Tomorrows Gaming Forums - General Gaming Discussion

Three Big Announcements Coming from Valve

Dante — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 10:58:50 GMT

Not only is Valve experimenting with biometrics, but the company plans to reveal three big surprises over the next twelve months.

ZoomAlthough Valve didn't mention Half-Life 3 or Half-Life 2: Episode 3, the company recently said that gamers should expect "at least" three big surprises within the next 12 months. It was speculated back at E3 2010 that Valve's surprise event would reveal either of the two aforementioned games, however the company instead revealed Portal 2 coming to the PlayStation 3.

So without daring to take a guess, what should gamers expect? "I can guarantee you people are going to be surprised at stuff we do," Valve boss Gabe Newell teased in the latest issue of PC Gamer. "That isn't going to stop any time soon. I'm just laughing because... people will be shocked again."

He then added that "three pretty big surprises" are in store for gamers in the next twelve months.

Also in the works is support for biometrics. Valve has reportedly spent $50,000 on gaze-tracking technology to understand where game testers are looking during play. The company is also hooking up testers to biometric devices to not only track pulse rates, emotional reactions and more, but to give them a little jolt.

"With biometrics, rather than guessing [player states], we can actually use a variety of things like gaze tracking, skin galvanic response, pulse rate and so on," he explained. "Through combining those pieces of information, we can get a much more accurate indication of player state, so that's something we're super interested in."

via: Tomshardware

It's Official: Duke Nukem Forever Coming From Gearbox Software

Dante — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 19:29:55 GMT

2K Games has made it official: Duke Nukem Forever is alive and, well, in the hands of developer Gearbox Software, confirming our earlier reports that the Borderlands studio was helping to complete the game's absurdly long development cycle.

The publisher announced this morning in advance of PAX 2010 that Gearbox Software was on the job, picking up where developer 3D Realms left off. Gearbox plans to ship the game on the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 within the next year, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal�the WSJ says DNF is due "next year" and "currently expected to ship in 2010."

Given Duke Nukem Forever's epic development�it was first announced in 1997 as a sequel to Duke Nukem 3D�it might be wise to hedge on the later of those two release windows.

Gearbox and 2K will be showcasing the game to press and the public at this weekend's PAX convention. 2K Games is offering a publicly playable demo of Duke Nukem Forever at its booth.

After more than a decade in development, Duke Nukem Forever all but ended its production after the collapse of studio 3D Realms. Gearbox Software president Randy Pitchford tells the WSJ that his studio picked up development in late 2009 and that the game is currently in the "polishing" stages.

via: Kotaku

Clowns Versus Bunnies Does Sound Like A Bloody Good Time

Dante — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 05:37:18 GMT

Rare is the first-person shooter that lets us pit murderous clown versus flamethrower-wielding Vegas showgirl, beach bunny against surfer bro. Ubisoft's new Bloody Good Time does, a multiplayer kill-fest from the developers of The Ship.
Developer Outerlight is bringing Bloody Good Time to Xbox Live Arcade and to PCs via Valve's Steam service, built on Valve's Source engine. Blood Good Time's bizarre cast of characters is explained by the game's premise�the eight-player shooter takes place on various movie sets, where "players will discover the merciless world of movie studios where anyone can star in a scary Hollywood blockbuster film."
The stylized action game features bizarre tools of destruction that include frying pans, flamethrowers and exploding remote-controlled rodents.
Blood Good Time arrives this fall.

via: Kotaku

Playstation 3 Move Sports Champions Review

Dante — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 09:38:38 GMT

Sports Champions is bound to be the most owned Playstation Move game when the motion-detecting peripheral hits the Playstation 3 on Sept. 19.
That's because the game comes bundled with the controller and camera and with a special Playstation 3 console pack. But you can also pick the collection of sports games up for $40 or so on its own.
But would you want to? Or is the Sports Champions essentially the Playstation 3's version of Wii Sports or Wii Sports Resort: A game meant more to ease you into the notion of a certain type of motion gaming than it is meant to entertain.

