NEWS Dragon Age: Origins Updated Impressions - Consequences and Consoles

For a lot of games these days, trying to make sense of the name's subtitle is nearly as big of a challenge as actually playing the thing. At first glance, Dragon Age: Origins might appear to have one of those cryptic subtitles, but the concept of "origins" actually plays a very big role in the game. Whether it's your protagonist or your party members, a character's history will significantly alter the adventure that plays out before you. That was the subject of a recent demo for this high-fantasy role-playing game as led by developer BioWare.

The demo's organization gave us a clear look at the differences that might arise between two typical parties. BioWare had a pair of monitors set up side by side, with what we'll refer to as Party A on the left and Party B on the right. Party A was led by a male human noble character, while the other was led by a female mage. Aside from the party member differences, the two systems were perfectly synched up, both picking up at a very specific point in the game. In this case, the two parties were attempting to cross a bridge to get to the Mage Tower, where they were seeking to recruit the help of friendly spellcasters to fight the scourge of the Darkspawn--the story's primary antagonist.

The trouble is that a guard was standing in the way preventing the two groups from crossing. This gave BioWare the chance to show us a couple of different negotiating strategies you might have depending on what type of party members you keep at your side. More specifically, how some of your party members' short-term and long-term histories can impact those strategies. Party B had a large, brutish fellow named Sten. It turns out that Sten stole himself some cookies from an overweight child in the last town the party had visited. It also turns out that this guard loves cookies, so they were able to pass before Sten had to get violent. Party A had a seductive female mage named Morrigan who was able to earn the guard's favor by, well, leveraging her sexuality in a way Sten was ill equipped to do.

Once in the tower, the pair of teams ran into another roadblock in the form of a mage named Wynne. She was something of a blast from the past to one of the parties and a complete stranger to the other. Because Wynne and Morrigan were mages, they were already well acquainted. However, the other party had no mages; thus, no one recognized this woman. Wynne's past with Morrigan was quite a rocky one, with tensions between the two quickly rising to the surface. Those tensions soon erupted as Morrigan's party and Wynne's group of mages got into a fight that left the poor old woman dead in her tracks.


What was the other option in this situation? About as stark of a contrast as you could expect. Party B didn't have anyone in its crew who had a history with Wynne, and after a bit of back and forth about the current state of the Mage Tower, which was being overrun by monsters, Party B decides to allow Wynne to join. Wynne winds up being one of the most powerful healers you could have possibly recruited into your ranks, which was clearly evident in the next boss battle. Party B was able to attack the beast head-on and let Wynne heal them from a distance, while Party A--the team that had Wynne killed--had to go at it with more of a cautious approach, having no skilled healers in its ranks. Yes, some of the consequences of having certain party members along with you can be as lighthearted as a joke about cookies or as powerful as being able to alter your entire boss-fighting strategy.

With this PC demo completed, BioWare gave us the chance to spend a little time with the console version of the game running on the Xbox 360. Anyone who's played BioWare's last console effort, Mass Effect, should feel pretty familiar with the way BioWare's transitioned Dragon Age's controls from mouse and keyboard to standard controller. Specifically, that means you'll be pulling up a radial menu during the heat of battle that allows you time to examine your spells, equipment, and abilities while leaving the action paused. The targeting system was rather finicky, but BioWare was quick to point out that this was something that's still being heavily tweaked. Altogether, the console version looked solid and only a small notch or two below the PC version in terms of graphical quality.

The console demo was just a brief boss fight, so it didn't give us a chance to really get into the differences between each version of Dragon Age. We should have more of an opportunity to do that in the upcoming months leading up to Dragon Age's October 20 release date.
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Review : Blood Bowl

Have you ever thought that American football could use even more primal energy and a bit of fantasy violence? Have you ever thought, "This sport is fine, but what it really needs is a couple of rat ogres clawing at each other." If so, good news: Blood Bowl is for you. This adaptation of the Warhammer-themed board game pits your team against another and encourages players to digitally pound each other into a pulp (oh, and perhaps even score a few touchdowns as well). It's fun and addictive because the board game is fun and addictive, so expect to spend many an hour glued to your monitor, cheering and cursing. However, an unfriendly interface, problematic AI, and a few other issues tackle Blood Bowl just short of the end zone.

