New Games |
- Play Nuclear Dawn for free this weekend on Steam
- UTV Ignition holiday sale: El Shaddai for $29.99 and more
- Now Sony says PS Vita IS locked to a single account
- Sealed R.O.B. NES set listed on eBay for $15,999
- Hands-on with Zipper's Unit 13 on the PlayStation Vita
- Bethesda shipped ten million units of Skyrim
- Survival horror Amy is looking really good, scary
- Mighty Switch Force has an 'Ugly Checkpoint Dog'
- Live show: Mash Tactics Konami week continues!
- The Witcher 2 devs crack down on thousands of pirates
- Review: Trine 2
- Preview: PixelJunk 4am
- Best of 2011: Industry Picks
- Neato! Google's most searched gaming terms in 2011
- The heroes of Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City
- Review: Sonic CD
- 25 Days: Win Sonic Adventure on XBLA!
- Skyrim update 1.3 on Xbox Live, awaiting PSN approval
- Wanna win an Xbox 360? Watch The Destructoid Show!
| Play Nuclear Dawn for free this weekend on Steam Posted: 15 Dec 2011 01:00 PM PST InterWave Studios' implementation of RTS gameplay in their multiplayer FPS Nuclear Dawn has made it quite attractive to fans of both genres. The very idea of building structures, defenses and issuing commands to other players in one game, and then gunning down enemies on foot and taking orders from a commander the next is, well, interesting. Those who have been on the fence about Nuclear Dawn for a while will be able to play the game for free this weekend in a special Steam "Free Weekend" promotion which has now officially kicked off. Basically, you get to download and play the hell out of Nuclear Dawn until Sunday at 1PM PST -- no strings attached. If you suddenly become addicted to it and realize how empty your life was before giving InterWave's FPS a go, you can purchase it for a 40% discount over here until Monday 10AM Pacific. |
| UTV Ignition holiday sale: El Shaddai for $29.99 and more Posted: 15 Dec 2011 12:30 PM PST UTV Ignition is putting their games on sale this holiday to get some of that shopping season money. I can't blame them. The awesome El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron has been dropped to $29.99, knocking about $20 off the original price. If you missed this game, this is a good time to pick it up. Actually, UTV Ignition also teases that GameStop might have an even better price on this game starting December 21, so hold off. Still, here's your heads-up. New Kinect game Kung-Fu High Impact is now $39.99, and National Geographic Challenge! (Wii, Xbox 360 available now, PS3 in January) is down to $29.99 for Xbox, and $19.99 for Wii. PC gamers: On Steam you'll find that Blacklight: Tango Down will be on sale for only $5 from December 19th through January 2nd. Finally, for you iPad and iPhone people, Scrabble-meets-Risk word game Quarrel is on sale for just $2.99. In it you work for high word score to conquer lands. |
| Now Sony says PS Vita IS locked to a single account Posted: 15 Dec 2011 12:00 PM PST If there's one thing Sony excels at, it's utterly confusing its consumers with back-and-forth gibberish. First, the PlayStation Vita was locked to a single PSN account, then it was said that the Vita could accept different accounts using multiple memory cards. Now? We're back to one account. "[The] PSN account is tied to the hardware and the memory card, not just the card," a new Sony rep told Wired, "which means that if a second person is using your Vita, it’s not just a case of switching out memory cards, it’s clearing out all of your saved data on the Vita itself when you do the factory reset." So, we're back to square one. I really wish Sony could get its story straight here, because if its own reps don't know what's up, how is anyone else supposed to? Then again, this is the same company that tried to sell the PS3 as a Blu-ray player, gaming machine, and computer before realizing that it was confusing people, so I doubt it's ever going to change. Still looking forward to the Vita though. I just hope that, when it launches, Sony can remember what it is. |
| Sealed R.O.B. NES set listed on eBay for $15,999 Posted: 15 Dec 2011 11:30 AM PST Hahahah! $16,000 for an old game system? F*ck that! That's a decent car. That's a downpayment on a house. In my head that's a custom pizza brick oven in your backyard and a Korg Karma and two Pembroke Welsh Corgis to add to the pack. This eBay listing is for a first-edition Nintendo Entertainment System, the deluxe set. That means that good ol' R.O.B. the robot is in the box, Gyromite and Duck Hunt. System and two controllers top it off. You can play it on your old ass boxy TV, like shown on the back of the system's box. It's 100 percent new, and graded by the Video Game Authority as such. Even used, the set is really rare. The Buy It Now price is set at $15,999.95. No bids, of course. There's a Make Offer option, too. |
