Here we are, September 18, and the Fracture demo promised by LucasArts has landed on Xbox Live Marketplace. Weighing in at 772MB, the demo allows players to sample a section of Fracture's single player campaign. Using the game's terrain deformation system, players can try their hand at creating and destroying the landscape using a variety of weapons. Here's hoping that creating hills, holes, craters and spires is enough to keep things interesting. If you've been anxious to try out Fracture's much vaunted terrain deformation, give it a go.
LucasArts has announced that an earth-shattering demo of Fracture is scheduled to crack up the Xbox Live Marketplace on Thursday, September 18. If you need a little help digging the name Fracture from your mind, it's a third person shooter with the central mechanic of land deformation, which the devlopers have cleverly dubbed Terrain Deformation. Players can build their own cover or, conversely, pull the land out from under the feet of approaching enemies. Land deformation can also be used for other things, such as accessing otherwise unreachable areas (think of it like a dirt elevator).
For those who enjoy the demo, Fracture will be hitting retail on October 7 in North America and October 10 in Euorpe.
Those of you who really care about "spoliers" should shy away from this Force Unleashed trailer knowing simply that the game is looking good. For those who can see these type of "twists" coming a mile away (it is Star Wars after all) the spoilers won't really matter. Plus, we're sure there's even more too come and we can't help but be distracted by the wooden voice acting of the apprentice's love interest.
And, naturally, it was taken down. Thankfully, the internet is always there to catch the truth. However briefly, a listing for Star Wars Battlefront III was up on Amazon announcing that the game was coming to every platform under the sun including our beloved Xbox 360. Amazon was offering the game for pre-order with a release date of March 15, 2009. Something tells us that date is probably a placeholder.
With Battlefront series creators Pandemic currently hard at work on Lord of the Rings: Conquest for their new bosses at EA, the question remains as to who will develop the third installment of the series. Joystiq surmises that it will be UK studio Rebellion, which was responsible for Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron for the PSP. Assuming the 2009 release date is even close to accurate, it looks like we'll have quite a while to find out.
First and foremost, if you're interested in not having anything at all spoiled regarding the story behind Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, don't watch the video. Just keep reading. If you're actually sane though and really couldn't care less just hit play already!
To tell you the truth, our feelings regarding the game are still rather mixed (the gameplay portions of the video still look a bit uninspired) but this clip definitely convinced us that the story is more than just something to skip past. Considering we were already sold just based on the game's tech crap, we're much more excited for the game than we were before.
Lucasarts debuted the latest trailer for the upcoming action-shooter, Fracture, on GameTrailers early Saturday morning. Setting the stage for a war that takes place between a split United States, two factions face-off for dominance over the nation. The evil-doers, known as the Pacificans, have altered DNA to create a stronger, more dominant race while the Atlantic Alliance have put their effort into creating advanced cybernetics to thwart a Pacific attack. With an interesting concept and unique gameplay (terraform weapons look awesome!) can Fracture make a name for itself when it hits this October? Time will tell. Also, Pacificans? Really?
At this point the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) must be thinking, "another one bites the dust."
Today developer id Software revealed to GamePolitics its intention of leaving the ESA group of members. Following suit with their publisher Activision, who recently left the organization with Vivendi, and Lucasarts, id has yet to release a statement explaining the decision.
The ESA has yet to comment on the decision that we're sure the organization hopes will not become an industry-wide trend.
Speaking to VideoGamer.com (most straightforward website name evar), Star Wars: The Force Unleashed producer Cameron Suey revealed that a demo for the game is definitely in the works. Suey stated that LucasArts "definitely want to get it out there," noting, "the gameplay itself is so engaging, people who aren't Star Wars fans or who aren't even hardcore gamers, once they get their hands on some of the gameplay and how it works, are really going to be won over by it." Strong words to be sure. No details were given regarding when the demo will actually be available. Presumably, it will arrive shortly before or just after the game launches in September.
Let's get the best part out of the way right now. Every single achievement in LEGO Indiana Jones is named after a line from the films. From the well-known "Why did it have to be snakes?" to "He chose... poorly," the lines run the gamut of all the films released thus far. There are a total of fifty achievements to earn, ranging in point values from 10 to 100 points. The single 100 point achievement is awarded for reaching a 100% completion level. If the LEGO Star Wars games were any indication, reaching 100% will take a significant time investment. Oh, and we hope you like secret achievements, because there are sixteen of them. Hit the "read" link to check out the list on 360Sync.
Heads up! LucasArts just launched the official LEGO Indiana Jones website and with it comes a brand new gameplay trailer as well. Whiptacular!
The official LEGO Indy website features your standard array of game screenshots, videos and community forums, but also boasts a lil' treasure hunt where you can use your newly discovered gems to "purchase" wallpapers, avatars and (our favorite) coloring sheets! The new trailer (embedded above) gives curious LEGO Indy fans a look at what's to come, including the occasional ride on a LEGO elephant and tons of whip usage. So much whip use that one has to wonder if whipping things can become an addiction. Whips Anonymous anyone?
Is making Darth Vader a playable character even a bonus anymore? Regardless, we're sure Star Wars fanboys out there will be happy to know that Darth Vader is indeed playable in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Darth is playable in the first level of the game, in which he travels to Kashyyyk and locates the boy that will become his secret apprentice. For those of you keeping score, said secret apprentice is the actual star of the game. Darth Vader comes complete with the Force powers you'd expect, most notably Force choke, which he uses to ... um ... choke people. Check out the video above for the first gameplay footage of the Sith Lord in action.
LucasArts today announced that the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Unleashed will be arriving on United States shores on September 16, 2008. Southeast Asia and Australia will see the game the next day on September 17, whereas Europe gets the latest Jedi fix on September 19. The Force Unleashed takes place between episodes 3 and 4 of the Star Wars saga and tells the story of Darth Vader's secret apprentice who, among other things, utilizes incredibly strong Force powers and has discovered yet another weird way in which to wield a light saber. The most notable feature of the game thus far is its implementation of physics among its characters and environments.
Please note our use of extreme self-control in not resorting to an "unleashed" pun when writing this article.
Whipping into retail soon is Lego Indiana Jones: The Video Game, from the makers of the über-popular Lego Star Wars series. The title features gameplay pulled from the story of all three classic Indy films and if the video above is any indication, the humor and reference homages will be front and center. Set to hit retail on the Xbox 360 and pretty much every other console under the sun this Summer, the developers at Traveller's Tales look to continue their streak of solid licensed releases. Now someone get them to actually make that Lego Halo game EGM joked about, like ASAP.
Update: We knew there was a reason we quit drinking. We posted this story earlier in the week, that's what we get for going to $9 beer night.
For those big Indiana Jones fans out there who were thinking of picking up the DVD box set of the original trilogy, it will be seeing a little something extra in that box on May 13. The special edition boxed set is set to come with a trailer and demo of the forthcoming game, Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures, which is itself set to be released almost a month later on the 3rd of June. Unfortunately, our European readers are out of luck on this, as the promotion applies only to Region 1 discs, but it is likely that there will be a demo released via XBLM, after all, Lego Star Warshad a demo. With the new movie set to open worldwide a week after the special edition boxed sets, one would think that Lucasarts would've that promotion worldwide too. Oh well.