Vagusnet

At E3 this week Sony will be making an announcement on the price of the PlayStation 3 in Europe.

Sony refused to say what it was however a spokesperson did say that it would involve a price cut thus bringing it in line with the recent announcement of them knocking $100 off the price of the PS3 in America.

On top of this Sony has also said that there will be an 80GB model of the console that will come bundled with a copy of motorstorm and will retail at the old price in America of $599 with no word if it will also come out over here after the price drop of the 60GB model

Bungie has revealed today a little new update to Halo 3 with them announcing 2 new multiplayer maps, a new vehicle and armour permutations.

The new maps in question are Last Resort which is Halo 3 update of Halo 2 Zanzibar map and will include a big walkway, multi entry points and larger interior section, the second map Epitaph has a lot of external hallways all leading to a multi- level interior.

On top of the announcment of the new maps Bungie also said that there will be a new Spartan vehicle which is a brute chopper with four canons that can fire at the same time and can reach up to a top speed of 75 mph, also they said that there unlockable armour skins that can be used in multiplayer only.

It’s in no doubt that Halo 3 will be at E3 next week and as soon as we have more info we will let you know.
Stuart Miller

Today EA has announced that they are planning to put a new control mode in most of there sports games for the Wii entitled Family Play.
What this means is that there will be simple controls for the none gamer so they can pick up and play the game straight away however there will be an advanced mode for those of us who know how to play the game itself.

The move comes as a way to try and get more people to play EA games with the simple nature of the Wii this can only be a good move on EA part as this will introduce more people to there games.

The first games to use the new Family Play mode will be Madden, Fifa and NBA live which are all having there yearly update later this year.
Stuart Miller

So the new revamped E3 kicks off next week with Microsoft being the first of the big three to have there press conference, so what the hell are we going to be doing, well we are going to try and cover as much as we can.

As said above Microsoft will be having theres first at 4:30 am and we’ll try and have all the details up for you by midday, then it’s Nintendo’s turn who are having theres at around 5:00pm so we’ll try and have everything from theres up by about an hour after it has finished and finally Sony are having theres at 8:30 and like Nintendo we’ll have the details up about an hour after it has finished.

Now with E3 changing alot the other companies Capcom, SEGA , UbiSoft etc are all having there own little conferences so we will try to have as much details as we can from the other little conferences.

So i guess next week I’m going to be a very busy person bringing you as much details of this years E3 as i can.
Stuart Miller

Well as you can see Vagusnet had had a bit of a face lift and it was about time to.
The original Vagusnet was going down the pan very fast and something had to be done, so Gaz stept up to the plate and did something and I’m glad that he has.

It was starting to become a bit of a strain to try and keep a site like VN running on my own so Gaz came up with the idea that we should scale it down and make it into a fancy version of a blog and what a good idea it was.
Now i know that it might be a bit of a shock when you log into Vagusnet at first but you should still stick with us as we are going to be concentrating on posting up the stuff that you need like reviews, previews, news etc and in the near future we might introduce new features depending on how well this new format does.

So if you are a old member or you’ve just discovered us then stick by us and we’ll try and make your stay worth while.

Back in the early 90’s when the console of choice only boiled down to two, the SNES and Mega Drive there was one game that was making peoples dreams come true, that’s if your dream was to mow down a hoard of zombies with a lawnmower with friends. That game in question was Zombies ate my Neighbours and it seems that the people at South Peak games had that dream because you can see with there new game Monster Madness that it was influenced by Zombies, however unlike Zombies this isn’t a good game.

Players take control over one of four characters, Zack who is a computer geek, Carrie is the typical goth chick who Zack has a big crush on, Andy who is the typical Skater and a game like this wouldn’t be without the no brainier cheerleader in the form of Jennifer.
After selecting one of these four misfits you are thrusted into a world where zombies have taken over and it’s your job to bring peace back to your suburbs with any means possible.
To help you out on your journey you have a lot of weapons at your disposal ranging from the standard handgun, to the simple shotgun and more powerful weapons like a rocket launcher and a gun that fires a bolt of electricity, however you also have secondary weapons that can be used to help you out like bombs and bottles that will set your enemy on fire.

During the course of the game scattered around the levels are item like blots and screws that are used to trade in with Larry the weapons expert who is there to sell you the typical upgrades and extra weapons that is need for the game.
Also scattered around the levels are items that can be picked up and used as a weapon to throw at the oncoming menace.
after killing one of the nasties they drop gems that are also used to upgrade your weapons or for you to purchase needed drinks so you can revive some of your health as you will really need it with this game.

