Videogames highlights - September-December 2009
Shank
After the exploit of the wonderful Braid, I’m seriously starting to become excited by the indie gaming development scene. Realized by Canadian studio Klei Entertainment, Shank is exactly part of the aforementioned scene and it’s a strictly 2D horizontal scrolling action game, a bit like there were so many back in the days of 16 and 32 bits. A cartoon graphics that slightly softens the extreme violence with which the protagonist slices his enemies, giant bosses and many weapons complete the game’s formula. Available on PC, Xbox 360 and (maybe) PS3 on an unknown date.
Splatterhouse
Even Namco Bandai follows the trend of old classics remakes. Splatterhouse (one of my favorite games ever) is based on the original arcade game released in 1988, the story is more or less the same and always acts as the excuse to dismember the monstrous creatures assailing the protagonist in waves. What’s different is obviously the advanced technology and the 3D graphics, thanks to which it is now possible to render on screen a violence that wasn’t even conceivable 20 years ago. And if at that time Splatterhouse already set off controversy, I can very well imagine the reactionary hostility this remake will have to face. To be released during the third quarter of 2010 for Xbox 360 and PS3.
Tales of Monkey Island capitolo 5
And so even Tales of Monkey Island come to an end, with the release of the fifth chapter (”Rise of the Pirate God”) for PC at the beginning of the past December. And it surely must have been a remarkable finale, judging from the following screenshots and video clip. Anyway I will wait for the publishing of all the five episodes on DVD before playing the game, maybe I will be able to even enjoy an Italian translation then.
Torchlight
Ok, Blizzard is currently developing a sequel to the never too much praised (and played…) Diablo II. But the company of Blizzard original founders (Runic Games) designed, developed and marketed (on October as digital download and on January through retail channels) what has already been described as the best Diablo-inspired game in years. In Torchlight (PC) the player controls a character belonging to one of the three available classes (Destroyer, Alchemist and Vanquisher) and kills monsters after monsters in randomized dungeons, until he/she confronts the source of all the evilness affecting the fantasy world on the background.
A pleasant graphics even though able to run on aged hardware (the game is based on the OGRE open source engine and incredibly doesn’t need a GPU which supports programmable shaders), an almost-isometric perspective even if in 3D, a Diablo-alike game system and a strong vocation for modding are the traits of a game that ends up being a lot upward in my long list of games to install. It would be worth the effort just only to listen again to the magical music atmospheres that composer Matt Uelmen is able to create.
Tron: Evolution
The long awaited movie return of the “grandfather” of all the videogame-themed films couldn’t help but bring a new game for Xbox 360, PC and PS3. So on November 2010 the currently enigmatic videogame Tron: Evolution will be the forerunner of the film Tron Legacy that Disney will release just before Chrstmas. I’m already warming up the virtual engines of my Light Cycle…
Zombie Driver
Among the many ways in which it is possible to wipe out hordes of ravenous zombies, the one aboard a car equipped with any sort of weapons must surely be one the most funny. Zombie Driver developers must have thought so, and the result is exactly a game in which everything that needs to be done is to slaughter an endless amount of undead aboard a taxi or other four-wheeled vehicle by using machine guns, flame-throwers, lasers, rocket launchers and many more. Zombie Driver has been released on December 4, 2009 for Microsoft Windows, the download price is cheap ($ 9.95) and I’m already taking my credit card to purchase it. This February will be a bloody month…
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Thanks for this post !
Always an excellent (p)review.
[ ]´s from a Brazil fan of this site !
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