Most Recent: PC

Brink Hands-On Preview: Bringing the Customizable Fun

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Brink was playable at PAX East this weekend, and it was fun. Not that I’m surprised – I’ve been kind of keeping myself out of the loop for this one on purpose because everything I hear is more of what I want, and that makes me want to remain spoiler-free. But being in the media makes it impossible to do that, and I was excited to get some hands-on time with the game. Brink is being developed by Splash Damage and published by Bethesda, and focuses on the acrobatic parkour style that’s becoming more common in games (see also Mirror’s Edge). There are two factions, the Resistance and Security, who are vying for control of a city called the Ark. The Ark is a floating city, built to house 5,000 people – but now, Earth has been flooded, and tens of thousands more fight to take control of the city, which is now on the “brink” (see what they did there?) of a civil war. (more…)

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“This Ain’t No Place for a Hero” – Batman: Arkham City gameplay trailer revealed

Posted on March 15, 2011 by John Scalzo

WB Games has uncloaked the first gameplay trailer for Batman: Arkham City. The two minute clip is titled “This Ain’t No Place for a Hero” and details the dangerous days (and wide open world) of the new Arkham City. Hugo Strange, Catwoman, Two-Face, Harley Quinn and The Clown Prince of Crime himself all make an appearance in the trailer, which closes with someone telling The Joker “It was all a lie, there’s nothing wrong with you.”

Batman: Arkham City will be released for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on October 18.

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Interview: Augmenting Deus Ex: Human Revolution With Game Director Jean-Francois Dugas

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Warp Zoned Staff

One of the more high profile developers we got to interview at PAX East 2011 was Jean-Francois Dugas, Game Director on Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Eidos Montreal hopes the upcoming sequel will establish the franchise as a dominant force in gaming, but it’s been a long journey for Dugas and his team in their attempt to accomplish that. Throughout the interview we talk about the challenges of reviving an older franchise, their unique relationship with their Japanese publisher, Warren Spector’s feedback, and influences from movies to anime to Metal Gear to… Professor Layton? (more…)

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Prey 2 stalks PC, PS3, Xbox 360 in 2012

Posted on March 14, 2011 by John Scalzo

Bethesda Softworks has announced they plan to publish Prey 2 for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2012.

First announced back in 2008, the Elder Scrolls publisher acquired the rights to Prey 2 a year later. The game is being developed by Human Head (who also worked on Prey) and will make use of the id Tech 5 engine.

“We are thrilled to be working with Bethesda on Prey 2,” said Chris Rhinehart, project lead. “Prey 2 will provide gamers the opportunity to explore a new facet of the Prey universe, one that offers fast-paced action in an open, alien world. We’re excited to show gamers the title we have been working on and hope they will be as excited by this title as we are.”

More information on Prey 2 will be revealed in the May issues of Official Xbox Magazine and PlayStation: The Official Magazine.

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Battle: Los Angeles sneaks onto XBLA

Posted on March 14, 2011 by John Scalzo

While Aaron Eckhart and the rest of the Battle: Los Angeles cast were pushing the movie to a blockbuster debut at the box office this weekend, Konami was quietly adding the film’s Xbox 360 adaptation to the Xbox Live Arcade.

Available to download for 800 Microsoft Points ($10), Battle: Los Angeles was developed by Saber Interactive as a first person shooter companion to the film. Players are placed in the boots of Corporal Lee Imlay as he fights the interstellar invasion alongside characters from the movie. Xbox 360 owners with a 3D TV will be able to splatter the aliens in style with a special stereoscopic 3D mode.

Battle: Los Angeles will be available to download through the PlayStation Network on March 22. It’ll also be added to Steam sometime later this month.

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Deus Ex: Human Revolution inspired by Blade Runner, RoboCop and… Professor Layton?

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Warp Zoned Staff

Eidos Montreal set up shop at this weekend’s PAX East show to talk about their upcoming game Deus Ex: Human Revolution. The prequel to the Warren Spector-created series will be released for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on August 23.

We had an opportunity to sit down with Game Director Jean-Francois Dugas at the show. During the interview we talked about the challenges of reviving an older franchise, their unique relationship with Square Enix, Warren Spector’s feedback, and what influenced the team during the development of the game:

Dugas: [W]e look at everything around. Of course, we looked at Blade Runner, we went back even to RoboCop. We even watched Johnny Mnemonic again.

Warp Zoned: Ohhh no!

Dugas: Haha, yeah, but there are good ideas in that, even though it’s not a great movie, so you really need to have an open mind. And even the not so good stuff might be interesting anyway. We also went into Japanese anime like Ghost in the Shell, but also things like Solty Rei. I don’t know if you heard of that, it’s more obscure.

We also went into books about transhumanism, real stuff that’s non-fiction. Watched a lot of documentaries about a lot of things. So our sources of inspiration weren’t necessarily sci-fi driven, they were about everything that relates to our game. Like anticipation of the future, transhumanism, how to create good cyber punk setting, it was all over the place.

Even Professor Layton inspires me! (laughing) I love that game!

You can read our full interview with Jean-Francois Dugas right here.

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New Releases: Homefront, Okamiden, Yakuza 4, More

Posted on March 12, 2011 by John Scalzo

The Spring thaw is doing more than raising the mercury in your thermometer, it’s also bringing more big games to stores.

This week, THQ’s Red Dawn-inspired war game, Homefront, will be released on the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. In fact, Red Dawn director John Milius was heavily involved in the creator of Homefront’s storyline.

Other big name releases this week fall into a few well known franchises:

  • Capcom will release Okamiden, pint-sized spinoff of Okami, for the DS
  • Sega brings Kazuma Kiryu back to America (but keeps the game’s Japanese sensibilities intact) in Yakuza 4 (PS3).
  • Andre Agassi serves up his first video game appearance in over 15 years in Top Spin 4 (PS3, Wii, Xbox 360).
  • And finally, Sega will release Total War: Shogun 2 on the PC.

The full list of the rest of this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)

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Red Faction: Armageddon blows **** up real good with Ruin Mode

Posted on March 11, 2011 by John Scalzo

Do you love the sound of breaking glass? Then Red Faction: Armageddon‘s “Ruin Mode” is for you:

Introducing Ruin, Red Faction: Armageddon’s mode dedicated to pure destructive mayhem. Choose your weapons, enter the arena, and unleash hell. Chain together explosive combinations for bonus points, and compete with your friends’ high scores on the online leader boards in Challenge Mode. Or engage in untimed Free Play rounds in which you explore the surface and seek out its most destructive secrets. As you destroy all that you see around you, your creativity will be rewarded.

Check out the trailer above to get a taste of Ruin Mode or play it for yourself at THQ’s booth (#956) if you’ve got tickets to this weekend’s PAX East.

Red Faction: Armageddon will be released for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on May 31.

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