Deus Ex: Human Revolution

More than a decade after the original Deus Ex (June 2000) the new Deus Ex: Human Revolution has finally been released on August 23, 2011 for all three major platforms (PC, PS3, Xbox360). Chronologically, Deus Ex: Human Revolution takes place in year 2027 so it's a prequel to the original Deus Ex that takes place in year 2052 and Deus Ex: Invisible War in year 2072.

You play Adam Jensen, a security specialist, handpicked to oversee the defense of one of America’s most experimental biotechnology firms. But when a black ops team uses a plan you designed to break in and kill the scientists you were hired to protect, everything you thought you knew about your job changes. At a time when scientific advancements are routinely turning athletes, soldiers and spies into super-enhanced beings, someone is working very hard to ensure mankind’s evolution follows a particular path, and you need to discover why — the decisions you take and the choices you make, will be the only things that can change it.

The game was announced in 2007 and the release was delayed a few times. Below you can watch the developer's extended trailer from the begining of 2010 and about 5 minutes of the actual gameplay.

The Human Revolution will and is scoring high with game critics and gamers. It features almost a perfect mix of an action-packed first person shooter and role-play game. In general, the game rewards better a non-lethal and stealth approach to solving problems. The graphics seem a bit aged compared to some newer games but the story, gameplay and plenty of choices you need to make while playing makes this game an instant classic. I'd score it around 90-95%.

F.3.A.R.

"F.E.A.R. 3 (stylized in the logo as F.3.A.R) is a first person-shooter developed by Day 1 Studios for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and the OnLive cloud gaming service as a sequel to the game F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin and the third installment of the F.E.A.R. series. It was announced on April 8, 2010 and is stated to include John Carpenter helping on the cinematics as well as writer Steve Niles. Originally scheduled for a 2010 release, a delay to March 2011 was announced followed by a further delay to May 2011. On the 27th of April 2011, Warner Bros. announced yet another delay to the title, pushing it back to June 21st in North America and June 24th in the UK."

Well, the wait is over. F.E.A.R. 3 is out and in a few hours we'll have a gameplay sample from the PC version. The game is rated M for mature audience.

And here's the video capture of two FPS action samples from the beginning chapters. So far, it looks good -- the FPS part seems nicely done. Taking cover when under fire is also well done. Atmospherics are as in the previous 2 games in this series; dark, suspenseful and it has it's share of horrifying moments. I'd guess that this game will be scoring in the range of 80-90%.

Buy: F.E.A.R. 3 (PC, XBOX 360, PS3)

DiRT 3

DiRT 3 is the third installment of the hit racing series. Lots of content. Racing through the snow, rain and dirt and dramatic night races are blast. Racing games provide usually a pretty nice family time since the content is usually acceptable for everyone. Below are two sample races recorded replay. Overall, this game should be above 90% and is highly recommended to off-road and racing fans.

Available for Windows, PS3 and XBOX 360:

Dirt 3 (PS3) 
Dirt 3 (XBOX 360)
Dirt 3 PC-DVD

SOCOM 4: US Navy SEALs

"You have six days. Six days to rescue an entire country plunged into chaos by a brutal revolution. Race against time to control a dire situation that threatens to escalate into global war. You are the legendary and fearless Operations Commander as you take command of the battlefield with your crack NATO squad. The destination is Southeast Asia. The time is now for you to take control. Are you up to the challenge?"

Basically SOCOM 4 could be classified as a third-person tactical squad shooter. Reading some previews of the game, SOCOM 4 looked promising but eventually delivered a mediocre experience. Sadly, my favorite third-person tactical squad shooter remains that old (2003) Freedom Fighters game.