The levels are your typical bog standard ones ranging from parks to a school all the way to hell (well maybes hell isn’t your typical level).
On each one of these levels there is vehicles like a tanks to a swan boat used to shoot down zombie pirates and even a mech suit that can be used to inflict a lot of damage.

So with all of this stuff in the game what is it like well in one word average.
There are some major problems with the game ranging from the terrible difficulty level when playing on your own to the nightmare that is the camera that doesnt want to give you a good enough view therefore getting you killed a lot and i mean a lot.
To start off with the graphics for a Xbox 360 title are very basic and would of been really suited if this was a Xbox Live arcade title but it isn’t instead it’s a full price retail game (yes the full 39.99, the music is so annoying that you’ll want to have ear plugs at the ready because your brain will explode with the terrible tunes that are being pumped out.
The character design doesnt fare any better with the developers going with the typical four standard characters instead of going for something unique and original plus controlling them can be a nightmare instead with the attack butto being the right trigger and for you to jump you have to press the right stick in which makes it really hard for you to try and reach an item that is just above you characters head.

There is one saving grace and that’s the multi player this is where the game starts to become a little bit more fun, playing with up to four friends over Xbox live or offline can be a real laugh however there is another downfall in this, when playing offline with your buddies on one console you can go through the main storyline however the developers have decided not to allow you to do this over Xbox live instead they just give you the typical capture the flag or see who can live the longest mode and this is really annoying as it would of been a much better game if you could play co-op over Xbox live.

Overall this game could of been a lot of fun instead it turns out to be extremely frustrating only offering you a little bit of goodness now and again.
It was a great idea to do a game like this but they were let down but the average graphics, the terrible camera, the basic characters and the lack of online co-op.

If i had to give one piece of advice to the developers i would tell them that for the sequel instead of releasing it as a full price game put it on the Live arcade and make it more fun instead of a very very bog standard game
4/10

When people think about skateboarding games the first name that comes to mind is the Tony Hawks games because for the last few years they have killed off all of the competition with it’s fantastic game play, however things haven’t been to shiny for the series as it has become really stale and hasn’t brought anything new to the table.
Well Activision are trying something different with there first Tony Hawks game for the Wii by giving it a SSX feel to it and for the most part it works but there are a few problems with it.

As usual with the Tony Hawk games you are given the chance to create your own skater and also get the chance to play as other famous skaters however this is the one thing that activision has decided not to do by only giving you the chance to play as tony hawk and ditch the other skaters but replacing them with some made up idiots who can get on your nerves alot.
The create a skater mode hasn’t changed at all you can still build your character from the ground up giving him the features you want to give him or make him as unusual as you like.

After you have decided whether to play as one of the preset skaters or one of your own you then have the choice of going through the career mode or play against your friends (not online) in the usual modes that are on offer from a straightforward salom races to a trick attack mode where it is your goal to get more points than your friends.
If you decide to choose the career mode then you are in for a bit of a surprise because this is where the big changes happen, no longer do you just get one big world but now you are given different places to play in from the highlands of Scotland to the east side of the world with Hong Kong.
Now this might sound great however you aren’t given the freedom like you are use to with the series instead the game is now treated to a SSX style feel where you have to race from the top of the course to the bottom.
Interlaced in this is a few different challenges from the usual get to the bottom before the other opponents to try and get the most points and finish first and also thrown into the mix is silly challenges like trying to cause as much damage you can, but this challenge only takes part on a small part of the course and can feel a bit short.

As usual you also have the annoying music that always been present in the Tony Hawks games, from the basic generic rock music to the annoying hip hop there is something for everybody on the soundtrack.
The sound has also been given a more cartoonie feel to it with the other characters being so annoying that you just want to pour concrete down there throats so they can shut the hell up.

So whats the game like i hear you ask well it’s a different experience for a Tony Hawks game and for the most part seems fun however that fact that Activison have gone for a more simple feel to it will piss off a lot of the Tony Hawks fans as they expect the usual open feel and a basic freedom the games normally offer however this is a great start for Tony Hawk beginners as it’s a more simpler game and it doesnt require you to learn hundreds of tricks.
As said above the music is the generic crap you are used to in the series and the characters are a big pile of crap and does make the game feel a bit cheap.
Added on top of that the fact that it’s not a really long game and it doesnt feature any online modes what so ever makes this a game that i don’t think that you’ll want to go back and play it much after you have finished it unless you want to fully max out that stats of each character then in that case it will add a few more extra hours to the life of the game.

