Bugs (And More) In A Box, With Love From D3Publisher of America…

Posted on February 6, 2014 by geelw

So, I got a nice package today from D3Publisher of America that had me laughing for a good half hour or so. For those curious types reading this, it’s a pre-release Valentine’s Day box full of fun Earth Defense Force 2025 goodies: A fake rose (that lights up when you press a button. It’s strobe-y!) Three sets of four Valentine cards (one for each class), Four dog tags (one for each character class), three packs of tasty looking traditional composition hearts and (wait for it…) a plastic heart with what looks to be three actual chocolate covered insects inside (Eeeeek!).

Well, the label inside that heart SAYS “Chocolate Covered Insects”, they sort of LOOK like they are as opposed to chocolate shaped insects from a mold, and I tend to believe everything I read the first time (well, sometimes). These days, small bugs don’t bug me and I DO like chocolate… so I’ll file this under “I’ll try anything once!” Anyway, I stuck the chocolate in the fridge for later, as it’s too hot in the home office. Those will go good with a cup of coffee, I’d imagine. Some of you have fainted dead away I see. Sorry about that! New experiences make me smile, that’s all.

Okay, let me go find some dinner, as I actually went out for a walk after the box arrived. If I have a bug or two for dessert, I’ll let you know. I may hang onto them for a little bit just to keep you in suspense… we’ll see.

Double Dragon Neon Now On Steam: Get Yer 80’s Fix On (With A Bit of A Paradox)

Posted on February 6, 2014 by geelw

Double Dragon Neon is a throwback game for sure. It’s going to appeal to your backwards baseball cap, neon sunglasses wearing faux punk side while sporting nicely updated visuals, an awesome soundtrack and yes, won’t work on any computer rockin’ an OS older than Windows 7 (oops, an opportunity lost there, I say!). WayForward Technologies (again!) did a stellar job on this one on PSN and Xbox Live Arcade, so it’s a total no-brainer that today’s newly released the Steam version is as good or better in a few respects.

In a way, it’s also too bad this never got a retail release in some “retro” packaging from Midnight City (Majesco’s digital indie label), as it’s exactly the sort of game that could benefit from (and sell a few limited edition copies because of) some sort of box with a funky 80’s cover painting. Ah well. Anyway, if your nostalgia meter is tingling away, you know what to do, right? I’ll let you get to it then…

Crimes & Punishments: Sherlock Holmes Trailer: Punch Drugged Love…

Posted on February 1, 2014 by geelw

Once again, developer Frogwares is cooking up an interesting looking multi-case Sherlock Holmes game for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC-owning adventure game fans out there and this time, it seems to be going for a few types of gameplay as well as flashier visuals to lure in gamers from other genres. There’s some nice use of the aging Unreal 3 engine here as well as what looks like some tweaking to the investigation system and even a bit of fisticuffs thrown in for good measure. As long as the game stays away from the dopey camp of the Guy Ritchie version of Holmes and Watson, I think it’ll do well among its target audience. Granted, the fans of that newer BBC Sherlock and other shows that reinvent the character to different extents may or may not come aboard for this more classic-looking (and more traditional) Holmes, but it would be nice to see some of those younger folk realize their favorite flavor was around a LOT longer than they were.

Focus Home Interactive is publishing this one and it’s got a Q2 2014 release set. More on this game (and an actual release date) soon. Here’s a bunch of nice screens below – enjoy!

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 Update: A Little Night Music For You…

Posted on February 1, 2014 by geelw

“Listen to them. Children of the night. What music they make…”

Another game I’m really looking forward to is this final MercurySteam-developed Castlevania game that looks to wrap everything up nice and neat and perhaps raise the bar on a few fronts in terms of how a 3D version of this storied franchise should be done. Whoever is taking the reins from this point on will be under a great deal of pressure to do something just as impressive without falling back on repeating what’s come before. Given the talent pool of developers out there who probably want to be the ones Konami calls in for that next phase of this series’ life, I’m not too worried at all. As long as what’s coming next is playable on more platforms, it’s a good thing to see Dracula and a Belmont somewhere battling it out in that eternal struggle they’ve pretty much committed to ages past…

February’s Game of the Month: Earth Defense Force 2025

Posted on February 1, 2014 by geelw

Yeah, it’s not even out until the 18th of the month, but I’ve owned the Japanese version of the game since it came out last July and it’s pretty amazing and VERY replayable, a great thing in this age of games you can blow through in less time that it takes to make a crock pot dish. EDF 2025’s four distinct classes, 780 weapons, over 90 levels (with more coming through three DLC expansions) and both couch co-op and online multiplayer modes means this one will be in some play stacks for a good long while. There’s even a versus mode here if you like hunting around for each other in some too huge maps…

Sure, it’s not the “best” looking game you’ll ever see and yes, developer Sandlot isn’t whipping out visuals that are going to compete with the greatest-looking games of last generation. That said, the sheer scale of the maps plus the level of destruction here is remarkable, and combined with the seemingly simple gameplay that grows deeper as the game gets more challenging, makes this one a keeper even after you’ve beaten it. Which, by the way will take weeks or more you’re going for every bit of content and every single Achievement or Trophy.

