EGM is stirring it up again with a bunch of hot new rumors from Quartermann. Looks like we're in for a pretty sweet season: Quartermann's latest gossip includes word on a Halo spin-off coming late next year, a Grand Theft Auto MMO, and a whole lot more. Rumors galore in the full article!

Some of you may wonder why Digital Extremes designed Dark Sector (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3) to be a third-person shooter when it could have been just as promising as a first-person affair. In the video interview which you'll find after the jump, you're bound to be convinced that the devs had good reason to do so. Details up next.

After the news of the soon-to-be Activision-Blizzard merger, it seems there's a growing anticipation for consolidation within the game industry. The latest in the merger rumor mill is the one analyst's prediction that Take-Two Interactive would be taken up by another game entity. Find out who's top on Hickey's list at the full story.

I consider myself a die-hard fanboy of John Woo and his trademark gun-toting "ballet of death" movies. There's a kind of poetry in his films that even the most peace-loving pacifist cannot deny. So imagine my excitement when I found out that I would be the one giving out QJ.NET's first impressions on the new video game lovingly directed by John Woo. Throw in Chow Yun-Fat as the main protagonist and you've just got yourself one happy little fanboy jumping up and down while he mows down hordes of gangsters in Midway Game's John Woo Presents Stranglehold.

Right off the bat, after the initial loading screen, you instantly feel like you've just been pulled into a John Woo film as the opening cinematics roll. All the basic elements of his films are there: gangsters, enough blood to fill a small lake, and an excessive amount of dynamic camera angles enough to make anyone's head spin. The character design for Chow Yun-Fat himself makes him instantly recognizable as he reprises his role as the hard-boiled (pun intended) Inspector "Tequila" Yuen.

In the opening scene, one of his fellow police officers in the Hong Kong police force is summarily dispatched by a local Triad gang. Tequila then steps up to the group's challenge to send a lone cop to meet with the gangsters in the Kowloon market area. Of course, what follows is a series of gunfights, excessive fatalities and stand-offs that's enough to fill any action movie buff's testosterone-powered needs. Little does Tequila know however that the Triad already has a little insurance in their pockets against the gung-ho cop...

Check out more impressions on Inspector Tequila's mad gun skills and John Woo's greatness right after the jump!

 

Inspector Tequila's back, and this time he means business - that is, dealing with criminals with the business end of a firearm in this screenshot update of Midway Games' Stranglehold for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. We get you the skinny on the latest shoot-em-up that not only boasts the best slow-mo system since Max Payne, but also a body count that's sure to rise above any third-person shooter out today.

In this new batch of screenshots, we get a sneak peek at what looks like the game's multiplayer feature - as it's obvious that it's not Inspector Tequila we're looking at from behind (unless he got himself a haircut all of a sudden). One thing that also clues us in is what appears to be a kill indicator on your HUD, in the form of a skull with a number beside it. Handy, and fun.

What's clear from these screenshots - besides the fact that the game's looking quite sharp - is that the other players will have full advantage of Tequila's ability to use the background for some impressive bullet-related stunts. We can only wonder how they're using the Tequila Time ability in multiplayer, though - as it's one of the main reasons that Max Payne, the first game to feature Bullet Time, did not have multiplayer in its game modes.

Certainly a very good Saturday Night Special-sized screenshot batch. Updates as we get them!

  

If Max Payne gave gamers a quick fix of the stylized slow-motion ballet of bullets trademarked as Bullet Time, then John Woo's Stranglehold for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 is the fatal overdose. Yours truly is not going to beat around the bush, this game is looking like the most awesome third-person shooter to date.

These gameplay videos are actually Part 1 and Part 2 of what could be the obligatory Skyscraper level of Stranglehold, with Inspector Tequila gunning down each and every nameless henchman standing in his way. There's also an awesome bit in the second part where you dodge gunshots with a simple turn of the head, before sending a round or two of your own back. Enough spoilers from us, enjoy the video!

The second video after the jump!