Loved

Gladiator Duel: Easily my favorite among the bunch, Gladiator Duel has just enough realism and just enough over-the-top action to deliver an experience that makes you feel like you could be a natural gladiator. Playing with a single Move controller is OK, but the game really sings when you dual wield controllers. The controller in your left hand controls the shield, the controller in your right, your weapon. Attacks can be delivered from either side, high, low or straight down, but to do so you have to actually make the proper motion. The same is true for the shield. Don't block in the right place and you're going to get hit.
Archery: Another fun game made better with two Move controllers. Hold one as if it were the bow and the other as if it were the arrow. You have to reach back to grab an arrow and then stretch out and hold the two controllers in front of you notch the arrow. Pulling back on the right controller pulled back the arrow, releasing the trigger on that controller releases the arrow. The game's view zooms in down the shaft of the arrow as you draw back, showing not only a targeting reticule, but also how the arrow will drop as it flies further from you. The matches have you shooting against other players or the game-controlled character to see who can get the most bullseyes, hit the most fruit, land arrows on a grid of targets to win at tic-tac-toe or headshot wooden monsters before they roll all of the way down the range to you.
Disc Golf: Just like the sport, Disc Golf has you throwing Frisbees down around a golf course-like field to try and get the disc in a bucket first. The game does a great job of detecting angle, the power of your throw and the snap of your release, delivering a very realistic feeling experience.
Bocce: Popular Italian ball game Bocce gets a fantastic version in Sports Champions. In the game, you take turns throwing a wooden ball at a smaller ball located down the field from you. The person with the closest ball or balls gets the points. You can also smack the small ball around during a throw. The Move controller does an admirable job of detecting the heft, spin and release point of each throw and then translating that into the direction and movements of the ball. The end result is a surprisingly fun, and rarely seen digital version of a great ball sport.
Volleyball: Not as impressive as the other collected sports in this game pack, Volleyball still delivers a fun experience. As with most motion-controlled net sports, you have no direct control over where you stand or where your avatar moves in a match. Instead you're meant to concentrate on the trinity of volleyball: bumping, setting and spiking. All three motions are fairly straightforward, but the key is your timing. A colored circle around the ball shows its progress. The color and size of the circle lets you know when it's best to make the motion to deliver a move. As with most of the sports in this game, playing with two Move controllers really adds to the experience.
Fun Surprises : There's a lot of neat, a lot of unexpected in Sports Champions. You can unlock new weapons, new equipment and new outfits. You can play against up to three other people at the same time. In Gladiator Duel, pieces of your shield get hacked away, showing exactly where a weapon struck it. And there are those surprise augmented reality prize photos. After completing a full round of matches in a sport and winning one of the game's three trophies, it takes a picture of you as a keepsake, turning the Move controller into a fitting piece of equipment. For instance, when you wave the controller around after earning the Gladiator trophy, on the television the live video image of you looks like you're holding a sword. Very cool.
Detailed, High-Def Graphics: Make no mistake, these are Playstation 3 games. The background is packed with detail and the character models are big and colorful and the whole thing moves smoothly in response to your motions.
Hated

Table Tennis: This is the only sport in Sports Champions that I didn't really like. The controller seemed to have trouble tracking the sudden, quick, small movements of paddle play and translating them into the game. And when they did, the graphics sometimes ran into issues of its own. For instance, my serves often ended with my avatar displaying an arm folded like paper where no joint should be. The game also tracked depth, allowing you to move closer or further from the screen during gameplay. But it was hard to judge that depth during a match.
No Meta Game: It would have been nice for the developers to tie all of these wonderful sports together into some greater challenge, perhaps deliver a plot or overriding reason for why you're playing all of these games. As it stands, Sports Champions feels exactly like what it is, a seemingly random selection of solid, fun-to-play sports games.
Constant Configure: Point the Move controller at the screen and press two buttons. Hold the controller at your shoulder and press a button. Point it at the floor and press a button, hold it above an imagined belt buckle and press a button. Now do this or some derivation of it every time you change sports. In general I loved what Sports Champions had to offer, but I sure wish it was less paranoid about the precision of the controllers and let me just play.

