By Adam Smith on January 5th, 2012.
LEGO Batman 2 was announced very quietly and a few months later an image appeared to semi-prove that it definitely existed. Now a press release has arrived to tell us that it’s real, although without confirming that it was previously announced. Exciting stuff but what does it all mean? I choose to believe that a game starring Batman, Robin and several other DC chaps and chapettes will be available in Summer 2012. More below.
A Knight On The Town
By Adam Smith on November 25th, 2011.
Bruce Wayne has finally returned to my PC, ready to swoop and scuffle his way through the prison-district that is Arkham City. It’s no secret that I used to wear Batman pajamas when I was a youngster, nor that I have been known to shed manly tears when thinking of the Caped Crusader’s tragic origins in Crime Alley. These facts make me the ideal person to tell you Wot I Think of this new crimefighting caper.
By Adam Smith on October 28th, 2011.
Electronic Arts’ digital storefront is expanding next month, with the news that Warner Bros., THQ and Capcom will begin offering some of their releases through Origin. Batman: Arkham City and Saints Row: The Third are the only games mentioned by name but more will be available and “additional titles” are promised in the coming months. Both of those games will still be available elsewhere so this is a case of choice rather than exclusivity. Maybe it will lead to discount wars, maybe it’ll lead to people shrugging and continuing to purchase games from their preferred distributor, but it does feel like a significant step for Origin. The future looks increasingly competitive. EA-speak below.
By Adam Smith on October 21st, 2011.
In anticipation of its release at the beginning of November (though apparently the end of November for us UK folk), Snowblind have released three new trailers for action RPG Lord of the Rings: War In The North. Each trailer focuses on a different hero: a dwarf champion, an elf lore-master and a human ranger. I always think of elves as ranging, so I was a little confused for a moment, but then I remembered that human rangers are quite the notables in Middle Earth. So, videos of ranged combat, close combat, lots of dodge-rolling and horrid hairy spiders below.
By Adam Smith on October 7th, 2011.
I still can’t quite believe that Gotham City Imposters is officially licensed. Coming across as a blend of Kick-ass and Batman, its comedic and yet brutal take on a Gotham without its iconic protector and his gruesome nemesis is too crazy to receive DC Comics sanction, surely? Apparently, and thankfully, that’s not the case, with a new animated short demonstrating precisely why I’m amazed and gleeful that the game exists. There’s a massive dose of customisation, allowing you to create a suave Joker or an unkempt and overweight Batman, and the game is currently in a short closed beta. From what I can gather, its multiplayer team-based madness is enjoyable and, well, mad. Watch this and feel your mind boggle.
By Adam Smith on September 26th, 2011.
Arkham City is going to be packed full of villains but the place wouldn’t be complete without the Joker. We knew he was going to be there, of course, but this trailer tells us a little bit more about what he’ll be doing. Referring to deadly plans while holding up a twisted carnival mirror to Batman’s unsmiling granite face and cackling like Luke Skywalker’s demented uncle, that’s what he’ll be doing. Nothing much new then, although he is looking more horrible than ever and hopefully now he’s not pulling all the strings (unless he is), he’ll be more chaotic and frightening. Just when I’m feeling extremely happy at the idea of beating up goons and twirling my cape in their faces, the trailer ends with a release date. It’s not the right one though.
By Jim Rossignol on August 30th, 2011.
There was some talk over the weekend that Batman: Arkham City would not be using GFWL. That turned out to not be true, according to this article on VG247, who contacted Warner for comment. A Warner rep said: “Arkham City is indeed a G4WL [sic] title.” Did he say [sic] of his own esoteric spelling? I just don’t know.
The game is out on October 18th. I will still be playing it.
By Jim Rossignol on August 5th, 2011.
If the Steam page is to be believed then SuperGiant’s esoteric dungeon-crawler is set to arrive on 16th of August (SuperGiant just confirmed this to us over email.) I am honestly expecting this to be one of the games of the year: it’s a beautiful blend of compelling, click hack ‘n’ slash action with artful indie sensibility. What the screens and talk of whacking monsters doesn’t quite get across is how exquisitely the world is delivered as it drops into place ahead of you, a process that is oddly dreamlike, especially when framed against the hard-boiled, wise-cracking voiceover. Anyway, I am sure we’ll ramble about this extensively when it arrives on our Windows boxes.
By Jim Rossignol on July 22nd, 2011.
The chaps from Gamespot have been in the first to get Arkham City Penguin reveal, but you can see it right here, below, thanks to the magic of sharing. To be honest, I like my Penguin in a top hat, but what do I know, eh? No matter, this is more than made up for by the fact that the trailer looks VERY EXCITING, with Batman punching dudes and, possibly, getting punched himself. Batman is just a man, and Arkham City is just a game, but what a game it looks to be.
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By Jim Rossignol on July 19th, 2011.
Awesome-looking (and even better sounding) esoteric action-RPG Bastion has arrived on the console boxes this week, but should also making its way to PC soon. Supergiant told us that the PC version has no set release date yet and explained: “We’re still sorting out the controls and making a few other changes to make sure the PC version feels like a proper PC game.”
You can check out the trailer below, and read my hands-on impressions of the PC version of the game.
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By Quintin Smith on June 16th, 2011.
It’s been confirmed. Yesterday Warner Bros released the box art for Batman: Arkham City (due this October), which turned out to be an amusingly back-handed way of announcing that the game would use Microsoft’s less-than-perfect PC gaming frontend, Games For Windows Live, seeing as the GFWL logo is stuck there right at the top of the box like some kind of barnacle of bad taste. (Edit: Arkham Asylum also used GFWL, of course.)
Never mind. At least the box art is nice. Which means nothing in this day and age of digital downloads. NEVER MIND.
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