Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut Ransom Screenshot of the Day: Roughing It, York Style!

DPTDCLOGO

140113-1547-17

Did you know that when it’s not being terrorized by an axe-wielding killer, Greenvale is actually a really nice place? It’s so peaceful and the climate is so perfect (well, when it not pouring rain, that is), you can actually live in the woods without a tent. Of course, being a thorough guy, FBI Special Agent Francis York Morgan (just call him York!) decided to put that to the test and as you can see, he’s kind of overdone the whole camping thing. Sure, the week-old beard works, but that suit and furniture? Hmmm… all the comforts of home don’t necessarily work in some settings, but you can’t keep a good investigator from finding out just what hos limitations are in all sorts of elements. If you ever run into York while you’re in Greenville, make sure to buy him a cup of coffee and ask all about that time he went up to the mountains in the winter a few years ago. Yup, he wore that suit and had even MORE furniture with him (including a working fireplace!). Hey, he’s a survivor at the end of the day, so let him do it the way he wants to, I say…

DPDC PS3 US EFS 2D RealIf you’ve been reading these (hopefully entertaining) posts from the last few weeks you know by now that you’ll soon get to meet Special Agent York and his weird ways soon enough when Rising Star Games’ PS3 exclusive Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut lands in a game shop or other retailer near you (that sells video games, of course) on April 30, 2013. Featuring updates HD visuals, PlayStation Move and 3D TV support, over 100 improvements over the original game, new DLC that extends the adventure and MORE, you’ll be putting up with more of York’s quirks than you can stand and love every moment. You’ll absolutely have to, mind you… or that Red Seeds case file will remain open forever. And we don’t want that to happen at all, correct? I thought so!

swery6 Given that the game as gone gold today (meaning it’s been sent off to be pressed and packed so it can appear in stores on time), I bet Game Director Swery 65 is celebrating today a bit more than usual. Of course, he and his team at Access Games deserve whatever celebrating they’re doing and then some, as they’ve created a better version of a game that made so many people swing back and forth trying to decide if they were crazy for liking such a bizarre experience. Open minds are the best ones to work with, I say… well, provided it’s not some glowing eyed guy in a yucky red coat swinging an axe doing that opening. That would be a bad thing for this game’s sales as well as the poor folks getting their tops popped…

Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen Enemies (2): Dying Just Got A Lot More Painfully Interesting…

Just watching this latest Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen gameplay trailer makes me say “Ouch!” because I know some of these new creatures will be a pain to take down quickly. But as with the first game, it’s a learning experience when you encounter a new enemy in this game world. Check out its weaknesses, go at it with your best skills and make sure your pawns are up to speed. Hmmm… Now I’m feeling the need to play through the first game again… but with all the work I need to get done, that’s not going to happen at all. Unless someone creates time travel before Dark Arisen hits retail for the PS3 and Xbox 360 on April 23, 2013… which isn’t so far away at all. Yaaaah! The pain of having too darn many games to play, think of playing (or replaying). Well, there are far worse things to be worried about in the real world, of course…

Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures Trailer: My Conflict of Disinterest Is Somewhat Activated…

Hmmmm… Not sure how I should feel about this, as I think if you REVIEW games for a living, you don’t necessarily NEED to be in one. Granted, the folks at Penny Arcade get a free pass because they do so much for charity and all. But I guess TAVGN gets a big, sloppy pass as well because he’s so damned popular and good at what he does that the bulk of his fan base will buy this up as soon as it’s available. Granted, if the game is “bad” (and not intentionally, mind you), he’ll hear about it (but probably shrug it off completely). I’ll play this at some point but probably not review it, as it’s a bit strange trying to do that and not feel as I’m fitting into someone’s master plan… Well, we’ll see… You can’t muck up this kind of “retro” that much anyway. Hopefully…

GRID 2 Customization: My Fairlady (And Yours, Too!)

The brilliant car customization in Codemasters’ upcoming racer GRID 2 is one more really awesome feature that will get and keep this racer on many play lists for a while. I didn’t get to tinker with it during my two hands-on sessions, but that’s probably a darn good thing. I tend to take ages to trick out a ride and usually end up with something that’s understated yet a monster on the road. Of course, with the amount of online competition this will no doubt have way too many great racers breaking records every few minutes or less, but I’m going to hit solo mode and break in every car I can on as many tracks in the game as possible. May 28, 2013 will be one of those “flu” days for some folks, I’m betting…

Iron Man 3 World Tour: The Cast Gets Around, The Crowds Go Wild…

Well, these big press and fan-packed junkets are always weird and often dull as hell for the casts of these blockbusters, but you have to give Robert Downey Jr. a few metric tons of credit for doing his own awesomely quirky thing to shake stuff up. Well, reaction to the film is definitely great overseas, so that enthusiasm will no doubt carry on as the film arrives at a mega-multiplex near you on May 3. Hey, you still have time to finish that Coke can Iron Man outfit you’re working on (yeah, I know you didn’t want me to say anything, but…), so get to it! Just leave the windows open when you’re spray painting, as huffing in those fumes will do you in faster than the Mandarin with his can opener ring…

Four Minutes of Next Week’s Defiance Episode: Hey, Time Travel WORKS!

