Now Playing: Resident Evil Revelations – Jill Valentine’s In Ship Shape, That’s For Sure…

Posted on May 21, 2013 by geelw

I got a review copy of Resident Evil Revelations on Friday evening, but just got around to firing it up on Sunday night thanks to me needing to get my Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut review up and some other stuff. Anyway, so far, so good – Capcom has done a great job with this (DO NOT call it a simple “port”, as that cheapens the effort that went into this game) and it’s really fun to play, as they kept the short maps from the 3DS game, meaning you can dive in for 15 to 30 or so minute chunks, hop out to do something else and come back to the game without having to figure out where you left off. OK, shutting up and going back home to play more – expect a review later in the week…

Gallery: Batman Arkham Origins

Posted on May 20, 2013 by geelw

This recently announced prequel to the hugely successful Arkham series looks quite nice in that CG trailer and really gorgeous screens below, but I see that some fans are concerned that no Rocksteady at the wheel means the game won’t have the same quality. I say give this one a shot, as it’s from the same WB Games Montreal team that converted Batman Arkham City: Armored Edition to the Wii U (and did a stellar job, at that) and I seriously doubt that they’ll deviate much from what made the first two games work so well.

In fact, I’ll predict a few tweaks and improvements to the formula that make Origins an equal or better game (as it should be), simply because going backwards is NOT an option at all. Anyway, BAO is set to launch Oct. 25, 2013 for PC, PS3, Wii U and Xbox 360 along with Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate for Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita. Nope, I don’t have screens or video on that just yet – WB Games just sent one batarang through my window with these images and trailer for the console game, so I guess the other one will come crashing through as soon as I get the window replaced.

Oh, by the way… Deathstroke IS indeed going to be playable in the game’s Challenge Mode and fans who pre-order the game for PS3, Xbox 360 or PC version of Batman Arkham Origins will receive exclusive early access to the Deathstroke pack (sorry, Wii U owners… unless you get yours some other way that hasn’t been revealed yet).

Well, I guess it’s better than getting a strange box from the Joker with who knows what sort of surprise inside, right?

DuckTales Hands-On: Woo-oo! WayForward Remakes (and Creates) A Classic…

Posted on May 17, 2013 by geelw

Ever since it was revealed a few months back, I knew WayForward Technologies and Capcom had their DuckTales reboot all buttoned up like Scrooge McDuck’s custom-made spats, but after getting some hands-on time with the first level of the game, I can safely report that any adult who played this as a kid on the NES will feel as if they’ve lost a good 20 or so years when they get to play this one. The game brings the classic into 2013 with all-new HD visuals, excellent voice acting from members of the original cartoon’s cast and a fantastically redone score that takes those familiar tunes you remember and makes them even more memorable.

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Defiance 106: “Brothers In Arms” Preview: Doc Yewll Only Makes House Calls on Monday Nights…

Posted on May 16, 2013 by geelw

Of all the characters on the syfy show to get a rabid fan base, Trenna Keating’s humorously irascible Doc Yewll seems to be one of the breakout stars of the show thanks to her non-stop cranky attitude and fact that she gets some of the funniest lines on the show that work thansk to her sarcastic delivery. Well, it looks as if we’ll get to see more of the Doc in next week’s show, so keep that popcorn warm… er, or just buy some fresh popcorn. Doc says you can choke on the old stale stuff and she won’t treat you unless you pay up first…

Batman: Arkham Origins Teaser: The Dark Knight Grouses…

Posted on May 16, 2013 by geelw

Man, that Bruce Wayne (er, Batman) sure is a real party-pooper, isn’t he? All that gloom and criminals are the scum of the earth stuff plus what looks like a vinegar and lemon diet make for one grumpy Darknight Detective, that’s for sure. Then again, this is ONLY the teaser for the upcoming game. The actual trailer drops on May 20, 2013… so I’m betting it’ll be even darker and grimmer. Hmmm… that man needs some cotton candy and a fancy paper hat, I think. Either that or he needs to stay in one night and maybe catch up on some old TV shows. Comedies, preferably…

Payday: The Heist 2 Gets A Cross-Platform Retail Release: Smart Move (And A Steal, At That)…

Posted on May 15, 2013 by geelw

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Other than trying the game out at a friend’s place for about an hour or so, I didn’t get to play Payday: The Heist because I can’t access PSN or Xbox Live at home. Of course, with its fast-paced but more tactical gameplay that your garden variety FPS and ability to play out different heists, the game did well enough as a PS3 and PC download that a sequel was a no-brainer. Overkill Software has been in the kitchen cooking up Payday 2 for a bit and publisher 505 Games has announced that not only is the sequel coming soon (as in this August), it’s making the jump to Xbox 360 AND getting a nice retail release this time out.

