See, in the US, it was released in convenient, standalone form. But the only way PAL customers will be able to get their hands on a copy is if they grab the European version of the God of War III Ultimate Edition, as it'll be included within, along with a ton of other stuff.

Who knows, there might still be a chance the collection will be released individually early next year, but with the God of War franchise not as big in Europe as it is in the US (hence the fact the collection hasn't yet been released), I wouldn't hold my breath.

Bitmob sat down, screengrabber at the ready, and found out, posting a ton of shots directly comparing the two versions. As you can see, the PS2 version looks a little, I don't know, warmer, but the texture clarity on the PS3 remakes is certainly an improvement.

For reference in the shot below, the top pic is the PS2 version running on a PS3, while the bottom pic is the PS3 version running on the...PS3.

Graphics Comparison (part two): God of War 2 vs. God of War Collection [Bitmob]

Thanks, Morgonzo Dos!

Is it convincing enough? Lower resolution though it may be, the God of War Collection debut trailer has pretty much everything you'd need to ensure a purchase of the PlayStation 3 game. Namely, two God of War games for a paltry $40 USD. Since I *might* have skipped God of War II, it's an ideal purchase for yours truly.

But you? Judge the following trailer to see if this is what you're looking for.

First Look at the God of War Collection Trailer! [PlayStation.blog]

First off, the stuff, Sony telling IGN that "16,000 pieces of digital content" will be available for purchase on October 1, the day of the handheld's launch. It's a big number, but one that's skewed by the 13,300 TV shows available; a more relevant figure is that there'll be 225 games spread across "full PSP titles, PSN exclusives, UMD legacy titles and Minis".

Next, the cards, an olive branch of sorts to stores that may or may not be upset about the prospect of stocking a console with no game downloads.

These aren't pre-paid cards like you can already get for the PSN; instead, they're for specific titles, with God of War, Gran Turismo, Daxter, Patapon 2, Secret Agent Clank and Twisted Metal: Head-on to be offered for sale via these specific cards.

PSPgo Launch Plans Outlined [IGN]

It's a custom Mighty Muggs figure by Likhang Pinoy Customs, and goes well beyond what you'd expect from such an endeavour, with an assortment of hand-crafted weapons and even some adorable little blood splattered all over his adorable, fat little body.

Likhang Pinoy Customs knocks it out of this world with their custom Kratos Mighty Mugg [Tomopop]

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe have confirmed with VG247 that that "it will not be possible to release the games this calendar year" in the Old World. So it's January 2010 at the earliest for them.

Got a favourite overseas importer saved in your bookmarks?

No God of War remakes for Europe in 2009 [VG247]

God of War Collection will feature both Playstation 2 games running at 1280 by 720 resolution and 60 frames a second. The collection, which will cost $40, will also include trophy support for the games.

"We are excited today to announce God of War Collection," said Scott Rohde, vice president, Worldwide Studios America. "Our fans spoke and we listened; thanks to our partnership with Bluepoint Games, fans and newcomers to the series can experience the epic God of War and God of War II saga in stunning 720p on PS3. This Blu-ray Disc compilation brings Kratos to PS3 even earlier than expected."

The collection comes just months before God of War III is scheduled to hit stores on March 2010 for the Playstation 3.

The idea of a Blu-ray collection of the two PS2 games, which sell used for about $35 total at Gamestop, first came to light in April when a survey leaked about the notion.

Then, this March, the first of two God of War Novels arrive from Del Rey.

Sounds like someone went a little marketing crazy. Here's the break down of the books, the comics and, yes, that fancy set of knives.

God of War Comic Book Series (October 2009): Published by DC/Wildstorm Comics, the series will be written by Marv Wolfman (The New Teen Titans, Crisis on Infinite Earths). The six-issue series will be released on a monthly schedule, leading into the March 2010 release of God of War III for the Playstation 3.

United Cutlery's Blades of Chaos (October 2009): United Cutlery , manufacturer of licensed edged and adult collectibles for the entertainment industry since 1981, will create a scaled replica of Kratos Blades of Chaos. The weapon will be a total of 20-13/16 inches long and have a 12 7/16-inch blade constructed from solid-cast zinc aluminum with a custom-etched mold texture, and unique fantasy grindings that mirror the piece used in the game. The handle grip is injection-molded and surrounded by an intricate, detailed cast-metal guard and pommel. The Blades of Chaos replica includes a custom display stand with the God of War logo.

