Game News :: Devil May Cry 4

Devil May Cry 4 looks amazing. Whether it's running on the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, Capcom's fourth entry in the eclectic series is easily one of the best-looking games on either console. Even better, it runs at a solid 60 frames per second, throwing around its beautifully animated characters, gloriously detailed backgrounds, and incredibly bombastic effects seemingly with ease.

Frame rates and gorgeous visuals aside, we learned plenty of hard facts, as well as heard some juicy new hints from Devil May Cry 4's developers at the company's recent London Gamers Day event. It was confirmed that Dante, the star of the three previous games, will be playable from halfway through the game right through to the end. It was also dropped in that the PlayStation 3 version of the game will have "a little something" for Sixaxis controllers and that the team is definitely hoping to release a demo for the game at some point in future.

Our session started at the beginning of the game, with the PlayStation 3 version running in 720p on a flat-screen TV. The game will open with a tutorial level where new playable character Nero is squaring off against Dante. During the intro, Nero is seen covering his arms to hide the obvious signs of his "devil bringer" powers. After throwing Dante a few times, Dante strikes back at Nero with his trademark sword, revealing Nero's arms. The battle continues with the two characters engaging in a sword fight and some stylish close-ups of the two crossing weapons.

In the final game, there will then be a tutorial to introduce players to the game and allow them to grasp the intricate combat system. In our demo, the developers jumped a few levels to mission three, where Nero was exploring an underground labyrinth. The main combat engine will be familiar to anyone who's played the previous games, although there is a new emphasis on charge shots, airborne battles, and Nero's devil bringer moves.

The sword attacks now have three levels of strength, with the level determined by the length of time the attack button is held down. In addition to ground-based swordplay, Nero has an airborne dash move that allows him to plunge his sword into enemies in midair. We saw the devil bringer powers at this stage too, and they are not only used to pick up enemies and slam them on the ground, but they also allow Nero to scale great heights by grabbing onto mysterious blue orbs around the level. The powers allow Nero to conjure up ghostlike allies to help double his attacking power as well. When Nero swings his sword, a spirit appears behind him to perform a follow-up attack, while gun attacks are complemented by blue stars that take the same path.

After seeing all these moves in action in the underground setting, the level opened up above ground and onto a snow-topped mountain. The snow-storm setting reminded us visually of Capcom's other recent action game, Lost Planet, but we unfortunately didn't get to see too much of it before another cutscene began.

As Nero approaches a bridge leading up to a castle, the new character Gloria is revealed, launching herself down from the top of the castle above. She then proceeds to use a number of athletic moves to slay the enemies you didn't get a chance to slay while dodging their attacks, which gives Capcom an opportunity to show off what can only be described as the character's breast physics.

The final Nero level that we saw during our time in London was a jungle boss battle. The level starts with Nero riding a huge snakelike creature that's controlled by a female humanoid hiding within the head. Nero holds on as the creature weaves through the branches, but eventually he's forced to fight on foot against the huge monster. Occasionally, the woman at the head of the creature is exposed for you to fire bullets at, but the idea is to attack the creature's exposed underbelly when it goes into a spiderlike form. Once the underbelly is visible, Nero can go in and unleash his devil bringer to perform multiple attacks, as well as really inflict some damage to the creature.

As we previously mentioned, Dante will be playable halfway through the game, and we got to see one level featuring the series' stalwart. Series veterans will be pleased to hear that Dante remains pretty much unchanged in terms of control from previous games and lacks the new devil bringer powers that Nero uses. The character still uses four different attack styles: trickster, royal guard, gunslinger, and sword master. Also, he's still just as athletic as before. However, he will also have a couple of new tricks up his sleeve, including an uppercut that was described by the developers as a "shoryuken" or dragon punch move.

In addition to the conventional combat options, Dante has access to the coolest weapon in the game: Pandora's Box. Featuring a number of different attack modes, the weapon sums up the game's over-the-top style in seconds. Housed in a suitcase, Pandora's Box can transform into a huge airborne tank that rains down rockets on your enemies and open up into a superpowerful chaingun that will tear through anyone stupid enough to be in the vicinity. Finally, you can lay the suitcase on the ground and enemies will be consumed by its immense power.

Devil May Cry 4 is looking fantastic. There are some minor disappointments, particularly the fact that developers have completely ruled out a co-op two-player mode, but otherwise the game is shaping up to take the series to a whole new level of action. The game isn't slated for release until next year, so keep an eye out for more information on the game as we get it.

Read More ::http://www.gamespot.com

Game News :: Need for Speed: ProStreet -- Xbox Live Demo Hands-On

With the upcoming release of EA Canada's Need for Speed: ProStreet, is it any wonder that an Xbox Live demo of the game could be that far away? If you guessed "no," then award yourself 10 meaningless points, because you are correct! We took an early build of the two-event demo out for a spin recently to see how the folks at EA will be enticing racing fans to pick up ProStreet when the demo hits XBL later this month.



In true demo fashion, the downloadable ProStreet is merely a taste of what to expect from this revamped racing game. The demo features two events, a speed challenge on the Nevada Highway and a grip challenge on the A-43 interloop. Other race event types that will be part of the full game--such as drag racing and drift competitions--aren't found in the demo.