Overall i will pat Activision on the back for trying something different with the series instead of just doing the same thing again however Wii owners are going to feel a bit left out considering that the Xbox 360 and other console do get a proper Tony Hawks games.
If you are after something different in the series then go out and by it you wouldn’t feel that disappointed, however if you like the series for it’s more open feel and the thought of the game only being confined to certain areas then i would avoid.

7/10

Back in 2005 at E3 in los angeles while Sony and Microsoft were telling everybody about there next generation console and what they can churn out Nintendo were preparing to tell everybody there next step in the console wars. Satoru Iwata graced the stage to start off the press conference and on everybody’s mind was what are Nintendo going to do with there next generation console, are they going to follow suit and release a big graphic powerhouse of a console or are they going to go a different route and do something new and they chose the latter, however this was just the start of things to come because what was waiting for the press was going to shock them. During the conference Mr Iwata pulled out a little black box and told everybody what there next step was going to be and that there new console was going to be called the revolution and that it would be different to the other two with a few big surprise to be announced.

Fast forward to the Tokyo Game Show and Nintendo were ready to announce one of there big secrets and that was the controller for there new console, it was the shape of a television remote and that they ditched the idea of controlling a game by just using a d-pad. instead there games were going to use the sensors in the remote that would be able to sense where the controller was in 3-d space.
This shocked everybody at first but people were growing to the idea of being able to get a bit more involved with the games that they were going to play.
However Nintendo weren’t finished there they still had a few more secrets and we wouldn’t have to wait very long until the big shock came.

Just before E3 2006 there were rumors that Nintendo were going to change the name of there new console from the revolution to something new and just like Nintendo they had something different up there sleeves. Low and behold just before E3 2006 Nintendo announced that there new console did have a different name and that the revolution would no longer be called that but now had the new adopted name of the Wii, this bit of news brought an uproar to the gaming community and that everybody asked if they liked the new name very few said yes.
However at E3 Nintendo silenced all of the critics by showing off the Wii in all of it’s glory and what there new little gaming box could do.

Fast forward to now and the Wii has finally reached our shores and i can say with a big smile on my face that a new gaming era is about to begin.

When you get your Wii home and rip into the box you’ll see your nice shiny white Wii and the Wiimote tempting you just to set it up as quick as you can so you can experience all of the goodness of it.
Setting up the Wii is really simple after you have plugged the power brick and the standard av output cable into the back of the Wii and then into the power source and TV you then have to not forget the sensor bar as this is the thing that will sense the movements of the Wiimote you are then ready to power up the console.
When the Wii has started up you are greeted with the Wii channels, now this is the main hub for all of your activities on the Wii.

The first thing you’ll need to do is set up your wifi so your Wii can stay connected to the Internet, now this can be a little tricky at first but once you know how to do it everything will seem very simple.
After doing that you’ll then need to make your little avatar or as Nintendo like to call your Mii. Now I’m not going to go into any big detail on how to do this but this is a simple process to do and your Mii will be your little character for the pack in game that you get with the Wii.
Also on the main starting screen there will be a channel for you to boot up your Wii and Gamecube games, one for the whether and news (not up and running yet), one for the Wii shop where you’ll will be able to purchase classic games for the virtual console and loads of blank screens that will store your virtual console games.

After you have gotten use to the Wii channels you are ready to start playing the unique Wii games and the best way to begin is with the pack in game Wii sports.
In Wii sports you are given 5 sports games, tennis,boxing,golf,baseball and bowling each of these 5 games has a simple control method and it’s the best place to start so you can get use to the Wiimote.

The Wii seems at first glance to be a little gimmicky but if you look into the future there seems to be a lot of companies that are willing to take the risk with developing for the Wii and hopefully making this console seem to be more than a gimmick.

There can be a few problems with trying something new in this industry but i do take my hat off to Nintendo for trying something new and not following the other to companies by making there console all about the power and not about injecting something new into the industry that is struggling with originality.
I’m glad that they have done this and the time I’ve had with the Wii so far has been a joy.

So go out and hunt down the Wii(if you can find one) and find out what all of the fuss has been about because i know you will not be disappointed with it and you will be happy that the fun will start to come back into gaming again.

