I really liked Deus Ex: Invisible War.

Perhaps I’m squinting through the rose – tinted monocle of nostalgia; but I remember Invisible War as being a game with an excellent script, interesting moral choices, the ability to be as violent or as non-confrontational as you liked, and as being set in an atmospheric future dystopia. So far as I can tell however, everybody else on the planet hates it. Perhaps in the foolish days of my youth I existed in a chocolate hob nob fuelled sugar rush haze, which warped my perception of reality. That would certainly explain why I spent two years married to a washing machine.

To make matters worse for my reputation and I, I foolishly blurted out my opinion that Invisible War is even better than the original Deus Ex. This is a statement I now retract, but for a reason that may well make you spit at your monitor in disgust even more; I never finished the first game. Please, please, let me explain.

I wrestled with the WSAD – mouse combo for months about five years ago because, at the time, I discovered several PC FPS games that interested me that my Babbage – esque PC could just about cope with. The most famous, and easily the best, of these games was Deus Ex. Deus Ex was in fact the reason I carried on trying to use a keyboard and mouse to play videogames for so long. I liked what I heard and, when I fired up the game, I certainly liked what I saw. I do not dislike Deus Ex. I played more than enough to realise here was an incredible game, whose release (years before I first played it) was an important moment for the videogames industry. The problem for me was, I was playing it on a PC.

The first thing I did after installing it was look for a gamepad control option which, much to my distress, did not exist. Or perhaps it was there, and my gamepad wasn’t compatible. I’m not sure; my washing machine wife was moaning at me to do the ironing at the time. The point is: I had to play using the WSAD – mouse combo, which I still hated.

My ex - wife, Michelle

Perhaps I just can’t get over the fact that keyboards and mice were never designed with videogames in mind. I tried though, I really did. With several games, over a long period of time. Nonetheless, to this day, playing any kind of action game with that setup feels awkward and unnatural to me. Like pretending to drive a car with a dinner plate for a steering wheel and an umbrella for a gearstick, making preposterous ‘brrm brrm’ noises with my lips all the while.

Early on in the game, I was trying to sneak past security somewhere. Fumbling with the controls didn’t make me very stealthy though, and I was soon caught. I had some pretty damn ineffectual weapons at the time (a pistol with one clip and a half eaten cheesestring. Possibly.) and soon found myself trying to weather a storm of bullets. To add insult to injury, the game quickly decided that not just one but both of my legs had been ripped to shreds. There I was, the hero of the adventure, crawling around helplessly like Ironside tipped out of his wheelchair. Here however, Ironside was up against an 8ft tall robot with twin Gatling guns.

I gave up on the game soon after that.

A year or two later I picked up the PS2 version of the game, and got considerably further before my attention drifted away from it. Now come on, don’t look like that; can you honestly say you’ve never failed to finish a game you were actually really enjoying? If so, then kudos to you. Also, you’re lying.

Perhaps those who are solely or primarily PC gamers have a different mindset? Half – Life, for instance. Another legendary game that I braved what I considered to be a ridiculous control method for. This time however I didn’t enjoy it all that much, which is why I eventually gave up on it. Yeah sure, it’s got some great ideas and some clever moments. Overall however, I found it a little… boring. There, I said it.

How do you people play Modern Warfare with these things? Seriously?

Nonetheless, I tried Half – Life 2. In fact, I completed it. This is because, as you may already have guessed, I played it on a console. The first console version to be released, in fact, on the original Xbox. A good game, an atmospheric game. Definitely not the second coming of videogames that many assert it to be however. I also can’t let the subject pass without saying this: I don’t care how many times people say the Half – Life games tell a good story without cut scenes, because they don’t. The Half – Life games tell their stories as coherently as a drunken preacher screaming about the end of the world. You can certainly see the overall picture, but a lot of important details are missing.

Do you think I’m dismissing much – loved PC games, or perhaps just much – loved Valve games, in a pathetic attempt to be fashionable? Well sorry, but I’m just being honest. In my defence in this regard, I’d like to say that I bought The Orange Box before my 360 died (again) and thoroughly enjoyed Episode 1. I thought it held together much better than the ‘proper’ Half – Life games, in fact. I also played and absolutely loved Portal. That game deserves every syllable of praise it’s enjoyed since it was first released.

