New release slate championed by premiere of Gearbox’s long-in-development action game; Wii Play: Motion, Child of Eden, Alice: Madness Returns, Transformers: Dark of the Moon also out.
Duke Nukem can be called a lot of things, but vaporware is no longer one of them. Gearbox Software’s much anticipated first-person action game Duke Nukem Forever finally arrives tomorrow for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, following an international market release last week.
Initially announced in 1997, Duke Nukem Forever was synonymous with vaporware for over a decade. While at original studio 3D Realms, it went through at least two engine changes, with its protracted development reportedly costing $20 million to $30 million.
Duke Nukem Forever will be available in both a standard edition, as well as a Balls of Steel Collector’s Edition for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. This top-tier bundle includes a bust of the titular hero, a set of playing cards, dice, and two casino chips. A comic and hardcover art book are also included in the collection, along with a numbered certificate of authenticity.
Konami unveils a host of AI improvements for its football sim PES 12.
FIFA 12 wasn’t the only football game on show at this year’s E3 expo, with Konami unveiling a bunch of new features for Pro Evolution soccer 2012. As yearly updates go, PES 12 is looking like a big one, with improved animation, visuals, and AI updates that attempt to make it a more realistic experience. With FIFA currently taking the football crown, Konami’s certainly got its work cut out to return the series to its glory days, and back to the top of table.
Of all the new features, PES 12′s AI improvements are the biggest, with changes being made to almost all aspects of the game. Our first look started with Active AI Overlap, a new feature that’s designed to improve the performance of players off the ball. In PES 11, if you passed the ball forward to an open area on the pitch, more often than not supporting players wouldn’t chase the ball down. Players will now run forward to receive passes, letting you make better use of open space.
This is enhanced by improvements to Dummy Runs and Diagonal Runs, which see players drawing out defenders to give you space to play the ball, and make runs across the whole length of the pitch, rather than just along one side of it. The next new feature we were shown was Zonal Defence. It attempts to improve defensive lines, so players now stay in formation. We were shown a clip from PES 11, which showed defensive players in a zigzag formation outside of the box. In PES 12, that line has been straightened up, more accurately mimicking real-world players.
The final AI improvement we were shown was called Zonal Marking, which attempts to improve the defensive play of your teammates. Players will automatically pick up on attacking players’ runs, chasing them down and launching tackles. As well as AI improvements, we were shown one tweak to the controls, which allows you control players off the ball. For example, if you’ve got a throw in or a free kick, you can move other players around the pitch, as well as line up your throw or shot.
The AI improvements are substantial, and if they work as promised, they’ll go some way towards making PES 12 a more realistic experience and a better alternative to FIFA. With the game currently only 60 per cent complete, there’s still a lot of new features Konami have yet to implement, including new personal update data, animation improvements, and more responsive button presses. Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 is due for release in Q3 of this year. Look out for more on GameSpot soon.
Rage is a first-person shooter from Bethesda set in the not-too-distant future after an asteroid has hit Earth, leaving a ravaged world behind.
You emerge into this vast wasteland to discover humanity working to rebuild itself against such forces as bandit gangs, mutants, and The Authority–an oppressive government regime that has a special interest in you, in particular. Rage features first-person shooter action, third-person vehicular combat, an expansive world to explore, and graphics powered by id Tech 5 technology.
In addition to the story-driven single-player experience, there are exclusive co-op modes you can play with friends and an online rally race car combat mode available.
Rage is playable on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.
We take Turn 10′s upcoming racer for a test-drive on the E3 2011 showfloor.
Earlier today, during a visit to Microsoft’s E3 booth, we had an opportunity to play Forza Motorsport 4 for the first time. Turn 10′s upcoming racer is being shown on a number of different setups; there are several where you can just play with a controller, a couple where you can play in a seat with a racing wheel and a Kinect set up for head tracking, one with a force feedback seat set up in front of three large screens, and one where you can control everything in the game with a Kinect. While in line for one of the head-tracking rigs, we got a pretty good look at the full Kinect setup, which was mostly being used to show off how incredibly detailed the car models are this year.
