With the two-part film adaptation of The Hobbit not due in theaters for another year, the chances of getting a quality The Lord of the Rings game before that seemed slim to say the least. So imagine my surprise when an M-rated title that pulls from both the films as well as the expanded universe materializes from the vapor. The team at Snowblind Studios are no strangers to loot-heavy hack-and-slash, with the solid Champions of Norrath and Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance both under their belt. And with The Lord of the Rings: War in the North, they’ve used their past experiences to forge a fun, although flawed, fantasy experience.
At a recent preview event, the developers stressed how this game was built around the concept of the Fellowship. Instead of following the events of the films verbatim, the game places you in control of a trio of warriors — a human Ranger, an elven Loremaster, and a dwarven Champion — with a journey that runs concurrent with Frodo’s. Your party of three can be filled with any combination of A.I. and human partners — the latter of which can be provided via splitscreen or online.
In 2009, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves was developer Naughty Dog at the top of their craft. The studio that brought us Jak and Daxter successfully delivered a fantastic treasure hunting adventure that pushed the limits of player-driven action sequences and in-game cut-scenes. But it helps to remember that Uncharted 2’s campaign wasn’t a huge deviation from the first game. Instead, Uncharted 2 showed that the developer learned from their mistakes, and could implement better level designs, pacing, and technology — and the results were spectacular.
But it’s hard to be the third chapter of any mega-popular franchise, and that statement holds true across all mediums. If you can’t recall a beloved series that fell below the mark on its third entry, allow me to quickly refresh your memory: Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Spider-man 3, X-Men: The Last Stand, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Terminator 3, Superman 3, Rocky 3, and Godfather III were all disappointing third chapters that started a downward spiral for some of our favorite characters and worlds.
Existing OnLive members should have been notified by now that they can get any full PlayPass title for $1. That’s thanks to a Facebook promotion to get 10,000 new Likes, which was easily accomplished. Should enough Likes continue to be gathered, new OnLive members will also have the chance to get in on the deal and pick up any game on the service for just a buck.
In terms of specific sales, with Grand Theft Auto III celebrating its 10-year anniversary this week, a number of places are offering it and other GTA games for cheap. The best GTA deal is GamersGate and Steam offering the Complete Pack for $12.50 and $12.49, respectively. That consists of every numbered GTA game, San Andreas, Vice City, and the two expansion packs for IV. For such a low price, that is a phenomenal deal even if you already own chunks of the series. And if you do, the PC versions could offer something new for you with the extensive mod support that’s out there.
Eight years after it was first adapted into a videogame, another game is being developed based on comic book series XIII.
This was revealed by a teaser released by French publisher Anuman Interactive. It mentions that players will be able to go back to the origins of the conspiracy in November on several platforms: PC, Mac, iPhone, and iPad.
XIII was first turned into a game in 2003. A cel-shaded first-person shooter, XIII (pictured above) starred David Duchovny in the titular role of XIII, an amnesiac who works to uncover the plot of a conspiracy. It was quite the apt role for someone who played Fox Mulder for the better of a decade on The X-Files. The XIII comics themselves were based upon The Bourne Identity novel released in 1980.
It was ten years ago this month that Grand Theft Auto III was released. It was preceded by two games and two expansion packs, yet it wasn’t until III that the series became the influential juggernaut it’s known as today. Its open-world action led to countless clones and essentially started a new genre; now you’ll have the chance to play that monumental game on your phone.
Rockstar has announced it plans to bring GTA III to a select number of iOS and Android devices. On iOS, only iPad 2 and iPhone 4S will be compatible. Supported Android phones include the Droid X2, HTC Evo 2, LG Optimus 2X, Motorola Atrix, Samsung Galaxy S2, while Android tablets include the Acer Iconia, Asus Eee Pad, Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. These are only the devices that will be supported when the game launches later this fall; more may be added later.
There is a Grand Theft Auto game on the iOS App Store already, Chinatown Wars, but that uses the top-down perspective seen in the first two GTA games. To think we’re at a point where a phone can play a game my PC used to struggle mightily with (unless I kept the camera pointed at the ground at all times) is incredible.
Ico and Shadow of the Colossus are two of my favorite games of all time, but I had not so much as touched the pair of them since their initial years of release. Both games completely drained me emotionally, which may be a reason why I haven’t revisited them over the past decade. Because of this, I approached The Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection for PS3 with the sort of reserved excitement one has before meeting up with a close friend after a long-time spent apart. It’s easy to remember the great times you shared, but there’s still a lingering uncertainty about how the reunion is going to play out. Did I change? Did they? What if we’ve both grown past the things we once shared in common?
It turns out I have changed, and so have these two games. But what hasn’t is my unadulterated love and admiration for everything they have to offer. Each title is presented with more than just a fresh coat of paint. Credit needs to be given to Bluepoint Games, the team that handled the remastering duties on both titles. Gone are nagging framerate drops and muddled textures that plagued both titles. With these hiccups gone, we’re finally allowed to appreciate the stellar art direction without being forced to endure slowdowns. In fact, before the end of their opening cinematics, you’ll be so engrossed in the experiences that you’ll forget you’re playing games that are five and ten years old. This collection is the realization of a pair of singular visions that was beyond the capabilities of their medium at the time.
