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Ace, Shark , palvinder

Shark
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Shark
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Shark
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Shark
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Shark
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Shark
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Times have been tough for THQ. In the last week alone, the publisher was forced to fire a bulk of its staff and report higher-than-expected quarterly losses of $55.9 million to investors. Now, THQ has announced that 4A Games' Metro: Last Light won't be seeing the light of day until 2013, and Virgil Games' Warhammer MMO may not see the light at all unless it can find a financial partner.

THQ CEO Brian Farrell delivered the news in a recent investor conference call, explaining the Metro: Last Light delay is not a bad omen, but instead a means for THQ to bulk up its 2012 schedule and get back on track following a poor fiscal year. In a comment obtained by Rock, Paper, Shotgun, 4A Games assured fans this is a good move, saying, “[The release] may be a little later than you were expecting, but trust us – the wait will be worth it! You’ll be hearing a lot more about Metro: Last Light closer to E3, so please be patient. We can’t wait to show you what we’ve been up to.”



The fate of Warhammher 40K: Dark Millennium Online is slightly less promising. In an effort to control costs and to ensure the ambitious MMO actually makes it out the door, Farrell said THQ will need some outside backing, noting, “Because of the large financial commitment and associated risks, we are being realistic about our resources and we are actively seeking a partner for this compelling new MMO. We will keep you updated on our progress."

THQ's troubles are being blamed on the poor performance of its uDraw GameTablet and family gaming focus. Said Farrell: "Sales of the uDraw GameTablet and related software, and other titles in the kids, family and casual category were far weaker than anticipated, substantially reducing our financial results for the quarter. With our focused product plan, leaner cost structure, cash balance, and existing credit facility, we believe the company has adequate resources to execute on our plan and deliver on our strong multi-year pipeline of games."

That strong, multi-year pipeline, along with THQ's complete third quarter fiscal report, can be read in full here.

2012 is shaping up to be a transformative year for Team Fortress 2. This week, Valve outlined just some of the improvements and additions in store for the long-running multiplayer game, including a new “Meet the Team” entry, Steam blog, and top-secret projects.

“The TF2 team is working on something brand new for 2012. We can't tell you what it is, because they won't tell us, but what they WILL say is that it isn't a hat, it isn't a map, and go away,” said the studio in its latest blog update. “From this we can only conclude that the TF2 team is working on some ungodly hat-map hybrid that you can wear on your head while you run around in it. You heard it here first. Also last, because they just told us it's not that either. But it's 
really cool.”

Also cool (well, technically “hot”) is the promise of a new “Meet the Team” video for the Pyro, which promises buckets of blood and more insight into his (or her?!) background. In addition, Valve has launched its Steam Workshop Blog, offering a consistent stream of news and updates for the Steam-based modding site that was glimpsed earlier this week in Bethesda's Skyrim Creation Kit preview.

Lastly, Valve hinted at the “imminent unveiling of another secret” which will make its second annual Saxxy Awards bigger and better than before, implying that at least one of the two surprises may have something to do with enhanced content creation tools.

Team Fortress 2 celebrates its 5-year anniversary this October, and its first full year as a free-to-play title in June. Those seems like a good causes for celebration. Also, hats.

We spent hundreds of hours in BioWare's Star Wars: The Old Republic. We played a character to level cap, we tried out the end-game dungeons, and we played more games of PvP Huttball than we care to admit. But despite enjoying it all, we definitely have some ideas on how to improve the game, and we've put together a list with every major, minor, and silly suggestion we have for BioWare.

1. Cyborgs need more customization options to actually be considered cyborgs. A cybernetic monocle does not a cyborg make.

2. There should be an emote or an option to have our Twi’lek change its lekku style. Wrap it around like Bib Fortuna, throw them forward – there are plenty of ways to wear them besides letting them flap around like a mullet.

3. Twi'lek specific head gear, or at least modified versions of the head gear that already exists that accounts for lekku.

4. Fix Twi'lek lekku physics. Right now, especially when you go down in an elevator, they look like pigtails flipping around in the air. It’s adorable, but way too silly.



