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Zombies run amok in City of Heroes
Halloween has come early to City of Heroes. Among the now-traditional trick or treating, collecting temporary costume powers and hunting down roaming giant monsters, the dead have risen from their graves and are devouring the living. Both Paragon City and the Rogue Isles have been affected. Reports mention tattered undead who have a strange resemblance to real-life celebrities, as well as Elite Boss 'Nightmares' who seem to be in command.Players may be wondering why this sudden outbreak of ravaging zombies has happened with Halloween still some time away. An eyewitness from HeroCon has shed some light on the timing of the invasion: 'After dinner, Positron got up and told us that there were lots of cool things ahead--but he couldn't tell us about them. Everyone was calling him a big tease. So in order to placate the mob, he turned to Heather and asked if she could call Ops and have them unleash the zombies right then.'
Joystiq hands-on: Left 4 Dead's versus mode
click to enlarge In stark contrast to Gears of War 2's defense-heavy multiplayer Horde mode, the final version of Left 4 Dead's versus mode we played tried to survive was all offense, all the time. Run, gun, and run some more – this was the (inevitable) zombie apocalypse from both sides of the violent, puss-spewing struggle.Valve set us up on the 360 version of the game for some four-on-four versus action, which would see us alternating between control of the human survivors and the used-to-be-human infected.%Gallery-34722%
WoW Moviewatch: Dead Rain 2: Deader
In case there was any confusion about yesterday's post, I intentionally linked only to the films featured previously here on WoW Insider. The other three movies will be covered as we go along this week and the original post will be updated as such. Today you'll see Dead Rain 2: Deader from Bear on a Trampoline, which took Runner Up in the Drama/Romance Category for the BlizzCon 2008 movie contest. Although I'm not a horror/zombie movie fan, I was incredibly impressed with this film, a sequel to last year's Dead Rain. Even though I love the Snacky films, I don't think it's fair that Dead Rain was included in the same category with those films since it's impossible to compare the two films. Deader's story picks up where the first one left off, with our two heroes mourning their losses and continuing to fight off zombies. There are so many things to like about this film: the grainy black-and-white film style, the high-contrast dramatic flashes, the genre homages (forced perspective camera angles, peeking through holes at the zombies, pop-up gotchas), and the wonderful cinematography. The only thing I wish is that the audio volumes were more stable. I had to ride my dial a few times to hear the dialog over the music or sound-effects. But the storyline was fantastic. The twist caught me completely by surprise and made me say, "Holy cow!" (Only, of course, "cow" was not the word I used. I live in a PG-13 household, so sue me.) I thought, "How the heck are they gonna get out of this?" Well, you have to watch it yourself to see.Tomorrow we'll look at Mercy of the Sea by Sleeping Dog Productions and Friday we'll see Fruit of Elune by Myndflame.[Via WeGame]If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.
TGS08: The dead rise in latest Chop 'Til You Drop trailer
A release date wasn't the only thing concerning Dead Rising: Chop 'Til You Drop to come out of Japan this week. A new trailer for the game, as you can see above, managed to escape the craziness that is TGS08.Within, you'll see a lot of the stuff you've seen before, just, you know, in motion. There's zombies, Frank jumping out of a helicopter and plenty of carnage to satisfy your every need.%Gallery-28028% Want to know more about Frank and his quest to survive the undead? Well, first off you should check out our comparison piece that looks at the Xbox 360 version versus the Wii port. Then, be sure to check out some of the game's waggle, as well as some more footage of the game in action. Braaaaaaaaains ...
Dead Rising: Chop 'Til You Become a Fashionista
One of the sillier things about Dead Rising was the opportunity to try on a bunch of random clothes and watch Frank check out his new threads. From kiddy shorts to designer dress, he was never disappointed, and neither were we. The newest screenshots from the retooled Wii version show off the extremes of Frank's fashion sense ... including some things that were unlockables in the original. it sounds like some were available in the demo at Nintendo's recent event, at least.And lo, is that the Real Mega Buster? 53,000 zombies (and change) might be tough in the Wii version, considering.%Gallery-28028%
Resident Evil 5 groans and staggers onto Xbox 360 March 12
var digg_url = 'http://www.joystiq.com/2008/10/08/resident-evil-5-groans-and-staggers-onto-xbox-on-march-12/'; Biohazard 5, or better known on our shores as Resident Evil 5 will finally be coming to the Xbox 360 after a long delay that saw it get pushed from April 2008 to almost a year later. Well, better late then never we saw, as long as we get to have fun blasting infected people. Is that too much to ask? We liked what we saw back in June, and are keeping our fingers crossed.
