I love the Metal Gear series. In fact, it’s my favorite series of all time. I agree that the MGS franchise doesn’t have the best gameplay in gaming, but damn if you don’t agree that Kojima’s epic saga doesn’t have some of the best characters in gaming history, and possibly the most emotional and rich story in the gaming medium.
 

In the other hand, Kamiya is a genius game designer. In my humble opinion, Kamiya is the best game designer in the past 10 years. No one does gameplay like he does. When he did Okami, it was the first time in gaming history that a new adventure game to be considered by many gamers to be on par with the legendary Zelda franchise. When he created the first Devil May Cry for the PS2, he showed the gaming industry how to do a great hack and slash action game in 3D. He also created Viewtiful Joe which was a work of genius. One last thing, he created the critically acclaimed Bayonetta, which is one of the best action games of this generation.
 

During the QA session after the reveal of the new version of MGR during the Spike VGA2011, Kojima said that he originally, specifically asked for Hideki Kamiya to work on Metal Gear Rising, but Inaba said that Kamiya will repeatedly delay the project. Kojima loves Kamiya’s games and he even stated jokingly during the QA session that he feels jealous when he plays Kamiya’s games.

I was dreaming of a game where Kojima handle the story, the characterization and the setting while Kamiya design the gameplay elements. I know it isn’t as easy as it seems. I know that each one of them has his own style and approach. But just imagine the possibility.
 

Since the departure of Itagaki from Team Ninja and I’m watching closely how the third game will turn out without him. I want Ninja Gaiden 3 to be the best one of the series. But sadly, the more I see about the game, the less I become interested about it. Here’s why:
 

1. No Dismemberment:
 

When a member of developer Team Ninja was asked about why they removed the ability to dismember limbs in Ninja Gaiden 3, he answered: “people do not want to see that anymore.” First of all, this is bullshit. I want to see it because of many reasons. The ability to dismember limbs in Ninja Gaiden 2 made the combat more strategic and brutal. When an enemy loss a leg or a hand during the combat, it was a disadvantage for him. It was a beautiful design choice. Actually, it gave the combat a fight to the death feel.
 

Team Ninja wants us “to experience the feeling of your sword entering a person’s body, hitting bone, and slicing through the torso.” This doesn’t add any strategic element to the combat. The combat in Ninja Gaiden 3 looks bloody, but without the ability to dismember limbs, doesn’t that make the combat look and feel fake?

2. Focus on one weapon: Katana:
 

One of the best things about the previous games in the series is the diversity in the weapons you can use in the combat. Ninja Gaiden 2 has eight different melee weapons and every weapon is enjoyable to use and suitable for different combat situations.
 

when Siliconera asked Hayashi if we are going to see any new weapons in Ninja Gaiden 3, he answered:
 

“This time we focused on the katana and what it’s like for players to cut through flesh and bone. As you proceed through the story, you will acquire different katanas. We also have ninpo in the game. It wasn’t in the demo because we wanted players to see what it was feel what it is like to kill enemies with the katana. In the future we’ll be able to show you this element.”
 

No matter how you look at it and no matter how many katanas are in the game, it’s a step back for the franchise. No diversity in weapons is a big disappointment.
 

3. Quick time events:
 

What makes the combat so good and satisfying in the previous games is that you do all of the flashy moves in the game without a single Quick time event. Ninja Gaiden is about skill, not about how fast you mash a button. In ninja Gaiden 3, every time you are going to cut through enemy flesh there is a Quick time event. Also, there is Quick time events in the cut scenes. Quick time event is an outdated design choice.
 

4. Hayabusa talks too much:
 

Yeah, I got it Mr.hayashi. Ryu isn’t a killing machine and you want to flesh him out as a character. But doesn’t that ruin what makes him a great videogame character in the first place?
 

Ryu is a mysterious honorable ninja. This is how I see him. He kills evil ninjas and creatures to save his village and the people he loves. He doesn’t speak too much and only speaks when necessary. That’s what makes him stand out as a character and that’s why he is a hero.
 

From what I have seen so far from Ninja Gaiden 3, Ryu talks too much. Team Ninja, haven’t you ruined Samus as a character in Metroid: Other M?
 

