Today we’re going back to 2006, when Ubisoft announced that the Splinter Cell follow-up to Double Agent would only be released on Xbox 360. Ubisoft CEO Yves Gilmot said: “We love the Xbox 360 because it’s easy to make games for.”. That’s why we want to produce the highest quality products for this system.”. How much money Microsoft then paid for these words was not disclosed. However, it is worth noting that Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction did not actually appear on PS3 in the end.
The creator of the series “The Sopranos,” David Chase, was very dissatisfied with the game based on the series, which was about to hit the shelves, and asked people not to associate the series with this game. "Games always have a function. Physical function. The character must go from there to there, shoot at this, drive that, jump here. In games there is no place for the gamer to identify with the character on an emotional level; it is impossible to learn something from the virtual hero, to understand him,” says David. Years later, we understand how wrong he was.
External HD-DVD drives for Xbox 360 hit shelves for $199.99. Microsoft has begun actively promoting this format to the masses. Included with a drive that will allow owners of the console to watch video in this HD-DVD format on it, the film “King Kong” by Peter Jackson and an Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote were supplied. However, already in February 2008, it announced a complete cessation of production of drives in this format and capitulated to the glory of Blu-ray.
Representatives of Sony once again stated that, in their opinion, in the next five years, digital distribution of games will finally win
material media and we will all buy new projects exclusively through the Internet, forgetting about boxes, disks and trips to stores, like a bad dream. And the cart is still there. So you shouldn’t listen to paranoiacs’ tales now that the disks will soon disappear.
The imminent release of the PlayStation 3 console is generating a lot of discontent and rumors. A frightening rumor has appeared on the Internet that the cost of one game Blu-Ray disc will reach one hundred dollars. Sony, as luck would have it, refused to comment on these rumors, thereby further dissipating fans’ dissatisfaction. There is also information that wireless gamepads will not have removable batteries.
At the same time, there is a danger that after several recharges the batteries will acquire a kind of “memory” (when you charge a new battery a little several times and it remembers this small charge and does not charge further) and will stop working normally.This also generated many dissatisfied potential buyers. However, Sony hastened to dispel all these rumors about “memory” and said that the battery will serve them for many years.
And next up for us today are reviews from November 2006. And we would like to remind you that in this program we rely specifically on reviews from the press of those years and we do not give ratings themselves, but only display the average value for several publications. At that time, games were released in different countries, sometimes with a difference of half a year, now this is a release all over the world at the same time (unless Japan sucks), but back then it was sometimes very difficult.
Also, if you didn’t see this or that game that you were playing at that time, don’t be upset, in any case, in the next releases we will definitely tell you about it, there were a lot of releases, and the broadcast format does not allow us to cover everything. So be patient. Well, now stock up on something tasty and let’s go.
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Double Agent
Back in 2005, Ubisoft announced a then new episode of Splinter Cell, which instantly attracted the attention of gamers. Of course, after all, before that, the valiant Sam Fisher was a terror for terrorists, and now he, it seems, was going to go over to the side of the enemy and turn weapons against his former colleagues. In fact, everything turned out to be not so scary – Sam was assigned by his superiors to become a double agent in order to infiltrate the terrorist organization John Brown’s Army and thwart its plans. And before us is the next chapter of the adventures of the brave special forces soldier, the stealth action game Splinter Cell: Double Agent.
The main innovation of the game, by the way, is built precisely on the fact that we play as a double agent. And now during each mission the player receives tasks from each organization. Depending on what actions your ward takes, the attitude of terrorists and superiors towards him changes. Once you get carried away with working for one side, the relationship with the other quickly begins to deteriorate and you can completely fail the task. However, as a rule, no one forbids you to carry out instructions from both terrorists and the NSA equally and remain neutral with them. Unfortunately, those responsible at Ubisoft Shanghai were afraid to complicate the player’s life too much and did not fully develop the interesting idea. And the decisions made almost never affect the consequences.
Nevertheless, you will have to make a choice and it is not always easy, and sometimes even very difficult. Meanwhile, the authors have provided for as many as three different endings, depending on the trust of one side or another.
As in previous parts, missions here take place in different parts of the world. So you will have to visit: in the heat of Africa, and in the cold on Siberian ice, and in a Shanghai skyscraper, and a liner, and so on and so forth.
But unlike the previous parts, tasks here now mainly take place during daylight hours and in well-lit rooms. Now you won’t be able to sit in the dark corners, and you will have to look for workarounds and shelters, of which there are many times more here.
Fischer learned to hide even under tables and other utensils, fortunately the levels became much larger and more complex, even open spaces appeared here. The locations themselves here are distinguished by excellent design and each has its own specifics, be it a snowstorm in Siberia, which impairs audibility and visibility, or ongoing fighting in Kinshasa and the like.