Above: It's obvious BioWare didn't test lekku physics that much

5. Besides being able to toggle headgear on and off, we should be able to toggle hoods up and down. We don’t want to ditch our hoods entirely, just… you know, put them down sometimes.

6. Previewable weapons in "dressing room" – sure, most weapons look the same, but some don’t!

7. Different stances in the dressing room. Clothes-trying-on montage!

8. An NPC “Image Designer” to let us change our appearance for a few credits in case we mistakenly choose a stupid nose.

9. Inventory auto-sort, because clicking around and rearranging stuff is annoying.

10. More playable races! Let us create Rodians, Gungans, Chagrians (horny Twi'leks), Nautolan (Kit Fisto), Trandosians, Ugnaughts, Ithorians, Droids, Werewolf guy in Cantina, Bothans, Snaggletooth, and more. If they don’t speak common just have them garble gibberish, we can read captions.

11. In fact, letting us choose to have our character speak alien gibberish as an option would be awesome, too. Just in case we don’t like the standard voices.

12. Dark Side/Light Side faction conversion. If our Jedi gets max Dark Side points, we should be able to re-roll him on the same server as a Sith for the other faction.



Above: One person in a ship is cool. Know what's cooler? A billion people

13. Ship PvP missions to let us take our twitch-skills to the stars.

14. Group ship PvE to let us join with friends and take on missions involving multiple ships. Sure, it only took one ship to down the Death Star, but there’s no way Luke would have done it without Han and Porkins.

15. Leaderboards for ship missions so we can make fun of our friends for sucking at ship missions.

16. Gunner seats in ship combat that can be accessed by group members.

17. A /dontgetcocky emote that can only be used during said gunner combat.

18. Kessel Run Racing. We think we could finish this thing in fewer parsecs than Han did.

19. Different ship skins that can be crafted or earned.

20. Different ships. Like, whole new ships. Even if the inside doesn’t change, it’s the outside that counts.

21. We should be able to call in air support from our ship if we are in certain areas. Imagine how cool that would be! “We’re pinned down! Rain down hell, boys!”

22. Free-roaming ships, like the ones in Star Trek Online or Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed.

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Both Sony and Microsoft have told French publication Le Point (via CVG) that consumers shouldn't expect to get their hands on new consoles before 2013. Microsoft France's Cedric Delmas told the magazine he was “certain... that there will be nothing new in 2012.” Similarly, Philippe Cardone, French PlayStation CEO, points out that his company was the last to join the current generation (paradoxically and infamously beginning said generation), and as such “will probably be the last to announce something” new.

Above: Hope and pray that the Internet has enough crack to turn out another 6-12 months' worth of "concept images" for the new machines

Both speakers display a reluctance to be measured on the same timeline as ostensible rival Nintendo. “We are not here to deal with Nintendo and they are not there to fight against other manufacturers,” argues Delmas, saying the company has “placed itself in a different cycle” with the Wii and DS lines. “The Wii is pressed for time because it is in decline,” suggests Cardone, a pressure that doesn't apply to his company. Delmas is more diplomatic: “they advance at their own pace, successfully as we have seen with the Wii, and now it is their turn to present their innovation.”

Epic's Tim Sweeney, speaking to Venture Beat, applauded Sony and Microsoft's decision to hold off on a premature upgrade. While it's “harder to generate the same excitement from the same hardware” after a certain point, Sweeney points out, with a new machine “you reset the installed base to zero and it’s a lot harder to sell a lot of games again.” Sweeney, whose company was influential in the hardware design of the Xbox 360, says an upgrade is only due “when you can make a dramatic leap in quality, not just 2X or 3X. It has to be huge and fundamentally new.”

As is quickly being made clear by Capcom, 2012 is the year of Resident Evil. The franchise’s 15th anniversary is highlighted by multiple news games coming out, and it all starts with Resident Evil Revelations, a brand new portable adventure starring two of the series’ most popular characters. Can a slimmed down approach to RE’s traditional mix of scares and gunplay work on the three-dimensional handheld? The short answer: yes.

