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7 Video Game Death Animations That Will Make You Puke

George Reith — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 11:29:59 +0000

Violence and conflict are two themes that (for better or worse) seem to dominate the gaming industry. Nearly all games seem to reflect thanatos, a cultural drive toward an inevitable death. Whether it is a scripted event where a beloved ally or loathed enemy must perish, or whether it is a player mistake that causes the death of a hero, these deaths in games are sometimes gratuitous and often visceral. Some may even be potent enough to cause full blown nausea. Here’s a list of seven death animations in games that are so grotesque, they may actually induce vomiting. If you’re a real glutton for punishment, then read on. Some of the videos below may offend and disgust some readers.

7 Reasons Why Black Ops 2 Will Revitalise Call of Duty

George Reith — Tue, 22 May 2012 12:29:58 +0000

Call of Duty is the biggest media franchise out there, and it’s certainly one of the most popular game series around at the moment. For all the fans it draws in though, the series hasn’t seen any major alterations or changes since 2007’s Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Series developers Treyarch and Infinity Ward have successfully followed the pattern of not fixing what isn’t broken so far, but Treyarch seem to be taking some rewarding steps into new ground with the upcoming Black Ops 2. Here’s seven reasons why these changes may well revitalise the franchise in new and exciting ways.

Treyarch’s Own Script

: How Treyarch’s previous Call of Duty games will look in comparison to Black Ops 2

Considering previous Call of Dutys heavily relied on WW2 skirmishes for their inspiration and 2010’s Black Ops was largely based on a script that Infinity Ward decided not to use, Black Ops 2 will be the first time that Treyarch have actually penned their own Call of Duty script from scratch. Getting a fresh perspective on the series’ storytelling will be a new experience for series fans, and hopefully a decisive one.

A Fresh Theme

The jump from WW2 to the modern era was huge in COD4, but the 60’s setting in Black Ops 1 wasn’t much of a revolution by comparison. The sudden jump in Black Ops 2 seems pretty massive so far, and it could provide the thematic boot in the arse that the Call of Duty series needs from time to time. If the 2025 setting offers half as many battle mechs and robots as the trailers have shown so far, we could be in for a truly new element of Call of Duty. Speaking of which…

New Enemies

: Been there, done that

Battle mechs, robot suits and general sci-fi craziness offer more than just options for the player. These inclusions also provide a new score of technological enemies for fans to oppose. I know the variety will never be huge in a war focused FPS, but terrorists, dogs and helicopters are really starting to get old. Getting to take on battle mechs would certainly be a good start.

7 Recent Handheld Games With Excellent User Interfaces

Shubhankar Parijat — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 11:54:22 +0000

User interfaces might not be the most important thing in video games, but they’re sure as hell important. I mean, a bad or a good user interface cannot make or break a game, but it sure can affect its quality. That especially holds true for handheld games, because with lesser buttons than console titles, UIs can be very tricky in handheld titles. But some games get it right.

So here’s a list of 7 recently released handheld titles that had excellent user interfaces. Let us know if we missed out on any games via your comments below.

Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver

One of the only gripes we had with Pokemon Black and White were that they did not have the excellent user interface of Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver. Taking away all the cluttered menus of the previous Pokemon titles, HG/SS put all the menus on the bottom, touch screen and made it all oh-so-easy and user-friendly. It’s a shame Black and White did not feature the same interface- hopefully, Black and White 2 will.

Infinity Blade 2

Almost everything IFB 2 did, it did perfectly, and that includes the sexy, neat and clean UI. There was just so much going on on the screen, and not once did we feel that the virtual buttons or the menus were getting in the way of the action. Epic did an excellent job with Infinity Blade 2’s user interface, and it’s probably the best benchmark for iPad games in this aspect.

God of War: Chains of Olympus/Ghost of Sparta

The PSP God of War titles- Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta- were excellent examples of how to port a console game onto a handheld without any significant sacrifices. They basically felt the same as God of War 1 and 2 in almost every aspect. And that includes the menus. While the menus by themselves aren’t noteworthy, it is noteworthy how true to the console versions they were in COO and GoS. The menus were clearly made for console titles, and yet, they were ported over to the PSP perfectly.

7 Ways The Last Of Us Might Overthrow Uncharted As Naughty Dog’s Best

Shubhankar Parijat — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 16:35:51 +0000

Uncharted has come to be recognized as not only the best franchise Naughty Dog has ever delivered, but also one of the most iconic brand names in the entire gaming industry. While it’s no Mario or Halo, it is an extremely popular franchise, and Sony and PS3 have literally become synonymous with Nathan Drake this gen.

However, Naughty Dog is moving forward, working on new things. The highly anticipated The Last of Us seems to be a unique concept and everyone’s looking forward to it, but with so much to live up to, can it deliver? Can it beat Uncharted as Naughty Dog’s best work ever?

