Hmmm… I never got around to playing The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing when it was initially released on Steam, but it looks like me not getting that review code I asked for was a good thing. A fre friends I recommended this one based on the screens and movies dug it quite a bit, so my job was done on that front. I guess I need to go crack open the piggy bank now as NeoCore Games has been toiling away on making their baby an even more complete action/RPG experience. Got that Steam account warming up in the background? Good – let’s see what’s in the digital box now, shall we? Lift up that coffin lid, please and peek below the jump… Continue reading →
Little in-joke there, but yeah! Spirit Young is BACK with the sequel to his ridiculously amusing RPG parody/satire/whatever he wants to call it that got improved with an update he did later, Epic Elf, a RPG Maker 2003 game that I liked because it made me laugh a wee bit too much. I’ve only put about a half hour into EE2, but it gets the grins going early (specifically if you’re a fan of old school JRPGs) and it looks as if they’ll keep coming for as long as the game is. Oh yeah, the PlayStation 4 came out today. I don’t have one (yet), but it’ll get here eventually. Heck, if SCEA puts in a RPGMaker.net channel on PSN, I’ll get one sooner than later. Anyway, check this game out if you recall the days of 8 and 16-bit RPGs eating up your weekends and free time like a termite nest taking out a cheap Ikea table.
Of course, I knew the team at Bugbear was going to be going all out with this new demolition racer and for pre-alpha footage, this is really impressive. Yes, that car is purposely indestructible and YES, it’s that way to show off the game’s physics and all those lovely bits flying around when stuff is struck. Anyway, the game’s Kickstarter has 16 days to go and still needs a lot of pledges to make that $350,000 target, so if you’ve got a few spare bucks you need to unload and want to support a fine developer who loves making crazy racing experiences, give a little and get a lot back, I say. Hell, I want this to succeed only so the team can maybe make another Glimmerati game for a few platforms…
So, the fine folks at Bugbear Entertainment are running a Kickstarter campaign for its tentatively titled Next Car Game and like some other creators out there, has reached into its vaults and unearthed an ancient prototype of some interest to people like me who LOVE to see works in progress no matter how ancient and half-playable. Some of you will recognize this build as what eventually ended up as the fun demolition derby racer FlatOut, still one of the more thrilling physics experiments to dive back into if you still have a copy in your own game library.
Granted, this download will ONLY confuse people who think it’s what or close to what the new game will look like while people like me who absolutely groove on early builds from any era will be getting all giddy and grinny as we play through the bits that can be played with a nostalgic glow around our heads. But it’s all good in the end, as Bugbear is just sharing their love of making racing games that’s been a core part of their history since they got started. Here’s some early fun with car damage testing from the new game:
I guess it’s good I’m walking distance from home, as I’m not getting into a car after watching that! Anyway, go check out that free old demo build above and absolutely toss them a few dollars if you want to see what and how that much newer game they’re working on will get you glued to a monitor (and hopefully one day, new console!)…
Frankly speaking, I completely despise the term “Metroidvania”, as it smacks of laziness on the part of people who’ve adopted it to mean ANY side-scrolling platformer with gameplay and/or visuals that are common and familiar to those who might not even like either of those two storied franchises. Granted, it also confuses those who’ve NEVER played either game, as I once heard some kid in a GameStop seriously ask a clerk for a copy of Metroidvania (eek!). But I digress (as usual). Indie developer Endless Fluff has a rather fun-looking game out now for PC called Valdis Story Abyssal City and yes indeed, if you’re a fan of those old 8 and 16-bit classics (yes, such as Castlevania and Metroid) and happen to remember a seemingly now forgotten series called Valis, with a dash of Ys and a few other old games from back in the day, you’ve stopped reading this post already and are on the game’s gog.com page and buying it. And good for you, this is, as the game is on sale for $11.99 ($3 off its original price).
And hey! What do you mean “That’s TOO much!” you big cheapskate? Back in my day, we had to pay fifty bucks or more for a game like this and WALK to the damn game store UPHILL. BOTH WAYS. Darn kids and your “Why can’t everything be free or a dollar, but free first!” mentality. Good hard work deserves to be PAID for, I say. You’ll figure this out once you get to work on something awesome (or not so awesome) and no one wants to pay you for doing anything other than giving you a pat on the head or a hearty hand clasp (and not both because you work for a cheap-ass who thinks “intern” means “SUCKER” in big neon letters). If you don’t support indie games, you’ll be playing and paying through the nose on your phone and not any wiser about that wallet draining scheme…
*Sigh* Whenever a new Spiderweb Software RPG arrives on the scene, I have to flip a coin and decide whether or not to buy it on the spot or finish the last few games I’ve fired up first. I’m definitely not complaining about anything IN the games, mind you. They just take a huge amount of time to play and complete thanks to so much choice in how you get through them. Sure, you graphics ho’s are winching at the visuals and lack of bumpy-shiny Havok or other 3D engine flash not happening here, but I say knock it off and show some respect for a game that manages to be a compelling experience for MORE than its visuals. That and hand-drawn/painted tile art and characters like this just have a certain nostalgic charm to them that makes each new game a visual treat in its own right. Anyway, feel free to try out that big and FREE demo of Avadon 2: The Corruption, carve out some time on your calendar with a big sharp knife and get to buying it if you like what you’ve played. I’ll be doing that as well at some point – I think I’ll need to clean up my own hard drive before I download anything, as I’m running out of room fast…
Well, well… I’d heard a PC version of Renegade Kid’s Nintendo DS game was in the works for some time, but I’d forgotten all about it until I saw news of the game on another site. Here’s the trailer for Dementium II HD, set for a Steam launch on December 17. If you haven’t run off to change your underwear yet, you’ll want to know that DII is a very creepy first-person horror game that combines exploration, adventure and combat elements in a single player experience bound to creep you out of whatever chair you’re sitting in and under it for a spell. Nope, it’s not using ANY of the original Nintendo DS assets, silly – that would be scarier than the game seeing that sort of stuff happen.