Del Rey Books' God of War Novels (March 2010): Del Rey will publish two novels based on the God of War series. The first novel, God of War, will be written by author Matthew Stover. In the novel God of War, Kratos, the game's protagonist, is a great warrior who seeks revenge on the God of War Ares for the deaths of his wife and child. On his journey to Olympus, Kratos must battle great monsters of legend—and fight his own inner demons. Kratos' quest will take him through a world of Greek mythology transformed, in which the familiar legends take on a terrifying new life—from the Aegean, where Kratos will grapple with the Great Hydra, to the depths of Hades, where Kratos will face death itself, to the heights of Mount Olympus.

Seriously, this is a sculpture made by a single man. Not a $300, commissioned piece of adult collectible finery. It's just...something some guy made. As a hobby. For his art. Amazing.

The God of War mini-series will be written by comic book legend Marv Wolfman, notable for his work on Marvel's Blade and DC's Crisis On Infinite Earths, and illustrated by Kevin Sharpe and Andy Park, reports IGN. Wolfman considers himself a fan of both the God of War series and Greek mythology, the basis for DC's Teen Titans, a franchise he helmed in the 80s.

Wildstorm currently has comics based on the video games Prototype, Gears of War and World of Warcraft in production.

DC/Wildstorm's four-color treatment of Kratos' "dark past" isn't the only expansion of the Greek mythos Sony has planned, with a novelization and
movie in the works.

The God of War is Summoned [IGN]

Then again, since it's based entirely around the events of the first game in the series, it may well be. Page after page of "I WILL STAB YOU IN THE FACE" followed by "AARRGGHH!!" broken up only by a few moments of "OH NO MY WIFE WHAT HAVE I DONE I AM A MONSTER".

Written by Matt Stover, God of War (the book) will be out in March 2010, with further novelizations of the series to follow.

While a movie project can go through scores of screenplays, and none of what he reveals will be too big a shock to fans of the game (plus, you know, we can't even confirm this is real!), we're nevertheless going to throw up a spoiler warning on what follows.

For the most part, the writer says the plot of the film "slavishly" follows the plot of the game, from Kratos' deal with Ares to the murdering of his wife and child to his eventual attempts at killing the God of War. Until, that is, we reach the end of the film.

Then, instead of being offered Godhood and accepting, Kratos declines and hurdles himself off a cliff, saying as he hurtles towards his death "Your turn, Hades..."

It still sets up a sequel, which would also tie into the events of the second game. Still, it makes you wonder why they followed the game so closely only to deviate at literally the very last second. Watchmen did a similar thing and pissed a lot of people off, so I can't really see the point of it.

Interestingly, the alleged script also mentions the visual look of the film, saying that (the writers at least) are envisaging a "hyper-realized" Ancient Greece, with Athens dominated by "300 foot-high walls, towers and aeries that stretch even higher".

Advance Script Review: God of War - Clash of the Titans on Steroids and Methamphetamines [CC2K, via VG247]

Pay no attention to the 2010 release dates for the next of mythical action champ God of War and the game already occupying the spot of number one contender, Dante's Inferno. They're going to be beat, on the calendar, at least, by another titanic, mythological struggle wrestled into game form, Darksiders.

THQ's epic-in-the-making is forging an identity shaped by many other games. But can it do more than match their features? Can it boast a worth and allure of its own?

What Is It?
Darksiders is a long-in-development (I saw it at E3 2007) action-adventure game from Vigil Games set for 1/1/10 release on the PS3 and Xbox 360. Players control War, one of the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse, whose possibly erroneous summoning to Earth ignited the end of the world and made War the enemy of demons and angels. Fighting and exploring a hub-and-dungeon world — that's the Zelda connection — War must claim key items and develop his arsenal in order to stay alive and get vengeance for whoever set in motion the events that set Heaven and Hell at his throat.

What We Saw
THQ brought the game's E3 build to New York, allowing me to re-play the portion Crecente tried during his May pre-E3 event as well as watch the parts that reminded me of Panzer Dragoon, Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, Gears of War and games starring The Incredible Hulk.

How Far Along Is It?
The game's set for 1/1/10 release, but the slices I saw looked feature-complete.

