Comic artist Joe Madureira made a splash in the video game industry back in 2010, when his company Vigil Games developed Darksiders, a action game that combined God of War-like combat with puzzles and exploration that drew comparisons to the Zelda franchise. 

In the game, players took on the role of War,  one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, who had been wrongfully accused of bringing about the end of the world. Joe Mad served as the creative director on the game, and his style was clearly evident in the look of Darksiders. The game was both a critical and commercial success, garnering great reviews and selling over one million copies.

This August, Darksiders II will be arriving, and this time around, Death is the lead character. The storyline will take place around the same time as the original game, and will see Death investigating who is behind the conspiracy to frame War for brining on the apocalypse.

Fans eagerly awaiting Darksiders® II can get an exclusive Darksiders prequel comic from Dark Horse Comics when they preorder the Best Buy exclusive Darksiders II: Angel of Death edition for Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3!

With a stunning cover from game creator Joe Madureira, this Best Buy exclusive print issue takes place before the events of Darksiders II, as Death travels to Earth to hunt down and confront a rogue demon! 

Written by Andrew Kreisberg (Batman Confidential, Green Arrow and Black Canary, FOX’s Fringe) and drawn by Roger Robinson (Batman: Arkham City,Azrael), Darksiders II: Death’s Door reveals essential secrets from the world of the upcoming game! 

You can preorder your copy of Darksiders II today, and you can see a video (via IGN) about the game in the player below.

Editor's Note: For those who have kept their old episodes of Secret Identity, issue #202 featured and interview with Joe Mad about the original Darksiders game.
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Press Release

Paizo's incredible award-winning, best-selling fantasy world, fiction line and tabletop RPG is now the ultimate fantasy comic from Dynamite Entertainment, hitting stores in August! Dynamite is proud to announce that the ongoing series is written by Jim Zubkavich with art by Andrew Huerta, with covers by Lucio Parillo, Matteo Scalera, Dave Dorman, and Erik Jones!!!

The iconic heroes at the core of the Pathfinder's world are brought to life for the first time in a brand new story full of charm and high adventure that will please fans and entertain new readers alike. Issue 1 clocks in at 40 pages (and remains $3.99) and includes over 10 pages of character profiles and Pathfinder RPG game statistics, plus an EXCLUSIVE removable, playable tactical map and poster. Be sure to pick up Pathfinder #1 from Dynamite, coming this August to comic stores everywhere!

In issue #1, Valeros can rely on only his sword arm and his friends, the mysterious and beautiful sorcerer Seoni and silver tongued quick-witted elven rogue Merisiel, but nothing can prepare him for the dangers that lurk ahead. The scattered and chaotic goblin tribes of Varisia are changing, growing in power and unifying in ways no one has ever seen before. At the heart of this strange evolution is an ancient evil looking to establish itself anew.

"Pathfinder has blazed new trails in gaming and fiction, winning over thousands of fans all over the world. I'm absolutely thrilled to add to its mythology and flesh out the iconic characters at the heart of the Golarion world," says writer Jim Zubkavich. "Sword and sorcery adventure pumps through my veins and I can't wait for readers to experience what Dynamite and I have planned."

"I am thrilled with the work Jim Zub and Andrew Huerta have put into the Pathfinder comic book," adds Paizo Publisher Erik Mona. "Jim and I go way back to my time as Editor-in-Chief of Dragon Magazine, and his experience with fantasy and gaming make him the perfect writer for the series. Andrew's pencils are absolutely amazing, and bring an exciting and fresh new look to the characters, monsters, and lands of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game."

"From day one of when we were awarded the license for the Pathfinder comic we knew we had only one chance to make a great first impression for Pathfinder and comics fans - Jim and Andrew are the perfect team for the series. It is great to finally have the opportunity to publish these wonderful comics," adds Dynamite Entertainment President and Publisher Nick Barrucci. "I also finally get the chance to work with Jim Zubkavich, a writer whom I have the upmost respect for, and Andrew's art is nothing short of breathtaking. And these covers by Lucio Parillo, Matteo Scalera, Dave Dorman, and Erik Jones are just astounding!"

