Chosen of Eilistraee - Chosen News

Dead State - Zombie RPG

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:01:52 GMT

When I first of Dead State (or "ZRPG" as it was called then) I wasn't really interested. After all, zombies have been done to dead (excuse the pun). And the first thing "zombie rpg" brings to my mind is some diablo clone where you fight off waves of zombies.

But that's decidedly not the way they seem to be going with Dead State. Instead the zombies are more of a background thing, a sort of natural disaster forming the backdrop for the game itself. Instead the game is much more about survival.

Dead State is an indie rpg made by DoubleBear (which is made up of ex-Troika and ex-Obsidian veterans) using the tech used to make Age of Decadence.

To learn more about the game there's an interesting interview with Brian Mitsoda up at Rock Paper Shotgun, including a bunch of screenshots (which I think aren't up on the official site yet). Here's an excerpt:

Quote:

RPS: Can you elaborate on your vision of zombies? What are you trying to evoke in the game? What kind of things have influenced you?

Brian Mitsoda: On paper, our zombies are really not supposed to be threatening. They're dumb, they're slow, they're unorganized – your very basic shambling corpse. They're only dangerous when you forget about them. Make too much noise, get cornered, ignore them – that's when they get dangerous. 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.

Of course there's more details to learn on the official website, like from their FAQ. Here's an excerpt:

Quote:

Are the allies like party-members in most RPGs?
Not exactly. There are lots of them and they're not always great at combat, but then, combat is only one aspect of the game. The player may go through the game multiple times and never find all of them, nor have the same experience with them. The player has to provide for allies and lead them, and if their allies don't agree with the player's decisions, they may leave or challenge the player's authority.

And finally there's the official forum of course.

Of course, whether it'll be really good remains to be seen. But at least it could be quite an interesting RPG. Maybe something a bit different from the usual dungeon-crawl oriented RPG games. We'll see.

[link] to Dead State official website.
[link] to interview with Brian Mitsoda at Rock Paper Shotgun.
[link] to Dead State FAQ at official website.
[link] to Dead State official forum.

Love -x-x-x-

Shir'le

Neverwinter - Announced

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:14:33 GMT

A new game in development called "Neverwinter" (as far as I can tell that's the actual name) has been announced. It's not Neverwinter Nights 3 and it's also not an MMO. Instead it's, apparently, a "cooperative online RPG". Despite it not being an RPG it's being developed by Cryptic (who made Champions Online and Star Trek Online).

GameSpot has an interview with Jack Emmert about the game. Here's an excerpt:

Quote:

GameSpot: Give us an overview of Neverwinter. What is the game and how will people play it? Will it be a full-on massively multiplayer online role-playing game, like City of Heroes or Champions Online?

Jack Emmert: I wouldn't say MMORPG at all--Neverwinter is a cooperative RPG. You can play with a bunch of friends and experience Neverwinter and D&D in a brand-new way. We're trying to create new sorts of games that we call "OMGs" (online multiplayer games).

In terms of Neverwinter itself, players will find it's a brand-new Forgotten Realms. Years and years have passed, and Neverwinter has fallen into ruins. A brave few are trying to eke out their lives and to rebuild the once great metropolis, but many threats stand in the way. And this is where the players come in…

As you can see from the interview it's using D&D 4E, it's set "a little over 100 years into the future" (no word on the future compared to what, but for the moment I'm assuming the future since NWN2 because it mentions recovering from the Spellplague). There will be five classes you can choose from to play (the staple fighter, wizard, rogue, ranger and cleric) and for races humans, elves, and dwarves "as well as a few special ones that I won't mention just now".

The game will also come with a system currently named "Forge" to allow players to build their own adventures. But from the description it doesn't sound like it'll be nearly as deep as the Neverwinter Nights toolset(s) as you'll (just?) be able to "write adventures, to create maps, and to attach their quests to in-game entrances and NPCs". It's sounding altogether a lot like City of Heroes' Mission Architect; build a simple map, write some story, hook to existing online game world and have some hack-n-slash. Again, to me sounds like it's totally missing the point of what made Neverwinter Nights so compelling.

There is more on the game in the interview. The game is set to release fourth quarter of 2011. There's also an official website(without much content at the moment).

[link] to official Neverwinter website.
[link] to interview with Jack Emmert at GameSpot.

Love -x-x-x-

Shir'le

Neverwinter Nights MMO Rumored

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 13:02:26 GMT

It had been rumored before, but rumors have surfaced again that Atari might soon announce that they're working on a Neverwinter Nights MMO. This because apparently during GenCon 2010 Atari said that they'd announce 'something' about a D&D-type game and Superannuation dug up some domain names Atari has registered. And that's pretty much all there is to this news so far (you can read the full news at Blue's News). Supposedly Cryptic (who made Champions Online and Star Trek Online) is working on the supposed MMO.

Of course, if it is an MMO then that just shows how completely they're missing the point of what made Neverwitner Nights such a great game (being able to create your own modules and run your own servers and such), unless they're doing something really different from the usual MMOs.

The rumors are given some credence by some news that I reported on before, namely that WotC is suing Atari over unauthorized sub-licensing the Dungeons & Dragons digital game rights.

And of course if there is a new D&D game, whatever it is, then it's almost certainly a 4E game.

Love -x-x-x-

Shir'le

EverQuest 2 - Going Free To Play

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:15:53 GMT

I don't usually report on MMOs here, but well, EverQuest 2 has dark elves so it's relevant.

The big MMO bombshell earlier this week was that EverQuest 2 is soon going to offer a free-to-play version of the game. The free-to-play version runs on servers separate from the main (subscription) servers, has various limitations (many of which can be partially or completely removed through micro-transactions) and it'll support itself with a micro-transaction model. But overall they're saying that it's the same game with all the same content available.

