PC | Guild Wars 2: Inside the First Hours of the Beta

The beta for ArenaNet's highly anticipated sequel gets underway.

This past weekend marked the first time the press has been able to get into the beta for Guild Wars 2, the follow-up to the popular RPG that took a different approach with MMOs. The sequel looks to continue that trend as the first few hours give a taste of both epic battles with dozens of other players and small quests devoted just to your character and the selections made during the character creation process.

We had a few of the beta participants sit down to talk about their initial impressions and what they're looking forward to from the game. Also be sure to check out our extra gameplay videos of the event down below.

Guild Wars 2: Inside the First Hours

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Xbox 360 | Transforming the Fall of Cybertron

Developer High Moon Studios is transforming War for Cybertron's weaknesses into strengths and rolling out a new adventure in Transformers: Fall of Cybertron.

Transformers: War for Cybertron had issues. Developer High Moon Studios isn't afraid to admit that. They're proud of what the game accomplished, but it also recognizes its faults. With the upcoming Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, the developers are aiming to turn those weaknesses into strengths. That means more variety, a better camera, and plentiful ammo. At this year's D.I.C.E. Summit in Las Vegas, we got the chance to sit in on a hands-off demonstration and see some of these changes in action.

Vortex has the right transformation for any situation.

Nothing says variety like a helicopter that transforms into a jet. The first sequence featured Vortex, a Decepticon that could transform in just such a way. Its mission was to scrap a massive bridge being guarded by the Autobots. To traverse this battlefield quickly, Vortex would start in jet mode and zip between Autobot encampments. Next, it would switch to helicopter mode for a few strafing runs. Finally, it would end in robot mode to mop up any hard-to-reach survivors. The entire sequence was very bombastic, with a constant rumbling of radio chatter, explosions, and the death throes of dying Autobots.

The next scene was something completely different. Jazz, an Autobot, was locked in a frantic sniper duel against a pack of long-range Decepticons. The area itself was a collection of towers, which Jazz would hop between using a grappling hook. Green laser sights from the enemy units crisscrossed the arena, and Jazz had to move fast to line up a shot before the beams converged on him. It had a very hit-and-run pace, as staying in one spot for too long meant being surrounded by a half-dozen foes.

Jazz can charge his sniper shots for extra damage.

A few scenes later, we finally set eyes on Optimums Prime. Things haven't improved for the leader of the Autobots since the last game. To put it bluntly, the Decepticons have won. For the Autobots, that means getting off Cybertron as quickly as possible in The Ark, which is a massive starship. Thankfully, Prime still has some powerful allies; chief among them is the hulking, city-sized transformer: Metroplex. As Prime, the player could direct Metroplex--seen stomping around in the background--by targeting enemy buildings, ships, and whatever else got in its way. Metroplex would respond in kind with a healthy dose of lasers and/or missiles.

The final snippet swapped gunplay for melee combat with Grimlock. High Moon figures if a giant, mechanical dinosaur that breathes fire can't get you excited for Fall of Cybertron, nothing can. Because Grimlock brings a sword and shield to a gun fight, its main method of ranged attack is hurling enemies at other enemies. This tactic was demonstrated in a clever scene that involved Grimlock hurling the devious Starscream into a computer console. In combat, the mechanical brute could unleash its primal side after crushing enough foes to fill a special meter. Once in full-blown dinosaur mode, it had a time limit on wreaking havoc and chomping down on enemy robots.

Grimlock likes his Insecticons severed up extra crispy.

Multiplayer in Fall of Cybertron is also seeing some changes from the previous game. The cooperative campaign is out, but in its place, the developers are promising some new additions to the competitive side. While they weren't ready to talk specific modes, we did get a peek into character customization, and there's a lot of it. Arms, legs, chaises, color schemes, and more were all available, but High Moon was most excited to show off how all these parts still transformed fluidly no matter what combination was selected.

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron will be available on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 later this year.

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PlayStation Vita | Ragnarok Odyssey: The Vita's Monster Hunter-Type Replacement

We kill lots and lots of monsters in action role-playing game fashion while teaming up with random strangers with GungHo's latest.

Make no mistake: Game Arts' latest foray in the game scene, titled Ragnarok Odyssey, reeks of the action role-playing game odor stemming from Capcom's Monster Hunter. After all, you go off on a series of chapters divided into a multitude of quests ranging from the banal "kill a number of creatures" to "collect a bunch of stuff by breaking barrels and killing monsters" equipped with generous time limits. Occasionally, you fight a giant monster or two with weak spots that also perform huge elaborated attacks with few windows of opportunity for your warrior to strike.

This does not mean that Ragnarok Odyssey is devoid of any entertainment; far from it. Ragnarok Odyssey is billed as a multiplayer title. Gamers can partner up with other PlayStation Vita users playing Ragnarok Odyssey via ad hoc or online play. It's here that you can party up with other classes and kill together in hopes of gathering the most loot within sessions.

It will be a while before players go toe-to-toe with this Godzilla-sized villain.

Players get to pick from five classes: the swordmaster, the hammersmith, the hunter, the cleric, the assassin, and the mage. Each has its own style of play: the hammersmith trades speed for a high attack rating, while the assassin's quick strikes deal little damage. To be fair, the assassin class can at least take a few more hits, thanks to its defense rating. The class is quick on its toes too, so players will need to learn to time dodges and evade enemies.

The hunter has the highest attack speed and range among the classes but has horrible damage output and hit points. However, mid-game attacks like the vulcan arrow can deal good amounts of damage, and the arrow shower can soften up a cluster of enemies. Because it's a primarily ranged class, it's best for hunters to stay far away from enemies and snipe them from a distance.

The mage in the game is a bit of an oddity; the class has good attacks and area-of-effect spells, but the combos that throw out fancier and hard-hitting spells come from melee attacks. When you add to the fact that a mage's hit points and defense ratings are atrocious, we couldn't figure out a reason to pursue this class.

While the hammersmith was our personal favorite--any class with a huge hammer-drill hybrid that deals big damage is a winner in our book--new players should stick with the swordmaster. Attacks are reasonably speedy; you can deal high damage if you time your inputs for the end of their combo strings; and it's one of the few classes that can guard.

Speaking of which, each class has different attacks coming out of its combos. For the hammersmith, pressing triangle, triangle, circle, and circle made our female warrior perform a slow-but-damaging upper swing followed by a ground pound multi-hitting drill finisher. Pressing triangle, triangle, triangle, and circle made her pull off a delayed charge that also hit multiple times. These are just a few examples of how each class is different in terms of its repertoire of attacks.

While the scenery is nice from time to time, do remember that quests have time limits.

Players can also tweak classes with the use of cards. Before each mission, you can choose as many cards as you can to equip, depending on how much space they take up on a character's card-equipping slot. Some common cards with a one-star rating take up as much as one, while rare ones can go as far as three or four slots.

Ragnarok Odyssey also makes use of its platform's touch capabilities. Expanding the map only requires you to tap the top right icon, while sending out a quick emoticon is as easy as touching the side icon. After mapping your potions before a mission, you can just drink them by tapping their icons at the bottom right part of the screen instead of pressing the select button and the face button to which they're mapped. Whether you prefer doing things the old-school way or by touching, the game's interface has got you covered.

