Lots of big announcement in the news this week…new games, new DLC, and quite possibly the greatest game trailer ever for Dead Island.Ok, ok…don’t judge a book buy its cover.I’ve seen games where the developer spent more money on the trailer than the game itself so we will have to wait and see the finished product but it’s a damn good start.
This week I have reviews of EA’s Mass Effect 2 out finally for the Playstation 3 and Pop Cap Games’ Plants Vs. Zombies
In the News This Week
The Greatest Game Trailer Ever!Deep Silver Announces Dead Island
Deep Silver announced today that it will publish Dead Island, the upcoming gruesome zombie slasher by renowned developer Techland. Dead Island combines first-person action with a heavy focus on melee combat, character development and customization of a vast array of weapons. All of these gameplay features are presented in a dark story inspired by classic zombie movies with a gritty and engrossing campaign that can be played with up to four players in co-op mode.Set in an open world tropical island, hordes of different festering zombies await players around every corner while they embark on a variety of thrilling missions through the holiday resort. With firearms and ammunition being scarce the player must rely on utilizing found items as weapons for self-defense and fight off zombie hordes in intense melee combat. A diverse range of items can be collected and will later serve to transform the player’s ordinary makeshift weapons into serious instruments of destruction.
In addition to satisfying even the most bloodthirsty action fan’s fantasy, Dead Island also features role-playing elements which allow the player to develop one of the game’s unique character classes according to their preferences, all the while learning new skills and fresh tactics during their journey through the perilous environments of the island. What’s more, anytime during a game up to four players can seamlessly join together and experience the intense combat and immersive story with cooperative gameplay.With the all-new Chrome Engine 5 powering Dead Island, the game will use the latest installment of Techland’s acclaimed proprietary game engine, allowing the player to experience the tropical island paradise in graphical splendor with diverse environments like lush forests and detailed city environments.
Dead Island will be released worldwide for the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 later this year.Check out the incredible trailer:
Ubisoft to Release New Add-on Content for Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood
Ubisoft announced “The Da Vinci Disappearance” add-on for Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood for the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 will be available for download in early March for $9.99. The Da Vinci Disappearance will include both single-player and multiplayer content for Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood. After the fall of the Borgias in Rome, Leonardo Da Vinci is kidnapped by the Hermeticists, an underground cult dedicated to transforming mankind. Ezio will embark on a relentless quest to recover stolen paintings in order to find Leo before it is too late, discovering two new locations and two new gameplay features along the way.
The multiplayer addition is the biggest expansion to the award-winning multiplayer yet, including one new map, four new characters and two new game modes. The new multiplayer map, Alhambra, is a lush environment set in Spain’s Albaicin of Granada and provides multileveled indoor and outdoor areas perfect for predators to lurk in the dense crowd for unsuspecting targets. The four new characters will undoubtedly be a huge hit with Assassin’s Creed fans, consisting of the Dama Rossa, the Knight, the Marquis and the Pariah. The two new gameplay modes, Escort and Assassinate, will provide a whole new gameplay experience for Brotherhood players. In Escort mode, two teams of four players compete to protect their VIP target or assassinate the other team’s VIP target. In Assassinate mode six to eight players are pitted against each other deathmatch-style in one ten-minute round.
3DS Launch Games Lineup
We’re still just over a month away from the March 27th release of the 3DS but at least we know what games will be available on day one. Three will be Nintendo published titles (Pilotwings Resort, Steel Diver, and nintendogs + cats). 18 games in all will be out including:
·Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition
·The Sims 3
·Madden NFL Football
·Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D
·LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
·Ridge Racer 3D
·Super Monkey Ball 3D
·Bust-a-Move Universe
·Samurai Warriors: Chronicles
·Asphalt 3D
·Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D
·Rayman 3D
·Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Shadow Wars
The Walking Dead Comes to Gaming
Not a lot of concrete details as of yet but Telltale Games has a deal with Walking Dead Creator Robert Kirkman to create multiple videogames based on comic book series/TV Show. Games will be available on multiple platforms with the first game released sometime in the fourth quarter of 2011.
2K Announces Duke Nukem Forever Balls of Steel Edition
After setting a record for the longest development of a videogame, Duke Nukem Forever finally has a release date of May 3. Released along side the standard edition will be the Balls of Steel Edition available exclusively at GameStop and Amazon. This special edition will come packed with all sorts of bonus items including: Collectible bust of the greatest alien ass-kicker of all-time, numbered, limited-edition certificate of authenticity, 100-page hardcover book: The History, Legacy & Legend: Duke Nukem Forever Art from the Vault, postcard series, radioactive emblem sticker, collectable comic book, foldable paper craft, poker chips, mini-card deck, radioactive emblem dice.
