Alien Isolation Survival Mode: You’ll Pay For That. You KNOW You Will…

Posted on September 17, 2014 by geelw

Ah, the dreaded Season Pass rears its head in another game and yep, it seems that this method of squishing extra money out of gamers isn’t going to vanish at all unless people stop pre-ordering and buying that content, but that’s a tough sell with so many rabid fans of certain games stampeding into stores the minute something’s announced and looks good enough to buy on day one after some previews. Alien Isolation, already a strong contender for horror game of the year (well, in my book), is getting MORE paid DLC in the form of at least five Survival maps to be released over the course of six months. This should provided those of you who love more competitive experiences to challenge that leaderboard and share your survival stories with other players.

Me, I’m in this one for the story, so I hope in addition to the standard and Nostromo editions, we see a “Game of the Year” edition that packs ALL the DLC onto a single disc similar to how other publishers reissue their big games. I know for a fact that there are still people on the fence about buying this game despite developer The Creative Assembly’s track record and this game looking like the best modern Alien game to date. But hey, it’s the age of soapbox skepticism ruling the day (unfortunately) and yes, Sega not having a stellar track record in publishing previous Alien games. We’ll see where this one ends up on the list soon enough, but I think it needs more love for both the attention to detail and in helping kick this franchise back to life and one worth following. Alien Isolation is out October 7, 2014 for PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

Alien Isolation Goes Gold, New Trailer Series To Make You Change Your Pants Revealed…

Posted on September 11, 2014 by geelw

With The Creative Assembly’s Alien Isolation finally gone gold and set to hit retail game stores and assorted download sites on October 7 for PS4/PS3, Xbox One/Xbox 360 and PC, Sega is also kicking off a nicely scary set of videos (the first of which is below) asking one simple question: “How Will You Survive?”. As you can see, our poor heroine doesn’t make it through all 55 seconds of this first teaser, but this isn’t the only way to go, from what I’ve been reading.

Well, now that you’re on the hook (Ouch. Pun intended? Maybe.), you’ll want to tune in to the next in this somewhat hypothetically fatal video series. Me, I just want the game to arrive so I can finally play it and see how it fits in with the original film. I’d gather part two will drop next week, so I’ll have that posted along with more commentary that’s guaranteed to not change your opinion on whether to buy this soon to be classic or not…

Batman Arkham Knight Is Now A June Bride. It’s Worth The Wait For That Wedding…

Posted on September 8, 2014 by geelw

Yeah, I’m sure fans all around the internet are raaaaaging about having to wait even longer to get this game, but I say let them. I don’t mind at all that developer Rocksteady needs more time to make this one the best Batman game it can be and yep, I’m sure while WBIE would love to see this one ship earlier just for the financials and such, it’s clear that the game needs to cook longer. GOOD, I say. I hate this age of massive day one patches, games that don’t run properly out of the box or worse, games that DO run, but end up not pleasing reviewers who sink it with low scores before it can get a patch. I’m thinking both developer and publisher want NONE of that noise, so the delay is on and I coudn’t be happier. Well, I could be happier if I could actually see this in person and play it at some media event here in NYC before it ships out next year, but that’s up to WBIE’s PR team, I suppose.

Oh, if you’re drooling at those collector’s editions, let me let you in on what’s in the box in case your fingers are trembling too much to click on either image and see them full size (they’re MASSIVE):

Batman: Arkham Knight Limited Edition will include:

· Custom Art Book – 80 Page, Full Color Art Book Showcasing the concept art of Batman Arkham Knight

· Limited Edition SteelBook™ – Unique SteelBook™ case and game disc

· Comic Book – Limited Edition DC Comics Batman: Arkham Knight #0 Comic Book

· Exclusive Character Skin Pack – Three Unique Skins from DC Comics – The New 52

· Batman Memorial Statue – Imposing statue commemorating Gotham’s Protector, the Dark Knight

· SRP:

o Console – $99.99 / 119.99 € / 89.99£

o PC – 99.99€ / 74.99£

Batman: Arkham Knight Batmobile Edition will include:

· Custom Art Book – 80 Page, Full Colour Art Book Showcasing the concept art of Batman Arkham Knight

