Joystiq

Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball coming to Wii

Justin McElroy — 2008-08-28T10:45:00+00:00

Just a week or so before the game lands on XBLA, we get word that Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball will be coming to the Wii this winter. In addition to eight-player, seven-team pirate-on-ninja action, the Wii version will include "all-new story and challenge modes, along with several customized control schemes." We don't know how much they'll be asking, but with the 800 point XBLA asking price, we're hoping for "not a heck of a lot more than $10."

Wow, PS2, PSP and now XBLA. What can't you port onto that thing?

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You could win gold in the Velvet Assassin ARG

Justin McElroy — 2008-07-28T14:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture

We know that some of you out there are absolute alternate reality game nuts, so we wanted to turn you on to one that's just getting into full swing, part of a promotional effort for Gamecock's upcoming Velvet Assassin, we've been lead to believe.

The hunt is currently on for the second of three caches of gold, and clues have started appearing in the public announcements section of UK's The Times. Because we love you so very much, we've put all three after the jump. If you're ready to do some investigating, we'd suggest digging through this in-game blog or, if you're up for something less immersive, this thread about the game.

July 11 message:
"Edward Spencer would like to praise so many friends and religious meeting members - service for all in the old hall on fiftieth anniversary of town council. More details July 19th."

July 19:
"Religious Friends Meeting - meeting praise at the old town hall, many to Edward Spencer. Further information Friday."

July 25:
"And so to Edward. Praise friends and, like Spencer, many would."

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GameTap to add Gamecock titles to library

Justin McElroy — 2008-07-24T15:45:00+00:00

Filed under: PC

Good news! That $9.99 you're shipping off to GameTap every month just got a heck of a lot more valuable with the edition of Gamecock to the GT family. Think of it: For no additional money, you could be playing ... hmm, well, let's see. There's ... hey, there's Insecticide! ... Oh, and Stronghold Crusader Extreme. Anybody?

OK, so maybe it's not so exciting at the moment, but it'll likely be considerably more valuable when Gamecock games like Legendary and Velvet Assassin appear on the service. Until then ... well, hey, there's always Sam and Max, right?

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Reminder: Preorder Hail to the Chimp, get $10 of Onion Store credit

Christopher Grant — 2008-06-17T15:15:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360

A reminder that Gamecock has offered Joystiq readers an exclusive offer: preorder Hail to the Chimp at GameStop (it comes out a week from today) and get a free $10 gift certificate to the Onion Store, the virtual storefront of the popular fake (and funny!) newspaper. So, to recap: you preorder the $40 PS3 or Xbox 360 politically themed party game before the end of the day, send the Gamecock people a copy of your receipt (details here), and get ten bucks of free Onion Store credit.

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Preorder Hail to the Chimp, get $10 of Onion Store credit

Christopher Grant — 2008-06-06T08:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360

I had the distinct pleasure of spending some time with the folks from Gamecock while they strolled through Philadelphia in the middle of Pennsylvania's Democratic presidential primaries in April, seeing firsthand how the independent publisher was promoting Hail to the Chimp, one of their flagship releases. Oh, did I mention I was wearing a giant, female polar bear suit for part of this? Anywho, more on that later in the month, closer to the game's June 24th release date ...

In the interim, the guys and gals at Gamecock have offered Joystiq readers an exclusive offer: preorder HttC at GameStop and get a free $10 gift certificate to the Onion Store, the virtual storefront of the popular fake (and funny!) newspaper. So, to recap: you preorder the $40 PS3 or Xbox 360 politcally-themed party game before June 15th, send the Gamecock people a copy of your receipt (details here), and get ten bucks of free Onion Store credit. No polar bear suit required!

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Velvet Assassin to cut throats on Xbox 360, PC this fall

Jason Dobson — 2008-05-14T06:00:00+00:00

Filed under: PC, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

German developer Replay Studios and indie publisher Gamecock dropped a friendly reminder that both studios plan to drape us in tufted fabric and slit our throats this fall, when Velvet Assassin ships for both the Xbox 360 and PC. As a stealth-action game, the title will drop players into the boots of real-life World War II allied secret agent Violette Szab as she goes toe to toe with the German war machine.

Beyond the biographical backdrop and historically-inspired setting, there isn't much known about the game. However, the publisher notes that Velvet Assassin will include "lush, surreal visuals" and "a ground-breaking stealth combat system," both interesting qualities ... though we hope the devs know how difficult blood is to get out of velvet without sending it to dry cleaning.

