EPIC Game Trailer of the Week - The Secret World Launch Trailer

It's here! One of my personally most anticipated MMO's hits wide release today, and chances are you're gonna get more than what you bargained for in terms of a traditional MMORPG game.

I talked about the The Secret World a year ago when the first news leaked that the guys who did Age of Conan (Eh...) where at the drawing board for a whole different take on the game genre. The first news kinda blew my mind when I discovered there was a plan to make it modern-day dark fantasy, set in the 21st century, and centered around secret organizations, conspiracy theories, and mythological monsters that plague the world at night.

Yeah, that sounded pretty dope.

So I've been following the news around as it comes out, and unfortunately because of school and whatnot I've been unable to stay on top of the news for this blog. But I have been posting a lot a while back about it, so hopefully that tickled your fancies.

The Norwegian game developer Funcom has stated a $14 monthly subscription fee, so everything sucks that I can't play it until I get a steady job (lol) or waste all my remaining funds on more games (God forbid).

The best thing this game has going for it is it's completely unique story world, at least in a fantasy-laden genre such as the MMORPG. You've had The Old Republic, but that got botched pretty damn quickly. And while the new World of Warcraft expansion is on the horizon, and Guild Wars 2 in August is arriving, The Secret World still has the upper hand in the MMO front with the earliest release.

Out of the three, The Secret World and Guild Wars 2 both have a good chance of catching a lot of people's attention in the gaming world. Both games have very specific and unique gameplay mechanics that are a far departure from the steadfaast WoW system that's dominated all games that have come in recent years.

Let's hope that changes with The Secret World. And now, Cinematic Trailers galore!

Still gonna write some fanfiction about this game. Honestly though, this story world looks amazing.

STOP EVERYTHING. It's here.

Mother of God......

Reviews!! (of Movies) | Real Steel (2011)

Directed by Shawn Levy
Written by John Gatins
Based on the short story "Steel" by Richard Matheson

Let me start it off with this: I wish I watched this movie in theatres, I probably would have cried. This film is pretty Hollywood, it's got the flare and flavour--but more surprisingly, especially to me, it's got some pretty solid substance to it.

The turns are expected and it's easy pickings on the critical side if you're a fan of being pulled completely off-guard. But hey, movie goers aren't hard-ass pretentious intelligencia so this film pushes all the right buttons for me. Wanna know why? More after the jump!

Reviews! (of Movies) | Prometheus (2012)

Directed by Ridley Scott
Written by Jon Spaihts & Damon Lindelof

 

 

 

This one was on my list for a while for the must-see summer movies. Even a prospect of an in-universe Alien prequel dumbfounded me when the initial rumours came out -- personally, I'd have no idea how to start or where to begin with broadening the story more so than it should.

But, this is a Ridley Scott film, so it's got some expectations. And it's his core universe, through and through, so I had ample faith that whatever it was, they'd be able to pull it off. The ultimate outcome? They had all the pieces there, and the slate was clean, and the puzzle was put together well. It just didn't shine as much as I think it could have.

Does that mean the film didn't shine (in a tense, brooding and horrific sort of way)? Not at all. The film's great, I think more as a stand-alone than and outright prequel in-universe with the trilogy, and maybe even all those ridiculous AvP movies that are actually included in the canon. Which is actually kind of awesome. But to that point, this movie carries the weight of the three before it and puts it all over. Has a patch on its shoulder parading it around throughout the film, like it wants to be established as the next saga in the stories to tell about the universe.

But that note I feel was misplaced. It kinda skewed the purposes of this movie for me. My main gripe is that I didn't really feel like it knew what it wanted to be. I'm talking about it as if it's a five-year-old child that's confused about life because it may be a little premature. If it had another year of pre-production, brought in some story consultants, could this have been a pit full of terrifying awesome? More after the jump.

EPIC Top 10 List of the Week (E3's over?)

E3's tiring, I've decided it doesn't matter to anyone. Who won E3? Me. I won E3.

Moving on:

SourceFed is an internet news show led by internet people made for internet geeks. And they're awesome. Subscribe to them.

And watch all the films they mention. They're awesome.

