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Review: Dear Esther

February 28, 2012 by
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In the last couple years, an interesting trend has started to evolve in the gaming “sphere”. Developers, in an effort to move the medium forward or perhaps to elevate the idea of “GAMES ARE ART YOU GUYS” into more of a focal point, have started working on titles that offer a more cinematic experience as opposed to a down-and-dirty game full of…well, gameplay. These games, which I guess you could call “art games” if you really wanted to, are more about eliciting emotion from what you’re seeing in front of you as opposed to dragging you along through a carefully-structured narrative. The latest to follow in the steps of Flower, Trauma and Dinner Date is a remake of 2007 Source Engine mod Dear Esther. Developed by thechineseroom and Environmental Artist-Wizard™ Robert Briscoe, the “game” doesn’t ask you to do much more than walk forward, while a story is told to you all along the way.

You’d be surprised at how unbelievably brilliant this approach is.

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What if you could change the game you are playing?

February 18, 2012 by
Computer Room

Two days ago the Swedish indie game developer Erik Svedäng  released a blog post that took gamers by storm.  He and his four associates had this idea for an adventure game that is like nothing we have seen before. The game is called else { Heart.break() }.  A lot of programmers will be familiar with the characters in that game title, and there is a reason for that.  It’s been in the works now for over two years, and thanks to the Nordic Gaming Program, they are officially one year into the actual production of the game.  While the game is said to still be at least one year away from completion, the buzz on the internet is strong.  Erik describes the game as:

“a game about being able to change reality. It is set in a mysterious world made up of computers and their code; a place where bits have replaced atoms. The player – who is assumed to have no previous knowledge about programming – gets access to the code and is taught by other characters how to modify it. As the story unfolds the possibilities of what can be reprogrammed, hacked and controlled increases greatly. Eventually the inner parts of the gameplay code are revealed and the barrier between our own world and the game starts to dissolve.”

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Filed Under: News, PC, Previews Tagged With: , , ,

Personal Thoughts: Mass Effect 3 and the “Galaxy at War” system

February 18, 2012 by
mass_effect_3_multiplayer_galaxy_at_war

I’ve been watching the slow and methodical translation of Mass Effect as a series from “single-player RPG/waifu simulator“ to “social aggregation machine”. While previous BioWare releases have taken the occasional jaunty step into off-shoots and side-releases, like Mass Effect Galaxy for the iOS or the browser-based Dragon Age: Journeys, the Canadian developer has never gone full-bore into bringing a game’s fiction forward in multiple, simultaneous forms. As the final installment in Commander Shepard’s story, Mass Effect 3 is taking a pretty bold step by encouraging cross-promotions and extra incentives through other forms of interaction, most of which revolve around the “Galaxy at War” concept. It’s an interesting idea as an addendum to the overarching single-player campaign, but the more I think about it, I start to wonder what the implications of this system could mean as a testing ground – an experiment into delivering games not just as a single product, but as a wide-reaching “suite” of entertainment options.

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Filed Under: Features, PC, PS3, X360 Tagged With: , , ,

FFXIII-2 DLC screenshots show off “beachwear” and SAZH

February 16, 2012 by
7521Sazh DLC 01

The first official “episode” (read: DLC) for Final Fantasy XIII-2: Dynamite Time-Travel Adventure Suite1 was announced today, and from what I can tell it might only be worth checking out if you were a fan of the best character in the original XIII title. Why do I say that, you ask? To begin with, the name of the episode is “Sazh: Heads or Tails?”. Launching on February 28th, it’s going to not only let you play as Sazh, but once you’re all done with the content being presented here (in a parallel story to the main XIII-2 continuity) you’ll be able to add him to your party, which if I’m not mistaken will make him the third human character that you can actually utilize in this game, outside of previous DLC packs. The DLC mini-expansion will also feature “two new card games” called Chronobind and Serendipity Poker. If I had to guess, I would say the second one is a poker game.

In addition to this new story offering, Noel and Serah are both getting special DLC outfits, something usually reserved for fighting games. Noel’s outfit, the “Spacetime Guardian” suit, makes him look like a bad-ass, with sharp blue tones and lots of buttons (as opposed to belts, the up-until-now centerpiece of XIII’s clothing lines). Serah’s outfit…well, it’s called “Beachwear”. I don’t feel right in talking much about it because I honestly think it’s a pretty sleazy DLC option that focuses almost entirely on delivering fan-service rather than an alternate costume that glorifies the character.

Oh well. “Sazh: Heads or Tails?” will be priced at $4.99/400 Microsoft Waffledubloons, and both outfits can be purchased for $2.99/240 WDB. We have pictures for both outfits and a few clips from Sazh’s storyline beyond the cut.

