Xbox LIVE Addicts: Roo Avery®™'s Blog - Xbox LIVE Addicts

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Each day all our news is tweeted out on Twitter by various staff members including Mush, Mechanical R and myself. Using the new hashtag #Xboxliveaddicts this news is now collated and presented daily in our new paper for your enjoyment.

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We hope you enjoy The #XboxLiveAddicts Daily.

Roo.

Genre: Real-Time Strategy
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Eugen Systems
Online Play: 8 Versus
Release Date: September 10, 2010
Other Platforms: PS3, PC

R.U.S.E is a RTS (Real Time Strategy) game set in World War II. It claims to have a thrilling and exciting storyline whilst delivering an engaging set of game mechanics for all players alike.

The great thing about R.U.S.E is the controls work. Units can be selected individually, by type or by holding right trigger and manually selecting multiple targets. It can get slightly fiddly when several different types of unit are in close proximity, but it’s nothing too disastrous and to be honest, it forces you to take greater care during the heat of combat. Combat involves an assortment of Infantry, Anti Tank, Tank, Anti Air, Bombers and Recon units. There are some great moments in the game where a couple of your Infantry units combined with a simple Recon jeep can turn into a formidable killing force against a squadron of Tanks. How? By simply hiding them in forests/swamps and having them ambush units. The Recon units add a massive bonus to LoS (line of sight) and also uncover hidden enemy units… potentially lying in waiting for you!

To match the combat mechanics, the campaign has been made to suit and fit all of these into. The maps include winding forests perfect for setting up traps. Town and Cities lie at crucial central point’s perfect for setting up a town square ambush with Anti Tank support from the forest. Each unit’s line of sight and firing range is visible via a blue outline, meaning placing expensive artillery units at points where they can cover the most ground is a key to success. R.U.S.E. has layers and layers of depth – and to its credit – everything sinks in with ease. Tutorials are integrated seamlessly within the game-play and don’t actually feel like tutorials. Mission structure involves capturing structures, defending buildings for long periods of time and escort missions. The latter are the most successful. Escorting 15 tank units across a bridge whilst under a hail of aerial gunfire and bombardment from artillery is both gripping and nerve racking.

Ruses are an important factor to the overall feel and gameplay of R.U.S.E and take the form of ‘power-ups’ you apply to specific areas of a battlefield. You unlock new ruses as you progress through the game. Ruses include being able to see enemy units, orders, forcing your units to fight to end instead of retreating and launching decoy attacks to draw out the enemy and open up routes for your main offensive. Ruses are vital to your survival in R.U.S.E and I would be surprised to hear of anyone that has managed to finish a single campaign mission without using at least 3.

Your advisor, a British Intelligence officer is always on hand to bark important orders throughout the campaign, often relaying where enemy attacks are coming from. However these are not as helpful as you might think due to the lack of an in-game compass. So when he pipes up to announce a squadron of Panzer Tanks incoming from west, west could be just about anywhere on the map.
Presentation is both aesthetically pleasing and efficient. The zoom function, controlled with the right analogue stick presents phenomenal levels of detail. Zooming out reveals a war room, with the battlefield represented as a table top game in an office. Upclose individual buildings in towns can be distinguished, smoke from burning village’s chugs on the horizon, whilst the ever present thunder of gunfire from allied troops can be heard in the distance, fully rendering the impression of grand scale warfare. This doesn’t add to the core game-play but certainly furthers the illusion that you are a small cog in the greater scheme of things.

There are a variety of other modes available with R.U.S.E; Campaign, Battle, Operation and Online gameplay. Battle mode pitches you against A.I in standard matches. Operation mode has a number of pre built scenarios with specific primary and secondary objectives to complete. The more you complete of the latter, the better your overall score. Online play comes in the form of a four player multi-player mode complete with hordes of maps, statistics, leagues, win ratios and an experience system, which provides the right sort of dangling carrot.

R.U.S.E is a surprisingly complete and polished title. It takes the RTS genre and makes it fun to play by adding in an engaging story line and game mechanics that do what is needed. Not only does R.U.S.E appeal to new fans of the RTS genre, it keeps even the most battle hardened fans returning for more. The campaigns are well thought out, balanced and fun to follow. The added gameplay modes, options and great graphical presentation bring R.U.S.E right up into the top tier of RTS titles.

7.5/10







Source: Review: R.U.S.E

It’s with a slight non alcoholic hangover I am writing this today. Last night was a friend’s 40th Birthday and we attended a rather posh Black Tie event at a local hotel where I live in Bournemouth. But yes, you did hear me right… it is a non alcoholic hangover as I didn’t drink. It’s a sign I am getting old.

Anyway, moving on swiftly (I don’t like to think about the fast approaching 25 year mark… quarter of a century and all that!). So moving onto what we would like to call the…..

XBLA Challenge Game Night!

The idea is simple; you our ever devoted community members challenge us, the staff team, to a night of multiplayer gaming on the game of your choice. Sounds good, right?

At present I am thinking we do this one night a month and if it is proved to be a success we can increase the frequency.

That just leaves us you guys to decide upon which game we should be playing. Once we have a few ideas, we will pick one at random and then set a time and date.

So reply here with your suggestions for our first ‘XBLA Challenge Game Night’. You need think about how many people can take part. Whether this is in teams or if it is 1 vs. 1 on a points table over the course of the night.

Looking forward to reading your ideas,

Roo.

The Guys & Gal's over at Crankshaft Games recently wrote a new update...

