[PAX East] Remember Me might have been unforgettable because it left behind evidence.

Remember Me has been sneaking around in the background of the gaming world for some time now. Its quite didn’t go unnoticed though, as the wait to play at PAX East was 2 hours long at all times.

This single-player, action-adventure game stars Nilin, a memory hunter in Neo-Paris in 2084, trying to remember her way back to who she was and why a corporation would go to such great lengths to erase her mind.

From the demo it’s clear this will be a fun action adventure with tried and true elements like platforming and chained melee combat.

But Remember Me is also bringing ‘memory remixing’ to the table where player can change the way targets remember things. “Hey, old friend.”

Personally, I kept going back to the booth because they had a photo booth and an AMAZING Nilin cosplayer.

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[PAX East] Deus Ex: Human Revolution DIRECTOR’S CUT! (WiiU)

Deus Ex is back again, but mostly the same. However this director’s cut has some noticeable differences… Not because it’s the director’s cut and it comes with two additional missions though, that I wouldn’t say was all that noticeable.

Square Enix is re-releasing Deus Ex on the WiiU and I have to say the experience was markedly different.

I’m not yet adjusted to the WiiU controller so I won’t blame that initial awkwardness on the re-release or the device itself. I will say, the game looks just as good on the WiiU as it did on a PS3 or an XBox 360. I didn’t feel like corners were being cut or anything was lagging behind what I’m accustomed to.

WiiU players will get a very similar experience to that of their PS3 and XBox friends. However, they’ll need to acclimate themselves to interacting with multiple interfaces throughout gameplay.

The game happens on the big screen and maps, menus, and other bits and bobs are relegated to the touchscreen on the controller.

I hope there’s an option to turn this off because in a game like Deus Ex you’re in your menus quite a bit. Having to look down, and take my hands out of position every time I needed to switch weapons (which I did often because shooting first and asking questions later means you go through a lot of ammo) was definitely not an improvement.

In the new and improved version players will get the aforementioned DLC integrated into the game, an even prettier game, and better balance for combat (there were some ridiculous fights in Deus Ex).

If you want a WiiU and serious gamer games that help you flex your stealth sneaking, dystopian decision making, and cyborg combating, you should check it out.

BUT! I’ totally suggest finding a way to try the controller (or the game on the controller if you can) before you commit to the WiiU system… It’s not like going from an Xbox to a PS3 or even from a console to a DS.

Though as Frederick Douglas said, “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”

[PAX East] Heroes Needed for Post-Apocalypse Rebuild: Neverwinter

I am not a PC gamer; however, I loved playing Perfect World’s Neverwinter. I’m such a brat when it comes to all the menus and keyboard shortcuts. League of Legends was too confusing for me and that game is fairly straightforward (once I couldn’t figure out why none of my powers were working… I accidentally opened a chat and was spamming it with QWER).

Neverwinter though, I just got it. You mover with WASD and melee with the right and left mouse buttons. You have ultras and stuff but I didn’t realize that until I got to a boss and the nice lady at the booth suggested I might want to use 1 and 2 on him. Huh, 1 and 2 did stuff all that time.

So, obviously I wouldn’t just tell you about a random PC game with no apocalyptic implications! Neverwinter is a game about a land that already survived the apocalypse and now they need to rebuild. But, with all the left overs from the apocalypse (like the undead), it’s a hard road and they need Heroes and the like to pave the way for weak respectable citizens.

Neverwinter will be free-to-play with options for purchasable version upgraded like the current founder’s pack that comes with a mount, a companion, VIP Beta access, and more (for $199.99).

Check out the backstory blurb:

One hundred years have passed since the Spellplague forever changed the magical and mysterious lands of Faerûn. Mighty empires fell and great cities toppled, leaving only monster-haunted ruins and survivors struggling to rebuild.

The city of Neverwinter, the Jewel of the North, seemed blessed by the gods. While the rest of the Sword Coast was devastated by the event, Neverwinter survived largely intact. But this was only a temporary reprieve from its inevitable doom. Nearly 75 years later, a volcanic eruption rained fire, ash and molten fury upon the city, annihilating everything in its wake.

Today, Neverwinter has restored much of its former glory. Lord Neverember of Waterdeep has taken the city under his protection and put forth a call to all adventurers and heroes of the Savage North to help rebuild Neverwinter in the hopes that one day he can lay claim to her throne and crown. But evil forces conspire in the dark places of the world, seeking to undermine all…

[PAX East '13] The Last of Us Features Happy Bricks and Echolocation.

I played The Last of Us demo at PAX East and felt all the feelings. Happy for a sweet band of misfits sticking together to make their way in this harsh new world. Confused by the MC Escher reminiscent environment that I couldn’t navigate because I could get lost in a cul-de-sac. Scared—no terrified—by the Clickers, cauliflower-faced creatures who use echolocation to ferret out their prey. Proud when I figured out how to distract them and escape. Finally, fun-stressed while I tried to fight off diseased humans from all angles.

