Igamek

Star Wars: The Old Republic Beginner’s Guide

igamek — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 10:58:04 +0000

This guide is a basic, beginner’s guide aimed at players who aren’t familiar with the mechanics of the Bounty Hunter class. This guide will try to answer some of the commonly asked questions about the Bounty Hunter and its two advanced classes the Powertech and Mercenary. This guide also has some basic, suggested build guides both for PvE and PvP.

Ultimately this is just a guide to some of the class mechanics. It’s not going to discuss crafting, the Bounty Hunter’s story or companions.

Contents

1: Frequently Asked Questions

2: Resource System

3: Advanced Classes

Powertech

Mercenary

4: Talent Build Suggestions

5: Miscellaneous

Frequently Asked Questions:

Shield Specialist vs. Juggernaut or Assassin: Which tank is the best?

Spoiler

Really, there isn’t a best tank. Powertechs have successfully tanked all of the content in the game, all of the Flashpoints (both normal and heroic) as well as Vault of Eternity on Normal, Heroic and Nightmare. The Powertech is able to tank the content of SWtOR just fine. So in light of that, what are some of the pro’s and con’s of the Powertech tank vs. the Juggernaut or Assassin tank?

Pros

The big pro is range. For the Juggernaut and Assassin the bulk of their attacks are in the Melee (4 meter) to Close (10 meter) range, with a handful of Long (30 meter) range attacks scattered in here and there. With the Powertech, the bulk of their attacks are in the Close to Long range with only a handful of Melee attacks. While ideally the Powertech is going to be melee range – your most important attack is Rocket Punch, this gives the Powertech a lot of different ways to open up on a group of enemies or to grab aggro on targets that are far away.

Keep in mind that despite this advantage, and despite what the Bioware developers once said, the Powertech is not a ranged tank. It is certainly capable of more range than the Assassin or Juggernaut, but ultimately it is still a melee tank and you are going to want to spend most of your time in melee range.

The second pro for the Powertech tank is Grapple/Jet Charge. Juggernauts get Force Charge, which lets them leap onto a far away target. Assassins get Force Pull which lets them pull an enemy right up to them. If specced for it, the Shield Tech can easily get both pull and charge, which gives them a few more options, especially in PvP.

The third pro is the focus on shields. Powertechs rely on shield absorbs a bit more than the other two tank classes. While they get hit a little more frequently, this also tends to make the incomming damage a bit smoother and less spiky. That in turn puts a little less pressure on your healers. This isn’t a major deal, but some groups tend to prefer tanks that take a bit less spike damage.

Cons

The biggest cons to the Powertech tank are your “Oh Crap!” buttons. Frankly, your tanking cooldowns as a Powertech blow. They’re abilities that are much better used proactively than reactively.

The first is Energy Shield. This reduces all damage you take by 25% for 12 seconds. If you wait until you’re at 10% or 15% health to pop this, you’re probably going to die. You need to use Energy Shield before you take spike damage; using it afterwards won’t help very much.

The second cooldown we get is Kolto Overload. This heals you for 15% of your health over 10 seconds. To put it into numbers, if you have a maximum of 14,000 health, it will be healing you for 210 damage every second (2100 total). Consider that most raid bosses hit for around 1000-2000 normally, and Nightmare ones are hitting for up to 4000 or more! Since the healing from this comes out rather slow, it might not help much at all, especially if you waited until you’re low on health to use it. Like Energy Shield you need to use it before you take spike damage.

The third cooldown Shield Techs get is Oil Slick. This reduces nearby enemies accuracy by 20% for 18 seconds. Traditionally, RNG (random number generated; it basically means that it’s a roll of the dice) defensive cooldowns are bad for tanks because you can’t rely on them. You could use Oil Slick and the boss could miss his next 10 hits on you. You could use Oil Slick and the boss could land his next 10 hits on you. You could not use Oil Slick and the boss could miss all his attacks anyway. It’s all just a matter of luck.

Juggernauts get an ability that instantly increases their health by 30% for 10 seconds and heals them for that amount. They also get an ability that reduces all incoming damage by 40% for 10 seconds. Assassins get an ability that effectively makes them immune to most attacks for 3 seconds, and another that increases their melee and ranged defences by 50% for 12 seconds. Those are much more powerful cooldowns as compared to the Powertech ones for those “Oh Crap!” moments.

The other major con to the class is grabbing snap aggro. If a group of adds is rushing in and Death From Above is on cooldown, there’s not much we can do. We can throw an Explosive Dart on one of the enemies – but if he gets separated from the group (due to healing or DPS aggro or crowd control) it will make things messy as we have to pick the group members up one by one. The other tanks have some slightly better tools for grabbing snap aggro on enemies.

Conclusion:

In the end, the Powertech has some benefits and some drawbacks as compared to other tanks. Certainly when it comes to “Oh Crap!” buttons, they’re definitely a bit behind the other two tanks. But, remember that based on the classes performance in the beta, it’s clear that the Powertech is fully capable of tanking all of the end game material. Many groups and guilds even claim to have preferred Powertechs to the other tanks. If you decide to tank on a Powertech don’t worry that people won’t want you around once you hit 50.

Shield Specialist vs. Mercenary: Which Advanced Class does the most DPS?

One common misconception that keeps popping up is that the Mercenary does more damage than the Powertech. It doesn’t; remember that there is no auto-attack in the game. Each ability does a set amount of damage. Mercenary abilities require 2 pistols, but that doesn’t mean they necessarily do more damage than a Powertech. A Merc ability might require two guns and deal 400-500 damage. A Powertech ability would only require gun, but could do the same amount damage.

The Powertech is more of a melee DPS while the Mercenary is a ranged DPS. Further, the Mercenary is fairly stationary – many of its attacks have activation times, so you’ll need to stand still and cast them for extending periods. In contrast the Powertech is more mobile. Almost all of its attacks are instant.

Overall, if a Powertech and Mercenary are both specced into a DPS tree, neither will have any major advantage over the other. Finally, Bioware made it very clear that it wants all DPS trees for every AC to be within 5% DPS of one another. If the Mercenary does end up radically out-damaging the Powertech, expect that to change very quickly.

What stats does the Bounty Hunter use?

The Bounty Hunter Advanced Classes, both the Powertech and the Mercenary, use Aim as their primary stat. It’s the only one that you should be focusing on. Aim increases the effectiveness of all of your attacks as well as your healing abilities (for Mercenaries). Cunning only increases a few of your abilities, and Strength/Willpower do virtually nothing. If you equip gear with +Cunning, +Strength or +Willpower you’ll only be hurting yourself, since Aim is far, far better stat for the Bounty Hunter.

For secondary stats, Defence, Absoprtion, Armor and Shield are only useful for a Shield Tech. These are entirely defensive focused statistics.

Alacrity, which lowers ability activation times, is useless for a Powertech (almost all of their abilities are instant), but marginally more useful for a Mercenary, whether DPS or Heal specced. You need a fair amount to make a noticeable difference, and you also have be careful with it. Alacrity basically lets you activate abilities faster – if you’re not careful, and just spam your abilities faster, that can mean that you’ll Overheat very quickly. Generally, the best course is to use the extra time you get from high Alacrity to weave Rapid Shots into your rotation.

Accuracy, which allows you to hit your enemies more often will be useful for all specs save for Bodyguards (even Shield Techs will benefit, since landing more hits means generating more threat). Power, Crit and Surge will be useful for all specs.

Finally, Presence increases your Companion’s performance. This will be handy for all specs while soloing, though useless at end game, where you won’t have your companions out.

Can you become a Mandalorian?

Yes, at the end of Chapter 1 you can become a Mandalorian.

Resource System:

Of special note is the Resource system that the Bounty Hunter uses. This system is called Heat. It operates a little differently from the sort of resource system that you see in most MMOs. As you use attacks, you gain heat. Once you reach 100% heat, you won’t be able to use any of your attacks, other than your Rapid Shots, and you will only be able to use a few other heatless abilities such as Neural Dart.

Your Heat slowly bleeds off over time. If you stop using attacks that generate Heat, your Heat will eventually return to zero. Where this system gets complicated is, the more Heat you have, the slower it dissipates.

From 0-39% heat, you’ll be dissipating 5 points of Heat every second. From 40%-79% you’re dissipating 3 heat per second. From 80%-100% heat, you’ll only be dissipating 2 points of Heat every second. Barring cooldowns or talents, it takes just over 30 seconds for your Heat to go from 100% to 0%. Clearly, it’s better for you to try and keep your Heat low for as long as possible rather than spamming a bunch of abilities at once, overheating, and then having to sit there and wait.

You do get Vent Heat, which lowers your current heat rating by 50 every 2 minutes. And many specs get an ability or two that can proc heat venting. Still, it’s a resource that you’ll need to pay attention to, especially in PvP. Overheating can cause major problems, and a big part of the Bounty Hunter class is to maximize your efficiency while juggling your Heat mechanic.

Advanced Classes:

On reaching level 10 the Bounty Hunter can pick one of two Advanced Classes after arriving on the Imperial Fleet – those classes are the Powertech and the Mercenary. It’s important to note that, while the Mercenary uses two guns, it does not necessarily do more damage than the Power Tech.

The Bounty Hunter is a powerful class. Like the Sith Inquisitor, one of its Advanced Classes, the Powertech, is capable of tanking while the other Advanced class, the Mercenary, is capable of healing. In addition, both the Powertech and Mercenary are fully capable of fulfilling DPS roles in raids and PvP.

