As some of you may have realized, last night was the Video Game Awards. As well as handing out nice mementos to the winners and playing host to a large amount of bonhomie and back-slapping, the VGAs also showcased a few new and exciting things. One of these new and exciting things was a two-minute long cinematic for Bungie’s forthcoming Halo: Reach. Check it out.
See? We do love you. The multiplayer beta is rumoured to be going live at some point in the first half of 2010, so those of you canny enough to hold on to your ODST discs will be able to get in when it launches.
I think we can all agree that is a mightily enticing cinematic right there, and it underscores the improvements made now that Bungie has switched to a new game engine. This is especially impressive given that in this tweet Bungie confirmed the trailer seen here is made entirely using the in-game engine, and not prerendered graphics.
We’ve all felt the pain of pressing the jump button a second time just barely too late in a game of Worms 2, sending a brave worm soldier free falling off the side of a mountain or, worse yet, into the watery depths below. Recognizing that the game might have some issues – and rather than simply calling us “newbs” like most people do – Worms 2 developers Team17 have just released a patch aimed at ailing all that is wrong with the adorable multiplayer strategy games.
Listing everything from “Back flip input slowed down to stop incorrect jumps harming the player” to “Fixed bug which made crates in Forts matches only land on the right hand side,” as well as a slurry of other fixes, Team17 seems to have given the nearly five-month-old release a full overhaul. An overhaul that’ll perhaps feel all the more worthwhile when the developers make good on next year’s DLC for the game. In the meantime, we’ll be over here waiting for you with a Buffalo of Lies.
Ahhh yes, flying helicopters from base to base, frantically scrambling to a good vehicle or cover, and the always prudent flag rush — staples of any good Battlefield: Bad Company online multiplayer match. Maybe you were more into sneaking into a building’s attic, blowing a hole in one corner, and carefully sniping the other team from afar? You are our bane!
Ahem, that said, the latest multiplayer trailer for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 above, serves to remind us of all the good times we had the first time around. It also, unfortunately, serves to remind us that the second game still isn’t out for another three months. Luckily, some of you will get to enjoy the multiplayer beta starting today. Do us all a favor, folks — shell the snipers!
Capcom recently fired off a fact sheet in our direction for Super Street Fighter IV and while most of it talks about the stuff we already knew — additional fighters, online lobbies, car punching — it did inform us of two new online modes for the expansion to this year’s excellent brawler and hook us up with some screens of the updated lobby system.
Teams of two, three and four will be able to see who’s the best Hadoukener around in the new Team Battles mode, which is a “round-robin elimination” mode where “one man stays until beaten, next team member rotates in,” Capcom’s Chris Kramer told Joystiq. So players will be able to either control a team themselves or assign slots to other players in the room. Just don’t go expecting any tagging in and out — that only happens in other Capcom games.
The other new mode is Endless mode, a one-on-one elimination mode where two players duke it out and the winner stays in the hot seat and fights the next individual queued up. If you’ve had any experience with DOA 4, then Endless mode is kinda like that game … sans the ability to be a chicken in a sombrero running around a martial arts dojo.
Capcom was also kind enough to include some new videos, strictly for training purposes. You can check out newcomer Juri fight T. Hawk above and, if you want some MAXIMUM gameplay footage, head past the break to see her fight Deejay.
It seems that there might be multiplayer added to Dead Space 2. A job listing looking for a “Senior Online Level Designer” was found on linkedin. The job description is as follows,
Seeking a highly motivated Senior Online Level Designer for the Dead Space franchise on Xbox360 and PS3. This is a major opportunity to contribute creatively to an exciting new franchise.
Responsibilities:
• Conceptualize, script, direct, and build online levels for the game.
• Own the level design for the online game, be able to work collaboratively with Creative Director and Online Producer to create extremely fun, satisfying and polished multiplayer levels.
• Drive online design by taking the initiative to bring all parties together to execute on the overall vision for the levels.
• Be a collaborative member of the design team, and contribute to reviews, feedback, and playtest sessions.
• Hands on contributor
From the description above, it seems that we could potentially see multiplayer in Dead Space 2. The posting on linkedin also stated that the game is “in the later stages of pre-production, ready for production in the next few months.” While there is no confirmation of Dead Space 2 actually having multiplayer, we will file this under rumor for now.
