With Raven Software taking on other projects, the development of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2: Fusion (DS, Wii, PS3, PSP, Xbox 360) has fallen to Vicarious Visions. Creative Director Dan Tanguay and Art Director Bryan Schutt share their thoughts about the experience, and why they think they're up to the challenge.

There's more than a month to go before Quantum of Solace (Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, DS, Wii, PC) comes out, but Activision's 2009 game lineup has revealed that a new James Bond game is already slated for release next year along with three new IPs. More in the full article.

Let's face it: Shadowgrounds was one of few titles to draw in hardcore gamers back into top-down shooting action. It was arguably considered a smash hit in the PC gaming underground (the heart of it being Germany), and so when Frozenbyte announced the series' new sequel, Shadowgrounds: Survivor, it was expected to be nothing less than amazing. 

Shadowgrounds was the only game to combine classic, alternative shooter action from the iconic Take No Prisoners from Raven Software, while sinking in the plot void that Sierra's Alien vs. Predator series was supposed to fill. The game's first story took gamers through an action-packed, alien-thriller ride across the human colonies of Ganymede in the shoes of Wesley Tyler, a former member of the IGTO security force.

Developed by Frozenbyte and initially published by Reef Entertainment, Shadowgrounds touted insanely breath-taking graphics for an independently-developed game. It was accompanied by an adrenaline pumping soundtrack from the Finnish tracker demoscene, which soon also characterized what the Shadowgrounds experience truly was.

And when Meridian4 finally picked up the game to distribute to other territories in Europe and to North America, it was received with mixed results. Shadowgrounds: Survivor would probably be Frozenbyte's attempt to correct that confusion and establish the game as a successful independently-developed franchise.

Late last year, Finnish developer Frozenbyte clued fans in on a new installment to the original game and promised that it would make landfall by 2007. It looks like the developers are making good on their word, because recent developments to the game were unveiled in the later half of 2007 and were reinforced with talk of gameplay improvements and additions.

And as if to underline the game's steady progress, Meridian4 gave QJ.NET the opportunity to preview Shadowgrounds: Survivors. We're not sure how nice we've been to deserve an early Christmas gift from Santa, but we were more than excited to unwrap our tasty present!

We've spent hours on end blasting the Ganymede menace back to the primordial pool they crawled out of, but we couldn't get enough of that even in four-player coop mode, and we wanted more. So much more.

And we definitely got more. Check out the full preview at the full article!

It's been a while since we last heard anything from Activision's Soldier of Fortune: Pay Back(PC, PS3, Xbox 360). Now, it seems that the sequel to one of the more exciting FPS games of the last generation is coming together pretty well, as seen in this first ever gameplay video of Soldier of Fortune: Pay Back.

This time around, things are considerably smoother and brighter, and the FPS action definitely more solid. The explosions come out quick and fast, and there's definitely a lot of blood. Here's hoping, then, that it comes with the same Soldier of Fortune flavor that sets it apart from the other FPS games this generation - despite the fact that it's not Raven Software doing the developing.

Embed's below, you know what to do. Enjoy!

If you've been having fun with the Hexen II port on your PlayStation Portables, then brace yourself for more homebrew goodness because developer jurajstyk has just updated the game to version 1.1.

But just like the first build, you will still need the original game installed on your PC before running this game. This port is really something because even though it is based from Peter Mackay's PSP Quake port, the source code employed in the game is the one used for the classic FPS by original developer Raven Software.

With all that said, here are the changes to Hexen II for PSP v1.1:

• Fixed:
• Rendering errors that could be observed at some places
• Two kind of errors are fixed :
• 1. Problem with surfaces not being drawn sometimes  (visible at village2 map at room with hidden portal )
• 2. Problem with rendering beyond the edge of surface (visible at demo3 map at section with bell and underground passage)
• Switching between transparent and opaque water no longer requires map reloading
• Some fixes related to model transparency rendering
• New Features:
• Support for suspending and resuming game
• Music playback trough MP3 implemented with MAD audio library (can be switched on/off from options menu or from console)
• Optimized sky drawing (three modes are available now : original, optimised , single color)

The download package below contains Hexen II for PSP v1.1 itself, the source code, as well as several documentation provided by jurajstyk. Be sure to read all those first before installing this on your PSP units.

Download: Hexen II for PSP v1.1

Details are still pretty sketchy, but it looks like Activision's Value division is making plans to release a new Soldier of Fortune FPS game for the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. Different this time around will be the choice of studio - Activision has chosen Cauldron (History Channel: Civil War) to be the game's developer in place of Raven Software, the devs who were behind Pay Back's predecessor, Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix.

That much on game details we know, aside from a posting over at EBGames and GameStop which dates SoF: Pay Back's multi-platform release for November.

SoF: Double Helix, for the guys new to the franchise, is a tactical FPS originally released for Windows PCs and the Xbox console back in 2002. The game was based on other popular FPS' of the time such as Counter-Strike and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, and ran under a Quake III engine. Stay tuned in case we receive word on updates for this new title under works.

First, the good news. PSP homebrew coder jurajstyk has just announced the release of a homebrew port of the Hexen II classic FPS game. This is based on Peter Mackay's PSP Quake port, with source codes taken from the original Hexen II (PC) by Raven Software, and compiled using PSPDev Environment for Win32.