1 Not an actual subtitle for XIII-2.

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Review: The Darkness II

February 15, 2012 by
the-darkness2-launch-trailer

The best phrasing I could use to describe 2007’s The Darkness is “diamond in the rough”. Based on the Top Cow comic book series, Starbreeze Studios (now working on that fancy new Syndicate thing) delivered a very amiable shooter that had some bold ideas and genuinely grounded characters. It was a really fun game, but it never really seemed to be widely-recognized by the public. Five years have passed since we last saw Jackie Estacado and the nefarious force inside him, and even with a new studio behind the sequel, The Darkness II proves that he’s doing better than ever…relatively speaking.

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Filed Under: PC, PS3, Reviews, X360 Tagged With: , ,

Line of Defense brought out into the light, 5 screenshots follow behind

February 6, 2012 by
LODlogo

Back on February 1st, a man named Derek Smart announced a new MMOFPS titled Line of Defense. It’s a game that’s hoping to include massive scale battles in 16 km x 16 km fields, vehicles both wheeled and winged, and lots of other things that MMOs tend to have, I’d wager.

We don’t really have much more information than that as far as the game is concerned – going to the official site just  gives you a splash page. We do have some screenshots, if you’re interested in that sort of visual spectacle. They look fairly early on in development, considering the game only has a vague “2012″ release date at the moment. We’ll have more on this game as soon as we get something to say about it.

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Filed Under: News, PC Tagged With: , , ,

Skyrim Creation Kit and…. Cake?

February 6, 2012 by
QQ More Console Nub

Pete Hines, the lead spokes Dovahkiin over at Bethesda, posted on his twitter that the Creation Kit for PC users will be coming out Tuesday (aka- tomorrow) along with a “Special Surprise”. What could it be, we wonder? Some folks rolling through code and data-mining say they have evidence of an official high-res pack. Is the cake a lie?

A completely unrelated Public Service Announcement: console your nearby console gamer today, life must be difficult without mods.

Filed Under: Baseless Speculation, News, PC Tagged With: , , , ,

What’s coming out in February? Dark Kingdoms of Asura’s Syndicate

February 5, 2012 by
Games of February

Another month, another assortment of video games for us to look, get angry and spew violent words at. February is the month that really kicks off 2012, with a slew of bigger games that give us new IPs and established hits that are getting a bit of a make-over. We’re also getting an entirely new handheld console in the form of the Playstation Vita, which is lookin’ like one hell of a piece of technology. There’s a lot to cover, so let’s get to it: hit the jump and find out what’s dropping this month!

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Filed Under: News, PC, PS3, X360 Tagged With: , , ,

Demo Impressions: Twisted Metal

February 3, 2012 by
Twisted-Metal-Hitting-North-America-February-14

If you’ve spent any time with a Playstation since its inception, you’re probably somewhat familiar with Twisted Metal – with seven installments over the lifespan of the entire Playstation brand (the original came out in 1995(!), for reference) it’s a momentous occasion when a new one is getting close to release. In just a few weeks, we’ll finally get our hands on the eighth title, which also happens to be the first full-fledged PS3 release. While you’ve been waiting for the chance to get your vehicular carnage on, I’ve been spending quite a bit of time with the game’s demo, which is out on the PSN until February 7th. It’s safe to say that this is not a game to pass up.

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Filed Under: Previews, PS3 Tagged With: , , , ,

The 7th Guest and The 11th Hour coming to GOG.com

February 2, 2012 by
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This is a wonderful bit of news that I got in my mailbox about an hour ago, and it makes me excited about what it implies.

Way back in 1993, when I was just a wee lad, a company called Trilobyte Games released two titles that ushered in a new era of CD-rom focused computer games: The 7th Guest and its sequel, The 11th Hour. Using scores of FMV sequences, some brilliant puzzling and really dark, moody background music, these games told a dark story that really tugged at a person’s mind – or, if you were like me when I finally played them several years after the fact, you got killed. A lot.

Despite my inability to play these games with any sense of skill back when they were new, they’ll be finding a new home shortly on the Good Old Games website/digital marketplace/men’s clothing store. Each title has an asking price of $9.99, which is in line with most of the top-end games over on GOG.com. I’ll definitely be checking these out when they come out, if only to finally figure out that damnable coffin puzzle. There were so many skeletons to keep locked up!

[Official press release, GoG.com]

Dylan Sabin is Toastervision’s Editor-in-Chief and has often been described as “manic”, “slightly eccentric”, and “a fan of fine cheese”. He decided to give the site-running business a chance with Toastervision, and so far it’s been a pretty rad experience. He can be reached at dylan@toastervision.com or on Twitter @DylanSabin.

Filed Under: News, PC Tagged With: , , , , ,
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