Category: PC

Fallout MMO Beta Site Launched

Fallout Online

For many months now, there has been a rumored Fallout MMO in the works, with Interplay and Bethesda caught in a slight legal debacle over the rights to the game. The codename for this game has been Project V13, and while it wasn’t scheduled to go into public beta until sometime in 2012, it seems that things might have changed. A new Fallout Online site has been launched by Interplay, with a flash animation, some artwork and even a form to register for the beta as well as regular e-mail updates. I guess they’ve had their issues worked out, recently?

This is potentially pretty cool news, even though I have yet to finish the game. The Fallout world is a really rich one with plenty of great locales to visit, and tons of room for player exploration. I think it’s exactly the kind of property that lends itself perfectly to an MMO, so the developments here should be fun to see. If any of you are interested, head on over to the site, but just be warned that it’s loading a bit janky right now because it’s servers are no doubt being beaten like a drum.

So what do you guys think of this? Who’s going to sign up?

Source- Blues News

Check Out These Star Wars: TOR Gameplay Clips

I know that Bioware has shown off little bits of The Old Republic gameplay here and there, but I’ve largely been avoiding it so I could see a more lengthy piece that showed a healthier stretch all together. Well, because of E3, we’ve gotten several of those in a row, taking us on a small quest through numerous classes.

In terms of the gameplay, I’m not quire sure how I feel about it. It doesn’t appear particularly exciting, but then again I’ve never played an MMO. In terms of MMO combat, this is about as exciting as it gets, from watching friends play WoW. It’s also fairly impressive that the entire thing is going to be voiced, which is a gigantic undertaking for that many quests.

What do you guys think? Check out the lightsaber gameplay below, along with the other class videos after the jump. I’ve even included the video that tells you all about ships, which act as the players’ homes in the MMO.


Continue reading Check Out These Star Wars: TOR Gameplay Clips

TOR: Hope of Alderaan Trailer

While the Ubisoft press conference was mostly a complete and utter disaster today at E3 2010, EA came through with some nice tidbits and announcements. In particular, there was this rad Star Wars: The Old Republic trailer called The Hope of Alderaan, which has some spectacular jedi on dark jedi action sequences. Sure, it flies in the face of Canon possibly, but who cares, because it is epic.

Still no word on a release date or some official gameplay footage yet from Bioware, but hopefully we’ll get some more information about either of those sometime later this week. We’re running on a couple of these great trailers for the last two years with no idea of when we can expect to see and play this game. Get a move on, Bioware!

Fallout: New Vegas Trailer Hits the Strip

After Fallout 3 consumed my life with its cornucopia of post-apocalytpic goodness, I’ve had my eye peeled for anything pertaining to a follow up to that excellent title. As luck would have it, Bethesda contracted Obsidian studios to craft the spin-off, and for all intents and purposes, it looks like it’s shaping up to a worthy successor. A new trailer for the game hit the internet to lead into E3, so let’s have a watch, shall we?

One thing I really like is the juxtaposition of the cheerful swing tune with the bad-ass combat that’s happened on screen. Another thing I like? Slow motion walking in front of explosions. What about you guys? Are you going to go all in on this one, or will you fold?

GameCop Vs LameCop Vs PsychoCop: E3 Edition!

It’s been a couple of months, and many of you left feedback that you love the GameCop vs LameCop vs PsychoCop feature, so we thought we’d do an honorary E3 rumor edition!

If you’re unfamiliar with this feature, we discuss gaming issues and we switch roles each time. The GameCop is looking out for you, the gamer, while the LameCop is just what he sounds like: kind of a lamewad. Meanwhile, PsychoCop is a troll in every sense of the word, and completely bat poop insane.

In honor of next week’s E3, we have a completely intellectual debate regarding the status of several E3 rumors, including Hulu coming to the XBox 360, Rockstar pulling out of E3, and Valve’s special showing.

Enjoy!
Continue reading GameCop Vs LameCop Vs PsychoCop: E3 Edition!

Today’s WTF: Dragon Age Anime Incoming?

