SEGA has released a new live action trailer for their upcoming horror title, Rise of Nightmares, for the Xbox 360 with Kinect.
Author - Jerry Paxton
BioWare and Electronic Arts have released the “Fall of Earth” trailer for their upcoming action-RPG, Mass Effect 3.
Develop reports that THQ has begun closing down Kaos Studios, developer of the ill-received Homefront. Apparently, THQ is putting THQ Montreal in charge of the Homefront franchise for future titles. As of yet, it is unclear just how many people are losing their jobs and how many will be folded into the Montreal studio.
Update 1: THQ has confirmed to Develop it has made a “strategic realignment within its internal studio structure and is in the process of closing two locations: the company’s UK studio and Kaos studio in New York.”
While at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo, I was invited to come over to Paramount Digital Entertainment’s meeting room for a sneak peek at two upcoming titles. These sneak peeks were both under NDA and, actually, I still cannot speak of the second title just yet. The first title, however, is now free to preview and you will know it as the upcoming Star Trek.
The game is focused on being a co-operative experience, and players will undoubtedly get two very different games by running through it as Kirk then Spock, or vice versa. Spock tends to be a bit more stealthy and agile whereas Kirk’s tactics focus on offensive actions. In terms of its storyline, the game will serve as a bridge of sorts between the 2009 Star Trek film from J.J. Abrams and his upcoming 2012 Trek film. It is being penned by BAFTA winning author, Marianne Krawczyk as well as the writers/producers of the 2009 Star Trek film: Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman.
The demo we saw began with Kirk and Spock hurtling towards the besieged Enterprise by way of portable thruster packs, all while avoiding mines encircling the ship. The sequence was very exciting and the Enterprise looked VERY good. Apparently, this is because the digital ship model used in the game is the same used by the film’s CGI folk! After crashing landing, the two began moving through the ship looking for survivors and and some kind of answer as to what has transpired while they were on an away mission.
As it turns out, the ship has been attacked and occupied by hostile, unknown aliens who can infect humans with a deadly toxin. The third-person combat and cover system looked really solid, with the two character’s play styles very apparent. In terms of character advancement, this is done primarily through the use of equipment and weapon upgrades. Kirk’s “Captain’s Phaser”, for example, can learn a vaporize heavy attack which can 1-shot many enemies into atoms.
At one point, Kirk became infected by the toxin and Spock had to carry him to sick bay to destroy the pathogens in Kirk’s bloodstream. This was a minigame of sorts, with Spock handling the carry and disease-killing duties while Kirk fired at incoming enemy troops. According to the developers, this kind of mini-game is dynamic and (for the most part) NOT a scripted event.
The overall feel of the game, characters, and dialogue definitely felt like it was pulled right from the Trek universe created by J.J. Abrams. It should be a very fun multiplayer/co-operative experience when it launches next year (hopefully) alongside the next film.
Screens
After checking out the upcoming Star Trek game which is meant to tie together the first J.J. Abrams Trek film and his next, we got a chance to checkout the upcoming War of the Worlds title from Paramount Digital Entertainment and Other Ocean. The game is due out for Fall of this year on the Xbox LIVE Arcade and PlayStation Network.
After shuffling into a small, behind-closed-doors room at the Paramount meeting room, we got to checkout two of the game’s levels in play. The game takes its gameplay from the classic PC side-scrollers of the past like Prince of Persia. In the game, you play a man just trying to survive the Martian invasion. On the design-level, the game is best described as a hybrid of the novel and the 1950’s sci-fi movie. As you roam the decimated landscape, tripods marauding in the background, you will get narrations read to you by the likes of none other than Patrick Stewart. These narrations set the stage of what’s to come in the level and, well, it is just damn fun to hear Stewart narrate anything – he is so good at it!
The visual style is taken from games like LIMBO – aside from the human characters and up-close Martians, everything is set as a sort of silhouette. This dark style sets the tone of the game, and makes the green heat rays of the tripods that much more eerie as the stream past – undoubtedly wreaking even more havoc on the failing human military.
Throughout the level, the player duck and weaved between craters and under up-ended armored vehicles in order to escape the Martians. The game features a TON of rotoscoping. I forget exactly how many layers the developer said they had on the screen at once, but I am fairly certain it was over 50! The visual design really needs to be experienced first-hand, in-motion, to be truly appreciated. Unlike LIMBO’s fairly flat style, War of the Worlds has a LOT of depth to it.
