Dead Island

Dead Island is a first-person survival horror video game developed by Techland and published by Deep Silver for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. It is centered on the challenge of survival on a zombie-infested open world island with a major emphasis on melee combat. It was originally announced at E3 2006, but was pushed back to 2011. It was released on September 6, 2011 in North America and September 9, 2011 for PAL regions (excluding Germany).
Dead Island features open world roaming, played from a first-person perspective. Most of the gameplay is built around combat and completing quests.

Dead Island is a role-playing game and uses experience-based gameplay and character customization. The player earns XP by completing tasks and killing enemies. Upon leveling up, the player gains health and stamina, and can invest one skill point into a skill tree.

Combat is carried out through the use of melee weapons and firearms. Melee weapons are emphasized to the point that firearms are not available for the first quarter of the game, and consist of blunt and bladed weapons. Weapons are randomly generated and positioned in predetermined locations as well as found on some enemies; they have unique stats which are generally based on the player's current level. Each weapon can be upgraded four times to increase its stats, and most weapons can be "modded" - customized based on a blueprint to add special features, such as nails or electrified blades.

There is also a stamina bar, meaning that after a set amount of physical action, such as running, jumping, or swinging a weapon, the character needs to stop to regain his or her stamina before continuing to attack. The game features "special class" zombies, which are more powerful than the standard zombie. Players need to use flashlights in dark areas and during night-time sections, adding suspense.

A Promo film featuring the transformation of a young girl into a zombie, played in a nonlinear sequence, was commented upon by Ben Parfitt of MCV. Parfitt praised the trailer itself, but criticized the online reaction to it, writing "It's a video that uses an image of a dead girl and images of her dying to create an emotional bond with a product." Wired exclaimed, "It may be the best video game trailer I’ve ever seen; gorgeous, well-edited and emotionally engaging." However Wired urged caution, stating that Techland did not make the trailer and that "everyone is hyped up about a short film, not the game itself."

Dead Island was originally stated to be released in 2008, developed by Techland and produced by Adrian Ciszewski, but was delayed. An official teaser trailer, titled "Part 1: Tragedy Hits Paradise", was released on May 17, 2011 featuring various gameplay aspects. A follow-up trailer, titled "Part 2: Dead Island Begins", was released on June 6, 2011 along with the announcement of the game's release being set for September 6, 2011 for the US, and September 9, 2011 for the worldwide release. The game's zombies were rendered to have fully modelled layers of meat and muscle, meaning they have a multi-layered damage system with real-time injuries. On August 9, 2011, Deep Silver announced that Dead Island's development had finished and that production had begun.

Dead Island has received mixed to positive critical reception since its release, according to Metacritic. Metacritic scores were 80/100, 71/100 and 71/100 for the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions respectively. The Italian PlayStation Magazine has given the game a rating of 8.0. praising its outdoor environments, realistic combat, and co-op mode but criticizing the indoor graphics and lack of split-screen multiplayer. IGN gave the game an 8.0, criticizing the game presentation, glitches, various bugs for the consoles, and texture loading, but praising the atmosphere and overall feel of the game and stating that the game's pro-points are significant enough to outweigh its cons. Game Informer gave Dead Island an 8.5, saying, "Just shy of the open-world zombie apocalypse you've always wanted."Official Xbox Magazine (UK) gave the game a score of 7.0, stating that while it falls short of its potential, there is more than enough to make up for the in-game issues, while the US version gave it 8.0. CVG awarded the game a more negative score of 6.5, stating "This budget zombie thriller ain't too pretty but could manage to capture a cult following." However, Edge magazine gave Dead Island a 3/10 score referencing a very large number of gameplay and technical issues. Screwattack gave the game a 6, mostly for technical flaws.

The PC version of the game has initially received many negative reviews from magazines and websites due to an accidental release of the development version of the game on Steam. This included features such as no-clipping and the ability to toggle third-person perspective. Rock Paper Shotgun also noted that the code revealed references to Xbox 360 version. The developers, Deep Silver, released a first-day patch seeking to address as many as 37 issues. A patch for the console versions has been released and fixed many issues, including corrupted savegames. MMOMFG stated "This is one zombie experience worth playing all the way through. Just be sure to sharpen those blades and aim for the head."