5. Where is my orbs?
 

Is there an upgrade system in the game? Can I buy Items? No answer for these questions. Also, the absent of any type of orbs in the gameplay videos isn’t a good news.
 
Please watch the first 30 minutes of the game and tell me what do you think.
 

- The results:
 

- Gears 3 vs Uncharted 3 Ground textures: Gears 3.
- Gears 3 vs Uncharted 3 texture work in general: Gears 3 has better textures work.
- Gears 3 vs Uncharted 3 lighting: Both games have great lighting effects.
- Gears 3 vs Uncharted 3 motion blur: Gears 3.

Remember that both games have been played only in beta form which means that both games might improve visually when both games arrive this year. It will be interesting to see how the final games will turn out to be.

1. Codename: Kingdoms:

Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli: “I think when we put Crysis 2 out we will show a level that is, multiplatform-wise, maxing out, but we will look into with Microsoft how Kingdoms can push the Xbox 360 110 percent, to its limits.
 
 

 
 

“When you’re spending a multimillion budget only on the Xbox 360, that team will be able to crank out the last two or three percent left in the console. But I think that two or three percent will make the difference potentially between day and night that you cannot afford if you go multiplatform.”
 

2. Battlefield 3:
 

We all know that PC gamers are in for a treat. But what about the consoles version:
 

DICE executive producer Patrick Bach on Battlefield 3 “if not the best-looking console game this year, up there with the competition.”
 
 

3. Gears of War 3:
 

Cliffy.B: “I assure you that when you see the realtime gameplay of Gears 3, it looks very very great and even better than Gears of War 2, yeah we’re pushing it (Xbox 360).”
 
 

We already knew from the beta that Gears 3 is leaps and bounds over its predecessors considering visuals. A look at the latest campaign trailer for the game tell us that we haven’t see anything yet. This game is pushing the Xbox360 to its limits.
 

4. Uncharted 3:
 

Uncharted 2 is still one of the most beautiful games of this generation. Naughty Dog have claimed that they pushed the PS3 to its limit “We have to be uncomfortable. Three weeks before shipping Uncharted 2, we couldn’t even fit the game in memory.” So how can Naughty Dog up the ante this time?
 
 

Uncharted 1 used just two SPUs, Uncharted 2, all six but only at a street car level, Uncharted 3, however, will use all six just like a Formula 1 racer.
 

“We’re at full speed, optimizing code specifically for the SPUs, It’s a great resource because [SPUs] are extremely fast, and if you optimize they get faster than you ever thought they could be. That’s where the quality of our images comes from.”

5. Rage:
 

Rage is the first game to use Id Software’s new tech (id Tech5). John Carmack the legendary coder created id Tech5 to deliver a game with impressive visuals running at 60FPS on consoles.
 
 

John Carmack: “The great thing in this generation [is that] the fidelity of what we deliver now is beyond what my personal imagination delivers, and I see this quite clearly when I develop the tech. I have a picture in my mind of how you won’t see repeated texture tiling here, you’ll be able to put dirt in the cracks on this and I’ve got this vague sense of that. But when you look at the muddy shot scenes in Rage, you’re just like ‘this looks fabulous!’ It looks better than I imagined it would and that’s just great, to be able to say that.”

6. Forza 4:
 

Forza 3 is the best racing sim to date. But the folks at Turn 10 weren’t fully satisfied with the high praise Forza 3 got. Turn 10 promise “Unmatched graphics” and “the best looking game in 2011″ when Forza 4 arrive this year.
 
 

7. Skyrim:
 

Todd howard: “Do we wait for a new console cycle, because you know, with Elder Scrolls we usually like to start over, but we felt we had a real big laundry list of things that we knew we could do on the current generation of consoles.”
 
 

“We just felt that there was so much we could do with this current generation so we rewrote the entire renderer; we have full shadows and everything now; we rewrote all the caching; the AI systems; the quest systems; the dialogue; the interface; the animation system, we’re using Havoks behaviour system, which is one of the most advanced animation systems out there.”
 

Can’t wait to see more of this game.
 

