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Deathstroke DLC Coming To Batman: Arkham Origins

The more we learn about the upcoming Batman: Arkham Origins for the Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, and PC, the more it seems to be running the same playbook as the previous Arkham games.  This is not necessarily a bad thing.  The challenge mode from the other two games in the series is returning for Origins, and like the other Arkham challenge modes, Origins will include different playable characters beyond just Batman.  Polygon reports on the Deathstroke downloadable expansion for challenge mode.

Deathstroke will be playable in Arkham Origins' challenge mode, a game type which, in previous series entries, tasks Batman (or other playable characters like Catwoman and Robin) with completing combat and stealth challenges to earn high scores and compete with their fellow players.

"Deathstroke will come complete with his own unique weapons and special moves, and will be playable in all challenge maps in the game, as well as two additional challenge maps that will be included with the pack," the DLC's press release announcement reads. "The pack will also contain two alternate Deathstroke character skins."

I don't really know that I need all of this.  I've mucked around with the other challenge modes in the series and never did much with them beyond exploring what they involved.  I don't like being told how to take down enemies, and isn't that type of freedom the whole point of the Arkham games?  To become Batman and do things just about however you like within the scope of the game?  Challenge mode restricts what I can accomplish and how I can accomplish it, and the addition of the extra playable characters released for a fee still feels like a needless cash grab to me.  Previous Arkham games allowed players to use Joker and Nightwing in the challenge modes, but not anywhere else, for instance.  Of course, maybe Deathstroke is playable in the game's story; after all, Catwoman was a small part of Arkham City's story and Robin was playable in the DLC epilogue.  Why go through all the trouble to create a playable Deathstroke (with alternate character skins, no less) and lock him into just one minor mode?  I would see what Deathstroke had to offer if I wound up with him (Amazon is giving away the DLC for free with preorders), but I wouldn't spend actual money on the DLC.  My interest is the story mode.  Everything else is just fluff.

Amazing PC Gaming Sale At Amazon

Amazon must have a ton of spare license keys for the best PC games of the past few years because the online retailer is selling some truly great video games at ridiculously low prices.  We're talking about Ghostbusters: The Video Game for $5, Saints Row: The Third: The Full Package (includes DLC) for $12.50, a Batman: Arkham bundle for $11.50, and a packed Sonic the Hedgehog bundle including twelve games for just $10.  If you're a PC gamer that has lagged behind in recent releases, then this would be the time to stock up.  Some of these even activate through Steam.  Check out the complete list of games on discount through the end of May as part of the Digital Games Mayhem sale to see everything, but here are some of my top choices:

Sonic Action Pack (includes Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles, Sonic CD, Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episodes 1 and 2, Sonic 3D Blast, Sonic Adventure DX, Sonic Generations (including DLC), and Sonic & Sega All-Star Racing) - $9.99

Ghostbusters: The Video Game - $4.99

BioShock 1 and BioShock 2 plus Spec-Ops: The Line bundle - $9.99

Batman: Arkham Asylum and Arkham City Game of the Year versions bundle - $11.49

Saints Row: The Third: The Full Package - $12.49

Saints Row 2 - $3.49

Grand Theft Auto IV: Complete - $14.99

Rollercoaster Tycoon 2: Triple Thrill Pack - $4.99

Ultimate Sega Dreamcast Pack (Sonic Adventure DX, Sonic Adventure 2, Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi, Space Channel 5 Part 2, Sega Bass Fishing, Nights Into Dreams, and Sonic Generations) - $8.49

There's enough here to keep you busy for a very long time.  Every purchase you make via one of the green links here goes to help support Press The Buttons which, as always, I thank you for doing.

Batman Meets Maxwell In Scribblenauts Unmasked

The Scribblenauts series allows players to summon all sorts of objects and characters in order to solve puzzle-based problems, and the pool of options is limited by only two things: (1) the player's imagination and (2) copyright laws.  You can't bring Lara Croft into the game to solve your problems, nor can you call Mega Man to blast your enemies.  In the upcoming Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure for the Nintendo Wii U, 3DS, and PC, however, you will be able to ask a wide variety of DC Comics heroes and villains for assistance.  Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Joker, Doomsday, and thousands of other comic characters will be at your disposal.  Polygon has the news.

Speaking to Polygon, Scribblenauts Unmasked's senior producer, Caleb Arseneaux said the game contains every character who has ever appeared in a DC comic book, from the Justice League, to all the variations of Batman and Superman, to the most obscure characters who have only had brief cameos in the comics. He said that Scribblenauts is all about letting players have "whatever they want," and the DC universe is so rich with characters who have so many superpowers and abilities, that blending the two franchises made sense to the development team.

