Eidos and Crystal Dynamics’ upcoming reboot is looking quite stellar. With a younger Lara, new “survival action” gameplay and scary cinematic moments galore, this was one of the games of E3 that some of us longtime Tomb Raider fans have waited for. Here’s a peek at some behind the scenes stuff (just in case you were curious as to how these game cinemas are created). Square Enix has quite a nice set of worldwide developed AAA games this year that makes them far more than just the guys behind Final Fantasy…
Oh – in case you still haven’t seen it, the full Turning Point trailer is below.
All the thrills and excitement of the actual race without the failed drug tests (shame, shame!), long hours staying up to catch results in your time zone or chance of heat stroke from standing in a sweaty crowd watching the actual event. Granted, a trip to Paree would indeed be lovely, but in this current economy, guys like me hae to settle for eating homemade Pommes Frites (yeah, they’re Belgian, but that word SOUNDS French to some Americans), drinking Perrier bought on sale and playing this game. Thank you Focus Interactive and Cyanide Studios! AND it’s on a damn game disc as well – woo hoo! (Yes, I hate download only games… with a passion).
If there was any doubt that Dragon Ball Z had staying power after all these years, Namco Bandai’s upcoming brawler should squash that like oh so many bugs under a hard heel. The game is intense, insane and from what I played last week at their NYC press event, pretty non-stop in terms of the all-out action fans expect. Looking even better than the anime it’s based on, the game might even get some non-DBZ fighting game fans to pick up a controller once they get a peek at the speed and visual flash of the battles. Yes, there are indeed quick time events in these fights, but both players can either get in attack or defense moves by being the fastest to jam on a certain button when prompted. The Super attacks are impressive and can absolutely turn the tide in battle, provided you’ve been beating on your opponent enough so your cinematic blow can get.
Controls are solid, as noted, the game looks fantastic (the huge destructible environments get blasted up pretty good) and yup, there are ridiculously fun boss fights that feel like something from a classic 3D platformer, memorizing pattern attacks and all. The boss demo ended JUST as things were getting good, so it looks as if we’ll have to wait until October to see how it all turns out. PS3 and Xbox 360, of course…
The bugs are back and badder then before thanks to developer Vicious Cycle and D3Publisher of America. Earth Defense Force Insect Armageddon manages to be a leaner, meaner, faster and in a few way, better game than its predecessor thanks to tweaks to the run ‘n gun formula that streamlines the number of missions yet enhances the gameplay. Controls are tight, the action is more reasonably paced (initially) for new players and for the most part, the addition of online play is not bad at all. Some gamers whose experience with this budget series began with EDF 2017 (and those who seem to think the game ONLY appeared on the 360) might find nit-picky faults with some elements of EDFIA. However, those of us who’ve been around since the series debut on the Japanese PlayStation 2 and/or love original developer Sandlot’s work on the franchise now have a new dev team to moon over because they’ve taken the gameplay and refined it for a just as fun (and at times, more fun) to play experience.
While its first console game (TimeShift) didn't exactly make developer Saber Interactive a household name among gamers (and neither did Will Rock on PC for that matter), it showed off the company's penchant for crafting slick proprietary engines that could pump out highly detailed, impressive looking visuals and great physics with relative ease. For their new game, Inversion, Saber has whipped up an all new (and even more gorgeous) engine that features even more stellar physics that go a long way in helping sell the game's amazing combination of free-fall and free-for-all shooting action. It's one thing to merely look at screens of Inversion and while watching gameplay footage enhances impressions significantly, it's only when you actually PLAY the game that you'll be totally floored by what Saber has created. What's here is sheer design brilliance married with edge of the seat action set in and around a game world where gravity can work either for or against you and your enemies.Read more »
Take a new peek at the game world and watch Eidos Montreal dev team members Jean-Francois Dugas, Jonathan Jacques-Belletete and Mary DeMarle discuss how the environments help drive the narrative and allow players to choose how they want to play the upcoming sci-fi RPG. August can’t come soon enough, I say. Square Enix is definitely on a roll this year.
Yes, yes… the game is in retail stores across North America on Tuesday, but here’s a peek at another UK trailer, this time focusing on stuff blowing up and falling apart extremely well indeed. I’ll post the awesome Survival/Field Guide tomorrow.
Namco Bandai’s upcoming PS3/360 flight shooter packs a serious action movie punch with some supremely visceral combat sequences, oil “bleeding” planes and plenty of destruction in and out of the sky. I say give these guys the Colony Wars IP (and some top-notch writers) and see what they can do with space combat. But then again, I tend to over think that sort of stuff a wee bit too much.
Crap. This means I’ll need to think about buying a 3DS after all. And here I am, trying to save up to get my damn passport renewed, pay for meds and a few other important things. Oh well… I guess I don’t need that extra kidney after all (and a 3DS IS cheaper than an iPad!)… The game looks pretty darn good so far (although you kind of don’t see that much of it in action, the visuals are pretty spectacular).
Here’s an example of a solid effort and helping some folks grow up a little. Some of the super hard-core (read: less intelligent) Insomniac fanboys, many who want the company to move backward into old IP territory have been practically shooting flames from their little ears ever since the learned their favorite company was going multi-playform and things got worse when their new partnership with EA revealed what’s looking like a cool little new IP, OverStrike. While I’d prefer to let the goons stew in their juices ’til they pop, Price is a nicer guy than I am as he went to the trouble to explain a bit how the real world works outside the confines on a TV set and the insides of certain small-brained creatures. Excellent. Now, lets hope some of these folks GET IT, move on and enjoy gaming on any console Insomniac makes games for rather than the sound of air escaping from their rant-filled lips and other orifices.
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 