Silent Hill Origins
While you wait for Silent Hill 5 to be fully developed, you can play the prequel to the franchise, Silent Hill Origins on the PSP. Not much is given in way of a plot, but you play trucker Travis O’Grady and several connections will be made to future events in the town with appearances by familiar characters, Dahlia and Dr. Kauffman.
The gameplay is similar with the fixed third-person perspective, improvised weapons, mind bending puzzles, and chilling scenery. But here the weapons downgrade. So, you not only run out of ammo for guns, but objects used for melee attacks will be worn down with each blow forcing you to find other weapons. Sometimes it is better just to run. As for the PSP gameplay, players will move using the analog stick, tap L to center the camera, and hold R to initiate combat mode.
Typing of the Dead II
It has been several years since the last Typing of the Dead was on Dreamcast and US fans have wanted a sequel ever since. Well, Typing of the Dead II is set to hit, but only in Japan 2007. Based on House of the Dead III, this entry loses the in-game Dreamcast backpacks and keyboards in favor of the House of the Dead shotguns. The game will feature a dynamic difficulty system that will adjust word phrases depending on your typing skills. So practice your skillez now by writing to Sega for a US release this year!
Earth No More
Tired of fighting zombies in survival horror games? Well, how about Mother Nature instead? In “Earth No More,” your character is in a small English town that is quarantined when poisonous red vines start spreading and mutating vegetation and animals around it.
You start at Ground Zero with four other characters integral to the plot. Each character has their own personalities and motives and the storytelling is driven by the conflicts that arise between one another. There is an interactive dialogue system where you choose to join conversations or just listen. But if you do not participate, you may suffer the consequences in later scenes. Action is also a team effort with all weapons rewuiring the support of someone else. The Linker gun requires characters to stand opposite each other to focus attacks together, while there is a charging device one uses to help other characters with their weapons. Enemies also work together either running in packs, leaving a scent for others to find you, or flying above you to signal others.
The game will be available on PS3, Xbox 360, and for PC with an online co-op enabling you to join into someone else’s party as an enemy. For players that do not want to worry about human intelligence in their battlefields, they can simply turn off the Stalker feature. The game is set to be released in 2009.
Molly Celaschi
