The release of The Darkness II is right around the corner, so we are here to share some information for the returning fans of The Darkness as well as some news for the new comers to this awesome sequel that will be sure to please.

First a little more about The Darkness II:

The Darkness II is the sequel to the critically acclaimed 2007 release The Darkness. Inspired by the popular comic book series produced by Top Cow Productions, Inc., The Darkness II is an intense first person shooter that puts you in the role of Jackie Estacado, don of a New York crime family and wielder of an ancient force of chaos known as The Darkness.

It’s been two years since Jackie used his power to kill the men responsible for his girlfriend’s murder. He’s been unable to shake the memory of Jenny’s death since bottling up The Darkness and now it wants out. A botched attempt on Jackie’s life opens the door for The Darkness to reemerge, and sets Jackie on a brutal and personal journey as he unravels the mystery behind the attack and the motives of The Darkness.

Now for The Darkness II launch trailer.

The Darkness II is set for release next week (2/7) for the PlayStation 3, PC and Xbox 360. In the meantime be sure to download the demo for The Darkness II, and get a look at the game that many of us are looking forward to.

For more information, please check out their website, as well as following them on Facebook and Twitter.

Be sure to stay tuned to Platform Nation as we will be bringing you some Darkness II news and information in the coming week.

As a lot of you may be aware, Darksiders and I have a checkered past.  We shared a love hate relationship that continued for many weeks.  I loved the gameplay and story Darksiders provided, as well as the many puzzles that needed to be solved, while progressing through the story and seeing what damage and chaos my old friend War could provide.  With that said, when I was up against with one of the many bosses you battle throughout the game, I was faced with one of the biggest choices I had to make playing a game I loved: go to YouTube for help.  Until that point I had played many games, and never had to resort to the web for help, and that is where the hate portion comes in.  I never did get past that boss battle, but I do think of my old friend War quite often and wonder how he is doing. I do believe I found a new friend, and he goes by the name of Death. I was privileged enough to attend a Darksiders II event just to see if we could bond and become friends with the next installment in the Darksiders series, a much-anticipated game for myself and many other Darksiders fans.

Now before I start I did not get “hands on” time with the game, but we were taken through a few levels, as well as a background of how Death has been represented in the past and how Death would be portrayed in Darksiders II. Based on what I saw, I do believe Death and I will become good friends soon enough.  But will a good character and my high expectations be met in Darksiders II?  Read on my friends, and I will let you know what I observed, as well as what we were told during a Community Round Table as David Adams Studio General Manager, Ryan Stefanelli Producer and Hayden Dalton Principal Designer answered some questions the community had about Darksiders II.

Let’s set the background for you: Death, probably the most feared of the Four Horseman, is awakened by the End of Days.  He sets out to undo Armageddon and finds far worse things going on, as an ancient grudge threatens all of Creation.  So this brings up a good point: is Death the right Horseman for the job?  Of course he is; as Death is, well let’s face it, Death. No one wants to tangle with him, and that is what makes him the most feared of the four Horseman.

If you are familiar with Darksiders you already know that the game took place during the untimely earthly Apocalypse, and Darksiders II takes place during the same time.  So will Darksiders II look and feel like the first Darksiders?  I would have to say no, as the combat system has been improved upon, the art and graphics have been tweaked, and the game has its own feeling and style.  As we know already (if you played Darksiders), War was a straightforward fighter, who was likely to use his powers to charge through an area and leave a heap enemies behind him.  Death takes a different approach: he is a nimble and agile character with moves like a wall run that, by chaining together jumps, will allow him to traverse down a narrow hallway or even between walls.  Death will also be able to beam run, which allows him to run along thin platforms including chains and ropes, making him a lot more agile than War, as War prefered the hand over hand method.  Throw in a Pillar Climb/Jump to the Wall bounce, and Death proves to be very agile.  One movement that sticks out is the Ghost Hand. When you acquire this item in the game, Death can hook onto attachments found in the game, and pull himself towards them.  He can also use this movement and chain it together with other moves, making him that more agile.

Combat is very impressive in Darksiders II (not that it wasn’t in Darksiders), as you have your basic moves from Evade, Jump and Death’s main weapon: his dual Scythes that change shape as Death performs different combos of attack.  From being joined together to form a single weapon to tossing an enemy in the air, they are very impressive.  Death’s secondary weapons can be combined with the Scythe maneuvers and form an impressive combo.  Ghost Hand that I touched on above can also be used during combat as Death will be pulled closer to an enemy, allowing him to get up close and personal with one of the many mini-bosses he will face; let’s just say Death can reach out and touch someone in short order.  Death can also use his Reaper Form, were he can perform a Reaper attack that provides a quick death to his enemies. An unlockable skill for this form is the Reaper Transformation: a very powerful move that will be available to use when the Reaper Meter when it is full.  Death’s time as a Reaper is limited, and should be used to cause massive damage to many enemies at once, or for one of the larger boss battles you will face.  Death will also gain many spells and abilities, from summoning up a horde of exploding zombies, to using necrotic energy. It’s nice to see that Death is not limited to being a Scythe swinging death machine, and is allowed to take a more wizardly path.  Either way the destruction left in Death’s wake will be impressive.

