Hydro Thunder is back! Now called Hydro Thunder: Hurricane and promises to bring back all of the good times from its predessesor. Since Midway is pretty much no more, the game is being developed by Vector Unit. We got a hands at E3 to find out what’s changed and what was bought back.

This new Hydro Thunder Huricane plays just like the original. The sliding turns, big air jumps, bouncing on the waves, and the rest of the familiar racing styles appear to be like the original but brand new. There are some new features in the game, the boats can crash into each other causing mayhem and pile ups, and the race leader will not have as many boost pickups available, leaving more boost for the racers in the back.

What the developers have done with this new game is keep the same style of gameplay, colorful environments, and many secret paths that were available in all of the tracks. Speaking of tracks, there are eight in total with their own settings. The blue and red boost tanks are littered throughout all of the tracks.The different racing modes include time trial, tournament, slalom-type of race, and quick race. The boats are still sorted into 3 categories: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advance. Along with that, some boats are making a comeback like Rad Hazord and Razorback.

The game can be played with eight players online and four players split screen. When it comes to online the host controls the lobby, host controls the map selection and the type of race. The leaderboards are in place to keep everything competitive.

Any race that you take part in earns you credits. With the credits you can unlock new boats, boat skins, game modes, tracks, and Avatar Awards. There are downloadable content already in plans for the future. Look for the release in late July.

If anyone can remember a little known shooter called Black when the Xbox was on its final lifeline, well your going to enjoy this one. The developers for Black are at it again but where that game had a serious tone of destruction, this one sees an upbeat approach. Bodycount is a FPS inspired by famous faces like Lady Gaga and JJ Abrams and yes we said Lady Gaga. We got a demonstration on how the game works then got a hands on for ourselves to see what it’s all about.

You start off as Jackson Delgado, an average guy that had been taken out of of his everyday life by an organization called the Network. They give him assignments but he secretly wants to know what’s going on with the Network and try to get his life back. Bodycount is basically laid out like a TV show and what we were playing was almost like the pilot to that. The build we played at E3 was about halfway in the development of the game so only the true foundation and core aspect to the game was shown. This was to get a sense of how you would be combating your enemies. The game is very reminiscent of Black, textures have a similar gloss to them, along with the overall movement. The level of destruction was there as well, but this time it was like having layers of destruction. When you shoot objects it will start to come apart piece by piece, which strategically can come in really handy.

There is a unique lean cover system which I found to my liking, the left trigger on the controller is to crouch and move slowly. When next to an object you will lean against it and as you start to ease off the trigger you expose yourself more and more. This seemed to work great especially since the usual first person shooter will just shift into third person on a cover system. Small little pieces of intel drop from enemies when you kill them, acting as currency in the game. It then can be used to upgrade weapons and for multiple forms of attack deployments during a stage.

We were told there would be co-op and multiplayer in the game and coincidentally we were in a stage that would be used for co-op. The story will take place before and after the events of the single player game, since the campaign focuses on just Jackson Delgado. What we also like was how the stages were laid out. They would be quite large and multiple missions will be at our disposal. This will allow us to tackle missions in any order we wanted to though out the level since it will not be a linear experience. Surprisingly though there is no lethal melee in the game, your character will just push an enemy at a distance. This was done intentional to always keep the action a distance.

Bodycount is shaping up great and is definitely on our watch list for next year. Everything from the cover system, the musical note played when running out of ammo, to the shear chaos and action like a television show has us wanting more. The game will be arriving sometime spring of 2011 and we can’t wait. We’ll be bringing you more info on the game as it comes in.

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The first started off with the infiltrating team using an active camouflage stealth approach on the enemy camp. The mission changes from a kill target mission to a capture the target mission, so the team had to change its tactics to secure the war criminal.

The Optimal Camouflage invisible cloak looks great and works well but, the use of it is limited. As the player gets closer to a enemy, this can enable the option for a close quarter kill. One example of what we witnessed was a player-controlled soldier executing an enemy soldier from point-blank sitting on a gun turret and then holds up his lifeless body back into position as to not cause a disturbance from a passing guard.

While you are continuing your mission you have four other soldiers doing the same type of mission in a different section of the enemy base. There is a lot of communicating between the teammates so the cross com chat between the Ghost team is different, easier to use and understand. At the conclusion the player controlled soldier has the target in his sights but, the target is surrounded by guards. After calling a full strike on them, laser sights from other Ghost soldiers take out the guards while the player controlled soldier captures the target by knocking him out and smashing his head on the hood of a vehicle.

The second scenario starts you off as a sniper in a tower. You take out the pilot of an enemy helicopter while it tries to drop off enemy troops. The helicopter loses control and crashes. Then the sniper part was over just like that.

