Tag Archive: preview


Hands-On: UFC Undisputed 3 – Career Mode

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January 26, 2012

King of the Octagon

Up to this point we had seen the new Amateur control scheme and the Pride rules set for UFC Undisputed 3. But the elephant in the room had been “What about the career mode?” since we all knew that would comprise the bulk of the game. Well, the elephant is loose and I had a chance to go hands on and try to tackle the behemoth that this mode has become with all the changes that have been introduced to it.

The first thing you’ll notice when entering career mode are new live action movies that highlight everything you do. From first deciding to become an MMA fighter, to your first victory, to your first defeat, to your first championship, all the major moments of your career come with a short video revolving around a similar moment of either a UFC Hall of Famer or current superstar. Some of the footage has been repurposed from previously released UFC DVDs, but some stuff is completely original for the game.

We then entered into one of THQ’s staple character customization modes. Whether tweaking every fine detail of our fighter ourselves, or using a new “quick face” turn wheel with hundreds of pre-set faces laid out on it, the customization process has never been smoother. After choosing our weight class, we were then asked to select our MMA background. Whether we wanted to be a karate master, a Muay Thai monster, or an all-around MMA all-star, the choice was ours and different moves and move sets we would start with and could later learn would be affected by our choices here.

After deciding what path I would walk down, with UFC Play-by-Play man Mike Goldberg talking us through every moment, we learned about all the in-depth options we now had as we crafted our Ultimate Fighter. The first new feature was “Creds”. By participating in fights, and more so by winning them, we would earn Creds, which basically serve as currency in the game to unlock new gear and sponsor logos and better sparring partners and training equipment in order to increase the ceiling of where we could boost our stats to.

Then came the actual training. With 14 new mini-games, seven in the gym and seven in the octagon with a sparring partner, we could begin working on our stats. From tire lifting, working the heavy bag, and sprawl drills to working on our takedowns and clinches with our partners, the choice was ours in what areas to work on and when.

We were then shown six real world camps, including the legendary Greg Jackson’s American Top Team, where we could learn new maneuvers. From simple things like spinning back fists to more complex submissions, depending on where you study depends on whom you work with and what moves you can learn. After trying all the gyms, you’ll be locked into one and by training loyally at that gym you’ll unlock the right to learn even more involved moves.

Once learning some new moves, we were shown the game plan mode where instead of training, you could come up with a strategy against a particular opponent and if you succeed in the subsequent training, you’ll receive a huge boost to one statistic for one match. For example, if you choose the “Aggressive” game plan, you could end up with a +12 to your punches and kicks.

After all this, we finally got into the octagon and began our careers and played the game as normal. What is great though is that after you go through all the tutorial stuff of each activity you can do, you’re only allowed to do one or two of those listed activities above before your next fight. This still gives you the sense of control you’d want in personalizing your fighter, but it also keeps the action coming at a good pace so you don’t drown in mini-games trying to improve your submission defense stat or trying to learn a spinning back kick.

As you begin advancing up the ranks, that’s when things get the most fun as you start in the WFA and then you start getting a lot more choices about your fighter than the last game’s career mode. More opportunities to change weight classes along with the chance to go into the UFC or even Pride, which has been resurrected at least in this game, and earn their respective championship belts offers you the career management aspect many people have been looking for.

All in all, the Career Mode in UFC Undisputed 3 looks to have finally found that balance of fighting, character management, and customization that should allow players to feel like they are truly in the octagon themselves. This is shaping up to be a simulation worthy of making your wallet tap out and cough up some cash when it is released in February.

So what do you folks think? Are you pumped for the newest chapter in the UFC franchise? Are you excited about the new layout to career mode? Let us know with your comments below!

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Alan Wake: American Nightmare Preview

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January 15, 2012

After the end of the first Alan Wake and its subsequent DLC, as players, we definitely had more questions than answers. And while Alan Wake: American Nightmare, the downloadable sequel to Alan Wake that will be out from Remedy Entertainment sometime in the beginning of 2012, may finally answer some of those questions, I wouldn’t be surprised if true to form, the game only continues to deepen the mystery before us. Of course, this only made me all the more excited when I got a chance to get a preview of the campaign and the brand new “Fight Till Dawn” mode.

Where the first game took place in the picturesque Pacific Northwest, now Alan finds himself in the deserts of Arizona, and the color palette before us, exploding with reds and oranges, definitely let us know we were in a new locale. It was explained to us that Alan is now living through an episode of Night Springs, the fictional TV show introduced in the first game, that he happened to guest write when he was still starting out as a writer.  Only by going into this previous work of his does he hope to catch Mr. Scratch, a bogeyman in some ways, a charismatic but psychotic serial killer in others, who we first saw in the last Alan Wake DLC. Being an episode of Night Springs, I was also pleasantly surprised to hear that Alan is no longer the primary narrator, but instead the Night Springs narrator will serve that role for the game.

Another key fact I learned was that in the time between games, Alan has come to grips with the fact that he is now a “Champion of Light”, thrown into this surreal war between light and dark, day and night, and he must act as the counterbalance and defeat Scratch, the “Herald of Darkness”. Part of being this champion though is that somehow his words can take on a reality altering effect now, making those missing manuscript pages from the first game even more crucial in this one. The manuscript pages have become so important in fact that aside from being a collectible or adding to the back-story, they actually are key for driving the game forward now.