Like I said earlier, we did not get hands-on time with the game, but we do have some more information to pass along.  Darksiders II does not have a set in stone release date, but we do know to expect the game this summer.  The game will be available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC and the Wii U (yes I said Wii U, this was not a typo).  Darksiders II is set to give us 30 hours of gameplay, and will alow the player to go back to side quests and additional content even after the story ends.
Darksiders II: Death Lives shows a lot of promise. To answer my question from the begining, Death and I will be a match made in heaven, and it looks like we will be spending some quality time together in the future trying to clear War’s name.

Along with the rest of the upcoming fighting games planned for release later this year, Japanese developer 5pb wants to get involved by bringing their fighter Phantom Breaker to North America.

Only released on Xbox 360, Phantom Breaker was originally released in June 2011 exclusively to Japanese retailers. Publisher Southpeak Interactive are tasked in bringing this game to North America under the imprint of 7Sixty.

The game’s story takes place in a Tokyo tournament held by a mysterious organization, who will grant the winner a wish of their choosing. While it consists of mostly original female fighters, it also includes Kurisu Makise and Rimi Sakihata from 5pb’s own visual novel games Steins;Gate and Chaos;Head Noah .

Phantom Breaker will be released in a limited edition set with a small strategy guide, art from the game, a desk calendar and two double-sided posters. It’s aimed for an early 2012 release.

Source: Siliconera (1, 2)

We have a new trailer for you to take a look at today from Deus Ex: Human Revolution! This new trailer is the first of a new series from the Deus Ex: Human Revolution Video Developer Diaries. Now, there will be more trailers released from the diaries, so be sure to keep checking back at your favorite gaming website, as we will be sure to keep you up to date with the Deus Ex: Human Revolution Video Developer Diaries.

First a little background information about the trailer:

Welcome to 2027— a time of technological advancements, conspiracy and chaos. In this video, Deus Ex: Human Revolution development team members Jean-Francois Dugas, Jonathan Jacques-Belletete and Mary DeMarle discuss the complex world, major figures and dramatic backstory of 2027.

Be sure to pre-order your copy right now by clicking on the picture for the console of your choice below.

Thanks to G4 for the trailer.

The War of the Worlds is a much loved book by the fantastic author H.G. Wells and now it’s getting it’s very own game coming to XBLA and PSN this summer developed by Other Ocean Interactive.

The War of the Worlds is a story about a lone person trying to escape the destruction and chaos during an alien invasion in 1950s London.

The War of the Worlds will feature a gorgeous 2D rotoscoped cinematic art style that will be shown off during E3. Imagine the story being retold as a 2D single player action-adventure game that follows the timeline and events from the 1953 movie adaptation. But with some new original story arc’s, locations, characters and sub plots.

Any fans of the book or the movies should keep your eyes peeled at E3 for this game as it sounds pretty amazing. I’ve seen the movie adaptation from recent years and if its anything like that, this game will be a must buy for me.

Expect The War of the Worlds to be hitting Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network this summer.

The highest point in the world!

Order & Chaos: Online is being openly compared to World of Warcraft and rightly so. It is impossible to ignore the endless similarities: the races (humans, elves, orcs, and undead), the environment, questing (complete with yellow symbols for “quest available” and “quest complete”), crafting, an auction house; the list goes on. I’ve been playing for a solid week now and I am the proud owner of a semi-new, level 25 Monk. From the ground up, let’s get in to the details of Order & Chaos.

Nice view of a town. Is the patch really coming??

One of the first things you will notice is the In-App Store selling gold and runes. From here, you have the ability to decimate your financial future by spending hundreds of real dollars on hundreds of fake dollars. Here are the options Gameloft gives you:

Rune purchasing packages:

• 5 Runes: $0.99 ($0.198 per rune)
• 30 Runes: $4.99 ($0.166 per rune)
• 95 Runes: $14.99 ($0.158 per rune)
• 320 Runes: $49.99 ($0.156 per rune)
• 650 Runes: $99.99 ($0.154 per rune; “Best value” according to Gameloft)

Your account has three open character slots, with a fourth available for 10 rune stones. There is also an in-game “Treasure Seller” who sells absurdly expensive (and temporary!) buffs. You can buy an hour-long, 20% increase to your strength, gain 100% more experience from monsters, or splurge 100 runes on the Essence of God, which is used in Master level crafting.

