This Week In Xbox - 5/8

Greener Raptures

In a new press release, Take-Two Interactive has announced new details about the multiplayer mode in its upcoming sequel to Bioshock. The new experience is being developed by Digital Extremes, the developers behind the Unreal series and Dark Sector, and will take place in the years before Rapture fell. The mode will allow players to take part in the events leading up to the underwater battle and subsequent destruction of Rapture, as well as customize their characters by using experience to buy Plasmids and new weapons. We hope to get our hands on the game sometime late this year.

VERDICT: Well, this is interesting to say the least. I can't seem to shake the idea that the first one might have been so good because they spent all their time working on the single player.

Radical!

Gamervision has gotten its hands on footage of the remake of the arcade classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time. The game has been remade from the ground up for XBLA in full 3D. The video itself was taken on a cell phone camera, so don't expect anything in HD, but you can expect to see the game sometime this fall. Check out the video and a few screenshots right here.

VERDICT: There is no amount of early 90s lingo that can express how stoked I am for this.

Probably the Worst Possible News

After working on Duke Nukem Forever for what seems like, well, forever, 3D Realms has been shut down due to funding problems, Shacknews tells us. Furthermore, it will be retaining the rights to the game itself, implying that a new developer may take up the mantle of Duke's creators. Both 3D realms webmaster Joe Siegler and Take-Two Vice President of Communications Alan Lewis have confirmed the rumor to be true. Some screenshots and concept art has begun to leak, and you can see these right here.

VERDICT: Wow...the strange journey of Duke Nukem Forever continues. We give our condolences to all involved.

Squeezing Blood Out of The Rolling Stones

This week, Activision apparently decided to give the world all of the news it can about the new "Hero" games that it has planned. Joystiq has announced that the publisher will be releasing: Guitar Hero 5, the successor to the non-numerically named Guitar Hero: World Tour; Band Hero, a family-oriented challenger to Harmonix's Lego Rock Band; DJ Hero, complete with a new peripheral; and Guitar Hero: Van Halen, which is exactly what it sounds like. Not to be outdone, Harmonix is showing off the new guitars for their upcoming The Beatles: Rock Band, including custom made Rickenbacker 325 and Gretsch Duo Jet controllers, each of which will set us back $100.

VERDICT: Wow, way to flood the market guys. On the other hand, how much do I want that Rickenbacker and that Gretsch? If only I could afford them...

Finishing the...Wait, Wrong Game

The ultra-successful title that is Gears of War 2 will be on the receiving end of a major deal this July. The "All Fronts" retail compilation will include the previous three multiplayer map packs, a new pack of seven maps entitled "Dark Corners," (which you can read more about right here at IGN) and a new campaign chapter called "Road to Ruin." Perhaps the most interesting thing about the new campaign is the choice to play in the normal run-and-gun Gears style, or to play in the "all-new Stealth Mode." The compilation will be available in brick-and-mortar stores July 28th, and will include a new Live Theme, poster, strategy guide, and intro by Cliff Bleszinski for 20 bucks. If you already have the previous map packs, you can pick up the new content for 1600 MS Points from the Xbox Live Marketplace.

VERDICT: Wow, Cliff and the guys are still cranking out all sorts of Gears 2 content. Are you guys still buying it?