Kabam Comes Out Swinging Hard With a Strong Mobile Lineup…

Posted on October 18, 2014 by geelw

POW! Okay, I’ve kind of avoided most mobile games over the years for a few reasons that paradoxically enough, I still play console titles for. But I’ve been coming around to the 21st century just in time for mobile gaming to be more or less where I’d like it. An invite to see Kambam’s lineup of mobile titles just so happened to zing into my inbox, so it was off to see what they had to offer and if I’d be hooked in by anything that caught my eye. It turns out everything I saw caught my eye (yes, and the other eye, too) and I found myself trying to figure out just when I’d find time to play what I got my hands on that afternoon and into the evening…
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Wait, There’s a Legend of Grimrock II? I Still Haven’t Completed the FIRST One!

Posted on October 15, 2014 by geelw

Gyaaaah. My backlog is a pain in the behind, people. Staring, glaring and leering at me from two hard drives and some USB sticks, knowing full well by the time I finally get to it I’ll be older and grayer and slower and more games will have crept in to fill what little void there is left in that hole they spawn from. Or something like that. Anyway… Hey, Almost Human Games? It’s probably a very good thing whomever is doing your PR hasn’t bugged me about playing this game at all because I’d probably faint dead away knowing there was an amazing looking sequel out NOW and I’m still only about three hours into the first game. Yeah, I suck. Okay, not really – the helper monkey I ordered ran off with a squirrel and I still haven’t recovered all the work it was “organizing” for me, grrrrr!

Actually, I had so many games to play and other things to do that by the time I finally go around to buying and installing the game last year, it didn’t get played as much as I wanted to. Ah, the need for more time to do this is a powerful one. Maybe if I got off the internet and ignored trivial stuff, I’d have more time for these excellent indie dungeon crawlers. Heck, as it is, I’m about a dozen games behind in reviews (which is about to change shortly). Anyway, the game is now live on Steam gog.com and The Humble Store with a limited time 10% discount. Interested? Well, you can check to see if it will run on your own computer using this compatibility test installer and if it does? Well, you probably need a nice adventure/puzzle/dungeon crawler to eat away at your more free time than I have currently. GET IT.

F1 2014 Launch Trailer: A Jump Start to Next Week’s Big Retail Race Day…

Posted on October 14, 2014 by geelw

Next week, Codemasters wants to take over your living vroom (heh) for a bit with F1 2014 and its customizable difficulty that will give novices and core fans of the sport more than enough challenge to get them through the season and more the game offers up. PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 owners will be getting what looks like the best game in the series to date for their respective platforms and Codemasters Racing studio is working on a 2015 game for you F1 fans who’ve upgraded and didn’t hold onto those well-aged systems. Sometimes, it’s good to be a holdout when there are still quality titles coming down the road for those systems that still have massive installed bases. Anyway, F1 2014 rolls out October 21, 2014 in North America for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel Launch Trailer: Some Humor in Your Boom-Boom-Boomer…

Posted on October 13, 2014 by geelw

Tomorrow is the big day for fans of this non-stop and often hilariously violent first-person shooter/loot-fest franchise, so here you go. I’m actually glad that Gearbox decided to give the old consoles where the series still has its largest user base this new game instead of forcing it onto the PS4 and Xbox One where it wouldn’t sell as well. Yes, they COULD have done it for all four systems, but I think they want to make that next Borderlands LOOK more like it belongs on those more powerful systems than just whip out a slicked-up enhanced version. Good for them, I say. Anyway, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel launches October 14, 2014 in North America and October 17, 2014 everywhere else.

