Awesome. One of my favorite in-progress games gets a new video update. Nice, nice. NOW, if only this would come to consoles as well, even more people would see how cool it is. Anyway, go bug the upstanding guys over at Black Pants Game Studios about becoming a beta tester for this one, as it’s shaping up to be a real winner and a truly original, innovative new game.
Platform: PS3 (also on Xbox 360, PC)
Developer: Snowblind Studios
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE)
# of Players 1 – 3 (online 1 – 3)
ESRB Rating: M (Mature)
Official Site
Score: A-
Attempting to expand upon a revered and well-established canon such as J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth saga is indeed tricky business, particularly in the case of The Lord of the Rings trology. Get it wrong and it’s a trip into the bowels of Mount Doom as some poor development team and publisher face the wrath and ruin of legions of longtime fans. Fortunately, The Lord of The Rings: War in the North delivers an epic (and Mature-rated) tale that ties in nicely with the trilogy as well as an addictive hack & slash that’s challenging and highly replayable. It also marks Snowblind Studios’ first current generation title (finally!) and yes, they’ve done a very solid job here. The visual presentation is grand and fitting, the music is perfect and the familiar gameplay is brutal, simple and about as fun as can be for a game of this type. The game is not without its flaws, however. Some chinks in the armor show up in the form of a a weird sound bug in one area, occasional AI stumbles plus a wee bit too much repetition of quest-related dialog. Nevertheless, this is one journey well worth taking whether or not you’re a fan of the books and films. Continue reading
That’s right, I said it. And yes, Starbreeze Studios will back it up in a big way on February 21, 2012. Based on the demo version I played at EA’s Naughty or Nice event about 2 weeks ago, even the most die-hard fan with greasy smoke coming from their eyeballs and ears about this game should ABSOLUTELY play this modern reworking of Bullfrog’s isometric RTS/Action hybrid.
Five (Plus One) Very Good Reasons to commit without question are below the jump… Continue reading
As you can see, it’s on. Expect a November surprise, courtesy of Rockstar Games. No, the game isn’t coming next month, folks (the Internet would break if that was the announcment), just what’s probably going to be a pretty cool trailer (and a Double-Wide Airflow, at that). Now, all those folks screaming madly about it can perhaps pipe down a little with the ALL CAPS rants online and maybe think about also pre-ordering Max Payne 3 when its release date is announced. Rockstar is working hard on that game as well and you SHOULD enjoy it as equally as you do any GTA game, I say…
Too many people online are out of their minds comparing every RPG to Skyrim or whatever other fantasy-themed open world experience on the way when it’s clear that Snowblind Studios is making a different type of adventure entirely. I’m definitely looking forward to this one as I’m a fan of the developer’s work and trust them to make a pretty good action RPG (as it’s something they’ve done a few times previously). We’ll see if the game defies the skeptics and becomes one of those “Hey, this is really good!” word of mouth titles pretty soon, as that November 1 release date is right around the corner. Of course, in this stupid era of games needing to sell a bazillion copies over a weekend to be considered a “success”, I truly hope that this game gets enough time to gain momentum before any judgment is placed on the potential of future installments…
Who know there was a Food Universe? Well, that aside (and my stomach now rumbling for something from the fridge), this latest Rayman Origins footage shows off a new area, one that I happened to play at New York Comic Con last week. The jumping is tricky old-school platforming goodness, but the game has a nice “revival” system in play so that it’s not a controller-bashing experience. The game is looking great with tons of color, inventive, funny gameplay and tons of things to see and do. This one deserves to be in EVERY gamer library once it ships, so do UbiSoft (and Rayman) a favor and BUY it, folks…
Electronic Arts, DICE and their mighty Frostbite 2 engine definitely has a winner on both consoles as well as PC. I got to play some multiplayer last week at EA’s holiday event against the DICE team on the PS3 and not only is the gameplay lightning fast and frantic, BF3 looks REALLY spectacular on the system. As fas as the whole “which is better” nonsense going on between the big shooter franchises, I say who cares as long as BOTH games are as good as their respective dev teams can make them. In the end, I see some folks buying and playing both or at least buying one and renting the other to compare. Expect productivity in a few countries to drop even further (er, provided those calling in sick with BF3 flu actually have jobs).
Bugbear Entertainment has been hard at work on a much different Ridge Racer, but it’s clear than this new game isn’t being made to completely take the place of the more familiar franchise that’s been a key title for nearly every console it’s appeared on. Rather, Unbounded is a high-impact spin-off that takes the drift-crazy gameplay and fictional vehicles the series in famous for, adds in destructible elements and the ability to create your own courses and hits the ground running. I took a demo build for a spin at a Namco Bandai event about two weeks back and liked what I played quite a lot. There’s definitely a nod to Criterion Studios’ last few Burnout games (as well as Burnout-inspired titles such as Split Second) as well as Bugbear’s own FlatOut series. As Burnout has morphed into a top-down family fun arcade game with disco tunes blasting during crashes and FlatOut has been retired (for the time being), it looks as RRU will be the go-to game for crash fans when it’s released next year. Continue reading
A quickie post before I keel over, as I need to bounce out of bed bright and early for day one of New York Comic Con. EA has some really nice surprises coming up this year and next in pretty much every category. Battlefield 3 multiplayer on the PS3 was amazingly fluid and controls like a dream (seriously, Call of What?). There was a really nice Mass Effect 3 surprise I can’t share just yet (as it’s embargoed until10/27). Speaking of surprises, Syndicate is going to make even the most hardcore fans of the PC classic bow to Starbreeze’s skills. They nailed the dark feeling of the original but as a first-person experience (it’s not a Deus Ex: Human Revolution clone either, which is even better). SSX is another shocker – don’t let the more realistic visuals fool you at all – the game is SUPER fun to play (the tricks flow off the controller) and the mountains are massive. SWTOR is an instant addiction (I had to stop playing before I got hooked) that’s sure to be huge once it ships (look out WoW!). The Secret World brings a fresh, modern take to the MMO (and NEEDS to come to consoles with a single player offline mode, as there’s a lot of good under the hood that begs to be explored). There’s a LOT more to yak about, but that’s for later – i need my beauty rest…
I like the quote in the email that prefaces this trailer, so here it is:
“The enemy knows you have entered here. What hope you had in secrecy is now gone.”
Celeborn, The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings
Snowblind Studios is really going all out with this one and I’m looking forward to seeing how it’s all turned out. I think fans of the books should be pleased as the game doesn’t shy away from the violent elements found in the books and it’s looking as if it will let you venture to a few areas chopped from the movie trilogy. Granted, the M-rating might be a initial turn-off for those expecting one of the simpler hack & slash movie games geared toward the entire family. However, I say let’s see what happens as people play the game and share it with friends in co-op. I’ll bet any hesitance over a purchase based on the amount of blood in the game disappears once folks see how much fun it all is.
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 