They're calling this new service "EverQuest II Extended" and there's a detailed FAQ available on their website. Of particular interest is probably the "Membership Matrix" image, which shows the differences between the various membership options.

As you can see the free version only has access to four races (Human, Erudite, Barbarian and Half-Elf). Yes, that means that Dark Elf isn't one of the free options; just as in Dungeons & Dragons Online's free version you'll have to pay extra to unlock the race (I don't know how much that'll be, but I suspect somewhere between $5 and $10). You're also limited to eight classes (Swashbuckler, Brigand, Wizard, Warlock, Guardian, Berserker, Templar and Inquisitor). Again the remaining classes are said to be purchasable. There's a level limit of level 80 (which I think is pretty much the level limit without the latest expansion, to which you don't get access, anyway) and a limit of two character slots. There's also a limit to your spell tiers and what equipment levels you can use; at the moment it looks like that can't be upgraded (without going for a normal subscription). Not sure how much that impacts the game. And there are limits on bag slots, money, number of quests at once, etc.

I've never played EverQuest or EverQuest 2, but I might want to give it a try (which means I'll be busy as I'm also looking to give the soon free-to-play Lord of the Rings Online a try). I'm even considering, based on how much it'll be, of buying the dark elf race and playing one of those (though otherwise I'll just try a half dark elf). I've done a little research into the race and it seems that you're forced to be 'evil' (limited to the evil cities and playing neutral or evil classes). But the cool thing is that there's a way to change alignment; there's a quest (that you can do at level 10, but it's advised to wait until level 20) to betray your city (at which point you become an outcast and hated by everyone) and then you can work to gain faction standing with one of the good cities. Sounds very tedious, but also sounds quite interesting and in keeping with playing a dark elf.

Anyway, I thought that this might be interesting.

Love -x-x-x-

Shir'le

P.s. I just picked a random EQ2 dark elf image for the header.

Project Mercury - Now Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 22:13:17 GMT

Today EA officially announced 38 Studios' debut title, formerly known as "Project Mercury". Called "Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning" the single player RPG is set to be released on PC, PS3 and Xbox360 in fall of 2011.

38 Studios is the game development studio founded by baseball star Curt Schilling and employs the talents of fantasy author R.A. Salvatore (best know for the Drizzt Do'Urden novels) and artist Todd McFarlane (best known for Spawn). Salvatore is said to be responsible for the background of the world and McFarlane is responsible for the visual style.

The game is being developed by Big Huge Games with Ken Rolston as lead designer. Ken was lead designer on Bethesda's Elder Scrolls Morrowind and Oblivion roleplaying games.

Of course, dropping big names is pretty much all 38 Studios has done so far and I'm not convinced in the least that a baseball player, a fantasy author and a comic artist really guarantee a good game. But I think that Ken's involvement is more promising (at least the man is familiar with making roleplaying games). The description of the game itself, though somewhat generic and sparse, holds at least some promise too as can be seen from their press release:

Quote:

EA and 38 Studios Introduce Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

Epic Open World RPG to be Unveiled at Comic-Con 2010 All-Star Panel Featuring Todd McFarlane, R. A. Salvatore, Ken Rolston and Curt Schilling

SAN DIEGO, Jul 20, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) and 38 Studios, LLC announced Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, the company's first title previously referred to under the codename "Project Mercury". Reckoning is an epic, open-world role-playing game set in Amalur, a mysterious and magical new fantasy world created by New York Times best-selling author R. A. Salvatore. Brought to life visually through the trademark visceral style of renowned artist and Spawn creator Todd McFarlane, Reckoning brings a new level of intense action combat to the RPG genre. The game is being developed under the leadership of Ken Rolston, lead designer of the critically acclaimed RPGs Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and is scheduled for release in fall 2011.

"Reckoning is a great representation of how a team of incredibly talented and creative people with expertise in different areas can come together and complement each other so well," said Jen MacLean, CEO of 38 Studios. "We are thrilled to be developing an open-world RPG under the leadership of one of the greatest RPG designers in the industry, with creative direction by one of the most iconic artists of our time, set in a rich universe imagined by one of the top fantasy genre authors in the world. We can't wait to share the first details of this universe we have been so dedicated to building over the past few years."

"In Reckoning, we started with Bob and Todd's exceptional Kingdoms of Amalur game setting and imagery," said Ken Rolston, Lead Designer at Big Huge Games, a subsidiary of 38 Studios. "On that foundation we built the open-world exploration, vast narrative and character customization fans expect from the best RPGs. And we've added something new that we've always wanted from the genre — a fast-paced, graphically stimulating action combat experience with fluid control and immersive, discoverable gameplay fans haven't seen before in other fantasy RPGs."

Reckoning is a single-player RPG that sets players on a heroic journey to unlock the mysteries of Amalur. Amalur is a magical world, filled with strange landscapes, exotic cities, colorful characters and terrifying creatures. This Thursday at International Comic-Con in San Diego, 38 Studios visionaries McFarlane, Rolston, and Salvatore, along with 38 Studios Founder and Chairman Curt Schilling, will be hosting a panel in the first-ever public discussion of Reckoning.

Attendees will be among the first to see the world debut of Reckoning's first trailer, directed by McFarlane and will also receive a limited edition collectible poster designed by McFarlane.

The panel takes place in room 6A from 1:15 PM – 2:15 PM and will be moderated by Spike TV's Geoff Keighley.

38 Studios is also working on an MMO, codenamed Copernicus, set in the same world as the single player RPG.

As for Kingdoms of Amalur, so far it all sounds pretty generic. But considering how few decent roleplaying games there actually are, it's at least one to keep an eye on.