F.E.A.R arrived on Tuesday this week completely out of the blue. Not expected till Thursday at the least, the game has changed my life. Not in the sense that I?ll never be the same again, but in a way that means I’m more open to a different type of game. For me, the nearest I?d gotten to any type of horror experience on console was the outstanding, yet completely devoid of all scary moments Resident Evil 4 on the trusty GameCube.

F.E.A.R changed this and for good reason. Before I go into the actual gameplay, graphics or level design, I really have to say this so you understand. From the emotion evoking intro-sequence with its soaring soundtrack laden atmosphere, to the gloriously executed in-game audio inserts, the game never fails to send a chill up my gameplay induced, contorted spine. Not since the night I watched The Exorcist had I felt a connection like this. That night, I?d watched the cult horror alone, with no problems, until I ran up the stairs, turning every light on as I went. The film leaves an underlying air of suspense with you, just as F.E.A.R does. Watching Alma, a little girl and an ever-present mind-fuck of a character giggle as the heads up display fractures as she walks beautifully rendered across the screen for a matter of moments. These times are the one?s when the proverbial brick is very much shat.

But Lo! I?m a 27 year old man, slightly overweight, but very manly in every sense. I even have a rather good amount of chest hair. Why is a videogame scaring me? The answer is in the within the code itself. Whoever came up with the idea for a horror first person shooter needs shooting, because everything before this has been lame, uninteresting and something I?d rather use as a drinks coaster. Monolith?s prowess in engaging the player inside a tense and lucid world is evident across the entire game, so much so that I find myself letting slip the occasional “fuck me”, or worse still; bugger!

What do you mean you’re scared?

Anyway, my complete lack of balls aside, the game itself is based around you, a member of a super secret (you can say this in a corny US accent if you so wish) combat response unit named First Contact Assault Recon or F.E.A.R. Now, although the name sounds cool as just fear, maybe they could’ve thought of a name that doesn’t contradict itself. Look again and you?ll see what I’m saying ? bad Monolith. So, as the game opens, you start to realise that some funky events are starting to unfold, and as you progress through the game, flashbacks, or lucid dreams occur, where you?ll see souls wondering through tunnels or Alma herself, scaring the living shit out of you. Strangely, after having the aforementioned shit scared out of me, I still had a giggle. The type of giggle where you don?t sound manly, but you realise you?re not as ?hard? as you thought. The kind of laugh you?ll never let out in the presence of a lady.

The control mechanics are based on the now standard configuration of left and right analogue to move and rotate the camera, with reload assigned to the X button and action controls applied when holding the X button also. It feels much better for quick control situation than in most FPS of our time, and certainly a welcome change. A weighty but responsible camera improves as you progress, with health and reflex boosters dotted around the various environments. You’ll need these, because as the action gets hot, you’ll have to think about how you?re tackling enemies and plan on the fly how to overcome ambushes. The ability to take cover and use the environment will also keep you on your toes, and just as you think you’ve got your shit together, Alma comes and?well, you get the idea by now.

Each weapon you come across will serve a purpose in differing situations, so choosing the right one per encounter can often lead to getting your ass handed to you with a sign saying “do come again”. Not something you’ll want to write home about, but the game’s well balanced learning curve will guide you along at your own pace. Experienced players will be more able to pick up and play, whilst novices might take a few minutes to get acquainted. So, there are the basics of the game, but how does it differ from PC?

Deja Vu?

Well, there?s a new instant action mode for the Xbox 360, featuring four maps with four difficulty settings. I’ll stick a paw out in the wind and say it might be a tad too difficult for novices, even on low difficulty settings to jump straight in, so a good stab at the campaign wouldn’t go amiss before attempting the beautifully designed Roopftop map.

A best-seller on PC last year, the game has had a slight overhaul in the graphics department, with some extra shiny concrete walls (they’re not like this in real life) and some really detailed lighting and particle effects. Cold corridors and sparse alleyways await you around every corner, designed specifically to give the feeling of claustrophobia. Even the animations of Alma are frighteningly realistic, which is possibly half the reason I mentioned the above colourful words. The graphics are a means to an end of the game, as the suspense is the driver, but it’s driving a sleek black, shiny bump mapped Subaru. F.E.A.R is definitely one to show off your HDTV with.

A trip down memory lane?