| Hands-on with Zipper's Unit 13 on the PlayStation Vita Posted: 15 Dec 2011 11:00 AM PST If there's one misconception that I hate about portable gaming, it's that both gamers and developers (some, not all) feel that a game made for a handheld should have the same bells and whistles of a console game. Not only that, but a handheld game needs to be just as long as a console game, with missions lasting upwards of thirty minutes which then end with a ten minute cinematic. Well, that is certainly not the case with Unit 13, Zipper Interactive's first venture onto the PlayStation Vita. Coming from the guys that created SOCOM, Unit 13 is a third-person tactical shooter that was designed around being played on a portable system, and because of that, it's damn fun to play. Unit 13 (PlayStation Vita) Simply put, there's no real story in Unit 13; well, aside from the brief background each unique mission offers, but other than that, it's just you, your gun, and the target. While some may think this is lazy developing and script-writing, it's actually not. With Unit 13, you don't have to worry about learning each character's background, or why you are where you are. There's no history to learn, and odds are, if you're playing a portable game, it's in between classes, lunch breaks, or while on the bowl. Unit 13's 10 to 15 minute mission structure will be perfect for anyone fitting any one of those categories. Another great aspect about the lack of story and structure is that Unit 13 allows players to unlock any mission as they see fit. So, when you're perusing around the mission grid, you don't have to go numerically down the line. Think mission 23 sounds fun? Boot it up. It's all free-roam here -- not gameplay-wise, of course. There are four mission-types to pick from in Unit 13: Deadline, which gives you three minutes to complete each objective. Elite, which is for hardcore players who don't care for health-regeneration. Dynamic, which constantly changes where missions and enemies pop up. And then there's Direct Action, the balls-to-the-walls style mission. When you're ready to play Unit 13 and hop into a mission, you're gonna need a character to play with, and here you have your choice of six, each with their own unique specialties. A particular character can specialize in say, demolition, or have increased accuracy, or be very competent with gadgets. Some will even gain more experience points in certain missions when compared to another character. Again, it all depends on who is ideal for what situation. As you use each soldier, they will start to rank up, and within the 10-level cap you will also increase your attributes. Overall, there's quite a bit to take in here. Zipper plans on keeping Unit 13 fresh everyday -- and they mean everyday. Each day, a new daily challenge will be active in Unit 13's online suite, and these are unique missions you've yet to see in the main offering, with varied objectives and enemy placement. You also only get one chance to do each mission, and once you get your score at the end, that's it. It will get posted to the online leaderboard where you can compare your stats and time to both your friends and players worldwide. If you don't like going into battle alone, Unit 13 offers co-operative play over 3G and Wi-Fi. Friends can also share HVTs, or High Value Targets, which are special missions where, of course, a high value target must be taken out. There are multiple throughout the game, and if a friend of yours unlocks one before you, he can share it with you and give you a finite amount of time in which to take the HVT down. It not only offers a ton of replayability, but the chance to brag against your friends. Unit 13 is one of the few handheld titles I've seen that acts like a handheld title. From the bite-sized mission structure to the new, unique daily challenges, it offers exactly what a portable game should: quick bits of satisfying gameplay. The dual-analog controls work exceptionally well, and while there are some touch-controls, they don't feel tacked-on, nor do you need to use them. If you plan on getting a Vita, this is definitely one you should look out for. |
| Bethesda shipped ten million units of Skyrim Posted: 15 Dec 2011 10:45 AM PST Bethesda Softworks are doing a bit of bragging today, having announced that The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has shipped ten million units worldwide since releasing last month. Hardly surprising news that the game is seeing such success, considering the critical reception it has received, but ten million of anything should be enough to give one pause. The publisher is specifically chuffed about the numbers they're seeing on the PC front, where Skyrim outsold all other games released in November by a factor of three to one. It has also become the fastest selling title in the history of the Steam distribution platform, according to Valve. "If you've got it, flaunt it," so the saying goes. |
| Survival horror Amy is looking really good, scary Posted: 15 Dec 2011 10:30 AM PST
Lexis Numérique's Amy mixes dark survival horror with one long cooperative escort mission with space diseases and pissed off zombies. Sorry to make a call on a game I haven't played yet, but that sounds f*cking awesome. The game is set in the year 2034. You play as Lana, a gal that is starting to turn zombie from a space virus that crashed into her home town. She gets help with her condition from an unlikely partner, an eight-year-old autistic girl named Amy. When Amy is around, the inner zombie calms down. A new trailer shows off how Lana and Amy deal with enemies. Being a duo of normal girls, fighting isn't one of their strengths. This trailer shows that stealth and careful one-on-one fights are needed to progress. Oh, and Amy has a few tricks up her little sleeves. I'm looking forward to spending some time with Amy. Not the girl. The game. This latest trailer shows that it's coming along nicely. My only concern? That camera in the last bit of combat. That looks like it's going to piss me off when it comes to multi-enemy fights. |