Thanks for the news to VG247, Gamasutra, Kotaku, GameSpot and IGN.

Love -x-x-x-

Shir'le

Dragon Age 2 - Announced!

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 14:06:57 GMT

Yesterday BioWare put the following message on their Twitter feed:

Quote:

2morrow will be a great day for BioWare fans. Just sayin'

That "2morrow" there was quickly speculated to have more meaning that just Internet shorthand. And then Kotaku noticed the following in an EA press release about Warhammer Online (released the same day):

Quote:

Currently announced projects at BioWare include the development of ongoing downloadable content for Mass Effect 2, one of the highest rated video games of all time, Dragon Age 2, the highly anticipated sequel to 2009's "RPG of the Year" Dragon Age: Origins, and the story-driven massively multiplayer online game, Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Though it was already known that a new Dragon Age title was in the works, with a hinted release date of the 1^st of February 2011, it hasn't been officially confirmed that Dragon Age 2 is in development.

But from the looks of it "that will soon be changed" (with 'soon' being today).

In fact, as I finished typing the previous sentence it pretty much just did. Both Kotaku and Eurogamer note that the first details have appeared. In particular, it seems that the next issue of GameInformer will have an article on Dragon Age 2, featuring the game on its cover. And it comes with the following description:

Quote:

Last year, BioWare and EA introduced gamers to a vast new fantasy world with Dragon Age: Origins. Now, after an expansion and plenty of DLC, the renowned RPG developer is ready to unveil the next chapter in the Dragon Age saga. Dragon Age II is a full-fledged sequel, featuring a new hero, a different part of the world, and a ton of surprising improvements that will shed even more light on the lore of the Dragon Age universe. You can learn all the details in our exclusive 10-page cover story in issue 208.

I wonder what it'll mean that you'll have a new hero; particularly I wonder if the decisions you made in Dragon Age: Origins will carry over into the sequel or not. If not then it wouldn't surprise me in the least if you end up playing as Morrigan's child (from the Dark Ritual ending). Either way, we'll have to wait for the article to be available somewhere to find out more.

In the meantime if you're hungry for more Dragon Age and can't wait until February then you can always try Leliana's Song. IGN just put up a review for the DLC. Here's an excerpt:

Quote:

Like Darkspawn Chronicles before it, Leliana's Song is a completely separate tale. It doesn't fit into the main game at all, but instead serves as a flashback to fill in the reasons why Leliana, the Orlesian bard from Origins, wound up joining the Chantry in the first place. If that description made you yawm, then there's really no reason to spend the seven USD to get this. If, however, you can't get enough of Leliana and her accent, then this is more worth your time.

I think I'll pick this one up (I haven't done so for any of the previous DLC), but then I quite liked Leliana.

[UPDATE]

And more details have surfaced, including the official website. I've updated the title to reflect the game now being officially announced.

As noted by Voodoo Extreme and Kotaku the official website comes with a few more details on the new game:

Quote:

RISE TO POWER...
BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY

Experience the epic sequel to the 2009 Game of the Year from the critically acclaimed makers of Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2. You are one of the few who escaped the destruction of your home. Now, forced to fight for survival in an ever-changing world, you must gather the deadliest of allies, amass fame and fortune, and seal your place in history. This is the story of how the world changed forever. The legend of your Rise to Power begins now.

Key Features:

Embark upon an all-new adventure that takes place across an entire decade and shapes itself around every decision you make.
Determine your rise to power from a destitute refugee to the revered champion of the land.
Think like a general and fight like a Spartan with dynamic new combat mechanics that put you right in the heart of battle whether you are a mage, rogue, or warrior.
Go deeper into the world of Dragon Age with an entirely new cinematic experience that grabs hold of you from the beginning and never lets go.
Discover a whole realm rendered in stunning detail with updated graphics and a new visual style.

I must say that some of those points have me raise my eyebrows a little. First of all, a new visual style? That could be good, but if they're going the cell-shaded or "stylised" realism path then that's definitely bad. It's good to update the graphics, but I liked the realistic style of the first game.

And secondly, dynamic new combat mechanics? But, I liked the old combat mechanics. It was great that Dragon Age was a more tactical, thoughtful game amidst the dross of action-oriented games. I'm getting seriously scared that they might 'console-ize' the game and make it more action-y. I fear that they might do something similar as they did with Mass Effect 2, remove the depth and turn it into an action game with dialog. Instead I was hoping that they would focus even more on making it a deep tactical experience.

But we'll have to see until we hear more about it. I just hope that Dragon Age will still be what made Dragon Age so good to begin with; a PC game first and foremost.

[link] to BioWare Twitter feed.
[link] to Dragon Age 2 news at Kotaku.
[link] to next Dragon Age TBA news at IGN.
[link] to hinted release date at IGN.
[link] to Dragon Age 2 news at IGN.
[link] to Dragon Age 2 announcement at Kotaku.
[link] to Dragon Age 2 announcement at Eurogamer.
[link] to Dragon Age 2 cover at GameInformer.
[link] to Leliana's Song DLC review article at IGN.
[link] to Dragon Age 2 official website.
[link] to Dragon Age 2 official forum.
[link] to Dragon Age 2 details at Voodoo Extreme.
[link] to Dragon Age 2 details at Kotaku.
[link] to concept art at Eurogamer.

Love -x-x-x-

Shir'le

E3 2010

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 14:13:24 GMT

The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3 for short) was again last month, showing off a load of games and with a number of announcements. As always I tried to follow it all from home (having seen most of the press conferences live) and made a list of the games that interested me most for various reasons, which I thought I'd share.

