dread
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Storyboard: A second descent into madness
I had a lot of stuff to talk about on the subject of madness. As it happens, I had so much to talk about that I elected to split it up into two columns instead of writing one monster, scratching and crawling about in a lone column's space. And as I sat down to write this column, I realized that I have an entire column's worth of things to say about a single facet of madness: acting mad. Herein we come to the meat of what bothers me about madness as most players use it: It winds up getting used as something wacky. It's an excuse to do things that are wild and unpredictable because your character is so crazy. That bothers me because there's so much to be done with madness and so many ways to make it an interesting character trait. It's not something for casual or shallow use.
Family-friendly Zombies on the iPhone
We have a lot of apps coming through our tipline, but this one caught my eye, not only because it is called Zombies (the stumbling undead always catch my eye), but because it offers up a bit of good old-fashioned fun in the form of a Daleks!-style remake. Gameplay is simple and straighforward -- you run, turn-by-turn in eight directions, from zombies, who pursue you at the same speed, and though the game runs at any pace you want (perfect for gameplay on the iPhone, in my opinion, since most of the time I'm just looking for a few seconds to a couple minutes of easy-to-pick-up action), the dread is real. Just like actual zombies, these guys shamble their way toward you with a hunger that only brains can satisfy. The game is on the App Store now [iTunes link]. I will say that it is a touch pricey at $2.99 (a simple arcade game like this seems made for the 99-cent price point, and it will probably end up there eventually), but who am I to begrudge the developers a couple of bucks? I don't need to drink that cup of Starbucks anyway. If you're in the mood for a simple, zombified twist on an old classic, this is it. While you're at it, check out the Zombies preview video we shot at WWDC last July.
The Secret World inspired by 'The Ring'
Funcom's been playing it cagey with any information surrounding their (presumably) upcoming MMO The Secret World, but intel does trickle out. To wit: in an interview with PC Zone magazine (due out on Thursday), the developer mentions that the Japanese horror flick 'The Ring' was an inspiration for the project. I've already assumed that there would be Lovecraftian elements involved, and while I wouldn't typify 'The Ring' as having those particular features (as the referring article does), it's definitely going to be dark indeed. In fact, it's not clear what, exactly, in 'The Ring' was the inspiration for TSW, but if they're able to capture even half of the dread that movie invokes, then I'm all for it. And while I'm on the subject, I'm also in favor of not knowing well in advance every little nuance of gameplay, or not having access to tons of screenshots of the game under development. Sometimes, a little mystery goes a long way.
Metroid Dread resurfaces in MP3: Corruption
Unofficially announced in a 2005 issue of Game Informer, Metroid Dread was rumored to be the 2D follow-up to Metroid Fusion for the DS. Despite never actually being confirmed by Nintendo, "insiders" later claimed that the project was canceled, bludgeoning our hopes into a bloody pulp. Two years and two E3s have passed since the grapevine reports, and two titles for the series, Metroid Prime Pinball and Metroid Prime: Hunters, have been released in its stead, without so much as a single Metroid Dread screenshot to corroborate its existence.IGN, who've insisted several times over that the game is in development, noticed a nod to the mythical project in its review copy of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Scanning a particular panel with Samus Aran's visor reveals the following message: "Experiment status report update: Metroid project 'Dread' is nearing the final stages of completion." Could Metroid Dread really be on the way, or is this just a friendly prank from Retro Studios? We'll keep photoshopping dreadlocks and rasta hats onto the bounty hunter until we find out!
