Call of Duty Advanced Warfare “Power Changes Everything” Trailer: Let’s You And Him Fight! Again.

Posted on September 24, 2014 by geelw

Ah, if only real world conflicts could be solved by some simple gaming away for a few hours until one side “loses.” Yeah, I’d be ALL for that instead of this stop and start unsteady war footing we keep finding ourselves mixed up in. Sure, the real world is indeed a complicated place, but you’d THINK that after centuries of either getting it all wrong or not learning from past mistakes, we’d figure out an easier (or at least more efficient) means of dealing with people we don’t like who do things we really don’t like. Of course, the more recent Call of Duty games have been a bit timely in asking a few of these questions in between bullets and bomb blasts, but I’d gather that the bulk of the millions who buy and play these games year after year might not care much about hot geopolitical topics interrupting their online gunplay and kill streaks galore. Granted, the games do get better and better from a production standpoint and it’s clear that Sledgehammer Games is doing this year’s installment up right for PS4 and Xbox One owners expecting the best visual quality.

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare hits retail outlets and digital delivery systems for PS3/PS4, Xbox 360/Xbox One and PC on October 3, 2014.

A (Not So) Gentle Reminder: Pirates Do Whatever The Heck They Want, Arrrr!

Posted on September 20, 2014 by geelw

So (Ouch!). Yesterday was International Talk Like A Pirate Day and for a while I’ve always managed to more or less avoid “celebrating” that non-holiday that’s become one too many people take seriously (Ouch!). Anyway, I thought I’d make it clean through the day and not HAVE to post a single eyepatch, booty, or “Arrrrr” reference and actually did so, going to bed around 2am or so with a clean conscience.

That didn’t last long thanks to something resembling a pair of plastic hammers thumping me on the head until I woke up (Ouch!).

It turns out those Skylanders toys from the hugely popular game series? Yeah, they’re REAL. And tend to get really annoyed when they get ignored (Ouch). So, here’s a nice, belated post to go do something piratey yesterday(Ouch!) or ALL the time, not just on that designated day. Why? Well, because (and in case you didn’t read the title of this post)… pirates do whatever the heck they want! (Ouch!)… “Arrrrr!” Hey, Activision? Can you come and get this little guy out of my house? Those plastic hammers may be tiny (and plastic), but they do leave little dents in everything he hits. Hey, (Ouch!) I’ll trade him back for a PS3 or Wii U copy of Skylanders Trap Team (coming to PS3/PS4, Xbox 360/Xbox One, Nintendo Wii/Wii U, Nintendo 3DS/2DS and Apple, Samsung, Amazon and Google tablets on October 5, 2014. Okay, is that enough? OUCH! Okay, okay… I’ll post the other video, too:

There, HAPPY now? (Ouch!) Okay, okay! AND I’ll buy the game too! (Great, now I’ll have that goofy song looping in me head allll dayyyyy, arrrrr!)

Pathologic Update: 17 Days To Go. Getting To Its Goal, Body By Body…

Posted on September 19, 2014 by geelw

Slowly but surely, this remake of the 2005 sleeper PC game Pathologic is getting funded via Kickstarter, so hop in and splash around those plague-riddled ponds if you want to see this come to fruition. I love the unsettling vibe this gives off, that slow-loading pistol (and if you didn’t squeak a tiny bit when the camera dipped up and that bird-suited thing was standing there, you’re a better person than I am) and the overall air of gloom that makes this one special. Then again, if this real life ebola thing gets into the country, we’ll all be doing that dance those quirky rejects from Mummenschanz are soon enough. Man, I hate it when reality intrudes on my gaming life. Hopefully this gets funded and finished before the planet goes all 12 Monkeys, ha and ha… *gulp!*

The Evil Within Tokyo Game Show 2014 Trailer: Run (or Roll!), Don’t Walk!

Posted on September 17, 2014 by geelw

Okay, I laughed out loud when I saw this trailer because, well.. come ON now, people. Wouldn’t YOU just have jumped in one of those wheelchairs and rolled the hell away from what was chasing you? Yeah, I thought so. I know I’d be BLAAAAZING down that dimly lit hallway popping wheelies power-sliding past obstacles and generally confusing the hell out of that monster or whatever is chasing my character. Then again, I tend to look for the humorous side to any horror game or film, so if anything, I’d die laughing before anything else got to my soon to be doomed avatar. The Evil Within is out for Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PC on Tuesday, October 14. That gives you enough time to stock up on clean underwear and maybe a few spare controllers in case you’re prone to dropping them when you get scared…

Good, Housekeeping!

Posted on September 14, 2014 by geelw

(thanks, dirtyworkUK!)

