Everyone has regrets. A bad haircut, a messy breakup, a sloppy unit deployment, or even a bad tattoo. Finally you can solve one of those problems with time travel….. no, not the breakup.

Achron is just like any other RTS. There are some tanks, some infantry units, some airborne units… yup, just like any other RTS… except you can send your fracking units forward and backward in time!! Yes, that’s right, the major selling point of this game is the time travel mechanic, and I’m happy to report, it works surprisingly well in the alpha build of the game. You have a few different options at your disposal here. You can go back in the time line, and issue new commands in the past, effectively allowing you to thwart an enemy assault that went poorly for you the first time around. Just be careful – you have to spend chrono energy to issue those commands, and the further back you go, the more chrono energy you’ll have to spend to issue orders.  Tried a new plan of attack and still lost the battle? Why not send some reinforcements back in time to help? You can “chronoport” units back in time to lend a hand.  All the changes you make to the time line are propagated by time waves. As a wave passes over the present, it brings with it all the effects of the most recent batch of events from the past.  Time travel adds a new level of strategy to the RTS genre. Imagine losing a lot of units to a heavy air assault, only to go back in time and destroy the factory that spawned the units that did the damage, or fortifying a location to thwart an attack you know is coming. With a little imagination, and the tools available in Achron,  the strategic options are almost endless.

Achron is slated for an early 2011 release, but you can get your hands on the alpha build now by pre-ordering now for $29.99.  You can expect more coverage from us as the game hits various milestones, Hmm… I wonder if I can use the alpha build to go forward in time to when the game has released…. assuming I don’t get lost in a temporal anomaly I’ll let you all know how it pans out.

Yes, we’ve now received even more intel for Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, next month’s long-awaited tactical shooter.  Landing at our feet like a timely ammo drop while trapped behind enemy lines, you can see the latest preview video from developers, Codemasters, below:

Dragon Rising is shaping up to be rather spectacular and intense, I think you’ll agree.  You can see our most recent coverage here and here.

We can’t wait for October 6th to arrive.  T-12 days and counting.

The makers of Spyro the Dragon, Avatar and Heatseeker have announced (and released) a gameplay trailer for Raskulls. The Xbox Live Arcade game by Halfbrick Studios is a unique blend of platforming, puzzle and racing. Levels are fashioned from hundreds of blocks, arranged Tetris-style, that the Raskulls will race through using their unique abilities.

Players can choose to play the king, wizard, knight, ninja, koala and more, in a race to beat their own time or a friend’s online (or stranger, if you’d prefer). Up to four players can race through a huge variety of levels and modes complete with weapons and power-ups.

Daniel Vogt, Lead designer of Raskulls confidently believes the game will be a one-of-a-kind experience with quality gameplay to back it up. “It’s difficult to categorize Raskulls, but instead of using that as an excuse, the whole dev team knows it’s an advantage,” said Daniel Vogt, “Everyone is familiar with simple block-based gaming, but we’ve taken it to the next level by placing the player directly into the puzzle-based environment – and given them heaps of gameplay options. Combine the variety of powerups, the lengthy story mode and addictive multiplayer, and we know we’re onto a winner.”

If you were still having trouble grasping the idea of the game, I hope this trailer cleared all doubts up for you. We’ll be looking forward to this “one-of-a-kind” racer/platformer/puzzler later this fall!

Winston's corner....interrupted.

It’s safe to say many of us have waited a long time to get slimed again. In fact, many of us thought it would never happen on celluloid, let alone in a summer blockbuster game.  But the marvels of technology that allow Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis to shed both 20 years and 75 lbs must have been a great negotiator when they signed on for Atari and Terminal Reality’s upcoming “Ghostbusters: The Video Game.” So what’s the real deal behind the tenth attempt to bring salivating fans a solid Ghostbusters experience?

