Grand Theft Auto: IV

When we reviewed GTA 4 on Xbox 360 and PS3 earlier this year we made some pretty bold statements. Here's probably the boldest: GTA 4 "has moved video games on to a point that most developers just won't be able to compete with". Looking at it again, a fair few months since we'd driven the streets of Liberty City, that was perhaps overstating things slightly (everyone can get caught up in the moment), but it's still abundantly clear that GTA 4 is a high point in video game history, and just as good on the PC now as it was back in April on console.

We won't explain just why we love the game so much (you can get a full, lengthy run down from our console review), but for those completely in the dark, know that you're going to get open world action that makes you care about the main characters in a way we doubted would be possible - at least in this generation. As an action game it's top class, it's larger and more expansive than practically every other non-RPG released this year, and it's got visuals to die for. Having sunk hours into the PC version it's still a sight to behold.

Instead of re-treading old ground, we'll rundown how the PC version of GTA 4 has been handled, including the performance on modest gaming rigs, and the extras that Rockstar has included. Performance first then, and this is probably our biggest concern with the port. To put it bluntly, you're going to need a very beefy machine to get the game running well. Even the game's suggested settings caused our quad core, 8800 GTX equipped machine to struggle, and this was after we'd lowered the resolution to well below our monitor's native resolution.

To be fair, when we finally managed to get the game running well, it still looked superb, but it seems it's going to be some time before you're going to be able to set all the graphical options to max and enjoy the show. A nice touch is the way the game shows you what the visuals are going to look like as you make changes, removing detail in the distance as you slide the view distance slider down from the hopeful 100 per cent to a more realistic mid twenties number. Texture quality appears to be the real killer, with anything above medium causing big issues with our non-SLI setup. It's hard to say for sure without comparing side by side, but a modest gaming rig should be able to pump out visuals at least on par with the console versions.

Perhaps more exciting than visual and control tweaks is the brand new video editor. In the PC game you're able to record 30-second clips and then edit them together using the in-built editing suite. We're not experts (at all) when it comes to video editing (apart from Seb), but in 30 minutes or so (including play time) we were able to put together a fairly amusing short video, manually positioning the camera, zooming, panning, and other things that are over our heads. We ended up with a rather dramatic scene showing Niko being shot by a cop's shotgun, before falling to the floor in slow motion. Not Oscar worthy material, clearly, but we can see YouTube being dominated by this stuff in the near future. Once you're done editing the video, inserting music and adding any text you think will improve the film along the way, you can save to a 720p WMV or upload to the Rockstar Social Club - both took a fair amount of time, but the results are worth it.Controls next, and here Rockstar has done an excellent job. Mouse and keyboard controls work great for the most part, obviously excelling when it comes to gun-play, but even driving isn't so bad with the WASD keys. It's not completely ideal though, so we'd recommend you have a gamepad plugged in at the same time - preferably the 360 controller that the game recognises automatically. You're able to switch between the two control setups on the fly, so it's perfectly possible to dump the pad when you're done driving, returning to the keyboard and mouse to tackle some goons with your AK-47.

Aside from the aforementioned performance issues (we expect people will be using GTA 4 as a benchmark tool for years to come) there's the issue of all the apps that need to be running in order to play the game. If you want to play online you'll need a Rockstar Social Club account (free) and a Games for Windows LIVE account (also free), and both of these must be running. Add in Steam if you've got the digitally distributed version, and that's three apps all running while you're blasting away gang members. Our experience was quite painless, with our Games for Windows account linking to our Rockstar Social Club account seamlessly, with the only odd thing being how our friends were split between Steam and the GFW service. Still, it's nice to be able to earn Achievements (tied to your gamertag) - something few PC games support.The final tweak of any real significance is the increase in multiplayer numbers from 16 to 32, at least in the Deathmatch, GTA Race and Free modes. It's one of those things that you assume is going to be great, but it's hard to know how much difference it's going to make until you play it for yourself. We're glad to report that it helps and awful lot. While we really like GTA 4 multiplayer on Xbox 360 and PS3, at times the games felt a little empty. On PC, with up to 32 players running around and driving cars, the game feels more alive. If you're after the best multiplayer version of GTA 4, the PC game wins hands down.

