Death Stranding Launch Trailer: Turn, And Face The Strange

I’ve been wisely avoiding any news and potential spoilers on Kojima Productions new game because I want to go in as cold as possible. So right now, I’m about frozen solid in terms of what I know about the plot and characters. I’ve seen a few trailers over the years while it was in development, but true to form, they were intentionally vague or showed off some impressive tech and packed in the weirdness that was hard to decipher if one decided to go down that rabbit hole. I chose not to, as speculation is the worst thing one could do with what was looking like a strange enough title that was innovating on a few fronts.

For me, Hideo Kojima’s games since the Metal Gear Solid era have been essential because even with trailers, you’re not getting the full story because there’s going to be a ton of context not seen until the full game is experienced. That and the sole time I broke with this tradition of mine was with P.T./Silent Hills, a game that was killed by its publisher and fantastically frightening demo unceremoniously removed from PSN after a nasty breakup that saw Kojima form a standalone studio. That was one game that very likely could have turned that series around, but we’ll never find out. I’d let myself be seduced by the idea of new Silent Hill game with a talented team at the reins (Guillermo del Toro amd Norman Reedus were part of the project), and it was a shock to find out later that the game was canned and its creation halted.

Anyway, Death Stranding arrives a week from now on the PS4, and next summer on PC. I’ll be getting the PS4 version because hell, it arrives first and I hate spending money on any potential PC upgrades that might be needed to run this on my aging laptop.

-GW

Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle Gets Some Fun, Free Updates

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Get this… OR ELSE.

Well, eight episodes of the game have been FREE for a while now on STEAM, but having a subscription to developer Blue Wizard Games’ email newsletter was pretty rewarding today, as there’s some nice content they’ve added to the game as well as a couple of fun freebies for email subscribers.

In addition to getting Episode 9 and the Baghead Jason DLC skin for free, the email also included a package of neat HD Blue Wizard Digital desktop wallpapers, Slayaway Camp toy paper-craft templates, and the official theme songs (MP3) for both Slayaway Camp and Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle (woo-hoo!). Very cool, Blue Wizard, very cool, indeed.

Here’s a little teaser for the game. It’s kind of cute, really hilarious and yes, you can choose to play without the blood (but why would you?):

Even better, if you have a STEAM account, there’s a sale on the developer’s other titles, so yes, you can try a few of their games for a lot mess money. Sounds like a deal to me.

-GW

 

November’s PS Plus Duo is Scary Good Stuff

 

Nice. I actually haven’t played either of these other than a demo of one a while back, so this will be a good pair of bonuses to have added to thee library. Now, all I need to do is find the time and clear out my external HDD, as it’s about filled with a ton of old games and videos. Eh, I’ll probably get a larger drive at some point, but I’ve always thought the the PS4 could have used more USB ports.

-GW

Lost Ember Gets a November Release Date

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“All the animals come out at night…” Well, to be fair, in this game they’re out anytime they want to be.

Hamburg-based Mooneye Studios absolutely gorgeous looking game, Lost Ember, now has an official release date (November 22, 2019 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One), a nice new trailer and more lovely art to look at. I’ll just shot up here and let those images and trailer do all the talking:

Some images for you? Okay, then:

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There’s a load of other images to run, but I stopped with these because I was taking too much time poring over the rest. I’ll get the rest up closer to the games release. Oh, a Switch version is in the works, so we’ll see how that turns out at some point.

-GW

Mega Cat Brings The Halloween Freaks Out, Retro Style

Want some classic-inspired Halloween fun? Mega Cat Studios has you covered like a freshly found corpse with these two games that look and play like NES classics of yore, but are available on Switch (and NES of you happen to own one or a compatible system). Fist to face combat, pixel pushing goodness and fun time await with this pair of titles:

 

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First up, is Creepy Brawlers ($4.99, eShop), an homage to the classic Punch-Out!! with a horror theme, monster and alien fighters and quite familiar (albeit very tough) fun. While it’s a single player only game, it’s cool enough that you’ll be passing around a controllers so everyone can get a turn. There’s a physical cart version for the NES if you have access to one and can run it without issues here.

 

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Next up, is HAUNTED: Halloween ’86 ($9.99), a side-scrolling platforming, beat-em-up adventure that’s kind of like the classic River City Ransom (Downtown – Nekketsu Monogatari) but with a horror vibe. Also single players, the game recalls the look and feel of classic NES games and is pretty much guaranteed to have you burning with nostalgia throughout. This one is only currently available digitally (it was initially released in 2016 as a cart version), so get it now if you like what you see.

Oh, and make sure to check out Mega Cat’s recent blog post on scary retro games and their free ebooks selection, as they’re more than just some folks who cook up a witch’s cauldron of retro games.

-GW

Games I Need to Play 3: The Beast Inside

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I’ll admit at first I thought it was a game about the wonderfully awful movie The Beast Within until I saw screenshots.

