Video Game Quick Hits 7/1/11

The first edition of VGQH for July has a little bit of everything: passion, violence, love, jealousy, conflict, drama, resolution, retribution, and resurrection. Actually it has none of those things. But, like every other edition, there is a little bit of everything. The items that caught my attention most all seem related to the growing downloadable space. Whether it’s WiiWare, Summer of Arcade, or DLC add-ons, it seems the connectivity of your console is evolving far beyond multiplayer access and becoming a solid outlet for games.

When I first connected my PS3 I honestly expected most things coming through the store would be rehashes of Tetris and Pac-Man. Turns out I’ve spent more on downloadable games and add-ons in the past month than I have on my GameFly subscription. To me, the key to successful downloadable games are the high replay value combined with the low cost of entry. Using add-on content cheaply (unless it’s from Activision) extends the life of full retail games that you already love. Despite, or perhaps because of, the success of this downloadable space, I think publishers could generate some great extra revenue by packaging several of their top tier PSN/XBLA titles onto a single disc at a moderate discount. Pack in a free or discounted code for your next big title and you’ve got a sure fire way to get new gamers looking at your products with money in hand. That’s not free advice though. Any publishers doing exactly that now owe me a 4% idea origination fee. I take Paypal.

Now, on with the news:

Most of you probably don’t remember the old Atari game this is based on, but Warlords HD is coming to PSN and 360 this summer. I’m not even really sure how to explain this game. Wikipedia’s description is “a combination of Breakout and Quadrapong.” Considering no one remembers Quadrapong either, that probably doesn’t help. Suffice to say it was one of the earliest four player games and you destroyed castles using flaming balls. The HD remake has really changed up the art syle, giving it a frenetic, cartoony appearance. The four warlords have also been given names and representative “elements.” Goelus, Kroi, Restivo, and Tarorthane are the warlords of Ice, Fire, Nature, and Evil, respectively. While Nature could be a substitute for Earth, what happened to Air? And since when is Evil an element? Regardless, the game looks pretty and at $9.99 it might just be worth checking out.

If there’s any company that loves DLC and milking it for all it’s worth, it’s Activision. The Annihilation map pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops isn’t even out on PSN yet and already there’s talk of a fourth pack. At $15 per pack, that means you’d be getting about 20 new maps for the price of a whole new game. More curious is that the next game in the franchise, Modern Warfare 3, is set to launch in just a few months. Apparently Bobby Kotick has decided that vampiring the CoD franchise annually isn’t enough. Now he’s trying to leach players quarterly as well. I’m sure some of you long time fans disagree with me and would be willing to pay even more to get packs monthly. If I believed that Activision had loyalty to the fans or creative process more than they do to the dollar I’d probably be more forgiving.

Also in the DLC spotlight is Operation Flashpoint: Red River. The first batch of DLC was released this week on PSN and the Live Marketplace for $6.99. This pack only has two new maps, but they play host to eight new missions (two each of Combat Sweep, CSAR, Rolling Thunder, and Last Stand) for single player or co-op up to four players.

Another thing that dropped this week, in case you missed it, is the Captain America table for Marvel Pinball / Pinball FX2 (PSN / 360). The new table is $2.99. the look and play is pretty amazing. Already it’s my highest score on Marvel Pinball (though I’m still more than 100 million behind Shaz-Bot). I’m pretty terrible at pinball, but I love playing it. So far I’ve managed to rescue Bucky with skill shot, unlock the Cosmic Cube, defeat Baron Zemo by reflecting his laser attacks with the shield, get punched out by Red Skull, and fail at some mission that glued my ball to the board with adhesive. I’ve also managed to lock several balls, but I’ve yet to free them afterwards. I was told to hit specific ramps to free members of the Howling Commandos, but they’re all still trapped wherever they were. I’ll have to keep trying if I want Dum Dum Dugan on my side. Check out the screenshot below for a sample of the table. Note the Jeep and barbed wire on the edges. Baron Zemo walks out near your ball launcher to taunt you when the ball gets lost. You can see more screen shots at Marvel’s website.

