Test Drive Unlimited 2 Gallery: Atari & Eden Want To Keep You Indoors For A While…

Posted on December 26, 2010 by geelw

If you've never had the chance to play the original Test Drive Unlimited on the Xbox 360*, you missed out on one of the more addictive pure driving games on current generation consoles. While you could in tons of events in offline or through the innovative M.O.O.R. (Massively Open Online Racing) system, the real thrill (for me at least) came in hitting the road in any car and just driving around Oahu for hours. Uncovering every inch of highway for one of the tougher Achievements was a blast and it was pretty cool to see lots of people played the game in the same way. With Test Drive Unlimited 2 hitting PS3, PC and Xbox 360 on February 8, 2011, here's a look at some of Eden Games' nicely rendered cars from a few angles. I'll add older screens to this gallery sometime next week.

TDU2 takes place in Ibiza and an upgraded version of Oahu from the first game (accessible once you've “leveled” enough), so it's going to be a must-play for me, as I'm insanely curious to see what's new, what's changed and how well the overall game experience has turned out.

Tecmo Koei’s Q1 2011 Lineup: A Cast of Thousands In Three Games (Plus Two 3DS Titles)

Posted on December 24, 2010 by geelw

Tecmo Koei is getting an early start on 2011 by announcing three upcoming console games for the first quarter of next year as well as two 3DS exclusives with release dates and more info on the portable games to be announced shortly – (at or around CES, I’m guessing). Here’s what’s on the way:

Trinity: Souls of Zill ‘Oll (PS3 Exclusive) – February 8, 2011
Warriors: Legends of Troy (PS3/Xbox 360) – March 8, 2011
Dynasty Warriors 7 (PS3 and Xbox 360) – March 22, 2011
Dead or Alive Dimensions (3DS)
Samurai Warriors Chronicles (3DS)

I’ll run updated galleries for each game as new media comes in.

Stuff I’m Just Getting To Looking At: The Thor Trailer

Posted on December 23, 2010 by geelw

http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/qptrQ6TxzBQ?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0

Actually, I got to see a tiny bit of the game an some excellent concept art at this year’s New York Comic-Con, but no pictures of the tiny sliver of game footage could be photographed or filmed. Yeah, yeah, you can make all the God of War jokes you care to, but hey, at least Thor isn’t going the Superman game route. The God of Thunder has his powers intact and it looks like players won’t be forced through hoops or rescuing kitties in what’s looking to be a mighty fun experience. The game is definitely coming along nicely in my book (with a May 2011 launch planned) and between this and Captain America: Super Soldier, shows Sega is back on the right track as far as their Marvel Comics games go. Speaking of Cap, I actually DID write up a preview of THAT game, but it was one of the ones that vanished along with that USB drive I’m on the hunt for. Must have been the Red Skull at work, grrrr…

SSX: Deadly Descents Divides (The Fanbase) and Conquers (Much of Their Sanity)…

Posted on December 21, 2010 by geelw

http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/VhkDL6gWUa8?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0

Nice trailer… but, Holy Belfry, Batman! You'd think that EA drove over a an entire block full of little kids carrying baskets of newborn puppies while on the way to a church bake sale after visiting Grandma. Twice. Some of the responses I've seen to the SSX: Deadly Descents game trailer and new direction the formerly goofy and always exuberant fan fave are probably arrest-worthy and yes, completely unnecessary. Game History 105: Radical Entertainment (Prototype 2, among other cool games) and THQ tried out a mix of action movie and snowboarding on consumers “way” back in 2001 with a little game called Dark Summit. While it didn't exactly blow any sales doors off (or gain a huge enough following to warrant a sequel, for that matter), it received mixed (but mainly positive) reviews, was fun to play and manged to get in a bit of humor during the story. Hell, the whole game idea was pretty funny in a “Hey you kids, get off my secret government test area snow-covered lawn!” kinda way.

Prototype 2 Xmas Card Is Mildly Creepy (Yet Also Subtly Hilarious)

Posted on December 21, 2010 by geelw

While it’s indeed a quiet holiday scene, there’s a nicely lurking sense of impending dread in this card from Activision’s PR department. I wonder what Alex Mercer’s card looks like (er, provided he’s even sending one out this year)… Prototype 2 is in development at Radical Entertainment and should hit stores sometime next year, barring incident.