This page importance played out in the very first objective I saw in our demo, which required Alan to rescue a lady who had locked herself in an auto garage after being chased by the Taken, the darkness possessed individuals from the town, for she had found one of those pages. Something I noticed immediately in our first encounter here with the Taken is that there is several classes of Taken now to provide greater game play variety. Some even have powers, like one I saw in this first batch split up into two and then four copies of himself when light was shone on him. Luckily, I was armed with Alan’s new favorite weapon, a nail gun, and were able to deal with them just as easily as regular Taken, although they did eat up quite a bit of ammo. Another tidbit that really became evident during the first battle was the changes made to the HUD. Alan now has a life bar, a clearer GPS radar, and a larger ammo and weapon icon to help keep track of the item you’re currently using and it was definitely an improvement over the first game’s.

After saving the lady, I learned just what we were able to do with the manuscript pages. Because of Alan’s reality altering powers, aside from predicting events that were about to take place with the pages like in the first game, Alan could now interact with the world around him, taking clues from the pages to instead change things and solve puzzles in the world around him in order to better suit his needs and open up new paths. These paths are also unique as unlike in the first game that had a more linear feel, Alan will set up shop at a central location that will act as a sort of level hub and then go explore his surroundings from there, affording players the chance to explore and re-explore some areas even as necessary.

As I was moved to a further point in the game, Alan was beginning a trek up towards an observatory where he was looking for an astronomer who has clues as to what was going on in the town. Here, I saw the environment begin to have an effect on game play like in the first game. Dead cars and other debris on the path came to life and began to fling itself at Alan, and since the darkness has only been growing stronger since last game, it even tried to bring a chunk of mountain down onto our hero. Since the environmental graphics have been improved since last game, there is actually a lot more stuff that can be flung at Alan now while he travels through the world and so a greater level of suspense is reached as every inanimate object now can become a threat.

Once I reached the observatory, I came face to face with the latest variety of Taken introduced to the game and what the boys from Remedy lovingly refer to as their “answer for Angry Birds”. This new Taken can transform into a flock of crows and quickly move all over the area. He also isn’t nearly as weak against light as many other Taken, but more powerful items like flashbangs, flares, and another new weapon in the crossbow, which can act as a one-hit kill on most enemies, can still dispatch him for you.

After clearing up the mess at the observatory, my story mode demo was finished, and I was salivating for more. Although there was a clear emphasis on more action this time around, the atmosphere from the first game still comes through strongly to give it a bit more of a pulp comic feel and it should be interesting to see what else unfolds in Alan’s world when the full game is released.

But I was far from done. Whereas the first game was all about the story, American Nightmare features a new mode called “Fight Till Dawn” along with what Remedy believes will be a 5-hour campaign. I was able to go hands on with this new mode and true to the game’s atmosphere, it is a one-player mode with Alan fighting for his life. What it really reminded me of though was the challenge maps from Batman: Arkham Asylum and Arkham City as the premise of the mode is for Alan to work through as many waves of enemies as possible in a 10-minute time limit by himself. If he can survive that long, the sun will rise and you will survive.

This game mode is score based though, where you can build combos for every enemy you dispatch and attack you avoid, so if you really want to do well and work your way up the online leaderboards, you’re going to want to try to mow down as many enemies as possible. And with each wave getting harder and harder, you’ll have an interesting dilemma on your hands as you try to decide on whether or not you should run away and try to preserve yourself or dive head first into the fray in order to try to get the best score. Especially since there is a limited amount of items around the map for you to collect and wield against this army of Taken. Remedy also confirmed for us that there would be 10 maps total for the mode at launch, five normal maps and then five Nightmare versions of those maps.

All in all, if you were a fan of the first Alan Wake you’ll probably be surprised by how much content Remedy is fitting into this downloadable sequel to the first game, but still enjoy how far the story will progress. With a stronger emphasis on action though this time around, this could also be a great point to jump into the series for newcomers, especially with less of a financial commitment since it is going to be an XBLA title. All I know is that I can’t wait for American Nightmare to finally be fully playable within the next few months.

What do you folks think? Are you amped for the new Alan Wake game? Are you surprised by it going to an XBLA format? What do you think about the Fight Till Dawn Mode? Let us know with comments below!

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ADMIT ONE – Movie Previews for Weekend of Dec. 9th, 2011

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December 14, 2011

With no movies of any note released last weekend, it is no surprise that Twilight: Breaking Dawn: Part 1 has had the top box office spot for three weeks in a row, even with diminishing returns. This week though your standard holiday romantic comedy looks to try to capitalize on a slow time of year before the big slew of Christmas releases and see if it can’t drive a stake through the heart of teenie boppers everywhere and prevent Twilight from being number one for a solid month.

1) New Year’s Eve – Similar to Love, Actually from a few years ago, New Year’s Eve tells several stories of how a bunch of different couples in and around New York City find their romantic lives intertwined just before the clock strikes midnight.            

Not an original or even very compelling plot, this could appeal to some of the ladies out there and then have them drag their boyfriends/husbands along for the ride. Even though it clocks in a little long for a comedy at 1 hour 58 minutes, a star-studded cast with over a dozen Hollywood heavyweights including Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, and Halle Berry combined with the romantic comedy expertise of director Garry Marshall means there is a lot of potential for some solid moments in this date night movie. Considering the sharp decline in revenue each week for Twilight, and being that New Year’s Eve is the only big budget national film coming out this week, I wouldn’t be surprised if this was able to sneak into the top spot, and if it doesn’t all involved should be sorely disappointed considering how much non-stop press we’ve been seeing for it.

