Friday, April 23, 2010

A Tribute Post to a Fallen L4D1 Character

****Spoilers Ahead****




After four grueling campaigns and thousands of zombies later we came to love the survivors of the first Left 4 Dead game. Zoey, Louis, Bill, and Francis became fan favorites and with such an eclectic bunch everyone had a favorite character that they most identified with. For some, it was the hateful yet loveable Francis, for others it was Louis's optimism, or Zoey's cute but deadly demeanor, and who couldn't love Bill with his no-nonsense attitude. When Valve told the throngs of L4D gamers that one of the original cast members died in their new campaign "The Passing" it was a drag. Now the day has come for the big reveal. So who died in the latest campaign for Valve's zombie shooter?






It's a sad day for L4D fans. The zombie apocalypse seems a little less fun with ol' grizzled war vet Bill now gone. I can remember when he saved my ass more than a few times, and how his pill-popping habit always kept him on edge. There is no explanation as to how it went down, but with the upcoming DLC for the original L4D and a small comic book on the way we should know in the coming months. I want this post to be a tribute to our buddy William "Bill" Overbeck. Other sites did the same with their own tribute posts. Please feel free to comment and leave your thoughts below. Like the other sites, you can say your goodbyes or you can rant about how f***ed up it is that this happened in the first place. You can even rant about how it should have been Louis or anyone else for that matter. If you want to pay your respects to Bill in-game you can see him resting in the generator room on the last level of "The Passing." At least he died fighting as would be expected of Bill. He died with his beloved M-16 in hand and a still lit cigarette hanging from his mouth. Here is a screenshot from a tribute video on YouTube.


RIP


Bill




Left 4 Dead 2 "The Passing" Easter Eggs

Last night I almost made it through the entire campaign of new L4D2 DLC "The Passing" before having to go to bed. My review will be up this weekend, but so far this is a great addition to the zombie shooter. It's a little shorter than the other campaigns, but its extremely hectic and challenging on just the normal setting. You WILL run out of bullets. Besides being insanely and gleefully fun the new campaign is supposedly chock full of Easter eggs. No not the holiday kind, the game kind. Hidden little quips and objects that either reveal information on L4D2 story lines or pay homage to other games. For instance, the picture to the left (courtesy of Game Focus) is a tip of the hat to fellow zombie game Dead Rising and its hero Frank West. By far the coolest one that the fellas at Game Rant found is a brief glimpse of the Midnight Riders tour bus. Watch the video below! (Thanks Keith)

Other than that expect to have a ton of fun on multiplayer too. With the mutations being updated every week (this week is Realism Versus) tons of fun can be had with friends with fresh ideas like Chainsaw Massacre where each survivor only has a chainsaw to fight with! Enjoy!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Zombie News 14th Zombified Edition

So who is ready for some more zombie slaying madness from Valve? Me!! The long awaited DLC "The Passing" for Left 4 Dead 2 is releasing tomorrow for Xbox Live to the tune of 560 Microsoft points. Not too shabby. Especially considering what you get for it. A new campaign, new weapons, new multiplayer levels, new zombies, a chance to meet the old L4D crew, and last but least is the introduction of mutations. The new modes/mutations are things like Realism Versus and Chainsaw Massacre. I am really excited about that last one. Be ready to jump into some heated versus and scavenge games this weekend. wOOt!! I also found this hilarious parody on L4D2 on YouTube.


The only other zombie game out there worth mentioning in this zombified edition of the news is Dead Rising 2. It starts with a bunch of screenshots courtesy of Gamespot. We then have some very special video clips of our main man Chuck Greene, a special bonanza of videos from Dtoid, and an explanation of the (light) story elements in DR2 also from Dtoid. But the buck does not stop there because Dtoid comes through with a preview of the map for DR2 setting Fortune City. and because they are basically the only ones who talked with Blue Castle and got hands on time last week, they got the scoop on the Case Zero Prologue DLC set to come out this summer prior to the release of DR2. Whew! Is there anything they can't report on this game? Stellar reading and viewing material for us zombie lovers.
Well with all that zombie gaming news I am in a state of zombie nirvana. This has been a special edition of the news because it was all zombie related. Sure there were other things out there worth mentioning like the Lost Planet 2 Multiplayer Demo hitting Xbox Live yesterday but nothing was more enticing than just posting everything zombie. So that's what I did. Enjoy!

