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Seen@E3: Who's next for Mortal Kombat X?
We're expecting to hear "Get over here!" a lot in Mortal Kombat X when it launches in 2015 for Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3 and PC. Be sure to catch a glimpse of the game in action courtesy of a gameplay trailer shown off during Sony's E3 2014 press conference.
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor trailer warns of the Gravewalker
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor received a new CG trailer today to commemorate the upcoming week of E3, in which attendees will be treated much like the Uruks in the video. The trailer takes place after a battle and shows a dying Uruk speaking of the "Gravewalker," whom players will know as Talion. Announced in November and developed by Monolith Productions, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is set in J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings universe. In the game, Talion and his family are killed by uber-villain Sauron, though Talion is resurrected and seeks revenge. We strolled away impressed with the way Shadow of Mordor plays out after our hands-on time with the game late last month. It will launch on October 7 for PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. [Image: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment]
Gauntlet E3 trailer joins party
In prep for next week's E3 extrabonanza, Gauntlet has unleashed a new trailer highlighting the game's relic system. The RPG-esque system grants players the ability to upgrade powers and weapons. Join up with three other buddies for the reboot of the original dungeon crawler on September 3.
Batman: Arkham Knight delayed into 2015
This year's lineup of blockbuster games is on the wane, with Batman: Arkham Knight making a high-profile exit into 2015. The Arkham series, which has mainly been a product of Rocksteady Studios and the matching realization that Batman games don't have to be robot-punching slogs through Gotham's sewers, is set to conclude with Arkham Knight. Though constructing a huge, mega-gritty Gotham fit for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One is taking longer than expected, publisher Warner Bros. Interactive is still bringing out its big guns for E3 – said guns being attached to the euphemistic Batmobile, seen above. This is a straight-up tank, Batman. Do you want Commissioner Gordon to give his speech about escalation again? [Images: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment]
Mortal Kombat X announced [update: trailer, platforms]
Following retail leaks and a torrent of teases, Mortal Kombat X was officially announced this morning by Ed Boon, creative director of NetherRealm studios. It had previously leaked on retail sites for PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC platforms for 2015. The ultra-violent fighting series had new life beat into it following Warner Bros. acquisition of the franchise in 2009, with the 2011 reboot a critical and financial success. Update: Warner Bros. confirms it's bringing Mortal Kombat X to PS4, PS3, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC in 2015. The game will make its "first public appearance" at E3 next week. [Image: Warner Bros. Interactive]
Trailing and trolling orcs in Shadow of Mordor
I'm perched on a building's wind-hewn skeleton, overlooking a lake. It looks like the sun has just woken up, its warm yawn creeping over the waters. It's a pretty nice day in Mordor, which, if you're unfamiliar with The Lord of the Rings, is the forbidden domain of orcs, dark lords and standoffish volcanoes. Somewhere else in Mordor, I imagine, an orc warchief is just waking up. He's stretching out, making sure he hasn't lost any warts in the middle of the night, brushing his tooth, pleasantly unaware of the nightmare that awaits him today. His greatest fear will find him, and I'll be riding it. In developer Monolith's Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, you're planning masterful executions before you even know it.
Shadow of Mordor forms a fellowship of gaming's acting talent
Warner Bros. revealed Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor brings together an array of gaming's most famous voices, including Troy Baker, Nolan North and Laura Bailey. Baker, who's featured in lead parts for The Last of Us, BioShock: Infinite and Infamous: Second Son, stars in the Lord of the Rings adventure as player character Talion. WB also unveiled veteran TV, film and game composer Garry Schyman as the man behind the game's music, following his award-winning score for BioShock: Infinite.
