Batman: Arkham Asylum
Genre: Action-adventure / Beat ‘em up / Stealth
Rating: ESRB T for Teen / VSC 15
Publisher: DC Comics with Warner Bros & Eidos Interactive
Formats: Xbox 360, Playstation 3 & Windows
Release Date: August 25, 2009 (U.S.) & August 28, 2009 (Europe)

The prison guard jerks The Joker’s arm as he leads him off to his familiar cell in Arkham Asylum. As The Joker looks back over his shoulder at Batman, he trips and falls to his knee.

When the guard leans down to help him up, Joker takes the opportunity to quickly headbutt the guard as he stands up, sending him reeling. Before anyone can react he leaps up and wraps his cuffs around the guard’s neck from behind. Batman beats on the reinforced glass separating him from his nemesis as he kills the helpless prison guard.

When The Joker hears the guard’s last gurgling attempts at breathing, he gets in his punchline… “Choke’s on you!”

This scene sets the whole tone of Batman: Arkham Asylum, and I think someone may have been pumping Joker gas into my living room, as I had a silly grin on my face the whole time.

The Caped Crusader has been striking fear into the hearts of the Gotham City underworld for the past 70 years, and yet all of the criminals pale in comparison to The Joker — often seen as the Yin to Batman’s Yang, this being reinforced by Alan Moore’s Batman: The Killing Joke published back in 1988 [...]

[Prototype]
Genre: Sandbox Action
Rating: ESRB M for Mature
Publisher: Radical Entertainment
Format: Xbox 360, Playstation 3 & Windows
Release Date: 9th June 2009 (US), 12 June 2009 (UK)

Why do most people play videogames? Is it to feed their competitive streak in hardcore multiplayer action a-la Call of Duty 4? Or is it the epic storytelling of titles like Bioshock? Maybe it’s the ultimate cinematic experience when a true gaming masterpiece is created such as Grand Theft Auto IV.

I’m guilty of all of the above in one form or another… however my favourite games are the ones like Radical Entertainment’s [Prototype] – I’m talking about pure unadulterated laugh-out-loud FUN. Assassin’s Creed is another prime example of a game that had it’s faults, but I loved it all the same because the freerunning and combat elements made me grin like an imbecile on crack.

Like Assassin’s Creed and Mirror’s Edge before it, Prototype has tapped the freerunning market again… but is adding so much more into the mix. It is a sandbox action title that dispenses with the pleasantries and provides you with the means to decimate an entire city & it’s inhabitants with your bare (albeit mutated) hands [...]

The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai
Genre: Beat ‘Em Up
Rating: ESRB M for Mature
Publisher: Ska Studios & Microsoft Game Studios
Release Date: 1st April 2009
Format: Xbox Live Arcade

When I first heard about this release from Xbox guru Major Nelson on Twitter, I thought it was an April Fool’s prank. However I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it wasn’t, and promptly checked out some of the available gameplay videos. These turned out to be surprisingly gruesome and frantic – and if you can describe a game with those words… I’m there.

The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai was conceived when game creator James Silva was himself a dishwasher, finding himself the butt of many a joke. After pointing out that Bruce Lee was a dishwasher, he began to conceive a game about one that slaughters an insurmountable array of highly trained agents… and that became what we have here today.

The Dishwasher is a 2D sideways-scrolling “hack n’ slash ‘em up”, where you take control of the unnamed protagonist who was captured by cyborgs that had a view to assimilating him into their collective (yes… sorry, that was a Star Trek pun… it will be my last). Freed by “Chef” – his mentor – he is given Alien Blood that resurrects him from death, and imbues him with incredible powers.

And we of course like nothing better than to use these awesome new abilities to pulverise anything that moves into a bloody pink/red mist….

When I woke up this morning I groggily checked my Google Reader feeds while sipping on my nice cup of tea… then promptly choked on it when I read that this morning, Gametrailers landed the first official gameplay video of Bioshock 2… and it is a beautiful sight to behold.

Bioshock is one of my all-time favourite games (the “spiritual successor” to cult classic System Shock 2), and is quite possibly one of the best games released in the last five years. It remains one of the Xbox 360’s highest-rated games to date, behind only The Orange Box, and GTA IV… so when 2K games announced a sequel, I was on the same level of giddiness as when I heard about Deus Ex 3.

Anyway enough of my ramblings, take a gander at the gameplay video and check out the big sister… she’s badass! [...]

Street Fighter IV
Genre: Fighting
Rating: 12 (VSC Rating)
Publisher: Capcom
Format: Xbox 360, PS3, (Coming soon to PC), Arcade

Chances are, you’ve already heard about Capcom’s legendary Street Fighter series – Street Fighter 2 was/is the benchmark for almost every 1v1 fighting game that exists today. If you haven’t, then you’re either not a gamer, or haven’t set foot in an arcade in the last 15+ years.

SF2 is quite possibly one of my favourite games of all time – it is (in my opinion) one of the most polished and flawless fighting games to date, even if it’s 2D. The game’s combo system and tactical gameplay makes it fun for beginners to pick up, and great for hardcore players to arrange tournaments around (which in turn makes for some amazing viewing).

Capcom haven’t been able to match the original Street Fighter 2’s quality for a long time (the closest they came for me was Street Fighter Alpha 2), and in the development of their latest release; Street Fighter IV, you can tell they’ve gone back to the roots of the series. Capcom did attempt delving into the world of a 3D Street Fighter before, with the Street Fighter Ex series – these, although good in their own right, were overshadowed by games like Tekken and Dead or Alive [...]

Watchmen: The End Is Nigh
Genre: Fighting
ESRB: M for Mature
BBFC: 15
Developer: Deadline Games
Platform: PSN Network: March 5th 2009 (Part One), Xbox Live & PC: March 4th 2009 (Part One)

After writing my short preview on Watchmen: The End Is Nigh, I was really eager to get my hands on the full game… and Xbox Live being its usual laggy self, it decided to download the 1.3GB game at a rate of 1% every 20 minutes — needless to say, I’ve been screaming at my Xbox all damn day.

However, my download literally just finished, so I am now happy to bring you a hands-on review of the first installment of the episodic adventures of Rorschach and Nite Owl II. As soon as you load the game, you’re treated to animated cutscenes just like the Motion Comic DVD, setting the scene on Friday 13th October 1972. The tone of these cutscenes blend well with the dialogue in the graphic novel, and Rorschach’s narration via his journal is spot on. Both Rorschach and Nite Owl II are voiced by their movie counterparts Jackie Earle Haley and Patrick Wilson, which I always see as a valuable asset – I can’t stand it when movie-to-game adaptations use crappy voice actor soundalikes [...]

I’ve heard of marketing companies going overboard, what with The Dark Knight’s viral advertising campaigns, etc. However, the freight train that is Zack Snyder’s Watchmen is going further.

Not content with one of the biggest movies of the year, an animated DVD, and Watchmen: The End Is Nigh, there is also going to be an iPhone & iPod Touch MMO based on the graphic novel adaptation dubbed Watchmen: Justice is Coming.

Having literally just posted the story on The End Is Nigh, I’ve just read about the iPhone game — due for release in the App Store sometime this month. Happily, although the game is an MMO, there will be no monthly fee ala World of Warcraft — however more expansion packs are planned, and will most likely be chargeable. As yet we don’t know the impending price on the App Store [...]

If you haven’t heard anything on the forthcoming Watchmen graphic novel adaptation by Dawn of the Dead & 300 helmer Zack Snyder, then you must’ve had your head buried in the sand for the past 5 months or so.

Arguably one of the most prestigious graphic novels of all time, Watchmen is the comic that has been hailed as “unfilmable” by creator Alan Moore (who still apparently stands by this, and prefers to distance himself from any movie based on his work). However, Zack Snyder’s anal-retentive attention to detail has made it a reality.

All this being said, I’m not here to lend my critique on the forthcoming movie (due for release on March 6th) or the graphic novel. I’m here to talk about the video game adaptation for the Xbox, PS3 & PC; Watchmen: The End Is Nigh (Not the browser-based flash game Minutemen)…

Have you ever had a movie marathon? You know, like watching all the extended versions of Lord of the Rings in one sitting, and then realising your legs have atrophy and you’re unable to walk, so you invariably have to use an empty Coke bottle because you can’t get to the bathroom…. ok, I overstepped the mark a bit there, but you know what I mean.

Well, imagine playing a whole series of games, and not stopping until you’ve completed every game in that series. Now, depending on the game series… you could be there a while.

This was a feat completed recently by The Mario Marathon Team, who took it upon themselves to complete all 7 Mario games in one arse-numbing 57-hour session. What was the point? Well, the 3 friends raised over $11,000 for the Child’s Play Charity — a worthy cause in anyone’s book.

Not content with that sole venture, the MMT are doing it again, but this time with all the Zelda games. Now remembering what Zelda: A Link To The Past was like… the broadcast could last a very long time!

As part of the GoD’s Hellboy coverage extravaganza, Keyer Soze takes a look back at the two animated Hellboy movies.

James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, and Morgan Freeman star in this action flick from director Timur Bekmambetov.

This Gamer’s Edition of the famous book is the ideal coffee table book with a big emphasis on visual input and an eye-catching design.

Smallville’s Michael Rosenbaum voices the main character in this Gears of War-like game for Xbox 360.

Get ready to dust off your bullwhip and leather jacket when Indiana Jones returns on June 6th in this new LEGO game series, LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures.

The recent Rockstar videogame release Grand Theft Auto IV has just broken three Guinness World Records!

Geeks of Doom’s newest game correspondent Keyser Söze brings us his in depth view of the last Rockstar flagship title that’s sweeping the nation and beyond!