Recently certain members of the gaming industry press received a mysterious e-mail from a ‘Sam Fisher’. The e-mail contained a link (remember kids, don’t follow links from strangers…) which the press foolishly followed. The link directed them to Twitter, and more specifically, the account of the real Sam Fisher – ‘ex-Third Echelon agent and on-the-run criminal’.

http://twitter.com/real_samfisher

As well as having a fun filled profile with a bio reading: “I’m being set up. I need to find out who killed my daughter. Please help me.” Sam reveals pieces of intel relating to the game and some wise words relating to Splinter Cell: Conviction.

‘relying on rogue resources…gonna need some help. Gotta lay low, but you’ll have more intel soon.’

 
Or not so gaming related…

 
‘when you believe, it’s easy to sacrifice. I never had any problem believing. Perception of power can be seductive.’

 
If you ask me, all of those who are interested in the game and have Twitter accounts should follow the Real Sam Fisher. You never know what you’re going to find out.

So we all know that 2010 is going to be a big year for gaming, if not the biggest. We have Bioshock 2, Mass Effect 2, Splinter Cell, Bayoneta, Battlefield and Final Fantasy 13 and this is all before the summer. But what about the games we haven’t heard much of? In this series of articles I will be looking a few games that in my opinion have a chance of coming from nowhere to grab that converted title of game of the year.

The first game of the series is Spec Ops: The Line™. The game is currently under development in Germany by Yager for 2k games. First off I can hear you all saying “Yager?” Well they were founded in 1999 and released “Yager” a shooter on the original Xbox gaining mediocre scores at best (6.7/10 Gamespot) and that is basically all I could find on these guys. Any way enough of that lets get down to business…

The game was announced last year during the Spike VGA’s with what can only be described as a breath taking trailer. The third person shooter will be the 9th in the Spec Ops series (Although “The Line” is a standalone game) and will be released on Xbox360, PS3 and PC late 2010 (No official date as yet.)

The game is set in a post apocalyptic Dubai, no not your nuclear war etc… but a series of sandstorms that have all but wiped out the Arab city. You, the player, will play as Captain Martin Walker who is accompanied by a Delta Force bravo team to rescue U.S. Army Colonel John Konrad and his loyal squad who remained behind in Dubai when everyone else was fleeing. Unable to reach anyone after the storms hit the US Army fears that Konrad and his team are dead. Until they pick up a week distress signal resulting in the rescue mission. During the game the player will face the common A.I enemy threats as well as threats that are posed from the ongoing natural disasters that are bombarding the city. As the game progresses better weapons and equipment become available along with squad commands.

The game uses the natural sandstorms to constantly change the arena of battle. The game will use an unpredictable engine that randomises when, where and how powerful these storms will be. The storms may block or open paths, turn a battle in your favour or indeed put you on the back foot.

Although gameplay footage is not available yet the trailer and screenshots that are available look stunning to say the least. The screenshots show a great variety of locations both in doors with equally nice textures and lighting effects. The atmosphere created in the trailer gives a real indication that the game will be not just about fighting and killing but also the human sacrifices’ made in order to complete the mission.
Multiplayer is included however details are sketchy. Currently Yager describes the games multiplayer as “a campaign that expands the single-player experience.” So the possibility of co-op, maybe?

The game is poised to be one that will truly surprise the vast majority of gamers. Bringing together the apocalyptic game styles of Metro 2033 and modern warfare styles as seen in Battlefield and Modern Warfare 2 to create what will hopefully be a great game that can really challenge for the game of the year title. I for one am really looking forward to this title and really do hope that it holds out as a really good game.
So make a note of Spec Ops: The Line™ coming 2010.

Useful Links
Screenshots (Gamespot)
Videos (Gamespot)
Official Site

By James Taylor UK

Now most would already know that some time ago Gearbox Software promised that a new character from The Secret Armoury of General Knoxx expansion pack will be getting a Twitter account.

Apparently that time is now, and the revealed character is none other than the one, the only, Mr. General Knoxx !!

Director, Mikey Neumann from Gearbox Software said, “Hmmm, seems this @GeneralKnoXX character is tweeting various, sadly spelled, adventures through Pandora now.”

Mr. Knoxx will be posting pictures, giving information about the story and just posting random irrelevant facts for the hell of it (like 90% of the Twitter following). The link for the account is: Here, Enjoy folks.

“watch your step boy. i lost my eye in a fight with myself . ps. i won”

Praise the fighting game gods. For this week only Xbox Live have given us simple folk amazing prices for some of the best beat ‘um’ ups. The games up this week are:

Marvel vs Capcom 2
1200
800
33%
All Xbox LIVE Regions

TMNT: Turtles in Time Reshelled
800
400
50%
Not available in Japan and Korea

Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao
1200
800
33%
Not available in Korea

*Karate Chop* Hi-ah!

I don’t know about you lot, but I’m rather excited for the imminent release of Bioshock 2. This launch trailer has only served to heighten that anticipation. I’ve gone from having my doubts about a sequel to such a great game to being quite hyped for it. Here’s hoping it meets expectations.