Having never played the PC version, I was looking forward to getting this into the drive and the story was enough to justify my expectations. Maybe it’s because F.E.A.R is one of the only games lately that I haven?t had hands-on with before release. It certainly makes a refreshing change to be presented with something so new that you can?t fail to be swamped inside the reverse reverb effects of Alma’s voice, or the incredibly well designed levels. The atmosphere, or indeed the sheer emotion the incidental music and inserts evoke. Each small detail has been painstakingly worked on and crafted in a way that gives the game an air of simple and shining beauty. This Christmas sees the release of many a game, and with all things considered, F.E.A.E is a diamond in the ever increasing rough. If you don’t have Dolby 5.1, this game is a reason to invest, and if you learn one thing from this review, it’s that games can affect you. You won’t go down a street and start slashing people with knives, but you’ll certainly turn all the lights on as you go upstairs. If that makes me less of a man, then hey, Who cares if I’m a big girl’s blouse?

9/10

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if your local shopping centre was full with zombies and you could use anything from that shopping centre to slaughter those zombies? Like raiding a hardware store and using the sickles or hedge clippers to rip into the zombies? Capcom might be making your dreams come true with their latest stab (we had to ? ed) into the zombie genre.

Dead Rising sees you taking control of photo-journalist Frank west, who is after his next big scoop, so he decides to charter a helicopter to the quiet small town of Willamette where weird and unusual things are happening. The opening sequence sees you flying over Willamette photographing all of the weird things that’s happening before landing on a helipad on top of the mall. This sequence gives you the chance to experience what you are about to see in the main game without getting attacked by any of the walking undead. After landing on top of the mall your given 72 hours to discover what is going on by exploring the mall and uncovering the truth.

On your first jaunt through the game you?re not going to be able to discover everything as this mall is huge and the 72 hours (6-8 gameplay hours) is not enough to rescue all of the survivors, fight all of the psychopaths, going through the main story and exploring every shop.The best bet here is to follow the main storyline and rescuing a few of the hostages then go for the rest of the survivors and psychopaths on your second and third run as your stats should be high enough to get you past some of the tougher psycho’s.

Getting through the main storyline while slaughtering a lot of zombies with almost anything is the fun part of the game. At the start of the game your given basic weapons to use like metal pipes, planks of wood and baseball bats but besides these basic weapons there are a few interesting ones like hitting zombies hard with golf balls and trying to kill as many zombies as you can with a bowling ball. Later on in the game is where all of the best weapons come into it like mowing down loads of zombies into a gory pulp with a lawnmower or slicing them in half with a katana or a chainsaw. Unfortunately for frank the weapons don’t last long so stocking up on the right weapons and having enough health on you as well needs you to think up a little strategy because item slots are limited to certain amount of items.

One best example of this is when you are facing off against the many psychos you might of only taken one bottle of orange juice then not having enough health so you end off dying having to restart over again and this is where one of the main problems of the game pop up and that?s the small amount of save points in the game, getting killed then having to restart all over again can be really annoying and can leave you swearing a lot at your television screen. One of the other main problems with the game is the difficulty curve, when you go up against the zombies in the game you could be killing a lot in one go however when fighting one of the psycho’s the difficult setting just ramps up and you find yourself dying a lot having to redo the fight over and over again which can become annoying. However. these are only slight problems in a really solid game.

Controlling Frank is smooth as there is only one button to attack with and holding the right trigger is used to aim with so you can throw an item at your enemies. Aiding Frank in his journey to find the truth is his camera, Frank can use it to take photos of important events as well as capturing all of the zombies, doing this will give him PP points and as soon as he has gained enough he will level up and learn new techniques to fight the zombies with or his health bar and items slot will increase. PP points are also gained by rescuing survivors in the mall or by defeating the psychos.

Dead Rising for the most part is a fantastic game, getting to take all of your anger out on zombies is a good way to let off some steam if you’ve had a bad day. The storyline -if you follow it- is engaging and really strong with a very serious note added to it which takes away some of the comic book style violence of the game itself. The game is let down by the save system and the learning curve plus the graphics are not the best on the 360 but you can see a lot of power of the console is used on the amount of zombies one screen. It can also become a little repetitive and there is also a slight problem with slow down when there are too many zombies on screen at once.

Overall Dead Rising is a worthy game that should be added to your collection and gives the 360 one of those triple a titles that it needs. Apart from very minor flaws this is a must have game.

8/10