With all this bloody good talk about Bloody Good Time being released, today Ubisoft has released a cinematic for their insane FPS, starring none other than the man who’s responsible for this massacre, Director X. Take a look below to see the violent (but rather funny) cinematic for Ubisoft’s latest FPS, coming to XBLA and Steam.

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It’s odd how something that I hadn’t even heard of until about two months ago could suddenly become such a big part of my life, but in a short time I have become a completely devoted Scott Pilgrim fan.  I loved the movie, devoured the graphic novels, can’t get the movie’s soundtrack out of my head, and after finishing the game, am completely smitten by it as well.  The tale of Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers has left an indelible tattoo on my non-Canadian brain, and while the game itself may not have quite the storytelling flare as its other renditions, it’s probably the best possible way that such a story could have been translated into a video game.  It takes all the tributes to gaming that the books and movie relate and condenses them into it’s own tribute, and it gets even more fun the more I play it.

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After more than 20 years, everyone’s favorite moonwalker (may he Rest in Peace)  is finally getting another video game made for him. Ubisoft’s Michael Jackson game, simply titled Michael Jackson: The Experience, is going to be developed for the PSP, DS, Wii, Xbox 360, and PS3. According to Ubisoft, The Experience will utilize the Wii MotionPlus, Kinect, and Move. Get ready to Beat It, Jackson fans.

The Wii version will be similar to Ubisoft’s Just Dance, while the Xbox 360 version is going to project 3D images of the player onto the screen (can we say Michael Jackson costumes?). Both the DS and PSP versions are said to be tap-based games. Not too much has been discussed about the PS3 version yet, but be sure that we will keep you updated as frequently as possible about The King of Pop’s latest video game appearance.

For those of you who missed joining in on our live tweeting of the Konami Press Conference, here’s a recap of Tigresa’s live tweet stream from the event! This time there’s laser… tag… fights, assassinating, learn how to breathe and relax through games without booze and more!

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Ubisoft’s conference included several titles today, including one that may or may not even classify as a game at all.  It’s called Innergy, and it’s a breathing simulator that helps you learn to relax.  For those who suffer from anxiety disorders or are just stressed out from work, this could be another way to help to unwind without having to hit the bottle.

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The Prince of Persia has made a return, and this time around Ubisoft has given themselves the enormous goal of satisfying both fans of the Sands of Time series as well as followers of the new set of games launched with 2008’s Prince of Persia. While Forgotten Sands does justice to both of its primary inspirations, it falls unfortunately short of the (understandably lofty) expectations set forth by the phenomenal games in the series’ past.

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Dear Reader:  I give you a choice with this review!  You may watch a somewhat amateur video with my somewhat amateur voice and some non-HD game footage, or you can read.  As a pre-note, this review covers only the single player portion of Splinter Cell: Conviction.  Multiplayer fans will have to look elsewhere for their information!

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I have waited possibly decades for a realistic sword simulation game.  I am what people might dub a sword afficianado.  I visit forums dedicated to accurate replicas of historical swords.  I own a real sword.  Any time I play a fantasy-based game with swords in it, I choose to use one (or more often two).  There is something about a blade that I have always found beautiful and elegant, artistic even.  It is because of this love of one of history’s most cherished weapons that I find myself wary of any game that attempts to mirror swinging one around.  I avoided the first Red Steel with a vengeance, looking away whenever I’d see it on shelves, quickly closing my browser whenever seeing it mentioned for fear that it might tempt me into that realm of disappointment.  And by all accounts, it was a disappointment.

However, I was unable to avoid Red Steel 2.  For one, it promised to possibly make good on promises and deliver us a true sword simulation.  I should have known better, particularly after Wii Sports Resort fencing failed to live up to a similar promise.  This is not to say that Red Steel 2 is a bad game.  It’s actually not.  It’s very fun at times, and while the controls take some getting used to, once I got a feel for how everything worked, I started actually feeling somewhat swordmaster-y.  It still isn’t the sword simulator that I’m looking for.  This is partly to blame on hardware I think.  The WiiMotion Plus, if an improvement over the standard Wiimote, still isn’t up to the challenge of real 1:1 movement.  Unfortunately, I think we might have to look to Sony for that goal.  And I almost wish Ubisoft had waited for the Move to publish Red Steel 2.  It might have been amazing.

