This week SCEE announced plans to release special PS3 collections of Uncharted, Ratchet & Clank, and Resistance for $39.99. Included in the Uncharted Collection will be Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and Uncharted: Among Thieves, plus a dynamic PS3 theme and avatar. The Resistance Collection will be packed with Resistance: Fall of Man and Resistance 2 and will include an exclusive skin for Resistance 3. The Ratchet & Clank Collection will feature Tools of Destruction and A Crack in Time, plus four avatars featuring Ratchet, Clank, Qwark, and Nefarious, and a Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One PS3 theme. All 3 collections will go on sale at the same time next month. What do you think? Good deal? Via: CVG

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Collections Announced For Uncharted, R&C & Resistance

Thatgamecompany has confirmed over Twitter that they will be kicking off a “very limited, private Online Beta” for the studio’s third PSN game, Journey. No other details were given as of yet but be sure to check out TGC’s FaceBook page or/and the PlayStation Blog on Monday ( June 27th ) for more information.

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Online Beta Announced For Journey

One relatively surprising announcement to come out the the conference yesterday was for this neat piece of hardware. Starting this Fall, retailers will be selling this new 24″ PlayStation-branded display for use with the PS3. It’s a 24″, 1080P 3D television that also showcases a feature Sakinah talked about in February, and that’s using the same display for two players, giving each player his or her own view on the display. This is possible because of the shutter glasses; one pair will show one person’s view and another pair will show the other (where, normally, either lens would display one part of a 3D image and quickly alternate between the two to give a 3D effect). This, essentially, does one side on both lenses per person to allow 2 different views on the same display. Of course, this sacrifices the 3D, but it does exploit it in a way that 2 people can play a 2 player game, and not have the annoying split screen (which got even worse with the advent of widescreen TVs I think). These glasses will work on many different TV brands as a pair of 3D glasses, but this particular feature will only work on this display. As far as the bundle goes, you can pick up the display, along with a pair of glasses, an HDMI cable, and a copy of Resistance 3, for $499, which isn’t too bad a deal. Extra pairs of glasses will cost about $69, and include rechargeable batteries, which I would assume hook up to the PS3 via USB like all their other accessories. Hopefully we may see larger display sizes further down the line because I can’t really see myself playing on a 24 inch screen at this point . Maybe Sony’s Bravia line will have that kind of support built into them later? Also, you have to question, which games would support the feature? Source

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[E3 2011] New 3D Display and Accessories for PS3

(all screenshots were taken by me using the in-game screenshot feature. full gallery here ) In one sentence: The best arcade racing game. Compared with Split/Second: Split/Second was a recent arcade racer with the same exploding city theme. That was a great game, but Motorstorm Apocalypse is better; it simply has more creative tracks and racing. What makes the Motorstorm series great: Intensely creative tracks are the cornerstone of the series. Diverse racing surfaces (rock, sand, dirt, grass, asphalt, water) that feel and behave like you’d expect. The vehicle classes (motorcycles, ATVs, buggies, big rigs, etc) each give the player a distinctly different race experience and aren’t just stat tweaks. This game keeps all of that and adds more… What does Apocalypse Change Tracks: When Apocalypse announced urban racing, I was worried that it was going to be all bland asphalt road racing and lose the charm of the diverse racing surfaces, jumps, branching paths, and creative geometries. Not even close. The tracks are as wildly creative as ever if not more so. One good example is the track that takes place almost entirely on the damaged roof tops of buildings. Expanded single-player campaign: The races are more like fully designed missions rather than combinations of track/objective/vehicle class. The story is much more fleshed out, but it’s largely just entertaining window dressing. Multiplayer: Perks, leveling, way more unlockables and achievables, betting system. It’s the same competitive racing at its heart, but there is way more polish. Stereoscopic 3D: Stereoscopic 3D was made for this game. The effect is amazing and is a perfect fit for a game that is mechanically about maneuvering the environment. Music: The series is known for exceptionally good licensed music picks (maybe that’s just because I grew up in a similar time frame as the devs?). This game uses original music including movie soundtrack style music and some techno. Summary In my opinion, nothing has topped the Motorstorm series in providing amazing, creative racing fun. This improves the formula and pushes the racing genre farther than it’s been taken before.

