Games Cheats and Reviews

What was the biggest problem with Dead Space? Isaac Clarke. The silent star of the sci-fi survival horror FPS did what needed to be done, but while he had a deep backstory and his own agenda, none of that personality came through in the game.

But Dead Space 2 hopes to change all that, according to executive director, Steve Papoutsis. He brought an early build of the game by the office, and while the bulk of the demo focused on a couple of the weapons and enemies new to the sequel (which you’ll no doubt be able to read about in great detail on the game’s official website), I was a lot more interested in Isaac and the changes that he’ll be going through. “He just went through this nasty situation on the Ishimura, you’d expect him to have something to say about it,” says Papoutsis. “In Dead Space 2, you’ll get to hear a little bit more of his thoughts on what’s going on [...] When we sat down to do this game, that’s one of the first things we decided we were going to do: give Isaac a voice, to see his face a bit more.”

IGN – Dark hallways will never be the same after the chilling Alma first stalked players in the original F.E.A.R. A first-person shooter franchise that combined survival-horror aesthetics with traditional gunplay, F.E.A.R. garnered a fair number of fans and those fans have plenty of reason to be excited. Today, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced F.E.A.R. 3 for the PS3, 360 and PC. The game will feature Alma’s sons, Point Man and Paxton Fettel, as playable characters, as well as introduce co-op play to the franchise.

Creating a videogame based on a novel is surely no easy task, but that’s exactly what Metro 2033 tries to do, retelling Dmitry Glukhovsky’s book through the first-person shooter medium. The game takes place in the claustrophobia-inducing Moscow metro system in a world that’s been ravaged by nuclear war. It’s an interesting setting that sets it apart from other games using the apocalyptic setting, and Metro 2033 does a wonderful job of establishing a dystopia for you to wander through. But don’t mistake Metro for being anything close to a Fallout 3-esque open world; this is a tightly scripted FPS with some clear survival-horror inspiration that unfortunately suffers from a number of glaring technical issues.

You play as Artyom, who despite having never left the metro before, sets out to help save his home by traveling through the extensive, mutant-infested underground. Immersing you in this world was clearly a high priority for developer 4A Games: The HUD is minimal, displaying little beyond your ammo and the occasional quick-time event indicator or weapon selector. Even information like your health and the integrity of your gas mask are indicated by less direct means: The edges of the screen become red as you take damage and your gas mask slowly accumulates frost as the filter wears down. And your objectives list and compass, which always points in the direction you should be heading, are physical objects, not menu choices. That means you physically pull them out, and if you’re in the dark, you’ll need to flick on your lighter to see them.

ZeroTolerance Writes: Two genres that don’t normally mix together have finally come into contact with each other in THQ’s latest effort. Metro 2033 is a pretty standard FPS game that blends a unique setting with survival horror aspects to create an experience certainly feels fresh. Developer 4A Games has crafted a world that is not only believable, but also extremely fun to explore the lore behind. Unfortunately a few hiccups along the way mar an otherwise incredible journey; still if you have the patience to endure its faults, Metro 2033 is one of the more immersive and innovative titles to come along this generation.

There’s no doubt that Metro 2033 will attract a strong following among those who take the time to explore its nuances, but it’s a game that never quite lives up to its obvious potential. Despite delivering malevolent intensity in spades, its eccentric blend of stealth, survival horror and flawed gunplay is simply lacking the all-important polish required to challenge the genre’s A-list.

Ignition Entertainment has shipped Deadly Premonition to stores.  Why wait for some redo of Resident Evil 5 when you can jump on a new story?  The $19.99 price tag doesn’t hurt much either!  C’mon, you get side quests, mini fishing games, crazy characters, and 20 hours or so of game play.  You can’t even go see a good horror movie for that price.

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CC: THQ Executive Producer Luis Gigliotti believes that their upcoming survival horror first-person shooter Metro 2033 sets a ‘new quality bar for visual fidelity’.

Pocket Gamer writes: "When Dead Space 2 comes out in early 2011 on consoles, PSP and potentially iPhone and iPod touch will be getting their own versions as well.

EA revealed today that development of handheld versions of the survival-horror epic is underway with an eye for simultaneous release with the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game."

The company says its survival horror sequel is less survival and more action; compares the game’s intensity to Modern Warfare and Uncharted.

Critical Gamer Writes: The 80’s were a contentious time in America; Cold War looming, double-digit inflation and a frightening new disease. But if you were a typical western, suburban boy you were in a metauniverse, one founded in horror, science-fiction and sexploitation. The birth of many aspects of modern horror; the survival horror videogame genre, horror sexploitation, sexualized science-fiction and dirty slasher comedy were born or revived in the 80’s. Atari 2600’s Haunted House invented the videogame genre of horror survival in 1981. A year before Sybil Danning made the high talent Battle Beyond the Stars, playing the sexy, lascivious queen of an alien race. In 1983 Sega would turn footage of the film into part of a sci-fi shooter, laserdisc arcade game Astron Belt. Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street would define the slasher film cycle, as Sybil Danning starred in the similarly themed 1984 film They’re Playing with Fire. All the while you could always rely on Count Chocula cereal and a healthy diet of similarly themed Saturday morning cartoons…and I loved every moment of it!