Quote

For more information on the latest development news on 'Party of Sin' head over to the website @ www.partyofsin.com

It's with a big broad smile across my face I get to share the following with you. Back on the 27th March I wrote a exclusive preview for XboxLiveAddicts on the new Xbox LIVE title currently in development by Crankshaft Games titled 'Party of Sin' (Found here: Preview Exclusive; Party of Sin). Today this article was shared on the hugely popular ModDB site. For those PC Gamers among you, you will realise this is a big thing for XboxLiveAddicts and have the potential to bring in a whole help of new members to our community.

I am therefor going to ask you all a massive favour. Head over to here and let the ModDB members know how 'nice' we are!



Moving on from that I have some new regarding Shattered Horizon, the smash hit PC Game I wrote a feature on back in September last year (Feature Link).

A new DLC pack is currently being tested and will be released for free to current game owners. You can read all the details in my latest news article here.

And that's about all from me today folks.

Follow Friday

Good Morning all and here is wishing you a happy start to the long bank holiday weekend.

So today is Friday and for those of us on Twitter, it is a day to share with our followers people we think they should be following. Of course I use this day to recommended XboxLiveAddicts staff and friends. The full list of what I send out today is below. In Twitterverse we call this #FollowFriday.

Do you use Twitter? If so, leave me a message below with your username and I will send a #FF your way starting next week.

Have a great gaming day!

Roo.


List of #FF's sent out
@lordmuttley
@DELLMATRIX
@SideWinder_24x7
@KrAzYNo1
@NotsoNewby
@Shade360
@sgt_imhotep
@Ca1eb_LK
@GlennZA
@IckyGalaxy
@turnsy1985
@SgtBenton
@TheBoredGamer
@AzraelPC2
@boidster
@SFX360_com
@samversionone


Staff, Developers and influential supporters:
@MonumentalGames
@Mush_xx
@MotoGPDev
@sonicalpha
@JohnathonWaples
@Threetem
@MechanicalR
@xXR4GT4GXx
@KrisWB
@Xboxliveaddicts
@AceyBongos
@DrMistry
@CrankshaftGames

That's right one of the two remaining reviews I had sat on my desk are now complete.



Dragon Age Origins: Awakening is now complete! You can read it by clicking on the image above.

I have one title remaining that needs to get finished, and it's one I haven't been enjoying so much. It is Dynasty Warriors; Strikeforce. I will give it the benefit of the doubt for now.

Have a great couple of days everyone. I will back later in the week with that review and Aprils community Spotlight feature.

Roo.

The first time I ever really thought about the ‘7 deadly sins’ was watching Seven (Se7en) starring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. It was one of those films that started my love affair with the thriller and horror genres of the film industry. But today I am not writing about the film industry, but a new development for Xbox Live called Party of Sin.

It has to be said, PoS looks incredibly quirky. Not only was my immediate feeling one of intrigue but I immediately sensed a detailed and somewhat retro feel behind this new development. And this probably has something to do with the team working on it.

Heading up the team at Crankshaft Games is Dan Menard as Project Lead. This name may be familiar to those of you that played Half-Life 2… this is because Dan was the project lead behind the critically acclaimed Eternal Silence mod for the same title. Dan has brought with him 2 of the mods artists; Daniel Williams and Tobias Frank. Other names worth mentioning are artist Liz Hollerman, gameplay programmer Vincent Hippoman and marketing man Alexander Galasso. Most recently is the addition of Blake Allen, the PoS sound designer. If you ask me, these guys seem to have a fantastic team behind them.

So moving on, what is PoS and how will it be affecting your life? It’s really quite a simply concept to be honest. We, the player get to control one of the Seven Deadly Sins: Envy, Gluttony, Greed, Lust, Pride, Sloth and Wrath. Our goal is to escape from the gates of hell and fight our way through four different and unique worlds each with their own enemies on our route to Heaven; our final destination. I say ‘our’ goal because you can play cooperatively with up to 4 players, each picking their own personal favourite Sin. Sweeeeeet! Of course it goes without saying that each Sin provides the player with a unique battle power.

“The storyline will touch upon religion and mythology; both scarce topics in games today,” said Project Lead, Dan Menard.

Talking about the artistically remastered settings within the game, Tobias Frank, Lead Concept Artist had the following to say: “We wanted to give the game a fun mixture of well known and modern elements.”

Adding complexity to the game play is the task of juggling your relations with fellow Sins. You have to decide whether to steal points from them with your special abilities or to work together and overcome the endless hordes of angels you face. Dan Menard explains: “We want players to work together, but also doubt their friend next to them. Tripping up fellow sins on your way to victory is a great deal of fun.”

In an interview with the folks over at ModDB.com, a personal favourite site of mine for years now, Vincent Hippoman summed up this project perfectly for me: “The players will face a mixture of puzzle solving, tricky platforming, and intense combat. Both their brains and reflexes will be put to the test.”

A few FAQ’s about PoS:
(Taken from the FAQ’s page over at www.partyofsin.com)

Q: Where can I download Party of Sin?
A: Party of Sin is developed on XNA and will be available for download on Xbox Live.
Q: Is Party of Sin free?
A: The game will be sold on Xbox Live, so no, it won’t be free.
Q: When is Party of Sin coming out?
A: Party of Sin will be available by the end of this year.
Q: Will there be multiplayer?
A: Yes and no. In the first release of the game, there will be no online multiplayer. However, Party of Sin can be played cooperatively with up to four players. Get some friends together, bust open some beers (if you’re legal) and start kicking some angel ass.


I think it is safe to say that PoS is looking to be a great Indie title and has a lot going for it. I will be keeping my eyes firmly on the development over the coming months and will keep you guys updated on their progress.

For now however I will leave you with a selection of Screenshots and Artwork… enjoy!

Roo.

To learn more about Party of Sin, feel free to follow them on Twitter @CrankshaftGame or visit the website www.partyofsin.com

Screenshots:






Artwork: