on-rails
Latest
Child of Eden review: A momentary masterpiece
So, here's the thing about Child of Eden: It is quite short. That's a somewhat pedestrian complaint to leverage against a game -- and an extraordinarily pedestrian complaint to leverage in the very first sentence of a review -- but it needs to be said right up front to temper your expectations. You can beat it in a single sitting (or, as the case may be, standing), with the game's five chapters clocking in at a scant 90 minutes. It ends with a swell, and leaves you with a despondent, unanswered wish for more. It is also one of the most remarkable video games I've ever played. Not only does it represent the most complete realization of what the Kinect has to offer, it possesses the (perhaps childish) distinction of being, for lack of a better term, a "crying game." It will almost certainly conjure tears from its hardest players -- not because it is particularly sad or melancholic, but because it is stirring. %Gallery-103243%
Molyneux declares Fable: The Journey 'definitely not on rails'
"My name's Peter Molyneux and I made this horrendous mistake." With that emblematic phrase, Lionhead creative director Peter Molyneux kicks off a hilarious public service announcement he created with the help of OXM UK. According to him, the Fable: The Journey demo he showed off at E3 2011 gave the impression that the game is "on rails," an idea he's quick to dispel. Apparently, the team at Lionhead working on the Kinect-based Fable title decided to remove navigation controls from the press demo, the same snippet shown during Microsoft's presser, effectively putting the game on rails and giving everyone the wrong impression. "I will just say on record now that Fable: The Journey is definitely not on rails," he specifies, even going so far as to ask for journalists' signatures before they exit the demo room. If you look really hard, you can spot one of our own among them. It's like Where's Waldo with squiggly pen marks!
TUAW's Daily App: Tron Legacy
Yes, the new Tron Legacy movie is out this weekend, and if you haven't heard about it yet, you probably will soon. There has been a free promotional app out for a while now (and it actually has a few little games to play with), but Disney has also released an official Tron Legacy game, now available on the App Store. This one's a full-fledged 3D game, featuring a Light Cycle racing mode along with an on-rails shooting mode that puts you behind a "Recognizer" (one of the big ships they fly around in the movie). The games in this one work pretty well, though the app itself is a little disappointing -- there's no real storyline or overarching campaign to the map you play through. You're basically just competing in a series of events (and even those are pretty inexplicable -- why are you piloting a Recognizer and racing Light Cycles?). But as a US 99 cent game, it's not bad, and the Tron stylings are enough to remind you how awesome the movie is. The app is universal and even has Game Center integration to track achievements (That's a first for a Disney mobile game; it's good to see them endorse Apple's social gaming network.) If you're looking for a nugget of official Tron goodness on iOS, the game is worth checking out.
Rage: Mutant Bash TV brings id Tech 5 to iOS
We saw id games' newest title, Rage, demonstrated earlier this year on an iOS device, but now there's more details and specifics on just how it's coming to iOS. It's not a straight port of the PC and console shooter -- rather, id is calling it Rage: Mutant Bash TV, and releasing this version of the game as an original, on-rails shooter. IGN has some video of the game running, and it looks pretty great. While the on-rails part means that you don't control movement at all, the camera controls and shooting gameplay look like a lot of fun. Of course the graphics look terrific -- Epic Games' Infinity Blade will apparently have some competition for the best-looking next-gen game on iOS. And while there's no word yet on what kind of Game Center integration we'll see (or, you know, price or date), apparently the game will have a "TV Out" option, allowing you to output the video to your television if you've got the appropriate cables for your iPad or iPhone. Sounds good -- we'll keep a look out for this one and let you know when it's out.
