flOw = an experimental version of Pac-Man
Flower = a refined, perfected version of flOw
Journey = an online-enabled HD combination of Wind Waker, Ico and Shadow of the Colossus.
These comparisons may not be entirely accurate, but it’s the closest way I could convey the changing trajectory of thatgamecompany’s design philosophy. Journey is the most ambitious (and potentially revolutionary) undertaking from the independent studio, yet it also draws the most similarities to what many would call “traditional” games. Like most every other game, there is a humanoid avatar, controlled by analog stick. You jump. There’s platforming. There’s also an incredibly evident game-like goal: to reach the top of a mountain, looming in the far distance.
At its core, Journey can probably be best described as a platformer, with a clear objective: get to the end. However, thatgamecompany isn’t simply focusing on a goal — instead, the experience is geared towards its title. Players are dropped in a gorgeous psuedo cel-shaded desert world. The character designs evoke Wind Waker, but the mesmerizing cloth and sand physics make the world feel even more alive. Like Team Ico’s games, there is an incredible sense of loneliness to the world: there’s no life, no foliage to be seen. There are remnants of a world lost, with a beautiful tranquility.
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Preview: Journey originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 17 Jun 2010 21:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Capcom is doing something pretty interesting with the release of Dead Rising 2. Prior to its August 31 launch, Capcom will put out Dead Rising 2: Case Zero, an Xbox Live exclusive prequel sans co-op that takes place two years after the original and three years prior to the second game. In short: it’s distilled Dead Rising 2 on a much smaller scale.
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Preview: Dead Rising 2: Case Zero (XBLA) originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 17 Jun 2010 20:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The video game industry needs to make up its mind. Some games claim that war is a constantly changing beast, evolving and shaping to the world around it, while other games claim that war never changes. Ghost Recon: Future Soldier straddles the line between these two opposing views. War itself — or more specifically the conflicts that incite wars — doesn’t change much, but the technology to take out the other guy is constantly evolving.
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Preview: Ghost Recon Future Soldier originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 17 Jun 2010 17:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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So far, I’m not really sure I like Bionic Commando Rearmed 2. Some context: I’m a huge fan of both the original Bionic Commando and its 2008 remake, Bionic Commando Rearmed. They’re two of the cleverest, most challenging games around, a real treat for someone that’s been playing games for nigh on twenty years.
So why am I unsure of Rearmed 2? Because Fatshark had the audacity to change things — and if you’re a cranky old codger like me, you might be resistant. The rest of you, however, will probably welcome the game with open (bionic) arms.
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Preview: Bionic Commando Rearmed 2 originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 17 Jun 2010 16:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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If one word describes Twisted Pixel’s games thus far (The Maw, ‘Splosion Man), it’s character. Sure, the gameplay — especially in ‘Splosion Man — is certainly more than adequate, but “Everybody Loves Donuts” and adorable little scamps who can only say “Mawwwwwwww” are really what I’ve taken from TP’s games thus far. And, from what I played of Comic Jumper‘s E3 2010 build, it seems that the developer plans on continuing in this tradition with Captain Smiley, his partner Star, and the many, many characters littered throughout the game’s multiple comic styles.
Which isn’t to say that, you know, actually playing the game isn’t a blast — it is! At its heart, Comic Jumper is a 2D side-scroller –that said, in typical TP style, variants abound. The game quickly jumps from side-scrolling to lightgun shooting to on-rails action, intuitively adjusting the controls as it goes. Was it occasionally frustrating? Sure, but I’ll allow the occasional frustration for all the yucks.
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Preview: Comic Jumper originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 17 Jun 2010 12:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Years have passed for legendary assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze since avenging the death of his family for Assassin’s Creed 2. Relaxing in his villa in Monteriggioni after a romp between the sheets with a lady friend, Ezio is shaken out of a peaceful cuddle. An attack on the town is in full swing and — after a cannonball crashes through his bedroom, crushing his armor — Ezio rushes out to find waves of enemy forces at his doorstep.
Outside his home, Ezio’s uncle explains that his status in the region as a legendary assassin has split factions and incites a war between families. To counteract the mass-scale attack, Ezio pushes toward defensive cannon emplacements scattered on the wall of Monteriggioni. It isn’t a scene that will end in the assassin’s favor; rest assured that Monteriggioni will fall. This is the beginning and the basis for Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood.
Continue reading Preview: Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood (single player)
Preview: Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood (single player) originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 17 Jun 2010 12:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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There’s a phrase that sometimes comes to mind whenever a developer is showing off the differences between their upcoming sequel and the past iteration of the franchise. It only springs forth when this new installment introduces major, sweeping improvements over the series’ previous entry, and, in my case, it almost always serves as a metric for my excitement for the sequel: “Well, this changes everything.”
As a fond appreciator of the already powerful creation tools upon which LittleBigPlanet is perpetually built, this phrase entered my mind a score of times during Media Molecule’s recent E3 media demo of LittleBigPlanet 2. I suspect that, in order to contextualize the hugeness of some of these changes, you have to have a deep understanding of how the creation tools in the first game functioned. Even if you don’t, the proof is in the proverbial pudding: You didn’t used to be able to make real-time strategy games. Now you can.
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Preview: LittleBigPlanet 2 originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 17 Jun 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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click to see Kirby’s Epic ScreenshotsThough Nintendo announced games in all its major franchises simultaneously, it’s not playing it safe within those franchises.
Kirby’s Epic Yarn, for example, is still a cutesy side-scroller, like other Kirby games, but it presents a new art style that seems pretty far out for such a mainstream game, one that has charmed me to an uncomfortable degree. The game also adds a new gameplay gimmick that, while it’s not as drastic a change as Canvas Curse, still alters the basics of Kirby. And, like every new 2D platformer announced at E3, it has co-op.
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Preview: Kirby’s Epic Yarn originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 17 Jun 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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