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Motorstorm Apocalypse Impressions

2D! Always great news, always fun (might not be true for 100% off all cases. Please check table of contents and warnings before blindly making such wild statements). Like what you saw? OK then, let’s carry on. This is a very old school (a valid term, unlike how hardcore has been made the bastard child of “new gen” hype campaigns) game where your main goal is to start at one point and get to another. Sounds simple, right? Well, it starts out with seamless tutorials on your first level and just a couple of enemies, but things get hectic… and fast. Can you survive the onslaught all by yourself? Shouldn’t you ask for the help of others to reach your objective? You have the option of enjoying the game in single player, local multiplayer, or online multiplayer, and even have the advantage of starting a game with just yourself and have others drop in and out without a problem, just with the press of a button. Up to four players can be in action at the same time, and we’ll soon learn how useful that can be. Before we continue, let’s see what Square Enix has to say for the game: Features • The Diver System allows players to jump in or out at any time, for a maximum of up to four players total. Guest players are awarded experience points for helping out. • Combos increase in power and intensity according to the number of players. Collect new combo moves by picking them up on the map or fulfilling certain requirements. • Adjust the difficulty level at any time with the Chaos Accelerator. Higher levels are rewarded with enhanced visuals and greater experience points. Players setthe challenge ratingas theysee fit. • 12 stages to explore and master. • Up to four player local and online co-op. • Online multiplayer. You have three special bars available to you that help keep track of three veeeery important elements: Hit Points (HP) that allow you to have a general idea about how many hits you can take before dissolving in a magic light; Magic Points (MP) that carry with them the responsibility of sacrificing themselves so you can use several abilities available in this noble quest; and Experience points(Exp), for your leveling pleasure (my, how RPG of you!). Now, how do we start this? Look, what is that making it’s way towards you? An enemy… kill him. Quick, kill another one! Mmm, now another. And oooone more. Doing this continuously will increase your chain kill count. If you reach 50, you get a free full HP and MP recharge. There’s also a trophy if you manage to reach a 100 chain kill, so practice, practice, practice. You can even charge your main attack, which helps you get rid of more enemies at the same time, BUT it gives you less experience than if you had defeated them them with regular attacks. As for a tip on HOW to get your 100 kill-count trophy? Well, here you go! Troooophy! Now, let’s remember how EXP works in pretty much every game that has this element. You obtain EXP, you gain a level. Simple, right? Well, in Moon Diver, when you level up, a small explosion envelops your character, which ends up damaging and defeating the enemies that are nearby, while at the same time filling up your HP and MP gauges. Get 1 Customize Point (CP) for every level and use that to increase the HP, MP or Attack Power (POW) of your character. You can only do this after completing a level (or dying in the process), as the game will automatically prompt you to allocate said CP. The game is separated into three acts, and each of them contains 4 levels for a total of 12 levels… but wait, there’s more! Most of the levels have several sections (each with it’s own distinctive name) and some feature branching paths that make you reach some, but skip others, thus increasing the replay value of the game, especially if you like trophies, since there’s a silver one you can get for visiting every single one of the areas. To add up on that, there are SECRET areas you reach by breaking some rubble on the ground, a big stone block that is trying to change your course or just by falling down at certain places. You can equip 4 different abilities for your character between levels and these will make everything better, because abilities are meant to do JUST that. There’s a total of 60 in all, and you obtain them by collecting a yellow glowing item in each of the levels… which, in turn, encourages you to actually visit every single path in a level since going one way will prevent you from visiting the other. You only need 50 for the trophy to pop out (thaaaaaaaanks!), but finding all of them will give you more options for your MP sessions. Something you must consider when playing with others (remember, up to 4 players at the same time!) is that whoever picks up the MC is the only one that gets to keep it when all is said and done, which can be a bit of a pain when hunting for that special one that will greatly help you once you go back to single player hacking and slashing. Same goes for when you decide to level up another of the available characters (that we will describe a couple of lines below us) since they’ll start with a full clean slate, unless…. Leveling up, EdEN style! If you’ve got a character that is, say, level 50 (as was my case when I got to level 12), and an extra controller, you can use controller #1 to pick up your level 50 character with 4 Two-Player MC (Stealth, Attack Wave, Healing and Enemy Freezing are good options) so you can select every level up to level 12 and then use controller #2 to pick up your next character to level up to 50. Play level 1 again so you can get the hang of “controlling” two characters at the same time since #1 is for using MC and moving every now and then so the screen doesn’t anchor itself, and #2 is for gaining all the experience needed to bump up that single digit number next to their name. Best level to obtain a lot of experience would be 6 or 9, but that’s just how it’s worked for me. So, any other suggestions? But you have to be careful when looking for extra areas, because if you go too low, you’ll eventually reach a layer of purple haze that will continuously damage until you reach a bitter end… so you should be extra careful. See kids, don’t do drugs, like, ever! And as if that wasn’t enough, some levels feature extra hazards you need to watch out for, such as sporadic explosions, huge walls of fire, lasers, gun turrets, etc. Luckily, you can at least get rid of most of them by destroying the source, but they do contribute and help you die easily. There’s also blue and green glowing items you can obtain by defeating enemies or simply by running into them on your adventure, and oh what a great help they are. Blue ones recover your HP and green ones recover your MP, and having a full bar of each