If you haven’t played the original release of The Alliance Alive HD Remastered then you may be a bit curious about the cast of characters that will be appearing in the game but now a new trailer has been released by NIS America that focuses on introducing these “Unlikely Heroes.” These nine characters, all from different races and possessing ideologies, have come together to unite a fractured world and reclaim it from the Daemons, invaders that caused darkness to envelop the sky.
The Alliance Alive HD Remastered is currently set to be released on the PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC on October 8th in North America and October 11th in Europe.
While the core Senran Kagura series is currently stuck in limbo due in part to Sony’s policies the spin-off Senran Kagura: Peach Ball is ready to thrive on the Nintendo Switch as it has been released digitally today in North America and Europe. As such to celebrate the launch of the game XSEED Games has released a launch trailer that you can check out below. For those unaware of what happens in this pinball game, Haruka, the mad scientist of Homura’s Crimson Squad, is up to her usual experiments again, brewing up mysterious concoctions with unknown effects. Unfortunately for her fellow shinobi, she’s chosen the local arcade she works at as her laboratory, storing her experiments in the bathroom.
After an accidental outbreak infects five of her shinobi friends, she learns that her latest concoction can transform those exposed it into animals, at least mentally.Now, with Asuka, Yumi, Yomi, Ryona, and Murasaki causing wild havoc in and around the arcade, Haruka has devised a way to return these shinobi to their senses – the mystical Peach Ball. Applied to a subject’s body repeatedly, with the proper vibrational force, it can undo the effects of her experiment. Conveniently, it’s just the right size for a pinball table. Now all Haruka needs is a skilled assistant to operate the table, bopping each shinobi girl with the ball until she comes around.
Paramount Pictures and Ghost House Pictures released their horror film Crawl to cinemas today. Set in Florida, Haley (Kaya Scodelario) and her father (Barry Pepper) are trapped in rising flood waters after Haley chooses to ignore a hurricane evacuation warning to search for her father instead. Her father is seriously injured and trapped in the crawlspace of the house. The waters are quickly rising on the two, who must rely on each other to survive the flood and the bloodthirsty alligators that are prowling the water.
Crawl is directed by Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes) and is producted by Craig Flores (300), Sam Raimi (Evil Dead), and Alexandre Aja.
Paramount Pictures is celebrating the release of the film by releasing a never seen before clip of Crawl, where Haley tries to take cover from an alligator in the bathtub.
A few days ago, I was talking with a friend about the old consoles and we agreed on one thing. Each generation of them is getting progressively smaller and soon enough it will be pretty hard to maul a person to death with it. To give that insane insane statement some context, we were talking about Sega Master System earlier (seriously, just google how massive that thing was). Hm, I guess even with some clarification, that statement above isn’t making me look any better. At least in the eyes of the law. Regardless, the Sega Master System was my entry console into the world of tough-as-nails platformers and arcade games. Memory card, saving games…..what’s that? Nuh uh, you had to dedicate a whole day for it, pretty much memorize every enemy and hope you pull it through. That’s how I was taken to those childhood memories of joy and torture while looking at the store page of Blazing Chrome. The screenshots look good, the gameplay seems fluid so let’s dive deeper into it and see if it’s any good.
Story
“Humans are expendable after an AI controlled robot army take over the world. They survive in hiding while their hunters rule the surface. When a small rebel group gets an intel about a big AI’s power plant, the machines strike their camp before they can organize an attack. Choose to play as Mavra, a super badass human resistance soldier, or Doyle, the equally groovy and deadly insurgent robot. This suicide mission will result in heavy casualties and a ton of lock-and-load fast-paced action where scraping robots and blazing chrome with your powerful weapons is the only thing standing between you and your freedom”. Oooh, they said the title of the game in the description blurb – Blazing Chrome! My silliness aside, the introduction is short, simple and tells you everything you need to know. The story plays well into that “garbage metal” aesthetic that I love so much from the Metal Slug series. And speaking of playing well…
Gameplay
Blazing Chrome is a game that hides a lot under the hood. You might expect a simple run n gun arcade but you get a lot more than you’ve bargained for. There is a huge selection of special weapons, 5 highly detailed environments as well as a huge selection of enemies to test those weapons on. To keep the game even more interesting, sometimes you’ll spend some time shooting from a hoverbike or piloting a high powered mech. One thing to point out, though. In the spirit of that whole retro era, the game very well captures the atmosphere of a good run n gun arcade – as well as the difficulty. The first level in the game might give you some leeway but after that memorizing enemy placements and learning from your mistakes is a must. And mistakes you shall have, trust me. On the bright side, the game is unforgiving but never unfair. I can say with a clear conscience that every time I died was absolutely my fault, a casual misstep or a case of being greedy while fighting a boss. One thing is for sure, there was never any reason to blame controls for it (only my lack of skill). The controls are fluid and super responsive, whether you’re on foot or in a mech/hoverbike.
