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Warner Bros Interactive acquires Snowblind Studios
Capping off a day that saw Crytek officially sealing the deal with Free Radical, Warner Bros Interactive has announced its purchase of Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance and Justice League Heroes dev Snowblind Studios. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the acquisition serves to strengthen the publisher's internal development effort. Martin Tremblay, president of WBIE, said of the purchase, "The acquisition of Snowblind is an important milestone for our games business, allowing us to expand our development capabilities even further." Snowblind's latest title, the XBLA-bound Death Tank, remains on track for release, albeit without an official date. WBIE's upcoming marquee titles F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin and Wanted: Weapons of Fate are being developed externally at Monolith and GRIN, respectively. The company has been long-rumored as a possible suitor for an ailing Eidos Interactive.
Snowblind bringing Death Tank to XBLA
We told you that the awesomely monikered Death Tank had been rated for XBLA, but we've now picked up a few more details about the game. For one, it's being crafted by Snowblind Studios, the company that brought you Justice League Heroes. For another, the graphical style has been updated considerably, as you can see in a trailer after the break.So why is Uncle Joystiq bringing you two-week old news about an XBLA game that doesn't even have a release window? Well, dear reader, it's called Death Tank. If we aren't bringing you all the available information on a game called "Death Tank," we just really don't see how we can claim to be doing our jobs.[Thanks, HydroSpeedJesus]
Death Tank rolling to XBLA for real, first video
Okay, we're just going to let out a heartfelt woohoo here, because Snowblind Studios has confirmed that they are indeed bringing Death Tank to Xbox Live Arcade. We imagine anyone that has played the Sega Saturn classic will share our enthusiasm. Played like a real time version of Scorched Earth or Worms, Death Tank is a fast-paced game of strategy and quick thinking. Tiny, but powerful tanks attempt to destroy each other -- on a fully destructible landscape -- using a variety of weapons and abilities. Oh, and it's awesome too.The Xbox Live Arcade version features updated graphics and support for up to 8 players on Xbox Live or 4 players locally. Check out the first trailer of the game in action above and a the first screens in the gallery below.Our only concern thus far: where is the awesome theme music?%Gallery-31242%[Via GamerBytes. Thanks, Jonah Falcon]
Metareview - Justice League Heroes
The success of the X-Men Legends series proved that there is still a market for good hack-and-slash RPGs. But Warner Bros. Interactive wasn't about to let Activision and Marvel Comics have all the fun -- not when the WB is home to DC Comics and some of the most beloved superheroes of all time. The resulting Justice League Heroes falls a little short of its mutant counterparts, despite the efforts of Snowblind Studios (Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, Champions of Norrath) and Justice League Unlimited writer Dwayne McDuffie. Die-hard fans will be disappointed by the omission of some popular Leaguers, although the alternate costumes and their unique modifiers might make up for that. More unforgivable is that the members of Gotham City's impressive rogues gallery are absent from a JLH villains roster that sorely needs them. How about a Batman Legends next? Game Informer (73/100) was generally displeased, but cited a first for The Man of Steel: "It only offers two-player offline cooperative play. Enemy types and environmental architecture are highly recycled. The plot reads like a kindergartner's first attempt at writing. On the plus side, this is the first game that successfully makes Superman a fun character to play." 1UP (65/100) wasn't content throwing down with Lex Luthor, Braniac, and Gorilla Grodd: "Maybe the drama would have been more believable if the villains weren't downright dumb. A talking gorilla, an intelligent robot, and a killer bee? That's all you got, DC? Where are all the Batman villains? The Joker, Two-Face, Catwoman -- now those are villains worth fighting. Not some dude who calls himself 'The Key'." IGN (64/100) thinks JLH's character balance is a little off: "Surprisingly, Zatanna is the most potent character in the game. She can heal, cast an over-powered fire attack at low cost (when leveled up), and can turn 95% of all enemies into harmless rabbits. Sadly, Batman is easily the most useless and joyless character you can select. Even Aquaman is more fun to play. Batman's powers, such as calling in a fleet of bats, just don't cut it."
Justice League Heroes developer, roster announced
For those wondering what Snowblind Studios has been up to, let Justice be served! The Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance and Champions of Norrath developer has been identified as the architect behind Justice League Heroes, an action-RPG due out this fall for Xbox, PS2, and PSP.Warner Bros. Interactive also confirmed the official roster of playable characters and said there would be more to unlock. Maybe we'll get to see Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Hawkwoman in action. Justice for all!
