Wolfenstein

Wolfenstein brings the Nazi's dark obsession with the occult to life with epic action and harrowing shooter combat. Use a powerful arsenal of both definitive and occult-enhanced Axis & Allied weapons to beat back a supernatural Nazi force that is full of surprises. You play as BJ Blazkowicz, a highly decorated member of the Office of Secret Actions (OSA). You are sent on a special mission into the heart of the Reich to investigate evidence that the Nazis may possess a new and mysterious power. While behind enemy lines, you discover the Nazis have done much more than develop a new toy. The Nazis are harnessing the power of the Black Sun through a dark parallel dimension called The Veil, in order to create a weapon of war-ending mass destruction. You are the only one that can stop them and save the world from their perverse domination.

'Aliens in the Attic'

Genre: Action/Adventure
Publisher: Playlogic
Developer: Engine Software
Release Date: August 4, 2009

Developed by Engine Software, Aliens in the Attic is based on the summer kids' movie of the same name. Having not seen the film, I can't really tell you how closely associated the game is with the plot (it probably didn't feature kids running around a huge house with laser slingshots), but I can tell you that it was surprisingly better than I anticipated, at least for the first couple of hours of gameplay. Unfortunately, the idea that this game was a children's version of Contra wore off after a bit, and I found the whole thing pretty repetitive and vapid, lacking any real semblance of difficulty or diversity over its many, many stages.
Apparently, the idea is that three kids get caught up in some alien invasion, and these extraterrestrial visitors resemble … robots. During most of the levels, you'll fight little variations of toys, like a small tank and a UFO. The kids are all swappable on the fly, so you can cycle between the three using the right shoulder button, and as you might have guessed, each kid has a particular set of skills that come into play. The blond boy, the smug and somewhat arrogant one of the bunch, is also the powerhouse and is able to push large objects, which becomes necessary for some light puzzle-solving (i.e., placing blocks on switches). The dark-haired boy is the brain of the group, and he's able to hack doors using a strange lock mini-game that has you spinning a wheel in the middle of the touch-screen and dropping colored balls into various slots according the pattern in the middle of the wheel. The girl, who is obviously younger and about half the size of the two boys, is surprisingly the one with the highest jump; she's able to perform a much-needed double-jump to reach higher platforms, and she can also crawl through smaller vents and passageways.
I'll give credit to Aliens in the Attack for trying to add some variety to the three characters. They're all absolutely necessary, and while the two boys are the only ones with any offensive capabilities, you'll still find yourself reverting back to the girl to navigate the majority of the stages. She's just far more intuitive for platforming usage with her double-jump ability. The title tosses a fair amount of enemies at you as it progresses, so it becomes more important to play as one of the two male characters toward the end of the game.
The combat starts off as an interesting throwback to old 2-D action titles, but as you spend more time with the game, it really shows you how stale the concept can be without a certain level of polish or design attached to the concept. Obviously, the developers were hamstrung by the license, and I do wonder what Engine Software could pull off with this concept without being hampered by a kids' film license, but at the same time, there could have been a bit more variety in the stage design than what we ended up with.
Since the title of the movie includes the word "attic," you might have images of an older, quaint-looking house, middle America-ish, something that your grandparents might have lived in. I'm not sure why this imagery pops into my mind with the use of the word "attic," but it does — perhaps because I've been an apartment dweller the majority of my life. It appears that each level in the game takes place within the same home, so that's got to be a pretty impressive house. Some of the stages feel positively sprawling in scope, even if they are incredibly linear.
Unfortunately, every stage looks and plays out in the exact same way; the path might be different, but you never feel like you're truly seeing something new, even when it's suddenly presented to you, like the locked door mini-game. Each stage is bland and filled with some type of "Home and Garden" decor, and there's nothing about the visuals that really stand out as being particularly interesting. It's worth noting that the characters are low-key 3-D and not sprite work, so they stand out against the more detailed background work — and I don't mean that in a good way.
The soundtrack starts off surprisingly strong, but then you realize that the one solid tune is pretty much the only song in the game. You'll get a change when you encounter a boss fight, but there isn't a boss encounter at the end of every stage, so you're generally stuck listening to the same track loop over and over again. It's a pretty good track when you considering the source, but even the best music will wear thin after you've listened to it for a few hours over and over.
Altogether, Aliens in the Attic was surprisingly better than I anticipated, even if I was pretty down on it in this review. The idea to take the license into a Contra-lite style experience is interesting, but it doesn't end up being that fun to play after a couple of hours. Maybe the developers were hamstrung by the license, but it certainly needed more refinement before I could recommend the title for purchase. If you enjoyed the movie and are curious about this game, it might be worth a rental, but just barely. I'm hoping that we'll see something more interested from these developers later on, but for now, Aliens in the Attic is a pretty bland affair.