DA animeAdmittedly, I’m probably not the best person to debate the merits of transferring video game franchises into an animated format, but I guess that Halo: Legends sold well enough to encourage other publishers to take a crack at it.

EA and BioWare recently announced that they’re teaming up with FUNimation to bring Dragon Age to home video with a feature length film. You may know FUNimation from their long career of importing Japanese cartoons to North America, most notably the Dragon Ball series. Of course, any video gamer worth their salt knows of Dragon Age, the epic medieval fantasy RPG that was lauded by critics and players alike as the premier RPG of 2009. The game has already seen a novel tie-in and a comic book deal, so an animation project really isn’t that far fetched.

While Halo: Legends may have soured me on this kind of endeavor, the fact that this is a full length film instead of several shorts may address some of the things I found lacking about Legends. What do you guys think? Anyone on board for a Dragon Age anime?

Source: EA

Multiplayer Map Hall of Fame

You may or may not remember a feature we did some time ago titled the Video Game Level Hall of Fame, where we showcased and discussed some of our favorite single player missions or levels from video games. That got such a huge response, and I have no idea why I never followed up with it. Maybe because I am often too busy snacking on Fail crackers, or something. Who knows?

Anyway, I thought I’d remedy the situation by bringing a Hall of Fame feature back in full force, this time branching over into solo’s sister, multiplayer. Today, we’re taking a look at some of gaming’s best multiplayer maps of all time. Now, as before, this isn’t an end-all list, and it is not in any particular order. There will be several iterations of this feature, all highlighting different entries. Continue reading Multiplayer Map Hall of Fame

Deus Ex Human Revolution Trailer Might Blow Your Mind

I know that we have quite a few Deus Ex fans on this site, so this post is especially you for you. If you were unaware, a trailer for the newest entry into the franchise (and prequel to the series), Deus Ex Human Revolution, just hit the good ol’ webz today, and holy cow if it isn’t pretty awesome.

I don’t mean to hype this trailer up too much, but I’m seriously damn impressed by it. I don’t know a thing about Deus Ex, its world, the main character, or how any of the game plays, but I immediately want to go find out everything I can about it right now.

On the real. You need to watch it.

Does anyone else wish this was a movie after watching it? Because I certainly did.

Earthworm Jim HD Has Co-Op

Um… want?

On June 9, the Earthworm Jim HD remake is coming to XBox Live Arcade, and will follow on the PSN one month later. Gameloft released a brand new trailer for the game today, which included this little tidbit: the game will now include a 4 player co-op mode. For the old school retro lover in me, this is quite the bombshell. I can’t wait to play this.

Anybody else jumping in?

Rumor: Mass Effect Going Multiplayer?

mass effect mmo rumor

Mass Effect 2 is one of the premier games of this year, and indeed, this generation. While the game could stand a bit of a slimming down in some areas (pre-patch mining being a good example), what could BioWare add to future iterations of the series? If you suggested multiplayer, it looks like you’re on the same page as the revered WRPG developers, as they’ve recently posted a few job openings for their Montreal, Quebec studio advertising Multiplayer Programmer positions.

Part of the job will be taking “existing single player experiences and making them multiplayer safe”, and ensuring that “the game engine and game systems work reliably and efficiently in a multiplayer environment.” While the job listing doesn’t state what kind of multiplayer the Mass Effect developers have in mind, it seems pretty clear that the studio is going to be making the jump very soon.

The posting doesn’t out and out say that Mass Effect 3 will be going online, but I wouldn’t rule anything out in that regard. Mass Effect 2’s engine was really, really solid so it could probably handle co-op play. Further speculation could point to a Mass Effect MMO, and, to use a term Eddy once coined, that very thought gives me a mind boner.

So, what do you guys think? Are you on board, and what do you predict will come of this? Is Mass Effect 3 going to have Team Deathmatch, or is this more of a long term goal for the series?

Edit: The posting has since been updated to exclude the mention of Mass Effect, so here’s the original blurb, to clear up any confusion:

We are working on Mass Effect, one of the industry’s most beloved and acclaimed franchises, as we build our way toward becoming a fully self-sufficient BioWare studio. If you want to help us achieve our mission of delivering the best story-driven games in the world, and you dream of being part of a dynamic, talented and focused team, now is the time to get onboard.