For more info on the Pathfinder roleplaying game, head over to  http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG.
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Way back in the very early days of Secret Identity (Issue #26.5 to be exact,), we interviewed Rick Hershey of Empty Room Studios. One of the projects we talked about during that interview was a roleplaying game  setting called Steampunk Musha, a fusion of Asian mythology and Victorian era technology. At the time, Rick has brought our good friend Alana Abbott on board the project to flesh out the framework that Rich had created for the setting. Other creators came on over time as well, and the setting became even more richly detailed.

There was only one problem--there were no rule systems out there that Rick felt Steampuck Musha could fit into without being compromised. So he waited--until now.

A couple of weeks ago, Rick launched a Kickstarter campaign to help bring the setting of Steampuck Musha to Paizo's Pathfinder roleplaying game. And with 19 days left to go, the project is already a success! The funding goal of $3500 has been met, but there's stiull plenty of time to get on board at the ground level. There are some great rewards for those that support the project, from digitla copies of the core rulebook to a hardcover collector's editon and more.

Check out Rick's Kickstarter pitch below, and then head over to the project page to see all the rewards for helping support the project. 

Congrats to Rick and we can't wait to see the new Steampunk Musha!
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by Brian LeTendre

Telltale Games (Sam & Max, Back to the Future, Jurassic Park) released their latest adventure game last week, this one set in the zombie-filled world of Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead. Far from a Left 4 Dead clone though, this episodic game series is focused on the same kind of character driven storytelling that separates the comic series from many of its peers.

Titled “A New Day,” the first of this five-part episodic game takes place as the zombie apocalypse is just beginning. The main character is a man named Lee Everett, a guy recently convicted of murder that is on his way out of Atlanta. When things start to go crazy, his police transport ends up in a crash, Lee finds himself a free man. As he tries to wrap his mind around what’s going on, he comes into contact with a young girl named Clementine, who has been all alone since her babysitter joined the ranks of the undead. Lee takes responsibility for watching over the girl and trying to get her to safety. The rest of the episode follows their journey and the people, places and zombies they encounter together.

What I really like about this game is that while there is plenty of action, the focus is on the characters and their interactions. The gameplay is a mixture of point and click adventure, quicktime events and roleplaying. Every choice that you make has consequences, both short and long term. If you lie to a character and they figure it out, they won’t trust you anymore, and that will affect how they act in the future. There are times where you have to make grueling choices that will change the course of the story moving forward. These are the moments where the game really shines, and they result in you feeling connected to the characters in a way that doesn’t happen in most games.

Despite only being a couple of hours long, The Walking Dead: A New Day is easily worth the $5 asking price. The episode stands alone story-wise, and for those looking for replay value, the branching storyline can be explored at least two or three times. The game does justice to The Walking Dead comic and TV series, and anyone interested in either of those should check this game out.

4.5 out of 5 Walkers
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by Brian LeTendre

I have very fond memories of the Hot Shots Golf series of games. Not only did I spend hours with the series during its PlayStation 1 and 2 days, but when I got my first PlayStation portable (PSP) in July of 2005, Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee was the first game I bought for it. So, almost seven years later, it was with a great sense of nostalgia that I christened my new PlayStation Vita with Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational. While some of the other launch titles for Vita may be a bit flashier, HSG: World Invitational may just offer the most bang for your gaming buck.