What Needs Improvement?
The Unique Parts: Darksiders isn't going to be released for a while, so it's no tragedy that the game is currently pitched and shown with a bunch of obvious references to other games. The crossblade War can hurl can be aimed and locked onto multiple targets as well as ferry elements like fire from one target to the next. That capability is used to beat a winged big-breasted she-bat boss in Darksiders but that looked ripped from the boomerang of recent Zeldas. War can arm himself with limited-use demon weapons like a cannon which fires molten spears that he carries low, next to his right thigh like he's got a heavy weapon in Halo 3. A one-time-only flight sequence resembles Panzer Dragoon. Even War's horse, which is gained a third of the way into the game, may have flaming hooves to distinguish itself from Ocarina's Epona but still seems like an idea borrowed rather than borne. The borrowing of ideas isn't inherently bad, but it would be a pity if the onslaught of homage suppresses the expression of a Darksiders identity of its own. This is, after all, a game that includes the procurement of angel technology. More of that, please.

What Should Stay The Same?

Cornucopia of Chaos-Causers: More so than God of War's Kratos, War is armed with a wonderfully absurd arsenal. He's got a big sword and that throwable boomerang-blade. He's also got demonic guns, a gauntlet, all kinds of enemy-specific one-button kills (like squashing an attacking undead guy's head in his fist), the aforementioned cannon of glowing-red spears, a horse he can call on that will race under him and catch him if he summons it while he's in mid-air freefall, an impressive red-and-black walking brimstone havoc form and plenty more. This game might give Devil May Cry 4 a run for offering the most ways to fight unrelenting hordes, and just about every technique offered is impressive, in that macho death-dealing kind of way.

Comic Book Style: The game is promoted as the realization of comic book artist Joe Madureira's creative vision. Not surprising, to those who have seen Madureira's art, characters are chunky, with big boots and gauntlets sporting something of an Asian warrior Manga influence. The characters – if not the landscape – are colorful, and everything is aggressive and fantastic at the same time. The game's visual muscles are constantly flexed, showing even what would be a boring door in another game as an impressive (badass?) living rock door giant. The imagination in the visuals is there on the surface and rendered with undeniable enthusiasm.

Final Thoughts
Darksiders controlled just fine when I played it, but I lean toward an innovation-bias. I want to see what's new. Darksiders currently feels built upon what has been. That foundation is solid as there were no glaring weakness in what THQ has been showing. But what should earn Darksiders attention for itself?

It's the game's fiction that stands the best chance of breaking out. At the right moment, it seems like it can. But if that moment would be early next year during the lead-up to the release of God of War III isn't so certain. Darksiders will have to be even more convincing that it can be a fun and satisfying game that can prove it's worthy of a following.

In honor of Father's Day, we celebrate dads in video games: from the good to the bad to the "Luke, I am your father kind," that don't fulfill any fatherly duties beyond lopping off a limb. Join us now in separating the Bill Cosbys from the Darth Vaders.

Fathers in… Role-Playing Games
Much like mothers, fathers in role-playing games often are killed early in order to inspire the hero to leave home and avenge dear daddy (and mommy) and the rest of their destroyed village. However, there are some dads who stick around. When they do, they're usually playable support characters their son or daughter's active fighting party, or they show up in flashbacks and hallucinations to offer pep talks and parental criticism. Here are a few of these fatherly figures:

Jecht, Final Fantasy X – Father of Tidus: He's an alcoholic all-star blitzball player who insults his son to toughen him up. Instead, he winds up alienating him. Only after son and father find out they're dead do they make up with a manly high-five.

Kaim, Lost Odyssey – Father of Liram: Kaim believes his daughter is dead, but when he rediscovers her as an old, sick woman, he gets around to some parental duties like making funeral arrangements and babysitting the grandkids.

Pankraz, Dragon Quest V – Father of The Hero: Pankraz travels the world with his son and eventually sacrifices himself to save The Hero from monsters. Alas, he can't save his son from being sold into slavery from beyond the grave.

Walter, Suikoden Tactics – Father of Kyril: Walter goes into exile to protect his lover and bastard son but decides to keep Mommy's identity a secret. He gets turned into a fish monster and attacks Kyril before another party member puts him out of his misery.

James, Fallout 3 – Father of You: Daddy dearest ditches you in Vault 101 and goes to find a cure for irradiated water. When you finally catch up with him, he sends you on a deadly quest and then bites it in the name of science. And, uh, saving you – that too.

