Wolfenstein “Nowhere To Run” Trailer: But If You Tried Walking, You’re Very Much Dead!

Posted on April 8, 2014 by geelw

Although I’m quite bored with the FPS genre, I’m keeping an eye on these Wolfenstein: The New Order updates because the story is pretty intriguing and Machine Games seems to have made series hero B.J. Blazkowicz into more of a character with an actual personality instead of just a one man army and part time bullet sponge, tossed him into a world that’s actually an interesting place (well, an interesting place full of Nazis in an alternate future where they WON World War II) and has you trying to put a stop to the menace using (what else) extreme prejudice. So Blazkowicz isn’t going to be getting the Nobel Peace Prize at all, but he will be taking out a LOT of trash by feeding it a lead and other ordinance diet until he’s whittled things down to the more manageable size of zero (or something close to it depending on whether or not this one’s got a sequel idea brewing).

Okay, the one man army thing is still in effect, but at least it’s well done so far. Wolfenstein: The New Order, will be available on May 20, 2014 (and in Europe on May 23) on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. Pre-ordering gets you into the upcoming DOOM beta test, so slap down a deposit on this one and prepare to see another classic shooter get the reboot treatment…

LEGO The Hobbit In Stores Today: CG Plastic Playground Beats CG Movie FX Any Day of the Week…

Posted on April 8, 2014 by geelw

While I’m not a huge fan of the fantasy amusement park thrill rides that are The Hobbit films, TT Games has never let me down with their takes on the Lord of the Rings franchise and a bunch of other games they’ve done up with the full on LEGO treatment. While production values have been beefed up considerably since the first LEGO games, the same sense of silliness and all-out fun is intact, as is drop-in drop-out co-op play, loads of secrets and probably so many characters to play as that the game’s replay value is way off the charts if you’re one of those folks who wants to see it all and doesn’t care how long it takes to unlock everything. Anyway, this one’s available NOW for Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo 3DS and PC, so round up the family and go grab a copy, I say…

Child of Light Gets The Always Amazing Amano Touch…

Posted on April 7, 2014 by geelw

While I’ve had the great pleasure of seeing Yoshitaka Amano’s artwork up close and personal, it was too many years ago here in NYC when he was promoting HERO and I even got to chat briefly with him about his art on the Front Mission games thanks to a friend who translated my questions and compliments. Anyway, here he is doing what he does best for Ubisoft’s upcoming Child of Light and making me wish I could actually afford to own one of his paintings one of these days. It’s too bad this video isn’t longer, but oh well – sometimes you have to take the art you can get however you can get it, right? Child of Light will be available April 30 for assorted platforms and yes, you need to buy it.

Alien Isolation Update: The Sounds Of Nostalgia Recreated For Your Screaming Pleasure…

Posted on April 4, 2014 by geelw

What’s looking like the best Alien game to date is getting even better thanks to the development team’s focus on getting every element right as rain. Jerry Goldsmith‘s score to Alien was and in not only one of his best works, it’s one of the best genre soundtracks ever created (even though the original film drops a chunk of it in favor of cues from Goldsmith’s score to Freud and some classical tracks). I could write an entire post on the score alone, but I’ll wax poetic on it at some point in the future, as I’m kind of otherwise occupied with a living pile of work shuffling around the room here and making a nuisance of itself. Anyway, as you can see and hear here, Alien Isolation will get an additional layer of creepy thanks to the sound design and as a huge fan of the original film, I couldn’t be happier.

Alien Isolation lands on PC and PS3/PS4, Xbox 360/Xbox One on October 7, 2014. back with more once Sega hits the inbox with an update…

Child of Light is My Game of the Month (And I Haven’t Even Played It)

Posted on April 2, 2014 by geelw

Well, what else is new, right? As soon as I saw screen shots of Ubisoft’s upcoming RPG Child of Light, then video of it in action, I had to immediately add it to the top of my “PLAY IT OR ELSE!” pile and add both a background and banner using the gorgeous art to the site. It’s coming out April 30, 2014 for PC, PS3/PS4, Xbox 360/Xbox One and Wii U, so if you’re currently owning one of these systems or have a PC capable of running this game, you pretty much have zero excuse not to snap this up. That new UbiArt Framework tech makes the game look like a storybook come to life and I’d love to see it get used as a game making tool by an even wider range of artists as the years go by. Of course, as this is a digital only release, I’m hoping it’s not gone and forgotten by gamers out there who still prefer packaged titles for a few key reasons. But as with anything rolling out these days in this economy, we’ll see what happens…