Source: Kotaku

Call of Duty: Black Ops Trailer Dishes Gameplay

Well, that was fast. Only a few weeks after the teaser trailer, Activision and Treyarch have dropped another video for Black Ops on us, bestowing us with visions of the upcoming Vietnam-era (and beyond?) shooter. While the trailer is pretty light on story, it does show stoic men with firearms and plenty of explosions, and isn’t that what we want from Call of Duty? Take a look and tell us what you think:

Epic Games Moved to Consoles Because of PC Piracy

pc gamingMany of us know Epic Games for their successful stop-and-pop 360-exclusive shooter Gears of War, but before they made it big on Microsoft’s home console Epic was widely known as a PC-centric developer. Unreal Tournament has been a staple of arena-style multiplayer games on the PC, but Epic’s heyday as a big time PC developer is long gone.

While many of the company’s fans bemoan the studio’s shift in focus, Epic president Mike Capps says that the move from PC to console was one of necessity, citing PC piracy as the major reason for the change. Speaking recently to Edge (via 1up), Mr. Capps said that the studio still loves the PC, but they saw how piracy killed a bunch of great independent developers and lead to a conversion of business models.

Mike Capps isn’t all down on PC gaming, though, and he feels that the platform might eventually see a comeback, possibly through Facebook. While that isn’t the resurgence many of us were hoping for, we have to remember that the often looked-down upon casual games (like Ubisoft’s Petz series) subsidizes the production of larger, more “hardcore” games.

I know that we have a fair few PC gamers on this site, myself included, and I spent a lot of time in my youth playing Unreal Tournament against the AI because I wasn’t allowed on the internet. Although Epic’s console offerings have been mostly decent, one has to wonder how different the market would be today if Gears had launched as a PC title first. What do you guys think? Is piracy actually to blame, and will PC gaming make a Facebook comeback?

Source: 1up

Call of Duty: Black Ops Brings Back Dedicated Servers

black opsLike many of the PC gaming faithful on this very website, I was a bit dissapointed in Infinity Ward’s decision to use a peer-to-peer matchmaking service for their multiplayer. While it was fun for a bit, the amount of glitchers and hackers I would run into during every single match became a bit much. I quit playing that game in January, and I haven’t looked back (mostly because of how awesome Bad Company 2 is).

With a new Call of Duty on the horizon, you would expect developer Treyarch to continue on with IW’s plan of no dedicated servers, right? Fortunetly, Treyarch is thinking for themselves this time around, and studio head Mark Lamia recently went on record with PC Zone (via CVG) saying that he thinks, quote:

…dedicated servers are excellent. I don’t see any reason not to see them unless… well, I just don’t see any reason not to.”

Honestly, I think this is good news for the Call of Duty franchise. When you take out dedicated servers, and with it the ability of admins to moderate the player base, what you get is an unholy mess, where only those with the latest aimbot hack comes out on top. I’m still not digging this new Call of Duty that much, but at least it’s a step in the right direction. What do you guys think? Good news? Enough to get you to purchase yet another CoD?

Source – CVG

The Games of E3, In List Form

E3 2010As we talked about in our stupendously awesome podcast the other day, next month marks one of my favorite gaming times of the year: E3. It has seriously always been my goal to attend this one day, even if it suddenly turns lame and un-fun. PAX is as close as I’ve gotten to an event of this magnitude regarding video games, so hopefully one day I’ll be able to see the sacred halls of E3 as well.

E3 2010 promises to be a big year for the expo, what with all the Natal and Move stuff that Sony and Microsoft will no doubt be showing. It also makes you wonder if Nintendo’s packing something up its sleeve to prove that it is the dominant and forward thinker that it seems to be in terms of what the masses want this generation.

