Humble 2K Bundle: Five Days Left To Score Too Many Great Games!

Posted on July 16, 2014 by geelw

Well, since I missed the beginning of this Humble Bundle sale whenever it popped up (I’m way behind in my inbox perusing thanks to too many games and such I’m in the midst of playing and reviewing), it’s a pretty spectacular deal for anyone looking for older to more recent 2K-published games or some well-aged classics worth playing once more (or for the first time).

Sure, you can pay what you want for BioShock, The Bureau: XCOM Declassified and The Darkness II and be pretty pleased with that little deal. Bu I say drop at LEAST $8.15 or more bucks down to get an even better deal that adds BioShock 2, Mafia II, Spec Ops: The Line, X-COM: Complete Pack (which is FIVE complete games: X-COM: UFO Defense, X-COM: Terror from the Deep, X-COM: Interceptor, X-COM: Enforcer, and X-COM: Apocalypse) or heck, just throw down a digital twenty and add XCOM: Enemy Unknown and BioShock Infinite to the package.

It’s the middle of summer, so taking a short gaming vacation is a good idea if you have some free time and don’t feel like baking in the sun or dealing with nether region probing from some overzealous TSA agents. Hmmm… I’d bet you a penny that they’re all REALLY aliens from another planet, thus the rubber glove treatment and body scanners some of us have to experience when we travel. Ooooh, I think I’m onto something, but then again, that tinfoil hat I’ve been wearing when I do venture outside may be cooking my brain a little…

Anyway, go get yourself (or someone else) some darn good to darn great games, I say!

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified Launch Trailer: On Loving (or Hating) the Alien…

Posted on August 19, 2013 by geelw

After a complete shift in development from a tactical first-person game (that drew instant and completely unwarranted hatred from die-hard fans of the original PC game) to a third-person squad-based tactical shooter, 2K’s XCOM origin story rolls out on August 20. I actually liked the more stylized visuals and perspective in the original concept, but I’ll still play this as a fan of the series who happens to have a more open mind. Now, I don’t have a review copy incoming as far as I know, but I’m betting this drops in price quickly thanks to some obstinate embargo breakers at another site that ran a negative review already (which seems to have been taken down – I guess 2K put the kibosh on that kibosher). Oh well – I rarely pay attention to other reviews anyway, as it’s never a good thing to rely on the opinions of others when they go in expecting something entirely different than what’s on the plate. As usual… we shall see…

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…

XCOM Remake Goes From FPS to Tactical Third Person. Change Is Good (Hopefully)…

Posted on April 26, 2013 by geelw

I actually didn’t mind at all that the initially announced (and formerly Xbox 360 exclusive) version of this was going to be a first-person experience, but some really stubborn hardcore fans of the classic PC game as well as misguided message board denizens who think ANY game with a FPS viewpoint is going to be a Call of Duty retread didn’t like the new direction at ALL. While all that turmoil was going on, veteran developer Firaxis was tapped to create a new tactical game in the series that followed and enhanced the gameplay of the original and as expected, it did quite well critically and (it seems) commercially. During all this, a poll was taken about the other game and fans basically asked it to be pretty much as similar as can be to what they “expect” and so, here we are… Continue reading →

XCOM: Enemy Unknown Launch Trailer: “Our Last Hope” Keeps Those Aliens’ Days Numbered…

Posted on October 5, 2012 by geelw

2K Games and Firaxis are about to make a ton of gamers happy campers indeed with this upcoming reboot of the turn-based strategy classic and this should be one of those games that becomes highly regarded among new and old genre fans. Sadly and not so amusingly enough, rumors have it that the highly stylized FPS origin story (which has vanished off the radar for far too long), has been whined and focus-grouped dined into a watered down (and probably DLC-only) version of the turn-based game above with squad-based third-person gameplay. Talk about a developer not being able to do the game they set out to do in the first place. Great. Score another “victory!” for those who want to piss on creativity because they think one genre is “inferior” to another or ONLY caters to ONE type of player. System Shock, Thief, Half-Life, Arx Fatalis, Anvil of Dawn and other excellent POV titles are more that solid examples of smart “shooters” that were classics of their times is all I’ll say…

Anyway, I hope we at LEAST get something like a demo pr something PLAYABLE made available of the old version of this game before it got sent to development hell. Granted, it probably would have been dead at launch only to be rediscovered as one more “Hey! This game isn’t bad at all!” bargain bin special, but I guess 2K doesn’t want to deal with that factor (even after so much has already been spent on development). Feh. Sometimes, fans aren’t the smartest sticks in the shed because they hate things that may actually work well in a certain context they can’t wrap their heads around until they actually PLAY it. Same old hamburger and fries again? Sure!

