Even with a long weekend there isn’t a whole lot to report for the early version of VGQH. Maybe that’s because everyone took a long weekend and we’ll see a bigger update on Friday.
To start, the Dragon Age II demo should be available today on your respective online service. Demos are great for undecideds, but even if you have it pre-ordered you should probably get this anyway. Completing the demo unlocks an ancient dwarven weapon in the main game (March 11, 2011). If you want to unlock two in-game poetry books (coin and experience boost) get your friends to download it as well. EA says these two books will be available if the demo reaches one million downloads. I was planning to skip this game since I didn’t care for Origins, but I’ll still get the demo to help out the other fans. I’ll even play it just to see if it changes my mind.
I’ve never been a racing fan so the closure of Bizarre Creations doesn’t affect me personally but it’s still sad to see any creative enterprise have to shut down. Bizarre’s bread and butter has been racing since 1994. In the last few years they’d expanded their repertoire with The Club and 007 Blood Stone. Underperformance of these titles were among the issues that forced the developer to close their doors on Friday.
One of my most anticipated games this year is inFamous 2. The first game was sheer brilliance and the next iteration looks just as great. Sucker Punch recently dropped a ton of release information on the game, scheduled for June 7th. Preorder bonus reports are a confusing mess at the time of this writing. It may be all or only some of the following depending on retailer: vouchers for the Lightning Hook power, Kessler skin, soundtrack, and possibly some of the Special Edition items. The Special Edition comes in a lenticular box with a voucher for the Electrocution Grenade power, original Cole skin, and Golden Amp. For some reason I can’t find any retailers with this version listed and no one’s offering an MSRP for it. It may just be the normal version will be packaged this way for a limited time or it could be involved with the bonus item confusion. I have found solid information on the Hero Edition though. That one’s booked for $100 and will include a Cole figurine, replica sling bag, limited edition comic book, and soundtrack.
Danger Close (formerly EA LA) met with some success on the recent Medal of Honor reboot, to the tune of five million copies sold. Success like that doesn’t get ignored in the gaming industry. Greg Goodrich, Executive Producer, has announced the sequel is in the works.
Wrestling games can be sort of a mixed bag. I avoided them for years because the quality was so bad but I recently got Smackdown vs. Raw 2010 from Gamefly and I was surprised at the quality improvement. Now I’m looking closely at WWE All Stars (March 29th). As bizarre as professional wrestling can be, this game looks to take it way over the top, NBA Jam style. Sounds fun, and THQ recently announced a few of the characters (old and new) you can expect to play. While names like Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Andre the Giant, Ricky Steamboat, Bret Hart, Macho Man, Sgt. Slaughter, Roddy Piper, and Jake the Snake all deserve the All Star title, I have to wonder about some of the newer stars. Not The Rock, HHH, Kane, Big Show, John Cena, Eddie Guerrero, Edge, Randy Orton, or even Rey Mysterio. Those guys are All Stars too. I mean people like John Morrison, Kofi Kingston, Jack Swagger, and Sheamus. They’re decent performers, I’m just not quite sure I’d call them All Stars yet.
If you remember the 2009 RPG Risen, you may be excited to know Risen 2 is in development. Very little details have been released so far. The story seems pirate-themed, with the main character tracking down a tale of pirates who know how to rid the seas of giant monsters. Intriguing. While the first game was exclusive to PC and 360, developer Piranha Bytes did say “consoles,” plural, in their press release. This could mean the sequel will be reaching a larger audience.
Players of Mass Effect 2 on PS3 got a patch recently that has updated the game with three new trophies tied to the upcoming DLC, “Arrival.” This would indicate the DLC is probably coming to PSN and XBLA within the next week or two.
That’s it for now. I’ll be back later in the week with more updates.