Joystiq

Tomb Raider: Underworld getting 'exclusive' DLC on Xbox 360

Jason Dobson — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:30:00 EST

Xbox 360 players planning to lace up in Lara Croft's skin-tight boots this November can look forward to a double helping of new content even after the final credits roll by. Eidos announced that it has inked a deal with Microsoft to release two additional chapters to Tomb Raider: Underworld, offering some six additional hours of raiding tombs, or at least what passes for tombs these days.

The first bit of DLC, ominously titled Beneath the Ashes, will debut this Christmas, adding a new area and enemies as well as a continuation of Underworld's story. The second, dubbed Lara's Shadow, promises "a new kind of playable character," leaving us wondering if Lara been drinking from the Phazon pool again? Eidos bills the new content as "exclusive" to Xbox Live Marketplace, though we'll at least try to feign surprise should similar content make its way to other platforms as well.

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Video and screens: Mario and Luigi (and Bowser make) 3

Randy Nelson — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Nintendo DS, Action, Adventure, RPGs

Another of the games shown in video-only form at Nintendo's recent North American media summit, Mario and Luigi 3 (or Mario and Luigi RPG 3, depending on who you ask) is the latest chapter in Intelligent Systems' superb action-RPG series, and the second on DS.

This outing adds Bowser as a playable character, and, from what we saw (and you can see in the above video), Mario's long-time nemesis brings some nasty power-moves to the party. It also looks like players will control him solo, rather than throwing him into a three-character combat system. That's okay with us; as long as IS keeps coming up with cool gameplay mechanics using both Mario bros. and crafting a zany story to compliment them, we're there.
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Joystiq impressions: Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop

Zack Stern — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Features, Nintendo Wii, Action, Galleries

click to enlarge

Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop thins components from the 360 original into a Wii port. And that's not always a bad thing. As much as we liked the original, we were frustrated by losing track of side missions and the unforgiving save system. The Wii remake addresses both issues, running players through a condensed, linear story with more frequent save- and restore-points. And Wii controls often feel good, especially for pointing and shooting, although we're still uncertain about some of the motion additions, such as shaking off zombies.

But after playing at the Nintendo Media Summit, we're apprehensive about what's being lost. There's no photojournalism, many weapons have been cut, and we're just not sure if the Wii can push enough zombies-per-second to create the ambling masses of the first. The Wii version seems suited to gamers who never tried the original; it'll hold up better without any direct comparison to the 360 game.
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Sega re-working MadWorld controls, game still looks awesome

Randy Nelson — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 08:30:00 EST

Filed under: Nintendo Wii, Action

Excitement quickly turned to disappointment when we realized that Sega and Platinum Games' super-stylized Wii action title, MadWorld, was up-and-running on two kiosks at Nintendo's Fall Media Summit ... but wasn't actually playable by the media. Instead, Sega reps informed us that the game is currently undergoing some fundamental changes to its control scheme and that, well, they basically didn't want us to play it in its current state.

It sure looked bloody fun (emphasis, of course, on the "bloody"). We watched those around us slowly back away as we giggled with child-like glee at the on-screen ultra-violence (hey, we'd had a very bad morning in traffic). Someone urged Sega's testers to show off the most over-the-top move they could think of, so we were treated to a gameplay sequence wherein an enemy was restrained with a tire, skewered through the head with a stopsign post, then cleaved in twain by the main character's chainsaw.

We also got a peek at the chainsaw in action while riding a motorcycle down the side of a building and along a highway at innapropriate speeds. A sequence which, again, made us even more steamed that we couldn't grab the controls and try it ourselves. Not mad enough to run anyone through with a signpost, mind you, but most definitely irked.

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Knockout Sin and Punishment 2, Punch-Out!! screens and video

Randy Nelson — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 08:15:00 EST

Filed under: Nintendo Wii, Action, Fighting

Since the games were announced last week, all we've had to go on for Nintendo's unexpected, one-two "core" game punch of Sin and Punishment 2 and the new Punch-Out!! for Wii has been second-hand media. Now that the embargo on our Nintendo Fall Media Summit coverage has (finally) lifted, we can offer up these official, pristine screens and gameplay footage.