Honestly, I can’t wait to see what unfolds, which is why I’m superbly giddy about this awesome list of E3 games that IGN posted. There will be an unbelievable amount of games on display, though it seems that folks like Nintendo are being coy about what they’ll be showing off. Meanwhile, Sony’s bringing more games than I realized they would be. And no doubt Microsoft is hiding a few up its sleeve as well. I’m also noticing Valve’s absence…

Anyway, hit the jump to see the full list.
Continue reading The Games of E3, In List Form

Warhammer 40,000 MMO to be Announced at E3

WH40KIt’s kind of inevitable that, at some point, all the MMOs in the world will finally join servers and hook into their players to form giant living batteries to power their machines of war as they trundle across the Earth, destroying the last holdouts of the human race. Until that happens, we get to play all the neat titles that are coming out from this ever expanding genre.

World of Warcraft has a firm and irreversible death grip on the market, there’s no denying that. When your player base produces enough capital to surpass the gross national product of a small nation, it’s pretty much a given that you’re on easy street. Where other MMOs need to strike their claim is the territories that WoW hasn’t expanded into yet. The most recent example of this is Star Trek Online, which had boring ground combat but apparently had some of the best space battles in a game so far. It won players based on that merit alone, so I’m interested to see what the 40K universe can produce.

For those of you who are maybe unfamiliar with this particular franchise, Warhammer 40K is a futuristic tabletop miniatures game with several races, all of whom can find some reason to fight each other. The game is well known for both its dark and gritty tone and its ever evolving design. I’ve been in and out of that particular scene for a while, mostly because of the prohibitive price, but I can see myself playing the MMO.

What about you guys? Does this interest you, or are still against MMOs? Are you holding out for Star Wars: The Old Republic?

Source: Kotaku

Review: Splinter Cell: Conviction

splinter cell
Splinter Cell: Conviction is one of those games that was very close to never seeing the light of day. Originally due back in 2007, the game was put in to numerous holds and has gone through several revisions. Many of you probably remember the earliest demos of the game which depicted a scraggly, bearded Sam Fisher slipping through crowds and knocking out cops. This version of Conviction, affectionately called “Hobo Fights” by some due to Sam’s unkempt appearance, eventually got canceled but had some of its innovations make it into Assassins’ Creed (blending in to crowds, and the like).

Against all odds, the Splinter Cell franchise has returned to the gaming scene, but with a few changes. Gone is Sam’s transient-inspired appearance and the notion of mixing with the public; Conviction now features a Sam Fishers out for revenge, trimmed up and ready to fight. But after so many delays, does the game feel like a finished product, or is it spreading itself too thin?
Continue reading Review: Splinter Cell: Conviction

Today’s WTF: StarCraft II Lands an “Adult-Only” Rating in South Korea

leaf graphicI think if we tallied up the amount of “WTF” posts we’ve done on GamerSushi, I would imagine that StaCraft II would probably walk away with the proverbial crown of shame. Whether you’re paying for the game in three easy installments, or losing out on LAN gaming, Blizzard’s “it will get here eventually” game is building up a lot of strange press.

I think that this newest piece of SC2-related news might take the cake, though. If there’s one country in the world that loves themselves some StarCraft, it’s South Korea. Honestly, your country has to love a game for the developer to reveal the trailer for one of the most hotly anticipated titles in recent history there. StarCraft is a national pastime in Korea, but it looks like the sequel might not make it to that status.

The Korean Ratings Board has slapped the sci-fi RTS with an Adults-Only rating, citing violence, foul language and depiction of drug use as the reasons. Honestly, how violent is this game going to get? Typically, Real Time Strategy games are played from a top-down perspective, so I can’t image the gameplay being too over the top. Perhaps the game’s cut-scenes are to blame?

How do you guys feel about this? Is the anyone out there playing the Beta that might be able to comment on the violence issue?

Source: 1up

Crysis 2 Makers Call Out More Games

Uncharted 2 Vs Crysis 2Dang. I always knew that Crysis sported itself some pretty graphics. Gorgeous, even. But I didn’t realize the original Crysis was such a groundbreaking smash of a hit in terms of narrative. Or at least, that’s what its writers and creators seem to think.