The in-game rune store. 25 runes for a 1 hour XP boost? Ouch.

When you die, you lose a small percentage of your coins; the last time I died, I lost 29 silver, which is a fairly hefty toll. If you made an in-app purchase of Runes, you may choose to respawn at the spot of death for the cost of 1 rune.

Spend that purchased gold on pets! Vanity ain't cheap.

Gold purchasing packages:

• 1 gold: $0.99
• 6 gold: $4.99 ($0.832 per gold)
• 20 gold: $14.99 ($0.75 per gold)
• 70 gold: $49.99 ($0.714 per gold)
• 150 gold: $99.99 ($0.667 per gold; “Best value” again advertised)

This is Gameloft’s attempt to combat third party gold farming, something that has plagued WoW for years. It is a good idea in theory; cut out the middle man and sell the gold straight from the source. Unfortunately for them, many high level players have attempted to break in on the market via PayPal. I don’t know how successful it is, but the game has been out for two weeks and it is already happening.

An entrepreneurial player selling gold cheaper than Gameloft.

I believe that the ability to buy gold is actually a good thing. As people buy gold, more money is injected into the O&C economy. The money will, for the most part, stay in players’ hands with the exception of unavoidable vendor expenses (food, travel, AH commission, etc.) Players who put a little effort into farming crafting materials, such as ore and fabric, will be able to sell their materials at a market value significantly higher than what an NPC will pay. That gold may then be put to proper, practical use, such as backpack and storage slot expansion. Slot expansion is a fixed cost; as more and more gold is flowing throughout the economy, it will become easier to afford. Wait…did I accidentally learn something in school?

Backpack slot upgrades (start with 12 slots):

• 1^st six additional slots: 1g
• 2^nd six additional slots: 5g
• 3^rd six additional slots: 20g (This is as far as I am)

Storage slot upgrades (start with 24 slots):

• 1^st twelve additional slots: 10g

About to check out some auctions

One of the first things you may want to do is create an “alt” character, whose sole purpose is to mail your “main” character skill books, hold extra stuff, and work the Auction House. This is a very convenient and cost-effective strategy to keep your main out in the field and have your alt do all the leg work.

Ruling the AH and banking. As a wise man once said, "Money never sleeps."

Global chat is a chaotic hodgepodge of multiple languages and people asking questions. No Trade, looking for groups, etc. channels yet. It doesn’t help that “bronze” is a swear word according to the chat filter. It took me awhile to figure out why this environment felt so familiar…then I realized it was Barrens 2.0. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one. For all you n00bs out there, hold the “Global” button for 2 seconds to mute Global chat. I actually find it quite entertaining.

Mark Twain with another novel observation.

The "WoW" subject frequently pops up in Global chat.

When green level loot (or higher, depending on your team loot rules) drops, there is only a pass or need choice. If you select the dice, you will automatically roll 1 through 100 against the other players who selected “need.” At this stage of the game, without any real necessity for teaming up, it is every man for himself and people always roll need. Up to this point, I have only seen BoE (Bind on Equip) loot and no BoP (Bind on Pickup), so you can always give it to someone who needs it.

A bunch of players waiting for a quest NPC

Questing is rapid fire for the first 20 levels or so. You will often have a full log of 12 quests, working on several simultaneously. This keeps the game fast-paced and has you running all over the map. A big difference from WoW here is that your character doesn’t get dazed when hit from behind. I can’t tell you how HUGE a help this is when trying to run from certain death, plus it lets you cross the map much faster.

You can say "br0nze," "bronz," or, "bro.nze," just don't offend anyone by saying !&#$^%.

PvP usually amounts to consensual duels between players. There are no discernible “factions” to speak of; as a human, I often group with undead or orcs to complete quests. There is at least one “World PvP” area, where players may freely attack each other and questing becomes frustrating. On more than one occasion, a rogue would pop out of stealth as soon as I finished off a mob.

Is this why everyone is playing Order & Chaos?

There are currently no “instances” or “raiding” that made World of Warcraft one of the most popular games of all time; it would make sense for Gameloft to include these features sooner rather than later, especially since there are supposedly many level 60 players already (a 60 level cap? Another coincidence…). The success of this game will depend on Gameloft’s ability to show support for this game that they have neglected to give others.

Zonked? Ah, video game euphemisms...

Order & Chaos Online is a universal app, so it will work on iPod, iPhone, and iPad. When I told you my first impressions of the game, I was playing on an iPhone 3GS. This past week, I hijacked my girlfriend’s iPad and it makes a world of difference! Everything looks much cleaner and I get a better frame rate. It is also much easier to see things on the big screen, especially when tapping to loot. It is awkward trying to use the virtual joystick and hold the iPad, but if you have a choice, play this on the iPad for a more enjoyable experience.

