Video Games
Updated over 1 year ago
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Here's an early look at what you can expect from Supergiant Games' debut title.
Here's an early look at what you can expect from Supergiant Games' debut title.
Others compare the game's art style and colorful presentation to games from Vanillaware, like Odin Sphere or Muramasa: The Demon Blade. Some came away from the trailer sensing that some world-building would be involved, like some kind of new-fangled ActRaiser. A couple of you thought the narrator in the trailer might be Ron Perlman doing his Fallout narrator voice. None of these are quite right, but initial impressions, at least, place Bastion in some pretty good company.
We were able to play a brief piece of of Supergiant's new project, which is the same version that will be on display at the Penny Arcade Expo this weekend in Seattle. Before we go much further, maybe you should take a look at the first few minutes of this prototype version.
The way the narration reacts to what you do, as you do it is the first big stand-out thing about Bastion. The way it keeps up with you as you're finding new things almost feels like magic... or play-by-play commentary from a sports game applied to a game where you're swinging a giant hammer at guys made out of gas. These early portions in the video feel pretty chatty, but since you're being introduced to a bunch of new things right at the start, it seems to make sense. Also, the narrator is a great introduction to the tone of Bastion. He's not talking about ghosts and slimes. He's talking about "gas fellas" and "scumbags." You aren't just picking up "rock" or "gem" upgrades. You're finding "somethin' heavy" and "somethin' shiny." Bastion strikes that very deliberate tone right out of the gate, and it leaves you wanting more of that style at the end of the demo. The narrator is why we've decided to run some raw gameplay footage--talking over the whole thing in a Quick Look would sort of defeat the purpose.
As you probably noticed in the video, The Kid seems to be heading in the direction of the Bastion, a designated spot for the people of his once-whole city to head for in case of emergency. Once you get there, you'll be able to rebuild it, adding buildings that allow you to swap out or upgrade weapons, or another that lets you enable various beverages that confer specific bonuses, such as the ability to carry more health potions. The early part of the game shown makes it sound like the basic loop would be to go out into an area, collect objects, then bring them back to your base of operations, where you'll attempt to reverse whatever it was that caused your world to get blasted apart into sections of flying rock in the first place. The developers didn't want to elaborate on their plans for the later parts in the game, but as you might expect, it sounds like there's more to it than simple collection. On top of that, there are plans in the works for an asymmetrical co-op feature. I asked, but wasn't getting anywhere when trying to get more details. It sounds like there's a lot more to Bastion still to be revealed.
And the plan is for us to be there to reveal it. We'll have the team from Supergiant Games on our Big Live Live Show: Live on September 9, including Greg Kasavin, who joins Bastion's development team today as Creative Director on the project. We're also planning a regular series that will let you guys ask questions and check in to see what the heck it's like to be a small team chasing your indie game development dreams. I should also state here, up front, before we get going, that due to the way we've decided to create ongoing programming based on Bastion and its developers--one of whom was a close coworker of ours for a lot of years--we're opting to not review Bastion when it's released. I suspect that, by the time it's finished, we'll all be a little too close to it to render an untainted verdict, so it's best to just state that now, so everyone's clear. Cool? We'll have more on September 9, and we hope you enjoy seeing what we've got planned for the months ahead.
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Well, the relevance of "Still Alive" is questionable, but Chime is pretty cool.
Well, the relevance of "Still Alive" is questionable, but Chime is pretty cool.
A ton of new CoD: Black Ops info, Mario All-Stars returns, & IGN gears up for PAX.
Hot Korean nurses, good pickup lines, and what to do when you (accidentally) cheat on your fiance.
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Wait a minute, that's not right. Anyway, here's some battle footage narrated by Creative Assembly devs.
Wait a minute, that's not right. Anyway, here's some battle footage narrated by Creative Assembly devs.
You see? This is what happens when you don’t always bet on Duke. You’re going to be taken for a ride. 
Last week, we heard a rumor that, somehow, the long-in-development Duke Nukem Forever--currently in a state of limbo after 3D Realms was forced to lay off the development team due to the company's inability to continue self-funding the game--was going to be “resurrected” in the hands of Texas-based developer Gearbox, the developers of last year’s excellent first-person RPG, Borderlands. When asked to comment on the rumor, Gearbox president/Samba De Amigo fan Randy Pitchford tweeted that he would be able to "clarify" the rumor at this weekend’s PAX.
And now, just days before the start of PAX and that supposed clarification, George Broussard, current president of the empty office that is 3D Realms, tweeted the following image.
