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Killer is Dead puts on its gigolo glasses in Europe August 30
Killer is Dead, Suda 51's next over-the-top action opus, has been pegged for an August 30 launch in Europe by publisher Deep Silver. We've contacted North American publisher XSEED for a launch date in the US. The European date was included in a press release announcing a Fan Edition of Killer is Dead for £54.99, which comes in special packaging with an artbook, Akira Yamaoka's soundtrack and the Smooth Operator DLC pack including an additional mission and a special pair of x-ray glasses for Killer is Dead's "gigolo missions." The Smooth Operator DLC pack will also be included in all standard launch day copies in Europe. The story of Killer is Dead revolves around Mondo Zappa, an executioner for an assassination firm charged with killing bad people the world over. Zappa swings a sword with his right arm while his left, a full cybernetic replacement, can form various other weapons such as a drill or gun.
Saints Row IV banned in Australia due to 'unjustified' evil
For every tearful accountant at Saints Row HQ, there must be a gleeful marketing person punching the air, playing mini golf and doing whatever else marketing people do when they're full of glee. Conflicted emotions aside, however, game publisher Deep Silver can now claim the notorious distinction of having its latest title, Saints Row IV, rejected outright by the Australian Classification Board (ACB). It's the first such refusal since the ACB implemented a new R18+ rating, which is meant to allow for adult themes within games but which evidently couldn't cope with Saints Row's peculiar depictions of sexual violence (which were "not justified by context") or its drug-themed reward system (which is "prohibited by the computer games guidelines"). According to The Guardian, this effectively means Saints Row IV is banned from sale in retail stores in Australia, but Joystiq has received word from Deep Silver saying it intends to create a "reworked" version of its open-world game specifically for that country. Meanwhile, the regular version has been given PEGI 18 and ESRB M ratings elsewhere, and it looks to be on track for an August release date.
Saints Row 4 refused classification in Australia, Volition 'reworking' game for territory
The Australian Classification Board made Saints Row 4 the first game to be refused classification in the country since the introduction of the R18+ rating at the start of the year. In a statement released this morning, the ACB said it classified the game "RC (Refused Classification)" in accordance with the new guidelines. Publisher Deep Silver told us developer Volition is reworking the game's content for the territory. "In the Board's opinion, Saints Row IV, includes interactive, visual depictions of implied sexual violence which are not justified by context," reads the ACB's statement. "In addition, the game includes elements of illicit or proscribed drug use related to incentives or rewards. Such depictions are prohibited by the computer games guidelines." Following the news, Deep Silver provided Joystiq with the following statement. "Deep Silver can confirm that Saints Row IV was denied an age classification in Australia. Volition, the developer, are reworking some of the code to create a version of the game for this territory by removing the content which could cause offence without reducing the outlandish gameplay that Saints Row fans know and love. Saints Row IV has been awarded PEGI 18 and ESRB M ratings where fans can enjoy their time in Steelport as originally intended." After many years of pressure due to a number of high-profile games being banned, the Australian government finally passed the law last year allowing games intended for those over the age of 15 to be bought in the country, and that law came into effect this year on January 1. In today's statement, the ACB noted it's classified 17 games under the R18+ rating so far, including Mortal Kombat: Komplete Edition, Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge, and Dead Island: Riptide. Saints Row 4 is set to arrive in North America on August 20, and Europe on August 23.
Volition working with modders, will release official Saints Row tools
Up until now, Saints Row: The Third modders have had to rely on community-created tools to make Volition's game even more lively. Jeff Thompson, Volition's studio director of programming, is currently preparing official engine tools to share with the mod community, prominent modder IdolNinja explains in a blog post. In addition to Saints Row: The Third documentation, Thompson is preparing official Saints Row 2 tools – something IdolNinja explains is a "test run" for Saints Row 4. "In simple terms, the modding community will finally be able to create and offer new clothing, new vehicles, new guns, new NPCs, new missions, and even new world geometry which will greatly extend the life of the series and enhance the Saints Row games in ways we never even dared to dream of," IdolNinja explains. IdolNinja concludes that Thompson is expected to send something along this week, though there's no indication if that'll be the Volition mod tools or just the first steps in making that happen.
