Preview: Silent Hill 5

340w ago - We have an excerpt from EGM's interview with lead artist Brian Horton and lead designer Jason Allen of The Collective, as well as a video preview of the game with the first footage and a video interview featuring Konami's Akira Yamaoka. Read on for the interview, and head over to our Silent Hill 5 video page for the video preview and Yamaoka interview.

EGM: As a Silent Hill fan, when I heard that a Western team was taking it over, automatically skepticism, trepidation... "How are they going to destroy my beloved franchise? What are they going to do to it? Is it going to be a first-person shooter?" But instead of that, I think you guys -- from what I've seen -- are staying true to the original heritage but evolving it. What was your approach to making this game?

BH: On an art side, obviously we want to maintain what everyone... I mean everyone knows that Silent Hill is known for its high quality assets. So we wanted to make sure we maintain the atmosphere, the strong characters, the rich environments... So for my job, it was just to make sure I could take the spirit of what was done in the past and really bring it forward with the next generation system.

JA: From a design perspective it's the same thing. If...

FIFA 08 Preview for PS3

341w ago - We're not going to crown FIFA 08 just yet, but after spending more hands-on time with it than David Beckham's spent on-field for the LA Galaxy, prospects look good. After a dozen games, we decided to look back at last year's review of FIFA 07, just to see what the developers didn't fix. After all, FIFA tends to dupe the U.S. press with its glamour every year, but ends up being a 10-game experience before you toss the controller and just turn the game on to listen to the soundtrack. So, here are quotes from last year's review and our responses after playing 08:

"...there are only six league licenses at work, instead of the 28 on current gen." Now there are 30.

"...there are only 37 international teams (out of a possible 194)." This is an omission that stands, but there are only 43 teams, now -- no Ghana, no Israel, no Iran.

"...there are no tournaments." 08 has a tournament creator that allows you to get complicated tourneys, like a full-blown Champion's League.

"...current-gen FIFA made a next-gen type of leap with its new online system, but here it's head-to-head, and that's it." The online component in this year's game is quite incredible -- full online leagues in addition to last year's interactive leagues, and the ability to play 5-on-5 with nine other people around the...

Burnout Paradise Preview for PS3

341w ago - Thankfully not content with a shinier sequel, Criterion is reinventing its fabled racing franchise for this generation of consoles (the Burnout Revenge 360 port was more of a facelift). Gone are the linear tracks and tiered level structure; Burnout Paradise takes place in one enormous city that's open from the start and never stops to load. And lest you fret, the game still blazes by at 60 frames a second, the buttery-smooth visuals complemented by cars that crumple more convincingly than ever. The series is still about viscerally destructive driving, and the audio-visual impact of hitting a wall at 200 m.p.h. is as "next-gen" as anything we've experienced.

Paradise makes the most of its open-world structure, assuring that it's more than just a gimmick or several levels strung together. The game encourages you to learn the map, and familiarize yourself with where the major landmarks are (most races end at one of them). Every street has a name, and street signs pop up on the HUD to show you which intersections you pass. Trusting your navigation skills and penchant for experimenting, some races simply give you an ending point marked only with an arrow on the horizontal compass on the top of your screen. Always knowing your orientation to the finish point but never the best route there is a welcome change from checkpoint...

Condemned 2: Bloodshot preview!

341w ago - Monolith Productions is a developer in a prime position to shed some light on the situation, having achieved critical and retail success with their launch title Condemned: Criminal Origins, and working on their follow-up with the upcoming sequel, Condemned 2: Bloodshot. "There is a certain satisfaction in taking on major challenges and overcoming them -- and this was definitely a major challenge. Sega also wanted us to hit the launch date... [and] gave us great testing and localization support to help make sure that we did hit our dates," says producer David Hasle, who later adds, "We knew that being present at launch would provide us more time to get more game titles developed internally at Monolith Productions for the 360 over the course of the lifespan of the 360 so this was seen as a good business decision. Plus being one of six or seven games is better than being one of 50 or 60 games on the shelf at your local game store."

The making of Condemned 2 is not just about redressing past mistakes, but also about implementing new features with the intention of enriching the gameplay experience. A prime example includes the inclusion of multiplayer gameplay, a particularly intriguing gesture considering the visceral experience that Condemned's combat engine imposes on the player in that first-person beat-them-to-a-pulp...

NHL 2K8 Preview!

341w ago - The NHL 2K series seemed, just a few short years ago, like a dynasty in the making. But after EA's NHL 07 launched the skill stick, 2K's series felt dated. Trying to play catch-up this year NHL 2K8 has completely revamped controls...and they're absolutely confusing. Even after a few games of hands-on time, we were passing when we meant to shoot, deking when we meant to shoot, and on rare occasion shooting when we meant to shoot.

The basics aren't that difficult: deke with the right stick, pass with LB, and shoot with RB. Easy, right? If that was all, yes. The complications come when you're speed bursting with the right trigger, or super speed bursting with the A button. You slap shot with the left trigger and RB. All those button presses get very confusing, and more often than we liked we passed up on the chance to wallop a slap shot because we couldn't sort the necessary combination in a sport that requires split-second decisions. (All control mentions are for the Xbox 360 version.)

Though there were other reasons the slap shot didn't happen; mostly, the game is way, way too deliberate. Shooting, passing, receiving the puck -- all of it happens way too slowly. Again, hockey is a split-second sport. If you can't rip off a slapper in a hurry, you're going to miss the chance. And the hitting is like a WWE...
