Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 Update: A Little Night Music For You…

“Listen to them. Children of the night. What music they make…”

 
Another game I’m really looking forward to is this final MercurySteam-developed Castlevania game that looks to wrap everything up nice and neat and perhaps raise the bar on a few fronts in terms of how a 3D version of this storied franchise should be done. Whoever is taking the reins from this point on will be under a great deal of pressure to do something just as impressive without falling back on repeating what’s come before. Given the talent pool of developers out there who probably want to be the ones Konami calls in for that next phase of this series’ life, I’m not too worried at all. As long as what’s coming next is playable on more platforms, it’s a good thing to see Dracula and a Belmont somewhere battling it out in that eternal struggle they’ve pretty much committed to ages past…

February’s Game of the Month: Earth Defense Force 2025

EDF_2025 Wing Diver 

EDF2025 PS3 fobYeah, it’s not even out until the 18th of the month, but I’ve owned the Japanese version of the game since it came out last July and it’s pretty amazing and VERY replayable, a great thing in this age of games you can blow through in less time that it takes to make a crock pot dish. EDF 2025’s four distinct classes, 780 weapons, over 90 levels (with more coming through three DLC expansions) and both couch co-op and online multiplayer modes means this one will be in some play stacks for a good long while. There’s even a versus mode here if you like hunting around for each other in some too huge maps…

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Sure, it’s not the “best” looking game you’ll ever see and yes, developer Sandlot isn’t whipping out visuals that are going to compete with the greatest-looking games of last generation. That said, the sheer scale of the maps plus the level of destruction here is remarkable, and combined with the seemingly simple gameplay that grows deeper as the game gets more challenging, makes this one a keeper even after you’ve beaten it. Which, by the way will take weeks or more you’re going for every bit of content and every single Achievement or Trophy.

So yeah, BUY THIS GAME. It’s coming to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 only (Sandlot doesn’t make PC Games, sorry!).

POMPEII Super Bowl Ad: Yeah, My Day Went Like This As Far As Work Goes…

 
Yeah, this film is going to be a disaster of an epic scale, but yeah, people will go see it because it’s got a hunk in the lead and it’s basically Titanic but no one gets out alive. Um, hopefully. I have the feeling that somehow, someone will make it out alive. Hey, think like a Hollywood writer looking to make the best of any tragedy: history says everyone died there, but what happens if there were people who were just out of range of the doomed city who saw it all go down? Yuck. Anyway, my Friday blew. I got nothing done thanks to some SLOOOW as hell wi-fi. How slow? Even though the connections was “Excellent” (so sayeth my computer via pop-up message as I glare at that stupid little box and want to strangle it), I was stuck at the startling and less than adequate speed of 11.0 kbps, BOO. Anyway, tomorrow is another day, I guess. I need to fly out of here early to mail off a big box of books, so I’ll be trying to get in some updates and posts as soon as possible, as there’s a LOT going on in my inbox.

Earth Defense Force 2025 Multiplayer Hands-On: Extermination Agenda, Done Up Right.

EDF_2025 ArtAs a fan of the Earth Defense Force series since its debut in 2003 as part of the Simple 2000 series on the Japanese PlayStation 2, I’ve seen the series grow from a quick 25-level budget run and gun experience to the mighty, soon to be released solo, couch co-op and online play of EDF 2025, coming in less than a month to the PS3 and Xbox 360. D3Publisher of America rolled into town with a complete Xbox 360 version that had everything unlocked (all 780 weapons!) and allowed for non-stop fun for a few hours for some cold-braving editor types who dropped into the Ace Hotel for a spell.

While couch co-op play was the focus when D3PoA was here last year, this time it was the hectic online multiplayer mode for two to four players put to the test. Gameplay is rock solid and depends on teamwork between your squad-mates in order for success. Unlike other shooting games, you can’t bump off your team just to hog the glory and goodies for yourself because not only will it be rude, on the higher difficulty levels, you’ll be chomped, blasted, roasted and spiked to death (for starters) by swarms of pissed off bugs, robots, dragons and other menaces… Continue reading

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 Developer Diary #2: On Getting It Gothic…

 
Almost… alllllmost. The wait is creeping to a close (February 25, 2014) and Spanish developer MercurySteam is doing their final Castlevania game up more than right. A handful of fans of the older games in the series are a bit grumpy for some reason that the game isn’t just like those older games, but for those of us who respect new and old styles of visuals and gameplay, it’s clear Konami picked the right team for this part of the series. I tend to play games like this for the stories more than the action, so it’s great to see the team has done their homework in linking this to the series canon while adding in plenty of new and intriguing story elements that should make this one memorable to watch as well as play.

