DARK SOULS : WHIP IT GOOD!

For those looking to add a little Castlevania to your Dark Souls your in Luck! One of the new weapons in the successor to Demon Souls has added a whip to the arsenal of weapons you can use in your new career as "The slayer O demons"

 ( personally love the Two handed "I'm gonna beat yo ass" whip grip )


DARK SOULS arrives next Tuesday (10/4/11) for the PS3 & 360

enjoy the clip:

 

Get More: GameTrailers.com, Dark Souls - Undead Days: Where There's a Whip There's a Way, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

HERZOG ZWEI IS BACK BABY!

AIRMECH is a little RTS strategy game that appears to be the spiritual successor to one of my favorite SEGA Genesis games from the 90's called HERZOG ZWEI, a little known game that was the very first Real Time Strategy game and birthed an entire video game genre.

Build units, acquire bases and vanquish your enemies in a veritech fighter. Sweet!





(Here's the original in action.)



No release date for AIRMECH but if it stays true to the original, it should be a blast.

STAR WARS GAME DEMO - SAN DIEGO COMIC CON

more from comic con



SC reporting

A revealing look at a DARK SOULS E3 video clip.

Here's a nice video courtesy of Youtube/SCRAWLfx from E3 that gives us a little more to work with as far as what's changed and what remained the same. Here are my thoughts and comparison to DEMON SOUL based on whats in the clip.

The demo gives you Six different character builds to choose from, I'm guessing these are based on what attributes you spend your "souls" on like the original game and your not locked into a "type" throughout the entire game.

On the demo level, UNDEAD PARISH, we see the player interact with a bonfire instead of the archway and an option to enhance the bonfire, I'm interested to learn what this does. We also see the player get roasted by a giant red dragon and like in the first game he was able to recover his souls where he died.

It looks like Namco Bandai had a LAN going in their booth allowing players to experiment with leaving messages and invading worlds as black phantoms, I also noticed that your still able to see the "ghosts" of other players while you play.

Now onto what I hope they fix....

Online chat, it only makes sense that you should be able to communicate with a fellow player in your world be it PVP or CO-OP.

There should be a way were people on your friends list are automatically on the same server as you are without having to jump in and out of levels to sync up with people that you wish to play with.

Lighting, I know they want to set a mood but the game is too damn dark on the interior levels.

DARK SOUL aka DEMON SOUL 2 video

I loved the original Demon Soul and still I didn't come anywhere near to finishing it. Some players where put off but it's staggering difficulty in the beginning of the game , others just put it aside to get back to it later.

For me I enjoyed the game but got swept up in other....who am I kidding the game was freaking hard and to this day I can't bring myself to play it or get rid of it, it sits on my shelf daring me to put the game disc into my PS3.

Now with the announcement of the sequel, I have no choice but to man up and get back to it.

here's the clip:

MASS EFFECT 2 : Character classes

With Mass Effect 2 for the PS3 due out in less than a week, I thought it would be nice for those of you that are unfamiliar with the first game to get an idea of what the character classes are about and capable of. Since my experience with the first game was limited due to me selling my Xbox 360 before I could play though the first Mass Effect, I differ to Senior Editor of TheKoalition.com and Mass Effect Maven, Gary Swaby.


Take it away Gary......

I see a lot of people asking; Whats the best character class in Mass Effect 2? Or, What class should I use on Mass Effect 2? Whats The Easiest Class to use? Where can I get some class help? Well to all those asking the question, I am here to provide you with an answer. This is The Koalition’s official character class guide, in which I will show off some of the pro’s and con’s of each class. Hopefully this will steer you in the right direction, helping you choose the right class for you.

However I would like to give a more upfront answer to these questions before we begin. In my opinion there is no best class, there is no easiest or most complicated class. Mass Effect 2 is a game that is all about choice and decisions, this is no different with the classes. Choose the class you think is best for you. For all you non decisive people out there, I hope this guide will help you make the final decision.I will now list all the classes and provide a brief summary of what you get with each one, then go on to display some of the pro’s and con’s.

SOLDIER – COMBAT SPECIALIST



The Soldier class would be ideal for someone looking to just gun their way through the missions, without worrying about using any Biotic or Tech abilities.

