Microsoft announces simultaneous worldwide release for Epic Games’ Xbox 360-exclusive shooter; no beta date yet.
It may be one of the jewels in Microsoft’s 2011 lineup, but Gears of War 3 has had a tumultuous time on the road to release. The game’s unveiling was set to take place on chat show Late Night with Jimmy Fallon but was delayed, though not before the game’s release date was reportedly leaked on Xbox Live.
Shortly after the Late Night showing, Microsoft confirmed that the game would be landing in April 2011, but then had to renege on its initial promise and delay the game to a holiday 2011 release.
Today, Microsoft has announced a new worldwide release date for Gears of War 3 of September 20, 2011. This brings territories such as Japan, Australia, and Europe in line with the US, which was originally going to get the game first when it was slated for an April release date.
Microsoft has also named some of the maps and weapons that are due to appear in the game when it lands in September. There will be new multiplayer maps by the name of Trenches, Overpass, Mercy, Checkout, and Thrashball, as well as new weapons, including a bayonet charge, a retro lancer, a sawed-off shotgun, a one-shot, an incendiary grenade, and a digger launcher. Microsoft has also promised that more news on the multiplayer public beta will be released soon.
Gears of War 3′s new release date places it just one week after another high-profile shooter–id’s Rage. To find out more about Gears of War 3, including the game’s new Beast mode, read GameSpot’s ongoing coverage of the game.
LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars features overhauled visuals and new gameplay alongside the cooperative action and humor the series is known for.
Having chronicled the two trilogies of live-action Star Wars movies, Lego Star Wars is setting its sights on the animated Clone Wars series for its next installment. Lego Star Wars III will follow the entire arc of the Clone Wars series. We visited LucasArts at E3 to check out a gameplay demo and saw Yoda and a few clone soldiers team up to vanquish a good number of Lego foes. Aside from new abilities and new enemies, we were impressed by the graphical overhaul that lends the environments a more realistic look while highlighting the Lego characters and making them look crisp and vibrant. Add in the possibility of large-scale battles featuring hundreds of clone soldiers, and Lego Star Wars III appears to be on track to upholding the series’ good name.
What was supposed to be a three-hour tour aboard a tiny ship turns into an undead nightmare when developer Techland leaves us stranded in its first-person brawler Dead Island.
It has been a while since we were last marooned on Dead Island back at the 2006 Electronic Entertainment Expo. Now we’re back again alongside developer Techland for another brisk outing in its zombie apocalypse, armed with a wooden boat oar and a pocketful of experience points. Our own personal hell: a tropical paradise turned tropical wasteland brimming with death and beautifully rendered in the same engine as Call of Juarez. We recently sat down to watch a demonstration of what it’s like to go face-to-face with the walking dead in this gruesome first-person brawler…armed with little more than a oar.
Dead Island is all about getting extremely up close and personal with hordes of zombies. Your arsenal is a near-endless supply of mundane items scattered across the ravaged island, including wooden oars, machetes, and the occasional gun or two. If you’re feeling creative, you can combine certain items to make powerful new weapons, a la Dead Rising 2, provided you have the right blueprints. Once you have armed yourself with the deadliest vacation items imaginable, it’s time to take the fight to the horde. You can fight in one of two ways–we saw both styles in action with an Xbox 360 gamepad. The first, analog, uses one analog stick for movement and the other for arm control. This unique setup looks like it will take some getting used to, but it does allow you more control over the strength and arc of each swing. The second, digital, is a more-traditional setup that will be familiar to anyone who has played console action games. The analog sticks are dedicated to movement, while all the attacks are mapped to the face buttons.
The four unlucky people you will be controlling are described as a leader, a tank, an assassin, and a jack-of-all-trades. Each of these characters brings something unique to the profession of zombie killing and can be further specialized by leveling up and progressing down one of three skill trees. The leader, for instance, can be specialized to boost his party’s performance or maximize his effectiveness with the island’s limited gun supply. Techland wants to give you plenty of options for dealing with the deceased by loading up each character with plenty of active skills. These skills can then be used in concert with other player’s skills to devastating effect, such as using the tank’s ability to knock enemies prone followed by the assassin’s ability to quickly slay foes.