As for the lowdown on the reported features and bugs version 1.0 carries:

• Working:
• Software rendering.
• Single player game and Portal of Praevus single player game
• Sound
• Save/Load
• Console commands
• Command line commands (through 'hexen2.cmdline' file)
• Multiple screen resolutions (trough command line params)
• User made maps loading (from console or command line params)
• Demo recording and playback (from console)
• On Screen Keyboard
• Missing:
• Music playback (disabled)
• Untested:
• Multi player (creating multi player game works)
• Known issues:
• No progress bar displayed when starting/loading/saving game (disabled because of stability problems)
• Restart or reload of a current map necessary if value of console variable 'r_transwater' is changed (otherwise water surfaces will not be rendered correctly)
• User made mods with modified progs.dat files will not work
• Sprite models with width or height that is not multiple of 4 can cause game to crash
• Some weird graphical artifacts can be observed sometimes
  

Before you guys get too excited about loading PSP Hexen II to your portables, take note of this very important detail (ergo, the Bad News): You will need to have an original copy of Hexen II installed in your PC, as key files needed for the PSP port can only be found in the original game. Also be sure be sure to check out the file readme for details on controls and development. Enjoy the download, but be sure to stick around in case of updates.

Download: PSP Hexen II v1.0

 

From the fame of Star Wars: Jedi Knight series, Quake 4, and several other titles: Raven Software is developing a new game under the wraps based on Wolfenstein, reports WISC-TV.

Raven designers claim that they're using new motion-capture technology found in Marvel Ultimate Alliance, which they said to be an invaluable asset. While they won't name the title or give more details, Raven did reveal that actress Carrie Coon will be the star.

To create a virtual character out of the actress, Coon wears a spandex suit with 63 reflective markers while 24 infrared cameras capture her movements. "You recognize yourself in it a little bit, but then, there's this fantasy element that's so fascinating," she said while discussing about her digital counterpart that would have different skins and costumes. To make her digital avatar complete, Raven will use a state-of-the-art face scanner and transform Coon to an elite assassin in-game.

Coon had previous experience with Madison Repertory Theater and American Players Theater before she got chosen to be Raven's new babe. She testifies:

"They had me kind of bust through doors with big guns and pretend I was an assassin being that didn't have a spine and club a body of something on the ground and sniff it. You know, it was one of the most bizarre audition experiences I've ever had in my life."

That's all we could gather for now, Raven Software is really touchy about the details. Can't blame them, the video game scene is a tough competition and you wouldn't want your secrets out. We'll make sure to cover any new info that Raven will reveal, so keep your eyes peeled.

At this point in time, you've probably read or heard a thousand and seven-hundred forty three (way to go, Mr. Exaggeration) reviews on Marvel Ultimate Alliance from your friends, relatives, and maybe even from that Captain Planet summoner guy from the comments section. Most of us have a thing or two to say about our favorite superheroes.

This game has been around for quite some time now, and it's available on a whole lot of platforms. So what's going to be different this time around in this review? For one thing, I've been MIA in the Marvel scene ever since they started mixing things up with parallel dimensions, time shifts, and the whole idea of Jean Grey with her now-dead-now-alive-then-resurrected-after-getting-killed-twice (ad infinitum) plot development. Meh.

Tedious thing, trying to keep track of the story line in the comics, and so, this review is coming from the perspective of someone trying to go back to his roots. I'd want to get in touch with the Marvel universe once again and safe to say, I'm pretty much satisfied with this game (developed by Raven - the same guys responsible for X-Men Legends) as a reintroduction to the Stan Lee club.

Before anything though, let's get the usual stuff over with first: graphics, controls, the works. This being in the PS3 blog, do know that we're reviewing the PS3 version here. You can skip this part if you've played the game already... or not. This is where I talk about the stuff that you can either directly see, hear, or interact with.

Superheroes in tights - video games and eye candy:

First impression, of course, would have to be the opening cinematic of the game. By god, it's nothing but a cinematic in every sense. More cinematic than seeing Eric Bana turn green in front of a bathroom sink. Graphics aside, the video pits you right in the thick of things - in media res, as they say - and flip you with all the explosions to get your heart pumping and screaming "C'mon, man! Just let me play already!" But then, of course, exciting as it might be, you definitely wouldn't want to skip the cinematic. It's cool like that: 1080p is love.

More of the review - and the eventual conclusion of my return to my superhero fandom roots - behind the "Full Article" link. And we promise: no parallel universes and iffy time lines.

In case you've forgotten, let us remind you of the statement uttered by Id Software CEO Todd Hollenshead a few weeks ago regarding more of their classic titles appearing on XBLA: "Making the surprise announcement at X06 for DOOM worked out great, so I'll be tight lipped about anything specific for now." As promising as it sounded back then, we learned today that we'll all be getting more than what we actually wished for.

Graphic designer Kevin Cloud declared recently that their company, Id, and Wisconsin-based developer Raven Software, are currently working on a full-blown Castle Wolfenstein title. In case you guys are not aware (but you should be), Wolfenstein popularized the FPS genre for the PC. So in short, pay some homage rookies! Anyway, moving on...

"What we're doing with Wolfenstein is creating this one, large empire that is seamlessly loaded to the player as he explores his world," disclosed Cloud. Developer John Carmack, on the hand, said that "The Xbox 360 is the first console that I've ever worked with, that actually has development tools that are better for games than what we've got for the PC." With such words coming from the programmer extraordinaire, we can't help but feel giddy and excited.

No details are available for the next-gen Wolfenstein...for now. Despite that, X360 gamers can definitely sleep sound tonight and dream of castles and first person shooters as Cloud leaves us with this parting statement: "Wolfenstein is really a way of redefining the way first person games are experienced."