Konami Announces Saw Video Game for XBoX 360, PS3 and PC Review + 8 Screeshots

Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc., today announced Saw is being developed for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system, PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system and Windows PC.

Saw will invite players to engage in a horrific game inside the treacherous corridors of an abandoned insane asylum that has been transformed into a gauntlet of terrors by Jigsaw, Saw’s maniacal antagonist. SAW will expand the survival horror genre by allowing players, for the first time to experience the terror of Saw on the game console, by pitting them against Jigsaw, his brutal traps and the mind bending puzzles that have become synonymous with the film franchise.

“Konami, partnering with Lionsgate and Twisted Pictures to create SAW was a very organic synergy,” said David Daniels, Director of Marketing for Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. “As the leader in the survival horror genre, it only made sense to align with one of cinema’s most iconic horror franchises to create an entirely new survival horror experience.”

Producers Mark Burg and Oren Koules of Twisted Pictures added, “Through the years, it has been important to us to consistently find new ways to engage and thrill horror audiences, this game is the next step, transporting fans directly into Jigsaw’s labyrinth.” Read more …

WOW: Wrath of Lich King, Poster, Pics UHQs, Review and Video

Justin Calvert hits Northrend and confronts the Lich King in this video review.
Watch It Watch HD 520p

The Good

* Hundreds of interesting and varied quests
* Death knight class is a lot of fun to play
* Great-looking environments
* Dungeons are now accessible to all players
* Your actions have an impact on the world around you.

The Bad

* Some character and item models are recycled
* No content for new players.

Four years and well beyond 10 million subscriptions after the release of World of Warcraft, Blizzard’s phenomenally successful massively multiplayer online role-playing game is barely recognizable as the same game that sold almost a quarter of a million copies in its first 24 hours. The game has been in a near-constant state of evolution since 2004, and up until last month, the steady flow of new features and improvements had all been patched in for free, with only one exception: the Burning Crusade expansion pack that’s required to play Wrath of the Lich King. The recently released second expansion pack doesn’t boast as many back-of-the-box bullet points as its predecessor, and it doesn’t offer anything for new players, but if you’re still playing WOW or you’re looking for an excuse to get back into it, this thrilling new adventure is not to be missed.

All of the new content in Wrath of the Lich King comes with a character-level requirement. You can’t play the new death knight hero class until one of your existing characters reaches level 55, and you can’t attempt any quests in the new Northrend continent until you’re at level 68. The most significant exception to this rule would have been the new inscription-crafting profession, but that ended up being patched in shortly before the expansion’s release alongside new talents for every character class in the game, an Xbox Live-style achievements system, barbershops, an extremely useful in-game calendar, and numerous user-interface improvements. There’s new content for low-level players, but you don’t need the expansion pack to get it. Read more …

Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, Poster, Rewievs, Previews, and Trailer Game

Capcom shows off its Wii shooter set throughout the Resident Evil universe.

We had the chance to get another look at Capcom’s upcoming Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles for the Wii at Capcom’s recent London press event. The rail shooter is set throughout the Resident Evil franchise, allowing you to take control of most of the key figures in the early parts of the series. The updated version on display at the event let us try one of two chapters, train derailment or mansion incident (taken from RE0 and the original RE, for those keeping score at home). In addition, it was possible to play two levels as Wesker, a big player in the game’s unique story.

You have a pistol, there’s the zombie. You know what to do.

The levels all followed the same basic flow of mixing cutscenes and gameplay to tell its story. Control in the game was basically solid, giving players the choice to use the Wii Remote and Nunchuk or the Zapper peripheral, which was what Capcom had set up at all the kiosks. The basic rail-shooting mechanic worked fine and enhances the linear experience by giving you limited camera control as well as the ability to pick up items if you’re quick to press A. When facing off against enemies the control scheme broadens up a bit over the standard point-and-shoot mechanic. While the game handles pretty well, we’re not entirely pleased with the overall responsiveness of the crosshair. Thankfully, the version of the game on display was still a work in progress. Read more …

Cryostasis: The Sleep of Reason, Previews & Features, Poster, Video NEW Excusive Gameplay Footage and Pic

Is it cold in here, or is it just 1C’s new survival horror game?

There’s a lot going on in 1C’s upcoming Cryostasis: Sleep of Reason, and not all of it makes sense. A body heat system that requires you to keep your temperature up while on board a frozen ship stuck in the middle of the Arctic Circle. Former crew members who’ve apparently come back from the dead to haunt the ship and do you grievous bodily harm. You can even step into the minds of NPCs and, then, travel back in time to change events in the past. All of this, plus some creepy scares, add up to an intriguing, if sometimes confusing game from 1C and developer Action Form.