New Transformers Game Announced by Activision
Activision has announced that Transformers: Dark of the Moon is in development by the critically acclaimed developers at High Moon Studios. Based on Hasbro's legendary Transformers property and featuring a brand-new 'Stealth Force' conversion mode, the game thrusts players directly into an original prologue storyline to experience the ultimate battle between the Autobots and Decepticons that leads into the summer's most anticipated blockbuster film and reveals another face of evil, Shockwave. Armed with a brand-new gameplay mechanic, fans will harness the power of Stealth Force to instantly convert to a third, hybrid state that combines the weapons and firepower of robot mode with the agility and maneuverability of vehicle mode. Additionally, fans can play the game with or against their friends through intense, online multiplayer game modes as their favorite iconic characters.
Download New Survival Arenas for Splatterhouse
Namco has announced that latest DLC offering combines all four previously released survival arenas into a single downloadable pack, including Heart of the Mansion, House of Mirrors, Killing Room, and Lost Islands. Heart of the Mansion and House of Mirrors were only available as preorder exclusives so this is an opportune time to check them out if you missed out. The pack is available on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace for 400 Microsoft Points and PlayStation Network for a single low price of $4.99.
DUE OUT NEXT WEEK
Rango (Electronic Arts) Rated E Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii
Rango is an action/adventure game set in a gritty, pint-sized, Wild West world filled with off-color characters, wild rides and frantic shoot-outs. Players of all ages will meet the residents of the town of Dirt and play through Rango's whacky Tall Tales of Adventure, brimming with intense action and outlandish scenarios.
Trophies / Achievements - Pull off near-impossible feats to earn Trophies / Achievements that are all throughout the Wild West town of Dirt.
Ride Roadrunners and Desert Bats - Speed through the desert atop these unconventional chariots as you perform extraordinary acrobatic chases.
Golden Bullet - Hone your sheriff shooting skills in unique golden bullet sequences that promise to impress your Dirtonian admirers.
Wild West Shootouts - Face hordes of hostile rodents as you show the town who's boss in good, old-fashioned shootouts where guns are blazin' and spurs are shinin.'
Comes with code for 1 child’s Rango movie ticket in pack. Up to US $7.50. Valid at participating theatres in US/Canada. Offer expires 5/31/11
Chuck E. Cheese Sport Games (Tommo) Rated E Nintendo Wii
Join Chuck E. Cheese and his friends Helen, Pasqually, Jasper and Mr. Munch as you swing, shoot, steer and putt your way to victory! Play a variety of fun filled sports as you compete to become an all-star athlete. Do well to earn experience and medals to make it to the Professional League!
Fun for Boys and Girls - An assortment of fun, bite size sports mini-games specifically designed with young boys and girls in mind. Fun For the Whole Family - Motion controlled sports games are easily recognizable and intuitive, allowing for quick pick-up and play sessions for the entire family, allowing anywhere from 2-4 players to be actively involved. These sports games are designed to enhance your child’s hand eye coordination, patience and bring out that competitive spirit!
Maximum Racing: Drag and Stock Racer (Maximum Games) Rated T Nintendo Wii
Multiple game modes include Shoot Out, Big Ramp,and Stunt Arena
Race up to 16 different stock cars with true-to-life maneuverability
Thunder across quarter-mile straights, banked ovals, and more
Features bonus upgrades and trophies
Brunswick Pro Bowling (SVG) Rated E Playstion 3, Xbox 360
Kid-friendly Bumper Bowling option prevents gutter balls and extends the fun for audiences of all ages
Full support for the Xbox 360 Kinect sensor (sold separately)
Realistic bowling with accurate ball and pin physics, lane oil effects, and a career mode allowing you to work your way from an amateur to a true professional Brunswick pro champion
10 highly detailed bowling environments, each with unique lane characteristics; 5 game-play options including Exhibition, Skins and Tournament modes
Unique League Play feature allows players to join teams and compete in multiplayer mode
Remington Super Slam Hunting: Alaska (Mastiff) Rated T Nintendo Wii
In Remington Super Slam, Alaska you'll find yourself face to face with more than 30 of the biggest, baddest and most aggressive animals in Alaska. The good news is that you'll have a huge selection of real weapons including bows, rifles and pistols near at hand. The bad news is the animals want to take you down as much as you want them.
