Spare Parts Triple Play Video Feature: Developer Walkthrough, Gameplay, Announcement Trailers

Three new trailers for bright light Studios' fun, family friendly co-op centric action platformer show off the game's colorful visuals and snappy, fast-paced gameplay. Grab the kids, plop them in front of the monitor and check them all out. If you don't have kids but love robots in your games, heck - there's TON of fun to be had here. Enjoy!

Commentary: Is 3DTV THAT Urgent Of An "Innovation"?

According to a friend I just got off the phone with, at CES 2011, you "couldn't take ten steps" without someone either handing you a pair of now cool (but still expensive as you have to buy that new TV) 3D glasses, or gently nudging you or using booth babes to lure your toward a glasses-free (and wallet busting) 3D experience. Yeah, yeah, I get it - it works and it works really damn well. The problem is... not everything that's going to be ON those new super sets will be worth watching in three di-mensions, dammit.

Ys I & II Chronicles Gets Extra GameStop Pre-Order Extras (Thanks, Xseed!)

Xseed Games wants YOU to jump feet first onto the Ys I & II Chronicles bandwagon, so they've gone and done a great bit of pre-order coolness with GamrStop locations across the US. Slap down a deposit on the upcoming PSP game, follow the instructions below the jump and BOOM! Your choice of one of three excellent items will wing itself your way courtesy of Xseed! And yup, I get to post that hilarious Hair Metal trailer again, to boot!

Get that wallet out NOW and support Xseed!

Review: Lost in Shadow

Platform: Nintendo Wii

Developer: Hudson

Publisher: Hudson

# of Players: 1

ESRB Rating: E 10+ (Everyone 10 +)

Official Site

Score: B+

Ethereal, innovative, methodically paced yet wholly rewarding, Hudson's Wii exclusive Lost In Shadow is one of those artistic gems that should appeal to gamers across a few different genres. The dreamlike visuals and puzzles that revolve around light and shadow play will draw in fans of games such as ICO or echochrome or the original Price of Persia, the platforming elements are fun and challenging for young to older players and the overall innovation and intriguing story will please fans of games with more than flashy graphics going for them. While it isn't quite perfect, it's amazingly well designed and has a way of keeping you hooked in as you traverse back and forth through some pretty trippy stages that play with your perceptions.

Little Big Planet 2 "Adventure" & "Storyline" Trailers

The Handmade Arcade is alllllmost here - take a look at these two videos from Media Molecule's instant classic and start setting aside some quality time, as you're not coming up for air for a loooong time.

Tomb Raider Trilogy Coming Exclusively to PS3 (What, No Guardian of Light?!)

Annnnnnd the hits just keep on coming, folks. In my second favorite game news of this past week, the latest games to get the HD repackaging treatment come to us from Eidos, Crystal Dynamics and publisher Square Enix in the form of The Tomb Raider Trilogy, shown here in its US and UK retail packaging. Set for a March 22, 2011 release (as physical media only - yes!), the upcoming compilation features high definition remastered versions of the PS2 hits Tomb Raider Legend (Crystal Dynamics first foray into the franchise, taking the development reins over from Core) and Tomb Raider Anniversary (a remake/re-imagining of the 1996 original) along with the PS3 game Tomb Raider Underworld. Additionally, the game will include cool bonuses such as trophy support for the PS2 games, a PS3 theme and two cool outfits players can use for their Home avatars (all below the jump).

Killzone 3 Story Trailer Shows Guerrilla Means Business

It's about a month away now and yes, for those that missed the first game and somehow didn't grasp the overall plot of the second (which didn't rehash the first game's story and didn't really need to, as the opening movie in Killzone 2 more than set the tone for the game), there's a lot more depth in the storytelling. As this video shows, Guerrilla has swung for the fences and knocked the wall over. Malcolm MacDowell and Ray WInstone's stellar voice talents add that extra air of necessary evil to their characters, huh? I can't wait to finally play the final build...

Gallery Update: Dynasty Warriors 7

As the lovely Sun Shang Xiang's come-hither (so she can kick your ass) stare shows, in terms of graphics, Omega Force is clearly doing its best work to date on this latest game in the long-running Warriors franchise. As you'll soon see in the gallery below the jump, the rest of the in game characters share that same level of polish. Fans of the series can expect a few tweaks to the familiar formula to go along with the upgraded visuals when the game hits retail on March 22, 2011 for the PS3 and Xbox 360.

Memo to Omega Force - nice new engine you've got there. Three words: Crimson. Sea. Sequel. Two more words: Destrega 2. Make it happen, people!