The setting of Red Steel 2 is spaghetti western meets samurai sword dojo.  Players take the role of an unnamed remnant of famed Kusagari clan whose family sword has been stolen by the frothing Jackal gang.  The story really isn’t much more complicated than that.  The game’s real center takes place in the action.  The Jackal gang provide bodies for the hero to slice and shoot, and a few boss fights for him to overcome.  The hero’s allies are generally just shopkeepers.  One is there to teach him new skills.  Another is there to hand him out quests or sell him new guns.  Realistically this game could have been created without any story or talking characters at all.  But they do add flavor, and the setting is one many people enjoy, tumbleweeds and all.  The hero is also a complete badass, and it’s always nice to take the reins of a badass.

Visually the game is very pretty, utilizing a cel-shaded look similar to what Borderlands did (though it’s on the Wii so it still kind of looks like crap).  It’s played from a first-person perspective using sword and gun interchangeably.  The settings are not particularly varied.  Players will find themselves walking down similar technology lined dirt roads for the majority of the game.  Likewise, enemies never really change too much either.  The same guy fought in the beginning will reappear a little later but surrounded with a red glow to denote that he has in fact become a super nutstomper.  He dies just as easily.

The upgrades and skills gained are a nice touch, particularly for players who choose to play the game with some strategy in mind and don’t run into it just flailing the WiiMote everywhere.  And if that sounds like a criticism of certain playstyles, for much of the game flailing works just fine.  Our hero can learn new sword skills, buy new guns, and even gains access to mystical powers a few hours in.  The sword skills are the real meat of this upgrade system, and a few of them are very cool.  For instance, one skill allows players to launch an enemy in the air.  Dashing towards him after the initial launch results in the hero jumping up after him, where players can then slash him on the way down.  Another skill involves spinning in a circle and stunning whatever enemy the sword happens to come in contact with.  The skills not only are capable of being used in anytime situations, but also have a finishing move aspect to them.  Punching in the correct button combination and gesture if an enemy is downed will change the animation and deliver brutal death.

Controlling the hero has a bit of a learning curve, and I was required to tinker with settings before I found something that was comfortable.  The WiiMote is used for the slashing, aiming, and the menu, while the nunchuk controls movement, switching the enemy lock on target, and the quest log.  Players viewpoint is dictated by swinging the WiiMote around, much like any FPS.  One would think that swinging the sword would cause the camera to go nuts, but the lock on feature, which is automatic depending on the nearest enemy, keeps this from happening in combat.  And indeed, even out of combat a quick sword slash into a box or wall won’t sending the camera spinning.  Personally, I had to jack the sensitivity up to its max setting.  Everything felt incredibly sluggish to me otherwise.  This forced me to have better aim and to play the game more carefully, but it was easily worth the trade off as after changing, I felt more in control.

As far as gun versus sword, Red Steel 2 takes an opposite approach from most games set in the first person mode.  There are four different guns that can be acquired throughout the game, but even shooting enemies in the head doesn’t kill them.  I don’t quite know the science behind that phenomenon.  Perhaps they’re pellet guns.  Headshots do stun, however, and shooting someone in the leg will cause them to fall to their knees for a simple sword dispatch.  The real damage is in the sword moves, which are really the only way to kill something aside from a few instances where the hero can shoot gas tanks to blow an area up, or finish someone off with the high powered shotgun.  But this is good because this isn’t an FPShooter.  It’s an FPSworder.

The plot progresses through a series of quests tacked up on a billboard in true western style.  There are some optional and some not, but for the most part it’s in a player’s best interest to nab them all.  They never become too overwhelming like some RPG quest-fests, and often one will be on the way to another.  The rewards are monetary, and money is used to buy new weapons or skills.

