News Features
123456
Just wanted to let you know that starting right now, you can friend us on Xbox Live through the gamertag ComplexMag. This doesn’t mean that you can play WITH the magazine, exactly, but that it’ll serve as a place for like-minded (i.e., Complex-loving) gamers to connect for online play. Say you feel like jumping on for some Modern Warfare 2 or Borderlands, but none of your other friends are online—if you’ve friended ComplexMag, you can see what other friends of the ’plex are online and playing your game, and shoot ’em a game invite.
Keeps your friends list intact while adding a whole new social group…because we all know smack talk is more fun when people get your rap references. Soon we’ll also be using this to organize gaming nights with Complex staff and celebrities, but for now just shoot ComplexMag a friend request on Xbox Live and we’ll get this started off right…
Read the rest of the story »
All week, Complex fam Nick Marroni is at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, soaking up game and putting us on it. Read on for his summation of Day One…
Read the rest of the story »
Yes, Battlefield 2 Bad Company is finally out, and with more games on the way, we may finally see people beginning to leave the overcrowded abusive lobbies of Modern Warfare 2. But that doesn’t mean there’s not still time to play like a complete a-hole! Yes, with the judicious use of certain perks, weapons, and behaviors, you too can pad your own kill/death ratio while still actually being shitty at the game. And we’re here to tell you how!
And don’t worry—MW2 may have the highest a-hole/non-a-hole ratio in gaming right now, but we’re confident that each new robust multiplayer experience will bring us a whole new breed of a-hole…or at least the same a-holes who have simply adapted to find the loopholes in every game that comes out. Because that’s what a-holes do. But enough about OTHER a-holes—become your own a-hole today! And if we’ve missed out on a species of a-hole, just call ’em out in the comments. Aloha!
Read the rest of the story »
Today marks the official beginning (last night’s Final Fantasy XIII Launch Party doesn’t really count) of the Game Developer Conference in San Francisco, aka “The Only Place Your Weird Cousin Would Rather Go Than Hedonism.” The annual event is possibly the most significant gaming get-together in the U.S.—every developer worth their chips is there, and this year’s includes addresses from Nintendo’s Yoshio Sakamato (yes, there’s a Yoshi who works at the Home of Mario) and Civilization O.G. Sid Meier. It’s paradise for gamers, so you know we had to be there: Our dude Nick Marroni, esteemed freelancer and official Friend of Complex, will be out there all week, tweeting what he sees and summing up his thoughts each day. Until then, though, we’ll let Nick entice you…
Read the rest of the story »
With all the pandemonium surrounding recent AAA releases—whether Bioshock 2, Heavy Rain, or Battlefield Bad Company 2—people seem to have forgotten that there’s a little indie title coming out tomorrow called… Ah, gee, what was it again? Oh, yes: FINAL FUCKING FANTASY XIII. Which isn’t the legal title, but is surely how it’s thought of by its global legion of hardcore fans and housebound otakus who have happily been sinking months of their life into each title for the past…23 years?! Yes, hard to believe, but the very original Final Fantasy came out in 1987. And if this is your first time considering a FF title, you may want to take a moment to peruse the game’s previous iterations—after all, this has historically been one of the most sprawling and addictive franchises in gaming history (no shots, Elder Scrolls!), not to mention having more titles than the Sweet Valley High universe. So read on, because you can’t know your future if you don’t know your oddly compelling quasi-elfin past…
Read the rest of the story »
The Oscars might be looming closer and closer, but we find ourselves caring less and less. Sure, we’re down to give credit where credit is due, but we’re just not in the mood to watch 13 James Cameron bombastic speeches. Or Alec Baldwin’s “I’m lampooning Hollywood because it’s ridiculous WAIT WAIT PLEASE HIRE ME” schtick. Or Monique’s stubble. So instead, we’ll be avoiding Billy Bush’s vagina stupidity by firing up some Battlefield Bad Company 2, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still mock the Academy Awards, does it?