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Batman: Arkham Asylum exposes players to a unique, dark and atmospheric adventure that takes them to the depths of Arkham Asylum - Gotham's psychiatric hospital for the criminally insane. Gamers will move in the shadows, instigate fear amongst their enemies and confront The Joker and Gotham City's most notorious villains who have taken over the asylum. Using a wide range of Batman's gadgets and abilities, players will become the invisible predator and attempt to foil The Joker's demented scheme.

Cursed Mountain Review

It's cold in the Himalayas--damned cold. The chill fills your lungs as you desperately search the mountain for the leftover canisters of oxygen you need to survive. And as you draw rattling breaths with burning lungs, you desperately defend yourself from hostile spirits hovering between this world and the next. This is the world of Cursed Mountain, where the frigid air will chill you to the bone, and your inner eye draws secret runes into clear view. This slow-paced survival horror game is not just the tale of a vertigo-inducing climb up the side of a Tibetan mountain, but a fascinating and surprisingly authentic examination of Buddhist rituals and the Sherpas who populate the region. Even when compared to other horror games, Cursed Mountain moves at a slow tempo, so if you need to be consistently engaged with hot action or thoughtful puzzles, this is not the game for you. And even if you do appreciate measured exploration and storytelling, you'll not likely appreciate the unresponsive motion controls. Yet in spite of these and other foibles, Cursed Mountain will draw you into its frozen spell, from which the only respite is incense, meditation, and a trusty pickaxe.You play as Eric Simmons, a famed mountain climber searching for his brother Frank, who has gone missing while scaling Chomolonzo, one of Tibet's Himalayan mountains. Frank is a hothead known for taking risks, so when injured climber Edward Bennett needed someone to retrieve an important artifact at the mountain's crest, Frank was the obvious choice for such a risky endeavor. Unfortunately, the mountain's resident goddess isn't pleased with the constant intrusion, so your slow climb in search of Frank is hardly straightforward. You must investigate Sherpa villages and Buddhist temples searching for clues and learning of the events that complicated Frank's troubled ascent. You'll discover diary pages and climbers' logs that detail Frank's determined attitude, as well as his disrespect of the local culture and your own climbing successes. Hand-illustrated cutscenes further describe the saga as it unfolds, and along with some dramatic voice acting, they do a great job of fleshing out the mystery. What is Frank's fate? What is this relic known as a Terma? And why are you being assailed by spirits caught between this world and the next?

The answers come, and while the plot is straightforward enough, it's the detail surrounding it that makes the story easy to get lost in. Cursed Mountain is brimming with authentic touches that show reverence to the mountain's people and customs--and that authenticity makes the journey feel even spookier, because the terrors are centered on real religious teachings. The notes you find scattered about from villagers and monks realistically reference actual rituals and traditions, from depictions of the intermediate realm known as the Bardo, to the use of incense to ward off evil spirits. As you make your way up Chomolonzo, you see prayer flags flying in the icy wind and colorful dome tents, which are sights you would see on an actual climb. Certain short sequences, like those in which you twirl the remote during meditation, and one in which you sneak up on prayerful ghosts to steal their mantras, make good use oftheseconcepts and steep you in the ambience theseconcepts and steep you in the ambience.

Beyond Good and Evil 2 development on hold?

