Nukezilla » Brett Parsons

IndieCade 2012 Submissions are Open for Business

Brett Parsons — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:40:31 +0000

Here ye, Here ye, all aspiring and some already proven, successful independent developers! IndieCade, the International Festival of Independent Games is now accepting submissions for their 2012 competition.

Nukezilla missed our appointment to check out the 2011 collection of fabulous competitors at last year’s E3 – blame it on Mass Effect 3 and Telltale Games, if you must. We’re sure to check them all out this year in Los Angeles if we can survive the swarm of PS Vita toting part-time models for hire and League of Legends fanboys.

We’re helping to spread the news on account of our love for independent development and that hefty guilt-rock in Jenny and my stomach. We’re sorry and hopefully this makes all things better. Now get to subbin’ so we can all enjoy playing your undercover passion project. I’m looking at you, Surprised Man!

Happy New Year: Two Thousand and Twelve – Now Frack Off for a Bit!

Brett Parsons — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 22:21:16 +0000

You’re all a lovely bunch of people as are we. Last year we shared some laughs, tears, and more than legal limit of uncomfortable hugs (I’m looking at you, Hans!).

Now if you’ll please excuse us we need to recouperate from the glorious madness that was the NUKESTRAVAGANZAGAIN! and try to refill our stamina bars. So we can continue to bring you more unique gaming, hacking, and roller derby updates throughout this, what could be our final year on Earth.

Here’s hoping that you celebrated well and safely last night. We’ll be seeing you all in a few days once we can figure out how to get these rather challenging stains out of our rented tuxedos and evening gowns. Cheers to all!

Love and kisses,

Nukezilla

Image: Source

5 Games I Didn’t Play Nearly Enough of in 2011

Brett Parsons — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 13:00:37 +0000

Hi, my name is Brett (“Hi Brett!”) and I buy a lot of games. This year was no different from 2010, 9, 8, 7, 6… you get the idea. Too many games were purchased under false pretenses of having the time to play them all to satisfaction. Here are my top five most deserving, but under played games of 2011.

5. Mortal Kombat (PS3)

I played Mortal Kombat in the local arcade which was located in the same shopping center as a gentlemen’s club and a Karate dojo. I must have been eleven years old – way too young to be playing something with decapitations and bodies falling into a pit of spikes, but my mom never paid any attention to the games I played (SCORE!). When I heard they were more or less rebooting the series with their new publisher I was thrilled to rekindle my passion for comedic violence. Sadly I only played through the first few characters in the very long story campaign and don’t have local pals to gore it up with. Now that I’m working in an office full of game developers and programmers (with access to a pair of amazing low latency projectors) I think 2012 will be the year of Kombat!

4. Alice: Madness Returns (360)

Like MK, American McGee’s Alice holds a special place in my dark, gooey heart. My wife and I played it through together in my college dorm. She forbade me to play without her there, so we vanquished the red queen and jabberwocky in romantic fashion. The new game continues the story, but for some reason I couldn’t get up the motivation to make it past the second major location. Jenny lent me her copy on PS3 for ages and I finally had to send it back apologetically. GameFly had it on the cheap, so here it sits in my pile of games I want to come back to next year.

3. de blob 2 (PS3)

This one was a purchase for my kids. I know the PS3 controller is probably still out of my oldest daughter’s comfort zone, but there’s Move support – whatever that means. I think this will get our full attention during some rainy day next spring when both daughters are bored and have played their Sesame Street and Disneyland Kinect games to death.

2. Dirt 3 (360)

I try staying away from racing games, but the Nukezilla Review for it sold me on the potential fun I could have sliding around on filthy tracks like a bat out of hell. Again, GameFly’s sale made this impulse purchase that much easier to tip the scales. I’ve played this one for maybe an hour, but racing games always lose their luster for me nearly immediately. I know this is a fantastic game as I had lots of fun during the time I played it, but with so many other tasks competing for my attention, I fear Colin McRae’s spiritual successor will have to wait patiently on the shelf until I can put aside an afternoon by myself (HA!).

1. Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (PS3)

I would love to play MvC3 until the cows come home. It is a gorgeous fighting game with completely unbalanced play and ridiculous combos. Unfortunately, Capcom released UMvC3 already, adding Phoenix Wright to the character sheet. I can’t play MvC3 now. There’d be no point. If I can’t beat down my opponents with evidence, paperwork and a strongly worded “OBJECTION!” then it’s a waste of my time. Fuck you Capcom. Fuck you, very much.

NUKESTRAVAGANZAGAIN! Last Call Phone-a-Palooza 2 – 31 Reviews (iOS/Android)

Brett Parsons — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 09:00:46 +0000

[You've patiently read through 30 days of increasingly wordy game reviews from us during the month of December...for the second year in a row; an event we like to call NUKESTRAVAGANZAGAIN! Now, to close out the year of two thousand and ~~ten~~ eleven we bring you a massive mobile mash-up of mega proportions! Without further adieu, here are 31 reviews of mobile games authored by six members of our lovely staff. Since we're all amazingly hip and attractive people, these games come from the smartphone platforms du jour: Android and iOS. Windows Phone 7 you can suck a big one!!! Enjoy!]

Minecraft Pocket Edition (Android) by Dan Rosenthal

If you didn’t get it when it was on sale for $0.99, suck it up and pay the full price because it’s almost as good as the full version (just buggier).

Age of Zombies (Android) by Brett Parsons

Murdering increasing hordes of the undead is freshened up with the evergreen sci-fi trope: time travel.

Circuit Breaker (iOS) by Justin Massongill

A dead-simple puzzle game with a clever concept — but lacking polish and presentation — Circuit Breaker may not hold your attention for more than an hour or so, but it’s still worth looking into.

Jelly Defense (Android) by Brett Parsons

Jelly Defense is a solid tower defense game featur-….*zzzzzzzz*

Shift (iOS) by Jenny Rouse

Perfect reality-shifting puzzle game for those who miss GLaDOS’ taunting; the PSP version has better controls.

Muffin Knight (Android) by Brett Parsons

What you would get if Joust conceived an illegitimate child with Bubble Bobble while playing the Genesis(Megadrive?) port of Ghouls’n Ghosts, “Oh my!”

Tiny Wings (iOS) by Sean Fletcher

A nice distraction to kill a couple of minutes at a time, but there’s very little content, so it won’t last long.

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (Android) by Brett Parsons

It’s crap.

Cut the Rope: Experiments (iOS) by Brett Parsons

Cut the hand holding introduction puzzles is more like it, amirite?

Jetpack Joyride (iOS) by Brett Parsons

You fly using a machine gun powered jetpack, collect coins and frequently transform into a Harley riding T-800 look-alike who guns down fleeing scientists as he rolls.

Wonton 51 (iOS) by Brett Parsons

One Life Left pimped this deserving two man shmup-roduction and so will I, though it would be great if they could fix the part where it crashes when you try to help them shamelessly promote the game via Twitter.

Asphalt 6 (Android) by Hans Wuerflein

The controls are a little finicky, but this game’s supercars and varied tracks remind me of what used to be good about the Need for Speed games

Icebreaker Hockey (Android) by Hans Wuerflein

Not a real hockey game, but still a decent, good looking little shootout/skills competition-esk time waster.

Gravity Hook (iOS) by Sean Fletcher

A satisfying climbing game using a grappling hook; beating high scores is fun.

Bejeweled 2 (Android) by Hans Wuerflein

Hey this will be fun for a few minutes… Wait, how is it 2:17 a.m.?

