WebProNews

Tag: visceral games

  • EA Signs Exclusivity Deal With Disney To Make Star Wars Games

    EA Signs Exclusivity Deal With Disney To Make Star Wars Games

    We reported early last month that Disney shut down LucasArts and canceled all the games that the developer was working on. At the time, it was suggested that Disney would farm out future Star Wars games to outside publishers and developers. As it turns out, those Star Wars games will be going through only one publisher.

    EA announced today that it has signed an exclusive deal with Disney to be the sole publisher of Star Wars games for the foreseeable future. The exclusivity deal only covers games targeting a core gamer audience with Disney’s own mobile division overseeing all casual and mobile titles.

    “Every developer dreams of creating games for the Star Wars universe,” said EA Labels president Frank Gibeau in a statement. “Three of our top studios will fulfill that dream, crafting epic adventures for Star Wars fans. DICE and Visceral will produce new games, joining the BioWare team which continues to develop for the Star Wars franchise. The new experiences we create may borrow from films, but the games will be entirely original with all new stories and gameplay.”

    The three above mentioned studios should make Star Wars fans giddy with glee. All three are respected developers with a proven track record so any Star Wars games out of them should be good. DICE may even finally finish Battlefront III – a game many have been requesting for years now.

    As for BioWare, a Star Wars game made by the core team could potentially be exciting as the studio also made Knights of the Old Republic – a title many consider to be the best Star Wars game ever made. Some may be hesitant of such a title, however, especially after BioWare’s The Old Republic failed to live up to the hype. The MMO was made by BioWare Austin, though, so some may be willing to give the main BioWare studio a chance, especially if its Star Wars game is similar to its recent Mass Effect trilogy.

    [h/t: Kotaku]

  • Dead Space 3 DLC Announced, Background Mini Series Begins

    Dead Space 3 was released in the U.S. today, and already extra content for the title is being announced.

    EA and Visceral Games today announced the “Awakened” DLC add-on will be available sometime in March. The announcement states that the content will allow players to “experience the franchise’s darkest chapters as the Necromorph battles become even more gruesome and terrifying than ever before. The add-on will cost $10 via the PlayStation Network or Origin, and 800 Microsoft Points via Xbox LIVE.

    “With Dead Space 3 our goal was to evolve the franchise bringing in innovative new features like drop-in/drop-out co-op, weapon crafting, and an engaging atmosphere while still retaining the incredible suspense, horror, action and sound that the series is known for,” said Steve Papoutsis, general manager of Visceral and executive producer of Dead Space 3. “Gamers are going to be thrown in and out of space, taken to a violent new ice planet and allowed to explore several different abandoned spaceships and caves. But we’re not stopping there. In Dead Space 3 Awakened, gamers will experience some of the most disturbing content they have ever seen in a Dead Space game – they are going to love it.”

    In addition to new content for fans already deep into Dead Space lore, EA today began a YouTube mini series designed to acclimate gamers new to the Dead Space franchise. Dead Space: A Journey Through Terror will highlight all the important plot points from the first two Dead Space games, and are filled with spoilers. The first episode, titled “Isaac Clarke’s Journey,” details the protagonist’s former battles with the necromorphs.

  • Mass Effect N7 Armor Will be in Dead Space 3

    EA today announced an odd crossover feature that will be in Dead Space 3. Gamers who have played Mass Effect 3 will be able to outfit Isaac Clarke and John Carver in armor inspired by N7 designs in the Mass Effect universe.

    To don the armor, gamers will have to have played Mass Effect 3 and have a Mass Effect 3 save file on the same system they are playing Dead Space 3 on. That’s basically it. EA didn’t say whether the armor is better or worse than the starting armor for Dead Space 3 or whether the N7 style will be upgraded along with armor during the game.

    Between the superfluous Kinect voice capabilities and this latest announcement, it seems as if the Dead Space franchise is getting a bit silly. If the story and gameplay in Dead Space 3 isn’t up to fans’ expectations, the game may end up being EA’s Mass Effect 3-like disappointment for 2013. Hopefully gamers won’t be asked to pay for day-one DLC that pertains directly to the series’ story.