E3 Coverage One-Stop-Shop: I Don't Know What Day It Is

Day 3. It's Day 3, I'm just joking.

...half-joking.

With the Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Ubisoft and EA Conferences over and done with, what else is there to do at E3 when you're not actually there?

I assume we spend countless hours glued to our screens refreshing any kind of video services we have open waiting for a new trailer to pop up on something we were hyped up about at the beginning. Or we just lose interest.

But, there have been lots of NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS over the past few days, I think worth sharing because it marginally interests me while I wait for Guild Wars 2 and The Secret World to come out because I am way too stoked for digging my hands into those story worlds, like omg.

• Wii U will support two separate gamepads, possible 5 player games
• New Super Mario Brothers U 
• Mass Effect 3, Assassin's Creed Spin-off, Zombi U -- all on launch
• Nintendo has a lot of games

•  Beyond: Two Souls is NOT a rehashed Heavy Rain
• If you're offended by the notion that Quantic Dream makes "interactive movies" and David Cage is a "frustrated film director" then you're an idiot and have no place making opinions about anything ever. Let me elaborate.

Video gaming is an incredible medium of entertainment. Its constraints are almost non-existent, it's engagement is what radio and television have striven for for more than five decades. Its speed of development and technological direction is unpassed. There is so much potential in this medium.

And your shitty head can't wrap around the fact that gaming can be more than top-down dungeon crawlers, or achievement-based shitfests where people yell at each other through headsets and kill each other aimlessly in a military simulation. Well, you're narrow-minded. You're a goof. Quantic Dream pushes the envelope on what gaming can be, and should be. Same with Ubisoft Montreal's Watch_Dogs. The fact that they're even making a new, A-Title property out of nothing and putting their cards on the table is a testament to their ambition and loyalty to the industry. They realize something is stale. They want to give it a jump.

Trade exhibitions like this are for developers and businesses hype up consumers and introduce new things they're doing to engage their peers and colleagues in the field. Because we're shitty consumers, not to mention the most demanding, needy, ungrateful and unreasonable consumer base in any form of entertainment, the developers have listened. To the sales, mostly. And sales call for repetitions of established franchises. Your Madden 26's and Call of Extreme Duty: Modern Black Ops Warefare 7 will saturate this market until it can't even breathe out of its mouth.

I'm angry, yeah, but I'm optimistic. At least the current franchises, for the most part, have a respectable developer that we can trust with delivering new, exciting, innovative content. But if you chastise an indie developer, our a non-"mainstream" developer for innovating in their own way, for truly trying something new, then you're a terrible gamer. You don't get the video game industry.

Casual gaming has risen in the ranks to be a powerhouse for the industry. Social gaming you can't even escape whether you're in public, in private, or in outer space. And those developers are ones that understand the nature of the industry, the beast that is this thriving new technology that will drive the global market for interactive entertainment, probably entertainment as a whole.

It's not the games and the creators that need to catch up with you, it's you that needs to catch up with the developer that are winning the race. And I'll tell you, no matter how much Blops II sells, or if there's a Dead Space 5 down the road--the bigger number doesn't mean the better game. We seem to forget that often. Moving on,

• Speaking of sequels and the like...
• So far, not just today -- footage for Dead Space 3, Borderlands 2, Assassin's Creed III, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Resident Evil 6, Halo 4,  Lost Planet 3, and more..
• HAWKEN.

Just gonna stop the bullet lists now, nothing else interests me. I've never been into MechWarrior, or any kind of mech-shooter game, but Gundam is an awesome series, and most of its spin-offs. Hawken's a game made from the ground-up by a handful of devs with a lot of heart and passion and a solid idea to build up from.

What more could you ask for? Glad they're finally to unleash onto the world the fruits of their labor. I hear its free-to-play too, which is too much to ask, but we're getting it. I guess they'll make ample fanboy money from that ridiculous exclusive controller you can get with it?
 

Try me.

And a kickass live-action-y trailer:

So there's that.

I'm trying my hand at responsible blogging here, so give me a break. Also, if you don't like my opinions, please share my blog with people who will. Much appreciated.

Games, everybody!

