Blur, the new arcade racing game from Bizarre Creations and Activision. What have the PGR Developers been up to? Let’s find out

Bizarre Creations are famous for their racing games and the Project Gotham Racing series proves this. This time though, they have gone for a Mario Kart style of racing. Not many companies do the change from Simulation to Arcade Racer but Bizarre have done it and let’s hope it puts some adrenaline in Genre over-run by Simulation racers.

When I first jumped into Blur, the menu was very simple and easy to get straight into the online. It even suggested linking my twitter to the game. I did so, and I could then tweet directly from in-game. I can tweet about my Multiplayer rank, (which I will talk about later) or how many fans I have. You can add a personal message to each tweet which is nice. I was disappointed you couldn’t actually see your twitter feed in game or just write a personal message without bragging about how good you are at Blur. Then again, it’s a beta. Things can change.


I then had the choice of doing skirmish racing and extreme racing. Skirmish had up to 10 people in race and extreme you could have up to 20. Both seemed to work well, the tracks can accommodate the 20 with ease but the tracks themselves were boring. There were no real surprises on the tracks, no side streets or shortcuts. Nothing to change the result of the race.

Blur has incorporated another Mario Kart trait with power ups which are on the track and you have to drive through to pick up and use. There are 8 power ups and the ones which I used the most were Shunt which sends a homing missile type thing towards the car in front or behind, depending where you shoot it. The other one I used was Barge which sends a shockwave out from your car knocking the cars around you into the walls and other vehicles. Other power ups consist of, repair, shield, bolt (3 shots), nitro, mine and shock. Shock is great one, it’s make electric barriers appear on the road and you have to try and dodge them, this mixes up the race dramatically.


To keep the multiplayer alive, Blur has taken what many FPS games have and incorporated a Ranking System, in the beta you can go up to Rank 10. What’s the highest rank? I have no idea. You get your ranking up by getting more Fans. Fans are gained by how you race on the track. More destruction and havoc you cause the more fans. You also get fan bonus for finishing certain positions. 1st giving you the highest bonus. Another nice little thing in the game are mods. These works like the Perk System on Call of Duty. You get different mods which can benefit you. For example, one is called Bribe. You start with a power up at the start of the race or after you wrecked. These are all great additions to multiplayer which is hella fun anyway.

Bizarre has surprised me with Blur, it’s a game which will be hard to beat in the arcade racing style. I would recommend Blur to anyone, it’s easy to jump in and play. A great social game and just overall fun. I am impressed.

Industry analyst Mike Hickey has said that "although we expect nothing from Rockstar...at E3" A pre-E3 announcement regarding the next installment of the GTA series is quite likely, as suspension grows and rumours of strange GTA related sites continue. Hickey also went on to say that GTA 5 could easily be the biggest seller, when compared to the number of sales and the overall pattern the sales took when GTA 4 was released.

Ubisoft  has finally announced its rumoured football game, Pure Football.

It includes 230 players, 17 international teams and also 17 legendary players.  The game features an over-the-shoulder camera, and the commentary "dynamically reacts to the context of the match".  It also features everything else you would expect from a football game such as, multiplayer and you can create your own player.

I hope the commentary is half decent, as that is the only thing that lets current football games down.

Anyway, here's the reveal trailer.

Fan's have been wanting a certain Valve sequel for years, - No not Half-Life Episode 3, no one cares about that! Portal of course. And a few days ago we got the news we had all been waiting, Portal 2 is coming. But it ain't gonna be like Portal 1. This time its bigger, and better.

