Dragon Age Inquisition Hands-On: All is As it Needs to Be (Which Means You’ll Be Very Busy Soon)…

Posted on October 10, 2014 by geelw

A half hour may be a long time if you’re sitting through a really bad TV show, being tortured, have a terrible toothache or are waiting for some test results, but it’s clearly not a good deal of time to sit down with a build of Dragon Age Inquisition. For me ( a fan of the series and BioWare’s RPGs in general for quite some time), the game is one that doesn’t need a huge amount of hyperbolic posts from editor-types or even PR gurus because it’s a series that’s pretty much sold itself to a fan base who wanted to see a western-developers RPG do more with the genre (and it’s succeeded for the most part despite a few bumps along the road it’s traveled). My half hour at EA’s media event a few days back was spent ogling the beautiful visuals, running around with my party picking plants for crafting and looting assorted caches while getting the hang of the deeper combat system that now adds some very welcome tweaks to the mix of real-time and “turn-based” format.

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The Evil Within Looks to Scare You Sillier Than You’d Like to Be Scared, So Get With the Program!

Posted on October 6, 2014 by geelw

Let’s see now: one part Resident Evil, one part Silent Hill, One part F.E.A.R. and a lot of what’s inside Shinji Mikami’s head certainly go a long way in his latest game, The Evil Within. Set for an October 14, 2014 release on PC, PS3/PS4, Xbox 360/Xbox One, this survival horror game marks Mikami’s return to the genre that made him a master to legions of horror game fans. I’m holding out until I play this one, but from all those trailers and behind the scenes videos that have been popping up, this one looks as if it will deliver the goods to those who can take what it throws at them. Granted, if you’re one of those jaded types scared of nothing and think this game is “dull” when you haven’t touched a controller connected to a console or PC running it, then Bethesda Softworks and Tango Game Studios more than likely have no use for your commentary on some message board where you’re all anonymous and filled with bile for some reason or another.

I’d bet they’d LOVE more constructive and useful criticism from people who may run into something that keeps the game from being what it needs to be (but that doesn’t include being a direct Resident Evil clone, I’d bet), so maybe go PLAY this before you go online and whine expecting for someone to back you up when the developer and publisher would rather see you fall off a cliff onto something sharp. Or something like that. I’m betting Bethsoft and Mikami don’t care what anyone who hasn’t played this thinks because at the end of the day, those people are wasting their time rambling on about themselves and speaking for others when they should just shut up and maybe play some of those games they hate on for no reason. Just a thought…

New Rollers of the Realm Trailer: Some Puzzles With Your Pinball/RPG? Sure, Why Not?

Posted on October 3, 2014 by geelw

Rollers of the Realm is getting better and better, isn’t it? Phantom Compass’ upcoming hybrid game set to be published by Atlus in November is certainly looking even more polished (like a gigantic shiny new pinball) in this new trailer and I’m betting PS4 and Vita owners will be more than pleased with the plot, puzzles and play in this game when they finally get their hands on it. I’m still going back to that super aged preview build I have for PC just to get a whiff of what to expect and it’s so clear that the game’s going to exceed expectations on a few key fronts. I’m not sure Atlus needs to run another trailer until the November release, but I won’t complain at all if they do. That’s just one more opportunity to reach out and get a few more sales from potential pinballers who might not have gotten the good word already.

Back with more if more is on the way, as usual…

Crimes & Punishments (Sherlock Holmes) Launch Trailer: Elementary? Not So Fast, You Armchair Sleuths…

Posted on September 26, 2014 by geelw

Oh, the rather droll and humorous closing exchange between Holmes and Watson is probably worth buying the game outright, but I think Focus Home Interactive and developer Frogwares want players to get more than just a moderate chuckle when the snap up this latest Sherlock Holmes game. It’s out on September 30 for PS3/PS4, Xbox 360/Xbox One and PC and looks like it’s going to be a pretty solid game. I’m actually behind in the series, but I may grab this one and work backwards just because it’s not really a franchise where you need to dive into each game in a particular order at all. You just have to love the man and his work. Still, I wonder what’s for dessert on that menu and whether or not the detecting duo actually attend that soiree they’ve been kindly invited to? A good mystery always deserves better clues, I suppose…

Pathologic Update: 17 Days To Go. Getting To Its Goal, Body By Body…

Posted on September 19, 2014 by geelw

Slowly but surely, this remake of the 2005 sleeper PC game Pathologic is getting funded via Kickstarter, so hop in and splash around those plague-riddled ponds if you want to see this come to fruition. I love the unsettling vibe this gives off, that slow-loading pistol (and if you didn’t squeak a tiny bit when the camera dipped up and that bird-suited thing was standing there, you’re a better person than I am) and the overall air of gloom that makes this one special. Then again, if this real life ebola thing gets into the country, we’ll all be doing that dance those quirky rejects from Mummenschanz are soon enough. Man, I hate it when reality intrudes on my gaming life. Hopefully this gets funded and finished before the planet goes all 12 Monkeys, ha and ha… *gulp!*

The Evil Within Tokyo Game Show 2014 Trailer: Run (or Roll!), Don’t Walk!

