Captain America Doesn't Play Nice with Hydra Troops

That's what I gather from this prologue trailer for Captain America: Super Soldier. And while the trailer is entirely CG movie, I can attest firsthand that the gameplay feels almost exactly like what Cap is pulling off in these cinematics.

I'm kind of surprised at the lack of buzz that Captain America: Super Soldier has generated so far. I can only imagine this is due to the quality of Sega published movie tie-in games of the past. Thor: God of Thunder says hello. But let us not judge Super Soldier on the failures of the past because it looks pretty damned good. Sure the action is almost a straight jack of Batman: Arkham Asylum, but you can't really complain about that. The freeflow combat thing is a joy to be in control of, whether you're Cap, Batman, or Ezio Auditore da Firenze.  

Captain America: Super Soldier drops in under a month, on July 19. That's right around the corner, so come on people. Let's get excited and make some noise for a movie tie-in that may not be complete trash!

Flip Him the Bird: Shadows of the Damned Boss Gameplay

Watch Shadows of the Damned protagonist Garcia Fucking Hotspur (his words, not mine) challenge a massive demon bird in this boss battle gameplay clip. 

I come away from this chunk of action really loving the music, but this is the work of Akira Yamaoka, so of course the beats are fresh. That may be about it, as the rest of the battle is a yawn-inducing strafing and shooting affair. I was hot for Shadows of the Damned early in it's marketing cycle - mostly because of the killer combination of Suda 51, Shinji Mikami, and Yamaoka - but have since cooled on the third person action title. Not to say it doesn't have some good things going for it, because it certainly does. The light/dark gameplay mechanic sounds cool, but I could see it becoming easily tiresome. There's a nice selection of dynamic weapons housed within a shapeshifting skull named Johnson. And there's plenty of ridiculous and dirty humor being tossed around, if that's your thing.

What's the consensus on Shadows of the Damned, readers? If you're thinking it's a buy, it may be worth the preorder to secure a free copy of Yamaoka's superbly scored soundtrack, something that rarely comes up short. You better act soon though, Shadows releases this coming Tuesday, June 21.

Skarlet Joins Mortal Kombat Next Week

Mortal Kombat is steadily solidifying itself as the best fighting game of the year thus far. Why? Post-release support that moves as quickly as Marvel vs. Capcom 3's entire cast of characters combined. Burned!

IGN has confirmed the much-teased female ninja Skarlet will officially join the tournament's kombatants next week, June 21. The perpetual menstrual cycle uses the blood of fallen warriors and some wicked-sharp kunai to put her enemies to shame. Sorry, was that period joke in bad taste? Well it fits perfectly, so I don't care what you think! 

Skarlet will run you a $5 buy in, as will be the case with each following DLC. You bet your ass, more downloadable characters! Following the blood-ninja-with-boobs will be Kenshi, the blind swordsman. And after Kenshi comes Rain, ninja-prince of his realm, who dons the color purple. The correlation never occurred to me until about 5 minutes ago. Oh Ed Boon, your sense of humor never fails me! One last fighter for the summer has yet to be revealed. Any bets on the identity of this mysterious kombatant? I'm drawing a total blank, though Mortal Kombat lore is not my strongest suit. 

Now you may be asking, how will online play work with these characters? Simple: each paid DLC will release alongside a free DLC which will not only patch the game - allowing you to play online against anyone who has purchased a character - but will also include a free set of character skins. The free patch releasing alongside Skarlet's update will bring Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 skins for Cyrax and Sektor. No word on who gets the new skin treatment with Kenshi and Rain, but as long as those packs keep being free, I'll be a happy gamer. 

PS. Try not to take offense to the period quip, wimp.

Dragon's Crown is Befitting of Burly and Buxom Brawlers

2D side-scroller beat 'em up fans, where you at? Right here, dawg. Doesn't take much for me to be enamored with 2D action, usually swords, guns, and/or magic is enough to get me riled up in that realm. What happens if you add in some delicious art of thick-thighed amazon warriors and testosterone oozing man's men? Vanillaware's Dragon's Crown.

The Odin Sphere and Muramasa developer has taken their signature art style into the world of Dungeons and Dragons (without quite treading on AD&D) to create a lovely beat 'em up overflowing with swords, shields, arrows, magic, pectorals, thighs, and cleavage. The art is may be just a tad over the top, but it looks so damn good in motion! How has it taken these guys so long to put out an HD title? Dragon's Crown will be their first. 

The question is, will the gameplay of Dragon's Crown be on par with the art? Why the hell not? There looks to be a rudimentary combo system in place, with the impact of each meaty blow holding a good amount of weight. Rightfully so, look at those huge.. Weapons! Four-player cooperative online beat 'em ups don't often disappoint. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is no different. Dragon's Crown will be available for PS3 and PlayStation Vita in Spring of 2012. Such a long time to wait for something so beautiful. What a tease.

Asura's Wrath is on Full Display, Even Without Arms

Until recently, Asura's Wrath has been nothing but a very long chain of ridiculous action sequences. The game I've lovingly nicknamed God Hand of War - for obvious reasons - is shaping up to be all I've ever wanted in an action brawler. The E3 trailer gives us a look at some of Asura's story, a complete departure from the frenetic scenes such as GALACTIC BUDDHA FINGER. 

