I missed posting this latest Earth Defense Forces 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair video when D3Publisher posted it about a week ago. But now that I’m seeing it and smiling way too much, it seems that the game still hasn’t a US release date or publisher announcement. I’m gathering more will be revealed around E3 as to who gets the rights to drop this onto North American shores soon. My money says Namco Bandai (or is it Bandai Namco?) will do this, but I’m also holding out hope that D3Publisher of America once again does the deed.
Given that there’s a link between both publishers, anything is possible. This series may be niche outside Japan, but it certainly has a loyal enough following to support the PS4 version should it get the localization nod. Heck, do a promotion with Orkin or some more organic pesticide company to get more Americans into this game and you’re guaranteed a hit. Unless of course you run into the wrath of pro-invasive insect fans who think this stuff will lead to people being afraid of EVERY type of bug. Eh, you can’t please everyone, right? Riiiiiiight.
While this latest delay may seem like “bad” news, developer Slightly Mad Studios is letting gamers know that the game is pretty much done (99.9% is certainly “pretty much done” to me!) and just needs that extra QA love so it ships across all platforms ready to run out of the gate:
“Despite our long heritage and pedigree in making critically-acclaimed racing games, Project CARS is by far the grandest and most intricately detailed of them all. Despite therefore the game being 99.9% complete, the remaining 0.1% attending to small issues and bugs has been tricky to anticipate. We’re absolutely dedicated to delivering a ground-breaking experience and by targeting mid-May fans can be assured that’s what they’ll receive” said Ian Bell, Head of Studio at Slightly Mad Studios. “Again, we want to thank our fans for their support and patience on this matter. There’s a high expectancy from racing fans around the world that Project CARS is going to be an exciting new contender in the simulation racing space and we firmly believe gamers deserve it to be in its most complete and polished state when they come to play it on day one. And since the gaming community is our primary focus and has always been at the heart of the project during development, we would like to offer some free content to all players as compensation for this short delay and as acknowledgement of how grateful we are. This gift, that we’re sure is going to excite fans, will be available from day one and revealed shortly. Keep an eye on our website for more info.”
To me, this reads “We want the console versions to ship out with hopefully zero need for day one patching, particularly the Wii U version.”, which is a good thing at the end of the day. Given the release of certain other high profile racers plagued with bugs (notably Sony’s DriveClub and UbiSoft’s The Crew), seeing Slightly Mad take the extra time to add that bit of extra polish their game up is a good thing. I’m holding out the Wii U version will get some love and respect, as Nintendo just can’t seem to get a break when it comes to good marquee racers that aren’t Mario Kart 8. Yeah, yeah, it’s lightning fast, looks phenomenal and most of all is FUN to play. But at my age, I tend to like my racers a bit more grounded in reality.
Okay, back to holding my breath for a bit longer, which is tough to to with a sore throat, mind you…
Do this writing about games stuff for a long enough period of time and you learn to go into every media event with no expectations. This time-built wisdom will pay off when you’re completely surprised by a game you’ve heard about in bits and pieces that’s shaping up to be a must-play title. ADR1FT was one of those games I’d heard about since its inception, but held off on writing a single word about until I was able to spend time with a demo. That happened yesterday thanks to 505 Games giving it a big screen premiere in two separate events for Boston and New York City games media. The Unreal 4 powered game headed to PS4, Xbox One, Steam (and yes, whatever rigs Oculus will run on) is one of those first games that leaves you breathless for a few reasons.
