No, Valve didn’t kick Gabe to the curb, kids – Next week, he’s off to see a Wizard of Oz named “Joe W-A” who actually raised 3 grand to fly Newell all the way Down Under, which is really cool. Hell, maybe I should start boycotting stuff and see what happens. Knowing me, not much will transpire other than I’d go without a LOT of games and other important stuff…
Ah well – press release, ahoy!
This week, lets take a little trip to one of Dragon Age: Origins’ huge cities, the capital of Ferelden, also known as Denerim. It’s a nice place to visit, but you all know how the rest of that old saying goes, especially if the real world is beckoning you away from more play time with BioWare’s upcoming epic Action/RPG. Well, grab that passport anyway, this is only a short hop today!
By the by, I missed an update regarding the game’s soundtrack, so I’ll just quickly report that the very talented Inon Zur is doing the music for the game. A well-respected composer of film, TV and game scores, he’s done some great work in games such as Shadow Ops: Red Mercury, Lineage II, Fallout 3, both Crysis titles and many others. Meanwhile, back at the travel agency, your cart is ready – shall we get on with the tour?
Platform: PSP/PSPgo
Developer: Hydrovision
Publisher: Playlogic
# of Players 1 (Wi-Fi: 1-2)
Rating: M (Mature)
Official Site
Score: B
Even if you’ve never played the original Obscure on the PC, PS2 or Xbox, Obscure: The Aftermath makes for a great slice of survival horror now available in portable form on the PSP. This scary single or co-op experience puts you in the shoes of a handful of college-age jock, loner and babe types who set to put an end to a deadly plague of sorts brought on by ingestion of some rather nasty black flowers. There’s a lot more to the plot than that, but this is one of those games where telling too much kills a few key plot twists. Despite a few visual bumps in the code, the game both looks and plays great on the handheld and overall, it’s a hellish ride well worth taking… provided you don’t mind the “B” movie silliness some of the dialog provides.
I thought this one sounded familiar… Montreal-based developer Wicked Studios’ DS exclusive Tactical RPG was initially announced for a June 2009 release, so I thought I missed out on it entirely. However, It turns out Majesco is actually publishing it on December 1, 2009, so here you go: the first game trailer and a nice batch of screenshots – enjoy!
I’m really liking the character customization aspects as well as the nice character art, which looks a little inspired a bit by the great Susumu Matsushita’s work. Hmmm… I feel another developer interview coming on. It looks as if I’m off to bug some PR folks…
Meet Subject Zero… don’t ogle her tattooed glory too long or she’s the last thing you’ll see… and no, you probably won’t die with a smile on your face, either. Mass Effect 2’s latest character reveal is this deadly lady who has “been around, ran with gangs, wiped out some gangs.” Yikes.
Updated intel from BioWare notes this:
Ah, it’s the ol’ “Cross platform hijinx that makes some console owners want to rip their hair out, but it’s all good in the end” department: Magnacarta 2 has gone gold for the Xbox 360 (and for now, ONLY the Xbox 360). The RPG series which got its start as a PC game in Korea followed up by a PlayStation 2 sequel (and a 2006 PSP port of the 2nd game which was never releases stateside) now gets its next installment as an Xbox 360 exclusive. Well, the 360 can use another decent JRPG, so I’m all aboard the MC2 train…
Press release below – images to come this weekend when I have more free time to post ’em. Yup, I can’t wait to play this one, as well…
Nice bit of a tease for Condemasters’ upcoming F1 2009 showing of the new Singapore Course. Color me impressed at that frame rate and number of cars on the track. Fingers crossed that it’s got true simulation as well as arcade aspects so everyone can dive in and play.
More on this one as new info arrives – stay tuned…
Let’s say you don’t already own a copy of L4D for the PC but you want to buy it NOW. Well then, pardner, boogie on over to Steam, sign up today and you can get L4D for 50% off of the retail price. You’ll be wiping out hordes of zombies within minutes and “Cha-ching!”, you just saved some money in the process! Of course, this is a LIMITED time deal, hoss – it expires October 1, 2009. SO get cookin’, chief.
As to that new DLC mentioned in the header – read on for details (links below as well):
Here we go – pretty much from this week onward, it’s going to be crazy in terms of new releases. Lots of top quality stuff this week along with a few sleepers.
Dead Space Extraction should creep you out with not only how good it looks “for a Wii game” but also with some really scary moments that give the game a nicely cinematic feel. Obscure: The Aftermath brings the teen horror flick to the PSP in fine form with co-op play and lots of monsters trying to kill the hell out of you and your AI (or second player controlled) partner.
Give Tornado Outbreak a whirl (it’s a lot of fun and not a Katamari Forever clone at all), Valhalla Knights Eldar Saga should please RPG fans who love to grind away for levels, The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road DS is one of the best-looking games on the handheld and a unique entry level JRPG variation on the classic book and film. Risen looks and plays wonderfully, so give it a try if you’re a PC role-player (360 owners have a few months more to wait for their version).
Midnight Club Los Angeles: Complete Edition is a great deal for racing fans of any stripe. Speaking of racers, if history is any indication, Gran Turismo PSP might boost up sales on the handheld a bit (as well as sell a few more PSP GO! units), Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days will wow the Square-heads while Battle of Giants: Dragons and Undead Knights look intriguing to me… I’ll have to look into getting review copies on those two.
Anyway, here you go…
It looks as if Namco Bandai has figured out one more new gaming equation: Ninja Theory + Andy Serkis = one hell of an interesting game experience. Enslaved is the next game project the respected Heavenly Sword developer is currently working on for a 2010 release on both the PS3 and Xbox 360 and based on the concept art and early screens, the game is looking mighty fine indeed.
Aesthetically, I’m not sure if the Jak meets Wolverine look of Monkey clicks until I see the game in action, but it’s a definite “Yes!” in my book for Trip’s athletic yet “normal” figure (i.e., no pudding-filled pontoons stuck to her chest). Also, the bigger questions in the end to some may be this: can Ninja Theory deliver a second killer game, this time out, successfully as a cross platform release while making sure it looks equally good on both consoles? My money says yes they can. Anyway, to the press release!
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 