After giving up on FPS games, I turned to the only genre that it seemed the PC was best at which actually interested me: Point and click adventures. I’ll always have fond memories of solid gold classics such as Beneath A Steel Sky, Curse of Monkey Island, Sam & Max Hit The Road, and Broken Sword. I also enjoyed lesser known but still excellent titles such as Discworld Noir and Toonstruck. Once these games discovered the third dimension and turned into ‘walk and click’ adventures however, they ceased to be the exclusive domain of the PC gamer. The final such game to remain PC exclusive at the time was Grim Fandango. Despite the awkward controls all walk and clicks seem doomed to suffer, I was completely enthralled by this unique world. Pray to the god of your choice that somebody tells Tim Schafer to make a sequel (with a version on at least one console, of course).

The latest instalments carrying the legendary Monkey Island and Sam & Max games can be found across the Wii, 360, and PS3 (though frustratingly, I’ll admit, no one console has all the relevant seasons). There’s even a ‘director’s cut’ of the original Broken Sword available for the DS. The last genre that interests me now has both feet firmly planted in the world of consoles, which is why I haven’t even tried to play anything on my PC for over a year.

Is it even justifiable to class any one game or genre as ‘PC’ or ‘console’ nowadays? RTS games, perhaps. Developers have made an effort to bring the genre to consoles via Command & Conquer, Stormrise, Civilisation, and more. All of these titles have bombed at retail however due to lack of consumer interest and/or inept execution on the relevant formats. MMOs are tentatively dipping their toes into console waters, but have a long way to go before they needn’t fear drowning. These games aside however, it seems to me fair to say that we no longer have ‘PC games’ and ‘console games’; we just have ‘games’. And I think that’s a good thing.

Virtually all major releases hit retail on console and PC simultaneously. If a decent game is initially released as a PC or console exclusive then, so long as it’s a third party title, it will almost certainly cross over to ‘the other side’ eventually. Consider these facts for a moment. No matter what your primary gaming format is, it’s ridiculous to defend it against the owners of other machines – we all like and play the same games.

We're all gamers together. We're all as cool as this guy.

The difference between a PC gamer and a console gamer nowadays tends to come down to what machine you spend most of your time playing on. Looking at it like that I always have been, and probably always will be, a console gamer. Why can’t I just be a ‘gamer’?

Audience participation time, now. What was it in the differences between PC Gamers and console gamers that used to exist that meant I was left underwhelmed by Half – Life and impressed by Invisible War? Do these differences still exist, despite the seismic shift in the gaming landscape? Did I just type almost 1600 words just to defend the fact I enjoyed Deus Ex: Invisible War??

• Format: PSN (version reviewed), PC, Mac, iPad (sigh)
  
• Unleashed: Out Now
• Publisher: Telltale Games
  
• Developer: Telltale Games
  
• Players: 1
• Site: http://www.telltalegames.com/samandmax/thedevilsplayhouse

This latest season of Sam & Max got off to a great start, and then it got even better. In last month’s episode however, the quality of the jokes took a kamikaze nosedive – seriously affecting the overall experience in a Sam & Max adventure. It was with some trepidation, therefore, that we approached the penultimate instalment.

The episode starts out promisingly enough, with a great take on the stereotypical zombie movie siege scene. A most welcome bonus is that, for the first time in this season, the top quality jokes start a – comin’ right from the off. In fact, top quality jokes are to be found throughout the three hours or so you’ll spend playing. As with all well written adventures, we found ourselves purposefully leaving any sensible or logical – looking dialogue choice that might advance the plot until last, in order to fully explore the script. Much like the inane conversations we tend to conduct with family and friends, in fact.

The canine Al Jolson tribute band didn't go down too well.

In terms of plot, Alley of the Dolls sets things up nicely for the final episode. You finally come face to face with the mysterious Dr Norrington, and learn a little more about the true nature of the Devil’s Toybox, the Toys themselves, and Max’s powers. You also of course get to the bottom of all this ‘army of Sams’ malarkey. If you guess who’s behind the clones before his/her identity is revealed then you need the services of a good psychiatrist, as your thought processes clearly aren’t in sync with those of the rest of us. Nonetheless it almost makes sense, even if three important questions (why are the clones of Sam, where did the clone master get his DNA from, and when did he get a chance to do the cloning? Or design, build, and use all the relevant equipment for that matter?) are never answered.

