The Hilarity of Breaking Dishonored

Even if a game like Dishonored presents itself very seriously, there are still options to exploit its mechanics for moments of levity. One of my favorite YouTubers, birgirpall, found a way to turn Dishonored from a tale of a man seeking revenge into a comedy factory. It may just be his Icelandic accent narrating the entire thing, but I haven’t laughed this hard in a while. There may be spoilers for certain scenes in here; I don’t really know, I haven’t played the game yet. Just a head’s up.

Sometimes it’s nice to remind ourselves that people stil play games for fun as opposed to just finding ways to complain about them all the time. Just thought I would share this with you guys to try and brighten your day. Enjoy!

New BioShock Infinite Trailer is the Beast of America

There may have been some crazy stuff going down at Irrational games over the past few months with some of its high-level designers leaving, but there’s no denying that BioShock Infinite is looking quite hot. It’s been a while since we’ve seen hide or hair of the game, but Machinima just released the Beast of America trailer for BioShock Infinite, and damn if it doesn’t get me excited. This game just needs to come out.

While I just couldn’t get into the first BioShock (I tried playing it about three years too late), I can tell that Infinite is going to push all my buttons in the best way. Leaping from cable to cable and blasting fools off floating cityscapes might just be too much fun. The game is still on track to hit its February 2013 release date. What do you guys think? Is BioShock Infinite still singing its siren song to you?

Total War: Rome 2 is Looking Super Impressive

One PC gaming series I’ve always admired is Total War, mostly because of its adherence to large scale, semi-historically accurate battles. Last year’s Total War: Shogun 2 took us back to medival Japan, and for the next installment, Creative Assembly is taking another crack at classical antiquity with Total War: Rome 2. A recently released video from the developers showcases the upgrades they’re making including the new cinematic camera.

The fact that this game is just pre-alpha is kind of astounding and I can’t wait to try out the finished product. Total War is one of those series that makes PC gaming really shine. What did you guys think of the video?

Get a Look at Halo 4’s Infinity Multiplayer

It’s no secret that Halo 4 has a lot to live up in in terms of multiplayer, but this new video from 343 Industries fills me with confidence that they can deliver. Working in collaboration with Certain Affinity, the development team that made the best maps for Halo: Reach, 343 Industries has retooled Halo 4’s multiplayer with their own spin on things. While Ordnance Drops and Load-outs do sound like they came right out of the Call of Duty playbook, combining them with everything else in Halo 4 just seems to work. Check out this behind the scenes look at Halo 4’s Infinity multiplayer mode and see for yourself.

I don’t know about you guys, but this video made me genuinely excited in a way I haven’t been in quite a while. 343 Industries might have a huge team of talented people and giant development budget, but they seem to genuinely care about giving players an authentic, but fresh, Halo experience. I’m particularly excited for Dominion, which may turn out to be what Invasion from Halo: Reach promised but ultimately couldn’t deliver. What do you guys think about Halo 4’s Infinity multiplayer? Are you on board? Did this video make you a convert, or are you perhaps more wary now?

Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn is a Surprisingly OK Live Action Adaption

Live action Halo adaptions have a lot to live up to, what with Landfall, We Are ODST and Deliver Hope setting the bar pretty high. Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn is set primarily during the United Nations Space Command’s war with the Insurection, years before the Covenant invasion. It follows the story of one Thomas Laskey, a new recruit at the Corbulo Academy of Military Science. Along the way, he ends up meeting the Master Chief, an event which changes his life and puts him on track to be a highly-placed office on the UNSC Infinity, the giant spaceship in Halo 4. You can check part one here, with part two after the jump.

Continue reading Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn is a Surprisingly OK Live Action Adaption

Take Up Ten Minutes of Your Day with SimCity Gameplay

One of the major reasons I upgraded my PC recently was to ensure that I would be able to enjoy the upcoming SimCity in all its simmy glory. It’s been far too long since we’ve had a proper entry in the series (the last being SimCity 4 in 2003) and this game looks like it will bring back all the fond memories I have of completely mismanaging my city because I’m really bad at financial planning.

There’s ten minutes of SimCity gameplay footage to watch, though, so go on. Take a look.

What do you guys think? Will you be getting the new SimCity?

Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes Trailer Sneaks Out

Wow. Nobody does a trailer quite like Kojima-san. The newest piece of the Metal Gear Solid franchise, Ground Zeroes, was announced last week at a Kojima event, along with the existence of a Metal Gear Solid movie. At the event, a secret trailer of Ground Zeroes was shown to the attendees — so naturally, that’s leaked everywhere now.

The (ridiculously gorgeous) trailer focuses on a prison camp, and a mysterious figure who visits a prisoner there. While it’s a long sequence, the last couple of minutes actually treat us to some gameplay — and, according to reports, the gameplay has now been transformed from the typical MGS model into more of an open-world stealth game, built around escape if your stealth attempts fail. It’s an interesting departure in terms of gameplay, one that holds a lot of promise to shake the series up a bit.

