New Games |
- Weekend PC download deals: Square Enix, Grimrock, Risen 2
- Five Sleeping Dogs DLC packs on the way in Q1 2013
- SimCity works with real city planning models
- League of Legends' third season officially starts
- This Streets of Rage fan film was shot in one take!
- GTA V delay, Playstation 4 hints & New PS Vita games!
- The best and worst games of 2013: January May Cry
- Meet your new Alien buddies in Colonial Marines
- Ellie Goulding teams up with Kratos in this new GoW video
- Nintendo dev Brownie Brown is now '1-UP Studio'
- Communitoid 006: The Donk Danger Zone
- Skyrim fans, kneel before the Dovahbear Companion
- Friday Night Fights: Calling all weekend warriors!
- Double Fine reveals the Amnesia Fortnight Special Edition
- Review: Little Inferno
- DmC: Devil May Cry PC patch update gets detailed
- This weekend on Dtoid TV: Star Trek Online
- The Indie Royale Evolved Bundle is now live
- Storm's Adventure with Need for Speed: Most Wanted
- Ubisoft was right to nix Splinter Cell: Blacklist torture
- Developer apologizes for Toki Tori 2 delay
- Expansions for all! Recapping the Paradox Convention 2013
- How the Dead Space 3 team created new hellish monsters
- CD Projeckt reveals new tech engine for Cyberpunk 2077
| Weekend PC download deals: Square Enix, Grimrock, Risen 2 Posted: 01 Feb 2013 03:00 PM PST If you missed out on the Square Enix sale last weekend, then the publisher is giving you a chance to save up to 75% on some of their biggest titles like Hitman Absolution and Sleeping Dogs. Greenmangaming have Square Enix titles reduced on their site too. Amazon still have that great deal on 5 Microsoft games for $9.99, as well as Risen 2 at 66% off for $10.19. GOG.com have reduced a big mix of titles this weekend, ranging from the classical strategy of Jagged Alliance and Patrician 3 to the crunching racing of Flatout. If for some reason you haven't picked up any of the Darksiders games, Gamersgate have you covered with up to 75% off the price of both main games and their DLC. After the mid-week release of the Medieval Horror DLC, Painkiller Hell & Damnation is free to try this weekend, as well as being cut in price by 66%. Also reduced by 66% is the old school dungeon crawler Legends of Grimrock, which is well worth playing. As always friends, if you find a great deal on a PC or Mac download, let us know in the comments below. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Five Sleeping Dogs DLC packs on the way in Q1 2013 Posted: 01 Feb 2013 02:30 PM PST I only just finished playing Sleeping Dogs a few weeks ago but I'm excited to dip in for some more DLC in 2013. The Zodiac Tournament and Nightmare in Northpoint were some fun additions to the main game, and the upcoming Year of the Snake looks interesting. If Zodiac Tournament was inspired by Enter The Dragon and Nightmare in Northpoint was inspired by Chinese ghost stories, then I'm hoping Year of the Snake is some classic era Jackie Chan inspired action. Wei Shen will be back in his police uniform helping the Hong Kong police investigate the sinister Cult of the Snake. The next story expansion is Wheels of Fury, where Wei must take down a fast-paced 18K smuggling ring. The other three packs are Movie Masters, Law Enforcers and the Monkey King, all of which will contain new costumes, weapons and vehicles. Man, now I really want to watch Police Story, who's with me? Sleeping Dogs getting five more add-ons before March [Polygon] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SimCity works with real city planning models Posted: 01 Feb 2013 02:00 PM PST SimCity just had it's first closed beta event and Norman Chan over at Tested decided to see how the game responded to real world city planning systems. It turns out the game responds really well to how things actually work. Normman tried out the surburban-urban grid, radiating sprawl, and cul-de-sac plans for an hour each, and cities built up around the roads in a way that is similar to how real cities develop. It's an interesting read and it's reassuring to know that SimCity is actually a simulation of a city. It's always infinitely more fun to mess around in a sandbox when things respond in a realistic way. That's what makes Paradox's grand strategy games like Europa Universalis so fun. The more detail and realism they can pack in, the better. SimCity vs. The Suburban Sprawl [Tested] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| League of Legends' third season officially starts Posted: 01 Feb 2013 01:30 PM PST
Riot Games has been drumming up a storm for the third season of competitive play for League of Legends. The road leading up to the start has been a surprisingly long journey. It started with a lot of gab at the end of the second season, stating that the third season would be even better. Season two ended with a big bang thanks to the championship, which sported the largest winning purse in the history of eSports at the time. What followed was the announcement and release of overhauls to major gameplay systems. It felt the same on the surface, but the game was fresh again. Then a restructuring of how the competitive ranking was detailed. Actual leagues in League of Legends!? Who'd have thunk! In the final stretch, an eSports team at Riot was formed with the sole purpose of upping the spectacle. As of today, it all comes to a head, as the third season is officially under way. Riot has produced a new trailer to commemorate the launch, and the dedication can certainly be seen. The new talent of the eSports team really shines through. The video shows not just the raw quality of cinematography that is on par with broadcasts on TV, but also elicits the strong feelings of excitement and drama as those commercials. There is also a schedule highlighting the laid-out matches for the "Championship Series" on the newly revealed LoL eSports website. It certainly looks like it's going to be exciting, doesn't it? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This Streets of Rage fan film was shot in one take! Posted: 01 Feb 2013 01:00 PM PST De-Pixelated by Blue Goggles Films is a web series that re-enacts videogames in real life. So far, nothing we haven't seen before, right? In this latest episode, based on Streets of Rage for the Genesis, Adam Hunter shuffles his way down the dark streets, taking out the criminal scum threatening the city. You keep watching when suddenly you realize... the camera is not cutting away. This was shot all in one take. Whoa. De-Pixelated - Streets of Rage [GameTrailers] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| GTA V delay, Playstation 4 hints & New PS Vita games! Posted: 01 Feb 2013 12:30 PM PST
First, the bad-ish news: Rockstar has delayed Grand Theft Auto V from the tentative window of "Spring" until the actual date of September 17th. But hey, to give us something sooner to look forward to, Sony's got something BIG planned for an announcement on February 20th. A couple decent looking PS Vita games are on the horizon, Tearaway, and Killzone: Mercenary. Capcom's putting Resident Evil: Revelations on non-3DS platforms and is considering a franchise reboot, and God Of War: Ascension has a manticore in it. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The best and worst games of 2013: January May Cry Posted: 01 Feb 2013 12:00 PM PST I'm not sure what it's like from the outside looking in, but as someone who's directly involved with covering games and has to be thinking about them on a daily basis, January was one hell of an action-packed month. We kicked the year off proper with more than 30 reviews, including assessments of some long-awaited releases like DmC and the localized Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch. Did they live up to expectations? An untold number of comments have been written on the subject, and many more have yet to be written. If you weren't keeping track, this is the post for you. We've broken down our January reviews into an easily-digestible format with highlight quotes and scores for each individual game. Looking for something new to play? Prepare your scroll wheel. A New Beginning: Final Cut The German-language version -- which was the original -- is meant to be better, but alas I know about ten words in German so I really cannot confirm or deny this. It does strike me that the worst aspects of the game are due to the terrible effort made by the translation team and English-speaking voice actors, though. If you are truly desperate for good puzzles and sumptuous art, then you could do worse than play A New Beginning, but I found it impossible to look past the many issues and really enjoy the few things it manages to do right. There are too many superior adventure games to count, and it's not even one of the better games with an environmental message. Read more the full A New Beginning: Final Cut review The Sims 3: Seasons Each of these features adds a nice layer of depth to the game, but they really don't add a lot of new gameplay. There isn't any new career to follow, there aren't any exciting new public lots, and while playing, I pretty much just goofed around waiting for the seasons to change. If you find yourself playing The Sims 3 a lot anyway, then Seasons will add something to the experience. If you are waiting for a new expansion to make you get back into playing The Sims 3, however, skip Seasons and wait for the next one. Read the full The Sims 3: Seasons review Forge All in all, Forge is quite enjoyable. At the same time, I did find myself struggling to want to continue playing. I'm not sure if maybe it's that the game is more of a shooter than I expected, or how it lacks that progression and stat growth, or if it is just because it's incomplete. When I do play, I enjoy Forge, but I wish that I was playing an MMORPG with the same gameplay setup instead. In the end, unless you're someone heavy into shooters who is looking for something different yet familiar, or are into MMOs for the PvP mainly, then it would be worth waiting for the game that will be "forged" a few months down the road. Read the full Forge review Gunman Clive (3DS) Gunman Clive can be pretty tough. In your average oppressive 2D action game, a motivating, beat-driven soundtrack can really help you push through the process of replaying a level for the tenth time. When Gunman Clive's soundtrack goes for old west authenticity instead of platformer euphoria, it can make the more challenging parts of the game feel less like a battle and more like a grind. That said, the game is still a steal at $2. Fans of 2D action platformers need to check it out. If Hörberg Productions is ever graced with the opportunity to develop a mainline Mega Man game, I'm confident that fans of the series would be happy with the results. Read the full Gunman Clive review Anarchy Reigns Despite some issues, brawler fans should find everything they're looking for with Anarchy Reigns. It's ridiculous, it's fun, and it's packed with enough content to last you a long while, so long as you don't get tired of beating dudes up over and over. The budget pricing of $29.99 makes this decision even easier. Read the full Anarchy Reigns review Joe Danger Touch Like Rayman Jungle Run, Joe Danger Touch really "gets it" when it comes to iOS gaming. You don't need to 100% replicate console experiences, and "simplified" doesn't have to always mean "dumbed down." All in all, Hello Games did a great job bringing the Joe Danger franchise to your pocket, and I highly recommend it to anyone -- former fan or not. Read the full Joe Danger Touch review Seduce Me However, taken simply as it is, as a game where solving puzzles leads to porn, it's near the forefront of its field, particularly among non-Japanese games. It does make an effort to provide more than naughty pictures, including cursory character development and some semblance of a narrative. It's pretty and technically sound. While slightly anemic in content, it's titillating when it needs to be, and is at times even fun to play - I wouldn't mind playing the card games with real-life friends (minus the sex). And frankly, for a porn game, that's sometimes all one needs. Read the full Seduce Me review Fire Pro Wrestling Fire Pro Wrestling on Xbox Live Arcade is the most basic of wrestling games. Flat, featureless, and simplistic, it is devoid of any redeeming qualities found elsewhere such as replay value or fun. What could have been a cool, cartoon-y version of a classic franchise is but a wasted shell of its former self. Read the full Fire Pro Wrestling review Final Fantasy All the Bravest Final Fantasy All the Bravest is not really a game. It's a cash delivery system, with you playing as the courier, your money the cargo, and Square Enix the unpaying recipient. After years of trying to monetize videogames, Square Enix has now moved on to monetizing customers themselves. It's cut out the irritating middle man that is the videogame, and found a way to simply get people to hand over money in exchange for nothing. That is what All the Bravest is. It's nothing. It's air. It's a thought. You're buying a concept in order to keep buying concepts. Read the full Final Fantasy All the Bravest review DmC: Devil May Cry There is an argument to be made that, when judged alongside the rest of the series, DmC is a bad Devil May Cry game. The suggestion may be debatable, but there's a potential case to be made. It's more streamlined, it's not as challenging, and ultimately it has stripped away what a significant portion of the fanbase love most of the series. However, even if one sides with the argument that this is a bad Devil May Cry game, that does not preclude it from being deemed a terrific videogame on its own merits, and in my estimation, that's exactly what DmC: Devil May Cry is. Read the full DmC review Kinect Party Kinect Party is a fantastic game in the right scenario. If you often have guests over your house, especially family or children, then this is definitely something to check out. It’s hard for anyone to dislike a game in which you build a castle and promptly turn into a dragon to destroy it. However, I find that this isn’t the best thing to suit lone gamers like myself. I do love pretending to be trapped inside a jello mold with my dog every once in a while, but that can get old. That’s not to say that it isn’t a good game -- it certainly is for what it aims to achieve -- but Kinect Party is best played with others! Read the full Kinect Party review AirMech (beta) If you're even remotely interested in MOBAs or RTSs, then you'll be doing yourself a great favor by downloading AirMech and firing it up. It succeeds in building on the solid foundation laid by Herzog Zwei over 20 years ago, while simultaneously feeling modern and fresh. Now, I need to get back to the game so I can eventually buy a UFO that transforms into a giant mechanical spider. Abductions here I come! Read the full AirMech review Krunch It isn't perfect, as certain level design elements are a bit jarring and the lack of a quick-restart level option can make five seconds feel like forever. That being said, Krunch is a title that is sure to please anyone who stayed up late completing the Skyscraper Warp Zone in Super Meat Boy or ripped their hair out completing the Veni Vidi Vici room in VVVVVV. Fellow masochists, rejoice! Read the full Krunch review Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch If you're a lover of games that require you to put in before you get out, and you recall the glory days of the Eastern RPG, where experience points were the lifeblood and the grind was king, you have literally no decent excuse for not finding a way to play Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch. A classic of the modern age, built entirely from classics of the past, it's advised you get comfortable, cancel all your plans, and prepare to enjoy a game that will dominate your life for the next few months. Read the full Ni no Kuni review The Cave All told, The Cave is a morbid, humorous romp filled with life lessons which should be apparent already to all but the total sociopath. While there are some niggling issues with overall polish, it's a fun time for fans of adventure games that should set you to giggling and, hopefully, feeling just a little bit guilty about that glee. Read the full The Cave review Borderlands 2: Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt Enjoying Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt is about managing expectations, about knowing what you want out of Borderlands 2’s constantly expanding menu -- its strong suits are the subtle twists on combat and enemy behavior, exploration, farming, and a hidden raid boss that costs almost 100 Eridium to spawn. Its narrative and mission structures are too loose and shambolic, though, and implemented with the same lack of care that led the designers to include a tribe of mind-controlled “savages” throwing spears at each other as the campaign’s principle enemy. Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt is, like each of the game’s expansions, more Borderlands 2 at its core, but it’s a shallow version of it, without any of the main game’s self-awareness or charm. Read the full Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt review Strike Suit Zero When the final, sadly unsatisfying mission came to a close I was ready to put down SSZ. Replayability is offered in the form of scores, medals, and some unlockable ship bonuses you may not have been able to grab when first attempting the missions, but I'd had my fill. I would be happy to get in a thousand more dogfights, but I'm done with protecting and escorting my UNE chums. It's rare that a game knows when to call it quits, but that's the situation here. It's not so long that it outstays its welcome, but not so short that it fails to show off all its promise. The ending, or at least the one that I got (there are two different ones), implies the possibility of a sequel, and I couldn't be happier with that prospect. With better targeting, and less mentally sub-normal allies, I could very well find myself in Heaven. Until then, Strike Suit Zero will undoubtedly help you scratch that space combat sim itch you must have by now. Read the full Strike Suit Zero review Corpse Party: Book of Shadows Fans of Corpse Party would do well to pick up the second installment. The first game left a lot of unanswered questions and Book of Shadows does an admirable job at answering them. I've enjoyed spending time with these characters, even if it is the worst day of their lives. As for the uninitiated, well, they might want to consider expanding their horizons. But seriously, play the first before tackling this one. It's not like PlayStation Portable or Vita owners have been spoiled for choice when it comes to quality software as of late. Visual novels may be niche, but just about anyone can enjoy a good horror story. If you can get past the insipid gameplay, Corpse Party: Book of Shadows provides a pleasurable and haunting narrative that's well worth experiencing. Read the full Book of Shadows review Westerado The soundtrack goes perfectly with the detailed, sun-soaked pixel art visuals that tap into one's nostalgia, while also creating a surprisingly authentic western look. Westerado's a very animated game, never staying still for a moment. The protagonist's poncho constantly waves away, chickens never stop pecking at invisible seeds, and dried out weeds endlessly dance in the ceaseless wind. Even if you are put off by the plethora of bugs, it's free and accessible at the click of a button. You'd be doing yourself a disservice by not checking it out at least once. No doubt you'll find yourself checking it out again and again, as I have been. Drape that knackered old poncho over your shoulders, roll up that cigarette, and strap on a rusty six-shooter -- it's time to hunt down a real bastard. Read the full Westerado review Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes (iOS) Although outsourcing to Tag Games was probably a smart business move, I can't help but think how picture-perfect Clash of Heroes would have turned out if Capybara had done it themselves. With a lot of polish in terms of the controls through a future update, this could be one of the finest games on the App Store. Otherwise, just stick to the other incredible versions if possible. Read the full Clash of Heroes review DJMAX Technika Tune DJMAX Technika Tune offers a smooth, enjoyably frustrating experience rooted in precisely-tuned gameplay fundamentals. It's presented attractively, with a level of engagement that relies on mechanics rather than sentiment and effectively transcends one's taste in music, which in the case of the arguably exotic track listing would present the highest initial barrier to entry. It may not be especially generous with the extras and fluff, but gets it all right where it counts the most, with the added bonus of making the PS Vita's touch gimmicks useful and relevant to play. Read the full DJMAX Technika Tune review Boob Wars: Big Breasts vs. Flat Chests Even playing devil's advocate and writing this from the perspective of somebody who might be into these games, Boob Wars isn't good. By the standards of those who want to masturbate themselves silly over violent cartoon sex, we're looking at something sub-par, lifeless, and cynical. To offend a regular bypasser is one thing, but this feels offensive to even the target audience. Then again, I could be wrong. Maybe this truly is the game fans have been waiting for. I don't claim to speak for them, and nor would I, but all I can say is, if you want to get off with cartoons, there's much better out there. I can give you the links later. You really don't need to waste your time with this brainless, gormless, depressing little exercise in grisly misery. All that said ... the soundtrack's pretty good. Read the full Boob Wars review Kentucky Route Zero Kentucky Route Zero evokes the feeling of old ghost stories told around a campfire. There's the familiarity of friends and family around a warm, man-made fire, but with it comes the unnerving tale of the strange and unusual. Kentucky Route Zero is beautifully bizarre and perfectly poignant, and most of all, deserves your attention. Read the full Kentucky Route Zero review Fire Emblem: Awakening While Fire Emblem: Awakening may not turn the notch up to 11, it's everything that's right about strategy RPGs. Whatever options you choose to go with at the beginning of the game, it's either one of the most accessible strategy games to date, or one of the most difficult. It's a brilliant design that will pay dividends for Nintendo in the long run, as it will convert plenty of new fans. If you've been itching to get into a Fire Emblem game, this is a great place to start. If you've been playing them all along, you'll feel right at home. Read the full Fire Emblem: Awakening review Skulls of the Shogun While Skulls of the Shogun does a great job of offering a decent amount of units, there's no inherent "wow" factor when it comes to gameplay. Although the traditional grid is tossed in favor of a circular movement shadow, it still feels about the same as the genre always has, minus the game's visual and vocal charm.  Ikachan (3DS eShop) I appreciate that Nicalis is trying to share more of Pixel's catalog -- such as this, the foundation for his later works -- but asking us to part with $5 for what amounts to a concept project is a little too tough to swallow. Ikachan is a marvelous introduction to a much larger, more ambitious game. But that's all it is: an introduction. If you are willing to accept that, you'll happily enjoy the short time you spend in its watery world. Read the full Ikachan review Puddle Fans of LocoRoco or those hurting for games to play on their Wii U will probably dig it, so long as they have the patience to rev it up a little bit. It's still a neat little puzzler for sure, but it needs a bit more tweaking for me to wholly recommend it. If you've always been on the edge in terms of buying this game, this release should tip you, as it's the definitive version. Read the full Puddle review Antichamber Antichamber is a perfect example of how a player learns to play videogames. There’s no gameplay tutorial, no loading screen tips (or loading screens, for that matter), just good ole' fashioned learn-as-you-play information aided by the in-game advice. There’s never a reference of mouse or keyboard, outside of the main lobby area. Antichamber is a unique and delightful first-person