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| by Timmy Walnuts | April 22nd, 2009 - 9:43 am
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You’ve come to a moral crossroad, one leads to the path of virtuous, self-righteous glory, the other, a dismal path of thievery, death and destruction. Only one may be chosen, which do you follow? A superb concept for nearly any genre of video game. A concept, however, that has never truly been accomplished. Morality is not as simple as good or evil, an aspect that seems to have been lost over the past 10 years since the release of BioWare masterpiece, the original Baldur’s Gate (and subsequent sequels). Even though there were more specifics tied to your choices in BG, a true “moral compass” feature has yet to be done correctly.
When I had heard Peter Molyneux flaunt his original visions for Fable, I couldn’t help but get excited. An entire game where the moral decisions you make will completely impact how your journey unfolds? Sign me the **** up! Yet, false promises and hyped game mechanics have slowly been becoming almost somewhat of a norm, whether the game “lacks” certain content and then makes you pay for it (ahem…Resident Evil) or it just simply doesn’t live up to its name. Yet, these heartbreaks are flagrant among games that focus around one’s decisions and moral capacities. And its about damn time we get a game that can keep ALL its promises, not just some (or one).
As cliche as it seems to have become to nitpick Fable’s shortcomings, it still stands as the prime example of both morality driven gaming and failure to meet expectations. As much as I’d like to bash both Molyneux and his company’s inability to follow through with ideas, I’m more concerned with playing a game where my choices aren’t simply seen as good or as evil. In the first Fable, your decisions were very simple, kill the thieves and protect the innocent, you gain points for your “good side.” Murder the helpless and steal from the poor, tally some points on that “evil side.” Furthermore, your appearances affected your moral compass as well, for if you adorn certain clothing you’ll be perceived as noble or scary, keeping that good and evil, black and white comparison continuous. Fable II generally did much of the same, tweaking certain aspects and adding the concepts of Purity and Corruption. Admittedly, Lionhead Studios did make slight progress in veering away from such stark contrasts, as one could be evil yet still be pure, and vice versa.
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| by Timmy Walnuts | April 19th, 2009 - 4:57 pm
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In a recent survey being conducted by PlayStation.com, Sony wants to know what the general public desires to be included in the collectors edition of God of War III.
Interestingly, GoW I+II were listed as being included on a separate blue ray disc, theoretically bypassing the current PS3’s backwards compatibility faults (as phenomenal as these titles are, its still only two). Other collectibles available to choose from included a key-chain, artwork, cinematics from previous games, or a comic book/graphic novel, all worthy of collectibility. However, having the first two GoWs available on the PS3 would be wonderful, and bolster the shaky library that Sony has been having trouble creating. Not to mention, to be able to play the original two installments in a possible 1080i or 1080p video output setting? Drool.
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| by Timmy Walnuts | April 17th, 2009 - 1:57 pm
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The Xbox Live Arcade has continuously been releasing quality products that help fill the void between official Xbox 360 releases, even offering such classics that demand attention by all gamers alike. Some may stand the test of time, but most must suffer the curse of mediocrity. Some strive to meet that desire for simple addictions, while others vie for innovation in a merging of genres, and if you’re looking for an in-depth story, gripping and significant RPG elements all packaged nicely together in a puzzle game, then Puzzle Quest: Galactrix is not quite right for you.
However, if you’re into Bejeweled and any of its clones, or are a fan of puzzle games in general, then PQ:G may offer a refreshing twist for series veterans, as well as those new to the puzzling phenomenon.
As you begin your journey into Galactrix, you’ll be greeted by a less-than-lackluster story. Four mega-corporations (an allegory for the America’s economy, perhaps?) have gradually overtaken the entire universe as superpowers through their invention of and command over the LeapGates, a warp system utilized by the galaxy’s inhabitants. As a pilot atop his or her class, the protagonist you control will bring you through an atypical science-fiction fare, just as predictable as it is forgettable. Yet, even with the plot’s shortcomings and mediocre RPG elements, PQ:G produces a puzzle scheme similar to its predecessors, but with some tweaked game modes.
