“Just to make everything clear,” Miyazaki tells a small audience assembled at Sony’s booth to see Bloodborne, his recently announced PlayStation 4 exclusive, “this is not a sequel to Demon’s Souls.”

After seeing the game in action, Miyazaki’s clarification comes across as perhaps a little unnecessary. Yes, this is a third-person action RPG, complete with thunderingly impactful combat and a delicately entwined world, but it’s also a departure from the medieval melancholy of King’s Field, Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls. There’s melancholy here, for sure, but it’s a more toxic, brooding kind – the shadows here are blacker, the blood flowing more freely. Bloodborne’s set in Yharnam, an imposing, sprawling city that, with its verticality, has something of a deeply gothic 19th century Edinburgh to it (Miyazaki won’t be drawn on comparisons, though he admits they do exist, for fear of upsetting inhabitants of the cities that have inspired him with his dark, diseased vision). It’s grim, although its intricacy inspires the same level of awe as From Software’s other fantastical situations; hidden pathways unlock shortcuts, while you’re often granted fresh perspectives on paths previously travelled as you explore new parts of the city. It’s a city gripped by disease, as told by the coffins that line its streets and the infected that stalk its dark corners. Yharnam’s bleak architecture reflects Bloodborne’s downbeat premise: the city was known for a medical remedy, attracting the afflicted who are now permanent citizens, often unaware of the horrible plight that still consumes them. It’s a city told in exquisite detail, too. The legacy of the Souls games is evident in how fully formed Bloodborne’s aesthetic is – and it’s also evident in a frame-rate that makes some dramatic plunges from time to time – but the fidelity makes it feel like a clear generational leap. Clock towers glow orange on the horizon, while stonework glistens with an imposing damp, painted thickly with gargoyles and etchings that all help make Yharnam an architectural wonder. Some of that darker philosophy shows in your character, decked here in a flowing coat that over the course of the demo soon becomes drenched in blood. Miyazaki’s games have never shied away from violence, of course, but in Bloodborne it’s a more tangible, more sickening force that makes for an atmosphere somehow bleaker than the Souls series. “I want players to feel that every fight could be their last one,” says Miyazaki. “You’re going to see a lot of blood splattering. When you face an enemy, you’re going to face death. You’ll constantly face terror and horror.” Other enemy types patrol the slim area of Yharnam on display right now – oversized crows and aggressive bloodhounds were two particularly vicious opponents. The added emphasis on violence extends to a play style that’s another departure from what’s gone before. “In Demon’s Souls, you were equipped with a sword and a shield, so you could seek out an area and take a passive approach,” explains Miyazaki. “But we’re going to switch that up from passive to not aggressive so much, but more pro-active.” As such there’s no shield in Bloodborne – instead, you’re dual-wielding weapons that themselves have dual purposes. In your right hand is a saw that doubles up as a cleaver, transforming from one form to another with a flick of the wrist. The act of transformation is an attack in itself, suggesting that the shotgun in your left hand acts not as a cheap ranged weapon but as a perfect flourish to pepper off a counter-attack. The emphasis might be on the offensive, but it’s been complemented by a deepening of the strategic options at hand. Enemies, too, have more nuance. The diseased villagers that patrol the city have broader behaviour patterns – a mob of them may converge in a town square, working together in a hunt, before the familiar ring of a town bell will send them back out again on their own individual paths. It makes for a more organic, more emergent place to explore – enemies no longer simply spawn, it seems, but rather patrol the city according to their own internal logic. There’s tragedy to that logic too, their behaviour part of some ritual the citizens of Yharnam are unwittingly locked into. Unravelling how exactly that ritual relates to Yharnham’s own history is of course one of the core pleasure’s built into Bloodborne, and like Drangleic and Lordran before it this is a location steeped in enigmas. There are other, more straightforward enigmas surrounding Bloodborne right now, too. At one point you chance across an NPC locked in combat, and aiding them will grant you a little assistance when you face off against the area’s boss, a hulking hybrid of Pan and a werewolf dubbed the Cleric Beast. As to how exactly the process of fighting alongside other players will work, Miyazaki’s coy. “The key concept, or phrase, that we have right now is it’s an open explorative community,” is all he’ll give away. While many of Bloodborne’s systems are taken directly from the Souls’ series, some remain absent – for now at least. The demo runs without a UI, although each felled enemy sees a familiar whisp emerge from their corpse and enter the player’s body, and thanks to invincibility being enabled for this demo, player death isn’t encountered once. “The death penalty, and the concept, I don’t want to make it such a heavy thing,” ponders Miyazaki. “It’s there, but I don’t want it to cause undue stress.” Bloodborne’s a fascinating proposition, then, a clear continuation of the themes established by Miyazaki while a departure that’s relentlessly, almost impossibly grim. Is it all perhaps a little too dark? There’s no cause for alarm, it seems, as Bloodborne will stay true to another of the director’s other, more unsung traits. “One of the core concepts that I’ve had, even with Dark Souls and Demon’s Souls, is my mission and my goal is to make a very beautiful game,” he says as the demo draws to a close. “I know a lot of people have a hard time believing it when I say those words, because that’s not the first thing that comes to mind. I always believe that there is beauty in darkness. And so with Bloodborne, I feel like the darkness is darker, which means the beauty is going to rise – and you’ll be able to really see that beauty out of the darkness.”