So yeah, BUY THIS GAME. It’s coming to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 only (Sandlot doesn’t make PC Games, sorry!).

Earth Defense Force 2025 Multiplayer Hands-On: Extermination Agenda, Done Up Right.

Posted on January 30, 2014 by geelw

As a fan of the Earth Defense Force series since its debut in 2003 as part of the Simple 2000 series on the Japanese PlayStation 2, I’ve seen the series grow from a quick 25-level budget run and gun experience to the mighty, soon to be released solo, couch co-op and online play of EDF 2025, coming in less than a month to the PS3 and Xbox 360. D3Publisher of America rolled into town with a complete Xbox 360 version that had everything unlocked (all 780 weapons!) and allowed for non-stop fun for a few hours for some cold-braving editor types who dropped into the Ace Hotel for a spell.

While couch co-op play was the focus when D3PoA was here last year, this time it was the hectic online multiplayer mode for two to four players put to the test. Gameplay is rock solid and depends on teamwork between your squad-mates in order for success. Unlike other shooting games, you can’t bump off your team just to hog the glory and goodies for yourself because not only will it be rude, on the higher difficulty levels, you’ll be chomped, blasted, roasted and spiked to death (for starters) by swarms of pissed off bugs, robots, dragons and other menaces… Continue reading →

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 Developer Diary #2: On Getting It Gothic…

Posted on January 29, 2014 by geelw

Almost… alllllmost. The wait is creeping to a close (February 25, 2014) and Spanish developer MercurySteam is doing their final Castlevania game up more than right. A handful of fans of the older games in the series are a bit grumpy for some reason that the game isn’t just like those older games, but for those of us who respect new and old styles of visuals and gameplay, it’s clear Konami picked the right team for this part of the series. I tend to play games like this for the stories more than the action, so it’s great to see the team has done their homework in linking this to the series canon while adding in plenty of new and intriguing story elements that should make this one memorable to watch as well as play.

Gallery Update: Dark Souls II

Posted on January 27, 2014 by geelw

I have the distinct feeling that my list of ‘must play’ games will be shorter than I think thanks to a handful of upcoming titles eating up way too much of my time. In addition to EDF 2025, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Toukiden: Age of Demons and a bunch of indie to AAA games for assorted platforms I’ve been keeping my eye on as 2014 rolls onward, Dark Souls II looks as if it’s going to consume a rater huge chunk of a few months on and off. Every time I see new screens for this game I get a few chills in all the proper places as well as a sense of dread because from my play time with that demo, I know this one’s going to be rougher than using a huge sheet of the coarsest waterproof sandpaper as a towel after a too hot shower. Or, OUCH!.

But hey, we Souls maniacs like it hard and Producer Takeshi Miyazoe along with the dedicated team at developer FromSoftware are more than willing to please as from what I’m seeing and hearing from folks in that beta test, the game is going to be even harder than Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls combined.

Eeep.

More screens below the jump… Continue reading →

EDF 2025 Announcement Trailer: It’s Hammer/Laser/Air Drop/Machine Gun Time! Almost…

Posted on January 27, 2014 by geelw

Okay, this week is going to be a FUN one for me on a few fronts. I get to pop downtown to play some Earth Defense Force 2025 co-op with a few fellow editors and D3Publisher of America PR folk (Hi, Michael! Hi, Myki!) then come back up here to write all about it and get you all pumped up about this game. Yes, those are dragons flying around in that trailer. Uh-huh, that’s right… DRAGONS. And yes, they’re mean and CHEAP bastards when they swarm and start roasting then chomping on your character.

The game is packing a bunch of other surprises in case you haven’t gathered quite yet, but I’ll save some of those surprises for my hands-on later in the week. Oh, yeah… those two EDF Troopers below playing Patty Cake while there’s a spider THAT close? They’re dead meat unless that screen was shot on Easy mode. Anyone who’s played any EDF game knows what I’m talking about.

RAMBO: The Videogame Update: Prepare To Fly Out Of Your Seat On A Friday…

Posted on January 24, 2014 by geelw

BOOM. Reef Entertainment and developer Teyron have been quite busy it seems. This understatement of the week has been brought to you by no fewer that four videos they’ve just posted of their upcoming multiplatform RAMBO game in action that show off lots of stuff blowing up, a fairly high digital body count and overall, a game that isn’t screaming anything but pure guilty pleasure out of the gate for folks who like this sort of thing.