Well, maybe this is actually more of a generic post to say Sunday will be slow for them. Posts, that is. I’m doing some away team stuff today (playing Destiny at a friend’s place for a review using his speedy connection and PSN account) and generally keeping a low profile because it’s a busy week ahead and I want to expend as little energy as possible today. “But what about Destiny?” you ask? “Isn’t it EXCITING?!” You ask? Um… welll… it’s FUN, don’t get me wrong, folks. Oh, you’ll see in my review later this week. I do like it so far, but to quote a certain fake Harry: “A man’s got to know his limitations…” Anyway, back in a bit. Maybe I’ll even get in another post today if I get back early enough to ramble about something.

Resident Evil Revelations 2 Goes The Episodic Game Route. This Is A Good Thing.

Posted on September 10, 2014 by geelw

Excellent. I was wondering when Capcom would take a page from Telltale Games and start releasing episodic versions of its Resident Evil franchise, but I guess I can wonder no longer. Set for an early 2015 launch, the upcoming multi-platform game Resident Evil Revelations 2 is going to be divided into four digital chapters and like Telltale’s chapter-based game experiences, there will be the option to buy a retail disc version that compiles all the chapters plus any additional content Capcom plans to add to the package. I’m a physical media guy myself, so this is a great thing to see even if it means waiting until all four weekly episodes are out and people are spoiling the story all over the internet. With a game such as this (and Telltale’s The Walking Dead series), I tend to tune out those annoying blabbers who spill the beans anyway. So I won’t have a thing spoiled and I won’t have to go to gamer prison for beating someone senseless with an old controller for ruining any surprises Capcom has in store.

RER2 is currently in development for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC. Nice work in progress screens up there, huh? Anyway, back with more on this one soon…

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…

Tiny Troopers Joint Ops PS4/PS3/Vita: Simple, Hard to Pass Up Fun For Casual To Core Players

Posted on September 6, 2014 by geelw

I really liked the PC version of Kukouri Mobile’s former mobile-only game Tiny Troopers enough to give it a 90% rating, so as soon as I saw this upcoming PS3/PS4/Vita game that combines all the content from the first AND second games, is a cross-buy title and definitely a must-buy if you’re into fast-paced arcade-like games that start off simple and get more challenging as the levels zip by. I’m gathering this PSN game will be inexpensive enough to nudge some skeptics who’ve never played either of the games to give it a shot, but I guess we’ll see. Heck, if it’s as fun as the PC version was and contains that zombie add-on content, I think I may have to score it higher than I did the older game. Well, that’s how it SHOULD work if fairness is the name of the game (which it is here, folks)…

Rollers of the Realm Priced (YES!) and Dated (Sort Of): Get Ready To Roll This November!

Posted on September 4, 2014 by geelw

A mere penny under ten bucks for this Pinball/RPG hybrid AND it’s cross-buy/cross-save on the Vita and PS4? Yep, I’m in day one and you should be too. I’m all over this one and have been since I heard about it early in development because I’m a pinball maniac with no room for an actual machine in my place (boo!) and a love for developers who keep the silver ball flame going by every means necessary. I also love RPGs, so developer Phantom Compass had me from day one. Atlus picking this up to publish also made me grin a wee bit too much because this means it’s going to get that extra push and pedigree their best games get and hopefully score some point among the fans who’d normally avoid a western-produced game for some oddball reason.

Anyway, I’m betting on Rollers of the Realm being a total no-brainer buy when it finally hits PSN in November. Heck, even if you avoid digital games like the plague, I’d day lift your “nope” restrictions, drop the ten bucks on this PSN download and play a game that will surprise your socks off at how good and FUN it is.

Pathologic Reborn: Ice-Pick Lodge Remakes Its Flawed Classic As A Crowd-Funded Next-Gen Game

Posted on September 4, 2014 by geelw

While it had its share of problems, 2005’s first-person adventure/role-playing hybrid Pathologic was one of those “creep under your skin” game experiences that made quite an impression. Sure the graphics weren’t exactly “state of the art” for the time, but the surreal nature of the art style, interesting map layouts and unique character designs helped carry developer Ice-Pick Lodge’s vision of a strange world in the grasp of a deadly plague. While the game didn’t do all that well outside its native Russia, enough of a loyal fan base picked it up over the years to gain it a cult following and of course, these days that means there HAS to be a remake or sequel. Thankfully, I-PL has decided to reboot their original game idea and expand greatly upon it to include content planned for the original that was scrapped as well as create all-new content that’s guaranteed to get the game a second life as a more richly rewarding experience… Continue reading →