Viewing one of the game’s many Ferraris inside a nondescript garage, the guy using the Kinect was able to reposition the camera simply by moving, almost as if he were walking around the car. Furthermore, using his hand to control a small icon on the screen, he was able to interact with part of the car. Focusing on one of its wheels, he called up an overlay detailing its specifications, for example, and when he moved around to the rear of the car, he popped open the engine cover to look inside. Later, we saw him open the driver’s side door and, by interacting with an icon that appeared onscreen, climb inside. At this point, he was sat in the driving position and interacted with the fantastic-looking interior in much the same way as outside. Putting the key in the ignition lit up all of the dashboard instruments, and when he reached for the steering wheel, he was given the option to participate in a driving challenge, which he accepted. Because we weren’t playing the game ourselves at this point, we can’t comment on how well the Ferrari controlled using the Kinect, but the driver certainly didn’t appear to be having any major problems with it.
What we can comment on is how well Forza Motorsport 4′s head-tracking feature works. After sitting down and getting comfortable with the steering wheel and pedals, we opted to drive a Subaru (one of only three cars featured in the E3 demo) around the spectacular-looking Switzerland track that was shown during the Microsoft press conference earlier this week. The car handling was great, though we’re pretty sure that a good number of the game’s driving assists were turned on by default. The effect of the head tracking was pretty subtle; when we went out of our way to try to look out of a side window, it didn’t respond as much as we had hoped. When we stopped thinking about it and just let it do its thing as we subconsciously leaned into corners a little, though, the effect was really good. It wasn’t so dramatic that it was distracting, but it was definitely noticeable enough to add to our sense of immersion while using the cockpit view.
Forza Motorsport 4 is currently scheduled for release in October.
E3 2011: Activision gives us an exclusive look at its Silicon Knights developed action-RPG starring the X-Men.
X-Men Destiny is the upcoming Silicon Knights developed game from Activision featuring Marvel’s famous mutants. Whereas the previous X-Men games let you play as some of the notable members of the iconic team, X-Men Destiny casts you as a freshly minted mutant whose future is shaped by some quality time spent with the gang. We had the chance to get a hands-off look at the upcoming game, guided by Activision reps who demoed a few sections of the unique title.
X-Men Destiny’s story is being penned by Mike Carey, writer of the X-Men Legacy book, and revolves around three new mutants–Aimi Yoshida, Grant Alexander, and a third as yet unrevealed character. The tale begins at a San Francisco peace rally in memory of Professor X who, in the game’s timeline, is dead. The rally goes poorly, which is pretty much the norm for any mutant related gathering, and the character you’ve chosen to play as becomes involved in a conflict between the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. The events at the rally cause a chain of events that send your character on a journey of self-discovery and evolution that will tip the balance in the conflict between the two factions. How that all plays out is entirely up to you and the choices that you make over the course of the game.
We got a taste of how this is going to work in our demo which showcased combat, exploration, power customization, choice, and a boss fight. The demo featured Aimi–the pig tail sporting fifteen-year-old wielding energy attacks which are one of the three core powers you’ll choose when starting the game–fighting her way through Chinatown in search of Gambit. This portion of the demo focused on showcasing the power mechanics as Aimi dealt with waves of thugs on her trip through Chinatown. Each character will have several options in battle. The combat fundamentals are light and heavy attacks that can be chained together into different combos to dole out damage that the game tracks.
Developed by Rocksteady Studios, Batman: Arkham City is an action adventure that builds upon the intense, atmospheric foundation of Batman: Arkham Asylum.
It sends players soaring into Arkham City, the new maximum-security “home” for all of Gotham City’s thugs, gangsters, and insane criminal masterminds. Set inside the heavily fortified walls of a sprawling district in the heart of Gotham City, this highly anticipated sequel introduces a brand-new story that draws together a new all-star cast of classic characters and murderous villains from the Batman universe. These include the likes of The Joker, Two-Face, Catwoman, and many more. Batman: Arkham City also adds a vast range of new and enhanced gameplay features to deliver the ultimate experience as the Dark Knight. Batman: Arkham City will be playable for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.