L.A. Noire

L.A. Noire (pronounced [ˌɛl ˌɛɪ ˈnwaʁ]) is a 2011 neo noir crime video game developed by Team Bondi and published by Rockstar Games. It was released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. L.A. Noire is set in Los Angeles in 1947 and challenges the player, controlling a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) detective, to solve a range of cases across five crime desks. Players must investigate crime scenes for clues, follow up leads, and interrogate suspects, and the players' success at these activities will impact how much of the cases' stories are revealed.

The game draws heavily from both the plot and aesthetic elements of film noir – stylistic films made popular in the 1940s and 1950s that share similar visual styles and themes including crime and moral ambiguity. The game uses a distinctive colouring-style but in homage to the visual style of film noir includes the option to play the game in black-and-white. The post-war setting is the backdrop for plot elements that reference the major themes of gumshoe detective and mobster books and films (such as Key Largo, Chinatown, The Untouchables, The Black Dahlia, and L.A. Confidential, such as corruption, gambling and drugs, with a jazz soundtrack.

L.A. Noire is notable for using Lightsprint's real-time global illumination technology, as well as Depth Analysis's newly developed technology for the film and video game industries called MotionScan, where actors are recorded by 32 surrounding cameras to capture facial expressions from every angle. The technology is central to the game's interrogation mechanic, as players must use the suspects' reactions in questioning to judge whether they are lying or not.
L.A. Noire is the first video game to be shown at the Tribeca Film Festival. Upon release, the game received wide acclaim for its advances in storytelling and facial animation technology. As of June 2011, the console versions has shipped over 4 million copies combined.

The game takes place in 1947 Los Angeles, a city of glamour, fame, and wealth, but also where crime, vice, and corruption are rife. The player assumes the role of Los Angeles Police Department Officer and later Detective Cole Phelps. The game starts with Phelps as a uniformed patrolman, and follows his career as he advances through the police department bureaus of Traffic, Homicide, Vice and Arson. Instead of missions or levels, each new bureau gives the player a new partner who will help Phelps in his investigations. After each case, the player will receive a rating of 1-5 stars depending on their performance in both interrogations and searching for clues. When searching an area for clues to the crime, in some cases, players can also find newspapers. Besides reading the story, the newspaper give access to a short cinematic that covers a part of the game's overarching plot or a flashback to Phelps' war memories.

The game blends investigative elements such as mystery and crime solving, with fast-paced action sequences, including on-foot and car chases, hand-to-hand combat, interrogations and gunfights. In addition to the storyline missions, the player can work on optional side-investigations known as Street Crimes. The player can travel on foot, as well as in various vehicles. The player also has a total of ten detective suits available; an initial six, plus another four downloadable ones. The suits are equipped with special abilities, such as increased damage protection.

If the player is having trouble completing an action sequence, after three failed attempts, they will have the option to skip past and continue through the narrative.
Players are allowed to commandeer civilian cars. Weapons are only allowed in appropriate circumstances and only when a player is working on a case where a weapon is warranted. The game features a free roam mode called "The Streets of L.A.", which is unlocked on completion of a desk. In this mode, players can solve street crimes, search for gold film reels, landmarks and badges (some of which contribute to 100% completion of the game) or just drive around the city.

Prior to its release, L.A. Noire was marketed and promoted heavily through the use of numerous Internet and TV trailers. Rockstar ran a competition to win a trip to Los Angeles to attend the Festival of Film Noir at the Egyptian Theatre (which is actually featured in-game as a location), take an Esotouric Black Dahlia bus tour, and play the game a month before its official release. Take 2 Interactive announced that L.A. Noire had been selected to be shown at the Tribeca Film Festival, the first videogame to be recognised by the festival. L.A. Noire was screened as a sixty minute long film on 25 April, 2011, followed by a question and answer session on the game's story and the technology used to make the game.

Rockstar collaborated with several retail outlets on preorder bonuses available through store chains throughout the world. The pre-order bonuses were the bonus case The Naked City, the side quest The Badge Pursuit Challenge, the bonus detective suits "The Broderick" and "The Sharpshooter" and the traffic case A Slip of the Tongue. The official online Rockstar Games store, the Rockstar Warehouse, offered a L.A. Noire T-shirt as the pre-order bonus. Target offered a $5 Gift Card, and a free Rockstar Games t-shirt if the game was purchased in-store during launch week.

