The story behind Activision’s attempt to revive its True Crime series is an interesting one and, at one point, a sad one. The company hired United Front Games to work on True Crime: Hong Kong, and even announced it during the 2010 Spike TV Video Game Awards show. However, months after its development (and a pretty good E3 showcase), the company chose to cancel the project, feeling it wouldn’t live up to its potential. Now that COULD’VE been a sad story, had Square Enix not picked up the pieces and opted to release the game as an original adventure called Sleeping Dogs. But it did.
When you develop something that’s considered one of the better games out there, it’s often hard to move on to the next project, as most folks will usually demand more of the same or, as tradition usually calls for, a sequel. Kim Swift, the developer of Valve’s uber-hit Portal, has managed to do this, though, as her team at Airtight Studios showed us the other night at the Square Enix event with its upcoming Quantum Conundrum. We gave this delightful little digital treat a run-through in a hands-on demo.
Last night’s Square Enix get-together event at the Game Developers Conference provided plenty of opportunity to hobnob with fellow journalists and some great Square Enix PR folk. But it also provided the chance to check out what was coming up from the company. And while we would’ve killed to give the new Tomb Raider a go, we did get a few other upcoming titles in its place. Among them, some new downloadable content for the company’s top-notch role-playing game, Final Fantasy XIII-2.
At the Game Developers Conference, there are plenty of surprises making the rounds, with new reveals happening and information dropping on new projects. Sony was expecting to make some PlayStation Vita announcements over the course of the week, big new games that would carry their new handheld system into the fall system. However, thanks to a leak over at Play.com, we have an idea of what these projects could very well be…
Usually, when Square Enix announces a launch title for a new system, it’s something that’s from their storied library of role-playing games or, as of late, a resurrection of a franchise from Eidos, like Tomb Raider. But with the PlayStation Vita, it turned to an unlikely source for inspiration with its debut title – hell. Yep, in Army Corps of Hell, you’re a demonic overlord who’s been wrongfully unseated from his throne – and it’s up to you and your goblin horde to reclaim it.
United Front Games (UFG), the developer behind Sony’s hit franchise, ModNation Racers, has been busy recreating Hong Kong for its new game, Sleeping Dogs. Originally called True Crimes: Hong Kong with Activision on board as the publisher, game was canceled by Activision and then picked up by Square Enix. Sleeping Dogs is now scheduled to ship for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC in the second half of 2012. Check out the game in action in the trailer below.
I love how the App Store is picking up in quality games. Unfortunately, with that comes an escalated price. Take SoulCalibur, for instance. A decent port, sure, but it’s missing a lot of the stuff that made the Dreamcast original so grand, and it’s going for…$17? C’mon, the Xbox Live Arcade version is only $10. That said, there are some games that do validate their worth. And one of them, believe it or not, is Taito’s Dariusburst SP.
I wasn’t the biggest fan in the world of Final Fantasy XIII. Number one, role-playing games aren’t my bread and butter anyway, though good ones, like Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, still find a way to suck up all my time. Number two, the game just wasn’t nearly as engaging to me as previous chapters in the series, nor some of my favorite Square Enix RPG’s, like Chrono Trigger and Secret of Mana. (Maybe I’m SNES spoiled.) That said, Final Fantasy XIII-2 is a step in the right direction, and a little more involving than its predecessor…despite a few hiccups.
Consoles and PC's have had a slow month interms of new AAA quality games arriving for your respected platform. While January got off to a slow start, it quickly recovered to bring us high quality tittles through digital distribution. Plenty of great downloadable arcade tittles were made available through XBLA, PSN and Steam, giving us many hidden gems on the digital marketplace. Let's look back at the games we reviewed over the past month.
Every Tuesday, Sony brings its PlayStation faithful new content, add-ons for your favorite games, Themes and avatars for your PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable. Not the best week for new content for new content on the PSN. If you missed Duke Nukem Forever then here is your chance to get the king as he finally makes his debut on current gen consoles. Not the best game on the market, but worth a pick up if your Duke Nukem Fan.
Del Rey, an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group, is publishing the second novel based on the Hitman video game series from Io Interactive. Hitman: Damnation will be written by author Raymond Benson and will release in North America in summer 2012 before launching internationally. Square Enix’ IO Interactive is developing Hitman: Absolution for release this year, which can be seen in the video below.
Know what we don't see too much of anymore? 2-D platformers. Granted, we did just get Rayman Origins last year, which is absolutely fantastic (and $20 at Toys R' Us if you somehow missed out), but we mean like the classic platformer, the kind where you could go about your journey, collecting stuff and beating enemies with combos. Well, Square Enix and TikGames have brought that feeling back with ScaryGirl, and while it's got its problems, it's still a haunting good time.
Square Enix and developer Entersphere have a brand new adventure for PlayStation Vita. Army Corps of Hell brings a new level of vicious combat, dark humor and lightning-quick action to the PS Vita system. Players control an army of a hundred goblin soldiers with various classes and abilities to defeat a host of enemies in order to reclaim the King of Hell’s throne. In Army Corps of Hell, players can take full advantage of the unique control features of the PS Vita system to experience war like never before. Check out the exclusive walkthrough video below.
It's great to see that a lot of our classic favorites from yesteryear are finding a new life on the digital front, through App Store downloads for the iPad and iPhone. We've already experienced such games as the Dragon's Lair series, Atari's Greatest Hits, and others, and Taito has been contributing with its own fair share of classics. Their latest brings back the old Sega Saturn shooter Galactic Attack, also known overseas and in the App Store as Rayforce. It brings back a much-needed dose of old school to the market...though it does so at a tremendous price.
You don’t mess with Agent 47. You may not even know he’s there, but if you’re in his sights, you might as well draw up your will and say goodbye to everything, because chances are you won’t survive. The master CIA assassin has been doing his damage for the past few years, and this fall, he continues on his suave yet destructive journey of perfect kills with Hitman: Absolution. Square Enix recently invited us down to its suite during the Consumer Electronics Show to get a better look at the game.
