Two more vignettes from SMSD showing off the great visuals and a bit of fun first-person beat-’em-up action (which works very nicely as a pre-boss battle mini-game, by the way).
Looks like Bethsoft and Obsidain are taking no chances here. The more loyal (or overly obsessive perfectionists who want every aspect preserved as close to the original games as humanly possible) fans of the Fallout series form the beginning should definitely be pleased now that New Vegas’ voice cast has been announced. Cue the press release:
“The Fallout franchise has taken narratives in interactive entertainment to the next level, and we could not be more excited about the all-new celebrity lineup for Fallout: New Vegas,” said Pete Hines, Vice President of PR and Marketing for Bethesda Softworks. “The voice acting provided by these actors helps drive the compelling and immersive story of Fallout and further adds to the overall gameplay experience.”
Ron Perlman returns to voice the narrator in Fallout: New Vegas, a role he has played in every major Fallout game to date. Matthew Perry plays Benny, a smooth-talking, two faced gangster, and Wayne Newton takes on the role as “Mr. New Vegas,” the radio DJ of the Mojave Wasteland.
Three celebrities take on roles as playable companions in Fallout: New Vegas: Danny Trejo is Raul the Ghoul, a mechanic and former gunslinger; Zach Levi is Arcade, a member of the Followers of the Apocalypse who hides a mysterious past, and Felicia Day is Veronica, a sarcastic Brotherhood of Steel scribe.
The epic cast continues with Kris Kristofferson as Chief Hanlon, a grizzled solider at the end of his career, and Rene Auberjonois as the enigmatic and reclusive Mr. House. Michael Dorn reprises his role as Marcus, an intelligent super mutant, who was last seen in 1998’s Fallout® 2; John Doman is Caesar, the charismatic and powerful dictator at the head of Caesar’s Legion. William Sadler plays Victor, a friendly robot with the personality of an old fashioned cowboy.
In addition to this star-studded cast, players can expect to hear even more celebrity cameos throughout the world of Fallout: New Vegas.
Fallout: New Vegas hits retail on October 19, 2010 for the PS3 and Xbox 360 and October 22, 2010 for Windows.
Here’s a quick peek at a bit of Vulture shock from Activision’s upcoming Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. My hands-on preview is going up shortly. Let’s just say that Quebec-based developer Beenox can really rock the consoles when they get the chance to cut loose and have fun.
Activision's Spider-Man titles have swung high and low over the past couple of console cycles, but the upcoming Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions just might be the ultimate Spider-Man game. Gone are the overly large open-world maps and timed balloon rescue missions, yet levels are definitely big enough to play around in and have a blast with. The four distinct art styles look spectacular and although each Spidey here has the same move set, the different time periods will have players taking a more stealthy approach in one era or going at enemies full-tilt in the next. Canadian developer Beenox has finally gotten to stretch their wings and go all out in terms of visuals with the results coming together into a dynamic, amazingly fluid game that Spidey fans new or old will want to jump right into.
While last year's Tony Hawk: RIDE wasn't perfect, it was quite clear that the development teams behind the peripheral-driven skateboard game were onto something cool. For this year's installment, Tony Hawk SHRED, developers Buzz Monkey (Wii) and Robomoto (PS3/360) have cooked up a much more balanced, fun to play and quite exhilarating game experience that's really looking like a guaranteed winner for board newbies and experts alike.
Platform: PS3/Xbox 360
Developer: Game Republic
# of Players: 1-2
Rating: T (Teen)
Score: C+
While Clash of the Titans is far from gaming perfection, you have to at least give developer Game Republic credit for their lengthy, overly ambitious take on the usual too brief licensed movie game experience. There’s an arcade-like combat system here that’s simple enough for anyone to pick up and play along with a bit of depth for the obsessive thanks to the ability to grab and acquire dozens of upgradable enemy weapons. On the higher difficulty levels, some enemies and bosses can be quite tough to take down in a timely manner. However on the easiest setting, skilled players can breeze by plenty of maps before they run into anything really challenging.
Still, unlike a great deal of movie-based games, there’s a lot of work do before you see the ending. With at least 20 hours of action here, only those willing to sink a good deal of time into the game will see everything it has to offer, particularly if you’re into collecting Achievements or Trophies. There are a few very light RPG elements, over 80 weapons to collect, a few co-op oriented missions and even a Challenge mode that requires you to beat down bosses you’ve previously bested. As long as you go into this one not expecting to be wowed by stunning originality all around, the game can be strangely compelling in an old-school fashion.
