GTA V Gallery Update: Overwhelming Majority Rules, Coming Soon…

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While PS4 and Xbox One owners are finally getting Grand Theft Auto V on November 18, PC owners need to be patient for a little while longer (as in holding out until January 27, 2015). All of that time will be well spent making sure it runs as best as possible on a wider range of systems, but next-gen owners are getting the same features as shown in this video ( which is kind of NSFW, if you don’t like gunfights, a bit of the old ultra-violence and such blasting from your work computer or tablet). This isn’t some simple HD upgrade at all. Every texture in the game has been replaced, the overall resolution has been increased (more than doubling the draw distance), and as you’ll see in the PS3 to PS4 comparison video below, the differences are quite stunning:

Click away for more visual treats! Continue reading

IndieGala’s LATE Every Monday Bundle Says “Who Needs Mondays!”

Every Monday Bundle 11042014 

Ha! And I thought I was losing more of my mind yesterday. Nope, IndieGala just didn’t post any bundle news is all. Then again, a few other places didn’t either, but it’s late and I’m about to get kicked out of the library, so I’ll hit those up in a separate post tomorrow. Well, here you go, six games for $1.89, all unique and pretty hard to pass up at that price. And heck, it even has a game based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet for crying out loud:


 

Yeah, you KNOW you want this deal now. Buy games, get educated! What a top-shelf excuse to kill some time, huh?

Grand Theft Auto V Limited Edition Soundtrack Box Sets Coming in December

GTV V LE Soundtrack Vinyl GTV V LE Soundtrack CD

You want proof that CD’s and vinyl LPs aren’t “dead”, folks? Well, come December 9, a mere 5000 each of these Grand Theft Auto V Limited Edition Soundtrack Box Sets will go on sale at selected music online and physical retailers worldwide and I’m betting they sell out completely AND become hot collectibles before the year is out. Hell, if I’d not sold off my record collection and player a while back, I’d be drooling all over that vinyl set more than I am already.

These two limited editions are coming to retail from Rockstar Games and Mass Appeal in celebration of the soon-to be released PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of Grand Theft Auto V (set to land at a game shop and download site near you November 18). PC gamers need to wait until January 27, 2015 for their version of the game, but I guess a few of them will want this set as well to keep them grooving during the delay… Continue reading

Convoy: Top-Down Tactical Vehicle Combat? Yes, You NEED This Game!

Sometimes stuff lands in one of the inboxes here that makes me laugh for a few reasons from good to bad to “Ruh-Roh!”. Convoy Games’ Kickstarter project, Convoy falls squarely in the former hearty chuckle category. That was thanks to playing a demo build linked with that email that made me laugh because the gameplay was something I’d not seen previously and everything clicked right away. I happen to love when developers decide to tackle familiar genres in unique ways and Convoy does just that. Sure, it’s basically the space combat from games like FTL and other sci-fi classics translated to top-down rogue-like road action out of the Mad Max movies. But so far, it all feels just right and while in need of more tweaking, it’s clear the dev team is on the right path.

Convoy GIF 

Anyway, go check out the project video above, click on over to that KS page and whip out that wallet. A mere $13 gets you the final version of the game when it’s all done and ready to go in February 2015. Currently, the game is just under a third funded with 25 days to go, but it needs to get more love. Um, financial love, people. Don’t go proposing to Convoy or anything silly like that, now. I’m not sure the dev team wants to let go of their game before they’re all done with it. It’s a great Monday when you see an indie game that’s more exciting than a bunch of AAA titles screaming for your attention, that’s for sure…

How to Survive: Storm Warning Edition is Perfect for Today’s Dreary Day

Miserable weather or not, learning all you need about dispatching zombies and staying alive on a desert island are always handy skills. 505 Games dropped EKO Games’ How to Survive: Storm Warning Edition for the PS4 onto PSN and Xbox Live yesterday and it’s a must buy if you’re a fan of the original game or are entirely new to the experience. This visually gussied up version gives you the original game plus all six DLC packs for a decent price. While best with friends, the game offers up a hefty solo challenge with decent AI. Just make sure you watch where you aim, chop or punch. “Friendly” fire can’t be toggled off as far as I know and you don’t want to accidentally knock off your AI companion. Anyway, this one’s quite cool and funny for a fairly violent game – go check it out, I say.

Fund This! GRAAL SEEKER: The Final Push is On!

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Okay, folks – Lugludum’s cool-looking retro strategy RPG GRALL SEEKER needs our assistance! Go help fund the project over at Indiegogo and if you’ve got a Steam account, absolutely give it an up vote on its Steam Greenlight page. This is one of those games that needs a bigger audience willing to try something outside their usual comfort zone, so go check out those links and make Lugludum a very happy bunch of game makers!

