Dark Souls Prepare to Die Edition – Extra Content Breakdown

The real problem with DLC, quite apart from the fact it costs money, is that most developers don't give it enough TLC. Instead of feeling like extra content, it can feel like superfluous content. Dark Souls has always followed its own path. And with its new content, which comes as part of the PC's Prepare To Die Edition and will be available to buy on consoles soon, it shows just what DLC should be like - almost.

You can find IGN's full review of the Prepare to Die edition here but here we’re just concentrating on the new stuff. There are two sides to it, the first being a large single-player area, Oolacile, which is split into roughly four smaller sections (the environments flow into one another very easily, so dividing them up is a little arbitrary). The second is a multiplayer arena, something the playerbase has wanted since Demon's Souls, which theoretically should lead to easier matchmaking.

A set of carvings can be found that let you communicate in multiplayer. Drop one and the odd, distorted voices utter a phrase like 'Very Good!', 'Hello!', or 'I'm Sorry'.

If you're a Dark Souls nut and don't want minor spoilers about the content, such as character names, best to skip to the final paragraph now and know this: you will absolutely lap it up. The best thing about this new content is that it slots beautifully into Dark Souls' world, like it had always been there, and shines much light on certain unexplained aspects of the original. Dark Souls, superb as it is, has the unmistakeable signs that it was rushed to make its original release date, and this feels like it was meant to be there all along.

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This new content is that it slots beautifully into Dark Souls' world, like it had always been there

Finding it is the first tricky task, and you won't be able to enter Oolacile until a significant way into the game - basically, you need access to the Duke's Archives and the Darkroot Basin. There's a little in-joke with the fans, based around a broken pendant and a somewhat obscure character in the world, but that's about as friendly as Dark Souls ever gets. From here it's one big stretch of deadly environments, and one hell of a boss line-up.

Things start off with the Sanctuary Guardian, which managed to kill me about ten times as a welcome present, a lion and serpent combination that's vicious, poisonous, and shocking. After this comes the only minor disappointment with the single-player portion of the DLC, an expansive wooded environment that is basically a mirrored version of the Forest area from the original. It's a different beast, with a visual overhaul turning it into a spooky netherworld dotted with fake lights, but the familiar geography blunts a little of the impact. As with everything to do with Dark Souls, the lore justifies it, but I'm still not happy.

The setups for each boss are amazing and actually finding the hardest enemy in the DLC is a challenge in itself.

This place takes ages to explore safely, thanks to the ridiculously hard-hitting tree-men that are dotted everywhere and can be all-too-easily aggro'd in groups, though shortcuts can eventually be opened up and there's a very interesting merchant character waiting to be found. I was around soul level 45 when first attempting this section, and got a good kicking quite a few times.

The boss awaiting at the end of this is a killer. Knight Artorias is one of the great legendary figures in Dark Souls' world, a presence often hinted at but never seen - and here he is, a corrupted beast swallowed by the Abyss. Putting him away solo is a massive challenge, worthy of comparison with anything in the original, and I could only do it in the end thanks to Summoning in some wonderful help. The fight is so good though, with more than an echo of Ornstein and Smough, that you want to go straight back and do it again.

From here things go down - deep down. A stretching walk over the remains of a town take you into its guts, preparation for what's to come with ranks of bloated-head warriors and their deadly dark mage backup. As you press further and further in, you eventually find the very bottom. Barely lit, filled with enemies in corners, haunted at pockets by the unblinking eyes of ghosts that then begin to move slowly, steadily towards you. Unaffected by your shield, and simply wanting to touch you and drain sweet life, they're a dangerous and unsettling addition to the Dark Souls bestiary.

If you kill enough former inhabitants of Oolacile you might get one of their pustule-ridden heads to wear. Hats FTW!

The final boss lies in wait beyond this - and then, in best Dark Souls tradition, there is actually a final, hidden boss back along the path that's even tougher. Both are terrifying opponents to face, capable of destroying ill-prepared teams and turning what looks like a possible victory into a crushing defeat. Both match up to the very best Dark Souls has to offer, and ensure this new content slots neatly in alongside the wonderful original.

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What is not such an easy fit, though it can also be great on occasion, is the PvP.

What is not such an easy fit, though it can also be great on occasion, is the PvP. The arena is unlocked after defeating Artorias, and is snuggled away in an antechamber almost like From Software is somehow embarrassed. Six pedestals represent three different PvP modes over two maps - duels (one versus one), team battles (two versus two) and four-player FFA matches. If you ever want to actually play a game of Dark Souls PvP, then go for a Duel at the Ruins.

