Put simply, the emperor has no clothes, and Activision and EA are hoping that they can dazzle you with enough explosions that you won’t notice. But me, well, I don’t know if I can kill any more soldiers in jingoistic crusades. The problem is that I love shooters. Thankfully, there are a few things that video games will never be able to make you feel bad about killing, and never try to: monsters, zombies, and Nazis (way to be on the same level as the rest of humanity, Nazis).

"There’s a story here, too, and a surprisingly serious, well-written and well-acted one that attempts to tackle a number of big ideas such as the horrors of war, discrimination, power, and even some metaphysical stuff."

It’s one of the things you expect from Wolfenstein, aside from the mountains of blood and gore, occult-powered super soldiers, and mechanized Nazi monsters: a conscience-free, Nazi blasting good time. And like every other entry in the series to date, Wolfenstein: The New Order delivers, and then some. Series protagonist William “B.J.” Blazkowicz was, as one character so aptly puts it, “born to kill Nazis,” and that is a tradition that The New Order upholds in a delightfully old-school manner.

But Wolfenstein isn’t just about shooting, stabbing, and strangling Nazis this time around. There’s a story here, too, and a surprisingly serious, well-written and well-acted one that attempts to tackle a number of big ideas such as the horrors of war, discrimination, power, and even some metaphysical stuff. Ol’ B.J. even gets some complex character moments and has a relationship with a nice Polish girl. This ain’t your daddy’s Wolfenstein.

But it starts out like it. The game takes place after the ridiculously underappreciated Raven Software’s 2009 reboot of the franchise, near the end of an alternate version of World War II. In this reality, it’s 1946, and the war still isn’t over yet. Worse still, the Nazis, led by General Wilhem “Deathshead” Strasse have gotten their hands on some extremely advanced technology that allows them to make weapons decades ahead of anything the Allies have and slowly but surely, the Allies are losing.

"The other big thing about The New Order is that you can dual-wield, which means you have the ability to take one of the biggest shotguns I’ve ever seen in a video game in each hand and turn everything in front of you into Nazi flavored giblets."

Enter B.J. and his team, who are attempting a last, desperate attack on Deathshead’s compound in an attempt to kill the general and break the back of the Nazi war machine. The action itself is fast and frantic from the word go, and the game seems to take a lot of pleasure in just how old school it is. The first thing that you need to know is that your health and armor are controlled almost entirely by pickups.  Yes, there is regenerating health, but only a little bit of your health will regenerate (about 20%), which means that you’ll have to scavenge from the surrounding environment if you want to stay healthy. You can even overcharge your health for a temporary boost that will slowly fade out over time.

The same is true of the game’s armor system, though armor doesn’t regenerate at all. You can only restore your armor by picking up the various helmets, flak vests, shoulder pads, and other pieces of armor scattered around the map. In a lot of ways, the system doesn’t make any sense (How does picking up 15 different helmets help you? Is B.J. welding them to his body?), but it does imbue the levels with a sense of strategy and resource management that is lacking from most first-person shooters these days.

The combat is equally old school. There’s no two-weapon limit, so you can carry as many weapons as you want and switch between them at will. The other big thing about The New Order is that you can dual-wield, which means you have the ability to take one of the biggest shotguns I’ve ever seen in a video game in each hand and turn everything in front of you into Nazi flavored giblets. Hell, you can even dual-wield the game’s equivalent of a sniper rifle. That’s neither practical nor possible, as far I know, but it’s there because why the hell not? This is Wolfenstein, dammit.

"At the end of the first level, The New Order throws you a curve ball by asking you to make one of the most morally terrible, well-designed choices I have ever seen in a video game. That choice changes everything that comes after it, from the characters you’ll encounter to the routes available to in missions."