will ease things for you since enemies are plentiful and require different strategies, so you can maximize your killing spree. Before you set out on your adventure, you must choose your character… and you must choose wisely. They all share the same move set and potential for wielding all MC powers, BUT they develop differently on each level up and for each CP you add to one of their attributes. They’re also a different color, and that helps to quickly locate your character during MP sessions. Here’s the list so you can start to make up your mind about your first run: Seyfert (Red): HP and MP will develop well (This is who I used to play the whole game). POW is something you’ll need to pour CP on to make up for the slow Attack Power development. Hitori (Blue): MP will develop particularly well. This is what we could call a “magically heavy” character in a regular RPG. Low HP and POW but a great way to make the most of the MC you find… and you better find some FAST! Tolby (Yellow): All stats will develop equally. Your balanced “Ryu” character. Great for beginners but won’t really excel on any particular path. Ourion (Green): POW will develop particularly well. Your tank type. Develop HP to round up his usefulness and rely on using MC with others during MP sessions to compensate for his low MP. There’s a lot of enemies on screen at once.. and they all look the same most of the time, having just variations in color for a bit… until you reach your first boss fight. Really good art style choices for the bosses, and you must look away for a second and get back on the action, since discovering their attack and movement pattern is something that will separate you from the piles of dust, stone, and metal all around (as old school based 2D games are required to do so). The game’ story is told with static 2D artwork and written words… and I honestly couldn’t make much sense out of it. Maybe it was just me, but apparently humanity is doomed, Moon Divers are the only thing that exists with a chance of survival, and the Moon itself plays some part in the big plan of what we can consider to be the bad guy of this adventure. If anyone has other theories, let me know. I must take a break to make a small comment: Moon Diver has really good music that complements the experience and gets you into the action (remember how you read reviews because you want to see what other people think about a game you might want to get? Well, this is MY opinion so your mileage may vary). Pump it up to the max! You’re on fire! Getting back on track, I must now tell you that in this game, you’ll die… a LOT. Why is that? Well, for me the levels have this “MP heavy feel” most of the time and when you die in single player you go back to the character screen so you can use any CP you might have earned, choose any new MC you might have run into and start again aaaaaaall the way back at the beginning of the level. But on MP, things change drastically. Other players can rescue you (or you can in turn rescue them) if your HP goes down to 0 by breaking your chain, chain, chaaaaaaaaains… thus reviving the character in the process. If this doesn’t happen you’ll eventually be given the opportunity to hit X and join the game in progress and continue to contribute towards completing the adventure. It’s at this point that you feel that you’re being punished for playing Moon Diver all by yourself, since if you die, it’s game over and you have to restart the whole level. It IS great that you get to keep any MC, levels, and experience gained before going kaput, since it would have been too cruel to have to restart the level AND have the last 10-30 minutes be a complete waste. Took me about 2 hours to go past level 8 but once you do, you get a such a great rush… At several points in each stage the screen will stop moving and purple bars will appear to the left and right sides. What is this all about? Well, it means that you must first defeat all the enemies that will drop/run/fly in and try to destroy you before you’re allowed to move on. It is here that the MC you picked up for your character will play a crucial role in your chances of survival. Stealth and Regeneration are your best friends, since the first one makes it so enemies can’t see you and therefore don’t attack you and Regeneration helps you recover part of your HP bar. And there are up to 4 versions of each MC, which increases the desired effect but also costs more MP… BUT more people can join in and use it for free! This is called a MoonSault Combination and it can be activated with other players to unleash a powerful ability/attack that doesn’t deplete the MP of those that help the player that is using it. Once someone holds down the circle button, the others can join in and share the effect. How many can join in? Depends on the level of the MC, which is represented by a solid square below the MC image. A single square is only for single player, 2 squares is for couples, 3 squares is for threesomes, and 4 squares is the key to swingers-land. It will take you 10 to 20 minutes to complete a level, which makes single or MP runs be fast and fun. Well, except for level 12, which is the last one and can take you up to an hour and a half if you don’t plan things just right. Oh and it’s plain out murder in single player unless you’re at 70+ AND have the appropriate MC… AND have allocated CP in the best way possible. Enjoy! New DLC has just been made available for Moon Diver, and for only $0.99 you can play as a new character and get access to a new mode called Score Attack (I’ll give you three guesses so you can figure out what that one is all about). More DLC is set to follow, one for the same price that will feature two more Score Attack stages, and one for free that will give us a new Chain Kill mode… and you really can’t complain about free! Moon Diver is a very fun game that gets even better when played with others, either locally or with the magic of the internet, and all that the 1s and 0s give to us in this day and age. The price is right for what is available on the main download, and the price for the DLC is something that won’t break any wallets. Get used to the single player experience for a while and then open yourself up to the wonders of having four people co-op in the same room, just like we used to do it back in the day… OK, OK, you can do play online with others. You and your fancy new ways! Review Pros Cons 2D, what a marvelous idea! Branching paths increases the content without feeling wrong MP Heavy focus can make single player runs a bit frustrating Rating 84% Published by Square-Enix Developed by Feel+ Cost – $14.99 Available on PSN Other Information Disclaimer – A copy of the game was supplied by the publisher for this review. – Total amount of time played: 20 hours.