You'll note that all of these games, with the exception of the motion controllers (and one other exception), are available on PC. While there were also some great console exclusives (probably more than there were PC games), I personally have little interest in them considering that I can't actually play any of them (because I don't have a console). The list is also mostly a list of games that interested me, so don't take this as any complete list or such. Some of these games made a pretty big showing, others where almost hidden away.

With each game I'll give a couple of short thoughts, then embed a YouTube video for the game (like a trailer or such) followed by a list of news links to articles and more videos. I've also tried to list with each game what platforms the game is expected to release on. And I'm not listing any MMOs (I've got a separate list of those that I hope to, sometime in the future, post on my Star Wars: The Old Republic blog). Oh, and I'm listing them in alphabetical order. Anyway, here we go; I hope that you'll find the list interesting.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution [X360, PS3, PC]

The first Deus Ex was one of the best games on the PC, giving players an unparalleled level of freedom. In some ways it was more of a roleplaying game than most 'pure' roleplaying games, particularly at the time, as it allowed you to play a role much better by letting you decide how to overcome obstacles (where RPGs tended to limit the choice to what weapon to use to kill enemies). The second game however was a little less well received, even if I did enjoy it as well after I gave it a chance.

Now a third game in the franchise, a prequel, is being developed by another development team and during E3 the press got a look at it. And by all account it's looking to be a very good game. St years before the first game it uses physical augmentations instead of nano-augmentations to allow players to upgrade; get a pair of mechanic arms or robotic legs and increase the things you can do with them by spending experience. It's also set to keep players' freedom of choice in how to tackle obstacles, giving choices between combat, stealth, hacking and social methods. Now I only wish they'd allow you to play a female lead character.

Either way, while before E3 I wasn't really that interested, after what I've heard back from the expo my interest is now definitely peaked.

The below list contains impressions and interviews from E3 (note that some contain a tiny spoiler as to the identity of one character). But let me start you off with the cinematic trailer:

[link] to Cinematic Trailer at YouTube.
[link] to impressions article at GameSpot.
[link] to video interview at GameTrailers.
[link] to video interview at IGN.
[link] to preview article at 1UP.
[link] to video interview at GameSpot.
[link] to impressions article at Kotaku.
[link] to preview article at ShackNews.
[link] to Deus Ex Week at PC Gamer (a number of articles, well worth a read).
[link] to demonstration article at GamingTrend.
[link] to video interview at The Escapist.

Dragon Age [X360, PS3, PC]

Though Dragon Age wasn't at E3 this year as such (that I'm aware of), it was announced the same week what the next bit of DLC for Dragon Age is going to be: Leliana's Song. In it you play the role of Leliana during her younger years, getting to see some of her background as a bard and assassin. It's also fully voiced (like Mass Effect) since you're playing an established character (namely Leliana). And as I understand the presentation is as if Leliana is telling the story of her past (where she might embellish on a few things here or there). It has since been released (last July 6^th).

Though I didn't get any of the precious Dragon Age DLC (exception Awakening) because they just didn't sound that interesting to me, this one could be quite good. Particularly since Leliana is my favorite Dragon Age: Origins companion. We'll have to see, but I'm cautiously optimistic.

[link] to Dragon Age DLC list at BioWare.
[link] to Leliana's Song at BioWare.
[link] to announcement at Voodoo Extreme.
[link] to interview article at IGN.
[link] to trailer video at YouTube.
[link] to Corinne Kempa (Leliana's voice) interview at BioWare Blog.
[link] to Leliana's Song DLC available news at Voodoo Extreme.

Dungeon Siege III [X360, PS3, PC]

I never really got much into the first two Dungeon Siege game; too much hack-n-slash and not enough roleplaying. But even so the news that the next installment is being developed by Obsidian Entertainment got me curious. And during this year's E3 Obsidian showed what they've been working on to the press. From the articles (and I don't think there are actually any videos yet) it sounds like it'll still be mostly a hack-n-slash game (a rather big departure for Obsidian), but even so it might be interesting to see what Obsidian can do in that genre.

There are definitely some reservations I have though. For one, there's also Diablo 3 on the horizon which could be the better choice for hack-n-slash games. Secondly Obsidian don't exactly have the best track record in games. But we'll see what comes of this; for now it's hard for me to judge based solely on some journalists' impression articles.

[link] to Square Enix owns Dungeon Siege IP news at Gamasutra.
[link] to preview article at IGN.
[link] to impressions article at GamePro.
[link] to preview article at Joystiq.
[link] to preview article at Atomic Gamer.
[link] to preview article at Eurogamer.
[link] to preview article at Shacknews.
[link] to Feargus Urquhart interview video at IncGamers.

Fable III [X360, PC]

The first Fable game had a lot of promise, but I couldn't get into it at all. And the second one was only on the Xbox360 so I couldn't play it. That means that initially my interest in Fable 3 was pretty much nil. Though when they announced that it would be coming to PC as well this time around I did think it prudent to keep an eye on it. Roleplaying games don't come that often after all (even though Peter Molyneux doesn't consider Fable 3 an RPG).

Lionhead showed the game at this year's E3, even if the truthfulness of Peter's statements tends to be questionable (in the past he's often promised more than he ended up delivering). If it comes relatively close to what he's been saying, and based as well on the playthroughs shown, this could be a nice game. Though I think that the 'improved' pause menu will end up being overly cumbersome and we've yet to see whether the PC version will just be a poor Xbox360 port or not, it's one to keep an eye on at least.

[link] to trailer video at YouTube.
[link] to preview article at IGN.
[link] to stage demo video at GameSpot.
[link] to combat video at IGN.
[link] to gameplay video at IGN.
[link] to preview article at 1UP.
[link] to gameplay video at GameSpot.
[link] to multiplayer children news at VG247.
[link] to hands on article at The Escapist.
[link] to preview article at Kotaku.
[link] to preview article at Shacknews.
[link] to impressions article at GameSpy.
[link] to hands on article at Eurogamer.