Mind you, it ain’t got nothin’ on the plot holes in Heavy Rain.

Still, if you’re prepared to accept a giant anthropomorphic rabbit with incredible psychic powers and his fully dressed 6ft tall canine friend, you shouldn’t really be worried about such matters. Of more concern are a few minor blips in the gameplay. Generally speaking, Alley of the Dolls is a straightforward point – and – click (well, walk – and – click) adventure. That’s no criticism in itself; but after the effort Telltale put into giving previous episodes fresh ideas and clever puzzles, the ‘you know the drill by now’ attitude here is a tad disappointing.

Away from our keyboards, this is as sophisticated as our humour gets.

Ironically perhaps, it is the one time the episode tries something new and convoluted that stands out as the one disappointing, pace – breaking moment. The Cthonic Destroyer may sound like a 19^th century euphemism for a penis, but it is in fact a new Psychic Toy Max needs near the end. The puzzle you need to crack to grab it centres around a combination of setting four dials and – a little help for you here – two of Max’s existing abilities. It’s supposed to be a process of elimination but, whether you beat the puzzle on your first attempt or your tenth, it will almost certainly be down to luck.

Ultimately however a game of this kind lives or dies on its script and puzzles. The script is the best yet and the puzzles, while slightly less inventive than in previous episodes, are solid (the one mentioned above excepted). This is almost Sam and Max back on top form. We hope that for the final episode next month, we can take away the word ‘almost’.

4/5

Adventure game fans will get their first playable taste of Jane Jenson’s latest, Gray Matter, at this year’s GamesCom. Jensen is best known for her critically-acclaimed adventure series Gabriel Knight, and Gray Matter marks her long-overdue return to the genre.

With companies like Telltale and Lucasarts revitalizing the genre for a new audience, they’ve paved the way for genre superstars like Jensen to make a comeback. The game, developed by French developer Wizarbox, is slated for an October 2010 release on PC and Xbox 360.

Grey Matter’s publisher dtp plans to feature several other titles at their booth at GamesCom including Black Mirror III, Drakensang: Phileasson’s Secret, TNT Racers, and Summer Challenge – Athletics Tournament.

Civilization V looks to improve yet again upon its predecessor. During E3, one of the producers at 2K tried to tell us what it is that makes Civ V so much cooler than all previous Civs.

Simplicity is one of the changes to the game. And that doesn’t mean they’ve made the game easy and casual, it just means that they made the game clean up its act. This means UI improvements that are simple and clear. The most commonly used functions are now shown in the front, moving into the depth with a second row that shows less used functions. This second row is normally hidden from view, but pops up when you want it to.

Tech trees are another way of cleaning the game and giving the player a better overview.   You can assign priorities in the tech tree to influence what your civilization will become like. Although simplicity is a big point, control and detail is not given up. Besides control over your tech tree you can tune your civ with ‘social policies’: upgrades for your civilization that you buy with culture.

Strategy

Civilization V wouldn’t be part of the Civilization series if it didn’t have strategy. The first change they made, according to the 2K producer, was a big one that yet looks small in many of our eyes. Civ V says goodbye to the good old square tiles and adopts hexagons.

Switch to hexagons

But don’t worry, this isn’t the most exciting change to the series. Civ V introduces city states, which are cities that are AI controlled and you can interact with them like you do with every AI. Except now they won’t be part of the enemies you have to defeat to win the game, but you can use them to your advantage. This means befriending them and utilising them for trade or for gaining culture. However, a friendship with certain city states brings with it the responsibilities many countries experience in real life. If your buddy declares or is declared war, you have to choose to support them or not. If you don’t, they won’t take that decision lightly.

Although city states primarily seem to be there to befriend, you can also choose to have a bit of irrational fun with them and attack them. You can either show off your military muscle and force your way into the city, or act like a fancy playboy and simply buy your way ‘into their hearts’.

As mentioned before, there has been a switch from square tiles to hexagons. More tile changes, as exciting as it sounds, have been made. While Civilization always allowed us to build huge armies and simply ravage the entire map, part five takes a slightly more subtle approach to warfare. You are now only allowed to place 1 unit per tile, making every piece of military and tile important. So it’s no longer just about large numbers; the kind of units, tactics and their position is much more important.

