Halo: Reach's Forge World is a much more robust tool for creating videos, gameplay ideas and, well, insanity than I first realized.
Take for instance this video created by Ben Buja. Ignore, if you must, the insane body juggling and over-sized golf balls and check out that amazing grenade toss about one minute and twenty seconds in.
Fresh from greeting the Super Bowl winners in Madden NFL 11, President Obama will make an appearance in NBA 2K11, hosting a White House reception for the NBA champs in a special cinematic included in the game's Association mode.
Association mode is the persistent franchise simulation where you run a team over the course of several years - longer than two presidential terms, actually. So if you win 12 titles in a row, Obama will greet you for every one of them, like a latter-day FDR.
The only thing more unbelivable than that is the Clippers winning it all.
Since we've seen POTUS shaking hands with the Madden champs and now NBA 2K11's, I know the question most on your mind now: will President Obama - a noted basketball player and fan - appear as a secret character in NBA Jam, as President Clinton did in 1993?
"We haven't made any announcements regarding politicians, past or present, in NBA Jam," an EA Sports spokesman told Kotaku today.
Both NBA 2K11 and NBA Jam arrive Oct. 5.
Playing through the latest Lord of the Rings video game is about as difficult as turning pages to read the Lord of the Rings books. That's bad new if you seek a challenge; not-bad news if you enjoy touring Middle Earth.
From one of the best Wii developers of games you've sadly probably not played (House of the Dead: Overkill, Battalion Wars II) comes another re-telling of the J.R.R. Tolkien Lord of The Rings saga, that tells the Frodo story mostly with a focus on Aragorn, the man who will be king by the time the evil Sauron is defeated and the books are closed.
This is a game that flirts with being a Zelda, a brawler and something fascinatingly unusual: an interactive journey through the not necessarily accurate version of a remembered tale. Would you settle for a solid, easy co-op Lord of the Rings adventure primarily for kids?
That Terrific Adventure Again: Do you never tire of the tale of Frodo and eight of his best human, dwarf, elf and Hobbit friends journeying through the Mines of Moria toward Mt. Doom? You can re-experience the highlights, Ents and riders of Rohan included.
But You're Aragorn: You play as Aragorn, using sword, shield and bow against the orcs, cave trolls and other Tolkien bad guys the fiction demands. The kingly hero is the more conventional video game lead. Player two can be Gandalf, lucky player two.
Or Sometimes You're Frodo... Gamgee?: Between levels, you explore the Shire as Samwise Gamgee's son Frodo, who can participate in simple, delightful co-op missions in which his friends act out semi-accurate scenes from Tolkien's fiction (Imagine racing up a hill as if it's Mt. Doom.)
The Co-Op Is Easy To Handle:At any time during a playthrough of Aragorn levels or those Frodo Gamgee diversions a second player can press plus on a second Wii Remote and Nunchuk, joining as Gandalf to play the role of magical support. Minus extracts them.
It Usually Looks Quite Nice: As with Headstrong's Battalion Wars, colorful art direction, chunky cartoonish character design and a boldness to flood the screen with lighting effects and enemies compensates for old hardware and makes for an attractive storybook of a game.
And It Sounds Like Those Movies: Be it through use of soundalikes, new Sean Astin, or audio from the film, you'll hear plenty of lines from the Peter Jackson films, making this feel like an interactive boxed set, this time with Aragon as the lead character.
The Level Design Is A Slow Burn: The game, clearly targeted at kids, initially seems insultingly linear. But each level is packed with lore collectibles, upgrades, simple sidequests and other diversions which eventually make maxing a level a satisfying feat.
You Fight With A Fellowship: While it can also be a negative, having as many as eight computer-controlled characters fighting alongside you in, say, the Mines of Moria, makes the adventure feel properly, um, fellowshippy.
(Video: Kotaku playing in the Mines of Moria with a fully-upgraded game-complete version of Aragorn, on hard difficulty, not breaking a sweat.)
But It Is Soooo Easy: Unfortunately, many of the above positives are countered by the fact that it is hard to die even when you are playing the game on hard. Your allies kill lots of enemies. You will not stress.
Semi-Mandatory Co-Op: It'll become clear as you play that you should be playing co-op to access those good Frodo Shire sidequests or collect all Aragorn-mission upgrades. The game's so easy, solo gamers (like me!) can dual-wield both controller pairs and be fine.
The Lord of the Rings Aragorn's Quest is a simple game that's so tough a breeze could knock it over. It's a pleasant re-visiting of the Tolkien fiction set up in a manner that feels like an interactive walkthrough of the Peter Jackson films. Bad gamers will find it tough. Decent gamers of any age need only ponder whether they'd like this simple, attractive, nostalgic tour.
The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest was developed by Headstrong Games and published by Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment for the Wii (version reviewed), PS2, PSP and DS [UPDATE: and PS3 with Move support] on September 14. Retails for $49.99 USD. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played through the single-player campaign and played co-op single-handedly by juggling two Wii Remotes and two Nunchuks without Aragorn dying, because the game's not that hard.
Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.
Describing Konami's new action-horror shoot 'em up NeverDead is something of a challenge for producer and game designer Shinta Nojiri. It's a game that might require some re-education, due to its rather unique gameplay system.