Uriel Septim VII, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion – Father of Martin: Had several legitimate sons to stock the throne with heirs, but wisely kept a child out of wedlock just in case a Daedra Lord killed all of his other kids. Instead of fostering the boy to a vassal or something noble, Septim stuck Martin in the church to keep him out of trouble.

Best Dad… Pankraz, because, while he couldn't keep his son from being sold into slavery, he didn't hesitate to take on a horde of monsters to save him.

Worst Dad… Uriel Septim VII, because, really, it was bad enough for Martin to be born a bastard – even worse to have Daedra Lords come after you because of some dude you've never even met. Thanks for nothing, Dad!

Fathers in… Fighting Games
Fighting games have a high volume of fathers. Apparently, popping out a few kids is the thing to do after winning world martial arts tournaments. But no father in any fighting game seems to have thought the decision to become a father and a world martial arts champion at the same time all the way through: Either you're abandoning the kid at a young age so they invariably follow in your footsteps just to find you. Or – worse – you actively train them in your fighting style so they can grow up, follow in your footsteps and then kick your ass.

Raphael Sorel, Soulcalibur series – Foster father of Amy: Raphael got kicked out of his own family for killing some crazy noble and found the orphaned Amy wandering the streets of some French town. He took her in, raised her, trained her and went completely crazy trying to create a perfect world for her.

Frederick Schtauffen, Soulcalibur series – Father of Siegfried: Frederick left his infant son to go fight in the Crusades. While he was gone, Siegfried fell in with a bad crowd and wound up beheading his own father in a misguided act of patriotism.

Seong Han-myeong, Soulcalibur series – Father of Mi-na and wannabe foster father to Hwang: Teaches both children how to kick some serious ass, but winds up favoring Hwang with family heirlooms. When Hwang refuses Han-myeong's offer to adopt him, he tries to marry Mi-na to Hwang. Mi-na runs away.

Cervantes de Leon, Soulcalibur series – Father of Ivy: Somehow fathered the hottest thing in the Soul series and then tried to devour her when she comes looking for his sword, Soul Edge.

Heihachi Mishima, Tekken series – Father of Kazuya: Throws his son off a cliff to toughed him up, throws him down a volcano out of spite and basically does nothing but try to destroy his son for the entire Tekken series.

Kazuya Mishima, Tekken series – Father of Jin: He may not have thrown his son off any cliffs, but Kazuya's revenge aspiration against his own father eventually turns his son against him. Also, it turns his son into a flying demon thing.

Marshall Law, Tekken series – Father of Forest: Law sees more of the insides of restaurants than he does of his own son, but he stops at nothing to pay the hospital bills when Forest wrecks his motorcycle.

Lau Chan, Virua Fighter – Father of Pai: Abandons his daughter to fight in the World Fighting Tournament and has the nerve to act surprised when she devotes her martial arts career to kicking his ass.

Bass Armstrong, Dead or Alive series – Father of Tina: Two words sum up his entire parenting technique– over and protective.

Fame Douglas, Dead or Alive series – Father of Helena: Fame knocks up a world-famous opera singer and then doesn't marry her; but he does leave his daughter his effed up company, DOATEC, after being assassinated. Thanks, Daddy!

Raidou, Dead or Alive series – Father of Ayane: Raped her mother. ‘Nuff said.

Dhalsim, Street Fighter – Father of Datta: Dhalsim serves as a father to his entire village by entering the World Warrior tournament to raise money for them.

Best Dad… Bass, because he loves his daughter too much to let her dress like a slut – unlike Cervantes.

Worst Dad… Heihachi, because he throws his son off a cliff and into a volcano; and he imprisons his grandson. Somebody call Child Protective Services!

Fathers in… Action Adventure and Survival Horror Games
It's hard to feel warm and fuzzy about fathers in these types of games because they're almost always an antagonist. Even the well-meaning Dads who just want to protect their offspring usually wind up doing the opposite by turning evil, letting work consume them or by losing the family farm to a rival rancher. But, even if they're real jerks, they're still fathers and they deserve their due on this day.

Joe Hayabusa, Ninja Gaiden – Father of Ryu: Leads an entire ninja clan and raises a badass ninja son.