I think the most striking thing about the trailer (apart from the fact that you’re back in the shoes of an older Big Boss) is how beautiful the whole thing is. Running in-engine, the visuals are pretty unbelievable. Supposedly, Ground Zeroes will see its release this generation, not next. I’m not sure I believe it.

So what do you guys think? Does Old Big Boss still have some sneaking left in him? Do you think this is actually meant for this gen? Go!

A Hero Awakens in Halo 4’s New Vidoc

Hey, it’s been a while guys, but I’ve been busy with…stuff. Let’s not look to closely at my flimsy excuse, and rather take a gander at the new Halo 4 ViDoc from 343 Industries, which is, in a word, hot. Halo 4 is looking pretty good, and this new trailer does an adequate job of building the hype.

After 343’s attempts at cracking Halo into other mediums, I was a little concerned that they would have the chops to pull off a sequel to Bungie’s blockbuster series, but my fears are being slowly put to rest. I’ll reserve my final judgement for when I actually play the damn thing, but for now consider me on board. What do you guys think of Halo 4? Is this a must have?

CS: GO and Source Filmmaker Make a Beautiful Match

Yikes. Been a bit quiet around here at GamerSushi, what with everyone busily working on their backlogs and preparing for the fall blitz. One bright spot in a not-so-surprisingly dim summer of gaming is the release of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, which just graced monitors and TVs around the world this past week. It’s the first game I’ve played in a month or so regularly, and I find myself itching to jump into it almost every night. It feels like a great mix between Source and 1.6… and just feels like Counter-Strike again, which is hard to quantify, but easy to recognize once you experience it. And this is a good thing.

Even cooler? Valve’s treatment of CS: GO with Source Filmmaker. For any of you Leet World fans, you can imagine that this kind of caused some collective jaw-dropping with that particular gang. Lots of jaw-dropping indeed.

So, who out there has CS: GO? Drop your Steam name in the comments and let’s have some fun.

Trailer Trash: Call of Duty Black Ops 2

Trailer Trash

And we’re back, this time to do some trashing on Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. We talk about Old Snake, Call of Duty canon, Crisis on Infinite Earths and all kinds of other nerdy things. Like we do. Continue reading Trailer Trash: Call of Duty Black Ops 2

Planetary Annihilation is Real Time Strategy on a Solar Scale

Someone in the comments will probably point out how many times I’ve spoken ill of Kickstarter, but before you do that, let me take a moment to talk about Planetary Annihilation, a new Real Time Strategy game from the minds behind Supreme Commander.

There’s a trailer/pitch video for you to watch, but to be honest, the trailer part of it alone might sell you. Games like Supreme Commander are a rare breed, especially as the sequel was streamlined into a generic RTS. The original game was a massive battle between a bunch of different races on a huge scale, and Planetary Annihilation blows that out of the water. If turning asteroids into weapons of mass destruction sounds good to you, give the trailer a watch.

All I have to say is: yes, please. The art style and the mechanics really speak to me, and unlike a lot of recent Kickstarters, the folks at Uber Entertainment actually have some concept video to go with their pitch to let you know that they’ve already started working on it. What do you guys think of Planetary Annihilation? Does this look like something you could get behind?

Source – Planetary Annihilation

After Aperture: Chell’s Life Beyond Portal 2

And here we go, more good stuff out of Source Filmmaker. Created by my bud Zachariah Scott, After Aperture is just what it sounds like, a short piece about Chell after she escapes the infamous lab that specializes in portal science.

The description of the video on YouTube notes a few limitations encountered during its making. For one, Chell’s model doesn’t have a ton of facial animation possibilities, seeing as how the player is never meant to see her directly. So that certainly presents a challenge in terms of shot selection. Despite that, it’s definitely a nice piece, although it is just a bit of a preamble to another project that Zachariah is working on, one that I think will outclass it by far. Enjoy!

Thoughts? Got any other awesome stuff you guys have seen in SFM yet? Go!

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Multiplayer Looks Kind of Fun

If broshooters are your thing, you can’t really get much more bang for you buck than Call of Duty. Even with a new title releasing every year, there’s enough ranking and unlocking packed into the games to keep you busy for a while.

While the Call of Duty series has been waning in the eyes of the gaming public for while (to those of us “in the know”, at any rate), I’ve always appreciated Treyarch’s willingness to stick their necks out and deviate from the formula set up by Infinity Ward. Things like zombies, crazy Cold War conspiracies and now trips to the future are all helping to keep the series somewhat fresh while Modern Warfare approaches stagnation. The new multiplayer trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 shows you how you’ll be fighting in the future of 2025. If you thought that Call of Duty needed more ridiculous kill-streak rewards, then you’re in for a treat.

Walking tanks and helicopter drones and suicidal UAVs, oh my! The only thing missing from this trailer is the crazy customization that Treyarch packed into the original Black Ops, but I’m sure all of that will be revealed in another trailer closer to the release date.

So, what do you think? Does the multiplayer for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 do it for you? Is it worth going black to the future?

