Friday, 13 April 2012 20:51

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City

I have admit that I've never played a Resident Evil game before, but because of my love of all things zombie, decided that I would set things straight with the release of Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City.  The game I think runs parallel with RE2 & RE3, but in a behind the scenes kind of way.

You play as a member of the Umbrella Security Service - you even get to choose who you play and what your strengths are.  Your job is retrieving virus samples and destroying all evidence of Umbrella's involvement in the viral outbreak. It's a great concept, and one that had me extremely excited to be jumping into the RE world. Unfortunately, Operation Raccoon City's potential is wasted by a combination of naff gameplay and horrible team AI.

As a third person cover shooter, it borrows heavily from Gears of War, but doesn't execute the concept with the same degree of style or ability.  As I mentioned just before, your team mates AI is terrible and in essence they only end up getting in the way.  But that isn't necessarily the worst of it.  No, the worst part is that you seem to have been kitted out with rubber bullets instead of the hollowpoints you were hoping for.  What this means is there is no point trying to get a head shot on your human adversaries, because you'll still have to shoot them numerous times IN THE HEAD to kill them.  Better to just unload a clip into their body-mass.  What this means when you're up against a boss style zombie, is you'll be emptying you limited supply of ammo without doing much damage at all, resulting in numerous deaths and plenty of groundhog day experience and you repeat various parts of the level over and over again.

But bullets and team mates aside, there is something else letting Operation Raccoon City down.  That's the atmosphere.  This is a zombie game, you are an elite squad going up against an unknown enemy and it feels like you're just going through the motions.  I wan't to be so freaked out I would have to play with the light on and my wife holding my hand.

Sadly I was just frustrated and bored.

Published in
Friday, 23 March 2012 16:27

The Walking Dead - Debut Trailer

walking dead video game 001

The debut trailer for The Walking Dead video game. An untold story following convicted criminal Lee Everett; a man given a second chance at life in a world gone to hell. With danger around every corner, protecting an orphaned girl named Clementine may offer him redemption in a world of true horror. Experience events, meet people and visit locations foreshadowing the story of Deputy Sheriff Rick Grimes in this extension of Robert Kirkman's award-winning universe. This is a 5 part game of Adventure Horror, where the decisions that you make will have profound and lasting consequences.

Dim lights

Published in
Monday, 12 March 2012 08:15

Lollipop Chainsaw Releases June 15

Lollipop ChainsawNews in from last weeks GDC in San Francisco this week, that Lollipop Chainsaw will be released on June 15 in New Zealand.

Available on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, Lollipop Chainsaw is the ‘un-deadly’ story of sweet but killer zombie-hunter Juliet Starling and her quest to uncover the root of a colossal zombie outbreak. With her wickedly awesome chainsaw in hand, Juliet slices, dices and splits her way through hordes of the undead, but soon realises the horde is only the opening act to a festival of zombie rock lords determined to kill the chainsaw-wielding cheerleader.

Published in News
Wednesday, 07 March 2012 08:29

Playing Dead: Episode 2

Published in News
Wednesday, 29 February 2012 22:02

All Zombies Must Die

I like zombies.  Some would say I love them.  But I'm also very particular about my zombies.  There are a lot of crap zombie games out there, and one good one, Dead Island.  All Zombies Must Die takes a totally different route, and in reality the zombies are just window dressing.

The town of Deadhill, so the story goes, has been overrun by the undead, and you have to escape in this lets-not-take-things-too-seriously twin stick shooter with subtle RPG overtones.  From the cartoon graphics too the I-know-I'm-a-game cheesy dialogue All Zombies Must Die has one aim in mind: to make killing zombies fun, and satisfying.

In the beginning, things are a blast, you'll just want to stay rampaging around the first stage killing zombies left, right and center.  Its that much fun.  But to progress you have to pass through a gate, and it's here the All Zombies Must Die potentially stumbles.

Along with the undead, Deadhill has been plagued by a series of gates controlled by a robotic gatekeeper who thinks he's a stand up comedian.  And sure, he's funny the first couple of times, but the he gets old real quick. So do his quests.  To progress onto the next level, you have to complete a challenge for the gatekeeper.  It's a simple mechanic that works at first, but makes the game repetitive and predictable towards the end.

And that's the main problem with All Zombies Must Die - it never goes anywhere.  It's the same thing, over and over again.

Having said that, it's quirky and fun, and because it's downloaded onto your hard drive, you don't have to mess round with inserting a disk, you can just fire up the XBox and have five minutes of mad-cap fun.  With zombies.

Published in Reviews
Friday, 17 February 2012 18:05

The Walking Dead: New Screens & Video

walking dead video game 001The dead are rising! To prepare for the zombie horde, Tell Tale Games are hunkering down with stockpiles of new content about the upcoming game: The Walking Dead. The game, based on Robert Kirkman's award-winning comic book series, is about a world devastated by an undead apocalypse and the horrifying choices you’re forced to make to survive.

As part of the inevitable publicity and game generates as it heads toward the launch date, Tell Tale Games have announced Playing Dead, a nine-part behind the scenes video series where our team and some special guests spill their guts about making the game.

Hosted by AJ LoCascio, the voice of Marty McFly in Back to the Future: The Game, Playing Dead offers a closer look at what fans can look forward to in The Walking Dead, join in question and answer segments exclusive to the game's official site, and see interviews with special guests including The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman and Gary Whitta, screenwriter for The Book of Eli, writer for Gears of War and story consultant for The Walking Dead Video Game.


Dim lights


Stay tuned for future installments and check out the just released more brand new in-game screenshots from the first episode of The Walking Dead below (and above).

Published in News
Monday, 24 January 2011 09:09

Rumour: Walking Dead Video Game?

walkingdeadA videogame based on the comic book and television series The Walking Dead may be in the works by a veteran adventure game developer.

According to an invitation 1up received Wednesday, Sam & Max and Back to the Future episodic game developer Telltale will be announcing five new multi-platform projects during a formal event in San Francisco on Thursday, February 17. Among them, says the invitation, is "one based on a just-launched property from the TV and comic book world whose popularity is changing life as some know it."

Published in News