The Week In Review: August 20-24

August 27, 2007

With the Leipzig Games Convention, think E3 of Europe, now over, there is a lot of new information about some of the top upcoming games to talk about.

We’ve heard quite a lot about Metal Gear Solid 4, but the identity of the bosses, who are one of the most important and exciting parts of the games, have been kept secret… until now. To the fans of the series, these baddies should look and sound very familiar. The bosses go by the names of Raging Raven, Crying Wolf, Laughing Octopus, and Screaming Mantis. Collectively they are known as the Beauty and the Beast Unit.

The newest trailer is also availabe on YouTube. I suggest getting new underwear before watching it, as you will most likely need it. You can check it out here.

A few new screenshots have also surfaced from the upcoming Far Cry 2. Far Cry 2 is shaping up to be a sequel in name only, as the setting and protagonists have changed from the first one. Nevertheless, it looks amazing. Check out the screens here.

Warhammer: Mark of Chaos – Battle March was announced a few weeks ago, but until now, no information had been released. No additional information was released this time either, but some beautiful screenshots have surfaced. The game will not only be released for the PC, but for the Xbox 360 as well with the original game as part of the package. Mark of Chaos will be the third RTS that will be released for the 360; its predecessors, Battle for Middle Earth 2 and Command and Conquer 3, have been highly successful.

James Bond is also making a return, according to Activision. Activision purchased the rights to the James Bond name last year, but until now, they kept quiet about what they plan to do with 007. The only thing that they revealed was that the game will be developed for PC, consoles, and handhelds. Let’s just hope it won’t be another Rogue Agent.

Jeffry Kaplan, a lead designer in World of Warcraft said that the true WoW feeling will return in the upcoming expansion, Wrath of the Lich King. Many people felt that Burning Crusade, the first expansion to WoW, lacked the real feeling that WoW provided. As a result, Blizzard said that they will try to make WotLK much darker and fantasy-like. Time will tell if they achieve this result or not.

Despite the rumors, it was confirmed that there will not be a PS3 version of Bioshock. Kevin Levine, the lead designer of the game, stated that Bioshock (apart from the PC) will remain exclusively on the Xbox 360. Sorry PS3 owners…

Ubisoft has joined the list of developers and publishers to be a part of the Games for Windows brand. What does this mean? Support for Vista, high definition, and widescreen resolution, among others. The first game to be released under this brand will be Settlers: Rise of an Empire.

After getting banned in several countries and receiving an AO rating in June, Manhunt 2 was suspended indefinitely. 2 months later and Rockstar is stating that Manhunt 2 will soon be released. The makers of the game have been hard at work reducing the violent content, and now have received the highly coveted M for Mature rating. Release is slated for an October release on the PSP, Wii and PS2.