Tex Murphy Is Coming Back? I Need To Pay More Attention To Stuff Like This…

Posted on December 23, 2013 by geelw

Well, well, well… I actually haven’t played a Tex Murphy game since 1994’s Under a Killing Moon, so I’ve been way out of the loop on the noir/tech detective and his adventures for (eek) almost twenty years now (eek!). Anyway, Atlus (which is generally not known for publishing these types of games) is producing and publishing the long awaited PC follow up to the 1996 PC game Tex Murphy: Overseer and developer Big Finish Games is, as you can see, making a FMV (Full-Motion Video) game for the ages.

I actually loved these types of adventure games back in the 90’s, grainy video quality and all, so it’s fantastic to see this style of game get a nice boost thanks to better technology that allows for crystal clear FMV scenery in the cinemas as well as in-game environments and effects work that’s not embarrassingly cheesy for a change. I also love the idea of a film noir-ish detective in a post World War III San Francisco, which is sort of like Blade Runner without the pompous ego crisis and Philip K. Dick pedigree, ha ha. Heh, I may need to hire a Blade Runner of my own to protect my from the legions of fans of that classic film, but I think I can take my chances and survive. I’ll take on the all of the Pris impersonators first, though. I think my feeble brain could really use the vigorous thigh massage (Ouch! I was kidding, ladies, Don’t hit! Don’t hit!!!)…

Anyway, my eyeball is now fixed on one more great game that’s going to roll up in 2014 and get a lot of people buzzing about it for a few reasons. Anyway, all this gabbing and I still haven’t officially* linked you to the game’s official site where you (yes, YOU) can check out the assorted screens and a few FMV movies that will let you know what some are bouncing up and down in their favorite chairs about. I’d be doing the same, but I’m in the library here, these damn chairs are as hard as a rock and I’d rather not have to be hospitalized for being giddy. At least for this particular reason.

*”Officially, as in if you didn’t click on those other links already, you haven’t seen the site yet, of course)…

Zombeer Update: Oh, NOW It Makes (Some Awesome) Sense!

Posted on December 19, 2013 by geelw

When I first heard of Zombeer, I laughed quite long and loudly at the idea of boozing it up in order to fight zombies as a gameplay mechanic. talk about becoming an easy target! Later, as screens started appearing, I warmed up to the stylized comic look of the game and my arched eyebrow sunk down to its normal position.Of course, as soon as I found out the game’s mechanic of drinking a certain type of beer in order to keep from becoming a zombie as you rushed to save the love of your life from a similar fate, I had to keep an eyeball peeled (eww) on this one as the months crept onward…

Now, this new kind of NSFW music video shows off an even more intentionally campy tone that makes me want to play this boozed out gorefest just to see if it lives up to the crazy tune cooked up for this clip. Spanish developer Moonbite Studios is making what could be a cult hit for PS3, PC and Mac gamers that, while not exactly screaming visual perfection, just might be fun and funny enough to outstrip any criticism. Besides, the color palette alone is just too awesome to ignore as you’ll see in these new screens:

And remember gang… YOU can even (sort of) be IN the game! Check out this link for the gory details – it’s easy to register and should make a nice surprise gift for someone who’s not expecting it.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Trailer: I Thought “Ape Shall Never Kill Ape!” Was A Golden Rule?

Posted on December 18, 2013 by geelw

So, not only will there be a sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes, it looks as if this time it’s (even more) war as ape versus ape action will fill theaters next July and get the CG fans screaming. Me? I’ll wait for the cable premiere, as all these computer-made flicks just get on my nerves after anything over five minutes of otherwise hard work that’s failing to keep my interest the more of these effects hit me over the head. I’m NOT getting jaded at all, mind you. I just miss the days of practical work looking better in some respects and not as “perfect” because every motion is animated to a “T” and overemphasized to the point that it looks TOO realistic or worse, you get those “impossible to capture with a real camera” moments piled one atop the other and it’s basically not the director directing any longer. Yeah, we’ll see… we’ll see. It looks interesting and all, but if it’s not as “kinda fun” as Rise was, I’ll be sending a box of rotten banana peels to Fox with a mildly nasty note…

Interstellar Teaser Trailer: What You Do After You’ve Gone Batty Thrice…

Posted on December 14, 2013 by geelw

So, it’s about a year away (!), but Christopher Nolan’s upcoming Interstellar looks as if it will be one more intensely interesting film from one of the more prolifically creative mainstream directors working today. Granted, this SUPER tease may as well be a trailer for a Salvage One movie or a more serious version of Joe Dante’s EXPLORERS, but I like that vagueness going on here and the fact that we have to wait a whole year to see what’s coming. Naturally, there WILL be updates as more of the plot and cast are revealed, but with any new film, I prefer to stay the hell off the internet and far away from speculation and spoilers because it just makes for a better overall viewing experience. Try it sometime and see, I say…

Dungeon of the Endless Trailer: The Final Frontier Is Only About FOREVER Long…

Posted on December 13, 2013 by geelw

Endless Space was (and still is) a pretty amazing 4X strategy game that still draws in players thanks to a ton of depth and replay value plus a very healthy modding community. So, as one of a few follow up titles, developer Amplitude Studios is making… a dungeon crawler set in the same universe? Yes, this is Dungeon of the Endless, currently in development and coming soon to PC via Steam.

