Beenox and Activision show off Spider-Man’s latest time-hopping adventure.
Following the success of last year’s Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, Activision crowned Canadian developer Beenox as the primary developer on future titles featuring the Marvel Comics icon. The first game to be primed for release following the developer’s “lead spider developer” status is the recently announced Spider-Man: Edge of Time. While the game isn’t a direct sequel to Shattered Dimensions, it shares its predecessors multi-Spidey vibe, albeit with a new twist.
Whereas Shattered Dimensions offered an action adventure ensemble, Edge of Time changes the formula by putting a buddy-cop-movie twist on the action and throwing in some time travel for good measure. We recently had the chance to get a proper run through the game by Beenox and Activision reps, which showed off what the game is going to offer.
As we noted earlier, Edge of Time is not a direct sequel to Shattered Dimensions. The game features an original story that revolves around Spider-Man 2099 and Amazing Spider-Man teaming up to stop a chronal catastrophe that threatens their worlds and just about everything in between. The time shenanigans kick off in 2099 when an evil scientist travels back in time to change the timeline to something a little more conducive to the evil scientist lifestyle. Unfortunately, this requires some murder, namely the death of Amazing Spider-Man.
While Spider-Man 2099 tries to stop the scientist before he starts, the futuristic wallcrawler just misses him and winds up getting caught in a time bubble that protects him from the timeline changes that happen around him. The good news is that he retains his memories of how things should be and is able to contact Amazing Spider-Man before his death.
The bad news is that the two don’t get along, which gets the cross-time team off to a rough start. Will the pair find a way to get along and save the day? Probably, but from the look of things, it’s not going to be easy.
Just Cause developer breaking into downloadable games with co-op shooter for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC this fall.
Avalanche Studios, the Swedish developer behind the Just Cause series of open-world action games, is branching out. The developer has already explored the free-to-play social gaming space with The Hunter, and now it’s trying its hand at downloadable games with a new intellectual property.
Sega today announced that it will publish the developer’s first downloadable game, Renegade Ops for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. Set for release this fall, the cooperative shooter will see players commanding a variety of vehicles as they rain down destruction on a terrorist group headed up by the matter-of-factly named Madman Inferno.
Renegade Ops will let players form commando teams of up to four players online, though it will also support two-player split-screen on a single system. Although the game is being designed as a co-op-focused shooter, it will also include a single-player mode.
Child of Eden is a shooter from Ubisoft, where the player’s mission is to save Eden from a virus in order to restore hope and peace.Save the world of Eden… the future is in your hands. Watch the latest trailer for Child of Eden!
News outlet says Gearbox Software’s M-rated action game “takes sexism to a new level”; Women’s Media Center VP calls game’s depiction of women “extremely harmful.”
In early February, Fox News slammed Bulletstorm, questioning whether it was the “worst video game in the world.” Now, the Rupert Murdoch-owned news outlet is taking up arms against Gearbox Software’s long-awaited Duke Nukem Forever, calling it “awfully sexist.”
According to an article on FoxNews.com, 1996′s Duke Nukem 3D–”which made millions for its developers and transformed the entire world of video games–depicted women as strippers and prostitutes.” And now, according to Fox, Duke Nukem Forever is primed to “take sexism to a new level.”
To illustrate its point, the story says the game opens with a scene where Duke is seen receiving implied fellatio from twins in school getups. This is where Women’s Media Center vice president Jamia Wilson takes severe offense.
“It was offensive then and it’s even more offensive now,” she told Fox News. “These depictions of women are extremely harmful, especially to young women.”
Specifically, the scathing article’s main focus is on Duke Nukem Forever’s Capture the Babe multiplayer mode. This game mode–according to the Official Xbox Magazine (via Eurogamer) — has players carrying a character, the Babe, around. If she yells, players are given the option to slap her.
SOCOM studio Slant Six said to be prepping squad-based shooter set in Capcom’s zombie-infested universe for release this winter.
Slant Six Games has thus far made its bread off of Sony’s SOCOM: Navy SEALs franchise. However, last year word emerged that the studio may be branching out when Kotaku ran a rumor indicating that the studio was staffing up for Resident Evil: Raccoon City, a “team-based” spin-off for the franchise.
Now, it looks as if those rumors were well founded. Gaming website Stick Skills claims to have secured an advance copy of the May 2011 issue of the Official Xbox Magazine, within which are the first details on Slant Six’s Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City. Stick Skills ran down the details from the story on its website and forwarded a photo of the periodical to Joystiq.
According to the website, Operation Raccoon City will be available for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 this winter. It will reportedly be set in 1998, around the time of Umbrella’s original T-virus outbreak. The squad-based shooter sees gamers assuming the role of one of four members in an Umbrella Security Services troupe.
A player’s objective will reportedly be to cover up all evidence of the outbreak, indiscriminately killing zombies and survivors alike. However, not all humans will be easy prey, as the “three-corner conflict” reportedly sees gamers facing off against US Spec Ops.
OXM’s May 2011 issue is expected to hit newsstands on April 5.