Huh. Flying pigs.
Wait. Isn't there some sort of metaphorical significance of flying pigs? Aren’t pigs supposed to fly when something super crazy and unexpected happens? And hey! What’s up with the sunglasses on that pig in the front? It kind of look like that flying pig is wearing Duke Nukem’s glasses.
That’s weird.
I’m sure this doesn’t mean anything. I mean, it’s not like this image somehow corroborates the rumor, right? I mean, it’s crazy to say this image indicates that, yes, Duke Nukem Forever is once again in development, and Gearbox is somehow involved with that new development, and that we will hear more information on the current arrangement at PAX.
That would just be crazy, right? Right?
Developer Outerlight, in collaboration with Ubisoft, has licensed Valve's Source Engine to create their own not-so-serious and cartoon-inspired shooter this Fall. Bloody Good Time, as it's being called, will be an online-focused competitive romp that appears to be attempting to capture the hearts and minds of "irreverent" FPS enthusiasts with its own breed of ridiculous melee and shooter action.
Built for up to eight players simultaneously, Bloody Good Time is being suggested to focus more on mayhem-causing weaponry than your typical range of guns. In the press materials, it's mentioned that players will be able to use items like frying pans and remote-controlled rats in addition to the normal arms like the one you see just below.
If you're wondering why the characters look like they do, it's because the game is riffing on B-Movie actors and sub-AAA movies. In fact, the entire game takes place on a Hollywood movie set with silly locations such as Vegas hotels and summer beach houses. The sets also come with actors who dress like, well, bunnies, clowns, and starving security guards.
Not much more is being announced about Bloody Good Time right now, but it seems possible that it will at least have some sort of campaign mode--the press materials mention specifically that the online portion is just an "option."
Want to see more of BGT? Look no further.
Built for up to eight players simultaneously, Bloody Good Time is being suggested to focus more on mayhem-causing weaponry than your typical range of guns. In the press materials, it's mentioned that players will be able to use items like frying pans and remote-controlled rats in addition to the normal arms like the one you see just below.
If you're wondering why the characters look like they do, it's because the game is riffing on B-Movie actors and sub-AAA movies. In fact, the entire game takes place on a Hollywood movie set with silly locations such as Vegas hotels and summer beach houses. The sets also come with actors who dress like, well, bunnies, clowns, and starving security guards.
Not much more is being announced about Bloody Good Time right now, but it seems possible that it will at least have some sort of campaign mode--the press materials mention specifically that the online portion is just an "option."
Want to see more of BGT? Look no further.
Mortal Kombat is pretty serious business here at Giant Bomb, and our two resident Shaolin Monks--Brad Shoemaker and Jeff Gerstmann--have conflicting perspectives on which Mortal Kombat, exactly, is the best Mortal Kombat. Any attempt at a compromise would just leave the office littered with rib cages and femurs, so for this week's Thursday Night Throwdown, you'll be able to pick your poison, outlander! Brad will be manning the sticks on Mortal Kombat II for PlayStation Network, while Jeff will be handing out fatalities left and right in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 on Xbox Live Arcade.
If you want in on the action, there's still room on the GBTNT friend list on both platforms, though keep in mind that if you don't already own UMK3 on XBLA, you're out of luck, as it's no longer available for sale on the Marketplace. If you don't own it already, MKII is still available for purchase on PSN, and for a mere $4.99 at that!
You can watch the pixelated bloodbath in the video player below, or hop over to the Giant Bomb chat page and kick it with like-minded fight fans. Yes, it will be two glorious hours of palette-swap ninjas, spiked pits, fatalities, babalities, friendships, and more, all starting today at 4PM Pacific Daylight Time! Join us, won't you?
If you want in on the action, there's still room on the GBTNT friend list on both platforms, though keep in mind that if you don't already own UMK3 on XBLA, you're out of luck, as it's no longer available for sale on the Marketplace. If you don't own it already, MKII is still available for purchase on PSN, and for a mere $4.99 at that!
You can watch the pixelated bloodbath in the video player below, or hop over to the Giant Bomb chat page and kick it with like-minded fight fans. Yes, it will be two glorious hours of palette-swap ninjas, spiked pits, fatalities, babalities, friendships, and more, all starting today at 4PM Pacific Daylight Time! Join us, won't you?
Bit.Trip creators Gaijin Games is poised to make its first foray as a self-published developer in the downloads space. Its first game, according to a blog post on studio's official website, will be a collaboration with App Store-developer Different Cloth and 16-bit Music to bring their iPhone title Lilt Line to WiiWare.
