Blast: Boston's Online Magazine » GRIN

R.I.P GRIN

David Smail — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 20:08:01 +0000

Earlier today, video game developers GRIN announced that they were closing shop. Because publishers delayed to pay for the work done by GRIN, went under due to unavoidable cash flow problems. It is tragic to think that the site which gave us some genuinely entertaining games has gone under. Bob Anderson, the founder and CEO of the company, personally wrote a list of “thank you”s to the people who stood by his company over the years and the gamers who went out and bought the games. So in honor of everyone who worked hard for this company, go out and buy/play one of the following games published during their tenure: Ballistics, Ballistics Arcade, Bandits:Phoenix Rising, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfare 1 & 2, Bionic Commando Rearmed, Wanted: Weapons of Fate, Bionic Commando, and Terminator: Salvation.

R.I.P GRIN.

Bionic Commando storms onto PC today

Eddie Makuch — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:55:20 +0000

Bionic Commando, a game 20 years in the making was not receievd well by critics when it released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 a few months back, and with the PC version releasing today we ask: “will it fare any better?”

I had a blast playing the multiplayer demo and truly loved what developer GRIN accomplished when turning the beloved franchise into a 3D action whirlwing of a title, but hey, I’m just one guy.

Look for Bionic Commando on retail shelves priced at $39.99 and $34.99 on digital-download powerhouse Steam today and let us know what you think!

Bionic Commando sells 27k in U.S.

Eddie Makuch — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:35:15 +0000

Research group NPD revealed video game sales figures for the month of May today and inside the book of numbers lies a number: 27 thousand. That’s how many copies of Capcom’s famed series revisit were sold in the games’ opening month of May.

However, we shouldn’t be too quick to judge as the game, developed by GRIN released May 19 with the calendar month ending May 30. So that’s 27k copies in 11 days, and with a Metacritic score of a respectable 75, statistics for the month of June will likely be far more telling.

Another GRIN-developed title, which also dropped May 19 was Terminator Salvation, the game loosly based on the film. And despite low-scoring reviews across the board, enough so that Blast was not even shipped a copy to review, sold 43 thousand across the same 11 days. Ouch Bionic Commando, ouch.

Stay tuned for our forthcoming look at June’s sales figures next month.

via Gamasutra

Final trailer for Terminator Salvation has it all

Eddie Makuch — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:34:54 +0000

The final trailer for Terminator Salvation hit the interweb today, and is by far the most compelling to date.Â This trailer begins to tell what sounds like an alluring story with a diverse mesh of characters and of course the hell-bent machines relentless in their efforts to K-I-L-L you.

Terminator Salvation hit shelves today, May 19 for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC a full two days before the film debuts in theaters nationwide.Â But this is alright because the video game form is set two years before the film and actually informs the gamer of just what the hell is happening in the impending motion pciture.

We’ll have a review for the Xbox 360 version up and ready just as fast as we can.Â Sit tight.

Terminator Salvation takes combat to next level

Eddie Makuch — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 13:59:07 +0000

The Terminator franchise is a hell-bent, violent, gore-ridden, and emotionally attractive film series that seems a perfect fit for the home console.Â An unlikely story complemented by a dynamic set of characters and savage killing machines are all believable elements of any great video game.Â But as we know, the migration from film to game or vice versa is often a treacherous endeavor that time and again yields disappointment.Â Every publisher and developer claims to bring the most representative and immersive experience of their respective title to the consumer but so very often are gamers left face-palming in disbelief.

One developer, GRIN, best known for work on the Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter series, aims to buck the trend with its loose adaptation of the film Terminator Salvation with a game of the same name.

In Salvation you assume the role of John Conner, a soldier in the resistance combating the malevolent Skynet forces in a decimated, post-apocalyptic Los Angeles two years before the events of the film.

Salvation is a third-person shooter boasting a number of elemental qualities that GRIN believes will help separate their game from the rest of the pack.

A new destructible cover system allows for the shattered and charred remains of newly destroyed buildings to be strategically traversed and utilized as means of cover.Â You might now think twice before destroying a certain building, as doing so dramatically effects your safe advancement through enemy territory.

Furthermore, Salvation will make use of relentless enemies, stopping at nothing to bring you down, as well as advanced and diverse weaponry intertwined in numerous and varied levels.

As the following game-play trailers demonstrate, Salvation looks aesthetically similar to Gears of War in both the cover system and expansive environment design but sets itself apart with an even greater sensation of immersion and a stronger emotional sense of surmounting impossible odds.

Terminator Salvation is due out on Xbox 360 and PlayStation three May 19^th.