GI has a nice article on the up coming game, and its already been scanned and put online for all of us to enjoy, including images and details. Here are the basics:

- Portal was a 'trial'. Size and assets specifically kept minimal. Had no idea it would be this popular.
- Portal was a 'test bed', Portal 2 is a 'game'.
- GlaDOS returns as the antagonist.
- Chell returns, and we play as her.
- Portal 2 takes place a long time after the original. Hundreds of years, in fact. The complex has overgrown.
- Those orbs seen at the end of Portal are personality orbs. They've cornered off sections of the labs as their own, and are concerned about the decaying state of the complex.
- Portal gun remains unchanged.
- Physics will now be part of portal puzzle solving. EG: A vent that sucks air in can be combined with a portal to 'suck' from a different location.
- "Paint" mechanic, various liquid substances that cause some reaction. For example, in the demo shown a orange substance on the floor caused Chell to be propelled upwards. Using portals you can apply these 'paints' to other areas of the level for puzzle solving.
- Reflection cubes will allow Chell to reflect lazers for various puzzles.
- The co-op campaign will have you playing as two bipedal robots. The like to hold hands.
- Splitscreen for people playing on the console, and 'picture in picture' available for those playing remote co-op (eg: PC). This allows you to easily communicate with the other player and combine efforts for puzzle solving.

Sounds good, dunnit?
No date as yet, sometimes this Holiday season for PC, Xbox 360 and even the Mac.

You check can check out the full scans here for your enjoyment, but we have a teaser below.

The first piece of Bioshock 2 DLC has been confirmed for release on XBL, PC and PSN on the 11th March. The DLC includes 20 new trials, a rank increase to level 50, five new masks, and two new playable characters. It will set you back 400 points or $4.99.

I hope all you Bishock 2 fans enjoy the DLC, there will be plenty more to come over the games lifetime.

The European Vice President of Microsoft, Chris Lewis, has said that the Xbox 360 has 5 years life left in it, and that this is possible with the release of Natal later this year, as it will push the console to new heights. He also thinks 2010 will be the biggest year in Xbox history.


Hopefully the Xbox 360 will last a few more years, as it is a great piece of kit, and with Microsoft updating it every few months, I don't think there is a need for a new console any time soon.

On Thursday, we reported that Square Enix had announced a new Tomb Raider game. Well, sort of. They announced Lara Croft and The Guardian of Light. Eyebrows were raised when the name Tomb Raider wasn't mentioned.

Well, this is maybe why.

According to Gamespot, the game isn't a full blown Tomb Raider, but a top down, arcade action shooter, hence why its download only. All makes sense now, doesn't it?

The game centre's around two characters, Lara herself, and a Mayan called Totec. It includes all the usual shoot em up, tomb raiding goodness you would expect, co-op - online and off, and a fuzzy warm 1980's arcade feeling, but with modern visuals.

Sounds good eh? No release date as yet, just this Summer.
Check out the full article here, and the images below. Thanks, Gamespot.

A single Twitter update by celebrity Jonathan Ross cast doubt upon the capabilities of the upcoming Xbox 360 peripheral Project Natal, which is set to revolutionize the way we play games.

Many were concerned that the lag Jonathan talked about would be crushing, and that it would make games unplayable.

However Lionhead Studio front man Peter Molyneux has rushed to the defence of the project. stating Ross was playing on hardware that was almost a year old, and that other prototype models that are being tested throughout the country have since been subject to countless hardware revisions and countless software revisions.

Press release just received direct from Valve folks and it's official now:

March 5, 2010 - Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Left 4 Dead, Counter-Strike, and Half-Life) and leading technologies (such as Steam, Source), today announced Portal 2 for shipment this coming holiday season.

Portal was originally released in 2007 and earned over 70 industry achievement awards.

For more information, please visit www.steamgames.com

More information when we get it.

Notwen (Marc Whitten), the General Manager of LIVE has just updated the Code of Conduct on LIVE. You can now put your sexual orientation down as long as you only use certain words. For example. Gay and Lesbian are allowed. "Faggot" or something like this is not allowed.

Code of Conduct
Letter from Notwen

Good lord, a trio of new trailers? Yep, this time it's Mafia 2. Follow the break and enjoy the footage.

Latest trailer for Metro 2033 has been launched (a couple of days back, oopsy daisy) and looks rather spooky and mint in equal measure. Enjoy:

Trailers inbound ladies and gentlemen, enjoy the latest info and launch of the multiplayer co-op mode for Splinter Cell: Conviction, below.