HSG: World Invitiational features beautiful stylized graphics, from its anime-inspired characters to its lush, colorful courses. True to its name, the game features diverse locations from around the world, and each course has its own feel. Mechanically, this iteration of Hot Shots feels a lot like previous ones, and that’s a good thing. The core gameplay of this series is rock solid. A novice could pick the game up and hit basic shots just by timing button presses correctly, but once you’ve got the basics down, the spin system adds another whole layer of depth. Once you get a good grasp of that, you can really start to shape your shots, and that changes the way you attack a course dramatically. There are also a ton of control options, from standard meter-based swing controls, to touchscreen and tilt based controls, so you can customize the interface to suit your playstyle. I’m a traditionalist, so I stuck with the default control scheme that I’d used in previous versions of the game. 
The single player campaign features several levels of difficulty to progress through, and consists of a series of rounds at different courses capped off with a match against another character. As you progress, you earn points that are used to buy better clubs and balls, new characters,  and a host of other items. You unlock items for purchase throughout the campaign, so there’s always an incentive to play another round, unlock items and earn points to pay for them. It’s a great system that proves very addicting. The campaign also does a great job of letting you get comfortable with the controls, and then requiring you to get better and better with them in order to compete as difficulty increases. There are also special challenges along the way that will net additional rewards. It’s a robust single-player experience that is worth the price of the game alone.

What’s really surprising about HSG: World Invitational is how significant the multiplayer component is. You can challenge other golfers through a lobby system (which I haven’t tried myself), and you can also enter into daily tournaments with players around the world. I have become completely obsessed with the daily tournaments, because in addition to earning points to spend in-game, you are actually given a world ranking when you play in the daily tournaments. I current rank in the top nine percent out of almost ten thousand players, and I make sure to log on every day and play the daily tournaments in order to keep my ranking up. This is the type of replayability factor that will keep me coming back to this game for a long time. 
Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational is a great looking and playing game, with tons of content and great multiplayer modes. The term “must-own” gets thrown around a lot, but in this case it’s completely justified. If you own a Vita, you must get this game.

5 out of 5 Perfect Shots 
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by Brian LeTendre

As a Nintendo 3DS Ambassador (an early adopter who paid the full $250 at launch for the handheld), I received a bunch of Virtual console games for free via the 3DS eShop a while back. One of those games was Ice Climber, a classic 1985 NES platformer that I really didn't spend much time with back in the day. Revisiting the game now however, I have a much greater appreciation for it.

Ice Climber stars Popo and Nana, blue and pink parka wearing Eskimos, who must scale a series of mountains that constitute the different levels in the game. In the single player mode, players take on the role of Popo, and the two-player mode pits Nana against Popo to see who can scale each mountain first. Standing in their way are eight layers of ice, and players have to break through each layer in order to jump up to the next level. Trying to stop them are yetis, polar bears and birds, who do things like fill in the holes in the ice, or even make the bottom of the screen move up, costing you a life if you're caught at the bottom. You also have to contend with falling icicles and conveyor belt-like patches of ice, all aimed at knocking you off the mountain, messing up your jumps, or running you into trouble. Once the eight layers of ice are navigated, there is a bonus stage where you must platform to the summit and then hitch a ride on a condor to get off the mountain. Falling during the bonus stage doesn't cost a life, but nets you a lot less points. You also get points for collecting vegetables along the way.

While the overall mechanics are simple, there is a lot of precision jumping and timing that goes into successfully making it up each mountain. I got lulled into a false sense of security after the first couple of levels, but the game gets challenging quickly. It's particularly difficult to get to the top of the bonus level of each mountain, something I rarely did.

Like a lot of classic platformers, it's easy to learn and difficult to master. It’s definitely worth checking out, but sadly if you’re not a 3DS Ambassador, you won’t be able to download Ice Climber on the eShop. Your best bets are finding the GameBoy version that was released as part of the NES Classics line, or downloading it through the Wii’s Virtual Console, as it is available there. Also, if you have the Animal Crossing game for GameCube, you can play the entire Ice Climber game within it.

3.5 out of 5 
 
 
by Brian LeTendre

Anyone who has listened to Secret Identity for any length of time is likely familiar with the name Antony Johnston. The mastermind behind the wonderful post-apocalyptic Wasteland series has also made quite a name for himself in the video game industry the past few years. Antony has written extensively for the Dead Space franchise of games, and wrote the comics set in the Dead Space universe as well. He also gave an amazing talk at GDC a couple of years ago, which everyone should check out.