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Gamecock's Wilson announces candidacy for ESA president

Jason Dobson — 2008-05-11T16:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, E3, Business

With a number of names skipping out on this summer's E3, not to mention heavyweights Activision and Vivendi Games disavowing themselves of the ESA altogether, Gamecock sent word that its Grand Poobah Mike Wilson plans to step in to "right the ship" by announcing his candidacy for president of the Entertainment Software Association. The news, which was sent our way by Gamecock this weekend, included notice that the former GodGames co-founder plans to run on a platform of "bringing the fun back to the gaming industry."

While details remain light, the exec expects to announce more of his plans in the weeks leading up E3 (an event we all donned black to help Gamecock bury last year). The re-imagined conference will take place the week of July 15, during which both Wilson and Gamecock proper will run a campaign headquarters at L.A.'s Hotel Figueroa.

According to Gamecock, the location will be open to anyone and everyone in the public to drop in and play games -- no invitation necessary. We're on the fence as to if we're supposed to take this announcement seriously, or if this is just another grab for attention by the indie publisher, though either way Gamecock's track record promises that the end result will be strange.

[Via press release]

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Hail to the Chimp delayed to June 24 [update]

James Ransom-Wiley — 2008-05-05T12:25:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Casual

Wideload's Hail to the Chimp party game has been pushed back from a scheduled May 27 release date into "mid-June," a Gamecock representative told us this morning. [Update: Gamecock has clarified that the new release date has been set for June 24.] The publisher attributed the short delay to a need for "polish" (working with animals can get dirty, after all), though we wonder if the extra weeks aren't equally necessary to generate some excitement for a campaign, which to date, has received little coverage. Ape or not, a politician's success relies on the strength of a savvy marketing team.

For further analysis of the issues at hand, check out our Hail to the Chimp impressions from GDC and EIEIO.

Gallery: Hail to the Chimp

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Joystiq interview: Renegade Kid versus the Moon

Jason Dobson — 2008-04-14T12:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Nintendo DS, Action, First Person Shooters, Interviews

When independent developer Renegade Kid first announced its follow up title to last year's Dementium: the Ward, few details were offered as to what it was exactly that the studio was up to.

Titled simply Moon, the game was said to again be played from the first-person, but beyond the vantage and supposed setting, we were left wondering. It didn't take us long to tire of the guessing game however, so we arranged to speak with Renegade Kid's owner and creative director Jools Watsham to find out more about the company's latest offspring, how it differs from Dementium, and why the studio opted to go with a different publisher, in this case Mastiff, rather than Dementium publisher Gamecock. Read on to see what he had to say.

Gallery: Moon

Hi Jools. When we last spoke, I neglected to get some background on you for our readers, so I'm hoping to rectify that oversight today. Can you give us a little background on yourself, who you are, what you do, and most importantly, what you had for lunch?

My name is Jools Watsham, and I am the creative director and owner at Renegade Kid. My role on Moon is game director and producer. Fellow owner and art director, Gregg Hargrove, and I founded Renegade Kid in early 2007 after having both developed games for over 15 years and having produced over 30 titles on every platform from the original NES through to today's consoles. I had noodles for lunch.

Looking to Moon, how long has it been in development? Did work begin before Dementium: The Ward wrapped?

We started the development of Moon in December 2007.

What we know about Moon right now we could fit in a thimble, and it would probably still rattle. Could you shed a little light on this project?

Moon is a sci-fi action adventure title that utilizes the Renegade Engine 2.0. Our basic focus is to go beyond what we did with Dementium in regards to the action adventure/FPS genre, while continuing to push the DS's power. We think there's a lack of original single player adventure games on the DS and we'd like to help fill that void.

And how is Moon different from Dementium? How is it similar?

Moon is different from Dementium in the sense that Dementium relied heavily on its thick atmosphere, whereas Moon has a stronger focus on action and story. Their similarities don't go much beyond the fact that they're both viewed from the first person perspective and involve shooting.

I'm curious, what lessons did you take away from Dementium that are helping you in creating Moon?

The save system. Most people hated the save system in Dementium (an issue we fixed for the Japanese and European versions). Moon is structured very differently than Dementium. The game is presented in episodes, and within each episode there are checkpoints that save your progress. The play experience in Moon supports the mobile nature of DS gaming.

As you mentioned, Moon will once again be played from the first-person. Is the Renegade Engine 2.0 on which you said the game is being built the same technology you developed for your first project?

Moon utilizes an enhanced version of the engine we used for Dementium, called the Renegade Engine: a much more streamlined edition.

To use the words for your own press release, how has this technology been 'jacked up to the next level?'