After watching an armless Asura be humbled by a God twice as cool-tempered as the fiery one, watch the clip below, which is more of what I expect from this title. With a surprising lack of quick-time events, no less! The initial thinking was that the gameplay of Asura's Wrath would be heavily comprised of QTEs, but whispers from E3 are starting to debunk that theory. Success! Deep, meaty gameplay with lovely stylized action is always welcome. If the story has enough to be the glue that holds together the amount of insanity concentrated in Asura's Wrath, then this game will be a success. And if not, I will take a melee-centric Vanquish any day of the week. Or maybe a better parallel would be a Dragron Ball Z action title? Either way, do want!

DmC is.. Hey, Dante has White Hair!

Well there you go, Devil May Cry purists. Ninja Theory must have heard all the complaining that was done about Dante's new look. Actually, I think the whole world heard it, it was as if millions of geeks suddenly cried out in terror. I hope your complaints are suddenly silenced. 

As things look here, DmC manages to hold onto a lot of what the series is about, if a little shaky. I'm not a fan of all the drastic camera movements during the action sequences, but hopefully that's only to make things look a little more dramatic in this trailer. I could see that wearing me very thin if I had to deal with it during every swordplay segment. 

But back to the important matters; the color of Dante's hair. It looks like his punk-styled locks go all albino when he enters some sort of Devil Trigger mode. Not only that, but his jacket also switches from the burgundy color that caused an outrage, to the crimson color that everyone seems to love! Since that has been straightened out, what should we complain about next? 

Prey 2 Ditches the Native American in favor of Boba Fett

Shortly after the release of the surprisingly well received Prey, it was announced a sequel was already in development by Human Head Studios. After the announcement, Prey seemed to have gone dark, until earlier this year when a live action viral was released to stir up some interest in the series. With E3 in full effect, you better believe we have a trailer and gameplay. 

Prey 2 does away with some of the staples from the original; portals, the Native American influence, and protagonist Tommy. You play as former Air Marshall Killian Samuels, a bounty hunter with access to an impressive amount of alien tech and weaponry, to be employed while tracking bounties, both dead and alive. The world is a beautiful neon-soaked piece of the future, with terrain that's as tricky as it is modern. Navigating via parkour is your second best friend, right behind your armaments.

As of now, Prey 2 looks like just another first person shooter. The aspects that made the original so unique have seemingly been stripped from the sequel, so I'm unsure about what will make it stand out from the crowd. Regardless, the art and weapon design look to be getting things right, which is a step in the right direction.

Like Most Spies, Overstrike is Smart, Sexy, and Stylish

I know it's just another CGI trailer, but at least it offers more than just pretty colors! Overstrike is Insomniac Games' first dealing with a multiplatform title. It's based on a team of four super spies with over the top style and over the topper gadgets. The characters seem well thought out and smart. Cool weapons are on display, as well as cool senses of humor. That's about all I can gather.

If I were a gambling man, I'd say Overstrike will end up being a four player online cooperative first/third person shooter with a strong focus on team tactics. In addition to having their own unique personality, each character will have a unique set of skills that will help get the ahead in increasingly hairy situations. Maybe there will be some sort of skill tree where you can assign experience points to unlock new skills depending on how you want to play one of the four lively characters. You would play this type of game, right?

Or it could be a browser based 8-bit platformer. Who knows. Either way, if the trailer is anything to go on (which it shouldn't be, but we don't learn our lessons), Overstrike is one to keep your eyes on. 

Ninja Gaiden 3 is a Celebration of Blood and Guts

I thought Ninja Gaiden 3 was supposed to show more of Ryu Hayabusa's feelings, to give the player more insight to the remorse the character feels after killing an enemy? If the video is worth anything, that ain't the case at all. Ryu clearly gives a flying ninja fuck as his cold blade pierces enemy after enemy. 

The teaser images we've seen up to now haven't really done anything for me, aside from getting my hopes up for another Ninja Gaiden game. With E3 comes some gameplay videos, which in turn gets me kind of excited. Though Itagaki may no longer be with Team Ninja, Ninja Gaiden 3 looks like more of the same, which is good. Of course, Team Ninja has found ways to enrich the experience, such as 'Steel on Bone' sequences, which are sort of quick time finishers, meant to give the player true feeling of disemboweling an enemy. Ninja Gaiden 3 aims to immerse the player, and give a true feeling of being in Hayabusa's super ninja shoes. So far so good, but where are the huge breasted females at?

Lara Croft gets all Cast Away in Tomb Raider

Lara Croft makes Tom Hanks look like a little bitch. She doesn't need a volleyball to keep her sane, her injuries and crafted bow and arrow are doing the job just fine! Here's our first cinematic look at the Tomb Raider reboot, where Lara Croft sets off on her first adventure and gets her ass kicked by the elements in the process. No one said being a treasure hunter would be easy, babe.

What are you all thinking about this one? I haven't cared for a Tomb Raider game for years, maybe it's because Lara's boobs keep shrinking? Seriously though, gameplay makes it look as if Tomb Raider is learning toward adding some survival horror elements into the tried and true action adventure genre. I'd be all aboard for that. The videos are not much to go on, therefore the jury is still out until I can see a little bit more of what Tomb Raider is all about.