GamesRocker Plus

  1. BioShock 2 Guide Out Now

    Filed in GamesRocker Plus at 22.23pm on 03 February 10

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    Official strategy guide expert, BradyGames, has launched the BioShock 2 Signature Series Guide – the ultimate accessory for the critically-acclaimed first-person shooter that is released worldwide today. BradyGames’ official strategy guide is the only choice for gamers looking to uncover all the secrets held within the dark halls of Rapture, and has an RRP of £12.99 for the Signature Series book and £19.99 for the Limited Edition hardcover that includes exclusive lithographs.

    Ten years have passed since the death of Andrew Ryan and Rapture’s subsequent fall into a state of corruption and despair. And once again the halls of Rapture echo with the sins of the past. A monster has been snatching little girls off the Atlantic coast and bringing them to the once great underwater Utopia.

    You are Subject Delta, one of the first Big Daddies to be successfully bonded with a Little Sister – forgotten for a decade. Now you must make your way through the decrepit and beautiful fallen city, chasing an unseen foe in search of answers and your own survival.

    The only officially-licensed, 256-page Signature Series strategy guide (Limited Edition is 272-pages) features a comprehensive walkthrough of the entire single-player campaign; extensive area maps including the location of every secret, safe and enhancement; in-depth listings of all items, weapons and Plasmids; expert multiplayer maps and tactics so that gamers can dominate online; full Achievements and Trophies listed; and with the hardcover Limited Edition Guide also offering one of two sets of 8x10 lithographs of stunning BioShock 2-themed art bundled with each hardcover guide.

    Get In The Diver Suit!
    Step into the shoes of a Big Daddy and use the guide to explore the ruins and uncover the secrets of this underwater metropolis. Use the information gathered within these pages to locate invaluable vending machines, find Little Sisters, and punish the deadliest foes in Rapture.

    Join The Battle For Rapture!
    Use the deep multiplayer strategy and maps to go head to head with other Splicers. Learn the locations of valuable power-ups and where Big Daddy suits spawn so you can destroy your opposition.

    Equip Big Daddy Weaponry!
    Rev up your Big Daddy Drill, blast your enemies with the Rivet Gun, and lay waste to Splicers with the vast array of Plasmids and Tonics at your disposal.

    Put Rapture’s Residents To Rest!
    Discover the backgrounds, strengths, weaknesses and bonuses for researching the dark city’s gene splicing denizens.

    Written by two of the videogames industry’s most highly respected guide authors, Doug Walsh and Phillip Marcus, in direct collaboration with 2K Games for the Xbox 360, PlayStation3 and PC, the official BioShock 2 Signature Series guide provides a vital toolset for gamers to survive the horrors that await within the crumbling walls of Rapture.

    You can read the GamesRocker opinion on BioShock 2 in next month's issue of Artrocker Magazine.

  2. VIDEO: Downloadable 50 Cent, Mary J Blige & Queen Mix on DJ Hero

    Filed in GamesRocker Plus at 22.50pm on 02 February 10

  3. My Gaming Life Part 1

    Filed in GamesRocker Plus by Tego at 20.25pm on 11 May 09

    In my most humble of opinions, the greatest games console of all time is the Sega MegaDrive. The console wars of the early to mid-nineties were all too real on my estate as a kid. Half the boys had Super Nintendo's, half the boys had Sega MegaDrives, a select few had NES Systems or Master Systems, but those kids make me sad in my face so I won't be focussing on them. Oh you have Alex Kidd? Really? Your Master System has a pre-loaded game? Why does it look so shit? Because it's a pre-loaded game, I'm not impressed. My MegaDrive came with an EA Hockey and EA American Football double cartridge. I don't even like American Football and I know it's better than your pre-loaded maze game! I'm not staying at your house until you upgrade. This is ridiculous. The MegaDrive was the dark-side, the non-conformist, the edge; SNES was cartoon characters, neon colours and a seriously uncomfortable control pad. As a true estate kid I had access to both consoles, rather than the modern generation of Xbox360 and PS3 fan-boys I definitely knew the strengths of both formats. Super Mario Kart could easily be the best driving game of all time; Super Mario 3 could be the second greatest platformer of all time. Second? What's first? Simples. Sonic 2. Not only the greatest platform game of all time but possibly the greatest game period.



    Sonic 2

    Sonic The Hedgehog represented a break-through in single player gaming, exhilaration in it's purest form, a game played with pace and skill, an awesome stand alone graphic universe, mini-games, developed level design and the coolest looking character you'll ever see in any game, cartoon or comic. By the time Sonic 2 hit the streets in 1992/93 a whole generation's expectations couldn't have been higher. Used to sequels being nothing more than new level designs, a slight step-up in graphics and a new soundtrack [see Golden Axe], Sonic 2 revolutionised how we looked at video game sequels. Every aspect of the game seemed to develop, from the graphics, to the level design, to the music through to the new slightly effeminate sidekick Tails [whose real name was Miles? But why? What was Sonic's real name?] . The most addictive game I'd come across as a 6/7 year old on the Stockwell Park Estate [Championship Manager wouldn't rear it's ugly GCSE hope destroying head for another 5 years], it has to be said Mario and his communist comrade Luigi didn't get much of a look-in over the next 24 months. Emerald chasing, Golden Super Sonic fantasies filled my dreams and Dr Robotnic's egg inspired weapons of mass destruction filled my nightmares. The addition of Sonic's greatest asset; the ‘down spin' which meant we could charge our hero's forward roll by pressing down and C repeatedly, then letting go in a flurry of robot-Ladybird exploding madness provided unparalleled frustration relief and does to this day [I challenge you to download a Sonic 2 emulator, get the first level open, down spin your way through and not feel your ills float away, it's impossible].