Saints Row 4 elects for even more chaos
When Saints Row: The Third was still in development, we talked about it as "a dinner of doughnuts." The first mission in the game was just as stimulating and over-the-top as the last mission of your average Grand Theft Auto game. But if Saints Row 3 starts on the last mission of other sandbox games, then Saints Row 4 picks up even later than that: in the end credits. When Saints Row 4 begins, you are no less than the leader of the free world, and your first walk through the White House (complete with scantily dressed staffers and chained-up pet tigers) is like a congratulations for a job well done. You get to choose between making healthcare free or ending the deficit, you get re-introduced to a bunch of familiar faces from the series (who now all have cabinet-level positions in your administration), and the biggest prize of all is that you're on a first-name basis with your Vice President, Keith David (yes, the Keith David, brilliantly playing himself). Starting Saints Row 4 feels like you've just finished a long journey, and you've won the day once and for all. And that's when the aliens show up to kidnap your friends. You order the turrets raised from underneath the South Lawn, you get in a fistfight with the alien overlord, and – oh – you get superpowers.%Gallery-191107%
Seen@E3: The Saints go with the flow
Saints Row 4 is being shown at E3 and if there's anything those rascally Saints know how to do it's self promotion. These two thespians of marketing pictured were seen on the show floor promoting Saints Flow, the energy drink available at your local Steelport convenience store and Planet Saints.
Saints Row 4 Steam pre-orders go live, Commander in Chief Edition
Steam has a pretty sweet deal for pre-orders of Saints Row 4: Commit to the game early and get the Commander in Chief Edition and three weapons skins inspired by Team Fortess 2, the Rainblower, the Flamethrower and the Rocket Launcher. Also, anyone who already owns Saints Row: The Third on Steam gets 10 percent off Saints Row 4 – and bonus, The Third is on sale for 75 percent off right now through June 10. The Commander in Chief Edition includes the 'Merica weapon, Screaming Eagle plane and Uncle Sam suit. Saints Row 4 is due out on August 20 for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.
Saints Row 4 'Wub Wub' collector's edition includes Dub Step gun
Deep Silver is embracing the lack of restraint found in the Saints Row series with a "Super Dangerous Wub Wub" edition at retail for the fourth installment of the game. The highlight of the over-the-top package is a 12-inch Dub Step gun replica, featuring laser sight and the most dangerous wubs the world has even known when you pull the trigger. Also included in the package is a 8-inch Johnny Gat Memorial Statue, Dubstep Doomsday Button and in-game items like the Screaming Eagle VTOL, Uncle Sam uniform and 'Merica gun. The Super Dangerous Wub Wub edition is available for pre-order now and is $99.99 (£89.99) while supplies last. Saints Row 4 gets presidential at retail on August 20 in the 'Mericas, August 23 in the not-'Mericas.%Gallery-190420%
Metro: Last Light gets season pass, first DLC in June
Metro: Last Light developer 4A Games is planning to release four different content packs throughout the summer, all bundled together today in a season pass available on Xbox Live, PSN and Steam for 1200 MS Points ($15). The Faction and Chronicle packs are the first listed, each aimed at continuing the single-player story of Metro: Last Light. Faction is due first, in June. The Tower pack will be aimed at Metro veterans, offering "a unique solo challenge." Finally, the Developer pack aims to offer some additional tools aiding in exploration. All season pass purchases will also unlock an exclusive semi-automatic shotgun rifle, while each piece of DLC will be available for individual purchase. Metro: Last Light launched on May 14, with our review placing it in the company of another story-driven shooter, Half-Life. The game was originally set to be published by THQ, but after the studio's fall Deep Silver came in and acquired the game.
Metro: Last Light shines in this week's UK charts
It's another familiar week of UK cha-... oh wait, it isn't. After Dead Island: Riptide sliced through its competition for three weeks, this time it's dethroned by another follow-up in the form of Metro: Last Light. By debuting in top spot, it does what Metro 2033 failed to do when it placed fifth in 2010. Chart-Track says Metro 2033 sold stronger than Last Light in its launch week. Back then, Metro 2033 was fighting March megatons like Final Fantasy 13, God of War 3, and Battlefield Bad Company 2. In contrast, May 2013 has been dead quiet - emphasis on dead. Having said that, this week sees another new release in the top ten via Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity. The spinoff charts fourth this week. We expect the next 3DS Poke-game to do slightly better. In other movers and shakers, Last Light only nudged Riptide into second place, making this week a 1-2 for Deep Silver and Koch Media. Tomb Raider drops out of the top five for the first time in its 11th week, slipping down to sixth. Meanwhile, Injustice: Gods Among Us and The Walking Dead (packaged retail edition) shuffle into eighth and seventh.