Final Fantasy XIII has been a long time coming, and no doubt part of that is because it’s the first big PlayStation 3 game for Square Enix. But as it turns out, there’s another reason for the long wait: It started its development life on the PlayStation 2.
“Final Fantasy XIII was originally meant to be a PS2 title, but we had to switch systems due to the arrival of the PS3,” said producer Yoshinori Kitase to the Dutch version of Official PlayStation Magazine (as translated by FinalFantasy-XIII.net, via VG247). “That cost us about one and a half years and was constantly a case of trial and error.”
So what did this ill-fated PS2 version of Final Fantasy XIII look like? Thanks to a book covering all things FFXIII recently released in Japan called “Scenario and Battle Ultimania,” we can see for ourselves — it provided screenshots from what were apparently two different builds with wildly different graphical styles, and FinalFantasy-XIII.net again comes through with a few (very blurry) scans. Check out two shots below of the versions of FFXIII that were not to be.
With only about a month to go, Activision has revealed the complete 85-song setlist appearing in their upcoming music game Guitar Hero 5, scheduled for release on September 1. Here’s the tracklist:
3 Doors Down – “Kryptonite”
A Perfect Circle – “Judith”
AFI – “Medicate”
Arctic Monkeys – “Brianstorm”
Attack! Attack! UK – “You And Me”
Band Of Horses – “Cigarettes, Wedding Bands”
Beastie Boys – “Gratitude”
Beck – “Gamma Ray”
Billy Idol – “Dancing With Myself”
Billy Squier – “Lonely Is The Night”
Blink-182 – “The Rock Show”
Blur – “Song 2″
Bob Dylan – “All Along The Watchtower”
Bon Jovi – “You Give Love A Bad Name”
Brand New – “Sowing Season (Yeah)”
The Bronx – “Six Days A Week”
Bush – “Comedown”
Children Of Bodom – “Done With Everything, Die For Nothing”
Coldplay – “In My Place”
Darker My Love – “Blue Day”
Darkest Hour – “Demon(s)”
David Bowie – “Fame”
Deep Purple – “Woman From Tokyo (’99 Remix)”
The Derek Trucks Band – “Younk Funk”
Dire Straits – “Sultans Of Swing”
The Duke Spirit – “Send A Little Love Token”
Duran Duran – “Hungry Like The Wolf”
Eagles Of Death Metal – “Wannabe In L.A.”
Elliott Smith – “L.A.”
Elton John – “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting)”
Face To Face – “Disconnected”
Garbage – “Only Happy When It Rains”
Gorillaz – “Feel Good Inc.”
Gov’t Mule – “Streamline Woman”
Grand Funk Railroad – “We’re An American Band”
Iggy Pop – “Lust For Life (Live)”
Iron Maiden – “2 Minutes To Midnight”
Jeff Beck – “Scatterbrain (Live)”
Jimmy Eat World – “Bleed American”
John Mellencamp – “Hurts So Good”
Johnny Cash – “Ring Of Fire”
Kaiser Chiefs – “Never Miss A Beat”
The Killers – “All The Pretty Faces”
King Crimson – “21st Century Schizoid Man”
Kings Of Leon – “Sex On Fire”
Kiss – “Shout It Out Loud”
Love and Rockets – “Mirror People”
Megadeth – “Sweating Bullets”
Motley Crue – “Looks That Kill”
Muse – “Plug In Baby”
My Morning Jacket – “One Big Holiday”
Nirvana – “Lithium (Live)”
Nirvana – “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
No Doubt – “Ex-Girlfriend”
Peter Frampton – “Do You Feel Like We Do? (Live)”
The Police – “So Lonely”
Public Enemy Featuring Zakk Wylde – “Bring the Noise 20XX”
Queen & David Bowie – “Under Pressure”
Queens Of The Stone Age – “Make It Wit Chu”
The Raconteurs – “Steady As She Goes”
Rammstein – “Du Hast”
The Rolling Stones – “Sympathy For The Devil”
Rose Hill Drive – “Sneak Out”
Rush – “The Spirit Of Radio (Live)”
Santana – “No One To Depend On (Live)”
Scars On Broadway – “They Say”
Screaming Trees – “Nearly Lost You”
Smashing Pumpkins – “Bullet With Butterfly Wings”
Sonic Youth – “Incinerate”
Spacehog – “In The Meantime”
Stevie Wonder – “Superstition”
Sublime – “What I Got”
Sunny Day Real Estate – “Seven”
T. Rex – “20th Century Boy”
The Sword – “Maiden, Mother & Crone”
Thin Lizzy – “Jailbreak”
Thrice – “Deadbolt”
Tom Petty – “Runnin’ Down A Dream”
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “American Girl”
TV On The Radio – “Wolf Like Me”
Vampire Weekend – “A-Punk”
Weezer – “Why Bother?”
The White Stripes – “Blue Orchid”
Wild Cherry – “Play That Funky Music”
Wolfmother – “Back Round”
So glad it’s over, and this upcoming game launchs on PS3, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360.
