Criterion to make another Burnout game, probably Road Rash game too

With Criterion working on the next game in the Need for Speed franchise – titled Need for Speed: Most Wanted – many gamers have been wondering one thing; will there be another Burnout game? Creative director of the company, Craig Sullivan, has said that they will be making another Burnout game at some point in the future. Sullivan also suggested that the company’s next title could be a Road Rash game.

"There's still a lot of stuff we want to do with driving," Sullivan told The Guardian. "We will make another Burnout game at some point. Obviously, as we're working on NFS we're thinking of really good ideas that aren't right for this series; there are ideas that we're going to explore with Burnout. And we wouldn't be making NFS or Burnout games if we didn't think the driving genre had a long shelf life and that we could push the boundaries."

Criterion will make a Burnout game in the future

The last Burnout game released by the company was Burnout: Paradise. Criterion had released some DLC for the game that included bikes as rideable vehicles. "When we did Burnout Paradise we did some motorbike DLC and now everyone thinks that we're going to do Road Rash at some point," Sullivan continued. "I had a lot of fun playing that game, we think bikes are fun. We might make a Road Rash game…. But then we might make a game without vehicles in it. I mean, we made Black, I was the lead designer – we might make a game about blowing the crap out of each other!" Sullivan also mentions, "But Road Rash seems like a good fit for Criterion…"

Criterion had released a trailer for Need for Speed: Most Wanted earlier this month. The trailer explains some of the new features added to the game, which includes a very in-depth multiplayer system that incorporates the open-world aspect of the game. To kick off multiplayer events, players have to drive to Race Lists strewn across the city that have a variety of different game modes, from simple races to all out takedown battles to jumping competitions. The game also features a progression system where you can level up to unlock mods for your car, as well as complete challenges such as finishing a race with no tyres to unlock License Plates that will display when you take down an opponent.

Back in July, it was revealed that a movie is being made based on the racing game franchise. The movie is set for release in 2014. Need For Speed is the first major project expenditure DreamWorks has made since the company came out of suspended animation while waiting for Reliance to invest cash in a re-up. The studio acquired the movie rights for the Need for Speed series only last month. There is no indication of why the movie is being fast tracked. EA and DreamWorks explained during their joint announcement that the film adaptation would be "a fast-paced, high-octane film rooted in the tradition of the great car culture films of the 70s while being extremely faithful to the spirit of the video game franchise".

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Pre-order bonus for Call of Duty: Black Ops II includes double XP weekend

Activision has revealed a new pre-order bonus for its flagship first person shooter (FPS), Call of Duty: Black Ops II. Those who pre-order the game will be getting the Nuketown 2025map for the multiplayer game mode, as well as double XP for the first weekend of play after release, which is November 16 to November 18. 

Here is the description of Nuketown 2025 by Activision: “An arena-style map with unique art design, Nuketown promoted the type of fast-paced action that Call of Duty fans from around the world have come to love. Now re-imagined in a 50's depiction of the ‘Model Home of the Future’ Nuketown 2025 is set to take that familiar close-quarters chaos into the future!”

Pre-order bonuses include a map and double XP for a weekend

The game got a trailer back in August that showed the multiplayer. While the basics don’t seem to have changed much from Black Ops or Modern Warfare 3 with the constant action and rewards for doing almost anything, there are some interesting things such as some of the sci-fi stuff in the game, including mechs, and what appear to be EMP grenades.

The previous game in the Call of Duty series was Modern Warfare 3, which was released last year. While gameplay stayed very much the same as previous iterations, the stakes had been raised significantly, as the game’s protagonists had to deal with the looming threat of World War III. If you have played previous CoD games, specifically the Modern Warfare series, Modern Warfare 3 will be familiar territory with non-stop balls-to-the-wall action and cinematic set-pieces.

The Call of Duty series originally dealt with events during World War II. After the unsuccessful Call of Duty 3, developers Infinity Ward shook things up by making Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. This game saw a large amount of success and sealed the fate of World War II based shooters.

After Modern Warfare, developers Treyarch made Call of Duty 5: World At War, which took the series back to its World War II roots. The game went for a more violent and gruesome depiction of World War II and added new weapons such as the flamethrower. The game also added a new game mode featuring zombie Nazi soldiers.