That’s according to the developer, in a post on the U.S. PS Blog, making known that the new game is also being developed on their brand new PS4 engine:

That’s Nathan Drake rendered in full 1080p glory, using the power of our PS4 engine. All footage you see in the trailer was captured completely in engine. We’re targeting 60fps for Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, and as you can see, the visual fidelity for our character models will reach new heights. In fact, thanks to the power of PS4, right now Drake’s Uncharted 4 model is over double the polygons of Joel from The Last of Us PS3.

The next generation of Nathan Drake is going to be very real and will explore what it means when Drake is forced back into the world of thieves. He will embark on a globe-trotting journey in pursuit of a historical conspiracy behind a fabled pirate treasure. It’s his greatest adventure yet and will test his physical limits, his resolve, and ultimately what he’s willing to sacrifice to save the ones he loves.

The game is now available for preorder, and will be released holiday season 2015.

Gameplay Footage - Polygon - IGN - GameSpot - Kotaku - OXM - Eurogamer - Xbox Wire - Game Informer - Joystiq - VG247 - CVG

  

  

  



 

    



  

   

  

Gameplay Footage:

IGN - GameSpot - Polygon - Eurogamer - Kotaku - CVG - Game Informer - Destructoid

PlayStation Blog - Gamereactor - GameTrailers - PlayStation Universe - Shacknews - Neoseeker - The Next Web

The game’s coming out at the end of the month for PS4 and Xbox One.

Video Thirst: Best Black Ops II DLC Ever? 

You be the judge.

Eurogamer -

Videogamer

CVG

Venturebeat

VG247

ShackNews

NowGamer

Eurogamer concluded:

And there the demo ends. It’s certainly as pure as survival horror gets, with an emphasis on keeping the player vulnerable and outmatched, plus the obligatory side order of confusing mind games and grisly gross stuff. For fans who have been left unsatisfied by recent entries in the Resident Evil and Silent Hill franchises, this definitely seems like it’ll tick all the right boxes.

It would be good to see some hint that there’s more to The Evil Within than what’s being shown, however. When Mikami made his name with Resident Evil, he did so not by giving players something they expected, but something they didn’t. The Evil Within, by contrast, seems to be designed to give players exactly what they want. With the grass roots success of minimalist games like Amnesia and Slender, it just feels that the cutting edge of horror gaming has moved on from the template so lovingly being revived here. If this is truly to be Mikami’s final game as director, it would be nice if he could leave horror gaming with a truly terrifying new benchmark to aspire to, not one last victory lap inspired by past glories.

As McGee’s’ aforementioned statement above states, if they can get the license situation squared away with EA than they’ll work on Alice: Otherlands. However, if things don’t work out with EA McGee plans on green-lighting OZombie.

“Actually, the more I think about it – and the more I see/hear feedback from you guys – the more I’m personally leaning towards Oz. There’s so much fun stuff to explore, so many interesting characters and locations to discover. Wonderland will also be there, if not today, if not the next project, then perhaps the one after that?”

OZombie looks to take Dorothy, Toto, Lion, with TinMan and Scarecrow as the villain, and mix in a bit of zombiefication of course.

Make sure to check out their Facebook page for more info.

Source. OZombie Facebook page, via TwoDashStah

No official word has been heard from WB on how Deathstroke will be playable, will he be playable only in the challenge maps? Or will he have a small stint in the campaign like Catwoman did in Arkham City?

The Trailer will be released tomorrow May 20th.The game will release on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, and Wii U on October 25.

Source: [ Amazon ] via [ TwoDashStash ]

Capcom has released information on new costumes available for  Jill Valentine, Chris Redfield and Keith Lumley. The game is set to release on the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC. The costumes can be unlocked through the campaign and raid modes.

