Need For Speed Most Wanted: Criterion Clearly Hasn’t Burned Out Yet…

Posted on October 8, 2012 by geelw

It’s been a ton of fun playing this upcoming competition-based racer at press events and it’s equally fun watching people play, especially those new to the crazed competition Criterion has created. You’ll be fighting for every challenge, as the game’s non-stop pace, open world and constant need for, well, SPEED n the bulk of the events will keep your fingers on their toes constantly. This could be the perfect party game for many and it’s definitely going to get people obsessively checking their Autolog scores or fearing the updates with their former best times smashed by someone else (probably within seconds or minutes). Naturally, if you hate being beaten, you can always play the game offline against the AI, but this is exactly the sort of game that encourages you to dive in with as many other live players as possible.

007 Legends Opening Credits Cinematic: More Bond-age Makes Me Smile…

Posted on October 6, 2012 by geelw

Four games into the license and Activision has done this long-running franchise right by shaking and stirring things up with solid results. Eurocom’s new Bond game could very well be the best one to date this console cycle thanks to its story-based structure that puts today’s 007 (Daniel Craig) through his paces in re-imagined missions from five of the best Bond films (plus a DLC mission based on the upcoming SKYFALL). The dev team is clearly at the top of their game here, so expect all the action, gadgets and mayhem of a James Bod adventure, but a lot more interactive, as you’re not sitting on the couch rooting for James to not get bumped off by Goldfinger below or any of the other villains classic to current coming your way October 16 for PS3 and Xbox 360.

Now, someone tell me Eurocom has a PS Vita dev kit humming away somewhere in their offices, as I’d really LOVE to see what they can do with Mr. Bond on that HD handheld…

WRC 3 The Game Trailers: No Love For Rally Fans In The US, But Maybe Something Steamy?

Posted on October 5, 2012 by geelw

Milestone has been around for a while making racing games, but despite all their work on assorted road, rally and motorcycle games, has never really made a name for themselves outside Europe. This will hopefully change up a bit as WRC 3 slides into stores there and a few folks import the game here and sing its praises. Hell, we AL:L could use a decent rally game that’s not an advertisement for a specific car, driver and race style that’s not rallying. I’m still hoping Evolution Studios gets back in the game one of these days or perhaps some of the folks at Warthog who brought the annoyingly tough to master (but eventually rewarding) Richard Burns Rally to consoles and PC’s a while back. Granted, Burns is no longer with us, so it would need to be called something else (or the term “ghost car” would have a new meaning -O o -).

Hmmm… well, it IS PS3 and Vita bound and those versions shouldn’t be region-locked, so… it looks as if I’ll be importing this at some point to get my fix of tiny cars flying around slippery corners with nothing but the wind (and some good driving) keeping them from sailing off the edge. Yeah, yeah, Milestone wants to get this on Steam Greenlight as a worldwide release, but I don’t have a super fast PC to play this on should it get accepted. Besides, I like a bit of distance from the screen when I play a game like this… and a retail package I can put a disc in when I’m not glued to the TV.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown Launch Trailer: “Our Last Hope” Keeps Those Aliens’ Days Numbered…

Posted on October 5, 2012 by geelw

2K Games and Firaxis are about to make a ton of gamers happy campers indeed with this upcoming reboot of the turn-based strategy classic and this should be one of those games that becomes highly regarded among new and old genre fans. Sadly and not so amusingly enough, rumors have it that the highly stylized FPS origin story (which has vanished off the radar for far too long), has been whined and focus-grouped dined into a watered down (and probably DLC-only) version of the turn-based game above with squad-based third-person gameplay. Talk about a developer not being able to do the game they set out to do in the first place. Great. Score another “victory!” for those who want to piss on creativity because they think one genre is “inferior” to another or ONLY caters to ONE type of player. System Shock, Thief, Half-Life, Arx Fatalis, Anvil of Dawn and other excellent POV titles are more that solid examples of smart “shooters” that were classics of their times is all I’ll say…

Anyway, I hope we at LEAST get something like a demo pr something PLAYABLE made available of the old version of this game before it got sent to development hell. Granted, it probably would have been dead at launch only to be rediscovered as one more “Hey! This game isn’t bad at all!” bargain bin special, but I guess 2K doesn’t want to deal with that factor (even after so much has already been spent on development). Feh. Sometimes, fans aren’t the smartest sticks in the shed because they hate things that may actually work well in a certain context they can’t wrap their heads around until they actually PLAY it. Same old hamburger and fries again? Sure!

