VGA 101: Anvil of Dawn Gets GOG’ed (FINALLY!)

Dreamforge’s classic 1995 first-person dungeon crawler was one of my favorite games back in the day and I still have my original CD and manual in the library. It’s been around as “abandonware” for a few years, but that and other versions were (and are) incomplete, missing the movies and/or fully voiced dialog, making for half the game it should have been. Well, the fine folks at GOG.com have gotten this one up and running (it turns out Ubisoft has the rights, which means we could HOPEFULLY see a remake down the road) and available for the low price of $5.99 (whee!), which makes me a happy camper indeed. Granted, I finally got my CD up and running last week, so I won’t be buying this right away. But it’s REALLY great to know it’s exactly where I need to find it, now whole again and able to be enjoyed by a new generation of gamers (who I surely HOPE will appreciate it for how important it was to the genre) who won’t compare it to games inspired by it (backwards!) or think it’s a new “retro” styled game (oh, the irony there!)…

Bundle Stars’ Dollar Deal Means Alien & Zombie Hunting Seasons Are Open…

bundlestars_logoI’ve been a fan of Sigma Team’s “mindless” shooters for a few years going back to the original Alien Shooter, so this latest Bundle Stars deal is not only a must-buy for me at this stupidly insane price, YOU should pick it up because you probably need some practice for the upcoming fake Zombie Apocalypse that too many people seem to think is coming. Really. As in freakin’ AMAZON HAS A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE STORE THAT YOU CAN ACTUALLY BUY SURVIVAL SUPPLIES FROM! Yeah, we’re that paranoid (and stupid) these days, but at least we’re well prepared, right? But I digress… One dollar (adjusted into UK currency, so it’s actually 65p there you”re paying), four full version games, loads of zombies and aliens to kill. All that and it’s only Monday? Count me in!

alien shooter revisited zombie shooter zombie shooter 2 alien hallway

Even better, Bundle Stars has also re-listed its super-selling Indie Jam deal (TEN titles for a paltry $6.40!) and Indie Jam #2 is still live for nine more days (NINE titles for an even more paltry $5.04!). Check your system requirements to make sure you can run these, Grab them all (and a free STEAM account if you don’t have one yet) and figure out later how the hell you’re going to find time to PLAY all the games you just bought for less than you paid for a day’s meals. You’ll be hitting up Google looking for time machine plans that actually work, I bet…

Indie Royale’s Mayhem Bundle: Spend A Little, Get A Lot of Bodies Dropping…

MAYHEM_bundleThis latest budget bundle from Indie Royale should give that crappy Monday you’re having a nice boot out the nearest window. Six great games are up for grabs and all look like a blast in one way or another. I’ve played Alien Shooter 2: Conscription a while back and it’s a great little shooter/RPG hybrid. The similar looking (but co-op/multiplayer focused) Primal Fears actually looks like one of the Hunter: The Reckoning games from a few years back and Burn Zombie Burn? Well, that title would make me buy it on general principal. Of the other games, Droplitz is a no-brainer for puzzle fanatics, Plain Sight looks pretty cool (despite your ninja/robot avatar needing to blow itself up for points all the time) and Lucius actually looks like someone took the original 1976 film The Omen and based the game around it (which means it’ll be nice and gory as you guide the little devil around and wipe out that mansion full of unfortunates).

Of course, the latter probably isn’t the game you want the babysitter to play at all, as it’ll give him or her nightmares and he or she’ll never drop by ever again. But, hey – what you do with your newly acquired cheap games is all up to you, right?

Resident Evil Revelations “Shock and Panic” Trailer (No, Not About The Wii U Features)…

Ah ha ha… I had to get that little joke in because I read some message board posts a week or so ago that were blasting the Wii U version for being “for kids” or something silly like that when clearly, the Wii U Gamepad features in that video below aren’t necessarily “for kids” at all because the main game certainly isn’t. I mean, if you shot or beat a zombie or other creature to death here and CANDY came out or maybe BUBBLES and RAINBOWS, maybe I’d be on your side. Or maybe not, as I generally don’t take sides in these debates at all – I just play the games and let you know that I like them and yes, you should spend your money accordingly.

