GRID 2 “WSR 3” Video: Drift & Shout…

And now, a bit of slipping and sliding through the Asian courses on GRID 2 for your soon to be driving like a maniac pleasure. Five years of hard work is coming to a close and it looks as if Codemasters will have a new legion of race fans when the launches at the end of the month onto PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. Of course, some of the griefers whining endlessly about the cockpit view not being in tagging along and actually liking the game for the sense of speed and solid visuals would be some extra icing on the cake, but at this point, the dev team probably could care less what the non-stop complainers are complaining about. As usual, we shall see and I’m betting some clever hacker will knock out a patch for the PC version at some point that adds a viewpoint some prefer (even if it makes the game perform a bit worse)…

GRID 2: LiveRoutes & A Trip to Miami (A Really Fast Trip, At That)…

Codemasters is set to shake the racing game scene up with the addition of LiveRoutes in GRID 2, set for a May 28, 2013 US launch on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. LiveRoutes alter selected courses in the game each time you play, offering up six different routes when these tracks are revisited. This should keep some expert as well as novice players from blowing through familiar courses and should make for some interesting live events in online play.

As for Miami… welcome and hey! You just got to see a gameplay video of someone driving faster there than you can do in real life thanks to all the traffic they’ve got down there. Aren’t you the lucky one! Well, unless you get carsick watching all these videos I’ve been posting… oops.

Dragon’s Crown Cover Art, Artbook Revealed: Preselling A Not-So-Hard Sell…

DC_Artworks_Glam

Lovely… and it can soon be all yours, at that. Dragon’s Crown finally gets some VERY pretty cover art for its retail versions as well as a really cool pre-order bonus in the form of a 64-page softcover art book that’s absolutely going to be snapped up by fans of George Kamitani’s work. I’d go as far as to predict the art book selling for more than the game does down thee road among those who miss out and want to pay through the pores on eBay or some other site, but that’s not Atlus’ concern what you do with that bonus item as they see not a red cent from secondhand sales of their cool goods. Anyway, check out the official site if you haven’t already for character profiles, more of Kamitani’s lush artwork and more.

DCArtCover DrgVitaRp5 DrgCrwRpPromo4a

Dragon’s Crown will hit retail and PSN on August 6, 2013. Be there or be square, I say…

Metal Gear Solid The Legacy Collection: Order The Import, and Snake’s On A Plane…

MGS_LegacyWell, you know you’re probably going to sell the cat (who will be glad to get out of the house finally) and half a kidney (because you just can’t let go of the whole thing) for this if it never comes out here, but fortunately, you don’t need to, as it’s headed to North America as well (but minus the 100-page artbook Japanese and Asian territory gamers will get, boo!).

That said, it certainly looks as if this one will be in huge demand as an import as well as a US version, as it’s probably the least expensive way to get to play all of these games on a single console. Granted, some of us old-timers actually own a working MSX, PlayStation 1, PS2 and PS3, but man, are some of those older Metal Gear games expensive if you’re looking for complete versions and not digital downloads.

Oh, and sorry about the pun in the title – I couldn’t resist throwing some freshly shucked corn your way on an otherwise manic Monday…

Review: Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen

DD_DA_PS3Platform: PlayStation 3 (also on Xbox 360)

Developer: Capcom

Publisher: Capcom

# of Players: 1

ESRB Rating: M (Mature)

Official Site

Score: A-

My favorite fantasy game (as well as the one that got played the most) of 2012 was Capcom’s Dragon’s Dogma thanks to the level of immersion it offered as a single player experience, the massive land of Gransys and its assorted dangers above and below ground, tons of hidden secrets and unique Pawn system. It was impossible for me to not spend at least two to three hours at a minimum exploring outside the main quest, poking about in areas and often running like hell from some high-level monsters just to beef up my character a few more levels and hire some more powerful pawns just to drop back in and kick that big boss and his minions around. Of course, there was that cranky, level-shifting Ur-Dragon to give me fits a few times until it was able to be defeated multiple times, coughing up some cool treasure, but that’s a book I can write some other time.

Anyway, this year, we get a wonderful expansion, Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen that packs in the original game with some nice fixes and an all new massive underground dungeon and rewards geared for high-level players only. Make that high-level players with a ton of patience willing to go through hell before they reach high water, as DD:DA is even more brutal than the original, but in a good way…
Continue reading

Gallery: Remember Me

Dontnod_Bandeau_Scroll_08

RM_PressTour2013__22Capcom and Dontnod Entertainment are about to bring gamers a new action heroine who could be yeat another really interesting female characters making her debut this year.  Remember Me, coming on June 4, 2013 will see the deadly and agile Nilin take to the streets of 2084 Neo-Paris as she attempts to discover why her former employers wiped her memory (leaving her very underemployed as a result) AND seems to have sent out a team of assassins to deal with her. Eeek… talk about NO job security!

rm_ps3_fob 2D Boxshot Wizard v1.1

Anyway, the team at Dontnod is cooking up an absolutely beautiful game as you can see from the nice screenshot gallery below the jump, and the gameplay is also looking quite lovely (and innovative) as well. PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 owners can look forward to this one soon (as time is absolutely flying this year).

