Level design and layouts are fluid and fast paced do not expect epic battlefield scenarios with mechanics being more focused on close quarters gang battles in the favelas of Brazil and the gritty streets of Jersey. The server’s operated very well for a day one launch migrating maps without repeat, and a voting system is implemented offering three maps for the player’s to choose from much like the Halo series. DLC content maps where released with retailer specific sales, but this does not affect lobbies due to those maps only being selectable at the multiplayer menu.

The character and weapon upgrade system initially unlocks at level four of gameplay with the first three levels offering standard load outs for each low level player. The load out you select is weight specific much like Mass Effect 3’s multiplayer mechanic was earlier this year. The more gear you carry the less health and stamina will be regenerate. Support players that are going to be less mobile will want to select heavy load outs with heavy body armor, and ranged riles while players looking to run and gun will want to select light sub machine guns or pistols enabling them to roam the map with no stamina penalty. These light loads also have a more lasting effect on time spent in bullet time. Bullet time is only accessible by increasing you kill count, and it may be used as a defensive or offensive weapon. If you are rolling with your crew (Join the 360G crew through the Rock Star social club search 360GamerCast with an all types search) and enter bullet time all crew members in your area will also enter bullet time so you may take advantage of clearing entire opposing crews with only one member exhausting their meter. Conversely if you are retreating to you crew members providing covering fire you can enter bullet time so they may have a greater chance of providing you that saving grace.

Parties entering the lobby may be split up initially if you are joining an active game; however once the match has ended the servers did a great job of matching you with your crew upon entering the next match. This is by far the best multiplayer that Rock Star has produced, and that is why they have implemented the crew mechanics moving forward into Grand theft Auto V. Communication is crucial just like any other multiplayer game. The teams that coordinate and direct each other are going to be successful while those that just run and gun are going to suffer defeat after defeat.

The multiplayer does not come without faults with the most poignant being the kill cam that does not exist. While the kill cam in Call of Duty may be embarrassing at times seeing yourself being owned by twelve year old American brats. It is also educational by assisting you to find camping players and areas that you may exploit the future. This kill camera you only see your body being pumped full of lead as it falls to the ground in an elaborate mess. Also a few game glitches where experienced during our time in multiplayer. Once I dove into bullet time, and became trapped in the geometry of the level and was almost invisible. Enabling me to take out multiple opponents without them realizing I was there. Sure this problem will be remedied soon, but the kill cam issue will hopefully be addressed in GTAV.

Overall Max Payne’s multiplayer is more than I expected and look forward to checking out the remaining game modes with the 360GamerCast community. Private lobbies can be established and this is where I see the Multiplayer having the most legs in the community, but the crew vs. crew mechanic of open lobbies will be great fun as well. With the lack of current multiplayer titles Max Payne is sure to have staying power for the time being and with the Rock Star season pass being back in effect for Max Payne there are sure to be updated maps keeping it fresh for Rock Star’s loyal community.

7/10 Fresh Twist on multiplayer, good leveling mechanic, and better than expected experience

Thank You to INNSOMKNEEACK and Lord of Letterbox for joining me in multiplayer for this review.

Here is the link http://www.facebook.com/groups/7609501237/

You have probably noticed by now that there is no podcast this week. We have taken a well deserved week off but we will be back on Tuesday 15th May 2012.

All of the podcast crew have been super busy recently and we have badly needed a break.

We have also made a mutual decision to make the podcast a maximum of 2 hours long as we feel that the show has been much too long recently. We will also be putting video reviews on the podcast feed from time to time for you to enjoy.

We will see you all very soon and thanks to the community for all your support.

I’m am super excited for Dishonored, the immersive first-person action game under development at Arkane Studios!

Dishonored casts you as a supernatural assassin driven by revenge. You are the once-trusted bodyguard of the beloved Empress. Framed for her murder, you become an infamous assassin, known only by the disturbing mask that has become your calling card. In a time of uncertainty, when the city is being besieged by plague and ruled by an oppressive government armed with strange technologies, dark forces conspire to bestow upon you abilities beyond those of any common man.