Of course, you don’t have to go loudly a-murderin’ everything in sight if you don’t want to. The game’s levels are large and offer you multiple approaches to any given situation, so you almost always have the choice between a stealthy approach that favors a silenced pistol, sneaky takedowns, and throwing knives or your dual-wielding antics. Stealth has its advantages, such as marking collectibles on the map should you kill certain enemies silently, but both will work in nearly any given situation. Performing certain actions will also unlock perks, which might range from increasing the number of knives you can carry to the maximum amount of ammo you can have a clip. It’s not essential, but it does encourage you to try new things just for the heck of unlocking something.

You’re introduced to all of this stuff in the game’s first mission, and if those things were all Wolfenstein had to offer, it would still be a pretty good game. But at the end of the first level, The New Order throws you a curve ball by asking you to make one of the most morally terrible, well-designed choices I have ever seen in a video game. That choice changes everything that comes after it, from the characters you’ll encounter to the routes available to in missions. The game begins in earnest after this, and while the core gameplay doesn’t change much, the divergence does provide a good reason to see the action again.

No matter what choice you make, B.J. wakes up in 1960, and the world around him is nothing like he remembers it. The Nazis used their incredible futuristic tech to win the war and have spent the intervening fourteen years rebuilding the world in their image. It’s a frighteningly realistic image, too. English is a dying language. People in America are taught that they were oppressed by their government before they were liberated under German occupation. Londoners have traded fish and chips for bratwurst and sauerkraut. Worse still, there doesn’t seem to be any form of resistance left.

"The other impressive thing is how well Machine Games uses environmental storytelling to compliment the main narrative. Little touches abound, from the way that Nazi architecture is so accurately recreated to the little newspaper clippings that fill in fundamental backstory. "

Blazkowicz decides this won’t stand, and starts putting the band back together so he can set things right in an adventure that takes him everywhere from Berlin to the moon. The story always has a tongue-in-cheek element to it, usually delivered in Blazkowicz’s inner monologues to hilarious effect. And yet, the attention to detail in the environment goes a long way to selling the setting. A lot of this is due to the fact that The New Order is a damn good looking game, and the one that goes the furthest towards fulfilling all of the hype that was behind id Tech 5. From animations to textures to the level of diversity in the environments, Wolfenstein delivers.

The other impressive thing is how well Machine Games uses environmental storytelling to compliment the main narrative. Little touches abound, from the way that Nazi architecture is so accurately recreated to the little newspaper clippings that fill in fundamental backstory. Some just talk about the way things have been since the war, while others are eerily familiar, like one that discusses the rationale behind the Nazi decision to drop the atomic bomb on New York City – probably because it’s the same justification that the U.S. used when we wiped Hiroshima and Nagasaki off the map in 1945.

"Wolfenstein is a shooter for people who are tired of the current trends in the genre and are looking for something smart and viscerally fun."

Ultimately it’s moments like that that you’ll remember long after the credits have rolled. Wolfenstein is a long game – about twelve hours if you really explore each of the levels, maybe more – and it has some excellent action and story beats, but it’s not flawless. There are some pacing issues as some of the non-combat sections drag a little too long, and there are a few sections that feel too difficult or unfair, but these issues are so rare, and so minor when compared to what the game does right that it’s easy to overlook them.

Put simply, Wolfenstein is a shooter for people who are tired of the current trends in the genre and are looking for something smart and viscerally fun. It’s not a perfect game, but it is one that is begging for a sequel, and will scratch that shooter itch for a long time – or at least until the Nazis come gunnin’ for Blazkowicz again. Friggin’ Nazis, man.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 4.

Rockstar has announced a gameplay video debut for Grand Theft Auto V. The gameplay video will debut tomorrow at 10 AM Eastern at their website.

Grand Theft Auto V is slated to come out on September 17th for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It’s kind of funny that such a massive title is coming out right near the end of this generation’s cycle and right before the arrival of PlayStation 4 and Xbox this Holiday season. However, Rockstar is not worried too much about the sales because everyone knows that this game will in-fact sell millions and millions of copies no matter the circumstances.

Let us know if you’re looking forward to playing Grand Theft Auto V on September 17th 2013, in the comments section below.