I was a fan of most of the offerings found in Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort. I even found a few things redeeming about Wii Play. But that doesn't make me a mini-game sports fanboy. I still expect some depth to my collection of casual and unusual pick-up-and-play games. Fortunately, Sports Champions more than delivers.
For better or worse, I was expecting Sports Champions to be a glorified Wii Sports, the Playstation 3's answer to casual, motion gaming. What I wasn't expecting was a set of experiences that so effortlessly blended high-resolution graphics with precision motion detection. Sports Champions managed to give me a level of intuitive motion gaming I've rarely found, even on the Wii's MotionPlus, and did so in a way I found oddly addictive and pleasantly fun.
Sports Champions was developed by Zindagi Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PS3 on Sept. 19. Retails for $39.99 USD alone. It also comes bundled with a Move pack and a Playstation 3 Move console bundle. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played all game types in both single and multiplayer modes. Played far, far too much Gladiator Duel.

via: Kotaku

Dead Rising 2: Case Zero Review: The Case Of The Zombie-Killing Demo

Dante — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 19:41:01 GMT

Xbox 360 exclusive Dead Rising 2: Case Zero is meant to be a prequel to the full Dead Rising 2 game due out on Sept. 28. In Case Zero, you are introduced to Chuck Greene and his zombie plauge-infected daughter as they roll into a gas station in Still Water, a tiny town outside of the Vegas-like Fortune City. Minutes into the game, Greene finds himself trapped in the town with a daughter desperately in need of a zombie-fighting dose of Zombrex and the threat of an encroaching, uncaring military bearing down on his location.

You've got half a day to find the medicine, find a ride and stay alive.

Dead Rising 2: Case Zero Review: The Case Of The Zombie-Killing Demo
Loved

Gameplay Overhaul: Case Zero is for the most part a glorified demo, but that doesn't mean it's not worth the five dollars. Besides getting to dip into the world of Dead Rising again, you also get a chance to check out all of those wonderful additions to the series. You'll learn how to build your own weapons by putting two things together at a workbench. You'll scramble up walls and along roof tops. You'll be able to try the much-improved shooting of Dead Rising 2. And then there are the graphics, the new weapons and the gruesome way you can slice and dice zombies, lopping off body parts and even cutting them in half vertically.

Pick a Path: Case Zero isn't just a zombie-killing fun park. There are missions and side-stories. While working your way through the objectives you'll also have plenty of opportunities to pick up stranded stragglers, saving them for experience and cash, both of which transfer over to the full release of the game when it hits. The best part, the biggest draw for playing and replaying and replaying the game for me, was the discovering that the game has four different endings. Depending on what you do and how well you do it, you're treated to different game-ending cut scenes. That's a fantastic way to get gamers to get the most out of the Case Zero's town and many buildings.
Hated

Losing the Plot: Capcom was very clear about how Dead Rising 2: Case Zero was going to be a game that fell at the middle point between the original Dead Rising and the upcoming Dead Rising 2. I was even told at one point that we'd find out a bit about the original game's protagonist, Frank West. But no such thing happened during my three complete play-throughs of the game. And the plot that the game rests on is more a device to keep you moving, to excuse the time-locked play session, than it is something that plucks at your emotions or pulls you through the game. Let's hope that developer Blue Castle Games does a much better job with the story of Dead Rising 2, because the prequel's felt flat and rushed.

Viewed from the perspective of value: Dead Rising 2: Case Zero walks a very fine line. There are many things about it that feel an awful lot like a demo: The time limit, the throwaway plot, the level cap. But on the other hand, it's a game I played through completely not once, but three times and thoroughly enjoyed with each pass.

The town of Still Water is packed with places to explore, roofs to get to, stores to unlock, weapons to find and weapons to build, and even a final boss fight. And there are all of those zombies, the walking dead that get so thick and piled up against one another at times that they look like an ambling, roiling jungle of decay. A jungle you can't help but cleave through again and again with broadsword, with bowling pin, with heated frying pan, with nail-studded baseball bat... with great satisfaction.

Five dollars? Absolutely!

