While Guilty Gear Xrd: Revelator has been available for Japanese arcade players for a few months now, Arc System Works has now announced when fans of the game on console can roughly expect this enhanced version of the original game, which adds a handful of new playable characters to the roster, to be released on the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3.
The company has announcedthat they will be releasing the console version of Guilty Gear Xrd: Revelator in Japan in spring 2016. That wasn’t all they announced though, as the company also stated that they will be giving away free character color DLC to celebrate the sales of the original game and they will be made free from October 7th to January 5, 2016.
Members of the gaming industry and gamers around the world where shaken up to hear the sad news of Satoru Iwata passing away on July 11th and now two months later Nintendo has chosen to announce who will be the new president and representative director for the company.
The man chosen to fill these large shoes is Tatsumi Kimishima, who worked for The Pokemon Company in 2000 before moving to Nintendo of America in 2002 and eventually becoming the director of that branch in 2006. This isn’t the only position being filled and while full details on the list of changes can be found here, as Nintendo announced that Genyo Takedo will now be acting as the company’s “Technology Fellow” while Shigeru Miyamoto is know the company’s “Creative Fellow.”
While many of Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja’s Dead or Alive fans have turned their attentions to the currently in development Dead or Alive Xtreme 3, the developers are still working on producing more DLC costumes for the core fighting game Dead or Alive 5: Last Round.
Today the company has revealed that they are releasing a large number of collaboration costumes featuring character outfits from past Falcom titles being available for purchase. A new trailer showing off these costumes in Dead or Alive 5: Last Round has been released and you can check it out below. As for the costumes themselves, they will be available for purchase starting on September 15th in Japan and likely shortly after for Western audiences.
It appears that some more classic titles, that people such as myself desperately want sequels for, will be heading to the PlayStation 4 as PlayStation 2 classics. Earlier today it was found that the PEGIratings board had rated Ape Escape 2, Dark Cloud 2 (also called Dark Chronicle), and Twisted Metal: Black for eventual release on the PlayStation 4.
It is worth noting that Twisted Metal: Black has already been released as PlayStation 2 Classic back on the PlayStation 3 a few years ago meaning that this is likely the first set of many titles that will be making the transition to being playable on the PlayStation 4 though we can expect a full announcement from Sony later this week at Tokyo Game Show.
As we know, Atlus will be holding a special stage event during Tokyo Game Show later this week that will feature a number of different people who have worked on Persona, including developers, voice actors, and live band performances, will be taking place and while many people have speculated that Persona 5 will also be appearing during the event, it was never confirmed.
However now it seems like that will indeed be the case as a game shop in Japan named Genki has revealed (and since taken down) a new poster, found below, for Persona 5 featuring already revealed characters from the game and with the reveal they stated that the “Pursue the Phantom Thief Party” will go into effect starting Thursday, which also happens to be only two days from the start of the event.
From Software and Bandai Namco have announced that Dark Souls III will be released on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in Japan on March 24, 2016 where they will be offering a standard version of the game as well as a fancy pre-order bonus that includes the game’s soundtrack and a specially designed map.
It is worth noting that a Western release date for Dark Souls III has not yet been announced but going from past titles’ release dates, this means that fans of the series can likely expect Dark Souls III to be released in the West within a month or two from the Japanese release date.
Gooood afternoon ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Xbox Newsbeat! Right here you are witness to the absolute best, one stop shop all all the awesome Microsoft news as it becomes available. This week we have a particular treat for all you gear-heads out there, with some news specifically related to the upcoming Forza 6, so for all that plus some other Xbox One goodness read on!
Play Forza Motorsport 6 Today with Ultimate Edition Early Access
So Forza 6 is set for release tomorrow but what if you’re eager, hungry and determined to play it right now!? Well if you’re really keen to play then head on over to the Xbox Store and purchase the Ultimate Edition of the game you can start playing right this very second. In addition, Ultimate Edition owners will also receive the Forza Motorsport 6 Car Pass, VIP membership, Ten Year Anniversary Car Pack, and Fast & Furious Car Pack at no additional cost.
