On 12th February 2009 there will be a LIVE event in London where 8 gamers from around Europe will compete against each other and be the first to play FEAR 2: Project Origin.
Anyone can enter and all winners will have their expenses paid to get to London for the event.
For more information and to enter, visit www.whatisfearlive.com
Closing date for entries is 2nd February 2009
Just a quick note to let you know that there will be a playing demo this week on Thursday for F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin.
The demo will be available on Xbox Live, PSN Store and for PC available from http://www.whatisfear.com/
You can see screenshots and videos of this upcoming game in my previous posts
http://www.spritesandbites.net/2009/01/07/more-fear-2-project-origin-screens
http://www.spritesandbites.net/2008/12/22/fear-2-screenshots/
I will be bringing a short review of the demos at the end of the week.
Yes I am alive. I came back from my annual Christmas holiday and was immediately struck down by a horrible viral cold/flu-like illness or something which has had me bed ridden for 4 days. Yesterday I managed to scrape myself out of bed to get to the doctors to find I have a nasty chest infection and need antibiotics.
Now this “I am Alive” moment is not actually about my near-half-death-ness but it is about a new game on the horizon called “I Am Alive” and being developed by Ubisoft.
The official trailer reminds me of a series recently on UK television called Survivors where people were scrapping others for food and water.
This game may not see the light of day this year but I for one will be watching it closely. It may end up being another game I am watching for a long time with no solid release date, just like Alan Wake. The game will be released for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.
Help yourself to these new screenshots just released for F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin. The game is still on course for a European release of 13th February 2009
F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin is the much anticipated sequel to F.E.A.R and the expansion pack F.E.A.R Files. It is due out in Europe on Friday 13th february on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. I hope you are not superstitious. Stay tuned for more incoming information about this games release.
In the meantime, enjoy these preview screenshots
Head on over to Youtube for some preview trailers
Last week on a whim I bought the PS3 keyboard accessory which sits on top of the PS3 controller.
It is very strange and badly designed on so many levels I am not sure where to start.
The keyboard clips into place by a plastic hook which hooks under the front of the controller. It sits over the start, back and PS buttons and has new buttons to replace them, it then reaches out above the trigger buttons.
The Xbox 360 keyboard sits snugly between the handle grips and it is easy to use the thumbs to type quickly. Because the PS3 keyboard is above the controller over the trigger buttons it is not a particularly comfortable fit, I have small hands so I really have to stretch my thumbs to type properly or slacken my grip on the controller and move my hands up nearer to the keyboard. It feels quite awkward and unnatural.
The keyboard has its own battery power and mini usb charge socket. This is quite annoying. If both your controller and keyboard batteries die at the same time you need two cables to charge them both. The keyboard does have an on/off switch to preserve battery power but that can be annoying aswell – you may forget it is switched on and be happily typing away at a message only to look up and find the cursor on screen has not typed anything as the damned thing is switched off!
Now the other design flaw which I think is particularly bad is the blue and brown function buttons. Just like on a laptop, characters not normal to numbers and letters can be found above the normal numbers and letters – you press the blue or brown function key and then press the corresponding key you want – it could be a brown character or a blue one. Under normal circumstances this is an excellent idea and works on all laptops, mobile phones and so on. But who on earth decided to make brown and blue on a black controller? The characters are too small as it is without making it hard to read because of merging colours. God forbid anyone uses one that has vision problems.
And Finally… the keyboard also works as a touchpad. Press the button with the hand on it and the whole keyboard gets touchy feely and works like a mouse. Except there seems to be no double click for clicking on links in the web browser so once you have touched your way to a link you then have to move away and find the enter button to click it. Again, not very user friendly.
I am glad I bought it because it means I don’t have to fumble around for my USB keyboard if someone sends me messages, but it has so many design flaws that it is not something you would want to use on a regular basis. Accept it gracefully as a Christmas present, but don’t rush out to buy it.
This game is really clever and a great enhancement to games trying to emulate true physics, but it is so frustrating. Some of the jumps are really awkward or feel near impossible. When it comes to a point when I am trying a level twenty or so times then it is losing the enjoyment and just becomes a chore.
I don’t want games to be a chore I want them to be fun. At times, this game is not fun at all and I just want to throw it in the bin tonight. Tomorrow I may feel differently, but today I am crying.