300: Rise of an Empire TV Spots 2 and 3: Don’t Know Much About History (But I’m Not As Bad As Some)…

 
Look, as much as I love Frank Miller’s incredible graphic novel 300 and its amazing (and historically inaccurate) take on the 300 Spartans and the Battle of Thermopylae, both it and this sequel (which seems to be based on Miller’s yet to be released follow up, Xerxes) are turning some younger people into ill-informed dopes. I actually overheard a conversation a few weeks back between some kids who tried to use the film and comic to write up a report a history class and yes, they all failed. One kid tried to blame the history teacher because “He’s old and he never even read the comic OR saw the movie!” which made me dash away to laugh myself silly. Ah, you kids… always trying to find the easy way out of some hard work.

 
That said, has those meddling kids gone and watched 1962’s The 300 Spartans, they might have failed with a higher grade as their teacher was probably around to see that flick. Or maybe they should have cracked the assigned books and checked out this video instead? Hmmmm. Well, lesson learned, I hope. Yeesh – some of these kids better wise the hell up before history forgets all about them one day…

Toukiden Addendum: It’s Even Better News In This Soon To Be Hit…

2014-01-27-071708Surprise, surprise. Toukiden: Age of Demons had two of them for me I found out after posting my demo impressions. Oops. One was there are a bunch of separate missions you can play online via ad-hoc, over PSN or (wait for it)… OFFLINE with up to 3 AI fighters (woo hoo!). Two, the demo is actually longer than I expected with two chapters and a cliffhanger right before a what looked like a tough boss battle. There’s also a series of weapons training missions that let you practice with each weapon (the bow isn’t as annoying as I thought!) and these are recommended, as you can swap weapons out between missions.

There’s a bunch of other stuff (such as weapons and armor can be strengthened and some can be combined), but I’ll save that for the review.

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Okay, that’s it for now – Back to dinking around with more games. Back in a bit. Or tomorrow, most likely…

The Zero Theorem Trailer: Gilliam’s Back Soon, Get Your Money Ready…

  
For me, a Terry Gilliam film is a must-see experience no matter how you feel about it after all is said and done (which usually means you need to see it a few more times). The inventive director’s latest is the soon to be released The Zero Theorem, a science fiction film that features the great Christoph Waltz as a computer whiz called “We” (I think it was something like Quohen Leth before this trailer, but I guess I’ll find out when I see it) who’s trying to discover the meaning of life, but gets a bit distracted by a handful of visitors and situations on a few occasions. I actually dislike finding out TOO much about a Gilliam film before I see it as there’s always the chance that it might (and will) go in a different direction than the trailer shows. That and Gilliam’s films need to be seen from beginning to end and absorbed as whole experiences, not just well-trimmed cuts with a flourish or three.

Anyway, September isn’t THAT long away, people. Some of you can nap until then or take a long stroll for a few weeks poking around for memories or fossils or both while you’re waiting for this one to finally come out of the oven. I’d join you on that nap and/or walking tour but I’ve got stuff to do here and my backlog is actually growing, not shrinking. Boo, but it keeps me busy and out of trouble.

Terminator: Enemy Of My Enemy Preview: Back From The Future (Again!)…

TEOE_Cover
Dark Horse Comics isn’t letting the recent loss of their long-running Star Wars license get them in the dumps at all. They’re still packing in the licensed properties along with a slew of original books and reprints galore, so it’s not as if they’re going to suddenly sink into the sea like the Titanic. Anyway, here the cover and first five pages from their upcoming Terminator: Enemy Of My Enemy comic by Dan Jolley (words) and Jamal Igle with Ray Snyder (pictures), coming February 19, 2014 to your favorite comic emporium (and as a digital release on Dark Horse Digital). And yes, you can even pre-order this one from Things From Another World if that’s how you roll. Enjoy!

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Gallery Update: Dark Souls II

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I have the distinct feeling that my list of ‘must play’ games will be shorter than I think thanks to a handful of upcoming titles eating up way too much of my time. In addition to EDF 2025, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Toukiden: Age of Demons and a bunch of indie to AAA games for assorted platforms I’ve been keeping my eye on as 2014 rolls onward, Dark Souls II looks as if it’s going to consume a rater huge chunk of a few months on and off. Every time I see new screens for this game I get a few chills in all the proper places as well as a sense of dread because from my play time with that demo, I know this one’s going to be rougher than using a huge sheet of the coarsest waterproof sandpaper as a towel after a too hot shower. Or, OUCH!.

But hey, we Souls maniacs like it hard and Producer Takeshi Miyazoe along with the dedicated team at developer FromSoftware are more than willing to please as from what I’m seeing and hearing from folks in that beta test, the game is going to be even harder than Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls combined.

Eeep.

More screens below the jump… Continue reading