We won't have to wait for E3 to see the first info about the new Red Faction game. GameTrailers TV will reveal a trailer for the upcoming game tomorrow, at 12:20AM Eastern. Destructoid says that the game is called Red Faction: Armageddon, which fits with a trademark registered by THQ recently. In any case, we'll know ... early tomorrow morning!
The episode will also feature new footage of Crysis 2 and Platinum Games' Vanquish, so it's probably worth checking out if you like to see people in futuristic armor shooting things. See the promo after the break.
Click image to slide into our gallery
We're still waiting to see the first gameplay footage of Shinji Mikami's latest, Vanquish, but at least these new screens give us hope that the protagonist super-soldier isn't just some lumbering tank guy. It appears you'll be able to have acrobatic battles with giant mechs. If these pair of screens are any indication, there will be ballet-like air dodging maneuvers you can pull off, which can culminate in driving a giant spike (or is that a huge bullet?) into the thing.
The other new screens Sega sent over depict more of what we've already seen in the first batch of screens: shooting stuff, trying not to get shot by stuff and a bit of both at the same time. Check 'em all out in the gallery below.
#sega
Are you excited yet about Vanquish, the third-person shoot 'em up from Bayonetta and Madworld studio Platinum Games? Did we mention it's from the guy who made God Hand? And did you see these new screen shots? More »
If Platinum Games's Vanquish looks less like the idiosyncratic weirdness we've come to expect from Platinum Games, and more like something targeted at the core games market, well, it is. "We're definitely going for something a little more massmarket that will appeal to a wide audience," producer Shinji Mikami told Edge.
Mikami specifically contrasted Vanquish with God Hand, a PS2 brawler he created at Clover Studio. "I've released a lot of titles before," he said, "and I feel that, perhaps specifically with regard to God Hand, I was given too much freedom to make that game just as I liked. It didn't sell too well." While we understand Mikami's desire for commercial success (like he had with the Resident Evil and Devil May Cry games), we'd suggest that the only people who need to change their decision-making process in response to God Hand are the ones who didn't buy God Hand.
#shinjimikami
Cult hit God Hand was one of the last title released by Capcom's now-shuttered-subsidiary Clover Studio. Shinji Mikami, creator of Resident Evil, designed the game. He now has regrets. More »
Apparently, the lack of commercial success for MadWorld wasn't due to the game being bad or anything -- it was just that it was on Wii. Sega's Mike Hayes told CVG that the game was a "mismatch with the Wii audience," citing that Sega underestimated the amount of Wii owners who also own other consoles. To him, most gamers looking to experience a Mature-rated game are going to do so on the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC ... not the Wii.
Hayes was still proud of Platinum's attempt to strike bloody gold on Nintendo's console, but thinks the developer needs the power of the Xbox 360 and PS3 to "realize what they actually want to do." He points to Bayonetta as an example of this, calling it a "very high-quality standard."
And by "very high-quality standard," we think Hayes meant "in Bayonetta, you can suplex a damn dragon."
In a recent interview with CVG, Sega West president Mike Hayes spoke briefly on the future of the company's portfolio of intellectual properties. Hayes explained, "If you think about it, we can sequel-ise Bayonetta, AvP, Alpha Protocol and we can make a hit of something like Vanquish." Those are some mighty bold plans, considering only two of those games have actually been released.
We're fairly unsurprised by Sega's interest in a follow-up to Bayonetta. Not only because it's been a commercial success for the company, but also because the developers need another chance to do all the crazy action sequences they couldn't fit in the first game. Like, for instance, throwing a church at a dragon. Wait, they did that in Bayonetta? How about riding a motorcycle in space? Really, that too? Well, then ... we're stumped.
During the recent Vanquish media unveiling in Tokyo, creator Shinji Mikami outed the action/shooter game's lack of multiplayer functionality. "That's the main reason we're keeping Vanquish as a single-player experience -- to deliver the level of impact, the level of detail and the visuals we want to offer," Mikami offered at the press event, reports Eurogamer.
Apparently, due to the fact that the single-player game is "very intense" and "full of action," a multiplayer component would require "shaving a lot of things off" in order to make them work. It would seem that Mikami's more interested in Vanquish's main campaign impressing than the title having legs, though he would argue that a tacked-on multiplayer does little in the interest of serving gamers. "It kind of boils down to whether you have the multiplayer but you don't have that much impact, and end up being like everyone else ... or even below par." Yep, we're just as shocked and appreciative of his refreshing honesty as you are.