If you've been waiting for the ultimate version of GTA 4, then this is it, providing you can put up with a fair amount of hassle to get the game running well and all the services you need to sign up to in order to play the game in the first place. The mouse and keyboard controls are great, the video editing suite is a brilliant bonus and the enhanced multiplayer is what the game really needed. There's no doubt about it. GTA 4 is one of the best games of the year and as such one of the best we've ever played.

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Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Overwhelming and underwhelming. That’s how San Andreas feels to begin with. Underwhelming because, despite all the pillow talk preview promises and all the dreams and wish lists sown in the wake of Vice City, this is still unmistakably GTA, wrinkles and all. And it’s overwhelming through sheer, intimidating scale: in the enormity and scope of the game presented before you, so large and expansive that you’re still unsure of whether or not you’ve got any measure of it despite hours of invested play and progress.

It’s an apt mix of feelings, really, considering just how San Andreas – like its two PS2 forebears – continues to foster so much ambivalence. Crime-spree missions that entertain as much as they frustrate; visuals that swagger with style, character and rough, eyesore edges; a draw distance that strives to pack in the skeletal outline of an entire city while textures are drawn in just metres in front of lead character CJ; a game world that’s as solid, continuous and mesmerising as it is glitchy and prone to breaking down. The missions are possibly the most creative and focussed to yet grace a GTA, but still manage to infuriate as much as any of the classic GTAIII and Vice City sticking points, thanks as much to your unavoidable dependance on unreliable NPC partners as the fact that your mission can be brought to a juddering, unjust failure. It’s that typical GTA trait of brilliant, horrible freedom – completing a mission is an unparalleled satisfaction, thanks as much to the sensation of having improvised your own DIY solution, as having survived the chaotic whims of a bustling city filled with violent pedestrians and suicidal drivers.

The game is so fat with possibilities and details that you’re pretty much forced to turn to the missions in order to enlighten you as to the available avenues for profitable exploration and joyous time wasting. Exploration is more daunting than ever before; it’s possible to spend hours treasure hunting in just one of San Andreas’ many massive districts and not unearth a single reward. The sense of freedom is unprecedented, but conditional; you’ll only feel comfortable with it after diligently completing enough missions to give you enough power and knowledge to make any use of it. You’ve got to earn the sandbox this time around, and willingly hold the hand of a game whose hallmark up until now has been its lack of handholding.

The controls have been refined, but not redefined. Twin-stick aiming is now possible, but is rarely an effective way to tackle gunfights. Your enemies’ best tactic is to pop up and loose off a few shots before you can return superior fire; your best tactic is to get as distant a lock-on as possible. Still, the lock-on system feels more confident and useable, even if it can be easily distracted in the midst of a panicky shoot out. The ability to improve gun skills, along with the inclusion of Manhunt’s excellent headshot system, does help substantially, meaning that combat is now bearable – a leap over the comedic trauma of past GTAs.

For all the framerate drops, pop-up shocks and texture crimes, there are no roaming loading times. It’s not short of stylish beauty, either. The bold orange glare of a Los Santos sunset that drenches the whole city, or the night time desert landscape of deep purple and striking silhouettes, helps give the game world a fantastic variety in its ambience. Each district comes packed with geographical personality and a fitting urban drone as backdrop; alone that’s an achievement, one that’s made all the more affecting thanks to the stark, segregated atmosphere of the countryside portions of the game. This isn’t so much a variety of themes and motifs strung together as a believable caricature of an actual world.

