Tag Archives: Pandemic

A video of Mercenaries 3 has appeared online, nearly a year since the series’s developer, Pandemic, was closed down.

More »

Had APB? Disgruntled? Step up and get your game from EA! That is if you bought the game digitally.

More »

EA’s put out a couple of live action shorts to promote The Saboteur. Watch them both after the break.

The first one features Nazis running up stairs and getting shot. The second one has a building blowing up and Shaun getting busy with some woman.

WWII Paris never new what hit it. The game’s out now for PC, 360 and PS3. Thanks, Destructoid.

More »

EA’s John Riccitiello has told Kotaku that the closure of Pandemic, along with the dismissal of 200 employees, was the direct result of the company’s move towards digital and the Pandemic’s “bloody expensive” California location.

Apparently, it costs “two to three times more” to employ people in California as it does in any other region EA has offices – which includes Montreal, the UK, eastern Europe and China.

“For good or for bad, we are taking down headcount in California because it is really expensive,” he said. “The shift toward fewer titles and the acceleration towards digital is moving faster [than expected]. In a world that used to be all PC, then used to be all console, now it’s neither. It’s not a packaged goods business any more.

“We know the consumer likes the Mercenaries intellectual property, the Pandemic property, some of the key designers and their insights. We’re hoping they’re going to want Saboteur. I think they will. Then we’ll probably sequel that too.

“One of the things I talk to with key people at Pandemic, EALA and Visceral – there’s good and bad… If you’re a capable art director, development director, game designer or producer you can multi-task and have a bigger job than you’ve ever had before, but you’ve got to have the skill of managing teams that are physically not in your neighborhood.

“You can get more done than you’ve ever done before.”

More through the link.

Destructoid’s posted a movie of women dancing in The Saboteur with their tits out. The tassles have been taken off the nipples, as per the game’s day one DLC.

This should keep you in wanks for ages, right boys? Check out those polygons.

The game’s out today. Watch the first 15 minutes of it here.

Thanks, bobbymington.

Here we are, then. After the break you’ll find the first 15 minutes of the PS3 version of The Saboteur.

It features Nazis hitting a woman on the street; Nazis accosting a woman in a brothel; a man saying, “Fucking Nazis everywhere” in a comedy French accent; strippers dancing for Nazis; Nazis, Nazis, Nazis. And an Irishman in a hat.

It’s also got tits in it, so don’t go watching if you’re a mental right-winger. The game – Pandemic’s last – is out tomorrow for PC, PS3 and 360.

More »

We’re just coding up the first quarter of an hour of The Saboteur, but while you’re waiting we want you to know that Pandemic’s swansong it’s “hard”. It’s “feckin’ hard”.

Or at least it can be if you want it to be. It has four difficulty settings, going up to Irish strength.

Sean Devlin, the game’s protagonist, is the most Irish thing since leprechauns. To be sure.

Movie soon.

Reviews for The Saboteur are starting to go live, now that the embargo has lifted.

It hits Europe tomorrow, and the official release date for the US is December 8.

• We’ll update this post accordingly as more trickle in.
• IGN – 8.2/10
• NowGamer – 7/10
• Eurogamer Portugal – 8/10
• OXM UK – 6/10
• VideoGamer – 8/10
• Wired – 6/10
• Game Informer – 8/10
• MTV – N/A
• Joystiq – N/A

The PS3 version of The Saboteur has a mandatory install of approximately seven minutes.

We know because we’re about to grab the opening sections of the game for you. Except we can’t yet. Because it’s doing its transferring files shizzle.

The Pandemic WWII adventure’s out tomorrow. We’ll have some nice footage up for you in a tick.

IGN AU’s gone live with the world’s first review for EA’s The Saboteur, giving the Parisian WWII actioner 8.2/10.

“While it’s a little rough around the edges we enjoyed this game more than we thought we would,” said the site.

“It’s far from perfect, but it’s great to see Pandemic going out with a bang.”

It’s out this Friday for PC, PS3 and 360. It’s next on the list for us after Assassin’s Creed II.

The Saboteur’s Sean Devlin is a “human” protagonist that’ll see real progression as a character throughout the Parisian WWII game when it’s released later this week, Pandemic’s Jim Ferri said at a recent French press event.

“We felt that our character should be relatable,” Ferri told Xboxygen in a video you can see after the break. “We felt that he should be a guy who’s coming up through the ranks, a guy that’s worked honestly as a mechanic.

“He has his flaws. We wanted him to be human, and so he’s got his good sides and his bad sides, but in the end he goes through great character growth and a great story arc.”

The game sees Devlin, a racing driver turned Resistance collaborator, fighting back the Paris occupation in a free-roaming adventure promised to last up to 25 hours.

“The game gives you the ability to move around Paris freely, and… even though it’s got a beautiful fantasy to it, it’s really grounded and based in real Paris,” Ferri added.

“It has the monuments, the Eiffel Tower, to Notre Dame, to all the great landmarks: the game does such a great job of representing this city.”

There’s plenty of gameplay footage in that movie. Looking none too shabby. It’s out on Friday for PC, 360 and PS3.

More »

Pandemic has announced that a new game in the Mercenaries franchise is in its early stages of development at EALA.

Called ‘Mercs Inc’ for the time being, it’s the first Pandemic game to be developed by the studio at its new home in Playa Vista.

