Ah, the weekend, the work week is done (for some of us) and it’s time for another entry of the Top 5 Stories of the Week. This week we had a few surprises, like Blizzard abandoning it’s next World of Warcraft type MMO called “Project Titan” out of the blue and the some better news that a final edition of Bioshock Infinite is on it’s way. Below you’ll find those stories and a few more to round out our top five stories of the week, as always, for the full article, simple click on the hyperlink. Get in, sit down and hold on because here we go! Let us know your thoughts on Project Titan’s abrupt cancellation and the other stories in the comment section below!
Number 5
Sleeping Dogs Successor ‘Triad Wars’ Announced
Square Enix just can’t seem to let Sleeping Dogs lie. The cult-classic that blew us away two years ago as a “Game of the Year candidate” will be followed up by Triad Wars from developer United Front Games on PC next year.
The game aims to spiritually succeed its predecessor on the streets of Hong Kong as a like-minded open-world, action-adventure game that sets you up on your rise to the top of the Triad underworld. An “Enforcer” bent on masterminding your own criminal enterprise, players will use the resources at their disposal to construct an empire that their enemies “would never dare to mess with.” Yikes.
How to do all this? Square Enix tells us we’ll need the cash, and to do that, players can set up “turfs,” stacking up dirty money, punching folks in the face, and driving and shooting things at will. Sounds like a swell time to us.
A variety of crimes (hacking, extortion, carjacking, etc.) and more await you. You can read the rest of the game’s features via the game’s freshly launched website.
Number 4
Assassin’s Creed Has a Season Pass and a New Assassin
Ubisoft has announced that Assassin’s Creed: Unity will include a season pass that’ll take you to China and back.
The largest DLC edition, Dead Kings, takes assassin Arno Dorian to Saint Denis, a French city outside of Paris following the events Unity. It’s the “darkest story” the Assassin’s Creed series has ever told according to Creative Director Alex Amancio.
The burial place of most of France’s royal bloodline, Saint Denis will include a wealth of puzzles, treasure hunts, murder mysteries, and other assorted missions, outfits, skills, and weapons. The biggest among them is the Guillotine gun, which you can use to fire explosive rounds and chop your enemies in two with its nasty axe head.
A standalone downloadable game, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China, will also debut starring a female assassin named Shao Jun and in 16th century China. Jun will still be free running in what amounts to a 2.5D/platformer, combining Assassin leaps of faith and stealth with her own flavor of martial arts.
Number 3
New 3DS Heading to Australia First
Nintendo is surprising everyone with lunching the New 3DS in Australia BEFORE it’s released in Europe or North America. Japan will see the New 3DS hit shelves in October, and Aussie and New Zealand stores can purchase it in November. Nintendo of America has not announced when the New 3DS will be released here.
Australia also had their very first Nintendo Direct which showcases the New 3DS’ physical changes. You can watch the Nintendo Direct above. There is only one game confirmed to be playable only on the New 3DS, Xenoblade Chronicles. But the original 3DS games currently available and yet to be released are playable on the console.
Upcoming games that will benefit using the second analog stick are Super Smash Bros, and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate. Having the Control Stick on the 3DS will be much easier than attaching the Circle Pad.
Number 2
Bioshock Infinite: The Complete Edition Releases This Fall
Bioshock Infinite is now getting a “Complete Edition” with all of its DLC and extras in one package.
According to a listing on Gamestop , the 2K Games and the late Irrational Games will be releasing a Bioshock Infinite: The Complete Edition on November 4th for $39.99 and includes both episodes of Burial at Sea, the Clash in the Clouds pack, the Early Bird Special, and Columbia’s Finest pack. The latter two packs contain weapons, gear, and other amenities.
Sources at 2K have subsequently confirmed that the publisher will be putting out the Complete Edition later on all of the game’s original platforms: PlayStation 3 , Xbox 360, and PC.
Number 1
Blizzard’s Next Gen MMO Titan Is Cancelled
Blizzard has today confirmed that the long rumored project Titan has now officially ceased development. After seversl years of working on it, the team were simply unable to find the fun in what they had created. Blizzard officially confirmed the existence of Titan in December 2010 but not much was ever known about it. What we do know was that it was Blizzard’s attempt to create a second MMO that was just as successful as World of Warcraft. Rumours suggested that the developers were attempting to give the game more mass appeal than WoW by using a near future/post-apocalyptic setting. The project went through several design and technology changes but never really seemed to get off the ground.
In a recent interview with Polygon, Blizzard’s Mike Morhaime explained that that “we didn’t find the passion. We talked about how we put it through a re-evaluation period, and actually, what we re-evaluated is whether that’s the game we really wanted to be making. The answer is no.” He added that “it was hard when we cancelled Warcraft Adventures. It was hard when we cancelled StarCraft Ghost. But it has always resulted in better-quality work.”
Senior vice president of story and franchise development Chris Metzen said that “the discipline of knowing when to quit is important. We were losing perspective and getting lost in the weeds a little. We had to allow ourselves to take that step back and reassess why the hell we were doing that thing in the first place.”
Honorable Mentions
This week had a lot of big news and the news staff and I found it hard to narrow it down to the usual five stories:
- The Final Titanfall DLC launches: IMC Rising!
- Gamestop Accepting Skylanders and Disney Infinity Figures
If you have suggestions for future entries, feel free to email me at jeremy.tyler@bagogames.com