The third and final scenario concerns the team fighting through waves of enemies on the beach to escape. Whether it was wood or concrete, cover can wither and crumble away from gunfire. No place was safe for long.

Ubisoft stated that all weaponry and technology are based on real military prototypes. While Ghost Recon: Future Solider is not set to release till 2011, it looks amazing right now. The graphics are based on an improved engine from the previous Ghost Recon game, there will be multiplayer and four player co-op.  The demo was brief, extra details are scarce and it leaves you wanting more!

Sega and Platinum Games are set to show the world Vanquish, a third person shooter that gives you that Gears of War cover system but put their own style on it.

The main character is a US agent named Sam, who has to fight off many Russian robot troops that are trying to gain a energy source to rule the world. Our hands on at E3 starts you at the beginning of this big battle.

Sam is equipped in a full body combat suit that gives him a crazy fast powerslide, acrobatic maneuvers, and a slow motion aim system to give the player the chance to for better shots. The powerslide helps you tremendously as Sam moves from cover to cover. There is a bar that depletes after constant use of the powerslide, but it takes quite some time for it to deplete. Sam also has a slick little move that stands out from the rest. Holding LB while Sam is in cover makes him slide off his mask and light a cigarette. After a moment, he will flip the cigarette into the air, gaining the enemy’s attention so he can get away.

The squad that helps you with the assault also assists you by engaging the enemy. Surprisingly not one of them even has a suit that looks as good as Sam’s. You must be careful with your group because they can go down from enemy fire and your own weapons can hurt them, thankfully there is a signal to let Sam know that he can revive them. The D-pad is used to switch between three different guns and grenades types. Ammo is replenished by finding storage boxes scattered throughout the level. At the end of the stages you are graded for your performance like Platinum Games previous game, Bayonetta.

It takes a few seconds to get use to the controls, A-button is a rolling evade, B-button is for melee attacks, X-button goes for cover, Y-button throws grenades, RB reloads, LB is for the powerslide, RT fires the weapon, LT aims the gun but, if you are powersliding while aiming the slow-motion starts up. After you make the adjustment, you are good to go.

Vanquish looks great, sounds great, plays great, and is releasing this fall. There is hardly any difference between the PS3 and 360. The gameplay has a flashy, frantic, and fast feel to it and that is what makes it stand out. Like Platinum Games previous title this one is only single player as well because their main goal is the core story and mechanic. There is one question that is raised with us and that is if players really want to use cover against the enemies or run many circles around them while shooting them down since both strategies are possible.

Usually a grown man would shed a tear during his wedding day, maybe even when their first child is born but not this man. When I heard the announcement that the Need For Speed series was taking it back to its roots, back to a time where it was at its prime, this man right here shed a tear… Now that Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit is not only planning on making its return this year but by Criterion games, its no wonder the game was a secret for this long. I managed to get a hands on demo on the show floor at E3 and let me tell you the experience was good.

Interceptor was the game mode at hand, pitting players in a cat and mouse race with one as a Lamborghini and other a Reventon. The premise is simple enough, do anything to get away in the open world which is the games new setting or completely destroy the one trying to get away. The nostalgia was imminent right when I put the controller in my hand. The game textures and landscape were similar to some of my most pride gaming experiences from the original Hot Pursuit and Hot Pursuit 2. During a race, points can be awarded enabling you to perform actions that either help you escape or capture your opponent. Things like a radar jammer for the escapees and roadblocks for cops are to name a few.

It is quite hard to tell that Criterion made this game, being so far from their successful racing franchise, Burnout. Graphics looked great and the cars had good handling from what we could tell. We were told replays would be back and Criterion is focusing on the online component of the game. Their Autolog system will interact players and friends like never before. The idea is to update stats, information and suggestions on the fly with what other players and friends are doing online.

The game will pack plenty of features, full online play and that cinematic feel that the originals had. We can’t wait for the games release this fall but look for more info in the coming months.

Not to many new ATV games make the rounds on consoles, the major player before was the ATV Vs. offroad series. The developers for Nail’d are going a different rout in delivering a pure arcade racer that is sure to capture the ultimate amount of speed while behind these ATV’s and motocross bikes as well.

Lets make one thing clear, this game is bending the laws of physics giving ATV’s and motocross bikes alike the biggest jumps and speed you won’t find anywhere else. Nail’d focuses on pure fun, giving players plenty to do with vertical and outrageous tracks. The two stages we played had some really big jumps, 90 degree turns and trains on multiple occasions. The sense of speed felt good with the opponent A.I. providing a good challenge but not overwhelming. There will be distractions in every turn, from planes crashing, to trains like some we’ve witnessed, all in the middle of your race. The sounds for the ATV’s were good and the graphics seem to pop. We’ve witnessed great terrain deformality while hugging turns on the muddy area’s.

