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Dead Space 3 scares up Kinect voice commands on Xbox 360
During an EA showcase last week, Dead Space 3 executive producer Steve Papoutsis took to the stage to introduce Kinect voice commands for the Xbox 360 version. For example, Isaac and Carver can share items with each other when the player says things like "give Stasis" or "share ammo."EA also had a small room to test out the Kinect functionality, a place I accidentally discovered the best use of the feature: couch co-op. A PR representative was there to supervise and offer help, but she ended up healing me and forcing Isaac to share resources while I concentrated on fighting Necromorphs. It was an interesting and, to be honest, incredibly useful union.Sadly the demo itself was no more than 10 minutes, if that – so there wasn't really anything exciting going on content-wise. But for those who may be more content to watch a pal play Dead Space 3 on Xbox 360 rather than pick up the sticks themselves, they can still have a positive impact if there's a Kinect in the room.%Gallery-173241%
Pre-order Dead Space 3, get some in-game guns [update: video]
The hideous, multi-limbed beast shambles on, and we're not talking about Necromorphs. No, we're talking about retailer specific pre-order items for Dead Space 3. Those who plunk down their cash early will receive an in-game gun. GameStop pre-orders get the EG-900 SMG, a "compact but deadly" firearm. Amazon pre-orders, meanwhile, will pick up the Tesla Enervator, which "delivers a precision blast causing instantaneous electrocution and molecular destabilization in the target." We try not to pick favorites when it comes to guns – we love our death-dealers equally – but the Enervator sounds just a tad more interesting.These bonuses come in addition to the content included with the Dead Space 3 limited edition. Those who pre-order Dead Space 3 automatically receive the limited edition, which features two bonus suits and two bonus guns.
Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel presents wicked consortium of screens
Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel features Alpha and Bravo, the masked pair you'll see in these new screens. The two new protagonists must work together if they're going to eliminate all other Phonetics, possibly. %Gallery-170892%
Balancing horror and action in Dead Space 3
The Dead Space franchise was founded on the core tenet of isolation – a single-player survival adventure against horrific necromorphs. In Dead Space 2, the franchise shifted its focus toward the growing blend of action and horror, a direction the Resident Evil franchise has been firmly set on in its last few releases.With Dead Space 3 Visceral looks to offer more of a balance between action and horror. Though the series is still planted within the action-horror sub-genre, Dead Space 3 will attempt to match the level of scares seen in previous entries while ramping up the action as the story progresses."We don't want to ever just be only action," Chuck Beaver, Dead Space 3 story producer, told Joystiq. "I think survival horror is morphing into something else."%Gallery-170513%
Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel goes aggro on March 26
Alpha and Bravo are set to embark on their next adventure in Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel, which sees the iconic bros head on down to Mexico to clean up the drug-riddled streets. EA will launch Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel on March 26 in the US and March 29 in Europe. Pre-orders will automatically be upgraded to the Overkill Edition of the game, which features an additional three contracts missions.The third entry in the Army of Two series, Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel is being developed by series newcomer Visceral Games, best known for their work on the Dead Space series. Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel is built in Frostbite 2 and will – like its predecessors – heavily lean on co-op mechanics and probably a lot of snarky dialogue.
Shredding Spanish architecture in Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel
The Army of Two franchise has always been a mixed bag of brotastic co-op shooting. The first game poorly chose to take a lighthearted approach to the war in Iraq and in the eyes of series stars Salem and Rios, everyone was a terrorist. The 40th Day made things infinitely more interesting, sending Salem and Rios over to Shanghai where the pair had to keep a watchful eye out for civilians in danger throughout their exploits.In the franchise's third outing, Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel, the co-op development teams of EA Montreal and Visceral Games have chosen to take the series down another new path. Now Army of Two's third entry, built on DICE's Frostbite 2 engine, ejects the brotacular humor in favor of a more serious narrative."We're trying to add a more serious tone to the characters," Visceral Games producer Greg Rizzer told Joystiq at a preview event, explaining the new game is "trying to take some of the frat boy stuff out of there."%Gallery-169924%
Dead Space 3 screens prove one is the loneliest number, two is scariest
The latest batch of Dead Space 3 screenshots make Isaac look like the loneliest astronaut – and the only time he's not alone, he's in the company of murderous mutant creatures infected with alien goo. Turns out "space man" isn't the high-class lifestyle Apollo 13 made it out to be. %Gallery-168040%
Rumor: Dante's Inferno and Dead Space dev may be working on a MOBA
If you were just thinking that the world needed another Massively Online Battle Arena (MOBA) based on a previous game IP, the team at Visceral Games may have read your mind. The Dead Space and Dante's Inferno dev studio has posted a handful of tell-tale job listings on the Gamasutra job boards that point to the development of a MOBA. Among these MOBA-esque positions are a game designer, a global community manager, and a character concept artist, all with experience or passion for the PC MOBA genre. As it stands, the connection between these job listings is only speculation, but the real question seems to be whether or not the studio is working on a MOBA for one of their existing IPs or an entirely new way to kill your friends in three-quarter overhead view with pre-made classes.