| Mighty Switch Force has an 'Ugly Checkpoint Dog' Posted: 15 Dec 2011 10:00 AM PST During a session with some of Nintendo's first- and third-party 3DS eShop game developers yesterday, I got a chance to check out the (incredibly promising) future of the eShop. I first got some hands-on time with WayForward's Mighty Switch Force, a game about a cyborg warrior girl named Patricia Wagon who saves the world (or Planet Land, anyhow) from the wrath of the Hooligan Sisters with the aid of her trusty "Ugly Checkpoint Dog." If the premise sounds a bit cheeky and maybe a little odd, you'll be happy to know that WayForward's signature style shines through again in all facets of the game, from the puzzle-solving elements, to the great soundtrack, wonderful art style, and even some nice 3D implementation as well. Mighty Switch Force (Nintendo eShop) In Mighty Switch Force, you control your cyborg character in a way that's reminiscent of the Mega Man X series (a similar shooting mechanic plus tight and responsive but not overly difficult jumping) while trying to find all five Hooligan Sisters throughout each level. The biggest twist comes in a form similar to earlier WayForward games (such as Mighty Flip Champs) -- a simple mechanic that progressively offers more complex and engaging situations. When you first begin, you're not given any sort of tutorial on what you must do and instead have to figure out how to traverse the levels with special platforms that "flip" in and out of the foreground depending on a button press. As you beat each level, a new twist is added to the mechanic, such as enemies that can only be killed through smart use of the platforms or specialized platforms that give you added abilities when you interact with them. The art style of the game is wonderful, with interesting enemies and all kinds of activity in both the foreground and background. In one stage, for example, I noticed a running monorail repeatedly charging through in the distance while everything else was happening up front. The 3D is implemented quite well -- it's predominately sprite-based with layered 3D, sort of like the 3D Classics updates only with more depth and thought given to events happening in the background. The game will feature a total of 16 levels, with the added challenge of clearing each level under the par time. Though the levels are initially pretty short, they become more complex as you get further and new mind-bending puzzles are thrown in at every juncture. Fortunately, you have your trusty "Ugly Checkpoint Dog" (it's actual name) popping up whenever you reach a new puzzle segment, twitching spasmodically and wagging its tail while waiting patiently for your death. This game will not be a particularly lengthy excursion by any means (maybe a couple hours for the first playthrough), though the great art style and generally fluid and responsive gameplay will keep you coming back for more. Personally, I'm excited for Mighty Switch Force, and at a price that promises to be quite a bit under the $10 mark, I don't think this infectiously humorous and entertaining game should be passed up. As an added bonus, the soundtrack by the esteemed Jake Kaufman will be released for free the same day as the game! Enjoy a free track right now! Jake Kaufman - Mighty Switch Force OST - "BGM - Yummy" |
| Live show: Mash Tactics Konami week continues! Posted: 15 Dec 2011 09:30 AM PST Okay... I know the header picture has nothing to do with Konami or the the amazing Pro Evolution Soccer 2012, that are playing on today's show, but let's face it I'm just really excited about Monday. That's right, this upcoming Monday will be a very special episode of Mash Tactics that you won't want to miss (Not that you ever want to miss an episode). Oh and in case you couldn't tell, the header pic is a hint at the special game we will be playing early. Mash Tactics airs Monday through Friday at 4pm Pacific. Watch Jon Carnage and myself, Wesley Ruscher, let loose with off-the-wall humor and discuss the issues of the day in the live chat on Destructoid's Twitch.tv channel. Also, there are videogames being played. Join us for your chance to win prizes, talk to industry guests, and witness all of the glorious antics. Watch this space for the livestream embed starting at 4PM today! |
| The Witcher 2 devs crack down on thousands of pirates Posted: 15 Dec 2011 09:15 AM PST The Witcher 2 developer CD Projeckt RED has, as promised, started going after those individuals it believes have pirated the game. According to TorrentFreak, thousands of BitTorrent users in Germany are being told by an external law firm to pay €911.80 ($1230). Speaking to PC Gamer, VP of business development Michal Nowakowski says that "We're addressing only 100% confirmed piracy causes that are 100% possible to prove. We are not worried about tracking the wrong people. As this is the trade secret of the company working on this, I cannot share it." Nowakowski wouldn't name the company being used to reach such impluasibly high accuracy, but he did comment that "In terms of the compensation, the amounts that were circling around the internet were higher than what is actually asked from people as a settlement." I hope for the studio's sake they are correct; we wouldn't want them to fight against DRM to avoid causing unintended harm only to turn around and pursue pirates based on, say, IP addresses while unintentionally targeting the wrong people. The Witcher 2 devs claim 100% accuracy in identifying pirates, demand money from thousands [PC Gamer -- Thanks, Henriquegds] |
