Mind Zero Update #2: Persona-lly, I Like What I See Here…

MZ_PSVitaCoversheet11-1_22tpAs some of you gamers with good memories may be thinking, Aksys Games’ upcoming first-person dungeon crawler Mind Zero has a certain aesthetic working for it that makes it seem VERY familiar to a certain Shin Megami Tensei series of games. As in “Hey, this ALMOST looks like Persona or Persona 2, slightly weaker character art aside.

Hey, I have to ALWAYS give it up for Kaneko Kazuma’s outstanding and bizarre art style that defined many of the SMT games in the past). To swipe a quote from some old gaming magazine only a handful of people still remember, “RESPECT!”

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I don’t mind the similarities at all, as those were (and still are) some pretty stellar game experiences and this gae does do a bunch of things differently. Still, if this one can capture a fraction of what made those game so memorable, I’d bet a nickel that Aksys and developer Zerodiv will have a new sleeper hit on their hands. The game is set to hit the Vita on May 27, 2014, so make sure to keep an eye out if this one strikes your fancy…

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Bombshell Alert: 3D Realms & Interceptor Games Are Bringing The Pain In 2015

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shelly_idleWhile this Bombshell reveal trailer isn’t revealing a stitch of gameplay (just a nicely scarred under-clad gal with a punk haircut and metal arm who seems to like her whiskey, watching cable news, firearms and motorcycle riding), fortunately, the game’s official site has screenshots to ogle and yep, they’re below.

I happen to like isometric games (and isometric action or turn-based RPGs in particular), so my interest has been piqued. I’ll also give huge credit to the dev team for not making yet another first-person shooter and instead going with a viewpoint and genre that may actually help draw in players who prefer this type of game experience.

While the game isn’t coming until Q1 2015, it’ll be interesting to see it in motion on the PS4 or PC. I wish this Unreal-powered game was also landing on the Vita, but I guess this is one of those games where a bigger screen means you appreciate the work that’s gone into it a whole lot more. Anyway, color me intrigued. More on Shelly’s big adventure soon. Here’s a brief interview with two of the people working on the game and an intro to the character to close things out:

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Batman Revealed: Affleck Shows Some Muscle (Of The Suit and Car Varieties)…

So, after a tease yesterday of the new Batmobile on his Twitter account:

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Director Zack Snyder has yet again whipped out his trusty Leica and finally shown fans what they’ve been waiting for:

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To which I say “good!” While I’m not sure how “good” a film Batman & Superman will be when all is said and done, at least Ben looks decent in that suit, although I kind of got used to that Tumbler as the go-to Bat-ride thanks to it not being an extended black bathtub with wheels that looked more at home on the Bonneville Salt Flats than on the mean streets of Gotham City. Those Burton and Schumacher cars had the turning radius of a school bus! Anyway, I guess this means more reveals as the weeks pass, as the hype wheel turns and more gets dripped out on this soon to be blockbuster.

I’m still not convinced Gal Gadot (Who? Who?) will make a good Wonder Woman, but hey, she could surprise me and the many other skeptics that think she’s a LOT less of an Amazon and a lot more of a skinny gal who worked out to PLAY one. Eh, we’ll see, I suppose…

Alien Isolation “Creating the Cast” Trailer: Who’s Who Before All That Screaming And Dying Starts…

Once again, it’s fantastic to see all the hard work going into making Alien Isolation a game worth watching. In case it hasn’t been made clear yet, this isn’t a run ‘n gun shooter or one more generic jump scare-filled horror game at all, but a project that’s hopefully going to be seen by fans of the series to fit like a glove in between the first and second films. Sure, that Colonial Marines game may be infamous on a few fronts, but AI will hopefully erase all those negative memories by being a completely different experience in every way. The game is coming to PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One on October 7, 2014, so keep an eye peeled if you’re liking what you see in all these behind the scenes trailers…

Game of Thrones S4 5 & 6: What Happened and What’s Going To Happen Are One And The Same…

 
HBO continues to crack me up with these video deluge blitzes after each episode this season. I kind of wish they’d just release maybe three videos tops. A recap of assorted clips, a behind the scenes with a slide into a George R.R. Martin interview and a preview of the next episode.

 
THAT would be (TOO) simple, no? Well, no, according to HBO, as they want to feed the fans until they’re stuffed to bursting with every bit of minutiae about each episode this season after it happens (as in an hour or two later, it seems). Some thrive on this stuff while I prefer more of a compact approach.

