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'Overload' revives the cramped combat of classic shooter 'Descent'
Back in 1995, Toy Story wowed audiences with sophisticated computer-generated animation. That same year, games studio Parallax released Descent, blowing players away with some of the first truly 3D, omnidirectional gameplay. Things have moved on a lot since then, but the classic game's creators, Parallax co-founders Matt Toschlog and Mike Kulas, are ready to stage a revival. Today, they've released Overload, a spiritual successor that brings back the zero-G combat that redefined first-person shooters (FPS) two decades ago.
'Descent' revival is coming to PS4 and Xbox One
The classic zero-G shooter Descent may have been born on PC, but its revival won't be limited to one platform. Descendent Studios has announced that Little Orbit is porting Descent: Underground to the PS4 and Xbox One. While it's not certain what the console versions will bring to the table or when they'll arrive, there are promises of an announcement at a "big" 2018 convention. As it stands, the platform expansion is really part of a larger alliance that's giving Underground a lifeline.
'Descent'-inspired 'Sublevel Zero Redux' coming to PS4
If you're interested in some Descent-like shooter action, you could wait for Descent Underground, the crowdfunded game from from a developer behind Star Citizen. However, it's not expected to arrive until next year, and when it does, there are no plans for a console release. There is another option, though: Sublevel Zero: Redux. Based on the well-received original that launched on Steam in 2015, the console version for Xbox One and PS4 brings new content, campaigns and more.
Spherica creates nausea-free immersive video
Typically, 360-degree VR video comes in two varieties: static, wherein the camera remains motionless while the onscreen action unfolds around it, and vomit-inducing, where the camera moves but instigates severe motion sickness in the viewer. The San Francisco-based motion picture startup, Spherica, aims to create a third option: immersive VR video that can track, tilt and pan without making the audience lose their lunch.
Shooter classic 'Descent' gets a second crowdfunded revival
Apparently, there are a lot of gamers (and game developers) who are still fond of Descent's mind-breaking, 6-degrees-of-freedom shooting action. Just months after the success of Descent: Underground, the aptly-named Revival Productions is crowdfunding its own take on the formula, Overload. It doesn't have the same name as the zero-G combat classic, but there's arguably a stronger pedigree -- co-founders Mike Kulas and Matt Toschlog were instrumental to making the earliest Descent games, and other higher-ups built Descent 3. They remember the mechanics and level design that made the original a cult hit, and they're hoping to preserve that vibe while introducing modern technology.
Final zombies pack for 'CoD: Advanced Warfare' hits tomorrow
The latest trailer for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare's "Exo Zombies" mode might not feature a megalodon-esque sea-borne monstrosity, but it does have John Malkovich doing his best Werner Herzog impression for the voice over. So there's that. This final episode takes place fathoms below the ocean surface with Rose McGowan, Bill Paxton (game over, man!), Joe Bernthal and the inimitable Bruce Campbell coming back to tie up the story. "Descent" hits Xbox Live tomorrow with other platforms to come in the future. If you're a PlayStation fan that's green with envy, just remember that your early exclusivity period starts with a Black Ops 3 beta and add-ons this fall -- there's even a mode where you murder the undead and chew gumballs in Rapture-esque, art-deco city streets as Jeff Goldblum.
The man who left behind $78 million to revamp a classic space shooter
Eric Peterson has dedicated 20 years of his life to the video game industry, handling development and production in startups and large studios alike. He has a passion for space games, and in April 2012, he helped found Cloud Imperium Games, the studio building Chris Roberts' massive interstellar simulator Star Citizen. Cloud Imperium has since raised $78.6 million from nearly 900,000 dedicated fans, with more adding to the pot every day; it's the largest and most ridiculous crowdfunding campaign in gaming history. Late last year, Peterson walked away from Cloud Imperium, Star Citizen and that pile of cash. Not because he wasn't into the game anymore; he just didn't want to leave his home in Austin, Texas. "I loved working on the project; I just didn't want to move to Los Angeles," Peterson says. "They're my friends. Look, I built that company with them. ... It's just that, I've made sacrifices before in this industry for games that almost cost me personally with my family. So I'm just not willing to do that anymore. The priorities for me are family first."
NeonXSZ begins descent to Steam August 22
NeonXSZ, the latter three letters of which are pronounced "excesses," will launch on Steam via Early Access on August 22. The game puts players in the cockpit of a ship within cyberspace, joining a war between viruses and machines. While just entering beta, NeonXSZ is "already fully playable for 100-plus hours," according to the single-person developer, Intravenous Software. NeonXSZ features "dozens of ships" complete with more than 850 upgrades, emphasizing treasure-collecting and enemy-blasting gameplay akin to that of classic "6DoF" FPS games like Descent and twitchy shooters such as Quake. The procedurally-generated, open world in NeonXSZ includes "approximately one thousand AI dudes" from four different factions, each at odds with one another. Those enemies drop parts of their hulls, upgrades and weaponry, so loot gathered from players' conquests is not randomized. The alpha version of NeonXSZ arrived on the Desura store in September 2013 for PC, Mac and Linux.