Game Informer's latest issue just revealed 3D Realms' "big announcement" and it appears to be headed to the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and the Windows PC. According to the insider article, the new Unreal Engine 3 title, called Earth No More, is under the development hands of Recoil Gamers - those responsible for the Max Payne series.

 

Sporting gameplay facets that include revolutionary human interaction and conversation-affected AI (reminiscent of BioWare's Mass Effect), real character growth and absolutely no gameplay ripping cutscenes, Earth No More is beset upon a "possible world," where Mother Earth fights back against humanity's constant abuse and experimentation of the environment.

And boy does she pack a whallop: the plot kicks in a small town in New England being quarantined, because of a mysterious outbreak of mutating spores and poisonous red vines (think "War of the Worlds" alien growth). The outbreak spreads and "perverts" everything it happens to cross in its wake.

The player takes on the role of Will Forsyth, a "young chap" who must get to the bottom of the outbreak with four other characters who won't necessarily serve as your "squad." "The team is intricately analyzing how group dynamics work in movies like the 'Alien, The Thing,' 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers,' and '28 Days Later,' hoping to emulate that kind of tension in game form," the developers said.

Click on Full Article for more details on Earth No More.

Although Midway Games said last year that Stranglehold (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) was being prepped to be a PS3 launch title, delays have kicked the title out of the company's 2006 lineup and into this year's. No reason was given for the delay, but quite a few fans were no doubt disappointed.

It looks like things are finally ramping up for the game though, what with the various bits of news that have come trickling out lately. Today, Stranglehold's official website went live, bringing with it some goodies in the form of images from the game. Aspiring filmmakers can also enter the "True to John Woo" short film contest through the website.

In the action-and-cordite-packed Stranglehold, Chow Yun-Fat will be reprising his role as Inspector Tequila, last seen in John Woo's 1992 film Hard Boiled. This third-person shooter will see Tequila shooting people up in style in "Tequila Time", a feature similar to Max Payne's bullet time.

Stranglehold is currently slated for release this summer. To check out the website for yourself, click on the "read" link below.

Buy: [Stranglehold (PC)]
Buy: [Stranglehold (PS3)]
Buy: [Stranglehold (Xbox 360)]

EGM has some screens of the much-anticipated Sony PlayStation 3 action game Heavenly Sword. The June issue is due out on May 8th but someone apparently got a hold of the copy and scanned the images. Thanks to him, we all can see these lovely scans. Check them out:

   
   

New details have also been revealed about how Nuriko will dazzle and decapitate enemies. When your style points go up, deadly moves are unlocked to splatter blood and guts all over town. Kratos better get himself ready. He don't want no bimbo stealing his thunder, would he?

The SIXAXIS will be put to a good test here, too. Projectiles can be fired casually or can be guided with the controller. "If you pick up a shield, you can throw it, and if you hold down the button, you’ll go into this flying camera with the shield and maneuver it while it’s in midair. Same goes with shooting the crossbow," says SCEA Producer Kyle Shubel. Way to cross Captain America with Max Payne.

More than the combat, the developers are trumpeting the graphics that the game will introduce. "We’ve got a level of grace and fluidity in our combat. You move in like a dance-like state where you’re doing a lot of complex maneuvers, and the more crazy stuff you execute, the more style points you accumulate."

Whoa! It's not too late to shoe-in Shakira as an unlockable character, right?

We know a lot of you guys would love to star in your very own action flicks. So why not play your own action movie in Midway Games' Stranglehold? We got another dose of the John Woo fueled videogame with two new embeds from GameVideos.

Stranglehold is a third person shooter that features action packed gameplay and "Tequila time", which looks pretty much like the slow motion spots in Max Payne. With Chow Yun Fat as Inspector Tequila, things are bound to get ugly. The Gun Battles video is just screaming John Woo signatures: slow motion scenes, gun fu, and double pistols (this writer was almost expecting a flock of doves to shoot across the screen). The Massive Destruction video, as the name suggests shows just how destructible the game's environment is when using high powered guns.

We still have a bit to wait for Stranglehold (Xbox360, PS3, and PC); the release date is listed August this year. We'll leave you to check out the videos while we check for more info.

Check out the other video right after the jump!