Allynn G.
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Video Game News!!
Sup guys? Got a few things to talk about today.
First of all. Last week, WB Games and Game Informer Magazine announced the next installment into the Batman: Arkham series: Batman: Arkham Origins. There are a few different things coming with the new title.
First: Rocksteady will not be developing the game. Instead, WB Games’ Montreal studio will be taking the helm on Batman’s next adventure, but they have stated that they will be building the game using the latest version of the Unreal Engine so that the feel of the game will remain the same.
Second: Although the game will take place before the events of Arkham Asylum, and the name, “Origins” would suggest some sort of an origin story for either Batman or Arkham Asylum, it has been stated that the story will involve neither, but I have a couple of theories on this.
So the story of Arkham Origins is that a group of assassin’s have come to Gotham City to take down Batman. As of right now, there are at least three classic Batman villains that will be making appearances in Arkham Origins: Penguin, Black Mask, and Deathstroke.
Ok, here are a couple of theories I have about Arkham Origins.
1. Although they are saying that the title has nothing to do with any type of origin, I think that once Batman defeats all of these assassins, he will need a place to have them incarcerated. Which will call the need for an Asylum of some sorts.
2. After Arkham City, it was said that Mark Hamill is not done playing The Joker. Although there has been nothing said of The Joker making an appearance in Arkham Origins, my theory is that he may have hired these assassins to come to Gotham.
Just my thoughts on it. Anyway, here is the announcement trailer for Batman: Arkham Origins if you haven’t seen it yet.
Next, Nintendo has announced a sequel to the SNES game, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, for the 3DS, set to come out this holiday season. This game will take place in the same game world as A Link to the Past, which is the first Zelda Game to do this. The gameplay will be top down view like the SNES game but will also feature some 3D aspects as well. Check out the announcement trailer.
Finally, as a part of Rooster Teeth’s 10 year anniversary, they have announced that they have gone out on their own with their YouTube channels. During the early days of Red vs Blue and Rooster Teeth, they signed on with Machinima.com to distribute their videos on YouTube. Now, the RT crew has cut those ties and are now running their own YouTube channels. As a part of that announcement, Rooster Teeth’s sister site, Achievement Hunter, has started their own channel for their Lets Play videos, and here’s that.
Alright, I know it’s been a while since I last posted, but I hope I made up for it with all of this news! Laters!
Behind the Scenes With the Voice Actors of Batman: Arkham City
To prepare gamers for the release of Batman: Arkham City Game of the Year Edition, Rocksteady has released a behind the scenes video featuring some of the more notable voice actors in the game. Namely Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, and Stana Katic.
Check it out here!
I’ve gotta say, it’s pretty cool seeing Kevin and Mark at work. They’ve been playing Batman and the Joker for over twenty years now. They know the characters, and in some ways(especially with Mark Hamill) they ARE Batman and the Joker. Like it was said in the video, when you read Batman comics, you hear Kevin’s voice as Batman and Mark’s voice as the Joker.
And I’ve gotta say, when I found out that Stana Katic was going to play Talia al Ghul, I was a little surprised, but excited at the same time. Then come to find out, she’s a fan of the Batman comics and Talia in particular and that she knows the character. I like Stana Katic. For those who don’t know who she is, she stars alongside the always awesome Nathan Fillion in the ABC mystery drama TV series Castle. I’m not usually a fan of the cop drama shows on TV but I’ll watch and enjoy anything with Nathan Fillion, he DID do voice work and was a main character in Halo games.
To say the least, it was very cool to get an inside look at what goes on behind the scenes of my favorite game of 2011 and see the people behind the characters.
Remember, Batman: Arkham City Game of the Year Edition comes out this Tuesday, May 29th. This will include the new DLC campaign “Harley Quinn’s Revenge,” along with the Catwoman, Robin, and Nightwing packs, the classic skins pack and the challenge map packs, and will include other special features and will also include a copy of the animated movie, “Batman: Year One.” For the people like me who have already owned the retail game for some time, we can purchase the Harley Quinn DLC from the XBL Marketplace or thru the Playstation Network for PS3 gamers which will also be available for purchase on May 29th.
