TOGUNO

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Early design concepts for The Insanity 3


Happy New Year!

Just a little post about horror game concepts and my ideas towards the game.

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Fear of the unknown is the really the key to any good horror movie/game. Murky darkness in a claustrophobic environment;moody ambiance, and the occasional glimpse of something quite terrifying sparkling in the shadows.
The trouble with the Point'n'Click genre is that it doesn't lend itself too well to the edge-of-the-seat effect and sweaty hands. There's only so much you can do with static screens and shockers- therefore the third game will definitely lean more towards being a first-person adventure that borrows elements from P'n'C games yet maintains a more dynamic atmosphere and includes First Person Shooter events that you wouldn't see in other games of the genre.

Here are a few elements featured in the third game that will (hopefully) intensify the dread you get while playing.

-Quite soon into the game you'll be informed that something is hunting you in the village of Weasel Marsh. Think you can go take a pee and come back without seeing a 'Game Over' screen? Think again.

-The main character of the game Nathan Langdon carries a nine-chambered Smith & Wesson that will require a manual reload from the player. It has infinite magazines but you'll definitely have to practice getting good at the reloading to get through the boss scenes.

-You are NOT safe during captioned dialogue scenes. Some characters you may have thought were neutral will attack you suddenly after certain events have been triggered. You'll always have to have your firearm at the ready- just in case.

-Not 100% on this one yet, but the game will likely feature a game play time system. Certain events will be activated depending on how long into the game you've been playing for.
Hopefully these will help build up a better fabric for a truly terrifying horror game.

The main thing I want to 'sell' in these games is the story itself and the fun of puzzle solving, therefore I don't want people to get hitched up by scenes that require too much gamer skill (eg. The Machine- Insanity 1) . The puzzles themselves can be challenging -there's always walkthroughs- but skill can't be helped. However, a nice concept that has been used in some games of late is to have parts of a game where fast reactions and dexterity *might* get you through an event, but there is always another way if you use your brain. The Insanity 3 will feature some seemingly impassable shoot-outs, forcing the player to wonder if there isn't a simpler method to get through. The cool flip of the coin here is that players who are hardcore gamers will enjoy the challenge of battling extremely tough enemies and perhaps even get a special trophy for it.

More later-


p.s. The Prometheus trailer looks exciting doesn't it? Go YouTube it if you haven't seen it yet.

I actually pinched the 'alarm' sound effect from the 1979 Alien movie for a scene in The Insanity 2, when *Spoiler* Nathan Langdon gets abducted by Project K at the end. Thought I was safe as the movie is years old and nobody would recognize it, but they reused it in the new movie trailer- Ooops! Guess Ridley Scott thought it was creepy as hell too :-)

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Warhammer 40.000 - Dawn Of War II Chaos Rising










Warhammer 40.000 - Dawn Of War II Chaos Rising - 2DVD

Chaos Rising is set one year after the events of Dawn of War II and the defeat of the Tyranid invasion (as well as the Eldar and Ork forces) of sub-sector Aurelia. The campaign marks the return of the Blood Raven heroes from the previous game, the Chaos Lord Eliphas from Dark Crusade, Derosa as the new governor of Meridian, and the heretical Vandis.

New to Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising is the Corruption System. In the campaign there are often multiple objectives which will complete a mission; depending on which one a player chooses to complete, they will become more or less corrupted. Corruption describes how close the player's Marines (ie: the Force Commander, Jonah and the rest of the Squads under the player's command except for Davian Thule, who is the only member unaffected by corruption) are to turning to Chaos and betraying the Imperium of man. This is a conscious choice in the gameplay and will affect the ending of the game as well as what missions are available throughout the campaign for the player.

Two new environments are available in Chaos Rising to complement the three already available (the jungle/swamp terrain of Typhon, the deserts and canyons of Calderis, and the towering Gothic city-scape of Meridian). The new environments are:

    Aurelia - Once a verdant world, home to billions of humans and the jewel of the sector. Thousands of years ago the planet was engulfed in a warp-storm (a stellar disturbance where the Chaotic dimension known as the Warp meets real space), causing the fertile world to become a frigid wasteland. After this, the planet disappeared into the warp entirely. After millennia, Aurelia has re-emerged with the forces of Chaos. This planet is the playground of the Dark Gods: Khorne, Tzeentch, Slaanesh and Nurgle.
    The Space Hulk, Judgment Of Carrion - A Space Hulk is a giant derelict ghost ship (in some cases they are made up of many different ships or even parts of small asteroids and space stations) which floats randomly in and out of the Warp. Often hundreds or thousands of years old, Space Hulks can contain any sort of horrors and treasures. In Chaos Rising, the Judgment of Carrion has emerged from the Warp along with Aurelia and is inhabited by a splinter of a Tyranid Hive Fleet and within this ship lies many secrets.