LEVEL UP’S HOT PICK OF THE WEEK
Fight Night Champion (EA Sports) Rated M Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Fight Night Champion is a multiplayer boxing game for play on PlayStation 3 that blends traditional one-on-one pugilistic action of previous games in the Fight Night franchise with new, more gritty story-driven gameplay rooted in the all-new Champion Mode. Game features include: unprecedented precision and accuracy of punches; local and online multiplayer support for four and ten players respectively; and a cast of more than 50 boxers from multiple eras and weight classes.
More than just a change to the franchise name, Fight Night Champion takes the video game boxing experience one giant step forward by delivering an experience never before seen in an EA Sports video game. History will be made with this revolutionary iteration that builds upon the best-in-class gameplay and physics engine of Fight Night Round 4, while immersing you in a world of brutality, uncertainty, betrayal and redemption. Do you have what it takes to take the fight into the championship rounds? If so, the brutal road to redemption awaits with Fight Night Champion.
Although Fight Night Champion contains the classic toe-to-toe boxing action set within Legacy Mode that has made the franchise a success, the addition of the story-driven Champion Mode is what truly sets it apart from any game that has come before it. A dark, gritty story centered around the up-and-coming fighter Andre Bishop, and the corruption that preys upon his rise and fall in and out of the ring, the mode features a variety of game environments, characters and opponents, boxing as well as bare knuckle fighting situations and adversity that requires the heart of a champion if the player hopes to prevail. The incredible list of current and former boxing legends includes: Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Mike Tyson, Roberto Duran, Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns, Marvin Hagler, Shane Mosely, and many more.
Reviews
Plants Vs. Zombies (Pop Cap Games) Rated E Reviewed for Nintendo DS
When it comes to supplying opposition to hordes of hungry zombies you likely wouldn’t think of plants but that is indeed the premise of Popcap’s fun little game Plants Vs. Zombies. Actually it is YOU versus the zombies and the plants are your defense as you cultivate a wide variety of types to keep your house secure from the ravaging zombies. After debuting on the PC in 2009 the game makes its way onto the Nintendo DS for addictive gameplay that offers a surprising challenge. The DS version offers the same campaign and mini-games as found on the Xbox Live version.
Plants Vs. Zombies is essentially a tower defense game where you continually cultivate plants to keep your defenses at optimum levels. Some 50 plant types are available including plants that help other plants grow by collecting the sun, as well as the more aggressive types that shoot peas or explode, giant Venus flytraps the devour them whole, and even magnetic mushrooms that can suck a zombies armor off…why zombies are wearing armor I’m not sure but just go with it.
As you complete each level a new plant is unlocked. It’s up to you to use the resources of your backyard and lawn to grow the plants you want and customize your defense. With nearly 30 different types of zombies you’ll quickly find that different plants work better against certain types of zombies. It is the sheer diversity and yes, the sheer silliness that makes this game such a treat to play. There are zombies that fly, dance, ride dolphins…even football player zombies, all with their own unique abilities. And the game is very kid-friendly so the zombies are more comical than grotesque.
Adding to the fun campaign mode are 20 mini-games that have you utilizing your DS built-in microphone to shout into, playing variances of Bejeweled, and grow your own zombies. There’s also a multiplayer mode that lets you play with a friend who also has a copy of the game. Plants Vs. Zombies doesn’t sport cutting edge graphics or sound but it’s not really a game that needs a lot of bells and whistles. The amusing gameplay and variety of plants, zombies, levels, and mini-games will keep you busy for a long time.
Grade: B+
Mass Effect 2 (Electronic Arts) Rated M Reviewed for PS3
After coming out on the PC and Xbox 360 last year, Bioware’s Epic Sci-fi shooter/RPG hybrid finally makes its way to the PS3 and the wait was well worth it. Not only is it a great port but it comes with exclusive DLC that is free for PS3 owners and includes new missions, weapons, and characters. Mass Effect 2 is a wonderful space opera with heroes, villains, monsters, and insidious aliens. PS3 owners have to play a bit of catch-up with the events of the first game but its done quite nicely through a series of cinematics and an interactive Dark Horse comic book that helps you develop your character through a series of tough decisions including having to decide on saving only one of two crewmembers. As the hero Shepherd, you are killed but like the Six Million Dollar Man you are rebuilt, better than ever by the shadowy Cerberus organization. At this point you get to customize your look for Shepherd and choose a class which designates what types of biotic powers he will possess. Your ultimate goal is to put together a team of operatives to try and stop a sentient race of machines known as “Reapers” from destroying the galaxy and the Collectors who are aiding the Reapers by abducting entire human colonies.
