What better day to announce that you have a special guest character than on the day most associated with his films? Today, on Friday March 13th Warner Bros. Interactive announced that Jason Voorhees, the iconic killer from Friday the 13th, will be in Mortal Kombat X as a DLC character.
Those who buy the Kombat Pack, which will cost $30 at launch, will unlock four characters including Jason. The rest of the pack is currently unknown however Warner Bros. did hint that there will be two classic characters included as well as yet another guest character. Could we be seeing Freddy vs Jason in Mortal Kombat X? We’ll have to wait and see.
We’ve seen a fair number of Persona 4’s characters dancing in Persona 4: Dancing All Night but we haven’t seen much in the way of straight gameplay footage. Well today Atlus released two tutorial videos featuring Teddie explaining the basic gameplay controls where players will need to time their button presses to the flying notes on the screen, holding down when they need to, or making use of double notes and “scratches” which are like bonus segments that allow the player to boost their score.
Persona 4: Dancing All Night is currently set to be released in Japan on June 25th though Atlus USA has already announced plans on releasing the title in North America, those who purchase the game from online retailer Loppi/HMVwill be given special Lawson costumes for Yu Narukami, Nanako, and Kanami Mashita.
After being announced for release in 2012, then delayed until sometime in 2014 only for no footage or updates to be made throughout all of last year, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that KAIO: King of Pirates, a 3DS action RPG led by Comcept and Keiji Inaune, has been officially cancelled by Marvelous.
In the official press release it was stated that the decision to cancelKAIO: King of Pirates came from a sudden change in the marketplace that convinced the publisher that it was best to give up on the game despite believing that it could be a strong IP for the company and was originally meant to be the start of a trilogy.
Level-5 has announced that on April 7th at Tokyo Dream City Hall from 18:00 to 19:30 local time they will be holding a press conference called the “Level-5 Vision 2015: The Beginning.” The event will feature a number of announcements but the biggest one will be a “next generation big cross media project” that they are hoping will be able to reach the same level of success as Yo-kai Watch.
Various other listings on the official website reveal that Yo-kai Watch 3, the seventh installment of the Professor Layton series, and the just announced Fantasy Life 2 will also be shown off in some form. While most of Level-5’s events are live streamed, currently no live stream has been announced at the time of this writing.
Everyone knew it was coming and it was pretty much a given that it would be multi-platform this time around but an official statement never hurts. Respawn founder and CEO Vince Zampella recently told IGN that Titanfall 2 is in the works, though no official name has been settled on as of yet, and that the game will be “multiplatform.” Meaning of course that the title will likely be arriving on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC this time.
Other than the confirmation that EA and Respawn do have a sequel in the works, Zampella had no extra details to reveal at the time, though he did say that he did not like how the map pack DLC was splitting the community up which means things may be handled a bit differently next time.
A new trailer for Mortal Kombat Xcame out of Warner Bros. and NetherRealm Studios recently and this time around it focuses on introducing the entire Cage family, all of whom will be playable in the game. This means Johnny Cage himself, his now ex-wife Sonya Blade, and their daughter Cassie Cage.
We’ve heard about Cassie Cage before thanks to the recently released story trailer but now that we see her in action it appears she will be wielding dual pistols and will be using them in a brutal fashion. Also shown off are Johnny and Sonya’s new moves and if you stick around to the end you’ll notice that a certain four armed creature is returning as a pre-order bonus.
I used to be quite the fan of Chris Rock’s stand-up and his incisive humour as he took on various sensitive subjects such as a race relations and gun control. I enjoyed his work in his semi-autobiographical tv show; Everybody Hates Chris. I was therefore excited by the prospect of seeing Top Five which appeared to be going for a similar approach alongside being written and directed by him. Screen comedy is notoriously difficult to get right and it is especially difficult when the comedy takes on difficult subject matter, as Rock often does. Unfortunately, in this instance, the comedy fell flat for me.
Story
The film follows Andre Allen (Chris Rock), a fictional famous Hollywood comedian, as he works with press to promote a new film of his on the eve of its premier and also his wedding. The film follows him through the events of the day as he attends many interviews, a press junket, and marriage preparations. He agrees to let a reporter from the New York Times, Chelsea Brown (Rosario Dawson), follow him around for the day to write a profile. As the day drags on the two develop a deep connection as they discuss various aspects of politics, society, and life in general.
The narrative itself is not particular strong in terms of action or plot and instead relies upon its characters to bring something interesting to the screen. Rock and Dawson provide some excellent chemistry as the relationship between their characters develops from hostility to friendship and both provide a solid performance. This is especially important as they help bring the various vignette scenes some sense of connection as they go from one piece to another. This relationship does seem a bit forced by the script but I’m willing to forgive that as a conceit that allows the two characters to interact. I was a little disappointed that the film’s narrative ends up following convention in regards to its climax and anyone who has watched a romantic comedy will be able to guess how things will end up.