So in the interest of actual entertainment, we cooked up the Throaties, our own Complex-approved award bestowed on your mom all those voice actors who bring us so many memorable cut scenes, jokes, and cartoonish accents. They might not be able to thank the little people, but they’ll be able to thank us—and that’s all that matters. And fuck a Price Waterhouse Cooper, we’re announcing the winners early! Read on to see who’s taking home some real hardware…
Read the rest of the story »
In case you haven’t figured it out, Casual Fridays aren’t about tower defense games, or RPGs, or zombie shit. When you’re whiling away the afternoon during the last work day of the week, do you really want to think about what you need to do? No, you want something that’s doable in your state of stultifying workday ennui.
Enter Primary, which is possibly the sublime realization of that very nonchallenging ideal. Play as Hueman, a blue (or red, or yellow) Keith Haring-esque figure platforming his way through the many floors of a skyscraper. The music is techno-lullaby, the graphics are suitable for a child/stoner/braindead cubicle drone (or, in our case, all three), and—fuck it, it’s just fun. Long, too, so if you don’t finish it today, there’s always next week…
[HEAD OVER TO KONGREGATE TO PLAY PRIMARY!]
• OR CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE COMPLEX VIDEO GAME POSTS…
TITLE: Battlefield: Bad Company 2
DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER/PLATFORMS: DICE/Electronic Arts/Xbox 360, PS3, PC
FUN FACT: BFBC2’s multiplayer demo became the fastest-downloaded demo in Xbox Live history, with more than 2 million people getting it in its first five days of release.
WHY COMPLEX IS CO-SIGNING IT:
Because we’ve been waiting for this one a pret-ty pret-ty pret-ty long time. And real talk, we’re a little tired of playing Quarry over and over and over and over again on Modern Warfare 2. Plus, the Battlefield franchise has always been known more for its vehicle play and environmental destruction than the Call of Duty series, which in the past has made for some addictive multiplayer action. The upgraded Frostbite 2.0 physics engine lets you take down entire buildings this time around, rather than just blowing a hole in a wall. This is great, but it also means that a building can be taken down with you in it, so watch your step.
Read the rest of the story »
If you’ve ever checked out Modern Warfare 2 gameplay videos on YouTube, then you’ve no doubt heard of this guy. He’s been posting videos since the game dropped in November, but he really caught some shine in January when he edited a montage of himself running around multiplayer maps fucking up kids who were trying to cheat their way to killstreak rewards. He’s also one of the funnier dudes out there making videos, thanks to his penchant for Metallica and his love of Duke Nukem sound effects. Fuck a Rocky theme—if you ever want to amp yourself up for a job interview, just head to his YouTube channel, where more than 40,000 subscribers tune in for his FPS domination (yes, domination: homie’s got a 3.50 kill/death ratio, and his win/loss is 14.90!).
Since he’s come to prominence, MW2 fans want to know who he is…which means, of course, that we had to track him down. We won’t tell you his name (he’s a private guy), but we will give you an exclusive interview with the man behind the crosshairs. Read on for his gaming background, his M.O., and a look at his own Top 5 videos—and you never know, if you post questions for him in the comments thread, we might just bring him back…
Read the rest of the story »
TITLE: MLB 2K10
DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER/PLATFORMS: 2K Sports/Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Playstation 2, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Windows
FUN FACT: 2K Sports is giving $1 million to the first person to throw a perfect game.
WHY COMPLEX IS CO-SIGNING IT:
It’s America’s pastime! What are you, a terrorist? After last year’s somewhat lackluster 2K9, 2K10 is a big step up, with improved gameplay and simulation options. And with fantasy baseball on deck, it’s a great way to prepare yourself for the upcoming season.
