BioShock: Infinite "Lamb of Columbia" Trailer

Irrational Games released today a new trailer for BioShock: Infinite called Lamb of Columbia. In the floating city of Columbia, there's a lot of mystery - The city's history, the people who live there, the civil war in Columbia, that damn songbird we keep seeing, and more importantly, Elizabeth. 

Together with the release of the new trailer, Irrational Games announced that BioShock: Infinite has finally gone gold. It's finally done, and all that's left to do is mass production of the final product. It's been in development for five years, and I just can't wait to experience the world of this new BioShock game.

BioShock: Infinite is out on March 26 for Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC.

Pick 5: Remembering THQ's Best

Just in case you don't know, the video game publisher THQ has gone bankrupt recently and has auctioned all their studios and franchises to the highest bidder.  It's sad to see a great publisher go out like this, but the game industry is still a business. To pay tribute to the now bankrupt publisher, here are a couple of great games that came out of the company. 

Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War II

There were tons of Warhammer 40k games, but the one title that really stood out from the rest was Dawn of War II. A game that I've played for hours online thanks to it's addicting gameplay. It didn't have base building, but has a squad system that makes each unit crucial for your success. It can get intense even in the campaign and I considered it one of my personal favorite RTS games. In a span of two years after it's release in 2009, it earned two expansions. The developer, Relic Entertainment, was bought by SEGA during the THQ auction.

Metro 2033

Ha! I started playing Metro 2033 last weekend and was able to finish it before writing this, and I can now say that from start to finish - It's a great game. It has a lot of interesting mechanics behind this fairly new franchise, and together with an appealing post-apocalyptic setting, I just can't wait for Metro: Last Light. Thankfully the property was purchase and is now under the Koch Media banner A.K.A Deep Silver (Dead Island). Development for the sequel is still underway, but no other details were given after the sale.

Saint's Row: The Third

I'd like to call this as THQ's Grand Theft Auto with a sense of humor. I wasn't too keen on previous Saint's Row titles, but the third was so over the top that It kept me entertained for hours. The story was so ridiculous that I was eager to start the next mission. It's even a great coop game that also scratches that sandbox itch. The developers, Volition Games, was also bought by Koch Media and they even bought the property rights to the Saint's Row franchise.

Red Faction: Armageddon 

Also developed by Volition, Red Faction: Armageddon is the fourth Red Faction game and retained the unique feature of destructible environments. They took it a bit farther in Armageddon by not only giving players the ability to destroy everything around you, but also the ability to rebuild. Still set in Mars, Armageddon is a more linear affair compared to the open world Red Faction before it. With the ability to destroy and rebuilt, packed with the addicting magnet gun, Armageddon was a great sequel to move the Red Faction series forward. Sadly, the Red Faction series was not picked up during the THQ auction sale.  Volition was saved but so far no publisher has no interest of owning this franchise.

Darksiders 1 and 2

Darksiders, developed by Vigil Games, is a rare gem. An action adventure series that tried to be different. In the first game, they added so many elements to the gameplay, bringing a lot of variety to the game. It also incorporated the hardly used lock-on system mostly used in The Legend of Zelda games. It was considered one of the best new IP's to come out of 2010, and that's saying a lot considering that this is the first ever game for the developers. Sequel came and they continue to bring something new to the table by adding a leveling system and loot system on top of everything else. During the THQ auction sale, the Darksiders property and Vigil Games did not receive a single bid, destroying any possibility of having a third Darksiders game. Hopefully, a company would see the potential in the Darksiders series (Platinum Games is considering it) but so far no dice.

R.I.P THQ. If you'd like to read more about the bankruptcy case, you can check out this Forbes article. And if you want to see the final results of the THQ auction sale, have a look at Kotaku's article.

Slender: The Arrival dated, pre-orders include beta access

Slender: The Arrival now has a release date. The sequel to the short but sweet indie horror title Slender: The Eight pages will be available on March 26 for the PC. Pre-orders are now live and by ordering early grants beta access to the game and extra goodies. 

There are five pre-order options to choose from.  The game will cost $10 on release, but if you choose at least the cheapest pre-order option, you get a 50% discount plus beta access to the game. If you are feeling generous and wish to give back, you will get extra goodies like a downloadable copy of the game's soundtrack, or even get your name in the game's credits.

The beta content is actually a revamped version of the creepy forest found in the original game, letting you relive that game all over again with a new look.

