Michigan Screens Added

I’ve added the first Michigan screens to the database. It appears that the game will actually be played from the film crew’s camera perspective, which is something we haven’t seen before. The official site has some video to watch, though it is unclear if this is what the entire game will look like.

Zombieeater has also found some more images, and posted them in the forums.

Resident Evil Musings

I have a theory about Resident Evil games: I think that only every other game in the series is well balanced. The major criticism of the first Resident Evil was that it was too difficult, but RE 2 was inspired. RE 3‘s structure was somewhat disappointing, but Code: Veronica was amazing. And now, as I play through RE Zero, I am struck that the play balancing is considerably poorer than some of these previous titles: the pacing is off, the game is far more difficult than previous titles, the puzzles are mediocre, and the control scheme is starting to feel archaic (especially after the RE 1 Remake‘s awesome “Type C” control). That’s not to say that RE Zero is a bad game (I’ll write a full review when I finish the thing), but I am finding that it has not been tuned nearly as well as earlier titles.

Hence my “even-numbered RE games are better” theory (note that I am considering the order of release, not the order imposed by the game plot, so RE Zero is the 5th game). Should this theory prove true, I think we can expect Resident Evil 4 to be as awesome as the screens make it look. I am not sure how Resident Evil: Outbreak fits into this equation, but I guess we’ll find out when it is released at the end of March.

Michigan Added

Polygon has added some more information about Spike’s upcoming horror game Michigan. According to the brief, the game is about 50% complete.

The story of Michigan will be set on Lake Michigan and will focus on a television news crew documenting a series of recent murders. The game will unfold through the perspective of a camera man, although players must work together with other members of their television crew including a reporter and sound technician to survive. Expect more details and the first screens from Michigan in the coming weeks.

When more information arrives I’ll post it here.

Darkwatch

I’ve added Darkwatch: Curse of the West to the database. Darkwatch is apparently a first person shooter with a vampire/old west theme. A few images are floating around and it looks pretty cool. Sammy Studios is the developer, and the game has been announced for a Q4 2004 release on PS2 and Xbox.

More Silent Hill Details

GameScience is reporting more details about Silent Hill 4: The Room.

The latest in Konami’s growing horror franchise, subtitled “The Room”, promises as much mental anguish as the previous games in the series. This time the lead character, Henry Townsend, starts the game trapped in his apartment in Ashfield, near Silent Hill. After four days of isolation, he finds a hole in his bathroom wall, leading to an alternate blood-soaked world, not unlike what we’ve seen in previous Silent Hill outings. Somehow the room and the alternate world are connected, and it is the players job to find out how.

The game takes place in a different setting, but some familiar faces will make an appearance. The producer, Akira Yamaoka, commented, “The story is darker than in the past games.” No small feat.

The information, taken from this month’s OPM in the US, is accompanied by a couple of scans: one, two.

Source: GameFAQs forums (thanks, FozzyFan116)

Silent Hill 4 Images

The MagicBox has posted several (very low quality) Silent Hill 4 images. I’ve added a couple of the choice ones to the database. It appears as if creatures will be oozing from the walls. The MagicBox is also listing the release date as “2004”, which would be awesome.

Little Bita Updates

I’ve made some minor updates to the database, mostly marking games that came out in December as “out” and finding scores for some Japanese games that are not out in North America yet. Interestingly, the changes have done little to affect the Statistics page.

Curse: Eye of Isis

I’ve added Curse: Eye of Isis to the database, bringing the total number of games listed to 73. Forums user ZombieEater mentioned the game, which I’d previously never heard of. It looks interesting.

I recently completed Clock Tower 2. I am inching closer to the 40% completion mark, but new games seem to come out so fast that I am perpetually stuck around 35%. Argh!