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As any good gamer knows, E3 just took place. Gaming companies from around the world came together to reveal their newest projects and give their fans a taste of the future.  Now that the dust has settled, it's time to cover my favorites.

Beyond: Two Souls

                                                                                                                  Gamespot.
Quantic Dream (the studio behind Heavy Rain) unveiled their latest PS3 exclusive, Beyond: Two Souls.  Though not much was revealed about the story line, Quantic Dream did bring an announcement trailer with news that the game's protagonist, Jodie Holmes, will be brought to life by actress Ellen Page.  If Beyond is anything like Heavy Rain, it will be a grizzly, beautiful, and impossible to put down.


Playstation All-Stars: Battle Royale

Sony announced that PS All-Stars would be a cross-platform game between the PS3 and the PSVita.  They demoed the cross-platform capabilities on stage during Sony's press conference.  Gameplay was flawless between the two consoles, which only adds to my excitement for this title.

Two new fighters were also announced: Nathan Drake from the Uncharted franchise and Big Daddy from Bioshock.  

The Last Of Us

Face, meet shotgun.


An impressive gameplay demo found it's way to E3 this year, revealing the importance of conserving ammo and up-close-and-personal fighting.  The demo is grim and gitty, just as you would expect in a fight for survival.  

The Last of Us is scheduled to be released March 31, 2013.





Did I mention there would be battles at sea?
Assassin's Creed III

Watch the newest trailer.  That is all you need to do to see why I'm excited for this title.

Ubisoft also announced Assassin's Creed Liberation, a PSVita exclusive that will be released October 30, 2012, the same day as Assassin's Creed III.  Assassin's Creed Liberation will feature the series' first female protagonist and will, for the most part, take place in the same time-frame as ACIII.


Watch Dogs

                                                                                        Gamespot.

Ubisoft stole the show this year with an impressive line-up of games.  Watch Dogs is an open-world action game that has the player fighting against a corrupt system.  

For more information, check out the announcement trailer.  

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Injustice: Gods Among Us Revealed

Nether Realm studios, the masterminds behind the revival of Mortal Kombat are at it again.  This time, they are partnering up with Warner Brothers and DC Comics to bring us Injustice: Gods Among Us.  The game pits some of the most powerful and popular superheroes and villains together in a one-on-one battle extraordinaire. Sound familiar?  It should.  This isn't the first time the these comic gods have been in a fighting game, but where Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe saw a collision of two different genre powerhouses, Injustice: Gods Among Us is strictly for the DC bunch.

Now would be a good time to run, Flash.

Injustice: Gods Among Us will take place in a world where the heroes may not be as heroic as we thought.  Not much more is known outside of the number of characters set for the roster (at least 28), but the first six fighters have been revealed.  It's no surprise that Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Flash all show their faces and fighting styles in the debut trailer, but the two chosen villains may surprise you.  Harley Quinn and Solomon Grundy both make their first appearance into the fighting genre.  While I quite enjoy what they've done with Grundy, Harley Quinn's costume is too similar to the costumes of Kitana, Jade, and Mileena in the new Mortal Kombat for my tastes.  Fortunately, Nether Realm chose a functional costume for Wonder Woman to kick ass in.

Injustice: Gods Among Us is slated for an early 2013 release for the 360, PS3, and the Wii U.  Check out the trailer at Gamespot for some highly stylized, fist-flinging action.

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I Just Don't Care: D3 & Elder Scrolls MMO Edition

For the longest time, I have been trying to express my feelings on why I will not be reporting anything about Diablo III or the newly announced Elder Scrolls MMO.

And then I saw the Avengers.

The Hulk represents the Internet while the puny god is any news on these two games.

Welcome to the Internet!



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Where Have You Been All My Lives, Jade Empire?

Where Have You Been All My Lives? is a new segment (with a very clever title) where I will report on games that I have always wanted to play, but never had the chance to.  Aside from covering my thoughts on the game, I will go in depth to who and what made the game what it is and why I regret not having it in my life sooner.

Jade Empire Cover Art
My first game for this segment is one that, if you know me, will surprise you that it has been absent from my life for so long.  Jade Empire was first released in 2005 by heavyweight developer BioWare.  At the time, BioWare had only one other known console title, released just two years earlier.  Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KotR) redefined both what an RPG and a Star Wars game could be and the critical acclaim is, in my opinion, the reason why Jade Empire did not receive as warm of a welcome.  Going from a universe defined by it's fans to create a new world focused purely on the Wuxia (thank you, Wikipedia) genre was a daring move.  Eastern culture is widely unknown to us Westerners, but taking such a unique genre and breathing new life into it made the game accessible.

The complex storyline of Jade Empire takes the Player Character (PC) from a humble school of martial arts training into the heart of the expansive Empire in order to chase down the evils that threaten to destroy the balance of all things.  Pulling from many facets of Eastern beliefs, the PC interacts with more than just mortal characters.  Demons, spirits, and gods all make an appearance and their order in life is firmly established through main and side-quests throughout the game.  What makes Jade Empire enjoyable is the rich history that you are exposed to throughout the game, giving you time to both enjoy and process the strange, new world in front of you.

