Review: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Posted on August 8, 2009 by geelw

Platform: PlayStation 3

Developer: Double Helix

Publisher: Electronic Arts

# of Players: 1-2

Rating: T (Teen)

Score: C+

If you go into G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra expecting some sort of Tom Clancy-ish tactical action experience or a Gears of War inspired “big” action game, you’ll be sitting dazed in front of your TV with your jaw on the floor wondering just what the heck happened on your way home from the game store. On the other hand, if you remember pumping quarter after quarter into classic arcade run ‘n guns such as Front Line, Ikari Warriors, MERCS, Midnight Resistance, Gain Ground and yup, Contra, you’ll be sitting in front of your TV with a buddy having a total blast. The game isn’t perfect (nor as memorable as the above titles), but once you realize it works fine as a current gen homage to those hits, you may as well install a coin drop and change machine on your PlayStation 3 and enjoy the ride a few times. Continue reading →

ZEN Studios Announces SFII Turbo Pinball Table Update

Posted on August 6, 2009 by geelw

Well, it wasn’t actually the toughest puzzle to figure out, huh? Anyway, here’s a link to ZEN’s entry on the Official PlayStation Blog – check it out.

Feature: Dragon Age: Origins – Orzammar

Posted on August 6, 2009 by geelw

Each week until the game’s launch date, we’ll be running a Dragon Age: Origins feature here on DAF that spotlights the regions, creatures and characters found in the expansive game world of Ferelden, complete with screenshots and/or artwork. Get your hardhat (or favorite battle helm) on… we’re going underground for this first installment: Continue reading →

ZEN Studios Has a Secret…

Posted on August 5, 2009 by geelw

A mysterious email arrived this morning from ZEN Studios‘ PR firm. It has the rather interesting logo art shown to the left. The email says the official announcement of this mystery game isn’t coming until Thursday on the official PlayStation Blog. I’m asked to guess what this mystery announcement will be, or assassins will strike. I really hate it when that happens.

Hmmmm… from memory, I know that ZEN is known for its pinball games. A LOT of pinball games… good ones, at that. And that character does look familiar, no?

Anyone have a guess as to what this big mystery announcement is? I don’t think it’s Art of Fighting Pinball, that’s for sure…

Gallery: Demon’s Souls

Posted on July 24, 2009 by geelw

Hands-down, one of my favorite game developers ever is From Software. I’ve been a huge fan of their games for close to 15 years thanks to many unforgettable hours playing their King’s Field series. While the US only saw four of the seven total games released to date, the combination of Western RPG aesthetics, challenging gameplay and interestingly doomed characters (the series has a rather NPC high mortality rate) made for memorable times indeed.

Between the mighty Armored Core franchise, Chromehounds, the two stellar Xbox Otogi games and one-shot brilliance of Kuon, there’s a lot to love about From’s games. That love also extends to From oddities such as Evergrace/Forever Kingdom, The Adventures of Cookie and Cream, Lost Kingdoms, Enchanted Arms, coolimports such asSpriggan: Lunar Verse, Frame Gride and Metal Wolf Chaos. Not to mention the underrated Echo Night games, Eternal Ring, Shadow Tower and Shadow Tower Abyss (one of those great import-only titles that would have been an excellent addition to the US PlayStation 2 library). Of course, not every developer can have a perfect track record. Between you and me, well… we’ll kind of forget about a couple of those later Tenchu games. OK? Continue reading →

Gallery: IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey

Posted on July 23, 2009 by geelw

505 Games has announced that its upcoming (and amazing looking) WWII flight combat gameIL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey will hit retail on September 15, 2009 for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PSP and Nintendo DS. Here’s a quick rundown of the game from the press release, followed by some screens and box art: Continue reading →

Review: FUEL

Posted on July 22, 2009 by geelw

Platform: PlayStation 3/Xbox 360

Developer: Asobo Studio

Publisher: Codemasters

# of Players: 1 (2 – 16 Multiplayer)

Rating: E (Everyone)

Official Site

Score: A-

With racing games of all types zooming into game shops on every platform on a regular basis, there’s pretty much been nothing new under the sun other than prettier visuals, faster frame rates and the ability to use more and more expensive peripherals. Nevertheless, it’s actually quite hard to find games that not only work as racers, but do double duty as pure driving experiences. Welcome to FUEL, Codemasters’ and Asobo Studio’s groundbreaking arcade-style racer that offers up a whopping 5,000+ miles of outrageously fun racing and pure driving for the hell of driving in a single package. It’s got a few quirks here and there, but if the open road is your thing (even a post-apocalyptic open road), you’ll have a complete blast each time you pick up the controller. Continue reading →

Where the Wild Things Are Set to Stalk Consoles, Handhelds This October

Posted on July 20, 2009 by geelw

Ha – With all that’s going on these days, I’d completely forgotten about the upcoming Spike Jonze-directed take on Maurice Sendak’s classic kid’s book, but Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment obviously hasn’t. Here’s the official press release (below the jump) announcing the upcoming console and handleld versions of the game: Continue reading →

Review: Damnation

Posted on July 18, 2009 by geelw

Platform: Playstation 3/Xbox 360

Developer: Blue Omega Entertainment

Publisher: Codemasters

# of Players: 1 – 2 (Co-op) 1 – 8 (Multiplayer)

Rating: M (Mature)

www.damnationthegame.com

Score: C

Codemasters’ latest entry into the action game genre certainly offers up some innovative gameplay concepts and an interesting mix of steampunk and western-inspired visual elements. However the overall execution falls short thanks to some major quality issues. Developer Blue Omega Entertainment has expanded its award-winning Unreal Tournament 2004 mod, Damnation: Hell Breaks Loose to a full game, but despite the updated elements it still feels more like a halfway decent Unreal mod rather than a top-drawer release. Problems aside, there is some fun to be had here provided you’re willing to deal or overlook with the game’s flaws. Like too many games of this console generation, most of these issues probably could have been addressed with a patch. But at this point, it’s hard to say whether or not this will ever happen.
Continue reading →

Now Playing (The Update)…

Posted on July 18, 2009 by geelw

Yeah, yeah, by popular demand, an updated list of what’s in my playstack (some of which will actually get reviewed this week – whee!):

Little King’s Story (Wii)
FUEL (Playstation 3)
Prototype (Xbox 360)
The Conduit (Wii)
Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled (Nintendo DS)
Klonoa (Wii)
The Munchables (Wii)
Damnation (Playstation 3)
Muzzle Flash (Xbox import – I was planning a FAQ for some folks who asked about this rarity on GameFaqs a while back, but the game is impossible to complete thanks to some mind-blowing balance issues)
Drakan: The Ancient’s Gates (PlayStation 2)
Diablo II (PC – waitin’ for that 1.13 update…)
Arx Fatalis (PC)
Arx Fatalis (Xbox – I’ve an alpha build I’m comparing to the PC version for an upcoming feature – the stuff they left out of the retail version is interesting indeed…)