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| by Danny Internets | April 16th, 2009 - 3:17 pm
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As an avid PC gamer, I am frequently dismayed at the departure of polish and quality control from the industry, a change which has become increasingly evident in recent years. Unlike many of my peers, I refuse to grow numb to what many consider “teething” periods for new games shortly after their release, periods in which we pay retail prices for beta software. It’s a matter of principle that often casts me in the role of the hyper-critical curmudgeon battling off the mindless hordes of raving fanboys while reminding everyone that there was once a time before patches could be used to fix broken software after reaching the hands of the consumer.
While Stardock may have rightfully earned a large stock of credibility with PC gamers for its public stance on piracy and DRM, pushing Gas Powered Games’ Demigod out the door before it was ready on April 14th cannot and should not be excused. For those of you who haven’t picked up the game yet (or don’t plan to), an extremely large number of users are experiencing difficulty with the game’s networking which is unable to negotiate connections between different users’ routers properly, resulting in the inability to connect to games for which Stardock is squarely to blame (Stardock wrote the netcode for Demigod rather than Gas Powered Games).
Obviously the variety of networking configurations used by players is vast, however most other companies using similar lobby formats and Games for Windows Live have developed successful solutions (Relic’s Dawn of War 2, for example). Considering that Demigod effectively has no single player component, the fact that they didn’t perform adequate testing of the game’s multiplayer connectivity is an oversight of staggering proportions. Furthermore, there is a software bug in which players who actually can connect to their opponents still aren’t able to join the game, so either way players are beset with technical issues beyond their control.
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| by Danny Internets | April 15th, 2009 - 3:05 pm
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American director Gore Verbinski recently announced that he will surrender the helm of the extremely successful Pirates of the Caribbean franchise ($2.6 billion international gross) in order to pursue a new oceanic film project entitled Bioshock, after the multi-platform first-person shooter of the same name by 2K Games.
Verbinski was expected to direct a fourth installment of Pirates, but recently broke the news to producer Jerry Bruckheimer that he would prefer to bring the sunken city of Rapture to life on the silver screen. Also signed on to the project is screenwriter John Logan, whose credits include Sweeney Todd, The Last Samurai, and Gladiator.
Oh, and did I mention that it’s gunning for an R rating?
We’re prepared to make it an R-rated movie. I don’t intuitively see it as PG-13. The content and the graphic nature of the story itself is smarter than that. It’s not for young kids.
The utopian references and the way the characters and world are drawn in that delightfully inspired Jules Verne and Ayn Rand style places the film in a more elevated realm. It’s the realm of a graphic novel. It has to have that edge.
Source
If you’re anything like me, you just squealed, flapped your hands around, and maybe peed a little (it happens).
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| by Danny Internets | April 14th, 2009 - 2:26 pm
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Last week, Japanese gaming rag Famitsu revealed a new JRPG called End of Eternity two days in advance of the game’s teaser website, which featured a countdown to the grand unveiling. The full-featured EoE website went live on schedule and now boasts a debut trailer with some impressive CG-rendered video, though no gameplay footage is featured.
Developed by tri-Ace and published by Sega, End of Eternity takes place in the future and, unlike most virtually all of its contemporaries, features gun-based combat, which has already earned it innumerable comparisons to the defunct yet beloved Parasite Eve games. EoE marks the first project that tri-Ace, best known for its Star Ocean franchise, has worked on without Square Enix. It’s also the first time that they’ve developed a game for release on the Playstation 3.
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| by Danny Internets | April 14th, 2009 - 9:27 am
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Today marks a rare occurrence in the history of World of Warcraft: the release of a content patch.
In keeping with their ridiculously slow update schedule, Blizzard’s patch 3.1: Secrets of Ulduar introduces new “free” content for the first time since the release of the Wrath of the Lich King patch (3.0) on 10/14/08, exactly 6 months ago. Is that new dungeon really worth $90 in subscription fees? Not to me. But, hey now, we can’t all come to our senses.