This is a boss fight.  Surprise!
To add to the storyline, the PC is given the opportunity to learn and refine a number of fighting styles with heavy influences from a variety of Eastern martial arts, including Shaolin Kung Fu, Hung Ga and Tae Kwon Do.  With practice, players can seamlessly switch between different martial and support styles in order to create a Harmonic Combo, the most powerful and purposeful way to defeat an opponent.  The inclusion of so many great martial arts styles makes the battle system unique, but Jade Empire also has some fun by including the very unique Drunken Master style.  In an homage to the Jackie Chan film of the same name, Drunken Master is only available when you have the follower Henpecked Hou, the one who teaches you this unique fighting style, along for the adventure.  During battle, Hou will toss out jugs of wine for you to drink and dominate the field with.  The style, while not the strongest, is spirited, and adds a bit of fun well-deserved fun to the combat system.

Like any good game, it takes more than just a great story to make a game a wonderful experience.  The scenery delivered in the game is breathtaking, but what brings it life is the music.  Composer Jack Wall, the same man who has created music for BioWare's most recent Mass Effect series, brings the world of Jade Empire to life.  YouTube offers a smattering of samples from the soundtrack, but you can never go wrong with the Main Theme.

Hello, romance option.
What else makes a world believable?  The people.  And there are a lot of people in Jade Empire all given their own, unique voice.  While there are the occasional repeats in conversation, it is forgivable in order to hear a voice that is real, both in script and delivery.  Many of the voice actors in the game had and still have a fruitful career both with BioWare and in other parts of the industry.  Robin Atkin Downes, who voices Sagacious Zu, a member of your party, most recently provided the voice (and face) of Talbot, secondary antagonist in Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, while Cam Clarke defined the cartoons of many of our childhoods.  Even John Cleese and Nathan Fillion offer their voices to fill some minor roles in the game.

The downfall to Jade Empire is how short it really is in the grand scheme of RPGs.  Though the PC travels to many different areas, you are secluded in that, for the most part, you can do little more than walk path to path.  A number of side-quests help to keep you busy in established areas, but once you reach the Empire itself, the story becomes more linear.  Other BioWare games, such as KotR or Dragon Age provide a lot more pit stops and optional side-quests in order to fully submerge you in the world.  I only wish that Jade Empire could have taken the time to do the same.

As a whole, Jade Empire has left me impressed.  It's a beautiful game that knows when to be serious and when to let the player just have fun!  Though it did not take the place of Mass Effect as my favorite BioWare  produced series, it has firmly nestled itself into my top RPG Top 10.

Jade Empire is currently available for digital download through Steam for $14.99 or on the Xbox Live Marketplace for 1200 Microsoft Points ($15).

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Skyrim DLC Coming This Summer




Gamespot.


Hey guys, did you hear?  There's new Skyrim DLC on the way!  I know, I know, it comes as no surprise that a game with over 300 hours of game play could
add even more life-devouring quests, but now we have an official picture to promote the DLC!

Wait, what?

That's right.  A simple, uninspiring picture and a title is all you get.  At least until E3 hits in June.

Dawnguard will be available this summer for the Xbox 360 and a month (give or take) after that for PS3 and PC users.

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PlayStation Announces All-Stars Battle Royale

IGN.


All-Stars Battle Royale has just been announced.  The game, a PlayStation 3 exclusive, brings together some of the best and baddest of PlayStation exclusive game characters together to, well, go all-out in a Battle Royale.  I know what you're thinking, and yes, that is exactly what Nintendo did all those years ago when they first introduced the world to Super Smash Bros. on the Nintendo 64.  So what's the difference?  


First off, the characters!  While Nintendo has expanded to an impressive number of fighters over the years in the Smash Brothers franchise, they pulled a bit of an early Mortal Kombat by simply creating clones.  The characters looked great, but a unique fighting style was absent.  Though the number of characters confirmed for Battle Royale has not been given, the first six to be revealed could not be more different.  Kratos to Fat Princess, Parappa the Rapper and Sweet Tooth, and let's not forget Colonel Radec!  Each of these characters will have their own unique styles and flaws that can make or break you in the ring.  Such variety makes me hopeful for the rest of the fighters yet to be revealed.


Battle Royale will also be bringing flare to the fighting genre by creating an amalgamation of PlayStation's most recognizable worlds.  Levels will not be dedicated to one franchise or game, but instead mix two franchises together for an unpredictable and fun challenge.  Hades from the God of Wars franchise thrust into the world of Patapon, LittleBigPlanet stages being created through a Buzz! quiz show, and Sandover Village from the Jak & Daxter franchise playing host to a Hot Shots Golf tournament is just a taste of the mixed worlds we have to look forward to in this new fighter.


No word yet on a possible release date, but as E3 creeps closer, we can expect to hear more about new levels and characters in the upcoming months.


Sources:
IGN
Joystiq

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