Dead Rising 2: Case Zero was developed by Blue Castle Games and published by Capcom for the Xbox 360 on Aug. 31. Retails for 400 Microsoft points or $5 USD. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played through the game completely three times, achieved three different endings. Played through large sections of the game more than a dozen times.

via: Kotaku

Mafia II Upcoming DLC Packs A Vendetta

Dante — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 19:10:23 GMT

Crime game Mafia II is getting its second downloadable add-on called Jimmy's Vendetta.
The DLC follows Jimmy, who is described as "the guy the other guys call when they need to finish the job". Jimmy cleans up the messes made in Empire Bay, and the game features 30 new quests that run the gamut of assassinations to car chases.
Jimmy's Vendetta also has online rankings where players can posts points scored with combos and multipliers.
Priced at $9.99/800 Microsoft Points, Jimmy's Vendetta will be released on the PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade and PC on September 7.

via: Kotaku

The Mafia 2 Mega Thread!!!

Zaid — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 19:57:21 GMT

The other day I saw someone asking about discussing mafia 2..So here I thought I'd create a mega thread..Feel free to merge it though..

It has been nearly 10 years since the first game was released way back in 2000’s…Ever since its promotional Trailer back in 2007, Anticipation of the sequel was higher then ever. After some consequential delays and in over 3 years in development; Mafia 2 @ was finally released few days ago and its appealing to a lot of new and old fans…

This is the Mafia 2 Mega Thread, talk all about the new and the original game here.. Videos, Achievements, Tips, Your Experience, and everything else in the middle..

Release date(s) - * NA 24 August 2010 / AUS 26 August / EU 27 August

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

Quote:

MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP (SP2 or later) / Windows Vista / Windows 7
Processor: Pentium D 3Ghz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ (Dual core) or higher
RAM: 1.5 GB
Video Card: nVidia GeForce 8600 / ATI HD2600 Pro or better
Hard Disc Space: 8 GB
Sound Card: 100% DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card
Peripherals: Keyboard and mouse or Windows compatible gamepad

RECOMMENDED SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP (SP2 or later) / Windows Vista / Windows 7
Processor: 2.4 GHz Quad Core processor
RAM: 2 GB
Video Card: nVidia GeForce 9800 GTX / ATI Radeon HD 3870 or better
Hard Disc: 10 GB
Sound Card: 100% DirectX 9.0c compliant card
Peripherals: Keyboard and mouse or Windows compatible gamepad

Shank Review: He'll Cut You

Dante — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 15:01:22 GMT

Endless streams of tough guys. One after another. I pull out my blades, switch to a chainsaw and then start shooting. Shank isn't a beat 'em up. It's a slice 'em, shoot 'em, pummel 'em up.
Side-scroller Shank follows the adventure of a guy named, wait for it, Shank. He's on a warpath, out to get those who wronged him. Shank must make his way through the criminal underworld and take down a series of bosses. Shank has a variety of weapons like dual pistols and � you guessed it � shanks. He gets more throughout the game. Control-wise, there are guard and melee as well as light heavy and heavy attacks, mixed in with grenades and gunplay.
The game is violent mayhem, sure. But is it any good?
Loved
It's A Looker: Playing Shank is like playing a graphic novel. The game dazzles. There are times when Shank is silhouetted and fighting on a bridge as the sun sets in the background. It's stunning � what's more, it actually makes the fight more intense. Since Shank is covered in darkness, it's hard to keep track of where you are and where the enemies are, making for an interesting brawl. Another interesting choice is the use of smaller on screen windows with cutscenes while you as Shank are free to destroy enemies. It not only advances the story, but keeps the player engaged by allowing him or her continue to fight. I preferred this method of storytelling over the game's traditional cutscenes.
Combos, Combos, Combos: Shank allows players to chain together combos in a fun (and not too complex) way. It's easy to use a variety of attacks and even toggle between weapons on the fly. Traditional beat 'em ups always feel like an exercise in brute strength. There is a bit of this in Shank, but it's very cool to go from shanking an enemy to slicing another with a Katana and then jumping through the air Matrix-style with two pistols. Touches like being able to cross Shank's arms so that he is shooting enemies in two different directions are welcomed.