The section below takes a closer look at the two Advanced Classes as well as a general overview of their three talent trees. Specific talents are mentioned if there’s anything that needs to be noted.

Powertech:
The Powertech is a class with close ranged attacks and a moderate amount of long range capability. It has a tank tree and two DPS trees. Its DPS trees are fully competitive with the DPS trees of the other seven classes.

One of the Powertech’s signature moves is Grapple, which grabs an opponent and drags it to the Powertech. This is handy in PvP, since you’ll want to be in melee range, but it will be especially useful in Huttball for dragging enemy ball carriers. You can also use it to drag people through the hazards, often killing them.

Another ability Powertechs get is Quell, which is a melee range 4 second interrupt on an 8 second cooldown which can be reduced down to 6 seconds.

Shield Specialist:
This the tank tree for the Powertech. This tree is fully capable of tanking all of the end game raid content. During the beta, Powertech tanks successfully tanked all of the Heroic Flashpoints, as well as all Normal, Heroic and (non-bugged) Nightmare bosses in Eternity Vault.

While there were some developer quotes from last year suggesting that the Powertech would be a long-range tank, the reality is a bit far from that. The Powertech does have access to long range attacks and can, in theory, briefly tank an enemy at range. But ultimately the Powertech will want to be in melee range – Rocket Punch, a melee attack, is the most important attack for the Shield Specialist, and so you’ll want to be using it as often as possible.

Most of the Shield Specialists’ mitigation comes from their ability to Shield attacks, and they get several bonuses in their talents that give them procs for shield or that increase their chance to shield. The Cylinder that Shield Specialists will want to use is the Ion Gas Cylinder. They cannot use their Guard ability without having the Ion Gas Cylinder equipped. For more information about Guard, see the Miscellaneous section at the bottom of the guide.

Talent Skill Notes:

Jet Charge: This works just like Force Leap. If you use it on someone who is within range but at a higher elevation, you will jump up and land next to him.

Heat Blast: This looks like a underwhelming ability at first glance. It does pretty insignificant damage and has a 15 second cooldown. On the plus side, it instantly depletes 8 points of Heat when you use it. This comes out to a total depletion of around .53 points of Heat every second. If your Heat is in the 0%-40% range, that’s an increase of just over 10% on your average Heat depletion. If you’re in the 80%-100% Heat range, that’s an increase of over 20% on your average Heat Depletion.

Further, it’s on-demand Heat depletion. If you are sitting at 46% heat, you’ll be in the lower Heat depletion tier. You could pop Heat Blast to instantly get back down to 38% and be in the fastest depletion tier. While Heat Blast isn’t an amazing ability, it’s not completely worthless.

Rebraced Armor: Your armor rating only reduces the damage of Kinetic and Energy attacks. Internal and Elemental attacks bypass your armor completely. As such, while Rebraced Armor is a fine talent for PvE tanks, it’s not quite as good in PvP where Internal and Elemental damage is much more common.

Advanced Prototype:
This is one of the two DPS specs for the Powertech and it has a bit more of a focus on melee range. One of the abilities that this spec gets is Retractable Claw, which gives the Advanced Prototype Powertech an additional melee range attack to use. The Cylinder that this spec uses is the High Energy Gas Cylinder.

Talent Skill Notes:

Retractable Blade: This is a quick hitting, on demand DoT. Keep in mind that if someone has a DoT on them in PvP they often won’t be able to cap turrets or bombs. Also, the DoT component is internal so it bypasses armor.

Kolto Vents: First, despite what the talent description says, this ability only works when you use your Vent Heat ability – not whenever you vent heat for any reason. It also doesn’t heal for a lot. Sure it looks good at first glance; you heal 7% of your health each time you use your two minute Vent Heat ability. But, 7% health is incredibly underwhelming. Consider that if you have 12,000 health it will only heal 840 points. That turns into 84 points per second. Most damage abilities in PvP will be doing several hundred damage, if not in the thousands. The rate of healing is barely noticeable.

You’re probably better off putting your talent point into an extra attack or CC skill rather than in Kolto Vents. Even for PvP it’s really not that great of an ability. Maybe if the healing were 7% instantly it might be a bit more useful. Write a nasty letter to Bioware and maybe they’ll change it.

Pyrotech:
This is the second DPS tree that the Powertech gets. It has an additional DoT and focuses primarily on procs, using Rocket Punch and Flame Burst to reset the cooldown on Rail Shot. The tree is pretty damaging, though it’s top tier ability is somewhat controversial. The Pyrotech will be using Combustible Gas Cylinder.

Talent Skill Notes:

Integrated Cardio Package: Not a great talent, even for Shield Tech tanks. Consider that 3% extra health from 14,000 is only an extra 420 hit points; that’s barely 1/3rd of a weak hit from a raid boss. There are better places to spend 3 talent points than here. If you’re a tank spec, it’s probably better to pick up a few extra DPS talents so that you can push your threat higher and the other members of your group can go full out DPS without as much worry about pulling aggro.

Thermal Detonator: This ability shares a cooldown with Explosive Dart. It costs the same amount of Heat and has the same range. It also does more damage. But! Thermal Detonator only deals damage to one target – it’s not an AoE! So while this ability will replace Explosive Dart on bosses, you’ll most likely still be using Explosive Dart in your AoE rotation.

Degauss: During the beta I tried Pvping with a Pyrotech, both with Degauss and without it, and my playstyle caused me to not quite like Degauss as much as you might think. You may like the talent and want to take it; that’s fine. It’s a good talent, just one that I found to be a bit awkward to use.

As I said in the Powertech vs Juggernaut/Assassin section, Powertech cooldowns need to be used proactively rather than reactively. I don’t think that this idea changes in PvP. Energy Shield is a good ability, but it’s a bit subtle. It reduces damage you take by 25% for 12 seconds. That is a difference but only significant once at least eight seconds have passed. If you use it and die five seconds later, or use it and finish the fight 5 seconds later, it would have been better to have popped the ability earlier.

If you wait until you get below 50% health to activate it, you very well might not live through the full duration. Often times in group PvP, even in PUGs, people naturally tend to target players with lower health. So, ideally you want to try to keep your health as high as possible for as long as possible. Popping Energy Shield while you’re at <80% health means that you’ll probably get the full duration, unless you have 5 or 6 people attacking you at once.

During the beta, when I had Degauss, I found myself using Energy Shield less for the protection and more for the extra mobility break. I tended to hold off on using the ability, because I felt that I needed to use it at the “right” time – and there were several fights where I waited so long to use it, it didn’t make much of a difference when I finally did. I was already so low on life even with the shield and break free I died not too long afterward.

Furthermore, in group PvP you’re going to be frequently getting hit with stuns, knockdowns and immobilizers. I felt that getting Heat dissipation from Gyroscopic Alignment Jets, and getting the freedom to pop Energy Shield early in the fight rather than holding off, was a bit more useful than taking Degauss.

But, that decisions was very much a “Your Mileage May Vary” section of the build, and if you would rather take Degauss, then by all means, feel free to do so! I certainly don’t think it’s a bad talent at all. I just found that it turned Energy Shield from a pro-active cooldown into a reactive one, and I didn’t like the way that that changed my PvP playstyle.

Mercenary:
The Mercenary is the other Advanced Class that the Bounty Hunter can spec into. Its’ most noticeable trait is the fact that this class uses two pistols. The class has a Heal tree and two DPS trees. While the Powertech is ultimately a melee and close range class, the Mercenary is definitely a ranged class; you don’t want people to get into melee range with you.

Contrary to expectations, the Mercenary is actually a fairly stationary class. Many of its more important attacks have activation times. This means that the class doesn’t have as much mobility as many people tend to think it does when they first imagine the class.

As for mechanics, instead of Grapple, the Mercenary gets Jet Boost, which knocks up to 5 enemies away and then slows them for 6 seconds. It’s very useful for pushing people away from you, as well as forcing them into tactically disadvantageous positions.

Further, instead of getting an interrupt they get a long duration crowd control ability, Concussion Missile, which can incapacitate NPCs for a long period of time, though PC’s will be incapacitated for a much shorter time period.

Bodyguard:
This is the healing tree for the Mercenary. The Mercenary is a fully capable healer, able to successfully heal in PvP, Flashpoints, Raids and World PvP. The Bodyguard needs to be a little more proactive as a healer as compared to the Sorcerer or the Operative. Most of the Bounty Hunter’s heals tend to have long cast times, requiring him to stand in place. If the Bodyguard falls too far behind in healing, it can be a bit difficult for him to “catch up”. Alacrity is an important stat for a Bodyguard as it will let you cast your heals faster.

Bodyguard specced Mercenaries have successfully healed throughout the end game in beta. They do have a few problems – namely their primary focus in longer, powerful heals. This makes them fairly stationary. They also tend to run into problems if you “fall behind” on your healing; it’s not as easy for them to catch up as it is for other classes.

The two major benefits for the Bounty Hunter healer are that first, if you manage your Heat correctly, you will always have the ability to heal, and second, your Combat Support Cylinder changes your Rapid Shots so that shooting your allies will heal them. This gives you a quick, no-Heat cost heal and is useful in times where you are required to be extremely mobile. Of all the “free heals” that the healer classes get, this is certainly the best one.

Many people suggest that the Sorcerer is the best healer, and in some ways they’re right. Their Resource system is a lot more forgiving than the Bounty Hunters. If a Sorcerer has to spam burst heals, it’s not a big deal. If a Bounty Hunter has to do the same, he will drive his Heat meter up into the slow dissipation zone and have difficulty regaining his tempo.