The Old Republic's space combat detailed in PC Gamer
Ever since we heard that Star Wars: The Old Republic was going to include space combat as one of its features, we've felt a bit like Red Squadron in A New Hope -- "standing by." It almost seemed too good to be true, especially since the rumor came out that the space portion of the game would be an on-rails shooter. It's with great glee, then, that we have received more news on TOR's space combat in the upcoming October issue of PC Gamer. The seven-page spread confirms that the space combat won't be a free-form flight simulator like X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter, but instead will be a "tunnel shooter" designed to create highly cinematic battle sequences for players to experience. Space combat hotspots will be unlocked as players progress through the game, and while they'll initially be solo instances only, eventually BioWare hopes to implement PvP and team combat in the future. In a tunnel shooter, players will be able to move ships up, down, left and right, although their overall course is locked in by the scenario in question. Ship collision, rotating quest objectives, customizable ship cosmetics, achievements, various difficulty levels and incentives to repeat missions also seem to be a go for this portion of the game. While a lot of the details are still hidden from our prying eyes, we're sure that BioWare will have a lot more to say on this in the near future.
Rumor: The Old Republic space combat on rails?
Those of you looking for levels of complexity and immersion comparable to X-Wing Vs. TIE Fighter or Star Wars Galaxies' Jump to Lightspeed might want to hold your horses prior to pinning your hopes on BioWare's Star Wars: The Old Republic. The forthcoming MMORPG is rumored to feature space combat "on rails," which basically means it could be nothing more than a mini-game or a "tunnel shooter" that severely restricts player movement in the form of pre-set paths and goals. While this is currently unofficial information, you can find a detailed write-up at the German fansite known as Online Welten. Purportedly, site contributors were privy to an upcoming article in PC Action magazine which goes into detail about some of the mechanics. Check out the original article (auf Deutsch) or the Google-translated version.
Doom Resurrection on the iPhone now, lots more id games to come
Fellow shooter fans rejoice -- id software's John Carmack has begun delivering on his love of the iPhone with a brand new game made just for the platform called Doom Resurrection, available right now on the App Store for the price of $9.99. There's nothing small about this game at all -- it offers up 76 mb of original id shooter, including eight levels total, six on Mars, and two more (spoiler?) in Hell, all set in a graphics and control engine designed just for Apple's handhelds (you control aiming with the accelerometer while the game runs you around on rails, and hit the various on-screen buttons to shoot or jump into cover). Unfortunately, there's no lite version to test out (though we can probably expect one eventually, considering Wolfenstein Classic got one), but early reviews say that if you like Doom, you'll enjoy the game.And that's not all -- besides this original version of Doom, Carmack and id continue to have big plans for the iPhone: Quake and Quake 2 are headed there for sure, and Quake 3 probably isn't far behind, as well as a RAGE-related title. And that doesn't even include the rest of the mobile stuff they have planned: apparently Wolfenstein RPG is ready to go, and Carmack hints that they've got even more original titles like Doom Resurrection here up their sleeve. Good to see a major, established developer like id is really committing to delivering new games for the iPhone.
Doom Resurrection is an on-rails shooter
If you read the name of John Carmack's latest project yesterday, Doom Resurrection, you likely assumed you'd spend the duration of the upcoming iPhone game shooting evil shit to death. You'd be correct. But today, IGN's reporting that you won't have to worry about what your feet are doing while you're battling demons.In this on-rails shooter, you'll apparently twist and tilt the phone to aim and tap the screen to fire. We don't know about you, but we're not bothered about the loss of mobility: As House of the Dead: Overkill recently taught us, we can still have a great time riding the rails.
Ask Joystiq Nintendo: On rails edition
We thought we would be inundated with questions following E3, but it appears that you guys are still too shell-shocked from the Metroid: Other M trailer to speak. Or from the Wii Vitality Sensor reveal. We don't mind telling you, by the way, that we can't help but be delighted that Nintendo is making something that weird. And if you don't think it's a good idea, don't worry too much about it. It's Nintendo, after all, and the thing will end up being used in one game at most.Anyway, our question this week is about rail shooters. If you have a question for us, send an email to asknintendo AT joystiq DOT com!
Watch the Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles announcement trailer
Capcom just sent us the first trailer for Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles. You know, the one they showed at Resident Evil 5's launch event last night? Yeah, that one. And it's now available for you to view above this pointless text. Enjoy.%Gallery-47570%
Looking at what makes House of the Dead: Overkill so unique
In the third part (see part one and part two, if you're playing catch up) of this behind-the-scenes series, we're getting to the heart of what makes House of the Dead: Overkill such a unique experience. The folks at Headstrong Games talk about the 70's films and musical inspirations of the era that helped give Overkill its style. Jump past the break to watch the video and see for yourself.%Gallery-29952%
How does one make a House of the Dead?
