Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Angry Birds, Dragon Quest, FIFA Soccer, and Silent Hill are the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
- BAFTA Games Awards: All the Winners from 2003 to Today
- Clair Obscur Completes the Sweep by Winning “Best Game” at 2025-2026 BAFTA Games Awards
- Boss Fight Books to Get a New Look for Richard Moss’s “Age of Empires”
- GDC Awards: All the Winners from 1996 to Today
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- Spore: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- We Pitched a Museum a 1993 Game Hint Line (And They Actually Said Yes) – Yarn Spinner (2026)
- The History Of The Word “Metroidvania” And How It Spread – A Critical Hit (2025)
- Creator of Hit Game Shovel Knight Is at a ‘Make or Break’ Moment – Bloomberg (2025)
- Shadow of the Colossus: An oral history – Design Room (2025)
Most Recent: PC
Square Enix Montreal’s Hitman game has been canceled
Square Enix Montreal opened in 2011 and its first mission was to create a new game in the Hitman series for next-generation consoles. It looks like that mission is a failure as VideoGamer has surmised that the project has been terminated.
According to the LinkedIn profile of Senior Game Designer Richard Knight, the new Hitman game was to be a “re-imagining” of the character, going back to the roots of the first game, echoing what happened with the new Tomb Raider. However, the news does not mean the end for the bald and barcoded Agent 47. Square Enix Montreal is still in business and has shifted its focus to the mobile games market. And one of their mobile projects is an as-yet-untitled Hitman game that will soon be making its way to a smartphone/tablet near you.
As for a next-gen Hitman game, Square Enix has handed the reins back to IO Interactive, the company that created he franchise. The company plans to focus “resolutely on the future vision for the Hitman franchise” and is already “in pre-production on a new AAA Hitman project.” However, it’s unclear whether that title is the same one that Square Enix Monreal scrapped, or if it’s something completely different.
2K Games will not produce Major League Baseball 2K14
In a move that’s just as heartbreaking as the strike of 1994, 2K Games has confirmed they will no longer continue their MLB 2K line of games. Furthermore, all online outposts for the series are gone… the Facebook page has been taken down, and the 2K website features no mention of the series (though the actual webpages remain, for now). The games have also been pulled from Steam and the Xbox Games Store.
2K told Polygon earlier today that they chose not to renew their license to produce games with Major League Baseball:
“We have decided not to renew our MLB 2K series for 2014. We are very proud of the achievements made by the MLB 2K team and look forward to their contributions to our future titles, including NBA 2K — our industry’s #1 rated and #1 selling basketball franchise.”
Without Major League Baseball 2K14, this leaves Xbox and Wii U gamers with no baseball title for 2014. As well as any PlayStation owners looknig for an alternative to Sony’s MLB 14: The Show, which is is set to be the only major player this season.
Game Informer reveals Evolve, a new game from the creators of Left 4 Dead
Today, Game Informer revealed the cover subject of their latest issue: Evolve, a new cooperative multiplayer game from Turtle Rock Studios, the minds behind Left 4 Dead.
The next-gen title, hitting stores this fall, follows the same basic premise as its zombified brethren. But instead of four survivors taking on an entire zombie horde, Evolve pits four alien hunters against one extraterrestrial creature. Before you start thinking, “Where’s the challenge in that?” keep in mind that this is one powerful alien. Not only that, but as the game progresses, your foe gets increasingly larger, and much stronger.
In addition to the standard cooperative mode, the game also features a cooperative/competitive mode, where one gamer plays the role of the alien. Like Left 4 Dead, the game is designed to be played again and again, with slight changes every time you play. More details on Evolve will be included in Game Informer’s February 2014 issue.
Evolve was originally set to be published by THQ, but when they went under the project was scooped up at auction with an astonishing $10.8 million bid by 2K Games. If the Turtle Rock’s previous outings are any indication, it’s going to be money well spent and one hell of a ride for gamers. Evolve will be available for the PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 this Fall.
The Walking Dead Season 2: All That Remains Review: Keeping That Hair Short
Please Be Advised… This review contains spoilers from Telltale’s The Walking Dead: Season 1.
When it was released nearly eighteen months ago, the first season of The Walking Dead was met with near-unanimous acclaim. Critics praised the game’s gripping story, deep characters, and heart-wrenching choices. The first season won several Game of the Year awards – deservedly so – and changed the way we look at narrative-driven video games. It even made Warp Zoned’s Apocalypse List for 2012. Having recently finished the first season in a matter of a few days, I can certainly agree with these sentiments. Never before have I been this emotionally involved in a game, and when characters I had grown attached to died, it hit me hard. Lee’s death was just as traumatic to me as it was to Clem, but we both knew we had to move on.