 
But whatever, try and tell the more hardcore GoT fans there’s TOO much info spilling about and it’s your insides that may be spilling out. That, or you’ll get a fierce tongue-lashing (and not the kind you’d expect from one of those fancy brothels, either). Ouch, ouch, (*yawn*) ouch… Continue reading

Alien Isolation “Lo-Fi Sci-Fi” Trailer: The Future? Same Problems As The Past (You Need Four Hands For Everything!)…

Eeek. I actually MISSED posting the Alien Isolation update from April. Oops. Hey, it happens with all these games coming out, kids. Anyway, how fitting that this video is about the low-tech equipment used in the game and the lower tech methods developer The Creative Assembly used to get parts of the game looking quite analog. I love this behind the scenes stuff and you have to appreciate that old techniques work as well as (or even better in this case) than just doing everything on a computer to FAKE video footage that looks garbled and yep, “lo-fi”. October 7, 2014, folks. Carve out some time for this one – it’s turning out really special…

Child of Light Out Is Out Today (So You’re NOT Reading This Post, Right?)

 
Nope, I wasn’t lucky enough to grab a Child of Light review code from whomever handles this stuff over at Ubisoft, but I don’t mind paying the $15 to play this game at all. My platform of choice will be the Wii U, as it’s a system that needs more love and it’s great that Ubisoft decided to bring this game to the console, although it’s no surprise given their support for it since its launch.

 
As you can see, reviews are indeed in from those who DID get codes early and yes, the game comes highly recommended. I’ll probably get to playing this early next week, as I’m working on a few things and my poor backlog is indeed killing me these days. I guess I can train a monkey or goat to play games and write about them, but that would cut into my budget something fierce (and the food? Yikes, I’d go broke with a pet here in NYC)…

Game of Thrones S4 4 & 5: What Came Before, What’s Coming Next (And What’s In Between…)

It’s almost as if HBO wants to get you all spoiled if you’re not yet caught up on the show, so beware from this point onward:

 
I’d been thinking on and off about restarting my reading of the books (I didn’t get far into them years back thanks to too much to do and not enough time to read as much as I’d have liked), but I think I prefer waiting until the show is over and done with as I like where the arc is going. Granted, the White Walker reveal (see that episode for details!) might be a bit much in this extremely busy season.

 
Natalie Dormer looks like a cat. That is all I’ll say about that. Anyway, I think her character actually thought she was going to be the Queen and although it looks as if she’ll get a second shot at it, I say it’s not happening anytime soon unless Cersi is gone and not coming back. Of course, I’d say Cersi is too necessary to get killed off this season, but that’s a huge laugh if you think about it, Right George?

 
Oh, never mind. He’s still going on about that Purple Wedding incident, so I’ll let him talk. Hey, I bet anyone who tries to interrupt Mr. Martin ends up in a box at some point. Or just silenced for long enough that he gets his point across. Don’t mess withe author when he’s holding court or you may end up losing your head once he does…

 
And finally, here’s what’s coming next Sunday. I tend to only watch these teasers only once (after each episode) and try my best to forget about them afterwards. Why? As noted a few times, I prefer going in cold and having as few things spoiled as possible. That and I despise guessing which scene goes where and editing in trailers always makes it look as if stuff is happening that doesn’t (or won’t for a bit). Anyway, you know the drill – see you next Sunday, “same Bat time, Same Bat channel…”

Orphan Black Recap: Donnie Dumb Co. Is Going To Get It For Sure…

 
Spoilers galore! Or more like just a handful (if one is a “handful”, that means you have small hands). I was plenty ticked off at the end of last season when Donnie was revealed as Alison’s minder after all, so it’s great to see him getting his comeuppance slowly but surely starting in Episode 2 on Saturday and him not seeing it starting up. Hopefully, he’ll get what’s coming to him sooner than later, but we’ll see what happens as this season twists and turns. Well, next week’s show looks even more interesting, so you know where to find me next Saturday night…

Bound By Flame Updates: Combat And Music Looking And Sounding Quite Good…

 
So, Bound By Flame is looking to be your next epic action RPG experience and as seen in that work in progress video above, it’s coming along nicely, especially if you like a more arcade-like style of gameplay. This isn’t even trying to be “realistic” in the way some folks want, but to me, that’s the beauty of developers all doing different things. If every game played EXACTLY the same, I’d be one bored stiff gamer looking fora new hobby, that’s for sure.

 
As for the music, composer Olivier Derivière (who did the fantastic score for Remember Me) has whipped up a beautiful, varied score that features a chorus and some wonderful “vocal textures” as you’ll hear above. Developed by Spiders and published by Focus Home Interactive, Bound By Flame hits stores for consoles (PS3 and Xbox 360) and lands on PC via Steam on May 9, 2014. Back with more if there’s more coming before it ships – I hope so, as this one’s looking very interesting indeed…