After World At War, Infinity Ward took back the reins of the franchise to create Modern Warfare 2. The game was released amid many controversies, like the No Russian level, which had the player take on the role of an undercover CIA agent infiltrating a Russian terrorist cell. The level consisted of the player and the characters walking through a Russian airport and gunning down innocent civilians and police officers. Another reason the game became infamous was for the PC version of the game not having many of the options gamers on the PC need or want, such as a developer console, a slider to increase the field of vision and the lack of dedicated servers for the game.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II is set to release on 12 November 2012 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. The game will also be available for the Wii U.

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Hitman: Absolution (PS3)

Hitman: Absolution (PS3)
Developer: IO Interactive
Publisher: Square Enix
Genre: Action \ Third-Person Shooter
Platforms: PC, PS3, X360
Release Date: 20th November, 2012

He's bald. He has a tattooed barcode at the back of his head. He carries a briefcase. And he's back. Hitman fans have had to wait a while since the last instalment, Blood Money. In the meantime, we were offered absolute tripe in the form of a cinematic adaptation. The movie proved two things: 1) Getting Timothy Olyphant to go bald doesn't make him a convincing Agent 47; 2) Casting hot Russian Olga Kurylenko is not enough to save a bad movie. Especially when you have a bald Timothy Olyphant playing a severely watered-down version of 47.

The movie was a bitter pill to swallow, but with the fifth iteration of the Hitman series, Agent 47 is back to cleanse your palate. And no, that's not a euphemism for strangling you with his fibre wire, although it very well could be. The game is called Absolution — an apt name, because in a way, it completely absolves all of the movie's sins.
 

Yes, I'm pissed. No, I'm not Raghu. Or Rajiv.

The story might be regarded as your run-of-the-mill Action plot: conspiracy, a quest for the truth, friends turning foes, etc. However, like any Hitman title, it's not the story that makes it a fantastic experience. Thankfully, the gameplay is classic Hitman — meaning you have to kill targets as stealthily as possible. Of course, there are a variety of ways to go about it. You can choose to go in all guns blazing, kill all the henchmen, and finally put a noisy bullet through your target's head. That's not the easy way, though. The more recklessly you approach a mission, the more difficult it gets to fight your way through. Ammo is hard to find, so getting into a firefight more often than not spells a messy death.

Alternatively, you can use other methods to eliminate your target, such as poisoning his food, or sniping him from a distance. This is where Absolution introduces a nifty feature called Instinct, which is an in-game aid with multiple uses. Pressing <R2> takes you into Instinct mode, highlighting the exact location of every guard around the area. It also shows you exactly what route they're going to take on their rounds. This is a vital tool, as it helps you plan your attacks. Instinct also indicates interesting points in the surroundings: windows you can snipe from, food you can poison, books and soda cans you can use to distract guards, and dumpsters to hide in.
 

Even secret agents have their emo moments.

Instinct also comes into play when in disguise. If you're trying to pass off as a gardener, for example, and you come in close contact with another maali, he can see through your disguise and blow your cover. Switching to Instinct mode when near other NPCs makes 47 hide his face and causally walk away. This however, is a limited aid, so you have to use it economically, while performing stealth kills replenishes the Instinct meter.

Absolution looks great too. A lot of detail has been put into the voice acting and character detailing, making conversation between characters look realistic. The preview code I tried out didn't have a 1080p mode, but the game still looked quite gorgeous. I can't wait to see the title in all its high-definition goodness once it comes out.
 

If I didn't know better, I'd say this was a hipster prison compound.

The game has its share of glitches though. I noticed that the audio was a little unclear, with the background music overpowering the dialogue. There were a few graphical glitches too — some textures showed up in rainbow colours, and at one point 47's trousers decided to become bright blue. This is great attire for a hippie from the `60s, but not too impressive for someone who's about to infiltrate a mansion to kill somebody important. Having said that, since this was just an early build preview, I'm sure all these errors will be ironed out by the time the game releases.

Long story short, Hitman: Absolution looks fantastic. The numerous ways to carry out your missions ensures that it provides plenty of replay value. The AI is challenging, and will make sure that every hit you complete successfully brings a smile of accomplishment to your face. Not many games can do that. I definitely recommend you pre-order this title.

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