Horror

I've still never gotten around to playing Renegade Kid's survival horror/first-person shooter Dementium: The Ward. I’ve meant to for ages—it features some pretty amazing graphics for a Nintendo DS game and was reportedly extremely creepy. I'm not sure how the game did at retail, but it critical reception was largely positive.

Apparently the game (which found the main character waking up in an abandoned hospital where hideous monsters still stalk the halls) sold well enough to garner a sequel. Here's a first look at the trailer for the follow up from E3.

Unfortunately, there's no real gameplay footage or anything of that nature on display—leading me to wonder just how far along in the development cycle the project is. No word on a release date, either, but I'll keep you posted.

It's good to see that movies aren't the only art form where the whole remake/reboot phenomenon is running wild. Game companies have been on the bandwagon for quite awhile now, too. The difference is that game remakes are generally more interesting because technological advances make them at least appear to be new experiences. Take, for instance, Konami's re-imagining of the original Silent Hill.

In the video demo below, Tom Hulett (an associate producer at Konami) is quick to assert that Silent Hill: Shattered Memories isn't a reboot or remake of Silent Hill. Whether you agree with that sentiment or find it more an issue of semantics is mostly irrelevant. Sure, the game brings back the characters and story from the original game, but it becomes clear early on in this demo that Shattered Memories isn't the same Silent Hill we played back in the PlayStation era.

Seems like we've been hearing about Alan Wake for years now…oh, it's because we have. Doesn't matter to me, though—when games look this good, you almost don't mind the wait if it means they're getting it right.

The title (developed by Remedy Entertainment—the guys who gave us the Max Payne games) made an appearance at E3 yesterday, and it looks incredible. Alan Wake is being billed as more of a "psychological thriller" than a survival horror title, but it looks to feature enough creepy visuals to keep even the most discerning genre fans looking over their shoulder as they clutch their 360 controllers with sweaty fists.

Good news for gamers who love the zombie apocalypse. Valve has announced that Left 4 Dead 2 will be available on the Xbox 360 and PC on November 17th.

The sequel ups the ante from the original game, moving to a new locale with a new cast of survivors and features melee combat (the chainsaws look fun…), boss zombies, and like all sequels, is said to be bigger than the game that started it all.

I'm incredibly bummed that I'm not going to E3 this year. I've gone numerous times in the past and I highly recommend that anyone who really loves games go at least once—even in it's newer, more streamlined, form, it's still a spectacle unlike anything else. I could have gone this year, but I don't have the money to get to LA, so I'll be watching from home like the majority of my fellow gamers. I'm not happy about this.

The show hasn't started yet, but we're already seeing little bits and pieces of things that will be at the show. Take, for instance, this trailer for Dead Space: Extraction. Extraction is the Wii-only on-rails shooter prequel to Electronic Arts' big hit of last year. I'm still not sold on the whole on-rails shooter thing, but the graphics in the trailer aren't bad and the game's universe is interesting enough that I'd make a return trip to it even if the visit was a guided one with little room for exploration.

Dead Space: Extraction hits retailers on September 29th.

I guess the one positive about a slow news day is that I can post a few things that would have otherwise gotten lost in the shuffle. Things like this, a trailer for the forthcoming videogame adaptation of The Grudge which comes courtesy of GameTrailers.

You can't tell a whole lot about the game from this teaser, but it looks pretty atmospheric (the music is a nice touch) and reminds me a bit of the Condemned games. Check it out for yourself and see what you think.

I wanted to be more excited about Capcom's Dead Rising 2, but I have to be honest—the first game just left me more aggravated than pleased. Sure, the core idea of the game is brilliant (zombies, mall, everything's a weapon…) but the stupid A.I. and faulty save system killed it for me.

I'm hoping Dead Rising 2 fixes those issues, but even if it doesn't, this trailer has upped my interest almost exponentially. If you jump to the 1:51 mark, you'll see hero Chuck sporting dual chainsaws on a wooden stick—and it may be the coolest thing ever. Not to be outdone, he then straps two chainsaws to his motorcycle, and the zombie slaughter kicks into high gear. I have to be honest, I'll put up with a lot of suck for the opportunity to run around as a dual-saber chainsaw slinging Darth Maul wannabe killing hordes of the undead. This, my friends, is why I love being a gamer.

The cluelessly misguided sequel to a fantastically frightening game

HIGH The new and improved forensics procedures.

LOW The laughably bad plot.

WTF Practically everything good about the first game is bungled here.