Blog Archives
Spotlight:Aliens Vs. Predator (PC)
Aliens vs. Predator is a science fiction first-person shooter video game, developed Rebellion Developments, the team behind the 1999 original PC game, and published by Sega for Microsoft Windows, the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360. The game is a first-person shooter based on a combination of the characters and creatures of the Alien franchise and the Predator franchise. It was released February 16, 2010 in the US and is set to be released February 19 in Europe and February 18 in Australia.
Predators
As in the films, the Predator prefers to stalk its prey from the safety of treetops and the gameplay reflects this, the player leaping from branch to branch automatically with the help of a “focus jumping” game mechanic. The Predator has different vision modes, the most recognizable from the films being a thermal imaging scanner, but the player also has different vision modes for spotting Aliens and viewing the world normally. Each vision mode only allows for targeting a specific race. For example, the Heat Vision mode renders Aliens nearly invisible, making battles between two or all three species a tactical juggle to prioritize enemies based on their threat to the player.
The Predator’s gameplay is more based on stealth and tactics than the average first-person shooter. The player has to be aware of Aliens, which have the ability to see through a Predator’s cloaking device, that may climb up a tree and attack from below as well as taking care not to reveal themselves to marines too early as the marines’ weaponry and numbers are more than a match for the Predator. For long-range weaponry, the Predator can use a shoulder-mounted plasma cannon in addition to a glaive-like disc and a spear gun. For close-range combat, the Predator has four retractable wristblades on its arms.
The wristblades allow for the Predator to perform a “trophy kill,” a nod to the movies in which the Predators take trophies, usually skulls, from their defeated enemies to show their prowess in the hunt. OXM labelled the trophy kill mechanic as “spectacularly violent” and it has been partially censored to avoid an Adults Only rating in the United States as it was “several measures more graphic” than any other recent games. The animation for trophy killing a marine with a Predator is the only one known, though the Aliens also have a trophy kill system that is “far less disturbing.” To begin the Predator’s trophy kill, a “terrified” marine is dragged into the centre of the screen by his or her throat, which the Predator then snaps effortlessly with the accompanying sound of “someone biting into raw celery.” The neck broken, the Predator decapitates the marine, a “sizeable portion” of the spinal cord following. Even after this, the marine is still alive for a short period of time, “gasping his last, with nothing but bloodied, glistening vertebra beneath his chin.”
A screenshot showing a player being attacked by a group of Aliens
Jason Kingsley, the CEO of Rebellion, defended the brutality of the trophy kill system, stating “This is obviously a game based on adult-rated movies, and we want to make sure it’s very clearly an adult-rated game. It’s an issue for me; some computer games are for kids – we’re not making a computer game here for anyone other than adults. That’s very clear and within that context, I think the violence is part of the character and the world – so we’re talking about a fantasy world here and fantasy creatures and we’re talking about trying to build up a mythos. I remember the first time I saw it, one of the particular Predator kills, everyone went ‘Oooh.’ But it’s what the Predator does in the movies.”
The Predator “Shoulder Blaster” is very powerful, capable of blowing an Alien(or Marine)to pieces. To prevent overuse, it uses a energy system which means if you use less-powerful shots it will conserve it’s energy, but by using a “locked-on” shot, (which is very powerful), you will quickly burn through your energy. Energy can be recharged at any charging console. Energy is also used for Proximity Mines and to re-charge the Predator’s health.
Aliens
The other two campaigns have had little shown of them. The Alien campaign will force players to get in close to their enemy as their only methods of attack are physical: the Aliens’ claws, tail and inner and outer jaws. Aliens live in the shadows and use senses other than sight to locate their prey, which is why the Predator’s cloak is useless against them, and this, OXM suggests, would imply stealth tactics similar to the Predator’s campaign, getting players to search for dark areas to hide the black alien in. Players will be allowed to climb over every surface in the game as an Alien, but this is counteracted by a slower pace than previous games in the series, discouraging “blitz tactics.” Rebellion is reportedly including a game mode which will increase the Aliens’ speed back to their “original, often disorienting pace,” possibly tied to the difficulty level.