In Dishonored, creatively eliminate your targets with the flexible combat system as you combine the numerous supernatural abilities, weapons and unusual gadgets at your disposal. Pursue your enemies under the cover of darkness or ruthlessly attack them head on with weapons drawn. The outcome of each mission plays out based on the choices you make.

Check out this cool trailer which has convinced me to preorder this game

Here is some info on the Ghost Recon Future Soldier Beta which I am super excited about. Make sure you all download it and I will set up some gamer nights on it most nights until the Beta ends

Ubisoft announced the Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier multiplayer beta will run from April 19^th until May 2^nd for the Xbox 360^® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and the PlayStation^®3 computerentertainment system.

In the multiplayer beta, up to twelve simultaneous players will have the opportunity to choose from three classes (Rifleman, Engineer and Scout) and experience the intense adversarial online action in two different modes:

Conflict
·         Description: players battle to complete objectives located throughout the map and earn points, the team with the most points at the end of the round wins
·         Game session: 1 round of 15 minutes

Saboteur (available starting April 26^th)
·         Description: a bomb spawns in a central location, both teams compete to retrieve the bomb and be the first to detonate it at the opposing team’s base
·         Game session: 1 round of 10 minutes

Both modes will be playable on two different maps (Pipeline and Mill).

The beta can be accessed in the following ways:
·         Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction Owners
o    Splinter Cell Conviction Xbox 360 owners can access the beta directly through the game
·         Pre-order Ghost Recon: Future Soldier on Xbox 360 and receive a Xbox 360 beta key
·         Also, look out for additional key giveaways online

Additionally, Ubisoft announced Ghost Recon Network, a free companion service that will support all Ghost Recon titles moving forward. Accessible from smartphones, tablets, and web browsers, Ghost Recon Network will allow players to interact with Ghost Recon: Future Soldier & upcoming Ghost Recon games anywhere at any time. The Ghost Recon Network site (www.ghostrecon.com/network) and v1.0 iOS & Android apps will launch with Ghost Recon: Future Soldier on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on May 25. Players in the multiplayer beta will have the opportunity to try specific features of the Ghost Recon Network website and get their hands on the Android mobile app – both of which are in beta stage.

Ghost Recon Network Key Features:

Customize and share in-game weapons on the go
·         Use GunSmith mobile to customize weapons down to their inner parts in 3D and sync them to consoles
·         Publish weapons to the GunSmith Gallery and browse guns posted by the Ghost Recon Network community

Track player history and friends’ in-game status
•      Access personal player performance on Ghost Recon: Future Soldier & upcoming Ghost Recon games and compare stats on leaderboards
•      Receive challenges, friend activity reports and community updates via the website or push notifications on smartphones and tablets

Receive exclusive rewards
•     Download the free Ghost Recon Network app at launch to unlock additional attachment credits in Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
•     Earn weapons and weapon skins in Ghost Recon: Future Soldier by playing other Ghost Recon games or interacting with other Ghost Recon experiences

Become a better player
•      Study detailed game information and heatmaps to prepare for the next battle
•      Build and manage your squad, add recruits and search for competing squads

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier is scheduled to release for the Xbox 360® and the Sony PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system on May 25, 2012 in the UK. It will be available on PC on June 15, 2012.

Please visit www.ghostrecon.com for more information on Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier.

Allow us then to welcome to a scrap book of thoughts, photos and edited highlights from the 360GamerCast trip to PAX East!

This was in fact my first trip the the USA. I am in my mid-thirties and for whatever reason had never exited Europe and its bevy of continental breakfasts, proper football and crazy accents. Therefore when the chance to go to the US presented itself on the forums last year I took the plunge and what a way to do it. PAX East 2012 in Boston was a truly memorable experience – well Friday night was a semi black out but you’ll have to listen the podcast for that story…

Joining me for the convention were TripMcnealy and LordOfLetterbox (aka Jared & Tim) and you hear about the games we played again on the podcast.

Spectacle

Let’s just say that The Boston Convention Centre is HUGE. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if you could fit 2 – 3 Earl’s Courts inside it. The main area is basically two massive ground floor halls which have escalators that lead up to two further levels and a whole host of hidden away theatres, rooms and eateries. It was easy to get lost on day one.

