As Far As I Know (OR: Some Answers To Your Lijit Searches)…

Posted on September 19, 2009 by geelw

1) Muramasa: the Demon Blade is NOT coming to any other console – It’s currently a Wii exclusive. The same goes for games such as Cursed Mountain, Darkest of Days, Risen and a few other titles exclusive to certain platforms. If you’ve got a decent gaming PC, two of the above games are recommended while the other two aren’t coming to PC (as far as I know)…

1a) Is Demon’s Souls coming to the Xbox 360? Most likely nope. The game was initially contracted by/for Sony’s Japan Studios, so it’s sort of like asking if Halo or a new Mario game will appear on another platform. Go buy a PS3 if you can afford to – the game is indeed worth it. Besides, there are a bunch of cool first and third party exclusives for the PS3 released this year and coming in the future will keep you more than pleased you finally made the plunge.

2) I’m still waiting for my review copies of Muramasa and a few other games to arrive. Ignition was swamped with requests from other editor-types, so I may not end up with one unless I truck it on over to GameStop and buy a copy. Yes, I absolutely support my favorite developers and publishers when need be! Heck, I paid full price for The Conduit and enjoyed it immensely.

2a) Speaking of reviewables yes, I’m working on getting a reviewable of Pinball Hall of Fame – The Williams Collection for either the 360 or PS3. Crave’s website hasn’t been updated for a while with new games, so I thought this one didn’t even exist until about two weeks ago (Thanks, Kate!). Fossil Fighters didn’t show up (yet), so it looks as if I’ll need to buy that one at some point. Between the stuff I have coming in and the previews and reviews I need to get done, FF is sort of a slightly lower priority until I free up some quality time for it.

3) I don’t do game tips/cheats/codes here, sorry! If, on the other hand, a developer or publisher supplies me with a tip/trick/code I can release to you guys, I’ll gladly share it! If you’re really hopelessly stuck in a game, definitely hit up a site such as Gamefaqs for those tricky boss or other game-related problems.

4) Shin Megami Tensei Persona PSP voice cast? I’m not sure, as I’m more interested in the game as a whole package… but this may help.

Um.. I think that’s it – got any more questions? Ask away!

Review: Darkest of Days

Posted on September 8, 2009 by geelw

Platform: Xbox 360

Developer: 8monkey Labs

Publisher: Valcon Games

# of Players: 1

Rating: M (Mature)

Official Site

Score: B

If you can overlook its technical issues, there’s a lot of fun to be had in Phantom EFX’s shooter, Darkest of Days. For their first major console and PC release, developer 8monkey Labs has cooked up a supremely cool entry in the extremely crowded FPS genre that focuses on a solid single player story-driven experience rather than hanging its reputation on the usual multiplayer shenanigans many gamers come to expect. The shooting action using a combination of historical and tricked out futuristic guns is indeed thrilling during the massive battles you’re dropped into during the game. Granted, some hardcore FPS fans will pick the game apart for its flaws and fail to enjoy the experience for its good points. For the rest of us, following the compelling story as it plays out turns out to be the really surprising thing, even outstripping the action at some points.

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Dead Ring O’ Death Temprarily Killls DoD Review!

Posted on September 8, 2009 by geelw

Did you hear a really loud scream this morning around, say, 5:07 or so? Amusingly enough, my 360 rolled over and RRODied this morning, which meant I had to snag another (grrrr). Anyway, my Darkest of Days review is going up later this evening. Stay tuned.

*UPDATE* ding! Your review is now ready!

Darkest of Days Blasts Into Stores… Well, SOME Stores

Posted on September 8, 2009 by geelw

As you can see from my review, I liked this one, warts and all. Go give it a try once you go read why. For those of you who can’t find the game at a major game retail chain – Phantom EFX is selling it directly on their website, a few online non-game retailers (such as Amazon.com) as well as offline retailers carry it as well. If you’re curious about DoD and haven’t played the PC demo yet (there isn’t a 360 demo available yet) or have other reservations, there’s always Gamefly, or some other rental outlet, right?

Dealing Death Due to Double D’s of Doom and Destruction!

Posted on September 5, 2009 by geelw

In English: a reviews update: Darkest of Days showed up yesterday (it’s really good so far) and Demon’s Souls is on the way as well (I’ve pored over the manual and a few other pieces of cool stuff from Atlus and I know I’ll be VERY busy for a while with this one). Got a few DS, Wii and PS2 entries to add next week and in the coming weeks as well…

I’ll be back later with a few impressions… that is all!

Gallery: Darkest of Days (Updated)

Posted on September 1, 2009 by geelw

Phantom EFX’s upcoming time-bending PC and Xbox 360 single player FPS, Darkest of Days is one of those games I’m really looking forward to playing thanks to its focus on a compelling single player story-driven experience and massive, open field battles. I have the feeling that the weapons selection won’t disappoint either, as it looks as if there will be guns from the past and future available to blast plenty of enemies with. Below the jump are a dozen more great looking images from 8monkey Labs‘ Marmoset engine-powered game:

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Phantom EFX + PAX = Darkest of Days Free For All

Posted on August 26, 2009 by geelw

Phantom EFX is bringing its upcoming Xbox 360 and PC time-traveling FPS, Darkest of Days to this year’s Penny Arcade Expo (PAX), which is being held from September 4-6, 2009. The single-player story driven shooter, which is looking pretty darn cool, features the debut of 8monkey Labs’ Marmoset game engine, which can display massive battles with hundreds of active AI participants, destructible environments and in the PC version, full NVDIA PhysX support. Go try the PC demo out, if you don’t believe me – it’s pretty smokin’…

The company’s CEO, Aaron Schurman and some of the 8monkey Labs dev team will be there (Booth #878, by the way) with demo stations for both versions and plan to trick their booth out “like a giant bunker, complete with sand bags and a REAL, FULL SIZED CANNON.” Eek – Destroy All Fanboys, indeed. To add to that bit of visual punch, expect to see booth beefcake dressed up as soldiers from the game’s different time periods all available for some photo op action. There will also be plenty of giveaways such as Darkest of Days T-shirts, posters, mouse pads, NVIDIA graphics cards and even a chance to win full retail box copies of the game once it ships.

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Gallery: Darkest of Days

Posted on August 4, 2009 by geelw

It looks as if time traveling first-person shooters just may become the “new black” after all. With games such as Phantom EFX’s soon to be released Darkest of Days for the Xbox 360 and PC, we could finally see some great use of time travel as a viable FPS plot device. Developed by 8monkey Labs, this single player shooter has you playing a soldier named Alexander Morris who gets yanked away from Custer’s Last Stand by a “time agent” and sent on a sprawling time-travel adventure that involves some of the bloodiest battles throughout history. Morris’ goal is to stop a bunch of ne’er do wells from the future from rewriting history with a bit of extreme prejudice of his own while saving the lives of a few folks trapped in the wrong place at the wrong time. Continue reading →