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Official Review: Moon Diver

When the competition is insanely high, you can’t afford to mess up. One of your competitors will eat you alive. And DICE has a warning for any developer that might trip and stumble: watch out. In speaking to OPM, DICE’s general manager, Karl-Magnus Troedsson, showed great confidence in their upcoming title, Battlefield 3. Remember, the Call of Duty guys have been using the same engine since 2005 , while the Frostbite 2 engine is kicking ass and taking names. “Our competitors are getting lazy. They’re using the same engine, the same recipe for building a game. At some point you need to take that leap. I haven’t seen them take that leap since a long time ago. We are doing that now. They had better watch out. We are coming for them.” Granted, the popularity of CoD may never be topped, but the Battlefield franchise has proven worthy in the past, and, unless the newest CoD effort steps up big time, many are thinking DICE will steal the shooter crown in 2011. Okay, not in terms of sales (that seems impossible), but Battlefield 3 may rule the school, along with the likes of Killzone 3 and Crysis 2. Added Troedsson: “Our competitors keep building very, very high tempo games. We want to tell a story with more drama curves. It’s not about pumping round after round for six hours.” Anybody else getting more and more eager to play?!

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DICE: We Are Coming For You

Sony showed off a very interesting new feature currently in development for the PS3 this week during an event in London that reportedly “shocked” many of the company’s executives. This new technology is a dual-view 3D mode for the PlayStation 3 that would allow gamers to play against each other in the same room on the same TV without having to use split screen. Mick Hocking, SCEE senior director ( and director of it’s World Wide Studio’s Stereoscopic 3D Team ) demonstrated the mode briefly with Killzone 3 to a small number of attendess. A website called PocketLint had some of it’s guys at the London event. Here’s how they described Sony’s new work in progress: The technology works in a similar way to Jaguar’s spilt screen television on its dashboard that displays television to the passenger in the car and a map to the driver, but in this case to gamers at home. Player one will see his movements full screen, while player 2 will see his – i.e., something completely different explained Hocking on the technology that could revolutionise gaming at home, on your TV. Even though the freshly released KillZone 3 was used to demo the new PS3D feature, Sony didn’t elaberate on when consumers can expect to try it out.

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The Days Of Split Screen Gaming May Be Coming To An End

