Sweet, Bloody Nostalgia with Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City

Been a while since we visited Raccoon City, hasn't it? As the Resident Evil series has transitioned more from survival horror to the action genre, so has the scene shifted from Ground Zero to more exotic locations such as Europe and Africa. These locales have provided an interesting and perhaps equally creepy backdrop for a tale of zombies and virii, though honestly, there's no place like home.

Though the action returns to the familiar, apocalypse-torn home of the Umbrella Corporation, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is veering off the beaten path to take the Resident Evil franchise in a new direction. For this, Capcom has teamed up with Slant Six Games -- veteran developers of some of the more recent SOCOM series off-shoots -- infusing the current Resident Evil formula with a tactical twist and touch of multiplayer. 

Operation Raccoon City has you -- and possibly three of your friends -- take control of an elite Umbrella Corporation squad tasked to infiltrate the city circa 1998, destroy any evidence of the T-Virus, and eliminate all survivors. As if slaughtering zombies and unwilling survivors wasn't enough, your crew will also have to deal with the unfriendly advances of United States Government special agents and their public funded weaponry.

The third-person, team based shooting action of Operation Raccoon City looks like a mix of SOCOM and Left 4 Dead. No complaints from me! Aside from the cooperative multiplayer campaign, Operation Raccoon City will also feature a number of competitive online multiplayer modes. With so many different sides involved in the battle within Raccoon City, online play could be really fun if done right. Hunk versus Licker versus psychotic armed citizen versus Leon Kennedy's wafting bangs. Let's dance! 

Cave Johnson on Bot Trust: Good Job, Robots

When Valve Software announced J.K. Simmons as Cave Johnson, the CEO and voice of Aperture Science in Portal 2, I thought "Oh, cool." That's it, just cool. But the more I hear Cave speak, the more I'm absolutely enamored by the voice and the choice. Simmons' unique sound and excellent delivery not only lends some B-star credibility to Portal 2, but he also plays the the role perfectly.

In this, the second of Aperture Science's hilarious "investment opportunity" video series, Cave Johnson details the ways robots are more trusting than humans. Well, he's definitely convinced me. Now, not only am I going to layer my house in lovely panels, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to ditch all my friends and replace them with robots. Thank you Aperture Science!

A Moon Diver Demo and Launch Trailer for Your Consideration

The world needs more four-player cooperative futuristic ninja games, dammit. Thankfully Square Enix has answered the call with Moon Diver, the multiplayer ninja platformer created by the man who may have pioneered the genre, Kouichi Yotsui, designer of the arcade classic, Strider. 

Ninjas are an easy sell for me, as is four-player co-op. Pairing the two means I'd buy four copies of the game, which I may consider for my tight-pocketed friends. I understand some may not be sold on what to me seems like a complete no-brainer. For those of you on the fence, there are three items to sway you into a purchase: a demo which is currently available on PSN, a launch trailer which is considerately attached to at the end of this post, and a katana to the neck!

Moon Diver is out today on PSN for $14.99, with an unspecified XBLA release sometime in April.

REVIEW: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Reverie DLC

The title logo looks like a last minute add in. Foreshadowing?

After some initial hesitance, my romp through Castlevania: Lords of Shadow ended up being a relieving bit of fun. Sure the game had its flaws, but it was an enjoyable addition to the hallowed Castlevania series. When Konami announced two downloadable content packs for Lords of Shadow, I was happy to have reason to brandish the combat cross through some new content. The first of the DLC, Reverie, was released a week earlier than I expected, with no warning other than 'it's here!' That was all I needed to buy it, but was it a justified purchase?

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Bastion Narrates its Way into the Spotlight

Supergiant Bastion wallpaper, courtesy of the good folks at Supergiant Games

Way back in September of last year, I saw a trailer for a humble game named Bastion that brought me back to my days of power gaming as a teenager. Any title capable of evoking such fond memories is one to keep an eye on, and Bastion is no different. Found on a whim at PAX East, the thought of this game came rushing back to the forefront of my mind. Oh yes, hands on baby.

