PRINCE OF PERSIA, NEW LOOK!!!!

Forget the Prince of Persia you once knew. The Prince of the last generation of game consoles lived in a static world. He went from one obstacle to the next and no matter how many times you played the quest, the layout remained the same. Once a saw blade, always a saw blade -- such was the life of a trap in previous Prince of Persias. The new Prince of Persia, built on the Assassin's Creed Anvil engine, is set in a dynamic, open world. The traps you encounter in an area in hour one will be completely different from the ones you come across in hour six. The world continually changes based on the choices you make, bringing considerable replayability to Ubisoft Montreal's upcoming title.While the world is dynamically changing throughout your adventure, it should be noted that the Prince will not. There are no weapon upgrades and no acrobatic moves to unlock. The Prince you control at the outset of the game is the same one you will use to take down the final boss. That's not to say the Prince won't endure the emotional toll of cleansing the world of corruption, but from a gameplay perspective, you will have all the tools you need in the Prince to force the evil Ahriman back into his prison.

WARIO LAND: SHAKE IT, HANDS ON!!

At E3 2008, we had the chance to go hands-on with the updated U.S. build of Wario Land: Shake It! The title stars Mario's arch nemesis in a 2D-style platformer complete with classic gameplay sensibilities. Hand-drawn animations. Scrolling platformer stages. And lots of running and jumping. To play the game, you simply hold the Wii remote classically; the D-Pad manipulates Wario and the 1 and 2 buttons enable him to dash and jump. Easy. And to mix things up, the Wii remote's accelerometer is also put to use to help Wario accomplish certain tasks, such as nabbing extra money and breaking through walls. This is where the 'shake' subtitle comes into play because that's exactly what you have to do with Nintendo's controller.
For some inexplicable reason, Nintendo has decided to journey back to the GameCube era with Shake It's presentation. The title officially displays in 16:9 mode, but all of the gameplay action is boxed into a 4:3 square. The leftover left/right regions show a static background graphic and are also used to display heads-up display information. It's a really lazy approach that offers the Big N the ability to say the game supports widescreen output when it really doesn't.
Thankfully, the overall graphical style of the game is very well done. The stages are varied in design and the hand-drawn animation, while definitely not as fluid as we would have hoped, still looks good and effectively conveys Wario's colorful abilities. Better still are the tight controls and fun challenges, all of which harken back to platformers of old. Wario is able to jump atop enemies, crash through brick barriers, jump-stomp through floors, and much more, and he does so with a sense of very responsive maneuverability.
Occasionally, Nintendo even tries something new. For example, Wario can throw special items at certain trigger points throughout levels, and to do this you'll hold down a button, twist the Wii remote like steering to set the trajectory of the throw, and then send the projectile moving. When Wario stumbles upon a money bag, he can pick it up and you'll be able to literally shake the coins from the carrier using Nintendo's controller. You can also execute a devastating special move using the same technique.
The game moves very quickly and has a very linear feel, two attributes that we can appreciate in an industry clogged by open-world projects that sometimes crawl along. Sadly, though, the E3 demo of Wario Land: Shake It! ended only minutes after it began, a truth that left us wanting. We'll have much more on the Japanese build of Shake It, which is scheduled to ship later this month. Look out for a more extensive hands-on just as soon as we can explore Shake It! at length. But in the meantime, feel free to check out the E3 2008 screens and videos of the game in action that we've posted.

GEARS OF WAR 2!!!!, a little taste...

Let's get the obligatory bad news out of the way: there is no four-player co-op for the campaign mode in Gears of War 2. Deal with it. Players will just have to make due with the traditional two-player mode, presumably starring Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago as the only two playable characters. Thankfully Epic is bringing a mode to Gears 2 that some are sure to enjoy even more than playing through the campaign with a friend. It's called Horde and it allows for five human players to link up and do battle against wave after wave of AI-controlled enemies. I played it, it's awesome and it's going to ruin what little social life I have left.Not only did Epic take the veil off a brand new mode, but we also got to play on two new maps with new weapons and some fantastic enemies that change the Gears experience ever so slightly.
I'll begin with Horde. As I said, it allows for five human players to join up and do battle against fleets of Locust. The only downside is that Horde is the one mode that won't feature the all-new bot support in Gears 2. Luckily this mode is still fun when playing alone. The Locust come in waves that get tougher as you progress. The first was obviously an introduction with fewer than ten enemies challenging my team but that number grew quickly as we progressed. The rounds are numbered so you and your pals can compete for supremacy. The record at Epic's studio currently sits at 26, but true Gears professionals have the ability to progress all the way to 50 if they have the skills to pay the bills.As we continued to work our way through the waves of baddies, their numbers began to grow. We made it as high as Wave 18, but by that point things had degenerated into frenzied action with muffled attempts at strategizing along the way. Despite the fact that we were able to use sniper perches to support our ground forces, it didn't stop me from feeling that the enemy was breathing down my neck at every turn. It's a feeling that was absent from nearly every skirmish in Gears 1, yet it feels like a perfect fit for the "bigger, better, more" stigma of the second game.Part of this was because of a new enemy called a Ticker. It resembles a white dog with squatty little legs and gets its name from the sound it emits as it gets closer. Let that nasty little thing make its way to your feet and the bomb that's strapped to its back will explode, bringing you down with it. Epic did a fantastic job with the sound of the Ticker. It eventually evoked a Pavlovian response in me as I'd hear the ticking and immediately begin spinning around like a chicken with its head cut off in search of the little bastard.
On the opposite end of the spectrum are the new Boomer variants that populate Horde. They're essentially the same creature as in Gears 1 but now they're outfitted with new armor and weapons. One has a shield and an explosive flail that he hurls around until it comes crashing down, blowing up the ground when it hits. Another carries the new flamethrower whose gas tanks can be shot and exploded as a means for a quick takedown and then there's the one carrying a Mulcher which is Epic's fancy name for its rendition of the gatling gun.

