes gamers into an alternate 1989; the Cold War turns into a firefight.

Two changes define this update: 360 and PS3 gamers can play, and a new campaign lets you play from the Soviet perspective. PC gamers who have the original can opt for a download-only Soviet expansion, while those new to the title can get a bundled, PC edition. Console gamers will get the full, original game in this version, too.
The control scheme is the big challenge for console gamers. I tried flying the camera around and issuing orders on a 360, and it generally worked well. The movements were mapped to fairly standard first-person-shooter commands, although gamers won’t be able to reassign the layout. I nudged the sticks to fly around, and selected troops with the A button.

I had a few ways to select multiple units, including D-pad hot-key assignments and a way to expand the selection cursor into a large circle. This worked, but it’s just not as easy as a keyboard and mouse. It’s close. It could suffice. But it’s not the same.

I’d expect PC gamers trying to adopt the controller to complain the most. If you’re not used to PC RTS games, you might not notice a difference. While not demonstrated, developers said they were adding optional voice commands to issue certain attacks, so that might also help make up for a mouse.

360 and PS3 multiplayer matches will allow five-versus-five battles between like-consoles. PC gamers will get 16-player fights. All editions will ship in Fall, 2008.

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