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Zombie News 13th Edition

Has it ever crossed your mind that maybe a holographic sight should be just that....holographic? In the new Ghost Recon game by Ubisoft and Tom Clancy they base their weapons and technology on what is really out in the field or what WILL be out in the field. I don't know how far this is from being a "real world gun," but aside from the other stuff pictured that holographic sight is friggin awesome.
So it was almost a week since my last last post and while that is normally out of sync with what is typical I can honestly say that it may become a tad bit more likely in the near future. My wife hasn't gone into labor yet, but she is VERY close. On to the news!

Game News

Red Dead Redemption Multiplayer via IGN. In my top two once I restore my Gamefly account.
Little Big Planet 2 Confirmed! This is gonna be good. The first one was amazing.
Sniper: Ghost Warrior game locations revealed over at Dtoid. Still not sure about this one.
Naughty Bear gameplay trailers at Gamespot. For those of you curious about a homicidal teddy bear on a rampage. Read on.
Splinter Cell has been getting a ton of press and good reviews. Here is a short list:
PS3 owners could see SC:Conviction. Just a speculative rumor. It's not ruled out nor confirmed.
Free weekly DLC. Yup that's right. Ubisoft steps up and knocks one out of the park. Love it.
PSN updates moving to Tuesdays starting in May. I guess Tuesday's are just better?

Cool Stuff

IGN has neat SC:Conviction Guide. Meh who needs guides! Bring on the trial and error!
Console sales chart. Very interesting.
Mega-man mural made out of post-it notes. Sweet!
Video games are mildly sleep inducing. Duh!

Other News

Some bone-head almost gets shot for SC:Conviction publicity stunt. Yeah I said WTF to this one too.
Infinity Ward studio is a shadow of its former self. The studio is "Dead" according to an insider. Not surprising since 12 of their top developers have bolted.

Closing bits n pieces

So with big name studio Infinity Ward going down the proverbial toilet what do you think will happen to the Modern Warfare series? Will it fail miserably? Or will EA now have two stellar FPS franchises under its belt? On a different note, I am well in to my time with Splinter Cell now. So far its great and I can hardly put the controller down. Look for my review later this month or early May at the latest. Until next time peeps!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

God of War 3 - The Review

God Of War 3
Released - 3/16/2010
Developer - Santa Monica Studio
Publisher - SCE
Platform - Playstation 3
ESRB Rating - M+


Review by - Mike (Game Zombie)

The brilliant minds behind the God of War series already created two masterpieces in the first two God of War games. Their last entry in this trilogy has garnered both critical and consumer praise as one of the best games on PS3 to date. All of the good scores and acclaim are typically good indicators of the quality of a game, but the only opinion that ever matters is your own and the only way to find out is to pick up a copy and play it yourself. While all the hype and previews and such told my senses this game looked good I still was holding out for various reasons (primarily because I did not have a PS3) and I hadn't kept up with the development much. It wasn't until my wife surprised me with a PS3 last month that I found myself controlling Kratos again. Here is where my review starts....

The Good

God of War 3 is one of the best games I have ever played. The team at Santa Monica Studio has clearly perfected the formula and firmly placed Kratos and the God of War franchise in the top echelons of gamedom. To be clear, I am not discounting the two previous installations as anything less than masterful, but with such pedigree preceding this one it's not typical for developers to match such effort repeatedly or exceed it for that matter. Let me also say that fans of the series will certainly see similarities between all three titles and for some of us that lack of "change" will weigh heavily on your opinion of a sequel(s). That being said, I can honestly say that with this game the refinement of an already stellar gameplay formula and the details added to the combat, weapons, and level design was more than what was needed. For all intents and purposes Sony could have have just taken GOW2 slapped a new label on it and it would have sold many copies. Instead they took what wasn't broke and applied a level polish that has to be seen.