Chronologically taking place between Resident Evil 4 and 5, Revelations’ plot provides some background on how the zombie-killing collective BSAA worked early in its inception. BSAA’s star agents Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield team up with some newer recruits to investigate around the globe a new threat from bioterrorist group Veltro. Though most of the game takes place on an abandoned cruise ship, the settings and timelines are constantly shifting in the surprisingly layered narrative.

Unlike last year’s mediocre The Mercenaries 3D, Revelations is a full RE experience made for handhelds, with a real story, voice acting, and impressive use of the 3D visual effects. The world you explore isn’t as big or sweeping as in recent console titles, but the cramped feeling plays into the claustrophobic vibe, reminding you of early Resident Evil titles. We wouldn’t say the horror has completely returned in this game, but it’s a great effort.

After the bright, open spaces of RE5, the darkly lit settings of Revelations brings back some of the horror the series once had, with shadows hiding enemies behind walls and doorways. The usually impactful gunplay is constant, but ammo is scarce enough to make you careful with your shots. Exploring the boat is a rewarding experience and there’s an interesting scanning mechanic that reminds us of Metroid Prime that makes each area a curious scavenger hunt. However, we didn’t enjoy the game’s standard first-person view when shooting, but that’s easily adjusted to RE’s current third person approach to gunplay in the options.

A majority of the game takes place on the empty (save for the undead) boat The Queen Zenobia. Fans of Jill Valentine upset at how she was portrayed in RE5 will be very happy with her being the strong lead protagonist of the ensemble. Chris gets a fair amount of play time too, but we weren’t in love with all the new characters introduced. Some (particularly Parker and Jessica) are distinctive, but others (like a supposed comic relief duo) leave much to be desired.

As the game continues, the way Revelations reuses certain levels multiple times only gets more frustrating as a heavy dose of backtracking is added in. It’s mixed up a little by sometimes backtracking while swimming, but the aquatic areas got old fast, even if they don’t happen often enough to be a deal breaker. Add to that the fact that the shifting setting occasionally makes it hard to keep track of where you are in the boat, meaning you’ll probably end up going in a circle at least once. Similarly recycled are the enemies, as the generic grey monsters filling the deserted rooms and hallways come in about four varieties. There’s a real lack of diversity in the regular enemy types, and we wish there were some real zombies to be found to spice things up.

Fortunately that general repetition that pops up now and again is often alleviated by Revelations’ stupendous pacing which is perfectly suited for a handheld. The episodic nature of the story is assisted by video recaps at the start of the dozen different episodes, and though you can’t save at will, RER auto-saves often enough that it was never a problem. The story lasts 8-10 hours, with an Achievement-esque rewards system and co-op missions supplying even more replay value in addition to the New Game + available after you finish.

More exploration and refined combat could be a winning formula:

It's not that Silent Hill games have been terrible since Silent Hill 2 by any means, but it's true that none have really lived up to its excellence. It's like Silent Hill 2 is to the Silent Hill series what Thriller was to Michael Jackson – it's a peak that's hard to match. Silent Hill: Downpour looks like it's headed in the right direction though, and so far it feels like a good mix of bringing back what made Silent Hill 2 great while still setting itself apart where it counts.



Silent Hill is yours to explore

In Downpour, protagonist (is protagonist the right word for a main character in Silent Hill?) Murphy Pendleton is trapped in an area of the town of Silent Hill that's southeast from where previous characters have been (careful observers can piece together the maps from previous games by picking up on clues within the game). From what we've explored so far, the town feels like the town in Silent Hill 2, but without all the locked doors and dead ends ultimately leading down a linear path. Silent Hill feels like a current-gen town now, and you're able to wander and explore its various buildings much more openly.

Overall, it seems like there's more to see and do in Downpour's take on Silent Hill than ever before. Dynamic weather, from cloudy skies to sprinkles to full-on titular downpours, indicate how much danger you're in at any given time, so you can seek cover indoors or stay out in the rain and fight if you choose. Sidequests seem plentiful as you explore too, and we hope that these optional tasks will gradually unveil story details and background. Then again, there's also the possibility that a less focused experience will water down the atmosphere, but we're still excited at the prospect of being able to explore the town freely.