That mode and map is your only real chance of action. I've spent hours – and I mean hours – standing on the trapdoors for the other modes and maps, waiting patiently as the little glowing red circles supposed to indicate other players blink in and out of existence. Dark Souls' online has always been less-than-perfect, but the game is so good you tend to muddle through and be grateful when it does work.

The red circles are supposed to show other players waiting for matches, but they didn't impact anything for me.

But this is a dedicated matchmaking system that gives its players no feedback - it may well break the lore, but the fact you can't have something as crass as a player count or an estimated wait time begins to really grate after a few hours. So basically, the PvP modes are largely unplayable at the moment. Perhaps things will improve as more and more players discover the arena, and there's a wider spread of levels, but going on From Software's past form don't count on it.

That said, the one mode that does work semi-regularly, a Duel at the Ruins, shows what we're missing. I've fought crazy dark wizards that are half-Saruman half-Zorro, giant hulks in unbreakable armour heaving clubs and knocking you around like a tennis ball, and assassins that turn invisible when you respawn, and strike with a backstab while you're looking.

People don't talk much about Dark Souls' customisation options, but it's a game where you can make your avatar look unique, and there are some awesomely silly hats and armour sets lying around - as well as unbelievably cool weapons. The duels are so good because you see all of this, and come across tactics you'd never have imagined. Just like the single-player, thinking on your feet is the only way to victory, and so it breaks my heart there isn't a better structure for it.

There was no-one else around to fight with – so we decided to strip naked and do this queensbury-style.

The Prepare to Die content adds much to Dark Souls, and not a bit of it feels out of place, or like filler. The single-player is recommended without any caveats, though it is important to emphasise it's designed for experienced players rather than newcomers and thus you won't see it for a good while. As for the PvP... well, it's the same old story. The concept is great, and when it infrequently works it is great. But it just doesn't work most of the time. While I love Dark Souls more than anything, sitting in front of your PC for hours waiting for something to happen is just a waste of time. The matchmaking needed to be much, much better than this.

To find out how Dark Souls: Prepare to Die edition scored, check out IGN’s review.

Source : ign[dot]com

PAX: Tim Schafer and The Making of Double Fine Adventure

Double Fine Productions has a problem. Well, more like 3.3 million of them.

Since launching arguably the most well-known and successful video game campaign in Kickstarter history, the quirky developers of beloved games like Grim Fandango, Psychonauts, and Brutal Legend, are on the hook to make Double Fine Adventure (DFA), quite possibly the most talked about adventure game in the last decade. The real trick will be making it the most played, and Double Fine briantrust Tim Schafer knows it.

Discussing the making of DFA at the Double Fine Adventure Adventure panel at PAX 2012, the President and CEO, alongside Double Fine producer Greg Rice, laid his process bare, making a hall-full of friends in the process.

That's a 834% fund rate right there, folks.

If you've ever put something off, changed your idea in the middle of a thought (because you lost it), or considered tossing out plans wholesale for fear that no one will like them, you probably have a lot in common with the self-deprecating developer. Turns out the studio didn't have everything ready to go when the seconds counted down to zero and corks popped. $3.3 million dollars funded, now it was time to make a game. That's actually when that process began - by design - explained Schafer, onstage and throughout the 25-minute showing of the Double Fine Adventure Documentary that filmakers 2 Player Productions have begun shooting for their throng of Kickstaer backers.

His process is as fascinating as it is overwhelming. Thumbing a stack of notebooks evoking John Doe's journals from Se7en, Schafer shows how his games spend their infancy slow-cooking in the deep pages of his scrawled manuscripts, alongside non-sequitur ramblings and complaints about his poor memory or girls he'd loved and lost from the sixth grade. This is not a senselessly scatter-brained man, just proof that extremely-functional attention deficit disorder pairs well with game design. Once his ideas take form, Schafer talks himself into doing what sounds like the part of the process he like least: telling someone about the idea for the first time.

Pitching his good friend and partner in Double Fine crime, Ron Gilbert (best known for Maniac Mansion and the first two Monkey Island games), the industry vet speaks adorably in fits and starts, flush like a boy talking himself into asking a girl for a first dance. Schafer's not lacking for confidence, but he wants to hear that his ideas are good, naturally. And if they'er not, he wants to find better ideas. Because he cares so much, nothing matters to him more than getting it right.