***Spoilers Ahead****

Ok so enough ranting. You want details right? At the beginning of GOW3 we pick up where we left off with Kratos hitching a ride on the back of the Titan Gaia as she scales the side of Mt. Olympus seeking the death of Zeus and the end of Olympian rule. In the first 30 minutes you will be in awe of the scale of your battlegrounds. Kratos fights off enemies while clinging to Gaia's arms and back. Even as Gaia loses her grip on the mountain Kratos uses his blades to hang upside down on her massive arm. In this first act you will go up against the God Poseidon whose mastery of the sea unleashes a gigantic water-horse-crab thing upon Gaia. She pleads for Kratos' help and the first boss battle ensues. As you chop away at Poseidon's attack you eventually reduce the battle to just him and Kratos. After beating back Poseidon's onslaught he is reduced to a battered human form and what follows sets the tone for the rest of the game's boss battles. He beats the god to a bloody pulp in a brutal manner. So brutal, I actually winced a few times.

While I am on the topic of brutality, God of War 3 personifies the term and takes it a step further. While progressing through the game you will fight boss battles with absolutely horrific endings for said bosses. For example, the sun-god Helios eventually crosses your path and Kratos is none too kind to his radiant cranium. During a circle-button mashing frenzy Kratos will rip Helios' head right off his body as he screams in shear agony. It's one of the sickest and coolest moments in gaming lore. The best part is that Helios' head still packs a bunch of sun shining power in it and being the resourceful spartan warrior that he is, Kratos artfully takes it with him on his journey. It proves useful for lighting his way in dark caves, blinding your enemies with a flash of light, and revealing hidden objects and doorways. Who knew!? Kratos is certainly a head of the game. Sorry I couldn't resist.

Bad-ass brutal boss battles (say 5 times fast) are a staple of the series as is the excellent combat system. The developers at Santa Monica Studio have refined the combat system to include some truly awesome and satisfying combos for Kratos to utilize. This can especially be seen with the new weapons Kratos acquires. In the previous titles Kratos could switch weapons and magic with the d-pad and ONLY the d-pad. Now the system allows for switching weapons on the fly via the L1+X button combo. Using this new feature Kratos will automatically cycle through his new weapons and can unleash devastating combos. What's more is that how you use magic in the game is much simpler and fits this same flow. Each weapon has an associated powerful magic ability and as you switch weapons on the fly you also switch to the corresponding magic. The system works so well that at certain points in the game I was pulling off 170 hit combos on multiple enemies! Insane fun! All of the weapons in God of War 3 can be upgraded as you go and each upgrade will unlock increased damage and new moves. By the end of the game, you can absolutely wreck shop on most enemies. The last weapon you receive in the game is by far my favorite and the most powerful. I won't spoil it for you, but it makes all the difference later in the game when fighting hordes of enemies. The developers did a fairly good job of making use of the unique abilities by making some levels and enemy types require them. For instance, Kratos acquires The Cestus, which is a pair of evil looking gauntlets that can break bones, bash heads in, and break certain objects. Some enemies will have blue shields that can only be broken by the Cestus gauntlets, and some levels require them in order to proceed. Hell towards the end of the game I was still using Helios' decapitated head for revealing enemies. It all helps to change up the action and add some strategy to the combat.

Let's switch gears for second and talk about the level design. In short, I thought every level was a challenge on normal difficulty and well laid out. While not particularly known for its platforming per se, God of War has got a few areas where platforming comes in and puzzles give us a change of pace from the mostly battle heavy journey. One thing is certain, the graphics are a jaw-dropping 10 with Kratos taking center stage along with the gods and titans. Astounding to say the least. Most likely the best graphics on PS3 to date. Another thing to mention is the excellent camera work. Not one time did I notice a hitch in frame rate either. At one point in the game I actually sat and marveled at the epic scale and graphic spectacle that was the titan Kronos.

Before I conclude my review, I would be crazy for not mentioning Kratos's encounter with the goddess of love Aphrodite. Needless to say the topless Aphrodite is a hungry woman with no couth. Upon sight of Kratos she literally throws herself at him. This is where the obligatory sex mini-game comes in. The whole scene is very well played up with Aphrodite moaning and groaning while you push the right button (no pun intended) as her well-endowed (also topless) hand maidens watch and comment on your virtual prowess. On top of that you eventually learn that all the while her husband is essentially next door. Not like he could have done anything about it anyway. How many times will you shag the goddess of love? It's up to you. I wanted to be thorough for this review, but I lost count. I can tell you that you are basically wasting your time if do it more than twice. That's all I'm saying about that.