Batman: Arkham Knight trailer unleashes your greatest fears
Warner Bros. unleashed a new trailer for Batman: Arkham Knight today, and while it stretches our personal definition of "gameplay video," it does ramp up the drama in the Dark Knight's night-life. The video shows off Batman's new plated suit as well as developer Rocksteady's version of the Batmobile. It also gives Batman a closer look at his newest nemesis, the Arkham Knight. Batman: Arkham Knight was unveiled in March and is set one year after the events of Batman: Arkham City, in a section of Gotham said to be "five times larger" than that of Arkham City. The game's soundtrack is being composed by David Buckley and Nick Arundel, the former signing on after scoring Call of Duty: Ghosts. Kevin Conroy returns in Arkham Knight to voice Batman after Roger Craig Smith took on the role for WB Games Montreal's Batman: Arkham Origins. Arkham Knight is coming to Xbox One, PS4 and PC. [Image: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment]
Batman: Arkham Knight scored by Call of Duty: Ghosts composer
David Buckley, composer for Call of Duty: Ghosts, signed on to write the music for Batman: Arkham Knight. Buckley will co-compose the game's soundtrack with Nick Arundel, the composer that scored the other two games in Rocksteady's Arkham triology: Batman Arkham Asylum and Arkham City. Aside from Call of Duty: Ghosts, Buckley's work in the video game space includes Metal Gear Solid 4 and Activision's Shrek Forever After game. He also composes music for the CBS TV show The Good Wife and the Ben Affleck-directed film, The Town, and provided additional music for Jerry Bruckheimer's Prince of Persia film. Announced in March as the final game in the series from Rocksteady, Batman: Arkham Knight will prominently feature the Batmobile as a primary gameplay element. The game is set in a section of Gotham City that's said to be "five times larger" than that of Arkham City, and will include "traffic-friendly streets" to accommodate for the Dark Knight's favorite ride. It will also spotlight the aptly named Arkham Knight, an arch-villain created from scratch by Rocksteady and DC Entertainment CCO Geoff Johns. The game is slated to launch later this year for Xbox One, PS4 and PC. [Image: Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment]
Lego: The Hobbit isn't setting off for Wii U just yet
Warner Bros. revealed it's pushed back the Wii U version of Lego: The Hobbit until April 22 in North America, despite releasing the game on other platforms this week. According to a press release sent to Joystiq, Warner Bros UK is releasing the Wii U version alongside other platforms on April 11, while Vooks reports a May 7 due date for Nintendo's home console, in contrast to April 16 on other systems. WB didn't explain why it's holding back Bilbo and his dwarven pals from Wii U adventures, but the publisher does have a bit of a history with the Nintendo console. The Wii U didn't get mulitplayer content or campaign DLC for Batman: Arkham Origins, and that version was also delayed in the UK. Add in the recent week's delay for the Wii U version of Arkham Origins: Blackgate in Europe, and then there's the year or so Europeans had to wait for Scribblenauts Unlimited on Nintendo systems. As for Lego: The Hobbit itself, the game chronicles the first two films of the trilogy based on Tolkein's beloved book. Reportedly, dev Traveler's Tales is bringing There and Back Again to the game as DLC, with plans to release it when the third film hits cinemas in December. While Wii U owners have to wait a little longer, if you fancy a halfling with the latest Lego game you can get it now on Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, PS3, Vita, 3DS and PC. [Image: Warner Bros.]
Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate escapes onto Europe's eShop this week
A quick update for European Wii U owners and vigilantes-to-be: the Deluxe Edition of Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate is coming to the eShop on April 10, priced 20 euros/£16. WB Games quietly delayed it last week, but the good news is we're not looking at a repeat of the Scribblenauts Unlimited fiasco. The enhanced version of last year's portable platformer is already out on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC - and on Wii U in North America. Bats returning to the 2.5D belfry will encounter improved visuals a new map system, along with new enemy encounters and difficulties. [Image: WB Games]
Splinter Cell Blacklist game director now at Warner Bros. Montreal
Splinter Cell Blacklist game director Patrick Redding left Ubisoft recently to join Batman: Arkham Origins studio Warner Bros. Montreal, where he's working as a creative director on an unannounced project. An Ubisoft veteran of nearly ten years, Redding's previous role was as a creative director at Ubisoft Toronto, again on an unannounced project. According to his LinkedIn profile, Redding's switch to WB Montreal occurred sometime last month, but the news was confirmed yesterday by Arkham Origins creative director Eric Holmes. With Rocksteady revealed as the developer behind the recently unveiled Batman: Arkham Knight, whatever WB Montreal's working on is currently remaining cloaked. [Image: Ubisoft]
Seen@GDC: Gauntlet needs food truck badly
A Gauntlet food truck can be found vanquishing hunger around the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco this week. Branded with the natural hashtag #NeedFoodBadly, the mobile food dispensary is serving smoked turkey legs, candied apples, old fashioned root beer and water. The truck also has buttons with each character's symbol. If you're hanging about the convention, you can track the truck at @PlayGauntlet. The game's reboot was announced earlier this week and is scheduled for PC on Steam this summer. Now, just don't let any elves shoot near the foodtruck or they'll ruin it for everyone.