If you've never heard of the Blood Bowl board game, the idea of turn-based football within the Warhammer universe may sound a bit bizarre. Nevertheless, the game is surprisingly compelling--maybe because the raucous violence of Warhammer and the testosterone-fueled swagger of the signature American sport make such compatible bedfellows. In any case, you choose a team from a variety of Warhammer races--dwarf, skaven, wood elf, and so on--and go up against the AI or another player to prove your dominance. If you're an American football fan, you will need to make some mental adjustments before you can wrap your head around the terms and rules. What constitutes a turnover in your head isn't a Blood Bowl turnover (here, it means that your turn is over, not that you have relinquished ball possession); there are no downs, field goals, or two-point conversions; and touchdowns are worth a single point. If you're a newcomer, don't expect the inadequate tutorials to be any help--just play a bunch of matches until you get used to the intricacies of dice rolls, how cheerleaders affect gameplay, and all sorts of other small but important details.

There are a number of ways to play, both online and off, though the classic turn-based rules provide the best experience. The Campaign mode is the most enjoyable of the offline modes: you guide your team through a series of matches and level up your players, which in turn lets you choose special abilities for them. Early play sticks to the essentials. You get limited time to perform your turn, during which you maneuver your players about the field in individual turns of their own. The basic flow is similar to American football and starts with a kickoff, at which point the receiving team attempts to score a touchdown while the defenders try to gain possession, or at least hold the opposition off until the half. Individual players can knock each other down, push each other back on the grid, and cause injuries, all while you try to run and pass the ball down the field.

Even in the early hours of a campaign or a competition, Blood Bowl is exciting. Dice rolls occur almost every time two players interact, making even the smallest acts, like running past a defender or tackling the ball carrier, tense moments. The gong that resonates dramatically when you relinquish your turn during a risky play will start to make your stomach drop, but pulling off a dicey move may cause you to cheer, or at least breathe a sigh of relief. As your characters level up, the tension continues to mount, and players will benefit from their improved skills and attributes. With the right skills, you can pick up a teammate and throw him down the field, strip the ball from the carrier, or receive dodge bonuses. The more elaborate the possibilities become, the more engaging the matches are--and the more obvious the differences between each playable race become. Leveling up players is a slow process, but it provides a distinct sense of progression that adds to the "just-one-more-game" compulsion.

This addictive, nerve-wracking gameplay is what makes the board game such a cult hit and, in turn, what makes matches in this adaptation so much fun. But when you look at Blood Bowl as a video game, it's less impressive. The menus are disorganized and obtuse. Simple actions such as progressing to the next screen, distributing funds, and choosing formations aren't player-friendly, either because it's unclear that clicking a button will pull down a menu, the screen is too cluttered, or because buttons are poorly labeled. The poor tutorial and jumbled interface deliver a poor first impression, and even once you get used to them, they feel like dead weight designed to keep out newcomers. If you're new to Blood Bowl, you'll be able to get past these issues, but it'll take a bit of time to get accustomed

Going online doesn't ease the annoyance--it only exacerbates it. There is a public league and a large number of private leagues to join, but working your way through the unfriendly interface is a chore. Even then, you can't play a friend online in a simple one-off game unless you are a member of the same league and dig into the challenge menu to find him or her. You can use the LAN menu to direct-connect to a buddy via IP address, but not having an easy option for online play outside of leagues is all sorts of silly. LAN play and hotseat play for two players at a single computer are terrific features, but they can't make up for an important online feature gone missing.



