GRID Autosport “Endurance” Trailer: How Long Can You Last? Your Reputation Hangs On The Answer!

Posted on May 31, 2014 by geelw

For me, it would be about 18 or so hours. A bunch of years back, I decided to play through an full 24 hour race in the Sega Dreamcast game Test Drive Le Mans and ended up staying up for about 18 hours straight racing in real time, taking breaks every two hours or so just like drivers would in the actual event. I didn’t have a co-driver, so it was all me going for it against that pack through a rather busy race day that started off nice and sunny before growing darker and cloudier as a storm rolled through about a third of the way in. Anyway, it looks as if GRID Autosport is going to go a longer way in reminding me those days of staying up so long might be over to some extent thanks to more realism and what’s looking like some harder courses to tackle. As I noted last week, I like challenging myself with a racing game like this where one’s knowledge of the courses increases as stamina decreases. Just when you’ve hot that stride and the miles fly by, you feel the need for a nap coming on or you have to pee or your stomach starts growling louder than the engine of the car you’re driving. Yeah, good times… until you yawn or sneeze and wreck yourself right out of that race. In other words, I can’t wait for this game to ship!

Enemy Front Story Trailer: Resistance Is (And Most Likely Will Be) Futile…

Posted on May 29, 2014 by geelw

CI Games’ upcoming WWII shooter has drawn my interest thanks to its story taking place during a few key points and in a few key places during that conflict. I’m withholding my judgment on this one completely until I actually PLAY it,but color me impressed that it looks to be packing in a LOT of content. As long as it’s not a straight-up linear run to the checkpoint experience (and press materials suggest it’s not at all), I think it will find an audience that likes what they see and may ask for more down the road. We’ll see in a few weeks as Enemy Front hits retail and digital outlets for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on June 10, 2014.

Sacred 3 Coming To PC & Consoles August 5 (Or: There Goes My Late Summer)

Posted on May 28, 2014 by geelw

As a fan of the Sacred series for about nine or so years since that Sacred Gold box fell on my foot at a GameStop, I turned it over, saw it was an action/RPG and bought it on the spot, I’m completely psyched for Sacred 3. Coming to PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 (yet again, the newest consoles are shut out thanks to the game being developed for what was available at the time), I’m expecting more open world fantasy madness, plenty of quests and side quests, intentionally campy voice acting, LOADS of hidden goodies, and of course, excellent replay value. Screenshots don’t quite do these games justice thanks to the isometric view (although zooming in will likely be in the game, it makes the game much harder), but here you go just for fun:

Personally, I’m a gameplay video guy myself, so I like this better as an example of what’s to come:

I’m trying to figure this one into my schedule so I at least have one or two characters completing their story arcs just in time for that Diablo III expansion to hit the PS3 and I segue from one high quality dungeon crawler to another. Well, in THEORY, that’s what’s supposed to happen. We’ll see soon enough, though. Ancaria

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel PAX East Gameplay: “Bounce, Breathe, Look, SHOOT!” (Rinse & Repeat)…

Posted on May 27, 2014 by geelw

Okay, so it’s the name of an old basketball primer for kids, but that’s also a fitting description of what Gearbox and 2K Australia expect a great deal of you Borderlands fans to be doing in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, the upcoming standalone game set for a fall release on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. Sorry “nest-gen” fans! You’ll need to wait a bit while the game you wanted or expected NOW or sooner is being cooked up in one way or another for its eventual release whenever.

While I’m sure that Gearbox and 2K Games could make a small fortune redoing the older Borderlands games and DLC from the ground up, I’d gather they’re doing the WISER thing and creating an all-new chapter to the franchise that packs in even more of what’s expected. This will also keep owners of those shiner (or matte-r) new systems from rioting and storming assorted game company headquarters anytime soon, too (er, Ha-ha?).

The Evil Within Doesn’t Scare Me (Yet) Because I Haven’t PLAYED It (Yet)…

Posted on May 27, 2014 by geelw

“Booooooo!” (*squeal!*). Meh, I’ve always disliked these “reaction” videos for games and movies because even if they are one hundred percent real, what scares one person won’t affect another and as I get older, some things don’t scare me any longer that made me fly off a chair and up to the ceiling in the past. Or, to quote one Mr. Ray Parker Jr. “I ain’t afraid of no “ghost!”

Now, I’m NOT that jaded that some horror films, reads and games don’t get me wanting a blankie and a hanky every so often. However, some of the scares in entertainment are often derived from other and far more frightening works. That said, I do trust Shinji Mikami and Bethesda Softworks to the point that The Evil Within just may put me on the ceiling if it does what it does right and often. Expect to be scared out of your wits (or not?) when the game hits stores October 21st in North America, October 23rd, and throughout Europe on October 24, 2014.