Strangely enough, the more I played Red Steel 2, the more it began to appeal to me and the less issue I had with its problems.  Part of that has to do with the acquisitions gained, which are doled out at a reasonable rate for the most part.  In the latter half of the game, our hero gains money faster than he can learn the skills that cash gets him, but even then it’s just a matter of forcing oneself to use them.  They’re nearly all useful as well, so learning them is always beneficial (they also look cool).  So for this reviewer, Red Steel 2 was a bit of a slow burn, but it gets hot and I found myself wanting to play because I was having a hell of a time.  I think anyone looking for something replicating a real sword-slashing adventure needs to give this game a try.  It’s not the promise land we’re after just yet, but it’s an important step on that long staircase to paradise.

Doin’ It RIGHT: - Attempted sword simulation is gaming’s best effort to date. - Cool spaghetti western meets sushi setting. - Solid skill upgrade system that’s particularly useful.	Doin’ It RONG: - Doesn’t replicate true sword-swinging as effectively as we might like. - Dated Wii visuals. - Controls can be very frustrating at first.
FINAL SCORE: 8 / 10

One of the biggest booths lining PAX East’s convention floor this year was the Ubisoft area, which featured the upcoming Prince of Persia to demo, and possibly more importantly, dual stations set up to play the Splinter Cell: Conviction co-op level. Needless to say, this was one of the more popular attractions, particularly given the half dozen or so Frag Dolls walking around and guiding players through the experience.

The basic idea we were shown behind this multiplayer mode was that two people team up to defeat a number of enemies. Stealth should play a factor, but unfortunately did not in my particular playthrough as I was found and shot at within moments of being handed the controller. Each map starts out with a set number of enemies to kill, and if players are seen, that amount doubles. It goes without saying that smarter players, or at least those wishing to finish the map as soon as possible, will try to remain unseen. Sneaking, however, isn’t as easy as we might want it to be.  Nor should it be easy because these NPCs have eyes and will use them. If they hear gunshots, they will become alerted.  If they watch you gut a buddy, they will become alerted.

The controls are standard dual-stick, third-person fare. One trigger is used for shooting, one toggles the sneak function, one hits cover. It handles well enough, though without any tutorial or without having recently played any Splinter Cell games, I personally found myself very awkward at controlling my ops member. I know my partner at the time, Spawn Kill’s very own The Herp, was shaking his head at my fumbling the entire time. This is embarassing to me as the stealth genre is my jam! Anyway, the mode has a few very cool features. As with past Splinter Cell games, light plays a factor in movement and detection. Players can shoot out the lights and cause near total blackness, which is negated by their own Splinter Cell sonar headset.

To kill the wandering enemies, players can either shoot with the silenced pistol, or perform a melee kill, or if worse comes to worse can bring out the semi-automatic. I attempted numerous times to perform melee kills, and for the most part it just resulted in my character getting shoved back and shot in the face. It also caused detection because when you fail to kill someone from behind, they get pissed off. You also have access to a handful of projectile weapons to throw out that generally cause ancillary effects like an electromagnetic pulse.

As for keeping track of one’s ally, Splinter Cell: Conviction does this ghost thing that I’ve never before seen in a video game. If an enemy discovers a player, the ghost will track a player’s last known position. Enemies will continue to fire at the ghosted area while you or your ally can leave that area and resume your stealthed status. It’s pretty smart actually, considering those eyes I mentioned before that people like to use can not, in fact, see through objects. This is something many games seem to have trouble with. Once detected out of stealth mode, they all suddenly have the uncanny ability of x-ray vision.

The co-op is fairly important as well. As in many co-op games, players have the ability to resuscitate fallen allies simply by walking to them and pressing down a button.  It must be too much effort for the enemies to finish off a very dangerous spec ops agent who will likely kill them if given another chance. Whatever. It’s handy, particularly given the fact that I died no fewer than four times in the first five minutes I played.

I honestly wish I’d have had more time with the demo, and maybe in a more private setting. I’m not a public gamer, or at least I don’t have much experience gaming publicly. I also felt that the control scheme was one that needed some getting used to as it never quite did what I expected it to. I have a good feeling about the game though and like that they’ve attempted something slightly different with their multiplayer. The game comes out pretty soon so none of us will have too long to wait.