Gallery: Warriors: Legends of Troy

Koei Canada has been "quietly" working away on a very interesting twist to the long-running Sengoku Mousou franchise, Warriors: Legends of Troy, set to storm onto the PS3 and Xbox 360 across North America on March 8, 2011 (3/25/11 in the UK). On first glance, the game has the makings of the more familiar Dynasty Warriors series, a good thing for fans of the series who want more. However, the combination of Greek and Roman "historical" and mythological elements plus copious amounts of blood (and the Mature rating that comes with it) should give this one enough potential to draw in fans of everything from Spartan: Total Warrior, God of War, 300 and Showtime's awesomely gory Spartacus series. The grittier visual style here is in direct contrast to Omega Force's work (as you'll see in the latest Dynasty Warriors 7 screens), but this more realistic route fits the brutal hack & slash gameplay all the more.

Activision Wants You To Go To Hong Kong For Some True Crime...

Nope, it's NOT a contest with an amazing prize (although that would be really cool). It's just the single screen shot sent along to promote True Crime: Hong Kong along with a lengthy game description. In a nutshell, the upcoming PS3 and Xbox 360 game will be the first open-world game set in Hong Kong, it will feature a ton of familiar HK talent doing voice-overs, over 100 songs, hand-to-hand combat inspired by HK and Hollywood action flicks, guns galore (Woo, Woo!), plenty of illegal activities to participate in and I'm sure, a Mature rating based on all the other info in the sell sheet. If anything, it should be a heck of a lot better than Stranglehold was. Developer UFG (United Front Games) has quite a task at hand here, so I'll shut up until I get some hands-on time with the game...

X-Men Destiny Trailers 1 & 2: Silicon Knights Is Back In Action...

Normally, most super-hero games make me all yawny, but they've definitely been getting interesting over the past few years. X-Men Destiny is Activision and Marvel's newest take on the familiar mutants, allowing players to create and play as a completely unique mutant character as he or she carves out his or her own path in the upcoming action/adventure game. With developer Silicon Knights at the helm, this could be quite interesting. Like pretty much everything else out there, the game has a dedicated, official Facebook page you can go check out if you're wanting to dive in and interact with like minded mutant fans. Trailer 2 below the jump - enjoy!

Spare Parts Beams Up Simon Pegg For A Little VO

When last we saw and played Spare Parts, EA and bright lights Studios fun family-friendly robot-centric platformer for PSN and XBLA was coming along quite nicely. Here's a look at Simon Pegg, who's now attached to the project as the voice of Con-Rad, the ship's computer the two lead robots end up spending a bit of time interacting with - enjoy!

ICO & Shadow of the Colossus Collection Demo Shows Off The Benefit of Really Blurry Screen Photos

I'd initially planned NOT to use these ICO and Shadow of the Colossus Collection pics at all, but after much debate (well, not that much), I decided to run a few of the shots I took last month of the live demo of Sony's upcoming PS3 HD (and 3D)-enhanced twofer. If you've never played either game before on the PS2, you're in for a real treat. ICO is shorter and more puzzle/platform oriented, Shadow is much longer and has more action and they both show off some of the best hand-animated 3D characters you'll ever see. (You'll have to play them to get what each story is about - I'm not going to go ruin anything for anyone new to the games).

Anyway, you're getting two amazingly well-done, innovative gems with a nice HD polish for a great price. That 3D effect is an option for those with 3D TV's, by the way, but if you're fortunate enough to own a Bravia or other 3D setup, you'll see that the game looks absolutely spectacular. The blurrier the photo, the more incredible the effect is. So yes, the worst looking pic below the jump is the one where I had to stop taking pics and just watch more of the game being played (I didn't snap away when that first Colossus showed up, but the 3D there is nearly mind-blowing). This one's going to be a keeper...

Gallery: No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise

Travis Touchdown is baaaaaaaaack (and so are the ladies!), and this time, they're coming to you on the PS3 (with Move controller support, so go buy one if you haven't yet). You all get one guess what this one's going to be rated (don't let that RP fool you one bit). I absolutely loved the first two Wii games (quirks and all), so it will be ridiculously interesting to see how the game turns out on a more powerful platform. So far, Santa Destroy and its denizens look pretty darn slick in HD, that's for sure. Go ogle the screens below the jump - I'm off to play some games... (edit! a few more screens added)

Review: Amnesia: The Dark Descent

Platform: PC/Mac/Linux

Developer: Frictional Games

Publisher: Frictional Games

# of Players: 1

ESRB Rating: M (Mature)

Official Site

Score: A

If you think a good survival horror game involves big guns and running around shooting monsters 'til the cows come home, you really don't know much about the genre at all. There's a distinct difference between scooting around with a big grin ready to take on all comers and being too damn terrified to move, but being forced to because you have no choice but to do so or die. Based out of Helsingborg, Sweden, indie developer/publisher Frictional Games has been quietly crafting some truly terrifying horror experiences that go above and beyond the "expected" genre cliches. From 2006 to 2009, there were the three excellently frightening Penumbra games, first-person horror/adventures with great physics-based puzzles and death lurking where it was least expected. Their latest work, Amnesia: the Dark Descent should put them on the map and in the minds of more gamers who crave an innovative, purely fear-filled and brutally direct horror experience. If you want to play a game that will have you sleeping with under the bed with the lights on, a baseball bat, guard dog and security blanket, this one's for you.