Bonjour, Napoleon

Leaders have always been present in the Civ series, although you never really got to interact with them while playing the game. This time that’s about to change, according to the 2K producer. Characters like Hiawatha and Augustus Ceasar, also playable, will now interactively engage in conversation when you run into them while, just to name something, trying to invade their land.

Chatting with Queen Elizabeth

As the preview shows a wonderful CG Napoleon talking to us in French, leader to leader, the extended contact with the AI is further explained. Of the 18 leaders present in the game, each of them has been given a unique personality. This personality pops off the screen in the new diplomacy screen that is armed with a full 3D environment and animated leaders speaking in their native tongue. Every leader comes with their own animated environment, so you will meet Gandhi by the river and Napoleon on the battlefield.

Also look forward to..

Multiplayer and modding. Both great additions for the big Civilization fans. Developer Firaxis has made it even easier for the player to find great mods: you can see all the mods in game.

Although there is still a lot they weren’t talking about, let me name a few things to look forward to:

Tanks, choppers, building a spaceship as a technologic victory and nuking someone. Nuking the heck out of them. A sneak peak of throwing a nuclear bomb on a technologically advanced opponent that posed a serious threat, was by far the most impressive preview of the game. But that might just be because nukes in games are so very awesome. Expect more this fall, as Civilization V is released.

Last week, I wrote an article regarding the connection between videogame consoles and computers, and the war in the Congo – more specifically, people’s reactions to an article in Kotaku on the subject. Now, I am able to offer you a chance to show that you care.

I chose to treat the subject of ‘conflict minerals’ – in this case, minerals mined to fund the widespread rape and murder in the Congo – as more than something to update the site with one day. I contacted the international charity Oxfam with a view to supporting an existing online petition on the subject, and they kindly pointed me in the direction of Raise Hope For Congo. As part of their campaigning, RHFC have set up an online form where you can, with just one click of a mouse button, tell Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo that you want them to ensure their machines contain no minerals from conflict zones.

It needs no more than thirty seconds of your time, if that – though you can personalise the message sent in the e mail if you wish. All you have to do is give your name and address, and click a button. That’s it.

The form is currently US-centric, but I live in the UK and I’ve filled it out. Simply mark ‘State/Province’ as ‘Other’. RHFC have told me that “We’re working to fix the functionality of the webform to make it more accessible for activists outside of the U.S.”.

Conflict minerals are not unique to videogame products, and RHFC are well aware of this. This is why your message will be sent to the 21 biggest electronics companies, the list of which includes Apple, Nokia, Samsung, IBM, and LG (as well as, of course, Sony Ericsson, Microsoft, and Nintendo).This is the link you need; if the link doesn’t work on your browser/device, then please copy and paste it into your browser:

http://www2.americanprogress.org/t/1684/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=6265

It’s not your fault that you own devices which have, in part, funded the horrors in the Congo – and believe me, the sad truth is that you do own such devices. But wouldn’t you rather be part of the solution than part of the problem?

To find out more about who Raise Hope For Congo are, what they do and why they do it, visit http://www.raisehopeforcongo.org/.

• Format: PS3 (version reviewed), 360, PC, PSP, Wii, DS
• Unleashed: Out Now
• Publisher: Ubisoft
  
• Developer: Ubisoft
• Players: 1
• Site: http://prince-of-persia.us.ubi.com/#/videos/7750

Initially, we thought The Forgotten Sands was an adventure chronicling the efforts of eighties/nineties comedienne Sandi Toksvig and sixties singer Sandie Shaw to reclaim the fame and success they had previously enjoyed. We soon realised our mistake however, and saw that the subtitle was in fact the first indication that this latest Prince of Persia game aims to put the player in mind of Sands of Time.

The art design and plot pretend that 2008′s reboot of the franchise (which was actually quite good) never happened and, with a brief mention of Farah, leapfrogs over all the other games to connect directly to Sands of Time. With his reacquired floppy hair and unobtrusive goatee, the Prince would once again fit snugly into the world cup winning Spanish football team. They even brought back Yuri Lowenthal to voice him. Your enemies are once again made of magical sand (no, really) and the new yet familiar looking locales are dusty and ancient looking. Even gameplay has, to an extent, been lifted straight from the older title.