Unfortunately we have no trailer for the Splinter Cell: Conviction Co-op Demo because the Frag Dolls were walking around quashing any attempts at decent footage. Any that we got was barely worth posting and would have only served to demonstrate our inadequate cinematographic skills. Why they were bothering to quell video footage is a mystery as they didn’t do a particularly effective job, nor could they on an open showfloor, but it did serve to block our own attempts. Nevertheless, the screenshots above combined with the demo now available on Xbox Live should serve to give you a decent idea of how things are shaping up. Look for my own review coming up some time in the near future as well.

Splinter Cell: Conviction has seen many delays whether it was for financial reasons or just because the game wasn’t ready yet. Finally the game is ready to come out and fans will be able to get their first chance to play the highly anticipated Splinter Cell title this Thursday when the exclusive demo arrives on the Xbox Marketplace. So what will gamers get to see in this demo? It’s probably going to be short but you will get to test out two essential aspects of the game.

The first part of the demo will be the bathroom interrogation scene, which if you haven’t seen it yet it’s pretty brutal. The next part will fast forward you to a later part of the game to give you a preview of the story and showcase the new gameplay. For those who don’t know, Splinter Cell: Conviction can be played more like an action/shooter rather than a stealth title, but that doesn’t mean you can’t go old school and stealthily take out all enemies. You will also be able to check out the marking system which allows you to plan your attack ahead of time and execute it with perfection. The demo trailer can be accessed via the Spotlight section on Xbox Live and make sure you check back with us for our demo impressions this week.

Apparently Assassin’s Creed 2 is doing even better than anyone anticipated, and better than most games can ever hope.  Ubisoft released their fiscal report today and are claiming over 6 million units sold worldwide.  I can only assume these numbers are a direct result of my review.

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I seem to be one of the few people on the planet who liked the first Assassin’s Creed.  It sold a boatload of copies, but apparently everyone hated it!  It certainly frustrated me.  The repetition I could handle.  The clunky combat (at times) I could handle.  What I could not handle was the fact that about 30 minutes from beating the game it all the sudden became completely unplayable.  I’ve not encountered anything so glitch-ridden in all my years of gaming, even on the PC.  I assumed at first it was some story-based deal with the Animus and I was just playing it wrong.  After a bit of internet research I found that sadly no, that wasn’t it at all.

 Despite my frustrations with the first game, I was ready for Assassin’s Creed 2.  I love open world games, even though they’re losing their vogue, and I love games that let me put a blade through the back of someone’s neck.  I also adore Renaissance Italy and paintings of naked women.  Assassin’s Creed 2 offers all of these things and a whole bunch more. 

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Fitness buffs have long known the benefits of using the Wii as an exercise machine via extensions such as Wii Fit, EA Active Personal Trainer, or even simple games such as WarioWare: Smooth Moves, which asks you to pose accordingly in order to be successful. As of late I’ve taken it upon myself to get in better shape, so I’ve taken advantage of the glut of options available to me in order to facilitate my own fitness program. For a while I had my eye on Ubisoft’s Just Dance, a music/rhythm game that encourages you to get up off your derriere and get into the action by dancing your little heart out. Unfortunately, the game doesn’t work too well as it was intended, but if you simply use the game as a visual guide to shaking what your mama gave you, it does provide an intensive and entertaining workout if you’re willing to throw your inhibitions — and possibly your dignity — out the door.

Just Dance asks you to slither off of the couch and into the groove with a selection of thirty tracks, including “Groove is in the Heart,” “Wannabe,” “Surfin’ Bird,” and “Can’t Get You Out of My Head.” This rather paltry song selection includes tunes that are guaranteed to get the blood pumping through your veins and your heart beating furiously while you work up a sweat in the comfort of your own living room. They can be a little corny, but most certainly infectious and easy to get excited about as you work your way through the game. The word “game” is applied as a rather loose term here, as most of the enjoyment you’ll find yourself having will be through following motion-captured dancers onscreen rather than scoring points.