We're being much more ambitious with the environments, particle effects, enemies and cinematic cut-scenes. So, we're pretty much firing the DS on all cylinders. Even though we pushed the DS with Demenitum, we were still being slightly cautious due to our time frame and growing experience with the platform. This time around with Moon, we are being a little less cautious while still being expressive and ambitious.

When it was first announced, Moon was described as "always disturbing," an atmosphere that it seems would be difficult to elicit on the small screen. Can you give an example of how this game will attempt to disturb the player?

We've put a large focus on the story in Moon, which unfolds as you progress through the game. The tone is one of mystery and discovery. That's about all I can say right now.

Much ado has been made of your company's decision to work with Mastiff to publish Moon rather than Dementium publisher Gamecock. Is this a case of a storm in a teacup, or should we be reading between the lines here?

Yes, it is a storm in a teacup. Our decision to work with Mastiff was purely based on our desire to work with Bill Swartz and the other fine folks over at Mastiff. It wasn't a case of choosing between Mastiff and Gamecock, or any other publisher for that matter. We're still buds with the Gamecock team, and we are connected in a secret way that will be announced soon.

So you plan to work with Gamecock again then on future projects?

Yes.

When we last spoke with you, you talked about the sense of freedom offered by working with Gamecock. Is the feeling similar with Mastiff, or do they keep you on a tighter leash?

Working with Mastiff is great. We have the freedom to develop our IP, while benefiting from their insight and development experience. It is a partnership.

Besides the DS, Renegade Kid is an authorized Wii developer as well. Why not bring Moon to the Wii?

The reason we wanted to develop Moon on the DS first was to take advantage of our Renegade Engine. To be able to focus on the content of a game and not worry about the engine is a wonderful and rare position for us to be in. We would love to see Moon on the Wii. Perhaps if Moon is received well, a Wii version may very well be in its future as well as a DS sequel too ... who knows.

Last question. Let's say you are stranded on the moon. What's the one possession you'd have to have with you, and why?

I can't think of a single material possession that would help me on the moon. Sure, my DS would be nice, but then I'd need my games - not to mention an unlimited source of electricity. And then I'd be exceeding the limit of "one" possession. So, even though I do not consider her a possession, I'd have to have my wife with me on the moon, so I'd have someone to help me open the hatch ...

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Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball delayed, extra content promised

Jason Dobson — 2008-04-09T17:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Sports

If you've been looking forward to Blazing Lizard's upcoming XBLA release Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball, you might want to sit down and re-read our hands-on impressions from last month, as publisher Gamecock just sent word that the game has been pushed back until some unspecified time later this Spring.

In an effort to paint a silver lining on the news, Blazing Lizard studio director Christopher Stockman notes that the extra time will let the devs "go back and add in additional content to the game," including new rules and modes for the title's cadre of ninjas, pirates, robots, and zombies.

When asked as to the reason for the delay, a spokesperson told us that it "was the addition of different game modes, specifically the mode that works more like traditional dodgeball." That's fine, though we suspect the constant flurry of cutlass swipes and hurled shurikens might have had something to do with it as well.

[Via press release]

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Joystiq interviews Hail to the Chimp producer Jon Krusell

JC Fletcher — 2008-03-16T14:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Interviews, Casual

Wideload Games' Hail to the Chimp consistently delivered laughs to its audience of journalists at EIEIO. Being that the event was a large party, it was the perfect venue to try out a party game. The crowd got almost as boisterous during the gameplay sessions as they did later that evening, when the event metamorphosed from a video game press event into a concert.

The "concert" portion of the event was also the first chance I had to talk about the game with Wideload's Senior Producer Jon Krusell. He was kind enough to yell over the din in order to discuss the thought process that led naturally into a party combat game about animal presidential elections, his theories about the lack of comedy in games, and his revolutionary Robot Jox-based political platform.

Gallery: Hail to the Chimp

You're doing a multiplayer party game. What influenced your choice of consoles?

We look at it as kind of a strength, because we're really the only game of our type on the 360 or PS3 right now. There's no other party game right now that caters to both adults and teens, so it was basically positioning -- positioning ourselves to stand out. We like to take risks, and so this seemed like a risk that could really work in our favor.

How have people reacted at the demo sessions?

The demo -- it always shows really, really well. It shows terrific, actually. Maybe it's just the season, you know? Like, everybody's getting so much political media. Even if you're not paying attention to it, it's always there. So the idea of a political satire video game -- we are, as far as I know, the only political satire video game -- really resonates with people. They get a kick out of it.

