Turbine is gearing up for the debut of Book 8: Scourge of Khazád-dum for Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria. I recently had the pleasure of accompanying Adam Mersky and Aaron “Rowan” Campbell on an expedition into the heights and depths of Moria. They revealed the horrors and wonders that await players in this latest edition to the LotRO epic storyline.
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I’ll be honest: the name “Red Faction” brings up more memories of “meh” gameplay to me than most other series that have survived past one sequel. So nothing could have been a bigger surprise for me than when I was given a chance to play the new Red Faction Guerrilla at E3 and found myself completely blown away by it. Granted, my impression of it was probably helped along by the fact that the developers put me in a giant mech suit to trash the fully destructible environments with, but I was still left wanting more. Thankfully, now I’ve been given that chance with the multiplayer beta that launched on Monday. So does the multiplayer make as much of an impression as the single-player? In a word…er, “sweetjebusyesyesyes.”

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Castlevania Judgement is a fighting game for the Wii that’s set in the Castlevania world…and that should be enough to give anyone pause. The game unfortunately falls into that annoying category of titles on the E3 showcase floor that I picked up out of curiosity, realized I didn’t like, and ended up feigning interest for several minutes while the presenter tried to tell me more about it. Then I usually scurried off the instant their attention went elsewhere. In this case though, even the presenter didn’t seem to care too much. It’s really too bad though, since the concept of the game and a few of the ideas presented in it are a little different and interesting, but the whole package is just terribly executed.

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Velvet Assassin ranks up there with one of the many happy surprises I had at E3. To be honest, I was a little hesitant about meeting up with Gamecock’s group, since they still linger in my mind as those guys who dress up in capes and chicken masks. As it turned out though, their setup was one of the most low-key at this year’s E3; it was just a discreet area in the Figueroa Hotel. And so I met up with Replay Studios to see their upcoming World War II stealth-action game, since it sounded the most interesting to me. I wasn’t really expecting much, but almost half an hour later, the developers practically had to rip the controller out of my hand to make room for another appointment. However, the whole time the producer and PR director were showing me the game, one word kept crossing my mind: “ballsy.”

Let me explain: the game takes place in Europe during World War II and is being made by a German developer. That’s gutsy enough, but they didn’t stop there. Velvet Assassin is one of the few video games — in fact, the only one I can think of right now — that actually depicts the Holocaust. The level I played through involved you infiltrating the Warsaw Ghetto, where Jews were sequestered after the Nazis invaded Poland, in order to assassinate a Nazi official. The producer was even telling me how he remembered stories his grandfather had told him about when all that happened, which helped him infuse the game with some realism. The more I saw of the game, the more I realized this was not your typical guts-and-glory World War II game.

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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.. if anyone ever invites you to visit a sleepy little lake town called Silent Hill, run  screaming in the other direction because you’re probably dead or have some serious baggage in your past that will soon come back to bite you.

While from the initial impressions I can’t give you an overall sense of the story in this latest version of Silent Hill, I can talk about some of the changes that Konami and its development partner Double Helix Games are making to freshen up the long running horror series.

Silent Hill: Homecoming features a bit of a different protagonist for the series. Previous games always focused on the “everyman” characters in horrible situations, a staple of the survival horror genre. This time out the main character, Alex Shepherd is a former Airborne Ranger who is returning home and apparently is looking to discover the fate of his younger brother Jacob.
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Dark Void is what you’d get if you somehow broke the laws of science and mated Gears of War, Crimson Skies, and The Rocketeer. And trust me, I mean that as a huge compliment. The demo on the showcase floor of E3 2008 was a very early build according to the presenter there, but I was still able to get a good feel of the game and the vision they’re going for. So far, it looks like they’re on track to make a game that should definitely make for a unique experience when it comes out. Read the full article »

I’m a Fallout fan. I’ve been following this game since it was a GURPS title. I was saddened when Interplay lost their way and the franchise seemed doomed to obscurity but when Bethesda scooped up the game three years ago I found renewed hope.

Last year Todd Howard, and the team fresh off of The Elder Scrolls Oblivion showed a very tight, controlled demonstration of the game in action, and this year I actually got 30 minutes of hands on time with the title. While the areas shown in the live demo area covered much the same content as last years presentation I didn’t care. This wasn’t my shot to gauge the story or the acting; this was about finding out if Fallout could translate to the 1st person RPG space and not lose its charm.

Well I have good and bad news for Fallout fans. Fallout 3 makes the transition well but only if you’re a fan of the Oblivion style of gaming (which I most definitely am). Controlling the character, implementing stat points and choosing perks using the Pip boy interface were all simple and intuitive.

