This sponsored post is produced by Dealzon.

The week’s big GRID 2 release got $15.50 shaved off the Steam-activated version at GamesRocket, dropping the price from $49.99 to $34.49. The US release date was Tuesday, while the rest of the globe will have to wait until tomorrow, May 31st. The game arrives almost exactly five years after the original CodeMasters hit racing title, and so far has achieved a respectable 82/100 Metascore.

The 8th Humble Indie Bundle sale started Tuesday, allowing you to name your price and support charity while getting some great DRM-free PC download titles. The bundle comes with Little Inferno, Awesomenauts, Capsized, Thomas Was Alone, and Dear Esther, along with each game’s soundtrack in MP3 or FLAC. You’ll also get Hotline Miami, Proteus, and the Proteus game soundtrack if you pay more than the average ($5.67 at time of writing). About 240,000 bundles have already been sold, making the 8th Indie Bundle one of the more popular bundles.

Not slowing down this week, the new Humble Bundle Weekly sale was also refreshed today, giving you a slew of Telltale games on sale: Back to the Future: The Game, The Devil’s Playhouse, Poker Night at the Inventory, Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures, Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent, Puzzle Agent 2, and Hector: Badge of Carnage. Beat the average payment ($3.82 at time of writing) and get all 5 episodes of The Walking Dead game. Just a note: You get one Steam key for Walking Dead and a grouped key for all the other games.

Don’t forget about next week’s release of Capcom’s Remember Me. For PC gamers, the Steam-activated download is 20% off after coupon code, saving $10 off the $49.99 list price. Preorder and you’ll also get the “Combo Lab Pack” which allows you to further customize your combat style.

Hot deals & recent releases

Last Tuesday’s release: Grid 2 (PC Download) — $34.49 at GamesRocket after coupon. Next best is $40 at GameFly and Green Man Gaming. If you don’t have the cash for the $190,000 edition that comes with a supercar, you can settle for this Steam-activated version.

The Humble Indie Bundle 8 — pay what you want. Includes five PC download titles, with two bonus titles added if you pay more than the average.

June 4: Remember Me (PC Download) — $40 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. List is $50. Sometimes your droid needs a memory wipe, and in 2084 Neo-Paris, apparently so do people.
 

Rockstar Games PC Bundles — at Amazon. Amazon’s “Digital Games Mayhem” sale is just about over, but today a few new solid offers appeared:

• Rockstar Classics $9.99 (5 downloads, normally $50)
• Max Payne 3 and LA Noire Complete Bundle $9.99 (normally $70)
• Grand Theft Auto IV: Complete Edition $7.50 (normally $30)

Last Tuesday’s release: Crusader Kings II: The Old Gods (PC DLC) — $12 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. List is $15. The most extensive (and expensive) Crusader Kings 2 DLC pack to date. The game gets an earlier 867 AD start date (previously 1066 AD) and a focus on Pagan factions like the Vikings. Right now you can actually buy the base game cheaper than this DLC.

Today’s release: Wargame: Airland Battle (PC Download) — $32 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. List is $40. If the Cold War had gone hot, this game explores what might have happened tactically. Although Airland Battle didn’t get much attention in the media, it released today, May 30th.

Apple iTunes $50 Gift Card — $40 at eBay. It’s not exactly a gaming deal, but we’ve heard rumors there are a few games available in the iTunes Store. Only a couple hundred thousand, though.
 

Preorder deals

July 9: Dark (Xbox 360) — $41.99 at NewEgg after coupon. Into stealth action RPGs? Put this game on your watchlist. Developed by Realmforge Studios and published by Kalypso Media.

Aug. 11: Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (Nintendo 3DS) — $33.99 at NewEgg after coupon. Europe and Japan get an earlier July release date, while the rest of us in North America will have to wait until August 11.
 

PC download deals

Metro: Last Light — $34.99 at Groupon. Two weeks old, and already 30% off the usual $50 price. You’d think it flopped to get such a large discount so early, but it’s critically acclaimed.
 

Resident Evil: Revelations — $32.49 at GamesRocket. An even more recent title, this “fun to play” latest Resident Evil installment is already discounted 35%.
 

Crysis 3 — $27.99 at Groupon. Gorgeously rendered post-apocalyptic New York and a new low price make this open-world FPS even more appealing for gamers with processing power to spare. Next best is $30 at Amazon.

Yesterday’s release: The Night of the Rabbit — $16 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. An imaginative adventure game replete with magic spells, talking animals, and fantastical hand-drawn graphics. List is $20.

Sleeping Dogs Bundle — $12.99 at Amazon. You get the gritty, well-reviewed game plus 10 DLC packs. Next best is $31 at GameStop.

Sniper Ghost Warrior 2 — $12 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. Only 2 months old, now 60% off. Very mixed reviews from professional critics, but a 7.1 ‘Good’ rating from the IGN community. List is $30.

Fallout: New Vegas Ultimate Edition — $8.49 at GamesRocket. Great deal and the lowest price yet on Fallout: New Vegas plus all available DLC. Next best is $30 at GameFly.
 

360, PS3, and Vita

Dead Space 3 (Xbox 360, PS3) — $29.99 at Groupon. After the adrenaline rush you’ll get playing, you can return to Groupon for a half-price off spa visit to decompress. List is $60.
 

Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified (PS Vita) — $29.99 at NewEgg. Get 4v4 action going via WiFi and swap equipment with friends in this handheld Call of Duty title. Next best is $45 at Amazon.

Dishonored (Xbox 360) — $19.99 at NewEgg. Fans of masks, the supernatural, and reactive worlds should get this well-reviewed title at the cheapest we’ve seen yet for the 360. Next best is $30 at Rakuten.
 

Hardware

Alienware M17x r4 Gaming Laptop — $1,469 at Dell Home after coupon. Quick Specs: Core i7-3630QM, 2GB GeForce GTX 660M, and 8GB RAM. List is $1,749.

Alienware M14x r2 Gaming Laptop — $869 at Dell Home after coupon. Quick Specs: Core i5-3230M, 1GB GeForce GT 650M, and 6GB RAM. List is $999.

HP ENVY h8-1360t Gaming Desktop — $649.99 at HP after coupon. Quick Specs: Core i7-3770, Radeon HD 7570, 10GB RAM, Bluetooth Wireless-N LAN card, 460W power supply, and Windows 7. List is $1,000.
 

Sennheiser X320 Xbox 360 Gaming Headset — $58.88 at Rakuten. Next best is $100 at Crutchfield.
 

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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Welcome to another edition of Extra Hearts, GamesBeat’s dating site for our favorite video game characters. This time, we’re celebrating the HD release of Resident Evil: Revelations (which we liked quite a bit) by looking at the profile for the series’ zombie-slaying heroine, Jill Valentine. Let’s see if S.T.A.R.S.’s favorite daughter can find herself a hot date without stumbling into another end-of-the-world scenario.

Likes: A fully loaded gun and a steady supply of ink.

Dislikes: People who wear sunglasses indoors and dogs.

Kinks: Two words: Jill Sandwich.

Advice for our first date: I will kick you in the face if you ask me to be your valentine.

Most interesting thing about me: I’m an incredibly skilled marksman … as long as I’m standing completely still.

You should message me if: You’re the master of unlocking my heart.

Comments:

More Profiles:

• Peach
• Chell
• Kratos
• Samus
• Master Chief
• Aerith
• Mega Man
• Luigi
• Kerrigan
• Nathan Drake

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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If you follow VentureBeat but don’t regularly check our GamesBeat site, here’s a list of the best video game stories we ran over the last seven days that you may have missed.

This week, Microsoft unveiled the Xbox One, the company’s next-gen console and one-stop living room entertainment device, Ex-EA chief John Riccitiello urges console makers to consider consumer wants before shipping products, and Yahoo continues its acquisition madness by picking up the game company PlayScale.

You’ll also find a review of Resident Evil: Revelations as well as previews for Batman: Arkham Origins, Dying Light, and Civilization V’s Brave New World.

