Being a mobile suit fanatic and self-proclaimed gundam pilot that this gamer was, I immediately grab my hands off a copy of the game and immediately installed it into my PSP unit. And then voila, play time! Test subjects? My friends of course haha!

This is one of the most anticipated Gundam games not only in SouthEast Asia(Japan and surrounding countries), but also within the North America region as well. Unfortunately, no English version of the said game has been granted by the Namco-Bandai Games for release to the non-Japanese gamers(due probably to the added license/voice-acting copyrights required and such). Masyado lang kaming adik at natutuwa sa mga mecha actions within the prequel game in the sense na nakabisado na namin ang mga options and such LOL! XD

In lieu with the celebration of the Gundam’s 3oth anniversary, it now features over 60 mobile suits from 18 Gundam series(from the very first Mobile Suit Gundam of 1979 up to the latest Mobile Suit: Gundam Unicorn of 2009 – ANDAMI LOLOLOL). What’s crazy about this is the fact that new mobile suits are included within the roster – 00 Raiser Gundam, and Reborns Cannon Gundam(Gundam 00 Second Season), Providence Gundam(Gundam SEED), Altron/Nataku Gundam and Wing Zero Custom(New Mobile Report Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz), Gundam Unicorn and Kshatriya(Gundam Unicorn) and several others! Only PSP-Exclusive!

Mobile Suit selection screen - ZGMF-X20A Strike Freedom Gundam

You will generally fight on a 2 vs 2 basis(be it in a mission mode or ad-hoc versus mode/against AI), and reduce the enemy’s cost gauge from the full gauge (6000 by default) to 0 by eliminating the enemy units while keeping your mobile suit(as well as your teammate should you have any) to be busted out. The cost of each unit is based on the overall skills/capabilities of the suit, and is divided into 3 tiers: 1000, 2000, and 3000 – so basically the higher the cost, the more powerful the mobile suit it is(often the main protagonist/antagonist of the series). However, using units with higher cost means you have fewer chances to respawn.

Keep in mind that this is not your ordinary Gundam VS game, as this new installment features the revolutionary NEXT Dash System – wherein by simply tapping your boost twice in rapid succession(usually X button) can make you cancel whatever you are doing previously(either for attack evasion or combo-chaining purposes). Oo, mga kapatid, beyond godlike ka sa paglalaro nito kapag magaling kang mag-cancel/combo at umilag sa mga kalaban!  However, this consumes a bit of your boost gauge.

RX-78 Gundam using the NEXT Dash

Basic controls(by default) are the beam pistols/rifles/projectile weapons in Square, Boost/Thruster in X, Melee weapon attack/combo in Triangle, change target in Circle, and special mobile suit attacks in both the L and R button, respectively. Some mobile suits feature their own unique special abilities – worth mentioning are the Newtype Destroy Mode by the Unicorn Gundam, Biosensor Mode by the Zeta Gundam, Berserker System by the Noble Gundam, Shining Mode by the Shining Gundam, Hyper Mode by the God/Master Gundam and even the famous TRANS-AM System of the Exia/Double 00-Raiser Gundam and  SEED Mode of the Freedom/Strike Freedom Gundam.

Gundam battle royale(booyeah!) screenies

As if the number of mobile suits aren’t enough for you to chew on, Namco-Bandai games even featured several Boss Mobile Armors included within different gundam series. They can be engaged with different mission routes(modes), most notably Route K and L, respectively(Boss Mode versions) within both the arcade and PSP version.

Various game routes(mode) from the Arcade play. Clearing each route can unlock hidden mobile suits and new routes.

Mobile Armor Bosses - unleashed for the first time!

*Secret – a hidden mobile armor boss from Gundam SEED Destiny(ZGMF-X20A EX Strike Freedom + METEOR) can be fought if you attain a high-score in the most difficult mode. It will reveal itself as a FINAL NEXT Boss eventually, wherein you will fought it in its EX Boss version first, and then in EX METEOR Boss version after it sustained about 1/3 damage and finally, the EX Ultimate SEED Mode Boss version. It has 2,000 HP, special abilities, wide variety of weapon arsenals, unique combo attacks, different mobile assist form and infinite SEED Mode power that the playable Strike Freedom Gundam doesn’t possess.*

Another nice thing about this game is that (with the exception of New Mobile Report: Gundam Wing Endless Waltz and Gundam Unicorn) it features the various opening themes of the different anime series – of course all Japanese pop/rock bands/singers in full play while you’re engaging in the battlefield! Also, upon completion of a certain mecha in any mode, it will also unlock its corresponding series’ 3D animated opening theme, voice actor/actress’ works, victory poses and pilot cut-ins, as well as its own ending design theme by Namco-Bandai. Also, the battle stages are based on the actual anime series themselves, for instance – Heliopolis colony and Messiah Fortress/Requiem Superweapon stage for the Gundam SEED/Destiny series, Veda for the Gundam 00 series, World Tournament Stage and Devil Colony for Mobile Fighter G Gundam series etc.