William Birkin, Resident Evil 2 – Father of Sherry: The guy's got no time for parenting – he's so married to his work he becomes the last boss.

Mr. Burnside, Resident Evil: Code Veronica – Father of Steve: Not only did he raise his son to be a whiny loser, but Mr. Burnside also thought it'd be a great idea to steal from the Umbrella Corporation, thus getting his wife shot full of holes and landing him and his son on a zombie-infested prison camp island. Great going, old man.

Harry Mason, Silent Hill and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories – Adoptive father of Cheryl and possibly Alessa, depending on which ending you get: Harry probably shouldn't have picked up a strange child on the side of the road, but damned if he doesn't do his best to hang onto her – even when the monsters start showing up to kill him.

King Zora XVI, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – Father of Princess Ruto: He loves his daughter, but is too fat and lazy to go save her when she goes missing inside a giant fish monster.

Talon, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – Father of Malon: Talon is a narcoleptic rancher who makes a good living for himself and his daughter on Lon Lon Ranch; but unfortunately, he has poor taste in employees. Pro tip: don't hire somebody with the hots for your daughter.

Deku King, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask – Father of Deku Princess: Overprotective doesn't quite sum it up – this is a guy who tortures small animals when his child goes missing instead of looking for her himself.

Bowser, Super Mario Bros. series – Father of Bowser Jr. and seven other Koopalings: He lets his kids run wild with pirate ships and magic zappy wands. Not exactly parent of the year material.

Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong series – Father of Donkey Kong Jr.: He'd rather hang out with his nephew, Diddy Kong, than his own son. What does that say about his fatherly reputation?

Kratos, God of War series – Father of Calliope: He's away from home a lot, fighting wars and when he does come back, he kills his kid in a God-induced rage. She goes to heaven and he tries to visit, but that would kind of break the world, so he leaves her be.

Kento Marek, The Force Unleashed – Father of Galen, aka Starkiller, aka Vader's Secret Apprentice: He escapes the Jedi purges with his wife and young son and hides out on Kashyyyk. Vader shows up, kills him and takes his son to train/raise.

Dr. Light, Mega Man series – Father of Mega Man: Okay, so he didn't provide Mega Man chromosomes; but Dr. Light built him and raised him. So he's like both father and mother to Mega Man.

Nate Harlow, Red Dead Revolver – Father of Red: If nothing else, the old man sure taught his son to shoot.

King of All Cosmos, Katamari Damacy – Father of The Prince: His binge drinking wiped out the world, and he sent his son to clean up the mess. What a role model.

The Mourning King, Prince of Persia – Father of Elika: He makes a deal with the dark god Ahriman to resurrect his daughter, sends his men to capture her and then unleashes pure evil by destroying the Tree of Life.

Best Dad… Harry Mason, because he could have adopted some other orphan, but no – he went through Silent Hill for his Cheryl. That's a dad who cares.

Worst Dad… Steve Burnside's dad, because, while Kratos might've killed his kid, too, at least his daughter went to heaven instead of a zombie-infested prison camp island.

Fathers in… Shooters
Dads are the stars of shooters. Even if they're not the main character, they very often drive the plot even from beyond the grave. This is probably because a lot of cultures have a manly mythos of the son surpassing the father and it's bled right into the manliest of video games. Even with all that testosterone, there's room for really great dads. And some really awful ones, too.

Eli Vance, Half-Life series – Father of Alyx: Eli lived the simple life of a scientist at Black Mesa Research Facility with his wife and young daughter. Then things explode as they often do in the profession and his wife dies. He eventually falls in love with another woman, but to his dying day, he never stops loving his daughter.

James McCloud, Star Fox series – Father of Fox: Clearly James did something right in parenting Fox; he inspired such filial piety that his son hallucinates him during boss fights.

Andrew Ryan, BioShock – Father of Jack: Andrew had Jack out of wedlock with stripper/dancer Jasmine Jolene and didn't get to spend any time parenting him. Mommy Dearest sold the embryo off to Andrew's enemy. Ryan Sr. might make a big fuss about a man choosing; but, the truth is, you can't choose your children.

Big Daddies, BioShock series – Father of Little Sisters: Big Daddies have no blood relation to Little Sisters and probably no soul, either. But they do what all good daddies do: protect the bejesus out of their babies with power tools.