XCOM: Enemy Unknown “Last Stand” Trailer: Well, You’ll Be Sitting Down While Playing, Right?

Posted on July 27, 2012 by geelw

Things seem to be humming along quite nicely over at Firaxis in terms of their XCOM game ticking off all the boxes fans expect and I’m hoping the game does well enough at retail to convince the more stubborn dopes that the other XCOM game (where it’s been too damn quiet in terms of update news) will work as well. Hopefully 2K isn’t going to cave into the entitled whiners who complain too much about stuff they won’t buy, only to turn around and snap it up when it hits the bargain bin and end up liking it a lot more than the imaginary game they had in their heads based on a few screen shots and low-res movies of a work in progress that has a ways to go before completion.

As usual, we shall see…

E3 2012: XCOM: Enemy Unknown Trailer: It’s Your Turn Soon Enough…

Posted on June 7, 2012 by geelw

Even with all those big name , bigger deal AAA shooters out there, turn-based strategy gaming has never really gone away, but it’s just nice to see it getting more notice with higher profile releases such as Firaxis’ upcoming relaunch of one of the best PC games in the genre. I can most definitely recommend giving this one a go even if your only dip into the genre has been something along the line of Advance Wars or other lower stress SRPGs. If this new game is as deep and fun as the original, 2K has a surefire hit that will be played and replayed for ages.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown Deep Dive # 2: Know Your Enemy (Which Would Make Them LESS Unknown, Right?)

Posted on May 22, 2012 by geelw

Hokay, kids… I’m still buried under a bunch of games and stuff, so here’s an XCOM developer diary to ogle. October 9, 2012 is the release date for Firaxis’ turn-based strategy game and yes, it’s looking cooler by the moment. Granted, trying to please EVERY fan of the classic game series (or any series) for that matter in a total impossibility, but as someone who was around for the original game, I’m happy with what I’m seeing here and elsewhere. And hey 2K! Keep that other XCOM game in the pot, cranky comments from elsewhere or not. You spent a ton of loot making it, so you may as well finish it and get it shipped, I say. As long as it’s FUN, I won’t mind anything else…

XCOM: Enemy Unknown Update: Art Direction, Directed Artistically…

Posted on April 28, 2012 by geelw

Here’s a look at another “making of” featurette for Firaxis’ upcoming reboot of the classics tactical sci-fi RPG. I have to hand it to the team for not jumping on the retro bandwagon in terms of the visual style. As much of a fan of the original X-COM and a few of its spin-offs and sequels, the fact is going too old school would have been a bad idea unless the team was doing a portable version that implemented a rotating camera like Rifts: Promise of Power on the N-Gage (one of those games that needs to be redone for handhelds or consoles just so gamers could see that, yes, there were some great games on the much-berated device). I don’t think 2K has anything to worry about other than a few cranky fans who never even plan to buy the final version still going ape about stuff they don’t like (even if it’s well implemented and make the game more enjoyable)…

XCOM: Enemy Unknown Update: Classic To Current, Not Lost In Translation

Posted on April 19, 2012 by geelw

Hey 2K! While this very cool progress update on the tactical version of XCOM is fantastic, let’s also hear about the other game as well. I’m actually one of those fans of the PC classic that’s NOT going bat crap crazy against the first-person origin story at all as I want to see how it turns out. Besides, it’s time that developers and publishers stood up a bit more steadfastly to the constant whining about every damn thing getting in the way of otherwise interesting design decisions.

Sure, keeping fans happy is ONE key to success, but it’s also important to have the freedom to take any IP in a different direction even if there’s some resistance. I think it’s time for some of these angry kids to shut it and eat their broccoli – hell, they may just find that it’s not as bad as they’ve been hearing…