It's that time again, and TTG have a video up full of compelling footage of some CoD4 map remakes and a few new ones due to hit 360 a month before the Ps3 sometime in the Spring.

Take a look below and decide for yourself:

It's been on several folk's radars for a while now, ever since the first game's had them hooked on original Xbox. Since the 3 years when the game was announced, little has been mentioned up until now.

Rumour mills, weird teaser shots and build up is beginning ahead of E3 and GDC and it's looking that the originally rumoured Q3/4 2010 launch could still happen.

Recently, a patent for the name (in title) was leaked and yesterday, the community front man of maker's Eidos Montreal revealed a picture of a zippo lighter and sod all else. Look out for more information here when we have it.

...and it's coming to download only. Looks like the digital distribution revolution is well on its way to becoming a reality and quite possibly, sooner than we realised.

There are no named homes for the game as of yet, so whether it appears on the 360 is still to be confirmed, but have you noticed the fabled Tomb Raider has been dropped? That's as this is set to be a different adventure.

Press snippet below, more news expected at the Games Developer Conference later in the month. We'll keep you updated as and when.

“This is a really exciting project for Crystal Dynamics, we have created something completely new and very different to what people might be expecting,” said Darrell Gallagher, General Manager of Crystal Dynamics. “Lara Croft is such an iconic character in videogames, with Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light we have created what we believe is a truly original digital experience.”

The Just Cause 2 demo is now live.
You can que up the 1GB chunk of mayhem here, and buy the full version when its out on March 26.

These are the times where Wake on LAN would be a welcomed feature.

Yup! Britain's biggest games convention will return this year for the third time at Earls Court, London on October 1st-3rd. That means there'll now be room for more than 20,000 people over the 3 days and even more room for those lovely games.

Check out the full press release below:


UK's Biggest Videogame Exhibition Heads to Earls Court 1st - 3rd October 2010
Brighton, England, 3rd March 2010. 


Eurogamer Network, Europe's leading independent games media specialist, is thrilled to announce that Eurogamer Expo 2010 will open to the public on 1st to 3rd October in the Brompton Hall of Earls Court, London.

Building upon the winning format of the enormously successful 2009 event, this year's Expo will be the only consumer event offering British gamers the chance to go hands-on with the biggest games of this year and the next.

With over 20,000 consumers attending, the event is perfectly positioned at the very start of the key Q4 release window, representing a huge sampling opportunity for consumers to trial the best of the Christmas releases.

"Earls Court is another step up for the Eurogamer Expo," commented Rupert Loman, Managing Director of Eurogamer Network. "Our 2009 event was a sell-out in advance of the show and while our philosophy continues to revolve around sustainable and organic growth, moving to a bigger venue with all the facilities it has to offer allows us to put on a fantastic event for even more gamers.”

David Lilley, Eurogamer Expo Event Director, added: "In addition to masses of playable games, this year's Eurogamer Expo will deliver an even wider range of other attractions. It's our intention to provide a full day's entertainment to this key group of opinion formers and gaming advocates."

All of the most popular aspects of the 2009 event will return including the jam-packed developer sessions, the curiosity shop that is the Indie Arcade and the popular GamesIndustry.biz Career Fair, in addition to a series of new areas and events which will be announced over the coming months.

For more information about the Eurogamer Expo contact:
David Lilley
E: david@eurogamer.net
T: +44 (0)7779 224138

About the Eurogamer Expo
Launched in 2008, the Eurogamer Expo has grown from it’s original capacity of 4,000 people to 20,000 people in just two years.

About Eurogamer Network
Founded in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman, Brighton-based Eurogamer Network is the publisher of Europe's most popular independent videogames website, Eurogamer.net. The company also publishes a video site, Eurogamer TV, and a social network for gamers, Eurogamers. Eurogamer is available in 10 languages across Europe. The company also operates live events such as the Eurogamer Expo and the GamesIndustry.biz Career Fair, and publishes the world's market-leading industry resource, GamesIndustry.biz.