Officially released on the 3rd of December last year, some people in Japan and even in surrounding countries have got the game early already(including the thousands of PSP gamers waiting also for the new GEND3 firmware for the PSP so as for the said game to be compatible). The general feedback among various polls is very positive, and apparently the game plays much smoother than the previous one(even the laggy 2-on-2 ad hoc gameplay has been improved significantly)!

Much to my dismay though – if Namco-Bandai really wants to make this the biggest Gundam game yet to date as they claimed, they should have included ALL series, even the spin-offs(Gundam SEED StarGazer, Astray etc). Sayang pa naman, andami pa magagandang gundams out there na hindi makilala mabuti ng general populace because of lack of promotion – even with games such as this one.

Also, the graphics and effects are re-tweaked from the original prequel, whereas most of the modifications are based on balancing and even improving some of the bugs found at the arcade version. Personally, there are still some laggy scenes when using certain abilities/playing ad hoc versus against your opponents in a wide stage, but nevertheless, it can be seen that the game engine was significantly improved from before.

For those who doesn’t know, the game features a Plus Mode wherein you can form your own team and battle it out against several mission sorties – winning can give you experience points to level up your mobile suits of choice. Also, non-playable units(in versus mode) from various gundam series are featured here, like the Blitz and Buster Gundams from the SEED series, Union Flags from the 00 series and such.

Anyway, if you’re relatively new with this game, and walang basic know-how about Gundams at all, you may find it boring, or eventually annoying in the sense that even your AI opponents are very much stronger for you to defeat(despite the easy mode). This game is recommended for gamers who have experienced playing the previous Gundam VS series(Alliance VS ZAFT, Gundam Battle Assault series and other similar games) or simply mecha enthusiasts.

Graphics – 8

Sound – 10

Gameplay – 9

Replay Value – 9

Modern Warfare 2 continues the story from the first Modern Warfare only 5 years later. Imrahn Zakhaev is dead and a new bad guy has taken his place, Vladimir Makarov, who is even worse than Zakhaev ever was. You play a multitude of characters on this one jumping from one to another depending on the mission. There’s a private Allen and a Sergeant Roach. The story is a bit convoluted and a bit confusing if you haven’t played the first game. The twists in the story give you a couple of surprises here and there and totally makes up for the confusion. It also takes you to several different locales around the world which we truly believe is the strength of the single player campaign.

Graphically speaking, MW2 isn’t exactly the leap in technology you’d expect from such a high profile release but it is still a marvel to witness. Small details added to the maps make the game so immersive. Chickens for sale in a public market, vandals on walls, paper and plastics flying around, fire hydrants (that explode in a gush of water when destroyed), all these minutiae totally add to the experience that create a graphical marvel MW2 is.

The sounds in this game are another factor why MW2 is so much a success. The guns sound real. I’ve fired some of these rifles in real life and let me tell you they sound EXACTLY the same. And bullets hitting glass, stone, cans, cars exploding, are all mastered incredibly. To add to all this is the musical score by Hans Zimmer (yes the Hollywood Sound Genius responsible for the pulse pounding beats we hear in many action films). This all adds up to a frantic gunfight that sounds authentic and feels like an action film.

The gameplay of Modern Warfare 2 is threefold, each of which can function as a separate game. The single play campaign is one, the second one is the Multiplayer which we will discuss a little later and the new Spec Ops – you and a buddy get to do missions together (new in the Call of Duty world).

Multiplayer pretty much functions the same way as COD4 Modern Warfare 1. However it comes with LOADS of new content. Your weapons for instance have a plethora of attachments that you need to unlock. Before you’d be limited to 4 or 5 attachments, now there are 9. There are more perks as well ranging from the ever standard Stopping Power (that increases your bullet damage) to the new and interesting Hardline (which reduces the kills needed for a killstreak reward by 1). Speaking of killstreaks, you are no longer limited to UAV, Airstrike then chopper. Now you there are almost 20 to unlock. You get a UAV, counter UAV, airstrike, stealth airstrike, sentry guns, care packages, a tactical nuke (I love this one) and my new favorites, you get to be the gunner of an attack chopper and the AC130.