Roy Campbell, Metal Gear Solid series – Father of Meryl: He lies to his daughter and says he's her uncle for most of her life, but then relents and calls her his "pride and joy" at the most inopportune moment. Later, he gives her away at her wedding.

Jack Raiden, Metal Gear Solid series – Father of Rose's son: To his credit, Raiden probably would have been a great dad if his wife had lied and said she miscarried the baby. But, since she did lie and tell him that, he let himself be turned into a high-tech version of a Ken doll and now his son is really going to have daddy issues despite his parents getting back together.

Big Boss, Metal Gear Solid series – Father of Liquid and Solid Snake: Daddy must be so proud of his clone sons. One of them is a chain smoker with a terminal illness and the other one keeps trying to bring about a nuclear holocaust. He probably should have spent more time raising them instead of trying to kill one or both of them.

Adam Fenix, Gears of War series – Father of Marcus: Supposedly he's some kind of genius and like James McCloud he must've done something awesome to inspire filial piety that borders on insanity. His son winds up in prison for abandoning his post to save Fenix Sr. during an alien invasion.

Sam Fisher, Splinter Cell series – Father of Sarah: Sam is so devastated by his daughter's death he spends an entire game avenging her. Drunk drivers and assassins beware a bereaved father, especially one who's a secret agent.

Best Dad… Eli Vance, because he loves his baby girl without smothering her independent spirit.

Worst Dad… Big Boss, because one lousy man-hug does not make up for the sheer number of times he tried to kill his son.

(Dis)Honorable Mentions
Shinnok, Mortal Kombat – He's only Raiden and Shao Kahn's dad in that awful movie, Annihilation, so he doesn't count as a video game dad.
Homer Simpson, Don Corleone, Darth Vader – They've all got a presence in video games, sure, but their status as good or bad fathers comes from the shows and films they're from, not from the games they appear in.
Dr. Tenma, Astro Boy – Father of Astro Boy and Tobio: Like a lot of Dads, Tenma was married to his work until the day his nine-year-old son Tobio died in a car accident. Then, he turned his work into his son, created Astro Boy as the son that would never die. Unfortunately, he wouldn't age, either – so Tenma sold him to a robot salesman.
You, Fable II, The Sims games and Harvest Moon games - Just as with moms, even if you play as an upstanding paragon of parental vigilance as a dad, you're going to be guilty of neglect at least half of the time.

That does it for dads this year. Think we missed somebody important? Drop a line in the comments. And don't forget to call your dad on Father's Day!

Day four, meanwhile, was slim pickings — although that Fat Princess trailer really had me laughing. The Super Mario Galaxy 2 trailer was my favorite from day three without a doubt, although Final Fantasy XIII was pretty cool. Give me Yoshi in space over emo any day.

Anyone want to nominate a Best of E3 clip?

Day Three
Watch The PSP Go Sliding In Action
Ratchet & Clank Future E3 Developer Trailer
Gran Turismo 5 Trailer Has, Yes, Car Damage
Super Mario Galaxy 2 Screens And Trailer
A New Final Fantasy XIII Trailer For You To Watch
Heavy Rain Trailer Falls On E3
Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles E3 Trailer
Assassin's Creed 2 Gameplay Glides In
Kratos Is In The New Soulcalibur
Whip It With This Castlevania: Lord of Shadow Trailer
Natasha Bedingfield Serenades A DSi

Day Four
You Ever Wonder What The Bottom Of An Avatar Shoe Looks Like?
Today's Most Relaxing Trailer? Echochrono
The Grinder E3 Trailer
Plus-Sized Fat Princess E3 Trailer
Taste Hot Monkey Vengeance!
This Is The Most Technically Impressive Thing I've Seen All Week

To their credit, Dante's Inferno developer EA Redwood Shores doesn't shy from their original IP essentially being God of War set entirely in Hell. Lead Designer Steve Desilets shrugs off the accusation comparison with the statement that, "You have to be careful when you innovate not to shun convention."

But in honoring convention, I wonder if Dante's Inferno hasn't shunned innovation entirely – not to mention the source material.

What Is It?
Dante's Inferno is the first part of a 14th Century Italian epic poem about a Crusader poet named Dante who is lead through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise by Virgil and later his lady love, Beatrice. This is the game of the first part where Dante and Virgil go through Hell and escape Satan. Players take the role of Dante and Virgil acts as a sort of NPC expository character you find throughout the game to "guide" you through the linear adventure/platformer levels.