After much questing that involved killing orcs and giant eagles using our female hammersmith, we capped off our play sessions with a few brutal boss fights: one with the Orc King and one with a purple basilisk named Hjahanir. Most bosses in the game require you to hit certain parts of its body to break down its defenses, but be careful because they gain additional moves and move even faster.

The Orc King can pull off a windmill ground slam that sucks players close to it and can also do a few air stomps followed by a charge when it has been damaged enough times. We had to run away from it while it was pulling off that move while taking care not to empty our action point gauge so that we could attack it with air combos and hammer blows.

Hjahanir can do a belly flop and shoot out purple beams in its initial state but can pull off a wider purple blast and will move slightly faster if it's hit enough times. It also didn't help that its attacks can easily afflict poison status onto players; poison in this game can drain your life bit by bit and also lasts pretty long when compared to most RPGs. The trade-off is that it is prone to being launched into the air for an air combo; players can tell if it's in that state or not by locking onto it with the trigger buttons.

Mages in this game are hard to master.

Luckily, your character can be in a berserk state (called dainslef here) whenever his or her berserk meter is full. Tapping the blood-red icon on the right side of the screen will make your character move faster, deal more damage, and make him or her immune to knockdowns at the cost of his or her life draining bit by bit. To prevent your life from decreasing drastically, you will just have to kill as many enemies as possible. As such, it's wise to activate dainslef when you're surrounded by a huge mob of tough enemies. If you're careless and you kick the bucket mid-mission, the game allows you to come back to life two more times. Once that's used up and you die, you fail the mission and have to restart from scratch.

While playing this game alone is decent, the main draw is its multiplayer mode. Teaming up with a bunch of different classes while hacking and slashing away is really fun. Coordinating with others is a bit on the tough side due to the language barrier as the majority of players we found were from Japan. The developers did say before that the online components are still being updated, as GungHo will be releasing its first online expansion called "online multiplay update" in the middle of March. The company will also release a second update mid-April featuring new monsters, new stages, and new quests, though it did not state whether the content is free or comes with a price tag.

In any case, Ragnarok Odyssey can serve as a temporary substitute for fans of the action RPG genre tailored after Capcom's moneymaker. Even if it seems like it's riding on those imitated coattails, it's the only one the Vita has at the moment that isn't a port of a PSP title. So far, it's a decent role-playing jaunt, thanks to its flexible controls and range of classes, each with its own strengths and flaws. Having said that, the single-player mode seems too mundane to stand out on its own and can only thrive with its multiplayer feature.

While the game is out now in Japan, there isn't any official word on a North American and European release.

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PC | Sleeping Dogs: Fist Fights, Vermin Problems, and Nifty Gadgets

Different name, new setting, same old series? We find out how the title formerly known as True Crime: Hong Kong handles in our first hands-on.

We know what you're probably thinking: Sleeping Dogs? Has GameSpot, my favorite video or computer game website lost its mind and moved into the fast-paced world of pet accommodation? No sir, we have not. Sleeping Dogs is the recently revealed name for the game formerly known as True Crime: Hong Kong, a title Activision kicked to the curb a little over a year ago after saying "It just wasn't going to be good enough." While Square Enix swooped in to save the game from cancellation, the name has been overhauled, but it is still the same Hong Kong cinema-inspired open-world game that was always planned.

The game follows Asian-American cop, Wei Shen, as he leaves US shores to return to the motherland in hopes of infiltrating and stemming the tide of Triad control across the region. We recently got an updated look and chance to play this (hopefully) second-time lucky game.

Our demo opened with Wei Shen being held prisoner in a jail cell. The familial bonds of a previous and less scrupulous life were mere feet away, and seconds passed before we ran into a former gang brother, Jackie Ma. The pair caught up briefly, and Wei was emphatic about wanting back in on his old turf. Jackie provided instructions on whom to meet and where, before Wei was dragged off to an interrogation room. Away from prying eyes, Wei got a little verbal abuse before a senior officer reached over and disabled the camera in the room. It was all a ruse. Wei had been called in as a deep undercover officer who knows the scene, the players, and the way they operate. The friendly chat ended and Wei left without as much as a scratch--a telltale sign of a jailhouse snitch. The camera lingered, and the pair of officers discussed whether he could be trusted. One suggested Wei's history of "extreme behavior" and risk of exacting revenge for the slaying of his parents at the hands of the Triad made him more of a liability than an asset.

Inside the kitchen of a dingy local restaurant, we met with Jackie and his boss, a heavily tattooed but small-time crime boss. There were no fancy cars, no suited entourage, and his mother, Mrs. Chu, milled around the workspace with food and drink as we chatted. There were no illusions about the sort of people her son associates with or the business her son conducts, but she remained silent and without judgment. Her son needs protection, and we're out to build our reputation. A man named Ming owes money, and our job is to teach him a lesson in manners.

Outside on the street, garish neon lights assaulted our senses, hawkers were selling suits and "I love HK" T-shirts, as a dragon performance entertained watchers. You can interact with some stalls, spending money earned from combat and completed missions to buy short-term buffs, such as reduced physical damage for 10 minutes.

The city was not nearly as dense as the real place it's modeled on--though we're unsure if it was designed this way for the comfort of the player navigating the world or simply a technical limitation of the hardware the game uses. We pushed through the odd body blocking our path, and after confronting Ming, we took off at speed down narrow alleyways over locked fences and waist-height obstacles. The same button handles sprint and interaction, so you need to ease off the gas, release, press to scale or jump, and then repress to resume pursuit. There wasn't a great momentum penalty for the multiple presses, but it felt like it would benefit from being mapped to one of the other face or trigger buttons during these encounters.

Our chase came to a halt when we were confronted by a handful of Ming's cronies. Low-level grunts were easily belted into submission with a few quick jabs, while larger and more experienced fighters required adept use of the one-button counter-grapple mechanic. When it came time to finish the job, we could grab targets and push them around the arena to trigger finishing moves--slamming skulls against walls, pushing bad guys into electrical boxes, or shredding faces in spinning fan blades. Rival gangs seldom appeared to roll alone, but even while beating on one of their friends, they were often reluctant to attack more than one at a time. We felt brief flashes of Batman's fluid melee system here, but the hand-to-hand combat wasn't as natural or free-form as the Dark Knight taking out the trash. With goons defeated, we took on Ming alone, but before we had the chance to finish the job, Hong Kong officers stormed the rooftop.

The timeline jumped around greatly during our demo, and with her son now mysteriously out of the picture, the once quiet Mrs. Chu was out for blood like any mother scorned. Criminal, Johnny Ratface, was implicated in the disappearance, and we used some of the more advanced detective tools at our disposal. Making a prank call and keeping him on the line long enough to triangulate (or is that Triadulate?) his position, we arrived at a nearby industrial estate. As you'd expect, Wei knew his way around a machine gun, and we blasted our way to the end of the area, blowing up cars and wasting suckers shooting back from ledges.