Multiplayer rewards aren’t limited to these however, there’s also camouflage for yourself and for your weapons. Also, and this is something new to Modern Warfare, titles and emblems. Titles are given when you achieve something in game. For me, having called several AC130s to win the game, I got the “Angel of Death” title, which I run with complete with an emblem (an image you can use to represent yourself) of a skull with wings. All these can be unlocked once you achieve something and the achievements are practically endless!

This time, multiplayer requires your team to work together well. Gone are the days when everybody is using stealth kits because if the enemy gets choppers and planes as killstreak rewards you’ll get totally owned since nobody could shoot them down. That’s why there’s a party system. You can bring your friends along with you as you hop from game to game.

Here’s the bad news about multiplayer, there are no dedicated servers. You have to connect to IWNET, Infinity Ward’s (game developer) new baby to play multiplayer games. The problem with this is you don’t always get the best connections. It’s a hit and miss thing. AND, to add to the frustration, when you quit a game because of bad connection, it is counted as a loss. We’re crossing our fingers that Infinity Ward fixes this problem with patches soon.

Finally we have Spec Ops or Special Operations. You and a buddy get to join in and take on missions with many objectives. For example there’s one where you and a buddy are a sniper team that needs to stop several enemies, waves of them. There’s also getting from point A to point B without being detected. There’s also breaching and clearing missions and loads more. There’s a potential here for downloadable content which expands on the game’s replay value.

Speaking of replay value, this game has ALL THAT. You’ll get hooked playing it OVER and OVER and OVER again to get unlocks in multiplayer, achievements in singleplayer and stars in spec ops. So for a Php2500 peso game on PC, this one will last you years! We highly recommend purchasing originals, SULIT KASI ITO MGA KAPATID.

All in all, Pinoy Gaming Network brands this game as a MUST BUY. See you in the battlefield mga kapatid, magpapa level pa ako to get new guns yokyokyok.

Graphics – 10

Sound – 10

Gameplay – 9 (minus 1 due to no dedicated servers)

Replay Value – 10

Discuss it! Click Here

You (primarily) are Chris Redfield. You are an agent in an organization called the BSAA that oversees and eliminates biological weapons. You are inserted into some unnamed town in Africa to capture some guy named Irving who is trying to trade biological weapons. You are joined by a very beautiful African lady (astigin pero sexy) name Sheva Alomar who will be your partner in this little African escapade. Story wise, this game is deep and very intriguing. There are times that you’d just play and play just to see what happens next.

Graphically the game is moody. The environment feels really HOT. Naawa ako kay Chris Redfield dahil naka polo shirt pa ito sa simula ng laro. Mukhang ewan, polo polo ang init init naman. Technically speaking the game is not a cut above the rest like Deep Space was but the Physx engine compensates. The detailing of textures is quite impressive though. Looking at Chris’s gear and even Sheva’s body armor, you certainly notice the attention to detail. Sheva’s earrings even move like real dangling earings my wife wears. Yokyokyok. We ran the game in DX10 using a single GTX 260 as our video card and it never lagged or got any major dips in the frames even with high action going on.

I’ve played Resident Evil games before and the one thing that will really set the mood in any horror game is the music and RE games are always the best at it. Having said that Resident Evil 5 has perfected this part of the game. It is often quiet while you play. But, when in combat a steady drum beat rolls in and helps get your heart rate up. Scares come in few and far between but they are quality shocks that leave your heart pounding for minutes. But, as usual though, they didn’t get the sound effects for the guns right.

Resident Evil 5 doesn’t go far from the standard when it comes to gameplay though. Get weapons, upgrade them, follow the story, and gather treasures and secrets. That’s basically how it’s played. Its survival horror, you just have to survive the onslaught brought about by the story. Kasama na diyan siguro ang pagiging madamot sa bala. Pag kokonti nalang bala, saksak nalang! It’s funny how you get healed by herbs though, and herbs grow everywhere. What I don’t like is “di ka parin puede tumakbo habang bumabaril, titigil muna dapat bago bumaril nakakainis.”