In addition to the pre-order bonuses, all new North American copies of the PlayStation 3 version of the game came with an extra traffic case, The Consul's Car. The Consul's Car traffic case became available to download from PlayStation Store for £3.99 on 27 July, 2011, for European players. On 6 June, 2011, Rockstar published L.A. Noire: The Collected Stories, a collection of short stories from noted crime authors, all based on the L.A. Noire universe. The Rockstar Games Social Club is a website that displays the gameplay statistics of registered users and feature competitions and awards based on player activity within the game.

On the day of the game's U.S. release, shares in Take-Two Interactive, Rockstar Games' parent company, closed up 7.75% on the day; a three-year high for the company. The rise was attributed to the positive reviews that L.A. Noire had been receiving. As of June 2011, the game has shipped over 4 million copies.

According to NPD Group, L.A. Noire was the best-selling game in the United States in May 2011, at 899,000 copies across the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Through a comparable time period, Red Dead Redemption had sold 1.5 million, which means L.A. Noire tracked behind Red Dead Redemption by about 40%, and it is believed that L.A. Noire will not reach Red Dead Redemption sales, but will still sell "handsomely."
L.A. Noire went straight to top of the UK games chart and became the fastest selling new IP ever in the UK. It stayed top of the UK game chart for three weeks. In Australia, the stores that had the game for sale reported that it was going out of stock after a week. L.A. Noire debuted in Japan for the week of 4–10 July and sold a combined 71,057 units on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. The Playstation 3 version topped the chart, with 58,436 units sold, and the Xbox 360 version moved 12,621 units.

On 22 May 2011, Team Bondi's Brendan McNamara told GamerLive.TV that a sequel to L.A. Noire would take less than the five years it took to develop the first as the technology already exists. McNamara also stated that they are considering using the MotionScan technology for full body performances rather than only faces. In an investor conference call, Take-Two Interactive CEO, Strauss Zelnick, said that L.A. Noire was "a very successful release" and that they "have every reason to believe thatL.A. Noire is another strong franchise for this company". He reiterated that they "do see L.A. Noire as a powerful new franchise". During an investor call in November 2011 Zelnick re-iterated the importance of the game to Take-Two, stating that the game "has become an important franchise for the company." Zelnick announced that the game was Take-Two's "most successful new release" in the past fiscal year and has become a key property in its portfolio.

In November 2011, it was announced that McNamara's next game would be titled Whore of the Orient, which is described as "one of the great untold stories of the 20th century". It will be published by KMM Studios. 

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is an upcoming 2012 third-person shooter video game for Microsoft Windows,PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, co-developed by Slant Six Games and Capcom, and currently scheduled for a release on March 20, 2012 in North America and March 23, 2012 in Europe. It is part of the Resident Evil series, being set around the same time as Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis and the two Resident Evil: Outbreak titles.

The game takes place during the events of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, and is set in Raccoon City, whose residents have been turned into zombies after an outbreak of the t-virus, a biological weapon developed by the pharmaceutical company Umbrella. Players will take the role of an officer of the Umbrella Security Service (USS). They have a vastly different objective compared to the Spec Ops opposition: Members of the USS are tasked with destroying evidence of Umbrella's illegal activities, including killing survivors of the outbreak, while the Special Operations team has to expose the actions of the company. Operation Raccoon City will allow the player to make major "what-if" decisions such as killing Leon Kennedy, one of the main characters of Resident Evil 2 and the protagonist of Resident Evil 4.

There are six playable characters in the game, Vector, Spectre, Beltway, Four Eyes, Lupo and Bertha. Each have their own unique abilities; Vector (real name unknown) is the team's recon expert and is equipped with a cloaking ability, Beltway (real name Hector Hivers) is proficient in the use of explosives, Bertha (real name Michaela Schneider) is the team's medic, Spectre (real name Vladimir Bodrovski) is the team's surveillance class and sharpshooter, Four Eyes (real name Christine Yamata) is the scientist of the group with the ability to program the bio-organic weapons (BOWs), and then there is Lupo (real name Karena Lesproux) who is an Assault class/Team Leader as shown in a recent trailer. Alongside the single-player mode, the game will also offer four-player co-operative gameplay, which pits the USS against the US Special Operations task force.