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more news and updates.

Get ready for QuakeCon’s 2013 online pre-registration starting next week on Monday April 15th 2013.

All attendees can gain entry to QuakeCon for free. However, when pre-registration opens up the company will be offering premium packages. Premium packages will be limited and only available on a first-come first-server basis. Here is an entire list of all the premium packages below:

BYOC Select-a-Seat | Includes Guaranteed Reserved Seating: $30 (Limit of 1,250 packages available)

• Select and Reserve a guaranteed seat of your choice in the BYOC area
• An Official QuakeCon 2013 BYOC T-Shirt

BYOC Select-a-Seat and Swag Pack | Full of Limited Edition Items and Guaranteed Reserved Seating: $90 (Limit of 500 packages available)

• Select and Reserve a guaranteed seat of your choice in the BYOC area
• An Official QuakeCon 2013 T-Shirt
• An Official QuakeCon 2013 BYOC T-Shirt
• A QuakeCon Branded Logitech G400 Mouse
• A $5 Voucher for the on-site Bethesda Retail Store; we’ll have a selection of items from the online store store.bethsoft.com available at QuakeCon, as well as a number of show exclusives
• Reserved Seating Until 7:00pm Friday

BYOC Select-a-Seat and QuakeCon done Quick | Includes Fast Passes for the Duration of the Event: $50 (Limit of 250 packages available)

• Select and Reserve a guaranteed seat of your choice in the BYOC area
• Express lane fast-pass registration for the BYOC
• Express lane fast-pass to every speaker, panel, and public event at QuakeCon
• Limited reserved access seating for all panels, presentations, and events
• An Official QuakeCon 2013 BYOC T-Shirt
• Reserved Seating Until 7:00pm Friday

Swag Pack | Full of Limited Edition Items: $60 (Limit of 250 packages available)

• An Official QuakeCon 2013 T-Shirt
• An Elder Scrolls Online Ouroboros T-Shirt
• Another Special Limited Edition T-Shirt
• A QuakeCon Branded Logitech G400 Mouse
• A $5 Voucher for the on-site Bethesda Retail Store; we’ll have a selection of items from the online store store.bethsoft.com available at QuakeCon, as well as a number of show exclusives

Starting today PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 players will be able to access Skyrim’s 1.9 title update automatically. For those who want to get the update all they have to do is make sure that their console has a working internet connection. This patch includes Legendary Skills and the new Legendary difficulty setting. Also, the update has a ton of bug fixes. Here is an entire list of features and bug fixes for Skyrim 1.9

Skyrim 1.9 

VG247 report that 38 Studios website is back up and running. Original noticed by RPGsite, and discovered by Bitsnark that the site contains a hidden message.

“Amid the maelstrom of recent press, we realize it’s unlikely you’re here to visit the new occupants; namely, us. Meh. Our apologies. That being said, if you’re looking for updates on the former tenants: Curt Shilling, Green Monster Games, etc. Try here. Otherwise, it’s business as usual. Please excuse the mess while we move in.”

The website has three site buttons, each button gives you three options: 38 Studios, Excuse the Mess and Relaunch.

Also, RPGsite noticed the 38 Studios website different maintenance messages pop up. The following messages were: “please excuse the mess, we’re moving in” and “relaunch”.

We believe that the site domain has been bought by someone else or this might be some sort of viral marketing. Either way, it’s nice to see 38 Studios website to see back up again in some form. We’ll keep you posted for any more updates here at GamingBolt.

Hitman: Absolution has received it’s own free companion app, Square Enix announced today. The companion app “Hitman: ICA” allows players to purchase and upgrade weapons, queue up contracts and get in-game hints.

Hitman: ICA is now available on both iOS and Android stores/devices. This app packs achievement info, stats on assassinations and even shortcuts to the YouTube channel.

Launch trailer has also been released and you can watch it below. The video is a whopping of two minutes long and it demonstrates how the features work in Hitman: ICA. This app track’s players progress throughout the game and unlocks in-game rewards.