And here we are again, continuing our ride through Hell on Earth, hoping that one day we can find someplace safe, someplace secure. Someplace like home. It’s that hope that keeps us moving, keeps us alive. But after playing the first ten minutes of All That Remains, that hope was completely shattered, and I thought to myself, this is going to be quite the bumpy ride. (more…)
Alien: Isolation officially announced for late 2014 release
Well that didn’t take long. Sega has officially announced Alien: Isolation, just a few hours after Microsoft prematurely added a product listing for the game to Xbox.com.
Developed by Creative Assembly, Alien: Isolation wants to put the Alien back into games based the Alien film series and is ditching the Colonial Marines versus Xenomorphs style that has been used in most of the games based on the franchise. Eschewing the action-focused shooter model, the game is being developed as a survival horror where Amanda Ripley, the daughter of series star Ellen Ripley, attempts to escape from a single Xenomorph. Creative Assembly also plans to position the game as “lo-fi sci-fi” and they’re heavily leaning on the 1970s view of the future featured in the first movie.
Al Hope, the Creative Lead, said that the decision to base Alien: Isolation on Alien was made because, “[N]o one had created the game we wanted to play, which is one that captures the spirit of the original movie.”
Alien: Isolation will be available in late 2014 for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Creative Assembly has also uploaded a behind-the-scenes video where the developers discus the “Origins” of Alien: Isolation. You can find it after the break. (more…)
Alien: Isolation story, boxart leaked by Xbox.com
Kotaku outed Creative Assembly’s Alien project, Alien: Isolation, a few months ago. Today, a product listing on Xbox.com has confirmed the game’s title as well as the starring role for Ripley’s daughter, Amanda, and the presence of only a single Xenomorph:
Discover the true meaning of fear in Alien: Isolation, a survival horror set in an atmosphere of constant dread and mortal danger. Fifteen years after the events of Alien, Ellen Ripley’s daughter, Amanda enters a desperate battle for survival, on a mission to unravel the truth behind her mother’s disappearance. As Amanda, you will navigate through an increasingly volatile world as you find yourself confronted on all sides by a panicked, desperate population and an unpredictable, ruthless Alien. Underpowered and underprepared, you must scavenge resources, improvise solutions and use your wits, not just to succeed in your mission, but to simply stay alive.
As you can see, Xbox.com has also provided an early glimpse at the game’s box art. Alien: Isolation is in development for the “current-generation consoles” (obviously including the Xbox 360), “next-generation consoles,” and the PC. Hopefully, Sega will make an official announcement soon, but after the Aliens: Colonial Marines debacle, I understand why they’re being secretive about Creative Assembly’s Alien game.
Golden Pixel Awards 2013: What We Loved, What We Hated, and What We’ll Never Forget
2013 was an amazing year in gaming. While we got loads of sequels, we also got some beautiful new IPs, and plenty of new hardware to enjoy it all.
Naughty Dog took a break from Uncharted and gave us The Last of Us, BattleBlock Theater reminded us why we love The Behemoth, and Ken Levine and his crew unleashed BioShock: Infinite on the gaming world. And let’s not forget all the amazing ports, including Diablo III (on consoles), Fez (on the PC), and Hotline Miami (on the PS3 and Vita). Yes, this year took our breath away, and cramped our thumbs like the good old days of the NES. We here at Warp Zoned have been gaming our little fingers off the last 12 months, and we’ve been even harder at work the last few weeks trying to decide what we loved and hated about gaming in 2013. After several days of deliberation, here’s what we came up with. And now it’s time for us to get back to gaming… 2014 is ready for us. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Etcetera, Features, PC, PS3, Top Story, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged BattleBlock Theater, Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians, BioShock Infinite, Dead Space 3, Diablo III, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, Fire Emblem: Awakening, Grand Theft Auto V, Legend of Dungeon, Ridiculous Fishing, Super Mario 3D World, Tearaway, The Last of Us, The Starship Damrey, The Wonderful 101, Tomb Raider, TowerFall, Typing of the Dead: Overkill
WB teases Mr. Freeze story DLC for Batman: Arkham Origins
As promised, WB Games made a “big announcement” concerning Batman: Arkham Origins. As we were all ringing in the new year with parties and playtime, WB Games had a different kind of party in mind: Gotham City’s Humanitarian of the Year Awards.
The gala event will be held at Wayne Manor and will serve as the setting for a story-based downloadable expansion to Arkham Origins planned for release this year. A post on the Batman: Arkham Facebook page confirms that the party will have an ice theme, which likely means an appearance by Mr. Freeze. Further evidence can be found in Batman: The Animated Series, which set the first battle between Batman and Mr. Freeze at the Humanitarian of the Year Awards.
WB Games has promised that more details will be revealed soon.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Batman: Arkham Origins