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Hands-On: The Darkness II – Vendettas Mode

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Embrace the Darkness

Jackie Estacado may be the current prime Darkness wielder, but it’s corrupt taint is centuries old and has been influencing man for far longer than anyone can imagine. And as Jackie just learned in the comics after a confrontation with his estranged sister, he isn’t the only one with the ability to tap into its dark power like he had previously thought. Building on that idea, 2K gave us a preview of a new narrative cooperative game mode for The Darkness II called Vendettas, where four other Darkness wielders are teaming up to bring the fight to the Brotherhood and lend Jackie a hand he may not even realize he needs.

Once we picked real life co-op partners and settled into our chairs in front of some consoles, the new characters we could choose from settled into their own chairs around a poker table and began to plan their next move on how they would assist our dear Jackie’s fight while remaining hidden to him.

Starting off, we were introduced to Dr. J.P. DuMond. The descendent of a Creole family who settled in New Orleans over a century and a half ago, DuMond was a respectable doctor. But he was also a curious man and wished to re-discover some of his family’s roots by practicing a form of Louisiana Voodoo that he would use to heal his patients of their dark energies and store them in dolls. After some time though, he had accumulated a few too many dolls and was forced to keep them in a black metal box, which he nicknamed his Box of Tricks. When even that became too much, DuMond buried the box, hoping returning the evil to the Earth would rid him of the horrors he had compiled. Then a hurricane happened to hit New Orleans and the box was unearthed and came to the attention of the Brotherhood, who were drawn to this psychic sickness and its weaponization possibilities like moths to flame. Burdened with this responsibility, DuMond fights to protect the box and unleashes some of his “tricks”, upon those who would use it for nefarious means. DuMond’s favorite? Black Hole, which opens a vortex up in time and space and unleashes dark magic upon all those nearby and consumes them like maggots on a carcass. DuMond also has his Midnight Stick, which he uses as his Dark conduit to heal his allies as well as inflict harm on his foes as he can use it to wield what some would say is low-level telekinesis.

Next was Shoshanna. An agent of the Israeli Intelligence Agency, Mossad, Shoshanna is as by the books as they come. Israel has been aware of the Darkness for decades and has been training operatives to deal with it, and the Brotherhood, as necessary to prevent any type of worldwide conflict where it could prosper. She wields the Arm of the Night, a sawed-off shotgun infused with Dark essence. A heirloom that has been in her family for over 75 years, the Arm is interesting as it has unlimited ammo, but only four bullets a clip and is slow to reload so is best used for only dire situations. Her accompanying power is Gun Channeling. The Darkness’s infatuation with death-dealing technology allows Shoshanna to fire an even more powerful blast from the Arm, often dealing a one hit kill.

Next we came to Jimmy Wilson who looks like he belongs more in the WWE than fighting the Darkness. Not much is known about Jimmy and you don’t need to know much. He looks like WWE Superstar Sheamus except he’s Scottish and not Irish. But he hates the English just as much and believes the Brotherhood is simply the English trying to take over the world again. Whatever his motivations, Jimmy is an excellent fighter and uses his Darkness infused hand axe to deal death up close and afar when he flings it like a boomerang. Jimmy is actually the closest to the Darkness of the four, but is often too drunk to understand as he can motion his axe to summon darklings to his aid. Jimmy simply thinks of them as his special drunken fairies though and lovingly refers to them as his “Little Jimmys” (suddenly sounding more like WWE wrestler R-Truth) when he sends them into the fray.

Finally we came upon Inugami. Although he may not be as connected to the Darkness as much as the others, Inugami’s sword Kusanagi has been feeding on the souls of the innocent and the damned for more than 2000 years now. The ancient beginnings of the Brotherhood would use the sword to perform countless innocent sacrifices to their Darkness infused priests and soon the sword became as possessed as the wielders and would search for souls to feed on. It is said that the Darkness will leave the sword once it has feasted on 10,000 damned souls, the same amount of innocent souls it consumed while in Brotherhood hands. Looking to fulfill this curse, Inugami is on a thankless quest to bring death to those who would wrong others. But, there’s a catch. For every night he fails to kill an evildoer, the sword takes a small chuck of Inugami’s life force equal to one year off his life. So far, the sword has sampled Inugami 17 times. Inugami can call upon the Darkness in the sword to perform Swarm, an attack that sends a cloud of miniature demons after enemies and tears them apart like locusts on crops.

“This was a great opportunity to grow the universe. So we went to Paul Jenkins, who wrote on the comics and wrote both games, and told him to make whatever he wanted for four new characters. Our only direction was we needed four and that they needed to be strong enough that they could support a game all on their own. And at first he seemed intimidated by that, but then he realized the opportunity as well and just ran with it,” said 2K Producer Seth Olshfski on the idea of creating these four original characters.

Once settled in, I picked J.P. and my partner picked Inugami. Playing through the first two levels of the co-op narrative we began with rescuing a character who isn’t necessarily Jackie’s favorite person in the world, but figures he owes him one and so once rescued by the four, will serve as your “handler” of sorts as his Darkness knowledge has made him invaluable to many and will send you on missions looking for ways to harm the Brotherhood’s operations in New York. Although not as cool as Jackie’s quad wielding Darkness abilities and set up as more of a traditional two-handed first-person shooter, the need to work together and the clear differences between each character are evident from the get go. And the banter between each character adds a unique comedic twist to the story that compels you to push forward to see how everyone will continue to interact with each other.