Review: Desktop Dungeons

Platform: PC

Developer: QCF Design

Publisher: QCF Design

# of Players: 1

ESRB Rating: N/A

Official Site

Score: A+

I made a rather interesting "mistake" a few months back and I don't think I'll recover anytime soon, nor do I want to. I'd stopped playing Fallout: New Vegas while waiting for a patch to be released and one thing I did during that downtime was check out QCF Design's Desktop Dungeon, a free rogue-like RPG that condenses hours of gameplay into quick ten minute (or less) sessions. The "mistake" was downloading, then playing the game, thinking it would be yet another well-intentioned indie with a few too many charming flaws. Oops. That ten minute session (which was actually twelve, according to my PC clock) hooked me in and I've ended up finding a few minutes every other day or so to dive into DD for a quick session or eight. Best mistake I've ever made, but definitely very lousy for productivity, laundry and a few other non-Desktop Dungeons related things.

Hudson's Lost In Shadow Drifts Into Stores

Hudson's innovative adventure/platform/puzzle/action game (it does everything!) is in stores NOW. Go buy a copy if you have a Wii (you can thank me later). While I'm waiting for my reviewable to show up, you can keep yourselves busy reading some of my previous coverage on this gem.

Now Playing (Catch Up Version)

It might be a slow week for you folks dragging back to work or school after the holidays, but I've been busy working on a bunch of stuff, including polishing up and posting a few old reviews I mentioned a little while ago. In the meantime, I'm also getting around to a few (sort of) current releases such as Disney Epic Mickey, Namco Museum Megamix and a few other games I had queued up near the TV during the holiday crunch. I was thinking about making some Game of Last Year picks (a little in-joke there), but I'm still mixed on the idea of "best-of" lists, as they tend to ignore too many otherwsie excellent games in favor of being popularity contests.

For instance: how many of you guys and gals have played Din's Curse, Avernum 6, Plane Weaver, Amnesia: the Dark Descent, Alice in Wonderland (DS), Deadly Premonition, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, Dementium II, or Y's Seven? Now, those aren't all the games I'd add to my own "best of" list (which would have at least 50 titles on it, in case you're wondering), but it's just why most GOTY lists that ignore offbeat, well-made games such as these stink. Anyway, back to the salt mines... I've got games to finish playing!

Anime Review: DURARARA!! Volume 1 (Episodes 1 - 5)

As I'm finally back into the hobby after a bit of time away, I love diving into and enjoying new anime cold with either little to no knowledge of the source material or knowing that what I'm watching will most likely be slightly to significantly different than what's on the printed page. Ryoghyo Narita's lively cast of normal (and not so normal) residents of Ikebukuro, Tokyo are so far, quite an interesting bunch to watch (and amusingly enough, had me borrow the light novel set from a friend). Having just screened the first five episodes of Brains Base' DURARARA!!, I'm definitely wanting to see more.

Happy New Year! Er, Wait... Where The Heck Did LAST Year Go?

Yikes, last year went by FAST. Well, given that I was out of action for a good part of early to mid 2010, the second half of the year was pretty busy and mostly productive on a few fronts. I'm still planning to catch up on/complete and post some old reviews just to have them in the database here (which will be updated with its own search function at some point) along with some other cool stuff.

Amusingly enough, all I did most of yesterday was finally finish up two games I'd started a while ago and happened to find saves for while clearing some stuff off my hard drive. That's a screen from The Chosen: Well of Souls to the left, a single-player action RPG that's not quite the Diablo rip-off you'd think. Awful voice acting aside (except for the guy doing the final boss), it's a pretty long and tricky bit of hack 'n slash with some nicely varied stylized environments and some interesting tweaks to the usual formula. Not "Game of the Year" material, mind you, but developer Rebelmind sure knows how to make a decent chase & chop. Anyway, here's to a wildly amazing 2011 packed FULL of great games, new tech to play with and yup, more stuff to give away when I can swing it. Hang on and keep us bookmarked, folks - it's going to be a really interesting year...