This week it’s Gun Monkeys, free of charge on Steam. Stop running around the room for a minute and pay attention for a second! If you want in on this wacky physics-based multiplayer online run ‘n gun shooter/platformer featuring procedurally generated levels and yes, monkeys with guns (and nope, it’s NOT at all related to the new Planet of the Apes film, thank you for asking), just click on over to the PC Gamer magazine site and in a few more clicks (provided you have a Steam account, facebook page and a PC capable of running this), it’s ALL YOURS! Yes, that’s a MILLION games codes. For FREE. Worldwide! Woooooo!
I think someone at Codemasters is psychic. Last week, I broke out both Colin McRae Rally and Colin McRae Rally 2.0 just to dive in for a bit and see if they still held up today and yes indeed, they do. While the series went through some big changes as the series moved to new platforms, there was always a solid sense of fun and challenge that made each installment thrilling to blaze through. When the series changed its name to DiRT and its direction to a “cooler” racer in order to rope in younger fans of the X Games or other extreme sports, things definitely slid a bit sideways. The last few installments are all great looking games, but to me, there’s something missing… a certain spirit, if you will. Granted, Colin McRae is no longer with us, so that’s probably the missing element those later games haven’t been able to capture. Seeing that intro video above and playing the game for a little while made me hope Codemasters will go back to the drawing board and deliver a rally game that’s as fun and wickedly addictive as the first few in the series. Strip it down, but make it rich with detail, lose the big social focus (or make it completely optional) and maybe even bring back the goofy bonuses from the older titles just because it’s great to see a surprise ride or three after a ton of hard work.
Initially, I’d thought this was going to be one of those online only games or an expansion to The Lord of the Rings Online, so it got sent to the bottom of my list of games I was interested in this year. Well, as this years E3 revealed, I need to pay a lot more attention. Monolith Studios is making what looks to be a really cool action game using the Rings license for current and next-generation platforms that’s worth taking a longer look at, so here you go – the first of a few making of videos. Enjoy!
Yikes. I have most of these already so I most likely will skip this sale, but if you’ve ever wanted to try a bunch of classic to current popular or not so popular but worth your time and money role playing games, well… here you go. 60% off oldies but goodies such as King of Dragon Pass, Lords of Midnight, and Doomdark’s Revenge.
The choice is all yours, of course. Grab one, a few, or grab them all and set your time machine so that you can play through all you’ve bought at your leisure before zapping yourself back in time to the present or perhaps the day before you bought them so you can say you didn’t spend a dime, but somehow still have all those games on your hard drive. Well, that’s how it would work in the movie version, folks. Anyway, you have about 48 hours to take advantage of this sale, so get to it if you see something there that floats your boat…
Hey, Kids! Wanna know how video games are made? Well, this video doesn’t go into ALL the not so gory at all details, but it IS a fun watch if you’re intrigued. Gearbox Software seems to be a fun enough place to work, although some gamers with too much time on their hands and rickety soap boxes to stand on will give them eternal grief for at least two games they’ve worked on until the Earth rolls off its axis. Me, I just move forward and keep an eye on what they’re doing next. Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel isn’t made entirely by the studio, but you know 2K Australia is using what Gearbox has created in this collaboration to whip up this spaced-out loot frenzy that happens to take place in the fun-tastic Borderlands universe.
Given that this one is only on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC, I’m betting some of you are kind of ticked off that you traded in that “old” console in trade for a newer one, right? Oh well. Next time, don’t trade in or give away any system until you ONLY see budget games coming out for it. Or even better, NO games at all. That way you’re SURE there are no surprises coming down the pike…
Not a true “sequel” to the fan-favorite Ar Tonelico games on the PlayStation 2, Tecmo Koei’s upcoming Ar nosurge: Ode to an Unknown Star uses enough elements from those games and is set in the same universe, allowing fans of those games to dive right on in with relative ease. Interestingly enough, Ar nosurge is actually the sequel to a PlayStation Vita game never released outside Asia called Ciel nosurge, an episodic adventure/sim that had its first chapter released on a game card, another other nine DLC chapters since and twelve planned total chapters when all is said and done later this year.
