March 22, 2011 is the release date for PMH and if you pre-order the game through GameStop or Amazon, you get these three cool custom skins:
Jak Freedom League skin
Ratchet Trillium Armor skin
Sly Cooper Pirate skin
(What, he lost that leg chewing it off in a trap? Somebody call PETA!)
Anyway, the game is coming along quite nicely (check out both of my two-fisted hands-on previews) and well, go buy a Move already!
One of the more intriguing games I've had my eye on, UTV Ignition's El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron, is finally getting a Japanese release for the PS3 and Xbox 360 this April with a US and European launch dates to be announced (he typed, with fingers crossed). Here's a look at some of the latest screens from the visually striking action/adventure game. I'll run a gallery later featuring a few of the beautiful (and nicely offbeat) wallpapers from the official site. I may as well stick the press release below the jump so you folks can find out what the game is all about (sorry for the cut 'n paste job – I'm tinkering away on some reviews and such, so I'm cutting back on my word count in today's posts)…
Platform: Nintendo Wii
Developer: Hudson
Publisher: Hudson
# of Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E 10+ (Everyone 10 +)
Official Site
Score: B+
Ethereal, innovative, methodically paced yet wholly rewarding, Hudson's Wii exclusive Lost In Shadow is one of those artistic gems that should appeal to gamers across a few different genres. The dreamlike visuals and puzzles that revolve around light and shadow play will draw in fans of games such as ICO or echochrome or the original Price of Persia, the platforming elements are fun and challenging for young to older players and the overall innovation and intriguing story will please fans of games with more than flashy graphics going for them. While it isn't quite perfect, it's amazingly well designed and has a way of keeping you hooked in as you traverse back and forth through some pretty trippy stages that play with your perceptions.
Koei Canada has been “quietly” working away on a very interesting twist to the long-running Sengoku Mousou franchise, Warriors: Legends of Troy, set to storm onto the PS3 and Xbox 360 across North America on March 8, 2011 (3/25/11 in the UK). On first glance, the game has the makings of the more familiar Dynasty Warriors series, a good thing for fans of the series who want more. However, the combination of Greek and Roman “historical” and mythological elements plus copious amounts of blood (and the Mature rating that comes with it) should give this one enough potential to draw in fans of everything from Spartan: Total Warrior, God of War, 300 and Showtime's awesomely gory Spartacus series. The grittier visual style here is in direct contrast to Omega Force's work (as you'll see in the latest Dynasty Warriors 7 screens), but this more realistic route fits the brutal hack & slash gameplay all the more.
Nope, it’s NOT a contest with an amazing prize (although that would be really cool). It’s just the single screen shot sent along to promote True Crime: Hong Kong along with a lengthy game description. In a nutshell, the upcoming PS3 and Xbox 360 game will be the first open-world game set in Hong Kong, it will feature a ton of familiar HK talent doing voice-overs, over 100 songs, hand-to-hand combat inspired by HK and Hollywood action flicks, guns galore (Woo, Woo!), plenty of illegal activities to participate in and I’m sure, a Mature rating based on all the other info in the sell sheet. If anything, it should be a heck of a lot better than Stranglehold was. Developer UFG (United Front Games) has quite a task at hand here, so I’ll shut up until I get some hands-on time with the game…
I'd initially planned NOT to use these ICO and Shadow of the Colossus Collection pics at all, but after much debate (well, not that much), I decided to run a few of the shots I took last month of the live demo of Sony's upcoming PS3 HD (and 3D)-enhanced twofer. If you've never played either game before on the PS2, you're in for a real treat. ICO is shorter and more puzzle/platform oriented, Shadow is much longer and has more action and they both show off some of the best hand-animated 3D characters you'll ever see. (You'll have to play them to get what each story is about – I'm not going to go ruin anything for anyone new to the games).
Anyway, you're getting two amazingly well-done, innovative gems with a nice HD polish for a great price. That 3D effect is an option for those with 3D TV's, by the way, but if you're fortunate enough to own a Bravia or other 3D setup, you'll see that the game looks absolutely spectacular. The blurrier the photo, the more incredible the effect is. So yes, the worst looking pic below the jump is the one where I had to stop taking pics and just watch more of the game being played (I didn't snap away when that first Colossus showed up, but the 3D there is nearly mind-blowing). This one's going to be a keeper…
Travis Touchdown is baaaaaaaaack (and so are the ladies!), and this time, they're coming to you on the PS3 (with Move controller support, so go buy one if you haven't yet). You all get one guess what this one's going to be rated (don't let that RP fool you one bit). I absolutely loved the first two Wii games (quirks and all), so it will be ridiculously interesting to see how the game turns out on a more powerful platform. So far, Santa Destroy and its denizens look pretty darn slick in HD, that's for sure. Go ogle the screens below the jump – I'm off to play some games… (edit! a few more screens added)
Tecmo Koei is getting an early start on 2011 by announcing three upcoming console games for the first quarter of next year as well as two 3DS exclusives with release dates and more info on the portable games to be announced shortly – (at or around CES, I’m guessing). Here’s what’s on the way:
Trinity: Souls of Zill ‘Oll (PS3 Exclusive) – February 8, 2011
Warriors: Legends of Troy (PS3/Xbox 360) – March 8, 2011
Dynasty Warriors 7 (PS3 and Xbox 360) – March 22, 2011
Dead or Alive Dimensions (3DS)
Samurai Warriors Chronicles (3DS)
I’ll run updated galleries for each game as new media comes in.
SCEA and Sucker Punch’s Holiday Cheer, part deux – check out this chunk of “making of” footage from inFAMOUS 2 and go kiss your PS3 for getting yet another great game in 2011. I’d say someone needs to build a time-stopping machine so we can all set aside enough of it to actually play ALL the great games coming next year for every system…
Yikes. Not one, not two, but three videos went up for inFAMOUS 2 a few hours ago, showing off gameplay, a behind the scenes peek and parts of the 2D comic cut scenes from Sucker Punch's 2011 action game. Here are the gameplay footage and 2D comic movies – the behind the scenes video gets a separate post just so i can ramble about it a bit more (if I want to). Yup, with all these first party exclusives coming left and right, it's going to be a REALLY good year for the PS3 (and you don't need a crystal ball to see that fact)…
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 