It’s extremely simple to get into. All you need is a Wii remote and the game, or a few friends to join in on the fun if you can handle the embarrassment (if you’re not a wild child who loves to dance). Choose a song, whether you’d like to play the short version or full version, and watch the onscreen dancing silhouette. Once the song begins, a short countdown will commence, followed by visual cues that aid in helping you to figure out which dance move will be performed next. The choreography is not stilted in that it will not stop and break down individual dance moves for beginners. You either follow the prompts onscreen or you will not succeed. It’s quite punishing for those with slow reflexes, as the prompts that fly across the screen and are not exactly easy to follow. They do give a good general idea of where to hold your arms and legs, but implementing them in the middle of the song as you struggle to follow the dancer can be quite difficult.

As hard as it can be to get the dance moves down pat, at the very least there are only a couple sets of predetermined steps to memorize. They will be performed over and over in each song, so if you want to play the same song several times over, you’ll eventually be able to master it. It all works well in theory, but fails miserably in practice. Since the game works to track your movements and successes with motion-sensing via the sensor bar and Wii remote, Just Dance finds it difficult to score you correctly when you will often place the remote in different locations than the game would imagine. Different people hold the controller in the opposite hand, nearer or further away from the sensor, and various other locations that make it hard for you to “pass” a song in the traditional sense. You’ll often work up a powerful sweat but end up performing miserably on a song regardless of how well you worked it. This essentially renders the in-game scoring useless as any real indicator of your dancing prowess. Accurate scoring is a gamble, and it’s a real shame since there really is no other aspect of Just Dance that makes it a real “game” aside from the fact that friends need only shake a Wii remote to join in.

But don’t be completely put off — there’s plenty of fun to be had. If you dance your heart out and put a full amount of effort into the game, your score will be increased, as it truly rewards dancing with thought behind it. It’s a fantastic game for those who simply love to dance, want to learn some choreographed steps to some of their favorite songs, or people like me who want to get in better shape via video games. If you actually try rather than shake the Wii remote haphazardly, then you’ll start to see some results both in your waistline and in-game. The game could most certainly benefit from DLC or additional song packages, but what’s offered is a viable fitness bonanza that will get booties shakin’ and friends guffawing at how ridiculous you all look. Still, for an MSRP of $39.99, it’s hard to recommend Just Dance over Dance Dance Revolution or even fitness packages such as EA Active Personal Trainer. If you enjoy dancing, though, Just Dance would be ideal at $19.99 or less.

Doin It RIGHT:- You’ll get a great workout if you actually try. - Energetic songs. - Most songs are licensed save for a couple covers.	Doin It RONG:- Less a game than a dance choreography video. - Can be difficult to learn several dance steps. - Low replay value unless you just…really love those songs.
FINAL SCORE: 6 / 10

In 2003, I was unfortunately an idiot.  I spent 98% of my gaming time trapped in MMORPG-land.  As this was the golden age of PlayStation 2 gaming, I feel foolish for having been trapped. Though I missed out on many games in the years between 2000 and 2006, I did finally go back and play one that I had heard nothing but quality things about.  It starred a young reporter named Jade, and I quickly realized just what a treasure I had missed.

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Reading Spawn Kill is fine and all, but wouldn’t it be absolutely wonderful if there were real voices to accompany you on one of your many repeat visits? Of course it would be. That’s why all of us at Spawn Kill are proud to bring you the Kill Kast, the official Spawn Kill podcast.

On this Very Special First Episode, Tigresa and Molotov Cupcake have a little chat about the intricacies of E3, at a glance – the highs, the lows, the inexplicably bad marketing toward tweens! If you want to take Spawn Kill on the go with you, consider this post your saving grace! Feel free to download, tell your friends, post and repost, and comment here with your suggestions, raves, rants, anything! We’re ready to listen.

For future reference, we will be answering questions on upcoming episodes, so make sure to direct all questions you may want answered to contact@spawnkill.com or one of our individual addresses. We’ll make sure we answer all pertinent inquiries! With that said, check this mutha out – we’re kinda proud.

Oh, and we can’t believe you’ve had to ask, but Molotov isn’t really crying. Jeez.