Despite following these conventions, the script is still pretty strong. For example; Chelsea’s character became less interesting to me in the second half as she transitioned from sassy reporter to passive love interest for the protagonist. The strength of the script lies in its dialogue. The interactions between various characters is both naturalistic and quite witty at times as various jokes are set up and delivered. In particular, one sequence where Andre visits his old childhood home is written and directed in a very naturalistic style with chaotic banter and shots on a handheld camera. It felt intimate and almost like a documentary as various characters spoke about Andre in their own endearing and funny way.
The film draws upon a lot of star power by having various cameos from famous personalities. I did not find that this added too much to the film, but I never put much stock into celebrity culture in the first place. If you’re a fan of big names in American comedy and Hollywood films then you might get a kick out of it.
Rock’s humour shines through in the way that the film examines various sensitive subjects such as race and drug abuse. The comedy also examines the nature of celebrity, Hollywood productions, and performance anxiety. It does feel like there are some dramatic missteps here and there throughout the It’s largely in keeping with Rock’s style of stand-up and is elucidating as it is funny. It’s a shame however that, just like his stand-up, Rock ends up punching down with his jokes as much as he targets various groups.
Homophobia, whorephobia, slut shaming, and other casual misogyny is prevalent throughout various parts of the film. The opening promised something different as we see Andre and Chelsea discuss how the world has changed for minorities in America. Instead of examining these changes, we get jokes about sexually liberated being disgusting (for directing their affections to someone besides the protagonist), men interested in non-heteronormative sex are disgusting, and women are deceitful/manipulative in one way or another. The film does quite well in its portrayal of African American identities at the least, so it earns kudos for that.
It would be a lie to say that I was not made uncomfortable by these jokes and that this has not coloured my opinion of the film. The problem with reviewing comedy is that humour in general is extremely subjective and my discomfort at the choice of targets for comedy may not reflect your own tastes. I do not remembering hearing too many laughs from my fellow audience members during most of the sequences I found distasteful, but according to opinions from other reviewers; these jokes are apparently quite enjoyable.
Visuals & Audio
This film had some fairly robust direction behind it. Rock has some talent at using editing to create comedy and presents a number of quick-cut montages to keep the humour coming at a reasonable pace. He also knows when to take a long shot and allow the banter between characters to unfold at a natural pace. This creates a number of sequences which are as endearing as they are funny.
The soundtrack was largely a sampling of various contemporary hip hop, rap, and R&B artists. It largely suits the tone and scope of the film as it focuses predominantly on the experience of African American entertainers. Besides the above, the film doesn’t really engage in anything too interesting in regards to visual and audio effects.
Overall
I was actually quite disappointed by this film. Before going in, I had read some pretty positive reviews and was expecting something which would make me laugh. Unfortunately this was not the case, and I freely admit this was because I did not find the targets of the jokes to be worthy of ridicule (at least not by Chris Rock). As I’ve said above, comedy which “punches down” is not my cup of tea and that is why I would not recommend it to those of a similar disposition to me. I could not overcome the shallow and backwards attitude which was on display throughout this film. You might disagree with my sensibilities and enjoy the film (which is fine), but the point remains that I did not.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
LA Cops is a top down shooter that is inspired by classic cop shows from the 1970s. Older TV viewers who have fond memories of the original Hawaii Five-O, Starsky & Hutch, and CHiPS will get a dose of nostalgia with LA Cops. The stylish game pits two police officers against criminal mastermind Hawaiin Mo and his thugs.
Story
LA Cops lives up to its promise of the 1970s. The writing nails every major cop show tropes you would expect from a 1970s era show. Unfortunately, the plot itself is pretty shallow and forgettable, as it feels more like a bunch of tropes strung together to create a vague story. There are some extra missions in the game, but players are not treated to the same short cinematic that provides some plot between the action.
Gameplay
LA Cops gives players two police officers and a map full of trigger happy enemies. Death comes quick, as the player can die with a single good shot from an enemy. There are six available characters with different starting stats. Globally earned experience points can be spent to improve a specific character’s stats or armoury. The tutorial is pretty simple, preferring the player to figure out some mechanics and develop tactics on their own.
The game’s experience system needs to be better explained. The game does not properly convey that experience point is stored globally. It took a few levels to figure out that the reason why my lesser used partner was not gaining experience wasn’t that they kept dying, but rather I was accidentally spending all the points on my active shooter, thinking the same number of points was tied to my other character. Additionally, there is no way to add experience points to characters between levels. Players need to return to the main menu to distribute points then choose a new map. I would have appreciated the ability to simply assign points between missions without having to go back to the main menu.
There are three levels of difficulty in the game. The two earlier levels allow for players to quickly lock onto enemies at various ranges, while the most difficult level will require the player to do all the aiming for themselves. The game is extremely challenging for a variety of reasons, some of them good, some of them bad. LA Cops is looking to mix tactical combat with fast paced action. A well-placed shot can take out a player character with one hit, which is a great source of challenge, as it forces players to think carefully about their approach. The game feels balanced towards using both characters for maximum effect, which further drives the tactical aspect of the game. Unfortunately, the tactical aspects of the game is hampered by the awful AI.
I found the enemy AI to be extremely unpredictable. Their line of sight and the hearing zones to vary wildly with little rhyme or reason at times. Bursting in a room and shooting all the henchmen could possibly bring half a map’s worth of enemies swarming onto the position while other times, absolutely nothing happened.
The partner AI is equally unpredictable and impressively stupid. Compared to the enemy AI’s almost instantaneous move and shoot behaviour, the partner AI prefers to move, stop to think, before firing their weapon in a vast majority of the time. Calling a partner to an area will cause the partner to move towards the direction of the area, but will they may not always turn in the direction of their movement. Instead, I counted multiple occasions where the AI preferred to shuffle backwards with his cone of fire pointed in the completely wrong direction. To ensure the partner would face the correct direction in preparation to burst through doors, I had to switch over to the partner and manually face them in the direction I wanted. This extra step really breaks the flow of the game. Avoiding collision with the player was not much better. If the AI stands in a doorway and the player tries to get through, the AI will simply stand in place without budging. Trying to get the AI to bust through a door with the player in a coordinated manner often ends up in a tangle of limbs and an anticlimactic death in a hail of bullets. The lousy partner AI just does not work with the game’s emphasis on tactical movement and makes the game’s controls feel about as manoeuvrable as a brick with wings.
The weapon balance could use some adjustment. It quickly became obvious that the assault rifle is wildly overpowered. It is the go to weapon for the game. I found the pistol to be rather well balanced, encouraging accurate shooting for high rewards. The SMG felt a little lack lustre beside the assault rifle, while the shotgun did its job. The real disappointment was the most expensive weapon of the game, the grenade launcher. The fast paced twitchy nature of LA Cops does not lend well to the slight delay in firing and the slow moving projectile. It may be a great opener for those who can aim it well, but it quickly becomes too much of a detriment for any firefight that may follow.
Currently, the game has eight story missions of increasing length and five side missions. They can all be replayed in three difficulty modes and leaderboards are available for extra replayability. It only takes a few hours to get through the story missions, even accounting for many level restarts.
Visuals
LA Cops has a great art style that is bold and memorable. Almost all of the details in the cut scenes have been removed in favour of a flat effect that is almost silhouette-like. The in-game graphics mixes a more detailed style with the flatter character style. The colours are the shades commonly associated with 1970s pop culture, giving it a great feel.
Audio
LA Cops hits the 70s cop show vibe spot on. The excellent rock soundtrack fits the era and the sunny Los Angeles setting perfectly. I wish there was a little more of it, as the riffs get noticeably repetitive as missions are restarted ad nauseum. The voice acting is B-movie grade, but since the game’s plot revolves so heavily around 70s cop show tropes, the cheesy voice acting actually works in LA Cops’ favour. The sound effects are solid, but the very few lines each character will utter in game quickly gets stale. I noticed that the only sound options provided are on/off switches, which is definitely inferior to a proper volume slider.
Overall
LA Cops is a hard game to recommend to anyone but the most hard core top down shooter enthusiast. The great audio and visual style of the game simply cannot compensate for the erratic and stupid AI. There is no feeling of accomplishment or progression with LA Cops, just the feeling of growing frustration and disappointment.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Since the original Razer Blade recently received a major spec upgrade, it was only a matter of time until the much bigger and badder older brother the Razer Blade Pro received one too.
Razer has announced the 17″ laptop will have its CPU bumped up to a Intel Core i7-4720HQ quad core processor. The Razer Blade Pro will come armed with a GeForce GTX 960M with 4GB GDDR5 VRAM that is capable of 4K resolutions over HDMI. Gamers will be able to get the best of both worlds, as an SSD up to 512GB and a hard drive up to 1TB can be installed.
Prices start at $2299.99 USD and the laptops begin shipping at the end of March.
The Razer Blade Pro is maintaining many of it’s previous features that has made it unique, such as the Switchblade UI, featherweight portability, and a matte 1080 LED screen. Learn more about the Razer Blade Pro at the official mini-site.
In what is becoming a pretty cool new trend for the House of Mouse, old animated movies are being remade as live action Hollywood blockbusters for a modern generation. Last year gave us a new look at the Sleeping Beauty mythos with Angelina Jolie’s Maleficent, and this month one of the most famous fairy tales of all time; Cinderella, is getting a new lease on life.
To get everybody into the spirit of glass slippers and pumpkin carriages, Disney have released Cinderella Free Fall, the latest game in their Free Fall mobile series. Like its predecessors, Cinderella Free Fall is a match-three style puzzler that has you completing puzzles by linking up the beautiful jewels on your quest to turn poor, unfortunate Ella into the princess that is beloved the world around.
Cinderella Free Fall is a free to play game on iOS, Android, Windows Phone and PC which you can grab now. If you are into quick little puzzle games and princesses in flowing blue gowns then you don’t want to miss this one. Also remember that Cinderella will be heading to the ball on March 26th, so make sure you’re invited to the ball.
