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Bethesda announces Wolfenstein: The New Order trailer, screenshots, gameplay info, & more

Action Adventure, FPS, Gaming, Trailers, Video No Responses »

May 082013

If you’re an old school FPS fan, chances are you’ve blasted away Nazi’s as B.J. Blazkowicz. The Wolfenstein series has enjoyed an overall successful run since it’s creation in 1992 and is finally getting a new entry in the series. Bethesda announced Wolfenstein: The New Order, developed by swedish game studio Machine Games. No gameplay video exists yet, but Bethesda released a teaser trailer which reveals a bit about the game’s tone and themes…

We also know that Machine Games used id Software’s ID Tech 5 engine and that it’s based in alternate universe version of 1960. Read the Wolfenstein: The New Order press release below…

The year is 1960 and the Nazi’s have won World War II. War hero B.J. Blazkowicz must launch an impossible counter-offensive against the monstrous Nazi regime that has conquered the globe.

Intense, cinematic and rendered in stunning detail with id® Software’s id Tech® 5 engine, Wolfenstein sends players across Europe on a mission to bring down the Nazi war machine. Infiltrate their most heavily guarded facilities, battle high-tech Nazi legions, and take control of super-weapons that have conquered the earth — and beyond. Wolfenstein is under development at MachineGames, a studio comprised of a seasoned group of developers recognized for their work creating award-winning games.

Wolfenstein: The New Order is scheduled for release in Q4 2013 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, and next generation consoles. And Beginning today, additional details about the game will be revealed in a series of exclusive feature stories with Gamespot.com.

Wolfenstein®: The New Order™ is a fictional story set in an alternate universe in the 1960′s. Names, characters, organizations, locations and events are either imaginary or depicted in a fictionalized manner. The story and contents of this game are not intended to and should not be construed in any way to condone, glorify or endorse the beliefs, ideologies, events, actions, persons or behavior of the Nazi regime or to trivialize its war crimes, genocide and other crimes against humanity.

Gamespot also did a feature describing the gameplay although they were unable to show the gameplay. Here’s what they said about the gameplay specifically…

Heavy feeling, 1960′s sci-fi weapons including a laser turret
Sliding feature allows you to quick get to cover, although there is no “cover mechanic”
Gameplay will encourage constant movement
Story driven, first person action adventure
Exploration and searching for features will happen alongside fast paced combat
Explore the Berlin catacombs in an underwater machine
Some robot enemies including robotic dogs and mecha suits
Interactive NPCs
Leaning feature allows you to shoot in unusual angles
Multiple choice scenarios
Single player only, no multiplayer

Wolfenstein: The New Order game screenshots & concept art via Gamespot…

Wolfenstein: The New Order trailer sceens…

From what we’ve seen, Wolfenstein: The New Order looks like it could be one of the best games this year. We’re really looking forward to it, although I’m a bit bummed there will be no multiplayer. Wolfenstein: The New Order is being developed by Machine Games and published by Bethesda. It’s due for a release date sometime late in 2013 for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC and next generation consoles (presumably including PS4).

Wolfenstein Official Website

Gameplay impressions and developer commentary on Gamespot

Review: God Mode (PS3 version), good cheap online fun

Action Adventure, Cheap Thrills, Gaming, Hands On, Reviews No Responses »

May 032013

If you’re a budget gamer who wants to play online, then good news comes in the form of God Mode. The story is simple, you’re a descendent of a god who was banished from Mt Olympus. Consequently, you’re a mortal who’s recently died. Now you need to fight your through the “Maze of Hades” in order to win your life back. To be entirely honest, that doesn’t really matter at all. The fun really starts once you join a game and start playing.

God Mode offers up some wholesome 3rd person shooting action which feels like a blend of Gears of War’s “Horde Mode” and Quake III Arena. The game can be played single player (although there is no campaign/story mode) or you can play online via LAN or PSN with 3 other players. Some smart design decisions were made, for example, there is no cover system, so no “sticking” to walls. As a result, gameplay is quick and frenetic with cover being offered in the form of objects on the stage, nearly all of which are destructible. Death matching isn’t offered, rather the entire game focuses on 4 players working their way through the mazes co-operatively. Enemies range from zombies and skeleton warriors to minotaurs and Atlas statues throwing giant globes at you. Stages are often finished off with a massive boss which requires the 4 players to work together. Weapons are pretty varied ranging from the SMG you start to other more exotic weapons like a vulcan cannon. Items and power ups are littered through out the stages which replenish your health, ammo and armor. Fighting my way to brightly colored power ups reminded me of my days playing Quake III (and similar arena FPS’s). To keep things interesting, there is also a minigame style stage in between the combat called “Gold Rush” which challenges you to collect the most gold coins inside of a quiet martyrium style building. Despite having a limited amount of maps/mazes (about 5), gameplay is kept fresh thanks to 45 different modifiers which greatly improves God Mode’s replay value. Modifiers randomly effect the gameplay in some way, for example all the enemies could become huge, or your weapon could change every 10 seconds. Some of the modifiers are also done just to throw you off including one that makes all the sounds high pitched and another that makes all the enemies smaller.

Visually, God Mode does surprisingly well, especially when considering it’s modest price tag. It looks about as good as any other contemporary action title out there. Backgrounds have enough variety to be interesting and characters have a familiar charm and style. The music and sound design won’t win any awards, but sufficiently fits the action in the game, which really takes the front seat here. I played the Playstation 3 version of God Mode which did suffer from some slow texture loading which was only noticeable in the beginning of a stage and did not effect the gameplay at all.