Alien Isolation Gets October 7, 2014 Release Date

Posted on March 29, 2014 by geelw

Wow, I need to pay more attention (Part XVIX), as I didn’t know that Alien Isolation was being made for the PS3 and Xbox 360 as well as PC, PS4 and Xbox One. Well, now… that changes things up considerably as I can live with the game on the PS3 as long as it’s got a solid frame rate and has the same content as the new-gen versions. Sure, I like fancy graphics and all, but my PS3 still gets a load of usage and I’m not about to knock Sega or The Creative Assembly for thinking smart and realizing from the outset that casting a wider net on this game means MORE people will play it if it gets great scores and they still don’t have a new system in their homes. Granted, as a system SELLER, it’ll work quite well indeed for those looking for a reason to snap up that nice new console or upgrade their gaming rig. On the other hand, those who can’t buy into the newer systems yet will appreciate not being let out of what could be the best Alien game to date. As usual, we shall see… but as I’ve said previously, I trust the CA to do this one up right (and then some)…

Wolfenstein The New Order: Meanwhile, On A Train To Berlin… Heißen Kaffee und neue Freunde…

Posted on March 27, 2014 by geelw

Well, now. So much for a peaceful train ride through a rather unique version of post WWII Germany, hmmmmm? This in-engine scene from Machine Games’ upcoming Wolfenstein: The New Order made me want a cup of strong coffee, but not the headache that comes later on from caffeine withdrawal. It doesn’t quite feel like a big mech stomping on my head, but I’d rather have a headache from one over the other. If I’m not mistaken, Tommy Tordsson Björk (see below!) wrote the dialog in this scene. That Frau Engel is a real witch (with a capital “B”) isn’t she? Granted, I’m all for strong female characters in games, folks… it’s the Nazi part that kind of bends my straw a bit. But hey, the best villains are the ones you love to hate, so she’s added to the my list of characters to keep an eye on.

Remember, Wolfenstein: The New Order, will be available on May 20, 2014 (and in Europe on May 23) on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. As an added bonus, pre-ordering the game gets you invited to access the DOOM beta

Child of Light Making of #1: Dream, Draw and Drink In The Delicious Results…

Posted on March 19, 2014 by geelw

Ubisoft is making game making an even more “magical” process these days thanks to its UbiArt Framework tech that allows for artists to see their work come to brilliant life while remaining unchanged from how it was created. The upcoming multiplatform role-playing game, Child of Light (April 30, 2014) presents the gorgeous storybook world of Lemuria and allows players to dive in and explore it using some tried and true gameplay along with some nice new features sure to bring on the raves from an audience hungry for new original properties and not more of the same old same old.

Given that the game is set ti launch on PC, PS3/PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and Wii U (so far!), it looks as if anyone with a home console or decent enough gaming setup will be seeing what the fuss is all about soon enough. Yeah, I know you Mac and Linux users are all cranky right about now, but I guess there will be a version of this for you folks at some point down the road. In the meantime, I guess you could always make friends with someone who has one of the systems the CAN play on when it launches next month…

Metal Gear Solid V Ground Zeroes: Demo As A “Luxury” (For Better Or Worse)…

Posted on March 18, 2014 by geelw

So, it’s here and even though it’s been known for a while it was going to be what amounts to nothing but a brief demo with a $30 price tag (and similar to Gran Turismo 5 Prologue in its cost versus brevity factor), some critics have been punching away hard on poor Big Boss/Solid Snake. As I’m not made of money, I’m going to wait for a used copy or trade from a friend to pop up, but I really want to play this just to see that Fox Engine in action, how Kiefer Sutherland works as the voice for Snake (taking over from David Hayter) and the ability to tackle that single (and large) map as many ways as possible. Granted, the one to two hours maximum play time I’m hearing about IS a bit pesky, but I’m gathering most reviewers played through just to complete their posts and aren’t fully appreciating that demo for all its worth. On the other hand, this is a Hideo Kojima game, so perhaps that and the Metal Gear name are carrying that price point into “Hmmmmm…” territory for some writers and players.

That said, the full game (Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain) is still underway as far as development goes, so I do hope the cost of this slice is offset in some manner, be it some exclusive content available to those with save files (on-disc and not DLC so EVERYONE who bought in can see/play it) or something else Kojima and publisher Konami can think up to keep the angrier folks down off their soapboxes. Eh, we’ll see, I suppose. I’m just glad to see a new MGS on a home console after all this time…

Titanfall Fanatics Get A New Booster That Does Double Duty…

Posted on March 17, 2014 by geelw

Got Titanfall? Good. You’ll probably LOVE this, then. The folks at 5-Hour Energy and Wal-Mart have teamed up to being you this exclusive Titanfall themed packaging for their Berry flavor which is available now for a limited time. Yes, I know some of you all night crowd gamers will surely be stocking up on those boxes just for the artwork and connection to the game, so this is a head up for you to snap them up and sock them away because once they’re gone.. they’re gone for good.

Now, how you GET to that Wal-Mart is all up to you, but I say leave the Titan at home, please. Not EVERYONE has the game and if you go clanking around in a big mech suit just to score s shelf full of that 5-HE, chances are you’ll be doing a LOT of explaining to the local police. Of course, you’re smart enough NOT to stomp on that prowler that rolls up on you when you’re on the way to or from your shopping trip, right?

I thought so…