The chase gained speed when we borrowed a motorbike to follow the fleeing Johnny Ratface's car. Aiming weapons while driving cars and riding bikes slows the world around you to give you a chance to fire accurate, well-placed shots rather than spray and pray. Vehicles that take enough damage or have their tires shot out, spin and flip like stunt cars. Once close enough to our mark, we leapt from our bike to the roof of his car, taking him hostage and driving back to Mrs. Chu, who was waiting, meat cleaver in hand, to serve up her own justice.

Though the storyline will focus on Wei Shen and remain quite linear, this is an open-world game. We weren't given much chance to explore the wider city area, but side missions--called Favors--will give you a reason to complete optional content and reward you with money and "Face" points, which are the game's reputation system. One side mission we saw had a friend asking us to destroy a rival street racer's car with a tire iron. Think of it a bit like a Triad stress ball.

After its tumultuous development, fans will be happy to know the game is finally going to make it to shelves. While not bearing the same name, True Crime supporters can rest easy knowing this looks and feels like a genuine follow-up experience that melds melee combat, third-person shooting, and on-road antics. While our hands-on gave us a limited taste of all three elements, we're hoping for a chance to explore more of the city soon. Can Wei Shen stay on the straight and narrow or is the lure of returning to a life of crime too great a temptation? Stay tuned to find out when the game shoots up consoles and PCs this year.

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Xbox 360 | New Max Payne 3 Trailer, Screens

Rockstar delivers exclusive new screenshots of Max Payne 3, as well as the second official trailer for the game.

Rockstar Games just released the second official trailer for Max Payne 3 and also sent GameSpot a couple of exclusive screenshots to accompany it, including this one, in which one of Max's enemies appears to lose his gun, and his face:

Max Payne inflicts maximum pain.

Max's broken pane.

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Xbox 360 | The Split Personalities of Far Cry 3

Opposites attract in Ubisoft's latest open-world shooter.

There's a scene in Far Cry 3 where you're desperately trying to escape a sinking boat, its hull filling with water and the floating bodies of enemies you've recently killed. In your frantic rush for survival, music rises from the background. Rather than an action movie chase theme or some intense tribal drumroll befitting the game's tropical island setting, the soundtrack to your life-or-death moment is a serene, twinkling piece of music that wouldn't sound out of place at the tail end of an indie rock album. The effect is a profoundly bizarre sense of tranquility and calm considering you're trapped in what might easily be called a nightmare scenario.

Whether you choose to look at this scene within the standards of first-person shooters or not, it's a powerful moment. It's also one of the clearest examples of Ubisoft Montreal's drive to combine seemingly conflicting ideas into one harmonious experience. From the mission structure to the song selection, Far Cry 3 is very much a game of contrasts. Let's explore a few:

Scripted Missions and Open-World Exploration

One of the most ambitious goals Ubisoft Montreal has is the idea of marrying the tightly scripted set pieces of a corridor shooter with the free-form nature of a sandbox action game. The world itself--a tropical island paradise gone slightly to hell--is yours to explore however you wish. There are no real constraints on where you can go at a given moment, with plenty of side quests and discoverable secrets out there to steal your attention away from the main storyline.

That world sounds a bit like Far Cry 2, right? Well it should, because the overall structure is largely the same. In fact, a lot of the missions are similar as well, giving you a simple task and the flexibility to approach your goal from whichever angle you want. One example has you assaulting the rusted skeleton of a beached ship in order to disable the radio antenna perched atop the main deck. You can sneak in through the bottom and silently pick off each enemy in your way, or simply grab a hang glider, find a tall mountain, and fly straight onto the deck of the barge without messing with a single bad guy.

But mixed in with that hands-off approach to mission design are some set pieces of a more tightly scripted nature. The sinking boat is one example; it's a mission that has you infiltrating an enemy vessel (apparently you assault a lot of boats in this game) to find a friend of yours. While starting out fairly open-ended, this mission gradually funnels you toward a single, predetermined conclusion: you throw open the doors to a room filled with explosives just before they go off and send the boat sinking into the watery abyss. That's the point at which the game says, "Hey, I'm gonna show you this really cool scene. Feel free to keep playing along, though." Cue your desperate attempt to swim back up to the surface.

Calming Beauty and Unsettling Insanity

Everyone here is just a little bit off.

This is an approach you don't see very often in video games. Players tend to spend their time in either a violently morphing corridor of roller-coaster thrills (think Call of Duty) or the static landscapes of an open-world sandbox (think Borderlands). Rarely do the two overlap. With Far Cry 3, however, Ubi Montreal wants to marry the two--at least in some of the key story missions. If it works, it could make for a very exciting experience.

Your character, Jason Brody, comes to this tropical island with a few friends looking for a sunny getaway only to discover that this place is filled with a militia's worth of violent and insane criminals. Even the friendly characters you meet, like a doctor you turn to for medical assistance, are teetering on the brink of insanity. In fact, characters like the doctor might be the most unnerving because you can't pinpoint what's wrong with them; they just seem slightly off.

Now, contrast that with the island itself. Far Cry 3's geography is absolutely gorgeous, from the cascading waterfalls to the towering green mountains. It's the type of setting where your survival instinct is constantly battling with your desire to just stop for a moment and stare at the fireflies. You don't have to rely on the story's suggestion that this is a place that would attract tourists and backpackers. All you have to do is look around, and you can tell that for yourself.

These two things--the island's calming natural beauty and the deeply unsettling undercurrent of insanity present throughout your journey--should make for an interesting combination. There's very much a Heart of Darkness feeling to it all, the idea that there's something twisted inside all of us, and this place is the catalyst for its emergence.

Shoot-Outs and Rabbit Holes

Sometimes you just have to get your hands dirty. (With lots of blood.)

Far Cry 3 is definitely a first-person shooter…except when it isn't. In addition to those aforementioned missions where you need to assault an enemy holdout in search of some objective, you'll encounter other missions that Ubi Montreal likens to good old-fashioned Alice in Wonderland rabbit holes.

One of these missions has you going off in search of a particular species of cave mushroom for that slightly batty doctor mentioned earlier. You swim through an underwater tunnel entrance, climb up the walls of the cave, and begin to scour the place for that one specific mushroom. But along the way you start to get a little woozy, and before long that wooziness transforms into a full-on psychedelic experience. The cave walls morph into a forest, a house appears out of nowhere, and each time you approach the door, the entire house moves back 10 or so feet. In other words, Jason Brody is tripping hard, and he has to gather himself back together before he finds himself passed out alone in a desolate cave. Maybe that mushroom Jason was looking for wasn't the only special one in the cave.

It seems safe to assume that these missions will make up only a fraction of the overall storyline, but it's interesting to see this sort of thing in there. Far Cry 2 didn't offer much in the way of palate cleanser missions, so it's pleasing to see that Ubi Montreal realizes that doing the same sort of missions over and over can get a bit tedious. If that means casting aside your AK-47 for a few minutes in order to have a bizarre out-of-body experience in some magical cave, then why not? There are plenty of bad guys to shoot when you're done.

