Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars is one of the most unique Wii exclusive titles on the market, at least visually and conceptually, even it the games have amounted to nothing more than platformers and have received reviews in the 6 to 7 out of 10 range.
Regardless, a lot of effort when into developing Spore Wars as well as Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi on DS (both games are developed by Red Fly Studio and published by GameC0ck Media Group), especially when it comes to the elements that make up the game: the visuals, audio, enemies, weapons, concept and theme.
In these video documentaries, take a look behind-the-scenes at what went into making each aspect of Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars.
Tomb Raider: Underworld’s November 18th release date (21st in Europe) is fast approaching and with that in mind, here is a brand new behind-the-scenes look at the game.
“Beneath the Surface - Your Surroundings” takes a look at the environments in the newest Tomb Raider title and has the developers talking about what they did to improve the series beyond just making the environments prettier (which is also definitely the case). Instead of stale, empty worlds you now have detailed environments with puzzles that can be solved in multiple ways. The team created the environments to really be an extension of the player, and not just something they run through to get from point A to point B. Take a look:
Eidos also released a new “Sinking Ship” trailer that is almost exclusively gameplay footage, as Lara battles so human enemies, shoots her weapons, ducks and dodges and avoids catching fire.
The Legend of Spyro trilogy was a reboot for the classic platform hero who started his career on the Sony PlayStation One way back in September of 1998. The new games have nothing to do with the old ones, making it easier for people who have never played a Spyro game, or who haven’t touched the series in ages, to get back into the fold.
And if you haven’t played a Spyro game, you just may want to try it out after watching these new behind-the-scenes videos. I know for me personally, this series had completely flown under my radar, but this newest game looks mighty impressive.
Not only does it have an all-star voice cast including Elijah Wood, Gary Oldman, Christina Ricci, Blair Underwood, Mark Hamill and Wayne Brady, but the game also features drop-in/drop-out co-op play and, for the first time in the Spyro franchise, the “Free Flight” ability which allows players to freely fly at any time around the game’s beautiful, vast environments (previously Spyro could only fly during certain set-pieces, only being able to glide in any other situation).
The graphics are quite impressive and the game has a true cinematic quality to it, thanks in no small part to the excellent voice cast which seems to fit perfectly with the characters.
It’s interesting cause I have recently been picking up a lot of retro games at Bookman’s Entertainment Exchange (my latest additions being Super Mario Bros. Deluxe [GBC], Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix [PS1] and Resident Evil 2 [GCN) and I always come across the original Spyro and have this desire to pick it up . . . I never do, but I can definitely say this new game has piqued my interest.
Give a look behind-the-scenes in the video, as well as two trailers for the game.
What Could Lara Do? That’s what the developer’s of Tomb Raider: Underworld had to tell themselves in order to figure out how to enhance Lara Croft to a degree that is more realistic and modern than ever before. What could they make her do that she should have been able to logically do before, but couldn’t?
This means she can independently target to enemies at once, she can attack them in more ways than ever before (such as jumping on their head and shooting them as she backflips off), and even being able to fight enemies while she is hanging or climbing.
Add some beautiful graphics to that package and you have an amazing and fun looking Tomb Raider game. Tomb Raider: Underworld is set for release on the PC, Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2 and DS on November 3rd (November 21st in Europe).
Microsoft has released “Delta Blues”, the third instalment in a series of video documentaries that showcase the development of Gears of War 2 before its worldwide launch on November 7th, 2008.
“Delta Blues” provides an inside look at the members of Delta Squad from those who know them best. In this vidoc, find out what it means to never fight alone as Epic Games design director Cliff Bleszinski, senior producer Rod Fergusson and president Mike Capps discuss the iconic characters who comprise Delta Squad, as well as the new characters introduced in Gears of War 2.
Watch the third Gears of War 2 video documentary.
Watch the latest Gears of War 2 video documentary too. In “Enter the Horde” Epic gives a closer look at brutal new foes.
Gears of War 2 is one of the most anticipated games to be released this year, and is currently scheduled to hit store shelves on November 7th.
As such, the developers at Epic Games (with famed Gears designer Cliff Bleszinski aka Cliffy B.) have seen fit to walk gamers through the sights and sounds of their latest epic.
In their first developer diary, dubbed “A Touch of Sound”, Cliff along with Audio Director Mike Larson, Senior Producer Rod Fergusson and Composer Steve Jablonsky tell you why “audio is everything” and explore how and why Gears of War 2 will sound . . . crunchier. You also get a brief look at the voice recording process as well as the symphony orchestra and composer who did the game’s music. Which was created by the same guy who did Transformers the movie and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Fitting indeed I’ll say.
The second Developer Diary is dubbed Every Gun Has A Story and is pretty self-explanatory. Cliff and Rod, along with Art Director Chris Perna, first give you an overview of the new weapons in the game, then they also explore the Executions, Chainsaw Duels and the new “imtimate violence” gore effects, that allow chunks of enemies to come off realistically! HELL YEAH!
Web-Slingin’ Wednesdays brings us a new Spider-Man: Web of Shadows behind-the-scenes Story video that reveals the escapades of Peter Parker in the newest video game to feature Marvel’s most popular superhero.
In addition to learning more about the storyline in this newest game, the video also reveals new footage of the game in action!
Sierra has announced the voice acting cast for their upcoming open-world action/adventure game Prototype, which will be hitting the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC in the third quarter of this year.
Barry Pepper (Flags of Our Fathers, The Green Mile, Saving Private Ryan) headlines the cast as he voices Prototype’s main character Alex Mercer – a dark, genetically mutated shape-shifter hell-bent on solving the mystery of his existence as he tears through a densely populated New York City moving with Parkour-style fluidity consuming anything that gets in his way. With supporting voice work by Gordon Clap (NYPD Blue, Rules of Engagement) and Paul Guilfoyle (CSI, L.A. Confidential) this fitting cast is sure to enhance the game’s uniquely mysterious and conspiracy-filled plot.
For an in-depth look at the game check out this Prototype featurette video.
The release of the new Turok game is almost upon us! The game hits store shelves in the U.S. on February 5th and in Europe on February 8th for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. A PC version is also in the works for second quarter of 2008.
Since I just recently wrote my Turok 2: Seeds of Evil review I am extremely anxious to see how this game turns out. The game looks phenomenal to me and I am just so happy to see the return of Turok in top form (I hope) after Acclaim destroyed him with the abysmal sequels, particularly Turok: Evolution (although as I state in my review of Turok 2, even that game had several issues).
Hopefully this new game hails the revival of Turok and will see a return to his glory days and lives up to the expectations of the first game (read my Turok: Dinosaur Hunter review as well for my opinion of it).
Check out part 4 of Awakening the Giants: The Making of Turok for an in-depth look at the game.
A new behind-the-scenes Syphon Filter: Logan’s Shadow (PSP release date is October 2nd, 2007 in the US, sometime in October or November for Europe) video discusses the storyline in the game, which was penned by popular novel and graphic novelist Greg Rucka.
Greg Rucka talks about the game, it’s characters, the storyline, what he contributed to the project in the terms of making the storyline in Syphon Filter: Logan’s Shadow character-driven as opposed to story-driven (by focusing on Gabe and making his life more complicated, for example); Whereby Gabe doesn’t know who to trust or who is really on his side. The game really seeks to expand on the entirety of the Syphon Filter universe as well.
I must say as someone who isn’t a fan of the games (I’ve never played them) this video here has me, very, very interested.
Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars is one of the most unique Wii exclusive titles on the market, at least visually and conceptually, even it the games have amounted to nothing more than platformers and have received reviews in the 6 to 7 out of 10 range. 