Dead Island Bloodbath Arena DLC






Dead Island Bloodbath Arena DLC - 1DVD

In the 'Bloodbath Arena' DLC four different arenas offer new challenges that can be played alone or in coop mode. It's a desperate fight for survival where waves after waves of unrelenting zombies attack, one more gruesome than the next! In this DLC characters can loot experience points and items and bring them over to the campaign mode. Players can also show off their skills in zombie fighting with the newly implemented leaderboards.

Features:
You will have to endure the horror of the invasion of zombies, running first-person hero.
Co-op mode for up to 4 players.
Ability to repair, modify and create weapons out of scrap materials.
The action takes place on the resort island in the open. Exploration of the world is not limited to the scenario game.
Opportunity to develop a character of your choice.
Horde horrifying zombies.

Wanted - Weapons Of Fate






Wanted - Weapons Of Fate - 1DVD
* Operating system: "Windows® XP SP2/Windows Vista®"
    * Processor: Dual-core processor (Intel Core 2 Duo E6540/AMD equivalent or higher)
    * Memory: 2 GB
    * Hard disk space: 8 GB of free HDD space
    * Video: "DX9.0c Compatible graphics card with Shader Model 3.0 support (NVIDIA GeForce 8 series/AMD equivalent or higher)"
    * Sound: DX9 compliant sound card
    * DirectX®: DirectX 9.0c
    * Controller support? "Microsoft mouse + Microsoft Keyboard"*
          o *Microsoft X360 USB game pad preferred

7 Sins









7 Sins - 1DVD

7 Sins is a life simulation video game where the player must get to the top of the social ladder and make decisions related to the seven deadly sins. The game is set in the fictional Apple City. Throughout the game the player makes decisions based on pride, wrath, greed, envy, lust, sloth and gluttony. Once a relationship has been built new missions are unlocked. In total there are seven chapters and one hundred non-player characters to interact with.

Think you can roll with the high life? Reckon you're a true player? 7 Sins is your chance to prove it. Money, fame, power, and sex are at your fingertips but everything has its price. If you want a piece of the action, you're going to have to lie, steal, seduce, and cheat your way to the very top of the social elite. Make friends, make enemies, learn their secrets and desires, and then use it against them to get ahead. With outrageous mini-games and hilarious social interactions, you'll soon discover that sinning really is the best way of winning.

Minimum Requirements
    Celeron/Pentium/Athlon 1GHz
    128MB RAM
    Windows 98/2000/XP/ME
    32Mb graphic card, DirectX 9.0c compatible
    Sound card, DirectX 9.0c compatible
    DirectX 9.0c
    900MB free disc space


Recommended Specifications
    Celeron / Pentium / Athlon 1.5GHz
    256MB RAM
    Windows 98/2000/ME/XP
    64MB graphic card, DirectX 9.0c compatible
    Sound Card, DirectX 9.0c compatible
    DirectX 9.0c
    900MB free disc space

Required graphic cards
Geforce 2 MX 100/200 or higher
ATI Radeon 7500 or higher

Guitar Hero - Aerosmith







Guitar Hero - Aerosmith - 2DVD

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith puts players in the shoes of Perry (guitar), Whitford (guitar) and Hamilton (bass)as they rock out alongside frontman Tyler and drummer Kramer. Gamers experience Aerosmith's legendary career, from their first gig to becoming rock royalty.
As players progress through the game, they can rock out to scores of Aerosmith's greatest hits, as well as songs from celebrated artists that the band has either performed with or has been inspired by in some way. Venues from historical moments during the band's illustrious career offer the experience of "sweet emotion" and further capture the essence of the band's rise to fame.

Features:
* More than 40 playable songs
* Shred 25 of Aerosmith’s master tracks
* Play as virtual versions of Joe Perry (guitar), Brad Whitford (guitar), or Tom Hamilton (bass), along with vocalist Steven Tyler and drummer Joey Kramer, and experience Aerosmith’s rise to fame through venues from historical moments during the band’s illustrious career
* Perform songs from musical legends such as Lenny Kravitz, Run DMC and Stone Temple Pilots
* Rock out offline or shred with friends via the Internet