Hey, Guillaume! Play us out with a little game music, won’t you, sir?

BUY IT! Neverending Nightmares Gets a Halloween Sale on Steam

Neverending Nightmares Banner
 Shhhh. I’ve got a secret! I actually have yet to PLAY Neverending Nightmares, Matt Gilgenbach’s psychological horror game based on his struggles with mental illness. However, I’ve gotten a few friends to buy the game and all of them have thanked me sarcastically for giving them all some pretty wild nightmares. Of course, my response was “Is that good or bad?” or “But, did you like the game?”. And the answer was always the same “Yeah, but…” followed by descriptions of stuff that happens during the horrific journey into side-scrolling madness. So, yeah, I guess I need to grab this soon over Steam, huh?


 
My problem is my backlog is SO bloody huge that I’m behind on stuff I need to review and I probably won’t get to this one for a few weeks at best. Well, this 25% off sale is kind of twisting my arms (ouch!),so I better make a decision soon, as I kind of NEED my arm. Um, and the other one, too (ouch!)…

Halloween Bundles Offer Up Tricks and Treats to Keep You Up All Night…

If you’ve no plans to venture outside on Halloween or this weekend when the clocks slow down an hour in some parts of the country, here’s an idea: why not grab some cheap games and scare yourself half or more to death without ever leaving the comfort of your own home? Here’s what’s up on a couple of indie game bundle sites for the big day:

IndieGala Halloween 2014 The IndieGala Halloween Bundle has nine games up for $3.29 with two surprise games to be revealed next week (take a chance!, take a chance!). Most of the games here are scary, but there’s a goofy puzzle game as well as a very non-scary retro platformer here if you’re a total fraidy cat.

 

Humble Halloweekly BundleThe Humble HalloWeekly Bundle features the usual sliding scale pricing, but I say drop down the $15 just to play Among the Sleep, a nicely unsettling and really beautiful game where you play as a two-year old child. Surprisingly (or not so surprisingly), this one works quite well on a number of levels.

 

The Carnage Bundle Finally, The Carnage Bundle over at Bundle Stars has a whopping ten games for 2.99 that are guaranteed to creep you out or make you laugh (or both!). Well, that Zombie Bowl-o-Rama game is probably the only intentionally funny game, Warehouse and Logistics Simulator is exactly what it says (and that Hell’s Warehouse DLC would make Sisyphus proud) and Greed: Black Border is more of a RPG in the Diablo vein (with less scares).

Remember, some of what you pay goes right to charities and in this case, giving money to those causes is better than giving BLOOD. Anyway, get to the buying and installing and playing and screaming and dying stuff already!

Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom Goes for the Gold!

Adventure Time TSotNKDeveloper WayForward Technologies is finally all done with Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom, sending the game off on its merry way to be cleaned and pressed and ready for its November 18 launch on the PS3, Xbox 360, PC and Nintendo 3DS.

How will it stack up to previous Adventure Time games? Ooo, I bet Finn or Jake know… but aren’t telling a single THING because they want you all to be kept in sus-pense until the game drops into retail and onto a digital delivery site near you. Personally, I’m a fan of both the developer and the show, so I’ll play this any way ’til Sunday just for laughs. WayForward rarely disappoints with its games, so I’m going in with half a smile on my face just to give the experience some extra, um… sus-pense!. Say, you look like you’re starving – have some screenshots:

BananaHurl FinnBananaFireAntsShelby Hack IceKing&Finn SlumberPrincess SPWolf

Um… okay. You didn’t HAVE to eat them all at once, greedy! Well, back in a bit with some impressions, then.

Review: Dungeon of the Endless

DotE Banner Platform: PC
Developer: Amplitude Studios
Publisher: Reverb Games
# of Players: 1 (Online 1-4)
Release Date: October 28, 2014
ESRB Rating: N/A
Official Site
Score: A (95%)


 

If you’re one of those people who thinks games have gotten too “casual” these days or you’re just looking for something meaty and stupendously challenging, Dungeon of the Endless would like a word with you before it puts you into a corner and makes you cry for bit. If you haven’t smashed your PC with a sack of hammers, you’ll pick yourself up out of that teary heap, stomp back to your computer and try again with gritted teeth and fresh resolve. Amplitude Studios’ brilliantly designed and gorgeously old-school experience mixes a bunch of genres, takes the developer’s famed 4X gameplay and makes it even more appealing than before. Of course, the game’s masterful design and monstrous difficulty will mean that everyone who plays will suffer load of losses as they attempt to keep their crystal and/or their party in one piece before they can reach that exit. But this one’s a game where you learn from each defeat and each victory deserves a celebration before you move on for more potential pain… Continue reading