Make Space, the Stampede Is Coming!

Microsoft has come flying out the blocks with the most impressive end of the year line up ever. The pre Christmas rush is when publishers tend to release their best games and this year, there are more games released for Xbox 360 than you will actually have time to play. Choose between Halo 3, Dragon Age: Origins -- Return to Ostagar, Guitar Hero: Van Halen, Alien Breed Evolution and Saboteur and upcoming titles like Assassin’s Creed, Gear of War 3 and Doom 4.

Trip To The Sales!

Its not just your Christmas cash that makes this time of the year so tempting to games publishers. They also want their titles on the shelves for the post Christmas sales, when everyone looks to spend the money they have been given as a present….

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3 ''SUPERSONIC''

LITTLE GAME SHOP OF HORROR

HELLBOY-THE SCIENCE OF EVIL

‘’He’s the beast of the apocalypse, with a taste for pancakes’’. He is a demon with a right arm bigger than a work experience pool boy at the Playboy mansion and he is going to use it to take down evil Nazi scientist Hermann Von Klempt, who’s a disembodied head in a jar that feeds on the spinal fluid of the kidnapped girls. Co-op play will allow Xbox Live friends to assist you Nazi bashing as amphibian Abe Sapien and pyrokinetic love interest Liz Sherman. These will be voiced by the actors who play the characters in the Hellboy films.

RESIDENT EVIL 5

We are nervous about the level of slaughter and merry dismemberment. This has to be everyone’s most wanted horror title. Set in Africa, where shanty townships are seething with fast moving zombie hordes, the gore already has our guts churning and the machete attacks we’ve seen still give us nightmares. Think Black Hawk Down meets 28 Days Later for some idea of the terror in store.

EXCLUSIVE GAME REVIEWS

Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Only one of the most popular platform games of all time! This trial version is timed to ten minutes. Which is pretty more time to rescue some flickies form the cruel clutches of Dr.Robotnik. As with the original Sonic, this one’s all about speed. Complete the level as quickly as possible for the maximum points. You can also build your score by collecting golden rings along the way. Don’t get hit by Robotnik’s minions though, otherwise you’ll lose them all!

Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

An addictive color-matching game, you create large power gems by matching up smaller gems of the same color then destroy them all in one go by dropping an orb of that color. The more gems you destroy, the more counter Gems drop down onto your opponent’s side, messing them up. This demo includes the new ‘X’ mode, where Capcom has rebalanced characters so no one has an advantage.

Super Contra

Old-school shooters don’t come more challenging than Super Contra. Lance and Bill thought the threat of alien invasion was over when they defected the Red Falcon. But the impossible has happened and their friends form the GX army has been possessed by their old nemesis. Now you have to travel to South Africa to eliminate the problem. This game is definitely more fun in two-player co-op mode. Make sure you shoot the floating capsules to earn a better weapon; otherwise you won’t stand a chance.

The Darkness

Jackie Estecado has a problem, well, two problems to be precise. Not only is his uncle Paulie trying to have him whacked on his 21^st birthday, he’s also become host to a demonic creature known as Darkness.

This excellent game includes superb levels, including the opening mission, Tunnel, and the second mission, Cemetery, where Jackie finds himself on the run form Paulie’s hitman. The final mission gives you a first taste of the Darkness’s devastating special abilities.

Marathon Durandal

Durandal is the name of a highly sophisticated artificial intelligence that went haywire in the middle of an invasion by the alien Pfhor. In this playable demo, you’re aided in your fight against the alien menace by an army of teleporting clones known as BOBs. Campaign mode features one payable level-then you move on to Survival. This pits you against an endless stream of opponents.

IN YOUR BLUE BOX

F.E.A.R Files

F.E.A.R Files is an expansion pack for the supercreepy, but ever so slightly dated FPS. This game features terrifying levels, packed with deadly super-soldiers and giant robots. Fortunately, there’s a full complement of weapons to help you deal with them, including a rocked launcher and mini-gun. A weapon of warning – make sure you use the ‘focus’ ability as often as possible to avoid being ripped to shreds. This game is pretty hardcore, because if you die you’ll be sent all the way to the beginning.