| Posted: 15 Dec 2011 09:00 AM PST Trine, which came out in 2009, was a mixture of platforming, physics puzzles, and action with RPG elements. While some of these elements were stronger than others, the ability to switch between three different character types at will to solve puzzles and advance in the game made for quite the interesting concept. Now Frozenbyte is back with Trine 2, a new adventure for the three heroes introduced in the first game. There is more platforming, physics puzzling, and action, along with a new story and villains. Most importantly, the ability to switch between characters is back and fans get to see just what Frozenbyte is up to this time. Trine 2 (XBLA, PSN, PC [Reviewed], Mac, Linux) Trine 2 follows three very different individuals who were forced, in the first title, to become heroes. Each character has a specific set of skills: Zoya the thief has a grappling hook and wields a bow; Pontius, a knight, has a sword and shield as well as a two-handed hammer; and Amadeus is a wizard who can conjure boxes and planks, and is also able to levitate objects. The three classes may not be anything original, but the ability to switch between them at will is, and will be necessary as players battle and puzzle their way through the game's thirteen levels. Each level contains puzzles, pitfalls, and enemies to kill. They also contain death. Lots of death. As is the case with any game in the puzzle genre, most of the solutions are found by trial and error, and quite a few of the errors will end in one or more of the three characters dying. When one character dies, you can simply switch to another (there are three of them there, after all) and continue on. If you have a particular attachment to one of the three, however, reviving them is as easy as finding a checkpoint orb, which is almost always going to be very close to a particularly hard puzzle or one of the more challenging fights. This allows you to quickly save your progress, revive fallen heroes, and completely replenish the health of all three of them. Although the orbs might not always be there when you need them, the liberal placement helps quite a bit and in all likelihood you will be revisiting a given orb more than once. Although you may die a bit, there is an extremely large amount of freedom to proceed through the game however you want. Each of the heroes has customizing options that give ample wiggle room to allow for even more experimentation while solving puzzles or fighting enemies. So while there is an easy way to do things, by using the class that best fits a given task, it is usually only a suggestion and players are free to pick their own puzzle-solving path. In fact, there will be many times that the level itself gives you multiple options on how to continue. One example of this can be found later in the game when the player must hide from some goblins. If Zoya has her stealth ability, she can simply become invisible, or Amadeus can stack boxes and stand on top of them, also hiding from the goblins. Either way, the required task is completed. Each character has access to five upgrades, which can be unlocked by collecting glowing blue orbs and bottles to level up. It is completely possible to go through the entirety of Trine 2 without picking a single perk, but in a game that encourages creative problem solving, the ability to enhance your characters is just one more way to do that and the added choices given to you by customizing your characters opens up the entire title even more. Freedom to proceed how you like will become a boon during later levels when the puzzles become more difficult and the answer might not be readily apparent, or you can't quite get the timing needed to move on. The solution you come up with might not always be the 'right' one, but there is no penalty for being creative. This will be important to remember as you play, because some of the puzzles and platforming sections can become incredibly frustrating (until you figure out the solution, then you might just feel a little silly for not having grasped it sooner). Nowhere is this freedom more apparent than in co-op gameplay, which assigns a single role to each person. Rather than limiting players by keeping them confined to one character, the ability to play with other people opens up the entire game to even more creativity. Instead of having to perform an action as one character and then switch to another, players are given the chance to work together and, if you know what you're doing, experience a unique and fun multiplayer experience. During a puzzle, the wizard in your group might conjure a box, which he can levitate with another player standing on it to reach a goal. Or the thief and knight can work together by first freezing and then smashing enemies. With the way multiplayer is shoehorned into many games these days, it was incredibly refreshing to play a game that seems to understand what a co-op gaming experience should be. The only downside to this is that the levels are unchanged, so if you've already beaten the game in single-player, there won't be much challenge for you in co-op. If you are looking for a fun game to play with friends, on the other hand, this is a good option, especially considering the unlimited gameplay mode, which allows all three players to play whichever character they want. So if all of you want to be the paranoid wizard or the food enthusiast knight, you can. Considering how interesting and open the gameplay is, the story and combat tend to take a backseat. The tale unfolds through short storybook blurbs between levels as well as through poems and notes scattered throughout the game. The entire plot is fairly generic -- the kingdom is in trouble, there is a bad guy and a damsel in distress -- and not very engaging, but the poems do help to flesh out the backstory a bit. Like the blue orbs and bottles, the poems (found in chests throughout the game) are usually out of the way and hard to find. Opening them up, however, gives more depth to the the characters in the tale. Again, finding the poems is not necessary, and you can bypass them completely, but like with most of the game elements, finding them will only add to the overall experience. Combat, on the other hand, is very