Sniper Elite III “Hunt The Grey Wolf” DLC: Der Fuhrer’s Days Are Numbered (Again!)…

Posted on May 20, 2014 by geelw

Sooo… I played a bit of Rebellion’s upcoming Sniper Elite III today at a 505 Games press event, but I can’t say a peep for two days about how it was thanks to a little embargo I don’t intend to break. SUSPENSE! Anyway, as you can see, like Sniper Elite V2, there’s some Gamestop only Fuhrer-themed DLC to snag if you pre-order and I’m betting it does well, given the improvements to the game engine and gameplay the main game offers up. It’s certainly a VERY lousy time to be a pro-digital Nazi fanatic, what with that new Wolfenstein game out today, The Monuments Men popping up on home video, CI Studios’ Enemy Front and now this upcoming game allowing shooter fans to spend plenty of free time whistling bullets past a few graveyards. Anyway, more (or actual) news on my hands-on with Sniper Elite III in two more days. Stay tuned…

Wolfenstein: The New Order Livestream: Machine Plays With Itself For Your Enjoyment…

Posted on May 19, 2014 by geelw

Well, then. Here’s a look at the game in action before the big launch tomorrow. If it’s as solid as the other previews I’ve seen around the internet over the past few weeks, I predict a hit for developer Machine Games and publisher Bethesda Softworks, provided the multiplayer zombies realizes this isn’t THAT sort of game at all. Oh, by the way parental units wondering about the content here? Heck NOPE, in no way, shape or form is this game for kids! Personally, I like Machine’s updated take on the character of B.J. Blazkowicz, the pull no punches coarse language and all that icky blood and gore – whee! Okay, getting (slightly) serious for a hot second, that this one’s single player makes me happy as well, because multiplayer shooters are a dime a dozen these days (but usually cost AAA prices) and this is a game where you can tell the the development team spent lots of time designing the game around the story they’ve created.

Yeah, yeah, you want to run around and shoot each other in the face for endless hours in the same old map types and game variants. Well, go buy this game tomorrow on PC and sign up for the DOOM beta and get NEW map types and maybe some other surprises tossed your way. This one’s for those of us who like a good story and game wrapped together and I can’t wait to see how it’s turned out.

Enemy Front Gallery: “So, What Did YOU Do During The War? (Part Two)

Posted on May 18, 2014 by geelw

I’ve been trying to figure out how to pin down CI Games’ upcoming story-driven first-person shooter Enemy Front without getting too worried about how the game will be received when it lands in stores on June 10, 2014. While it looks on the surface to be one more entry in the recent comeback of the WWII shooter, the rather nice looking CRYENGINE powered game uses the Warsaw Uprising as one of the destructible locations playable character American war correspondent Robert Hawkins ends up in and that’s probably guaranteed to get some historians and other people a bit ticked off for a few reasons.

Granted, the game isn’t supposed to be “realistic” or an accurate simulation at all and yes, it’ll be far too easy for some to pick it apart for any elements they see as inaccurate. But CI seems to want to bridge the game between the old Medal of Honor and Call of Duty games, while referencing Sniper Elite and its own Sniper games. There’s freedom to tackle missions in what’s being called “a richly interactive combat sandbox gameplay experience”, meaning the game should be nowhere as linear as the yearly Call of Duty action-packed guided tour thrill ride, which is a good thing for those players looking for a bit more variety and replay value… Continue reading →

Sniper Elite III 101: “So, What Did YOU Do During The War?” (Part One)

Posted on May 18, 2014 by geelw

With PR folk from 505 Games and a few of the dev team from Rebellion rolling into NYC this week, I’ll finally get some hands-on time with Sniper Elite III on Tuesday morning and report about it here. The team has clearly listened to feedback about Sniper Elite V2 and it looks as if this third chapter addresses all the issues and makes for a more expansive and free form game experience. Sure, the extreme violence isn’t for everyone (and yep, that video is pretty graphic), but I’m not playing this one to see Nazi brains and other bits get shattered and splashed about the large levels. I’m a game design guy first who loves seeing what different developers come up with and Rebellion has been around long enough to keep surprising me. Anyway, expect an update a few days from now on my experience with this one. Sniper Elite III hits retail and download on July 1st in the US on Xbox One, PS4, PS3 and Xbox 360 and of course, the PC version will be a Steam release.

Wolfenstein ‘House of The Rising Sun’ Launch Trailer: Doing Up NSFW The Right Way

Posted on May 16, 2014 by geelw

While the first-person shooter variants of Wolfenstein haven’t ever been geared towards kids, it’s been quite clear that Machine Games’ reboot of the series was going for a mature audience right from the moment that first teaser trailer popped up online. I want to play this just because the writing has been pretty adult and amusing in each video I’ve seen and while the game pulls no punches in its dialogue or extreme violence, both work in favor of the material because there’s enough humor here to keep one playing through the blood and bits you’ll see above and in the gloriously gory Stealth vs. Mayhem trailer from a few weeks back I missed. Yeah, it’s clearly not for the squeamish types, but I’d prefer a game that goes this far and makes me want to keep playing than one that’s just mean and stupid just to be so. May 20th on on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC, folks. “Be there, Aloha!”