Take control of Dante in his crusade to save Beatrice by entering and kicking seven shades of 'you know what' out of hell in an attempt to break free and save the trapped souls under control of the evil and sinister Lucifer keeping them there.

Story

Dante's Inferno is heavily based on one man's passage through the circles of hell in order to free Beatrice - his sweetheart who was cruely taken as bait into hell - and to defeat the entities representing the rulers of the 9 deadly sins, to ultimately take over the Throne of God.

Throughout the game, you will see your passage take the path echoing the 14th Century Poem - Divine Comedy - on which the story is based on. The allegory is the telling of Dante's adventure through a medieval interpretation of what hell is and what it represents and sees him travel through the 9 circles of hell in order:

Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sullenness, Heresy, Violence, Fraud and ultimately, Betrayal.

Later in the game, Dante must face up to and ultimately fight his own sins in a tale of treachery, war crimes, family tragedies and more as his descent into the center of hell deepens and the pursuit to rescue his beloved reaches a stunning climax.

Graphics

Normally, the path in which my reviews go lead on to the gameplay side of things next, but the presentation and quality of the story telling in Dante's Inferno is so impressive it needs to be addressed now.

All of the main story developments are presented using a 3 tier mix of in game cutscenes (all of which have production values so high, they could be mistaken for real life), a cartoon-come-story board presentation similar to an historical timeline and a fully fleged animation.

It's this stunning attention to detail and depth to the story telling that is ultimately the main feature selling point to Dante's Inferno. WIthout a doubt, you'll have your breath taken away in the opening scenes and hooked to the end because of it.

In game graphics continue the high quality theme as the journey through the 9 circles deepens and your crusade picks up pace, the action and environments react accordingly and with each increment in difficulty along your path, the tasks and challenges, enemies and puzzles reflect in a deeper, darker and more sinister presentation of your surroundings.

Boiling blood, fire effects are all impressive, but are dwarfed in comparison to the sense of scale both of the levels and in the size of the main 'entities' (think of these as 'end of level' bosses) and their respective attitude's.

All in all, it's bloody beautiful. Animation is slick, environments seedy, shiny and highly detailed and polished to a squeaky clean sheen and it genuinely pushes the limit of the 360 in terms of the stunning FMV interludes.

Gameplay

Think of this as the ultimate mix of hack 'n' slash, adventure, mini RPG and story telling and you're pretty much there.

The standard mix of spam 'x' button and press 'a' to jump to kill and fly and jump from swinging vine to swinging vine idea is all present, mixed in with opportunities to scale and ride the larger enemies to either 'absolve' or 'punish' them by shoving your fabled cross in their face or by slashing them in half respectively by doing on screen commands (such as push the analogue sticks in opposite directions at the right time, or by mashing 'b').

Throughout the game, you'll have the opportunity to develop the way in which you play with the introduction of magic and expanding your arsenal and killer moves by collecting souls and exchanging them as a sort of in game currency in order to progress further.

You also have the ability to rank up a good and an evil side by either rescuing souls at the appropriate times or by punishing them. Doing so much of one or the another allows your XP to rise in order to ultimately rank up and unlock the more advanced abilities depending on your play style.

Puzzles are a regular occurence and are often based and feature the same principles as the previous ones, such as: drag this block to hold this object up, or shove the block up to make an easier platform to jump up etc.  There's no serious head scratching moments, it's just simply a break up of the never ending slaughtering of the ever increasing amount and size of enemies throughout the game.

All objective or point of interests throughout the levels are highlighted by a spinning circle allowing you to grab, jump to, swing from, slide down or pull (ie. switches) and any interesting fixed objects that are able to be destroyed glow and flash in order for you to swing your scythe at in order to reveal new pathways.

It's a simple game, but very enjoyable and for a hack and slash newbie like me, the storyline drove the game forward at a perfect pace and was complimentary to the simple gameplay design.