Lilt Line is like what I imagined would happen if Guitar Hero married PC classic Snake and then had a special kid named "Lilt Line." It's a music-based joint that puts you behind the wheel of a simple, unimaginative white line across a series of fractal mazes brimming with psychedelics that rumble and strobe alongside fast and eclectic electronic beats.
The goal is to steer the line through each maze, all the while using the handheld's tilt functionality to maneuver and its touch capabilities to slip through white hot barriers that appear in sync with the current level's music. All in all, it's a basic game that should translate well to the Wii's unusual inputs.
"Lilt Line has been a labor of love for us over here at Gaijin Games," Gaijin Games' Alex Neuse wrote on the studio's blog. "The original version was created by differentcloth for the iPhone, and the moment I saw it, I fell in love with the game."
"I’m sure it comes as no surprise that I’m a huge fan of rhythm/music gameplay, and when I contacted the fine folks behind the original, we realized just how awesome it would be to work on something together. In short, we hit it off."
The official Lilt Line website mentions that the game will ship with a total of 15 levels, which just so happens to be the exact amount available on the $2.99 iPhone version of the game. No release date is being listed, but an official trailer is available for your viewing pleasure.
Lilt Line is like what I imagined would happen if Guitar Hero married PC classic Snake and then had a special kid named "Lilt Line." It's a music-based joint that puts you behind the wheel of a simple, unimaginative white line across a series of fractal mazes brimming with psychedelics that rumble and strobe alongside fast and eclectic electronic beats.
The goal is to steer the line through each maze, all the while using the handheld's tilt functionality to maneuver and its touch capabilities to slip through white hot barriers that appear in sync with the current level's music. All in all, it's a basic game that should translate well to the Wii's unusual inputs.
"Lilt Line has been a labor of love for us over here at Gaijin Games," Gaijin Games' Alex Neuse wrote on the studio's blog. "The original version was created by differentcloth for the iPhone, and the moment I saw it, I fell in love with the game."
"I’m sure it comes as no surprise that I’m a huge fan of rhythm/music gameplay, and when I contacted the fine folks behind the original, we realized just how awesome it would be to work on something together. In short, we hit it off."
The official Lilt Line website mentions that the game will ship with a total of 15 levels, which just so happens to be the exact amount available on the $2.99 iPhone version of the game. No release date is being listed, but an official trailer is available for your viewing pleasure.
The studio that brought us Trials HD is crafting a little special something specifically for Wii owners. It's called MotoHeroz, and it's hitting WiiWare possibly as soon as this year.
Fans of RedLynx's Trials HD will probably feel at home with the 2D side-scrolling platformer MotoHeroz in their hands, despite its cartoon-inspired visuals and Wii remote tilt controls. Just like in RedLynx's previous and aforementioned title, MotoHeroz will put you in control of a wheeled vehicle and have you racing across obstacle-laden levels. RedLynx is suggesting that momentum and physics will be key ingredients, too, in addition to level-by-level high score nabbing, similar to Trials HD. Presumably, the simple joy of mastering the game's mechanics will have its place as well.
But that's not to say that this MotoHeroz isn't without its own twists that stray from the Trials mold. MotoHeroz will feature a 100-level adventure mode complete with a "memorable characters" narrative nod, a two-to-four player local party mode, and an interesting "daily competitions" component, that may take some of the sting out of not being able to create your own maps online. It also features rally cars instead of motorcycles.
On the technical side, it's being promised to run at a steady 60 frames-per-second when it hits.
As for when it's expected? MotoHeroz might appear on WiiWare as soon as 2010 or in "early" 2011.
Fans of RedLynx's Trials HD will probably feel at home with the 2D side-scrolling platformer MotoHeroz in their hands, despite its cartoon-inspired visuals and Wii remote tilt controls. Just like in RedLynx's previous and aforementioned title, MotoHeroz will put you in control of a wheeled vehicle and have you racing across obstacle-laden levels. RedLynx is suggesting that momentum and physics will be key ingredients, too, in addition to level-by-level high score nabbing, similar to Trials HD. Presumably, the simple joy of mastering the game's mechanics will have its place as well.
But that's not to say that this MotoHeroz isn't without its own twists that stray from the Trials mold. MotoHeroz will feature a 100-level adventure mode complete with a "memorable characters" narrative nod, a two-to-four player local party mode, and an interesting "daily competitions" component, that may take some of the sting out of not being able to create your own maps online. It also features rally cars instead of motorcycles.