8. Metal Gear Solid: Rising:
 

KP podcast host Sean Eyestone: “We’re redoing the engine from scratch, and it’s going to look amazing, it’s going to be a big project like Metal Gear Solid 4. The entire team is serious about making it look as good as possible on every platform.”
 
 

I’m a huge fan of the Metal Gear franchise and I’m pretty sure that Rising is going to be a stunner.
 

9. Bioshock: Infinite:
 

Chris Kline tech director of Irrational Games: “All major FPS engines (CryEngine 3, UE3, id Tech 5) are designed and optimized for static environments that the player moves through, which is a reasonable choice because, even if there are trees moving in the wind, the ground under the player’s feet isn’t going anywhere. Unfortunately for our tech team (but good for you) everything in Columbia is capable of moving.”
 
 

 
 

On top of that Irrational Games have developed a proprietary per-pixel dynamic relighting scheme that allows characters and dynamic objects to receive global illumination. It’s a shame that Infinite is not going to be released this year, but at least we are going to see more of this amazing title at the upcoming E3.

10. The Last Guardian:
 

Team Ico’s previous games have had some of the best artistic designs in the industry. Now with the technical prowess of the PS3 and Team Ico’s fantastic art will finally collide to create a game that will leave you speechless.

First of all, you have to consider one thing when you compare Killzone 3 and Crysis 2 graphically: Killzone 3 is designed like a corridor shooter while Crysis 2 isn’t. Yes, sometimes you will travel through a linear path with cinematic moments, story and dialog in Crysis 2, but when the actual gameplay begins, you will be roaming in wide areas with multiple paths. On the other hand, Killzone 3 stages give the player the illusion of being in large areas, but the fact is: Killzone 3 is linear and feel much narrower compared to Crysis 2. So you have to consider the scale of the stages in each game and the fact that Crysis 2 is rendering more stuff on screen than Killzone 3.
 
 

When you create open areas with state of the art visuals on consoles there is always a cost. Crysis 2 suffer from texture pop in/out and some unstable frame rates. Killzone 3 feel smother and doesn’t suffer from texture pop in/out issues.
 

One area where Crysis 2 shines over Killzone 3 is in the impressive lighting technology of the Cryengine 3. Crysis 2 lighting effects are the best I have ever seen in a videogame. On top of that, Crysis 2 render more light sources than any game on the market right now. Crysis 2 is leagues beyond everything else out there. I have never seen an engine handle the sheer magnitude of light sources with the ease that Crysis 2 does. Light is coming from everywhere and casting shadows on everything. Search lights from choppers, yellow flames belching from car engines, and explosions from a rocket launch all add their light to the scene. The battlefield becomes chaotic with objects, combatants, and light sources dancing across the screen. Even the aliens eyes cast dynamic lighting. Also, CryEngine 3 is the first real-time graphics engine to implement a global illumination model which means that it simulates light bounce and even uses light propagation volumes to introduce color bounce and indirect lighting.
 

Each game has a different anti-aliasing method to get rid of the jaggies. Killzone 3 is using a solution called MLAA while Crysis 2 is implementing temporal AA. Crytek have said that their solution will give better result than Sony’s MLAA solution. What I can say right now is Crytek solution is variable. Also, Crysis 2 has bigger and more open environments, which means that Crytek’s solution has more edges to smooth out. Also, the darker and less colorful art style of Killzone 3 make the jaggies look less noticeable. In Crysis 2 during the high contrast or bright levels, the jaggies look more noticeable than in Killzone 3. But in darker levels like the ones in Killzone 3, the solution work much better and it would be hard to anyone to notice any jaggies. Which means that sometimes Crytek solution give us the same great results of MLAA and sometimes it doesn’t.
 
 

While arguing in which game has better artistic design is debatable, I found the art style of Crysis 2 to be more appealing. Crysis 2 artistic design is more colorful, organic and varied than Killzone 3. When you about to get bored off the great looking foliage, water and buildings in Crysis 2, the game takes you to completely new type of environment.

To be fair, both games offer some of the best visuals of this generation. Each game look better than the other in various places. But for me, I found myself more amazed by Crysis 2 visuals due to the state of the art visuals, great art style, and varied environments. Also, the campaign mode in Crysis 2 is more fun, much longer, and more repayable than Killzone 3 story mode.
 

