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Rainier's Articles


Xbox 360 Preview - 'Forza Motorsport 3'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2009

Genre: Racing
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Turn 10
Release: October 29, 2009

I didn't know what to expect at the Forza Motorsport 3 demo at E3, and not only because I haven't played the previous two iterations, but because we weren't actually told beforehand that the hush-hush appointment would be the Forza 3 demo. After checking out the game and chatting with one of the lead designers, though, Forza 3 certainly looks to be an impressive piece of work.

The developer immediately set forth the very interesting argument that there is no such thing as "arcade" versus "simulation"

PS3 Preview - 'God of War III'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2009

Set in the realm of Greek mythology, God of War 3 is a single-player game that allows players to take on the climatic role of the ex-Spartan warrior, Kratos, as he treads through the intimidating heights of Mt. Olympus and the dark depths of Hell once more to seek revenge on those who have betrayed him.

PS3/X360 Preview - 'Brutal Legend'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2009

Genre: Action/Adventure
Publisher: EA
Developer: Double Fine
Release Date: "Rocktober" 13, 2009

Psychonauts is the very definition of a cult hit. It was released for the Xbox to solid reviews and poor sales, but word of mouth turned it into a real hit. All you have to do is mention it to people who've played it, and their faces will light up as they recall one of their favorite moments. The brilliant minds behind Psychonauts may not have released any new games since then, but they most certainly haven't been idle. Instead, they've been working on what

PS3/X360 Preview - 'IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2009

Genre: Flight Sim
Publisher: 505 Games
Developer: Gaijin Entertainment
Release: Q3 2009

When I arrived at 505 Games' meeting room today, they were ready with a couch, bottles of water in an ice bucket, and just one game: the Xbox 360 build of its upcoming flight combat simulation, IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey, coming to every major system except the Wii.

World War II is an exceptionally common ground for video games, and with so many fronts, there's bound to be one that hasn't been explored — like the one right above the heads of almost all of the

XBLA/PC Preview - 'The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2009

Genre: Adventure
Publisher: Lucastarts
Developer: Lucasarts
Release Date: Q3 2009

Adventure games are a bit of a niche genre. Compared to many other games, they focus on crafting an interesting and enjoyable story and don't require a tremendous amount of natural skill to play. Some adventure games take themselves incredibly seriously, such as the classic CD-ROM title, Myst, but the titles that are most fondly remembered by gamers are ones that had a sense of humor, such as Grim Fandango and Sam & Max, which are infinitely quotable and fun to replay. The Secret of Monkey Island was

NDS Preview - 'Chronicles of Mystery: Curse of the Ancient Temple'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2009

Genre: Adventure
Publisher: City Interactive
Developer: City Interactive
Release: Sept. 2009

City Interactive is a relatively new publisher, especially in North America. While they have been doing PC games since 2002, this is the first year that they've started on consoles with a few games for the Nintendo platforms. Among the games that they demoed at E3 was a DS iteration of their recently established adventure game series, Chronicles of Mystery. The game showed off just enough to potentially be a fun romp through a genre that has earned its resurrection on the Nintendo platforms.

Chronicles of Mystery: Curse

Wii Preview - 'Naruto Shippuden: Clash of Ninja Revolution 3'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2009

Naruto Shippuden: Clash of Ninja Revolution 3 is a classic 3D fighting game featuring new and improved gameplay mechanics and multiple gameplay modes, 40 3D environments to choose from, including nine completely new stages, over 30 characters, and for the first time, includes Wi-Fi multiplayer capabilities.

'Dark Horizon' - 5 New Screens

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under Leipzig Games Convention - Leipzig Games Convention 2008 - Day 2

Dark Horizon is a stark and atmospheric space combat simulation that aims to hurl its audience through an action-packed adventure, piloting its own ship through the perils that only space could have to offer.

Dark Horizon is a plot-rich experience; 22 challenging missions, laced with special features such as full ship customization, original weapon creation, joystick support, and several modes of combat.

At the boundary of the known galaxy, a deep-space exploration probe begins its transmission to a star-base, light years away.Before the signal is prematurely cut-off, the base's central computer receives numerous images of a disturbing

PS3/X360/PC Preview - 'Assassin's Creed II'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2009

Genre: Action/Adventure
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Release Date: November 17, 2009

The first Assassin's Creed left me a bit cold. It was a visually stunning game with silky-smooth controls and lots of interesting ideas, but it also had enough flaws to be solidly average at best and tedious at worst. I was understandably hesitant when I went to see Assassin's Creed 2 during E3. Fortunately, Assassin's Creed 2 appears to have been designed entirely to counter every almost every criticism leveled against the original game. From the moment the demo began, I found that every

PS3/X360/PC Preview - 'BioShock 2'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2009

BioShock was one of the more interesting games to hit in the past few years. A pseudo-sequel to the cult PC hit System Shock, it combined survival horror and first-person shooter elements in an interesting and exciting way.