Fallout: New Vegas [X360, PS3, PC]

I loved the first two Fallout games and even though it was different in a lot of ways, I also feel that Fallout 3 was probably the most enjoyable game of 2008. So even though I haven't finished Fallout 3 yet I'm much looking forward to seeing what Obsidian, employing many of the original Fallout creators, can do with the game. Fallout: New Vegas is a completely stand-alone game though and during E3 Obsidian took it along to show off to the press.

Of course it's hard to get a feel for a full roleplaying game in only a fairly short demonstration. We got to see part of New Vegas (as in the city), as well as some combat. Overall the impression it gives is that it looks and feels a lot like Fallout 3, which can be seen as both a good and a bad thing. Though I got the impression that the Strip looked a bit more lively than areas in Fallout 3 did. It was also nice to see some of the casino mini games that they've added, though I doubt that I'll spend much time in those anyway. For the rest there were a couple of nice things in combat, but overall the game didn't really amaze so much as show more or less what you'd expect. But even so I'm looking forward to another run through the wastelands when it's released this October.

[link] to trailer video at YouTube.
[link] to release date news at VG247.
[link] to preview article at IGN.
[link] to preview article at Joystiq.
[link] to stage demo video at 1UP.
[link] to no open endings news at The Escapist.
[link] to booth tour/interview video at GameSpot.
[link] to stage demo video at GameSpot.
[link] to walkthrough video part 1 at GameTrailers.
[link] to walkthrough video part 2 at GameTrailers.
[link] to Chris Avellone interview video at GameTrailers.
[link] to stage demo video at IGN.
[link] to preview article at AtomicGamer.
[link] to hands on article at GamerLimit.
[link] to hands on article at Eurogamer.
[link] to Larry Liberty interview video at The Escapist.
[link] to Chris Avellone interview video at GameSpot.

Mass Effect 2 [X360, PC]

Mass Effect wasn't really at E3 either, but as with Dragon Age it was a bit in the news. Particularly because they released a trailer for the "Overlord" Downloadable Content. And the DLC has since been released as well, giving rise to a number of reviews. Overall I think the consensus is that this is the best DLC for Mass Effect yet, though it does suffer from some of the same issues as the previous offerings (short, no input from companions, out of place for those who have already finished the game, etc).

Overall I'm finding (for this game and others) that these bite-sized DLC don't really appeal to me so much. It'd be great if they're available when I'm still playing it (for the first time) as with the day one DLC for both games, but if it's been months since I've played a game then I'm not likely to go back just for an hour or two. In that sense I'd much rather have a full expansion, something with some meat on it (like Awakening for Dragon Age, even if I've still to complete that). But anyway.

Oh, and I don't think I've said this before yet, but if you haven't tried Mass Effect 2 yet and are unsure of whether you'll like it, then you'll be glad to know that there's a demo of the game out as well now.

[link] to Overlord trailer video at YouTube.
[link] to Overlord review article at Eurogamer.
[link] to Overlord video review at IGN.
[link] to Overlord review article at IGN.
[link] to Overlord review article at GameSpot.
[link] to Overlord video review at GameTrailers.
[link] to Overlord review article at Kotaku.
[link] to free comic at IGN.

Microsoft Kinect [X360]

The big news this year was the motion controllers for consoles. For the Xbox 360 Microsoft was focused primarily on their Kinect (formerly Project Natal), advocating hands-free gaming as the future. They started with a big Cirque du Soleil and then during their press conference spent the majority of time talking about the various games and such for the Kinect.

And overall I got the impression that people were deeply disappointed. E3 is an event mainly for ('core') gamers and pretty much all that Microsoft showed for their new controller was Wii-type casual games. Additionally, and perhaps I'm slightly biased here, having experienced hands-free gaming already with the EyeToy I have to agree with Sony that for many games you really need buttons, need something in your hand. Pretty much the only game that Microsoft showed for the Kinect that had people somewhat excited was their Star Wars game, but upon closer examination even that seemed very much an on-rails experience. After all, without buttons it's going to be very hard to make game characters move freely. I'm sure that Microsoft's marketing push might make it successful regardless, but personally I'm not seeing it.

[link] to Cirque du Soleil event article at The Escapist.
[link] to price rumor at VG247.
[link] to launch date news at VG247.
[link] to Cirque du Soleil Star Wars video segment at Kotaku.
[link] to press conference Star Wars video at Kotaku.
[link] to concerns about Kinect article at IGN.
[link] to Star Wars Kinect video at YouTube.

Monkey Island 2 Special Edition [X360, PS3, PC]

One of the big surprises, for me, during E3 2009 was the announcement of The Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition. Taking the existing game and keeping the story, gameplay and puzzles exactly as they were but polishing up the graphics and sound (both music and voice acting) to higher quality was a stroke of genius. And allowing players to switch back and forth between the new version and the old one at any time wasn't only a nice feature, but helped give confidence that it really was the exact same game still. Thus people who loved the game many years ago could relive some past glory and those who never had the chance to play it could get into it after all.

So with the success of that special edition it should come as no surprise that LucasArts decided to make a special edition of the sequel as well. Next to giving all the same improvements the first one did this one also adds a couple of other features, most notably a commentary by the original creators. The game was already announced a while before E3 and there wasn't that much of a presence during E3, but there were a few tidbits. The game has since released (I've added two reviews that have shown up so far as well). Note, the polished up graphics don't like quite as good as in this trailer.