E3 Coverage One-Stop-Shop: Day 2

Welcome back to another day of E3 in the wraps! You excited?

Well, being the responsible games industry journalist I've suddenly set out to be for this week, I've done nothing but marathon Season 5 of Mad Men for the entire day. So I only caught about three quarters of the Nintendo Conference (but really they have like two more other ones) and there was a whole lot of this:

My body was ready. 

Lots of Wii U stuff. Sweet. Scroll down for a picture of what it looks like. It's just a bulky tablet with bumper buttons and analog sticks. And then this:

And the actual game:

This 3D roaming-camera-stillshot-style trailer trend is really taking off, eh? And surprise, surprise, who's at the development of this zombie game? UBISOFT.

Don't know how the hell they're pulling off what they're pulling off but they should keep doing it.

Otherwise, I'm too lazy to cover what else happened at the Nintendo conference, lots of Mario titles, some Pikmin 3 for those of you to care...and a lot of awkward scripted stage banter. Gives me the shakes when I have to witness that comfort mutilation in my living room.

And living room integration seems to be what Nintendo's pushing with their new console and peripherals. I'm cautiously stoked. Seeing as I haven't touched my Wii for a good year and a half, hopefully I get some spark in my life to pick up Super Smash Bros. and suck my way to the next generation of gaming as Nintendo so confidently totes.

IN OTHER NEWS:

• Developers are releasing game trailers for their upcoming releases
• Sony is using two flagship comapnies to support their entire arsenal 
• Black Ops II still deserves attention (fucking really?)
• Walking Dead: Episode 2 -- the first one actually does not suck. 
• People love their sequels.
• Go check IGN, Kotaku, The Verge, TDW Geek, or any other related blog for some other news.
• I'm lazy. This is hard. 

THINGS I MISSED YESTERDAY:

 

Yesssssss......so looking forward to this. Storytelling, while it's sophisticated and the best games always employ the best tactics at combining interaction with it, it seems to get a backseat from both audience and developers (most, anyways) when it comes to creating really good games. Games are stories, when we're put into the story, maybe it takes away from some of the glamour of being a spectator--not affecting the outcome. The lure of voyeurism, of non-consequence.

Shove a controller in your hand and a faceless protagonist to move around, and you get ultimate power and control over the story being told. Whether that's a good or bad thing is up to you. But it definetly changes how we tell stories. Quantic Dream understands that balance.

Beyond: Two Souls looks crafted. Like an artisan's work. Handled with precision, care, and a deliberacy (not a word but fuck it) not found in, let's say, the Call of Duty franchise. Heavy-handed comparison, I know, but fuck those guys. Facial recognition technology and motion capture, new game engines starting to get showcased (Square Enix I heard has unveiled one in preparation for some more Final Fantasy goodness), new IPs being released--E3 is turning out not so bad.

Maybe I spoke too soon, but meh.

TOMORROW:

• Shit will happen.
• Exciting trailers?
• Let's hope.

EPIC Gameplay Walkthrough of the Week (So Far) - E3 Edition

Out of all of them, I was waiting for this one:

Naughty Dog, you crafty motherfuckers. This game will be amazing.

I have all the E3 Coverage you need!

I really don't though.

It's that time of the year again, kiddies. Where the basement dwellers come out of their man-caves and half the world readies themselves for another Call of Duty title (when will it die?), it's the Electronic Entertainment Expo! Cue confetti.

THE RUNDOWN - E3 DAY 1 (In no particular order)

1. We're gonna talk about gaemz n' shit.
2. So much Ubi in my Soft, it's ridiculous.
3. Activision/Treyarch/Infinity Ward/whoever the fuck is working on another COD spin-off pocket-money-grabber.
4. Dead Space 3! Buuuuuuuutt....
5. Wii U is still important. IT'S STILL IMPORTANT. 

Since my journalistic resources are limited to what major blogs to follow, my coverage of E3 this week will be limited to whatever things I find cool from day to day, and if I have time or am not too lazy to actually share with you my thoughts on the new titles/games/tech/anything else.

