Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Deadlight Review (XBLA Summer of Arcade)


Could I survive a zombie outbreak? That’s the question Tequila Works hopes you ask yourself – and answer – while playing their XBLA Summer of Arcade title Deadlight. Deadlight is set in the 1980’s well into the “Massive Mess” that changed the world forever. Already a bleak and ruined world, our protagonist Randall Wayne does what he can to survive – all while looking for his family, hoping they somehow made it too.

A highly beautiful post-apocalyptic 2.5D survival puzzle action game that introduces new mechanics in an homage to old-school platformering. Can it rise above the many trappings of not only the genre but of the Zombies-saturated market?

Read the full Review: http://fronttowardsgamer.com/2012/07/31/ftg-review-deadlight-xbla/

Interview with Raúl Rubio Munárriz: Creative Director of XBLA's Summer of Arcade title Deadlight



In the sea of announced titles, tucked away in the Xbox Booth during PAX East 2012 there was one game which surprised onlookers and critics alike: Deadlight. Set in a dark post-apocalyptic zombie-filled future, Deadlight places an emphasis on the survival lacking in most modern games. It was refreshing to see that the recently formed development house Tequila Works had created a zombie game that still managed to stand out above the rest. The game combines beautiful stylized art and modern mechanics with old-school puzzle platforming. After so many generic survival-horror entries recently, it’s easy to see why Deadlight left people hopeful.

To those who had seen it, it came as no surprise when a few months later Microsoft announced Deadlight would be among the titles in their Summer of Arcade 2012 lineup. To help shed some light on this dark future, we picked the brain of CEO and Creative Director Raúl Rubio Munárriz for some answers in anticipation of their release...


Read the full Interview: http://fronttowardsgamer.com/2012/07/28/summer-of-arcade-2012-interview-with-deadlight-creator-raul-rubio-munarriz/

Thursday, July 26, 2012

XBLA Summer of Arcade Review: Wreckateer on Kinect


As the second game in the Summer of Arcade 2012 promotion – and the only Kinect title – Wreckateer has garnered a lot of attention and skepticism. Developed by Iron Galaxy Studios, Wreckateer is at its heart a “high score chase” game in veins of another catapult-to-knocking-down-buildings game. Entering a market wary of cartoonish graphics and casual user targeted Kinect games, Wreckateer tries to launch itself above expectations.

Full Review: http://fronttowardsgamer.com/2012/07/25/ftg-review-wreckateer-xbla/

Sunday, July 22, 2012

NJHALO - July 21st 2012

I attended the NJHALO Tournament hosted by my friend Rod Lane in the Morristown, NJ Hayatt Hotel. We had a great turnout of close to 400 people competing in various competitions from Modern Warfare 3, Gears of War 3, NBA 2K12 and Madden to the fighting matching such as Street Fighter 4 and Mortal Kombat. There were even Pokemon and for the first time EVER, Minecraft was part of a tournament.

Follow this link to the SkyDrive album with all the pictures I took and check out the video of Team Dread participating in the Gears of War 3 match I taped below.  



Check out Rod Lane's Facebook page for all his future tournaments.

Friday, July 20, 2012

Batman Dark Knight Rises

Went with a few friends who really got into the Batman mood.
Went to see Batman: Dark Night Rises last night as part of their midnight release. It was fantastic, really great story and plot. There was plenty of action, and the moments that didn't have action were filled with great plot devices and conversation. The approximately 3hours to see the movie flew right by before I noticed. I'd recommend this film to anyone who enjoyed the previous Batman movies, comic book fans, and action fans. I would recommend parents exercise their judgment in bringing children to see this.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Cipher Prime Visit 7/18/2012


For those unfamiliar with Cipher Prime they are the local Philadelphia based game studio who created Auditorium, Fractal, Pulse and Splice. Their games are on Mac/PC and iOS platforms.

I was invited to visit their studio and besides having a great time playing games on a 82" projector screen and free drinks, was very impressed with their team. I'll hopefully have time to make a full write-up on their titles and their local Game Dev Nights - where they open their doors to create a mind-share for local developers. Until then, check out their Cipher Prime site and the Steam items (currently on sale).

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

An XBLA review of [redacted]

Oh dear god... this is going to be EPIC. Can't wait to play [redacted].

Look for my latest review next week. Note: it's not the same as the previous tease.

BestBuy Videogame Deal of the Day

BestBuy Deal of the Day has 'Need For Speed: The Run' on Xbox 360 and PS3 for $4.99 (83% off). http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Misc/Deal-of-the-Day/pcmcat248000050016.c?id=pcmcat248000050016

Monday, July 16, 2012

What I'm working on 7/16/2012

Here's a hint at what review I'm working on next

HTC Titan II Review

On September 1st 2011 HTC released one of the first Windows Phone 7.5 phones – the HTC Titan. The Titan earned it’s designation with a massive 4.7inch screen and garnered praise for its well-made design. On January 9th 2012 the HTC Titan II not only brings the same 4.7inch screen, but with two immediately noticeable changes: AT&T’s ultra-fast 4G LTE and a massive 16 megapixel camera to match its screen size.

I break down this review into key areas of interests such as design, camera, and applications to give a better insight on the HTC Titan II.

Read the full review here: HTC Titan II Review