With a lot of bodies.In all seriousness, Gamekyo has uploaded a nice behind-the-scenes video for Sega's upcoming on-rails shooter, House of the Dead: Overkill. Among the usual things one finds in these types of videos (pillow fights, for example) are gameplay snippets and poignant gaming discussion from the dev behind the game. The folks behind the scenes say a lot of the right things: "You don't want to offend the fans of the series," and "Gamers are gamers, it doesn't matter where you come from, shoot a mutant in the face and it's great." Truth. Head past the break for the video.[Via press release]%Gallery-29952%
Overkill tells us a story in latest trailer
Sega of Europe has unleashed a new trailer for House of the Dead: Overkill focusing on the story behind the on-rails shooter. It has appropriate levels of zombie carnage, as well as G himself, doing what he does best. Who can turn down anything to do with G? Not us, that's for sure! Check out the video above, then head into our gallery to see those new screens you may have missed from earlier in the week. %Gallery-29952%
New Overkill trailers show off zombie-filled ER, killer clowns
While these killer clowns aren't the kind from outer space, they're still some tough hombres, as you can see in the pair of new videos for upcoming House of the Dead: Overkill. We don't have to tell you how excited we are for this one, because you all usually share our sentiments in the comments following each post on the subject. So, no more wasting time on needless text. Cruise past the break for the two NSFW videos (there's some curse words thrown around).%Gallery-29952%
US gets Overkill collector's edition with less cool extras?
Remember that awesome European collector's edition for House of the Dead: Overkill? Well, those of us in the US are getting a similarly sweet bonus package should we wish to part with the extra dough, however our comic doesn't come in the traditional form. Instead, it's a digital download, according to Amazon. In poking around the net, though, we found that Gamestop is offering the comic, but in actual paper form. We're all kinds of confused now!We all know North America will be getting the collector's edition. However, we're not certain on whether it'll be a paper comic or a download. If it's different for each retailer, we're sad to say that Gamestop is in the lead for our pre-order dollar right now. We'd rather have an actual comic we can hold in our hands than one we're forced to read on a computer screen. We're just old school like that.%Gallery-29952%[Thanks, Buffalo_AAA!]
Dodge the dead in new Overkill screens
Click on image to check out the new screens Some fresh screens for Sega's upcoming shooter, House of the Dead: Overkill, have risen from the dead and lurked their way onto the internet. They're pretty much what you'd expect: shots of zombies skulking toward the screen, along with shots of zombies being, uh, well ... shot. We don't know about you, but we're still incredibly excited to play Sega's campy shooter.Click on the image above to see the new screens, or head into the gallery below.%Gallery-29952%
G4 takes a stroll through the House of the Dead
We don't have to tell you how excited we are for House of the Dead: Overkill. After the game was announced, some details managed to escape Leipzig and we've been counting down the days ever since. Studio manager, Bradley Crooks, recently talked with G4 about the Grindhouse-influenced game, including some of the game's features. Also, Bradley says he thinks Overkill "might be the first game to feature a live birth. Or, maybe it's a live unbirth." Sounds disgusting! We love it!G4's player is a pain in the neck, so you'll have to head past the break to check out the video.%Gallery-29952%
Two Tribes reveals original title ReWind
If you're not familiar with Two Tribes, then you haven't ever played Toki Tori or Worms: Open Warfare 2. Aside from the game's recent release on WiiWare, it was also available on the Game Boy Color. They also did a game on the GBA called Three Tribes. But, we digress. This new title, which is nothing more than some concept art right now, promises "a unique gameplay experience" in an on-rail shooter. Two Tribes also says that the controls will be accessible, as "average players will be able to complete the game while seasoned players will be motivated to go for higher scores and completion rates." %Gallery-27164% [Thanks, psyborg!]
