Category: Video

XCOM Returns as a First Person Shooter

XCOM is one of the classics of the the PC gaming scene, an old-school strategy title where you waged war against alien invaders as the director of a Men In Black type organization. In the re-imagining of the series (done by Bioshock developers 2k Games), you still undertake the role of the leader, but instead of issuing orders from behind a desk, you step out into the field to meet the aliens mano a mano. A trailer dropped for the game during E3, and dang if it doesn’t look intense.

Set during the 1950s, this game bares more than a passing resemblance to another period-piece title from 2K that I mentioned above. While similarities aren’t exactly a bad thing, especially given the fact that this is probably the best team to turn XCOM into an FPS, it still remains to be seen whether this will help or hinder the game come release time. What do you guys think about XCOM? Eager to blast some symbiote-looking aliens, or upset about the change in genre?

Firefight Returns for Halo Reach

While last year’s Halo 3: ODST divided a lot of people with its price point and the short length of the campaign, I think that we can mostly agree that Firefight, the four-person co-op survival mode, was pretty freaking awesome. Players would band together against ever increasing waves of Covenant troops, competing for points but using teamwork to stay alive. Since Firefight was so well received, fans have been hoping and wondering if Firefight was going to make a reappearance in Halo: Reach, Bungie’s final (?) foray into the Halo-verse. Well, wonder no more, Spartans! Firefight is back and better than ever. Check out the trailer:

Just watching that trailer makes me salivate a little bit, because the thought of Firefight with Reach’s refined mechanics is a delicious one indeed. Better yet, the mode will feature matchmaking this time around, which was a point of contention when it was excluded from ODST. What do you guys think? Who here got even more excited for Reach, and who’s had their opinions changed?

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?

Russian Snack Company Wins the Internet With Their Commercials

You probably read that title and asked yourself “why is Mitch posting about Russian commercials?” Simple answer my friends: they are awesome, and video game related. The ads take two iconic video game franchises, like Contra and Tetris, and mashes them up in a versus setting. These ads have been running for quite a while, so there’s a few gems in there. The animated commercials are also a bit more mature than we’re used to in North America, but we’re all adults here, right? Catch Tetris versus Contra here, and Mario versus Pac-Man after the jump.

Contra versus Tetris:

Continue reading Russian Snack Company Wins the Internet With Their Commercials

Obligatory Viral Video Post: Mortal Kombat Rebirth

By Internet standards, this news is a couple of days old, so by now it’s practically ancient history. However, that hasn’t stopped people from talking incessantly about this brand new Mortal Kombat short film that made its debut on the tubes and swelled to mythical proportions in just hours.

Here’s the rundown: it’s a gritty, well made depiction of the Mortal Kombat universe with some excellent production values behind it. No, it’s not a trailer for a new game, nor a trailer for a new movie. It is, however, a brief proof-of-concept that director Kevin Tancharoen made to pitch to Warner Bros., in the hopes of getting a new movie produced.

While I’m not quite as enthralled as the rest of the Web seems to be over this, it’s still pretty damn entertaining, and would make a great opening to a potential new Mortal Kombat film. If this guy gets picked to bring the next one of these to life, then sign me up.

Killzone 3 Trailer and the Problem With Teasers

Killzone 3 was announced recently, so you know what that means: a teaser! Admittedly, this video is really cool, if a bit ultra-violent (it is also scientific proof that the Helghast are made out of wafers), but it also brings up a problem I’ve been having with trailers as of late. I recognize that companies like to build hype, and we as consumers like being strung along with as little info as possible (see LOST and any Halo game ever), but it’s getting kind of ridiculous. For games, I’d like to see something concrete as the money and time I’m going to be investing into a game is significant compared to a movie or a TV series. If I don’t like a TV show, I can stop watching, and movies are two hours at most and I can always walk out. If I return a game, I’m going to end up with a lot less money in my pocket, so I think the more gameplay in a trailer, the better. Take a look at the Killzone 3 teaser, and let me know if you agree:

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.

PS3 Owners: Soldner X-2 Brings the Good Stuff

One of the things that we seem to miss out on with this site is coverage of some of those random indie games. It’s not that we dislike them, it’s just that none of us are the kinds of people who really seem to seek them out and report on them. That’s why I love Bytejacker, a video game show on Revision3 that covers this topic terribly well, and gives regular folks like me the chance to see something I might have otherwise missed.

While watching this week’s episode, I caught sight of a game that I’m embarrassed to say I haven’t heard of before. It’s a straight up classic style shoot-em-up in the vein of the old R-Type games, and it’s only $12.99 on the PSN right now. It’s called Soldner X-2, and the only word I have to describe the way this game looks is “epic”.

Really, I’ll stop talking about it. Just watch the trailer.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ06n20AFbE[/youtube]

Has anyone heard of this game, and doesn’t it look awesome?

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?

Sega Announces Sonic Colors

So, full disclosure here: I originally had a very snarky post written out, lambasting SEGA for their strange choices regarding Sonic. Honestly, for every step forward they take, it seems that they are determined to take two steps back. For example, take a gander at the trailer for Sonic Colors, the newly announced Wii and DS title. It’s bright, it’s colorful, and it’s definitely targeted towards casual gamers. On the other hand, it does look like everything we want from a Sonic game: daytime levels and blistering speed. Apparently, Sonic can use the help of his alien buddies from the trailer to take new paths through the levels, like using the yellow guy to drill through the ground, and darn if that doesn’t sound cool.