Continue reading

Skyrim Legendary Edition Is Coming: There Goes About Six Months of Your Life (Or So)…

skyrim_LE_boxshots

Save the date, folks: June 4, 2013, $59.99, PC, PS3 or Xbox 360. Pick your poison and take a nice long vacation in this massive solo adventure/RPG that, with all the new content should take you a few weeks to complete once you get hooked into the game world. You get the original and all the expansions (Dawnguard, Hearthfire and Dragonborn), all the content changes, patching and fixes included (PS3 owners should be pleased to hear this news, as that original version seemed to suffer the most). Bethsoft is “moving on” from this game, so this should be the ultimate (and final) version of an already spectacular entry in the long-running franchise. Of course, this means we’ll probably be hearing about a new Elder Scrolls game in about two or three years as the company is no doubt looking at a few consoles and seeing what’s under the hood.

Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut Random Screenshot of the Day: One More Thing…

DPTDCLOGO

img0154

And there he goes once more, FBI Special Agent Francis York Morgan (just call him York!), chasing after another lead in his Red Seeds Killer investigation. It’s been a fun month covering the man and his actions, but I’m beat from all that stumbling through bushes and smacking into trees like a nut. Well, I did get some pretty good posts out of all this and I think I’ve set a record or something for writing so much about one game for so long. Or maybe not. Whatever, I finally get to sit home where it’s nice and murderer free and play a decent game that’s… going to remind me of stumbling through bushes and smacking into trees. Oh well – it’s MUCH safer at home than in Greenvale at night (or at certain parts of the day)…

DPDC PS3 US EFS 2D Real Are YOU one of the legions of people now immersed in Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut? Available NOW at a game retailer near you, this PS3 exclusive from Rising Star Games features upscaled HD visuals, PlayStation Move and 3D TV support, additional DLC and over 100 changes from the original version. It’s also a fairly long and very bizarre game worth checking out, particularly if you’re a more open-minded gamer looking for something truly and uniquely terrifying and hilarious, often within a few seconds of either mood. Grab a copy, grab a friend, have a seat and enjoy your trip!

swery_birthday to youWorld renowned Game Director Swery 65 is back at the celebrating thing once more down at the Swery 65 Bar, but he’s actually been SO busy on facebook and other places online that his coffee keeps getting cold! I think he also likes Iced coffee, but I’d bet he prefers to have that when it’s hot out as opposed to being so tied up that a fresh cuppa Joe goes cold as he’s typing all those updates. Let the man drink his beverage, people, I say!  You all have a game you need to play (or BUY and play), so get to it already!

Gallery: Sacrilegium – Reality Pump’s Survival Horror/Adventure Game Is Creeping Closer…

Sacrilegium_Logo

sacrilegium_artVeteran developer Reality Pump Studios has been cooking up what’s looking like a nice surprise for horror game fans with its upcoming multiplatform release, Sacrilegium. Coming to PC, PS3 and Xbox 360’s worldwide soon, the TopWare Games-published “Survival-Horror Action Adventure” sounds (at least on paper) like a game that’s got a lot going for it if the lengthy and very detailed press release is any indication.

For many gamers who love their work, Reality Pump’s games (particularly their deep and mostly well-made RPGs) have always been highly ambitious, but between the outstanding new engine and promise of a deep, story driven single-player adventure starring a female character with a tailor made back-story, this could be one of those really intriguing game experiences that draws attention to itself on a few key fronts.

TopWare is promising this will be “A dark, thrilling tale with a captivating atmosphere, full of twists and turns, surprises and rewards.” as well as delivering “A constant feeling of tension, trepidation, and fear of the unknown and the unseen, combined with visceral action rewarded by the excitement of progression.”, which gets my brain tingling in all the right ways…

Continue reading

Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut Random Screenshot of the Day: Not A Clue…

DPTDCLOGO

DPTDC_SCREENSHOT_12

I actually had to get out of Greenvale after over a month there doing daily posts about FBI Special Agent Francis York Morgan (just call him York!) and the big case he was handling out that way. I would have stayed a day or two longer, but I got an urgent message that some important package I was expecting had finally arrived. I left a note for York and another for Emily just in case she turns up at some point. Thankfully, I didn’t have to deal with George’s cranky nonsense on the way out of town, as he turned out to be quite a jerk when all is said and done. I actually have NO clue how far York has gotten into solving his case, but he seems too be a really thorough investigator who seems to have two brains at times (well, that’s what I kept hearing around the A&G Diner and Swery 65 Bar when I asked around about him) and he’s also got a pretty decent amount of knowledge about some good and not so good movies (most of which I’ve seen)… Well, hopefully York will drop me a note when he’s got the time. It would be cool to have an FBI agent as a friend for a few reasons (but you probably don’t need to know why, correct?)…

dptdc_dafI’d say that based on that screenshot above, in a few seconds York will see that Emily is not that shadow that’s going to turn around and attack him. Of course, if your were playing Rising Star Games’ PS3 exclusive Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut, which should be in stores as you’re reading this. Well, the “official” release date is April 30th, but I’ve heard a few people talking about playing the game already thanks to getting their hands on the game thanks to a favorite game store selling them a copy a day or so early. Hopefully, the reworked HD visuals, PlayStation Move and 3D TV support, over 100 changes to the original game and MORE will keep you and the York you’re playing fixated on getting to the bottom of this case in record time. Yes, that’s my copy in that photo to the left and above. I got home not too long ago and *ding!*, there it was, waiting for me on the table by the door. Nice! Now I can help York get that damn killer!

swery4Hmmm… I think Game director Swery 65 is going to be in Greenvale for a day or so longer, as he’s tying up a few loose ends of his own. People have been bugging him day and night with compliments, questions, comments and even a few jokes about all the hard work he and his team at Access games has done, so I suppose he’s entitled to a good night’s rest before his long plane trip back to Japan. You’d think the guy would prefer to live in the town he helped create and run, but there are just too many things back home you can’t get out in the middle of nowhere…