You begin aboard your ship The Normandy with a crew of support staff and two team members, Miranda, a Cerberus operative; and Jacob an Alliance soldier. Your “boss” is the aptly named Illusive Man, a chain-smoking mystery man who you cannot fully trust. Early on your goal is to build your team by recruiting new members like the bounty hunter Zaeed; assassin Thane Krios; Kasumi Goto a thief; Mordin Solus a scientist, and several more. As you recruit these new members, more missions open up. Most will have their own back stories and make requests of their own from Shepherd for help. Helping your team is extremely important as it gains you their loyalty. This in turn unlocks other powers that they can use in battle. These characters are one of the great strengths of Mass Effect 2. Most of them have interesting and colorful histories which you have to probe to discover. The only downside is that you can only choose two of them to accompany you on each mission you undertake. You’ll quickly find your favorites. I loved Kasumi’s teleporting powers!
You earn experience points after each mission for you and your team which you can expend on their various biotic powers and skills. As you prepare for each mission you outfit yourself and your characters with your chosen weapons. The Normandy also plays a key role in the game. You will need the ships research lab to upgrade weapons, armor, and the ship itself as well as to build prototypes. For this, you need a rich supply of various elements which you mine from unexplored worlds in the rich galaxy and gather them by launching probes. This can become somewhat repetitive but it’s quite necessary and will help you out greatly in the long run.
Combat is standard shoot and cover. There’s not much finesse to it, other than running and sliding into cover it lacks anything other than basic maneuverability. One annoyance is that even when your foe is hiding behind a cheap crate it keeps him safe from your explosive rounds although you can destroy the crate by hitting it in a sweet spot. But the twist on standard shooter is using your biotic powers to send rolling shockwaves at enemies, or grabbing them and levitating them in the air and tossing them towards a wall or letting your teammates blast him while he’s helpless.
There’s a LOT of talking in Mass Effect 2, more than double than in the original game. While it may slow down the action it also adds an incredible element of richness to the play. How you question other teammates and NPCs affects in which direction the story will go. You can play the tough guy, shoot first and ask questions later, or be more compassionate and thoughtful. The more you investigate the more possible missions may open up, even if they may be fairly minor such as returning an engine part to a mechanic. It all gains you experience.
The graphics are great but a step short of being truly mesmerizing. Minor animation glitches can be found…occasional choppiness and such but nothing that detracts from the gameplay. Perhaps the most annoying aspect is the infinitesimal font size of the text which is especially difficult to read on standard definition TVs. The voice acting is superb and features the talents of Martin Sheen, Tricia Helfer, Adam Baldwin, Keith David, and Seth Green.
With a huge open-ended galaxy to explore, fantastic characters and storyline, and exclusive download content, PS3 owners can finally rejoice that Mass Effect 2 is here!
No gameplay, a good trailer for sure but no where near the best one ever. The Killzone 2 concept trailer from E3 before the PS3 came out and the HALO3:ODST live action trailer were both better IMO. And that just off the top of my head. Get me interested in the game for now, but from what I hear it might be simmilar to Dead Rising and I am not a fan of that game.
I tottaly agree about Mass Effect 2 and would give it an even higher "A" score. But honestly are you playing/reviewing games on a SDTV? Come join the rest of us here in 2011 and spring for a HDTV. Use it for work and its a write off isn't it?
Oh and DLC for Mass Effect 2 was just announced for all platforms, its called "The Arrival" and will set up Mass Effect 3. No release date yet that I know of.
The trailer made the news yesterday (CNN), apparently seeing a kid die from zombies affected some people (and funny enough, the person who wrote the article ruined Heavy Rain because he wrote the ending and didn't warn people).
The backword idea is original but, I'm glad it was showed online also in the correct chronology. Hopefully the game itself is interesting.
I expected the Bad Robot production card to pop up at the end of the trailer. Nicely done.
Also glad to hear High Moon got the chance to do the tie-in game for the next Transformers movie. They did a great job with War for Cybertron, so maybe this will be a movie game people actually want to play?
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That really was the best game trailer ever. Wow. That blew me away. I will HAVE to get that game.