The grip race is the most straightforward of the events in the game, a two-lap dash against seven other opponents on a course that we've played several times before. The car available for the race is a Nissan GT-R Proto, a quick little number that handles the relatively simple turns of the speedy course well. Even at the toughest difficulty level (and there are three you can choose from for both events in the demo: casual, racer, and king), this race isn't much of a challenge. Instead it seems like a nice introduction to the more realistic car physics that ProStreet will be exhibiting. Unlike in the freewheeling speed challenge event (more on that in a bit), the cars feel tight and responsive in grip events. For racing newbs, ProStreet even uses a Forza-like color-coded racing line assist that shows you the ideal line around a corner, as well as when to use the gas and brakes.

While speed challenge races can take place on circuit tracks (like the Autobahn-inspired course featured in our last look at the game), the event in the ProStreet demo is a point-to-point track from the Nevada desert. Unlike grip races, however, speed challenge events feature long straights and more gentle curves. Don't mistake the tracks for easy, however; the tracks can be extremely narrow, with dangerous obstacles lining the road just waiting to give you a firsthand look at ProStreet's extensive damage modeling. As a speed challenge event, crossing the finish line first isn't necessarily your first goal; instead, you win the event by making sure your car has the highest top speed going through the various checkpoints on the course. The highest total speed at the end of the road is declared the winner. For the speed challenge, we drove the BMW M3 E92; at the start of the race, you get a firsthand look at the gorgeous smoke model as you spin the tires waiting to take off from the line.

While the M3 and the Nissan GT-R Proto are the only cars available in the demo to start with, EA will be unveiling the new 2009 Nissan GT-R in the demo. The car will be available (and will automatically replace the GT-R Proto) when you log on to Xbox Live via the demo on October 23, coinciding with the GT-R's unveiling at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show. Look forward to the new GT-R and the ProStreet demo later this month, ahead of the game's release on November 13.

Read More :: www.gamespot.com

Game News :: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Update

Big first-person shooters like BioShock and Halo 3 may already be gracing retail shelves, but there's plenty more shooter action coming before the end of 2007. Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is at the top of the list, and luckily you'll be able to play it on any next-gen platform--Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, or PC--when it rolls out for duty in early November. Activision recently hosted an event with all three of those versions available for play, and although there wasn't a lot of new content on offer, we did manage to glean a few new details on the multiplayer, the forthcoming PC demo, and more.

Activision had all the content from the Xbox 360 multiplayer beta on offer, including the three maps that tens of thousands of gamers got very well acquainted with last month. It was also showing off a new map called Ambush, set in a Middle Eastern town with a number of bombed-out one- and two-story buildings, and a lot of rubble-strewn, uneven roadways in between. (Basically, think the Crash map without the downed helicopter in the middle.) More interestingly, IW studio head Grant Collier was on hand to talk about the game, and we pressed for new details on the expanded multiplayer ranking system that fans got a taste of in the beta. Collier wouldn't spill all the beans, but he confirmed the level cap will go up to 65 in the final game, and you'll unlock new abilities and weapon challenges as you move toward that last level. Mysteriously, Collier said that hitting 65 will open up a new "prestige mode" that will have its own level progression and other benefits--but he wouldn't say any more than that, so we'll likely have to wait till someone actually unlocks the prestige mode in the final game to find out what it's all about.

In light of Halo 3's release, we were also curious to know what kind of extended stat-tracking and player history COD4 will offer. The short answer is, the extent of available stats that players will be able to access is yet to be determined. But we got word from an Infinity Ward community lead that at least beneath the hood, the game is already keeping an eye on all those juicy numbers. It goes beyond simply looking at your favorite map or weapon; it will also keep track of much more specific data, such as the locations in a given map where you've scored specific kills. We'll find out closer to release how much of this data will be out there for competitive clans to sift through, but it's good to know that the data is at least being tracked, if there's a demand for it.

Diehard PC owners who were smarting at the Xbox exclusivity of the recent multiplayer beta will be glad to know that Infinity Ward will have a treat for them in the form of a playable single-player demo scheduled to hit the Web this Thursday. The demo will offer one level called The Bog, an explosive level which we've played extensively on the 360. This mission has you fighting through a Middle Eastern town beset with insurgents, as you try to free a trapped tank from a bog that it's become mired in. Since Call of Duty started out as a PC franchise, this demo is a nice little nod to the fan base that supported the series in the first place. (Collier says all three platforms will get their own unique features--so in light of the beta and demo, we'll see if anything materializes on the PlayStation 3.)

Lastly, Activision has officially announced that composer Harry Gregson-Williams will be providing the score for the game. This is something we found out a few weeks ago and were disappointed we couldn't reveal at that time, because Gregson-Williams' style is perfectly suited to the atmosphere of the game, from what we've heard so far. Anyone who's played the more recent Metal Gear Solid games will know that Gregson-Williams has the whole ominous techno-thriller thing down cold, and indeed his signature style was evident in the piece of music that played over the beta's title screen. We're looking forward to hearing his aural accompaniment to the globe-spanning single-player storyline in the final game.

There's not much more to say about Call of Duty 4 at this point, other than we want the darn thing to come out already. The single-player and multiplayer components each look like the most ambitious yet in this already acclaimed series--and when you put them together in one package, that's a whole lot of game. Keep your eyes here later this week for the PC single-player demo so you can get a taste of that campaign for yourself.

Read More ::www.gamespot.com