In classic RPG fashion, your character is awaken from sleep and ventures out of his home to seek his destiny, however instead of an annoying pet or underage girl as your companion, you are accompanied by the dulcet tones of the narrator. The vibrant and lively world pops up under your feet as you stride forth, introducing you to the simple combat mechanics when it's not busy wowing your eye sockets. Bold colors are bountiful in Bastion, something that is much too rare in this day of the browns and grays of post-apocalyptic modern warfare.

This is the old school at it's finest, renewed for the modern day, of course. Your character -- the Kid, as he's called -- does everything expected of the hero archetype in a three-quarter perspective role-playing game; swing his melee weapon -- in this case, a large hammer -- shoot arrows from a safe distance, block attacks with his shield, and roll-evade from danger's path. These actions can be beautifully mixed without missing a beat, and without a miscued moment from your narrator either. All these actions are introduced from the outset, leaving many more abilities and weapons to be unlocked as you progress, I'm sure.

The Kid will probably play out as one of those silent protagonist types, which I ain't mad at. Some folk take exception with mute heroes, but in this case it gives the wise old narrator a chance to shine. The anonymous voice calls it as he sees it, dynamically narrating the Kid's actions in real time, as well as unraveling the story in a classy way that only a faceless, comforting, gravelly voice can. He's like the second grandfather many of us never knew we had.

I didn't play for too long, but I don't think it matters. Bastion has shaped up to be pretty special, and has a chance of being one of the year's best indie titles if the cards fall into place before release. Expect it on Xbox LIVE Arcade, Summer 2011, with a PC release to follow.

REVIEW: Fallout: New Vegas - Dead Money

Written by Brittany Vincent

Fallout: New Vegas certainly isn't without fault, but it did serve as a succinct followup to one of my favorite PC adventures of the past few Christmases, Fallout 3. After choosing to go the way of Steam for that adventure and this one in turn, I found myself engrossed in a world I couldn't quite escape from...until I was met with saving issues and other wonky glitches that desperately needed ironing out. But surviving the wasteland quickly consumes you, and I knew without a doubt I'd be looking forward to the first available DLC. I should have been leery for all intents and purposes once said package, Dead Money, was announced, but as the release date neared and I was given the opportunity to evaluate the latest addition to the Fallout saga, I was ready. But only if Dead Money could transcend the disappointment and feelings of being disenfranchised that Mothership Zeta so readily inspired. And I'm happy to say that it does, if only by a tiny bit. It's not the fantastic "The Pitt" DLC, but it's a start.

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Everything's Fine with El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron

I've said it before, I love games that have enough balls to twist and challenge the perception of religion. I'm not talking about the title that mixes bible mini-games such as herding animals into Noah's ark, or quick-time events to part the Red Sea. I'm talking Jesus throwing fireballs at Roman soldiers and performing a miracle that clears the screen of all incoming projectiles, or Pontius Pilate raining MIG 29 vulcan rounds onto the city of Jerusalem. Maybe not to that extent, but El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metratron seems to trail down the course of the latter, while still maintaining enough religious context to be loosely informative.

The first thing you MUST notice about El Shaddai, is the incredible visual style it employs. In the time I spent raining holy hell down onto my enemies, I heard many a PAX Easter look at the game and make a positive remark about the visuals. If you're some sort of recreational drug-user, El Shaddai will probably bring you to a state of inebriated nirvana. Even if you're the straightest edge in the congregation, you're still going to love the detached, ethereal backgrounds. And though the actual graphics may be lacking -- the PS3 demo I play looked almost like it could be run on a Wii -- I didn't care, because the style was enough to simultaneously capture and blow me away.

The control scheme is so basic, I'm sure even the Pope could pick up the controller and start chaining combos. One button for attack, one for jump, one for block, one for purification. Different attacks are executed by keeping the button held or timing your button presses, for instance, tap tap tap performed a light hitting chain of attacks, whereas tap, pause, tap brought out a more devastating attack. The intuitive control scheme makes it easy enough while discouraging button mashing. Purification -- the act strengthening a weapon by ridding it of it's defiling essence -- can be performed on a downed enemy, treating you to a slick disarm animation. Each of the games 3 primary weapons has it's own disarm sequence, and different enemy types allow you to perform a different purification.