Also here, between missions, we now regularly check in at the terrorist headquarters, hack computers or take prints and everything in the same spirit.
Graphics, despite the same engine as in the previous part of the SCX engine, based on Unreal Engine 2.5 – looks cheerful. Clear textures, excellent character models and detailed levels sometimes literally fascinate the player. Although opinions differ here, and some publications call this graphics weak for the current generation of consoles.
One of the main reasons gamers love it is its great animation. It’s a pleasure to watch Sam take down terrorists with grace and brutality. It is worth noting that the game managed to appear on consoles of the previous generation and not everything is so rosy with the graphics. But there are several unique locations.
Among other things, it should be noted that the multiplayer is wonderful, although in this series it has always been good and completing tasks in co-op is a pleasure.
The downside is that for some reason the PC game really needed shaders of the third version and the optimization left much to be desired, so the game slowed down on the top configurations of that time, although I personally don’t remember this.
Well, in the end it’s
8.5 points out of 10.
A high-quality plot, an excellent action movie atmosphere, interesting innovations, excellent multiplayer – all this was already enough for gamers to go to the store for a great game.
Call of Juarez
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After the previous project of the Poles from Techland, a rather mediocre action game Chrome, we didn’t expect much from this game. At exhibitions and in videos, the game did not particularly shine, and it seemed that this was another game about the wild west with classic cliches from a mediocre studio. However, gamers received a very pleasant surprise in the form of almost the best Western of that time. And before us is the game Call of Juarez.
The story tells us about a boy named Billy, who was not exactly spoiled by life. Scandals and quarrels in the family, problems with his stepfather, no prospects and therefore our hero decided to go in search of a better life.
Returning two years later, he discovers that a few moments ago a terrible thing happened at his native ranch – his parents died, and the phrase Call of Juarez was written on the wall.
And here begins the second story of Reverend Ray and part-time stepfather’s brother Billy. Seeing Billy next to the corpses of his own relatives, Ray is blown away and decides that it was Billy who killed them. It was not possible to have a normal conversation and Billy has to flee, but a long and fascinating story begins to unfold before the player with shootouts, horse chases, stealth, train robberies, treasure hunts and more.
We get to play alternately for both characters. Playing as Billy is primarily about jumping on rocks and climbing trees. At the same time, we try not to be noticed by our enemies. Well, in order to overcome obstacles easier, our ward has a whip with which we can climb to various kinds of heights, switch levers. It also acts as a good weapon and is capable of killing, for example, a wolf, and our hero, thanks to him, is able to get out of the fight without a single scratch.
Playing for Ray is radically different, he is a real killing machine here, and the main secret of his power is Concentration mode, in common parlance, time dilation. At this time, the character is firing mercilessly from two barrels, and the enemies fall to the ground, like overripe pears on a clear day.
Also, when playing as him, you can take a Bible in one hand and a gun in the other at the same time as carrying the word of God and pouring lead on. It’s surprising how our politicians have not yet taken advantage of this to once again snort contempt towards the gaming industry. And here, instead of first aid kits, there’s whiskey. It is worth noting that already at the very beginning we are warned that we cannot kill innocent people here (as it turns out later, it is very rare to meet such people in the Wild West) and even animals, otherwise the game will end.
Weapons, by the way, don’t last very long here and after several dozen shots you have to look for a new one.
The developers tried to diversify the gameplay as much as possible, but here lies one of the significant drawbacks – the scripted nature of what is happening, and the local enemies are not very smart.
The graphics in the game are mostly criticized, but they note that sometimes the game still produces beautiful pictures; the desert looks especially good at sunset.
In general, this is 8 points out of 10.
This is definitely one of the best Western games of its time. Diverse, exciting, with a good plot and excellent execution of the plan.
Call of Duty 3
Call of Duty 2 once became one of the most popular games at the launch of the Xbox 360 console. And, without hesitation, Activision decided to pull off a similar trick, only with the release of the PS3, thereby bypassing personal computers altogether.
By forcing Treyarch developers to make Call of Duty 3 a console exclusive.
The game tells us about the Falaise operation of 1944, when American, British, Canadian and Polish troops surrounded a hundred and fifty thousand German army. And although more than two-thirds managed to escape the encirclement and retreat to Senna, the operation is considered a huge success and one of the most important victories in Normandy. Well, you won’t be able to play as the Soviet Union, due to the location of the action.
However, at the same time, in none of the 14 missions, nor between them, will they tell you about what is happening, what the situation is, and stupidly urge you to hold the defense, blow up artillery pieces, etc.
Call of Duty 3 was created on the engine of the previous part of the game, and when you first start it, the player gets the feeling that he is playing a continuation of the second one – the physics are the same, the graphics are the same, and the gameplay is the same. But after spending an hour you begin to notice differences and sometimes they are not at all in favor of the new game.
