Warp Zoned Presents
All Articles: Thief
Sony officially unveils Project Morpheus, a virtual reality headset for the PS4
It’s been a long time coming, but Sony officially announced Project Morpheus, their virtual reality headset for the PS4, at the 2014 Game Developers Conference last night.
Like the Oculus Rift, Sony’s Morpheus is concerned with presence, a state where “players feel as though they are physically inside the virtual world of a game.” Unlike the relatively self-contained Rift, Morpheus is a head-mounted display that uses the PlayStation Camera to track head orientation so “as the player’s head rotates, the image of the virtual world rotates naturally and intuitively in real-time.” The Morpheus headset can also connect with the PlayStation Move, allowing players to bring objects, such as a sword, into their virtual world and manipulate it using gesture controls.
The Morpheus headset also makes use of 3D sound to orient the player to the game world. Sony gave the example of sounds heard from above and below the player, such as “footsteps climbing up stairs below them, or engine noises of helicopters flying overhead.” Sound will also reach the player differently depending upon the orientation of their head in relation to where the sound came from.
If you’re attending this year’s Game Developers Conference in San Franciso, you’ll be able to test out the Morpheus headset at Sony Computer Entertainment’s booth. Four demos will be available including a virtual reality version of Square Enix’s Thief, as well as Eve: Valkyrie, a multiplayer dogfighting shooter set within CCP’s Eve universe, and two tech demos: “The Castle,” a Move-based medieval combat simulator, and “The Deep,” which places players in a sharkproof cage.
Sony eventually plans to release the Morpheus headset as a commercial product, but the release date is currently unknown and Sony would only say that development is continuing.
Posted in News, PS4
Tagged EVE: Valkyrie, GDC 2014, Thief
Call of Duty: Ghosts is the best-selling game of February 2014
Call of Duty: Ghosts was the best-selling game of the month in November, December, and January. Today, the NPD Group released their list of the best-selling games in February and, once again, Ghosts has taken the top spot. Ghosts has had an impressive run, but I have a strong feeling that major new releases like TitanFall and Dark Souls II will prevent Infinity Ward’s military shooter from winning one for the thumb next month.
Amongst new releases, the game adaptation of The Lego Movie and a trio of games from Square Enix (the Thief reboot, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, and Bravely Default) all broke into the top ten. Amazingly, the boxed version of Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition is still hanging on at #9.
The battle of the next-generation consoles continues to be almost a wash as the PS4 slightly squeaked ahead of the Xbox One in February. According to Microsoft, 258,000 Xbox One systems were sold during the month with the NPD Group reporting that Sony sold 10% more PS4 systems. Due to the Xbox One’s premium price tag, it technically brought in more sales dollars in February. As I said, the whole thing is almost a wash.
A complete look at last month’s top ten best-selling games can be found after the break. (more…)
Thief Review: Criminally Mediocre
I’ve been a fan of the stealth genre since 1998, when I first played the greatest game ever: Metal Gear Solid. No hyperbole, of course. That’s not to say I don’t like other games in the genre, too: the entire Splinter Cell series is excellent and, more recently, Dishonored was hugely impressive. However, Thief was one I just never played. The loot-em-up is apparently the genesis of some stealth mechanics, such as light meters and sound cues, which were revolutionary achievements in the first person point of view. So, it should have been no surprise that I was incredibly intrigued by this new reimagining of Thief.
Sadly, if opportunity makes a thief, this reboot offers them up sparingly. (more…)
XBL Store Today: Thief, Castlevania: LoS2, PvZ: Garden Warfare, Pac-Man Museum
The Xbox Live Game Store is now home to four new games, and two of them will be available for the Xbox One in addition to the Xbox 360.
