Dragon Age now in Anime form…

  I would say that this is interesting.  But I’m getting a little afraid that people get sick of Dragon Age before #3 can be released.  I really love the world; but even I’m getting a little tired of this stuff.  If it was going somewhere, that would be great.  But considering the Mark of the Assassin DLC where you couldn’t play with your new character for the rest of the campaign.  I’m kind of soured in general by the stuff they have all ready put out.  I’m really excited about Dragon Age #3 but not so much for all this other stuff.  I’m leaving the third book and this Anime on the shelf for now.  Hopefully, #3 comes out soon and I can get back into the Dragon Age groove.

Yoshinori Ono Talks Street Fighter X Tekken with PS Magazine UK

Warhammer Wrath of Heroes(Preview)

     This game is a Free 2 Play offering from EA.  This property is closely linked to the Warhammer Online Age of Reckoning MMORPG.  As someone who played and enjoyed(for the most part) the MMO; this game is incredible.  The most interesting part of this game is that for the two current scenarios that they have, there are four teams vying for dominance.  Not just two.  Which makes this increasingly crazy.

    Mourkain Temple is the most popular scenario right now.  There are four flags that the can be controlled by any of the factions.  Once the team has at least one flag they can go to the center and capture the artifact.  The longer a team has the artifact and one of the flags the more points that team gets.

   The other scenario Black Gate Pass, is similar except that this time the factions must control four artifacts by carrying them back to their own base and defending them.  The longer you control these artifacts, the more points you get.

    Each player gets experience; for captures, kills, assists, heals, etc…  This experience eventually gets you mastery points.  These can be attributed to different tactics making your hero stronger.  Each hero also comes with perks, these are usually simply hero specific but not all ways.  They are working on these systems right now.  But so far it looks like the game is shaping up wonderfully.

    The thing I really like about Warhammer Wrath of Heroes; is that it plays so much like Warhammer Online Age of Reckoning but without the lag when playing PVP.  Even with the graphics turned up all the way, I never had any slow down.  While judging by the lack of scenarios Wrath of Heroes probably has a long way to go before release.  It will definitely be a great game when it comes out and not just for a Free 2 Play either.

Witcher 2 gets console release! Yay!

        For all those folks out there that don’t have a good enough PC to run Witcher 2, you can get it for your XBOX 360 on April 17th this year.  Which is awesome! While my PC might be able to run the game; I’m probably just going to wait for this; I don’t have time to play a 40 hour RPG right now anyway…

Insomniac is done with Resistance but Sony isn’t…

    The last Resistance was definitely the best.  Which is why I’m a little confused as to why Insomniac doesn’t want to do any more of them.  However, I think it’s both gutsy and cool for a developer to know when to stop.  Especially if they are going out on a high note.  Perhaps other developers like Nihilistic will have some success with the franchise.  However, I think many fans of franchises feel like no one can make the games they want to play the way the creators of that franchise can; which probably just means that this franchise is financially dead.

    I have seen the new Resistance Burning Skies for the Vita and it is an interesting game.  However, I didn’t see anything that was SO uniquely Resistance that it couldn’t have just been another FPS for the Vita.  But perhaps my vertical slice was not sufficient to see the greatness of this new game.

   In conclusion, I love Insomniac and other than the Ratchet and Clank Heroes mess; I’ve loved every game they have ever made.  So good on them!  Make some new, awesome Franchises folks!

No Blizzcon? That’s ok…

     Oh Blizzard, it’s ok that there’s no Blizzcon this year.  Because we will all be playing Diablo 3 by then, Right?!

COD MW3 Downloading the Elite New Stuff! Really???

Wow, considering this system is EXACTLY the same as all the other online passes that are out there makes me wonder about the lengths to which our hands are being held these days.  I figured all this out way back when Mortal Kombat came out with it’s season pass last May.  Oh well, public service message or not, I guess SOMEONE will benefit from it.

A WHOLE LOT of Street Fighter X Tekken Footage from Giant Bomb!

On the Backlog: Magic the Gathering Duels of the Planeswalker 2012 Review!(PC version)

***Hey all your probably wondering what, “On the Backlog” is; it’s a new feature where I review a kind of old game that for whatever reason, escaped my purview.  There will not be any scores for these games.  Some will be older than others…***

        Magic the Gathering Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 is one of the least reviewed games.  When it came out, I was pretty surprised at the lack of general interest.  After all, the game is very easy to learn and the animations are really good.  The game will also run your laptop or if you have a really old computer it still works.  The rules are basically from the Magic the Gathering card game; which if you want to learn the real card game this will make it easier.