Fightin’ Words (Android) by Hans Wuerflein

A solid alternative to Words With Friends with cross platform play between Android and Blackberry.

N.O.V.A. 2 (Android) by Hans Wuerflein

This game succeeds both in showing that it would be possible to make a game like Halo for a touchscreen only mobile device, and why that would be a terrible idea.

Superbrothers: Swords and Sworcery EP (iOS) by Brett Parsons

Only cool people will get that this is amazing, the rest of you can go back to playing Angry Birds: 3D Pigsby’s Revenge.

Tiki Golf 2 (Android) by Hans Wuerflein

They somehow managed to make an aiming system even less consistent than my horrible real-world golf skills, and I once unintentionally hit a ball 90 degrees to the right of where I was aiming.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (iOS) by Jenny Rouse

Not much has changed in the move from the DS; still great, but I’m sad I can’t yell “Objection!” into my phone to present damning evidence.

Scribblenauts Remix (iOS) by Brett Parsons

Awesome in concept; still severely flawed in execution.

Scarlett and the Spark of Life (iOS) by Jenny Rouse

As witty as it is short; the controls are fluid and brings back memories of old-school adventure games.

Metal Gear Solid Touch (iOS) by Sean Fletcher

An enjoyable – yet short – on rails shooter telling the story of Metal Gear Solid 4 with all the stealth elements taken out.

Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror (iOS) by Jenny Rouse

George and Nico have returned – sans Knights of the Templars – not as good as the original, but still a fantastic ride.

Another World (iOS) by Justin Massongill

Faithfully recreating the 90′s classic, this remake still pushes the right buttons and is still as maddeningly difficult as it was all those years ago.

Squids (iOS) by Justin Massongill

With a vibrant, beautiful art style and upbeat, catchy soundtrack, The Game Bakers’ “Action Strategy RPG” Squids is well worth your time and money.

Tiny Tower (iOS) by Justin Massongill

A cute, low-fi and utterly addictive tower management sim that managed to suck away more hours of my life than most retail titles do.

Dead Space (iOS) by Sean Fletcher

Captures the look and feel of the Dead Space games well, but fiddly touch controls make it hard to enjoy.

Drop 7 (iOS) by Sean Fletcher

After taking a while to get used to this puzzle game, I found myself returning often trying to master it.

Mega Mall Story (iOS) by Sean Fletcher

Becoming the owner of a successful shopping mall is just as entertaining and compulsive as the previous games in Kairosoft’s Story series.

Grand Theft Auto III (Android) by Brett Parsons

If playing GTAIII on your smartphone doesn’t make you weak in the knees we can’t be best friends anymore.

Nukezilla Review: Shadows of the Damned (360)

Brett Parsons — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 01:00:35 +0000

Penis, Boner, Johnson, Enlargement, Shaft, Tallywacker, Wang and Sir Richard Hammer-Time are all nicknames for the male reproductive organ, most of which are obnoxiously referenced in Shadows of the Damned. I won’t try and provide any apology for the game’s immature sense of humor or the worryingly obsessive emphasis on dick jokes, but the game that’s underneath all of the high school locker room talk is worth suffering through all of it.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s talk about Shadows of the Damned. If you’re heading out to the local big box store or high street on this Boxing Day, make sure you pick up SotD; it just might be the best game you’ll play this year (or next given your poor timing and lack of vision). EA (Partners) have so poorly marketed this title that most of the recreational gamers out there wouldn’t have a clue the game exists, but Grasshopper Manufacture have crafted the spiritual successor to Resident Evil 4, more faithful in form and replete with innovations than RE5.

Did I mention there are strawberry eating, baby faced demon doors? The design elements of SotD are completely bizarre and better for it. Metal clad opera divas and blood soaked war veterans with wrist mounted machetes are some of the more tame character designs to be found. You play as an exploitative take on Antonio Banderas, aka Garcia Fucking Hotspur. His middle name isn’t honorary, that’s his real name. Garcia’s love, Paula is gruesomely murdered by vengeful demons led by Flemming, a demon dictator with inadequacy issues. Throughout his tour of hell, Garcia is taunted with his lost love who gets continually paraded in front of him wearing an escalating wardrobe of sexualized attire starting with simple lingerie and ending – well I’ll let you play it yourself to find out – you pervert! Garcia invites the player at the outset to partake in a “road movie”, but the game’s imagery is that of a male teenager’s nightmares generated by a twisted subconscious during puberty.

Each area of the game shifts the aesthetic slightly and these locations are made more intense when darkness is introduced. While Garcia is shrouded in the inky blue-black fog, his health is in danger with each step. These frequent mini-puzzle sequences really squeeze the most out of each level. In order to survive the gloom, Garcia has to devour pulsing hearts to extend the timer and ultimately find the glowing goat’s head that illuminates the area when shot with G’s Johnson. Yes, Johnson is the name of Garcia’s (ahem) pistol. A disembodied demon turncoat, Johnson is your guide through hell. The dialog between G and J, no matter how absurd, form the second pillar of my love for SotD. Much like GLaDOS and Wheatley in Portal 2, their banter satisfied me throughout the journey.

Most of the demons you face are simple cannon fodder, much like the shambling zombies of yore, these guys can be stunned and decapitated with ease. There are plenty of tougher monsters you’ll fight, some of whom are recycled with care as the campaign marches forward to its grizzly conclusion. The proper boss battles are fun and challenging, but not one transcends to greatness. I will admit there is a definite je ne sais quoi about exactly why Shadows of the Damned is near the top of my pile for memorable experiences played in 2011. As a longtime fan of the creative team that dreamed up this insanity (Suda 51, Shinji Mikami and Yamaoka) I had been rooting for the game to pick up word of mouth leading up to the launch, but now that time has past and it was a complete flop, so I guess I’m looking to build a support group instead.

This review is Day 26 of The December Review Nukestravaganzagain

Nukezilla Review: Gears of War 3 (360)

Brett Parsons — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 21:14:52 +0000

When we left our merry band of grub squashing miscreants they had rode a massive brumak through a lake of emulsion mutating the beast into a gargantuan biological weapon of mass destruction. They then ignited it using lasers from space as a last ditch attempt to sink the human city of Jacinto in order to drown a rampaging Locust hive that had become infested with Lambent. If you’re expecting Gears of War 3 to deliver this kind of spectacle and nonsense, look no further. However, anyone expecting, as I was, to find meaning and denouement in this soup of testosterone (TestosteroniO’s?) will be left hungry for something more substantial.

Assuming you are trying to follow the story of Gears of War is a honestly a major leap of faith on anyone’s behalf. Most of the people I know when quizzed about a what they remember from playing a Gears title can only recall their favorite moments:

Their first grizzly Locust execution via lancer chainsaw.
“Eat shit and die!” or “More like ten shitloads” or “[Anything said by Augustus Cole, like] Whoo!”
Performing their 8th consecutive headshot kill (with perfect active reload on each).
Cutting through the major organs and finally several thick walls of tissue to survive a rising lake of blood to escape from the bowels of a giant city-sized worm.

These friends of mine aren’t knuckle dragging neanderthals either, we’re talking about some very serious game players with above average intellects and socially adjusted personalities to boot. There’s just something about Gears of War‘s story that is inherently forgettable. I’ve played through each game in the trilogy with rapt attention, hoping for something to really stick; maddeningly throughout each game the plot barely serves as a catalyst to move the machismo parade from location to location.

