Call of Juarez Gunslinger Reveal Trailer: Techland’s Bounty on the Mutinous

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Veteran developer Techland’s games have always been visually incredible, so it’s zero surprise at all that this latest entry in the Call of Juarez franchise is gorgeous to look at and the violence is even more balletic in its post-ballistics delivery. What’s a tiny bit surprising to me is the focus on bounty hunting some of the Old West’s well known desperadoes. I’m not going to argue historical accuracy here at all (that’s for the crankier folks out there who apply arbitrary rules of reality to games at the most inopportune times. Still, this looks like it’ll do quite well among the amateur historians and fans of the series who wanted to see it go back to the wild western days and stay the heck out of the present. You’ll be able to saddle of for a quick ride at this year’s PAX in Boston or hang out at your O.K. Corral until the game ships out later this year.

Drunk of the Dead: Zombeer Now Set to Creep Onto PS3 (& YOU Can Be In It… Sort Of)

 

Annnnd, Speaking of nights gone to hell, folks…

zombeerOK, for a while I thought this in development PC and Mac game was a very well-done Internet joke, but it seems to exist and is now also headed to the PS3 soon. Zombeer: Zombies & Beer, a “first-person-survival-horror-comedy-shooter made BY fans of the zombie genre FOR fans of the zombie genre”, according to the press release. Spain’s Moonbite Studios is cranking away on this and it does look pretty wild in a retro sort of way. The developer is also doing something special for Steam Greenlight supporters in creating a hidden Easter Egg scenario (one of many planned for the game) and putting all those names into the game’s extended credit sequence, which they say will be “the looooooooooongest and BIGGEST end titles of history of videogames”. Eeek. I can think of a few games that had insanely long credits (Super Burnout on the Atari Jaguar springs to mind, as do a few RPGs with massive staffing across many studios). Click HERE if you want to be a part of the madness. And absolutely read that Greenlight page, as the game description is hellishly priceless…

The Making of DEFIANCE (1 – 5): Nope, No Sharktopus Here, Folks…

 

I figure I may as well run these now, as I’ve finally watched them all and can safely say that this might indeed be a VERY cool show and even better than I was thinking. I still HATE the illiterate “syfy” re-branding (and NO, it’s not the “same” as sci-fi, which as I noted a while back, was reviled when the late Forrest J. Ackerman thought up that abbreviation), but I’m gathering no one but me is bitching about it these days…

 

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Alien Spidy Set to Crawl Onto Xbox Live, PC, Mac on March 20th

alien spidy artIn the mood for some classic platforming action? Do you like (or more precisely, are you not afraid of) SPIDERS? Well, then… Kalypso Media Digital and developer Enigma Software Productions have a fun little indie game for you (well, provided you own a PC, Mac, Xbox 360 or PS3). Alien Spidy packs in 69 levels of that aforementioned platforming straight out the the NES and arcade days with pretty HD visuals and plenty of challenge. PS3 owners? You’ll be getting a version shortly afterward and it’ll cost the same $9.99 as PC and Mac owners will pay. XBLA users have to pony up 800 Microsoft Points (which is sort of the same price, I think) for the pleasure of playing with Spidy. I’m gathering that if you haven’t hit your monitor with a shoe or sprayed it with Raid ’til it keeled over DEAD, you’re still intrigued, so here are some screenshots to ogle while you wait for the 20th to roll around…

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Shadowrun Returns Alpha Gameplay: First Look At The Return of a RPG Classic

 

shadowrun_preordersMore proof that the best crowd-funded games do indeed make it into production once they grab huge sums of money, here’s a long look at a tiny chunk of what hardworking indie developer Harebrained Schemes (yes, that’s their name!) has cooked up so far with the $1,836,447 backers ponied up on Kickstarter. In addition, even if you happened to miss out on the big pledge drive, you can still pre-order the game in three affordable different configurations at prices ranging from $15 to $75 for PC, OSX and Linux-based computers. With an expected release window of sometime this summer (May/June 2013), as well as gameplay that’s decidedly old school (and great looking) 2D turn-based RPG in a cyberpunk setting (and you get a level editor to fool around with, to boot), it looks as Shadowrun Returns will be one of those cool indie games that makes a few “best of” lists once gamers get their hands on it…