But, a Sorcerer will inevitably run out of Force points for healing, whereas if a Bounty Hunter is careful with his Heat, he can potentially heal forever; still, this might not be a huge benefit. Most end game bosses have strict enrage timers, so even if a Mercenary could heal for 20 minutes straight, it doesn’t mean that he’ll ever realistically be able to do so.

Still, as pointed out earlier, Mercenaries have successfully healed all of the content in the game. If you want to play a Bodyguard, more power to you. Don’t let people tell you that you’re going to be a fail healer or useless at end game. You won’t be.

Talent Skill Notes:

Kolto Missile: It’s not a fantastic AoE heal. You won’t be able to get by in instances just spamming this ability. You’ll frequently find yourself using it more for the +10% buff on targets than the actual heal. You’ll generally want to keep the buff up on the tank at all times.

Supercharged Gas: An important ability for the Bounty Hunter, Supercharged Gas changes your playstyle a bit when you activate it. Getting 30 charges of your Combat Support Cylinder isn’t too difficult. You can shoot allies during downtime between pulls or before the start of a PvP match. Knowing when you use this ability is very important, especially in PvP. While it does allow you to spam Healing Scan, keep in mind that you’ll overheat very quickly if you try to do that.

Arsenal:
The Arsenal tree tends to obviously be the most popular one for DPSing Mercenaries. This is a ranged spec that boosts many of your attacks but more importantly grants you some new ones. The signature ability in this tree is Tracer Missile, which can reduce the target’s armor by up to 20% if you keep the debuff up. This spec will be very popular in raiding environments due to this particular debuff. This spec will be using High Velocity Gas Cylinder.

Talent Skill Notes:

Tracer Missile: Get used to the animation. You’re going to be spamming it. A lot. This is by far the most important ability for an Arsenal Mercenary – you need to use it every 15 seconds in order to keep the debuff going.

Pyrotech:
Basically everything about the Powertech’s Pyrotech tree applies here, except that the Mercenary Pyrotech is a long ranged DPS class instead of short ranged. Rather than using Rocket Punch and Heat Blast to proc Rail Shots, you’ll be using Power Shot and Unload.

Talent Build Suggestions:

Making a good build is not too hard – the talent trees in SWtOR are not particularly difficult to get a handle on. Generally speaking, if you’re looking to DPS, pick a talent tree and put 31 points into it. If you want to DPS in PvE then focus on talents that increase your raw statistics and the damage that your abilities do. Talents that increase your crowd control abilities are usually not worth it in a PvE spec.

If you’re looking to DPS with a PvP spec, then you’ll want to pick up some of the crowd control talents while sacrifice the “worst” damage talents. That’s a bit trickier to balance.

I’m not going to claim that these are the “best” builds you can make for a Bounty Hunter, but, they’re definitely not going to be ineffective. These builds will be useful at whatever they’re supposed to do (tank, heal or DPS) and if you use one of these builds or a similar one, you shouldn’t have anybody complaining about your spec. Not that they will; nobody can look at your spec right now anyway.

Without parsers or DPS meters it’s impossible to say what build will do the most damage. There are also frequently places in each build where you have to put points into a skill that may or may not be overly useful for your talent spec. If you want to move some points around, feel free; again, these are just some suggestions.

Keep one important thing in mind – the Bioware developers said that they do not want to see hybrid builds viable for end-game PvE. I’ve primarily focused on “pure” builds because I figure that if a particular hybrid build ends up becoming particularly powerful at end-game, Bioware will nerf or buff the trees to make finishing the tree more attractive than jumping into another.

So if you do end up liking a particular hybrid build, don’t get too attached to it, it might not be viable in another month or two.

Powertech Builds

Shield Tech

Shield Tech PvE build:

The last two points in this build were put into Iron Fist. I think having an extra 8% damage on your primary, single target attack will be more useful at end game for threat generation purposes. But, Advanced Tools is not a bad talent either – it reduces the cooldown on both Flamethrower and Grapple. If you decide you’re having a bit more trouble with AoE threat then Advanced Tools might be more useful to you.

Shield Tech PvP build:

This is a build built for PvP tanking. Keep in mind that you can only use Guard while you have Ion Gas Cylinder active. Further, while Guarding a player, any damage that is done to you is treated as an attack, which means you can shield against it. For more information Guard, see the Miscellaneous section below.

This is a build meant for survivability in PvP plus maximum amount of crowd control. No Escape gives your Grapple a chance to immobilize your target for 3 seconds (great for pulling someone in to the hazards in Huttball). Advanced Tools lowers your Grapple cooldown by 10 seconds.

As I said up in the Powertech Shield Tech section, armor reduces Energy damage and Kinetic damage, but does nothing for Elemental damage or Internal damage. In PvP Elemental and Internal damage are both fairly common. Increasing your armor by 16% is not nearly as useful in PvP as it is in PvE. That’s why this build skipped the two points in Rebraced Armor.

You’ll notice that I chose Retractable Blade for this build instead of Heat Blast. One of the problems with the Shield Tech build is that you don’t have many DoT abilities, and to use Rail Shot the target either needs to be CC’d or needs to be DoT’ed. Ion Overload gives your Rocket Punch a 100% chance to place a DoT on the target. But, if your Rocket Punch misses or if you need to retarget afterwards, you might not be able to get another Rail Shot off.

Retractable Blade gives you an on-demand DoT. Plus, DoTs are great for preventing people from capping turrets in Alderaan. I feel Retractable Blade will be more useful for a PvP Shield Tech than Heat Blast.

Advanced Prototype

Advanced Prototype PvE build:

This is a basic PvE DPS build. Get into melee range, get Retractable Blade on the target and go to town. There were a couple of points left to play with. I liked the idea of having 2 points in Hitman. In many MMOs there are encounters where interrupting an enemy is important, so having a 6 second interrupt instead of an 8 second interrupt is very handy. If you want, you could probably take a point out and put it into Power Armor for less damage or one of the other abilities if you really wanted it.

Advanced Prototype PvP build:

This was a tough build. There were some useful talents I ended up not taking. In PvP, Flame Thrower is a lot harder to use. In many MMO’s, people tend to move around (or hop around) which makes catching people in the cone for more than one tick difficult. That’s why I skipped Prototype Flamethrower.

Other than that though, it’s pretty similar to the PvE build.

Pyrotech

Pyrotech PvE build:

This spec focuses heavily on using Rocket Punch and Flame Burst to reset the cooldown on Rail Shot. So, while it does have some ranged ability, you’ll still want to be up in melee in order to get those procs. Again, pretty straight forward. Pay attention to your procs, keep up your Incendiary Missile and use Thermal Detonator on strong, solo enemies.

Pyrotech PvP build:

It’s almost identical to the PvE build. The only difference is removing two points from Rapid Venting and putting them in Sweltering Heat and moving the point from Rail Loaders into Power Armor (though that last one is entirely up to you, whether you prefer better survivability or a bit more DPS). Sweltering Heat is a powerful ability for snaring enemies. With Superheated Gas, your Rapid Shots has around a 40% chance to snare your enemy for 2 seconds. It’s great to use on people who are trying to run from you.

Hybrid Builds

Advanced Prototype/Pyrotech Hybrid PvP build:
This is a popular and intriguing looking build for PvP. There is a lot of synergy between the talents. Rocket Punch has a 45% chance to reset and trigger a free Rail Shot as well as a 25% chance to make your next Rail Shot crit. Flame Burst has a 30% chance to reset and trigger a free Rail Shot as well as a 30% chance to make your next Rocket Punch free. Claw has a 25% chance to make your next Rail Shot crit.

This is a proc heavy build; you’ll be using Rocket Punch and Flame Burst and Claw to try and trigger procs off of one another. Hydraulic Overrides gives you some nice mobility, letting you get maximum melee uptime on targets. Incendiary Missile gives some nice ranged damage against targets you can’t catch up to.

Mercenary Builds

Bodyguard

Bodyguard PvE build:

This is a basic PvE healer build. It’s got all the necessary talent points for maximum PvE healing. I thought Powered Dampers were a bit more useful than the other talents, though Power Shield would not be too bad; there might occasionally be fights where enemies interrupt your healing. If so, then putting a point into Power Shield would be a good idea.

Still, there aren’t too many free points left floating around for you to play with, so if you want to play around, be careful what you take points out of.

Bodyguard PvP build:

This one is tricky and has a bit of wiggle room. Emergency Scan is a nice heal, but it has a 21 second cooldown. That’s an eternity in PvP and I can understand why some people might not want to take it. Certainly it makes the option if a hybrid build, where you pick up Tracer Missile for some extra DPS, plus for the debuff, appealing. But, the heat you build up from attacking means it’ll be that much harder to heal. I would recommend just going with a full healer spec, like the PvE build, but making sure to get that point in Power Shield.

Arsenal

Arsenal PvE build:

For this build, you’ll basically just use Tracer Missile to spam the hell out of your target. Make sure to get 5 heat signatures up, then use Tracer Missile often enough to keep the stack rolling. You’ll want to use Rail Shot and Heat Seeker Missiles after getting 5 stacks of Tracer Lock and whenever they come up for cooldown. Throw in your other abilities when you can, being careful not to overheat. It’s pretty straightforward.