“We knew the single player game would be heavy. Jackie’s life is not easy. And the things that happen to him are not pleasant. Jackie’s stories never end with puppies, rainbows, sunshine, and happiness. That’s what you want for single player. But a game you’re playing with friends? You don’t want that strong emotional moment while you’re on a headset with other people. You want more of a gallows humor you would have talking about how you’d blow up when the grenade came down while you’re fighting in the trenches. And that idea of a dark comedy helped inspire where we went with the narrative co-op,” said Olshfski when speaking about the tone of Vendettas.

After completing our pair of story missions, we were introduced to the Hit List mode, which are separate missions from the main co-op narrative campaign, but still fit in to how the four work together and how they face off against the Brotherhood. We were shown a middle level Hit List mission where the four must take down a Brotherhood big wig that works for the local news station. Unwisely, my partner and I chose new characters to get a different feel of the game with, me going with Shoshanna and him with Jimmy. I say unwisely because the difficulty level definitely spikes as you progress further in the modes and not having leveled these character up like we had J.P. and Inugami left us at a distinct disadvantage when Brotherhood minions began swarming us for the climatic final battle of the mission on the news building’s rooftop. After several deaths we were able to overcome the level, but clearly leveling up your character’s powers in earlier missions will be key to progressing through either Vendettas or Hit List. An interesting note we learned while playing this mission though was that although you can play Vendettas by yourself if you so choose, there are many missions in Hit List that require the co-op assistance of a friend. Looks like I had better go back to work on actually leaving my hole in the ground and making some friends then!

“Vendettas as its own game, is enough of a game that you could put it in its own box and sell it. Early in development, we felt the core pillar we needed to support was in service to the story. We talked about competitive multiplayer and some other things, but narrative based co-op was it because we could tell a really interesting story. A lot of people tack on the multiplayer aspect at the end because someone says they have to. This was our plan from the very beginning,” said Olshfski when I asked him about just how much of an experience people can expect from this new mode. If that is true and The Darkness II is akin to two stories in one with this new, intriguing, and highly polished mode, then I think this is going to be a game that will please a very wide audience for a variety of reasons and I can’t wait to personally embrace the darkness come February 2012.

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EGM Preview: Rainbow 6: Patriots

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November 29, 2011

Originally Published: November 29, 2011, on EGMNOW.COM

The middle class is melting away faster than the polar ice caps. People are without jobs, without homes, and without hope. Protests like “Occupy Wall Street” show that the atmosphere in this country is changing. But what if things were to turn away from peaceful rallies and become more forceful. What if movements like the Arab Spring, that started with Facebook and Twitter and a couple of cell phones, were to start gaining ground here? What if someone were to rise up and provide a singular voice for the oppressed within these United States and preach that violent means are the only way to reclaim what has been lost while leading the downtrodden with his radical agenda? And what would you do when these events finally came knocking down your door?

This is the premise that was presented to us for the new Rainbow 6: Patriots from Ubisoft. A project that hasn’t even gone into full production yet and is more than a year away, but clearly has had a lot of thought put into the idea that the most dangerous threats to our security might not come from abroad, but from within our own borders if we’re not careful.

“While the US plans and spends a lot of time prepping in the event of a domestic attack, there has never been an organized domestic terror attack or series of attacks from people who look like us,” said Creative Director David Sears. “So for us, it was a pretty terrifying notion and in a counter-terrorism game you’re looking for the most terrifying subject matter you can find.”

To help set the stage for this new counter-terrorism tale, in the demo we saw we were promised that unlike the Rainbow Six: Vegas games, this story would take place all over the United States in both iconic locations like Times Square and more backwater, rural regions, and even move abroad in a few cases as you track down this threat to homeland security.

But that’s not the only change we saw to the narrative style of the Rainbow franchise. “20% of our game is what we call ‘perspective play’ where you get to see the world through the eyes of the enemy or a civilian or a civil servant. We really want gamers to understand what really happens while you’re shooting up the place,” said Philippe Therien, Single Player Lead Game Designer for Patriots. He then proceeded to show us one of these levels where a man who had clearly not been affected by the economic turmoil of recent times having an intimate moment with his wife when he has his home broken into. He and his wife are beaten and when he comes to, he finds that he has a bomb with a dead man’s switch strapped to his chest. If he drops the trigger, for whatever reason, he goes kaboom. Forced to comply after his wife and child are threatened, he is taken to the Brooklyn Bridge and must avoid a shootout while working his way through a maze of disabled vehicles to get to where the terrorists wish him to go.

Once in position, the view switches back to Rainbow. After rappelling down the side of the bridge and eliminating enemy snipers, you take up position in their place and attempt to clear the area of any terrorists before you can move in to hopefully disarm the unwilling suicide bomber. With time running out though you have a very tough choice laid out before you, made all the harder from our brief glimpse of the world through the bomber’s eyes: Do you kill one to save one thousand?

“To tell the mature story we want to tell and for it to be meaningful you have to have choices. Otherwise it would just be a story according to whoever wrote it. That’s a perfectly cool thing to do. But for us, we put you in difficult situations and then have you make the tough choices and deal with the consequences. We think this makes the story much more relevant because it is just that much more personal since you had a direct hand in what happens,” explained Therien.

Next we saw the advancements in A.I. and technology the Rainbow crew will be allowed to use. Snake cameras are so last generation. Instead, imagine a miniaturized airport scanner that you can use to see a perfect outline of every enemy in the building you wish to breach. This allows for situational awareness like you’ve never had before and you can command your Rainbow unit accordingly with some new easy access one-button prompts, making the situation also more user-friendly. The room we saw had three doors with six terrorists inside and one hostage. From there we were shown a bevy of different strategies, from having one of your units stationed at each door, to everyone sneaking in through the front, or using careful distraction and misdirection to remove the threats.