The show floor itself was divided clearly into areas dedicated to console gaming, PC gaming and table top gaming. Surrounding these on the outskirts were gaming merchandise tables, industry people and independent developers. Big guns present included Sega, Ubisoft, Harmonix, Rockstar, Take2, Nintendo and Microsoft. Booth of the show? Borderlands 2 without a shadow of a doubt.

What also took me by surprise was the amount of space that was given over to people so that they could table top game. I never realised how big such a hobby was.

Queues

It’s a fairly sure assumption that if you go anywhere with isolated attractions that there will be queues as its no different at a gaming convention. PAX however is queue crazy. Where at Eurogamer you may hear folk moan about a 30 – 45 minute queue expect to line up for over 2 hours at PAX. Yes our 10am start in line for Aliens: Colonial Marines ended at 12.30pm.

Whilst we didn’t have to wait long for the majority of the smaller games we didn’t even bother with Steel Battalion (3 hours) and Borderlands 2 (4 hours). BUT queuing at PAX is fun. Yes fun. Talking with fellow geeks alongside us, playing on the Kindle, 3DS & PS Vita we brought along and people watching made the time fly by. Yes, people watching…

Cosplay

This was the first time I had experienced the phenomenon of cosplay (costume play) in any significant form. Yes I have been to Eurogamer and seen my fair share of rubbish home-made Links but PAX attracts the professionals who get treated with constant, deserving compliments. Below are some highlights of people we saw.

Panels

I only attended two this time around – Epic and X-Com which were truly enjoyable experiences. Cliffy B from Epic hinted in particular at additional incoming Gears 3 DLC, a potential future for Bulletstorm whilst giving tips in getting into the industry and answering some truly obscure gaming related questions. X-com of the otherhand was pure fan service in selling the new X-com game. To be honest having never played a X-com game I was somewhat confused but the new game looks cool as and I’m sold!

Elsewhere across the weekend there were appearances by Bioware, Gearbox, Giant Bomb and Irrational Games.

Swag

Penny Arcade and its exhibitors spoilt the fans this year chucking a massive goodie bag to all you attended. Likewise there were various goodies given out for playing certain games and attending certain panels. Top items we got a hold of included an inflatable Assassins Creed 3 tomahawk, a red Hitman business tie, Jet Set Radio pin badges and XBL download codes. See below for a competition to some of this stuff!

Merchandise Stalls

Putting Eurogamer to shame is all I can really say. I could have walked out with a shit-tonne of obscure Japanese shooters. I almost spent $140 on a Street Fighter X Tekken fight stick. I saw some really rare video games for sale. Retro heaven. There were many independent developers out in force such as Half Brick, Team Meat, Ninja Bee and Behemoth who by my reckoning made an absolute killing over the weekend selling directly to fans.

Above: Behemoth’s booth was one of the best of show.

I therefore came away with several really, really cool gaming t-shirts – Catherine, Street Fighter, Castle Crashers and er.. Fruit Ninja were all in my suitcase come the trip home.

Over to Jared…

For my second trek into the heart of Geekdom the Penny Arcade Expo 2012. I found prior to the event I was less excited initially for the expo itself, and more excited to meet two gentlemen I have grown to call my friends not my Xbox Live friends, but friends I enjoy spending time with outside of the virtual space as well. CinemaDan and LordofLetterbox did not disappoint both are great gentlemen and it was a true please to meet them both. I only hope that more of the community have an opportunity to spend time with the friends that they have made by attending Euro gamer, or making the trip across the pond to PAX.

The expo itself again did exceed my wildest expectations with big showings by Rock Star and 2K games. My highlight of PAX would have to be however Lollipop Chainsaw due to the fact it is not in my “wheelhouse” at all. Having never been a huge fan of Devil May Cry or Bayonetta this title would not have traditionally appealed to me at all, but after giving Shadows of the Dammed a fair chance earlier in 2012 I was excited to get my hands on the next Sudo 51 title, and it has exceeded all of my expectations. Hopefully if these types of titles are not usually your “cup of tea” the community will open themselves up, and give this excellent title a fair chance to charm you as well. Other excellent games included Assassins Creed 3 which sounds like much love and care has been put into this next proper iteration to the series. Spec Ops the Line was my surprise of the show being that I had not even heard anyone hyping it at all. The gameplay is as solid if not more so than Gears of War and the story if you have not checked it out is very intriguing for a modern military shooter. With both competitive and “Horde” based multiplayer options this game has the potential to be a community hit! Xcom: Enemy Unknown by Firaxis seems to be in excellent hands with Sid Meyer’s “A” squad taking the lead. This has been a treasured title to many of the employees of Firaxis for years, and from everything that was shown this game seems to be in development at the right time and by the right people. I am now widely anticipating a release date for this sure to be RTS hit!

