Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Yes, you read with your eyes – those same eyes that are squeezing out a single tear for the lack of a new Hitman game – that Eidos and Io Interactive have confirmed Kane & Lynch 2 for release in 2010. The press release offers an entertaining snippet of hyperbole to go with this news: “Introducing a new visual experience, Kane & Lynch 2™: Dog Days is inspired by documentary filmmakers and the user-generated era. Every aspect of the game has been designed to deliver a fresh perspective to the words ‘intensity’ and ‘realism’ in video games.”

Wow!™ We can hardly wait.

Two new developer diary videos for sandbox vehicular action game (comedy?) Just Cause 2 have landed, and they only serve to hammer home just how absurdly entertaining this game looks. The videos feature skydiving, grappling, and man-shooting, but also explain a bit about what all this ludicrousness is intended to achieve, which is to overthrow the dictators of the fictional island of Panau. Good thing dictators need overthrowing, I say. Go watch it look even more awesome, below.
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It was something of a surprise to see Io Interactive announce that their next game wasn’t going to be another Hitman title, or any other kind of manshoot, but instead a new direction based on cute cartoon ninjas. That game, Mini Ninjas, is came out this week, to a mixed reception. Needless to say, I’m going to tell you Wot I Think…
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Videogames were always meant to be ludicrous, and Just Cause 2 captures the spirit of the insane quite perfectly with its absurd hyperbolic action sequences. As if being able to base-jump over a kilometer wasn’t enough, the game’s fundamental mechanisms – a grapple and a parachute – can be used together to create a consistent and instant option for getting vertical. Check it out below.
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Just Cause 2 is taking the whole Tourism In Imaginary Places idea rather unseriously for their GamesCom trailer. The latest glimpse of the open-world third-person absurdi-game is set up as a trailer for the beautiful holiday destination island of Panau, where the game takes place. Frankly, it’s a little throwaway after the game’s spectacular showing at E3, when we wrote loads about it, and then cooed and wooed at the entirely insane developer walkthrough. But still, it confirms Just Cause 2 as one of the most appealing games of the coming year.

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The Mini Ninjas demo is out, and it’s here. This is the surprise move for what the Hitman team did next and, yes, it’s showing off at least a fragment of their creativity and invention. Your download today will be 778mb. My impressions and the two (possibly one, with new player bugs) new trailers below.
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The Batman: Arkham Asylum demo is up, and weighs in at a portly 2gb. The third-person action game seems to be earning reactions ranging from the satisfied to the hysterical, but at least you can judge for yourself in this instance. You can get it here or here. The PC version of the superheroic skull-thumping game is out September 15 in North America and September 18 in Europe, and will include PhysX support and GeForce 3D Vision stereoscopic 3D, which seems like a 3D too many. Three hefty game footage trailers sit below, making for more Batman action than you can shake a batarang at, should you happen to have one.
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It’s amusing how calm Just Cause 2’s lead developer is as he narrates the most ludicrous sequence of events I’ve ever seen in this footage. The trailer was insane, but this is just silly. If I have to die, I want this dude to choreograph it.

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There have been two games that have made me laugh out loud at their sheer audacity during this E3, and one of them is Just Cause 2. You may remember that the original game from Avalanche in 2006, as famous for its infinite parachutes as it was for having an entire island to explore as you wished. There were some who found the unrealistic nature of endlessly spawning parachutes to be offputting. Ho boy, they’re not going to like Just Cause 2! Because, cor, it’s even more ludicrous.

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I uttered “oh come on” at least four times during this footage of the sequel to Avalanches’ gloriously stupid GTA-with-a-parachute sandbox actioner. But they were, I assure you, happy “oh come ons”. Just Cause 2 clearly intends to push plausibility far past breaking point, turning hero Rico into a fully-fledged superhero who can do whatever a spider can, but without the fruity suit and restrictive moral code. Take a gander at his absurd parachute and grappling hook skills below. Grappling a moving plane while in free-fall! He’s some guy, that Rico. Some guy.
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