Renegade Ops: Micro Machine Guns

Avalanche Studios have a certain inclination for over-the-top action and destruction. The very first time I played Just Cause, though unrefined, I knew the Swedish developers were very capable. Their idea of ludicrous action, massive explosions, and stunt driving came to fruition in the Godlike comedic action of Just Cause 2. So here is Renegade Ops, a vehicular combat title that tries to capture the beautiful destruction of the Just Cause games while scaling down to the size of Micro Machines. John Moschitta Jr. not included.

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Shank 2: Revenge Returns

Shank was one of my favorite downloadable games released last year. The art, animation, music, and gory, stylized action was too much for me to turn down. I knew the game sold well, much deserved too, but I honestly didn't expect this: Shank 2. Fuck, yes. 

Apparently, developers Klei have reworked just about everything from the ground up without sacrificing that certain je ne sais quois (see: viscera) that made the original a blast to play. Aside from added weapons and control tweaks which make the game better to play (full 360-degree shooting) there are also some logical advancements in gameplay such as the inclusion of counter-attacks and better thought out platforming. Neither of these inclusions are critical, but it's nice to know Klei is dedicated to mastering their little Southwestern gold mine of revenge. Also, co-op survival mode, because why the hell not? My only dislike thus far is that the initial trailer for Shank 2 seems very uninspired, especially considering this trailer for the original that gave me chills, yo.

Destructoid was lucky enough to spend some hands on time with Shank 2, and come away from the splatterfest with good vibes. However I need no preview, I've been sold on this sequel since August of last year. If you've yet to play the original, it be on sale for 600MSP (marked down from 1200MSP) on Xbox LIVE Arcade, so I suggest you buy the hell out of it. 

Shank 2 is set for early next year on XBLA, PSN, and PC. So Klei, are we going to see a Brock Samson skin this time around?

New Dante, Old Tricks

Ninja Theory Visual Art Director Alessandro Taini's take on DmC Dante is totally badass. Check more of his skillz here.

via Kotaku

The Tommy Wi-show is Kicking!

Side kicks. It's what Tommy does second best. Sex scenes is the obvious number one.

In the first installment of Machinima's The Tommy Wi-show, watch the sexy Frenchman (or is he Canadian? South African? Chilean?) put his mangled digits to good work in the ultimate test: the battle of Mortal Kombat. It is not easy for Tommy, even as the best player on the Planet Earth. However, up to any challenge, an exciteable T.W. exclaims, "yah you haf to do hard way for sure!"

You're my favorite customer, Tommy. Can't wait to see what he'll play next.

Bonus! Tommy vs. Freddy. Monster! Baster.

No Kidding, Stranger! Bastion is Almost Flawless

I was raised in an age where games didn't need hyper-realistic graphics, bathtubs full of blood, or the London Philharmonic Orchestra to make an impact. Gameplay trumps all. Bastion is a neat little digitally distributed title that is rooted deep in this old-school-of-thought, providing classic 32-bit action, with a helping of beautiful hand drawn art and a quite literal take on the narrative.

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I Gots an Itch for Diabolical Pitch

My love for the craziness that comes out of Grasshopper Manufacture is no secret. God-among-developers Suda51 has a knack for pushing creative envelopes, taking risks and creating games that other studios couldn't even concoct during the high of a peyote trip. 

Suda and Grasshopper have spoken about the super-secret Codename D for a while now, but only recently have they shed more light on the Kinect driven project named Diabolical Pitch. It's a basebrawler: a mashup of baseball and, well, brawling. A marriage so ridiculously insane, only the very lofty Ninja Baseball Batman has made a go at the genre. As I enjoy both baseball and beating the living hell out of things, I am very excited for this game, within reason. As much of a hoot as it looks, I'm not sure whether it's been planned as retail or arcade release, but I'm 90% sure I wouldn't want to shell out fiddy bucks for it, fusion dance or not.

The Kinect platform has tons of silly exercise and dance games to entertain casuals, it's titles like Diabolical Pitch and The Gunstringer are  the meat and potatoes for gamers like you and I. Stay tuned for more info.

Watch Two Ninjas Destroy a Building in Dead or Alive 5

Allow me to expose myself as a gamer for a moment (pause). Back when the Xbox released in 2001, I played some Halo: Combat Evolved at a buddy's house and had my mind blown. He had a few other games for Microsoft's green monster, but I wasn't impressed enough to drop the coin for Master Chief alone. A few weeks later, we went in on his newly purchased Dead or Alive 3, also known as the game which helped sell me on Xbox, and consequently ruined my adult social life.

I enjoyed the original Dead or Alive games, though what Team Ninja was able to do with Dead or Alive 3 was a revelation. Incredible interactive environments, beautifully rendered characters, tricky yet rewarding combos (Hayabusa's Izuna Drop still eludes me), and explosive tag battle action. The series' fourth entry was more of the same, but better looking. Dead or Alive 5 seems to be adding to that formula, by showcasing series heavyweights Hayabusa and Hayate literally bringing down the house with hard-hitting ninjutsu. Oh yeah, want. While the post-Itagaki Ninja Gaiden III has slightly shaken my faith, the new Team Ninja's Dead or Alive is looking fine as a muhfucka, even in it's pre-alpha infancy.