To mark the release of the game, Microsoft and Turn 10 have also put together a slick little TV commercial which you can all check out below:
This November, Your Xbox One Experience Gets Faster and More Social than Ever
This November, Microsoft are bringing an update to the Xbox One console so big that it had to be announced 2 months in advance! To keep pace with the rest of the Microsoft-powered devices, Xbox will be making the leap to Windows 10 and with that brings a completely new Xbox One experience. After the update, players can expect The New Xbox to run up to 50 percent faster. Instantly start a party, see what your friends are playing, and get updates to your recently played games from Home with no wait time.
Also this is the update that will bring the highly anticipated backwards compatibility to the console!
So there we have it folks, something brand new for you car lovers to enjoy and something exciting for everyone to look forward to. Which of this week’s headlines grabbed your attention the most? Let us know in the comments below and remember to stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the hot Xbox news as it becomes available.
When I started up Devil’s Third, I had reasonably high expectations. The opening cinematic, while not the most beautiful thing in the world looked somewhat reasonable and the B-Movie plot synopsis was enough to suck me in. This, combined with the pedigree of the developers had me pretty eager to see what all of this was about. That desire left me about 15 minutes into my play session where I felt like I had already seen everything that Devil’s Third has to offer. A few hours later and my mind was made up; Devil’s Third just wasn’t a fun game.
Story
Ninjas, gangsters, gun-toting maniacs. Sounds like the mix of an awesome B-Grade movie and that is exactly what I expected from the plot when I loaded up Devil’s Third. Thankfully I wasn’t 100% disappointed in that regard. After space debris have caused all of the Earth’s satellites to crash and rain down on the ground below, the world is thrown into chaos and violence, causing terrorists and crime lords to rise up and try to seize power. Enter the player character Ivan, who is a convicted terrorist that the government hires to fight the rising criminal problem.
Ok so the plot may veer in the direction of C or D grade movie, and it has these weird moments of social commentary that are completely out of place with the whole tone and theme of the game at large. It has a few moments that you will chuckle along to but in the end is just a bland excuse for the player to shoot enemies.
Gameplay
Devil’s Third is an action game where you take control of Ivan as he guns (and cuts) down his adversaries. For the most part the game plays like a third-person action game, but switches to first person when the player aims – a feature that creates a jarring camera shift when done so.
Devil’s Third is a game that is centred around combat, and to its credit the developers have managed to combine the arts of swordplay and gunslinging rather seamlessly, giving each their own place in the action. I have to say that when I discovered that former Team Ninja employees, including the creator Tomonobu Itagaki were responsible for the game, I was excited with the prospect of long, intricate combat strings that resulted in a dynamic fluid combat system. Instead, what I got was a handful of bland, clandestine moves that you use over and over again to progress through the game, almost button-mashing as you do so.
At the end of a combo, Ivan will also perform an execution move. These are pretty standard among video games but somehow they feel so “off” here. After initiating one, the game’s camera suddenly shifts, and you lose all control for a few seconds. It also seemed in my experience that they cannot be interrupted by other enemies, so it is just like a mini cut-scene that takes out out of the action every few minutes.
I also cannot avoid the fact that Devil’s Third is rife with bugs. While they aren’t game-breaking by any stretch of the word, they are just frustrating, constant and really noticeable. Shooting a guy in the chest only to have his leg fly off is just the icing of the cake that I found during my time with the game. Enemies clipping through walls, bullets seeming to bend around corners and a really inconsistent damage output are the sweet cream filling.
While the single player mode is shall we say under par; the multiplayer aspect holds its own quite nicely. Players will join a number of rival clans and will compete in multiplayer deathmatches to earn points for their chosen clan. As you earn points for your clan, you can exchange these for new weapons, character skins and more.
