Dark Souls: What is Best in Death?

Dark Souls, what is best in death?

Crush the players, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their women.

That is good. As the successor to 2009’s sleeper hit Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls keeps much of what worked the first time around, while adding one crucial element: greater difficulty. The sadists which comprise developer From Software have no reservations in telling players they will be defeated mightily, and often. When the slogan of your game is “prepare to die” I think you’re dropping hints as to what players should expect. So much death.

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Dark Souls: You Play and You Die

It is absolutely sick, twisted, and sadistic that a game exists which you're never meant to conquer. A game thats sole purpose is to utterly destroy you, mentally, physically, and spiritually. A game that humiliates you to the point of submission, where you may never come back to play again. That is Dark Souls, one of the games I am most excited to play this year.

Most times I like a good challenge, but I also like to be able to beat my games with minimal failure. When it comes to Dark Souls though, I could care less. I eagerly await the frustrating touch of Death before gigantic creatures I was never meant to defeat, all in the name of ep1c lo0tz.

Dark Souls: Welcome to Die

The title for the latest Dark Souls trailer is 'Prepare to Die'. For any other game I'd be all like CHALLENGE ACCEPTED, you can't kill me! But this is Dark Souls, the successor of Demon's Souls, so I will swallow my pride and accept that I will die horribly on numerous occasions. 

The trailer is mostly a montage to some of the many deaths that will befall you, should you be brave enough to challenge Dark Souls. And when it's not quite showing the player dying, it's showing something that will most likely end up killing you very shortly. Demon's Souls was a game for masochists, and Dark Souls is picking up right where the predecessor left off.

Dark Souls will release this October, and in the event PSN is still down at that time, fear not! For the first time, the controller-breaking difficulty of From Software's role-playing series will be available on Xbox 360.

Also comes the news that a preorder will bump you up from standard to the collector's edition for no extra charge. The $60 entry fee nets you a metalbook case, art book, digital download soundtrack, behind the scenes development video, and a mini strategy guide. Trust me, you'll want to preorder if only for that strategy guide alone. Demon's Souls was an incredibly nuanced and complex game, with tons of secrets and strategies that one cannot discover on his or her own. You will need all the help you can get.

Upon Further Inspection, Dark Souls is Demon's Souls

Yesterday's Dark Souls information-blitz was a short lived bit of fun, because now we've got screenshots and a big, beautiful trailer. Who needs information when we have pics and flicks! 

By looking at the aforementioned media, it's quite easy to see that Dark Souls is Demon's Souls, basically. And, call me a masochist, but I could not be any more excited. 

Dark Souls Screenshot Gallery

TGS 2010: Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor, Light Controls

See that monstrosity in the header image? You remember it, don't you? That is an actual control, for an actual game. Steel Battalion for the original Xbox cost a shitload of money, but for the price you pay, you get a piece of gaming history. One of the most complex pieces of game hardware ever made, next to the Atari Jaguar controller. 

A hardcore game needs a hardcore controller, and that's exactly what you got in Steel Battalion. A game so gangsta, that as your mech was about to explode, if you didn't flip the safety glass and slam on the flashing red eject button on your control's dashboard, your save file was permanently deleted. Gangsta. 

Now that Capcom has announced a sequel, Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor, we're all awaiting the needlessly complex control scheme. Except we're not getting one. I am disappoint. Heavy Armor will function solely with the Kinect system. So, the most complex control scheme ever created becomes the most simplistic in one fell swoop. How do they plan to market the hardcore mech action to the casual gamer Kinect focuses on? Who knows man, who knows.

Rest in peace, Steel Batallion controller. We hardly knew ye.