More drool-worthy Tokyo Game Show videos coming your way. The video seems to be a co-op demo for Resident Evil 5, which thankfully, isn’t included in this year’s mad holiday rush. As you may have observed, the PlayStation 3 demo is in Japanese so it’s not clear whether the second character is AI or player-controlled.

From the looks of things, damage localization in Resident Evil 5 doesn’t seem to be limited to headshots as arms (and presumably, legs) are appropriately blown away when shot. Unfortunately, the player (or AI) demonstrating the game wasn’t good enough to survive longer than four minutes.

Resident Evil 5 will scare the socks off PS3 and Xbox 360 gamers in March 2009.

Post from: EveryJoe

Resident Evil 5 demo shown off at TGS

Remember Shellshock: Nam ‘67? It’s a reviled third-person shooter from Eidos that came out four years ago. There’s a sequel coming this December, but it isn’t quite the same game. Shellshock 2: Blood Trails has morphed into a survival horror FPS.

Since the sequel has switched developers, we still can’t say if Blood Trails would be better than its predecessor. Rebellion, Shellshock 2’s developer, is responsible for games such as Rogue Trooper, Gun: Showdown, and Miami Vice: The Game. Yeah, not quite A-list, I know.

One advantage that Rebellion has over Guerrilla Games’ original Shellshock—they can’t make the sequel any worse.

Post from: EveryJoe

Shellshock 2 morphs into a survival horror FPS

It pays to look past the hype. Take Dead Space, EA’s upcoming survival-horror shooter, for example. The game has been publicized lately by “news” of being banned in several countries. If you take it against the game, there’s a chance you might tune out everything about Dead Space, including this interesting new video preview.

What is most fascinating about the video is the bit about “strategic dismemberment,” which causes the decapitation of body parts. As a result, headshots aren’t always the best course of action in Dead Space because it would just cause the removed limbs to transform into smaller monsters that waste precious ammunition.

Another interesting tidbit: Dead Space seems to have a potential to be a gun porn sort of game, thanks to the option of tricking out weapons. Of course, this would still depend on the number of firearms available. If it would rival Metal Gear Solid 4, then gun porn this game is.

Dead Space is set to come out on October 14 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and would be released for the PC on October 20. Just a tip: stay away from the Windows version. If you know how EA works, then you’re probably aware that its PC games have been using SecuROM, a form of DRM that limits the number of times a customer is allowed to activate a copy of the game. The limit is usually at three, and is currently the bane of Mass Effect PC owners–present company included.

Post from: EveryJoe

Dead Space requires unlearning of headshots

Speaking of Resident Evil 5, a new trailer for the survival-horror game was recently released and it’s looking mighty fine. The new Resident Evil is looking more and more “deliberately-paced shooter” than “scary action adventure game.” Want proof? Watch the trailer after the jump.

See those nasty machine-gun-on-rails sequences? Chris Redfield and his partner may still move like a tank, but the series truly has evolved since its first installment a dozen years ago. Cooperative online mode? Check. Badass guns? Check.

While all these changes are welcome and have given the franchise an even wider appeal, I just hope there won’t ever be a point that Resident Evil 32 would come with rocket jumping or bunny hopping.

Image is taken by FPS Rantings. Resident Evil 5 is being developed and published by Capcom.

Post from: EveryJoe

Resident Evil 5 is turning into a shooter

It isn’t everyday that I get to interview industry insiders—and mavericks at that. When the first buzz about Dementium: The Ward and Insecticide came out, I just had to get a hold of their developers. If you’ve lived under a rock for the past few months, then you may have missed out on these two promising games.

That’s all about to change.

Jools Watsham, owner and creative director of Renegade Kid, and Michael Levine, president of Crackpot Entertainment and co-lead designer on Insecticide, were very gracious in answering our questions. Read the exclusive interview after the jump.

FPS Rantings: What can you tell us about Dementium: The Ward?

Jools Watsham: Dementium: The Ward is a first-person survival-horror adventure game for the Nintendo DS. You wake up in a strange derelict hospital one stormy night with no knowledge of who you are or where you are. As you progress through the dark corridors with blood-stained walls, you discover clues that may help you piece everything together. And, there’s a plenty of enemy-blasting action too!

FPS: According to previews about Dementium, the flashlight has realistic properties. Could you elaborate on that? Does the game use dynamic lighting?

JW: Yes, the flashlight does use a real-time dynamic light to effect the environment and characters. This was one of the first aspects of the game we worked on. When we saw the results of the real-time flashlight we knew that we had something special, and something that could help us create a dark and creepy atmosphere on the DS.

FPS: Aside from zombies, what creatures can we expect to see in Dementium?

JW: In the infant ward you discover the Infantile Mollusca, which are baby slugs basically. They crawl all over the walls and ceilings and come out from pretty much anywhere to get you; their sound effects are particularly penetrating. We also have some truly creepy characters that are simply called Screamers – they still creep us out when one of them hurtles at us from the darkness. The first boss you encounter in the game is the Cleaver. He is fat, strong, and ugly. Armed with a cleaver knife and a large syringe filled with a toxic substance, the Cleaver presents quite a challenge for the player.

FPS: What’s your formula for making Dementium scary?

JW: We thought it would be important to establish the potential danger early on in the game so the player has something to worry about from the start; the sort of danger that doesn’t attack you straight away, but threatens that it could at any time so the anticipation of that danger is what keeps you on your toes. We also designed the enemies so that they fit the environment in such a way that practically every aspect of the environment could be harboring an enemy who is waiting to jump out and get you. And of course, the darkness was a key element to making it scary. Audio has also been a very important aspect of the game. The music and effects are all purposely placed to suggest a world bigger than what you can see.

FPS: Gamecock is also publishing a game titled Insecticide, a third-person action adventure/shooter. Could you shed some more light on it?

Michael Levine: Insecticide is an action detective game with a modern Film Noir vibe to it – think Sin City with bugs. It’s based on Earth; however humans are no longer the dominant species. Thanks to tampering with their food and the resulting toxic pollen, humans have de-volved into creatures called “Hominids” and insects have grown to human size and now inhabit the world humans deserted. We really wanted to get the feel right for the game, if you’ve ever seen classic detective movies there’s a real gritty feel to them, something that makes them seem a little over the top, yet tangible to the viewer. We used the game’s art style to convey this feel through environments as well as the way the characters interact with each other. Everything in this game is a reference to classic detective or buddy-cop films. From your grizzled old partner/mentor Roachy Caruthers, to the irritable Chief Chigger that seems to constantly be flying off the handle, we’ve essentially taken all the key elements of the classic movies and put them into a new world inhabited by giant insects.

FPS: What’s the game world of Insecticide going to be like?

ML: The game is a fusion of action and detective games in that you’ll be running and gunning with the enemies for a bit, then once you reach a crime scene you can walk around and investigate, pick up clues, interrogate suspects and even play good cop/bad cop. Your character is Chrys Lyst – a teenage cop who is fresh to the Insecticide unit, she’s been taken under Roachy’s wing and is his personal protégé. She’s known to be a little excessive at times and a bit of a troublemaker, but Roachy can see the potential that lies within her. Through the course of the game she’ll uncover a huge mystery about herself and with that become a better detective. There are a ton of other features as well which will have you upgrading weapons, unlocking skills for your character and above all – getting to the bottom of the case.

FPS:Thanks, Jools and Mike.

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Exclusive: FPS Rantings interviews developers of Dementium and Insecticide