Thief, for the Xbox 360 and Xbox One, marks the return of the stealthy Garrett. The adventures of the titular thief have been rebooted by Eidos Montreal, the developer that gave the Deus Ex franchise a similar makeover in 2011 with Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, the conclusion to Mercury Steam’s Lords of Shadow 2 saga, has also been added to the Xbox 360 section of the store today. And if getting bloody with Dracula isn’t your thing, there’s also PopCap’s cartoony shooter, Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare, which is available on both the Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
Finally, Bandai Namco has compiled many of Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man’s earliest adventures in Pac-Man Museum for the Xbox Live Arcade. But the collection doesn’t just highlight their 80s heyday, the pack also includes newer releases such as Pac-Man Championship Edition and the never-been-released Pac-Man: Battle Royale. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, Pac-Man Museum, Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare, Thief
Thief, Tales of Symphonia, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, more added to PS Store
Sony updated the PlayStation Store last night and added almost all of February’s biggest releases to their digital storefront.
Leading the way are the PS4 titles Thief and Basement Crawl. One is the reboot of a beloved franchise and the other is a Bomberman-inspired in the scariest basement this side of The Evil Dead. Thief is also available to download on the PS3.
Also available on the PS3 this week is Konami’s conclusion to the Lords of Shadow saga, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2. Dracula’s modern day adventure is joined by Tales of Symphonia Chronicles, a high definition remake of the popular action RPGs. Bandai Namco has also released the two games in the compilation, Tales of Symphonia and Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, as individual downloads. Finally, the publisher is compiling several games from another of its favorite franchises with this week’s Pac-Man Museum.
More details about all of these games (and a few others) can be found after the break and a full rundown of this week’s new game add-ons can be found at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Vita
Tagged Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, Pac-Man Museum, Tales of Symphonia, Thief
New Releases: Thief, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, Layton: Azran Legacy, More
Square Enix Montreal will attempt to go two-for-two in the reboot department this week with the release of Thief for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. After masterfully resurrecting the Deus Ex franchise a few years ago with Deus Ex: Human Revolution, gamers are optimistic about the first Thief game in a decade.
Also available this week is Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360), the concluding chapter in the “Lords of Shadow” saga. Know one knows what’s next for the Castlevania franchise, but its future looks bright on home consoles once again. Over in the handheld realm, another final chapter will be written as Nintendo and Level-5 will release Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy for the 3DS. The Layton series will live on, but Azran Legacy will be the last game to star the good Professor himself.
Jumping from lasts to firsts, PopCap Games will release their first shooter game this week, the Xbox One/Xbox 360-exclusive Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare. Finally this week, a pair of classic game collections will be available to purchase with your gaming dollar, both from Bandai Namco: Tales of Symphonia Chronicles (PS3) and Pac-Man Museum (PC, PS3, Xbox 360).
A complete list of this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, Pac-Man Museum, Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy, Tales of Symphonia, Thief
Square Enix teaches you how to stay stealthy in “Thief 101” trailer
The Thief series is one of the premier stealth-action game franchises of all time. The first installment, Thief: The Dark Project, revolutionized the genre by adding light and sound mechanics to the stealth elements. The game spawned two sequels, but after Thief: Deadly Shadows was released in 2004, fans began to wonder if the series was gone for good.
Nearly a full decade later, gamers are finally going to get their hands on the next Thief game, which seeks to reboot the franchise and bring it into the next generation of gaming. A trailer was released earlier today that details a number of different gameplay mechanics, including use of the bow, an overview of the stealth aspects, and character progression. While the game is being developed by Eidos Montreal (Deux Ex: Human Revolution), it’s nearly impossible not to compare the upcoming title to Bethesda’s recent release, Dishonored.
Of course this isn’t a bad thing. Dishonored proved that there is still a large market for successful stealth action games, and there is no bigger name in stealth action than Thief. It looks like Eidos is doing a wonderful job with the reebot, and I’m sure gamers everywhere are expecting great things when its released for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on February 25.
VGX 2013 Trailer: Thief
“Robes. Robes are always a bad sign.”
Garret, the star of Eidos Montreal’s Thief, doesn’t have a high opinion of cultists performing arcane rituals. And I can’t say I blame him. But you’ll definitely have a high opinion of this “World Premiere” trailer for the game, which debuted at last night’s VGX Awards.
Thief will be published by Square Enix on the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on February 25, 2014. The game will also be available for the PS3 and Xbox 360 on the same date.