Is the election-year release intentional?

The original inspiration for the game was the design mechanic of teaming up, the idea that you have to cooperate to play. The next real vision point was "Let's make it with animals. Let's make the cast these animal-sized people." Then it was sort of looking at what we had so far, and the timing of things. You know, we have this design mechanic of temporary alliances, where you can then immediately betray your would-be running mate, and we're going to release it in 2008 -- politics makes sense. It was really sort of a train of thought that led to it.

Then that led into the fake television stuff?

There are other party games out there, obviously. What we wanted to do that was different was tell a story. Most party games are just a random collection of minigames. We wanted to do something that had a narrative thread. But it's hard to weave that into the actual gameplay. And we kind of wanted to do something that's a little bit passive, so if you don't want to pay attention to the storyline, you don't have to, you can just blow right by it. Out of that evolved the idea of GRR, which is the all-news animal network, and that's what our show is -- the UI. So as you run through the UI, it's as if you're watching CNN, but for animals. And that allows us to tell that story: there are cutscenes, political ads, debates, interviews; over 90 minutes of cutscenes and content that streams through there and tells you the backstory. So if you're interested you can check it out.

And the funny commercials?

The funny commercials ... that came from -- once we had decided to do GRR, the funny commercials just sort of spawned from that. Obviously they're not political in nature, but they're just continuing along the satire road. What would CNN play at 3 in the morning? They'd play a commercial for, you know, Don Schrendt, Attorney at Law; so we have our own version.

There really aren't that many funny games. Why do you think that is?

We really have two directives at Wideload. We want to work on original stuff, and we want to work on humorous stuff. We just want a direction to head in to stand out. And it's what we're really good at. We have some really talented writers on staff. But, even though we've sort of limited ourselves to humor, there's still a ton of stuff within humor to do. Stubbs the Zombie is a dark comedy, where as Hail to the Chimp is a political satire. So it's just sort of -- why aren't there more funny games? I guess maybe because it is a risk, you know. Like a funny game might not translate as well internationally. A funny game is more difficult to write, and there's not as many good writers in video games. Doing humor in games is a risk. Doing humor in films is actually kind of less of a risk, because the budgets are smaller. But in games, doing humor is a risk. That's why there's so much action. Action translates; you don't have to have someone rewrite it.

How does the atmosphere at today's event -- at the, uh, barbecue joint -- compare to other shows at which you've done demos?

Today went really well. Today was outstanding. There were some hurdles, though. We had a power outage; we had a leaky roof; we had a band doing a sound check; there was a meteor shower briefly. So there were definitely some random elements that added to the excitement, but the game showed really well, people responded -- it was a really good day. And you know, like, the Gamecock events are always kind of surreal. This is like my third or fourth time demoing with Gamecock for Hail to the Chimp, and it's always, you know, animals walking around, bands playing, trapeze artists, and people spitting fire -- they're surreal events. You just sort of have to let go and take it as it comes.

Do you think party combat is a decent venue for choosing our leaders?

Choosing leaders? I really like the -- have you ever seen the movie Robot Jox?

Yeah!

Okay, so the idea that, in the future, wars will be decided with, instead of war, but with giant fighting robots. You know, the country's obviously in a predicament right now. We have a war with Iraq. What if instead of troops, we just had giant robots that fought each other. I'm all for that. Let's dismantle the military complex as we know it, and their sole purpose will be to design a giant fighting robot.

So, to answer your question, I think it's a great idea.

Playing the game, it reminded me of Power Stone 2 a little ...

It would be silly not to learn from games that came before you, you know? So we definitely played Power Stone, even minigame games like Mario Party or Wario Ware, we played all sorts of different stuff. But we also tried to take inspiration from things that aren't as much of an analogue. Like taking inspiration from first-person shooters, taking inspiration from the idea of, instead of minigames, matching gametypes up with different maps. So while we definitely took inspiration from other party games out there, we took some inspiration from games you really wouldn't expect. And, also, we took inspiration from other media, you know, like the Onion. We used some writers for some contract work that work on the Daily Show and the Onion, so we tried to broaden it outside games as well.

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EIEIO 08: Dungeon Hero inverts the dungeon genre

JC Fletcher — 2008-03-13T06:00:00+00:00

Filed under: PC, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

click to embiggen

As Firefly Studios explained it, most dungeon games put the player in the role of a psychopath who enters a dungeon to slaughter thousands of subterranean creatures and steal their gold. Dungeon Hero is totally different. In Dungeon Hero, your character is -- well, okay, a psychopath who enters a dungeon to slaughter thousands of subterranean creatures and steal their gold. But those subterranean creatures have their own stuff going on, and that jerk hero is neither the shining exemplar of humanity nor some brooding antihero. He's mostly just a big dumb guy who fights a lot. And as such, he is manipulated into becoming the hero of some of the dungeon's inhabitants.

