Electronic Arts and PopCap have released a brand new trailer for Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 as part of today’s San Diego Comic-Con festivities.
The trailer focuses on the “Seeds of Time” map, which takes players on a whirlwind tour of history through prehistoric dinosaur days, ancient Egypt, and ancient Rome. It also rattled off many of the games features including the inclusion of over 100 “crazy” characters, 12 new Battlegrounds, 24-player online “mayhem,” four-player online co-op, a two-player splitscreen mode, and Solo Play.
Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 will be available in Spring 2016 for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
During E3 2015, Sony used its press conference to announce that the long-awaited sequel, Shenmue III, would be coming to the PlayStation 4. In the days since, the consolemaker has confirmed they will be helping with development costs, though the game was initially launched on Kickstarter by Ys Net, the studio responsible for the game’s development. The team, led by director and producer Yu Suzuki, could not have asked for a better setting to make the announcement. The game set a new record for reaching the $1 million mark on a crowdfunding platform, managing to hit that figure in 102 minutes, and then passing by its $2 million target in a little over nine hours. It has now gone on to become the second most-funded game ever.
Of course, this stunt has once again raised ethical questions about large corporations testing the waters with crowdfunders. Yu Suzuki was forced to clarify how the Kickstarter funds would be used once it was revealed Sony would be stumping up a sum of cash to complete the game.
Regardless of whether you believe it was morally dubious or not, let us now turn our attentions to a trio of gaming projects that cannot rely on a big E3 announcement to secure funds. We start with ship-building shooter Defect, before revisiting an old classic in Disciples of the Storm, and finishing with the cel-shaded, self-referential side-scrolling platformer The Nascent: An Anecdote of Aetherholme.
Slightly more than a year after it was first announced, The Behemoth has finally settled on an actual name for Game 4, their upcoming strategy RPG for the PC and Xbox One. Ready? Here it comes…
“Game 4 will henceforth be known as Pit People.” Confused? I’ll let the developer explain:
The Pit is the place where our story’s heroes get a fresh start in life! It’s basically what you and I know more commonly as an arena.
Pit People was the name written on the original concept sketch that started it all. Every interaction took place in an arena. Over time, adventuring became a big part of the game. However, a key moment in the story now occurs in the Pit, and so the name remained! In the end, we’re in the beginning!!!!!!!!!!
With a shiny new name all picked out, The Behemoth has also opened Pit People’s official website, which is packed with trailers, screenshots, and in-depth details on the game’s development. However, one hting you won’t find is a release date, as Pit People’s launch date is still “To Be Announced,” or more accurately, “When it’s done.”
Yoshinori Ono, the Executive Producer of Street Fighter V at Capcom, is heading to Brazil. More specifically, he’ll be attending this year’s Brasil Game Show to announce a new character addition to Street Fighter V. Ono teased this announcement in the trailer embedded above by revealing the game’s Brazilian stage.
Hmm… a Brazilian stage… an announcement in Brazil… this can mean only one thing… E. Honda is coming to Street Fighter V! Wait, wait, wait. On second thought, I’m not sure that’s correct. Let me try again. I’m sure to get it right this time…
Blanka is coming to Street Fighter V! Yup, that makes a lot more sense.
The 2015 Brasil Game Show will be held from October 8 through October 12 at the Expo Center Norte in Sao Paulo.
There’s an absurd number of t-shirts today! But you’ll have to wait to get through all these deals before you can see them!
There are some pretty good sales happening right now at the Humble Store. Legend of Grimrock II is $6.99, Shadow Warrior is $6.99, Limbo is $3.99, and Escape Goat 2 is $4.99. I’m tempted to get Heavy Bullets, which is on sale for $1.99.
I was never a fan of Peanuts when I was a kid, mostly because the majority of it was written well before my time, though I did enjoy the holiday specials. But I have to admit, I’m not a fan of the newfangled CGI look the film has adopted. That said, I am a fan of the companion game, The Peanuts Movie: Snoopy’s Grand Adventure, based on the reveal trailer.
In The Peanuts Movie: Snoopy’s Grand Adventure, Snoopy explores the fantastical worlds of his imagination to track down Charlie Brown and his friends in an intricate game of hide-and-seek. As he follows their trails, Snoopy will acquire new costumes (based on his many alter egos) that provide unique abilities for overcoming obstacles and reaching new levels, including flight stages that let him take off as the Flying Ace. From the jungle to Paris to the moon itself, each environment is painted gorgeously in the same visual style as The Peanuts Movie to bring to life every colorful detail of Snoopy’s wild daydreams. The game also includes voice talent from the film.
The Peanuts Movie: Snoopy’s Grand Adventure reminds me of old school platformers, though maybe I’m just nostalgic to see a 2D platformer get a physical release. Since they’re directly basing it on the movie, and it’s staring everyone’s favorite cheeky fictional dog, there’s a good chance this might even be a good game. The art style has an almost clay look to it, and you’ll have plenty of abilities to unlock, along with help from a potential second player as Woodstock (he can also be computer-controlled assistant if you’re by yourself). And the whole point of the game is to collect jelly beans! How old school is something as trivial as that? Well, I’m excited at least.
The Peanuts Movie: Snoopy’s Grand Adventure will be available on November 3 for the 3DS, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. If you’re attending this weekend’s San Diego Comic-Con, a playable demo of the game will be available at the Peanuts booth (#1637).
Batman: Arkham Knight will travel back in time to explore the untold history of Barbara Gordon’s Batgirl in the Batgirl: A Matter of Family expansion. WB Games will release A Matter of Family next week, but first, they’ve decided to give gamers a sneak peek at the add-on (including Harley Quinn in her classic harlequin costume and the return of Mark Hamill as The Joker) in this brand new trailer.
However, savvy comic readers might know exactly how A Matter of Family will end. The expansion follows Batgirl (and Robin) to an abandoned amusement park, where the pair will attempt to rescue Commissioner Gordon from the clutches of The Joker. This same scenario was used in Alan Moore’s The Killing Joke, the famed Batman book where The Joker shot and paralyzed Batgirl. These events would eventually lead to her rebirth as the Oracle that Arkham players know and love.
But the Batman mythos is nothing if not adaptable, and its possible that Rocksteady and WB Montreal will write a different ending for the world’s most famous librarian.
Batgirl: A Matter of Family will be available for the PS4 and Xbox One on July 14 as part of the Batman: Arkham Knight Season Pass. Everyone else will be able to purchase the expansion for $6.99 beginning July 21.
Prison escape strategy game The Escapists proved to be pretty popular for Team 17, and the developers have responded by expanding the game with a series of donwloadable content. Now, the UK-based team is going back inside with a sequel/spinoff based on The Walking Dead, because by law every game franchise eventually has to add zombies.
The Escapists: The Walking Dead looks to be completely different than anything Team17 has done before. Whereas the original game required strategic planning to break out of a modern prison, this time around players will experience a more linear escape situation, along with a recurring narrative, in a hospital.
If you’re anything like me, you’re just disappointed it doesn’t have anything to do with the excellent Telltale series. An 8-bit Rick Grimes leading a group to safety will have to do.
The Escapists: The Walking Dead will arrive on PC and Xbox One later this year. But interested fans can try it out this weekend (July 10 and 11) at the Walker Stalker Fan Fest, which will take place at Petco Park in San Diego.
There’s an absurd number of t-shirts today! But you’ll have to wait to get through all these deals before you can see them!
