Enemy Front Story Trailer: Resistance Is (And Most Likely Will Be) Futile…

 
CI Games’ upcoming WWII shooter has drawn my interest thanks to its story taking place during a few key points and in a few key places during that conflict. I’m withholding my judgment on this one completely until I actually PLAY it,but color me impressed that it looks to be packing in a LOT of content. As long as it’s not a straight-up linear run to the checkpoint experience (and press materials suggest it’s not at all), I think it will find an audience that likes what they see and may ask for more down the road. We’ll see in a few weeks as Enemy Front hits retail and digital outlets for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on June 10, 2014.

Vinegar Syndrome Has Your Hump Day WELL Covered: Baby Rosemary + Hot Lunch (Kinda NSFW)!

 
Now, when I see the words “Vinegar”, “Baby Rosemary” and “Hot Lunch”, my brain automatically thinks of cooking up something like a nice chicken dish using the first two as ingredients. Some nice balsamic vinegar, a bit of olive oil and that baby rosemary would make an excellent marinade,maybe with a bit of English mustard for a surprise kick. I’m drooling already! Then I clicked PLAY on that video above and it wasn’t food I was thinking about (although my stomach was still growling something fierce). I think exploitation DVD mavens Vinegar Syndrome have other ideas for this Wednesday as you can see above. Yeah, there’s nothing like some well-aged 1970’s cheese in the form of a double feature that’s not for the kiddies at all. Actually, these drop on June 3rd, 2014, but you may as well take these teasers and run with them over to the VS site anc check out what else they have to offer…

The Evil Within Doesn’t Scare Me (Yet) Because I Haven’t PLAYED It (Yet)…

Asylum_Reborn_forSite“Booooooo!” (*squeal!*). Meh, I’ve always disliked these “reaction” videos for games and movies because even if they are one hundred percent real, what scares one person won’t affect another and as I get older, some things don’t scare me any longer that made me fly off a chair and up to the ceiling in the past. Or, to quote one Mr. Ray Parker Jr. “I ain’t afraid of no “ghost!”

Now, I’m NOT that jaded that some horror films, reads and games don’t get me wanting a blankie and a hanky every so often. However, some of the scares in entertainment are often derived from other and far more frightening works. That said, I do trust Shinji Mikami and Bethesda Softworks to the point that The Evil Within just may put me on the ceiling if it does what it does right and often. Expect to be scared out of your wits (or not?) when the game hits stores October 21st in North America, October 23rd, and throughout Europe on October 24, 2014.

Sniper Elite III Hands-On: Even More On Target Than Before…

Sniper Elite III_PS3I was on the subway headed down to see and play Sniper Elite III at a 505 Games media preview when I realized I’d forgotten my eyeglasses. Oops. You can’t be a good sniper at all if you can’t see a damn thing even with a scope, but amusingly enough, that absent-minded error on my part made the demo even more enjoyable.

Thanks to veteran developer Rebellion making the game much more flexible and thrilling than its predecessor, even a quarter blind bat like me was able to have a total blast making as many mistakes as I did. Okay, that’s not sounding like a ringing endorsement for the game, but it’s coming – keep reading. Even if I had brought my gaming spectacles along, my plan was to play the demo in as loose a manner as possible, making mistakes to see how the AI would react while seeing how expansive the level designs were this time out. In Sniper Elite V2, despite some alternate routes, most maps felt a wee bit too boxed in and linear and displacement wasn’t emphasized enough throughout the game (although the best players learned those levels and probably did some of their own shoot and scoot tactics… Continue reading

Sin City: A Dame To Kill For Poster Gallery: Rogues, Not Rubes Coming To A Theater Near You…

Sincity2_TITLE_RAYAha. I was waiting for the photo versions of Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller’s upcoming Sin City: A Dame To Kill For to start popping up on the internet and here you go. Well, below the first four promo posters, which are stylish and all, but don’t show how some of the returning characters look in the flesh:

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 Now, THESE five are more like it, I say:

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Of course, Mickey Rourke as Marv is mostly makeup, so he’s probably the lest changed from the original film. I’ll get slapped if I say Jessica Alba’s Nancy looks “older” even if I’m just being honest about it, but if she’s doing the slapping, I’ll stick out my chin and let her have at it. Ouch! Anyway, everyone else here is new to the Sin City saga and we’ll all see what’s what on August 22, right?