Source: [Capcom] via [ TwoDashDash] ]]> http://www.gamesthirst.com/2013/05/18/resident-evil-revelation-new-costumes/feed/ 0 http://www.gamesthirst.com/2013/05/17/prepare-yourselves-for-the-last-of-us/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=prepare-yourselves-for-the-last-of-us http://www.gamesthirst.com/2013/05/17/prepare-yourselves-for-the-last-of-us/#comments Fri, 17 May 2013 12:07:08 +0000 http://www.gamesthirst.com/?p=58159 It’s not often we get games that seem to completely standout and apart from the crowd. Not often do you see gamers from either side of the isle hailing a new IP as something they’d buy a new console to play, and there are reasons for that. Great intellectual properties are hard to come by, they take time to forge and brilliant minds to execute. But it’s looking clearer by the day that Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us has become something special, and a last hooah of sorts for the aging PS3.

Previews for the game, coming on June 14th and 17th in the U.S. and Europe respectively, went live today, and I’ve included the conclusions from the most notable write-ups for your quenching pleasure, just so you could get an overall idea of what to expect when the game lands exclusively on PS3.

IGN:

I survived. Or, rather, Joel and Ellie survived. With a precious few bullets left, and few resources to work with, the quest for… existence continued. It’s a quiet, beautiful, savage world out there. Whatever is ahead… it’s not going to be easy. The Last of Us stunned me. Not in any one aspect, but through its collective polish and crisp attention to the smallest details. And it’s unlike any adventure I’ve embarked upon. It’s not an action game. It’s not survival. It’s not horror. But it is pretty damn special. And it’s less than a month away. Somehow that feels like an exceptionally long time.

TheSixthAxis:

The Last Of Us is intelligent, though. There’s a neat crafting system which encourages a little scavenging and exploration, a near future dystopian setting that evokes a tangible sense of fear and a couple of characters that the player will instantly connect with. Naughty Dog are masters of the hardware – The Last Of Us looks breathtakingly good, if not a little aliased – it’s just down to how the full game will play out over a much broader spectrum of areas and level types.

GameInformer:

My path through Lincoln was just one route among a variety of options. Depending on your playstyle you could aggressively clear out the infected or sneak past them all. Upgrading Joel and his equipment is also influenced by your tastes. Do you want to invest resources into melee combat or firearms? Naughty Dog has packed The Last of Us with tons of options while delivering an engaging yet bleak story of survival.

CVG:

The Last of Us is hard not to be impressed by. Naughty Dog’s mastery of the notoriously idiosyncratic PlayStation 3 hardware is unmatched, and there’s a dizzying amount of detail squeezed into every scene, with a rock solid frame rate. If this is PS3′s last great exclusive, it’s the perfect swansong.

This is a game where violence becomes something you want to avoid, not revel in, starring characters we can see ourselves genuinely caring about. What could have easily been Nathan Drake fights zombies in The Road has revealed itself to be something much more intriguing. We’re looking forward to seeing Joel and Ellie’s relationship developing as they struggle to survive in this deceptively gorgeous, decaying American wasteland.

So are you ready for The Last of Us?

“We want him to be able to go from single-player to multiplayer without having to go through a lobby, to menus, to various game settings.”  Guay said talking about the seamless transition between single and miltiplayer. ”We want the player to be surprised when he meets other players…”

Our mobile devices will also play a big role, ”We wanted the player to be able to connect to Watch Dogs even through his mobile,” Guay said, “Be able to play directly with people who are on their console, who are on their PlayStation 4, even if he’s on the bus. Basically to be attached to our game world even when he steps out of the living room.”

We expect to hear more from Guay and his development team on the multiplayer component of Watch Dogs at E3, stay tuned for more info.

Gameplay footage courtesy CVG.

Coming from the creators of Mortal Kombat, the demo (~570MB) offers us 3 playable characters: Batman, Wonder Woman and Lex Luthor. I played Batman over and over, not only because he’s among my top favorite DC characters, but also because his moveset was more fitting my style. The Caped Crusader uses his batarangs so fluently in his combos that makes me wonder, how will Green Lantern, Deathstroke and the Joker incorporate their gadgetry in their moves? If it’s done in the same vein as Batman, I can only guess it will be hard to pick my main character once the game arrives home in April 19. What was sad though, is that the demo only offered one stage — the rooftop housing Batman’s calling sign.

What was very refreshing and interesting was that you could interact with the environment, even mid-combo. Kicking Lex to a helicopter after I landed some punches on him, and them having him bounce back to me only to continue the carnage, was such a fun moment, one that’s very common in Injustice, and spices up the traditional 2D fighting gameplay, giving us some exciting ways to confuse our opponent and break up the pace.