We've already covered the basics on both games - now it's your chance to sit back, crank up the volume, and get every bit as excited as we were when Nintendo rolled these teasers and passed out anything-but-blurry screens. Of course, there are no firm release dates yet for either game, but they're coming, and that's exciting enough ... for the time being. (Click through after the break for silky-smooth Sin and Punishment 2 footage.)
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Manhunt 2 gets UK release date

Griffin McElroy — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 17:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PSP, Nintendo Wii, Action

Readers currently residing in the United Kingdom -- your wait is over. At long last, you'll be able to experience one of 2007's best selling, most critically acclaimed titles -- Rockstar's controversial thriller, Manhunt 2. After being turned down by the British Board of Film Classification for its "unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone," a reworked, SFEurope version of the game will be launched in the UK for the Wii, PS2 and PSP on October 31. We know, we can barely contain our excitement either.

Sure, it may lack a few of the more grisly elements included in the inappropriate North American version, but if your hands are shaking with anticipation as you read this report -- as we're sure they are -- we imagine you'll be able to overlook a few omitted acts of power drill-related violence.

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Gears of War 2 and the extremely giant COG tag

Kevin Kelly — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Fighting, Online

Tucked away in the dark, at the far back of E for All is a fair-sized Gears of War 2 booth with many stations showing off the Horde mode, and handing out COG tags. However, these are fairly normal sized tags, about the size of a dollar coin. So what's up with this image of a giant COG that looks like it could serve as Sauron's ring?

We asked one of the community managers at the GoW2 booth, and he said, "Wait... did you see this image recently? A huge COG tag that's thick and made out of metal? Yeah, there's a big announcement about that coming out. I can't say anything about it really, but keep watching the website all weekend. And no, it's not something you can buy. It's made of metal, is thick, and weighs about two pounds."

Is Epic hiding these in the world somewhere, and there's a contest to find them? Are they items you can win based on your in-game performance like those rings they added to Madden? Is it just a huge paperweight? We'll keep watching the site, which yesterday put up a blurb about COGs. How convenient. What do you think it is?

[Via JoystickWidow]

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No more clickety-clack, Resident Evil 5 drops typewriters

Jason Dobson — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 20:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

Chris Redfield can look forward to aerating the not-quite-undead with a conveniently placed shotgun in Resident Evil 5. However, he won't have to worry about uncovering the African village's lone typewriter in order to record his progress in the event an errant bite finds its mark.

1UP reports that the upcoming horror-cum-action game will forego the series' previous means of saving games using typewriters, and will instead feature "a combination of checkpoints and chapters." This according to RE5 producer Jun Takeuchi, who admits that he 'really likes' typewriters, though we imagine he has no love lost for tradition. We'll fight back the tears as we pour over these latest screens. Typewriter, we'll miss you.

[Via X3F]
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Vanillaware's Muramasa: The Demon Blade coming stateside

Jason Dobson — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 15:15:00 EST

Filed under: Nintendo Wii, Action

The publishing duo of XSEED and Marvelous Entertainment announced plans to bring Vanillaware's Wii-exclusive ninja-action title, Oboro Muramasa Youtouden, to the US sometime next year. The game, which will be redubbed as Muramasa: The Demon Blade for the local market, marks the second title to emerge from a co-publishing deal inked in May, following this week's release of Valhalla Knights 2 for the PSP.

Muramasa looks to continue the tradition of Vanillaware's eye-poppingly gorgeous titles, Odin Sphere and Grim Grimoire, promising hand-drawn 2D sprites and side-scrolling levels. Beyond this, details are scarce, though more is expected to be revealed next week when the game is officially unveiled during TGS.

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Quartermann: New Strider in the works, Kojima may be working on FPS

Alexander Sliwinski — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 14:45:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Action

EGM's rumor-mongering editor amalgamation Quartermann has some info on another Capcom franchise that may get an update. Apparently Strider could be the next classic character to get a Bionic Commando upgrade, with the Q-mann saying that it could take on Devil May Cry-style gameplay.