puzzle game that relies a bit too much on the wrong kind of puzzles. The plot is intentionally vague and some players may completely ignore it, but it hardly detracts from the overall experience. Antichamber looks great, is confusing in all the right ways, and may change the way people approach not only videogame puzzles, but real life obstacles as well. Read the full Antichamber review Euro Truck Simulator 2 A far cry from some of the more technical and unforgiving sims on the market, Euro Truck is as welcoming as it is authentic, forgiving while still prepared to reprimand those who fail. It's one of the best jumping points anybody curious about sims could have, and for everybody else, it's still just a damn fine experience in its own right. It may sound like a joke that so many people are piling glowing praise on a trucking sim, but Euro Truck Simulator 2 is the real deal. Read the full Euro Truck Simulator 2 review Everything else Destructoid reviewed: Razer Sabertooth The customizability of this controller and the fantastic performance of its buttons and sticks would definitely appeal to professional and competitive gamers, but I fear that the $79.99 MSRP will prevent some from jumping in. That would be a shame as the d-pad and face buttons alone were enough to win me over. I'd love to see a version of this controller that drops the customization and OLED screen for a lower price point. Read the full Sabertooth review ROCCAT Isku FX Is the FX worth the extra $10 over the Isku (or even other keyboards)? I'm going to have to say no, because the new keys simply aren't worth the additional cost. Even beyond the fact that both keyboards are oddly expensive for not being mechanical, I feel that it might have been smarter to just re-release the Isku to include multicolored key lighting instead of making an even more expensive version. Read the full Isku FX review  The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia The book contains so much Skyward Sword that, if you don't like it in some capacity, you may be disappointed. If you have no appreciation of the retro titles as well, the impact may be diminished, especially the portions involving Miyamoto and Aonuma. Even still, Hyrule Historia is a great read. I learned some things both old and new, and I got to enjoy some beautiful art. Read the full Hyrule Historia review | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Meet your new Alien buddies in Colonial Marines Posted: 01 Feb 2013 11:45 AM PST
The Aliens franchise has always had its hits and misses, but Gearbox is looking to expand upon the series fiction with Aliens: Colonial Marines and bring out some new Aliens to for us to play with. Don't worry though, they haven't forgotten about their battle-hardened Marines. Most of us have tried our luck in class-based multiplayer games before, but with some of the Xenomorph stealth and distraction capabilities, I think that can put a fresh spin on it. Even with those new and classic weapons, those Marines are still have their work cut out for them. Suit up for the Xenomorph infestation before February 12, 2013. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ellie Goulding teams up with Kratos in this new GoW video Posted: 01 Feb 2013 11:30 AM PST
If you love beautiful voices and really depressing footage of innocent people dying, I have the perfect video for you! This new God of War: Ascension live-action trailer spot shows Kratos getting his smile on, and, uh, certain things happen that prevent him from enjoying himself for more than a few seconds. The spot is set to air during the Super Bowl this Sunday, but you can watch it now if you want. There's absolutely no spoilers involved if you've ever played a God of War game before. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nintendo dev Brownie Brown is now '1-UP Studio' Posted: 01 Feb 2013 11:15 AM PST Nintendo subsidiary Brownie Brown announced today on its homepage that the dev house is undergoing some changes, which includes a new company name: "1-UP Studio." The old Brownie Brown page will remain active until March 31, 2013, but exactly how else the studio has been affected is still unknown. You may best remember Brownie Brown, formed in 2000, as one of the co-developers of Mother 3. In addition, the handheld-focused studio has contributed to two Mana games, Blue Dragon Plus, Super Mario 3D Land, and the recent Japanese 3DS hit Fantasy Life. This is the first of many changes we'll be seeing as part of Nintendo's company-wide restructure. Perhaps Nintendo wants 1-UP to work more closely on core Nintendo properties, or maybe 1-UP will be charged with developing new IPs. I guess we'll find out soon! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Communitoid 006: The Donk Danger Zone Posted: 01 Feb 2013 11:00 AM PST Finally, Communitoid is back for the long awaited sixth episode! Sorry for the delay ladies and gentlemen, but between MAGFest, babies, family priorities, and all those things that generally constitute life, we got a little backed up. This time on Communitoid, Aaron, Joanna, and I are joined by community member and fine gentleman Cataract. We catch up for a few minutes, but then jump right into talk about MMOs and Joanna getting an incredible gift from her husband (a spaceship, basically). From there, we get a visit from Aaron's kid (who has an awesome name), Cataract tells us about indie games, MAGFest, and wizards, and I mention that my face has been in a place it never should have been and that Chillybilly is a cool guy (my face placement and ChillyBilly are not related). Now that I've used entirely too many parenthesis, go listen to the episode! Don't forget that if you want to hear your voice on the show you can send us an intro, or get in the queue to be a guest! Click here for the direct download link! You can also subscribe to us on iTunes, RSS, Twitter, and the C Blogs, and talk about us in our Forums! Want to know more about anything you heard on the show? Click here for full show notes, including links to everything on Destructoid we discussed! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Skyrim fans, kneel before the Dovahbear Companion Posted: 01 Feb 2013 10:45 AM PST Fans of the Dovahbear video are in luck -- one brave modder took that ridiculous idea to heart, and made a real mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Now, for the first time, you can fight alongside of the legendary Dovahbear by grabbing the mod here. Guys, I might have to restart a completely new character for this. Bearmadon, friend of bears, and his loyal companion Dovahbear roam the countryside in search of booze, brawls, and general debauchery. Questlines be damned, the Dragonborn will save us at some point. Probably. Dovahbear Companion [Skyrim Nexus] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Friday Night Fights: Calling all weekend warriors! Posted: 01 Feb 2013 10:30 AM PST Welcome to another edition of Destructoid's Friday Night Fights! This week I'd like to highlight the new "Weekend Warriors" event that's been going down every Saturday and Sunday in the community! Basically, it's just a continuation of FNF throughout the entire weekend; what's not to love? Dtoider smurfee mcgee has been organizing it, and so far it's been a pretty big success. That said, he could certainly use some more volunteers to sign up as match hosts! Head on over to this week's thread in our forums and take a look if you've got some free time this weekend! New to FNF? Read this! Each week, a bunch of us Dtoiders get together to play videogames online! It's a 100% community-run event, so feel free to join in or even host something yourself! The planning for FNF starts in the forums, where community members sign up to host matches and post their pertinent details (game, time, Gamertag, etc.). Then, every Friday, reminder posts go up in the community blogs thanks to a dedicated group of volunteers, and I recap it all here on the front page to give it a bit more exposure. To join in, simply send a friend request to the match host! If you'd rather host something yourself, sound off in the comments section below! Tonight's Games:
