The Da Vinci Disappearance

I previously covered Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood on the blog way back in December 2010.  Towards the end of my review I said:

As for whether Brotherhood is significantly shorter than it’s predecessor, well, it’s definitely shorter, but not by much.  I have completed the main story mode with a smattering of side missions in about 16 hours.  100% completion in AC II totalled a good 30 hours.  To achieve the same in Brotherhood I’m estimating around 20 hours as a ballpark figure.  So that gives you a game 2/3 the size as its predecessor.

When in Rome: Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood single player

It turns out that I underestimated the sheer amount of content the developers packed in to Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood.  In fact, I’ve notched up 37 hours of gameplay within the historic walls of Rome.  And that’s still just the single player.

So, what does this have to do with The Da Vinci Disappearance?  Well, we’re talking about DLC that adds more gameplay to a game already fit-to-burst with content.  The DLC itself isn’t anything particularly remarkable.  If you’ve played through a good chunk of Assassin’s Creed II and/or Brotherhood, then there’s nothing new to see here.

Continue reading The Da Vinci Disappearance

GRID: Reloaded and DLC announced

GRID: Reloaded and DLC announced– New Prestige pack in addition to the 8-Ball  pack DLC to be bundled with the platinum-selling game.  Hits the PSN in the PAL region on March 11.  For me though, if there’s no Trophies, then no deal.  That’s how you’d get more people playing such a great, under-rated title.

Uncharted universe expands with Eye of Indra

You all (should) know by now that I love the Uncharted series.  So when a new four-part motion comic series called Uncharted: Eye of Indra hit the PlayStation Store, I was all over it.  What’s strange is that apart from a couple of mentions, Eye of Indra has been relatively under-promoted.  Maybe Naughty Dog is just testing the water at this stage?

For Uncharted fans Eye of Indra is a must buy.  The motion comic series is a prequel (note: yes, its canon) to Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune containing some enlightening back story for Nathan Drake, a plot twist, and at least one person you’re not going to expect.  Apparently this particular series is just the first of many, which is a decision I applaud.  This means that Uncharted fans can quench their thirst with an Uncharted game every couple of years with extra multiplayer DLC and motion comics to flesh out the Uncharted universe in-between games.

I got the Uncharted: Eye of Indra Multiplayer Skin Pack which includes all four parts of the motion comic and two Uncharted 2 multiplayer skins, although you can get the episodes separately if you really want to. The skins pack contains Rika for the heroes and Pinkerton for the villains.  Go check it out!

I’m not usually one for speculating, but what the heck.  Time to move on to a bit of speculation: maybe all the motion comics will simply fill in the gaps between each Uncharted game?  That leads me to guess that another series could fill in the pieces between Drake’s Fortune and Among Thieves, with another series set after Among Thieves, rather like a sandwich.  A very tasty sandwich.

I’ve dismissed the possibility of Naughty Dog taking the Uncharted series into the ahem, mostly ‘uncharted’ waters of episodic gaming.  Sure, GTA IV’s episodes seem to have worked out all right, Criterion went purely down the DLC route, but Half-Life 2’s episodes are taking a long time to deliver.  I think the DLC/episodic content for Fallout 3 is probably the best example of this sort of idea done right.  However for Uncharted’s linear gameplay, in my personal opinion it isn’t worth Naughty Dog’s time and money to go down this particular route.  Their current setup seems to be working out well so far.

Have you bought any DLC?  If so, was it worth it?

Naughty Dog adds free DLC for Uncharted 2

This coming weekend, Naughty Dog will be adding a few treats for gamers in Uncharted 2: new, free multiplayer map ‘The Fort‘, in-game player card, and leaderboards.  Just for the weekend itself, there’s likely to be Double XP according to TheSixthAxis.  Might be enough to peel me away from Assassin’s Creed II hmm.

LittleBigPlanet Metal Gear Solid costume and level Packs: better than sliced bread

LittleBigPlanet Metal Gear Solid costume and level Packs: better than sliced bread– You know I’m absolutely going to get this!  Probably the first compelling reason to spend money on a LBP content pack is here.  Click the link and watch the video; I dare you not to be impressed (it also has 11 extra Trophies!).  I need to persuade my bro to do some multiplayer on LBP though, it looks so much fun…

A golden opportunity for Codemasters

I feel that Codemasters are missing out on a golden opportunity.  How so?  I’m referring to Trophy support and downloadable content; what I’m on about will all become clear very soon.

Codemasters are driving game veterans, having developed the Collin McRae Rally series over a number of years now.  They followed up their great series with the launch of DiRT on the PS3.  Then the subsequent development and launch of Race Driver: GRID- essentially the latest game in the TOCA Touring Car series, was a stroke of genius.  I’m only guessing here, but GRID surely reached a large audience.  I was a gamer that had played the TOCA Touring Car games and didn’t particularly like them, but GRID changed that. The visuals, the style, and the sublime handling.  Hey, I liked the handling! (some people would argue the handling was lumpy).

What has made things turn sour for PS3 users, is the fact that GRID won’t be patched to retrospectively support Trophies.  Everything’s been quiet on the GRID front for months, and then a mysterious downloadable content pack is available to purchase on the PlayStation Store.  It’s called the “8-ball pack“, and for £6.29 you get 8 cars.  Yup, for all that money, you just get that.  Let’s have a look what the competition have done…

Criterion Games, the developers of Burnout Paradise, have toiled away at and released Trophy support, and numerous downloadable content packs (all free!), and are only going to charge for their next pack because it adds a whole new island to the game.  It is probably even in the territory of an expansion pack.

This is why I don’t get this comment:

We’re currently not planning to retrospectively support PSN trophies – it’s not a trivial thing to add to a game.

Source.

This is where I believe that Codemasters have missed a golden opportunity.  The fans want Trophies, and the developers want a return on investment (ROI), so why don’t they patch the game for trophies, chuck a couple of cars in to sweeten the deal, then offer the pack up for purchase on the PlayStation Store?

You may think I’m making a big deal out of this, especially because there are many games out there that were released before Trophies came out and haven’t been patched such as Resistance: Fall of Man, The Orange Box, and many more.  But none of those games have just had a downloadable content pack released!  If they’re willing to develop new content packs, then why not Trophy support?

Sure, there will be a development team working on DiRT 2, but GRID is a franchise now in it’s own right and they could have kept interest in the game for far longer than they have done, just by following Criterion’s example.  But I digress.  I’ll conclude by admitting that the main reason I’m so upset about this is that GRID is one of my favourite games, and I’m just irritated by the attitude of the developers in this case.

Sony UK boss on DLC: ‘Nothing is ever exclusive’

Sony UK boss on DLC: ‘Nothing is ever exclusive’– This is a very interesting interview.  It has allayed most of my fears about exclusives and whatnot.  Seems that whilst Microsoft is engaging in bribery and market restriction, Sony is wisely investing in R&D.  My faith in them has been restored.