If you’re a gaming junkie like me you probably heard about a game at E3 2008 called I Am Alive. Since Ubisoft announced the game it has appeared to be canceled several times. But the company keeps assuring that it is still happening. Finally, there appears to be some evidence beyond those assurances that the game is, indeed, alive. Apparently the Australian ratings board has given the game a 15+ rating for “strong violence.” If it’s being rated, that means a complete, playable version of teh game must exist. This doesn’t necessarily mean it has a release date, or will ever actually release. But the premise of the game (a survivor stuck in Chicago after a massive earthquake) sounds like a lot of fun, so here’s hoping it sees shelves by next year. Then again, after the recent devastation in Japan, is the storyline a little too insensitive for release right now?

It seems like it’s been a while since I’ve had anything about Dead Block, the zombie killing tower defense game from Digital Reality and Candygun Games. I only mention it now because it was recently confirmed for release on XBLA in “early July” and July 20th for PSN. Price is set for $10. As a reminder, fighting zombies in this game isn’t necessarily the point. Defense, traps, and creative kills are the goal. You can co-op with up to three players on your team as a meter maid, construction worker, or boy scout in bizarre version of 1950s America where music has turned everyone into zombies. The concept is interesting and the art style is unique. But does it have enough to compete in the crowded downloadable market this summer?

We don’t have an official announcement yet, but it appears there will be special editions available for Hitman: Absolution when it comes out next year. IO Interactive’s Community Manager, Ray Price, broke the news in response to a recent forum question. When asked about pre-order incentives, he responded with “Yes. And special editions. I’m not aware of what the end products are going to look like but I know that the guys are looking to craft some sweet stuff for the collectors out there.” As for gameplay details, Price did state that the new “Instinct” vision will be replacing the satellite map. There will also be more dialogue than in previous games and he promised some extra challenging achievements for stealth assassinations.

When Vince Zampella and Jason West, creators of Call of Duty and founders of Infinity Ward, started their new company, Respawn Entertainment, gamers everywhere wanted to know their first project. No gameplay details have been announced yet, but it appears they are working on a sci-fi game set to be published by EA Games. This news comes from their official website going live, complete with a blurry picture intended to tease the new game. I can’t make heads or tails of it. What do you think?

One of the best pieces of DLC I’ve seen is Undead Nightmare for Red Dead Redemption. This one was special in that it was basically a whole new game, similar to DLC for Rockstar’s other hit franchise, Ballad of Gay Tony and The Lost and The Damned for GTA IV. The other odd thing about big Rockstar DLC is that it comes long after the game’s release, far enough that many people have probably finished playing it. Undead Nightmare was almost six months after initial release. Which makes me wonder how awesome the next DLC for it will be now that it’s 14 months old. When asked on Twitter when the next RDR DLC was coming, Rockstar responded with “Look for release date and details in the coming weeks.” Huh? At this point I would expect a sequel, not DLC. Surely we aren’t talking a couple new guns and outfits, or a new multiplayer mode. Something this late has got to be on par or better than Undead Nightmare. The “coming weeks” should be very interesting.

By the way, if you’re still active on the Red Dead Redemption multiplayer circuit, this weekend is the time to play. As of 12:01 this morning, and running until 11:59 Monday night it’s quadruple experience weekend to celebrate America’s 235th birthday. I certainly can’t think of a better way to celebrate our country than by fake killing each other and hunting all the buffalo to extinction.

Limbo, one of the biggest XBLA hits to date is getting access to a whole new set of players. Official date and pricing is not yet available, but a couple of tweets from Dino Patti (founder of Playdead, the company handling the port) and the official Playstation feed seemingly confirmed the game will be coming to PSN and Steam in July. Gameplay is a physics based platformer, but the star of this show is the dark, brooding, black and white art.

And it looks like that’s all I’m getting in this week. I’ve probably missed a few things but I’m traveling and my internet connection is not ideal. I should have more for you on Tuesday, but I’ll still be on the road until after that issue goes live, so no guarantees. Everything should be back to normal next Friday though.