You’ll play as kick-butt, two-fisted meteorologist Alexander Nesterov, who mysteriously finds himself in the bowels of the “North Wind.” By game’s end, you’ll make your way through the entire ship (which, developers told us, is about the height of a nine-story building), all the while uncovering what happened on board after it became stuck in the ice. That ice will be a constant problem for you as you make your way around. Because the ship is frozen, you’ll need to keep a constant eye on both the outside temperature and your own body heat levels, measured by a small meter in the lower left-hand corner of the screen. If you stay exposed to the chill for too long, it’s game over for Nesterov. Luckily (and perhaps illogically for a ship that’s been stranded in the ice for very long), you’ll find frequent spots where you can regain your body heat. Read more …

Video Games Yeti Sports Images

Video Games

The Yeti has appeared in several video games including Pokémon (as the Abomasnow in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl), Cabela’s Dangerous Hunts 2, Spyro: Year of the Dragon, Gladius, as the Abominable Snow Monster in SkiFree.

Mr. Nutz, and in PC game Zoo Tycoon Complete Collection, and in the Tibet levels of Tomb Raider II, as the Yeti.

The Yeti is also a high leveled monster in MapleStory, and there are many different varieties of this monster. Read more …

Alone in the Dark: Inferno Review, Pics, [PS3] Alone In The Dark Inferno Trailers, The Good, Bad and Hints & Cheats

The Good

* Controls significantly improved over Xbox 360 version
* Abundant opportunities for clever item use
* Dramatic moments pack a punch
* Bucks many action adventure conventions
* May encourage pyromania.

The Bad

* Some lingering control issues whether you’re on foot or behind the wheel
* Riddled with visual inconsistencies
* May encourage pyromania.

Thanks to some key improvements, Alone in the Dark: Inferno is a more playable, more satisfying version of this unique adventure.

When Alone in the Dark came out for the Xbox 360 about five months ago, its dramatic story and unique gameplay mechanics were hobbled by its pervasive technical shortcomings. For the PlayStation 3 release, the developer has made a number of improvements that make the game much less frustrating, and chief among them are the vastly improved character movement and camera controls. Though many of the graphical oddities and some control clumsiness remain, Alone in the Dark: Inferno is a much better way to experience this unique and rewarding action adventure game.

The dramatic action sequences do a great job of conveying large-scale chaos.

As the gruff, amnesiac protagonist, you make your way through a disaster-struck New York City into Central Park, where you begin to unravel the many mysteries before you. Maneuvering through the various environments is much easier now that the main character moves with a light jog instead of a lumbering plod. Though he is significantly nimbler, he is still a bit clumsy; you’ll still have to do some funky maneuvering to interact with oddly positioned objects, and you’ll have to tread carefully during the precision platforming sequences. Fortunately, even this is much easier thanks to the easily controlled 360-degree camera that replaces the restrained over-the-shoulder camera of the Xbox 360 version. Driving controls are the same, and you can still do some neat stuff such as check behind the visor for car keys or slide into the passenger seat to ransack the glove compartment. The big improvement here is the car handling. Gone are the goofy motorboat physics of the Xbox 360 version, replaced with weightier, more down-to-earth mechanics. This makes driving much easier, though the still-finicky collision detection occasionally treats small cracks like major impediments. Despite the lingering limitations, the controls in Alone in the Dark: Inferno make locomotion much easier and let you more fully enjoy your adventure. Read more …

Condemned 2: Bloodshot E3 2007 Preshow Impressions Poster, trailer and Previews

The sequel to the brutal first-person action game looks to raise the level of violence, as well as the story.

Games don’t get much more brutal than 2005’s Condemned: Criminal Origins, a first-person action game built around the idea that you pretty much have to pummel your opponents to death using your bare hands, blunt objects, sledgehammers, and whatever else is convenient for you at the time. It made for an incredibly violent, yet also creepy, and stunning game. Well, the brutality is going to get ratcheted up even higher in Condemned 2: Bloodshot. This sequel promises to combine the shocking violence with a creepy atmosphere, and the result is a game that feels like it’s a combination of the paranormal horror game F.E.A.R. with the movie Saw, as well as a good bit of C.S.I.-style forensic work on the side.

Condemned 2 will pick up a year after the events of the first game. Once again, you’ll play as Ethan Thomas, a disgraced FBI agent who has fallen into a drunken depression after his life falls apart because of his uncontrollable rage that causes him to beat the heck out of anyone who offends him. To say that the subject matter is bleak would be understating it, but things get even stranger after Thomas meets a mysterious figure at a playground who bashes his head in with a brick. At this point, you’ll begin a descent into a creepy, paranormal world…or will you? That’s because the story in Condemned 2 looks to be anything but conventional.

The emphasis in Condemned 2 is to really open up the combat system, which Sega admits was a bit too repetitive in the original game. Now there are four layers to combat, starting with hand-to-hand. You can punch, kick, and grab opponents, twisting their heads around to snap their necks or pummel them to death. Or you can get creative and use the environmental finishing moves, which is another layer to combat. If you grab a guy from behind and slam his head into a television set or against a wall, then you can stomp on his neck to break his back. Then there are weapons, which are yet another layer. Read more …