ETA: Dante is a Crusader in the game and a poet in the poem. I apologize for my confusion.

What We Saw
There was a single demo level for games journalists to try during EA's noisy Spring Break Event. It's the Limbo level, which is the First Circle of Hell in the poem. I watched one journalist play through the entire thing, dying a couple of times before completing it, which took about 20 minutes and then it was my turn.

How Far Along Is It?
Pre-alpha — the major elements of the level are there and likely not going to change, but dialog and text were missing in chunks, some animations weren't in place at all and the graphics were jagged enough to cut your eyes.

What Needs Improvement?
It's a God of War Clone: It's hard to appreciate a game for itself when its so focused on being some other game. There are obviously going to be some similarities between third-person action-adventure games that feature a section in Hell. Hell's imagining in the minds of Man hasn't really changed much in thousands of years, so when Dante climbs down a wall made up of people with grasping arms, I can't call that a rip-off of the beginning of God of War 2 in all fairness. However, most major elements in the game that I saw like the colors of Mana, Health and Souls are deliberately and directly lifted from God of War. The controls are cribbed, too, only modified to fit Dante's scythe for the combos; and even the simple task of opening a door or accessing a Mana/Health well involve mashing the Circle button in a mini quicktime event — just like God of War. It feels like EA isn't even trying to make a game; they're trying to make a mod that re-skins everything Greek to be Christian (like Dante using a cross to activate the Mana/Health wells).

Visually Exhausting: I get it, we're in Hell — it shouldn't be pretty and each Circle of Hell has to stick to a specific theme so as not to completely shuck the poem. However, it's hard to look at the same grim, gruesome depictions of souls suffering, bodies writhing and big, monstrous monsters doing monstrous things for level after level after level — Nine Circles in all. I spent only 30 minutes in Limbo, but it felt like a lot longer; and even if that's "the point" of the level, it certainly isn't something I appreciate.

Weak Sense of Scale: Part of what worked for God of War was the sense of scale the game got from using various cinematic camera angles during gameplay. As Kratos would climb a wall or round a corner, the camera would sweep to take in a vista or angle upward to make Kratos's foes look epically huge. As of now, this is one thing Dante's Inferno doesn't copy – or at least doesn't copy well. The camera always feels like it's too far back and remains mostly fixed just behind Dante's shoulder blades, which is kind of a boring angle that makes Hell seem like a very claustrophobic place.

Stick To The Source More Often: Limbo was a disappointing level not because it looked like God of War's Hades, but because it didn't look like what Limbo is supposed to look like in the poem. In the poem, un-baptized babies and virtuous pagans go to Limbo, so they're not "punished" for sins with agony or irony or any of that stuff that happens in the other Eight Circles of Hell. In the game, though, Limbo looks like a flame-scorched cavern that the River Styx runs through and the babies develop scythes for hands and enjoy mobbing unsuspecting Crusaders while still sobbing like real babies. Seems EA was in such a rush to rip off God of War that they neglected to work with their source material beyond cramming Virgil in every so often.

Annoying (and Somewhat Pretentious) Death Screens: Whenever you die in Dante's Inferno, you get a loading screen with a random line from the poem on it. That's going to get old real fast.

Quicktime Events: Hate them. Hated them in God of War, hate them now.

What Should Stay The Same?
Potential Differences: Limbo didn't have much to show in the way of originality — but we did get glimpses at mechanics that are supposedly more prominent in other levels of the game. One of those mechanics is the tamable creature; at one point early on in Limbo, Dante could kill off demons riding larger demons and then take their reigns himself, which switched up the appearance of combat a little (if not the mechanics). The second of those is the Punish/Absolve mini-game which we didn't get to see anything of except for a placeholder screen. According to Desilets, the game will be about betting souls to save a Shade — someone who's not really in Hell or Heaven yet — which may or may not impact the ending of the game.

It Looks Like Hell: Limbo may not have been true to the source material, but it certainly looked like what you'd imagine Hell to look like.

It's a God of War Clone: If nothing else, this will make purchasing decisions easy for God of War fans — because if it looks like God of War and plays like God of War and you like God of War, then obviously you're going to like this. For my part, the controls weren't complicated and menus and combos felt natural if only because they were familiar, which I count as a win. If you're going to clone a mythology-based action-adventure game, you should a) clone only the most successful one and b) clone it well.

