New Humble Bundle Is Pretty Awesome

You should know how the Humble Indie Bundle works by now.  You pay what you want for a group of games, and chose whether you want the money to go to the developers, charity, or Humble itself.  If you give more than the average, you get another game. Well, the Humble Indie Bundle V was released today, and in my opinion is the best one yet by far.  Check it out here.

The games in the bundle are:

• Amnesia: The Dark Descent
• Psychonauts
• LIMBO
• Superbrothers: Sword & Sorcery EP
• Bastion (If you beat the average)
• The soundtracks for all these games are included as well!

Friday 5: Upcoming Games You May Not Have Heard Of

Everyone loves seeing a new trailer for a AAA, big budget game.  But what about the rest of the pack?  The games that are released without much fanfare among the mainstream crowd but nevertheless are quality titles worthy of your time and money?  I would say I follow upcoming games fairly closely, and I am always interested to see what game developers cook up next.  Here are 5 upcoming games I am following in that you may or may not even knew existed.

1. Arma III

This is probably the best known game on this list, and for good reason.  Arma II is a great game, and it's recent uber-successful mod DayZ has been the talk of gaming sites all over the internet of late. Arma 3 looks like it is taking the large scale tactical warfare that makes Arma great and is making it even better with a revamped engine that, quite frankly, makes Arma 3 one of the best looking games I have ever seen (something I also say about another game on this list).

 

2. FRACT OSC

I enjoy music games. Not like Guitar Hero or Rock Band, but games that really let you work with music and interact with it. That is why Audiosurf and Beat Hazard are two of my favorite indie games. Anyway, FRACT OSC, or just Fract for short, looks to take this interactivity to a whole new level. It is a first person puzzle game that makes you solve puzzles using synthesizers and electronic music.  It has been described as "Myst meets Rez meets Tron" and if you are sitting there wondering what exactly that means, check out the DevDiary below.

3. Project C.A.R.S.

Realistic racing games are normally not my thing.  That statement should make the fact that I am really excited for Project CARS even more meaningful.  First off, while only in alpha, this game is absolutely stunning to look at.  Instead of posting a bunch of screenshots here, I recommend you head over to Dead End Thrills. There are a bunch of awesome ones there. Anyway, this game is being crowd funded, so if you want to help make a car game for car people, you can actually buy into development now.

4. Firefall

I have played 85+ hours of Borderlands to date, and I would list MMOs among my favorite genres.  So why not combine the two? While Firefall is surely not that simple, and actually has elements from other games such as TF2, that is a good basic way to describe it to someone who has never heard of the game.  It is a F2P MMOFPS that allows you to play any class on any character, and while the current beta of the game is rough and needs a lot of polish, the unique class system and satisfying shooting are making this game one to look out for.  Plus, I really like the way the developers are going about listening to players and adjusting the game to what people want.

5. Hawken

Shooting things is awesome. Giant mechs are awesome. Impressive visuals are awesome.  Free things are awesome. Man, I really hope Hawken is awesome.

Guild Wars 2 - Trading Post Overview

I got to play some more Guild Wars 2 today as part of a stress test that was being conducted by Arenanet. Because most sites out there are covering things like specific classes or big bosses and dungeons, I figured I would give a brief overview of something that has not been shown much, the trading post.  Watch the video below to see what I think.

The Avengers Review

In a world where summer blockbusters are characterized by headache-inducing special effects and poor writing, it is a relief when a big-budget action film is as entertaining as it is well scripted. The Avengers does an exceptional job at being a big, dumb superhero movie without sacrificing core screenwriting elements. Thanks to highly acclaimed screenwriter and director, Joss Whedon, the story sequences and characters are given as much attention as the action sequences are. At the same time, the movie knows that it is not an artistic masterpiece that will be studied by film students decades from now. While it may not be a groundbreaking landmark for superhero movies like The Dark Knight was, it doesn't need to be. Instead, The Avengers is an example of how summer action films can be fun while still maintaining a great story and characters.

Although it is not absolutely vital that you see the movies the main heroes star in, the film assumes that you have, so it is recommended that you do. The plot involves Loki, the god of mischief who was the antagonist in  Thor, wanting to basically, you guessed it, take over the world. Nick Fury, however, is not a huge fan of Loki's plan and decides to call in an elite team of superheroes who have never worked together before and probably don't have the highest opinion of one another. In order to fulfill his goal of enslaving the human race, Loki wishes to open a portal using an item known as the "Tesseract" that will unleash an army of monster-things. Since this would most likely be bad for Stark Industries, it is up to Iron Man, along with Captain America, Thor, The Hulk, Black Widow, and Legolas Hawkeye to stop this jerk and save the world.