Check out the 360 FNF blog for more info! Tonight's Games:
Check out the PS3 FNF blog for more info! (Happy birthday, Trev!) Tonight's Games:
Check out the Wii U FNF blog for more info! Tonight's Games:
Check out the PC FNF blog for more info! Free this weekend? Why not sign up to host something for Weekend Warriors?! It's like Friday Night Fights all weekend long! Here's what's on the schedule so far: Saturday
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| Double Fine reveals the Amnesia Fortnight Special Edition Posted: 01 Feb 2013 10:15 AM PST
Remember Double Fine's Amnesia Fortnight game jam, that lead to the prototypes of many of their successful games? In 2012 a digital collection of those prototypes was created, but now, you can get your hands on a physical copy as well, straight from the Double Fine's website. You'll get the five Amnesia Fortnight prototype games: Autonomous, Black Lake, Hack N' Slash, Spacebase DF-9, and The White Birch. You'll also snag a few bonuses as well, like prototypes for Brazen, Costume Quest, and Happy Song, along with a soundtrack and documentaries. It's available as a Steam/DRM-free download for $9.99, and as a physical copy for $30, among pricier options. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 01 Feb 2013 10:00 AM PST Little Inferno is one of the least marketable games ever released. It's about sitting in front of a fire place, putting objects in the fire place, and burning them. That's pretty much it. Your average person hears that and thinks "Well, that's not worth my time or money. I want to go to places and do things." But do you really? If you wanted to go to places and do things, wouldn't you ... go to places and do things? That's just one of the many questions that Little Inferno was designed to ask. Little Inferno (iOS, PC, Wii U eShop [reviewed]) There are very few games like Little Inferno, which offers very little frame of reference for you, dear reader, to assess whether you "like this sort of thing." It's also a game that, if over-explained, will lose a sizable amount of its impact. That's why I'm going to spend a little time talking about the only other game I've ever played that's remotely like Little Inferno. Cow Clicker (by Ian Bogost) was made as a statement about how terrible Facebook games are. There is a cow on the middle of the screen. You click it. Then you wait for the meter to refill so that you can click on it again. If you don't want to wait, you can pay actual money to force the meter to refill more quickly. That's it. It was supposed to be a throwaway joke, to be ingested and discarded by those that got it, ignored by those that didn't. That's not what happened. Instead, people started to love the game. Some of them loved it from the start, completely missing the point. Others liked the game ironically at first, but after a while, that irony turned to genuine affection for their cows and the game that brought them to "life." What started as a "troll post" of a game had developed a genuine following, which transformed Ian Bogost to a guy who was making fun of Facebook-style game design, to a guy who was profiting from it. Little Inferno is like Cow Clicker on steroids. The game starts with a letter introducing you to your new purchase from the Tomorrow Corporation -- The Little Inferno home entertainment device. After reading the letter, you are encouraged to burn it. Thanks to the expert craftsmanship of the games visual and technical design, burning the letter is surprisingly satisfying. The graphics, sound effects, and physics are all extremely detailed and convincing. Just as how Rhythm Heaven Fever makes kicking a soccer ball more fun than it should be, and Gears of War makes virtually decapitating a stranger feel important, exciting and "visceral," Little Inferno makes burning stuff feel like an event. From there, you are offered at catalog that allows you to buy more items to burn. Like in your average Facebook game, you'll have to wait for a meter to fill before your items arrive in the mail. This wait time gives the items a false sense of importance, as anything you have to wait for and pay for must be worth something, or else why would you bother to wait and pay for it? The only way to get money to buy these items is to burn items and dig for coins in their fiery deaths. There is a huge variety of items to burn, each with their own specific and highly detailed burn events. For instance, light a school bus on fire, and you'll be treated to the slow, realistic burn of metal and rubber as you listen the crackling snaps of flaming car parts and the screams of children being burned alive. Fun! If you want to see everything the game has to offer and maximize your profits, you'll try to go for combos. Taking one, two, or more items and burning them together can result in unexpected animations and sound effects, a huge payload of coins, and a congratulatory stamp of approval. You are given a list of names of combos, but it's up to you to figure out what they mean. For instance, the "Movie Night" combo can be scored by burning a television and an ear of corn at the same time. There is something very special about watching a TV on your TV ignite into flames while burning popcorn darts around your screen. Also, it's a profit deal. Win/win. While your primary focus is bent towards buying and burning, you'll also get letters, pictures, items, and videos from time to time from outside entities. The two parties you'll be hearing from the most are the Tomorrow Corporation themselves (usually working to promote their items) and a young woman named Sugar Lumps, who is a part of the "Little Inferno online community." She's taken an immediate liking to you, as you are also a fan of Little Inferno home entertainment, and in no time at all she'll start sending you personal letters, pictures of her cat, and even some home made artwork. Problem is, you only have so much space in your inventory to hold more items to burn. Sugar Lumps' gifts are sweet, but they also get in the way of your very important self appointed job of burning things that you bought in a catalog. Being forced to choose between holding on to genuinely charming keepsakes from a stranger that present an attempt for a real emotional connection with the player and making room to burn more crap will be sure to illicit emotions in the player. It's just one of the many ways Little Inferno works to get you asking questions about yourself, your interest in videogames, and the reasons you feel they are important. The game will be over for most people in a few hours. Depending on your decisions, you'll see one of two endings, which offers a bit of replay value. On the Wii U, you can play either on your TV, or the Gamepad, and with Wii Remote pointer controls or Gamepad stylus controls. It's a fully fleshed out package that offers just about everything you could possibly want in a interactive satire of videogames/virtual fireplace. Some may complain that the game is too short or is overpriced. They'd be missing the point, which is arguably part of the Little Inferno concept. As for me, I feel that the game is a bargain at $15. It's the only game of it's type on the market today. I can't think of the last time that a game has made me think, feel, and laugh at such a consistent pace. It's mix of high-concept messages and simple, more-fun-than-it-should be "gameplay" make it a must buy for anyone who likes thinking about videogames and/or burning things. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| DmC: Devil May Cry PC patch update gets detailed Posted: 01 Feb 2013 09:45 AM PST An update has hit the PC version of DmC: Devil May Cry on Steam this week. The updates address a minor bugs, and tweaks some things affecting gameplay. Game balancing wise, demon evade provides less damage and style boost, and evades in general have a shorter invulnerability window now. Additionally, green orbs will only spawn when Dante's health is less than half of his HP, SSS and SS ranks will fall down to S rank with inactivity, weakest enemies do more damage, and you can no longer climb infinitely using Fireworks. But wait, there's more! Controls have been been tweaked so when you enter Angel or Demon mode in the same frame as pressing an attack button it will now apply that mode to the attack. The refresh rate now correctly displays current value, and the a sound bug affecting the Kicker move at 75+ FPS has been fixed. Lastly, Vergil's health reset bug has been fixed in Mission 20, and quitting out of a Secret Mission in the middle of a falling attack no longer breaks the camera. DmC PC patch details [Capcom-Unity] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This weekend on Dtoid TV: Star Trek Online Posted: 01 Feb 2013 09:30 AM PST Tonight on Mash Tactics, we'll be celebrating the three-year anniversary of Star Trek Online. I'll be getting hooked up with a high-level character, and some epic ships courtesy of Perfect World Entertainment. We'll be checking out some special events specific to the anniversary celebration, as well as giving out some swag to a few lucky live viewers. If you have STO installed, and want to jump in and help me out, by all means log in and look me up. If you don't have the game yet, don't forget it's free to play, and you have plenty of time to grab it from Steam and join in before the show is over! Also in the mix this week at Dtoid.TV, Jonathan Holmes sits down with the always awesome lead designer of Mark Of The Ninja, Nels Anderson on Sup, Holmes? Philanthr0py continues his full playthrough of the Devil May Cry series, on Chill With Phil. Johnny Luchador gets his convoy on in Euro Truck Simulator 2 on Rad Show: Get There!, as well a ton more live gaming content, for your viewing pleasure! Check out our full schedule for the weekend:
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| The Indie Royale Evolved Bundle is now live Posted: 01 Feb 2013 09:15 AM PST Itching for more indie PC games to devour? You might want to check out the Indie Royale Evolved Bundle. In this new collection, you'll net Unmechanical, The Path, Krater, Sugar Cube: Bittersweet Factory and OIO. Out of all these, I'd probably recommend The Path the most, as it's a neat little horror romp that's heightened by the use of headphones and a dark room So far, the bundle has exceeded 10,000 sales. Evolved [Indie Royale] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Storm's Adventure with Need for Speed: Most Wanted Posted: 01 Feb 2013 09:00 AM PST Damn, I knew this was going to happen. New Super Mario Bros. U proved to be entertaining and distracting. I guess this is "Playing Catch Up to the Catch Up". In continuation of "Playing Catch Up", my next upload was Need for Speed: Most Wanted. This game came to me courtesy of Machinima, and it counts as the first, and likely last, free game of my laughable non-career in gaming opinions. This game was developed by Criterion, so I was face-explodingly-excited to give a try ahead of street release. As an explanation of "BMW is Not British Edition"...it seems that everyone on YouTube missed the joke about saying "I know nothing about cars," and then calling BMW an English car company. The backlash was so great, it resulted in a re-upload, and now you get the benefit of trying to find other errors in the video. Look for spelling errors, I'm particularly bad with those. Also, Smash Labs isn't a bad show. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ubisoft was right to nix Splinter Cell: Blacklist torture Posted: 01 Feb 2013 08:45 AM PST This week, a Splinter Cell: Blacklist producer confirmed that the game’s controversial torture scene, used as part of Ubisoft’s E3 presentation last year, has been removed from the game. “Definitely we are not going to see when the game’s coming out that there are torture scenes in it. That scene is not there any more,” Andrew Wilson said. Here’s Tom Bissel, the lead writer for Gears of War: Judgment, on the subject: “We've arrived in a strange emotional clime when our popular entertainment frequently depicts torture as briskly effective rather than literally the worst thing one human being can do to another.” And later, he calls it “a blithe, shrugging presentation of the very definition of human evil, all in the name of ‘entertainment.’” “I’ve not really heard anyone say they loved it,” Wilson followed up. It’s really the reaction to the negative feedback that’s most troubling: Ubisoft is canning the scene because it upset people, not because it’s gross to portray torture as a fun, badass thing to do in a piece of entertainment. I can only think of one other game I’ve played that features player-sanctioned torture: Cyanide’s Game of Thrones RPG from last year. It happens twice. The first time, it’s because the protagonist needs a bit of information about Robert Baratheon’s bastard son. Working for Robert’s wife, Cersei, the game’s protagonist and his half-brother track the boy down and chase him through an alley. If they catch the boy, the game moves on. If not, the pair must dig the information out of the boy’s bodyguards. Players have two options: they can reason with an injured bodyguard, or torture him. The scene takes place through a series of dialog choices. The player doesn’t actually get to control Valarr as he shoves his fingers into a man’s stomach wound, but action is implied well enough. Players gain access to the torture option by siding with Valarr, who's portrayed as a violent psychopath and the game's ultimate antagonist. The more peaceful option is presented by Alester, Valarr's half-brother, rightful heir to Riverspring Castle, and Game of Thrones' protagonist. The implication is clear. The second time it happens, the torture is completely off-screen: the game fades to black as a different character, Mors, moves in to exact revenge on a group soldiers who had just finished torturing him. I have to admit that I reacted strongly to the Blacklist scene, but not to the one in Game of Thrones: the audible crack as Fisher breaks the man’s arm made my stomach churn, and seeing Fisher jam a knife into the man’s virtual collarbone reminded me of the excruciating pain I went through when I broke my own clavicle when I was 13. I’m not sure whether or not I chose to torture Jon Arryn’s soldiers in Game of Thrones, but I don’t remember thinking about it much, either. (It's worth noting that I couldn't find a video walkthrough of this section of the game that did choose the torture option.) Videogame violence as a discussion topic generally revolves around guns. Here’s the thing, though: as a society, we’ve accepted the fact that guns are fun. Skeet shooting, paintball, firing ranges, laser tag, SuperSoakers, Nerf guns, archery -- in our hearts, we know that firing projectiles at stuff is deeply engaging and gratifying. There's no getting around it. The presence of guns, though, doesn’t exempt or recuse Blacklist’s torture scene: there’s no safe, real-world analogue to stabbing someone in the clavicle. The two types of violence can’t be lumped together or justified in the same way. We have a way of understanding how and why shooting can be fun. I can't, however, think of a context that explains how or why jamming a knife into a man's collarbone and twirling it would be. Last October, a different Ubisoft spokesperson -- this time Blacklist producer David Footman -- had this to say about the scene: “If it makes you squeamish and uncomfortable, maybe that’s the point.” “I always know when we’re onto something that’s really touchy and interesting when we get reactions like that,” he continued. “But the truth is it’s really happening. That’s the truth. We all know it’s really happening all over the world.” Footman’s not wrong, but he’s also not really addressing the problem. It’s not that Splinter Cell: Blacklist includes a torture scene -- it’s the scene isn’t optional, it’s that scene is fully interactive, it’s the ease with which Sam Fisher casually tortures another human being, it’s that the game has the gumption to introduce some preposterous “moral choice” -- you can kill the man or just knock him unconscious when you're done with him -- after walking us through a war crime. The moral choice was to not jam a knife into a man’s clavicle and twist it around. Remember that this demo was used to show the game