Batman: Arkham City Game of the Year Edition and DLC Episode
What’s up guys? Well, we now have a Game of the Year Edition of last years smash hit, Batman: Arkham City on the way. The game will include all of the DLC packs for the game including: the Catwoman, Robin, and Nightwing packs, all of the challenge maps, and all of the alternate skins in the game. And, the GOTY version of the game will also include a new DLC campaign called, “Harley Quinn’s Revenge.” Yes, it looks like Harley will be trying to get some payback for the way that the main campaign ended in Arkham City. But for those of you who bought the game at launch, like I did, “Harley Quinn’s Revenge” will be available for download via PSN or XBL on May 29th.
I’m pretty excited about this. Arkham City was my favorite game of 2011 and to know that there will be another campaign story added on is awesome to me!! And I forgot to mention the coolest part, you will actually get to play as Robin in this campaign!! I knew they wouldn’t have included him in the original campaign without actually being able to wander the streets of Arkham City as the Boy Wonder.
Here’s the trailer for Batman: Arkham City Game of the Year Edition
New Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Game In Development….But By Whom?
For those who don’t know, I am a huge Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan. I grew up watching the cartoon, live action movies, more recently reading the comics, and most importantly, playing the video games. In particular, Turtles in Time.
Now, the Turtles franchise has gone through multiple reboots over the years and there is yet another franchise reboot on its way. The franchise is now owned by Nickelodeon. Since Nickelodeon owns the franchise, they are taking the opportunity bring a new animated series to their network, a live action movie reboot is in the works, IDW has re-released the original comic books starting at issue #1, and now there is word of a new video game to go along with all of the other reboots. Now the question is, “Who will develop this game?”
A few months ago there was a rumor going around that Rocksteady, who made the Batman: Arkham series, was going to be making the TMNT game reboot. To be honest, when I heard this news I was pretty excited. I love the dark, gritty feel that Rocksteady gave to the Batman universe in their games and could only imagine what the Turtles would look like in a universe similar to what Rocksteady had created for Batman. And I think the gameplay would be similar to that of the Arkham games in the use of stealth and quick attacks. It almost seemed like the perfect fit for the Turtles. There is a problem though. Rocksteady Games are owned by Warner Brothers, and Nickelodeon is owned by Viacom. Which would make things difficult as far as Rocksteady working on a Turtles game. Which is why there is now a rumor that Activision will be developing the TMNT video game and that it will be a tie in with the upcoming animated series. Activision would probably be the more likely of the two developers to be chosen to make the game, not only because Activision isn’t owned by a rival parent company, but if Nickelodeon wants to make a game based on the new series, then they’ll want a game that will appeal to the target audience of the new show, which will be kids. And I don’t think parents will want their kids playing a Turtles game that’s dark and violent. Then again, parents let their kids play games like Call of Duty and Halo so who knows?
I’d personally like to the a Rocksteady version of a Ninja Turtles game, but I’m an adult and a big fan of the original comics which were dark and violent. But all I know is that the Turtles are coming back and I’m very happy about that. Although the show and game will both likely appeal to a younger audience, the original comics and upcoming live action game will be darker and will appeal to the older Turtle fans like myself.
So who do you think should make the new Ninja Turtles game? Should it be targeted for the kids or the adults? Should they make a game for both? Let me know!!
Third Party Titles Confirmed for The Wii U
Here you go Brea, Dean, and anyone else who were wanting to know what kind of third party games will be coming out on the Wii U at launch. Well here ya go!
Ninja Gaiden 3
Darksiders II
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Online
Tekken
Metro Last Light
Aliens Colonial Marines
Assassin’s Creed
Batman: Arkham City
Dirt
Now four of those titles are highly anticipated titles that are going to be released this year, and the Assassins Creed in question will be an original title being released exclusively on the Wii U.
So yes, the Wii U will in fact have highly anticipated games along with Batman: Arkham City which was one of the best games to come out in 2011.
So don’t worry about third part games when the Wii U comes out. It’ll be okay.
Later guys!!
Quick Memo.
Hey guys,
Just wanted to let ya’ll know that my game review for the month of November will be a little late. As you may know, Batman: Arkham City just came out on October 18th. I recently picked up a copy of it and am making my way through the story mode. To say the least, the game is amazing so far and so I will be reviewing Arkham City for the month of November, but I need a little more time to complete the story to give it an accurate review. Sorry I don’t have the time to just have a marathon gaming session, I have a day job.