The leagues, however, still offer thrilling competitive play. The public league is your best bet for competition, and it uses standard Blood Bowl 5.0 rules. The basic rules remain the same as in the single-player game as you move your way up the ranks, and as you would expect, matches against human players are challenging. You'll face competition from all over the world, and many of your competitors have a firm grasp of the rules, and of the strengths and weaknesses of each race. In the single-player game, the AI is all over the place. Your CPU opponent may clump players together and give your ball carrier a chance to run through an opening unscathed. Other times, dice rolls feel clearly stacked in the AI's favor, as if to make up for its deficiencies. League matches present no such issues, so expect your rival to take advantage of every weakness and every opening. Expect challengers to use a greater variety of formations than the AI, and to deftly position each player on the field. And accordingly, expect anxiety every time a player moves and joy every time a gamble pays off. The risk-to-reward ratio in Blood Bowl is deftly handled and makes online play in particular both demanding and exciting.

If you want to explore the game outside of the classic turn-based play, you can mess around with other customizable rules and options, the most intriguing of which, at least initially, is real-time play. Sadly, what sounds like a great idea is in reality a chaotic, unsatisfying mess. You can set various AI behaviors for your players, but matches feel out of control, and it becomes quickly obvious that attributes that make sense on a turn-by-turn basis don't translate well to a real-time environment. For example, the movement attribute is an important aspect of turn-based play that effects how far a player can travel in a single turn. In real-time play, you'd think this would translate to speed, but there is little difference in speed between players you'd think should be quick and those that shouldn't. The resulting disruptions to race balances, and the overall sense of disorder, keep real-time rules from being anything more than a quick diversion, and you'll probably be done with real-time play after one or two muddled matches.


Blood Bowl's production elements are not technically impressive, which makes the lengthy loading times leading up to every match all but inexplicable. However, the game does offer an authentic Warhammer experience, thanks to colorful representations of the board game miniatures and some cool-looking stadiums. The animations are simple, but some of them are still charming, such as the acrobatics the wood elves pull off when dodging a tackle. You can personalize your team if you want even more authenticity, using various uniform colors and emblems, but the options are limited, and in some cases, they don't look right. Team logos don't fit properly on the orc uniforms, and some races have more creation options (faces, warpaint, beards, etc.) than others, which is disappointing considering the important role customization plays in the board game. The sound design also gets the job done, but with a major drawback: the commentary is awful. The actors' voices are annoying and they deliver the same cringe-worthy quips over and over again. There was a huge opportunity here to explore the violent wit that characterizes the Warhammer brand, but it was left unexplored.

Blood Bowl's drawbacks are such that the board game faithful will grin and bear them simply because the core turn-based strategizing is so good. Each match is a tense, tactical standoff, and the game will keep you up past your bedtime because it's so hard to pull yourself away. However, the aspects that weren't culled from the board game--the interface, the commentary, the bizarre real-time matches--feel messy and improvised. Nevertheless, Blood Bowl is good fun, even if it doesn't deliver on its full potential.
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Update : Shin Megami Tensei

In the past 12 years, the Shin Megami Tensei: Persona series has garnered a rabid fan following. But for new fans who want to start from the beginning, it's not easy to get a hold of the original game. Atlus is once again relocalizing Persona for North American audiences, but this time, it will be on the PlayStation Portable with new additions and slight gameplay changes. At this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo, we were only able to play through a brief battle sequence, but an Atlus rep came by our office recently to walk us through the intro and go over some of the familiar battle mechanics.

For those who discovered the niche series with Persona 3 and 4, one important thing to note is that the original Persona is more of a traditional role-playing game than an RPG/social simulator. The original set the tone of the series with its dark and eerie storyline, as well as the introduction of personae: spirits that can be summoned by a character to aid in battle. Persona's story begins with a group of high school students who--through some bizarre circumstances--get knocked unconscious by a mysterious force and wake up with the ability to summon their own personae. You play as one of the young students (whom you will get to name) who wakes up in the school's infirmary with a newfound power. One of your first thoughts is to see your friend Maki, a frail, bedridden girl who has spent much of her life in the hospital. Things start to get a little strange here because the hospital is suddenly invaded by demons and the sterile hallways turn into a maze where random battles await.

