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Category Archives: Game previews

Grey Dog announces new franchise: Comic Book Hero

Adam Ryland, who cut his development teeth with games focused on pro wrestling and ultimate fighting, such as Total Extreme Wrestling, Wrestling Spirit, and World of Mixed Martial Arts, has announced a new franchise he will be bringing to Grey Dog Software.

That new franchise is a significant departure from his wrestling/MMA background. Comic Book Hero: The Greatest Cape, promises to become the first superhero-centric text-based management sim, well… ever. According to Grey Dog’s press release, the game will “see the player take control of a super hero and guide them through their career as a costumed crime fighter, dealing not only with the ongoing threat of villains but also relationships with other characters and the expectations of the cities you are sworn to protect!”

It certainly sounds promising. Sure, it may not be as unique as ordering personalized wedding gifts fast, but if you have a gamer whose getting married, reserving their copy of this game might be just as welcomed by them as a matching set of coffee cups with the bride and groom’s names on them.

Ryland has revealed that in its first version, the game will focus solely on the heroic side of the coin, since getting a new franchise off the ground is such massive work, and perfecting the heroic experience is get to the game’s success; however, he has admitted that if the game goes over well, adding a “villain’s side” experience to the franchise will be on the agenda.

While fans are sure to hope that Ryland will eventually return to Total Extreme Wrestling in time for a 2012 version, Comic Book Hero is expected to release sometime this year, in 2011. We’ll be watching for it with interest.

Inside the Park Baseball – Impressions

Many sports sims claim to have role-playing elements, but a relatively new game from the good folks at OOTP Developments, Inside the Park Baseball, have released what may be the first true sports role-playing game.

With Inside the Park Baseball, you create a character from scratch, get drafted, and work your way up the minor league system with a goal of reaching the majors. While there’s plenty of baseball in the game, other details of player life pop up, too. What kind of workout regimen will you choose? If you’re out in a bar after a game, will you allow yourself to be baited into a fight with a disgruntled fan?

There are choices to make and many of them help fill out the full game experience; fortunately, it’s not quite as detailed as expecting your player to write oxyelite pro reviews, but it’s still pretty darn detailed. There’s a demo available; it’s worth a look.

Out of the Park goes mobile!

The fine folks behind Out of the Park Baseball sent me an interesting announcement this week. With this year’s version, OOTP Baseball 12, the company will debut its first mobile app version of the game, playable on iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad.

iOOTP Baseball 2011 will debut in iTunes’ App Store, with an initial price of only $4.99. The game will operate in three primary modes; Major Leagues will simulate the current 2011 season. Fictional will allow users to customize the game to their heart’s content. And Historical will offer three historically-accurate season: 1923, 1964 and 2004. Additionally, more historical seasons will be available for iOOTP Baseball 2011 for $0.99 each.

The move signals an ever-stronger relationship between OOTP and Apple; earlier this year, OOTP held separate drawings for an iPod Touch and an iPad2. Now, with support for Apple’s mobile platforms, the company’s Apple-friendliness has reached an all-time high.

Pre-orders are still being accepted for the PC and MacOS versions of their standard desktop PC version of Out of the Park Baseball, at a price of $29.99, a 25-percent savings off final release price.

The company has not yet indicated if an Android version of the game would be forthcoming. But, at least this year, I wouldn’t bet the family’s antique atlantic furniture on it.

Really appreciating the depth of OOTP 11

I’m genuinely beginning to appreciate the depth of Out of the Park Baseball 11, which I will soon be posting a complete review of. The game has grown by leaps and bounds this time out and I’ve really taken some time during my recent vacation to play the game and explore it in depth.

While the game is like Lipozene compared to the bloated EA Sports console-based baseball sims, I happen to appreciate that style of game. I can hardly wait to share my observations in detail. Look for the full review to be posted in this space quite soon!

Alan Wake intrigues

There are a lot of intriguing games out on the market right now, and most people can’t afford them all. This makes choosing the right handful of games more important than ever. Enter the new Xbox 360 title, Alan Wake.

Wake was first announced six years ago by the team that brought us the Max Payne titles; however, those crime noir shooters bear little resemblance to what is billed as a “psychological thriller.” In point of fact, Alan Wake draws more from videogames like Silent Hill and Heavy Rain, as well as TV shows like Lost and Twin Peaks, that it does Max Payne.

Now, sometimes this genre can trigger click here nightmares of poorly executed games of a bygone, point-and-click era. Fortunately, Alan Wake appears to be nothing like that; it works with a solid “light versus dark” theme that is simultaneously basic and effective.

The game features a novelist, Wake, who is trying to track down his missing wife in the Pacific Northwest, with pages from a novel he doesn’t remember writing as his only clues … pages that seem to reflect the reality unfolding with each passing moment.

It’s a primal concept that reminds me of Silent Hill at its best, which for me was Silent Hill 2, the first appearance of the franchise on PS2, and by far the one with the more basic and visceral premise: a grieving husband being beckoned by his dead wife to “meet her” in Silent Hill.

Similarly, Wake offers up core, primal fears and motives that make this 360 title one of the more intriguing options on the market right now; it’s on my “seriously consider getting this” list, along with Heavy Rain, Mass Effect 2, White Knight Chronicles, and Cross Edge.

In fact, it’s likely to stay near the top of my want list right up until Fable 3 is released near the end of the year (if it stays on schedule).

Out of the Park Baseball impressions

I’m not ready to offer up my official review just yet, but there are no exit signs on a game like Out of the Park Baseball. I’m digging into the depth of the game and really having fun exploring it at the moment.

The game has a lot of depth I haven’t really dug into before; it has historical seasons dating all the way back to pretty much the beginning of baseball as a sport. I need to study up to see if the game is historically scaled on salary models, but it’s certainly a lot of fun to have a game that is designed by folks who so obviously love the sport they are designing a sim around.

Looking forward to new OOTP Baseball

I’m looking forward to the latest version of Out of the Park Baseball; the company behind the game recently contacted me and offered to send my review code. Since I enjoy reviewing PC sports management sims, I gladly accepted.

Out of the Park Baseball has improved every year I’ve had the pleasure to review it, extending all the way back to m days with Dignews.com. I’m sure the OOTP team has some new wrinkles up their sleeves for this season’s version, and since it’s already quite solid, my hopes are high.

But we’ll see; I’m also very demanding, so if there are issues, you can be sure I’ll offer up an honest opinion. Still – yay! – it’s baseball season. The Twins are in Target Field, a new version of OOTP is on my hard drive… I’m ready to play ball, and that’s not just the testosterone cream talking!

Prince of Persia: Forgotten Sands

The next big game release my wife and I are looking forward to that will qualify as a “must have right away” title is Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands. The first PS3 Prince of Persia was a revelation for us both, and a game we both played through to the end more than once. We even bought the four-hour expansion from PSN.

But now, the follow up to that title is only about six weeks away and I’m jazzed, though not to the point of needing a pulse oximeter or anything. But excited? You bet.

Really, the big appeal beyond the gorgeousness of the game is the appealing storytelling of the relationship between the prince and the princess. Sure, it’s pure Disney’s Aladdin stuff, but it works for me, OK? And it’s one of a select group of action games that I genuinely enjoy as much as even my favorite RPGs.