"Initially we had 1,200 characters, and then we just kept finding more and more characters and more variations, and eventually we wound up with more than 2,000," Arseneaux said.

There even variations of characters available; the article cites 33 different Batmen, for instance.  This could be just the thing to bring some fresh ideas into the Scribblenauts series, as I found the last game, Scribblenauts Unlimited, to be a bit lacking.  I'd imagine there are limits on what you'll be able to do with these DC characters.  When Nintendo allowed Mario to appear in Scribblenauts Unlimited, players were unable to make him do anything that would harm Mario's image and could not apply adjectives to him.  Will this new Scribblenauts let Batman use a gun?  Actually, in the name of being true to the character, I would hope not.  Scribblenauts Unmasked will be available later this year.  Oh, and in case you were wondering: the Scribblenauts versions of the DC Comics characters are absolutely adorable.  Check out the announcement trailer to see for yourself.

It's X Versus Zero In This Mega Man X5 Jam

Heroes battle villains all of the time, but it's more interesting to see heroes clash with other heroes.  Consider the narrative high point of Capcom's Mega Man X5 in which Mega Man X and Zero square off once and for all.  The series had been hinting for quite a while prior to this moment that each protagonist would have to destroy the other in the name of world peace, and thanks to both characters being playable with their own unique moves and story points, it's possible for fans of each to get what they want.  Dr. Wily's cruel grip certainly is tight.  The battle is set to a truly rocking piece of music, but there's always room for improvement.  For your musical needs today I present this track from the remix album We Are Rock-Men 2, "X Versus Zero", that will handle all of your jamming requirements.  Blue against red... and go!

New Saints Row IV Trailer Shows Presidental Mandate

The marketing machine for Saints Row IV from Volition and Deep Silver is cranking up with this new trailer for the upcoming sequel.  There's a new President of the United States in town and as luck would have it, it's the player character from the previous game.  Pumped up with amazing otherworldly powers, watch as the President enacts violent legislation on his enemies with deadly precision.  There's some over-the-top antics happening here which, really, would you expect anything else from a series that prides itself on going to new extremes with each sequel?  Saints Row IV will be available for the Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, and PC in August.  I'm certainly looking forward to playing it.  Funny thing; these trailers always show the male player character, but I always play the Saints Row games as a female protagonist.  The women behind the various available personalities sound like they're having more fun with the role than the men, and when the protagonist has more fun, so do I. 

Elizabeth Has Infinite BioShock Patience

BioShock Infinite features a man escorting a woman to safety at first glance, but the game is no ordinary escort mission.  Supposed distressed damsel Elizabeth cannot be harmed during fights, routinely gives you equipment, and offers all kinds of helpful advice while playable protagonist Booker DeWitt stumbles around the city of Columbia, behaves recklessly, and dies repeatedly.  Who is the real hero in this story?  In this parody video from Machinima, watch as Elizabeth grows frustrated with Booker's madness and tells him off as he races into gunfire without a shield and eats from the trash.  Perhaps it is actually Booker DeWitt that is the helpless one of the pair.

Who Are All Of These Mortal Kombat People?

Mortal Kombat started out somewhat managable.  It wasn't too difficult to keep track of characters like Scorpion, Sub-Zero, and Sonya Blade and their motivations.  Then Mortal Kombat II upped the cast from ten characters (seven of which are playable) to twenty-one (sixteen of which are playable).  The Mortal Kombat world only grew larger from there are sequels and variations changed the rosters, rules, and even the plot as whims and the market demanded.  It's downright near impossible to easily follow the progression of Mortal Kombat.  Thankfully, Hardcore Gaming 101 has put together an exhaustive and complete record of what the franchise has to offer including spin-offs, crossovers, and appearances in other media.

Somewhere on a far away island, a secretive martial arts tournament has been held for the last 500 years. The mastermind behind this tournament, Shang Tsung, is actually working for the emperor of an alternate dimension known as Outworld. This tournament is the only thing stopping the forces of Outworld from crossing into our dimension and conquering it completely. The good news is that for that to happen, Outworld has to win ten tournaments. The problem is that they've won nine, thanks to the help of their four-armed champion, Goro. And so, as one of seven warriors who've ended up on Shang Tsung's island by either destiny or by accident, it's up to you to make your way through the tournament and defeat the rest of Earth's champions. Do that, and you'll have to go against Goro, before fighting against Shang Tsung himself for the fate of the world. This is, of course, if you don't find yourself having your spine extracted by a pissed-off ice ninja along the way.

