ONE SHOT: SNAKE’S COLOSSAL KATAMARI

5.1.2009

3 Replies

Colossal Katamari [pixeljoint, via SuperPunch]

ONE SHOT: KARSTEN SCHMIDT’S ATARI 800XL/XE SCRAPBOOK

5.1.2009

RIGG’D UP: BRüTAL LEGEND’S LATEST FEELGOOD TRAILER

5.1.2009

8 Replies

I think we can all agree there is no part of this that won’t strike a happy chord with just about everyone.

Brütal Legend [EA/Double Fine, via benisadork]

Previously:

LOVELESS: CACTUS’S LATEST SOFT-FOCUS GEOMETRIC PLATFORMER IN MOTION

5.1.2009

Following his screenshot montage preview from the beginning of the week, Cactus has given us a further taste of his “game about killing everything you love” an official trailer, and it’s as beautifully hard to read as you might’ve hoped.

I definitely see hints of Night Game-esque geometric platforming, and maybe traces of a warped-perspective Kula World in those later single-path rolling sections?

Trailer [Cactus Squid, cactus-soft]

Previously:

OFFWORLD GIVEAWAY: HAIKU YOUR WAY TO A FREE COPY OF ROLANDO

5.1.2009

Brandon Boyer

8 Replies

After taking part in Best Buy’s ongoing promotion to give away a copy of Rolando with every iPod Touch or iTunes gift card ordered (which — I’m not ashamed to admit — I finagled solely to own a small piece of physical Rolando art), I’ve officially ended up with an extra code for the game to give away.

After a brief discussion with guest blogger Tiff, we’ve decided to give away the game in the form of a contest, so here’s the rules: at any point over the weekend (let’s say until midnight PST), send a twitter reply to @offworld with a Rolando-based haiku. You’ll have 130 characters to work with, which I think should be enough.

Then, on Monday, Rolando creator Simon Oliver (@handcircus) will pick his favorite from the batch of entries, and vi-ola, the code will be yours.

Need some inspiration? Head over to the official Rolando site for video and screenshots, or download the free Lite version of the game for a taste.

Good luck!

[Note that, unfortunately, the code will only work for the U.S. iTunes App Store accounts. And, yes, deepest apologies that the @offworld account has devolved to a simple RSS repeater, I’ll be working up some more creative uses in the near future. Follow my standard @brandonnn account for more active Offworld-related activity.]

Rolando home [ngmoco, Hand Circus]

Previously:

SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND: THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK: ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAY

5.1.2009

Tom Armitage

4 Replies

Today sees the release of Raven Software’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Watching a promotional interview with some of the Raven staff, one developer suggested that Wolverine might be “the movie game that finally, does not suck“.

Finally? What a tired argument. While there has been a swathe of lazy, rushed licensed tie-ins, there are still many precedents for the “decent movie game” – and somewhere near the top of that list should be Starbreeze’s The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay; a game, coincidentally, that’s forming the bulk of my gaming line-up this weekend.

Released for the original Xbox in 2004, it was long a source of annoyance to me that Riddick never made it onto the 360’s backwards compatibility list. The reason for its absence was, we were told, because there was a 360 remake impending. It’s taken a while, but the recently released Assault On Dark Athena combines an all-new single-player game with that hi-def Butcher Bay remake.

Rather than wrap a first-person stealth game around the confines of a movie plot, Starbreeze set out on the right foot by building a new installment of Riddick’s adventures, acting as a prequel to Pitch Black, and existing as a canon entry to the universe. The result was a game that managed to deliver a compelling narrative, but one that was ideally suited for a 12-hour videogame, rather than a two-hour movie: the tale of Riddick’s initial escape from prison, told as a first-person stealth game that erupts into bursts of frenetic violence.