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As you can see from the screens below, the fine folks at Overkill (which is an offshoot of Starbreeze Studios) certainly know their way around a graphics engine and if you hate clowns, you’re already hiding behind a couch cushion thanks to those freaky masks. Of course, the proof is all in the playing, so I guess this one gets added to my already crowded list of games to get to once they’re out. Those of you looking for a little virtual cops & robbers action should probably be on the lookout for this one as well…

GRID 2 “WSR 3” Video: Drift & Shout…

Posted on May 14, 2013 by geelw

And now, a bit of slipping and sliding through the Asian courses on GRID 2 for your soon to be driving like a maniac pleasure. Five years of hard work is coming to a close and it looks as if Codemasters will have a new legion of race fans when the launches at the end of the month onto PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. Of course, some of the griefers whining endlessly about the cockpit view not being in tagging along and actually liking the game for the sense of speed and solid visuals would be some extra icing on the cake, but at this point, the dev team probably could care less what the non-stop complainers are complaining about. As usual, we shall see and I’m betting some clever hacker will knock out a patch for the PC version at some point that adds a viewpoint some prefer (even if it makes the game perform a bit worse)…

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified – “Origin Declassified” Trailer: Agent Carter, I’m On YOUR Side…

Posted on May 13, 2013 by geelw

From the bits of gameplay shown, this origin story looks like a re-skinned version of last-year’s XCOM reboot, so you’d think it would shut the naysayers up a bit more. Nope. 2K Games is still getting not too much respect from those folks, but I say the company doesn’t need these people at all at this point. Let others who want to play the game do so and enjoy it while you keep your opinions to yourselves and sleep better clutching that old boxed copy of the Microprose classic you hold so dearly as the “best game ever” to your chests. Eh, whatever – I love that original game myself, but I’m at least more open-minded and can respect a new developer who wants (or WANTED, as far as the original design went) to do something outside the box. As always, we’ll see how the new game turns out when it hit s retail on August 20, 2013. Unless he and his team are complete klutzes, Agent Carter’s got nothing to worry about from me…

Defiance 1:4 Recap/1:5 Preview: Renewal Means More Life Ahead For Many…

Posted on May 11, 2013 by geelw

The great news is syfy has renewed Defiance for a second season, so that means the ratings are decent enough that we’ll get more of this fancy futuristic western and hopefully more airtime for certain characters. The tie-in action/shooter MMORPG also seems to be doing well as its user base has hit the million mark and seems to be growing after some of the usual online gaming issues that plague new releases. Thanks to the rather deep back story to the show (and game) world and the assorted races, there’s a lot of unexplored territory that should keep this train rolling for as long as content can be created. Of course, all this depends on the show keeping those ratings as high as possible and the game getting rid of a few bugs that still keep it from perfection.

Given the dedication to both products from all working on them, it’s a no-brainer (to me, at least) that things can only get better in the future (even if the future is a pretty busted up planet we’re going to live on)…

Resident Evil Revelations “Shock and Panic” Trailer (No, Not About The Wii U Features)…

Posted on May 10, 2013 by geelw

Ah ha ha… I had to get that little joke in because I read some message board posts a week or so ago that were blasting the Wii U version for being “for kids” or something silly like that when clearly, the Wii U Gamepad features in that video below aren’t necessarily “for kids” at all because the main game certainly isn’t. I mean, if you shot or beat a zombie or other creature to death here and CANDY came out or maybe BUBBLES and RAINBOWS, maybe I’d be on your side. Or maybe not, as I generally don’t take sides in these debates at all – I just play the games and let you know that I like them and yes, you should spend your money accordingly.

That and hell, you just KNOW that there’s going to be a lot of otherwise “mature” gamers running around drawing naughty bits every chance they get and smirking like straight-jacketed hyenas when they see their handiwork show up on some website as part of some review or news item. Trolls like these breed when they need to feed, I say. Resident Evil Revelations hits PC, PS3, Wii U and Xbox 360 on May 21, 2013 – Some hands-on time is coming up next week, so expect some words from and to the wise about this one shortly…