Recently, Bungie Studios community director Brian Jarrard - better known to Halo fans as "Sketch" - took some time to clear up a few lingering questions about Halo 3: Recon and Halo 3's upcoming Mythic Map Pack as well as some general Bungie topics.
From our informal chat, we learn that Halo 3: Recon will stay relatively true to Halo 3's formula, meaning that we won't be seeing any game engine improvements or added features. But Jarrard did confirm that (at minimum) one new weapon will make an appearance in Recon and a new soundtrack will debut. We also touch on the topic of Recon's Forge, learning what it is not and discuss why Bungie chose to not make it as feature-rich as a map editor like, say, what Far Cry 2 has to offer. There's Vidmaster achievement and Mythic Map Pack talk as well and the conversation somehow leads to the topic of global domination and pie.
In an interview with Kikizo, Valve's Doug Lombardi says we won't have to wait long for ... our first glimpse of Half-Life 2: Episode Three. Quizzed on whether the dev would have something to show in 2008, Lombardi plainly said, "We may at the very end of the year." So, yay – a (possible) Half-Life Holiday.
As for when the game will actually ship – er, not so soon. "The next time you play as Gordon will be longer than the distance between HL2 to Ep1, and Ep1 to Ep2," Lombardi confirmed. We're guessing he didn't mean all of that time distance combined. Still, given that Episode One hit in June of '06 and we didn't see Episode Two until October '07, we're likely looking at an 18+ month wait for Episode Three. That would put its release ... around May or June 2009. Or, in comparative terms, sometime around the debut of the next new Lost episode.
This week, we had the chance to enlist into the Call of Duty: World at War beta for Xbox 360, which features a handful of online maps to play. What follows is a back-and-forth discussion of our initial impressions after playing the game for a few hours.
Alexander Sliwinski: Um, isn't it just Call of Duty 4 with a different setting?
Ross Miller: More or less, and I think that's a great way to describe the game: It's Call of Duty 4, with a few differences. For example, instead of helicopters, you've got dogs.
Yes, we already knew that there would be a demo for Valve's upcoming co-op zombie survival sim, Left 4 Dead. Therefore, we're not terribly surprised by Gabe Newell's comment to Edge that the demo (which will allow one to four survivors to play through an early part of the game's campaign) would be dropping in "early November" -- after all, the game is due out on PC and Xbox 360 on November 18, so a preview period of a couple weeks would have been a logical estimation.
Why, then, would we choose to post on this particular announcement? It's simple, really -- to keep the seemingly inevitable, real-life Zombocalypse at the forefront of your mind. Seriously, it's coming, people. Make your arrangements.
This might just be the first time in American history when participation in the presidential election overshadows the viewership of Dancing With the Stars, so it makes sense that a game developer would want to capitalize on all the Head of State hubbub -- enter Activision, and their recently announced, bargain-priced shooterSecret Service. The title will pit you, an agent of the esteemed presidential protection outfit, against a number of inimical extremists who attack Washington D.C. on Inauguration Day.
Very few details about the title were shared in the press release the company just dropped, though it was revealed that the story and level design will be crafted by former Creative Director for Naughty Dog, Daniel Arey. Parties who are interested in taking a few bullets for our Commander in Chief will be able to enlist on the Xbox 360 ($39.99), PS2 ($29.99) and PC ($19.99) when the game hits store shelves "later this year".
Remember Nintendo's attempts at GBA-GC connectivity? Well, Sony may be a generation late to the party, but at least they're doing it right. For this interesting gaming experiment, you'll need a PSP, a PS3, Resistance 2 and Resistance Retribution. And the results are quite interesting.
Earlier, we noted that you'll be able to use your DualShock controller with Retribution through a new feature called PSP Plus. However, there's even more fun to be had through the game's unique Infection mode. In this new feature, players can connect PSP's Resistance Retribution via USB cable to a PS3 running Resistance 2. From R2, players can go into the menu and activate Infection, which will almost instantly transform the PSP game.
A doubting or questioning attitude or state of mind; dubiety.
Philosophya. A methodology based on an assumption of doubt with the aim of acquiring approximate or relative certainty.
The rational and historically-proven assumption that any licensed game will suck. Lots. Seriously, have you played half of this stuff?