Assassin’s Creed 3 Drops the Hammer with the AnvilNext Trailer

No fooling, guys, this game just needs to come out. While you shouldn’t take my word on anything Assassin’s Creed related, given that I am a one-man Assassin’s Creed hype machine, you can’t deny that Assassin’s Creed 3 looks like an awesome leap up from 2. And when you consider how much 2 improved over the original, I expect that my mind will be blown, a phrase I don’t toss around lightly.

Ubisoft just put out a trailer for the new engine powering Assassin’s Creed 3, AnvilNext, and it looks hot. Seriously, check it out.

I do like that the music swell early in the trailer is accompanied by shots of people doing menial tasks. Regardless, I’m still high on the hype for this game and I can’t wait to get my grubby mitts on it in October. What do you guys think? Does Assassin’s Creed 3 continue to impress? How do you think AnvilNext will translate on the PC version?

Trailer Trash: Dishonored

Trailer Trash

So it’s been some time since our last (and only) Trailer Trash. But that doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten about the series, or you, our wonderful Sushi readers. If you don’t remember, Trailer Trash is a series where we trash on video game trailers, Mystery Science Theater 3000 style. Or, if you’re not familiar with that, just consider it a bite-sized version of our illustrious gaming podcast, where we say whatever garbage enters our minds and mouths.

Basically, it’s pretty entertaining. But I’m biased. Continue reading Trailer Trash: Dishonored

Practical Problems: A Day in the Life of a TF2 Engineer

Once Valve officially released Source Filmmaker to the public, it was only a matter of time before some fans would do some truly great things with it — after the slew of derivative “x movie in Team Fortress 2” videos, of course. Well, it seems we finally have a worthy machinima entry, straight from the fan community.

Sort of. Although James McVinnie is a Team Fortress 2 fan, he also happens to be a cinematic designer at Bioware. Which probably explains why his new short, Practical Problems, is so well done. In addition to spending 130 hours in both Hammer and Source Filmmaker to get the job done, James also worked with his friend Zach to do some motion capture work via 2 Kinects.

So, yeah. The results are rather entertaining, and quite faithful to the spirit of Valve’s own work with Team Fortress 2.

Thoughts?

Let it Snow with the Battlefield 3: Armored Kill Trailer

Oh, Battlefield 3, what a strange relationship we have. First I liked the game, then I hated it, and now I like it again. Fanboyism is a fickle beast (just ask BioWare and Blizzard), but as long as DICE keeps making quality expansions, I’ll be happy. Just don’t ask me about Battlefield 4.

Here’s the trailer for the upcoming Armored Kill DLC, thundering your way in September. Snow maps, everybody!

I think I posted on a Halo: Reach DLC trailer that I never expect the games depicted to turn out the way the trailers advertise, but with Battlefield, I can totally see everything happening. Charging through a rocket barrage while helicopters, jets and gunships clash overhead is just a normal game in BF3. What do you guys think? Excited? Sick of my roller-coaster affair with Battlefield 3? Come at me, bro.

Two Ways to Play Dishonored

One of the most anticipated games of the fall just happens to be one we had no idea about until just a few months ago. Bethesda and Arkane Studios’ newest property, Dishonored, promises to bring stealth and action gameplay in the vein of Deus Ex while adding an atmosphere and magic system more akin to Bioshock. The mash-up of all these things is something that is certainly exciting, and something that I’m looking forward to like crazy.

Lucky for us, then, that Bethesda has just released a couple of videos detailing how a player can tackle the same section of the game through various means. The stealth video features choke-outs, body possession, teleporting to sneak around your targets and all kinds of other goodies. Meanwhile, the action video features time-stopping, brutal knife kills and whirlwind-attacking targets straight through windows. So yeah, they’re kind of cool. Check them out.

Stealth:

Action video is after the jump! Continue reading Two Ways to Play Dishonored

Valve Releases Source Filmmaker, Meet the Pyro

It’s a good day to be a Valve fan as we’re being treated to two new releases from everyone’s favorite gaming company. First is Meet the Pyro, which finally takes us behind the mask of the mysterious flame-spewing class…kind of. It’s not the strongest of the Meet the Team videos, but it has its moments.

The big news though, is that Valve is putting out Source Filmmaker, and there’s a video you can catch after the jump. Continue reading Valve Releases Source Filmmaker, Meet the Pyro

Stay Frosty with 20 Minutes of Dead Space 3 Gameplay

EA’s E3 2012 press conference seemed prime for backlash, what with the DLC-promoting intro and the stale showing of some of the games, but the negative reception that surprised me most was directed at Dead Space 3. That franchise has kind of a soft-spot in my heart and I felt that many other gamers shared my affection but after the co-op footage showed off a new direction for the game, things kind of went south in the public’s eyes.

Visceral Games just put out a whopping 20 minutes of Dead Space 3 gameplay footage, so you can decide for yourself on whether or not Dead Space 3 is changing for the worse.

So, what do you guys think? It’s just a first glance, but how is DS3 shaping up for you? Will the third title cap off an excellent series? What do you think about the fact that EA has said that Dead Space 3 needs to sell five million copies to keep the franchise going?