If (Desire to mine ore > death from fall damage) then JUMP;

Overall, I would label this the most ambitious game on the App Store. Order & Chaos isn’t targeting casual gamers; this game is going to compete with consoles and PCs for a gamers’ time. Gameloft’s tried-and-true recipe of copying popular games has been very successful, but they have put themselves in a precarious position here. They are infamous for not supporting their games and that will undoubtedly doom a project like Order & Chaos.

If you have a hankering for some MMO but don’t have the time or budget to spend on a big name (WoW, Rift, etc.), then I would recommend spending the $7 on Order & Chaos Online.

I see Exp, HP, MP, and stats. Sign me up!

Check out the full review of Order & Chaos Online here!

I’ve had a major itch develop over the past few weeks. Nothing unsightly, but definitely treatable. Several symptoms have come into play: Tax return money, the release of Rift, and the insatiable desire to get back into MMO’s. I thought long and hard about buying Rift, but the decision isn’t that simple. Rift is PC only and my current setup would probably top out at 7 FPS. Playing Rift would effectively cost me hundreds of dollars in upgrades, not to mention the software and subscription fee.

I’ve been playing a lot of World of Magic (iPhone MMORPG), but after leveling all three classes to 12 I have come to realize the game devolves into a perpetual grind around level 10. The only way to get more powerful is to grind for experience and grind for items. I don’t use that term lightly, since it is often used in a negative connotation to describe an RPG. There are no quests to give you more experience and the mobs scale at a higher rate than the gear you can afford. I caught a glimpse of my future, and I didn’t like it; a month later, I was level 15 and I had killed ten thousand Red Crabs to do it.

It was fun until I realized this is all I would be doing for the next month.

A few Google searches later, I found an MMO that was released on April 21—Order & Chaos Online. There is a limited amount of information concerning the game, but here’s what I do know:

• The game costs $6.99 upfront and includes a 3 month subscription
  • After that, you can renew for $0.99 a month, $1.99 for 3 months, or $2.99 for 6 months
• Fully real-time, fully 3D environment
• Four races: Elves & Humans fight for the Order, Orcs & Undead fight for Chaos
  • You can have an Order character and a Chaos character on the same server
• Four classes: Warrior, Mage, Monk, and Ranger
  • Each race can be any of the four classes
• IMPORTANT: Wi-Fi connection required!

You start with 12 inventory slots, but more slots are purchasable with gold.

This was my thinking: If the game costs me seven dollars and I really get into it, then that is dirt cheap for the amount of entertainment it will provide over the next three months. If I bust, then I wasted two gallons of milk. Tragic, yes.

Anyone who has played WoW or a clone will feel right at home

I started an Undead Ranger and a Human Monk on the Arcadian Forest server to scope things out. I chose that server because it had a population of “Medium” and the other two were “Low.”

As a new Monk, I am leaning on my Arrow of Faith for DPS.

I have an iPhone 3GS and the game runs decently. My game doesn’t look nearly as good as the screenshots in the App Store; I’m guessing those are iPhone 4 level graphics.

Kill 5 Lake Crocodiles? I feel like I've done this before...

The game is so new that many newbie quest areas are packed with fresh characters trying to kill wolves and boars. On quests to kill elite named creatures, there are a dozen people camping the respawn location and waiting for the mob to pop up. The best way to handle this is to invite everyone to party (with a max party size of 4), so you have a much greater chance to receive credit for the kill.

Waiting for a Named to respawn so we can complete the quest

Quest givers have a yellow scroll above their heads. You may select one quest at a time to follow and a blue arrow will appear next to your character to direct you. Some people might say this makes the game too easy and takes the fun out of discovery, but on a screen this size I appreciate the help.

Starting at level 5, you get a talent point for each level. Each class has two distinct trees it may invest in. For the monk, I am able to put points in the Divine tree if I want to focus on casting; if I want to be more melee-centric, I’ll go into the Military Monk tree.

The Monk talent tree. Pretty extensive, huh?

I’m only level 6 with the Monk right now, but I will be sure to come back next week with more information for you.

Select a quest to find out its destination

Music in this episode: Contra Snow Field OC ReMix

You can reach us at cstrikepodcast@gmail.com, leave a voicemail at (909) 278-7453 or Twitter at criticalstrike

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Five new titles available as PS3 Greatest Hits for $29.99.

Five PS3 blockbuster titles will now be available as Greatest Hits at the reduced price of $29.99 at retailers in the U.S. and Canada.

• Heavy Rain
• God of War 3
• ModNation Racers
• Uncharted 2: Among Thieves GOTY Edition
• UFC Undisputed 2010

Award winning games now available at a great price for new PS3 owners and those best bang for buck hunters out there. Tap out and submit to these titles, at that price they’re a steal.  Race down to your favorite stores and quickly but carefully decide which title to buy but know that in the end there will be only Chaos!