The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II: If You’re Hungary For More, Come Get Some!

VanHelsingII_BoxArtOkay, I’m late to the mad monster party thanks to such a massive games backlog that I won’t be seeing some of the bigger titles I downloaded last year until late this year (or next year!), which is pretty sad. But I understand quite a lot of people have this problem thanks to too many bundle sales and low prices on single games that are way too hard to pass up.

Anyway, I bumped up the demo to The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing a few weeks back to “PLAY IT!” status when I was cleaning up my Steam library and realized I’d downloaded but not played it. It hooked me in right away and made me wish it was on more platforms because as great as Steam is, not everyone who’d love this fun and funny action/RPG is playing it.

Of course, me being late to the party means Hungary-based Neocore Games has been a hard at work on a sequel that’s going to be even bigger than the original and they want you to climb aboard the even more comedy-laced monster killing train early:

What was that? You say things were moving too quickly and you want screenshots? Um, okay – here you go:

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Feel better now? Good. But wait, there’s MORE… Continue reading

One Late Night: Deadline First Look: Your Pre-Monday Warmup Is Ready. Sleep Well, People…

 
Eep. The fine folks at Black Curtain Studio want to scare me more than half to death with one of their games, (again), but THIS time I’m taking you all along for the ride through this first look at gameplay from their upcoming horror game One Late Night: Deadline. If you’re a five day cubicle slave (or have been one in the past or intend to be one in the not too distant future), this little video should rattle a few of your body parts quite well before that eight minutes and six seconds is up. I’ll shut up now and let your four-walled cage get rattled some more.

 
You’re welcome, by the way…

Gallery Update: Cloudbuilt’s Looking More And More Like A Winner…

Well, well, well… New Cloudbuilt screens have arrived! Check them out:

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Just look at them. Lovely, aren’t they? If Coilworks’ awesome free-run/shooter/platformer Cloudbuilt doesn’t win some awards this year, I’m hanging up my controllers and packing it in for good as a gamer. This is a game I so WANT to succeed if only for the fantastic art direction and fact that it’s just too much fun for PC gamers to have all to themselves. Think of Mirror’s Edge, Gunvalkyrie, and a bunch of classic 8 and 16-bit action games all wrapped up in a neat little (and HIGHLY challenging) package. Then again, the game is ALL about pinpoint control and making the best of mistakes as there’s a way out of almost any bad jump, boost or wall dash provided you have keen reflexes and don’t panic. Continue reading

LUFTRAUSERS: Old School Looks Meets Bullet Hell. Everybody Wins…

 
Well, well, well. I’d not heard of this snappy little arcade indie game until earlier today, but as soon as I saw that teaser above, I had a nice flashback to the days of dropping too many quarters into a bunch of cabinets in a few too many places week after week. From watching this craziness once, I got a nice blend of Toaplan’s ancient classic Fire Mustang, a few Cave shooters galore, bits of Asteroids, Galaga and so forth and so on now rolling around in my head. I think I need to review this now. PlayStation 3, PS Vita, PC, Mac, and Linux users will all be grinning like maniacal monkeys with twitchy hands soon, as the game has a March 18 release date. Vlambeer’s got another sneaky little hit on their hands here and I’d expect it will hit all the right notes with shump fans looking for a highly customizable and crazy, challenging ride… Continue reading

SOMA Update: Theta of the Absurd, Getting Creepier By The Second…

 
Okay, my pun-like reflexes are a bit sad and lonely today, but that’s what happens when you just finish hanging a bunch of laundry and haven’t had that second cup of joe yet. Anyway, Frictional Games’ upcoming PS4 and PC exclusive, SOMA is looking quite nice in this latest clip and while the game won’t be done for a while, it’s looking like one to watch as it progresses. I still want Frictional to give the world a FIEND update, as that scary little top-down horror gem deserves a nice modern update at some point. Although, not that I think about it… I’m not sure if I’d prefer a first-person viewpoint, as you could see all those damned deadly holes you could avoid falling to your death into with the bird’s eye view. Eh, we’ll see what happens in the future when we arrive. SOMA’s the game to concentrate on for the moment…

Lumber Island Chapter Two: Two Bucks Gets You Scared Half To Death? That’s A Buy!

 
Dean Forge’s unsettling little Unity game, Lumber Island just got an update with a new chapter that worth picking up if you like scary game experiences that have you off kilter from the start. In the first chapter, your character wakes up on a rowboat that’s headed for a dark and not so deserted island and has to deal with a frightening… thing out in the night that seems to want him very dead. The fact that you had no clue as to why you woke up in that boat in the first place coupled with the darkness and disorientation that comes from arriving in a new place in such an abrupt manner made the game a sleeper for me, and this sequel looks even more chilling.