And getting it right means uncertainty, and not having all the answers all at once. But he's okay with that. Walls pasted with sticky notes, "art jams" - long sessions that bring all the artists together to concept the art direction - and asking hard questions about story continuity alongside Rice; each is an inexcahngeable part of a vulnerable but self-assured process. That and the pizza orgies.

Once a Double Fine game is playable, schafer traditionally gathers a group of people to marathon of game testing and crowd-noshing by the slice. If the art jam is how the team finds out how the game should look, the pizza orgies are where they find out how the game should play.

By the end of their PAX panel, Rice simplifies all of this with a rosy-scheeked Cheshire aside, affirming the core "how-to" of good game making. "Look for good ideas, ignore bad ideas." Ricean megascience.

If Double Fine Adventure Adventure doesn't work out, perhaps they'll create  Pizza Orgy: The Game, one attendee offered during a lively question and answer session as the panel wrapped.

When asked if Pizza Orgy: The Game would be a "party game" in genre by another guest, Schaefer simplay said, "That depends on who you invite. Sometimes its really sad."

Casey Lynch is Editor-in-Chief of IGN.com. Hear about his love for PAX , metal, and Dark Souls on IGN and Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes - "Ultron Unlimited" Review

Warning - full episode spoilers follow.

The problem with Ultron is that, no matter how many times you pound him into scrap metal, he always returns in a new body and with a new plan for wiping out humanity. The Avengers learned that the hard way in this week's episode of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. "Ultron Unlimited" picked up where "Behold... the Vision!" left off a few weeks ago, as the robotic villain sought to replace the Avengers with his own, "perfected" Synthezoid Avengers. Unfortunately, "Ultron Unlimited" turned out to be the first instance where the show's new, largely standalone approach to episodic storytelling took its toll.

The problem is that the idea of the real Avengers battling their evil replacements is a little too familiar coming so close on the heels of the Skrull invasion saga. Hawkeye even seemed to point out that fact when he quipped, "Just so we're clear, I'm the real me." That brief moment of levity didn't do much to spice up the conflict, however. Even Vision's fight scenes felt strangely diminished, as the character was far from the unstoppable powerhouse he was in his first appearance. Chalk it up to his conflicted feelings on his mission, I suppose. The best that could be said for the action in this episode is that, like in "Assault on 42", the fact that the Avengers were fighting inhuman opponents allowed them to be more brutal and decisive in combat than animated superhero shows typically allow. The rampant battling was entertaining enough, just not particularly noteworthy.

The focus on Avenger vs. Avenger brawling meant that Ultron himself was largely relegated to being a backseat player. We were never given a clear idea of what Ultron's larger goal was beyond swapping the Avengers out for Synthezoids.It was cool to see the team eventually unite to battle Ultron in his all new, all adamantium shell, but by that point the episode had too little running time left to take advantage of the scenario. And while Vision's evolution from uncaring soldier to would-be human was engaging, it could have been fleshed out and expanded upon. That's to say nothing of Jocasta, who played so little role in the episode it's enough to wonder why she was introduced at all. I don't know if she's intended to return before the end of the season, but if she does, hopefully the writers will actually do something with her and her relationship to the Pym family.

"Ultron Unlimited" was at its best when it focused on that family dynamic and Ultron's Oedipal relationship with his "mother," Janet. It's too bad Hank didn't make his long-awaited return here, because there's plenty of good material to mine with these characters. A script that downplayed the Avengers and devoted more time to Ultron's efforts to both please and supplant his father would have worked a lot better. Sadly, as far as I'm aware, this was Ultron's final appearance for the remainder of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. The most we can do is hope that Avengers Assemble takes a slightly more dark and psychological approach to the character.

Jesse is a writer for IGN Comics and IGN Movies. He can't wait until he's old enough to feel ways about stuff. Follow Jesse on Twitter, or find him on IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

The Bourne Legacy Review

How do you continue a franchise that only recently concluded in perfectly satisfying fashion? That was the problem facing the makers of the Bourne trilogy – a hat-trick of films that achieved the twin feats of impressing critics and audiences alike, grossing nearly $1bn at the global box office in the process.

Their solution to further reap those Bourne bucks is a reboot of sorts, but one which runs in parallel to the original story, revealing that Jason wasn’t the only super-spy on the C.I.A.’s books, and that Operation Treadstone was one of many such programs being run by the U.S. government.

