The original 2D sidescrolling Rayman game was one of the reasons that made me purchase a Playstation console. The incredibly fun gameplay coupled with the gorgeously animated for its time graphics really made me fall in love with the franchise. However, its 3D successors never managed to capture the greatness that was the original game. Which is why it’s incredibly exciting that, at Ubisoft’s E3 conference yesterday, a brand-new Rayman game was announced, Rayman Origins.
The first true 2D successor to Rayman, Rayman Origins certainly retains the gameplay, animation, and humor of the original game. It seems that this game will deal with where Rayman comes from as well as a new character, dubbed Rayman’s “double” or “blood-brother”. Together, as the trailer explains, they apparently will share their taste in dance and music, as well as their conception of life in polite society. No idea what this means, but it sounds hilarious, and awesome.
While there is no official release date for Rayman Origins, we do know it’ll be available on Xbox Live, Playstation Network, and the iPad. The game will be released in episodes, allowing for reasonable pricing and a longer, more developed game. We’ll keep you posted on this as well as any other games being announced at E3 during the coming days. You can watch the trailer for Rayman Origins after the jump.
To say the single player campaign of Assassin’s Creed II left players wanting more is an understatement. And that doesn’t mean the gameplay experience was lacking. It was the complete opposite. Ubisoft had crafted such an enthralling experience that when gamers were left with a cliffhanger ending that introduced a whole lot of information regarding Ezio and his ties to Desmond and the Templars, they needed to find out where it was going.
Luckily, this year will introduce Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood which further explores the adventures of Ezio and his fellow assassins. In the first trailer below, you’ll witness the power that a group of assassins working together has that Ezio never would have had a chance of pulling off on his own.
While Ezio may look to take the role of the leader of this group, it’s going to be a whole new ball game in multiplayer. Instead of a simple death match where players will be running around shooting guns off in a constant chaos as they often play out, players will be hunting each other down in a horrific fashion, using the different assassination techniques that have made previous titles so fun. From blending in with their surroundings to using their hidden weapons, players will get the chance to take out their friends in competitive multiplayer like never before. Players will fight off in what looks to be a populated world where anyone could potentially be another assassin ready to take aim at them as their search for their prey.
Check out the trailers after the jump and stick to the Flickcast for more information on the sequel to our Best Action Platformer of 2009, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood.
So E3 starts tomorrow officially while today is the Microsoft Press conference. As you have already seen, we have gotten some advanced notice on some of the happenings going on at the event. A few changes will be happening with our coverage of the event compared to last year.
This year we won’t be giving a fully detailed recap of the BIG 3 Press Conferences from Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo as a formal post. We will, however, be posting our thoughts and coverage on the big announcements and trailers as well as give a full indepth discussion with Matt Raub, Chris Ulrich and myself on this week’s episode of thepodcast.
We have also gotten official word from various industry sources on what companies will be showing at the event. These have come from various press releases, other industry insiders and various leaks from the LA Convention Center itself regarding the event.
There has also been tremendous speculation around the event. Some of those rumors will be examined below as well. Finally, some of my own personal E3 2010 theories and predictions will be put out there too.
When the Wii was first announced and its motion control capabilities were described, two things instantly came to the minds of hardcore gamers: guns and swords. A game where you could either swing a Wiimote like a broadsword or aim down the sights of a machine gun, the fit seemed so obvious for what was being told to them. To add to this hype, Ubisoft announced Red Steel which actually combined BOTH aspects in to one game.
When the Wii finally came out, gamers found out Nintendo’s claims, and the Wiimotes, weren’t entirely accurate. Instead of the one to one movement that was expected, waggle controls led the first wave of Wii titles and left hardcore gamers wanting more from titles like Red Steel while the casual gamers like soccer moms and senior citizens developed a love for Wii Sports.
Now, with the Wii Motion Plus which lets the Wii get closer to fulfilling its original promises, developer Ubisoft is taking a second stab at Red Steel. Coming March 25th, Red Steel 2 looks to correct the control problems the first game suffered due to the limitations of the Wii and bring its mature styled gameplay to the ever hungry hardcore audience that has been waiting patiently for the system’s next big hit.
“The soldier of the future is an F-16 on legs.” Slated for fall of this year, gamers will get to take a look at just what the militaristic fantasy genius Tom Clancy sees in the next generation of soldier. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier continues to press the limits of what we come to think of as war.
While the trailer below leaves a lot to the imagination and acts as only a teaser of what is to come, the eerie pretense of the soldiers is enough to bring our attention right to this game. After the success of Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, affectionately referred to as GRAW, and its sequel, we know the reputation that Clancy games must live up to.
To further wet our appetites, it looks like there will be a multiplayer beta coming too this summer for anyone purchasing Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction. Until then, take a peek at this great teaser trailer for the XBox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.