What you really play RE5 for is the boss fights and timed sequences. Timed sequences are like movies that you interact with. For instance, there’s this sequence when you’re floating on a raft and have to hit a combination of buttons to avoid getting your torso bit off by a giant crocodile. The boss fights consist of finding the pattern the boss follows and use it against him. It takes a while to figure out but getting it perfect is quite rewarding.

RE5 offers something new in the franchise and that’s coop mode. As you play Chris Redfield, anybody on your connection could join in and play Sheva Alomar and help you survive the rigors of being in virus infected Africa. In resident evil games I’ve always wanted to have a buddy to help me out at times and here we are. lol

As for replay value, it’s a bit limited but quite satisfying. As you play the standard story, you get to unlock costumes and weapons. Heck, you can restart the game with the current gear you already have and just wreck havoc. There’s also a mercenaries mode. You get to play any character present in the game (you have to unlock some) in timed maps where you have to survive until a chopper comes for you.

If you’re looking for a decent survivial horror with some good replay value, get this one. If you’re a fan of the RE5 franchise you should definitely get this game, it answers A LOT and I do mean a LOT of question.

Graphics – 9

Sound – 10

Gameplay – 8

Replay Value – 8

However, there are times that they lack depth and are a bit toned down on implementation. Pinoygaming Network revisits Fable, his first very ambitious project and put it to the test.

Welcome to Albion where thieves become richer than the Marcoses and good and bad don’t matter. Fable starts you out as a kid who got orphaned by a malicious attack in your village. You are adopted by an organization called the Heroes Guild and raised to be a Hero. The adventure begins as you search for vengeance.

There are a lot of things that need to be done before you satisfy yourself with revenge. You need to get stronger. You do this by kicking the living crap out of monsters, bandits and other magical creatures. They give you experience points that help you level up one of three skillsets, melee (refers to any weapon you actually hit your opponents with), ranged (bang bang, twang twang, bows and arrows), and magic (hax ito grabe).

You also need to make money. You do this by participating in quests or better yet, buy and sell. The game has its own living breathing economy. If you keep up with the prices you can buy and sell your way into millionairehood and get all the items you need.

Every hero starts out the same and you end up a unique hero depending on your decisions of what skilltree to develop and what items you use. There is a third element, alignment, which tells you how good or bad your character is. Not Michael Jackson bad but Skeletor bad. Sadly this just changes the appearance of your character and has no bearing whatsoever in the story.

The game plays very much like any RPG out in the market and what Peter Molineux proudly boasts is the story and how one interacts with the NPCs (non player characters). The story is good to say the least but the interactions with the NPCs simply do not affect the storyline. Infact its pretty shallow.

The game looks good granted and with systems out today this game will play like a dream. It lacks anything too “wowish” and is a bit cartoony in design but it actually helps the game somewhat by not putting in too much eye candy.

What we really like about Fable is the music. It is epic when it needs to be epic yet subtle and oh-so-calming during the downtimes. You should listen to the music during downtimes when you’re doing taxes or your algebra homework, its therapeutic.

All in all Fable offers all that an RPG needs and something extra. Although the extra stuff added on are pretty superficial, it still deserves a buy.

Image Metrics, the people who made the animations in Grand Theft Auto IV, have released the fruits of this endeavor of theirs to reproduce human facial actions down to the most minute detail. The results are absolutely amazing. See for yourselves.

The genius behind this masterpiece is the capturing of a person’s face down to the smallest muscle. This is then rendered and recreated using today’s most advanced graphic renderers (cards like Nvidia GTX 260/280 and ATI’s Radeon 4870×2 I’d bet).

The old way of capturing the subtleties of the human face is to put dots on it and observe how the dots move. Image Metric’s way is to observe the human face right down to the smallest pixel. From eyes to eye brows to the tips of the lips.

Mike Starkenburg, the head of the team in Image Metrics states that 90% of the work is convincing people that the eyes are real.

I must admit this is a little too freaky for me. But I am however excited when games with graphics like these come out in the near future. Hell yeah!

Lara Croft has been a force to be reckoned with in the realm of feminine game heroins. She has spawned games wall to wall and two motion pictures starring Angelina Jolie. This Brit lass has had many makeovers and this is what she looks like now, before Tomb Raider:Underworld is released.

DIgital Lara

This is her digital self as we see her in Tomb Raider: Anniversary and Tomb Raider: Legend. This one was modeled after Kerima Adebibe a sales assistant in Top Shop London who happens to model as well. Kerima was launched into video game stardom after her stint as Lara Croft and I bet she’s not working in Top Shop anymore. Here’s Kerima for you guys to feast your eyes on.

