Pads & Panels

#2 God of War 3 (PS3)

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment – Developer: Sony Santa Monica

Our Review

Is there any real question why God of War 3 is on our list? The game proved to be a truly epic finale to one of Sony’s biggest and most popular franchises. From the moment I started the game and up until the credits rolled, I was amazed by the sheer scope and breathtaking graphical prowess on display. The game’s first encounter had me questioning if subsequent levels could possibly top it, but those fears were quickly put to rest as God of War 3 delivered consistently. (more…)

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Title: Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit

Platform: PS3 (360, PC)

ESRB: E10+

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Developer: Criterion Games

Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

The Need for Speed franchise. The developer of the Burnout series, Criterion Games. The result – a reinvigoration of the Hot Pursuit side of the franchise that takes some of the worlds fastest and most exotic cars, decks some of them out in black and white, and lets them hit the open roads in a world four times the size of Paradise City in Burnout Paradise, for fantastic and explosive chases between those with a need for speed and Seacrest County’s finest. This is Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit.

Criterion Games’ development influence is seen right from the get go, and indeed is seen more in the menus and online interactions than in the gameplay itself. For all intents and purposes, Criterion has left Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit feeling a lot more like Need for Speed than Burnout. But their experience goes a long way in refining experience on the online front, where gamers will find most of the title’s replay value. (more…)

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Title: Gran Turismo 5

Platform: PS3

ESRB: E

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

Developer: Polyphony Digital

Rating:

Review by: Archie Easter

Five years in the making, Gran Turismo 5 has been long awaited by fans of the racing franchise.  With such a well established pedigree and promises of over 1,000 cars and every form of racing from NASCAR to go-karts being represented in the game, hopes and expectations have been understandably high. Now that series head Kazunori Yamauchi’s racing magnum opus is out on the streets and rolling through living rooms everywhere, the question remains – can the game possibly live up to the hype?

Let’s get this out of the way right now – when it’s firing on all cylinders, GT5 is downright gorgeous. The game’s intricately detailed cars and new weather effects like rain and snow are faithfully reproduced and combine to create instances of near photo-realism. In addition, more than 200 of the cars have modeled interior dashboards so that players can actually use a more immersive cockpit view while driving. While many of the cars look amazing, a possible side effect of the game’s large stable of vehicles was that there are a couple of models that noticeably suffer from lower resolution textures. (more…)

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2010 Holiday Gift Guide – For the Digital Download Fan…

By P&P Staff

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Super Meat Boy

(XBLA, PC)

This game is alternately heaven and hell for platforming fans, but it manages to toe the line well enough to always be stuck in that sugary sweet spot that makes it so addicting players don’t even mind dying a few thousand times in the game’s 300-some levels. Plus, the Xbox Live version is going to have regularly-updated free downloadable levels added, which only makes the game even better! (more…)

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2010 Holiday Gift Guide – For the Racing Game Fan…

By P&P Staff

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Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit

(360/PS3/PC)

The series is Need for Speed. The developer is Criterion Games (Burnout: Paradise). How much more do you need to know to realize this is a wise choice for the holidays? How about a wide array of vehicles, including Lamborghinis on both the speeder and cop fronts, with gameplay designed around fast chases and spectacular crashes. If that doesn’t get you, the addicting Autolog system surely will. (more…)

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While at the Penny Arcade Expo, Archie got a chance to check out some of SouthPeak Games’ offerings at the publisher’s booth, and go hands-on with two of their major upcoming titles, Two Worlds II and Nail’d. (more…)

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Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Hands-On Impressions

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Archie’s Take

EA’s Need for Speed series has gone through many changes and iterations over the past few years. The series has delved into both sim and arcade play styles a few times, gone “Underground” into the world of street racing, and most recently has undergone changes to put players directly in the driver’s seat with Need for Speed: Shift.

The upcoming title, the Criterion developed Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit isn’t so much another revolution as it is a reimagining of one of the most popular iterations of the series. Bill and I got a chance to check out the new title at a special preview event held at Debonair Social Club in Chicago in August. (more…)

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Title: Split/Second

Platform: 360 (PS3, PC)

ESRB: E10+

Publisher: Disney Interactive

Developer: Black Rock Studio

Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

Split/Second is another one of those games, much like the Burnout series, a racer that appeals to the crowd that doesn’t like traditional racing games. There’s no modding of brake tension or tweaking of horsepower necessary. Split/Second doesn’t even feature real life automobiles. But they sure look badass, the race tracks are solid, and ultimately Split/Second is about driving really fast, spectacular crashes and destruction so massive it actually alters the courses. (more…)

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Split/Second hit shelves yesterday for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. A review should be coming soon, but to hold readers over until then, we’ve posted our video interview with Split/Second‘s franchise design director Paul Glancey, who was kind enough to take some time at PAX East to answer our questions. In the video, he explains how the single-player campaign works, the strengths and weaknesses of the game’s three main auto types, as well as “Power Plays” and how they’re used to wreak havoc on the various stages and competitors. Bill Jones interviews, films and edits. Video is filmed and presented in HD.

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Last month, West Coast correspondent Chris Park got a chance to sit down with Deep Silver and check out the publisher’s upcoming racer, Nail’d. The high-speed arcade racer from publisher Deep Silver and developer Techland is set for release on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC in the fourth quarter of 2010. It features 1- to 12-player races, and it’s as much about getting vertical as it is getting to the finish line. Park reports… (more…)

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