The bad

Is there anything bad? No. Nothing major. Two minor things that are hardly worth mentioning are: 1) You will die. Alot. Majority of the time its your own fault. But some of the deaths are cheap, but that's because timing can kill. Although some have complained about button response during jumps. Be prepared to fight the same battle more than few times. 2) The other small complaint is how easy the puzzles are. GOW never had head-banging puzzles in it, but if its in there, make it something worthy of the rest of the game right?

Conclusion - 9.8

So does Kratos get his revenge and kill his father Zeus the King of the Gods? That should go without saying. While not a mind-shattering ending, it was certainly an enjoyable and satisfying one. There isn't a whole lot of replay value besides maybe going through and using certain items you found after you beat the game or going for trophies (achievements). Nevertheless this is one kick-ass ride you shouldn't miss. God of War 3 is the pinnacle of a series that is awash in praise. This is as good as it gets.

Gears of War 3 Announcement - April 2011

Cliff made it official last night on Jimmy Fallon's show. Gears of War 3 is in development, and is slated for a April 2011 release. Gamers rejoice!! Finally we will be able to see what kind of ending series heroes Marcus and Dom will endure. The April release for this game is interesting to me. It seems to follow a recent trend for big name titles being released during spring versus the traditional onslaught of stellar holiday titles. I think publishers are starting to realize that gamers will buy at any point in the year and that competition is stiff during the last half of the year, which translates to potentially fewer sales numbers. In any case, this is a great series and having played through both titles I am eager to see where this train stops. Knowing Cliffy B, it will be one hell of a ride. I hope the difficulty is ramped up a bit because Gears 2 was a breeze for me and my bud. Ok so the big release has a big trailer to accompany it right? Hell yes it does.


I particularly took note of two things in the trailer, 1) Dom has a fantastic beard and 2) A female solider (Anaya?) hands Dom a rifle. Does that mean my wife can play co-op as a female COG soldier now? Here's hoping. Below are a few links to gaming sites with more info on the release. Enjoy.

Gears of War 3 - IGN, Gamespot, Destructoid
***UPDATE****
Dtoid reported via Cliffy B's twitter that 4 player co-op will be in the Gears 3 campaign. Boo-yah!

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Zombie News 12th Edition

Greetings gamers! What zombie lover can go around saying that they have a zombie plush doll that can be dismembered and then put back together lovingly only to be viciously ripped apart again at any moment? You can! The doll pictured to the left is called the "Dismember-Me Zombie Doll" and ThinkGeek.com sells it for about $13. Click the pick for a link to the site. I like how the little brain can be taken out. It's all about the details man. So in the gaming world their are some interesting things going on. Scroll down to see the news and get the scoop.

Game News

Uncharted 2 DLC is close at hand.
Konami has teases us with a new Silent Hill and remake of the classic Rush'N'Attack.
Serious Sam HD will hit PC and Xbox Live later this spring. I loved that game! Intense!
IGN says Portal 2 may hit PS3 consoles after all. That would be a nice treat from Valve. Fingers crossed!
Gamespot has a Lost Planet 2 Hands-On with the campaign mode including co-op.

Reviews

IGN pulls the trigger first and reviews Splinter Cell: Conviction. A 9.3!

Cool Stuff

Gamestop will be holding a midnight launch for Splinter Cell this week

Other News

Blockbuster rumored to start mailing games. Netflix? Not so much.
Activision and ex-Infinity Ward studio heads are going head-to-head. Modern Warfare 3 development could be delayed. Another lawsuit? Geez.

Final Chew

Not much else to add here to except that I am VERY close to the end of God of War 3. Look for my review later this week. Splinter Cell is releasing this Tuesday and I am so ready to dive into this one. Lastly, I should forewarn all my loyal readers that my wife is due to go into labor any day now, so Game Zombie could go on hiatus for a week at any time. Until later! Keep gaming!

Friday, April 9, 2010

Zombie News 11th Edition

The picture to the left is priceless and true milestone in zombie gaming. I am of course talking about Deadrising for the Xbox 360. This sleeper hit was one of the very first games I bought for my 360. Deadrising featured the slow shambling zombie instead of the psycho fast ones in Left 4 Dead or the movie 28 Days Later. The scene depicted to the left, while being very ominous looking, was escapable believe it or not. What isn't escapable is the release of Splinter Cell: Conviction on Tuesday 4/13. Oh yeah. What also isn't escapable, is my review of God of War III. I am nearing the end and with a few more hours of play time I will be ready to share it with you. On to the news!

Game News

Just Cause 2 is a great game for destruction. Now you can destroy things in a Ice-Cream Van. Free.
Gamespot gets hands-on with Red Dead Redemption Multiplayer. After I wear my eyeballs out playing SCC, this game is next.
Gears of War 3 announced. IGN has the scoop. You can blame Justin Bieber.
Madden 11 Screens at Gamespot. Seriously, what could be different from Madden 10?
Grab Mass Effect 2 DLC "Kasumi's Stolen Memory" here.
Dtoid reports Alan Wake coming to Europe sooner than US. May 14th mate.
Modern Warfare 2 Stimulus Pack hitting PS3 and PC May 4th.
Sniper: Ghost Warrior Debut Trailer. Not Bad!






Reviews

Mass Effect 2 - Kasumi's Stolen Memory DLC
Mega Man 10 for Ps3

Cool Stuff




Japanese company called Hori makes portable HD screen for PS3. Dtoid reporting.









Other News

Apple iPhone OS 4.0 will have Game Center. A social networking platform for the iPhone/iPad that will have achievements, leaderboards, and matchmaking. Look out Nintendo and Sony.

Closing Chomp

I am really excited about the new iPhone OS. Gizmodo and Engadget have some great in-depth previews of what the new OS will entail. This next week of blogging should get pretty exciting as I should have a review for God of War 3 up and a first-impressions of Splinter Cell. It's gonna be fun! Game Zombie reader Mark should is still plodding through Final Fantasy XIII and that game is like 3 discs or something. Insane. I don't have the patience and at this rate, the review might come in sometime later this year! Well until next time. Later Zombies!!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

A super new Alan Wake trailer. Excited yet? You should be.

Remedy, the developer that brought us Max Payne, is set to release its next big thing. Maybe you've heard of it, it's called Alan Wake. Yeah so what if they named this game after the game's protagonist again? It's just their style. At least they don't name their main characters Cha-Chi or Buford. Alan Wake actually sounds cool. While its not an original idea for the crew at Remedy, it still works. The phrase 'Don't judge a book by its cover' comes to mind. So official word from the Alan Wake forums indicates that the team is officially done with the game and has passed certification. For good measure Microsoft has released a new 4 minute trailer on the game via Xbox Live, but I'm impatient and decided to embed the video below.


An extremely well done trailer. They do a great job of setting the scene without giving too much away. It actually draws me in and leaves me wanting more. Want more reasons to be excited about Alan Wake? Two words - Episodic Content. DLC for Alan Wake has been confirmed and has been dubbed as episodic in nature. Does that mean after the story in Bright Falls we can explore beyond? Only time will tell.

Getting excited about Alan Wake is easy for me for two reasons. 1) The psychological action-thriller this is tabbed as peaks my interest right off the bat. I love books, movies, and TV shows with weird and unexplainable events that keep you on edge. The psycho-action part...well that speaks for itself. 2) The gameplay is exciting and fresh. It brings me back to the first time I played the original Resident Evil and the feeling I got from exploring my surroundings and trying to put the pieces of the story together. The story is key.

