Mass Effect confirmed for PC, coming out in MAY!

Mass Effect PC Screenshot

In a move long rumoured and expected by Bioware fans worldwide, Bioware has announced that it will be making a PC version of Mass Effect. Considering this is their only sci-fi IP, the only original sci-fi RPG in a long time and such, I’m not surprised. I did expect the release date to be in the last quarter or so…

To find out what the PC bonuses and stuff are, hit the jump below!

Continue reading “Mass Effect confirmed for PC, coming out in MAY!”

Could there be a new Windows Vista in 2009?

Could a new Vista be coming so soon?

According to TG Daily ‘industry insiders’ have confirmed a new version of windows has been ‘shipped’ as code to be validated.

Even though the existing Windows Vista has barely been out, the so-called new version could be out in the second half of 2009, if reports are to be believed.

If you’re thinking “That’s a bit soon isn’t it”, then you’d be right. Microsoft originally planned to release the new version in 2010, but then changed it to the earlier date. We’re not sure why though.

Other points mentioned by TG Daily are the ability of the sofware to handle a ‘heterogeneous graphics system consisting of multiple graphics cards from different vendors’ and a new integrated media center that at the moment only supports PC speakers.

Wannabe early adopters will have to wait to hear when they can ty it out as the Beta date has not yet been decided.

Eager PC heads can find out more here.

The Games of 2008: Part I

Games of 2008, Part I

2007 has been a very good year for the gaming industry, with dozens of spectacular titles that we shall play for quite a while. StuffWeLike has decided to compile a list of games we should expect for 2008. With this year being so great and all, we hope the next will be equally exciting and we aren’t wholly disappointed (yet)!

In Part I, we cover the games whose release dates have been announced and hopefully will not be delayed. Of course, we may have missed a few games here and there. If so, be sure to tell us in the comments! So here’s Part I!

Continue reading “The Games of 2008: Part I”

Crysis – Review

Crysis

Click to see our Crysis DVD

crysis-2007-11-11-20-50-03-67.JPGcrysis-2007-11-11-20-49-57-29.JPGcrysis-2007-11-11-20-47-38-00.JPGcrysis-2007-11-11-20-37-48-84.JPGcrysis-2007-11-11-20-45-00-40.JPGcrysis-2007-11-11-20-44-57-51.JPGcrysis-2007-11-11-20-44-21-17.JPGcrysis-2007-11-11-20-43-24-59.JPGcrysis-2007-11-11-20-43-11-12.JPGcrysis-2007-11-11-20-43-04-82.JPGcrysis-2007-11-11-20-43-00-45.JPGcrysis-2007-11-11-20-42-56-28.JPGcrysis-2007-11-11-20-42-23-59.JPGcrysis-2007-11-11-20-42-23-06.JPGcrysis-2007-11-11-20-42-22-46.JPGcrysis-2007-11-11-20-41-46-93.JPGcrysis-2007-11-11-20-42-04-98.JPGcrysis-2007-11-11-20-41-34-98.JPGcrysis-2007-11-11-20-42-21-73.JPGcrysis-2007-11-11-20-40-51-01.JPG

 

If you haven’t heard of it from all the hype from the last few months, Crysis is a first person shooter published by EA. In Crysis you play a solider in a futuristic (Nano) suit who is sent to a remote island on a mission to find more than he expected.

The storyline in Crysis for the most part cannot be said as it would ruin the game, but it does go into a lot of detail and fleshes out the events surrounding you. Crysis is easy to control in terms of gameplay controls with the mouse and keyboard presenting no issues. For those of you who have seen all of the trailers over the months and played the demo you will find the game is exactly as advertised; a large number of gameplay areas all vast in size and varied in type. While FPS games do well just for being an FPS the biggest draw is the idea of replaying the game using the various different possible ways that the levels can be completed such as doing it once while invisible without killing then going through just like Van-Damme would punching everyone and then finally like Sly would with full-on guns in the jungle just like in Rambo.

While people might have been reporting issues with graphics settings in the demo versions, the full game is extremely easy to use and can scale to any system to give a perfect frame rate. No matter your system’s capabilities, one option that is a must in the graphics settings is Physics quality. The higher quality physics settings control effects such as buildings being able to come crashing down. Lets be fair that’s half of the appeal for the game so having it on high is a must!

There are some issues though that are hard to ignore. After spending up to the last 6 months hearing nothing about how much we are going to love this game, getting a single player campaign that only takes 10 hours to complete on a PC only title is a pretty disappointing. You end up wishing for the game to have been longer since you have been hearing about it for so long, it’s kind of anticlimactic. Some enemies get stuck in walls if you shoot them in close proximity to them which is a serious game play issue. There is also an escort mission, which is rather dull.

With a solid multilayer map set and an ending that leaves it open to a sequel, we can only hope that Crysis 2 fixes the issues with this game. While Crysis is fantastic to play, the excitement of blowing trees drys up pretty quickly and it only actually effects enemy characters directly in the rarest of cases.

Crysis also features a level editor called The Sandbox2. It doesn’t add that much value to the game as it’s way too technical for a novice to use. The program is hidden away in a directory on the install CD with only a single acknowledgment in the readme file and no directions on how to find it on the CD’s autorun let alone use it. The editor also isn’t mentioned at all in the instruction manual in the box.

Verdict: +

Ted Stokes

Proof of full version review before retail release.

We have had some comments on digg that some users doubt that this is a review of the full version. As is usual it is a review of a press unit and above are screenshots taken by myself to prove it is from the full version using the popular fraps screenshot program. Since promo shots are a single one or two from a level it was decided to give a number of non-action shots as to try and not ruin the game or at least the level. At the top of the review are the new exclusive screenshots. Look for the Stuffwelike name on the save screen in screenshot 3.

Add The Pipeline – Video Games to your page

[poll=6]