Happy Birthday, Morrowind!

Posted on May 28, 2012 by geelw

I remember being so excited to review The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind for the Xbox (I didn’t have a decent gaming PC at the time) that I bought a copy of the game as soon as the shop I was working at got it, not knowing my request for a review copy from Bethesda had gone through or that I could have gotten the game cheaper with my employee discount. Of course, I ended up with two copies of the game, one of which I gave to a friend who was new to RPGs and wanted “something really good” to try out. At the time, nearly everything about the game thrilled me, from the lovely water effects, the sheer size of the game world, the fact that monsters could chase you into towns (where you could have thee guards dispatch them, provided they didn’t all die in the process) and so forth and so on… Continue reading →

Dishonored Preview: Arkane Studios and Bethesda Are Cooking Up An Instant Classic

Posted on May 20, 2012 by geelw

With its innovative gameplay, distinctive look inspired by classic illustrators such as N.C. Wyeth and Charles Dana Gibson, an incredible cityscape created by Visual Design Director Viktor Antonov with Art Director Sébastien Mitton and the rarefied air of a product that knows how great it’s going to be to those who “get” it, Dishonored has shot up to the top of the list of games I really want to play (and see succeed in this era of sequels and retreads). Arkane Studios has been going full steam ahead with this all-new PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 IP, a single player focused and yes, story-driven game that allows players do tackle missions in just about any way they desire. Without a multiplayer mode in sight (thankfully), Arkane is showing that a strong story and stronger gameplay can do wonders for an industry where relying or retreading popular multiplayer modes has decimated some games and genres into a depressingly generic formula year after year.

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BioShock Infinite’s Delay Of Game Is Actually GREAT News…

Posted on May 10, 2012 by geelw

…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….

Wolfenstein 3D Is Older Than Too Many People Who SHOULD Pay It More Respect…

Posted on May 10, 2012 by geelw

Sure, it looks hideous compared to whatever modern FPS you drool over and line up for year after year, but if not for John Carmack and this formerly controversial Nazi-killing corridor shooter, you wouldn’t all be standing outside in the rain at midnight for Master Chief, any Modern Warfare game or hell, pretty much every other FPS on the market. That said, Bethesda has made this classic shooter playable for free as a browser game on Bethsoft’s Wolfenstein page or the game’s official Facebook page, so go check it out. Also, click away HERE for a great YouTube video commentary with Carmack about the game – you just might learn something in the process (like some respect!)

Bethesda Softworks & Tango Gameworks Announce New Survival Horror Game (I’m Scared Already)…

Posted on April 26, 2012 by geelw

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…

Dishonored Trailer Drops, Bethesda Gets My Fingers Tingling…

Posted on April 17, 2012 by geelw

(shakes fist at monitor)… Blast you, Bethesdaaaaaaa! Showing off such an awesome game to us yesterday here in NYC, slapping us with an embargo until next week THEN unloading this spectacular trailer on the masses! Grrrr! Anyway (very fake rant over and done with), Dishonored is going to be a game that gets talked about quite a lot, especially as it’s definitely one of the more intriguing games I’ve seen this year that’s NOT a sequel or reboot of an older IP. Arkane Studios’ hard work blew me away and I hope it will do the same to you once more news gets out about how amazing it is.

Skyrim Creation Kit Out Now For PC – Console Owners Take An Arrow To The Knee

Posted on February 2, 2012 by geelw

No, I couldn’t resist the obvious joke that’s become the one thing even people who haven’t played Skyrim have seen, read or heard. Anyway, yes, if you’re a lucky PC player of Skyrim and have a ton of time on your hands, you too can create content of your own to share with other like-minded fans. Expect to see plenty of Star Wars, Legend of Zelda, assorted comic book and movie mods and more coming soon. I’m sure there’s going to be a complete conversion of the game into some older Elder Scrolls titles as well from some of the more hardcore users out there, so we’ll have to poke around at some point and peek at mods even though we’ve only played the console versions because we’ve got a crappy computer. Hey, why am I writing as a collective “we” all of a sudden. It’s late and I’m seeing double, probably…

Review: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Posted on December 9, 2011 by geelw

Platform: PlayStation 3 (also on Xbox 360, PC)

Developer: Bethesda Softworks

Publisher: Bethesda Softwroks

# of Players: 1

ESRB Rating: M (Mature)

Official Site

Score: A

At some point, if you happen to know someone who’s also playing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, you WILL get a phone call, email or text with some variation of the following: “Hey, can you help me out on this quest?” It’ll most likely be something you’ve already done and maybe bragged or shared a tale of woe about to your buddy, but you’ll find the results in their case may be slightly to very different. Sure, some of the basics will be familiar, but after that, it’s up in the air. Perhaps they got challenged to a drinking contest, woke up in a temple in a faraway city, had to help clean up the place (or not) and now have a big mystery to solve that sends them to a new town they’d never even seen before. Or maybe it’s the odd Argonian woman who desperately wants you to take that strange item off her hands, and now your friend has a creepy cube that looks like something from a Hellraiser film stuck in their inventory. Or maybe it’s about that strange note handed to them by a cryptic courier asking them to visit an unusual museum in a most unexpected place where a darker mission lurks. Or the paid assassins that assaulted them while traveling and after killing the thugs and looting their possessions, an odd letter is revealed that only brings up more questions than answers. And so forth and so on… Continue reading →

Hostage Situation Update: Skyrim, Day, Um… I Forget

Status

Yeah, it’s THAT bad. When you find yourself going BACK to old completed dungeons to make SURE you’ve collected everything you can sell off in order to fund something crazy (well, I really DO need to buy that house. And there’s a cool pair of magic boots I’m too lazy to craft up)… you know you’re hooked. Ah well, thanks Bethsoft! Patch or not, you’re created a masterpiece for the ages.

The Sound of Skyrim Video: Bethesda Shows & Tells, You Get To Bring The Smells…

Posted on November 3, 2011 by geelw

11-11-11. is almost here and I know a lot of folks WON’T be going to the movies to see Immortals, that’s for sure. A good chunk of gamers will no doubt be camping out in their living rooms exploring the wide world of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, not coming out into the real daylight until their relatives send the cops around to check for a strange smell. Of course, after doors are kicked in across the world because of that odor, all the authorities and formerly grieving family members will discover is a few too many smelly, unwashed gamers with headphones on (that why they didn’t hear the banging and ringing), moldy bits of takeout food and perhaps a lingering aroma of a disc drive spinning eternally. Yeah, I’m going to be one of those folks…