Arkham Knight is not just the title of Rocksteady’s final Batman game, it is also the name of a new villain created just for the game itself.
New screenshots have been released that give a better look at Arkham Knight as well as Batman in his new armor.
Batman: Arkham Knight releases on October 14th for Xbox One and PS4. Sorry current-gen. Catch up or get left behind.
Alien: Isolation is very high up on my list of games to play in 2014 and for good reason. It sets you in a giant space station with little to no weapons and one smart xenomorph, then tells you to survive.
The Creative Assembly is developing Alien: Isolation as a survival game set firmly in the world of Ridley Scott’s Alien film. You play as Amanda Ripley, daughter of Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen, as she tries to find out what happens to her mother.
The video shows how the makers are wanting the game to be about the terror. The alien is not on a set course of searching for you, but rather an A.I. that will do its own thing. This means no two playthroughs will be alike. Hiding in the same spot won’t always work because the alien will always be taking new paths and adapting to the sights and sounds you leave behind.
After the disaster that was Aliens: Colonial Marines (which we gave a 4.5 in our review), Alien: Isolation is shaping up to be the balm for that burn left by Gearbox.
Update: Min-Liang Tan, the CEO of high-end gaming tech giant Razer, has responded to Notch’s tweet: “Perhaps we can help out. Will be in touch.” This year’s CES saw Razer reveal multiple devices that hint toward a possible entry by the company into the realm of virtual reality.
Original Story
In a shocking announcement, Facebook has revealed that they will acquire Oculus VR – the company behind the ambition “Oculus Rift” virtual-reality headset – at the price of $400 million in cash, and 23.1 million shares of Facebook stock (valued at approximately $1.6 billion). The deal is set to close in the second quarter of this year.
The leadership at Oculus has posted a statement on the company website: “At first glance, it might not seem obvious why Oculus is partnering with Facebook, a company focused on connecting people, investing in internet access for the world and pushing an open computing platform. But when you consider it more carefully, we’re culturally aligned with a focus on innovating and hiring the best and brightest; we believe communication drives new platforms; we want to contribute to a more open, connected world; and we both see virtual reality as the next step.”
“Mobile is the platform of today, and now we’re also getting ready for the platforms of tomorrow,” says Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. “Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play and communicate.”
“After games, we’re going to make Oculus a platform for many other experiences. Imagine enjoying a court side seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face — just by putting on goggles in your home.”
“This partnership is one of the most important moments for virtual reality: it gives us the best shot at truly changing the world,” the Oculus team says. “It opens doors to new opportunities and partnerships, reduces risk on the manufacturing and work capital side, allows us to publish more made-for-VR content, and lets us focus on what we do best: solving hard engineering challenges and delivering the future of VR.”
The deal has already claimed one casualty, as Notch, the mind behind Minecraft, took to Twitter and his blog to announce that he will no longer be developing a version of the game for Oculus Rift. The Minecraft phenomenon sprang from very humble origins – though some claim Notch takes more credit than he deserves – and the creator doesn’t feel this new deal is good news for indie development.
“Facebook is not a company of grass-roots tech enthusiasts. Facebook is not a game tech company. Facebook has a history of caring about building user numbers, and nothing but building user numbers.”
Oculus Rift has garnered massive attention over the past year, as gamers have wondered what it would be like to experience games like Mirror’s Edge, Portal, Skyrim and more using the unique VR headset. Time will tell if this deal helps bring virtual reality one step closer to home, or reduces it to just another Candy Crush Saga accessory.
Here are the quick hits from the world of movies, TV, video games, online poker, phone chargers, whatever catches our fancy.
X-Men: Days of Future Past
We showed you the trailer earlier today, here is the latest poster for the super, giant-sized X-movie releasing May 23rd.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Here is the cast of the second Cap movie opening fire on the movie that will open against Cap 3, Batman vs. Superman. Be careful what you wish for.
Wolverine
David James Kelly will write the next Wolverine movie that see James Mangold return to direct and Hugh Jackman as Logan again. I will say again I think this will be Jackman’s last time playing the character. It will release on March 3, 2017.
Gwar
Lead singer, Dave Brockie, has died. He was 50 years old. Gwar just turned 30 and we just want to say R.I.P. to Oderus Urungus.
American Horror Story
The fourth season of the show will be titled American Horror Story: Freak Show confirming that it will indeed have a circus theme. If you thought Precious having sex with a minotaur was weird, you haven’t seen anything yet.
Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes
Wanna spend five minutes seeing if you can spot the differences in the PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game? Have at it.
Dragon Age: Inquisition
Here are some new shots for Bioware’s next Dragon Age game coming to PS4 and Xbox One this year. Yes, please.