Arsenal PvP build:

Again, fairly similar to the PvE build. The basic idea is the same, but it’s a little easier to escape, thanks to Jet Escape. Further, Pinning Fire is handy in PvP. The last point went into Gyroscopic Alignment Jets – it’s still only a 50% chance, but still; you’re going to get CC’d quite a bit in PvP and it will be nice to get rid of some heat when you do. There are quite a few points you can move around with this PvP spec, so if you want to boost something somewhere, don’t worry about taking something out to put it somewhere else.

Pyrotech

Pryotech PvE build:

Basic Pyrotech build. It operates a lot like the Powertech version. You’ll be using Powershot and Unload to look for free Rail Shot procs. There really aren’t too many places for you to move points around with this particular build. Most everything is already in a good spot. Maybe you could fit a pair of points into Degauss, but that’s more of a PvP ability. You generally shouldn’t be having too many mobility issues in end game PvE.

Pryotech PvP build:

Basically the same thing as the PvE build, just with two points moved into Sweltering Heat – that’s going to be very handy in PvP. Every time you use Rapid Shots you’ll have around a 40% to trigger a two second snare. The usefulness for that in PvP can’t be overstated. Rapid Shots is an ability you’ll be using fairly frequently in order to avoid over-heating. It was tough to choose what to move – I decided to take the points out of Rapid Venting, but if you like that ability it won’t be too bad if you move the points out of something else.

Miscellaneous:

This section breaks down some of the abilities for the Bounty Hunter, with things that I happened to notice during the beta. I posted this earlier on the forums before the wipe, so you might have already read this section.

Neural Dart (and later Sonic Missile):
If you’re a selfish player who likes getting points, then regardless of whether you are a Shield Specialist, Advanced Prototype or a Pyrotech, you want to be using taunts every time they come off cooldown. Your taunts place a debuff on an opponent that reduces the damage they deal by 30% for 6 seconds or until they attack you. Keep in mind that currently, if the player catches you with any damage, including AoE damage, the taunt debuff will get dispelled. Likewise if they got a DoT on you and then you taunt them, when the DoT ticks the taunt debuff will be dispelled.

Why use a taunt? Simple – all of the damage that is “negated” by a taunt is added to your Protection score. If your Protection score is high enough, you’ll get bonus medals. That means more rewards at the end of the match. In many matches, just by using Neural Dart frequently, I was able to get the first two Protection medals. An extra 2 medals a match adds up to a lot of rewards over the course of dozens of PvP matches.

Just as importantly, if there aren’t any actual Tanks in the match, you very well might end up at the top of the Protection meter. There are players who use that meter to decide who to give their MVP vote to. Further, those extra medals you get might put you at the top of the Medal meter, and there are players who use that to determine their MVP vote.

Neural Dart and Sonic Missile have a 30 meter range and don’t cost any Heat. Further, Neural Dart is not on the GCD! Use it every time it pops up. It costs you nothing. It’s basically free points for you – the more often you taunt, the more rewards you get. Regardless of your spec, you’ll be wanting to use your taunts when you can… well, assuming you’re a selfish person who likes getting rewards.

Guard:
For you Shield Specialist Powertechs, here are some common sense notes about Guard. You use this ability on another player and 1/2 of the damage they take is transferred to you. As a special note, this damage is treated as if were an attack against you. That means it is mitigated by your armor and resistances, plus you have a chance to Shield against the damage as well.

Guard is a new ability that doesn’t have a direct counterpart in World of Warcraft. There are going to be a lot of people in SWtOR who have only ever played WoW or who have never played an MMO with an ability like Guard before. When they see a big blue bubble appear around them, they’re not going to know what that does. When you say, “I’m Guarding you,” they’re not going to know what that means.

At the beginning of the match, say something – ask if there are any healers in the BG. If someone says yes, then use Guard on them and then take a moment and explain what Guard does: “I’m Guarding you. This will redirect half of the damage that you take to me. The longer I’m alive, the longer you’ll stay alive, so try to toss me some healing when you can.”

Keep in mind that you’re probably going to feel pretty squishy when you’re using Guard on people. You’ll be eating damage much faster, and if nobody is healing you, don’t be surprised if you find yourself back at the spawn point fairly frequently. It’s a useful tool, but it can feel frustrating when you find yourself dying a lot and nobody seems to care.

Also, one final note: if you use Guard on another tank, that tank cannot then, in turn, Guard any other player. He’ll just get an error message if he tries. Since he’ll be built for PvP tanking, it’s really going to piss him off when he can’t Guard other players. I guess it’s a nice way to mess with somebody, but seriously – don’t guard other tanks. It’s just going to make them mad.

Also, a bit common sense – you can’t Guard someone who is already being Guarded, nor can you Guard someone who is already Guarding somebody else.

Grapple:
Grapple is a handy skill and you’ll use it pretty frequently. One thing to keep in mind though – Grapple will not work on a player with a full Resolve bar. If you use it on such a player, your Grapple will go into cooldown and they’ll remain right where they were. This can be really aggravating, especially in Huttball. So hold off until their Resolve bar has dropped off before you pull that player to you.

Death From Above:
This might qualify as the hardest hitting ability in the entire game. When you use it, it puts a big red Imperial symbol on the floor that tells everyone, “Get the hell away from here!”

Of particular note though is that the actual area of effect for the ability is a bit larger than the symbol itself by maybe 3 meters or so. So if a player just runs out and stands on the edge of the symbol, they’re going to eat all of the damage.

The same is true for the Trooper’s Mortar Volley. If you see a Trooper use it, run out of the Republic symbol and then keep running for another 3 meters or so, or you’ll get pounded by on by the ability.

Healing:
In PvP it’s very easy to get some of the lower end the healing medals. Throw on Combat Support Cylinder and run around shooting and healing your allies for a minute or two and you’ll pick up the first two healing medals. Those two medals add up fast over the course of many battlegrounds. Once you’ve got your healing medals, you can go back to killing people if you want.

Just remember that, even if you’re not specced for it, your Mercenary is capable of healing, and that you’ll be rewarded for doing so. So if you’re a selfish person who likes getting more points in PvP, take some time out from shooting Republic scum in the face and instead spend a little while shooting your friends in the face. With healing bullets.

FIFA Street 2012 Preview

igamek — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 10:35:58 +0000

The FIFA Street franchise is EA’s attempt to cater to that more skill-based style of football – a side that may lack all of the formal rules and regulations of League football, but is still a professional sport in its own right in some countries. This is actually the fourth game in the franchise, serving as an official ‘reboot’. The previous games had a more cartoon-y feel to them, making them stand out visually from the standard FIFA games, but we imagine that for whatever reason it didn’t catch on, so they’re trying again with a more serious, professional look. Basically, it’s now just like FIFA, just without the big name team/brands and the massive stadiums – the new development team is being headed up by several key figures from the main FIFA franchise.

Gameplay is quite similar to the main FIFA franchise, but with more emphasis on doing tricks and on one-on-one battles between attackers and defenders. The ‘Attack’ dribbling as it’s called revolves around the careful use of the trigger buttons, and then using the analog sticks to attempt to power past your opponent (in style, obviously). There will be over 50 more tricks available in FIFA Street over its predecessor, FIFA Street 3, and there is also improved one touch passing and something called ‘Street Ball Control’.

Of course, it’s not just the tricks and the showing off – as a football game, FIFA Street is more tactical as well: the teams are smaller, with five and six aside teams as opposed to the usual eleven, and every schoolboy knows how the dynamic of the game can switch when you use the smaller groups. There are also other match types like last-man standing, and this game has put more of a focus on one-on-one ‘battles’ between players as they try and control the ball.

Though a specific release date has not yet been announced, the game is due to surface some time in March 2012 (most likely the 13th) on the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

Line Producer Sid Misra describes what this new version of FIFA Street has to offer in this video interview!

EA is bringing the beautiful soccer and football game back to the streets. Check out the series new look, shown off at Gamescom 2011.

And own the streets of FIFA Street 2012 in this trailer!

Key Features FIFA Street 2012

Here is a list of key features that will be available in EA Canada’s FIFA Street 2012 based on news and announcements made so far.

Authenticity: The creators are leaning away from cartoony visuals and aiming for realism in FIFA Street 4. The stylised cartoon-like visuals of previous titles in the franchise have officially been dropped.
Returning Elements: The focus is once again on fast-paced matches involving small teams of five or six players per side, one-on-one. Skill moves are, once again, an important element of gameplay too.
New Elements: FIFA Street 2012 will offer players twice as many tricks in comparison with FIFA 12. Other new features include improved one-touch passing, a feature called Street Ball Control, and a new “ATTACK” dribbling system!
Roster: Many football players from 120 teams in some of the world’s biggest leagues will feature in this installment. 35 locations from all over the globe will also be seen; each of these arenas will reflect the style of football played in that country.
Online Play: Leader boards and a leveling system will be available online. The game itself will be compatible with the EA Sports Football Club service.

The Last Story – The First Look Review

igamek — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 05:03:40 +0000

The Nintendo Wii hasn’t exactly been an enticing system for RPGs, so it seems as if every time there is a more prominent one, that RPG gets even more focus than it would on another console. The Last Story is no different – in fact it might get even more attention because the last such RPG, Xenoblade, still has not been announced for release by Nintendo of America, and fans have all but given up on the title being localized. The Last Story also has the benefit of being developed by Mistwalker Studio which is headed by the game’s director Hironobu Sakaguchi, formerly of Square Enix.

Set on Ruli Island, governed by Count Earl Arganan, players will take on the role of Zael and his allies, a group of mercenaries that have come to the island seeking work and journey with them into an epic adventure!

