Please standby with us while we attempt to get our forums back online. Thanks for your patience.

Hit the Streets

With

The thrill of the open road - it's something that appeals to anyone with more than a drop of testosterone coursing through them; hot black tarmac stretching as far as the eye can see unfurling under a clear blue sky while tall pines and rock faces sculpt miles of automotive pleasure that offer the ultimate in male hedonism. Video games have been treading these tracks since their inception, from OutRun's breezy take on the experience through to the studied autism of Gran Turismo. 

And it's something that was core to the very first Need for Speed, a game that wowed some 16 years ago and spawned what's become one of gaming's very biggest racing franchises. There have been some interesting detours since, whether that was the Hollywood excess of Undercover or the white-knuckled brilliance of Shift, but the first game was essentially about nothing more complex than the joys of one man and his machine pitted against miles of winding road.

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, Criterion's much-anticipated spin on the series, takes this basic concept, furnishes it with the Burnout developer's experience of connected play and polishes it to within an inch of its life. The result is a promising and potentially potent mix; a racer that's aware of its heritage while acknowledging the connected nature of its hardware – and it means that Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit could be the most exciting driving game in some time.

First the basics; Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit excels on the road, something that's immediately apparent during our first demonstration, a straight-up Time Trial behind the wheel of a Carrera GT. The car itself is heart-stoppingly attractive; this may be the first time that Criterion has been charged with replicating real-life vehicles but you'd be hard-pushed to tell. The in-game models stop-short of the precision offered by the likes of Forza and Gran Turismo but to atone it seems they've been oh-so-delicately caricatured, the curves and bumps bought to the fore and ensuring that the cars are just screaming to be chucked around. 

Hot Pursuit's handling plays well to this impulse. The cars feel pendulous with a real sense of momentum, and while teasing the rear end out with a dab of the brakes is straightforward, maintaining a powerslide with grace is a rewardingly tough endeavour. They feel alive, making Burnout Paradise's cars feel restrictive in retrospect – and it seems as if Criterion has struck the perfect balance between its arcade heritage and the Need for Speed's more straight-faced demands.

What's really impressive is how this informs the on-road action; events are suggested off the back of friend's recent activity, while a 'speedwall' serves as Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit's leaderboard. It's pervasive too, as friends' hot times that are within the player's grasp are displayed on the in-game HUD.

This borrowing of social networking traits is something that's been tried before with the likes of Blur, but never has it been so fundamental to a racing game's make-up. But while it's certainly interesting, making for a game that's connected in a much more natural way than Criterion's Burnout: Paradise, it's the other aspects of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit that really excite; the glorious open roads and ferocious supercars alongside all the brawn and dazzle that's become the studio's territory. 16 years on from the original and it looks like Need for Speed has found its perfect partner in Criterion - and the result could well be the best in the series yet.

Multi-Community Tournament

Sponsor by:  Against All Odds
Date: August 28th and 29th
Time: 2pm to 4pm “each day”
Games: MW2 and Halo 3
Prizes: 1600 mp and 3 months cards “Prizes will be handed out random”

We in AaO like to be different so this August all communities that are affiliated with TXI will be welcome to represent their communities to win prizes and bragging rights in the very first Multi-Community Tournament hosted by AaO.  If you’re wondering how the game types will be picked, that will be up to the members of each community.  A poll will posted with different game types in the topic below.  Throughout the tournament all members will be broken into groups, sorted by a bracket format and updated throughout the tournament. Although unlike most tournaments, there will be no 1st, 2nd or 3rd place winners.  Each prize will be handed out by accomplishing different task through the two days of custom playing.  For instance in halo if you have the funniest kill or best sticking you might win.  So on August 28th and 29th lets come together as gamers not just different communities and show why we enjoy what we do.  For further details on this tournaments and how to register visit the link below or just click the picture.

Attention all XBOX 360 users... THE XBOX 360 [ ] is GONE!!! What would the world be without the XBOX?! Hmmm... its hard to say... in my world it would be complete chaos! I mean think about it... everyone would have to settle for the PS3... or the Wii... hmmm... let's leave it at that... anyway, no one would know what to do... Well that's not what this is about... i just found this article on the e3 main page...check it out! http://www.gametrailers.com/news/the-red-ring-of-death-dies/2233...Microsoft Game Studios Corporate VP Phil Spencer has announce that newer models of the XBOX 360 will not be programmed with the red ring of death...    hmm... GREAT!!! he did not however say that they will be unbreakable... they will just not tell you that something is wrong! Microsoft has yet to release how the xbox will now communicate that something is wrong... everyone who owns an xbox beware! Do not leave paper or gasoline or anything flammable next to your xbox at any time... XBOX red label... "Will probably combust without warning!"  

            Happy Killing Friends!          

X-OUT!