That and those eerie notes that you find that spell out bits of the back story make this a fine little read as well as a game best played in the dark (headphones on at your peril, as you’ll probably keel over dead if someone walks into the room behind you and taps you on the shoulder). At only $1.99 (but you know you NEED the first chapter for an extra $1.99, right?), this one will keep your spine shaking so much for about four to six hours that you won’t even be able to move around using that mouse and keyboard. Yeah, you KNOW you want it… so go get it already!

IndieGala Stress Test Bundle: Six Bucks (or Under) For Seven Games? Sure, Why Not?

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We interrupt me about to keel over at Toy Fair from exhaustion for a special message: IndieGala has gone rogue, REPEAT: IndieGala has gone ROGUE! Actually, they’re conducting a little experiment in the form of a stress test that’s a bundle sale on seven games, six from Sigma Team and one from Ice Pick Lodge:

– Pathologic
– Alien Hallway
– Alien Shooter
– Alien Shooter 2: Conscription
– Alien Shooter 2: Reloaded
– Zombie Shooter
– Zombie Shooter 2

Yes, it’s a pay what you want deal, but the recommended amount is a measly six bucks (ten times less that what this bundle is work if it were purchased separately. Sigma Team’s simple, bloody shooters are fun run & gun Action/RPG-like hybrids that allow for what looks like hundreds of enemies on screen (of the space bug and undead varieties) and Ice Pick Lodge’s Pathologic is a bizarre adventure/RPG with three playable characters, a very unusual plot and some pretty creative character designs. Not a bad deal, the money goes to charity and you get o feel good about yourself after you spend that money. OK, back to my crazy day… I’m wiped out!

Cloudbuilt: Eternal Run Shines (of the Spotless Kind)…

 
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I haven’t even played Coilworks’ incredible looking Cloudbuilt yet, but between that very descriptive game trailer above and the lovely screens below, I’m getting a serious Gunvalkyrie meets Mirror’s Edge meets Mega Man vibe – and that’s a damn good thing.

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Man, I wish this game was on consoles on a disc so MORE people could play it. The sense of speed and what looks like solid controls only add to the fun, and given the levels seem to be open to each player’s skills, I’m expecting this to be one of those games that’s not played and put away (or deleted) any time soon (unless you’re a total loser who despises a decent challenge). Now I just need to find time to actually play that demo I’m being teased with, as Toy Fair is going to take up a huge chunk of my time for the next four days and afterward as I write up a few articles. Eh, it’ll all work out soon enough. It always does. Back in a bit.

Larian Studios Makes Marriages Merry With A Bit Of Divinity: Original Sin

 
Well, this is a pretty neat Valentine’s Day post for you warm-hearted Kleenex-carrying freaks out there who get all weepy at the drop of a hat. I’ve heard of like-minded gamers proposing in all sorts of online only games and I think I even recall proposals given by game developers for fans of certain titles. However, I believe this is one of the first proposals I’ve seen made by one person for another using a game editor. I still haven’t gotten around to buying or playing Divinity: Original Sin yet (hey, my backlog is killing me!) Okay, I’ll admit it… I’m a kind of (shh!) hopeless romantic at heart (shhhh!), so this stuff makes me grin inside (I can’t let the world see me smile much – it hurts my curmudgeonly image a bit).

Okay, I’m not THAT cranky and this is pretty sweet. LESSON: video games aren’t all about running around and killing each other dead and some are even wonderful at allowing players the freedom to pull off super cool stuff like this. Well, congratulations and best of luck to the happy couple and everyone else who’s going to be hitched because of their love for Larian Studios and their excellent game!

Jazzpunk Trailer: Jack Into The Ultimate Crazy Trip From Adult Swim & Necrophone Games

 
Lovely. Jazzpunk is right up my alley, folks. It’ll run on my old PC or laptop, it’s bizarre as hell and manages to cover that 90’s cyber-fantasy stuff much better than most games made IN the 90’s did. Yes, I played plenty of them back in the day from excellent to absolutely putrid and I still have some pretty awful flashbacks about Virtuoso and Cyberdillo on the 3DO and don’t even get me started on those Lawnmower Man games (yes, there were a few of them). Anyway, this one’s on sale for a few more hours on Steam (you save three bucks for another 20 hours), so go check it out if you’re curios after seeing that video above. These posts are coming in short bursts today because of the crappy weather outside and the fact that the library is closing early today thanks to that crappy weather (boo).