The most eye-opening aspect of this was that even when using the same strategy twice, the A.I. of the terrorists would act differently each time, and that no matter how much planning went into a scenario, things could still get FUBAR. This gave us a chance to see what the Rainbow development team is calling “Dirty Breaching” where we could still win the day even if a mistake happened or something we didn’t predict caught us off guard. Whether it be someone tripping, a terrorist not reacting like we had planned, or even one where the breach was screwed up, but the terrorist guarding the hostage never pulled the trigger once he heard the noise and just immediately took up a cover position, still giving us a chance to save the day.

Moving away from the single player tactics, we got our first glimpse at an early multiplayer. Although we weren’t allowed to go hands on with anything, we saw the development team show off their newest feature that brings situational awareness to a whole new level in the multiplayer realm. They showed us what they’ve dubbed the ‘Sand Table’, a 3D holographic projection of a multiplayer map akin to something you would you see straight out of a movie. Once in the sand table, you and your friends could take a virtual walk through the level and place markers, plan paths you wanted to take to get to an objective, or even mark sniper points. This can offer teams a chance to truly match wits against another opponent and even the playing field against those with better trigger fingers or allow for new players to be brought up to speed with older ones.

Although our time with Rainbow 6: Patriots was brief, I couldn’t help but be excited from what we saw. But it had me thinking that with the flood of first-person shooters on the market right now, it should be interesting to see how fans react to Rainbow’s five-year absence from the scene. But the folks at Ubisoft aren’t worried. “Historically, Rainbow has been an innovator and a lot of our competition has adopted many of our innovations over the last decade. We just wanted to take some time to go back to the think tank and do some innovation that is going to surprise people. This stuff takes time to think up and takes times to develop and make, but this is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Sears. If this is just the tip of the iceberg, then I know a lot of people who aren’t going to be able to wait to dive below the surface to see what else Ubisoft has in store for us when Rainbow 6: Patriots is released sometime in 2013.

What do you folks think? Are you pumped to hear of a new Rainbow 6 on the way? What possibilities do you think the Sand Table opens up for multiplayer? How about Dirty Breaching in single player? And what about the ‘perspective play’? How do you think that will affect the story? Let us know your thoughts with comments below!

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ADMIT ONE – Movie Previews for Weekend of November 4th, 2011

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November 9, 2011

Well, I expected Puss in Boots to do well enough to be Top 5 as children’s movies always do well no matter what. But $34 million opening weekend and number one spot good? I admit to being a little taken aback by both that and the poor showing from Johnny Depp’s The Rum Diary, which only grossed $5 million. It might be able to bounce back a bit though this week as only a pair of new movies are coming out as we move into a slower movie season and neither one of these new releases really has blockbuster written on it.

1) Tower Heist – When a big business tycoon’s Ponzi scheme robs the workers of a building he owns and lives in of their pensions, they decide to exact a little revenge and rob his next egg of $20 million.

As much as I’d like this movie to do well, I just don’t see it happening. A star-studded cast headlined by Eddie Murphy, Ben Stiller, Alan Alda, and Matthew Broderick and directed by action/comedy veteran Brett Ratner in an Ocean’s Eleven type of heist movie, but with a lot more laughs and a lot less underhandedness just seems like it could be too much for an audience to get behind. Could this ensemble come together and pull off something enjoyable? Maybe, but it won’t be from their lack of talent as much as a lack of solid writing that comes from people trying to balance out all the screen time for that much star power and it could keep this movie from making a significant impact at the box office.

2) A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas – Everyone’s favorite bumbling stoners are back in action. Six years after the escape from Guantanamo Bay, the two end up stumbling into each other around the holidays and accidentally burn down Harold’s father-in-law’s prize Christmas tree as they try to light up for old-time’s sake.

As much as I hate to admit it, these movies are almost like a train wreck in that you can’t help but watch and with having the stoner comedy market cornered for a good while now, it’s no surprise these keep getting made as Kal Penn and John Cho have basically become the Cheech and Chong of a new generation. Throw in that these movies are the cause of Neil Patrick Harris’s resurgence in Hollywood and that they are worth watching just to see what debauchery he’ll get in as he plays “himself” and, although I believe neither of these movies featured this week will strike it rich this weekend, it wouldn’t surprise me if A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas outperformed Tower Heist at the box office.

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James Bond’s New Movie Officially Titled

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Nobody does it better…

THE BUZZ: After much time spent in limbo, the 23rd installment of the James Bond movie franchise has been given an official title and American release date. Fitting that it would come the same week as the release of Goldeneye: Reloaded for Xbox 360 and PS3, the new Bond movie is titled ‘Skyfall’ and will once again star Daniel Craig.

At the London press conference this morning, director Sam Mendes and producer Michael G. Wilson were both on hand to answer questions, but only revealed what they wished to at this time. One tidbit they let loose with though was they were aiming for a November 7th, 2012, release here in the States (although it may actually be November 9th since that’s a Friday), and likely two weeks earlier in England (it is where Bond is from after all). Wilson also scoffed at rumors that were circulating that they were cutting the budget, saying they would be “in the same budget range as the last film”, which was $230 million.

In terms of plot, the only bit of information that was revealed was that a ghost from M’s past will come back to haunt her, attack MI6 directly, and that Bond must quell this threat to national security and that he would likely travel to at least Istanbul and China to do that. Producer Barbara Broccoli, who basically inherited the franchise from her world renowned father and producer of many of the original Bond films, Albert Broccoli, also mentioned that ‘Skyfall’ would be a stand alone movie and not tie-in as much to the first two Daniel Craig films. She also mentioned she wasn’t thrilled with the title and that she would like to see Craig do a fourth Bond film after ‘Skyfall’ if he was up to it.