In a film which is essentially a comic book nerd's wet dream with every major Marvel superhero, you would hope that each hero would be compelling and have a reason to be there other than just for the sake of it. Thankfully, The Avengers delivers on that front. The way these guys (and girls) interact with each other is one of the film's highlights. Each major character has their own motivations and methods of doing things, which is challenged by the other heroes. It makes sense that these characters don't exactly see eye-to-eye on everything and that their personalities clash. The thing that makes this work is that none of it feels forced. Their rationals make sense and are appropriate to their character. It also makes sense when they all put their differences aside and unite to defeat a common enemy. The way the film handles story and character progression are things future superhero movies should pay attention to.

Like I mentioned earlier, The Avengers at its core is a big summer action flick, and it handles action sequences just as well as the characters and story. Having these superheroes interact with one another is a nerdgasm in its finest form. There were times where I just sat there with a stupid grin on my face because of how awesome it was to see all of these guys together. The action is also well paced, balancing story sequences with AMAGAD EXPLOSION!!!11 These moments feel warranted and meaningful as opposed to having action for action's sake. The final battle which serves as the film's climax is one of the most entertaining and exciting moments I've seen in a while.

Despite being one of the best superhero movies to come out in a long time, it is not without a few minor faults. I didn't think Loki was a great villain in Thor, and the same can be said here. His motivation feels a bit forced and is an overall uninteresting antagonist. Another problem I had is with the amount of slap-stick humor, particularly with Tony Stark. Several moments in the film felt like there was too many jokes inserted at a rapid pace, and Tony was usually the culprit. Granted, most of the slap-stick is pretty good, and there were one or two moments where I actually burst out laughing. While I appreciate that the film does not take itself too seriously, I felt that they could have either toned down the slap-stick or spread it out a bit. Finally, Bruce Banner and The Hulk felt somewhat underutilized, with the majority of monster's screen time being towards the end. Although it makes sense from a story perspective to reserve the not-so-jolly green giant, it would have been nice to see him smash some more things.

The Avengers is not going to be nominated for best screenplay or best picture at the next Academy Awards, but that doesn't mean it isn't highly entertaining. It knows that it isn't the next Dark Knight and still manages to create a great plot and memorable characters. Whether you are a fan of these superheroes or just want to see some bad-ass action, The Avengers delivers an experience that will please movie fans and Marvel fans alike.

TL;DR

+ Excellent screenwriting

+ Awesome action sequences

+ Characters are compelling and well written

- Uninteresting villain

- Too much slap-stick

- Hulk could have used more screen time

Overall: 9/10

Dumbledore Tells You About The Elder Scrolls: Online

From the people who brought you The Elder Scrolls: Offline!

In the wake of the "Dawnguard" announcement, Bethesda has decided to continue in the Elder Scrolls related unveilings by reminding everyone that the MMO they announced god knows how long ago still exists and is titled "The Elder Scrolls: Online". You can watch the trailer below which is narrated by none other than Michael Gambon.

Just like "Dawnguard", there are very little details about the game, although it is understandable here since its not due until sometime in 2013 as opposed to THIS SUMMER! The latest edition of Game Informer does reveal a few details, including single-player quests, public dungeons, and a PVP system where three warring factions fight for control of Cyrdoil, the capital of the Empire. The game will be released on both the PC and Mac.

As a fan of the Elder Scrolls universe, I'm not jumping out of my chair in excitement for this game, mainly because I'm not an MMO fan. The thing I'm most interested in seeing is if this game will attempt to differentiate itself from the majority of standard MMO's. If Bethesda simply puts out a WoW clone with an Elder Scrolls aesthetic, that would be a massive waste of time and resources. I do have faith that the developer has the talent to make a well made product that is interesting, even if its not especially interesting to me. We'll have to wait and see.

First Skyrim DLC Announced, Guarding The Dawn Confirmed

More like YAWNguard! Am I right!? (Please direct your hate to Matt who came up with that)

Bethesda has teased the first piece of Skyrim DLC for a little while now. After releasing a screenshot which turned out to be for Dishonored, people have been speculating what the new content will be. Today, coinciding with an update for Kinect support on the 360, Bethesda has given us exciting new details on the DLC, like the name...and...stuff.

Aside from being titled "Dawngaurd", there is no information about what it is about. We do know that it will be released on the 360 first as part of a deal with Microsoft, so suck it PC users? I guess that's the trade-off for having mods and smoother textures. Also, more details will most likely be announced at E3.

Honestly, I don't think most people really care about what's in the new DLC, other than "Yo, it's more Skyrim". Bethesda has stated in the past that they plan on releasing content packs that resemble expansions as opposed to the quest packs in Fallout 3. We'll bring you more info (like, any info) when it becomes available.

Guild Wars 2 Thief Footage!

After months of preparation, and a weekend of Guild Wars 2, the first piece of Plug and Play video content is here!  This is a short video of me playing as a Norn Thief, which is meant to give you an idea of what general PvE is like.  Everyone likes watching videos of epic boss fights and massive battles, but what about the rest of the time you spend in the game world?  Watch the video to find out how Guild Wars 2 handles things (spoiler: it's still really fun).  Enjoy.