GAMEPLAY:
If you didn’t play 2K9, some of the batting and pitching might be a little tricky to pick up at first. Thankfully, 2K Sports added a Drills feature in this year’s version. You can get acclimated and test your chops in hitting, pitching and fielding. Pitching is the easiest to master, as each pitch has a unique control with the RS. Hitting is a little tougher to get used to though. Gone are the times of Sega Genesis where you can hit a homer with a simple button. Each type of swing has its own control with the RS — as well as the directional control with the LS. Once you get used to the timing though it’s much, much easier…
Read the rest of the story »
WHAT Tritton AX Pro 2010
PRICE $180
COMPARE TO Astro A40, Turtle Beach Ear Force X41
WHY COMPLEX IS CO-SIGNING In the world of online multiplayer gaming, being able to hear is integral. And we don’t mean being able to hear prepubescents talking about raping you, or whining about you stealing their kill, or cramming a remote up their own ass—we mean being able to hear your teammates, enemy footsteps, even the sound of a gun reloading. Or it could just be that your girl is tired of the sounds of gunfire echoing through the house. Either way, that’s where high-end gaming headphones come in. Tritton’s top-tier model has been around since early 2008, but was plagued with enough minor issues that the company released an updated unit last week. The cans managed to retain their best qualities—true digital 5.1 sound, four separate speakers in each earcup (which can be adjusted on the fly, depending on how much subwoofer or delay you want), separately controlled game and voice sound via the same inline controller—while bringing a few much-welcomed improvements…
Read the rest of the story »
Welcome to Mobile Handheld Check-In, where every week month we bring you the latest and greatest in handheld console gaming. We’ve already showed you the hottest games out this month for the iPhone, Android, and webOS mobile platforms, so let’s take it away from phones for a second.
After Sony introduced the PSP Go last year, which eschewed UMD discs for downloadable games, PSP fanboys bemoaned the loss of physical media. Meanwhile, DS fans were faced with the same old deluge of shovelware (Pony Friends 2? Really?). The thing is, there’s plenty of fire out there for both consoles, you just have to know where to look. And that’s where we come in. If you don’t have a smartphone—or you just like REAL video games and not anemic tilt-based racers—read on. We’ll know we’ve done our part when we see you on the subway grimacing as you fiddle with your buttons…
Read the rest of the story »
Valentine’s Day has come and gone, and winter seems like it may never end. For the 3.5 million people playing World of Warcraft (and that’s just in the U.S.), though, it might just be the perfect time to plan a little guildy jumpoff. Okay, we have to admit we don’t even know what that last sentence meant. All we know is that there are millions of people who love the game, including some actual hot women—and we don’t just mean their avatar.
Mila Kunis is a well-documented WoW freak, as is our girl Maria. If you’re a WoW player, you may know her as Ophiralyn, a Level 80 hunter from the Mediocracy guild. If you’re not a WoW player, you just found your first reason to strap on a scabbard. And lucky for you, Maria was kind enough to lay out the path to a WoW girl’s Chamber of Moist Secrets (What? That’s a place in WoW! At least the way we envision it!), so take a few pointers, learn some lingo, and get ready to go looting in Vulveroth. (Again, people, IT’S A REAL PLACE IN WOW)…
Read the rest of the story »
As popular as fantasy football is, no sports simulation inspires the single-minded devotion among its fans that baseball does: 162 games, pitching rotations, and constant trades combine for a season uniquely suited to both obsessives and gamers. (At least if you consider those to be separate communities.) Last year, the PS3 exclusive MLB 09: The Show handily won the battle of the licensed MLB games (don’t feel too bad for 2K Sports; they’ve always got basketball)—and with this season’s installments rapidly approaching (MLB 10: The Show and MLB 2K10 both drop March 2), the team from Sony Studios San Diego gave us a detailed look at what to expect from the new edition. Not only can you call the full game as a catcher, but online play has been overhauled, along with a raft of other improvements that make the game even more immersive. Read on for the interview…and don’t say we didn’t warn you that you would be losing your entire summer to this game. See you after the World Series, pasty freaks!
Read the rest of the story »
New and veteran gamers alike—at least the ones with PS3s—have been waiting for tomorrow with bated breath: Heavy Rain finally drops…and makes a splash…like rain…that’s heavy! Like our current cover man Drake, Heavy Rain has accumulated an immense amount of pre-release hype, but if you’ve played the demo (or own a brain that functions), you’ll know that there’s good reason for it. Developers Quantic Dream are the same team that brought us Indigo Prophecy, and HR is about to pair that innovation with the layer of polish that they couldn’t quite attain the first time around. In other words: game-changer…
The thing is, while Heavy Rain is on some next-level stuff, the one thing that gives us the tiniest bit of pause is the game’s detective bent. Call us crazy, but when it comes to detective games, we’ve seen good, bad, and some truly horrendous (we’re looking at you Psychic Detective). So before you go all Sherlock Holmes on us, make sure you know what you’re getting into: put away your magnifying glass and weird double-billed houndstooth cap and 7% cocaine solution and get a clue about the history of detective games.
Read the rest of the story »