In their place you will have adrenaline burst and concussive shot, which are two very useful abilities to have in combat. Also remember that the Soldier class is the only one that will give you an assault rifle from the start of the game. So if you love to use the assault rifles, then this is the class for you.

Weapons: Assault Rifle, Sniper Rifle, Shotgun, Heavy Pistol, Disruptor Ammo,

Incendiary Ammo, Cryo Ammo.

Powers: Adrenaline Rush, Concussive Shot.

Pros
- Assault Rifle from the start of the game.
- Able to use all weapons.
- Good in close or long range combat.
- Adrenaline rush is great for outlasting your enemies.

Cons

- No Biotics or Tech (Sometimes it’s good to throw people around).
- Your only as good as your shooting skills, since there is not much else to rely on (except your team of course, but this is focusing on your class alone).

———-

ENGINEER – TECH SPECIALIST



The Engineer class is great for those looking to tactically dominate their enemies. Your abilities as an Engineer will have you creating combat drones, freezing enemies (and then shattering them to pieces), and hacking AI’s to turn them on their enemies. It’s a very fun class to try out if you want to mix things up a little. Starting the game as an Engineer will only provide you with a heavy pistol and a submachine gun, but it’s a fair trade for having all those useful abilities.

Weapons: Submachine Gun, Heavy Pistol.

Powers: Combat Drone, Overload, AI Hacking, Incinerate, Cryo Blast.

Pros
- A constant advantage over synthetic enemies.
- Spawning combat drones can divert the enemies attention.
- Overloading the enemies shields is a huge tactical advantage.
- Cyro Blast freezes enemies, this is useful if an enemy tires to get too close.

Cons
- Lack of weapons from the get go.
- No Biotics.

ADEPT – BIOTIC SPECIALIST





Adept is the ultimate biotic class. For those who don’t know what Biotics are; its the ability to use the power of your mind to let off a dark energy, which can be used to move physical targets. In this case, they can be used to have your enemies flying all over the damn place. Using Biotics can be fun, but you have so many people on your team that use them anyway, that later in the game you may wish you had something more unique. Just like with the Engineer class, you only get a heavy pistol and a submachine gun to begin with. However given that you have some of the best Biotic abilities at your disposal, it’s easily forgivable. Also having the Shockwave ability can help you a whole lot when enemies start to come for you in packs, as this ability will knock over everybody directly in front of you.

Weapons: Submachine Gun, Heavy Pistol.

Powers: Singularity, Throw, Pull, Shockwave, Warp.

Pros

- Biotics can help save your life in certain situations.
- Shockwave breaks down swarms of enemies heading towards you.
- Singularity can stop enemy activity for a short period of time.

Cons
- No Slam ability? (The slam attack looks dope, especially when Miranda uses it.)
- Biotics can get boring after a while, since most of your squad can use them.
- Lack of guns from the get go.

———-

INFILTRATOR – COMBAT/TECH




Want more weapon advantages, plus some tech abilities? Then this is a great class to suit your needs. I am currently using this class in my game, and I can tell you it’s great for taking down enemies, especially if you love using the sniper rifle to aid you in combat. Not only that but there are also stealth elements, you can even turn invisible for a couple seconds to flee and line up a good shot.

Weapons: Submachine Gun, Heavy Pistol, Sniper Rifle, Disruptor Ammor, Cryo
Ammo.

Powers: Tactical Cloak, AI Hacking, Incinerate.

Pros
- A perfect mix of the Soldier and Engineer classes.
- The only class that lets you use Tactical Cloak, to go invisible.
- You get the sniper rifle from the start of the game.
- Disruptor Ammo will help you take down shields and synthetic enemies quickly.

Cons

- If you aren’t too good in close range combat, this may not be the class for you.
- Tactical Cloak is over way too quickly until you start to level it up.

———-

VANGUARD – BIOTIC/COMBAT




This class is a mix of Biotic and Soldier advantages. The most notable ability to a Vanguard is being able to charge at your enemies, making them stumble backwards to give you a close range advantage. Vanguard is ideal for those who like a more head on approach in combat, being able to wield a shotgun from the start helps with this too.

Weapons: Submachine Gun, Heavy Pistol, Shotgun, Incendiary Ammo, Cryo Ammo.