Xbox One

• The DeanBeat: Microsoft and Sony should escape binary thinking
• GamesBeat’s complete coverage for Microsoft’s Xbox One announcement
• Microsoft making $1B bet on Xbox One games, says bigwig Phil Harrison
• Xbox One vs. PlayStation 4: A battle for next-gen supremacy
• Microsoft shows behind-the-scenes design of its Xbox One game controller
• Xbox One: Microsoft’s boldest attempt to unify its services is a game console

News

• DmC: Devil May Cry developer working on beat-em-up for iOS and Android
• Craziest special edition ever? $190K Grid 2 bundle comes with … a car
• PSA: Xbox Live was not hacked today
• Super Stardust HD developer working on spiritual successor for PlayStation 4
• This is what a $150 Grand Theft Auto V: Collector’s Edition looks like
• Nintendo issues another patch for Wii U
• Skullgirls getting arcade port in Japan
• U.S. version of Animal Crossing: New Leaf has Twitter and Tumblr support
• Ex-EA chief John Riccitiello pushes console makers to get four things right in this generation
• Call in sick: Plants vs. Zombies Adventures is out now
• Nintendo promises to ‘discuss’ new Smash Bros., 3D Mario, and Mario Kart before E3
• Defiance developer cuts staff; MMO Rift unaffected
• EA appoints New York Times digital-product expert to its board
• Amazon taking Madden NFL 25: Annivesary Edition preorders — bundled with NFL Sunday Ticket

Mobile news

• Hooked Media turns in an entirely new take on app recommendation — one that Apple can’t kill
• Zynga unleashes Gauntlet-like Battlestone on iOS
• G.I. Joe: Battleground looks to capture the cartoon in a modern mobile game
• DeNA developing Dungeons & Dragons: Arena of War for mobile based on ‘D&D Next’
• Top Eleven developer trumpets the social soccer game’s impressive growth
• Jawfish launches real-time multiplayer game tournaments on mobile devices
• Happy Cloud announces $4.25M funding round and new chief executive
• WildTangent launches mobile games on Asus tablets
• DeNA to publish Peter Molyneux’s Godus mobile game

Acquisitions incorporated

• Marissa Mayer and Yahoo are on fire, acquiring gaming company PlayerScale

Tech news

• Who needs an Xbox One? Nvidia shows off new speedy graphics card
• Big Fish Games takes its cloud-gaming service to all four major screens
• HP launches a 20-inch all-in-one that doubles as a tabletop computer

Trailer hoedown

• Destiny looks like Star Wars, Halo, and World of Warcraft in its newest trailer

Previews

• Warner’s Dying Light will make you a zombie hunter by day, a terrified victim by night (preview)
• Batman: Arkham Origins hits the repeat button hard (preview)
• Civilization V’s Brave New World expansion feels like a culture club (hands-on preview)

Reviews

• Resident Evil: Revelations is classic, slightly buggy, fun (review)

Interviews

• Activision’s Eric Hirshberg bets that 40M Call of Duty fans will follow him to Xbox One (interview)
• Dying Light developer explains how to roam an open world full of hungry zombies (interview)
• How Activision plans to beat Disney with the marketing of Skylanders: Swap Force (interview)
• Batman: Arkham Origins’ senior producer on how — and when — to move the needle (interview)
• How Smooth McGroove quit his day job to record a capella versions of classic gaming tunes (interview)

Pieces of flair

• Beating down a fighting-game master with Divekick’s two-button gameplay
• Ceiling Kinect and Call of Duty dogs: The top Xbox One GIFs and memes (so far)
• GamesBeat’s Favorite Skyrim Mods #9: Dwemer Mechanical Mounts & Followers
• ROUNDTABLE’D! Game characters red-ring the Xbox One!
• The top 6 MMOs you should be playing this year
• EA’s ulterior motive behind killing the Online Pass
• Consoles that won’t die: The Sega Dreamcast

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

---

This sponsored post is produced by Dealzon.

Earlier today, Square-Enix tweeted August 27th as the release date for Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn on the PS3 and PC. Although current owners of the original FF XIV on PC can download the new version for free (and thus should disregard the next few sentences), new potential players on PC can take advantage of lower-than-usual list prices as well as a 20% off preorder deal on GMG.

The digital Standard Edition for preorder comes to $24 after coupon, while the Collector’s Edition costs $20 more. All preorders includes pre-launch access to the game servers, a Mog cap to wear around Eorzea, and a Cait Sith Doll Minion who joins your party as a pet.

Although the digital Collector’s Edition preorder omits the numerous physical bonus items associated with the DVD version, you’ll still receive the Helm of Light, a Baby Behemoth Minion, a Coeurl Mount, and even Behemoth Barding armor for your Chocobo as in-game bonuses.

Announced just two days ago, Metro: Last Light – Season Pass for PC download also has the 20% discount after coupon at Green Man Gaming. The Pass includes four DLC packs: Faction Pack, Tower Pack, Developer Pack, and Chronicles Pack. Assuming the packs will cost $5 each as they release, the final price of the Pass represents a 40% discount off what you’d otherwise pay. Accordingly, fans of the Metro franchise certain to buy the additional DLC would be wise to grab these in the Pass.

Hot deals & recent releases

Aug. 27: Final Fantasy XIV: Realm Reborn (PC Dowload) — $24 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. If you already own the original FF XIV on PC, don’t pay twice – it’s free for you to download. Otherwise, be thankful for the lower $30 list price, 20% off coupon, and preorder bonuses.

Tuesday’s release: Metro: Last Light – Season Pass (PC Download) — $12 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. Save 40% off what you’d pay if you were to buy the packs individually as they’re released.

Tuesday’s release: Resident Evil: Revelations (PC Download) — $40 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. This “slighty buggy [but] fun” transition from a successful 3DS title to the bigger screen has a 75/100 Metacritic rating so far.

Yesterday’s release: Call of Juarez: Gunslinger (PC Download) — $11.99 at GameFly after coupon. Pay respect to the Old West with a bounty hunting title getting solid reviews thus far. Next best is $15 at Amazon.

Wii U Console 8GB Basic Set — $239.99 at Target. Plus $6.55 shipping. Cheapest we’ve seen for the basic Wii U console, with other retailers still selling for the usual $300.

Freebie PC games at Amazon

16 Bit Arena (PC Download) — FREE. If you miss vintage graphics in turn-by-turn battles, your nostalgia won’t cost you a thing. List price is $10.
 

Stronghold Kingdoms + Stronghold Crusader HD (PC Download) — FREE. While Stronghold Kingdoms has been free for a while now, Stronghold Crusader HD is usually $10.

PC download deals

Guild Wars 2 Digital Edition (PC Download) — $39.99 at Green Man Gaming. Since its release last year, GW2 has had its up and downs, but the core community is still relatively strong.
 

Sleeping Dogs (PC Download) — $6.25 at GamersGate. A cheap safe bet for fans of open world action adventure. Next best is $30 at Amazon.
 

Space Battle Weekend Sale: Games and DLCs (PC Download) — up to 75% off at GamersGate. Includes a whopping 63 space-related games and content to download, including Sins of a Solar Empire, Endless Space, and classics like Master of Orion.
 

PC Physical DVD Preorders

June 4: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Legendary Edition (PC) — $49.99 at NewEgg. Don’t let MSRP be your ‘arrow to the knee’ – save $10 after coupon instead and get the base game, 3 DLCs, and other new features.
 

Last Monday’s release: Battlefield 4 (PC DVD) — $49.99 at NewEgg after coupon. Recently announced to include the provocatively named ‘China Rising’ for free on release date.
 

Nov. 5: Call of Duty: Ghosts (PC DVD) — $49.99 at NewEgg after coupon. First real deal we’ve seen on the PC physical since the release date announcement.
 

360 and PS3 deals

Bioshock Infinite (PS3, Xbox 360) — $39.99 at GameStop. This ties the lowest price we’ve seen. If you haven’t played yet, these solid prices are giving you even less of an excuse.

Buy 2 Pre-Owned Video Games, Get a 3rd FREE — at Best Buy. You’ve got over 5,000 pre-owned games available, and savings will appear in cart after you’ve added your choices.
 