If you have no idea what Slender is, but love to challenge yourself with a game that could potentially make you shit your pants, I highly suggest you check out the first game which is free to download over at their site. Try it, I double dare you.

[source: Slender: The Arrival website]

Monday Impressions: Metro 2033

Last weekend I revisited a game that has been on my Steam list for months. A game I played when I first got it but lost all interested in continue not because of how bad the game was, but because how I I lost my save file thanks to by hard disk dying on me. Playing it again reminded me on how much I was missing out, and that the upcoming sequel, Metro: Last Light, is slowly becoming one of my most anticipated games of 2013. 

Metro 2033 Publisher: THQ Developer: 4A Games Platforms: Xbox 360, PC Release Date: March 16, 2010

I wasn't able to finish the game in one weekend, but I did manage to reach where I left off.  You play as Artyom, one of the survivors living in Moscow's underground metro since the surface is now deemed unlivable thanks to the nuclear war. Your station is being overrun by mutant attacks and is getting worse every minute, so your tasked to travel to Polis (another station/town) to see if you can find some aid.

This is what I'd like to call a survival horror FPS. It has a good mix of stealth and horror in the gameplay that you mostly see yourself in narrow corridors and very dark areas with only your flashlight as a light source. The shooting is nothing to brag about, but the environment and the atmosphere is something else. As you travel through the Metro,you experience nothing but death and signs of what life was before the bombs started dropping. It's a very interesting and eerie setting, which requires you to tread very carefully because all of the dangers in the game is out to kill you.

In my time with Metro 2033(roughly 5 hours so far), I had to worry about mutants, traps, ghosts, nazi soldiers, and radiation found above and sometimes below the metro. It's a very dangerous place and It's not an easy game at all even on normal difficulty. Don't shy away because of its difficulty, the game just requires a bit of patience instead of the usual "shoot first, think later" mentality we find in most FPS games. You can still do that, but the cost is greater. The graphics are a bit inconsistent in quality since you see impressive stages but bad character models, and voice acting that could make you cringe. And I'm almost positive that every child you find in the metro was voiced by one person.   Metro 2033 also has one of the most hilarious rag doll effects I've ever seen. How mutants go ragdoll when they die during a sprint always give me a good chuckle, which helps break the tension.

The need to conserve is one of the reason's I appreciate the game's gameplay. If I can kill someone silently with a throwing knife, I'll take it. If I see myself against a pack of mutant dogs I'll make use of the shotgun and wait for them to come close instead of spraying bullets everywhere (they can be quick). This is the FPS I highly prefer than the normal brainless FPS gameplay we find in game's like Call of Duty. Metro 2033 is still on rails, moving from area after area, but the stages are huge that it requires a bit of exploration in hopes to find more supplies like ammo or gas mask filters. The story is still a big question mark because so far it's just me trying to survive my journey, while meeting other survivors along the way.

If you love FPS games and want to play a game that strays away from the norm, I highly suggest you give this game a shot. Thanks to the creepy atmosphere and amazing post-apocalyptic setting,  I definitely eager to see this game through and most likely buy the sequel Metro: Last Light when it comes out this year.

Metro 2033 launch trailer

Murdered: Soul Suspect teased by Square Enix, teaser site up

Square teased today a new game called Murdered: Soul Suspect. Not much information has been given yet but it's confirmed to be in development for Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. 

VG247 reports they got confirmation from Square Enix about the game's title with Square saying: “Murdered: Soul Suspect is an exciting new game from Square Enix which challenges players to solve possibly the hardest case of all”.

A teaser site with a strange symbol and a simple web game that requires you to put a password has gone live. In the web game, if you input the password 'Ronan', you get to download the image shown above titled "Evidence". IF you dig deeper, the image's properties also reveals more information about the image:

"O’Connor, male, mid- 30s, 170lbs, 5’ 11”"

"Detectives aren’t supposed to get bloody knuckles, but I’ve done a lot of things I wasn’t supposed to do. I lived through it all, the beat-downs, the back-stabbing, disrespect most people wouldn’t see in ten lifetimes and I never lost a fight… until now"

People all over the net are speculating that this could be a new title from Crystal Dynamics, the developer who just wrapped up development for the Tomb Raider reboot coming out this March.

Everything's up in the air to what kind of game this could be, but I'm crossing my fingers for this being a suspense thriller that requires us to do some detective work. hopefully similar to L.A Noire.

[Source: VG247, Gamespot]