Modern Warfare 2 Screenshots.

For those of you interested in seeing how Modern Warfare 2 is shaping up graphically, IGN has got some new screenshots.

Aliens Vs Predator: Like the Movies, Only Good.

For those of you that don't play videogames and have only experienced this wet dream of violence through the movies...sucks to be you. Hopefully there are gamers out there old enough to remember the original Aliens vs. Predator game from a decade ago and won't be turned off by the lame movies, because this one's looking preeetty suh-weet.

Rebellion is back on the job and hopefully the fact that they haven't really made a good game since the original AVP just is a sign that they are only meant to make games in that series, not that they've lost their touch. OK...Rogue Trooper was decent.

Back to the main topic, the new Aliens vs Predator appears to be something of a reboot (man those are popular these days) as it's not a direct sequel. The game will be coming to the PC, PS3 and Xbox360.

Unlike the original which let you choose whether you wanted to play as Human, Alien, or Predator, this one takes a Call of Duty 4 approach and switches you between the 3 for each level. Apparently all that's been shows so far is the Predator side, but according to IGN, it's damn fun. Despite what you may think of the Predator, he's not a tank-like killing machine, he is a very ninja-like hunter whose main objective is to separate individuals from the crowd and take them down one by one. The biggest aid in successfully playing this way is undoubtedly the Predator's signature cloaking device, i.e. you go all shimmery and invisible like in the movies. Honestly, if you just think back to the Predator movies you'll have a pretty good idea of what's at his disposal. The aforementioned cloak, infrared vision, wrist-mounted extendable blades, that triangle laser-sighted gun (plasma caster), there's rumored to be that bladed boomerang from Predator 2, and perhaps coolest of all is the Focus visual mode.

Focus mode displays all kinds of information about your surroundings and enemies. Need to find your objective? Focus mode. Want to know what weapons that marine is carrying? Focus mode. Want to know if jumping to that bit of ground from a tree is going to make enough noise to attract attention? Focus. Mode.

Speaking of attracting attention, you can mimic a human voice in order to lure marines away. Since you can set traps with mines, or just rip his skull and spine out (and keep it as a trophy, literally) with your blades, this can lead to all kinds of sadistic fun. The same goes for aliens (well not the voice part, obviously...they don't' really talk) but killing them is a bit more of a challenge.

Now, if you've got an Alien at a distance, there's not much issue. One shot from your plasma caster and that Alien is a pile of entrails. The problem is that they like to move in packs and are very good at sneaking up on you. Once an alien is in close, you're in trouble. If you remember the movies, Aliens have acid blood. This means that if you're up close when you kill one, especially with your blades, you're in for a world of pain. Getting a corpse-full of acid sprayed on your face hurts...a lot.

But these aren't the only enemies. There's the obligatory Alien queen to take care of and somewhere out there lurks a Predalien, a mix of both Predator and Alien seen in the movie Alien vs Predator: Requiem. So if this game sounds pretty sweet to you, check out some more in-depth coverage over at IGN.

E3: Like Hannukkah for Nerds!

Only shorter. Yes, it's E3 time again. And with the Electronic Entertainment Expo comes a LOT of videogaming news. Every day of the event there are new announcements from every company, whether it's one of the hardware companies (Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony) or software (EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Naughty Dog, etc.) there's plenty to keep a gaming fan busy, which means there's plenty to keep a gaming blogger busy as well.
I'm going to do my best to keep up with all the major announcements and post them along with commentary in keeping with my sense of humor. All in an effort keep my theoretical readers entertained and abreast of what's going on, don't you feel special? If I do miss something, however, well...I don't care. But feel free to wine about it so I have something to ignore.
Happy E3!

Downloadable "Braaaaaiiinnns." Zombie Apocalypse.

Zombie Apocalypse. Just sounds cool doesn't it? Well sometime next month we'll find out if it plays as cool as it sounds when Konami and Nihilistic's game hits the Playstation Store and Xbox Live Arcade.