How To Survive: Storm Warning Hands-on: Oh, You’ll Die Anyway (And Love Every Minute of It)…

Posted on October 11, 2014 by geelw

Okay, so I’d not played EKO Software’s How to Survive at all on the PS3 because it was a digital-only title, I was fed up with zombie games and figured missing one wouldn’t be a total loss. Boy, was I wrong on that front. When 505 Games invited me to see and play the enhanced PS4 version, How To Survive: Storm Warning Edition (along with some really stupendous mobile titles I’ll need to write about soon), I popped up with no expectations (a good way to approach any new game, folks) but came away very impressed with the brutally challenging game with the most fitting name. If you’ve played this on other platforms and love it, you know the drill and this one’s been keeping you busy for a while. If you’re new to the game and happen to have a PS4, you’ll be pleased to know this version will bring you the original release and DLC in the same download… Continue reading →

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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F1 2014 Hockenheim Trailer: Today’s A Hot Lap For Me As Well…

Posted on October 8, 2014 by geelw

Wow, I’ve been SO busy lately that I’d almost forgotten Codemasters’ gorgeous-looking F1 2014 is coming out next week! As in October 17, 2014 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. Codemasters Birmingham is cooking up a spectacular and more user-friendly installment this time out that should please F1 novices and more dedicated fans of this sport that takes real life drivers many years to master. I haven’t seen the Hockenheim track in a F1 racing game in a while, so this brings back memories of Video System’s two F1 World Grand Prix games from back in the day.

Okay, I won’t be zooming around as fast, but I have three press events today (EA, 505 Games and Kabam), maybe an event to hit later in the evening if I feel up to it, some text to check and correct for a few friends and if I can get the time in, perhaps a few posts for the site. I had a very amusing “sleep” that consisted of me popping up every few minutes for a while to close a window here or make sure a door wasn’t blowing shut, as Alien Isolation definitely seeped into my brain and every little noise was making me jumpy! That hasn’t happened in a while, so I’ll have to give The Creative Assembly some props for getting their game to do what it needed to do and all too well.

Okay, let me get set to jet out the door and get to all this stuff that needs getting to – back in a bit…

NowPlaying: Alien Isolation (Or: Let’s See How Long I Can Last)…

Posted on October 7, 2014 by geelw

So, yeah – here we go. let’s see now: phone off the hook? Check. Clean underwear at the ready? Check. Ear out for UPS/Fed Ex in case I get some surprise packages from a PR contact (and/or my SUPER late Think Geek order that’s almost a month old, grrrr?): Check! I think I should eat something too, but I’ll pop into the kitchen while the game is installing and make something quick. Did someone say cheese pierogi with sauteed onions? I think that’s what my stomach was screaming, so that will get taken care of (thank you, stomach!). I think I have some (*ding!*) Gold’s Horseradish left. Hmmm… let me check… (*ding!*) Yep, with beets, at that. Okay, I’m set for the day.

Oh, that flower? It’s there because it’ll probably be the nicest thing I see all day. Back in a bit – maybe later this afternoon or evening with some sort of “I’m too %#$^@! scared to move” update. Maybe.

Alien Isolation Launch Trailer: At Home, Everyone Will Hear You Scream…

Posted on October 6, 2014 by geelw

It’s almost here and yours truly will be popping up at a certain retailer bright and early to snap up my copy and trot back home so I can dive in feet first and come up for air with knuckles and hair all white from fear. Yay, fear! Hmmmm. I should e dreading this experience a bit more because I’ve not been really freaked out by any horror game in a while.

On the other hand, I’m knowing I’m going to enjoying seeing what The Creative Assembly has cooked up for people like me who’ve been following this from the shadows who want to go in cold and not have spoilers hitting us on the head because we hung out on the right message boards and want our “fun” spoiled. Of course, I’m less expecting this to be “fun” and more expecting it to be “Holy $#!+, I can’t take another step because I’m TOO damn scared, but that damn Alien is somewhere in the room, Gyaaaaaah!”…

Or something like that. (sings) The sun will come out, tomorrow… Hmmmm. I wonder if they sell cork panels at the K-Mart across from the game shop? I may need a bunch to line the living room with so my neighbors don’t keep calling the cops on me. “GYAAAAAAAAHHHHH!”

Monday Means Mo’ Bundles, No Problems!

Posted on October 6, 2014 by geelw

Well, actually you’ll have SOME problems as far as finding the time to play the games in these bundles, but hey – don’t shoot the messenger, folks. He needs to be alive to play the games in his backlog! Anyway, here’s what’s what from the usual three suspects and more:

IndieGala Every Monday Bundle: Six games, $1.89, 24 hours before the price increases, so get this one FAST. I like Sanctuary in this set of games the best, but your mileage may vary: