Koei Tecmo has revealed a new feature for Berserk and the Band of the Hawk which is set to be released early next year. Like many “Warriors” titles, players can choose to step away from the story mode of the game and enter into what is titled this time around as Endless Eclipse Mode. In this mode players will be fighting against enemies in an endless battle in the Eclipse dimension with hordes coming after them, each one stronger than the last one. Completing various missions while facing off against these demonic creatures rewards the player in various ways and these rewards can be carried over to the main game.
The company also described that outside of the main weapons each character will have, various sub-weapons will also be available but thanks to their special abilities they have a cooldown after use meaning players will need to be careful of when they decide to pull them out. For example, outside of his Dragonslayer sword, Guts also wields a crossbow and an artificial arm cannon allowing for quick-fire or explosive long-range attacks which clear all enemies in sight.
In the world of Remnant, people known as Hunters and Huntresses protect the world from the creatures of Grimm. These creatures are attracted to fear and negativity, so they are not a threat as long as peace exists. Ruby Rose is a fifteen-year-old girl studying to become a Huntress, and perhaps due to being in the right place at the right time, gets accepted into Beacon Academy. Beacon is a school that trains young people to become the protectors of the peace. She soon meets her teammates: her older sister Yang Xiao Long, the quiet Blake Belladonna and the heiress Weiss Schnee. Despite her positive and friendly attitude, Blake and Weiss do not immediately come to like Ruby. However, when they all end up being a part of Team RWBY, they must work together as a team in order to succeed at school and to save the kingdom of Vale from the Grimm and the revolutionist group White Fang.
Story
RWBY is dramatically different from the type of content Rooster Teeth was previously known for. First of all, it is the first Rooster Teeth production to feature girls as the main characters. The creator of the series, the late Monty Oum, came up with the idea to base four characters on the colours red, white, black and yellow. It is simple and exactly the sort of thing a typical modern Japanese manga author would do to create a cast of characters. However, while different hair colours would likely be the only character trait in an average modern manga series, ‘trait’ only being in the hereditary sense, Oum’s characters all feel real. They are significantly more realistic than the characters in Red vs Blue.
Ruby Rose, an almost perpetually happy teenager who wants to become a hero, is a sweet and caring friend who wants all to be right in the world. She soon finds out that fairy tales can be misleading in that they do not portray the world as it is, and she also finds out that being the leader of a team is a significant responsibility. Growing up is not always easy, a point that this series effectively drives home. Her older sister Yang Xiao Long is a fun-loving girl who just wants some adventure in her life, but she too comes across as realistic. There are, after all, people in the real world who live for the moment like Yang does. Likewise, Blake Belladonna is a familiar character; she is quiet and prefers to read books. She does not see the point in going to parties, but she also has a strong sense of responsibility. Weiss Schnee feels real too, despite heiresses to world-famous companies not being common in everyday life. She wants to believe that she is perfect, but she is able to admit to herself that she is not. That is not an easy thing to do, and despite having trepidations about Ruby leading her team at first, she is able to work together with others and become friends with her teammates.
This series has a large cast of supporting characters and recurring antagonists, something that helps make it more engaging. Pyrrha Nikos has always gotten what she wanted, but is not sure exactly what she wants to do with her life. Others make her out to be perfect, but no-one truly understands her until Jaune Arc comes along and tries to become her friend. He wants to follow in his family’s footsteps but has no real fighting ability. Despite this, Pyrrha sees potential in him where no-one else has and helps him grow as a Hunter-in-training. The two of them have strong feelings and emotions, and by far are the easiest supporting characters to identify with. There are many more characters that make this show fantastic, although the members of Team CRDL are better when they are given as little screen time as possible.
Unlike the bullies, the antagonists are no pushover in this series and are extremely dangerous. Magical girl anime series would feature the protagonists saving the world, but things are not sugarcoated here. The bad guys are extremely bad, and it almost seems as if there is no way that they could possibly be defeated. Writers Miles Luna and Kerry Shawcross have stated on multiple occasions that these three volumes only cover the first act of the series, and this sounds right. Supporting characters come and go, but the antagonists have only just begun to wreak havoc on the world. The Beacon Collection covers much of Team RWBY’s first year at Beacon Academy and the Vytal Festival, but there is a long way to go, and a lot more of the characters and the world to learn about.
Visuals
American companies have tried and failed to recreate the style of anime in the past. RWBY, however, succeeds in looking like a 3D anime series. The 3D style makes it seem a little more like a cel-shaded movie, perhaps somewhere between The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker and the more common 2D anime style, but it works. The movements of the characters are fluid, the hair and clothes constantly move with the wind and the action sequences are incredible. There are no animation shortcuts used here; while there do appear to be some very infrequent drops in the frame rate and even rarer drops in quality, every aspect of the visuals is marvelous to look at. The backgrounds are great, the scenery is excellent and the character designs are unique and incredibly well-detailed. It is easy to see why so much fan art exists for this series.
Audio
Jeff Williams composes the majority of the music for this series, and his music gives it a wonderfully orchestral feel. It is right up there with the best of the music composed for modern television anime, and Williams continually demonstrates that he is capable of composing music in a variety of different styles to suit a variety of different scenes. A case in point is the music created for the Team FNKI battle in the Vytal Festival; it contrasts with the rest of the music but still sounds awesome and funky. There is so much to like about the music, and it is all available for purchase on CD from Rooster Teeth.
The voice acting is top notch. Before seeing the credits to the first volume, it was not obvious that Ruby is voiced by Achievement Hunter’s Lindsay Jones. Although her trick to portraying her almost seems easy when she demonstrates it in one of the extras, Lindsay is so convincing as Ruby that it seemed as if Ruby was voiced by a professional who had been working as an anime voice actor for years. Barbara Dunkelman can be picked straight away as the voice of Yang, but although Yang’s voice is not particularly different from Barbara’s normal voice, she does an excellent job of voicing the fun-loving girl. Arryn Zech is also great as Blake, so it is a shame that Blake continues to be one of the quieter characters. Kara Eberle similarly does an excellent job of portraying Weiss as a strong but imperfect girl. The recurring roles are all excellent as well; long-time Rooster Teeth fans will likely enjoy hearing Michael Jones as Sun, Ryan Haywood as the bombastic Professor Port and Joel Heyman as the hyper-energetic Professor Oobleck. Gray Haddock is convincing as major antagonist Roman Torchwick, and the list could go on. Suffice it to say that every aspect of the audio, as with every other element of the series, is outstanding.
Extras
There are over three hours of video extras included in this release. There are numerous behind-the-scenes videos detailing the production process, footage from an RTX panel, short episodes explaining more about the world of Remnant, fan art and more. If you want to learn more about the production of the series, these extras provide an excellent reason to pick up this release. Another reason is the SteelBook packaging. The artwork on the shiny front cover is fantastic. The artwork of Beacon Academy on the inside is a nice touch as well. This is sturdy packaging, so if you have friends or family members insisting that you check out RWBY because of the recent online premiere of volume 4, picking up this release is the best way to go.
Overall
RWBY perfectly lives up to the hype surrounding it. One can easily see why so many fans immediately fell in love with it; the characters are realistic and easy to identify with. They go through struggles just like many teenagers do, even if the struggles are significantly more confronting and disturbing than is normal in the real world. RWBY has strong emotional engagement, making it easy to become attached to the main and supporting characters. With this outstanding series and more, Rooster Teeth is quickly becoming a leader in content creation in the western world.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
MASTER THE ART OF DESTRUCTION IN BULLETSTORM: FULL CLIP EDITION
Cult-Classic Shooter Returns with Visual Overhaul and New Content in the Ultimate Package
Frisco, Texas – December 1, 2016 – People Can Fly and Gearbox Publishing are pleased to announce Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition as the critically-acclaimed shooter comes to PlayStation®4, Xbox One, and PC on April 7, 2017 in stunning ultra-high resolutions. Updated with hi-res textures, increased polygon counts, sterling audio, smoother framerates, and running in up to 4K resolution on PC and PS4 Pro, this upgraded version of the game comes with all of the previously-released DLC along with all-new content. Also for the first time ever, players who pre-order the game will get the chance to play as the iconic Duke Nukem in Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition. Featuring full voice over from the voice of Duke, this feature will replace main character Grayson Hunt with Duke Nukem and provide a never-before-seen experience to fans.
“We are thrilled to be working with People Can Fly to bring Bulletstorm to new audiences and platforms,” said Steve Gibson, Head of Gearbox Publishing. “Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition takes a critically-acclaimed game and adds so much to it with some killer new content, including all the separate add-on packs, and kicking up the presentation to a level that wasn’t possible with technology before. We hope fans of the franchise, both new and old, are going to love this.”
Step into the boots of Grayson Hunt after a crash landing on an abandoned resort planet forces him to make a hard choice: survival or revenge. An exiled member of the elite assassin group Dead Echo, Grayson’s blind desire for vengeance finds his crew stranded on Stygia where he can finally confront the commander behind his betrayal—or get his team off the planet alive. Battle your way through throngs of Stygia’s mutated inhabitants, performing masterful kills throughout the single-player campaign—or one of 30 competitive score-challenge or 12 co-operative multiplayer maps—using Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition’s unique “Skillshot” system that rewards you for executing the most creative and deadly kills imaginable.
Set to launch on PlayStation®4, Xbox One, and Windows PC on April 7,2017, Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition is the definitive Bulletstorm experience, including:
The Total Package – All previously-released content including all maps, modes, and more on your favorite modern platform
New Overkill Campaign Mode – Blast your way through the campaign by starting with an unrestricted arsenal of weapons and Skillshots
New Echo Maps – Showcase your skills on six brand-new levels for the score-based Echo Mode
Killer Visuals – Presented with updated models, environments, and animations all running at a smoother framerate than ever before
The Art of Destruction – Orchestrate masterful kills by mixing fast-paced gunplay with unique kick, slide, and leash combos
Visceral Audio – Bask your ears in Skillshot glory with newly remastered audio effects
Duke Nukem’s Bulletstorm Tour – Pre-order the game and get the option to play through the entire Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition campaign as Duke Nukem, featuring a fully rerecorded script and brand-new lines from the original voice of Duke
“Everyone at our studio is excited to be delivering what we feel is the very best Bulletstorm experience to fans around the world,” said Sebastian Wojciechowski, president of People Can Fly. “The team has worked tirelessly to ensure that Bulletstorm’s debut for a whole new generation will be great, and we hope that gamers everywhere are ready to step into Grayson’s boots again and show the world how creative they can get with their Skillshots.”
For more information on Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition, please visit www.bulletstorm.com
ESRB: Rating Pending. Visit www.esrb.org for more information.
About Gearbox Software
Since its inception and first release, Half-Life: Opposing Force, the talented developers at Gearbox Software have had the pleasure of creating video games for some of the most exciting and revered brands on the planet. The Gearbox Software team has also created, owned and managed original brands including the award-winning, best-selling Brothers in Arms series and the record-setting, genre breaking Borderlands franchise. In addition, Gearbox Software has acquired other major video game properties including the Duke Nukem and Homeworld brands. With all of its owned franchises, Gearbox Software enjoys driving and managing a deep portfolio of licensed and internally-produced ancillary products including video games, comic books, action figures, apparel, art prints, fictional novels, non-fiction reference books, and linear media content for film and television.
About People Can Fly
Established in 2002, People Can Fly is known for recent titles such as Gears of War: Judgment (published in 2013) and Bulletstorm – an original, Unreal Engine 3-powered onslaught of ‘kill with skill’ gameplay and blockbuster moments published in 2011. The studio made its mark on the shooter genre with its award-winning Painkiller series of games for PC and Xbox prior to shipping Epic’s Gears of War for PC. People Can Fly is currently working on another exciting AAA shooter.
ROCKET LEAGUE®‘S’STARBASE ARC’ UPDATE REVEALED AT GAME AWARDS 2016
FREE Space-Themed Arena and New Premium DLC Vehicle Arrives December 7th
SAN DIEGO, CA – December 1, 2016 – Independent video game developer and publisher, Psyonix, creators of the indie smash-hit Rocket League®, today unveiled its new space-themed update, Starbase ARC, at The Game Awards in Los Angeles, CA. Available for download worldwide on Wednesday, December 7, Starbase ARC will feature a FREE new arena and premium DLC Battle-Car, Vulcan, priced at USD $1.99 (or regional equivalent).