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PC | Gods & Kings Brings Big Changes to Civilization V

This upcoming Civilization V expansion brings a ton of new content, including religion and espionage. Get the first details here!

An age of discovery is coming to Sid Meier's Civilization V. With its new expansion, Civilization V: Gods and Kings, developer Firaxis Games is aiming to bring back some fan-favorite features that didn't make it into Civilization V's original release back in 2010. These include a new religion system and the return of espionage. We got to chat with Ed Beach, gameplay and AI programmer, and Dennis Shirk, lead producer, about these changes.

Your religious selections are permanent, so make sure you're happy with what you pick.

Religion

Religion is back, but in an entirely different way. It's designed to be an extremely flexible system that can enhance all types of play styles through a series of small benefits. The cornerstone of religion is a new currency called faith. Faith is used to purchase beliefs, which are small benefits that shape your nation's religion. Civilizations starting near the coast may wish to purchase the God of the Sea belief, which grants additional production from fishing boats; while mountainous civilizations may prefer the Stone Circle belief, which generates additional faith from stone quarries.

Initially, you are only allowed to purchase one belief. As you progress, a great prophet is born in your nation that lets you purchase two more. This occurs a second time late in the game to complete your five-belief religion. In addition to purchasing beliefs, faith can be used to purchase unique buildings and units that are otherwise unavailable. Faith-generating city-states, wonders, and buildings will also be available.

Espionage

Espionage returns as well in Gods and Kings, and it mimics the options available in Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution. Spies weave a web of intrigue, and though they never appear as units on the map, there is a special panel used to assign missions. These include stealing technology, working on counterintelligence, and listing what's inside an enemy city. In single-player, spies can even report on the future military operations of AI opponents. If you learn that France is going to invade Spain, you can blow the whistle and give Spain a heads-up, which will have serious diplomatic consequences.

Unlike in Civilization: Revolution, spies are not trained by a civilization. Instead, they are awarded at certain intervals along the timeline. Should one of your spies get captured or killed, you'll have to wait a set number of turns before you get a replacement. "It's almost like an executed spy is in time-out," Beach said, adding that your new spy will start back at level one. Spies can also be used to sway the influence in city-states by rigging elections or attempting a coup.

New mercantile city-states have access to luxury resources you can't find elsewhere.

Diplomacy

"The nature of diplomacy is going to change as you progress through the ages," explained Beach. In the early ages, religion will be one of the crucial factors in how other civilizations respond to you. Later in the game, those religious prejudices will give way to ideology preferences. When a civilization commits to the freedom, order, or autocracy culture tree, it will become the new driving force behind international relations.

City-states are also being expanded in numerous ways. "Feedback suggested city-states were dominated by who had the most gold and could offer the most gifts," Beach said. Therefore, completing city-state quests will become the most effective way to gain influence over them. City-states can now offer multiple quests at once, and some, such as "generate the most faith in 20 turns," don't require direct action from the player.

Combat

In addition to some overall pacing changes that Firaxis wasn't ready to divulge, combat in Gods and Kings is being expanded in two key areas: new World War I-era military units and several additions to naval combat. The new WWI-era units were added to give players the joys of flight earlier in the game. Units include massive, clunky tanks (referred to as Land Ships) and early fighter planes. On the naval side, the team wanted to make sea battles more dynamic. With that in mind, it built a new class of ships--melee ships--to complement the preexisting ranged ships. A new privateer unit can capture enemy ships and launch raids on costal cities.

The Mayans are pulling out their best headpieces for Gods and Kings.

And what would a Civilization expansion be without a few new civilizations to play with? Nine new civilizations are planned for release, including the Celts, Byzantines, Mayans, and Netherlands. When pressed, Beach noted that the Celts have the ability to gain additional faith when their cities are settled against a forest, while the Byzantines can purchase a bonus, sixth belief. Some of the original civilization abilities are also being tweaked to accommodate the changes coming in Gods and Kings. This expansion is targeted for a late spring release this year in stores or through Steam for $29.99.

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PlayStation 3 | Prototype 2: Militant Priests, Lukewarm Rage, and Missing Science Projects

We doubled our attacks, took in the view from the top of the city, and listened patiently in this revenge-fuelled sequel.

What would you do if you stumbled upon superpowers? Would you channel them into something positive to build a better world and fight for justice, or would you seethe, ball up your fist at fate, and tear humanity apart like a hot chicken? It's a well-trodden path in film and games, and one that Prototype 2 uses to transport you from the previous boots of Alex Mercer, the original game's amnesia-stricken protagonist, to focus on Sergeant James Heller. The new lead role is a husband left alone in a cruel place after his family is taken by the outbreak slowly strangling New York City.

Our demo began with a flashback sequence of Heller's past. He was serving a tour of duty overseas, and the voices of his wife and daughter called lovingly for him to return home soon. Shortly after, the pair were killed, and this act became the driving force behind the revenge that he seeks on Alex Mercer, who is singled out as the cause of the biological situation and is the namesake of the Mercer Virus.

The scene skipped forwards, and we rejoined the present day, with Heller riding in the back of an armoured personnel carrier. Surrounded by young recruits mouthing off, he sat silently, sharpening the blade of a menacing-looking hunting knife. Moments later, the convoy was attacked, and, as consciousness returned, the squad lay dead around us. Alex arrived and requested that we follow. For a man fuelled by murderous rage, Heller was surprisingly cooperative, accepting the request and renouncing his Blackwatch allegiance to step gingerly across the destroyed roadways and pursue the departing Mercer seeking payback.

Eventually, we caught up, and the duo finally tussled, with Heller plunging his blade into Alex with little effect. Mercer's Force-like push knocked Heller back against a wall--and while the mind was willing, the flesh was weak. Once finished playing with him like a toy, Alex eventually grabbed and infected Heller with a viral tendril, disappearing into a nearby building to watch as Blackwatch helicopters swooped in and took the now-infected deserting soldier as a prisoner of the shady organisation Gentek.

Snippets of fever-dream-like conversations gave us titbits to start building the web of deceit at the centre of the story, and--like in the original game--will be expanded on as you consume unwilling human participants and suckle on their memories. When we awoke, we were bound inside an underground lab. Small groups of infected humans were periodically released from behind roller doors to test our reflexes, acting as a basic tutorial that got us up to speed on melee attacks. Button presses caused us to lash out with quick fist strikes, while holding the button winds up sliding high kicks to the face--useful for knocking down multiple targets at once.

Like any good science project gone wrong, Heller immediately got in touch with his new-found brute force, busting out of the compound and again coming face-to-face with Alex. Though sworn to revenge, Heller was again surprisingly patient as Mercer attempted to tell his side of the story, using a nearby soldier as a conduit to show (through visual memories) why he was merely a scapegoat in Gentek's larger biological experiment.

Confronted with this new, conflicting information, Heller sought out an old friend for guidance. His go-to guy was Father Guerra, a local priest with a shady background, who looked like the love child of Ron Jeremy and Vito Corleone from The Godfather. He suggested that while Mercer's motivations were questionable, they ultimately shared the same goal of wiping out the virus and making Gentek pay, so it couldn't hurt for the two to combine forces. Right?