Hopefully, this will games feel what it’s like to be a hitman in real life.

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more news and updates.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

The 4 new maps are Vertigo, Studio, Encore and Magma. However,  the center of the card teases a new zombie map called Mob of the Dead. The images easily described the locations of Vertigo and Studo maps. Vertigo is located on a high rise, while Studio is located in a movie studio. Meanwhile, it’s hard to tell where Magma and Encore exactly take place. The background image of Mob of the Dead map suggests that it’s taking place in the Alcatraz, the former United States penitentiary. One of the community live members @LiamFTWinter managed to get an exact description of Uprising DLC  from the Xbox Live Marketplace upload registry.

The description says the following: “Call of Duty®: Black Ops II Uprising includes four incredibly diverse Multiplayer Maps: Magma, Encore, Vertigo, and Studio: a reimagined adaptation of the fan-favorite Black Ops multiplayer map Firing Range. Uprising also introduces Mob of the Dead, Treyarch’s most terrifying Zombies experience to date.

Top Hollywood talent rounds out a cast of four Prohibition-era gangsters that are forced to fend off hordes of the undead while imprisoned on San Francisco’s notorious Alcatraz Island. While guard towers and new weapons offer tactical advantages, survival offers an unprecedented new challenge for these four lost souls.” Keep your eyes peeled for Call of Duty Black Ops II: Uprising on April 16th 2013.

Source

Hideo Kojima is the mastermind behind the Metal Gear Solid franchise. However, today he will be sharing his views on game development and how important it is for technology to stay up to date at Kojima Productions.

“Making hi-end game takes for 3-4 years if we were to include the concept stage. This time we reconstructed our engine and tool related materials. Even if it’s franchised title, we risk ourselves to add new surprise element. We don’t create with emotions or just because something pops in our mind or but we do carefully consider over and over.”

“I had experienced similar adversity when developing MGS4, where casual gamers were dominating the market. Now with social game domination, it is difficult to keep creating hi-end game solely. But I am not watching only now. Both social and hi-end will be linked together with multidivise or cloud. For the future, I shall hang in there.”

“Game is a media that depends on technology and it advances but does not degenerates. Thus once you step out from ladder of technology, you never able to step on the ladder again. Even in a short period of time not paying attention, the era steps beyond. It’ll endanger you if you get caught up with only the horizontal advancement.”

The PlayStation 4 combines cloud gaming, casual and high end games all into one single box. Kojima said that he will trying to find ways to use the PlayStation 4 as a multi-gaming device and that he has been thinking about it for a while.

Source: Kojima’s Twitter.

RC 3 FIA World Rally Championship is a rally game that relies too much on its mechanics rather than an all around decent package. The game is also unforgiving for new players because it lacks a proper tutorial mode and expects that you have played the previous games in the series. Inconsistencies in the presentation throughout the entire game do not help it either. I will talk about each of the game’s component in detail starting with the presentation first then the gameplay mechanics and overall verdict.

Presentation:

WRC 3 FIA World Rally Championship is among the first game that has the most horrible inconsistent production value all around I have ever seen in any video game. The visuals of the game look like came out in the mid-late 90s; the sound design is horrendous. The port graphically suffers because of lower-resolution textures and the game is not even running at 60 FPS, instead it tries to run at 30 and still has slowdowns despite the graphical compromises.

The engine of the cars sounds bad and all you will ever hear throughout the racing stages of this game is an announcer who comments on upcoming turns almost every single second. The announcer’s voice sounds like it was recorded on an old voice recorder. It gets annoying and instead of focusing on racing, the players will be tortured by an atrocious male voice all throughout the race that never shuts up.

The music in the game is actually good; however, it does not fit the game style at all in my opinion and makes the player feel like they’re playing a game that belongs to a different genre. The production values almost feels like the developers worked on the same game with no communication in between throughout the entirety of the development process. This ended up creating an inconsistent overall style that does not fit the genre and feel of the game.