Kerima Adebibe

Just recently though, Eidos Interactive, the developers of Tomb Raider: Underworld announced that the new ingame Lara Croft will be motion captured and modeled after one person. A model/gymnast to be exact. A new comer to the Lara Croft scene, this 23 year old gymnast has rocked the gaming world upon Eidos’s announcement. Not only will she model for the character but perform all her stunts too! Ok just a primer, the new Tomb Raider game will feature realistic interactive environments, physics (and nice things that bounce), and intense action. This is quite a tall order for this new model. So without further ado, a former receptionist in a golf course turned worldwide phenomenon, I give you… Alison Carroll.

Alison Carroll

Alison Carroll

Oh oh.. saan ka nakatingin kapatid? Psst… ay nadistracted. yokyokyok.

Here’s what Alison has to say about her new role as Lara’s face and bodeh!

“I’m not looking for a long-term relationship as most men can’t keep up with me. But playing Lara Croft, the sexiest game heroine there is, should get me a few more dates!”

There you have it! Watch out for the release of Tomb Raider: Underworld to see what this classy lady can do.

(Also check out the video on our main site for an inside look at this new Lara Croft)

“I played the game for three years now because this is where I found friends who share the same level of interest as I do. Friends that cannot be seen in-real or at close range like classmates, but friends who can offer a relationship that could stand the test of time.”

This is the exact statement of a student who was scolded by his father after he was caught playing an online game during the times he should be in class. Computer addiction could be very alarming as told by the experts in Human Behavior, but have they asked why the children of today is pulled into the game?

Is it for companionship? boredom? or refuge?

One of the main advantages of having an internet connection is the opportunity to reach out other people, wherever they are or whatever timezone they are in. As long as you are online, the possibilities are endless. In all honesty, online games consist of just a small slice of those possible options out there. And in comparison to other choices, games could be the lightest of all.

In online games, you can be you the way you want yourself to be. You can stand out the way you want it, evolving into options that are not socially acceptable in real life. Filipinos are conservative by nature, but online they can be as liberated as other countries. Just like coming out of its tight shell, they now have the access to express themselves. Online games became the breathing space of Filipinos, not just the youth but everyone who gains internet access.

Boredom may play a small role in the reasons, but it could still count. The sun is up, rather than playing basketball, you engage yourself into battle with other players with awesome sword fights and spell casting. This boredom almost made our “national street games” like piko, tumbang preso, and shato extinct. It also opened the occurrences of ailments that should be experienced by office workers like Carpal-Tunnel Syndrome or Juvenile Diabetes. But those conditions are avoidable, just know your body’s limitations and potentials and balance them out.

In this brief article, we’re going to focus on our third main reason- refuge. Is it really because of this? I’m going to say yes. The youth of today, without being bias or one-sided is considerably weaker than the earlier generations. They tend to stumble on the lightest of problems, and crippled on the slightest of mistakes. Online games became a staple “point of refuge”. Our country is a natural disaster playground. We have typhoons, volcanos, and man-made disasters all year round. Some individuals may lose hope because of this but others actually divert the fear and condense it into a whole new world found in cyberspace.

“At least there are no disaster occurences in-game, excluding lags and company issues. All in all it is a safe ground for us, and sometimes we forget even for a brief period of time that some of my family members got killed in the recent typhoon.”

Actually the hardest debate I’ve encountered is with my dad- and it’s not even religion related. The debate is about what is the good thing in wasting money just to play online games. How am I going to explain this to a work-dedicated individual who never experienced playing online games. What’s the purpose of spending thousands of pesos for a simple pixelated thing that you can’t even call your own whereas you can already pay the bills with that sum of money. The debate is close to eternal, but I’m sure some will understand because I’m sure only a gamer by passion and heart will understand another gamer. It is the topic that lead into confusion, questioning oneself, and maybe guilt.

I’ve been an online gamer for more than six years already. I’d say it already permeated my veins, but I decided to taper-dose my drive on playing because of priorities. Well I guess that makes sense, learn to balance out things and priorities and you’ll never to wrong with your life. And, as I may quote, “there is no greater MMORPG than Life”.

So with that, I present you with this youtube video. Ito ang taong di dapat tularan.

Sumakit tenga ko sa video na ‘to. yokyokyok

Have a Happy Happy New Year mga kapatid! As for 2008, GAME ON!