Visceral Games may be working on a MOBA game
Visceral Games, best known for the Dead Space series, just might be working on a free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) title, according to recent job listings discovered by IGN. Perhaps most telling is the listing for a Global Community Manager, who will work in the Play4Free division (EA's team focused on free-to-play titles) and is expected to have "an unhealthy passion for MOBA games."The studio is also seeking a character designer with experience in "MOBA, Action RTS, Action RPG, or Related Genres." Finally, Visceral is looking for a character concept artist for "an upcoming PC action title." Alongside the portfolio requirement, it's noted that "highly stylized pieces with exaggerated proportions" are considered a plus. Given the typically larger number of playable characters in a MOBA, and the need to identify them from a distance, such exaggerated proportions are common among MOBA character designs.Is Visceral developing a full-on MOBA? Given its recent history with Dead Space, it's possible the studio is working on a shooter with MOBA elements, perhaps something akin to Super Monday Night Combat (though probably much darker in design).A third, much less likely but still tantalizing possibility: a Jack the Ripper MOBA.
Dead Space 3 adds fan-made 'HUN-E1 BADGER' to Isaac's arsenal
The killing machine seen above was designed by gamer Caleb Mendoza, the winner of a fan-made weapon submission contest in Dead Space 3 highlighting the action-horror hybrid's new weapon crafting system. As part of the contest, both Mendoza's creation – the HUN-E1 BADGER – and his likeness will be added to Visceral's upcoming game.The HUN-E1 BADGER fires flaming rivets – yes, spikes that are also on fire. We'd argue the weapon is overkill but then we've never had to fight a Necromorph. We contacted Mendoza about his winning creation, but he told us that he actually feels indifferent about the whole thing. Then he took a nap (NSFW).
Dead Space 3 takes off for orbit with 17 minutes of gameplay footage
It's not every day you get to have a pair of developers walk you through a massive chunk of gameplay footage, but that's exactly what EA offered Dead Space 3 fans who registered on the game's official website. Luckily for you, we've already done the hard work – all you've got to do to watch the footage is sit back, relax and press play above. We do it because we like you so gosh-darned much.The gameplay above takes place on the Eudora, the latest in a long line of seemingly ill-fated ships Isaac finds himself on. As things start to go sour around him, Isaac makes a mad dash for escape but soon runs into his old pals, the Necromorphs. As you'd imagine, hijinks ensue.
Shoot and hide cooperatively in Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel screens
A new duo of masked bros debuts in Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel. See as the two bros shoot stuff, hide from other bros shooting stuff, and shoot even bigger stuff while manning a turret. Shooting and hiding has never been so cooperative.
Dead Space 3 weapon crafting lets you stack guns on guns
You know what this Line Gun needs? A flamethrower. We've all thought about it and in Dead Space 3 players will be able to construct just that. Just make sure you credit us for the completely original idea!By gathering materials, one can proceed over to the nearest weapons bench and get to work. Players will be able to "build guns, modify guns and share guns," Dead Space 3's UI lead Dino Ignacio reveals in the above trailer. And once something has been made, players can then share their blueprint with the Dead Space 3 community, allowing others to copy and use the weapon in question in their own game.So can we make a Plasma Cutter that is actually eight Plasma Cutters? Well, EA, can we?
Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel takes out baddies with Overkill mode
Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel will include a new Overkill mode, which can be activated to allow you and your buddy to dole out extra damage for a limited amount of time. Players can activate Overkill mode by taking down enemies.EA showed off a split-screen demo of The Devil's Cartel, including Overkill, at its Gamescom press conference today. During the demo, Alpha and Bravo took out a helicopter with a handgun, and absolutely no one was surprised.
Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel coming to PS3 and Xbox in March [update: trailer]
Ahead of today's EA software showcase, the publisher has gone ahead and announced a new Army of Two for PS3 and Xbox 360. Called The Devil's Cartel, this new game is the next project from Visceral Games, developed in DICE's Frostbite 2 engine.According to EA, this latest game "re-sets the series" with a "more intense, mature, and grittier tone," to the surprise of those of us who found the previous games plenty gritty. Operatives "Alpha" and "Bravo" fight in a drug war in Mexico, making use of "the ability to unleash the power of ultimate destruction."The Devil's Cartel will be released in March 2013. If you want to follow along with other EA announcements today, you can watch the showcase live here starting at 1pm Pacific/4pm Eastern.Update: Game Informer brings us the first official look at the game, with this new trailer/interview video and the cover image for its September issue. The mag specifies that this is the work of Visceral Games Montreal.
