In The Grim Dark Future, There Is Only Single-Player

Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium is now only going to be a single-player game, thanks to layoffs at Relic and Vigil.

MMOs are expensive to make, so changing the game to a single-player saves them a considerable amount of money.. but what a disappointment.

THQ Problems Continue, Metro Delayed

Rumours have been circulating for a while now in regards to THQ’s financial situation and the position of their future titles.  While THQ eventually denied the rumours that they were to cancel their 2014 line-up, their financial situation has not improved; their share value remains under the $1 mark which means they are at risk of NASDAQ delisting, more job losses have been reported, and recently published figures show $55.9 million in losses in the last quarter.

The latest release schedule shows that Metro: Last Light has been pushed back to early 2013, from a summer 2012 release.  The reason for this delay is said to be so developer 4A Games can polish the game before release, but we’ll be hearing more closer to E3.

As for Vigil Games‘ 40k MMO Dark Millennium Online: while the game is still on for a 2014 release, Brian Farrell confirmed during the investor call on Feb 2nd that THQ is looking for a partner to help complete the title (via Eurogamer).

THQ Denies Problems

THQ have denied there are any plans to cancel the 2014 line-up, and they say no decision has been made as yet in regards to the Warhammer 40,000 MMO, Dark Millennium Online.

A statement was given to VG247 from THQ’s Australian PR arm, denying these rumours and citing the great performance of Saints Row: The Third, which was one of the best-selling games of 2011.

Rumour: THQ in Trouble?

There have been a number of tweets going around today noting that THQ are apparently offering themselves up for sale, have cancelled work on all their 2014 line up (including the Warhammer 40k MMO, Dark Millennium Online) as well as having returned IP to Disney.

THQ’s share price has falled to $0.65, the lowest it’s been all year, with a total market value just under $50 million.

UFC: Undisputed 3, Darksiders II, Metro: Last Light, South Park: The Game and WWE Brawl are scheduled for 2012, with inSANE and Devil’s Third scheduled for 2013.

New things at E3

I’ve been looking at some of the info on the games and tech, and there has been plenty to get my interest.

The Fallout series holds a special place in my heart, so after seeing that Fallout: New Vegas has been dated for October 22nd, I’ve mentally written off the end of October in terms of playing other games.  This is despite the announcement of an October 26th release date for Fable III, another game I’ve been looking forward to – it will have to wait until after Fallout 😉

Pre-E3, there were rumours about what Valve might be revealing, after they said they’d be revealing something big.  It looks like the big secret was the fact that Steam is to come to the PS3 – while that’s good news for console players, I was rather hoping for Episode 3.

Portal 2 is on the way, but this was hardly new for E3, though the trailer was quite nice.  I’m quite excited about the co-op mode, and find the idea of playing as a robot or turret rather amusing 🙂

In addition to the two Warhammer 40,000 games, Dark Millennium Online and Space Marine, which I mentioned in the last post, THQ have also announced Red Faction: Armageddon, follow-up to Red Faction: Guerilla.  There was also a very brief mention of Darksiders 2.  I have yet to complete Red Faction: Guerrilla or Darksiders – again, with the consoles..

Must try harder 😉

Call of Duty: Black Ops is another game in my wanted list, though not as high up as the previous games.  I enjoyed Modern Warfare 2, but beyond single player, I didn’t find myself playing it so much.
I tend to prefer playing with a few friends rather than strangers with their camping, mic-spamming, teabagging ways.  Though sometimes I still get the latter from friends.. ah well.

Kinect, formerly Natal, is being shown at E3 too.  Along with the child-oriented Kinectimals, there are a large number of fitness and sports type games planned to use the system.  While I love the tech, these titles are very close to titles I already have for the Wii and so what’s on offer here isn’t going to make me rush out to buy the system.
PlayStation Move had more games on offer, but again doesn’t really add much on from the Wii.

40k Nerdiness

I’ve been watching some of the videos coming out of E3 tonight.. things are looking interesting on the games front!

Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online, the long awaited MMO, is finally being talked about.  A friend was asking about this a good while back, with another interested too.  Makes all the difference when friends have your back.

Rather a teasing video, this one..
Demons, aliens and heretics, versus the Imperium of Man?  Damn right, there will be war 😉

It’s early on yet, but the graphics are already looking rather nice and I’m looking forward to seeing more.
I broke my usual rules, and included a screenshot from THQ’s site here.  If this is anything to go by.. wow 🙂

Again from THQ and Relic, we have Warhammer 40,000:Space Marine.  This one’s for the console, rather than the PC.

Watching this video, I see some similarities to Gears of War, another game I loved.
Take your huge, heavily-armoured brute and run him straight at the enemy: awesome!