Sniper Elite III Hands-On: Even More On Target Than Before…

Posted on May 27, 2014 by geelw

I was on the subway headed down to see and play Sniper Elite III at a 505 Games media preview when I realized I’d forgotten my eyeglasses. Oops. You can’t be a good sniper at all if you can’t see a damn thing even with a scope, but amusingly enough, that absent-minded error on my part made the demo even more enjoyable.

Thanks to veteran developer Rebellion making the game much more flexible and thrilling than its predecessor, even a quarter blind bat like me was able to have a total blast making as many mistakes as I did. Okay, that’s not sounding like a ringing endorsement for the game, but it’s coming – keep reading. Even if I had brought my gaming spectacles along, my plan was to play the demo in as loose a manner as possible, making mistakes to see how the AI would react while seeing how expansive the level designs were this time out. In Sniper Elite V2, despite some alternate routes, most maps felt a wee bit too boxed in and linear and displacement wasn’t emphasized enough throughout the game (although the best players learned those levels and probably did some of their own shoot and scoot tactics… Continue reading →

GRID Autosport Discipline/Focus/Endurance Trailer: You’ll Still Get Spanked, Though…

Posted on May 23, 2014 by geelw

Oh, once again, I couldn’t help myself (*whipcrack!*). Anyway, it looks as if GRID Autosport REALLY means business when it comes to bringing racing fans some of the best action out there. While not a true simulation, the team at Codemasters is striking the balance between simple to pick up and play controls and the need to learn each track and how to survive the AI trying its best to blow your doors off when you dive into the single player part of the game. Online is of course its own crazy bird complete with the usual unpredictability of live players, especially in the longer races.

Now,I happen to like endurance race events, as there’s a fine balance of learning all the ins and outs of a race course lap after lap and your own physical condition slipping a wee bit over the hours as you fight off sleep and assorted body cramps. Granted, couch racing isn’t ANYWHERE as brutal as being in a car bouncing around and rumbling for a few hundred miles, but keeping me OUT of a real race car is probably a really good thing. GRID Autosport is out for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC on June 24, 2014 in North America, June 27th in Europe.

Metro Redux Announce Trailer: Back In The (MUCH Better Looking, But Still Deadly) USSR…

Posted on May 22, 2014 by geelw

Okay, so the country is no longer called that long-dead name these days, but I had to get in at least one bad joke about this otherwise deadly serious first-person survival game. Calling Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light “shooters” does them little justice, as each is a finely crafted and often jarring gameplay experience that takes patience to play. You can’t run in guns blazing with no or not enough bullets, radiation zones you can’t stay out for too long in and a gas mask that doesn’t have enough of an air supply to walk more than fifty feet. Not to mention some rather strange mutants and not strange but somewhat upset humans that might want you dead for a few reasons. Both games have gotten an amazing makeover for next-gen consoles and PC while retaining the methodical yet compelling gameplay that made them both sleeper hits.

Developer 4A Games and Deep Silver get a huge pat on the back (and a case of the finest Vodka) for bringing these games back so more can play them and this will be the first time 2033 appears on a Sony console, so PS4 owners will see what all the fuss is about. Even better, the games are getting both a physical and digital release. Metro 2033 Redux and Metro: Last Light Redux will each be available separately as a digital download for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC for $24.99 in North America, and a boxed compilation of both games, titled METRO REDUX will be available for $49.99. Now, all I need is a working Geiger counter and to sew some extra pockets on that pair of old cargo pants in the closet so I can carry more slightly dented, irradiated cans of beans. Back with more on this one soon…

Watch_Dogs Launch Trailer: Your Ticket To Chicago Is Almost Ready…

Posted on May 22, 2014 by geelw

May 27 will be a pretty quiet day at some workplaces in a few places thanks to people coming down with crippling cases of Watch_Dogs flu and staying home to get some finger and wrist exercises in to keep healthy. Ubisoft Montreal is certainly doing its part to move next-gen consoles and maybe a new 3D card or two, but I think even on the older consoles the game will be a winner to those players that don’t give a hoot about their games looking about as realistic as it gets. Anyway, we’ll see what’s what next week (or later for Wii U owners still hoping for an actual release date).

Batman: Arkham Knight Gameplay: “Evening The Odds?” More Like Unfair Bat-vantage If You Ask Me…

Posted on May 21, 2014 by geelw

Rocksteady is back as the developer in this upcoming hit and as you can see, their incredible work on this PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One only game will be well worth the wait and indeed might be a big system seller when the game ships out later this year. Sure, this looks like a movie trailer, but that’s all in game engine running and making your jaw land on your shoes or thereabouts. Yeah, it’s going to be a blockbuster you don’t want to miss if you loved the other Arkham games and double yeah, WB Games is going to be cackling like the Joker all the way to the bank when all is said and done. I can’t wait to get my paws on this one. It’s going to be the Year of the Bat for gamers, that’s for sure…