Review: WET

Posted on September 21, 2009 by geelw

Platform: PS3/Xbox 360

Developer: Artificial Mind & Movement (A2M)

Publisher: Bethesda Softworks

# of Players: 1

Rating: M (Mature)

The best way to enjoy Bethesda’s new action game, WET is with tongue planted firmly in cheek, controller planted firmly in hand and butt planted firmly on couch. The game is a fun, funky mash-up of cinematic influences – Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, John Woo and more than a few others all get riffed on here and for the most part, it works perfectly. Despite the metric tonnage of “grindhouse” gimmickry, the game manages to click from the moment you press START and the fireworks begin. With its over-saturated color palette layered with an intentionally scratchy graphics filter, actual old movie intermission reel clips and outrageous, bloody arcade-style action throughout, the visual overkill outdoes itself over and again as the levels fly past.

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Gallery: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Tagforce 4

Posted on September 20, 2009 by geelw

Had some quick hands-on time with this at Konami’s NYC press event a while back. Nice anime visuals, deep gameplay, plenty of battlin’ cards and creatures and a more “mature” feel than your Pokemon games, for sure. Fans will be completely enraptured, newbies will be baffled, very helpful tutorials aside. Interesting side note: Konami spells it Tagforce, but it seems to list at most retailers as Tag Force. “Potato, Poh-tah-toe, Tomato, Toh-mah-toe….” and all that…

November 17, 2009 is the release date, so mark your calendars accordingly.

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Agetec & UFO Announce Way of the Samurai 3 for PS3 and 360

Posted on September 19, 2009 by geelw

In a unique co-publishing agreement, Way of the Samurai 3 is set to hit stores on October 13, 2009 thanks to the fine folks at Agetec (PS3 version) and UFO (Xbox 360 version).

According to the press release, Acquire’s latest entry in the ongoing swordplay saga is an all-new Action/RPG that promises a “completely new, highly refined style of gameplay, a rich weapon crafting system, beautifully detailed graphics and a deep branching storyline that that will unfold multiple endings based upon player’s actions.”

With that in mind, here’s a look at the game’s story (click the pic to enlarge and read) and characters (ditto) as well as a nice set of screenshots and a pair of CG stills from what looks like the intro movie. In addition, an exclusive iPhone/iPod Touch app has also been announced – see below the jump for all the details…

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Review: Scribblenauts

Posted on September 18, 2009 by geelw

Platform: Nintendo DS

Developer: 5th Cell

Publisher: WBIE

# of Players: 1 (Wi-Fi: 1 – 2)

Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10+)

Official Site

Score: A-

The first two things you’ll need to realize about Scribblenauts are as follows:

1) it’s not a platformer at all
2) Trying to play it as such will make for quite a bit of frustration

The game is actually a fantastic hybrid puzzle/brain salad sandbox experience that lets you dive in to test your word power in a lot more interactive manner than traditional pen and paper word games. There are a load of puzzle as well as action based challenges that require a bit of thought if you want to see all the game has to offer. If you’re like me (that is, ancient enough to actually remember those classic Infocom or other text-based PC adventure games), what’s here is a bit like those oldies. However, you get to see what you input as text materialize on screen and you can interact with your choices in a number of amusing ways. Of course, you can simply sit back and let what you’re called forth do whatever it wants to do, which in my opinion, is the beauty of Scribblenauts’ design.

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Obscure: The Aftermath Hands-On

Posted on September 17, 2009 by geelw

Way back in 2004, a scary little survival horror/adventure game called Obscure crept onto the PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC, receiving mixed reviews before disappearing from the scene and becoming something of an eBay collectible. The game still sold in well enough numbers that a sequel, Obscure: The Aftermath (or Obscure II, depending on where you’re reading this) was released in 2007 for the PS2 and Wii. Thanks to Playlogic and developer Hydrovision, that sequel is headed for the PSP on September 29 and thanks to their PR department, I’m writing up this hands-on of a preview build. Featuring disturbingly detailed visuals, plenty of “teen slasher flick” ambiance and wireless drop-in/drop out co-op play, this is one game horror fans looking for a wild ride won’t want to miss.

