Raj Agrawal – Page 20

Max Payne 3 Doesn’t Feel Like Max Payne At All…

May 10, 2012 by Raj Agrawal 5 Comments

Max Payne 3 is just around the corner. The third entry in Rockstar’s beloved franchise is looking like another hit in their collection. Rockstar has a history of making good stories, and this one looks no different. And we’ve missed bullet time, so it’s about time we get back to playing with time and wasting bullets along the way. But somehow, with the visuals and trailers, Max Payne 3 doesn’t feel like what we’ve come to expect from Max Payne; rather it feels like a completely different game, which leaves me a little disappointed.

The original Max Payne had put the players in a world which came to life in the depths of darkness. Darkness is what comes to mind when we talk about Max Payne; it has become synonymous with the series. And it’s not just a game mechanism, it is to beautifully-exaggerate Payne’s state of mind, and has been executed flawlessly in the first game. The second game ups the ante even further by taking madness to a completely different level. Hallucinations and nightmares ensue, which turn the game into more of a movie, better than most movies out there with similar story-lines.

And this is what I want to stress about the third part. It lacks the atmosphere. Okay, the trailer looks awesome, and the game might turn out to be a masterpiece. It also has multiplayer, which should be fun given the Bullet time element which will come into play. But still, it feels more like the game lacks a main ingredient that made the first two games so unique. Slowing time is a trademark feature of the series, but it has been implemented by many games out there. But what those many games don’t have is the setting and the eerie nature of the story. Max Payne 3 seems to have lost it as well.

On the bright side, the shooting mechanics are looking better than ever, and the player now has a multitude of options to handle each firefight. The classic 360 degrees action elements have been enhanced as well, in order to provide a more realistic feeling, while at the same time keep the fun intact. The graphics are looking spectacular. This might well end up becoming one of the best looking games out there. And the classic Max Payne sound track is there. It’s all there. It has all the makings of a great game, barring the one thing I might end up missing the most.

At the end of the day, it’s just a shot in the dark. What we have seen are just previews, which don’t signify what the full game might be like. Rockstar may be voluntarily hiding the atmospheric moments, so that we experience them first-hand without any spoilers. But of course, as a hardcore Max Payne fan, I can’t but express my concern from whatever I have seen until now. Whether it holds any value or not, only time will tell (which is ironical given how controllable time actually is in the game).

The New Galaxy – A Major Collapse At First Sight

May 7, 2012 by Raj Agrawal Leave a Comment

Though it started off as a small venture by an ex-employee of Apple Inc. and later on acquired by Google, Android has now become a tool that device manufacturers heavily rely on and software developers capitalize on. Android has succeeded the existence of several entities in the mobile phone ecosystem. Starting off from its incubation and following the alphabetical desserts/sweet treats – Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, Froyo (frozen yogurt), Gingerbread, Honeycomb and Ice Cream Sandwich, there has been a steady growth in its market presence. The current success can obviously be attributed to Google’s smart move of creating the OHA(Open Handset Alliance) and the Open Source Approach(AOSP).

Samsung Galaxy S3 Camera Shot. Courtesy: Engadget

Apart from what’s mentioned above, there have been certain eccentric major ground breaking innovations that has helped Android stand out from other participants (or be the only participant) in the smartphone’s reality show. Samsung, a vital member of the OHA, despite of creating mass market offerings varying on price points, handsets, OS’s have been successful in creating a few top notch premium category devices that has captivated the audiences worldwide (S1,S2). Though a major part of the credit goes to the Google’s mobile OS market leader Android, a major part also goes to Samsung for its technological finesse.