May 18th is the Alan Wake release date. I don't know when, but this game will surely be in my library.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Zombie News 10th Edition

First Nibble

April will kick off what should be an unusually good crop of games coming out. Traditionally, this is a slow time of year in the gaming industry, but this quarter has a substantial amount of promise to it with some hotly anticipated titles coming out. Over the weekend I read OXM's 4-page cover story on Ghost Recon: Future Solider and they have really brought the excitement level for this title up a few notches. I took some time this Easter weekend and played some more Assassin's Creed 2 and God of War 3. I am beginning to understand why AC2 was Game of the Year last year and why God of War 3 is the pinnacle of what the series should be. I know I still have a review to post on it, but I am juggling that with the many other things going on. Trust me though, the game is fantastic and must buy for any GOW fan.

Game News

A new Zombie game on Xbox Live. Zombie Square. Let me know how it is.
Borderlands Add-on pack is shipping out now.
BLUR multiplayer beta open to all next week.
A wealth of Halo: Reach news from Bungie.

Other News

A Pokemon MMO? Not any more, Nintendo smacks the fan-made site like a pimp.
Microsoft does some pimp-slapping of its own. Suing Datel over controller design.

Cool Stuff

Plants vs. Zombies plushies? Yes please!
Milla Jovovich returns in yet another Resident Evil movie. Trailer here.


I know it was released back in Nov.09, but its still awesome. Assassin's Creed 30-minute short film.

Closing Cut

Well that's all the news worth of posting over the weekend. I had great time watching the AC2 short film. First time I have watched it actually, and I thought it was spectacular. I really hope someone will take this to the feature-film level. Speaking of feature film, ALL of you Zombies should have April 16th marked on your calendar for the opening night of the movie "Kick-Ass" which I am totally geeked up for. Catch the trailers on YouTube. My kind of film! Til' next time peeps!

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Zombie News 9th Edition

First Shot

How perfect is this news edition picture? It works so well with my blog (and color scheme) that I would like to give mad props to whomever created it...if I could find them. So if you are out there and this is your creation bravo! Ok back to business, I have a lot of news to post. Can anyone seriously give some feedback on the new Modern Warfare map pack? I refuse to buy it. In fact, I am considering trading it in for, dare I say it, Battlefield BC 2! No, actually I'm not going that route, instead, I would look at trading it for Red Dead Redemption, or Alan Wake. Seriously! I just don't feel the love for MW2 anymore. It's worth more to me as a trade in. Don't fret my fellow zombies I haven't pulled the trigger on this, but don't be surprised if I do. With the lineup coming out this next few months it will be hard to resist not cashing it in. Plus its like EVERYONE plays MW2. I tend to go own my own direction away from the flow. Dare to be different people!

Game News

IGN expresses their disgust with the MW2 Stimulus Package. I concur.
Lost Planet 2 release date gets pushed UP to May 11th plus a demo on the way. Here is a preview
Dtoid has some new screenshots of Alan Wake.
Dtoid also reports that Battlefield 1943 topped a million downloads on Live.
Saints Row 3 will be "Mindblowing." I think the previous games are hilarious.
Things just keep getting weirder when it comes to the game The Grinder.
Speaking of the grinder, here is how the new top-down shooter will look on 360, PS3, and PC.
Dante's Inferno Godlike Pack released. Dante vs. Kratos in a cage match, who wins? $5 on Kratos


Reviews
Resonance of Fate Review (RPG) at Gamespot.
Nintendo DSi XL Reviews Dtoid, Gizmodo, GamePro. Is it really that much better?

Cool Stuff

Gamespot has some cool gameplay videos of Sam Fisher in the SC:Conviction Demo.
Street Fighter characters Zombified! Fan-friggintastic! Great artist.
Download the kick-ass SC:Conviction Launch Trailer for your Xbox 360.
Possible Gears of War 3 announcement on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon April 8th.


Other News

I can't believe this guy had the balls to do this, but Joystiq reported that some schmoe tried to steal the game code for Breach from PAX east show.
IW doesn't think MW2 can be beat. Really? Two words - Ghost Recon.

Closing Spew

Well that's the news my zombie brethren. Lots of good stuff out there. Enjoy the feast my friends and forgot to come up for air once in awhile. Also, where is my Final Fantasy review that reader Mark offered up? I could use some more contributors so volunteers please speak up if you are interested. Not much glamour doing this sort of thing, but its fun and I'm hoping it turns into something one day. Until next time!