The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing Gets A Beta – Give It A Shot, I Say…

NeoCore Games’ upcoming action RPG, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing, is headed into its beta stage as a pre-order product the developer has set up as a crowdfunded work in progress that allows interested players to pony up a fee for access that will net them a final copy when the game is completed and released in May. For a minimum payment of $15, you’ll get to play that beta version on Steam (and comment on it, no doubt) and there are payment tiers all the way up to $1000 (which gets you four copies of the game, your name in the credits and portrait in a secret boss level).

Telltale Game’s Poker Night At The Inventory 2: The Joke(r)’s On Me…

Yeah, yeah – I was SO wrong about this one and yes, I did go break out that last crow pie from the freezer. Eh, no big deal though, as I don’t play poker at all and will probably not buy this one even at the measly five bucks it’s going to cost. Hey, but don’t let me stop you from tossing that digital fin into Telltale’s coffers. It sure looks like fun and yes, those pop cultchah characters from certain games and movies are making the fans drool and moon like teenage boys peeking over the fence at their hot next door neighbor’s sunbathing routine. Ewww… this post went south quicker than usual, huh? OK, but if you’re THAT hardcore a poker player, you’ve probably seen a few boobs from all those years playing. And some of them even had the nerve to try and bluff when you knew they weren’t holding anything close to a good hand. See what I did there? SAVE! OK, I’m outta here… well, for THIS post…

Rollers of the Realm: Pinball, Puzzle & RPG? Three Tastes That Taste Great Together!

I’ll admit my eyebrow went flying up into the air for a second when I heard about Rollers of the Realm, but after a look around at the video above and the official site, I’m all in. Yeah, developer Phantom Compass (and friends) currently only has this set to hit PC and certain phone and tablet-shaped portable devices, but I think this one could be the new Puzzle Quest if it hits consoles as well at some point down the road. Sure, it’ll cost more to buy if it’s on the PS3 and Vita va PSN, Wii U and 3DS eShop or the Xbox 360 through XBLA. But hey, we console gamers are USED to paying more for some games because we know it generally costs more to bring them over with new features. Granted, I’d prefer this on a disc or game card, but that’s not going to happen at all, I’d bet. So a nice and shiny HD download is perfectly fine by me. I’ll be keeping an eye on this one, that’s for sure…

There’s A Rebellion Afoot: Sniper Elite Series On Sale NOW On Steam!

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So, it seems that you’re not doing anything at the moment (hey, if you’re reading this site, that counts… er, ha ha?) and you KNOW you want to go scope out a bombed-out Berlin in order to take out a bunch of Nazis clinging to their last hope for some kind of magical victory. You also happen to have a decent gaming PC and a Steam account. Therefore, the Allied High Command (or UK developer Rebellion) orders you to click on over to the Steam Store and BUY one, two or ALL of their Sniper Elite series, which just so happens to be on sale for the next… oh, 18 hours or so. This weekend sale (seriously, the clock it TICKING!) gets you access to the original Sniper Elite, Sniper Elite V2 with all its DLC and the mighty gory (well, gorier, as all the games are quite not for the squeamish types) Sniper Elite: Nazi Zombie Army, which is still the award winner for “How can you NOT wonder what this one’s about and/or want to play it immediately upon hearing that title?” for this year (so far).

What, you’re still here? Get going! Those Nazis and Nazi Zombies aren’t going to snipe themselves, you know…

Bundle Stars Offers Up A One-Two Punch of MORE Indie Bargains!

 

Holy Cats 2: those crazies at Bundle Stars are doing it again. The UK-based indie site is offering up two more ten game deals for an insane price point. Pay what you want for two, pay $5 (Well, about $6.35 adjusted, but STILL an excellent deal) for TEN games and walk away with some cool indie games you may never have heard of that offer up dozens of hours of gameplay. Both bundles this week offer up an amazing mix of genres and visual styles. Some are great, some aren’t, but for the money, you can play them ALL and see what tickles your fancy, I say.

 

Twist my arm (gently, now – I have games to review and need both hands intact!) and I’d reveal that I’m more partial to Bundle 6 (“Catnip”), as it has a few titles I’ve wanted to try out plus some fun puzzle games. On the other hand, if you’re more in the mood for strategy, zombies galore, one online game and a handful of other games that require a slightly better system to run (well, better than what I currently use, Indie Jam #2 may be more up your alley, cats. Of course, you should get BOTH, so you can make use of those Steam and Desura accounts you’ve been not dinking around with, right?

OK, enough blabbing on this end – go get some games and go get some gaming done. You look like you can use it after the week you had, right?