For children of the 80’s who have dreaded pixelated incarnations of Ray, Peter, Egon and Winston since Activision’s 1984 video game ectoplasm, Terminal Reality is hoping to deliver the trap to the station on this one, burying the past and creating a memorable cinematic and playable experience for fans old and new. If you didn’t know already, “Ghostbusters: The Video Game” is voiced by the original actors, including the ever elusive Bill Murray, who hasn’t worked with Ramis since “Groundhog Day” due to artistic differences. The ability of today’s video games to portray the characters as they are so fondly remembered was reason alone for the actors to switch mediums, not to mention the fact that fans can finally immerse ourselves in the terror-stricken (and gorgeously rendered) NYC that the Ghostbusters try so hard to protect one proton stream at a time. While Ghostbusters is being heralded as the 3rd Ghostbusters movie written by Ramis and Aykroyd, they have both recently acknowledged the truth is that no one could pay them enough to write a 250 page script to match the magnitude of the feature films; They only broke down the vernacular of the Terminal Reality’s script to better fit the personas movie-lovers have quoted for 25 years. For all of us that wished we were Peter Venkman laying phantasms to waste and going home to a heavily permed Sigourney Weaver, we have some bad news: Both Rick Moranis and Sigourney passed on lending their likenesses. That’s not to say Ghostbusters: The Video Game won’t pack both the laughs and screams.  With the return of characters like the lecherous Walter Peck, nasal voiced secretary Janine Melnintz and introductions of new ones like Alyssa Milano’s Dr. Ilyssa Selwyn not to mention a cast of thousands of ghouls, specters, malevolent slimers and phantasms, Ghostbusters: The VG is blurring the line between games and movies. So which star do we get to play?

The answer: None. Instead of playing as one of the wise-cracking, jumpsuit-loving original four Ghostbusters, you take on the role of the adorable anonymous character known simply as “The Rookie”. Despite fan protests to employ customizable characterization, the sole playable character (as of this post) is a mid twenty-something white male. That’s not to say it wont be anything but fun. Instead of propelling the Ghostbusters into today’s age, the game occurs during the week of Thanksgiving in 1991, two years after the events in Ghostbusters II. The local museum is preparing to unveil its new “Gozer” (uh-oh) exhibit and the team is summoned to examine it before the gala.  Touted as “Gears of War Lite”, Ghostbusters is all about getting into the action. There is no cover system, but plan on seeing the “rumble run” make another appearance in this Infernal Engine based actioner. And should you choose to employ a virtual proton pack with the Wii version, expect a serious art change (The Wii version is being handeld by Red Fly Studios). The lifelike features will be replaced with a kid-friendly (read: simpler graphics) cartoon style of the actors, causing older fans to reminisce about ABC’s “The Real Ghostbusters” while laying waste to pesky astral pranksters. And being a Ghostbusters game, its all about the ghosts. As of press time, the lid has been kept shut pretty tight. We know that many familiar faces from the first two films will be serving as mid-level bosses and cameos, but we are biting our fingernails to discover who the real trouble maker is when New York is once overridden with the dead. Thanks to the demo and several industry leaks, we can confirm that Vigo, Slimer the library ghost, Gozer, and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man all make an appearance. But until we get our hands on the review copy, we will just have to sit and wait, wondering what Ramis, Aykroyd and Terminal Reality have brewed up in their kettle of scary hilarity.

Slimer's taste always trumped his looks...

Ghostbusters: The Video Game releases on Xbox 360, PS3, Wii and Nintendo DS in North America on June 16th, 2009 and June 19 in Europe.  (Sony has announced they are publishing the PS2 and PS3 versions in Europe granting the Sony consoles a timed exclusive release, while Atari will publish the game for other consoles later in the year.)

I hated on reviews last time and I think it’s time to take a step backwards.  A step closer to root of the problem.  The reason I bought such shitty games as Advent Rising and Spiderman 3.  I’m talking about previews.  Previews are an essential instrument for video game enthusiasts, but most in their current state need some rethinking.  With new franchises I almost completely rely on the previews to determine whether I’m going to purchase the game at release.

The Silver Lining

It doesn’t matter what is being previewed, the writer has to pretend it’s going to be a great game.  At the very least they have to pretend that Barbie’s Island Adventures isn’t going to be a bland romp through trophy wife training school… on an island, probably Hawaii.  (Side note:  Is that game fictional?  I’m not entirely sure it is.  Typical of the diversified cock smoking sellout she truly is, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if Mattel lent her likeness to an E rated game that was later ripped off by Drake’s Fortune.  In her defense, she has jump started many boys’ puberties with her buxom nippleless  bust and vagless crotch.).  It’s like saying the best little whorehouse in Texas is the best whorehouse in Texas ever, oblivious to the fact Dolly Parton works there.