The really pesky part about COTT is that it can be fun in spurts, but in the end it tries too hard to be accessible at the expense of any sort of character or plot depth. It almost seems as if Game Republic started the project as a more tightly focused Action/RPG experience geared solely toward one player, but along the way some ideas (such as complete co-op play throughout the main game) didn’t gel completely. You’ll get loads of side quests that revolve around hoofing it through large environments and killing waves of enemies before you can grab the item you’re sent to retrieve.
Granted, this sort of chase ‘n chop questing has been par for the genre course for ages. At the end of the day, don’t expect the game to blow you away with anything new and exciting. You’re just beating down yet another pack of angry beasties before they do the same to you, collecting your reward and moving on to the next NPC in need. In terms of controls, moves aren’t hard to pull off at all and the game can be fun when everything works as it should. The problem is, the negative points get in the way of enjoying much of the game to the point of overwhelming the experience.
As you go through the game, you’ll be able to choose an AI partner that has something of a short attention span combined with the ability to get killed at the most inopportune of times. While calling over a buddy and plugging in a second controller sounds like it’s a great way to solve that particular problem, not every mission in the game is co-op or AI partner enabled. That and both players are confined to one screen, making something like decent camera control a wee bit impossible. It’s not as if Game Republic hasn’t been around long enough (and hasn’t made a few respectably solid games) to know how to deal with these camera and ranged weapon issues. It’s just a bit surprising to see this mostly simple but fun game experience hampered by stuff like this.
As a whole, the game can be quite enjoyable as long as you judge it on its own merits and not compare it to other games on the market. Unfortunately, that’s what’s going to happen with pretty much any action-based game that even remotely resembles a certain bigger-budgeted PS2/PS3/PSP exclusive franchise. As a gaming old-timer, I actually see more comparison to ancient arcade classics such as the Rastan or Rygar games, Dungeon Magic and a few other oldies I can recall spending way too much money on trying to beat in single sittings.
In the end, whether or not reliving the days of yore is worth sixty bucks is completely up to you, dear reader. I certainly enjoyed playing through Clash of the Titans once (plus a bunch of Challenge missions) and I’ll probably whip it out and go through it again at some point down the road. Granted, the remake wasn’t the most spectacular of cinematic experiences (but it was certainly more fun to watch than the original), but at least the game fits that mindless summer fun mold almost to a T.
Here’s a quick look at some of the all-out arcade shooting action found in the PS3 version of Time Crisis: Razing Storm. Namco Bandai is packing in a ton of content for fans of the series, the PS Move functionality is flawless and the bonus content (Deadstorm Pirates and Time Crisis 4) makes this package a must-have. And yup, Guncon 3 support is onboard.
More magnificently (and only mildly) gory Splatterhouse screens for you to pore over. This one is looking better and better with each new batch. Keep those fingers and toes crossed that we actually see this one hit stores before the end of the year. I can’t wait to put Rick through his paces, that’s for sure…
With 2K Games set to strong-arm Mafia II into stores on August 24, I had the opportunity to play a demo of the PS3 version at Sony’s Holiday showcase in NYC. The build had a brief taste of game’s driving and shooting mechanics and featured spectacular visuals, deadly enemy AI, partially destructible environments and some excellently acted and voiced cinematic sequences. So far, 2K’s Czech studios has crafted a dynamic, violent crime saga with what’s looking to be a richly developed plot. Granted, a great deal of what’s here is clearly inspired by Rockstar’s epic GTA juggernaut. However, the time period and overall visual quality of Mafia II’s Empire Bay looks as it will be a bit more realistic in some aspects.
“Disturbingly spectacular” were the first two things I thought of upon seeing Dead Space 2 in action and after playing through the demo build, let’s just say that Visceral Games is going to be responsible for a lot of wet couches and floors when the game finally ships early next year. The demo was both fantastic to look at and great, challenging fun that had the small area always packed with editor-types crowded around watching other play as they waited their turn. As great as the original was, Visceral is going all out to insure that the sequel is even more cinematic without pulling players out of the action.
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 