Gallery: Dungeon Hero (PC, Xbox 360)

click to embiggen

The story has one faction of goblins tricking the hero into working for them against another faction who happens to have awakened Death. This means killing some goblins, and chilling with others. Amusingly, according to the developers, the hero is seen as sort of a necessary evil by the "good" Gold Star goblins, who lure him specifically because he's so violent and murderous. They regard him as a bad influence in general.

In the demo, we wandered through a goblin settlement, with one goblin mellowly noodling away at a guitar, and others much less mellowly performing emergency surgery (there being a war on and all). Firefly promises a living goblin city, full of characters who go about their business like any other townspeople would, having conversations, working, and enjoying time off -- and not just being braindead NPCs.

But this is an action game after all, and you are an "emotionally retarded" dungeon hero, and that's got to involve beating up monsters, right? The combat in this game is designed with crowds in mind. That means that the hero's moves are built not to generate huge combos, but to push goblins away. In combat mode, moves mapped to each of the Xbox 360 pad's face buttons will attack in that direction -- so A attacks downward and Y upward. RPG elements come in the form of a dauntingly enormous skill tree with hundreds of nodes, broken up into ten or so branches.

Dungeon Hero looks like an interesting mix of action and semi-satirical RPG gameplay. It manages to embrace most dungeon RPG tropes while self-consciously calling attention to them. In addition, occasional cutscenes are illustrated in very nice-looking comics, which remind us of 300 (possibly due to the constant swording). It's currently scheduled for a March 2009 release on Xbox 360 and PC.

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EIEIO 08: Hands-on with Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball

JC Fletcher — 2008-03-13T04:27:00+00:00

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Sports

click to embiggen

I'm a big fan of the Super Dodgeball games, and of the Kunio series in general. I played tons of dodgeball on the NES and GBA, and I've been watching the development of the DS game with more than enthusiasm. So when I first heard about the Xbox Live Arcade Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball, I was very curious about a non-Technos take on the sport; what would Blazing Lizard do to distinguish their game from what seems like the final word in dodgeball games? Besides filling it full of Internet memes, of course.

Surprisingly, Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball has very little in common with Technos' masterpiece. Aside from the fact that pudgy characters throw balls at each other, the two games play almost totally differently. They might as well represent two totally different sports.

Gallery: Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball

Unlike Super Dodgeball, there are no court boundaries in Pirates vs. Ninjas. Teams are not restricted to one side of the court, but are free to roam around. In addition, there are at most four players per team (online, with two per team offline). There aren't any support players on the sides like there are in Super Dodgeball. This simple removal of the line between teams changes the gameplay significantly. It is, in fact, the catalyst for almost every difference between the two games. No matter where the ball lands, it's fair game for any player on the court. There's no back-and-forth; every single shot is open. Someone really awesome at Dodgeball could completely dominate the game. Super Dodgeball has a similar mode called Bean Ball, but that lacks any team structure.

Because the players are now able to compete for the ball, they now need combat abilities. Beating on another player dizzies them, delaying their run for the ball. It doesn't hurt, though -- only a hit from a dodgeball can do that. The teams all have different attributes, as well: ninjas are faster, and zombies have stronger defenses. Each character, in addition, has a special move that is activated with the Y button. Samantha on the Pirate team can "charm" another character temporarily, switching them to her team. Hideki the (confusingly robotic) ninja can activate stealth mode, just like Metal Gear Solid's Grey Fox, who he looks exactly like.

click to embiggen

In addition to the combat, the change in layout means that aiming is much harder. In the Super Dodgeball games, aiming is mostly automatic: the ball basically hits whoever is closest to you on the other side. In Pirates vs. Ninjas, if you're moving (which is all the time) you have to aim your shots manually. For me, this meant that I could never get a good shot in ever, unless I just passed to an AI teammate.

The game is expected to be released this month, but it can be difficult to nail down XBLA releases precisely. It'll definitely be the only game to take full advantage of the hilarity of the pirates vs. ninjas fad whenever it does.

