Death Of A Franchise

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Games
Posted by Don Allen on March 11, 2012 @ 6:27am
Category: Games / News

The video game industry can be a scary place for developers. Fail to please fans just once, and the results can be catastrophic. With 2009′s Red Faction: Guerrilla, Volition Inc. had a sleeper hit on its hands thanks to its incredible engine–dubbed Geomod 2.0–that allowed for large-scale destruction to be done in a Grand Theft Auto-esque open-world. Flash forward two years and the game’s getting a sequel. The engine’s more refined, there’s a Syfy Channel movie tie-in, and the expectations are much higher, but something’s changed; the open-world’s been scrapped, and the game turned into a linear third-person shooter. The resulting backlash not only aided THQ in having a miserable quarter financially, but also caused the death of the entire Red Faction franchise. Knowing the game’s reputation, I recently picked it up to try it out for myself. Check out the video below to see what I found.

Platforms: PC, Xbox 360, PS3. Price: $19.99. If you have a game you’d like me to check out, or just some feedback, tell me! [email protected] READ MORE

A.Wake in a Nightmare

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Games
Posted by Don Allen on February 21, 2012 @ 9:51pm
Category: Games / Videos

After being in development for five years, Alan Wake launched in May of 2010 to moderate success exclusively on the Xbox 360. Despite sales figures officially showing it sold around 1.4 million copies, only 500,000 of those were actually in stores. An estimated 900,000 download codes for the game were bundled with Xbox 360 consoles during that year’s holiday season, which padded the numbers quite a bit. Regardless of how it was received, though, Alan Wake is still a creative, unique game that stands as one of this generation’s most ambitious efforts. See why in my video below.

Platforms: Xbox 360, PC. Price: $19.99 (Xbox 360), $29.99 (PC) Alan Wake’s American Nightmare will be out tomorrow exclusively for the Xbox Live Arcade for 1200msp. If you have a game you’d like me to check out, or just some feedback, tell me! [email protected] READ MORE

Return to Wonderland

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Games
Posted by Don Allen on February 03, 2012 @ 10:23pm
Category: Games / News

In the coming weeks, I’d like to do a video series to help shine the spotlight on some lesser-known games. To get things started, I thought it would fun to take a look at a game that I’m amazed even exists. Last June, eleven years after the release of American McGee’s Alice, EA released a sequel, Alice: Madness Returns. Recently, I picked the game up on sale and was pleasantly surprised at what I found. Check out the video below to see why it may be worth your time.

Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, PC. Price: $39.99 (consoles), $29.99 (PC). If you have a game you’d like me to check out, or just some feedback, tell me! [email protected] READ MORE