No Man’s Sky: Hello Games’ Will Be Your Favorite Developer Soon, I’ll Bet…

Posted on June 30, 2014 by geelw

As soon as I saw images and movies of No Man’s Sky, I had to add Hello Games to the top of my rather long favorite developers list. This small team of talented folk aren’t strangers to game development, having knocked out a few fun games in the Joe Danger series for iOS mobile devices, PC, PSN and Xbox Live Arcade. No Man’s Sky is a massive departure from those fun and outrageous side-scrolling stunt titles, an open space action/simulation game that’s harder to describe until you see it in motion. And even then, there’s so much innovation going on here that it’s astounding to hear how the game came about and where it’s going. Check out the video above and marvel at how Hello’s Sean Murray describes how his dream cam is coming to reality (and a PlayStation 4 near you in 2015).

KROMAIA: All Hail The Kraken Empire!

Posted on June 29, 2014 by geelw

Although I’ve voted for a small batch of Steam Greenlight games since the program was introduced, I tend to avoid most of them until they’re actually completed just to avoid any potential disappointment in that “Hey! I paid for an alpha but the finished game isn’t as fun!” manner. Anyway, the fine folks at Kraken Empire (based somewhere in Spain, I believe) are cooking up a hot little gem called KROMAIA and yes, it’s on Steam Greenlight as well as Desura. If this small team can get everything working as promised, I predict this physics-based space shooter will be one of those great “Did you play this yet?” games of this year (or whenever it’s completed)… Continue reading →

Sniper Elite III Launch Trailer: I’d Say If Mr. Fairburne Is Early… You’re Going To Be Quite Late.

Posted on June 26, 2014 by geelw

Rebellion’s newest installment in their Sniper Elite series smashes into stores tomorrow in Europe and July 1 here in North America and if my earlier preview impressions hold up in the final build, the game is guaranteed to be a bigger hit than the previous installments. Improvements all around to the visuals, map design and both solo and online gameplay mean this one’s going to eat up a chunk of time among genre fans looking for something new to keep them occupied for a bit. I’ll be lurking close to my mailbox to get the jump on the delivery guy so I can grab my copy of the game from him before he knows it’s gone. Or perhaps I should just let him do his job, as I don’t want to get into trouble for my over-excitement…

Gravity Ghost: Your Soothingly Joyous Game Of The Month Is Almost Here…

Posted on June 25, 2014 by geelw

If it weren’t for a search mistake a few days back, I’d most likely have never stumbled across Gravity Ghost, the upcoming game from Ivy Games (also known as Erin Robinson). I’d also not have seen the other games on the site, all of which look like they’d be pretty fun to take for a spin. Anyway, GG is touted as a non-violent alternative where, according to the official site description:

“Gravity Ghost is a game to soothe your senses. There’s no killing. No dying. No way to fail. Just hours of blissing out to buttery-smooth gravity goodness…”

…which made me smile because all are things more games need in this era of run & shoot titles galore and plenty of players who no nothing but those. Games like GG are important because they open up the hobby to different types of gamers who may not desire to be head-shot kings and killer queens… Continue reading →

GRID Autosport Launch Trailer – You’ll Be Driven Wild And Love Every Minute…

Posted on June 24, 2014 by geelw

Well, well, well… my review copy of GRID Autosport arrived earlier today and as I didn’t expect it until later in the week, I ended up NOT getting any work done because I’ve been “out” driving for most of this afternoon. So far, it’s quite lovely, the inside the car views are back, the AI is pretty fierce and the hours will FLY by once you pop this game into your PS3, Xbox 360 or PC. I’ll try and get a more comprehensive review up this weekend, but for now you need this game if you’re a car nut and fan of Codemasters’ Racing Studio’s very solid outings.

Gallery: Lumino City – State of Play’s Handmade Game Is Really Pretty Stuff…

Posted on June 21, 2014 by geelw

Okay, I’d not heard of indie developer State of Play Games or their games until someone sent me a link to their site a while back and I was charmed by the look of Lume, a puzzle/adventure game (currently on sale on the Steam store) with sets made out of paper and cardboard with hand animated characters filmed against and around those lovely locations. While the game was short and some reviewers knocked it for this, the outstanding visual style and fact that everything was handmade made this one quite special. That and the game’s ending seemed to point to a potential follow up at some point.

Well, that follow up is coming and it’s called Lumino City. As you can see above and below, it’s a work in progress and looks gorgeous. The developers promise “a wondrous sprawling puzzle adventure game” and it looks as if they’re going to exceed expectations on a few fronts. Hopefully, those critics and players that beat up on Lume for its brevity will see the craft here and really appreciate all the work that is going into this new adventure. I know I’m eager to give it a go when it’s ready for some play time. It would also be cool to see this on consoles at some point, but I guess that’s up to the developer’s time and if someone gets them a few dev kits…

Lumino City – Teaser from State of Play on Vimeo.