Take a look below at some screenshots (off screen) I took while playing Crysis 2 on my Xbox360:

- Bayonetta (Bayonetta):
 
 

- Ninja Gaiden 2 (Ryu):
 
 

- Devil May Cry 4 (Nero and Dante):
 
 

- God of War 3 (Kratos):
 
 

What do you think? Which character is the most badass? Vote and share your thoughts with us in the comments section.
 
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In everything we create, the main concept always revolves around design. Design is made up of two key factors: functionality and appearance. How well these two are served determines how good the overall design is. This is the basis of design in every aspect of what we see around us. How well something works, and how good it looks while working defines the quality of its design. This is a good indication why many products succeed in the market, while many others fail. This is no different in the videogame industry.
 

I played through the demo of Enslaved the other day, and this is what brought the topic to mind once more. The demo booted up, and I was greeted by Monkey’s lovingly dealt snarls and glares. The game handed control over to me, and up I push on the control stick. Monkey stutters forward with a heavy, slow step, and then kicks off at full speed. I removed the pressure from the control stick, and pushed on it again. The same thing happened. At first, I thought it may have been one of those randomly generated animations, and something that would happen on rare occasions, but, as I played more and more, it became evident that this was part of the design.
 
 

Snarly-snarly, Mr. Monkey.

This sort of thing forces me to question whether or not any of the designers ever decided to sit down with their efforts. The problem with this implementation of what is commonly found in platformers, which is to say slow movement at first, then having the character speed up, is that it’s of an unwieldy nature. The time it takes from when the control stick is tilted, to when Monkey hits full speed is too long, and the period of acceleration in between is almost non-existent; Monkey simply kick-starts into full gear after half a second’s delay. Although this issue is very easily remedied by Enslaved’s forgiving platforming style, there is still no reason for such a system to exist. Not in the way it is, now, at least.
 

Let’s look in the direction of the opposite extreme, now, shall we? Super Mario Galaxy. Arguably one of the best platformers to have ever been made. That’s a reason to immediately assume control design perfection, and you wouldn’t be very wrong. Pick up the Nunchuk, and smack that control stick to the far end. Mario will run on the spot for a fraction of a second, and speed up gradually, but quickly; not suddenly bursting forward like he’s had an injection in the rear. This is an effect that is so natural to the mind that it goes by unnoticed. It doesn’t annoy you, and so you don’t take note of it. Almost as if it makes sense, and that’s what the mind expects to happen. Albeit, Super Mario Galaxy is a much more precision-based platformer than Enslaved is, and so not having the effect perfected would destroy a large part of the gamer’s sensation of total control, while Enslaved simply annoys the player.
 
 

Happy plumber alert.

In Super Mario Galaxy, functionality is not sacrificed for appearance. This is one of the biggest flaws of today’s gaming industry: appearance over functionality. Animators have dictated that their lovingly-crafted dodge maneuver’s animation must complete all the way until the character’s hair falls back into neat curls over his shoulders before he can slam his fist into the face of the zombie gnawing on his leg. In fast-paced videogames, such as most Action/Adventure titles, FPSs, TPSs, etc. the functionality of the gameplay tends to be more important than the appearance. If I’ve got a sniper’s laser aimed squarely at my head, you’d better believe that I’m going to give up on reloading my gun and dive for cover. You’d better believe it.
 

Designers have alleviated a lot of these issues with simple fixes: allowing the characters to do multiple actions at the same time, such as reloading while taking cover, and, in many cases, even allowing players to ‘cancel’ out of the animation, and force the characters to do a more important action, such as block or dodge in the middle of an attack. That doesn’t mean, though, that functionality over design immediately equates to a better game.
 
 

Suggested course of action: press Square.

Game designers have also used this concept of appearance over functionality to their advantage; especially when it comes to the Horror genre. It’s a simple, quick and easy way to cause tension amongst gamers as they play through the game. Being chased through the desolate woods by a bloodthirsty bear? Why don’t you shoot it? Oh, right, you’re busy reloading. Sucks that that animation takes forever, and forces you to move at a pace no quicker than a lazy stroll. That is a brilliant example of how greater care to appearance than functionality can, in fact, enhance the experience.
 

