Mass Effect 3 & Elder Scrolls V among new games revealed at VGAs

Mass Effect 3

The Spike TV Video Game Awards in Los Angeles has revealed a number of new games we can expect to see arrive in 2011 and beyond, and the excitement is already evident on the Train2Game forum.

The biggest announcements included Bioware showing off a trailer for Mass Effect 3 (So the teaser that featured on the Train2Game blog last month WAS for the third game in the series) and Bethesda revealing Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

The Mass Effect 3 trailer see’s London overrun by an alien species, while a sniper inside Big Ben pleads for Commander Shepard to return to earth. The commander is looking down on the planet from space while huge alien machines lay waste to London. You can see the Mass Effect 3 reveal trailer for yourself on the Train2Game forum. The game will be coming to PC, Xbox 360 – and yes – the PlayStation 3 towards the end of 2011.

The VGAs also saw the revealing of another much rumoured RPG title in the form of Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. You can see the trailer for that here on the Train2Game forum. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a direct sequel to Oblivion and will be released on 11th November 2011. Another reveal included that of Resistance 3, with a trailer featuring a mix of live action footage and gameplay. The Resistance 3 trailer is also available in the VGA thread on the Train2Game forum.

Batman: Arkham City and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception also had extended trailers shown off. The Uncharted 3 trailer – available on the Train2Game forum – shows what we can expect from Naughty Dog and reveals the game will come at the start of November.

Meanwhile, the Arkham City trailer reveals Doctor Hugo Strange as a villain and Train2Game students can watch it below.

Other reveals included Prototype 2, Guillermo Del Toro’s game InSane, but the latter not being scheduled for release until 2013!

So Train2Game, which of the VGA reveals and announcements are you most excited about? You see all of the trailers and leave your thoughts about them here on the Train2Game forum. Alternatively, you can leave your thoughts here on the Train2Game blog.

New Batman: Arkham City screenshots released

A pile of incredible looking Batman: Arkham City screenshots and concept art has been released by Warner Brothers.  They are the first Batman: Arkham City screens to be officially released, given that the glimpses we saw of Rocksteady’s title last month came from a leak.

Unfortunately for us, Batman: Arkham City isn’t scheduled release until autumn 2011. However, you can get a look at how the sequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum is shaping up by checking out the Batman: Arkham City screenshots and concept art available below.

Batman: Arkham City will be coming to Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

Naturally, leave your thoughts about the new Batman: Arkham City screenshots here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Batman: Arkham City screen 01

Batman: Arkham City shot 03

Batman: Arkham City shot 06

Batman: Arkham City shot 07

Batman: Arkham City shot 08

Batman: Arkham City shot 10

Batman: Arkham City screenshot 13

Batman: Arkham City Concept Art 01

Batman: Arkham City Concept Art 2

Batman: Arkham City multiplayer confirmed and new screenshots released

New look Harley with Batman

Batman: Arkham City will feature multiplayer gameplay, at least that’s according to  appropriately named Batman: Arkham City fan site Arkham City.

The news comes as screenshots  of Batman: Arkham City have appeared online through Flickr.

A news post on Arkham City says that multiplayer is confirmed by Batman: Arkham City developers Rocksteady in a feature from this month PSM3 Magazine. The developers claim “Multiplayer is a certainty, but no details on this yet” with no further details about how this would actually fit into Batman: Arkham City.

Rumours have been circulating ever since Batman: Arkham City was announced, that Catwoman would feature as a temporary ally of The Dark Knight in co-operative gameplay. Or perhaps players will be able to experience Batman: Arkham City as Robin or Nightwing in a co-op mode.

On the other hand, could the multiplayer element of Batman: Arkham City be the competitive player vs player experience that some gamers would rather not see included?

With Batman: Arkham City – the sequel to the highly successful Batman: Arkham Asylum – not scheduled for release until autumn 2011, it’s likely we’ll be waiting for quite some time before solid details appear.

Batman: Arkham City will be available in PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.

So Train2Game students, how do you feel about a Batman: Arkham City multiplayer mode? Would you welcome co-operative or competitive online play? Or do you think Batman: Arkham City should stick to the format of Batman: Arkham Asylum and leave multiplayer gameplay alone?

You can leave your thoughts about Batman: Arkham City multiplayer here on the Train2Game blog or on the Train2Game forum.

Batman: Arkham City coming Autumn 2011

The much anticipated sequel to critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham Asylum will be called Batman: Arkham City. The bad news for excited fans of The Dark Knight is that it won’t be released until autumn 2011.

Players will enter Arkham City, the new maximum security home for all of Gotham City’s thugs, gangsters and insane criminal masterminds. It’ll introduce new characters from the DC Comics series into the Arkham universe, with Game Informer revealing on its latest cover that Catwoman will be one of these. Will she be an ally or an enemy?

It’s rumoured that Mr Freeze, Talia Al Ghul and Two Face will all feature, with a figure that looks an awful lot like the latter appearing on a poster behind Batman and Catwoman in this image. The previously released teaser trailer shows that The Joker and Harley Quinn will both be making a return.

Batman: Arkham City will be available on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC, with publishers Warner Brothers promising an array of new and enhanced gameplay features “to deliver the ultimate experience as the Dark Knight.”

The Batman: Arkham City website is now live.

So Train2Game, how many of you played the original Batman: Arkham Asylum and what did you think? How excited are you about Batman: Arkham City? What heroes and villains would you like to see make an appearance?

And from a Games Designer, Games Developer or Games Artist & Animator perspective, is there any particular franchise, be it comic book or not, that you’d like to work on in future?

As usual, leave your thoughts here or on the Train2Game forum.