Sniper Elite III 101: “So, What Did YOU Do During The War?” (Part One)

Posted on May 18, 2014 by geelw

With PR folk from 505 Games and a few of the dev team from Rebellion rolling into NYC this week, I’ll finally get some hands-on time with Sniper Elite III on Tuesday morning and report about it here. The team has clearly listened to feedback about Sniper Elite V2 and it looks as if this third chapter addresses all the issues and makes for a more expansive and free form game experience. Sure, the extreme violence isn’t for everyone (and yep, that video is pretty graphic), but I’m not playing this one to see Nazi brains and other bits get shattered and splashed about the large levels. I’m a game design guy first who loves seeing what different developers come up with and Rebellion has been around long enough to keep surprising me. Anyway, expect an update a few days from now on my experience with this one. Sniper Elite III hits retail and download on July 1st in the US on Xbox One, PS4, PS3 and Xbox 360 and of course, the PC version will be a Steam release.

Sniper Elite III: Killing Vehicles Is A Bigger Part Of The Game As Well, Folks…

Posted on May 2, 2014 by geelw

While you could indeed shoot gas tanks and blow up cars and trucks in Sniper Elite V2, that X-Ray camera effect wasn’t used and while optional to some missions, you didn’t have to take out some rides if you didn’t want to. Granted, this made the game much harder if you had more Nazis to mow down, but some players relished that more unrealistic challenge. Anyway, as you can see above, no engine block or gas tank is safe in this installment. Rebellion’s Sniper Elite III, coming on from 505 Games in July, is bringing the pain with more not for the kiddies at all WWII action in an even bigger (and some would say *ouch!* ballsier) manner than before to PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, XBOX One and most likely PC down the road a piece. War is Hell, indeed…

Sniper Elite Nazi Zombie Army 2: Your Next “Horror Movie/FPS” Is Here…

Posted on November 1, 2013 by geelw

Sure, Activision and Treyarch did the Zombie Nazi thing first as a Call of Duty bonus, but in my opinion, Rebellion is doing it better thanks to the much more realistically violent Sniper Elite V2 engine and its not for the kiddies gore. The first NZA was a nicely nasty surprise (and pretty damn scary when it needed to be) and the just released Sniper Elite Nazi Zombie Army 2 is bringing the pain (wait, can undead even feel pain? Nope? Oops…) in what’s looking like an even better experience. The developer has even gone and posted two live gameplay videos on YouTube (one yesterday and another today) you can check out if this one seems up your alley. Hey, it’s better (and a LOT more interactive) than digging out those musty old VHS copies of Shock Waves and The Keep, right?

Yes, I know Nazi zombies getting filled full of lead (well, actually… that lead is passing through their bodies from what I’ve seen) isn’t for ALL tastes. But the appeal for me is seeing this dev team do such great work on a few fronts and yes, keep the whole “zombies in games” flame alive just a bit longer. It’s so played out that it’s gotten predictable to a fault, but the best zombie games seem to be the ones that go for the expected gore (although a tip of the head goes to the Plants vs. Zombies folks for making the words “cute” and “undead” work perfectly…

Sniper Elite 3 Trailer: Rebellion’s Up for Another Shot. Are You?

Posted on October 4, 2013 by geelw

Talk about going out with a bang. 505 Games and UK developer Rebellion are following up their successful Sniper Elite V2 and Sniper Elite Nazi Zombie Army with a new game that leaves a destroyed Berlin for the hot and dusty sands of Africa (or that’s what I’m gathering from this trailer). Granted, blasting holes in assorted Nazis may not be your cup of tea and nope, this isn’t a historical recreation at all, folks. But there’s always that odd satisfaction one gets from this series of tinkering with old history one bullet at a time for all the right reasons, of course…

Random Indie Game of the Week: Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (XBLA)

Posted on August 8, 2013 by geelw

Since I’m sitting here with a couple of RROD’d Xbox 360’s (shakes fist at busted consoles) and no willingness to throw more money away at Microsoft to fix them or buy a replacement (shakes fist in the direction of Redmond HQ for producing such faulty junk of a console), I’ll need to wait for this to pop up on PSN or Steam. On the other hand, I think a friend is picking this up over the weekend, so I’ll probably boogie on over to his place and play this after he’s done with it. Given that Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is designed to be played in a single sitting, I don’t mind at all and I can get a perspective from someone else about the story’s impact and how he liked the unique control scheme. As noted in my earlier hands-on preview, this is one of those special games that’s worth a buy despite the relatively short length because you get to see a great developer stretch its wings with a fine new IP from a film director trying his hand at game development (and succeeding quite well). Back with a review probably around Monday.