    Here’s the trailer for the new armor, which does at least look pretty cool:

  • Get Your Dead Space 3 Collector’s Edition Straight From The Developers

    Dead Space 2 had a pretty awesome collector’s edition. I still play around with the light up plasma cutter from time to time, and the packaging is still one of the better boxsets I own. It was a little sad to see the third game in the action-horror series not getting the same treatment, but all that changed over the weekend.

    EA and Visceral Games announced that Dead Space 3 would be getting a true collector’s edition for the real fans out there with the Dead Space 3 Dev-Team Edition. Unlike other collector’s editions, this one is a truly limited set with only 5,000 being made. You can pre-order it now for $100, or get the game and the Dev-Team Edition for $160. It’s only available through Visceral Games and won’t be found in stores.

    So, what will this self-proclaimed Dev-Team Edition get you? Players will receive an 8-inch Black Market statue, an aluminum data pad, a med pack water bottle, a recreation of a character’s notebook, posters, postcards and art book.

    The Dev-Team Edition will launch at the same time as the game. You will be able to pick up both on January 28. Dead Space 3 will be available on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

  • Dead Space 3 Ad Pushes Kinect Features

    More than a few Dead Space fans are uneasy about the inclusion of co-op gameplay in Dead Space 3. Though Visceral Games seems to have come up with an interesting conceit for the feature (one of the characters will hallucinate and see different things throughout the game) it still feels like the type of feature the publisher, EA might force on the developer. The Resident Evil series began sliding toward bad reviews at the same time co-op was introduced, so it’s a valid concern for fans that the lonely, tension-filled Isaac-versus-all-the-necromorphs gameplay of Dead Space might be changed with the inclusion of a sidekick.

    The immersion might be broken even more if players decide to use their Kinect with the game, and it appears the developers know it. EA today released another video that touts the Kinect commands for Dead Space 3. Using the microphone on the Kinect allows players to trade gear, heal a partner, reload a weapon, or do several other things that normally require the push of a button.

    The video tries hard to make it seem as if voice commands will make the gameplay easier, and it actually might be easier in the specific case of trading inventory with a co-op partner. However, it’s hard to see why saying “use stasis” or “reload weapon” would be easier than tapping a controller button. The Kinect commands for Skyrim that allowed for real-life dragon shouts might have been fun for a few minutes, but screaming anything other than startled surprise at the TV during a Dead Space play session seems very silly.

  • Dead Space Recap Video Summarizes the Series’ Considerable Backstory

    The Dead Space games, like some other survival horror titles (not to mention science fiction franchises), has a rather convoluted backstory. In fact, without paying close attention and grabbing various log entries within Dead Space and Dead Space 2, even many players may not be clear on what exactly necromorphs are and why they appear.

    EA, as they have done with many other titles, appears to have slightly reworked Dead Space 3 to make it more accessible to the general gaming public. Specifically, the new co-op gameplay may be many players’ first introduction to the Dead Space universe, and the game’s story will need to be accessible too.

    To ease the way in for newcomers, EA today released a recap video that succinctly explains everything first-time Dead Space players will need to know about the markers, Michael Altman, the Church of Unitology, and series protagonist Isaac Clarke. As a bonus for fans who already know everything about the Dead Space series, the last 30 seconds of the video contains a hint at just what could bring Isaac out of his retirement from necromorph stomping.

  • New Dead Space 3 Kinect Support Details Released

    New Dead Space 3 Kinect Support Details Released

    Last week it was announced that Dead Space 3 will be getting Kinect integration for the Xbox 360. This is in addition to the drop-in, drop-out co-op multiplayer that will be present throughout the game, completely shifting from the lonely, fearful tone set by the near-solitude of the first two games in the series.

    Whether these features were natural expansions of the series’ gameplay or mandates handed down by a social gaming-focused EA, it’s caused plenty of concern among fans that Dead Space may be going the way of the Resident Evil series and abandoning the very things that made it popular.

    The Kinect support, though, isn’t going to ruin a gaming experience. Gamers won’t have to wave their own limbs at their screen to de-limb necromorphs. Instead, through voice commands players will be able use items, switch weapons, or exchange equipment with their co-op partner.