It may be unfair to judge Gears of War 3 as something it’s not, so I will try and detail how well Epic has delivered on the core strengths of the series, namely the combat scenarios and the variety of tactics employed against Marcus and Delta Co. The Lambent are more than just a silly name for exploding Locusts – they represent the largest addition to the bestiary of planet Sera. These new mutations based on their Locust hosts are in most cases tougher and more versatile than their progenitors, requiring more careful aiming and clips of ammo to take out each wave.

In many ways I was reminded of the combat from Dead Space, where each new enemy type forces the player to put some cerebral energy into selecting the right tactics to suit the situation, but since they’re made up of explosive glowing pustules, I suppose there’s a bit of Lost Planet‘s simplicity thrown in for good measure. Bungie proved with Halo: Combat Evolved that mixing up each enemy encounter, even by small degrees can provide massive payouts in player satisfaction and by their third release, Epic seemed to have learned the lesson well from their former Microsoft Studios pals. Though the dialog and cutscenes may be teeth gnashingly camp, the set pieces ridiculous and over wrought, it is the combat that kept me engaged throughout five thrilling acts of near-constant shooting.

For those of you who are socially inclined there’s great campaign co-op support, a somewhat more balanced competitive multiplayer offering and two different modes of player vs. CPU team game types. Horde mode has been beefed up to include fortifications and purchased weapons between rounds, while Beast mode is a Locust on human slaughterfest that favors faster paced waves that feels less like an endurance run and more of a speed run with friends. There’s an enormous amount of content offered with this package and as a lukewarm fan of the series I jumped in with both feet (hence the purchase of the $30 season pass, le sigh), but JRR Tolkien this is not. I wouldn’t turn anyone away from the fun that I had playing through most of what is in this package – I just was hoping for something beyond gore and cheap profane one-liners, which in hindsight is a shame on me.

This review is Day 23 of The December Review Nukestravaganzagain.

Nukezilla Review: Rage (Xbox 360)

Brett Parsons — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 20:30:01 +0000

It’s hard to imagine that the company that brought you Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D, Doom and Quake has started fresh with a new intellectual property, only to have the aesthetic, thematic and structural components of said new idea bear such an uncanny resemblance to games of the modern zeitgeist in Rage. So many elements of Rage feel like wholesale rip-offs of Borderlands (mostly), Fallout 3 and even Bioshock that my immediate and sustained reaction to the game has been cool leading up to its release.

However, having played through Rage‘s campaign and dipped my toe in the irradiated waters of the multiplayer co-op and racing modes, I can testify to the fact that my fretful first impressions were unwarranted; Rage is a solid FPS in the classic form of the genre. Though there are game systems that support the core shooting experience like wasteland races, weapon upgrades and ammo types and an economy, at its heart Rage is a pureblooded shooter and a damn gorgeous one at that.

I was at the precipice of the all-to-familiar these days decision of which platform to purchase the game for when John Carmack spilled the beans in the form of a semi-sincere apology to id’s longtime PC fan base. Love it or hate it, Rage was developed with consoles in mind; a first for id Software and a clear indication that they’ve finally seen the light of where the lion’s share of the marketplace is spending their dough these days. Rather than drop $30 on the second thought PC port of Rage, I embraced oblivion and ordered it for the 360. After a two disc install (optional) I was up and running, or more accurately riding shotgun, through yet another post-apocalyptic wasteland with John Goodman as my guide.

Within minutes of being woken up from stasis, lasting over a hundred years, you are handed a gun and tasked with slaughtering a group of bandits to prove your worth to a small group of besieged survivors. The quests never really change, only the voices and faces of the NPCs pleading for your help or threatening you with the non-choice of “…or else!”. Though there is a plot about an asteroid, arks filled with supreme human beings (hold the sour cream, please), mutants, and The “Authori-TAH”, the most important thread is a large quantity of lifeforms that either need saving or brutal, boom-boom-pow killing. There’s even a bandit group, The Wasted, who all speak with exaggerated UK accents of a muddy football hooligan, Jason Statham quality.

On your first few outings to said bandit camps, sewers and abandoned factories your arsenal feels underpowered and inneffective, but you’re soon granted access to new ammo types and weapon modifications that make a real difference for each combat encounter. By the end of the game you’ll have collected enough junk around the wastes to fully upgrade nearly every weapon, but expendables like wingsticks and fatboys still require you to make tactical decisions leading into and sometimes mid-firefight.

Rage never fully shakes off the “been there, done that” feeling I mentioned at the outset, even though the action of the combat and variety offered by allowing the player to race and fight with a weaponized buggy shows that id was surely trying to craft something unique. Having attempted several rounds of the game’s co-op with another FPS afficianado, both of us left the mode out of frustration at the poor checkpoint design. Saying that, if you’re hankering for more content there is plenty to be mined off of the third disc. I can’t say the same for the game’s competitive racing, which really feels like an afterthought. The world must have gone topsy turvy when the OGs of the deathmatch can’t be bothered to add it into their marquee FPS product; maybe they’ve realized the days of straightforward one vs. all multiplayer are in their twilight and this blatant exclusion seems to put the final nail in its coffin.

This review is Day 19 of The December Review Nukestravaganzagain.

Nukezilla Review: Duke Nukem Forever (PC)

Brett Parsons — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 12:00:42 +0000

Much has been written about Duke Nukem Forever since the announcement of its existence in 1996 to its shocking release in June of 2011. I thought for a game of this historical “significance” only a true master of the English language could express my thoughts on the final product. Whether you call him Willy, Billy or Mr. Spear, here’s Nukezilla’s Review of Duke Nukem Forever as worded by William Shakespeare.

On the 15 years of development and the impact on Duke’s creators, 3D Realms:

“He hath eaten me out of house and home, he hath put all my substance into that fat belly of his: but I will have some of it out again, or I will ride thee a-nights like the mare.”

Why no sane person called an end to the development and why Gearbox released 3D Realms’ game “as-is”:

“To die is to be a counterfeit, for he is but the counterfeit of a man who hath not the life of a man; but to counterfeit dying,when a man thereby liveth, is to be no counterfeit, but the true and perfect image of life indeed.”

How 3D Realms and Gearbox see “The Duke”:

“Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.”

How most of the rest of the gaming community sees “The Duke”:

“Reputation is an idle and most false imposition; oft got without merit, and lost without deserving.”

Duke’s view on gender roles (pick one!):

“Frailty, thy name is woman!”
or
“Maids want nothing but husbands, and when they have them, they want everything.”
or
“Women speak two languages – one of which is verbal (the other must be oral – if you’ve seen the game’s respectful introduction sequence).”
or
“Women may fall when there’s no strength in men.”

What to remind yourself after completing a particularly awful section of DNF’s overlong campaign:

“The worst is not, So long as we can say, ‘This is the worst.’ ”

How to interpret post-DNF love and support for “The Duke”:

“Love to faults is always blind, always is to joy inclined: lawless, winged, and unconfined, and breaks all chains from every mind.”

In closing:

“~~Life’s~~ Duke’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

Tips for Randy Pitchford and team on the next Duke Nukem game from Gearbox:

“Have more than thou showest, speak less than thou knowest, lend less than thou owest.”

This review is Day 9 of The December Review Nukestravaganzagain.

Nukezilla Review: Dragon Age II (PC)

Brett Parsons — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 09:00:37 +0000

If game development is subject to the rules of karma, then Dragon Age II is payback for the over-wrought development on Dragon Age: Origins. Though not a perfect game in its own right, Origins was an epic and a direct-descendant of Bioware’s beloved Baldur’s Gate RPG design formula. Like a petulant teenager, the sequel abandons the core values of its parent relying on glitz, gibs and gravitas to make an impact on the player.