· Limited Edition SteelBook™ – Unique SteelBook™ case and game disc

· Comic Book – Limited Edition DC Comics Batman: Arkham Knight #0 Comic Book

· Exclusive Character Skin Pack – Three Unique Skins from DC Comics – The New 52

· Transforming Batmobile Statue – Fully transformable Batmobile statue realised in exquisite detail by TriForce

· SRP: $199.99 / 199.99€ / 169.99£ (Console only)

Hmmmm.. it would seem North America doesn’t get a PC edition with all that swag, but these games sell better on home systems anyway. Granted, those running beefy rigs will be griping a lot about this, but most people who don’t have a computer that costs as much as a decent car part won’t care because they’ll be playing this on their PS4 or Xbox One with hopefully no trouble. Anyway, with this game now nine months away, you can concentrate of completing some of the other blockbusters rolling out from this year to next June, right? RIGHT. Now stop jamming out your whining on some message board and get back to doing something more interesting with your time, I say…

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Belated Update: Some Evil, Some Good and How It’s All Done…

Posted on August 27, 2014 by geelw

Yeah, yeah, I’ve been behind a bit on this upcoming game from WBIE and developer Monolith Productions, but that’s because I’m confident it’s going to be a worthy Middle-earth experience no matter what it’s played on. I think I’ve said that already but it bears repeating. Respecting a developer and enjoying whatever they’re working on goes a longer way than nit-picking that work apart for not being 100% accurate to the original works. Particularly if that game does something out of the ordinary yet seems familiar at the end of the day. Pity the last-gen versions aren’t getting all the AI bells and whistles as the current (or next, if you’ve yet to update) gen new systems, but that’s the way the ball bounces. You get more power to use and you use it wisely. Hmmm… isn’t that one of the lessons Tolkien was trying to get across in his books? Well, well, well… I’m already up to speed, then.

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is out September 30, 2014 for PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Yeah, pre-order madness exists in the form of different “exclusive” DLC from different retailers (boo), so do what you need to do if you want that extra perk. or maybe just buy the game outright when it’s in a store and hope WBIE decides to release ALL those bonuses once a few weeks or so have passed. Or they’re available as in-game unlocks once you’ve played long enough…

Oh Yeah, Diablo III: Reaper of Souls – Ultimate Evil Edition Is Out. Buy It.

Posted on August 22, 2014 by geelw

No, I didn’t forget about this one. Between the low drama of other game issues and crappy connection speeds everywhere, I know all those games dropping into retail this week were overlooked here. It’s funny that with the PS4 version of RoS, Blizzard, Sony and plenty of gamers aren’t even talking about the “last-gen” versions anymore even though MORE people still own and play games on the PS3 and Xbox 360 than their shinier replacements. Hell, I’m buying this expansion on the PS3 because I’m the stubbornest of old goats as well as a total cheapskate. Anyway, as noted earlier, I won’t touch this game at all until I finish up some stuff I need to get done or it WILL NOT GET DONE at all. Diablo does that to productivity…

Corrections Dept: Xillia’s Kitties Can’t Do Magic That Well!

Posted on August 19, 2014 by geelw

Okay, I’ll tweak the post tomorrow when I’m more awake, but I made two goofs in my Tales of Xillia review regarding the exploits and some side quests monsters vanishing. One: In Kitty Dispatch mode, Rollo WILL come back faster if he’s carrying certain sub-items with him or you save and come back later in the day (that system clock seems to work for that as well as the bonuses).

Two: while some low-level monsters may disappear from the Job Board when your Badge level increases, those TOUGH sub-bosses stay on their own sub-menu and never disappear. I was up for roughly 37 hours on that last chunk of my playtime, so when I sat down to write from a few notes I’d taken, I ended up adding in a thought I had based on me being half-awake while playing and confusing the Job list with the sub-boss list. Hey, it happens! Anyway, I’m in the final stretch of the game, but I’m saving that until tomorrow or Thursday because if I don’t sleep now, I’ll probably be as dead as some of those monsters Ludger and company go hunting throughout the game…

See you all tomorrow. Zzzzz…

Review: Tales of Xillia 2

Posted on August 19, 2014 by geelw

Platform: PlayStation 3

Developer: Namco Tales Studio, LTD.