Sounds neat, but I might pass depending on how Sonic 4 turns out. What do you guys think? Good or bad on SEGA’s part? Is this of any interest to you?

Halo: Reach – The Good, The Badass, The Ugly

Much to my chagrin, the Halo: Reach beta officially terminated as of last week, taking with it something that I found to be a great joy and a huge tease for the full release of the game, which is now confirmed to be September 14. As a bit of a Halo fanboy, I simply can not wait for this game, and I found the multiplayer to be everything I’ve loved about previous Halo games and then more when it came to gameplay.

Well, lucky for those of us feeling nostalgic about something that is just a week past, Bungie put together a little video tribute of Halo: Reach moments: The Good, The Badass, The Ugly. I should go ahead and spoil some of it for you and say that the elite bailing from the banshee and then using the jetpack to fly to safety is one of the coolest clips I’ve seen.

What are you waiting for? See for yourselves. Also, who participated in the beta, and who’s for sure getting the game when it drops this September?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdGl4KaoBm4[/youtube]

The Life and Times of Yoshi

This past Sunday brought us a fairly major landmark for the year in gaming in a brand new iteration of the Super Mario series. Super Mario Galaxy 2 hit store shelves, and from several accounts, it is pretty stinking good.

In honor of the game’s release, which now includes Yoshi, it seems that Nintendo has put together a little bit of nostalgia mining in the form of this Yoshi tribute video. It recounts his appearance in every game he’s been in, from Super Mario World through the Sonic Olympics. If you are into these games, it is certainly worth the watch.

So, who’s getting or has already played Super Mario Galaxy 2?

The Empire Strikes Back is 30 Years Old, and That Means a Lot of Hoth Levels

If you ask anyone with a brain cell what their favorite Star Wars movie is, chances are it will be The Empire Strikes Back. This movie has all the right ingredients to make a great film, and it’s surprisingly dark to boot. This is the first Star Wars film to show us just what the series is capable of out of the grubby hands of George Lucas, and I’m forever thankful to director Irvin Kershner for giving us this cinematic masterpiece.

My personal fawning aside, The Empire Strikes Back is also known for it’s cinematic Battle of Hoth which pits the Rebels against the titular Empire on the snowy wasteland planet. Naturally, such a big exciting fight is perfect fodder for video game recreations, and since 1982, we’ve had almost a dozen interpretations of the Battle of Hoth. Kotaku put up a nice post collecting all of them, but I’m going to share my favorites after the jump.
Continue reading The Empire Strikes Back is 30 Years Old, and That Means a Lot of Hoth Levels

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:

Bulletstorm Trailer Kicks it Old School

If you miss the days of yore for First Person Shooters, where it was you, a gun, millions of hostile aliens and no plot to get in the way, then you might enjoy the following trailer for Bulletstorm, the up-coming FPS collaboration from Epic Games and People Can Fly. If you played Painkiller, PCF’s previous shooter-oriented effort, then you know that they have a healthy thirst for crazy on-screen action. Bulletstorm looks to be a great spiritual successor to Painkiller’s legacy, allowing the player to use their massive boots to kick guys into cacti and laser whip them around. The video looks like it enables players to combo their attacks together for points, a “chain of pain” if you will.

What do you guys think? Is this on your radar now?

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 to Add Co-Op

So far, Bad Company 2 is one of my favorite games of the year, and one of my favorite multiplayer experiences in this generation. I haven’t had much of a chance to play the regular campaign all the way through, but one thing is clear: the game needs co-op. I’ve never really understood why it was left out of the game, when it is clearly set up as a squad of four badasses. It seemed to be totally begging for it.

Well, it looks like DICE is going to deliver that wish for myself and many others. At a time specified only as “soon”, they’re going to be adding a new co-operative mode for four players in Bad Company 2. It basically looks like Firefight or horde mode, but with objectives. I’m pumped about this. Who else is?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA8vuVwm-k4[/youtube]

Little Big Planet 2 Trailer!

Well, we all knew it was coming. Like any major videogame developer, Media Molecule is returning to the well of riches that was Little Big Planet, and unveiling a sequel to the hit PS3 game. The new Little Big Planet 2 trailer is full of tons of fun stuff, and great hints towards even more ambitious level design than the first game. It looks like players can create cooler stuff than the original, including creatures with their own AI as well as different modes. Rumor has it that someone has already created an RTS with it over at Media Molecule.

Can’t wait to see more from this. Thoughts?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs0T5l24JL0[/youtube]

Pop-Fiction Looks at Link to the Past Secrets

I have always been a huge fan of some of the retro looks that GameTrailers does in its numerous original videos. They do a really good job of taking a unique glimpse into some old favorites, and re-capping some lesser known facts about the games we’ve always known and loved.

Enter Pop-Fiction, their brand new gaming series where they test out gaming’s unsolved mysteries, one at a time. Think of it as a Mythbusters for old school games. Their first episode takes a look at the fabled Chris Houlihan room in Link to the Past. Very entertaining video, for sure.

So what are some of your favorite urban legends in video gaming? I think one of my favorite would have to be the Ermac character in Mortal Kombat.