But there’s one area in which San Andreas excels without fail or blemish – the vehicles. A carjack of all trades, it blends in even more forms of transport this time around – from the humble, joyous BMX to demanding aircraft and parachute descents – that feature supremely balanced handling that’s tight enough to provide sure control but relaxed enough to make travel an endlessly enjoyable and pliant way to while away your hours of downtime.

As with previous GTA games there’s lots to criticise, but San Andreas survives, scathed but still walking tall, buoyed by the kind of ambition that sees most games crumbling under the weight of it all. It’s a multi-faceted, multi-achieving experience, a rough-edged but massively substantial landmark. It’s a masterful marriage of perfectly-pitched vehicle insanity and decent combat, more so than any other GTA, but its world is one that demands work as much as it allows play. And, of course, it comes coated in cultural magpie-ism, even if you don’t find it as caustically satirical and intelligent as its reputation would have it.

Sparkling in enough places, it strides ahead of the majority of games, offering an experience that treats the player as being something more than just a dumb recycling bin for brainless action movies. It’s a fact reinforced by the magnificent soundtrack selection, a collection that also makes every other licensed listing seem a like one-dimensional afterthought. And it’s the kind of game that leaves the player with their own personalised mix tape of magical memorable moments – as well as a few stress-induced scars, but ones that belong to you, nonetheless.

When you take San Andreas apart to look at the bits, it’s not too impressive a sight. But it’s not a game that’s played in such a deconstructive stasis; everything is moving and swirling together before you, and when it all hums in smooth unison it’s an unbeatable rush of freedom and empowerment. A ten. A phenomenon. A game like no other. And when it clashes, you’re left with a grudging seven. A flawed gem. A broken masterpiece; nothing has really changed in three years.

But – much like this review – you’re vocalising those flaws so strongly only because you were so deeply, hypnotically engrossed in the first place.

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Fifa 12

So here we go again. The annual iteration, the roster update, the Fifagravy train chugs on… Except, EA Canada has never really been into the idea of making the same thing over and over again with just a serving of updated team sheets, a couple of fresh modes and a new photo of Rooney for the cover.

After several hours of play, it's the latter that's emerging as the most important transition. As you'll know, the old trick of hitting the A button to send an AI defender hurtling toward the attacking player like an Exocet missile in polyester shorts is now gone. Well sort of. It's a little more complicated than that.Fifa 12 is … different. For months, EA Sports has been banging on about its three major changes to the match mechanics: close control, the player impact engine and the new tactical defending option. Turns out they weren't bluffing.

In Fifa 12, there's a multi-layered system that now lets you hold the A button to "contain" the man on the ball – it brings the player you're controlling right up to him and you'll automatically attempt to shepherd your opponent into disadvantageous positions. It's neat, it's effective and it allows you to chain into a proper tackle, like a football beat-'em-up.

That's pretty much as close as we get to the auto-defend nature of previous Fifa incarnations. Meanwhile, the jockeying function, accessed via the left trigger, allows you to face the incoming player and create a barrier between him and the goal; this can also be combined with the "run" button in order to deal with sprinting opponents.

Many Fifa fans will find this forces a radical shift in their defensive philosophy, moving from a mobile approach of darting slides from the back and side and head-on nipping tackles, toward a zonal, more rigorously planned approach, where players get into position and block out attacks, only tackling when the ball is clearly there to be taken.

Initially, I struggled to separate the contain and jockey functions – they're both about controlling the incoming player, after all, and for ages they seemed interchangeable. But then there's the "team jockey" option, sitting over on the right tab button.

When held, this sends in a teammate to fulfil the more static goal protection, while you either move to cover any possible crosses, or run in and sweep the ball away. The Contain function is more erratic and independent; it's reactive.