Well, what have we here? A photo-realistic horror themed mystery/adventure game that’s got a strange, sort of time travel thing going for it along with some amazing visuals and a lot of falling off stuff, for good measure. Oh, and it’s coming to PS4 and Xbox One at some point, which is good, as I hate upgrading my PC so frequently to play these games. Here’s a gallery and one of many trailers. You can see more on the Steam page where yes, you can buy the game and/or try the demo out.

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Developer Illusion Ray Studio and publisher Movie Games have quite the pair of fitting names, no? I’ve downloaded the demo, but haven’t gotten to try it yet thanks to a review backlog I’m sifting through, but this one will get some playtime soon, as it certainly had my attention as soon as I heard of it and looked it up. Here’s a look at a trailer (it’s all gameplay footage, too):

Alright, then. I guess I’ll get to that demo sooner or later (well, before the game hits consoles, at least).

-GW

Werewolves and Vampires on Most Everything Incoming from Bigben Games

Well, this is a fine thing indeed. It’s soon to be raining werewolves, vampires and other creatures of the night thanks to Bigben Games and a few developers hard at work on a few titles. On the werewolf (there, wolf!) front, you’re getting this:

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“You better stay away from him – he’ll rip your lungs out, Jim!”

Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood is in development with Cyanide Studio at the helm, and while only this art below and the animated image on the official website have been shown, both it and that teaser trailer give off a nice vibe of what to expect. The developer has been pretty good at delivering solid gameplay that’s gotten better with each game they make, so I’ll definitely be keeping an eye peeled for screenshots and actual gamepay as this moves closer to completion, This one’s coming in Summer 2020 for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

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As for those other creatures of the night…

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Zombie Army 4 Wants YOU (Or Else)

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Rebellion’s intense and gruesomely gory (and fun as hell) Zombie Army series (a mutated spin on its Sniper Elite series) is getting a fresh take and some icky, fitting enemies (the zombie shark demands attention!) in the Zombie Army 4: Dead War trailer below that’s definitely not for the squeamish. Me, I got a big grin on my face seeing what’s coming and yes, that game engine Rebellion has got me in awe of the zombie carnage on display. Uh, carnage to the zombies, that is. Nope, this game isn’t for the wee ones and sort of needs to be played at night with a good pair of headphones on for best results.

Some early alpha gameplay footage is below the jump, but yeah, it’s not for everyone. I also kind of doubled down and ran Rebellion’s older introduction to the franchise so you can see what to expect with the fourth entry. Hey, I was cleaning out my inbox as I’m almost out of space. I guess it’s a good thing I found that after all.

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Moons of Madness: It’s Not Made From Cheese, That’s for Sure

Funcom’s scary looking treat, Moons of Madness is out on PC for Halloween time (well, October 22nd, a week or so early), and there even a neat contest you can enter here with some frights to be had and awesome prizes to be won. But as good as it looks (and man, it looks really good), my poor backlog is telling me to wait for the console release in February 2020. It’s not that I don’t want to review it, mind you. In an effort to reduce my workload (and yep, stress level), I’ve decided to shift a few games to next year and while it’s a tough choice here, it’s also a good one at the end of the day, I think. I feel that a fresh review down the road gives a game like this a a nice boost if it’s one some console owners may have avoided because they haven’t a computer that can run it and might be keen on how it runs on their system of choice.

There’s also the chance that further optimization and any patches that a game needs will come to consoles that game a good-looking game such as this one even better (in terms of gameplay) as an overall experience. For the record, yes, I know the game might look less “perfect” as a console release. That said, the modern emphasis of graphics over gameplay with some makes no sense when a game manages to run fine and play well as a port (despite what one thinks about things like “perfect” resolution and the need to frequently tweak a PC to run things at optimum settings). “Blame the player AND the game”, as I heard an acquaintance say a few years back when a new PC game he’s bought was giving him grief when his driver-updated 3D card wasn’t capable to run a it without some figuring and fiddling.

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Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz HD Hands-On: It’s in the Monkey

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I’d be lying it I said I was good at this one right out of the gate, but that’s because it’s been a while since I’ve touched a Super Monkey Ball game. That said, I’m currently having a blast with the Switch review version of Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz HD (set for a US release on October 29). Sure it’s a HD rework of a 2006 Wii game with a nice HD fix-up and yes, some mini-games are MIA, but the story mode is quite lengthy, there’s online leaderboards and and couch co-op content and the core mechanics are pretty darn fun when you settle in for a spell. Here’s a trailer to look at for the Switch version (the game is also set for release on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One systems):

So far, I’m grinning like a loon and sweating like a pig when I safely make it through a stage, but as things get twisty and the maps get tougher, I want to give up for a few seconds each time I fail. But dang it, if the game keeps pulling me back in for more every single time. Must be those bananas or something. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to figure the second boss out – back with a review shortly.

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Feel free to go bananas if you like with a physical version of the game.

-GW