TITLE: God of War III
DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER/PLATFORM: Sony Santa Monica/Sony/Playstation 3
FUN FACT: 7-Eleven’s limited-edition “Kratos Fury” Slurpee (ayo!) is a combination of blackberry and lime flavors. Actually, it’s “blackberry lime blended with chaos.” Seriously.
WHY COMPLEX IS CO-SIGNING IT: Because as much the franchise’s first two games stand as truly epochal experiences of the Playstation’s previous iterations, this one ups the ante by squeezing every last dark drop out of the PS3’s processing power. In the form of ichor. It’s hugely violent, hugely entertaining, and hugely fucking huge. By now you’ve seen clips of the opening sequence, with Kratos scaling Mount Olympus on Gaia’s titanic self, but believe us when we say it somehow gets bigger from there—not always in scale (that’d be impossible), but in scope. If you’re going to spend $44 million on a game, this is how it should be done. Plus, we could never pass on a game that has Kyle from Living Single as the lead character…
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TITLE: LEFT 4 DEAD 2
DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER/ PLATFORMS: VALVE/ VALVE/ PC & 360
FUN FACT: While many of the most violent video games are no exception, Left 4 Dead 2 found itself being played with much bloody and gory enjoyment except for Australia which put a ban on the much anticipated sequel.
WHY COMPLEX IS CO-SIGNING IT: While we’re fans of first person shooters, what’s the point of buying the same “run for your fucking life” game? Not having played the first Left 4 Dead and really only being fans of the Zombie Nazis mini game in Call of Duty, we stepped into the Left 4 Dead 2 world with a little bit of skepticism but left with a lot of smilies- and some new underwear.
STORY: Well like we said, it’s survival. Infected people running around trying to kill you and your friends and kill you. Of course every character has their background story but the main objective of the game is to live and reach a final extraction point.
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TITLE: BRÜTAL LEGEND
DEVELOPER/ PUBLISHER/ PLATFORMS:
Double Fine Productions/Electronic Arts/360 & PS3
FUN FACT: Tim Schafer (Grim Fandango, Psychonauts) created main character Eddie Riggs (voiced by Jack Black) after being inspired by a Megadeth roadie.
WHY COMPLEX IS CO-SIGNING IT: This thunderous action-adventure (with some surprising RTS influences) game is unique for its style, story line and gameplay. Throughout the game there are multiple cameos by real heavy-metal legends (Shout out to Ozzy!) and it’s filled with plenty of humor, middle fingers, and foul language. Thank you, Jack Black!
STORY: Upon insertion (ayo!), the game doesn’t have a load screen, but an actual full-screen movie—featuring Jack Black at a record store—that sets up the storyline for the game. As the greatest roadie of all time transported to a fantastical heavy-metal realm, your task is to a) liberate the land from the evil Lord Doviculus and b) rock the fuck out whenever possible.
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TITLE: SAW
DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER/PLATFORMS:
Zombie Studios/Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc./360, PS3, PC
FUN FACT: Based on a treatment by creators of the SAW movie franchise, Leigh Whannell and James Wan, and voiced by the man who made Jigsaw a horror icon, Tobin Bell.
WHY COMPLEX IS CO-SIGNING IT: Games based on movie franchises are almost always instant fails. SAW manages to bring you through a story that’s compelling and relevant in an environment that never lacks for tension—and amazingly enough does it more successfully than the past four big-screen sequels combined.
STORY: You have the misfortune of playing the detective who spent his career obsessing on hunting and taking down Jigsaw. The consummation of your mission is also your imminent downfall with your friends and family broken, hurt, or killed in the process…and now Jigsaw is here to punish you for it. Locked in an asylum, you are not only forced to outwit Jigsaw at every turn but he has also implanted something in your stomach (ayo!): the key that will free the other unfortunate souls locked in here with you…
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TITLE: Fight Night Round 4
DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER/PLATFORMS:
EA Canada/EA Sports/360, PS3
FUN FACT: New this year is EA’s Photo Game Face, which allows players to use their own likenesses (or Gucci Mane’s) in the creation of original characters.
WHY COMPLEX IS CO-SIGNING IT: Unfortunately, last week’s Best of Video Games (So Far) post was filed too early to include Fight Night Round 4 (which officially drops tomorrow). But no worries: By the time ‘09 expires, we’re quite sure that FNR4 will be atop everybody’s year-end list (check the Metacritic.com stats, son!)
Many a wack boxing game has been released in the three years since the last Fight Night—we’re looking at you, Don King Presents: Prize Fighter—but they’ve all been pretenders, not real contenders. Fight Night Round 4 resoundingly reclaims the belt with everything you loved about Round 3—only better. That means noticeable improvements to the Legacy and World Championship modes (including a much deeper single-player career experience and online title fights) as well as subtle refinements to graphics and gameplay, which were pretty damn near flawless already. FNR4 is the best boxing game you’ll ever play, period. So even if you’re gonna be broke for the next few months, know that some Dutches and this game are all you need to kill off summer. Word!
CLICK HERE TO WATCH MIKE TYSON IN FIGHT NIGHT ROUND 4!