Likened to the hugely successful Final Fantasy series, because it’s made by the Final Fantasy series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi. The Last Story is a Wii-exclusive, action-RPG title developed by Mistwalker and AQ Interactive.

The game was released in Japan on January 27, 2011 and will see a European release on February 24, 2012.

Get a sneak peek of The Last Story’s battle system in this Japanese demo!

The Gathering system is showcased, in detail, in this Japanese video commentary chock-full of gameplay footage.

And feast your eyes on this demonstration from the 40+ minute long “The Last Story” presentation (in Japanese) with Hinonobu Sakaguchi behind the wheel!

Key Features of The Last Story

Here is a list of key features that will be available in Mistwalker & AQ Interactive’s The Last Story based on news and announcements made so far.

6-Player Co-op: The Last Story features 6-player cooperative and competitive online modes, where users can team up or battle one another.
Customization: Players will have the chance to customize many elements in-game. For example, by visiting the blacksmiths you can upgrade your weapons, armor and even alter a character’s appearance!
Third-Person-Shooter Elements: The game will features a few mechanics typical of third-person shooters; players can use rapid fire crossbows and cover in combat using a cover system that includes an over the shoulder view.
Character Abilities: Character can use special abilities in-game. Some have been confirmed including Elza’s “gathering” ability, which allows the player to draw the attention of foes and buy time for allies, and “Focus”, which reveals an enemies weak-spots and allows for long-range attacks.

Take a look at the European debut trailer!

Dota 2 Crashes, Errors, Freezing, Lag, Desktop Crash, Poor FPS, Black screen, No Sound

igamek — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 10:20:17 +0000

Firstly, make sure your PC system meets the minimum requirements for Dota 2.

DotA 2 Minimum System Requirements:

OS: Windows® 7 / Vista / Vista64 / XP

Processor: Pentium 4 3.0GHz

Memory: 1 GB for XP / 2GB for Vista

Graphics: DirectX 9 compatible video card with 128 MB, Shader model 2.0. ATI X800, NVidia 6600 or better

Hard Drive: At least 2.5 GB of free space

Sound: DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card

DotA 2 Recommended System Requirements:

OS: Windows® 7 / Vista / Vista64 / XP

Processor: Intel core 2 duo 2.4GHz

Memory: 1 GB for XP / 2GB for Vista

Graphics: DirectX 9 compatible video card with Shader model 3.0. NVidia 7600, ATI X1600 or better

Hard Drive: At least 2.5 GB of free space

Sound: DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card

Here’s a guide to fix most of Dota 2 game crashes, errors, freezing, and loading crashes. For a homegrown game, Dota 2 sure packs in tons of game-breaking bugs and crash problems.

Problem #1 Dota 2 Crash Fix – Crash to Desktop When Loading Dota 2

Follow these steps for a possible fix:

Go to steamapps/common/dota2 (or dota2 beta)/ and run dota.exe
Game will start but won’t be connected to the Steam network. This will allow you to change settings
Change all the video settings to lowest. Set it the game to windowed mode.
Close game
Launch game from steam client
Edit settings back to normal

Problem #2 Dota 2 Crash Fix – Dota 2 Crashes After Pressing “Start Game”

Seems to be a problem for those using nVidia graphics or nVidia-based laptops. If Dota 2 is crashing right before starting a game, try this:

On Steam, go to Launch Options: look for it under Library –> On the left side menu right-click Dota 2 –> Properties –> General Tab –> Launch Options
Type -nod3d9ex in the Launch Options input field
Start Dota 2

Problem #3 Dota 2 Crash Fix – Dota 2 Crashes and Cannot Load Game after getting Party Invite

Follow these steps for a possible fix:

Get whoever sent you the invite to restart their client
Load up Dota 2
Ask them not to send another invite
Go to Dota 2 graphic settings
Change screen ratio from 4:3 to something else

Problem #4 Dota 2 Crash Fix – Dota 2 Crashes to desktop after MM queue (Finding a game)

Follow these steps for a possible fix:

Load game
Go to Dota 2 graphic settings
Change screen ratio from 4:3 to something else. Try different ratio options.

Problem #5 Dota 2 Crash Fix – Crash to Desktop upon Launch / Startup

If you’re game randomly crashes upon launching the game, ensure or try the following:

Update your nVidia / ATI graphics drivers. Check our Technical References page for proper and official download links.
Turn off SLI / Crossfire then start the game. See if it stabilizes game performance.
Turn off your anti-virus software before launching the game, but make sure you turn it back on after playing. Make sure Windows Defender is also disabled.
Try using only one GPU first (turn the other one off via your nVidia / ATI graphics control panel)
Try running the game in Windowed Mode (frequently works for low-end PCs)
Disable anti-aliasing and filtering
Disable V-sync
Disable background apps, and turn off your anti-virus software
In

Windows 7 right-click the Dota 2 exe file, go to the ‘Compatibility Mode’ tab and check ‘Disable Desktop Composition’
Run through our list of general fixes, which will most likely resolve your problems

Problem #6 Dota 2 Crash Fix – Dota 2 Crashes on Intel HD Graphics Card

Simply do a clean uninstall and reinstall of your Intel Graphics Driver. Check our Technical References page for proper and official downloads.

Problem #7 Dota 2 Texture Fix – Bad Textures, Texture Breaks, Texture Glitch on gaming laptop

This is only for gaming laptops, but could work for some PCs. Note that this is an advanced solution, and only try this if other basic solutions such as disabling anti-aliasing and filtering failed for you. If your BIOS has the option, disable ‘Switchable Graphics’. This will remove your laptop PC’s ability to automatically switch between the onboard intel graphics card and the nVidia / ATI graphics chip, thus smoothening out gameplay.

Problem #8 Dota 2 Crash Fix – For Quad Core and Multi-Core PCs

If you’re on Quad Core, try this fix to address any crash issues:

Start the game
Alt+Tab Out of the game
Open Task Manager
Right click on Dota 2.exe
Set Affinity
Select core 0 and 1 only. You need to run the game on two CPU’s basically, so to avoid the crash to desktop.

Problem #9 Dota 2 Controller Fix – Xbox 360 or Other Controller Doesn’t Work

There are two known possible solutions as of writing for this controller bug:

Manually download and install any Dota 2 game patch from the official source instead rather than automatically updating via Steam or any similar game client.
If you haven’t yet, go to your Windows Control Panel and ensure that the Xbox 360 Controller is enabled. Then, in-game, go to Options > Controls > Customize Controls (or similar menu path) and ensure that the proper controller is selected.

Problem #10 Dota 2 Install Error: “Dota 2 Install Fails, Cannot Install”

This is a Microsoft C++ bug so the quick fix is to uninstall your C++ files. If you see 2 instances of Microsoft C++, uninstall both of them; and don’t worry, they are easy to reinstall. There are also a couple workarounds online if you don’t want to uninstall them.

Problem #11 Dota 2 Game Freeze Fix – Game Freezes during the Intro Video

If you’re using Steam, a quick solution is to verify the integrity of your Steam game cache to resolve the problem. If it persists, ensure that both your graphics drivers and DirectX are updated. Doing both will mostly reduce the occurrences of Dota 2 freezing.

Problem #12 Dota 2 Crash Fix – Game crashes when launching / upon launch

This is a typical DirectX problem. Just update to the latest DirectX version and voila. If that doesn’t work, reinstall DirectX completely.

Problem #13 Dota 2 DirectX Fix – Cannot Install Direct X / Stuck at Direct X Installation

More often than not, this has been caused by other software drivers such as those from Logitech, Razer, Microsoft, etc, which normally control other minor peripherals such as your webcam, special programs, and sometimes your mouse. Simply shut them off and disable them, and try updating/installing Direct X again.

Problem #14 Dota 2 Crash Fix – Possible Crash Fix for nVidia users only

Go to Nvidia control panel by right clicking the icon in the taskbar, then manage 3d settings and set ‘Threaded Optimization’ to on.

Problem #15 Dota 2 Graphics Fix – Cannot see main menu, Menu crashes, Dual monitor problems

A common problem when playing on multiple screens. For now, the solution is to unplug other monitors and play on single screen. If that doesn’t work, try playing in windowed mode.

Problem #16 Dota 2 Crash Fix – nVidia Optimus Crashes the Game

If you’re using a newer laptop that’s using an nVidia Optimus card, try checking your Optimus settings.

Open the “nVidia Control Panel” from your start menu.
On the lefthand side, under “Select a task…”
Open the “3D Settings” tree, and select “Manage 3D Settings”
On the righthand panel, click the “Program Settings” tab.
Under “1. Select a program…”, click “Add”, navigate to your installation folder and navigate to the application / exe file.
Under “2. Select the preferred graphics…”, choose “High-performance NVIDIA processor”
Then (VERY IMPORTANT!) click “Apply” in the bottom right.
Launch the game.

Problem #17 Dota 2 Launch Fix – Cannot launch the Game

A common fix is clicking on the Dota 2 exe file straight from the installation folder rather than from any launcher/client.

Problem #18 Dota 2 Sound / Audio Fix – No sound or weak sound

Windows 7 and Vista users:

First of all, update your sound card drivers. If doing that doesn’t clear up the problem, make sure you have volume set to max for Dota 2 in the volume mixer (click on the little speaker icon in the bottom-right of your screen in the system tray). If you’re in-game, just alt+tab out of the game and check if Dota 2 is set to max in the volume mixer.