Sound

From the menacing screams of tortured souls or the desperate plees for help while climbing the walls within hell, the representation of hell is one of a pain and suffering.

Excellent voice acting throughout the game, whether via in game action or cutscenes adds to the sense of high production values. Dramatic tense undertones in the background whilst playing, through to the mechanical movements of stairways, chain lifts and creaking statues all add to the sense of depth and scale of hell.

To summarise the audio quality and cinematics, they're complimentary to the proceeding comments on graphics, without being outstanding. Great voice acting talent is a genuinely pleasant addition.

Summary

Dante's Inferno is an epic depiction of one man's travel through hell using stunning graphics and simple to pick up and play game controls so everybody can enjoy and feel pro whilst gorging on it.

If a little short and some what lacking in replay-ability, the game is a must play for fans of such series as Devil May Cry and God of War, and whilst some fans of the forementioned series' may feel that this is a blatant 'rip' of their favourite franchises, they can relax fully in the knowledge that this can sit comfortably next to them due to the quality and attention to detail Visceral Games have added to it.

Yesterday, Bungie said they would be dropping a "Multiplayer Bomb" on the world in about a day, and this looks like it.

The Halo Reach multiplayer will include all new modes including Spartans vs Elites, Assassinations and lots of explosions!

This comes as a Taiwanese gaming site may of leaked the information early, naughty naughty.
It does all look pretty legit though, check out the video below.

Yes, no more rumours or waiting, the game all racing RPG fans have been waiting for has been unveiled. Scheduled to land at the end of the year, the original game's makers have been the guiding hands in creating this version.

For the first time as well, the game will feature crash damage and looks to expand on its massively multiplayer aspect that made the game famous. Press conference and the first game screens to hit below.

“After the highly successful Test Drive Unlimited which redefined the genre with massively open online racing, Test Drive Unlimited 2 will be an innovative evolution in racing games, expanding its unparalleled multiplayer experience and immersing players in a world full of new online content and lifestyle customization.” said Jeff Lapin, CEO of Atari, SA. 

“The game fits squarely into our strategy of moving online and generating new revenue streams while maintaining our current retail business.”

G4 has reported that Activision might still want Infinity Ward making the Call of Duty Series

Even though Infinity Ward studio heads Jason West and Vince Zampella are now confirmed to have left the company, Activision says Infinity Ward is "central to Call of Duty's future."

"Jason West and Vince Zampella are no longer with Infinity Ward," explained Griffith, reiterating what we now publicly know. "Infinity Ward remains central to Call of Duty's future and we rely on the combined talent, expertise and leadership of the team there for its success."

So, even though 2 of the studio heads of IW are gone, Activision may still want Infinity Ward to make Call of Duty. Modern Warfare 3? Call of Duty 7?

Do you know what makes a good game trailer? Slow motion rag-doll physics and classical music. Do you know what the launch trailer for EA's Battlefield Bad Company 2 has? Slow motion rag-doll physics and classical music. Oh, and explosions - they're there too. Enjoy!

Microsoft has announced an Xbox 360 Splinter Cell: Conviction Special Edition Bundle.

The bundle, due to be released in early April, will contain a standard edition copy of Splinter Cell: Conviction, a 250GB console and 2 Wireless Controllers.

The Call of Duty developers seem to be in trouble with publisher Activision

G4 have reported that some bouncer type's showed up and refused to explain why they were there. People at the studio were "confused" and "worried". Infinity Ward studio heads Vince Zampella and Jason West reportedly met with Activision this morning and have not been seen by Infinity Ward staff members since. (This does not mean they have been kidnapped)

These screens below show that Jason West has possibly been let go from Infinity Ward, more info to come.

Remedy Entertainment has release some nice new screens of Alan Wake, the upcoming 360 horror game, on their Facebook page, but now conveniently here at Game Attic for you to feast your eyes upon!

The game's out May 18 for the US and May 21 for the UK.

Enjoy.