AI seems solid, though often a lot more so from defenders blocking your path than from team mates interpreting your play. I've found on numerous occasions that you'll wait in vain on the edge of the box, your finger
poised over the through ball or flair pass buttons just praying for someone to start a run behind the centre backs. Of course, hitting the shoulder tab commands another player to make a run, and this works beautifully in midfield, but personally, I'm just not getting it to play out while close to the 18 yard area. Practice, I suspect, will be the key.

More often than not you need to move away or pass back and rebuild the attack. And against computer-controlled teams on the highest AI settings you'll find it incredibly, maddeningly, gut-wrenchingly difficult to score, while they'll sometimes breeze through your best defensive endeavours as though playing in a parallel dimension.

Ah, but when things do go right, when that chipped ball into the stride of Edinson Cavani ends up rocketing in the back of the net, it can be euphoric stuff; and you are only ever hours of practise and two or three brilliant passes away from the next dose.

Honestly though, the real beauty of the game is in its two-player mode – that's what gets the five stars in the end. I know I'll be playing this all year, mastering new aspects, trying new teams, experimenting with the EA Sports Football Club, watching the online leaderboards. A year's worth of play is good value, and value is important in this day and age.

So, yes, here we go again. The annual iteration, the roster update, the accusations of cashing in, cashing up, moving on. Fifa is a symbol now of what the games industry has become – a digital Hollywood, a hit factory, with behemoth franchises, caged in and milked for all they're worth; a grinding production line of choreographed retail launches and endless DLC updates. It used to be just the annual sports titles, now it's everyone.

And yet out of this can come a game like Fifa 12. A game that isn't perfect, and that won't suit everyone, but that absolutely reeks of effort, of care, of love for the sport. Blast EA and its peers for the way they run their businesses if you want to, but recognise this: with friends, with practice, with a will to re-think your approach to defence, Fifa is an absolute joy to play.

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Blur

When your resume includes the monstrously popular Project Gotham Racing series, driving game fans expect big things from you. Big, fast, shiny things. In keeping with that reputation, Liverpool-based Bizarre Creations delivers with the fittingly titled Blur, an arcade racer that unleashes speedy, PGR-style licensed cars onto a selection of exotic circuits and entices players to bash the living crap out of each other (or the AI) with a replenishable supply of power-ups.

Bizarre must have a talented negotiator on the payroll to have convinced image-conscious car manufacturers to sign off on full, car-crushing damage modeling for the game’s 50-plus recognizable vehicles—including notables like the Dodge Viper ACR, Renault Mégane Trophy and Audi R8. Blur shocks, blasts and smashes these machines at every turn (your car is restored to gleaming newness with a time penalty after a wreck), and from my first race on, the mayhem kept me enthralled.

Bizarre didn’t code Blur’s arcade driving physics—especially the difficult-to-execute drifting mechanics—at a terribly authentic level. Precision driving immediately took a back seat to efficient power-up harvesting; I raced my selected ride through the game’s attractively rendered international venues, like the rollercoaster Hollywood hills and Barcelona’s historic and challenging cobblestone streets, desperately seeking respawning power-ups to save my own skin or rip off that of my opponents.

The single-player game revolves around a nine-chapter opus of races, time-trials and destruction events where your heroics can earn “lights” and “fans” (replacing PGR’s old kudos system) that unlock new vehicles, venues and AI bosses. I particularly liked the openness of the game’s progress tree that lets you replay past events with faster, newly acquired cars.

When it works, the 20-person multiplayer operates seamlessly, though the game’s online headcount was surprisingly thin shortly after release. To add to my loneliness, Blur doesn’t support any sort of in-game chat. Fortunately, there’s the two to four-player splitscreen mode.

Released simultaneously for the Xbox 360 and PS3, Blur’s PC edition seems hastily cobbled-together in some spots. The graphics are pleasing enough and run smoothly, but the visuals just don’t impress next to other recent games. You can also set aside that expensive racing wheel, because Blur’s limited controller support rebuffs almost everything except an Xbox 360 gamepad. The game’s MIA cockpit view, mouseless GUI screens and fixed key bindings add further angst to PC racers.