War of the Worlds looks like it is shaping up very well and should prove to be a great play-through this fall (hopefully in time for Halloween season!).
Screenshots
While zipping back and forth between behind closed-doors E3 demos at the Square Enix booth, I happened by the room showcasing Tomb Raider – the upcoming reboot of the platforming franchise which started back in 1996. When the demo room opened up for the next group of media personnel, I made my eager way in and took a seat for what was to be a very intense experience.
The developers walked us through some of the gameplay sequences seen in the E3 trailer for the game – Lara waking up after surviving a shipwreck and escaping an underground tunnel system with a gaping wound in her side. What struck me most of all was just how dark and gritty the overall look and feel of the game was. Lara is beautifully rendered and the motion capture work is incredible in her movements and facial expressions. The entire thing almost felt like we were watching a movie – not a video game being played.
One of the key themes in the game is fire and water and how they interact. While hobbling about the cave system, the developer very clearly stated just how important fire was to Lara as it is one of the primary means to figure out in-game puzzles and overcome combustible objects, barricades, etc. In one scene, Lara had to destroy a wooden barricade that was just behind a waterfall. She had to figure out how to get a fire source behind the waterfall in order to ignite it.
Again, I can’t say enough just how incredible the motion capture work is here. Earlier in the level, Lara had removed a very large piece of wood from her side, leaving her clutching at it (as one would expect). The motion capture is so good that, the first time she jumped down from a box and recoiled to her side as the pain shot through her body, it literally made my butt pucker. Time and time again, my heart went out to this girl who never seemed to catch a break. If it was not one obstacle or murderous native, it was finding her mentor/traveling companion near death and it was up to her to retrieve his pack with medical supplies (and a radio transmitter) from a den of blood-thirsty wolves. The look on her face when her mentor then tells her she needs to climb to the top of a tower and place the transmitter above it was priceless and, again, I could not help feel something for her – the game demo literally ripped the emotion from my being. Too dramatic a statement? I digress…
Throughout her adventure, Lara develops what the game developers call “survival instinct”, a vision mode similar to that found in Batman: Arkham Asylum where she can see objects of interest and other plot points that don’t usually stand out. I am interested to see just how this is fully-used, but part of me also felt that it pulled the viewer out of the intense, movie-like experience that the demo provided.
Tomb Raider is going to be a very difficult game, not only to play but also to experience. It is Lara Croft’s gritty origin story full of blood, sweat, and tears. Gone, perhaps to the lamentation of some fellow geeks, are the over-sized breasts and witty one-liners. Instead, we are met with a scared, “real” woman who could easily be your sister or someone else you care about who is thrust into the most extraordinary of situations and made to temper herself into a survivor.
Screenshots
Another in our stream of random gameplay footage – here is some great video taken of Capcom’s upcoming Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City.
Our intrepid reporters brought back a lot of random gameplay footage for you this E3 week, including this footage from Capcom’s upcoming Dead Rising 2 DLC pack: Off the Record, which stars original game protagonist Frank West. Enjoy!
Harmonix has announced that on June 14th, the Rock Band Music Store would be receiving Singles From Avenged Sevenfold, A-Ha, Live & Chumbawamb.
Available on Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation®3 system (June 14):
- A-Ha – “Take On Me”
- Avenged Sevenfold – “Unholy Confessions”
- Avenged Sevenfold – “Welcome to the Family”
- Chumbawamba – “Tubthumping”
- Live – “I Alone”
- Live – “Lightning Crashes”
(These tracks will be available in Europe on PlayStation®3 system June 15)
These tracks will be available for purchase as individual tracks on Xbox 360, PlayStation®3 system and Wii. Tracks marked with “X” will include Pro Guitar and Pro Bass expansions for $0.99 per song.
Price:
$1.99 USD, £.99 UK, €1.49 EU (160 Microsoft Points) per song
$2.00USD (200 Wii Points™) per song
$0.99 USD (100 Wii Points/80 Microsoft Points), £0.59 UK, €0.79 EU per song for eligible Pro Guitar/Pro Bass upgrade
TopWare Interactive has released some new screenshots from its upcoming expansion to RPG Two Worlds II, called “Pirates of the Flying Fortress”. In this expansion, players will be able to become one of the famed flying pirates as they go about their pillaging ways. The expansion is due out this October.