In my opinion, it’s between three games. Mass Effect 2, Final Fantasy, that this years underdog, Resonance of Fate.

Now everyone has talked about the first two to death, so I thought I’d draw your attention to the latter.

Developed by Tri-Ace and Published by Sega, the game is set to be released in the second half of 2010. This game hasn’t been given so much press so don’t worry if you haven’t heard of it – it’s a real underdog at this point.

Originally called End of Eternity in Japan, the game takes place in the future. Much like in Star Ocean, the Earth’s atmosphere and environment has changed for the worse. Once again like Star Ocean, the human race as we knew it was close to extinction due to unfriendly gases sweeping our plane. The few humans that remained built a device titled Basel, which should hopefully solve the planets problems. Over the following months a class system starts to develop. The rich are able to live close to Basel, whilst the poor stay around the surrounding areas. Predictable, Basel starts to encounter a few problems – it’s my guess that the heroes are set to work out what’s gone wrong!

The game has three main characters; Zephyr, Vasheron and Leanne. Subject #20 also plays a rather important role.

Those lucky enough to go to Japan to play the demo early experienced one of the most complex battle systems known to date. However although one might view this as a negative – everyone was blown away. Apparently in an attempt to similar the game, no sword are present. Everyone uses different guns and explosives. Different weapons have different effects as the battle system incorporates two different kinds of attacks, and furthermore, two different types of damages.

Now until we get some more information, the details are a bit fogy, but this game in my opinion sounds like one to look out for. Check out the link below to see the Japanese demo in action.

Demo.

The hit arcade game; Splosion Man, had got a lot of press since its release. Not only is it a resurrected old favourite, but it was also said to unlock avatar clothing at the end of the game. The game has 50 levels of multiplayer funness, and an online 4 player mode to match. The game received a 9.0 review and has been called, ‘one of the most awesome games of all time’.

With that said, Major Nelson has revealed next weeks ‘deal of the week’ to be none other than Splosion Man!

That’s right, the price for Splosion Man is getting a major cut – 50% cut to be exact. Come February, for one week only, the game is going to cost 400MSP!

How’s that for an ‘explosively’ good offer? …I think that terrible pun is my que to stop typing. Damn it.

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction collectors edition was revealed yesterday to be coming to the xbox 360. This game is going to be a GAME exclusive for us UK’ers and will be priced at £69.99.

As stated on the GAME website, the pack will include:

An exclusive Sam Fisher statue,
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction game in unique SteelBook case,
Infiltration Mode: Eliminate all hostiles in the mission area without being detected,
A special playable skin: Shadow Armor,
Early access to 3 weapons: SC300, SR2 and MP5,
The official Splinter Cell Conviction Soundtrack (more than 17 tracks).

 
“Sam Fisher can no longer rely on his trusted bag of tools and iconic goggles. He’s gone beyond being a double agent. Now he’s a fully fledged fugitive without the intel of 3rd Echelon or the support of his friends. Those custom gadgets can’t be found at your local hardware store.”

 
The bundle will be released on the 26/02/2010; so start saving!

Now over the past few months there has been a lot of talk about Fable III. Some of you would have heard about it and some of you wouldn’t have. For those of you who aren’t in the know, here is a summary to all things Fable III.

Firstly, the game plans were announced and stated to most likely be released sometime in 2010.

Now moving away from the actual announcement of Fable III, Peter Molyneux talks Natal.

Way back in October Molyneux was quoted saying, “I am going to say it’s going to use a controller. But I’ve never said it’s not going to use Natal.” He later clarified, “I have not said that we’re not going to have Natal in Fable III. All I have really said is it is a controller experience. That doesn’t mean there isn’t going to be Natal. Do you really think knowing me I wouldn’t want to use something like Natal? I mean that’s just mad, man.”

Later that month Molyneux reveals some more information at the BEFTA lecture. He confirmed that the game will offer support for the Natal motion control system. He also promoted the soon to be Fable III in-game micro-transaction shop. This shop is rumoured to include armour, weapons and even new areas. Could this mean an improved online experience? It looks like it may just.

FINALLY, this week on Major Nelson’s weekly podcast, the head of Xbox360 product management, Aaron Greenberg confirmed that Fable III will be released Autumn 2010!

Now how’s that for news. Bring on Fable III!

All those who aren’t excited, maybe it’s time to re-visit your local game store and pick up a copy of Fable II, Game of the Year edition. Have fun folks.

This can’t really be called news as lets face it, we all saw this coming, however EA have now stated that the crew down at Visceral Games are working there little socks off to create the game.

 
All the information that has been officially released about the game is;

“The infection continues to spread throughout space and our hero Isaac Clarke is the only person able to contain it,” said the Executive Producer of Dead Space 2, Steve Papoutsis. “There are still loads of Necromorphs that need killing. In Dead Space 2, not everything is exactly as it seems. Expect plot twists that will surprise you and a huge cast of twisted, disgusting monsters that are sure to scare the daylights out of you.”

These are exciting times people, prepare to be amazed (or not)!