#bummer
These days it seems like every game has multiplayer. Multiplayer isn't just expected, it has become a given. That makes it all the more noticeable when a game does not have the feature. More »
It seems like a whole mess of outlets took a trip to Tokyo recently to play Platinum's upcoming Vanquish. ... What? Oh, well, no, we weren't there. It's fine though, it is. We're pretty sure that our invitation just got lost in the mail. (Our mail guy's a total Japanophile, so we'd believe it.) Besides, we were really busy that week. Just really busy with various things that we were doing.
... Anyway, we've read all the preview coverage that went up today and these are the broad strokes:
You'll play as a government agent named Sam who's using his futuristic battle suit, large arsenal and martial arts skills to recapture a solar-powered space station just used by Russia to blow up San Francisco. (Side note: If you want to make an armor guy mad, attack San Francisco.) As for what its third-person action feels like, we're seeing a lot of descriptors like "intense" and "frenetic," perhaps a move away from bulkier action heroes like Marcus and the Chief. The only character detail we know about Sam is that he smokes mid-fight, which is pretty much all we need to know. One sad note: No online multiplayer. Well, maybe in Vanquish 2: Still Vanquishin'.
What's that? You still want more? Well, maybe try Sega's blog or Game Informer or Eurogamer or basically anywhere but here. No, we told you, it's fine. *sniff*
It's not that the first screens from Shinji MIkami and Platinum Games' Vanquish look bad necessarily -- far from it. It's just that ... well, they look a little common, don't they? We've flipped through that gallery below a few times but couldn't find an image that got us even a little more excited for the futuristic shooter than we were yesterday.
It wouldn't be so bad if that first trailer for the game hadn't seemed like such a breath of fresh air. Oh well, these are just a few still images. Let's withhold judgment until we see it in action, hmm?
#sega
Sega and Platinum Games have released first screens of their upcoming third-person shooter Vanquish, the new action title from Resident Evil and God Hand director Shinji Mikami. More »
As listed in the most recent issue of Japanese mag Famitsu (and translated by Andriasang), Platinum Games' fourth effort for Sega, Vanquish, is headed to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 this winter. The game's director, the acclaimed Shinji Mikami, spoke with the Japanese mag recently and divulged information that wasn't easily gleamed from the debut trailer.
Apparently, Atsushi Inaba (ex-CEO of Clover Studios) will be serving as producer on what Mikami calls a "shooter that places importance on the good tempo and feeling of rhythm you get from playing an action game." The game's said to be set in a near future where US/Russian Cold War relations have resulted in a standoff and, instead of a traditional biotic life form war, Vanquish sees the main character battling robots while dressed in lightweight amor. "There are lots of games where you shoot and kill people, so this time we wanted to try and see how we could convey the good feeling of shooting robots." Truer words, Mr. Mikami. Truer words.
Allegedly the game is around 80 percent done at this point, with only "annoying" work left to (enemy and ally AI are among the few tasks left). Will we see Vanquish on North American shores this winter as well? We're unfortunately not sure just yet, but with the game "developed with overseas markets in its sights," we have to imagine Platinum Games would like its latest title to land in our trigger-happy hands as soon as possible.
As listed in the most recent issue of Japanese mag Famitsu (and translated by Andriasang), Platinum Games' fourth effort for Sega, Vanquish, is headed to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 this winter. The game's director, the acclaimed Shinji Mikami, spoke with the Japanese mag recently and divulged information that wasn't easily gleamed from the debut trailer.
Apparently, Atsushi Inaba (ex-CEO of Clover Studios) will be serving as producer on what Mikami calls a "shooter that places importance on the good tempo and feeling of rhythm you get from playing an action game." The game's said to be set in a near future where US/Russian Cold War relations have resulted in a standoff and, instead of a traditional biotic life form war, Vanquish sees the main character battling robots while dressed in lightweight amor. "There are lots of games where you shoot and kill people, so this time we wanted to try and see how we could convey the good feeling of shooting robots." Truer words, Mr. Mikami. Truer words.
Allegedly the game is around 80 percent done at this point, with only "annoying" work left to (enemy and ally AI are among the few tasks left). Will we see Vanquish on North American shores this winter as well? We're unfortunately not sure just yet, but with the game "developed with overseas markets in its sights," we have to imagine Platinum Games would like its latest title to land in our trigger-happy hands as soon as possible.