Visuals
The praise for the controls had to be given, but that’s not all. For such a small team, JoyMasher went above when it came to visuals. The environments are incredibly detailed and colorful, with great attention to details. There’s no dip in quality or details when it comes to characters or enemies or bosses (and some of them are just amazingly designed). There is a good chance you’ll be replaying some levels only so you could enjoy the scenery…..for a short 1-2 seconds before you get mowed down. Pay attention to the screen, after all.
Audio
As far as the audio angle goes, it’s not on the same levels as visuals but at the same time, I can’t say anything bad about it since most of the soundtrack reminds me of glory days of Contra, except it’s amped up to 11 in Blazing Chrome. At the same time, there’s no memorable tune or anything that stands out but the music does its job rather well to keep you company or pump you up during boss sequences. All of the weapons also have distinctive sounds. While I couldn’t find anywhere official weapon names, the audio worked well on that front that I came up with my own such as shooty tooty, bwoangh laser, bzzzzt gun and kabloooey launcher. What can I say, I’m easily amused.
Overall
Blazing Chrome captures very well the glory days of the SEGA & SNES era. The atmosphere, the difficulty, the retro tunes…everything is there. I’ll say again, with all that also comes the challenging difficulty from the said era but for me, it’s also part of the charm of the game. The incredible visuals, tight controls and attention to details made me fall in love with the game. While draws a lot from the golden years of Contra and Metal Slug, Blazing Chrome offers a lot to establish its own identity.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
PQube has always been a publisher willing to take some risks and bring unique games to English audiences and now they are diving in again with an Indonesian developer this time. The company has announced that they will be publishing Studio Namaapa’s Ciel Fledge for the Nintendo Switch and PC sometime this fall.
Ciel Fledge is described as a “whole simulator” where players will find themselves raising a daughter in a ruined world. In the distant future humanity has abandoned Earth after facing near-extinction from a colossal alien threat. Amidst the destruction, a mysterious young girl is rescued and brought to safety on ARK-3, a magnificent city built in the sky.
From here players will need to help raise Ciel until she is an adult and can survive on her own. This includes scheduling out her week with classes and hobbies to encourage Ciel to make friends or even giving her part-time jobs. Battles will appear in the form of puzzle battles to complete activities or pass tests in class and every choice the player makes will affect how Ciel will grow.
Idea Factory International has doubled down this time with Date A Live: Rio Reincarnation character introductions as not only has the company chose to introduce two unfamiliar looking characters as well as a character and system trailer. The cast this time around happens to be Maria Arusu and Marina Arusu, A.I.’s that wish to learn about love.
Maria Arusu has made it her priority to collect information about love. She is eager to learn, and is shown oftentimes to be willing to apply things in practice if she doesn’t understand it the first time. As for Marina Arusu, she looks exactly like Maria, who appears suddenly before Shido in the digital world. She only appears after the sun sets, and it seems that she takes a strange pleasure in teasing Shido. Somehow, she is quite acquainted with the troubles plaguing the digital world, which encourages her to rely upon Shido.
Currently Date: A Live: Rio Reincarnation is set to be released on the PlayStation 4 on July 23rd in North America and July 26th in Europe with the PC version dropping on July 23rd.
The Persona 5 Royal re-introduction trailers are continuing and this time around Yusuke Kitagawa is the one being focused on. This new trailer from Atlus features a number of new scenes featuring Yusuke in different scenes as well as some footage of him in combat, this includes a look at a combination move that sees him pairing with Ann to deal large amounts of damage to their foe.
If you stick around to the end you’ll even see a bit of extra story content involving a certain painting. Currently Persona 5 Royal is set to be released on the PlayStation 4 in Japan on October 31st with a Western release planned for sometime in 2020.
Those who want to try out Kill la Kill: IF before it is officially released now have the chance to do so, at least on the PlayStation 4, as the demo has been released on the PlayStation Store and is available for free. This demo gives players a chance to play as four fighters in Versus as well as Tutorial Modes with these fighters being Satsuki Kiryuin, Ryuko Matoi, Ira Gamagoori, and Uzu Sanageyama as well as the chance to play through the first chapter of the game’s story mode.
Those who want to play a demo of the Switch version of the game will apparently have to wait until July 22nd according to European publisher PQube. As for the full game, it will be released on the PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC on July 25th in Japan and July 26th worldwide.
After a teaser at the beginning of the year and an official reveal at E3 as Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot Bandai Namco has released a new set of screenshots showing off a bit more of Goku’s journey. These screenshots showcase scenes feature Raditz showing up on Earth and kidnapping Gohan in an attempt to force Goku to join him in conquering the world as well as a bit of Nappa and Vegeta when the pair arrive in search of the Dragon Balls.
