Veteran developer Techland has been making some phenomenal-looking games for a number of years for consoles and PC, but Dying Light looks to be their best work to date. This mere 40 seconds of a recent tech demo shows off some pretty stellar lighting effects, a bit of a zombie problem and hopefully some nice hiding spots as I understand that when the sun drops from the sky, those undead get fierce and harder to put down. Which is why I’ll prefer to stay home and play the game as opposed to popping my head and body out the door to pick up a quart of 2% and some cat food, only to get jumped by some undead in the process. Heck, I don’t even own a cat! “Good Night Good Luck”, indeed… MY slogan would be “Hide and Sleep”…
I actually got another mighty chuckle going when Hideo Kojima showed that trailer above at the PlayStation 4 launch in NYC last week. I’d been thinking for a few months now it would be wonderful if any developer or publisher who had a key launch or other title for the original PlayStation did something like a remake with all-new visuals, but of course, Kojima goes and has his team get retro in the weirdest manner possible. Hey, it works for me, being a fan of Metal Gear Solid and all. But I know that some younger gamers saw this trailer and nearly spit up their Red Bull because they’ve yet to experience the glory that was (and is) the original MGS. Granted, that Fox Engine is pretty mighty at doing outstandingly realistic visuals on the PS3, PC and other platforms, so there’s no doubt that Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes will do well when it lands in a few places (retail and digital) at some point OK< Spring 2014). Yeah, yeah… David HAyter has been replaced by Keifer Sutherland as the voice (and face) of Snake, but I think I'm one of the few who shed a tear and moved on quickly. I have more urgent things to think about besides who's being paid to portray an iconic character – I just want the game to be memorable and really well written.
And here’s about 13 minutes of the game with no chunky Snake to ogle. enjoy!
In case you haven’t figured this out yet, “next-gen” kicking off with the releases of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One don’t mean that “last-gen” is dead at all by a long shot. Well, not for a while at least. Which is why it’s great to see new games being announced for those “old” systems that won’t be headed to stores until 2014. Aksys Games has one of these games, Magus, set to hit the PlayStation 3 on February 25, 2014.
A wee bit of internet poking about by yours truly reveals that this one’s from developer Black Tower with Aksys Games, runs on the versatile Unreal Engine tech and looks like an Action/RPG of some sort. It’s also a PS3 exclusive it seems and can be pre-ordered from Amazon if you like that teaser trailer above that really doesn’t tell much.
While the game has a decidedly 2005 or so look to it in those screenshots above, I’m gathering these are early screens and not representative of the final game. That said, I like the “rustic” look to the visuals here, but hope things get polished up as far more details in the environments and the somewhat plain (and tiny!) GUI typeface. As to how it actually plays… I guess we’ll see. Aksys doesn’t exactly make NYC a stop on its press tours being a small publisher and all, but I trust them to not release a game that’s not somewhat enjoyable and interesting, “dated” visuals or not. We’ll see how this one is at some point – probably in a review down the road a piece. Stay tuned…
Hmmm… I never got around to playing The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing when it was initially released on Steam, but it looks like me not getting that review code I asked for was a good thing. A fre friends I recommended this one based on the screens and movies dug it quite a bit, so my job was done on that front. I guess I need to go crack open the piggy bank now as NeoCore Games has been toiling away on making their baby an even more complete action/RPG experience. Got that Steam account warming up in the background? Good – let’s see what’s in the digital box now, shall we? Lift up that coffin lid, please and peek below the jump… Continue reading →
Wassup, rockers? You should be able to stroll into that favorite game emporium at any point from now and pick a copy of BandFuse: Rock Legends up in your hot little hands for that PS3 or Xbox 360 you still own OR you can snag a copy via a quick order from any one of a few online shops. If Realta has that no-lag thing down solid on both consoles, they’ll have the best guitar “game” out there as far as the total pick up and play experience with no messy unlocking to do in order to get to the fun and fancy harder content. Granted, for newbies, the ONLY way to learn is step by step and at your own pace and the software absolutely allows for that as well. Will this be the new Twang Bar King or headed straight to the cutout bin? We shall see, folks… we shall see…
That said, I think it’s a smash hit in the making, folks…
It’s the brilliant writing, folks… but the excellent stylized visuals (done in the style of the award winning comic) aren’t bad at all. 2012’s best game by many accounts is coming back from the undead as a complete package with the 400 Days DLC and some nice bonuses and yes indeed, although I have the disc version AND the PSN downloads, I’ll be picking this GOTY edition up simply out of habit (well, that and I haven’t yet gotten the 400 Days content update since my PS3 currently isn’t connected to PSN). Trust me, if you haven’t played this yet and know someone with a PC, PS3 or Xbox 360 who doesn’t yet have this one, get it for them (well, make sure they’re 18 or over first!) and stick around to watch them play. Bet you’re sucked in right from the opening moments and you stick around to see what happens and who makes it through those chapters in one piece (or close to one piece)…
Hey! Stop that whining that you don’t own one of those fancy new online tethered “Maybe she no-a work out of the box! for a few reasons” new consoles, kids! You can play BOTH of these new titles on what you already own and be happy (and definitely happier if you kept that PS3 around if your PS4 is blue-light bricking itself up the living room), so I say GET HAPPY!
Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I DON’T KNOW! is out NOW on the “old” Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. Wayforward Technologies (the current KINGS of modern retro gaming on many fronts. RESPECT!). Old-school top-down action RPG action. Kinda like Gauntlet, but kinda NOT like Gauntlet (there’s no coin drop on you TV and the game isn’t like Gauntlet once you play it). One to four players. Sort of has drop in-drop out co-op play (so your friends can faint at the sight of a boss and you can keep going, darn them!). Rated E10+ (but most of you AT fans are much older than 10+, I bet). Yeah, you need this one yesterday, I say.
Young Justice Legacy is also out NOW for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo 3DS and PC (via Steam). New developer Freedom Factory takes a page from the still hugely popular Marvel Ultimate Alliance games with this fun one to three player action RPG that takes place between Seasons 1 and 2 of the seemingly now defunct cartoon series. Sure, the stylized visuals aren’t screaming 2013 at you, but this is one of those games that works if you love the fast-paced super-heroic stuff and aren’t overly judgmental about every game being a showpiece of visual techniques. From my playtime with a demo, solo play can be tough in some spots if you’re careless and rush into fights, so grab a friend or two and a couple of extra controllers (have your friends bring theirs, I say) and get the fist to face action going.
Yeah, you’ll need to invite them over as this (and Adventure Time) don’t have any online modes (not sure about the Steam version, but it’s good that I DON’T KNOW! – yet). Good, I say – people need to play MORE together in the same room because it makes them be MORE social. How so? Hey, if you have to bathe for company and maybe clean up a little… THAT’S making yourself MORE social. Get it? Got it? GOOD. Now go hit the pavement for some exercise and retail therapy. Class dismissed!
I missed posting this video last week, but here you go. I rather like that Nintendo really doesn’t give a rat’s ass about what the competition is doing in terms of new console launches – they want you to focus on what THEY have in store for you as a loyal Nintendo gamer first and foremost (even if you also own one or more of the competition’s products). They follow the beat of their own drummer, tossing out titles when they want to (despite screwing up royally by not having a Pokemon or Animal Crossing on the Wii U as launch or launch window titles for some instant sales and cash for their coffers). Anyway, as you’ll see in this half-hour or so of game trailers, gameplay and house organ playing, the company still has it where it counts at least on the 3DS front and that Wii U you’re not owning yet or is near your TV playing with the dust bunnies is nowhere NEAR “dead”. Keep the faith and keep on gaming is the message here as the holiday season (and 2014) rolls around for Nintendo. I think they’ll have a few surprises for fans old and new as that new year progresses, and while what’s in this video is excellent, I’d say they seem to be keeping the best stuff well under wraps (for the moment, at least)…
Just a few more days before it drops into retail and it looks as if BandFuse: Rock Legends has a few more surprises up its sleeves. Check out the third “Fused Thoughts” above and that cool upright bass clip below for some quick fun you can have with the game when it lands on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 November 19, 2013.
YES, I said PS3 and Xbox 360 – it may be “next-gen” time in some circles, but there are MORE of those older consoles STILL in use than both of the new ones (yeah, yeah, that Xbox One isn’t out ’til the 22nd, but it’s still going to be outnumbered by Xbox 360’s for a while yet). And yes indeed, that launch Party at the House of Blues was (wait for it)… rockin’ pretty hard with Slash and Bootsy playing like there’s no tomorrow.
Thankfully, there WILL be a tomorrow (and a few more after that!) or else this game wouldn’t even come out, right? Yeah, I knew you’d agree…
If any studio is going to master this new hardware first, my money is on Criterion and Ghost Games and their Need For Speed games. Granted, Need For Speed Rivals is a purely arcade-like game experience and racing fans who want more in the way of total car customization and more racing viewpoints will gripe a bit about the game as they usually do with other racers. Me, I’ll just be jamming on the gas, sliding through turns and causing all sorts of mayhem while enjoying the scenery and trying to wreck as little as possible. This one’s on current and next-gen consoles (not the Wii U, though – sorry!), so pick one and GO, I say. Online or off, it’s bound to be a blast.
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 