Dead Rising port to feast on Japanese brains next year
The latest issue of Famitsu has spilled the beans on a release date for Capcom's latest Wii port, Dead Rising: Chop 'Til you Drop. The game is slated for a February 2009 release in the region, meaning that those of us in North America, and you fine Europeans, will have to wait a bit longer than that to get our hands on the game. While you wait, why not check out some images from the game in our gallery below?%Gallery-28028%[Via CVG]
Left 4 Dead 'Infected' gameplay featured on GameTrailers TV
After years of reading literature and watching films concerning the subject, we consider ourselves fairly knowledgeable when it comes to surviving the inevitable Zombocalypse. That's why we've never been too intrigued by what we've seen of Valve's co-op horror title, Left 4 Dead -- we've hypothetically been there, and we've hypothetically done that. However, a spot on last night's episode of GameTrailers TV featured gameplay footage from the "Infected" (see: Zombie) point of view, giving us our first look at how the other half lives. (Un-lives?)It looks like they've done a great job of balancing the highly armed survivors with the shambling brain-eaters, giving pulseless players enhanced zomb-o-vision as well as a myriad of interesting abilities. Check out Chapter 3 of the online episode if you want to see the reanimated carnage -- just don't forget whose side you're on when the world goes all Thriller on us.
Capcom warns of potential 'smear campaign' against its games
Whether it's being punched in the face or eaten alive, Capcom has become concerned of a media backlash against its upcoming violence-heavy software catalog. As part of the same annual report to investors in which the developer and publisher reaffirmed its dedication to Western game development, Capcom also outlined a handful of potential obstacles to its business, one of which it describes as a possible "smear campaign" by the mass media against its titles.Writes Capcom: "Some of our popular software titles have provocative graphics and text, such as violent and grotesque scenes. Accordingly, in the event of violent incidents and other criminal cases involving juveniles, we may be subject to a smear campaign by some sections of the mass media which often point out the correlation between crime and games."What some fail to realize is the vital role Capcom's games play in the education of today's youth. Where else can they learn the most effective means to grind a path through the shambling undead with a lawnmower? Without such knowledge, who else will live on and continue humanity's struggle against the zombie hordes after the rest of us are dead and eaten?
Left 4 Dead: Delayed 2 November 20
Valve's four-player fix of zippy-fast zombie action has been pushed back a bit, but thankfully not 28 days later; just 16. Left 4 Dead had been slated to hit PC and Xbox 360 on November 4, but its evil will instead take up residence on your platform of choice November 20. The date is significant in that it's the 10th anniversary of another Valve game you may have heard about – the original Half-Life. If you just can't stand a first week of November devoid of something new to play, fear not. Might we suggest: Fallout 3 (Oct. 28) or a little game called Gears of War 2 (Nov. 7).[Via Shacknews]
GC 2008: Watch Dead Rising Wii trailers 'til you drop
Somehow, we always imagined the impending zombie apocalypse would involve more ... zombies. This latest footage of Dead Rising: Chop 'Til You Drop for Wii sees protagonist Frank West running sauntering through swarms groups of hundreds dozens 10 crazed bored zombies on what appears to be Super Bowl Sunday (or during the American Idol finale). It's nice to see the improved aiming mechanic in action, even if it is lifted directly from Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition. There's a longer gameplay trailer after the break, although we don't recommend viewing it while driving or operating heavy machinery.Source – GC 2008 Debut Trailer, GameTrailersSource – GC 2008 Debut Gameplay, GameTrailers
GC 2008: Latest Resident Evil 5 trailer terrorizes Leipzig
We hope you're ready for a face full of freshly, um, zombified zombies on film, because that's exactly what Capcom has delivered at the Leipzig Games Convention. This new, entirely in-game trailer for Resident Evil 5 doesn't show too much that's especially new, but it's worth taking note of the vehicle chase sequence and hey ... is that another mine cart level?Click on the video above and you'll get a peek at playing as Chris Redfield's female sidekick, Sheva Alomar, along with some oh-so-brief snippets of various (we presume) über-important cutscenes. Sure, it may be more RE4, but is that really so awful – especially when it looks this scary-good?
The Secret World screenshots 'leaked' in Funcom quarterly report
Funcom has been keeping their upcoming MMO The Secret World under wraps, but some details have been coming through. Rock, Paper, Shotgun has found two new images from the game, depicting a fairly deformed zombie or mutant caught in the act of jaywalking. Their source is a Norwegian site, Dagbladet.no, which shows the images as well as a piece of apparently aquatic concept art. Funcom's Ragnar Tørnquist, who is working on The Secret World, acknowledges that the images weren't so much 'leaked' as 'sneakily released' as part of Funcom's quarterly report. He also says that the images are pre-alpha screenshots, and points out that they're already being discussed on The Secret World forums.
Rumor: The Bigs dev gathering for a Zombie Ritual
Since bringing baseball home to the everyman in last year's The Bigs, Vancouver's Blue Castle Games has been eerily quiet regarding its future plans, be they grounded in sports or, as music site Loudside writes it, waking the dead. According to the website, the developer plans to release a title called Zombie Ritual sometime later this year, and that the as-yet-unannounced game will include music from the appropriately named hometown rockers, Cradle To Grave.According to the report, the studio plans to ship Zombie Ritual in "late 2008," and expects to have a half million copies of the title on store shelves in the first week. A quick glance at Blue Castle's website reveals that the company is in fact working on two new unnamed sports titles and one action game, though unless the devs plan on having us field grounders or going long with teams of recently exhumed corpses, we're betting Zombie Ritual will be of the latter.
Left 4 Dead going on world tour
Not unlike the unfortunate victims and eventual accomplices in a zombie apocalypse, Valve's Left 4 Dead will soon be spreading across the world, exposing itself to clamoring crowds of pale-skinned, physically sluggish moaners. The cooperative shooter will be hosted in playable form at several upcoming gaming events, giving folks like you the chance to experience what we've been raving about. Here's where you can give the game a good go: Leipzig Games Convention (Germany, 20-24 August) Penny Arcade Expo (Seattle, USA, August 29-31) -- Xbox 360 version debut Festival Du Jeu Video (France, 26-28 September) PC Gamer Showdown (UK, 27-28 September) As if mowing down hordes of zombies on your way to the Left 4 Dead booth wasn't incentive enough to go play, Valve has promised that its people will be nearby to dispense information and game "memorabilia." Very nice! All we got at E3 were some mints.[Via press release]
Latest Nintendo Power says 100 onscreen zombies in Dead Rising
According to the latest issue of Nintendo Power, Dead Rising: Chop 'Til You Drop might not be the slouch many are making it out to be. The magazine mentions that there could be up to 100 zombies onscreen at once. Aside from that, improvements include: Combat controls will mimic Resident Evil 4. Selectable difficulty level. Improved save system. Larger text! Overtime mode now part of the main game. Sounds like Dead Rising: Chop 'Til You Drop will be an option-rich good time. How many of you are looking forward to it?%Gallery-28028%
Zombies!!! could be headed to XBLA
We'll admit it. We've never played Zombies!!! before. Having said that, we have come to understand one thing: it's a board game ... about zombies. Is it really necessary to say anything else? We think not. Oh wait, there is one more thing to say: it might be headed to Xbox Live Arcade. A gamer tells Joystiq that he was told by Zombies!!! creator Twilight Creations "that they were already underway with this very project." Joystiq posed the question to Twilight Creations' Todd A. Breitenstein at Comic-Con and was told "I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of such a project... but do you think it would be cool?" A zombie board game on XBLA? Yeah, that sounds pretty cool.
Zombies!!! coming to Xbox Live Arcade???
Hopefully that's enough punctuation in one headline for you. Apparently an eager gamer had sent in some ideas on how to turn their Zombies!!! game, which pretty much keep them rolling in brains and entrails, into an Xbox Live Arcade title, and was told "that they were already underway with this very project." We decided this was something we needed to look into ourselves, given our love of tabletop gaming.We caught up with Todd A. Breitenstein of Twilight Creations in the extremely slim booth congregation at Comic-Con's gaming portion and he said, "I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of such a project... but do you think it would be cool?" A tile-flipping game was an escape from ravenous zombies plot? Heck yes, we would. While we enjoy getting our game on in Catan, Carcassonne, and even Ticket to Ride, we'd also love to see some good old-fashioned killing of the undead happening as well. Maybe they could even include their flipside game Humans!!! in the deal.[Thanks, Barry!]
Wii Warm Up: The rising dead
We've spent a little time lately talking about Dead Rising: Chop 'Til You Drop, and can you blame us? The original is one of the most fun experiences available on the Xbox 360, and shifting the perspective to match Resident Evil 4 sounds like it could be a really good move. Here, too, is one game in which "waggle" is pretty well-suited to the action; if you played Dead Rising and didn't shake the controller the first time a zombie grabbed you, you've stronger nerves than we have.Did you play the original? If so, what do you think of the proposed changes? We're wary of the shift in the save system, frankly, but the few things we've heard make it sounds almost as though it's a nearly new game. If you didn't play the 360 title, what do you think of this style of port, and this game in particular? Also, what do you think of the subtitle?
Dead Rising: Compare 'til you drop
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/Dead_Rising_Compare_til_you_drop'; There may be a dearth of actual Dead Rising: Chop 'Til You Drop screens, but we've been pretty rich in print media on the re-imagined game so far. The latest, from a French Nintendo magazine, show off some different angles from some of the scenes we've already seen, such as the psycho battle in the gun store. There's been some concern that there just won't be as many zombies in the Wii version -- and the number of zombies is pretty much the crux of the game -- but considering we're seeing screens from early in the game, it isn't that surprising that there aren't that many zombies. Until we see screenshots from a cramped area like the nightmarish Al Fresca plaza, we won't really be able to judge how much, if any, the game has been downgraded in that sense. We've put together a couple of comparison shots after the break that demonstrate that there's more to be hopeful about than many had thought.%Gallery-28028%