The other tidbit is that Metal Gear Solid guru Hideo Kojima may be working on a first-person shooter. Allegedly Kojima has been to FPS studios Infinity Ward (Call of Duty 4) and Guerrilla Games (Killzone 2) for reasons unknown. Maybe he's just trying to learn how to make a ~~proper~~ better multiplayer experience?

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Joystiq goes to E for All

Kevin Kelly — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:45:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Action, Online, Casual

E for All remains the ghostly and distant third cousin of the previous mammoth version of E3 that's open to the public, and it takes place inside the carcass of that fearsome beast, the Los Angeles Convention Center. While we misjudged the time and arrived two hours early, that gives us plenty of time to peruse the schedule and pick our poison.

So far the highlights include:

A treadmill race across Azeroth
Meet and greet with Billy Mitchell
Samples of Gamer Grub, snacks developed for gamers
Hands-on with Ubisoft's Far Cry 2, Tom Clancy's End War, Shaun White Snowboarding, and Activision's Guitar Hero World Tour
Putting our butt in a Boom Chair
And the... Los Angeles Unified School District? "Participating students will obtain a deeper understanding of video games and how they can be incorporated into their future careers from speakers - including Fatal1ty - who will describe their experience with video games and ways to break into the industry." Run kids, run.

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D3 reveals satirical shooter 'Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard'

Ludwig Kietzmann — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:40:00 EST

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

Vicious Cycle Software and D3Publisher have decided it's time to poke fun at our beloved (but grizzled!) space marines, revealing the first, scant details of their upcoming Xbox 360 and PS3 shooter, Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard. According to the press release, the award-winning writer behind Dead Head Fred, Dave Ellis, came up with the whole shebang-bang-bang.

As you might expect from a modern third-person shooter -- even a humorous one -- Eat Lead will employ a cover system (dubbed "point and cover") and "different interactive melee moves." Provided the game remembers that taking potshots at the genre doesn't exclude it from being judged as a shooter, The Return of Matt Hazard in Q1 2009 may just be welcomed. In fact, we're just about ready to join Matt's appropriately and believably terrible fansite.
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GoW 2 comes with 'Flashback' maps; gold Hammerburst code at special launch events

Alexander Sliwinski — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:10:00 EST

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

Those who purchase Gears of War 2 will receive a code in the box to download the "Flashback" map pack from XBM for free. The pack contains visually upgraded versions of original Gears maps: Canals, Gridlock, Subway, Mansion and Tyro Station. This means Gears fans will have 15 total multiplayer maps to practice their chainsawdomy at launch.

GamePro has also learned that a code to download the in-game gold-plated Hammerburst will be given out at "Midnight Madness" launch events for the game on Nov. 6. Epic allegedly has no plans to offer the Flashback maps or the special Hammerburst as DLC at this time.

[Via X3F]

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Get Jiggy with new Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts video and screens

Randy Nelson — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

We got to spend a little more time behind the controls of Rare's re-invention of its Mario-esque N64 platforming series and ... it was pretty much a more polished version of what we tried out at E3. The vehicle creation element of the game is still its most endearing aspect by far, and we continue to be struck by the non-platform-game-ness of it all. (What with Kazooie being relegated to wielding a wrench and the fact that most of the game is based around purpose-built vehicles.)

It's no longer a hardcore platformer; the game instead feels skewed toward a younger (or at least wider) audience -- although we're pretty confident that series diehards will still find it enjoyable (especially the vehicle creation). We'll have multiplayer impressions next week; until then, check out these latest screens and video of wild bear-bird (or is it bird-bear?) action.
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Sounds of Fable 2 covered in latest dev. diary

Alexander Sliwinski — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 23:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, RPGs

Lionhead Studios' latest developer diary hits a high note covering the audio of Fable 2. Music and sound effects are detailed for most of the piece, but the last section features British actors using those adorable accents of theirs. Prolific actor Stephen Fry, who is also the narrator of LittleBigPlanet, makes an appearance in there, and you may recognize some of the other actors as well. Check it out after the break.