I understand the writer is detailing a game they haven’t had the opportunity to play.  They are usually critiquing video clips, screen shots, and the word of the developer that the game isn’t going to be the same repackaged bullshit.  How can you pass sound judgment on a game simply by looking at a screenshot or gameplay footage?  You can’t and by saying, “this screenshot looks incredible,” you’re only validating that the specific still looks good graphically.  A good example of this is the upcoming Ghostbusters game.

With no disrespect to the movies, which managed to scare the shit out of me when I was a kid, that game is going to be terrible.  I know this because every preview I’ve read, every screen shot I’ve seen, every video I’ve watched, preys on my childhood memories.  The game was dropped by Activision for being fiscally infeasible and was later picked up by Atari, a company also guilty of preying on my childhood memories.  I’m picking on the Ghostbusters game because contrary to what I’ve read on it, I don’t think it’ll be any good.  That’s not to say I’m totally right.

Yield to Publishers/Developers/Franchises

Let’s look at the developers/publishers who have good previews and subsequent reviews of any game they release:  Rockstar, Valve, Bethesda, Blizzard, Square Enix, Capcom, Nintendo, Bungie, Epic, etc.  That list goes on and on.  Fallout 3 is basically Oblivion, no Final Fantasy or Resident Evil has ever been worthy of high praise, Grand Theft Auto IV is a regression of substance and gameplay.  Portal is a highly specialized rip-off of Prey.  What I’m trying to say is this, we all yield concessions to the publishers and developers associated with our personal definition of quality.

I’m certainly not saying the publishers/developers I’ve mentioned are encompassed in my definition of quality.  They are however associated with someone else’s’ and because of that, they get good previews and reviews from the corporate sources who exist because they sate rabid fans.  It’s not just the well known publishers/developers that get rave preview response.  Looking at my previous point.  The preview is usually based on what the developer says the game will be like.  If the PR person for your company comes out and says the game you are working on is going to be terrible, they should be drug behind a beat up pickup truck in true Alabama fashion.

The Dennis Dyack Effect

I don’t totally agree with the man but he did propose a valid argument.  Video games are the only media that have comprehensive previews years before the product is finished.  With movies you get teasers, then trailers, then the final product is released.  Rarely do you see a teaser more than a year in advance.  Music has an announcement, then it goes to radio(the exhibition of the final product.)  Radio is for music like art galleries are for paintings.  Video games on the other hand have outsiders telling you what your game will be like well before they’ve had a chance to play it.

Dennis made his argument referring to the slight ire Too Human received after a poor showing at E3.  Just in case you’re a newcomer to video games and have absolutely no idea how the industry works, developers stymie game production months in advance to prepare something specific and grandiose to showcase at E3.  E3 is every year, meaning there’s roughly a year of lost production time in the game’s development cycle simply to prepare for the annual expo.  Of course Dyack’s proposal is invalidated because I knew Too Human wasn’t going to live up to the hype.   I could smell the sour salty fragrance of failure coming years in advance.  I can read between the lines of the previews.

It was announced shortly before Eternal Darkness, which was on the Gamecube, when Silicon Knights was still owned by Nintendo.  When they were sold, it was announced  on the Xbox, and then the Xbox 360, when it was still called the Next Xbox.  Then almost 3 years into the console’s life it was finally released.  Something to make note of is this; when a game takes more than 5 years to make, it probably isn’t going to be game of the year, look at Dark Sector.

Previews are good to an extent.  They should be brutally honest.  Don’t say “based on these screen shots and this footage this game will be totally tits.”  Are kids these days still using the word “tits” like that?  If you’ve played an early version of the game, state the shortcomings and then defend them by saying “it’s not the finished product.”  As a journalist you owe it to your readers to present the accurate and vaguely subjective point of view that they as normal folk can’t get.  Good day!