The basics are that NeverDead's main character, Bryce, is immortal. He's been that way for 500 years. And while age, loneliness and an inability to die may have made him a touch cynical and sarcastic, he has, Nojiri says, "a sense of justice." (Although Bryce appeared as something of a wise-ass in the latest NeverDead trailer and that his partner sometimes shuts him up by shooting him in the face, Nojiri says this is a serious game. Deadly serious.)
So, instead of pulling odd jobs for booze money—Bryce doesn't need to eat, but does enjoy drowning his sorrows, apparently—he signs up with the National Counter Demon Agency. The anti-demonic organization operates in secret, under the guise of a governmental health agency, a mystical version of the G-men from Men In Black.
Bryce and his prettier partner Arcadia, a relatively normal human being, are working together to fend off the return of the Demon King. That big bad defeated Bryce 500 years ago, so they have some history.
Oh, and the Demon King's responsible for Bryce's immortality, the reason why the demon hunter can have his arms, legs and head ripped off and still continue. Players will be able to control Bryce's decapitated head if it's separated from his body, rolling it around the battlefield until it can reconnect with his bit and pieces.
And while Bryce is immortal, his partner Arcadia isn't. If she dies, it's game over. (Nojiri says there's a second game over condition, but won't say what it is.)
NeverDead's gameplay, Nojiri says, is rather unique for a third-person shooter. Sure, it features a sword-and-gunplay combo system, a la Devil May Cry, but Nojiri insists it's more strategic, less "automatic" than Capcom's action series. There's gun play, an unidentified sword intriguingly based on a butterfly knife design and the prominent limb-lopping gimmick.
Players will need to strategically think about the best times to use some of Bryce's immortal abilities, like the option to self-dismember himself. That's a skill that Bryce will unlock by spending experience points earned in battle and a technique that can give him an advantage on the battlefield.
How? In some circumstances, it may be better to let a demon gnaw on your arm while you focus on other enemies with your free arm. Sometimes, it may be better to lob an arm over a wall, letting it fire wildly until you can compose yourself. Maybe it would be better to let a ceiling collapse on you and your foes, because, hey, you're gonna be just fine.
While we haven't played NeverDead, its prospects are intriguing. Add to that cooperative modes distinct from the single-player campaign that let players play as Bryce and Arcadia—or two Bryces—and some of the game's demons, and we're now dying to learn more about NeverDead.
Soundgarden's album Telephantasm will be inside the first million copies of Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock on September 28, so someone felt obligated to include the game in this animated video for the previously unreleased song "Black Rain."
Guitar Hero's inclusion in this video doesn't really make any sense, but the same can be said for the rest of the video as well. There's some sort of alien attacking a planet, Cartoon death metal rockers Dethklok are launched into space on a giant red gear, a cartoon Soundgarden summons a robot to fight the alien, the robot is defeated only to be reinvigorated by the Dethklok gear and saving the day.
It's the kind of music video 13-year-old me would have really enjoyed. I never really liked 13-year-old me.
Some time between playing Donkey Kong and Halo, you may have learned to stop questioning the names of new games. Nevertheless, news arrived this morning that Explosionade is, well, the headline says it. This one's an Xbox Live Indie game.
Explosionade is from Nathan Fouts whose toils at his very own game company, Mommy's Best Games, making such popular Xbox Live Indie games as Shoot 1Up. His next game was going to be Grapple Buggy (last seen by Kotaku at PAX East in the spring), but he wants that to go to Xbox Live Arcade and says he's putting it on hold so that his other work can fund it.
Explosionade is an a one or two-player shoot-em-up. Fouts e-mailed information about the game to Kotaku today, along with that explanation of the title.
Official summary from Fouts: "All your friends are storming the Horronym Fortress but Colonel Bouche left you to guard the supply depot. Disregarding orders you open the depot to find a gigantic, prototype mech!"
Official best line of the promo material from Fouts: "Hand-drawn, silky-smooth effect animations just like Mom used to make! (If your mom was SNK)"
Look for Explosionade on the Xbox Live Indie Games channel around September 25 or so.
For more information about the game, check out Fouts' official blog.
Nintendo DS puzzle master Professor Layton, channeling the fashion expertise of 2009 DS fashion game Style Savvy, in an unexpected tie-in between the recent Fashion Week and Layton's newest game... talks about hats. As do his friends.
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Fans willing to give digital download a try when THQ's Darksiders releases on the PC this week will get a free game for their trouble, scoring Titan Quest, Red Faction: Guerrilla, or Company of Heroes depending on where you buy.
It's the end of the world as we know it, but you'll feel fine with a free game to play after you finish helping war figure out the mystery behind an unfortunately timed apocalypse. Darksiders will be available for purchase and play on September 23 at 12:01AM on Direct 2 Drive, Steam, and Gametap. Where should you buy? That all depends on the free game you want.
Steam users that purchase Darksiders will find themselves the owners of a copy of Titan Quest: Gold Edition for their troubles. Red Faction: Guerrilla goes to those who chose Direct 2 Drive as their digital distribution point of choice, and folks who prefer Gametap will get to experience all of the majesty of Company of Heroes at no additional cost.
I never finished the console version of Darksiders, so I'm interested to see how the PC version comes out. Anyone else waiting for this version?
It's Game Face time, and we've got someone(s) gaming at the IFA technology show in Berlin. This is a more colorful place than anywhere I've ever lounged to play an Xbox 360.
Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of sales and marketing, is leaving not just Nintendo but the game industry effective Oct. 1, a month shy of her third anniversary with the company, according to Nintendo.
