The Xbox Live house party continues, and Tom Clancy rolls out the deals with tons of DLC discounted at great prices. Check out the schedule for the second half of february, collect your wallets and split up the funds because someone won’t have much left by the time February is over.
Xbox Live Arcade – House Party
Bejeweled® Blitz LIVE (PopCap Games) – February 23 – 800 MSP
Beyond Good & Evil HD (Ubisoft Entertainment) – March 2 – 800 MSP
Deal of the Week – “Tom Clancy” – Discount Period: February 21-27
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 Co-op Collection (Ubisoft Entertainment) – February 21 – 200 MSP (50% off)
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 Co-op Collection 2 (Ubisoft Entertainment) – February 21 – 200 MSP (50% off)
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction Deniable Ops: Insurgency (Ubisoft Entertainment) – February 21 – 400 MSP (50% off)
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter Chapter 2 (Ubisoft Entertainment) – February 21 – 300 MSP (50% off)
Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. Air Supremacy (Ubisoft Entertainment) – February 21 – 400 MSP (50% off)
Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. 2 All-in-one Pack (Ubisoft Entertainment) – February 21 – 400 MSP (50% off)
Tom Clancy’s EndWar Escalation (Ubisoft Entertainment) – February 21 – 200 MSP (50% off)
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Chaos Theory (Ubisoft Entertainment) – February 21 – 600 MSP (50% off)
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction Outfit (Ubisoft Entertainment) – February 21 – 200 MSP (50% off)
A new piece of L.A. Noire art is available for your viewing and ready to be placed on your deasktop.
The Fallen Starlet is now available as a hi-res desktop background, in all of the popular wallpaper sizes (including mobile formats) as well as avatars and buddy icons from the Downloads section of L.A. Noire site and the Rockstar site.
You can see a small version of the image above. Check out the full size, save it, and use it. Check out the other images while you are at it as well.
LA Noire is coming to the Xbox 360® and PlayStation®3 on May 20, 2011 in Australia, New Zealand, and Europe as well as May 17, 2011 in the United States.
Who says Professor Layton has to be the only puzzle solving sleuth on the 3DS? Today, Konami announced a new title for the 3DS by the name of “Doctor Lautrec and the Forgotten Knights” which will put players in the role of Jean-Pierre Lautrec in a 19th Century setting. Launtrec is more of a historian than a detective though, as the point of the game is to guide Launtrec and his bubbly assistant, Sophie as they gather clues by completing puzzles and riddles to track down “living treasures” in a world filled with characters with rich personalities.
While the plot is intriguing, the way the game is played is what caught my attention. Doctor Lautrec and the Forgotten Knights will completely utilize the 3D features on the console to solve and decipher the many logic and environmentally-based puzzles and riddles within the game so a sharp eye will needed in order to progress. There are also many rival professors and other perils that Sophie and the Doctor must overcome as they move forward along their quest.
Konami may have a future franchise on their hands here if everything is at good as it looks so far, and with the game relying on the 3D, this will certainly be a title to keep an eye on during the flood of 3DS titles that are coming out this year. You can check out the screenshots below to get a first look at some of the settings and characters as well. These screens don’t reveal too much, but I can say I am really digging the animation style right off. Keep checking back as well, as we will be sure to bring you even more on Doctor Lautrec and the Forgotten Knights as new information comes forward.
One of the best parts about The Darkness back when it was released back in 2007 was the fact that The Darkness itself was constantly mocking Jackie and constantly providing evil comments about what was happening in the game itself. Now what would a sequel be if the man who voiced The Darkness wasn’t going to return to provide his great talents to the demon?
Well we won’t even have to worry about that because Mike Patton who did the voice work for The Darkness in the first game will be returning to voice the sequel. Mike Patton is the front man for the band Faith No More so it is good to see him taking time out of his rock career to voice the demon again. Mike Patton himself is glad to be back in the role and has been quoted saying:
“It feels really good to be the bad guy, and The Darkness is as bad as it gets. I’ve read through the script and Jackie is going to be a brutally tortured soul. I’m looking forward to making his life a living hell.”