Defiance: Arkhunter Chronicles 3 & Weapons Modifications: More Fictional Fat For The Fire

 

With that April launch rolling up sooner than you think, Trion Worlds and syfy continue to let loose more and more fun Defiance lore and game info. Here’s the third Arkhunter Chronicles video and below that, a look at some of the many weapons you can modify to your tastes in the game. Sure,it’s no Borderlands 2 with it’s bazillions of guns, but there’s more than enough here to keep the fans busy for quite some time. Speaking of… as I’ve been saying for some time now, the game looks really fantastic and plays as smooth as silk. At this point, it’s really all up to the show to hook the skeptics in (as in,it BETTER be great from episode one) and get them to plunk down that AAA game price for what’s looking to be one of the big deal potential Game of the Year candidates if everything comes together as all are hoping…

 

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons: Starbreeze’s Fantasy Fairy Tale Coming to PSN, XBL, Steam This Spring

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And just exactly what has Starbreeze Studios been up to these days you ask? Well, the busy and super-talanted developer has been collaborating with Swedish film director Josef Fares on an upcoming digital-only fantasy game headed for the PS3, Xbox 360 and Steam this spring and published by 505 Games. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons lets you control a pair of siblings with a single controller as they try to find a cure for their ailing father in a nicely detailed stylized fantasy world. Check out the teaser above and the short walkthrough clip below to see how the game will play. This one looks quite cool and hopefully will gain a strong following and not get buried in the rather large online game libraries on PSN, Xbox Live and Steam. As always, we shall see…

 

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Call of Juarez: Gunslinger Teaser: Techland’s Back in the Saddle Again

 

After the bumpy detour into modern times (the well-intentioned but flawed Call of Juarez: The Cartel), Techland is taking its wild western series back where it’s always belonged and if the comments on the YouTube channel are any indication, fans of this series are (so far) more than pleased. March 14 will see the full version of this trailer drop and perhaps some gameplay will show up as well. Given the developer’s expertise in producing some incredibly stunning looking visuals, there’s absolutely zero doubt that this will be a mighty fine looker. Of course, it’s ALWAYS the gameplay that counts and I’m gathering the team has been busy polishing that to a new badge shine. As always, we shall see…

Torment: Tides of Numenera Kickstarter: inXile Gets That Planescape “Sequel” Underway…

 

torment artWell, now… That’s going exactly as predicted, ladies and gentlemen. As in it’s ALMOST funded on the first day (and probably FULLY funded by the time or very shortly after I complete this brief post). Torment: Tides of Numenera is an upcoming PC RPG game that will take place in the world of Monte Cook’s new tabletop RPG setting (called Numenera of course), and as you can see if you poke around both the Kickstarter and Numenera pages, it all looks quite spectacular indeed.

As with other projects this huge, Digital and physical versions will be made available for backers (whee!) and I hope this actually makes it into retail at some point, as the original game is one of those classics for the ages and this one (being cooked up by some that were involved in that epic) is looking mighty amazing as well. Getting more people to play a game like this outside of those lots of throwing money at it for strictly personal reasons (hell, If I had a few thousand bucks lying around, I’d want to be an in-game NPC too!) is a pretty good way for gaming to gain a bit more respect among some who overly criticize the hobby based on what they see in the media… Continue reading

Zeno Clash II Trailer: Atlus Has Another ACE Effort (That More Need To Be Able To Play)…

 

As much goofy but intense fun as Zeno Clash II and its prequel, Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition look, the tiny little fact that many devoted Atlus fans who can’t get access to PSN or Steam accounts are going to miss yet another great game is going to be a sticking point that has yet to find a proper resolution. Yeah, yeah, I know digital is the way to go (and the waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay of the future!) for a super-niche game such as this one (and man is it weird!), but I’d love to see Atlus get BOTH Zeno Clash games onto a disc (along with ACE Team’s awesome Rock of Ages) for console users who don’t or can’t use PSN or XBLA. I actually have the first game for PC on a new import disc I picked up from the UK, but it requires a wee bit more powerful of a PC than I currently use and my laptop DEFINITELY can’t run it at all. Bleh.  I’m not one for online petitions, but I’ll go sign one if need be just to get to play more funky games such as these…