New Footage of Kinect Shooter Blackwater, Out Next Month

Kinect shooter Blackwater is launching this October, and USA Today have posted a fresh glimpse of the game. Developed by Zombie Studios, who certainly aren't new to creating realistic combat simulations, Blackwater sees the player in control of a Blackwater mercenary shooting their way through a variety of battle scenarios.

Don't expect the gameplay to be quite as controversial as the Blackwater company itself though -- gore and violence has been toned down to appeal to the teen market, so no blowing an enemies face off or shooting up civilians as you might expect from a game dealing with warfare of the modern variety. Shooting is the core of the game though, with a focus on full control of the players' combat position, forced to duck and weave in and out of cover to get the perfect shot and protect yourself from incoming bullets. This certainly isn't a game for couch soldiers.

Check out the video below for a more detailed look at gameplay!

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Halo: CE Anniversary to Feature Kinect Support

Microsoft's Phil Spencer has confirmed to Gamespot today that the upcoming remake of the original Halo will feature Kinect support.

“As a first-party, we believe Kinect will be important to all genres of games, be it racing games with Forza, combat games like Ryse, even games like Halo Anniversary has Kinect integration.” says Spencer.

It isn't too surprising given that he also mentioned recently that he expects that all first party titles will feature Kinect support going forward, though it isn't mandatory.

Halo: CE Anniversary remains a core game played primarily with a controller, and any Kinect support will remain optional. It could be as simple as a voice command or a hand gesture for a menu.

Whatever the case, it is always good to see Kinect support, especially now in genres perhaps more relevant to core gamers. Optional extras certainly do well to please both the anti-motion core, casual gamers and anyone in between and if Microsoft continue this balancing act carefully, the 360 should have a strong future ahead of it.

Update: Microsoft have clarified what we suspected -- "The Kinect features we’re exploring with 'Halo: Anniversary' are additive and will not affect the core gameplay experience."

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Controversial Kinect Shooter "Blackwater" Gameplay Revealed

Zombie Studios controversial "Zero Person Shooter", Blackwater, was demonstrated at E3. Thanks to Gametrailers, we have our first peak at gameplay.

Though movement is on-rails, the player largely controls the characters position in the environment. You can duck and weave in and out of cover, jump over boxes and choose the direction, cover or path to head towards. Shooting is automatic, so they've took away the need for an awkward trigger gesture and early impressions from Kotaku describe the gameplay as "satisfying, fun and challenging".

Check out the gameplay below and let us know what you think!

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"First Person Experience" Blackwater Announced

505 Games have announced their new Kinect game, Blackwater. Although there are no screens, nor a trailer, the press release describes it as an "immersive First Person eXperience (FPX)". This looks to be the same game as the "Zero Person Shooter" we reported on not too long ago, and is being developed by Zombie Studios.

The game will attempt to "reinvent the modern combat shooter genre by giving players the ability to completely control the gameplay experience using a traditional controller or Kinect for Xbox 360’s controller-free abilities which introduces an unprecedented level of immersion to the FPS genre."

"Blackwater is an intense, cinematic shooter experience unlike anything you’ve ever played before. Lead a team of Blackwater Operators protecting a fictional North African town, battling dangerous warlords and fighting back two opposing militia forces. Using the motion-sensing Kinect controller players can do everything from moving their character to aiming and firing a weapon as you work your way through pressure-filled missions."

The game is also playable with a standard controller and will release later this year.

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Zombie Studios Working on "Zero-person Shooter" for Kinect

Zombie Studios, the developers behind Blacklight: Tango Down, are working on an unannounced "Zero-person Shooter", whatever that means, using the Unreal 3 engine for Kinect.

Superannuation revealed on Twitter two resumes for two Zombie Studios developers working on the project. Though little is revealed about the game, it is described in one of the resumes as a "single player rail shooter".

Zombie Studios have had some experience in the shooter genre before, so it'll be interesting to see what they bring to the table using Kinect.

Naturally, we expect the game to be unveiled at E3 next month.

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Proof That Kinect Can Control an FPS as Well as a Mouse + Keyboard?

A gentleman by the name of Bill Maxwell has uploaded an amazing video of him controlling a First Person Shooter using Kinect. If anyone has any doubts that Kinect can be used for Hardcore games, just check out the video below.

This is all being done with one hand. The software allows him to use one handed gestures that control direction (turn right/left), forward/reverse (variable speed), look and target (up/down), jump, change weapon, fire and continuous fire. Just imagine the possibilities when head and full body tracking come into play.

The Kinect open source community never ceases to amaze!



Thanks Timothy!

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