Persona feels like an old-school RPG, especially when you're navigating in a first-person view down the long, empty corridors, but most of the game is in the third-person view. A helpful minimap is displayed in the bottom corner to help track your progress through the area while fighting one random battle after another. The frequency of battles and difficulty will be the same as in the Japanese version of the game. The reasoning behind this has to do with the fact that Atlus wanted to keep the difficulty at the same level as the original. Fights are turn-based, but if you're grinding or uninterested in paying much attention, you can have the AI take over or set your own criteria, letting the battle unfold automatically and quickly. During these auto-fights, animations are skipped so battles will go by extremely fast. This is a nice feature if you don't want to micromanage every encounter and make it less tedious for those who don't like grinding.

You don't always have to fight when you come across demons though. To recruit personae to fight on your side, you can contact a demon during a fight and pick from a list of verbs to change its mood. The demon's traits, as well as mood level, are displayed onscreen so you can decide whether you want to sing to it or bully it into joining your team by raising its eagerness level. If you can raise the demon's eagerness, it will leave you its tarot card and the battle ends. By making it happy, the demon may leave behind helpful items so it's always in your best interest to encourage it to be happy or eager. We're not even sure we want to know what happens when a demon becomes angry or scared. Sometimes you'll have to give up your own items or health to seal the deal, but recruiting new personae is important for potential persona fusion.

Animated cutscenes, as well as voice acting, have been added to this version to help bring the bizarre story and its inhabitants to life. The dialogue has been relocalized by the current Atlus team, and the game is now in widescreen with higher resolution art. Other changes include a new over-world map and a new interface that will display more helpful information. The circle button can be used to run, and the start button will skip summoning and speed up battle animations. Fans will notice that Persona's soundtrack has also received a makeover. The music has been entirely redone by Shoji Meguro, so it's going to have that Japanese pop vibe, which is similar to the recent Persona games. Atlus also announced that the original Japanese soundtrack will be bundled with the game when it ships. One last addition--which will only be noticeable to those who were familiar with the Japanese version, as well as the original North American version--is that the snow queen quest has been re-added.

Our time with SMT: Persona was brief, but we were happy with what we saw and hope to get more hands-on time in the following weeks. It's great that Atlus is bringing these older games to the handheld so that a new generation of Persona fans can play them for the first time. Look for Shin Megami Tensei: Persona when it is released September 22.
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NEWS 2009 : Tales of Monkey Island: Episode One Impressions

NEWS INFO : The first episode of Telltale Games' new episodic game series, Tales of Monkey Island, is available today, though not quite in the way you might imagine. For the one-time purchase price of $34.95, you get all five of the episodes delivered monthly as they are released. So, to play the first episode, Launch of the Screaming Narwhal, you'll have to purchase every other episode in advance. This structure precludes us from being able to evaluate the game according to our ratings system because we can't assess whether the purchase price is worth it without playing every episode. We have, however, played Launch of the Screaming Narwhal to completion, and the following are our impressions of the first episode in the new Tales of Monkey Island adventure series.

Launch of the Screaming Narwhal begins where you might expect an adventure game to end. The hero (Guybrush Threepwood, Mighty Pirate) is about to rescue the girl (his wife, Elaine) and defeat the nefarious villain (LeChuck, evil poxed pirate). These characters, as well as a few more you'll meet along the way, are carried through from the first four games in the Monkey Island series, and fans of those games will find references to those and other LucasArts adventures peppered throughout the new episode. Fortunately, Narwhal's humor doesn't rely too much on the past, and most of the jokes are accessible to first-time Islanders. While the game is rarely laugh-out-loud funny, it maintains a fairly constant level of cleverness that is sure to elicit some chuckles, more than a few groans, and plenty of wry smiles--a style reminiscent of LucasArts' adventure classics.

After his villain-vanquishing efforts go awry, Guybrush finds himself stranded on Flotsam Island. It's here that your adventuring really begins, and you set about exploring the town and surrounding jungle, chatting up locals, and picking up anything that isn't nailed down. You can walk around using the keyboard or the mouse. The movement controls aren't quite point-and-click: You hold down the left mouse button and slide the mouse gently to determine the direction in which you want to walk. It's a bit finicky at first, but it works well once you get the hang of it, though you might want to switch to the keyboard occasionally to avoid index-finger fatigue. You can also hold the right mouse button or the Shift key to run, which is a welcome feature when you're traversing familiar territory yet again.