Story setup out of the way, the rest of our demo focused on the same subterfuge, consumption, and shape-shifting mechanics seen in the first game. Each situation could be approached in either disguise to covertly infiltrate without drawing attention, or more verbosely, if you'd rather fight off the hordes of military men who come to the aide of injured compatriots.

One new addition to Heller's utility belt is Sonar ability for finding specific quest individuals across the city. Clicking the thumbstick sends out a wave of energy that selectively recolours the screen in the direction that the target is located on its return pulse. Much less useful at ground level, it appeared to be more effective when done from the height and safety of the city's tall rooftops.

Eventually, we located and consumed the memories of a commanding officer and used the information gained to arrive at what we thought was a safe meeting point. The name should have been a giveaway; Operation Flytrap snared us in a fenced-off area as trucks backed up and let loose some nasty mutated creatures. Late evasion dives were crucial to staying alive, and we ducked and weaved out of their melee strike range. Heller felt speedy and agile, and movements were fluid as we chained together fatal blows on multiple attackers. Killing them rewarded us with our own set of claws: long steel talons that shredded humanoid enemies.

Weapon effectiveness will vary in Prototype 2, depending on what you're attacking. This has been designed to help avoid the trap of learning and then exploiting a single weapon strategy for all enemy types during the campaign. Later in the game, you'll unlock the ability to equip multiple weapons and map them to the face buttons using an easily accessed radial menu system. This will give you the chance to team differing combinations together, such as softening up targets with fist hammers before knocking them into the air and using sword arms to cleave them in two. A little more interesting than simply swiping at them until they die.

While the start of our demo gave us a look at the very early part of the game and Heller getting to grips with some new toys, the conclusion dropped us into New York's Red Zone as a fully fledged super human. Besides being able to use the full suite of arm attachments, we had access to a mutated personal army that--not unlike the Assassin's Recruits in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood--when summoned, swooped in and helped control large crowds and dealt with enemies that you don't want to. Basic commands, such as focused fire, can be given and can keep you on the ground shaking down the army, while they pelt attack choppers with bits of torn-up road on your behalf.

Prototype 2 adds a new main character, extra combat abilities, and the chance to choose the path you follow to exact your revenge, but it remains very much in the vein of its predecessor. If you haven't yet had your fix of superhuman strength, nasty genetic abominations, and making the city your playground, then look for more on Prototype 2 before it ships in the coming months.

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PlayStation Vita | Sumioni: Demon Arts: Ninja Finger Painting on the Vita

Touch-screen painting and 2D platforming collide in this Vita-only title.

Spike's new 2D platformer, Sumioni: Demon Arts, seems to be taking a lot of cues from 2006's Okami from an aesthetic standpoint. You have your sumi-e art style for the background, cell-shaded characters and enemies in the foreground, the Japanese folklore setting, and even the gameplay bits, where you have to use ink to affect the landscape. But whereas Okami is an epic adventure game, Sumioni sticks to being an arcade-style action platformer with multiple branching levels for added longevity.

Before you start a stage, you are shown a level roadmap displaying where each stage branches. Getting an excellent rating on a particular level can get you access to another path leading to newer stages and a longer journey. Yes, you can actually blaze through and finish the game within six stages with a decent rating. If you play your cards right, however, you will go through 13 stages and see the real ending. Players will be given the option to either save their progress or restart their run if they wish to check out what's on the other pathway.

Players control main character Agura no Sumioni by using the left analog stick or D-pad to move left and right, with dashes available by double tapping the corresponding control. Attacks are performed with the square button, while a spinning jump only needs you to add a midair jump. Pressing down and the square button while in the air makes Sumioni perform a downward thrust with his spear.

We had problems getting used to the fact that pressing up on the D-pad or left analog stick makes him jump. Since the jump command is also mapped to the X button, it not only feels redundant, but can also cause players to accidentally jump when they mean to simply move the main character onwards. We suffered plenty of unnecessary injury due to this odd control scheme during our play.

This quirk aside, the touch-screen controls are perfect. We had no problems summoning platforms on the fly by drawing a straight line on the screen, be it to help our demon reach higher parts of the stage or to push spiked wheel traps away from our path. We could also clear out unneeded sumi ink platforms by tapping the water icon on the bottom right of the touch screen.

Pressing the left trigger pulled up the technique screen, which not only provided a breather from the action, but also gave us access to other fancy moves. Drawing lines while on this screen made flame waves appear instead of platforms, and this was extremely useful for killing off multiple enemies, as well as breaking down certain giant bosses that we couldn't touch during one of their wide-screen area-of-effect attacks.

To help us out through the tougher bits of the game, we first brought up the technique screen and then tapped the bottom right icon. We then proceeded to follow the drawing gesture onscreen, and voila: instant gargantuan flying bird! The bird, called Yomihi, can shoot out blue crescent projectiles and do charging attacks, as well as shoot out a giant purple laser beam before disappearing.

Activating the bottom left icon and performing the requisite gesture will summon a four-legged beast companion called Shidou, who follows your every move and lunges at anything in its path. Shidou also erupts into a blue laser beam before exiting stage left, so you have to find the perfect opportunity to unleash it and its bird counterpart. We suggest you do this for the end-of-level boss fights against the towering contraptions and demonic folklore beasts, since you can use them only once per stage.

Each stage comes with two types of objectives: go from start to finish and kill off the boss, or survive until the top right counter reaches zero. The stages aren't too long, and, with the exception of some of the end-game bosses with higher hit points, most can be completed in less than five minutes.

One of these late-stage bosses, a giant eyeball, fires a one-hit kill laser beam. The only way to avoid being killed is to save up ink and build an ink platform while it's sizing up its attack. Stages restart from the beginning if you lose all of your health, but the fact that each level is so short only makes it a minor hindrance.

So far, Sumioni: Demon Arts seems to be a nice, quick 2D platforming game with an inventive art mechanic, perfect for old-school gamers after something old-fashioned and bite sized. While the Vita title is already out in Japan, North American players will have to wait until March to get their hands on it, and a European release has yet to be announced.

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PC | Why Fall of the Samurai Is the Most Modern Total War Yet

Find out how traditional Japanese and modern Western values clash in the upcoming Shogun 2 expansion Fall of the Samurai.

Set 300 years after the events of Shogun 2, Fall of the Samurai lets you shape Japan's fate during the Boshin War, a civil war that changed the face of the island nation forever. It takes place at a time when the ruling Shogunate opened Japan's borders to traders from the West. With firearms, railways, and industrialisation pitted against the old-fashioned ways, Fall of the Samurai is the most modern Total War game yet.

Now that the borders are open, American, British, and French forces are willing to trade with you. Building your relations with a nation grants you access to units such as the Royal Marines or the US Marine Corps to add more firepower to your army. Countries will have an initial predisposition to either the Shogunate or the Imperials and will be more likely to trade and negotiate with you if you belong to that faction.