Overall the convention and community meet up was a great time and again hope that more of the community takes advantage of meeting each other outside of gamer nights. 360Gamercast has to have one of the most outgoing and kind communities on the internet, and I am very excited to meet more of you when I make my trip to the UK this summer. If anyone has any questions after listening to the podcast please feel free to either # the show with a question, or hit myself up on twitter.

Competition Time!

Win. Yes win one of two really cool swag bags fresh from PAX East on stuffed with:

Posters! Including A3 Devil May Cry HD, Dragons Dogma, Max Payne 3, Resident Evil: Operation Racoon City.

*Max Payne 3 Stickers

*Rockstar Stickers

*Rift on PC – complete game with 30 days subscription complimentary

*Magic The Gathering Card Deck

*Jet Set Radio pin badges

*Joe Danger pin Badges

*PAX East chunky programme

*PAX East Day Pass laminate (pretend to friends that you were there!)

*SEGA lollipop

*Assassins Creed 3 inflatable tomahawk

*2 x different Aliens Colonial Marines doo rags

*Sonic Avatar costume – US accounts only but hey – it’s cool

* Various leaflets with codes for games on Steam

* Magic The Gathering draw string bag

* Assorted nonsense – lucky dip as there are some single items in there… INCLUDING a Xenoblade Chronicles & Bioshock Infinite posters, a wired XBL headset, Virtua Fighter zip tag, SEGA magnet, Hitman tie, stickers etc…

WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO WIN???

All you have to do is tell us who you would possibly cosplay as at Eurogamer 2012 in the comments section below.

T&Cs – Two goodie packs up for grabs but contents will not be identical due to some single items. If you’re after a specific item or items shown above please specify what if you win – no promises though. Closing date is Friday 27th April 2012 and will be announced on the podcast recorded for Tuesday 1st May 2012.

Good luck!

And now for some assorted snaps.

Dan & Jared with Major Nelson & Laura Lollipop – photo by Tim

Vincent & Kitana face off on Dance Central 2

The award for the most messed up cosplay picture of the weekend perhaps?

Raccoon Mario plays Sega’s Jet Set Radio

How cool? Power loader vs Alien. This battle will feature in Aliens: Colonial Marines we are led to believe.

Award for funniest cosplay of the weekend – Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker’s very own Mr. Tingle!

Kid Icarus’ Pit in case you didn’t know. 

The first entry into the Assassin Creed costume competition on Friday morning – look what he did to the stage climbing up!

“Ouch! My sides are splitting!”

Official – table top gaming sends you to asleep…

Operation Raccoon City suited and booted itself up for a March 23^rd release date, and sought to be pure fan service for early Resident Evil lore; however Slant Six studios forgot that looks are not everything. Operation Raccoon City has great character design for the Umbrella Operatives deployed in Raccoon City set to eradicate the dreaded T virus, devastating citizens converting them into rabid zombie hoards, and that is the only compliment I can extend. Inspiration behind the title was sound; tie in plot lines, offer fan service to a loved franchise, and tweak key Resident Evil game play for added depth and customization. I was sold from inception Raccoon City appeared to be a solid title in early 2012, what was delivered was a title with lazy game design, sloppy mechanics, repetitive gameplay, and generally an abysmal experience.

Character design must have taken the spotlight in early development. Lupo is the team lead for the ensemble of U.S.S. (Umbrella Security) sent to Raccoon City to lay waste to all that know of Umbrella’s involvement with the T-virus, and its circulation to the city’s population. All of the playable characters look great very detailed and vibrant this shows more in the female cast due to details being added by facial features lacking in the males due to their masks. All that work was wasted due to the fact that you rarely see much of your character. The dark third person gameplay does not accommodate a pause to appreciate the art assets put into character design. Instead what you notice are dark corridors cluttered by random cardboard boxes, or those wonderful green herbs that harken back to all Resident Evil titles.  