Well, not in this clip from the upcoming episode, “Down In The Ground Where The Dead Men Go” mind you, but in the fact that you’re able to (*gasp!*) actually SEE into the future here and catch the first four minutes of the show before it airs ( that footage is below the jump – we’re building suspense here!) PLUS two teasers for the show. Hey, now you can roll home four minutes late and not feel as if you missed anything!

Er, of course, given that the show gets repeated right afterward (and at least twice), you just might get called really goofy by your friends and relatives for pretending that time travel DOES exist. Oh well… dreaming is fine, but reality works much better when you’re in the right groove… “OK, get to the good stuff!”, right? Alright, alright… Continue reading

DARK Skills Trailer: Vampires Do Make Some Pretty Good Sneaky Characters…

This newest slice of gameplay from DARK, developed by Realmforge and set to be published by Kalypso Media, is looking like quite a surprise sleeper in my book. Vampire-themed games aren’t exactly a dime a dozen these days, so it’s great to see a dev team tackle one and make it look and based on the trailers I’ve seen, play so well. As I noted previously, I’m REALLY hoping it does well enough on PC and Xbox live that it can also appear on other platforms, as this is just the sort of indie game that deserves a wider and more appreciative audience. As always, we shall see…

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing Gets A Beta – Give It A Shot, I Say…

NeoCore Games’ upcoming action RPG, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing, is headed into its beta stage as a pre-order product the developer has set up as a crowdfunded work in progress that allows interested players to pony up a fee for access that will net them a final copy when the game is completed and released in May. For a minimum payment of $15, you’ll get to play that beta version on Steam (and comment on it, no doubt) and there are payment tiers all the way up to $1000 (which gets you four copies of the game, your name in the credits and portrait in a secret boss level).

Bethesda Reveals The Evil Within (Well, A Live-Action Trailer, At Least)…

In case you were wondering just what Shinji Mikami has been up to… well, here you go. Bethesda Softworks has revealed a live-action trailer to his and Tango Gameworks’ upcoming single player psychological/survival horror game, The Evil Within. Nothing has been revealed yet about the characters, story or gameplay, but IGN (hey, why not me?) has a big first look popping up on Monday that’s sure to get them traffic and attention. The game is set to come out in 2014 for PC, PS3, Xbox 360 and “next generation consoles”. Hmmmm… My take on that last part is I personally think they’re spreading this new SKU a wee bit too thin, as I think it would be best on ONE generation of systems and PC. If this gets over-hyped and expected to meet a certain target, but fails to do do, it will hit Bethsoft a bit hard on a few fronts. Granted, they could have another Dishonored here in the form of a hit that turns a genre on its ear-hole, so I’m at least optimistic on that front. Now, it’s all about some hands-on time to see what’s what… Bethsoft, you know how to reach me…

Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut Goes Gold, Pre-order Bonuses Split Personalities…

Espresso_Suit_Pack_US  Field_Ops_Suit_Pack_US

It’s almost here, folks… Now you have to make a BIG choice here if you pre-order this upcoming PS3 exclusive – do you get yourself a tactical advantage with that Field-Ops Suit Pack DLC from Amazon OR are you going to energize your game with the Espresso Suit Pack DLC from GameStop? Decisions, decisions… enough to make you a bit schizophrenic, I’d say. I usually dislike DLC like this from different retailers, as it’s an annoying ploy to make you miss something and/or choose sides as if this loyalty to a particular retailer was a good thing.

That said, it’ll be interesting to see which DLC wins out here and if possible, if ALL who buy the game will have the chance to get both packs and that bonus DLC noted below down the road as free or paid content through PSN. That’s the most fair way to go, I say – especially with the cult following this game has and some players wanting everything that can get out of it including these two outfits.

New Features for Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut:

New Scenario – Surprising new scenario from the game’s director, Hidetaka “Swery” Suehiro that will please new and hardcore fans alike
HD graphics – complete graphic overhaul with new HD textures
Improved Controls – reworked control system and mappable controls allow for an even better combat experience
Downloadable content – Expand the mystery beyond the original game and let Agent York (and Zach) live it up in Greenvale – *PROFILING START*

DP_Preorder