straightforward and not terribly difficult, even when the enemy is a boss. It is just about guaranteed you will die because of the environment or puzzles, but it is far less likely that you will be slain by a foe, even a boss. While there is still a good amount of variety in how you can tackle opponents, this may be the least interesting aspect of the game. It is possible to kill monsters using the environment itself (goblins are just as weak to lava and acid as you are), but that can get old fast, and while fights are never bad, they aren't usually great either. By and large, though, Frozenbyte knew exactly what they wanted to do in Trine 2; they wanted to make a beautiful, fairytale puzzle-platformer that allowed players freedom to find their own solutions to the challenges presented, and in that regard, they succeeded. The ability to switch between characters whenever you want makes for a unique take on the puzzling genre. The world of Trine is breathtaking and a joy to explore, and the developers have a solid, enjoyable game in the second story of the Trine heroes. For $14.99, you are more than getting your money's worth. |
| Posted: 15 Dec 2011 08:30 AM PST The music/rhythm genre is full of experiences that a reductive person might call “performance simulators.” In essence, games like Rock Band lay out a track of notes to hit -- whether with your voice or a controller that resembles an instrument -- and reward you for how well you do it. But few games actually allow you to partake in the act of making music with controllers; even the track tinkering offered by DJ Hero had a fairly limited scope, aside from peppering a rap single with extra air horns and record scratches. PixelJunk 4am (PlayStation Move) The result is nothing short of astounding. Holding the Move wand in your hand and waving it around to transform the groove, you feel like a digital shaman taming the spirits of song with a plastic whip. The PlayStation Eye camera and the Move controller combine to give you a three-dimensional performance space. To lay down the base tracks, you hold down the trigger and reach out until you feel the controller vibrate and bring it back into the center before releasing the trigger, unleashing the musical line. You also have effects modulation at your disposal: hold the Move button and move the wand to play with an element, perhaps distorting the sound with a phaser. Music is meant to be enjoyed by an audience, and 4am lets you broadcast your DJing live over the PlayStation Network through the app. Q-Games will be putting out a free “viewer,” so you don’t need to buy the software in order to be able to enjoy performances. Just turn on your PS3 and tune in to your favorite DJ to get the party started. |
| Posted: 15 Dec 2011 08:00 AM PST You already know what we think about releases this year, and you'll know our Game of the Year pick soon enough. But, what about game developers? You know, the people that actually matter in this industry. Not many game developers have the time to respond to a press email, not to mention play more than five games in a given year. Nevertheless, we brought together some of our friends and favorite developers and asked them to gush about their five favorite games and videogame-related things of 2011. These are the five reasons you'll have to wait a couple extra months for their next project. 1. Johann Sebastian Joust Between the Bastion launch party, Gaijin Games’ barbeques, and Tiff Chow’s Fourth of July extravaganza, I think Joust has officially taken over more parties than any game I’ve ever played. It’s truly the best use of the Move controller I’ve seen and is one of the very best multiplayer games of all time. If you didn’t grab it as part of Brandon Boyer’s Venus Patrol Kickstater, you are definitely missing out. I’m a single player story kind of guy, and the folks at Naughty Dog nailed it out of the park on this one. The sinking ship in particular stands out as something that just blew my mind. I would have loved to watch whoever came up with that idea tell a programmer they were going to have to make it happen. I loved Point-and-Click Adventures back in the day and am very very excited to see them making a bit of a comeback. This one in particular took everything I loved about those old games and wrapped it in a super stylish and modern shell. I bought an iPad specifically to play this game, and it was totally worth it. I’m a huge fan of the original Portal. I have played it at least five times. Somehow, Valve was able to not only give me everything I wanted in a sequel but also avoid every potential pitfall I could see. They were able to add new mechanics that felt as fresh as the original portal gun, they changed up the art style in an interesting and unique way, and they made the writing even more funny and evocative. I know, it’s probably not kosher to include your own stuff in a list like this, but I’m really proud of what we’ve done here at Double Fine this year. With Stacking, Iron Brigade [Trenched], and Sesame Street: Once Upon A Monster, we released more games in one year than ever before, and each is completely different than the last. It’s been a pleasure coming to work every day with a group of such amazingly talented and awesome people, and I can’t wait until people see what we’ve got coming next! This year's IndieCade event in Culver City was the first one I ever attended, and it was a pretty big deal to me. The talks were uniformly informative and inspiring, and the things I picked up over that weekend have shaped the way I've spent the latter half of the year and made me a better person. That sounds like hyperbole, and I don't know how much of that was