Level design is unstylish, bland, and illogical each encounter with the opposing Special Forces is set up behind cardboard boxes or rubble. These encounters are lazy and unvaried five to ten SpecOp soldiers are camped out waiting for you to arrive at the next check point…. They begin firing…. You kill all who stand in your way then, rinse and repeat. The hordes of zombies don’t offer much of a change either. They will either trigger a quick time sequence or randomly infect you with the T virus. Once infected you lose control of you character and are sitting on the sidelines until you co-op buddies dispatch you. Once you expire simply re-spawn at the next rally point your team reaches. This would all be fine if the levels where designed with defendable check points, or if the game was not so easy that there is no need for cover to begin with. Most battle sequences last mere seconds unless you run out of ammunition which happens very often. Your character has access to two weapons that may be upgraded from the menu via in game credits earned from round performance. Resident Evil’s design is most easily compared to SpecOps from Call of Duty. Each scenario is approximately 20 minutes, and gives the impression that you could complete every level without firing a single shot… Just run through the game collect your 20G per mission and return to your rental company would be my advice…    

Gun Play is very lose and inaccurate for a third person shooter. If you are accustomed to the tight responsive control Gears of War offers then stay as far away as possible from Resident Evil. There is no tactile response from controller to gun; Pin Ball FX offers more responsive controls than Raccoon City.  Ammunition restraints also are terrible your 150 rounds will last all of two minutes, and once they are depleted your second best option is run until you discover more, because you side arm pistol is about as useful as “tits on a bull”, and melee attacks do little to no damage against opposing soldiers; however seem to be the best option to beat back a zombie gangbang. You also gain some helpful equipment including grenades, infection resistance, and health supplements.

The repetitive game play is what drags Raccoon city down most at the time of writing this article I have yet to complete Raccoon City, but have had my fill from the three areas in the campaign, and about two hours in multiplayer. The campaign may be played with up to four online friends, and same may be said for the competitive multiplayer. Campaign is straight forward you play each mission through what could be a single player with AI experience or played cooperatively. During my time I left the lobby open for others to join two random players did, and one AI joined us. Other reviews have bashed the AI for being nothing more than a sprite on the screen, but from my time they seem quite helpful. Each time I needed a quick heal, or to be unzombiefied the AI was the first to offer assistance; however that is no surprise with the talent often discovered by open lobbies with random players.

Overall I could not recommend Resident Evil Raccoon City to anyone. One saving grace seems to be that the achievements pop often at the end of each encounter, and for events triggered through game play. Other than that Raccoon City is a major disappointment and should be avoided by most who were interested. If you are seeking a third person shooter try Gear of War 3 from last year or at a bargain pick up a copy of Ghost Recon Future Solider 2 to prepare yourself for the next title due for release later this summer. If you are dead set on a Resident Evil title for 2012 begin praying the Resident Evil 6 lives up to the previous excellent catalogue.

Resident Evil Raccoon City 5/10

We have learned from MCV that Microsoft has been telling partners that the Next Xbox will NOT include a disc drive.

The briefings have been issued under what MCV’s source describes as “the strictest NDA” they have ever encountered.

Although the console will not include a disc drive, it will offer compatibility with some sort of interchangeable solid-state card storage, although it is not known whether this will be proprietary or a more standard format such as SD.

Furthermore, a 2013 launch date for the hardware has been confirmed. What is less clear, however, is the intended timing of Microsoft’s announcement.

As revealed by MCV earlier this year, an E3 2012 reveal could still very much be on the cards.

The omission of a disc drive signifies the beginning of a new era for games consoles and represents a potentially savage blow to the already beleaguered video games retail sector.

Of course, retailers will tell you that they are already involved in the digital market. Indeed, GAME is enjoying growing revenue from the sale of digital download cards for digital-only titles and DLC.

Nonetheless, the abolition of physical games is bad news for retail however it is spun. With the Next Xbox positioned as a digital centric platform, the relevance of retail will once once again eroded.

Original article can be found at MCV here http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/exclusive-no-disc-drive-for-next-xbox