October’s Dark Souls II Live Beta Will Test the Best (and Kill the Rest)…

Posted on August 21, 2013 by geelw

If you’re a big Dark Souls fan, you’d better pay very close attention to the game’s facebook page. Namco Bandai is going to be running an exclusive closed Beta for the PlayStation 3 version of the game over Sony’s PlayStation Network starting October 5, 2013 for players in North America and Europe. From the press release, it sure looks as if developer FromSoftware is going to be showing off an all-new area packed with death in every corner, but don’t take it from me – get a load of this snippet:

The depth of the DARK SOULS II Closed-Beta experience will truly test players’ skill, intestinal fortitude, and their sheer will to survive. The DARK SOULS II Closed-Beta will delve into one of the most treacherous areas of the DARK SOULS II world; players will not only get an opportunity to explore an entirely new area of the game, but also experience overwhelming enemy encounters, diabolical challenges, and the unrelenting difficultly that only the developers at FromSoftware can deliver.

Yeah, that sounds like a double-dog dare with a side of fries and cheese (the cheese coming from the game’s notoriously vicious and crafty enemy AI – trust me, it’s BRUTAL on the unprepared player!), so you know what to do if you accept that challenge (and you’ve survived being slapped upside the head with that metal gauntlet you just got served up fresh and hot). “Prepare to Suffer” needs to be the slogan for that Beta, I say…

Grand Theft Auto Online Gameplay Reveal: There’s A Game in The Game That’s A Completely Different Game…

Posted on August 15, 2013 by geelw

If there was any doubt that Rockstar had nothing new coming in terms of Grand Theft Auto V‘s online play, well… those doubts just got run over by a really huge armored car packed with money headed for Rockstar HQ. Grand Theft Auto Online comes with every copy of GTA V when the game launches on September 17, 2013 and will be a free to play persistent online game world for up to 16 players set to kick off on October 1, 2013. GTAO will feature new content created and uploaded regularly and is a completely separate experience from the main story mode.

Oh, there’s a lot more to babble about, but I’m busy and you need to go see and read it from the horse’s mouth. Just click on that big image above or the link in the post and see what’s coming your way soon. Me, among other things, I have finger exercises to do because I know I’m going to be fighting off hand cramps from gripping a PS3 pad for way too long once GTA V ships out…

Dark Souls II “Forging A Hero” Teaser: Keep That Anvil As A Backup Weapon, I Say…

Posted on August 14, 2013 by geelw

March 2014 may seem like a long time to wait for Dark Souls II, to pop up at your favorite physical or digital game emporium but it’s actually going to be here faster than you think and you absolutely don’t want to be rusty when you take your first steps into the new dungeons. Meaner, faster, stronger creatures of many varieties await and they’re not planning to let you simply waltz around as if you’re in a petting zoo. If you have a copy of the first game lying around, you may just want to set aside time to replay it just so your fingers and brain are on their toes. Or you can go in to DSII cold and come out a total wreck before you’ve made it through the first map. Your choice, but I say practice makes perfect. Or less prone to death…

Dark Souls II Hands On: Home Again For the Hardcore…

Posted on August 1, 2013 by geelw

As I noted earlier, if there was any doubt that From Software was making Dark Souls II “easier”, all one had to do was play the demo build that’s making the rounds (it was a huge hit at this year’s E3 as well as the more recent San Diego Comic-Con) to be shown the error of misreading that quote from one of the game’s directors a few months back. The game isn’t “easy” at all, but more accessible in terms of getting you into the action quicker, getting rid of backtracking yet upping the scale of the maps to an impressive degree. As to the demo, it’s brutal but beatable and although I didn’t make it to the gigantic knight boss, I did stick around for a bit to watch a few fellow editor types step up to the plate, swing and miss wildly, their chosen characters dying in a few not so pretty ways…

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E3 2013: Swery 65’s D4: Episodic Detective Xbox One Exclusive? Well, 2 out of 3 Isn’t Bad…

Posted on June 10, 2013 by geelw

Nope, I’m betting my entire WARP games collection this has no relation to Kenji Eno’s great, languidly paced horror game D or it’s more mature and outrageous follow-up D2, but it’s from one of my favorite game creators, so it’ll get played… provided it eventually comes to a console I can play it on, grrrr. This is the ONE and only thing I despise about this “exclusive” thing, especially in this coming cycle where a lot of games will indeed be VERY “exclusive” as in you can’t play at all unless you meet too many requirements. Bleh. Swery-saaaaaaaaaaaan! PLEASE get this on other systems as soon as possible. ALL your fans deserve to play it – not just a select few!

