Last year saw the release of the Sly Cooper HD Collection on the PS3. The collection was so successful that it provided developer Sanzaru – who handled the development of the HD collection – with an in to helm the next installment in the series, Thieves in Time.
When it comes to franchise fatigue, the first game that springs to mind is the Legend of Zelda series. Sure, we don’t get a new adventure starring Link every year like, say, Assassin’s Creed or Call of Duty, but I’ve been controlling a mute, green tunic-wearing elf since 1987. I played pretty much every major release in the series until Wind Waker, and I’m just tired of the formula. I don’t think it’s controversial to say that anymore, either; more and more, I hear criticisms of repetition and stale gameplay leveled at the Zelda games. With that being said, you can understand why I was perfectly fine with ignoring the upcoming Skyward Sword and moving on with my life. And yet, somehow I found myself pre-ordering the Limited Edition of the game last week. How did that happen?
When EA outed Syndicate early this year it was met with a fair amount of criticism. Critics specifically belabored the fact that the reboot was taking the beloved isometric action-adventure-strategy game and molding it into a “visceral first person shooter.” In a video game landscape where the FPS is king the move makes sense, but that doesn’t mean that longstanding fans are going to be understanding of the change. So it is perhaps with an olive branch extended that publisher EA has revealed that the new Syndicate will contain a robust four-player cooperative campaign to go along with the single-player experience.
I must admit, as soon as I hear the first few beats of John William’s iconic “Welcome to Jurassic Park” theme, I can’t help but smile. Jurassic Park stands as a landmark in movie making and is a milestone summer movie experience of my youth that has never been replicated and likely never will be.
There isn’t anything quite like Saints Row: The Third. Sure, it may seem like a blatant rip-off of the hugely successful Grand Theft Auto franchise, but there is so much more to Saints Row than the open world and warring gangs. Simply put, there is something wrong with Saints Row: The Third, and I mean that in the best way possible.
The Lord of the Rings: War in the North isn’t your average LOTR adaptation. Even with a story that focuses much of its attention on war and the horrors that lie within that beast, the movies and books have always been rather accessible to even the youngest members of the family. That’s about to change as it's best the little ones sit out what is shaping up to be the bloodiest vision of Middle Earth yet.
In my opinion, there’s something about the handheld Mario titles that have a certain draw to them. Whether it was the Gameboy color version of Super Mario Bros, or the insanely addictive Mario Kart DS, handhelds have done a great deal for the famous Italian plumber. The 3DS looks to provide even more quality to the already fantastic franchise with Super Mario 3D Land.
One thing resonated with the bunch of us “comic con goers” when it came to Mario Kart 7; the game is incredibly smooth and incredibly fun. There really isn’t much to say about it other than the fact that it aims to yet again provide an insanely addictive handheld driving experience. As stated in my E3 preview, players at the beginning are allowed to pick a driver, customize car parts from wheels to body and glider type, then the race begins. While it's currently unknown what most of these car parts do, it’s safe to say that they will have some type of effect on either the speed or weight of the kart.
It's a beautiful thing when review copies arrive early. Unfortunately, for Disney Universe we are embargoed from releasing our review any earlier than its release day, Tuesday, October 25. However, I can talk a little bit about the game in the meantime.
If you were around for the bitter, vicious, and petty wars between the Super Nintendo and the Sega Genesis, you can’t help but feel at least a little bad for Sega’s blue speedster with the 90s ‘tude. While Mario went on from the 16-bit era to have some of his greatest adventures, Sonic has had a slow, steady slide into irrelevancy. While he has his staunch supporters and always sells well to the kids, there is a segment of the hardcore gaming community that keeps wondering when that next great Sonic game is going to come along. With each new release, there’s always the talk that “This is the one! This is the game that makes Sonic great again!” And the fans buy into it, and more often than not, they end up disappointed, and have to seek solace in their fan fiction.