GameFly Used Games Sale (Xbox 360, PS3) — If you don’t mind pre-owned video games, there are several solid discounts this week, including:

• Assassin’s Creed 3 (PS3) — $19.99 (cheapest new $30)
• Lollipop Chainsaw (360, PS3) — $14.99 (cheapest new $22)
• Transformers: Fall of Cybertron (360) — $14.99 (cheapest new $55)

Hardware

Memorial Day deal on HP Envy dv7t-7300 Quad Edition — $749.99 at HP after coupon. Quick Specs: Quad Core i7-3630QM, 8GB RAM, GeForce GT 650M 2GB, Blu-ray drive, and 9 cell Lithium Ion Battery. List is $1,000. For the same processor, HDD, RAM, video card, 1080p resolution, but with a smaller screen, the HP Envy dv6t-7300 Quad Edition laptop is $849.99 after coupon (no Blu-ray in this 15.6-inch). Both are fully gaming capable in terms of config and setup.

Alienware M18x r2 1080p Gaming Laptop — $1,575 at eBay. Quick Specs: Core i7-3610QM, 500GB + 32GB SSD, 16GB RAM, and 2GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M. List is $2,349.

Alienware M17x r4 Gaming Laptop — $1,612 at Dell Home after coupon. Quick Specs: Core i7-3630QM, 8GB RAM, and 2GB GeForce GTX 660M. List is $1,749.

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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Squishy fish zombies are actually pretty scary when you hear them in surround sound. Surprisingly, I didn’t even realize that they moaned until I started playing Resident Evil: Revelations on PC.

That’s right: The best RE game released in 2012 is now on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii U, and PC. If you didn’t get a chance to play Revelations on the Nintendo 3DS, it’s the story of Jill Valentine before she disappears in Resident Evil 5, complete with claustrophobic corridors and constant misdirection.

I adored Revelations on the Nintendo 3DS, and I’m pleased more people will be able to experience this story after suffering through less than stellar experiences with Resident Evil 6 and Operation Raccoon City. Revelations takes a step back into Resident Evil’s past by reintroducing slower gameplay and backtracking through labyrinthine “sea mansions” or, you know, cruise ships. It does stumble in the transition from handhelds to bigger screens, but the core experience is so refreshing that it’s easy to overlook messy textures for the sake of a Resident Evil game that’s fun to play.

What you’ll like

Gameplay hybridization

If you dislike the active inventory in Resident Evil 5 and 6, you’ll likely be surprised by how well a similar system works in Revelations without forcing you to pull up a floating menu in the heat of battle. Whenever you pick up ammo or healing items, they are automatically assigned to their respective weapons or quick-access button. You can only carry a certain amount of ammo at one time, but you never have to worry about managing finite blocks in an inventory page and ask yourself “Do I need bullets more than healing items?”

Really, the developers behind Revelations looked at the action-heavy direction in the mainline series and said “Why not slow it down?” To do this, they added something called the Genesis, a field tool Jill and associates use to scan for hidden clues and identify different forms of the T-virus. That’s just an elaborate backstory for a much-needed design feature: forcing players to examine their surroundings and not charge ahead as they would in Resident Evil 5 or 6.

Along with the Genesis, characters can carry up to three guns, so you can mix it up with a variety of short or long-range weapons. Whenever you want to trade out your arsenal, you can do so from various cache boxes littered through the levels. I missed the old inventory boxes from the original Resident Evil games, so it’s nice to see them coming back in a limited way.

Revelations also takes surprisingly well to controllers. I played the PC version with a wired Xbox 360 controller and needed to tinker with the keyboard layout (and I was still wasn’t satisfied with it). My greatest worry going into this port was how the semianalog mechanics would conform to a modern controller. The process was surprisingly fluid due in part to the 3DS version’s use of the Circle Pad Pro periphrial.

New costumes

Capcom loves mixing a little bit of humor into its horror games in form of unlockable costumes. In the original Onimusha, you could battle against legions of undead soldiers while wearing a giant panda suit. Nothing else about the experience changed while you did, except that you were very aware that you looked a complete fool in this otherwise serious world.

Resident Evil has a long history with adding extra (and often whimsical) costumes as completion rewards as well, and now Revelations has its own set of ridiculous alternative apparel. A bit of controversy rose up when Capcom revealed “sexy” pirate outfits for Revelations main protagonists Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield that you can unlock after finishing the game. Typically, I wouldn’t say this was a good and worthwhile addition, but I absolutely adore the ridiculous second outfit for Chris.

Rather than his gruff combat gear, Sailor Chris wears a short-sleeved (and a bit too small) naval shirt with white shorts, sunglasses, and burly anchor tattoos. The outfit is as revealing as Jill’s alternative pirate costume and is an amusing solution to giving characters skimpy costumes. Why does the girl always have to wear sexy clothes while men get even cooler combat gear? Finally, Jill isn’t suffering alone and people who would really like to see more of Chris Redfield get what they want.

Keith, a third character you briefly play, probably got the most revealing (and punishing) costume of them all. For most of his storyline, he’ll be running around snowy mountains without a shirt on. The scantily clad male video game character revolution is upon us.

Raid mode

If you’re looking for a more fast-paced experience in Revelations, the Raid feature (which is a holdover from the 3DS original) provides lots of multiplayer action. You rush through various environments from the main game, gunning down enemies for BP (battle points) that you can use to unlock new weapons and customization options.

You can play Raid offline or in matches with your friends. New stages unlock as you complete the game’s main campaign, so Raid is more like a postgame reward after you spend so much time conserving ammunition and running from monsters.

Console and PC players now have the option to play as a female version of the classic Hunk character (who first appeared in a secret playable scenario in Resident Evil 2) and as the deformed version of Revelations side character Rachel Foley. The Hunk costume is particularly ridiculous because she wears all the military garb normal Hunk does up top, but she simply isn’t wearing pants.

See, everyone is equally unprepared to fight zombies infected with a flesh-mutating virus.

Subtle horror

While many horror games tend to go overboard with their jump scares and graphic content, Revelations takes a much more subtle approach. Early on while playing as Jill, you have to track down the communications officer on the Queen Zenobia cruise ship. As you approach the promenade area where a note said he was hiding, you hear the haunting bellows of a strained voice calling “Mayday.” As you get closer, the voice is more distorted and it’s very clear that the comm officer is no longer human.

Long before you ever see the hulking, saw-blade-wielding monstrosity he’s become, you know that getting the key to the emergency communications room is a dangerous task. Even though you know you’re walking into a boss fight, the fear builds when you realize the only way to progress is to confront the horrors lurking in the darkness.

What you won’t like

Constant loading

A massive, Gothic dome called Promenade Hall acts as the gateway for various sections of the cruise ships you explore in Revelations. Leaving and entering the hall is something of an ordeal. Each new area branches off from the rest of the ship by two sets of ornate doors guarding an antichamber. Like elevators in Mass Effect, these doors act as a barrier so the game can finish loading a new segment of the map while you leave the last area.

These load times were extremely long on 3DS, and not much has changed in the PC version. The wait is slightly shorter, but it’s strange to think that more advanced hardware can’t readily load new areas of an arguably small environment.

Beyond the obvious door load times, you’ll also find yourself jostled from cutscene to in-game action through various black screens. The simple act of walking across a room can pop up a black loading screen then drop you into a prerendered conversation. These moments are never done elegantly, and only highlight the graphical disparity between video and gameplay.

Touchy camera angles

Revelations wouldn’t be a true Resident Evil game if it didn’t fall victim to the occasional camera problem. As you navigate narrow corridors and take on numerous baddies, you’ll likely find yourself attacked from behind or the side before you have any chance to see what hit you.

That’s because the camera hovers just above the players’ shoulder, making the viewing angle very tight. While maneuvering through close quarters, the character model will often fade into the foreground, but the camera remains as the same position.

If you move slowly and deliberately through the environment, the camera will behave, but for the times you’re running from overpowered enemies and in desperate need of healing items, you’re going to end up pinned in a corner or skewered by an enemy lurking just out of view.

Muddy textures

I did not go into Revelations with much hope that it would look gloriously high-def on PC, and it certainly isn’t. Anything in the world that isn’t Jill or Chris has an odd, muddy look to it.

This doesn’t detract from the story, but it is a bit disappointing that Capcom didn’t do much to mask the low-resolution look to the ground and water as you explore the game. Outdoor scenes look a little too carved into the environment, like you would expect from a handheld game trying to maximize character clarity with limited resources.