Nearly every aspect of Dragon Age II has been reworked to give the impression of quality without the substance to back it up as evidenced by the cheap looking shift in aesthetic and the re-use of locations which reeks of a product that was rushed out the door. A notable omission is the option to choose your character, and though Hawke (Hawke, really!?) is an interestingly designed character, the story that should make you care about his family’s plight is paper thin and the dialogue weak and ineffective.

If the combat was crafted with the same puzzle-like challenge of the original then some of these missteps could be forgiven, but nearly every encounter feels slapped together with enemies spawning into the level as transparent apparitions before running headlong into the fray. The most bizarre design decision comes near the end of the game where the narrative slate is wiped clean despite carefully thought out player choices and hours of character development, the plot congeals into a single muddled pool of disappointment.

If Dragon Age II outsold Origins it’s a crime, but there are at least three times as many pairs of absurdly enlarged breasts on display, so there is that.

This review is Day 8 of The December Review Nukestravaganzagain.

Nukezilla Review: Deus Ex: Human Revolution (PC)

Brett Parsons — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 09:00:40 +0000

Adam Jensen didn’t ask for his augmentations, but without them he’d be just another casualty.

Though frequently derided by the odd passerby and an obnoxious IT Specialist, my Adam sneaks, hacks and incapacitates his way through every challenge, save four. His voice is gravel, but his personality is warm and empathetic. Though he’s more tin than man, he’s surprisingly compassionate and filled with regret over a past where he used violence to solve conflicts. My Adam understands the fragility of life and sees his resurrection as a chance to redeem his fractured soul.

Of course, your Adam Jensen might be a dick. Your Adam Jensen can walk through the streets of Detroit killing scamps and hurling grenades at waves of thugs and robots like Arnold Schwarzenegger – and that’s why I love Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

This review is Day 7 of The December Review Nukestravaganzagain.

Nukezilla Review: Super Mario 3D Land (3DS)

Brett Parsons — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 09:00:40 +0000

Like a shot of expertly prepared espresso, Super Mario 3D Land captures all of the flavor of a full-cup of brew in a smaller, yet more powerful concoction.

The levels are shorter than those from Super Mario Galaxy (1 and 2), but each one feels just right and delivers unique twists throughout. The first world plays like a love letter to longtime Mario devotees, but the game never loses its brilliance even after you get to the final castle on the second, more frenzied (and masochistic) go-around.

It’s a shame the stigma surrounding the 3DS has put so many off from purchasing the system, as finally there’s an experience that proves 3D can be integral to the presentation and that Nintendo can still make incredible games, full stop.

This review is Day 4 of The December Review Nukestravaganzagain.

PAX Prime ’11: Free-to-Play Blacklight – Retribution Trumps Tango Down

Brett Parsons — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 19:00:48 +0000

I’m one of a very small number of people who liked what I played of Zombie Studios’ Blacklight: Tango Down on XBLA. They acted with extreme hubris and chutzpah to release their game for $15 and market it as a value comparison against their competition: a map pack for COD: Modern Warfare 2. They aimed high and by most accounts missed their target audience by a long shot.

Most critics complained about the game’s low budget production values, poor match making and network performance. I felt it was a great aesthetic alternative to the grimy urban war zones of today with a few nifty plays on shooter mechanics like the visor that allows players to “wall hack” to simultaneously locate enemies and announce their location to all nearby foes.

Zombie Studios is developing the follow-up Blacklight: Retribution with a lot more interesting ideas thrown into the mix that should help them earn the attention and respect of would-be-haters; namely mechs and a price tag that reads “FREE.”

Perfect World is working with Zombie to publish Retribution as a free-to-play shooter with a seemingly increased production budget and a laundry list of lessons learned since Tango Down. We played a match on the show floor, which only served to reinforce my firm belief that I’m now comfortably resting on the left side of the competitive multiplayer bell curve – of course, this is not the game’s fault.

After mercifully scoring a few kills I was instructed to purchase an air strike with my points, even though I could have spent them on a rocket launcher or saved for a mech. The map we played was almost entirely indoors, so the airstrike wasn’t a very good choice, but it illustrated a minor difference and (in my opinion) an improvement on the Call of Duty kill streak system. Even players with moderate skill will generate funds with each kill to purchase these bonus weapons and special abilities that could enhance their play experience and support their team.

The game looks very nice on the PC on the Unreal Engine 3, which can run in DirectX 11 and what looked to me to be increased object density and detail for each map I’ve seen. It was interesting to compare the game’s improvements even in such a short time from when I saw it back at E3 this year. They’re looking to support the game over the long term with Perfect World’s backing to continue to add maps and weapons.

Of course, because it’s F2P, customization items and packages are also planned for players willing to spend cash on a unique look. There will even be a sponsored item with Intel-branded leg boosters that give you increased speed, but the developers were quick to point out that these items will be balanced out by free items that every player can unlock for equal benefits (or some unique benefits will be balanced in other ways, such as costing more to equip and limiting you in other areas of improvement).

Gone are the gun flair from Tango Down, such as the fuzzy dice and other trinkets that would bestow special attributes for each player’s weapon, but their Art Director isn’t giving up on getting them back in somehow if they can get the physics down right this time.

If Zombie Studios can nail a sci-fi shooter with a competitive multiplayer experience that can go toe to toe with the big boys (BF3, MW3 just to name the top two) and offer it as free to all I think they deserve more credit and attention than I’ve seen out there thus far. They could take a lot of missteps along the way with how closely they ape their competition or with the balancing of paid items vs. unlocks, but I for one am hopeful that the final product lives up to my expectations as a fatigued modern combat FPS player looking for something a little different.

Just so you know, that difference is namely a giant metal body with miniguns for arms and big stompy legs. At the very least Wardrox and Halfleft can duke it out with the community via the Ye Olde Battledrome when Blacklight: Retribution is released in 2012 in Europe and North America.

PAX Prime ’11: Tribes – Ascend Gets It Right, Finally

Brett Parsons — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 21:00:45 +0000

I promise I’m not a Tribes hipster. Yes, I played Starsiege: Tribes before it was cool, for long nights and whole summertime afternoons over a 28.8 modem. I skied, cratered and screamed, “SHAZBOT!” with the best of them. Each and every Tribes release since then passed me by either due to a lack of quality, community support or life circumstances.

Now, I’m nowhere near having the time for a new Tribes game regardless of how amazing it plays or true to the original. So, with trepidation I can declare Hi-Rez’s Tribes: Ascend has nailed the feeling of playing Tribes at its core, having much to do with their implementation of locomotion and frequent nods to classic maps, vehicles and mechanics.

I loved playing as the OG “Heavy”, using a mortar launcher as my long-range doombringer. I rarely scored flag caps as a scout, so playing base defense with extreme prejudice was my forte. I frequently ran out of ammo, not because my shots were all over the map; I was a green mist sniper.

Getting to hop back into my old heavy armor and don the cannon once more was thrilling. I’m not a master any longer, but there was an intense satisfaction with the whole experience from spawn to positioning to lining up each shot using an imaginary predictive arc. Skill is required to succeed in Tribes and even with my aged experience, I felt those old brain cells waking up from their decade’s old slumber.

For new players, learning the core mechanic of the game should be a challenge, but in summary every match is pure CTF. Opposing teams have multiple classes to select from allowing for three armor types each with its own available weapons and physical attributes. Light armor allows scouts to glide across surfaces with little to no friction where heavy armor slows quickly and has a short term boost.