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EIEIO 08: Hail to the Chimp impressions

JC Fletcher — 2008-03-13T01:27:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Fighting, Casual

click to embiggen

Not being much of a "next-gen" follower (sorry!) I had a vague belief that Wideload's Hail to the Chimp was a downloadable game. I was, then, surprised to find it a full-sized (but budget-priced) release. Developer Wideload Games used the retail-game budget to create not only a unique party game, but also a hilarious audiovisual experience that doesn't really have an analogue on modern systems.

Hail to the Chimp's menu interface is the GRR News Network, with pompous anchor Woodchuck Chumley (seen above enjoying some... hot coffee ... with Bean the Sloth) onscreen authoritatively intoning ridiculous stories, while the menu options take the place of all the ubiquitous TV news infoboxes and text clutter. Wrapping the game inside this TV-station premise allows Hail to the Chimp to have something resembling a storyline, and also provides the opportunity for the funniest aspect of the game, which I'll get to shortly.

Gallery: Hail to the Chimp

As the story goes, the king of the jungle (the lion, obviously) has died, and the animal kingdom is holding its first-ever presidential election. As we "watch" via GRR (and also play), ten candidates, ranging from Murgatroyd the jellyfish to Hedwig the polar bear, campaign for the position fiercely and violently, forming temporary alliances that dissolve as soon as it is advantageous.

This premise translates into a new take on the party minigame collection: while WarioWare birthed a genre of quick games based around performing wildly divergent tasks, and most other party games provide distinct games sharing a common theme, Hail to the Chimp offers many different game types that use the same basic gameplay. It's kind of a cross between Power Stone 2 and Wario Ware. For example, in one game, players attempt to win votes by "hacking" voting machines that fall into the stage. The goal here is to get to the voting machines and bash them before the other players do. Another gametype involves collecting clams (the game's currency) from around the stage, with each player able to beat some of the earnings out of the other players. In these games, the players are sometimes put in direct physical conflict with each other, and in others, combat is used to deter opponents from a goal. In any case, the basic mechanics are the same, which aids the learning curve of the game.

click to embiggen

In any gametype, two players can choose to team up with a "team-up" button. One player calls for a partner with this button, and the next player to press the button will join. This enables team-up attacks that vary by pair of characters -- like the Simpsons arcade game. A bigger character may swing a smaller one like a club, or two may roll up together; in all cases, control of these team attacks is cooperative.

What makes the TV conceit work especially well is the bonus content, which is unlocked during gameplay. This takes the form of parody commercials, spanning all of the "popular" junk we're subjected to on TV, with animal twists. There was a Head On-like product for scent glands, a high-energy exercise plan called Fly-Chi-Do, and various political smear ads between characters, among a ton of other content. I would have stayed and watched for as long as they were showing them. Wideload Games hired writers from The Onion and The Daily Show, and it shows. Not enough games even try to be funny, and even fewer succeed.

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EIEIO 08: Velvet Assassin actually dressed in leather

JC Fletcher — 2008-03-12T23:10:00+00:00

Filed under: PC, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

click to embiggen

It's true. The game's title character may be velvet in some way, but the luxurious fabric does not figure into Violette Summers' ensemble. Instead, she alternates between skin-tight leather and a diaphanous, lingerie-like hospital gown. It's definitely more of a video game in that respect than a solemn tribute to Violette Szabo.

Why the hospital gown? The events of Velvet Assassin are framed as flashbacks remembered by a dying Summers, who is lying in a hospital bed as the game starts. She recounts her former missions behind enemy lines. This method of storytelling actually ties into the gameplay in a rather bizarre way.

Gallery: Velvet Assassin

You can administer morphine to the dreaming Summers, which causes the onscreen Summers to appear in hospital garb, the screen to glow in an ethereal white (with floating blood cells, even), and all the enemies to slow down, making them easier to kill. Maybe the pain alters Violette's perception of events, and the relief brought on by the morphine allows her to remember her successes (since she obviously lived through whatever encounter it was). It is possible to overdose on morphine if you use too much too quickly, which results in an unconscious dream-Violette and an invitation for Nazis to shoot you. This is where the concept gets confusing and a little too meta -- Violette is already unconscious (she's dreaming this, remember), and morphine makes her dream of being unconscious too?

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When you get close to an enemy, you can activate a contextual kill-move which plays out in a short cutscene. In the demo, Violette had a knife, so we basically saw her stab people in the back from a few different angles. Replay expects there to be between 50 and 60 kill moves in the final game.