Tim Schafer’s studio Double Fine, which created the innovative adventure/platformer “Psychonauts” and more recently the quirky Russian doll game “Stacking,” released the seasonally-themed light RPG adventure “Costume Quest” to PSN and XBLA on October 19, 2010. The game is a delightful bit of cotton candy fluff that features tongue-in-cheek but innocent humor, a solid if simplistic turn-based battle mechanic, and a healthy respect for the sense of empowerment that role-playing can bring to a kid or even to us, whether in a Halloween costume or through digital avatar. The game is suitable for everyone from a child who has never played an RPG before to an experienced and obsessional gamer (you know the type: the one who has to collect every single one of the five hundred useless doodads scattered throughout a game world). Costume Quest Review The conceit in Costume Quest is that your sibling has been carried off by interdimensional goblins (whom only kids can see!) who have invaded Suburbia, USA with the nefarious aim of stealing all the candy that they can lay their grubby little hands on. (The goblins are called Grubbins, by the way.) You choose at the outset whether you want to play as the brother or sister – a choice that has no impact on gameplay, but allows you to cast either gender in the role of hero and protector. But you need funds to accomplish your quest, and what’s a kid’s Halloween currency? Candy, of course! You must go house-to-house in the neighborhood trick-or-treating, and when the front door opens, you’ll either get a stash of candy or be confronted by a pugnacious goblin. When you enter combat, your little tyke in his/her costume cobbled from bedsheets, cardboard, duct tape, and the like grows into an enormous, superheroic instantiation of the costume type. So the hokey cardboard robot becomes a massive Voltron-like powerhouse. The goblins similarly expand, and you and your opponents face off in turn based battle looming high over the suburban houses. Combat is turn-based and rather simple. Each costume has a generic attack and a special power, which charges up over time. You must pay attention during combat as the mechanics are quite reminiscent of “Paper Mario,” in the sense that attacks have timed button press sequences (which are rather rudimentary) that when properly executed do extra damage or minimize the damage that your character takes from enemy attacks. What spices up the battle is that fact that throughout the game you gather patterns and materials that allow you to construct new costumes (eleven costumes in all), which mean new characters on the battlefield when you don these costumes. You also gather party members over the course of the game, whose costumes you choose and who fight alongside you. Finally, the candy that you collect can be traded for “battle stamps,” which are sort of like items that your characters can equip and which allow for different kinds of buffs and attacks when battling, from increased critical damage to stunning attacks to health regeneration. Different costumes have different special powers as well, from area-of-effect attacks to resurrection of downed allies. It’s fun tailoring one’s party to suit one’s play style. But by about half-way through the game, if you’re like me, you’ll have found a formula that works quite well, and you’ll have little reason to vary it. Also, the outcome of the battles will rarely be in question, especially if you pull of the critical attack button sequence (which isn’t a difficult achievement). Battling aside, much of the fun of the game lies in exploration of the three main game areas, which include the neighborhood, a mall, and country fairgrounds. One must solve various puzzles to progress through the game, which often rely on using the various costumes’ powers. Many costumes have powers that can be activated in the game world, not just on the battlefield. The robot costume has rollerblades, allows you to jump ramps to otherwise inaccessible areas, the knight’s shield protects you from falling rocks, and so on. Some of the puzzles require some thought and experimentation, often they are solved readily enough by hunting down missing components of a necessary costume. Along the way there are side-puzzles, mini-games, trading card collection opportunities, secondary quests, and so on. You won’t be confronted with major challenges, but the puzzles are quirky and fun. The game is quite amusing in a sometimes dopey sort of way. But it does a great job of using humor that is appropriate for kids (and doesn’t even resort to the bathos of potty humor and fart jokes – which is a minor annoyance in “Stacking”), while at the same time offering clever socio-political commentaries that adults will appreciate as well as making occasional popular cultural references. (My favorite is an allusion to the sadly defunct Fox sitcom “Arrested Development.”) The game’s visual aesthetic is