See below for a comprehensive listing of the 3.1.0 patch notes.
World of Warcraft Client Patch 3.1.0
The latest test realm patch notes can always be found at
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/test-realm-patchnotes.html
The latest patch notes can always be found at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/
Secrets of Ulduar
Since discovering Ulduar in the Storm Peaks, adventurers have journeyed to the titan city to learn more about its mysterious past. Further exploration has revealed that the magnificent complex is above all a prison, intended to permanently confine the Old God of death, Yogg-Saron. This ancient horror has corrupted its guards, and now it is breaking through the last of its restraints. Faced with the peril of Yogg-Saron’s imminent freedom, a band of mortals has made preparations for a sweeping assault on the city. Overcoming the legions of iron minions and towering defenses at the city’s entrance will take tremendous strength, but even that great victory may not be enough to overcome the madness that dwells below.
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| by Danny Internets | April 11th, 2009 - 5:29 pm
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It appears as though someone over at Mondoxbox.com has obtained an advance copy of Game Informer and scanned images of the feature story on Assassin’s Creed 2 for public consumption. Earlier this month, Ubisoft unveiled a teaser website for the hotly anticipated sequel, follow up to the 2007 smash hit in which players travel back in time to roleplay as Altair, an assassin in medieval Jerusalem.
This time around, Altair is replaced by Ezio Auditore de Firenze, an Italian protagonist (from Florence) and assassin operating in Venice during the Renaissance. The article describes a number of new features, such as being able to utilize a da Vinci style hangliding device and swimming in the canals to both approach and escape from enemies. It appears that the AI has also been improved, with more intelligent enemies capable of investigating hiding places, especially if they have been used by Ezio before. Perhaps most interesting of all is the fact that players can now use any of the weapons wielded by enemies, as depicted in screenshots where Ezio dispatches foes with a polearm formerly carried by a city guard.
The article over at Mondoxbox can be found here:
http://www.mondoxbox.com/news/16117/assassin-s-creed-2-scan-in-alta-qualita-da-gi.html.
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| by Danny Internets | April 10th, 2009 - 10:35 am
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Relic has announced that the next patch (1.2.1) for their best-selling real-time strategy title, Dawn of War 2, will be going live at noon on April 13th. In addition to tweaking game balance and squashing bugs, the update also brings an impressive new 6-player map for online play.
The upcoming patch was reportedly completed by Relic sometime in mid-to-late March, however has been stuck in the Games for Windows Live certification quagmire since at least March 25th as evidenced by a statement in which Relic developer Jager first mentioned that it was being reviewed by Microsoft on the game’s public forums. If the patch drops according to schedule on Monday this will mean that GFWL has added 20 days to the patch development cycle at bare minimum. Ouch.
Despite getting in bed with the devil, Relic continues to prove that they’ve been paying attention to the community. Patch 1.2.1 skillfully addresses the four most pressing issues facing the community at this time: (1) lack of multiplayer maps, (2) faction imbalances, (3) drop-hacking, and (4) matchmaking.
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| by Danny Internets | April 6th, 2009 - 3:38 pm
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Stardock and Gas Powered Games (publisher and developer, respectively) announced today that their upcoming PC exclusive real-time strategy game, Demigod, has gone gold today and will be available at retail and by digital distribution on April 14th.
Interestingly, the digital download version of the game is affordably priced at only $39.95 MSRP, which is $10-15 cheaper than comparable new releases on the PC. Stardock explains that the lower price is not to suggest a bargain-quality title, but instead to entice more gamers to give it a try with a preemptive sale strategy in which the packaging costs savings are passed along to the consumer.
Demigod features hot army-on-army action with matches pitting up to 10 different players against one another. The game’s setting revolves around a unique mythology which establishes a pantheon of powerful gods, one of which has recently disappeared. The power vacuum spurs the demigods from across the mortal realm to wage war with one another as they each vie for the opportunity to ascend to full-fledged godhood.
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