Kotaku Australia » thq gamer’s day 2008

Creepy Crawlers: Hands On With Deadly Creatures

Flynn De Marco — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 21:00:00 +0000

When one thinks of games on the Wii, “creepy” perhaps isn’t the first word that comes to mind. But, It is the first that comes to mind once you lay your hands on Deadly Creatures. Taking some inspiration from Bad Mojo, (the cockroach game) Deadly Creatures puts the player in the role of a spider and a scorpion (at different times depending on the level) who must make their way through a punishing landscape. Along the way they are challenged by their surroundings as well as other creepy insect who don’t cotton to foreigners invading their precious homesteads.

The level on display was one of the early scorpion levels and I was pleased to see that the Wii graphics looked rather nice and the controls weren’t too gimmicky. For instance, flicking the remote would cause my scorpion friend to swing his tail in a huge circle, reminding me a bit of Link’s circular sword swing. As I traversed the underground tunnels that made up the better part of the level, I discovered that I needn’t always have all of my many legs on the ground. being an insect has it’s privileges and it was fun to start crawling up the walls to avoid certain obstacles although this change of perspective made navigation difficult at times. Power ups and enemy creatures abound giving you upgrades for the harder levels that are surely found later in the game. Adding to the overall spooky factor was a great soundtrack that did a terrific job of capturing the mood and making it seem like you were taking part in some sort of insect ridden horror film.

If you were a fan of Bad Mojo, chances are you will probably get a kick out of Deadly Creatures. Will Deadly Creatures be the best game you will ever play on the Wii? Probably not, but it’s an original and interesting IP which is always a welcome addition to the often times typical Wii entries.And in my opinion, anything that breaks the crushing mini-game mold is definitely worth a look see.

Red Planet: Hands on With Red Faction Guerrilla

Flynn De Marco — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 16:00:00 +0000

One thing the Red Faction series was known for (if you remember it that is) was its destructible environments. Aside from that though, the series was a pretty typical linear shooter with not a whole lot to make it truly memorable. The developers of the newest game in the series, Red Faction Guerrilla, have taken the game’s original concept and turned it on it’s ear, creating an open world environment that feels more like GTA type game than either of its predecessors. If you like plenty of explosions and running around in large environments wreaking havoc on everything you see, this is definitely the game for you.

Soft Rockin’: Battle of the Bands

Flynn De Marco — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 21:00:00 +0000

It was with great trepidation that I checked out Battle of the bands for Wii. The logo alone left me feeling like it was going to be a cheap Guitar Hero knock off with it’s heavy Metal pointy-ness. What I was shown when I actually played was a somewhat convoluted rock band/battle game that seemed to miss its mark.

Rough Riding: Hands on With Baja

Flynn De Marco — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 20:00:00 +0000

I’ve never been a huge racing game aficionado, probably stemming from the fact that I didn’t learn to drive until I was in my mid thirties. I’ve always been more of a kart racing type of guy. But there is one kind of racing game I love and that’s a super immersive one.

My first look at Baja was truly impressive. Of course the set up they had it on had a lot to do with it. It was like an arcade set up with the 360 driving wheel and pedal plus three huge screens that were angled to give you a feeling of being surrounded. While the set up was certainly a plus, the game itself left me feeling pretty good about off-road racing.

Gallery: Saints Row 2

Flynn De Marco — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 05:10:00 +0000

Colour My World: Hands On De Blob

Flynn De Marco — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 01:00:00 +0000

The story of De Blob is fairly simple. A race of evil aliens come to a friendly planet and suck all the colour out of it, leaving it all white and shades of grey. As one of the remaining unaffected blob-like denizens of the planet, it is up to you to restore the world to its full colour capacity. This goal is achieved by rolling your little blob around the world and picking up colour bottles. Once you have picked up a colour, simply touching an object will turn it that colour and give you some points. You can also mix your colours for some different effects. For instance, say you are yellow and want to change to orange. Simply roll over a red bottle and, voila, you are now orange. Rolling over the red bottle again will revert you to red.