This week, Antony's latest game writing endeavor arrives in US stores. Binary Domain is a a third-person squad-based shooter for the PS3 and Xbox 360 that takes place in a future where human-like robots have become a reality. We caught up with Antony this week to talk about his experience with writing the game, working with the famed Yakuza Studio and how the process for Binary Domain differed from his work on Dead Space.
SI: How did you end up working on Binary Domain? Was the developer familiar with your work on the Dead Space series?

Antony Johnston: I don’t think they were at first, no. Sega Europe contacted my agent and outlined what they were planning -- a Japanese game that felt like it was made in the West. I was one of several writers my agent put forward, and we all did some tryout samples. So obviously Sega must have known when they saw my resume, and maybe that influenced their final decision, but I don’t know for sure. Either way, they offered me the gig, and it sounded like something completely new and unique, which I always find hard to resist.

We know that Binary Domain is a third-person, squad-based shooter. Can you give us the premise of the game's story?

It’s 2080, and after a series of global floods, much of the world -- including Tokyo -- is under water. At the same time, advances in robotics and a decline in human population have led to most hard labour and/or hazardous jobs now being performed by robots. As part of this evolution in society and technology, the New Geneva Convention was signed, including a clause that made the development of human-like robots a serious crime.

Cue the (rather violent) revelation that someone is, indeed, building “Hollow Children” -- human-looking robots. International suspicion falls on the Amada Corporation of Japan, but Japan at this time is completely insular and protectionist, so there’s no chance of sending neutral inspectors in.

Instead, the authorities assemble and activate a clandestine Rust Crew -- soldiers trained specifically to eliminate robots, or “scrap-heads” -- and send them to infiltrate Tokyo and find out if Amada really is responsible for the Hollow Children. You play the leader of this team, an ex-US Marine Sergeant called Dan Marshall.

Aaaaand, cue guns. Lots of ‘em.
You've mentioned that you were flown to Tokyo to meet with the team at Yakuza Studio. The Yakuza games have a huge following, and the dev team is well known, especially in Japan. What was it like actually sitting down with them and engaging in the creative process?

It was interesting. Game developers, being “wacky creative types”, are given a lot more freedom in how they work compared to most Japanese employees, and I could see glimpses of that during my time there, but it’s all relative; compared to how game devs operate in the US and UK, it was extremely structured and formal. I didn’t have a problem with that at all, but it was certainly different.

The thing is, even though everyone involved had plenty of experience in games, this was nevertheless new and strange territory. Sega Japan had never worked with a non-Japanese writer before, and only rarely with writers who weren’t Sega staff. At the same time, I’d never worked with a Japanese studio before. And to top it all off, Nagoshi-san was determined to make a kind of game they’d never attempted before. So we were all kind of fumbling our way through the fog together.

But it was good; I always felt welcome, and was treated with respect, even when we disagreed (which was often!) Overall, I can’t complain.

How did the writing process on this game differ from some of the work you've done with Dead Space?

Every game’s different, so it’s really hard to compare and quantify.

There was already a story in place for Binary Domain before I came on board, but it was very rough and needed a lot of work, not least because there were a lot of tropes and cultural references which simply don’t make sense outside of Japan. 

The script itself then went through a huge amount of revision, going back and forth between myself and Sega, and there were a lot of story changes. We had characters disappear, new characters appear, whole levels and cutscenes change and change again, right the way through development. That’s fairly normal for game development, but because everything else about BD was so different as well, it just added to the stress.

And then came the squad command lines, which was an enormous database of all the possible permutations of a combat scene depending on who did what, which characters the player had selected for the team, how high the character’s trust level was with each AI character, and so on. So for the first time ever I enlisted the help of a few other writers, turning to people in my agents’ stable, and we split those lines up between us.

In short, it was really hard work!
You began working on the game back in 2010. Now that the game is finally hitting shelves (it debuts here in the US on 2/28), what do you take away from the whole experience?

Overall, it was definitely a positive experience for me, and I think for Sega as well.