Earlier this week, Crysis 2 writer Richard Morgan called out Modern Warfare 2 for its story and its narrative. Then, he proceeded to follow that up with a shot at Halo, calling its archetypal characters “bullshit”. While it’s one thing to nip at the heels of the big dogs, it seems that Crytek isn’t quite done taking shots at other games. A new interview with the company’s CEO, Cevat Yerli, has now added Uncharted 2 to the list of giants that Crysis 2 is trying to fell with its stones of wordy criticisms. Here’s what Yerli had to say about the game.

It’s really great, and that’s an alternative style, but I don’t think they do justice to the medium of game. I think Mass Effect 2 is doing a better job to the game market, although it’s a completely different style to us, rather than Uncharted 2 or Modern Warfare, for that matter.

Say what you will about whether or not Richard Morgan or Yerli is right about any of the stuff they’ve made bold claims about with Crysis 2… but these dudes are dropping some major gonads down on the table. I mean, seriously, this game’s story had better start blowing some mothers out of the water with its brilliance when this game comes out.

Personally, I think their comments about Modern Warfare 2 are totally justified, and the ones about Halo slightly less justified (but not wrong), but calling out Uncharted 2 as not doing videogames justice seems a little out in left field for me. And this is coming from a guy who loved Mass Effect 2 just as much.

What do you guys think? Are these guys biting off more than they can chew? Have they been right about their comments?

Source- VG247

Review: Just Cause 2

just cause 2You’re dropped onto a tropical island playground with a reusable parachute, a grappling claw, and the ability to take thirty bullets to the face and survive. What do you do? Well, if you’re Rico Rodriguez, the protagonist of Avalanche Studio’s open world adventure Just Cause 2, you blow stuff up. I mean, sure, you can collect resource crates, hijack a variety of vehicles and earn some cash on the side, but the main objective of Just Cause 2 is to make things explode.

More than any other open world game out there, Just Cause 2 is about freedom, and it isn’t about to let silly things like a coherent narrative and tasteful voice acting get in the way. No, from the minute you’re dropped onto the island until the moment you actually bother to take on an assigned mission, you can pretty much do whatever the heck you want. Unlike a lot of other sandbox games, which shoe-horn you into a ridged progression before you’re allowed to access the cool stuff, you can hop into a jet and lay waste to military bases within the first half-hour of Just Cause 2’s campaign. But is the game worth a purchase?
Continue reading Review: Just Cause 2

Crysis 2’s Writer Slams Modern Warfare 2

crysis 2First Battlefield Bad Company 2 takes a swing at Modern Warfare 2, and the newly-announced Crysis 2 is attempting to kick them while they’re down. EA Games recently revealed a trailer for the up-coming military sci-fi First-Person-Shooter, and now they’re trotting out the various people who are working on the game to let you all know how awesome their game is.

One such person is Richard Morgan, who you may or may now know of as the 2003 winner of the Philip K. Dick award for his novel Altered Carbon. Turns out he’s also a huge video game nut and he’s stoked to be penning the story for Crysis 2. As a video game junkie, he’s probably played a few of last year’s mega-titles, and in a recent interview with CVG, he’s let the world know that he doesn’t have a very high opinion of Modern Warfare 2:

“I thought Modern Warfare 2 was an immense disappointment,” he said.

“It was a massive stepdown from CoD4. What I thought when I played it was, ‘Jesus guys, what have you been doing? You’ve not ramped anything up. The story is worse and the game doesn’t really hang together, it’s just a bunch of mission levels.

He goes on to say that the whole campaign was basically “bad storytelling”, and that Infinity Ward were “too impressed with themselves”; he also states that Modern Warfare 2 was “the same but…way worse. And it cost more money”. While taking pot-shots at the competition is nothing new in the video game industry, he did have a few good things to say about Uncharted 2, praising how developers Naughty Dog created an excellent storytelling vehicle.

You talk a big talk, Mr. Morgan, but let’s not forget that the first Crysis had a story that didn’t amount to much either. You’ve got some big shoes to fill, but you definitely seem to be qualified for the job.

What do you guys think about these comment? Any of you PC guys worried about Cyrsis 2 making the jump to consoles? What’s your opinion on the trailer? Finally, is anyone going to get this game?

Source: CVG