Another tip you could try is to go to Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Sound > Communications Tab then select the “Do Nothing” radio button to permanently fix this issue.

For Windows XP users:

Reduce hardware acceleration, or set your speakers to Stereo.

Problem #19 Dota 2 Mouse Fix – Reverse / weird mouse acceleration problem

To quickly fix this, try shutting off your mouse-specific software from Logitech, Microsoft, Razer, and the like. Also try a lower polling rate, sometimes this is switchable on the bottom-side of the gaming mouse.

Problem #20 Dota 2 Lag Fix

If Dota 2 keeps lagging for you, please check out our tips on reducing lag.

Problem #21 Dota 2 FPS Fix – Dota 2 Lags, freezes, or has poor FPS performance

Try these possible solutions:

Usually you can prevent Dota 2 from lagging or freezing by disabling vsync and antialiasing on the Dota 2’s exe file via the AMD Vision Engine Control Center (AMD/ATI) or Nvidia Control Panel (nVidia)
Alternatively you can stop Dota 2 from lagging via your PC task manager. In Windows 7, press CTRL + ALT + DELETE and click on Task Manager, go to Processes, then right-click on Dota 2’s respective exe file and set priority above normal or higher. You must do this every time you play the game.
In addition, your anti-virus may be the problem here. There are certain anti-virus software that are not ideal for gaming so, check our Technical References page for some suggestions.
For more advanced users, try enabling/forcing tripple buffering and vsync using the D3DOverrider software. Check our Technical References page to download D3DOverrirder / RivaTuner.
Finally make sure that your Internet connection is stable. This is a commonly overlooked problem especially for online modes / multiplayer games.

If the above still do not cut it out for you, check out our tips on reducing lag.

Problem #21 Dota 2 – Cannot Install Dota 2

Reinstall the game, but please ensure that you’ve fully uninstalled Dota 2 from your PC, before trying to install again. In some cases, you may have to manually delete the Dota 2 installation folder from the PC in case files remain after uninstalling.

Problem #X Yours! Post your Dota 2 game issues in the comments section below.

That’s all the Dota 2 crash fixes we have for now, but we’ll post more as soon as we get more information — Let us know if you’re encountering other Dota 2 problems and we can help you out by participating in the comments / forum section below.

DOTA 2 Crash fix (Loading scrn, Matchmaking etc..)

Crash to desktop when loading up the game
1.go to steamapps/common/dota2 beta/ dota.exe (run this)
2.it’ll load up the game with closed doors (not connected to steam network) but will allow you to change settings
3.change ALL the video settings to lowest, including screen res (not sure if this has to be lowest? sarkastik used 800×600) + set it as windowed mode.
4.Close game.
5.Launch game from steam client.
6.edit settings back to normal (not sure if this causes a crash after? – can someone confirm?)

Crash to desktop and not being able to load game after recieving a party invite
For some reason the invite is still valid after you have crashed, which causes the game to crash on booting up, if this has happened do the following:
1. Get whoever sent you the invite to restart their client
2. Load up the game
3. Ask them not to send another invite
4. goto graphic settings
5. change screen ratio from 4:3 to something else

Crash to desktop after MM queue (Finding a game)
1. Load game
2. goto graphic settings
3. change screen ratio from 4:3 to something else (or try playing around with the screen res, reports that 1024×768 causes crashes)

Best 2012 Games Releases in the 3 first months of 2012

igamek — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 09:58:29 +0000

Excited to bring in the new year? See release dates and footage for every big game coming out in the first 3 months of 2012. With titles like FFXIII-2 and Mass Effect 3, playing these games is one new year’s resolution that should be easy to keep.

Best games 2011, games of 2012 , pc games 2012 , ps3 games 2012

Top 10 Most Expensive Games in 21st Century

igamek — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 10:58:38 +0000

Before year 2000, Doom was known as the most expensive in the world with a total production cost $200.000. Today, that amount of money is nothing when compared with these game titles below. This is the list of most expensive video games in the world in the 21st century.

10. Killzone 2: $45 million

Killzone is new PS3 games titles and one of the most anticipated titles. The development took 4 years and $45.000.000 budget in total.

9. Final Fantasy XII: $48 million

Final Fantasy has a great plot and nice graphic. New Final fantasy 12 was developed with higher budget and better technology. The total cost to build this game is estimated $48 million.

8. LA Noire: $50 million

This game is filled with cinematic video game quality and better special effect. LA Noire offers a great view of old LA in 1940s and it cost $50 millions to develop it.

7. APB: $50 million

Realtime Worlds, as the developer, spent $50 million to build APB and the company should wait 5 years of development before they can officially introduced this game to the world.

6. Halo 3: $55 million

Halo 3 had spent $55 million for the development. The development reach the whole aspect and the developer team did a great job to make Halo 3 as one of the most favorite game in the world.

5. Metal Gear Solid 4: $60 million

Konami ready to invest $60 millions to make this game enjoyed and appreciated by millions of game players. It took 4 years of development to build the game from the concept and it is proved that their working is worthily.

4. Too Human: $60+ million

Too human confronted many problems during the development because the developer deserted this project for other game once it was almost completed. It was luck that the developer finally decided to complete once they were fueled with another $10 millions budget. In total, the development cost was $70 millions.

3. Shenmue: $70 million

Shenmue is recorded as one of the most expensive games at all time but unfortunately this record was not happy the investors. This game failed in sales although it already deserted $70 millions dollars.

2. Gran Turismo 5: $80 million

The game is not yet launched but it already spent 5 years of development and $80 million budget. This new Gran turismo is completed with 1000 cars and the graphic is sharper and more realistic than the previous edition. Soon, we will see together how market will respond this game.

1. Grand Theft Auto 4: $100 million

When the game was introduced to market, most of them surprised that Rockstar game , as the publisher, had to recruit 1000 peoples and $100 million budget to make this game available for everyone.As Information, Total time to develop this game was 3.5 years.

10 Most Disappointing Games of 2011

igamek — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 10:41:16 +0000

In 2011, we have had some great titles released such as Skyrim, Batman: Arkham City, Modern Warfare 3, Battlefield 3, Uncharted 3, and quite a few more. So how about disappointing games? well, bellow we will list these Most Disappointing Games of 2011:

10. Test Drive Unlimited 2
Test Drive Unlimited 2 was expected to be a good game, but it turned out to be a total mass. That was obviously due to the silly setting of the game, the not-so-impressive online system, and a tedious menu system that makes racing seem like a chore.

The game is overall broken, totally in the wrong direction, and doesn’t do justice to its ‘racing sim’ genre. You’ll still be tempted to turn it on, hoping for a few hours of fun, only to turn it off after 20 minutes. That’s just how Test Drive Unlimited 2 is.

9. Assassin’s Creed: Revelations
Many people would actually be surprised to see this on the list. Many others wouldn’t. AC: Revelations was fine on its own, but unfortunately, a game belonging to a formidable series with a massive fan-base will never be looked at in an isolated fashion – it will always be compared to its predecessors, and how it progresses the series.

Revelations didn’t live up to the ‘revolutionary’ expectations that we all had from it; it had a gameplay that was awfully similar to Brotherhood, albeit some new features, and told a rather disappointing story. It wasn’t a horrible game, but it definitely did NOT live up to expectations.

8. Dead Island
Like AC: Revelations, it would be natural to see some folks disagreeing with Dead Island’s inclusion. But whether one likes it or not, it’s a ‘sad but true’ situation here.

Prior to the release, Dead Island seemed like a game that would blow away the old clichéd zombie concept that we’ve now become sick of, mainly thanks to its amazing CG trailers and what-not.

When it did come out, Dead Island was no more than just a repetitive, zombie-slaying arcade-styled game with tons of bugs and inconsistent online gameplay.

7. Bulletstorm
The people who became the victims of this Serious Sam wannabe were those who thought that just about every game Epic releases is good. Sadly, the developer proved that this wasn’t the case. Bulletstorm may have been fun, but it didn’t meet the high standards of Epic, and it definitely lacked originality.

Shiny EA and Epic stickers with a commendable engine like the Unreal 3 aren’t just enough to make a game good. We didn’t like Painkiller, and Bulletstorm just loved being like it, and that’s why it was a big disappointment. I’ll need to think twice before I blindly pick up anything with ‘Epic’ stickers on it.

6. Hard Reset
FAIL is the word for this game, because it could’ve been so much better than it was. Right when the game begins to get interesting, and slightly addictive, it slaps the credits on your face, like a troll in some offensive online rage comic.

There’s no indication whatsoever that you’re close to the end of a game that’s just beginning to look a tad bit interesting. Despite the fun gameplay and interesting weapons, Hard Reset is the biggest troll game (intentionally or unintentionally – I’ll leave that to you) of 2011.

5. Brink
Brink looked to be a promising game with an interesting setup, a new-ish shooter-styled gameplay, and a captivating world, until it got released. Bad reviews started springing up from just about every reviewing site, magazine, or other valid source.

Still, people ignored and decided to gamble and buy the game. The result: majority shared the same feelings as that of the reviewers. Brink lacks an interesting campaign, has a mediocre gameplay without any sustainability, and has inadequate maps for addictive online play.

4. Homefront
With a massive plausible timeline that the developers worked so hard on, Homefront was appearing to land in the ‘good games of 2011’ zone, when it suddenly took a U-turn and landed in the ‘disappointments’ are. There was nothing innovative in Homefront; apart from a conspiracy-filled timeline, it borrowed everything from one game or the other.