There were parts that were difficult; the language and culture barriers presented problems, and there are aspects of the game, script, and acting that I wish I’d had more influence over (mainly to avoid certain Japanese stereotypes about Westerners creeping in). But writers are always our own worst critics, because we know what went on behind the scenes, and we’re *never* 100% happy with the end result! It’s much easier to focus on the things you wish you’d done better, than to step back and realise you did a lot of good stuff as well. And there really is a lot to like.

So perhaps I’d do things differently if something like this came up again, but despite all the difficulties, we pulled it off. Binary Domain is an absolutely unique game, and the product of a unique process. Considering the odds that were stacked against us, I’m very pleased with the result.
Secret Identity would like to thank Antony for taking time to chat with us about Binary Domain, which arrives in US stores on February 28, 2012. You can download a demo of the game right now on both the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live. Check out the latest trailer below (for mature audiences only) and for more info, head over to tha game's official website. 

You can keep up with all of Antony's projects on his official website, www.antonyjohnston.com.
 
 
As many listeners of the show know, I grew up playing pen and paper roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons. I also know a lot of you comic fans out there didn't get into D&D, one of the reasons being that the fantasy setting (which is most often associated with roleplaying games) didn't really appeal to you.

So, if you've wanted to check out an RPG, but were waiting for a setting that resonated with you a little more, it may have just arrived. 

Margaret Weis Productions, has just released the Marvel Heroic Roleplaying Basic Game, and it's available for download on Drive Thru RPG right now. Margaret Weis is a legend in the industry for the Dragonlance novels she has writtern with Tracy Hickman, and her game company has put out some fantastic RPGs based on Firefly, Supernatural and Smallville, among others. 

Here's the description of the game from the folks at MWP:

IT’S TIME TO STEP UP

The Avengers have been disassembled, the Fantastic Four are somewhere in space, and the X-Men aren’t answering their phone. When dozens of dangerous villains are sprung from the maximum-maximum security prison known as the Raft, who’s going to stop them? You are.

ALL THE RULES, ALL THE ACTION

Experience all of the pulse-pounding action and nail-biting drama of the Marvel Universe at your gaming table. It’s one thing to stop an alien invasion or throw down with the Juggernaut, but sometimes you've got to make the hard choices—will you let a dangerous villain escape in order to save an innocent life?. With the MARVEL HEROIC ROLEPLAYING Basic Game, that great power and great responsibility is yours.

The Basic Rulebook Includes:

Operations Manual: Easy to learn game rules for playing characters from the Marvel Universe and playing out your favorite Marvel Blockbuster Events!

Breakout: Based on the acclaimed story arc from Brian Michael Bendis’ New Avengers, including a super villain prison break and a perilous journey to the Savage Land!

Hero Datafiles: Game play sheets for many of your favorite Marvel Super Heroes, from Captain America and Spider-Man to the X-Men and Fantastic Four!

For two to eight players, ages 13 and up. Requires game dice.

You can download the Marvel Heroic Roeplaying Basic Game now for $12.99 DriveThruComics.com.

The print version of the game will be realeasing at the end of the month, and you can preorder it over at www.margaretweis.com.

I look forward to checking this one out and discussing it on the podcast.

--Brian
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by Brian LeTendre

Resident Evil Revelations sucked me back into a franchise I had fallen out of love with a long time ago. It's a fantastic game that offers a shining example of what is possible on the 3DS.