[link] to E3 2010 Trailer video at YouTube.
[link] to first look article at GameSpot.
[link] to stage demo video at Voodoo Extreme.
[link] to "Six Changes" article at IGN.
[link] to release date news at Eurogamer
[link] to review article at 1UP.
[link] to review article at IGN.

PlayStation Move [PS3]

Sony's motion control device for the PlayStation 3 is the "Move", for which they had already given a showing during GDC this year. And again, I'm probably biased, but I got the impression that they had a much better showing of their motion controller than Microsoft did with Kinect. For one, they didn't focus on it almost to the exclusion of all else. And secondly, they showed more than just "Wii-too" games.

Of all the games that they showed for the Move I think that the one that impressed me most, which looked the most fun, is a game called "Sorcery" (links for which I included below as well). Not only does it make great use of the motion controller (in a way that Kinect simply can't), but it's also showing a more 'core' type gameplay with spells and killing monsters and such. And it just looks like a lot of fun. Next to that Sony announced prices and target release dates for the controller which, while a bit more expensive than I would've hoped, are still quite reasonable (and definitely a lot cheaper than the Kinect is expected to be).

For me, if I had any console then I'd definitely want to pick up the Move before Kinect (or Nintendo's Wiimote).

[link] to Sorcery Demo video (during Sony press conference) at YouTube.
[link] to hands on video at Eurogamer.
[link] to Move price news at Kotaku.
[link] to Move release date news at VG247.
[link] to UK Move price news at GamesIndustry.
[link] to tech stage demo video at 1UP.
[link] to SOCOM 4 Move demo video at PlayStation Blog.
[link] to tech interview article at Eurogamer.
[link] to Sorcery impressions article at Kotaku.

Portal 2 [X360, PS3, Mac, PC]

Gabe Newell, co-founder and managing director of Valve, has in the past been pretty outspoken about the PS3. So it came as a pretty big surprise when during Sony's press conference suddenly GLaDOS spoke up "deploying surprise in three... two... one..." and out stepped Gabe to announce that Portal 2 was coming to the PS3. In fact, despite it being announced ahead of time that Valve would have a big surprise at E3, I think that this news was probably the most surprising of all during this year's E3.

And that wasn't all that we got on Portal 2 at this E3. They came with a whole load of video clips showing some of the new puzzle elements that we will get to play with. Next to the announcement video (which I'll post right below this paragraph) I'll embed all seven gameplay videos after the links. With the possible exception of the first one (that's the first video after the links) in which you get to see your first reunion with GLaDOS ingame they're all spoiler free; videos 2-7 pretty much just show a new puzzle element and one room where it's used. Overall this game has me pretty excited and I can't wait to play it (when it's released in 2011 on PC, X360, Mac and now PS3).

[link] to Valve's surprise during PS3 keynote video at YouTube.
[link] to Portal 2 on PS3 news at 1UP.
[link] to preview article at Kotaku.
[link] to preview article at IGN.
[link] to coop hands on article at Kotaku.
[link] to stage interview video at 1UP.
[link] to preview article at 1UP.
[link] to impressions article at GameSpot.
[link] to preview article at Eurogamer.
[link] to stage interview video at GameSpot.
[link] to cross compatibility news at VG247.
[link] to no rehashed memes news at Gamasutra.
[link] to stage interview video at IGN.
[link] to preview article at ShackNews.
[link] to gameplay video 1 (some spoilers) at YouTube.
[link] to gameplay video 2 at YouTube.
[link] to gameplay video 3 at YouTube.
[link] to gameplay video 4 at YouTube.
[link] to gameplay video 5 at YouTube.
[link] to gameplay video 6 at YouTube.
[link] to gameplay video 7 at YouTube.

Meet Wheatley Personality Sphere (some spoilers)

Excursion Funnels

Faith Plates

Thermal Discouragement Beams

Pneumatic Diversity Vent

Repulsion Gel

Propulsion Gel

Puzzle Agent [Wii, Mac, PC]

Telltale is known for it's more classic, episodic adventure games such as Sam & Max and Tales of Monkey Island. But next to blowing life back into existing franchises they've also started their own with Puzzle Agent. And if you've played their previous games then Puzzle Agent might come as a surprise as it's quite different from their previous offerings. Not only does it use a quite different art style, but instead of the usual inventory collection gameplay its gameplay is based on short minigames (or rather mini puzzles) instead.

Puzzle Agent has a bit of a showing during E3 (though not that much), and since then not only has the game been released but a demo has been made available as well. Having played the demo I must say that I'm of two minds though. I like the graphics style, the humor and the story shows promise. But the mini games themselves kind of leave me cold. Most of them are almost trivially simple (though there was one I just didn't see and another where I misunderstood the rules, making me feel really stupid). It's also an episodic game again, so unlike with Tales I think I'll at least hold off on this one until all the episodes are available and reviewed (and it's available on Steam).

[link] to Puzzle Agent official website.
[link] to trailer video at YouTube.
[link] to impressions article at GameSpot.
[link] to preview article at IGN.
[link] to release news at IGN.
[link] to review article at IGN.
[link] to review article at 1UP.
[link] to demo news at ShackNews.

QuestMania [PC]

I'm generally ignoring anything from Ubisoft until they get rid of their utterly stupid DRM system on PC (which requires that you're online every single second even for single player games... I've got a pretty good Internet connection, but it's not quite that stable) and have the company blacklisted; despite them having some interesting titles (I was planning to buy Assassin's Creed 2 until they decided on their DRM stupidity) I'm not buying them with said DRM solution. Even so I'd feel remiss if I didn't at least mention QuestMania.