KILLZONE 2's PRGRESS REPORT!!!

The last time I got my hands on Killzone 2, it was during Sony's judges event in Los Angeles and I took Sev up against a ton of Helghast attempting to overtake our convoy. I crash landed, pulled off some sick headshots, fired a rocket launcher, and used Sixaxis to twist a wheel to open a door. All in all, it was a good demo. When I picked up the controller in Sony's Los Angeles Convention Center this afternoon, I was a bit letdown to find out that I'd just be continuing the level I stopped in a few months ago. Little did I know my socks were about to be knocked off.The level picks up with Sev and Alpha Team trying to get the convoy through the Corinth River, a hotbed of blown-out buildings and Helghast troops. I did the usual stuff -- marveled at how freaking good the sight and stock of my assault rifle looked, took out some enemies in close quarters, and giggled as I pinged helmets off baddies -- but then an airborne drop ship called an Intruder pulled up alongside Sev and his boys. The driver made small talk and thanked us for our support back there.The craft then pulled out ahead of us and was shot down by a Helghast ambush.

We surged forth to the only bit of cover available -- a lone outpost on the roof of a nearby building -- and took in the situation. An unknown number of foes were holed up in the side of a bombed out office building. The entire side of the maybe-20-story structure was gone so it was like looking into an ice cube tray filled with warriors hiding behind cover. I made my way from the outpost -- click L3 to run -- and took cover -- L1, baby -- along the edge of the roof. I inched closer to a turret, grabbed the device, and unleashed hell on the building.The muzzle of the gun began to glow orange as the gun neared its overheating threshold, but I managed to clip a few well-placed red barrels in the rickety structure that set off a chain reaction that brought the building down on top of the baddies. Although I expected the barrels to cause and explosion, the building's demise was a welcome surprise as well as a sight to behold and experience -- the controller rumbled as the neighboring tower went down and slowly the gray fog of dust and concrete slowly rose into the air.I moved the team forward, and eventually came into what would become the greatest Killzone 2 battle I have ever played. It began like any other checkpoint -- I led Sev straight into a Helghast manning a turret, while using the cover the best I could to peek over and around, and popped the villain in the head. The crew followed me from the elevated catwalk to the ground, which was littered with mounds of smoldering debris, parts of busted buildings, and plenty of areas to hide behind, and the Helghast onslaught began. The first soldier rounded the corner and I managed to take him down with a few rounds to the chest. As I approached the body, I saw the next wave of troops moving on my position. A few dozen yards from my squadmates, I turned and ran to reunite with the crowd. I jumped into a trench and turned around to see our tank moving into position.Before metal monster could take out the enemy forces, Helghast troops from the catwalks and building ledges above began firing off RPGs and machinegun fire. The tank took on the upper-most bad guys, and I focused on the grunts on the ground. I leapt out of the trench, ran up on the first three guys and unloaded my weapons. The flash of my muzzle, the bodies slowly becoming bullet-ridden, the helmets flying into the air -- it was awesome.

Then, I saw the other five Helghast guys making a beeline for me. With my gun spent, I hurled a grenade and tried to grab some cover beside the tank. About this time, an RPG got lucky and took out my comrades running the vehicle, and a button prompt popped up on my screen to allow me to take control.I did.Now, the tank probably moves exactly like you think. The left stick moves the tank while the right stick changes your point of view. R1 fires your missiles and R2 fires your machine gun. Those are the honest controls, but they don't do the gameplay justice. Once in this tank, a slew of enemies poured onto the catwalk in front of and above me. I drew a bead on the baddies, clicked the right stick to zoom, and pushed down the trigger. The bullets flew across the screen in those long, arching orange shots you've seen in war flicks and made contact. The enemies went limp, threw their arms around, and slumped on the railing and floor. Some of the survivors took up turrets and RPGs, but when I pulled out of the zoom, I found an enemy tank pulling into the level. I fired off my two missiles in the chute, but one clipped some debris and exploded while the other one missed the mark by a step. As I reloaded the weapon, I rolled the tank the best I could to avoid any direct hits. Still the other tank got a few missiles off and one hit me while the other hit a barren hill and let off a cloud of black smoke. Reloaded, I took aim just as the other tank pulled through the smoke. I got off two direct hits, and I honestly had to stop and stare at the scene on screen -- my troops were battling the enemies in the foreground, in the middle of the frame were two tanks surrounded by black smoke and fiery red explosions, and in the background gray smoke wafted as Helghast forces fired from elevated positions.It was a thing of beauty, but our demo ended there. I realize that I'm in the enviable position of getting to paid to play top-shelf games time after time, but sometimes, no matter how good a game is, it can get stale. You get to a point where you don't feel wowed anymore and just want to be done with it. That hasn't happened here. Every time I play it, Killzone 2 finds a different way to ensure that I won't shut up about it.Come quicker, February 2009