Life As A Trash Compactor: Eyes On Wall-E

Flynn De Marco — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 00:40:00 +0000

The folks from Pixar were on hand to show off the video game adaptation of their animated movie, Wall-E. In Wall-E, the world has been taken over by a benevolent corporation and in a little switch, it’s the consumers who are the enemies rather than the big corporate menace. Players can either take on the role of Wall-E (a trash compactor robot that looks like a cross between R.O.B. and Johnny 5) or the sleek and “iPod inspired” Eve, a flying female robot with a killer laser, both of whom are trying to save the universe from its own twisted remains.

Eyes On Darksiders: Wrath of War

Flynn De Marco — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 00:20:00 +0000

It’s many years in the future and the great Apocalypse has come upon the Earth. Angels are fighting demons on what remains and those left behind wander the world as soulless zombies. This sets the stage for THQs new IP, Darksiders: Wrath of War. In Darksiders, you take on the role of War, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, making your way down to wreak havoc on the charred remains of the Earth.

Down And Dirty With Saints Row 2’s New Features

Flynn De Marco — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0000

I kicked off last night’s THQ Gamer’s Day with a look at Saints Row 2 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. As we reported earlier today, the release date has been set for August 26th and, from the looks of it, THQ and Volition have packed it full of new features.

The first thing I checked out was the character customisation which was quite rich, aside from the absence of nipples on the male characters. You can take your gang banger from ripped hardbody to overweight and flabby in a matter of seconds. I was actually pretty impressed by the fat character models which were nicely detailed, rather than just looking like a big balloon. Volition also added the ability to create a female character if you so desire, though as they were wearing bras, I couldn’t tell you if they had nipples or not.

Another new customisation feature was a series of taunts and compliments that can be done by your avatar, prompting appropriate reactions from non-player characters. And yet even more customisation can be had through decorating your gang’s crib, featuring a ton of new items like pool tables and even a pole dancing stripper.

Once we got into the nitty gritty of actual gameplay, even more changes were revealed. A new over the shoulder view allows those of us who are disabled in the ways of first person shooters to get a better handle on the game. One new weapon feature was a remote sticky bomb that can be placed anywhere, then detonated whenever you see fit. Just make sure you’re far enough away or you may find yourself blown up along with everything else.

Probably the most gruesome and yet hilarious new mechanic was the ability to use a human shield. Any NPC can be grabbed and held in front of you to take the gunfire intended for you. When you are done with them, you can simply toss their limp corpse through a plate glass window. You know, just for grins.

A new mini-game type deal was also present, allowing you to hop in a helicopter and fly around the city blowing up cars. It seemed pretty cool, although I really only got a glimpse of that particular mechanic. The game also includes a co-op mode that will allow you and a friend to play the game as a team from start to finish.

During my brief time with Saints Row 2 I was really impressed with the graphics and the control scheme. The aforementioned over the shoulder view made the shooting an easier time for me and much more enjoyable. If you were a fan of the original title, there will certainly be a lot of new content for you to discover and enjoy.

And of course, the inclusion of a pole dancing stripper is always going to put any game at the top of your list. Or it should anyway. I just wish she looked like Elizabeth Berkeley.

THQ Gamer’s Day ‘08

Flynn De Marco — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 16:00:00 +0000

Last night saw a swanky soirée that was otherwise known as THQ’s Gamer’s Day ‘08. After being held in a room and plied with top shelf booze and fancy finger foods for an hour, we were finally treated to what we came there for, the games! They had quite a few games showing including Saint’s Row 2, Red Faction: Guerrilla, Darksiders and Deadly Creatures. Also on hand were Battle of the Bands, De Blob, Wall-E, Baja and a new Destroy all Humans game. Despite being talked about at the beginning of the presentation, Dawn of War 2 was no where to be found amongst the demo stations. Keep an eye out this evening for all of my coverage of this rather large event and tons of hands-on impressions when the embargo lifts.