Heavy Rain – Release Date – TBA
Original, beautiful, mind-bending. I really can’t say enough good things about Heavy Rain. It’s a psychological thriller that focuses on exploration and uses time-based actions for combat. The story follows 4 characters as they discover the identity of the “origami killer”, a serial killer who leaves you know what in the hands of his victims. Gameplay I saw featured a detective as he follows a lead to a junkyard. After getting no answers from the owner present, you break out your A.R.I. (sunglasses that pick up clues in your environ) and notice a blood trail to the acid bath… Seconds later, the junkyard owner has a gun to the back of your head and a nice action sequence takes place. All in all, Heavy Rain looks to be a breath of fresh air and the closest yet to an interactive movie.
X-factor – *****
MAG – Release Date – TBA
Even with it’s massive 256-player battles, MAG doesn’t look to have a lot going for it right now. The demo graphics were dark/ barely serviceable and even though the game is probably deep, the HUD just seems too busy. I wouldn’t count this one out, but I wouldn’t put money down on it yet, either.
X-factor – **
Fight Night 4 – Release date – June 25th
Fight Night 3 is probably the greatest boxing game of all time, and I think it still will be even after FN 4 releases. Not to say FN 4 looks bad, but what I’ve seen so far has been underwhelming. They’ve removed parrying from the game, which right now looks like the only difference between 3 and 4. Oh and we’re happy to see they finally got George Foreman.
X-factor – **1/2