For the most part, Velvet Assassin is like Splinter Cell set in World War II, which is actually more interesting that that somewhat dismissive categorization makes it sound. The demo mission tasked Violette with infiltrating a prison compound to deliver a cyanide capsule to a captured British soldier before any information could be tortured out of him. Violette went from the dank cell block into the opulent warden's office, looking through a secret peephole the warden used to watch the torture, being careful to stay in the shadows the whole time. Real-world-inspired environments like those make the stealth gameplay more interesting.

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EIEIO 08: Section 8 details fall from the sky

JC Fletcher — 2008-03-12T21:50:00+00:00

Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360

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It's been a long time since we first heard about TimeGate Studios' Section 8. Based on the "not even pre-alpha" game on display at this year's EIEIO, it's going to be even longer before we see a final game. It's currently slated for the third quarter of next year on Xbox 360 and PC. But developer TimeGate Studios - they did the F.E.A.R. expansions, if you'll recall - did give a short gameplay demonstration, and revealed one of the major facets of the Section 8 experience.

The game's name comes from the nickname given to the future 8th Armored Infantry, of which your character is a member. This group consists of soldiers who have volunteered to wear a super-powerful armored suit (awesome!) and be launched into combat from space. The joke is that you would have to be crazy to volunteer for that, so the squad is informally called "Section 8" after the military code for a psychologically-motivated discharge.

Gallery: Section 8 Concept

In the game, you'll be able to choose any area of the stage that is currently in your control to "burn in" (that's what they call the launch process). This is the game's method of respawning, and it is pretty much the most exciting way to start over that I can imagine. The whole map is visible when you choose, a massive desert expanse in the case of the demo. You have some control over your descent, so you can fine-tune your aim. You also have jetpacks that allow you to soften your landing -- your shields go out temporarily if you crash down at top speed. Another tantalizing possibility, for which the exact details have yet to be finalized: using your flying body as a projectile weapon. You can choose to land on enemy vehicles, which, at top speed, could be devastating to an enemy tank. Or hilarious to somebody who sees you slam into that tank.

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The concept of big guys in neat armor shooting at each other may have been well-explored in the FPS genre, but TimeGate may be onto something with the burn-in concept, which takes the worst part of the game (being dead) and makes it fun.

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EIEIO 08: Hands-on with Legendary

JC Fletcher — 2008-03-12T21:08:00+00:00

Filed under: PC, Microsoft Xbox 360, First Person Shooters

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What stands out more than anything about my experience with Legendary at EIEIO was that it was the game during whose demo I got to be warm. I had waited outside in brutal cold and rain for the demo session to start, and the Legendary demo took place inside a Games4U "Mobile Game Theater" -- essentially a trailer full of seating, TVs, and, most importantly, heat. It was great. That's not even a snide way of saying that the game wasn't any good -- it was just really, really cold outside.

Legendary puts the player in the middle not only of a war between the White Council and the Black Order, but also an invasion of fantasy creatures triggered by the player character's own inadvertent opening of Pandora's Box. The only weapon against these monsters: the signet that once locked the box, now merged into protagonist Charles Deckard's hand. Oh, and also a bunch of guns and stuff.

Gallery: Legendary

The demo level took place in some kind of semi-futuristic London, with force fields installed in alleyways on cobblestone streets, holding prisoners from Deckard's faction. The demo begins inside, where I immediately picked up some kind of automatic weapon and a fire axe. Upon stepping outside, I was assaulted not only by enemy soldiers, but also some kind of white wolf-creature (like the one seen above). The soldiers are easily killed, but the creatures are much faster and stronger, and they can (and frequently do) climb up buildings with ease. Shooting one of these things isn't even enough to put it down; unless you put a finishing shot into its head, the thing will come back. After a creature dies, you can use the signet in your hand to absorb its animus (life force), which can be used to recover health or to fire off an "animus pulse."

I ducked into a building and climbed a stairwell, at which point I could see a bigger wolf-thing being held behind one of those force fields. I zoomed in with my gunsight, fired on the glowing green access panel, and let the creature out. It started tearing the enemy soldiers apart, which, of course, is awesome. Unfortunately, it saw me from half a block away and made a beeline to my second-floor room, where it killed me. When a werewolf attacks, by the way, it leaves orange claw marks across the screen like a House of the Dead zombie.
I'm not sure if this encounter means that the enemies are too smart, but it was certainly exciting to be pursued so tenaciously. Dying: significantly less exciting.

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I learned later by watching other players that the melee weapon, the fire axe, is much more powerful than the gun, taking out the smaller wolf creatures in one hit. The fire axe might end up being "rebalanced" later, but in this demo version it is absolutely the way to go. In fact, it fits the character of the game well. Legendary is fast-paced and visceral, and close-up hand-to-hand combat fits that tone.