“We are very excited to announce a new installment in the popular Mercenaries series because it demonstrates our continued commitment to Pandemic’s rich cataloge of intellectual properties,” said EA VP Nick Earl.

“From the studio at EALA, a core creative team is forging new ground and conceptualizing new ideas for this exciting franchise.”

Platform and ship dates for Mercs Inc are to be announced at a later date, but it looks like it was not “canned” after all.

Check the video out that we posted yesterday through here and the full PR below.

More »

It’s been a rough couple of weeks for EA. First came the announcement that the publisher plans to bolster the unemployment line’s numbers by 1,500, and today, Pandemic joined the list of casualties. So, Industry Gamers wondered, how’s BioWare faring? Pretty well, as it turns out. Though the normally verbose developer didn’t exactly give us much to go on.

“There’s no reaction to report from BioWare; it is business as usual,” said a BioWare rep.

Now, now guys, don’t tell us your life’s story or anything.

More through the link. But it’s not from BioWare, in case you were wondering.

Update: According to the same internal memo acquired by Gamasutra, EA plans a “re-invention of the Medal of Honor franchise with a new design that is simply stunning” along with Might and Magic creator Jon Van Caneghem leading “the Command and Conquer brand with a new digital model that is going to re-ignite the fan base for this franchise.” More through here.

Original: Looks like an internal EA memo from VP Nick Earl has confirmed that Pandemic is to be shut down.

CEO Andrew Goldman, president Josh Resnick, and vice president Greg Borrud were let go, with “core IP” members being rerouted to the main EA offices LA.

“I want to make it clear that the Pandemic brand and franchises will live on,” wrote Nick Earl in the memo. “In the months ahead, we will announce plans for new games based on Pandemic franchises.

“This type of change can be difficult. But the situation calls for us to act decisively, to take control of our destiny and to run a stronger, more focused development operation. That’s how we will continue to make great games in our LA studios.”

No word on just how many were let go, but earlier reports had it at around 200.

Epic’s Cliff Bleszinski said via Twitter that those let go could always apply at Epic, as it is hiring. So is Gearbox.

More over on Kotaku.

There’s a bit of a depressing rumor floating about today, which states that EA plans to announce the closure of Pandemic later today.

Sources close to Kotaku stated that almost all of the 200 staffers at the LA studio will be laid-off and the rest sent to other teams within EA.

It was also revealed by the source that EA Montreal will take over the remaining IP from Pandemic, which includes putting the finishing touches on The Saboteur.

While we’ve no reason to doubt this, what with EA laying-off left and right, its unconfirmed until EA announces something.

Via Edge.

GT’s posted up a couple of HD movies of The Saboteur’s lead designer, Tom French, showing off sandbox gameplay in the Pandemix adventure, and very good it looks too. Here’s the first, here’s the second.

The game’s set in WWII Paris, casting the player as a race driver turned Resistance ally with access to perks, a gazillion weapons, tons of cars, an insane amount of sandbox objectives and an awful lot more.

The main story’s been beefed up to between 20-25 hours, and this is looking very Christmas gamey to us.

See for yourself. Thanks, Blerk.

Looks as though Pandemic’s been drafting some extra content into The Saboteur’s fight this Christmas: if comments by lead designer Tom French at EA’s winter showcase in London last week are to be believed, the WWII adventure has grown by up to eight hours since the summer.

“The main story of the game we’re seeing as 20-25 hours,” said the developer, speaking to the EU PS Blog.

“Then there are side missions as well, which are probably about another five hours of content.”

French said in June that, “We’re shooting for the player that just plays straight through the main story to be between 12-18 hours depending on how much the player is sprinting.”

So there you have it. Your buck now has more bang. On top of the mission-based stuff – there are collectable elements – like blowing up AA guns, to complete.

Watch the video after the break for full details. The game’s out on December 8 for PC, PS3 and 360.

More »

Rumor has it that the 1500 jobs and the dozen or so in-development games that were cut at EA affected studios Pandemic, Maxis and almost the entire Command & Conquer team.

According to a source close to Kotaku, the team working on Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight was notified today that once the game ships some time in 2010, almost the entire team is to hit the road.

While this is not a surprising move by the studio, as loads like it have a tendency to do that once a game ships, the cutbacks also landed blows to EA Maxis, Rupture Studios and Pandemic with remaining workers being relocated to EA Los Angeles and Redwood.

Rumors also state that EA has laid-off staff at Black Box, Mythic Entertainment and Tiburon.

We’ll sent out a mail and see if anyone gets back with us.

OK maybe not underpants.

Anyway, a new developer diary was posted on the US PS Blog this week for The Saboteur.

In it, lead designer Tom French chats about how the team brought Paris to light amidst the crushing occupation of the Nazis.

French explains how the lack of color in the city represents the despair felt by the citizens, and as you fight back, color is restored due to the hope and inspiration you inspire in the inhabitants.

Nice to know you make a difference, somehow.

Full thing is through the link, and the game’s out on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 just in time to be put under your holiday tree.

CVG’s running some new screens and video from Pandemic’s Saboteur. It’s all looking intriguing.

The Parisian WWII Resistance title’s out just before Christmas for PC, 360 and PS3, and is looking as though it’ll do nicely for a Holiday Game, thank you very much.

Hit the link to see why.