Batman: Arkham City Preview

Move over Batman. Catwoman is stealing some gameplay from you.  I had the opportunity to play as the cat burglar during a hands-on demo at PAX.

The PAX demo gave me immediate access to Catwoman’s gameplay.  With cat-like stealth, I attempted to break into Two-Face’s hideout and steal some documents.  After being detected, I made quick waste of Two-Face’s thugs.  Catwoman’s feline grace and snapping whip attack adds speedy, smooth combat to Arkham’s signature rhythmic gameplay.  Her move-set is more acrobatic-oriented than Batman, featuring claws, whips, bolas, and a sexy leather outfit with tons of cleavage.  Taking advantage of the chaos in Arkham City to acquire jewelry and high tech gadgets (similar to how Batman receives new items and upgrades), Catwoman’s own heist-focused storyline set the Arkham City’s game events in motion when I (playing as her) was eventually captured by Two-Face.  Seeking to gain notoriety among the villains of the city, Two-Face planned a public execution of Catwoman.

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Jurassic Park: The Game Preview

Holy Quick Time Event!  Telltale Games, who is best known for Back to the Future: The Game, had demos of their latest movie-based game, Jurassic Park: The Game, at PAX this year.

It’s always difficult when creating a game based on a classic movie franchise with a huge following.  Fans are going to especially critical of not only the gameplay, but the story as well.  Luckily for fans of the film, Telltale Games focus on story and plot and character.  That’s what is important to them, and Jurassic Park: The Game is no different.  While the gameplay in the demo was lackluster, completely consisting of quick time events, the story sounds quite intriguing.  Jurassic Park: The Game isn’t just a recreation of the original film.  Instead, Telltale has decided to explore the “other” characters on the island during the dino-breach.  They focus on the details that the movie might have left out and create an original story revolving around those details.  Do you remember the barbasol can that Dennis Nedry was using to smuggle the dinosaur embryos out of the park?  Jurassic Park: The Game focuses on that can with the different groups and people trying to get that can and secure the embryo.

Fans of Jurassic Park will get to see and play as some of the recognizable characters from both the book and the movie like Jerry Harding, the man who took care of the sick triceratops.  If you are familiar with Back to the Future, Telltale releases episodes of the game.  Jurassic Park will be similar as the different episodes will expand on the stories of your favorite characters.

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Dead Island Preview

Do you remember when zombie games used to really be about survival?  I’m not talking about surviving a wave of zombies in some generic first person shooter multiplayer mode.  I’m talking about true survival; you being thrust in an environment overrun by hordes of zombies using only what you can scavenge to defend yourself.

At PAX, I had a chance to experience the hands-on demo of Dead Island and it was definitely a breath of fresh air (by fresh, I mean the aroma of rotted flesh filled the air).  Dead Island harks back to the traditional points for playing a zombie game: blood and gore, survival, and thrill.  Granted, games like Left 4 Dead offer that, but not with the in-depth approach Dead Island takes. 

So how does Dead Island differ from other zombie titles, like Left 4 Dead or Resident Evil (can that even be considered a zombie game anymore)?  Well, for one thing, Dead Island is not just about running around and shooting up the place.  It’s about carefully choosing when to engage a horde of zombies.  You aren’t given an arsenal of weapons.  You are a survivor; that means you can only fight with what you find, and what you find has limited durability.  In the demo, the paddle I scavenged actually broke in the middle of a zombie encounter.  It literally snapped in two as I cracked the skull of one of the zombies.  Zombies were swarming and, with only my fists, I decided it was better to just run.  This is just one example of how Dead Island makes an authentic survival experience.

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Hard Reset Preview

Thanks to Evolve PR’s new study on “shortened public relations campaigns”, you may not have heard of Hard Reset yet.  The game, which was announced July 13, is scheduled for release next month on PC.

Up until now, not much was revealed about the game, except for a few trailers and some screenshots.  In a time when we’re used to having at least a year of build up before a game’s release, you can understand why we were a little skeptical about the Hard Reset when we received the playable preview build. 