At first glance, Asura's Wrath didn't seem like more than just another God of War inspired action game. In the following videos and previews however, the non-stop action, unique art style, and incredibly epic set pieces make Asura's Wrath a game to look out for.
Here at NYCC 2011 I was able to take some time to play the Prototype 2 demo, not having played the original it is hard for me to say what has changed, so my impressions are solely related to what I played in the demo.
MMOs in general have been fun for me, but none draw me in because of the overall lack of story and motivation. Yes, leveling up and questing is fun but for me, I like to have narrative in my experience. Because of this, Star Wars: The Old Republic has been on my personal radar for a while now. Not only does it promise a traditional MMO experience and lots of Star Wars related goodness, but it also contains the story, character development, and conversation trees that Bioware is known for. My hands-on with the game quickly made me realize that this is a game that I could easily get lost in.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is most likely on every hardcore Wii fan's wish list. It's for good reason, too: the Zelda series' iconic music and gameplay has continued to inspire and innovate over its 25 years of existence. Skyward Sword is no exception.
With Mass Effect 3 on the horizon, the overall hype meter is slowly building and for good reason; the game is filled with improvments, additions and an overall polish that clearly shows the right way to go about making a sequel.
HandCircus, best known for their puzzle-adventure video game Rolando on iOS, is soon set to release a brand new IP exclusively for the PSN in the form of Okabu.
Deciding to take the Battlefield 3 Online Beta for a spin was not a simple decision for me. It’s the latest in a series that I’ve never played before and while I’ve been known to take some names and kick some ass in even the toughest of FPS single player modes, multiplayer has always been a different story entirely.
Konami is rebuilding Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater from the ground up with a few modern additions, like achievements/trophies and updated button configurations. They will also have icons, sound effects, and fonts upgraded to HD, plus a frame rate locked at a steady 60 frames per second.
I’ve been enjoying the Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One online beta since it was released to the public earlier this week. I have to admit that when I heard that that the next Ratchet and Clank game, a favorite series of mine, was going to be a co-op focused affair I was skeptical. It’s easy to see how the game mechanics would fit into a frantic multiplayer experience, but will that be enough to support an entire game?
Some games just get better with 3D, or at least that's what Korean developer, Barunson Interactive hopes. The team has announced that they are currently developing a 3D update of Double Dragon II: The Revenge, for Xbox Live Arcade, known now as Double Dragon II: Wander of the Dragons.
Assassin's Creed was a brand new experience for me and a fun last game on my second day at E3. In the multiplayer mode I got to try, two sides faced off as either assassin or prey in a castle courtyard in Constantinople. The prey would run off and try to blend in among the inhabitants and the assassins would – can you guess? – that's right, they'd hunt them down and kill them. Boy, you're good at guessing.
The newest Kirby console title, Kirby Wii, brings Kirby back to a world less composed of fibers and more of dreams. That's right, Kirby is, without a doubt, back in Dream Land, offering similar stage design and gameplay to that found in modes like DynaBlade and Revenge of the Meta Knight in Kirby's Super Star.
Street Fighter 3 was released about 13 years ago. The game and its updates, Second Impact and Third Strike, were often overlooked in favour of the Street Fighter 2 and Street Fighter 4 series. But true fans haven’t forgotten about 3rd Strike, and Capcom has taken notice. Thus we get Street Fighter 3: Third Strike Online Edition, which aims to be the premiere version of the game.
The 10-minute E3 demo featured a zombie beat-down in a futuristic carnival called “Uranus Zone,” set in Fortune City, Nevada.
Yesterday, we had our first chance to play the long-awaited title from Grasshopper Manufacture and EA. Of course, the game is also known as the super project between fan-favorite, Suda51, and Resident Evil creator, Shinji Mikami. As a fan of both developers involved, Shadows of the Damned has long been on my must-have list, so I’m excited to report that the game thus far is living up to my expectations.