Starbase ARC, an homage to Psyonix’s critically-acclaimed mobile title, ARC Squadron, is an octagonally-shaped space station orbiting a desert planet in a distant galaxy. Lasers fire whenever goals are scored, starships battle it out in the skies, and planetoids float eerily by in the distance to create one of the most epic Rocket League® atmospheres yet.
In addition to the FREE Arena and premium DLC car, the Starbase ARC update will also come with one of the most requested community features of all time: Custom Training mode! This FREE new mode allows players to create their own training sequence where they can name, design, edit, and upload their sequences for other Rocket League® players to access via alphanumeric code. Full details regarding Custom Training can be found here.
Additional Starbase ARC updates include new Steam Workshop support that allows Unreal Engine 3 UDK users to create custom levels for the game (details found here), a new ‘Champion Series IV’ Crate that helps support Rocket League® esports initiatives (packed with new, exclusive items and an import version of ‘Octane’), two variants of existing arenas — ‘Wasteland (Night)’ and ‘Utopia Coliseum (Snowy),’ free visual redesigns for classic Battle-Cars, ‘X-Devil’ and ‘Gizmo,’ a new ‘Color Blind Mode,’ and the long-awaited debut of an ‘Arena Preference’ selector that allows players to “Like” or “Dislike” all fields in the game to increase or decrease the odds of the playing on them again in online matches.
# # #
ABOUT ROCKET LEAGUE®
Winner or nominee of more than 150 “Game of the Year” awards, Rocket League® is one of the most critically-acclaimed sports games of a generation. Boasting a community of more than 23 million players, Rocket League® is a high-powered hybrid of arcade-style soccer and vehicular mayhem that offers easy-to-understand controls and fluid, physics-driven competition. Available digitally on Xbox One, PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, and Windows PC, Mac, and SteamOS via Steam, Rocket League® includes more than 100 billion possible customization combinations, a fully-featured offline season mode, multiple game types, casual and competitive online matches, and special “Mutators” that let you change the rules entirely.
To learn more about Rocket League®, please visit www.RocketLeagueGame.com, “Like” it on Facebook, and follow it on Twitter @RocketLeague for all the latest developer updates and news.
ABOUT PSYONIX
Based in San Diego, CA, Psyonix is a critically-acclaimed independent video game developer and leading experts in Unreal Engine technology. For more than a decade, the studio has been a driving force behind some of the most successful games in the industry, including Gears of War, Mass Effect 3, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Bulletstorm, Unreal Tournament III, Unreal Tournament 2004, and the award-winning Sports-Action hit, Rocket League®.
DROP IN AND TAKE OVER THE SLOPES IN STEEP™, AVAILABLE NOW
Sydney, Australia — December 2, 2016 — Today, Ubisoft® announced that Steep™, an adrenaline-fueled action sports game featuring skiing, snowboarding, wingsuiting and paragliding set in the stunning open world of the Alps, is available now worldwide on Microsoft Xbox One®, Sony PlayStation®4 and Windows PC.
In Steep, players drop in to the Alps and ski, snowboard, wingsuit and paraglide through the game’s massive open world playground, filled with exhilarating challenges and breathtaking views. Riders can discover remarkable places and experience unforgettable moments through many different activities including “Mountain Stories”, which offer more narrative oriented opportunities. To show off their creativity, players can combine six different playstyles as they perform crazy stunts and discover uncharted areas: Explorer, Freerider, Freestyler, Bone Collector, Extreme Rider and Pro Rider. The sky is the limit; thrill-seekers and explorers alike can drop in anywhere and roam the Alps to learn the mountains’ secrets. Steep’s open world will be further enriched by the majestic slopes of Alaska in a free update available after launch.