E3 2013: Tom Clancy’s The Division: Surprise, Surprise…

Posted on June 10, 2013 by geelw

OK, Ubisoft… you always pull this SURPRISE stuff at the right and wrong times, don’t you? No platforms yet, but I’ll say PC, PS4 and Xbox One, as this just looks way too wonderful for current gen AND I can’t see them wanting to beat Watch_Dogs for sheer killer app-ness in 2013. Well, color me impressed, folks… now as to what this is running on? I guess we’ll find out soon enough…

E3 2013: Star Wars Battlefront Teaser: EA Rolls the DICE And Comes Up With A Future Winner…

Posted on June 10, 2013 by geelw

This super early teaser means there’s nothing ready to show at all as far as gameplay goes. Still, I totally called this one on a game industry board a few months back to some skeptical replies even though it was SO obvious that the same developer that brings you the Battlefield series would absolutely love it if they were handed this license to work their magic on. Are you kidding me? Frostbite 3 engine, Star Wars license, chance to redeem the license AND bring gamers one really insane FPS action across multiple consoles? Nope, that’s not going to be passed up at all, folks. That said… there had better be a solo play mode like the other Star Wars Battlefront games made for less powerful consoles in the past or to paraphrase Uncle Owen “There’s going to be hell to pay!” Well, not from me, necessarily… I can see plenty of fans of those old games wanting to dive in and play Solo (ha ha)… OK, OK, I’ll quit it with the puns while I’m ahead.

Er… I am ahead, right? No? Rats…

E3 2013: New Dark Souls II Trailer: “Beyond Death”… You Still Get To Try Again…

Posted on June 10, 2013 by geelw

Lovely. From Software’s upcoming multi-platform game is looking very nice and yes, it’s going to be hard as hell in all the most fun ways. I think PREPARE TO DIE needs to be updated to EXPECT TO DIE, as that’s going to be the vibe hitting new players on the skull again and again until they realize this isn’t an easy hack & slash-fest.

GRID 2 Launch Trailer: “Hotter Than Georgia Asphalt…”

Posted on May 31, 2013 by geelw

Yeah, I was watching Wild at Heart again this week _ I don’t think Sailor and Peanut will mind me swiping that line. Anyway, GRID 2 Codemasters’ gorgeous and innovative racer is zooming into stores and yes, go grab a copy and see what the fuss is all about, I say. I’ll be reviewing this sometime next week or around the weekend when my review copy slides into my mailbox. Yeah, yeah, it’s not the upcoming 1200+ car overkill beauty pack that is Sony’s upcoming Gran Turismo 6, nor is it the “Everyman’s a winner because of our difficulty curve assuring you do indeed win a lot of races on the first or second go!” that the stunning-looking Forza games are. The team here if focusing on a ton of cool offline and online play that looks to shake up the racing game field and hopefully, many will dive in feet first and enjoy the ride. Back in a bit with more words dropped onto a digital page at random about this one…

Defiance 1:7 Preview” “Razor Rain?” Ouch. Break Out the Old Spice, I Guess…

Posted on May 29, 2013 by geelw

Thanks to being so busy, I missed an episode of Defiance (oops), however, it’s part of my Free on Demand lineup, so I can catch it on the weekend. Meanwhile, here’s two peeks at the next episode. Now, I’ve been in some awful hailstorms, thunderstorms and a few other nutty weather systems, but “Razor Rain” is a new one. Well, it’s a good thing this is a TV show or else I’d stay the hell home a lot more. “Just stick whatever bits you need to get shaved out the window, dear – that Razor Rain will be over sooner then you think!”