A boost meter will let you really gain speed on the courses as you’ll need to in order to win. Building the boost meter can happen in a number of ways. High jumps and rings are the ones we’ve witnessed. There is one thing to note, when speaking with one of the developers they let us know that you won’t be able to perform tricks while in the air on big jumps. This is due to the fact that they wanted to focus on the pure speed and high jumps in the game. Nail’d will ship with roughly 14 different tracks on 4 different zones around the world. Vehicles are fully customizable, with parts that are unlocked as you progress through the game. Online will also make its way onto the final build and the team is looking into 12 players.

Overall our experience with the game so far was rather fun but definitely could use some work. Graphics were colorful and the game holds up well when dealing with a hefty amount on screen. However the dead space from not performing tricks in the air is unescapable and the ATV’s will need some balancing tweaks. The game is shaping up well before its release in the fall but it will have to give some heavy punches to compete with the likes of Pure and ATV vs MX series.

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Ah when you thought there couldn’t be anymore music peripheral centric games, here comes another one before you can bat an eyelid. Before you toss this aside as just another music game however, I want all of you to pay close attention because their’s a whole lot new with this one. Rock Band 3 is really trying to raise the bar, and some.

This time around Harmonix is bringing a crazy amount features to the mix, most of which can be seen right from the main menu. There’s drop in and out of online play so when a friend plays with you it won’t drop the game like Rock Band 2 did. An assorting system is in place when selecting a song, this will allow players to make a bunch of custom search’s whether a short song, long song, song from Lego Rock Band, it’s all here. Players can also make and share set lists to make their ultimate playlists.

What’s more fun then that right? Well there’s more. Rock Band 3 will now be introducing a mini keyboard and before anyone out there starts going “that doesn’t sound like fun”, let us tell you now that it is! We had a chance to demo the keyboard and it works very well. It places the long white keys and short black keys as it would the guitar and drum notes in Rock Band. Only difference now is when played on anything above easy, the game alerts you to shift your fingers over for the next set of keys to hit. Sounds complicated we know but once you get the hang of it, it works great.

Not only have they done that but with the help of third party peripheral manufacturer Madcatz, they are introducing real guitars to the series! With a mini adapter from Madcatz, gamers can now plug in the Fender Squier Stratocaster guitar controller that literally has a hundred buttons on it. You can also use the mini adapter to plug in that real guitar you have lying around, cause we all do … Instead of buttons coming down on screen, it is replaced by numbers and sections of which your fingers should be on the guitar, these types of notes should become familiar over time.

Rock Band 3 is also introducing Pro mode, which will give players that really want an expert level of a challenge. This will provide pint point accuracy and could pretty much help you learn how to play a real instrument with real notes being displayed. If your having a huge party or get together Rock Band has you covered this time as well, with the addition of All instruments Mode allowing up to seven players to get in on the action.

This game is shaping up to be the ultimate experience not only for music games but the bridge between actual instrument playing. Time will only tell whether the learning curve for playing a real guitar will be as easy as it looks. We’ll bring you more hands on and info in the coming months but for now Rock Band 3 will be releasing late 2010 for Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii.

In the mix of big time games at E3 was a great future downloadable game called Hard Corps: Uprising, which is a side-scrolling shooting game. Created by Arc Systems Works, the game is being published by Konami and we can’t wait for this one. Visuals are crisp and vibrant with a mix of 2D characters with 3D backgrounds, much to the same style of Guilty Gear and BlazBlue. This is an excellent new look on those games like Contra and Metal Slug. More so infact the game pays homage to Contra: Hard Corps.

It starts off with Bahamut, a soldier and his rebel army in a war. There are going to be multiple game modes for all to enjoy, including Rising Mode, which helps you upgrade your armor, weapons and abilies. This future run and gun game can let players go solo, co-op, and co-op online. The gameplay runs smooth but is a little difficult to play at first, however draws to the excitement once you get the hang of it. To help fight agianst the difficulty players are able to shoot in all directions, save power-ups, double jump and air dash. Look for it to release later this year

While playing as the Elites I noticed trying that attacking from a far distance with the Needler Rifle (Type-31 Rifle) or even short burst with the plasma repeater (Type-51) did very little in terms of damage. The most effective way seems to be up close and personal. Communication between your teammates also plays a vital role in this game type. Planning your attacks accordingly and letting your team know when and where to attack will definitely lead to a win.

The Spartans role for defending the generators is simple but challenging. Locking down a generator is definitely key in protecting a generator. Locking down a generator is the same thing as the armor lock ability for the Spartan, the lock down lasts for thirty seconds and can be re-activated 3-5 seconds after the cool down is complete. Their isn’t too much to the Spartan side other than getting your butt over to the generator area and literally putting your Spartan’s life on the line to halt the attack. However they do have a new gun to play with.