Hated
The Voice Acting: God of War series writer Marianne Krawczyk wrote the game. The plot is a bit of Kill Bill, a bit of Robert Rodriguez movies. And that's fine. The rub is the voice acting. I don't know if the voice acting is bad on purpose or if it's just...bad. Whichever is the case, it's just not very good. The dialogue itself has a few zingers, but perhaps the voice actors don't have much to work with. While playing Shank, I kept thinking of Risk: Factions. The look of the two games is somewhat similar, but the dialogue in Risk: Factions is quite sharp and very funny. The dialogue in Shank, sadly, isn't.
Shank is a real treat for the eyes. Thankfully, the game isn't just eye candy and has gameplay to back it up. I didn't grow tired of beating up (well, killing) bad guys and bad girls. The fact that I could skip over them in some cases helped open up the platforming, an added gameplay element.
It took me about three and a half hours to play through Shank. That's just the right amount of time, I think, to kill hundred and hundreds of baddies, don't you?
Shank was developed by Klei Entertainment and published by EA for the PlayStation 3's PlayStation Network on August 24 and for the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade on August 25. Retails for $15.00 USD or 1200 Microsoft Points, downloadable only. A code for redeeming a copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played through the entire story on the PS3.

via: Kotaku

problem with mafia 2

masromim — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 19:31:50 GMT

hey guys i got a problem with mafia 2. my game gets crashed in chapter 7 while entering into any car. do you have any solution?

Starcraft II Updates Next Month

Dante — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 18:21:24 GMT

Having been out in the wild for almost a month now, Blizzard has decided that changes are in order for Starcraft II, and will soon be making a number of balance tweaks for the game's first major update.
Patch 1.1, due sometime next month, will make a number of alterations to the game's balance, including:
- Reducing the effectiveness of a "Zealot rush" when playing as/against the Protoss
- Reducing the effectiveness of Terran Reapers against the Zerg
- The power of the Terran Siege Tank will be reduced when in siege mode
- Terran Battlecruisers will be less powerful against ground units
- The Zerg Ultralisks have lost their "ram" attack, as it was proving in many instances to be less powerful than its regular attack.
There are also some minor adjustments being made to some build and cooldown times as well, along with a golbal rollout of the US hotkey layouts, including that for left-handers; for the complete list of changes due in 1.1, check out the official site.
[Blizzard via Kotaku]

Metroid: Other M Review

Dante — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 20:19:45 GMT

Bravery in game design is when someone makes a tennis video game and doesn't let you control where the tennis players run. Bravery in game design is when you turn a series about a Bear that can jump into an ambitious game of LEGOs.

Bravery is when, in 2002, Nintendo expects gamers who loved the side-scrolling 2D science fiction adventures of the first Metroid games to love the series' transformation into a first-person shooter. (Many did.) And bravery is when, three Metroid first-person games later, a group of Nintendo and non-Nintendo developers decide that the next logical step is to create the most unusual new installment in a major franchise since Prime — a game that is as daring as most sequels are safe — the Wii's new Metroid: Other M.

Samus Aran is back in a game that is, at various minutes and seconds, third-person, first-person, side-scrolling, not side-scrolling, combat-centric, exploration-based, crowded with story, as quiet as the older Metroids, beautifully minimalist in controls, awkward to handle and somehow better-looking than many games released on more powerful consoles. This game is a sequel to the Super Nintendo's Super Metroid and in many ways a stock Metroid adventure that focuses on the player using Samus to explore room after room of a space station, discovering new abilities and backtracking to use those new abilities to reach new areas and fight new bad guys. In significant ways, though, this game is an experiment and, well, let's see how it worked out…

Loved:

Samus Aran, Cooler Than Ever*: How can anyone dislike Samus Aran, who enters Metroid: Other M with the advantages of having a cool, iconic set of armor, a great rogues gallery of monsters aliens who sneak their way into most of her games and, of course, the can't-miss great ability to roll around as a bomb-dropping ball? Samus is an even better hero to control in Other M as she has been armed with an impressive array of close-quarters combat moves she can use against her enemies — and she stars in some stunning action-packed cutscenes. She also has, of course, an arsenal of cool moves, most of them returning from classic Metroid games, that she will gain over time (following the worst excuse in Metroid history for not having all of her arsenal from the get-go: She verbally agreed not to use anything other than lasers and bombs until another character in the game says she can, one approval at a time!)