off at E3, the largest videogame industry event in the county, and arguably the most important in the world. Ubisoft used a torture scene to highlight a mass-market blockbuster, to grab the attention of as many industry insiders, press, and fans as possible. Somewhere along the production chain, the people making Splinter Cell: Blacklist thought that we'd be titillated and entertained by jamming a knife into a man's collarbone and twisting it around until he tells us what Sam Fisher needs to know. It's not "touchy and interesting"; it's crass. There’s no doubt that games can and should be provocative, but it’s hard to see any of Blacklist’s commentary on the necessity of war: Fisher just moves on to his next objective. Our understanding of the game is a function of what Ubisoft chooses to show us: right now, the only argument Blacklist seems to make is that torture is the easiest and most effective way to handle a situation. The torture scene wasn’t designed to make us “uncomfortable” -- it was designed to make Sam Fisher look heroic, and that makes me uncomfortable. Footman’s right that torture is “the truth,” that it’s “really happening all over the world.” But the people that do it -- justified or not -- don’t get to keep being badass when it’s over. There’s nothing awesome or celebratory about post-traumatic stress disorder or a disturbingly high rate of veteran suicides. Blacklist includes a torture scene -- and makes players implicit in it -- without having to deal with the consequences. It’s unthinking, uncritical, and sloppy. That Ubisoft ultimately decided to cut the scene suggests, to me, a lack of confidence in their Toronto studio's ability to engage meaningfully with the subject. So, what’s the sticking point for Blacklist? Is it the interactivity? Is the modern, real-world context of two decades-long wars and a national debate about whether or not water-boarding counts as “torture”? (Spoiler: it does.) I’m not sure. It’s a lot easier to compartmentalize a villain torturing someone in a sword-and-sorcery fantasy game like Game of Thrones -- it’s just part of what happens in that world. I’m not so sure we want our heroes celebrating in this world, though. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Developer apologizes for Toki Tori 2 delay Posted: 01 Feb 2013 08:30 AM PST
Toki Tori 2 was all set for a Steam and Wii U release. That is, until it was delayed. Developer Two Tribes isn't letting this delay get swept under the rug however, as it chose to admirably take on the exact reasons for the missed deadline in a full, honest blog post. Apparently, the level design just wasn't where it needed to be, so they ditched the structure and decided to go with a more open approach. A number of other facets of the game were also perfected, like performance and graphical output. The entire endeavor is summed up perfectly by this quote from Two Tribes co-founder Collin van Ginkel: "my ego isn’t big enough to think I’d do a perfect job without the need for some serious testing." Kudos, Two Tribes. I've always said that it's a great idea to keep people updated with the progress of your game, regardless of the situation. This is especially true with some Kickstarters, where developers will often will refuse to update their progress even months after obtaining their goal. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Expansions for all! Recapping the Paradox Convention 2013 Posted: 01 Feb 2013 08:15 AM PST Our own Fraser Brown is in attendance at the Paradox Convention 2013 this week, and I've just received correspondence from him via carrier pigeon. Slower than we would have liked, but surprisingly cost-effective. He's given me the lowdown on a number of projects in the works at the publisher beyond what we've already heard of the new War of the Roses add-on content and gold-edition re-release. The most unexpected news has got to be Magicka: Wizards of the Square Table, a cross-platform cooperative game for iOS and Android tablets. It's a new story in the Magicka universe that once again revolves around four players, only this time, it's presented in 2D. Look for it to drop in the next few weeks for $1.99 with support for microtransactions. Next up is the masculine-sounding Leviathan: Warships, a turn-based tactical game featuring a sci-fi art-deco steampunk aesthetic, in the words of Fraser. This will support co-op and competitive play -- including a co-op campaign -- for up to four players when it hits in Q2 2013 for PC ($20) and tablets (less than $20). Moving right along, two expansions were announced by Paradox this week. The first, Crusader Kings II: The Old Gods, should be great news for active players of this beloved strategy title. Starting in 867 AD, they'll be able to play as Pagan nations and, yes, Vikings. Fraser's the expert here, so I'll let him sum this up: "Looting and pillaging has been added, rebels now have purpose and leaders, and landless characters can now become adventurers and gather armies and make realms of their own." The Old Gods is in development now with an expected Q2 2013 release. The second expansion, Victoria II: Heart of Darkness, has a new colonization system geared around colonial conflicts and naval expansion, with the latter getting a reworked gameplay system. Lesser powers can call on the Great Powers to intervene over international crises, and more than 60 newspapers -- some historic, some fictional -- will be accessible to give the lowdown on global events. Lastly, 2.5D multiplayer shooter The Showdown Effect has opened beta access for those who pre-order the game. More of those individuals who have already signed up but not yet put down money will be added as the beta expands. That about wraps it up. Fraser will have hands-on reports for Magicka and Leviathan when he returns from Paradox land. Anything stick out here? I'm less of a strategy nut, so War of the Roses was my highlight, but there's definitely stuff to be excited about. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| How the Dead Space 3 team created new hellish monsters Posted: 01 Feb 2013 08:00 AM PST The Dead Space series features some of the grossest, most horrific creatures and scenes shown in gaming today. Visceral Games isn't afraid to pull out all the stops when it comes to terrifying players with the Necromorphs, an alien entity that literally breaks bones and moves muscles around in whatever corpse it's commandeered to create a new horrific form. I went to visit Visceral Games recently and spoke with creative director Ben Want and art director Alex Muscat about how the team created new Necromorphs in order to keep the nightmare fresh for Dead Space 3. "When we started [on Dead Space 3], we did a lot of [research] to begin with cause we didn't exactly know what all the creatures were going to be yet and we were still kind of developing the setting," Ben told me. "So we ended up [concepting] without any real coherent direction on it. We knew we were going to go to an ice planet, we knew we were going to do something a little bit more alien then we've done on previous Dead Space titles, and we also knew we were going to do a human component that was going to be more of this ancient kind of mummified look. "So with those directions in mind I worked with a concept artist in LA, Brett Marting, who's a really talented guy. He started to just kind of develop some ideas basically. I think he was originally going off the more of the alien feel, like what would be really ancient arcane alien kind of thing. So he did a bunch of key images that were interesting, and then at some point we started to gravitate towards this mummified look." Fodders are a new common form Necromorph that's unique from past designs as they have the mummified look to them. The ice planet players will be exploring in Dead Space 3 was attacked by the Necromorphs long before the events of the original Dead Space, and you'll be coming across these Fodders that have been dormant for centuries, hence the mummified look. "So mummies are naturally pretty creepy in a different way then say the normal Necromorphs are where they're kind of all guts and gore, and very fresh. I