With Gamescom well into the swing of existence, a trailer for Torchlight 2, the sequel to Runic Games hit action RPG, has been shown off and released online for us all to bulge our eyes at.

The original game was released in October last year and received a lot of praise from reviews, but the main piece of criticism that stuck out from player and journalist alike was the lack of multiplayer. This trailer certainly addresses that aspect and shows off new co-op gameplay.

From what we can see it’s looking nice with magical buffs and big hunting parties galore. Co-op mode is comfortably sitting as the flavour of the, well, decade it seems, with a lot of games starting to catch on that we all like to play together. Let’s hope that Torchlight 2 can take the success of the first game and make it even better.

• 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

Most of the big flashy AAA titles put trailers out specially for E3 and chances are, you’ve seen them all by now, been wowed by their exposition and action sequences and are having a little rest from the trailer frenzy.

But here’s one more that deserves your attention, simply because it’s completely insane. We have no idea what’s going on here, but from what we can tell El-Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron puts you in the shoes of the girly-boy warrior Enoch (actually he’s a priest) as he does his ‘Lords’ bidding. El-Shaddai is the Hebrew meaning God and the sharp looking guy in the suit is named Lucifel which is a rather ominous name for anyone with even a passing knowledge of Theology.

Gameplay from the trailer suggests a cross between hack and slash gameplay with side scrolling platformer sections. Enemies (seem to, once again we’re not sure what’s happening) range from warrior blokes wearing giant nuts on their heads to strange wibbly-wobbly creatures via blood dripping armoured pigs.

As far as Theology based hack and slashers go, Bayonetta still holds the title as the most weird and wonderful. But El-Shaddei seems to be gearing up to challenge for that much coveted crown with its exuberant art-style and barmy take on the book of Enoch.

El-Shaddei : Ascension of the Metatron is in development at Ignition Entertainment and will release on Xbox 360 and PS3, release date is TBC.

It’s quite hard not to like the Warhammer 40k universe. Huge armour, big guns and bigger hammers, split between a huge variety of races, filled to bursting point with lore. It is clearly prime material for making videogames that justify an ‘M for mature’ rating.

THQ took E3 to show off two new games based on Warhammer 40k that are already looking deliciously violent, and set to capture the feel of the universe brilliantly. They are also leaps and bounds away from the RTS adventures of the Blood Ravens in Dawn of War 2.

Kicking things off was Relic, developers of the aforementioned strategy series with their new offering of console action RPG, Space Marine. The game sees the player taking the role of an Ultramarine, one of the more well known chapters from the table top game who sport bright blue armour.

The trailer shows plenty of combat against the Orkz, with a lot of shooting and melee combat thrown in to a chaotic looking mixing pot. It looks to have come along nicely since the last footage that was shown at E3 last year.

The second 40k themed game to make its first appearance outside of the written word was the upcoming MMO; Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millenium Online by Darksiders developer, Vigil Games.

Taking a second stab at a Warhammer MMO, and hopefully due to out perform 2008s Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, the trailer makes the game look good, but at the moment it is all the information we have about it.

The trailer shows many races duking it out, and what looks like a bit of Mass Effect over the shoulder style shooting, which suggests that this could be quite an action packed MMO, but we wouldn’t expect anything less, within the dystopian depiction of a grim future where there is only war. The setting also gives a strong indication that their will be plenty of PVP combat, but nothing is confirmed.

The developer has said that vehicles will feature, but it is unclear how much interaction players will be able to have. We can see an Ork flying a rather shaky looking helicopter which might be an indication that vehicles on that scale can be piloted, but it is unclear if the massive stomping titan featured will be controllable. If it is then that will definitely be a challenge to balance.

Two great looking games on the horizon which already have a fleshed out back story in place are early indication that everything is running smoothly at the moment. We get the impression though that both games are still far from being finished, meaning that there is still a fair old slog to go. Both studios have already proven their metal at producing good games however, so it is definitely looking promising for the mean time.

• Format: PC (Steam)
  
• Unleashed: Out Now
• Publisher: DnS Development
  
• Developer: DnS Development
  
• Players: 1 – 12 (online)
• Site: www.boostertrooper.com

Indie-made Booster Trooper brings the old fast-paced platform shooter back. Remember the first time you played a multiplayer shooter that was so fast-paced you could hardly grasp what was going on, but you were nonetheless having a great time?

Booster Trooper reminds us a little bit of that situation, except that here you eventually realise that you actually can get a grasp on what is going on. By providing a mix of guns to choose from (including the shotgun, the sniper rifle and the rocket launcher) you can pick your own style and preferences. In our case, that’s the shotgun. All the guns have different impacts. The shotgun kills instantly from close-up, the minigun shoots fast bursts but with little accuracy. Weapon choice makes a difference in Booster Trooper: some maps are just more suitable for up-close combat, and others facilitate the use of a sniper rifle.

Jetpacks and Rocket Launchers. Need I say more?

The jet-pack adds extra fun to the mix. Dodging enemies has never been so stylish; and neither has shooting rockets. Hitting a bot (or a human player) in the face with a missile is even harder when jet-packing, but more satisfying when you succeed. The jet-pack adds tremendous speed to the game, which can either leave you dead in a second or help you pull off a massive killing spree within those same seconds.