Sniper Elite III “Hunt The Grey Wolf” DLC: Der Fuhrer’s Days Are Numbered (Again!)…

 
Sooo… I played a bit of Rebellion’s upcoming Sniper Elite III today at a 505 Games press event, but I can’t say a peep for two days about how it was thanks to a little embargo I don’t intend to break. SUSPENSE! Anyway, as you can see, like Sniper Elite V2, there’s some Gamestop only Fuhrer-themed DLC to snag if you pre-order and I’m betting it does well, given the improvements to the game engine and gameplay the main game offers up. It’s certainly a VERY lousy time to be a pro-digital Nazi fanatic, what with that new Wolfenstein game out today, The Monuments Men popping up on home video, CI Studios’ Enemy Front and now this upcoming game allowing shooter fans to spend plenty of free time whistling bullets past a few graveyards. Anyway, more (or actual) news on my hands-on with Sniper Elite III in two more days. Stay tuned…

Wolfenstein: The New Order Livestream: Machine Plays With Itself For Your Enjoyment…

Well, then. Here’s a look at the game in action before the big launch tomorrow. If it’s as solid as the other previews I’ve seen around the internet over the past few weeks, I predict a hit for developer Machine Games and publisher Bethesda Softworks, provided the multiplayer zombies realizes this isn’t THAT sort of game at all. Oh, by the way parental units wondering about the content here? Heck NOPE, in no way, shape or form is this game for kids! Personally, I like Machine’s updated take on the character of B.J. Blazkowicz, the pull no punches coarse language and all that icky blood and gore – whee! Okay, getting (slightly) serious for a hot second, that this one’s single player makes me happy as well, because multiplayer shooters are a dime a dozen these days (but usually cost AAA prices) and this is a game where you can tell the the development team spent lots of time designing the game around the story they’ve created.

Yeah, yeah, you want to run around and shoot each other in the face for endless hours in the same old map types and game variants. Well, go buy this game tomorrow on PC and sign up for the DOOM beta and get NEW map types and maybe some other surprises tossed your way. This one’s for those of us who like a good story and game wrapped together and I can’t wait to see how it’s turned out.

Enemy Front Gallery: “So, What Did YOU Do During The War? (Part Two)

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I’ve been trying to figure out how to pin down CI Games’ upcoming story-driven first-person shooter Enemy Front without getting too worried about how the game will be received when it lands in stores on June 10, 2014. While it looks on the surface to be one more entry in the recent comeback of the WWII shooter, the rather nice looking CRYENGINE powered game uses the Warsaw Uprising as one of the destructible locations playable character American war correspondent Robert Hawkins ends up in and that’s probably guaranteed to get some historians and other people a bit ticked off for a few reasons.

 
Granted, the game isn’t supposed to be “realistic” or an accurate simulation at all and yes, it’ll be far too easy for some to pick it apart for any elements they see as inaccurate. But CI seems to want to bridge the game between the old Medal of Honor and Call of Duty games, while referencing Sniper Elite and its own Sniper games. There’s freedom to tackle missions in what’s being called “a richly interactive combat sandbox gameplay experience”, meaning the game should be nowhere as linear as the yearly Call of Duty action-packed guided tour thrill ride, which is a good thing for those players looking for a bit more variety and replay value… Continue reading

Sniper Elite III 101: “So, What Did YOU Do During The War?” (Part One)

 
With PR folk from 505 Games and a few of the dev team from Rebellion rolling into NYC this week, I’ll finally get some hands-on time with Sniper Elite III on Tuesday morning and report about it here. The team has clearly listened to feedback about Sniper Elite V2 and it looks as if this third chapter addresses all the issues and makes for a more expansive and free form game experience. Sure, the extreme violence isn’t for everyone (and yep, that video is pretty graphic), but I’m not playing this one to see Nazi brains and other bits get shattered and splashed about the large levels. I’m a game design guy first who loves seeing what different developers come up with and Rebellion has been around long enough to keep surprising me. Anyway, expect an update a few days from now on my experience with this one. Sniper Elite III hits retail and download on July 1st in the US on Xbox One, PS4, PS3 and Xbox 360 and of course, the PC version will be a Steam release.

Humble Daily Sales? For TWO WEEKS? There Goes Someone’s Summer. And Fall. And Winter…

First up, The incredible DEEP SILVER Re-Bundle!:

 
Wow. I missed this big sale last time on a fantastic bundle of Deep Silver games and as I just walked in the door about twenty minutes ago and see it’s on again, I’m kicking myself hard because I’m too busy to play this lot even if I did jump on it and buy it up. But still, WOW. Pay a buck or so for four massive games, bump that up to $6.16 and add FIVE more games (that’s nine), but go for not broke and get TEN games for nine dollars flat? THAT’S the way to go here, considering the games in question and how much content you’re getting. All the Saint’s Row games are outrageous, stupid fun, Dead Island and Dead Island Riptide will appeal to your undead killing,get me the hell off this “vacation paradise” gone to hell in a hand basket side, Risen 2: Dark Waters sets you out as a pirate type in a big fantasy world, Sacred 2 Gold is an even larger and more fantasy world with some incredible replay value (and even more incredible difficulty if you try to run around like you’re the boss of everything), Sacred Citadel is a goofy throwback to arcade brawling/hack ‘n slash games of the past and finally, Metro 2033 is a bleak, unsettling, freakish and deadly trip to a future Russia where radiation, mutants and not enough survival supplies test your skills.

All that and yes, some of what you pay goes to the Child’s Play and American Red cross charities. So yep, you NEED this bundle even though I won’t be buying it. THIS time (again). Now, I’m wanting to see the next 13 days of sales as I eyeball my hard drives and probably dump a few older games for some nice new-ish ones. Just like you, too. Anyway, I’ll be back every day of this sale with an update (and hopefully earlier, at that!)…