Game designers have been caught up in this craze of achieving cinematic gameplay, and it’s been costing games their greatest assets: their gameplay. While it can aid in some instances, it generally tends to drag the experience down, frustrating the gamer and pulling them out of the experience, rather than enhancing it. It’s nice to play a game that’s extra flashy and pretty all over, but I don’t think I’d prefer watching my character tie his shoelace in the middle of a firefight, rather than watching my character trip over his untied shoelace as he shotguns baddies in the face.

As we all knew, Visceral Games tried to compete with Santa Monica by releasing Dante’s Inferno at the beginning of this year. While Dante’s Inferno wasn’t a bad game, it failed to capture the magic of the God of War games. I’m not going to compare God of War 3 with Bayonetta or Darksiders, because I believe that each game has offered a completely different experience than Kratos’s latest adventure.
 

Every time I watch a video or read more details about the upcoming action adventure game ‘Castlevania: Lords of Shadow’, two things come to my mind: Lords of Shadow isn’t a GOW clone, but at the same time, it feels familiar. Also, Lords of Shadow has the potential to be a better game than GOW3. How? Lets begin:
 
 

1. Beautiful visuals that go head to head with GOW3′s visuals:
 
 

 
 

GOW3 is one of the best looking games of this generation. The game uses the extremely impressive MLAA (Morphological Anti Aliasing) solution and the result as we all knew by now was mind blowing. But truth to be told, there was some inconsistencies in the visual quality of the game. Some areas looked better than other areas in the game and while Kratos’s character model is possibly the best looking character model I have ever seen in a game, other major characters and enemies model like Zues weren’t on par.
 

I’m not saying that Lords of Shadow is a better looking game than GOW3, but it’s definitely on par. The characters and enemies in Lords of Shadow are highly detailed (more consistent than GOW3), the lighting effects are amazing and the art direction is beautiful. Also, Lords of Shadow will have more varied environments than GOW3. You have to see Lords of Shadow in motion to see the hard work Mercury Steam did on the engine.
 

2. Longer and bigger experience (better value for your money):
 
 

 
 

Lords of Shadow promises to offer a 20+ hours experience when it launches next October. The game is broken up into 12 chapters with each chapter contains hidden secrets and other things to find. Sometimes you won’t be able to get a certain item unless you upgrade your character to a certain degree or by finding a specific gear item, so the game will give the player the ability to visit previous areas from previously completed chapters to get these items.
 

GOW3 wasn’t a long game. I have completed the game for the first time in under 10 hours. Longer game doesn’t always mean a higher quality game. But if Lords of Shadow manages to keep us on our toes for the whole game, I think it will be a more satisfying experience and a better value for player’s money.
 

3. Epic boss fights that inspired by Shadow of the Colossus:
 
 

 
 

Lords of Shadow will have some epic fights with big titans that inspired by one of the most memorable games of all time, Shadow of the Colossus. These fights don’t only show the epic nature of the game, but also show the huge scale of the game.
 

Fighting the Titans in GOW3 was an epic experience and it seems like Lords of Shadow will offer the same epic experience we had during our play time with GOW3.
 

4. Great storytelling and amazing voice acting:
 
 

 
 

While David Cox (producer of the game) stated that game is a reboot of the franchise and is not a part of the original series canon, the settings of the game promises to deliver an emotional and epic story that will satisfy fans of the series.

The setting of Lords of Shadow is during “the end of days”. The Earth’s alliance with the Heavens has been threatened by a malevolent force known as the Lords of Shadow. A dark spell has stopped the souls of the deceased from leaving, while evil creatures inhabit the dying land and attack living people. The main protagonist of the game Gabriel Belmont, a member of a holy order dedicated to defeating supernatural threats. Gabriel’s wife is brutally murdered by something supernatural, trapping her soul in limbo. Gabriel then begins a quest to defeat the three Lords of Shadow to obtain the pieces of the God Mask, a relic with the ability to bring back the dead.
 

With Sir Patrick Stewart (narrator and Gabriel’s mentor) and Robert Carlyle (Gabriel Belmont) are part of the voice cast of the game, I’m pretty sure that the game will deliver a great story with memorable moments. Also, don’t forget that Hideo Kojima is overseeing the game, so a great story is 100% confirmed.
 

