Respawn Entertainment, the product of a long-winded battle between Infinity Ward creators & staff and Activision, has been rather quiet regarding their debut title since the studio’s founding. Rumors are now circulating that their first game will be an Xbox-exclusive. Sources are stating the next Xbox as the primary system with a focus on online gameplay requiring an always-on connection. An Xbox 360 version is possible, but ports for Nintendo and Sony consoles are not being considered.
The game is said to be set in the future and will have players facing off in David and Goliath battles. “Davids are heavily armed foot soldiers. The Goliaths are giant exoskeletons–Titans–that these soldiers can pilot.” It’s worth noting that Respawn recently filed a trademark for Titan.
According to these sources, Respawn is working on the Xbox 720 version which will utilize a modified Source engine with the developer outsourcing for the Xbox 360 port.
Microsoft will unveil its next-generation Xbox on May 21 with E3 following shortly thereafter, so the legitimacy of this rumor will likely be sorted out in the near future.
Dead Island developer Techland has announced Hellraid, an upcoming first-person action game featuring a single-player campaign and multiplayer offerings. The single-player experience will let players “fight, develop skills, collect loot and craft weapons while exploring a world devastated by demons.” A four-player co-op mode and “system-generated online challenges, loot and enemy spawn points make the game playable for hundreds of hours!”
Hellraid is currently in development for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 for a late 2013 release.
Ubisoft’s upcoming Watch_Dogs has a new trailer and a concrete release date. Announced at last year’s E3, Watch_Dog places gamers in the shoes of the technically-inclined vigilante Aiden Pearce who can hack electronic devices to gain information, wire funds, or trigger traps in an open-world game environment. Watch_Dogs will be available on current and next-gen consoles as well as PC on November 19, 2013.
Quantic Dream’s upcoming Beyond: Two Souls was recently featured at Tribeca Film Festival. The games the studio has worked on in the past are best categorized as “interactive movies” with past titles having deeper focus on non-linear storytelling over intricate gameplay. It’s no surprise then that the French developer is hiring film screenwriters and directors to assist David Cage in bringing his visions to life.
Beyond: Two Souls’ script is about 2,000 pages and was written exclusively by David Cage; having a staff of writers assisting in creating these stories could be a welcome addition to the studio. Their next project, a currently untitled PS4 game, has a staff of three writers, Cage included. The stories told in Quantic Dream’s games are still David Cage’s visions and, as such, he will continue to have the final word regarding all future projects.
Upcoming iOS space sim Star Command has a launch trailer and a release date: Thursday–for iDevices only. Android and PC releases are still in the works with the Android release planned first and PC to come later.
Arkham Origins developer WB Montreal has passed on casting Kevin Conroy, who has voiced Batman in multiple titles since Batman: The Animated Series, as Batman in the upcoming videogame. WB Montreal stated that since Arkham Origins is an origin story featuring Bruce Wayne in his younger years, they’re looking for someone younger to fill the role. While fans of Conroy’s voice work as the caped crusader will be disappointed, it is understandable that they’d cast an actor with a younger sounding voice to portray Batman in his earlier years. No news as to whether or not Mark Hamill will reprise his role as The Joker.
Dark Horse Comics will be releasing a new Halo comic miniseries. Titled Halo: Initiation, the series will follow Spartan IV Sarah Palmer in her ODST days and will chronicle her service in becoming the first Spartan IV commander; her character was first introduced in Halo 4. Halo: Initiation is being written by Brian Reed who previously worked on the comic book adaptation of Halo: Fall of Reach as well as the screenplay for Halo 4.
In other Halo news, Epic Games’ global marketing lead Kendall Boyd has parted with Epic in order to work at Microsoft Studios as the Director of Halo Global Marketing. He has shipped over 35 games at Epic as well as EA Sports and THQ.
A sequel to the classic NES brawler River City Ransom has been officially announced by Combit Studios. The announcement states that the sequel will not be River City Ransom 2, but they are working closely with Million Co., RCR trademark holder and property licenser, to ensure that the sequel will be true to the spirit of the original and provide fans with the best experience.
The River City Ransom sequel is planned for an August 2014 release with crowd-funding launching for the game this summer. It is currently planned for release on Windows, but other platforms are being considered (likely depending on how much money is generated with their crowd-funding campaign).
After showcasing their upcoming adventure game Beyond: Two Souls at Tribeca Film Festival, Quantic Dream has prepared a new trailer for eager fans. Beyond: Two Souls would probably be best described as an interactive movie, in line with Quantic Dream’s past games, and stars Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe. It is set to be released this October.
As a fan of the studio’s past work (most notably Heavy Rain and Indigo Prophecy), I’m excited to get my hands on Beyond this fall.
The rumors regarding the rebranding of the XCOM shooter as The Bureau are true. The game is still set in the XCOM universe but is no longer an FPS as it has been repurposed as a “third-person tactical squad-based combat game” with team and tactics “at the forefront of our gameplay experience,” according to The Bureau’s creative director Morgan Gray.
Keeping with the spirit of the franchise, when squadmates die in this tactical shooter, they’re gone for good. While this gameplay element isn’t anything new for the franchise, it’s certainly something that isn’t seen in shooters. In regards to this, Gray continued saying, “Our plotline is always moving forward. The consequences of that loss are immediate and there’s no way to hide from them. The war will not stop for you.”
When it was first announced (simply as XCOM), fans of the original games were upset at its radical departure from its strategy game roots. The game went silent for quite some time before the recent rumors started circulating about its rebranding. It is nice to see that they’re not wholly abandoning the original concept and keeping the game in the XCOM universe, but it would have been interesting to see the original vision of the game fully realized. The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is being developed by Bioshock 2 developer 2K Marin and is scheduled for release August 20, 2013. The press release and trailer for this XCOM spin-off are below:
Set in 1962 at the height of the Cold War, The Bureau tells the origin story of the clandestine XCOM organization’s first encounter with a mysterious and devastating enemy. Originally established as America’s covert defense against the Soviet Union, The Bureau must adapt and overcome a threat unlike anything the world has faced before. As special agent William Carter, players will call the shots and pull the trigger, leading their squad of agents in the high-stakes secret war for humanity’s survival. Paramount to repelling the outside threat is The Bureau’s ability to cover-up the enemy’s existence in order to prevent worldwide panic.
In the spirit of the XCOM franchise, The Bureau’s calculated combat design requires players to think and act tactically. The game’s third-person perspective gives the player a sense of spatial awareness and grants them the freedom to transition in and out Carter’s unique Battle Focus ability seamlessly — heightening the tactical shooter action. The Bureau also fully embraces the concept of permanent consequence. As our last line of defense, every command can mean the difference between life and death for Carter, his squad and mankind.
PowerUp Online 