Assassin’s Creed reveals are always anti-climatic. Somehow, someway we always know what is coming before the official Ubisoft uncovering. This year was no different with images leaking a few days ago of Assassin’s Creed: Unity, seemingly set in 18th century Paris.
After the amazing Assassin’s Creed IV, I have to admit this is a bit of a letdown.
Assassin’s Creed: Unity is being developed by the team that handled Assassin’s Creed III. Let’s hope they have learned a few tricks since then to make their game…well…exciting.
Eurogamer is reporting that Far Cry 4 will see a drastic change in setting and take place in the Himalayas. Far Cry has always been associated with tropical settings (or just damn hot if we are talking about Far Cry 2), so the switch to the mountainous terrain will be a huge shift.
The gameplay will remain close to that of Far Cry 3 (our 2012 Game of the Year) including outposts that need liberating. One new feature will be the ability to ride elephants.
You heard it ride. Elephants…that you ride. I love you Far Cry.
Expect an unveil at the Ubisoft press conference at this year’s E3. A release is expected before the end of March 2015.
By now, we are assuming you have been done with Killzone: Shadow Fall for some time and have been awaiting Sony’s next first-party title for the PS4.
The wait is over with the release of Infamous: Second Son, Sucker Punch’s third game in the franchise. Seven years have past since the events of Infamous 2 and you control a new hero (or villain), Delsin Rowe.
We will have our review up soon, but let’s look how the first reviews are looking for Second Son.
IGN– 8.7/10
“Between scraps, I found Delsin’s nearly unfettered sense of mobility exhilarating. He speeds up the sides of skyscrapers, and soars across the Seattle skyline at your whim…once you get all the right power-ups. Until then, you’ll be leaning on the old-fashioned parkour from the previous games, but it doesn’t feel nearly as sticky or reliable as it has in the past. This led to a few frustrating situations where I couldn’t grab ledges that were clearly in reach. It becomes less significant as you expand your suite of traversal powers, put when everything else feels and plays so well, it’s hard not to notice.”
Polygon– 8.5/10
“A big part of the draw of these powers comes from your ability to cause lasting destruction in Second Son‘s playground of virtual Seattle. You won’t be taking down actual buildings or legitimate landmarks in the game, but Delsin finds himself up against the DUP (Department of Unified Protection), a government agency in charge of rounding up and jailing conduits. As part of locking down Seattle for their search, the DUP has built militarized checkpoints, makeshift headquarters and other imposing structures — blights on the beautifully rendered cityscape that are just begging to be knocked down.”
Kotaku– YES
“Delsin Rowe’s mission feels personal right from the start. The new lead character is using his just-discovered powers to become superhuman enough to save the lives of loved ones back in a fictional Native American community. He gets pulled into metahuman drama after a brutal attack by a government-sponsored Conduit (Infamous‘ term for metahumans) injures people in his tribe, during efforts to try and round up escaped super-prisoners.”
Videogamer– 7/10
“It gives you everything the best open-worlders give you, too. The orb collection gameplay loop of Crackdown, the aerobatic thrills of Assassin’s Creed, the world map with its districts and attached percentages denoting how many of the ‘Things you have Done’, yearning to be brought down to zero, the cutscenes to justify it all. Right components, all present.”
Gamespot– 8/10
“Delsin gains access to more powers beyond the smoke you start off with, and each transforms both the action and locomotion in interesting ways. You might employ a slow-motion effect to corral your enemies in a precise manner, or mix stealth into your explosive encounters to keep enemies guessing, and such twists ensure that each showdown keeps you thinking up new tactics as you revel in the destructive glory. Sadly, the powers don’t branch in interesting ways depending on your moral choices, so though combat plays out in different ways, the weapons you use are nearly identical.”
Joystiq-4.5/5
“Your Karma alignment additionally unlocks exclusive abilities within Delsin’s skill tree. Good Karma-exclusive abilities generally focus on enhanced traversal and subduing enemies rather than killing them outright, forcing players to adapt their playstyle accordingly. Both Good and Evil Karmas offer their own unique benefits that balance out their drawbacks, and both are viable paths to explore during a first-time playthrough…even if watching Delsin devolve into a murderous, misanthropic jerk during the Evil Karma cutscenes is kind of heartbreaking.“
Sony had a surprise for everyone at GDC 2014. They unveiled a VR headset codenamed “Project Morpheus” for the Playstation 4.
The Oculus Rift has been the big name in VR for the past year and it seems like Sony wants a piece of the futuristic pie.
Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios president and great tweeter, Shuhei Yoshida, made the announcement followed by a video of the development process that has been ongoing since 2010.