The zombies in the game will be able to attack the player in a multitude of ways. A zombie that gets too close to the player will usually attempt to grapple the player, prompting the player to rapidly shake his analogue stick to avoid infection. Players who are unsuccessful in doing this will be "invisible" to nearby zombies for a limited amount of time whilst they are infected before their death in game. If a player is successfully bitten and later runs out of time after becoming infected, the player will lose control of their character and begin attacking their former teammates until shot in the head, allowing the player to respawn.

The game also utilizes a bleeding mechanic, meaning characters who have been badly wounded will be deemed "bleeding out", giving their screen a blood red hue and making them a higher priority target to nearby infected than the others.
There will be additional enemy types in the game besides zombies. BOWs that can be confirmed from E3 are Hunters, Lickers and Tyrants. Furthermore, the player will be able to control them under certain circumstances.

In December 2011, Capcom unveiled 'Heroes Mode', an online multiplayer feature allowing you to play classic hero characters such as Leon S. Kennedy, Claire Redfield, Jill Valentine and Carlos Oliveira, plus the villains Ada Wong, HUNK, Nicholai Ginovaef and an all-new character, called Lone Wolf.

The idea for the game came about during the development of Lost Planet 2. The May 2011 edition of the Official Xbox Magazine, released on April 5, shows an image of an individual in a gas mask along Umbrella, Inc. logo on the issue's cover. On November 1, 2010 Kotaku reported on a rumor that Slant Six Games, developer of SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation, was developing Resident Evil: Raccoon City. On its website, Slant Six Games wrote that it was currently developing "an amazing new project" that was unannounced, which was developed in conjunction with a "new publishing partner on a world class franchise."

As of March, 2011, Masachika Kawata estimated the game to be 45% complete. According to Kawata, there are currently discussions on introducing new "bio-organic weapon" enemy creatures into the game. Unlike previous iterations, Operation Raccoon City will allow players to run and shoot simultaneously.

Postal III

Postal III is a third-person shooter video game developed by Running with Scissors Inc.. It is the third game in the Postalseries. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, and is going to be released for Linux, and Mac OS X, making it the first Source based game to be released for Linux. PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 ports were announced in later stages of development, but it has recently been revealed that a lack of budget is holding these ports back.

Postal III continues and expands upon the sandbox-style design of its predecessor, Postal 2 (no sandbox only missions), as well as including motion captured performances by a wide array of minor celebrities, including Ron Jeremy, Jennifer Walcott, Sergei Mavrodi and Randy Jones, and appearances by Uwe Boll (director of the Postal film), Osama bin Ladenand Hugo Chávez.

In Postal III, The Postal Dude emigrates to Paradise's sister town of Catharsis as he previously blew up Paradise with a nuclear bomb. Due to the economic meltdown, the Dude drives into town and becomes stranded because he can not afford a tank of gas. He must then find work and do various odd jobs to escape the town.
Through the course of the game, the player can chose one of two paths: the "bad path", which includes joining in on the schemes of Mayor Chomo and Uncle Dave, or the "good path", which involves the Dude joining the Catharsis Police force. The game will play out in a fairly linear and cinematic way, although the player's actions will affect the outcome of the story and the game. Although the "good path" will be more difficult to play, it will offer more story line and a longer campaign.

Gamespot gave the game 3/10.
In a more positive review, QJ.Net stated that the game was "one of the most interestingly written, psychotic and harmful games I've ever played" and that the developers had "ended up with a product that looks good, sounds great and is often funny", but also complained that their "experience was marred with constant crashing and a lot of graphical glitches" as well as complainig that it often comes off as "mean spirited and lacking in heart".  

Street Fighter X Tekken

Street Fighter X Tekken (Japanese: ストリートファイター X 鉄拳 Hepburn: Sutorīto Faitā Kurosu Tekken?)(pronounced Street Fighter Cross Tekken) is an upcoming crossover fighting game being developed by Capcom. The game was announced at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International by Capcom producer Yoshinori Ono. The game is set to release on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows and PlayStation Vita sometime in March 2012. The game will feature characters from both the Street Fighter franchise and Namco's Tekken series. As the game is being made by Capcom, with Namco being involved more in the licensing of the Tekken cast, the gameplay will be based on the 2D gameplay of Street Fighter as opposed to the Tekken series, and will feature projectile moves such as the Hadouken. Namco is currently producing their own take on the crossover, Tekken X Street Fighter, which will follow their own style of gameplay.