[Via X3F]

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Dead Space scores 91% in first review

Ludwig Kietzmann — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

Buhbuhbuh it's EA, Joystiq! Though we'll save our most obnoxious we-told-you-sos for the more comprehensive metareview ... we did tell you so. Our E3 Game of Show has scooped up its first (and hopefully not last) set of review accolades, scoring 91% in the pages of Xbox World 360. The review reportedly suggests that EA could teach Capcom "a thing or three about survival horror," with Dead Space boasting ferocious foes that make others in the genre seem "decidedly average."

Oh, but there is one thing that worries us: the game's "film-worthy" script. Have they not been to the cinema recently? With rare exception, a poorly formatted paragraph describing a pair of voluptious breasts ramping a Porsche over an explosion would have to be dumbed down by a script doctor. Too arty.

[Via X3F and Twitter, which apparently works in outer space]

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Watch this: Sin & Punishment 2, Punch-Out!! footage

Ludwig Kietzmann — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Nintendo Wii, Action

If there's one thing that disappoints us about Nintendo's Wiivamped Punch-Out!!, it's that it doesn't use nearly enough exclamation marks in the title. We'd like to think that in the year 2008, what with the internet heavily contributing to our subconscious desire to pummel other human bean bags, an exercise in cartoonish pugilism would be announced with at least eight or nine turns of the sentence volume knob.

That being said, if punching (!!!!!!!!) isn't your thing, perhaps you're open to other forms of punishment. You'll find footage of Treasure's shooty sequel, Sin & Punishment 2, after the break.

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Let's Tap, Sonic creator Naka's 'penguin' game, coming Dec. 2008

Ross Miller — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Nintendo Wii, Action, Rhythm

At last, Sega has finally revealed Let's Tap for Wii, Sonic creator Yuji Naka's game teased as, "World first, the game that even penguins can play." How exactly a penguin does play it is still not explicitly stated, although our marine biologist friends tell us that penguins are prone to waddle, so this inverted Wii remote laying on the ground may indicate that we will be, erm, tapping on our remote somehow.

As for the game itself, the available screenshots vary greatly and provide no basis for interpretation. There is a countdown on the official website that expires in seven days. What we do know, according to the info box in the lower right corner: the genre is "tap action," it supports one to four (to infinity) players and will release this December for 5,040 yen (approx. US $48).
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Joystiq hands-on: Darksiders: Wrath of War

Kevin Kelly — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 10:30:00 EST

Filed under: Features, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Adventure, Interviews, Galleries

One of the biggest things we missed at E3 this year was the upcoming Vigil Games / THQ title, Darksiders: Wrath of War. How we managed to miss this one is still unclear -- we can only assume that it was in our blind spot the entire time. So, during our recent jaunt down to Austin for the Game Developer's Conference, we made time to stop by Vigil and take an in-depth look at the the team's debut title and two-year labor. Luckily, they weren't holding any grudges against our non-existent E3 coverage and were nice enough to give us a huge chunk of time with the game and the designers.

Concept artist and Vigil founder Joe Madureira and lead designer Hadyn Dalton sat down with us for two hours, taking us through the game and showing us levels that haven't been released to the public just yet. We got to take control of protagonist War and do battle with enemies, solve puzzles, and even take his massive warhorse Ruin for a spin. Check out the full writeup after the break, and be sure to check out the gallery, full of exclusive images from the game, just below. If you've been itching for a Joe Madureira Battle Chasers fix, this might be about as close as you can get.
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Sin & Punishment 2 coming to Wii

Andrew Yoon — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 02:00:00 EST

Filed under: Nintendo Wii, Action

Although its only release in America came as a Virtual Console title on the Wii, Sin & Punishment ~~(N64 version pictured above)~~ has a pretty hardcore following here in the States. Nintendo has announced a follow-up to the Treasure-developed rail shooter. No details are available yet, but those who have played the original Tsumi to Batsu will know that the game is a perfect fit for Nintendo's current home console. Check out videos right here.

[Update: Added screenshot of the new game.]

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