After mysteriously dropping off the radar for quite some time, a new trailer for Metal Gear Solid: Rising finally popped up (above) at last week’s Video Game Awards — albeit, to some changes.

One of the most noticeable differences to the Metal Gear spin-off was the game’s name change to Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, which, according to GameSpot, was done to distance itself from the Metal Gear Solid series since they’re known for stealth gameplay. The other big change was how Bayonetta and Vanquish developer Platinum Games — who denied earlier rumors of being the developer for the title — was now confirmed to be, well, developing the title, while Kojima Productions produced it.

According to the game’s official website, the story, which, as GameSpot reports was originally a Metal Gear Solid 4 prequel about how Raiden became a cyborg, has also changed (at least in terms of the timeline) as it will now take place after the events of MGS 4. The game will still star the sword-wielding cyborg Raiden, who, according to the game’s website, will be in a world where cyborgs are rapidly populating the planet.

The original stealth and action gameplay has also been altered as the game will now have a “more aggressive new focus on pure, exhilarating action.”

Overseeing the game’s story, world and visuals will be Kojima Production, but despite their supervision, it seems not everyone is pleased about the game’s new direction and tone as reactions to the trailer have been mixed, acknowledged Platinum’s executive director Atsushi Inaba on Twitter (via VG 24/7).

The reboot of Revengeance comes after the near-cancellation of the project and how the concept of freely cutting everything and anything was initially not working out with the game design, especially combined with stealth elements, says Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima in the video interview below, which reveals the game’s troubled development.

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Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance [Konami, via GameSpot]

New info and screenshots have emerged for Max Payne 3′s multiplayer, and as IGN details, the game will feature a narrative-driven mode and trick-based special abilities.

As IGN reports in their multiplayer preview of the game, MP 3 will include a narrative-driven “Gang Wars” mode in which mission objectives/types change in each round. In one mission type, for example, players must collect and return cash-stuffed duffel bags back to their safe points as a drug deal goes awry.

As the game remembers the results of the previous round, the next round will require players to do something different like acquire a bounty by killing the last round’s most lethal player or capture territory from leading team; the winners of the latter might then be tasked to defuse bombs planted on their territory in the following round.

For Gang Wars’ narrative aspect, the mode will reportedly flesh out the story of the game’s gangs/factions as it coincides with Max’s timeline. Additionally, Max’s voice and “motion comics” will be implemented as well.

During a match, players will be able to use special abilities called “Bursts” that can be unlocked via XP. Each has three levels and some of them are illusion-based like “paranoia” (which fools the opposing team into thinking their teammates are enemies) and “sneaky” (which causes enemies to view your gamertag as friendly). There’s also “intuition” which allows you to see the silhouettes of all enemies.

Another Burst is the series’ familiar “Bullet Time” which will slow down time for both you and the person you’re targeting. Additionally, there’s the “Shootdodge” mechanic that allows players to jump away from an enemy’s line of sight.

For more details and pics, head on over to IGN via the link below.

Max Payne 3: Gang Wars [IGN, via Rockstar Games]

Yesterday, IGN held a live-stream of Ninja Gaiden III’s multiplayer and gaming website Gaming Everything was kind of enough to capture the entire segment, which can be seen here. [Note: Sorry, it seems I can't embed the videos for some reason, but I'll do so if/when I'm able to.]

The gameplay videos show off three vs. three Team Deathmatch as ninja players battle it out in the “Hidden Village.” Like the game’s single-player, the gameplay looks fast and bloody, and it’s refreshing to see multiplayer that involves sword combat and not first-person gunning or capturing flags.

NG III’s multiplayer will let players customize their characters, turn invisible and unleash special powers/abilities. Some of the weapons include swords, throwing stars, and bow and (flaming) arrows. There are also character unlockables like moves, masks and clothes. Additionally, there’s a leveling-up system, as well as wall-climbing, diving, and, yes, even suicide mechanics.

NG III is slated for March 2012.
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First Ninja Gaiden III multiplayer footage [Gaming Everything, via N4G]

The folks over at Bethesda have announced today that the demo for Rage is now available on the Playstation Network. If you haven’t tried it, because of not having an XBOX 360 this is your chance. In total the demo is about 1896 MG of disk space so make sure that you have space available to download it. In case you were wondering, Rage is an action adventure first person shooter game and it’s probably one of the best looking next generation game out there.

Next year we’ll be getting two versions of The Amazing Spider-Man: One will be the Spider-Man movie reboot from Marc Webb, while the other will be the video game movie tie-in from Beenox (Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, Spider-Man: Edge of Time).

According to a press release (via Joystiq), The Amazing Spider-Man game will be released alongside the movie, taking place after the events of the film. Being written by Hollywood writer Seamus Kevin Fahey (Battlestar Galactica), the game will once again have Spider-Man web-slinging all over an open-ended New York City, this time complete with a new “Web Rush” mechanic and improved navigation and combat.

We’ll be able to catch a new trailer for the game at Spike TV’s Video Game Awards airing this Saturday at 8 p.m. EST/5 p.m. PST. In the meantime, you can swing your way over to the game’s official website which says the game will out for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo DS.

345 Games’ upcoming Deadliest Warrior: Ancient Combat game is based on Spike TV’s Deadliest Warrior TV series, so it makes sense that those who pre-order the game will get TV episodes of the show.

Available as GameStop’s DW:AC pre-order bonus, warriors can get their hands on two full DW episodes, one of which has never been released on Blu-ray or DVD, according to the press release.

Those interested in pre-ordering the game have until Jan. 9, 2012, the day before the $30 game hits North America for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

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