5. Amazing atmosphere and mind-blowing enemies character design:
 
 

 
 

The gothic horror atmosphere of this game is one of the best things about Lords of Shadow. This game captures the atmosphere and spirit of the previous 2D Castlevania games, but now in 3D. You will see crumbling castles, snowy graveyards, flickering candlelight, bloodstained flagstones and much more.
 

The enemies in Lords of shadow are wonderfully designed. Most of them have been reworked from the previous games in the series, but you also see Mercury Steam innovative touch in creating these monsters. I’m not saying that GOW3 enemies design and atmosphere aren’t great, far from it. GOW3 atmosphere and enemies design are unique, but the point I want to clarify is Lords of shadow is hitting all the notes.
 

Lords of Shadow is shaping up to be the 3D Castlevania fans of the series are waiting for. I think it will satisfy fans of the series while at the same time bring more gamers to join its fan base. I listed the reasons why Lords of Shadow will possibly deliver a better and more satisfying experience than GOW3, but what do you think? Will Lords of Shadow be a better game than GOW3? Vote and share your thoughts with us in the comments section.
 
 
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There were a lot of Zelda fans that hated the cel shaded look of Wind Waker, but I wasn’t in the same boat. Wind Waker art style was and still to this day unique and very attractive. On the other hand, Skyward Sword looks like an average PS2 or Wii game because of the so generic art style. It’s good to see a game full of colors in these days, but the truth to be told, Skyward Sword looks empty and lifeless and there isn’t a single stand point in its visual style that distinguishes the newest Zelda game from other videogames in the market, unlike the previous games in the series.
 
 

If you look closely at games such as Okami and the two previous major Zelda titles that have been released in the last eight years (Wind Waker and Twilight Princess), Skyward Sword looks artistically dated in comparison. I know that Nintendo’s console (the Wii) isn’t a technical powerhouse like the PS3 and Xbox360, but Skyward Sword also disappoint from a technical stand point. After seeing Super Mario Galaxy 2, I don’t know why Skyward Sword doesn’t look at least, as good as Mario’s latest adventure.
 

There is no doubt that Skyward Sword is going to be a high quality videogame. I was very hyped for this game before its official unveiling, but this is the first time I’m not super excited and slightly disappointed about a brand new Zelda game because of its generic look. What do you think? Do you feel the same way? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section.
 

1. Castlevania: Lord of shadow:
 
 

I’m a huge fan of the castlevania franchise and I was a bit worried about this game before E3, but after I saw some gameplay footage from the game, all of my worries vanished. Lord of Shadow is shaping up to be one of the best looking games of this generation. The transition between cut scenes and gameplay is so seamless, the lightning and the visuals overall looks stunning, the character models are absolutely some of the best I have ever seen (the best looking werewolves I have ever seen in my life), and the animation is top notch.
 

2. Metal Gear Solid: Rising:
 
 

 
 
While this trailer doesn’t show a lot of gameplay segments, it absolutely shows that Kojima Production is one of the most talented developers in the industry. I don’t know if they are using a highly modified version of the MGS4 engine or a wholly new engine, but what I’m certain of is Rising is going to be technologically superior game than MGS4.
 

3. Crysis 2:
 
 

 
 
The devs of Crysis 2 are saying that this game is going to be the best looking FPS in the market. While this is debatable, you can’t argue with the fact that Crysis 2 is a technical showpiece. Crysis 2 has great looking textures, amazing physics engine and destructibility, spectacular visual effects, and it will support 3D on all platforms.

4. Enslaved:
 
 

 
 
Enslaved looks stunning. It’s one of my most anticipated games of 2010. This game has a very good chance of reaching the same visual fidelity of the great looking PS3 exclusive Uncharted 2. The artistic design of this game is mesmerizing, the animation of the characters is top notch. Everything in this game looks fantastic.
 

5. Rage:
 
 

 
 
Rage is possibly is the best looking game of E3 2010. You have to see the game in motion to understand what I’m talking about. If you have seen the footage above, you are going to notice that Rage was running on Xbox360 not on PC at 60FPS. WOW.