GF! Weekly Wrap-Up #9

Intro

Welcome gamers to the most fright-en-est edition yet of the GamesFirst! Weekly Wrap-Up for the week ending Friday, October 28, 2005. I’m Val Townsend, the Atomic Goddess, and this week I’ve got the latest spooktacular updates from GamesFirst! That means r eviews of the campy Evil Dead: Regeneration, as well as the undead action of Stubbs the Zombie: Rebel Without a Pulse. We’ve also got a preview of the Xbox 360 game, Dead Rising. You might want to wear a helmet to protect those precious brains, because we ’re feeling a little hungry. Let’s dig into some news.

News

Starting with the slightly creepy, there have been a couple of retro game sales that make us question our devotion: Are we fans or mindless zombies’ The first game, a 1983 Atari 2600 cartridge called Pepsi Invaders recently sold for over 1800 dollars. P epsi Invaders was commissioned by Coca-Cola and developed by Atari. Only 125 copies were ever made of the game, which is basically a graphical reworking of Space Invaders.

In other retro gaming news, an ultra-rare copy of Zelda III for the NES was found at a flea market for $20. Richard Vialoux bought the cartridge and confirmed it worked. Not knowing what to do with it, he put the cartridge up for sale, and it was quickly snapped up by a mysterious buyer known only as Knight 7 who paid 3000 dollars Canadian for it. So that’s, what, twelve bucks'

Moving on to the scary corporate news section of the podcast, Nintendo and McDonald’s have partnered to offer free Wi-Fi service for the Nintendo DS in McDonald’s restaurants. With a lineup of Wi-Fi enabled multiplayer games featuring major franchises l ike Mario Kart, Tony Hawk’s American Skateland, Animal Crossing, and Metroid Prime: Hunters, this could very well mean the kids have even more reason to beg for that happy meal. McDonald’s currently offers Wi-Fi connections in 6000 restaurants, and Nintend o DS owners will be able to access the service for free.

And we finish out with a truly terrifying news story: Kuma Reality Games has started a serious brushfire with two releases in two weeks. Kuma Reality Games makes Kuma War, a serialized war game based on actual events. Last week Kuma War saw the relea se of a module based on Saddam Hussein’s current trial. The mission module can be downloaded for free, and covers the events surrounding a 1983 assassination attempt on Hussein’s life, and the subsequent killing of over 140 Iraqi civilians. Players are ta sked with succeeding in the assassination in order to save the civilians. Kuma Reality Games CEO Keith Halper says, “In two years of re-creating history, we’ve seen the power of virtual reality to inform like no medium before it…. If anyone has forgotte n what a monster Saddam was, we hope to remind them.

Of course, the history of the former Iraqi leader is real and the events covered in the Hussein modules are based on verifiable evidence. But the latest Kuma War module enacts the events of a US assault on Iran. The major difference, of course, is that th is scenario is fictional, and not in keeping with Kuma’s reality focus. Coverage of the game module on CNN prompted a petition demanding that the module be removed from Kuma’s site because, claim the authors of the petition, the game is geared towards te sting domestic and international reactions to a US invasion of Iran. And there’s not much that creeps us out more than the phrase a US invasion of Iran.

Reviews

Moving from our constant fear of the reality that surrounds us, to the exhilirating fear of videogames, Jeremy Kauffman returns with a review of Evil Dead: Regeneration for Xbox and PlayStation 2, which is a mild relief for wounded Deadites. Sam Raimi is too busy loving it up with Spider-Man to realize that there is an Evil Dead 4 being made without him, and without Bruce Campbell, and WITH Ashton Kutcher. That’s right. I’ll give you a moment to collect yourself.

The Evil Dead game series by THQ was lauded as being everything every Deadite could want: Plenty of involvement from Bruce Campbell and Raimi seemed like a sure ticket to gaming success. And then the first two games in the trilogy came out. With the lates t release, Evil Dead: Regeneration, nobody seriously expects it to appeal to those who don’t already know what a Deadite is. If you’re a super-fan of the series, like Jeremy, then Regeneration is the best you’re going to get for quite awhile. The additio n of Ted Raimi voicing Ash’s dwarven sidekick provides some trademark campy humor, making Regeneration the second best in the series. The gameplay is mostly typical 3rd person action-adventure fare, punctuated by well-done cutscenes that should keep fans R -O-F-L. At a budget price of 20 dollars, we can be a little lenient on Evil Dead: Regeneration and give it a groovey three stars.

Moving from the ridiculous to the, well, more-fun-to-play ridiculous, Shawn checks in with a review of Stubbs the Zombie: Rebel Without a Pulse for Xbox. Developed on the Halo engine, Stubbs the Zombie uses the squad-based mechanics of Halo to allow the p layer to lead a horde of zombies as they assault Punchbowl, PA, a 1959 experiment in future-living. Stubbs is the walking corpse of a traveling salesman who was murdered in the area back in 1933, and is driven to reunite with the love of his life in a stor y not unlike King Kong, but with more brain-eating. Stubbs can turn citizens into zombies, or he can create mayhem with his unique combat skills. For example, by detaching his forearm, Stubbs can chase down and possess humans to use their weapons against t he other humans, or he can detach his head and roll it towards groups of humans in order to explode them like so many bowling pins.

In addition to the many moves available to Stubbs, there are driving sequences, which provide yet another way to kill humans. All of the gameplay variety gives Stubbs a strategic vibe, and the game is paced very well, keeping everything action-packed thro ughout the 16 or so hours you’ll spend with it. Replay value is enhanced by a cooperative mode, which allows you to share the brains with a friend. Stubbs the Zombie is very well-made, and benefits from the tightness of the Halo engine. In some segments, s uch as the driving sequences, Halo’s flaws come through in spades. But in general, Stubbs is one of the most enjoyable games we’ve played this year. A great sense of humor, solid gameplay, quick pacing, and a completely unique take on the zombie genre are all excellent reasons to give Stubbs the Zombie: Rebel Without a Pulse a four out of five stars.

Previews

Finishing off our quite undead-themed game coverage this week, we’ve got a preview of Dead Rising, a new zombie game from Capcom coming to Xbox 360. In Dead Rising you play photojournalist Frank West. As the dead begin to rise from the grave, Frank heads for the mall in order to hold up with other survivors. (Apparently Frank never saw Dawn of the Dead.)

Putting the Xbox 360 to the test, Dead Rising features hordes of zombies, reportedly numbering up to a thousand shufflers on-screen at a time. In order to survive, Frank will use his camera flash to stun and flee, or he will have to use whatever he can fi nd in the environment to inflict damage, including furniture, pipes, boards, and much, much bloodier weapons. The zombies come in huge waves, and Frank slaughters his way through dozens and dozens of enemies in any area.

So far Dead Rising looks like non-stop zombie-killing action. But the game is still early in development, so we’re sure to hear more details about gameplay before its release. It will be available for Xbox 360, and zombie slayers everywhere should look fo rward to hordes of good times with this one.

Conclusion

Now that we’re all covered with zombie goo and guts, we’re going to go out and try to frighten little kids. But have no fear, dear gamers: Whether you need a Trick or a Treat, you can get it all, every day, at GamesFirst.com. I’m Val Townsend, the Atomic Goddess, wishing you a very scary Halloween.