As reported last week here on The Flickcast, duringSony’s E3 Press Conference, the company announced that in the upcoming Assassin’s Creed II game the main character, Ezio, will be making hits during the Italian Renaissance. But unlike the first game, you won’t be going in to this on your own. You’ll have allies aiding you, teaching you and providing useful tools along the way.
The most important of these allies is the famed Leonardo Da Vinci, one of the greatest artists and thinkers of his time. As already demonstrated during Sony’s press conference, Ezio will have access to some of Da Vinci’s greatest inventions to help advance his cause. One prime example of this in the use of Da Vinci’s well known “flying machine”.
Now you might wonder why someone like Leonardo Da Vinci would associate himself with a killer. The answer to that lies in the essence of who Leonardo was. He was a futurist. He thought about what would be coming lifetimes ahead of him, as seen by many of his inventions that were the basis of many current technological marvels. In the first Assassin’s Creed, the assassin Altair worked for a guild that only assassinated those who deserved it. They put the needs of the many ahead of the needs of the few in their eyes.
Following Nintendo’s Wii Sports Resort and Mario filled press events, Sony Computer Entertainment of America’s CEO and President Jack Trentton took the stage. Jack said that despite numerous press leaks, Sony still had some tricks up their sleeve. He was proud to announce Sony would be releasing 364 games this year before pointing out that Sony was the only company currently running three separate systems at the same time (which isn’t entirely true as Nintendo has the Wii, DS and DSi, which has some different games not available to the DS). After giving some projected sales figures for the Playstation 3, he applauded the success of Infamous, calling it the first successful summer blockbuster game with ratings averaging over 90%.
The first new title shown, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, was presented by Evan Wells, CEO of developer Naughty Dog. The single player gameplay footage showed Drake and a female companion climbing across rooftops when they were attacked by a helicopter. Running toward the copter and then through a building dispatching enemies on the way, the game looked beautiful.
The backgrounds expanded in the distance as the town Drake is adventuring in is burning in certain spots. In addition to the ability to kick over furniture to create cover, the demo ended with a great scene of the building you are in toppling over with furniture crashing all around you before a harrowing escape. Jack Trentton made sure to add that Uncharted 2 is a PS3 exclusive as it was something that “could only be done on the Playstation 3.” This turned out to be the “phrase of the day” for the Sony representative.
Even with all the E3 news coming out today, we haven’t forgotten that we also cover movies, tv and comics here at The Flickcast. So, with that in mind, here’s a bit of news concerning a movie that pretty much everyone has heard of but most people know almost nothing about. I’m talking about, of course, James Cameron’s mysterious virtual reality film Avatar.
Since before production began on the film, Cameron has been very secretive about it and has taken great pains to keep the details under wraps. But now, the academy award winning director has gone on record about the upcoming film during the Ubisoft press conference where he also announced details concerning the Avatar video game.
According to Cameron, Avatar takes place in the 22nd century on Pandora, an Earth-like moon with 1,000-foot-tall trees and creatures both beautiful and terrifying. There’s also a race called the Na’vi, who are primitive humanoids but are also 10 feet tall, blue-skinned and striped like tigers. They are wise and fierce warriors who live harmoniously in their forest environment.
Because the atmosphere on Pandora is toxic to humans, there are human-Na’vi hybrids called “Avatars,” which are living, breathing bodies in the real world, controlled by human “drivers” who project their consciousness into the Avatar bodies. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is a paralyzed war veteran who can live within his Avatar and finds himself caught between the humans and the inhabitants of Pandora.
Complications arise when he also falls in love with a Na’vi woman, perhaps causing what Cameron describes during the press conference as “massive battles featuring flying creatures called “Banshees.” Besides Sam Worthington, Avatar also stars Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi and CCH Pounder. Avatar hits theaters on December 18th.
The original 2D sidescrolling Rayman game was one of the reasons that made me purchase a Playstation console. The incredibly fun gameplay coupled with the gorgeously animated for its time graphics really made me fall in love with the franchise. However, its 3D successors never managed to capture the greatness that was the original game. Which is why it’s incredibly exciting that, at Ubisoft’s E3 conference yesterday, a brand-new Rayman game was announced, Rayman Origins.
Following Nintendo’s Wii Sports Resort and Mario filled press events, Sony Computer Entertainment of America’s CEO and President Jack Trentton took the stage. Jack said that despite numerous press leaks, Sony still had some tricks up their sleeve. He was proud to announce Sony would be releasing 364 games this year before pointing out that Sony was the only company currently running three separate systems at the same time (which isn’t entirely true as Nintendo has the Wii, DS and DSi, which has some different games not available to the DS). After giving some projected sales figures for the Playstation 3, he applauded the success of Infamous, calling it the first successful summer blockbuster game with ratings averaging over 90%.
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