StrangleHold

John Woo and action Chow Yun Fat have teamed up for another outrageous episode of gunplay, bloodshed and doves. Chow Yun Fat reprises his role as Inspector Tequila form the movie Hard Boiled. He’s a maverick cop with vengeful streak, particularly when his daughter is kidnapped by a Triad Boss.

To take on the enemy you’ll have to master a special move called ‘Tequila time’. This slo-mo effect kicks in whenever you hold down the Right bumper or perform an acrobatic move. Score some kills during this period you’ll learn style points that boost your Tequila Bomb meter.

FlatOut Ultimate Carnage

This generous game includes a Carnage race. Destruction Derby and Standard Race. In Carnage, you get behind the wheel of a rustbucket and take on 12 opponents down a canal. Score as many points as you can by smashing up scenery and other drivers. Destruction Derby follows a similar trend, although this one takes place in the enclosed arena. Then there’s race – three laps of a woodland circuit against 12 opponents.

TimeShift

By the time you are reading this TimeShift will almost be on sale, so why no review in this ‘’box’’? Quite simply we didn’t get the code in time to make the printers. But check out the review online at www.oxm.co.uk, and then play this game demo!

TimeShift does exactly what its name suggests, allowing you to pause, rewind or fast forward the clocks to suit any situation. Your time travel device, the Beta suit, is an extremely effective weapon with built-in Al. This means it’ll automatically switch to the best mode to get you out of a sticky situation.

Conan

In this gory and insanely violent beat’em up, the legendary Barbarian is washed ashore on the Black Coast. At the start of this game you’re instructed by a pirate queen to go out there and rescue her crew. THQ has already unlocked everything for you, so you’ll be able to slice off arms and legs to your heart’s content. Try to time your blocks to the exact moment your enemy strikes. If you time It right, an indicator shows that you can execute a finishing move. Press the corresponding buttons to pull it off.

PROJECT GOTHAM RACING 4

Master It Racing Conditions

‘’DRY’’

Keep the car straight across corners, letting the left or right set wheels run over the rumble strip. If you are using a rear-wheel drive car, use the back wheels to bring the car round quicker once you have passed the apex.

When braking on the run up to corners, keep the bike straight. Learn patience on the slower turns; you need to pull back on the power and turn earlier than in a car, as you have to give the bike time to tilt.

‘’WET’’

Corners need to be taken a gear lower than in dry conditions. Brakes earlier, and apply the throttle slowly. Brake into a slight slide to get the car around when cornering, otherwise the car will understeer.

The same principles apply with the bikes; drop down a gear lower and either gradually ease on the acceleration when exiting the apex, or wait for the bike to straighten before pilling on the power.

‘’ICY”

Judicious use of the brakes Is necessary. Like in wet conditions, initiate a slide when turning to bring the car around the corner, but only feather it until you are confident you can start accelerating.

You need to start braking well ahead of corners, easing on the brakes, and let the bike’s momentum carry it though the corners. Power out as soon as the road opens up and you are out of the corner.

NEED FOR CARBON DRIFTING!!

Do the a lot of drift to get a lot of points.

Strategy
You'll not see any car except your car here. Although, you're race
with your opponent, only the opponent's point you can see. The
first rule is don’t crash to any walls or you will lost a lot of
points. Do a lot of drifts and a long ones and you'll see your
point increased quickly. Don’t take a drift while you do a sharp
turn. It will make your car spin out, and drift will be ended.
Use the tuner-typed car with a high handling to win this race.

If you can connect a drift from one corner to another, and keep this up,
you get drift multipliers. These really help a lot as they multiply your
drift score to the respective number.
You don't just tap the analog stick to the direction of the drift, you
have to hold on to your car throughout the drift. One good way to drift
is to get your speed up to full, turn slightly to drift, keep pressing on
the gas, maintain control, and if you think you're about to hit that wall
and lose it all, well, read this tip down here.
If you are drifting and are about to hit the wall, release the gas and
move your car out of the way with ease. If you think that pressing
on the gas will save you, think again.


''HOPE YOU LIKE MY DRIFTING''

TRANSFORMERS-2

Just think …. Giant robots , alien technology, awesome disguises , talking cars ….all in a Game. Yes we are talking about Transformers™. Michael Bay has dazzled everyone with a new film , Transformers™: Revenge of the Fallen. Many of the gamers might have seen it by now. But the better part of this is that a game has also been released for it.