Every armor class is outfitted with jetpacks and can toggle “skis” to continue forward motion when falling to the ground. In order to quickly get from point A to B, players need to maximize their inertia by skiing down steep slopes and boosting as you crest. Learning each map will teach a seasoned player the perfect routes to the enemy base and back home with the flag in hand.

Nowadays, CTF games aren’t a major emphasis of multiplayer gaming, but back in 2001 it was at least a secondary mode for all multiplayer titles (or mods). Starseige: Tribes helped pave the way for sticky multiplayer games that put singleplayer gaming in the back seat.

Notice I haven’t spent the past few paragraphs listing each feature that Hi-Rez has baked into Ascend to realize the glory of the original. I spent at least an hour playing and my impressions were that they nailed the core experience down to the dazed realization you had to return to base to reload. Not everyone seems to be in love with their approach and execution of the Tribes formula, but I’m sold on it and will be in line to pick up my trusty spinfusor – free time be damned!

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PAX Prime ’11: Miegakure Makes Multiplaned Manipulation Mandatory

Brett Parsons — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 13:00:03 +0000

While waiting in line to play Spy Party on Sunday morning, Chris Hecker introduced us to his friend Marc Ten Bosch‘s work in progress, Miegakure an indie Japanese Zen garden inspired multi-dimensional block puzzler.

Displayed from an isometric perspective, your samurai avatar enters into portals to teleport to a location initiating a new puzzle sequence which requires moving blocks. Each block moved affects the composition of the blocks and platforms on four separate dimensions. After a few moves and shifts, all players I observed seemed to to understand how to keep mental track on the different dimensions and have a rough idea on how to reach the next phase.

We didn’t get any hands on time, but there were six stations each of which was occupied by a transfixed player. Watching Miegakure was relaxing, mostly due to the simple presentation of textured blocks in a zen garden complete with sand, rocks and a solitary tree. The game’s developer approached some of the die-hard players who politely refused to give up their demo even after the two hour mark.

I spoke to one of the players to get his feedback on the very complex to master, but simple ideas at play. He explained that while he was able to progress through each sequence, the concepts were soaking in slowly which made him feel that he wasn’t quite comprehending the big picture. His parting shot explained that he felt as though each move brought him back to the original composition of the garden; very zen stuff indeed.

I’ll be keeping a close eye on Miegakure as it progresses into a playable beta as I need more zen in my life right about now.

Glass Bottom Games’ The Savage Garden Gets Pre-Alpha Gameplay Trailer

PAX Prime ’11: Demiurge Studios Names First Baby; Shoot Many Robots

Brett Parsons — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 12:19:41 +0000

Demiurge Studios started out nearly ten years ago working with Epic on documentation for the Unreal engine. Since then, they’ve worked behind the scenes on numerous big name titles like Borderlands, Mass Effect, Brothers in Arms and even received full credit for the PC release of Mass Effect. They’ve pitched in when developers need a few extra hands and specialized expertise. I asked if they were the special sauce for most of these games and one of their guys sheepishly concurred. Now they’re ready to step into onto the scene with their own IP with Shoot Many Robots.

At first glance, the game appeared to be using pre-rendered sprites for the main character, but after you see all of the custom animation and items it becomes clear that this is a post-processing trick. Everything in Shoot Many Robots was developed in-house, including the engine and tools. They’re not discussing plans to license their tech, but based on their pedigree I wouldn’t be surprised if they become the next Criterion Games (or Epic, with lots of luck and funding). The developer explained to me that they were playfully trying to ape that pre-rendered look of older side-scrollers from the late 90s. They’re not 100% happy with the effect and I would tend to agree – it makes the game look less impressive due to a washed out smoothing of the character models, but it’s definitely unique and sure to be improved by release time.

The player character was inspired by macho men survivalists like Tallahassee from Zombieland. As the title subtly intimates, this isn’t an emotional tour de force. You. Shoot. Robots. There are lots of guns to pick from and nearly 400 items to customize your character (which is helpful because both players are forced to use the same character a la Dead Rising 2).

Did I mention you can purchase a baby in a backpack or a fully animated Fruit Fucker as a hat? Yeah, that’s the kind of content we’re talking about here. There are 50 levels of character progression which the devs say most players will hit by 3/4 of the way through Hard mode. You can play the whole game through with 2-player local, LAN or online co-op.

I asked about DLC, but with so many items bundled into the package, levels and new player characters would be the strongest contenders. Players gain experience with each kill and collect cash to purchase items from home base. They insisted that players won’t feel tapped out when they reach max level as enemies scale to match and adding in a high level friend will bring the pain with more enemies at an increased difficulty. There’s also a survival mode where you fight robots with friends until you die, racking up XP and cash without the pesky story progression.

My time with Shoot Many Robots was brief, but the game looks very nice and challenging to boot. I’ll be one to download the trial when it comes out next year courtesy of the wizards from Boston (Demiurge) and the fancy financiers from france (Ubisoft).

NZCast 4.16: Sex Robots

PAX Prime ’11: Joe Danger – The Movie Deftly Dodges Sequelitis

Brett Parsons — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:35:18 +0000

I first heard about Joe Danger via the Eurogamer podcast, yet another UK based podcast addiction to add to my list. It was described as a joyous cross between Trials HD and Sonic the Hedgehog (before the blue blur went off the cliff). You played as a washed up stuntman who was rebuilding his career by performing increasingly challenging stunt runs at high speeds. It controlled like butter, was colorful, fun and easy to get lost playing for long sessions despite the clunky front end. Having played the sequel and sat down to chat with the developers in-between meetings on Sunday, I’m convinced The Movie will be worth the price of admission when it hits television screens sometime in 2012.

“In a world where danger rules supreme…” *cough* *cough* Okay, no more movie announcer voice. Joe Danger: The Movie picks up where the game left off as Joe has proven himself worthy of a stuntman’s highest honor and is well on his way to advancing his career to the next level. As the name suggests, the locations and scenarios featured this time around will be incorporated into action/sci-fi/adventure/thriller blockbusters where you as Joe are performing stunts for Hollywood. I saw an Indiana Jones themed film, titled Minecraft (yes, the movie/video game double entendre was intentional – expect more subtle and not so subtle nods in the final release) and a communist invasion featuring radioactive ooze and a 50 foot tall rampaging robot.

Each film should serve the purpose of giving Joe a consistent plot to work within as well as new ways to interact with the tracks, such as punching mysterious black helmeted villains off of their bikes as a motorcycle cop complete with mirrored shades. Each track offers variety to their tried and true formula of arcade-style speed, item collection, mission objectives (precision landings are usually required) and of course leaderboards for you to compete with friends and anonymous jerks on the Internet who have much higher scores than you.

The dev who demoed the game for me, before handing over the controller, pulled off an astounding 16.0 second time on an advanced map while flying a jetpack. Yes, there will be lots of new vehicles types featured throughout the story. Some missions even allow for changing vehicles mid-level like the spy thriller flick where I started out skiing down alpine slopes and switched to a snowmobile by landing on one near a checkpoint. These vehicle changes are optional, so if I wanted to finish the level on skis, I would simply jump to avoid the switch, but I liked this change of pace especially since a lot of the levels seem longer this time around.

They’re aiming to rework the difficulty curve, which was a common thread of criticism received from community feedback. The game will start out very friendly but may finish up surpassing Trials HD in pure cold-hearted brutal and sadistic challenge (my words, not theirs). However, the journey to the top should educate players on how to improve their play style via the in-game director; a bearded little man with dark glasses who sits in his trademark folding chair holding a megaphone and offers tips to Joe throughout the campaign. He should be an interesting addition whose dialog has been written to appeal to players who like a little snark with their tips.