Twin-stick shooter 'Narco Terror' smokes some fools this summer
In what appears to be a modern take on late-80s arcade game Narc, Deep Silver's Narco Terror is a twin-stick blast-everything shooter of one man (or two in local or online co-op) versus the cartels. The game is listed for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.
Rumor: Freefall Racers for Kinect being published by Deep Silver, headed to XBLA [update]
Deep Silver will publish an upcoming gesture-based racing game for Kinect called Freefall Racers. The first breadcrumb in this trail comes from an Australian rating that has surfaced, outing Deep Silver as publisher. The developer is Smoking Gun Interactive, whose most recent work includes two Kinect experiences, Mars Rover Landing and Home Run Stars, so a new Kinect project would make sense. The Vancouver-based studio at least partly funded Freefall Racers with help from the Canadian government, as evidenced by the $461,243 contributed through the Canada Media Fund (PDF) last year. Our first glimpse of the game is courtesy of environmental artist Anthony Leonati, who published six screens from Freefall Racers on his personal website. [Update: The images have been pulled from Leonati's website.] In addition to the screens, he also pegs Freefall Racers for Xbox Live Arcade, though his LinkedIn profile indicates he has since moved on from Smoking Gun to become a senior environment artist at EA. We've followed up with Deep Silver and Smoking Gun Interactive for comment and will update this post accordingly. [Thanks, lifelower]%Gallery-188597%
Ex-THQ president Rubin discusses cramped Metro working conditions
Former THQ president Jason Rubin has spoken about the struggles Metro: Last Light developer 4A Games went through to get its game to launch. In a post on GamesIndustry International, Rubin extolled the efforts of the Ukrainian studio, citing a relatively meager budget, cramped working conditions, and extreme logistical troubles as major adversities. According to Rubin, the game's development budget was "less than some of its competitors spend on cut scenes, a mere 10 percent of the budget of its biggest competitors." That budget apparently didn't extend to swanky office equipment, with 4A's staff sat "elbow to elbow" at card tables and on folding chairs. Upon seeing 4A Games in person, Rubin wrote, he wanted to buy them proper office chairs, but the logistics were something else. "When 4A needed another dev kit, or high-end PC, or whatever," Rubin wrote, "Someone from 4A had to fly to the States and sneak it back to the Ukraine in a backpack lest it be 'seized' at the border by thieving customs officials. After visiting the team I wanted to buy them Aeron office chairs, considered a fundamental human right in the west. There were no outlets in the Ukraine, and our only option was to pack a truck in Poland and try to find an 'expediter' to help bribe its way down to Kiev." In the end, the offices were too cramped for the wider Aeron chairs anyway.
Metareview: Metro - Last Light
Metro: Last Light doesn't sound appetizing with its "suffocating despair" and "gnarled monstrosities," but it's that kind of loveliness that made Ludwig enthuse about the Metro 2033 follow-up in his four and a half stars review. He deemed Last Light "an unusual, meticulously detailed shooter inextricable from its environment." Of course, Ludwig wasn't the only brave soul to delve into the underground sequel. Here are some other thoughts we dug up. GamesRadar (90/100): "Subtlety is what makes Last Light such an exceptionally immersive game. It nails the core tenets of a shooter, then forces you to react to enemies in ways outside of simply taking cover. It plops you in a post-apocalyptic world, then fills it with tons of minor but substantial details, like the shadows of once-living people now permanently nuked into stone walls. It strips you of hope, only to dangle a tiny sliver of it ahead of you like a carrot on a stick." Game Informer (88/100): "This sequel plays more like a shooter than its predecessor, but doesn't sacrifice its intricate narrative or creative vision in the process. Masochistic fans will appreciate the harder difficulties that recreate the grueling experience of the original, but no matter how you approach it, exploring Last Light's absorbing world is wholly entertaining." Giant Bomb (80/100): "By its very nature of being a sequel, Last Light doesn't feel as fresh as Metro 2033 did, but there's still nothing else like it. Few games generate immersion through gameplay and transport you to their world the way Metro does." Eurogamer (70/100): "Metro: Last Light is not a bad game, but nor is it a good one in quite the same sense as its predecessor. Metro 2033 was flawed but trying to do its own thing. If anything, Last Light feels like a regression. Similarities abound, but this is a more conservative FPS, one looking at the competition rather than itself, and one with some terrible missteps. So go in with low expectations, and you might be pleasantly surprised."