With the--OH HOLY FUCKING SHIT WHAT IS THIS

holycrapisthatchicagoandhecanhackintoallcommunicationssystemsandinfrasturctureomgthatfacialmocaplooksinsaneisthisUbisoft--

Ffffffnnnngggfhhhhfhghhhhhh---

Yuuuuuuuuuppp.

SO. It looks like Ubisoft's conference had a few gems to showcase. Ubisoft Montreal announces their never-before-seen footage of a near-future, open-world, third-person, computer hacker action-adventure title that they've been working on, Watch Dogs. The demo looks great, the concept sounds even better, and the footage was amazing detailed and sleek. The UI in its current phase I'll be happy with--without a doubt they'll keep changing it until the release date is announced though.

Watch Dogs sounds like the kind of fresh air that the gaming industry needs to breathe in order to rejuvenate a lot of what's being going on. Last year it was sequels and threequels and prequels, this year it's the same, except Nintendo has new toys moms get to play with (Wii U looks pretty slick however).

A new IP with the current technology the industry is capable of utilizing is reassuring to me. The facial mo-cap alone on these characters seems like it's worth a shot. Knowing Quantic Dream's next project is going to be announced soon (the guys who did Heavy Rain and that amazing tech demo at GDC earlier), can't see what's in store for gaming technology come the next year.

Microsoft's announcements with Smartglass, Nike endorsements, and Blops II, including whatever I didn't pick up, we're pretty good too. I guess. Fuck Microsoft actually, why would anybody want IE AND Bing on their TV?

The other big videos/demos released today (minus Blops II, which did not enthuse me at all):

Risky move from Visceral to try an action-adventure co-op game, rather than the traditional Dead Space roots in isolation, horror, and tension. Getting some Lost Planet vibes, maybes some Resident Evil in there. The latter already having turned into a shooter-based action adventure, I'm a bit weary.

But (and there should be a lot of buts here), having not played Dead Space 2 yet, I'll have to check the scare factors in that game, and correlate them with dismembering space-gun action, and see if this genre adaptation/total switch-up is acceptable. The biggest risk here? Co-op gameplay for what seems to be the story mode. Introducing a second player (hopefully optional?) is a strange move that really could go both ways. Definite change in the tone and direction for the franchise as a whole.

What I get from Visceral Games is a bigger focus on story potential for Isaac and the game universe. Having already exhausted the resources in creating one of the best survival horror games of our generation, and having a decent follow-up to that (by horror game standards), it's really more of a blank slate than Visceral probably hoped for. If they have to sacrifice a few scary-ass scripted events to get something fresh for the fans, so be it. Big giant alien mutant monsters never hurt anyone. Still looking forward to this one.


Gonna give the Wii U some love too. Saw an internet comment talking about the "Pro Controller" and how it's ironic payback at other console companies stealing all of Nintendo's ideas and flipping them off. Which I like. Fuckin' Microsoft. Seriously, it looks like a 360 controller.

But with the apparent universal remote capabilities and the "reader/writer" thing I'm still trying to wrap my head around, the applications for the Wii U device open a lot of doors for how gaming can grow as a social activity, which really has been Nintendo's thing. With their conference tomorrow, I expect a lot of surprise announcements? Probably some plumbers involved.


Sony's conference is underway -- expecting Quantic Dream's Beyond to make a showcase, and show how much the tech the PS3 is capable of has come along. Then it's 4 more days of gaming awesome.

Coverage will be consistently sporadic and unreliable, just the way you like it.

Other than that I'll just rant about how much I hate the Call of Dooty series and its fans and bitch and moan about games I want but will never have.

But I have Arkham City: GOTY Edition so fuck y'all.

FUCK YEAH GAMES. Stay tuned.

!!SWEIVER (of Comics) | Justice League Dark #9

Fuck science.

Written by: Jeff Lemire
Art by: Mikel Janin
Colors by: Ulises Arreola
Cover: Ryan Sook (his covers rock)

THE BASICS:

- Fresh start, fresh team.

- Snarky lead character = fun.

- B-Listers everywhere, and they rule.

- First layers being peeled back to...

- Something pretty big.