I worried this game would be a little too much for devout Christians. Though Shane Bettenhausen, UTV Ignition Director of New Business Development, pleasant dude, and lover of all things El Shaddai, informed me that the hardcore religious who played it the demo at PAX East for the first time were not only cool with it, they enjoyed it. Total plot twist!

El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron will be available in North America this summer, with the PAX demo available on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 shortly before release. Until then, stay tuned.

Investigate and Interrogate in L.A. Noire

I'm getting such a kick out of Heroes' Matt Parkman featured as a character in L.A. Noire. If you're unfamiliar with Heroes, Matt Parkman (who I hated, by the way) was a police detective with the power to read and later control minds. He also had a rocky relationship with his wife. So in L.A. Noire, the likeness of Mr. Parkman is just a normal dude with the tables turned on the situations I was most used to seeing him in when Heroes was on TV and not terrible. He's clearly uncomfortable being interrogated about possibly having an affair. Where yo' powers at now, sucka?!

With that out of the way, we can talk about the actual game, which is looking more interesting. The interrogation scenes appear to be a neat -- and integral -- part of gameplay. This is good, it's something to set it aside from being just another Grand Theft Auto clone. With more situations of investigation and interrogation, and less GTA-styled running, gunning, driving, and relationship jobs shoe-horned in, L.A. Noire stands a better chance. At least in my eyes. 

The only problem I see with the path Team Bondi and Rockstar is taking, is that players will be alienated. As overdone as the GTA style is, I suppose it's what people want. After all, look how incredibly successful Red Dead Redemption was, being pretty much a reskinned Grand Theft Auto IV. L.A. Noire is trying to blur the line between movies and games, in Heavy Rain fashion, although perhaps less obviously. Today's gamer is immature and uncultured. There was no middle ground for Heavy Rain, the public either loved it or hated it. People don't want a movie experience in their game, they want blood, headshots, and nuclear explosions. Amirite? 

Is the average gamer ready for investigation and interrogation? We'll find out when L.A. Noire ships in North America on May 17th. 

More of Ace Combat: Assault Horizon's Instruments of Destruction

The latest trailer for Ace Combat: Assault Horizon is supposedly about the 108th Task Force, who are probably the crew of people you work with while you pilot dozens of flying machines built with the specific intent of blowing the shit out of other flying machines. Not saying that the video doesn't accomplish its mission, but after watching it, I really don't care any more for my partners in cinematic modern-air-warfare. 

I do however, care increasingly for getting my sweaty paws on Ace Combat: Assault Horizon so I can ignore all my orders from commanding officers and wingmen and just go blowing shit up while doing barrel rolls, huge loops, and flying 3 yards from the side of a building. That is the proper way to play Ace Combat games, is it not? Choppers, fighters, and bombers, oh my!

Test Your Patience! Mortal Kombat's 300 Challenge Tower Mode

Mortal Kombat, aside from being the grandfather of game gore, will always find a way to add something funny and funky into its games. Friendships, Babalities, kart racing, battle chess, or Reptile and Scorpion talking the parts of Liu Kang and Kung Lao, always something funky I tells ya.

The Tower Mode in the upcoming Mortal Kombat, aside from offering an incredible challenge by way of having to pass 300 freaking challenges, is going to infuse NetherRealm's gorefest with its quota of wackiness. Fight armless, fight headless, fight upside down, throw grenades into a bucket, play the slots or Three Card Monte with severed heads. What haven't Mr. Boon and company thought of? 

If you're a member of the illustrious handful of PSN Plus members, you'll be able to try a demo of Mortal Kombat on March 8. That's tomorrow, bitches! Don't fret, for those of you who aren't plus-rollers, you'll get the demo next week, March 15. 

Sorry Xbox 360 owners, no set date for your demo yet. Suckers!