unique and charming. It’s cartoony in a rather original way, which is consequently difficult to describe. It might be compared to Tim Burton’s “Nightmare Before Christmas” meets “Southpark.” But ignore whatever associations you might have with either of the above texts: I’m just talking cartoon style here, not message, ethics, or humor. The music is serviceable in a workman-like fashion (it gets repetitive), and there is no dialog. But hey, it’s a PSN title. “Costume Quest” is a fun diversion built on a satisfying and quirky adventuring premise. It’s a fun world to explore and to master, and it is one of those rare games that is rewarding for both kids and adults. A speed run-though might only take a few hours, but plan on eight or so hours if you intend to explore all the crevices, finish all the side quests, and collect all the PSN trophies (of which there are twelve, including one gold and four silver). The main downside is that battle eventually becomes repetitive and is always win-able, except in the rare boss fights, which can provide slightly greater challenge and which sometimes require particular costumes and battle-stamp combinations to win. I would have liked to see a little more variety in battling options and strategic opportunities, but I recognize that the fighting mechanic is designedly somewhat stripped-down for the sake of being accessible to a young audience. Also, it should be said that the game has very little replay value. But don’t think that I don’t like the title: This is a charming game suitable for your entire family. Review Pros Cons Unique, seasonal, and empowering game play Satisfying exploration and collection Eccentric, family-friendly humor Battles become repetitive Little replay value Rating 75% Costume Quest DLC Review – Grubbins on Ice “Grubbins on Ice,” the DLC expansion to Double Fine’s “Costume Quest,” was released on PSN and XBLA on December 21, 2010. In this game, your collection of friends ventures through one of the goblins’ interdimensional portals into their monster land, where you’ll aid in a Grubbins revolution. The format here is much the same as in “Costume Quest”: You trick-or-treat and gather candy just like before, except now the candy funds revolutionary coffers, and the houses are inhabited by goblins – some who are comrades and some who decidedly reactionary. The game offers a new breed of enemy, but the enemy soldiers are all one of four types, just as in the original game: warrior, archer, buffing priest, or damaging mage. You’ll have access to all of the original title’s eleven costumes, and over the course of this adventure, you’ll unlock three more costumes (two of which are necessary to advance the story and one of which is not) as well as eight new battle stamps and assorted new collector’s cards. There’s another apple-bobbing game and another find the hiding children quest: It’s much of the same, but with an eccentric new tileset in this alternate universe. The new costumes are cute: pirate, yeti, and eyeball. The eyeball has a neat adventuring power, which zooms the camera out a bit from the map, allowing you to see more, including hidden places that you might jump to. My gripe, though, is that the eyeball power is actually only helpful in one particular place, and your companions tell you to use the ability there, which sort of ruins the puzzle. Moreover, when I got to that spot, I hadn’t yet assembled the eyeball costume, but I was still able to divine where I needed to jump to reach the secret area – so the eyeball’s adventuring power was never useful to me. It’s a neat idea, but it was woefully underused, and it feels rather tacked on. The puzzles seem easier and more geographically contained in this expansion pack. But even if this game is less intellectually demanding (if that’s not too strong a term for the original title), it still has a great sense of humor. The final boss fight, though, is more challenging than any of the battles in the original game. Granted, one of the main reasons that I lost the battle on my first attempt was that the boss fight took me by surprise, so I hadn’t had time to change my party into their boss-killing costumes and arm them with the appropriate stamps. Still, a fun battle, and more rewarding than most of the battles in the game. My main beef with this DLC is that it is really quite short. I spent somewhere between two and three hours playing it, and I did every secondary quest, acquired every battle stamp and trading card, and won every PSN trophy (five this time, including one gold and three silver). Is the DLC worth 5 USD? It’s hard to say. If you’re jonesin’ for more “Costume Quest,” then yes, this title has all the charm of its parent game plus a few new costumes. But if you want “bang for your buck,” then this isn’t the place to invest your money. Review Pros Cons More quirky fun with costumes Too short an experience Little replay value Rating 40% –