If you haven’t played 2003′s Sands of Time then you’re missing out. Loved by fans and critics alike, it forged the mould that all following Prince of Persia games have been set by. One of the main gimmicks is the acrobatic nature of the platforming and combat. You’ll be running up and across walls and jumping from ledge to ledge, often timing your moves carefully to avoid traps. You’ll swing from poles and jump between walls to get to higher ground, and often slow your descent by ‘riding’ cloth banners down to the ground by ripping them with your sword. We mention all this because it’s all present and correct in The Forgotten Sands.

Also present, as in every PoP game of the last seven years, is the time rewind mechanic. So long as at least one ‘energy’ slot is filled, the player can rewind time (that is, the entire game) by several precious seconds, for a second chance at a missed jump – or to again fight the final moments of a battle where the Prince died. Imagine what you could do with the power to rewind time! The possibilities are endless. You could instantly replay a particularly satisfying fart, for example.

All those enemies, and the Prince picks on the one looking for his contact lens.

TFS has a few tricks of its own, however. The first is the ability to solidify water and, as you can perform and undo this trick mid – jump, it’s used for some very clever platforming sequences. Later still in the game you gain the ability to ‘recall’ pieces of the environment which have crumbled away. The catch here is that you can only recall one part of the environment at a time which again, leads to many mid-air uses of the magic.

The one criticism consistently levelled at Sands of Time was that the combat, whilst a thing of acrobatic beauty, allowed fights to go on for longer than most players were comfortable with. This is not an issue with TFS. Although most fights involve more enemies at once than in SoT, they’re over more quickly – especially once you’ve upgraded your sword attacks, which you’re able to do fairly early on.

Here, you see, is an RPG – lite upgrade and experience system. It basically works like this: Kill loads of enemies, buy/upgrade ability once you have enough XP, rinse and repeat until comfortable. You can upgrade your health and energy bars as well as existing abilities, and there are four powers to unlock and upgrade, which consume the same energy as the time rewinding; temporary invincibility, a smart bomb – style attack, and two others which are frankly a bit rubbish.

Despite the effort put into improving combat, it’s actually ultimately inferior to the SoT system. You can’t jump from enemy to enemy with quite the same grace, and you’re rarely afforded the opportunity to use the environment to dodge and counterattack. You can still roll to avoid attacks but bafflingly, there’s no block button. This, combined with the sheer number of enemies in the later stages of the game, means that there’s sometimes no avoiding combat degenerating into button bashing.

A huge part of SoT’s appeal was the script. Especially impressive in a platform action game, it did a fantastic job of crafting the characters of the Prince and his female companion Farah. The Prince almost always only talks to other characters in cutscenes in TFS, with the result that he talks to (and jokes with) himself fairly regularly in between killing things. He comes off as mildly psychotic. That’s besides the point; despite basically copying SoT’s plot at the beginning of the game, TFS’s script quite simply can not compare. The ending, while it ties things up nicely whilst hinting at a sequel, doesn’t come close to the bittersweet conclusion of the Prince’s experiences with Farah.

The world cup celebrations in Madrid had gone a bit too far.

Much less easy to forgive is the final Krypton Factor – style water platforming section. The design of this watery gauntlet is sound, impressive even; but unexpected and highly unwelcome problems with collision detection at a few critical points ruin it. The boss that soon follows is disappointingly traditional. The bosses and mini – bosses peppered throughout the rest of the game are disappointing in a different way. They tower over the Prince; nothing wrong with that, we love a nice big boss at CG. The problem is the highly uninventive way you deal with them – by hacking away at their ankles like a demented flea.

Careful what you wish for, Ubisoft. The Forgotten Sands is a good game and yes, reminiscent of Sands of Time; but when the inevitable comparisons are made, this is one remix that falls well short of the original.

7/10

• Format: Xbox360 (version reviewed), PS3, PC
• Unleashed: Out Now
• Publisher: Activision
• Developer: High Moon Studios
• Players: 1-3 (Co-op), 2-10 (VS)
• Site: http://www.transformersgame.com

For any child of the 80s the name Transformers will mean something. To every parent of the 80s it will probably mean something as well, just not in as positive a way. There have been countless animated incarnations based on the cartoon that started it all and there have also been games. The most recent games were based on the Michael Bay movies – perhaps predictably meaning that they were terrible. Now High Moon Studios is trying to set a different trend with a Transformers game that isn’t tied to anything.

