Grave Gamer News & Views — news
Our First Black Ops III Trailer is Chillingly Good I know, it’s...
Our First Black Ops III Trailer is Chillingly Good
I know, it’s increasingly difficult to get excited about Call of Duty. It’s something akin to tax season – an obligatory wallet dump that comes every year ‘bout near the same time. But Black Opsis the most successful, and entertaining, offshoot this series has mustered. And good goddamn is this trailer effective. Still feel invisible spiders...
Life Finds a Way in Jurassic Park: AftermathOne Fan’s Tinkering...
Life Finds a Way in Jurassic Park: Aftermath
One Fan’s Tinkering with CryEngine Brings Us Attractions So Astounding, the Whole World Will Want to Play It
The screens above are not from an official Jurassic Park game. It’s a painful truth, and, oh, how I wish it weren’t the case.
What you’re seeing is the one man effort of an intrepid modder that goes by “cindercrash.” What began in March 2013 as a way of familiarizing themselves with CryEngine spawned into a two year journey to recreate one of the most famous locales in movie history.
“Pet project” is better coined here than “full-on game,” however, since cindercrash’s goal is to only recreate a chunk of the environment and allow players to explore it. There are dangers, as anyone should expect to find on an island lousy with untamed and unleashed prehistoric creatures, but it’s not a shooter. You won’t be mowing down raptors.
But they can harm you. Just as in the original film, there’s an underlying horror to the grand adventure and it’ll be enough to keep you on your toes as you search the park grounds, now left abandoned, on Isla Numblar. We’ve covered fan projects attempting to virtually rebuild Jurassic Park before, but none have looked so enticing.
Despite 22 years of gaming tech, exactly one developer has ever thought to make an open-world Jurassic Park game (that was Trespasser, by the by, a PC game still supported by the modding community to this very day even though it released in 1998). But who knows? It’s a new era and we actually have a new film to look forward to this Summer. The cogs must be turning somewhere behind the scenes and, hopefully, today’s devs look to Aftermath for some inspiration.
Unfortunately for us, there’s no clear timeline on when the world at large will get a taste of Jurassic Park: Aftermath, either. It is the efforts of one modder’s spare time we’re talking about, after all. Feel free to check on its progress right here. Otherwise, you’ll have to keep dreaming of taking a stroll through the park.
Resident Evil HD Fastest Selling Digital Release in Capcom’s...
Resident Evil HD Fastest Selling Digital Release in Capcom’s History
Old School Horror Tops PSN’s Sales List in January
When I reviewed Capcom’s remaster of 2002’s remake of their 1996 classic (a fact that’s been confusing the hell out of press junkets — some referring to the title as a remastering of a 20-year-old game), I praised it as the definitive way to play the absolute pinnacle of the Resident Evil series.
Apparently, you savvy, savvy consumers out there agreed, putting Resident Evil HD Remaster atop the PlayStation Store’s best-friggin’-selling list across PS3 and PS4. Day one downloads alone broke records for Sony’s store. Better yet, the remaster has gone down as Capcom’s fastest selling digital release of all time.
So what does this mean? Hopefully, it encourages Capcom to stop sleeping on the more traditional horror elements that laid the foundation for this franchise to begin with. Reaching for the stars, maybe REmaster’s success will finally twist the company’s arm into producing a remake of Resident Evil 2.
Once upon a time ago, a full-on reconstruction of the second game, a beloved entry to this very day, would’ve been a mixed herb pipe dream. But now? It’s a good time to be a Resident Evil fan.
Here’s a special message from Mr. Yoshiaki Hirabayashi, the game’s producer, thanking fans for taking that ill-fated trek through the Arklay Mountains area once again.
Netflix’s Developing a Legend of Zelda Series?Supposed to Be a...
Netflix’s Developing a Legend of Zelda Series?
Supposed to Be a Family Friendly Game of Thrones (May Include Less Incest)
Let me hit you with the “official” news, then we’ll discuss. According to a report over at The Wall Street Journal the world’s premier binge-watching service, Netflix, is in the early stages of creating a live-action series based on The Legend of Zelda.
Reportedly (that’s journalist for “I didn’t say it, so don’t come at me when it’s debunked, bro”), Netflix and Nintendo are working closely together on the series. WSJ takes their claim from an anonymous source in the know that says Netflix wants to strike a tone like “Game of Thrones for a family audience.” Allow your eyes to drink in that statement.
But of course Nintendo and Netflix staunchly refused to comment on the rumor.
Okay. Breathe… Let’s dig in. Game of Thrones for the family?! I can just imagine the pitch meeting where “28-year-old, world famous video game franchise” was met with blank stares from the Netflix suits. But the moment an intern clued them in on Zelda’s fantasy setting, the room lit up like Christmas once those idea bulbs started blinking on over their heads. “We sell it as Games of Thrones for kids! Holy elven shit! Call Ninten-due back! Cut the fucking check and tell ‘em the coke’s on us!”
WSJ has it the core story, as in the games, will be about a boy named Link who’s tasked with saving a princess named Zelda in the fantasy world of Hyrule. While the games sometimes cover darker territory, the majority of the series is light in tone, heavy in adventure. Tonally, it makes more sense to follow in step with adventure-centric fantasy like The Hobbit – and I mean the book, not Peter Jackson’s sword-clashing, orc decapitating action spectacle.
What’s the GoT mention even mean? Will the series chronicle the interpersonal dramas between Hyrule’s ruling family? Will they have bitter rivalries and back-stabbing betrayals? Will huge chunks of the story be dedicated to the struggles and battles of Hyrule’s many denizens and races? Good God, will we hear Link speak?
Without a writer on deck, though, it’s hard to gauge which direction the show could go, no matter what pitch got it off the ground. I’m not against seeing Zelda adapted. It’s actually pretty monumental if this proves true given Nintendo’s burning reluctance to let Hollywood touch their properties ever since the Super Mario Bros. movie spread its cinematic hate onto audiences all the way back in 1993. “Game of Thrones for the family” is a weird starting point for a franchise that already has a significant identity (even if the main character only ever says “Hi-ya!”).
We’ll see how, or if, this one plays out.
[artwork: x]
DmC: Definitive Edition is Launching Earlier Than Expected This...
DmC: Definitive Edition is Launching Earlier Than Expected
This certainly doesn’t happen very often in the world of video games (though I suppose DmC already having been made helps) but Devil May Cry: Definitive Edition, the next-gen port of Ninja Theory’s goddamned sensational reboot, is no longer releasing on March 17th.
It’s coming out March 10th – a whole week beforehand! See? For every ten games that are delayed, we get at least one bumped up (never mind that it already came out in 2013; just focus on the positive).
Plus, you don’t have to fork over the MSRP this time around. DmC: Definitive is releasing on PS4 and Xbox One at a cool $40. Besides collecting all of the game’s DLC, fans can also don Dante and Vergil’s original threads from DMC1 and DMC3 respectively. So there you go, his hair is white. Now you crybabies can adjust your scores to a 2/10 instead of a 1/10.