Joe Danger was a great looking game with a cartoon aesthetic and tons of content for your money. With JD: The Movie Hello Games is looking to expand their audience both directions; kids should find the early stages pick-up and play friendly and feature enough punishing difficulty by the end to satisfy all of you Super Meat Boy lovers out there. Hello Games developed JD1 with an astonishing four team members and this next year’s release will have been accomplished with a total of nine (that’s a 125% increase in staff!). They’re based in Guildford near a lot of other blossoming UK indie and mega developers (such as Lionhead Studios and Media Molecule). I’m rooting for them on account that I loved Joe Danger, but it doesn’t hurt they’re a small bunch of talented and lovely people to boot.

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Inemeri: A Familiar World Beta Postponed as Dev Focuses on Broken Arrow

Brett Parsons — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 04:38:40 +0000

When Inemeri: A Familiar World was first announced back in late February it received a fair amount of press coverage for being a browser based social game with high production values that would deliver a console quality presentation. I immediately signed up for a future beta hoping for early access, news and further details, but today all would-be beta participants have been notified that A Familiar World is on hold in lieu of shifting development to Broken Arrow, a new title for the company.

The email notice and November Software development blog suggests Broken Arrow is being developed as an action combat game for tablets and the web with a one-handed touch interface. We’ll report back as further details come to light about either title. With no releases under their belt, Inemeri seems to have a lot to prove, considering the work done on A Familiar World looks to have been extensive judging by their dev blog. November Software is a San Francisco Bay Area indie developer comprised of former Lucasarts staff who most recently worked on Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. There’s a growing community of fans following the game via Facebook who will surely be bummed out by news of the delay. Read the full text of the email notice posted below:

Latest Beta News
Thanks for your continued interest and patience for the Inemeri: A Familiar World Beta. We are really pleased with our progress so far. However, we wanted to let you know that we got some early feedback and have decided to re-focus our developments towards a new game, Broken Arrow. Because of this change in direction, the Inemeri Beta has been put on hold while we take advantage of this new opportunity. We hope that you will find Broken Arrow as exciting as we do and as innovative as our Inemeri concept.
Broken Arrow is an action combat game that is being designed exclusively for one-handed touch controls on tablets and web. We will keep you posted on our progress and let you know when a demo is available to play. And yes, it will also be free to play.
Thanks,
Inemeri Team

Image: Source

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Developer GSC Game World Closing its Doors

PAX Prime ’11: Monolith Proves Posers Rule In Gotham City Impostors

Brett Parsons — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 19:00:10 +0000

Monolith Productions have been responsible for making an incredible list of PC classics like No One Lives Forever (1 and 2), Shogo: Mobile Armor Division, Blood (1 and 2) and I would argue Tron 2.0 deserves to be high on that list as well. Recently they’re known as the developer that made F.E.A.R. (1 and 2) and Condemned (1 and 2 – sensing a trend here?), but they’ve also made some pretty epic missteps like The Matrix Online and Contract J.A.C.K. Being owned by Warner Brothers does have its advantages; like free access to the entire Warner Brothers catalog of intellectual property. Somehow they thrust their hand into the big bag, pulled out Batman and decided to make a team based multiplayer shooter starring Batman and Joker wannabes – makes sense, right?

They were demoing Fumigation (so named on account of the toxic gas canisters that serve as Command Points and spew green or red smoke depending on the team), their version of a control point capture and ticket bleeding mode. Justin and I landed on the Jokers and I played as a Defender preset (don’t call it a class) whose main claim to fame was a nailgun and a bruiser’s body type with accompanying HP life bar. There was a freakishly dressed Joker-girl booth model turned carnival barker who kept hollering that this wasn’t a class based shooter and that you could pick and choose from a library of body types, weapons and gadgets, but this is nothing new in a modern context with Call of Duty, Battlefield and other contenders offering near-infinite degrees of customization.

Monolith devs were pacing behind each team whispering helpful tips on how to dominate the other team by using unique features like the trampolines that fling you high into the air, but in an awesome twist (that reminded me instantly of Shadowrun) both teams have the ability to glide while high in the air or jumping from a rooftop. As the chunky Defender, this airborne mobility changed the dynamics of my locomotion, gave me quick access to distant sections of the map. Plus, as a final added bonus, the option to dive bomb enemies from above which instantly kills smaller body type characters and does reasonable damage to larger opponents.

Character customization was abundant and apparently you can swap out each item of clothing to create your own goofball avatar for each side. All of the characters look like they escaped from Arkham Asylum, just not all from the maximum security wing; these guys and gals are amateur-level nutters for sure. The slapped together costumes are consistent in design and give the game a unique look, but the aesthetic doesn’t really appeal to me even as someone who loves a majority of all things Batman.

I might have been nudged over to their side if there were another half dozen team types (Two Faces, Penguins, Robins, Banes, Killer Crocs, Mr. and Ms. Freezes, Riddlers, Scarecrows, Claymen, Catwomen…meow!), but I realize the complexity of developing customized assets for that many characters would be insanity, especially for a downloadable title. Maybe if the game finds an audience post launch we can get new teams as paid DLC, but who knows?

There will be other classic multiplayer game modes included in the package when the game ships to digital platforms next year, and the core components like the shooting, teamwork and gadgets all felt solid. However, I wasn’t bowled over by the look of Gotham City Impostors and I struggle to see who the market is for this game if a Batman and Monolith fan like yours truly magically falls so solidly outside of the Venn diagram for this product. Sorry guys, maybe next time! They say they’re working on something hush hush, but nothing has been announced at this time to whet appetites and appease longtime Mono-fans.

PAX Prime ’11: Warp Gibs Its Way Into My Heart

Brett Parsons — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 13:00:44 +0000

We were standing in line to play FEZ, which feels like it should have been out years ago, and right next door was an eye-catching gem in the form of Warp. As the name suggests, you play an alien creature named Zero who uses transportation to navigate the hostile environment of a government laboratory complete with laser-sighted turrets, tattle-tailing scientists and assault-rifle-toting guards.

Teleportation allows the main character access through doors, into air ducts and hopping from barrel to barrel. This ability does have a darker side though as you can jump into human bodies, expand and cause them to explode in a bloody mess that would make Black Isle Studios blush. Julia, the team member at Trapdoor Studios out of Montreal who demonstrated the game, explained that they wanted to allow players the ability to complete the entire game as a pacifist, though to teach the player core mechanics, a dead body was harmed during the course of the tutorial.

Julia assured me by the end of the story you wouldn’t feel much sympathy for your captors. I didn’t explain to her that I was one of the few stubborn people who didn’t fire a gun in Mirror’s Edge, not for the achievement mind you, but because I bought into the fiction that Faith wouldn’t use a gun. Yeah, I know I’m easy.

I played around with warping in and out of sight from guards and turrets, but they’re all very quick on the draw, so other environmental objects can be warped to then detonated in order to stun patrolling soldiers and machinery. Causing your character to explode requires more than a press of a button (sorry Mr. and Ms. ’Splosion Man), instead you’ll have to frantically waggle the Left Stick to accumulate critical mass. While blowing stuff up is fun, I was hoping when you jumped into a turret you may be able to gain control. However, you’re limited to continued teleportation and blowing things up once you’re inside of them.