Colonial Marines
The Colonial Marine campaign is to be far closer to that of a standard first-person shooter. Confirmed weapons are the “iconic” M41AV2 Pulse Rifle, M56 Smart Gun, a three burst pistol, the M240 Flamethrower,shotgun and sniper rifle, along with an image intensifier to light up dark areas and the motion tracker made famous in Aliens. The key to the marine campaign is “the sheer terror of facing off against the two movie menaces of the title.” Rebellion have confirmed that no cutscenes will take place other than from the perspective of the player character and that the point of the campaign is to simply survive. The marine campaign also contains the most information about the game’s plot, whereas the others will simply feature overheard conversations between marines “shortly before you dice the marines into meaty chunks.”
Flaming Gnat’s Playthrough’s: Dante’s Inferno (PS3)
See Gnats tear through another great game!
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=8F65CF97D64A1AB0
Spotlight: Dante’s Inferno (PS3)
Dante’s Inferno is an upcoming third-person action-adventure game to be published by Electronic Arts and in development by Visceral Games (formerly EA Redwood Shores) The game is very loosely based on Inferno, the first book of Dante Alighieri’s epic poem, The Divine Comedy. The story of the game is written by Will Rokos, who wrote the film Monster’s Ball. The game was produced by Justin Lambros and assistant produced by Zach Mumbach. The game was released on the 5th of February in Europe.
The game has been touted as being very similar to the God of War games, in which there are light and heavy attacks as well as magic. Dante’s primary weapon is a scythe, which he steals from Death, as seen in the opening preview of the game. He also has magical powers such as a holy cross (given to him by Beatrice before her death) which fires a burst of light that destroys anything in its path. It has not yet been confirmed if there are more powers or weapons that Dante can use. Also, there is a feature called beast taming where, in the game, demons ride huge beasts and if Dante is able to kill the rider, he can control the beast. Depending which beast is controlled, he can use them for different attacks such as breathing fire on his enemies or bashing them. He is also able to condemn or absolve his foes and many damned shades throughout the journey, gaining righteous or unholy points with each absolution or condemnation. The resulting effect from the more righteousness points attained, the more powerful holy cross attacks become and the more unholy points are achieved, the more powerful Dante’s scythe becomes.
Spotlight:Dark Void (PC)
Dark Void is a video game developed by Airtight Games and published by Capcom on the Unreal Engine 3 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Windows. In the game players must face an alien threat that humanity had previously banished. The game mixes on-foot and mid-air combat. It was released in North America on January 19, 2010, and released in Europe on January 22, 2010.
The game’s story will center around a cargo pilot named William Augustus Grey (voiced by Nolan North) who crashes in the Bermuda Triangle. From there, he is teleported to a parallel universe where he encounters other humans, called Survivors. Together, Will and the survivors must battle an alien race known as the Watchers to return to Earth. The Watchers came from afar, making humans do their bidding, while being treated as gods. Eventually people known as Adepts emerged and banished the Watchers to the realm in which our pilot is trapped. With the help of Nikola Tesla, they retrofit Watcher technology to fight the Watchers.
Spotlight:Vectorman (Sega)
Vectorman is a series of run and gun platform games developed by BlueSky Software and published by Sega for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. It was released on October 24, 1995 in North America and on November 30, 1995 in Europe. The game is also a part of the Sega Genesis Collection for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable and is part of the Sonic Gems Collection for the Nintendo GameCube. It was released on the Wii Virtual Console on February 27, 2007 in Japan and April 5, 2007 in Europe, and in North America on September 22, 2008. The game also appears in Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
In 2049, the human population of Earth embarks on a migratory voyage to try to colonize other planets. They leave mechanical “orbots” to clean up the mess they made on Earth through littering and pollution. Raster, a high-level orbot who watches Earth through a planetwide computer network, is accidentally attached to a working nuclear missile by a lesser orbot and goes insane, becoming an evil dictator named Warhead. He declares himself ruler of Earth, and begins preparing to execute any humans who dare return to their planet.
Enter Vectorman, a humble orbot in charge of cleaning up toxic sludge by simply discharging it into the sun. As he lands on Earth after his last trip, he finds chaos and confusion. Because all the other Orbots are controlled by Warhead (Vectorman having not been affected because he was away), Vectorman takes it upon himself to destroy the errant orbot and restore peace to Earth.
Spotlight:Divinity 2 Ego Draconis (PC)
The story of Divinity 2: Ego Draconis takes place in Rivellon, a magical and timeless world populated by humans and fantastic creatures. Once beautiful, Rivellon is now shattered by the apocalyptic wars of the past. The war seemed to be over, but the peace was deceptive.
Players begin as a Dragon Slayer, hunters who travel the countryside, determined to rid their lands of dragons.