It was vital to utilize stealth, cunning, speed, and puzzle-thinking to get through this scene so I can’t imagine what the game will hold. I’ve always thought of Naughty Dog as the story people with a good game keeping you in the seat but I think The Last of Us might have the story and game neck and neck for awesomest.

Now I’m a little worried I’ll miss some of the story because I’ll be so  engrossed in the game! Gah. My life is hard.

Check out the Last of Us Past East 2013 demo video:

Lucky me, I came away from the very stressful demo with a stress brick by the name of Happy Brock.

Happy Brock the stress brick!

Check out the official Naughty Dog write up on their blog.

[More about The Last of Us]

World War Z Extended Trailer: “The more human beings we save, the less we have to fight”

There is no shambling in World War Z.

There are hordes of super fast, single-minded zombies rushing anything that hasn’t yet been converted.

It looks both terrifying  and amazing.

Also, it seems Brad Pitt is the only person in the whole world with the skills, intelligence, and dogged curiosity to solve this zombie problem—if it can be solved—before the 90-day deadline.

Check out the extended World War Z trailer:

Time to get back on my cardio grind…

Tower Offense? Yes, Please; I'll Take ANOMALY 2.

ANOMALY 2 from 11 bit studios is going to be available for demo at PAX East this weekend and I’m stoked!

Why?

Obviously, I’m for anything thing that leads with “build war mechs,” but this glee is mainly because I’m a huge geek for tower defense games. Ninja Town is for real my favorite game. I lent it to my mom and then strongly considered buying a new copy because I missed it.

But ANOMALY 2 isn’t a tower defense game. It’s a tower offense game! You build troops to push through the enemy’s defenses and ultimately breach their base.

As the story goes, aliens came to Earth in the first ANOMALY Warzone Earth  game and they won. They beat everyone handily and now the planet is theirs and the responsibility to take it back is yours.

I plan to make a meal of this at PAX East and let you know how it preforms against expectations.

Check out the trailer and the official summary from 11 bit studios:

Continue reading “Tower Offense? Yes, Please; I'll Take ANOMALY 2.”

Don't be Fat… Or Do.

This isn’t about how I saw some obese person in the mall and thought to myself, “I’d never want a fat person in my apocalypse party because they’ll ruin everything.

No, this is about me being a chunk monster and realizing that I’m at a huge disadvantage and might want to either do something about it or look it in the eye and acknowledge it while planning my survival.

Jamie, Anninyn and Char have talked about getting fit for the apocalypse by running, walking and learning to fight. I talk about social manipulation and staying pretty…

It’s not that I don’t value physical fitness; it’s that I’m really bad at it.

That’s the saying after all: Write what you know.

I know about being chubby and weird and kind of good looking if I put some work in.

The problem is being fat, unlike being Black or a woman or Gay or ugly, is a very real disadvantage in an apocalypse. Not only because you’ll be less physically fit than your fellow survivors but also because everything about survival becomes infinitely harder.

A few things I know I’ll have to consider as a fat girl in the post apocalypse: Continue reading “Don't be Fat… Or Do.”

Kill 'em With Kindness

Sometimes my fellow, future post-apocalyptic queens and I like to daydream together about what our ideal post-apocalyptic world will be like. We plan to run the post-apocalyptic world not through strong-arming communities out of their supplies but through kindnessThis world often involves copious amounts of  moisturizer, rum, and POWER.

Some people will argue that kindness doesn’t go hand in hand with drunken, supple-skinned overlords. I beg to differ.

It’s not just you, I also doubt I could beat you in a fist fight or quick draw but I’m sure I could beat you in a game of which glass is filled with rum and which glass is filled with rum and poison!

Sharing is caring and I think you look tired and thirsty and I’m ever so grateful you helped me out of this pothole. I’m inclined to show you a bit of “kindness” in return (we talked about women in the post-apocalypse).

The rum isn’t only for entrapment purposes though, we believe in rewarding hard work be it by ourselves or by others. Loyalty is earned after all.


Continue reading “Kill 'em With Kindness”

The Land of The Video Game Apocalypse

Video games and the apocalypse go hand in hand. Player One is always that one guy with shit to do and an appointment on Tuesday trying to make his (or her) way through this mess and help all these people out—how’d they survive before Player One came along?

But, we keep coming back to these needy people in their dangerous world because of some romanticism that we can hack it, fix it, or beat it into submission.

Of all the video game apocalypses, which is the worst; which is the best? Is it the overwhelming zombies of Resident Evil, the galactic invasions of Mass Effect, the aggressive extermination in Halo, or some other hellish scenario?

If given the choice, I’d find this Unicorn Apocalypse from the Samsung Mobile commercials and be there. I don’t know all the details of Unicorn Apocalypse I just know those are two things I need to see in one place in order to die happy.

Some of my favorite and most feared video game apocalypses

Continue reading “The Land of The Video Game Apocalypse”