War for Cybertron draws influence from the original cartoon more than any other source and has been officially recognised as the canon plot for the lead up to it. What this means is that from start to finish there are homages, nods and everything else that will put a smile on the face of any fan who remembers ‘G1′. But how big is that fan base? Substantial, we would guess, but how many of them are gamers and how many of them would like a game of this sort?

To say that High Moon Studios has borrowed numerous gameplay mechanics from other successful games would be an understatement on par with telling someone that Halo players tend to be a little impolite. This fast paced third person shooter doesn’t just feel a bit like Gears of War, it feels like Marcus has put on a Gundam suit to fight Mecha Locust.

It isn’t all the same though as War for Cybertron has no cover system beyond the old fashioned style of, you know, physically moving behind something and using it as cover yourself. Instead, you have the ability to transform. This isn’t particularly necessary other than to speed through highway type sections, but can be a useful method of avoiding attacks from bosses.

The gameplay is often frantic as you and up to two friends move through area after area clearing it of enemies with a variety of weaponry in either the Decepticon or the Autobot campaign. The campaigns go in chronological order (though you’re free to play either first) and tell different events of the same story. This might disappoint fans as there is no showdown between Optimus Prime and Megatron. This is the start of their war, not the end.

Cybertron is a decent looking planet and sometimes the cityscapes can be picturesque. This is the Unreal engine working well; it’s just a pity that the passages you’ll be traversing most of the time aren’t anywhere near as nice. There is also pop-up quite often and sometimes there are very obvious unfinished textures. These minor issues don’t detract from a decent action experience however.

One of the wisest decisions High Moon made was to bring in Peter Cullen to voice Optimus Prime. He delivers his lines with such dedication and skill that it’s like a how-to for the rest of the cast which, with only a few exceptions (Nolan North as miscellaneous characters, Johnny Yong Bosch as Bumblebee, and Fred Tatasciore as Megatron/Rachet), are average at best. The soundtrack is filled with 80s hard rock that will probably make teenagers shudder but acts as yet another example of who High Moon had in mind for this game.

Besides the three person co-op mode for either campaign there is also a fully fleshed out multiplayer which might as well be called Call of Duty: Cybertron. There is a class system and within that there is a skill system, a perk system and a kill streak system. Modes might have fancy Transformer type names but they still boil down to Capture the Flag, Plant the Bomb, Team Deathmatch and so on. The actual customisation for a multiplayer character is simply picking a body and then using your own colours. It isn’t really ‘making your own Transformer’ as promised, even counting the custom skills. Despite that, the multiplayer is above average and very fun to play – but can credit really be given here?

It is worth pointing out that that transforming serves far more purpose across the multiplayer modes already mentioned and the obligatory Horde mode (called Escalation here) which we haven’t really mentioned as these days it’s only worth mentioning if a game doesn’t have a Horde mode.

There is also one giant flaw that, while it can be manipulated in the campaign, is still an issue in the multiplayer modes. Due to the wide bodies of most of the characters you can play as and the fact that their hand transforms into the gun which they have equipped, it doesn’t quite match up to the cross-hair on screen. What this means is that you can fully hide your body behind scenery and essentially shoot through it because the game thinks you are shooting around it. This leads to being able to fire on opponents from corners or pillars on the maps without fear of being shot back.

Even if Transformers is new to you, even if you don’t like the movies or the cartoons, War for Cybertron is still a solid third person shooter at its core. It hasn’t taken any risks as far as gameplay goes but has as a result created something which will have wider appeal. War for Cybertron is a game that fans will love to death for all the nods aimed directly at them and that newcomers will be pleasantly surprised by when they go online to start racking up kills and experiencing what it’s like when you don’t need to jump into cover while under fire, when you can just transform into a jet and fly away.

7/10

The idea behind this move is on the surface a noble one, by cutting out the anonymity of forum posting, they hope to create a more mature and sociable space for communication amongst their legions of fans. Internet forums can often be harsh and cruel places, with people hiding behind amusing nicknames such as xxDeathSLAYERx and venting bile all over their fellow users. Blizzard obviously hopes that people who are representing themselves in a more personal manner will create a more mature attitude for discussion and debate.

However, while their motives may be noble, the change is already proving to be controversial and seemingly unpopular. One of the celebrated facts of the internet is that it allows you anonymity, it allows people to craft their own identity and represent themselves however they please, much in the same way that a game like WoW offers you the chance to craft an avatar.