The film kicks off with an image familiar to fans of The Bourne Identity – that of a motionless body floating in water. But where first time around it was the injured and amnesiac Jason Bourne cast adrift, this time the man is Aaron Cross, and he has entered the icy Alaskan waters very much by choice.

Proceedings commence with Cross alone in the wilderness, retrieving canisters from the freezing waters, popping a variety of mysterious pills, leaping across treacherous ravines and somewhat ridiculously doing battle with a pack of wolves (which hot-on-the-heels of The Grey, could become the cinematic equivalent of jumping the shark).

Meanwhile back in Washington, the Bourne situation is blowing up, and we are introduced to the guy behind the guy behind the guy in the shape of Edward Norton’s Eric Byer. Director of the National Research Assay Group, Byer has built several of these programs from the ground up, with Cross a member of one of the jewels in his crown: Outcome, wherein agents are trained for use in isolated, high-risk, long-term intelligence assignments.

These men and women are stationed deep undercover all over the world, but with Bourne’s activities in Supremacy and Ultimatum infecting other programs and threatening to expose their illegal methods to the world, Byer takes drastic action. Cross is quickly forced on the run, embarking on a spot of globe-trotting with only his smarts, lightning quick reactions, and expertise with weapons and hand-to-hand combat for comfort.

So far, so Bourne trilogy, but unlike those films, Cross’s memory is fully intact. The mystery is therefore not psychological but rather physical, as Aaron endeavours to discover what Outcome has done to both his mind and body as he flees the program’s clutches.

Trouble is our hero investigating the side effects of green and blue pills is far less interesting than a protagonist trying to unlock his memory and rediscover his humanity.

And good as he is, Jeremy Renner is no Matt Damon. He’s never less-than-convincing as Aaron Cross, nailing the action and delivering intensity in spades. But he doesn’t quite have that movie star charisma that makes Damon so damn watchable and had you rooting for Bourne in spite of the terrible things he had done.

Renner’s best scenes are with Rachael Weisz’s Dr. Marta Shearing, whose work in behavioural design may shed some light on his predicament. This knowledge puts her own life in jeopardy however, and the pair are soon forced to collaborate to save both their skins.

Yet while they make an engaging duo, the twosome also share several somewhat clumsy scenes in which Shearing has to explain some pretty complicated science to Cross, and as a by-product the audience. And The Bourne Legacy is full of such sequences, with shady Agency men regularly popping up to recap what happened in the previous films and indulge in exposition-heavy conversations to explain the complicated political machinations of this one.

It’s a clear case of too much talk and not enough action, as Byers spends scene-after-scene barking orders from his crisis suite when all we want to see is Cross getting stuck into the bad guys.

That may be the result of trilogy screenwriter Tony Gilroy – who has previously helmed the dialogue-heavy Michael Clayton and Duplicity – stepping into the director’s chair for this instalment.

However when the action does rear it’s high-octane head, Gilroy handles it with aplomb, never quite scaling the muscular, shaky-cam highs of predecessor Paul Greengrass, but nevertheless nailing several scenes.

Stand-outs include an impressive sequence in which Cross scales a building in a single, unbroken shot, and a truly jaw-dropping motorcycle chase (which owes more than a passing debt to Terminator 2) in Manila.

And while a pulsating rooftop chase is a little too reminiscent of Supremacy, Gilroy does deliver a truly stunning movie moment in a laboratory that is more horrific than anything that the series has delivered thus far.

But aside from odd moments like this, The Bourne Legacy is very much more of the same, only less compelling and entertaining than what’s come before.

The film does endeavour to expand the mythology of the series, but in building out rather than pushing forward, it fails to fully engage as an absorbing story in its own right.

If this had been the first film in a series – and could therefore be taken entirely on its own terms – The Bourne Legacy is an entertaining if at times uninvolving action picture, featuring sharper dialogue and better performances than most movies of the genre.

But the film constantly reminds us that we are in both Jason Bourne’s universe and his timeline, with Cross following in his footsteps metaphorically and at times quite literally.

It all makes for a frustrating viewing experience when you know that those films are superior to this one in every way, shape and form. The result is the fourth best entry in a series of four, and one that leaves you wishing the filmmakers had simply left Bourne’s legacy alone.

Chris Tilly is the Entertainment Editor for IGN and regrets his time in Operation Treadstone. His idle chat can be found on both Twitter and MyIGN.

Source : ign[dot]com