E3 2014: Pavilion Extended Gameplay Trailer: Beautiful Iso-lation Incoming For PS4 and Vita

Posted on June 21, 2014 by geelw

I can’t explain why I happen to love isometric viewpoint games other than to blame BioWare and their Infinity Engine role-playing games (plus others made with the engine by assorted developers), Troika’s flawed by deep Temple of Elemental Evil, Blizzard’s Diablo, a bunch of really well made adventure games like DreamForge’s Sanitarium and RA Images Daemonica among others. Anyway, Pavilion is right up my alley and developer Visiontrick Media has cooked up a pretty sharp looking potential time eater I need to take for a spin. There’s still no release date for this one, but I’m keeping an eye peeled. I’d have an ear to the ground, but whenever I do that, someone trips over my head (ouch)…

Speaking of Sniper Elite III: This New Trailer Lets You Play Along (And See What’s Coming)…

Posted on June 19, 2014 by geelw

And of course, as soon as I post that last article, I see this trailer in my inbox. Oops. Well, as it’s a fun little interactive video, I figured I’d give a few of you something to do while you’re waiting for the game to drop next week. Anyway, this is a tiny bit gory and NSFW, so don’t let the kids go clicking around here. Or the family pet. That dog or cat might get some not so good ideas from watching this and you’ll be sleeping with a light on and your bedroom door locked tight so Scooby or Felix won’t do you in while you’re dozing…

Sniper Elite 3 Limited Special Edition: PC Gamers Get A One In A Thousand Shot for This Awesome CE

Posted on June 19, 2014 by geelw

While collector’s editions of PC games aren’t exactly uncommon these days, digital delivery means more and more die-hards seem to prefer that non-disc means of getting their content. Rebellion is smart enough to know that there’s still a market for big metal tins full of cool stuff outside the console space where CE’s are all to common these days, so here you go: the Sniper Elite III Limited Special Edition (cue explosions and fancy sniper music or whatever you need to get you even more excited). Wow. This huge lot of goodies is limited to a mere 1000 copies worldwide, is ONLY available at the Rebellion web shop, costs 149.99 and is packed to the gills with stuff you can hold in your hot little hands. What sort of stuff, you ask? Well, just look below:

&nbsp:

LIMITED SPECIAL EDITION INCLUDES:

Sniper Elite 3 PC game supplied on 2 DVDs
Access to ALL current and future Sniper Elite 3 PC DLC packs
Bespoke game tin protected by an individually numbered card sleeve
Wax-sealed secret dossier including: tank & weapon schematics, maps of North Africa, spotter’s guides and more!
A5 card hand-signed by members of the Sniper Elite 3 development team
Limited edition t-shirt
Hand-illustrated playing cards representing American, British, Italian and German forces
A2 firing range poster
6 x original Sniper Elite 3 postcards
Woven Sniper Elite 3 badge with heat activated adhesive backing
Printed instruction manual

Note: All printed box contents for the Limited Special Edition are in English only.

As I said above, WOW. I see from Rebellion’s facebook page for the game that some PS3 and Xbox 360 owners are jealously bugging them about console versions, but I’m gathering the team doesn’t want to spend the next week or two autographing a few thousand more of those A5 size cards, so I guess there will be a thousand REALLY lucky PC owners who get the ultimate version of what’s looking to be the developer’s best game to date. Given that the release date is right around the corner (June 27, 2014, to be exact), I’d bet this one sells out fast.

Review: SPINTIRES

Posted on June 18, 2014 by geelw

Developer: Oovee Game Studios

Publisher: IMGN.PRO

# of Players: 1-4 (co-op)

ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)

Official Site

Score: A- (90%)

Not that this will happen any time soon, but if someone ever decides to make a video game based on Henri-Georges Clouzot’s 1953 masterpiece The Wages of Fear, they’d better ring up UK-based developer Oovee and beg them to do the driving portions. I’m saying that while SPINTIRES is paused below this tab and I’m writing up this review of the PC game. While I generally love to complete a game before sitting down to type up impressions, After a few days of playing this indie gem, I can very safely say it’s one of the nicer surprises of the year and well worth the $29.99 price point. I’ll defend that price point in detail below, but in short, why pay the same (or more) for a game that’s going to be JUST like the games you’ve played to death when here you’ll get something you’ll very likely enjoy MORE because it’s fresh and actually more challenging than you’re used to?

Yeah, I thought so. Read on for more reasons you at least need to take this for a spin… Continue reading →