Though Flotsam Island isn't very big, there are a good number of puzzles to solve and intrigues to unravel. Speaking with the locals will get you started, and though there are an oddly limited number of character models (fat or skinny, and that's about it), each one is distinctly garbed and has his own weird personality. Your early adventures establish you as a pirate of distinction on this tiny backwater as you start a bar fight, discover buried treasure, and commandeer a ship. Of course, you accomplish these tasks in goofy roundabout ways that provide plenty of opportunities for clever item use and general silliness. Usually, it won't be too hard to puzzle out what to do next, but if you get really stuck, you can ratchet up the hint frequency and Guybrush will chime in with helpful observations to steer you in the right direction.

Your later adventures includ two characters that are bound to recur throughout the Tales of Monkey Island series, and dealing with them is appreciably more entertaining. They have more robustly eccentric personalities and help set the course for not only your escape from Flotsam Island, but also future episodes. The presence of multiple episode-spanning intrigues bodes well for the future of the series, and you'll likely be looking forward to the next one (The Siege of Spinner Cay) when you finish Launch of the Screaming Narwhal.

While it doesn't quite herald a new golden age of adventure gaming, the first episode of Tales of Monkey Island is funny and engaging enough to entertain for the few hours that it lasts. Fans of the Monkey Island series will get a kick out of the old references and familiar characters, while newcomers will find a clever adventure that kicks off the episodic run with style.
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NEWS UPDATE : Command & Conquer: A Retrospective

The Command & Conquer game series has been around for nearly 15 years--arguably longer if you care to trace the game's roots back to the very beginnings. The series has come to be associated with both modern strategy games and the classic real-time strategy games of yesteryear, which saw their first days with games like Herzog Zwei for the Sega Genesis and Dune II for home computers. And Dune II, a game based partially on David Lynch's motion-picture interpretation of the classic Frank Herbert novel, begat Command & Conquer.


This started a chain of events that led to modern real-time strategy as we know it, including building bases, harvesting resources, climbing the tech tree, and commissioning armies. And from there, we've seen more than 10 years of Command & Conquer and all that we've come to associate with the series. Tanks, harvesting Tiberium resource crystals, fast-paced online multiplayer, commando units, top-level superweapons, tanks, electro-squids, tanks, actor/director Joe Kucan as series villain Kane, parachuting Soviet attack bears, tanks, robo-dolphins, former pro wrestling champion Ric Flair, former Dr. Frank-N-Furter Tim Curry, and perhaps most importantly of all: tanks. And now that nearly 15 years have elapsed since the first Command & Conquer game, what better time to recap the history of this long-lived series? Let's take a look. Part one of our feature will cover the series up to 2001, while part two will cover more-recent entries in the series.


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Full Action take

Loss of vision does not mean the end of the world. Hijikata Mamoru proved. Although I can not see the colorful world, life is full of color Mamoru. Especially after he met with Touyama Haruka.

Through its ability to predict the future, know that Haruka Mamoru can protect. Therefore, ask Haruka Mamoru remained in the sides to death.

Eits, do not imagine the scene hurried romance romantic lho! For, Mamoru-life story of Haruka told Hiroshi Takashige in Shi ga Futari o Wakatsu Made (ShigaFuta, Until Death Do Us Part) is not semulus people. Each time a danger threatening. In fact, not infrequently be staked their lives.



Takashige are not the problem in his mourning. Conversely, a serial published in Young Gangan this full action. Fight scenes never absent in each of its chapter. His ShigaFuta indeed it is for the readers.

Takashige story is built with the very focus. No side story which is inserted mangaka for relaxing aura of tension. ShigaFuta with intense adrenalin stimulate readers. Each chapter is always ended with a scene that makes hair.

The technology used PLAYERS still reasonable. Almost all the technology in ShigaFuta can be explained scientifically. Including eyeglasses spe-off property Mamoru can detect enemy movements.