In short:

- gameplay (singleplayer): 7/10

- difficulty: severely unbalanced -- some missions are easy on the hardest difficulty and some are a way too difficult on the easiest 

- length: the singleplayer campaign appears longer than it is due to the game arbitrarily killing you off and consequently numerous repeats to beat a mission

- mechanics/movement/smoothness: 7/10

- graphics: 6/10 (suprisingly aged graphics)

- audio: 8/10

- presentation: 7.5/10

- weapons/weapons customization: 7.5/10

- AI: your side 8/10; enemy side 6.5/10

- modes: standard 7.5/10; stealth 5/10 (tedious, boring stealth that depends on luck and persistence)

- simple actions that are too complex or imprecise  -- like healing your teammates

- tactical direction to the squad: 8.5 (nice and easy)

- multiplayer: 1/10 -- hard to believe but the Playstation Network is down and down for days now. It's unfortunate thing since this game is usually rated rather high as a multiplayer 

Overall, SOCOM 4 is not an instant classic by any means. The firefights are enjoyable and tactics ability is there. However, the game itself (singleplayer) has not much of a replay value. For some reason, there is nothing there to really hold your excitement and attention. The stealth modality is badly implemented denying you often the usual right to shoot your silenced weapons and still remain undetected. Anyways, it's an OK game, and most likely the MP (when available) offers much better experience. Maybe, rent it first if you are not 100% into the SOCOM series. The game is rated *M* which means it's probably not appropriate for younger than 17 teens. My impression is that the really avoidable bad language pushes it into the mature audiance. Overall score: around 70%. Recommended for the SOCOM series fans. Otherwise, renting the game may not be such a bad idea for others.

Buy: SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy Seals

Gran Turismo 5

In short -- a must-have game for PS3 racing fans. Below is a GT 5 gameplay of this PS3 exclusive game. Race Modified Suzuki Cappuccino (EA21R) '95 RM -- one of the 17 cars in GT5 that can be Race Modified by the game (in Auto GT garage -- the same place where you change oil). These mods are relatively expensive (100,000+ credits). You can still upgrade and paint your car after the Race Modification has been done. The results are usually anywhere between good and impressive. Here's the little Suzuki Cappuccino beating the HorsePower-wise more powerful competitors by a large margin. RM as in the video specs:112HP/7000RPM/590kg (there are 2 additional engine upgrades that make this thing 133 HP)

Complete recording of this London 3-lap race. Actual in-cockpit driving in the main window and the multiple perspective replay in the smaller overlay frame.

So how does GT5 compare to its direct XBOX 360 competitor, Forza Motorsport 3:

- Graphics: about same; some details look better in GT5, but FM3 has a more consistent look
- Number of SIM cars (interior view): Forza 3 (any other than interior view simply doesn't belong into a SIM and at best should be considered an assist; 400+DLCs in FM3 vs. 200 Premiums in GT5)
- Engine sounds: Forza 3
- Physics: GT5 better
- Road feel: GT5 better
- User Interface: Forza 3 better (boring, clean and easy to use)
- AI: Forza 3 better (both have a rather bad AI, but GT5 AI is worse than terrible)
- Game Economy: Forza 3 better (but both are terrible in terms of getting credits to buy cars)
- Car upgrades: Forza 3 better (much more detailed and more options, but also tends to go into unrealistic)
- User paint/art jobs: Forza 3 better
- Leaderboards/online: Forza 3 better
- Car classes/levels: about same -- GT5 is unclear since you can easily overpower the vehicle for the given competition; FM3 is clear, but tends to go into an unrealistic world of unlimited upgrades and even downgrades from the base
- FWD feel: GT5 better
- RWD feel; GT5 better
- AWD feel: GT5 better (with the exception of Lamborghinis that are better in FM3)
- Blatant favoritism of certain car brands: GT5 -- seems to be less into favoring a particular brand in terms of performance although there is always a question of how many Nissan Skylines are in GT5 (too many to count), while Forza's developer Turn 10 look like employees of VW/Audi)
- Variety of vehicles: Forza 3 better
- Selling cars to other users: Forza 3 better
- Selling upgrade parts: Forza 3 better
- Longevity: Forza 3 better

In fact, these two games are pretty close -- GT5 is more pleasurable to drive while the FM3 is a longer and feature-rich game. The only more serious negative thing about GT5 is that the game appears to be on the short side, basically lacking the content length usually present in other top racing games.

Buy: Gran Turismo 5 (standard)
Buy: Gran Turismo 5 (collectors edition)