Forget solidity of world: Starbreeze’s games are all about solidity of characterisation. From the measured, terse voice acting from Vin Diesel, to the omninpresent shadow on the floor – those distinctive, thickset shoulders, hunched and ready to strike – the game is all about delivering on a sensation of being a character. That solidity of characterisation extends to the supporting cast, too. Many games have hired spectacular voice casts, but the Riddick games managed to get great performances out of their actors, too.

It’s in the first-person combat that the full realisation of Vin Diesel’s character really emerges. First-person melee combat has always been a challenge for game developers, and so many attempts have ended up in complex interfaces or floaty, impact-less punching. Riddick’s melee is still one of the best examples, trumping even the Condemned games’ mannequin-beating and tramp-battering. It has a real heft to it, and despite the swiftness of the blows there’s a slow, inevitable rhythm to every fight.

Riddick’s hands aren’t just terrifying weapons for his foes; they’re deeply unsettling for the player as well. I’m always taken aback by the brutality contained in them. The ferocious counterattacks that end fights in a second are always a notch more than I’m expecting; as I watch the arms that extend from my viewpoint force a guard’s gun into his mouth, or drop an elbow into an inmate’s face, you’re constantly reminded that you’re not just any pair of disembodied hands, or another generic space marine; you really are Riddick. It achieves what every licensed game sets out to: placing you, the player, front-and-centre in an already-defined universe. It is, in every sense of the words, a genuine role-playing experience.

So that’s my weekend sorted: a return to Butcher Bay, along with a trip back to Azeroth, a digression into the wonderful Windosill (recently covered on Offworld) and perhaps a jaunt through a Left 4 Dead campaign. If a bit of first-person brawling isn’t up your street this weekend, perhaps you’ll be checking out this week’s big re-release – the Live Arcade port of stompy-mecha-beat-em-up Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram. Or, maybe, you’ll be doing something totally different.

What does this weekend have in store for you, Offworlders?

FOLDERS LEAGUE UNITED: TROGDORIANGREY’S TEAM FORTRESS PAPERCRAFT

4.30.2009

Brandon Boyer

3 Replies

‘trogdoriangrey’ has created a papercraft template for what might be the cutest Team Fortress 2 character set ever, which covers the full lineup outside the above, and accessories for each (not pictured: the Sniper and his trusty rifle, and the Scout with his slugger).

Trog’s even gone so far as to add supplementary items like the sentry turret, and, via the photobucket repository, has a long list of other comic book and game creations like Gordon Freeman, Samus Aran, Resident Evil, Metal Gear, and even the second Castle Crashers knight that’s cropped up this week.

trogdoriangrey > papercraft [photobucket, via hellforge]

Previously:

HARD HAT ARENA: FIRST CONCEPT ART FROM FLASHBANG’S CRANE WARS

4.30.2009

Brandon Boyer

2 Replies

One last Flashbang update before the big touchdown tomorrow: the last time we saw their Crane Wars it was in very early prototype form, but the studio tells me that the half that wasn’t working on bringing Paper Moon up to date has been nose down on Crane.

To prove it, they’ve sent along this first teaser concept image, which, alongside the original (and still playable) prototype, is giving me even greater hopes for a more personified and arcade like Blast Corps than I’d had initially.

Previously:

THE CARDBOARD SEA: SEE INFINITE AMMO’S NEW PAPER MOON IN MOTION

4.30.2009

Brandon Boyer

2 Replies

With just a single short day to go before its new web-embedded release via Blurst, Infinite Ammo are showing off their updated Paper Moon in motion, giving you the full effect of how its various paper-cut planes will operate (if you’re one of the few that recall Wario’s foray onto the Virtual Boy, you should feel basically at home).

Designer Alec Holowka has said that like the short-burst arcade games that make up the majority of Flashbang’s own Blurst output, Paper Moon will have a time limit, but promises it’ll be “more flexible” than you might expect.

No word yet, though, whether it’ll retain an overt or hidden option for the original’s stereoscopic rendering.

New Paper Moon Trailer [Infinite Ammo]

Previously: