WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT LAUNCHES F.E.A.R. 3

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment today announces the launch of F.E.A.R. 3, a paranormal horror first person shooter continuing the F.E.A.R. heritage of frenetic combat, compelling narrative and tension-filled gameplay while evolving the franchise with unique divergent co-op. The chill-inducing game is now available in North America for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and Windows PC.

“F.E.A.R. 3 provides all the hallmark thrills the series is known for delivering along with new blood-pumping multiplayer modes,” said Samantha Ryan, Senior Vice President, Production and Development of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “The game is staying true to its roots while improving on the experience with divergent co-op and high quality multiplayer created exclusively within the F.E.A.R. universe.”

In F.E.A.R. 3, players can take on the role of Point Man, a genetically enhanced super-soldier, or the undead spirit of his brother Paxton Fettel, a paranormal entity who possesses incredible psychic powers. The two brothers have a vicious history but must work together in an uneasy alliance to pursue Alma Wade, their tortured and psychically gifted mother, who is about to give birth to something that could destroy the world.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Day 1 Studios enlisted two horror masters, legendary film director John Carpenter (Halloween, The Thing) and writer Steve Niles (30 Days of Night), to consult on the cinematics and script.

F.E.A.R. 3 evolves the F.E.A.R. franchise by introducing a unique system called divergent co-op, along with social gameplay that gives players distinctly different abilities that affect their own play and the experience of gamers they are playing with…or against. The game also offers a robust scoring and challenge system, which encourages replay, tactical variation, and exploration throughout the game.

Gamers will have access to four distinct online multiplayer modes—F**king Run!, Contractions, Soul Survivor and Soul King—each offering a unique combination of cooperative and competitive play distinctively set in the F.E.A.R. universe.

F.E.A.R. 3, developed by Day 1 Studios, is rated “M” and is available now at retail stores nationwide for the Xbox 360, PlayStation®3 system and Windows PC for a suggested retail price of $59.99.

Portal 2

By Sean McQuillan

Developer: Valve Corporation

Publisher: Valve Corporation

Distributor: Valve Corporation (Online), Electronic Arts (Retail)

Platform: PC, Xbox 360, Playstation 3

Genre: Puzzle-Platform, Science Fiction

Modes: Single-Player, Cooperative

 

Rating:  5/5  First Prize in Potato Science!

 Portal 1’s silent protagonist, Chell,  wakes up to find herself back in the bowels of Aperture Science.  She has been in stasis for many years as the facility has succumbed to encroaching nature without GLaDOS to maintain the facility.  She is greeted by a personality core, Wheatley, and must work to escape the facility together.  Along the way GLaDOS is reawakened, and testing can begin anew.  Chell must escape a new and deadly set of puzzles and obstacles that will take her from the bowels of the facility, to a final showdown with the psychotic intelligence running the tests.

With this second outing into the world of Aperture Science, Valve takes every opportunity to flesh out the world and its characters.  While we had GLaDOS as our main source of interaction in Portal 1, this game introduces us to Wheatley, a bumbling and endearing construct helping you escape. Cave Johnson is also introduced as the eccentric founder of Aperture Science.    The voice acting in Portal 1 by GLaDOS’ voice actress Ellen McLain was beautifully enchanting, and Portal 2 doesn’t disappoint.  Ellen is back as GLaDOS and the turrets, but we also get wonderful performances from Stephen Merchant (Wheatley), and J.K. Simmons (Cave Johnson) who many would know as J. Jonah Jameson from the original Spiderman movies.  While there’s no shortage of amazing lines from all of them through the game, you’ll find yourself wishing there was more.

The wonderful Aesthetic of Portal 1, with the well polished test tracks, and the abandoned industrial areas behind the scenes, gave the game as much characterization as its voice acting.  With Portal 2 we see it really come alive. From the lowest levels where we see Aperture’s humble beginnings to the madcap testing tracks as the facility becomes unstable; we see an organic facility that shapes and molds its story over time.