The Morpheus is being devised to take use of the Playstation Camera, Move and Dualshock 4 to create a new sense of immersion in games. Demos of Morpheus were made available on the GDC show floor to give an idea of how far Sony has come.
My initial reaction is measured hope. Sony has promised many things over the years that have failed to garner much more than regrettable purchases. The Move still sits on store shelves for some reason with no support whatsoever and I have not purchased a Playstation Camera for my PS4 because there is no way to justify the purchase.
Oculus Rift has been getting people excited that VR could actually work and if Sony can make this accessible to a wide audience through the PS4, we may be entering the future promised to us in the 90’s.
Now we just wait patiently for Mattel to get that hoverboard working.
Here are the quick hits from the world of movies, TV, video games, energy drinks, toe socks, whatever catches our fancy.
Pixar
Yes, we led with Pixar two days in a row. Yesterday, it was because The Incredibles and Ratatouille were being re-released in 3D. Today, it is because Brad Bird, creator, writer and director of the first Incredibles is writing the script for a sequel. If I were not a large man, I would be jumping for joy.
Maleficent
Disney has released a new trailer for Maleficent and it further makes me feel indifferent about the movie. Why do we feel the need make bad guys likable? Sometimes people are fu**ed up. Let them be that, not some person who was good and became bad because they were made that way by someone more evil.
Peanuts
Many (like me) were worried when it was announced that a movie would be made from Peanuts. After watching this first teaser trailer I am hopeful that it will retain the spirit of the comic strip and cartoon. There is something about hearing the Peanuts theme that brings a smile.
Gotham
Here is the first look of Robin Lord Taylor as Oswald Cobblepot in Gotham. Another notch in the win column.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Well, I was excited about Deathlok, until the TV budget showed up. New Power Rangers are a go.
SimCity
The game finally gets updated with offline play today. Only a year late and when most have given up on the game.
UFC
EA Sports has released a new trailer for their MMA game coming to Xbox One and PS4 this spring. It is the first extensive look at the graphics in-game and it is looking damn impressive.
http://youtu.be/koCZnWNvMiQ
Snaaaaaaaaaake!
I couldn’t resist. I apologize.
Today is the release of the uber-demo Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes which leads into the full game, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. While the game’s length may have been a point of contention for fans, the reviews suggest that the fun you will have should outweigh any reservations you had about playtime.
Except Polygon, of course.
IGN– 8/10
“Ground Zeroes is so adept at generating tension that at times it felt like I was playing a survival horror game. While Boss has never been more flexible; able to roll and jump and shoot in line with today’s top third-person action-adventure games, enemies are smart and plentiful. In the harsh light of day – and played on Hard mode – they possess cruel 20/20 vision, and react to every little movement or shifting shadow by becoming more efficacious in their patrolling.”
Kotaku– YES
“Shortly after beginning the game, I spent a good thirty minutes just making my way back and forth between two buildings, knocking out guards, seeing how long it would take them to wake back up, trying to distract them and see how close I could get to them before they noticed me. If you’re into that sort of experimentation, you’ll find a rewarding chemistry set in Ground Zeroes.”
Polygon– 5.5/10
“All told, the titular Ground Zeroes mission took me one hour and 16 minutes to complete, including cutscenes and about eight deaths. That’s not the game clock, either. That’s real time. The mission is not only short, it’s dull. Your objectives amount to going to one place, rescuing a prisoner, going to another place, rescuing another prisoner, and then calling in a helicopter to get you out of there. Underwhelming doesn’t begin to describe it.”
Videogamer– 8/10
“It’s flexible enough to enable players to come up with their own battle plans, and once Ground Zeroes is over there are five Side Ops missions (encompassing assassination, hostage extraction, espionage and more) that take place at different times of day. Again, it shows off the pliability of the world, while also giving the lighting engine a good run out. It’s literally not found wanting come rain or shine.”
Game Informer– 7/10
“Ground Zeroes makes a fantastic first impression. It is gorgeous, from the facial capture to the environmental textures. Even the little touches, like lens flare and particle effects, are impeccable. The camera angles are cool, the art direction is interesting, and the production values are high. Snake’s mission in the prison camp is undoubtedly a feast for the eyes, but if you want meaningful content, you’re going to leave hungry.”
Joystiq– 3.5/5
“The longer you stay with Ground Zeroes and its shooter-style control scheme (for real, this time), the more you diverge from your old style of play, even if your intent is to be more of a ghost than a ghost-making machine. On one end of the Metal Gear spectrum, you drag a squirming guard behind a building and choke him into mandatory silence. On the other end, you commandeer a giant emplaced machine gun – let’s call it the “on-site procurement” that’s been encouraged since MGS1 – and blow everyone away. Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes rewards stealth purists with a better score, but trigger-happy improvisers get a satisfying body count.”