While my first impressions of the multiplayer were “this is good. Not great, but good,” I was quickly met with the dreaded M-word of video gaming; Microtransactions. That’s right folks, while they aren’t “necessary,” Devil’s third, a full-priced console title has allowances to purchase in-game currency with real dollars. Now I’ll be frank and say that in my mind nothing justifies additional costs for gear being tacked onto my already $80+ game. We aren’t talking paid DLC missions or anything of the sort, but mostly cosmetic skins for your online characters.
Visuals & Audio
I have to say though that despite the Wii U not exactly being a graphical powerhouse, Devil’s Third looks surprisingly good. Character models are smooth and well detailed and the backgrounds and set pieces all look crisp and well drawn. Although for some reason everyone looks and moves like their arms and legs have pins and needles and they can’t move without hurting themselves. This stocky animation really takes away from the game’s entire visual appeal for me. Especially considering this is an action title, so half-assed animation really takes away from the whole experience.
Now who out there would be surprised to find that Devil’s Third is one of those games that likes to indulge in its fair share of hyper violence now and again, and by “now and again,” I mean “all the time!” Now I’m a pretty big fan of stylish hyper violence. Movies directed by Tarantino have it down to an art form, as do games like Mad World, but Devil’s Third just has this off-putting “for the sake of it,” vibe throughout.
Overall
With such a development pedigree behind it, it is hard not to be disappointed in Devil’s Third. Bland, uninteresting combat combined with lacklustre story, out-dated visuals, bugs and dreaded microtransactions are what you can expect from this game. I feel like I’ve been a little harsh on Devil’s Third, but the truth of the matter is that even if half of these problems were fixed you would still have a game that is bland and just not fun to play. Unless your only method of playing games is a Wii U, and you desperately need a new shooter to tie you over, I can’t see myself recommending Devil’s Third to anyone.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
After the critical acclaim of Mad Max: Fury Road, it is no surprise that Mad Max the game was a highly anticipated title. Developed by Avalanche Studios, the guys and gals who make the incredible Just Cause franchise meant that this was a potential partnership made in heaven (or Valhalla if that’s more your style). Mad Max is a game that manages to get in its own way and while it is a fun experience, it is one that is void of the magic that makes the Mad Max franchise so beloved in the first place.
Story
“The Wasteland is a dangerous place…” That one line of dialogue is just about all you need to know about the story of Mad Max. After a war has all but wiped out humanity, what’s left now live in the desolate, desert wasteland of what (presumably) used to be Australia. Times are tough, with violent warlords ruling over the regions with their war machines and ravenous soldiers, and Max Rockantansky is stuck in the middle of it all. When a warlord by the name of Scrotus steals his prized possession: his car, and his men turn it into scrap, Max is tasked with not only getting a new set of wheels, but also getting back at Scrotus’ men and escaping this part of the Wasteland.
Without getting into spoiler territory, Scrotus links the game to this year’s film in a way that is just really unnecessary and kind of cheapens the whole thing. Part of the appeal of the Mad Max franchise is that these characters and these stories are often not linked at all, sparing the fact that Max happens to stumble into them. Having Scrotus be a connection to the film kind of feels like a cheap way to siphon popularity from one another.
Gameplay
Mad Max is an action game (like anybody is surprised to hear that one) that is broken into two parts – on foot and vehicular action. The on-foot sections play like your typical third person action game, where Max has to infiltrate enemy bases, defeat the enemies inside, loot them for treasures and then move on.
It seems that in terms of video game combat, Warner Bros. have found their golden goose with their FreeFlow combat system. The simplistic, yet surprisingly in-depth method of action gained popularity in the Batman: Arkham series of games, was then co-opted by the recent Shadow of Mordor and has now found its way here. As you would expect from FreeFlow combat, you use X to attack (while holding down the button does extra damage) and Y to counter-attack. While I tend to really enjoy this system, it seems somewhat out of place here. Firstly, Max isn’t as agile as Batman, meaning that the player’s reflexes have to make up for that; if you don’t hit the counter button as soon as you see the on-screen prompt, then it is too late and Max will likely have his head punched in by some power-hungry War Boy.