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Hands-On: Starbreeze Takes A Brave New Direction

Posted on April 24, 2013 by geelw

brothers_cave01 Starbreeze Studios and Josef Fares’ upcoming collaboration: Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (set for a spring launch on PC, PSN and Xbox Live Arcade) is an important game for a few reasons, but it’s also a game you actually need to play in order to understand how and why it works so well. The acclaimed Swedish director and well-seasoned developer have crafted a gorgeous-looking fantasy adventure tale with an innovative control scheme, smart camera system and no GUI to take away from the immersion, all of which make the game unique but accessible once you wrap your head around controlling two characters with a single controller.

There have been many games where players were either followed around by “smart” AI characters or controlled multiple characters on the same screen, but Brothers’ unique control scheme gently demands that both halves of your brain operate in unison right from the start, as many of the puzzles you’ll face require timing and precision in order to progress. Just remember that your left side of the controller is Big Brother and the right side Little Brother and it all clicks into place…
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There’s A Rebellion Afoot: Sniper Elite Series On Sale NOW On Steam!

Posted on April 6, 2013 by geelw

So, it seems that you’re not doing anything at the moment (hey, if you’re reading this site, that counts… er, ha ha?) and you KNOW you want to go scope out a bombed-out Berlin in order to take out a bunch of Nazis clinging to their last hope for some kind of magical victory. You also happen to have a decent gaming PC and a Steam account. Therefore, the Allied High Command (or UK developer Rebellion) orders you to click on over to the Steam Store and BUY one, two or ALL of their Sniper Elite series, which just so happens to be on sale for the next… oh, 18 hours or so. This weekend sale (seriously, the clock it TICKING!) gets you access to the original Sniper Elite, Sniper Elite V2 with all its DLC and the mighty gory (well, gorier, as all the games are quite not for the squeamish types) Sniper Elite: Nazi Zombie Army, which is still the award winner for “How can you NOT wonder what this one’s about and/or want to play it immediately upon hearing that title?” for this year (so far).

What, you’re still here? Get going! Those Nazis and Nazi Zombies aren’t going to snipe themselves, you know…

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Behind the Scenes: A Fantasy Trip for Today…

Posted on March 26, 2013 by geelw

Hey! Wouldn’t you like to be on a nice vacation right about now? OK, let’s go! Let’s say, hmmm… we’re now in Sweden with Josef Fares at Starbreeze Studios talking a little more about their unique game collaboration, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons coming to Windows PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 courtesy of publisher 505 Games? OK, OK… sitting in another room that’s different from the room you’re in now may not be much of a holiday at first glance, but think outside the box (or outside the building, in this case) and you’re on the way to your new destination with a fresh outlook. Um, Har en fantastisk semester – inte äta för mycket korv!

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons: Starbreeze’s Fantasy Fairy Tale Coming to PSN, XBL, Steam This Spring

Posted on March 8, 2013 by geelw

And just exactly what has Starbreeze Studios been up to these days you ask? Well, the busy and super-talanted developer has been collaborating with Swedish film director Josef Fares on an upcoming digital-only fantasy game headed for the PS3, Xbox 360 and Steam this spring and published by 505 Games. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons lets you control a pair of siblings with a single controller as they try to find a cure for their ailing father in a nicely detailed stylized fantasy world. Check out the teaser above and the short walkthrough clip below to see how the game will play. This one looks quite cool and hopefully will gain a strong following and not get buried in the rather large online game libraries on PSN, Xbox Live and Steam. As always, we shall see…

Snoop Has Me Confused (Again): Way of the Dogg (No, I’m Not Lion)…

Posted on March 5, 2013 by geelw

So, Snoop.. er, Dogg is back in the game (business) with this upcoming 505 Games release, Way of the Dogg, currently in development at EchoPeak. Hey, I’m a fan of plenty of ancient great to bad Kung Fu flicks from the 1970’s and 1980’s and I don’t find his tunes at all ear-burning (but I don’t actively listen to hip-hop or whatever it’s classified as these days), so the blend of styles certainly seems potentially smokin’ (as the kids say). That said, this whole Dogg/Lion thing is baffling to my brain, but I guess it’s kind of a professional/personal thing that I shouldn’t be concerned about much.

Granted, I did overhear a conversation a week or two back between a few people arguing about Snoop’s recent conversion and if it was “right” under whatever rules or whatever is in place that make one a “true” Rastafarian and so forth and so on. But I didn’t stick around for the entire mostly mellow debate as I walked in on the middle of it, was eavesdropping anyway (who’s bad?!), had nothing to offer that wouldn’t have been a bad joke that would have gotten me beaten senseless (or ignored, a far worse fate for an aspiring “comedian” like myself) and at the end of the day, I probably wouldn’t give a hoot about what was said the moment I went home and cooked something tasty to eat (which would have been a steak, had my dirty laundry not eaten it – oh, never mind…that’s a long story told elsewhere).

Except for now that this game is underway, it might me nice to know what to call the man should I ever run into him again. “(If) You (Don’t) Know My Name, (Don’t) Look Up My Number” and all that stuff… Eh, no worries. It’ll get sorted out eventually. Back with more on this one in a bit…