Even though there were several device manufacturers offering several options to choose from, there existed a revolutionary device that changed today’s smartphone scenario, one that took the smartphone standards to the next level and outmatched customers expectation. When we thought of a device that’s fast, powerful & vivid, most of us would agree that it was none other than the Samsung Galaxy S2. Unarguably (the most successful Android phone since the existence of Android and risen from a successful predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy S), it stimulated not only Androids but also Samsung’s market presence. Packed under the hood a super fast dual core processor, massive 1GB RAM, huge and lavish Super AMOLED Plus display, astonishing 8 megapixel camera coupled with an amazing 2 megapixel front camera, huge phone memory (16GB built-in plus 32GB ext) and a amazingly slim and light design.

The S2, not only made us think over replacing our current device but had us keenly awaited for the immediate successor to this game changing player. A year passed while the New Galaxy was in the works. On the 3rd of May 2012, the day several Samsung users worldwide eagerly awaited while competitors feared. Press conferences were held, curtains dropped, users hooked onto their PCs, eager to get a peek into what will next occupy their pocket space.

On the first look there were shouts of disappointment (seeing quite an ordinary design for a phone of that caliber), but the whole inspired by nature act which seemed laughable at the first look, was believable post the presentation videos of the amazing fast and fluid display, interface and functions preloaded into the device, some tweaked and some never seen before.

As we know, like every successful device, the Galaxy S3 has its pros and cons.

Where it meets our expectations

4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED with Gorilla Glass 2
1.4 GHz Exynos 4 Quad Processor (Quad-core)
Rear 8-megapixel Camera(AF+HDR) + Front 1.9 Megapixel Camera
133-gram in weight with 8.6mm thickness
2,100mAh battery
1080p playback
NFC technology with Wi-Fi Direct
Android Beam – It allows an NFC enabled device to push an NDEF message by tapping the two devices together. Basically, it enables the convenience of tossing multimedia between phone just by just tapping each other.
Smart Stay – Should we claim this one genius add-on? When the phone screen turns off with the pre-set timer, this phone will actually read your eye movements (with the front camera) and turn the screen on to avoid annoyances. Now that’s a step up!
S Voice – A Siri like feature from Samsung
Android 4.0 ICS
The owners of Samsung Galaxy S3 get 50GB of free Dropbox storage

Where it falters

The design could have been more contemporary.
Too much power which is yet not harnessed completely by most apps out there, while the need has not been yet established. Or has it?

Whether it will live up to match the achievements of its predecessor is yet to be seen. What is your opinion?

Games That You’ll Probably Miss, But You Shouldn’t: The Walking Dead Episode One

May 2, 2012 by Raj Agrawal Leave a Comment

“The year 2012 is going to be a great year for video-games”. I don’t know how many times i’ve said this. But it’s turning out to be a fact; one which makes me happy and excited. And as such, there is the possibility of that odd game totally passing under your radar. The game might not be popular on the hype meter, or it just might not look good in the previews. One such game which totally surprised me is The Walking Dead episode One.

First of all this is not your typical Zombie slaying game. So if you’re expecting something akin to Left 4 Dead, don’t give this game a try. It’s based on the critically acclaimed television series, and hence its focus is more on the story and the characters than on the zombies. It’s a character driver game where you interact with the world around you and unravel the story. And Telltale game studios have done an excellent job of recreating the world as shown to us by its television counterpart.

The major highlights of the game are the solid story and the immersive graphics. The graphics are especially impressive, and coupled with the brilliant set-pieces, really bring the game to life. Again, I did not really expect the game to be this good, and so I had to play the game twice just to ensure that I wasn’t getting carried away! That does not mean that it does not have its flaws. The game lacks good puzzles; a game such as this needs some puzzles to keep the entertainment factor going throughout. The other thing that I didn’t like is the low level of difficulty. Difficulty makes the game even more entertaining. Well, I guess Dark Souls has spoiled me.

Overall, I feel The Walking Dead is an amazing achievement. It does not have the hype or the funding, but Telltale games have created a shocker of a good game which will be an underground sensation and will be talked about for years to come. And this is just the first episode. More are coming, which just adds to the excitement. This year just keeps getting better!

Gameplay