Randy Pitchford of Gearbox revealed an exclusive trailer in London earlier today and even he thinks that it may end up causing a good amount of trouble with the ratings boards across the world. Also so that they can avoid having 2K Games suffer any backlash from the ratings boards. Because of this the actual trailer is unavailable for viewing.
We can however explain what took place in said trailer, showing what Pitchford says contains “bare breasts, strippers, gratuitous swearing, the word ‘F***’ in massive letters and a giant alien getting pummeled in the genitals by Duke himself, along with Duke being taken care of by two girls.”
From that description it is quite obvious that both the ESRB and PEGI are going to have a tough game to give a rating for, and depending on how strict they will be, it may receive an AO, but lets hope that there isn’t anything cut from the game simply to make it stay in an M frame. Anyone who played Duke Nukem before knows how much he loves the ladies and if they are forced to cut content because of that, it just won’t be the same Duke.
Twisted Lands: Shadow Town is a new Hidden object thriller Adventure Puzzler from Developers Alawar Entrainment. The aim of the game isn’t to solve a mystery of what sorts but to find your girlfriend and get the hell out of the town before it’s too late!
The story
The game starts out as an innocent treasure hunting trip for you and your companion/girlfriend Angel. As the game begins you wake up on a deserted beach shipwreck not knowing how you got there with no possession on your person, this is where the mystery really starts.
Twisted Lands: Shadow Town features a typical point-and-click interface to in which you search locations such as abandoned ships, Haunted houses, spooky Churches, Chilling woods and many other spine chilling locations. As you embark on this adventure you will find clues left by previous occupants of the island, from newspaper clippings to seeing ghostly apparitions of events that have happened here in the past. As the clues build up you quickly start to shed some light on what has happened to this town and realise why it’s been deserted.
As the story unravels the payer is subject to some truly haunting and occasionally disturbing moments with plenty of twists and turns to keep you gripped. Once you have completed the main story you unlock a bonus chapter, only included in the collector’s edition of the game this additional chapter expands the ever so intriguing story with a interesting and clever spin which makes you see things in a new light.
Gameplay
The game is composed of both puzzles and hidden objects which makes Twisted lands: Shadow Town most enjoyable. As a bonus the game never once got repetitive, a common issue with many hidden object titles. Most of the puzzles involve 15 objects that need to be found. As each puzzle is solved you are awarded one of the items which help you on your search. In addition during the adventure you will also find key objects, usually personal possessions that trigger memories of your lost love.
The collector’s Edition of the game also includes a built-in walkthrough. This will come in handy should you get stuck although to be honest this in unlikely as the game is relatively easy. However, it’s a welcome addition to those who maybe new to this genre. As an example, One part of the game sees you hunting for snake statues. These are fairly easily found by solving various puzzles and seeking out different locations. All though you will stumble across these statues with seemingly little effort they are important and integral to you overall success.
Graphics and Sound
Graphics were pretty good and highly detailed and I found myself a few times admiring the different locations you get to explore. The music also has a certain ambiance which really fits the title. At times I found myself on the edge of my seat with my hairs standing on end although I was playing alone and in the dark. Occasionally there is an increase in tempo which gives you the certain urgency and gets you heart racing.
The controls are very straight forward for this style of game with plenty of on screen indicators to let you know where you are going and what you can interactive with. If you find this too easy the indications can be turned off at any time in the option menu.
Overview
Twisted lands: Shadow Town takes around four hours to fully complete although a great deal of that time us spent backtracking over previous locations. It would have been nice to have the option to instantly travel to past locations easing the frustration. The relatively short runtime and backtracking whist something of a let down do not spoil what is otherwise a fun and often spooky hidden puzzle adventure.
If you are looking for a little spook fest this Halloween and you find you have no parties to go to then I recommend Twisted lands: Shadow Town to help pass those lonely twilight hours. You never know, you might just get the fright you are looking for.
Electronic Arts announced that select Best Buy stores will be selling EA Sports titles sporting the Komen Running Ribbon logo. This logo pays due to the fact that EA donated $100,000 for the cure for breast cancer. On PS3 the logo will be displayed on FIFA 11, NHL 11 and NCAA 11. Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii versions of Madden 11 and PGA Tour 11 will also display the symbol.
“This year marks the third year of commitment on behalf of EA SPORTS in continuing to create awareness in the fight against breast cancer,” said Christopher Erb, EA SPORTS Senior Director of Partnership Marketing. “EA is honored to work with Susan G. Komen for the Cure to spread awareness and to give EA SPORTS consumers an opportunity to participate in finding the cures.”