Of Orcs & Men “Buddy” Trailer: On the Road to Sleeper Hitsville? We shall see…

Posted on October 5, 2012 by geelw

With about a week to go before launch, I really haven’t seen much about this one. That may or may not be a good thing depending on who you ask. While it’s going to be buried in the juggernaut of more hyped launches this month and next, i think that if the game is good, it will no doubt find an audience over time (the way many of these RPGs do with fans who like seeing fantasy games that try to do things differently). If, on the other hand, the game is being skipped into stores like an assassin’s blade through the ribs of some unsuspecting target because it’s rough around the edges, then it’s a quick trip to the bargain bin or worse, a slow death as yet another fine game that took a lot of people a long time to do goes under appreciated. Hopefully, Focus Home Interactive’s PR folk here will be willing to let some of us interested types see what’s what and let you know, but I have no qualms about shelling out full price for a game that’s interesting enough to keep my interest for longer than some FPS or overblown titles with bigger budgets and less to do at the end of the day…

Tomb Raider: The Final Hours #2: Crystal Dynamics Gives Lara More Lift…

Posted on October 3, 2012 by geelw

Second part in the “making of” series collaboration between Crystal Dynamics games journalist Geoff Keighley and hosted Zachary Levi (one of those actor/gamer types you probably know from some TV show or movie. I don’t know him, as I’m too busy playing too many games to pay attention to Hollywood types). This time out, it’s a look at the game’s story and what went into creating it. The “survival adventure” element and new take on the character will be the draw for me (OK, the amazing visuals are nothing to sneeze at) and I hope that this “reboot” gets the appropriate praise for what it does right and the proper amount of criticism for anything it misses. Of course, if poor Lara misses those jumps too many times, it’s back down to the depths of the bargain bin, right? Then again, I’m betting this will be light years better than some of the lesser games in the series older days. Angel of Darkness, anyone?

Gallery: Brothers – A Tale of Two Sons

Posted on October 2, 2012 by geelw

OK, a mere six early screenshots isn’t much, but the gorgeous teaser video above for Brothers – A Tale of Two Sons makes up for that, I’d say. After a long time away doing quality shooters set in gritty modern and futuristic locations, Uppsala, Sweden-based developer Starbreeze Studios is headed back into the more fantasy-themed worlds they started out making. Granted, their very first game, Knights of the Temple: Infernal Crusade (PC, Xbox, PS2 and Game Cube) took place in a gritty medieval setting, but their second game, Enclave (Xbox) was set in some a pretty interesting (and yes, gritty) locations. This new game, set to hit PSN, Xbox Live Arcade and Steam in 2013 has a richer, more stylized look to it that recalls a tiny bit of the Fable series but with more of Starbreeze’s technical polish. Unreal-powered loveliness aside, I’ll need to get my grubby (or is that gritty?) paws on a build for some hands-on time. 505 Games has been good about letting me know when they’re in the city (playing a demo of Naughty Bear: Panic in Paradise was a highlight of last month for me), so I’m expecting a little bird at my window when they’re ready to show off their new baby. I can’t wait…

Edit: I had a R.J. McReady monent there, heh (+5 points if you get that joke)- Starbreeze isn’t Finnish, but they’re based out of Sweden. Oops!

Ahoy! Once Piece Pirate Warriors Ships Out Via PSN (Arrrrr!)

Posted on September 30, 2012 by geelw

Now, I could make a couple of REALLY corny piracy jokes about the US version of this hit game NOT being available on a disc, meaning the poor digital pirates can’t even play the game they don’t want to buy or something like that, but I won’t. Anyway, One Piece Pirate Warriors, the latest anime franchise to go the Dynasty Warriors route id out NOW and quite spectacular stuff. As for why it’s not a CD in a case, well… among other things, mega-success in Japan doesn’t always translate to that same number of sales here and yes, anime games like One Piece are indeed a niche inside of a niche (or much smaller than than even the most rabid fan would want to know), so here we are. Granted, it’s another sad case of some people being able to play this instant classic, and some that can’t even if they wanted to.

It’s the current economy more than it is Namco Bandai wanting to piss you off, folks. That said, the move to digital is becoming a bigger problem as more games head that way without letting fans in on why, so I hope the powers that be in the industry in general finally quit it with the smoke and mirrors and “everyone is downloading!” crap and get into letting people with money but crappy online connections have the means to BUY their games instead of complaining that they can’t do so.

GRID 2 Pre-Alpha Footage: It’s A Gas (With Many Miles To Go)…

Posted on September 30, 2012 by geelw

Nice (and EARLY, as in pre-alpha gameplay) work in progress showing off Codemasters’ attention to detail and what looks like another great racer. There’s still a great deal of work to be done, but I’m one of those gamers that can look at an early build and see how things will fall into place. If this sequel builds on the ground laid by the first GRID and adds all the proper bells and whistles, it’s going to be one of the better racers in a too-crowded genre. Fingers crossed and foot on the pedal, I’ll be waiting for updates…

Resident Evil 6 TGS Trailer: The Final Fear Is Almost Here…

Posted on September 29, 2012 by geelw

Well, OK… it’s a great bet that Resident Evil 6 probably won’t be the LAST numbered game in Capcom’s ongoing undead saga, but it’s absolutely the most ambitious to date, packing in a huge globe-spanning campaign and the most interesting set of playable old and new characters right out of the gate. From what I’ve played at press events and through the recent demos, this kitchen sink approach to development is working on many fronts with a game that is at turns, action packed when it counts, scary and intentionally slow-paced where it needs to be (but not intensely so) and full of plot twists, new enemy types and some of the most satisfying gameplay in the franchise’s history. I have the feeling that good or bad, this will be the most discussed RE game for quite some time after its October 2, 2012 release.