deadline-games posts

The final week of the month brings a classic game franchise to the PC along with a historical strategy game and a downloadable movie-based brawler:

Bionic Commando: Capcom brings this third person action game to the PC (it was released to consoles last May) with developer GRIN re-imagining the classic 2D sci-fi side scroller as a more serious title. Swing across both blasted out cityscapes and more natural settings with your bionic arm which doubles as a powerful weapon against enemies.

If you have been dying to know when the second chapter in the Watchmen: The End Is Nigh downloadable brawler game franchise was going to come out, your prayers are answered today. Publisher Warner Bros. Interactive announced that the PC port will be made available on June 29 for $14.99 from various download outlets.

The second chapter isn't getting nearly as much publicity as the first episode did when it was first released back in March, perhaps because the game didn't get the best reviews. Another factor; the game's developer Deadline Games has reportedly gone into bankruptcy protection which means this second chapter may be the last game from the European developer.

A few weeks ago we reported that Deadline Games, developers of the downloadable Watchmen: The End Is Nigh movie game titles, was filing for bankruptcy. Now it looks like the developer had plans for a number of future game projects before their shut down. 1Up.com has posted up an interview with Deadline's Soren Lund conducted last May a few weeks before the company announced their (possible) shutdown.

One of those projects was a downloadable game that Lund called Zero-G. He stated, "It's about three-on-three... basically you can call it American football in zero gravity." He also mentioned that they had other projects they were working on but it's unclear if they will be released now. Lund was also frank about the issues with the first episode of the Watchmen game, saying that it should have been priced lower than the $20 price point that was given to it by its publisher Warner Bros. Interactive.

It looks like scoring a big movie-based game license wasn't enough to keep the lights on at Deadline Games. Boomtown is reporting that the developer behind the third person action-brawler Watchmen: The End Is Nigh has filed for bankruptcy.

There's not much beyond that info at this stage but there have been rumors on the Internet that Deadline Games was already in deep financial trouble. Before the Watchmen game, Deadline Games previously created the ultra violent third person action game Total Overdose for publisher Eidos. There's no word yet on if this new development will affect the release of the second episode of the Watchmen game which is due out in July.

If you want to get some more third person brawling action while set in a dark alternate superhero world, you can rest easy (or not, as the case may be). Despite what other media outlets have reported, Big Download has confirmed with a Warner Bros. Interactive public relations rep that the second episode for the movie-based game Watchmen: The End is Nigh is indeed planned for a release for the PC via download.

The initial announcement for the second episode did not specify if it was coming to the PC but now at least PC gamers who downloaded the first episode back in March won't be left hanging. The Warner Bros. Interactive PR rep would not say if both the first and second Watchmen game episode would be released as a combo retail product for the PC like the PS3 and XBox 360 versions will be in July.

Warner Bros Interactive did a bit of an experiment when they released Watchmen: The End is Nigh back in March. The third person action-brawler was not released in stores but only via download, a rarity for a major movie-licensed title. It was also designed to be just the first part of a two part episodic game The game itself, however, got only mediocre gameplay reviews.

Now comes word via 1Up.com that the game will finally be heading to retail stores. According to a chat with Søren Lund of the game's developer Deadline Games both parts of the Watchmen game will be a part of the retail package and will ship alongside the movie's DVD/Blu-ray release on July 21. There's still no word on what the second episode will be like nor if the episode will be released via download as well.

Update: The official press release has been issued about the game and its retail release but it does not mention a PC retail version nor a downloadable version for the second chapter.

Download the Watchmen: The End is Nigh demo at Big Download

As promised the first Watchmen downloadable movie tie-in game release, The End Is Nigh, is now available to download and purchase via Valve's Steam service. the $19.99 game from developer Deadline Games and publisher Warner Bros. Interactive is a fighter-brawler with you taking on the roles of either Nite Owl or Rorschach in both single player and two player co-op modes. It's set in the movie/comic book world's version of 1973, before the events of the main storyline.

Our sister site Joystiq has posted up their review of the game (based on playing the Xbox 360 version) and . . .well, its a mixed result to be sure. This is the first of two planned downloadable Watchmen games but so far there's no word yet on what the second game will be like nor when it will be released (although we suspect it might be timed with the movie's DVD/Blu-Ray release).

Update: The full game can also be downloaded and purchased via Direct2Drive.

The biggest comic book movie of 2009 is a little over a week away but even closer to release is the game version. Today Valve's Steam service began taking pre-orders for Watchmen: The End is Nigh, the "M" rated fighter-brawler game based on the "R" rated movie (and itself based on the classic Alan Moore-Dave Gibbons comic).

Developer Deadline Games and publisher Warner Bros. Interactive are taking a risk by making this rather high-profile game available only via digital download. Usually games based on films sell well but also tend to be on the mediocre side. Pre-ordering the game will set you back $19.99.

If you have been wondering when the first planned downloadable Watchmen movie game will be released, wonder no more. The game's official web site has now put a countdown clock in place signaling that Watchmen: The End Is Nigh is now scheduled for release on March 4, two days before the movie version of the classic graphic novel is released in theaters on March 6.

The web site indicates that the PC version of the game will be available to download via Steam and Direct2Drive. A "trial version" (presumably a demo) will be released on the same date. As we have reported before this third person brawler-style of game takes place in the movie's version of 1973 where the team of Nite Owl and Rorschach battled thugs on the streets. Actors Patrick Wilson and Jackie Earl Haley will reprise their movie roles to voice their respective characters in the game. There's no word yet on what the price of the game, developed by Deadline Games, will be.

We are now just a month away from the time fanboys should start going crazy over the film adaptation of Watchmen. Will the movie be even a fraction as good as the original Alan Moore-Dave Gibbons mini-series? We have no idea and we have even less of an idea of how the upcoming downloadable game, Watchmen: The End Is Nigh, will turn out.

New screenshots of the upcoming action-brawler, set before the film's main timeline, have been released by Warner Bros. Interactive. You will be able to take out street thugs as either Nite Owl or Rorschach or you can go for some two player split-screen action. Deadline Games is handling the development duties and the game should be released around the time the film hits theaters.