With just about every major publisher starting to reveal titles for the 3DS, Natsume have now revealed what will be their first game on the console. Surprisingly, instead of a Rune Factory or Harvest Moon title, gamers will get to see the next entry in the Reel Fishing series, Reel Fishing Paradise 3D. Reel Fishing Paradise 3D will have players travel in over a dozen “stunning 3D” locations to become a “master angler”. In true Natsume style, this title will bring a lot of customization to the sport of fishing, letting players mix-and-match rods, reels, lines, lures or bait. There will also be much to collect such as rare items and tools for you fishing quest, including items branded with rarity.
“We’re thrilled to be bringing the best-selling fishing series into the third dimension,” said Hiro Maekawa, President and CEO at Natsume.
“With environments that boast stunning depth and fish that leap off the screen at you, Reel Fishing Paradise 3D is a fishing experience like nothing you’ve ever seen before!”
As well as this announcement, the company also released the first set of screens (which you can view below), and they are looking sharp and I can easily see why this series was chosen to take a venture into 3D. There is not official date at the moment on “Reel Fishing Paradise 3D” but we do however know it won’t be too long of a wait after the big launch as Natsume have set a release window of Spring 2011.
Ever wonder what Mario Kart would be like if it existed in real life? Youtube user Freddiew wondered the same thing and made this pretty awesome video depicting such a thing. The production values are pretty good, special effects look pretty realistic and the whole video is pretty comical. Check it out!
Free items for a game that you want to purchase is already a good thing, but wrapping up these free items in a demo that we will already be downloading anyways is a great gift from the developers. BioWare has created what they are calling a Call to Arms challenge which will make fans of the series have to gather over one million demo downloads between February 22nd when it is released and March 1st.
If the one million mark is reached then BioWare will release two special items that will be free in the retail copy of the game. Two books titled Lothering’s Lament and The Far Cliffs of Kirkwall. Lothering’s Lament will give players an XP boost and unique perks while Kirkwall will give players free money to start their journey with.
Downloads on any console will go towards the goal so that means that all you have to do is download at least one demo and you will be doing your part. Or of course download it on all three if you can. You can track the progress of the download on the Call to Arms Page but I have little doubt that the one million mark will be reached.
Wait? What? Apparently within only a few short hours of Sony banning people who have hacked their PS3s there is now already a hack that says that it will allow modders to get themselves into the PSN and unban themselves. This is already a problem in and of itself considering the PSN ban was supposed to be the last step to stopping the hackers.
But there is even worse news considering the fact that this hack will also allow modders to ban other PS3 consoles as long as they are able to get a hold of the console’s ID by tricking the owner. We have been tipped off to the existence of the hack and the fact that modders are simply not going to stand down and let Sony push them around. But in the end the only people who are going to get hurt by this are legitimate users of the console.
Pro Zombie Soccer Apocalypse Edition Platform: iPad Publisher: Chillingo Developer: Chillingo Release Date: January 20, 2011 Price: $1.99 – Available here
The game developers at Chilingo deliver an upgraded, iPad version of ‘Pro Zombie Soccer’ originally for the iPhone, dubbed “Apocalypse Edition” the title says it all really. Here’s another zombie game bringing over-the-top action, story and zombie killing madness to the iPad and it’s not that bad at all providing a simple, fast pace action game for anyone on the go or with some time to kill will enjoy this game.
Story
The story, sure not the best but hey for a zombie soccer game it’s what come to you expect. The story is ridiculous, over-the-top and quite humorous at parts. The story itself is told through cartoony text based cut-scenes which set up the following scenarios and setting, and yes they are quite cheesy and you can choose to skip them if you just want to cut straight to the action. You play as Jax, a star soccer player who on one night gets bitten by zombie superstar soccer player and somehow inherits soccer superpowers and uses them to take on the undead in the mitts of transforming into a zombie himself. From then on you fight wave after wave of zombies, nothing really new here but the story does provide some occasional funny bits and a nice break from killing zombies.