So get this, two ninjas walk into a construction site, right.. What? Have you heard this one before?

Buy Guardian Heroes HD, Get Guardian Heroes 2

Little known fact: the upcoming HD remake of Guardian Heroes began it's life as Guardian Heroes 2, that is until Sega said "Hold that!" 

"The project started as Guardian Heroes 2, but the publisher - that's SEGA - said in order to create a sequel, they wanted us to revitalize the IP. So instead of starting on the sequel we made a remake," Treasure's Hiroto Matsuura told Eurogamer. 

Fair enough. Even though Guardian Heroes was perhaps one of the best beat 'em ups of the presentfuturepast, and undoubtedly atop the Saturn's catalog of highly underrated gems, it's an old IP. Test the water before diving in, play it safe to gauge the interest of OGs and new jacks alike. Color this OG broke, because I'll be throwing my greenery at anything that has the Guardian Heroes branding on it. 

But wait! Teasing the sequel already? Matsuura you bad, bad man! "The original core game mechanics is a 2D, layer-based game and that's what we like about it. We may create characters and backgrounds in 3D, but the core mechanics will be the same."

Bring it on! Guardian Heroes is set for October 12, weighing in at 800 imaginary Xbux. Buy it so we can all have a sequel, for Zur's sake! 

Ultimate Comics: Spider-man #1: Meet Miles Morales

Written by Eric Blackwood

Back in 2000, Marvel Comics launched their Ultimate Marvel Comics line with Ultimate Spider-man and Ultimate X-Men. Later on, The Ultimates (The Avengers) and The Fantastic Four were added to the line. The idea behind it was to re-imagine the comic publisher’s superheroes and characters and update them without having to refer to or worry about the preexisting Marvel Comics continuity, which exists in a universe known as Earth 616. On Earth 1610 (the Ultimate Universe), after suffering a bullet wound from The Punisher's rifle, an unmasked Spider-man was killed at the hands of Green Goblin on his front lawn, though not before defeating Kraven the Hunter, Sandman, Electro, and The Vulture. All in a days work! Peter managed to kill Green Goblin after a slug fest that ended with Parker crushing the Goblin under a dropped truck. This Spider-man was gangsta ‘til the end. 

Flashforward to the Ultimate Fallout six issue mini series, which took a look at everyone’s reaction to Peter Parker’s death. In issue 4, the reader is introduced to a new character donning a Spider-man costume fighting The Kangaroo (yes, he calls himself the Kangaroo). Enter Miles Morales. At the time, little was known about the character except that he seems to have Spider-man’s abilities (proportionate strength of a spider, wall-crawling, spider-sense), he is younger than Peter (who was 16 when he was killed), and he is half African-American and half Hispanic. Fanboys offered their usual reactions to not only killing off Peter Parker but having someone else wear the suit and making the person behind the mask of mixed ethnicity. But how can one judge from only reading a seven page preview? Which brings us to Ultimate Comics: Spider-man #1 (Vol. 2).


Issue one gives the reader very little insight as to who Miles Morales is. We are introduced to the character with his parents trying to enroll him in a charter school in Brooklyn, NY. This is in stark contrast to Peter Parker whose parents died in a plane crash, leaving him to live with his Uncle Ben and Aunt May. It will be interesting to see how Miles comes to realize that “with great power comes great responsibility” considering how Peter fails to save his Uncle Ben from being killed, which eventually leads Peter into becoming Spider-man. It is likely that Peter’s death strongly influences Miles but this is yet to be seen. As the story progresses, we see how Miles acquires his spider abilities. Without spoiling anything, it was similar to how Peter obtained his (in Earth 616 and Earth 1610). And although Miles seems to have the same powers as the original friendly neighborhood Spider-man, it seems that things aren’t exactly the same.

The story is interesting so far, and I'm curious to see how it develops. There was no action in this issue and Miles doesn’t really 'use' his powers. In fact, the book ends when he discovers something is different about himself. The next issue teases “Who is Miles Morales?” and drops September 29.

Tommy Wiseau is Relevant to All Our Interests

O hai everyone! Here is some good news that will not tear you apart: Tommy Wiseau is teaming up with Machinima to create some kind of crazy video game related web series. The handsome and talented Wiseau - star of cult classic The Room - has been relatively quiet outside of his slightly disappointing one-off The House That Drips Blood on Alex, so for the man to return to the scene with a project related to gaming is big news! If you have no idea who Tommy Wiseau is, I suggest you watch The Room right this instant. Your life will be that much better afterwards, trust me. 

The Tommy Wi-show will air weekly, and follow Tommy "as he is repeatedly abducted by different races of mysterious aliens and transported to distant planets, where he is forced to test popular video games." Surely this will not be a complete and utter flop. Surely. 

The series begins on September 26, keep an eye on Machinima to get your fix. Or you can rewind dat ass back to OBG, because this is not the last you will hear of this unholy cacophony of terribly superb acting and popular video games.

So, what's new with you?

via Joystiq