Fellow gamers just imagine being a transformer …running around with your cool gadgets and weapons , flying around freely, jumping over giant buildings and lastly transforming into your cool vehicle. Yup.. that’s all in Transformers™ : Revenge of the Fallen Game.

This allows you to be your own favourite transformer and gives you the ability to play from the Autobots or the Decepticons which include 12 Autobots and 11 Decepticons.

All the robots have been made so sleek and shiny that they capture the original look of the movie so nicely. Transforming into different modes has been increased to three different modes. These include vehicle, weapon and mainly the robot mode. Transformations help in reaching places faster too and enable you to do even some cool maneuvers ( Yeah being cool keeps you busy J ).Transforming has been developed so smoothly that one keeps on transforming for no reason…hmmmm.. Addiction? Besides the original story line one can take part in other missions and races too. The enviorement has been made a lot for fun too, where you can roam or destroy a lot of things too..well that would be interesting. Upgrading also has been included , which can be done by doing specific tasks in the mission mode . These would also unlock episodes of the original cartoons and art works too.

Fighting in the game is one of the coolest features of the game. Players now can shoot by locking or using Free-aim (And you get extra points from cool shots , so sharp shooters stay alert!). These ponts are utilized in the overdrive meter which increases your fighting capabilities. Close combat fighting has been evolved too. Now close combat is far more brutal than anything which includes tearing the other robot or destroying its spark. You can also attack a robot during transformation , which is shown in a unique cut scene.

Multiplayer mode is also available in the game now. This would take the players capabilities on a whole new challenge now. All the members of the team play an important role in team battles. Apart from that you totally need strategies to emerge victorious.

Transformers™ : Revenge of the Fallen’s game is by now the widest game ever made for the Transformers™ Franchise and is a must play game for all the fans of the Transformers™ series and the Sci-fi freaks out there . So I would like to say fo this game

GTA 4 …… THE BEST OF THE SERIES?

Gta 4 is one of the most anticipated games from the GTA series. One of the reasons for this are the brilliant Teaser’s put up by Rockstar Games. Rockstar Games has finally released GTA 4 but which has come out not only as a game, but a giant in the world of entertainment. But what is so special about it?

The most important and main thing of the GTA world. You can virtually do anything. And this time Rockstar Games has added tones of new things including TV channels …yes TV channels …now gamers can access 80 different channels. And another thing Websites too… 160 of them. In it the player can also use the mobile phone to access text messages, arranging meetings and for the first time can call 911 for help or reporting something (Be good for once at least ) But the thing that makes GTA 4 unique is that Rockstar Games has included rich vivid details in everything. The second feature of this game is the Natural Motion’s Euphoria engine. This is the first time it is being used in a Rockstar Game too. This improves the civilian’s Artificial intelligence to a whole new level. And it turns the GTA world into a much real world. And for the naughty ones out there …. The civilians now do inform the police unusual activities and robberies etc...So this increases the challenge for you too. The third thing is the new realistic car system. Now the cars will not be available for the usual sit and drive technique. Now the gamers would have to hot wire them instead...oohhh Tasty! The vehicles also have GPS systems which will help with navigation. The radio craze is back with 18 different stations providing lots of genres to listen to. And the racing freaks out there ….can burn some rubber in 3 modes of racing in GTA 4. Now the player can himself call a taxi to go some where. The next feature ……hmmm….you might be thinking what about the fighting and stuff. So yes GTA 4 has developed an awesome fighting engine. Now you can blind fire, lock on and free aim too. It also includes cool cut scene killing at certain points. The combat system has been changed to a third person view now. In car shooting will also be available too. For online users this will be the grand feast. At one time up to 16 players can play online.
All these things add up to make GTA 4 one of the best games of the series. But the question is: Is it the best of the series?

One can not say any thing about GTA 4 being the best of the series, but it is good enough to win “The Best Game of the Year” By “IGN, Game Spot, Game Trailers, Spike TV, Giant Bomb and Kotaku”.
So about buying and playing GTA 4