Powers: Biotic Charge, Pull, Shockwave.

Pros

- Biotic charge can be used to take out the tougher enemies, as long as you use it at the right time.
- Using the shotgun in combination with biotic charge makes you very dangerous on the battlefield (Great for when those Krogans choose to get too close)

Cons
- Once again, Biotics can get boring.
- If you don't deal with close combat very well then you will often get overwhelmed.
- Using biotic charge when there are too many enemies around puts you is too much of a big risk.

———-

SENTINEL – BIOTIC/TECH

———-




Perhaps the most flexible class in the game, allowing you to mix Biotics with Tech, as well as using your firepower. Though of course you only start off with the basic load out, wielding a heavy pistol and submachine gun. The most unique ability in the Sentinel class is being able to throw up a tech shield to guard yourself for a period of time.

Weapons: Submachine Gun, Heavy Pistol.

Powers: Tech Armor, Throw, Cryo Blast, Overload, Warp.

Pros
- The nice mix of Tech and Biotic abilities.
- A useful class for both close and long range combat.

Cons
- The basic load out.
- Sentinel possibly may give you too much of an advantage, making the game easier depending on your difficulty.

I hope that helps you guys come to a conclusion of what class you wish to use. Just like I said before, there is no class better than the other, it just all comes down to how you want to play.

For even more reference on the advantages of all classes, I will now give a basic index of all the abilities. So if you are still indecisive, this should definitely help you make up your mind. I will detail all abilities and add a small description.

INDEX OF ABILITIES

Adrenaline Rush: Slows down time around Shepard to give you time to line up shots on your enemies.

AI Hacking: Temporarily re programs synthetic enemies to turn on their enemies.

Biotic Charge: Uses Biotics to charge Shepard at the enemy, making them stumble. The ability can take a chunk of health (From the enemy) away once leveled up.

Combat Drone: Deploys a drone, which can stun enemies and damage their shields. The drone is also useful for distracting enemies, taking the attention away from you. Only one drone can be deployed at a time.

Concussive Shot: When activated, Shepard’s weapon will fire a single high powered shot, which is likely to either kill or stun the enemy.

Cryo Ammo: When activated, Shepard’s weapon will sometimes freeze the enemy. Further gun fire at the target can shatter them into pieces.

Disruptor Ammo: When activated, Shepard weapon can easily break down enemy shields, or take out synthetic enemies. It also gives you a chance at overheating enemy weapons.

Incinerate: This is a shot fired from the Omni-Tool, which inflicts damage to the enemy over time, also stopping their health regeneration.

Overload: When used, Overload can shut down enemy shields, presenting a chance to gun them down.

Pull: Pull is used to levitate your enemy into the air, during which time they will slowly fly towards you. This is presents a chance for you and your team to damage them with gunfire. Using Pull will not do damage to the enemy, it just presents the chance for you to unload on them. You can even combine other Biotic powers to manipulate them further, such as throw.

Singularity: Creates a small Mass Effect Field, which draws in close by enemies and renders them helpless for a time.

Tactical Cloak: When activated, Shepard will go invisible for a period of time. This is useful for escaping the enemies eye.

Tech Armor: Puts a tech shield around Shepard. Once the shield gets damaged enough it sends a surge of energy which will knock back enemies close by.

Throw: A Biotic power allowing you to throw enemies back, if they hit an object they will take damage.

Warp: A Biotic power which damages enemies and stops their health regeneration. When used in a combo of Biotic powers such as Pull or Singularity, it can be very powerful.

UNCHARTED 3 Gameplay footage ( J.Fallon)

Here's a clip from the Jimmy Fallon show of the next installment of what could be the greatest action adventure gaming franchise, Uncharted.

here's the clip ( sorry about the ads ):

Hail to the King, baby! Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare

Now here's some downloadable content that I'm definitely willing to pay $10 for.

Zombie's and the old west? I'm there dude.

Video Games | RDR: Undead Nightmare | Debut Teaser

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

DC UNIVERSE ONLINE : MY IMPRESSION SO FAR....

Although the thought of aa console MMOPRG with DC superheroes really appeals to me, I a little sad that none of the gameplay footage that I've seen gives me any hope for this title.