It is important to understand that the second part greatly raised the bar for shooters and was almost a standard.
If in the second part, the levels created the illusion of an open world, and many levels could be completed using different routes, for example, on the beach in Omaha you yourself looked for the right route, hiding behind shelters. Here we always have only one route and the levels are practically tunnels, not to say that this is bad, because the action becomes the main focus here, but the sediment remains. And the promised hand-to-hand combat system turned out to be just interactive scenes where you need to put a lot of pressure on the triggers.
However, these interactive mini-actions, in principle, diversify the gameplay, start twisting the stick so that the hero starts rowing, or press a certain sequence of buttons so that the hero plants explosives, again a small thing, but already nice.
But the multiplayer mode here reveals the game to its fullest. The second part supported 8 players on one map. Immediately their number tripled, and up to 4 players can play simultaneously from one console. Nine maps at the start of the game, as well as various types of equipment – jeeps, tanks, motorcycles with sidecars. There are also six standard game modes and here a division into character classes appeared, that is, the gameplay shifted towards Battlefield and made very good progress in this field.
Call of Duty 3 graphics aren’t revolutionary. As already mentioned, by and large, this is still the same second part, but with some improvements. The role of innovation is played by the then incredibly beautiful smoke, it really looks like the real thing and strongly contrasts with the weak models of soldiers. Otherwise, nothing interesting; gamers have seen this more than once.
Well, in general it’s 8 points 10.
Yes, the plot this time can boast of practically nothing and the single-player component is inferior to the previous part, but the multiplayer already stood out against the background of other games, and literally forced console gamers to spend tens and hundreds of hours there.
What do we have a lower rank?
SCARFACE: THE WORLD IS YOURS – a game from the creators of the now-defunct studio Radical Entertainment. It’s based on the movie “Scarface” of the same name, which if you haven’t watched yet, then damn sure do so immediately. Cult item! Fortunately, the developers did not shred the well-known plot, but only slightly corrected the ending of the film, making the game its continuation.
Antonio Montana did not die. Having recovered from his injuries, he returns to his old ways. Although Russian reviewers did not pay much attention to this, the Western press wildly lamented the resurrection of Montana.
The game itself offers a GTA-style adventure, very similar to Vice City. And this is perhaps the main problem of the game – it looks exactly the same as the masterpiece from Rockstar – the difference is only 4 years. Well, the missions in this game are, to put it mildly, rather weak and despite the apparent variety, they are all quite similar and boring. Much more interesting are the tasks that expand the plot of the game.
The main character turned out to be very colorful in the game and attracts attention. Unfortunately, we won’t hear Al Pacino’s voice there, however, the actor assisted in the creation of the game. By the way, all the actors invited here did a great job.
So, sending his enemies to the next world, the main character hurls abuse and curses at the bastards who dared to stand in his way. And as you kill your enemies, a scale with the unambiguous name balls is filled, and subsequently you can unleash your anger in rage mode.
The player is offered a solid selection of cars and boats that can be purchased. There is also the opportunity to decorate your own estate, although the selection in the house catalog is minimal. But you can, for example, order a stuffed pink flamingo, so necessary for a tough mafioso. These acquisitions improve your reputation, which, by the way, determines the purchase of establishments and the completion of certain side missions. In order for certain missions to open, you need to earn a certain number of respect points, and this does not take an hour or two of real time.
The graphics in the game look rather weak for its time, if in 2002 this was normal for Rockstar, now it is, as they say, no good. But the soundtrack in the game is great and the local soundtrack is simply gorgeous.
Nevertheless, you can spend time here. And if you are imbued with special love and awe for the film, the game will become a pleasant pastime for you. As a result 7 out of 10.
THE SECRET FILES: TUNGUSKA – adventure game from Fusionsphere Systems. The main problem of the game, at one time, was the quiet advertising campaign. For the main storyline, a topic not too hackneyed in the gaming industry was taken: the fall of the Tunguska meteorite.
We must admit that the developers studied it in detail and revealed their own story, which intersects with both mysticism and historical facts.
The plot, I must say, is quite interesting, although it is not without cliches and absurdities. With all this, it ends pretty quickly. And we gallop through local locations, and in an hour and a half we will have time to visit Moscow and Siberia and even Cuba.
The graphics in the game do not cause any particular complaints from reviewers, but at that time they were generally some kind of conventional element for the genre.
Pixel hunting is a sore subject among quest lovers, and here, to prevent players from having a seizure, they made it possible to highlight objects with which you, one way or another, can come into contact. It seems like an idea – not very much, but it saves a lot of nerve cells. But in general, this is such a strong classic quest that could be recommended to all fans of the genre. 7 points
Today it’s time to say goodbye to November 2006 and we, of course, will return to it in the future, because there are still many games left that need to be talked about. And now all civilians – leave the territory, officer Shtarev was with you. Bye.