I recall some years ago when I downloaded and played TrackMania, a fairly simple racing game whose unique feature was that it allowed players to build their own tracks with stunts and whatnot. Racing isn't really my thing, but still it was fun and I could see the potential in it. And during their press conference at this year's E3 Ubisoft announced ManiaPlanet which is to consist of three games alogn similar lines: TrackMania 2, ShootMania and QuestMania. ShootMania is supposed to be the FPS equivalent to TrackMania, (I suspect) a straight forward first-person shooter game that allows players to build their own levels. And QuestMania is supposed to be the RPG equivalent. No real details beyond that have been revealed, but I suspect that with "RPG" you should probably read "ARPG" (i.e. a simpler version of Diablo type games). But allowing players to build their own dungeons to slay monsters in could be fun. And who knows, maybe they'll surprise us and make the next Neverwinter Nights (yeah, fat chance). Either way, one to keep an eye on. Now if only it came without their ridiculous DRM.

[link] to ManiaPlanet E3 Teaser video at YouTube.
[link] to QuestMania official website.
[link] to QuestMania-Tube official user video website (empty).
[link] to ManiaPlanet announcement at IGN.

Rage [X360, PS3, Mac, PC]

id Software are often considered the creators of the first-person shooter genre, and for good reason. After all, it is from them that games such as Wolfenstein 3D, Doom and Quake come. But since Quake they haven't released any new franchises, just creating more Doom and Quake games. Until now that is, as they're working on a completely new game in a new setting with, as usual with id Software, a new, more advanced graphics engine. Rage is a post apocalyptic first person shooter with some very impressive visuals. Even more impressive considering that it runs on the current generation consoles at 60FPS (i.e. very smoothly).

Rage was shown during this year's E3 as well, giving what I think is probably the first ingame footage of the game. And it is indeed looking quite impressive and, more importantly, quite fun. Though I'm not really into first-person shooters and the game doesn't seem to do much new gameplay wise, it does look like it puts the pieces together quite well. Combining character interaction, vehicle sections, crafting and of course shooting with a great variety of weapons and ammunition types it might just let id Software reclaim the name of masters of the first-person shooter genre. While there were a lot of good games at E3 and a number of which that I'm a lot more interested in than Rage in the long run, I do feel that Rage probably stood out most. There's a reason it did so well in the E3 game critic awards.

[link] to impressions article at Kotaku.
[link] to stage demo video at 1UP.
[link] to stage walkthrough video part 1 at GameTrailers.
[link] to stage walkthrough video part 2 at GameTrailers.
[link] to Best of E3 video at IGN.
[link] to stage demo video at GameSpot.
[link] to impressions article at IGN.
[link] to preview article at Eurogamer.
[link] to interview video at GameTrailers.
[link] to preview article at The Escapist.
[link] to IGN's preview video at YouTube.
[link] to massive wallpapers at Bethesda Blog.

SingStar [PS3]

Ah, and finally we arrive at the best of the bunch. Shown only for a few seconds during Sony's press conference for fear of making all the other games look bad (or so I believe and I'm sticking to that), the popular singing game SingStar enters the motion control arena with SingStar Dance. Holding Sony's new Move controller you can now stand in front of your television, flail your arms around like an idiot, and score points for doing so. On top of that SingStar Guitar will allow you (if you live in Europe) to use your (undoubtedly discarded since you couldn't use them in SingStar before) guitar peripherals and play some mean guitar as well. That is, if I can get these bloody bugs fixed.

Ah yes, my baby went to E3 as well this year and though the focus was more on Dance (since Guitar hasn't been taken up by the US yet) according to my colleagues it was received quite well.

[link] to SingStar Dance trailer at YouTube.
[link] to interview article at PlayStation.
[link] to announcement news at VG247.
[link] to announcement news at Eurogamer.
[link] to hands on video at The Ironstar Movement.
[link] to preview article at PlayStation Blog.
[link] to PlayStation Move video at G4TV.
[link] to E3 highlights article at GamesRadar.
[link] to Sony booth tour video at GameSpot.

Trine 2 [XBL, PSN, PC]

Trine was a fun little platform game with a beautiful art style and some nice humor (and an end level I've been unable to beat because it's suddenly strictly timed after the relatively leisurely pace of the rest of the game). And now they revealed that Trine 2 is in development, promising more of the same (not sure on the end level though). Play as three characters, switching between them at will to give you different platform puzzle solving abilities and fight of hordes of monsters. Add enhanced visuals, some new powers and online coop and this is one game that I'll most likely end up downloading when it's released spring 2011.

[link] to trailer video at YouTube.
[link] to preview article at IGN.
[link] to new features news at Voodoo Extreme.
[link] to announcement news at VG247.

Conclusion

As you can see the coming year (and change) should give us some great games to enjoy. Both big games such as Fallout: New Vegas and Portal 2, as well as smaller games such as Monkey Island 2 Special Edition and Trine 2. And then there are the games which could be interesting, games to keep an eye on, such as Rage, Deus Ex, Dungeon Siege 3 and Fable 3.

Of course that list pretty much doubles if you start including MMOs, considering that most of the games on PC these days seem to be that. And then there's the games which didn't make an appearance at E3 such as Elemental: War of Magic.

Though I would, of course, like to see the list being longer, I'm generally fairly happy with the things coming in the future. And maybe there'll be a few more surprises for us over the coming months.

Love -x-x-x-

Shir'le

Elemental: War of Magic

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 14:15:47 GMT

One game that I've been keeping an interested eye on is Stardock's Elemental: War of Magic. Elemental is a 4X turn-based strategy game fused with role-playing elements in a high fantasy world. Here's the description from the homepage:

Quote:

Elemental is a fantasy strategy game set on a world filled with magic and ancient lore. Rule a fledgling kingdom and expand it across the world through a combination of magical power, military might, diplomatic skill, technological advancement and bold adventuring.