I booted up Hard Reset and entered the bleak future of 2436.  The plot, on it’s most basic level, is machines vs humans.  In animated comic book style cut-scenes, Hard Reset tells the story of Major Fletcher, a security officer for The Corporation, who is sent to defend Bezoar from hordes of aggressive robots attempting to access the digitized personalities of billions humans.  In Bezoar City resides in The Sanctuary, which is home to this human neural network.  This is the prime target of these robot bastards, as they attempt to push beyond the limits of their artificial brains.  You play as Fletcher, sent to defend The Sanctuary.  He’s not doing it for the love of humanity, but for the butt-load of money (yes, that was a Spaceballs quote).  The plot may sound like The Matrix, but at first glance, the setting is reminiscent of Blade Runner.

The environment is dreary, to say the least.  It’s dark, it’s rainy, and it’s colorless, giving you a cold, impersonal feel to the futuristic Bezoar City.  Wet concrete sidewalks, littered with trash, and abandoned, run-down sky scrapers are lit only by an abundance of neon signs and automated shopping machines that scream detached, big corporation. With that being said, Hard Reset is simply mesmerizing to look at.  Polish developer, Flying Wild Hog, has created an environment that is void of emotion.  The meticulous attention to environmental detail is highlighted by the flickering of street lights and pulsing signs, heightening the anxiety of being in a lifeless city overrun by rampant robots.

You will feel alone.

Read more about Hard Reset Here.

Battleship Trailer Ruins Favorite Childhood Game

By now, we’re used to Hollywood take a dump on our favorite childhood television shows, comic books, and video games.  I’ve seen them completely change the story of my favorite game.  I’ve seen them focus on a character that never even existed in the game’s universe and make a plot that revolves around her (this is a Resident Evil reference if you haven’t caught on).  I’ve seen it with my own eyes!  Take a popular game or show, throw some big-ass explosions into it, and slap the popular title on it.  Then, release it into theaters and laugh your way to the bank as the countless number of sheep will see it, mostly in hopes of reliving some childhood nostalgia.  Unfortunately, they see it, only to leave feeling pissed off at how much Hollywood has ruined their childhood obsession.  Why can’t they just stick to the original freaking plot line!  Better yet, why not just STOP ruining the originals!  Please, just stop!

Just when you thought they have drained every possible market, they turn to something I have known they had up their sleeves for quite a long time, yet feared entirely: Board Games.  Apparently, ruining every other childhood love of mine wasn’t enough for the big executives in Hollywood.  Now they have to somehow think of a way to milk board games for all they’ve got.  If you haven’t heard yet, the newest cash cow for them will be Battleship.  Yes, the game that involves two people sitting across from each other, randomly guessing spots on a map to attack in hopes of sinking the other’s ships.  A game of pure luck and pure fun.  For some odd reason, Hollywood has the idea that this game—a game that’s only goal is to sink the opponent’s ships—would be the perfect big-screen blockbuster. 

After slamming my head into the desk in an attempt to wake myself up from this horrible nightmare, I pulled myself together and tried to think of what could possibly inspire someone to think this would be a good movie.  What thought process does someone have to go through to think of recreating Battleship into a movie?  Then I thought of the checklist of qualities someone would have to find in a game in order to want to make it into a movie.

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Tales of Catherine

GameZone presents the story of Catherine in multiple parts, playing as evil as they can. They skip past the tedious puzzles and only showcase the cutscenes to present the intense, drama-filled story of Catherine.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Star Wars: The Old Republic Fated as a World of Warcraft Clone?

It’s no secret that Star Wars: The Old Republic is one of the most anticipated MMORPGs.  It’s going to have it all: over 200 hours of gameplay unique to each class and your individual character choices; thousands of voiced-over characters to meet and interact with; an in-depth class system that allows you to branch off and determine your own role in the galaxy; and most importantly, it has a universe that has decades of rich history and tradition, coupled with a huge following.  With the traditional films, fan films, and books exploring the many stories in the Star Wars universe, this story-driven massive-multiplayer online game from BioWare and LucasArts has the luxury of creating a game that takes place in an already well-established universe.

There is no doubt that the game will be fun, in the sense that you can explore an age when the war between the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire was at it’s peak. Ever since the film, I have wanted to be a part of the Star Wars story.  Now I get the chance to.  I get the chance to be the smuggler I’ve always wanted to be. I can also be a Jedi, a Sith, a Bounty Hunter, or choose from an array of classes that BioWare has revealed to us.  I will get a chance to battle the enemies I’ve seen in the movies and read in the books, along with friends.

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