due to IndieCade specifically, but the conversations I had there have had a long and lasting influence on what I do every day. Brandon Boyer's insanely successful Kickstarter to revive Offworld under a new banner made the news just for how much money it raised, but it also got me off my ass and putting together the first new game I've done in... a while (CAPSULE). I'm really glad Venus Patrol is going to be around. Superbrothers & Capy's atmospheric iOS adventure game showed that you don't have to make cute physics games about animals in order to find an enthusiastic audience on the App Store. S:S&S EP is the most important game of the year, at least for me, for this and many other reasons. A few of my favorite game designers finally started releasing full, commercial games to the public. I fervently hope (and in some cases know) that we have not seen the last of Zach Gage (SpellTower) and Stephen Lavelle (English Country Tune), especially. Johann Sebastian Joust isn't even really out yet, but I think it pretty obviously HAPPENED this year. Tabletop games and folk games are a much bigger part of the indie video game scene this year, and JOUST is basically single-handedly responsible for the folk games part (with a shout-out to Ninja of course). I love platformers, and I've fallen hard for this one. It has incredible music, shit tons of personality and is insanely fun to play. Made by the super cool guys and gals that make up the small team at Supergiant Games, Bastion is a stellar example of use of story, environment, and narration in a game. The soundtrack by Darren Korb is also great, and Logan Cunningham's narration is spot on. I love PAX. It's the only time i get to interact with fans, and even though it still feels really weird to say that we have fans, it's great to meet everyone who stops by the booth at PAX to chat about games. It's incredibly rewarding to talk to people who have played our games and get their feedback. The entire weekend, though extremely tiring, is a completely uplifting affair. I always go back to work after PAX completely recharged and ready to make more stuff for people to play. Deep Sea is an audio only game I played at one of the monthly Juegos Rancheros meet-ups, here in Austin. You wear a gas mask that completely blacks out your sight and monitors your breathing. You have to echo locate monsters in the darkness by their guttural vocal cues and blind fire your weapon at them. It's incredibly intense. Did i mention that if you breath, you can't hear the monsters? Yeah, intense. I'm picking this one strictly for two little audio touches that i really liked. I love the arpeggiated synth that plays when you slide on the speed boost gel. And there's a puzzle involving some lasers, some reflective cubes, and some adaptive music that kinda blew me away. Also, Stephen Merchant did a great job as Wheatly. [In no specific order.] Saints Row: The Third This game could have consisted of nothing more than the "deckers.die" mission and the last mission in the game, and it would still be one of my favorite games of the year. One of the rare non-Valve, non-Irrational games where the story honestly and truly works with the gameplay, rather than against it. The fact that the main character is in a coma allows us to (A) immediately accept the illogical, but ludicrously fun "shift" mechanic, and (B) forgive him for taking over the bodies of other human beings before driving them into brick walls at ninety miles an hour. It also doesn't hurt that in general, the game has some of the funniest writing I've heard in a while. I generally hate driving games, but I'm just about to start my second playthrough of Driver SF. Duh. I like the original Deus Ex as much as the next guy (so long as the next guy likes it just enough to have completed it once, ten years ago, but can no longer bring themselves to get past the "scuttle the tanker" mission nowadays), but I honestly think Human Revolution is the better game. It's got the most satisfying stealth gameplay since Arkham Asylum, and, one time, a character asked me to go kill some drug dealers before he would give me some item I required. So I punched him out and took the item I needed off his comatose body. After the mild mental crisis I had after playing Skyward Sword for a few hours and realizing I now absolutely hated a franchise that had been incredibly dear to me as a child, Rayman Origins taught me that I am still capable of feeling happiness. Which is good. For us, the best games are generally cohesive, moody worlds that we care about; where we get to make interesting tactical or expressive decisions; where unplanned, unscripted gameplay arises from the player's interaction with systems. [In no specific order.] Each Valve game is a lesson is design. Portal still stands as our favorite in the series, but Portal 2 was definitely one of the best games of the year. Hardcore done right, with feelings of investment that come from hard won progress. Almost no hand-holding; the rare anomaly in modern RPGs. A masochistic pleasure. Just wow. I know it's our parent company, but we're all playing this game right now at Arkane and it's just stunning. So much content, so much love; each of that team's games gets better. Standing proof that systemic interaction that allow the player to get creative and solve problems in interesting ways is the way to go. This was the surprise of the year. Not a perfect game, but systemically interesting and chaotic. Everyone was blown away by the trailer, a really nice short, and despite the fact that the game was very different, it was worth the initial excitement. It's always a rare pleasure to play an immersive sim style game that we didn't work on. The game included a lot of love and looked great. It had problems, and was a little too clean for us in terms of systems interactions, but it still belongs on this list because of our personal tastes in games. [In no specific order.] 