PS3

My first event of the day was one of my most anticipated—Dishonored, from Bethesda.  When I sat down with the game, I asked Seth Shain, one of the developers, to show me all the highlights and details that I might miss walking into the game cold.  He was happy to oblige, and I hit him with every question I could think of.

My second day at Seattle's biggest gaming convention began with an upcoming XBLA/PSN title called Harold. I spoke with pleasantly French game designer Loris Malek, who talked me through the inception and creation of the game. His energy was infectious, and it was a real joy to see someone so excited about their project.

Once again taking place in the Washington State Trade & Convention Center located in downtown Seattle, there was more to see and do than one humble writer could possibly cover. However, I did my very best, and here is what I saw...

When I wrote a post about the Camp aesthetic in games a few years back, I suggested that one of the greatest areas of camp potential in games lay in violence. A commenter suggested I take a look at Rogue Warrior, a universally-panned game inexplicably starring Mickey Rourke as real-life SEAL team commander Richard "Demo Dick" Marcinko. The game did not disappoint: Rogue Warrior is a great example, perhaps the best example, of a game that in its violent excess becomes unintentionally comic.

The Butterfly Effect

HIGH Some of the game's features are refreshingly respectful of the player's time.

LOW Virtually everything else is not.

WTF One female quest-giver explains why she wants her comb fetched: "I want to impress my gallant Gorodo, but first I have to pimp myself."

Tonight, we talk games. Lots of games. Sleeping Dogs, Risen 2, Darksiders 2, Papo & Yo, Spec Ops, Way of the Samurai 4 and so many more! We're back and in full force, ladies and gentleman! With Chi Kong Lui, Brad Gallaway, Richard "Children must be taught to draw from birth" Naik, special guest Jeffrey Matulef and Dylan Collins.

Download: Right click here and select "Save Target As..."
Subscribe: iTunes | Zune | RSS

Please send feedback and mailbag questions to podcast (at) gamecritics (dot) com.

Just like the title says, Extra Credits looks at some games that may have flown under your video game radar. Games like Lone Survivor, Day-Z and Legend of Grimrock made Extra Credits' under the radar releases, check out the video to see if it mentioned one of yours.

It's Deep

HIGH It's a well-rounded and substantial add-on.

LOW It's tough to revisit the game after the controversial ending.

WTF It really takes Shepard too long to figure this out.

In a recent commentary on Valve's Half-Life 2 Episodes, Marsh Davies criticizes much of Episode One for its "failure to make your navigation comprehensible, either spatially or narratively." He goes on to praise Episode Two for remembering to provide the player with an overview of its regions, so that the spaces allow the player to see the places he has been, or is going to. As I was reminded in my own recent replay of the original Half-Life and its companion games, this is not a recent improvement by Valve, but a return to form.

For my next big review, I've been working on Risen 2: Dark Waters (Xbox 360). I was a big fan of the first Risen, and I was always disappointed that the game never got the credit I felt it was due. It was rough, to be sure, and I can understand why a certain section of people wouldn't give it the time of day. That said, there was a lot of great stuff happening in that game once you got past appearances, and people who I would've expected to dig into it never did.