Mystifyingly Good-Looking: Why does a game running on my Wii look better than some of the games that run on my PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360? Other M tops the Mario Galaxies as the best-looking game on Nintendo's practically retro-tech home console. The abundant movie-theater-quality pre-rendered cutscenes in the game are one thing, but even the in-game action is to gawk at, richly detailed, beautifully lit and a credit to the game's designers at Nintendo and project partner Team Ninja. Some of Samus' fellow human characters look simplistic, but aliens monsters — beasts that have no uncanny valley to span — look terrific, as does the architecture of the Bottle Ship through which she spends the whole game exploring.

Samus' Non-Annoying Friends: Metroid: Other M begins with Samus responding to a distress call from a space station called the Bottle Ship. When she flies to the station, she encounters a group of government troops led by her former military commander, Adam Malkovich. The game's first hour, which gives a poor and misleading impression of the game in various ways, implies that the game is going to be a chatty, team-based affair. Worse, it seems like it will be an over-narrated team-based affair that replaces the series' winning scheme of lonely exploration and combat with a lot of jawing with and reminiscing about a cast of stock military cliches who wear armor. Thankfully, that's not really how this goes down. The supporting cast fades and winds up reappearing only too infrequently. The rare moments when Samus gets to fight with another soldier at her side are tantalizing hints of what a team-based Metroid game could be like. I finished the game wanting, I'm surprised to say, more of that.

Way Ahead Of Its Time: Let's check back in in five years, but I got the sense while playing Other M that I was playing a game from a future. Specifically, this is a future when game designers don't stick with one or two styles of presentation ("This is a third-person fixed camera game" "This is a first-person game"). Metroid: Other M has been constructed as if it was a movie made by a filmmakers bold enough to use all of the different types of cinematic shots needed to best express his or her story and themes. In action, Other M is mostly viewed as a third-person game, with the camera placed in a fixed overhead or sideline position, the better to let you run Samus around a room and shoot enemies. At any time, the player can activate a first-person mode that locks Samus in place but permits more precise targeting and looking (if you're trying to find a hidden passageway, for example). Surprise: sometimes, the game tightens into a behind-the-back Resident Evil 4-style camera, mostly for moments that are more talky and story-driven. At other times it forces the player into a first-person perspective and won't let them out until a condition is met. And at other times, the game is a non-interactive cutscene. The various camera styles blend together marvelously, improving on experiments seen in the spring's God of War III, which also borrowed perspectives from other genres. This is Other M's best accomplishment as it prioritizes the expression of content over the rigid dedication to one or two methods for depicting it.

Hated

Stubborn Remote-Only Controls: The designers of Other M have said publicly that they were determined to make a Metroid game that could be played only with a Wii Remote. Why? Because they feared more complex controllers turn people off? This is already a game for people willing to take a plunge; it's hard to imagine that the addition of a Nunchuk would have scared them away. Because the game is Remote-only, players will learn how unwise it is to try to control a Resident Evil 4-style perspective with a d-pad. They will learn how annoying it is to, in the heat of battle, point the Remote out toward the TV to go into first-person mode, only to have the Wii fail to realize you did this because you are pointing a little off the TV screen. Remote-only would have been fine as a default, but the game would have controlled better, and elicited less frustration, if it supported a second control scheme for those of us who prefer to do things like control movement in three dimensions with an analog stick.

*Sappy And Conspiratorial: I had mistaken Nintendo's long-standing disinterest in making story-heavy, cutscene-loaded games with a tacit dismissal of the kinds of stories those types of games tell. I was wrong. Under the direction of longtime Metroid designer Yoshio Sakamoto, Nintendo unfortunately felt the need to tell a story that explores those tired themes of protagonist immaturity, weapons of mass destruction, and possible government conspiracy that have been strip-mined by the makers of Metal Gear and Resident Evil. Thankfully, the cut-scenes involving these themes are mostly placed near the beginning and end of the game.

I was skeptical of Other M. I thought it would not just be inferior to the wonderful Metroid Prime games but to earlier Metroid side-scrollers. I still can't say that it is better than most of them, but it is nonetheless a very good game. It is exciting to play and terrific to look at. It is a master-class in mixing gameplay genres, even though it is hobbled by a bad decision regarding its controls. Anyone with an appetite for classic Metroid combat and exploration will be satisfied with Other M. Those who wish to think of Samus as a grown-up without daddy issues may not be. Still, this is a fabulous Wii game that shows how thrilling it can be when sequel creators choose not to design it safe. This is a brave game, one that players would benefit from experiencing.