Being developed by Capcom, the core gameplay is similar to that of the Street Fighter series, incorporating elements such as Super Combos, as well as EX Attacks from Street Fighter IV. Players each choose two fighters from the Street Fighter and Tekken series, both sets of characters are controlled using the Street Fighter 6-button system, however it has been revealed that the Tekken characters will be able to perform Tekken style combos using the primary four buttons in a similar fashion to the Tekken 4-button system. These fighters can be switched out normally, or during certain combos. As fights go on, players build up power in a three sectioned meter at the bottom of the screen referred to as the "Cross Gauge", which allow the player to perform various techniques depending on how much of the gauge is filled, such as EX Attacks, Cancels, Super Arts and various Cross techniques detailed below. As opposed to the other crossover fighting games released by Capcom, in which the player must eliminate all the opponent's fighters to win, victory conditions are more similar to Tekken Tag Tournament, in which the first player to have one of their fighters' health bars reduced to zero loses the round, the player who wins the most rounds winning the match.

The tag team element of the game is heavily emphasized, with players being able to switch between the two characters in their team in a variety of manners. Switch Cancel allows players to switch partners in the middle of a combo, whilst Cross Rush combos involve launching the opponent into the air before swapping partners and continuing the combo. Cross Arts, which require a full Cross Gauge, allows players to chain together each character's Super Combo in one straight attack, whilst the Cross Assault mechanic allows players to simultaneously control both characters in their team until the Cross Gauge runs out.

Street Fighter X Tekken features two new game mechanics: the Gem System and Pandora Mode. Players equip up to three gems to their characters, which provide different stat boosts depending on the type of gem. Six varieties of gems exist: attack, defense, speed, vitality, assist, and Cross Gauge. Each gems and its effects are designated by a specific color, and will activate as the players fulfill certain conditions during battle. When a character on a player's team has less than 25% health remaining, that character can be sacrificed in order to activate Pandora Mode, which gives the remaining fighter increased strength and an infinite Cross Gauge. However, this state has a time limit and the player will automatically lose if he/she cannot defeat the opponent before the Pandora state runs out.

The game will feature various online options. Two players can battle on the same team, one controlling each character, and face off in four player matches. Scramble mode allows four players to fight simultaneously in pairs of two. The game will also support online training modes which can be played competitively or cooperatively with two players, as well as support the Fight Request feature.

Other Capcom games will be referenced in the game, such as Dino Crisis, which has a stage based around one of its levels.

Prior to tournament EVO 2010 at Las Vegas, Nevada, producer Yoshinori Ono was teasing a yet announced game which were initially believed to be a new Darkstalkers entry. Before EVO 2010's Super Street Fighter IV finals, Ono was confronted byTekken producer Katsuhiro Harada on stage after teasing more of the game that would officially be announced at the 2010 Comic-Con.

During the Super Street Fighter IV panel at Comic-Con, Harada appeared out of the crowd and went towards the stage while handing out free copies of Tekken 6, which was met with cheers and boos. Ono and Harada then confirmed the existence ofStreet Fighter X Tekken.[16] Both the teaser trailer and early gaming footage of Street Fighter X Tekken was also shown at Comic-Con. During the announcement, Harada also revealed that he has a related project under way, which is being developed by Namco. As Namco is in charge of production of this game, the gameplay will be similar to that of Tekken.

This is not the first time Namco and Capcom have made a game together as they released a Japan-only crossover game in 2005 for the PlayStation 2 titled Namco × Capcom. However, this game did not exclusively consist of characters from the Street Fighteruniverse and Tekken universe, but instead included various characters from the entire Capcom universe and entire Namco universe. Namco × Capcom was a role-playing game, thus making Tekken X Street Fighter and Street Fighter X Tekken the first games in the fighting game genre to be made by Namco and Capcom. It has been stated by Yoshinori Ono that a 3DS version of the game "should happen" but nothing has been officially revealed, information will be provided at Captivate 2011. The game was announced for PlayStation Vita at E3 2011, and will feature Cole from Infamous as a playable character. Downloadable content will be cross-compatible between both the PlayStation 3 and Vita versions of the game.

Capcom expects to sell 2 million copies worldwide by March 31, 2012.