It would have been much more costly for Capcom to entirely remaster the assets in Revelations, but I really wish they had. The 3DS version is by far the most graphically stunning thing I’ve seen on handhelds, but that means it is still a mediocre experience on more capable machines.

Conclusion

It’s been so long since I could say, without any second guessing or qualifiers, that I like a Resident Evil game. I don’t just like Revelations — I adore it. Slower mechanics, scrounging for items, and marching headlong into the unknown are features not entirely lost in new RE games, but they’re rarely expressed as well as they were in pre-RE4 titles.

Revelations isn’t without problems, but it has an acceptable level of jankiness that’s true to the old RE experience. I expect cameras to dislike corners, and I accept that silly, door-based load times are going to run amok. It’s part of loving a decidedly B-class level of horror storytelling.

What I like most is that now more players than ever can play Revelations and realize that it is where the series needs to go. It has the right blend of action and suspense to carry its story and not frustrate us with unnecessary button prompts. The development team behind Revelations looked at what was happening with the mainline series and decided to turn away from it, and I am so incredibly happy that they did.

Score: 85/100

Resident Revelations started life as a 3DS game but moved to Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, and PC May 20. Capcom provided a Steam PC code for this review. 

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

---

This sponsored post is produced by Dealzon.

Here’s the thing about post-apocalyptic shooter games: most people just can’t get enough of them. Need to make a FPS title but can’t think of a compelling setting? What about…Asia as a nuclear wasteland after fallout from a North Korean saber-rattling mishap? You travel from country to country, battling different post-apocalyptic Asian tribes composed of mutant ninjas and five-handed kung fu masters. Bam.

Wait a sec…maybe we should trademark that IP…

Until Fallout: Asia is released, next week’s Metro: Last Light might just hold you over, especially if you’re a fan of Metro 2033 or novels by Dmitry Glukhovsky (which the games are based on).

You can get the Steam activated version of Metro: Last Light for only $37.50. The current preorder deal includes the bonus Ranger Mode DLC plus The Gospel According to Artyom, a digital comic from Dmitry Glukhovsky and Dark Horse Comics.

Other hot deals this week include Skyrim and Dishonored for only $15 each during GamersGate’s Bethesda Weekend sale. You already know about Skyrim and Dishonored, so we won’t spin additional details here.

Hot deals

May 14: Metro: Last Light (PC Download) — $37.50 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. All other legitimate retailers have it at full price. Steam activated.
 

GamersGate Sale: Bethesda Weekend Fifteen excellent Bethesda titles are on sale at GamersGate, with previous triple-A titles such as Skyrim and Dishonored down to $15. All titles are Steam activated.

• Dishonored — $14.99
• Doom 3: BFG Edition — $14.99
• Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim — $14.95
• Brink Complete Pack — $12.49
• Fallout: New Vegas Ultimate Edition — $9.95

June 4: Remember Me (PC Download) — $37.50 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. Considering its impending release, coverage of Remember Me (previously ‘Adrift’) is fairly light so far, but the amnesiac ‘memory hunter’ premise seems interesting.
 

The Humble “Double Fine” Bundle — Pay What You Want. Minimum is $1. Paying $7.94 or more gets you Brutal Legend. Bundle includes Costume Quest, Psychonauts, and Stacking.
 

Upcoming PC games

May 24: Resident Evil: Revelations (PC Download) — $37.50 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. Originally released on 3DS, this survival horror port is finally coming to other platforms.
 

May 30: Grid 2 (PC Download) — $33.75 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. Next best is $45 at GameFly. If you liked Race Driver: Grid or any of Codemasters racing games, you’ll enjoy Grid 2.
 

June 14: Dark (PC Download) — $25.50 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. Next best is $34 at GameFly. This upcoming stealth action vampire-centric RPG is now at the lowest price we’ve seen. Details are sparse beyond the few released trailers.
 

June 21: MotoGP 13 (PC Download) — $22.50 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. Next best is $27 at Amazon. If you follow the sport, this title might be worth checking out. Developed by Italian dev Milestone.
 

PC download deals

BioShock Infinite (PC Download) — $40 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. A new low price for the excellent third installment to the BioShock series. Essentially a must-own for most gamers.
 

Sniper Ghost Warrior 2 (PC Download) — $18 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. The first game was “okay”, but if you enjoy tactical shooters, this is the best deal we’ve seen for the game.
 

Alpha Protocol and Binary Domain Bundle (PC Download) — $6.39 at GameFly after coupon. Both decent (read: not great) shooters, but they’re bundled together at a great price.
 

Xbox 360 and PS3

Aliens: Colonial Marines (Pre-owned: Xbox 360) — $9.99 at GameFly. While reception for Colonial Marines wasn’t all that impressive, at $10 you’re not giving up too much to give the game a try.  

NCAA Football 13 (PS3, Xbox 360) — $19.99 at Amazon. It’s NCAA Football 12, but with a few new additions that earn it a 76/100 Metacritic score. “Heisman mode” seems a bit silly but could appeal to diehard fans.
 

Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Storm Generations (Pre-owned: Xbox 360) — $12.99 at GameFly. A new low on this year-old well-received entry in the Naruto Ultimate Ninja line that features a new battle system for faster fights.
 

Gaming hardware

Nintendo 3DS XL is $179.99 and the regular Nintendo 3DS is $149.99 at Best Buy. Both are $20 off their usual prices.
 

AMD Never Settle Reloaded Sale: Radeon HD 7850 & 7870 Video Cards + 3 Free Games — at TigerDirect. Never Settle Reloaded returns again! Buy a GPU and get Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon, Bioshock Infinite, and Tomb Raider for free. If you bought each game separately at their best online prices, you’d pay $90.
 

Lenovo IdeaPad Y500 1080p Gaming Laptop — $849 at Lenovo after coupon. Specs: Core i7-3630QM, 1TB HDD + 16GB SSD, and GeForce GT 750M 2GB. List is $1,349.
 

HP Envy dv6t-7300 Quad Edition Core i7-3630QM — $624.99 at HP after coupon. $9.99 shipping. List is $800. Cheapest we’ve seen the base configured HP dv6t Quad Edition laptop in months. Last week you’d pay $650 + $10 shipping. Add discrete graphics for $75 more and you’ve got yourself a gaming rig.
 

Lenovo IdeaCentre K430 Gaming Laptop — $999 at Lenovo after coupon. Specs: Core i7-3770, 16GB RAM, and GeForce GT 630 2GB. List is $1,269.
 

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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This sponsored post is produced by Dealzon.

Last week’s release of Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon brings back plenty of 80′s action-flick nostalgia and was well received by critics and gamers alike. Happily there’s a Gamefly coupon which takes 20% off the game, making the PC digital version only $11.99.

Fans of Valve Software will also want to check out some additional deals from Gamefly this week, with classic Valve titles on sale at up to 80% off (after coupon). They’re all Steam activated titles, so you can add to your steam library of 1,450 games (which you’ll totally start playing through this summer).

Note: We update our GamesBeat weekly deal post every Tuesday with the latest deals. For last week’s deals, check below the “Last Thursday” headline.

Tuesday New Deals

Last Wednesday’s release: Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon (PC Download) — $11.99 at GameFly after coupon. You’ll need a UPlay account to play but thats the DRM price we pay these days.
 

May 14: Metro: Last Light (PC Download) — $37.50 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. Everywhere else is basically full price. Steam activated.
 

Gamefly Sale: Valve Classic PC Titles — Up to 80% off at GameFly after coupon. Some top picks from this sale:

• Left 4 Dead 1 & 2 – $3.99 each
• The Orange Box – $3.99
• Counter-Strike: Source – $3.99

Last Thursday

Love them or hate them, Origin is having a “six days of action games” sale, with recently released titles discounted as much as 50% off. To add some much-needed irony to the mix, some of the titles in the sale are actually activated on Steam. So if you like to save money but don’t want to deal with having Origin as a DRM platform, you’re in luck.

Patient gamers will be happy to know that last month’s release of Tomb Raider for PC download is now only $20 at Green Man Gaming, and happily the title activates on Steam. (Update: we’ve previously listed this for $25 at Origin’s sale, but GMG’s new price decisively steamrolls the Origin deal). For a game rated as “???” by Conan O’Brien, this is an excellent deal.

