Thursday 5 September 2013

FEATURE: PAX 2013 Highlights - The Games


Nothing too mind-blowing at this year's PAX but a lot of fantastic games were shown - I'll try to breakdown what I think you should be most excited about or are just simply interesting to have a look at.

Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures
"Heroes" Trailer
Developer: FreakZone Games
Release Date: 20 Sep 2013
Platform: PC/Windows
                                                      
The Angry Video Game Nerd, most people know who this guy is, if you don't, you need to check him out. I believe the game was first revealed 5 months ago and ever since I've been itching to see more, and that's what we finally got at this year's PAX. 

The "heroes" trailer shows off all of the playable characters including:
  • The Nerd - The AVGN himself takes the role of main character I assume.
  • Guitar Guy - Also known as Kyle Justin, the guy responsible for the fantastic AVGN theme
  • Mike - I believe Mike is the AVGN's best friend
  • Bullshit Man - The hilarious bullshit covered face creation by James Rolfe

The trailer itself  showed more gameplay, and it just looks like pure fun. It has that retro feel that defines what the AVGN is all about, the levels are full of references to the episodes, for example the naked lady sprites from "Atari Porn", collecting the Rolling Rock power-ups, and so fourth. 

Personally, I can't wait to get stuck into this game, I am under the impression it will be released only through Steam at present, but I wouldn't be surprised if it shows up on the PSN, XBLA, or the Virtual Console. If you decide to pre-order the game, you do get a 10% discount.

Grand Theft Auto 5
The Official Trailer
Developer: Rockstar North
Release Date: 17 Sep 2013
Platform: PS3, Xbox 360

With the release so close, it wouldn't make sense not to show an official trailer for one of the most anticipated games of all time. Is that fair to say? 

The trailer shows off the various antics from Michael, Franklin, and Trevor - robbing banks, stealing cars, getting chased by the cops, jumping from a helicopter (or plane), running down the street with a mini-gun, and so fourth. 

As if people aren't excited enough, I think Rock Star wanted to remind us what is capable in the game, and that we're finally able to get our hands on it soon enough. The game will be available on PlayStation 3 and Xbox One.

Killer Instinct
Thunder Combo Trailer
Developer: Double Helix Games
Release Date: TBA
Platform: Xbox One

Chief Thunder has been in all of the Killer Instinct games and is definitely an iconic character, so it was nice to see him in action in Rare's latest installment to the series. 

Combos have played a huge role in the games, ranging way back to the original Super Nintendo release, so it's a refreshing relief they are making an appearance. The game itself looks a whole lot like Mortal Kombat 9 in terms of level design, blood spills, and graphics, but I'm not saying that's a bad thing at all.

The combos seen in the trailer are "AWESOME", "EXTREME", and "MASTER" - each representing the level of the combo a player has just pulled off, and I have to say, they all look incredible and I'm sure this game will be as fun as previous installments in the series. The title will be Xbox One exclusive.

Chucky: Slash and Dash
Teaser Trailer
Developer: Slimstown Studios
Release Date: TBA
Platform: iOS/Android

I know this game probably won't be anything special, but I am a sucker for the Chucky movies so deep down I know I'll be wanting to check this out upon release, unfortunately there is no gameplay shown but it's clear it'll be a iOS game only. 

With the release of Curse of Chucky coming up here in the UK, the game was probably created to make a lot of money as it will most likely tie in with the movie. 

Chucky does look extremely menacing in the teaser though, so let's just hope the game will actually be half decent.

Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate
Under New Management Trailer
Developer: Armature Studio
Release Date: 25 Oct 2013
Platform: 3DS/PSVita

The Arkham series is expanding to handheld territory on the 3DS and PSVita, this time in Arkham's very own Blackgate prison (sounds similar to Asylum, right?).

After an explosion at the prison, it is suspected an escape attempt was made but didn't go too well, either way the prison is full of hostages, prisoners, criminals, enemies of Batman, and so on.

It's clear that The Joker is going to make life tough for Batman, as well as Penguin, Black Mask, Deadshot, Bronze Tiger, and Solomon Grundy. It seems that Catwoman will be part of the game too.

The game itself seems to be both 2D and 3D, depending on what particular part of the game a player is at, personally I invite this style of gameplay with open arms, especially when it comes to handheld consoles.

That's all from me today, PAX has definitely been interesting this year - we've seen some new gameplay here and there, but please remember these were my highlights, there were more games shown off but nothing to get too excited about. Comment and let me know what you thought of PAX this year. Feature1

4 comments:

  1. Haha wow, I did not know that there was a Chucky game coming out. I am a huge fan of Child's Play. The game might suck, but I would still play it if I had a iOS device. I also did not know that AVGN was getting his own game. That is awesome. Hopefully it is good. The Batman game trailer was pretty dumb though. Looked like they tried to make it resemble a movie and they barely showed off any gameplay. From what I heard, it might play like a mix of Sunsoft's NES Batman games and Super Metroid. If it does that would be amazing since those games kick ass.

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  2. I didn't know about the Chucky game until a while before I written the blog post - crazy stuff. I thought the Batman gameplay was promising myself, I just wonder what version would be best to buy, 3DS or Vita?

    Regarding Sunsoft's Batman, that game was and still is amazingly fun to play, the same goes for Super Metroid, so if what you've heard is true, then Blackgate might become a must-buy.

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  3. I only own a 3DS, so I am gonna get it on that. I hope that the game is difficult though. The last few Batman games were good, but the games were way too easy. The focus mode killed the challenge on them and the game would tell you where to go. This is going to be a D style game though, so I hope it has challenge.

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    1. In general, the Arkham series are really easy, the only challenging aspects are some of the challenges. I'll admit I struggled with some of them and still do. Let me know how the game plays on the 3DS.

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