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Costume Quest & Grubbins on Ice DLC Review

This weeks Famitsu has some juicy details for Demon Souls fans. The spiritual successor or sequel of Demon souls has been outed with some juicy details. The game will be multiplatform and co-developed by Namco Bandai and From Software. Check out the info. – This is the official title of what was previously Project Dark – This time they want to increase the amount of field exploration in the game. – All fields are seamless, so whatever you can see, you can reach and explore. If you see a fortress or castle walls in the distance, you can eventually get there. – There will be no map display in the game, just a position display marker. – They aim to make the game just as challenging than Demon’s Souls, but also just as rewarding when you succeed. The sense of achievement is important. – The gameplay will be similar to Demon’s Souls in concept, where it’s about trial and error and learning from your mistakes to play better. – The game does not share the same world and story as Demon’s Souls. – The game will not use the same format as Demon’s Souls in terms of having 5 worlds connected via a hub. – Instead all maps in the game will be linked seamlessly in a connected world. The pace of the game will feel more about exploration and discovering locations, which you can then go inside into a dungeon or whatever and explore the interior further. – There will be more complex level designs in the game using more vertical design in areas and such. – The world setting is based on medieval dark fantasy, and will contain themes like “high fantasy of kings and knights”, “death and the depths of the earth”, and “the flames of chaos”. – The character creation process will not be class based. – The play style of the player character will have much more freedom this time. – There will be many more spells and items, and the animation and uniqueness of weapons will also be increased. – The online elements are very similar to Demon’s Souls. There is cooperative and PvP. – You can still leave messages, and see players who died at various places. – There will be no Soul Tendency this time because they don’t want to have to use dedicated servers to handle that shit again. – Instead this time there will be more features allowing players to engage in “mutual role playing” which they say are still under wraps. They’ll reveal more when it’s time. translation via Duckroll of Neogaf

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Project Dark Will be “Dark Souls” (The Spiritual Successor of Demon Souls)

Here is a live action video of Issac back at the Visceral Office. If I worked there I’d probably do the same thing, lol. Dead Space 2 is out on 1/25/2011 in the US and 1/28/2011 in Europe. Check out these two other videos that they created as commercials for the game after the jump. I think they did a pretty cool job with these, but I can’t help but wonder how many of these mothers are going to run out and get the game for their kids??

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Isaac Clarke Live Action Video | Dead Space 2