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Ken Levine on Hacking in BioShock: “It’s a Little Out There.”

Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Action, Adventure, First Person Shooters, PC, Puzzle, Take2, Xbox 360,

Everybody loves BioShock. From the whale-like moans of the Big Daddy to the thrill of smashing a frozen Splicer into little bits, the game is quality. However, one aspect of the game that isn’t thrilling everyone is its hacking mechanism; if you want to break into a safe or turn enemy turrets into your own mechanized defense force, you first must succeed at a hacking minigame that plays a lot like the Lucasfilm Games classic, Pipe Dream. Well, as it turns out, BioShock’s own big daddy, Ken Levine, is also not in love with the mechanic. Shacknews sat down with Levine for an interview and got his take on it.

It’s a little out there. That’s why it was important that you could bypass it in two ways; you can buy it out or you can use the hack tools—or you can just ignore it. There’s only one hack you have to do in the game.

But I think if we could go back and do it again, we would have maybe rethought that a little bit. I think it was more a function of our limitations at the beginning of the project when we had a very limited budget, and then we zoomed in so many other areas that we sort of forgot to go back to that area.

The purely non-spoiler interview, linked below, goes on to cover all things BioShock and is well worth reading.

Half Life 2: Episode Two Stage Demo Video

Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Action, First Person Shooters, PC, PlayStation 3, Puzzle, Trailers, Xbox 360,

At the Games Conference in Leipzig, developer Valve walked the audience through the latest chapter of Half Life 2, due to arrive on Steam and as part of The Orange Box this fall. This video shows off Episode Two’s soft lighting effect, “cinematic physics,” and new enemies. Interestingly, the updated physics and lighting systems will make an appearance in the console versions of Episode One as well, so if you are first experiencing Episode One on your PS3 or Xbox 360 through The Orange Box, you get to bask in the more up-to-date technology.

And since I don’t see people dancing in the streets on a daily basis, I figure there must be some confusion out there about what this mysterious Orange Box really is. It’s quite simple, really. The Orange Box is the gaming deal of the millennium. On October 10th of this year, gamers will be able to buy one box which contains Half Life 2, Half Life 2: Episode One, Half Life 2: Episode Two, the multiplayer-based Team Fortress 2, and the puzzle game Portal…all for the price of one game. It’s scheduled to hit the PS3. Xbox 360, and PC, not to mention the global economy, all on the same day,

New Devil May Cry 4 Trailer

Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Action, CAPCOM, Fighting, PC, PlayStation 3, Trailers, Xbox 360,

Capcom has just released a new trailer for its highly anticipated action game sequel. The clip runs about two minutes and contains no actual gameplay footage. Strangely, it does show cinematic footage of our hero Dante getting thrown, punched, and kicked in the face over and over again in what appears to be a training exercise. Devil May Cry 4 hits next year, with this and lots of other bits of weirdness, on PS3, Xbox 360, and PC.

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Bioshock Arrives to High Praise

Posted by Max Dickey Categories: Action, First Person Shooters, PC, Reviews, Xbox 360,

With Halo 3 just a month away, its promotion and hype engines are running at an almost deafening volume. The buzz has been so loud that Bioshock, an Xbox 360 and PC shooter set amidst the ruins of a rapidly declining utopia, snuck up on us more or less under the radar. Now that it’s here, though, it looks like a sure winner, featuring a compelling story, unmatched graphics, and a fantastic overall experience.

Bioshock takes place in the underwater colony known as Rapture. Built as a haven for the best and the brightest members of society, Rapture has become a cesspool of insane former virtuosos who are all hopelessly addicted to a DNA-altering drug called Adam. Apparently not satisfied with their natural gifts, the denizens of Rapture used Adam to supercharge their intellects and multiply their talents. Unfortunately, everyone became dependent on the substance, and if one doesn’t get enough, he loses his mind and his face falls off. Sounds quaint, doesn’t it? As your character explores Rapture, he’ll run across a variety of violent junkies called splicers, as well as enormous armored supersoldiers called Big Daddies. While standard weaponry can hold off splicers, fighting Big Daddies is a strategic affair. Attempting a frontal assault is suicide, so your character needs to get smart and use the supernatural powers granted by Adam to take them down. Yep, you’re using Adam, too. Are you going to end up a hopeless, addicted mess like everyone else? Who knows, but the engrossing storyline has a fair share of twists that could lead you anywhere.

Bioshock hits stores everywhere tomorrow, so be ready. It looks to be one of the season’s best buys.

Ratchet and Clank Future Officially Dated for October 23rd

Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Action, Adventure, Platformers, PlayStation 3, Release Dates, Sony,

On the latest episode of its Full Moon Show Podcast, Insomniac Games has disclosed an official North American release date of October 23rd for Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction. The game is the fifth installment of the popular action/platform series (okay, so Deadlocked was more of a multiplayer shooter), and first for the PS3. A real next-gen mascot platform game (movie licensed ones don’t count) has been a long time coming, but luckily we have Insomniac around to temporarily rescue us from the glut of dark and mature steroid-addled first person shooters.