As you've probably guessed from the title, this game involves killing zombies, lots of them. This is a four-person top-down shooter that probably has more in common with Zombies Ate My Neighbors than Left 4 Dead (with a control setup akin to Geometry Wars or Super Stardust), but should satisfy fans of both.

Basically, you pick one of four characters (very reminiscent of Left 4 Dead) and then use everything from machine guns, flamethrowers and chainsaws to make the undead...re-dead. There are several environmental hazards to use in disposing of the zombies as well. An airport level, for example, has a running jet engine that you can push the zombies into, resulting in a satisfying spray of blood and gore.

Each "day" of this particular apocalypse will act as a level within the game, 55 in total. In typical videogame fashion, each level will get progressively harder with denser waves of zombies and even a few special zombies that are more dangerous. So far the game definitely looks to be as fun as a barrel full of...zombies...that you get to shoot at.

Let's just hope all the zombies are white (Caucasian? do we worry about political correctness here?) so we don't end up with another Resident Evil 5 fiasco. (Really people? They're videogames...about ZOMBIES. Lighten up.)

If you want to check out some more in-depth coverage on the game, head on over to the Playstation Blog.

Team Ico Project #3

So it looks like Team Ico has finally released something more on it's third game than that damn cryptic teaser image.

Or at least that's the word so far. This new video footage is from PlaystationLifeStyle.net, which is a rumor site, and is getting here through a story on joystiq. Rumor, however, does not necessarily mean false, and though the footage hasn't been confirmed, the opening scene does have a shot identical to the official teaser image. This game will be a follow up to the highly respected Ico and Shadow of the Colossus.

Now for a REAL Test of Hand-Eye Coordination. Rock Band: Unplugged

For those of you that didn't think the regular version of Rock Band was enough of a challenge to your motor skills, now Rock Band: Unplugged asks you to play the game and walk at the same time. Yes, Rock Band is coming to the PSP, welcome to the party.


Those of you familiar with Harmonix's first two outings, FreQuency and Amplitude, will find the most comfort in the gameplay of RB:U, since lugging around a drum set, or even a guitar, hampers the whole "portable" thing. For those that didn't support Harmonix in their earlier days, (shame on you, first of all; that's why I didn't link those two titles, look them up yourself) what this means is that you play with just the face buttons of the PSP (well, two face buttons: Triangle and Circle, and two D-Pad directions: Left and Up) rather than plugging in a plastic instrument. While this will limit most people's ability to effectively "rock out" with such moves as air kicks and powerslides, you're better off not performing such moves while waiting on the subway platform anyway. Feaux rockstar stage antics aside, Harmonix has already released the complete track listings for the game which I will present to you...now:

AFI - "Miss Murder"
Lush - "De-Luxe"
Alice in Chains - "Would?"
Mighty Mighty Bosstones - "Where'd You Go?"
All-American Rejects - "Move Along"
Modest Mouse - "Float On"
Audioslave - "Gasoline"
Motorhead - "Ace of Spades"
Billy Idol - "White Wedding Part 1"
Nine Inch Nails - "The Perfect Drug"
Black Tide -"Show Me the Way"
Nirvana - "Drain You"
Blink 182 - "What's My Age Again"
The Offspring - "Come Out and Play (Keep 'em Separated)"
Bon Jovi - "Livin' on a Prayer"
Pearl Jam - "Alive"
Boston - "More Than a Feeling"
The Police - "Message in a Bottle"
Dead Kennedys - "Holiday in Cambodia"
Queens of the Stone Age - "3's and 7's"
Foo Fighters - "Everlong"
Rush - "The Trees"
Freezepop - "Less Talk More Rokk"
Siouxsie & the Banshees - "The Killing Jar"
Jackson 5 - "ABC"
Smashing Pumpkins - "Today"
Jethro Tull - "Aqualung"
Social Distortion - "I Was Wrong"
Jimmy Eat World - "The Middle"
Soundgarden - "Spoonman"
Judas Priest - "Painkiller"
System of a Down - "Chop Suey!"
Kansas - "Carry on Wayward Son"
Tenacious D - "Rock Your Socks"
The Killers - "Mr. Brightside"
3 Doors Down - "Kryptonite"
Lacuna Coil - "Our Truth"
Weezer - "Buddy Holly"
Lamb of God - "Laid to Rest"
The Who - "Pinball Wizard"
Lit - "My Own Worst Enemy"



And if this is the first you're hearing about this game you can check out a hands-on that ign did awhile ago here.