The M319 IGL (more formally Individual Grenade Launcher, Caliber 40mm, M319) is a single shot, break-action, grenade launcher firing 40mm ammunition. Because of its simplicity, ruggedness, and firepower, the M319 has been a mainstay within the UNSC Army’s arsenal since its official adoption in 2263. This gun has two types of shots a single release explosion or holding the trigger down to delay the explosion until release or contact.

Generator Defense is a fun game mode. I can’t wait till it’s open to larger maps where their can be different types of strategies in place for attacking and defending. Possibly multi-leveled stages? Something like a single base with 5 different levels with generators on every other level would be amazing. The one thing that bugged us is when a game goes into sudden death. We had the pleasure of being in numerous games where the generator would open in the last possible second in sudden death but the game would end anyway when it should end when it closes. As the Beta comes to a close hopefully Bungie gets this game out to everyone soon with everything we loved in and everything we didn’t out.

If you have’t checked out impressions of Playlist 1 and Invasion then what are you waiting for?

During the first part both teams have limited access to classes, either consisting of different load outs of weaponry and abilities. After the Elites capture the first base classes open up and more are available along with a weapon drop and some vehicles for the Spartans.  During the third part even more variations of classes and weapons are unlocked, even vehicles for the Elites are available. The load out list and classes are as follows for each part:

Boneyard Map
This decommissioned UNSC frigate and Commonwealth site is a big playground. The stage feels like two in one, depending on how you look at it. A couple of places have two stories in them, while weapons can be found scattered throughout the map. Vehicles are also in this and are at the very opposite ends of the stage. The Spartan base, and the beginning of the outskirts.


Part 1
Elite Loadouts
Warrior (Plasma Repeater, Plasma Pistol, 2 Plasma Grenades, Evade)
Assassin (Needler, No Secondary, 1 Plasma Grenade, Active Camo) – only available in Invasion, not Invasion Slayer

Spartan Loadouts
Scout (AR, Magnum, 2 Frags, Sprint)
Marksman (DMR, No Secondary, 1 Frag, Sprint) – only available in Invasion, not Invasion Slayer

Vehicles On Map
None


Part 2
Elite Loadouts
Dark Assassin (Needler, Plasma Pistol, 2 Plasma Grenades, Active Camo)
Zealot (Needle Rifle, Plasma Pistol, 2 Plasma Grenades, Evade)

Spartan Loadouts
Guard (AR, Magnum, 2 Frags, Armor Lock)
Recon Marksman (DMR, Magnum, 2 Frags, Sprint)

Vehicles On Map
Warthog
Ghost


Part 3
Elite Loadouts
Ranger (Plasma Repeater, Plasma Pistol, 2 Plasma Grenades, Jetpack)
Royal Zealot (Needle Rifle, Plasma Repeater, 3 Plasma Grenades, Evade)
Gladiator (Energy Sword, Plasma Repeater, 2 Plasma grenades, Evade)
Champion Assassin (Needler, Plasma Repeater, 3 Plasma Grenades, Active Camo)

Spartan Loadouts
Airborne (AR, Magnum, 2 Frags, Jetpack)
Expert Marksman (DMR, AR, 3 Frags, Sprint)
Operator (Shotgun, Magnum, 3 Frags, Armor Lock)
Grenadier (Grenade Launcher, AR, 3 Frags, Sprint)

Vehicles On Map
Warthog
Scorpion
Ghost
Banshee
Wraith

Invasion Slayer is basically Spartans vs. Elites first team to 100 kills win. You’ll find randomly positioned territories throughout Boneyard. Capture them and you’ll initiate an airdrop that will be deployed 10 seconds later. While you wait for the air drop of weapons or vehicles be ready to defend your area because there will definitely be people aiming for you. If you survive long enough be sure to grab the air drop because once on the ground its up for grabs.

Phase 1 (0-25 kills, or until the 4 minute marker)

Spartan Weapon Drops: Power Weapons (Rocket Launcher, Sniper Rifle)
Elite Weapon Drops: Power Weapons (Plasma Launcher, Focus Rifle), or a Ghost

Phase 2: (26-50 kills, or until the 8 minute marker)

Spartan Weapon Drops: Power Weapons, or a Warthog
Elite Weapon Drops: Power Weapons, or a Ghost, or a Banshee

Phase 3: (51-75 kills, or until the 12 minute marker)

Spartan Weapon Drops: Power Weapons, or a Warthog, or a Scorpion
Elite Weapon Drops: Power Weapons, or a Ghost, or a Banshee, or a Wraith

Those are pretty much the two modes up for grabs this time around.  Be sure to check back for more updates!