       The new game with the expansion has a ton of modes.  I purchased the game with the expansion.  I believe this is best way of doing it.  The game has a ton of content.  Once you finish the main campaign, you can play the Revenge campaign with the enemies with harder decks.  You can also play an Archenemy mode where it’s you and two other summoners against another with higher hit points and some special advantage cards.  The flip side of this is that in the expansion you can play as that Archenemy.

      In the multiplayer mode you can also play with another person both straight up fights, an Archenemy, or two people against another.

      The most important thing about the new Magic the Gathering Online games that are available for PC, XBOX 360, and PS3 is the dedication to teaching people how to play.  In some card games in the past, they were solely for the people who understood the game to begin with.  Duels of the Planeswalkers teaches the player quickly and elegantly how to play and puts them in situations to learn how to play better.  I would say that this is what separates a good game from a great one.   This one is a must try for anyone even passingly interested in Magic or in collectible card games.  Finally as all ways the art on the cards is first rate as is the art  in the short cinematic, and the loading screens.  I believe regular price for this package is around $20, and it’s worth every penny.

On the Backlog: Jamestown Review(PC)

***Hey all your probably wondering what, “On the Backlog” is; it’s a new feature where I review a kind of old game that for whatever reason, escaped my purview.  There will not be any scores for these games.  Some will be older than others…***

    Jamestown is basically a bullet hell shooter set in the time of the pilgrims.  That is, if the pilgrims had space ships and were trying to repel invaders from Mars.  The title is up on Steam and has support for both the keyboard and mouse as well as a controller.  I found playing with the controller the best way to go.  The controls are tight and the graphics are appropriately wonderful.  The game plays kind of like a easier version of Ikaruga.  At least on the difficulty levels I’ve played on so far.  That is one of the other great things about Jamestown it has a nice progression system of playing the same level on higher and higher difficulty.  This makes the game a lot more fun.

   There was never any slow down on my computer even when running at max graphics.  This is a wonderful little game that has multiple modes and the ability to “buy” ships, modes, etc… From the in-game store.  I played through for about 2-4 hours and I couldn’t get enough.  This is definitely a game that you will find yourself constantly going back.  Also, there is a low priced DLC pack available so if you want more fun you can add that.  I found the core game pretty challenging and locking out parts of the game until you meet the star/difficulty requirements for it is a wonderful incentive to progress.

  I bought this game over the holidays on a sale, but I think the normal price is around $20 or less; you can’t really go wrong.  There is just as much depth here as there is in any full priced bullet hell title.  I would recommend that anyone who likes bullet hell shooters pick this one up.  It’s a wonderful game that will keep you coming back.

Chicago got it’s Second Snow Day and Video Games…

        I will be the first to mention that this post has very little to do with video games.  Except that today, we got a ton of snow and because I’ve been working on it and resting from working on it; I haven’t posted anything.  But as things progress today, I’m sure I’ll find my way clear to get some actual writing done today.

       I’m looking at one Backlog for today.  So watch for that, sometime before Midnight central time.  I would like to mention that the site was down early this morning for some, yet to be troubleshooted reason.  Sorry for that if you were looking for us at 2 AM central time and couldn’t find us.  Hopefully one of the cached entries answered your questions.  Also, on a personal note(not like all this wasn’t personal); I’m selling my old PS3 and spent half the night last night troubleshooting my silly website problem and the other half reformatting and deactivating my PS3.  Fun!  So look for a new Backlog today… Sometime…  And hopefully tomorrow will be less snowy, less technically challenging, and more likely to get me a new PS3!  Not sure that last one is going to happen before at least Tuesday, but hey; I can dream…

Preview: Kingdoms of Amalur The Reckoning!(XBOX360 version)

       The first time I heard about Kingdoms of Amalur, I think I was actually at E3.  Which was also probably the last time I was at E3.  Anyway, since then I’ve been casually to rabidly interested.  The demo that just came out on XBOX LIVE, PSN, and PC doesn’t disappoint for the most part.  I do have a few things I need to mention about this demo as a responsible journalist.  Even though I really liked the demo overall; there were a few problems that I need to mention.

      Kingdoms of Amalur is a wonderful action/adventure game but it’s demo has some serious problems.  The first time I’d loaded up the demo, after about 10 minutes into the tutorial the whole demo froze, hard stop not a crash; just a complete and utter freeze.  The last time a game froze on my XBOX 360 the system had just launched.  But knowing that this was probably just a minor problem, I restarted the system; cleared the system cache and started all over again.  Then when I loaded it up my character appeared for around 5 minutes headless.  After that her, head finally reappeared.  I then proceeded to play through my tutorial and my allotted 45 minutes.  However, I was exploring around in the world and ended up getting cursed, twice.  I eventually made it back to town where the game told me a healer could cure my curses.  I got to the healer with plenty of cash, but the game would not let me select the cure curse tab.  I tried every button and stick to move the selection but nothing happened.  There are certainly some combat situations where the framerate slowed down quite a bit.  But that too, I’m guessing is just the demo.