Personal security and privacy is also an issue, whilst currently if a few forum trolls start a flame war and threaten to burn down each others houses, no-one will bat an eyelid, with personal information being available for all to see, there are concerns about how easily forum users would be able to track each other down, or E-stalk each other. With perhaps the largest gaming community in the world present on Battle.net, there are bound to be a few weirdos or troublemakers in the mix and this change could provide them with an opportunity for mischief.

The official forum thread detailing the changes currently runs at 1138 pages long and 22740 posts. We pity the person whose job it is to read through all that.

Spotted at gamesindustry.biz

I’m not going to elaborate on the link between gaming and the Congo conflict here. I was reminded of it by an article from Brian Crecente, editor at Kotaku, and I advise you to read it too. The article links out to further information which is well worth investigating. In fact if you don’t already know much about the issue, I would urge you to read Crecente’s article before continuing with mine.

I’m approaching this issue from a completely different angle. When I started reading the comments Crecente’s article attracted, I became more and more furious until I had to stop reading them. I was so angry, I could just as easily have screamed as cried. Whilst the comments posted on Kotaku itself are generally calm in tone, those posted on N4G featured predictably naked insecurity and vitriol.

First thing’s first: Nobody is saying that you are knowingly supporting the war in the Congo. Nobody’s saying you knew where the components came from when you bought your PS3/PC/360/Wii/whatever. Nobody’s saying you are directly responsible for the pain and suffering, nobody’s saying the war would stop if nobody played videogames, and nobody’s saying there aren’t a hundred thousand other products that contribute to the conflict (and many others).

Let’s look this ugly issue right in the face, shall we? Most of the ‘why should I care’ comments mask an attitude of ‘This is happening to a bunch of black kids in a far away place, not me or my neighbours, so why should I give a shit? I’m not giving up my games for anybody’. If you found that a percentage (however small) from the sale of your favourite games machine went to fund violence and rape on your doorstep, you’d care then, wouldn’t you? I hope for the sake of us all that you would.

Photo: AP

Saying ‘other products and hobbies fund war atrocities too’ isn’t an argument – it’s a cowardly get – out clause. If you discovered people on your street were kidnapping and raping children, would you report them – or would you shrug your shoulders and join in?

Oh I’m sorry, was that last paragraph shocking? Unnecessary? The sad truth is that proposing an extreme theoretical situation like that is going to connect with you emotionally much more than detailing the real life suffering happening right now to human beings you’ll never meet. The point is, you should have left the ‘well they’re doing it’ argument at nursery school.

It’s important to remember that comments – both positive and negative – are only left on websites by a vocal minority, so it’s difficult to gauge just how many readers of that article took such a callous view of the situation. Nonetheless some certainly did, and some even take the issue lightly enough to make poor jokes about it. Why? Well I’ve already hinted at the possibility that some simply hate the idea of being told to stop playing their games, and that others wrongly assumed they were being accused of knowingly contributing to the conflict. The bottom line is however, many people (to one degree or another) find it difficult to empathise with people unless they’re standing in front of them.

“So what do you expect me to do?” I hear you cry. A fair question. I’m not going to tell you to destroy your consoles – I don’t want to do that either. In theory, what I want you to do is simple; tell Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft (incidentally, the only company to indicate they try to avoid sourcing materials from conflict zones) that you do not want to buy machines made with conflict minerals. The best way of doing this will probably be an online petition, so I ask you: do you know of an already established one we can help to promote? If so then please leave a link, along with any other ideas, via a comment below.

If you don’t think complaining or protesting will make a difference, you’re wrong. If the big three see that the issue is widely known – and most importantly of all, that people care about it – they will issue public statements. If they officially declare that they will do their best to ensure that no conflict minerals are used in their machines then no, you and I have no way of checking this; but there are official bodies who can and will. That’s how the issue was discovered in the first place.

• Format: PC
• Unleashed: Out Now
• Publisher: Realtime Worlds
• Developer: Realtime Worlds
• Players: Massively Multiplayer
• Site: www.apb.com/

APB (All Points Bulletin) is the hotly anticipated MMO from Dundee based developers Realtime Worlds – best known for Crackdown on Xbox 360 – and the brainchild of creative director Dave Jones. Jones is known in the industry as one of the founding members of Rockstar North and co-creator of the Grand Theft Auto series. It’s unsurprising perhaps then, that on first viewing people feel a niggling urge to describe APB as ‘GTA Online’. But there are further influences that are evident in the design of APB that may describe better how the game actually plays. Jones himself claims Counter-Strike as a major influence and it’s easy to see where he’s coming from, with small tactical objective based missions forming the core of the experience.

