D4 Needs Me, But I Don’t Have That Xbox One Yet…


 
Despite some solid reviews from folks that appreciate its weirdness, I’ve heard that the episodic adventure experience known as D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die doesn’t seem to be selling in decent enough numbers… yet. Granted, so far it’s only the first two chapters of what’s going to be a multi-part story and I’m betting that some Xbox One owners are holding out for some sort of complete disc or download version so they can play the entire game from start to finish. On the other hand, I also know that there are a good deal of people who yes, don’t want to play this game on anything but the hardware they own and I can respect that side of the argument to some extent. Between them and the crowd that ignores odd and innovative games like this because they refuse to step outside their comfort zone, that’s probably a lot of gamers missing out on what seems to be quite an interesting adventure… Continue reading

Alien Isolation #HowWillYouSurvive Final Update: Last Chance to Stomp Down to the Store, But Have an Egg First!


 
So, some early reviews are in and it seems that the reviewers that got it REALLY got it good and that’s a good thing. The ones that didn’t? Well, they came in looking for the wrong game and yep, boy were they surprised at the game not being what THEY wanted and what the developer intended. You have to love that sort of misguided missile writing, ladies and gents.


 
Anyway, as Sega seems to not like me, I’ll still be buying this one on Tuesday and reviewing it a bit later than the madding crowd that already has. But that’s just fine by me because I don’t plan on rushing this through at all. Nor one bit. Nope.


 
As for that eggy breakfast, Well… I’d like one of these, please. It can fit in the living room in place of that stupid recliner or the other chair that just dropped its lousy, crumbling cloth underside on the carpet like a misbehaving pet. Yuck. Anyway, I should probably catch up on some sleep over the weekend, as I’m betting Alien Isolation will be keeping me awake and creeping into my sleeping time for a while…

Alien Isolation #HowWill YouSurvive Update: Yup, I’m Flared Up For This One As Well…


 
Flared Up, indeed! I just realized (okay, again!) that it’s OCTOBER (well, tomorrow!) and Alien Isolation is out in a week’s time. Eeek. Now, I have to do a coin toss and decide what to get, as there are a few other games coming that need to be played and I’m not sitting on a ton of money here (yet). As I know the big sites will all be reviewing the next-gen versions, I may play odd man out and grab the PS3 version just because I really want to see how that turned out and yes, more of you guys and gals out there still play games on your own PS3 or Xbox 360 than you do on those fancier newer machines.


 
Crowd Control? Nah, this one’s not getting a massive midnight launch and doesn’t need one at all. As this isn’t a crowd-pleasing first-person shooter in the Call of Duty or Halo vein and is in fact, a hybrid horror/sci-fi experience that looks to capture the spirit of Ridley Scott’s classic 1979 film, I’m betting there are STILL a small bunch of people out there who will go into this expecting a non-stop guided missile on-rails shooter or something the game isn’t. But it’s their own damn fault for not paying attention to the developer diaries and all those previews other sites have done for a while. Oh well…


&nsbp;
Distress will come when this launches on October 7, 2014 for PS3/PS4, Xbox 360/Xbox One and PC and people buy it, get home and then get too scared to play past certain spots. I have the first film in a loop in my brain (I’ve seen it countless times and plan to watch it again before the game arrives just to set the perfect mood), so I know I’m going to love what’s here. Now, about that DLC and stuff that should HOPEFULLY pop up for everyone and not just be exclusive to certain retailers? Yeah, that’s my big gripe about this and other games that piece out content like that. It may be “what people want” (according to game companies), but this SHOULD have been one of those games that packed as much as possible onto that disc just out of respect for Alien fans who don’t want to miss out on ANY content but have no choice in the matter.

Final Fantasy XV TGS 2014 Trailer: Doing That Double Take For Reasons Right & Otherwise…


 
Okay, we’re finally seeing a FF on console that looks exactly like those spectacular CG opening and story movies the series in known for, but man, what a cast of heroes this time out. What the what? Seriously. As great as this in-progress game looks, I really have no interest in playing as a too-long car (it looks like a Mercedes hearse convertible) full of big-haired bar band rejects. It’s not Social Distortion, it’s Antisocial Ripple in the Pond! Okay, it was a lot funnier when it popped into my head as I was typing. On paper, it’s a bust. *Le Sigh*…

(Thanks, GamesHQ Media!) 

Hey, I love Tetsuya Nomura’s art and character designs (most of the time), but I dunno about this cast. Of course, it’s probably Square/Enix’ response to those FF X-2 games with its all female cast of heroines (and nope, I didn’t like those games much). Maybe I’ve finally outgrown this franchise after all, as I missed the XIII entirely, had no interest in any of the online only games and just grew weary of poking around message boards only to find people still whining about no official FFVII remake, FF games that only got a Japanese release not coming out here and other rolling over the keyboard nonsense that’s kept me away from most game boards for quite some time.