Publisher: Bandai Namco Games

# of Players 1-4

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Official Site

Score: A- (90%)

Tales of Xillia was one of last year’s great JRPGs, offering up an intriguing plot, a party of interesting characters designed by different artists, the series trademark fast-paced battles and plenty of the usual JRPG tropes all adding up to a lengthy and memorable game experience. The follow up, Tales of Xillia 2 changes up things a bit with two new main characters, a much darker tone, even faster combat, a different skills leveling system, loads of reused maps (this is a good thing – more on this below) and a fair amount of humor thanks to a localization team having a blast with their translation efforts. The result is a game that will pull you in for the long haul as it takes Ludger Kresnik and company on a journey spanning a few familiar and all-new areas (well, all-new to those who haven’t played the first game)… Continue reading →

Tales of Xillia 2: Missed the First Game? Here’s The Deal So Far…

Posted on August 16, 2014 by geelw

You actually don’t need to have played Tales of Xillia to fully enjoy Tales of Xillia 2, but in case you didn’t and are wondering what you missed, this under six-minute recap of key cinematic moments from the first game should get you psyched for the new adventure ahead. I’ve been playing since yesterday evening and will have a review up on Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on how far I get in the game. I should take my time with this and try to get as close to 100% completion as possible, but there’s SO much to tackle in this game that if I tried to blaze through too quickly, I’d definitely miss out on a lot of content. On the other hand, if I get caught up in all those side-quests and cat-catching (I’ve caught 23 out of 100 so far), this review isn’t going to get done until November (of next year, ha and ha!)…

Back in a bit…

Diablo III: Reaper of Souls UEE: A Reminder That It’s Nice To Share…

Posted on August 16, 2014 by geelw

Now, I intend to play this one completely solo just because I prefer the challenge of going it alone (and Okay, because I have a crappy home connection), but it’s great to see Blizzard championing couch co-op for this expansion. Remember, console owners get Diablo III included with this expansion, so it’s a great deal no matter which system you buy it for. Of course, the more powerful PS4 will get the better looking version of the game, allegedly with some other options not available to PS3 owners, but we’ll see about that in a few days, right? Actually, I’ll probably wait until I complete a few reviews in progress before I even decide to touch this one. I have the feeling that once I fire this one up, I won’t be coming up for air any time soon…

Gamescom 2014: The Witcher 3 Leaves Yet Another Winning Impression…

Posted on August 15, 2014 by geelw

Well, this almost 16 minutes of gameplay footage is sure going to be helping sell The Witcher 3 to PC, PS4 and Xbox One owners (or make one buy a new console or upgrade a PC to run this gorgeous open world RPG… but, wait… what’s this? The Xbox One collector’s edition is getting (noooo!) extra stuff NOT in the other editions? Ruh-roh. Hmmmm… well, it’s just physical versions of the “Gwent” card decks so you can play that game (which is in ALL versions of the game) outside of the game space with like-minded friends and a cloth map of the game world.

Hmmm… I should be upset at this, but I know the internet fanboys will take care of that for me. It doesn’t affect the main game at all, so it’s not that big a deal. However, I can see some of the people cheering CDPR for stating that every version of the game would get the same content taking that a wee bit too literally and asking for Gwent decks for every version of the game. Of course, the company can just sell those decks separately at some point (and should if Gwent becomes popular enough to warrant making a lot more real decks).

Edit: I see that the whiners are in full rage on YouTube and a few message boards already! The developer did promise that TWC’s content on the game disc or via download would be the same, but it seems that didn’t extend to physical goodies at all, which as noted above, I really don’t have an issue with at all. I’m gathering they’ll stick to their guns despite the cranky types online saying they’ll cancel their pre-orders and I hope they do, but also reiterate that the ACTUAL game EVERY person is buying will be 100% the same across all platforms. Those cards and that map seem to be a bonus wrangled out by Microsoft, which seems to be looking to buy gamer love these days by getting them things they pay a lot for…