Ripley and co return for Alien: Isolation

How do you really give your upcoming Alien:Isolation game street cred (or is that space cred?). Well you could reunite the original cast of the first movie, Alien, to participate in playable DLC.

That is exactly what Sega has done, with none other than Sigourney Weaver and the same cast that encountered the dreaded alien aboard the Nostromo, reprising their roles for the game. In essence, this makes Alien: Isolation the first, maybe the truest follow-on to the quadrilogy we will see so far (and no, Prometheus does not count, not by a long shot)

Apparently, the DLC will add on Crew Expendable missions, in which players will be able to step into the shoes of either Ripley, Dallas, Parker and pit themselves against the you know what (hint – it is in the film and game’s title). The only downer is that it looks like the DLC is being used as a pre-order incentive, rather than being made available to all regardless of when they purchase the game.

Nonetheless, if you were already eagerly awaiting the next foray into the game’s universe on PC, PS4, PS3, Xbox 360 or Xbox One, or looking for some Alien-associated title to expunge the memory of Colonial Marines, then we suspect this won’t be much of a hinderance to taking a leap of faith on the game and order it ahead of its October release date.

Darksiders’ fate looks favourable

Another piece of good news emerged this week, this time pertaining to another favourite franchise (at least of ours), namely Darksiders. For those who don’t recall, Nordic Games picked up the IP for Darksiders when THQ went belly up, and for a while, it seemed like a Darksiders 3 was unlikely, as its development team scattered to the wind.

However, the studio most recently confirmed in an interview with GenGame that the company was actively considering various directions in which it may take the follow-up, and apparently talking to those who worked on the first two titles.

“Darksiders I and II teased certain things and obviously we don’t want to disappoint people. So we really want to sit back a bit, take a look at what possible angles we can take for the next Darksiders game, and also work with the right people on that,” commented Nordic Games’ product development director, Reinhard Pollice.

14 minute trailer of Borderlands: The Pre-sequel now available

If you have been hankering for more Borderlands: The Pre-sequel news, or at least trying to amp up your interest for its release in October, then the trailer below may serve you well. First showed at this year’s E3 last month, the fact that it is set in space – the moon, to be exact, doesn’t mean that the developers have left the silliness and often ludicrous action float away.

Naturally, you can expect to use gravity in some interesting and fun ways - like ground pounding on the moon. As the trailer below demonstrates, if you considered our winter chilly, you should really spare a thought for how the in-game enemies are treated – first frozen into blocks of ice, then shattered into smaller chunks before floating off into the vast reaches of space. Yeah, not even hot chocolate can fix that.

BioWare releases exclusive Dragon Age: Inquisition gameplay footage

Dragon Age: Inquisition was one of the top gaming titles to attract hordes of gamers during E3 a few weeks ago. For those who could not make the trip to San Diego, California, game developers BioWare has released 16 minutes of gameplay footage accompanied by commentary from its creative director Mike Laidlaw.

The gameplay demo shows off the new combat system used in Inquisition, which has slowly been refined since the release of Dragon Age: Origins. One of the new features, since confirmed through the release of the video below, is the ability to switch between team members during combat. Added to this, the gameplay demo offers a better look at the Hinterlands landscape, which gamers will be able to explore in greater detail when Dragon Age: Inquisitions launches on 7 October 2014.   

2K announces Battleborn for Xbox One

Battleborn is the latest role-playing shooter to come from developers 2K, the same studio behind the Borderlands franchise. 2K announced the release of Battleborn with a reveal trailer earlier in the week, with the game set to initially hit the Xbox One, with PS4 and PC versions in the works.

The game takes place in the distant future, where the only hope for the last star in a dying universe lies in the form of five distinct stylised characters, each imbued with their own set of skills and specific weapons. The game will feature a narrative driven single player mode, as well as co-op and multiplayer matches for gamers to get stuck into.

According to the game's co-developers Gearbox Software, Battleborn will have more of a "hero shooter" feel, as opposed to Borderlands 2's "shooter looter" style. They went on to add that this is the most ambitious game that Gearbox Software has ever created. Whether or not it can live up to those claims will have to wait until 2015, when the game is set for release.     

Details on Destiny Ghost Edition for pre-order emerge

Destiny may only be set for release in September, but Bungie and Activision have wasted no time in detailing some of the exclusive content for gamers opting to pre-order, with three collector's edition versions of Destiny now available. Of the three pre-order options, the Destiny Ghost Editon looked the most enticing, featuring a Ghost replica, as well as stickers, photos and chrome slides of the Traveler. The Ghost is a levitating computer with an AI system to assist guardian characters during missions, and boasts the vocal talents of Peter Dinklage from Game of Thrones fame.

The Destiny Ghost is set to retail for $150 (R1 600), and joins the Limited and Digital Guardian Editions of Destiny, which set gamers back $100 (R1070) and $90 (R964) respectively.

If you cannot hold out till September to start enjoying Destiny, Bungie also announced a Beta for the game. PS4 and PS3 users will be able to access this Beta by 17 July, with Xbox One and Xbox 360 users having to wait until 27 July to enjoy it. For a better look what you can expect in this upcoming Beta, check out the trailer below.

Contributions by Robin-Leigh Chetty