Metro Last Light review: Tunnel vision
There is so much suffocating despair in Metro: Last Light. The world is irradiated rubble, blanketed in noxious fumes and trampled by gnarled monstrosities. Humans that remain must huddle underfoot, eking out lives in Moscow's underground railways. But the worst thing, the cruelest twist, the darkest dick move of the apocalypse, is that millions die and the accordion still makes it. If not its purpose, I have to respect the accordion's presence in Metro: Last Light. You can listen to the instrument's musical wheezing as part of a show put on in a dilapidated theater, one of several populated hubs you'll visit in your trek through the tunnels of Moscow. If you opt out of the game's scavenging and shooting for a few moments, there's an entire show to take in. It has all the awkwardness and earnestness of a production that only needs to be less bleak than its surroundings. Last Light, much like predecessor Metro 2033, is a feat of obsessive, paradoxical world-building – you believe this as a place that has been demolished, poisoned and forced to retreat into claustrophobic hovels. There are glimmers of recuperating life in these bastions, most of all in Metro's stunning sewer-bound equivalent of Venice. The town layouts are noticeably linear, in part because there isn't much room for subterranean sprawl, and because the game spends all its money on the critical path. To explore is to linger, listen and look; and that's fine.%Gallery-188180%
Saints Row 4's PAX East presentation mechs it up
Saints Row 4's behind-closed-doors demo from PAX East is now available for public consumption. Senior Producer Jim Boone from developer Volition narrates the walkthrough featuring the inflato-ray and the dubstep gun Boone also covers weapon upgrades, customization, superpowers, the new enemy type and... mechs.
Killer is Dead trailer features Mondo's girls, EU pinned for August
If you hadn't gathered yet, from it being a Suda game and including "gigolo missions," the upcoming Killer is Dead features scantily-clad ladies, as does this possibly NSFW video. While the North American release window is still "Summer 2013," Europe and Japan received upgrades to August.
Dead Island Riptide surfs the crest of this week's UK charts
Dead Island Riptide is the new chart leader in the UK. Like Dead Island before it, the zombie-stuffed continuation may be critically divisive, but commercially it's doing the business so far. Having said that, Riptide's first week sales come in at less than half of the original's. Dead Island sliced through the 5 million mark for sales earlier this year. Caught in the high Riptide is Injustice: Gods Among Us; last week's number one washes up this week in number two. Meanwhile, enhanced re-release Dark Arisen also matches its original's first week chart performance, notching third spot just like Dragon's Dogma did. The third of four new releases in this week's top ten is Star Trek; it boldly goes into fourth place. The last top ten debutante is Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins, the 3DS version doing what its sibling failed to; the Wii U version debuted at 12th earlier this year. Outside of the new releases, this week's musical chairs are very interesting. Tomb Raider continues its impressive run, only down from fourth to fifth. FYI, Square Enix, that's eight weeks it's been in the UK top five, and it's ahead now of BioShock Infinite. After five weeks, Irrational's sky-high shooter is floating just below in sixth. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon is another consistent performer, and five weeks in the 3DS game is still haunting the top ten.
Metro: Last Light on Steam includes Metro 2033 e-book
Metro 2033 was a prominent post-apocalyptic novel from Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky before it inspired 4A Games' shooter. Making up for the lost marketing opportunity of the first game, sequel Metro: Last Light will include a free copy of the Metro 2033 novel with all PC purchases authenticated through Steam.The story of Metro: Last Light was provided by Glukhovsky, who has also created two written sequels to his acclaimed original work. Metro: Last Light is being developed by 4A Games and published by Deep Silver, who acquired the rights after the collapse of THQ.
Saints Row 4 gets 'Commander in Chief' pre-order bonus
Publisher Deep Silver – new owner of the Volition-developed Saints Row series – has announced that Saints Row 4 is getting a special "Commander in Chief" edition, available for free to everyone who pre-orders the upcoming game.Earning the special edition content means you'll get a snazzy Uncle Sam outfit, a "Screaming Eagle" jet, and a "'Merica weapon," which boasts flamethrowers, "dub step guns," and rocket launchers.Saints Row 4 will see the Third Street Saints voted into presidential office on August 20 in North and Latin America, and August 23 in other regions.