Booster Trooper surprised us with its simplicity. It provides basic weapons, maps and gameplay elements, but the combination lift it to a game that is what a game should be: fun. Whether you’re playing against bots or against human beings, a Booster Trooper round that lasts 15 minutes flies by. The singleplayer is entertaining and the multiplayer promises even more fun; if it weren’t, unfortunately, so deserted. Maybe everybody is so caught up with fragging bots in the singleplayer that they forget there’s a multiplayer, where we’re awaiting a human opponent. This was actually one of the few down-points to Booster Trooper; the lack of human presence. After several hours of manic single-playing, we could have done with some human opponents who could actually hear us yelling profanities. Opponents over 18, of course.

For the shooter fan, Booster Trooper is a must-have. Its low price (8,99€) and low threshold for newbies makes it a good buy. You don’t have to wait to play and you can just push in a short game session in between serious studying, work, or anything else that is keeping you from gaming all day. Although equipped with simple graphics that don’t demand much from your PC, the game’s splatter effects are rather hilarious and make a shotgun or (especially!) missile kill feel even better. Or at least look very definitive: there’s no doubt about your enemy being dead.

No doubt about it... he's a goner.

Indie games are pushing their way into our homes more and more. The quality keeps growing, the games keep getting more original and they all abide to the #1 rule of games: they’re very much fun to play. Booster Trooper proudly portrays these characteristics and its tie-in with Steam adds the fun of achievements. Achievements include surviving one minute without dying, killing 10.000 enemies and surviving 15 matches without being killed. Believe me: it’s harder than it seems. But once you start playing, you can’t help but want to unlock those achievements…

4/5

If you like short bursts of condensed action filled with robots, cars and swords, then this very brief 15 second advert for Final Fantasy XIII might interest you.

The Japenese commercial very nicely shows off the level of carnage you can expect in some of the fights you’ll be slogging it out in with the usual large variety of enemies.

Unfortunately it is still a while before us western lot will be able to enjoy the game when it should hopefully be hitting our shores on 9 March 2010, so we hope these small news snippets help hold you over for now (we know there’s a slight chance they might not).

Mount & Blade is one of those gloriously simple ideas, that on paper sounds fantastic. In fact, in practise, it’s also fantastic. If you’ve yet to play it, it can be described in short as ‘You get to be Mel Gibson in Braveheart, but without the slushy romance, faux-Scottish nationalism and sticky disembowelment’. Though nominally an RPG, Mount & Blade is really about the battles, racing across a battlefield cutting up anyone foolish enough to stray into your path with a big axe. Well, that’s how I play it anyway, but you are limited not only to axes, but swords, lances, bows and a whole host of other medieval weaponry. The main game is largely sandbox, you can join a kingdom, take part in some quests or trade, all the while levelling both  your character and your army as you become a force to be reckoned with. The graphics in Mount & Blade aren’t the prettiest, but they’re functional and once you’re in the midst of battle you’ll hardly notice.

Warband is the expansion to Mount & Blade, that gives the players the one feature they’ve clamoured for since day one – multiplayer… well it has other fixes like AI, politics and lighting effects, but the online modes are the real meat of the expansion.

Shiny new lighting effects make the game look erm.. shinier.

To ease the passage of multiplayer into the game, developers Taleworlds have pretty much dispensed with the RPG trappings of the single player game. Gone are levelling, stats and skills, instead you simply pick a faction and a troop (read character class), with slightly different equip depending on the faction. For instance the Viking-influenced Nords, use throwing axes to devastating advantage, while the Mongol-esque Khergit have their intensely annoying signature horse archers. Earning gold from your kills, you can upgrade and customise your equipment once a battle has started, with plenty of shields, horses and upgraded weapons on offer.

Though the game is still in Beta and balance issues are being ironed out with a series of regular patches, the joyous essence of the game has survived the transition. The satisfaction of cutting down your foolish enemies has only increased, now that those foolish enemies are controlled by human counterparts, though you can’t simply expect to wade into battle and cut everyone down. You can try of course, but chances are you’ll be stabbed, poked, prodded, filled full of arrows then stabbed again, until your freshly made corpse resembles some kind of giant red hedgehog wearing a hat. A much more measured and team based approach is required for success in Warband, with cavalry charges, shield formations and well position ranged troops being the order of the day. That said, you still see quite a few naked berserkers with massive axes charging recklessly to certain death, bless ‘em.

Beware the wrath of angry pensioner and his topless blonde companion.

Warband’s multiplayer lets you choose from a number of different game types, such as death-match, team deathmatch, the domination styled conquest, as well as castle sieges, not so clever now are you horse archers? Like to see you try riding your little horsie up a big bloody ladder! Ahem.. Battle mode basically describes itself, two teams face off for a fight, with no respawns and can involve some stirring cavalry charges and clever tactical play.

Whichever game mode you play though, the result is fairly similar, epic medieval warfare, with corpses littering the battlefield, arrows flying from all directions and death lurking around every corner. With up to 64 players on a server the game has the potential for some truly astounding brawls, especially when those fighting are well co-ordinated and throw a little strategy into the mixer.

I'm wearing the coolest hat here, by a country mile.

The biggest problem so far from the Beta is longevity, without levelling and without persistence the game may struggle to capture the player’s attention in the long term. A sense of progression and a sense of having your own unique character have become central to the multiplayer arena in recent years. So for Taleworlds to remove something that was key to the singleplayer game from the online version seems a little counter-intuitive

But then again, one of the joys of Beta is that nothing is set in stone, and the developers seem to be pretty darn good at listening to their players. Recent woes regarding throwing axes for instance have culminated in a price increase, resulting in many Nord players crying into their beards, before remembering they’re supposed to be big rugged axe wielding mentalists and happily reverting to type. Lets hope Taleworlds can find the perfect blend of medieval violence and instil it with a sense of achievement and progression before Warband releases early next year.