0Space (PC) 0Space by Beau Blyth is a 2D 2-4 player deathmatch game in zero-gravity. It’s all about floating around in space slowly and perfectly shooting your friends in the face. It’s loads of fun and it’s free. Murder Dog IV (PC) “If murder is a crime, I don’t want to be innocent” - Murder Dog IV is one of the best written games ever. We really don’t like puzzle games when there’s only one valid solution. Those games leave no room for player expression. Spacechem is different -- it gives you a problem, some tools and all the freedom to do whatever you want. It also gives you a migraine. Sort of. Rage puts you in a linear level with a handgun and two types of enemies and already manages to be better than most shooters nowadays. Combine that with fancy graphics, a nice world to mess around in and Mad Max. Pretty good. This game is so clever, we can’t even start to describe it. Some of the things you can do in Atom Zombie Smashers is naming your landmines, steering a helicopter around and researching a Llama Cannon. |
| Neato! Google's most searched gaming terms in 2011 Posted: 15 Dec 2011 07:00 AM PST Google has released its 11th annual Zeitgeist lists of the most popular and fastest rising search terms. They're a lot of fun to look through, and some of the results are pretty surprising. You're going to sh*t when you see what the overall fastest rising search term for 2011 was. Hint? Tomorrow. For the games list, the results aren't as surprising. At the top of the list you'll find "Black Ops," and "Call of Duty" directly follows. The rest of the list, aside from "Super Mario" are as you'd expect. Be sure to check out the interactive search charts for this list and others. Google lets you dig freely into their data, and it's all presented very nicely. Special note should be taken of #7, "Battlefield 3," as it also made the big list as it was #5 in the top ten fastest rising search terms overall on the most popular search engine on Earth. Google has dedicated a page to the game and its search data. They say that BF3 searches jumped up 1,773 percent over last year, and that its search peaks actually beat out those of its competitor, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. |
| The heroes of Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City Posted: 15 Dec 2011 06:30 AM PST
With Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, Slant Six Games is giving us the opportunity to run around as some of the series' most prominent characters. It's easy to love such a prospect. Better yet, the game's Heroes mode has four-person teams of these all-stars fighting one another. Oh, and yeah -- there are zombies (among other things) causing mayhem while all of this is going on. Raccoon City is out in March for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, followed by a PC version at a later date. |
| Posted: 15 Dec 2011 06:00 AM PST I'm dating myself here, but playing Sonic CD again really took me back. It took me back to a time when I had saved up money from my part-time job (and borrowed a bit more) to buy that really ugly Ver. 2 "sidecar" Sega CD attachment for my Sega Genesis. It was a lot of money, but I was so happy. Seeing that full-motion video in Sewer Shark was a thrill, but what I really wanted was upgraded experiences that were even more spectacular than blast-processed 16-bit goodness that I had fallen in love with. What I really wanted was to see the evolution of Sonic. Sonic CD didn't turn out to be quite the evolution I dreamed of (that nightmare would come later). It turned out to be a lot like the Sega Genesis Sonic titles. But the cool perspective tricks, time travel gimmick and the slick CD audio soundtrack were enough for me. And I must have watched the fully animated introduction movie 50 times. Somehow this became my favorite Sonic game. It still is. Now Sonic CD is a digital release on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. Times have changed. Sonic CD (PlayStation Network, Xbox 360) The power of CD storage didn't bring anything new to the Sonic franchise. Sonic CD was still a 16-bit title, and it ended up looking a lot like the previous Sega Genesis releases. The 'new' came with the game's time-travel mechanic. In the game, if Sonic runs past a marker and hits top speed (how very Back to the Future!) he can jump to either the future or the past to explore an alternate version of the stage, which could be slightly better or worse than the present-day version. Rather than just running through stages to get the most rings and the best time, players could visit the past to fix the future. This made for a Sonic with a bit more depth than its predecessors. In my mind, Sonic CD was notable for another reason. I don't know if Sega thought that adopters of their CD technology had a higher tolerance for cheap deaths or what, but there's plenty in Sonic CD. This game is packed with more hidden traps, endless loops and pop-out enemies than any other of the 16-bit titles. Sonic has always been a series that wants you to learn its levels to balance speed with survival. This one makes no apologies. I appreciate the stiff challenge, even if it did have me screaming at my television all last night. This port is pixel perfect, so it's just as good as I remember. The control is tight and I have no issues to speak of. There's no HD upgrades, updates or control tweaks, and I'm happy about that. There was nothing wrong