Soul Calibur: A Tale of Swords and Portability

First: Project Soul is working on yet another Soul Calibur game. Second: It's on PSP. Third: It's looking pretty damn good.

Yup, that's pretty much the gist of it. Another entry in the venerable Soul Calibur series, this time portable thanks to the PSP. So the next time you want to take a giant axe to the obnixous toolbox on the bus, you can! So long as he has a PSP...or you're ok with substantial prison time. If it's the latter please move away from your monitor and to the nearest psychiatric hospital.

Now, for all you non-sociopaths, this entry comes to us under the title of Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny. If you're looking for an entirely original entry into the series with all the requisite upgrades...well you're deluding yourself. This is more or less a portable version of SCIV sans Star Wars characters (Mitsurugi FTW!).

At least one thing you can be assured of already is that the title looks fantastic for a portable game. And yes, if anyone actually has to ask, Ivy still looks like a surgically enhanced, bondage-fetish slut. Thank God/How immature.

Free Fists of Plastic!

There's something of a deal going on at the Playstation Store right now, and that deal is Ragdoll Kung-Fu: Fists of Plastic.


I remember when this game was originally released for the PC via steam, but since then it has apparently made the move to consoles, remaining a downloadable title.
The game is free for one week on the Playstation Store, and since it is quite fun, I highly recommend adding it to your hard drive.
You get yourself a little plastic action figure/ragdoll, customize to personal preference, and then beat the crap out of similar characters. You aim your attacks with the left stick, punch with square, kick with triangle, jump with X, and block with circle. There are some SIXAXIS dependant special moves as well. At first these seem completely unnecessary (and probably are) but it's somehow fun to jerk your controller left and watch your character go flying left on the screen.
The single-player mode is really just a set of tutorials, and there's no online functionality, but if you have some live, tangible friends by your side, there is fun to be had. The lack of online play really hurts the game, but you CAN fill in slots with bots, and since the game is at it's best with all 4 player slots filled, you would be best served to make use of said bots. The multiplayer has standard modes like deathmatch, king of the hill, and capture the fish (flag) as well as the somewhat unique Dodgeball. Dodgeball still plays like a deathmatch but has a deathdealing dodgeball that will kill any player it hits in a single blow and is probably the most standout of multiplayer modes. There's a decidedly Super Smash Bros. feel to the game, with the fast-moving chaos of fighting and random weapons/powerups that fall from the sky, but Ragdoll Kung-Fu definitely does not live up to the same standard of quality as Smash Bros.
That said, the chaotic gameplay, jerky motion-sensitive special moves, and general sense of humor make this game a worthwhile download...while free. Once May 21st hits and the game goes back to its regular retail price of $10 however, you'd be better off spending your money elsewhere. And good luck getting the annoyingly catchy theme song that plays from the XMB out of your head. "Aaaaaahhhhh Ragdoll Kung-Fuuuuu..."

Apocalypse Later. Darksiders: Wrath of War

So ign has a pretty nice pre-E3 preview of THQ's Darksiders: Wrath of War up. The game seems to be shaping up pretty well, but I still find it annoying there has yet to be any mention of this game's original announcement back in 2003 as a PS2 game, but maybe that's because the only known details at the time were that you played as at least one of the Four Horesmen attempting to stop the coming apocalypse...I don't know.

The graphics, especially on some of the characters, still kind of bug me. In some shots they look just fine, yet in others look almost as if it's from the latest World of Warcraft expansion (easy WoW fanatics, the art direction is excellent, but technologically speaking it's definitely last-gen). Like I said, something's just...off. The game is still in development though, so I'll save final judgement until then.
Anyway, if you're interested in more detail on the game than my rambling will get you, I advise you to check out the preview.

