The original Kane & Lynch game, entitled “Dead Men,” came out late 2007 to much critical insult and generally negative reviews, both among popular outlets and individual reviewers. It was praised for its cinematic stylings and fun multiplayer game types, but bashed on a constant basis for outdated gameplay and lack of depth/polish. Many reviewers agreed: It would have been a decent game if it had been worked on a bit longer. It had potential, but failed to live up to it.

Well, Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days is looking to patch up the title after three years since the initial release. The second iteration focuses more on gritty realism and, without a doubt, looks to improve gameplay elements that were so frustratingly used to advise against purchase back in ’07.

They released a new trailer today for the second game, and I’ve gotta say… It looks pretty sweet. You can check out the trailer at the bottom of the post, but first, allow me to delve into it a bit…

Now, I’ve never played the original, mainly because of the bad reviews. It doesn’t seem like something worthy of my money, and so I haven’t picked it up. But going off nothing but the reviews, it seems as if the second game has improved a good bit above the first, which is evident even in this trailer.

There are tidbits of what appears to be gameplay shown throughout, mostly at the end. The cinematic quality of the trailer is fantastic. One thing that bugs me, however, is their censorship… I’m fine with censoring your trailers. I’m even fine with you adding content to the trailers, knowing that it will HAVE to be censored. But be consistent with it!
Through the trailer, several “bad words” are bleeped out. Except for at one point, when one of the characters manages to scream out “DON’T F*CK WITH ME!” after throwing an explosive. This came directly after like, two or three bleeps, so it confused me a good bit.

Past that, the gameplay actually looks pretty fun. It looks like it has a pretty good cover system, which is important in any game that relies even a little bit on cover. The sound is also superb throughout. Great-sounding gunshots and breaking glass plague this trailer, along with cinematic “swoosh”s that help carry things along.

And the graphics look fantastic! Honestly, even though I’m aware most of this is probably pre-rendered, it all looks great. The clothing has amazing detail in it, and the environment around our characters looks amazing (especially one part in the trailer, where they’re in a kitchen. Everything in there looks freakin’ beautiful).

One thing that still confuses me is why IO Interactive went from the clever stealth series Hitman to a blatantly over-the-top action series such as Kane & Lynch. Put more work into Hitman 5!
That aside, this game really does look pretty sweet. This is one that I’ll probably sit on for a bit before getting it, to see if it’s been improved, but when it comes down to it, I could see myself getting this game.

After some searching, I can’t seem to find this trailer on Youtube, and can’t get the GT.TV video to embed correctly, so just click here to be taken to the trailer.

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3. Call of Duty: Black Ops Trailer Debut

The upcoming seventh game in the Call of Duty series (entitled Call of Duty: Black Ops) was announced a few days ago, for release on November 11th this year. It’s being developed by Treyarch (of Call of Duty 3 and World at War infamy). Let’s hope they don’t screw up this time.

Well, the trailer was revealed last night (first on Spike TV, then a few hours later on the official Black Ops website). The short video clips in the trailer show several different locations as well as a variety of weaponry. It’s a bit hard to really tell what’s going on most of the time, as everything happens very quickly. However, in the beginning of the trailer, it looks like you’re in some sort of operating room. You hear a man say “This should help you remember everything…” And then you see several clips of warfare.
This leads me to believe that the bulk of the game is in flashback form. You’re just controlling the memories of this person (sorta like Assassin’s Creed, kinda).
It’s an interesting theory, and I’m looking forward to seeing how accurate it is.

On GAME’s webpage for the game, they had a description up (now removed) that may have jumped the shark in a huge way. It said,

Now you will witness the birth of the Elite Special Forces and take part in off-the-record missions using unconventional weaponry to get the job done. From Cuba to the Arctic and the jungles of Vietnam, Call of Duty: Black Ops features stunning cinematic graphics and intense gameplay that puts you right at the heart of the action!

The way the last sentence is put makes me believe that this game may not just be a copy/paste of Modern Warfare 2 with a different setting, like World at War was to the original Modern Warfare.
While I am looking forward to this game… Keep in mind, this is Treyarch. Don’t get your hopes up too high for anything game-changing or really significantly different from the last iteration at all.

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In the new trailer for Bioware’s upcoming expansion pack, Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening, gamers will get to meet a new character known as The Architect, who is one of the most formidable foes amongst the Darkspawn. The Architect, is “the first darkspawn to develop a will of his own” and has been described as “an unusual outcast who seems not to be subject to the call of the Old Gods, nor to the other darkspawn compulsions.” The Awakening expansion pack is filled with many new enemies and allies who you will have to discover.

See larger image Dragon Age: Origins Awakening (DVD-ROM) List Price: $29.99 USD New From: $3.50 In Stock Used from: $3.00 In Stock Release date March 16, 2010.

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3. Lord of the Rings: Conquest Trailer

Here is the trailer for Lord of the Rings: Conquest that was just been released by Pandemic Studios. The game offers  unique gameplay that was never before seen in a Lord of the Rings title. Lord of the Rings: Conquest video game will be released on January 13th, 2009 for the Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation3, Sony PSP, Nintendo Wii, DS, and PC.

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