Dead Space 2 Multiplayer Hands-On: A Visceral Experience, Indeed

Posted on December 19, 2010 by geelw

As if the thrills, chills and very bloody spills of Issac Clarke's upcoming single player adventures in The Sprawl weren't enough, Visceral Games is tweaking Dead Space 2 with a rather interesting multiplayer component that can be somewhat accurately described as tactical run & gun meets Left 4 Dead. I'll admit to being initially skeptical that any sort of online multiplayer modes added to this decidedly story-driven horror action franchise would be nothing more than another excuse for loudmouthed losers to run around shooting each other in the head while yelling all sorts of M-rated insults. However, I'm indeed thankful to report that I was proven dead wrong.

At Sony's Holiday 2010 event last week, I got to go a few rounds with the multiplayer demo and was very impressed by the experience. What's here is fun, fast, frantic and frequently freakish, thanks to the back and forth player swapping that takes place during matches.

Review: Earth Defense Force 2017

Posted on December 19, 2010 by geelw

Platform: Xbox 360

Developer: Sandlot

Publisher: D3Publisher of America

# of Players: 1 – 2

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Official Site

Score: B+

One of those “cult classics” that, three years after its US release is still a hell of a lot more fun than certain bigger budgeted (and bigger hyped) games, Earth Defense Force 2017 is finally back on the Xbox 360, this time as a download only Games on Demand release. Whether you missed out on it the first time back in 2007 or you're replacing that copy you sold off on ebay, 2017 is still an absolute blast to play, mixing in dozens of hours of non-stop hardcore action with couch co-op and a grand, campy “B” movie aesthetic that permeates the game from start to finish. Sure, there's no online play, the character and vehicle controls are a tad quirky and the game isn't exactly “state of the art” in terms of presentation. On the other hand, the old school gameplay coupled with some truly and terrifyingly challenging levels go a long way in proving pure fun trumps innovation any damn day of the week. That twenty bucks might seem like a “premium” price for a game in these days of too many indie games going for a buck or few on XBLA, but trust me, you're getting easily three to four times that value in gameplay length alone.

Knights Contract Update: New Screens, Art, Release Date

Posted on December 18, 2010 by geelw

Namco Bandai's rather surreal fantasy/horror/action game hybrid has been on my radar pretty since its initial announcement and now, the Game Republic-developed title finally has a release date. February 22, 2011 is when you'll want to be lurking around your favorite game retailer (or creeping in to pick up your pre-ordered copy). The single-player PS3 and Xbox 360 game features Heinrich, an immortal executioner and Gretchen, a resurrected witch who acts as Heinrich's AI partner. Namco Bandai hopes that the mix of fantasy elements, high action sequences and M-rated gore coupled with the game's bizarre menagerie of monsters might lift a few of those lingering holiday blahs right out of your system.

Speaking of bizarre-looking monsters, more nice concept art images and renders of two bosses, Straeggle and Trude are below the jump along with some new screens featuring the pair of beastly beauties in action.

Hunted: The Demon’s Forge "The World of Hunted" Trailer

Posted on December 18, 2010 by geelw

http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/b7hlI0ma0iE?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0

InXile’s upcoming co-op focused action/RPG is looking to be one of the more memorable releases of 2011 whether you’re a fan of the genre or not. Here’s a look at a few of the different environments you’ll be adventuring in and around – text below courtesy of Bethesda. Keep this one on your radars, folks…

Welcome to the World of Hunted.

Tempted by riches, the warrior Caddoc and huntress E’lara will travel through a sprawling empire beset by evil. As their path twists through the once thriving town of Dyfed and towards the mighty capital city of Llyr, they will face a corruption that is spreading across the land. The kingdom’s ancient ruins have become overrun with foul creatures, and innocent villagers are being driven underground into dungeons. As they draw closer to the ruins of Kala Moor a dark army gathers, threatening everything in its path.

New Dynasty Warriors 7 Screens (You KNOW You Want To Look…)

Posted on December 17, 2010 by geelw

It's OK… admit it, you're a secret (or not so secret) Dynasty Warriors fan who's learned to ignore the harshly jaded critics out there and keeps buying and playing every game in the franchise (and its spin-offs) from start to finish because it's become the digital equivalent of mom's mac & cheese for you. Those long 60-plus hour campaigns with all those unlockable characters plowing through packs of enemies as kill counts are racked up in the thousands? Yeah, that's you, all bleary-eyed and smiling into your coffee on a Monday morning not bragging about hunkering down indoors for three days straight while your work buddies are babbling all about that Friday night hottie that gave them a kick to the groin after yet another bad pickup line. They fail and revel in it like the foolish lemmings they are, while you continue to win, win and win (and how!).