Trading exclusively with the foreign powers will grant you big bonuses in the long run. Befriend the British, and later in the game you can "borrow" the powerful HMS Warrior, a huge ship capable of blowing others out of the water with its cannons--a useful addition to any naval force.

Powerful ships can be key to your success in Fall of the Samurai.

Naval warfare has had a complete overhaul in the game. While you can still blockade enemy ports, you can now choose to lay siege to them as well. Ships that are within cannon range of land can be called in to fire on enemy towns and cities and reduce their production of units, which can be a great benefit on the battlefield. You won't be defenseless in the face of a naval onslaught, though; those who wish to defend their coastline can upgrade their coastal defences to deter enemy naval forces.

Historical battles are back and let you re-create some of the better-known fights from the Boshin War, such as the naval battle of Miyako. The real-time battles are bigger than ever, with the roster doubled to accommodate up to 40 units. With enough research points, you can unlock some powerful weaponry, such as the Gatling and Armstrong guns.

The Western traders introduce some devastatingly powerful weaponry to Japan.

Selecting a weapon and tapping the H key lets you go into the optional new third-person mode, where you can take control of the weapons and mow down enemy units yourself. While the Gatling and Armstrong guns hold some substantial firepower, they can be overwhelmed and destroyed by enemy forces if you're not careful.

The map has been expanded since Shogun 2 and reflects the changes in Japan at the time of industrialisation. Small settlements become towns and then expand further to become cities with huge factories that release pollution. As the map evolves, you'll notice the music changing from traditional Japanese to more Western-style orchestral music.

For the first time in a Total War game, railways make an appearance. Researching them lets you connect your provinces and enables you to move troops and resupply faster, increasing the pace of the game. You can also sabotage enemy railways or claim them for your own.

Move whole armies quickly and easily using the new railway system.

The realm divide feature makes a return in this expansion, but it has been tweaked somewhat. In previous games, if you got too big for your boots, other clans would turn on you. In Fall of the Samurai, though, it's less black and white. Become powerful enough, and you can choose to become the Imperial or Shogunate Vanguard, or choose to form your own republic. Becoming a Vanguard means that any clan who supports that faction will come flocking to your side. But beware, clans are always trading and making deals with others, and if you're not careful, your allies may defect to the opposing side.

As a stand-alone expansion, Fall of the Samurai does not require Shogun 2 to play, but if you have the game you can carry your multiplayer avatar over. Multiplayer has been balanced, so if you do bring your avatar from Shogun 2, you will not be at a disadvantage to those who are using the more modern units from this new expansion.

Fall of the Samurai is set to be released on March 23 for the PC. Are you looking forward to getting your hands on the most modern Total War to date? Let us know in the comments.

PlayStation Vita | Gravity Rush Import Hands-On: A Possible Killer App for the PlayStation Vita

We play through the first few hours of what could be the definitive game for Sony's tech-heavy handheld.

Readers may recall a recent article on the PlayStation Vita that criticized the lack of "killer app" titles among other things. After playing through what seems to be the latest open-ended adventure du jour from Silent Hill director Keiichiro Toyama since his stint with Siren for the PlayStation 3, there may be a silver lining within all of the device's proclaimed gloom and doom. If the four to five hours we've spent in Gravity Rush was any indication of its quality, we could very well have both a sleeper hit and a darn great justification for buying a new gaming portable device.

To elaborate further on the last write-up, you play a girl named Kat who ended up in the town of Hekseville in nothing more than her unique one-piece uniform, a mission to rebuild the dying world of Auldnoir, and the awe-inspiring power to control gravity in her vicinity. Thanks to her black-glowing cat who tags alongside the blond heroine, Kat can float and fly around unreachable places, stand on the sides of buildings and any other flat surface in any position, use her stasis powers to carry objects and even human beings, and perform a gravity slide that turns her into the world's antigravity equivalent of Tony Hawk.

Newton's Law of Motion being put to practical use here.

The latter technique required us to touch and hold the left and right edges of the screen; as she slid, we tilted the PS Vita left and right to steer her and shook the device to make her jump sky high. Kat can also speed up her gravity shift and descent by holding down the X button so that she can get to places quicker.

She will need all the help she can get because she's up against a group of black and red monstrosities called the Nevi that seek to eradicate all life on Auldnoir. These enemies come in many shapes and sizes, ranging from the small versions that fling black goo at our heroine to hulking brutes that can somehow elongate their hands to smash her to bits. The Nevi have a glaring weakness, however, as they have red glowing crystals that serve as their weak spots. If you hit them, they dissipate into nothingness. Some Nevis have more than one glowing crystal, and a few of them even have shell carapaces that require a good bashing before they can be damaged.

Kat is definitely a kitten with more than just an attitude and claws, as her repertoire of combat moves are simple yet effective. She can do a flurry of kicks when on the ground and can also dodge (via swiping the touch screen). To use her patented gravity kick where she floats in the air and speeds into full force feet first onto an enemy's weak spot, you make Kat float in the air and then press the square button.

The farther you are from your target, the more powerful the kick becomes. While you will need to aim at your target when using the kick, you don't need to be too precise as long as it's within the center reticle and the surrounding gray circle around it. Kat will automatically home in on the target upon launch.

When she uses her gravity stasis field to pick up objects, she can fling them at a target with a press of the circle button. Some enemies can dodge out of the way of a gravity kick, so finding nearby objects as makeshift projectiles is key during combat scenarios.

The coups de grace of Kat's arsenal are her special attacks, which can be pulled off by pressing the triangle button while in zero gravity mode. So far, we've unlocked her amped-up auto-homing gravity drill attack and another move where she summons a cluster of gravity projectiles to rain down and hit fools within her radius.

Do keep in mind that she can't float forever because there's a gravity meter that gradually empties the longer she stays in zero gravity mode. Luckily, the meter refills pretty quickly and there is an abundant supply of gravity crystals littered in the city that replenishes the bar in a jiffy.

Simply put, it's really easy to get the hang of the controls. Combat so far is a blast, as there's so much space to navigate and position yourself for gravity kicks, as well as knowing where your enemies are coming from. While standing upside down on areas during quests may take some time getting used to, the game's camera has done a great job of not disorienting our heads too much.

We have to confess that at times, we spent too much time flying around and checking out the scenic route, as well as perfecting our score with the game's side missions. Yes, there are side missions you can partake in while traversing around Hekseville. Gamers will come across energy canisters that require a small number of power crystals; these not only brighten up the area and make it cheery, but they also unlock combat and navigation trials that can earn you more power crystals.

The former requires Kat to kill off a number of enemies for points, while the latter requires her to reach checkpoint after checkpoint using a specific gravity technique. Power crystals that are earned can be used to upgrade Kat's gravity abilities, whether it is to make her gravity kick more effective or make the handling of her gravity slide manageable.

After a tutorial that came in the form of an intense scene where Kat rescues a boy from a black hole in the sky, we tarried off into the old district of Hekseville to forward the story along. Players will get to explore Hekseville in open-ended fashion in locales like the old city district and the perpetually nighttime Rainbow Street area.