with Sonic CD in its original form, and I'm glad that Sega didn't mess with it. There are a few upgrades and other neat features for this digital version, though. There are subtle visual filters (smooth, sharp, and classic) in the options, but they don't seem to do much. Series fans will appreciate that the Spin Dash is a selectable option in the menus now. Beating the game once unlocks the option to play as Tails; Sonic's flying buddy makes coin collection and obstacle dodging much easier. Finally, Achievements/Trophies have been added. The Achievement name for making your first time jump would make Doc Brown happy. The soundtracks are another new option, letting you switch between the Japanese and English releases. I'd recommend trying both. The English soundtracks features the work of Spencer Nielsen, with its crowning piece being the fantastic opening vocal song, "Sonic Boom," shown above. The Japanese soundtrack is a better collection of songs overall, with some fine examples of 1990's urban music as interpreted by Japan in the mix. Again, both soundtracks are a delight. I'd like to think of this release as a sort of gift to the Sonic fan from Sega. Here's an older game that many may have missed. Sega wants fans to remember it because it was a high-quality release from them. They also would like those that missed it to experience one of the best games in the franchise. To miss Sonic CD would be to miss some of the franchise's best (and strangest) level designs. They were really creative with this one. You would also miss the race with Metal Sonic by not playing this game, and that would be a shame. If this is all that's changed, then why all the excitement? I'll tell you why: Sonic CD is a great game. I paid $300 for an attachment and $50 for the game back in the early '90s to see Sonic at his best. Now all you need is $5 and a few minutes for a file download. Sega could have easily charged twice as much for this much-loved classic. |
| 25 Days: Win Sonic Adventure on XBLA! Posted: 15 Dec 2011 05:45 AM PST It's Sega week for our 25 Days of Giving! Today, you can win Sonic Adventure by writing a haiku about Sonic in the comments below. We have ten codes to give out for Xbox Live Arcade and we'll be picking winners after the contest closes at 11:59PM CST tonight. Contest is open to everyone! Be sure to check out our Sonic Generations and Sonic Figurine contest going on all this week for more Sega goodness! |
| Skyrim update 1.3 on Xbox Live, awaiting PSN approval Posted: 15 Dec 2011 05:30 AM PST If you haven't already had to download update 1.3 for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, you'll be prompted to do so the next time you fire up the Xbox 360 version. The patch, also available to PC users, is waiting on Sony's approval before going live for PlayStation 3, according to Bethesda.
We'll take those magic resistances, thanks! [Thanks, Justin] |
| Wanna win an Xbox 360? Watch The Destructoid Show! Posted: 15 Dec 2011 05:00 AM PST
In keeping with the spirit of Christmas or whatever non-secular holiday you heathens celebrate this time of year, The Destructoid Show is teaming up with Microsoft to offer our viewers the chance to win a Limited Edition Halo: Reach Xbox 360 Bundle and one of three copies of Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary. To enter, we're asking everyone to create a drawing or illustration (digital or hand-drawn) of their favorite Halo: Combat Evolved moment and include either Mr. Destructoid, Max, or myself in it somehow. We don't care how you do it, just do it - and get creative! Originality goes much further than the ability to draw lines well, and we love doing these kinds of contests because they showcase just how disturbingly imaginative you guys really are. (And make no mistake, we love you for it.) So show us what you got, and then e-mail your submissions to cookies [@] destructoid.com by Sunday, December 18 at 11:59pm PST. (This contest is open to viewers with US-based addresses only. Sorry!) Contests Official Rules No Purchase Required to Enter or Win 8. General Conditions: In the event that the operation, security, or administration of the Contest is impaired in any way for any reason, including, but not limited to fraud, virus, or other technical problem, the Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, either: (a) suspend the Contest to address the impairment and then resume the Contest in a manner that best conforms to the spirit of these Official Rules; or (b) award the prizes at random from among the eligible entries received up to the time of the impairment. The Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any individual it finds to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Contest or to be acting in violation of these Official Rules or in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner. Any attempt by any person to undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest may be a violation of criminal and civil law, and, should such an attempt be made, the Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law. The Sponsor’s failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision. In case of a dispute as to the owner of an entry, entry will be deemed to have been submitted by the authorized account holder of the screen name from which the entry is made. The authorized account holder is defined as the natural person who is assigned to an e-mail address by an Internet access provider, online service provider, or other organization responsible for assigning e-mail addresses for the domain associated with the submitted e-mail address. |
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