For more Steam-activated deals, you’ll find a few other Square Enix titles such as Hitman Absolution and Sleeping Dogs (though both have hit lower prices in the past). If you don’t mind Origin or already have it installed anyway due to Battlefield, big EA titles like Crysis 3, Dead Space 3, and Assassin’s Creed 3 are all on sale (yep – all the ‘3’s).

Origin Action Sale

Origin Sale: Six Days of Action Games — up to 50% off at Origin. Tons of action/shooter PC and console games on sale. PC games tend to be 50% off while console prices are about 33% off. Sale ends Monday at 10am Pacific. Our top picks below:

• Assassin’s Creed 3 (PC Download) — $24.99
• Tomb Raider (PC Download) — $24.99 (activates on Steam).
• The Walking Dead Game – All Episodes (PC Download) — $10
• Dead Space 3 (PC Download) — $29.99
• Full list of games activating on Steam from this sale can be found here.

360, PS3, and Wii U deals

Grid 2 (Xbox 360, PS3) — $49.99 at NewEgg. List is $60. Sequel to the well-reviewed motorsport sim Grid, which was characterized by IGN as “automobile erotica”…hmm. Releases May 28th.
 
Bioshock Infinite (Xbox 360, PS3) — $49.99 at Best Buy. Next best is $58 at Overstock.com. Best discount yet about a month after its release. Lowest price we’ve seen on the console versions by $2.
 
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 (Xbox 360) — $39.99 at NewEgg. Fans of Naruto? You’ll be buying the game regardless of the reviews (which weren’t half bad, by the way).
 

Resident Evil: Revelations (Xbox 360, PS3) — $37.99 at NewEgg. The hit 2012 3DS game is getting its own console release. Release date is May 21st. Elsewhere $50.
 

Playstation All Stars Battle Royale (PS3) — $29.99 at Amazon, which ties lowest ever. Fight as everyone from Sly Cooper to PaRappa the Rapper. Next best is $40 at Best Buy.
 

Assassin’s Creed 3 (Wii U, Xbox 360, PS3) — $29.99 at GameStop. This is the lowest price we’ve seen on the PS3 and Wii U versions of the popular sandbox-style action-adventure game. Next best is $53 at Overstock.com.

Hardware

Alienware M14x r2 Laptop — $969.99 at Groupon. Yep, Groupon does more than sell spa packages now. Specs: Core i5-3210M, 8GB RAM, and GeForce GT 650M. List is $1,260.

Lenovo IdeaPad Y400 59371958 Laptop — $719 at Lenovo after coupon. Specs: Core i5-3230M and the new Kepler-based GeForce GT 750M 2GB. For $700, you’ll have a portable machine that runs most modern games without a problem.

Logitech G9X Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Edition Gaming Mouse — $37.99 at Amazon. It’s a Logitech mouse with CoD printed on it – now it’s $20 more than usual. We’re half joking, of course. (It’s actually cheaper than the unadorned G9X.)

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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Splinter Cell: Blacklist publisher Ubisoft recently announced a $170 special edition of the game that includes a remote-control plane. This package continues the game industry’s bizarre race to see who can release the biggest, most elaborate boxed set that people will still buy.

Blacklist’s Pint-Sized Paladin Edition (not its real name) isn’t the most opulent big-box around, and it’s far from the most expensive. Here are some of the most ridiculously expensive special editions ever released, in roughly ascending order.

Note: For comparative purposes, I’ve used sites like Exchange Rates and Currency UK to convert foreign currencies to the U.S. dollar. I calculated these values from the exchange rate on the day the game came out. Converted amounts for unreleased titles come from current rates, so these values are approximate.

Steins;Gate’s Double Pack Limited Edition

Cost: ¥18,690 (app. $202)

Steins;Gate is a Japan-exclusive visual novel about a group of teenagers who discover a way to send history-altering text messages back in time. It came out for the Xbox 360 in 2009, and a port for the PlayStation Vita comes out next month. Superfans can buy the “Double Pack” for the portable system, which includes the game, a disc of bonus content, an advance ticket to the upcoming Steins;Gate film, a metal hairpin, a ribbon choker, and the outfit you see in the above picture.

Are they real, human-sized clothes? I couldn’t really tell from my research, but I hope so, considering the price. You might wonder why anyone would pay so much for a game just to have an authentic version of a fictional character’s clothes. Keep that question in mind — we will revisit it later.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2′s Prestige Edition (UK)

Cost: £119.99 ($217)

One of the things we’re going to see repeatedly in this article is that things tend to cost more in the United Kingdom and Australia. That’s why the U.S. release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2′s Prestige Edition, which cost $149.99, is not on this list, but the UK version, which was almost 70 dollars more, is.

The two sets are exactly the same. They both include the game, a download for the original Call of Duty on Xbox Live Arcade or the PlayStation Network, an art book, those infamous night-vision goggles, and a mannequin head based on main character “Soap” MacTavish to store the specs on when you’re not re-enacting the end of The Silence of the Lambs.

That’s actually the least creepy way I can imagine someone using those things.

Resident Evil’s 5th Anniversary Special Package

Cost: ¥28,000 (app. $230)

Say hello to one of the other trends we’re going to see again and again: elaborate special editions for the Resident Evil series (also known as Biohazard). This Japan-exclusive set came out back in 2001 to commemorate the original game’s fifth birthday, and it’s full of items of varying usefulness.

The Special Package included Resident Evils 1, 2, 3, and Resident Evil: Code: Veronica (which itself included a demo for developer Capcom’s other scary-shit-in-a-house game Devil May Cry), a DVD copy of the backstory-providing compilation “Wesker’s Report,” a pen, a key ring, a regular ring, some dog tags; a commemorative coin, and a locking briefcase to hold it all. So I guess you got plenty for your money.

Capcom only made 10,000 of these, which is probably why if you want one now, you’ll buy it at a high price.

Gran Turismo 5′s Signature Edition

Cost: €179.99 ($241)

While we’re talking about cramming a bunch of things into a box: That up there is the Europe-only Signature Edition of developer Polyphony Digital’s fifth Gran Turismo game. While the polished metal box in this set isn’t as espionage-ready as the briefcase in the Special Package, it’s still pretty cool in a “staring into the abyss” sort of way. And what’s in the box? Well, the game, obviously, along with a wallet, a key ring, a 1:43 scale Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, a USB key containing a trailer for GT5, five in-game cars, and two books. One shows off the game’s cars and locations, and the other has 200 pages of tips and essays.

Oh, and do you see that little card up there on the wallet? That granted you entry into a contest to win a full-sized version of that little Mercedes up there. The competition included both in-game and real-life driving events, and Marco Calvo of Spain ended up winning. Mercedes values the car €180,000, so for Mr. Calvo, this bundle is actually the best value of any game ever.

Even if he lived in Australia, where this thing cost $299.99 (about $294 US).

Duke Nukem Forever’s Fully Loaded Package

Cost: $244.99

Duke Nukem Forever had several games’ shares of awkwardly named limited versions. You had the Balls of Steel Edition, the King Edition (it came with bubblegum because references to John Carpenter’s 1988 alien-invasion film They Live are still totally cool), and the boring old Steelbook Edition. But the PC-only FLP (I will not type it again, and you can’t make me) was the most expensive Duke experience available.

The FLP included the game, an art book, a mousepad, a wearable belt buckle, and an EVGA GeForce GTX 560 graphics card. I assume the new hardware allows you to play Duke Nukem Forever at maximum graphics settings — because we all know how notoriously taxing Duke Nukem games are.

Tekken 6′s Wireless Arcade Stick Bundle (UK)

Cost: £149.99 ($248)

Special editions aren’t always about keychains and snazzy cases. Sometimes, developers try to give their fans something useful. Take this Tekken 6 bundle that came out in the UK for almost $100 more than its U.S. counterpart. It comes with the game, an art book, and a wireless fight stick by peripheral maker Hori.

OK, so you could probably take or leave the book, but hey, that controller is alright, I guess. I’m sure they would have thrown in a keychain if we’d asked nicely.

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Some careful reconsideration by Resident Evil producer Masachika Kawata may put the horror back in Capcom’s survival-horror series. Kawata says he wants to place more focus on “horror and fear.”