Instead of inserting dialogue length, Takashige supported Double-S to select the artwork affairs show picture language. Artwork is clean and adequate detail for the size of shonen manga. Double-S to take advantage of each panel is very effective.

Attacks in the action scenes throughout the story, of course, bringing potential critics. Takashige sharp enough to face. Moral message is still legible in ShigaFuta. Mamoru, the main character, is unbeatable in the affairs sword. He can kill the opponent with a very easy when you want. But, the former criminal is killed because their teachers do not. Mamoru-founded, it will make it the same with the faces of criminals.

The development of each of these figures are not too many get a portion. However, Takashige put it carefully in some of the last chapter. Mamoru initially start antisocial can receive attendance Haruka. Similarly, Haruka, who is now the passive can maintain itself in a critical time.

ShigaFuta has published nine volumes of tankoubon. Until this paper revealed, ShigaFuta still ongoing.
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News, Prototype

You are Alex Mercer, a shape-shifting, human-consuming, one-man army. And yet, even with these powers, you'll be facing some of the most challenging (or some may say frustrating) missions in any open-world game--and that's where we come in. With our guide at your side, we'll ensure you put your superpowers to good use in order to save Manhattan…and yourself.
Here's what you'll find in GameSpot's Prototype Game Guide:

• General Tips: Check out our tips for venturing through the city.
• Walkthrough: Prototype's tough, but we're tougher. Find out how to complete each of the game's missions with our walkthrough.
• Xbox 360 Achievements: Learn how to obtain Prototype's achievements.
• PlayStation 3 Trophies: Want some of those sweet PS3 trophies? Here you go!

Consuming

Prototype is built around consuming people. That is, you can consume almost anyone you encounter on the streets by simply grabbing them and tapping the "consume" button. Doing so not only refills your health, but it also allows you to assume that person's identity and use it as a disguise.

Stealth

One of the key elements to survival in Prototype is using disguises to remain undercover. You'll gain disguises by consuming people of certain types--for instance, if you consume a soldier, you'll be able to assume his identity, allowing you to infiltrate bases unbothered. Now your disguise will remain effective so long as you don't tip off your enemies by attacking or consuming them. Virtually anything else is fair game though, so feel free to run up buildings, glide across the city, and make leaps several stories tall--none of this seems suspicious in this city. New Yorkers...nothing surprises them anymore, huh?

The disguise meter, located just right of the map, displays whether your disguise has been compromised or not. The shutter at the bottom of the meter displays if the enemy can currently see you: if it's open, you're in their sights; if it's closed, you're as good as invisible. If the shutter is open, and the enemy spots you doing something suspicious, such as attacking their friends or using special powers (oddly, climbing walls doesn't arouse suspicion), the meter just above will begin to fill. If it fills completely and turns red, your disguise is no longer effective and the enemy will open fire. To reduce the meter, find a hiding place where the enemy can't see you (such as under a bridge, in a thin alley, etc)! Once there, you can expedite the process by swapping into a non-compromised disguise--if this option is available, a "switch" icon will appear just above the map. To help you stay aware of your surroundings, the mini-map highlights enemies in one of three colors, indicating their awareness level of you. White represents enemies that currently cannot see you, yellow represents those who can, whereas red indicates an enemy who's aware of your presence and will open fire.

Powers

As you play Prototype, you'll earn evolution points by consuming people, completing missions, killing enemies, and more. You can then cash in these evolution points on the "Upgrade" screen of the pause menu. Here, you can unlock various new abilities or improve your current skills or defensive abilities.

While the skills you choose to upgrade is ultimately up to you, we do have a few suggestions. First, we strongly recommend upgrading your "Survivability" skills first, such as by purchasing Health Boosts, Health Regeneration, and improving your Critical Mass ability. Following that, we also suggest upgrading your sprint speed under "Movement" to increase your chances of escaping the strike teams. Finally, once you unlock the Whipfist power, it's best to purchase its two enhancements, the first of which allows you to quickly take out groups of enemies, while the second makes it immensely easier to skyjack helicopters.