Resident Evil Revelations is set in 2005, and the story takes place between the events of Resident Evil 4 and 5. Over the course of the game you play multiple characters, but you spend the majority of time in the shoes of Jill Valentine, agent and co-founder of the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance (BSAA). Jill and her partner Parker are investigating the resurgence of a terrorist group called Veltro, who a year earlier unleashed a biological weapon that resulted in the destruction of an entire city. The investigation takes them aboard a cruise ship in the Mediterranean, which they quickly discover has been exposed to a biological weapon (a version of the T-Virus), killing most of those on the ship and mutating others into walking abominations. As they make their way through the ship, they try to find out the truth about Veltro and figure out what they have planned for this new strain of the T-Virus. The story plays out in a series of twelve chapters, most of which are broken into two smaller episodes. The campaign switches to different places and points in time, and you get to play as Jill’s original partner Chris Redfield, her current partner Parker, and a host of other characters, all of whom are trying to figure out what’s going on with Veltro. While the story is ridiculous at times, I found it to be very entertaining, and I was able to follow it despite not having played the more recent games in the series.
For me, the star of Resident Evil Revelations is the presentation, which has three major components. First off, from a visual standpoint, this game is easily the prettiest on the 3DS so far. From the character models to the depth-adding 3D, this game looks amazing. Secondly, the setting of the cruise ship (where you spend most of your time) is so creepy and atmospheric, it goes beyond being a setting and becomes a character in the story. And finally, the sound design is superb. As you walk around the ship, you can hear it creaking and groaning. The sounds of monsters shuffling behind doors or around corners will have you constantly on edge. The presentation overall really brings you into the game and keeps you there. I found myself breathing a sigh of relief every time I finished a chapter, sometimes letting out a breath I didn’t know I had been holding.

I haven’t talked about the controls yet, which is the factor that usually divides people who love these games from people who hate them. I have never like the mechanics of the Resident Evil games, which is why I am happy to report that I actually didn’t mind them at all in this game. I originally played the demo with the standard 3DS controls, and it was a little rough, having both movement and aiming on the same analog stick. However, I picked up the 3DS Circle Pad Pro for $20 when I bought the game, and for me it made the experience so much better. Moving with one stick and aiming with the other is just so much more comfortable for me, so once I used the Circle Pad Pro, I forgot all about the controls and just focused on the game. One place where I did think the control scheme stood out though, was the use of the 3DS touch screen. You can switch and reload weapons, check your map and manage your inventory on the fly with the touch screen, which meant I never had to pull myself out of the experience to do any of those things. This is an area where the 3DS offers a more immersive experience from most console games, and it’s especially important for a horror game.
The main campaign took me just over eleven hours to complete, and I have reason to go back an play through it again. There are in-game challenges (called Missions) that offer weapon and upgrade unlocks for completing the game on higher difficulties, getting certain collectibles, and so on. In addition to campaign, there is a Raid Mode, where you battle waves of enemies either alone or with a friend via local or online co-op. I didn’t try the mode with a partner, but had fun with it on my own. If you use the StreetPass function of your 3DS, you can also unlock new challenges by connecting with other 3DS owners.

For me, Resident Evil Revelations provided the most complete experience I’ve had on a handheld console in years. I would also put it up against any of the console games coming out this year. It’s an early “Game of the Year” contender for me, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

5 out of 5 Watery Graves
 
 
by Brian LeTendre

If you've been on the fence about getting a Ninterndo 3DS, you might want to take the plunge now, because February is going to be a big month for the handheld console. Here's three games arriving this month that I cannot wait to play:

Resident Evil Revelations--Man, this game looks gorgeous. I haven't been a huge fan of the series since the original, mostly because of the clunky control scheme. And while the controls haven't changed all that much, I did have a lot of fun with the demo, and the RE games have always been good at creating a tense experience. This one is set between the events of RE 4 and RE5, and features a new storyline starring Jill Valentine.
Tekken 3D: Prime Edition--When it comes to fighting games, I have always been a Tekken guy over every other fighting game. I spent hundreds of hours on the first two games during my PlayStation One days, and I'm looking forward to participating in the Iron Fist tournament once again. The game will feature forty characters and stages, and will also include a 3D movie, Tekken: Blood Vengence.
Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D--I'm not going to even try and explain the storyline of a Metal Gear game, but Snake Eater is widely regarded as the best game in the series, and it hits 3DS in February. This is one of the first games for 3DS that will support the new Circle Pad Pro add-on, for those who don't like aiming with the face buttons of the 3DS.
AND, even though it’s not a February release, if you haven’t picked up Pushmo on the Nintendo eShop yet, you need to get it now. It’s an amazing puzzle game that uses the 3D effect very well.
After a slow start, the 3DS has really blossomed into an excellent handheld. Unless you’re waiting for the inevitable redesign that will include two analog sticks, you really should jump on board the 3DS bandwagon.