In an interview with website VideoGamer, Kawata said that “user feedback from the last couple of games” has caused him to “revise” his opinion of the series. This was in regard to comments he made in a March 2012 interview with Gamasutra. Back then, he said, “Especially for the North American market, I think the series needs to head in that [action-oriented] direction.” He added that games in the main series “need to be an extension of the changes made in Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5.”

Over the years, the series has gone from focusing on eerie set pieces and slow progression to adopting a more action-oriented, shoot-the-hell-out-of-anything-that-comes-your-way approach.

Kawata still believes that Resident Evil: Revelations, which released for Nintendo’s 3DS in February 2012, was a nice balance that “contains classic Resident Evil elements, but it also has features that modern gamers expect in a game. Hopefully, it can appeal to both camps.”

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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Remember all the way back in January, when we looked at all the games that were coming out in 2012 and thought, “Holy crap! This is going to be the Best Year Ever (for gaming)™!” Well, this is December, and some of us are looking back to those wide-eyed, optimistic past versions of ourselves and wondering why they ever looked forward to some of the stuff we got in 2012. Sure, some of those anticipated titles lived up to our expectations, but in a lot of cases, that optimism was just the first step on a journey of regret and nonstop head shaking.

Here are some of our picks for the most disappointing games and events of 2012.

Assassin’s Creed III

Contributor Rus McLaughlin

Occasionally, a little time and distance softens the heart, and you remember things more fondly than what you actually felt at the time. I, on the other hand, despise Assassin’s Creed III more now than when I gave it a midrange score back in October. Oh, my man-love for its naval missions continues unabated, but I indulge in those behind the back of the main game and its sloppy mechanics, frustrating chases, and worthless side missions. I’m gratified that it doesn’t whitewash our nation’s origins as some altruistic crusade for peace and freedom (often spoken of in earshot of working slaves), but Creed “concludes” its overarching, modern-day plot with a firm middle finger to its most loyal fans. At least it finally settled one lingering question: Desmond is indeed as pointless and useless a diversion as we always suspected.

The delays

Contributing editor Stephanie Carmichael

Most of the games I was looking forward to all year are now coming out in 2013. Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, Tomb Raider, Bioshock Infinite, Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (or whatever we’re calling it now) are the handful I’ve been most itching to play. Other titles like South Park: The Stick of Truth, Devil May Cry, and Aliens: Colonial Marines have experienced delays as well. I guess I can’t complain too much. More time in development means a better chance of getting these games right, but it also means I’ll be burning a big hole in my wallet come spring.

Capcom continues to lock content in game discs

Contributor Samir Torres

F*** you, Capcom!

Twisted Metal’s online multiplayer

Intern Giancarlo Valdes

As a huge fan of the Twisted Metal games since the original PlayStation days, I was ecstatic when I finally got my hands on the PS3 reboot earlier this year. The folks at developer Eat Sleep Play did a fantastic job of bringing its unique brand of vehicular combat to a new generation of consoles with its campaign mode, and playing these levels with a friend in local multiplayer was fun, too. But going online was a different story: Starting from launch day and lasting for weeks, a host of problems made it almost impossible (for me at least) to stay connected to a match. The developers deployed various updates to fix these problems, but I had already moved on.

Disney Epic Mickey 2

Contributor Rob LeFebvre

After hearing, yet again, legendary designer Warren Spector’s “big picture” idea of games needing to be open-ended, with multiple paths, as well as not judging players for their “playstyle,” I really think this game was a huge disappointment. It changed very little from the first installment and was just another mess of control, camera, and barely comprehensible storyline. As with most things disappointing in life, the real problem was going into it with such a high set of expectations.

Endless Space

Copy editor Jason Wilson

We saw a couple of space-themed 4X (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate) strategy titles this year (Genesis Wars, Legacy of Pegasus, the final “all clear” for Sword of the Stars II). But the one that many space strategy fans were looking forward to was Endless Space, a game that turned out to be style over substance. Endless Space sports a good-looking user interface and some kick-ass ship designs, but it commits one of the biggest errors that any single-player strategy game can make: The A.I. isn’t good at its game. Your foes don’t do a good job of using its systems — like combat — against you, ultimately providing a limited challenged against a skilled player. And for the demanding fans of strategy games, this is a tactic that just doesn’t work.

Mass Effect 3′s ending

Intern Jason Lomberg

From an artistic standpoint, my biggest disappointment was that developer BioWare pulled a George Lucas and “fixed” the ending. That’s not how it should work — you don’t “fix” art.

A piece of art represents the succinct vision of its creator. It’s also a product of its time and, therefore, a cultural artifact. The best films – like Star Wars – engender a certain timeless quality, but even so, it’s not hard to discern that Lucas’s masterpiece reflects the norms and attitudes of the ’70s. By mucking with his own creations to “update” the special effects or modify story elements, Lucas is destroying a piece of history. This is why fans reacted so negatively to Star Wars: Special Edition (and the innumerable “updates” before and since), and it’s why BioWare should not have changed the Mass Effect 3 ending. For gaming to take its rightful place among other artistic media, it shouldn’t be so malleable and subject to “revision.” Numerous gamers took issue with the game’s ending – and I’d be hard-pressed to disagree – but we should criticize ME3 as a piece of art, not a software program that its makers can patch. We should analyze the creator’s vision and not treat it like a technical glitch.

Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation

Intern Mike Minotti

I was excited to have a real Assassin’s Creed experience on a portable system, and I was hoping that such a game could be a great showcase for the PlayStation Vita. Sadly, Liberation was a boring, uninspired slog through the bog hampered by technical problems and an empty open world.

Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask

Intern Evan Killham

Developer Level-5′s series of puzzle-driven adventure games sold me both a Nintendo DS and a 3DS. I love everything about them: the full-on animated cutscenes, the stories, and even the bizarre idea of a universe in which brain-teasers work as a sort of social currency. But I’m not sure what happened with the franchise’s fifth installment. The plot and style are as good as ever, but the riddles in this one are inexplicably obtuse at times (I’m convinced that one challenge’s “clever” solution is not a valid answer to the setup) and blatantly not puzzles at others. A maze, for example, is not a puzzle by my definition, and this Professor Layton contains several of them.

Miracle Mask is the first Layton game that has felt like a chore.

XCOM’s lack of longevity

Contributing editor Rob Savillo

A game about saving the world from an alien invasion is probably beyond cliché at this point. You’d think that such a premise would doom the entire experience to a single playthrough, never to be touched again. But this wasn’t the case with the original X-Com strategy games, where I felt like anything could happen at any time. My first encounter could be the extraterrestrial menace terrorizing an urban populace or a dogfight with high-flying UFO that segues into a ground assault or even a struggle for survival within the supposedly safe confines of my only operational headquarters! Add in a healthy dose of pseudo-randomization, and X-Com felt fresh over and over no matter how many campaigns I played.

But Developer Firaxis’ recent reboot, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, unfortunately starts to feel all too similar all too quickly. Even during your first game, you’ll see the same premade maps again and again. Some missions feel scripted (even featuring monster closets!) and like long, narrow hallways (I don’t ever want to play the final stage again because it’s such a boring slog). I’m convinced that Firaxis doesn’t really want me to play another campaign, which is crystal clear because the game forces me to listen to the same unskippable explanatory voiceovers with every new start.

After well over 100 hours, I’m just about done with XCOM. And it shouldn’t have been this way.

Zynga’s belly-flop

Editor-in-chief Dan “Shoe” Hsu

Zynga was supposed to be the next big thing in gaming, but then it flopped … hard. Its stock became the joke of the industry (currently: $2.39, down from $9.50 at the initial public offering and a peak of $14.69 back in March, and rather than make a bunch of new Silicon Valley millionaires, it had to lay people off. Not many people are rooting for the company that regularly spams Facebook walls. But when the guys leading the charge for social gaming fails that badly, it’s a very bad sign for the health of the business as a whole.

Nearly everything Resident Evil

Intern Jasmine Rea

This year, I found myself sympathizing with legions of Sonic the Hedgehog fans because at our core, we are far too loyal for our own good. Like them, I go into every Resident Evil game with the same naive hope that the series isn’t spiraling the drain. Operation Raccoon City and Resident Evil 6 were nearly enough to make me give up on playing any console-based entries in the series. Poor execution, tedious gameplay, and wretched quick-time events have finally broken me. I’ll go into 2013 with a dull ache for another Resident Evil: Revelations, but I doubt I’ll get that.