think it was a lot of fun to just explore what is freaky about mummies. They're just really bizarre stretched faces and they just have a lot of interesting elements to them." The outside physical aspect of the Fodder is one part of the new creature. The team didn't want to just create one basic repeated form, so you'll be getting multiple variations of it depending on the corpse that's used to create a new Necromorph. That also extends to the type of weapon the Fodders will use. Yes, actual weapons, another first for Dead Space. There will be Fodders that use ice picks, fire axes, surgical saws, and so forth. While they are using melee weapons, it's still pretty similar to fighting a Slasher. What's striking about the Fodder compared to a Slasher, however, is what happens once you've dismembered it. "At a certain point, we knew that we needed to develop the new baseline enemy," Ben explained. "We've been using the Slasher for a couple of games as our main guy and we needed something as robust as that, but had a completely different dismemberment strategy. We started going back to paper and going 'Okay, what do we want to see in this enemy? What would be the ideal version of it?' We knew we wanted something that would transform so you would always be surprised no matter where you hit the enemy would react in a different way, and it would transform in a different way. "With that in mind, we started just coming up with interesting forms that could evolve from a human being like if you had shot limbs off of it what would be the weirdest thing that could come out of it? The way the Fodder works is basically blow off its legs he'll grow something down below and he'll locomote in a completely different way. Shoot off his arms off and his whole top explodes, and something else happens. "I love just long gangly things," Ben continued. "I just think they're naturally creepy so a lot of the initial concepts kind of echoed that. We knew that in its intact form we wanted this thing to be just a very intimating creepy figure. Just kind of an imposing thing that just wouldn't say anything but looked human. You might see this thing swaying in the distance, looking at it and go 'What the hell is going on?' And then you realize too late that there's actually a creature inside of it." Another new enemy in Dead Space 3 are the updated Lurkers, Necromorph-infected dogs that are essentially the replacement of the baby and kid enemies from the last two games. No, they're not getting rid of young hosts due to any controversy or the like. In fact, there were never any complaints about the fact you could stomp babies and kids to death. Go figure. Rather, from a fiction standpoint, there were never any kids present in the world players will be exploring, but there were plenty of dogs. "They're kind of like sled dogs," Ben told me. "But they would use them for digging for artifacts, kind of like how you would have in an earthquake scenario where you have dogs trained to seek things out. "That was the idea behind [the new Lurker], what would a dog version of that creature be? We tried a bunch of different things, some of them were less dog-like than others. But I really wanted to have a little bit of a dog identity to it so we ended up with something a lot more like this. It's just this really dissected and deformed canine." The design is loosely based on a rottweiler, and other canine breeds you'd associate with finding things. Continuing with the fiction, the dogs that were taken with humans in space were on the small scale, as it's tougher to keep a larger dog contained on a spaceship. And like the original Lurkers, you can expect these news ones to shoot out long, menacing tentacles. One of the bigger creatures in Dead Space 3 is the Nexus. You first saw this creature in action at the end of the E3 demo, where the battle finished with the Nexus sucking up and swallowing players whole. Art director Alex Muscat described the process of creating this beast that went through 30 iterations before they settled on the final look. "What we usually do is start off with something really loose, just a really vague idea. Then somebody will sketch something out and it will look like weird blobulous kind of thing. The second idea is well okay what is scary? Sometimes we try to get inspiration from things that we already know are terrifying. Insects and bugs are pretty gross to a lot of people. If you actually look at the Nexus it almost looks like some sort of insect. "Visually we have some basic framework there that's going on, and then we'll sketch something out. Then we'll start refining it over time. One of the things we do is we'll start adding some of our look to the enemies. One of the themes we have in our games is ribbing [that] adds that element of scariness and grossness to it. We have this idea of open carcasses, the rib cage -- you can actually see on the Nexus when he opens up his chest and his ribs and guts are exposed. We have that theme throughout all of Dead Space." Slasher, Fodders, Nexus, Lurkers -- there's a ton of new enemies and a lot of returning ones that have all been rebooted. There are so many enemy types now that Dead Space 3 offers the most enemy variety of any of the past games. Creating so many creatures is no easy task, due to technical limitations, and some other factors. "We tried all kinds of different stuff for the different forms that we create," Ben told me. "A lot of this ends up you write some stuff on paper and then you go and you match that up to your document and you try and figure out which one of these concepts is going to best convey the different states that you need to have for the creature. A lot of times the concepts will inform the designs. So the designers will see something and go 'Oh my god, that looks so cool! Can we make that happen?' and we'll come up with gameplay out of the concept. "It's kind of a mix and match. And then we usually we do a culling pass where engineering gets involved and they go 'Okay, you can't have 20 tentacles coming out of this thing cause we just can't render that.' And you start honing things down and trying to figure out what's going to be the most effective use of the asset. We knew with the Fodder we wanted to have as many of them on screen as possible just to make them a challenge, and we had to at least be able to support the same number of them on screen as we had with the Slasher. It was a balancing act of 'Do you really want this feature or do you want a whole bunch of them able to mob the player?' There's always that tradeoff but I think in the end, we ended up with a good mix of it. "It's always a challenge for every enemy to try and come up with something unique about them, something memorable," Ben told me. "You want each enemy to leave a lasting impression on the players. Not only so they remember what kind of enemy it is so they know what strategy to use, but just so that it's marked on their brain. That's part of the horror aspect of it, just finding things that psychologically resonate with people as freaky." Dead Space 3 will be out on February 5, 2013 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. Check out our Dead Space page to see everything you need to know about the new horror title. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CD Projeckt reveals new tech engine for Cyberpunk 2077 Posted: 01 Feb 2013 07:45 AM PST Whilst we get all excited about the upcoming consoles from Microsoft and Sony, Witcher developers CD Projekt Red are all ready working on the next edition of their own REDEngine. Unveiling details about the engine's upcoming third iteration, studio head Adam Badowski says:
The Polish studio are promising that the new engine "begins to blur the line between pre-rendered CGI movies and real time rendered graphics." The Witcher 2 looked exceptional and hopefully if Cyberpunk 2077 is being developed for high end PCs, and the next generation of consoles, then we're sure to see an amazing looking game. Here's hoping the story and gameplay will measure up to the visuals. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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