Anyway, just wanted to let y’all know.
Laterz!!
Game Review: Batman Arkham Asylum
What’s up guys? It is a start to a new month and you all know what that means? Right? Really? No? Ok, well I’ll tell what that means. It’s game review time!!!!! Woohoo!!
Anyway, it is the month of October and one of this months big game releases is Batman Arkham City. And in celebration of said game release, this months game review will be for Arkham City’s predecessor, Batman Arkham Asylum. Ready? Alright! Here we go!!
Short Story:
Batman has finally captured the Joker has taken him to Arkham Asylum, with the Joker going quietly and going down without a fight. To say the least, Batman is suspicious. He finds that his suspicions were correct because as the Joker is being prepped for incarceration, he escapes into the Asylum and completely takes it over causing all kinds of Hell. Now, Batman must venture into the asylum facing some of his most dangerous enemies, including Bane, Poison Ivy, Killer Croc, and of course The Joker, and bring justice back to Arkham Asylum.
Score:
To say that Batman Arkham Asylum was a great game would be an understatement. Finally, a game developer did something right with the Batman game franchise and made a game with an incredibly in depth story and fluid game and combat engine. Throw in the awesome voice talents of Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill reprising their respective roles of Batman and the Joker and you’ve got yourself a damn near perfect game. Batman Arkham Asylum gets the score of a 4.9 out of 5.
Body of Review:
Gameplay:
Arkham Asylum plays like a dream. By using the Unreal Game Engine, Rocksteady Games, who developed the game, has made one of the most fluid combat engine I’ve ever seen in an action adventure game. The way that Batman’s combos and counters flow together is a dream come true. If there is one thing I’ve never liked about past Batman video game titles(besides Batman Forever for the Super NES) it has to be the game engines in those games. So great job Rocksteady.
Story:
Arkham Asylum had one of the best stories I had ever played through in a game. Being able to find collectables in the game that give the back story on the island and pretty much every villain in the Batman universe. Along with that, the overall story is incredible. As you make your way through the asylum, you learn more about the inner workings of Arkham, and, thanks to Scarecrow, you see how tormented Bruce Wayne is about his parents’ murder. You throw in the Joker’s plot to take over Arkham Island and you’ve got yourself a great story.
Bad Things:
Although I’ve been speaking highly of this game thus far, there were a couple of things about it I wasn’t fond of. Primarily, the boss fight against Killer Croc. In every other boss fight in Arkham Asylum, you actually fight the villain. With Killer Croc, you roam around the sewers looking for spores to help prevent what Poison Ivy had done. Now, if you move to fast on the wooden crates floating in the water, Killer Croc will jump up a little ways behind you or on the side of you and begin to charge you. All you have to do to prevent Croc from pulling you under is to just hit him with a Baterang and he goes back under water. Then after you’ve collected enough spores, you have to avoid Croc one more time at the entrance to the sewers by exploding a floor just as he runs over it causing him to fall down a deep cavern. Very exciting. Not.
Anyway, the other thing that bothered me was with the fighting system every now and then. I know I said that the game engine is incredible in this game, and it is. With that said, when you are taking on a large group of enemies at one time, it can be difficult to keep you combo going. Every now and then, Batman will just attack to nothing when you want him to jump from one enemy to another. But other than that, I really have no other complaints.
Conclusion:
All in all, Arkham Asylum was an absolute delight to play. I really can’t wait for Arkham City to come out a little later this month. It’s looking incredible and the added bonus of being able to play as Catwoman in the campaign and also being able to play as both Robin and now recently announced Nightwing in the challenges section of on the game, it’s shaping up to be a great game. I personally can’t wait.
Well, till next time, Happy Gaming everyone!!
Some Comic-Con Trailers
HEEEEEEEEEEEEY!!!!
Here are a few trailers that were premiered at this years San Diego Comic-Con in case you missed them.
The Dark Knight Rises teaser trailer (which can also be seen before Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2):
http://youtu.be/apMXFloDH6M
The Amazing Spider-Man teaser trailer: http://youtu.be/qJQS16dGk0w
The Avengers trailer: Well, I TRIED to find and official trailer for The Avengers but all I could find were the stupid leaked versions taken by kids in the movie theater using their cell phones. Just go see Captain America: The First Avenger and see it for yourself.