I know it's a work in progress but with the release date right around the corner I've yet to see something other than a spiffy CG trailer that compel me to play this game. Here are some of the points that believe this game will have going against it at launch:

• COST : $59.99+ tax and an additional $14 a month if you don't have a PS+ account or the slightly better deal of getting a PS+ account for $50 per year and you get to play this game for free, HULU plus and wipeout HD included for that price. It's still an extra cost that PS3 console gamers are not used to.

• COMPETITION: With the huge selection of established and soon to be released multiplayer games that are for the most part you are able to play for free online with your "friends" I can't imagine that this game has a snowballs chance in hell of taking off, which takes us to my next critique.

• GAMEPLAY: looks bad, from what I can gather, it suffers from bad collision, the animations are choppy and the in game world look just bland ( think Nintendo 64 superman). I mean at this point and time you would think that Sony, one of the early pioneers of the multiplayer online gaming world, would have gotten there shit together when it comes to MMORPG by now.

Here's the "sizzle" in the form of the comic con CG trailer for the game, which I have to say had me sold in the first 30 seconds:




And here's the "steak" an approximation of what your getting for $59.99 + $14 a month.

MY FAVORITE GAME CLIPS FROM E3

I first would like to give credit where it's due to our Mr. Mumblestien for bringing Two of these games to my attention.


let's begin:


STAR WARS : THE FORCE UNLEASHED 2

The original was an all time favorite of mine that I'm currently replaying for shits and giggles. Vader's apprentice is back out for revenge wielding dual lightsabers. The game looks phenomenal with major improvements to the in game character models and H.U.D.

Due out this October, I really can't remember the last time I was this excited for a traditional linear action adventure game.

Check out the G4 exclusive game footage below:







METAL GEAR RISING

Hideki Kojima's follow up to Metal Gear Solid 4 Stars Raiden, the controversial fey sword wielding cyber ninja first introduced over Ten years ago to hisses and boo's as Snakes successor in Metal Gear Solid 2, the backlash was so bad that plans for a follow up to MGS 2 staring Raiden were shelved and the Metal Gear series took a jump back in time to the cold war and returned "Snake" ( aka A young Big Boss ) as the series protagonist for the next installment.

Well I'm glad they waited cause the game looks amazing and the slice through everything gameplay makes me want to play this....NOW.

check it out courtesy of G4:





MARVEL VS. CAPCOM 3

I've been waiting for this game for over 10 F*cking years! Aside from the questionable flavor of the month marvel character choices, I just hope the netcode is tight cause I'm looking to take my skills online.

Now if they could only add BEN GRIMM with his signature "IT'S CLOBBERING TIME!" and I'll be set.



So these are the games from E3 that caught my eye, nothing else stood out to me or maybe I didn't care for anything else since game time is at a premium in my house.

anywhoo, hasta luego....


Tomorrow: Buffoonery and high jinx!

SWEET GAMING ROOM

This comes to us from Dannycoo.com - a reader of his blog ( Donkey*kong ) from the Netherlands sent in a pic of his game room.

speechless.

AVOID GAMESTOP THIS HOLIDAY SEASON

Avoid the headaches of dealing with the idiots in Gamestop stores and do your shopping online.

B&N.com, AMAZON.com, BESTBUY.com all offer pre-order goodies for you games.

but if you still insist on going into these hives of scum and villainy, here's a little survival

guide to help you out.

ADVENTURES IN DEMON SOUL: ARMORED SPIDER

For those of you who are out of the gaming loop, Demon Soul is a D&D style dungeon crawler

exclusive to the PS3.



It's brutally unforgiving but oh so rewarding.

I'm fighting my 3 boss, a giant fire breathing, web slinging, pain in the ass armored spider that

will flatten you like a pancake if you slip up once.




Here's a visual of what I'm talking about.

I WANT IT TO BE SLOW AND PAINFUL

THE DOWNFALL OF GAMESTOP BEGINS HERE.

(My apologies to Malformed )

As reported by Gamerlimit.com

GameStop director Leonard Riggio has sold 2.3 million shares in the US retailer, worth $60.2 million, which has lead to some analysts to predict that some tough times are ahead for the company, as the last time Riggio sold shares in 2007 he avoided making a 62% loss.