Dragon Age II

Dragon Age II is a role-playing video game developed by BioWare's Edmonton studios, and published by Electronic Arts. It is the second major game in BioWare's Dragon Age franchise. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Mac OS X on March 8, 2011 in North America, March 10, 2011 in Australia and March 11, 2011 in Europe.

Set in the same mythical world introduced in Dragon Age: Origins, the player assumes the role of Hawke, a human mage, warrior, or rogue who arrives in the city of Kirkwall as a lowly refugee but becomes its legendary champion over a turbulent decade of political and social conflict.

Set in the mythical world of Thedas, Dragon Age II tells the story of Hawke, who fled the nation of Ferelden during the events of Dragon Age: Origins and traveled across the Waking Sea to the Free Marches and the city of Kirkwall as a refugee. Within the span of a decade, Hawke would rise in power and influence to become the legendary "Champion of Kirkwall", and the center of events that change the course of Thedas forever. The game focuses on Hawke's rise to power and is framed through flashbacks by one of Hawke's old companions, Varric, who relates the Champion's "true story" to Cassandra Pentaghast, a Seeker of Thedas' religious Chantry. Hawke's companion characters are Aveline (a former Fereldan soldier who joins the Kirkwall City Guard), Varric (a crossbow wielding dwarf with a penchant for storytelling), Fenris (an elf and former slave in the Tevinter Imperium), Merrill (a Dalish elf rejected by her clan), Isabela (a pirate captain stranded in Kirkwall after her ship crashed), and Anders (a former Grey Warden). The Exiled Prince DLC adds Sebastian Vael, a Prince of Starkhaven who comes to Kirkwall seeking aid after his family is deposed.

Dragon Age II has a linear framed narrative story, mainly based on the protagonist's choices. Romance is possible with five party members in the game. New combat experiences and spells have been added. Dragon Age II is set in a city called Kirkwall located in the region known as Free Marches, which is referenced in Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening but not shown. Unlike Origins, Dragon Age II features a fully voiced main character, which is part of the reason the main character's race is fixed, and a new dialogue wheel based on the dialogue system from the Mass Effectseries has been added. In addition, races such as the elves, dwarves and kossith have been redesigned. Saved information can be imported from Origins as well asAwakening. This data will affect the background story of Dragon Age II.

Orders placed before January 11, 2011 were automatically upgraded to the Dragon Age II: BioWare Signature Edition, with additional content. Orders placed before March 8 qualify for pre-order bonuses. In an attempt to discourage purchasing used copies of the game, purchasers of a new copy (before or after the release date) receive access to additional features. Further in-game bonuses can be obtained by completing the free Dragon Age II demo, through Penny Arcade, and by signing up to the newsletter. Purchasing the game Dead Space 2 before March 31, 2012 also unlocks a Dead Space themed armor item. Bioware announced that 2 in game items would be unlocked for all users if the total number of demo downloads reached 1 million in the course of one week (which occurred), and that a further and more powerful item would be unlocked if each post on the official Facebook account between February 28 and March 4 received 1 million impressions the day it was posted.

In March 2011, reports began emerging from consumer-advocacy website Reclaim Your Game that Dragon Age II was being distributed with the controversial DRM software SecuROM, despite assertions from EA that it would not be. Producer Fernando Melo stated that although the game uses software made by the makers of SecuROM, it is a different program completely. "They have the same support site through which is the URL you're seeing." The software is a form of release-date checker, designed to prevent copies of the game from being played before the release date in that territory. The software runs from the disc, and does not install anything on the system. BioWare confirmed that there is no SecuROM DRM in the game and clarified that in the case of downloaded versions, the release date check program's executable deletes itself after having performed the check.

A BioWare employee was caught posing as a consumer on the review site Metacritic. The employee, Chris Hoban, who posted under the name of Avanost gave a score of 10/10 saying "Anything negative you'll see about this game is an overreaction of personal preference." A representative for EA responded after much online controversy saying "Of course the people who make the game vote for their own game. That's how it works in the Oscars, that's how it works in the Grammys and why I'm betting that Barack Obama voted for himself in the last election", though it is unclear if Hoban acted on his own behest or on that of the company.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (メタルギア ライジング リベンジェンス Metaru Gia Raijingu: Ribenjensu?) is an upcoming action video game under development by Platinum Games and produced by Kojima Productions as part of the Metal Gear series, for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game was originally announced and developed by Kojima Productions as Metal Gear Solid: Rising (メタルギアソリッドライジング Metaru Gia Soriddo Raijingu?), an action game set between the events of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, before being reannounced as Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance under the development of Platinum Games. The game is now set to take place several years after Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and is a spinoff, that is "not part of the Metal Gear Solid series".