Gauntlet reboot needs food badly this summer
Gauntlet, the original co-op dungeon crawler, will return this summer to a home-based arcade near you. Announced only for Steam on PC at this time, the game will also have full support for SteamOS and Steam Machines. Warner Bros. revealed the "completely modernized action RPG" will be part of its direct-to-digital WB Games Vault portfolio. The initiative will deliver downloadable games based on WB and Midway arcade brands, along with original intellectual properties "across multiple digital networks." "With Gauntlet we combined the arcade style of the original game with an entirely new look and feature set that includes emergent, local and online four-player gameplay," said SVP of digital at WB David Haddad. Gauntlet is being developed by Arrowhead Games, best known for creating Magicka. We'll hopefully have more details to share about the game this week after seeing the title at this week's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.
Warner Bros invests $18 million in Machinima
As the journal of Wall Street foretold, Machinima has received $18 million in funding from Warner Bros. Gamasutra reports WB's executive vice president of strategy and biz development Thomas Gewecke said Machinima was a "pioneer and category leader" on YouTube and that Warner is "impressed with Machinima as a distribution partner." Multi-channel YouTube platform Machinima received $35 million from Google in 2012, but has struggled to find stability. The obvious current synergy between Machinima and WB is the publisher's big play for the esports demographic with its Infinite Crisis MOBA.
DC's Infinite Crisis begins battle in beta this March
Infinite Crisis, developer Turbine's take on the multiplayer online battle arena genre featuring heroes and villains from the DC Universe, will launch its open beta on March 14. Turbine announced the upcoming PC title's open beta start date at an event yesterday, alongside reveals of three new characters: Green Arrow, Aquaman and Mecha Superman. Infinite Crisis is a free-to-play MOBA game, a genre that has exploded in the last few years with titles such as Riot's League of Legends and Valve's Dota 2. In the last ten to eleven months of development, Infinite Crisis content has drastically increased in size, Executive Producer Jeffrey Steefel claims. "We now have three maps, three modes, a huge amount of different ways you can play the game. Twenty-seven characters and, in fact, we are adding a new character every three weeks." Steefel also outlined a plan to launch new costumes for existing characters every week.
Lego: The Hobbit shares in an adventure this April
Lego: The Hobbit and its merry band of plastic dwarves are coming to North America on April 8, and Europe on April 11. A Warner Bros. representative confirmed the release dates to Joystiq today, so fans will have a TT Games tie-in of the first two Hobbit films to tide them over before There and Back Again hits bigger screens in December. The news follows the reveal of a $270 500GB super slim PS3 bundle for the game, but if you'd prefer to join Bilbo and pals on other systems, you're more than in luck. Lego: The Hobbit is also on the way to Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, Vita, Wii U, 3DS, Windows PC and Mac. [Image: Warner Bros.]
Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate appears on Xbox Games Store
Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate is lurking in the shadows of the Xbox Games Store, a month after it was caught sneaking around Steam. The Armature Studio-developed 2.5D platformer came to 3DS and Vita alongside the main Origins game, and now it's listed to hit Xbox 360 in an HD "Deluxe Edition," with the release date noted as March 25. Let's work what this means by channeling the spirit of Adam West. Hmm,... Steam. Take the "s" out of Steam and you get "Team." Teams... soccer teams... soccer teams get the ball into the penalty box to score a goal. Box! And as we all know, X marks the spot. X... Box. Xbox! The clues all point to a multiplatform arrival in the near future, although we're still waiting on official word from Warner Bros. on any of this. Quick, to the Announcement-mobile! [Image: Microsoft]
Batman: Arkham Origins story campaign DLC canceled on Wii U
Wii U owners won't be getting the upcoming Arkham Origins story campaign DLC, after Warner Bros. made the decision to cancel it due to a lack of demand. WB confirmed the news in a statement given to VG247, after GoNintendo published a supposed Nintendo of America email spilling the bat-beans. The Nintendo system and the latest Batman haven't been a dynamic duo, starting with WB not bringing multiplayer to the Wii U version for similarly quantitative reasons. WB's belated call to not give the Wii U further single-player content is curious, especially since there's other DLC from the game on the eShop, such as skins and challenge packs. The one ray of good in today's news is that, going by the email published by GoNintendo, Nintendo of America is issuing a full refund to those who bought the season pass, despite some of the DLC it covers already being out. Whether that decision is WB's or Nintendo's, it is at least the right one.
Research is a vehicle for revenge in Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is more than mindlessly killing scores of Orcs. Sure, there's plenty of that, but more important are the game's main hooks surrounding guerrilla information-gathering and systematic assassination of key targets in a growing military force. Like an undercover cop busting a drug addict on the street and climbing the chain to the top, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor sets players on a course of disruption as they ascend through the ranks of the Dark Lord Sauron's army on a mission of revenge.