The fire axe isn't just excellent for fighting werewolves. Amusingly, you can smash your squadmates all you want and, while they react with annoyance, they don't take any damage. This leads very quickly to an emergent gameplay style called "hitting people with a fire axe, then laughing."

Legendary was, in general, one of the fastest-paced, most arcade-like FPS games I've seen. It should be a good time if that kind of pace keeps up throughout the game.

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Legendary gameplay footage reeks of promise

Justin McElroy — 2008-03-07T11:30:00+00:00

Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, First Person Shooters

We've been talking about it for nearly eight months now, so we thought you might like a peek at some pre-alpha gameplay footage from Legendary. The video seems to be having some framerate issues (at least, we hope it's the video) but some of the imagery here is really striking. On that note, we'd like to go on record as saying that Electro-Car Bot is destined to be the Big Daddy of 2008.

If you're anything like us, the promise of being able to play in a world being ripped asunder this beautifully is enough to bump this pretty high up on your "must play" list for the summer. Let's just hope the gameplay lives up to the world.

Gallery: Legendary

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EIEIO 2008: One day of concentrated Gamecock weirdness

JC Fletcher — 2008-03-07T06:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Galleries

Last year, Gamecock held their "E3 alternative" EIEIO event in Santa Monica during E3. This year, they moved the party to Austin, and in true Gamecock (read: bizarre) fashion, they elected to hold the event at Stubb's Bar-B-Q. Well, it's not as bizarre as it sounds. Stubb's is a large establishment that serves as a live music venue as well as a barbecue restaurant. Still, it was quite a different environment from, say, the Moscone Center, where GDC was held last month. The only problem with the venue: we were outside a lot, and today was unseasonably cold. And rainy. And also cold.

The morning started off with a breakfast at Jaime's Spanish Village across the street. After that, we were rounded up and sent over to Stubb's, where we broke into groups and rotated through presentations and demos. Descriptions and impressions of actual game content are coming later (Wednesday, to be specific, when I am allowed to post those), but here's what I saw: the downloadable meme-off Pirates Vs. Ninjas Dodgeball, the PC/DS action-adventure game Insecticide, the sentient-mushroom tale Mushroom Men (Wii and DS), the newly-christened WWII stealth game Velvet Assassin, the RTS expansion Stronghold Crusader Extreme, the hacking, slashing Dungeon Hero, the fantasy-monster FPS Legendary, the sci-fi FPS Section 8, and the animal-based political-satire party fighting game Hail to the Chimp. They were in various stages of playability, from "not even pre-alpha" to "shipping." Be sure to visit our gallery and enjoy some of the strangeness of the scene for yourself!

Gallery: EIEIO 2008

After we finished shuffling from demo station to demo station, we were served dinner (barbecue? Wow, really?) and the concerts started. EIEIO then changed dramatically as the doors were opened to the public and it became less of a press event and more of a festival. Concertgoers were able to mess around with all the playable games even while they enjoyed the live music. A couple of times, I walked outside to find a burlesque performance taking place. That's pretty weird for a video game show! Of course, this is from the company perhaps best known for its weird chicken-head costumes. Speaking of which, there was a mechanical bull with a chicken head. Obviously, right? Also, haircuts -- which, surprisingly, I was prepared to see. These haircuts, of course, featured the shaving of the Gamecock logo into (out of) the hair.

While rock bands played outside, Rock Band played inside, as Gamecock PR guys hooked the game up to the restaurant's PA system and performed (in Gamecock-logo-emblazoned capes) before handing the game off to eager showgoers. It was probably the most effective PR for a non-Gamecock game I'd seen at the show.

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Gamecock's WWII stealth shooter 'Sabotage' becomes 'Velvet Assassin'

Griffin McElroy — 2008-03-01T18:30:00+00:00

Filed under: PC, Microsoft Xbox 360

We doubt that many of you had even heard of Sabotage, an up-and-coming Gamecock joint based on the incredible true story of World War II hero (for the Allies, at least) and secret agent extraordinaire Violette Szabo, but we think it's worth mentioning when a game upgrades from a title as generic as "Sabotage" to something unique; something that sounds purchase-worthy. That's why we're totally behind developer Replay Studios' decision to remoniker the stealth action shooter Velvet Assassin.

Lucky Austintonians will get a chance to check out the newly eponymed game at Gamecock's E.I.E.I.O expo this coming Thursday -- the rest of us will have to wait for Velvet Assassin's Fall 2008 release to digitally fill Violette Summers' sneaky leather shoes.

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