Players assume control of cyborg ninja Raiden, the katana-wielding ally of series mainstay Solid Snake. Unlike previous titles in the Metal Gear series, Rising is strictly an action game, focusing on swordfighting and a sophisticated cutting system. The game's cutting system allows players to engage in third person melee combat, as well as precisely slash enemies and objects "at will" along a geometrical plane using a "free slicing" mode. Virtually any object in the game can be cut, including vehicles and enemies, though elements of the environment were intentionally limited to structures such as pillars and walls to better facilitate gameplay. The free slicing mode is similar to other aiming modes in previous Metal Gear Solid titles, but produces a special targeting reticule in the form of a transparent blue plane which can be rotated and moved, tracing orange lines across the surfaces of objects to indicate exactly where they will be cut; it can also be used to enter a bullet time state, giving players the opportunity to precisely slash targets during moments of action, such as slicing through a falling target from multiple angles before it hits the ground. These features can be employed strategically, for example disabling opponents, finding weak points and gaps in armor, severing support columns to collapse ceilings or walls onto enemies, deflecting enemy fire, or cutting through objects to remove enemy cover.

Although Raiden's main weapon will be his high-frequency blade, he will also have "sub-weapons", Kimura revealed; gameplay footage has briefly shown Raiden wielding a dagger in his left hand. In the debut trailer for the rebooted titled, Raiden was also seen grappling and throwing large robotic enemies, and dramatically increasing his running speed for short bursts.

A key gameplay feature initially announced for game was titled zan-datsu (斬奪 lit. "cut and take"?), and would have involved "cutting" through enemies and "taking" parts, energy, ammunition, items, and information from the bodies of dismembered cyborgs and robots. For example, in the E3 2010 trailer, Raiden tears a battery — in the form of a glowing mechanical spine — from a dismembered cyborg enemy, which he then crushes after absorbing energy from it to heal himself. This gameplay element will not remain as the focus of the game, but will still be optional as of the move to Platinum Games, dialogue in the most recent trailer discusses such extracting of fluids from enemy cyborgs in order to obtain electrolytes.

The game's original director, Mineshi Kimura, stated that Rising would carry on the series tradition of encouraging players to progress through the game without killing, noting that there is a moral difference between attacking cyborgs or robots and attacking human beings, and that there's a "certain virtue to simply disabling your enemies instead of killing them." While it was considered important to give the players freedom to do what they want, the game's original producer Shigenobu Matsuyama, indicated that players would never be rewarded for killing human opponents, and that the game will be designed so that players are never forced to do so.

Despite having thought out stories and scenarios for the game, Kojima Productions were finding it difficult to design the game around the cutting concept. The project was quietly cancelled in late 2010, and whilst Kojima had considered moving the project to developers abroad, he felt that a Japanese developer would be more suited to produce a ninja action game. In early 2011, Kojima approached Tatsuya Minami, president & CEO of Platinum Games, about restarting the cancelled project with them. Platinum Games accepted the project and took over development with Atsushi Inaba as producer, reworking the game from scratch using their own engine, whilst Kojima Productions handling cutscenes and story elements, revising the story to now take place after Metal Gear Solid 4 to reflect the new development style. This new version, now titled Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, was first revealed via a trailer shown at the Spike Video Game Awards on December 10, 2011.

The trailer also confirmed that Raiden will once again be voiced by Quinton Flynn, who had previously stated that Konami had not contacted him regarding the game. While Platinum Games is confirmed to be part of the project, Bayonetta director Hideki Kamiya, initially thought to be involved, has confirmed he isn’t part of the games development. The game's title was changed to Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance to reflect that it isn't part of the main Metal Gear Solid series, but is instead a spinoff that takes place after Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Kojima also confirmed Rising will run at 60 frames per second, a requirement he personally requested to Platinum Games. Inaba took to his Twitter feed to address fans' concerns over the project. He has acknowledged the mixed reaction to the unveiling of Rising, but hopes gamers will spot "a glimpse of the future" in the trailer. Inaba promises its "love and respect will shine through." The negative reactions came from fans noticing the genre switching to a "hack and slash" game.