Moreover, it was terribly linear, with the same old shoot-a-thousand-enemies gameplay from start to finish of a forgettable campaign. When it came to the multiplayer, the dedicated server system was very poor, and the game was a haven for spawn-killing lovers.

3. Rage
Id Soft took forever in making this game, and yet it was so disappointing, that I’m beginning to really feel that the fathers of first-person shooters are getting a bit too old. Rage had a potentially great engine – the id Tech 5, but bugs made it look absolutely unconvincing, especially the PC version, which was a terrible console port with an abundance of issues.

Even in-game, the story of Rage was very dry, just like the terrain, and the repetitiveness made it even less appealing. Rage will always be remembered as one thing: the biggest disappointment from id Soft in a good, good while.

2. Dragon Age 2
Being the sequel of one of the finest RPG games of all time, Dragon Age 2 was supposed to be out of this world. But what we got was a complete blunder – a game so limiting, so small-scaled when compared to its predecessor, that one would wonder whether the same company developed it.

Dragon Age 2 was set in one city, while the original was set in an entire country. Dragon Age 2 focused on the happenings of a handful of people, trying to make their forgettable town a better place, while the predecessor focused on the fate of the entire world, the concepts of life and death, of religion, of morals and ethics, of friendship and betrayal.

In simple words, it’s almost shameful that Dragon Age 2 is a sequel to the brilliant Dragon Age: Origins.

1. Duke Nukem Forever
And the biggest, most epic failure of 2011 is… none other than Duke Nukem Forever. DNF was so bad, that not even an entire review article would fully describe how bad it was. It took a decade to make what is easily the most pathetic Duke Nukem game ever.

Terrible gameplay, horrible graphics that you can’t even think of complementing even if you try, and tons of long un-required loading screens; DNF was a terrible technical mess, one that only exists because of its bland sex and poop jokes, which aren’t even funny.

We don’t even know why this game came out – this is the kind of stuff you throw in trash cans, toss some gasoline and, and burn till it’s nothing but miserable floating ashes. We hope to the lords of games that there is never a game so similar to DNF to be ever released again.

25 best games in 2011

igamek — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 10:19:46 +0000

This year has been one of innovations and even revolutions in the gaming industry, one that has paved the way for the future. Big-name titles came and went, and a select few have become immortals in their own right.

Check out some of the best games of 2011 — and do remember that this is an awfully subjective subject.

#1 – Batman: Arkham City

#2 – Portal 2

#3 – The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

#4 – The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

#5 – Mass Effect 2 (PS3)

#6 – Minecraft / LittleBigPlanet 2 / Terraria (TIE!)

#7 – Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

#8 – Gears of War 3

#9 – Deus Ex: Human Revolution

#10 – L.A. Noire

#11 – Battlefield 3 / Rage / Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (TIE!)
#12 – Dead Space 2 / El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron (TIE!)
#13 – Dark Souls
#14 – Resistance 3 & Killzone 3 (TIE!)
#15 – Crysis 2
#16 – Super Mario 3D Land / Kirby’s Return to Dreamland / The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D / Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure (TIE!)
#17 – Saints Row: The Third / Assassin’s Creed: Revelations / Dragon Age 2 (TIE!)
#18 – Mortal Kombat 2011 / Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (TIE!)
#19 – Rayman Origins
#20 – The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
#21 – Total War: Shogun 2
#22 – Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together
#23 – Bastion
#24 – Amnesia: The Dark Descent
#25 – Just Dance 3

Mario Kart 7 Cheats, Tips and Tricks

igamek — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:17:17 +0000

Mario Party 7 is a video game made for families. It’s rated E for everyone, and up to 8 people can play at one time. You can adjust the skill level of individual players, so a 6-year-old can go head-to-head with an adult on roughly the same level. When you need some family fun, grab the controllers and play Mario Party 7 on the GameCube.

Mario Kart 7 Cheats

Quick Start Turbo Boost at the Beginning of a Race

At the start of each race, you get a countdown of 3 red lights until they turn green and the race begins. When that countdown begins, wait until 2 red lights turn on, and right then before the third red light goes on press on the gas / accelerate Y or A button. Time it right in between the 2nd and 3rd red light and you get a rocket power Turbo Boost quick start!

That short speed boost should be enough to put your kart in the lead group from the get-go.

Unlock Koopa Kids as past player

Have landing Bowser Space three time at any land. and must buy with 1000 point

Unlock Hammer Bros. and Koopa

After have Koopa Kids and Dry Bones, Know Hammer Bros. are Enemy and Koopa is ally, But follow use:

*Use Koopa Kids to unlock Hammer Bros. and must buy with 1000 point.

*use Dry bones to Unlock Koopa and must buy with 1000 points.

You must use Koopa Kids and up team with Dry Bones.

Unlock Diddy Kong as unknows Player

Have landing 3 time, DK space with DK. and Must buy with 1000 points.

Unlock Bowser as unknow player.

Have landing Bowser space three time with Koopa Kids and Must buy with 1000 point.

Unlock Baby Mario & Luigi

Have to beat Solo with Mario and Luigi. But must Buy with 500 Point. This Character is from Mario Kart Double Dash!! But Must Beat four most Mini-game 4 player in This mode, then now Both will allow to buy!

Unlock The Alternate Title Screen

Like with every Mario Kart game before it, you should be able to unlock an alternate title screen after you finish the game! To do so, finish all of the Cups in first place to earn a Gold Trophy, and officially finish the game. – This is untested, please comment if this worked for you.

Unlock the Mirror Mode

You should be able to unlock the Mirror Mode, which flips all of the tracks around, by completing each cup on 150cc and coming in first place to earn a Gold Trophy! This secret is a Mario Kart series staple! – This is untested, please comment if this worked for you

Game secrets

When you go to the Duty Free Shop you will notice the secrets you can buy. I will tell you all of them!

Cruise Mileage Secret 1: Did you know? If you play mini games outside of the boards, you get 10 mileage points each time!

Cruise Mileage Secret 2: Did you know? If you beat the CPU in Solo Cruise, you get an extra 500 mileage points!

Aquariam Secret: Did you know? Something fun will happen if you say “Goomba” while playing Be My Chum!

Orb Shop Secret: Did you know? You’ll pay less at Orb shops when you’re behind!

Team Secret: Did you know? When on Party Cruise team, you might get a star in coin earning events!

Souvenir Secret: Did you know? When viewing souvenirs, say the colored words into the Mic! Surprise!

That’s all the secrets in the Duty Free Shop!

Purchasing Items from the Duty-Free Shop

Below is a list of the items purchasable at the Duty-Free shop, and their prices

Birdo (playable character): Pay 1000 mileage points
Dry Bones (playable character): Pay 1000 mileage points
Brutal difficulty: Pay 1000 mileage points
King of the River (minigame mode): Pay 2000 mileage points
Stunning Background: Pay 2000 mileage points
Staff Records: Pay 3000 mileage points
Ice Moves (Rare Minigame): Pay 3000 mileage points
Stick and Spin (Rare Minigame): Pay 3000 mileage points
Annoy Mode (All Taunts): Pay 500 mileage points
Map Sounds (Solo Cruise Only): Pay 1000 mileage points
Tour Sounds: Pay 1000 mileage points
Character Voices: Pay 1000 mileage points
Cruise Mileage Secret 1: Pay 500 mileage points
Cruise Mileage Secret 2: Pay 500 mileage points
Aquarium Secret: Pay 500 mileage points
Orb Shop Secret: Pay 500 mileage points
Team Secret: Pay 500 mileage points
Souvenir Secret: Pay 500 mileage points

Secret Souvenirs

Below is a list of souvenirs that are not purchasable at the shops until you unlock them! The rest you will get for free after unlocking them!

Miracle Treasure Chest: Complete the Easy course in King of the River mode.

Magic Lamp: Complete the Normal course in King of the River mode.

Power Star Statue: Complete the Hard course in King of the River mode.

Chop Chop Helicopter: Play the deluxe cruise 5 times and purchase in the Duty-Free Shop for 1000 Cruise Mileage Points.

MSS Sea Star souvenir: Play every board in Party Mode once, then buy for 1000 Cruise Mileage.

Spending your Mileage Points

Below is a list of the items you can purchase with your mileage points!

Cheep Cheep Fountain: Pay 500 mileage points
Blooper Fortune-Teller: Pay 500 mileage points
Grand Canal Cookies: Pay 500 mileage points
Gong Clock: Pay 500 mileage points
Kung Fu Koopa T-Shirt: Pay 500 mileage points
Sticky Buns: Pay 500 mileage points
Pyramid Piggy Bank: Pay 500 mileage points
Ancient Jar: Pay 500 mileage points
Desert Chocolate: Pay 500 mileage points
Model Rocket: Pay 500 mileage points
Mysterious Flying Disc.: Pay 500 mileage points
Top Hat Chocolate: Pay 500 mileage points
Model Windmill: Pay 500 mileage points
Fuzzy Sheep: Pay 500 mileage points
Windy Cheese: Pay 500 mileage points
Bowser’s Crazy Torch Pay: 500 mileage points
Bowser’s Killer Cannon Pay: 500 mileage points
Bowser’s Boiled Eggs Pay: 500 mileage points
Singing Shy Guy & Hop Hat Shy Guy Pay: 500 mileage points for each one
Kung Fu Kooopa & Koopa Sheperdess Pay: 500 mileage points
Desert Goomba & Steel Goomba Pay: 500 mileage points

Unlockable Characters

Get more than 1,000 Cruise mileage points and you can unlock two playable characters, which are Birdo and Dry Bones.