Gathering together these disparate influences into one game and then basing it in an online world, you get a gaming experience that is unlike any other. The basic structure of the game sees you choose between a Criminal and an Enforcer, then facing off against the opposing faction in a wide variety of different mission types, across two districts of the fictional city of San Paro. As well as fighting there are ample opportunities for personal customisation from creating your character, designing tattoos and customising clothing, to pimping out your ride. The customisation in APB (as you may already have seen) is excellent. Simple to use yet very powerful tools for creation and design are on offer, allowing you to create or copy intricate symbols, songs or graffiti sprays, in the process of creating a unique identity for your character. If you lack those skills in design and your symbols look like you’ve shoved a couple of decals together in the vain hope they might look cool (unlike us here at Critical Gamer obviously, we’re all design geniuses *cough*), there are other ways to procure yourself designs from more talented players through the game’s auction system. Despite the game being very young, there is already a wealth of talent on display, with people striving to make a name for themselves through creating their own clothing brands, or churning out ‘death-themes’ -small snippets of music your opponents hear when you’ve killed them.

Exciting design tools and unique player crafted equipment are excellent ideas and well implemented, but they alone make a game not. For APB to succeed, the action and driving parts of the game too need to be satisfying, varied and balanced enough to hold the paying players’ interest in the long term. This is where the game stumbles slightly. Combat to the newcomer can seem clunky and relatively old fashioned. Modern third person action games nearly always employ a cover system; APB forces you to do that part yourself, crouching behind cars or walls and leaning manually. For a game that calls Counter-Strike an influence, it may also seem like an odd decision that head-shots play no part in the game, but in truth they would only serve to make the game frustrating due to the sometimes random nature of the spawn system. Combat then is about situational awareness, weapon selection and tactical play in groups. Make no mistake, APB is not a game for the solo player, soloing is a frustrating and slow paced experience; and while the option is there, you’re better off avoiding it. APB really comes alive when you group up with other players and take advantage of the integrated Vo-ip system to communicate and work together towards your objectives. At this point things become progressively more hectic as the action flits around across a district, with the two opposing teams dashing towards objectives, destroying each other’s vehicles and melting each other’s faces with the varied selection of weaponry.

Differences between the two factions are mostly a matter of taste. Criminals have a more hectic time of it, with bounties being placed on them for Enforcers to try and claim, meaning even between the normal mission based play they’re never truly safe. Enforcers have access to less than lethal weaponry which allows them to subdue then arrest criminals – a risky strategy in team play, but it pays dividends of increased rewards and unlocks some of the better equipment in the game for those with the necessary skills to be successful at it. Both factions have access to different vehicles. The Enforcers get an exclusive Jericho muscle car, while the criminals get the Porsche-esque Bishada. Car handling is initially vexing, especially for GTA veterans, and you may find yourself crashing constantly when you wrest control of one of the faster cars. But persevere and you’ll find it worth your while, pulling off expertly timed handbrake turns during high speed chases to impress your allies as you come to terms with the nuance of control.

APB comes across as a game that is more than the sum of its parts. The combat may be somewhat old fashioned in its execution, but when it’s coupled with the dynamic cities and fast paced team-play, as well as its revelatory customisation, it’s difficult not to like. The game does have a degree of repetition and grinding elements as you work your way up through the ranks of the faction specific organisations. But there is a hell of a lot of potential in the title and even as it plays at the moment, there are few games that can get the adrenaline pumping in the same manner. Speeding across the city, music blasting out your car and swerving into the middle of a pitched fire-fight as your passenger hangs out the window taking pot-shots at your foe is just as good as it sounds. There’s work yet to be done on the title and we hope for a patching system as progressive and ambitious as the rest of the game, rather than just churning out extra content. If Realtime Worlds can do that, APB could develop into a game that surpasses its wildly popular and long-serving influences. For now though, there are criminals doing mean things to puppies and it’s up to us here at Critical Gamer to head forth once more and dish out some 44. calibre justice.

8/10