The biggest surprise to come from the event though may be the reveal of relatively unknown French actress Berenice Marlohe as the newest Bond girl. Along with this Javier Bardem was confirmed as the main villain, but what his name or connection to Bond, M, and MI6 is, is still unknown at this time. Ralph Fiennes, Albert Finney, and Naomie Harris were also confirmed to have roles in the film.

EGM’S TAKE: I cannot wait to see this new Bond movie and what it is all about. It will also be interesting to see if there is a corresponding game to go along with it. As for Barbara Broccoli wanting Craig to do a fourth Bond film, I think we should worry about getting his third in the can first. And as for the new Bond girl, well, she at least has the figure for it, that’s for sure.

What do you folks think? Are you excited for a new James Bond movie? Are you fans of the James Bond films and which is your favorite? Who is your favorite actor to have played Bond? Where does Daniel Craig stand on the Bond actor list? Who is your favorite Bond girl?

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Hands-On: Lollipop Chainsaw

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And you thought YOUR high school was tough

Suda51 loves nothing more than to parody American culture as well as mix in some musical aspects to his games and so a lot of the elements to his upcoming hack ‘n’ slash zombie fest Lollipop Chainsaw should come as no surprise. Described as sex, blood, and rock ‘n’ roll, Lollipop Chainsaw follows one Juliet Starling, a former cheerleader of San Romero High School (named such in tribute to the father of modern zombie culture, George A. Romero) and how she must put down many of her former classmates who have been turned into the walking undead. With the help of several unturned, including her boyfriend who now lives as a disembodied head (imagine Ash from Evil Dead, but the “infection” went A LOT further) attached by a chain to Juliet’s waste and provides advice, Juliet must get to the bottom of this zombie outbreak. Let the Buffy the Vampire Slayer parallels commence!

Seriously though, I had a chance to grab Juliet’s preferred weapon of choice, her chainsaw, and dive headlong into the first level of Lollipop Chainsaw a short time ago. In terms of gameplay, although the premise is very different, it feels very similar to another Suda51 game in No More Heroes and so fans of that series should appreciate the ability to just pick up and play Lollipop Chainsaw from the get go. Aside from her chainsaw, Juliet can also shake her pom-poms and perform various cheerleading acrobatics in order to stun zombie crowds and give her enough time to decapitate her zombie foes, which is the only way to put them down for good. Of course, this makes me wonder about the source of the outbreak because whenever a pretty girl shakes her pom-poms in front of me, I admit I become pretty stunned and single-minded in my thinking patterns as well.

Anyway, as we progressed through the level and took down classmate after classmate and even a math teacher mini-boss, the thing that was most evident was that this game has Suda51’s style written all over it. Big explosions of light and sound punctuated the climb of my combo counter climb higher and higher as I slay undead foe after undead foe. And along with the fountains of blood from the neck stumps of recently beheaded enemies, if I was able to “get in the zone” with Juliet by hitting a high enough combo, all the blood would turn into hearts and firework sparkles while my chainsaw became supercharged with one-hit knockout power. This obviously allowed me to mow down my enemies much quicker and just roll through the hallways of San Romero High.

Another interesting note about the style is that the game has at times a bit of a B-movie feel to it, again paying tribute to the good ol’ days of zombie films. This could be because of the work Dawn of the Dead screenwriter James Gunn has contributed to the game as he has been more than open about his joy in working on this game with Warner Bros. and Suda51 on his personal website and to us in the media. Along with James Gunn, top of the line voice actress Tara Strong has been confirmed as the voice of Juliet and who may best be known for Raven in Teen Titans, Batgirl in Batman: The Animated Series, Bubbles in The Powerpuff Girls, Harley Quinn in Batman: Arkham City, and has even been rumored, but never confirmed, to have done the voice of Bowser Jr. in Super Mario Sunshine.

After enough slaying of the hoi polloi zombie, that I might add is done in your more standard “shuffling” type that only really starts to speed up when Juliet gets within chomping range, we made it to the school gymnasium. Oh Juliet attended many a pep rally here in her preferred zombie bashing outfit, her cheer uniform, but now it has been taken over by a zombified Metal Goth named Zed, the first of many high school class stereotypes we are due to see in the game, who hates Juliet and her establishment supporting ways. Here is where we really get out first taste of the rock ‘n’ roll as Zed’s primary forms of attack deal with sound speakers and amplified sound waves that rush towards Juliet after Zed shouts some nasty things into his unholy microphone. You’ll look to mute Zed for good, but only after fighting him in several stages, where you get to see his true power as he literally pulls himself back together after several rounds, and this is all in just the first level.

Although we’re still lacking a lot of the major story details and what other classes we could expect to take on in this high school from hell, one thing is for sure: if you’re a fan of Suda51’s other work, then this game should be right up your alley.  Lollipop Chainsaw is expected right now to hack out a spot for itself on store shelves sometime in March 2012.

Are you folks Suda51 fans? Are you looking forward to Lollipop Chainsaw? What do you think of all the parodies that will be seen in Lollipop Chainsaw? What else do you think we might see in Lollipop Chainsaw? Let us know your thoughts on this game with comments below!

