Not exactly starting August off strong. There’s very little in the way of gaming news dropping since Friday. Which is actually kind of okay with me. My hands are pretty raw and my elbow is in a lot of pain right now, so typing sucks. Running really fast down a hill that ends in a flat parking lot may sound really fun. But it’s not. On with the news:
Are you still playing Brink? Probably not, as it seems the online community is basically dead. But if you want to play some more, you’ll have good reason this week. Free DLC! The Agents of Change DLC launches this week and will be free for two weeks. Included in the add-on are two new maps, five new player abilities, two weapon attachments, and two character outfits. Now that the lag and glitchiness from the initial launch appears to be fixed, this may be a good reason to get back into an online shooter that doesn’t just clone CoD gameplay.
The rumor mill is turning again. This time it’s all about a possible reveal of TimeSplitters 4 at Gamescom this month. Crytek isn’t saying anything so it’s absoutely rumor. Which I normally wouldn’t bother to run, but then I have no excuse for using this picture of a gun-wielding monkey:
Few things in the world make me happier than guns and monkeys. Combining both is a sure-fire way to capture my attention.
Another thing that makes me happy are classic JRPGs. I don’t know why, they just speak to me. One of my favorite series in the genre has always been Breath of Fire from Capcom. And they’ve just announced that Breath of Fire IV will be hitting the PSN August 16th in the form of a PSOne Classic. This is great news if you haven’t played the game. But not as great as it could be. The first two games in the series, published on the SNES in the US, were better games. And publishing this as a PSOne Classic means it’s not an HD remake with trophies. Considering I still have my PSOne disc, and that it plays just fine in MY PS3, I probably won’t even download it. But I will get me a blue-haired Ryu avatar since they’re launching a few of those alongside the game. Ultimately I’d prefer the first four games in an HD collection, disc or downloadable. Feel free to keep the awful Dragon Quarter from PS2 out of that collection though. Please don’t let my negativity discourage you. If you like classic JRPGs and missed this one, or if you no longer have your classic disc, use this opportunity to enjoy a great game.
If you’ve been wondering about True Crime: Hong Kong‘s status, you’re looking under the wrong name. Activision shelved the project earlier this year and Square Enix has picked up the rights. But they didn’t get the rights to the IP. Huh? Basically they get to publish the game, including all development so far, but they have to rebrand it. They haven’t announced a new name, but the publisher is giving United Front Games a lot of leeway to finish the development. I’m not a fan of the series, but this game did look to be shaping up well before Activision let it go. It will be interesting to see where this leads.
Gearbox was rumored to be showing Borderlands 2 at E3, but it obviously didn’t happen. Expectation is that it will now be announced at Gamescom this month. This comes after an “inside source” at the company told Eurogamer that development on the sequel is currently in progress. No shit? How is that a secret? You sold four million units of the first game. A sequel is obvious in this market. This definitely earns today’s least shocking news award.
Another viable contender for that award though is the news that Battlefield 3 will use EA’s $10 online pass. Duh. This is exactly the type of game EA had in mind when they came up with the plan. These $10 passes are becomng the rule, not the exception. I’ll consider it news when a major online title doesn’t require an online pass.
I recently ran a paragraph in VGQH about Suda 51’s next game, Lollipop Chainsaw. At the time it was only confirmed for Japan. But, it appears the game now has a publishing deal with Warner Bros. Interactive. Not the company I would expect to run a game about a high school cheerleader killing zombies with rainbows and glitter, but I’ll take it.
Speaking of Warner Bros. Interactive, have your fingers started twitching for Batman: Arkham City yet? Only two and a half months to go. If you still haven’t picked your store to preorder, maybe this will help. As of today, here’s the preorder breakdown – what you get and where to get it:
- For the UK:
- Batman Beyond character skin: GameStop
- 1970s character skin: ShopTo.net
- Australia and New Zealand:
- Batman Beyond character skin: Mighty Ape
- Earth One character skin: MightyApe
- 1970s character skin: EB Games
- The Animated Series character skin: MightyApe
- Robin playable character: JB Hi-Fi
- Holland:
- Robin playable character: GamesMania.be
- USA:
- 1970s character skin: Toys ‘R’ Us
- Robin playable character: Best Buy
- Joker’s Carnival Challenge Map: GameStop
- Arkham City digital only comic and $10 credit: Amazon.com
- 1970s Legacy Batman: Arkham City action figure: Toys ‘R’ Us
And with that, I’m going to stop. What’s going to top Batman in his grey, blue, and bright yellow costume from the ’70s? Here’s hoping all of those skins become available in a DLC pack at a later date. Mostly because I’m not importing mine from Australia and they seem to have a great set. The wait for October 18th is getting brutal.