The Secret World is the next MMO to be on look out for.  In a press release earlier this year with USA Today people got a small taste of the innovative style of this (TSW) MMO.  TSW will be breaking the mold of the usual fantasy/sci-fi MMO and placing players into a real world/present time setting.  For many people that play MMOs this one will differ in many ways.  One huge difference will be the absence of a leveling system.

Different from other MMORPGs, The Secret World will have no classes and no leveling up. “We want to get away from the grind,” he says. “The Secret World begins where other MMOs end, is sort of our philosophy. We want everyone to participate in the end game. We want everyone to fight the really cool monsters and use the really cool weapons. (USA Today)

This can be a little shocking to some but I can say that it will be refreshing.  Even with traditional RPGs, grinding can take a lot of fun out of a game.  Without this promise of no grind, I’m stoked to see what it will be like.

Funcom (Age of Conan; Anarchy Online) has woven a backstory that goes 100 million years into the past. “We are drawing from ancient history and mythology, fairy tales, pop culture and conspiracy theories. We are talking all those and combining it into a coherent reality of our own making. (USA Today)

This to me is the most promising aspect of the game.  How many times have you sat around with your friends in the dead of night talking about conspiracy theories?  Too many to count I’m sure.  Now you can play them, adding in monsters, vampires, and demons in a real world setting.  This is a wet dream for all of you that love The Da Vinci Code and X-Files. I know I cannot wait! Until I can dig up more check out this trailer.

With three great names working on this title: Activision, id Software and Raven; Wolfenstein will take you on a ride you will not forget.  With less than a week away from the release date you should grab your pre-orders now and get ready for mayhem and in your face action.
This trailer has everything you could want from Wolfenstein: (my favorite) Zombies, demons, bad-ass weapons, the amazing castle, in your face monsters, oh and something special jet-packs!  This game will be intense and expect nothing less from Wolfenstein.  Lock and load and get ready on August 18th for trip through the hellish world of Castle Wolfenstein.

[Header photo courtesy playworksonline

This trailer says it all.  It might be another Post-apocalyptic game but nothing can come close to touching this.

“Alan Wake is a psychological action thriller from Remedy, the makers of the award-winning Max Payne games.”  I have been waiting for this game when I caught wind of it in 2005.  It had some hype then, and shortly after it fell off the radar.  Alan Wake returned to make a splash at E3 this year showing off a beautiful trailer. This game is going to rock the Action-Thriller genre with its captivating story and astounding graphics.  This game reminds me of the movie In the Mouth of Madness meets Silent Hill. Alan Wake has a skin crawling creepiness that seeps deep within you leaving breathless and wanting more.

This is a general idea of the story from Alanwake.com:

Alan Wake, a bestselling writer hasn’t managed to write anything in over two years.  Now his wife, Alice, brings him to Bright Falls to recover is creative flow.  But when she vanishes without a trace, Wake finds himself trapped in a nightmare.  Word by word, his latest work, a thriller he can’t even remember writing, is coming true before his eyes.

Screen-shots: From AlanWake.com

Here is the trailer released at QuakeCon (via That VideoGame Blog) I don’t have much info on this game except that id Software and EA are behind this beauty.  Rage will release sometime next year and it looks amazing.  It reminds me of Fallout 3 meets Mad Max and they had a love child.  I can already see all the dune buggy fun I am going to have when it comes out.  From the looks of the trailer you will have access to an assortment of great weapons to help spread a bloody mess across the wasteland.

“It is with a heavy heart we announce today that GRIN has been forced to close its doors. This as too many publishers have been delaying their payments, causing an unbearable cashflow situation.

After twelve years of hard work, employing hundreds of wonderfully talented men and women, it is over.  It has been a great adventure and the GRIN family has experienced what few have”

GRIN started to make a come-back with last year’s downloadable remake, Bionic Commando Rearmed, a precursor to this year’s 3D version of the Bionic Commando franchise. Sadly, this years game along with the two film adaptations: Wanted and Terminator Salvation fell way short in sells. This along with the publisher problems were most likely the downfall of the studio. The last bit of sad news as stated on the website goes: “unreleased masterpiece” in the works.  We will not get a chance to see if GRIN had something beautiful in the making.  The only up side to this is that the devs have found work with Outbreak Studios.

It s very sad too lose a studio that has made a staple in the gaming community, yes that have released some failed work but Bionic Commando takes us way back to something campy and fun.  That game is a part of growing up and is something I will remember cussing and loving at the same time. You will be missed!

One thing that has bugged me and my friends about Left for Dead is what happened to the survivors between campaigns No Mercy and Death Toll.  They leave in a helicopter and end up in the woods an interstate.  This DLC will answer that question.  It will also offer a new level to single-player, co-op, a “streamlined” versus mode in under 30 minutes, and survival map.  Valve has added a recharge timer for infected teammates and changed the item spawn behavior to make game-play more balanced in versus.

This is the part where I get upset; PC players will have this DLC for FREE! Xbox players will have to pay 560 to download it…really? REALLY?  Look for this DLC next month.

I will have to say that Fear from the first game to now has brought a new element to the genre.  With the shock factor and deep-skin crawling-seeping into your soul fear; they have so much more in store for us.  Project Origin took us on one hell of a ride and the end of it left you dazed and wanting more.  With the Reborn DLC we finally get a taste of more with 4 more levels to play plus some multiplayer updates.  Now I am not sure how these levels will play into the main story considering you are playing a Replica soldier but it should be creepy and fun nonetheless.  I will be expecting plot twist and hooks all the way through this DLC. The release date is looking to be sometime in September but until then check out the trailer and get yourself ready for more Alma!

This is a sad time for me right now.  Hearing that Fallout 3 will no longer have any DLC after Mothership Zeta. it has been a long and fun journey with the Hero and I know I will be replaying Fallout 3 until Fallout 4 comes out next year.  Check out this trailer of the new DLC:

With the announcement of Fallout 4: New Vegas I guess it is time to close this story and start a new one.

At the company’s press conference in London today, Bethesda’s Pete Hines announced Fallout New Vegas. The game is not a sequel to Fallout 3 but a new stand-alone title in the Fallout universe. Hines said they are working on the game with Obsidian Entertainment, the developer of Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords and Neverwinter Nights 2.

New Vegas is developed for the PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and is expected to release some time in 2010. More details were promised further down the road. (www.thatvideogameblog.com)

I am very excited about the new Fallout game and I a feeling it will be even more fun than Fallout 3.