The demo lasted for about 15 minutes, but I would have gladly given Warp another hour of my time. Jumping around the room and playing cat and mouse with such deadly opponents makes for a very tense and rewarding action-puzzler. There’s also a bit of collecting creatures called grubs which are scattered throughout the facility in shockingly secluded areas, no doubt. Collecting grubs ties into the game’s planned leaderboards, but that suggests to me there must be a grip of grubs. Whatever your fancy, blowing up ill-intentioned scientists and guards or extraterrestrial Gandhi Solid Snake, Warp is planned for XBLA and PSN releases in Winter 2012.

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PAX Prime ’11: Night Owl Games’ Dungeon Overlord Takes Social Gaming Underground

Brett Parsons — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 09:15:28 +0000

Facebook games may be popular as hell right now, but unfortunately they’re also pretty bland. Famed designers like Sid Meier have entered the maturing sector and decided to bring more depth to the structure and design of social games. Night Owl Games from Austin, a group founded by Chris Mayer is cooking up a deep strategy game with lots of opportunities for PvP which hopes to break new ground in the otherwise superficial social arena.

Displayed from a classic isometric perspective, the dungeons are surprisingly detailed with each minion, orc and warlock represented by pre-rendered sprites. The result is a look reminiscent of Dungeon Keeper, minus the kinky leather clad vixens (I think – at least there were no leather clad vixens on display during our demo this afternoon). Despite the amount of activity and motion with all of the characters on screen, the fluidity of the presentation while in this view was unexpectedly smooth for something that’s running in Flash.

The gameplay is typical dungeon defense — minions pick away at gold while orcs patrol the halls alongside their ranged magical counterparts, the warlocks. Battles don’t allow for direct control of units and are handled by the game’s systems, but we were assured there would be a replay feature allowing you to watch the outcome of each battle (though in our build this feature wasn’t available due to the spotty PAX WiFi).

The dungeon we demoed was adorned with unique rooms for each class type, along with furniture which is to be used according to function by each character class. Unhappy orcs won’t smash things for you if their basic needs aren’t met like a mani/pedi station where they can get their toe and fingernails “did” in between battles (not a real item – beds were an example we saw).

Lest you think this is a Barbie doll house sim, know that purchasing and placing furniture needs to be carefully considered as floor space is limited in each location and coming up with the optimal “flow” to the ground plan is at the core of the game’s design. You can recruit friends to manage certain areas of your dominion, which will boost your resource gathering and other critical stats for those areas. Members of your inner circle can also be flagged as “trusted friends,” which will give them full visibility to your dungeon — something that can’t be taken lightly as trusting the wrong person can open your dungeons up to their carefully planned attack.

At its core, Dungeon Overlord puts a heavy emphasis on resource management; however macro strategy comes into play when you view the many continents on the overworld map. This will be rolled out globally as one game world, not a regional or instanced based affair. Initially, players will be assigned to the fictional regions based on their geographical regions. However as players acquire control of neighboring mountains and their “dungeon hearts,” travel across regions is possible.

There is also a PvE component to the game — as a baddie, you’ll have to attack local elf villages to plunder and raid their supplies (though apparently what a dank cave dweller craves most is dried cow, so you’ll have to stomp on a lot of pairs of pointy ears to satisfy your needs). Local castles won’t take kindly to harming the woodland folk, but that can be dealt with if you pick your battles carefully.

Since this is a social game with a freemium pay model, Dungeon Overlord offers players permanent boosts for their domains via Dungeon Marks, which are only available for purchase with real world money. These paid-boosts will remain with each dungeon unless it is captured by another player via PvP conquest. When this mournful event occurs, the permanent boost will be queued up and applied to the next dungeon you take control of, so there’s no worry about losing in-game investments.

Outside of my job in QA, I’ve been hard-pressed to invest any personal game time in Facebook social games other than turning the crank in Dragon Age Legends in exchange for item unlocks in DA2 (Bioware, you sick bastards!). I was a bit disappointed that upon first glance there’s nothing decidedly evil about the game. To my mind, it’s a shame — I loved the off-kilter humor of Dungeon Keeper and countless other bad guy simulations. For Dungeon Overlord, there’s still time to up the evil quotient. We’ll have to withhold final judgment until the game loses its beta sticker sometime within the next month, but I will be checking it out once the game launches. You all will be welcome to give me buffs, but I’ll be damned if I’m letting you peep my semi-evil lair surrounded by magma unless you’re my Number Two.

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PAX Prime ’11: Brett’s Goals For Sunday

Brett Parsons — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 16:20:57 +0000

This year’s PAX has been a revelation. I’ve attended two years previous (’07 and ’09), but never felt all that connected to the show or its attendees. This year hanging out with Justin, meeting with Hans and all of his group of friends, countless line-mates and sponsored party goers demonstrated that Penny Arcade Expo is best experienced with zero expectations and a great attitude. The two visits prior I was with my best friend, which was great for us getting man-time to hang out, but lousy for meeting new people when half of the time we were divided about what to see and where to go.

I had a blast meeting all of these folks and playing some unexpected diamonds, so without further adieu here’s my list of must-dos for Sunday, this final day of PAX Prime 2011:

One last lap through Halo Fest @ 10am to get the Mega Blocks Limited Edition Warthog for my kids (yeah that’s right it’s for the kids!). Daddy being away for over a week goes over a little better when toys are involved and on this papa’s budget for the week, free is the only way to go.
I’m going to kill Justin or Hans’ asses in Spy Party. I approached Chris Hecker, the game’s designer and he was friendly and seemingly willing to give us an impromptu interview as we play through his oft discussed indie darling.
Joe Danger 2 looks fantastic and seeing that we missed our appointment yesterday, this one is near the top of the list. I met a few of the developers when we visited their booth in a rush and the game is looking beautiful. As someone who didn’t get nearly enough time with the first game, this one shocked me with how quickly they turned around a sequel with so many new vehicles, modes and art assets, but no there are complaints here. More Joe Danger, PLEASE!
I’d like to find out what the deal is with FireFall. They’re a big sponsor for PAX and what wayward glances I’ve had of the game looked pretty promising. It’s being developed by Red 5 (“Stay on target!”) and though the logo seems to crib from Starcraft II, this one is all about massive scale multiplayer combat.
Getting a comfortable seat on my Southwest flight home has to be on this list, but unless shrink rays are real, I may be out of luck. I guess that means I should just hope for an on-time flight home. Hurricane Irene won’t play a factor since we’re thousands of miles west of the storm, but airport delays and closures tend to have a rippling effect and I’m scheduled on a late flight out.
The three of us are planning on recording a PAX wrap-up podcast this afternoon. Hans has been palling around with three friends from college and his glory days as an Omeganaught so we may be treated to a fourth set of vocal chrods. Either way, you can expect banter on such lovely topics as catfish noodling, being harassed by misinformed PRs, lovely French developers and beer – lots and lots of beer. If for some reason this eludes us, we’ll try and tackle it post-show over Skype, but that will suck seeing we’re all within slapping distance today.

I hope you’ve had fun reading about the show or if you’re attending PAX Prime this year, you rock! We have lots more stories planned that are being reviewed and scheduled for today into next week, so please stay tuned for more previews, galleries and posts about my new favorite gaming event!

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PAX Prime ’11: Borderlands 2 Is For The Fans, Baby!

Brett Parsons — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:28:57 +0000

This year offered members of the media an hour of early show floor access yesterday morning. Justin and I paired up to explore with an open mind and no set plan. When we happened upon the 2K booth, though, we both agreed that the Borderlands 2 demo was worth spending most of our precious hour with, since it would undoubtedly be a long wait for the rest of the show. I can report back after having seen 20 minutes of Borderlands 2‘s current state of development that this is a sequel made with love by a team that knows their game’s strengths and knows their fans very well.