The screenshots can be found below and as for the game itself Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is set to be released sometime in early 2020 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
Experience
Intense Race Action Like No Other with New Cars, New Settings and Unrivalled,
Unpredictable Racing
Larkspur, Calif. – July 10, 2019 – Sparks fly, cars spin-out and rivalries are formed in the first GRID
gameplay trailer released by Codemasters®. As the lights turn green, cars
jostle for the lead in the long-awaited return of the much-loved racing
franchise, which comes to PlayStation®4 computer
entertainment system and the Xbox One family of devices, including the Xbox One
X, on Oct. 11, 2019.
Players who pre-order GRID or GRID:
Ultimate Edition will get the Aston Martin Vantage GT4 as bonus content.
The Race for Glory trailer can be viewed here:
The action builds as the chasing pack
bears down on the leaders to display some new race locations. From the heat of
the Havana streets to the track circuit of Brands Hatch, the Race for Glory
trailer showcases the exciting, unpredictable, and dramatic racing experience
players will have when they take the wheel this October. The stunning visuals
of San Francisco and Zhejiang Circuit insert the player at the heart of the
action and give a true sense of speed, as they look for the smallest window of
opportunity to take the lead either by conventional means or by slamming their
rival into a wall.
The race culminates with the Pontiac
Firebird Modified and Chevrolet Camaro SSX Concept going head-to-head on the
final corners and long straight of San Francisco. One mistake could be the
difference between the sweet taste of victory or the bitter regret of what
might have been. Played out to the backdrop of the anthemic ‘The Light’ by Sophie
and the Giants, the trailer demonstrates both the risks and the rewards of
pushing some of the most iconic racing cars to their absolute limits.
GRID is a racing experience like no
other. Taking inspiration from the original franchise, GRID is a fresh take on
the genre with new content, new experiences and stories waiting to be written
by you, the player. GRID is about unpredictable racing where anything can
happen when the lights turn green. It’s a brand-new chapter of the GRID
franchise; a game that not only resets expectations, but exceeds them.
“The response to the GRID
announcement has been incredible and there is genuine excitement for us to
reveal much more of the game,” said Chris Smith, GRID Game Director at Codemasters.
“We set out to create an exhilarating racing experience which is like no other
and the new trailer gives our fans a glimpse of what to expect. Players will
encounter challenging and combative racing from all the AI drivers and this
creates a living, breathing world where anything is possible and finishing
positions must be earned. Whether it’s competing in the middle of the pack or
going wheel-to-wheel for victory, there are no easy wins and our players will
both enjoy and marvel at our most competitive GRID to date.”
Codemasters (AIM:CDM) is an award
winning British video game developer and publisher with over 30 years of
heritage. The company specializes in high quality racing games including DiRT,
GRID, ONRUSH and the BAFTA award-winning official F1® series of videogames.
For more information on Codemasters’ product
portfolio, please visit www.codemasters.com.
Join in the conversation with @codemasters on Twitter or Like us on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/codemasters.
ABOUT DEEP SILVER Deep Silver develops and
distributes interactive games for all platforms. The Deep Silver label means to
captivate all gamers who have a passion for thrilling gameplay in exciting game
worlds. Deep Silver works with its partners to achieve a maximum of success
while maintaining the highest possible quality, always focusing on what the
customer desires.
Deep Silver has published
more than 200 games since 2003, including its own brands like the open world
extravaganza Saints Row, the zombie action franchise Dead Island, and the grim
post-apocalyptic future of the Metro series. Upcoming highlights from Deep
Silver include Dead Island 2. Deep Silver also owns the development studios
Deep Silver Dambuster Studios in Nottingham, UK; Deep Silver Fishlabs in
Hamburg, Germany, and Deep Silver Volition based in Champaign, IL, USA. For
more information please visit www.deepsilver.com
Koch Media is a leading
producer and distributor of digital entertainment products (software, games and
films). The company’s own publishing activities, marketing and distribution
extend throughout Europe and the USA. The Koch Media group has more than 20 years
of experience in the digital media business, and has risen to become the number
one distributor in Europe. It has also formed strategic alliances with numerous
games and software publishers: Bethesda, Capcom, Kaspersky Labs, NC SOFT, Sega,
Square Enix and Tecmo-Koei, etc. in various European countries. With
Headquarter in Höfen, Austria Koch Media owns branches in Germany, England,
France, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, the Nordic regions, Benelux,
Australia, Czech Republic and the United States.
All product titles,
publisher names, trademarks, artwork and associated imagery are trademarks,
registered trademarks and/or copyright material of the respective owners. All
rights reserved.