Metroid Other M was developed by Nintendo and Team Ninja and published by Nintendo for the Wii on August 31. Retails for $49.99 USD. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played through the campaign in about 10 hours, found 58% of items and warn all players of the following: Do not turn the game off when the credits are rolling. You will miss something significant.

via: Kotaku

Dead State, an upcoming zombie role-playing game.

Dante — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 20:16:18 GMT

To the gamers who say, "Enough with the zombie games already," consider Dead State, an upcoming zombie role-playing game.
The new game from development studio Doublebear got profiled over at Rock Paper Shotgun. In a detailed interview, lead developer Brian Mitsoda describes a game that seems to have many wonderful touchstones, from Fallout to X-Com to... Gradius?
Two excerpts:

Quote:

Most games deal with a Night of the Living Dead scenario where you have to survive one night, one wave, one map. We're dealing with a long-term zombie threat, where you have to worry about keeping people fed, friends getting bit and infected while scavenging, and the desperation of other human beings. Honestly, the game is not about the zombies, but about how people react to a crisis and what they are willing to do to other human beings and even members of their group to stay alive or protect their own. The zombies are just a cause, like economic collapse or a massive earthquake, and it's really the human self-preservation instinct and the survivor mentality that we're interested in portraying.

and

Quote:

The big difference in our group and something like Jagged Alliance is these are normal people with little to no combat experience, not a veteran squad of commandos, so they handle like you'd expect them to. It's best to think of them as intelligent Gradius options � they're there to assist and absorb damage. They make combat much easier than going it alone, but they can die and you're really going to have to work at it to bring everyone home all the time. Sometimes you may have to let someone go to get the rest of your group out safely. If everyone else is at the rally point and one ally is still in that house surrounded by ten zombies, let �em go, �cause they're gone.

If that doesn't sound like interesting gaming to you, then perhaps you have the pulse of a zombie.
Read the full interview about this not-in-2010 game for more.

via: Kotaku

Gears of War: Anvil Gate Novel Tells the Story Before Gears 3

Dante — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:47:25 GMT

Gears of War: Anvil Gate, the third book in the Gears of War novel series, will tell the story of what happened between the second and third video game. In Anvil Gate New York Times bestselling author Karen Traviss writes about the travails of Jacinto's survivors to rebuild human society following the end of the second game. Before long the Lambent rear their ugly heads and the surviving Gears need to team up with the pirate gangs that have been raiding their city to take on the new threat.
"Anvil Gate is part of the fast-moving storyline between the second and third Gears games, so it's essential reading for any fan who wants to fully understand the events of Gears of War 3 - the final game of the trilogy, also written by Karen," said Epic Games Executive Producer Rod Fergusson.
The novel hits stores on Aug. 31 for $16.

via: kotaku

DeathSpank Sequel Next Month

Dante — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 20:11:15 GMT

I
In one of the fastest sequel turnarounds you'll see in gaming, last month's fun and funny fantasy action game DeathSpank will be succeeded in September by DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue. It turns out they were making two DeathSpanks all along.

The new DeathSpank, Thongs of Virtue, is a promised 50% longer new adventure that brings the first game's ridiculous and overconfident swordsman into strange new settings, from the one teased at the end of the first game (and shown in the image atop this post), to the high seas, the North Pole and elsewhere.
The downloadable game, which was being made at the same time as the first DeathSpank, will launch on the PlayStation 3's PlayStation Network on September 21 and follow on the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade a day later.
"There will be more adventure and puzzle questing in this game, but the hack and slash remains," producer Hamish Millar at development studio Hothead Games told Kotaku in an interview about the sequel. The gameplay mechanics and style won't be different. Thongs of Virtue, like its predecessor is a cartoonish comedic riff on the kill-fest and loot-collecting of Diablo. But the occasional adventure-game-style puzzle from the first game � combine this inventory item with that one to satisfy this farmer's request in order to open this gate, for example � will be more pronounced.