“SURVIVOR DETECTED”
The game’s story is a straightforward and simple tale of survival. You’re an astronaut who wakes up stuck in a damaged EVA suit on a heavily damaged space station orbiting Earth. Gameplay revolves around locating air supplies, repairing your suit and finding out just what happened that left you the only survivor. Part mystery, part survival game and all stunning to look at, it’s clear that ADR1FT has a mission in changing some perceptions about modern gaming. Sure, that sounds like an overly lofty goal. But again, it’s a case where if you see and play this one, you’ll “get” why it’s such an important release for its developer and publisher… Continue reading →
So, I’m home today and feeling lousy as I deal with this evil throat, which seems to be clearing up a bit more, but not before giving me some guff and beige-green colored stuff to cough up. Yuck. Anyway, this PAX trailer for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt made me feel better as I watched it, but I’m not quite ready to go monster hunting just yet. I’m trying to figure out which body part to sell so I can play this game when it comes out, but that’s another story for another time. Anyway, let me get back to my recuperation, as I’m way behind on a lot of stuff and can’t get much done if I’m sick as a dog. *Woof!*
With Rocksteady knocking things out of the park with their best work to date and Scarecrow doing his best to make Batman’s life a living hell by gathering up the worst of his Rogue’s Gallery, Batman: Arkham Knight is clearly going for instant classic status. All that in-game engine visual bliss on display means the game will look phenomenal on anything it runs on and that new Batmobile just makes me wish it were a real ride. Well, just so I could say I saw it blaze by while I was out strolling about to the store. Hey, you put me in a cape and black costume and I’m going to go home and straight to bed. Sleepman to the rescue! See you in your dreams, ladies and gents! Yeah, that’s about all the heroics I’ve got.
Anyway, Batman: Arkham Knight hits retail and digital shops for PS4, Xbox One and PC on June 2, 2015. That’s not to far away at all, really. Just one big super-nap for Sleepman! I’ll see you in a few months, folks. It’s Rip Van Winkle time, Zzzzzzzzzaaaawwwww! *snnxxxx* Zzzzzz!
While digital games are great, the fact remains that not everyone who wants to play them can do so and more games need both physical as well as digital releases. Grip Games is getting right up in everyone’s alley with Terrible Posture Games’ Tower of Guns. The fast paced arcade-like first person shooter that made a digital splash last year on Steam, now headed to PC, PS3 and PS4 as a retail release. Xbox One owners get a digital only release, as Microsoft seems to believe everything is hunky-dory with the download-only releases and discs are a bad idea for an indie game that’s so short. Or something like that.
Anyway, while I jump up and down happily about this news, you can read a bit of the press release:
Always a fresh experience: Random enemies, random power-ups, random bosses, tons of unlockable items and weapons…even random-level compositing! You never know what to expect when you sit down in front of Tower of Guns. Crazy powerups: You’ve played first person shooters where you can double jump, but have you played any game where you can centuple-jump? In Tower of Guns, with the right items, you can! Gun-modifying madness: A gun and its qualities aren’t tied together in Tower of Guns. Do you like rocket launchers? You’ll like them more if you’re lucky enough to stumble upon a “Shotgun” modifier. A rocket-launching shotgun is very satisfying. Single sitting full experience: For all of those who have too many games (or too little time) this is a game you can pick up and play again and again, without remembering where you were or what you were up to. If you’re gonna win, you’re gonna be able to do it over your lunch break.
That’s a big if though, it won’t be easy…
While there’s no exact release date, the deal between GRIP Digital s.r.o. (digital version) and SOEDSCO (retail version) means more people will be playing and enjoying this one and having a blast. Once a release date zips into the inbox, expect an update.
Coming to PC, PS4, PS3, Xbox One and Xbox 360 on April 7, 2015, Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin will bring FromSoftware’s hard as hell-made nails game to those new consoles with a number of changes and improvements over the original release. For those rolling their eyes about the prospect of repurchasing the game just for spiffier visuals and every bit of DLC content included for free, fear not. Enemy placement throughout the game is vastly different and their AI has been dialed up even further.
Additionally, the number of enemy mobs has been increased, making the already challenging game much more so. All that and it seems that both offline and online players will have to now worry about a super-tough new foe that can invade their games with intent to do them in. Online fans looking for a fight will love the now 6-player PvP, although “love” is kind of a subjective term here. There’s nothing quite like being invaded mid-game by a bunch of people who you don’t know who may or may not be wanting to help you adventure.
