Welcome the month of June in style with a brand new Every Monday Bundle from Indie Gala. This week’s bundle packs seven great indie games for only $1.89 during the first 24 hours.
Space Codex – A casual retro top down shooter featuring a chiptune soundtrack from Visager, sawsqaurenoise, and TeknoAXE.
CONTASION 2 – An open world top down action adventure set in a giant fictional city in North England filled with tons of weapons and vehicles to create havoc with.
LightWalk – A 2d puzzle platformer featuring mazes filled with multi-coloured lasers.
Dungeoncraft – A voxel based mutliplayer sandbox game with a magic system inspired by Dungeons & Dragons.
Antiflux – A metroidvania platformer featuring 60 levels and controls optimized for the Nvidia Shield.
Respawn Man – This red shirt will probably die a lot in this platformer, but at least it will be to a soundtrack by VVVVVV composer SoulEye.
Neon Space – An addictive action game that challenges players to dodge obstacles and solve puzzles to get to the other side.
Be sure to snag the bundle at Indie Gala before the price goes up!
ASSEMBLE YOUR CREW AND GET READY FOR BATTLE AS BANDAI NAMCO ENTERTAINMENT EUROPE RELEASES ONE PIECE™: BURNING BLOOD!
Get ready to battle against the world’s most famous anime pirates in a brand new One Piece fighting game!
BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe, the premiere publisher of anime video games, have launched ONE PIECE: BURNING BLOOD for the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, PlayStation®Vita handheld system, and Xbox One in Europe, Middle-East, Africa and Australasia. ONE PIECE: BURNING BLOOD will also make its way to PC (via STEAM) in winter 2016.
ONE PIECE: BURNING BLOOD aims to capture the magic of One Piece by delivering an immersive fighting game experience for One Piece fans with a huge cast of more than 40 playable characters and 60 support characters. Multiple game modes allow players to experience exciting story sequences from One Piece told through multiple points-of-view in Paramount War Mode. Players can also rack up bounties in WANTED Versus Mode, battle friends on the couch in Free Mode or across the globe in Online Mode, or join a pirate crew and battle for territory against other online crews in Pirate Flag Battle Mode.
“Based on the incredibly successful manga and anime series: ONE PIECE, BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe is very proud to offer the fans a brand-new One Piece game experience with ONE PIECE: BURNING BLOOD.” said Herve Hoerdt, Vice President of Marketing & Digital at BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe. “This new brand will allow players to dive into the most emblematic battles of the original series and will, without doubt, please both One Piece and fighting game fans.”
ONE PIECE: BURNING BLOOD is now available on PlayStation®4, PlayStation®Vita and Xbox One in Europe, Middle-East, Africa, Australasia and Arabia.
The current generation of adults are often torn between their jobs and caregiver responsibilities for young children and aging parents. With sagging birthrates in countries like Japan and South Korea, the problem is even worse, which makes Asia the logical hotbed for robots designed for interaction with humans. Asus is taking a big step into getting these devices into every home with the announcement of the Asus Zenbo companion robot at Computex 2016. This gadget is capable of moving around house independently, interacting with family members, and improving its interaction with its owners through proactive artificial intelligence.
The Zenbo has a little screen for a face that is capable of delivering music, movies, photo slideshows, and even bed time stories. The device is also loaded with educational games and learning material to help entertain children. The Zenbo is designed to act like a personal assistant, helping owners keep in touch with the outside world through social media, providing important reminders for things like medication, and serving as a universal remote for all of the smart devices in the house. Especially important for seniors, the little robot is even capable of sending out distress calls to connected family members in case of falls or medical emergencies.
The Asus Zenbo will cost $599 and applications for the developer program is open now at the official portal.
Hanabee Entertainment announced one release for August 2016 and two releases for September 2016 on Friday. These are the details of all three of those releases.
The box set of Captain Earth is the first release announced. It will feature all 25 episodes with Japanese audio and English subtitles.
The DVD and Blu-ray release of Sakura Trick is the second announcement made. The release will feature all 12 episodes with Japanese audio and English subtitles.
The final announcement is the release of Photo Kano on DVD and Blu-ray. All 13 episodes will be featured with Japanese audio and English subtitles.
On-disc extras for all releases include the respective textless opening and ending animations. Photo Kano will be released on August 11, 2016. The Captain Earth box set and Sakura Trick will be released on September 8, 2016.
Welcome to the 29th episode of CC Powerslam, Capsule Computers Official Wrestling Podcast! Today, Dustin Spencer and Brandon Torres tackle hard hitting news stories of the wrestling world such as Sasha Banks’ injuries, Goldberg and a possible return, and of course the WWE Draft where we take the time to place almost every member on the roster to their appropriate brand. It’s almost as good as Taboo Tuesday. Almost.
Check out the cast below with the lights dim and that music turned up, scoot closer to your sibling, and get ready for some action!
One of my fondest memories of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV – Turtles in Time on the SNES. So the news of PlatinumGames, the developers behind Bayonetta, handling the next TMNT title really piqued my interest. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan is a third person hack ’n slash and features four unique fighting styles, open levels, and an RPG-style progression system.
Story
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan follows the four brothers on an adventure to stop Shredder and Krang as they team up to invade the city. Some of the franchise’ classic enemies make appearances as bosses in the game, giving the title a big shot of nostalgia. Unfortunately, the nostalgia is really the only thing that makes the plot enjoyable. The writing is wooden, repetitive, and completely predictable.
Gameplay
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan is first and foremost a third person hack ‘n slash in the same vein as previous TMNT games. The game is available in single player story mode and multiplayer co-op. Both modes are separate from each other, with the only thing that transfers between the two is any progression made on the characters themselves. Players are rewarded with loot and experience as they complete levels. Each brother can be equipped with a charm that will award some sort of buff. As the difficulty of the game rises, more charms can be equipped. Experience points are spent on improving skill levels, with more skills being unlocked as the player levels up. The system is not particularly complicated, but it does give a little bit of progression to the game. Unfortunately, it feels a bit pointless because the game is painfully short.
There are only nine levels and four difficulty settings in the game, with the final difficulty setting only unlocked when the game is beaten on hard. Each of the nine levels are incredible short, set on open world maps that have little life and lots of empty space that needs to be traversed between objectives. The objectives are incredibly boring, with little creativity and variety. On normal, levels can be easily completed in 15 minutes or so. By the looks of it, PlatinumGames was banking heavily on the leveling system for replayability, but the game is so incredibly dull that it is rather pointless to replay the game.
The combat system is a mixed bag. The controls feel tight and responsive, and I would expect no less from a developer with a long list of hack ‘n slashes under their belt. However, the combat itself is pretty repetitive and boring. For starters, each of the four turtles are supposed to have their own fighting style. For the exception of Raphael, the remaining three really end up feeling the same. There are a wide variety of one time use items that can be used in game, but most end up feeling quite useless compared to the regular attacks. The most interesting thing about the combat are the variety of special co-op moves with cooldowns, as there are a good number to try; however, the novelty runs out pretty quickly once players find four or five core skills they will most likely stick with all the time.
There is some attempt at stealth mechanics in the game. Raphael especially excels at stealth kills, allowing players to sneak up on an enemy and execute a quick one shot kill. Frankly, it is a pretty unnecessary feature that feels tacked on last minute as it is only useful for picking off one or two enemies that randomly spawn outside missions or starting combat. The objectives that forces players to complete stealth kills are just plain annoying due to the simplistic mechanics.
There are a small handful of enemies to fight, each with their own abilities. For the most part, the abilities don’t really matter as they are all pretty squishy to close range attacks. The AI is pretty atrocious. For the most part, they will brainlessly run towards the objective or the closest turtle. The AI pays little mind to anything in between, happily running into solid walls endlessly until they are killed by the player.
The multiplayer system is a pretty clunky affair. Players need to create a room, choose a level, wait for others to join, select their characters, and then begin. It seems to be pretty silly to not have a drop in/drop out system these days, which would have made for a much smoother and more enjoyable experience.
Visuals
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan is done in a really nice cel-shaded art style, paying tribute to the franchise’s comic book roots. I really like the comic book style frames used at the end of each level to showcase the possibly embarrassing poses players may find themselves in. The cinematics look good, though they are noticeably fuzzy compared to the in-game graphics at 1080p. The combat animations are pretty nice, though the game seriously struggles with characters clipping into objects. The silly looking co-operative lifting animations are worth a special mention, with all four turtles getting a grip on the object and bouncing up and down in “effort” for several seconds.
Audio
The voice acting in the game is decent. It won’t win any awards, but to be fair it is pretty in line with the quality of voice acting in the rest of the franchise. The sound effects are good, with a nice bit of impact behind attacks. The biggest problem with the audio is sheer repetition. The soundtrack is a bit on the short side and the number of lines the voice actors were able to record are painfully few.
Overall
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan is a repetitive and bland disappointment. The short length of the title takes out some of the sting out of the repetition, but there is no excuse for a game to be this short at this price point. The AI is a boring mess and the maps are lifeless. In theory, the game has a ton of potential for co-op play, but the clunky room-based system is an unnecessary pain. The cel-shaded homage to the old comic books is probably the best the game has to offer, but even that is crippled with fuzzy cinematics and a lot of clipping. My hopes for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan to be a hack ‘n slash classic for a brand new generation of gamers has officially been dashed.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
The transition from the PlayStation 2 and Xbox to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 occurred rather quickly in 2006. So fast in fact that there were still a number of PlayStation 2 titles being developed and with everyone looking to upgrade, the few that remained had to stand out in some way. That is exactly what Odin Sphere did when it was released in 2007 but despite being one of the best looking games at the time and a shining example of how great artwork can pull a game together, it remained fairly limited.
Now Atlus and Vanillaware are back with Odin Sphere Leifthrasir, an enhanced HD version of their original game. So now that it has been released for the PlayStation 4, does it manage to hold up all these years later?
Story
The story begins with a young girl named Alicia finding a set of books in her attic with her black cat Socrates. These books tell the story of the five protagonists that players will be following throughout Odin Sphere Leifthrasir. The chivalrous valkyrie Gwendolyn, a prince named Cornelius afflicted with a strange curse, a fairy princess named Mercedes, a knight whose past is filled with darkness Oswald, and finally a witch looking to right previous wrongs named Velvet.
The story revolves around these five characters in a land inspired by Norse mythology where numerous factions are warring against one another while others are trying to stay alive or remain neutral as a conflict rages across the world. What helps establish Odin Sphere Leifthrasir’s storyline as something to be amazed at is how expertly the writers manage to craft an extensive and compelling plot filled with little twists, betrayals, triumph, and tragedy while also displaying the story from so many different viewpoints.
As you progress through the game, players will swap between characters and each of these five characters have their own thoughts on what is happening and the various events that are occurring behind the scenes. This does mean that there are some moments that are retread but this is done in an effort to tell the story from both sides, as the first time players may be leading a charge against a foe while the second time through they will be playing as the defending force and having to face off against the previous protagonist.
These different perspectives on the overarching storyline provide a unique feeling to the story and one that blurs the lines between who is good and evil in this world. In fact, over the course of the nearly forty hour long story that players will be experiencing not only are the main characters explored but the world around them and even side characters are developed to great extent in order to help add weight to the story. This style of writing helps create a game that players will eagerly wish to play through to the end and seek out the true ending that requires a bit of thought to unlock.
Gameplay
In an effort to make sure that old fans who may have simply preferred the original game with the updated graphics and nothing else, Vanillaware has created Odin Sphere Leifthrasir with two gameplay modes. The standard mode that players can play has all of the various improvements to the gameplay mechanics as well as new areas etc. while the Classic Mode delivers the same untouched mechanics that were present in the original release with the only difference being the updated artwork.
This is a great gesture for purists and those who want to see how the original might have played if they never touched it before, but it is quite evident that the refinements made to Odin Sphere Leifthrasir make it a far better game than what was originally on offer. You see, most characters’ basic attacks no longer deplete the POW gauge and this means that the previously stunted and occasionally slow paced combat of the past is gone. With this limiter removed players can play aggressively with combo attacks while utilizing skills in a more limited fashion, as these still pull from the POW and PP gauges, and since all five of the characters in the game feature their own unique playstyle and every one of them has been given a few new moves to add to their repertoire, only making the combat feel all the more fluid.
As you fight against enemies in the game, you will gather Phozons which serve a few purposes. Phozons that are obtained from defeating enemies can be used either as a way for players to improve the various skills that they unlock by finding crystals in the map or improve their weaponry. Thanks to the way that the player customization works now through the skill sets there is quite a bit of freedom for players to adjust characters to fit their playstyle.
In a rather odd fashion that many will be unused to, the food mechanics in Odin Sphere Leifthrasir remain the same as before. Players only earn a small amount of experience points from fighting enemies. Instead players will find, or buy, seeds that can be planted and then imbued with a certain number of Phozons in order to grow that plant. Once harvested, the food can then be eaten and it is through eating food that experience points and levels are gained. There are even certain locations where food can be purchased or cooked, providing the player has the right ingredients, in order to gain experience points.
This is essential as players will find that Odin Sphere Leifthrasir does feature a bit of grinding here and there. Phozons are often a limited resource and revisiting an older stage is rarely a bad idea if things grow too challenging. Thankfully the inventory system has been revised to allow for easier sorting of important items such as potions, seeds, food, etc. and gathering together bag upgrades is less of a hassle than before. Combine that with the ability to store items in Item Boxes and some of the nagging issues that plagued the original fall to the wayside, making the aforementioned grinding only a small price to pay if you find yourself up against a wall.
Visuals & Audio
When Odin Sphere first debuted back in 2007 and introduced the world to the art style of George Kamitani it blew away expectations to the point that the PlayStation 2 could barely handle the amount of detail that had to be presented at the time. As such it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise to hear that now that Odin Sphere Leifthrasir is on the PlayStation 4 with completely redrawn artwork and support for modern day 1080p 60 fps gameplay that this is an absolutely gorgeous game. The unique and vibrant art style creates a vivid world that is brought to life through the well-designed characters and environments players will be exploring.
Players will be able to select between either the freshly recorded English voice work for the game or the original Japanese voice track depending on The title also features an incredible soundtrack featuring a brand new theme song and a number of new tracks that have been mixed in with the old familiar tunes. The charming soundtrack lends itself well to the painted fantasy world and breathes some extra life into the action especially during crucial moments in the story.
Overall
It is clear that Vanillaware knew what they were doing when it comes to Odin Sphere Leifthrasir. While the original may have been released during an unfortunate time, the company took the great game that many may have missed back then and have streamlined and enhanced nearly every aspect of it in order to produce a game that improves on the original in every way while leaving all of the charm intact. Odin Sphere Leifthrasir might seem like a strange combination of various genres, but this odd mixture has created an exceptional game. Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Stop Crime or Strike Fear with Fellow Enforcers or Criminals
Larkspur, Calif. and Huntington Beach, Calif., June 3, 2016 – Ravenscourt and Reloaded Games today jointly announce the availability of All Points Bulletin Reloaded™, the customization driven Open World Action MMO, as a free-to-play and freely downloadable game for all Xbox Live Gold members on Xbox One*, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft.
APB Reloaded puts you in the near-future urban cityscape of San Paro where you pick one of two factions: “Enforcer,” to uphold the city’s martial law, or “Criminal” to cause maximum mayhem across the city. In addition to its challenging and immersive gameplay, APB Reloaded features extensive character, symbol and vehicle customization systems. The game is driven by PvP experiences where up to 100 customized players (up to 50 vs. 50) can participate in real time missions across San Paro. Players can also create user generated designs and customizations, and auction those to other gamers using the in-game auction house system.