Stick and Rudder: Five more space sims to fill the Star Citizen void
A few months back I put together a list of my favorite space sims in an effort to pass the time remaining until Star Citizen's release. Well, that release is still a ways off, even though we are scheduled to get our grubby little space mitts on the dogfighting module next month. I'm in the mood to pew pew right now, though, and if you are too, here are a few more classic games to help fill the void.
Classic PC shooter Descent plots a course for Steam
Iconic 3D first-person shooter Descent has finally arrived on Steam. Normally priced at $7, Descent is on sale for $3.49 until February 18 as part of a special launch promotion and compatible with Windows PC only. The plot of Descent revolves around an alien computer virus that has managed to infect off-world mining robots. Players assume the role of a mercenary, hired to investigate the disturbance for the company and eliminate the alien threat. And, as Rock, Paper, Shotgun points out, the original Descent will turn 19 tomorrow. While we'd like to make a big deal about it, Descent isn't old enough to enjoy a crisp Appletini on an Autumn's day like a real adult so therefore we can't be expected to take this milestone seriously. Hit us up when you're 21 years old, Descent. [Image: Interplay]
Perfect World International begins its Descent
If you're an avid player of Perfect World International, February 15th will be the day that it all goes down. That's the launch date for the game's latest expansion, Descent, which brings along a variety of improvements and upgrades to the game. Despite the low implications of the name, the expansion will be focusing on high-level conflict, with a new zone open to players of level 95 and up to explore. Said zone includes new quest hubs, two new dungeons, and of course several new pieces of equipment. Progress through the zone will also bring characters into contact with the three Orders, forcing players to choose between the Orders for special character perks and improvements. Even without membership, however, each class will be gaining some new and unique skills that should alter the current distribution of abilities rather than reinforce existing roles. If this sounds right up your alley, check out the full expansion trailer just past the cut, and mark your calendar in advance.
GOG selling Interplay titles for half off, including Freespace and sequel
GoG.com has announced a big half-off sale on a bunch of older Interplay titles, allowing you to pick up some titles of serious quality for just a couple bucks apiece. There are some real gems in there, including the Descent games, the classic Giants: Citizen Kabuto, Fallout 1, 2 and Tactics, and the great Sacrifice, all for just $2.99 each. We'd be remiss as well if we didn't point out that the much-loved space combat game Freespace is also on sale, along with its sequel, for the same ludicrously low prices. Three bucks for a bunch of must-play titles from video gaming's days of yore? Deals don't get much better than that, people.
Hour-long documentary goes behind the scenes at Volition
Game Informer's story on Saints Row: The Third started with just a few screenshots, but apparently the magazine had some extra video footage around, so it decided to turn it into a nearly one hour long documentary on the entire Volition studio, from its PC beginnings with Descent: Freespace, up into the big console series Red Faction and Saints Row. There's a lot of fascinating behind-the-scenes stuff here for old-school Volition fans, including a lot of thinking on why Volition has made the games it has, how the company has built up its growing legacy piece by piece, and even why some developers on the staff didn't want anything to do with Saints Row in the first place. The last 18 years of Volition's work makes for some excellent weekend watching.
Finally, WiiWare gets a Descent game
The best thing about Interplay having one foot in the grave is the easy access it has to all the corpses in the cemetery. Having already cast a resurrection spell on Stonekeep and Clayfighter, the publisher now looks to bring classic 3D shooter Descent to WiiWare this Fall. Interplay CEO Hervé Caen calls the disorienting game's reorientation on Wii an "exciting move," noting that "Descent remains the most popular 1080º 3D blasting game." The task of translating all that super-hot 3D to WiiWare will fall to independent studio G1M2, which previously worked on portollections like Data East Arcade Classics for Wii and Metal Slug PC Collection. Also, now that we're revisiting Descent, aren't we halfway to a Descent: Freespace revival? Everyone, say "yes."