Finally, that subtitle refers to an all-new NPC who’s chock full of information and meeting up with him will no doubt lead to new areas and content in the game. As you can see here, the official Dark Souls II website has announced a new patch for current owners of the original game that adds a ton of new features and content that will prepare players for the April release of Scholar of the First Sin. The great thing about all this is this reworked version of Dark Souls II is not only geared for veteran players who’ve mastered the game, but new players who want to see what all the fuss is about.
Yes, From has also added new NPC’s who can assist new players with the ins and outs of survival in such an unforgiving world. But don’t expect casual hand-holding or an assist if you bite off more that you can chew. The latter is what the assorted not so wee beasties are supposed to to and I’m betting plenty of players old and new will become meals off wheels when Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin arrives in about two months.
Amusing “warning”: If you don’t speak Japanese, this video will seem somewhat baffling for about the first two minutes and fifty-three seconds. However, those of you who happen to be fans of Sandlot’s awesome Earth Defense Force series of games will get your jaws hitting your shoes hard before you burst out laughing and nodding in approval.
The upcoming PlayStation 4 game Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair is shaping up to be a must-have title thanks to the developer not only porting the main game over intact, but adding loads of new content, enemies and vehicles. That Depth Crawler you see at around 2:55 is the best thing to happen to the series because it allows for the ultimate in mobility in the game’s deadly tunnel missions AND it works excellently in outdoor maps.
Additionally, longtime EDF fans will see that there’s no longer static lighting in those tunnels, meaning visibility will be practically zero without some sort of light source. Thankfully, that Depth Crawler has lights (and packs some nice firepower). Hopefully, this means going in on foot if one chooses will show your character or teammates all sporting lights on their armor. The game isn’t out until April 2, 2915 in Japan and no U.S. localization plans have been announced.
That said, one would hope that some smart publisher who owns the rights would be on the case worldwide for this one. I smell a surprise hit that thanks to all the improvements and new content just might be one of the better games. New bosses, more missions, improved visuals, what’s looking like a more stable frame rate? Yup, all of those are making EDF 4.1 a must buy when it finally ships. The Japanese version is compatible with any PS4, although expect to be lurking around GameFaqs if you need help navigating the menus and learning some strategies if you’re new to the EDF experience.
You know something folks? I just absolutely love that I can fall asleep every night knowing that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is going to be one of 2015’s best games on anything it appears on. CD Projekt RED is going to get plenty of people hot under the collar and a few other places for all the right reasons when this game finally gets into the hands of eager gamers on May 19, 2015. In case you’ve been wondering why this one’s so late, the delay is so the dev team can squash any nasty bugs that would stop players from fully enjoying the experience. They could more than likely ship the game sooner and patch it up over time. However, given the troubles plaguing other AAA games from last year that did just that (you know who you are), I’m betting CDPR wants to avoid the wrath of fans complaining them to death on message boards worldwide. Good for them for wanting to get it all right, I say…
Fans of classic 90’s console RPGs should drop everything (as in, NOW) and grab Eden Industries’ Citizens of Earth for anything they can play it on. The game perfectly captures the spirit of the classic Super Nintendo game Earthbound while adding elements such as a more open world to explore 30+ party members to recruit and too many puns to keep track of. Not everything is flawless, however. A few typos, accumulated loading times and one pesky navigation glitch sometimes kick the good bits in the good bits. Nevertheless, this is one of those fun and funny games that can suck you in for hours at a time. Atlus wisely rescuing this failed crowd-funded game project and saw fit to publish it for a few platforms.
In the game, You’re the Vice President of the World (!) and things are somewhat screwy in the post-election phase. Angry protesters are outside your home, there’s trouble at the local coffee shop and lots more wildness that requires your VP skills. You’ll need to round up and recruit citizens from all walks of life to aid you in your quest, so expect to meet up with a wide cast of odd and amusing party members as the game progresses. This isn’t any sort of emotional powerhouse storyline at all, so going in expecting weep-inducing cut scenes or “powerful” moments is a fool’s errand. On the other hand, if you like pun-heavy puns, goofy-looking enemies and creative uses of coffee, pastry and pharmaceuticals, you’ll love what’s here and then some… Continue reading →
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 