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Hands-On: Saints Row: The Third

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Originally Published: October 19, 2011, on EGMNOW.com

We love Rim Jobs

There are a lot of games out there that take themselves too seriously. Everything is about saving the world from this or protecting people from that. Rarely do you get a game like Saints Row: The Third that just doesn’t give a crap about any of that and whose main purpose is to just give the gamer as many tools as possible to blow stuff up. It was for this reason that I was drooling like Homer Simpson over barbecue for the chance to go hands on with this game and it looks to deliver in ways I couldn’t even begin to imagine.

The story starts with the Saints, now international celebrities after having driven out the Ultor Corporation in Saints 2 from Stilwater. Deciding to rob a bank, they do it how any other superstar celebrity criminals would do it: dressed as their most recognizable face, Johnny Gat. Thing is though that they aren’t the only gang in town anymore and a collection of several other gangs calling themselves the Syndicate have moved in and kicked the Saints out. After some spectacular action sequences that would put Nathan Drake or any of those other “heroes” out there to shame, you find yourself, the leader of the Saints, in Steelport, ready to get some revenge on those who knocked you down a few pegs and to set up shop in this glorious new little town on the river.

From the second you press start, Saints Row: The Third is the most over-the-top third-person action game you will ever play. Volition and THQ have pulled out all the stops, some in questionable taste for those more politically correct gamers I’m sure, to make this the craziest game you’re ever going to play as long as you don’t mind the sometimes infantile humor. Which I don’t. From riding shotgun in a helicopter and raining rocket launcher death down onto your enemies (I love rocket launchers) to running naked through a mansion, drugged and barely cohesive, but still aware enough to break enemy necks as you work way through the…impressed…crowd (you’re packing in more ways than one!), every mission is challenged by the last to up the insanity.

But even beyond the main story missions, there is so much stuff to do on the side in Steelport that you’ll be able to have every carnal gaming desire satiated and then some. From performing various wrestling maneuvers when mugging unsuspecting citizens to having to drive a tiger, (yes, an actual tiger) around to keep it happy and from mauling your face off, every aspect of the game is designed to keep you laughing and to drive you to keep playing because you can’t wait to see what new line it will cross next. And it crosses A LOT of lines.

Besides the tongue-in-cheek humor throughout the game though, like the auto body shop “Rim Jobs” where you can not only pimp your ride with spoilers, decals, and the like, but also with kneecapping Ben-Hur like chariot spikes to destroy the tires of enemy vehicles or just mow down the populace, there is also spoofs on other games and media franchises, like the Tron based levels you’ll take part in when going against the hacking Deckers gang. Truly no one and nothing is safe if Saints Row thinks it’ll get a rise (figuratively, maybe literally) out of the user.

I’m not even close to scratching the surface though of all that there is in this game. Beyond the three main gangs you have to face, we also saw for the first time STAG, a government sanctioned military faction looking to destroy all gang activity and with STAG comes some Grade A military hardware like fighter jets and tanks and more rocket launchers to up the destructive ante. But if you really want some interesting vehicles, then pre-ordering the game gets you the Professor Genki pack, which includes the Genki-mobile. Professor Genki is a world famous (in the Saints’ world anyway) Japanese game show host that wears a jumpsuit, cape, and giant cathead. Unsuspecting contestants (which you will be one of later in the game) must work their way through Genki’s treacherous maze full of flame and electrical traps for cash and prizes while also avoiding his machine gun wielding furry dressed henchman. Back to the car though. It handles and looks like an ice cream truck, but it has a cannon on top that sucks in pedestrians and uses them as ammo. So really it’s just your average, run of the mill, man-apult.

Alright, so clearly there is a lot of mission variety and things to do in Saints Row: The Third. I’m having sensory overload just going back over this stuff and I only saw about 40% of the campaign. There is a lot more to this game than hysterical situations and zany characters though. You also have choices. As in other Saints games, you want two things from this world, money and respect. Money lets you buy things from tricking out your various headquarters to upgrading weapons, while respect is where the RPG leveling up elements sneak into this game. Each time you level up, you unlock access to new perks like increasing your cash flow from some of the businesses you’ll “protect” for a fee to being able to dual wield your pistols. The more crazy stuff you do while on a mission or out in the world, the more respect and money you’ll earn and so like everything else in this game, you are encouraged from the get go to just go wild and do whatever you feel like because the more insane it is, the bigger the reward. Have I mentioned my love of rocket launchers by the way?

Keeping in with the small RPG elements, we see a return of the robust customization system for your main character. With the crazier and more insane outfits offering you more respect, you might just be tempted to go gallivanting around Steelport in that S&M leather suit or in those long flowing pimp robes you’ve had your eye on for quite some time. You could also get inspiration from your friends because the game sees a return of co-op as well. Being able to see them dressed in zany outfits might inspire you some, but it can also help you on those tougher missions. Volition stresses the game was designed to be more of a co-op experience because the more people laughing at the same crazy situation only makes it funnier, but trust me in saying it doesn’t penalize you for playing the game alone and is still just as damn funny.

And if your mind wasn’t already melted from everything I’ve already described, we also saw the debut of a new mode to replace the traditional versus multiplayer from the previous Saints Row games. Ladies and gentlemen, prepare to have your mind (and maybe other body parts) blown in Whored Mode. Yes, Saints Row: The Third will feature their take on Horde mode where you will face wave after wave of gangster, pimp, deviant, midget, prostitute and any other insane foe you may face in the game in hopes of getting the highest score possible. I’m pretty sure it has rocket launchers as well. Also, a weapon called the Penetrater that’s also available in the main game. I don’t want to talk about the Penetrater because there are some lines that I can’t cross in this preview article. Let’s just say it sums up everything Saints Row is all about in one simple melee weapon.