The platforming sections the coined the phrase “Thinking with Portals” was perfect in Portal 1, it’s hard to think where they could go from there.  The guys at Valve brought in the team from Independent Games Festival-winning DigiPen student project Tag: The Power of Paint to incorporate their game’s paint mechanics into these new gels.  While these 3 new gels are a blast to play with, especially the orange Propulsion gel, the Valve team were no slouches themselves.  Introducing Faith plates, Light bridges, Thermal Discouragement Beams, and the gravity defying Excursion Tunnels, Portal 2 is at no shortage of new and interesting ways to challenge the player.

While the campaign mode is certainly a rich experience, the Co-op play is the perfect complement to it.  With the introduction of the not quite silent protagonists Atlas and P-body, you’ll go through quite a gauntlet of puzzles strictly designed for two people.  It’s an exercise in trust and often good-hearted frustration.  While the puzzles are great, the experience is also related to the main storyline, with the most engaging moments coming when the pair have to go “off the rails” and into the facility’s abandoned areas.  While it can be frustrating to replay this mode with someone who hasn’t solved the puzzles, with the new Authoring Tools you can look forward to new puzzles from the community.

If you are  wondering if Jonathan Coulton, the wonderful Singer/Songwriter behind Portal 1’s “Still Alive”, has a new entry for this outing, the answer is a happy Yes. There’s also another great bonus to be had for those who complete the Story mode.  You’ll just have to beat it and see.

With cake, companion cubes, wonderfully dark humor, and the wonder of picking up your first portal gun, it’s hard for a sequel to catch the same magic as the first Portal game.  Luckily Valve succeeds masterfully and fans of the first game should all love this new chapter in the Aperture Science story.

Legendary video game hero to finally return and kick-ass on consoles and Windows PC in 2011; playable demo at Penny Arcade Expo

2K Games and Gearbox Software announced today that forever is nearly here, as Duke Nukem Forever^® will officially make its long-awaited debut for the Xbox 360^® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation^®3 computer entertainment system and Windows PC in calendar 2011. Duke Nukem, the interactive entertainment industry’s most irreverent and quoted character of all time, will bring his signature brand of babe-lovin’, cigar-smoking, beer-chugging and ass-kicking action as he once again saves the Earth and our babes from hordes of invading aliens. In other shocking news, Duke Nukem Forever will be playable right now for all attendees 17 and older of this year’s Penny Arcade Expo at the 2K Booth (booth #3417), giving the first hands-on experience with the game that was originally announced during the tail end of the Clinton Administration.

“All great things take time… a lot of time,” laughs Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. “After a hiatus from the video game world, Duke Nukem is back and better than ever. The return of the King from the glory days of shooters will satisfy our patient, die-hard fans, as well as a new generation of bubble gum-chewing, flat top and shades-wearing bad-asses. Make no mistake about it – Duke Nukem Forever is a testament to the era of when shooters were bodacious and fun.”

Put on your sunglasses and prepare to step into the boots of Duke Nukem, whose legend has reached epic proportions in the years since his last adventure. The alien hordes are back and only Duke can save the world, again. Pig cops, alien shrink rays and enormous alien bosses won’t stop our hero from accomplishing his one and only goal: to save the world, save the babes and to be a bad-ass while doing it. The King of All Shooters is back with over-the-top weapons, massive aliens and unprecedented levels of interactivity. This game puts pedal to the metal and tongue firmly in cheek, among other places. Shoot hoops, lift weights, read adult magazines, draw crude messages on whiteboards or ogle one of the many beautiful women that populate Duke’s life; that is if you can pull yourself away long enough from kicking ass and taking names. Duke Nukem was and will forever be immortalized in gaming history, and this is his legend.

“Hail to the king, baby! It’s unbelievable, it kicks ass and it’s totally going to happen!” said Randy Pitchford, president of Gearbox Software, “Gearbox has enabled die-hard key Duke Nukem franchise builders and skilled veteran game makers to stand together and deliver. All gamers deserve a happy ending and after all of us gamers feeling the full range of emotions about Duke Nukem Forever, I am thrilled to be in a position with the trust, power and means to make it happen. Am I crazy? Balls of steel, baby, balls of steel!”

Duke Nukem Forever is currently in development for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 system and Windows PC and is not yet rated by PEGI. 2K Games has the exclusive, long-term publishing rights to the game. To catch your first glimpse of the Duke Nukem Forever experience please visit www.dukenukem.com.