RUNDOWN:

I've been picking up weekly issues of Justice League Dark since #1, and more than once I've been back and forth of whether to drop it when some of the weaker stuff was released under Peter Milligan's writing. But Milligan had a decent run with the cast of characters. When you throw in magic-based heroes into a team book, the chances are there's going to be some uniqueness by default to the kinds of stories that you can tell. DC's huge focus now, on tying every ongoing series into another one, made Milligan's run a bit cluttered in the later issues (never picked up I, Vampire after its #1, though I continue to hear good things).

#9 is a fresh start with Jeff Lemire at the helm the writing chair, and coming off Animal Man already been proven to be consistently amazing, I was stoked for this issue to bring back some flavour to the cast where I felt Milligan ended up dragging down as he did his run (but a good finish with #8). Lemire hits the ground running, and wastes no time changing the series' attitude and ton as a whole (definite visual cues to Indiana Jones). The tone's a bit brighter, a bit more adventurous rather than the previous doom-and-gloom, horror-style plot. The biggest plus here is how he handles Constantine's characterization. The snark is there, it's clear, and its wonderfully played off of from everyone that Constantine talks too. A clear lead is established, which is great. 

There's really only one new addition, and a nice cameo too that shows DC's devotion of their long-term plans on how this entire universe, magic-based and the bigger one both, will be important in the future (if you picked DC's New 52 issue on Free Comic Book Day). This issue has the virtue of being a fresh start after the 'testing phase' of how to handle this "Dark" line of books, and the feeling of having no time wasted in connecting the necessary dots makes for a swift, fun, and fast read.

The villain for this issue, Felix Faust, gets a nice revamp, and how Lemire incorporates the obscurity of the magical aspect of the DC Universe gives me a feeling that his run is going to be a window into how expansive this branch of the larger world we can get -- great for new readers, and fun for guys like me who scrounge DC's wikia for all information about the most obscure heroes and villains.

Hitting the ground running was a key part in making his book work -- Lemire's got a good sense of where this story is going, and as a result, these characters work together better than I think Milligan wanted to get them across as. The aspect of 'reluctant non-team guys' felt hammered by the fifth or six issue for me -- this time, I'd rather see them working as a team, but they still get to keep that dysfunctionality as a collective personality quirk. Which is neat. For me at least.

BRASS TACKS

Mikel Janin is what caught my eye initially about the JLD. Wouldn't call it photo-realism, but that style he has is noticeable and eye-catching. From issue to issue, the detail he puts into facial expressions and textures, including the bold pencilling which is a neat contrast with the naturalistic features, is a great reason to come back. Yet, I feel like it'd be the sort of style to get Greg Land-ian criticisms of tracing photo references and the such, but fuck those people.

For this issue, I don't know if its colorist Ulises Arreola that's bringing something new to the table, but Janin's art's been tweaked just a bit to make a noticeable change to those wh-o've been following. But for new readers, it's the same reliably details and rich Janin artwork. Distinct characters are drawn with care and clear separation of personalities is reflected in each of these guys. Constantine's expressions alone are always a reassuring sight, there's probably ten little different ways he lights a cigarette between #1 and this issue.

Another bonus is how he takes Black Orchid and Andrew Bennet as new characters, and I especially like Bennet's transformation into his other form (go read I, Vampire, it's pretty good). I'm a sucker for cool character designs, and I love the visual take on Orchid's shape-shifting. It's the little nuances in detailing that Janin, and artists in the vein of his style, give for readers. Definitely worth another read just to scan the panels for the little things. 

Combined with a fresh writing direction, a polished tweak on how Janin's drawing it to reflect Lemire's story-- it's a bit rougher, sketchier overall--is something I'm thumbs up for.

TAKEAWAYS:

A great starter book for returning readers, or new ones who just want another Jeff Lemire book in their collection. While not amazeballs brilliant, it's swift exposition to set up a grander story, some delicately played-out magical combat and montage action that makes it fun and exciting. Magic lovers rejoice, there's new spice in the life of John Constantine and company. 

Lots of backstory, lots of speculation, and a shit-ton of sorcery. And a great cast of characters that have a lot that can be played with, especially in this creative team's hands. Can't wait to see how the team incorporates more magic heroes (cause there's a ton). Gonna get stoked for what's to come.