Then, we have the flashy Power Moves. Batman, for example, beat up the enemy bad, and for the cherry on the pie, called his Batmobile to run over them, him jumping over it with a graceful backflip. While not finishing the enemy off immediately, it bit a nice chunk off their health (around 1/4).

Between rounds, there’s no “round 2″ announcements, or text — you just continue playing, all combatants starting out with 2 bars of health for this very reason, and each time a bar is depleted, there’s a brief computer-controlled moment where the round winner taunts the enemy. Another nice touch, breaking away from the fighting genre norm. Also, instead of going through the “ladder” with pictures of the fighters and their names, you go through a… “corridor”, I guess, with every combatant looking your way, with your combatant looking their way.

The graphics were fantastic, as well as the effects, and everything played fluidly — sometimes, I had crazy things going on fast on the screen at once, and not a single frame dropped, at least visibly. Only problem I had, a couple of times (in around 1 and a half hour of play), the sound cut off for some seconds, and then came back. Nothing tragic, still though, takes away from the immersion. The control layout is standard, and before even looking at the controls, I managed to win a 2-round battle on Medium difficulty while pumping out combos, just because I guessed what each button did, and that says a lot.

Lastly, the demo offers an offline Versus mode, which I didn’t really try out. The full game bursts with content though; multiple online modes, arcade ladder, S.T.A.R. Labs missions, together with a lengthy, interesting campaign. Mortal Kombat’s creators’ game plays, and looks, a lot like Mortal Kombat (2o11 reboot), but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. What remains to be seen is if the hype surrounding the game will be justified, or if it will fail to deliver. One thing is certain, though: the DC universe is coming back in gaming, in full force.

Think pirates in the 18th Century.

Edward Kenway. Father of ACIII‘s prologue protagonist Haytham Kenway, grandfather of its main assassin, Connor.

Open-world naval exploration/combat, mixed with jungle and city adventures. Three major cities: Havana, Cuba; Nassau, The Bahamas; Kingston, Jamaica.

You can attack other pirates. You can harpoon whales from your ship. You can dive and explore underwater. You can assassinate bad guys in cities.

Assassin’s Creed IV is written  by the scriptwriter of Revelations, Darby McDevitt. Its art director is Raphael Lacoste, who also held the same job when Revelations was being developed, a game credited as having the most beautiful Assassin’s Creed world.

The developers mention fishing villages, plantations, hidden coves with smugglers in them, naval forts and dense, claustrophobic jungles that might sometimes contain ruins.

There’s no campaign co-op, and a new style of the “brotherhood of assassin’s”, a la Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, is part of the game.

Multiplayer: They’re not really talking about it. It’s land-based. No ship vs. ship stuff. New era, new settings, new game modes. More details to come.

Modern times: It’s back, set in 2013. No Desmond Miles, descendant of the main games’ protagonists. He’s done for. Trottier: “The present day in ACIV is basically the logical continuation of the ACIII present day. But this time, instead of making you play through a character of the past through a character in the present, we wanted to make it even more immersive for the player, make it more fun. So, you are now a full-time employee of Abstergo Entertainment, and you’ve been hired there as a researcher. You are the one in the Animus doing the research on an important character from the past, Edward Kenway.”

Desmond Miles was the Assassin-in-training who died (or something) at the end of ACIII but had been using a device called the Animus to relive the lives of his ancestors, his relivings constituting most of the gameplay in the older games. Abstergo is the front company for the Assassins’ rivals, the Templars. For some reason, their Entertainment division sometimes makes games, including, according to the fiction, last year’s PlayStation Vita game, Assassin’s Creed: Liberation.

Trailers

Eight of Ubisoft’s studios are working on the game, Ubisoft creative director Jean Guesdon has confirmed:

We are extremely efficient with this kind of process now. Multiple studios have been involved in parallel on AC games starting since AC2.

We’ve put in place a dedicated team to ensure the best possible communication with tools and processes to make sure that everybody knows what he has to deliver.

Next Gen Consoles

The PS4 and presumably Xbox 720 versions of Assassin’s Creed IV will see many improvements over the older siblings, PS3 and Xbox 360.

In addition to improved graphics and physic, Next Gen versions will bring to the players new connected features allowing them to feel that even if they remain ‘Single Player’ it will be better to be a ‘Single Connected Player’,” explained Guesdon.

“I mean, that Next Gen Consoles will allow players to have a solo experience that benefit the presence of a huge community.”

Screenshots.

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag will be released on November 1st, 2013, on PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 (and presumably 720), PC and Wii U.