GRID Autosport Update: When Discipline Isn’t Punishment, It’s Pure Bliss…

Posted on May 13, 2014 by geelw

I’ve heard auto racing compared to fighting before, but when the comment pops up in this video, you can see what that means pretty clearly. I tend to like European Touring Car racing a lot better than the mostly oval, turn left and draft stuff that’s popular here, so Codemasters has had me since the TOCA days on the original PlayStation. GRID Autosport looks incredible in this trailer (and the other two that have been released) and I love how user feedback has make the game’s Black Edition a much more palatable product to pre-order thanks to everyone getting that same content and no spitting up DLC based on certain retailers and such.

That’s lame and other publishers need to listen up and quit that nonsense as it means people who like to complete a game can actually complete it and not need to shell out for multiple copies just to get every drip of content. Go, Codemasters!

Diablo III Ultimate Evil Edition Coming August 19 to Consoles (Yep, PS3 and 360, Too)

Posted on May 13, 2014 by geelw

When the Diablo III: Reaper of Souls expansion was announced for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, many fans of the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions on a few message boards thought they were going to be left out of the loop. I also initially thought so for a hot minute, but didn’t think Blizzard was nuts enough to NOT bring that expansion to the consoles where MORE of that version sold (and continues to sell). Fortunately, console owners from last and this generation (well, save for Wii U owners) will be reaping the rewards come August 19 when Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition rolls out on PS3,PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Yes, that sound you heard is me screeching like a happy Harpy and dancing around the room.

Now before I break a hip, hear below the jump and read what else I wrote about this excellent news… Continue reading →

Alien Isolation “Creating the Cast” Trailer: Who’s Who Before All That Screaming And Dying Starts…

Posted on May 8, 2014 by geelw

Once again, it’s fantastic to see all the hard work going into making Alien Isolation a game worth watching. In case it hasn’t been made clear yet, this isn’t a run ‘n gun shooter or one more generic jump scare-filled horror game at all, but a project that’s hopefully going to be seen by fans of the series to fit like a glove in between the first and second films. Sure, that Colonial Marines game may be infamous on a few fronts, but AI will hopefully erase all those negative memories by being a completely different experience in every way. The game is coming to PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One on October 7, 2014, so keep an eye peeled if you’re liking what you see in all these behind the scenes trailers…

Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom Coming In November from Wayforward & Little Orbit

Posted on May 8, 2014 by geelw

“What Time Is It?!”

Well, it’s NOT quite THAT time yet, kids. Anyway, Publisher Little Orbit’s partnership with Cartoon Network looks to pay off this November when the latest Adventure Time game is released for PC via Steam, Nintendo 3DS, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

So far, all we have is this somewhat intentionally generic (and intentionally HUGE! – Go on, click it and see for yourself. YAAAA!, Right?) artwork of heroes Finn and Jake to ogle (although, according to the Ice King and a few other characters from the show, there’s some desperation in you if you consider either of these two ogle worthy). However, according to the press release:

The game will introduce a classic top-down action adventure experience and puzzle-solving element to the franchise, reminiscent of early high fantasy console games… In Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom, players take on the personas of both Finn and Jake as they navigate through the eponymous kingdom – a mysterious unexplored region in the Land of Ooo. They will discover hidden secrets by exploring all corners of a new kingdom created exclusively for the game and encounter never-seen-before characters and creatures.

Sounds like a plan, man. Put this one in the pan, Stan! Yeah, there’s no Wii U version, but I guess you could say “what else is new?” when it comes to support drifting away from that console (which is too bad, but hey – you gotta sell where your game will sell these days!). More on this once we get some screens and trailers out of Wayforward and/or Little Orbit. I wanted to squeeze them like a sack of grapes, but they really don’t have much to show it seems. I guess e3 will be the big reveal…

Alien Isolation “Lo-Fi Sci-Fi” Trailer: The Future? Same Problems As The Past (You Need Four Hands For Everything!)…

Posted on May 5, 2014 by geelw

Eeek. I actually MISSED posting the Alien Isolation update from April. Oops. Hey, it happens with all these games coming out, kids. Anyway, how fitting that this video is about the low-tech equipment used in the game and the lower tech methods developer The Creative Assembly used to get parts of the game looking quite analog. I love this behind the scenes stuff and you have to appreciate that old techniques work as well as (or even better in this case) than just doing everything on a computer to FAKE video footage that looks garbled and yep, “lo-fi”. October 7, 2014, folks. Carve out some time for this one – it’s turning out really special…