Unlike Oblivion, Fallout 3 does not rely on a clunky interface. There is inventory management but its reminiscent of the older Fallout’s turn based grid with a few modern updates. The change of setting - from a medieval combat system to a modern gun-slinging wasteland works well also. I demo’d the game on the 360 and the title showed the same visual finesse of Bethesda’s earlier game. Those who found fault with the dialog interface or camera system of that title will find it virtually unchanged.

I spent a good deal of time navigating and interacting with NPCs. Dialog choices that could be influenced by skills were set apart - including the percentage chance of success, though the actual “roll” was hidden it was obvious when you succeeded or failed. This little tweak felt like a good reflection of the classic games and the content of the dialog also followed a more adult, humorous bent in the area of Megaton.

Wading into combat with some rabid scavengers in an old elementary school, I used every chance possible once engaged to test out the V.A.T.S. targeting system. This turn-based mode freezes combat momentarily and displays a digital overlay of a foe. The various target spots of the baddie glows and players can choose trick shots with likely success indicated by percentages based on skills and perks your character has.

All in all I’m just as excited about this game as I was last year. The hands on experience felt familiar in many good ways and with the game coming soon on the 360, PC and PS3 at least I won’t have to wait long to wander around at the end of the world nuking super mutants.

Like many older gamers I was a fan of the golden age of Sonic the Hedgehog. I still have fond memories of a certain New Years Eve party when I was younger and the challenge was issued amongst the rather inebriated guests to partake in a competition of skill.. namely to see who could get the furthest in Sonic the Hedgehog on the Genesis. I’d never been particularly good at the game, though I’d spent a lot of hours playing it but as the host I was obligated to try the best. Long story short, I got further in Sonic that night than any other time since and I credit that to my loose reflexes compensating for the game’s innate sense of speed.

Years have passed and Sonic’s seen better days. The last two games - Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic and the Secret of the Rings were mediocre titles that lacked the certain charm and style of the earliest games, or event the excellent early 3D games.

Sega wants another shot at changing the impression that Sonic is old hat. Last year’s Mario & Sonic titles sold well but they were not true Sonic games. The announcement of Sonic Unleashed however caught the attention of Sonic fans and the limited screens and footage hinted that maybe Sega had finally found the right mix to recreate the Blue Hedgehog for the new consoles.

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The first thing the art director for THQ’s Red Faction: Guerrilla told us when we entered the demo room was to just completely forget about Red Faction 2, which was perfectly fine with us. He then proceeded to show us a surprisingly polished demo that presented us with an open-world Mars to explore and, more importantly, destroy piece by piece. It may be because this is one of the first games at E3 I really got to spend some quality time with, but Red Faction: Guerrilla is already looking amazing. The demo we were shown (and later played) looked like a finished game already, but the art director assured us that they still had until at early 2009 to get the whole thing cleaned up. Our esteemed PR guy, Daniel, practically had to rip the controller out of my hand and remind me we had other appointments to get to; otherwise, I’d probably still be there now. Read the full article »

Viking: Battle for Asgard
Developer: Creative Assembly
Publisher: SEGA
Price: $59.99
Platform: PS3, Xbox 360
Category: Action/Adventure
ESRB: “M” for Mature
Release Date: March 25, 2008

I have always been enthralled with Nordic legends, and anything Viking related. Far be it to call myself a Nordiphile, I am hardly that – I just like mythology of all sorts. I have also thought that Vikings were too often ignored in video games, and I have never understood why they have been largely shunned by the industry, This is why I was so excited about Beowulf until it was announced that it would be a movie tie-in – and in my opinion, both sucked equally.

When Viking: Battle for Asgard was announced a few moths after Beowulf, my love of Nordic mythology took a back seat to the wariness in my brain. I decided it would be rented instead of purchased and while the waiting list for the game was long at my local Blockbuster – I am glad I waited. Whether Viking: Battle for Asgard was worth the wait or not is open to interpretation. On the one hand, I liked the visuals and some of the executions you could pull off, but the game had so many things wrong with it. It was repetitive, contained shallow swordplay, choppy framerates galore and so many other things wrong with it that by the time I was a quarter of the way finished with the game, I wanted my rental fee back. Of course, Blockbuster does not give refunds for unsatisfactory rental purchases.

In Viking: Battle for Asgard, you are Skarin - a warrior on the edge of death who is brought back from the brink by the Goddess Freya. In exchange for this life saving turn of events, you must do her bidding – and no, there are no sexual undertones to this despite the fact that she is a hottie. Her desire for you is only for you to prevent Hel, the Goddess of the Underworld from taking over Midgard. The plotline gives you the impression that the game would be full of hack and slash potential, and that is indeed true. The game was oozing with potential, and when playing I kept waiting for the goods to come to fruition but, alas, they never surfaced – probably because none were present to being with.

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