No it’s NOT the new Manowar album cover

Roadrunner Records (who depending on how old you are you’ll know for launching the careers of Sepultura, Obituary and Deicide or for perpetuating nu-metal long past its use-by date and bringing us Nickelback) has announced it will release a digital EP in March to coincide with the release of God of War III on the PS3.

The EP will feature tracks from Killswitch Engage, Dream Theater*, Trivium, Opeth and Taking Dawn**.  Gamers who purchase God of War III Ultimate Edition will receive a voucher to download the tracks along with other fun bits and pieces.

Music has always been an important part of videogames and can help bring titles to life.  Our goal is to make God of War III a special release in all areas and this just another way to offer fans and newcomers a worthwhile experience”, says game director Stig Asmussen.

For more info, including some entertaining quotes from musicians trying to justify their involvement in a project like this (thank you Mikael Akerfeldt for remaining silent) click here.

* I’m going to start a rumor right now that they’re either broke or about to break up.  Hell, they’re doing this and they’ve toured Australia, what more evidence do we need?

** Nope, I’d never heard of them either.

Machinarium: A Robot Love Story

I like point and click adventures. They’re the kind of game I enjoyed when I was younger and continue to be the kind of game I feel most comfortable playing. I think what I like about them is the idea that everything on the screen is what you need to complete the task. If not, there are clues to get you through. You’re in safe territory, able to move through the game and enjoy the plot or the scenery, or both.

What a shame Machinarium, visually impressive as it is, doesn’t tick all of those boxes.

The game was developed by Czech company Amanita Designs, who put their own time and savings into making it. That alone impressed me when I first came across it. The beautiful thing about Machinarium is obviously the world they created. In a lovely sepia tone, Amanita has set up a junk planet populated by cute little robots. They frolick in oil, play music and go out their funny little lives. But there are some bad guys too, notably three bullies who are the reason for this adventure. They’ve separated two lovebots and the … well, I assume it’s the boy robot, is left in pieces on a junk heap.

From there it’s a matter of getting your bot back together and getting back into the city. In creating such a rich backdrop for the story, Amanita have decided to make only the useable items on the screen clickable and this makes sense in the first screen. It seems intuitive, with finding the pieces of the little bot easy. (more…)

Mmm, that's subtle advertising!

So we’re all looking foward to the highly acclaimed upcoming button-masher Bayonetta, yes?

Well apparently all the hype in the gaming community isn’t enough for Sega, and they’ve managed to expand their publicity campaign to a more … adult market.  And yep, even more adult than the Bayonetta Lookalike Competition.

Yes, before you can say “oh God, my eyes!”, head on over and check out Playboy Online’s “Sexiest Bayonetta” poll, in which five girls of dubious gaming credibility claim to be Bayonetta herself, and ask if you’d like to touch them.  It should probably go without saying that this one is NSFW.

So while I’m not really abject to the contest itself, there are a few things that I say need clearing up.  Chief of which is the fact that Bayonetta herself is around twice the height of a normal human, and half of that is just her legs.  Just try and find a model outside the jungles of the Amazon to follow that act.  Secondly, if you’re to believe Playboy, Bayonetta just fucking loves her some lollipops.  Cannot.  Get.  Enough.  Of.  Them.  I’m not sure if this is covered in the game, but hopefully she’s got some black magic up her sleeve to combat early onset diabetes.

However if you feel that being slightly tittilated will assist you in your decision to buy the game (releasing outside of Japan in the next couple of days), then by all means take a look.  Don’t forget to “read the articles” while you’re there!

At least it delivers what it promises!

2009 has been a particularly popular year for the undead.  If zombies were a stock, they’d be one of those shaky yet steadily earning graphs that indicate their progressive market saturation.  We’ve had the big titles like Left 4 Dead 2, Resident Evil 5 (and Darkside Chronicles), Plants Vs Zombies and Dead Space: Extraction, and it seems like we’re seeing endless new independent titles such as Killing Floor, Zombie Apocalypse and I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!  Heck, even Guybrush Threepwood has spent some time as a walking corpse over the past twelve months.

In short, while I’m a big fan of brain-eating hordes in general, to continue the slightly overwrought stock metaphor, we’re probably getting dangerously close to flooding the market here.

So now Zombie Driver, by Polish developers EXOR Studios, is another game to add to the undead collection from 2009.  Although the title may suggest some kind of undead Gran Turismo type game, what you’ll actually find here is more of an early Grand Theft Auto game … with zombies.

The story is so simple as to be non-existant.  There is a zombie outbreak in an un-named city, caused by a chemical company … or something.  The (also un-named) player survives the initial attack by jumping inside a taxi and driving out to the city’s quarantine line, where he strikes a somewhat unlikely deal with the military to assist in the evacuation of survivors in exchange for a safe exit from the city.

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