Review – Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine

Rating: M (Mature 17+: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence) Genre: Action Publisher: THQ Developer: Relic Entertainment Release Date: September 6, 2011 BUY Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine was one of those games I saw at this past E3 and brushed it off over the droll name. Space Marine? How unoriginal could you get? I was talked into waiting in the line at the THQ booth anyway, and after that ten minute demo, I knew I needed this game. Space Marine is aptly set on a distant planet, one that humans are in the process of inhabiting and one that Orks are in the process of invading. The player takes on the role of Captain Titus of the Ultramarines, a highly decorated veteran of numerous wars. It his job to stop the Ork invasion long enough so that the Liberation Fleet can break through and save the day. It sounds contrite and

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‘Homefront’ gets a sequel from ‘Crysis’ developer

Lackluster reviews with a ton of sales do a sequel make. THQ announced today that despite the closure of Kaos Studios, who were in charge of Homefront, a second game is coming — this time, by Crytek. FPS titles are kind of what they “do,” so this move makes sense. Their titles also tend to be fairly lush in landscape, so that’s another thing to look forward to from them. “Selecting Crytek to take Homefront forward underscores our strategy of working with the industry’s best talent,” said Danny Bilson, EVP Core Games, THQ. “Homefront’s unique setting and storyline captivated gamers the world over. With Crytek’s industry leading technology and legendary experience in the FPS genre, we’re supremely confident that the next Homefront will deliver that AAA-quality experience that players demand.” “We see Homefront as a really strong universe that has a lot of potential and that has been expertly created

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‘The Haunted: Hells Reach’ gets you in its digital and tangible grasps

ValuSoft, now part of THQ, has announced that The Haunted: Hells Reach will be available for PC in stores this October, with downloadable versions on PSN and Xbox LIVE Arcade next year. The third-person survival horror shooter, which runs on Unreal Engine 3, has you fighting against evil forces that are attempting to take over Earth. You know, your basic video game plot (when it isn’t “find the princess”). You’ll use multiple weapons in your offensive, which spans multiple gameplay types (including multiplayer) and 30 stages. Here’s a trailer: The Haunted Hells Reach New Trailer from WinegumS on Vimeo. Reminds me a bit of Shadows of the Damned, but that’s not such a bad thing.

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Weekly Roundup Episode 19

It’s the 19th episode and we’re doing it LIVE again! We know you’re excited. This week, Elizabeth and Tiffany talk 3DS, what they’ve been playing, gamification, THQ’s layoffs, “SyFy” and a long discussion on stand-up comedy. Oops? Also, listen to find out how you can win a copy of RIFT. You know you want it. Download the mp3 here.   As always, we encourage you to check out our partners in GamingAngels Presents: The Married Gamers, Game Dames and PrincessCast. Be sure to take a listen to Blood Angels, our True Blood podcast. If you want to see her, Elizabeth will be on a PAX Prime panel called “Infinite Respawn,” which examines gaming improving relationships. (It’s at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday. Just getting you ready early.) If you want to contact us, you’ve got tons of options! Twitter: @GamingAngels Email: weeklyroundup@gamingangels.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gamingangels You can also leave us a voicemail

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THQ loses 200 as part of a ‘strategic realignment’

THQ announced plans yesterday to realign the company’s portfolio, attempting a shift away from licensed kids’ titles and movie-based entertainment properties. They’ve also ended the MX vs. ATV series. The company has closed two Australian studios and eliminated one development team in Phoenix, Ariz., which leaves 200 people out of a job (but they’re open to letting people reapply within the company, at least). “With this realignment, we are narrowing our focus to high-quality owned IP with broad appeal that can be leveraged across multiple platforms, and to work with the best talent in the industry,” said Brian Farrell, THQ’s President and CEO. “By right-sizing our internal development capacities for our console portfolio, our five internal studios are focused on delivering high-quality games with talented teams driving the execution of those titles to market. As we have outlined in our business strategies, we are making shifts to reduce movie-based and

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‘Red Faction’ franchise bites the dust

In a conference call yesterday afternoon, THQ expressed that they were fairly disappointed in the latest Red Faction title’s sales. So, naturally, they’re not revisiting the franchise. Well, not in any “meaningful way,” anyway. This takes down a lot more than games, though. The Red Faction series also included a spin-off game (which also had Red Faction in the title) and a SyFy (hate that name forever) original movie. So, no more of those things, I suppose. The Red Faction team at Volition has been reassigned to work on Guillermo del Toro’s inSane.

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Interview: Laura Karpman, Composer

Lately, I have had the great pleasure of interviewing some of the composers who from “behind the scenes”, help take games to the next level.  Without an amazing soundtrack, most games would lack depth and emotion.  One of these composers is Laura Karpman.  With a career in film, television, video games, concert and theater music, this four time Emmy winning composer was given the the opportunity to write the original music score to the newly released Kung Fu Panda 2 (THQ) video game.  Through Asian instrumentals and character-driven inspiration, maestra Laura Karpman and music co-producer Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum worked closely with the development  studio Griptonite Games to bring this video game to life.   “Imaginative, colorful…surprisingly   varied music.” -Variety Her portfolio includes Steven Spielberg’s Emmy award-winning miniseries Taken (DreamWorks), Emmy nominated TV series Odyssey 5 (Showtime), Annie nominated score for the animated film A Monkey’s Tale commissioned by the Chinese Government, and the highly anticipated network

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Watch the history behind ‘Red Faction: Armageddon’

The latest video for Volition’s Red Faction: Armageddon takes you through the franchise’s history up to this point. Yeah, it’s a dev diary of sorts, but if you’re interested in the game, this is probably what you’re going for. Watch below.

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Jellyvision’s ‘You Don’t Know Jack’ coming to iOS

Jellyvision announced today that following the fairly-successful release of You Don’t Know Jack, which seems to have effectively reinvigorated the series, the series will be making the jump to iDevices. There’s currently no release date for the iPad/iPhone/iTouch version, but 20 episodes are confirmed for the title, as well as Game Center support. Are you looking forward to this new version of the quirky game?

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Interview: Matthew Harwood, Composer for Homefront

Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing the composer who takes Homefront from being just another first-person shooter, to a moving experience within a not-so distant future through it’s amazing soundtrack.  Matthew Harwood tells us about his experience, his feelings and about the beginnings of a fantastic music career.  He was very open and excited to share with us.  I hope you Enjoy! GamingAngels: Tell us a bit about how you got into the game music scene. What was your first project? Matthew Harwood: Sure!  I am Matthew Harwood, I am the Audio Director at Kaos Studios.  Heading up most of the sound design in the game and composing the music for Homefront is where I spent much of my time during Homefront’s dev cycle. I live in the Hudson Valley of New York.  I am 6’4”.   I love my wife,  my 4 kids, and playing outdoors with them and my dog Wilson. 

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