Final Thoughts
Nobody said that a cloned game is automatically a bad game; if you do it well and what you're cloning is really awesome, then it follows that the clone should be equally awesome, right? So in that regard there may be hope for Dante's Inferno. However, EA might want to start showing off what's different about Dante's Inferno instead of all of the things that are the same as God of War. That was their big pitch, right — that this is a badass retelling of Dante Alighieri's story? If they don't get around to proving that soon, somebody's going to be rolling in his grave.

Surprised? So was I. After the boss's brief look at the game, I was hopeful that Wolverine would be an amazing character-driven action game. It's made by the Marvel Ultimate Alliance team; and even if it's not relying on the movie for story and background info on everyone's favorite Canadian (next to John Candy), there's still a lot the developer could draw on for the game's inspiration.

But I suppose God of War is an amazing character-driven action game, too, so if Raven Software is going to draw on anything, why not that?

What Is It?
X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a singleplayer action-adventure game starring the Hugh Jackman version of the clawed mutant from the X-Men comics. The plot follows most of what goes on in the upcoming movie, plus about "40%" original content, according to the developer. It's set for release on DS, PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii and Xbox 360 the same day the movie hits theaters – May 1st.

What We Saw
I spent a cumulative two hours with the PS3 version of the game at a junket event, switching back and forth with another games journalist whenever I died or finished a level. I got through the first jungle mission, a boss fight with Sabretooth and most of the Alkali Lake laboratory level.

How Far Along Is it?
This build has to be near-final because the game is due out in less than a month, but it still looks a little rough mostly because of minor graphics issues (clipping, flickering shadows, etc.).

What Needs Improvement?
Once More With Feeling: This game has a real problem with repetition. True, the combo system is extensive with lots of Square-Triangle-wash-rinse-repeat moves; but because some enemies block more attacks than others, you'll find yourself falling into patterns just to mow down baddies more efficiently. It doesn't help that the baddies all look pretty much the same. Or that the boss in the jungle level required the same move set to kill as the Wendigo Prototype mini bosses in the laboratory level (lunge on back, mash attack button, jump off, repeat, perform quick time event for the kill). Or that both levels require our hero to carry some two-handed burden from one area to another to open a door.

Less Lara Croft Platforming, Please: I can appreciate a game that wants its users to think their way through a level – but this is Wolverine. He should be slashing his way through levels, not thinking. He doesn't have time for statue-pushing puzzles and carrying batteries or crank levers around. That's Cyclops' job!

Quick Time Events To Kill Bosses: No thank you. Kratos barely got away with it.

What Should Stay The Same?
The RPG Element: Wolverine gains XP based on attacks, kills and pulling off combos. When he levels up, you can spend points on new skills, mutagens, reflexes or fight moves. I'm glad to see Raven carried something over from their Marvel Ultimate Alliance games. Also – you'll actually notice a difference in his overall strength. I got to level seven at some point in either the jungle or the laboratory level (sorry – can't keep ‘em straight with all that repetition), and suddenly all the enemies seemed just a little bit weaker than me – but not too, too weak.

The Epic Factor: We were shown a level from later in the game where Wolverine takes on a Sentinel. It's a multi-phase boss fight that's one of seven overall in the game. The first part of the fight was a little Shadow of the Colossus in scale – but I didn't mind because the Sentinels are supposed to be epic huge and Wolverine at least didn't have to do any climbing. The second part was pretty boss (pardon the pun); in a mid-fight cut scene, the Sentinel falls out of its airborne trajectory after Wolverine cuts him up a bit and then the fight resumes with the player having to guide Wolverine through the air and down to the falling Sentinel where you get to cut him up so more. I don't care if skydiving isn't in Wolverine's canon (but, jeez, what isn't?), it looked cool… like God of War, but with Wolverine.

Shirtless Hugh Jackman: It may be a game, but I will take it where I can get it.

Final Thoughts
If I pretend that Wolverine is a movie game, I can say it's one of the best movie games I've ever played. But it's not a movie game, says Raven Software senior producer Jeff Poffenbarger, so what can I say besides "It plays like God of War"? That may be disappointing to those who crave originality, but at the very least, it should be comforting to those who don't want their Wolverine complicated and anymore out of character than the movies make him.