One thing WRC 3 FIA World Rally Championship does get right is the cars and the feel of a rally game itself. Cars are licensed and the tracks range from snowy mountains to green flat plains. Each rally has a star rating that resembles the difficulty of the stages before you play it. Overall the presentation in WRC 3 FIA World Rally Championship is a giant lackluster, has a unfitting soundtrack, bad sound of the car engines, annoying announcer voice and the graphics of a late 90s games creates an ugly presentation throughout the entire package despite the licensed cars and cool tracks.

Gameplay and Content:

There are two categories in the game that you can play, WRC Experience and Multiplayer. WRC Experience has three different single-player modes: Single Stage, Rally and Championship. In Single Stage you pick one stage and a car to race in and that’s it. In Rally mode, you can play an entire Rally with all the stages included rather than just one Stage. Championship Mode lets the players play all the playable Rallies and pick stages in whichever order they want. All the modes are nice and give you plenty of options depending on your mood on how you want to play the game.

However, the main career mode has been stripped away that used to be included in the console version of the game. Why did the developer decide to do this? I have no idea and I think it is rather strange to strip away main gameplay features that provided content in the previous versions.

The port of the game includes only 6 rallies as opposed to 13 on the console version, the main career mode is gone, which is more than half of racing content. In the multiplayer you can play a  custom match and of course check the leaderboards. The online only supports up to six players instead of 16 on the console version. I do not understand some of the design/content choices that were made for this port by the developers.

There are different classes of cars to choose from, every single car is licensed, which gives the game a true rally experience feel to it. The handling of the cars is decent, driving feels right for the most part and the game does feel proper for a rally genre racer. Your cars can also break certain parts throughout the races if you crash a lot. The game does feature a damage model, bumpers will start dragging and parts will fly off if you drive recklessly.

Once you have finished a stage you have 60 seconds to fix particular car parts using sliders before the time runs out. If you are not sure what needs the most fixing for your next race then you can have an A.I. do an automatic fix by pressing the Triangle button. This is a nice feature; it adds somewhat of a strategy and makes the gameplay a bit more interesting.

The fact that the game was missing a simple introduction tutorial on the gameplay mechanics and style of racing bewildered me. This is a rally racing simulator game, any simulator game should include some sort of a basic tutorial, and however, in this case the game did not. 

Overall:

Overall WRC 3 FIA World Rally Championship is a disappointing rally game that could of been really good. Starting with inconsistent production values to tremendous amount of content cutting, I don’t understand some of the design/content choices that were made for this port by the developers.

Considering the game costs $40 on PlayStation 3 and the Vita version cuts so much racing content that the game ends up not even being worth of a purchase. There is no Cross-Save, Cross-Buy or even Cross-Play features either, this is a watered down port that does not justify the $40 price tag at all. Stay away from this port and just play the console version instead.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation Vita.

In an interesting twist, it looks like the 360 has clawed back the lead built up by the PS3 due to the holidays in the US. Both the consoles sell 11 million each.

The PS3 is on track to hit the 15 million projection set by Sony for this FY.

The 3DS was the best selling hardware of 2011 due to solid performance in Japan, and other regions. 360 topped in the US and PS3 topped in the EU.

Check out the complete numbers below.

TOTAL = US | EU | JP

3DS – 11.8  = 4.1 | 3.5| 4.3

360 – 11.0 = 7.3 | 3.7| 0.1

PS3 – 11.0 = 4.5 | 4.9 | 1.5

WII – 9.5 =4.5 | 4.0 | 0.9

NDS – 7.5 =3.8 | 3.0 | 0.7

PSP – 5.8 =1.4 | 2.3 | 2.1

PSV – 0.5 = 0 0 | 0 0 |0.5

• US: NPD
• JP: Media Create
• EU: Nintendo’s estimates.

Rounded to nearest 100000.

[Nintendo]