New Mode:

Party mode Mark 2: Must unlock eight character. And this mode, can create team with choose team name. If you already have any foe can’t choose same. Choose team name, choose a player and a Partner, then choose level partner. Then What say when you’re before begin, Say when I’m lose & Won. Made letter can be 100 character. Inside OLD MAP: Donkey Kong’s map, from Mario party 1 & Old map: Bowser’s castle from Mario party 5. You will unlock Play as Shy Guy & Phoenix. If you’re Unlock Phoenix, this character are color Red and yellow. It pretty Flame animals can stop Bowser. As will help unlock Rookie & Queen Bean. And will unlock Special character, Bowser queen & Gooda.

Story mode: Allow up to four team. and final battle for Bowser! As need gain a Star then duel with Bowser, all team need gain a star and a team come to start and wait for them. When at rare mini-game begin, without same as Party mode, look like Solo mode. At game, all begin with 10 heart, Bowser will turn into big, now you”re ride water Flying Koopa, when you’re press A, Use Beam water. If hold A, will time long to fire. You can easy to beat, water beam make Bowser’s beam will crash mouth. Bowser only 20 Heart. Knows play next map, CHaracter will not change as COM. you can choose 7 Com. But Bowser & Koopa Kids may not use in this mode. When You’re beat this mode, will unlock Bones Bowser & Adult Koopa Kids.

Souvenir Secrets

Say the word surprise when your on the souvenir and something will happen.

Start Turbo Boost at the Beginning of a Race

That short speed boost should be enough to put your kart in the lead group from the get-go.

Turbo Boost after Lakitu Retrieval from an Accident

During each race you might fall off the course by accident if you take a bad turn on the racing track or get hit by an enemy item or natural hazard. Well, not all is lost, when Lakitu comes to pull you out of your troubles and drops you on the track again to the following: At the exact moment you’re dropped onto the track again press on the gas / accelerate Y or A button. Time it right and you’ll get a short rocket power Turbo Boost!

It’s not much, but it should help you get back into the lead. Besides, falling behind with time to spare isn’t always so bad, you’ll get much better items from question blocks to throw at your opponents. Mario Kart 7 is all about random luck as much as skill, that unpredictability makes it more fun, unless of course you get hit by that darn Blue Shell!!

If you’re real lucky, this may also help you recover from a fall. As long as you hit the gas right before your kart hits the ground, you can get a quick recovery speed boost.

Enable Mario Kart 7 To Add Opponent’s Mii To Your 3DS

Set Invitations to “On” in Mario Kart 7, and the Mii of every opponent you race against online gets added to your Mii Plaza!
Gavin says they’re just there for show though, since you can’t seem to use them in Find Mii or StreetPass Quest or the Puzzles.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Review

igamek — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 13:59:32 +0000

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 review is the game everyone’s been waiting for on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. In-depth review of multiplayer maps, storyline, campaigns, killstreaks, levels, zombies, and more.

Developers: Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games
Publishers: Activision
Series: Call of Duty
Platforms: Microsoft Windows PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii
Release date: November 8, 2011
Genre: First-person Shooter
Modes: Single-player, Multiplayer
Ratings:ACB: MA15+, BBFC: 18, ESRB: M, PEGI: 18

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Single Player Campaign Review

In summary, the single player on Modern Warfare 3 is, well, excellent. The graphics and scenery, and cut scenes are in a completely different league to its rival Battlefield 3. However, the story line on Battlefield 3 is far more convincing – if you’re a history buff you’ll be able to spot influences from historic battles involving Russia.

Whereas Battlefield 3 tends to tread old lines but does it well, Modern Warfare 3 seems to push the boundaries as users experience underwater fighting and fighting on London’s underground. Modern Warfare 3 does make use of some sick ironic humor, for example, there is a cut scene outside of Big Ben where you play the role of a camera man filming what you’d presume to be your wife and child playing with the pigeons outside – then, all of a sudden all hell breaks loose.

In some respects, I guess that the story line writers were trying to give us some slowed down, humanized perspective to this fictions plot , demonstrating the implications would be if the story line were true. CoD players tend to be notoriously, run- run, die-die trigger happy.

Modern Warfare 3 Review On Multiplayer Mode

When it comes to online multiplayer, the Modern Warfare series has defined our expectations for a frag session during this console generation, in much the same way GoldenEye, Quake II and Counter Strike did previously. A constant drip-feed of perk upgrades, weapon improvements and ladder-climbing ranked battles, Modern Warfare 3 sees the trilogy continue its tradition of addictive gun-on-gun, “one more go” competitive gameplay, with a raft of improvements and new modes to entice noobs and veterans alike.

The core of Modern Warfare 3′s multiplayer gameplay remains unchanged. You’re still going to pick a pair of weapons, then head out onto the battlefield with the aim of gunning down your pals and online strangers alike. That’s been a fun premise since the imaginary games of our childhood, but it’s the surrounding systems that elevate Modern Warfare 3 above the pack, refining the stellar work that made the previous titles in the series so infinitely re-playable.

The most obvious difference for returning fans is the all-new strike packages. These build upon the previous system of Killstreaks, which previously rewarded the most deadly players by giving them access to massively destructive weapons and abilities. Instead you have three different groups of strike packages to choose from (Assault, Support and Specialist), each catering to distinctly different play styles.

Assault strike packages are the closest to the old system of Killstreaks. Here, stringing together a series of kills without finding yourself on the wrong side of a firing squad sees you unlocking offensive skills like an Assault Drone or a Predator air strike. Dying sees you lose any potential benefits, sending you back to the beginning of the pointstreak cycle.

Support strike packages cater for more casual gamers who find kill-to-death ratios a little harder to balance in their favour. They tend to benefit the team more than individual players, giving access to air drops of ballistic vest armour, or reconnaissance drones to sniff out camping opponents. Rather than focussing on your ability to kill foes, Support strike packages can be unlocked by completing objectives (say, capturing a Domination control point), and continue to tally up even if you’re killed. In this regard, Modern Warfare 3 does a much better job of making newcomers valued team members too; choosing this strike package load-out gives them purpose on the battlefield as much as their marksmen mates, regardless of whether they can rack up a load of kills or not. If you’re a truly awful player, Death Streaks return, giving a brief boost to your powers should you die repeatedly.

Specialist strike packages are tuned for the hardcore player. Rather than opening up air strikes or support drops, you activate extra ability-improving Perks as you rack up kills, giving you as many as seven Perks running simultaneously compared to the standard three. It’s an all-or-nothing approach, making you a more deadly marksman if you’re able to keep the kills coming, and sending you back to square one should you get taken down.

As ever, taking part in online bouts sees your persistent persona level up, allowing you to face more skilled opponents, collect reputation-boosting titles, and unlock the afore-mentioned Perks which improve your abilities as a one-man killing machine. These Perks offer everything from faster movement speed while aiming with the new “Stalker” ability to being able to spot enemies on the map from afar with the “Marksman” skill.

Modern Warfare 3 adds another element into the upgrade mix by introducing a weapon ranking system. There are more than 40 guns in Modern Warfare 3, and the more time you devote to each individual weapon, the greater its potential will be. This doesn’t mean that your aim will be all over the shop when you first start out, but rather that you’ll earn a handful of add-ons that improve the weapon itself, such as reduced recoil when firing, faster iron-sight aiming and more precise laser sighting reticules. Being able to tweak each weapon individually adds another layer of complexity to the online bouts, and will prove a real time-sink for any gamer looking to perfect their arsenal.

As well as returning favourites such as Free-for-All and Team Deathmatch, things are kept fresh with a raft of new game modes too. In public matches, you’ll now be able to play Team Defender (tasking you with grabbing a flag and/or defending a teammate with the flag in order to rack up points), and our new favourite Kill Confirmed, which may well be the best game mode in the entire series.

With Kill Confirmed, players duke it out not only for kills, but dog tags too, which are dropped wherever you kill an opponent. They’re worth just as much as a kill to your overall XP gain, meaning you’re forced to try to grab them rather than skulk around in the shadows, making for far more open and nail-biting matches.

Those who’d rather just play with friends are treated to six new Private Match modes too. These include the zombie-inspired Infection (recruiting extra team mates every time you kill an opponent) Juggernaut (turning the most deadly player into a massively-armoured walking tank) and One in the Chamber, which rewards kills with a boost to your initially-meagre ammo reserves.

To round things off, Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer have finally introduced long-awaited dedicated server support for the game. Players will now finally be able to browse, filter and join servers of their choice, as well as letting them create their own custom servers, with their own sets of game rules and ban lists. In theory, you should never have to suffer “griefing” at the hands of a13 year old from Connecticut ever again with Modern Warfare 3′s online suite.

So, the most important question regarding Modern Warfare 3: are its multiplayer modes better than that on offer from Battlefield 3? It’s a close one, but Modern Warfare 3 just edges it in our opinion. What Modern Warfare 3 lacks in drivable tanks, jets, helicopters and gigantic deathmatches, it makes up for with inventive game modes, a more finely-balanced upgrade system and 16 tightly-crafted maps. Skilled players are duly rewarded for their itchy trigger fingers, but even newcomers are catered for here in a series that has often been intimidating to those who can’t devote their lives to memorising every trick and map. Add in the reams of stats and tutorials made available through the new Call of Duty: Elite platform, and you’ve got arguably the most complete multiplayer package ever seen on consoles.