While Mortal Kombat was red hot in the 1990s, it started to lose buzz following Mortal Kombat 3 and the already spiraling story became even more convoluted.  A series of lackluster, rushed ports of the arcade games to home platforms didn't help either.  Lapsed fans may have missed that Freddy Kreuger of A Nightmare On Elm Street fame visited Outworld or that the heroes and villains of the DC Universe clashed with Shao Kahn's forces.  I'll let MetaFilter's clockzero sum up the relevant thoughts that occured while reading about how much Mortal Kombat has grown over the years:

Today I learned that they're apparently still making Mortal Kombat sequels.

I just read the first part, the characters section.  It went like this:

Uh-huh, Liu Kang.  Scorpion.  Sub-Zero, ha, Reptile.  I remember these guys.

Oh, that dude's name was Goro? Huh. 

Kitana, eh?  I guess they added female characters.  Ha.  Great name, guys.

Shao Kahn, the boss!  Wow! 

Oh jesus, Nightwolf?  Wow.  Okay.  Native Americans can have bad names I guess.

Rain?  Chameleon?  ERMAC?  WTF?

Kai? Reiko?  MEAT?  How many years has it been?  FUCK do I feel old.

Okay, they...made a character who's a motion capture actor.  That's okay, that's...normal.  There can't possible be much more.

Oh, there's like, five more pages of characters...

Freddy...Krueger.  And Lex Luthor!  Why the fuck not!

It was at that moment that I realized that someone, somewhere, was fucking with me.

That someone is Ed Boon and he does that sort of thing for a living. Thankfully.

Join The Doctor For "Attack Of The Graske"

It's not often that the Tenth Doctor shows up at your door and invites you on the Doctor Who adventure of a lifetime, so the next best thing to waiting around for the TARDIS to materialize is to check out the 2005 interactive video game-type adventure episode "Attack of the Graske".  First available back in December 2005, this short entertainment experience plays out in the style of the video game classic Dragon's Lair in which you watch a short scene featuring The Doctor as he (and you) attempt to locate and defeat the invading Graske alien menace.  Eventually you're called on to make a choice which changes the direction of the story.  Repeat.  There are multiple paths through the adventure and replays are encouraged.  The game was originally confined to the BBC's Red Button service, but has since been released on the Series 2 DVD box set and, more conveniently, at the BBC's website as a free in-browser game.  Buried underneath layers of forgotten material (it is a Tenth Doctor production from nearly eight years ago, after all), I've dug it up just for you to enjoy.  Head on over to the BBC's website and show that Graske what for!

Power Button Presents Kombo Breaker - Special Edition: BioShock 2 Developer Conference

2K Games's BioShock 2 is getting a little extra attention these days thanks to interest in BioShock Infinite, so it seems only appropriate to revisit this episode of the old Kombo Breaker podcast which originally aired February 9, 2010.  Before you step into the shoes of a Big Daddy, why not learn what went into the making of the game?  Just prior to the release of the game a few members of the development team at 2K Marin sat down for a phone conference in which they discussed the development process, and rather than just provide a brief transcript of their remarks, I recorded the whole hour-long conversation that we presented as a special extra edition of Kombo Breaker despite the fact that we're not in it beyond my initial introduction.  Would you kindly listen to it anyway?  You'll find it's a nice bookend to last week's Episode 98.  Download this week's episode directly from PTB, listen with the player below, or subscribe via iTunes, and be sure to catch up on past episodes if you're joining us late. Remember that you can reach all three of us via , you can leave a message on the Power Button hotline by calling (720) 722-2781, and you can even follow all of us on Twitter at @PressTheButtons, @aubradley84, and @JoeyDavidson or for just podcast updates, @ThePowerButton.

Power Button Presents Kombo Breaker - Special Edition: BioShock 2 Developer Conference

EvilCast Recap - Episode 174

Down two members of their usual panel, Blake Grundman and Ross Polly of the EvilCast podcast at Games Are Evil invited me to sit in yet again for this week's episode.  With topics like Nintendo's diminished presence at E3 2013 and how the new Star Trek video game missed the mark (including a fun flashback to E3 2011 where Blake and I attended an early pre-alpha preview of the game), how could I say no?  We also talk about layoffs at Electronic Arts, Nintendo's Wii U image problem, and Zynga's latest troubles in the wake of the launch of Draw Something 2.  Mix in some discussion of the Injustice: Gods Among Us mobile game and a few other recently released titles and you have yourselves Episode 173.  Join us for some heated discussion and to hear Ross admit he's never seen Robocop but has somehow seen the non-existant Blade Runner 2.  I'm still not sure how either of those are possible.  Also, I'd like to apologize to the people of Detroit in advance.  You'll understand why when you listen to the show.