Honestly, there is so much in this game that I saw in the hands-on I got that I could probably keep writing for a long time, but I don’t want to spoil all the surprises. A big thing to keep in mind is if you haven’t played the previous games, you don’t have to worry because the opening cinema explains everything you need to know and then you can just jump in and have fun. If you don’t feel like taking a game too seriously, but still having a ton of fun when playing, then you’re going to definitely want to check out Saints Row: The Third. It has readily available rocket launchers.

So what do you think? Are you a fan of the previous Saints games? Are you going to pre-order for the Professor Genki pack? Will you play co-op or solo? What about the new Whored mode? Let us know your thoughts with comments below!

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Hands-On: NFL Blitz

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Blitz is back!

Even with all the safety precautions in the modern NFL, it’s usually the most brutal moments that permeate our collective memories. Whether we’re thinking back to fullback Jon Ritchie’s perpetually bloodied forehead or Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor’s infamous leg-breaking hit on Joe Theismann on Monday Night Football, it’s this gridiron grit that draws us into the game. Of course, no one wants to really see anyone get hurt—except me, ’cause I’m sadistic like that—so what if we could get all the bone-crushing hits without anyone actually having their bones crushed? Well, it looks like a reinvigorated blast from the past may just have that fix we’ve all been waiting for.

The new NFL Blitz looks to return the franchise to its arcade roots, and from what we’ve seen based on our hands-on time, it looks like this was an easy score for EA. Aside from 30-yard first downs and 2-minute quarters, you’ll see post-play elbow drops, players launching themselves across the field like missiles to make unbelievable tackles, and guys just getting the ever-loving stuffing beaten out of them without a single yellow penalty flag in sight. Of course, the guys at developer EA Tiburon (the same folks behind Madden) are also offering some gameplay upgrades, like the collision system and each team getting their own individualized special play on offense in the universal playbook—like my New York Giants’ “Big Apple” play.  It’s all part of the new experience that is NFL Blitz.

And that’s really what NFL Blitz is stressing this time around—the experience.  With elements like the pregame fanfare and Blue Angels flyovers, along with legendary NBA Jam announcer Tim Kitzrow coming onboard to do play-by-play, the over-the-top arcade feel carries over into every aspect of the game. So, even when you’re not pressing buttons or “on fire,” you still get the feel of Blitz, even in the menus.

Speaking of menus, this definitely ain’t your daddy’s Blitz, because this new version includes countless game modes beyond your standard exhibition—and the biggest change probably starts with the customization features. We all like to play with our favorite teams, but we’re also probably painfully aware that many of them have at least one—if not several—deficiencies at key skill positions. Now, by earning Blitz Bucks via the online versus modes, like Blitz Battles against friends, or the Elite League (more on that in a bit) you can buy packs of football cards that feature cheerleader loading screens, cheats for classic features like Big Head mode, power-ups for online versus (again, more on that shortly), or actual players. Once you get a card of a player you’re looking for, you can go buy them and add them to a customized roster. Want Megatron—spectacular Detroit Lions wideout Calvin Johnson, for those of you not up on your football nicknames—to play in Chicago? Want punishing Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher to play on the Bengals? Or how about Colts QB Peyton Manning (pre-neck injury) to play for the Giants instead of brother Eli? You can carry this roster customization through every other mode, which really helps even the odds against some of your tougher opponents—or when taking on the Gauntlet.

So, I’ve mentioned Blitz Gauntlet a couple of times now, but what is it, you ask? Well, some old-school wrestling fans might know that a Gauntlet match is when one grappler has to take on all comers in several consecutive matches without stopping. In that vein, Blitz Gauntlet sees you taking on several teams in a row without stopping. The further you go, the more Blitz Bucks you can acquire to buy football packs. Beating Blitz Gauntlet is also how you unlock the special character teams you might remember from old-school Blitz—as well as a few new ones thrown in for good measure. Zombies, Spartans, Hot Dogs, Lions (as in actual lions, not the ones in Detroit), Bigfoot, and more will be available in your exhibition modes if you clear Gauntlet enough times.

But NFL Blitz’s biggest addition may well be its online versus modes and all their various nuances. The draw for many fans of the original Blitz was the competition factor—and being able to brag to your buddy about how awesome that last touchdown you scored was, or that he needs to get his crappy offense out of your house, because they’re not scoring in your end zone today, no way, no how. With the new versus online modes in NFL Blitz, you can talk trash across the country—or, if you’d prefer, join a regional Elite League broken down by state. The leagues offer various competency tiers as well, so you can advance or regress in different divisions based on your skill level.

Another interesting versus-mode wrinkle: the Mario Kart–like power-ups that you can choose to include in the on-field action, such as speed boosts for that extra “oomph” after your turbo bar runs out. Much like your player cards, these come in card packs—and you can play several at a time if you wish or stockpile them for those really high-ranking opponents. If you’re not much of a smack-talker but still love to win something for beating your competition, versus mode also includes an option to risk the cards you currently have in your collection. Lose, and watch as your online opponent sifts through your collection and takes your favorite power-ups or a key running back. Win, and maybe fill that void you’ve had at strong safety by picking your opponent’s pocket.

All in all, NFL Blitz looks to be back and be bigger than ever—and just in time for the real-life NFL playoffs. So, let the smack-talking commence!

What do you folks think? Are you excited for Blitz to be back? Were you fans of the original Midway versions? How about going back to the NFL license and moving away from Blitz: The League? Are you amped for the online play? Let us know your thoughts with comments below!

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