Will I buy the inevitable Resident Evil 7? Of course I will, and that’s why gin exists.

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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If 2012 has shown us one thing, it’s that video game development is truly in the “crossover era.” GamesBeat’s 2012 Game of the Year, The Walking Dead, was first available as a downloadable title, not a retail release. Other downloadables, such as indie-developed darlings Journey and Faster Than Light, garnered plenty of votes as well. And in our staff’s and contributor’s top games of the year lists, we even see mobile releases — like Fieldrunners 2.

Gaming has changed, and it’s nice to see that it’s more than just big-budget console and PC titles that have earned Game of the Year attention. Here are the top games as chosen by GamesBeat staffers and contributors. Let us know what you think about our picks in the comments — especially if you feel we’ve left something off our lists!

Editor-in-chief Dan “Shoe” Hsu

XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Platforms: PC, Xbox 360, PS3
Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Firaxis Games

Little green men — yesteryear’s poster boys for mysterious invaders from outer space — are about as menacing as Oompa Loompas armed with toy guns. XCOM’s little gray men, however, are scary as hell. It’s not the ashen skin, bulbous eyes, or creepy-crawly walk. It’s what these Sectoids represent: a greater threat that we are simply not equipped to handle.

In the strategy game XCOM: Enemy Unknown, we mere humans bring dull knives to plasma gunfights. And just when we start to catch up in weapon technology, the bug-eyed bastards bring bigger guns and meaner friends. These jerks even cheat with mysterious mind-control powers. Meanwhile, we’re barely keeping the checkbook balanced between research, manufacturing, facility construction, aircraft, and an ever-decreasing budget due to world nations pulling out of the program if you can’t keep them safe (and you can never keep them all safe).

It all adds up to an incredibly exciting and stressful experience. Each decision — whether it’s which tree to hide your assault trooper behind or which whiny country gets your last airspace-monitoring satellite — feels monumental and permanent. Humanity’s existence is at stake, and we just want to make it to the next month, when a few more pennies come rolling in and a few more traumatized soldiers get out of sick bay.

It’s a desperate fight. And boy will we celebrate when those little gray men are dead.

Shoe’s other picks for best games of 2012: Fieldrunners 2, Dishonored, Journey, Fez

Lead writer Dean Takahasi

The Unfinished Swan
Platform: PlayStation 3 (PlayStation Network)
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
Developer: Giant Sparrow

The Unfinished Swan is one of the most creative titles yet for the PlayStation Network. It’s an interactive fairy tale where you lob blobs of black paint at a white screen. As you do so, you uncover part of a 3D space hidden within the white scene. Uncovering each scene is a mind-bending task, as you have to navigate perplexing puzzles. You explore the unknown, and as you do so, you uncover a new segment in a fairy tale about a boy who loses his mother. It is a touching story that will remind of you of the zany Alice in Wonderland. Ian Dallas, the game creator, feels that a child who is abandoned is like an unfinished work of art. But just when you think that the game has become predictable, it changes. In some ways, the story seems unfinished. But the title is a wonderful first effort for Giant Sparrow, a new studio bankrolled by Sony.

Dean’s other picks for the best games of 2012: Halo 4, Far Cry 3, Journey, Call of Duty: Black Ops II

Culture editor Sebastian Haley

Hotline Miami
Platform: PC
Publisher: Developer Digital
Developer: Dennaton Games

Indie sensation Hotline Miami is best described as the film Drive, but in a retro, pixelated and somehow even more violent form, with subtle hints of Rockstar’s Manhunt sprinkled on top. The short-but-sickeningly sweet levels allow you to carefully orchestrate your symphony of murder and mayhem, filling the floors with maimed corpses and spraying the walls with crimson, all while its surreal, Miami Vice-inspired soundtrack beats in the back of your mind. Basically, if you own a Wii or like looking at livestreams of kittens, this is not your kind of game.

Sebastian’s other picks for best games of 2012: Trials Evolution, Far Cry 3, The Darkness II, Final Fantasy XIII-2

Staff writer Jeff Grubb

Mark of the Ninja
Platform: Xbox 360 (Xbox Live Arcade), PC
Publisher: Microsoft Studios
Developer: Klei Entertainment

For these Game of the Year summaries, we’re supposed to look above and beyond the individual parts of a game. We’re supposed to write about why it is important, but in the case of Mark of the Ninja, it’s those parts that make it so special. Developer Klei’s 2D stealth action game for Xbox Live Arcade and PC is a master class in well-executed gameplay mechanics. Whether it’s a soundwave that ripples off your ninja’s feet to indicate how much noise he’s making or a vision cone that indicates where an enemy is looking, Mark of the Ninja is constantly communicating with the player. It then provides the player with a great controlling character to poke and prod the world with.

It’s not rare that a game makes you feel like a badass, but with Klei’s game it’s not about how powerful you are — it’s about how in tune with the environment your character is. You have so much visual and aural information that every moment is an opportunity for experimentation. You can spend 10 minutes laying out a detailed plan that involves deadly traps, or you can play the entire game without a sword.

In video games, we don’t usually get a lot of new ideas, we just get different takes on old ideas. Stealth is an old idea at this point, but Mark of the Ninja distinguishes itself by executing the concept better than any other game before it.

Jeff’s other picks for best games of 2012: The Walking Dead, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Trials Evolution, FTL: Faster Than Light

Copy editor Jason Wilson

FTL: Faster Than Light
Platform: PC, Mac, Linux
Publisher: Subset Games
Developer: Subset Games

I’m low on fuel. My crew raced around my starship like a colony of ants, hastily putting out fires as doors opened to the cold vacuum of space. The Rebels are closing in on me. Do I take a chance and see if I can gain more fuel in the next nebular cloud, or do I make a mad dash for the next sector and hope to find friendly forces instead of angry adversaries? These are just some of the choices the player faces in FTL: Faster Than Light, the indie roguelike that’s swept upon a number of Game of the Year lists in 2012 (including ours!). What makes FTL so compelling to players is that a take on Civilization’s “one more turn” addictive nature — but instead of furthering your game, you’re driven to see if your next attempt takes you closer to escaping the pursuing Rebel forces. And it’s this that makes FTL one of the most interesting, fascinating, and, yes, best games of 2012.

Jason’s other picks for best games of 2012: The Walking Dead, Crusader Kings II, Torchlight II, Dragon’s Dogma

Contributor Rus McLaughlin

Far Cry 3
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal

Something visceral. Something primal. Most shooters don’t have these. They settle you into a safe, comfortable role. Veteran soldier. Seasoned cop. Career criminal. A hero … or an antihero. But Far Cry 3 makes you run blind through the jungle while murderous pirates hunt you like a piece of prey. You’re just a terrified kid. Never held a gun before. Never seen anyone die before. Now you’re covered in your own brother’s blood and getting high off the giddy thrill of mere survival. Then you’re turned lose to roam two amazingly rich, open-world islands where you can really start enjoying yourself, slowly and cautiously picking your tormentors apart. Before you know it, the elation you get from destroying a criminal empire hardens into a different kind of drug: revenge.

That’s when Far Cry 3 surpasses the standard shooter fare. An aimless twentysomething becomes a killer of killers, as feared as the insane warlords he wants dead. Between coolly tense stealth play and straight-up gunfights, you become the predator, stalking intruders in your jungle and murdering them at will. It all culminates in a moment where you must decide just how much you enjoy that particular power fantasy. Enough to abandon your humanity? Maybe.

Far Cry 3 goes there. Solid gameplay — minus a weak-tea multiplayer — and incredibly detailed environments lift it far enough, but its secret weapon lies in how it takes you into that dark, primal place. And then it dares you to ignore your basic animal instincts.

Rus’s other picks for best games of 2012: The Walking Dead, Fez, Halo 4, Journey

Contributing editor Rob Savillo

Contributor Rob LeFebvre

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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Amazon’s weekly sales data is in, and it included some definite surprises this time around. The following charts are for the top 10 best-selling titles across all platforms.