Of course, the chances of Ciel nosurge coming out here are about zero, but big thanks go out to Tecmo Koei for getting Gust’s latest PS3 game out and localized relatively quickly. The Japanese version arrived in March there and North America and Europe will be getting English versions in September. As you can see on the official site, the “seven volumes” of screen shots as well as the the character and background art look quite lovely indeed. Granted, the game won’t be for all tastes what with its semi-dressed sort of machine-like ladies and certain sequences that will be easily misunderstood by those who judge content solely by game screens and not actually playing the game. Nonetheless, it’s great to see yet another JRPG that blends 2D and 3D art styles so well coming for Sony’s still strong “old” console. This one’s added to my “Shut Up & Play It!” list…
Well, I guess there’s a pre-order in my future after all, but as noted yesterday, I really hope that Sega and developer The Creative Assembly decide to make BOTH of those DLC packs permanent and available to everyone who wants them at some point. I just can’t see them vanishing into the ether forever a year or less down the road like the content in that last Aliens game a lot of people seemed to dislike too much. Anyway, this is a completely different game and a completely different dev team, so I’m one of those smarter people not rolling in the mud and predicting this game will be anything but as solid as a developer that’s never failed me previously can make. As far as what platform to play it on? I’m still flipping a coin…
Okay, the BEST gaming news I’ve heard all day also happens to kick me in the tender bits (ouchie!) because it’s a blast of sci-fi nostalgia mixed with the modern retailer insanity many gamers despise that shuts them out of bonus content. Anyway, the good., no, GREAT news is the announcement on the official site (and over on IGN, which ran a brief video announcing the news) of some incredible DLC for Alien Isolation that bumps the standard edition up to the Nostromo Edition and allows for players to dive into an enhanced mission based on the first film.
Even better, this mission has the voices and faces of all but one of the actors from the original film. Sigourney Weaver (Ellen Ripley), Tom Skerritt (Dallas), Veronica Cartwright (Lambert), Harry Dean Stanton (Brett), and Yaphet Kotto (Parker) are all on board in the “Crew Expendable” DLC, with Ian Holm’s Ash being portrayed by a sound-alike.
So far, so good, right? But of course, here comes the claw to the throat… Continue reading →
ACE Team’s games have ranged from the extremely strange (Zeno Clash, Zeno Clash 2) to the somewhat stranger (Rock of Ages), so it’s a fine thing indeed to see them making a more straightforward game in Abyss Odyssey, set to hit PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on June 15 for $14.99 (or 9.99 if you pre-order the game on Steam, you lucky PC owners you!).
According to Atlus, the game is “a new side-scrolling action adventure game featuring a complex fighting engine in procedurally generated levels”, which means no two players should see the exact same levels as they play. Gameplay will seem familiar to fans of Dragon’s Crown on the PS3 and Vita, but like that VanillaWare instant classic, AO owes a lot to gaming’s past on a few fronts.
As you can see above, the art style here is certainly gorgeous, as is most of the animation, going for a mix of realism in the character models and lush fantasy elements in those lovely environments and enemies. Additionally, making a female one of the playable characters from the outset is a smart move, as a game such as this will have a wider appeal with the addition of a lady who can hold her own with the tough guys here.
That said, it’s too bad this isn’t on a disc, as I know a few folks who aren’t fond of digital all that much who’d LOVE this game to death. Oh well – I suppose one day Atlus will gather all of ACE’s games up and stick them onto a Blu-Ray for a limited retail release at some point. Or at least realize that not everyone prefers the “convenience” of not owning a physical product you can lend to someone without having to rely on the internet to make that loan or trade possible. Anyway, this one looks like an instant BUY in my book.
SERIOUSLY. I’ve bought a few inexpensive game bundles from them over time, but in looking at their page recently, I’m amazed at the rather wild deals they have there. You can pretty much click on any bundle in that link and get something amazing you’ve never played previously or may have played in the past and want to revisit. If I had to pick ONE bundle to snap up, it would be a VERY hard choice, but I’ll have to defer to the awesome Aftershock Bundle because of the spectacular classics it has. One of the best first-person games ever made, System Shock 2 is more than worth the $2.99 this deal will set you back, but you also get Wizardry 6 & 7 plus Wizardry 8, The creepy (and bloody) old horror adventure Harvester, the X-Com inspired strategy games UFO Aftermath and UFO Aftershock and the fantasy strategy game Ascension to the Throne. Finally, this particular bundle EXPIRES in just over 24 hours, so JUMP. ON. IT. and keep it from running away, I say!
I have most of these games already on disc, but this is a fantastic jumping off point for any gamer looking to update their library and get a bit of gaming history under their belt in a few cases. Something tells me I should do something silly here with one of these bundles for a lucky few of you readers, but we’ll see what I can come up with… soon.
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