Prologue

Kill the Military Personnel

The local military's acting up and need to be taught a lesson. They're all nearby, though they're also marked on your radar (as red dots) if you need additional help to track them down. Now's a good time to try out your basic combat skills: Attack and Special Attacks. Attacks are quicker, but Special Attacks are stronger. Either can be charged by holding down their respective button to unleash a more powerful attack. In addition, the attacks can be linked together in various ways to form combos. Thankfully, these guys are weak (or rather, you're really strong), so it should only take a few attacks to take down each one.

Go to Times Square

Follow the on-screen marker to locate Times Square. To speed up the process, try Sprinting with the Right-Trigger, allowing you to zoom up over obstacles, such as cars and even buildings!

Kill the Military Personnel

Once at Times Square, you'll have to destroy some more military members. Join them on street level and tear them apart using your standard attacks, though your Special 'Claw' Attack is great for groups. Remember to use your radar to track down all the enemies.

Destroy the Tanks

Afterward, follow the marker on-screen to encounter a group of four tanks. Run up to each one and attack it until it's destroyed--it should only take about two hits each.

Kill the Hunters

Just ahead in Times Square, a bunch of creatures known as Hunters will storm in. Because there are so many, you may want to try out the lock-on feature (by holding Left-Trigger), allowing you to hone in and focus on a single enemy--standard attacks should work fine for the most part. As for the tanks and other enemies, you can simply ignore them.

Consume the Commander

Dash up the street to the commander (as marked on-screen), grab him, then consume him by pressing the button shown on-screen. This will conclude your first mission.

Escape the Gentek Facility

Jump over the Gate to Escape

To escape the facility, perform a charged jump over the gate. To perform a charged jump, simply hold the "jump" button for a few seconds before releasing to increase the height of your jump. Now dart up the street toward the on-screen marker.

Destroy the Helicopter

After picking up the Taxi, you'll discover that you can use the Right-Stick to switch targets while locked-on. In this case, you should target the helicopter, then toss the Taxi at it by tapping the "Grab/Throw" button, taking it down.

Get to Higher Ground

With the helicopter destroyed, use your Sprint ability to dart up a couple of buildings, as marked on-screen. You can expedite the process by performing charged jumps as you dart up the walls.

Destroy the Helicopters

Once on the roof, some helicopters will swoop in. Grab the nearby air-conditioning blocks and use them to take down the helicoptersl by locking on and throwing them as they swoop by overhead.

Look for Clues About Your Past

Consume the Blackwatch Commander

Grab the commander as he approaches and consume him. You can now assume his identity at any time either by using the "Power Select" menu, or pressing left on the control-pad.

Go to Dana's Apartment // Go to the Overlook to Investigate the Area

Proceed down the street to the rooftop that's marked on-screen. Once there, hop over to nearby rooftop and step into the cone of light to trigger the next sequence.

Disguise MeterThe disguise meter, located just right of the map, displays whether your disguise has been compromised or not. The shutter at the bottom of the meter displays whether the enemy can currently see you: if it's open, you're in their sights; if it's closed, you're as good as invisible. If the shutter is open, and the enemy spots you doing something suspicious, such as attacking their friends or using special powers (oddly, climbing walls doesn't arouse suspicion), the meter just above will begin to fill. If it fills completely and turns red, your disguise is no longer effective and the enemy will open fire. To reduce the meter, find a hiding place where the enemy can't see you! Once there, you can expedite the process by swapping into a non-compromised disguise--if this option is available, a "switch" icon will appear just above the map. To help you stay aware of your surroundings, the mini-map highlights enemies in one of three colors, indicating their awareness level of you. White represents enemies that currently cannot see you, yellow represents those who can, whereas red indicates an enemy who's aware of your presence and will open fire.

Enter Dana's Apartment without Raising an Alert

Before dropping to the street, switch into your Commander disguise (press left on the Control Pad) to avoid arousing the enemy. Now drop down and enter Dana's apartment via the cone of light--make sure not to attack the soldiers along the way, otherwise they'll figure out who you are.
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