Well, that actually works very well for me, as I love that genre more than poking about amount the stars and hoping all my ships aren’t blown into space dust because I got lazy and forgot to do something twenty hours before that’s coming back to bite me in the butt. As you can see above in that teaser trailer, the game will feature randomly generated maps, loads of space beasties to dispatch or be dispatched by and is pretty much guaranteed to suck many, many hours of free time away from stuff you SHOULD be getting done except you were too busy being up too late at night not doing things like sleeping and dreaming of more productive endeavors…

Continue reading →

Legend of Oz: Dorothy’s Return Trailer: Strike Two, Or a Bloop Single? We’ll See…

Posted on December 12, 2013 by geelw

Hmmmm. Let’s see now: one point for being a new Oz flick. Minus one for being a new CG animated Oz flick that looks like it’s a video game intro. From 2000. Point for the all-star cast. Minus one for the all-star cast if you hate stars. Point for coming out of nowhere (I’d never heard of it until now). Minus one for coming out of nowhere (meaning it’ll be on video three months after it hits theaters). Eh, I’m torn on this one for sure, kids. Then again, if it’s better than the last Oz film I tried to watch, it’ll be a welcome sight for sure. And what’s with the PG rating? “Scary images and mild peril” sounds to me like a darn good time provided I’m at home or with friends and not strolling down the street to the supermarket…

Edge of Tomorrow Trailer 1: Cruise Control, Straight Into The Future…

Posted on December 11, 2013 by geelw

SEVEN months away and they’re running trailers from what looks like a complete film? Well, this isn’t the first sci-fi flick that’s rolled out footage so early, but to me, this is Warner Bros. and Mr. Control making sure action fans get their drool on and line up like good little droogies by the time trailer 19 rolls around in a few weeks or so. Yeah, I’m no big Tom fan these days for a few reasons, but I will say this looks exciting to a point. Then again, he’s not getting any younger, so he’s going to be making with the acrobatics until someone carries him off to that other planet he thinks he’s going to be going to in real life. Eh, as long as it’s better than Elysium was. I was hitting myself in the head with a piece of popcorn that rolled under the coffee table here about an hour into that one. It’s called tough love, people…

The Collectables: Crytek’s F2P Mobile Surprise WIll Blow You Away…

Posted on December 11, 2013 by geelw

To many fans of their graphically intensive game experiences on PC and/or consoles, the words “Crytek” and “mobile gaming” are probably not even seen as anything close to a reality, but surprise, surprise. DeNA and Mobage are about to knock many socks off with the developers first project, a phenomenal-looking free to play tactical arcade shooter called The Collectables. Yes, the name more than likely has your eyebrow now hovering way above your head, I’m betting, and you’re not alone. My own eyebrow did a back flip when I heard a few weeks back that Crytek was entering the mobile scene, but when I finally saw the game in action last week demoed by a broadly smiling Barry Dorf, I was not only convinced, but I’d go as far to say that this might be the game some “core” gamers who shun mobile and tablet games run out to buy a device to play it on…
Continue reading →

Godzilla Teaser Trailer: Get Me A Shot Of Jaeger!

Posted on December 10, 2013 by geelw

And here you go. Not too shabby for a teaser, but we know there’s more to come. And yeah, how insane would a Godzilla/Pacific Rim crossover be? Okay, not possible at all, but it made me laugh when I overheard someone say this a few days ago. We Breaking Bad fans all KNOW Bryan Cranston’s character takes out the big lizard with either a homemade weapon rig popping out of the trunk of a car (or the back of a cargo ship) or a few pounds of freshly made ricin packed into a tasty whale carcass. Or perhaps a very large banana peel from when King Kong was stomping around in that Peter Jackson remake from earlier this century…

Anyway, more to come on this when another (longer or more thrilling) trailer drops.

Telltale Games Swings Two More (Soon-To-Be) Hits Towards The Fences…

Posted on December 9, 2013 by geelw

I have the feeling that Telltale Games’ genuine PR guru, Job Stauffer, has some sort of powerful hex action going on at the offices there, as ever since he’s been on the job, a lot of really nice games have started popping up from a few developers and into the eager hands of gamers worldwide. Okay, Telltale already had some great titles before he started working for them, but when you have The Walking Dead (One game, an expansion and a second title on the way soon), A Wolf Among Us, and now Game of Thrones and Tales From the Borderlands as properties to represent, you’re either REALLY damned lucky or you’ve got a voodoo spell in play that may cost you your immortal soul over time, but assures you’re remembered forever as “That AWESOME PR guy” by anyone who speaks your name. Of course, NOW that I’ve spilled the beans, I suppose someone somewhere is making up a little doll that sorta looks like me that’s about to get some vintage hatpins shoved into it with relish. Ouch. Ouch, ouch. Okay, I’m just practicing now… I’ll need to same my screaming voice for later on when the actual pain hits…