Dead Space 3's Isaac Clarke as 'the reluctant participant'
The original Dead Space introduced us to Isaac Clarke: a masked, silent engineer doing his best to survive an extremely lonely and hostile environment. His weapons were that of an engineer, though they served Isaac well enough in strategically dismembering the ghouls that came creeping at him. The events of Dead Space 2 took Isaac on a similar mission, albeit through an enormous space colony known as "The Sprawl." Isaac once again battled creepy necromorphs, all in the name of survival.Despite what you've seen of Dead Space 3 thus far – the action-heavy, co-op sequences from E3, for example – Isaac is as much "the reluctant participant" as ever. Visceral Games executive producer Steve Papoutsis explained as much to us in a recent interview. "He by no means is a vigilante for hire or any nonsense like that," Papoutsis said. "That's not what's going on with Isaac. And I don't want to get into the details too much 'cause that would kinda spoil the fun for folks, but let's just say after the events of The Sprawl – which was, as you may or may know if you played it, a massive disaster – he's kind of laying low. And he kind of wants to be left alone."Papoutsis didn't speak to specifics of the game's intro – which, according to previous precedent, should be insane – but he was quick to stifle any idea that Isaac is on the offensive in Dead Space 3. "The events that kind of thrust him into action in Dead Space 3 will reveal themselves when people play the game, but by no means is he a willing participant in the story that's gonna unfold." It's unclear if Clarke's co-op buddy, Carver, plays into that "thrust," but the fact that he's a gun-toting government official can't hurt.As for whether this is Isaac's last spin as a starring character in a Dead Space game, Papoutsis was less specific. "We didn't set out to make a trilogy," he said. "We would love to create many more Dead Space games, there's a lot of stories to tell of the Dead Space universe." He allowed one teensy nugget to slip through. "With Dead Space 3, it's definitely Isaac's story and we're trying to bring answers to this story. There's a lot of questions that have come in Dead Space 1 and 2, and with Dead Space 3 we really wanna answer a lot of questions."
The quiet, solo side of Dead Space 3
Sitting in a brightly lit office above Times Square in the middle of the day made it easy not to be scared by Dead Space 3, even with bodies reanimating, spawning grotesque appendages, and chasing me down. Which isn't to say it isn't scary, just that my surroundings – not to mention two other human beings – rounded off the scary, sharp edges.I didn't play co-op, and I wasn't outside on an ice planet. I piloted returning protagonist Isaac Clarke through much of what you'd expect from a Dead Space game: creepy, atmospheric spaceship corridors pocked with vile mutant humanoid creatures trying to eat my flesh. My mission was an optional side quest in Dead Space 3's flotilla section – a mess of once operational ships now relegated to graveyard duty. But despite the level's original Dead Space feel, executive producer Steve Papoutsis tells me the demo wasn't intended as a response to the mixed fan reaction garnered from the third entry's action-focused E3 2012 reveal."Every time we show something new, we understand that when it isn't what we've done in the past, people are gonna have questions and wanna know what the meaning of it is or how it all fits together," he says. At E3, Dead Space 3's co-op was revealed in an action-heavy scene that some fans felt wasn't representative of the series' past entries. Papoutsis directly addresses that concern.%Gallery-160984%
Dead Space 3 tone shift based on research, scares more palatable with pal
EA altered the tone of Dead Space 3 from solo chills to co-op thrills based on market research, a company executive stated in a recent interview. EA Games' marketing exec Laura Miele told MCV the company was really proud of the work on the first two games, but wanted to see how the franchise could reach more consumers."We were hearing feedback that they love the thriller game, but it was pretty scary, and the obvious next step was that they wanted to play with someone. So we introduced co-op into the game," said Miele.Miele added Dead Space 3 was "no less scary" and "true to its roots," but that research found people were more comfortable playing the game with someone else. She said the implementation of co-op to share the scares was to "reach out to consumers that perhaps were not open to Dead Space 1 and 2." Sales of the franchise have been solid, but EA CEO John Riccitiello previously stated the company hopes the franchise will reach the "five million unit cadence" with Dead Space 3.
Ex-Visceral team's first iOS title, Catch the Ark, is suspiciously happy
Some of the folks who worked on Dead Space and Dante's Inferno now have a mobile studio, PlaySide, and unless the above image is hiding a dark secret, its first game is a drastic departure from its violent, intense past. Catch the Ark is an endless runner starring "three lovable characters that weren't allowed on to Noah's Ark," and who are doomed to raft down raging rapids and floods to survive. Actually, that does sound pretty dark after all.Catch the Ark is in development for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch, and is set to launch in Q3 2012. PlaySide promises "console-quality" graphics, unlockable elements, multiplayer modes and social features, alongside those three adorable almost-animals doomed to drown in an ancient apocalypse. Or something less sinister, but we're banking on doom and gloom for this one.
Enjoy 20 minutes of necromorph dismemberin' in Dead Space 3
You got a bit of a taste earlier this month of Dead Space 3's co-opified gameplay, but those paltry seven minutes hardly hold a candle to the 20-ish minutes of producer-narrated gameplay EA released recently. Take a gander above (and maybe bring a parka)!