We certainly think it can. Here’s why:

It actually looks better

Okay, I guess it might be a little too early to say this, but even from the early build it’s pretty apparent that The Last of Us is way better looking than Uncharted 3. That’s a huge achievement in itself- Uncharted 3 is one of the best looking games of all time, and to top that is no easy accomplishment, but it looks like Naughty Dog might just do that with TLoU. We just have to wait for some more footage to definitively make up our minds on this.

Deeper character development

Uncharted is known, first and foremost, for its deep character development and how they interact with each other, making them so likeable and the story so believable. But Naughty Dog has promised even deeper character development in The Last of Us, already fleshing out the characters by giving us vital details and promising unprecedented depth in character growth. I can’t wait to see Ellie and Joel in action- already, they look so good on the screen.

Better emotional development

As I mentioned above, the believable and likeable back-and-forth between the characters in Uncharted makes them so well developed and the relationships between them so well fleshed out. But with just two main characters to focus on in The Last of Us, ND will obviously be able to develop the relationship between them better. We already know that the father-daughter love relationship between Joel and Ellie is the focal point of TLoU, and from what we’ve seen so far, Naughty Dog will probably deliver on that promise with flying colours.

7 Sony Franchises We Want To See on The PS Vita

Shubhankar Parijat — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 18:39:41 +0000

The PS Vita has definitely been having a lot of problems ever since it’s launched, but it has one very strong thing going its way- the excellent first party lineup under Sony’s belt. Already, franchises like Killzone, Uncharted, Resistance, Wipeout, LittleBigPlanet and others have made their way (or are going to, soon) to the Vita. But there are so many more Sony franchises that are yet to see the light of the day on this new handheld.

So here’s a list of 7 Sony franchises that we want to see on the PS Vita the most. Enjoy, and leave behind your feedback in the comments section below.

7 Things We Want To See In Pokemon Black/White 2

Shubhankar Parijat — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 18:00:19 +0000

Going largely against tradition and becoming the first numbered, direct sequel in the history of the franchise, Pokemon Black/White 2 are surely looking like they’ll change the shape of things and give us a look at the future of the franchise. It’s a new territory for developers Game Freak- they’re not going to have a clean slate to work with, a fresh start. Being the direct sequel to the incredible Black/White, there’s a lot they have to keep in mind, a lot they need to live up to.

Here are seven things we want to see in Black/White 2, seven things that might just make the upcoming sequel a game worthy of the franchise’s name and worthy of the predecessor.

Enjoy, and leave behind your feedback in the comments section below.

Proper continuity

Being a direct sequel to Black and White, there obviously will be continuity here. But how well Game Freak manages that will also be very important in deciding the fate of the game. Will we see more of Team Galactic? Will we have to collect all 8 gym badges again? What’s gonna happen to N (more on this later)? There are just so many plot threads that need to be continued in Black/White 2, plot threads that will not only affect the story progression, but how the game plays out. Let’s hope Game Freak gets it right.

More cinematic

Pokemon Black and White had sweeping camera angles, awesome bridges and cities to show off from impressive angles, some great cutscenes- and not just by Pokemon standards-, and other things we would never had imagined to see in a Pokemon game before. With Black and White, Game Freak proved that they are ready to experiment. We’re hoping we see more of the cutscenes and the new, awesome camera angles Black and White 2 as we did in 2010.

HeartGold/SoulSilver UI

We loved Pokemon Black and White, but we will never understand why Game Freak removed the awesome touch screen interface that was incorporated in HeartGold/SoulSilver. The interface of HG/SS was awesome- one touch, and you could do all the fundamental stuff that was required in a Pokemon game- no using buttons and long winded menus. Everything was clean and crisp, and HG/SS were perhaps the first and only Pokemon games to make good use of the touch screen. We want Black/White 2 to see the return of the same interface- we don’t care if Game Freak changes it at all, because it was perfect as it was. Just bring it back.

7 Things We Want To See In Resident Evil 6

Shubhankar Parijat — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 17:20:38 +0000

The recently revealed Resident Evil 6 has created a hype storm in the last few weeks, and it has quickly become of the most anticipated games of the year, along the likes of Halo 4, BioShock Infinite and Assassin’s Creed 3. However, with the RE franchise having gone donwhill in the last few years, and Resident Evil 6 seemingly following in a similar direction, plenty of people are worried.

So here are seven things that we think Resident Evil 6 should implement to become the perfect Resi game we’ve all been waiting for for so long.

Enjoy, and leave behind your feedback in the comments section below.

Co-op

Resident Evil 5 had an excellent co-op mode, so obviously we expect Resident Evil 6 to have one too. But with so many playable characters this time around, and all of them going through missions in groups of at least two (from what we’ve seen so far), it’d made a lot more sense to have co-op than ever before. Let’s just hope Capcom doesn’t go ahead and ditch the mode altogether and give us a shorter, separate, half-assed co-op campaign.

Actual horror sequences

Resident Evil being a survival horror franchise, it’s strange that it’s been missing the “horror” part for many years now. Resident Evil 4 had plenty of thrilling, scary scenes still, but RE5 just went all out and down the action path. Resident Evil 6 seems to be a cross between the old RE and the new RE, but we just hope Capcom hasn’t lost touch went it comes to spookiness. The scenes with Leon sure look scary and thrilling- let’s just hope they play the same.