I have only 1 complaint with God Mode… It would’ve been nice if the console versions (PS3 and Xbox 360) had split screen. That is really a critical feature for console gamers and as a result made me play the game online with strangers rather than the friends I was sitting with.

Verdict: God Mode doesn’t do anything terribly original, but what it does do, it does with utmost enjoyable simplicity. If you’re looking to spend a good 20 to 30 mins playing a modern arcade style action game without any story to follow (and remember) then God Mode has the goods.

God Mode screenshots (photographed on flatscreen)…

On a side note, which doesn’t effect the game’s score, it would be nice to see Old School Games add more content to God Mode as time goes on, even in the form of DLC. Since it’s just a $10 game, compelling paid DLC would be appropriate if the added features offer good value.

God Mode was developed by Old School Games and published by Atlus. It is available for Playstation 3 (via PSN), Xbox 360 (via XBLA) and PC (via Steam) as a downloadable game.

God Mode Official Site

Call of Duty: Ghosts confirmed with teaser trailer & release date

Action Adventure, FPS, Gaming, Trailers, Video 2 Responses »

May 012013

“There are those who wear masks to protect themselves and there are those who wear masks to protect us all.”

That’s the theme of Call of Duty: Ghosts, the latest in the long running military FPS franchise. Activision confirmed what we reported previously, although the Wii U announcement is missing. So far, you can pre-order Call of Duty: Ghosts for Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC only.

Watch the Call of Duty: Ghosts teaser below…

The official description for the latest COD game goes as follows…

“The franchise that has defined a generation of gaming is set to raise the bar once again with the all-new Call of Duty: Ghosts. Published by Activision and developed by Infinity Ward, the studio that created the original Call of Duty and the critically-acclaimed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series, Call of Duty: Ghosts ushers in the next generation of the franchise, delivering a riveting all-new gameplay experience built on an entirely new story, setting and cast, all powered by a new next-generation Call of Duty engine.”

Call of Duty: Ghosts is being developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision. COD: Ghosts has a release date of November 5, 2013 and there will be a world premiere of Call of Duty: Ghosts on May 21, 2013 at the “New Generation Xbox Reveal”. This could also imply that it will be released on the next gen Xbox (Durango/Xbox 720/Infinite).

Call of Duty: Ghosts official site

Shinji Mikami reveals gameplay details for The Evil Within + New screens/images

Action Adventure, Gaming, Horror No Responses »

May 012013

For those curious about how horror mastermind Shinji Mikami’s The Evil Within will play, we’ve got some new details. Although it is apparent that the game will be played from a 3rd person perspective offering up a bit of shooting action, including aiming over the shoulder, this is the first bit of detailed information about the gameplay. Furthermore, we learn that the title wil be called “Psychobreak” in Japan. Mikami revealed the details below in a interview for German gaming site pcgames.de.

‘The Evil Within‘ is called ‘Psycho Break‘ in Japan because it’s easier for the Japanese to pronounce. He also went on to say why he chose the two words ‘psycho’ and ‘break’. He chose the first word ‘psycho’ because of the connection that word has to all of the psychological elements to the game. The reasoning behind the word ‘break’ is because the protagonist is overcoming horrible things, he is breaking through. Shinji didn’t give a reason for how the ‘the Evil Within’ name was formed but I think the name itself is a good explanation.
Detective Sebastian Castellanos is a strong character, his personality will be strong enough to deal with everything that is going on around him. Shinji doesn’t want to have that type of character that is going to be traumatized and suffer psychological damage. Shinji also went on to say that in regard to horror films, he is not a big fan of these characters that scream, runaway and lose their minds. He said that when he sees these types of characters, he thinks “just die already!”. He doesn’t want to have any of these types of characters in his game.
The reporter made a joke about Julie [Sebastian's partner] being like this and Shinji said no way would she be like that, it would just disturb the rhythm of the game – we have seen too many characters like this before.
Sebastian will go into an alerted state when there are enemies nearby. On his own he will go down into a crouch-like position. When Sebastian is alone again, he will go back into his normal stance.
The lighting in the game is a crucial element. The reporter was asking him to talk more about it and talk about the use of the lantern but Shinji said he doesn´t want to reveal any information about that yet. The reporter said jokingly ‘I´m betting the lantern will go out during a bad time?’ Shinji laughed and nodded his head.
At the end of the interview the reporter asked: Can you promise us that this game will make us pee our pants? Shinji´s response: Yes!
There´s practically no interface. Word labels for objects fade in and out when you get close to them.
There are not many sound effects and not much music. – Shinji did say that in regards to sound, it will be used to signal events and information. He also said how there will be enemies that we won´t be able to see but we will be able to hear them (I think this is like when you hear the Tank in Left 4 Dead but you don´t know where it is).
There is not much colour in this game
One of the traps you can use is a Nail Bomb. The reporter said that you can set them behind doors and underneath windows.
The game has a circular style menu for the inventory and weapons. You can also quick select items that have been assigned to the d-pad on the controller.
The camera will focus in a little bit over the shoulder when you are aiming with your gun.
The game is designed to be in cinematic widescreen and so, when you have the game set in normal 16:9 ratio, black bars will appear on the screen.

Also check out these new The Evil Within images from Famitsu…

The Evil Within (Pyschobreak in Japan) was developed internally under the codename Project Zwei at Tango Gameworks. It’s being published by Bethesda for Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC and next generation consoles. It will be released sometime in 2014.

The Evil Within Official Site

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