Who: Codemasters and Asobo Studios

What: Post apocalyptic open world racer

Where: 360, PS3 and PC

When: Out now on 360 and PS3, 19^th June PC

FUEL seemed right up my alley. As a follower of other Codemasters racing games like Dirt and Grid (with the official F1 game being made by them too) I thought this one would be a welcome addition to their catalogue of brilliant fun games. Initial reaction: maybe not.

On paper the game sounds brilliant: a 5,500 square mile post apocalyptic map, no load times, drive anywhere racer with the standard race modes (checkpoint, circuit and A to B) 190 challenges and 75 vehicles. But it doesn’t have the same polish as Codemasters previous titles because it’s so big. The graphics are nowhere near the bar set by Grid, the A.I seems to just give up near the end, and it just feels so average. The only reason to free roam by the looks of it is to go find more fuel barrels (the currency to buy new vehicles which you also win in races) and new liveries for the cars. Soundtrack is the average rock stuff and load times for races aren’t quick which doesn’t help either.

It seems that Asobo have gone for the biggest racer ever (the largest playable area as awarded by The Guinness World Records) and then made the racing game for it. But even then, the environment doesn’t seem at all interesting. A lake here, a forest there, o look a mountain, lets see if I can get up there. I did. For no reason whatsoever. Which just about sums up this game.

And just to top it off, the name on the side of the Xbox cover is upside down, which looks stupid in my nice stack of games. Not that its going to be staying there for long mind...

6/10

6 Comments

Who: Criterion Studios and EA

What: New island DLC for Burnout Paradise

Where: PS3, 360

When: Out now

With Paradise over a year old, its brilliant to see Criterion Studios still supporting this brilliant racer. Big Surf Island is a whole new island available for 1000 Microsoft Points or £9.99 on Playstation Store which, as well as the new island to run around, includes 9 new vehicles, new challenges, mega jumps and much more. Having had a drive around this new play area, it really is just that; one massive stuperbly cool play area. Massive jumps, more billboards, a new licence to get, its brilliant, and well priced in my view.

Surfs up people!

9/10

8 Comments

Electronic Arts, the kings of making any game filled with stats, and the founders of the achievement & unlock system that we are so familiar with today, have created a twist on the idea of playing for a "goal" rather than just aiming to be at the top of a leader board.

In their forthcoming release, X360 and PS3 owners will work together in an attempt to globally attain 43 million kills, which, in turn will unlock a free bonus map called Corel Sea.

That's going to be a lot of stat padding going on! I wonder if EA know what they've let themselves in for.

Battlefield 1943 is apparently being shipped with (a somewhat measly) 3 maps, based on the Pacific theatre of World War 2. It would seem that Electronic Arts are obsessed about the battle on Wake Island, because once again, that map is included - along with Iwo Jima & Guadalcanal.

You have to wonder whether anyone outside of the USA actually really cares about the war in the Pacific. There is no doubt it was a hard and bloody campaign, but then again, I've just described war generally. Does anyone remember Medal of Honour: Pacific Assault? No? Exactly.

BF1943 is due for release in the summer of 2009 for a reasonable $15 for 3 maps. I imagine EA will be selling more in the way of expansion packs over time.

6 Comments

Microsoft kicked off the E3 2009 conference in Los Angeles this year with a bang, announcing a whole range of new games coming to its Xbox 360 console.

Among known items like Halo : ODST and Modern Warfare 2 a few surprises also made their way out in the form of Left 4 Dead 2 and Halo : Reach, a prequel to the original trilogy.

An interesting look into Forza 3 showed a new video creation tool, with a well made example of what gamers will be able to achieve when the game ships in October.

Other interesting announcements during the talk included Crackdown 2, Splinter Cell Conviction and some new DLC for Gears of War. No doubt more info for all of these games and many more will be released over the next few days...

5 Comments

The Golden Joystick Awards are nearly upon us once again - which does nothing but make some of us feel quite old when you realise this is the 27th Annual event.

A quarter of a million votes have already shortlisted games over 15 catagories in the much awaited industry event.

Further details on the awards, and voting can be found at:

http://www.goldenjoystick.com/

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Well, here we are - the home page is back up! As many of you will notice, the forum and website have had a full make over (somewhat influenced by Valve hehe)

The more eagle eyed among you will have noticed however, that everthing is not yet perfect.. and I'm sorry for that - but we are getting there. So, excuse any mis-sized banners, or any colours that are hard to read. Things will get finished, they just take a bloody long time.

Until then, enjoy the site. There are many new features that we'll be implementing soon. Things that will hopefully put ZiiP to the top of its game once again.

Thank you all for your continued support from the entire ZiiP team. Together, we'll have a kick-ass community once more.

12 Comments