Unlike the tone-deaf turnkey development Gearbox has been slammed for with the release of Duke Nukem Forever, all of the improvements demonstrated preserved the spirit of the original and freshened up core combat encounter mechanics, which weren’t really exceptional to begin with. Now the psychos will roll to avoid your sights or scale walls to close the distance on you. Of course, there will be loads of new enemy types for you to deliver increasingly diverse munitions into. We saw six-legged ice creatures that hurled chunks of rock and snow, and killer bipedal robots who seemed to attack their opposing bandits with extreme brutality (all of which seemed scripted, but was still gut wrenching none the less).

Two classes were demoed, the Gunzerker (whose unique skill allows for dual-wielded RPGs, if you’re so inclined) and a new Siren whose skills differ from Lilith’s (though they weren’t talking about her much yet). I wondered if they had decided to ditch GameSpy for the PC’s multiplayer backend, since I abandoned the first game on account of broken network functionality. The presenter didn’t say.

The demo ended spectacularly with the player fighting hordes of mechs, flyers and a Hyperion Corporation vehicle that had imprisoned Roland (the soldier) from the original Borderlands. After a massive explosion, Salvador (our protagonist’s name) was blown backwards off a mountain cliff. Hilariously, he took a moment to flip off the baddies as he fell. Tonally, this game is hitting all of the right notes and other major details, like how they’re handling the guns. Each manufacturer has a more distinctive look, feel and function that fits their design philosophy — Bandit guns are a hodgepodge of junk, while another is so cheap that instead of reloading, you simply chuck the empty gun at enemies and it explodes before a new one materializes in your hands (if there’s ammo in the gun the explosion will do more damage, so there’s a bit of strategy at play there).

Nothing from the demo showed me that Borderlands 2 would impress a non-believer. This was the core game distilled down to a more potent brew. Many of us on staff at Nukezilla liked or loved Borderlands, and the 2012 sequel promises to further strengthen the affection. Now if we can only do something about the rest of Gearbox’s library…

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PAX Prime ’11: Nukezilla has Landed!

Brett Parsons — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 08:43:14 +0000

Hans, Justin and I are all in the Seattle area and ready to take on the Seattle Convention Center’s swarthy hordes starting at 9am Pacific (-8 GMT). I’ve just barely escaped that nasty bitch, Hurricane Irene that looks to be pounding the eastern seaboard harder than…oh never mind. Justin’s flight was mildly delayed and we haven’t seen or heard from Hans yet, but the Google Calendar shows him here, so I guess that’s all three.

We’ll be bringing you updates from the show floor, Justin will be posting lots of gorgeous pictures and hopefully we will be able to report on some PAX exclusive announcements and first time hands-on play sessions. See you all tomorrow!

David Jaffe to Keynote PAX Prime 2011 ‘N Other Cool Stuff

Brett Parsons — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 04:40:43 +0000

This year’s PAX Prime is looking more and more scrumptious with each passing day. Three day passes may be sold out, but it was announced via press release that David Jaffe will be providing the keynote to this year’s show, joining the lofty ranks of Wil Wheaton, Warren Spector, Ken Levine and many more legendary geeks and game design and culture gurus. Whether Jaffe is your cup of tea and cake or not, he’s certainly a polarizing figure in the games industry.

One highlight which will nearly guarantee at least a few hundred geek babies will be conceived following this year’s show is a performance by JoCo (a.k.a. Jonathan Coulton). Metroid Metal, my favorite Metroid cover band, will be rocking the halls – Brinstar style. Unmentioned, but also totally cool is the 10th anniversary Halo Fest which will be free to all who attend PAX Prime this year. I may be done with the franchise, but Halo fans are out there and they are Legion.

There are other performers, games, panels, meet-ups, live podcast recordings and sweaty beanbags to look forward to at this year’s show. Check out the full list of announced content below and please try not to ‘splode all over your iPhone with excitement.

==============================================

PAX PRIME BRINGS GAMING HEAVY WEIGHTS BACK TO SEATTLE

SEATTLE – June 28, 2011 – David Jaffe, of Twisted Metal and God of War fame, will kick off three days of demos, speakers, competitions and concerts by some of the biggest names in gaming.

The panel discussions at the festival will take attendees through an exploration of the good, the bad and the quirky aspects of gamer culture guided by some of the biggest names in gaming.

Fans will also see some of the hottest new games from more than a hundred exhibitors including video game companies like 2K Games, Activision, Bioware, Capcom, NCsoft and Turbine as well as table top/CCG power houses such as Wizards of the Coast and Privateer Press. Microsoft is hosting Halo Fest – the largest and most expansive live Halo experience anyone has ever seen – at the third floor annex of the Washington State Conference Center.

PAX Prime is also bringing back the ever popular nightly concerts. The full list of acts this year includes some of the hottest acts in the geek culture music scene including:

• Jonathan Coulton
• MC Frontalot
• Metroid Metal
• Minibosses
• Paul and Storm
• Supercommuter (first PAX Prime appearance)
• The Video Game Orchestra (first PAX Prime appearance)

PAX Prime is scheduled at the Seattle Convention Center on August 26 – 28. Passes are completely sold out.

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E3 2011: The Walking Dead Survives With Parallel Unflinching Human Drama

Brett Parsons — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 18:00:33 +0000

Robert Kirkman’s black and white comic book epic has never shied away from painful themes or the horrors of what happens to a civilization when all structure collapses, oh yeah there are zombies too. For the uninitiated, The Walking Dead tells the story of Atlanta Sheriff Rick Grimes who barely survives being shot in the line of duty only to wake up a month later to realize the zombie apocalypse is well underway. While Rick is the central character of the saga, his family, friends, enemies and acquaintances each are brought to life with uncanny skill, depth and pathos. Yes, the zombies are a constant threat, but the survivors almost always suffer a the hands of the living; a hallmark of any great zombie story.

Telltale’s new game is still a tightly kept secret. At this year’s E3 we were introduced to the main character Lee Everett who was being transported from Atlanta to the prison when all hell breaks lose. Lee will meet and protect a young girl, Clementine, who has lost her family in the chaos. What few details they shared helped flesh out the setting. You’ll start out in or around the city while Rick is in his shock induced coma, so it’s a given that as Lee and Clementine will experience the beginnings of the epidemic and second great fall of Atlanta.

While you may encounter locations familiar to readers of the book series, don’t expect to see any of the (mildly) divergent content from AMC’s tv series. Telltale are working with Robert Kirkman to remain true to the details of the comic and while they will be creating new characters and weaving a whole new narrative, the game will keep in step with the major events from the comics.

I tried to pull details about the game’s art style, game play, tie-ins with the comics and any specifics that would help me visualize the form of the final product, but they weren’t ready to share many concrete details. Thought they were skeptical that there’d be any direct contact between Rick’s group(s) and Lee.

There will be choices the player can take in the name of survival. Your choices will influence the little girl and I suppose other survivors you may meet along the way.

They were absolutely firm that the game would be character focused and wouldn’t shy away from the adult themes from the comic, such as death, PTSD, rape, racism, torture, child death and all of the gruesome realities and dramatic conflicts that make The Walking Dead required reading.

There will also be a Facebook tie-in game that tells a parallel story and will allow you to create your own survivor’s story (whatever that means). They promised further reveals this year at PAX, New York Comic Con and the super-sized (San Diego) Comic Con. We’ll cover these developments as the game starts to materialize.