       All of this was probably due to the demo being an old build.  Which was fine, I generally experienced the game the way it should be played.  I did have a very good time and the game plays as advertised.  I would say it reminds me of the new Dungeon Siege 3.   While I did have a lot of problems with the performance in the demo, I do have to say that it showed how the player can quickly switch from one type of ability to another and certainly has a wide range of choices.  The stealth is a lot of fun and while the magic might be a little overpowered.  The game throws enough enemies at you so that this isn’t an issue.

       While I ended up doing most of the quests, I think the game is at it’s best when the player is just wondering around enjoying themselves; by discovering different areas.  I loved the wide array of abilities and equipment.  I did really like the game, as I said, the game is pretty much like Dungeon Siege 3 with a little bit better graphics and a snapper combat system.  Here’s hoping that the final game is technically better than the demo.  One thing I can say, if you have the XBOX 360 version of the game, your probably going to want to install it to the hard drive.  It’s not anything more than a guess, but I’d say it’s a good one.

New Resident Evil incoming! (Announcement trailer)

Darkness 2 Preview!

         I was a big fan of the first Darkness.  There were a few parts that I absolutely hated(world war hell), but overall I really enjoyed it.  Especially the Darkness mechanics.  But nothing really could have prepared me for the Darkness 2.  The shooting and Darkness mechanics in this game are amazing.  The game makes you feel, more than any in the recent past; like a badass.  The cell shading is barely noticeable as you move from one roller coaster-like sequence to the next. 

       The other interesting thing about this game is that while the open world elements have been dropped.  The player is able to upgrade your Darkness powers by spending experience points you earn by killing enemies.  It will be interesting to see how the full game is laid out, considering the game definitely keeps referring to the first title.  There are televisions strewn around and even one of the Darklings from the first game returns.  He is guide arrow and your little helper.  You don’t have any control over him this time; but he does help you out in story sequences, puzzle solving, and somewhat in combat.  This too, will be interesting to see in the final game.  Too often A.I. companions are too stupid to keep up with fast paced action.  But they have certainly toned down his involvement to lessen the chance of this, but still..

       While playing the demo, I realized that a little bit of this has probably been changed or condensed due to this being a demo.  But I really loved the way things were stitched together.  I’m sure the final game will be just as lovely edited.  Being able to wield two guns and two Darkness tentacles is probably the best thing they could have done.  The best thing about the Darkness 2 is not only is the game obviously mechanically sound but the demo makes me want to know what happens next.  This is a rather difficult achievement in most games. 

    The demo is around a fifteen minutes long and is incredibly action packed but it is story driven.  Even people who have never played the Darkness before will probably be able to easily follow the Darkness 2; which is great.  I WOULD recommend to anyone who likes shooters to play the Darkness.  Starbreeze did a great job with it.  This game is being developed by Digital Extremes, so far they have done an incredible job.  The Darkness 2 demo is up on XBOX LIVE and PSN right now, so go check it out for yourself.  I’ve seen plenty of hands off demos before this and it doesn’t make the same kind of impact as actually playing it yourself.

On the Backlog: PixelJunk Shooter 2 Review(PSN)

***Hey all your probably wondering what, “On the Backlog” is; it’s a new feature where I review a kind of old game that for whatever reason, escaped my purview.  There will not be any scores for these games.  Some will be older than others…***

         I really love PixelJunk; while I have a horrendous record for playing XBLA and PSN games;  but I really love them when I get around to it.  The game adds online battles to the franchise with this installment.  Along with this there are multiple liquid types and while playing I often thought about what this beast must have been eating while I floated through one level to the next.  The main goal of the game is collect all the scientists, gems, and other treasures on your way out of this beast you’ve been swallowed by.

    My only real complaint about this title and one that can be leveled at any PixelJunk games; man are these controls floaty.  You definitely get used to them after a while but right off, I was dying like I was playing MW3 online for the first time.  The inventiveness of the game is pretty apparent where you use your grabber in so many different ways.  As well as shields and all the other little upgrades you can get for your ship over time.  I really loved playing the game, even though I did get frustrated here and there.  Especially when you lose upgrades when you die. 

  This does make PixelJunk Shooter 2 is a kind of an old school arcadey shooter.  I can’t think of a better way to spend 5-8 hours of my time.  But this is definitely a little title with an extremely good reason to purchase.  I believe you can demo the game on PSN before you buy it.  Here’s hoping this franchise drops somewhere else in the future(other than iOS).

       I also missed PixelJunk Sidescroller, that review will be coming soon, hopefully…