 

Deal of the Week! Bundle Stars Brings More Overkill to The Indie Game Bundling Scene…

 

bundlestars_logoOK, you head looks too tightly attached to your neck today, so here’s an amazing offer to get it spinning really fast. Put on a hat and sit in a room with a low ceiling before reading further. All set? Good. FIRST: Go to the Bundle Stars Facebook Page NOW, “Like” the page, agree to that App TOS and *BOOM!* You get Dark Matter (a fun PC space shooter) for FREE. Download that, then boogie on over to the Bundle Stars site and prepare to keel over and thank me later. Got a measly five virtual dollars in an account somewhere? You can get a whopping TEN more PC games for that fiver (Yaaaaah! Your head just flew off your neck, right? Go get it back and sit down – I’ll wait) and that ten games includes some real winners and not much “filler”, especially if you’re a more open-minded gamer looking to shake up your library or try something new.

There are TWO different bundles to choose from – I prefer the variety in Bundle Five (which has seventeen days of availability to go) over Bundle Four (this one expires in three days) but hey, it may be the opposite for you or you over there on the right. You can indeed nab all those games for five bucks, pay less for two or more if you want more of your money to go to charity. Heck, you can even buy these as GIFTS for that picky gamer on your “I dunno what a gamer wants!” list and see what happens. Hopefully they have a Steam and/or Desura account (or you do if you’re getting these for yourself). Anyway, pay up and get to the downloading, installing and PLAYING part. You won’t come up for air for weeks, people will think you’re on vacation or something and you’ll be educating yourself about some fun titles you’d have otherwise avoided. Sound like a plan? Well, stop reading and get clicking, I say!

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Behind the Scenes: A Fantasy Trip for Today…

 

Hey! Wouldn’t you like to be on a nice vacation right about now? OK, let’s go! Let’s say, hmmm… we’re now in Sweden with Josef Fares at Starbreeze Studios talking a little more about their unique game collaboration, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons coming to Windows PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 courtesy of publisher 505 Games? OK, OK… sitting in another room that’s different from the room you’re in now may not be much of a holiday at first glance, but think outside the box (or outside the building, in this case) and you’re on the way to your new destination with a fresh outlook. Um, Har en fantastisk semester – inte äta för mycket korv!

Retro City Rampage Is Five Bucks on Steam. You Know What That Means, Right?

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Yeah, it means that’s a sale that won’t last forever and yes, you should drop EVERYTHING (well, except whatever you’re reading this post on, as that’s a bit dumb to have your phone/tablet/laptop/home PC/converted UNIVAC you picked up for two bucks on eBay {with free shipping? What a deal!} fall to the ground and break) and BUY THIS GAME. Seriously, If you like to laugh and love retro games, you’ll probably die laughing with a controller in your hands. If you hate to laugh but like retro games, you’ll crack a smile after far too long out of practice and probably scare your cat or dog or the neighbors in the process. Usually, the only thing you see at 67% off are day-old donuts and dented cans at the supermarket, but Retro City Rampage gives you ZERO chance of food poisoning or too many cat-scented old ladies beating you in the head with their canes to get to that tin of tuna surprise (yum-o!).

Besides, you look like you could use a good bargain today as I know you spent too much on those new shoes and are feeling a bit guilty about it…

Transistor: Supergiant Games’ Next WIP (PLUS, Buy Bastion Cheap If You Haven’t Yet!)

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Transistor_19-mar-2013_01Meet Red, heroine of Supergiant Games‘ currently in development action/RPG, Transistor. That’s a mighty big sword she’s swinging, isn’t it? Turns out that weapon is integral to the plot, as it was previously used in an attempt to kill the poor gal, but she survived and is out to find out who wanted her dead and why they used such a damn big butter knife when an accidentally dropped piano would have done the job. OK, so THAT piano stuff is probably not part of the plot (I hope), but those of you who played Supergiant’s amazing Bastion on any platform it ended up on know that Transistor will be a spectacular and memorable experience. Keep an eye on this one, folks – it’s going to be one for the ages, I predict…

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If You’ve Wanted A Resident Evil 6 x Left 4 Dead, Capcom and Valve Are Quite Obliging…

 

Well, this kind of came out of Nowhereland, but it’s really cool for fans of both franchises as well as those who’ve avoided either for whatever reason. Granted, the biggest issue is this is a PC-only thing for the time being, as L4D is a PC (and Xbox 360 exclusive). Microsoft’s exclusivity headlock on the series aside, I’m still trying to figure out who at Valve thought being joined at the hip to a single console with this zombie-busting masterwork would be a good idea forever and a day, as there are a few million Sony fans who’d LOVE to finally play both games in the award winning co-op and multiplayer-centric series on the PS3/PS4 (and yes, a custom Vita version would sell like gangbusters as well).

 

 

Feh. Perhaps ONE of these days the industry will figure out that more money can be made across multiple platforms if something is done right and all that legal nonsense regarding exclusivity go right out the window with DRM and analysts who over-speculate some game studios right out of business when a game doesn’t meet some ridiculous target even though it moves a few million units…