On the technical side, it's being promised to run at a steady 60 frames-per-second when it hits.
As for when it's expected? MotoHeroz might appear on WiiWare as soon as 2010 or in "early" 2011.
The studio that brought us Trials HD is crafting a little special something specifically for Wii owners. It's called MotoHeroz, and it's hitting WiiWare possibly as early as this year.
Fans of RedLynx's Trials HD will probably feel at home with the 2D side-scrolling platformer MotoHeroz in their hands, despite its cartoon-inspired visuals and Wii remote tilt controls. As with RedLynx's previous and aforementioned title Trials HD, in MotoHeroz you'll be in control of a wheeled vehicle and be tasked with navigating obstacle-laden levels. Momentum and physics will be key ingredients, as well as high score nabbing, and presumably, the simple joy of mastering the game's mechanics.
But that's not to say that this MotoHeroz isn't without its own twists that stray from the Trials mold. MotoHeroz will feature a 100-level adventure mode complete with a "memorable characters" narrative nod, a two-to-four player local party mode, and an interesting "daily competitions" component, that may take some of the sting out of not being able to create your own maps in multiplayer.
On the technical side, it's being promised to run at a steady 60 frames-per-second when it hits.
As for when it's expected? MotoHeroz might appear on WiiWare as early as "late" 2010 or in early 2011.
Fans of RedLynx's Trials HD will probably feel at home with the 2D side-scrolling platformer MotoHeroz in their hands, despite its cartoon-inspired visuals and Wii remote tilt controls. As with RedLynx's previous and aforementioned title Trials HD, in MotoHeroz you'll be in control of a wheeled vehicle and be tasked with navigating obstacle-laden levels. Momentum and physics will be key ingredients, as well as high score nabbing, and presumably, the simple joy of mastering the game's mechanics.
But that's not to say that this MotoHeroz isn't without its own twists that stray from the Trials mold. MotoHeroz will feature a 100-level adventure mode complete with a "memorable characters" narrative nod, a two-to-four player local party mode, and an interesting "daily competitions" component, that may take some of the sting out of not being able to create your own maps in multiplayer.
On the technical side, it's being promised to run at a steady 60 frames-per-second when it hits.
As for when it's expected? MotoHeroz might appear on WiiWare as early as "late" 2010 or in early 2011.
The boys have been wiggling their wands all week long.
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Our love is like a ship on the ocean. Also, we've been sailing with a cargo of love and devotion.
Our love is like a ship on the ocean. Also, we've been sailing with a cargo of love and devotion.
Guest-starring our biggest fan.
Call-In Show with Kevin, Larry, and Jedi
Arkham City to have multiplayer, iPods and Apple TV get a serious upgrade, & Sony's iTunes-killer.
As I promised back on Sunday, here are some more screenshots and the first trailer for Bastion, a new action-RPG from Supergiant Games. It's currently set for a 2011 release on PC and consoles.
It's the narration--which plays a pretty significant role in the actual game, by the way--that initially made this game stand out to me. Here's the first batch of screenshots to go with the video.
There's a real responsiveness to the action in Bastion that you wouldn't initially expect when you hear the term "action-RPG." On Thursday we'll have a chunk of in-game footage from the version that'll be on display at PAX this weekend and I'll talk a bit more about how it all handles. Oh, and speaking of PAX, the guys from Supergiant Games printed up some Bastion postcards that they'll be handing out during the show. Consider that your "free stuff alert" for this weekend.
It's the narration--which plays a pretty significant role in the actual game, by the way--that initially made this game stand out to me. Here's the first batch of screenshots to go with the video.
There's a real responsiveness to the action in Bastion that you wouldn't initially expect when you hear the term "action-RPG." On Thursday we'll have a chunk of in-game footage from the version that'll be on display at PAX this weekend and I'll talk a bit more about how it all handles. Oh, and speaking of PAX, the guys from Supergiant Games printed up some Bastion postcards that they'll be handing out during the show. Consider that your "free stuff alert" for this weekend.
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Get get a quick shot of knee sliding and general insanity in this Platinum preview.
Get get a quick shot of knee sliding and general insanity in this Platinum preview.
The Xbox 360 gets an improved controller, Super Meat Boy feasts in October, and Final Fantasy 14's beta sees a delay.
Charging more for Xbox LIVE and an ugly new controller. What's up with that?