As they prep the World for War, Treyarch has been quietly plugging away at the upcoming licensed title James Bond: Quantum of Solace. Powered by the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare engine, QoS blends scenes from the first Daniel Craig Bond film -- Casino Royale -- and the anticipated upcoming sequel of the same name. We spent some time with Bond at the recent Sony Holiday event in Toronto, Canada. Since our last trial with the game, did Bond change our definition of skepticism?
It is nearly impossible to introduce any feature that references Killzone 2 without mentioning its infamous first showing at E3 2005. After an internet fury over its controversial trailer, the shooter from Guerrilla Games was presented at Sony's annual Holiday Preview event this week in Toronto, Canada. Impressions after the break.
These are terrible. One isn't even of the building, but of the street in front of it! Clearly, after visiting Microsoft's Japanese Xbox HQ and providing you with relevantpreviews, we decided to justify our intolerable touristy-ness by sharing our on-the-spot snaps. It's like you were there and only remembered five things!
Was it mere coincidence that Activision's latest Wii FPS was situated right next to The Conduitat Nintendo's SF media event? You know, as if to say, "You want first-person shooters? Wii has you covered." Surely not. One thing's for certain: The situation certainly made it easier for us to transition from one game to the other in order to gauge how different developers are putting motion-control to use in the genre.
In the case of Treyarch, its Wii team has obviously played plenty of Metroid Prime 3; Call of Duty: World at War is pratically a play-alike (without the Morph Ball, grapple beam, and ... er, all that other sci-fi stuff). We were pleasantly surprised to find that the game is also similar to another FPS ... Call of Duty: World at War – the "HD" version.
In terms of playable software at Nintendo's Fall Media Summit, none received as much attention from attendees as High Voltage Software's The Conduit – and for good reason. The game already had some buzz behind it going into the event, but our anticipation for it reached new heights upon watching a developer walkthough of the latest build.
The Media Summit version of The Conduit showcased a never-before-seen Cold War bunker level, and High Voltage's staff was eager to show off tech like depth of field, normal mapping, newly implemented high-res textures, and a number of other things that had us saying, "This looks really good for a Wii game ... but how does it play?" The answer to that question can be found after the break.
For those who are reading this on a computer that is unable to meet the minimum system requirements of Math Blaster, feel free to skip this post. We won't be offended. For those discerning PC gamers who are still with us, you may be interested in a recent offer from Electronic Arts -- next weekend, the standalone multiplayer expansion to Crytek's demanding shooter, titled Crysis Wars, will be free to download and play online. Starting 11 a.m. on Friday, and running until 11:59 p.m. Sunday, you'll be able to jump on to any of the game's online servers for some nano-suit infused multiplayer combat.
Of course, after you've registered on MyCrisis.com and downloaded the full version of Crysis Wars (right here), you can play the game immediately, albeit offline using a LAN connection. We're assuming you already have a cadre of PC gaming acquaintences with appropriately powerful rigs -- don't you, you sociable so-and-so, you.
[Update: Whoops! Looks like Ms. Dunaway misspoke – The Conduit is not an "exclusive first-party shooter" ... it's an "exclusive first-person shooter." D'oh! Still no word on a publisher but we've got an email into the cats at High Voltage. Our original post is tucked safely below the break.]
Confirming rumors from as far back as April (and revisited in August), Gears of War film scribe Stuart Beattie has written a new script for a Halo adaptation. "The Halo movie in its initial incarnation is dead. No one is pursuing it any more," said Beattie in an interview with GameDaily. Adding credibility to August's rumored concept art, the script is going to serve as a prequel to the original Halo: Combat Involved and be based on the The Fall of Reach novel, with Beattie "ending the movie where the first game begins."
As to the fate of this adaptation, Beattie said they are "in discussions with Microsoft to see if we can get this made." Don't get your hopes too high just yet.
Realizing that the original Left 4 Dead box art was lacking an obvious pun, Valve has "corrected" the error by mirroring the previously right-handed image to the left. To recap: The box art is a Lefthand with 4 fingers left, with the thumb likely bitten off by the reanimated Dead. The pun-to-word ratio is now a remarkable 1:1. L4D will take a bite out of your social life November 18.