Bionic Commando

Well, yet another game about saving a city after a cataclysmic explosion got reviewed this week, this time it's Grin-developed Bionic Commando. This follow-up to the classic NES game (which received a remake last August, also handled by Grin.) is available on the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.
There are two reviews you can check out, courtesy of joystiq and ign, both of which paint the game in a pretty favorable light.
The general setup is as follows, series protagonist Nathan "Rad" Spencer (yes...I know, but ridiculous names are what you get when your game is based on a title from the '80s) has been imprisoned for the past 10 years after being framed for a crime. Said framing is also responsible for creating a negative attitude towards any bionically-enhanced persons. So Nathan sits in prison with only one arm (I get you don't like bionics, Ascension City, but not even a prosthetic?) until a terrorist group sets of a big explosion that levels Ascension City and commanding officer Super Joe (damn you '80s) sets him free to put a stop to the terrorists.
Commando Nathan is promptly reunited with his arm and regains the Bionic prefix before setting of for all kinds of swinging, gunplaying, car-throwing, dreadlock-having gameplay. From what I've read there are a few issues with the game (slow start, rigid linearity) that chip away at its overall quality but since I haven't played it you're probably better off reading through the reviews on either site (or both!).

Uncharted 2: Six Minutes of "Hells yeah!"

Although I doubt anyone out there is anticipating Uncharted's sequel quite as much as I am due to my rampant Naughty Dog fanboyism, (any job openings, guys?) you can probably still appreciate this nearly six minutes (5:40) of gameplay footage from Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, courtesy of ign.


First, put on some sort of protective headwear in case of an actual mind-blowing, then click here.

Sucker Punch delivers inFAMOUS or inFAMOUS delivers sucker punch?

So developer Sucker Punch's latest game inFAMOUS is about a week away from release now, close enough for it to be getting review scores from some of the bigger gaming publications (both print and digital) and if Metacritic is any indication, Sony has nabbed itself another slam-dunk exclusive for it's Playstation 3.
For those of you that haven't been following the game, inFAMOUS gives you an open-world city (Empire City) in the vein of Grand Theft Auto 4 while adding the "climb whatever you want" headline of Assassin's Creed and a dash of electricity based superpowers for protagonist Cole.
The story goes like this: Cole is a bike messenger, just a regular guy, until one of the packages he's delivering goes "BOOM!" As in a city-levelling "boom." So the city's left more or less destroyed, the government's quarantined it (I wonder if that took as long as it did to get water to the Superdome?) and Cole's left in a coma. That is, until he wakes up with more electricity at his fingertips than someone wearing wool feety pajamas in house made of shag carpet.
The game then sets off to let you fill your superhero/supervillain fantasies in pursuit of an answer to the question "Do you save it all, or destroy what's left?" that was asked in the inFAMOUS debut trailer. What this means is you'll spend the game facing morality choices determining if you're a good witch or a bad witch...I mean superhero. Some of these choices are obvious ones that the game points out to you by actually pausing things and asking if you want to be good or bad, others just depend on how you act throughout the game; do you drain passerby of their body's electrical energy to refill your own powers or maybe use your hands as defibrillator's on the heart failure victim laying on the sidewalk? The bigger morality choices that the game points out to you are in fact handled slightly better than the choices offered in other games where morality is a factor in gameplay; there's actually realistic justification for the "bad" decisions. In fact, "selfish" or "benevolent" are more accurate desciptors than "good" or "bad."
All in all inFAMOUS sounds like it fully delivered on its awesomeness quota. With the PS3's recent ability to pump out truly AAA exclusive titles one after another the only thing that really seems to be holding back the system's success is Sony's refusal to drop the price low enough to not require a payment plan. Oh well, there's always "surprise" E3 announcements. And here's to hoping God of War 3, Heavy Rain, and Fat Princess keep up the current trend.