As sovereign, you begin as the only being in your kingdom still able to channel power from the shards of magic, a series of mystical artifacts left over from the cataclysm.

You must decide how much of your power to imbue into your heroes as you build new cities, explore dungeons, perfect spells of ever increasing power and negotiate with friends and foes.

Victory can be yours through conquest, magical supremacy, diplomatic alliances or the completion of the master quest.

I don't know; perhaps it's just that I'm in the mood for this type of game where I can take my time and plan instead of relying more on reflexes to play. But the idea of the game just very much intrigues me. Normally in strategy games I tend to feel a sense of disconnection, but that should be solved by having your own (main) character in the Sovereign. I'm also drawn to the fantasy setting much more than the sci-fi or real world settings that most other strategy games seem to use. I find the graphics quite appealing too (definitely a distinct style) and the promise of being highly moddable is exciting as well (might be interesting to try and make a drow race, but even if one doesn't do any modding then one can generally still enjoy the works that others do).

Elemental is currently in beta testing and set to release either at the end of summer or somewhere during fall (depending on how smoothly development goes, as Stardock seems to be one of those "when it's ready" developers). As I understand the game is currently in Beta 1 phase, meaning that none of the 3d graphics are in yet (on purpose, so that the players testing will focus more on the game mechanics and what would make the game 'fun' than on graphics) playing purely off the cloth map.

To give you an idea of what that's like, here's a YouTube video. Just remember that it's not supposed to be fun yet and that it doesn't have the 3D graphics engine yet:

As I understand the game is set to go into Beta 2 any time now, during which the beta testers will get access to the full 3D graphics engine as well.

Part of what makes the game interesting as well is that they've created a rich lore for the game and have entered a partnership with book publisher Random House to take the setting across various media, including a book titled "Elemental: Destiny's Embers" to release in August. In that way it's much like Mass Effect and Dragon Age. But perhaps even more interesting is how the developers maintain a direct line of communication with their community, asking how the community sees certain design questions.

If you're interested then here are a couple of articles from the last few months regarding the game:

[link] to GDC progress report at GameSpot. (March 12^th 2010)
[link] to interview with Brad Wardell at Rock, Paper, Shotgun. (March 23^rd 2010)
[link] to interview with Brad Wardell at IncGamers. (April 19^th 2010)
[link] to impressions article at IGN. (June 1^st 2010)
[link] to preview article at GameSpot. (June 2^nd 2010)

Definitely something to look forward to I think.

[UPDATE]

A few additional updates.

First of all there's a new dev journal up on the official site which has a variety of new tidbits. This includes their target release date of August 24^th, an awesome screenshot with dynamic fog of war generated using an advanced multi-core algorithm, a link to a (soundless) movie showing the 3D graphics, and a YouTube movie showing some of the map making modding tool. Definitely worth checking out.

There's also another preview at BigDownload which talks about a number of the key features of the game.

And last, but not least is the following 12 minute developer walkthrough (note that the sound cuts out briefly partway through):

Looking quite interesting and potentially a lot of fun.

[link] to June FAQ dev jounral at Elemental.
[link] to preview article at BigDownload.
[link] to developer walkthrough video at GameTrailers.

Love -x-x-x-

Shir'le

Fable 3 - PC launch confirmed

Fri, 21 May 2010 22:06:27 GMT

Though I'm not sure as how much of an RPG it counts anymore, according to Peter Molyneux it isn't one, though I'd post it anyway.

It has been confirmed that Fable 3 will be released for PC. The game is set to be released before Christmas this year on consoles (and I'm assuming that the same goes for the PC version, though I haven't heard anything on that yet). And it's set to cost £39.99/$49.99/€54.99.

The digital version of the game will only be available through Games for Windows Live (i.e. no Steam/Direct2Drive/Impulse/etc).

Considering that and considering what a disappointment the first Fable was (in pretty much every way imaginable), and considering that Fable 2 isn't on PC and thus it would feel like only reading the first and third part of a trilogy while skipping the second, I'll probably pass on this one unless the reviews around release convince me otherwise.

The biggest question though is how the PC version will deal with the Natal elements of the game. Either Natal is coming to PC too (which I'd expect to hear more on during this year's E3) or they're ripping out those parts for PC. I guess we'll have to see.

Love -x-x-x-

Shir'le

Portal - Get It Free!

Fri, 14 May 2010 09:40:53 GMT

You can't beat that price. To celebrate Steam releasing on the Mac, Valve is giving away their fantastic first-person puzzler for free (on both PC and Mac). But only until May the 24^th, so if you don't have the game yet you better hurry. I highly recommend it (certainly for that price).

Here's is the official message from Valve:

Quote:

Portal used to cost money. Until May 24th, it's free. End of story.

Well, technically speaking, there are some strings attached. Fortunately, they're entirely decorative. We just like the way they look, swaying in the gentle breeze created by a million people simultanously fainting from shock at the news that Portal is free. Now you have no reason not to try Portal.

"I have a reason," some of you are probably typing into an angry email. "You see, sir, I own a Mac."

Well guess what: For the first time ever, Portal is also available for the Mac.

"Capital news! But the excellent puzzle adventure Portal won over 40 Game of the Year awards; Surely it must cost at least five or six hundred dollars."

You'd think that, especially since it actually won over 70 Game of the Year Awards. But, like we keep saying, Portal is free. Free on the Mac. Free on the PC. But only until May 24th. So you only have a few days to decide if your free copy of Portal is worth the price we're currently charging - which is you ever-so-slightly moving your index finger just barely enough to click the big red "download" button right there to the left.

And if you're still not convinced, here's an official message from Aperture Science:

Now go and start downloading already.

Love -x-x-x-

Shir'le