I got a chance to check out Ubisoft’s brand new WWII strategy game R.U.S.E. last week in London, ahead of the game’s official unveiling today at GDC 2009 in San Francisco.
Developed by Eugen Systems (Act of War) and published by Ubisoft, the new IP looks like it has the potential to be a pretty solid addition to the strategy genre, combining decent graphics with some fresh ideas when it comes to gameplay. The battlefield can be viewed both as a 3D environment, or a 2D playing board and the inclusion of 10 special “RUSE” cards gives you access to some interesting tricks, such as setting up decoys with fake units, and the ability to steal intel on enemy plans. Check out the full preview on GameSpot.
My HAWX review is up over on GameSpot. Check out the video review in HD on GameSpot, or SD below! What’s your thoughts on the game, Tom Clancy or air combat games in general? Post below and see you on the flight deck!
Just before Christmas I headed up to Midway’s Newcastle studio to meet the team and see how development of the Vin Diesel open-world racer Wheelman was getting along, and took some photos of the studio while I was up there.
Check out the best ones below or click here for the full gallery on my Flickr account.
Among other things, I’ve had my hands full reviewing some new additions to the SingStar and Rock Band franchise over the last few weeks in the lead-up to Christmas, namely SingStar Vol. 3, SingStar Abba (yes, I’ll admit I actually enjoyed it!) and AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack. You can check out the reviews for all of them over at GameSpot and have a musical Christmas!
Being a games journalist certainly has its ups and downs. While you have to constantly wade through media releases from publishers all trying to tout their new “groundbreaking” titles, and play through some mundane, run-of-the-mill, or downright God-awful games, you also get first access to ones that look amazing and show a lot of promise. You also get to meet some interesting people in the process…people like Gemma Atkinson.
I got a chance to interview the former Hollyoakes actress, glamour model, and now star in Red Alert 3 at EA’s Be the One show at Trafalgar Square and I present it now for your viewing pleasure. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Back in September I headed down to Apple’s Regent Street store in central London to hear Will Wright give a presentation on Spore, just a few days before its launch. While I was there I talked to Reuters’ Matt Cowan about the game and you can see what I had to say in the video below (from about 0:58 onwards).
It’s harder than I thought writing my first blog post. Partly because I’m still formulating my hopes, plans and dreams for this blog, and partly because I feel a certain amount of expectation that it has to start with some sort of fanfare.
But first an introduction. I’m Luke Anderson and I’m a staff writer for GameSpot UK. Originally from the sunny shores of Perth, Western Australia, I moved to London late last year. Some of you will know me from the GSUK podcast, others from our video show Start/Select or my blog or articles on GameSpot and some may actually know me. Some may even remember me from my days on our sister site ZDNet Australia over in Sydney or may’ve simply stumbled upon this site.
Whatever your reason for visiting, I hope you enjoy it! I’ll start the ball rolling with some of my favourite articles and videos that I’ve worked on since starting at GSUK back in January. Lastly, please feel free to tell me what you think by leaving a comment, or sending an email to luke[at]lukeando.com.