North America:

1. Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012 (Xbox 360 Kinect)
2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Xbox 360)
3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (PS3)
4. Just Dance 3 (Wii)
5. Zumba Fitness (Wii)
6. Uncharted: Golden Abyss (PS Vita)
7. Kinect Sports (Xbox 360 Kinect)
8. Twisted Metal (PS3)
9. Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure: Boomer (3DS, Wii, PS3, Xbox 360)
10. Zumba Fitness 2 (Wii)

No Final Fantasy XIII-2? No Darkness II? That’s a bit depressing, especially when half of the Top 10 are low-budget workout games for the Wii. It’s also interesting to see November’s Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012, a Kinect-only title, outselling Modern Warfare 3. Your Shape is an excellent game, and I was supposed to review it last year, but instead I just shamed myself by finding out how desperately out of shape I was.

Japan:

1. Theatrhythm Final Fantasy (3DS)
2. New Love Plus – Normal Edition (3DS)
3. Mario Kart 7 (3DS)
4. Super Mario 3D Land (3DS)
5. Gravity Daze: Gravitational Dizziness (PS Vita)
6. Monster Hunter 3G (3DS)
7. Resident Evil Revelations (3DS)
8. Final Fantasy XIII-2 (PS3)
9. Just Dance Wii (Wii)
10. ToHeart2 DX PLUS – Limited Edition (PS3)

Okay, this makes a little more sense. Only one Just Dance title, some Mario, a couple of Final Fantasy titles, Resident Evil, and the excellent-looking Gravity Daze for the PlayStation Vita. We poor Americans will have to wait a few months to take that one for a spin (put that joke in your pocket and save it for later).

Via Videogamesblogger, who also points out that Final Fantasy X still appears on the PlayStation 2 chart, where it has remained for the past decade.

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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Index

• Starter Guide
• Campaign Missions, Handprints & Unlockables
• Raid Mode Missions & Unlockables

STARTER GUIDE

Welcome to GamesBeat’s Resident Evil: Revelations guide. First we’ll start off with some basic tips that will help you survive the latest Resident Evil experience, but then we’ll delve deeper into what missions and rewards await you in Campaign and Raid Mode.

Difficulty
Normal is not that hard unless this is your first video game, ever. There’s not much point to starting on Casual, as you’ll eventually have to come back and play through it anyway once you’ve familiarized yourself with the game and can beat it without taking damage (see page 2).

The first few Oozes can be intimidating, but once you get used to combat in the confined spaces and the behavior of the handful of different enemies, the game gets pretty easy. Even Hunters, which are typically the most dangerous non-boss enemies in the Resident Evil franchise, don’t pose much of a threat in Revelations, even in large numbers.

Dodging
Like in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, Jill (and everyone else) can easily dodge most incoming attacks. All you have to do is press up on the control stick right as an attack is about to hit. You can also press down and B to dodge and do a 180 turn at the same time, which is good when you need to run away like a little girl.

Getting the timing right for all the different enemies and attacks can be tricky, but once you’ve mastered dodging, you’ve essentially made Resident Evil Revelations your bitch.

Avoidance
Killing enemies is not always the best approach to a situation. Like classic Resident Evils, some enemies can be bypassed, saving you time and precious ammo. If you’re just passing through an area that doesn’t really need to be explored and you feel you can slip by any enemies without getting caught, definitely consider doing it.

Zoning
While avoiding enemies you may have a few close calls. Luckily you’re invincible while opening doors and moving between rooms, so if you can just get to a door and press Y before an attack connects, you’ll be fine. However, if you leave a group of enemies waiting for you outside a door and have to eventually come back through it, they’ll charge up their attacks while you’re still stuck in the door animation. It’s almost always a guaranteed hit, so be careful.

Reload on the run
You can reload while moving, so make good use of that. Don’t stand around waiting to finish reloading if enemies are nearby. This will come in handy during timed sequences. If the area is clear, make sure you’re all reloaded before heading into the next battle or running around any corners.

Ammo
Jill Valentine is the main character of Resident Evil Revelations. Any time you’re not playing as her (which is surprisingly often), you can use your ammo and weaponry a bit more freely. Sometimes you will only be playing as that character once, or at different times during the timeline, meaning your ammo will be restocked, or you’ll come across a huge cache of weapons and ammo right before any notable battles.

When playing as Jill, on the other hand, you really should be as efficient as possible. Use the handgun for as long as you can, then make sure that every shotgun, rifle, and machinegun shot counts. Things are not so bad on Normal as long as you’re careful, but green herbs can end up being scarce if you get reckless.

Pages: 1 2 3

Occurring 10 years after the events of the original game, Leon’s story is centered around Tall Oaks, a city similar to Raccoon City that succumbs to a T-virus outbreak. Chris’ story takes place in China, while a third storyline revolves around an unidentified new character and Resident Evil 4′s Ashley Graham.

Resident Evil 6 has been given a release date of November 20, 2012.

While it’s highly likely Resident Evil 6 will release on both current consoles, only the Xbox 360 logo is shown at the end of the trailer.

Original story: A reliable source within Capcom has revealed to GamesBeat that the currently unannounced Resident Evil 6 is indeed well underway, and will feature franchise heroes Chris Redfield and Leon S. Kennedy as the two leading characters. Ada Wong is also said to be returning, but we were not told in what capacity.

Previous speculation had suggested Capcom may have outsourced the game to a Western developer, a la Dead Rising 2, but that is not the case. Resident Evil 6 is being developed by the same internal Japanese team that has worked on previous entries in the iconic survival horror series.

The gameplay is said to be getting a bit of a tweak based on player feedback from Resident Evil 5. The development team is aiming for a cross between the action/horror  blend of Resident Evil 4, largely considered to be the best in the series and one of the greatest games ever made, and the far more action-oriented Resident Evil 5, which was met with a mixed-but-mostly-positive reaction.

If this news turns out to be true, it would mark the first time a major entry in the series has featured two male protagonists, instead of a male/female duo. Even in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis and Resident Evil 4, where Jill Valentine and Leon were the main playable characters, respectively, members of the opposite sex still featured heavily into the story and had playable sequences throughout the game.

A recent viral campaign has emerged pointing to an impending Resident Evil 6 reveal, possibly as soon as today, as Capcom is holding a public “Fright Club” event to show off the upcoming Resident Evil: Revelations for the Nintendo 3DS, and online multiplayer-shooter Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City. Might as well make it a ménage à trois, right?

Reaching out to Capcom for official comment, GamesBeat was told, “Capcom has made no announcements.”

Check back tomorrow for our coverage of the Fright Club event, or check it out for yourself if you live in the Bay Area. Space is limited, as always.

Nintendo has announced that the controversial Circle Pad Pro attachment — which adds an extra thumbpad to the right side of the 3DS’ face buttons — will be coming to Europe along with the January 27 launch of Resident Evil: Revelations.

The game, which will be available for sale by itself and in a bundle with the Circle Pad accessory, doesn’t require a second thumbpad to play. However, the attachment will allow for what Nintendo calls “traditional twin stick shooter” play for the first-person title — allowing for easier, independent control of the player’s viewpoint. Capcom and Nintendo have not revealed European pricing for the game or the attachment.

Since its unveiling in September, many gamers have seen the Circle Pad Pro as a cumbersome, bulky and costly attachment that introduces a control feature that should have been included on the original 3DS hardware in the first place. Others have criticized the attachment for requiring its own AAA battery for power, rather than drawing energy from the 3DS’ rechargeable power supply.

The add-on is set for release in Japan on December 10, where it will come packaged with Capcom’s Monster Hunter Tri G or sold on its own for 1500 yen (about $20). A number of upcoming Japanese games have announced optional support for the Circle Pad, including Konami’s Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D, Namco Bandai’s Ace Combat 3D: Cross Rumble, Tecmo Koei’s Dynasty Warriors VS and Square Enix’s Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance.

Nintendo has yet to announce if, or when, the Circle Pad Pro will hit North American shores. Resident Evil Revelations will launch in North America on February 7, though Capcom has confirmed the game won’t be bundled with the Circle Pad in the region. The game itself will be priced at the higher-than-normal price of $50, which is duelarger-than-normal 4GB cartridge memory costs, Capcom said.

Though 3DS sales fell well below initial expectations at launch, the system’s sales nearly tripled after a recent $80 price cut.  Sales have continued to accelerate during November, more than tripling between the weeks of November 6 and November 20 in the U.S.

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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