Millar isn't just promising that the game will be longer. He promises it'll be funnier. Of all things, we might consult the Thongs of Virtue press release to test that boast. It describes the plot of the game: "A long time ago, nine mystical thongs were planned to bring balance and harmony to the universe, but when marketing got in the way, only six thongs were produced, and the result was disastrous. Granting great power to those who wear them, the thongs corrupted all those they touched�except DeathSpank. DeathSpank must find all six thongs and destroy them once and for all." That's not proof, but there is potential."
The plot technically follows the events of the first game, but Hothead producers told Kotaku that gamers can comfortably play Thongs of Virtue without playing the original. They'll just miss some background references.

The first DeathSpank was promoted as the brainchild of Hothead and Secret of Monkey Island designer Ron Gilbert. Gilbert's involvement was supposed to be a guarantee that the game was funny. "Ron is as involved in this [new DeathSpank] as he was in the first one," Millar said. "The humor didn't just come from Ron. We have a huge amount of the personality of the team injected into the game.
The two DeathSpanks were made in parallel at Hothead, with the added time for the second ensuring that the new game could be bigger. That creation schedule does't mean that the new game could incorporate much of the fan feedback toward the first one, though. Thongs of Virtue won't reflect any major changes demanded by the DeathSpank public. Online multiplayer, for example, still won't be in the game, though the off-line two-player co-op will now allow the second player to alternate between two characters, conrollingthe returning Sparkles the Wizard or using � quoting the press release again � "the ninjatastic Kung Fu moves of DeathSpank's new partner in crime, Steve."

Players won't bring their progress from the first game. DeathSpank sequel players start leveling their hero up from scratch.
Because it depicts into more modern settings, the new game will introduce a greater percentage of projectile weapons to its arsenal (translation: DeathSpank gets guns).

One other small change: DeathSpank will sail a pirate ship.
Thongs of Virtue will sell for the same price as the original, $15 on PSN or XBLA. Millar acknowledged that Hothead is "seeing some demand" for a PC version, a natural given DeathSpank's PC adventure-game and Diablo roots, but he said Hothead is focused on the two consoles it is supporting for the series. A PC release and any third game in the series are hypothetical, to be released if the gaming market demands them.

via: Kotaku

Return To Neverwinter In 2011

Dante — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 20:10:14 GMT

Atari and Cryptic Studios return to the Forgotten Realms Dungeons & Dragons setting next year with Neverwinter, an online co-op role-playing game based on an upcoming series of novels from R.A. Salvatore.
What began in Neverwinter Nights on AOL in 1991 continues online in the fourth quarter of 2011 with Neverwinter, an online role-playing game by Champions Online creators Cryptic Studios. Following the original adventures and those experienced in the standalone PC games, Neverwinter Nights and Neverwinter Nights 2, Neverwinter takes us to a dark time in the history of Faerun's greatest city.
In the Fourth Edition update of the Forgotten Realms campaign, Neverwinter was destroyed in the Spellplague, with much of its population scattered. Now different factions fight for control of the city and the undead have begun to rise, setting the stage for this latest chapter in Neverwinter gaming.
Players will choose from one of five different classic D&D classes, teaming up with friends online or join up with computer-controlled teammates, taking on adventures in a persistent online world. As with other Neverwinter games on the PC, players will even be able to create their own adventures using a set of robust adventure creation tools currently known as Forge.
"We're beyond thrilled to develop a brand new version of Neverwinter. It's been years since the original became a gaming icon and we're honored to work with such a great franchise," said Jack Emmert, COO of Cryptic Studios. "We've been working closely with Wizards of the Coast and R.A. Salvatore to create an authentic D&D adventure filled with compelling fiction and exciting gameplay."
The game will be based on a trilogy of Neverwinter books by acclaimed D&D author R.A. Salvatore, which kicks off in October with the release of the first book, Gauntlgrym. The game's release on PC will also coincide with the release of a tabletop board game from Wizards of the Coast.
Neverwinter will be the first video game based on Fourth Edition D&D rules, and promises the sort of rich character customization that Cryptic has become known for. Let's just hope it's more compelling that the developer's recent MMO releases, Star Trek Online and Champions Online. With the passionate fan base the Forgotten Realms setting has, botching this roll would redefine Critical Failure.
To keep track of Neverwinter updates, head to the game's official website and sign up for the newsletter.

via: Kotaku