Posted on September 17, 2014 by geelw

Okay, I laughed out loud when I saw this trailer because, well.. come ON now, people. Wouldn’t YOU just have jumped in one of those wheelchairs and rolled the hell away from what was chasing you? Yeah, I thought so. I know I’d be BLAAAAZING down that dimly lit hallway popping wheelies power-sliding past obstacles and generally confusing the hell out of that monster or whatever is chasing my character. Then again, I tend to look for the humorous side to any horror game or film, so if anything, I’d die laughing before anything else got to my soon to be doomed avatar. The Evil Within is out for Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PC on Tuesday, October 14. That gives you enough time to stock up on clean underwear and maybe a few spare controllers in case you’re prone to dropping them when you get scared…

GTA V “A Picket Fence and a Dog Named Skip” Trailer: Translation: You Need A New Console (or PC), Pal!

Posted on September 12, 2014 by geelw

Well, it’s finally coming to PS4 and Xbox One on November 18, 2014 with the PC version to follow January 27, 2015, but it seems (as usual), some PC gamers think that’s too long a time to wait despite that version of the game needing to be tweaked for about a million or so different computers and every possible settings configuration, whatever mods some talented users will knock out and so forth and so on. Rockstar could simply release every GTA game on consoles only and make a fortune, but they’ve also decided to see if PC gamers will put their money where their mouths are and hope a bunch don’t simply pirate the game with the tired excuse that they want to “try it out” and then buy it later. Puh-leeeze. You KNOW what you’re getting with a Grand Theft Auto game, kids, so you’d BUY it if you liked the other games in the series. That and ANY complaints about visuals or controls on a PC version are MOOOOOT because of modders who fix the things they don’t like and spread that love around all over the internet. So, yeah… you deserve to wait a little bit longer because the world isn’t ending and hell, you get (depending on your rent money gaming rig) the “best” looking version of the game anyway. Class dismissed!/

Adventure Time: Secret of the Nameless Kingdom Screenshot Update: Looking Legend of-ary!

Posted on September 6, 2014 by geelw

Little Orbit may have gotten off to a small start back in January 2010, but the publisher is sure making some waves lately among some gamers. Its recent acquisition of developer Vicious Cycle (and their VERY versatile Vicious Engine) means LO now has a studio that can crank out good looking and highly playable licensed and (hopefully) original games for consoles and PC in a decent amount of time. Nice. And speaking of nice, here are a handful of screens from Adventure Time: Secret of the Nameless Kingdom, coming to PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo 3DS in November.

Based on these new screens and the older game info I’ve cobbled up, this latest AT game looks to be more of a Legend of Zelda-type top down experience and not the Gauntlet-inspired solo play or couch co-op fun of the last game, Explore the Dungeon Because I Don’t Know!. Keep an eye on this one, folks – I smell a sleeper coming a few months down the road…

Crimes and Punishments (Sherlock Holmes) Update: A Little Macho Disguise & Some Arm Wrasslin’ Get Our Man A Clue…

Posted on September 5, 2014 by geelw

Okay, Focus Home Interactive and Frogwares, you’ve got me now. I just HAVE to play Crimes & Punishments: Sherlock Holmes now just because of those goofy disguises the dashing detective can don in the game in order to help in his decidedly deducting ways. This trailer made me laugh for a few reasons, but not AT the game at all. I just like how the series has evolved from its stuffier Victorian era settings to a more modern (but not too modern) set of scenarios that looks as if it will have a wider appeal among a few types of more adventuresome gamers willing to take a chance on something new. Hmmm… I wonder if Holmes can deduct the cos of his disguises from his taxes? Or is that even allowed in foggy Londinium? Ah, the mystery… the mystery…

Crimes & Punishments: Sherlock Holmes is out on September 30, 2014 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC.

Rollers of the Realm Priced (YES!) and Dated (Sort Of): Get Ready To Roll This November!

Posted on September 4, 2014 by geelw

A mere penny under ten bucks for this Pinball/RPG hybrid AND it’s cross-buy/cross-save on the Vita and PS4? Yep, I’m in day one and you should be too. I’m all over this one and have been since I heard about it early in development because I’m a pinball maniac with no room for an actual machine in my place (boo!) and a love for developers who keep the silver ball flame going by every means necessary. I also love RPGs, so developer Phantom Compass had me from day one. Atlus picking this up to publish also made me grin a wee bit too much because this means it’s going to get that extra push and pedigree their best games get and hopefully score some point among the fans who’d normally avoid a western-produced game for some oddball reason.

Anyway, I’m betting on Rollers of the Realm being a total no-brainer buy when it finally hits PSN in November. Heck, even if you avoid digital games like the plague, I’d day lift your “nope” restrictions, drop the ten bucks on this PSN download and play a game that will surprise your socks off at how good and FUN it is.