Along the way, Kat has to re-create and restructure lost parts of Hekseville, help find a missing student by searching for clues and exploring an academy, and even fight against another gravity-shifting nemesis called Raven. Without giving too much away, Gravity Rush will also bring gamers to otherworldly areas like a planar space filled with broken-down ruins, a void filled with ceiling inferno pits and pathways suspiciously arranged like a roller coaster, and even a barren wasteland filled with giant Nevis where Kat's gravity meter can't regenerate.

What also elevates this adventure game is the aesthetics. Toyama mentioned before that the game's art was based on the style of French comics. Upon our initial impressions, the game impresses with its bright palettes and environmental designs, particularly at the later areas we mentioned briefly. The narration itself is a mix of cutscenes and comic panels. Players can switch to the next page by swiping the screen and even move the accelerometer of the Vita to check out different angles of the panel.

One in eight girls in Hekseville will start glowing red and wreck the laws of physics upon reaching puberty.

It's pretty unique, we must say, and adds to the charm of its French aesthetic while getting the story's point across without the need for drawn-out machinima. The soundtrack by Kohei Tanaka, who is famous for composing music for anime like Gunbuster and Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, also accentuates everything coming together in one beautiful-looking title.

Fans may be disappointed that the director's latest game isn't anything like a survival horror title, but what we get instead is something potentially close to adventure-gaming greatness that couldn't be achieved on any other mobile device given its scope and presentation. With its unique sense of style and gravity-shifting gameplay already warming up to us, we do hope the later parts of the game live up to what we've experienced.

Gravity Rush will be out soon in North American and European territories, but gamers fluent in Japanese can check out the import version that is available now from their local parallel import stores.

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PC | SD Gundam Capsule Fighter Online Hands-On

We took our miniaturized mechs for a spin in the early Southeast Asian version of Softmax's free-to-play Gundam-themed MMO.

Readers from Asia may be familiar with the long-running Mobile Suit Gundam spin-off called SD Gundam which caught on with fans in various forms such as manga, trading cards and capsule figures. The mini mech phenomenon did prove popular in video game form; case in point the turn-based strategy and brawler titles like the SD Gundam Force and SD Gundam G Generation series. South Korean company Softmax decided to make an MMO based on the popular spin-off and launched the game way back in 2007 called SD Gundam Capsule Fighter Online.

Four years later, Bandai Korea agreed to publish the game onto North American servers with OGPlanet. As for Southeast Asia, Shanda Games will be launching its version early next year. After checking out an early build of the latter version, we suspected as much that the game will appeal towards the hardcore Gundam fans.

For starters, the game will feature all of the Gundam mechs from all eras, ranging from the Universal Century timeline to the Future Century era. Customization options for each mech are plentiful. Apart from being able to purchase certain robots, either through the standard cash shop or buying random mechs through the Gashapon screen (akin to a capsule machine, only with pilotable SD Gundams), gamers can deck out their mechs with custom paint jobs and stickers by spending points earned in battle.

Players can also assign different operators for missions; these pilots essentially make you earn more experience points and currency for a fixed amount of days. They're used mostly to speed up a player's level-grinding as most free-to-play MMOs are purposely slow in this regard.

Players control their Gundams with the keyboard and mouse. You use the WASD keys to move your mech around while you use the mouse to look around and aim. All attacks are done using the left mouse button; you can switch between melee and ranged attacks using the number keys 1 to 5. As you aim by moving your mouse, you can auto-aim onto moving targets by clicking on the right mouse button.

Covering a lot of ground on a map requires you to double-tap the WASD keys to boost and pressing the spacebar twice and holding it down to double jump and hover respectively. Clever usage of the mech's dashing is required to outmaneuver human opponents, though you have to take into account the boost gauge as it depletes when you're frantically blazing around.

What is it with Japanese IPs and super deformed characteristics?

When we were checking out the controls during the training missions, we only had access up to three weapons; the charged shot attacks and special moves (which invoke a cinematic-style attack when it connects) were only available when the game goes into a closed beta stage next year. Still, what we experienced in this build proved that the game's controls and the mech's maneuverability will need some time getting used to. While not as complex and lumbering as robots in the MechWarrior and Steel Battalion franchises, we're just glad that the tutorial gave us some leeway in piloting our selected Gundams in the heat of battle.

Speaking of which, the game utilizes a rock-paper-scissor element when determining Gundam types. The red rock icon means that your Gundam is melee-focused, while the green paper icon means that it's suited for sniping opponents from afar. The blue scissors icon means that a Gundam is balanced between using close-ranged and long-ranged attacks. Rock property Gundams are strong against scissors but weak against paper, while paper property Gundams are strong against rock but weak against scissors.

You can probably guess what scissors property Gundams are strong and weak against at this point. However, this doesn't mean that a rock property Gundam will obliterate a scissors property Gundam. Skill still matters in the long run, but in terms of damage-dealing, the former will have a slight advantage.

The rock-paper-scissors system also helps in picking multiple Gundams for online skirmishes. For four-versus-four battles, gamers will have to pick multiple Gundams to slot onto battleships so that when their main pick dies, they can switch to the next one mid-battle. As such, it's usually better to pick a varied mix of Gundams with different properties.

Just remember the rock-paper-scissors properties, and you'll do fine in the usual skirmishes.

For our current session, however, we only could pick one for both mission mode and online versus mode. We went for the MSA-0011 S Gundam, which was an AR-ranked mech with pretty high stats and top-class weaponry. Even with that advantage, we had to get use to the controls as the mech's default speed was slow. We had to rely a lot on its boosts to navigate on the stage.

One single-player mission had us protecting an NPC mech for an amount of time, while another took place in deep space where we had to blow up supply crates and kill a specific number of enemy mechs to complete the stage. What was unique about the latter mission was that we had to take into account vertical movement in space; we had to keep watch of enemies above and below us.

When we faced off against another player online, we fought in both a train station and an area with a giant elevator at the center of the map. The former stage had moving trains we could use as vantage points and makeshift transportation from one end of the map to the other, while the latter had the aforementioned elevator that went up and down during intervals. What these maps had in common was cover which we used effectively to avoid our opponent's long-ranged attacks. Our quick boosts across the map helped get us to higher ground.

Cue 70s mecha anime intro song by Ichiro Mizuki.

We had a few qualms with the minimap on the interface. The information so far only displays the location of your objectives, but not surrounding enemies as well as their vertical position. This proved detrimental on our first try of the space mission as enemies blindsided us from all corners of the map without us knowing where they were. We also had a lot to say about the game's not-so-polished graphics, but to be fair, the game was made back in 2007 and it is tailored for computers with low specs.

Gamers in Asia looking for their miniature Gundam fix can check out the closed beta test that will be held in early 2012.

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PC | Continent of the Ninth Seal: Busting Heads and Chaining Combos in a Faraway Place

We try out the first few hours of Webzen's latest free-to-play offering in the Asian MMO circle.

