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Rainier's Articles


PS2/Xbox/X360 Preview - 'The Godfather'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2005

Genre: Action/Adventure
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: EA Redwood Studios
Release Date: Fall 2005

They all just make it look so easy, don't they? The mob, that is. Control of underground criminal activities, a reach that spans cities, the power to make or break lives within minutes, manpower to call their own … oh, yeah, it's incredible.

Most movie mobs, however, don't show you the nitty-gritty side of things, just the raids and the gunshots and the thick accents. But what about getting there? Isn't that half the fun?

Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither were organized crime empires. There's

PC Preview - 'Dragonshard'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2005

Genre: RPG/RTS
Publisher: Atari
Developer: Liquid Entertainment
Release Date: Summer 2005

One of the weirder revelations coming out of this year's E3, if you're as big a damn nerd as I am – and you aren't, so don't even try to step to this – is that the new Dungeons & Dragons PC games -- Dungeons & Dragons Online and Dragonshard -- are set on, of all places, Eberron.

This is one of the few memorable campaign settings to come out since D&D's third edition hit shelves, because it is, in a way, a fantasy world taken to its natural

PC Preview - 'Parkan II'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2005

Genre: Space Sim
Publisher: 1C Company
Developer: Nikita
Release Date: Q3 2005

This is why you shouldn’t provoke developers. Actually, to be more accurate, this is exactly why you should.

During E3, we got a chance to sit down with 1C and view a slew of upcoming titles they will be publishing in the near future, one of which being the space sim Parkan 2. Not many people have heard of the title, and to be frank I only knew the name and the look as I sat down. As the title was demonstrated, I was told the game overall

'Paraworld' - Screens & Trailer

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - E3 2006 May 12th

Get the Paraworld trailer off WP (60mb)

ParaWorld is real-time strategy game set in a parallel world between a prehistoric world, where warring tribes and dinosaurs rule, and our world in the 19th century. Using an unprecedented unit management user interface called the “Army Controller,” players play a campaign, where they get to know and play three different tribes (Norsemen, Dustriders and Dragon Clan). As they advance in the campaign, players get to play all three tribes, but in the last third of the game they need to pick the best tribe for the level they are facing. If the

PC Preview - 'F.E.A.R.'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2005

Genre: FPS
Publisher: VU Games
Developer: Monolith
Release Date: September 7, 2005

Pre-order 'F.E.A.R.': PC

E3 is a very loud place, and it’s hard to appreciate a game like F.E.A.R. properly when you’re seeing it there for the first time. While Doom 3 flirted with some survival horror conventions, F.E.A.R. is an outright horror FPS. Instead of just using low light conditions to build a sense of terror, F.E.A.R. goes the extra mile and has your character periodically overwhelmed with nightmarish visions of floating phantoms and seas of blood. There’s also a creepy sense of sound to

Xbox Preview - 'Conker: Live and Reloaded'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2005

Genre : Action
Publisher: Microsoft
Developer: Rare
Release Date: June 21, 2005

The first time I saw Conker: Live & Reloaded was at Microsoft’s pre-E3 conference in 2004. I will remember it for a long time, if for no other reason than I’d never seen a cartoon dog’s head explode before.

Conker is back. It is still gleefully offensive.

The singleplayer portion of our show is a fully remastered version of the infamous Conker’s Bad Fur Day, an N64 platformer that should not, by rights, exist. It starts with Conker, a somewhat generically cartoony squirrel, getting horrifically drunk and passing out

'The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer' (GBA/NDS/NGC/PS2/Xbox/PC) - Screens

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - E3 2005 May 20th

Mr Incredible and Frozone return to non-stop action in the new video game Disney presents a Pixar film, The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer.

'Star Trek: Tactical Assault' (NDS/PSP) - Features & Screens

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - E3 2006 May 12th

STAR TREK: TACTICAL ASSAULT is a real-time spaceship combat game for 1 or 2 players, featuring a wide array of authentic Star Trek races, ships, and weaponry from the universe of the original Star Trek series. Players take command of powerful Federation and Klingon warships and must outthink and out duel their opponents in order to succeed. Play through either the Federation or Klingon campaigns in single-player mode, or go head-to-head against a friend in wireless multiplayer action. Gameplay in Star Trek: Tactical Assault is about tactics, effective movement, and the use of your ship’s weapons and shields. Success in

PC Preview - 'Caesar IV'

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

Genre: Simulation
Publisher: Vivendi Universal Games
Developer: Tilted Mill
Release Date: Q3 2006

Caesar IV is the latest in the distinguished Caesar line of city-building sims that rose to great fame as part of the late, lamented Sierra Entertainment. Even though it's been a good eight years since the last iteration came out to positive reviews and much love from simulation fans, Vivendi Universal has allowed developer Tilted Mill to bring back the franchise for one more outing on the PC. What's special about this title is that the development team includes many staffers who've worked on

PS2/Xbox/PC Preview - 'Scarface: The World is Yours'

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

Genre: Grand Theft Pacino
Publisher: Vivendi-Universal Games
Developer: Radical Entertainment
Release Date: Fall 2006

The Godfather might have been a fun sandbox game in its own right, but let's face it: it completely failed as a licensed title. From the total lack of subtlety to ludicrous elements like the horse-head stealth mission, the game sometimes felt like a profoundly extended exercise in missing the point of the original movie. I bring this up because the upcoming Scarface: The World is Yours is in some ways a remarkably similar title. Not only is it a GTA-style sandbox