What we heard: Less than a month before the 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo, leaked in-game footage of what appeared to be Ubisoft's Beyond Good & Evil 2 popped up on popular video-sharing Web site YouTube. The footage appeared to presage Ubisoft's blowout for the game, which was first announced as part of UbiDaysin May 2008. However, such was not the case, as the game was conspicuously absent from Ubisoft's E3 presence.

It now appears as if Beyond Good & Evil 2 isn't just unready for primetime--it may not be happening at all. According to Gamersyde staff writer Colin Solal Cardo, Ubisoft confirmed to him that Beyond Good & Evil 2 has been placed on indefinite hold.

"I got confirmation at Cologne's Gamescom that Beyond Good & Evil 2 is on hold for now. No idea if it's def or temporary but it sucks," reads a post Cardo made to micro-blogging site Twitter.

Indeed, assuming the confirmation Cardo received is accurate, this wouldn't be the first time Ubisoft has distanced itself from its May 2008 announcement of Beyond Good & Evil 2. Speaking toIndustryGamers in July, Ubisoft North America executive director Laurent Detoc addressed the aforementioned leaked in-game footage, casting a substantial shade of doubt as to whether the game will see release.

"Whether or not [Beyond Good & Evil 2] comes out remains to be seen anyway, but we didn't want to abandon that IP because it has a cachet and authenticity about it," Detoc said. He later continued, "Well, I didn't say there's definitely going to be another game. I said something had leaked, which means we've been working on some Beyond Good & Evil stuff, but whether there's going to be another game or not, that's something for the future."

The official story: Ubisoft had not returned requests for comment as of press time.

Bogus or not bogus?: Not bogus that Ubisoft is on the fence about reviving Beyond Good & Evil 2. Whether or not development has officially been suspended remains to be seen, however.

Turbine sues Atari over D&D MMOG

Speculation of a Neverwinter Nights MMOG reemerges, as Dungeons & Dragons Online creator files suit over publisher's efforts to terminate licensing agreement.

Between two massively multiplayer online games launching within 12 months of each other, Cryptic Studios has a lot on its plate. However, that load seemed to increase in June, when variety reported that Cryptic's parent company Atari was tasking the Los Gatos, California-based studio with an MMOG based in the Dungeons & Dragons universe of Neverwinter Nights.One more piece of evidence pointing to that game surfaced today, though that clue comes from an unlikely place. courthouse news reports that Turbine Inc. has filed suit against Atari in New York, arguing that the publisher breached an agreement related to the D&D license. In 2003, turbine licensed the rights to make D&D MMOGs from atari,and it currently operates Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach.

As it pertains to Cryptic's rumored D&D MMOG, Turbine claims that Atari is deliberately under-promoting the relaunch of D&D online under its new free to play business models as part of a licensing-agreement "termination" strategy. The suit claims that this termination strategy is being pursued in bad faith, as Atari plans to launch its own competing product.

Turbine also alleges through the suit that Atari breached its contract by continuing to accept payments related to the licensing agreement. That, despite the publisher's plans to deprive Turbine of its D&D license and proceed with its own online D&D game, the suit contends.

The Courthouse News report does not specify what Atari's competing product might be. Atari had not yet responded to requests for comment as of press time. A Turbine representative declined to comment on the matter.

Raven Software trims staff

With Wolfenstein, Wolverine out the door, Activision subsidiary said to have let 30-35 developers go as part of transition to two development teams.

Raven Software has had a busy past few months. In May, the Activision-owned studio shipped X-Men Origins: Wolverine, a decentlu reviewed film tie-in to Marvel Entertainment and 20th Century Fox's film of the same name. Three months later, the studio shipped Wolfenstein, an update to id Software's classic shooter that also received a positive reaction from critics.Unfortunately, with both projects now out the door, Activision is apparently trimming headcount at the Madison, Wisconsin, developer. Gaming site shacknews reports that Raven Software laid off up to 56 developers today

"With the recent completion of both X-Men Origins: Wolverine, based on the summer blockbuster movie, and Wolfenstein, the next chapter of the famed franchise, Raven Software is slightly reducing its workforce to better reflect the studio's upcoming slate," an Activision representative told GameSpot.

Raven Software remains at work on Singularity, which was delayed in july to activision's january-march 2010 quarter.