Between Ubisoft’s mind-blowing Watch_Dogs, Naughty Dog’s brutally beautiful The Last of US and Quantic Dream’s stunning surprise Beyond: Two Souls., it’s CLEAR that the current console cycle has at least one great year left in it. Granted, Rayman Legends had me tearing up from laughing so much and YES, Ubisoft showed off how well the Wii U Gamepad and new Pro Controller will work for multiplayer action there, but it’s going to be another might spectacular 2012 and 2013 for gamers who happen to just own a PS3 or 360. More in a bit. I’m still processing a ton of notes…
This is one of those games that I’ve liked ever since I saw the first images and this latest trailer shows it coming together even more. From the nicely stylized fantasy characters to the richly detailed game world (which I’m hoping is a bit more open than Cyanide’s dark and deep Game of Thrones, which I just got on Monday and am still playing to review), this one looks like a game to spend many hours exploring. That and heck, the chance to play as a pair of characters who normally are the ones you’re killing off in other RPGs makes for a nice twist to ye olde formula. Will it be a sleeper of prisoner of the bargain bin because people want their usual square-jawed hero in his dragon-busting armor? I’m hoping for the former and more… Keep an eye peeled for this one as more info gets out….
4A Games’ upcoming post-apocalytic FPS isn’t a multiplayer game, and that’s a REALLY good thing. By focusing on storytelling, characters and driving home the feeling of being in a deadly and frightening destroyed Moscow where what’s left of humanity there is fighting for survival while assorted mutated beasts whittle them down bit by bit, this could be one of the bigger “sleepers” out there when it hits the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC sometime in 2013. The prequel, Metro 2033 was (and is) one of the best story-driven shooters that, despite some hitches here and there, was a truly memorable experience. This one looks even more polished and hopefully, will get the audience it deserves.
…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….
For me and many other gamers, adding multiplayer modes to a game that’s best known for its solo play and cinematic storytelling is the sign of the beast, a franchise running on fumes begging for cash from a crowd focused on massing up kill counts with no regard to narrative structure or hell, enjoyment of all the hard work it takes to make a story driven game flow from start to finish. Sony Santa Monica Studios obviously realizes this as well as a few other negatives and positives about MP and is forging ahead with an intriguing multiplayer mode in Kratos’ next adventure.
From what I’m reading elsewhere, you won’t have twenty Kratos’ running around the screen at all. One aspect of the mode will feature players representing warriors selected by the gods to do battle over territory, so at least my first fear has been quelled. As for the rest, well, I’ll need to see the game up close and personal to judge more fully what’s coming. All I’ll say is I’m looking forward to the single player story FIRST and foremost over any multplayer modes, no matter how good they are. Color me cautiously optimistic…
So, that’s what Shinji Mikami has been up to lately. Besides posing for what looks like a jeans or sneakers ad (ha ha), he’s also directing a brand new survival horror game from developer Tango Gameworks that’s going to be published by Bethesda Softworks at some point in the future (as in, when it’s done).
Anyway, the game project is codenamed “Zwei” (meaning “I won’t comment on this until the game has an actual title” in German), there’s nothing yet on the story characters or gameplay and just a single image made up of environments from the work in progress (see below).
Despite the lack of info about the game, Mikami has some words of comfort for horror fans out there wondering about how scary the game will be:
“A true ‘survival horror’ game is one in which the player confronts and overcomes fear,” says Shinji Mikami, president and creative director for Tango Gameworks. “I’ve found my focus and once again I’m striving for pure survival horror. I am being very hands-on in the development of this game to ensure that the quality is there. Rest assured.”
Sounds like a plan and yes, Bethesda is on a roll again. Dishonored is coming to slap your skeptical face straight and this Tango project will hopefully be as memorable (or even more so) than the Resident Evil games Mikami is well-known for. Granted, for sheer fear, it’s going to be hard to beat Frictional Game’s masterful fright-fest Amnesia: The Dark Descent, but we’ll see how this new game progresses as more media rolls in during the development process…
OK, now you know why I HATE all this rumors, leaks and speculation nonsense, folks. This crap is trifling to an extreme to keep track of for someone who just wants to play as many games as possible, grrr. BUT, I’ll try to play along for once and see what happens Ready? GO!
Sooo, there’s a new God of War game on the way. God of War Ascension, to be precise. Amazon “leaked” this info after SCEA’s teaser campaign on Facebook last week and before SCEA could officially announce it later today. OR: I hope that teaser didn’t cost a dime’s worth of time and effort to put together. OR perhaps this “leak” wasn’t really a “leak” at all, as a few hours of scooping up as much space on the internet after the Halo 4 shenanigans yesterday on Conan plus the news of that game’s launch date:
Er, Ha ha? Um, OK. November 6, in case you don’t watch Conan or pay attention to the Internet. 343 Studios is obviously doing it up quite well, so fans needn’t worry while non-fans won’t care a bit. Maybe. Back to that new God of War for a sec. It’s really NO big surprise at all to me. Like Sony’s NOT going to have a new game coming with Kratos in it for one more go on the PS3? The only surprise is half the earth not exploding from all the semi-orgasmic fanboy hooting taking place on the internet. We’ll see if SCEA’s PR department even wants to talk to me after this post, I guess. Hey, I like the series, guys – I’m just poking fun, you know. Tough love and all…
I guess we’ll see what’s what when E3 hits. Sony is proving the PS3 isn’t going out with anything resembling a whimper. Or going out at ALL this year or next.
Yeah, yeah – some Trek fans want less action and more of the same “nautical” ship combat from other Trek titles or something slower and more procedural like the old show instead of a more action-oriented game that this has been from the start. i say wait and see what a playable build brings as I hope this one gets around to NYC so I can get some hands-on time and let you all know the real deal. I have my fingers crossed Bad Robot does a game any Trek fan can be pleased with, but hey, you can’t win everyone over even with the best of intentions…
I love how Capcom isn’t relying on simply whipping up an exact template of the last game and shoving it out the door to guaranteed sales (but boring replay value). The new stuff shakes things up nicely while making me want to go back and replay the two previous installments to poke at the things I didn’t like so much. I still think that the game should have the flying rig from Dark Void added in as an Easter Egg of some sort, as well as a Dino Crisis 3 reference just for old times sake. Hey, making fun of misfires always works for my own life, so I say go for it, guys!
I’ve been a console agnostic kind of guy for ages, but I do love it when exclusives that matter get the proper respect. Level-5’s upcoming collaboration with Studio Ghibli has slipped into 2013 according to reports, but all that means for me is one more year for the PS3 to show off the fact that it has some mighty fine games on the way (and life left in it). Go poke around the official website if you’re still not convinced. If you decide to suddenly need a PS3, feel free to drop me a line so I can recommend a few too many other games for you.
Oh, by the way Namco Bandai? Love you (*mwhah!*) but you’re not QUITE off the hook completely here – where the heck is the DS Ni no Kuni game?
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