That and hell, you just KNOW that there’s going to be a lot of otherwise “mature” gamers running around drawing naughty bits every chance they get and smirking like straight-jacketed hyenas when they see their handiwork show up on some website as part of some review or news item. Trolls like these breed when they need to feed, I say. Resident Evil Revelations hits PC, PS3, Wii U and Xbox 360 on May 21, 2013 – Some hands-on time is coming up next week, so expect some words from and to the wise about this one shortly…

Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara: The Elf – In A Class All By Herself…

Hey, now… before you get all finger-pointy and mention that elves are a race and not a class, you should probably take note that in Dungeons and Dragons, they were initially seen as a separate class along with halflings and dwarves. Of course, elves don’t exist in real life (despite people spending too much time believing they do), so there’s a moot point here somewhere I keep misplacing. Anyway, whee – I get to try this Iron Galaxy-developed HD reboot/remake out next week when Capcom rolls into NYC with it and a few other awesome upcoming games, so expect a nice hands-on report shortly afterward. Dungeon & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara hits PC, PSN, Xbox Live and Nintendo’s eShop on July 14 – back in a bit with more on this instant classic soon.

Resident Evil Revelations “Survive” Case File: Well, Duh!

Can you imagine a Resident Evil game where you HAD to keep getting killed by all sorts of enemies? Good, neither can I. Of course, if you’re really bad at the game and constantly freaked out by the horrors stumbling and shuffling about on that boat from hell, well… you can always go get someone to play the game for you while you camp out on the couch and jump when something scary pops up and starts chasing your surrogate around. Then again, no one likes a back seat driver when they’re playing a game you’re to scared to play, right?

Class of Heroes 2 Pre-Sales Now Live (Via Amazon ONLY, Unfortunately!)…

COH2_smallWhile it’s absolutely great to see Gaijinworks finally get this game out in a GREAT physical/digital pack for a measly $36.99 (with shipping!), the SOLE payment option (Amazon, via credit card ONLY, no Amazon credits, sorry!) means folks like me who don’t use credit cards are going to be holding out longer for the digital-only (boo!) PSN version to ship before we can actually buy this one.

Sure, I get that it’s much easier for the company to set up and deal with than multiple payment types (and those assorted fees they’d need to pay, plus PayPal’s stupid in general manner of doing business), but it also means they’re not going to see those pre-sales sell as fast as they should at the end of the day.  So yeah… so much for that convenient Paypal option for those of us stuck with money burning a hole in our accounts or anyone with Amazon credit looking to polish that off.

Griping aside, a poke around the forums reveals that the game seems to be pre-selling well enough that Vic Ireland isn’t sweating the loss of a few cranky jerks like me who want to throw him our money but can’t – yet. Still, I hope to hell that we see some way we can get the game without paying a shit-mint on eBay for. And of course, there are people already “selling” the game there when it hasn’t even been produced yet. Well, a fool and his money are sooner parted than later, right? Anyway, looks as if I’ll have to “settle” for a digital version when the game is released.

Resident Evil Revelations “Infect” Trailer: You Are What Eats You…

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRl5B3p_0Kw]

That hot breath on your neck isn’t that handsome hunk or hot babe who was eyeballing you at the bar the other week, that’s for sure. And hell, even if it is, he or she is all undead and stinky enough that even a box full of clothespins soaked in assorted essential oils would do nothing buy squeeze your poor nose and leave it sore and smelling nicer. Anyway, may I suggest high collars and sleeves made from chain mail and some handy lessons with a machete in case that thing chasing you gets up close and too personal. Better safe than sorry, that’s for sure. Resident Evil Revelations is coming to the PC, PS3, Wii U and Xbox 360 on May 21, 2013… prepare for a long trip at sea and plenty of creatures who don’t get seasick hot on your heels…

Lumber Island Gets A Scary Little Update…

Lumber Island 1.2

Dean Forge adds some user-requested features to his chilling little indie horror game’s first chapter, so… let’s get ready to run-ble! Yep, now your amnesiac party yacht castaway can run from that creepy-ass lumberjack, who by the way, gets an AI boost of his own. You’ll also find that teddy bear a lot more useful font of info and there are some other tweaks. Still, the game has its sense of scaring the poop out of you intact, so if that’s up your alley (and er, don’t take that personally), boogie on over to Desura, Game Jolt or ModDB, grab that update and scare yourself silly (again)…

Resident Evil Revelations Dev Diary 2: Infection & Repulsion (Not The Birds & The Bees Version)…

Well, I’m SURE Capcom’s Resident Evil team wasn’t thinking about YOUR weekend shenanigans when they were making this game for the Nintendo 3DS and remaking it for current-gen consoles and PC. Hmmmm, you do know that these games are a great deal better when enjoyed for what they are, right? No need to project everything onto your entertainment, now. Shh, there, there… it’s alright. You just need to go get scared half to death by playing a little game. May I suggest this one? How about Resident Evil Revelations, coming to PC, PS3, Wii U and Xbox 360 on May 21, 2013? You’ll get your fix in on a few fronts and have something to talk about around the water cooler at work that won’t make people think you’re a total creep. Well, unless they have a thing for zombies and other twisted creatures they’re not telling you about…