Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few days, you know that everyone is raving about Alien Swarm; the free, 4 player, top-down, co-op shooter released by Valve on its Steam service.
Well, word got out that there are a few simple console commands that allow you to get down and dirty with the aliens by playing in first-person. Don’t believe me? See for your self. Read more… »
I have never understood the acronym “MMORPG”, because it lies.
Role-playing games are what I played as a kid in high school. Combat tables, equipment, and loot only served as structure for the interactions between our player characters and the non-player characters (NPCs) portrayed by the Dungeon Master. The role-playing was the heart of the experience.
Say what you will about Eidos’ befallen heroine, but you have got to give the girl credit – whenever you think it’s game over for the once-untouchable mascot, she comes fighting back with something that defies the notion of what one would expect from a Tomb Raider game.
For those expecting a continuation of Underworld, avert your eyes now! Not only does this barely resemble a Tomb Raider game, but it seems to look more like a dungeon crawler – for those eagerly awaiting Diablo 3, this could be deemed as a worthy distraction until the damn game is finally released.
There have been a number of rumours floating around the internet lately regarding Microsoft’s intentions with the ever-notorious Kinect peripheral. While the product has garnered a mixed response from both the gaming public and the Xbox’s core fanbase, Microsoft are still convinced that they will attract a larger audience in an attempt to compete with Nintendo.
However, in order to achieve this, it is absolutely essential for Microsoft to support the Kinect by promising gamers it has legs – it needs to offer a vast array of games that caters to all audiences rather than being dismissed as a mere experiment. Another biggie is its price range, an aspect that could be considered a deal breaker for many.
Late last night, well after the sun had already set and the world had been plunged into utter darkness, I sat down at my computer to begin my nightly ritual of playing the Starcraft 2 Beta. Not since the original World of Warcraft Beta has a game, that’s not even released, consume my life in such a monumental way. You can therefore imagine the horror and shock that came over me as the game booted up and displayed a message informing me I could not log into the game servers.
I had heard rumors the beta might be ending soon, but I refused to believe it. I quickly called another Starcraft 2 obsessed friend who confirmed that he also could not log into the game. I immediately rushed to the Blizzard forums and my worst fears were confirmed; the beta was indeed over, for good. Read more… »
Would you eat a unicorn’s poop? That’s just one of the many bizarre moments experienced by the player throughout the course of DeathSpank, an Xbox Live Arcade release from Ron Gilbert (creator of the Monkey Island series, which I adore) and Hothead Games, the company that developed the Penny Arcade games.
Unsurprisingly, it is that type of humor that is the main selling point of DeathSpank, which was marketed as Monkey Island meets Diablo. In the end, this is a remarkably accurate description of the game, though this doesn’t always work in its favor. When DeathSpank is at its best, it’s riotously enjoyable, but there’s always some sort of issue that crops up at the most inopportune times, not unlike a sudden and poorly designed escort quest. Yep, this game has one of those too.
Remember when I told you guys about the Red Faction made-for-TV movie coming to the SyFy channel? Today, SyFy let a few more details squeak out.
Now titled Red Faction: Origins, the made-for-TV movie will arrive within the same window as the upcoming game Red Faction: Armageddon (March 2011). Origins, described as a “pilot” movie, will tell the tale of what events occurred between Red Faction: Guerrilla and Armageddon. Read more… »
Every time I hear the phrase “art game”, I throw up in my mouth a little bit. Don’t take that to mean that I believe games should avoid making a statement or attempting to make us feel and think – quite the contrary. It’s because whenever that phrase is invoked, all meaningful critique of the game in question stops and everyone gets wrapped up in some Roger Ebert meta-nonsense. Meanwhile, the game sits forlornly on the sidelines as the Internet discusses everything but the important and salient points.
Can’t a game be artistic without having to be an “art game”? Can’t we just enjoy stellar gameplay and appreciate a masterful presentation at the same time? The answers are yes and yes. Never have I been more convinced of this fact than after journeying through PLAYDEAD’s indie platforming opus, Limbo.
Read on for the official review; I’ll be here brushing my teeth.
Last month’s North American release of Deathsmiles on the Xbox 360 has provided a sign that shmup fans may no longer have to deal with expensive Japanese imports to experience Cave shooters. Following the recent iPhone release of Espgaluda 2, Cave has announced that it is planning a full English localization and worldwide release of Guwange on Xbox Live Arcade.
Cave has recently revealed a trailer for their next vertical bullet hell shmup, Akai Katana (or Red Katana in English). Unfortunately, the trailer does not show any gameplay footage, but does show off some nice character art and narrative. Read more… »
We all knew that Plants Vs. Zombies was all set to hit the Xbox Live Arcade sometime in the near future, but what we didn’t know was that it will include never before seen multiplayer modes. At the current moment some version of Co-Op and Versus mode is confirmed, thanks to the above achievement screenshots.
I sincerely hope the versus modes are full on plants versus zombies, as opposed to just a simple mini-game. It could work with one player choosing specific zombies and lines to attack from, and tasking the other player with building plants to defend their house, then switching roles after a round.
Whether these modes are locally enabled, or only over Xbox Live is yet to be seen! Read more… »
Ninja Theory’s last title, Heavenly Sword, is one of my favourite PlayStation exclusives of this generation. So naturally, one of the most exciting reveals of E3 was Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. With Enslaved, a post-apocalyptic retelling of the novel Journey to the West, Ninja Theory is aiming to bring back the great storytelling and visuals previously seen in Heavenly Sword coupled with gameplay that actually looks amazing.
In a recent press release Namco Bandai has clarified the previously vague release date for Ninja Theory’s latest title. Enslaved Odyssey to the West lands on North American store shelved on October 5th, 2010. Read more… »
Following on from yesterday’s announcement of James Bond: Blood Stone, Activision has launched a debut trailer for the game offering a mixture of driving, shooting and combat elements, commencing with a high speed car chase featuring Bond’s trademark Aston Martin DBS and concluding with an explosive speedboat set-piece.
Blood Stone will feature an original storyline and will also revert back to the third-person perspective last seen in From Russia From Love. Judging from the trailer, the game will hopefully harken back to Everything or Nothing, what I consider to be the best Bond game since Goldeneye.