Eh, we’ll see, as usual. I remember when a new FF game was a system seller to some people. I’m not sure this newest one will be as big a mover in this more jaded age of gamers spending too much time gabbing about what they hate and less time actually playing stuff. But I may be wrong…

Crimes & Punishments (Sherlock Holmes) Launch Trailer: Elementary? Not So Fast, You Armchair Sleuths…


 
Oh, the rather droll and humorous closing exchange between Holmes and Watson is probably worth buying the game outright, but I think Focus Home Interactive and developer Frogwares want players to get more than just a moderate chuckle when the snap up this latest Sherlock Holmes game. It’s out on September 30 for PS3/PS4, Xbox 360/Xbox One and PC and looks like it’s going to be a pretty solid game. I’m actually behind in the series, but I may grab this one and work backwards just because it’s not really a franchise where you need to dive into each game in a particular order at all. You just have to love the man and his work. Still, I wonder what’s for dessert on that menu and whether or not the detecting duo actually attend that soiree they’ve been kindly invited to? A good mystery always deserves better clues, I suppose…

Alien Isolation #HowWillYouSurvive Update: Two More Reasons To Jump Out Of Your Seat


 

#AINope will be trending if I have my way, but I’ll very likely be far too busy ducking and weaving in my chair while playing Alien Isolation to do much social network socializing. Nope, I won’t be Twitching unless it’s involuntary and from the game creeping me out from playing past a certain point. No tweeting unless I’ve a police whistle around my neck and I’m calling for help before I throw a shoe at my TV screen. And definitely no facebooking at all, because that’s actually more frightening than any game ever made. Yaaaaaah!


 

Alien Isolation lands in stores and digital delivery systems on October 7, 2014 for PS3/PS4, Xbox 360/Xbox One and PC. Back with more ways to die horribly in this soon to be modern sci-fi horror game classic in a bit…

Call of Duty Advanced Warfare “Power Changes Everything” Trailer: Let’s You And Him Fight! Again.


 

Ah, if only real world conflicts could be solved by some simple gaming away for a few hours until one side “loses.” Yeah, I’d be ALL for that instead of this stop and start unsteady war footing we keep finding ourselves mixed up in. Sure, the real world is indeed a complicated place, but you’d THINK that after centuries of either getting it all wrong or not learning from past mistakes, we’d figure out an easier (or at least more efficient) means of dealing with people we don’t like who do things we really don’t like. Of course, the more recent Call of Duty games have been a bit timely in asking a few of these questions in between bullets and bomb blasts, but I’d gather that the bulk of the millions who buy and play these games year after year might not care much about hot geopolitical topics interrupting their online gunplay and kill streaks galore. Granted, the games do get better and better from a production standpoint and it’s clear that Sledgehammer Games is doing this year’s installment up right for PS4 and Xbox One owners expecting the best visual quality.

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare hits retail outlets and digital delivery systems for PS3/PS4, Xbox 360/Xbox One and PC on October 3, 2014.

A (Not So) Gentle Reminder: Pirates Do Whatever The Heck They Want, Arrrr!

TLAPD SkylandersSo (Ouch!). Yesterday was International Talk Like A Pirate Day and for a while I’ve always managed to more or less avoid “celebrating” that non-holiday that’s become one too many people take seriously (Ouch!). Anyway, I thought I’d make it clean through the day and not HAVE to post a single eyepatch, booty, or “Arrrrr” reference and actually did so, going to bed around 2am or so with a clean conscience.

That didn’t last long thanks to something resembling a pair of plastic hammers thumping me on the head until I woke up (Ouch!).

It turns out those Skylanders toys from the hugely popular game series? Yeah, they’re REAL. And tend to get really annoyed when they get ignored (Ouch). So, here’s a nice, belated post to go do something piratey yesterday(Ouch!) or ALL the time, not just on that designated day. Why? Well, because (and in case you didn’t read the title of this post)… pirates do whatever the heck they want! (Ouch!)… “Arrrrr!” Hey, Activision? Can you come and get this little guy out of my house? Those plastic hammers may be tiny (and plastic), but they do leave little dents in everything he hits. Hey, (Ouch!) I’ll trade him back for a PS3 or Wii U copy of Skylanders Trap Team (coming to PS3/PS4, Xbox 360/Xbox One, Nintendo Wii/Wii U, Nintendo 3DS/2DS and Apple, Samsung, Amazon and Google tablets on October 5, 2014. Okay, is that enough? OUCH! Okay, okay… I’ll post the other video, too:

There, HAPPY now? (Ouch!) Okay, okay! AND I’ll buy the game too! (Great, now I’ll have that goofy song looping in me head allll dayyyyy, arrrrr!)

Alien Isolation #HowWillYouSurvive Trailers 2-4: #JustBarelyIfAtAll (If You Need To Know)…


 
Nope…


 
and Nope…


 
annnnnnnnd, make mine a triple, bartender. Or, “No more for me, thanks, I’m dyin’!”

Yeah, it looks as if there are quite a few ways to expire in Alien Isolation and I’m betting some of you won’t need a rocket to ride through space when this game launches on October 7, 2014 for PS3/PS4, Xbox 360/Xbox One and PC. Hopefully Sega and developer The Creative Assembly have been shutting out the trolls and paying attention to those of us who want to experience the game on any platform to see if it’s a worthy follow up to the 1979 film as intended and those expecting some run of the mill FPS with the license stamped on realize it’s not all about what they want and all about what the CA is bringing to the table in the horror/sci-fi genre. Respect is a simple enough word for this one and I’m in for the long haul as far as spreading the word if this one’s a winner.

Pathologic Update: 17 Days To Go. Getting To Its Goal, Body By Body…


 
Slowly but surely, this remake of the 2005 sleeper PC game Pathologic is getting funded via Kickstarter, so hop in and splash around those plague-riddled ponds if you want to see this come to fruition. I love the unsettling vibe this gives off, that slow-loading pistol (and if you didn’t squeak a tiny bit when the camera dipped up and that bird-suited thing was standing there, you’re a better person than I am) and the overall air of gloom that makes this one special. Then again, if this real life ebola thing gets into the country, we’ll all be doing that dance those quirky rejects from Mummenschanz are soon enough. Man, I hate it when reality intrudes on my gaming life. Hopefully this gets funded and finished before the planet goes all 12 Monkeys, ha and ha… *gulp!*