    In a new promotional interview video released by EA, Visceral Games’ Executive Producer Steve Papoutsis states that “reload” and “roll” will be voice commands, among others. There isn’t much more info provided, though the video does provide a good look at the action in Dead Space 3 through clips. Forewarning: it also contains dubstep.

    Two interesting trivia facts are revealed, though. Papoutsis states that Visceral had considered including a Kinect-specific achievement for swearing. The developer also considered using the Kinect to take photos of the player at the moment of Dead Space 3‘s inevitable jump scares. That sounds like the best use of the Kinect yet devised, though the potential for abuse of such a feature is obviously high.

  • Dead Space 3 Gets Kinect Voice Commands

    Dead Space 3 Gets Kinect Voice Commands

    In case any Dead Space fans don’t know yet, EA want to make sure they’ve heard that Dead Space 3 will feature drop-in, drop-out co-op gameplay. Players can take on the role of Isaac Clarke or John Carver, a military man who is suffering a nightmarish dementia.

    Today the publisher announced that the game will feature Xbox 360 Kinect commands. Players will be able to use commands to exchange ammo, find objectives, or revive a co-op partner. EA stated that the feature “further immerses players into the Dead Space universe.”

    Co-op is an odd (and controversial) feature for a game series that’s success has been based on the frightening feeling of isolation and panic. The Resident Evil series’ reviews began going south with Resident Evil 5, which introduced similar co-op gameplay. It’s no wonder that Dead Space fans are worried about their favorite series following the industry trend of shoehorning multiplayer into all types of games.

    Whether they were forced to include multiplayer or decided on their own it would be a good idea, however, Visceral Games has at least put an interesting twist on the co-op formula. As shown in a new trailer released today, players taking on the role of Carver will see things that the Isaac player won’t. This simultaneous-but-alternate gameplay could be enough to make the co-op gameplay interesting. Or, it could be a highly situational gimmick. We’ll know in less than two months when the game is released on February 5.

  • Dead Space 3 Pre-Order Exclusives Revealed

    It’s a sad fact of life for current gamers that they won’t be able to acquire every bit of content for a game unless they purchase it three or four times. The retailer-exclusive pre-order bonuses that have grown common in the past few years are the new normal going forward and a source of pain for OCD, completionist gamers.

    EA and Visceral Games today announced the pre-order bonuses customers of GameStop and Amazon will receive for pre-ordering Dead Space 3. Both bonus items are guns.

    Gamers pre-ordering from GameStop will receive the “EG-900 SMG.” It’s a submachine gun issued by the EarthGov and “built for urban warfare.”

    Those who pre-order from Amazon will receive the “Tesla Enervator.” The weapon is described as having been developed from an overdriven focus coil by Sovereign Colonies scientists. It fires a “precision blast causing instantaneous electrocution and molecular destabilization.”

    What’s odd about these bonuses is that one of the touted new features in Dead Space 3 is the crafting system. It’s been stated that players will be able to find materials to craft their own weapons to add different effects. It’s even more clear than usual that these pre-order weapons will be useless by the time players hit an hour of gameplay.

    Dead Space 3 is currently scheduled to launch on February 5, 2013. The game features Isaac Clarke back in action against the necromorph threat, but this time joined by another protagonist named Carver. Players, for better or worse, will be able to play together in a new co-op mode.

  • Dead Space 3 Gameplay Walkthrough Released

    With all of the amazing games coming out in the next few weeks, it’s easy to forget that the gaming party won’t stop at Christmas. Some of the most anticipated games of the year have been delayed to the first part of 2013, ensuring that gamers will have plenty to keep them in their seats until next summer.

    To keep player looking ahead, EA and Visceral games this week released a 15-minute gameplay walkthrough for Deadspace 3, which is currently set for a February 5th release. In the video, seen below, Visceral’s creative director and senior audio artist for Dead Space 3 take us through a section of the game that takes place on a ship named the Eudora. As Isaac Clarke, players will make their way off the ship, which has been attacked and is in the process of exploding. After that, the game seems to settle down into the pace of a Dead Space game, with Clarke exploring a derelict flotilla and, of course, encountering Necromorphs.