    Sonic 3

    Sonic 3 suffered where Sonic 2 couldn't; having made the jump between the first two titles the way they did, our expectations were way too high, there's now way Sonic 3 could have made the leaps Sonic 2 did, the MegaDrive wouldn't physically allow it. I can accept that now. The fact of the matter is that Sonic 3 is a superior game in almost every way, the introduction of Sonic's effeminately coloured nemesis [brother?] Knuckles was a fantastic twist, although a little easier to complete than the previous two, Sonic 3 represented development in pretty much every way, but that wasn't enough to hold our attentions. By 1994/95 we had Micro Machines with the two extra control ports in the cartridge [Micro Machines is really a whole other article, I'll get into that next], we had Cannon Fodder [which is still a powerfully underrated title] and most importantly we had FIFA. Despite England failing to make the '94 World Cup in the US, the tournament itself had a life changing effect on 90% of the kids on my estate [me included], for a whole summer the names in the park were Hristo Stoichkov, Roberto Baggio and Gheorghe Hagi. We were all experts, we were all strikers and we were all going to play in the Premier League. The impact of that World Cup should not be underestimated, as pre-teens we knew the names of every Bulgarian international, every Columbian substitute and every Nigerian superstar. The Premier League was in it's earliest phase and we were the target audience.



    FIFA 94

    Sensible Soccer probably represented a better gaming experience overall and pre-dated FIFA in its original form by two years [although the MegaDrive re-release dropped at around the same time]. Sensible's editing option was way ahead of its time and suffered a great degree less bugs than EA's officially licensed title. But that official license had us, we couldn't resist the David Platt cover and the FIFA logo we'd all grown so accustomed to during the '94 World Cup through our Sticker Books, Shoot Magazines and televisions. Probably the greatest example of brand association selling a game, I feel like in 2009 the kids are too savvy to be sold on logo alone, we weren't, we were innocent. That's not to say that FIFA was a poor game because it certainly wasn't! It reviewed fantastically in all of the neutral publications [Sega and Nintendo official magazines loved everything of course] and despite fatal flaws in game play [the person with the greatest trigger finger could tap C for the entirety of the game and invariably win, it hooked us all. We'd pick Brazil and play friendlies against Egypt set to 90 minutes actual gameplay and clock up as many goals as we could. FIFA's most influential impact came with the introduction of the EA 4-Way-Play which meant that four people could play at the same time. With control pads pooled, we'd all set off for the youth-club on Friday nights to test ourselves against each other, using the previous 6 days practice into action. With an ambience of abrasive Jungle music played by the older boys in one corner and smelly younger boys jumping off the climbing frame in the other, I can't think of a greater game playing environment. I try to replicate it with Spotify and the children of friends but it will never be the same. Panda Pops just don't taste as great as they did back then. Something in the flavourings; must be.

    To be continued…

  4. Gamer Movie Trailer

    Filed in GamesRocker Plus by Tego at 18.20pm on 11 May 09



    This is the trailer for a new movie called 'Gamer' a "high-concept action thriller set in the near future, a time when mind-control technology has taken society by storm.". PSX have got a pretty neat rundown of the concept. "In this warped time, humans actually have the capability to control other humans in a 'mass-scale, multiplayer online game.' Basically, we no longer control animations, but living, breathing people".

    This 2009 'Running Man'-a-like is out September 4th and stars Michael C. Hall and Ludacris among others.

  5. Rockstar Debut new Red Dead Redemption Trailer

    Filed in GamesRocker Plus by Tego at 14.49pm on 07 May 09

    Rockstar Games have officially unveiled the debut trailer for their next big hitter Red Dead Redemption. The Grand Theft Auto developers have this time taken to the Wild-West, hoping to be able to convert the original American dream into a viable gaming odyssey. 2005's Gun [developed by Rebellion] was the last to try [and fail] to capture John Wayne's world [party time, excellent], while the visuals and landscapes were well developed enough to mask serious control issues, Rockstar will no doubt hope to go one better this time around.











    Undeniably the visuals are a step up from Gun and we can expect Rockstar's usual attention to detail in the plot and dialogue developments but it remains to be seen whether they manage to balance playability with difficulty [one of my only criticisms of the GTA franchise is a lack of progression in terms of level difficulty as your story develops]. Funky little trailer though and make no mistake, I'm excited.

    RockstarGames.com/RedDeadRedemption

    Welcome to GamesRocker Plus by the way, we'll be hoping to bridge the gap between the gaming world and the rocking world over the coming months, there's a world beyond Rock Band. You knew that. Here's a video of Grand Theft Auto: China Town Wars' online multiplayer capabilities with a rap song by Marvin The Martian & Ghostface Killah over the top. Enjoy...

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