“Over the past 30 years, significant advancements have been made in the fight against breast cancer,” said Katrina McGhee, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Komen for the Cure. “Without partners like EA SPORTS, Komen wouldn’t have been able to pay for half a million breast screenings for women last year. Together, we are literally saving lives.”
What will you be listening to as you tear apart your enemies and beat them to death with their own arms? A killer metal soundtrack featuring a large amount of metal songs that will definitely fit the murderous atmosphere of the game, as we hear songs from 5 Finger Death Punch, Mastadon, Wolfshirt and many more.
Many of these bands may not be very recognizable, the only reason I know about Mastadon is from Brutal Legend, and 5 Finger Death Punch from a free concert they played in the area last year, but their songs will be playing as blood flies November 23rd when the game hits the PS3 and Xbox 360.
God of war collection was the first game on PS3 to be remastered from a PS2 version. I think this is starting to become a trend. Most PS3s do not have backwards capability. With the success of the PS classics, more and more companies are remaking their games in HD. These are just a few games that have been posted to get a beauty makeover.
ICO collection
Sly Cooper collection
Prince of Persia collection
Beyond Good and Evil
Oddworld Strangers Wrath
What is next? I have a few games that I would like to be remade in HD.
Halo 1 and 2
Jak and Daxter collection
Rachet and Clank Collection
Fallout 1 and 2
Driver collection
Grand theft auto collection (1,2,3 vice city, and San andreas)
I am sure some of these games are on your wish list and more. Keep your head on the swivel for more announcements of HD makeovers, one could be off your list.
What happens when a young Jedi is cloned and his mind is turned to Jello? Freakin’ rad explosions, lightsaber duels, strange visions and dismemberment is what happens! Only a couple more weeks until we can unleash some truth on a couple of stormtroopers. Don’t forget that the demo will release on October 12, 2010.
Big news for fans of everything that Natsume does, because Rune Factory 3 has been announced for a US release and it is also coming in only a month. Announced for release on November 9th Rune Fantasy 3: A Fantasy Harvest Moon is completely translated and ready to go.
Hiro Maekawa, president of Natsume had this to say about the upcoming release:
“We can’t wait for Rune Factory 3 to hit stores next month so players can experience this thrilling new chapter in the Rune Factory saga.
Fans of the series know that the standard Rune Factory formula places players on the farm and preparing for some sort of enemy to appear and cause trouble for the world. But in this iteration of the game, humans and intelligent monsters are in conflict with one another, but your character is a mix of the races, half human half monster.
Also Rune Factory 3 will be including multiplayer and the ability to transform into your monster half in the dungeons you will be exploring. This is very exciting news as my Harvest Moon itch hasn’t been scratched in quite awhile and Rune Factory 3 should scratch that very nicely.
Within a week and a half people will begin to explore an apocalyptic wasteland in Fallout: New Vegas. But as they are adventuring, who will they be supporting? There are three different factions in the game all battling for control of the Hoover Dam, and with it, control over the Mojave wasteland.
The video also explains that there are smaller factions who you can ally yourself with to make yourself stronger, or tear apart and seat yourself as the head of the group. There are plenty of choices to be made, and they aren’t black and white anymore either. No clear cut karma meter adjustments in this one. I’m all for joining Caesar’s Legion and causing havoc for the NCR.
Dying for a new X-Men game? Well don’t die just yet because Marvel and Activision have announced that they have partnered together to develop X-Men: Destiny. The storyline has been written by Mike Carey, writer of X-Men: Legacy and will place players behind the eyes of a brand new mutant recruit. There aren’t that many details about the game just yet, but it is refreshing to see that you may have the chance to create your very own mutant in this game.
Activision themselves have also promised a branching storyline that incorporates a deep element of choice. Activision hasn’t taken a journey yet into moral choices and what affect they can have on the story, so will this be a new Dragon Age choice system but with mutants instead?
There is a website up for the game now, but it is very limited in detail.
After hearing about the delay from April to the holiday season, Gears of War fans have been devastated that they have to wait over a half a year longer to play third game of the series. But Epic Games has revealed that there will be a public beta beginning early next year.
Rod Fergusson of Epic Games told everyone that they had always wanted to do a public beta but never were able to due to not having enough time to improve the title after feedback was received. There is no word on when said Beta will begin, but it will definitely help improve the online multiplayer in the end.
Also he announced that for the first time ever, there will be dedicated servers for the online matches. This is stellar news considering the fact that previous games of Gears of War have suffered from problematic hosting and lag from having to use players as hosts. Now it will provide a hopefully lag free and easily accessible matches.
