It’s up and yes, it’s fantastic. Amusingly enough, for a very short period of time, I was worried that Rockstar wasn’t doing enough to get the word out on all the hard work the dev team was doing on this one. Ha! I should have figured the all-out blitz would kick in closer to the release date. I’m looking forward to the story more than the MP modes, but I like how they tie together and would love to see more games tackle this in a similar fashion (without stealing the idea cold, of course)….
Here’s one more dev diary from Capcom, and with the game’s launch rolling up pretty soon, I may as well post the launch trailer as well:
Now, I’ll need to figure out when I’ll get to actually play this one, as I just started The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition on the 360 yesterday and I definitely don’t want to rush that. Granted, the two games are light years apart in tone and tale, so I’m not even going to compare the two side by side. Or mention Skyrim when talking about DD. For me, every RPG is a different beast and some do things better than others. At the end of the day, if Capcom has created a game I can lose a few too many hours in and NOT find comparisons because what the team has done is so impressive that I’m not counting off influences, then I’m a happier gamer for it. As are you.
While this film does look great and seems to be in the spirit of L.A. Confidential, Public Enemies, The Untouchables and a few other modern crime sagas, as a film fan for decades, I do have some beef with a few things:
Why the hell does a period piece such as this get stuck with a blasted rap song in the trailer? And yes, I’d say the same damn thing if it were a rock, country or other song that didn’t make sense for the time this is supposed to e set in. Hell, there are PLENTY of songs from the era that would have fit, even if they chose something that was recorded a few years after these “based on a true story” events took place.
And really? Which true story was this based on? I know we live in an age where short attention spans RULE, but a little text blurb before the shootings and sexy glances placing the dates and context would have been nice. All I got from the trailer was lots of old cars, clothes angry cops, a token black guy as a G-man and Emma Stone’s big eyes.
Er, ahem. Anyway, if that slo-mo scene with the four guys walking away from the exploding car is IN the movie, I want my money back. Or someone else’s money who pays to see this and also hates that crap, That shot is the most played out one EVER in a trailer that I never hope to see in the films I see trailers that have it included. Wait, what?
Finally, the title stinks. Even if it were the actual name of the shady take no prisoners kill the gangsters with no mercy agency portrayed in the film, it stinks. It sounds like some low-budget TV show from the 50’s or worse, a movie from the 1930’s you’d catch on TCM in the middle of the night…
Oh, wait… Er, never mind…
Ah ha ha. I made the mistake of reading a few too many message board posts elsewhere about this trailer (well, I got caught up in cracking up at some pretty lousy arguments that make no sense because this IS just a game at the end of the day), but no matter what’s been said about it, one thing is crystal clear: Ubisoft knows what they’re doing. I haven’t enjoyed the series all that much, but I do like the new setting and time period. Still, I can’t help but imagine some school teaching a course in history as seen through video games like this and others that take actual fact and twist them into a rich game world along with a few historical figures along for the ride. Eh, whatever – as long as this one’s better than the last and well-cooked enough to rate a few replays, I’m all aboard for this ride…
…Especially IF you’re Arkane Studios and Bethesda Softworks, that is. Dishonored, the absolutely gorgeous and innovative upcoming first-person stealth action game (which some are unfairly over-comparing to Irrational’s game), is coming later this year, and as it’s equally well-crafted and also shares a few MINOR similarities with BI (both games take place in fictional worlds based loosely on 19th Century America or a Victorian-themed pseudo London setting, both have a steampunk aesthetic to them, and both look amazing), it SHOULD be on your old-timey radarscope thingamajig too, I say.
The big deals about Dishonored are its stellar art direction and is its more flexible gameplay that allows players to possess people or certain animals or play the entire story without killing a single person, plus a lot more that has to be seen to be believed. Yeah, yeah – my preview is late, but that’s because I’ve been occupied with some other stuff. Still, stick around, as I’m going through my notes now and should have something up soon….
Sure, it looks hideous compared to whatever modern FPS you drool over and line up for year after year, but if not for John Carmack and this formerly controversial Nazi-killing corridor shooter, you wouldn’t all be standing outside in the rain at midnight for Master Chief, any Modern Warfare game or hell, pretty much every other FPS on the market. That said, Bethesda has made this classic shooter playable for free as a browser game on Bethsoft’s Wolfenstein page or the game’s official Facebook page, so go check it out. Also, click away HERE for a great YouTube video commentary with Carmack about the game – you just might learn something in the process (like some respect!)
For me, Sorcery represents an important game for the Move, even though it’s not packing the most original of plots. The selling point will be how well the game controls, particularly given the skeptics out there who still think motion control doesn’t equal good gameplay. I’d gather most if not all of those folks haven’t even given these types of games a try, as I can rattle off a bunch that work extremely well on the Wii and PS3 including some key hardcore games (Resident Evil 4 on the Wii being a stellar example of taking an older game a really showing how great the addition of motion controls actually make for an even better game experience). It’s clear to me that developer The Workshop is doing some good things with the Move. However, convincing those who keep their biases going through their lack of willingness to try something new will always be a bane to even the best of intentions…
OK, I’ve been a bit scattered lately, so forgive me if there’s a sense of deja vu going on here. Anyway, here’s the latest DD dev diary, this time tackling the interesting Pawn system and how it works in the game. Capcom is definitely generating a great deal of interest in this game as it heads for gold status and eventually retail release, so pay attention and get your money (and a decent controller) ready, I say.
It’s been a pretty awful year for creative folks I like passing away, that’s for sure. Celebrities I don’t follow aside, it’s been Ralph McQuarrie, Jean “Moebius” Giraud, Adam Yauch (MCA) and now Maurice Sendak, who died yesterday. I did this quick piece shortly after I heard the news, then I remembered that Sendak’s works were pretty cool reads because they all dealt with life’s realities in one way or another, very much unlike those shiny, happy fairytale stories where nothing bad happens, evil gets the boot and there’s a charming price coming to save the day. Bah! That said, this is turning out to be a really depressing year, even without the stupid doom-sayers and their busted Mayan calendars…
Minority Media’s PS3 exclusive is coming soon and it’s absolutely one of those games that needs to be played (despite only being available over PSN, grrr!). Here’s a look at the first dev diary as well as a brief post over at the PlayStation Blog from one of the nicest people in this industry you’ll ever meet, Minority’s Creative Director, Vander Cabellero. Hey, Sony! Here’s a suggestion (again): Slap this game and Journey onto a disc with Outland and maybe some demos (Starhawk, GOW: Ascension, et cetera), get it out at a decent price point and make a small mint from those who don’t yet have/want/use PSN accounts!
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