More than 5.8 million global players have spent 40 million hours creating more than 10 million customized characters in the PC version of APB Reloaded since its December 2011 release. The new Xbox One* edition is free to download and free-to-play*. Players can earn items in game for free, as have the option to purchase additional in-game gear, clothing, items, vehicles and customizations intended for their characters to specialize in particular play styles.
To celebrate the release of APB Reloaded on Xbox One*, Reloaded Games have created the APB Xbox One Founders Pack – premium items given to all new players for free, as long as they log in during the first 30 days; the pack includes: the Fireworks Flare Launcher, a long range support weapon that helps organized squads spot the enemy, and the Mikro JC14 ‘New-Cross’, an agile vehicle with exceptional speed, acceleration, grip and turning radius.
Additionally, gamers that play more than 10 hours during the first 30 days will receive the added bonus of an Exclusive Title – ‘XB1 Founder’ and Exclusive XB1 Weapon Skins. The Title and Skins will be given out during the games’ first update and are exclusive to early adopters with the requisite play time. These cannot be bought or earned after the “Founders” period ends.
Features:
• Ever-expanding customization feature, allowing for completely unique vehicle, character, symbol, tattoo and clothing designs
• Team-based missions, with tactical objectives such as capturing vehicles, hunting VIP targets and good old fashioned Deathmatch
• Up to 100 players massive open-world PvP combat
• Modifications that offer players to further diversify their character with unique abilities such as car surfer, radar jammer, spotter and flak jacket to name just a few
• Huge and ever-increasing arsenal of weapons and modifications including penetration rounds, hunting sights, cooling jackets, extended mags, and more
• Dozens of vehicles ranging from muscle cars to trucks and everything in-between, each with its own specific handling and physics
• Regular in-game events with time exclusive missions and unique rewards
Product Details Platform: Xbox One* Genre: Action MMO Developer: Reloaded Games Publisher: Ravenscourt ESRB Rating: M Release Date: June 3, 2016 Price: Free-to-Play
*On Xbox One, Xbox Live Gold membership (sold separately) required. Additional in-game content available and sold separately.
About Koch Media
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 Headquarters in Planegg near Munich/Germany, Koch Media owns branches in Germany, England, France, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, the Nordic regions, Benelux and the United States. www.kochmedia.com
About Reloaded Games, Inc.
Reloaded Games Inc. (www.ReloadedInc.com) designs, develops and operates leading Free2Play® MMO games for all platforms, including the hit games All Points Bulletin: Reloaded™ (also known as APB Reloaded™) and Fallen Earth™. Its game portal www.GamersFirst.com features more than 30 million registered PC gamers in over 160 countries playing games by Reloaded Games and other leading free to play game developers. The company makes available its cutting edge game and delivery technologies through its subsidiary Reloaded Technologies™, featuring Super Node Delivery™, powering over 100 different free to play games at www.ReloadedTech.com.
Batttlestate Games announced today that registration for the closed alpha of their upcoming military-themed FPS/MMO Escape from Tarkovhas opened. The alpha is scheduled to begin on August 4th. Interested gamers can register at the official website.
In addition to the closed alpha announcement, Battlestate Games has released a lengthy 28 minute video featuring new gameplay footage from their latest alpha build. The video is without commentary, but viewers will be able to see the game’s inventory system in action, some equipment scavenging, and some short firefights.
Escape from Tarkovis set in the sealed Russian city of Tarkov, where two private military companies are trapped inside. Players will need to rely on their wits and their fellow employees to survive this city torn apart by conflict.
As the June 7th release date for GTA: Online’s massive new update draws near, Rockstar has released a brand new trailer for “Further Adventures in Finance and Felony.” Viewers will get a look at some of the update’s new gameplay features, such as trafficking in illegal goods, sabotaging rivalsupply lines, and growing companies by hiring new staff and purchasing property. There are some interesting new footage of the interiors of these buildings, including some very shiny and modern office spaces. Of course, no trailer is complete without some glamour shots of the new Pegassi Reaper sports car.
“Further Adventures in Finance and Felony” will be out on June 7th for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC editions of Grand Theft Auto V.