Gamers who have had a taste of the Chinese massively multiplayer online scene may recall an action title called Continent of the Ninth Seal (or C9) a year or so ago. Fast forward to this month, and GameSpot Asia recently got some hands-on time with the global version of the MMOG. Bugs notwithstanding, we were surprised about how effectively it conveys its message of unbridled action.

After dealing with a tutorial that involved a fight against a giant beast monkey and a village rescue from a pack of gnolls and goblins, we were thrust into quest after quest to move the plot along. We were accompanied by AI soldiers John and Fortz; they weren't much help, but they serve more as companions to forward the story, thanks to their banter. While minimal and predictable in nature, the publisher, Webzen, is doing its best within the free-to-play structure.

Players will get to choose from the close-ranged fighter (which we picked), the long-range hunter, and the spellcasting shaman, as well as the option to not only customize how they look, but also see how they would look covered up with high-level armor in the future.

Whether you're a melee brawler or a spellcaster, juggling enemies will be commonplace in C9's combat.

Players have their basic attacks mapped to the left and right mouse buttons, and additional skills from specific classes can be mapped to numbered keys. Each class has its own set of active skills, command skills pulled off with the basic controls, and passive skills that increase stats. Leveling up earns you skill points, which you can spend on the aforementioned skills via a designated trainer in the town hub. There's also a short clip of each activated skill on the right of the skill menu that shows off how each action looks, so that you have a clear idea of what you're upgrading with a trainer or what you wish to chain together for your future battles.

Within mere hours, we were chaining up attacks and beating up mobs of imps, goblins, birdmen, gnolls, and other humanoid uglies until kingdom come, thanks to the easy controls and tweaked-up action role-playing gameplay. Every hit we dished out felt impactful, and every special move we lined up came out responsively, making us feel like badasses from the get-go. Our elite fighter could bust up a mob with a combination of a thrust kick (a thrust attack followed by circular swipes) and a wide-range bash and kick attack. To clean up the mess, we finished the mob off with the upper swing technique, which launched enemies into the air, allowing us to juggle them with normal attacks as long as we were standing at the correct distance.

On top of that, we could activate fury formation by clicking both the left and right mouse buttons after our purple fury meter was full from all of the bloodshed. This triggered an aura surrounding our warrior that gave him super armor (can't get knocked down), increased attack and movement speed, and heightened damage and defense ratings for a short period of time.

The brutal kruger lives up to its moniker.

The only time we used this was when we were overwhelmed during a boss fight at the end of a dungeon. Specifically, we had to use it during a fight in the Imp Mines against the brutal kruger, a giant ogre that used a flail and shield to deal huge areas of knockback damage. Because we couldn't rely on potions due to their cooldown periods, we resorted to using all of our accumulated skills in tandem with the fury formation technique to best giants like the kruger.

If you have any experience with action games like Devil May Cry or even the recently released Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, you'll feel right at home with C9's mechanics. Because there isn't a targeting system at work here, gamers will have to land their special moves at anyone or anything within their line of sight. Mastering the distance of each class's attacks is key in pulling off the longest chain possible, especially against tougher bosses in future instances that do not give you room to breathe.

Bumping up the difficulty within the same instance showed some differences in level layout and introduced a tougher version of an existing enemy. Case in point: We came across a purple imp with higher hit points in the Imp Forest and more bomb-chucking mole creatures on a harder version of the Imp Mines. We recommend that you find a cooperative group if you're playing a dungeon on the highest difficulty.

By the time you reach level 10, which really shouldn't take too long in the standards of an MMOG, you have the option to promote your class via a time trial. You have to kill a mob of enemies in an arena for three rounds before time runs out, either on your own or with an online party. Traps mix things up, like a lightning bolt shooting downward after every five seconds during a bout. As soon as you reach level 20, you can choose different classes that have their own sets of skills and abilities.

Daily bonuses are given for each day of the week that you are playing on the servers; whether you get a short boost in experience-points acquisition on a Monday or an increase in gold rewards on a Wednesday, it's a nice feature to have, and it gives an incentive to players to keep on grinding. Noncombat activities include getting a job as an artisan; once you select your craft of choice, you can start leveling up your artisan skill to make items for selling or equipping yourself. Later on, you can even change how your items and gear look as you level up by using the town blacksmith.

There is more to C9 than just birdman genocide. Kinda.

MMO fans craving player-versus-player action aren't left out of the loop, although at this point in time, most of them aren't available in the beta. There's a deathmatch-esque mode called Rank Destroy and a practice arena where you can test your skills against bots.

While C9 isn't aiming to replace WoW or Star Wars: The Old Republic, gamers who just want to go in for a fight with like-minded groups should give this MMOG a try. At its primal level, the combat feels satisfying, even in a closed-beta state, and the crafting and customization systems are promising enough to give long-term players the tools to deck out their avatars. The closed beta is currently going on until February 28. Webzen stated that the open beta will be available this later this year.

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PlayStation 3 | Ever Want to Play as a 2-Year-Old Tiger Woods?

The latest entry in EA's golf series gives you the opportunity to live the life of Eldrick Woods.

As a person who likes a little sports history in video games, I wholeheartedly enjoy the inclusion of a mode that focuses on the incarnation of a sport from years ago, and the latest game to give players a taste of history is the upcoming Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13. Rather than experience the great golfing moments of tournaments past, you are given the opportunity to play as Tiger Woods and relive his greatest moments throughout his life--minus that whole messy divorce thing--in Tiger's Legacy mode.

Fooling around your backyard as a 2-year-old.

Video games omit the past few years of his career for obvious reasons, so you begin the mode controlling Tiger at 2 years old and his famous appearance on The Mike Douglas Show. Starting off, the objectives are pretty straightforward. As the toddler, you have to complete fairly simple tasks, such as sinking a short distance putt and hitting a few balls into a net. These were the exact things he did when he appeared on the program. Later on, you're transported to his childhood backyard where you experience training exercises designed by Tiger's father, Earl.

Tiger's Legacy is broken up into segments, and each focuses on particular moments in his career. Of course, the early stuff as a young Tiger should be fairly easy to accomplish, but the later challenges (like the 1997 Masters or the Tiger Grand Slam in 2000-01) take a lot of time and effort to complete.

On top of trying to re-create moments already accomplished in Tiger's career, the developers have even gone so far as to do a "what if" scenario and predict how Tiger's career will end, including his eventual overtaking of Jack Nicklaus' record of most major titles. Unfortunately, we didn't have the opportunity to see how old they've made Tiger look when he accomplishes this feat.

Additionally, it will be interesting to see just how much detail EA Tiburon puts into this mode. While the level of detail used in designing Tiger's childhood backyard was impressive, how much more detail has gone into every other aspect of his life? History lessons in other sports games have failed to really go into detail about the importance of the players and events. While you can easily find footage of Tiger Woods on YouTube, it would be nice if some added unlockable content with Tiger discussing those moments were included.

I'm pretty certain I wore similar outfits when I was this age.

After completing the objectives for each phase in Tiger's life, you can access them for play in other modes, including online. It will be both cool and weird when gamers get to take a 2-year-old Tiger Woods and play courses like Augusta National a few weeks after the game is launched.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 hits the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in March.

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