As you progress through the game, you will unlock Max’s “Fury Mode,” which is a meter that charges up as you hit enemies, and while it is full you will do more damage and perform more savage kills. It is a cool little twist, but like the combat itself – nothing we haven’t seen before. The fact that this feels copy/pasted from other games feels like a bit of a disservice to everyone and everything involved.
When you aren’t on foot, you will be driving you car; the Magnum Opus. Originally the MO is a piece of s*** that can barely steer, but as you find scrap, complete missions and buy more parts, she becomes an absolute behemoth on the roads. Initially, since your car sucks, driving around and facing down a convoy is a little less than fun, but once you unlock some new wheels, an ungraded grappling hook and a sniper rifle then you are off to the races! (literally and figuratively of course).
One of the most intense moments in the game for me was taking down a convoy of trucks and cars that carried special loot. Typically you would expect a drive-by encounter in a video game to last a few minutes at most before it is over and you can move on. However Mad Max manages to keep the char chases exciting and drawn out, often taking 10-30 minutes just to complete. Since car chases are such a vital part of the franchise, seeing them so fleshed out was pleasant and offered a nice change of pace from potentially similar games.
What I really enjoyed about the ground/car mechanics was how seamlessly you could go from one to another. Your Magnum Opus is a tool at your disposal, and you can ram down an enemy tower, quickly hop out and punch a few enemies, then hop back in and switch to your grappling hook to wrench an enemy from their own driver’s seat before all with an incredible amount of fluidity. Considering the game strikes an excellent balance between the two play styles, being able to use them in tandem so elegantly was an important aspect of the game and the developer’s nailed it.
One thing to say about everything in Mad Max is that it is exciting to begin with, but very quickly gets repetitive. Missions often play out the same and combat very rapidly turns into a button-mashing chore. There are collectibles to find in every location but even after a while the missing one or two logos or bundles of scrap become worth less than the trouble it takes to find them.
Visuals & Audio
While Mad Max might not play perfectly, the same definitely cannot be said about how it looks. Now dusty brown landscapes are nothing new in the realm if video games but the developers have taken it to a whole other level here. The Wasteland looks absolutely beautiful – that is to say it looks desolate, barren and downright ugly. The sand dunes and rocky outcrops all look like photographs taken in the middle of the Simpson Desert and just standing on a cliff face and looking out onto the horizon results in a screenshot that is worthy of a desktop wallpaper.
Not only do the dusty roads of the Wasteland looks magnificent but everything just feels like it belongs in the world of Mad Max. The cars are all rusted out shells with spikes, barbed wires and other makeshift weaponry jutting out at every which angle. Then we come to the NPCs and enemies you encounter along your journeys; every one of them feels as authentic as the cars they drive and world around them, be it their tattered clothes or distinguishing injuries or bodily markings, everything just feels like it belongs in Mark Millar’s universe.
So the Wasteland looks like it should, but does it sound like it should? In one word: yes. Just about everyone you meet will speak in a thick Australian accent (which I have come to accept as being incredibly grating when you aren’t expecting it).
Overall
Despite some repetitive gameplay and an overused combat system, I’ve definitely enjoyed my time with Mad Max but the something was missing. The game doesn’t live up to the “Mad Max” legacy and just left me wanting more. With every War Boy I pummelled, every piece of scrap I collected and inch of the Wasteland I explored, I just wished I was playing a Fallout game or watching Fury Road.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
If you’re keen to try out the new Need for Speed from Ghost Games and EA before it’s November 3rd release then you may be in luck. The official website has opened a beta sign up page, allowing anyone to apply to beta test the game.
Sign ups close on September 25th, 10 AM CEST. There is likely to be a high demand for entry into the beta so please be aware that registering does not guarantee you a spot. The beta so far has only been announced for the PS4 and Xbox One, so PC fans may be out of luck if they don’t own either console. Good luck to anyone that applies and be sure to come back for a preview of the Need for Speed 2015 reboot when we get to try it out for ourselves.