Interplay still out of money
It seems that selling off the Fallout IP hasn't reversed Interplay's fortunes -- nor has ... planning to make a Fallout MMO. According to a recent SEC filing, the publisher ended 2008 completely broke. But don't worry! Interplay has a plan: Get more money from somewhere. "We continue to seek external sources of funding," the company stated, "including but not limited to, incurring debt, the selling of assets or securities, licensing of certain product rights in selected territories, selected distribution agreements, and/or other strategic transactions sufficient to provide short-term funding, and achieve our long-term strategic objectives." We assume that those long-term strategic objectives would include paying off the new debts incurred in order to provide short-term funding.The document does mention that the publisher continues to work on "the development of a MMOG code named: "Project:V13" (the alleged Fallout MMO) as well as "sequels to some of our most successful games, including Earthworm Jim, Dark Alliance, Descent and MDK." All decent reasons to hope the company doesn't tank. [Via VG247]
Blackstar exclusive interview
We've spoken previously about the unique-looking space-combat MMO Blackstar, being developed by Spacetime Studios -- how previous publisher NCsoft had chosen to cancel their connection with the title, and how Spacetime recently regained the IP, to continue development on their own. From the look and sound of everything that's been shown to the public so far, this game has the potential to be NCsoft's "one that got away".Intrigued by the goings-on with the studio, we contacted Spacetime's President and Executive Producer Gary Gattis to see if he could give us a peek behind the curtains -- or photon displacement cascade, as the case may be -- at how development on Blackstar is progressing. Mr. Gattis not only graciously consented to the interview request, but also gave us 4 pieces of concept art to share with our readers; art that has only made us long even more for the game's eventual release. Read the full interview after the jump!%Gallery-23010%
Alone in the Dark 'Descent' trailer looks more than decent
Has anyone else noticed an escalation in intensity from the trailers for Atari's rebirth of the once loved horror franchise, Alone in the Dark? The first bit of video we saw had our hero, Edward Carnby, traipsing throughout all manner of empty (and beautiful) environments, smashing bits of furniture and putting out house fires. Then came the tech demo, where we saw the game's innovative inventory system in action, and learned of the terrible ways one can abuse mutant sewer rats. However, this recent trailer for the game is a one-way ride aboard the Crazy Train -- flaming elevator shafts, headcrab knock-offs, and a high-speed escape from an ominously crumbling New York City? Yes, please. You can check out a cornucopia of recently released videos (including a "piping" hot trailer we've thrown after the break) on the Alone in the Dark Gametrailers channel -- then spend the rest of the day hoping all subsequent media for the game becomes more and more intense, until previews of the game's climactic gunfight on the mouth of an active volcano against a cybernetically-enhanced Bea Arthur begin to surface.
Fallout MMO still alive
It's never too late to create an MMO from an already-established franchise. Heck, movies recycle content more and more frequently these days, so why not games? Sometimes we wonder if anyone has had an original idea since 1990, but this time it's a good thing.Remember Interplay? Yeah, they're still alive and kicking. Well, they're alive anyway, and they plan on following through with their original plans to make an MMO based on their highly-successful Fallout series. Not only that, but they also mention plans to create sequels for such successful games as Earthworm Jim, Dark Alliance, Descent, and MDK. You may be aware of the sale of the Fallout name to Bethesda in 2007, who are set to release the single-player Fallout 3 later this year. Part of that business deal was the agreement that Interplay would eventually create a Fallout MMO. Finally, 4 years after the original announcement, it's coming to fruition. Currently Interplay is hiring developers and revamping their website in preparation, so we certainly look forward to what they have in store for us.
Sequel alert: Earthworm Jim, MDK and Dark Alliance
Earthworm Jim, MDK, Dark Alliance and Descent fanboys perk up your ears, because we have promising news for each franchise. Today, Interplay confirmed that all four of these franchises are prime targets for future sequels after their company recorded rather nice profits last year. We'd be fools if we thought we could speculate to how, when or in what form these franchises will receive the sequel treatment, though we hope that the Interplay gods give us Earthworm Jim on the Xbox 360. In retail form or XBLA form, we'd be satisfied getting Jim either way.
Fallout sale to help fund Earthworm Jim, Descent comebacks
With help from money it gleaned from selling the Fallout franchise to Bethesda, Interplay intends to revitalize its in-house game development studio and "has hired a veteran game developer," according to an SEC filing. Interplay also noted that, should it be able to obtain further financing, the developer intends to "develop sequels to some of the most successful games, including Earthworm Jim, Dark Alliance, Descent and MDK." The developer also plans to continue work on a Fallout MMO. The connection to Interplay's former post-apocalyptic franchise doesn't end there; it's as interwoven into this story as the characters from LOST are to each other. The "veteran game developer," as it turns out, is former Fallout designer Jason Anderson, who worked on the first and second games before leaving with fellow Fallout devs Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky to form Troika games. Anderson is reportedly working on an MMO for Interplay unrelated to Fallout. [Via Gamasutra]