If you’ve played the original you can clearly see that developer Memetic Games has taken Renegade Kid’s original game and redone it from the ground up, adding some Steam-specific content in the process. It would be lovely to see this creepy gen get MORE press, as the DS game got a tiny print run and seems to be tough to come by these days. Nevertheless, I’m betting once genre fans find out this exists (or will exist in less than two months), they’ll be beating a path to their computers to grab a copy. Actually doing so NOW will net you a nice discount of 35% off the already cheap $14.99 list price. That’s a measly $9.74 if you’re lousy at math (or can’t find that Calculator on your computer). OK, my good deed is done for the evening ladies and germs… good night and have the rest of a super Saturday.
Telltale Games is going to drive me nuts one day, but that’s probably a good thing. How the heck do they keep knocking it out of the park with these adventure games (a genre some not in the know say is “dead” or “dying”)? Eh, maybe I don’t need to know what voodoo they do out thataway, as the end result is always enjoyable and in the case of The Walking Dead series, scary as hell and completely engrossing. Developer extreme Skybound is going all out to make sure fans of the first game are just as (or even more) thrilled with this follow up and as this teaser trailer shows, a familiar face is back and set for some pretty intense times ahead…
Even better, PC gamers who pre-order the digital download of Season Two NOW get 10% off ($22.49 instead of 24.99) and get a collectors DVD at the end of the season just for the cost of shipping and handling. Very cool, I say. Current-gen console and Mac owners won’t be left out it seems, as the game seems to be headed to PS3, Xbox 360 and Mac as well. Guaranteed hit on anything it lands on, I bet. Commence the waiting period! Back with an update when it hits…
EDIT!Oops. There’s also a gameplay video up that I missed in my hurry to post this news, so it’s now below.
More precisely, I finally got back around to checking up on the boys at Max Team and they’ve posted that video slideshow you’re watching above with one eye as you read this text with the other. How DO you do that, I have to ask? It would sure make my job easier if you could teach me! Anyway, As you can see in that slideshow, the game is coming along really nicely and according to a post on the dev blog, the game is pretty much done save for the long and arduous process of debugging the game so it plays as great as it looks with no pesky issues slipping into the finished code.
The dynamic duo of Massimo and Fernando plan to pump up things in a big way once the game is ready for release and I’m betting fans of Sega’s classic Monster World games (I know a few of them including myself) will be all over this in a heartbeat once that download is posted. I still can’t believe they’re doing this in RPG Maker 2003, but such are the wonders of doing all your artwork by hand and not using only the assets in the program, folks!
Well, I was in quite an emo mood earlier, as things were quite bumpy on the whole me getting stuff I needed to get done DONE department. So thank goodness for Retro 64’s just released Vampire Volleyball for helping me kill some time with a smile rather than kill my laptop for freaking out for the better part of the day. It’s pretty simple to hop into and good silly fun for a while, those round-headed vamps and their fight to be champs against some foes who don’t all play clean. The nice thing is, the game is out for FREE on four of the six platforms it’s playable on (Windows, Mac, Linux, and Flash) while Android and iOS versions will set you back a mere 99 cents US. At that price (or FREE if you’re luckier to be a “low-tech” kinda guy or gal), it’s a definite must and you may find yourself calling on a friend to give you a fang, as the game supports two players.
Of course, SOME of you too strict sporty-sport fans will note that these globe-domed bloodsuckers and other creeps knock that ball around with their HEADS like it’s a soccer ball (or football in countries other than the US), but who’s going to stop a vampire from doing what it wants? YOU, Van Helsing? Well good luck with that, then. I’ll see you (or at least your head) in the game as the ball being butted over that net for the score, Spike…
Hmmm… I never got around to playing The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing when it was initially released on Steam, but it looks like me not getting that review code I asked for was a good thing. A fre friends I recommended this one based on the screens and movies dug it quite a bit, so my job was done on that front. I guess I need to go crack open the piggy bank now as NeoCore Games has been toiling away on making their baby an even more complete action/RPG experience. Got that Steam account warming up in the background? Good – let’s see what’s in the digital box now, shall we? Lift up that coffin lid, please and peek below the jump… Continue reading 
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 