Video Game News » Xbox 360

Prince of Persia Update

AvarianParakeet — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 07:15:13 +0000

You may or may not know about this new addition to the Prince of Persia series. Ubisoft released a hands on preview at the Tokyo Game Show to reveal a bit of the play style that the new game will feature. The biggest change is that it seems to be a return to form. The controls are simple and seem similar to the fluid controls of Assassin’s Creed. There is a button for jumping, another for the sword, and another for his gauntlet. There’s a little room for accidents, but it seems to work pretty well so far. The fighting seems more stylish, but still boring though. Another interesting focus is an attempt to make the new female lead, Elika, more involved. The feel is reminiscent of a two-person game. Elika will develop magical abilities that you can call on later and the early reports seem to show that they’re really building up her character. If all goes well, this should be a nice boost for the struggling series.

Fable 2 Update

AvarianParakeet — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 05:02:26 +0000

Alright. It looks like Molyneux is actually staying realistic with the game in not promising the world with this game as it approaches its release. He recently did a demonstration of the game at London and it looks fairly solid. Basically it plays as Fable 1 except there are more quests, more items, and more properties. The one significant feature was that good and evil actions would have a serious consequences with little reminders throughout the story, although I’m not convinced about the effectiveness of this after Oblivion’s shallow attempts. The other weird addition is that rented properties will accumulate money even if the game is off. This doesn’t sound like a good idea considering that a big complaint last time around was that everyone had millions in gold and nothing to spend it on. It basically seems like this is a fancier version of Fable for the people who liked it before. It looks like a solid RPG, but it just looks like it fell short of the target again.

Dead Space Preview

AvarianParakeet — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 04:46:09 +0000

This little beauty should be a great game for any fan of survival horror games. Dead Space basically smashes Resident Evil 4 into System Shock and Bioshock for a freaky experience. It’s already drawing a lot of controversy for its violence, so you know that’s going to be good. The basic story has you exploring the remains of a navy ship overrun by…something. It’s basically just a standard sci-fi story, but it is a good excuse to kill some stuff. the best part so far is the promise of strategic dismemberment (also causing the controversy). Zombies don’t die from headshots. A number of the monsters have to be crippled by shooting and damaging their limbs to weaken their abilities. Throw in some special powers and a few no gravity sections and you should have a fun survival horror game.

Backbreaker Preview

AvarianParakeet — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 21:25:49 +0000

This little treasure almost slipped past me. The developers released a new teaser demo for this new football game. It showed off this game’s star feature. The tackle system is entirely physics-based. There are no animations. Any and all tackles will be carried out by the robust physics engine. That’s actually about all they’re talking about so far. It isn’t clear how they’re working around the EA monopoly or how the actual football will play out. All that is clear is that the tackle system looks amazing and the running play looks great. The testers said that the AI was unrelenting too, so fans of the genre should enjoy a nice challenge. It’s at least a serious change from the Madden dominated market.

The Maw Preview

AvarianParakeet — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 10:19:51 +0000

This will be a new game that will be available via the Xbox Live Arcade before the end of the year. It’s basically a bit of a twist on a bunch of old platformer elements in a new way. I couldn’t help but think of the first Oddworld games. The player controls Frank. Frank controls The Maw. They are two aliens who are stranded on a pretty savage planet. The Maw’s a little indestructible killing machine that is a bit chickenhearted. Frank has him rigged up on a fancy leash, but he can only do so much with him. Your goal will revolve around completing a level by convincing The Maw to overcome some challenge. In general, you need to guide him to little animals he can eat to grow and gain special abilities. It definitely sounds like an interesting concept that’s worth a second look when it comes out later.

Rise of the Argonauts Preview

AvarianParakeet — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 09:34:54 +0000

This looks like an incredibly fun game. The game follows the struggles of Jason and his argonauts as they search for the Golden Fleece. The big part is the combat, which is surprisingly brutal. It will follow a more realistic style of combat where one’s position on the battlefield determines whether the slash is a decaptitating blow or a light scratch. Reviews so far state that it has a visceral quality to it that is quite refreshing. Throw in some great production values and level design to have one good action title. Keep an eye out for more developments on this one later.

Skate 2 Preview

AvarianParakeet — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 09:17:31 +0000

There’s more information about the sequel to the popular skateboarding game. Last year, Skate redefined what a skateboarding game should be. It looks like the sequel will do even more. They’ve added a ton of features to the buttons to compliment the flick controls from the last one. You can now grab onto objects in the environments for handplants and it’s possible to take a foot off the board. This all opens up a ton of more room for tricks, especially with the early screenshots of the environments. This looks like another good one.

Possible Crackdown Sequal?

BigMikeTheTerror — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 19:03:55 +0000

Remember that game that came with the beta of Halo 3? Crackdown was it? Ah, yes, that was it. Apparently creator Realtime Worlds still feels it was a valiant effort it put into the game (which it was). They even regret not working on a sequal at this point as evident in this quote from studio boss Colin Macdonald:

It was a horrible, horrible decision that we still dwell on, not to move ahead straight onto a second game. We would have loved to have seen it. We poured five years of our lives into that game. You know, we’ve got guys on the development team that have Crackdown tattoos, permanent tattoos on their arms. We’re extremely passionate about it. But at the end of the day we’re a company that has to do what’s best for the company. We’ve got to stay in business. And the numbers just didn’t add up. We’re not in the business of doing things because we’d like to, if we can’t guarantee that it makes sense for the company. That doesn’t work.”

Nothing I’m worried about, but hey, I understand many of you still eat up all those sandbox games that come out, even after the novelty of throwing a truck at somebody wheres off. Heres to hoping eh?

Perfect Dark and Killer Instinct Probably coming to XBLA

BigMikeTheTerror — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 21:50:39 +0000

So Rare has already disappointed us before, what with the Goldeneye “announcement” falling through and everything, but they might be trying to make up for it. gamefocus asked Phil Spencer, the general manager of Microsoft game studios if they would be bringing other old titles to the Xbox Live Arcade, besides Banjo-Kazooie, he responded:
“We do have the rights of the complete Rare catalogue (except GoldenEye 007). We’re studying all the possibilities to bring classic games from the past like Killer Instinct and Perfect Dark,” said Spencer.

Now, nothing was said concerning a release date or anything like that, but cross your fingers.

Fallout 3: Another Look

AvarianParakeet — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 11:08:41 +0000

I hadn’t been holding my breath about this new addition to the Fallout series. The little pessimist in my heart is screaming that this won’t live up to any of its expectations, but it just keeps looking better. There was another gameplay demonstration of Fallout 3 and it is really looking good.

The first quest that was demonstrated seemed to be in classic Fallout 3 fashion. You run into a little boy who can’t find his dad. You can be a jerk or agree to help him. A few fights against mutant ants later and you find the body. You can be sincere or an insensitive jerk again. It wasn’t spectacular, but the demonstration really showed off the combat. The VATS system works a lot like a special bullet time. You can pause and aim to take off separate limbs or hit weak points (like the antennae on the ants). It gives it a little bit of the turn-based feel to it. Something hard to do in a FPS. The atmosphere is also dark, but expansive with a lot of room to explore. Lets hope that Bethesda does their homework and makes this perfect before the release this winter.