While playing, feel free to hop into our lovely Mega Man community and forums to discuss strategies, boss order, soundtrack favorites and all that fun stuff. I'll be in there... but I'm not going to spoil anything else about the contents or secrets :)

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I guess it shouldn't be surprising, given how effectively Irrational introduced Rapture and Andrew Ryan, but my stroll through the streets of Columbia was at least as impressive and immersive. The fact that Columbia is full of living, breathing people (as opposed to Rapture's ghosts) means a lot of story is absorbed through overheard conversations instead of purely through audio logs and ruins, and Irrational repeats its technique of having its narcissistic figurehead -- in this case the self-proclaimed prophet Comstock -- build a creepy animatronics-filled propaganda theme park to educate the city's populace about its leader and his philosophies. The first few hours of BioShock Infinite are incredibly dense with information, with much more stashed for those willing to stop and look.

Note: Given that Elizabeth's supernatural ability is to open windows into alternate realities, I won't be surprised at all if at some point Elizabeth peeks into the original BioShock universe and brings forth a Big Daddy to battle one of Columbia's similar Handyman cyborgs, or glimpses an alternate version of the lighthouse that launches Booker to Columbia that has burning airplane wreckage in the sea beyond it.

3: How Much Remains The Same

The Vigors that I've seen so far have felt mostly like retreads of BioShock's powers. The first, Possession, allows you to temporarily turn an enemy to your side (and if the enemy is human and not a robot, he'll kill himself as it wears off). Then there's a standard fireball power called Devil's Kiss, Murder of Crows, which is very reminiscent of the original's bee swarm, and Undertow, which launches enemies into the air. My play session ended before I reached the next power, but we know that'll be an electricity-zapping power called Shock Jockey. All of them can be charged up to deploy a proximity mine version of themselves, but in short, there's nothing really new there.

 

Don't worry, it's ok -- the guards I shredded were horrible racists. As a scene in which I was encouraged to cast the first stone at an interracial couple helpfully makes clear just before the bloodshed begins, Columbia is one of the most starkly bigoted places I've ever seen in a game. While I'd never advocate decapitation as a punishment for ignorance, that kind of behavior -- combined with their efforts to kill me -- made me feel pretty much as justified in massacring Comstock's flock as Hitler's.

 

I also have to mention the gruesome animations the first time you pick up the Devil's Kiss Vigor, which shows Booker's left hand burning and melting the flesh away for a moment in an apparent hallucination. A lighter version of that effect happens periodically when Devil's Kiss is equipped, and it's striking every time. Oh, and using it in combat has a similar effect on your targets.

5: Rapid-Fire Environments

In just two hours I lost count of how many visually distinct areas I'd seen. Columbia's interconnected islands allow for a lot more variety than Rapture's rusty underwater domes and corridors, with everything from residences to churches to Elizabeth's observational prison and an entire museum full of several flavors of incredibly racist revisionist history. Even the outdoor areas, which share a common architectural look and feel, are packed with interesting stuff, like a carnival and a beach boardwalk in the sky (yup). It felt like a whole different place every few minutes, and it's such a breakneck pace that I wonder if Irrational will be able to keep it up for the rest of the campaign -- I hope so, because that'll be a wild ride.

6: Elizabeth's Not Annoying.

Think about everything AI companion characters have ever done to annoy you. Getting killed or stuck on geometry due to dumb AI. Not being helpful enough to justify their presence. Annoying, repetitive dialog. Escort missions. Elizabeth does almost none of that. She's a non-combatant -- even though she's present during the action, she never takes up a weapon, and she's never attacked. Comstock, after all, just wants to get her back after Booker rescues/kidnaps her from her tower. She will, however, help out in a fight by tossing you extra ammo and health periodically. She also serves as a mobile version of BioShock's Vita chambers when you die. (Though revives cost money, and enemies also regain some health. Plus there'll be a no-revives "1999 mode" available.) Perhaps most importantly, she had no trouble keeping up with me, even as I zipped across Sky Lines.

 

 

Electronic Arts has made classic FPS Battlefield 1942 free as a "thank you" to Battlefield fans. The gift is being offered "in celebration of the ten year anniversary of the Battlefield series and Battlefield 3 Premium surpassing 2 million members worldwide."

Of course, it's also a clever ploy to get more people to try Origin, EA's PC gaming client.  You can download the game here.

"When we launched Battlefield 1942 ten years ago, we had lofty ambitions to create a first-person shooter that would push the boundaries of innovation, creativity and design. We evolved the FPS gameplay formula by introducing the world to all-out warfare via land, air and sea," DICE VP Karl Magnus Troedsson said in a release. "We wanted to thank our fans who have supported us throughout the years by restoring Battlefield 1942 for a digital re-release and give everyone a chance to play the game that started it all."

Copyright 1996-2012 Shacknews LTD.

You thought the day would never come, and it still hasn't quite yet, but Black Mesa now has a release date. After eight years of development, the fan remake of Half-Life in the Source engine will be released on September 14. Except it won't be quite complete; the team is still working on expanding HL's reviled Xen section and plans to release it later.

Come September 14, we should--in theory, if they really mean it this time--be able to return to the Black Mesa complex, project lead 'cman2k' announced on the mod's forum. The mod recreates Valve's classic FPS with all the polygons, shaders, particles, and gratuitous physics objects we expect from the Source Engine.

"Xen is going to basically be a complete game in its own right, it's not going to be just an epilogue to the game; more of a whole new chapter," lead developer 'Raminator' explained. "It'll be pretty well expanded." Work on Xen is already underway and the team hopes to finish it "in a reasonable timeframe," so hopefully we won't need to wait until the year 2020.

cman2k added, "We believe this is a great way to provide a complete-feeling 8-10 hour experience with a solid ending, make our fans happy and help us make the best overall game possible."

The soundtrack is now available for your listening and purchasing pleasure.

Check out this leaked video for a recent-ish look at Black Mesa's 'On a Rail' chapter, including its curious intentionally cheesy voice-acting.

Copyright 1996-2012 Shacknews LTD.

The exosuit comes with two minigun-arms for six barrels of alien-cleansing firepower, though you can switch one out for a powerfist to biff aliens in the chops. Sitting at the top end of the tech tree, it replaces the original mod's Heavy Armour. While I am slightly sorry to see the end of the 'Heavy train' tactic, an eight-foot exoskeleton goes a long way to cheer me up. (continue article here)

Copyright 1996-2012 Shacknews LTD.