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Natsume News: Afrika Goes Gold

Posted on September 17, 2009 by geelw

Until now, Natsume hasn’t published a PlayStation 3 title, but that’s about to change as its upcoming PS3 exclusive, Afrika has gone gold and should be available soon. I remember this photo safari simulation as being one of the earliest PS3 games announced (through some amazing screenshots in Japanese game magazines a while back) and as you can see throughout this post, it still looks pretty darn good.

Anyway, here’s the press release, a bunch of screens and CG renders. Given the success of Natsume’s family-friendly Harvest Moon games as well as the company’s status among gamers of all stripes and a publisher of well-crafted niche games, this one might be a bit of a sleeper hit when it’s released.

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CDV USA to Publish Divinity II – Ego Draconis In North America

Posted on September 17, 2009 by geelw

As a longtime RPG fan, I’m doing the happy dance again because yet another awesome game from a favorite series of mine (and many others out there) is finally on the way stateside. cdv USA has wisely picked up the North American publishing rights to Larian Studios’ Divinity II – Ego Draconis for the PC and Xbox 360. Both versions are set to hit retail this holiday season, which means pre-order time for those of you looking for what’s probably going to be quite the sleeper hit…

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Review: Demon’s Souls

Posted on September 13, 2009 by geelw

Platform: PlayStation 3

Developer: From Software

Publisher: Atlus

# of Players 1 (Online: 1 – 3)

Rating: M (Mature)

Official Site

Score: A+

Console (and to some extent, PC) role-playing fans have been subject to some pretty darn disappointing games this generation thanks to a few too many developers and publishers playing it safe by merely rehashing familiar anime-style adventures, cooking up oddball battle systems that just don’t gel completely or copying top-rated western-style games with a few new ideas here and there. Sure, graphics have improved tenfold this cycle and there have been more than a few memorable games released during this period. However, other than stunning visuals and larger game worlds, not too many of these titles have done all that much to raise any new bars for the genre. Continue reading →

Half-Minute Hero Demo ( #1) Arrives On PSN

Posted on September 11, 2009 by geelw

The first of two demos for Xseed’s upcoming lighting-paced retro PSP Action/RPG is now available for download over the PlayStation Network, which leads me to ask why you’re still reading this when you should be playing this rather hilarious bit of gaming goodness. So, go download away onto your PSP (you DO own a PSP, right?) and play it to death in half-minute chunks, laughing crazily as you skip out the door a few minutes later to go preorder from wherever you normally get your games.

Or pre-order HMH online, if that’s your thing. Heck, it’s not like you’re getting much exercise these days, anyway. A little sunlight won’t kill you, y’know… Well, that’s what I’ve heard… *Ahem,* anyway, let’s see what the official press release says:.. Continue reading →

Review: Hysteria Hospital: Emergency Ward

Posted on September 9, 2009 by geelw

Platform: Nintendo DS/DSi

Developer: GAMEINVEST

Publisher: O-Games

# of Players: 1

Rating: E(Everyone)

Official Site

Score: B-

Just as Tower Defense has spawned legions of clones, games such as Diner Dash have brought forth all sorts of fast-paced casual games across every platform where speed and timing are key in order to keep virtual customers happy and coming back for more. Hysteria Hospital: Emergency Ward takes this familiar formula and drops it into a medical-themed setting with over 60 levels of pill pushing, bed sheet changing, patient shifting total madness that can also be see as a playable analogy for the current health care system (if you choose to look at it that way). If you’re a DS owner looking for a little excitement in the ER, now you can have all the fun of being a nurse without changing bedpans, consuming too much caffeine or pulling a double shift.

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