In this latest developer diary, check out some of the tried and true gear from the Cameron film you’ll be using up against those oh-so-pesky xenomorphs. Gearbox is making a game any fan of the series should jump into when it hits retail. As I’ve said earlier, that delay is only making for a much better game in the end. OK, that and it’ll give me and a few million other people a chance to complete Borderlands 2 a few times. Go, Gearbox! Go, Sega!
OK, so I’m feeling lazy today, so you kids get to watch a movie instead of me telling you a story. Whee! Anyway, lots of fun stuff here to ogle, so I’ll shut up and let you get to the ogling. Got that popcorn and drink handy? Is the dog nearby to get your socks (or the cat to chase and play with them) when they fly off? All comfy now? If you’re wearing shoes, take them off NOW, or else you may hit your pet with them, which isn’t a good thing for either of you. OK…. NOW you’re ready! Enjoy!
Sure, the Move might not move as many gamers as SCEA would love to believe, but I like the peripheral and when it has games such as the just announced Until Dawn on the way, I’m happy I bought that Wand and Navigation Controller setup as an early adopter. I like the “B” movie vibe going on above, the SCREAM-like tone of the game and yeas, that it’s all about motion control gameplay, something that when done well, works wonderfully. Amusingly enough, I have an unfinished design document here I did a few years back for a remake of the Wii game JU-ON: The Grudge that added some cool features that would have made for a better overall experience. Perhaps I’ll dig it up and post it one of these days…
As for Killzone: Mercenary – another portable entry in the series is more than welcome, as Killzone: Liberation on the PSP was stellar stuff indeed. Mercenary is, like the console versions, a first-person shooter (a genre surprisingly lacking on the Vita even this early in its life cycle) and should draw in fans with its superb visuals and familiar gameplay. I’m a big fan of the Killzone series for it’s sharp looks, tight gameplay and overall story arc, so it’ll be fun to see how this new game fits into the canon Guerrilla Games kicked off back on the PS2. Annnnnnd, the waiting begins. Let’s hope both of these are out sooner than later, I say.
What I’ve always loved about Sony since the PlayStation days is they’ve continually had new first-party games for their systems that aren’t just the same old stuff year after year. Puppeteer is coming to the PS3 sometime soon (next year) from Japan and it looks quite cool, super creative and a little creepy. I like the overall look of this footage as well as the possibilities for future installments (the press release calls it a new franchise) or even (and hopefully) a Vita version. Sony, you’ve made that commitment to making the Vita a portable hardware, wonder so let’s see more great software for it, grrr! Anyway, the PS3 is NOT going out with a whimper at all, ladies and gents. What a 2013 it’s going to be for those of us who crave PREMIUM content and lots of it.
Granted, we’re talking newer consoles and handhelds here for this reboot, but It’s nice to see that slick, speed-busting, gadget-ridden Interceptor back in action (and no “The Rock” mucking up the works this time, thankfully!). Granted, car combat as a genre is sort of flat at the moment, but there’s always been a primal thrill in most Spy Hunter games that keeps me playing until the end. Then again, I go back to the original arcade game, so maybe it’s just me trying to play catch up with nostalgia or something. More on this one as my own spies dig up what they can…
But that’s absolutely great for the hard working dev teams at Bad Robot and Digital Extremes making Star Trek for Namco Bandai, as each bit of footage and every screenshot or art asset looks better and better. As I’m not quite sure when the new movie is coming out, it would be a bit of serendipity if it arrived when the game was all polished up and tight as a drum. That would be awesome for a few reasons, one of which being we’d get a licensed movie game that was as good as the film at the same time instead of a few years down the road (or not at all in too many cases). As always… we shall see. OK, J.J. – that sequel better be amazing!
Spark Unlimited’s best game to date is going to surprise a lot of really jaded (and really annoying) people out there. You know, the ones who refuse to give a game a chance because they’re either pining away for an earlier installment or worse, spend too much time comparing apples to oranges when they SHOULD be, you know, actually playing more games and enjoying all the hard work that goes into them. My hands-on time with a demo a few months ago shown the dev team at the top of their form. Controls and visuals were solid, there’s that performance capture realism that works excellently and while yes, the game has a Dead Space vibe in a few areas, it’s FAR from a clone of Visceral’s hit series. Well, I think as long as Capcom and Spark concentrate on getting the final version out as tight as a drum and with a great story that’s well told, the amount of ACTUAL negatives that can be said about the game will be slim to none.
Yes, and Yes! and thank you, Irrational Games. Sure, running around and shooting each other in the face would have brought in more of that crowd who loves this sort of thing in other genres, but for my money (and despite the second installment’s inclusion of MP), the BioShock series has ALWAYS been about the solo experience and the story. Period. This latest move in a game that’s currently in a rather bumpy development cycle/delay phase will in fact, be a MUCH stronger game experience now focused on storytelling and pure immersion in the world Ken Levine and company want to create. The primary issue with most all MP modes in a story-driven game such as this is they require a much larger suspense of disbelief than the single player campaigns (why am I running around shooting other people in the face? Where does this fit into the overall plot and why should I care if it has nothing to do with the main narrative and reason i bought the game in the first place?).
Additionally, as much fun as multiplayer modes can be, in the case of games such as this, Hal-Life, or Dishonored, they can be seen as a pure waste of resources if you consider the overall power of each game’s storytelling. This is especially valid if the main game suffers because of a multiplayer focus that’s unnecessary and only designed to boost sales to a crowd that has a huge variety of games focused on their needs. Of course, some will disagree entirely with my happy dancing ways, but I’m betting that the end result of all this rejiggering will be worth any additional delays added to the game’s development schedule. Off to find something appropriate to dance around the room to…
More fun with fast-moving Xenomorphs in this latest dev diary from Gearbox Software and Sega. You can definitely fell the love these guys have for James Cameron’s second installment in the popular film franchise, which will hopefully translate into a game for the ages that’s as scary and action-packed as everyone wants it to be.
Granted, the teaser site just has a nice image and that film clip heavy trailer doesn’t reveal much in the way of gameplay (as in no gameplay at all, so I’d gather the project is still early in the dev cycle), but I’m sort of positively ambivalent about the whole thing. Well, positive yet ambivalent if that’s an actual emotional state. If the game is based on the last Rambo film with the hyper-realstic violence and interesting pro-rebel attitude, it’ll be a game worth checking out to see how far it takes its story and violence. Hey, the whole archery thing is big in games these days (not that it went away for us die-hard RPG players out there), so at least I’ll enjoy those parts. And hell yeah, the game had BETTER use some of the late, great Jerry Goldsmith’s music (if legally possible).
On the other hand, if it’s another 80’s throwback with angry Russians, rescue missions in Cambodia or wherever and nostalgically crappy (and completely unnecessary these days) USA!, USA! jingoism permeating the entire project…. I’ll go play something more relevant like Dynamite Duke instead. As usual… we shall see… Don’t blow it, Reef.
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