A spokeperson for GameStop told Barrons, that the shares were sold for tax planning reasons. However Alex Romayev from Form4Oracle noted that it looked as if Riggio lacked confidence in the company’s stock. He is also the founder and chairman of Barnes & Noble and holds a 31 per cent stake in the firm valued at around $369.1 million. Alex commented that “unless he desperately needs USD 60 million, he’s got a lot bigger stake in Barnes & Noble. Clearly he thinks selling GameStop is better than selling Barnes & Noble.”

ROAD RASH CONCEPT VID

This looks very promising, Road Rash and it's various sequels on the Sega Genesis was One of my favorite game franchises and to see all that beautiful motorcycle mayhem in 3D brings a tear to my eye....sniff.

Imagine online bike fighting on the highway ala Akira!

"That Pea Brain!"

SUPER STREET FIGHTER 4 IS COMING!

courtesy of IPLAYWINNER.com

Both screenshots include the rumored T. Hawk and Juri, so we can assume the rest of the leaked roster is also going to show up in the game as well. There seemes to be some minor modificaitons to the HUD but overall looks very similar to Street Fighter IV's HUD, so we will have to wait to get more concrete information on the new system changes. Also, note that both stages are from Street Fighter 4, so hopefully we will get information on any new stages included in the game as well.

more info as it develops!

DEAD RISING 2: TGS FOOTAGE

Did Resident Evil 5 leaving you craving for more zombie? Well fear not sickos cause CAPCOM has answered your prayers.

here's a couple of clips of Dead Rising 2, a Survival horror game with a tongue and cheek, Zombieland feel.

How so you ask?

tape a pitchfork to a shotgun for some zombie wasting fun!




Or just whack em with a wheelchair

GIVE COLE A CHANCE!....GIVE COLE A CHANCE!

For my PS3 owning readers, if you enjoyed the BATMAN : Arhkam Asylum game and you're looking for you next super hero / villain fix, do yourself a favor and pick up infamous, A PS3 exclusive that kind of lost it's way due to a similar yet substandard game that was released at around the same time ( prototype ).

Here's what INFAMOUS has to offer:

• A fully interactive city ( with four Boroughs )with traffic, villains and a mob of people that will either cheer you on as you do good deeds or pelt you with rocks when you act like a prick.

• An intriguing story worthy of the big Three comic publishers.

• A plethora of custom Good / Evil powers to unlock.

• A wide variety of villains in many shapes & sizes with a variety of abilities to counter your own that actually learn to anticipate your moves and never fall in the category of bland or monotonous.

• Unrestricted missions that allow you do whatever it takes to complete them even if it means wounding innocent bystanders or blowing up a row of cars in traffic.

• You're actions, for good of evil, affect the story in a completely different ways which ultimately determines your powers, relationships and missions. ( also drastically changes what ending you get.)

If your jonesing for a good game and not sure what to pick up give INFAMOUS a shot, still not sold?

here's a clip:

STOP GAMESTOP : BOYCOTT

GAMESTOP has done a few shady things over the years that I've happily of overlooked mostly because I'm a lazy bastard that just wants to get his game on quick and on the cheap. But the practice of opening new games and handling the discs and then selling the game as new is bullshit.

I don't know if this is happening in your neck of the woods, but here in New York, this shit is prevalent and getting on my fucking nerves. I know that these fuckers sign out used games to play at home, whats to stop them from playing with the "new" inventory? or selling me a used resurfaced game as "new" just by putting it in a nice shiny brand new case.

I define new the same way most stores do, once the seal is broken I got news for you, it's not new.

So to wrap this rant up, I'll get my new games from J&R or Best Buy or any other reputable game seller that doesn't tamper with the packaging and my used games will come from Ebay ( I'll take my chances) where deals are plenty.

As for Gamestop, you've lost at least one buyer entirely. Good luck when everything goes digital Assholes.

GHOSTBUSTERS MULTIPLAYER

I don't know what it is about this game, but every announcement and video I see for it brings a huge smile to my face.

Maybe it's because I'm a HUGE fan of the franchise and I've always felt that GHOSTBUSTERS would make a great game in the rights hands and I'm happy to report that it looks like a winner.

Here's the Trailer for MULTIPLAYER MODE