Insomniac has promised that a PSN demo will arrive before the final game, but all we have as far as a timeframe is a painfully vague, “Near future.”

Tomb Raider Anniversary Wii Revealed

Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Action, Adventure, Nintendo, Wii,

In this promotional trailer for the Wii version of Tomb Raider Anniversary, Producer Morgan Gray demonstrates some of the game’s Wii-specific motion controls. Using their Wiimotes, budding Lara Crofts will be able to “touch the game world for the first time.” Not in that way! No, instead players can use the controller as a pick-axe to remove obstructions or as a brush to clean off artifacts. Wiimote-specific control schemes for the various puzzles and combat sequences are obviously a given. All in all, this brief peek hints at motion control mechanics that are surprisingly well integrated with the core Tomb Raider gameplay. Gamers are understandably wary of some of these quickie PS2/PSP-to-Wii ports, but Tomb Raider Anniversary is one to keep an eye on.

Eidos has not given official word on a release date for the game besides “Coming Soon,” but we’re guessing it will hit in time for the holidays.

Detailed Warhawk FAQ Available

Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: Action, Downloadable Content, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Network,

Dylan Jobe from the Warhawk team has posted a lengthy FAQ on the PlayStation blog where he clarifies, among other details, how the player-hosted matches will work. Essentially, the system tests the host’s connection speed and makes a determination based on that about how many players the game will support, 8, 16, 24 or 32. From the FAQ:

[W]e… do a really quick series of bandwidth tests to determine how many players you will be able to handle. We spent quite a bit of time looking at the bandwidth requirements to make sure that the games that you host are not out of your league with regard to the bandwidth needed. We got a lot of comments during the BETA about players that were hosting 24 or 32 player games when they didn’t have the bandwidth to do so. This resulted in pretty crappy game experiences sometimes. Our updated bandwidth requirements should resolve a lot of this and we’ll be monitoring it and changing them if we need to… If you’re at school (college dorm or something) on a network you’ll probably be hosting up to 32 players, but the net is what the net is and you all know how it can change like the weather. If you have a really bad connection, then you will be hosting eight or 16 players.

He also talks about how there will be no way to run the retail version without the disc in tray, the fact that there will be clan support and that there is split-screen play but you can only have one headset active at a time on a given console, plus a lot more.

BioShock Art Book Available Online…for Free!

Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Action, Adventure, First Person Shooters, Games for Windows, Microsoft, Take2, Xbox 360,

Bioshock Art Book Coming hot on the heels of a truly tremendous Xbox Live demo, 2K Boston/2K Australia (formerly Irrational Games) has posted a free PDF file which contains sixty-odd pages of concept art from the game to be printed out at your leisure. How cool is that? Word of warning, however: Ken Levine’s forward to the book contains spoilers, so tread carefully.

BioShock is poised to blow minds on Xbox 360 and Windows in just seven days.

Stranglehold Demo Hits Xbox Live

Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Action, Xbox 360, Xbox Live Marketplace,

Xbox 360 owners looking for a little John Woo-style running and gunning action should head to the Xbox Live Marketplace at their earliest convenience. You probably know what it’s all about by now, but if not, here you go: Take one part Hard Boiled, mix with two parts Max Payne, and you’ve got Stranglehold. Throw in Chow Yun-Fat’s voice and likeness, and you’ve got THE game for Woo fans. Try before you buy today; the full game is slated to hit the Xbox 360, as well as the PS3, next month.

Click to continue reading Stranglehold Demo Hits Xbox Live

Virtual Console 8/6: Wave Race 64, Galaga ’90, And Adventures of Lolo

Posted by Chris Pereira Categories: Action, Driving, Nintendo, Puzzle, Retro, Virtual Console, Wii,

Okay, this week’s crop of games on the Virtual Console is pretty simple: one game you might care about, and two you shouldn’t. Galaga ’90 (TurboGrafx16, 1 player, 600 points) is an updated version of the arcade Galaga, so unless you’re infatuated with Galaga, chances are it isn’t worth your Wii Points. Adventures of Lolo (NES, 1 player, 500 points) is a strange puzzle game that’s only going to get in your way of Wave Race 64 (Nintendo 64, 1-2 players, 1000 points). It’s two players and was pretty fun in the day, and just happens to be the type of game that still holds up today. If you enjoyed the GameCube sequel, are looking for some VC fun or are a fan of jet-skiing, give Wave Race 64 a look.

Click to continue reading Virtual Console 8/6: Wave Race 64, Galaga ’90, And Adventures of Lolo

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