Regardless, Blur remains a thoroughly enjoyable and addictive combat racer that challenges gamers to develop a heavily caffeinated level of situational awareness. Avoiding hazards like lightning domes, homing missiles and opponent-deployed mines as you struggle to repair and shield your car—while also returning fire—can be tremendously satisfying, and the game nails these elements. A well-engineered system of rewards and unlockables (in both MP and single-player) adds truckloads of replayability.

Those Bizarre Creations folks seem to have a knack for this kind of stuff.

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Split Second Velocity

Split Second is part of Disney's initiative to take gaming more seriously. Its first attempt was with Pure, released in 2008. Two years later and Disney brings another racing game to shelves: Split Second: Velocity. It allows players to destroy parts of the racetrack in order to try and win races. But is it explosive fun, or did someone set us up the bomb?

At first glance, Split Second looks like your typical arcade racer as you speed through city centres and drift around corners. It's only when you bring down an entire building on some poor sap's car that you realise this is anything but your typical arcade racer.Interestingly, "Split Second" is the name of a TV show within the game -- presumably produced by a company with limitless resources, considering how much stuff it has a hand in destroying. Its contestants must take part in a number of events in different episodes to become the season champion.The game has some high production values -- visually it looks stunning, with beautiful environments that almost look too pretty to blow up, effective lighting, and spectacular explosions as the carnage unfolds. In fact it's one of the few games that has truly amazed me with the sheer spectacle that it creates.It's unfortunate that gameplay is something of a mixed bag. There's no denying that dropping a building on top of that smug gimp in first place is as satisfying as it is jaw dropping, but the way that the cars handle simply doesn't feel right.

Throughout the main single player mode I found that almost every car I used slipped and slid through corners. It made controlling my car irritating, especially when you've got explosions jolting your vehicle, not to mention other cars ramming your exhaust. It's unfortunate, because it really detracts from what could be an amazing racer.Additionally the single player mode suffers from serious repetition -- you're going to find yourself driving the  same tracks time and time again. After a while the limited selection of 12 raceways starts to feel stale.And not to whinge too much, but the AI opponents always feel like they have an advantage over you. No matter how well you drive, no matter how perfectly you time your power-ups, the AI will always be able to magically catch up to you. I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow when an AI 4-by-4 simply flew past my fancy sports car going at full speed. The fact that you can't change the difficulty of the AI opponents in Season Mode only makes things more irritating, and it may intimidate the more casual gamer.By the end credits I felt a sense of relief, rather than a sense of accomplishment. To be perfectly honest the single player mode completely outstays its welcome, suffering from repetition, questionable driving mechanics and what feels like a heavy bias towards the AI opponents.It's a good job, then, that the game is much more enjoyable when you're playing against real people in online multiplayer races. The same questionable handling mechanics in the single player remain, but the experience is much less frustrating because everybody is in the same "skill boat" as you.It could benefit from some tweaking, however. I believe that the game needs a voting system that allows players to pick the racetrack they want to play on, rather than being stuck with whatever's chosen for you.

Another major oversight is the lack of a replay mode. Replay modes are common in racing games, and the fact that Split Second doesn't have one is a huge shame. Given the spectacle of the game, a replay mode with the ability to take screenshots would have allowed for some awesome community-created content and would have helped to put the game on-par with other top racing games, such asProject Gotham Racing or Forza Motorsport.The topic of community created content brings me on to my next point: player customisation. Again, the ability to customise your car is a common feature in racing games -- especially in arcade racers such as Need For Speed. Instead, all you have to customise your car with is a handful of paint jobs. Weak.Overall, Split Second is a great idea poorly executed. With other superb titles on offer it makes it hard to recommend it as a full-price purchase. It's certainly worth renting, or buying once the price has dropped. But if you really need a new racing game you should wait and see how Blur fares in our review first.

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