No forced online mode

A lot of games these days are coming with online multiplayer modes, the prime examples being Dead Space 2 and Mass Effect 3. Mass Effect 3 did get it right, but it sure as hell wasn’t needed, and Dead Space 2… well, the less we talk about it, the better. So let’s just hope that Capcom doesn’t try to appeal to the Call of Duty crowd and force a typical competitive online mode in RE6.

7 Reasons Why All The Mass Effect 3 Hate Is Unjustified

Shubhankar Parijat — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 10:35:27 +0000

Mass Effect 3 has been getting a lot of hate lately, probably even more so than the likes of Call of Duty and Madden. Considering the history of those two franchises, this is a big deal. But why? ME3 clearly isn’t a bad game. It is’t a half-assed effort on BioWare’s part, and it’s one of the fullest games we’ve ever played. I mean, if a game has a Metascore of 93 and gets perfect scores from innumerable publications, including us, it obviously must be doing something right… right?

It is. It’s a wonderful game. It does have a few flaws, there’s no denying that, but from Ocarina of Time and Skyrim to Superman 64 and Big Rigs, every game has flaws. So what’s with all the hate then? Unlike a lot of people out there, I actually think the hate against Mass Effect 3 is very, very unfair, and most of it has no proper backing.

Here are seven reasons why I think the hate against ME3 is unjustified. This article will definitely get polarizing reactions, I know that, and I will be receiving a lot of hateful comments, but feedback is always appreciated. Remember, this is my personal opinion, and it doesn’t represent them opinion of all of GamingBolt.

Also, before you proceed, I’d like to point something out– I’ve played all three Mass Effect games, the first two thrice and the third one twice. I’ve read every comic book, I’ve read all the novels, heck, I’ve even played the iOS game. Right now, in fact, I’m on my first playthrough of Mass Effect: Infiltrator on the iPad. So I’m pretty deeply invested in the universe and the franchise.

So read the article, enjoy (if you will), and leave your feedback in the comments section below.

This article contains spoilers. You have been warned.

The ending actually isn’t all that bad

I get why so many people dislike the ending- there was no epilogue, no final boss battle against the terrifying Harbinger (or anyone, for that matter). I agree that it wasn’t the ending I expected- I expected better. But when I first finished Mass Effect 3, I was satisfied. The ending was fitting, in a way. Poignant. It certainly wasn’t as bad as everyone is making it out to be. To be honest, I’ve seen worse endings in a LOT of games- Killzone 2, Halo 2, God of War 3 and so many more. Why did Mass Effect 3 alone get all that hate? Because…

A lot of people are just going with the flow

Really, now?

Mass Effect belongs to BioWare. BioWare belongs to EA. That’s three names right over here that generate massive amounts of hate as it is. Combined together, they give you one entity that is probably as hated as Call of Duty, if not more. Mass Effect 3 has received a lot of hate. Why? It isn’t a yearly franchise, it’s not a cash cow, BioWare puts in time and effort into making these games and delivers on their promises. Why, then, are the players overreacting so much? Because most of them are just jumping onto the hate bandwagon. Just like Call of Duty and often Pokemon, it’s “cool to hate Mass Effect.” Most of the hate out there is hyperbolic trolling that is blowing the negative aspects of the game out of proportion and neglecting the positive ones completely.

Every game has technical issues

Not many people are complaining about this, but enough are. I’ve met so many people online who didn’t like Mass Effect 3 because it has glitches. Are you freaking kidding me? Every game has technical issues! Hell, last year’s GOTY, Skyrim had tons of technical issues. Most of the successful games- GTA, Elder Scrolls, Assassin’s Creed, FIFA, Call of Duty- have technical issues. In fact, most of the glitches and issues in Mass Effect 3 aren’t even game breaking. Many of them are even hilarious.

7 Most Memorable Opening Sequences In Recent Memory

Shubhankar Parijat — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 16:33:40 +0000

The first few minutes of a video game can have a huge impact on you. Depending on what you think of the opening sequence of a game, an impression so lasting can be made on you that you’d be influenced by it for a long time. Rarely do we ever see games with explosive opening sequences, but when we do, we remember them fondly. So here’s a list of 7 such games- 7 games that we thought had the best opening sequences we’ve seen in recent memory.

This list contains major spoilers. You have been warned.

Top 7 Mass Effect Characters

Shubhankar Parijat — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 10:19:01 +0000

While Mass Effect has come to be known for its awesome story, rich universe and the element of choice, what is best about the franchise is the caste of characters. Every single character we have ever met in the mass Effect universe has been brilliant and very well developed, and they are what basically drive the story forward.

Here’s a list of what we think are the seven best characters from the universe. It was hard choosing just 7 out of so many wonderful characters, but we did it nonetheless. It has some baffling omissions, we know, so let us know about them in the comments section below.