System Requirements

Minimum Requirements
* Operating System: Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista (This product does not support Windows 95/98/ME/2000/NT or XP x64/Vista x64)
CPU Processor: Intel Pentium D (Dual Core) 2.8 GHz or AMD Athlon 3500+
Memory: XP – 1 GB RAM, Vista – 2 GB RAM
Hard Disk Space: 7.1 GB + 1 GB Swap File
Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card
Video Card: 3D Hardware Accelerator Card Required – 100% DirectX 9.0c compatible 128 MB Video Memory
Video Card (ATI): Radeon X800
Video Card (Nvidia): Geforce 7600
Media Required: 6X DVD-ROM drive
Windows XP/Vista compatible mouse and keyboard with latest drivers
Official Guitar Hero X-plorer Guitar Controller

Recommended Requirements
* Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz or AMD Athlon Dual Core 4400+
256 MB 3D Hardware Accelerator Card with Shader 3.0 support
Video Card (ATI): Radeon HD 2600
Video Card (Nvidia): Geforce 8800 GT
Memory: 2 GB RAM

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Some thoughts on electing a game of the year

Source
First of all, happy new year everyone! I hope the year of the dragon has been treating you all well so far. If you're wondering, my husband and I spent New Year's Eve watching Mad Men and drinking peach vodka.

Like many game writers, I contemplated drafting up a list of my favorite games of 2011, and (gasp) even thought a moment of selecting my own personal Game of the Year. But those thoughts were quickly pushed aside as I remembered how much I dislike the whole idea of choosing a one game to represent the year. Not that I didn't have a grand time hearing the debates and adding in my two cents over at VGW (head over there to see the team's GotY pick) and on other game media outlets, but I realize the whole endeavor to whittle a year's worth of great games down to a choice few is not really my thing. Honestly, even if the Dali Lama were to elect a GotY, I probably still could care less. But I can most certainly name a couple of games that I particularly enjoyed from 2011 that actually came out in 2011 (rather than the large number of games from previous years I played).

You won't find Uncharted 3, Portal 2, Deus Ex Human Revolution or any such AAA titles here, but if you're interested in hearing what I had the most fun with in 2011, feel free to read on.




Corpse Party
For those of you who have been following me on Twitter or reading this blog, you are probably already well aware of my love for Corpse Party. When XSEED announced that they were localizing this title, I honestly had never even heard of it. I'm also not a big horror fan, but I am just in love with the atmosphere in Corpse Party. Head over to this post to read more about my experiences with the game. You can also find my official review here.

One of my characters getting hit with something. A common occurrence. 
ClaDun X2
I stumbled onto ClaDun X2 a bit randomly – NIS America sent Video Game Writers a review code for the game, and my editor passed it on to me, saying that I was the lady for the job (that and no one else seems to be using their PSP these days). I had read Bryan over at The Gay Gamer talking about the first game and this sequel and was ready to have some fun with it, but I didn't really expect it to be my thing. To my pleasant surprise, I loved it! I didn't get at all tired of going back to the randomly generated dungeons to nab the best loot... In fact, that was my favorite part of the game! Though I clocked in at about 20 hours for my review, I definitely think I will come back to this one in the future.


Rayman Origins
A choice few had mentioned how great Rayman Origins was when it launched back in November, but I kind of pushed any thoughts of playing it aside what with all the other games I had on my plate at the time. A good friend acquired a copy for me, however, and my husband and I spent the whole holiday break playing. I believe I can say that hands down Rayman Origins was the most fun I've had playing a single game all year. The platforming is classic and beautifully presented, and the music is absolutely amazing. If you like platformers, I can't recommend this game enough. I'm actually working on a review of this one for VGW, as we never got anyone to cover it back when it came out. There is one tiny little thing that bothers me about the game, but I'm going to leave you in suspense for a future post I'm planning on the very subject.
I dearly wish I had the source for this still, but I couldn't help but include it.
Let me know if you know where it's from! 
Pokémon Black/White
I'd be lying if I said I didn't pour hours upon hours of my life into Pokémon White. Though initially apprehensive of some of the changes in this generation, I found myself quite enjoying the latest installment in the ever-growing Pokémon series. I even went to my first tournament this year, come to think of it (but didn't participate)! I don't think my love for Pokémon will ever die, so this one deserves a mention even though I'd struggle to put it on a GotY list due to the fact that most of the content isn't all that new, apart from the Pokémon themselves. But there's nothing wrong with that!


Honestly, I could go on... What about Atelier Totori or Okamiden? Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection? (hey, HD rereleases still count!) Needless to say, 2011 had some great games, many of which I did not get a chance to play. And many others that were not from 2011 that I finally did get a chance to spend some time with! But that's for another post.

What were your personal favorite games from 2011? Share them in the comments!