Gameplay
Taking on wave after wave of zombie foe requires skill to rack up a high score. As a skilled soccer player, you ball is your weapon. Jax remains stationary while zombies approach from the right hand side, aiming and firing is controlled using the same button and is very easy to get the hang of, holding down the button will charge up Jax’s shot for ‘massive damage’. Power-ups are also through into mix and they are very rewarding and satisfying to use, as using them properly can either make or break a round. Jax’s super soccer powers grants him three power-ups lightning ball, piercing ball and laser. The first, ‘lightning ball’ slows down time allowing for faster kills, ‘piercing ball’ as the name suggest pierces through multiple enemies at a time and the last ‘laser’, well… you somehow gain control over a giant satellite laser which targets multiple enemies at a time.
Overall the game sort of plays out likes a mix between pin ball and tower defence, it’s really quite fun but at times the game can feel a little too easy, especially when you have one your power-ups turned on and since all enemies eventually funnel into the centre, just spamming the firing button clears out any feeling of being too overwhelmed. Aiming can get frustrating at times as lining up shots can be quite difficult and are often not completely accurate. The game does get tougher later on with the introduction of enemies that can only be taken out with a precise one hit kill weak spot “Nutshot” anyone? Also, controlling the ‘laser’ with the iPad’s accelerometer (tilting the iPad from side to side) is quite awaked, clunky and again quite frustrating as it is quite slow to respond to your movements. Also, there is no quick play option which may put off some players but you can replay missions once you have beaten them. Aside from this, gameplay is genuinely quite good.
Graphics and Audio
The graphic in Pro Zombie Soccer Apocalypse Edition are presented well with slick cartoony visuals. An improvement over the iPhone version, ‘Apocalypse Edition’ boasts HD graphics thank to the developers specially redesigned the game’s backdrops to fit the iPad’s large screen. Character animations are very slick and seamless, which particularly look great in a final kill where the game slows down to focus on the final gory death, yet they can get repetitive as you will be seeing the same death animations over and over. The game also features original music which is pretty good and suits the game very well. Fast pace rock music will play for your zombie killing pleasure, which is exactly the type of music you want to hear when playing a game like this.
Overall
Pro Zombie Soccer Apocalypse Edition is a very decent game, providing simple yet action packed gameplay which is enchased all the more with fast paced rock music. Later levels in the game do take some time to beat as very precise shots are required to beat certain enemies but once you get the hang of it you’ll have a blast playing this game. Considering the game’s relatively cheap price, this game is easily recommendable to anyone wanting a fun, original, humorous, zombie killing experience.
I give Pro Zombie Soccer Apocalypse Edition for the iPad:
There have been a number of zombie games released over the past few years. Nearly every one of them has advanced the genre in one way or another. Team based combat in one game, a variety of killing tools in another with a partial open environment in another. How about if you were to put those two things together? A few years ago we saw a trailer for something that would not show up again until just recently, and that is Dead Island.
Deep Silver has announced that they will be publishing the game for developer Techland after years of hiding in the shadows. Dead Island will place players on a tropical island after the outbreak of a zombie apocalypse. Being trapped on the island is the least of the survivors worries when there are flesh hungry undead right outside the door.
Players will be focusing most of their efforts around melee combat and using items around them to fight off the zombie horde due to the fact that weapons and ammunition are in a short supply. But don’t worry you will not be alone because you can form a team of up to four players to make your way through the campaign. All of this will take place in an open world tropical island of course and give players the chance to upgrade different abilities and skills for their survivor as they gain levels.
A new trailer was released for the game as well which shows the struggle of a family as the zombies come down upon them, in reverse. There currently is no set date for the game to be released besides some point later in the year but when it does release it will be coming out on the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.