With development led by Ubisoft Annecy*, Steep is designed for a culture that’s all about sharing experiences with the world. Steep features seamless multiplayer, populating the world with players as they naturally explore the Alps. Players and friends across the globe can take on challenges together or compete with each other to snag the top spot on the leaderboards. The game’s replay feature expands this experience, allowing players to relive their wildest tricks and memorable lines and even share them on social media. It doesn’t stop there, as challenges can be created from any line to compete with friends and achieve the best time or score based on customizable factors, such as completing tricks to score.
For the ultimate Steep experience players can purchase the Gold Edition, which includes the game and the season pass. The season pass gives players access to three packs of exclusive challenges, unique costumes, and adrenaline-pumping add-on sports to make each ride unique and each experience even more exciting.
For more information about Steep, please visit http://www.steepgame.com and follow us at http://www.facebook.com/SteepGame and http://www.twitter.com/Steep_Game.
Those who have been keeping an eye out for the console release of Stardew Valley will be happy to hear that they won’t have to wait much longer. The developer of the game, ConcernedApe, has announced that they are planning on releasing Stardew Valley on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on December 13th and at launch it will be priced at $14.99.
The developer has also announced that the previously revealed Wii U version of the game has been cancelled but they will be continuing to support Nintendo fans by bringing the game to Switch sometime in the future. To go along with these announcements a new trailer for Stardew Valley has been released and you can check that out below.
NIS America has released a story trailer for God Wars: Future Past, the Kadokawa Games’ developed strategy RPG they are planning on releasing early next year. The story takes Japan’s history, the “Kojiki” book, and traditional Japanese fairy tales and fuses them together to create a brand new story where players must explore the lives of heroes who must fight against fate.
You can check out the video below where most of the footage consists of animated cutscenes but a bit of gameplay footage is also shown off. As for the game itself, God Wars: Future Past is set to be released in North America and Europe in early 2017.
Square Enix has released another batch of screenshots for NieR: Automata and this time around the focus is placed on the two forest areas that are called, at least so far, Forest Zone and Forest Castle. The Forest Zone will be a rich area with lush forests while the castle has been converted into one that allows mechanic life-forms to appear wearing Middle Age style armor and act under the command of an unknown leader.
You can check out the screenshots below and as for the game itself, NieR: Automata is set to be released in Japan on February 23rd and in North America and Europe in early 2017 for the PlayStation 4.
The latest issue of Weekly Famitsu has revealed that Koei Tecmo is planning on releasing Musou Stars on the PlayStation 4 and PS Vita in Japan on March 2, 2017. The company also revealed that they will be adding Wang Yuanji from the Dynasty Warriors series, Horo from Toukiden, as well as Mitsunari Ishida from the Samurai Warriors games to the game.
Three original characters called Tamaki, Setsuna, and Shiki were also announced and can be seen, at least a little bit, in the tiny scan above. Tamaki has been described as the ringleader who helped summon heroes into the world and uses a mirror to attack and she specializes in long distance attacks while Setsuna is the son of the king and is Shiki’s cousin who uses a sword in combat. Shiki, Tamaki’s older brother, attempts to hinder the aforementioned two and fights using a floating orb.
The charming folks over at In The House just announced their new line-up for the upcoming Season 0.1. We’ve reviewed the last couple of seasons and had a grand old time watching everything from Boyz N the Hood to Aliens. Season 0 of 2016 isn’t quite over yet and they’re still doing screenings of From Dusk Till Dawn next week and Gremlins on the 16th of December.
Here is the list of films which are in the current line-up:
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)- February 3rd
The Fly (1986) & Gattaca (1997)- February 17th
Stand by Me (1986)- March 3rd
The Untouchables (1987)- March 17th
Fight Club (1999)- March 31st
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)- April 14th
Robocop (1987) & Flash Gordon (1980)- April 28th
The Godfather Part II (1974)- May 12th
Escape from New York (1981)- May 26th
Edward Scissorhands (1990)- June 9th
We have been fans of the In the House screenings here and have quited enjoyed going to watch their screenings of various cinema cult classics. We look forward to seeing the new lineup they’ve announced here with The Godfather Part II and Fight Club being particular favourites of mine. It’s great to watch these films up on the big screen, as they were originally created for, and I have no problem giving my recommendation for anyone who might be interested in going to see one of the screenings.
You can find tickets to all of the above screenings here and watch a teaser for the season below.
